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Thread 4. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1084291/posts |
Posted on 02/05/2004 8:31:17 PM PST by Mossad1967
Edited on 02/09/2004 3:20:18 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
SANAA, Yemen, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A purported statement by al-Qaida in Yemen warned Saturday of a "major strike" soon in the United States.
The statement, distributed by the Yemeni Tagamoo Party for Reforms, said: "A major strike, a big event will take place in America soon," reminiscent of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Wed Feb 18, 6:48 AM ET LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists are studying the mechanics of insect flight in their development of a tiny spy aircraft no bigger than a bee. "We are looking for the most efficient way of flying, and the rapid flapping of a flexible wing is one of these," said Dr. Ismet Gursul, head of the aerospace research group at the University of Bath.
"In this respect we are imitating nature and the flight of insects and birds," he added in a statement.
The micro-planes could send back detailed video footage of battlegrounds and avoid the need for human scouts to risk their lives."
They could also land on the roof of enemy vehicles and mark them for future attack or as carriers of chemical or biological weapons, the university added.
Aside from military tasks, the tiny planes could also be used for wildlife surveys, fire and rescue operations and hazardous substance detection.
The researchers said they were still working on the aerodynamics and that a prototype would follow in a couple of years if the research is successful.
"The scientific knowledge of aircraft flight does not apply easily on a small scale and scientists do not have a full understanding of the stamina of a bee or the agility of a butterfly," the statement added.
By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
The Associated Press
2/18/04 3:30 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -- A New Jersey gas station owner was found guilty Wednesday of lying to the FBI about his connections to a Yemeni politician who authorities say was raising money for terrorist operations.
Numan Maflahi, a Yemen-born U.S. citizen, faces up to five years in prison for telling an FBI agent that he only casually knew Sheik Abdullah Satar, who toured New York mosques in 1999 to raise money for what Satar called an orphans' charity.
In truth, according to prosecutors, Maflahi was Satar's driver and the organization was a front for radical Muslim groups.
Satar met with a top al-Qaida operative after leaving the United States, federal prosecutor Kelly Moore said during the trial.
"The defendant's lies to the FBI in this case interfered with a larger terror investigation," Moore said.
Maflahi's attorney, Hassen Ibn Abdellah, told jurors his client was being prosecuted because he refused to become a government informant.
Maflahi's sentencing is set for May.
News accounts describe Satar, who has not been charged, as an outspoken opposition party leader in Yemen who disliked the decision to allow U.S. forces to enter the country to train troops to fight terrorists after the Sept. 11 attacks.
When the FBI confronted Maflahi about Satar last year, the defendant said he knew the sheik was a famous figure in his homeland, "like Hillary Clinton," Murphy told jurors. Maflahi insisted he had met Satar only in passing and denied helping him raise money.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born on October 7, 1952 in St Petersburg, then known as Leningrad. He was raised as an only child; his two brothers died young, one shortly after birth, the other of diphtheria during World War II. Although it was officially prohibited by the Communist law, Putin was baptized in the Russian Orthodox faith. In his youth he was often called Putka. His father, Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin, was a factory foreman and died in August 1999 (his mother, Maria Ivanovna Putina, died six months earlier).
By JOHN NOLAN, Associated Press Writer
PLEASANT PLAIN, Ohio - Someone trying to steal anhydrous ammonia from a fertilizer plant early Wednesday released a stinging cloud of the chemical, which also is used to make the illegal drug methamphetamine, fire officials said.
No injuries were reported. About 300 residents were evacuated but most were allowed to return about an hour after a hazardous materials team closed an opened valve, Harlan Township Fire Chief Andy Mitten said.
The leak at the Southwest Landmark plant was reported about 4:30 a.m., officials said.
"It's definitely criminal activity," Mitten said.
Anhydrous ammonia is produced as a liquid farm fertilizer, but it's also a key ingredient in methamphetamine. Southwest Landmark, which has about 40 tanks that hold 300 to 400 gallons each of liquid ammonia, has had break-ins before, Mitten said.
A regional drug investigation task force took over the investigation, said the group's commander, John Burke.
Firefighters arriving at the plant found a thick, gray cloud floating about two feet off the ground.
Fire officials evacuated 280 residents from this southwest Ohio village, 25 miles east of Cincinnati, along with about 20 other families who live nearby. Ammonia vapor can burn skin on contact and cause fatal lung damage.
Fertilizer plants and farms are increasingly being targeted by thieves nationwide as methamphetamine grows in popularity. The liquid chemical costs about $245 a ton.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has called meth abuse the nation's fastest-growing drug threat.
___
On the Net:
Southwest Landmark: http://www.swlmk.com
Wed Feb 18, 8:28 AM ET
By ROHAN SULLIVAN and PATRICK McDOWELL, Associated Press Writers
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - A Sri Lankan accused of being the chief financial officer for an international nuclear black market sat on the board of a company owned by the Malaysian prime minister's only son, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The connection indicates that alleged senior members of the network established by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, were able to woo partners in the highest levels of society.
In the Malaysian case, the partners said they had no idea deals were being made to fashion parts that could be used to make nuclear weapons. The companies involved have cut ties with the Sri Lankan, Buhary Syed Abu Tahir and his wife, Nazimah.
The documents, obtained by AP through searches of public files, reveal a paper trail through privately held companies that outlines ties between the prime minister's son, Kamaluddin Abdullah, and Tahir and his Malaysian wife.
Malaysian authorities say the accusations against Tahir are being investigated and he remains free, though under surveillance.
"The question is, has he broken any law?" Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters Wednesday. "We have to investigate and get the facts first before we can act on anything."
The men were top executives at Kaspadu Sdn. Bhd. when Tahir negotiated a deal for a company linked to Kaspadu, Scomi Precision Engineering, to build components that Western intelligence agencies allege were for use in Libya's nuclear program, according to the documents.
President Bush last week called Tahir the "chief financial officer and money launderer" of the black market network led by Khan, who has admitted selling nuclear technology and know-how to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
Kamaluddin's company, the Scomi Group, previously acknowledged that Scomi Precision Engineering, a subsidiary, fulfilled a contract for machine parts that was negotiated by Tahir.
Nonproliferation authorities say the parts were for centrifuges — sophisticated machines that can be used to enrich uranium for weapons and other purposes — but Scomi says it did not know what the parts were to be used for.
Rohaida Badaruddin, a Scomi spokeswoman, confirmed Tuesday that Tahir was a Kaspadu director until early last year, and said it was likely Kamaluddin encountered Tahir at business meetings.
Kamaluddin was "shocked and surprised" to learn late last year of Tahir's alleged role in the nuclear network and broke ties with the Sri Lankan — including asking Tahir's wife, Nazimah Syed Majid, to sell her shares in Kaspadu, the spokeswoman said.
Kamaluddin has not spoken publicly about the matter and was not available for comment Tuesday. A security guard at the house listed on company documents as his residence told AP it was owned by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but that nobody now lives there.
The AP traced Nazimah, 35, to an apartment in one of Kuala Lumpur's most exclusive suburbs. She declined comment, except to say, "My husband is not here; he's away." She said she did not know where.
But a building security guard said a man he named as Tahir had come and gone several times from the apartment on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the telephone line to the apartment was disconnected and the guard said the couple had left with their two young children, sending a driver back later to pay outstanding bills.
Abdullah took office last October and was deputy prime minister at the time of the business dealings between his son and Tahir.
Tahir is believed to have started developing social and business ties in Malaysia in the mid-1990s, and by 1998 held a society wedding attended by Khan. Tahir's wife is the daughter of a former Malaysian diplomat.
The revelations of deeper links between Tahir and Kamaluddin come as Malaysian officials complain that this mostly Muslim Southeast Asian country has been unfairly singled out by Washington for its role in the nuclear black market.
Bush, in his speech last week, alleged Tahir used a Dubai computer company as a front for Khan's network, and directed the Malaysian company to produce centrifuge parts based on Pakistani designs. Bush said Khan's network used front companies to "deceive legitimate firms into selling them tightly controlled materials."
A senior U.S. official said during a visit to China on Monday that Bush doesn't hold Malaysia responsible.
"There was never any suggestion that the government of Malaysia was involved," said John Bolton, an undersecretary of state, adding the Malaysian firm might not have known its equipment was for nuclear use.
Kaspadu is a privately held investment vehicle for Kamaluddin and a business partner that has a controlling stake in Scomi.
Scomi fully owns Scomi Precision Engineering, which delivered "14 semifinished components" to Dubai-based Gulf Technical Industries between December 2002 and August 2003, under the $3.4 million Tahir contract.
The parts were seized in October in boxes marked with Scomi's name en route to Libya. Scomi says it understood the parts were for the oil and gas industry, and had no knowledge of the Libyan connection.
Scomi has previously identified Tahir as a businessman who approached its subsidiary about the contract, and said Kamaluddin had no knowledge of the deal because he has no official management role in Scomi.
But company documents show ties between Tahir, 44, and companies controlled by Kamaluddin, 36, were closer than previously acknowledged.
Kaspadu documents list Tahir as being appointed Dec. 16, 2000, as a company director. Kamaluddin is listed as one of Kaspadu's four other directors and its "corporate executive."
Malaysian police say Tahir negotiated the Libya-linked contract around 2001. It was Scomi Precision Engineering's first order, and it built a factory to fill it.
Kaspadu records show Tahir resigned as a director Feb. 24, 2003. No reasons were given and the Scomi spokeswoman said she didn't know why.
Scomi Precision Engineering paid Kaspadu $22,000 in management fees in 2002, when Tahir was a director.
Other records show that in October 2000, Nazimah, was one of only three shareholders in Kaspadu. The others are Kamaluddin and his business partner, Shah Hakim Shahzanim Zain.
Documents show that Nazimah's stake in the company was sold to Kamaluddin and Kahim in January.
"Late last year, when Kamaluddin and the other shareholder were informed about the investigation into Tahir, they were shocked and told Nazimah to cease her shareholding" in Kaspadu, Scomi spokeswoman Badaruddin told AP. "There was a mutual agreement to sell the shares."
After an inquiry, Prime Minister Abdullah declared Scomi had been cleared of wrongdoing; last week he said "there is no such thing as Malaysian involvement" in the network outlined by Bush.
_____
Associated Press writer Pauline Jasudason contributed to this report.
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