| Terrorist Scorecard | |
| The Iraqi "Deck of Cards" Scoreboard | |
| Centcom's New Iraq Scorecard | |
| Saudi Arabia's Most Wanted Scorecard | |
| Saudi Arabia's Most New Wanted Scorecard | |
|
Posted on 07/11/2005 1:34:53 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter
Thirty al Qaeda-linked terror suspects identified
By Jason Bennetto
About 30 al Qaeda fighters and sympathisers have been identified by counter-terrorism officers as the most likely suspects behind the London bombings, The Independent has learnt.
The mixture of foreign and British-born suspects are being investigated as part of a massive inquiry to track down those responsible for last Thursday's attacks.
The cell responsible is believed to number from four to 12 people, anti-terrorist sources have revealed.
The sources also disclosed that an initial group of about 30 key suspects has been identified from the hundreds of pieces of intelligence collected by MI5, MI6, Scotland Yard's anti terrorist branch, and the bugging centre at GCHQ (the Government Communication Headquarters) in Cheltenham.
The material includes phone taps and reports from foreign agents and police forces.
Among the suspects being investigated is the terrorist believed to have organised last year's Madrid train attacks in which 191 people were killed. Spanish intelligence officers have flown to London to help the police. They were among about 100 senior police officers from forces across the world that gathered at Scotland Yard in central London over the weekend to share information.
British intelligence officers are concentrating on trying to identify an individual bomber, or one of their supporters, which they hope will lead to the rest of the terror unit.
"It is from investigating individuals that you find out who they are associated with and how they operate," said a counter-terrorist source.
"The unit involved could be anything from three or four to about a dozen," the source added.
Among the 30-odd key suspects being investigated by British intelligence officers is Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, a 47-year-old Syrian, who is believed to be in hiding in Iraq or on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Nasar is considered to be a likely suspect because he has lived in London and has contacts there going back 10 years. He is known to have organised terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and is believed to be the mastermind behind the Madrid train bombings.
Another suspect is Mohammed al Gerbouzi, a Moroccan, who is wanted for questioning in connection with attacks in Casablanca and Madrid. He has been granted British citizenship, but is believed to be in hiding in London.
Intelligence agencies are increasingly finding al Qaeda suspects are becoming familiar with how they operate and are taking counter espionage measures, such as avoiding using mobiles and telecommunications that can be bugged.
MI5 and anti-terrorist police have previously identified British-born Muslim extremists who had the training and skills to make high-explosive bombs similar to the ones detonated on the Tube and on a bus in London.
At least one such individual has been arrested by the authorities.
It is too early to know whether the terrorists responsible for Thursday's atrocity are British-born Muslims or foreign al Qaeda fighters, according to security sources.
"The modus operandi that we know so far doesn't give us an awful lot to go on. They don't tell us whether they are a homegrown radicalised unit or overseas grouping, or whether they are mixed. It is too early to make that judgement," a security source said.
Most terrorist experts believe from the initial details of the attacks that an experienced bomber with skills, probably gained from an al Qaeda training camp, was involved.
But Lord Stevens, the former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police - then Sir John - predicted yesterday that the London bombers were "almost certainly" British.
Lord Stevens, who served as commissioner for five years before retiring this year, said that the bombers were "totally aware of British life and values" and although international terrorists may have provided the expertise, it was "wishful thinking" to suspect the perpetrators came from abroad.
He said: "I'm afraid there's a sufficient number of people in this country willing to be Islamic terrorists that they don't have to be drafted in from abroad."
He continued: "[The bombers] will be apparently ordinary British citizens, young men conservatively and cleanly dressed and probably with some higher education. Highly computer literate, they will have used the internet to research explosives, chemicals and electronics.
"They are also willing to kill without mercy - and to take a long time in their planning."
He added: "We believe that up to 3000 British-born or British-based people have passed through Osama bin Laden's training camps over the years. Plainly, not all went on to become active Islamic terrorists in the UK."
Meanwhile, the police are continuing their forensic investigation, which is concentrating on trying to recover fragments of the bomb and traces of the explosives from the four blast sites.
Detectives revealed that the three bombs on Tube trains at Aldgate, Edgware Road and King's Cross had exploded almost simultaneously at 8.50am. Technical data from London Underground showed there was a gap of about 50 seconds between the first and third explosions.
The later bomb on a No 30 bus at Tavistock Square in central London, which killed 13 people, went off nearly an hour later at 9.47am.
It is unclear whether the bomber was still on the bus. It is also not yet known if it was a suicide bomber, if the device went off by accident, or whether there was a timer set an hour later than the Tube devices.
The police issued an urgent appeal yesterday to the public for any photographs, video footage or mobile phone images taken in the aftermath of the bombings.
They should be emailed to Scotland Yard at: imagesatmet.police.uk.
Three men were arrested yesterday morning under anti-terror laws at Heathrow airport. The three British nationals were detained after they were turned back from the United States, but police sources said they were not being linked to Thursday's bombings. The three men are expected to be released overnight.
Marines make offensive sweep near Fallujah
Raids attempt to stop insurgents' increasing attacks in the region
By EDWARD WONG
FALLUJAH, IRAQ - U.S. Marines began an offensive sweep Saturday through fertile farmland south of Fallujah in an attempt to disrupt suspected insurgent cells in the area.
The offensive comes as insurgent attacks appear to be on the rise again in the city, once a stronghold for the guerrillas.
In the early morning hours, about 350 Marines from the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion and 100 Iraqi army soldiers rolled into the Zaidan area in armored vehicles.
They approached from the eastern edge of the farming region, which lies immediately north of the Euphrates River, and slowly progressed westward.
"It'll drive the insurgents away from us," Lt. Col. Dan Masur, commander of the battalion, said of the sweep. "Understandably, there's some fear down there. The Iraqis want to help, but they want to know you'll be down there to support them."
The action by the Marines here in the Fallujah area is the second phase of a sweep known as Operation Scimitar.
The first phase began on Thursday, when Marines carried out raids on 48 different sites in the Zaidan area, said Maj. Chris Medlin, the executive officer of the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, which is based in Okinawa, Japan.
The raids were intended partly to capture a suspected midlevel insurgent operator, but that man slipped away.
The Marines declined to release details of Thursday's operation until Saturday, Medlin said, in hope that the insurgents would think that the offensive had ended after the initial raids and would return to the Zaidan area.
The Marines detained 16 men in the first raids on Thursday morning, in the Zaidan marketplace, and by early Saturday had captured a total of 22 men. Some or all could be released after being interrogated.
All the insurgents captured in the Zaidan area are local residents, Masur said.
The city of Fallujah, ravaged in a U.S. offensive in November, has seen a spike in violence recently, as thousands of former residents return each month.
What business does the US have in Iraq?
By Amir Taheri (The best voice on all things Moslem and Arab)
The other day, it was the first anniversary of the transfer of sovereignty in Iraq. As expected, opponents of the war seized the opportunity to add a fresh coat of gloom to the picture they paint of the situation there.
The doomsters insist the United States and its allies, including the overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people who have just formed their first democratically elected government, are losing and the terrorists, euphemistically labelled "insurgents" are winning.
The problem is these doomsters do not offer any standard for success against which the performance of the US-led coalition and the Iraqi people could be measured.
When it comes to offering a strategy for coping with this supposed failure, all that they have to offer is a time-table for US military withdrawal.
The only rational way to approach this issue is to ask: What business does the United States have in Iraq? If we assume it has no business, a perfectly legitimate position, we should be asking not for a time-table but immediate withdrawal.
But if we assume the United States is in Iraq on some business then, surely, we cannot talk of withdrawal in abstraction. Also, any success or failure could then be measured against the goals of that business. Thus the real debate concerns the nature of the business the United States may have in Iraq and the best ways of accomplishing it.
Did the United States go to Iraq to seize oil resources and bring oil prices down? If yes, then with oil prices pegged at $60 (Dh220) per barrel compared to $18 (Dh66) before the war, it has failed and better bring its troops back immediately.
Or did the United States go to Iraq only to topple Saddam Hussain and to finish the job which Bush Senior had left unfinished? If that is the case, the United States has succeeded because Saddam and almost all his henchmen are under lock and key. Again, the United States can declare that it achieved its goal and bring its soldiers home.
US President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, however, claim the US-led coalition is in Iraq on an altogether more ambitious mission, of which the toppling of Saddam Hussain was only the first phase.
That mission is aimed at transforming Iraq from a despotic system into a vibrant democracy. The plan is a part of a broader strategy to bring the Middle East into the global political and economic mainstream.
The US-led intervention in Iraq and earlier in Afghanistan, however, is not the result of starry-eyed altruism but the fruit of enlightened self-interest. Today, the single deadliest threat to the US national security comes from Islamist terrorism which, although it has sympathisers in the West, uses the Middle East as its main support base.
Terrorism cannot be defeated and eventually uprooted unless it is deprived of the swamps of despotism in which it breeds like deadly mosquitoes.
The United States and its allies are beginning to abandon the 60-year or so policy of allying themselves with Arab despots in exchange for cheap oil. The US-led interventions in both Afghanistan and Iraq symbolised that change.
Even though the United States and its allies have not fully shifted their weight away from despotic regimes and in favour of pro-democracy forces in the region, the Middle East is already abuzz with messages of change and reform.
If we assume that the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were part of such a grand strategy we will then have something with which to measure success and failure.
Let us see how this works in the case of Iraq.
Four phases
The Iraq mission could be seen in four phases: liberation, pacification, reconstruction and democratisation. These phases should not be considered consequentially. Rather they should be seen as parallel tracks along which movements of different rhythm and tempo takes place.
The first phase liberation has been completed in the physical sense. The Baathist regime and its machinery of repression have been shattered, never again to be rebuilt. In a broader sense, however, it may take generations before the people of Iraq can liberate their souls from decades of life under the worst tyranny seen since the Second World War.
The second phase pacification has also been largely accomplished. Barring common criminality partly due to lack of proper policing, most of Iraq is peaceful. The terrorists do not hold any territory, even at night. Over the past year, specially since the general election of January 30, the insurgents have been losing support even in the Jazirah region, known as the Sunni Triangle.
They have also failed to develop a political leadership to challenge the leadership that emerged from Iraq's first free elections. Nor has the insurgency developed any clear political demands. This partly explains why it is increasingly depending on "holy warriors" from other Arab countries.
The full pacification of Iraq, in the sense of not having a single car bomb, may not come anytime soon. No Arab country is in such a felicitous state. In this context, the experience of Algeria is of importance.
The war that the Algerian state has waged against Islamist terror gangs for the past 13 years has claimed almost a quarter of a million lives. It took Egypt 20 years and over 30,000 lives to crush the Islamofascists.
The third phase reconstruction has been the least successful. Despite efforts on a heroic scale, the US-led coalition gets no more than a C, largely due to bureaucratic constraints, confused planning and corruption. But reconstruction, too, is a long-term effort and Iraq may need years to become a modern economy.
The fourth phase democratisation is an undeniable success. We have already mentioned the general, provincial and municipal elections. But a more important, and lesser known, fact is the culture of democracy is beginning to strike roots in Iraq. This can be seen in the growth of the new privately-owned media, and constant improvement in its quality, and the emergence of Western-style political parties.
Again, all this may take decades before Iraq becomes a truly democratic society as opposed to a despotic one with some trappings of democracy.
Tactically, the enemies of this grand strategy, that is to say the Islamofascists and their Baathist and Khomeinist allies, remain deadly and dangerous. As in other Arab countries they may continue to wreak havoc in Iraq for some time yet. Strategically, however, their back has been broken by the combined force of American military power and the Iraqi people's resolve to shake-off tyranny.
The Iraq enterprise has been and remains a strategic success for the United States, its Iraqi and other allies and for all those who wish the Middle East democratised. But there is still much unfinished business. This is no reason to cut and run.
So when should the US-led coalition withdraw? The answer has been there all along: when the current political process in Iraq produces a new elected government based on a new democratic constitution ratified in a popular referendum.
Such a government, speaking for the whole Iraqi people, could then, if it so wishes, demand an end to the coalition's military presence.
Such a time-table takes us into the spring of next year or, as Iraq's Prime Minister Ebhraim Al Jaafari said in London the other day, early 2007. Until then it would be irresponsible to cast doubts on the resolve either of the United States or of the new Iraqi leadership to stay the course.
Iranian writer Amir Taheri is the author of "L'Irak: Le Dessous Des Cartes" (Editions Complexe, France; 2003). He is a member of Benador Associates.
Algerian army kills 8 rebels -source
ALGIERS, July 10 (Reuters) - Algerian military killed eight Islamic militants suspected of having al Qaeda ties as part of a large-scale offensive on rebel strongholds ahead of a possible amnesty, a security source said on Sunday.
The rebels, of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), were killed on Saturday during an operation in Boumerdes province, some 50 Km (30 miles) east of the capital Algiers. "The terrorists belong to GSPC, which is still focusing its actions in this region," the source told Reuters.
It said three soldiers had been injured during the offensive, which is continuing.
The army has been carrying out a search operation in eastern provinces, where several attacks on security forces, blamed on rebels, took place recently. Less than 1,000 militants, most belonging to GSPC, still fight for a purist state in the Muslim North African country. They pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network in 2003. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said last week a referendum would be held soon on an amnesty proposal aimed at ending more than 13 years of Islamic rebel violence which has killed up to 200,000 people. Hundreds of rebels are believed to want to surrender if an amnesty is offered, security sources and diplomats say.
142 arrested in Italian security alert
BEIJING, July 11 -- Italian police have arrested 142 people, most of them illegal immigrants, and seized a small amount of explosives from an Italian criminal during a 48-hour security sweep around Milan, authorities said Saturday.
The operation, carried out after the London blasts, focused on sites considered sensitive in Italy’s financial capital, including railway stations and subway lines.
Police said the arrests were for criminal charges such as theft and drugs possession — not for terrorism.
Authorities seized about 1.5 kilograms of explosives from the home of an Italian ex-convict, along with a pistol. His past crimes included burglary, police said. Col. Cosimo Piccino said the sweep, involving more than 2,000 officers, was meant “to guarantee greater security after the London attacks and to combat illegal immigration and street crime.”
Police said 83 illegal immigrants were among those arrested. Expulsion orders were issued for 52 people.
Italy, a staunch U.S. ally in Iraq, has received two threats from purported Islamic militants in the wake of the London attacks.
Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Friday Italy would begin withdrawing 300 troops from Italy’s 3,000-strong contingent in Iraq, but denied the withdrawal was linked to any terrorist threats.
US frees 76 suspected Taliban in Afghanistan
KABUL, July 9 (Xinhuanet) -- US military freed 76 Taliban suspected Saturday in Afghan capital Kabul to encourage more militants to lay down arms.
These persons were freed from the US military base at Bagram in north Kabul.
"Most of them were from active southern and eastern Afghanistan, and were detained during the US-led war against Taliban remains and other militants after the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001," Sibghatullah Mujadadi, a former resistance leader who heads the government's reconciliation initiative, said.
"They will be sent back directly to their hometown after release," Mujadadi said.
US military, in coordination with Afghan government, has set free 57 suspected Taliban militants early this month in Kabul.
In the efforts to end Taliban-led militancy and stabilize security in the war-torn nation, President Hamid Karzai has announced amnesty for all armed opposition groups except Taliban's
chief Mullah Mohammad Omar and his close aids and commanders numbering 150.
To implement the agenda, the president constituted a committee under the leadership of Mujadadi and authorized him to push ahead with reconciliation policy.
Under the policy, over 200 suspected Taliban detainees were released this year, while over 400 Afghans with the suspicion of having links with Taliban and al-Qaida are still languishing in some 23 US detention centers in Afghanistan. Enditem
(SV-There was a story in the round-up a few days ago about Pakistan releasing prisoners and then tailing them. I'm curious to see if we have a similar plan in the works here.)
London's Islamists unusually mum (Unbelievable stuff about this scumbag)
By Seth Rosen
WASHINGTON -- London's notoriously outspoken Islamists, a media-savvy faction who have publicly praised the September 11 hijackers and called for Islamic law in Britain, have fallen unusually silent since Thursday's rush-hour attack on commuters. Sheik Omar Bakri Mohammed, the radical cleric known for giving his cell phone number to reporters, did not answer yesterday or the previous day. The Web site of the sheik's followers was offline, and Anjem Choudhary, his top assistant, refused to comment on the blasts that left scores dead.
In contrast, Muslim clerics and residents of London condemned the bombings without reservation, including one of Mr. Bakri's supporters. "My reaction is the same as the British public -- it is an act of terrorism and I'm deeply saddened," said Abu Bakar Siddique. "Many innocents lives were lost and many Muslims died."
In his lectures and interviews, Mr. Bakri often walks a fine line between the right to preach and the criminal offense of incitement of violence. He has repeatedly called the September 11 hijackers "magnificent," and in Internet sermons, as reported by the Times of London, he implores Muslims to fulfill their "duty" of jihad and to support the mujahideen abroad.
Mr. Bakri defended the March 2004 Madrid train bombing, and said that British Muslims should "kill and be killed" for Islam. To his young supporters, he provides religious guidance and advises them on how to survive in what they perceive as a corrupt and racist society. His detractors say that behind the cryptic language is an extremist whose incendiary sermons radicalize disenchanted youth.
"Do they think they can continue in this anarchism without paying the price?" Mr. Bakri asked more than 60 men who filled a community center in East London in March. No more than a handful were over 25.
The Syrian-born Mr. Bakri was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 1986 for his inflammatory preaching and involvement in the extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. He eventually settled in London. (SV-Too radical for Saudi Arabia but OK for Britain?)
He rose to notoriety during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when he said Prime Minister John Major would be a legitimate target for assassination once on Muslim soil. His public invective became too much for the Hizb ut-Tahrir leadership, and in 1996 he resigned and formed Al-Muhajiroun. Al-Muhajiroun disbanded in October 2004, amid a spate of public criticism and heightened scrutiny by British authorities, even though the sheik has continued to preach.
During an interview earlier this year at a McDonald's in East London, Mr. Choudhary predicted there was a very high risk of a terror operation happening in the coming months. "Someone will take it into their own hands," he said. "I think it is just a matter of time. "The Muslim community is under siege ... and it is an obligation for every Muslim to prepare themselves mentally and physically for any outcome and eventuality," he said.
(SV-I recommend a "Milan-style" escort out of the country for this guy)
Two more Taliban activists switch sides in Khost
KHOST CITY: Two local Taliban leaders, allied with former minister Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani renounced militancy and pledged allegiance to the government.
Abdul Wahab Mohsini, a senior intelligence official of the southeastern Khost province, informed Pajhwok Afghan News that Sher Zaman and Mohammad Omar from Yaqubi district had switched sides in response to a national reconciliation campaign.
Hailing from a Yaqubi village called Tala, they vowed support to the government through Mualim Jan, then Jalaluddin Haqqani's close confidant, who had surrendered to provincial authorities on April 1.
Mualim Jan said Zaman and Omar would invite their friends and backers to swing behind the government, which has been in negotiations with rebels in an attempt to curb violence and promote national cohesion.
Mohsini pointed out the Haqqani loyalists, who earlier lived in the semi-autonomous tribal region of Pakistan, were on the US-led coalition forces' wanted list. Security officials barred newsmen from meeting the two men.
Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, a renowned commander, was minister for tribal affairs and border areas during the Taliban government, which was toppled in 2001 as a result of a sustained air blitz by the US.
Jaish leader, 2 others killed in Kashmir
SRINAGAR: Three people were killed and three were wounded in held Kashmir on Saturday while troops defused three landmines on a road the state’s chief minister was set to use, police said.
Three members of India’s Border Security Force (BSF) were wounded when suspected rebels attacked them with hand grenades in Sopore town, 50 kilometres north of Srinagar, police said.
Earlier, BSF troops recovered three landmines on a key highway in the Nihalpora village. “The bombs were defused later,” police said.
Indian troops Saturday recovered bullet-riddled bodies of three militants, including the chief commander of the hardline Jaish-e-Mohammed and his deputy in southern Pulwama district, defence spokesman Vijay Batra said. Troops identified the commander as Jamal Bhai and his deputy as Mullah Naseer. Batra said the militants had sustained injuries during an encounter with troops in February but had escaped.
| Terrorist Scorecard | |
| The Iraqi "Deck of Cards" Scoreboard | |
| Centcom's New Iraq Scorecard | |
| Saudi Arabia's Most Wanted Scorecard | |
| Saudi Arabia's Most New Wanted Scorecard | |
|
Ping.
See you all again when I get back from vacation!
Have a great vaction SV and family ......
Sure, Have a nice vacation SV.
Well have a good vacation. going anywhere "exciting"
Have a GREAT vacation SV!
Have a GREAT vacation SV!
thanks, SV!! enjoy yourself!!
Vacation!??! Dog, I don't recall seeing any paperwork on this, do you?
I got your secretary to sign it while you were in the john.
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