Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread Seven

The Washington Times ^ | 4-26-04 | Bill Gertz

[jerseygirl]

From Debka- true reason Jordan's King cancelled visit to US:


Al Qaeda Terror Ring Draws Closer to Israel


April 28, 2004, 12:44 AM (GMT+02:00)

www.debka.com/article.php?aid=834

The partial reports filtering out of Damascus indicate that the large-scale terrorist attack carried out Tuesday night, April 27, in the al Maza diplomatic quarter of the Syrian capital - a simultaneous car bomb, machine gun, grenade, rocket assault on several targets that set UN offices on fire and singled out the Canadian embassy – has brought the encroaching global terror warfront dangerously close to Israel.

Earlier on the same day, the new Saudi network leader, Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, on a newly-released audio tape threatened fiercer than ever attacks this year against “the Jews, the Americans and the Crusaders.” He promised that Saudi Arabia would not be able to protect US interests. But “the Jews” topped his list of targets.

The Damascus assault by mixed bombing-shooting teams recalls al Qaeda’s pattern of attack in most of the strikes it has carried out in the Saudi capital of Riyadh since May 2003. If al Qaeda was indeed behind the Damascus raid, its Tehran-based commanders are clearly in the process of further stretching their warfront across the Middle East into a fresh theatre, adding Syria to its bases of operations. While the Americans focus on their war against insurgents in Iraq and the Israelis are caught up in fighting Palestinian terrorists, al Qaeda is drawing a ring of fire around both.

To subscribe to DEBKA-Net-Weekly click HERE .

Monday night, April 26, Jordanian TV aired the confessions of captured al Qaeda-linked terrorists, including Syrians, saying they had planned a chemical attack on Jordanian intelligence and US embassy in Amman. Jordanian security reported trucks seized with 20 tons of toxic chemicals that could have killed 80,000.

DEBKAfile reported earlier this month, that this attack was directed equally against targets in Amman and the Adam Bridge gateway from Jordan into Israel.

Al Qaeda’s order of action this month shows a certain logic in terrorist terms: first, the chemical weapons attack that was foiled by Jordan, followed by the bombing of Saudi General Intelligence headquarters that wrecked the kingdom’s counter-terror nerve center in Riyadh, then the homicidal speedboat bombers that aimed to sever Iraq’s main oil exporting route at Basra offshore terminal and, three days later, the attack on foreign missions in Damascus, including UN offices and the Canadian embassy.

The sound of these blasts was still reverberating around the Syrian capital Tuesday night, when Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN secretary’s special envoy to Iraq, stood before the UN Security Council in New York and emphasized the importance of sticking to the June 30 handover deadline in Iraq. Brahimi is determined to get a caretaker government up and running in Baghdad before that date; Al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents are equally bent on frustrating his effort. Osama bin Laden’s network in conjunction with Iraqi guerrillas sabotaged the last UN operation in Baghdad when they blew up the mission building on August 19, 2003 and murdered the last UN Iraq envoy Sergio de Mello and 22 UN staffers.

The Damascus attack alarms in Israel on two scores:

1. The ease with which al Qaeda’s cells and killers pass through borders and move across the Middle East at will, striking from operations centers uncomfortably close to Israel’s borders in Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

2. It is feared that they will next attempt to infiltrate Israel from several directions at once.

The following passage from an article published by DEBKA-Net-Weekly 153 sheds new light on al Qaeda’s current mode of operation:

Al Qaeda’s new methods were exposed by two earlier events this month - a suicide bombing that destroyed the heavily secured, seven-floor Saudi General Security headquarters on Riyadh’s al-Washm Street on Wednesday, April 21, and the raid a day earlier by Jordanian security forces on a villa in Amman’s affluent Upper Hashami neighborhood. In the second event, the Jordanian squad made two astonishing discoveries. One was that they had seized a section of a terrorist ring bent on a chemical weapons attack. The other was the first Iraqi cell known to be working for al Qaeda.

The threat of non-conventional warfare hangs more palpably over the Middle East now than ever before. So too does the very real menace to the royal houses of Saudi Arabia and Jordan. It is now clear that al Qaeda or its surrogates have infiltrated Saudi and Jordanian intelligence and counter-terror agencies to a degree that imperils the two thrones.

There is no other way of accounting how two car bombs came close enough to blow up one of the most sensitive anti-terror facilities in the Saudi kingdom and prop of the royal house. The entire city had been on the highest alert for months. This week it reached a new climax after Saudi security intercepted in the Riyadh area five booby-trapped vehicles laden with a total of four tons of explosives.

Yet two bomb vehicles drove around the town past roadblocks and security checks without being apprehended. The Saudis were as usual intent on minimizing the damage, claiming four dead and 148 injured when the true death toll stood at 24 and 250 wounded.

But they could not disguise the first time that al Qaeda has directly attacked a Saudi security target and personnel charged with protecting the royal family, after a series of bombings against foreigners in the kingdom. Indeed most of the casualties were members of Saudi security forces.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly quotes counter-terrorism experts as asking how the bombers penetrated the security barriers of the heavily fortified General Security building – not once but twice. They drove up to the barriers without being stopped one hour before the blast and engaged the guards in casual conversation on the working hours in the building. They then turned around and came back an hour later. Seeing hundreds of workers heading out of the facility at the end of the workday, they crashed a barrier and blew themselves up in the packed parking lot adjacent to one of Riyadh’s busiest streets.

The suicide bombers’ freedom to move around a jittery capital without being challenged, the readiness of the guards at a highly sensitive facility to reveal such information as working hours are only two anomalies that indicate that some high-up in the Saudi security service must have cleared the way for them to reach their target.

The incident in Jordan was still more revealing. The Upper Hashami estate, home to some of the wealthiest families in the Hashemite Kingdom, is tightly secured by a private firm, Jordanian security personnel and police officers.

Visitors must show identification before they are allowed in. A fence surrounds the neighborhood’s opulent villas and its guards carry state of the art electronic monitoring equipment. No one goes in or out without the knowledge of Jordanian security. Certainly anyone seeking to rent a villa is thoroughly vetted.

Nonetheless, al Qaeda was able to rent a villa for eight to 10 terrorists, at least seven of them recent arrivals from Iraq. All were highly trained in chemical warfare. Yet security personnel in Upper Hashami saw nothing amiss in a bunch of terrorists living it up in the posh suburb and armed to the teeth at all times. By good fortune, a neighbor who found their presence odd telephoned Jordanian security authorities, who immediately acted on the information. But was Jordanian security really taken by surprise? Did some high-placed al Qaeda plant make sure that the service tasked with guarding the throne was kept ignorant?

The grave breach discovered in his capital and his security and intelligence services was the real reason why King Abdullah called off his trip to Washington at the last minute, rather than affront at what his spokesmen claimed was President George W. Bush’s retraction of the Middle East “road map.” The Jordanian monarch could not afford to delegate this crisis to anyone but himself.

[Hegemony Cricket]

bookmarking

[MamaDearest]

We don't need a draft we need to use the knowledge of experience.

When Vietnam was the name of the wargame, our youngsters were drafted out of high school and society is still paying for that debacle. Signing up for Baskin-Robbins birthday club (they sold their lists) meant you signed your kids up for draft notices when they turned 18. I still have animosity about that whole era and how it was done. Reports say the draft will include "all sectors" of the population, but any idiot can be well advised the rich will not serve and if they do, they'll be out early (just like Ketchup Boy Kerry). The very fact that he threw his (PICK ONE:) medals or ribbons means he protested against his country. What he did should disquality him from the presidency - plain and simple. The rich DO have options not available to the rest of us. Money talks and anyone who doesn't believe it, better wise up. Rant over!

[PrivateIdaho]

I love hearing good things about my state

Headin' out your way for my wife's family reunion in Deadwood this summer. I've been there a couple of times and it's great - much more relaxed and friendly than Vegas... more fun for us low-rollers.

[Rushmore Rocks]

Let me know when you're coming.

Coeur d'Alene is wonderful. Been through there a few times.

Deadwood is great, more family-friendly and user-friendly.
Not nearly as intimidating as Vegas. And no one sneers if I use the quarter machines.

[Myrddin]

Reading the information that many of you have posted about ham radio's has created an interest for me. I want to learn more about the requirements etc. and that might be a good place to start off.

If you are in the Kearny Mesa area, stop by Ham Radio Outlet. They are located in the strip mall southeast of the I-15/Clairemont Mesa Blvd intersection. The bulletin board has announcements from local clubs and items for sale. The store has new and used gear and books. It is one of the few places in town where you can get some "hands on" actual equipment. My wife tagged up with a class offered by the General Dynamics Radio Club. That helped her learn the code and theory. She passed her Technician Plus exam on the last day the FCC recognized that class of license.

Two big clubs in the area are San Diego Repeater Associate (SANDRA) and Palomar Amateur Radio Club (PARC). Both clubs sponsor and maintain the mountaintop repeaters for 2m, 220 and 450 on Mt Otay, Mt Cuyamaca and Palomar mountain. I was a frequent user of the Mt Otay (146.64/04) SANDRA machine, so I joined and kept my annual dues up to help maintain the equipment. SANDRA also had an autopatch to make phone calls from a 2m radio in the late 70s. Doesn't make a lot of sense with cell phones today, but we helped a lot of stranded motorists that way.

[Lucy Lake]

If you read the article posted at the URL shown below, you will feel like you were just kicked in the stomach by a horse:


Muslims Burn Gift Boxes From Christians--Meant for Children

....

The contents never get to the waiting boys and girls.
In fact, the children’s parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles are the ones burning the gift boxes. They today are marching in the streets, demanding that no such gift boxes ever arrive again for their children.


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1125568/posts

[swarthyguy]

BUMP.

[jerseygirl]

This is rather interesting, in light of recent events:

SUDAN ORDERS SYRIAN WMD OUT OF COUNTRY

LONDON [MENL] -- Sudan has ordered the removal of Syrian missiles and weapons of mass destruction out of the African country.

Arab diplomatic and Sudanese government sources said the regime of Sudanese President Omar Bashir has ordered that Syria remove its Scud C and Scud D medium-range ballistic missiles as well as components for chemical weapons stored in warehouses in Khartoum. The sources said the Sudanese demand was issued after the Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry confirmed a report published earlier this month that Syria has been secretly flying Scud-class missiles and WMD components to Khartoum.

The sources said the Bashir regime has been alarmed over the prospect that the United States would discover the Syrian arsenal and conclude that Damascus and Khartoum were cooperating in the area of missiles and WMD. They said this would have delayed or dashed U.S. plans to lift sanctions from Sudan.

A U.S. official confirmed the Syrian missile shipments to Sudan, saying they were meant for use against rebels in the south. But the official said the U.S. intelligence community has not determined that Syria sent WMD systems to Khartoum.

http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2...il/04_23_2.html

[jerseygirl]

This is quite disturbing:

Sources: Iran Military Supervising Atomic Experts


By Louis Charbonneau

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards are overseeing some 400 nuclear experts in order to prevent further leaks of sensitive information about Tehran's atomic facilities, an Iranian exile and informed diplomats said.

Alireza Jafarzadeh, who disclosed in August 2002 that Iran had a hidden uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and a heavy water plant at Arak, told Reuters his new information came from the same sources who told him about Natanz and Arak.


"According to the latest information I have from well-placed sources inside Iran, some 400 nuclear experts are now under the control and supervision of the Revolutionary Guards," he said.


The Revolutionary Guards were set up after the 1979 Islamic Revolution as a force dedicated to protecting the revolution. It works in parallel with the regular army and its head is appointed directly by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.


Jafarzadeh was a spokesman for the exiled opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran before the United States, which lists it as a terrorist organization, closed the NCRI's Washington office last year. He is now president of the Washington-based Strategic Policy Consulting Inc.


The United States accuses Iran of using its atomic energy program as a front to build the bomb, and insists the Iranian military is intimately involved in Tehran's nuclear activities. Tehran denies this, saying it is a civilian program dedicated to the peaceful generation of electricity.


Since August 2002, the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been attempting to verify Tehran's statements that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. However, Tehran has in the past withheld information from the IAEA about potentially weapons-related technology.


PARALLEL NUCLEAR PROGRAM


Jafarzadeh said that Iran's nuclear program had been split into two parallel operations -- a secret one run by a "special unit" of the Revolutionary Guards and other military institutions and headed by Khamene, and a publicly declared one run by Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.


"The military special unit has its own advanced labs and facilities, which operates away from the IAEA inspections, and are kept totally secret," he said. "Many of the experts operate under the pretext of (being) an ordinary university professor."


He said the secret program was focused on building a bomb. Despite being secret, this parallel program draws on resources of the public one declared to the IAEA when necessary.


A diplomat who follows Iran's nuclear program told Reuters the guards' supervision of the nuclear program was not new.


"Since a long time ago, the Revolutionary Guards have taken over supervision of all the nuclear activities and have trained some of their people to work there," the diplomat said.


"There are hundreds of them" now working at nuclear sites up and down the country, the diplomat said. He said they had placed some sites "off limits" to personnel they do not trust.


Iran's ambassador to the United Nations (news - web sites) in Vienna, Pirooz Hosseini, told Reuters: "I have not heard such information. I don't think we should put too much emphasis on such news."


Other diplomats told Reuters it was no secret that the Revolutionary Guards were one of the most powerful hard-line elements inside Iran. Unlike many of the reformists who oppose building an atom bomb, the diplomats said the Revolutionary Guards want Tehran to build a bomb as soon as possible.


The guards have even forced some personnel changes inside the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, the diplomats said.

http://story.news.yahoo

[jerseygirl]

Terrorists acting against Iran in Syria? Now I am COMPLETELY lost.


http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm


27 Apr 2004

Details of Attacks in Syria Remain Unclear

DAMASCUS, SYRIA: The facts concerning explosions and gunfire in the capital of Syria still remain murky at this hour. Conflicting reports continue to come in from various sources, with few official details being released by Syrian officials. There is some commonality in the information that has become available so far, to include:

* Multiple attackers (exact number still uncertain), firing automatic rifles and grenade launchers fought police in a diplomatic quarter (Mazzeh district) of the Syrian capital on Tuesday night.

* Virtually all of the embassy offices and diplomatic residences deny that they were the target of the attacks.

* At least one attacker is dead, and another believed captured by Syrian security services.

* There was a fire and damage to the building that was occupied by U.N. offices. In New York, however, U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said the world body couldn't confirm reports that U.N. offices were hit in Damascus.

* The actual number of attackers, their specific target, their motives, identity and the implications of this incident still remain unclear.

ERRI analysts said they have only rarely seen the kind of ambiguity in reporting that is present in regard to the Damascus incident. Only one thing is certain...something serious has happened in Damascus and the rest of the world needs to know more about it. EmergencyNet news continues to monitor events in Syria very closely and we will provide you with additional facts if/when they emerge...

27 April 2004 - 14:00CDT

Multiple Explosions and Gunfire Heard in Damascus

DAMASCUS, SYRIA: Exactly what is going on in the Syrian capital of Damascus is presently not clear. But, according to many eyewitness reports the latest developments are less than encouraging. Unconfirmed reports continue to come in regarding explosions, gunfire and the sounds of ambulances and fire trucks being heard. The incidents reportedly took place on a highway leading into central Damascus from the Lebanese capital of Beirut at about 20:00 local time. Other accounts suggest that multiple terror attacks have taken place in the "embassy row" area of the capital. Syrian television has said that it's security forces were battling "terrorists."

Largely unconfirmed reports coming from Israeli state-owned television said the British, Canadian, Iranian and Saudi embassies were among the targets of grenade attacks and "that there had been some casualties." The number of dead and injured, if any, has not been confirmed by any diplomatic or official Syrian sources.


__________________

[freeperfromnj]

More on that flight diversion! Egyptian national carrying a lighter disguised as a cell phone?

Flight To N.Y. Diverted After Suspicious Behavior By Passenger

UPDATED: 8:10 pm EDT April 27, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY -- A Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to John F. Kennedy International Airport was diverted to Salt Lake City on Tuesday after a man who acted suspiciously with a butane lighter alarmed the flight crew, officials said.

The man, an Egyptian heading to Cairo, was questioned by FBI agents at Salt Lake City International Airport and was released, said Michael Fierberg, public affairs manager for the Transportation Security Administration.

The man was not arrested after his name was checked out with security records and databases, FBI spokesman Bob Wright said.

During Flight 1986, which left Los Angeles International Airport about 8 a.m., the man was asked to put away his cell phone. The device was actually a lighter, and the suspect "got quite agitated when he was told he couldn't use the cell phone," Fierberg said.

The man also refused to move a bag underneath the seat, he said.

Because the lighter appeared to be disguised and the suspect resisted putting it away, "the flight attendant had sufficient concern that he or she notified the pilot," Fierberg said.

The flight landed in Salt Lake City about 11:05 a.m. The plane's 139 passengers were taken off and re-screened while dogs sniffed bags and agents combed the plane. The flight departed for New York at 1:15 p.m., a Delta spokesman said.

Delta refused to transport the man to New York, Fierberg said.

http://www.wnbc.com/traffic/3242508/detail.html

[jerseygirl]

Here's an update on the missing tanker & chemicals (New Jersey), from ABC news.

Stolen Tanker Update

April 27, 2004 — It was a week ago when Action News first reported that a 9-thousand gallon tanker was missing from its yard in Pennsauken, New Jersey.

VIDEO: David Henry reports

The apparent theft of the tanker came on the heels of the disappearance of potentially dangerous chemicals in North Jersey.

Well, both the truck and the chemicals are still missing.

The FBI and New Jersey counter terrorism officials are taking both thefts seriously, a tanker truck missing from a yard in Pennsauken, and a potentially explosive chemical missing from a company in North Jersey. They may be the work of terrorists, but it remains to be seen if they are connected in any way.

The chemical was taken from Eastern Concrete Materials in Bogota, New Jersey on two occasions. In all, the thieves got away with 33-hundred gallons of Rheocrete, an additive that prevents corrosion of steel supports inside poured concrete.

In its purest form, the chemical can be combined with other agents to concoct a bomb like the fertilizer bomb used to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City.

On the first occasion the thieves lifted 26-hundred gallons of Rheocrete sometime between March 31st and April 5th.

That was before the 9,000-gallon tanker truck disappeared. The truck was reported missing sometime between the 8th and 12th of April.

The second chemical theft of 700 gallons occurred between the 9th and 12th of April.

The thefts of the chemical and the truck have raised alarms among anti terror groups around the country.

The FBI and New Jersey Counter terrorism officials are investigating both thefts, but the FBI says there's no evidence that they're connected.

And New Jersey officials say the missing chemical is not easily turned into a bomb. The office of Homeland Security has issued alerts about the potential for tanker trucks to be used as bombs or to spread germ agents.

Investigators have gotten dozens of tips about the tanker, but say they haven't found it yet. Although, the FBI tells Action News they know more about the tanker than they're able to reveal to the public at this point.

David Henry, Channel 6 Action News.

[freeperfromnj]

Thanks for that update. I've been scouring all the NJ news sources trying to find out more. Not good that they still haven't found either the tanker or the chemicals.

[jerseygirl]

No doubt the truck has been repainted by now.

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

Don't miss the last sentence

$500,000 Worth of Property Stolen from Russia’s Nuclear Flagship
Created: 27.04.2004 17:22 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 17:37 MSK, 11 hours 15 minutes ago


MosNews



Embezzlement of finances and property on the Peter the Great nuclear cruiser amounted to 14 million rubles (almost $500,000) in 2003, the RIA Novosti news agency reported on Tuesday citing a source in the financial directorate of the Northern Fleet’s headquarters.

“We are puzzled by the ship command’s inability to control the observation of order on board and lack of responsibility for the hardware commissioned to them. More than that, over the past months of 2004, hardware worth about 400,000 rubles (over $13,000) was embezzled,” the source said.

The Peter the Great has been put into dry dock after the commission of the Main Headquarters of the Russian Navy checked her two weeks ago.

The inspection followed a statement by the top Russian Navy commander who said that the condition of the nuclear cruiser was so poor it could blow up at any moment.


http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/04/27/cruizer.shtml

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

FYI

Report Questions Nation's Nuclear Plant Security

Morning Edition audio

April 27, 2004

A new report by the the General Accounting Office finds lax security standards in nuclear weapons facilities in the United States. The report reveals that these facilities may not be prepared for terrorist threats for another six years. NPR's David Kestenbaum reports.


http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1852879

[WestCoastGal]

" The office of Homeland Security has issued alerts about the potential for tanker trucks to be used as bombs or to spread germ agents."

This sentence stuck out like a sore thumb. Say they were to put this germ agent in the tanker whether it be mixed with water or whatever and leave the release valve just a little open allowing whatever it is to escape slowly. Drive down the highway infecting everyone driving by.

[jerseygirl]

I was trying to find information about the suspicious big-rig drivers who were stopping at rest areas I 5 in California.

The state lists all of the reststops, and indicates which facilities are available. Of all the stops on I 5- only one rest area is "CLOSED".

It's this one:

005 Elkhorn At Sacramento International Airport




Interstate 5 Southbound Rest Areas

© 2003 State of California.

_____________________________________________________

Any updates on that story from yesterday?

[jerseygirl]

Whoa! I was just searching for information about the IslamoTrucks in California ! What a coincidence! I was trying to find out if we had any further news...