Tucson and University of Arizona police are investigating whether chemicals found on a man near the UA are explosive, officials said Thursday. The man was seen walking with a rifle near 10th and Park and was stopped by police at which time a canister with an unknown chemical was found, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, a spokesman for the UA Police Department.
Because officers believed that the chemical could be an explosive, the Tucson Police Department's bomb unit was called out. An X-ray has been conducted and it does not appear that the canister is an explosive device, said Sgt. Mark Robinson, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.
The man was apparently rattling off explosive formulas, prompting the bomb unit to check his nearby residence to ensure that there are no explosives there.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/163221.php
Suspicious package in Norwalk halts train service (Connecticut)
January 4, 2007, 4:17 PM EST
NORWALK, Conn. (AP) _ Metro-North train service was halted Thursday while authorities investigated a suspicious package, police said. Employees at a UPS facility in Norwalk were concerned that the package might contain explosives, so they brought it outside to a safe area, said Norwalk Police Chief Harry Rilling.
"At this point it's been determined that it's not an explosive device," Rilling said. "It was not a danger. It was an inert device. Whatever was in the box was not illegal to possess."
Rilling would not say what was in the box, noting the matter was under investigation. No one was injured.
Police were called shortly before 11 a.m. and the incident was over by 2 p.m., Rilling said. Metro-North trains between two stations in Norwalk were halted in both directions until 2 p.m. Two trains were delayed for about 50 minutes, said Metro-North spokesman Dan Brucker.
Hungary flights evacuated after bomb threat
Jan 4, 2007, 16:58 GMT
Budapest - Two flights of the Hungarian airline Malev had to be evacuated at Budapest's airport Thursday after a passenger threatened to detonate a bomb, a spokeswoman for the airline said.
Krisztina Nemeth said that a passenger threatened to set off a bomb after mistakenly boarding a flight for Kiev, Ukraine instead of his actual flight to Tirana, Albania. The passenger was removed and both flights emptied, although the threat proved empty. Both planes took off several hours later than scheduled.
A Web video of Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, surfaced Thursday and called on Muslims throughout the Middle East to wage a jihad against Ethiopian forces occupying Somalia.
"You have to use ambushes and mines, and raids and suicidal attacks until you rend and eat your prey as the lion does with his prey," al-Zawahiri declared.
The statement was part of a five-and-a-half minute video produced by the terrorist group's multimedia arm as-Sahab.
In the video titled "Set Out and Support Your Brothers in Somalia," and translated by the SITE Institute, Zawahiri is seen in a still image from a previous release, while his voice calls on Muslims everywhere — but specifically those Yemen, the Arab Peninsula, Egypt, North Africa and Sudan — to participate in a holy war against secular government forces in Somalia.
Zawahiri says Mujahideen must provide Somali Muslims with men, experience, money and advice to defeat the Ethiopian forces, which he refers to as the "slaves of America."
The message is the latest from Al Qaeda on Somalia. A July 2006 audiotape showing Usama bin Laden called upon Islamists to attack the Somali government.
U.S. Intelligence officials have concluded that all previous tapes from top Al Qaeda types have been genuine. The lastest message is another example of Zawahiri's interest and ability to speak on timely issues outside of Iraq, officials said.
Addressing the Somali Muslims directly, Zawahiri refers to the U.S. military's campaign in Somalia between 1992 and 1994, saying that America has been defeated before, and due to terrorist strikes in Afghanistan and Iraq, the American army is relatively weaker.
Zawahiri also directly calls upon the youth of the radical Egyptian Islamic group al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya to participate in the jihad. He states that these members joined the group to obey Allah, and if they are prevented from that duty, "they must crush the sarcophagus where they were embalmed alive."
Further, Zawahiri also claim a Mujahideen victory over America in Afghanistan and Iraq, and urges patience and steadiness.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,241739,00.html?sPage=fnc.world/africa
Updates appreciated regarding the UA man "rattling off explosive formulas."