Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Thread Thirty-Two (Index)

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The Threat Matrix

The title refers to a daily report given to the president of the United States detailing the most serious terrorist threats against the country. To tackle those threats, the government has formed a top-notch task force to infiltrate the terror cells and cut off the danger.

"Every morning, the president receives a list of the top ten terrorist threats - this list is known as the threat matrix."

We here at FR are trying to be in conjunction with the daily reports around the world that involve threats. We try to provide a storehouse of information that takes hours of research.

YOU be the judge and get informed!

What's become of bin Laden since he gave us all the slip?
Full Story

Some think he is dead, others that he is hiding because he is scared of being killed.

Whatever the reason for the strange disappearance of Osama bin Laden, not seen alive since his last mocking video statement a year ago, he is no longer the face of the global "jihad" against the West.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi { TM 25,TM 27 }, the Jordanian responsible for some of the worst atrocities in Iraq, has become the hero of the hour on militant Islamist websites.

"I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat."

TM Terrorism Handbook

Link to Thread Thirty-One

"Code Red Implications:
Code Red - Stay Home and Await Word."
From Tm'er and Freeper ~MamaDearest~

Tracking the Chatter with TM

TM 'Be on the Lookout'

Survival Preparedness Info.

Threat Matrix Book List

ExSoldier's Invaluable Tips

Arabic Links and Resources

Godzilla's Summaries

Threat Matrix HTML designed by: Ian Livingston

There are hidden links in this report, for the websites..
There may be other interesting reports here.
granny

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2413

PolicyWatch #1057
Europe’s Terror Problem: PKK Fronts Inside the EU

By Soner Cagaptay and Fikret Cem S.
December 2, 2005

Since summer 2005, Turkish casualties resulting from attacks by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have been mounting at a rate close to that experienced by U.S. forces in Iraq. Between July 1 and July 16, for example, when U.S. troops suffered nineteen deaths in Iraq, eleven Turks were killed by the PKK. The bloodshed is creating a nationalist backlash in Turkey, and because most Turks blame Washington for renewed PKK violence emanating from northern Iraq, it is also harming U.S.-Turkish relations. Given U.S. preoccupation with the Iraqi insurgency, a full-scale U.S campaign against the PKK in northern Iraq seems unlikely in the short term.
But northern Iraq is not the only front on which the PKK is active; it also maintains a working infrastructure in Europe. The continuing PKK presence on the Continent angers Turkey. On November 16, Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan walked out of a joint press conference with Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen because Danish authorities would not remove representatives of the PKK’s Roj TV propaganda arm from the meeting hall.

The PKK’s Image in Europe: From Freedom Fighters to Terrorists

The PKK wreaked havoc in Turkey in the 1980s and 1990s, committing a wide range of violent atrocities, including attacks against Kurdish civilians. In June 1987, the PKK slaughtered the entire population of Pinarcik, a Kurdish village unsympathetic to its cause, in order to coerce nearby villages into submission. For a long time, most European governments adopted a sympathetic position toward the group, whose members they regarded as “freedom fighters.” A desire to avoid the organization’s wrath also played a role in shaping European attitudes towards the PKK.

For many years, European governments and the EU avoided confronting the PKK. In 1998, after Turkey convinced Syria to expel PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan—he had enjoyed safe haven in Damascus since the 1980s—Greece and Italy provided Ocalan with refuge. At the time, Ocalan traveled on a Greek-Cypriot passport. Though Ocalan was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice, based on an arrest warrant in Germany, the Italian government refused to honor the notice. The EU designated the PKK as a terror group only in May 2002, a month after the group no longer formally existed, having changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK). Accordingly, in the 1990s, thanks to European pusillanimity, the PKK developed a sophisticated infrastructure for fundraising, propaganda, and recruitment in Europe.

Only since they were forced to face a terrorism problem at home have European states taken genuine steps against the PKK. Turkey’s improved prospects for EU accession and the fact that the PKK is intent on using violence to sabotage that process have also helped convince some European countries that should they not delay action against the PKK. In April 2004, the EU designated as a terrorist group the Kurdistan Society Congress (Kongra-Gel), the new name KADEK (the earlier PKK) had adopted in May 2003. In November 2004, Dutch security forces shut down a PKK training camp in Liempde, Netherlands, arresting twenty-nine people who were, according to Dutch authorities, “training to prepare for the armed struggle of the PKK in Turkey by committing terrorist attacks.”

On September 5, 2005, the German Interior Ministry shut down E. Xani Presse und Verlags, publisher of the pro-PKK Ozgur Politika newspaper. On September 19, the German authorities shut down Welat Press Verlag, operator of the Mezopotamia-Nachrichtenagentur news agency (MHA) and of the web sites of Roj Online. However, on October 20, Germany’s Federal Administrative Court overturned the Interior Ministry’s decision to shutter Ozgur Politika.

PKK Fronts and Sympathizing Organizations in Europe Despite these steps, a number of organizations in Europe bear close examination to see if they are in effect PKK fronts or otherwise close to the PKK.

Kurdishinfo.com: This website, hosted in Brussels, belongs to the MHA news service, which has its headquarters at Carl Ulrich Str. 13, 63263, Neu Isenburg, Germany. Counterterrorism experts consider this agency to be one of the most effective pro-PKK organizations in Europe.

Kurdistan Youth Freedom Movement (TECAK): This group’s website is hosted in Denmark. TECAK is extremely violent. According to information posted on its website, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a TECAK spinoff, has carried out a number of attacks in Turkey, including four bombings in Istanbul between October 6 and October 15. On July 16, TAK bombed a bus in the Turkish resort city of Kusadasi. The attack killed five people, including one Briton and one Irish citizen.

Kongra-Gel: A website belonging to this PKK alias and a mirror site are hosted in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Kurdistan Italia: The website for the Rome-based PKK information bureau is hosted in Arezzo, Italy. The website solicits donations to be sent to UIKI-Onlus, with contact information listed as an address at Via Gregorio VII 278, int.18, 00165, Rome, Italy; a telephone number of +39 0663 6892; a fax number of +39 0639 380273; and an e-mail address of uili.onlus@fastwebnet.it.

Roj TV: The Danish-based television broadcaster is headquartered at H. C. Andersens Boulevard 39, DK-1553, Copenhagen. The network, which also operates a website, broadcasts pro-PKK news and propaganda, including interviews with PKK leaders and calls for violent action against Turkey.

Sardasht TV: This Kurdish music broadcaster operates online and links to Roj TV. Its website is hosted in Osthammars, Sweden.

Freedom for Ocalan: Based in Cologne, Germany, the organization refers to itself as the “International Initiative Freedom for Ocalan—Peace in Kurdistan” campaign. It aims to push Turkey to free Ocalan, who is currently in prison in Turkey for his role in unleashing a terror campaign that has caused more than 30,000 deaths. Freedom for Ocalan’s website is hosted in Cologne, Germany. Freedom for Ocalan lists its contact information as addresses at PO Box 100511, D-50445 and Hohenstaufening 13, D-50674, both in Cologne, Germany; a telephone number of +49 2211 301559; a fax number of +49 2211 393071; and an e-mail address of info@freedom-for-ocalan.com.

Denge-Mezopotamya: This is a Kurdish website with links to many PKK-affiliated sites, including those mentioned above. The website is hosted in Berlin.

The U.S. Role in Facilitating European Action against the PKK

The PKK machinery remains strong in Europe. Though some EU countries, such as Britain, have banned the PKK and its reincarnations, the organization remains free in a few EU countries, such as Greece. PKK fronts and sympathetic organizations thrive in most EU member states. However, with fresh European willingness to combat terrorism—the EU agreed on November 29 with its Arab Mediterranean neighbors and Israel on a joint code of conduct to fight terrorism—further U.S.-European cooperation against PKK front organizations in Europe might be productive.

Money and human capital are the two essential ingredients for any terror group. Severing the PKK’s financial and recruiting arms in Europe would help demobilize the threat the group poses to the U.S.-Turkish relationship and to Turkey’s EU accession. In this regard, Washington, Brussels, and Ankara may find it useful to coordinate their efforts within the European Counter Terrorism Group, a body composed of all twenty-five EU member states as well as Norway and Switzerland. Such steps would help alleviate Europe’s major counterterrorism problem, which one Interpol analyst describes as a “failure to achieve robust multilateral capabilities in the financial and law-enforcement areas due to lack of political will.”

Soner Cagaptay is a senior fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute. Fikret Cem S. was a summer research intern at the Institute.

© 2005 The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=144&NrSection=3&NrArticle=15295

TRANSITIONS ONLINE: Kosovo: Virtual Rebels
by Alma Lama
5 December 2005

A new armed group threatens violence if Kosovo does not become independent – but are they for real?

PRISTINA, Kosovo | N.K. is a 32-year-old from Decani in western Kosovo who describes himself as being “close” to the masked gunmen of the self-styled Kosovo Independence Army, or UPK. He doesn’t want to see his full name in print.

Pristina media have widely reported that black-clad and masked UPK fighters appeared on some roads in the Peja region, which includes Decani, erecting roadblocks to search cars and check passengers.

As the international community gears to start direct talks between Pristina and Belgrade on the status of the province, the security situation for Kosovo’s minorities remains volatile. Just this past weekend, a bus on its way from southern Kosovo to Belgrade was attacked by someone with a grenade launcher. Luckily, the grenades pierced the bus but did not explode. The incident prompted Kosovo’s UN administration (UNMIK) to raise security measures once again.

OUR FRIENDS FROM THE UPK

N.K., himself a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK), smiles and says the UPK “are our friends.” He says they are former UCK members who now feel abandoned by the politicians, including former UCK leaders, amid a very difficult economic situation.

But is the UPK for real? It emerges rather like a ghost from the tales of people with “contacts” to the rebels and investigations by the local police and the NATO-led peacekeepers (KFOR).

Even N.K. thinks the Pristina media are exaggerating a bit when covering his buddies of the UPK. “Decani is a small town, less than five thousand inhabitants, and we know each other very well,” he says, implying that the locals would have a pretty good idea of who’s a member and who’s not.

N.K is unable to say how many people might belong to the UPK, but there seem to be a sufficient number of them to have disturbed the peacekeeping forces in Kosovo. After international forces started overflights with helicopters and unmanned aircraft in the region around Decani and Peja, where some of the fiercest fighting against Serbian forces took place in 1998-1999, the gunmen disappeared from the streets and have since switched to communications through the Internet.

But just because they’ve gone virtual hasn’t made them any less threatening.

On 9 November, the UPK threatened the international community with “events a hundred times more dramatic than those of last March [2004],” when thousands of Serbian houses and historical and religious monuments were destroyed by mobs.

In one of their media statements, the UPK called on the Kosovo assembly to declare independence, or else deputies would have “a hard time in future days.”

On 16 November, they threatened to launch a military operation on Pristina if independence was not declared immediately. They then seemed to have accepted a resolution passed by the Kosovo parliament the next day which, although it did not declare independence, made clear that independence was the only acceptable outcome of status talks.

The UPK has used similar, though rather less subtle, language with people they stopped on the road.

“We’ll kill all the traitors of the nation and the members of the Kosovo negotiation team if they won’t behave in the right way,” two people wearing military-style uniforms with UPK insignia and black facemasks told D.S., a man from the village of Rogova in Rahovec municipality. The "team" is the Kosovo delegation to the talks on the province’s final status that are about to get under way.

Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who is the UN's envoy to the status talks, said last week he hoped direct negotiations can begin early in the New Year.

D.S. said the gunmen stopped him and his nephew in Rogova and forced them to show identity papers. He too doesn’t want his name used because he’s afraid for his safety. “I don’t want any problem with them,” he said.

ONLINE ONLY?

Another source interviewed by TOL had asked a UPK gunman for an interview but was told that the group weren’t interested in giving statements other than those they disseminated on the Internet.

There are good reasons to suspect that the UPK is more of a virtual group than a military formation.

Two years ago, another force called the Albanian National Army also sent threatening communications to politicians via the Internet. But after a short burst of activity the organization seems to have died out.

According to another former UCK rebel from Decani, what is happening in this area is a form of blackmail. “It’s a hidden political issue, nothing else,” he said. “Everything depends on the status of Kosovo; if independence will not be given, the problem [of armed bands] will spread and become very serious,” he said, pointing to what he described as an increasing number of extremists in Kosovo.

KFOR confirmed that armed individuals had been spotted in the Peja region but excluded the possibility they might be part of an organized military group.

The Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti on 27 October accused Ramush Haradinaj, the former UCK commander of the region and a former Kosovo prime minister currently facing charges at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, of being behind the mysterious paramilitary UPK, calling him "the sponsor and main ideologue of this terrorist army."

Haradinaj stands accused of crimes against Serbian civilians during the ethnic Albanian rebellion against Belgrade’s rule in 1998-1999. He was released by the ICTY last June, pending trial.

But according to a TOL source in Decani, the armed men in the area are very angry at Haradinaj because he failed to help them after the war.

The UPK appeared on the scene just a few days after an article in the Kosovo daily Koha ditore, in which Mikan Velinovic, a former wrestler and writer of aphorisms, claimed to be the commander of the Serbian Antiterrorist Liberation Movement, or SOAP, a group he claimed had 7,500 members that were unarmed but ready to act if necessary. “Every Serb is a member of this organization, because we are threatened by terrorists,” the paper quoted Velinovic as saying.

Fears are flying high that the opening of status talks will provide incentives for extremists on both sides to make trouble.

Ramadan Qehaja, a security adviser to Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi, is concerned that the situation might be exacerbated by foreign secret services present in Kosovo, especially from Serbia. “Elements of the Serbian Interior Ministry are active in Kosovo, especially in the northern part,” he told TOL, saying that the fact that Kosovo did not have a regular secret service made it very difficult to monitor the presence of other secret services.

Political analyst Shkelzen Maliqi also told TOL that the threat of extremism was a convenient pretext that the sides could use to their advantage, but that the threat by these groups was real. “I fear the organized groups of Serbs and Albanians that are out of control. Serbs especially, because they have much more motivation and discontent. But Albanians at the same time may be determined to get their revenge if there’s a domino effect.”

For UNMIK spokesman Neeraj Singh, messages, real or fake, like that the UPK delivered to Kosovo's status negotiators are to be expected given what’s at stake in the status talks.

“Despite the comments in the media, the threats, electronic messages, and other forms of pressure, the status of Kosovo will not be decided on the street or through the Internet, neither from Pristina nor from Belgrade,” Singh told a press conference in remarks that were echoed by KFOR commander Giuseppe Valotto.

Alma Lama is a journalist for the public Radio Television of Kosovo and a correspondent for Osservatorio sui Balcani.

Note: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js3035.htm

To view or print the PDF content on this page, download the free Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®.

December 5, 2005
JS-3035

Treasury Seeks Comment on Updated Guidelines to Help
Protect Charitable Giving from Illicit Abuse

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today issued revised Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines, Voluntary Best Practices for U.S.-based Charities (Guidelines) to help the chartable sector protect itself from abuse by terrorist organizations. Treasury is releasing for public comment this revised version of the Guidelines to ensure the greatest benefit to the sector, as well as effective application.

"Charitable giving is an act ingrained in the culture of America, and the people of this country give selflessly to vast vital causes. Sadly, terrorist networks and their sympathizers have preyed upon this goodwill to raise and move money in support of their deadly agendas," said Patrick O'Brien, the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crime.

In November 2002, the Treasury issued the original Guidelines, and since then, the Treasury has worked hand-in-hand with the U.S. charitable and donor community, notably the Arab-American and Islamic-American community, to raise awareness of terrorist abuse and the steps charities can take to protect themselves. Strengthening and revising the Guidelines is an important part of this effort and will further benefit the sector.

While the Guidelines are voluntary and do not supersede or modify legal requirements, they promote the development of a risk-based, transparent approach to guard against the threat of diversion of charitable funds for use by terrorists and their supporters.

"Indeed, in the wake of natural disasters like the earthquake in Pakistan, the tsunami in southeast Asia, and the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast of the United States, we must ensure that charitable donations go to the legitimate causes they were intended for," said O'Brien.

The Guidelines issued today immediately replace the original Guidelines, although the Treasury will consider all comments received on or before February 1, 2006 in finalizing the revised version. Please submit comments through one of the following methods:

Mail:
Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crime
U.S. Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220

Facsimile:
(202) 622-9747

Electronic Submission:
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/key-issues/protecting/charities-intro.shtml

A copy of the draft Guidelines may be accessed through this link:
http://www.treasury.gov/offices/enforcement/key-issues/protecting/docs/guidelines_charities.pdf

NOTE: The following text is a quote:
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http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_2190.html

Travel Warning
United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520

This information is current as of today, Tue Dec 06 2005 02:56:49 GMT-0800.

PHILIPPINES

March 23, 2005

This Travel Warning is being issued to recommend that Americans consider carefully the risks of travel to the Philippines. Terrorist groups, including Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf Group, and radical elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are planning multiple attacks throughout the Philippines. This information has been also released by Philippine government officials and is in the Philippine media. This Travel Warning replaces the Public Announcement for the Philippines dated February 18, 2005.

The Department urges Americans who choose to travel to the Philippines to observe vigilant personal security precautions; to remain aware of the continued potential for terrorist attacks against Americans, U.S. or other Western interests in the Philippines, and to register with the U.S. Embassy. The Department warns against all but essential travel throughout the country in light of a heightened threat to Westerners. There has recently been an increase in bombings by the terrorist groups in Manila, the region of Mindanao, and other areas where terrorist groups are active. Bombs have exploded in shopping malls, on public transportation, at airports and port facilities, in places of worship, and in other public areas resulting in numerous casualties, including several deaths. Bombs have also been found at places of worship. Travelers should be aware that since security has increased at official U.S. facilities, terrorists could seek softer targets. Such targets could include but are not limited to places where Americans and other Westerners live, congregate, shop or visit, including hotels, clubs, restaurants, shopping centers, identifiably Western businesses, housing compounds, transportation systems, places of worship, schools, or public recreation events.

Americans who remain in the Philippines are strongly encouraged to register with the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Manila through the State Department's travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov. The U.S. Embassy is located at: 1201 Roxas Boulevard, Manila, Philippines, tel. 632-528-6300. The Consular American Citizen Services (ACS) section's fax number is 632-522-3242 and the ACS web page is at http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/rp1/wwwhmain.html.

Americans can obtain information on travel and security in the Philippines from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 within the United States; or 202-501-4444 from overseas.

US citizens should also consult the recent Public Announcement for the Philippines, the Department of State's Consular Information Sheet for the Philippines and the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, located at http://travel.state.gov/ to obtain updated information on travel and security within the Philippines.

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