World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #7 Security Watch

Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich ^ | 23 February 2007 | Sam Logan for ISN Security Watch

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

No one to counter Chavez In a region where the leading ideology is Bolivarianism, there is not one leader positioned to offer a better idea for a brighter future.

Commentary by Sam Logan for ISN Security Watch (23/02/2007)

For over two decades, the prevailing ideology in Latin America was neo-liberalism, a Washington-born idea that claimed the power of open markets would lift the region’s poor from misery. It did not, and corruption ran rampant.

While democracy still remains strong, resentful voters ushered in a new generation of neo-populist leaders touting a new idea: a form of socialism, called Bolivarianism, that has slowly but surely become the loudest and most prevalent ideology.

Bolivarianism is anti-capitalist, supports nationalization, regional trade with like-minded countries and above all, suggests that a country should rely on itself or fellow socialist states, not imperialist powers, as a source of the economic growth that will lift all from poverty. It is a sort of refurbished socialism that is not a guiding light for the future.

Latin America cannot readily absorb the economic shock of open markets, nor can it get bogged down in the trappings of old socialist ideas. A blended ideology must be promoted, but the problem is that no one is strong enough to counter Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the leader of Bolivarianism.

Chavez calls it Socialism for the 21st Century. Cuba's Fidel Castro passed him the torch. Leaders around the region pay homage to their own past as socialist upstarts through hugging and laughing with Chavez on the international stage while taking care of often pro-capitalist, neo-liberal business at home.

Brazilian President Luis Inacio “Lula” da Silva is a perfect example. He has the leftist background and eye for fiscal conservatism to become a great ideological counterweight to Chavez. His politics represent an ideal blend for the region. But his politically weak position at home and strong voices from his own left deter any would be shouting match with Chavez.

Within a week after winning his second term in office, Lula visited Chavez for a photo opportunity on a bridge linking both countries. That was in November, and it looks like Lula’s administration will remain bogged down until March as he struggles to get past his party’s sordid past and form a working cabinet willing to share the same table.

Argentina of the past could have been a counter weight to the Bolivarian ideology. But since Nestor Kirchner has come to power, Argentina has become a Venezuelan puppet.

Chavez has literally bought the support of his southern neighbor with over US$3 billion in purchases of Argentine debt. The most recent purchase occurred on 16 February, when Venezuela dumped another US$750 million into Argentine government coffers.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has the politics to promote an ideological battle with Chavez. Colombia has been a model of economic growth through a mixture of neo-liberal policies and social programs. But Uribe has serious problems.

Political allies are falling like dominos due to links with former paramilitary leaders. And if Uribe took the time to speak out for neo-liberalism and against Chavez, he would be dismissed as another of Washington's puppets. Colombia is a top recipient of US aid.

The only other leader who could take up an ideological fight with Chavez is Mexican President Felipe Calderon. He has the right politics and his country has a history of not blindly supporting the US. Voting against the US invasion of Iraq at the UN is a clear indication. But Calderon won on the thinnest possible mandate. His opposition controls enough seats in the Mexican Congress to block any unwanted initiative, and his focus is on Mexican organized crime, not on verbal sword play with Chavez.

Finally, the US has launched a diplomatic offensive in the region. This is to be a year of engagement, but the US president is clearly obsessed with the war in Iraq, not with putting a muzzle on Venezuela’s leader for the sake of the region’s future. Washington is doubly discredited, first for promoting an ideology that clearly did not work, and second for doing nothing about it.

Latin America needs an independent leader willing to stand up to Chavez, but that leader does not exist on the region’s geopolitical map. Bolivarianism will continue to seep into the minds and hearts of millions across Latin America. Chavez and his pool of allies will control the headlines until the next round of presidential elections tell the world how the region has embraced this new ideology.

As Chavez puts it, Socialism for the 21st Century is just getting started. If that is true, then he will continue to trumpet his ideology until Latin Americans learn, the hard way, that Bolivarianism did not carry them much farther from poverty than neo-liberalism. Disillusionment with reality may then spread faster than hope for the future.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam Logan is an investigative journalist who has reported on security, energy, politics, economics, organized crime, terrorism and black markets in Latin America since 1999. He is a senior writer for ISN Security Watch based in Brazil.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author only, not the International Relations and Security Network (ISN).

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1287732.php/Sweden_extradites_Islamist_to_Germany__Roundup_
.
From Monsters and Critics.com

Europe News
Sweden extradites Islamist to Germany (Roundup)
By DPA
Apr 5, 2007, 17:35 GMT

Karlsruhe, Germany - Sweden has extradited a 32-year-old Islamist, Thaer A, to Germany on charges that he is the chief fund- raiser of a new terrorist group planning to operate in Sudan, German prosecutors said Thursday.

A, who is Jordanian, was arrested March 19 in Sweden and flown to Germany on Wednesday. A German federal magistrate remanded him in custody the following day.

Investigators say he is one of five founders of the new group, set up at the bidding of al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, and was appointed to organize money transfers.

Germany arrested another founder, Redouane e-H, last July on separate charges of recruiting in Europe for a Qaeda-linked group mounting terrorist attacks in Iraq.

They believe e-H was an associate of the plotters of the September 11, 2001 attacks too.

A 36-year-old man of Moroccan origin who lived in Kiel, northern Germany until his arrest, e-H is alleged to have transmitted messages to Said Bahaji, one of the eight alleged 9-11 plotters from Hamburg. Bahaji is at large.

The Swedes are holding a third alleged founder, a 24-year-old Moroccan, but he has appealed against extradition and cannot be moved before a verdict is reached. Police did not name the group.

German police were monitoring the men online as they plotted in an internet chat room last June and July, the prosecutor’s office said. It is a crime in Germany to set up a terrorist group, even if it does not attack Germany.

The five aimed to open a new ‘front’ in Sudan to wage jihad or holy war against ‘Crusaders,’ an Islamist term for what are perceived as threatening western nations.

E-H, who has contacts in Syria, Algeria and Iraq, was the communications officer of the group, prosecutors said.

Meanwhile fresh details emerged about an Islamist attempt last year to blow up two German trains, with a claim that there may have been a third plotter with al-Qaeda links.

Previously it was thought the July 31 plot, which failed when the bombs did not explode, was a ‘freelance’ attack by two Lebanese students who were arrested soon after.

The news magazine Der Spiegel said it would appear Saturday with a report that the two set the bombs as an initiation test for Khaled Ibrahim al-Hajdib, the Sweden-based brother of one of the accused.

One of the men, Jihad Hamad, goes on trial in Beirut next week. The other, Youssef al-Hajdib, is in custody in Germany and likely to be indicted this summer.

The magazine said Youssef al-Hajdib used the term ‘initiation test’ in an e-mail. Both students had hoped to go to Iraq to fight.

Spiegel said Swedish investigators believe Ibrahim was recruiting fighters for Iraq and fund-raising. German prosecutors believed he might have known of the plot or have even commissioned it.

It said had been arrested in Lebanon, where ‘sources’ linked him to al-Qaeda. Spiegel said Ibrahim had prepared a will, found in his younger brother’s German lodgings, in which he termed himself a mujahid, or jihad warrior.

Spiegel said Hamad had said in a jail interview that the plot had been a mistake and he thanked God the suitcase bombs had not exploded on the two German cross-country trains.

© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

© Copyright 2006,2007 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.

[nw_arizona_granny]

[unknown url]

Talk of Bhutto return in Pakistan

Associated Press

Thursday, April 05, 2007

By STEPHEN GRAHAM, Associated Press Writer

Under growing pressure to restore democracy, President Gen. Pervez
Musharraf appears to be trying to reach a deal with the exiled former
premier who heads Pakistan’s largest political party.

The latest indication of Musharraf’s softening stance toward former
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto came Thursday, with the announcement that a
veteran anti-corruption investigator who pursued cases against Bhutto
was being transferred to a job in provincial administration.

It was not clear whether the move could quell Bhutto’s legal troubles
or was purely symbolic. Still, it fanned speculation that a weakened
Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S. war on terror, may sanction her return
if it helps him hang on to power.

Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, is agitating for
Musharraf to close the cases against her so that she can return in time to
campaign in parliamentary elections due around the end of the year.

The general is under growing international pressure to make Pakistan’s
government more democratic, eight years after he seized power in a
bloodless coup.

Protests triggered by his suspension of Pakistan’s top judge threaten
his popularity and analysts say his need for new political allies
increase the likelihood of a deal with Bhutto and another exiled former
premier, Nawaz Sharif.

Commentators have speculated that Musharraf could accept a Bhutto-led
government if it backs his presidency and changes to the constitution
that have given him sweeping powers and formalized the military’s
pervasive role in Pakistani politics.

Members of Bhutto’s party recently confirmed that they were in discrete
contact with government representatives.

And, asked last month about a possible reconciliation, Musharraf
appeared open-minded, pointedly not ruling out the possibility.

“The scenario after the 2007 election is very important, very serious.
It’s a question of Pakistan’s future,” he told the Geo television
channel in an interview.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed confirmed reports that Hassan
Wasim Afzal, a senior official at the National Accountability Bureau, had
been transferred. The news ran on the front page of the Lahore-based
Daily Times under the headline “First sign of BB-Musharraf thaw.”

Ahmed, a staunch Musharraf supporter, said on Geo that Afzal’s removal
was “a very important turn.”

He also said that back-channel negotiations with Bhutto looked
promising, but provided no details.

Bhutto, who was elected prime minister in the 1980s and 1990s, has been
living in London and the United Arab Emirates since 1999, when she left
Pakistan to avoid arrest on charges of graft that allegedly occurred
during her tenure. She denies the allegations, and says they are
politically motivated.

Musharraf, who ousted Sharif in 1999, is expected to seek re-election
as president from the outgoing legislature.

Bhutto’s supporters have joined street protests of Musharraf’s March 9
decision to suspend the court’s independent-minded chief justice.
However, their criticism of Musharraf has been more muted than that of other
parties, including hard-line Islamic ones.

Some observers consider Bhutto’s socially liberal, secular party the
most natural political ally for Musharraf, who has been praised by the
Bush administration as a Muslim leader espousing “enlightened
moderation.”

Musharraf relies for support in the current parliament on a breakaway
faction of Sharif’s conservative Pakistan Muslim League, and has struck
tactical alliances with Islamists despite their condemnation of his
role in Washington’s war on terror.

Babar Awan, a senior lawmaker in Bhutto’s party, said the government
had to dismiss all the cases against her outright in order to improve the
political climate. He wouldn’t say whether that would persuade the
party to support Musharraf as president.

He insisted Bhutto would return anyway, even at the risk of arrest.

Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Pro-terrorist imam to pray before Texas Senate

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55031

Pro-Khomeini imam to pray before Texas Senate ‘Moderate’ scheduled to
deliver today’s invocation participated in ayatollah tribute
Posted: April 4, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

The Texas Senate will open today with its first Islamic prayer, offered
by a
Dallas imam who has been criticized for participating in a “tribute to
the
great Islamic visionary,” Ayatollah Khomeini.

Imam Yusuf Kavakci of the Dallas Central Mosque is scheduled to be
welcomed
by Texas’ Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Sen. Florence Shapiro, the
Senate’s
senior Jewish member and sponsor of Kavakci’s invocation.

According to an announcement by the Dallas-Forth Worth chapter of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations, the occasion will be broadcast
live
on the Texas Senate website and attended by a number of faith-based
groups,
including Texas Impact, Baptist General Convention of Texas’
Christian Life Commission, Texas Conference of Churches and Texas
Islamic
Council.

“Don’t miss the next milestone event for the Texas Muslim community!’
DFW-CAIR’s announcement read. “On April 4, 2007, the first Muslim imam
will
open the Texas Senate with an Islamic prayer.”

Kavacki, who has served in Dallas area for nearly 20 years, has been
seen as
a moderate voice among U.S. Muslims, but he has not gone uncriticized
for
some of his activities.

WND reported in 2005 on the nonpartisan Freedom House report
documenting
Saudi-sponsored hate literature, originating with the government and
Saudi-financed sources that reflected “extremist Wahhabi ideology,”
being disseminated through mosques in the U.S.

One of those mosques, according to a critical editorial in the Dallas
Morning News, was Kavacki’s:

“Unfortunately, this kind of thing is not altogether alien to this
mosque,”
it read. “Last spring, it hosted a youth quiz competition, sponsored by
two
national organizations closely tied to the worldwide Islamist movement.
Kids
were tested on the work of premier jihad ideologist Sayyid Qutb.

“The mosque’s imam, Dr. Yusuf Kavakci, has publicly praised two of the
world’s foremost radical Islamists, Yusuf Qaradawi and Hasan al-Turabi,
as
exemplary leaders. Dr. Kavakci also sits on the board of the
Saudi-backed
Islamic Society of North America, described in congressional testimony
as a
major conduit of Wahhabist teaching. Yet Dr. Kavakci tells The Dallas
Morning News he rejects Wahhabist teaching.
Something doesn’t add up.

“Sayyid Qutb is the author of “Milestones,” the Mein Kampf of the
global
jihad movement - and it’s highly disturbing to learn that Muslim
children
are being indoctrinated with this foul work of fascist xenophobia, in
the
United States.

In 2004, Kavakci was a guest speaker at a seminar sponsored by Irving,
Tex.,
Muslims paying “tribute to the great Islamic visionary,” Ayatollah
Khomeini,
the leader if Iran’s 1979 revolution.

Kavakci and others shared the roster with Mohammed Asi, a radical
Washington
imam whom, according to The Washington Post, U.S. officials suspect of
being
an Iranian agent.

Seminar organizer Imam Shamshad Haider told the Dallas Morning News
Khomeini
has been unjustly portrayed in the Western media. Earlier Haider had
complained on television that Khomeini had been unfairly judged on only
one
aspect of his personality.

Kavakci declined two invitations from the Morning News to explain why
he
would attended such a conference.

WND reported in February that Democrat leaders attending their party’s
annual winter meeting had Husham Al-Husainy, imam of the Karbalaa
Islamic
Education Center, a shiite mosque in Dearborn, Mich., deliver the
invocation. According Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch and
author of
“The Truth about Muhammad,” the assembled Democrats were led in a
prayer
asking Allah to convert party members to Islam.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.axisglobe.com/print_article.asp?article=1270

05.04.2007
Eurasian Secret Services Daily Review
AIA
REVIEW TOPICS:
Litvinenko is dead but the effect of his poisoning still at place
Main witnesses in Litvinenko’s case to demand compensation from Berezovsky
Russian researcher claims Alger Hiss was not a KGB spy
Belarusian KGB continues pressure on the young opposition leader
Former KGB prison in Germany to be converted into memorial
Bulgaria: Parliament decided on Secret Files Committee line-up
Bulgaria’s Secret Files Commission won’t start its work before September - official
A wrangle over revealing Communist-era secrets in Bulgaria – The Economist
Romania: new political crisis approaches as seven new cabinet members flunk integrity criteria over cooperation with Communists

Litvinenko is dead but the effect of his poisoning still at place

Millennium Hotel in Mayfair (photo: londonnethotels.co.uk)
Millennium Hotel in Mayfair
Seventeen people exposed to radiation after the poisoning of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko are continuing to be monitored five months on, BBC reports today. All have been assigned a doctor, provide regular samples for testing and have been offered counselling. After testing positive for polonium-210, they were told they had a greater long-term risk of cancer. Among them were hotel staff and guests, and Marina Litvinenko. Her husband died in London last November.

A major public health investigation was launched by the Health Protection Agency after Mr Litvinenko’s body was found to contain high levels of the radioactive substance polonium-210.

It is still ongoing and has cost £2m so far and involved hundreds of agency staff. In all, more than 700 people in the UK have been tested for radiation. Of those, 17 were found to have levels that were not high enough to cause illness in the short term, but in the long term there may be a very small increased risk of cancer.

Dr Michael Clark, of the Health Protection Agency, said: “The 17 are not likely to see any health effects in their lifetime. “These people have not been poisoned, they have elevated levels of polonium-210 in their bodies which does slightly increase their risk of cancer later in life.”

A further 673 people from 52 different countries were also tested. Just three were found to have had possible contact with polonium-210, but their levels posed no risk to their health. The HPA has also taken requests for particular individuals to be tested for radiation from the Metropolitan Police, which is investigating Mr Litvinenko’s death.

The Millennium Hotel in Mayfair where he met his associate Dmitry Kovtun and his business partner Andrei Lugovoi, on 1 November 2006, emerged as being at the heart of the polonium trail. Four guests at the hotel’s Pine Bar and nine members of staff were among the 17 to test positive. According to the hotel, all nine members of staff are still working there. Others affected include two employees of the Sheraton Hotel, in Park Lane, who are both still working there, and one member of staff from Best Western Hotel in Piccadilly. Tests for radiation were carried out at all three hotels, and a further 11 sites.

At the Millennium Hotel, the Pine Bar and several guest bedrooms remain shut while remediation work continues to seal or remove contaminated material. However, it is understood that by the end of the month all except two sites where work has taken place, will be open.

Only Mr Litvinenko’s London home, and offices in Grosvenor Street will remain shut, largely due to difficulties in tracing the property owners who live abroad. Meanwhile, the police investigation in the UK is still continuing and some information has already been passed onto the Crown Prosecution Service.
The latest development in the independent investigation by Russian police was an interview with Russian billionaire, Boris Berezovsky, BBC concludes.

Main witnesses in Litvinenko’s case to demand compensation from Berezovsky
Two witnesses in the Alexander Litvinenko case are set to ask for compensations from a foundation set up by Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky in honor of the murdered former FSB agent, the Interfax news agency said today.

Russian businessman and political émigré Boris Berezovsky launched the Litvinenko Justice Foundation along with Mr. Litvinenko’s widow Marina, Russian human rights activist Alexander Goldfarb and human rights lawyer Louise Christian. Mr. Berezovsky has already made a £500,000 contribution. The foundation will campaign for justice in the case as well as seek compensations for all those contaminated by polonium 210, the radioactive material that killed Litvinenko.

Two Russian businessmen Andery Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun met Litvinenko shortly before his death. The two men later tested positive for polonium. Applications for the compensations to be sent to the fund, Mr. Lugovoy said in an interview with Interfax. Dmitry Kovtun says he wants to secure the foundation’s assistance in “defending honor of the Russian businessmen in British court”.

British press has repeated called Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun suspects in the murder case, quoting unnamed sources which also said Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind the murder.

Russian researcher claims Alger Hiss was not a KGB spy

A Russian woman researching Soviet records from the Cold War says she has not found “a shred of evidence” that Alger Hiss, who was convicted of perjury in 1950 for lying about being a Russian spy, was involved with the Communist party of spying for the Soviets, AHN reports. Hiss spent four years in prison, and since his conviction scholars and experts have been debating whether he was guilty or a victim of the time’s strong anti-Communist sentiment.

The researcher, Svetlana A. Chervonnaya, said she has been studying documents from Soviet archives since the early 1990s and has not found either Hiss’ name or his alleged spy alias, Ales, mentioned in any of them. Chervonnaya said in her report that “a thorough combing of all the said archives combined has not produced a shred of evidence that Alger Hiss had ever been a member of the (American) Communist Party and was engaged in any behind-the-scenes interactions with the Soviets.”

Chervonnaya is scheduled to speak at a New York University symposium Thursday called “Alger Hiss and History” along with several other scholars, writers and historians.

Tony Hiss and Timothy Hobson, Alger Hiss’ son and stepson, are also expected to give talks. AP quoted Tony Hiss as saying, “Her (Chervonnaya) stating of the negative in all this is so strong that it almost becomes a positive. “With her findings, plus new findings from FBI files, we envision reopening the whole field of investigation. After looking for so long like a played-out mine, it’s now revealing new veins and whole new galleries of material, but it’s far too soon to say this has reached any kind of positive conclusion.”

Alger Hiss was a high-level State Department official who was involved in founding the United Nations. He died in 1996 at the age of 92.

Belarusian KGB continues pressure on the young opposition leader

Zmitser Dashkevich (photo: Khartia ‘97)
Zmitser Dashkevich
Belarusian regime continues bringing pressure on the convicted leader of the Young Front oppositionist organization Zmitser Dashkevich, Khartia ’97 writes. As he had written in a letter to his parents, he was transferred for harder works. As written by him, the reason for that was that KGB officers had read on internet that he was helped by other prisoners, and that sewing bags was too easy. Later KGB officers ordered the administration of the colony to transfer the young man to a different party and give the hardest work for him, he wrote in his letter.
“Those prisoners who helped me were punished. And I was sent to roll logs. And prisoners, who had been noticed to communicate with me, were placed to an isolation ward. I started to show teeth too, and I wrote a number of appeals against the administration. But they can simply throw them off. That is why I really need a lawyer to give him all materials. I have decided to postpone a hunger strike. In case there won’t be any reaction from the administration, nothing would stop me… Over the last week 2 more statements of violations have been drawn up against me. I will be deprived of my last rights soon, and placed to isolation ward. But it doesn’t matter. It would be more peaceful there,” Dashkevich wrote in his letter to parents. He states that he has a status of a malicious violator of discipline and cannot hope for early conditional release.

As the young man wrote, he works from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week. It deprives him of the opportunity to study, and even answer letters. However, under the Labour Code the length of the working week is 40 hours, not 60 hours as in this case.

Besides, it has turned out that the administration banned a tree-day meeting in April which is granted for prisoners by the law, and for which his parents had been expecting. The deputy head of the colony told to Dashkevich’s father that only a short meeting in the end of May would be granted, and a long-term would take place in the end of July.

Dashkevich’s father has addressed the OSCE Minsk office in connection with the negative developments of the situation around his son. Recently the OSCE office head in Minsk Ake Peterson met Zmitser Dashkevich in the colony. It is possible that not coincidentally the pressure on the young man increased after the visit of the diplomat. The regime works on the principle: to demonstrate that everything is alright, and then to increase pressure.

Former KGB prison in Germany to be converted into memorial

A former prison operated in East Germany by the Soviet KGB intelligence service is to be restored as a memorial, the church which owns the building said Wednesday, DPA reports.

Soviet agents tortured both German and Russian captives in the basement of the building, set in parkland at Potsdam, south-west of Berlin, and banished many to Siberian gulags.

The site will commemorate their ordeal.

An exhibition at the shabby building in 2000 detailed its history. It is believed to be the only KGB prison in central and eastern Europe still in its original state. The original owner, the Berlin-Brandenburg Lutheran Church, which recovered the site from the Russians in 1994, said a foundation stone for the memorial would be laid July 3. The 90-year-old building, which is already signposted for tourists, will be opened to visitors and an education annexe will be built during the 2.2-million-euro (2.9-million-dollar) restoration. The building is near the Potsdam mansion where Allied leaders met in 1945 to settle the post-war division of Europe. The whole area became a fenced-off Soviet military headquarters until the end of communism.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070406TDY01004.htm

Senior officer made Aegis files for lecture

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The name of a Maritime Self-Defense Force lieutenant commander was written in files containing top-secret information on Aegis destroyers that allegedly were illegally obtained by an MSDF petty officer 2nd class, it was learned Thursday.

According to the Kanagawa prefectural police and the MSDF Criminal Investigation Unit, the lieutenant commander in his 40s was in charge of maintaining the Aegis system as a creator of files containing secret information. The files were made in 1998, when the Aegis system was renewed.

The police and the MSDF unit suspect the files were used as explanatory materials for MSDF senior officials and a training material for officials in charge of the system.

The lieutenant commander and the 33-year-old petty officer 2nd class, a crew member of the destroyer Shirane of Escort Flotilla 1, based in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, have no connections at work. The police and the MSDF unit are investigating the route of the information leak.

According to investigative sources, the files were discovered on a hard disk the police seized at the petty officer’s home on Jan. 20. The police examined the files and found that they were made using commercial software to make documents for presentations. The name of the lieutenant commander was included as the document writer.

The lieutenant commander worked at the program development department, which is in charge of maintaining the Aegis system, between September 1997 and March 2000. The system was updated from Chokai, Japan’s fourth destroyer deployed in March 1998.

The lieutenant commander was sent to the U.S. Navy to learn how to operate the new Aegis system. The police and the MSDF unit suspect he made the files after returning from the United States to explain the capabilities of the new system to other officials.

According to MSDF sources, Aegis-related data deemed confidential are placed under strict control among senior officials of destroyers that join Aegis destroyers in fleets or officials in charge of radar and missile systems on Aegis ships.

In lectures on the operation of the Aegis system, the parts in documents for figures regarding Aegis capabilities, such as the range of its radar systems, are left blank on handouts, and the lecturer only gives verbal explanations. After the lecture, handouts and notebooks are collected, the sources said.

The petty officer and other officers who allegedly obtained the secret information are not eligible to take these lectures and have no work connections with the lieutenant commander.
(Apr. 6, 2007)

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070405TDY02002.htm

Police set to recognize 2 more as abductees

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Police authorities will recognize two people as having been abducted by North Korea, and their decision will be made official as early as next week, it was learned Wednesday.

The two are Kiyomi Watanabe and her brother Tsuyoshi, the children of Hideko Watanabe, who disappeared in 1973 at the age of 32. The girl and boy were 6 years old and 3 years old, respectively, at that time and had Korean nationality.

According to police sources, authorities now believe Hideko was possibly killed by North Korean agents and the two children abducted. The police are trying to learn more about the agents.

Hideko was from Kushiro, Hokkaido, and was living in Kamifukuoka, now Fujimino, in Saitama Prefecture.

In January 2003, Hideko’s relatives filed a complaint with the Metropolitan Police Department alleging Hideko had been killed and her children taken to North Korea, but did not identify any suspects.

According to the complaint and other sources, Hideko’s husband, an ethnic Korean, disappeared in the summer of 1973.

Hideko had searched for her husband around the site of a trading company in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, where he had worked.

Hideko is believed to have been killed in December 1973 by people connected with the company, and her children abducted to North Korea.

According to the police, the company was suspected to be a front company established by an executive of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan.

The government has recognized 17 people as abductees taken by North Korean agents.
(Apr. 5, 2007)
National
go

[Velveeta]

Oh my.
Definitely, praying very hard!

[Velveeta]

you’ve got mail, Granny

[nw_arizona_granny]

History Staff
Center for the Study of Intelligence
Central Intelligence Agency
1999
On the Front Lines of the Cold War:
Documents on the Intelligence
War in Berlin, 1946 to 1961

Edited by Donald P. Steury

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

I: The Opening of the Intelligence War

I-1: Damage to Berlin, 16 December 1943

I-2: Report on Berlin Operatins Base, 8 April 1948

I-3: Intelligence Disseminations of War Department Detachment, APO 403; 24 October 1946

I-4: Targets of German Mission, 10 January 1947

I-5: Points for [DCI Vandenburg’s] Discussion with General Clay, 16 January 1947

I-6: Utilization of the Mass of Soviet Refugees, 19 April 1948

I-7: Instructions [for Gen. Lucien K. Truscott], 9 March 1951

I-8: Minutes of a Staff Conference in Munich, 26 October 1951

I-9: SMERSH Department of the Soviet Central Kommandatura, Berlin-Luisenstrasse, 19 December 1946

I-10: Reorganization of the RIS [Russian Intelligence Services] in Germany, 11 September 1947

I-11: Memorandum [concerning Gen. Leonid A. Malinin] for the Director, Central Intelligence, circa December 1947

II: The March Crisis and the Berlin Airlift

II-1: Memorandum for Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, General of the Army Omar Bradley, 31 July 1947

II-2: Memorandum for the President, 16 March 1948

II-3: ORE 22-48: Possibility of Direct Soviet Military Action During 1948, 2 April 1948

II-4: ORE 22-48: Addendum: Possibility of Direct Soviet Military Action During 1948-49, 16 September 1948

II-5: ORE 46-49: The Possibility of Direct Soviet Military Action During 1949, 3 May 1949

II-6: ORE 29-48: Possible Program of Future Soviet Moves in Germany, 28 April 1948

II-7: Memorandum for the President, 9 June 1948

II-8: ORE 41-48: Effect of Soviet Restrictions on the US Position in Berlin, 14 June 1948

II-9: CIA Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense, Subject: Situation in Berlin, 28 June 1948

II-10: CIA Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense, Current Subject: Situation in Berlin, 30 June 1948

II-11: Memorandum for the President: Russian Directive Indicating Soviets Intend to Incorporate Berlin into the Soviet Zone, 30 June 1948

II-12: Information Report (IR): Russian Unilateral Dismissal and Appointment of Berlin Police Officials, 15 July 1948

II-13: CIA 7-48: Review of the World Situation, 14 July 1948

II-14: Memorandum for the President on the Situation in Berlin, 10 December 1948

II-15: Intelligence Report: Soviet Measures to Further Tighten the Sector Blockade in Berlin, 30 December 1948

II-16: Soviet Plans to Control the Western Sectors of Berlin, 6 January 1949

II-17: Information Report: SED Preparations for Illegal Work in Western Berlin, 7 March 1949

II-18: Information Report: Progress of the SED Membership Purge, 7 March 1949

II-19: CIA 5-49: Review of the World Situation As It Relates to the Security of the United States, 17 May 1949

III: June 1953

III-1: NIE 81: Probable Soviet Courses of Action with Respect to Germany through Mid-1954, 22 May 1953

III-2: SE 47: Probable Effect of Recent Developments in Eastern Germany on Soviet Policy with Respect to Germany, 24 July 1953

III-3: Comment on the East Berlin Uprising, 17 June 1953

III-4: Closing of Berlin Borders, 18 June 1953

IV: Alltagsgeschichte: Day to Day in the Intelligence War

IV-1: Current Intelligence Summary: The Soviet Establishment in Karlshorst Compound in East Berlin, 7 May 1959

IV-2: KGB in East Germany, April 1970

IV-3: Soviet Intelligence and Security: Lt. Gen. E. I. Pitovranov, 23 July 1958

IV-4: Activities of General Ivan A. Serov in Poland, 8 November 1958

IV-5: IR: Organization of the Soviet Intelligence Organs, 24 February 1955

IV-6: HVA Meeting Chaired by [Markus] Wolf, 2 February 1953

IV-7: HVA Meeting [Sondersitzung] chaired by [Markus] Wolf, 7 March 1953

IV-8: Pictures of Mischa Wolf, 9 April 1959

IV-9: IR: Markus Johannes Wolf, 11 October 1973

IV-10: IR: The Supply and Distribution of Foodstuffs, 3 December 1952

IV-11: IR: 1. SED Proposal of Restrictions on Escape from East Germany/2. Plants Guards, 5 December 1952

IV-12: IR: Establishment of Farm Cooperatives, 10 December 1952

IV-13: IR: SED Directives on Refugees . . ., 4 March 1953

IV-14: Memorandum to the DDI: Soviet Interference with Berlin Rail Access, 24 November 1956

V: The Berlin Tunnel

V-1: Field Project Outline, 16 September 1953

V-2: Memorandum for COM Frankfurt from COB Berlin: Progress Report—28 August through 17 October 1954

V-3: Memorandum for the Record, 29 November 1954

V-4: Clandestine Services History Program (CSHP) History: Soviet Discovery of the Berlin Tunnel, Appendix A, 15 August 1956)

V-5: CSHP History: Soviet Discovery of the Berlin Tunnel, (Tape Transcript), Undated

V-6: CSHP History of the Berlin Tunnel, “G. Berlin Tunnel,” Undated

V-7: CSHP History of the Berlin Tunnel, “V. Production” [from the Berlin Tunnel Operation], Undated

V-8: CSHP History of the Berlin Tunnel, Appendix B: Recapitulation of the Intelligence Derived, Undated

VI: The Berlin Crisis

VI-1: Current Intelligence Weekly Summary (CIWS): USSR Threatens Western Position in Berlin, 13 November 1958

VI-2: CIWS: Internal Situation in East Germany, 11 December 1958

VI-3: SNIE 100-13-58: Soviet Objectives in the Berlin Crisis, 23 December 1958

VI-4: CIWS: The Berlin Situation, 15 January 1959

VI-5: Cable: Current Status Report Soviet Compound Karlshorst . . ., 16 January 1959

VI-6: Cable: Current Status Report Soviet Intelligence Services East Germany, 21 January 1959

VI-7: Cable: B[e]rl[i]n Sitrep, 11 February 1959

VI-8: CIWS: Communist Tactics Against West Berlin, 5 February 1959

VI-9: CIWS: Flight of Refugees From East Germany, 12 February 1959

VI-10: SNIE 100-2-59: Probable Soviet Courses of Action Regarding Berlin and Germany, 24 February 1958

VI-11: CIWS: USSR Prepares to Vacate East Berlin, 5 March 1959

VI-12: CIA Memorandum: Soviet and Other Reactions to Various Courses of Action in the Berlin Crisis, 27 March 1959

VI-13: IR: Soviet Officials’ Comments on the Berlin Situation, 6 April 1959

VI-14: CIWS: The Problem of Western Access to Berlin, 30 April 1959

VI-15: CIWS: Foreign Ministers’ Talks, 21 May 1959

VI-16: SNIE 100-7-59: Soviet Tactics on Berlin, 11 June 1959

VI-17: Memorandum: US Negotiating Position on Berlin, 1959-62, 13 July 1959

VI-18: CIWS: East German Pressure for Access Control Appears Suspended, 27 August 1959

VI-19: SNIE 100-5-60: The Soviet Attitude and Tactics on the Berlin Problem, 22 March 1960

VI-20: CIWS: Khrushchev’s Strategy on Berlin, 18 August 1960

VII: The Wall

VII-1: Memorandum for the DDI: Subject: The Berlin Situation, 1 November 1957

VII-2: CIWS: East Germany May Move Against Berlin Sector “Border Crossers,” 28 May 1959

VII-3: CIWS: Soviet Policy on Berlin and Germany, 11 May 1961

VII-4: SNIE 2-61: Soviet and Other Reactions to Various Courses of Action Regarding Berlin, 13 June 1961

VII-5: Oleg Penkovskiy: Meeting No. 23, 28 July 1961

VII-6: CIWS: Berlin, 17 August 1961

VII-7: SNIE 11-10-61: Soviet Tactics in the Berlin Crisis, 24 August 1961

VII-8: CIWS: Berlin, 24 August 1961

VII-9: CIWS: Berlin, 7 September 1961

VII-10: Memorandum for Washington on Berlin, 14 September 1961

VII-11: Penkovskiy, Meeting No. 31, 22 September 1961, paras. 17-25

VII-12: Memorandum for the Record: Subject: Conversation with Mr. Helms Re [redacted] Report on Large-Scale Soviet Military Preparations, 26 September 1961

VII-13: SNIE 11-10/1-61: Soviet Tactics on the Berlin Crisis, 5 October 1961

VII-14: Dispatch: Berlin Since 13 August, 6 November 1961

VII-15: Memorandum for the DCI: Subject: Survivability of West Berlin in the Event of a Soviet Blockade in response to the Blockade of Cuba, 23 October 1962

The editor of this volume has been given free access to official documents. He alone is responsible for the statements made and the views expressed.

Publications Page | CSI Homepage

Above links are on this page:

https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/17240/index.html

The Berlin Tunnel:

https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/17240/art-7.html

All the way back to the Civil War:

https://www.cia.gov/csi/pubs.html

Home page:

https://www.cia.gov/csi/index.html

[nw_arizona_granny]

Hollow Silver dollar for secret messages:

https://www.cia.gov/cia/information/artifacts/dollar.htm

Matchbox camera, used in WW2:

https://www.cia.gov/cia/information/artifacts/matchbox.htm

More history:

https://www.cia.gov/cia/information/artifacts/index.htm

1953 Iran coup:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB28/index.html

Index of more historical reports:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/index.html

---

Todays’s release:

http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2007/04/levin040507.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 5, 2007

Contact: Press Office
Phone: 202.228.3685
Levin Releases Newly Declassified Pentagon Inspector General Report on Intelligence Assessment Activities of the Office of Under Secretary of Defense Doug Feith

WASHINGTON — Sen. Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today released the newly declassified report [PDF] of the Department of Defense Inspector General on its “Review of the Pre-Iraqi War Activities of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.” The report was declassified at Levin’s request.

In releasing the report, Levin said: “It is important for the public to see why the Pentagon’s Inspector General concluded that Secretary Feith’s office ‘developed, produced and then disseminated alternative intelligence assessments on the Iraq and al-Qaeda relationship,’ which included ‘conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus of the Intelligence Community,’ and why the Inspector General concluded that these actions were ‘inappropriate.’ Until today, those details were classified and outside the public’s view.”

The Feith office alternative intelligence assessments concluded that Iraq and al Qaeda were cooperating and had a “mature, symbiotic” relationship, a view that was not supported by the available intelligence, and was contrary to the consensus view of the Intelligence Community. These alternative assessments were used by the Administration to support its public arguments in its case for war. As the DOD IG report confirms, the Intelligence Community never found an operational relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda; the report specifically states that,”the CIA and DIA disavowed any ‘mature, symbiotic’ relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida.”

Senator Levin also released today the declassified briefing slides [PDF] used by Secretary Feith’s office in its presentation to senior White House officials, “Assessing the Relationship Between Iraq and al Qaida,” which concluded incorrectly that “Intelligence indicates cooperation in all categories; mature, symbiotic relationship,” and also asserted incorrectly that an alleged meeting in April 2001 in Prague between an Iraqi intelligence officer and lead 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta was a “known” contact.

“The very title of the Feith briefing slides contradicts his claim on February 16 that “we didn’t do intelligence assessments,” as well as his claim on February 14 that the briefing was simply “a critique of the CIA’s work on the Iraq-al-Qaeda relationship” and no more than an effort to “raise questions about CIA work,” said Levin. The briefing slides were an important element in the Inspector General’s inquiry and its conclusions.

The declassified Inspector General report can be found here. [PDF]

The declassified briefing slides can be found here. [PDF]

Source: Office of Sen. Levin

[nw_arizona_granny]

I had not found this site before, it is interesting, different each day:

Today: Japanese evacuation 1942:

http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/

Leon Trotsky and American admirers. Mexico, 1940

Leon Trotsky and American admirers. Mexico, 1940 (ARC Identifier: 283642); File Unit: United States v. Vincent Raymond Dunne and Grant Dunne, 1940 - 1942; U.S. District Court for the Fourth (Minneapolis) Division of the District of Minnesota; Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 1991; Record Group 21; National Archives.

From the court records of United States v. Vincent Raymond Dunne and Grant Dunne, the note for this photo states: “Trotsky posed with American Trotskyites Harry De Boer and James H. Bartlett and their spouses; print autographed by Trotsky, April 5, 1940.”
More Documents from Court Records...

http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/index.html?dod-date=405

Three Mile Island Accident:

http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/index.html?dod-date=404

The first ride of the Pony Express began on April 3, 1860. The service would end in October 1861, with the advent of the transcontinental telegraph.
More photos of the American West...

http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/index.html?dod-date=403

Ohhh, dear, there is always a new date in the bottom left hand corner.......and a new subject.

[nw_arizona_granny]

SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2007, Issue No. 37
April 5, 2007

Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

Support Secrecy News:
http://www.fas.org/static/contrib_sec.jsp

** CLANDESTINE SERVICES HISTORY: THE BERLIN TUNNEL
** FORMER CIA POLYGRAPHER FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST AGENCY
** IG REPORT ON DOD INTEL OFFICE DECLASSIFIED
** VARIOUS RESOURCES

CLANDESTINE SERVICES HISTORY: THE BERLIN TUNNEL

The Central Intelligence Agency has released a newly
declassified version of its closely-held internal history of
the Berlin Tunnel Operation, which was an effort in the
mid-1950s to tap into Soviet communications through a tunnel
constructed in the Soviet sector of Berlin. The operation was
famously compromised by a Soviet mole in British intelligence
before it even began.

The official CIA history of the operation was prepared in 1968
and published — in two copies. A declassified version was
finally approved for release in February 2007.

See “Clandestine Services History: The Berlin Tunnel Operation,
1952-1956,” 24 June 1968:

http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/tunnel.pdf

CIA internal histories are a largely untapped resource since
the Agency has been slow to declassify and release them.

A previously published CIA account of the Berlin Tunnel
operation, which includes links to excerpts from other
internal histories of the episode, is here:

https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/17240/art-7.html

A clandestine services history of the 1953 coup in Iran was
leaked to the New York Times in 2000, after the CIA refused to
declassify it. The document is available from the National
Security Archive here:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB28/index.html

FORMER CIA POLYGRAPHER FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST AGENCY

A former polygrapher for the Central Intelligence Agency has
filed a lawsuit alleging that the Agency unlawfully retaliated
against him for publishing a critical account of CIA polygraph
programs.

John Sullivan, author of the forthcoming book “Gatekeeper:
Memoirs of a CIA Polygraph Examiner,” argued that his security
clearance was improperly revoked in the course of a lengthy
pre-publication review dispute, though it was ultimately
restored.

“The CIA’s treatment of John Sullivan, a former employee who
dared speak out, is indicative of a pattern and practice by
the CIA of unlawful and disgraceful retaliation through the
abuse of the security clearance process,” said Mark S. Zaid,
the attorney who is representing Mr. Sullivan.

The allegations were described in an April 5 press release,
available here:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2007/04/sullivan.html

The CIA response to the lawsuit will be posted when it is
filed.

IG REPORT ON DOD INTEL OFFICE DECLASSIFIED

At the request of Sen. Carl Levin, the Department of Defense
has declassified most of its February 2007 Inspector General
report on the pre-Iraq war activities of the DoD Office of
Special Plans, led by Douglas Feith.

“It is important for the public to see why the Pentagon’s
Inspector General concluded that Secretary Feith’s office
‘developed, produced and then disseminated alternative
intelligence assessments on the Iraq and al-Qaeda
relationship,’ which included ‘conclusions that were
inconsistent with the consensus of the Intelligence
Community,’ and why the Inspector General concluded that these
actions were ‘inappropriate’,” Sen. Levin said.

“Until today, those details were classified and outside the
public’s view.”

See this news release from Sen. Levin, with a link to the newly
declassified report:

http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2007/04/levin040507.html

Mr. Feith’s Office issued a January 2007 rebuttal to a draft
version of the IG report that is available here:

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dod/ousd011707.pdf

VARIOUS RESOURCES

“Congressional Access to Classified National Security
Information” is the subject of a report prepared by Kate
Martin of the Center for National Security Studies on the
occasion of a March 30 forum on the subject sponsored by
OpenTheGovernment.org and the Center for American Progress.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/03/classified.html

Government attorneys defended their contention that some
evidence to be presented to the jury in the upcoming trial of
two former AIPAC officials should be withheld from the public,
a position criticized by the defense as prejudicial and
unconstitutional. See the government brief (first reported
April 5 by the New York Sun) here:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/rosen032907.pdf

Having declassified some eight million pages of historical
records relating to Nazi and Japanese Imperial Army war
crimes, the largest single-subject declassification program
has now come to a close, the National Archives noted in an
April 2 news release.

http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2007/04/nara040207.html

As a public service, the National Archives posts a new daily
document of historical interest each day on its web site. Not
all of them will be of interest to everyone, but the series as
a whole has the potential to serve as an educational stimulus
for students and citizens. Today’s (April 5) document is a
1940 photograph of “Leon Trotsky and American admirers”:

http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/

_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
Federation of American Scientists.

Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html

[nw_arizona_granny]

April 6, 2007 Anti-Terrorism News

(Iraq) Chlorine truck bomber kills 27 in Ramadi - suicide bomber with
truck full of TNT, chlorine gas kills, wounds dozzens
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070406/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_070406112440;_ylt=Aoj2xlVfXvdcsdcrfA5WiwNX6GMA
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,264466,00.html

(Iraq) Basra Police: EFP bomb killed Britons - Not used in southern
Iraq before - Iranian explosively formed projectile
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070406/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=A0WTUdybIxZGxAQAhBus0NUE

(Iraq) US weighs sending 12,000 additional troops to Iraq
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173879258966&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

(Afghanistan) Suicide car bomb in Afghan capital kills six - Taxi
explosives near parliament
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/ts_afp/afghanistanunrest_070406112028;_ylt=AoKYeorPqgXBs4OidfNOT.DOVooA

(Afghanistan) Taliban ‘storm’ government office - in Afghanistan’s
south-eastern province of Zabul
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6532085.stm

(Afghanistan) President Karzai says he has met with Taliban
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070406/ap_on_re_as/afghan_karzai_4;_ylt=AgLFfMQ61yuUslnaR1Q6BejOVooA

(Pakistan) 20 more killed in Pakistan battles
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/wl_sthasia_afp/pakistanafghanistanuzbekistanqaedaunrest_070406094601;_ylt=AoWzjbst.dfuY6zUHwxBJQLzPukA

(Pakistan) Mosque in Pakistan capital to set up Islamic court —
Islamabad’s Lal Masjid Mosque (aka “Red Mosque”)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/wl_sthasia_afp/pakistanreligionseminary_070406094951;_ylt=AkrLLB1oIt19J_.cLLoYHU7zPukA

Pakistan Cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz: Enforce Islamic Law
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070406/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_radical_mosque_1;_ylt=AoRcKCe4DcRf0uZz1lyfWhTzPukA

(Pakistan) Sunnis, Shia’s clash in Pakistani tribal town
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/April/subcontinent_April219.xml&section=subcontinent&col=

Pakistan: Tribesmen Seek Air Support Against Uzbek Militants
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.402566426&par=0

Pakistan’s tribals - who is killing who?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6529147.stm

(India) Two militants, one soldier killed in Kashmir
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/April/subcontinent_April218.xml&section=subcontinent&col=

Bangladesh arrests 10 from new Islamic group
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/wl_sthasia_afp/bangladeshunrestislamic_070406100626;_ylt=AjsTVLiTg93KxfQ5HHVEhctTQMQA

(Iran) US revs up pressure on Iran after release of Britons
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/pl_afp/iranmilitarybritainus_070406072942;_ylt=Ag0zzp4J_0Vga2xjQqyPyvTMWM0F

(Iran/UK) Iran “achieved objectives” in sailor crisis: official -
claims UK sent letter of apology
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2007/April/middleeast_April104.xml&section=middleeast&col=

(Iran/UK) AP: “All sides deny any deals to free Britons”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070406/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iran_no_deal_2;_ylt=Ak9QkhMddeXhf6giLZV09n5Sw60A

(Iran/UK) Iran put ‘pyschological pressure’ on British captives:
officer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/ts_afp/iranbritainmilitary_070406104223;_ylt=AhlRfq8Kq9nNeRZOO9P4cxxSw60A

(Iraq) Saddam, DoD documents indicate no Iraq-Qaeda cooperation -
Washington Post report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/pl_afp/usiraqqaedaintelligence_070406070927

(Iraq) US VP reasserts al-Qaida-Saddam link
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070406/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_pentagon_intelligence_3;_ylt=Ao2F0EeeH2ffMLz_wwkFiQpX6GMA

(Thailand) Pattani school burned by insurgents
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=117912

(Indonesia) Relatives, lawyers are not allowed to meet terror suspects
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20070406162849&irec=0

(Morocco) Is Al Qaeda’s influence spreading to Morocco?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0406/p06s01-woaf.html

(UK) ‘Terror plot to blow up tourist attractions’ - July 7 bombers
planned to attack Big Ben, the London Eye and other tourist attractions
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/06/nplot06.xml

(UK) Commentary: Muslims must take responsibility
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/06/nplot406.xml

(UK) ‘Britons Could Attack Us’ - DHS Head Interview with Sky News
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1259477,00.html

(UK) Amid relief, some Brits start questioning sailors
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17958875/

German Prosecutors Probing Islamist Website On Terrorism: Report
http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_22917-German-Prosecutors-Probing-Islamist-Website-On-Terrorism-Report.html

Dutch soldiers stress restraint in Afghanistan - mostly shunned combat
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/06/asia/web-0406afghan.php

Interpol raises concern over internet use by terrorist groups
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/06/content_5940180.htm

(Spain) Suspected ETA ringleader entered Spain by bicycle
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=38522

(Israel) IDF arrests six terror suspects in West Bank
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173879259229&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

(Gaza) Hamas, Fatah militants clash in Gaza
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Hamas-Fatah-militants-clash-in-Gaza/2007/04/06/1175366477866.html

(Lebanon) Paper: Hezbollah official says Israeli captives receiving
“humane treatment”
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/06/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Lebanon-Captive-Soldiers.php

North American Jewish Sites Bombed and Vandalized Over Passover -
Montreal, San Francisco, Chicago
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/122045

(California) Congresswoman probes South Bay terror threat — robberies
linked to prison-based Islamic extremist group with plans to attack
synagogues during Jewish holidays and other sites
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/6901077.html

(USA) Afghan-American and Brit student arrested for burning US flag -
Hyder Akbar friend of Rahmatullah Hashemi, a former Taliban spokesman
who became known as “the Yale Taliban”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2007/04/06/wflag06.xml

(USA) Voluntary Driver’s licenses to feature radio chips - Washington
State introducing cards that encode personal information
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55058

(Russia) U.S. to Suffer Losses Upon Attacking Iran - Russian General -
due to Russian weapons provided to Iran
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2007/04/06/generalsoloviev.shtml

(Sri Lanka) LTTE acquires air power to target Indian N-reactors
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/LTTE_acquires_air_power_against_India/articleshow/1866657.cms

(Sri Lanka) Tigers, troops claim heavy damages after sea battle
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/wl_sthasia_afp/srilankaunrestnavy_070406105742;_ylt=AkcrfkKsAWdctEIoRm1t0LctM8oA

[struwwelpeter]

I liked this part of the article on hostage compensation:

(Tatiana Karpova:) "...They spoke with us tenderly and offered us vacations if we would not publish the book, and so, last summer, many hostages from 'Nord-Ost' went to sanatoriums and rest homes. But then we went ahead and published the book anyway."

For some reason when I read that I thought I heard Curly from the 3 Stooges going "Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk".

I'd heard about the Berlin tunnel a long time ago, but thought that it was an NSA operation (at least, NSA people were the ones bragging about it). According to the 'war story' I heard, when the Soviets discovered it, they (the NSA/CIA/whoever) started filling the tunnel in as fast as the Russians were digging it out, until they reached a point right under the demarcation between Russian/American sectors. Here they placed a marker in 4 languages: "You are entering the American sector" ;-)



BTW: Do you know the difference between a 'war story' and a fairy tale?

A fairy tale begins "once upon a time", while a 'war story' "now this ain't no bull"...

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1813071/posts

Behavior at Love Field refocus FBI attention on women
WFAA-TV ^ | April 6, 2007 | Rebecca Lopez

Posted on 04/06/2007 7:12:35 AM PDT by MassRepublicanFlyersFan

DALLAS - With one already considered ‘dangerous’ by the United States government, two women became the center of more critical attention after their alleged actions at Dallas Love Field caught the interest of the FBI and Dallas Police Department.

Sources said in February, Kimberly “Asma” Al-Homsi, 42, and Aisha Abdul-Rahman Hamad, 50, allegedly scoped out Dallas Love Field in a manner classic of surveying an area.

Al-Homsi was already under surveillance and is on the government’s no fly list since being involved in a road rage incident back in December of 2005. Officials said during the incident she held up an inert grenade and threatened another driver. Garland’s bomb squad reported they later found ammunition in her car.

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

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1813086/posts

Iran’s Crackdown - Hostage Crisis a Distraction? (a look at what’s happening behind the scenes)
New York Post ^ | April 05, 2007 | Amir Taheri

Posted on 04/06/2007 7:31:06 AM PDT by nuconvert

Iran’s Crackdown - Hostage Crisis a Distraction?

April 05, 2007

New York Post

Amir Taheri

Was the crisis over the capture of the British host ages part of a smoke screen for a crackdown on dissidents in Iran? (excerpt)

The crackdown is beginning to gather pace. Several publications critical of government have been shut down... (excerpt)

And now the regime seems to be setting the stage for show trials that recall the worst days of Stalinism in the Soviet Union.

Last month, a member of the Majlis, the regime’s ersatz parliament, was sent to prison for six years on trumped-up charges. The real “crime” of Salaheddin Ala’i: He had criticized the killing of dissidents in Iran’s Kurdistan province.

Next week, it will be the turn of former Deputy Interior Minister Mostafa Tajzadeh, who’ll stand trial on charges of undermining the security of the Khomeinist state.

Tajzadeh is one of the establishment’s most interesting figures. A man with impeccable revolutionary credentials, he has always insisted that the regime cannot ensure its future by silencing or murdering critics.

The next on the block is expected to be Muhammad Reza Khatami - brother of former President Muhammad Khatami -who also has an impressive revolutionary resume.

In 1979, he was one of the two dozen or so “students” who raided the United States’ Embassy in Tehran and seized its diplomats hostage. Later, he built a career in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and solidified his revolutionary credentials by marrying a granddaughter of Ruhallah Khomeini, the ayatollah who created the Islamic Republic. During his brother’s presidency, Muhammad Reza acted as deputy speaker of the Majlis.

(excerpt)

According to dissident sources in Tehran, the regime’s security apparatus is preparing show trials for scores of others. (excerpt)

Ahmadinejad’s supporters speak of a “third revolution” -

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

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UK captives tell of ill treatment
Royal Navy personnel seized by Iran were blindfolded, bound and held in isolation during their 13 days in captivity, the crew have said.

They were lined up while weapons were cocked, making them “fear the worst”, one of the 15 freed sailors revealed.

The crew were told that if they did not admit they were in Iranian waters when captured that they faced seven years in prison, a press conference heard.

Opposing their captors was “not an option,” they said.

And after their capture the 15 marines and sailors were subjected to random interrogation and rough handling, and faced constant psychological pressure, they said.

Let me be absolutely clear, from the outset it was very apparent that fighting back was simply not an option
Royal Marine Captain Chris Air

Royal Marine Captain Chris Air, 25, from Altrincham, Cheshire, explained why they had not fought back when confronted by the Iranians while carrying out a routine operation.

“We are aware that many people have questioned why we allowed ourselves to be taken in the first place and why we allowed ourselves to be shown by the Iranian authorities on television.

“Let me be absolutely clear, from the outset it was very apparent that fighting back was simply not an option”.

“Had we chosen to do so then many of us would not be standing here today. Of that I have no doubts”.

Had they resisted there would have been a major fight and “one we could not have won.”

Random interrogation

Two of the crew read out a prepared statement to the press conference at the Royal Marines Barracks at Chivenor, in north Devon.

Lieutenant Felix Carman, 26, of Swansea, south Wales, said the sailors and marines were on an operation on 23 March, 1.7 nautical miles from Iranian waters, when they were captured.

Cpt Chris Air said the crew had made it clear they were on a “routine operation allowed under a UN mandate” but the Iranians had a “planned intent.”

“Some of the Iranian sailors were becoming deliberately aggressive and unstable.”

Their boat was surrounded by six boats and rammed and they were trained with heavy machine guns and weapons.

During their captivity the crew spent nights in stone cells, sleeping on blankets and were kept in isolation until their last few nights.

The only woman in the group, Leading Seaman Faye Turney was told by her captors the others had been freed and gone home.

The officer in charge Lt Carman said: “We were interrogated most nights, and presented with two options.

“If we admitted we had strayed, we would be on a plane back to the UK soon. If we didn’t we faced up to seven years in prison”.

He continued: “We were kept in isolation until the last few nights, when we were allowed to gather for a few hours together, in the full glare of Iranian media.

When they finally learned they were going to be released from watching the Iranian president on TV he said “there a huge moment of elation”.

The navy has already begun a review of the circumstances leading to the capture.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/6533069.stm

Published: 2007/04/06 15:42:41 GMT

© BBC MMVII

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Cat saves family from poisonous fumes
AP ^ | April 6, 2007 | AP

Posted on 04/06/2007 7:58:41 AM PDT by TimeLord

NEW CASTLE, Ind. - A cat helped spare a family from death by carbon monoxide poisoning by jumping on the bed and meowing wildly as fumes filled the home, the owners said. Eric and Cathy Keesling said their 14-year-old cat, Winnie, played a crucial role in saving their lives March 24 after a gasoline-powered water pump in their basement caused the odorless but deadly gas to build up. About 1 a.m., the domestic shorthair began nudging Cathy’s ear and meowing loudly. “It was a crazy meow, almost like she was screaming,” said Cathy, who hesitated to get up until Winnie’s caterwauling and jumping persisted. When she finally climbed from bed, she realized she was nauseous and dizzy and couldn’t awaken her husband. Because he had undergone minor neck surgery the previous day, she decided to call 911 but was so disoriented she had trouble dialing. Paramedics found the couple’s 14-year-old son, Michael, unconscious on the floor near his bedroom. The Keeslings were taken from the home in oxygen masks, treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and soon recovered. Cathy Keesling said Winnie acted similarly last summer when tornadoes tore through the area, 45 miles east of Indianapolis. “I really believe cats can sense these kind of things,” she said.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1813106/posts

Alternative Easter Egg Hunt Near White House to Use Fake Cluster Bombs Made By Kids
Fox News ^

Posted on 04/06/2007 7:59:30 AM PDT by Sub-Driver

Alternative Easter Egg Hunt Near White House to Use Fake Cluster Bombs Made By Kids

Friday , April 06, 2007

AP

WASHINGTON — Anti-war and human rights activists plan an unusual take on the Easter egg hunt by holding an Easter cluster-bomb hunt on Monday.

Fake cluster bombs made by children will be scattered around Lafayette Park, north of the White House.

Hundreds of people will attend the White House Easter Egg Roll while activists hold their alternative cluster-bomb hunt on the other side of the executive mansion.

Brian Hennessey, a spokesman for the Vineeta Foundation, a group sponsor, said the event aims to be humorous and fun for kids. Organizers also want to bring attention that cluster bombs cause death and destruction, Hennessey said.

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

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Time to cut back on typing, so going to “all”.

There is a mishmash to post, and several of the translations.