Threat Matrix: February 2007

How al-Qaida Fared in 2006
-Full Story-

In 2006, agents of al-Qaida, as well as those inspired by its ideology, continued their attacks. Violence in Iraq intensified, and Afghanistan saw its bloodiest year since 2001.

Despite worsening chaos on those fronts, counterterrorist forces arrested and killed high-profile terrorists and kept the West free from attack. But these actions don't appear to have weakened the appeal of al-Qaida's agenda. "Home-grown" militants around the world joined its jihad, as regional fighting heightened perceptions of a global war on Islam.

Here's an assessment of some of the most significant gains and losses for al-Qaida last year: Read more..

	Azzam the American: The Making of an al Qaida Homegrown
	Islamic Cells of Revenge Joins the al Qaida Movement
	Most Dangerous Destinations 2007

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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.treasury.gov/press/releases/hp267.htm

February 16, 2007
HP-267

Treasury Targets Iranian Companies for
Supporting WMD Proliferation

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated three Iranian companies supporting Iran's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Kalaye Electric Company, Kavoshyar Company, and Pioneer Energy Industries Company. This action was taken pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which is aimed at exposing and financially isolating proliferators of WMD and their supporters.

"Treasury is taking this action to deny Iran access to the materials and services that support its nuclear ambitions," said Stuart Levey, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI). "This designation is consistent with our international obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 1737."

Designations under E.O. 13382 prohibit all transactions between the designees and any U.S. person and freeze any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

The entities designated today are either owned or controlled by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) or acting for or on its behalf. President George W. Bush designated the AEOI in the Annex to Executive Order 13382, effective June 29, 2005. The AEOI manages Iran's overall nuclear program and reports directly to the Iranian President. The AEOI is the main Iranian institute for research and development activities in the field of nuclear technology, including Iran's centrifuge enrichment program and experimental laser enrichment of uranium program.

Kalaye Electric Company has been linked to Iran's centrifuge research and development efforts. Kalaye is also listed in the Annex to UN Security Council Resolution 1737 because of its involvement in Iran's nuclear program. Kavoshyar Company's sole shareholder is AEOI. Pioneer Energy Industries Company provides services to AEOI, including technological support.

Background on E.O. 13382

Today's action builds on President Bush's issuance of E.O. 13382, effective June 29, 2005. Recognizing the need for additional tools to combat the proliferation of WMD, the President signed the E.O. authorizing the imposition of strong financial sanctions against not only WMD proliferators, but also entities and individuals providing support or services to them.

In the Annex to E.O. 13382, the President identified eight entities operating in North Korea, Iran, and Syria for their support of WMD proliferation. E.O. 13382 authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and other relevant agencies, to designate additional entities and individuals providing support or services to the entities identified in the Annex to the Order.

In addition to the entities identified in the Annex to E.O. 13382, the Treasury Department has designated twenty three entities and two individuals as proliferators of WMD, specifically:

Eight North Korean entities on October 21, 2005;
Two Iranian entities on January 4, 2006;
One Swiss individual and one Swiss entity tied to North Korean proliferation activity on March 30, 2006;
Four Chinese entities and one U.S. entity tied to Iranian proliferation activity on June 8, 2006;
Two Iranian entities on July 18, 2006;
Three Syrian entities on January 4, 2007;
One Iranian entity, one British entity, and one individual tied to Iranian missile proliferation on January 9, 2007; and
Three Iranian entities on February 16, 2007.

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/015316.php

February 17, 2007

Syrian - Iranian summit in Tehran
Assad goes to consult with his superiors. From Al-Bawaba, with thanks to Sr. Soph:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad heading a high-ranking delegation arrived in Tehran on Saturday to confer with Iranian officials on regional development. According to IRNA, the Syrian president and his entourage were welcomed by Iranian Minister of Housing and Urban Development Mohammad Saeedi Kia at Mehrabad Airport....
During his stay in Tehran, Assad is scheduled to confer with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on matters of mutual interest.

Posted by Robert at February 17, 2007 10:29 AM

No problem. It looks like an inexperienced journalist/intern on the weekend shift that is mistakenly reposting/redistributing yesterday's news. Looks like they used this story as a reference.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/121584

If you look at the INN dateline, they have it as 2/18/07 in bold, but originally published 2/16/07 in smaller print underneath. So one can forgive UPI on this one (but they really shouldn't use INN especially without a second Israeli news source like JPost or Haaretz). Even so, they have been sealing off the Temple Mount during Friday prayers the past few weeks and the story is referring to that. I'm not seeing the story anywhere else. But it was UPI, so I thought it was interesting since they usually do not declare alerts on Temple Mount on Saturdays/Sundays. But I'm not seeing it reported anywhere else. So it is probably the same alert from two days ago (Sunday there now).

Note: The following text is a quote:

https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=63746

you are here: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report
Warden Message: Niger Delta Militants Escalating Activities
Consular Affairs Bulletins
Sub-Saharan Africa - Nigeria
16 Feb 2007

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19 Jan 2007
Travel Warning: Nigeria
U.S. Consulate General Lagos issued the following Warden Message on February 16, 2007:

The U.S. Government has learned that a militant Niger Delta group is reportedly planning to escalate its activities in regions beyond its previous primary target areas in the Delta. Possible targets could include expatriate personnel, Western businesses or facilities and locales visited by tourists and foreigners in other regions of Nigeria. Attacks and kidnappings may become more violent than in recent months. In light of this information, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria has updated its travel policy for official U.S. Mission personnel, who must now receive the approval of the Ambassador for official travel to the following Nigerian States: Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, and Rivers.

We continue to advise all Americans to review their security procedures, remain vigilant to their surroundings, and report specific incidences of targeted violence to the U.S. Embassy in Abuja or the U. S. Consulate General in Lagos at the numbers below. You may also email the Abuja Consular Section at: ConsularAbuja@state.gov or the Lagos Consular Section at: lagoscons2@state.gov.

For information on travel in Nigeria, see the Department of State's most recent Travel Warning and Consular Information Sheet for Nigeria. Up-to-date information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll-line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

U.S. Embassy Abuja is located at Plot 1075 Diplomatic Drive, Central Business District, Abuja; the telephone number is 09-461-4000. The U.S. Consulate Lagos is located at 2 Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos; the telephone number is 01-261-1215. For after-hours emergencies, call 011 [234] (1) 261-1414, 261-0195, 261-0078, 261-0139, or 261-6477.

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_925.html

Travel Warning
United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520

This information is current as of today, Sat Feb 17 2007 14:59:25 GMT-0800.

LIBERIA

February 16, 2007

The Department of State continues to be concerned about the security situation in Liberia and urges American citizens contemplating a visit to Liberia to obtain updated security information before they travel and to be prepared to change their plans at short notice. Americans in Liberia should use caution while in country and make an effort to plan in advance all aspects of their stay. This updates and supersedes the Travel Warning of March 30, 2006.

The UN’s deployment of 15,000 peacekeepers and over 1,200 police advisors has kept the overall security situation peaceful and stable over the past year. However, crime rates are still high, and resources for responding to emergencies of any kind are minimal. Liberia's local and national police forces are in the process of being reconstituted and still lack adequate capacity to prevent or to investigate criminal activity.

The Department of State advises American citizens traveling to Liberia to ensure before arrival that they have made proper arrangements for transportation from the international airport outside of Monrovia into the city center and for lodging and emergency medical care, including obtaining medical evacuation insurance.

While in Liberia, U.S. citizens should avoid political rallies or street demonstrations, as such gatherings hold the potential for turning violent. In addition, Liberia's economy remains depressed. Poverty is endemic and the nationwide unemployment rate is very high. Foreigners, including Americans, are high-profile targets for robbery. Incidents of violent crime, including rape, have also been reported. Americans should monitor the local media for developments that may affect their safety and security and report any criminal activity against their person or property to the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia.

U.S. citizens in Liberia should be aware of their surroundings at all times and use caution in traveling. Traveling alone or after dark or walking along deserted beaches is strongly discouraged. Poor road conditions, especially during the rainy season, and limited telecommunications inhibit the U.S. Embassy’s ability to assist U.S. citizens outside the Monrovia area.

Americans who remain in or travel to Liberia should register with the Embassy’s Consular Section through the State Department’s travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov . By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy to contact them in case of emergency and provide updated security information. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the Embassy, which is located at 111 United Nations Drive, Mamba Point, Monrovia, Liberia; tel. (231) 226-370; fax (231) 226-148. American citizen services are Monday - Thursday 3:00 to 5:00 and Friday 8:00 - 2:00 and 3:00 to 5:00.

For additional information, consult the Department of State’s Consular Information Sheet for Liberia on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov. American citizens may obtain up-to-date information on security conditions in Liberia at 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States and Canada, or 1-202-501-4444 from all other countries.

Arab states trained Al-Qaeda men to fight in Somalia
February 18, 2007

MIDDLE EASTERN countries secretly armed and supported suspected Al-Qaeda recruits in the failed state of Somalia in a direct challenge to western interests in east Africa, according to a United Nations report. Hundreds of Islamist fighters were flown, with Eritrean assistance, from Somalia to Syria and Libya for military training. Others were taken to Lebanon to fight with Hezbollah, the report to the UN security council has revealed.

UN investigators also detailed military aid given to the Islamists by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Arab states friendly to the West. Iran also supplied 125 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, 80 of which arrived by sea in dhows and the rest by air. A clandestine operation to smuggle the fighters out of Somalia began in July last year.

In an interview, Evgueny Zakharov, the owner of Aerolift, an airline with a fleet of ageing Antonov and Ilyushin transport aircraft, based in Johannesburg but registered in the British Virgin Islands, said: “We transported lots of men in uniform — Arabian men with masks. “They were disciplined men and although none of them had rank badges there were obviously people in charge. They got on the aircraft as if they had done it many times before.”

Excerpted

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1400655.ece

Algerian al-Qaeda poses new threat to north Africa and Europe
Sun 18 Feb 2007

AL-QAEDA is using North Africa to open a new front in the international terror war. An alliance between al-Qaeda and a north African Islamic insurgency group has resulted in the creation of the so-called Al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa. The new group dramatically raised the stakes last week with a wave of coordinated bombings of police targets in Algeria in which six people were killed and about 30 injured.

According to the US-funded Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, the group - formerly the Salafist Group of Call and Combat (GSPC) - "is now the most significant terrorist movement in Algeria" and remains focused on "overthrowing the secular Algerian government and establishing an Islamist state in the country." The bombings are a bitter blow to Algeria's moderate pro-West government, which thought it had beaten the Islamic insurgency that killed more than 150,000 people in the 1990s. Only last autumn Algeria's voters backed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's offer of an amnesty to 1,000 Islamic terrorists hiding in Algeria and neighbouring countries.

Meanwhile, analysts say the GSPC is increasingly cooperating with other Islamic militants around north Africa. This follows a call from al-Qaeda's second-in-command, and head in Iraq, Ayman al-Zawahiri, for an extension of jihad to confront the "Crusaders". The group also has links with the Moroccan-born extremists who are among those on trial in Madrid for the March 2004 train bombings. Most attended the Al-Quds mosque in Tangiers to hear the preaching of Mohammed Fizazi, a cleric sentenced to 30 years for inspiring attacks in Casablanca.

Excerpted

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=262982007

Iran used Hezbollah (Mughniyeh/Qods Force) in 1993 to train al Qaeda fighters to bring down that Blackhawk in Mogadishu . . . driving us out of Somalia. And now they have been arming and training both sides since 2003, and have now started bringing down our helos again (among many other things) so they can drive us out of Iraq.

The more things change . . .

http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/news/1998/11/98110602_nlt.html

06 November 1998
TEXT: US GRAND JURY INDICTMENT AGAINST USAMA BIN LADEN

United States District Court
Southern District of New York

. . . 4. Al Qaeda also forged alliances with the National Islamic Front in
the Sudan and with the government of Iran and its associated terrorist
group Hezballah for the purpose of working together against their
perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States.
In addition, al Qaeda reached an understanding with the government of
Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on
particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al
Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq. . .

h. At various times from in or about 1992 until the date of the filing
of this Indictment, USAMA BIN LADEN and other ranking members of Al
Qaeda stated privately to other members of Al Qaeda that Al Qaeda
should put aside its differences with Shiite Muslim terrorist
organizations, including the Government of Iran and its affiliated
terrorist group Hezballah, to cooperate against the perceived common
enemy, the United States and its allies; . .

k. Beginning in or about early spring 1993, Al Qaeda members began to
provide training and assistance to Somali tribes opposed to the United
Nations intervention in Somalia;

l. On October 3 and 4, 1993, members of Al Qaeda participated with
Somali tribesmen in an attack on United States military personnel
serving in Somalia as part of Operation Restore Hope, which attack
killed a total of 18 United States soldiers and wounded 73 others in
Mogadishu; . . .

n. At various times from at least as early as 1993, USAMA BIN LADEN
and others known and unknown, made efforts to obtain the components of
nuclear weapons;

NOTE: "24" IS A WORK OF FICTION. (For those of you using translators, fiction means not real.)

---

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=24

Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1780718/posts

In Defense of '24' - An Arab-American defends the real-life Bauers.
Opinion Journal (WSJ) ^ | February 7, 2006 | Emilio Karim Dabul

Posted on 02/07/2007 8:29:23 AM PST by EveningStar

I am an Arab-American as well as a fan of "24." The two things are not mutually exclusive, despite what the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and other such groups have to say about this season's opening episodes possibly increasing anti-Muslim and anti-Arab prejudice in American society.

Most of the terrorists represented in "24" through the years have been Arab Muslims...

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...

UPDATING post no. 922:

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/015320.php

February 17, 2007

Assad, Ahmadinejad vow to form alliance against U.S., Israel
You mean, they haven't already? From Haaretz, with thanks to James:

Iranian President Mahmoud Adhmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar Assad on Saturday vowed to form an alliance against what they called U.S. and Israeli conspiracies against the Islamic world.
Iran's ISNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that the Islamic world in general and Iran and Syria in particular should maintain their vigilance and neutralize conspiracies aimed at sowing discord among Muslims.

Ahmadinejad said that what the U.S. really aims for under the pretext of development in the region "is just another effort to strengthen its own status and that of the Zionists."

The Iranian president also praised the agreement by rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah to form a unity government.

"Dispute among Muslim factions has always been harmful for regional nations and useful for Islam's enemies," he said.

ISNA quoted Assad as saying that expansion of Tehran-Damascus ties would help resolve the problems of the Islamic world. He accused the U.S. of trying to attract public opinion within the Islamic world by undermining Iran-Syria relations.

"America's policies have failed in the region ... By creating divisions among Muslim nations, Washington wants to pursue its aims," IRNA quoted Assad as saying during his meeting with Ahmadinejad, who urged "Muslim countries to preserve unity."

Posted by Robert at February 17, 2007 07:19 PM

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