The Daily Terrorist Round-Up 8/6/05

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2005 – About 1,000 Iraqi security force soldiers and U.S. Marines from Regimental Combat Team 2 moved into the city of Haqliniyah, Iraq, and the surrounding area today as part of Operation Quick Strike. The operation began Aug. 3 with Iraqi soldiers and U.S. Marines positioning their units.

Coalition forces confirmed through gathered intelligence that terrorists are operating in these cities and surrounding areas.

Iraqi special operations forces this morning directed an air strike on terrorists hiding in buildings outside of Haqliniyah, about seven kilometers southwest of Haditha, where 20 Marines were killed in two widely reported attacks this week. Marine pilots attacked terrorists who were using these buildings to fire small arms at the Iraqi forces.

Elsewhere during the operation, while searching for evidence of terrorist activity, Iraqi soldiers and U.S. Marines came across two adjacent buildings with wires running between the structures. The wires were connected to numerous 155 mm artillery rounds scattered throughout both buildings. The two buildings were subsequently destroyed.

Tanks also fired on a building in Haqliniyah that terrorists were using to engage coalition forces with small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade fire.

The intent of Operation Quick Strike is to interdict and disrupt terrorists' presence in the Haditha, Haqliniyah, and Barwanah areas, U.S. officials said. About 800 U.S. Marines and sailors and 180 Iraqi soldiers are participating in the operation.

In other news from Iraq, a 45-year-old Iraqi man died Aug. 4 from multiple organ failure as a result of gunshot injuries suffered while engaging coalition forces.

The detainee was evacuated to the 86th Combat Support Hospital on July 24 and underwent extensive surgery on his chest, arm and abdomen, officials said. He was transferred to the 344th Field Hospital in Baghdad on July 26, where he developed a serious tissue infection. Despite aggressive antibiotic therapy, the infection spread to the blood and eventually resulted in multi-organ failure and death, officials said.

The remains will be transferred to the family upon completion of an autopsy. This is standing procedure for all detainees who die while in custody of Multinational Force Iraq, officials said.

Also on Aug. 4, Iraqi security forces supported by coalition forces conducted a joint search for known terrorists in the Nasr area, just northwest of Nasiriyah. Iraqi and coalition forces detained 17 suspects and confiscated nine vehicles during the operation.

Elsewhere, Iraqi army soldiers detained three suspected terrorists after targeted searches in Mosul today. No injuries or damages were reported during the operations.

Terrorists attacked Iraqi police officers eating lunch near the market in Old Baqubah on Aug. 4 with small-arms fire. The officers returned fire and pursued their attackers, eventually catching two of them. The detainees were transported to a nearby jail for questioning.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq news releases.)

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair has unveiled a sweeping set of measures to combat terrorism after the London bombings, including a controversial move to consider opting out from EU human rights obligations.

"Let no one be in any doubt that the rules of the game are changing," Mr Blair told a Downing Street press conference.

The Home Office was publishing new rules on deporting the likes of foreign hardline Islamic clerics who advocated terrorism, including fostering hatred or advocating violence to further religious beliefs, Mr Blair said.

"Anyone who has participated in terrorism or has anything to do with it, anywhere, will automatically be refused asylum in our country," he said.

Efforts would be made to accelerate the process, including a possible review of the 1998 Human Rights Act that incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law, Mr Blair said.

In addition, anyone who had been involved in terrorism would be refused asylum in Britain, while extra court capacity would be provided and hardline groups such as Al Muhajiroun would be proscribed, he said.

Attitudes in Britain had hardened after the July 7 attacks in which 52 people and four suicide bombers died in a series of blasts on Underground trains and a bus, and a bungled repeat attempt a fortnight later when the bombs failed, Mr Blair said.

Overall, the response of the British people had been "unified and dignified and remarkable", despite some "isolated and unacceptable acts of racial or religious hatred", he said.

"However, I am acutely aware that alongside these feelings is also a determination that this very tolerance and good nature should not be abused by a small but fanatical minority, and an anger that it has been".

Mr Blair said he had been asked many times in the past four weeks to "deal firmly" with those such as hardline clerics who incited terrorism.

"The Muslim community, I should emphasise, has been and is our partner in this endeavour," he said.

"Much of the insistence on strong action to weed out extremism is coming most vigorously from Muslims themselves, deeply concerned lest the activities of the fanatical fringe contaminate the good reputation of the mainstream Muslim community in this country."

An expansion of existing powers to allow the Government to strip citizenship from people with British or dual nationality who acted "in a way that is contrary to the interest of this country", would be among the new measures, Mr Blair said.

"We will now consult on extending these powers, applying them to naturalised citizens engaged in extremism, and making procedures simpler and more effective."

Efforts would be made to set a maximum time limit on all extradition cases involving terrorism, Mr Blair said.

For British nationals, the Government would extend the use of so-called "control orders", which currently allow the use of measures such as a limited use of house arrest for foreign nationals suspected of terrorism, he said.

U.S. Marines and Iraqi troops pounded insurgents with bombs and tank cannons Friday during a major offensive along a stretch of the Euphrates River valley where 22 Marines were killed this week.

About 800 U.S. Marines and 180 Iraqi soldiers moved into Haqlaniyah, one of a cluster of western towns in Anbar province around the Haditha Dam that is believed to be a stronghold of Iraqi insurgents and foreign fighters.

Heavy Abrams tanks battled insurgents armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, while U.S. jets destroyed at least four buildings — two of which were found booby-trapped with explosives, a U.S. military statement said.

"The wires were connected to numerous 155-mm artillery rounds scattered throughout both buildings," the military said.

Operation Quick Strike is the third major campaign since May aimed at rooting out insurgents and foreign fighters in the Euphrates valley, which is believed to be a major infiltration route for extremists entering Iraq from Syria.

The government of Pakistan has informed Afghans in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) that all remaining refugee camps in Bajaur and Kurram Agency will be closed on August 31.

The residents of those camps are offered a choice of voluntary repatriation to Afghanistan, according to Pakistan's foreign residents' office.

The announcement is based on a decision by the government last year to close refugee camps in FATA due to security concerns, UNHCR reported.

"The UN Refugee Agency will assist and facilitate Afghans opting for voluntary repatriation from the area. Afghans will also be informed about special registration procedures that will be implemented to ease the process for those seeking to repatriate." The dates for the FATA closures were agreed upon in a meeting in the office of the Home Secretary NWFP in Peshawar on Thursday.

All Afghan returnees from Pakistan get a grant of $ 3-30 to cover transportation costs and a $12 per person grant to help in re-integration in Afghanistan.

The closing of the remaining camps in FATA by the government follows the closure of camps in two FATA agencies: camps in South Waziristan were closed last year and camps in North Waziristan closed at the end of June this year.

"Most of the more than 30,000 residents of North Waziristan camps chose to return home. There are about 105,000 residents in the 32 remaining camps of FATA," UNHCR-Peshawar said.

In an earlier announcement this year the government decided to close two refugee camps in Balochistan Province: Jungle Pir Alizai on July 31 and in Girdi Jungle on August 31 with the residents being given the choice of voluntary repatriation.

In 2004 government of Pakistan closed all the camps that were established to house the influx of refugees who fled the 2001 war that unseated the Taliban regime in Kabul. The closures went ahead smoothly with most of the camp population choosing the option of voluntary repatriation to Afghanistan. No untoward incident was reported during the process.

The camps now being closed were established early in the refugee crisis that was triggered by the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The camp closings also reflect an ongoing policy of consolidation as Afghans continue to repatriate and is part of the normal voluntary process.

More than 217,000 Afghans have returned home from Pakistan this year under the UNHCR voluntary repatriation programme, bringing the total since the start of the operation in 2002 to more than 2.5 million.

A recently held census of Afghans in Pakistan established that there are more than 3 million Afghans in Pakistan. Out of this number around 1.3 million live in 116 refugee camps mostly situated in the North West Frontier Province and Balochistan.

The voluntary repatriation of Afghans is being carried out through a 3 year tri-partite agreement signed between the governments of Pakistan, Afghanistan and UNHCR.

UNHCR Pakistan has a budgeted amount of US $ 12 million to carry out its operation in the country for the year 2005.

Jammu and Kashmir police today claimed to have busted a Hizbul Mujahideen module behind the series car bomb explosions that rocked the Kashmir Valley since May with the arrest of six militants.

" Two of the accused in the car bomb blasts at Jawahar Nagar and the high-security Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium on May 11 and July 20 Mehrajuddin Khanday code-named Sohail alias Ishfaq and Hilal Ahmed code-named Nadeem alias Sabba of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit have been arrested," Director General of Police Gopal Sharma told reporters here today.

The explosions together claimed seven lives, including that of four army personnel, and left 60 wounded.

In another catch, police today arrested four Hizb militants - Shabir Ahmad, Iqbal, Sheeraz Ahmad and Shabir Ahmad Junior - involved in the car bomb explosion at Mughal Garden, Nishat on June 24 in which 12 army jawans were killed and 14 others injured, he said.

Sharma said a special police team was formed after the series of car bomb explosions shook the Valley.

The team first arrested Khanday, operating in Srinagar and providing information on "target, venue and time", from Jawahar Nagar and his disclosure led to Hilal who was picked up from Tral in Pulwama district.

Two other prime suspects, Rashid Gujjar and Pakistani national Akbar Bhat, were still at large, the DGP said.

Gujjar and Akbar brought the IED laden car on May 11 to Pantha Chowk on the city outskirts where Mehrajuddin was waiting, then entered Srinagar via the bypass and planted the car in Jawahar Nagar near a graveyard, he said.

The venue and time was already fixed and they carried out the blast on a CRPF convoy in which two civilians died and 39 were injured. Six CRPF personnel were among the injured. On July 20, the police chief said Hilal and another associate Shabir brought the IED laden car from Tral and planted it in a car near Burn Hall School here.

They detonated the device via remote control when a Gypsy was passing through. Four army men, including a major, and a civilian were killed and 15 civilians and three army men were injured in the blast, Sharma said.

Besides the six Hizb men, police arrested a Harkatul Ansar militant Zahoor Ahmad Ellahi, of Machoo area of Srinagar from a city hospital last evening. Ellahi was injured in an encounter in Kupwara district recently and was undergoing treatment.

His associate Ghulam Nabi Ahangar of Hathi Shah locality in Sopore was arrested on the spot, the police chief said.

Police also arrested a militant involved in the Khanyar grenade attack after a hot chase.

An Islamic militant has been jailed for life for helping to make the bombs used in the October 2002 Bali attacks. Sarjiyo, also known as Sawad, had faced the death penalty, but received a lesser sentence as he was not directly involved in the attack. Three people were sentenced to death for the attacks and more than 20 others handed jail sentences.

More than 200 people, mainly foreigners, were killed in the attack on two crowded nightclubs.

Sarjiyo, a 32-year-old Christian convert to Islam, is the third man to be jailed for life over the attacks, which have been blamed on the militant Islamic network Jemaah Islamiah, which is linked to al-Qaeda. "I wish to appeal," Sarjiyo declared as the verdict was read out.

The judges found him guilty of mixing the chemicals used in the attack on the Sari Club - the deadliest of the two attacks. He also helped pack the explosives into the back of the van used in the attack. "The defendant has shown no remorse. The chemicals that he prepared were used to build the bomb that killed hundreds of people and devastated Bali," said Judge Arif Supratman.

Although most of the group that planned and carried out the Bali bombings have been arrested, two key suspects - the suspected bomb makers Dr Azahari Husin and Dulmatin - remain at large. They have also been implicated in last August's bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in which 12 people died.

NEW DELHI — India's top court on Thursday upheld the death penalty for a man convicted of involvement in the attack on the country's parliament by Muslim militants four years ago.

The Supreme Court in its 271-page ruling upheld a High Court verdict and sentenced to death Mohammed Afzal, a member of Pakistan-based terror organization Jaish-e-Mohammed, according to the Press Trust of India. (Kyodo News)

Soldiers of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and the 1st and 3rd Iraqi Army Brigades, 6th Division, conducted combined offensive operations called Operation Thunder Cat I July 26-30—a series of cordon-and-attack missions which resulted in the capture of 171 suspected terrorists.

Thunder Cat was part of a much larger Task Force Baghdad operation called Operation Thunder. The focus of this operation and future operations is to disrupt and destroy the insurgency, said Brig. Gen. John Basilica Jr., 256th Bde. Combat Team commander.

"This operation was primarily an Iraqi Army mission, beginning with intelligence gathering, all the way through to the capture and detainment of the Anti-Iraqi Forces," he said. "Our brigade provided staff assistance to the Iraqi Security Forces and added combat power if needed."

Of the 127 suspected terrorists, 33 were specific brigade-level targets of the 1st Iraq Army Brigade captured by Soldiers from 2nd, 4th and 5th battalions.

"Operation Thunder Cat was an outstanding opportunity for the Iraqis to demonstrate their continued development into a fully operational combat unit," said Maj. Stuart Burruss, from New Orleans, executive officer for 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, who worked with the 5th Battalion, 1st IA Brigade during this operation.

"The 5th Bn. leaders did an outstanding job preparing for and executing the mission," he said.

This was proven by their performance, both technically and tactically sound. It was also shown by the high morale of the junior leaders and Soldiers, Burruss added.

One of the most successful operations belonged to 3rd Battalion, 3rd Iraqi Army Brigade, who captured 45 detainees in the west Abu Ghraib district of Baghdad. Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, 256th BCT, supported the mission by providing outer security.

Capt. Kurt Merseal from Steeleville, Mo., commander of C Company, 2/130th Inf. Bn., said the IA showed significant improvement throughout Thunder Cat. "The Iraqi Army has progressed so much as a team and unit, and it is satisfying for me to assist them in accomplishing our collective goal," he said.

"I noticed that the IA has improved their situational awareness, as well as working together as a team," said Staff Sgt. Ronald Floyd, a squad leader for C Co., 2/130th Inf. Bn., from Villa Grove, Ill. "As they improve, it helps Coalition Forces and Iraqi citizens move forward."

Joint missions involving forces from different commands creates challenges in planning, execution and reporting which adds significant complexity to the operations, explained Basilica.

Operation Thunder Cat was the first time these challenges were managed using state-of-the-art computer networks to coordinate the efforts of the three brigades.

"The Iraqi Army has done a superb job and I am very proud of what they accomplished. The measure of success for this operation is not only the number of insurgents captured, but proof positive of the Iraqi Army’s growth as a military force. It is also a clear indication that they are becoming stronger and more capable as a team," Basilica exclaimed.

ORILLIA — A former Canadian general had some harsh words for the United Nations last night as he opened a four-day conference that's examining the use of force in a dangerous world.

Retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie was the opening-night speaker at the annual Couchiching Summer Conference. For the last 74 years the event has brought together experts at Lake Couchiching to tackle major topics of concern around the world.

This year's conference is called "Handcuffs and Hand Grenades: The Use of Force Within and Between Nations."

MacKenzie told the audience of U.N. failures to successfully intervene in troubled regions like Cyprus, the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. He described his disillusionment as innocents were slaughtered in wars the U.N. Security Council might have prevented.

MacKenzie said he believes the U.N. can still do good deeds, such as fighting the spread of AIDS in the developing world. But, he no longer thinks the U.N. can help save lives in countries at war. "I've given up on the security council."

The conference will look at when the use of force is legitimate, both locally in Canada and internationally. The worth of pacifism will be debated in coming days.

But MacKenzie firmly believes force is sometimes necessary. "I stand here as a member of a diminishing minority that says the war in Iraq was the right thing to do."

Only a couple of people among about 200 conference attendees responded to the statement with applause.

Undeterred, MacKenzie said Saddam Hussein "was killing 60,000 to 80,000 of his people a year."

That qualifies as genocide, he said, which should have prompted the U.N. to intervene.

MacKenzie told the Star that he likes what some might call the politically incorrect style of Canada's top general, Rick Hillier. "I'm very keen on generals giving unfettered advice."

Hillier raised eyebrows recently with his remarks on Canada's upcoming mission to the Khandahar region of Afghanistan. He said Canada needs to take the fight against terrorism and the "detestable murderers and scumbags" to the states where they operate.

MacKenzie said that when Canadian soldiers arrive in Kandahar in February, they'll meet people who'll want to kill them and will have no doubt that they're facing enemies.

This, MacKenzie said, will be similar to what their American counterparts are facing in Iraq.

"You don't know if somebody coming up to you on the street wants an autograph, something to eat, or to kill you," he said.

Terrorism Headlines of the Week

Domestic

Terrorism Headlines of the week

Assessments Find Threat of Suicide Attacks in U.S.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 - Confidential government assessments say that Al Qaeda remains intent on attacking targets in the United States and that suicide bombings are clearly "a preferred method of attack among extremists" in the wake of last month's terror attacks in London.

The July 7 attacks on the London transit system, as well as others overseas, have prompted American officials to reassess potential threats to targets in the United States. Their conclusions, circulated among law enforcement officials by the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, differ little from many earlier assessments since the Sept. 11 attacks but make clear that officials see Al Qaeda as a continued threat at home.

Although American intelligence officials "do not believe the London attack necessarily presumes a similar attack against rail or mass transit targets in the United States, there has been consistent threat reporting for some time suggesting that terrorists may have an interest in targeting mass transit systems," according to a security bulletin on July 20.

A second security bulletin also prepared after the London bombings warned that in addition to setting off bombs on trains and subways, Al Qaeda might seek to derail trains or crash a truck carrying flammable material into trains.

(snip)
Source: The New York Times

Md. Man Accused of Plot to Aid Terrorists

Federal authorities yesterday charged a Baltimore County resident with conspiring to support a terrorist organization, alleging that he said during a conversation secretly recorded by the FBI that he had attended a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.

Mahmud Faruq Brent, a U.S. citizen who once worked as a paramedic in Silver Spring, is accused of supporting Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant Islamic group that the U.S. government has designated a terrorist organization. Brent was arrested in Newark yesterday morning and appeared later in federal court in Manhattan.

A criminal complaint filed there says the FBI listened in during a conversation between Brent, who also uses the name Mahmud Al Mutazzim, and Tarik Shah of New York, a jazz musician and self-described martial arts expert. Shah was arrested in May and has pleaded not guilty to charges that he provided material support to al Qaeda.
(snip)
Source: Washington Post

Prosecutors Present Jihad Leaders' Discussions

TAMPA - The top leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad had big problems in April 1994. They were running out of money, and they couldn't agree on a place to hold a meeting.
The bickering was intense, and more than once, different members of the board of directors, or shura council, threatened to leave the organization. Islamic Jihad officers in the United States weren't getting their salaries, and one based in England complained that he had to take a second mortgage out on his house.

Then on April 6, 1994, a young Islamic Jihad member got into a car supplied by Hamas. It had seven propane tanks filled with 500 pounds of black powder and seven pounds of steel nails, according to a stipulation by attorneys.
The suicide bomber, Raed Muhammed Zacharane, drove up to a public bus in Afula, Israel, and blew up the car, killing nine people and injuring about 50 others.
The operation cost about $90,000, according to statements made in intercepted phone conversations read to jurors in the trial of Sami Al- Arian on Wednesday.

According to news reports, the bomber was a West Bank teenager, and many of the victims were Israeli teenagers who were getting ready to board the bus, which was attacked as it stopped near two schools that had let out.

Source: Tampa Bay Tribune

International

Al Qaeda to West: It's about policies

BAGHDAD – With an AK-47 at his side, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's No. 2, appeared in a videotape broadcast Thursday and claimed that the 7/7 bombings were payback for British participation in America's "policy of aggression against Muslims."

The video is another Al Qaeda message apparently intended to turn Western democracies against their leaders by explaining acts of terrorism as rational decisions from a group with specific political goals. It challenges the position of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Bush administration officials, who have insisted that the London attacks have nothing to do with Iraq and that terror attacks will continue regardless of policy.

"By linking the bombings to Iraq, he basically sent the message that no matter what Blair says, Iraq is the reason," says Bob Ayers, a counterterrorism expert at Chatham House, a think tank in London. "He's calling Blair a liar." This latest tape was released on a day when an unprecedented police security operation was under way in London.

While Mr. Zawahiri didn't directly take credit for the London attacks, he promised more attacks on Britain, the US, and other allies, saying "tens of thousands" more American troops will be killed in Iraq if there isn't an immediate withdrawal.
It was one of three taped statements, all aired on Al Jazeera, that Zawahiri has made since the end of February, a pattern of rising communication from the Al Qaeda leaders that appears to belie statements from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that Osama bin Laden and his aides are on the run.

Zawahiri, an Egyptian exile whose terrorist career began at home and who hates the Egyptian regime of Hosni Mubarak, did not mention the terrorist attack on Egypt's resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on July 23. The omission, analysts speculate, suggests the tape was made before the Sharm attacks, and the second subway attacks in London.

Source: Christian Science Monitor

Blair proposes strict anti-terror measures

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair proposed strict anti-terror measures Friday that would allow Britain to expel foreigners who preach hatred, close extremist mosques and bar entry to Muslim radicals. "The rules of the game are changing" following last month's bomb attacks, he declared.

The proposals, which also target extremist Web sites and bookshops, are aimed primarily at excluding radical Islamic clerics accused of whipping up hatred and violence among vulnerable, disenfranchised Muslim men.
"We are angry. We are angry about extremism and about what they are doing to our country, angry about their abuse of our good nature," Blair said. "We welcome people here who share our values and our way of life. But don't meddle in extremism because if you meddle in it ... you are going back out again."

Also Friday, police charged three men with failing to disclose information about the whereabouts of a suspect in the failed July 21 London bomb attacks. Police did not name the suspect. The wife and sister-in-law of Hamdi Issac, a suspected July 21 attacker, face similar charges, as does another man.
The July 7 suicide attacks on London's transit system and the failed July 21 attacks raised fresh concern about the freedoms Britain offers to individuals and groups known for extremist activities. Blair said the focus of the anti-terror proposals was on foreigners because authorities believe "the ideological drive and push is coming from the outside."
But some members of Britain's 1.8 million-strong Muslim community expressed concern that moderate Muslims would be subjected to new prejudices and restrictions.

Britain has been criticized for lagging behind its European neighbors in responding to terrorism. Since last month's attacks, France has expelled two extremist Muslim prayer leaders and plans to ship home eight others. Italian authorities deported eight Palestinian imams.
As a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, Britain is not allowed to deport people to a country where they may face torture or death.

Blair is hoping to win pledges from countries that deportees would not be subjected to inhumane treatment. An agreement has already been reached with Jordan, and London is talking to Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt.

Source: The Associated Press

Zambia to Deport Terror Suspect to Britain

LONDON (AP) - As investigators worked to bring terror suspects in Zambia and Italy to Britain, an official warned Wednesday that London police are being stretched thin by the pressures of heightened security in the wake of bombing attacks.
Many officers in the Metropolitan Police have been working longer hours and more days as they investigate the attacks, said Richard Barnes, a member of the watchdog agency for the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Thousands of officers from the force and the British Transport Police have been deployed at subway and train stations across London in recent weeks, in a bid to avert more strikes after the deadly July 7 bombings and failed July 21 bombing attempt.
Police also have had to deal with numerous security alerts, often caused by suspicious packages that prove to be harmless.

``The Met has risen, as it always does, remarkably well to the challenge, but you can't sustain people working 12 hours a day, six days a week, constantly,'' Barnes told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.
``There are some specialists who are working far more than that. ... The pressure is just enormous.''

Source: The Associated Press

Afghan government to take custody of many Guantanamo detainees

MIAMI - (KRT) - The U.S. and Afghan governments announced an agreement Thursday that could significantly shrink the prison population at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by transferring up to 110 Afghans back to a lockup in their homeland.
The United States said it would help the Afghans build prisons and train guards as part of the deal for "the gradual transfer of many Afghan detainees to the exclusive custody and control of the Afghan government."

Of the 500 or so captives at the prison camp in Cuba, about 110 are Afghan citizens, the Pentagon disclosed Thursday.
The State Department said the agreement came out of a meeting between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Bush in May - a period of intense criticism of U.S. detention policy.
"At first glance, it appears to be transfer from one legal black hole, in Guantanamo, into another legal black hole, in Afghanistan," said Philadelphia attorney Peter Ryan, whose firm Dechert LLP is providing pro bono representation for nine Afghans.

One is Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, in his mid-30s, the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan - and among the best-known captives at Guantanamo Bay.
Other Afghans detained there who have filed suit against the Bush administration include people like self-described shepherd Sharbat Khan and blacksmith Alif Mohammed, a father of 10.

Source: The Miami Herald

Egypt police kill fugitive bombings suspect

CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian security forces killed a fugitive suspect in last October's deadly Sinai bombings, attacks that the authorities here have said could be linked to last month's carnage in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Mohammed Saleh Felifel, 24, was killed in the Ataqa Mountains, east of Cairo and across from the Sinai peninsula, the interior ministry said. His wife was wounded during an exchange of fire.

"In the course of investigations of the latest terrorist incidents, conclusive evidence was discovered that pointed to the fact that elements involved in these attacks were hiding out in a quarry at Mount Ataqa, 28 kilometers (17 miles) off the Cairo-Suez highway," an interior ministry statement said.
The statement did not specifically say that Felifel was involved in the July 23 Sharm el-Sheikh bombings that killed at least 67 people, including at least 16 foreigners.
It said that security officers that had approached the area were fired at and returned fire. "It was discovered that the escaped suspect Mohammed Ahmed Saleh Felifel had been killed in the exchange of fire and that his wife ... was wounded."

Interior Minister Habib al-Adly said after the Sharm el-Sheikh attacks that investigators were probing possible links with the October attacks in the resorts of Taba and Nuweiba.
Felifel was being tried in absentia since July 2 over his involvement in the October bombings, which according to the interior ministry killed 34 people, including Israelis.
His brother Suleiman Ahmed Saleh Felifel was one of two suicide car bombers who rammed the Taba Hilton hotel on October 7.
Two other men, Mohammed Gaiez al-Sabah and Mohammed Rubaa Abdullah, are also standing trial and appearing at the high state security court in Ismailiya, northeast of Cairo.

Their lawyers have denied that the three were linked to the group that carried out the Sharm bombings.
Both Sabah and Abdullah have also denied any involvement in the October triple bombings and charged that confessions had been extracted under torture.

Source: Agence France Presse

Jordan arrests 17 Al-Qaeda suspects over attack plot

AMMAN (AFP) - Jordanian security forces have arrested 17 members of suspected Al-Qaeda linked networks suspected of plotting to attack local security officials and "American officers," judicial sources said.
"General intelligence broke up two terrorist networks comprising 17 members aged 22 to 27, who were arrested and sent to the prosecutor general at the state security court for interrogation," one source said.

Eleven of the suspects belong to a Saudi Arabian group called the Al-Haramein Brigades and the six others are part of Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Iraq-based Al Qaeda Organisation in the Land of Two Rivers, the sources said.
The date of their arrest was unknown but according to sources they were arrested in north Amman as they were collecting "donations."

State security court prosecutor general Fawaz al-Atum said the accused will "appear in court after a charge sheet is prepared on the plot to launch terrorist attacks and damage Jordan's relations with a foreign country," in a reference to the United States.

Source: Agence France Presse

Top Swiss Court Blocks Help to France in Probe Tied to Bin Laden's Brother

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Aug 4 (AFP) - Switzerland's supreme court on Thursday ordered the country's justice authorities to halt cooperation with a French probe linked to a half brother of Osama bin Laden, Yeslam Bin Ladin.
The Federal Tribunal upheld an appeal by two companies cited in the probe which had sought to block the handover of bank account details to French judge Renaud van Ruymbeke.
Van Rumbeyke first opened an investigation in December 2001 into allegations that Binladin's companies handled terrorist funds.

The companies, which were not named in the tribunal's ruling, had protested that they had not received an adequate explanation of why the French investigator wanted the details.
Swiss prosecutors had declined to give the companies the information, saying they wanted to protect the private interests of Saudi-born Binladin, a naturalised Swiss citizen who is based in Geneva.

Source: Agence France Presse

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