Threat Matrix: June 2007

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[nwctwx]

British Intelligence: Al-Qaida Expanding
-Full Story-

British intelligence officials said they believe that al-Qaida has a secure base in Pakistan's Waziristan region and is planning terrorist operations.

The group is reaching out to Muslims in North Africa, The Telegraph reported. Last year, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, an Algerian terrorist group, merged itself into al-Qaida, a move announced by Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a tape promising action against the "apostates" in the Algerian government and "the treacherous sons of France."

Al-Qaida is also believed to be planning expansion into Lebanon and Syria, the newspaper report said.

	U.S. Battles al-Qaida in Baghdad
	U.S. Terror Expert Says Nuclear Risk Low
	Is North African Militant New Face of al-Qaida?

Thread Forty-Nine

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[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

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

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

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=hezbollah
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=hizbollah
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=hizballah
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=hizbullah

#

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/017063.php
(REUTERS)

June 23, 2007
“Australia’s top Shi’ite cleric says he supports Hizballah”
SYDNEY

SNIPPET - QUOTE:

Kamal Mousselmani, head of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council of Australia, told the Weekend Australian newspaper in an interview published on Saturday that Australia was encouraging people to “kill our people daily”.

“If Australia supports Israel, they are defending terrorism. Because we believe terrorists come from Israel — not from our people. I support Hizbollah,” Mousselmani said in the interview, which the paper said was conducted in Arabic.

The comments come after a series of controversies involving Australian Muslim clerics.

[Cindy]

UPDATE...

THANKS to eleni121 for this update:

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

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1837413/posts?page=31#31

elBaneh has been captured but will not be turned over to us.

http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=34657

31 posted on 06/23/2007 5:43:40 PM PDT by eleni121 (+ En Touto Nika! By this sign conquer! + Constantine the Great)

[Cindy]

Off Topic...

THANKS to Ali Veritas for the ping to this thread and touching video:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1855164/posts

“BBC / YouTube - US troops in dramatic rescue”
BBC - YouTube ^

Posted on 06/23/2007 11:08:55 AM PDT by J.J.P.

[Cindy]

Thanks to RDTF for the ping to this thread.

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1855318/posts

Hostages seized in ‘brothel’ raid (by radical mosque students)
CNN.Com ^ | June 23, 2007 | Syed Mohsin Naqvi

Posted on 06/23/2007 7:50:18 PM PDT by RDTF

LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) — Students from a radical mosque on Saturday raided an acupuncture clinic they said was used as a brothel in Pakistan’s capital and kidnapped nine people, including Chinese women, police said.

About 30 students from Islamabad’s Lal Masjid — or Red Mosques — armed with batons stormed the house and kidnapped nine people, including six Chinese, taking them back to their school.

“This place was used as a brothel house and despite our warnings the administration failed to take any action, so we decided to take action on our own,” one student told an Islamabad TV station.

Police have surrounded the mosque and negotiations are taking place with the students for the release of the hostages, local officials said.

A government source told CNN there was a possibility a military operation could be launched against the students.

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

[Oorang]

Indian Canyon Closed After Underground Explosion, Fire (California)
June 22, 2007 05:45 PM PST

Palm Springs Police and Fire crews are at the scene of a reported underground explosion near North Indian Canyon Drive and Tamarisk Road. Officials say the explosion occured just after 5 PM Friday evening in the 800 block of N. Indian Canyon.

Witnesses say the explosion blew a manhole cover off, and flames could be scene in the area. It is also reported that it might be rleated to an underground electrical transformer. Traffic on Indian Canyon is being diverted but it's not known how long it will be until traffic is allowed to pass through.

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=6699265&nav=9qrx

[Cindy]

Thank you Oorang for the post.

[Oorang]

Pakistan holds three Germans over Islamist links
Saturday, June 23, 2007

WIESBADEN: Authorities in Pakistan have arrested three Germans for suspected links to Islamist extremist groups, police in Germany said Friday. Two of the Germans were converts to Islam, the head of the federal police Joerg Ziercke, told reporters in the southwestern city of Wiesbaden, adding that the suspects were being held in Pakistan. The third man, already considered by the German authorities to be a dangerous individual with links to Islamist extremists, was of foreign origin and had been living in the Wiesbaden region, officials said.

They would not immediately say when the Germans were arrested, but the German newspaper Die Welt reported in its Saturday edition that the arrests were made “several days ago”. One suspect was arrested trying to cross illegally from Pakistan to Iran, the second was apprehended in Karachi, while the third was trying to return to Germany, Die Welt reported, quoting government sources.

News of the arrests followed an announcement by the German authorities that they had stepped up security in response to a greater threat of attacks at home and abroad due to the country’s military involvement in Afghanistan. The European Union’s Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini on a trip to Rome Friday, echoed German concerns about the threat of attacks. “We have registered an increase in the movement of people ready for terrorist attacks who are trained in hard-to-reach areas like Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the commissioner said.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\23\story_23-6-2007_pg7_4

Al Qaeda 'sergeant' becomes seventh terror suspect on the loose after snubbing control order (UK)
22nd June 2007

A suspected Al Qaeda recruiting sergeant is on the loose in Britain after becoming the seventh control order suspect to abscond. The Iraqi asylum seeker, a follower of dead Al Qaeda warlord Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, vanished from his home on Monday. His disappearance leaves the policy of using control orders to monitor terror suspects in tatters. A minister admitted that the orders cannot prevent "determined" suspects escaping.

The missing man is alleged to have been part of a six-man recruitment team sent to Britain by Al Qaeda in Iraq to enlist volunteers to join attacks on British and U.S. troops serving there. He managed to gain a foothold here by claiming to be fleeing persecution in Iraq. His admission to Britain is likely to reignite debate about the way the asylum system is abused by terror suspects. Around a quarter of those arrested under anti-terror laws are would-be refugees.

The fanatic, who was wearing an electronic tag and under a 14-hour curfew when he fled, has not been traced despite a huge manhunt. Although other control order suspects have been named and pictured, his identity is being kept secret on police advice.

Excerpted

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=463498&in_page_id=1770&ito=1490

Terror Suspect Arrested In India
Jun 23, 2007

The suspected leader of a terrorist cell in India was arrested Saturday in a police raid that also netted a colleague and a cache of weapons and explosives. Police said Harkat-ul-Jehad al-Islam's Indian operations leader, Jalaluddin, also known as Amanullah Mandal and Babu, was arrested in connection with the 2005 Shramjeevi train blast and the Sankat Mochan attack in Varanasi last year, The Times of India reported. His alleged accomplice, Naushad, also known as Hafiz and Sabir, was also arrested.

Police confiscated about 20 pounds of the explosive RDX, detonators, hand grenades, several automatic weapons, ammunition and cash, the newspaper said. Harkat-ul-Jehad, with headquarters in Bangladesh, has become the biggest terror threat in India and is blamed for deadly attacks on trains and the Mecca mosque in Hyderabad, as well as kidnappings and extortion. The group is believed to operate in close coordination with another terror group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been blamed for the Mumbai train blasts. Police sources told the Times the two men were arrested in a busy area in the center of Lucknow.

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_21288308.shtml

[Cindy]

http://www.internet-haganah.com/harchives/006101.html

23 June 2007
“revolutionsforum.blogspot.com: Austrian Hizballah fanboy site”

[Oorang]

You’re welcome Cindy and thanks to you. Hope the kitchen remodel is going well.

[Cindy]

It’s going.
Smiling at you.

[Oorang]

Well I’m glad there are already lawsuits filed against the “fan”.

[Cindy]

Time will tell as to how this goes.

[Oorang]

Mosque opens in Athens after 170 years
Sunday, June 24, 2007

ATHENS: Immigrant organisations opened on Friday the first mosque to operate in Athens since the end of Ottoman rule more than 170 years ago. The government plans to build a mosque that would serve tens of thousands of Muslim immigrants living in the capital. “This is the first time in all the 35 years I’ve lived in Greece that we have a proper place to pray,” said Naim El Gandour, the Egyptian-born head of the Muslim Association of Greece. “It’s hard for me to describe what’s happening — I am overcome with emotion.””

More than 1,000 mostly Arab immigrants gathered at the center for its official opening. El-Gandour said the 1,800 sq. metre (19,500 sq. foot) site had been converted from an old textile factory to become a cultural center that would also have a mosque.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\24\story_24-6-2007_pg7_29

Indiana's Muslims feeling at home
Sat, Jun. 23, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS - The first statewide convention of Indiana Muslims will conclude Sunday. The three-day event, which began Friday, is the product of a relatively new organization called the Muslim Alliance of Indiana. The group's greatest previous efforts were landing an invitation for Muslims to stage Ramadan suppers in the governor's mansion and starting "Muslim Days" with legislators in the Statehouse.

For a diverse community under great scrutiny since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, some Muslims say it represents a sign of staying power and their desire to become fuller participants in their state's future. "I would say this is a coming of age," Louay Safi, a staffer with the Plainfield-based Islamic Society of North America told the Indianapolis Star. "This is a very significant threshold."

The weekend's agenda includes serious discussions about the need for greater Muslim political activism. There will be sessions for Muslim youth, including one on how to balance the faith's strict rules on gender relations in a modern society. The convention comes on the heels of the debut of a quarterly magazine, The Muslim Hoosier, and the establishment of a Muslim chamber of commerce.

"It is the idea that Muslims are realizing themselves as being Hoosiers just like any other individual or group," said Shehzad Qazi, a 19-year-old Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis student who manages the magazine.

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/local/17410399.htm

[Cindy]

More Details...

http://www.internet-haganah.com/harchives/006100.html

(http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.427901449&par=0 )

23 June 2007
“Indonesia: Student Jailed For Designing An Building Terror Website”
Suherdjoko, 21 June 2007

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The Semarang District Court in Central Java sentenced a Semarang University student on Wednesday to three years in jail for designing and setting up a website that provided instructions on how to carry out terrorist attacks against foreigners. The sentence the court handed down to Agung Prabowo, 24, alias Max Fiderman alias Ahmad alias Kalingga alias Bebek-bebekan, was much lighter than the prosecutors’ original demand of eight years.”

#

Previously...

http://www.internet-haganah.com/harchives/005713.html
26 August 2006
“”Indonesia: Alleged Terror Hackers Arrested””
Jakarta Post, 24 August (AKI/Jakarta Post):

#

http://www.internet-haganah.com/harchives/005287.html

21 November 2005
“More about anshar.net”

#

http://www.internet-haganah.com/harchives/005282.html
19 November 2005
“anshar.net: Indonesian ‘How to shoot foreigners’ website”

[Cindy]

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

###

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6233272.stm

Last Updated: Saturday, 23 June 2007, 18:37 GMT 19:37 UK

“Britons hurt in Yemeni shooting”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The guard, named as Jamil Mohammed al-Raai, was arrested at the scene.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “A security official in Yemen said the group was leaving a plane at the oil company’s airstrip when the guard opened fire.

The wounded, who have not been named, were taken to hospital in the capital.

The US Embassy in Sanaa confirmed in a message on its website that an American had been “critically injured” in the incident.

Occidental Petroleum Corp is a California-based international company with oil and gas operations in three core areas - the United States, Latin America and the Middle East, including Yemen.”

###

http://usembassy.state.gov/yemen/citizen_services.html
“WARDEN MESSAGES
Warden Information

###

http://usembassy.state.gov/yemen/wm062307.html

Travel warnings and warden messages
“Attack on oil company personnel in Marib/Shabwa”
June 23, 2007

WARDEN MESSAGE SNIPPET: “An attack on oil company personnel near the border between Marib and Shabwa governorates this morning has resulted in casualties, including one American citizen critically injured. The U.S. Embassy has cancelled all official and non-official travel by Embassy personnel to Marib and Shabwa governorates for the near future. The Embassy continues to recommend that American citizens avoid traveling to Marib and Shabwa, and remain vigilant throughout Yemen.”

###

Note: The following text SNIPPET is a quote. Click on the link below this note to read the entire text.

~

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_936.html

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

This information is current as of today, Sat Jun 23 2007 23:27:57 GMT-0700.

YEMEN

April 30, 2007

This Travel Warning updates security information for Yemen. This supersedes the Travel Warning for Yemen issued October 13, 2006.

The Department of State continues to strongly urge U.S. citizens to consider carefully the risks of traveling to Yemen. The security threat level remains high due to terrorist activities in Yemen, and U.S. citizens in Yemen should exercise caution and take prudent measures to maintain their security: maintain a high level of vigilance, avoid crowds and demonstrations, keep a low profile, vary times and routes for all travel, and ensure travel documents are current. The U.S. Embassy in Sanaa advises American citizens in Yemen to exercise particular caution at locations frequented by foreigners countrywide and at restaurants and hotels frequented by expatriates. Americans who believe they are being followed or threatened while driving in urban centers should proceed as quickly as possible to the nearest police station or major intersection and request assistance from the officers in the blue-and-white police cars stationed there.

The Department remains concerned about possible attacks by extremist individuals or groups against U.S. citizens, facilities, businesses, and perceived interests. On December 5, 2006, a lone gunman opened small arms fire outside of the U.S. Embassy compound during the early morning hours. The assailant, wounded by host-nation security personnel and subsequently arrested, was the sole casualty. On February 3, 2006, 23 convicts, including known affiliates of al-Qa’ida, escaped from a high-security prison, in the capital city, Sanaa. Among the al-Qa’ida associates were individuals imprisoned for their roles in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole and the 2002 attack on the French oil tanker Limburg. In the weeks following the escape, some prisoners voluntarily turned themselves in to authorities; to date however, some escapees remain at large. Two of the escapees were killed in vehicle-based suicide attacks on oil facilities near Mukalla and Marib on September 15. Those attacks were followed by the arrest the next day in Sanaa of four suspected Al Qa’ida operatives, who had stockpiled explosives and weapons.

Since January 2007, the Government of Yemen has been battling al Houthi rebels in and around the northern governorate of Saada. While foreigners have not been targeted, hundreds of soldiers and civilians have been killed in the ongoing violence. U.S. citizens traveling in Yemen should be aware that local authorities occasionally place restrictions on the travel of foreigners to parts of the country experiencing unrest. In addition, the U.S. Embassy itself often restricts travel of official personnel to the tribal areas north and east of Sanaa, such as the governorates of Amran, Al Jawf, Hajja, Marib, Saada, and Shabwa. Travelers should be in contact with the Embassy for up-to-date information on such restrictions.

U.S. citizens who remain in or travel to Yemen despite this Travel Warning should register at the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa and enroll in the warden system (emergency alert network) in order to obtain updated information on travel and security in Yemen. This can be done online prior to arrival in Yemen at https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs .”

[Cindy]

http://recalls.rc2.com
#

http://www.cpsc.gov

Note: Click on the url below this note to read the entire
text of the recall. Thank you.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07212.html

NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2007
Release #07-212

“RC2 Corp. Recalls Various Thomas & Friends™ Wooden Railway Toys Due to Lead Poisoning Hazard”

WASHINGTON, D.C. -

PRESS RELEASE SNIPPET: “Hazard: Surface paints on the recalled products contain lead. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects.”

PRESS RELEASE SNIPPET: “Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should take the recalled toys away from young children immediately and contact RC2 Corp. for a replacement toy.”

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=egypt
http://www.memri.org/egypt.html

#

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07060125.htm

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net — E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Egyptian Coptic Christians Attacked By Violent Mobs

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

NORTHERN EGYPT (ANS) — According to Christian Solidarity World (CSW), a British Christian human rights group, two Coptic Orthodox Christian Communities in northern Egypt have been attacked during the past two weeks by rioters following arguments between Christians and Muslims.

A CSW spokesperson told ANS, “According to the Coptic newspaper, Watani, and news agency Compass Direct, a group of Muslims attacked the Christian quarter of Zwyet Abdel-Qader on June 8, 2007, looting shops and vandalizing homes. The rioting was eventually broken up by police after 90 minutes.
“The incident allegedly resulted from an argument which took place the previous day between a Christian truck driver and a Muslim teenager who refused to move out of the way to let the truck pass.

Coptic Christians worship the Lord in Egypt.

“Four days later, on June 12, 2007, the Holy Virgin’s Church in Dekheila was attacked after a fight broke out between Christians and Muslims. The fighting started from an argument between a Coptic Christian, 16 year old Bassem Mikail, and 21 year old Muslim Abdel-Dayem, who were both construction workers. The rioters threw bottles and stones at the Church, although serious damage was prevented by the immediate response of local police.”

The CSW spokesperson added, “Egypt has a history of conflict between Muslims and Coptic Christians. On May 11, 2007, the Imam of a mosque in the village of Bemha, Giza, told his congregation to defend Islam in the face of a rumor that a new church was secretly being built. A mob subsequently attacked seventy houses, looting shops and wounding many Christians. In February, a similar mob attack took place against Christians in Armant, Upper Egypt, following rumors of an affair between a Muslim girl and a Christian man.”

During a fact-finding trip to Egypt in March 2007, Christian Solidarity Worldwide met with Christian representatives, journalists, lawyers and human rights activists. They expressed concern that the lack of action by Egyptian Authorities to prevent these attacks has made the Coptic community vulnerable to this kind of violence.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s National Director, Stuart Windsor, said: “There is a clear similarity to these attacks which must be investigated by the Egyptian Authorities. The lack of prosecutions following these attacks has resulted in the failure to deter people from planning and taking part in similar mob violence. Unless the Egyptian Government tackles the underlying social tensions and promotes a culture of tolerance and equality, we fear more clashes like these will be triggered by trivial situations.”

For more information, please contact Penny Hollings, Campaigns and Media Manager at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 20 8329 0045, email pennyhollings@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

Note: CSW is a human rights organization which specializes in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.

Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the latest of which is his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com. danjuma1@aol.com.

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

[Cindy]

http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=hamas
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=jimmycarter

#

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1855377/posts

~

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Levant_Ezra/2007/06/24/4285926-sun.html

Sun, June 24, 2007

“Hamas’ strange ally
Jimmy Carter leaps to defend criminal organization”
By EZRA LEVANT

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “When hooded Hamas terrorists cut their way through the Gaza Strip last week, executing rival Fatah gunmen and their families in the streets, shooting their way into hospitals and public buildings, they found an ally in former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.

Speaking at a human rights conference in Ireland, Carter said the West should be more supportive of Hamas, and the refusal by the U.S. to acknowledge their legitimacy was “criminal” — considering the fact Hamas had won the last Palestinian “election.”

But Carter didn’t call Hamas criminal, though they are in fact a criminal organization in the U.S., Canada and most other democracies, and anyone with a TV set could clearly see that last week.

But in Hamas —which is the Arabic acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement — Carter saw what he called “superior skills and discipline” to the Fatah gunmen it killed.

It is hard to argue with Carter’s observation Hamas has superior skills, a result of Iranian weapons and training.”

[Cindy]

Adding links to post no. 1102:

FBI.gov - Most Wanted Terrorists: "JABER A. ELBANEH"

NEW KERALA.com: Washington (UPI): "YEMEN: TERROR SUSPECT WILL NOT GO TO U.S." (June 1, 2007)

THE JAWA REPORT - blog: "WANTED TERRORIST ELBANEH HAS TO STAY HOME" (May 30, 2007)

[Cindy]

QUOTE - SNIPPET:

http://www.internet-haganah.com/harchives/006102.html

23 June 2007
Note
• We will resume something resembling normal operations within the week.
• “Modi’in shel ish echad” (”A one man intelligence service”) an essay in Hebrew by one Aharon Vaisburd regarding the nature and practice of open source intelligence”