World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #4.

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Sri Lanka says sinks 11 rebel boats in naval clash
25 Sep 2006 00:59:33 GMT
Source: Reuters

COLOMBO, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's navy sank 11 Tamil Tiger
vessels and killed dozens of rebels in a fierce five-hour battle
overnight, the military said on Monday, a fortnight after the foes
agreed to resume peace talks to halt renewed civil war.

"There were 25 Sea Tiger boats sailing south. Eleven boats were sunk,
and about 70 cadres were killed," said Chief Inspector of Police Percy
Perera of the Centre for National Security. He said five navy sailors
were hurt in the clash.

Perera said the Navy believed a top Tiger naval commander was killed
or injured during the clash at sea around 50 miles (80 km) north of
the strategic northeastern harbour of Trincomalee.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were not immediately available
for comment on the incident, which comes days after a suspected rebel
front threatened to recapture recently lost territory on the southern
lip of Trincomalee harbour.

The Tigers and the government have both told peace broker Norway they
are prepared to meet for talks after a five-month deadlock to end a
new chapter of civil war that has killed hundreds of civilians, troops
and rebels since late July.

However analysts and diplomats are sceptical the talks will actually
happen.

They fear the fighting will grind on unless the two sides address the
core issues of human rights abuses by both sides and the rebels'
central demand for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the
north and east.

>>>That means Denver and Texas got powder yesterday, how many more?

Sounds like they're testing responses.
This is worrisome.

September 25, 2006 PM Anti-Terrorism News

Somalia - Islamist fighters kill 13 year old boy (my title)
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20477936-1702,00.html

(UK) Fertilizer claim in terror trial - 600kg of ammonium nitrate was
to be shipped to Pakistan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5378232.stm

Senior militant 'killed in Iraq' - Omar Farouq
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5378410.stm

(Iraq) Analysis: British Kill Omar al-Faruq, Key Al Qaeda Operative, in
Basra
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/09/british_kill_omar_alfaruq_key.php

(Iraq) U.S.: Sadr City again a militants' haven
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060925/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_sadr_city;_ylt=AikD8.ccbzoR1RBdUOxXk1JvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

U.S. refuses visa to Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan - Visa denied "for
providing material support to a terrorist organization"
http://rds.yahoo.com/S=53720272/K=Tariq+Ramadan/v=2/SID=e/l=NSR/R=1/;_ylt=A9htfMIWTRhF4DsAkiHQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHZkMjZyBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=12nsj84sf/EXP=1159306902/*-http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060925/us_nm/security_usa_ramadan_dc_3

(Turkey) Talabani Says PKK Ceasefire Imminent - PKK claimed Saturday's
twin blasts in Turkey - 17 injured
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20060925&hn=36764

Hezbollah moving rockets near Israeli border - Lebanese government
notes trucks coming, going from Palestinian camps
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52137

Lebanese Forces and Druze say no to Hezbollahâ€™s demands
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=7307

(Lebanon) Tests show Hariri killed by truck bomb
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060925/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_hariri_probe;_ylt=AhdFwvUPYgyF7ZaHp.woNsFvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Hizbollah, Hamas join forces to fight common foe - Hizbollah & Hamas
leaders quoted saying Shiite & Sunnis united against Israel
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailworld.asp?fileid=20060925.J01&irec=0

(Pakistan) Musharraf figured fighting US suicidal after 9/11
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/September/subcontinent_September949.xml&section=subcontinent

Musharraf guesses bin Laden is in east Afghanistan -- in Afghanistan's
eastern province of Kunar
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3308021,00.html

Karzai Says bin Laden Not in Afghanistan
http://www.kfmb.com/stories/story.64444.html

The Story Behind the OBL Death Story - Alexis Debat: Death rumor
started at embassy party in Pakistan
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/the_story_behin.html

Report of bin Laden's death seen as ploy for new video
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060924-113621-6198r.htm

Pope says Christians, Muslims must reject violence
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060925/ts_nm/pope_islam_dc_5;_ylt=Ah5m3ClACHBjxps5lcYnj2jkeO0A;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

U.S. to Relax Air Travel Restrictions - most liquids and gels that air
travelers purchase in secure areas of airports will now be allowed on
planes
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060925/D8KBTEPO2.html

(UK) Woman charged with funding terrorism - Mehreen Hajil; her partner
Habib Ahmed charged with planning terror attacks and attending Pakistan
terror training camps
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/223/223955_woman_charged_with_funding_terrorism.html

(UK) The day I met Al-Qaida informer in Pakistan
http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/sundaymercury/news/tm_objectid=17815543%26method=full%26siteid=50002%26headline=the%2dday%2di%2dmet%2dal%2dqaida%2dsupergrass%2din%2dpakistan-name_page.html

(UK) The shadow cast by a mega-mosque - the London Markaz backers are
the Tablighi Jamaat - much of funding will come from Saudi Arabia
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=UVCAT2EIE1ITXQFIQMGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?xml=/opinion/2006/09/25/do2502.xml

(Lebanon) Australia Terror Suspect Saleh Jamal could be extradited
today - threatens Australia if he is deported there
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20477901-1702,00.html

Bosnia: At Least Three Citizens Linked to Al-Qaeda, Says Official
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.343844888&par=0

(India) Policewoman killed in grenade attack
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20476650-1702,00.html

(Indonesia) Muslim mob kept from destroying church
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060924-012406-2898r

(Russia) Aide to late warlord Khattab surrenders in Chechnya - Russians
say 300 militants have accepted amnesty offer
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060925/54225012.html

Egypt unveils nuclear power plan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5376860.stm

Update: (Czechoslovakia) Police to toughen checks of people, cars due
to terrorism threat
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=211421

Border Security Bills Carry Unclear Price Tag
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,215503,00.html

Severe weather radios provided to public schools
http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/09/25/schools.warnings.ap/index.html

Terrorists Could Target the Food Supply
http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp?S=5454646&nav=2FH5

http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=DD21EC37-5C8E-4D1F-B964C9E5B9809B5E&dbtranslator=local.cfm

Bomb injures one in Altoona

by Darwin Danielson

One person was injured this morning when a bomb went off in a car in the southeast Des Moines suburb of Altoona. Altoona Police Chief John Gray says his department was called about an explosion around 6:15 this morning.

Gray says officers discovered that an "explosive device" went off inside a vehicle, and one person was injured. Gray says the person has since been treated and released. Gray says they aren't identifying the victim yet. Gray says they're not sure yet what type of device was used in the explosion. He says the device was strong enough to damage a lot of the glass in the vehicle. Chief Gray says federal and local officials are trying to find out exactly what happened.

Gray says the Des Moines police bomb squad is helping, as is the A-T-F, and he says they're "going through everything with a fine-tooth comb." Gray says at this point they don't know of any threats against the victim or reasons someone might want to harm the person.

Gray says they're not aware of anything at this time and they're looking at all the various angles. Gray says a car-bomb is quite unusual for the town of just over 10-thousand that's mostly known for its the horse-track casino and amusement park.

See other items about...
Monday, September 25, 2006, 11:59 AM

http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp%3FS%3D5454887%26nav%3Dmenu100_2

TerroristWarning.com Terrorism Headlines 09/25/2006 # 1

National:

[Reuters] USA - FBI expands the search for source of anthrax

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4211541.html

[AP] COLORADO - State building evacuated after employees find powder [Multiple incidents, false alarm]

"a similar package was received at the World Trade Center near the state Capitol, which also houses state agencies, but that package also appeared to be harmless"

http://9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=e6a080a7-0abe-421a-0170-6ae9a803bfbe&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf

[TheDenverChannel.com] COLORADO - Hazmat Investigates Suspicious Capsule Found In Bank

"discovery of the capsules prompted a massive response from Denver police, Denver fire, the FBI and the U.S. Military. Crews isolated and tested the five mysterious capsules"

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/9922792/detail.html

[WFMZ] PENNSYLVANIA - Bomb Threat at Quakertown Hospital

"someone intercepted a radio frequency that is normally used for internal hospital communications to call in a bomb threat"

http://wfmz.com/cgi-bin/tt.cgi?actionfiltered=viewstory&storyid=20508

[Recombinomics] MONTANA - H5N1 Bird Flu in Montana

"U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior today announced a detection of the H5 and N1 avian influenza subtypes in samples from wild Northern pintail ducks in Montana"

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/09210602/H5N1_Montana.html

[NY1 News] NEW YORK - Mysterious Flu Hospitalizes Four Fordham Students

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=62845

[Los Angeles Times] USA - Terror Threat `More Alarming' Now, Panel Warns

"House Intelligence Committee warned in a report Wednesday that the terrorist danger facing the United States was "more alarming than the threat that existed prior to Sept. 11, 2001,"

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-intel21sep21,1,4823497.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

[The Nation] USA / IRAN - War Signals

"...Bush Administration and the Pentagon have issued orders for a major "strike group" of ships, including the nuclear aircraft carrier Eisenhower as well as a cruiser, destroyer, frigate, submarine escort and supply ship, to head for the Persian Gulf, just off Iran's western coast"

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061009/lindorff

[WJZ] MARYLAND - Security Scare At Arundel Mills Mall [False alarm, luggage]

http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_266174837.html

[KFSN] CALIFORNIA - Bomb Scare at Fresno Wal-Mart [False alarm, hoax]

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?sectionfiltered=local&id=4590290

[Reuters] USA - U.S. denies entry to Egyptian Muslim clerics

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/22/AR2006092200458.html

[AP] INDIANA - Authorities find bomb materials, al-Qaida literature in apartment

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/local/15586515.htm

[KSL] UTAH - Railcars Appear to Set Off Radiation Detectors

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=508879

[AccessNorthGa.com / WDUN News/Talk 550] GEORGIA - Bomb scare in Winder

"suspicious package was placed near gas pumps "

http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/hall/newfullstory.asp?ID=107252

See also http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=32&url_article_id=19664&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2

[Ottawa Sun] CANADA - Islamic school set on fire

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2006/09/24/1888837-sun.html

[New York Daily News] NEW YORK - Radioactive 'hot spots' threat to city, study sez

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/454742p-382701c.html

International:

[Reuters] NORWAY - Norway taped plot to blow up U.S. embassy

http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=13572503&src=rss/topNews

[AP] THAILAND - First bomb blast in restive south since coup, injures four police

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/23/asia/AS_GEN_Thailand_Southern_Violence.php

[WND] MIDDLE EAST - French paper reports bin Laden dead - Unnamed Saudi police sources attribute demise to typhoid fever

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52121

See original French Language article : http://www.estrepublicain.fr/zoom/2006092300222348.html

[Times Online] PAKISTAN - Spies reject ‘Bin Laden is dead’ claim

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2372390,00.html

[Reuters] FRANCE - France to probe bin Laden death report leak

"France's Defence Ministry said on Saturday a secret service report saying al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had died could not be confirmed but said it would launch an inquiry into the leak of secret documents"

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1408972006

See also http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-23T075508Z_01_L23801953_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-BINLADEN-FRANCE.xml

[Reuters] IRAQ - Bomb kills 26 as Ramadan begins in Baghdad

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/9/23/worldupdates/2006-09-23T145449Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_-268962-5&sec=Worldupdates

[Deutsche Presse-Agentur ] HONG KONG - Man arrested for threat to bomb Disneyland in Hong Kong

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/article_1204132.php/Man_arrested_for_threat_to_bomb_Disneyland_in_Hong_Kong

[Reuters] PAKISTAN - Bomb blast kills two, wounds eight in Pakistan

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL151067.htm

[Deutsche Presse-Agentur] TURKEY - Seventeen wounded in bomb attack in eastern Turkey

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/article_1204347.php/Seventeen_wounded_in_bomb_attack_in_eastern_Turkey

[AP] TURKEY - Suspected Kurdish rebels set off a truck bomb in eastern Turkey, 17 injured

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/23/europe/EU_GEN_Turkey_Kurds.php

[AP] RUSSIA - Police in Ingushetia clash with suspected militants

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/24/europe/EU_GEN_Russia_Restive_South.php

[AP] PRAGUE - Security stepped up in Prague due to terror threat

"The information ... was evaluated as serious, the most serious ever,"

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1157913688600&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[Prague Monitor] PRAGUE - Police busy with false bomb threats [Heightened alert]

"heightened security measures which went into place Friday night over the threat of a terrorist attack in Prague will remain in place for the time being"

"operation of the C line of the underground was interrupted for half an hour because of a bomb threat"

"anonymous caller also claimed that a bomb was planted at Ruzyne airport "

http://www.praguemonitor.com/ctk/index.php?story_id=w41992i20060925;set=yes

[The Peninsula] SRI LANKA - Thousands of Muslims flee east Lanka, many stranded

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?sectionfiltered=World_News&subsectionfiltered=Philippines+%26+South+Asia&month=September2006&file=World_News200609259454.xml

[AP] MIDDLE EAST - Al-Qaeda group posts Web video of dead US soldiers

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/09/25/2003329127

http://news.%20ninemsn.com.%20au/article.%20aspx?id=142727

http://news.ninemsn.com. au/article. aspx?id=142727

Al-Qaeda is everywhere

Friday Sep 8 10:00 AEST
Reuters
By Hal Crawford

The consensus emerging from a welter of commentators, analysts and
experts
is that after five years of war on al Qaeda, the United States and its
allies are engaged in not physical but conceptual conflict.
This is a war against an idea.
Al-Qaeda has no rigid structure. It has no fixed HQ, no lines of
command or
supply, no superannuation. It can't be bombed into the Stone Age or any
other historical era, because the organisation distributes itself among
innocent populations.
Most insidious of all, the more global attention al-Qaeda gets, the
more it
grows.
"I call it 'dog whistle terrorism'," says Damien Kingsbury, an
Associate
Professor at Melbourne's Deakin University and keen observer of
international terrorism.
"A global call is being made which doesn't register with the majority
of the
population. It's only picked up by those attuned to it."
And in the case of al-Qaeda, hearing the call is enough to qualify for
the
club. All you have to do is subscribe to a few key elements - Islam,
the
violent struggle against the West - and you can call yourself an
al-Qaeda
operative.
Although this puts the terrorist organisation on the flimsier end of
reality, it does exist, according to most analysts.
"Al-Qaeda is a great example of 'leaderless resistance'," says Dr
Kingsbury.
"The structure is atomised, there's no formal hierarchy. You can't lop
the
head off, because there is no real head."
Bizarrely, this kind of organisation was pioneered by ultra-rightwing
white
supremist groups in the US. Organisations such as the US-based Aryan
Nations
have made themselves impossible to shut down, and al-Qaeda has learned
the
lessons.

continued................

http://www.isria.info/FILES/2006/SEPTEMBER/09262006__23.htm

Aqazadeh seeks Iran's partnership in Bushehr power plant IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Moscow, Sept 25, IRNA Iran-Nuclear-Aqazadeh Iran's Vice President Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh said here Monday that Iran has proposed to the Russians to give a share to Iranians in the project for completion of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. Aqazadeh, also head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said that Iranians' contribution to the project will expedite its implementation. "Should we face any problem in the process of completing Bushehr nuclear power plant project, we will act ourselves," warned Aqazadeh. Pointing to the national acute energy shortage in the coming years, Aqazadeh said that under a Majlis approval for generation of 20,0000 megawatts of nuclear energy, necessary investment will be made for the purpose in coming years. The Energy Ministry has conducted extensive research on energy generation whose outcome would be revealed in a month, he added. "In view of the oil price hike, energy generation would not be economical except by establishing nuclear power plants -- as the Energy Ministry has pointed out," said Aqazadeh. Asked whether there is any row among the 5+1 coalition, Aqazadeh said, "No; but I think the countries have become more wise and the main reason for the problem had been the information that they had obtained through the International Atomic Energy Agency."

He said the Group was under wrong impression that Iran's nuclear technology and know-how has gone beyond the research level. For now, he added, Tehran and Group of 5+1 are debating confidence-building measures and some of the countries are casting more realistic look at Iran because today, the country is among the world's nuclear states. He said Iran's strong determination in the development of nuclear power plants is an indication of presence of lucrative market for it. He said the states have come to realize that cooperation with Iran will be more beneficial for them. Asked about the proposal raised by some states in recent IAEA session in Vienna for establishment of the nuclear fuel bank, Aqazadeh said a long way is ahead for establishment of international nuclear fuel bank and countries cannot achieve the goal swiftly. The reason for failure in hitting the target is difference of opinion among those who initiated the proposal, he added. According to the Iranian nuclear official, the US believes that countries should not be permitted to enrich uranium and instead, the nuclear fuel guarantee should be replaced by article four of the NPT. Europeans want to divide the world market and Russians too are looking for absorption of capital needed for restructuring their nuclear system, said Aqazadeh, adding that therefore, Russians are welcoming investment but do not agree with transfer of technology. The International Atomic Energy Agency also does not consider its own business to see who wants to produce nuclear fuel and how, rather it wants all the ways leading to the Agency itself. Through the nuclear fuel bank, the Agency is in fact trying to assume control of countries and the fuel cycle, he added. This is while, other states are doubting promises of the founders of the bank with respect to the existing realities, he noted. Aqazadeh arrived in Russia to discuss the situation linked with the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. He will hold talks with Rosatom's Sergei Kiriyenko during his two-day visit to the Russian capital.

According to the available information, the main attention at the Moscow negotiations will be devoted to the final time limit for commissioning the first energy unit of the Bushehr plant and also to the time limits for the delivery of Russian nuclear fuel to Iran needed for the initial fuelling of the nuclear power plant. The sides are expected to sign an agreement on these problems. Kiriyenko had earlier stated that according to the schedule in force the commissioning of the Bushehr power plant is to take place in September 2007 and its connection to the country's power network -- in November. "The construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant has nothing to do with Iran's nuclear program, which is now under discussion," he stressed. "There are no risks of uranium being enriched at this station and of nuclear materials being used for any other purposes but peaceful," Kiriyenko stated. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, in turn, that there were no grounds for any sanctions against Iran and for 'any hurry-scurry'. "Russia had never fixed any artificial time limits for the settlement of conflicts. The main point is that our goal is to guarantee the immunity of the non-proliferation regime," the minister noted. "Russia is not sitting on its hands and is not waiting for the outcome of EU High Representative Javier Solana's talks on Iran, but is actively working with the Iranian colleagues to ensure the most favorable results of such contacts," Lavrov stressed. 1420/2322/1412

http://www.isria.info/FILES/2006/SEPTEMBER/09262006__24.htm

Aqazadeh: Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant should be implemented in 6 months IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Moscow, Sept 25, IRNA Russia-Iran-AEOI The visiting Vice-President and head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh in Moscow on Monday conferred with Russian officials on completion of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant as well as Iran's nuclear case. Briefing reporters on finalization of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant project, he said that only 7-8 percent of the operations is remaining, which should be completed within six months. In response to a question about the cause for delay in implementation of the project, he said, "Given the power plant was primarily designed by the West, changing the Western system into the Russian was difficult and the Russians did hardly not to notice it in the beginning. "This was Russia's first experience in establishment of power plants, while it did not have the proper expertise on management of the relevant manpower," he added. Aqazadeh said that the contractor of the project, the Russian Atom Stroi Export Company, was subject to repeated changes, which also accounted for delay in the project.

As a contractor, Atom Stroi Export Company has a poor performance and due to its bankruptcy, it is not even qualified to get loans from Russian banks. "If we could find any better contractors, we would have assigned it with the rest of the project to ensure that the power plant will be implemented in six months. Underlining the technical inefficiency of Atom Stroi Export Company in building the power plant in Bushehr which was evident from the beginning, the IAEO head declared his reluctance to enter into political discussions about the project. "If I were present while the relevant agreement was signed, I would have not recommended it, given that it has cost even more than a new power plant, but is not as efficient as it should be," he added. The vice president said that during the presidential term of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, establishment of a 440-MW power plant was discussed between Russia and Iran, adding that the officials in charge rather decided to complete Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. Concerning the Russian government's support for this contractor, he said, "To support the project, the Russian government officials declared the contractor as a government company. But the Russian government lacked the potential to implement the entire project and this company is the only contractor which can finalize it. Aqazadeh, accompanied by his deputies, arrived in Moscow Monday morning on a working visit. He is scheduled to hold talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Kiriyenko, to press the latter to set a definite timetable for completion of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. 2326/1412

Powder.

I suspect that they know all the response times they need.

I thought that I saw a message in the names of the building.

There is in Colorado, with finance and one named WTC bldg.

Now if the addresses add up to 9-11-01, you might have something.

Got too tired and lost the thought, we will see.

September 26, 2006 Anti-Terrorism News

Algeria: Police Arrest Al Qaeda Militant (Abu al-Ham), Report
Served As Al Qaeda Recruiter
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.344217135&par=0
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=109566&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17

(Afghanistan) Taliban says bin Laden alive: Al Arabiya TV
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060926/ts_nm/security_binladen_dc;_ylt=AtHPmmN1EBDJIrskM6nSdtOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

(Afghanistan) Scores Die in Terror Attacks - two attacks - suicide bomb
in Helmand killing 18, attack in Kabal killing Italian soldier and
child
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.344074351&par=0

(Afghanistan) Six rebels killed in would-be Afghan suicide attack
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/September/subcontinent_September986.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=

(Iraq) Police find 13 bodies across Baghdad - believed to be victims of
sectarian death squads
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060926/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_bodies;_ylt=AvYC_i5xa7t_7pek_B724m5vaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-

(Canada) Ontario: Toronto terror suspect (Qayyum Abdul Jamal) denied
bail
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=429a3979-d981-4cf7-9404-7b5d02b72286

Afghan leader slams Musharraf's policies
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060926-120120-7617r.htm

(Pakistan) Musharraf lashes out on US 'book tour' - regarding
Afghanistan and President Karzai
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=WXEYKLIMVNKH3QFIQMGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2006/09/26/umush.xml

(India) "Pakistan a nursery of global terror"
http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/26/stories/2006092620171400.htm

Pakistan Govt Denies Mullah Omar's Role In Waziristan Peace Deal
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.344104110&par=0

(Pakistan Pres Musharraf) M16 'didn't tell us that 7/7 bombers were in
Pakistan'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2374827,00.html

The wanted man, the Heathrow plot and the 7/7 bombers
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2374542,00.html

Update (Norway) Terror suspects in custody - updated story with
additional details
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1471385.ece

Palestinian rockets fall in south Israel
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060926/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_rockets;_ylt=Ajd9o23uJ7S2yQHfitVMPhELewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--

(Israel) Defense minister says terror alerts have increased - 10 terror
attacks thwarted in past 3 weeks
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193320127&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

(Israel) Car bomb explodes in Tel Aviv; none hurt
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193318434&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

(Israel) IDF arrests 6 Palestinian fugitives in West Bank
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193318373&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

(Egypt) Nasrallah dates sold to break Ramadan fast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060926/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_nasrallah_dates;_ylt=An__e4epfKwmTE0HZ1rhM38LewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--

Turkey: Lieutenant Killed in Mardin PKK Ambush
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20060925&hn=36778

(Indonesia) Bali bombers to keep their heads
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20480155-1702,00.html

Iranian TV Report Broadcasts About 'Zionist Companies' - Coca Cola,
Marlboro, Hugo Boss, McDonalds, Disney, Garnier, Tommy Hilfiger, L'Oreal,
& Others; Pepsi = 'Pay Each Penny Save Israel'
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD130006

Russia, Iran Agree Bushehr Nuclear Reactor Launch Date
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/09/26/nnplaunchdate.shtml

(UK) Wanted: three more wives for Islamist heckler Abu Izzadeen
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=407055&in_page_id=1770

(Sri Lanka) Roadside bomb kills airman in northern Sri Lanka, military
says
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/26/asia/AS_GEN_Sri_Lanka.php

[Have you noticed the lack of names, of the arrested?

I see it in the Denver news and other places.
granny]

http://www.kirotv.com/news/9938861/detail.html

KIROTV.com
Related To Story

* Video: Video: Shots Fired At Drivers On State Route 512

Man Accused Of Firing At Cars To Appear In Court

POSTED: 12:18 pm PDT September 26, 2006
UPDATED: 12:27 pm PDT September 26, 2006

PARKLAND, Wash. -- A man suspected of firing gunshots along state Route 512 near Parkland Monday is scheduled to make his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reported.

Police arrested a 35-year-old man Monday afternoon near the South Hill Mall in Puyallup after two vehicles were hit Monday afternoon.

Washington State Troopers said bullet fragments also hit a 55-year-old driver.

The woman was hit in the head and neck while she was driving on S.R. 512 near Canyon Road. She was not hurt seriously enough to require hospitalization.

Patrick Gore’s window shattered as he was also driving on the highway in the same area. Gore told KIRO he thought a rock might have hit his window, so he just kept driving to work.

“A few miles down the road I noticed a hole in the driver’s door then saw the exit hole on the side of the door, so I called 911 as soon as I got (to work),” said Gore.

Both drivers were traveling eastbound and both shootings happened within minutes of each other.

The shooting suspect was booked into the Pierce County jail on an assault charge.

Detectives said they found evidence within the cab of the suspect's truck that could link him to the shootings.

Investigators have not yet released a motive in this case.

Copyright 2006 by KIROTV.com. All rights reserved.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/9924186/detail.html

KIROTV.com
Related To Story

Border Officers Walk Off Job

POSTED: 1:33 am PDT September 25, 2006
UPDATED: 7:19 am PDT September 25, 2006

BLAINE, Wash. -- Four Canadian border crossings were shut down Sunday as about 60 of Canada's unarmed border guards walked off their jobs.

The walkouts came after the guards were warned that a person classified as "armed and dangerous" may be headed into Canada.

The walkouts are permitted when the guards perceive threats to their personal safety. They began Sunday at mid-afternoon and stalled northbound border traffic for hours.

Canada's national CTV News said the walkout was triggered by a report from Homeland Security officials in the U.S. who told the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that a suspected killer from California might try to enter Canada. The killer was considered armed and dangerous.

By about 8:30 p.m., southbound traffic was flowing smoothly and northbound traffic was beginning to move, according to Willie Hicks, branch chief for trade operations on the U.S. side.

Affected crossings were at the Peace Arch Park, for Interstate 5 and State Route 99; the Blaine truck crossing, for State Routes 543 and 15l; Sumas, for state routes 9 and 11; and Lynden, for State Route 539.

In August, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada's border guards will be armed starting in September 2007.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

"[Have you noticed the lack of names, of the arrested?

I see it in the Denver news and other places.
granny]"

Yes, granny, I've noticed too.

Also interesting...I posted a story about a possible hate crime at a Washington State Wal-Mart perpetrated by 2 Middle Eastern men against a white couple. I contacted the station, as the video news cast stated there would be a follow up to the story. There was nothing listed.

When I contacted the station, they referred me to an entirely different incident and claimed they had no other info on their site about the original story.

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2006/septiembre/lun25/40escandalo-i.html

Havana. September 25, 2006

THE SCANDAL OF RADIO AND TV MARTÍ
RSF, Montaner and Posada on the
side of Pedro Roig

BY JEAN-GUY ALLARD —Special for Granma International—

PEDRO Roig, director of Radio and TV Martí, who defended in a recent interview the "ethical principles" of the state anti-Cuba propaganda firm that he directs, apparently forgot his active participation in terrorist activities when he was in charge of the Inter-American Military Academy of Miami, cradle of terrorists during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

On September 22, in an interview with The Miami Herald, Roig defended the "ethical principles" of the federal entity after he was criticized in an MH article for paying tens of thousands of dollars to several Cuban-American journalists from South Florida.

However Pedro Lucas Roig wasn’t overly concerned about those principles when he took part in criminal acts carried out by Coordinator of United Revolutionary Organizations (CORU), headed by Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles from a Venezuelan prison.

Irrefutable proof of his collusion in these criminal activities: a declassified FBI document dated May 13, 1977 —a few months before the Barbados crime— quotes a "reliable" source identified by the code MM T-4 who revealed that elements of the famed CORU held "a meeting in Miami at the Military Academy of Pedro Roig on Seventh street attended by the following persons: Gaspar Jiménez Escobedo, José Nacho Colmenares, Antonio Tony Calatayud Rivera and other CORU members."

Gaspar Jiménez and "Tony" Calatayud are two of Miami’s most notorious terrorists, linked many times over with the networks of Luis Posada and Orlando Bosch. Jiménez was even in prison with Posada in Panama.

"VERY CLOSE" BUDDY OF JORGE "CIA" MAS CANOSA

Born in Santiago de Cuba, Pedro Roig arrived in Florida in 1960, where he was recruited by the CIA, which was putting together an armed force for its interventionist plans.

Roig and Jorge Mas Canosa trained together for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion at the CIA camp in Fort Benning. "They were very close," explained The Miami Herald when Roig was appointed head of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) —the official name of Radio and TV Martí. The international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, currently in jail in El Paso, was another of Mas Canosa’s buddy during his "studies" at the camp.

Mas Canosa was personally designated head of the Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF), together with Frank Calzón, by President Ronald Reagan.

The support that Roig received from Cuban-American Congress members Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Díaz-Balart and his brother Mario confirm the sulfurous odor of this character.

Pedro Roig is also a great friend of Herminio San Román, former OCB director who, with Salvador Lew, was responsible for the disastrous reputation of Radio and TV Martí, which over the years has become a den of old conspirators open to anything.

NUEVO HERALD ALREADY BROKE STORY …WITH NO REPERCUSSIONS

The Radio and TV Martí scandal is nothing new. An investigation by El Nuevo Herald published in June 2002 revealed that several well-known personalities from the local "elite" press were showering under the same stream of dollars, then provisioned by director Salvador Lew. No sanctions have ever been leveled at either of these delinquents.
The article went on to mention the fact that Olga Connor "earned" $45,770 for two cultural programs of one hour each: a rate of $440 per hour!

It also revealed that Lew had offered comfortable benefits to Armando Pérez Roura, connected to Alpha 66 and director of Unidad Cubana; to Rafael Díaz-Balart, deceased father of Lincoln and Mario Díaz-Balart; to "independent" journalist Nancy Pérez-Crespo and her treacherous friend Ninoska (Lucrecia) Pérez-Castellón, daughter and wife of Batista terrorists; and to Rolando Espinosa, former partner of mafia businessman Demetrio Pérez Jr.

It is now known that Carlos Alberto Montaner is among those benefiting from the system of purchasing OCB journalists, although El Nuevo Herald overlooked him at the beheading hour.

It is worth repeating, in case the Herald and its new owners are unaware of it: Monday, December 26 1960, 17 terrorists were arrested in Havana in the midst of a wave of attacks on stores and cinemas around the Cuban capital.

Carlos Alberto Montaner Suris was among these extremists. Sentenced to several years in prison, he escaped a few months later and entered the United States with a safe conduct granted by the CIA through a South American embassy.

Some months after his departure from Cuba, in an interview with journalist Angel de Jesús Piñera, published April 27, 1962 by the Miami magazine Avance, Montaner confirmed that he directed the terrorist activities of his group. This was never mentioned in El Nuevo Herald or Miami Herald columns.

RSF BELONGS TO THE SAME NETWORK AS RADIO MARTI

Reporters without Borders (RSF), the French organization virtually created to attack Cuba, has abstained from getting involved in the debate unfolding in Miami with the latest revelations. Here is the reason for that silence: RSF is also closely linked to Radio Martí.

Not only does it participate in programs broadcast by that U.S. state radio, an affiliate of the Voice of America and connected to the State Department, but they also disseminate the same pseudo-journalistic material manufactured by the same "independent" sources that nourish Pedro Roig’s propaganda machine.

Robert "Bob" Ménard, director-for-life of the French organization supposedly dedicated to defending press freedom, has been publicly associated on many occasions with Radio and TV Martí activist Nancy Pérez Crespo.

Backed by an unlimited budget offered by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Pérez Crespo is behind the Agencia Informativa Independiente Nueva Prensa Cubana; Cuba Press Nueva Prensa; Patria; Havana Press; NotiCuba and several "independent" agencies generated, maintained and directed by the CIA via the U.S. Interests Section (USIS) in Havana.

To complete the connection, Ménard is also associated with the International Freedom Fund, a fascist CIA creation to which …Carlos Alberto Montaner belongs.

Founded in 1985, Radio Martí, and later TV Martí, has swallowed more than $500 million in taxpayers’ money over 20 years.

The audience of Radio Martí, according to polls in the United States, is less than insignificant, while TV Martí, according to Democratic Senator for Oregon Ron Wyden, the station "provides the only snow that the island receives," referring to the dismal quality of its transmissions.

Soaking in the same bathtub now filled with millions from the Bush Plan and its "secret appendix," Roig, Montaner, Ménard and Posada belong to the same mercenary force that has spent nearly 50 years on the sole objective of annexing Cuba. At any cost and using any method.

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/actualidad-i.html

[live links to the articles on site]

• U.S. government refuses entry visa to Cuban minister of public health
September 26, 2006
THE U.S. government has refused an entry visa for the second year running to José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera, Cuba’s minister of health, who was to participate in a meeting from September 25 to 29 of the Directors Board of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the institution’s highest body, which meets once a year with participation by the health ministers of member nations. Cuba has always been represented at these meetings by its health minister...

• Another extension for ruling on release of Posada Carriles
September 26, 2006
EL PASO, Texas (USA), September 25.—The U.S. government has obtained a further extension to submit its objections to the recommendation by a federal magistrate to release terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, held since 2005 in an immigration detention center in this southern U.S. city. According to court sources, the federal government has a deadline of October 5 — the day before the October 6 anniversary of the criminal sabotage masterminded by Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch...

• PARLACEN speaks out for the five Cuban heroes
September 26, 2006
A motion calling for the release of the five Cuban anti-terrorists imprisoned in the United States has been presented by Julio Palacios, president of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), in the legislative summit that ends in Montevideo today. The document urges the U.S. government to give just treatment to the Cubans, who have been imprisoned for eight years and were subjected to a rigged trial in Miami, where they were handed down heavy sentences, Palacios confirmed in a telephone statement to PL.

• Shouts of Freedom for the Five shake the streets of Washington
September 25, 2006
"WE have participated in a historic event," expressed participants of the march that covered more than three kilometers of downtown Washington this Saturday, in support of the cause of the five Cubans who have been imprisoned in the United States for eight years for fighting terrorism.

• Civil organizations to petition White House for the release of the Five
September 22, 2006
WASHINGTON.—Civil organizations are to demonstrate tomorrow Saturday outside the White House for the release of the five Cubans incarcerated in the United States for combating terrorism.

• Solidarity in New York with Cuban delegation
September 22, 2006
NEW YORK, September 21—The Cuban delegation participating in the 61st Session of the UN General Assembly, led by Vice President of the Council of State Esteban Lazo Hernández, was warmly received with messages of solidarity in an enthusiastic public welcome in the historically Black community of Harlem.

• Indonesia will never forget the heroic deeds of the Cuban doctors
September 22, 2006
“WE have witnessed their professional ability, dedication and their great affection for other human beings.

• NEWLY DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS, 30 YEARS LATER
Kissinger could have prevented Letelier’s assassination
September 21, 2006
UNITED States government officials could have prevented the assassination of Orlando Letelier, but inexplicably, they did not, according to documents declassified on September 20 by the National Security Archive.

• Americans, Italians and Czechs for justice for the Five
September 21, 2006
FROM the United States comes heartening news from the solidarity committees set up to support the five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters, whose members are to march on the White House and in many other U.S. cities in condemnation of the injustice being committed against those prisoners.

• Ecuador’s president inaugurates monument to Eloy Alfaro
September 21, 2006
WITH this ceremony, we have sealed a new act of everlasting friendship between Cuba and Ecuador,” affirmed Dr. Alfredo Palacio González, president of that South American nation, during the inauguration of a monument to Ecuadorian national hero Eloy Alfaro on Avenue G, a central street in Havana.

• Intense program for Cuban delegation at United Nations
September 20, 2006
UNITED NATIONS.— Esteban Lazo, vice president of the Cuban Council of State, participated yesterday in the inauguration of the 61st session of the UN General Assembly where he met with presidents and delegation leaders.

• The fraudulent and deceitful sale of Havana Club by Bacardi in the U.S.
September 20, 2006
CUBA has condemned the recent decision by the Bacardi firm to begin marketing a rum produced in Puerto Rico, under the Havana Club label, as "a fraudulent and deceitful action for consumers who have traditionally identified the trademark as a rum produced in Cuba and nowhere else."

• Official Cuban delegation arrives to attend UN Assembly
September 19, 2006
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 19 (PL) Esteban Lazo, vice president of the Cuban Council of State, has arrived in New York as head of his country’s delegation that is participating, from today, in the UN General Assembly discussions.

• The Cuban leader is walking and followed the Summit
Fidel, a second call
September 18, 2006
FIRST there was a phone call at six in the morning, which I just heard of three hours later. And then came the second call.

• Maturity achieved by NAM key to success of 14th Summit
September 17, 2006
THE 14th Non-Aligned Movement Summit was closed this Sunday at 1:05 am and, as Cuban First Vice President Raúl Castro stated in his final comments, its results were fruit of the collective work of its participants and an example of the maturity the NAM has achieved during its 45 years of existence.

• Fidel receives prime minister of Malaysia
September 17, 2006
YESTERDAY afternoon Fidel Castro received His Excellency Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, prime minister of Malaysia, with whom he had a fraternal one-hour meeting.

• Dominicans demand an end to the injustice against the Five
September 15, 2006
SANTO DOMINGO.—The Dominican Cuba Solidarity Campaign and the National Committee to Free the Five Cubans imprisoned in the United States for combating terrorism, demanded their immediate release here today.

• Solidarity cooperation among landlocked nations
September 15, 2006
WITH a declaration that proposes integration in solidarity and multilateral cooperation for developing trade alternatives that are more expedient and less costly, the first Summit of Presidents of Landlocked Developing Nations concluded yesterday, September 14.

• Foreign ministers adopt principle NAM guidelines
September 15, 2006
THIS Thursday, the foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) defined for the approval of their heads of state a group of principles that are to guide the movement’s activities from now on.

• Fidel is more alive than ever
September 15, 2006
“I found him almost ready to play baseball. Fidel is more alive than ever, while imperialism is in evident decline,” affirmed Hugo Chávez, president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in a brief encounter with the press minutes before entering a G-15 Summit session.

• Raúl meets with Presidents of South Africa and Mali
September 15, 2006
FIRST Vice President of the Council of State and Ministers, General of the Army Raúl Castro Ruz, met in the afternoon of yesterday with His Excellency Thabo Mbeki, President of the Republic of South Africa.

• Fidel receives Argentine deputy and intellectual Miguel Bonasso
September 14, 2006
AT the close of this edition, on September 13, President Fidel Castro Ruz received Miguel Bonasso, the president of the Commission on Natural Resources and the Environment of the Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Argentina, who traveled to Cuba as a personal representative of his country’s president to the Group of 15, which met in the context of the 14th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

• “I can speak in a very loud voice if I want to”
September 14, 2006
“He was wearing a wine-colored robe and matching pajamas, and fortunately, it was the Fidel of always. Slimmer, true, but not as much as he had appeared to be in recent photos. ‘I lost 41 pounds — he reminded me—, but I’m gaining my weight back.

• Fidel out of bed
September 13, 2006
FIDEL is no longer confined to his bed, and is becoming active again, according to comments on September 12 by General of the Army Raúl Castro, who was visibly enthusiastic about the rapid improvement in his brother’s health as he left a ceremony where the Benito Juárez International Prize was given to the five Cuban anti-terrorists imprisoned in the United States. “I’m going to go see him right now,” Raúl remarked...

• Posada could be freed
September 13, 2006
Ricardo Alarcón, speaking at the ceremony where the Benito Juárez Prize was awarded to the Five, announced that on September 11, Norbert Garney, a U.S. federal magistrate, recommended the release of international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles from an immigration detention center in Texas.

• World event for Freedom for the Five underway
September 12, 2006
THE world event demanding the release of the Cuban anti-terrorist fighters unjustly imprisoned in the United States gets underway today, Tuesday, with the presentation of the Benito Juárez International Prize to their family members.

• We shall work for an inclusive and representative Movement
September 12, 2006
Speech by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque at the inauguration of the 14th Non-Aligned Movement Summit, September 11, 2006, Havana

• Cuban-American terrorists negotiate with prosecutors
September 12, 2006
CUBAN-American terrorists Santiago Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat pleaded guilty yesterday, September 11, in Fort Lauderdale, to charges of illegal weapons possession, after suddenly negotiating a deal with federal prosecutors to avoid a risky jury trial outside the mafia sanctuary of Miami.

• President of Laos arrives
September 11, 2006
HIS Excellency Mr Choummaluy Sayasone, president of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, who is heading that country’s delegation to the 14th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit (September 11-16), arrived in the capital last night.

• The arrests of the five patriots was a conspiracy between the FBI and the Miami mafia
September 11, 2006
OVER the last eight years, more and more evidence has appeared proving that what occurred on that Saturday, September 12, 1998 in Miami had more to do with a conspiracy between Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and the anti-Cuban terrorist mafia, than with protecting the national security of the United States.

• NON-ALIGNED SUMMIT
Fidel recovering satisfactorily and will head the Cuban delegation
September 10, 2006
PRESIDENT Fidel Castro is to preside over the Cuban delegation to the 14th Non-Aligned Movement Summit and will receive various dignitaries, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, affirmed Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque before close to 1,000 foreign and...

• Cuba and India sign contract for oil prospecting
September 10, 2006
THE Cuban oil enterprise CUPET and the Indian company ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) signed today Sunday a production contract for the prospecting and exploitation of that hydrocarbon in Cuban waters in the Gulf of Mexico, PL reports.

• Miami Herald journalists paid to circulate anti-Cuba propaganda fired
September 8, 2006
PABLO Alfonso and Wilfredo Cancio Isla, two of The Miami Herald’s most recalcitrant journalists, have been fired in the wake of a scandal involving them with federal government payments to appear on Radio and TV Martí and transmit anti-Cuba information.

• Ready for the Summit
September 8, 2006
ONCE again, Havana will be welcoming the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), for which more than 100 countries have confirmed their presence, and heads of state and government and other high-ranking officials are announcing their arrivals in this capital, which is putting the final touches to preparations for the momentous event.

• Why is travel to Cuba barred?
September 7, 2006
(Letter to the editor of the online edition of HernandoToday.com, of Brooksville, Florida, USA)
Why is travel to Cuba barred? If we are truly free Americans, why can't we go to Cuba? My whole life pretty much we can't go, but in earlier times we could.

• Lesson for Lieberman and Co.
September 7, 2006
Friends,
Let the resounding defeat of Senator Joe Lieberman send a cold shiver down the spine of every Democrat who supported the invasion of Iraq and who continues to support, in any way, this senseless, immoral, unwinnable war.

• Cuban medical brigade returns from helping Indonesia
September 7, 2006
THE Cuban medical brigade that provided aid for three months in Indonesia after an earthquake devastated that Asian nation has now returned home, to be welcomed by Health Minister José Ramón Balaguer.

• ALARCON TALKS ABOUT THE FIVE ON MSNBC
Even the judge complained!
September 7, 2006
"HOW could they pretend that it was possible to bring together an objective and impartial jury in Miami when even the judge complained of inappropriate behavior?" asked Ricardo Alarcón, president of the Cuban Parliament in an interview granted to the U.S. TV channel MSNBC.

• Evo visits Fidel
September 7, 2006
IN a touching and humane gesture of solidarity, Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma arrived in Havana in the morning of September 6 to visit Fidel.

• NON-ALIGNED COUNTRIES
The urgently needed road of the South
September 6, 2006
FUTURE generations will inevitably view with shock the 21st century, whose early years were profoundly marked by the most brutal, hegemonic, racist and fundamentalist of empires, with the aim of imposing a geopolitical strategy targeting human life so as to make it clear who commands and who must obey in the planet reconstructed to its taste.

• March called in support of the Five in U.S.A
September 6, 2006
"Freedom for the Cuban Five" is the slogan for the giant march on the White House on September 23 in support of the Cuban anti-terrorist fighters imprisoned in the United States since September 12, 1998.

• Important parallel meetings during NAM Summit in Cuba
September 5, 2006
TWO important parallel meetings are to take place in this capital in the framework of the upcoming 14th Non-Aligned Movement Summit (NAM).

• “I note an evident improvement in the patient” Chávez
September 4, 2006
“MY brother, good grief, what a joy! Thanks a million!” exclaimed Fidel while stretching out his arms to Hugo Chávez, who apologized for “getting him up.”

• Majority of NAM members confirm attendance at 14th Summit
September 4, 2006
MOST of the 116 member states of the Non-Aligned Movement have confirmed their attendance at the organization’s 14th Summit, which takes place in Havana from September 11 to 16.

• Non-aligned countries propose to change world order
September 1, 2006
THE Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which will hold its 14th Summit soon in the Cuban capital, is defending a plan of action capable of guiding its efforts to transform the unjust international order.

• James Petras wishes Fidel a speedy recovery
September 1, 2006
THE U.S. plans against Cuba have a chapter that is secret because its contents violate international law, writer James Petras said today. He also expressed his wishes for a speedy recovery for President Fidel Castro.

• Cubans in the United States
August 31, 2006
WASHINGTON D.C—Some1, 448,684 of us Cubans live in the United States according to a 2004 study by the U.S. Census Bureau titled “American Community Survey”.

• Venezuela and Syria sign cooperation agreements
August 31, 2006
DAMASCUS.— The governments of Venezuela and Syria signed 12 juridical cooperation instruments as part of President Hugo Chávez’ official visit to this Arab country. The signing of the documents took place at the Palace of the People (seat of Syria’s government) after an expanded bilateral meeting between the Venezuelan head of state and Syrian President Bachar al Assad, also attended by their respective working teams.

• Díaz-Balart confides that he feels respect and affection for terrorists
August 31, 2006
THE panelists on yesterday’s TV “Informative Roundtable” confirmed that Congressman Lincoln Díaz-Balart confided to a Miami television station that he has profound respect and affection for terrorist individuals and their families such as Alvarez and Mitat, arrested for trafficking weapons, and that he and the two other Congress members of Cuban origin are making secret moves to have them released.

• Protest in Miami against travel restrictions to Cuba
August 28, 2006
WASHINGTON (PL)— Dozens of Cubans protested against restrictions on travel to Cuba imposed by the government of President George W. Bush in his zeal to destroy the Cuban Revolution, reported the Nuevo Herald on Sunday.

• Louis Farrakhan sends letter to Fidel
August 25, 2006
Commandante Fidel Castro
Leader of the Cuban Revolution
As-Salaam Alaikum. (Peace Be Unto You)
Dear Commandante Castro,
On behalf of my family, the members of the Nation of Islam and myself, we pray that Allah (God) will grant you a full and speedy recovery that you may resume your duty to the people of Cuba and the world.

• Injustice against the Five and impunity for terrorism
August 23, 2006
GERARDO, Ramón, René, Fernando and Antonio are still behind bars in the United States, three of them in maximum security prisons, and all of them subjected to the hateful revenge of those in Washington who have made them the target of reprisals against the Cuban Revolution.
- MIAMI 5

• Medical graduates: 1,593 from 26 countries
August 23, 2006
IF a system for training doctors en masse like the one implemented by the Cubans is not adopted, the future of the peoples is uncertain, because between epidemics and social marginalization the health of the poor of the planet is constantly threatened.

• Terrorist conspiracies could help case of the Five
August 22, 2006
THE most recent revelations about conspiracies by anti-Cuban counterrevolutionary groups in the United States could help the case of the Cuban Five, according to a U.S. newspaper, the Los Angeles Times.
- MIAMI 5

• More than 500 journalists apply to cover NAM Summit
August 21, 2006
UP until this Saturday more than 500 Cuban and foreign journalists have applied for accreditation to cover the 14th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), from September 11 through 16 in Havana. José Luis Ponce, director of the International Press Center, told the National Information Agency (AIN) that this total could increase in the next few days.

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/nacional-i.html

• Employment, organization of labor and wages debated at workers congress
September 26, 2006
THE 19th Congress of the Central Organization of Cuban Trade Unions (CTC) opened its sessions yesterday with nine work commissions. On Monday the delegates examined 16 resolutions to be approved today in full session, the analysis of which permitted improvements to and the streamlining of reports. The commissions discussed employment, the organization of labor and wages; workers’ training, culture and sports; the international role of the CTC; and support of the Revolution’s foreign policy, among others.

• Cuban Labor Congress begins
September 25, 2006
IMPORTANT issues related to the economic, political and social future of the country are the focus of discussion at the 19th Congress of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC), which is now meeting in Havana until September 27.

• Raúl receives president of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
September 19, 2006
FIRST Vice President of the Council of State and Ministers, General of the Army Raúl Castro Ruz, met yesterday morning with Kim Yong Nam, President of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

• Fidel receives president of Ecuador
September 18, 2006
PRESIDENT Fidel Castro Ruz received His Excellency, Mr. Alfredo Palacios, president of the Republic of Ecuador, at noon yesterday, September 17.

• WITH ITS HARD HOPE, THE SOUTH ALSO EXISTS
September 16, 2006
Hugo Chávez Frías addressed the plenary session on behalf of the Latin America and Caribbean Group, from where he sent greetings with to Fidel with a Latin American, Martí and Bolívar heart and for whom he requested a round of applause as evidence of the fraternal appreciation of everyone. He called to the attention of those present that the 14th Summit was taking place in revolutionary Cuba and under the leadership of Fidel, “an example of dignity and resistance against imperialism” while equally acknowledging the leadership and history of Raúl Castro...

14TH NAM SUMMIT
• Fidel receives Algeria n president Abdelaziz Bouteflika
September 16, 2006

LAST night President Fidel Castro received His Excellency Abdelaziz Bouteflika, president of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, who is in our country for the 14TH Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement and who headed the Group of 15 meeting last Thursday. During the fraternal one-hour meeting, both leaders exchanged opinions on the Havana Summit and the need to continue revitalizing the Non-Aligned Movement, on important issues of the political and economic reality and, in particular, on joint cooperation projects between the two sister nations.

• Representatives of regional groups advocate revitalizing the NAM
September 16, 2006
ON assuming the responsibility of presiding over the Summit of leaders, Raúl gave the platform to Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa , who addressed the plenary session as president of the Group of 77 plus China and spoke on issues related to the main problems that the peoples of the South are confronting.

• Fidel receives Kofi Annan
September 15, 2006
PRESIDENT Fidel Castro Ruz received His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations, last night (September 14), shortly after his arrival in our country. During their fraternal encounter, the Cuban president and the UN leader of the exchanged opinions on the importance of the Non-Aligned Summit and other relevant international issues, such as the situation in the Middle East and the current reality in Africa.

• 14th NAM SUMMIT
Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales arrive
September 14, 2006
"THIS is the summit of the world…," said Hugo Chávez right after descending from the airplane that brought him from Caracas. The Venezuelan president described this 14th NAM meeting as the most important that he has ever attended.

• Cuban foreign minister calls on Non-Aligned Movement to redouble its support for the Palestinian people
September 14, 2006
CUBAN Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque has called on the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to take measures so that its support for the Palestinian people would be firmer and more decided, and insisted on demanding a just and lasting solution to the conflict they are suffering.

• Raúl meets with the prime minister of Malaysia and the presidents of Viet Nam and Algeria
September 14, 2006
GENERAL of the Army Raúl Castro Ruz, first vice president of the Council of State and Ministers, had talks yesterday afternoon with His Excellency Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, prime minister of Malaysia, who is heading his country’s delegation to the 14th Non-Aligned Movement Summit.

From: Jamestown.org

Pope's Statements Bolster Radical Islamist Propaganda Efforts

As the fallout from Pope Benedict XVI's recent controversial speech continues to resonate across the Arab and Muslim world through street protests, official condemnations and even sporadic incidents of violence, radical Islamists have been busy waging their own attacks against the Vatican on Arabic language website discussion forums frequented by al-Qaeda sympathizers and websites linked to violent Islamist extremists.

There have been numerous explicit calls for the Pope's assassination in a number of chat forums and websites, which have prompted heightened security measures at the Vatican and Catholic and Christian sites across the region. A September 15 post by a forum participant who goes by "Abu Bakr" stated: "He who was able to kill the dirty Dutch filmmaker can kill the Danish cartoonist and the Pope, God willing" (http://www.tajdeed.org.uk). Other forum participants have likened the pontiff to an extension of the Bush Administration and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, essentially claiming that the Pope's controversial choice of words are proof of a violent U.S.-led Christian crusade against Islam. In a September 23 posting, a forum participant submitted a fictional dialogue between President Bush and what is described as the "Criminal Vatican" where Bush describes in detail U.S. plans for its dealings with Muslims: "My dear Pope, we want to invade these Muslims—we want to destroy them—we want to make them our slaves—we want to make their riches our own—and what we want above all else is to destroy their religion, which is the cause of their strength and honor" (http://www.tajdeed.org.uk).

In a statement posted on http://www.mohajroon.com, the owners of the website lament the current state of affairs and regional inaction in response to the pontiff's statements: "the nation of Islam remains in silence and shame, and our Prophet is insulted, time and time again by the worshippers of the cross…they occupied our land, they raped our land, they destroyed our mosques…after all of this, what are we waiting for…condemnations and denunciations and demands for an apology? Is this all that we can do for our Prophet?" They also declare: "our merciful armies will break the cross." A statement on http://www.althabeton.co.nr, a website representing Egyptian extremists with concrete links to al-Qaeda, including alleged members such as Muhammed al-Hakaima who are reported to have split with organizations that have renounced violence such as Egyptian Gama'a al-Islamiyya, interpreted the Pope's recent speech as proof that he is "standing with Bush and his allies in their crusader war against our Islamic nation and our Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him...just like the first Crusade against the Muslims…we here call on our mujahideen brothers in the European nations in general and in Italy especially to unleash jihad against the hated crucifix which causes harm to God and his Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him…"

Like the Danish cartoon controversy, the desecration of the Quran and the Abu Ghraib scandal, among other incidents, the Pope's controversial statements will prove to be an effective propaganda tool for radical Islamists to mobilize support for their cause for years to come. Given the Pope's powerful religious credentials and international influence, his statements are likely to bolster the position of violent extremists and al-Qaeda even further. From the perspective of radical Islamists, the pontiff's speech supports al-Qaeda's narrative since one of Osama bin Laden's stated goals is to inspire Muslims to defend themselves from what he often describes as a U.S.-led Christian crusade against Islam.

Chris Zambelis is an independent analyst and consultant based in Washington DC, specializing in Middle East politics and international terrorism issues.

I suspect that the Feds fear an explosion, if the truth comes out about how many incidents there really are here.

Election, coming, must keep things in control.

I do worry about the wrong people being attacked, as happened after 9-11.

Are you talking about the beating with the car jack at the walmart? Not too surprised that that one would disappear.

From: Jamestown.og

IMU Leader Yuldashev Issues Warning to Central Asian Governments

On the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) leader Tahir Yuldashev sent a direct threat to Central Asian governments. He warned, "The mujahideen haven't forgotten the Muslims executed in Andijan last year. We will avenge Muslims in Central Asia or in Russia…Karimov, Rakhmonov and Bakiyev had better remember...that they will be punished for the crimes they are committing" (Geo.kz, September 12). The three leaders named by Yuldashev are the presidents of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan respectively. All three of the aforementioned countries have been the targets of resurgent jihadi violence during the last two years, which escalated following the May 2005 Andijan uprising in the Ferghana Valley.

The Ferghana Valley, the birthplace of IMU leaders Yuldashev and the deceased Juma Namangani, has been under heightened surveillance since the events in Andijan. Uzbekistan, which boasts one of the post-Soviet world's most efficient security apparatuses, has been able to thwart a number of terrorist plots, including an alleged plan to blow up the tunnel over the Kamchik pass and cut off the Ferghana Valley from Tashkent (RIA Novosti, September 15, 2005). Kyrgyzstan, however, already unstable as a result of the Tulip Revolution in March 2005, has come under fierce attacks since late last year with a bomb attack on an administrative building in Osh and a cross-border incursion into Batken province on May 12 (Komsomolskaia Pravda, December 27, 2005). The attack was foiled and several militants were killed, reflecting the failure of terrorist groups to destabilize the entire region as they did in 1999-2000. Kyrgyzstan's responses to the increased attacks have been immediate and forceful; dozens of Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) members, a group once tolerated by the Kyrgyz authorities, have been arrested, and in July five suspected members of the IMU were killed in a shootout with security forces in Djalalabad province (AKI Press, July 14). Six alleged members of the IMU and HuT are currently on trial in Kyrgyzstan and more than 120 people have been detained on extremism charges since the beginning of the year (Kyrgyz Public Educational Television, August 30).

On September 15, alleged IMU cadre Imam Ruhiddin Fakhriddinov was sentenced to 17 years by an Uzbek court while another high-ranking member of the IMU, Dilshodbek Hojiyev, is currently on trial in Tashkent. Across the border, six members of the IMU were sentenced to lengthy jail sentences in Tajikistan (Itar-Tass, May 22). In addition, bombings in January and July 2005 in Dushanbe were confirmed by Tajik security services as being part of an IMU plot, and IMU elements in northern Tajikistan were involved in the murder of officials as well as an attack on a prison in January this year, freeing a fellow group member (Interfax, January 28).

Memories of the late 1990s are still fresh in the region, when the IMU made repeated attacks on border posts in Batken, Kyrgyzstan in an attempt to establish a launching pad for attacks in Uzbekistan. Previously, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan had also been targets for the same purpose. Five years after the U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan, the weakened IMU no longer holds a training camp/base of operations in Tavildara, Tajikistan and most of its militants are based in the Northern Province of Sughd and in the Kyrgyz provinces of Osh and Djalalabad bordering Uzbekistan, their main target. In July of this year, Tajik security services arrested 10 members of the IMU in Khujand, while all recent terrorism-related activities and arrests in Kyrgyzstan have taken place in provinces bordering Uzbekistan's Ferghana Valley (sngnews.ru, July 17; Kyrgyz Television 1, September 7). While the country has thus far been spared, Kazakhstan's southern city of Shimkent (100 km from Tashkent) was used as a base of operations by the IMU-linked Jamaat of Mujahideen of Central Asia to strike at Uzbekistan in July 2004.

Despite tension over Bishkek's initial refusal to hand over Uzbek refugees from Andijan, differences have been pushed aside and Kyrgyz and Uzbek security forces are cooperating on an unprecedented level, exchanging information and conducting joint operations. Anti-terrorism cooperation between Central Asian states has been improving rapidly, and many Uzbek militants have been extradited to Uzbekistan from neighboring Central Asian countries as well as from Russia and Pakistan. While this cooperation has been actively encouraged by Western governments and international organizations in the region, it solidified under Russian pressure since Moscow was concerned about the destabilization of its near-abroad. Central Asian states' response to extremism has lately tended to mimic the often-decried heavy handed approach of the Uzbek and Russian governments. On August 6, during a joint Kyrgyz-Uzbek operation in Osh, Kyrgyz security forces shot dead Muhammadrafik Kamalov, a Kyrgyz imam accused of sheltering IMU members. The same imam is mentioned by name in Yuldashev's September 11 message as a "martyred scholar."

Mirroring the improved cooperation of Central Asian security services, the IMU is increasingly collaborating with other groups/cells in order to carry out attacks; officials point out such groups as Akramiya, Bayat and HuT. HuT, a self-proclaimed non-violent Islamist movement, is most often mentioned; recruitment has increased since the Andijan events, especially in Central Asian areas bordering the Ferghana Valley. Security officials believe that the HuT is at least involved in logistical and financial support for other violent groups. This trend has been observed in Kyrgyzstan, particularly in the Osh region where a violent HuT cell may have emerged. In March of this year, Kyrgyz law enforcement uncovered a cell regrouping members of both the IMU and the HuT (AKI Press, March 31). A month earlier, HuT members were arrested with explosives in their possession (AKI Press, February 14). While the HuT and the IMU have different tactics, their goals are essentially identical and with the current "anti-extremist" campaigns across the region, it is probable that some new IMU members are actually radicalized HuT members who have decided to take the path of violent action.

Nevertheless, notwithstanding the growing clout of the HuT in the region, recent events testify that despite being significantly weakened by the U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan, in the short and medium term the IMU still presents the most immediate threat to Central Asian regimes. In rising through the ranks of the al-Qaeda/Taliban alliance, Yuldashev has adopted their globalized perspective and aligned the IMU's aims accordingly. This is apparent in his reference to "martyrs" Shamil Basaev and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as well as the reference to the United States in his recent message: "We are confident of the defeat of the USA and U.S.-led Jews, Christians and Crusaders." While the warnings to Central Asian governments are taken very seriously by those targets, the latter statements suggest that wider concern toward the IMU is also justified.

Hayder Mili is an independent researcher specializing in terrorism and security issues in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

From: jamestown.org

GSPC Joins al-Qaeda and France Becomes Top Enemy

Al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri's recent September 11 threat to France, coupled with al-Qaeda's official integration with the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), is significant for two principal reasons. First, from al-Qaeda's perspective, it is a formal alliance with an "out-of-area" Islamist group to specifically engage in jihad against Europe and elsewhere. Secondly, the GSPC's merger with al-Qaeda formalizes the GSPC's participation in al-Qaeda terrorist-related activities against Western targets. This development brings the GSPC to the counter-terrorism debate in a different way than before. The GSPC-al-Qaeda integration portends increased opportunities for al-Qaeda to recruit European jihadists for ongoing terrorist operations in the West and the Middle East and signifies the potential for an increased operational tempo by the two organizations against French and Western targets.

Al-Qaeda's threat to France raises the stakes for French counter-terrorism officials, especially given al-Zawahiri's September 11 designation of France as "prey" in the global jihad (Le Figaro, September 14). It is not surprising that France is the target for future terrorist attacks: France remains the GSPC's preference for terrorist operations due to the legacy of the 1990s and the GIA's violent struggle against the Algerian government as well as its targeting of France (the GSPC is a splinter group of the GIA). Moreover, various French foreign and domestic policies have caused France to lose its "neutrality" and make it a target for terrorism: participation in Desert Storm; participation in the international force in Lebanon, which Islamist groups view as a joint U.S.-Israeli operation to protect Israel's position in the Middle East; and laws to regulate Islamic religious symbols in schools, such as headscarves. Al-Zawahiri said that the "blessed union" of al-Qaeda and the GSPC should "be a source of chagrin, frustration and sadness for the apostates [of the regime in Algeria], the treacherous sons of [former colonial power] France," and urged the group to become "a bone in the throat of the American and French crusaders" (Le Monde, September 18; Libération, September 19).

According to the French minister of the interior, France is under a "vigilance absolute," and the threat level was raised and will remain so indefinitely (Le Monde, September 18). Moreover, it is not insignificant that there is an active and large Muslim community in France. In February 2005, for example, the French domestic intelligence agency, Renseignements Généraux, estimated that there are about 5,000 sympathizers and militants in France part of the Salafi-Jihad, grouped around 500 hard-core individuals (Radio France Internationale, September). The French Ministries of Defense and Interior said that France will enact specific counter-terrorism actions to deal with the threat, but will design the policies to not intentionally "provoke the Islamists" (http://www.algerie-dz.com, September 19). According to a September 2005 report produced by the French Antiterrorist Coordination Unit, France was considered a prime target for terrorist groups inspired by Islamism, most notably from combatants from Maghreb countries trained to undergo terrorist operations by the GSPC (Le Figaro, September 19; El Watan, September 20). In 2005, the GSPC singled out France as its "enemy number one," and in August of the same year appealed to Muslims living in France to attack those officials linked to the Algerian regime living in France (Radio France Internationale, September 14).

Numerous terrorist operations in Europe planned by individuals identified as belonging to the GSPC indicate that the group has an agenda to expand its range of operations to new battlefronts where al-Qaeda has been active. In May, for example, it threatened to attack "American military bases in Mali and Niger," and planning for these operations was taking place "in Algeria and in Mauritania" (Terrorism Focus, May 17). The GSPC certainly calculated that a partnership with al-Qaeda would increase the GSPC's appeal to Algerians to continue fighting the Algerian government, which in turn would enhance the organization's continued existence. In addition, integrating with al-Qaeda elevates the GSPC into a new hierarchical international position, one that will increase its Salafi Islamist appeal to European Muslims. The GSPC has been an established actor in Europe's North African network of Salafi Islamists, which have supported jihadi activities in Algeria, Iraq and in Europe, and is active in recruiting from the North African and Muslim communities in European countries.

For al-Qaeda, partnering with an organization that has actively tried to overthrow an apostate government through terrorism lends a certain "state" legitimacy to al-Qaeda. The GSPC contributes to al-Qaeda's ongoing objective to significantly mobilize global Muslim support for its agenda, a development in which al-Qaeda has not completely succeeded. As al-Qaeda's operational capabilities around the world have diminished, a partnership with a Salafi Islamist group might provide al-Qaeda with more manpower and other resources, including access to possible targets in Europe and elsewhere. Due to the GSPC's network of recruitment cells throughout Europe—many of which have been disrupted and its members detained in recent years—al-Qaeda can conceivably draw upon new European Muslim recruits for jihad in Iraq, Europe and elsewhere.

The integration of the two organizations was very calculated and should be taken seriously. The unique capabilities of each group—propaganda techniques, recruitment activities and technical means to conduct a variety of terrorist operations—are now doubled. Foremost, the GSPC specializes in attacks against military targets and its training of potential recruits for activity in Iraq would certainly be important in helping al-Qaeda find technically qualified commandos who understand the nature of attacking convoys, military quarters, etc. Moreover, the GSPC is known to train terrorist recruits from other countries in North Africa, notably Tunisians, Libyans, Moroccans and Mauritanians. A second consideration is assessing the impact of the merger: is al-Qaeda trying to strengthen itself by formalizing partnerships with selected Islamist groups, or is it an indication of a weakening organization that needs to rely on regional jihadi groups for personnel and materiel?

Consideration should be applied to what the merger means for al-Qaeda's evolving ideology, as well as its propaganda activities to continue to portray itself as the ideological leader of global Islamist movements. Similarly, command-and-control implications for al-Qaeda are important since the integration could give GSPC leadership figures the authority to plan and execute terrorist attacks in Europe as well as in other regions. A possible evolution of leadership authority could result in al-Qaeda remaining "in charge" of Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries, whereas the GSPC could be the head of all Europe and Africa operations. An additional factor is the implications for al-Qaeda and GSPC fundraising activities as it could result in an integration of networks that are devoted to financing terrorism operations.

The GSPC's new political agenda of international terrorism and integration into the worldwide jihad is one which supports al-Qaeda's view of a worldwide conflict between "true" Muslims and the "Zionist-crusader alliance," exactly the characteristic that the GSPC now attributes to France. Most importantly, the formal alliance portends strengthening Europe as a battleground, and likely will engender more sympathy for Iraq and other causes, potentially attracting more European Muslims to the global Salafi-Jihad.

Kathryn Haahr is an Assistant Director at the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis.