Threat Matrix: May 2007

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[nwctwx]

U.S. Seeks Closing of Visa Loophole for Britons
-Full Story-

Omar Khyam, the ringleader of the thwarted London bomb plot who was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday, showed the potential for disaffected young men to be lured as terrorists, a threat that British officials said they would have to contend with for a generation.

But the 25-year-old Mr. Khyam, a Briton of Pakistani descent, also personifies a larger and more immediate concern: as a British citizen, he could have entered the United States without a visa, like many of an estimated 800,000 other Britons of Pakistani origin.

American officials, citing the number of terror plots in Britain involving Britons with ties to Pakistan, expressed concern over the visa loophole. In recent months, the homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, has opened talks with the government here on how to curb the access of British citizens of Pakistani origin to the United States.

	How the Plot Came Together
	Briefing on Release of 2006 Country Reports on Terrorism
	Iran to Tell Coalition Forces to Leave Iraq at Summit in Egypt

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[Cindy]

Could be.

[Cindy]

RECAP AND UPDATES:

FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE.com (MicahHalpern.com): "LEBANON FIGHTS AL-QAEDA" by Micah Halpern (May 22, 2007)

COUNTERTERRORISMBLOG.org: "AL QAEDA'S NEW FRONT IN LEBANON" by Walid Phares (May 21, 2007)

OSINT.INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "FATAH AL-ISLAM [LEBANON] ON THE OFFENSIVE IN NORTH LEBANON" (May 20, 2007)

A Discussion of the YNET NEWS.com article: "MI CHIEF: DOZENS, MAYBE HUNDREDS, OF AL QAEDA OPERATIVE ARRIVED IN LEBANON" (January 10, 2007)

YNET NEWS.com: "MI CHIEF: DOZENS, MAYBE HUNDERES, OF AL-QAEDA OPERATIVE ARRIVED IN LEBANON" (Published January 9, 2007, 16:07)

JIHAD WATCH.org - Search Term: "LEBANON"

Google - Search blogs: "LEBANON"

[Cindy]

http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/content/yarmouthmercury/news/story.aspx?brand=GYMOnline&category=news&tBrand=GYMonline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED22%20May%202007%2010%3A16%3A21%3A963

“Swimmers caught in cloud of chlorine gas”
22 May 2007

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Holidaymakers claimed they were left to cope alone after a cloud of chlorine gas was released at a holiday-park swimming pool, causing vomiting and breathlessness.

Eyewitnesses described the scene as chaotic as dozens of people suffered the side-effects of exposure to chlorine at Seashore Holiday Park on North Drive, Yarmouth, on Sunday.

Nine ambulances were called from across Norfolk and Suffolk to treat people. Twenty-five adults and children were taken to the James Paget University Hospital, while dozens more people were treated by paramedics at the park.

Most people drank water to try to wash out their mouths, which paramedics later said was the worst thing they could have done, as it meant people were ingesting the gas.

Health and Safety Executive officials from Yarmouth Borough Council launched an investigation yesterday and began to take statements from staff.

Health and safety manager Peter Astel said he would not speculate on how a cloud of chlorine gas was released but that a chemical reaction could change it from its liquid form into a gaseous state.”

[Cindy]

UPDATE:

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070520/NEWS/105200063

“Report: Alleged SUV firebomber may have ecoterror ties”

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 20, 2007

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “DENVER - Arson investigators say a 24-year-old Denver man accused of planting firebombs under several SUVS in March may have had ties to ecoterror groups.

KCNC TV said arson investigators, who declined to be identified, said they want to search Grant Barnes’ computer for anything that could link him to the Earth Liberation Front.

Police and fire investigators initially had played down any links to ELF or other ecoterror groups, and said that in one case it appeared ELF had been written on a vehicle after the bomb exploded.

Fire spokesman Lt. Phil Champagne said Sunday investigators believe Barnes acted alone, although he might have been inspired by ecoterror groups. At this point, investigators are trying to rule out possible motives.

Philip Cherner, the lawyer representing Barnes, declined comment.

A group of ELF members called the Family is accused of 20 arson attacks around the West that did $40 million in damage, including $12 million on Vail Mountain in 1998.”

[Cindy]

Well sure, I mix up shop vacs and fertilizer all the time. Sighing...

#

UPDATE:

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/7609287.html

Today is Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Originally published Monday, May 21, 2007
Updated Monday, May 21, 2007

“Stolen truck found in Carson carried vacuum cleaners, not fertilizer
Authorities say stolen load contained 28 pallets of commercial “shop vacs.””

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “A big-rig whose trailer was stolen and found in Carson was actually hauling 28 pallets of commercial ``shop vac’’ style vacuum cleaners and not five tons of fertilizer as authorities had announced, police said today.

The truck was being driven from Texas to northern California when it was stolen Sunday, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.”

[Cindy]

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_1161.html

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
This information is current as of today, Tue May 22 2007 03:41:45 GMT-0700.

Worldwide Caution

April 10, 2007

[Cindy]

PERSECUTION.ORG
http://www.persecution.org

[Godzilla]

placemark

[New Girl]

I live in DC and we just had a group of fighter jets overhead. They are very LOUD - they sound like lightening hitting the house. Anyway, this the 2nd or 3rd time in the last month they have been flying over a residential area (which also happens to be walking distance to the Capitol). Does anyone with military experience know why they would be flying in this airspace?

[callmejoe]

just a civilian perspective here, but it may be a precautionary measure due to the airspace violation today at NASA . . .

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18803710/

or it may be practice for the missing man formation on Monday’s Memorial Day parade . . .

http://www.nationalmemorialdayparade.com/route.htm

if it were a response to some potential threat, it would not remain a secret for long given it is DC, plus you would also probably see the anti-aircraft missile batteries come back out as they did during the orange alert in 2002 . . .

[Cindy]

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terelbaneh.htm

#

Thanks to eleni121 for pointing to this article on another thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1837413/posts?page=20#20

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/81262.html?imw=Y

Terrorism suspect Elbaneh surrenders

“Ex-Lackawanna man gives up in Yemen”

NEWS STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Updated: 05/22/07 8:21 AM

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “ WASHINGTON — A former Lackawanna man with a $5 million price on his head, one of the FBI’s most-sought terrorism suspects, has surrendered to authorities in Yemen, more than a year after tunneling out of a prison there, a spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy said Monday.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The FBI could not confirm that Elbaneh was in custody.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “He became an American citizen and graduated from Lackawanna High School in 1987. He lived on Holland Avenue, enjoyed soccer and was a devout participant in prayers at the Guidance Mosque in Lackawanna.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Elbaneh worked for a time selling wholesale candy and tobacco products for his uncle, Mohammed Albanna, and then landed a job at a South Buffalo plant where cheese is made.

Last November, Albanna was sentenced to five years in federal prison for illegally sending millions of dollars to Yemen.

Buffalo FBI agents say Elbaneh was the right-hand man to the late al-Qaida operative Kamal Derwish. They believe Derwish, another former Lackawanna resident, was on a mission to recruit U.S. citizens to become suicide terrorists. The FBI believes Elbaneh helped Derwish to recruit the Lackawanna Six.

In April 2001, Elbaneh was one of the Yemeni-American men who left Lackawanna to train at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan, learning about explosives, guns and terrorism tactics.

While the others came back to Lackawanna, Elbaneh and Derwish stayed overseas. Derwish, the only American known to have reached a position of authority in al-Qaida, was killed by a CIA-fired Hellfire missile in Yemen in November 2002.

Authorities believe Elbaneh went to live with his wife and seven children in his native Yemen. He surrendered to Yemeni authorities in 2003, but U.S. officials said they received no official response to their request to turn him over to the U.S. for prosecution.

Last year, Elbaneh was among the 23 men who tunneled out of a Yemeni prison.”

[Cindy]

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1116587420

http://www.wpbf.com/news/13366646/detail.html

“Plane Flies Over Restricted Air Space Near Space Shuttle”

POSTED: 1:38 pm EDT May 22, 2007

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The pilot of a single-engine plane that entered restricted air space over the Kennedy Space Center is being questioned by FBI agents.

A NASA spokesman said the plane entered the air space around 11 a.m. and “was within sight of the launch pad,” where the space shuttle is. He was then escorted down. The incident did not disrupt the planned launch of the shuttle next month.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Officials said a sheriff’s office helicopter from Volusia County escorted the plane down to the Ormond Beach Municipal Airport, where it was searched for explosives and drugs. Nothing suspicious was found.”

[Cindy]

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

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1837980/posts

“US Hears Blunt Trade Warning From China”
ap ^ | ap | Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer

Posted on 05/22/2007 1:03:33 PM PDT by Flavius

WASHINGTON (AP)

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.jihadwatch.org/cgi-bin/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=hamas

http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=157
http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=157&P3=2

http://www.jihadwatch.org

###

http://memri.org/palestinian.html

~

www.palpress.ps/arabic/index.php?maa=ReadStory&ChannelID=74148
www.fateh.ps/viewdocn.asp?nid=3564

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=palestinian&ID=SP159507

Special Dispatch Series - No. 1595
May 23, 2007 No.1595

“Fatwa By Unknown Sheikh Who Sanctifies Killing Hamas Members Triggers Harsh Reactions”

###

http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/site/html/search.asp?isSearch=yes&isT8=yes&searchText=T86&pid=104&sid=13&preview=

~

http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_210507e.htm

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC)
May 21 , 2007

“The Hamas rocket attack on Sderot and the settlements around the Gaza Strip entered its seventh day as a ceasefire between Hamas and Fatah was maintained.”

(May 20 Bulletin update)

[Cindy]

UPDATE...

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3403448,00.html

2 Qassams land near Sderot

Published: 05.22.07, 21:35 / Israel News

Palestinian gunmen shot two more Qassams from northern Gaza Tuesday evening. One of them landed with Sderot city limits. There were no casualties, although one woman was hospitalized for shock.

The Salah a-Din Bridgades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, took responsibility for the attack. (Amnon Meranda, Ali Waked)

#

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3403437,00.html

Hamas, Fatah claim responsibility for Qassams

Published: 05.22.07, 20:53 / Israel News

The military wings of Hamas and Fatah - the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, respectively – claimed responsibility for Tuesday evening Qassam attacks on Sderot and neighboring areas.

The Palestinian organizations promised continued rocket fire, despite the fact that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Gaza to discuss the deteriorating security situation. (Ali Waked)

[Cindy]

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1837994/posts

Bomb Plot Thwarted at Falwell’s Funeral - Student Arrested With Homemade Bombs, Three Other Suspects
ABC News ^

Posted on 05/22/2007 1:36:53 PM PDT by Sub-Driver

Bomb Plot Thwarted at Falwell’s Funeral Student Arrested With Homemade Bombs, Three Other Suspects Sought

May 22, 2007 —

Even in death, the Rev. Jerry Falwell rouses the most volatile emotions.

Authorities arrested a Liberty University student for having several gasoline-based bombs in his car.

The student, 19-year-old Mark Ewell of Amissville, Va., reportedly told authorities he was making the bombs to stop protesters from disrupting the funeral service.

Three other suspects are being sought, one of whom is a soldier from Ft. Benning and another is a high school student. No information was available on a third person being sought.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...

[Cindy]

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/may07/jewelry051807.htm

“BLING RINGS
Targeting International Jewel Thieves”

05/18/07

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.internet-haganah.com
http://www.internet-haganah.com/haganah/internet.html
http://internet-haganah.org/hmedia/27apr07/27apr07-salafy_forums.html

http://www.memri.org/jihad.html

http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=9
http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=75

###

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=28417
“The Definition of ‘Jihad’”
By Robert Spencer
FrontPageMagazine.com | May 22, 2007

###

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016565.php

May 22, 2007

“”One in four” of U.S. Muslims under 30 “say suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances””
(AP)

WASHINGTON -

[tmp02]

They were the Blue Angles and others from this weekend at Andrews’. AAFB was having Air Force Day or something like that. The public was invited to watch aerial demonstrations and ground exhibits.

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1838011/posts?page=8#8

~

Thanks to Diogenesis for the ping to this thread.
Note: See photos.

QUOTE - SNIPPET:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1838011/posts

GOTTA SEE THIS-WarEndur.Freedom 05/22/07-Ein el-Hilweh,Nahr al-Bared,Verdun,Beirut
NASA, DOD, Yahoo, AP, Reuters, AFP, EPA and the usual suspects, and many brave photographers | 5/22/07 | The Armies of Good against the Axis of Evil

Posted on 05/22/2007 2:08:51 PM PDT by Diogenesis

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 5/22/07 - Ein el-Hilweh, Nahr al-Bared, Verdun Beirut

BREAKING: Nahr al-Bared ‘Palestinian’-al Qaeda terrorist camp under seige by Lebanese soldiers
BREAKING: Verdun Beirut shopping center - evening explosion
BREAKING: Ein el-Hilweh terrorist camp - PLO ‘Palestinian’ terrorist camp

QFN ==== YE OLDE QUAGMIRE-FREE NEWS

Exclusive to FReerepublic
PICTURES YOU WILL NOT SEE IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA