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]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_2939.html

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

This information is current as of today, Sat May 05 2007 04:33:50 GMT-0700.

ERITREA

May 02, 2007

This Travel Warning is being issued to update information on Eritrea’s current security situation and to reiterate the Department of State’s advice that U.S. citizens defer non-essential travel to Eritrea due to restrictions on travel outside the capital city of Asmara. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning issued on June 5, 2006.

The Government of the State of Eritrea (GSE) cited safety and security concerns in imposing travel restrictions on all foreign nationals including resident diplomats as of June 2006. Given these concerns and travel restrictions, the U.S. Embassy continues to urge American citizens to defer all travel to Eritrea.

The GSE’s restrictions require all visitors and residents to apply with the GSE 10 days in advance for permission to travel outside Asmara city limits. As a result, the U.S. Embassy cannot provide consular assistance in an emergency outside of Asmara. Travelers also should be aware that that the GSE does not inform the U.S. Embassy when American citizens have been arrested or detained.

Americans living or traveling in Eritrea are strongly encouraged to contact the U.S. Embassy in Asmara in person or through the State Department’s travel registration web site, https://travelregistration.state.gov , to register their presence in the country and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Eritrea. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy to contact them in case of emergency and provide updates on security situations. The U.S. Embassy is located at 179 Alaa Street, P.O. Box 211, Asmara; telephone (291-1) 12-00-04; fax (291-1) 124-255 and (291-1) 127-584; web site http://asmara.usembassy.gov . For after hours emergencies dial 291-1-120004 and ask to speak to the duty officer.

For additional information, consult the Department of Stat’s latest Consular Information Sheet for Eritrea and the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement. American citizens may also obtain up-to-date information on security conditions by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States and Canada, or 1-202-501-4444 from abroad.

[Cindy]

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

[Cindy]

http://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, Sat May 05 2007 04:36:11 GMT-0700.

Worldwide Caution

April 10, 2007

[Cindy]

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

Thanks to M. Espinola for pointing to this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1828506/posts

“U.S. backs Estonia amid ongoing war memorial dispute with Russia”
RIA Novosti ^ | May 4th, 2007

Posted on 05/04/2007 11:28:39 AM PDT by M. Espinola

and this post:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1828506/posts?page=32#32

QUOTE:

(’Ping’ for the link below )
You’re on target on Finland, she had large chunks of sovereign soil stolen by the invading Russians, but those Bolsheviks paid an incredibly high price for that forcibly taken real estate. Finland should make a major issue of 1940, demanding their land grabbed by Moscow be returned, with interest! Finland would be very wise requesting NATO admsission.

Estonia, and each NATO member state bordering Putin’s totalitarian empire, needs beefed up defense systems in a hurry.

(ping) Look below - One of the first steps toward preparing for war.

Russia to stop sharing troop moves data with NATO

32 posted on 05/05/2007 4:43:01 AM PDT by M. Espinola (Freedom is never free)

#

and this article:

http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-05-03T172914Z_01_L03644971_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-RUSSIA-PACT-COL.XML&archived=False

“Russia to stop sharing troop moves data with NATO”
Thu May 3, 2007 1:29 PM EDT
Printer Friendly

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday it would no longer inform NATO states about movements of troops on its territory, confirming a decision to freeze its commitments under the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty.

“We have announced a moratorium and will not inform anyone any longer about movements of troops on our own territory,” Russian news agencies quoted First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying on a visit to Russia’s central Bryansk region.

“As long as our partners do not ratify this treaty, we will continue observing the moratorium.”

President Vladimir Putin declared a moratorium on the CFE pact last week, escalating a row between the United States and Russia over U.S. plans to build a missile shield in eastern Europe. NATO has expressed grave concerns over the pact freeze.

NATO has for years insisted that Russia withdraw its remaining troops from Georgia and Moldova before its members ratify a revised version of the 1990 pact.”

[Godzilla]

placemark

[M. Espinola]

Cindy, here are some other related articles, which may not as yet be posted as threads on FR.

French front-runner Sarkozy says he'd raise Chechnya with Putin if elected {The Associated Press: May 4th, 2007}

The Offensive Nature of Nashi Defense - {Moscow Times, Friday May 4th, 2007}

EU Says Russia Must Honor Contracts With Estonia - {May 4th, 2007 (RFE/RL) }

Russia: Press Freedom Under Threat {May 3rd, 2007 (RFE/RL)

Russia's three main television channels are controlled by the Kremlin.

(Neo-Sovietism in action)

[callmejoe]

CNNi reporting possible new Zawahiri tape indirectly citing Laura Mansfield. Not yet confirmed by CNNi.

http://www.lauramansfield.com/j/default.asp

[callmejoe]

. . . Zawahiri says, “We ask Allah that they only get out of it after losing 200,000 to 300,000 killed, in order that we give the spillers of blood in Washington and Europe an unforgettable lesson.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=3143623

Al Qaeda No. 2 Mocks Iraq Pullout Bill
Ayman al-Zawahiri Says Al Qaeda Wants to Spill More U.S. Blood Before America Leaves
By BRIAN ROSS
May 5, 2007 —

In a new video posted today on the Internet, al Qaeda’s number two man, Ayman al Zawahiri, mocks the bill passed by Congress setting a timetable for the pullout of U.S. troops in Iraq.

“This bill will deprive us of the opportunity to destroy the American forces which we have caught in a historic trap,” Zawahiri says in answer to a question posed to him an interviewer.

Continuing in the same tone, Zawahiri says, “We ask Allah that they only get out of it after losing 200,000 to 300,000 killed, in order that we give the spillers of blood in Washington and Europe an unforgettable lesson.”

Based on the references to the bill, the tape, produced by al Qaeda’s propaganda arm, as-Sahab, appears to have been made after Congress passed the legislation last week but before President Bush vetoed in on Thursday.

According to Laura Mansfield, a counter terrorism analyst with Strategic Translations, an organization that monitors al Qaeda postings, the tape was posted on the Internet this morning and covers the usual range of Zawahri’s topics including Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.

There has been a flurry of audio and video releases featuring Zawahiri, although no new communication from Osama bin Laden since mid-2006.

[Cindy]

Thank you M. Espinola for the posts and links.
I really appreciate it.

[Cindy]

Thank you CallMeJoe for the heads up.

[Cindy]

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

###
www.al-boraq.com/banner/s7ab_Ayman_interview1428Coming.gif
www.al-boraq.com

###

www.up-f.org/x/abu_Hamza5.wma
12.158.191.144/x/abu_Hamza5.wma
2-up.info/uploads/d69c2cb594.jpg
www.alfirdaws.org/vb//showthread.php?t=32517
www.alfirdaws.org/harp.wma
www.alfirdaws.org/vb/
www.alfirdaws.org/

[StillProud2BeFree]

Thanks! The video is up at my website.

[Cindy]

Thank you stillproud2befree.

~

ON THE NET...

http://www.lauramansfield.com

[Cindy]

Adding to post no. 231:

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016313.php

May 05, 2007

‘Slain’ Qaeda chief in purported voice recording

Abu Ayyub Al Masri, or someone claiming to be Abu Ayyub Al Masri, insists that the jihadists are not divided, and that he wasn’t killed by rival mujahedin. From AFP, with thanks to Sr. Soph:

DUBAI - The leader of Al Qaeda’s Iraq branch, who was reportedly killed in insurgent infighting this week, surfaced in a purported new voice recording posted on an Islamist website on Saturday.
The voice denied the reported internal clashes among Sunni Arab militants in which Abu Ayyub Al Masri was said to have died.

‘What you hear in the news on satellite channels about fighting between us and Jihadist groups, or with our blessed (Sunni Arab) tribes is just lies and fabrication,’ the voice said.

‘It is a desperate attempt to divide the Jihadist ranks,’ it added.

Posted by Robert at May 5, 2007 08:15 AM

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1828965/posts

“Racist, a Communist Word”
Sierra Times ^ | 5/3/2007 | Leon Puissegur

Posted on 05/05/2007 2:18:31 PM PDT by EShellenberger

[Cindy]

Thanks to bd476 for the tornadoes update here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1828760/posts?page=114#114

[Cindy]

http://www.treasury.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/reports/narco_impact_report_05042007.pdf

~

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp390.htm

May 4, 2007
hp-390

“Report Highlights OFAC’s Success in Combating Narcotics Traffickers”

###

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp386.htm

May 3, 2007
HP-386

“2007 National Money Laundering Strategy Released”

~

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/docs/nmls.pdf

[ExSoldier]

OH NO!

[Cindy]

and now for some good news....

Note: The following text (minus the photo) is a quote:

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11783

Al-Qaeda plan to destroy girls’ school in Tarmiyah thwarted
Saturday, 05 May 2007

CAMP TAJI — Coalition forces thwarted an al-Qaeda plot to destroy the Huda Girls’ School in Tarmiyah, said U.S. military officials Thursday.

As reconstruction efforts for school systems in Iraq continued, al-Qaeda extremists targeted the Huda Girls’ School in Tarmiyah twice in the past month using improvised explosive devices and building explosives into the school house.

“[It was a] sophisticated and premeditated attempt to inflict massive casualties on our most innocent victims,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman.

Recently, the al-Qaeda plan to destroy the school was disrupted when Soldiers of 2nd “Stallion” Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team discovered a detonating wire across the street from the school leading to five artillery shells, two large explosive-filled propane tanks and numerous projectiles embedded in and around the construction of the school house.

“It is ironic that on the same day terrorists were planning to blow up the school, Soldiers along with local leaders were making plans to deliver more school construction supplies,” said U.S. Army Maj. Robert Rodriguez, executive officer of 2nd Bn., 8th Cav. Reg., 1st BCT.

As Iraqi contractors were responsible for building the school for girls, officials intend to question those involved with the construction.

At a separate incident, terrorists attempted to disrupt a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Atwan School for boys in Baghdad by directing small-arms fire towards the school April 24.

However, the terrorists fled when Coalition forces returned fire.

“We will not be stopped by terrorists,” said Iraqi Police Col. Ra’ad Eyas Amin at the ceremony. “We will all live in peace together.”

Multi-National Division-Baghdad troops will continue to develop projects such as school systems despite al-Qaeda’s attempt to stop them, said Rodriguez.

“Together with the Iraqi people, the [Coalition made] Iraq a more secure, stable place one day at a time,” he said. “We won’t be deterred in our task to help these people, and I think that sends a powerful message to the world.”

(U.S. Army story by Spc. Carl N. Hudson, Combined Press Information Center)

In other developments throughout Iraq:

• Paratroopers found and destroyed 11 improvised explosive devices emplaced on roads throughout Babil province, south of Baghdad, Thursday night.

• MND-CS Civil Military Cooperation Group visited school in Abtan village, 25 km west of Ad Diwaniyah.

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1828840/posts

“Britain: On the Brink of A Terrorist War”
Asharq Al-Awsat ^ | 5/4/07 | Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed

Posted on 05/05/2007 6:57:06 AM PDT by Valin