Istanbul, 14 Nov. (AKI) - Turkish prosecutors have asked for a life prison sentence for a man they describe as a member of al-Qaeda and the mastermind of a series of bombings in Istanbul in November 2003 which killed 57 people and injured over 400. Syrian-born Louai Sakka is on trial along with 71 other suspects, 31 one of whom are in custody.
The attacks took place on two days: on 15 November two trucks packed with explosives slammed into two Jewish synagogues in Istanbul killing 27 people; on 20 November sucide bombers detonated explosives they were carrying in front of a HSBC banking group building and at the British consulate, killing in total 30 people.
Sakka was captured in 2005 while he was allegedly preparing a bomb attack on Israeli cruise ships docking at the Turkish coastal resort of Antalya in 2005.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=
New Figure Emerges In Spain Train Bombings
Madrid, 13 Nov. (AKI) - Spanish police say they have identified a Moroccan man who first claimed responsibility for the deadly 11 March 2004 bomb attacks on commuter trains in Spain's capital, Madrid, which killed 191 people and injured over 1,000, Spanish daily El Pais reported. The paper named the man as Mohammed Oulad Akcha. But judge Juan Del Olmo, who is has led the investigation into the bombings, has so far ruled as inadmissible the evidence against Oulad Akcha - supplied by a single female witness under police protection.
Oulad Akcha read a message on video claiming responsibility for the Madrid train attacks. Declaring himself to be al-Qaeda's spokesman in Europe, he appeared in the video against the backdrop of a green banner emblazoned with a slogan that read in Arabic: "There is no other God than Allah and Mohammed is his prophet." Police recovered the video wrapped in a glove inside a rubbish bin outside the Grand Mosque, close to Madrid's M-30 ringroad.
Excerpted
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.359229084&par=0
Afghanistan: U.S. Forces Capture Al-Qaeda Escapee
Kabul, 13 Nov. (AKI) - US forces in Afghanistan have caught an al-Qaeda operative, Abu Nasir al-Qahtani, who had escaped from the US detention centre at the Bagram airbase. According to a report on the Pakistani newspaper The News, citing "supporters of the Taliban" in the Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan, the arrest occured recently in the south-eastern Afghan province of Khost.
On 6 November, US forces in Afghanistan said that they had captured on that day, in the course of an operation near Khost, a "known al-Qaeda operative and five other extremists."
Excerpted
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.359063628&par=0
Keith Ellison, the first Muslim in Congress, will join other elected officials as a keynote speaker November 18th at CAIR's 12th Annual Banquet in Arlington, Va.
CAIR's dinner, which in past years have been sold-out, will feature addresses by Representative-elect Ellison (D-MN) and Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Albert Wynn (D-MD).
Other speakers at the event include a representative of the FBI and Amy Goodman of Democracy Now. To learn more about CAIR's dinner, or to register online, go to: https://www.cair.com/2006banquet/
Islam radical 'in Home Office job'
A senior member of a radical Islamic group that Tony Blair tried to ban works for the Home Office, it was reported.
The Hizb-ut-Tahrir activist is said to be an official at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in Croydon, south London - one of the department's most sensitive branches.
Excerpted
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2078592.html?menu=
Exiled Muslim cleric preaching to Britons over the Internet
LONDON (AFP) - An exiled Islamic cleric is still preaching support for terrorism within Britain by using pseudonyms over the Internet, the BBC reported.
The radical Syrian-born preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed broadcasts online most evenings, one of which praised the four Islamist suicide bombers who killed 52 commuters on London's transport network on July 7, 2005, according to the broadcaster.
"How can you condemn those great men -- it's not something so bad, something so good. Something so good to be involved in," Mohammed allegedly said, referring to the four men.
The BBC confirmed the voice of the broadcaster as Mohammed through a voice recognition expert.
Excerpted
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061114/wl_uk_afp/britainattacksinternet
I missed this one.
Have you all seen it?
Terror alert in South Pacific
Related Video
Nov 14, 2006
A low level terror alert is in force in the South Pacific.
The FBI is on the trail of a man with alleged links to one of the September 11 masterminds after he tried to set up a pilot training school on a remote island, bordering US territory. That is despite the island having no airport or telephones.(snip)
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411416/891692
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Wolfgang+Bohringer