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.

[Selene]

Posted on Sun, Feb. 29, 2004
Eighth motorist reports possible I-580 shooting

By Liz Tascio

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

An eighth motorist has reported a possible shooting on Interstate 580 last week, and several have mentioned a dark pickup that may be connected to the attacks, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

The shootings echo a series of sniping incidents along the same freeway in San Leandro eight years ago. In January 1996, three teenage boys and a 22-year-old man spent three days firing at the freeway, hitting about a dozen vehicles and injuring one person. They told investigators they were bored.

The CHP is investigating last week's shootings and have not labeled them the work of a sniper.

"We've reinterviewed drivers (and) ... done some detailed inspections of the vehicles," said CHP Sgt. Wayne Ziese. "We have also received a number of promising leads from the public."

Among those leads were reports of a dark, full-size American pickup driven by a white man in his 30s with a bald or shaven head who was seen in some of the incidents. Several drivers have said they saw the truck about the time they heard a loud noise and realized their vehicle had been struck by something.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/8073937.htm

---

Between Dublin and San Leandro - This had not been on the TV news at all. I have to go to Oakland this week and I am not looking forward to driving in that area.

[JustPiper]

Saudi king calls for charity fund-raising reforms
02/29/04 09:14 AM, EST
Amid accusations that a Saudi-based Islamic charity has financed terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, Saudi Arabia's King Fahd said the kingdom is moving to change the way it raises charity funds abroad.
FULL STORY
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/02/29/saudi.charity/index.html

Explosives intercepted in Spain
02/29/04 08:59 AM, EST
Spanish police intercepted a van on Sunday carrying more than 500 kgs (1,100 lbs) of explosives, which they believe Basque separatist guerrilla group ETA planned to use for a devastating attack in Madrid, officials said.
FULL STORY
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/02/29/spain.explosives.reut/index.html

[JustPiper]

Regulatory Resources, Inc. (RRI) is hosting two 1-day seminars to discuss the changes and impacts created by the recent U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) rulemakings that revise the domestic radioactive materials packaging and transport regulations. These two dockets were published on January 26, 2004 and go into full effect on October 1 of THIS year! That's fast.

Many aspects of the regulations have changed...and changed dramatically. In this one day seminar we'll discuss the new and revised definitions (included the major changes to the definition of radioactive material), the revision of the A1 / A2 Table and its impact, changes in packaging including the elimination of DOT specification and older NRC approved Type B packages, new hazard communication requirements (e.g., marking and labeling), clarifications in the controls used in transport; and many other new regulations. We'll also highlight those areas that are of concern and need to be addressed to the DOT/NRC as comments for reconsideration.

Each participant receives the two final rules and the recently published NUREG/CR-6713 (Regulatory Analysis of Major Revisions of 10 CFR 71 - Final Rule). RRI is not providing any copies of the current DOT 49 CFR 100-185 regulations -- please plan on bringing your own.

The two 1-day seminars will be held on March 17 and 18 at the Hampton Inn in Richland, WA (509-943-4400). All travel arrangements are up to the participant. The cost is $195. To obtain a registration form simply click on the following link.
http://www.regulatoryresources.net/documents/course/RegistrationForms/Reg_Form-HM-230_Seminar.PDF

Regulatory Resources, Inc.
Your Training and Compliance Professionals
www.regulatoryresources.net
509-628-1020

[JustPiper]

Everything I heard today indicated we are in control, that he was forced to leave by gunpoint? Not looking like we're the good guys on this one Cal.

[JustPiper]

In how many years, this must be what the 35th coup?

[JustPiper]

IMPORTANT!!!

FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN
Suicide bombers
coming to U.S.?
Israeli raid turns up terror plot
against Americans, Europeans

Posted: March 1, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

A document discovered during a recent Israeli army raid on some West Bank financial institutions found payrolls being prepared for terrorists trained to commit suicide attacks – not just in Israel but in the U.S. and Europe, Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin reports.

Israel has reportedly shared the information with the intelligence agencies of friendly countries, including the U.S. and Russia, according to the premium, online intelligence newsletter.

In addition, new information about the ways and means of suicide bombers has been shared indirectly with the governments of Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states.

G2B has learned Israeli specialists are now working closely with Russian agents of the Federal Security Force, sharing with them information on the technology and means of preparing suicide bombs to be used by individual shahids – or "suicide martyrs."

Full Story:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37357

[JustPiper]

Report: Deal for U.S. to Hunt Bin Laden in Pakistan

Feb 29, 1:10 PM (ET)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States has struck a deal with Pakistan to allow U.S. troops to hunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden this spring in an area of Pakistan where he is believed to be operating, the New Yorker magazine reported on Sunday.

Thousands of U.S. troops will be deployed in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan in return for Washington's support of President Pervez Musharraf's pardon of the Pakistani scientist who this month admitted leaking nuclear arms secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh wrote in the issue that goes on sale on Monday.

Full disclosure of Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan's activities would have exposed him as "the worst nuclear-arms proliferator in the world," an intelligence official is quoted as saying.

"It's a quid pro quo," according to a former senior intelligence official. "We're going to get our troops inside Pakistan in return for not forcing Musharraf to deal with Khan."

Musharraf has also offered other help in the hunt for bin Laden, accused of masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, according to the article.

"Musharraf told us, 'We've got guys inside. The people who provide fresh fruits and vegetables and herd the goats' for bin Laden and his al Qaeda followers," the intelligence official added.

The spring offensive could slow the tempo of U.S. operations in Iraq, the magazine said.

"It's going to be a full-court press," one Pentagon planner was quoted as saying. The article added that some of the most highly skilled U.S. Special Forces units would be shifted from Iraq to Pakistan.

Special Forces personnel have been briefed on their new assignments and in some cases have been given "warning orders" -- the stage before being sent into combat, according to a military adviser.

http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/381883|top|02-29-2004::13:26|reuters.html

[JustPiper]

I also heard this today on MSNBC and CNN:

US troops 'made Aristide leave'
From correspondents in Paris
March 1, 2004

HAITIAN leader Jean Bertrand Aristide was taken away from his home by US soldiers, it was claimed today.

A man who said he was a caretaker for the now exiled president told France's RTL radio station the troops forced Aristide out.

"The American army came to take him away at two in the morning," the man said.

"The Americans forced him out with weapons.

"It was American soldiers. They came with a helicopter and they took the security guards.

[JustPiper]

Even more reports on it:

Aristide Flees After a Shove From the U.S.
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS

Published: March 1, 2004

WASHINGTON, Feb. 29 — Jean-Bertrand Aristide's hold on the presidency of Haiti shattered Saturday night when he made a last-minute plea to the American ambassador that set off late-night phone calls to Washington, officials said on Sunday. By dawn, he was on a plane departing for his second exile, with no final destination in mind, they said.

Shortly after dawn, an American 757 dispatched by the Pentagon carried Mr. Aristide, his wife and a small security detail on their way to the Central African Republic

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/01/international/americas/01DIPL.html?hp

{{{The way I see it is the US got the rebels to hold off 1-2 days on their coup because they said they would personally remove him}}}

Haiti President Forced Out; Marines Sent to Keep Order
By LYDIA POLGREEN and TIM WEINER

Published: March 1, 2004

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb. 29 — Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned Sunday as Haiti's president, and a short while later President Bush ordered the deployment of the Marines as part of an "interim international force" to restore order.

Mr. Aristide, the slum priest who became his country's first elected president, acted under intense pressure from the United States and the threat of an invasion of the capital by armed insurgents. He fled the country by jet at dawn under heavy American guard, and a United States official said he was bound for the Central African Republic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/01/international/americas/01HAIT.html

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.uscrusade.com/
http://johnw.host.sk/articles/war_jihad_histroy/index.htm
http://193.219.5.144/tur/
http://www.kavkaz.org.uk/eng/
http://www.muslimthai.com/talibanonline/text/taliban/

[Cindy]

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=56632

"Taliban lurches back to power:


ARTICLE SNIPPET: "KABUL, March 01 (Online): A convoy of about 20 Honda motorcycles surrounds a house, looking for people who support the United States or President Hamid Karzai.

If they find one, they kill him. If not, the householders are beaten to serve as a warning to others.

In the village of Shah Joy, about 300 kilometres southwest of Kabul, the return of the Taliban has been swift and harsh, as it is in about one-third of Afghanistan's southern regions where the ousted regime has regrouped and is widely thought to be preparing for a spring offensive against the Karzai government and its U.S. allies."

[JustPiper]

Ferry fire terror claim dismissed
03/01/04
Divers returned to a half-sunken, gutted ferry Monday to search for 137 missing passengers, while the government played down claims by a Muslim militant group that it planted a bomb which caused the ship to catch fire last week.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/03/01/philippines.ferry.ap/index.html

[JustPiper]

American Brothers Accused of Terror Links Deported to U.S.

Monday, March 01, 2004

MANILA, Philippines — Two American brothers arrested in the Philippines last year for alleged ties to Al Qaeda (search)-linked groups were deported to the United States, immigration officials said Monday.

Michael Ray Stubbs (search), 55, of Antioch, Calif., and his brother James, 56, who also goes by the name Jamil Daud Mujahid (search), of Newark, N.J., were arrested in December and ordered deported.

Authorities alleged that James Stubbs met with members of the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf (search) as well as the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,112882,00.html

[JustPiper]

Experts Warn About Shoulder-Fired Missile Threat

Monday, March 01, 2004
By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
WASHINGTON — Overshadowed by the debate over passenger screening is a terrorist threat as real and elusive as a hijacking — the possibility of terrorists using shoulder-fired missiles (search) to down a commercial jet, either on the tarmac or in the air.

“We could face a grim future if we do nothing,” security expert David Forbes of BoydForbes Security (search) told an audience this week at the Cato Institute (search), which sponsored a discussion on shoulder-fired missiles, or man-portable air defense systems (MANPADs)(search).

Forbes pointed to a thwarted missile attack against an Israeli charter plane off the coast of Kenya in November 2002 — the first documented action against a commercial airliner outside of a war zone. He called the incident a “precursor” for anti-U.S. attacks in the future.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,112873,00.html

[JustPiper]

Monday 1st March, 2004

Israel Arrests 3 Would-Be Suicide Bombers Aged 13 And 14

Israeli Security forces arrested over the weekend three Palestinian youths who planned to carry out a "suicide mission" out of anger over Israel's West Bank security fence, their relatives said Sunday. The youths, ages 13 and 14, were among the youngest ever arrested for planning suicide attacks.

The three youths, residents of the northern West Bank village of Tubas, were arrested at the Jalameh checkpoint near Nablus while carrying a pipe bomb, ynet reported.

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=42b3dfc6a26260ce

[JustPiper]

Homemade bomb explodes in Naperville park (Illinois)
By Beth Sneller Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Sunday, February 29, 2004
No one was hurt and no property was damaged when a small bomb exploded near Springhill Park in Naperville Friday evening.

Police are looking for the man who a witness said left the bomb at 5:32 p.m. on the 500 block of Milton Drive.

The man exited a newer model red Pontiac Grand Am or Ford Escort, left the bomb near the park, returned to his vehicle and left heading south, the witness told police. The suspect was wearing a black "hoodie," police said.

The bomb was homemade from a 2-liter plastic bottle. Explosive devices made from household appliances like this commonly are called "MacGyver bombs."

Anyone with information concerning the incident should call the Naperville Police Department at (630) 420-6666 or the Naperville CrimeStoppers Hotline at (630) 420-6066.

[JustPiper]

Homemade bomb explodes in Naperville park (Illinois)
By Beth Sneller Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Sunday, February 29, 2004
No one was hurt and no property was damaged when a small bomb exploded near Springhill Park in Naperville Friday evening.

Police are looking for the man who a witness said left the bomb at 5:32 p.m. on the 500 block of Milton Drive.

The man exited a newer model red Pontiac Grand Am or Ford Escort, left the bomb near the park, returned to his vehicle and left heading south, the witness told police. The suspect was wearing a black "hoodie," police said.

The bomb was homemade from a 2-liter plastic bottle. Explosive devices made from household appliances like this commonly are called "MacGyver bombs."

Anyone with information concerning the incident should call the Naperville Police Department at (630) 420-6666 or the Naperville CrimeStoppers Hotline at (630) 420-6066.

http://www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_story.asp?intID=380463

[JustPiper]

Please delete this post,tis a double, thank you

[Cindy]

INSIGHT On The News online - The Last Word: "HEZBOLLAH EMERGING AS THE TERRORIST A-TEAM" by Ralph de Toledano (March 1, 2004) (Read More...)

On The Net..."HIZBOLLAH.org"

On The Net...YAHOO! Groups: "Hizbullah-West" (Discussion Forum)

On The Net..."NASROLLAH.org"

FBI.gov - MOST WANTED TERRORISTS - WANTED POSTER: "IMAD FAYEZ MUGNIYAH" aka "Hajj" (Read More...)

[AmericanInTokyo]

any such aftermath problems (with Hiroshima and Nagasaki) are long since gone....