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Kenya: We have hacked al-Qaida laptop

Jan. 30. 2007 -- Kenyan authorities say they have cracked the password on a laptop computer belonging to one of the most wanted al-Qaida suspects in Africa. A report by the Kenyan newspaper, The Daily Nation, on its Web site Monday quoted anonymous "senior police sources" as saying that the computer "contained vital information on terrorism training and intelligence collection including spying."

The report gave no further details, but said the computer was seized from the wife of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed -- indicted by federal prosecutors for his role in the al-Qaida truck bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in August, 1998. Fazul's wife, Halima Badroudine Fazul Husseine, was arrested earlier this month with her three children, crossing the Kenyan border from Somalia -- where her husband is widely believed to have been hiding until the turn of the year, when the Islamic militias allegedly sheltering them were routed from Somalia by the Ethiopian military.

The newspaper said police believed Fazul had given her the computer for safe-keeping or delivery to someone else. Despite calls from Muslim groups in Kenya for Badroudine's release, the government deported her back to Somalia over the weekend, along with two dozen others who have been picked up crossing the border in recent days.

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http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20070130-014509-5190r

Court reinstates key charge against Padilla
1/30/07

MIAMI - A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated a key terrorism charge, the only one carrying a potential life sentence, against alleged al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with federal prosecutors in Miami that the charge that the U.S. citizen and his two co-defendants conspired to "murder, kidnap and maim" people overseas did not duplicate other counts in the indictment.

The Atlanta-based court reversed a decision last summer by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, who said the three charges in the indictment contained nearly identical elements and could subject the defendants to extra punishment for the same act, violating protections against double jeopardy.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16892540/

Terror police 'found 9/11 speech'
30 January 2007

A speech by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was found at a London flat used by the alleged 21 July plotters to make rucksack bombs, a court has heard. The November 2004 speech addressed the American people on the "causes" of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6313799.stm

Pentagon Suspends Military Surplus Sales
1/30/07

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said Tuesday it had halted sales of spare parts from its recently retired F-14 fighter jet fleet, even as lawmakers pledged tougher oversight of the military's surplus sales to stop buyers for Iran and other countries from acquiring gear.

Sales of F-14 parts were suspended last Friday pending a comprehensive review, said Defense Logistics Agency spokesman Jack Hooper said. "It was the prudent thing to do," he said.

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http://kiplingerforecasts.com/apnews/XmlStoryResult.php?storyid=296302

Venezuela Plans to Obtain Air Defense Missiles Systems, General Says
Tuesday, January 30, 2007

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela plans to obtain air defense missiles to guard strategic sites such as oil refineries and major bridges against any air strike, a top military adviser to President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday. Gen. Alberto Muller said Venezuela is looking to buy surface-to-air missile systems from Russia or another country to defend refineries, hydroelectric dams and "other strategic points in the country."

"They are for air defense," Muller told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "They are not for attacking anybody... We are not the United States of America. We don't have imperialist ambitions."

Chavez, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, has repeatedly warned against a possible U.S. invasion, and his government is bolstering military defenses in Venezuela, one of the world's largest oil exporters. American officials insist they have no such military plans, but Chavez insists Venezuelans must be ready just in case.

Russia's Interfax-Military News Agency reported Tuesday that between 10 and 12 Tor-M1 missile systems could be supplied to the South American country. The ITAR-Tass news agency said that report was denied by Venezuela's Defense Ministry, but Muller said there are indeed plans to purchase missiles, though he did not say what type.

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,248719,00.html?sPage=fnc.world/americas