Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Do you find it odd that the White House is going to play War Games this morning..........

To find out if it is protected against Bird Flu.

How do you "table Top - War Games for the bird flu"??

Unless it is going to be sprayed on you.

President Bush will not be involved, but all other leading people will be, per ABC News, in the wee hours of the morning.

I posted the outline of the al_Qaeda Training Manual, to remind us of what the plan is.

From reading it, I would say they are following it to a "T".

I'm glad they are doing these exercises.

Have you heard any suspicious reports lately?

Ran into a group of hunters the other day from DC. I didn't have the guts to ask them if they were CIA, but I really wanted to. :)

Yep therapy 5 cents per session. Are we there yet?

"Finally, I managed to get him on a Lufthansa flight to Denver. Of course he will miss his connecting flight to Rapid City. but I think he will finally get home about 11:30 tonight"

I'm very glad to hear everyone is home safe!!

With your expertise on finding flights and your extensive travels you and Mr RR should apply for The Amazing Race. :)

Granny's note: another "Bomb on Board" note in a magazine, in Sweden this time..............

December 10, 2005 Anti-Terrorism News

Nine police die in Taleban raids in Afghan south
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2005/December/subcontinent_December362.xml&section=subcontinent
Nine policemen were killed in two separate attacks by Taleban
guerrillas in Afghanistan, police said on Saturday.

Bangladesh says it arrests key explosive supplier to militants
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2005/December/subcontinent_December369.xml&section=subcontinent
Bangladeshâ€™s elite security force said on Saturday it had arrested
the main supplier of explosives to an Islamic group waging a suicide
bombing campaign to establish Islamic law in the Muslim nation.

Saturday Deadline looms for Iraq hostages
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/09/iraq.main/index.html

U.N. condemns Iran Holocaust remarks
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/10/iran.israel/index.html

(Sweden) 'Bomb on board' note forces plane evacuation
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10407416/
Threat found in KLM plane's in-flight magazine at Swedish airport

(Iraq) Trail of Terror: 'The Boys from Berkayel'
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10382594/
NBC Report

Iraqi Sunnis reverse policy, to join poll
http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/10/stories/2005121007061500.htm
"During prayers in the Al-Imam Al-Aadam mosque in Baghdad's y Sunni
Arab neighbourhood, cleric Ahmed Hassan stressed on the 'necessity to
release the four kidnapped foreigners who have helped the residents of
Azamiyah.'"

(Iraq) al-Qaida Figure Arrested in Ramadi
http://interestalert.com/story/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/12090002aaa03191.ap&Sys=siteia&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News
The American military Friday arrested a high-ranking member of al-Qaida
in Iraq; Amir Khalaf Fanus, also known in the Ramadi area as 'the
Butcher,' is the highest ranking al-Qaida in Iraq member to be turned into
Iraqi and U.S. officials by local citizens.

Treasury Department Tars Alamoudi, Founder of the Islamic Society of
Boston
http://www.nysun.com/article/24211
ISB co-founder Abdurahman Alamoudi had "close relationship" with Al
Qaeda and he raised money for Al Qaeda in America, according to U.S.
Treasury Department

Bangladesh detains eight suspects after suicide bomber kills seven
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2005/December/subcontinent_December315.xml&section=subcontinent&col
Police blamed attack on Jumatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), believed
to be behind wave of blasts that killed 21 in past two weeks

FBI press release on Egyptian detained at JFK Airport (my title)
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel05/egytiandetention120805.htm
"...no explosive materials were present in the passenger's shoes....he
poses no security threat"

Imam held after raid is deported
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/13364132.htm
Mohamed Ghorab, imam at Ansaar Allaah Islamic Society outside of
Philadelphia, deported to Egypt

Israel rounds up 19 'militants'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4513080.stm
Israel arrested 19 Palestinian militants in raids across the West Bank
overnight - 10 were Islamic Jihad members

Muslim leaders see crisis in Islamic world
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20051209-075716-3547r.htm
Leaders of 57 Muslim countries have issued a warning that the Islamic
world is in crisis because of the threat of terrorism

Iran won't halt drive for nuclear fuel: Ahmadinejad
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051208/wl_nm/nuclear_iran_ahmadinejad_dc_1

"“All produce - even those that come pre-packaged and labeled as having been washed - should be rinsed in cold running water,” Fielding said."

My first thought was how does water wash off Hepatitis?

And some more really interesting info from your other story about MRSA.......

Mesosilver, a colloidal silver product, was shown by an independent New York testing laboratory to be effective in reducing the number of MRSA and VRSA bacteria to undetectable levels within 5 to 24 hours, depending on the strength of the solution.

Acticote, a silver-impregnated dressing, was tested in two hospitals in Austria with encouraging results. In an unpublished study, Professor Robert Strohal found that in 95 percent of cases tested, MRSA infection did not occur in wounds treated with the dressing. This dressing is used in the U.K. to treat burn victims.

AcryMed Inc., a Portland, Oregon, company specializing in wound care and infection control technology, released research findings that show silver ointments to be effective in combating MRSA. The founder and CTO of AcryMed, Bruce Gibbins, stated that, "Used in medical dressings or in ointment form, silver can be an extremely useful first defense in stopping MRSA before it develops into a systemic infection."

A fabric that developers claim helps to kill the MRSA superbug is being used in hospitals in Nottinghamshire, England. The fabric, which contains a silver yarn, is used in curtains in the wards in one hospital and in surgeons' gowns and nurses' uniforms in other hospitals. The silver yarn ionizes when it is in the presence of bacteria, killing the bacteria that are on or near the fabric. [maybe all us TM'ers could make clothing out of this. lol]

Essential Oils and Extracts: More than Just Aroma and Taste

Grapefruit seed extract has been used for years as an alternative treatment for a wide variety of skin ailments, such as athlete's foot, mouth ulcers and eczema. Now studies have shown it is also effective against MRSA. However, its action does not kill "friendly" bacteria, as do antibiotics. Its toxicity is low, and it is effective in very low concentrations.

The doctors and nurses at Manchester University, England found a combination of three common oils—eucalyptus, lavender and tea tree—were more effective than conventional antibiotic treatments. The researchers found that the three oils usually used in aromatherapy destroyed MRSA and E. coli bacteria in two minutes flat. They believe that the oils' complex mix of chemical compounds defeat the defenses of the bacteria.

All of that bears checking out. Thanks for posting it MamaD. And another link on there with MRSA info that has a lot of info {I don't have a lot of time this morning to check but saving for later}

LINK-MRSA

"Does anyone remember the post from Kingofhearts that mentioned a delivery to New York. Was it to the Manhattan area?"

I remember the subject but not the specifics. I would really like to know what were the top 5 things the emergency responders from DHS looked for. As Velveeta posted, both events were on a Thursday. It is still VERY odd to me that they couldn't find what this was. If it were a candle or food factory one would think they would say something.

Kyla are you out there?

ACILLUS CEREUS SKIN INFECTIONS, 2004 - USA (GEORGIA)

***************************************** A ProMED-mail post ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases

Sponsored in part by Elsevier, publisher of Tropical Infectious Diseases, 2nd edition

Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2005 From: Ivan Oransky Source: MMWR 2005; 54:1233-35 [edited]

Although _Bacillus cereus_ is known mainly as an agent of food poisoning, other infections caused by this organism have been documented in immunocompromised patients, including sepsis, meningitis, pneumonia, and wound infections (1, 2). Certain populations are at increased risk for _B. cereus_ infection, including cancer patients, neonates, intravenous drug users, and patients with a history of trauma, surgery, or catheterization (3-6).

Primary cutaneous disease attributed to _B. cereus_ in immunocompetent persons or in non-health-care settings rarely has been reported

(7). This report is the 1st to document such an outbreak.

On 24 Aug 2004, a local health department in Georgia received a call from a university health center describing 90 cadets with nonpruritic, impetigo-like lesions on their scalps; _B. cereus_ was the common organism among the 3 patients whose lesions were cultured. The cases occurred during the freshman military orientation week that preceded the start of the fall term.

The Georgia Division of Public Health (GDPH) conducted an investigation to determine the source of the infections, identify associated risk factors, and implement control measures. This report summarizes the results of the outbreak investigation, which identified receiving a short haircut at the start of orientation week, sharing sunscreen during the week, and membership in Company B as strongly associated with having scalp lesions.

Recommendations to the university included changing the type of haircut required, increasing time allowed for showering, and issuing individual sunscreen. The results of this investigation underscore the need for military programs to incorporate good hygiene and infection-control measures into school orientation events.

GDPH reviewed the events of orientation week, investigated cases of scalp dermatitis, collected environmental samples, and conducted a cohort study of participants in the military program during 4 site visits to the university.

University personnel provided a schedule of orientation activities and a tour of each event location. Medical records from patients were reviewed and clinical findings discussed with university health-care staff. Patients were interviewed, and available clinical isolates were sent to the Georgia Public Health Laboratory for confirmation. Samples, including talc, Barbicide(r) disinfectant, and swabs of electric clippers, were collected from 2 barbershops providing haircuts to cadets.

Soil and water samples were collected from event sites, and swabs were taken of shared helmets and sunscreen.

5 patients donated their hats for the environmental and laboratory investigation. CDC analyzed the environmental samples and characterized bacterial isolates by biochemical analysis, 16S rRNA gene sequencing (8), and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) (9).

After the initial investigation, GDPH conducted a cohort study of all cadets in the military program at the university.

GDPH distributed questionnaires to all 660 cadets, including upperclassmen, 3 weeks after orientation week.

The cadets were asked about demographic information, company and dormitory assignment, clinical symptoms, orientation event participation, exposure to soil and water, and hygiene practices, including laundry, bathing, and shared products. A case was defined as an occurrence of scalp lesions in a cadet treated with oral cephalexin from the school health center during 10-30 Aug 2004.

Measures of association were estimated using multivariate logistic regression to control for confounding.

The 4-year military program at the university had 660 students (292 freshman and 368 upperclassmen) organized into 7 discrete companies. Cadets lived in 5 separate dormitories, 2 per room, organized by company, sex, and class year. Each floor shared a bathroom and a common living room.

Orientation directly involved 292 freshmen; 115 upperclassmen supervised the events. Orientation started with a short haircut for all 255 freshman males at 1 of 2 civilian barbershops.

Haircuts were performed by 1 of 8 barbers in random order using electric clippers without a scalp guard. The 3rd day of orientation week, the cadets completed an obstacle course involving immersion in mud and river water. On the final day, participants were required to rappel from rock walls and participate in survival training exercises. Helmets were worn and sunscreen was shared among cadets during these activities.

94 (14 percent) of 660 cadets had scalp lesions, and 1 cadet was infected twice during the period from the start of orientation to when the questionnaire was administered. 33 patients sought care at the student health center on the 4th day of orientation week, and 57 sought care on the 5th day. 5 more cases, including the recurrent case, occurred 1 week after the start of school [for figure see original URL - Mod. LL].

All patients participated in orientation week; all were male and ranged in age from 16 to 24 years. The majority of patients were freshmen (84/94; 89 percent) and received a haircut on the 1st day of orientation (89/94; 95 percent).

Approximately 1/3 of the patients (33/94; 35 percent) were in Company B.

The index patient noted onset of symptoms on the 3rd day of orientation. Yellow sticky discharge followed by honey-colored crusts on the crown of his head were noted. Lesions were nonpruritic. Other patients had similar lesions with the same distribution.

Infections resolved within 48 hours with the use of antibacterial soap and oral cephalexin (5-day prescription).

Health care providers obtained samples for culture from lesions of 3 cadets [for table see original URL - Mod. LL].

_B. cereus_ was the only common organism isolated from all 3 patients and was identified by using biochemical tests and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. When analyzed by MLST, all 3 clinical B. cereus isolates were indistinguishable.

_B. cereus_ also was cultured from 2 separate barbershop clippers (2 isolates), soil from the school grounds and orientation events (5 isolates), and helmets (2 isolates) worn during rappelling exercises. 5 environmental isolates (3 soil samples and 2 clippers) matched the clinical isolates by 16S rRNA. MLST was performed on these isolates, resulting in 4 unique sequence types (3 from the soil samples and 1 from the 2 clippers), with no matches to the clinical _B. cereus_ sequence type.

The response rate for the cohort study was 73 percent (483/660); the response rate for freshmen was 84 percent (248/292). Of the respondents, 423 (88 percent) were male, and 248 (51 percent) were freshmen, which was representative of the entire cohort. The median age was 19 years, and 405 (84 percent) cadets were white. After adjusting for sex, freshman class status, and participation in orientation week, the multivariate logistic regression model indicated a statistically significant association between having scalp lesions and receiving a haircut (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 10.6; 95 percent confidence internal [CI] = 2.3-49.3, p less than 0.01), membership in Company B (AOR = 9.7; CI = 3.4-27.8, p less than 0.01), and sharing sunscreen (AOR = 2.7; CI = 1.3-5.4, p less than 0.01).

Other risk factors examined included demographic information, exposure to soil and water, and hygiene practices (e.g., laundry, bathing, and use of shared products).

[Reported by: Arnold K, Drenzek M, Salter M, et al]

Editorial Note -------------- _Bacillus cereus_ is a recognized bacterial pathogen in humans. Non-gastrointestinal infections are usually the result of a breakdown in natural protective barriers such as the skin or immune system (1, 2, 5).

The findings in this report indicate that immunocompetent persons can be vulnerable to cutaneous _B. cereus_ infections when skin is compromised.

Isolation of 3 indistinguishable _B. cereus_ isolates from 3 patients on 2 separate days suggested that this was a common-source outbreak and not a laboratory contaminant, even though the environmental source of _B. cereus_ was not identified during the investigation.

All but 5 cases were diagnosed on 2 concurrent days, making person-to-person transmission unlikely.

Transmission most likely occurred from an exposure at the beginning of the orientation week.

The short haircut likely caused microabrasions, compromising the protective effect of scalp epidermis.

Exposure to mud, sun, and sunscreen further provided an environment suitable for bacterial growth.

The findings in this report are subject to at least 3 limitations.

First, only 3 clinical samples were available for culture. Because of the number of cases and the positive response to therapy, the health-center staff treated cases empirically before GDPH involvement.

Second, other risk factors and potential confounders might not have been identified during the site visits.

Finally, cadets were asked about their orientation exposures nearly 3 weeks after the events occurred; recall bias might have influenced the findings.

As a result of this investigation, GDPH made recommendations to the university military program for future orientations to minimize the risk for another outbreak.

These included 1) changing the type of haircut required for male cadets that would allow for more hair and less injury to the scalp, 2) allowing adequate time for personal hygiene, and 3) distributing individual packets of sunscreen and discouraging sharing of sunscreen.

These recommendations were implemented during the 2005 orientation activities; no skin infections were reported. University military programs should establish infection-control practices including good hygiene as part of their organized orientation events.

1.Henrickson KJ: A second species of _Bacillus_ causing primary cutaneous disease. Int J Epidemiol 1990; 29:19-20.

2.Henrickson KJ, Flynn PM, Shenep JL, Pui CH: Primary cutaneous _Bacillus cereus_ infection in neutropenic children. Lancet 1989; 1:601-603.

3.Dancer SJ, McNair D, Finn P, Kolsto AB: _Bacillus cereus_ cellulitis from contaminated heroin. J Med Microbiol 2002; 51:278-81.

4.Hernaiz C, Picardo A, Alos JI, Gomez-Garce JL: Nosocomial bacteremia and catheter infection by _Bacillus cereus_ in an immunocompetent patient. Clin Microbiol Infect 2003; 9:973-75.

5.Kotiranta J, Lounatmaa K, Haapasalo M: Epidemiology and pathogenesis of _Bacillus cereus_ infections. Microbes Infect 2000;2: 189-98.

6.Hilliard NJ, Schelonka RL, Waites KB: _Bacillus cereus_ bacteremia in a preterm neonate. J Clin Microbiol 2003; 41:3114-44.

7.Boulinguez S, Viraben R: Case notes: cutaneous _Bacillus cereus_ infection in an immunocompetent patient. J Am Acad Dermatol 2002; 47:324-25.

8.Sacchi CT, Whitney AM, Mayer LW, et al: Sequencing of 16S rRNA gene: a rapid tool for identification of _Bacillus anthracis_. Emerg Infect Dis 2002; 8:1117-23.

9.Priest FG, Barker M, Baillie LW, et al: Population structure and evolution of the _Bacillus cereus_ group. J Bacteriol 2004; 186:7959-70.

-- Ivan Oransky

[ProMED thanks Ivan Oransky from The Scientist for his contribution of this quite unusual cluster. Since many laboratories may not identify _B. cereus_ from a skin culture and refer to it as _Bacillus_ species -- which may well be thought of as a contaminant from a typical staphylococcal-streptococcal impetigo -- sporadic cases may indeed occur.

Reference 7 above describes a 29-year-old with a chronic (2-month) leg ulceration that initially developed during a 3-month stay in French Polynesia and developed into a superficial ulceration with dark, adherent eschar and surrounding erythematous halo.

The culture was obtained from a biopsy instead of a swab and revealed a pure culture of _B. cereus_. - Mod.LL]

[Elsevier on-line reference: Bacillus cereus infections in Traumatology–Orthopaedics Department: retrospective investigation and improvement of healthcare practices. Journal of Infection, January 2005,

] ..............................ll/pg/dk

The White Moor As Willing Executioner

By Phyllis Chesler and Nancy Kobrin 12/08/2005

Isralert.com source: Isralert subscriber/commentator Phyllis Chesler

On November 9, Muriel Degauque, a Caucasian Belgium-born woman, blew herself up in a failed attempt to kill American troops in Iraq.

She is said to be the first European-born woman to die on a jihadic suicide mission.

Degauque was also a "White Moor," a convert to Islam.

Her husband, Isam Gorris, was a Belgian of Moroccan descent and he died the same day in a separate terrorist attack against Americans in Iraq.

Degauque was a convert with a vengeance: She wore a head-to-toe chador, refused to eat with her father, and refused to allow her parents to watch television or drink beer in her presence.

An increasing number of Western men and women have converted to Islam.

According to one report cited in an article by Ian Johnson in the Wall Street Journal, in the year after the 9/11 attacks, 71, 000 Germans had converted to Islam.

If this number is correct, we might be looking at what people do when they are afraid or when they want to be on the "winning side." According to Osama bin Laden, people everywhere identify with the "strong" or "winning" horse.

According to prison psychiatrist, Theodore Dalrymple, who has worked with Muslim prisoners in Britain, "a large part of the attraction of Islam to increasingly and essentially secularized men" is the opportunity Islam allows for the "abominable abuse of women."

Thus, according to Dalrymple, those western men who feel insecure or humiliated by the growing equality of women are attracted to Islam in the same way that western men are attracted to Asian mail-order brides.

Of course, some men also convert in a search for God and for a spiritually vigorous community.

In an article about why Islam attracts so many western criminals [there are many "jail house" conversions taking place], Dr. Monika Wohlraub-Sahr suggests that such people's "lives have spun out of control," and they are now "in search of structure."

Another reason for conversion to Islam involves the existence of white racism in the West. Indeed, a terrorist cell in Portland, Oregon, included several African-American converts.

One woman, October Dominique Lewis, was also known as "Khadija." October ironically took her new Islamic name after the Prophet Muhammad's first wife, who was the first convert to the Prophet Mohammed's new religion.

Some African-Americans, and African-Caribbean Europeans have converted to Islam in the misguided belief that Islam is color-blind (it is not, look at what is happening in the Sudan) and/or has no history of slavery. In fact, both ethnic Arab Muslims and African Muslims practice slavery today.

So far, only a handful of western converts have been revealed as jihadi warriors.

For example, Britain's Richard Reid, the infamous "shoe bomber," (whose father is also a convert to Islam); Poland and Germany's Christian Ganczarski, who is being held in France for his involvement in al-Qaeda; America's John Walker Lindh, who fought in Afghanistan and who was captured and sentenced to jail; America's Jose Padilla who is now on trial for planning a terrorist attack.

Western women usually convert when they marry Muslim men--they are pressured to do so. Such women are often naive and quite romantic about the "exotic" other.

Some may have been traumatized by abusive or emotionally distant families and seek "new lives" in unfamiliar settings. However, they soon find themselves in eerily similar and more dangerous circumstances.

Perhaps like some of their male counterparts, western female converts to Islam also have out-of-control lives that they are trying to rescue or redeem.

Muriel Degauque had wrestled with alcohol and drugs when she was a teenager.

In 2004, Pope John Paul warned Catholic women to "think hard before marrying a Muslim" and urged Muslims to "show more respect for human rights, gender equality, and democracy."

Perhaps the Pope feared that Catholics might increasingly convert to Islam--but he may also have understood that a western wife who resists conversion may lose custody of her children, be shunned, divorced, or even murdered, not only in Europe but in America too.

For example, in 2002, in New Jersey, a Muslim husband from Guyana, Ali Hassan, murdered his pregnant Hindu wife Marlyn, and both his mother-in-law, Bernadette Seajatan, and sister-in-law Sharon when Marlyn refused to convert to Islam.

While Muriel Degauque may indeed be the "first" Caucasian and European "shahida" or mujahidat (holy martyr), the fact that she is a woman is no longer that unique.

Many women (mainly Muslim and Hindu) have been suicide killers. Like Degauque, some, especially among the Palestinians and the Chechens, in particular who are also known as "black widows" because they are presumably avenging brothers, fathers, or husbands who have killed and died in terrorist missions.

Although Degauque grew up in Belgium, she experienced the fate of girls in patriarchy which include feelings of unworthiness and guilt.

In Degauque's case, a brother died when he and she were both teenagers. According to a childhood neighbor, Andrea Dorane, "Muriel would tell me that it was she who should have died instead of her brother. Everyone had loved him."

Thus, the lesser-loved child may have harbored some "survivor guilt".

It should be recalled too that Al-Khansaa, yet another famous female convert to Islam, is venerated for her Arabic verse eulogizing her dead brothers, Sakhr and Muawiya.

Al Qaeda named its first magazine for women after al-Khansaa as well.

Could Muriel's martyrdom have been her attempt at "eulogizing" her brother? Like many other female suicide killers, Degauque might also have been deeply depressed.

Finally, converts are often more zealous than those born into the religion. They need to prove themselves in order to be accepted.

Therefore, in addition to the problems of second and third generation Muslims in Europe, we predict that an increasing number of western converts to Islam, both male and female, will also choose to become terrorists.

While al-Qaeda and Palestinian serial killer masterminds do not hesitate to seduce or to force depressed or zealous women and men into blowing infidels up, it is important to understand that the western converts are also willing executioners.

Phyllis Chesler Ph.D is the author of 13 books, including the newly released The Death of Feminism. What's Next in the Struggle for Women's Freedom which focuses on Islamic gender Apartheid.

Nancy H. Kobrin Ph.D is an affiliate professor at Haifa University, an Arabist, psycho-analyst, and author of the forthcoming book The Sheikh's New Clothes: Islamic Suicide Terrorism and What It's Really All About.

Copyright C 2005 Tech Central Station - www.techcentralstation.com

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`I was more interested in cars'
Dismisses claims he led Al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan

Now 24, he says he dreams of living a typical life in Canada
Dec. 9, 2005. 01:00 AM
MICHELLE SHEPHARD
STAFF REPORTER

For the past 14 months, Abdullah Khadr says he has done nothing but
talk.

In Pakistan, the spies, cops and consular officials were asking the
questions and recording his answers. Since his return to Toronto last
Friday, it's been the lawyers.

Yesterday, Khadr came to his Toronto lawyer's office in borrowed
clothes and
with his mother at his side, to talk to reporters.

In the course of the interview, he revealed details about the torture
he
says he endured in Pakistan, the visits he had while incarcerated from
several Canadian security officials and how they tried to pump him for
information on others, including Maher Arar.

His story may not be simple but his message is: He's not a terrorist
and
it's the Canadian government that should be answering questions about
his
detention and alleged torture, not him.

"I just want everybody to know I have nothing to do with anything," the
24-year-old said.

He denies his family is or was ever involved with Al Qaeda. He admits
he
attended the notorious Khaldan training camp in Afghanistan, but it was
when
he was 13, and it didn't have ties to terrorism.

He dismisses the claim of Western intelligence agencies that he later
led
the camp in the Khost Mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border,
and
instructed terrorist recruits.

"Instructed? Instruction is you have to be very, very, very, very, very
inside this stuff and we didn't have that reputation in Afghanistan,"
he
said. "I wasn't interested in that stuff. I was more interested in
cars."

Abdullah Khadr's interview yesterday follows a Toronto Star story this
week
that revealed Khadr had been detained in Pakistan since October 2004,
and
returned to Toronto a free man. His whereabouts until then had been
unknown.
It's still unclear why he was released last week and none of the
federal
agencies involved in the case will comment. An official with Pakistan's
Ministry of Interior said he would look into the case.

Khadr said he has no plans to launch any lawsuits and hopes to slip
quietly
into a typical Canadian life.

"I have no problem with anybody, why should anybody have a problem with
me?"
he asked.

He said he had been held since Oct. 12, 2004, when Pakistani
intelligence
officers picked him up in an unmarked car in Islamabad as he walked
with
Yousef, a friend of his father. Khadr believes Yousef was the target,
and
his identity was discovered only later.

----
`I wasn't interested in that stuff. I was more interested in cars'

Abdullah Khadr

----

Khadr alleges that during the first 48 hours of his detention he was
tortured. "I was hooded. They wouldn't let us sit or sleep. Stripped,
beaten. You can say sexually harassed."

He said he was threatened with sexual assault with a stick, and was
beaten
in the head hard enough to make his ears bleed for two weeks.

During his 14-month detention, Khadr was visited at various times by
two
CSIS officers from Canada, who told him their names were Mike and Bob,
and
another CSIS officer stationed in Pakistan. RCMP Sergeant Konrad
Shourie
also questioned him in Islamabad earlier this year. It's clear from
court
documents that the RCMP is investigating Khadr and his sister Zaynab,
under
terrorism legislation introduced in 2001.

If Khadr is eventually charged, his lawyer said he would argue that any
information provided during these sessions would be inadmissible. "He
was
never brought before a court, he was never told why he was there, he
was
never given a lawyer ... The whole thing is such an egregious violation
of
human rights that it just can't be relied on in this country, we don't
think," Nate Whitling said yesterday.

This issue has yet to be tested by Canadian law, but Britain's highest
court
ruled yesterday that information obtained under torture is inadmissible
in
court.

Khadr says he was questioned about various Canadians, including Maher
Arar,
the 35-year-old Ottawa engineer who was detained by the U.S. and then
sent
to Syria, where he was tortured and held for a year without charges. A
federal inquiry is probing the role Canadian officials played in the
case of
Arar, who left Damascus in October 2003 and returned to Canada.

"To suggest Canadian authorities are still continuing to try to find
evidence on Maher Arar by questioning people abroad is deeply
disturbing,"
Arar's lawyer Lorne Waldman said yesterday. "It seems to me that
interrogating (Khadr) in circumstances where he doesn't have the right
to
counsel or anyone else, means the Canadian government haven't learned
any
lessons from the Arar experience."

Abdullah Khadr is the eldest son of Egyptian-born Canadian Ahmed Said
Khadr,
an accused Al Qaeda financier who was killed in a battle with Pakistani
forces in 2003.

Abdurahman Khadr, the second eldest son and self-proclaimed black sheep
of
the family, admitted in a CBC Television documentary that he was raised
in
an "Al Qaeda family," growing up with Osama bin Laden. He also admitted
telling the Americans his brother Abdullah was a leader of the Khaldan
camp,
a reputed training ground in the late 1990s for Al Qaeda's most
notorious
members. But Abdurahman Khadr later recanted the claim, saying he only
wanted to impress the Americans.

There are two other brothers in the Khadr family. Omar Khadr, 19, is
Canada's only detainee at the U.S. camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and
will
appear before a military commission next month on charges of murder and
attempted murder for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S.
army
medic. The youngest son is Karim, now 16. He also lives in Toronto but
is
paralyzed after being shot in the battle that killed his father.

The plight of Khadr family members typically evokes little sympathy in
Canada but their claims raise important questions about how the
Canadian
government handles security post-9/11 and the scope of our relationship
with
the U.S.

Lawyers for Omar Khadr have long complained that while countries such
as the
U.K. and Australia have publicly fought for the rights of their
citizens at
Guantanamo, the Canadian government has done little. It took a federal
court
injunction to prohibit Canadian intelligence officials from
interrogating
Omar while in U.S. custody.

Another court challenge, this one launched by civil rights lawyer Clay
Ruby
and involving Abdurahman, argues that the federal government
unconstitutionally denied the 22-year-old Khadr his passport. Although
the
legislation dealing with passports has since been amended, at the time
Khadr
applied, security was not listed as grounds to refuse a passport. A
federal
court justice has reserved his decision.

If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson. DCL 2005

Muslim 'in revenge plot to kill British soldier'

Life Style Extra (UK) Wednesday, 7th December 2005, 16:34

Crime and Punishment ______________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=EC720424W&news_headline=muslim_in_r evenge_plot_to_kill_british_soldier

LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK) - A Muslim terror suspect planned to kill a decorated British soldier in revenge for boasting about how many Iraqi rebels he had killed, a court heard today.

British-born Abu Baker Mansha's plot against Corporal Mark Byles was discovered during a raid by the anti-terrorist squad and firearms police on his flat in March this year, it was said.

David Cocks, QC, prosecuting, told Southwark Crown Court the 21 year-old's fingerprints were found all over a newspaper newspaper article dated 8 September last year on which he had circled the soldier's name, address and the number of Iraqi insurgents he had killed during the war.

A dismantled fake gun which had tried to be converted to fire live bullets was also found at Mansha's south-east London home.

Mr Cocks said: "In a bag belonging to him found behind the sofa, officers found a number of documents, the first of those was the Sun newspaper dated 8 September 2004 and the headline on the front read 'Lionheart Bayonet Charge Hero To Get Bravery Gong' and had subject matter about the corporal."

The article told how Corporal Byles had been awarded the Military Cross for his bravery as part of the Tigers Battalion who "went to assist and ambush troops."

Reading from the article Mr Cocks said: "Corporal Byles told of his hand-to-hand trench battle which left three Iraqi armed insurgents dead.

"'He said in a rather graphic description 'it was either me or them'. He was recognised with a bravery award for taking out insurgents in desperate hand to hand combat.

"He said 'I was rifle-butting them, punching and kicking. It was either them or me. It ended with three Iraqis dead and eight taken prisoner.'

"He also shot and killed two more Iraqis firing from a second position. But he insisted he had no regrets. He said 'They were firing weapons at me and if it happened again I would kill them all.'

"But Corporal Byles said nothing of the sort and it was a journalistic exaggeration."

The piece then went on to describe how the infantry soldier of 13 years was awarded the Military Cross for showing "immense professionalism under fire" and strong leadership qualities during his seven month tour of duty.

But Mansha had only circled sections telling of Iraqi deaths.

Mr Cocks said: "One part read 'Corporal Byles, of Portsmouth, Hants, thinks he killed between 15 and 20 Iraqi insurgents during the war.' And someone circled this information. We say this is highly significant and someone has singled out the corporal's home town.

"Then on a sheet of paper found in his bag the defendant had written something down and this is in Mansha's handwriting.

"He had wriiten 'Hero Corporal Mark Byles, Portsmouth, Hants.' Then followed his door number 31, house name Perth House, street name Australia Close, town Portsmotuth and then his posdtcode.

"It wasn't an up to date address as he had left it some time before these events. But someone had done some research based on the Sun newspaper entry and turned up the fact Corporal Byles was on the electroral register for Portsmouth."

Other "virulent" anti-western propganda was also littered around the flat including an Islamic poem and a picture of Osama bin Laden.

Part of the poem read: "All you enemenies who want to defeat Islam, well the fact we all know is Islam can never get defeated. No dirty pigs like Blair or Bush could move this one bit."

Stills of British engineer Kenneth Bigley being beheaded along with other executions were shown to jurors as the video footage was deemed too harrowing.

Mr Cocks said: "There's a 17 and a half minute Islamic propaganda film quoting from the koran and has a aspeech by Osama bin Laden on.

"Other films contain Arabic chanting and singing, praising the holy war and jihad, glorifying martyrdom and calling on Islam to take part in a jihad particularly after the allied attack on Falujah.

"There is also a clip of Mr Kenneth Bigley pleading for his life before being beheaded. That's the nature of the material in the flat. It's all exteremely disturbing and virulent material which indicates quite clearly the nature and interests of this defendant and other people who use that flat."

A bug to evesdrop, a scanner to detect similar bugs, and homemade balaclava with eyes and mouth cut out were also found in the apartment.

During four days of police interviews, Mansha refused to comment but prepared seven statements denying his guilt.

Mr Cocks said: "The defendant denied having anything to do with terrorism. He said he had no political views. He said he was not a strict practising Muslim and had bought the dismantled pistol for £25 from a market stall as a souvenir."

Clean shaven Mansha claimed he had lived at the flat for 12 to 18 months, renting if from a friend who was renting it from someone else. He said several of his friends had access to the flat but some of the DVDs were his.

Mr Cocks said the only possible reason for the material found was for Mansha to "exact revenge" on the corporal.

He said: "We say that looking at it in the context of what was in the flat. He had the piece of paper with Corporal Byles' information in his possession either to kill him or do him really serious injury.

"To exact revenge no doubt with other people for what the corporal had achieved in Iraq and the part the corporal had played in killing Iraqi insurgents.

"We say he was targeted for political purposes and there was other research to do as his address was out of date but that was the beginning.

"We say he has the piece of paper with Corp Byles' details in his possession so he could hunt him down and at the very least use very serious violence against him so British soldiers in particular and the British public in general might be intimidated and the Islamic cause might be advanced."

Mansha, of Thamesmead, south-east London, denies one count of possessing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000.

The case continues

Deal offered to terror suspect

From:

By Martin Chulov in Beirut

December 05, 2005

Saleh Jamal / File

Saleh Jamal ... Australia is a 'sick place', he says / File

POLICE have offered fugitive terror suspect Saleh Jamal a deal to return to Australia if he turns informant on six men he is alleged to have recruited to jihad and pleads guilty to planning an attack on Sydney Harbour.

From the prison north of Beirut where he is serving five years on weapons charges, Jamal told The Australian that three officers - two linked to the NSW Police counter-terrorism command and another from the Australian Federal Police - visited him two months ago to make the offer, which involved him serving at least 10 years in a NSW prison.

Jamal said the six men were close friends, but denied urging them to launch a strike attack in Australia before he left for Lebanon on a false passport in April last year.

"These guys are people I know well," he said. "We all pray at the Ahl Sunnah Wahl Jemaah (the prayer room in Haldon Street, Lakemba, in Sydney's southwest). They are good men."

Jamal was considered central to the early stages of alleged terror plots in Sydney. He had bought a 9m runabout and was accused of conducting surveillance on harbour sites, such as Walsh Bay, the Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Shell oil refinery.

On New Year's Eve 2003, police had expected a group linked to Jamal to have used the runabout to launch a bombing attack. No explosives were found and no one was charged.

At the time he fled Australia, Jamal was the key target of a counter-terror investigation, which later grew into Operation Pendennis, which led to 18 men being charged with terrorism-related offences after police swooped on houses in Sydney and Melbourne in November.

Speaking through a reinforced plastic window at Beirut's maximum security Romieh Prison, Jamal said he was "30 per cent likely" to have launched an attack in Australia before he fled. However, he claimed he would now definitely try to mount a strike, if he could.

"The Australian Government has been chasing me for three years. If they try to take me to Australia, I will crash a plane into the Harbour Bridge myself," Jamal said.

"The police said to me they could get me out of prison right now if I agreed to inform. They said they could give me a 60 per cent sentence reduction if I pleaded guilty to planning to attack Sydney Harbour, and recruiting those guys to terrorism. They also wanted me to plead guilty to the Lakemba police station shooting (in 1998)."

A senior Federal Government official confirmed last night that police had visited Jamal and put to him "several alternatives" that involved him returning to Australia. The terms of any final deal would need to be ratified by Commonwealth lawyers and the Government of Lebanon.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock last night described Jamal's claims as "an operational matter and not something I would comment on one way or another".

Jamal says he fled Sydney to escape facing trial for the police station shooting. He was on bail awaiting trial at the time and confirmed he had discovered radical Islam just before he was released from prison.

He denied an Australian Federal Police claim that he had intended to die as a suicide bomber in Lebanon, before he was caught at Beirut airport en route to Paris.

"All I wanted to do was disappear in Europe, where they could never find me," he said.

In a wide-ranging interview, Jamal confirmed he supported violent jihad against groups that opposed Islam. He also claimed there were "not enough real men" in Australia to launch a strike in the name of Islam.

"Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are good men," he continued.

"I support their cause, but not always their methods."

He said he had declined the NSW offer and was prepared to take his chances in Lebanon, where prosecutors are trying to upgrade his charges to terrorism.

If successful, their appeal before Lebanon's military court would result in at least a doubling of his sentence. The court was due to hear the appeal last Tuesday, but was adjourned until January.

The Federal Government has indicated it will seek Jamal's extradition to Australia when he is freed from Lebanon.

Jamal admitted to a broad criminal background, centring on drug-dealing in Sydney's southwest. He said he had renounced his past and was committed to a form of Islam that espoused many of the beliefs of the Wahabi sect, which urges the introduction of Sharia Islamic law and the introduction of a Taliban-like state.

He said he admired his brother Ahmed Jamal, who was arrested in a Kurdish area of northern Iraq last December and charged with terrorism. He described his brother as "a real man".

"I never want to go back to Australia. All I want is for my wife and child to come here to me, but the Government will not let her out of the country.

"Australia is like a paradise in many ways, but it is a sick place."

(from a Yahoo group, no URL available)

Sri Lankan army prepares for war

From: Agence France-Presse

From correspondents in Colombo

December 09, 2005

SRI Lanka's combat aircraft and ground troops are ready to be deployed
at
short notice in the aftermath of a wave of violence that killed 31
people,
the military top brass announced today.

Chief of defence staff Daya Sandagiri said government forces were
prepared
to meet "any terrorist challenge" after the latest bloodshed, which the
Government blamed on the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

However, Mr Sandagiri said the military did not expect the country to
slip
back to full-scale war and played down two claymore mine attacks that
killed
16 soldiers in the northern peninsula of Jaffna as "small incidents".

"We should not get excited over small incidents like this," Mr
Sandagiri
told a joint press conference by the heads of the army, air force and
police.

Mr Sandagiri, who is an admiral, said the naval chief was unable to
attend
due to urgent "operational matters".

Air force chief Donald Perera said combat aircraft and other units were
on
alert to be deployed immediately.

"We are in full force in case the need arises," Mr Perera said.

The air force operates Israeli-built Kfir ground attack aircraft,
Ukrainian
MiG-27s and Mi-24 helicopter gunships as well as Bell helicopters
modified
as gunships.

The air force chief said he believed the LTTE, which controls large
swathes
of the north and east of the island, has "two or three" single-engined
two-seater light aircraft which could be "bombs in the air".

Military officials said despite the state of war-readiness they remain
keen
to uphold a tenuous ceasefire that has been in place since February
2002 and
would not be provoked into breaking it.

"We are a disciplined force unlike the LTTE and we will not react and
retaliate the way the terrorists want us to," Mr Sandagiri said.

Army chief Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said security had been
stepped
up in the Tamil heartland of the Jaffna peninsula to ensure the safety
of
ground troops.

The announcement came as the ambassador to Sri Lanka of peacebroker
Norway,
Hans Brattskar, visited the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi in the north
of
the island Friday for talks with the guerrilla leadership.

However, the Norwegian embassy said the visit was not linked to the
peace
process and Brattskar was only visiting Oslo-funded development
projects.

The new Government of President Mahinda Rajapakse - who had earlier
promised
to overhaul the peace bid and review the role of the Norwegians - on
Wednesday did a U-turn and asked Oslo to stay on.

The President asked Mr Brattskar to keep up the effort even though two
key
allies of his Government had insisted Norway should be expelled from
the
peace process.

Norway has said the two parties must agree to certain unspecified
conditions
before it resumes the role of peace facilitator in a country where more
than
60,000 people have died in ethnic violence since 1972.

Tunnel Discovered in Northern Gaza- Attacks Prevented

19:49 Dec 10, '05 / 9 Kislev 5766

(IsraelNN.com) IDF officials announced on Saturday that a tunnel intended to permit terrorists to enter southern Green Line Israel was discovered in northern Gaza on Friday afternoon.

The tunnel shaft was discovered in the Erez area. Officials explained it was intended as a clandestine route for terrorists seeking to enter into pre-1967 Israel for the purpose of carrying out attacks.

The tunnel was detonated by military engineers in a controlled explosion

As a follow up to #4513

The Palestinian Authority did nothing to stop terrorists excavating a new “bomb tunnel” running from the Gaza Strip into Israel – despite repeated submissions from Israel

December 10, 2005, 4:44 PM (GMT+02:00)

IDF brigade commander Col. Muni Katz disclosed Saturday, Dec.10, that the tunnel 2 to 5 meters deep runs from a rubbish dump in the N. Gazan town of Beit Hanoun towards the Erez crossing into Israel and under the border to Kibbutz Erez and Moshav Netiv HaAsara. Its discovery averted a serious bombing attack against Israelis. Similar tunnels packed with explosives have in the past been activated against Israeli civilian and military locations with deadly effect. Katz believes this is one of several awaiting use by Palestinian terrorists thanks to PA inaction.

I'm here ; )

I waded back through KOH's posts until March and didn't find anything specific about a delivery.

But, like WCG, I do remember this being discussed but I can't quite remember the time frame.

Maybe another cup of coffee will help....

Iran orders “agents” to rig Iraq’s elections - report Sat. 10 Dec 2005

Iran Focus

London, Dec. 10 – Iran has ordered its “agents” in Iraq to rig the parliamentary elections on Thursday, according to an Iraqi website.

The plan is to be carried out in three stages, the website Iraq al-Qad wrote on Wednesday.

The first stage involves voting multiple times with forged ballots. There will also be widespread propaganda to mislead ordinary Iraqis to vote for the pro-Iran Shiite slate led by the cleric Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim.

During the second stage, Tehran’s agents will attempt to tamper with the records of all the ballot boxes at the end of the polls, the report said.

The third stage is when the final voting slips are delivered to the provincial capitals to be transferred to the United Nations’ tally centre. Tehran has ordered its agents, some of whom have senior official positions, to tamper with the votes in certain provinces.

http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4810

I sent you Freep mail............

bookmark

Moroccan source: Terrorist cell reveals
plans for establishing Al-Qaeda in North
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=2978

Moroccan source: Terrorist cell reveals plans for establishing
Al-Qaeda in North African countries

08/12/2005
By Ahmad Al-Arqam

Asharq Al-Awsat, Rabat - Investigations carried out by the Moroccan
security services after the arrest of a terrorist cell that was made
up of 17 members have uncovered the cell's terrorist plans. These
plans included restructuring the Al-Qaeda organization in Saudi Arabia
following the Saudi security forces' success in finding and arresting
a number of its activists. The cell also planned to have the extremist
Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) rejoin Osama Bin
Ladin's organization and set up an Al-Qaeda branch in the Maghreb
countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) as a base for attacks to be
launched on the countries that support US administration.
The investigations showed that Moroccan Mohamed Raha, the militant who
helped the fighters infiltrate into Iraq across the Syrian border,
insisted on concentrating on the importance of restructuring
Al-Qaeda's organization in Saudi Arabia and to creating Al-Qaeda in
the Maghreb countries in the same way that Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's has
established Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Security sources said that Raha contacted Khaled Abu-Basir al-Jazairi,
responsible for establishing Al-Qaeda in Europe with its supporters in
Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Britain, Denmark, and
Germany, to send urgent messages to Bin Ladin to draw up a
comprehensive plan for implementing the intended operations.

The investigations also showed that Moroccan Khaled Azik was first
asked to deliver the messages to Bin Ladin, especially after Azik
revealed his success of previous missions such as the infiltration of
some Arab fighters into Iraq via Syria, and seeing the wife of one
Chechen leader from Istanbul to Damascus. However, at the last moment,
Abu-Basir al-Jazairi expressed fears that the Iranian security
authorities had already discovered Azik who was due to cross Iran's
borders through to Afghanistan. Instead, he decided to assign the task
to Abu-al-Bara al-Sa'udi, a member of Al-Qaeda responsible for
collecting funding for the fighters in Afghanistan.

The first message talked about the necessity for new Al-Qaeda elements
in Saudi Arabia to replace others that had been captured by the Saudi
security authorities. The same message revealed that these new
elements were already in the country and were simply awaiting a
response from Al-Qaeda's leaders.
The second message talked about a plan to have the GSPC join Al-Qaeda
officially, to pledge allegiance to Osama Bin Ladin, and unite the
ranks of the religiously committed youths wishing to take part in
"jihad"' in the North African Arab countries under the GSPC's banner.
The third message sought to establish an Al-Qaeda organization in the
Arab Maghreb countries similar to that in Iraq and to unite the North
Africans of Europe.

The security investigations showed that the methodology behind
ensuring the plan's success was based on attracting volunteers and
sending them to Algeria to undergo military training in the GSPC's
camps. They would be trained in the use of weapons and the
manufacturing of explosives. Furthermore, they would take part in the
Algerian group's operations against the Algerian security forces.
Volunteers would be sent to Syria after having completed this training
to set up a base on Syrian soil, and to enter Iraq to carry out
suicide operations.

The same investigations also indicated that the Moroccan volunteers
would return to Morocco after completing their military tasks in the
Middle East and become sleeper cells waiting for instructions from
Al-Qaeda to carry out terrorist acts targeting the security and
intelligence centers, parliament, tourist establishments, naval and
commercial ships, and foreign interests, especially those of Jews.
According to the plan, Al-Qaeda's terrorist cell was planning to
launch its operations in either Morocco or Algeria and if successful,
would have called itself "Qaedat al-Jihad in the Arab Maghreb
Countries".
A Moroccan security source said that common method of the extremist
religious groups is to attract religiously committed youths and teach
them the methods of terrorists. These start with meetings held in
various places to watch videos and hear tapes talking about the
suffering of Muslims and Arabs in Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya, and other
countries. Once they have absorbed these ideas, the youths are sent to
camps for quasi-military training and in the end, are used as human
weapons to carry out the plans of the international terrorist
organizations.

Terrorist Used Arab-American University as
Base

http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=94485

Terrorist Used Arab-American University as Base
21:19 Dec 08, '05 / 7 Kislev 5766

(IsraelNN.com) An Islamic Jihad terrorist used the Arab-American
University Zebabda, near Jenin, as a base for terrorist operations,
according to the Middle East Newsline service. The institution
receives financial support from western countries.

Israeli security officers arrested the terrorist, 19-year-old Ashraf
Awidat, early this month in a raid on the university. They said he
made plans in the university's dormitories for suicide attacks in
Israel.