World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #6 Disinformation, Inc.

Global Politician/Ocnus.Net ^ | Dec 17, 2006 | Professor Daniel M. Zucker

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

VEVAK learned its methodology from the Soviet KGB and many of the Islamist revolutionaries who supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini actually studied at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, the Oxford of terrorism. Documented Iranian alumni include the current Supreme Leader (the faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under whose Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurisprudent) apparatus it has traditionally operated. Its current head is Cabinet Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, a graduate of Qom's Haqqani School, noted for its extremist position advocating violence against enemies and strict clerical control of society and government. The Ministry is very well funded and its charge, like that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the Pasdaran) is to guard the revolutionary Islamic Iranian regime at all costs and under all contingencies.

From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. The regime in Teheran has gone to great lengths to place its agents in locations around the world. Many of these operatives have been educated in the West, including the U.K. and the United States. Iranian government agencies such as embassies, consulates, Islamic cultural centers, and airline offices regularly provide cover for the work of VEVAK agents who dress well and are clean shaven, and move comfortably within our society. In this country, because of the severance of diplomatic relations, the principal site of VEVAK activities begins at the offices of Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

Teheran has worked diligently to place its operatives in important think tanks and government agencies in the West. Some of its personnel have been recruited while in prison through torture or more often through bribery, or a combination of both. Others are Islamist revolutionaries that have been set up to look like dissidents - often having been arrested and imprisoned, but released for “medical reasons”. The clue to detecting the fake “dissident” is to read carefully what he/she writes, and to ask why this vocal “dissident” was released from prison when other real dissidents have not been released, indeed have been grievously tortured and executed. Other agents have been placed in this country for over twenty-five years to slowly go through the system and rise to positions of academic prominence due to their knowledge of Farsi and Shia Islam or Islamist fundamentalism.

One of the usual tactics of VEVAK is to co-opt academia to its purposes. Using various forms of bribery, academics are bought to defend the Islamic Republic or slander its enemies. Another method is to assign bright students to train for academic posts as specialists in Iranian or Middle East affairs. Once established, such individuals are often consulted by our government as it tries to get a better idea of how it should deal with Iran. These academics then are in a position to skew the information, suggesting the utility of extended dialogue and negotiation, or the danger and futility of confronting a strong Iran or its proxies such as Hizballah (Hezbollah). These academics serve to shield the regime from an aggressive American or Western policy, and thereby buy more time for the regime to attain its goals, especially in regards to its nuclear weaponry and missile programs.

MOIS likes to use the media, especially electronic media, to its advantage. One of VEVAK's favorite tricks is setting up web sites that look like they are opposition sites but which are actually controlled by the regime. These sites often will be multilingual, including Farsi, German, Arabic French, and English. Some are crafted carefully and are very subtle in how they skew their information (e.g., Iran-Interlink, set up and run by Massoud Khodabandeh and his wife Ann Singleton from Leeds, England); others are less subtle, simply providing the regime's point of view on facts and events in the news (e.g., www.mujahedeen.com or www.mojahedin.ws). This latter group is aimed at the more gullible in our open society and unfortunately such a market exists. However, if one begins to do one's homework, asking careful questions, the material on these fake sites generally does not add up.

Let's examine a few examples of VEVAK's work in the United States. In late October, 2005, VEVAK sent three of its agents to Washington to stage a press event in which the principal Iranian resistance movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK), was to be slandered. Veteran VEVAK agent Karim Haqi flew from Amsterdam to Canada where he was joined by VEVAK's Ottawa agents Amir-Hossein Kord Rostami and Mahin (Parvin-Mahrokh) Haji, and the three flew from Toronto to Washington. Fortunately the resistance had been tracking these three, informed the FBI of their presence in Washington, and when the three tried to hold a press conference, the resistance had people assigned to ask pointed questions of them so that they ended the interview prematurely and fled back to Canada.

Abolghasem Bayyenet is a member of the Iranian government. He serves as a trade expert for the Ministry of Commerce. But his background of study and service in the Foreign Ministry indicates that Bayyenet is more than just an economist or a suave and savvy businessman. In an article published in Global Politician on April 23, 2006, entitled “Is Regime Change Possible in Iran?”, Bayyenet leads his audience to think that he is a neutral observer, concerned lest the United States make an error in its assessment of Iran similar to the errors of intelligence and judgment that led to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, with its less than successful outcome. However, his carefully crafted bottom line is that the people of Iran are not going to support regime change and that hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually has achieved greater popularity than his predecessors because of his concern for the problems of the poor and his fight for economic and social justice. To the naive, Bayyenet makes Ahmadinejad sound positively saintly. Conveniently overlooked is the occurrence of over four thousand acts of protest, strikes, anti-regime rallies, riots, and even political assassinations by the people of Iran against the government in the year since Ahmadinejad assumed office. So too, the following facts are ignored: the sizeable flight of capital, the increase in unemployment, and the rising two-figure rate of inflation, all within this last year. Bayyenet is a regime apologist, and when one is familiar with the facts, his arguments ring very hollow. However, his English skills are excellent, and so the naОve might be beguiled by his commentary.

Mohsen Sazegara is VEVAK's “reformed revolutionary”. A student supporter of Khomeini before the 1979 revolution, Sazegara joined the “imam” on his return from exile and served in the government for a decade before supposedly growing disillusioned.

He formed several reformist newspapers but ran afoul of the hardliners in 2003 and was arrested and imprisoned by VEVAK. Following “hunger strikes”, Sazegara was released for health reasons and permitted to seek treatment abroad. Although critical of the government and particularly of Ahmadinejad and KhameneМ, Sazegara is yet more critical of opposition groups, leaving the impression that he favors internal regime change but sees no one to lead such a movement for the foreseeable future. His bottom line: no one is capable of doing what needs to be done, so we must bide our time. Very slick, but his shadow shows his likely remaining ties to the MOIS.

http://www.ocnus.net/artman/publish/article_27144.shtml

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thanks for the alert, not a word on the radio.

Today, at 1 pm, after I was in bed, the radio said there was
_____it happened in flight and the plane landed safely in the Canary Islands, have not heard any other reports and it was on Fox radio.

Mike Savage had/read emails from several in Utah, said the killer tried to kill someone at 10 years old, there was a trial.

Also that the mall killer, went to the mosque on a regular basis, until 2 months ago, when he went to work.

Also that he had dropped out of school.

The first email that i read took me on the Bojinka searches, they should be in post 4200.

Thanks for the info.

[nw_arizona_granny]

re:post 4199

Now that is interesting, ties in with what a caller said on the Savage program: " The Gov. cannot tell us anything, if they do, it will be used by the terrorists for recruiting"..........

I know, LOL, I straddle the fence, hung up between "tell me all" and " I wouldn't tell it at all".

The scary part of the article, is not that the terrorist might use the cafe, but that so many people think that they would not.

I couldn't resist and this one shows promise of being interesting, LOL, it has to be with 112 million links it has to be full of things to read:

http://www.google.com/search?q=Terrorists%E2%80%A6in+the&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US&q=Terrorists%E2%80%A6in+the+U.S.&btnG=Search

I had not been thinking of Texas, but God was, take a look at this, it wouldn't let me think of other states:

http://www.google.com/search?q=Terrorists%E2%80%A6in+Texas&btnG=Search&hl=en&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US

[nw_arizona_granny]

Do you have this list of terrorists: [photos are with each name]

http://www.rayra.net/5th_Columnists/Jihadists/Sudden_Jihad_Syndrome/sudden_jihad_syndrome.html

SUDDEN JIHAD SYNDROME:




As mentioned on the Jihadists page, this is an attempt to catalogue and publicize the ever-growing list of muslim terror attacks on US soil, by supposedly moderate muslim members of our society.

Daniel Pipes coined a phrase for it in March of 2006 - “Sudden Jihad Syndrome” - read his article at FrontPageMag. In the article, Dr Pipes recounts the repeated occurrence of an apparent ‘normal’ contributing member of our society suddenly (for all intents) crying ‘AllahuAckbar!’ and attacking the Americans he has been dwelling amongst.

These people are sometimes immigrants, sometimes illegal immigrants, sometimes naturalized US citizens or even 2nd gen born-in-the-USA US citizens - but they are not Americans. They are people that for whatever reason are set apart, most often by a radicalization or their beliefs. They are of all nationalities / nations of origin, they are of a wide variety of ages (but usually between the ages of 18 and 40) and they quite frequently college graduates, scions of well-off families.

The table below is just a first-approximation pass of some high profile attacks on Americans, by muslims. I say ‘high profile’ but that’s only amongst news junkies and folks willing to look - and even then, some of these will be ‘news’ to readers. Jihadist apologists will be quick to say, ‘so what, they are all just crazy people, not real muslims, and besides there are far more murders committed by ‘American’ killers. True. But the difference is all of these people murdered (or attempted to murder) in teh Name of Allah, in the Name of Islam, specifically choosing to commit their crimes in the name of their religion, against people of other religions (particularly jews), against Infidels.

Please peruse the table. If there are others that need to be added, please email me at the link in the upper left hand corner of the site page.

At midnight July 29, 2006, this table is just getting assembled.



Picture


Names


Incident Date


Incident Location


Jihadist Details


Incident Category


Incident Details


Judicial Outcome


Lin ks



Naveed Afzal Haq


Jul 28,’06


Seattle, WA


30, Pakistan-born Nat. US Cit. his father, Mian A. Haq, was a founding member of the Islamic Centre of Tri-Cities in Richland


Attack


Invasion Shooting. Jewish Federation, six women shot, 1 pregnant, 1 dead.


Arrested. $50M USD bail set






Dr Wameeth Fadhli


Jul 25,’06


Galveston, TX


33, Dr at UTMB hospital


Attack


Drive-by shooting against a cyclist, hit twice, recovering. poss report of a prior negative association with the victim. This may be a retaliatory non-jihad crime. Checking









Michael Julius Ford


Jun 25,’06


Denver, CO


Black Muslim Convert


Attack


Safeway warehouse emp run amuck, set fire to warehouse, hunted fellow employees, 1 killed 4 injured including a responding police officer.










Mujtaba Rabbani Jabbar


Jun 16,’06


Baltimore, MD


24, Loyola Graduate in Biology in 2005, million-dollar family home


Attack


Shooting in Loews theatre in Owings Mills a heavily jewish neighborhood. Killed Paul Schrum, Jewish, 62, shot 3 times in the chest at close range.









Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar


Mar 3,’06


Chapel Hill, NC


22, Iran-born Nat US Cit, UNC Chapel hill BS Psych, expired student visa, formal declaration of jihad


Attack


UNC campus, rented SUV attack, plowed vehicle through crowded campus quad, struck nine, 6 injured, no fatalities










Ali R. Warrayat


Dec 18,’05


Mesa, AZ


Jordan-born Nat. US Cit, toting Quran and Palestinian flag during his attack


Attack


crashed car into Home Depot, built bonfire. $1 million in damage, no fatalities









Joel Hinrichs


Oct 1,’05


Tulsa, OK


OU student, troubled loner, muslim roommat, some association with a campus-adjacent mosque that has been a prior subject of investigations


Bomb Attack


Refused entry to campus stadium during OU-Kansas football game. Witnesses state there was an unannounced unusual heightening of stadium security that day. Ended up on bench by Kansas team buses, detonating himself. TTAP & shrapnel bomb. No other casualties









Ahmed Omar Abu Ali


Feb 2,’05


Falls Church, VA


23, Saudi descent, US born. Jihad U - Islamic Saudi Academy high school in Alexandria, VA


Assassin ation plot


Presidential Assassination plot










Mustafa Mohammed


Jan 9,’05


Alexandria, CA


30, Somali Immigrant


Attack


janitor at retirement home, attacked bedridden elderly, staff and visitor. Brutally beat and slashed residnets before the staff and visitor subdued him









Ryan Anderson


Feb 12, ‘04


Fort Lewis, WA


26, WSU Grad degree in Mil Hist and ME studies, Natl Guard M-1 tanker, convert to Islam in 99


Treason in Uniform


Busted by private citizen on jihadi web boards trying to give away information on the weaknesses of US armor









Mohammed Ali Alayed


Aug 6,’03


Houston, TX


23, Saudi student living on $60,000/yr 'stipend' from his family, but not attending classes. Violation of student visa.


Attack


Ariel Sellouk, moroccan-jewish Houston Community Collegel Student had his throat cut by a long-time arab muslim friend who had become radicalized. Possible tie to the group Takfir Wal Hijra









Biswanath Halder


May 1,’03


Cleveland, OH


India-born Muslim Nat. US Cit


Attack


opened fire within Case Western University, 1 dead, 2 wounded.









Sami Omar Al-Hussayen


Feb 26,’03


Moscow, ID


Saudi nat, student visa, CompSci grad student at Univ of Idaho, 33yrs old, wife and children fled to Saudi during his trial.


E-Jihad and poss attack plot


Univ CompSci e-jihadi, indicted on visa and immigration violation. At time of arrest was trying to have his campus office relocated to a room behind a security access door in teh campus BioRadioactives Lab


Plead down to immigration charge and deported.






John Allen Mohammed


Oct 24,’02 (arrest)


Wash DC and tri-state area


42, born John Allen Williams, Convert to Nation of Islam


Attack - Beltway Sniper Shootings


interstate killing spree, across the nation and around Washington DC. Random shootings that killed


Sentenced to death in VA in March '04. Other trials continue.






Lee Boyd Malvo


Oct 24,’02 (arrest)


Wash DC and tri-state area


Born in Jamaica in '85, muslim mother, illegal immigrant to USA, psuedo-son of John Allen Mohammed


Attack - Beltway Sniper Shootings


interstate killing spree, across the nation and around Washington DC. Random shootings that killed


Capital trials proceed. Already sentenced to life in one state.






Hesham Mohamed Hadayet


Jul 4,’02


Los Angeles, CA


Egyptian immigrant, 41 at time of attack, limosine driver


Attack


LAX Shooting at El-Al counter. 2 dead, 2 wounded









Patrick Gott


May 23, ‘02


new Orleans, LA


Convert? Former carpenter and Marine'fired because people made fun of turban


Attack


Shotgun attack in New Orleans airport terminal. Insulted, went out to car, came back with shotgun and his Koran. Fired one and tackled, 2 wounded.









John Walker Lindh


Nov 25,’01


Afghanistan


20 at time of capture, converted at age 16, traveled in Yemen and other Jihadi centers, used name Suleyman al-Faris, now goes by Hamza Walker Lindh


Jihadist Training, Fighting US Forces


Captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan, while with the taliban


Plead to amended charge of fighting with the Taliban and taking up arms against the United States, 20yr sentence and gag order and droipping of counter charges of abuse, to remove the death penalty.






Ahmed Ressam


Dec 14,’99


Port Angeles, WA


Algerian. Entered Canada with a forged French passport in '94. Applied for Asylum, skipped hearing, got another false passport, travelled to Afghanistan in '98 for jihadi training


Attack Plot


Millenium Bomber, intended explosive attack on LAX


Sentenced to 22yrs plus 5yrs supervision, on July 27, 2005







Rashid Baz


Mar 1,’94


Brooklyn, NY


Lebanese natl


Attack


Opened fire on a van containing members of the Lubavitch Hassids, on the Brooklyn Bridge, 1 killed unk wounded













Feb 26, 93


NYC, NY





Attack


1st World Trade Center Bombing


http://infidelsarecool.com/2007/02/14/utah-mall-shooting-19th-attack-by-muslim-terrorists-since-2002/

There is another here, my computer is doing strange things, so will have to reload.

[nw_arizona_granny]

[history 2006]

Bin Laden Sought White 'Sleeper' Agent, Court Told

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=%5CForeignBureaus%5Carchive%5C200602%5CFOR20060217b.html




Bin Laden Sought White 'Sleeper' Agent, Court Told
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
February 17, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - A court case in Australia has revealed that al Qaeda
tried to recruit a Caucasian Australian as a "sleeper agent," an
allegation that focuses new attention on the risks posed by
individuals who blend into Western societies while doing the bidding
of terrorist masters abroad.

Joseph Thomas admitted to Australian police interrogators that an
associate of Osama bin Laden, Khalid bin Attash, informed him the al
Qaeda chief was interested in having "an Aussie ... a white boy," the
Supreme Court in Melbourne was told.
Prosecutor Nick Robinson said the conversation with bin Attash had
taken place in Pakistan, where Thomas was staying at a safehouse after
undergoing training at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan called
al-Farooq in mid-2001.

Thomas also admitted to police that he accepted $3,500 in cash and an
air ticket from bin Attash to return to Australia, where he was asked
to work for bin Laden and keep a watch on military installations.

Bin Attash had suggested that an attack in Australia like the 1998
bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa could bring down the
government, and said Thomas should contact him six to 12 months after
returning to his home country.

The indictment says the incident took place between November 2002 and
January 2003, when Thomas was arrested in Pakistan. Two months after
his arrest he was interviewed by Australian Federal Police officers in
Pakistan.

A recording of the interview forms the basis of the case against him,
and was played to the court on Friday.

In it, Thomas told the police he was angry at the suggestion of a bomb
attack in Australia.

He said he never became a member of al Qaeda or pledged allegiance to
bin Laden, despite having "plenty of opportunities" to do so when he
saw the terrorist chief at al-Farooq camp.

And he said he never intended to work for al-Qaeda in Australia; many
people were being given money to return home to their families.

Thomas' lawyer, Lex Lasry, said the defendant may have been naive or
stupid, but he was not a terrorist.

The 32-year-old has pleaded not guilty to charges of intentionally
receiving funds from a terrorist group, providing resources to a
terrorist group, and holding a falsified passport

'Blend in'

Terrorism researchers say al-Qaeda has long sought non-Arab "sleepers"
who would be better able to avoid suspicion in the West, a tactic that
became increasingly important after the 2001 attacks on the U.S.

"Particularly after 9/11, al-Qaeda saw the importance of recruiting
Europeans and Americana and Australians," Rohan Gunaratna of the
Institute Of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore said Friday.

"They recognized that the Arabs would be subjected to greater
suspicion, and [put significant investment into] recruiting people
with Western passports and people who can naturally blend into Western
society."

Gunaratna, author of the book Inside al-Qaeda: Global Network of
Terror, said he believed there was a "small but significant" number of
such people in Western countries.

Bin Laden had made clear it was his policy that race and ethnicity
were not an issue, as long as recruits were Muslims, either "cradle
Muslims or converts."

"Westerners who went to train in Afghanistan had no problems at all.
They were not treated as second-rate citizens.

They were trusted and were given very significant assignments," he
said, citing the case of Richard Reid, the Briton who in Dec. 2001
tried to blow up a U.S.-bound plane using explosives hidden in his
shoes.

He recalled that al-Qaeda had even sent Reid to Israel on a
reconnaissance trip.

Among other Western Muslim converts drawn to terrorism were "American
Taliban" John Walker Lindh; Christian Ganczarski, a German arrested in
France in 2003 and suspected of being a senior al-Qaeda operative in
Europe; and French brothers David and Jerome Courtailler, convicted on
terror-related charges.

Last October a senior al-Qaeda figure suspected of having set up
networks of terrorists in Europe, Mustafa Setmarian Nasar, was
arrested in Pakistan.

In a one-hour video message recorded before his arrest, broadcast on
Islamist websites, and later translated by the French government,
Nasar called for "mujahideen in Europe" to carry out attacks against
all countries involved in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They must either strike the territory of these countries or targets
that are outside of their borders," the message said, adding: "Oh
sleeper cells, wake up now."

Isaac Kfir, a researcher at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism in
Israel, has described the breed of terrorists as "ideologues trained
to blend in whilst seeking to undermine the societies that they live
in."

"Such operators are more difficult to trace and identify because they
fit so well with the societies that they inhabit," he wrote after the
London bombings last July.

'Evolving threat'

Gunaratna said the recruitment of Caucasian Westerners was just one
challenge faced by security agencies as al-Qaeda adapts to changing
circumstances.

The network also looked to Asians, he added, pointing to a foiled
al-Qaeda plan to fly a plane into the tallest building on the U.S.
West Coast.

President Bush last week provided some details of the plot, saying it
unraveled after four suspects were arrested in Asia. Although the U.S.
has not given names or nationalities, Gunaratna said the four were
Malaysians.

Another tactic was to recruit women and also older Arabs, he said,
noting that when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi planned a deadly attack against
hotels in Jordan last November, he included a woman and an older man
among the bombers.

Yet another complicating factor was the ideology of "takfiri," whose
ultra-extreme adherents will sometimes adopt non-Muslim ways such as
drinking alcohol in order to better assimilate into Western society
and not arouse suspicion.

Islamist terrorists were always looking for people able to "operate
below law-enforcement stereotyping radar," Gunaratna said.

"As the threat evolves we have to continuously retrain law
enforcement, to make sure they understand that the threat is dynamic
and constantly changing."

[nw_arizona_granny]

[history 2006]

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 20:12:11 -0500
Subject: [osint] al-Fuqar: US and Pakistan

http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/terroristoutfits/jamaat-ul-
fuqra.htm

Jamaat ul-Fuqra


Formation

Jamaat ul-Fuqra (JF) or "community of the impoverished", a terrorist
outfit
operating in Pakistan and North America, was formed by a Pakistani
cleric,
Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, in New York in 1980, on his first visit to
the
US. Mubarak Gilani's intention in forming the outfit was to 'purify'
Islam
through violence.

Ideology, Leadership and Structure

The JF, in its early phase, sought to counter what is perceived as
excessive
Western influence on Islam. It also concluded that violence was a
significant aspect in its quest to purify Islam. In its ideological
moorings, the Fuqra regards as enemies of Islam all those who do not
follow
the tenets of Islam as laid out in the Koran, including those Muslims
who
they consider as heretics as well as non-Muslims. One of Gilani's works
published by the Quranic Open University in the US and seized in a
1991-investigation instructed his cadres that their foremost duty was
to
wage Jehad against the 'oppressors of Muslims'. Members of the group
are
described as Islamist extremists with much hatred toward their
'enemies'.

The JF is loosely structured with certain elements working openly
through
social service organisations to recruit members, raise money, organise
activities and carry out propaganda. Individuals selected to live on JF
premises agree to abide by the law and discipline of the Jamaat
ul-Fuqra.
Investigations by the Colorado Attorney General's Office in the 1980s
indicated that the JF was composed of approximately 30 different
'Jamaats'
or communities, more or less mobile in nature. Most of these 'Jamaats'
are
reportedly existent even today along with what investigators discerned
to be
several covert paramilitary training compounds, one of which had been
located in a mountainous area near Buena Vista, Colorado prior to the
Colorado prosecutions in the mid-1990s.

Within 10 years of its formation, Fuqra's communes in the US attracted
many
Muslim converts-including some of those recruited in prisons. The JF is
said
to comprise of some 1,000 to 3,000 members in the US. Secrecy is the
hallmark of the outfit and cadres are reportedly well versed in the use
of
aliases. The Fuqra's structure is well concealed behind front outfits
and
consists of a network of safe houses and cells. Furthermore, the JF
founder
as well as cadres consistently maintain that it does not exist. JF
members
occasionally travel abroad for 'paramilitary and survivalist training'
under
Gilani's supervision.

Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, who also calls himself the sixth Sultan Ul
Faqr,
is the chief of JF.

Jamaat ul-Fuqra is headquartered in Hancock, New York.

Areas of Activity and Influence

Although Gilani, the reclusive chief of Fuqra resides in Lahore,
Pakistan,
most JF cells are located in North America. Fuqra members have
purchased
isolated rural properties in North America to live as a community,
practice
their faith, and insulate themselves from Western culture. The group
has set
up and funded rural communes that the US authorities allege are linked
to
murder, bombings and other felonies throughout the US and Canada.
Currently,
there are half a dozen Fuqra residential compounds in rural hamlets
across
the US sheltering hundreds of cadres, some of who have reportedly
trained in
the use of weapons and explosives in Pakistan.

Muslims of the Americas, a tax-exempt group established in the US in
1980 by
Gilani, operates communes of primarily black, American-born Muslims in
many
states in the US, including in Binghamton in New York, Badger in
California, York in South California and Red House in Virginia. JF is
reportedly linked through court documents to the Muslims of Americas.
There
is also a road in the name of Sheikh Gilani in the vicinity of
Virginia. The
cult houses between 100 and 200 people, many of them women and children
in
about 20 huge trailers. There is also a Virginia newspaper, the Islamic
Post, founded by Sheikh Gilani.

Linkages and Incidents

Jamaat al-Fuqra, also described as a cult, is currently the focus of a
probe
by US authorities for charges ranging from links with terrorist groups
to
laundering money into Pakistan.

In the 1980s, they carried out various terrorist acts, including
numerous
fire-bombings across the United States. JF's early targets in North
America
were ethnic Indians and targets linked to various Indian sects. In July
1983, Stephen Paul Paster, a front ranking JF member, was responsible
for
planting a pipe bomb at a Portland hotel owned by followers of the
Bhagwan
Rajneesh cult. After his arrest in Colorado, Paster served four years
of a
20-year prison sentence for the bombing. He was suspected but not
charged in
two other bombings in Seattle in 1984 - the bombings of the Vedanta
Society
temple and the Integral Yoga Society building. Currently, Paster is
reported
to be based in Lahore, Pakistan, from where, intelligence sources say,
he
provides explosives training to Fuqra cadres.

After the Portland bombing, two Fuqra cadres allegedly killed Mozaffar
Ahmad, a leader of the minority Ahmadiyyah sect in Canton, Michigan.
Both
the suspects reportedly perished in a fire they had set at the
Ahmadiyyah
mosque in nearby Detroit. The JF is also reported to have been involved
in
the killing of three Indians on August 1, 1984 in a suburb of Tacoma,
Washington. Besides, the JF is suspected to be involved in a series of
fire
bombings of Hindu and Hare Krishna temples in Seattle, Denver,
Philadelphia
and Kansas City.

US officials in 1989, during a search of a storage locker in Colorado
Springs, recovered a large cache of armaments and documents with
multiple
links to the JF. Among the arms recovered were handguns, semi-automatic
firearms, explosives, pipe bombs, bomb components and several bombs.
Some of
the seized documents described the activities and code of the "Muhammad
Commandos of Sector 5," who were reportedly involved in arms training
and
intelligence gathering. The documents, including maps and lists,
contained
details of potential JF targets and victims in Los Angeles, Arizona and
Colorado--oil and gas installations and electrical facilities, US. Air
Force
Academy and other military sites, people in 12 US states and Canada
with
Jewish or Hindu-sounding names. Various JF publications were seized
during
this search. Titles of some of the publications seized included
"Guerrilla
Warfare", "Counter Guerrilla Operations", "Understanding Amateur
Radio", and
"Fair Weather Flying," and "Basic Blueprint Reading and Sketching."

In 1991, JF's plans to bomb an Indian cinema and a Hindu temple near
Toronto
were unsuccessful. Five JF cadres were arrested at the Niagara Falls
border
crossing after US Customs agents searched their cars and found visual
evidence and plans of the interiors of the targets and a description of
time
bombs. A Canadian jury convicted three American JF cadres of conspiracy
to
commit mischief and endanger life. A fourth suspect, who had come to
Canada
from Pakistan shortly before the planned bombing, fled to Pakistan
after his
colleagues' arrest, according to evidence presented at the trial.

In the 1990s, JF was more often than not operating under the guise of
two
front groups, 'Muslims of the Americas' and 'Quranic Open University'.
The
latter portrayed itself as a religious and charitable educational
institution dedicated to studying the Quran.

Gilani has reportedly admitted to receiving hundreds of thousands of
dollars
a year in donations from America. A large segment of JF members have
been
convicted of criminal acts, including murder and fraud. With the US
State
Department outlawing Fuqra and listing it as one of the proscribed
groups in
its annual reports, the activities of the outfit decreased relatively.
The
JF supports various terrorist groups operating in Pakistan and in the
Indian
State of Jammu and Kashmir. Sheikh Gilani has linkages with Islamist
terrorist groups like the Hamas and Hezbollah. Although dormant in
terms of
real activity, JF has an active link with the terrorist groups in
Pakistan
and provides both moral and material assistance to these groups.

JF cadres are suspects in at least 10 unsolved assassinations and 17
firebombing cases between 1979 and 1990.

In 1993 Fuqra members in Colorado were convicted of participating in a
conspiracy resulting in the killing of a Muslim religious figure in
Arizona.

One of the persons convicted in the World Trade Center bombing in 1993
was
Clement Rodney Hampton-el, a Fuqra member. JF was linked in a
Congressional
testimony to the planning of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Gilani is now in Pakistani custody for the abduction of US journalist
Daniel
Pearl. Official sources in Pakistan have indicated that Daniel Pearl
was
attempting to meet Gilani in the days before he disappeared in Karachi.
Pakistani police arrested Gilani in Rawalpindi on January 30, 2002 and
shifted him to Karachi for questioning. Although he denied any link to
the
abduction, police also detained several of his colleagues. Consequent
to his
arrest, he reportedly told his interrogators that he had links with the
Pakistani intelligence agencies.

A media report has indicated that the JF is also being probed for links
with
Richard Reid, a Briton, accused of trying to use explosives in his
shoes to
blow up a Paris-to-Miami jetliner on December 22, 2001.

A house in Virginia believed to be linked to the JF was raided by
police in
December 2001 and two persons were arrested for illegally purchasing
guns.

Three suspected US-based JF members have been arrested on weapons
charges in
the year 2001, including two following the September 11 multiple
terrorist
attacks. Vicente Rafael Pierre, a 44-year-old native of Brooklyn and
his
wife Traci Upshur, both JF cadres, were arrested on gun charges and
convicted on November 30, 2001. Pierre's Virginia compound, near the
Red
House Commune, is reported to have served as a JF base.

A money laundering scheme run by the Red House Commune is reportedly
similar
to a Colorado operation that was shut down in 1993. Colorado law
enforcement
agencies convicted five JF cadres for defrauding the Colorado
government of
approximately $350,000 through bogus workers' compensation claims.
Prosecuting agencies have indicated that the amount had been laundered
through Professional Security International (PSI), a JF security firm,
and
Muslims of the Americas. A portion of the funds was tracked through PSI
to
JF couriers who traveled to Pakistan. The PSI reportedly enabled JF
cadres
to obtain federal licenses to buy weapons. The Fuqra is also suspected
of
having two more security firms located in New York.

The Fuqra also reportedly has various broad schemes to take government
entitlement money and utilise it to fund terrorist activities. The
commune
in Colorado is spread across 101 acres and police recovered bombs,
weapons
and plans for terrorist attacks in a raid in the year 1993. Two other
communes in New York and California have shooting ranges. The
1,800-acre
settlement in the Sierra Mountains in California also reportedly has an
airstrip.

In a February 22, 2002 interview, Gilani said his 'contribution' to the
'Kashmir cause' since 1947 and to the Afghan Jehad were on record. In
the
same interview, Gilani claimed that both the governments of Pakistan
and
Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) had requested him to mobilise his
university
students to project the cause of Kashmir in the US through the media by
holding rallies and informing the public. To this end, he claimed that
the
Kashmir-American Friendship Society was formed in 1993.

Gilani is currently under investigation for his alleged links to the al
Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden and for money laundering from
the US
into Pakistan and vice versa. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI)
is investigating connections between a small black Muslim community in
California's Sierra Nevada valley, called Baladullah and the JF. The
FBI
reportedly looked into Baladullah, a community of 30 Muslim families,
while
investigating into JF's activities at a remote Virginia settlement,
where
one person was convicted in November 2001 on charges of federal
firearms
violations.

[nw_arizona_granny]

[2006 history]

Mon, 9 Jan 2006 21:42:22 -0500
Subject: [osint] Al-Qaeda working with LTTE to get arms, missiles


Al-Qaeda working with LTTE to get arms, missiles

http://www.dailynews.lk/2006/01/09/sec02.htm

AL-QAEDA is working with the LTTE to get weapons including automatic
arms
and ground-to-air missiles, Pakistani intelligence sources said.

The weapons are paid for in cash, as well as in drugs originating from
Afghanistan, according to the sources.

The drugs primarily are sent to Scandinavian countries and Thailand,
the
latter being a traditional base from which the LTTE has smuggled
weapons.

"This is a perfect arrangement as resources are complemented - the
Tigers
get ideological support, while regular arms supplies on the other hand
go to
al-Qaeda, which ultimately feeds its fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan," a
source said.

"The smuggling channels are the same that the Tigers have adopted for
years
[with international arms cartels]. The latest weapons originate through
arm
dealers, as well as those stolen from arms depots and shipped from
South
America and Lebanon.

They are transferred from ship to ship and sometimes offloaded at small
ports, and from there, using various channels, they reach the final
destination," the source added.

Al-Qaeda also sent a team to the LTTE to gain expertise in maritime
combat
operations, intelligence sources told Asia Time Online.

Syed Saleem Shahzad in a Karachi datelined report said any resistance
movement is generally only as good as the weapons it uses, and that is
something that has bedeviled the poorly-equipped Taliban-led anti-US
forces
in Afghanistan for a long time.

The resistance has steadily taken steps, though, to beef up its arsenal
to
include modern automatic weapons and ground-to-air missiles. This it
has
done in part by forging closer links with the resistance in Iraq, as
well as
with the LTTE.

According to intelligence sources who spoke to Asia Times Online,
al-Qaeda
concluded that its attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000 was a
failure,
even though 17 American sailors were killed. As a result, al-Qaeda sent
a
team to the LTTE to gain expertise in maritime combat operations.

The LTTE, as part of its longstanding battle against the Sri Lankan
government, has developed a relatively sophisticated maritime wing.

The interaction was brief and inconclusive, and al-Qaeda subsequently
rejected the idea of maritime combat, deciding instead to fight the
United
States on land.

Nevertheless, the links established between the two groups were to
prove
useful in another way. In the mountains and on the plains of
Afghanistan,
the resistance operates in several ways, ranging from suicide bombings
to
attacking convoys and brief pitched battles.

"But an air defence system [ground-to-air missiles] can break the back
[of
the enemy] in low-intensity conflicts," a top Pakistani security
official
told Asia Times Online.

"The resistance movement in Afghanistan has now acquired that system in
bulk. There are possibilities that some pieces will also have been
supplied
to Iraq. As soon as this system comes into full action, drastic results
will
come," he said.

After the Taliban retreated in the face of the US-led invasion of
Afghanistan in late 2001, the Afghan resistance was largely scattered.

The Taliban did preserve some heavy weapons, but these could not be
easily
accessed due to the strong US military presence and many caches were
seized.


Furthermore, some of the armoury, especially missiles, required special
storage facilities to prevent exposure to harsh climatic conditions.
This
was not possible and the weapons were damaged.

Slowly, as the resistance took firmer root and with the help of money
from
foreign Arab fighters who had fled to the tribal areas of South and
North
Waziristan in Pakistan, the resistance acquired missiles, guns and
ammunition from the indigenous home-made arms industry at Dara Adam
Khel
near Peshawar.

However, these arms were of poor quality and simply not good enough to
take
on the US-led forces in Afghanistan.

For instance, the home-made M 16 rifles were only semi-automatic and
the G-3
rifles lacked the original specifications and accuracy which had made
the
original version of the weapon popular. Locally-made rockets did not
fly
properly and lacked sensors, which made them all but useless.

Authentic weapons are, of course, expensive. Now the Taliban has solved
this
problem by tapping into Afghanistan's - and the world's - richest cash
crop,
poppies. Using contacts among the warlords who control the drug trade,
the
Taliban are able to divert some of the money, which is then earmarked
for
weapons purchases.

With the drug money and the networks of the LTTE, the Afghan resistance
is
now well positioned to sufficiently arm itself to take its war with
foreign
forces in Afghanistan to a new level.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070215/ts_nm/mauritania_hijack_dc

Hijacker of Mauritanian plane arrested in Canaries

By Borja Suarez Thu Feb 15, 5:41 PM ET

LAS PALMAS, Spain (Reuters) - Passengers overpowered a suspected armed hijacker who had commandeered a Mauritanian plane on Thursday when he was knocked off his feet during a hard landing, a source close to the Mauritanian presidency said.

The Air Mauritania Boeing 737 was on an internal flight in Mauritania when the hijacker, armed with pistols, demanded to be flown to France, officials said. The pilot landed in Spain's Canary Islands instead, where Spanish police arrested the man.

"When the pilot landed he deliberately braked very hard. The man fell to the ground and was jumped on by passengers. He fired two bullets but there are no serious injuries," the Mauritanian source told Reuters.

A spokeswoman for the Spanish emergency services said 20 people suffered minor cuts and bruises but added she knew of nobody being injured by gunfire, as one emergency services source had reported earlier.

Spain's Interior Ministry said security forces arrested the hijacker and freed all 71 passengers and eight crew after the plane touched down at Gando airport on the island of Gran Canaria. Media reported the hijacker was North African.

Air Mauritania's Director General Mohamed Ould El Moctar said the crew told him nobody was hurt and that the hijacker had acted alone.

"The lone hijacker was armed with two pistols but it is not clear whether these were real or not," he told Al Jazeera television.

ATTACK TIMING

The hijacking came on same day that Spain began the trial of 29 people, mostly Moroccans, for the 2004 Madrid train bombings which killed 191 people, and days after al Qaeda called for attacks on Mauritania's rulers.

In an audio message quoted by Arab media this week, al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said Muslims should attack Mauritania's leaders for recognizing
Israel.

continued.....................

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070216/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AhRW9kJZKkaa1bEFYV7DG1Jg.3QA

No U.S. casualties were reported, and the militant toll was not known. Separately, however, a U.S. Marine was killed in combat in Iraq's western Anbar province, a Sunni militant stronghold.

The announcement about the wounding of al-Masri, the al-Qaida in Iraq leader, came from Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman. He said the clash occurred near Balad, a major U.S. base about 50 miles north of the capital, and identified the dead aide as Abu Abdullah al-Majemaai.

Al-Masri took over the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq after its charismatic leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a U.S. airstrike last June in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad. In October, false reports surfaced that al-Masri was killed in a raid, and the U.S. military performed DNA tests on a slain militant to see if he was the al-Qaida leader.

Al-Zarqawi was widely believed to have fomented sectarian war through his campaign of brutal suicide attacks against Shiite civilians. The first steps of the security operation display the sectarian divides complicating any plan to calm Baghdad — which is key to begin stabilizing the rest of the country.

A leader of the main Sunni bloc in parliament, Adnan al-Dulaimi, claimed the U.S.-led sweeps have "started to attack" mostly Sunni areas. "It should concentrate on those who are perpetrating the violence and terrorist acts in all districts," he said — an apparent reference to the Shiite militia

[this is snipped from the article]

[nw_arizona_granny]

Interesting collection of reports, starts Aug. 2001:

http://www.google.com/search?q=Bomb+scare+probed+at+Canada+airport+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

Velveeta's link, it is still the only one, they seem to have a man and think the bomb is at the airport?

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-02/16/content_5745377.htm

http://news.google.com/news?q=Bomb%20scare%20probed%20at%20Canada%20airport%20&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn

without the 'canada':

http://www.google.com/search?q=Bomb+scare+probed+at++airport&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=nw

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359867265&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Feb. 15, 2007 14:32 | Updated Feb. 16, 2007 1:57
Russia may bolt arms reduction treaty
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSCOW
[Print this Article] [EMail this Article] [Subscribe] [JPost Toolbar] [Download article to your iPod/mp3 player]

Talkbacks for this article: 15

A top Russian general said Thursday that Moscow may unilaterally opt out of a key Soviet-era arms reduction treaty with the United States that banned medium-range missiles, Russian news agencies reported.

Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, chief of the military's General Staff, said Russia could pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, negotiated between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan in 1987.

# Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

The decision would depend, he said, on whether the US fulfilled its plan to deploy missile defense components in Poland and the Czech Republic, plans that have upset Moscow.

"We shall see what our American partners do," Baluyevsky was quoted by Interfax, ITAR-Tass and RIA Novosti as saying. "Their actions to deploy missile defense sites in Europe are inexplicable."

President Vladimir Putin has said he does not trust US claims that the deployment of missile defense components in Europe was intended to counter missile threats from Iran, and warned that Russia would take retaliatory actions.

At a security conference in Munich on Saturday, Putin said the arms reduction treaty was outdated, and that many nations had since developed medium-range missiles eliminated by Russia and the United States.

The statement was part of larger speech in which he assailed US policy and said that Moscow views NATO's expansion to its borders as a threat.

Relations between Washington and Moscow have been strained also by disagreements on Iraq and other global crisis, and by US concerns about Russia's democracy record and that it is strong-arming ex-Soviet neighbors.

At the time, the 1987 treaty was hailed as a breakthrough that helped improve security on the continent and end the Cold War. Under its provisions, the United States destroyed about 850 of its missiles while the Soviet Union eliminated 1,850 missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (300 and 3,400 miles).

Baluyevsky said Thursday that the treaty allows both Russia and the United States to walk out of it. Following on Putin's remarks, he said the deployment of medium-range missiles by many other nations provided a strong argument for leaving the treaty.

Yuri Solomonov, the head of Moscow-based missile manufacturer that designed and built the latest Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missiles said it was ready to resume the production of medium-range missiles if the Kremlin made such a decision, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359873400&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Feb. 16, 2007 6:26
Malaysia cleric: Women should wear chastity belts
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

Women should wear chastity belts to prevent rape, incest and other sex crimes, a prominent Islamic cleric in northern Malaysia was quoted as saying Friday.

Abu Hassan Din Al-Hafiz, speaking in the northern state of Terengganu, said chastity belts could protect women from a growing number of sex crimes in Malaysia, The Star newspaper reported.

"The best way to avert sex perpetrators is to wear protection," Abu Hassan told a crowd of followers. "My intention is not to offend women, but to safeguard them from sex maniacs."

The cleric said sex crimes had increased in the region of late. "We have even come across a number of unusual sex cases where even senior citizens and children are not spared," he said.

[nw_arizona_granny]

[who owns the Peter Pan Peanut Butter company, there are now 300 cases of salmonella from it]

http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&gl=us&ct=promo&ncl=1113631697

[nw_arizona_granny]

Russian prosecutors open criminal probe into Moscow jet crash

MOSCOW (CP) - Russian officials opened a criminal investigation
Wednesday
into the crash of a Canadian-built corporate jet at a Moscow airport
that
left one of the plane's three crew members in a coma.

The Canadair Special Edition, made by Quebec-based Bombardier, crashed
Tuesday after one of its two engines caught fire as it took off in a
snowstorm from Vnukovo Airport on a flight to Berlin. The plane was
owned by
Wells Fargo Bank Nord West Trustee, of Salt Lake City, Utah, the
Transport
Ministry said.

The prosecutor general's office said a criminal investigation had been
opened into the crash - a routine practice in Russia after major
transportation accidents. Russian news agencies said investigators
hadn't
yet recovered the plane's flight recorders.

Alexander Badenkov, an official with the Moscow regional transport
prosecutor's office, told The Associated Press that the American crew
member
was in a coma and a Russian was in intensive care. The third crew
member, a
Russian, was hospitalized with lesser injuries, he said. No one else
was
aboard.

Russian TV broadcast video Tuesday showing the overturned plane in the
snow.

Moscow was enveloped in blowing snow Tuesday.

[unknown url, note: the Utah connection?]

[nw_arizona_granny]

EU keen on worldwide roll out of air safety rules

EUOBSERVER / STRASBOURG – The European Union wants to extend its
restrictions on liquids allowed on board aircrafts beyond its borders
to
help European duty-free companies compete on a more even basis.

A new EU security regulation introduced in November last year limits
passengers to carrying 100 millilitres of liquids onto aircraft in a
sealed
plastic bag. But the measures do not apply to passengers from outside
the
27-member union, who are transiting through EU airports.

The inconsistency means passengers travelling from Singapore into
Frankfurt
are allowed to carry on their duty-free liquids, while their fellow
travellers transiting on to Ljubljana, for example, will have their
perfumes
or whisky confiscated in Frankfurt.

"The arrangements are not satisfactory at the moment," EU transport
commissioner Jacques Barrot told MEPs in Strasbourg Monday night (12
February).

He called on the World Civil Aviation Organisation – a UN agency that
codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation
–
to address the issue quickly and added that Brussels in the meantime
would
"have to go into as many bilateral agreements with third countries as
necessary."

At Frankfurt airport alone, some 20 tonnes of liquids such as perfume
and
alcohol are confiscated every week, according to figures compiled by
MEPs.

In Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, 1,600 litres of duty-free goods are
confiscated daily, while Heathrow Airport receives around 200
complaints a
day about the recently imposed measures.

Singapore – a major transit hub for airlines flying to in Asia and
Oceania
– said last month that it is likely to impose measures consistent with
the
ones in the EU, the US and Canada.

The strict liquids regulation was put in place on 6 November after UK
authorities in August 2006 said terrorists had planned to bomb several
transatlantic flights in mid-air by using liquid explosives carried in
innocent-looking packages.

"You will only ever have effective security rules if they are applied
across
the border in the whole world," Mr Barrot said.

Passenger rights
While some MEPs were concerned about the financial losses European
duty-free
companies experience as passengers buy less Scottish whisky or French
perfume, other MEPs were more concerned about the direct consequences
for
the passengers.

"What happened to my almost new shaving gel that got confiscated at
Brussels
airport today?" asked Dutch socialist MEP Thijs Berman.

"You have created a totally arbitrary system verging on the absurd,"
Spanish
liberal MEP Ignasi Guardans Cambo told Mr Barrot at the debate.

"Citizens don't have any way of defending themselves against the
absolute
power of a private individual in uniform who says he or she can't do
this.
[Passengers] just have to shut up or cancel their flight," he
explained.

"I was not happy to have to introduce these measures," Mr Barrot said,
adding that he hoped research into new technology would eventually lead
to a
"suspension" of current measures.

Meanwhile, new EU rules for hand luggage size will come into force on 6
May
2007 allowing only individual pieces of hand luggage measuring no more
than
56 cm x 45 cm x 25 cm on board.
http://euobserver.com/9/23477

[nw_arizona_granny]

Two Seattle airport baggage handlers arrested in theft probes

SEATAC, Wash. (AP) — Two baggage handlers at Seattle-Tacoma
International
Airport have been arrested and fired in separate theft investigations,
and
investigators are concerned that more may be involved, officials said.
The two men were arrested last week after one, 22, was noticed selling
a
large number of cigarettes around the airport and the other, 19, tried
to
use a credit card believed stolen from someone's luggage at a store in
Bellevue, airport spokesman Bob Parker said.

Both worked as baggage handlers for Menzies Aviation of London, a
worldwide
contractor that handles a number of ground operations, including
baggage,
for Alaska Airlines at Sea-Tac.

"We will follow this and see where it goes and whether it is widespread
or
isolated," Parker said Tuesday.

No charges have been filed, but both workers have been fired, Menzies
Vice
President John Fulford said.

"This is evidence of our ongoing commitment to our policy of zero
tolerance
toward theft," Fulford said.

Seven Menzies employees were arrested last December in Houston after 68
looted suitcases were found in a trash bin.

Authorities do not believe the two men were working together and their
arrests followed two independent investigations, Parker said.

"We're always concerned when this happens," Parker said. "We're still
looking to see if other individuals were involved."

Most of what was taken apparently was sold quickly, but authorities
investigating the men have recovered two laptop computers, 15 DVD
movies, a
video camera and a video player, Parker said, adding that he did not
know
when the thefts occurred or the estimated value of what was taken.

Last year, 575 bags were reported stolen at Sea-Tac out of 30 million
that
passed through the airport, Parker said.

Investigators initially thought the cigarettes sold by the 22-year-old
man
might have been stolen in large quantities by someone else, "but it
turns
out he was going through the luggage and taking anything he thought he
could
sell," Parker said. "He was doing that on a fairly frequent basis,"
Parker
said.

The credit card the 19-year-old man tried to use at a Coach leather
goods
store was declined, and personnel from the store contacted the card
holder,
who said it had been missing since she was last at the airport, Parker
said.

Bellevue police took surveillance video images of the attempted
transaction
to Port of Seattle police, who in turn showed it to Menzies officials.

Menzies was hired by Alaska Airlines after the carrier, which is based
in
Seattle and is the dominant airline on routes up and down the West
Coast,
laid off 472 baggage handlers and ramp workers represented by the
Machinists
union at Sea-Tac during contract talks in May 2005. Menzies has about
400
workers at Sea-Tac.

Unknown url......

[nw_arizona_granny]

Flight Redirects Because Of Squirrel Stowaway

A plane was diverted to Hawaii because of a squirrel that stowed away
on a
flight from Japan.

Crews from American Airlines heard an eastern gray squirrel in the
ceiling
panel on Friday morning.

Traps were set up and the animal was caught later in the day.

Inspectors are conducting a rabies test. Officials do not know how long
the
critter got onboard.

The flight was headed to Texas from Japan.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/kitv/20070214/lo_kitv/11005655

[nw_arizona_granny]

[update: unknown url]

Bay Area woman arrested after disturbance on SFO bound flight

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A Bay Area woman who was looking at the
possibility of
prison time for allegedly causing a drunken disturbance on a commercial
flight bound for San Francisco is now facing a lesser charge.

Erin Lambert was originally charged with interfering with a flight crew
after she was arrested when the United Airlines flight landed at S-F-O.

Authorities say during a flight last month that originated in Boston,
Lambert had to be handcuffed to her seat after making statements about
a
hijacking and trying to open a cabin door.

But prosecutors have dropped the felony charges against the 28-year-old
Lambert, instead amending the case and charging her with a misdemeanor
charge of assault while aboard an aircraft.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Bird brings down fighter aircraft in Pakistan

Islamabad - A Chinese-built F7-P fighter plane belonging to the
Pakistan Air
Force crashed near the southern port city of Karachi Thursday after
colliding with a bird, officials said.

The pilot ejected safely in the incident, which happened near the
Masroor
airbase in Pakistan's Sindh province. No damage was reported on the
ground.

The accident followed another Air Force crash a week ago when a Mirage
aircraft went down near the central city of Jhang after it developed a
technical fault. That pilot also bailed out safely.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/news/article_1264195.php/Bird_brings_down_fighter_aircraft_in_Pakistan

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thanks to Milford421 for this report:

FYI - Update - Valero Refinery Fire - Latest in Series of Del. Riv. Refinery Inc

Crews battling fire at Valero refinery
By JEFF MONTGOMERY and TERRI SANGINITI, The News Journal

*****Today's blaze was the latest in a series of mishaps at Delaware
River refineries. Operations at Sunoco's Marcus Hook refinery were
disrupted Monday when a nearby transformer exploded. On Friday, a
fire at Valero's hydrocracker -- a unit that breaks down partially
refined oil under extremely high temperatures and pressures --
caused a pollution release.*****


Updated Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at 2:05 pm
The Valero refinery near Delaware City reported a fire in its crude-
oil refining unit at 12:45 p.m. today, with emergency crews still on
the scene attempting to extinguish the blaze nearly an hour later.
Three outside fire companies were called out to assist.

Refinery spokeswoman Lisa Lindsey said there were no immediate
reports of injuries.

"Everyone is accounted for," Lindsey said. "Emergency crews are on
the scene."

But New Castle County paramedics treated a 49-year-old Valero
firefighter for exhaustion at the scene, said paramedics Assistant
Chief Richard D. Krett.

The Delaware City, Odessa and Good Will of New Castle fire companies
were dispatched.

Valero's 191,000 barrel-per-day crude unit is the first-stage
refining system for the complex. Lindsey said that the fire led to
cutbacks in some refining operations, but other parts of the plant
were operating at regular rates.

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary
John A. Hughes said that officers from his agency were evaluating
the risk to surrounding areas.

"We are setting up perimiter monitoring stations to determine the
hazard level from smoke and emissions at the property line," Hughes
said. "We'll take proper steps if we find dangerous levels."

"It's a bad day for a fire because the wind is north-northeast.
That's blowing it across half of Delaware in this situation, the
smoke or fumes," Hughes said.

Hughes said he attended a meeting today, by coincidence, to review
problems at the refinery and Valero's progress in managing them.

"We did note that Valero tends to immediately cut production, which
is something their predecessors weren't willing to do, to reduce the
risk, at their own expense," Hughes said.

DNREC nevertheless will take enforcement action, raising the
possibility of penalties, if agency investigators determine that the
incident led to excessive, preventable, pollution releases.

Today's blaze was the latest in a series of mishaps at Delaware
River refineries. Operations at Sunoco's Marcus Hook refinery were
disrupted Monday when a nearby transformer exploded. On Friday, a
fire at Valero's hydrocracker -- a unit that breaks down partially
refined oil under extremely high temperatures and pressures --
caused a pollution release.

Read more coverage Wednesday in The News Journal or
www.delawareonline.com.

Contact Jeff Montgomery at 678-4277 or
jmontgomery@delawareonline.com.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/under-investigation/

[nw_arizona_granny]

Putin dismisses Chechen president, appoints Kadyrov as acting president

MOSCOW Feb 15 (Prime-Tass) - Russian President Vladimir Putin
dismissed Thursday the president of the constituent republic of
Chechnya, Alu Alkhanov, and appointed Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan
Kadyrov as the acting president of Chechnya.

Putin announced the dismissal during his televised meeting with
Alkhanov. Presenting the move as a promotion, Putin said that he has
signed a decree appointing Alkhanov as a deputy justice minister.
Alkhanov submitted a letter seeking an appointment to Moscow earlier
this month, Putin said.

Meanwhile, Kadyrov was appointed the acting president of Chechnya.

Putin is widely expected to nominate Kadyrov for the president of
Chechnya. The nomination is subject to final approval by Chechnya's
regional legislative assembly.

Kadyrov is a son of the late Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, mufti
of Chechnya who declared a jihad, or holy war, against Russia in 1995
but later switched to Russia's side in the Chechen war and was the
pro-Russian president of Chechnya in 2003-2004 until his assassination
in May 2004.

Ramzan Kadyrov is believed to completely control law enforcement in
the republic and is thought to hold the real power in Chechnya, while
Alkhanov was reportedly just a figurehead.

Kadyrov has succeeded in solidifying his control over the war-torn and
terrorized republic. Many believe, however, that he was responsible
for numerous abductions and questionably legal detentions in Chechnya
of those he suspected as rebels.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/