Replies

This muslim plan to take over the world, is not new, it goes back a long ways.

There is a muslim mannifesto that reads like the communist manifesto of 1963.

http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=muslim%20manifesto%201990

posted August 23, 2005 at 12:00 p.m.

Is Jordan Al Qaeda's next
'front'?
Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq group claims Friday's rocket
attack on US ships.
By Matthew Clark | csmonitor.com

Jordanian authorities announced Monday that they had
arrested a "prime suspect" in the rocket attack on two US
warships in the Jordanian port of Aqaba, reports The New
York Times.

Friday's attack missed the two US vessels moored in Aqaba
for training exercises, but killed one Jordanian soldier and
severely wounded another. It was the most serious attempt
to harm Western interests in Jordan since US diplomat
Lawrence Foley was murdered in the capital of Amman in
2002.

Hours after Jordan announced the suspect's arrest, Al
Qaeda in Iraq – headed by now-infamous Jordanian militant,
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi – claimed responsibility for the
attack by posting a statement on the Internet.

"Your brothers in the Al Qaeda Organization in
Iraq have been planning the Aqaba raid for a
while," said the statement. "The rockets were
fired at their targets -- a group of ships
belonging to the crusader American forces ...."

"We would like to tell you that we delayed
claiming this attack so that our brothers could
complete their withdrawal ... and they returned
safely to their base."

Zarqawi's group has vowed to punish Jordan's rulers for
"aiding the treacherous enemy America."

Jordan identified the suspect as
Mohammad Abdullah Hassan
al-Sihly, a Syrian citizen who lived
in Amman, reports CNN.

The government
statement said al-Sihly
entered Jordan in December
2004 after being wounded
in Iraq....

His sons, Abdullah and
Abdulrahman, and
Mohammed Hameed Hassan
al-Iraqi – also known as Abu
Mukhtar – entered Jordan in
early August, smuggling
seven Katyusha rockets
into the country.

Three were fired in Friday's
attack on the amphibious
assault ship USS Kearsarge
and the amphibious
transport USS
Ashland, authorities
said.

The group rented a
warehouse in an
industrial district of
Aqaba, Jordan's Red
Sea port, and set a
timer to launch the
rockets Friday
morning. Al-Sihly's
sons and Abu Mukhtar
returned to Iraq after
setting the rockets to
fire, Jordan's
government said.

The group was in
"direct contact" with
leaders in Iraq, who
were kept informed on
their progress, the
government said.

"The government report sketched the outlines of a carefully
planned attack that relied on precise intelligence, weapons
training, and a smuggling run across the border from Iraq,
and that hinted at the presence of at least some logistical
help within Jordan," the Times reports.

Even before the rocket attack on Friday, alarm
bells had been ringing in the halls of Jordan's
security establishment over the possibility that
Iraqi insurgents were operating within Jordan.
"It was clear, Jordan was in the eye of the
storm," said Samir Habashneh, who until April
was Jordan's interior minister. "The ground was
fertile for an attack."

The Times points out that "Jordan has thwarted several
planned attacks in recent years, and it has blamed
Zarqawi's organization for several."

Reuters cites security experts as saying that the Aqaba
attack "may be a signal [Zarqawi] has opened a new front
against Washington's closest Arab ally (Jordan)."

"Zarqawi appreciates more than ever that by
hitting the US military in Jordan he would score
not just a symbolic victory but maybe disrupt a
hitherto safe supply route for the US army into
bases in the western desert (of Iraq)," said one
intelligence expert and official who requested
anonymity.

Jordan denies providing logistical backing to
Washington's military campaign though the US
military have said in briefings it has used the
country as a main supply route.

The Saudi English-language daily Arab News posits the
following in an editorial about Jordan as a possible new
front for Al Qaeda:

For the American military, this latest outrage
demonstrates the complexity and
ever-changing nature of the task they have set
themselves in eradicating terror in Iraq. They
must now plan for the possibility that any of
their naval ships, tied up in any port in the
region, could come under attack from the
shore. This could produce a policy of
replenishment at sea with US vessels hardly
ever docking. If that turns out to be the case,
it will be another small but nevertheless telling
victory for the terrorists and will once again put
the US on the back foot in a fight, the difficulty
of which it underestimated from the beginning.

(from csmonitor.com)

Dr. Bill Wattenberg filled in last night and is again tonight, until 10 pm Calif. time.

I do not know if he will be on tomorrow or not.

kgo.com if you want to listen on the computer.

24 August 2005

In light of the recent statements directed toward Venezuela's
Hugo Chavez, we recommend the following relevant PINR:

"Venezuela's Hugo Chavez Makes His Bid for a Bolivarian
Revolution"
http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=285

Today's analyst is an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute
of Defence and Strategic Studies, Singapore. She is currently
involved in research on maritime terrorism and piracy under the
Institute's Maritime Security Program. She is a co-editor and
contributing author for the volume "The Best of Times, the Worst
of Times. Maritime Security in the Asia Pacific." She was
previously an analyst at the Center for the Study of Terrorism
and Political Violence, St. Andrews University, Scotland.

The Malacca Straits and the Threat of Maritime Terrorism
Drafted By: Catherine Zara Raymond
http://www.pinr.com

On August 1, 2005, the foreign ministers of the three littoral
states of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore met to discuss
maritime safety and security in the Malacca Straits. They
concluded their talks with a stronger commitment to addressing
comprehensively the issue of maritime security, including the
threats of piracy, armed robbery and terrorism. The meeting
marked the recognition by the littoral states that much remains
to be done in terms of improving the safety and security of the
Malacca Straits.

The situation became all the more urgent following the recent
decision by Lloyd's Market Association's Joint War Committee to
declare the Malacca Straits an area that is in jeopardy of "war,
strikes, terrorism and related perils." The decision to add the
Straits of Malacca to the Committee's list of high-risk areas was
taken following recommendations by the private defense
consultants, Aegis Defence Services, who are said to have
carried out risk assessments on the area. Others on the list are
countries such as Iraq, Somalia and Lebanon. Although the
Committee has a purely advisory role, the result of this
declaration could be dramatically higher insurance costs for the
many thousands of ships that transit the Straits on an annual
basis.

The Aegis report stated that due to the fact that there had been
an intensification of the weaponry and techniques used by the
pirates in the Straits, they are now largely indistinguishable from
terrorists. In addition, it stated that the Straits are a target for
terrorism. The report cited a statement by al-Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden in which he spoke about hitting enemy
countries through their economies. It also highlighted Jemaah
Islamiyah's (J.I.) past interest in the traffic passing through the
Straits. [See: "The Threat of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic
Revolutionary Movement"]

The Straits of Malacca: A High-Risk Zone?

A terrorist attack in this economically strategic waterway would
certainly have the potential to cause large-scale economic
impact, not just regionally but on a global scale. The waterway is
transited by about 60,000 ships each year, and approximately
one third of the world's trade and half of the world's oil pass
through the Straits on their way to countries such as China and
Japan.

However, both the littoral states and ship owners around the
world have expressed their concern over whether the decision by
the Joint War Committee is justified. In a joint statement, the
foreign ministers of the littoral states urged the Committee to
"review its risk assessment accordingly." The ministers
expressed their regret that the decision was taken without their
consultation and failed to take into account their existing efforts
to deal with the threats to safety and security in the Straits. The
Federation of A.S.E.A.N. Shipowners' Association declared that
the decision was "misguided."

While the reaction by the littoral states and ship owners may to
some extent be warranted given the lack of evidence pointing to
an immediate threat from maritime terrorism, completely ruling
out the possibility of an attack taking place would be an incorrect
assessment. A terrorist attack in the Straits may have a low
probability of occurring but the impact of such an attack could be
very high.

It is important to point out that the threat of international
terrorism still casts its shadow over the region. Despite a series
of arrests, the J.I. network remains resilient and is expected to
strike again. The suicide bombing at the Australian Embassy in
Jakarta on September 9, 2004, which killed some 11 people and
injured more than 180, is certainly proof of this.

As mentioned in the Aegis report, J.I. has planned attacks
against naval vessels in the region. Fears of a J.I. attack were
renewed after U.S. intelligence passed on warnings about a plot
to hijack a vessel in the region's waterways. The warnings,
issued in September 2004, stated that activists from J.I. had
been discussing plans to seize a vessel with the assistance of
local pirates.

Other terrorist attacks attributed to J.I. are: the Christmas Eve
bombings of churches in Indonesia in 2000, which killed some 19
people, the October 12, 2002 Bali suicide attack that killed
around 200 people, mostly Western tourists including
approximately 88 Australians, in a nightclub, and the Marriott
Hotel bombing in Jakarta that killed around 12 people on August
5, 2003.

The Philippines continues to be a haven for terrorist activity, with
evidence of terrorist training camps on the Philippine island of
Mindanao and growing cooperation between J.I. and the two
Philippine Muslim insurgency groups -- the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (M.I.L.F.) and the Abu Sayyaf Group (A.S.G.).

Both M.I.L.F. and A.S.G. have carried out previous maritime
terrorist attacks. One such attack by M.I.L.F. took place on a
busy seaport in Davao City, in the Philippines, in April 2003.
Around seventeen people were killed in the attack. The group
also carried out attacks on Philippine shipping, mainly placing
bombs on domestic inter-island ferries being used to transport
members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Christians
to and from Mindanao. On February 27, 2004, A.S.G. carried out
a suicide bombing on the M/V Superferry 14 shortly after it left
Manila Bay, killing more than 100 people. This attack resulted in
the greatest number of deaths since the Bali bombing,

It is clear from the militant groups operating in the region that
there is an interest in attacking maritime targets. Whether or not
they have the capability to conduct a spectacular attack on
shipping in the Straits remains to be seen.

A Terrorism-Piracy Nexus?

One of the specific criticisms leveled at the Aegis report was its
failure to distinguish clearly between piracy and terrorism. While
piracy in the Straits of Malacca has been taking place on a
regular basis for the last decade, there is little or no evidence to
suggest that pirates are forming links with international or
regional terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda or J.I., in order to
carry out a devastating attack on a maritime target. The only
suspected link between piracy and terrorism in the Malacca
Straits is the employment of pirate tactics by the separatist
group known as the Free Aceh Movement (G.A.M.).

Since the 1970s, G.A.M. has been fighting a separatist war
against the Indonesian government with the aim of creating an
independent Islamic kingdom in the province of Aceh. The group
is said to finance its terrorist activities partly through sea piracy
and smuggling. These are not, strictly speaking, acts of maritime
terrorism. It has been well documented that terrorist groups
have resorted to criminal activities in order to generate funds for
their political campaigns. However, these criminal acts are not in
themselves acts of terrorism. Therefore, the threat of maritime
piracy must not be labeled as a terrorism risk. [See: "Examining
the Threats to Indonesia's National Interests"]

Conclusion

While it is important to distinguish between the pirate attacks
taking place in the Straits and acts of terrorism, what these
pirate attacks demonstrate is that the vessels transiting the
Straits are highly vulnerable to a breach in their security. Pirates
regularly hijack tankers in order to steal the cargo or kidnap
crewmembers. If terrorists were able to take over a tanker
carrying highly hazardous chemical cargo, the implications could
be disastrous. The unpredictability of terrorism makes it hard to
carry out accurate risk assessments. However, as can be seen
from the evidence presented above, the threat from maritime
terrorism is a clear possibility in the Straits of Malacca.

Report Drafted By:
Catherine Zara Raymond

This is several good reports covers a bit more than normal, mentions:

Bakri
Tariq Hamdi
Babar, who is now a gov witness.

Several other names as it covers several years.

http://www.mail-archive.com/osint@yahoogroups.com">http://www.mail-archive.com/osint@yahoogroups.com/msg14840.html

Someone needs to join the osint group at Yahoo, they have good posts.
granny

[osint] Hizb ut Tahrir: The Islamic Rule on Hijacking
Aeroplanes

Sun, 21 Aug 2005 10:32:54 -0700

http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/08/19/hizb_ut_tahrir_
the_islamic_rule_on_hijacking_aeroplanes.php

August 19, 2005

Hizb ut Tahrir: The Islamic Rule on Hijacking Aeroplanes

Hizb ut Tahrir professes to be a non violent organisation and is
seeking to avoid a ban on the basis that they do not incite their
members to violence and specifically do not permit violence against
civilians.
On their page, "FAQ About Hizb ut-Tahrir", the party states:
The rules of Islam forbid any aggression against civilian non-
combatants. They forbid the killing of children, the elderly and non-
combatant women even in the battlefield. They forbid the hijacking
of civilian aeroplanes carrying innocent civilians and forbid the
destruction of homes and offices that contain innocent civilians.
All of these actions are types of aggression that Islam forbids.
That is, literally, a true statement. It is however deliberately
misleading. It is clear that Hizb ut Tahrir are using the
word "innocent" in its technical legal sense only.
If you click on this link, you can read Hizb ut Tahrir's learned and
authoritative statement on the position. The ruling in question
dates from 1988. It is Hizb ut Tahrir's present policy. It has not
been rescinded, and it has not been superseded.
It provides that
- Aeroplanes from an "Islamic country" is "Muslim property" and
cannot be hijacked.
- Aeroplanes from a "Kafir state with whom there is no direct war
with Muslims" may not be hijacked.
- Aeroplanes from a "country which is at war with the Muslims, like
Israel, it is allowed to hijack it , for there is no sanctity for
Israel nor for the Jews in it and their property and we should treat
them as being at war with us". In that case it is permitted to
hijack and destroy the aeroplane and terrorize and kill the
passengers.
As you know, Hizb ut Tahrir is a racist theocratic totalitarian
political party which has been trying to make itself look itself
look respectable, particularly since it now faces banning. Just as
the BNP has tried to play down its racism, Hizb ut Tahrir has also
been airbrushing away as much racist material as it can find from
its website, in order to give the false impression that it is not a
racist party.
When I pointed out what Hizb ut Tahrir was up to in my Open
Democracy article, Abdul Wahid claimed that "the decision to remove
some of our overseas literature from our British website was a
considered response to the legitimate proposition that people who
read it out of its context might see it as offensive".
That is simply untrue.
They removed the racist literature because it showed, too clearly,
the true face of Hizb ut Tahrir.
And now they have been caught out again.
Hizb ut Tahrir is a party whose existing policy sanctions the
hijacking of aeroplanes, and the killing of their passengers.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=51453

Police Unravels "Al-Qaeda" Terror Threats on Sofia

Top news: 21 August 2005, Sunday.

Two Bulgarian boys, aged 11 and 12, are behind an
Internet "Al-Qaeda"
statement, which threatened to strike the capital Sofia
and wipe it out,
police said.

The statement was posted August 18 on the site of Sofia
municipality.

"Sofia will be blown into pieces by bombs and shootings
on Spetember 11,"
read the statement, which claimed to have been signed
by Al-Qaeda terror
group and Osama bin Laden.

Police found out the statement was posted from an
internet club in the small
town of Dupnitsa, near Sofia.

Police interrogated the boys in the presence of their
parents. The
mischievous boys said they did it for fun.

1] Date: Tue 23 Aug 2005 From: ProMED-mail Source: Reuters Health, Mon 22 Aug 2005 [edited] ---------------------------------------------------------------- Swedish researchers said on Monday [22 Aug 2005] that they had identified a previously unknown virus which may cause many cases of serious respiratory infections in children. They named the virus Human bocavirus and suggested the researchers start a systematic search for all the viruses that cause respiratory infections. The report, published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underlines how little doctors know about the sources of most respiratory infections. ------------------------------------------------------------- A separate team of California researchers found they could identify only about 40 percent of viruses infecting patients, and both teams said rapid testing for viruses would be useful in diagnosing and treating respiratory illnesses. Health experts say this step was particularly important because there are fears that influenza, in particular avian influenza, could cause a global pandemic. Being able to test quickly to find out what is making someone sick can mean the difference between life and death, because antiviral medications must be given early on to prevent serious illness in the case of influenza. ------------------------------------------------------------- In their sample of 540 children in a pediatric hospital ward, the new bocavirus was responsible for 17 of the cases, the Swedish researchers found. "Lower respiratory tract infection is a leading cause for hospitalization of infants and young children and accounts for 250 000 hospitalizations a year in the United States alone," Tobias Allander of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and colleagues wrote in their report. ------------------------------------------------------------- "The most important viral agent in this group of patients is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Other important agents are influenza viruses, parainfluenza viruses, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, and human metapneumovirus." But the causes of between 12 percent and 39 percent of these serious infections are never identified," the researchers said. ------------------------------------------------------------- In a 2nd study, Janice Louie of the California Department of Health Services, Lawrence Drew of the University of California, San Francisco and colleagues checked patients reporting to the hospital with flu-like illness including "unspecified upper respiratory infection," acute bronchitis, sinus infections, and pneumonia. They could identify a virus in only 103, or 39 percent, of the patients. These included influenza A or B in 54 patients, picornavirus in 28, RSV in 12, human metapneumovirus in four and human coronavirus OC43 in 2 patients. --------------------------------------------------------------- --- ProMED-mail ****** [2] Date: Tue 23 Aug 2005 From: ProMED-mail Source: Reuters Health, Mon 22 Aug 2005 [edited] ------------------------------------------------------------- A new human virus, provisionally named human bocavirus, has been identified in the respiratory secretions of children, according to a report released Monday. "Our approach and methodology are similar to [those] of the human genome project," Dr. Tobias Allander from Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, told Reuters Health. "Our finding of a rather prevalent previously unknown pathogen suggests that the screening is worth pursuing in a larger scale." ------------------------------------------------------------- The new virus is similar to 2 related members of the Bocavirus family that infect cattle and dogs, report Allander and colleagues. Consequently, they propose the name "human bocavirus (HBoV)" for the new virus, writing in the research journal PNAS Early Edition. The virus was first spotted in 2 specimens from Asian patients. ------------------------------------------------------------- In a later series of screenings, 17 of 540 nasal samples proved to be positive for HBoV, the researchers found, and in 14 cases it was the only virus detected. All 14 children with HBoV for whom records were available had respiratory illness for 1-4 days prior to hospital admission. None of the HBoV-infected children had gastrointestinal symptoms, conjunctivitis or rash, the authors say. ------------------------------------------------------------- "We will of course perform additional studies on human bocavirus," Allander said. "However, in order to sort out the epidemiology, disease association, and other aspects of this infection, multiple studies from all around the world will likely be more important." ------------------------------------------------------------- To identify other viruses, Allander explained, "we are working on a number of sample collections in collaboration with clinicians. However, we believe that the most fruitful future approach will be a broad and unbiased exploration of the viruses that infect humans, a 'human virome' project. We think such a collaborative project should be seriously discussed." There are many diseases with no known cause, "and some of them have similarities to virus infections," he concluded. "Therefore, virus discovery is an urgent scientific task." [Byline: Will Boggs, MD] ------------------------------------------------------------ -- ProMED-mail [At the time of posting this report, Dr Allander and colleagues' publication has appeared in neither the current issue of PNAS nor the 22 Aug 2005 Early Edition, so comment is reserved. ProMED-mail acknowledges receipt of the same reports from George Robertson and Mary Marshall. - Mod.CP] .........................cp/pg/mpp

Aug 23, 2005 1:13 pm US/Eastern
Huge Security Upgrade Coming For NYC
Expect To See More Surveillance Cameras And Motion Sensors

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_235055304.html

(AP) NEW YORK Over the next three years, the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority will add 1,000 surveillance cameras and 3,000 motion
sensors to its sprawling network of subways and commuter rail facilities as
part of a $212 million security upgrade announced Tuesday with Lockheed
Martin Corp.

The agreement marks the MTA's largest financial commitment to its
counterterrorism program. Although the agency approved a $591 million
security plan in 2002, it had spent only a fraction of that until the deal
with Lockheed Martin.

MTA Executive Director Katherine Lapp rejected suggestions that the
announcement was tied to last month's terrorist attacks in the London
Underground that killed 52 people, saying planning for the security
upgrades has been going on for more than a year. An MTA spokesman said the
entire system already has about 1,000 security cameras.

"These types of systems are very sophisticated and they have to be able
to understand how they will be deployed in an open environment such as
ours," Lapp said of the contractors. "We wanted to make sure that we
did it right, that we got to a place where we are today. ...This is not
something over the last month that we decided to accelerate."

(continued at link)

Jordan says Syrian militants behind rocket attack

By Suleiman al-Khalidi Tue Aug 23,10:39 AM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050823/ts_nm/security_jordan_syria_dc_1

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian militants linked to al Qaeda's leader in Iraq,
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, were behind last week's rocket attack on U.S.
warships in the Red Sea port of Aqaba, Jordanian security officials said
on Tuesday.

Zarqawi's Sunni Muslim group claimed responsibility for Friday's
attack, in which the rockets missed their targets, but hit a warehouse and a
hospital, killing a Jordanian soldier, and struck the Israeli port of
Eilat.

An Internet statement said those who had carried out the strikes had
"withdrawn ... and returned safely to their base."

The Jordanian officials identified the suspects as an Iraqi named
Mohammed Hameed Hassan, also known as Abu Mukhtar, and a Syrian named
Mohammed Hassan Abdullah al-Sahli and his two sons.

The officials, who asked not to be named, said Sahli had been part of
an al Qaeda sleeper cell in Amman. He was arrested shortly after his
sons, Abdullah and Abdul-Rahman, fled across the border to Iraq with
Hassan on Friday.

They said the Syrians had used forged Iraqi passports to enter Jordan,
a tightly policed pro-Western kingdom where militant attacks are rare.

Another security source said the four-member group had received direct
orders from Zarqawi, a Jordanian who has led a campaign of bombings and
kidnappings in postwar Iraq.

The attack was the most serious on U.S. targets in Jordan since the
2002 killing of American diplomat Lawrence Foley in Amman. A Jordanian
court has convicted Zarqawi in absentia for Foley's shooting and sentenced
him to death.

Amman has received several warnings in recent months that al Qaeda
planned to attack the port of Aqaba, which handles many supplies for U.S.
forces in Iraq, security sources said.

They said the three missiles fired in Friday's attack were among seven
Katyusha rockets smuggled into Jordan from Iraq by car two weeks
earlier. The other four were found abandoned.

A Jordanian source said Amman was concerned about signs that Syria had
become a conduit for anti-U.S. fighters heading to Iraq -- as U.S.
officials complain -- but said there was no proof the Damascus government
condoned such activities.

Explosives, Large Arms Cache Found in Moscow Apartment

Created: 24.08.2005 11:22 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 11:22 MSK, 23 minutes
ago

MosNews

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/08/24/moscowexplosives.shtml

At least 80 kilos of TNT, 20 automatic weapons and 40 grenades have
been found in a flat of a residential building in southeastern Moscow, RIA
Novosti reports.

â€œThe large cache was found as a result of operational-search
activities carried out by policemen and officers of the Russian FSB (Federal
Security Service),â€ a source in the capitalâ€™s law-enforcement
agencies told Interfax.

Convicted 9/11 terrorist Motassadeq to appeal

23 August 2005

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=26&story_id=23027&name=Convicted+9%2F11+terrorist+Motassadeq+to+appeal

HAMBURG - Lawyers for the only man ever convicted in connection with
the September 11 attacks Tuesday said they have filed an appeal of last
week's re-trial guilty verdict.

Defence lawyers for Moroccan-born Mounir al-Motassadeq told Deutsche
Presse-Agentur they had filed an appeal because the verdict had been
based on purely circumstantial evidence linking the Moroccan-born defendant
to the 9/11 attacks.

In a virtual repeat of its 2003 verdict, Hamburg State Superior court
last Friday found Motassadeq guilty of membership in a terrorist
organisation.

The court sentenced him to seven years in prison. However, the court
exonerated him of charges of actual direct
involvement in the September 11 attacks.

Even with that partial exoneration, German federal prosecutors hailed
the decision a significant step toward combating terrorism.

During months of protracted wrangling, prosecutors and defence
attorneys had squared off over the issue of whether Motassadeq had been an
integral part of the al-Qaeda terrorist cell that carried out the attacks
by hijacking planes and flying them into the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon.

Prosecutors told the court how Motassadeq made payments while plotters
were absent in al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan.

Defence lawyers argued that Motassadeq was not involved in the Hamburg
terrorist cell headed by Mohammed Atta. Atta and two other students
from Hamburg piloted hijacked planes on September 11, 2001.

The prosecution's case was severely hampered when the U.S. State
Department declined to hand over key intelligence documents that the German
lawyers considered incontrovertible proof of Motassadeq's involvement.

The U.S. decision was one of several serious setbacks for German
prosecutors, who had difficulty finding incriminating evidence against
Motassadeq, now being tried a second time after his first conviction for
terrorism was overturned on appeal.

He was accused of foreknowledge and being an accessory to the September
11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people in New York and
Washington.

Only a German version of U.S. notes on the interrogation of two 9/11
organizers, Ramzi Binalshibh and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, were provided to
the court. Both men asserted that Motassadeq was not aware of the plot
by his Hamburg student friends.

Both al-Qaeda organizers are in U.S. custody, probably outside the
United States. The court has questioned the reliability of their evidence,
noting that they may have been tortured.

The prosecution contended that eight technical training school students
in Hamburg had by spring 1999 devised the idea of hijacking airliners
and using them as suicide bombers, then approached Osama bin Laden for
assistance.

Motassadeq sought to portray himself as ignorant of Atta's mission
despite his close friendship with Atta and their attending prayer meetings
together at a mosque noted for radical preaching.

In 2003, Motassadeq was convicted by the Hamburg court on charges of
aiding and abetting the murders of the more than 3,000 September 11
victims and being a member of a terrorist group. He was sentenced to 15
years imprisonment.

The conviction was quashed on appeal and a new trial ordered.

DPA

http://www.theonerepublic.com/archives/Columns/MEF/20050824MEFVidinoChechnya.html

This is the first time I have been to this site, if all of it is the same quality as this article, it is one to search.

This article is:

"How Chechnya Became a Breeding Ground for Terror"
dated 8-24-05

The Biblo. is about 80 links long.

It is the best that I have seen on the subject.

NO tinfoil that I could see with a fast read.

It is a subject that I dug into a few months ago and found so much, that I was left with only my gut feelings, to call truth.

The most important of all in this, is it tells how allowing the terrorists to multiply in Chechnya is a threat to us.

This is a must read for all of us.......
granny

If alQ is in Jordan, does this not put Israel in real trouble, with them also taking over in the Gaza, Israel is now in a vice.
granny

o view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45929

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Zarqawi setting up bases in Jordan, Gaza
Strip?
Terror chief boasts of Eilat, Aqaba attack amid concerns of
network expansion

Posted: August 24, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – A website affiliated with al-Qaida yesterday announced
the terror groups' Iraq insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was
responsible for last week's rocket attack that nearly hit a U.S. naval
ship in the Gulf of Aqaba and an airport in Israel's Eilat port town,
driving home fears here the terror chieftain has established a base in
Jordan intent on carrying out attacks against both the Heshamite
kingdom and the Jewish state.

Some are pointing to ideological connections between Zarqawi's group
and Hamas, and warning al-Qaida may try to gain a foothold in the
Gaza Strip after Israel's departure from the area.

On a website affiliated with al-Qaida's Abdullah Azzam Brigades,
Zarqawi this morning claimed his "Al-Qaida of the Two Rivers" carried
out the "raid on Aqaba and missile firing on Eilat." The statement also
said terrorists involved in the attack returned safely to their "base" in
Iraq, challenging Jordan's arrests yesterday of militants it suspects
were behind the rocket launchings.

Jordanian officials announced they detained Mohammed Hassan
Abdullah al-Sihly, a Syrian national with ties to the Abdullah Azzam
Brigades accused of plotting the attack and firing the missiles with two
of his sons and an Iraqi militant. The officials said the alleged plotters
were part of an Iraq-based terrorist group led by Iraqi Mohammed
Hamid Hussein, know to be involved with the Abdullah Azzam
Brigades.

Al-Sihly, who lives in Amman, had been surveying sites for the attack
in Aqaba since Aug. 6, the Jordanians said.

On Friday, Katyusha rockets were fired toward two U.S. warships
docked in Aqaba and an Israeli airport in Eilat. One missile struck a
Jordanian military hospital. A Jordanian soldier was killed in the
attacks.

Zarqawi was immediately suspected of involvement. Audiotapes
purportedly from Zarqawi recently vowed to punish Jordan's rulers for
"aiding the treacherous enemy America." The Iraqi terrorist was
suspected last year of plotting a chemical attack against U.S. officials
in Jordan, and has long talked of striking the "Zionist enemy" and U.S.
interests near the Jewish state.

The strike in Eilat set off an internal debate here about whether the
missile was an intentional hit against Israel, or strayed from targeting
America's naval ships in Aqaba.

Officially, a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces would only
say the attack is "still being investigated." But military officials told
WND the Katyusha strike near Israel's coastal airport is being taken as
an al-Qaida-linked attack directed against Israel.

"We believe Eilat was the target," a military official said. "This leads to
questions about a new cell established in Jordan to open a new front
and attack U.S. and Israeli interests right here. Jordan is a major
supply route for American efforts in Iraq."

The official said Jordanian forces were combing the country for a new
al-Qaida network with suspected bases on their soil.

Jordan denies providing logistical backing to President Bush's military
campaign in Iraq, though the U.S. Army has said in briefings it has
used the country as a main supply route.

The Aqaba and Eilat attacks were immediately claimed by al-Qaida's
Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an umbrella group that is said to include
Zarqawi's network, and which claimed responsibility for attacks in
Sharm el Sheikh in July and Taba last year, which together killed more
than 100 people.

Dr. Reuven Erlich, director of the Terrorism and Intelligence
Information Center at Israel's Center for Special Studies, told WND
ideological links between the Azzam Brigades and Hamas is of major
concern, particularly as the Palestinian terror group gains a foothold in
the Gaza Strip in the wake of Israel's pullout from the area.

"The connections between Hamas and Abdullah Azzam are deep and
need to be addressed," said Erlich. "We found Azzam's picture on
Hamas posters from Gaza and a lot of Hamas' material. He is one of
the most important figures in both al-Qaida and Hamas Palestinian
terrorism."

Azzam, from the north Samarian village of Silat al-Harithiya, was an
early member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He met Osama bin Laden in
the early '80s and, according to many reports, became his main
spiritual mentor. He wrote a book, "The Defense of Muslim Lands, the
Most Important Personal Duty," stressing that land previously under
Islamic control must be returned by way of jihad. The book, widely
touted by Hamas, is among al-Qaida's stated guidelines for its global
jihad.

During Operation Defensive Shield in March 2002, Israel captured a
large amount of Hamas material containing the images and doctrine of
Azzam.

According to an analysis of the Hamas material by the Center for
Special Studies: "Azzam's portrait in materials reveal that he is
perceived by Hamas as one of the four 'outstanding figures' of the
Islamic 'struggle' in Palestine and around the world. ... Dr. Azzam is a
prominent source of inspiration for global jihad. By glorifying him and
turning him into a role model, Hamas exceeds its Palestinian-national
aspect and positions itself ideologically in the global jihad camp,
although in fact at this time its terrorist-operational activities are
focused only on Israel and the PA-administered territories."

With Israel yesterday completing its evacuation of Jewish homes in
Gaza, there has been concern al-Qaida, including groups linked to
Zarqawi, is looking to establish a cell in the area.

A group calling itself Jundallah or "Allah's Brigade" claimed in May it
set up shop in Gaza. The new terror group is said to consist mainly of
former Hamas and Islamic Jihad members who believe Palestinian
terror groups have become too moderate. Jundallah says it has close
ties to al-Qaida in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

Also, several al-Qaida-connected militants have been arrested by
Israel's Shin Bet Security Services for attempting to set up cells in
Gaza.

Yaacov Amidror, former chief of research for Israeli military
intelligence, told WND, "It's becoming clear Hamas will take over
Gaza when Israel leaves. Today, one of the weaknesses of al-Qaida is
its lack of a safe haven in the Middle East. The new realities in Gaza
will make it one of the most convenient places for al-Qaida to base
their global operations. The Gaza Strip will become a paradise
because it will be area in which the population and the terror groups in
power, especially Hamas, share the same ideology as al-Qaida."

Amidror said al-Qaida is not seen by Hamas as a threat to its
dominance in Gaza.

"Al-Qaida isn't seeking control of Gaza. Hamas emphasizes the war
against Israel before the struggle against the rest of the West, the
Christians and the non-Islamist world. Al-Qaida would use its Gaza
base to fight against infidels around the world."

Related stories:

Al-Qaida's next base Jewish homes?

In Israel's vacuum, al-Qaida moves in to Gaza

August 24, 2005

Button device set off bombs

The London Times

By Thair Shaikh
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22989-1748653,00.html

THE four suicide bombers who killed 52 other people in London on July 7
triggered the bombs themselves by pressing a device similar to a
button.

Senior police sources said last night that the finding provides
potentially important clues about the bombers' planning and technical knowhow.

It also dispels theories that the bombs might have been set off by
alarm settings on mobile phones, a method used in the Madrid bombings in
March last year. A police source said: "They were manually activated . .
. there were no mobile phone timers on the 7th."

Jermaine Lindsay, 19, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30,
and Hasib Hussain, 19, died in the attack.

The four failed London attacks on July 21 were also activated with a
push-button device. A Scotland Yard spokesman said that the investigation
was continuing.

Almost off topic, a Freeper is quoted in the middle of the article.
granny
~~~~~~

Cindy: Terrorists 'freedom fighters'
Sheehan's comment to CBS, others seems to have evaporated in news
coverage
Posted: August 23, 2005

By Joe Kovacs
WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45938

Cindy Sheehan, the so-called Peace Mom seeking a second meeting with
President Bush in connection with the Iraq War death of her son, says
terrorists killing Americans are "freedom fighters."

ugust 24, 2005
Homeland Security Chief Tells of Plan to Stabilize Border

NYT
By ERIC LIPTON

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/politics/24border.html

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 -Acknowledging public frustration over illegal
immigrants, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday that
the federal government's border control efforts must be significantly
strengthened.

"We have decided to stand back and take a look at how we address the
problem and solve it once and for all," Mr. Chertoff said at a breakfast
meeting with reporters. "The American public is rightly distressed
about a situation in which they feel we do not have the proper control over
our borders."

The unusually blunt assessment by the nation's top immigration official
follows border-related emergency declarations by the governors of New
Mexico and Arizona, who cited a surge in smuggling and violence
associated with a steady flow of illegal immigrants.

The strategy that Mr. Chertoff said his department was preparing goes
far beyond hiring more Border Patrol agents and installing more
surveillance cameras, infrared and motion detectors, and fences, initiatives
that are already planned or under way.

In addition to those apprehension efforts, the secretary intends to
bolster the deportation process so that an overwhelmed detention system
does not cause illegal immigrants to be set free instead of being sent
home. He plans to add beds for detainees, expedite deportations by making
more judges and lawyers available, and try to track down more illegal
immigrants who do not appear for deportation hearings.

Over the last decade, the number of Border Patrol agents has climbed to
about 11,000 from 4,000. The number of arrests of illegal migrants
along the border, meanwhile, a figure that had dropped after the Sept. 11
attacks, has surged in the last couple of years, and again tops more
than a million annually.

So many illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico are being
caught - 142,500 so far this fiscal year, compared with 39,555 in all of
2000 - that thousands are released within the United States before
deportation proceedings because there is not enough space at detention
centers.

"If you have not arranged for the beds, you have not arranged to remove
them, you are going to have to release them," Mr. Chertoff said. "That
is completely a waste of time."

(continued at link)

Bail denied for Lodi terrorism suspects

By Don Thompson, Associated Press

August 23, 2005

http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~3023372,00.html

SACRAMENTO - A federal magistrate on Tuesday rejected a request for a
bail hearing for a Lodi father and son held on terror-related charges.

In a related development, the government's chief prosecutor revealed
for the first time why two Lodi religious leaders caught up in the same
investigation were deported without being charged with a crime.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Dale Drozd ruled there were no new circumstances
that would justify releasing Hamid Hayat, 22, and his father, Umer
Hayat, 47. In June, both were ordered held without bail on charges of lying
to federal investigators about the younger man's alleged attendance at
an al-Qaida terrorist training camp in Pakistan.

Drozd said there is "an extremely high flight risk" if the two were
freed, given their financial and family ties to Pakistan. But he told
defense attorneys they can try again by presenting evidence that they can
post a higher bail than they had previously proposed.

Umer Hayat's attorney, Johnny Griffin III, said the Hayats will offer
to put up as collateral Lodi properties he valued at more than $500,000,
though Drozd said even that wouldn't likely be enough to prompt their
release pending trial.

The two men are the only ones criminally charged despite a federal
investigation into alleged terror activities among Muslims in Lodi, an
agricultural town of 62,000 about 35 miles south of Sacramento.

Two Islamic religious leaders were ordered deported to Pakistan after
the government said they overstayed their religious visas. They were
never charged with any crime, despite the government's allegations that
they intended to set up a terror training camp in Lodi.

U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said he remains convinced that Shabbir
Ahmed and Muhammad Adil Khan were a danger but said most of their
suspicious activities were in the past and in Pakistan.

"You had Muhammad Adil Khan being intimately associated with a radical
madrassah in Pakistan. His father is one of the godfathers of the
radical Muslim movement in Pakistan. He fought the Soviets in the Afghan war
in the late '70s," Scott said, speaking to the Sacramento Press Club.
"And then Shabbir we know gave speeches shortly after the American
invasion of Afghanistan in the fall of 2001 exhorting Pakistanis to go ...
kill Americans."

But Scott said he concluded that there was not enough evidence to
unanimously convince a 12-member jury that they were guilty of any crime.

"We have no doubt that these men posed a threat, but we have to be able
to prove what that threat was. So the conclusion was that ...
immigration was the better route to go because they will be out of here and they
will be barred from coming back," Scott said.

Saad Ahmad, the attorney who represented the men on their immigration
charges, said Scott's comments illustrate his clients' innocence.

"They haven't given us any concrete evidence that my clients were
involved in any criminal activities," he said. "Had they brought criminal
charges against my clients, the case would have been thrown out."

Khan was deported Aug. 15, while Ahmed's deportation is imminent,
officials said.