Threat Matrix- Daily Terror Thread (4):

New York Post ^ | February 24, 2004 | By NILES LATHEM

[Revel]

February 24, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has dispatched the elite commando force that hunted down Saddam Hussein to Afghanistan for a new operation aimed at getting Osama bin Laden, officials said yesterday. Military sources confirmed that members of the shadowy Task Force 121, the unit that conducted the high-tech search for Saddam and his henchmen, have recently begun operating in the remote mountainous region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border where bin Laden and key al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives are believed to be hiding. The Task Force is made up of highly trained Delta and SEAL commandos, as well as CIA paramilitary operators. It operates outside normal military channels.

[JustPiper]

Tanker explodes
off Virginia coast
Search underway for crew members after vessel sinks 50 miles offshore

The Bow Mariner tanker, which was built in 1982, called in a mayday to the Coast Guard after 6:00 p.m. Saturday to report the explosion, reports CNN.

The Singapore-flagged vessel was in transit from New York to Houston with 24 Filipino and three Greek crew members when a fire broke out on the deck of the ship, causing the explosion.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37354

[JustPiper]

The explosion occurred about 50 miles east of Chincoteague, Va., after a fire started on the deck of the ship, said Lt. Chris Shaffer of Ocean City (Md.) Emergency Services.

[JustPiper]

Uranium Traveled to Iran Via Russia, Inspectors Find
By WILLIAM J. BROAD

Published: February 28, 2004

Inspectors have found evidence that some of the highly enriched uranium found on nuclear machinery in Iran came from Russia, European diplomats and American experts said Friday. The nuclear fuel appears to have come through the global black market, the experts added, and not with the blessings of Moscow.

With the findings, Russia emerges as a new and unexpected foreign source of supply to Iran's nuclear efforts. Recent revelations had shown that the Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan had provided Iran with some sophisticated centrifuge technology that could be used to refine weapons-grade uranium through his hidden nuclear trading network, according to international nuclear officials and Dr. Khan's own testimony.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/28/international/middleeast/28NUKE.html

[Revel]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1087701/posts

Philippine extremist group claims responsibility for explosion that caused ferry fire
Associated Press | February 29, 2004

Posted on 02/29/2004 1:26:27 AM EST by HAL9000

MARIVELES, Philippines (AP) --The Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility Sunday for a ferry explosion and fire that killed at least two people, though 180 more were missing, according to a radio report.

The Radio Mindanao Network said Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sulaiman claimed Friday's explosion was revenge for government attacks in the southern Mindanao area. Abu Sayyaf has often called the radio network in the past.

Fire raced through the Superferry 14 on Friday shortly after it left Manila for central and southern islands, killing one person and injuring 12 others. Witnesses reported a powerful explosion that sparked an inferno.

The fire occurred the same day that two alleged Abu Sayyaf members were convicted of kidnapping an American in 2000 and another was arraigned in a separate mass abduction.

Radio Mindanao did not air the claim, but reporter Benji Alejandro said he first received a claim of responsibility via a mobile phone text message Friday morning and asked the sender to call to verify the allegation. Joel Sanson, the network's program director, said he also had been called and recognized Sulaiman's voice.

Sanson quoted Sulaiman as saying: "They have been warned before but they never listened."

There was no immediate reaction from the government.

Officials have not speculated on the cause of the fire, but said they could not rule out terrorism even though police dogs checked the ferry before it left Manila. Witnesses have said the blaze was triggered by an explosion at 12:50 a.m., two hours into the ferry's regular trip to the central and southern Philippines.

Police intelligence reports have said the ferries, one of the main forms of inter-island travel in the sprawling archipelago, were potential targets of Abu Sayyaf, a group on the U.S. list of terrorist groups.

After being turned back by intense heat and smoke a day earlier, coast guard divers entered the partially submerged ship Sunday through broken.

Coast guard officials said 565 passengers and 153 crew members jumped into the sea or boarded lifeboats and were rescued as the fire raged through the 10,192-ton steel-hulled ferry at the mouth of Manila Bay.

Rescuers found one body after the fire broke out but 180 people are missing, leading some officials to speculate that they may have been trapped in the inferno that engulfed the giant vessel.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said search efforts "will not be called off until all of them are accounted for."

"The authorities will get to the bottom of this incident ... and take steps to ensure it does not happen again," she said in a statement, urging stricter implementation of maritime laws.

Relatives of the missing waited outside Manila's coast guard headquarters to hear any news of their loved ones.

[rickylc]

Whoa!! What a surprise!!! (/sarcasm)

[Cindy]

FSIS.USDA.gov: "FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION NEWS RELEASES"

FSIS-USDA.gov: "RECALL INFORMATION CENTER"

CFSAN.FDA.GOV: "PROTECTING THE FOOD SUPPLY FDA Actions On New Bioterrorism Legislation"

[judicial meanz]

Thanks JP!

[SCR1]

This will probably send the price of gas up a few more pennies. Traders don't like to hear about exploding tankers.

[Labyrinthos]

The above composite was made during the autopsy of the unidentified man; he is described as a white male, 5'7" tall, 160 pounds, with gold, double loop earrings in each ear.

Although he was described as "white" he looks ethnic in the composite. The earrings and the Tattoos don't fit the Jihad motif. Wish I had known the boys from NEIN were in town. I would have offered them dinner and a few beers.

[Labyrinthos]

I don't know, tune into American Chopper on Discovery, he looks like he could have walked off the set to me.

Orange County Chopper, which I think is featured on that show, is located only a few miles from where the guy was found.

[SCR1]

Another intersting perspective. Notice the state of ship as mentioned.

Three Dead, 18 Missing as Tanker Sinks Off US

1 hour, 28 minutes ago

Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard (news - web sites) launched a massive sea search Saturday for 18 missing crew after a chemical tanker carrying 11,000 tons of industrial ethanol exploded off the Virginia coast, killing three.



Coast Guard Lt. Buddy Dye said three crew died and six others were saved after the tanker sank 50 miles from the Virginia shore and that helicopters, a C-130 plane and lifeboats would continue the search for survivors.

"We're being hampered by the dark and of course the chemicals in the water, but the sea conditions are not too bad," he said, adding that the longer they were in the water, the less chance there was of survival. The crew of the Bow Mariner, a 570-foot (170-meter), 39,000 deadweight ton Singapore-flagged vessel sailing from New York to Houston, were believed to be Filipino and Greek.

Dye said the explosion occurred around 6 p.m. (2300 GMT), east from Chincoteague in eastern Virginia, which is roughly 80 miles north of Norfolk, a major naval base. He said the blast had almost obliterated the tanker.

Industrial ethanol is a form of fuel and gasoline additive sometimes used as a solvent in the manufacture of varnishes and perfumes.

[Labyrinthos]

In my opinion, the face in that sketch looks Indonesian more so than white.

That was my thought also. Looks indonesian or perhaps Philipeono.

[Labyrinthos]

Philipeono = Filipino.

BTW, most of the crew on the ship that exploded off of VA on her way from NY to Houston were Filipino.

[Labyrinthos]

Is there any way to determine where the ship originated in NY? Although there is probably no connection between the exploding ship and the diver found dead in the Hudson River, I might feel differently if the ship traveled through the Hudson River Valley, perhaps from the Port of Albany, rather than departing from the NYC area, which is 60 miles south of where the diver was found.

[freeperfromnj]

Did you see Post 1624?

Philippine extremist group claims responsibility for explosion that caused ferry fire

[Labyrinthos]

Interesting. The dead diver doesn't look "white" to me. Looks Filipino. Someone else suggested Mexican. Given the history and colonial roots of the Philippines, we could both be right.

[SCR1]

*IF* he is not an American but perhaps a Philipino, could he have been on that ship that Blew up? Where was the body found in relation to the ship or its route from New York?

[Labyrinthos]

His body was found ~ 60 miles north of NYC. Note, however, that because of tides and currents, the body could have traveled a long way, although less so in the winter with the heavy ice, than in the warmer months.

[SCR1]

Acording to the news the ship had come from New York.

[Labyrinthos]

That's my question -- where in NY.