Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - July 2006

[Velveeta]

>>>>Charges Dismissed Against Saudi National (GA & Idaho - 7/21/06)

Unbelievable!

[nwctwx]

Israel/Lebanon Update: July 26, 2006
July 26, 2006 21 29 GMT

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claims to have surrounded the Lebanese hilltop village of Bent Jbail. At least eight Israeli soldiers have been killed, IDF reported, though Arab sources claim to have killed about 13. Whatever the final numbers, the battle for Bent Jbail has been bloody.

IDF's Nahal Brigade waits near the eastern border of Lebanon, ready to make a push into the country. Meanwhile, the Israeli air force has conducted more than 50 strikes throughout Lebanon, including one that hit the well-established United Nations' post at Khiam, killing four foreign U.N. observers. Israel has apologized, denying U.N. accusations that the strike targeted the building.

Area Map
Source: STRATFOR

[Cindy]

THANKS to fanfan for the ping to this post

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1672871/posts?page=4#4

and this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1672871/posts


"(Canadian) Soldier missing at UN border post, presumed dead (wrote to CTV News)"
CTV News ^ | Updated Wed. Jul. 26 2006 5:40 PM ET | CTV.ca News Staff

Posted on 07/26/2006 4:46:35 PM PDT by fanfan

[Cindy]

NOTE: The following post is a quote:
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1672889/posts


Judge accused of insulting Islam in turban ruling
mtstandard ^ | 07/22/2006

Posted on 07/26/2006 5:18:42 PM PDT by dennisw

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s opposition Islamic party has accused a top judge of insulting Islam by ruling that a Muslim boy need not wear a turban — as the Prophet Muhammad did — to prove his faith. The case began when three Muslim boys sued the government because their state school expelled them for refusing to remove their turbans. The boys lost their case, and appealed — but a Federal Court dismissed the appeal.

Judge Abdul Hamid Mohamed said in the ruling last week that it isn’t necessary for Muslims to do exactly as the Prophet Muhammad did.

‘‘Islam is not about turbans and beards. The pagan Arabs wore turbans and kept beards. It was quite natural for the Prophet, born into the community, to do the same,’’ the judge said.

Even in Malaysia, very few religious clerics and hardly any Shariah Court judges wear a turban, he said, adding that the Prophet also rode a camel but ‘‘does that make riding a camel a more pious deed than traveling in an airplane?’’ The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS, said the judge should have been more restrained in his comments since he is not an expert on Islam.

‘‘Parts of what he said insults and belittles Islamic teachings,’’ PAS youth chief Salahuddin Ayub said. ‘‘We want the Federal Court judgment to be reviewed. According to our religious teaching, wearing a turban is part of the Islamic way of life.’’

Malaysia’s civil and criminal codes are based on secular laws, but its Muslim majority also must adhere to a separate set of Islamic laws covering issues such as inheritance, births and deaths, marriage and divorce.

[Cindy]

NOTE: Post #1684 was Off-Topic.

[Cindy]

You stated it well and I agree.

[Cindy]

DITTO that.

[Cindy]

You're welcome.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Thanks. :)

[fanfan]

I liked Stephen Harper's take on it.

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060726_5756.html

U.S. Soldiers Capture Members of Iraqi 'Death Squad'

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2006 – U.S. soldiers with Multinational Division Baghdad captured five members of a "death squad" in Iraq today.
The soldiers, from 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, captured the terrorists during a cordon-and-search operation in Mahmudiyah around 1:40 a.m. Officials said one of the detainees is a leader of the group.

In a separate incident, soldiers from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT, detained a wanted terrorist in southwestern Baghdad around 2:30 a.m. today during a dismounted cordon-and-search mission.

The terrorist was discovered after soldiers entered a house in which they believed the target was hiding. They also detained another suspect in the house. Soldiers then moved to the house next door, where they detained two more wanted suspects. No injuries or damage to MNDB personnel or equipment were reported.

Elsewhere, soldiers from Multinational Division Baghdad's Troop A, 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, seized weapons in southeastern Baghdad around 5 a.m. today.

While acting on a tip from an Iraqi citizen, soldiers searched a cement factory and found a sniper rifle, an AK-47 rifle, a PKC machine gun, two hand grenades, a pair of military-style binoculars, and 379 rounds of ammunition. The soldiers also detained four suspected terrorists.

In other news from Iraq, U.S. military officials announced today that U.S. Marines and Iraqi soldiers rescued three hostages July 23.

Marines from Regimental Combat Team 5's, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, and soldiers from 2nd and 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, rescued the three Iraqi hostages in an "intelligence-driven" operation, officials said. The three were personal assistants and bodyguards to Dr. Rafa Hayid Chiad Al-Isaw, an Iraqi government official in Baghdad.

"We are extremely pleased we were able to recover these three Iraqi citizens," Col. Larry D. Nicholson, the Marine unit's commander, said. "The safety of Iraqi citizens to move freely about their own country without fear is a priority for U.S and Iraqi forces, and we will continue to assist the Iraqi army and Iraqi police in ensuring their citizens have a future that is free of terrorism."

The three had been held captive by al Qaeda insurgents in a "spiderhole" complex for 27 days, after being captured west of Zaidon, a rural area south of Fallujah. The hostages were beaten with electrical cords, bitten and threatened with their lives at gunpoint by their captors.

They were rescued near Fuhaylat, southwest of Fallujah, and treated by coalition medical personnel.

Combined forces also recovered a significant weapons cache, including a fully assembled car bomb, nearby. Marines also recovered improvised explosive devices and IED-making material, mortar tubes and rounds, artillery rounds, machine guns, bulk explosives, anti-tank mines, rocket-propelled grenades and launchers, AK-47 assault rifles, small-arms ammunition, and video cameras.

(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/committees/1267/1267ListEng.htm

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http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sc8785.doc.htm

Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York
"SECURITY COUNCIL AL-QAIDA, TALIBAN SANCTIONS COMMITTEE APPROVES CHANGES TO CONSOLIDATED LIST"


SNIPPET: "Significant changes to the Consolidated List, approved by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee, were introduced on 25 July 2006 as indicated below."

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1672935/posts

"Accused 'could launch 35-hour barrage' (Sydney muslim terror plot)"
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19922815-2,00.html ^ | July 27, 2006 | Simon Kearney

Posted on 07/26/2006 7:16:09 PM PDT by Mount Athos

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "ONE of the men accused of plotting a terrorist attack in Australia had enough military-style ammunition to launch a continuous 35-hour barrage of gunfire. The evidence, from a ballistics expert, was quoted in court documents revealed yesterday as part of the case against nine Sydney men accused of planning an attack last year.

The prosecution case against the group is so large it has been broken into 93 parts.

Court documents allege that as well as planning to construct improvised explosive devices, a massive arsenal was part of the group's plans for an attack.

They show that a search in June last year of the home of one of the accused, Mohamed Ali Elomar, unearthed a cache of 12 rifles and pistols and 28,198 rounds of ammunition including 11,765 rounds of 7.62-calibre ammunition.

"A ballistics expert has stated it would take approximately 34 hours and 48 minutes to fire all the 7.6239mm rounds in the possession of Elomar with the 7.62 rifle owned by Elomar which was seized by police," the court documents said. When he was arrested in November, two pistols were found under his pillow.

Two more of the accused, Bradley Umar Baladjam and Mazen Touma were observed in June last year loading 7500 rounds of the same 7.62-calibre ammuni tion into a truck, which police later seized. "This type of ammunition is used in SKS or AK-47 type semi-automatic weapons," the documents say.

Baladjam also tried to purchase a further 20,000 rounds of the 7.62 ammunition between July and August last year.

The evidence includes dozens of statements from gun dealers about visits to gun shops and shooting ranges.

Police and intelligence agencies watched the nine men's every move for more than a year before arresting them, even allowing them to take a "controlled delivery" of some chemicals that could be used in a bomb."

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.babalublog.com/archives/001564.html

http://www.therealcuba.com/

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1672898/posts


"Castro Goons Attack U.S. reporter"
Newsmax ^ | 7/26/06 | Humberto Fontova

Posted on 07/26/2006 5:43:39 PM PDT by slickeroo

U.S. Reporter Attacked by Castro Goons in Argentina

Humberto Fontova

Thursday, July 27, 2006

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "For the first time in 50 years a U.S. reporter actually asked Fidel Castro a pertinent question. This journalistic landmark took place last week while Castro visited Argentina. Castro (naturally) freaked. Why, the NERVE!!

"You're a mercenary paid by the Bush!" he shrieked. "Who pays you? You'll probably try to assassinate me with a bomb!"

As Castro yelled and sputtered, his bodyguards sprang into Kung Fu mode and pounced on the offending reporter chokeholding him and threatening much worse if he persisted in his impertinence.

Did you see this reported anywhere in the MSM (mainstream media)? But that was some obscure Latin American meeting, you say. That stuff is rarely reported anyway.

Actually, it was a major international summit for MERCOSUR (Common Market of the South), and Castro's visit was reported extensively by the international media, from the AP to Reuters, from the BBC to the Boston Globe to the Washington Post. A Google News search hits 500 stories of the event. But you will find no mention of this incident in any of this exhaustive reportage."

[Cindy]

Thanks to Davey Crockett for pointing to this article:
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http://www.newswithviews.com/Ryter/jon143.htm

"CHINA DRILLS 50 MILES FROM KEY WEST"
By Jon Christian Ryter
July 26, 2006
NewsWithViews.com

[Cindy]

Note: The following post is a quote:
---

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1672942/posts


Cuba Oil Probe Spurs Calls for U.S. Drilling
The Washington Times ^ | July 26, 2006 | Patrice Hill

Posted on 07/26/2006 7:43:59 PM PDT by kellynla

Congressional proponents of oil and gas drilling are pointing to Cuba's exploration off the coast of Florida -- with help from China -- as a prime reason to open up U.S. drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

But Florida legislators continue to resist, and some of them are trying to stop Cuba's activities by pushing to rescind a 1977 treaty dividing the Straits of Florida halfway between the two countries.

The Bush administration, with an eye toward the pivotal role Florida has played in presidential politics and out of solidarity with President Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, has largely sided with Florida in the dispute. It supports only very limited drilling off the coast of Florida, as would be permitted under a bill pending in the Senate.

"American politics today -- it is the no-drill zone," said Sen. Larry E. Craig, Idaho Republican. "We sit here watching China exploit a valuable resource within eyesight of the U.S. coast," he said, noting that one 2005 U.S. Geological Survey estimated the North Cuba Basin may contain as much oil as the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska.

"I am certain the American public would be shocked, as this country is trying to reduce our dependency on Middle East oil, that countries like China are realizing this energy resource," Mr. Craig said.

"This is a pocketbook issue, not a political issue. Whole regions of the Gulf are not available for drilling today," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican, who has sought to find ways to expand exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.

(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...

[Oorang]

Thanks for the excellent info MamaD. I remember we were connecting the dots regarding Bangladesh and al Queda months ago. I guess the media is finally catching up :-)

[Oorang]

Thanks for that wmv file Cindy (as well as all the other posts and links).

[Cindy]

You are so welcome Oorang.

[Cindy]

Zawahiri has a message and it's "coming soon."'

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"http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/6350/zawahirisoondp3.gif