Plotter's Martyrdom Tape
Day of terror strikes was planned for August 16
Catacombs at Hal Resqun re-discovered
by di-ve news
GUDJA, Malta (di-ve news) -- August 11, 2006 -- 1750CEST-- The Cultural Heritage announced that after almost fifty years of silence, one of Malta's most fascinating Roman catacombs has been re-discovered by officers of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage within a traffic roundabout close to the Malta International Airport.
The important archaeological discovery was made at Hal Resqun, a site on the outskirts of Gudja and it was made possible due to a number of precautionary measures put into place by the Transport Authorit (ADT) on the recommendation of the Superintendence.
The road works at Gudja are in fact part of a road-improvement project being undertaken by the ADT.
The discovery consists of a Roman Catacomb which had been originally excavated by Sir Temistocles Zammit in 1912. However since then the catacomb has been completely obliterated under a wave of debris and asphalt. Following Temi Zammit's discovery of the site in fact, the catacomb was covered up by a road surface, following the development of the Luqa Airfield. The exact location of the Hal Reskun catacomb was lost, although it was generally understood to lie within a roundabout close to the Bir Miftuh chapel at Gudja. Various attempts to relocate the site had failed in the past, resulting in an increasing fear that the catacomb may have actually been destroyed or lost forever.
Cultural Heritage said that the Hal Resqun tomb is of particular scientific interest for Malta's archaeology due in part to the refined use of decoration within the tomb. These decorative schemes in the catacomb imitates Roman architectural motifs, such as a number of fluted columns etched into the rock face of the tomb.
The site is however unique in that it includes two scenes cut in low relief into the rock-face of the catacomb. These scenes include both human and animal figures, and offer a very rare insight into what religious notions the Roman in Malta entertained with respect to death and the afterlife.
Once re-discovered, officers from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage have inspected the site and confirmed that this is the very same catacomb first sketched by Temi Zammit in 1912. The catacomb is in a good state of conservation considering its long abandonment. The tomb's important decorations and figurative scenes are also well preserved and are still very legible.
Cultural Heritage expressed its desire that the catacomb's re-discovery will hopefully lead to its permanent conservation, following 50 years of oblivion. It also said that the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage will continue to work to ensure that this site will be conserved for public benefit in terms of the Cultural Heritage Act.
http://www.di-ve.com/dive/portal/portal.jhtml?id=244223&pid=23
6:19:04 pm on Friday, 11 August, 2006 (CET)
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Joint patrols against migration flows ready to be launched
by Chris Galea, di-ve news
VALLETTA, Malta (di-ve news) -- August 11, 2006 -- 1345CEST--The joint sea operation on tackling migration flows to the Canary Islands is ready to be launched, while a second stage of Mediterranean border control operations will be following as soon as possible, European Commission Vice President Franco Frattini announced.
"This is the 'solidarity in action' I promised to the government and citizens of Spain, and those of the Canary Islands in particular, and this is the kind of support the governments and citizens from Malta and Italy also receive in addressing their specific migration pressures," Mr.Frattini said.
The EC Vice President described the launching of the joint patrols as a historic moment in the history of EU immigration policies and a tangible expression of EU solidarity amongst Member States.
He went on to say that the operation is of a humanitarian character, aiming at saving lives at sea as well as reducing irregular immigration and combating human trafficking.
http://www.di-ve.com/dive/portal/portal.jhtml?id=244131&pid=23
Seven arrested in Pakistan in relation to air terror plot
11/08/2006 - 10:22:43 AM
Intelligence agents in Pakistan arrested at least seven people, including two British nationals of Pakistani origin, who provided information on the terror plot aimed at blowing up US-bound passenger jets from Britain, a senior government official said today.
The arrests were made in the eastern city of Lahore and in Karachi, Pakistan’s main port on the Arabian Sea, the official said in Islamabad. Two were Britons arrested a week ago.
The five Pakistanis were arrested on suspicion that they served as local “facilitators” for the two Britons, the official said. It was not clear when they were detained.
He did not have know whether they had links with any local or foreign militant organisation.
An official at the British High Commission in Islamabad could not confirm the arrests of the Britons, and referred questions to Pakistan’s government.
Pakistan’s government yesterday said it had played “a very important role” in uncovering the plot – allegedly to bring down as many as 10 planes in a nearly simultaneous strike that US officials say was suggestive of an al-Qaida operation.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said some arrests were made in Pakistan but refused to give details. “The investigation is going on. We are not talking about their identities,” she said.
Pakistani intelligence officials also confirmed the arrest four or five days ago of a suspect in Faisalabad, a city about 75 miles east of Lahore. They did not provide further details about the suspect’s nationality or connection with the plot. They said they expected more arrests would follow.
That arrest appeared to be different to the seven made in connection with the alleged terror plot.
British authorities arrested 24 people yesterday based partly on intelligence from Pakistan. The suspects were believed to be mainly British Muslims, at least some of Pakistani ancestry.
A Pakistani intelligence official said an Islamic militant arrested near the Afghan-Pakistan border several weeks ago provided a lead that played a role in “unearthing the plot”.
Pakistan, a key ally of Britain and the US in the war on terrorism, has been long been regarded as a centre of Islamic militancy.
Three of the four suicide attackers in the July 7, 2005, bombings on the London transport system that killed 52 people were British Muslims of Pakistani origin and had visited Pakistan before the attacks.
One of the bombers visited a pro-Taliban seminary run by the hard-line Jamaat al-Dawat group in the eastern city of Lahore before the blasts, but officials in Islamabad say none of the London bombers received militant training or support during their visits.
Pakistan placed the hard-line group’s leader, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, under house arrest yesterday for a month in Lahore, but officials said it wasn’t linked to the aircraft plot. Lahore police chief Khawaja Khalid Farooq said authorities feared Saeed’s plans to address a rally tomorrow could lead to unrest.
Today, Pakistan stepped up security at airports, preventing hand baggage on all flights. However, state carrier Pakistan International Airways reported no delays and said a flight would depart on schedule for Heathrow airport around noon.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/08/11/story271724.html#
Lenihan plays down concerns about terrorism 'back door'
11/08/2006 - 13:56:59
The Government has played down concerns that Ireland could be used as a "back door" for Islamic militants intent on bombing Britain.
Speaking in Dublin this morning, Junior Minister Brian Lenihan said the Irish intelligence services were co-operating closely with their British counterparts to counteract any such risk and ensure the necessary security measures were in place.
He said none of the 24 people arrested in Britain yesterday had any connections with Ireland.
He also confirmed that the State's National Security Committee had recommended new security measures in the wake of yesterday's anti-terrorism operation in Britain, but refused to disclose what these measures would entail.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/08/11/story271777.html
Three of terror plot suspects 'converted to Islam'
11/08/2006 - 10:32:17 AM
At least three of the men arrested on suspicion of being involved in a terror plot to blow up a series of transatlantic planes had converted to Islam, it emerged today.
Ibrahim Savant, from Walthamstow, east London, changed his name from Oliver when he converted, according to neighbours.
The 25-year-old student, whose Muslim wife is reportedly pregnant, was arrested at his family home in Folkestone Road.
He is believed to have taken his Iranian father’s name when he converted and immersed himself in religious books.
The second convert was called Don Stewart-Whyte until he changed his name to Adbul Waheed after converting to Islam.
The third suspect believed to have converted to Islam is 28-year-old Umar Islam who was also arrested in High Wycombe.
Elsewhere in the Buckinghamshire town, 27-year-old Shazad Khuram Ali was arrested after anti-terror squads stormed his home in Micklefield Road.
Neighbours said the Victorian semi had been lived in by an Asian family for around 15 years and that they did not interact much with fellow residents.
At another High Wycombe address, a semi-detached house in Plomer Green Avenue, an Asian family was led outside by police but, according to onlookers, no-one was brought out under restraint.
Waseem Kayani, 29, was arrested and the property was sealed off by police ready to be searched.
Neighbour Brian Ashby, a 41-year-old business manager, said the family, who have a number of daughters, were “one of the quietest in the neighbourhood”.
He added: “They were led out of the house and were carrying bags of clothes, not under arrest, and they left in their own cars.
“I heard one of the policemen say five or six times to the father: ’Thank you for your cooperation’.”
Another of the suspects, Assad Sarwar, 26, was arrested at his family’s three-bedroom, semi-detached ex-council house in Walton Drive, High Wycombe.
Locals said a family with three sons and two daughters had lived in the house for the past 15 years.
Sarwar, who was married, was thought to still live there with his wife, his brother and his sister-in-law. A third brother had moved out.
Former friends said the men used to be well known in the area, but had not been seen very much in recent years.
Philip Redfern said: “They are very quiet, they keep themselves to themselves, which is very strange because this is a very tight community.”
One of the suspects worked at Heathrow Airport as a security man.
Amin Asmin Tariq, 23, was about to set off for work when he was arrested at his terraced home in Ravenswood Road, Walthamstow.
He had recently become a father and had worked at the airport for the past three years.
Waheed Zaman, 22, was arrested when officers burst into his family home in Queens Road, Walthamstow.
According to reports the biochemistry student had been watching television with his sister Safeena.
Zaman was known to be a devout and active Muslim who was head of the Islamic Society at the Metropolitan University in London.
A neighbour, who did not want to be named, described Zaman as a “good guy”.
She said: “He’s a good guy, he’s a superman of Walthamstow. He has a good rapport with lots of people. I’m really upset to think this could have happened to him. He is studying biomedical science at university and loves to play football, he supports Liverpool. I don’t think he would have been mixed up in anything.”
The youngest of the suspects is 17-year-old Abdul Muneem Patel, who was seized in the Clapton area of London.
Muhammed Usman Saddique, 24, was at his family home in Albert Road, Walthamstow, when police raided the terraced home.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/printer.asp?j=157601660&p=y576xzz4x&n=157602269&x=
FBI Investigates American Connection to London Terror Plot
Muslim Terrorist Fifth Columnist in UK met with UK Airline Plot terrorist
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006370177,00.html
Suspect 'met Galloway'
TERROR suspect Waheed Zaman met controversial MP George Galloway many
times,
his sister said last night.
Safeena, 24, said of her 23-year-old brother: "He saw it as his duty to
stand up for his community and that's what led him to know George
Galloway.
He has a lot of respect for him and has met him many times."
A spokesman for MP Galloway, above, said: "Waheed Zaman is not a name
that
George is familiar with. He is not known to him on a personal level."
There is no suggestion Galloway is an associate of Zaman.
Google Alert - support jihad
The War We Forgot to Fight
National Review Online Blogs - New York,NY,USA
... The only way to win is to suck the air out of jihad by driving the
regimes that support it out of power or out of the terror business. ...
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NWNiZjlhN2M0OGMyMzIzMTdhZmQyZDI5MWMyM2NhY2Y=
Column One: Why Israel must win
Jerusalem Post - Israel
... Britain's Home Secretary John Reid discussed the twin dangers of
jihad
and Western ... who based his entire campaign on attacking Lieberman
for
his support for the ...
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525851213&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060811.BOMBSMART11/TPStory/TPInternational/Europe/%3E
RED ALERT: THE PLOT
A plot 11 years in the making?
In 1995, al-Qaeda planned to bomb 12 planes with liquid in carry-on luggage, Paul Koring and Colin Freeze examine the parallels
PAUL KORING AND COLIN FREEZE
THE SIMILARITIES
Authorities in Britain yesterday thwarted a very familiar plan
Targeting civilian aircraft bound for the U.S.: Operation Bojinka envisioned the bombing of 12 U.S.-bound aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean after they flew out of Asian airports. The new British scheme allegedly involved detonating explosives aboard as many as 12 U.S.-bound aircraft after they left Britain.
Liquid explosives to be smuggled aboard flights: Operation Bojinka relied on the use of nitroglycerin hidden in a container of contact lens solution, which could easily be smuggled through airport security. The plan was to then fashion the chemicals into bombs, which would be hidden in underseat life jackets. The carriers would safely disembark during layovers. Scotland Yard said the suspects arrested yesterday wanted to "smuggle explosives onto airplanes in hand luggage and to detonate these in flights." All kinds of liquids were quickly banned from international flights.
More World Stories
* Chaos, crowds grip Heathrow airport
* In Toronto, inconsistent enforcement of bans perplexes passengers
* Pakistan had pivotal role in cracking bomb plot
* Audacious bomb plot foiled in Britian; homegrown terrorist cell suspected; tough new rules imposed on air travel
* Passengers around the world forced to toss out beverages and toiletries
* Bomb plot newest woe for battered airline sector
* Go to the World section
The Globe and Mail
Common consumer goods used to explode bomb: Bojinka's planners intended to use Casio wristwatches and nine-volt batteries in their bombs. Suggestions have emerged that the British suspects planned to use newer technology, including iPods, laptops and mobile phones. The Guardian reports that two suspects would board each plane, combining seemingly innocuous electronic equipment into bombs.
The motive: Investigators who foiled the Bojinka plot discovered a computer message during their searches: "All people who support the U.S. government are our targets in our future plans and that is because all those people are responsible for their government's actions and they support the U.S. foreign policy and are satisfied with it." The motives of the suspects in Britain are unknown, but a number of homegrown cells have lately been plotting strikes in Britain to protest against the U.S.-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
*****
The brain: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
His big idea was to stage simultaneous attacks using multiple airliners
Biography: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a 42-year-old Kuwaiti whom the intelligence community knows simply as KSM, is the acknowledged mastermind of al-Qaeda's most ingenious and enduring plots -- most prominently, Bojinka and the 9/11 attacks.
Airliners targeted: After helping finance the 1993 World Trade Center truck bombing, Mr. Mohammed fled to the Philippines, where he once again conspired with his terrorist nephew, Ramzi Youssef. They came up with Operation Bojinka.
The prototype: In 1994, a small prototype bomb was detonated aboard a plane, killing a Japanese businessman. The plane remained intact, however, and the plotters tried to make more powerful bombs.
The unravelling: Operation Bojinka unravelled when the plotters' Manila apartment caught fire as they cooked up the chemicals. They were gone by the time authorities arrived, but they left behind a laptop containing details of the plot. The significance of the find was not understood until years later.
Capture & interrogation: Mr. Mohammed eluded capture until 2003, when he was nabbed in Pakistan. He has since told U.S. interrogators that after he left the Philippines, he approached Osama bin Laden for money and operatives for a Bojinka-like plot. But this time, he wanted suicide hijackers to steer 10 airplanes into U.S. targets. Mr. bin Laden rejected the scheme for four years, but finally gave it his blessing in 1999. Mr. Mohammed fine-tuned the strategy, which culminated in the successful, but scaled-down, attacks against four targets on Sept. 11, 2001. That plot made history, but the bigger Bojinka scheme continues to inspire a new generation of terrorists.
*****The 1995 Bojinka microbombs
1. Casio watch alarm goes off, sending signal down wires
Taking inspiration from improvised bombs used in Bosnia, the Bojinka plotters modified their wristwatches so they could be used as bomb timers.
Computer messages subsequently found indicate the timers were to last 10 to 23 hours on transpacific flights, giving time for the plotters to leave the planes on layovers, before the bombs exploded.
2. Batteries boost signal
Two nine-volt batteries -- another innocuous consumer good -- were also to be used to power the small bombs. Some accounts say these batteries were to be taken from children's toys.
3. Filament lights up
Battery-powered light-bulb filaments, according to one account, would be used to help detonate the bombs. Switches were to be used to regulate the current.
4. Nitro in contact lens case explodes
Nitroglycerine hidden in bottles for contact-lens solution was the active chemical in the bomb. The terrorist believed the liquid would easily pass security X-rays.
Other chemicals were used in the mixture. Stabilizers that resembled cotton-wool balls were also in the contact-lens bottles.
All these materials are consistent with recipes found in well-known al-Qaeda manuals.
*****Airliner attack plots
1995 Bojinka plot
It targeted 12 Asia-Pacific flights originating from several Asian cities. Eight were transpacific flights destined to U.S. cities; four were destined to other Asian cities.
Destinations: San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles, Honolulu
2006 British plot
Uncovered last night, it involved planned bombings on as many as 12 transatlantic flights. Three U.S. carriers were involved: American Airlines, Continental Airlines and United Airlines.
Destinations: New York City, Washington, D.C. and California
*****
2001 shoe bomber
In late 2001, British al-Qaeda operative Richard Reid, known as the Shoe Bomber, tried to set his sneakers alight while aboard a trans-Atlantic flight.
A fuse was hidden in the tongues of his shoe, but despite lighting a half-dozen matches, Mr. Reid failed to ignite his bomb before before being stopped by passengers.
The plastic explosives hidden in the soles of his shoe could have killed all 200 people aboard the plane.
11.08.2006 / 12:43 Russians voluntary repatriation program debated in Almaty
ALMATY. August 11, 2006. KAZINFORM. /Yekaterina Panchenko/ Today Almaty city has hosted a conference on the Russian state program for contribution to compatriots’ voluntary repatriation from abroad, decreed by the Russian President this June. Its initiator is the Russian community in Kazakhstan.
This program is aimed at potential migrants, who can speak Russian and adapt to modern life of the Russian society. These people will be invited first to the pilot regions like Kransoyarsky, Primorsky and Khabarovsky territories, Amur, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Lipetsk and other oblasts. The repatriates will be lent financial and material assistance such as compensation for travel expenses, payment of state official registration duties and customs charges.
The program will be realized during 2006-2012.
This conference is of great significance for us for the representatives of the Russian community, Kazak unions and movements have gathered together at last. We hail the program for voluntary repatriation to Russia for it is our historic birthplace, the conferees noted.
http://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=143862
11.08.2006 / 12:58 Above 6 000 labor migrants legalized for 10 days, Interior Ministry
ASTANA. August 11, 2006. KAZINFORM. /Dina Yermaganbetova/ 6 425 people received special migration cards since the beginning of labor migrants’ legalization action in Kazakhstan on August 1, the deputy chairman of administrative police department of Kazakhstan Interior Ministry Gazymbek Alpysbayev told.
More than 5 000 of them are the nationals of Uzbekistan, 772 are from Kyrgyzstan, 245 from Tajikistan, 159 from Russia, and 286 are the citizens of other states.
According to the Interior Ministry around 4 000 legalized migrants are involved in construction, 1000 in agriculture, and more than 500 ones in services trade.
For ten days 7 200 applications were submitted at whole. This action will last until December 31 this year. In conformity with the Law of Kazakhstan On amnesty in connection with legalization of illicit labor migrants legalization will be applied to CIS citizens, who arrived in Kazakhstan 60 calendar days before its introduction into effect.
http://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=143863
11.08.2006 / 08:40 Russia denies sending anti-tank weapons to Hizbollah - ministry
MOSCOW, August 11, 2006. KAZINFORM. - Russia has been supplying no modern anti-tank weapons to Lebanon-based radical group Hizbollah, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday, denying Israeli media reports.
Israel's Haaretz daily quoted intelligence sources Sunday as saying that Israel's ground troops casualties mostly resulted from special anti-tank units of Hizbollah using modern Russian-made RPG-29 that had been sold by Moscow to the Syrians and then transferred to the organization, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
"Such insinuations are a source of bewilderment in Moscow, to say the least," Mikhail Kamynin said. "If there are any questions raised, they can be addressed through normal diplomatic channels. So far we have had no such inquiries, and no proof has been presented."
Kamynin said Russia honored its international obligations.
"We have repeatedly said that Russia keeps to its international obligations in military and technical cooperation, including with the Middle East countries," he said.
The spokesman added that Russia's control over weapons exports was very reliable.
"Our control system over weapons exports is one of the most reliable and makes any inaccuracy in weapons destination impossible," Kamynin said. "We also take into consideration the military and political tension in the Middle East that requires a weighed and verified approach to such issues."
http://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=143854
11.08.2006 / 10:13 UN condemns Kyrgyz extradition
LONDON. August 11, 2006. KAZINFORM. The UN refugee agency has called Kyrgyzstan's decision to extradite five men to Uzbekistan "an extremely serious violation" of international law.
The men were part of a group of 500 people who arrived in Kyrgyzstan shortly after the Andijan violence, Kazinform cites BBC News.
Four of the men had been classified as refugees and the fifth was an asylum seeker, the UNHCR said.
Commissioner Antonio Guterres called the decision "a huge disappointment" which put the men's lives at risk.
The men, who have been under detention in the city of Osh, were driven to the Uzbek border on Wednesday, their lawyer said.
It is not clear what the Uzbek government has accused them of.
'Failed to protect'
Mr Guterres said he feared for their safety.
"This grave breach (of the 1951 Refugee Convention) is a huge disappointment as the deportees' lives may be at stake," he said. "Kyrgyzstan has failed to protect these refugees."
He said the decision was "even more disturbing" because the UNHCR had secured resettlement places for four of the men in other countries.
Hundreds of Uzbeks fled to Kyrgyzstan after the May 2005 Andijan killings. Uzbekistan has been urging the Kyrgyz authorities to return them.
The Uzbek government says 187 people died in Andijan when troops shot a dangerous group of Islamic extremists.
But witnesses say soldiers opened fire on a crowd of anti-government demonstrators in the town square and put the death toll much higher.
Russia has also recently agreed to extradite 13 Uzbeks facing terrorism charges over Andijan.
Prosecutors said on 4 August that the men could be returned because Uzbek authorities had guaranteed that they would not be tortured or killed.
http://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=143857
From Monsters and Critics.com
US News
Indiana sniper attacks could escalate
By UPI
Aug 11, 2006, 19:00 GMT
GARY, IN, United States (UPI) -- The sniper shooting at cars in northwest Indiana could become more violent if he isn`t captured soon, a criminal-behavior expert warns.
Nicky Ali Jackson of Purdue University Calumet says the shooter views shattering car windows as almost a game and is probably enjoying all the media attention, the Gary (Ind.) Post-Tribune reports.
'In lots of cases with violent criminals, from domestic abusers to serial killers or mass murders, we see the criminal start with minimal acts of violence, then escalate,' Jackson says.
Investigators think the Indiana sniper is responsible for at least 10 attacks since July 25.
Jackson says the longer he gets away with it, the more likely the shooter will be to up the ante by using a more powerful weapon or aiming at a driver rather than a car window.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
© Copyright 2003 - 2005 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/printer_1189460.php
From Monsters and Critics.com
US News
Crackdown dismantles gang factions
By UPI
Aug 11, 2006, 19:00 GMT
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- A two-year Maryland police operation netted 53 suspected members of the notorious Crips gang and seems to have dismantled two factions of the organization.
These factions had spread in the state`s counties bordering Washington, D.C., reports The Washington Post. Police also seized drugs, guns and money.
A Maryland State Police spokesman said the operation began in 2004 with the arrest of the alleged leader of one of the Crips factions and has largely wiped out the two factions. The alleged leader of the other faction remains at large.
Both of them face several drug-trafficking charges. Other suspected gang members face robbery, weapons violations and attempted-murder charges in addition to other drug possession and distribution charges.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/printer_1189430.php
[Note: last paragraph]
From Monsters and Critics.com
UK News
British police seek terror clues as 'threat' remains (2nd Roundup)
By DPA
Aug 11, 2006, 19:00 GMT
London - British police Friday continued the search for evidence in the alleged terror plot against US-bound airliners as it became clear that Pakistan played a crucial role in foiling what the authorities in London said would have been 'mass murder on an unimaginable scale.'
Home Secretary John Reid said Friday that Britain was at 'immense threat' from international terrorism, which could only be defeated by close global security cooperation and solidarity among all religious and ethnic groups in Britain.
However, there were signs of anger Friday among sections of Britain's 1.7-million-strong Muslim community as police kept silent about high-profile searches of homes in London, Birmingham and the town of High Wycombe, south-west of the British capital.
The BBC reported that police had increased their presence in areas with Muslim populations following the arrest of 24 people in connection with the alleged plot.
Officers were investigating a small fire at a mosque in the north-western city of Chester, but said it was too early to know whether it was linked to publicity around the terror plot.
The Bank of England Friday published the names of 19 of the 24 suspects held, after their accounts had been frozen.
The names, indicating that most of those held were British Muslims of Pakistani origin, were promptly reprinted in most newspapers Friday.
In the east London district of Walthamstow, where two houses were searched, the local imam Friday urged the community to 'stay calm,' but added that those held by police remained innocent until proved guilty.
Reid, speaking in London a day after British anti-terror police said it foiled a wave of suicide attacks on US-bound aircraft, made a point of thanking Pakistan for its 'vital' intelligence operation.
He said seven people, including two Britons, had been arrested in Pakistan in connection with the plot.
While the investigations and police operation against the suspects were 'driven' by Britain, Pakistan had provided vital intelligence clues, Reid told a news conference in London.
'We are very grateful for all the help and cooperation from our international partners, including Pakistan,' he said.
Reid stressed that the police operations against suspects in Britain were 'ongoing' and that the threat remained 'immense.'
Britain remained on the highest level of terrorist alert.
Meanwhile, the Evening Standard newspaper reported Friday that the terrorist plotters had earmarked August 16 as the day for their multiple mid-air attacks on aircraft.
'The plotters set 16/8 as the date they would bring down 10 packed passenger jets bound for the US with liquid peroxide-based bombs,' the paper said.
Air tickets to fly out on a United Airlines flight next Wednesday had been found at the home of one of the people arrested, said the Standard.
There was to be a 'practice run' attempt to board a US-bound airliner Friday, for which tickets had also been found.
Reports said a young science student, an airport worker and a pregnant woman were among those arrested.
Mainstream Muslim leader warned of a 'backlash' among their communities if it turned out that the police operation against the suspects was based on 'flawed intelligence.'
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
© Copyright 2003 - 2005 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/uk/printer_1189412.php
From Monsters and Critics.com
UK Features
Muslim leaders warn of terror plot 'backlash'
By Anna Tomforde
Aug 11, 2006, 19:00 GMT
London - Muslim leaders in Britain warned politicians Friday to avoid a 'general assault' on the Muslim community following the arrests in connection with the alleged plot to attack US-bound aircraft.
Mohammed Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), said Friday that Britain's 1.7 million Muslims were 'fully behind' efforts to prevent terrorist attacks.
But he warned that failed previous police raids, and the rise in 'Islamophobic attacks' since the London train and bus bombings a year ago, had 'created a distance' between Muslims and institutions of the state.
Muslim leaders made clear that they feared a 'backlash' over the publication in the British media Friday of the names of 19 of the 24 people arrested in connection with the latest anti-terrorist swoop.
In the east London district of Walthamstow, where two houses were raided in connection with the terrorist plot, the local imam on Friday urged the community to 'stay calm' and help the police with their investigations.
Standing on the steps of the local mosque, the imam said, 'Despite what is said in the media, it has to be remembered that those arrested remain innocent until proven guilty.'
Newspaper reports said Friday that a young science student, an airport worker and a heavily-pregnant woman were among those arrested in the terror swoops.
Police have remained tight-lipped about what they have discovered in the searches in London, Birmingham and High Wycombe, south-west of the British capital.
Abdurahman Jafar, the vice-chairman of the council's legal affairs committee, said that the Muslim community was holding its breath as events unfolded.
'Whether the result is successful or not does not matter. Muslims will be stigmatized and kids will come back from school with more vitriol thrown at them.'
'Muslims today feel another layer of deep despair as they know what tomorrow's headlines will say,' he told the Times.
Meanwhile, Britain's Home Secretary John Reid was at pains Friday to reach out to the Muslim community.
Urging people of all communities and religions in Britain to join together to overcome 'those who wish to harm us,' Reid said, 'Now more than ever, Britain needs to rely on the solidarity, tolerance and resilience of all its people - our most precious asset.'
However, Fahad Ansari, from the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said 'a lot more thinking' needed to be done by the government and the police before the lack of trust could be overcome.
Muslims had been 'harassed and demonized,' he told the BBC. 'We've seen very few terrorists being captured but a lot of innocent people destroyed.
Ansari said that many Muslims would be sceptical about the police statements in connection with the latest terror plot.
Intelligence had become a 'joke word,' since it had become clear that the Iraq war had been based on flawed intelligence, he said.
Ansari accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of being in a persistent state of denial' on the impact that British foreign policy from Afghanistan and Iraq to the Middle East was having on Muslims in Britain.
'He has to realize that there was a relationship between 7/7 and British foreign policy,' said Ansari.
Anita Rani, of the BBC's Asia Network, said that many callers had questioned the timing of the latest terrorist plot revelations and believed they were a 'colossal over-reaction' by the government.
While those sceptical of the government and police were in a minority, the trend was nonetheless 'worrying,' said Rani.
'The issue of Lebanon has pushed many further in that direction,' she said.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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Europe News
Russia may down planes taken by terrorists
By UPI
Aug 11, 2006, 19:00 GMT
MOSCOW, Russia (UPI) -- Russia`s air force chief says his country may shoot down passenger planes seized by terrorists if they are a threat to vital installations.
Commander Vladimir Mikhailov`s comments came in the wake of the discovery of an alleged airline terror plot in London, reports Novosti. Russia enacted a law last March, allowing its air defense forces to shoot down passenger planes hijacked by terrorists.
'Should an airliner that has been seized by terrorists fly in from another country and refuse to obey our orders, we will definitely take measures to shoot it down,' Mikhailov said. 'In any event, the situation should be treated on a case-by-case basis. There can be no universal rules here.'
Mikhailov said decisions in such circumstances must be prompt and added that rules of conduct in emergency situations had been worked out and practiced, the report said.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
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From Monsters and Critics.com
Europe News
Spreading fires in Spain sends vacationers fleeing
By DPA
Aug 11, 2006, 19:00 GMT
La Coruna, Spain - Devastating forest fires in north-west Spain sent thousands of vacationers fleeing the region on Friday.
Hotel occupancy has dropped by up to 30 per cent, according to press reports. The fires, which have been burning for a week, spread even further Friday.
Despite the deployment of 7,000 firefighters, the inferno has spread to areas which had so far been left untouched by the flames. They include the Costa da Morte which has only just recovered from a catastrophic oil spill when the Prestige tanker sank in 2002.
Firefighting teams were battling a total of 135 blazes, authorities said.
Dramatic scenes unfolded in the city of Ourense as a huge wall of fire came within 50 metres of a residential area on the outskirts of the city of 110,000. Several houses had to be evacuated.
'We have to concentrate on protecting the dwellings,' said Mayor Manuel Cabezas. Extinguishing the fire burning in the hills outside the city was unthinkable.
Many vacationers, who had initially remained calm, have since departed holiday areas in region.
'This is the most devastating season in history,' said Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the Hoteliers Association in Pontevedra.
A vacationer called Charo from the Basque region said: 'We couldn't go anywhere and in five days, we have not even seen the sea.'
The camping grounds in Louro, operated by German national Wolfgang Heinrich, had to be evacuated several times because of approaching flames.
'Every evacuation costs me 7,000 euros,' said Heinrich.
The tourist branch in the region is worrying about Galicia's unique countryside.
'Nothing is green here any more, everything is black,' said hotelier Jose Porrua. After the third forest fire, nothing will grow any more.
A total of 130,000 vacationers have fled the region or changed their bookings because of the flames, according to the daily La Voz de Galicia.
The newspaper estimated the damage at around 760 million euros (976 million dollar) and said fires had ravaged 50,000 hectares of forests and thickets.
Police have so far arrested 20 suspected arsonists including a 72- year-old retired woman and two firefighters, who are alleged to have lit dozens of fires, the Spanish interior ministry said.
A 30-year-old woman died when she became trapped in her car by a forest fire in central Portugal.
Fires in the Porto de Mos region near Leiria are threatening several villages. Five firefighters have been injured in Evora.
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