http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1168555812431&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112101662670
Children find gun in schoolyard
Richard Lautens, Toronto Star
Click here to find out more!
Toronto Star
TORONTO (Jan 12, 2007)
Police combed the playground of a downtown elementary school for clues yesterday after children found a semi-automatic weapon.
It is about 14 or 15 degrees in my house, so I am not sending pings, posting to all................
Will gladly send snowballs and ice.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1766931/posts
Two more bodies found in manhole near Coveleski Stadium
South Bend Tribune ^ | January 12. 2007 | TOM MOOR & PATRICK M. O’CONNELL
Posted on 01/12/2007 9:26:23 PM PST by csvset
SOUTH BEND — Two bodies were found Friday in a manhole not far from where two other men were discovered dead earlier this week.
Police found the bodies of two men in the hole above a railroad viaduct east of the 600 block of South Scott Street — near Coveleski Stadium — about noon while investigating Tuesday’s homicides.
The most recent deaths also appear to be homicides, South Bend police Capt. Phil Trent said. Autopsies will determine for certain the cause of death and who they are.
The deaths appear to be connected in what could be a quadruple homicide, authorities said. All the men had a similar manner of death. The deaths of the men Tuesday were determined to be from severe head trauma.
continued.
To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53755
Friday, January 12, 2007
THE NEW WORLD DISORDER
Death threats made
over pesos for pizza
Chain warned after launching policy:
'Quit catering' to 'illegal Mexicans'
Posted: January 12, 2007
6:14 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Death threats have been leveled at a Dallas-based pizza chain that offered to accept Mexican pesos from its customers.
"This is the United States of America, not the United States of Mexico," said one e-mail reported by the Associated Press.
As Pizza Patrón, which caters heavily to Mexicans, were trying to reach out to their core customers, according to the company's founder and president, Antonio Swad.
"We know they come back [from Mexico] and have pesos left over," he said. "We want to be a convenient place for them to spend their pesos."
Another threatening e-mail told the company to "quit catering to the ... illegal Mexicans."
The company posted signs this week at its 59 stores across Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California saying, "Aceptamos pesos" – or "We accept pesos."
Payments in pesos have accounted for about 10 percent of business at the five restaurants operated directly by the corporation, the AP reported.
Pizza Patrón spokesman Andy Gamm insisted the chain was not trying to inject itself into the heated political debate over illegal immigration but simply trying to sell more pizzas.
A number of American businesses in towns along the Mexican border accept pesos, but many of Pizza Patrón's outlets are far from the border, in places such as Denver, more than 700 miles away.
Gamm, nevertheless, said people need to understand that about 60 percent of his customers are Hispanic.
"It doesn't make sense in Connecticut. And it doesn't make sense in North Dakota or in Maine," he said, according to the Associated Press. "But it makes perfect sense here in Dallas, in Phoenix, in Denver – areas far from the border that have significant Hispanic populations."
A partner in the nation's largest Hispanic public-relations firm told the AP that while he thinks the peso policy is a good one, a backlash was inevitable.
"Right now there's a lot of anti-immigrant rhetoric going around that could make them a lightning rod," said Patricia Perez, a partner at Valencia, Perez & Echeveste in Los Angeles.
Swad told the Dallas Morning News earlier this week he was prepared to take criticism.
"We're not really interested in finding the safest spot on the board," he told the paper. "We know the purity of our intention, and we're willing to take the heat when there is heat."
To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53761
Saturday, January 13, 2007
INVASION USA
Rare brain worms
latest border disease
Fatal disease found in developing countries
with poor hygiene habits hits South Texas
Posted: January 13, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Medical professionals in South Texas have identified another disease that has apparently slipped across the border – caused by a rare brain worm that can be fatal and is being spread by unsanitary food-handling practices.
While not yet classified as a "major outbreak," several cases of cysticercosis have been identified in South Texas, a spokesman for San Antonio's Metro Health District told KENS-TV, San Antonio.
Magnetic resonance image showing multiple cysticerci within patient's brain
According to the Center for Disease Control, cysticercosis is an infection caused by the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium. Infection occurs when the tapeworm larvae are ingested, pass through the intestinal wall and enter the body to form cysticerci, or cysts. The cysts migrate throughout the body, resulting in symptoms that vary depending on whether they lodge in the muscles, the eyes, the brain or spinal cord.
Symptoms for Renaldo Ramirez, 50, of Houston, began with mild headaches.
The tile worker, who immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador 20 years ago, told KENS-TV he had been eating most of his meals at mobile kitchens because of the convenience, but after his ordeal with brain worms, he insisted on preparing his own food.
"He's scared now. He's scared of any food from outside," his sister, who onterpreted for him, said.
"It was a mild headache, but it wouldn't go away," Ramirez said. "It was just there and it wouldn't go away with Tylenol."
Clinic doctors gave him blood pressure medicine, but a few days later, he passed out and did not awaken for eight days.
Dr. Aaron Mohanty, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical School, found and removed a cyst caused by a tapeworm larvae living in Ramirez's brain. Undiagnosed and untreated, he could have died within hours.
(Story continues below)
According to the CDC, infection from the tapeworm, which is found worldwide, occurs most often in rural, developing countries with poor hygiene where pigs are allowed to roam freely and eat human feces. This allows the tapeworm infection to be completed and the cycle to continue.
The risk for U.S. citizens has been considered rare due to strict food processing and handling regulations, especially for pork products, and generally high levels of hygiene.
The condition is very rare in Muslim countries where eating pork is forbidden.
"The cycle starts with a human that's infected with the tapeworm," said Dr. Luis Ostrosky, of the UT Houston Medical Center.
Failure to wash hands after using the restroom can result in contaminating food and infecting further victims.
"These eggs hatch in the intestine and go through the gut-wall and into the circulation where they get stuck somewhere," Ostrosky said.
Cysticercosis joins Morgellons disease, a mysterious infection seemingly similar to one documented 300 years ago, in the list of new illnesses spreading throughout South Texas.
While Morgellons disease has not been known to kill and it doesn't appear to be contagious, WND has reported its horrible symptoms are what worry doctors.
"These people will have like beads of sweat but it's black, black and tarry," Ginger Savely, a nurse practitioner in Austin who has treated a majority of Morgellons patients, told the San Antonio Express-News.
Patients infected with the disease get lesions that never heal.
Fibers removed from facial lesion of 3-year-old boy
"Sometimes little black specks come out of the lesions and sometimes little fibers," said Stephanie Bailey, a Morgellons patient.
It's those different-colored fibers that pop out of the skin that may be the most bizarre symptom of the disease.
More than 100 cases have been reported in South Texas.
"It really has the makings of a horror movie in every way," Savely said.
The South Texas outbreak's proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border comes at a time when the issues of illegal immigration, border security and possible amnesty for over 12 million illegal aliens are being debated in the U.S.
Despite Morgellons disease's distinctive symptoms and patients' tales of suffering, most of the medical community don't see the disease as real, with some doctors telling patients it's all in their head.
Morgellons disease may remain a mystery, but cysticercosis does not.
Doctors say washing hands, cooking meats thoroughly, especially pork, and washing fruits and vegetables are the best ways to avoid the disease.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2149798.ece
Racism fear over hammer attack on boy
By Andrew Johnson
Published: 13 January 2007
Eight men have been arrested after a schoolboy, 15, was repeatedly bludgeoned with a hammer in an attack in his school grounds.
Some parents at Ridgeway School in Wroughton, near Swindon, said the attack, in which four Asian men pinned the boy down at the end of the school day on Thursday, was racially motivated. The headmaster, Steve Colledge, said the attack had left pupils and parents "stunned and shocked". The boy has been described as "comfortable" in hospital.
Mr Colledge said he was on patrol in the grounds when the boy, who is white, was attacked. "After school had ended for the day and pupils were exiting the premises at least four young adults unknown to the school came into the tennis courts and attacked the pupil, we believe with something similar to a hammer." He said he understood the boy had been hit more than once and was "bleeding profusely but conscious at all times".
He added: "Relations seem to be very good and pupils mix, play football and chat together. It's predominantly a white school. Asian pupils probably make up less than five per cent." But Mr Colledge had heard the attackers were relatives of a pupil at the school.
A mother, who did not wish to be named, said she had heard there had been previous racially aggravated incidents at the school. She believes children walking home from school were subject to verbal and physical abuse from relations of Asian pupils at the school.
A spokeswoman for Wiltshire Police said eight arrests on suspicion of grievous bodily harm have been made of men and boys between the ages of 14 and 20.
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/208650%2Cdst_planepart_112.article
Plane part falls through Chicago home’s roof
January 12, 2007
By Tara Burghart The Associated Press
A small piece of metal apparently from an aircraft crashed this morning through the roof of a home near Midway Airport, authorities said.
No injuries were reported, and the part — about 16 inches in diameter — has been taken to Midway to be examined by federal authorities, said Wendy Abrams, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Aviation.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the source of the metal and the circumstances of how it may have fallen from an aircraft, Abrams said.
The homeowner, Dorothy Gohn, said she was sleeping when a heavy thud woke her up about 1 a.m. Friday.
continue...
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/208710,dst_planehoax_112.article
Chicago-bound flight grounded by bomb threat
Authorities: Call was a hoax
January 12, 2007
By John Seewer The Associated Press
TOLEDO, Ohio — A bomb threat that halted a commuter plane shortly before it was to take off with 33 people on board this morning appears to have been a hoax, authorities said.
No explosives were found on the American Eagle plane, authorities said.
Authorities had believed a passenger from the plane reported the threat in a cell phone call to 911 about 10:30 a.m., but FBI spokesman Scott Wilson said officials had determined the call did not come from the plane.
continue......
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1768134/posts
Alleged Shoplifters Create Blast to Escape, Injure Four in Georgia Wal-Mart
FOXNEWS ^ | Monday, January 15, 2007
Posted on 01/15/2007 6:32:34 PM PST by BenLurkin
STOCKBRIDGE, Georgia — Four men evading arrest for shoplifting at a neighborhood Wal-Mart triggered a small blast in the store using swimming pool chemicals in an incident that left four others hospitalized, authorities said.
Authorities said one of the men was seen by a store employee placing a toy inside his pants. As the employee went for help, the men headed to the section where the pool chemicals were stocked and mixed a chlorine-based chemical with another item, said Lt. Jason Bolton of the Henry County Police. The chemical reaction created a small explosion and filled the store with white smoke.
"They made their escape in the chaos that ensued," Bolton told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for a Monday story. "It's just hard to believe they did something like this to shoplift something as insignificant as a toy."
Four people, including an employee, were hospitalized for respiratory problems following the incident Sunday night. Three others were treated by emergency workers outside the store.
Bolton said the men turned a shoplifting misdemeanor into more serious charges, including "one of terroristic acts."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Pakistan 'nuclear' kidnap foiled
Police in north-west Pakistan say they have foiled a bid to abduct six officials working for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC).
Police say the gang seized the staff south of Peshawar late on Sunday, but were stopped at a security checkpoint.
Three would-be kidnappers were shot dead in the gunfight, while two others were arrested. Police say they have yet to establish a motive.
PAEC set up an office in the area after high-grade uranium was discovered.
Series of raids
According to local sources, at least 20 armed men raided the PAEC office in the village of Banda Daud Shah in Karak district on Sunday night.
The kidnappers took the officials there hostage and set off with them towards the Orakzai agency in the nearby tribal areas.
However, they were stopped at the checkpoint after exchanging gunfire with security forces. All the hostages were freed.
According to the police, the kidnappers were from one of the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
They said those involved had been identified, but refused to give further details.
It is the latest in a series of incidents targeting governmental and non-governmental organisations in the area.
In recent months, dozens of vehicles and more than 50 people have been hijacked or kidnapped by criminal gangs, BBC correspondents say.
Police blame most of the incidents on criminals, although they say tribesmen have also disguised themselves as Taleban fighters to carry out the raids.
In addition, some of the stolen vehicles have been used in bombings, the authorities say.
Most of the raiding tribesmen are said to come from the Taleban stronghold of North Waziristan.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6264173.stm
Published: 2007/01/15 17:15:34 GMT
© BBC MMVII
January 12-15, 2007 Anti-Terrorism News
(Latest stories first)
Kenyan police arrest a top leader of Somalia's Islamic militant
movement and Somalia: Kenyan Police Arrest Seven Somalis in Garissa
http://www.680news.com/news/international/article.jsp?content=w011521A
http://allafrica.com/stories/200701150035.html
(Lebanon) Hizbollah anticipates more escalations soon
http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=942445
(Afghanistan) 1 NATO soldier killed in Afghan battle
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070115/ap_on_re_as/afghan_violence_3
(Afghanistan) Deadly mission to flush out Taleban - British troops,
Taliban clash in Helmand province
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2547426,00.html
(Iraq) Saddam half brother, ex-official hanged
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070115/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
Iran says pressing ahead with atomic plan
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2007/January/middleeast_January144.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
Iraq's Young Blood - Newsweek: Sectarian war "poisoning the next
generation of Iraqis"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16610767/site/newsweek/
Iran Guard says U.S., Britain, Israel "axis of evil"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070114/pl_nm/iran_usa_dc
(Iraq) Insurgent TV channel turns into Iraq's newest cult hit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1990545,00.html
(France) Terrorists fan out across Maghreb from Algeria
http://www.lefigaro.fr/english/20070115.WWW000000406_terrorists_fan_out_across_maghreb_from_algeria.html
(Canada) Muslim Protest in Kitchener - in support of 5 Muslim men with
suspected ties to Al-Qaida
http://www.570news.com/news/local/article.jsp?content=20070114_094416_3532
British Muslims 'plotted London bombings'
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21065919-1702,00.html
Failed London bombing suspects go on trial - 6 men accused of
attempting bus bombings on July 21, 2005
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070115/ts_afp/britainattackstrial_070115103457
(UK) TV documentary accused of misrepresenting UK Muslims
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/070113/2007011302.html
(Philippines) 9 suspects in Cotabato bombing identified and 4 suspects
in Mindanao blasts arrested and MILF protests members' arrest in
bombing probe
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view_article.php?article_id=43540
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view_article.php?article_id=43515
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view_article.php?article_id=43542
(Philippines) Activist group: US troops engaged in combat in southern
RP - U.S. Embassy denies charge by "Focus on the Global South"
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=43550
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070115/ap_on_re_as/philippines_2
546 militants in Chechnya surrender - Amnesty offer to expire soon
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070115/ap_on_re_eu/russia_chechnya_amnesty
Somali gunmen attack convoy of Ethiopian troops
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070115/wl_nm/somalia_conflict_dc
Exclusive Footage "North Korea Labor Training Corps" - Video recording
exposing North Korea’s ‘forced prison camps’
http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk03200&num=1549
Blast at Afghan refugee camp in Pak kills 4
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Blast_at_Afghan_refugee_camp_in_Pak_kills_4/articleshow/1199356.cms
Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians on Gaza border
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070115/wl_nm/palestinians_violence_dc
700 kilos of explosives found in Egypt's Sinai
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2007/January/middleeast_January131.xml§ion=middleeast
Google Earth is terrorists' tool of choice
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36948
(Iraq) Violence kills three in Baghdad; Market stores burn overnight
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2007/January/focusoniraq_January95.xml§ion=focusoniraq
(India) Six Assam rebels caught, many more flee - ULFA terrorists
blamed for killing 72 in past week and Rebel hit squad behind killings
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/January/subcontinent_January489.xml§ion=subcontinent&col
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/January/subcontinent_January474.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
(East Africa) Tropic of Al-Qaeda: the African link - British author,
longtime Africa resident and visitor, says U.S. raids long overdue
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-2545865,00.html
(U.K. & Somalia) SAS hunts fleeing Al-Qaeda Africans - Suspects trapped
between Ethiopian troops assisted by US special forces and Kenyan army
with SAS troops
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2546108,00.html
UK preacher in secret web call for jihad - Anjem Choudary of
Al-Muhajiroun posted statement on jihadist internet forum for volunteers for
Somalia
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2546266,00.html
Three killed in southern Thailand - Suspected Islamic militants
beheaded Buddhist, shot dead 2 others
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6260245.stm
(Sri Lanka) Lanka troops capture three more Tiger bases - Eleven LTTE
bases captured in past week
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/January/subcontinent_January487.xml§ion=subcontinent
NATO-led raid kills 30 Taliban, Afghan police say and Brit, 16 Taliban
killed in Afghanistan (same event)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070114/ts_nm/afghan_violence_dc
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070114/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan_battle
(India) Three suspected militants arrested and Six injured in gas pipe
blast
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/January/subcontinent_January470.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/January/subcontinent_January469.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
Argentina Pursues Iran in '94 Blast As Neighbors Court Ahmadinejad
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301253.html
(Philippines) Raps filed vs JI, MILF leaders in blasts
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=43294
(India) 7/11 Mumbai detainees on FBI’s terror list as well - Over 2
dozen accused or captured now on FBI database
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/20875.html
(Somalia) Ethiopia fails to prove it caught any British jihadis and
Troops seize weapons in raids on Somali rebel hideouts
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9htfMT2n6lFevkAKR3QtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjYzZubXM2BHBvcwM4BHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=135b4st4d/EXP=1168830838/**http%3a//www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml%3fxml=/news/2007/01/14/wethiopia14.xml
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070114/ts_afp/somaliaunrestethiopia_070114122613
Reuters: Terrorist's Family Worried
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=23997&only&rss
(U.K.) MI5 terror alert blunder sends private data to US mailshot firm
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23381605-details/MI5%20terror%20alert%20blunder%20sends%20private%20data%20to%20US%20mailshot%20firm/article.do
Anti-ETA protests in Spain draw 250,000
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9htfMR7nalFP.sAwSLQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHZkMjZyBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=12oiaoe9s/EXP=1168830203/**http%3a//www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/252410/1/.html
Islamists use raid to stir up UK Somalis - Islamic extremists using
American strikes in Somalia to recruit British Somalis
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9htfMIrnalFPVABuw3QtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHZkMjZyBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=131gmhpdd/EXP=1168830123/**http%3a//www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml%3fxml=/news/2007/01/14/wsoma14.xml
(Afghanistan) 'Compared to this, Iraq was easy' - Slideshow of 10-day
embed with U.S. 10th Mountain Division - Taliban claim responsibility
for attack near Kabul
http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,,1986485,00.html
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=5244
Police across Europe to share DNA database
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1989902,00.html
(U.K.) 7/7 ringleader 'was watched since 2003' - Mohammad Sidique Khan
& Shehzad Tanweer were "desirable suspect" in 2003
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9htfMNQmqlF1q8Ahh_QtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjYzZubXM2BHBvcwM4BHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=13dmen4fg/EXP=1168829392/**http%3a//www.guardian.co.uk/Observer/uk_news/story/0,,1990026,00.html%3fgusrc=rss%26feed=11
NYT: Pentagon, CIA Grabbing Bank Records - U.S. military & CIA
accessing banking records of Americans and others suspected of terrorism -
Deletions in Army Manual Raise Wiretapping Concerns
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9htfMNQmqlF1q8Aeh_QtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjdmNoOTVjBHBvcwMyBHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=12cp5q8lk/EXP=1168829392/**http%3a//wcco.com/national/topstories_story_013210519.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/washington/14spyside.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Arrested Iranians tied to group arming Iraqis-U.S. - 5 Iranians
arrested by U.S. forces in Iraq connected to Iranian Revolutionary Guard
providing weapons to insurgents
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070114/ts_nm/iraq_dc
U.S. Gen.: Insurgent chief in Pakistan - Jalaluddin Haqqani sent
untrained men to Afghanistan, most of whom killed in battle
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070113/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan
(U.S.) Justice Dept. Concealing Leak Report - Report concludes DOJ
leaked to damage ex-prosecutor Richard Convertino, accused of bungling
terrorism trial
http://http//www.kfmb.com/stories/story.76830.html
(Sri Lanka) Elite cops capture Terror base "Janak"- Kangikadaichi Aru -
Key Tamil Tigers (LTTE) base captured
http://www.nmatnet.com/news/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1168599208&archive=&start_from=&ucat=
U.S., N. Korea to hold talks Jan. 22: Japanese lawmaker
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/183962.html
Five militants surrender in Chechnya as amnesty deadline nears
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070113/59005516.html
Bush gave order for raids on Iranians in Iraq - Networks targeted in
Iraq - Sec. Rice says no plans to attack Iran
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/12/news/iran.php
Iraq oil city rocked by attacks - Insurgents killed contractors and
blew up Shia mosque - Iraqi freelance journalist killed
http://khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2007/January/focusoniraq_January89.xml§ion=focusoniraq
http://khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2007/January/focusoniraq_January88.xml§ion=focusoniraq
NATO soldier killed in Afghan clash and British NATO forces deny
killing Afghan civilians
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=68532007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/13/wafg13.xml
Mother, three daughters die in Bangladesh blast and Occupied Kashmir
gunbattle kills two suspected militants, civilian
http://khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/January/subcontinent_January452.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/13/welcome.htm#14
Somalia declares state of emergency - 3-month period to restore
security - Pentagon Sees Move in Somalia as Blueprint
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=66952007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/13/world/africa/13proxy.html?hp&ex=1168750800&en=526ec8f28383b229&ei=5094&partner=homepage
(Iraq) Terrorists 'use Google maps to hit UK troops'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/13/wgoogle13.xml
(Philippines) MILF probes its ranks for blast links
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/jan/13/yehey/top_stories/20070113top3.html
Canada relying on Afghan police in Taliban offensive
http://www.canada.com/cityguides/halifax/info/story.html?id=bddbaef5-4128-4c2b-9df5-fb3ed7e11f3e
Canadian court permits extradition of terrorist ally to France -
Moroccan-born Abdellah Ouzghar to serve 5-year sentence in France for aiding
terrorists
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9htfMKwUahFbssAywPQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjcXBoZjEwBHBvcwMzBHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=137l7f8lg/EXP=1168745264/**http%3a//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070112/wl_canada_afp/canadafrancejustice_070112224902
Islamic Hideout in Somalia Said Captured - Ras Kamboni (near Kenya)
fell after 5 days of heavy fighting - Boy Soldiers Among the Hidden in
Somalia
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9htfMBJUahFAeoAnQ3QtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjcXBoZjEwBHBvcwMzBHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=12f94nori/EXP=1168745161/**http%3a//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070112/ap_on_re_af/somalia_345
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9htfMB0UahF_dsAHiPQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHZkMjZyBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=12squ875l/EXP=1168745204/**http%3a//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070112/ap_on_re_af/somalia_child_soldiers_1
Two Dozen Islamic Insurgents Killed In NATO Clash Sent Back to Pakistan
- Bolster assertions that Waziristan area is terrorists' safe haven
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201255.html?sub=AR
FBI Investigating 8,000 for Terrorism - FBI Director Mueller indirectly
disclosed number to Congress
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/badguys/070112/fbi_investigating_8000_for_ter.htm
MEMRI Islamist Websites Monitor No. 44
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=iwmp&ID=SP142407
Blogs provide light in Bangladesh's political night - UK Guardian cites
Animesh Roul's Jan. 11 post on Islamists' role
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2007/01/12/blogs_provide_light_in_bangladeshs_political_night.html
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/01/bangladesh_under_emergency_isl.php
(Spain) Basque separatist movement may've split - ETA's political wing,
Batasuna, surprised by bombings by other ETA
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2007/01/12/ap/international/d8mjsv2o0.txt
Report: Morocco sentences Belgian on terrorism charges
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3351587,00.html
Terrorists eyeing webcams as means to assess vulnerabilities, says FBI
and Airport webcams tool for terror - And NBC News reports webcam of
regional airport near Washington DC found on jihadist website
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070111/technology/technology_terror_webcams_1
http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/2007/01/12/3320286-sun.html
New Arms Shipments to Iraqi Militia Detected - ABC News: large
shipments of weapons smuggled to Iraqi militia recently, including top Iranian
projectiles
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/01/new_arms_shipme.html
Afghanistan: Local Taliban Defeat Raises Hopes For Dam Project - USAID
hopes to upgrade Kajaki Dam and transmission lines
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/1/6B4263BF-E6F3-4FBB-B867-BA7A05367EDF.html
Iranian and Syrian Government Papers on Renewed Superpower Role for
Russia - MEMRI transcript of recent articles extolling Russia
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD142307
(U.S.) Judge delays Padilla's Fla. terror trial - 3-month delay to
evaluate Padilla's mental competency
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070112/ap_on_re_us/padilla_terror_charges
Tunisia: 'Terrorists' had embassies' blueprints - Islamic extremists in
firefight had blueprints of foreign embassies and documents naming
foreign envoys
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16596319/from/RS.2/
Islamic Terror Group Posts Video Appearing to Show Chemical Rocket
Attack Against U.S. Base in Iraq - see video here - see Evan Kohlmann's
Jan. 12 post
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243306,00.html
http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ClipMediaID=431504&ak=null
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/01/video_purported_chemical_rocke.php
Bush Administration Eases Anti-Terrorism Restrictions On Asylum,
Residency
http://www.wlbz2.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=49688
Gov't: Somali warlords agree to disarm - Somalia's warlords agreed to
disarm and join national army - U.S. Urges Rapid African Peacekeeping
Mission to Somalia
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070112/ap_on_re_af/somalia
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243220,00.html
(Greece) Blast at U.S. embassy called 'terrorism' - and Rocket hits US
embassy in Athens - U.S. Embassy in Athens hit by rocket - no
casualties - police suspect Greek leftists
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070112/ap_on_re_eu/greece_us_embassy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6254399.stm
(Lebanon) US: Some countries fear revealing intelligence secrets to
Hariri probe
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=78487
(Lebanon) Prosecutor seeks life sentences in German train-bomb plot - 6
Lebanese suspects accused in failed train bombing plot in Germany
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=78485
Egypt warns against danger of Islamist regime - President Mubarak hits
Muslim Brotherhood in interview
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070112-055912-5363r
(Iraq) US reinforcements 'will go home in coffins' - 2 senior aides to
Moqtada al Sadr threaten US troops
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070112-045017-3001r
Germany's Highest Court Refuses to Hear Appeal of Sept. 11 Defendant -
Mounir el Motassadeq's appeal denied
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243218,00.html
US hasn't shared information on Al Qaeda: Pakistan and NATO kills
Taliban, Afghan civilians, police say
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/January/subcontinent_January405.xml§ion=subcontinent&col
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2007-01-12T125911Z_01_SP220667_RTRUKOC_0_US-AFGHAN-VIOLENCE.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C3-worldNews-3
Indonesian police kill 2 suspected militants after bomb and gun battle
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/latestnews/2007111/43618.htm
Afghan warlord 'aided Bin Laden' - Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
says his fighters helped Bin Laden escape from US in 2001
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6252975.stm
ASEAN okays unified list of terror groups</a> - Southeast Asian nations
to list groups and measures
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news1_jan12_2007
Algeria: Army Kills Six Militants, Report
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.375809265&par=0
Israeli soldiers held by Hezbollah alive: report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070112/ts_nm/israel_lebanon_dc
(Israel) Hezbollah weaponry and supplies found hidden along northern
border</a> - RPGs and machine gun found near where IDF soldiers kidnapped
last year
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/812427.html
(Philippines) AFP declares 'extreme critical terror' alert in Mindanao
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/0-0&fp=45a6c40525e23570&ei=9qKmRaePL8vwHMT-lOIM&url=http%3A//news.balita.ph/html/article.php/20070111172803436&cid=1112623813
US sees signs financial sanctions against Iran are biting
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070111/pl_afp/irannuclearpolitics_070111150615
Hezbollah is a growing danger to U.S., intelligence chief says -
Negroponte: al-Qaida the Biggest Threat
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20070111-1402-nationalthreats.html
http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=251&sid=1030083
Detained Iranians had Iraq approval - 5 Iranians detained by U.S. were
in process of being approved as consulate
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070112/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
Somalia leader: No role for Islamists
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/16415078.htm?%3Cbr%20/%3Esource=rss&channel=miamiherald_world
Jordan Islamists: Ethiopians In Somalia Are "US Proxy Occupation"
http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_8355-Jordan-Islamists-Ethiopians-In-Somalia-Are-US-Proxy-Occupation.html
Teacher killed in drive-by shooting in Pattani
http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30023769
Indonesian policeman killed by Muslim mob
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467709972&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(Chicago Hamas Trial) Student Was Terrorist, Prosecutor Says
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jan10/0,4670,HamasTrial,00.html
The Eurasia Daily Monitor, a publication of the Jamestown Foundation.org
PUTIN UPHOLDS NON-EXISTENT RULE OF LAW IN RUSSIA
The main news in Russia at the start of the new year comes, rather unusually, from the courts and law-enforcement agencies. At the top of the list is the arrest of a group of suspects in the murder of Andrei Kozlov, first deputy chairman of the Central Bank, last September (see EDM, September 21, 2006). Kozlov had led the campaign against “dirty banks,” and now Alexei Frenkel, the head of the mini-empire of banks specializing in money laundering, stands accused of arranging the murder (Vedomosti, January 12). The connections between these banks and organized crime have never been concealed very well, but prosecutors showed surprisingly little interest in investigating it (Ezhednevny zhurnal, January 12).
Russian President Vladimir Putin can be satisfied that his personal order to get to the bottom of this audacious crime has been fulfilled, but he knows that Russia’s reputation has suffered greatly from a chain of political murders last autumn that shocked public opinion in the West (Vedomosti, December 29). A new PR campaign aimed at rehabilitating the idea of the “rule of law” has been launched, with Putin congratulating the State Prosecution on its 285th anniversary and praised its efforts at upholding the law and its role as a “solid pillar of the state” (Newsru.com, January 12). The praise is well earned, since Deputy General Prosecutor Alexander Zvyagintsev proudly reported that a 110-page request for interviews and searches had been sent to the United Kingdom in connection with the murder of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko last November (Rossiiskaya gazeta, January 12). This counter-strike is supposed to quell the accusations that Russian special services executed that high-profile crime, much to Moscow’ chagrin (Ezhednevny zhurnal, January 12).
Seeking to broaden this PR offensive, last week Putin held a meeting in the Kremlin with the awkwardly named Council for Facilitating the Development of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights, a state-controlled non-governmental organization. In his opening remarks Putin criticized the poor conditions in Russian prisons and even pointed to the “problem of physical abuse of those waiting for their trial in pre-trial detention centers.” Emboldened by this opening, the carefully selected representatives of various NGOs complained about the mounting legal and bureaucratic obstacles for their work (Nezavisimaya gazeta, January 12). In response, former Supreme Court judge Tamara Morshchakova argued that judicial independence was non-existent, noting, “Any official can dictate any decision in any case” (Gazeta.ru, January 11).
Such a blunt statement coming from an insider instantly reveals the falsity of official propaganda and the scale of judicial suppression by the triumphant bureaucracy. It becomes clear that the re-opening of a 1997 case against Andrei Vavilov, former deputy finance minister and currently a member of the Federation Council, has little to do with the struggle against corruption (Nezavisimaya gazeta, January 12). Rather, it is linked with the dirty struggle among various Kremlin clans. For example, Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Leonid Reiman, a long-time Putin associate, remains invincible despite multiple revelations of his sleazy business deals (Vedomosti, May 25, 2006; Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2005). And it is excessively clear that new accusations against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev are driven by Putin’s irreducible enmity against the former oligarch now imprisoned in a Siberian labor camp (Vremya novostei, December 28).
One peculiar twist in this saga of simulated adherence to the rule of law took place in Courchevel, a French ski resort favored by the Russian rich-and-famous for relaxing in the first week of January and celebrating Orthodox Christmas. This year, however, the French police interrupted their partying and detained 26 people, including Mikhail Prokhorov, the CEO and co-owner of Norilsk Nickel, for several days as part of an investigation targeting illegal prostitution (Moskovsky komsomolets, January 12). The Russian nouveau riche have become used to the idea that a few millions dollars could buy them the right to drive at any speed and entertain themselves in every exotic way -- and they are unpleasantly surprised that this sort of behavior is not welcome in Europe anymore (Gazeta.ru, January 11).
This naïve and cynical attitude mirrors quite closely the prevailing mood in the Kremlin, which remains confident that its pretence of enforcing the rule of law would be accepted as a bona fide commitment. Putin’s courtiers have no doubt whatsoever that reality can be ignored when managing domestic opinions, so long as they maintain firm control over the media and make sure that “petro-rubles” trickle down to those who earn ten times less in a year than an average oligarch burns in Courchevel in a day. Putin himself shows no doubt in the readiness of his European counterparts to swallow his reassurances in upholding the law as long as he also provides guarantees for delivering oil and gas. He should, however, feel a pang of doubt -- and not only because of the overreaction in Europe to his hydrocarbon quarrels with Belarus.
The year 2006 saw a strong surge in the activities of the Russian secret services. “Special operations” are now perfectly legitimate thanks to the legislation approved by the Russian parliament, and what remains in the shadows is certainly outside the reach of any investigation or journalist’s curiosity (Novaya gazeta, January 11). Public opinion in Russia remains mute about this scary specter and appears ready to turn the page on the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. For the West, however, Litvinenko’s poisoning illuminated the inner logic of Russia’s retreat from democracy where the secret service “projects” are covered by the Kremlin and paid by Gazprom.
--Pavel K. Baev
[THIS IS A MUST READ, HAS HIS EARLY HISTORY, A LOT THAT I HAD NOT READ BEFORE]
AZZAM THE AMERICAN
The making of an Al Qaeda homegrown.
by RAFFI KHATCHADOURIAN
Issue of 2007-01-22
Posted 2007-01-15
The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070122fa_fact_khatchadourian?page=1
Adam Gadahn, the first American to be charged with treason in more than fifty years, was born in Oregon , grew up in rural California , and converted to Islam at the age of seventeen. He is now twenty-eight. No one who knew him before his religious awakening ever thought that he would join Al Qaeda, and many people who knew him after he did are still perplexed. And yet, in a short time, Gadahn has become one of Osama bin Laden's senior operatives. (He is believed to be hiding in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan .) He is a member of Al Qaeda's "media committee," and his responsibilities are thought to include those of translator, video producer, and cultural interpreter. Primarily, though, Gadahn is a spokesperson, a role he performs with tremendous conviction. He has addressed the United States in five videos, most of which reach a wide audience on the Internet and, in some form or another, have been discussed on the evening news. Last year, shortly before the fifth anniversary of September 11th, Al Qaeda's leadership featured Gadahn in a video titled "An Invitation to Islam." The video began with an introduction from Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's main theoretician, who referred to Gadahn tenderly as a brother and as "a perceptive person who wants to lead his people out of darkness into the light." Zawahiri implored his Western audience to listen to Gadahn, even to follow his example. Al Qaeda had never before given one of its members, let alone an American, an endorsement so intimate and direct.
continued:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/014834.php
January 14, 2007
"We shall kill all Thai Buddhists"
Thai Jihad Update. "One beheaded, two killed in Thai Muslim south," from Reuters:
YALA, Thailand (Reuters) - Suspected Muslim militants beheaded a Buddhist man and shot dead two civilians in southern Thailand on Sunday as an uprising shows no signs of abating.
The head of the 40-year-old farmer was found next to his body and that of his 35-year-old wife at the entrance of their rubber plantation in Yala province, police said.
Both had been shot and a handwritten note next to the bodies said, "We shall kill all Thai Buddhists," they said.
In the same province, a 74-year-old man was shot dead while riding his motorcycle, police said. Two teenagers, also on a motorcycle, had shot the man.
On Saturday, suspected militants shot dead police Sergeant-Major Pak Petmalai, 47, as he headed for work at a station near his home.
[...]
More than 1,900 people have been killed in three years of violence in the south and peace efforts by the country's new military rulers have had little impact in curbing the unrest.
Posted at January 14, 2007 01:51 PM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2007/01/014839print.html
January 15, 2007
Failed second wave of UK bombings not a "copycat" attack, but planned well in advance: chief prosecutor
And if the attacks were as carefully planned as the evidence indicates, who may have recruited, funded, and trained the bombers? "Militants plotted second wave of UK bombs, court told," by Michael Holden for Reuters:
LONDON (Reuters) - An Islamist cell tried to carry out suicide bombings on London's transport system just two weeks after attacks that killed 52 people and wounded about 700, a prosecutor said on Monday.
The "extremist Muslim plot" was not a hastily arranged copycat scheme but a long-planned operation, chief prosecutor Nigel Sweeney said as six British men went on trial over the failed attacks of July 21, 2005.
He said the attackers aimed to cause maximum injury by detonating home-made bombs packed with metal, which they carried in rucksacks onto the public transport system.
"It was simply the good fortune of the traveling public that they were spared," Sweeney told the court.
The targets -- three underground trains and a bus -- echoed those in the deadly attacks by four young British Muslims who blew themselves up in London two weeks earlier, on July 7, 2005.
The failed second set of attacks caused panic and triggered a huge manhunt, leaving Londoners unclear if they were a botched and quickly assembled attempt to imitate the original carnage.
But Sweeney told the high-security Woolwich Crown Court: "The evidence in this case shows that this conspiracy had been in existence long before the events of July 7."
The six men are all originally from Africa and in their 20s.
Sweeney said the 9th-floor flat of defendant Yassin Hassin Omar in north London was the bomb-making factory. The detonator was triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and the main charge was held in buckets surrounded by screws, tacks, washers and nuts.
"The purpose is, of course, to increase fragmentation when the bomb explodes and maximize the possibility of injury, fatal or otherwise, to those in the vicinity," Sweeney told the court.
FAILED TO EXPLODE
Sweeney said the 5 kg (11 lb) bombs were made of hydrogen peroxide, nail varnish and flour used to make chapatis, or unleavened bread. They were carried in rucksacks with wires connected to the detonators hidden under clothing.
He said that between May 9 and July 5, the group bought 442 liters of hydrogen peroxide. One supplier sold them 218 liters, nearly half of its total sales of the chemical in that period.
Sweeney said four of the defendants successfully fired their TATP detonators but the main charge failed to explode, possibly because the proportion of hydrogen peroxide was not quite right.
TATP is an explosive chemical which can be made from commonly available household products. Nicknamed "Mother of Satan," it is highly volatile and liable to explode prematurely if subjected to friction, impact or change of temperature.
All the main suspects on trial were apprehended just over a week after the failed attacks.
Muktah Said Ibrahim, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, Hussein Osman, Yassin Hassin Omar, Ramzi Mohammed and Adel Yahya are all charged with conspiracy to murder. They deny the charges.
The prosecutor said Osman had told police after being arrested in Italy that the bombings were a deliberate hoax to make a political point. Sweeney rejected the "hoax" defense.
Sweeney said Mohammed was seen trying to set off his bomb facing a woman with a pushchair and was wearing a top with New York on it, "no doubt connected with the events of 9/11."
He said home-made films featuring images of beheadings of Western hostages and other attacks, including those on September 11 in New York, were found in two of the defendants' flats.
They are also accused of "conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property."
Posted at January 15, 2007 05:38 PM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2007/01/014836print.html
January 15, 2007
Muslim Council of Britain fuming over mosque documentary
We noted last week that documentary footage of jihadist preaching inside British mosques would soon air in Britain -- and it's airing tonight. But oddly enough, the Muslim Council of Britain, the "moderate" group, is unhappy. You would think that a group of moderate Muslims would be cheering the exposure of jihad sympathizers among them, but they're instead sounding all the familiar themes of selective quotation, etc. etc. etc. But you know, in most circumstances, no matter how selectively one quotes not much can be made of the result.
"TV documentary accused of misrepresenting UK Muslims," from Arabic News (thanks to Doc Washburn):
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is accusing Channel Four commercial channel of attempting to foment division and sectarianism among Britain's 1.8 million Muslim community.
A documentary, being screened Monday, goes undercover at mosques to find what it in its advance publicity are "preachers condemning integration into British society, condemning democracy and praising the Taliban for killing British soldiers." MCB said the Dispatches program "mischievously tried to prove that key Muslim institutions are teaching the exact opposite to Islam commanding Muslims to deal positively and peacefully with those around us."
The producers were "resorting to the dishonest tactic of selectively quoting from some recorded speeches for the purpose of misrepresentation," MCB secretary general Abdul Bari said.
"Their aim is to attach guilt by association. This continuing demonization of British Muslims and the risible attempt at promoting sectarianism among British Muslims will be firmly rejected," Bari said.
Posted at January 15, 2007 07:25 AM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2007/01/014830print.html
January 14, 2007
UK preacher in secret web call for jihad
It isn't as if what he says under his own name is all that different. By Abul Taher in the TimesOnline, with thanks to Sr. Soph:
ONE of Britain’s most vocal, extremist preachers has been using a false name on a secret website to incite Muslim followers to go on jihad, or holy war, in Somalia.
Anjem Choudary, former spokesman of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun, has posted a statement on a jihadist internet forum telling followers they must join the “divine call of jihad” in the African state.
His call in the password-protected site came days before America mounted air raids on suspected Al-Qaeda units in southern Somalia and news emerged that seven British passport holders had been captured in Somalia by Ethiopian troops....
Choudary is a well-known figure on the forum called Followers of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’aah Muntada (Followers of the Prophet and His Companions). The site, which has about 700 members, is visited by some of Britain’s most notorious Muslim extremists, members of groups such as Al-Ghurabaa and the Saved Sect, offshoots of Al-Muhajiroun and banned after the London bombings on July 7, 2005. Applicants have to be recommended by a member.
Choudary, who uses the pseudonym Abou Luqman, declares in the forum: “The Ethiopians, with . . . support (from the Christian crusader regimes) and backed by illegitimate Israel (Zionists), have violated the blood of Muslims in Somalia. By committing such an act of terrorism the Muslims in Somalia and nearby lands have responded to the divine call of jihad.”
He then reminds followers of their duty to fight jihad: “The obligation of supporting jihad all over the world is fard ayn (an individual obligation) . . . This honourable act must be carried out according to your own capabilities because our beloved prophet Muhammad said strike the mushrik (infidels) with your wealth, hands and tongue.”
In traditional Islamic theology, jihad is fard kifaya, a community obligation, from which some are free if others are taking it up. It becomes fard ayn, incumbent upon everyone to participate in some way, if a Muslim land is attacked.
The forum has videos and images produced by Al-Qaeda that call on Muslims to join the jihad. Images of corpses of Ethiopian soldiers are captioned “dead kuffar (infidel) bodies”.
Forum members routinely quote the last wills of Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, two of the London bombers. There are also videos by Omar Bakri, the founder of Al-Muhajiroun who has been banned from Britain. In these, he claims to have lectured in Beeston, Leeds, the home town of three of the bombers.
Forum members also analyse British news. In one posting, George Galloway, the Respect MP, is ridiculed for criticising Omar Brooks, the Muslim extremist who heckled John Reid, the home secretary, in east London. One posting says: “What a dog this Galloway guy is . . . (he) can go to hell.”...
Choudary, 39, a trained lawyer from Ilford, east London, has in the past called for the execution of Pope Benedict.
Patrick Mercer, Tory spokesman for homeland security, said: “Choudary must be closed down. It’s appalling that the Home Office has not done anything against this man so far.”
Yes.
Posted at January 14, 2007 06:45 AM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2007/01/014820print.html
January 12, 2007
Somali jihadists held UK meeting last year to raise funds
Tiny Minority of Extremists Alert: Another report of funds raised in Britain for the Somali jihadists. "Somali Islamists held UK meeting to raise funds," by Jeevan Vasagar for the Guardian:
Somalia's Islamist movement, whose leadership is accused by the US of sheltering some of al-Qaida's most wanted operatives, sent a delegation on a fundraising trip to Britain last year, the Guardian has learned. Led by an Islamist minister, the Union of Islamic Courts delegation received pledges of funding from members of Britain's Somali diaspora at a meeting at a north London school in November.
According to one community leader, the Somali delegation also met sympathisers at the Finsbury Park mosque, which became notorious as a recruiting ground for radical Islam under its former imam Abu Hamza.
Abdiwali Mohamud, a Somali community worker in Camden, said: "They were trying to influence people in a Muslim way, saying are you with us or with the unbelievers?"
Although they were not officially recognised by Britain, the Islamists also held talks with Foreign Office officials, who urged them to negotiate with Somalia's government.
The Foreign Office meeting underlines the strikingly different approaches taken by the US - which describes the Islamists as "extremists to the core" and targeted Somalia with an air strike this week - and Britain, which accepts that there were moderate elements within the UIC.
Around 500 people attended the Islamists' fundraising meeting at the Islington Arts and Media School, according to a British Somali who was in the audience. A delegation led by Omar Mohammed Mahamoud Aftooje, the Islamist minister responsible for reconstruction, appealed for financial help.
"They talked about the progress they made in Mogadishu, how they defeated the warlords," the audience member, who requested anonymity, told the Guardian. "More than 20 people donated £1,000 each, some people said £100, others £300, some of them gave cash on the spot, others gave bank details or agreed to transfer money. They said the money was for repairing roads in Mogadishu."
However, one of the UIC delegation also spoke of the need for military support, which prompted concern from the audience.
The audience member said: "He said: 'We are at war at the moment, people have died and we need military support.'
"Some people were angry, they said, are you asking for money to rebuild our country or money for fighting? Some were happy to support fighting but some were not."
But did anyone object to the "Talibanization" of their country?
The delegation also visited Birmingham and Manchester.
The Foreign Office confirmed yesterday that a UIC delegation had met British officials on November 20.
A spokeswoman said: "They asked for the meeting. HMG appreciated that at the time the UIC was a reality on the ground and in dialogue with the [Somali] government. It was reasonable to meet them."
The government was aware that the Islamists were trying to raise funds. "We were neither happy nor unhappy about that. The UIC is not a proscribed terrorist organisation."
Many among Britain's 43,000-strong Somali community admire the movement for restoring peace and the rule of law to the capital, Mogadishu, and southern Somalia, which has been fought over by rival factions since the collapse of central government 16 years ago. An Islamist supporter, Mohomoud Nur, a community worker with the London-based Somali Speakers Association, said: "Somali tribes are so fragmented the only thing that can unite them is Islam. People felt the only way they could find justice is through Islam."
The Home Office is still investigating Ethiopian claims that seven British passport holders were injured in Monday's US air strike on suspected jihadists in southern Somalia.
Mr Nur said he had phone contact with British Somali families who were stranded in Somalia and feared that their teenage sons might be accused of being jihadi fighters. "There are families that are hiding there now, who are afraid they may confiscate passports and accuse them, that they are foreign fighters."
Abdirahman Warsame, the Finsbury Park mosque's executive manager, denied claims that the Islamists had met supporters there, saying the only fundraising had been at the Islington school.
Posted at January 12, 2007 09:56 PM
[There appears to be several things going on in Tunisa, as I have had several posts about them....]
January 12, 2007
Jihadists caught in Tunisia with blueprints of foreign embassies, diplomats' names
Tunisian government officials confirm new jihad activity. "In Tunisia, extremists bore blueprints," by Bouazza Ben Bouazza for AP:
TUNIS, Tunisia - Islamic extremists involved in a deadly fire fight with police this month had blueprints of foreign embassies and documents naming foreign envoys, Tunisia's official news agency quoted the interior minister as saying Friday.
Interior Minister Rafik Haj Kacem described the extremists as "terrorists" in a closed door meeting with members of Tunisia's governing party, the TAP news agency reported.
It was the first time authorities had made available official information on the Jan. 3 confrontation with police that left 14 people dead — two of them members of the security forces.
Run with an iron fist, this country of some 10 million people, a tourist haven for Europeans, has largely been spared Islamic extremist violence. However, 21 people — mostly German tourists — were killed in a 2002 suicide attack on a synagogue on the Tunisian resort island of Djerba. Investigators linked the attack to al-Qaida.
Fifteen people were arrested following the Jan. 3 clash in Soliman, a town 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Tunis, the capital. An initial clash with security forces on Dec. 23 left two dead and two police officers injured. The minister said three police officers were injured but it was not immediately clear whether that was in addition to the two injured in December.
Blueprints of some foreign embassies and documents with the names of some foreign diplomats were seized following the fire fights, TAP quoted the minister as telling leading members of the ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally party. He did not name the embassies or identify the diplomats whose names figured on the documents, according to TAP.
Explosives described as locally made also were seized, Kacem told the politicians.
The minister also appeared to link the group to the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, the main insurgency movement in neighboring Algeria, saying they were "Salafist terrorists."
The interior minister, confirming press reports, said a portion of the group had crossed into Tunisia from Algeria, which has been battling an Islamic insurgency since 1992.
He did not provide nationalities for group members or a total number. Press reports have said that its leaders were Tunisian but that there was a Mauritanian among them.
Authorities had earlier referred to the group simply as "criminals."
Posted at January 12, 2007 03:05 PM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2007/01/014818print.html
TerroristWarning.com Terrorism Headlines 01/15/2006 # 1
Be sure to regularly check www.GlobalIncidentMap.com where we post our incidents much more quickly than we publish our email editions
National:
[Middletown Press] CONNECTICUT - Bomb detonates in car
"A bomb scare had the rear parking lots of a Taco Bell and Pep Boys automotive store on the Berlin Turnpike shut down Wednesday afternoon as officials examined a white Buick Century believed to have contained a bomb"
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17696464&BRD=1645&PAG=461&dept_id=10856&rfi=6
[sun-sentinel.com ] FLORIDA - White powder scare shuts parts of Palm Beach County courthouse
"mysterious letter containing a contaminating substance"
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-111whitepowder,0,644311.story?coll=sfla-news-palm
[WPTV] FLORIDA - Poison Found in Envelope at Palm Beach County Courthouse
"Authorities are confirming the substance found in an envelope at the Palm Beach County Courthouse is, in fact, a poisonous substance"
http://www.wptv.com/News/011107_PalmBeachCOuntyCourthouseEvac.cfm
[CBS4] FLORIDA - NEW INCIDENT - White Powder Found in Palm Beach Courthouse
"For the second day in a row, there’s another mysterious powder scare at the Palm Beach County courthouse"
http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_012104948.html
[Henry Daily Herald] GEORGIA - Authorities on lookout for stolen trailer containing explosives
"McDonough Police say sometime between 5 p.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. Wednesday, a trailer containing construction equipment and 100 pounds of gunpowder was stolen from a construction area behind the Henry County Courthouse"
http://www.henryherald.com/local/local_story_010195709.html?keyword=topstory
[CBC] CANADA - Police seize bombs, explosives from rural Ontario home
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2007/01/12/bomb-factory.html
[Reuters] PENNSYLVANIA - White powder found in Pennsylvania courthouse
http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2007-01-12T152218Z_01_N12210344_RTRIDST_0_SECURITY-PENNSYLVANIA.XML
[Courier Post Online] NEW JERSEY - White powder leads to lockdown at Triton
"white powdery substance found in an envelope"
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070112/NEWS01/701120353/1006
[KUTV] SALT LAKE CITY - Suspicious White Powder Found In Mail Truck [False alarm]
http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_011183848.html
[WBOY] WEST VIRGINIA - Man Questioned -- Again -- For Pre-paid Cell Phones
http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=18400
[Miami Herald] USA / MEXICO BORDER - Soldiers are shot in border town
"Nuevo Laredo police and state investigators who responded to the shooting saw a large amount of dollars, assault rifles and a grenade launcher inside the soldiers' car "
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/americas/16450799.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
[Miami Herald] FLORIDA - Pipe bomb found under car of federal witness in Hialeah
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/16460986.htm
[NBC6.net] FLORIDA - Gym Evacuated After Fumes Sicken Customers
"Medics treated about two dozen people at the L.A. Fitness Center on 124th Avenue"
http://www.nbc6.net/news/10746431/detail.html
[AP] SOUTH CAROLINA - 4 Orangeburg County Deputies Sickened After Drinking Coffee
http://www.abcnews4.com/news/stories/0107/387734.html
[NBC4.tv] CALIFORNIA - Bomb Squad Investigates Package At Costco
"package with green tape and protruding wires was found at the front door of the business"
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/10754105/detail.html
[The Register] USA - Fact, fiction or bioterror drill? How to cook up a ricin scare
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/15/ricin_scare_mashup/
[WHIO TV] OHIO - Bomb Scare Prompts Evacuation Of Urbana Plant [False alarm]
http://www.whiotv.com/news/10752036/detail.html
[Iowa City Press-Citizen ] IOWA - Odor permeates downtown; mall briefly evacuated
http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070115/NEWS01/70115003/1079
International:
[CNN] GREECE - Blast hits U.S. Embassy compound in Athens
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/01/12/athens.blast/index.html
See also http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-01/12/content_5597817.htm
[Londonist] UNITED KINGDOM - Bomb Scare Evacuation [Near Turkish Bank]
http://www.londonist.com/archives/2007/01/bomb_scare_evac.php
[AP] AFGHANISTAN - 150 militants killed in Afghanistan, NATO claims
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-afghanistan0111,0,4791278.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines
[RIA Novosti] RUSSIA - Three militants killed in operation in South Russia
"As part of the same operation police raided another apartment believed to be used by the group early Thursday, and found explosives, detonators, a map showing police stations in the city, and Islamist Wahhabite literature"
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070111/58897879.html
[Xinhua] THAILAND - Bomb injures 3 soldiers in Thai south
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-01/12/content_5597779.htm
[The Nation] THAILAND - Explosives found under pickup in front Pattani military camp
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/01/12/headlines/headlines_30023961.php
[Pattaya City News] THAILAND - Chonburi Gymnasium evacuated as suspicious package is neutralized by bomb squad
"a box containing a mobile phone without its battery and a message were inside. The message read” Children’s Day, 3 bombs and 3 times”
http://www.pattayacitynews.net/news_12_01_50_4.htm
[Radio Prague] CZECH REPUBLIC - Over 30 Prague schools scoured for bomb after anonymous threat
"It is the biggest security operation in the Czech capital since last September when there were fears of a possible terrorist attack against Jewish targets"
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/87189
[AP] SERBIA - Authorities raise alert in Serbian prison after finding explosives
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/12/europe/EU-GEN-Serbia-Prison-Alert.php
[Reuters] TUNISIA - Tunisia says gang smashed last week were Islamists
"During the investigation, they found images of sites of some foreign embassies. They also confiscated documents containing a few names of foreign diplomats living in Tunisia and a quantity of traditional explosives"
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12887191.htm
[AntiMullah.com (Blog)] IRAN - Nuclear event in Iran?
"Reports emanating from Iran on Wednesday indicate a huge explosion - reportedly NUCLEAR - from the Kerman area at the edge of the Kavir Lut"
http://www.antimullah.com/
See also other reports of explosions in Iran - http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1AD1804A-599E-4003-8F54-21AFCC1E3200.htm
see also http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/186028.php and http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8510210160
[Itar-Tass] RUSSIA - More militants lay down arms and stopped resistance in Chechnya
http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11151184&PageNum=0
[AP Worldstream] PAKISTAN - Pakistan attacks militants in North Waziristan across border from fierce Afghan battle
"Pakistani helicopter gunships attacked supply trucks used by suspected insurgents for cross-border attacks in neighboring Afghanistan, a military spokesman said Thursday. The army attack occurred across the border from where NATO forces reported killing more than 150 militants"
http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=14133&TagID=2
[GMANews.TV] PHILIPPINES - 4 nabbed over spate of bomb blasts in Mindanao
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/26836/4-nabbed-over-spate-of-bomb-blasts-in-Mindanao
[WNA] IRAQ - Four civilians were wounded in a car bomb explosion AL-Aamel neighborhood in Baghdad
http://www.wna-news.com/inanews/news.php?item.2753.15
[NewsYemen] YEMEN - Marib bomb may be terrorist: security source
http://www.newsyemen.net/en/view_news.asp?sub_no=3_2007_01_14_6510
[Reuters] BANGLADESH - Bomb kills 4 of family [4 bombs, 1 accidental]
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=127298&version=1&template_id=44&parent_id=24
[Imphal Free Press] INDIA - Shoppers escape as bomb fails to explode [Grenade]
http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=35849&typeid=1
[BBC] CHAD - Disputes over Chad rebel attack
"Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) said its forces attacked the town of Ounianga Kebir at dawn on Saturday"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6260049.stm
[IOL] IVORY COAST 01/12/2007 - Four held for fatal Ivory Coast border attack
"group, which was armed with 12-bore shotguns and knives, simultaneously attacked the border posts of the military police, police and customs officers at around 02h00 GMT on Friday and stole a number of Kalashnikov rifles"
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=qw1168693562216B216
[ScandAsia] DENMARK - Bomb Threat Against Thai Embassy in Copenhagen
http://www.scandasia.com/viewNews.php?news_id=3001&coun_code=dk
[AP] AFGHANISTAN - Bomb wounds adviser
"A suicide bomber in an explosives-packed car followed and then struck a two-vehicle convoy carrying foreign police advisers south of Kabul yesterday, killing himself and wounding one adviser and an Afghan civilian"
http://torontosun.com/News/World/2007/01/13/3341653-sun.html
[AFP] AFGHANISTAN - Bomb hits tanker
"bomb attached to an Afghanistan-bound petrol tanker supplying fuel to American forces in that country exploded on Sunday but caused no casualties"
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\01\15\story_15-1-2007_pg1_5
[Daily Times] PAKISTAN - Cop foils bombing bid
"police on Sunday recovered a time bomb near the main gate of the Metrological Department situated in front of the NWFP Assembly building"
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\01\15\story_15-1-2007_pg1_4
[Pakistan Times] PAKISTAN - Bomb explosion at Mastung in SW Pakistan
http://www.pakistantimes.net/2007/01/15/top14.htm
[AFP] EGYPT - Egypt arrests six Islamists in new crackdown
"Egyptian security forces arrested six members of the Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday"
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2007/January/theworld_January386.xml§ion=theworld&col
[IANS] INDIA - Ulfa threatens to kill Assam Cong leaders
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/January/subcontinent_January475.xml§ion=subcontinent&col
[Reuters] EGYPT - Egypt finds explosives cache
"cache consisted of at least 500 kg (1,100 lb) of TNT hidden in two gas containers and large plastic bags and was found in the desert area near al-Arish, on Egypt's Mediterranean coast"
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425822/959899
[AFP] SRI LANKA - Lanka troops capture three more Tiger bases
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/January/subcontinent_January487.xml§ion=subcontinent&col
[PTI] PAKISTAN - Six injured in gas pipe blast
"near the Kolkata railway station early yesterday"
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/January/subcontinent_January469.xml§ion=subcontinent&col
[RIA Novosti] RUSSIA - Two Chinese entrepreneurs blown up in Russia's East Siberia
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070114/59032504.html
See also http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/ybopen.asp?section=ybbf&story_id=102147309&ID=blackenterprise
[Xinhua] AFGHANISTAN - 30 militants killed in S. Afghanistan
http://english.people.com.cn/200701/15/eng20070115_341148.html
[Itar-Tass] RUSSIA - No detained suspects in Moscow State University dorm explosion
"police did not confirm claims that the suspect is allegedly affiliated to nationalist groups"
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11154385&PageNum=0
[AP] SRI LANKA - 2 Tamil rebels killed in eastern Sri Lanka, bombs recovered: military
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/15/asia/AS-GEN-Sri-Lanka.php
[Ynet] ISRAEL - IDF nabs 19 Palestinian terror suspects in West Bank overnight
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3352357,00.html
[The Nation] THAILAND - Tambon official shot dead in Pattani
"believed to be a terror campaign by insurgents"
http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30024164
[The Nation] THAILAND - Couple beheaded after shot dead in Yala
"A married couple were beheaded after they were shot dead apparently by Muslim insurgents in this southern border province Sunday morning "
http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30024095
[The Nation] THAILAND - 64 teachers have been killed by Muslim insurgents
http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30024058
[AFP] THAILAND - Three killed in Thailand's restive Muslim south
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/252573/1/.html
[RTTNews] THAILAND - Insurgents Behead Buddhist And 2 Others In Thailand
"militants left a note by the body warning Buddhists to leave the area "
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070114\ACQRTT200701140327RTTRADERUSEQUITY_0015.htm&selected=9999&selecteddisplaysymbol=9999&StoryTargetFrame=_top&mkt=WORLD&chk=unchecked&lang=&link=&headlinereturnpage=http://www.international.nasd
[Reuters] ISRAEL - Palestinian bombers killed in Gaza
"gunfire detonated explosives the two men were carrying"
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0115/breaking11.htm
[KUNA] IRAN - Russian admiral: Numerous US nuclear subs signals imminent strike on Iran
'Admiral Edward Baltin was quoted by news agencies as saying he believed the presence of so many US nuclear submarines in the Persian Gulf meant a strike was likely"
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/1555
[Deutsche Presse-Agentur ] MYANMAR - Parcel-bomb explodes in Myanmar post office
"parcel said to be sent from China addressed to the Japanese embassy"
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/news/article_1246356.php/Parcel-bomb_explodes_in_Myanmar_post_office
[Xinhua] RUSSIA - Over 500 militants surrender to authorities under amnesty in Russia
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-01/16/content_5610314.htm
Seaports/ Shipping/ Cruises/ Ferries/ Maritime Security/ Cargo Security/ Container Security/ Lakes/ Waterways:
[Telegraph] UNITED KINGDOM - 'James Bond harpoon' to stop terrorist attack from the Thames
"Security chiefs are developing a harpoon-like gun to defend Parliament against a terrorist attack from the River Thames"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/14/nterr14.xml
[Polskie Radio] POLAND - Explosion in Swinoujscie shipyard [Cause unknown, probable accident]
http://www.polskieradio.pl/polonia/article.asp?tId=47078&j=2
[Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence] SRI LANKA - CID investigates into aircraft parts found hidden inside a cargo ship bound to KKS harbor
"Air craft in the hands of the LTTE have been considered an extremely dangerous element by the US as well as Indian intelligence for the security of the region and for the security of the world at large as far as terrorism is concerned since the terrorist group owns the worlds most advanced technology regarding suicide bombers"
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070115_04
Railways/ Trains/ Light Rail/ Subways/ Trolleys/ Tubes/ Railway Bridges and Tunnels:
[TNA] THAILAND - Narathiwat railway bomb wounds two police
"A bomb blast on a railway line in the southern border province of Narathiwat wounded two police officers, forcing train services to a halt Monday morning"
"suspected insurgents set fire to piles of tires blocking railway track, and placed other suspicious materials across the rail line "
"Meanwhile, another bomb exploded almost simultaneously in Narathiwat's Bajo district, slightly damaging a bridge but without causing injury"
http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=27274
[The Nation] THAILAND - Insurgents launch two bomb attacks in Narathiwat
"Muslim insurgents launched two bomb attacks in this southern border province Monday morning, causing damages to a bridge and a section of railway tracks"
http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30024165
See also http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/15/asia/AS-GEN-Thailand-Southern-Violence.php
[PTI] PAKISTAN - Six injured in gas pipe blast
"near the Kolkata railway station early yesterday"
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/January/subcontinent_January469.xml§ion=subcontinent&col
[Bucks Herald] UNITED KINGDOM - Bomb on Railway Line Video Criticised
"A video on the internet showing an explosive device being set-off near a rail-line, apparently submitted by someone from Aylesbury, has been condemned by the British Transport Police"
http://www.aylesburytoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=789&ArticleID=1971309
[Express News Service] INDIA 01/12/2007 - Acid attack on 2 commuters in suburban train at Virar
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=217433
[Reuters] THAILAND - 3 killed, more than 70 injured in Thai train crash
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2007/January/theworld_January375.xml§ion=theworld&col
[PTI/DPA] INDIA - Eight killed as goods train derails
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/January/subcontinent_January462.xml§ion=subcontinent&col
[Mirror] UNITED KINGDOM - This train is loaded with 200 tonnes of artillery shells, bullets, grenades and mortars, and I've Just planted a Bomb
"journalist holds a fake bomb as he stands by an unguarded train filled with Army explosives - exposing a horrifying security blunder"
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_headline=this-train-is-loaded-with-200-tonnes-of-artillery-shells--bullets--grenades-and-mortars---and-i-ve-just-planted-a--bomb--%26method=full%26objectid=18470907%26siteid=94762-name_page.html
[AP] CYPRUS - Passenger jet makes emergency landing in Paphos after bomb threat
"airport received a phone call shortly after 4 p.m. (1400GMT) claiming there was a bomb on board"
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/15/europe/EU-GEN-Cyprus-Emergency-Landing.php
[Xinhua] CHINA - Man carrying gun detained before going aboard plane in SW China
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-01/14/content_5605609.htm
http://russophobe.blogspot.com/2007/01/gordievsky-reviews-litvinenko.html
Monday, January 15, 2007
Gordievsky Reviews Litvinenko
Writing in the Times of London, former spy Oleg Gordievsky (pictured, left) reviews Alexander Litvinenko's book "Blowing up Russia":
LATE LAST YEAR, THE leaders of Russia made probably the greatest blunder in the whole of their campaign against Alexander Litvinenko. Sergei Ivanov, the Defence Minister, said that he “was just a Russian who meant nothing to us”.
This is exactly what Sasha Litvinenko was fighting — the view of those in power in his motherland who regard Russia as the country of the Ivanovs and Putins and treat the rest of the population with contempt as “just Russians who mean nothing to us”
Litvinenko has become the most prominent victim in this struggle, and it is up to those who survive him to make sure that we eventually emerge as winners. This means — and it forms the epilogue to Blowing Up Russia, by Litvinenko and Yuri Felshtinsky — that one day a presidential decree in Russia must completely disband the most punitive, corrupt and criminal organisations that have survived under different names since Lenin’s Bolshevik times and make up the Russian state security system.
A literal translation of the Russian title of this book is The FSB Blows Up Russia. It first appeared in 2002, and was almost immediately followed by an even more important study, entitled The Lubyanka Criminal Gang, published in the same year by Grani in New York, but not yet available in English. It makes sense to speak about the two together.
When someone suggested to me that one should study Litvinenko’s papers and private notes to find out why he was murdered — and intelligence professionals have no reasonable doubt that the Russian authorities were the instigators of the crime — I advised him to read Sasha’s books. Here one can easily find a clue to the hatred between one “former” lieutenant-colonel (Putin) and a genuinely former lieutenant- colonel (Litvinenko) and why Litvinenko was so suspicious of Putin.
In his books, Litvienko asserts that after Vladimir Putin was recalled from his KGB posting in East Germany, he was quickly infiltrated into the St Petersburg mayor’s office to keep an eye and ear on the new democratic mayor, Anatoli Sobchak. In their second book, Litvinenko and Felshtinsky describe how this “former” run-of-the-mill spy soon became involved in the illegal export of non-ferrous metals to the West, gaining some juicy kickbacks to the tune of $93 million.
They also allege that the chief of the department for the control and investigation of such operations was an FSB colonel, one Nikolai Patrushev.
Patrushev, they claim, was posted to Karelia, and subsequently accused of illegal dealings in Karelian birch. A criminal investigation was opened, so that his pal Sergei Stepashin, the first director of the FSB and later Prime Minister, who also came from St Petersburg security services, quickly transferred Patrushev to Moscow and appointed him to a super-secret and hyper-sensitive post as chief of FSB internal security.
Thus, the authors claim, all the dirty linen of all high-ranking FSB officers was in Patrushev’s hands. But the Karelian prosecutors might have continued their investigations. Soon, on May 21, 2001, the Karelian FSB chief, Vasili Ankudinov, who knew a great deal about Patrushev’s merry days in Karelia, suddenly died at the age of 56. When Putin became President, he invited Patrushev to head the FSB. Both are still in their positions.
One episode that is not discussed in print by Litvinenko and Felshtinsky (for the simple reason that Tsepov was not murdered until two years after the books were published) relates to Roman Tsepov, who was in charge of Sobchak’s security in St Petersburg and who provided bodyguards for Putin, by now deputy mayor. The two became close associates, and it was rumoured that Tsepov regularly handed large sums of money in cash to Putin as gifts from joint ventures that wanted to continue without undue interference. Tsepov’s killing was initiated on September 11, 2004, in the FSB’s St Petersburg headquarters. Tsepov was offered a cup of tea and died of radiation poisoning 11 days later.
All 11 chapters of Blowing Up Russia are devoted to one phenomenon — how the security service of a huge state became a criminal, mafia-type organisation targeted against the population of its own country. With numerous examples the authors attempt to show how terrorist acts were carried out, money was laundered, people killed and shadowy businesses started up and closed down in the interests of Chekists who had managed to place their own man, Putin, at the top of the country’s governing pyramid.
“I have carried out your orders, comrades,” Putin reportedly said during one December 20 annual celebration of the Day of the Spy, that has became a national holiday. “Here I am, leading the country.”
Whether such a declaration, quoted by Litvinenko and Felshtinsky, did take place, I do not know. But what I know for sure, and what Litvinenko demonstrates in his books, is that he developed from a run-of-the-mill KGB operative, known as an oper in Russian, into a fighter against everything that is unlawful and corrupt, whereas Putin degenerated from being an intelligence officer to become the leader of a country where criminal kingpins and former convicts are respected and even worshipped and now constitute the country's official “elite”. They drive the best cars, buy the best houses, acquire profitable companies at home and abroad, and have seats in the Russian parliament, the Duma.
One can only hope that the future does not belong to them, but to brave, decent, kind and loving people — like Alexander Litvinenko.
SPY VERSUS SPY
# Alexander “Sasha” Litvinenko, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, was a former FSB (Federal Security Services, the agency that succeeded the KGB) agent, who accused Putin and the FSB of corruption. He died last year, after various meetings in London, one with two Russian men, both former KGB agents.
# Another meeting was with the Italian academic Mario Scaramella, who is said to have handed him documents on the killers of the campaigning journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
# A statement from Litvinenko, read out after his death, said to “the person responsible”: “You have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed.” He was referring to Mr Putin. The Kremlin has dismissed such allegations as nonsense. Mr Putin said “There is no grounds for speculation of this kind,” and that talk of government involvement “has nothing to do with reality”.
# A postmortem confirmed that Litvinenko was poisoned by radiation from the isotope polonium-210. Traces were found in London and Hamburg, in aircraft and on Dr Scaramella and the agents Litvininenko met.
# The Russian authorities have not co-operated fully with Scotland Yard’s investigations.
# Conspiracy theories abound: the 2008 Russian election might make Mr Putin want to eliminate critics, and Litvinenko may have unearthed secrets while investigating the Politkovskaya murder. But the Russian media have poured scorn on such suggestions, saying Litvinenko was a small-time fantasist that it was easier to put up with than to kill and risk international furore.
# Other theories point to Litvinenko’s dissident allies, to a veteran of Russia’s Spetsnaz special forces, or even to suicide or an accident.
Labels: litvinenko, russia Thanks for reading La Russophobe