World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #9 Security Watch

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1883042/posts

Al-Qaida helpers present in Bosnia, US diplomat warns
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Rest_of_World/Al-Qaida_helpers_present_in_Bosnia_US_diplomat_warns/articleshow/2290478.cms ^

Posted on 08/18/2007 7:57:04 AM PDT by kronos77

SARAJEVO: Al-Qaida uses Bosnia as a transit point, receiving help from Islamic veterans of Bosnia’s 1992-95 war, US diplomat Raffi Gregorian said in an interview with a Sarajevo daily published Saturday.

“Certain intelligence agencies consider Bosnia-Hercegovina as one of the Al-Qaida’s transit points,” Gregorian sources.

“There are sympathisers in the country who are ready to help Al-Qaida with hiding agents, providing financial support or providing false documents,” he added.

Gregorian is the principal deputy to Miroslav Lajcak, the top international representative in Sarajevo.

Asked whether there were so-called ‘sleepers’ in the Balkans country, Gregorian replied “No, there are more likely helpers”.

Bosnia came under the spotlight after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States due to the presence in the former Yugoslav republic of former fighters from Islamic countries.

Hundreds of them joined the mainly Muslim Bosnian army during the country’s 1992-1995 war. Although they were ordered to leave under the terms of the peace deal, some stayed on after obtaining Bosnian citizenship.

“There were people who fought in Bosnia and who were, in a way, directly linked with Al-Qaida,” Gregorian said.

Bosnia recently revoked the citizenship of nearly 400 people, including a number of former Muslim fighters, due to irregularities in the process.

Six terror suspects of Arab origin linked to the Al-Qaida terror network were arrested in Bosnia and handed over to the US authorities in 2002.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1883058/posts

German woman kidnapped in Kabul
BBC ^ | August 18, 2007 | Rana Ghayyour

Posted on 08/18/2007 8:39:48 AM PDT by Ghayyour

A German woman has been kidnapped at gunpoint in the heart of the Afghan capital, Kabul. Reports say she was at a restaurant with her partner when armed men walked in and took her away.

Officials said the woman, the first foreigner kidnapped in the city in more than two years, works for an international aid organisation.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1883096/posts

Terror Ties Shock Ex-District Officials {DC school official}
Washington Post ^ | August 18, 2007 | Michael E. Ruane

Posted on 08/18/2007 9:52:17 AM PDT by 3AngelaD

He was a well-dressed, soft-spoken man who was devoted to his large family and seemed knowledgeable about ways to repair Washington’s broken down public schools.

Kifah W. Jayyousi’s chief problem as a D.C. school official appeared to be a reckless determination to get the job done, those who knew him said. He lasted less than two years before he was booted out, but no one suspected that the mild-mannered naturalized U.S. citizen from Jordan might be associated with terrorists.

continues and see comment #6..........clinton, making kids citizens.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1883147/posts

Agency Backs Opening Border to Long Haul Mexican Trucks (Proposal Enterted into Federal Register)
San Diego Union Tribune ^ | 8/18/7 | By Paul M. Krawzak

Posted on 08/18/2007 11:56:12 AM PDT by hardback

WASHINGTON – A federal transportation agency yesterday defended President Bush’s plan to open the border to long-haul Mexican truck traffic in a response to overwhelmingly negative public views of the proposal. The 27-page defense appearing in the Federal Register advances the controversial cross-border trucking pilot program one step closer to implementation.

Online: To read the full government report, click on: http://www.access.gpo.gov/ su_docs/fedreg/ a070817c.html Scroll down to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and click on link to “NAFTA cross-border trucking provisions.”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1883217/posts

(BREAKING) Deutsche Bank Building At Ground Zero Catches Fire
WCBSTV.COM ^ | 18 AUGUST 2007 | AP

Posted on 08/18/2007 4:24:03 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist

Several Firefighters Injured Battling 5-Alarm Fire

(CBS) NEW YORK — A five-alarm fire in the abandoned Deustche Bank skyscraper sent a plume of gray smoke trailing above ground zero Saturday afternoon as fire trucks and police cars raced through lower Manhattan to reach a building already decimated by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1883312/posts

Firefighters Die in Blaze By Ground Zero
Yahoo News, AP ^ | 8/19/07 | Verena Dobnik

Posted on 08/19/2007 1:50:32 AM PDT by Freedom of Speech Wins

Firefighters die in blaze by ground zero

By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer

22 minutes ago

NEW YORK - A seven-alarm fire ripped through an abandoned skyscraper next to ground zero in Lower Manhattan Saturday, killing two firefighters who were responding to the blaze.

Lessons From Horn of Africa to Apply in Africa Command (back)

August 15, 2007

As the war on terrorism moves forward, the lessons of U.S. operations in the Horn of Africa will resonate around the Defense Department and the government, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here yesterday.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace visited with soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen serving in Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa. He also met with commanders and senior enlisted personnel and participated in a town hall meeting along with Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, the senior enlisted advisor to the chairman.

Pace told the servicemembers that what they are doing in the Horn of Africa will be a model as the U.S. military sets up Africa Command.

The command relies not so much on military muscle — although that is part of the equation — but on military expertise, said Navy Rear Adm. James M. Hart, commander of Joint Task Force Horn of Africa.

U.S. Central Command established the joint task force in 2002, as coalition forces had driven the Taliban from power in Afghanistan and al Qaeda terrorists once sheltered in the Central Asian country were looking for a place to hide. The JTF was set up to kill or capture al Qaeda members who sought refuge in the Horn of Africa. Its area of operation includes Yemen , Sudan , Eritrea , Ethiopia , Somalia , Kenya , Seychelles and Djibouti and the adjacent waters.

Al Qaeda did not flood into the region, although there were individual infiltrations, officials said. But the potential of the region harboring a terrorist haven remained. The Horn of Africa is one of the poorest regions on Earth. Periodic droughts have killed thousands, and there are millions of refugees and internally displaced people, according to the United Nations.

The Horn of Africa has any number of actual and potential hotspots: Somalia ; Darfur, in eastern Sudan ; and the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea . Drought and desertification complicate a desperate situation for millions.

Most people in the northern part of the Horn of Africa are Muslim, while the south has a Christian majority. However, there are enclaves of both religions and others in both areas.

Desperate people are a magnet to extremist factions and terrorists. Some of the governments of the region have no control over vast areas of their countries, while others have only tenuous control.

Borders throughout the region are a remnant of colonial control. Nineteenth century British, French and German officials drew borders for their convenience and took no account of tribal or ethnic boundaries.

All of this history makes for a complicated situation for Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, and it has been forced to adapt, Hart said. It morphed from a Defense Department organization focused on using force to an interagency and combined group that uses all elements of national power to combat extremist influence.

Today, the command has a mantra of the ‘three D’s’ — defense, diplomacy and development. Signs touting the philosophy hang throughout Camp Lemonier , the former French air force base that houses the command’s headquarters. Each of the D’s highlights a contribution from a different U.S. federal agency: Defense, of course, is the responsibility of the Department of Defense. Diplomacy highlights the contributions of the State Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development handles development.

The command helps partner nations in the Horn of Africa so they do not become the next Afghanistan or Iraq .

It is a new way of fighting a war, U.S. officials said. The enemy feeds on misery, despair and confusion, and Joint Task Force Horn of Africa is working to change conditions that foster these problems.

The command works with partner countries in the region via military-to-military contacts and civil-military operations. All operations are supported by national and local leaders of the various countries.

Drilling wells, building schools and medical facilities, and providing medical care are all aspects of operations in the region. Training local military forces is also part of that. The U.S. military has helped train the Ethiopian army and Yemeni special operations forces and helped build a Djiboutian coast guard. All of this training has an emphasis on civilian control of the military and human rights.

Diplomatically, the command works closely with the U.S. embassies and country teams. The command has a three-man country coordinating team in each embassy that shares information between the command and the embassy. The diplomatic aspect of the command involves coalition allies, too. The British are the largest ally working with the command, but the Italians, Koreans, French and many other nationalities participate in operations in the region.

For all its successes, the command is just a modest investment of U.S. resources, with about 1,800 servicemembers and civilians. This includes force protection, engineers, trainers and soldiers from Company D, 294th Infantry, of the Guam National Guard. A different company from the battalion has deployed to the region in rotations since the joint task force stood up. The joint task force also has extensive civil affairs expertise, Seabees and medical personnel.

These assets will become part of U.S. Africa Command when it stands up Oct. 1, and the lessons learned in this command will be applied to the new combatant command, officials said.

Source: www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=47056

TERROR ON TRIAL

Charity Drops Suit Against Terrorism Analyst (back)

August 16, 2007

A children’s charity that funnels money to Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, Kinder USA, has dropped a libel suit it brought against a prominent terrorism analyst who suggested that the group was funding a terrorist organization, Hamas.

In April, Kinder USA, formally known as Kids in Need of Development, Education, and Relief, Inc., sued Matthew Levitt over a brief passage about the group in his book, ‘ Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad.’

The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, also named the book’s publisher, Yale University Press, and Mr. Levitt’s employer from 2001 to 2005, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

On Tuesday, Kinder USA moved to withdraw the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.

‘I conducted three years of careful research for Hamas, and the book was the subject of academic peer review,’ Mr. Levitt said in a statement issued yesterday by the Washington Institute, which he returned to this year after a stint as a top Treasury Department official. ‘I am pleased that this suit has been dismissed with prejudice, vindicating my free speech rights.’

In the passage that led to the suit, Mr. Levitt wrote: ‘Even after the closure of the Holy Land Foundation in 2001, other America-based charities continue to fund Hamas. One organization that has appeared to rise out of the ashes of the HLFRD is Kinder USA.’

An attorney for Kinder USA, Todd Gallinger, said the group still believes it was unfairly maligned by Mr. Levitt but concluded that the lawsuit was too costly. ‘Kinder USA really looked at the amount of resources continuing to fight this could take,’ the lawyer said. ‘They really buried us in paperwork.’

Attorneys for Mr. Levitt, Yale, and the Washington Institute moved to toss out the case under a California statute that allows for early dismissal of ‘strategic lawsuits against public participation.’ The judge had not ruled on the motion when Kinder USA agreed to withdraw the suit.

A spokesman for Yale, Thomas Conroy, said the strong arguments under the so-called anti-Slapp law seemed to prompt the dismissal. ‘I think it is a matter that that brief was effective,’ he said.

‘We view this early, voluntary, and full dismissal as a complete victory,’ the executive director of the Washington Institute, Robert Satloff, said. The defendants said no payments or promises were made to Kinder USA. Mr. Levitt, a former terrorism analyst for the FBI, lectures widely on terrorism financing issues. Last month, he testified at a criminal trial in which federal prosecutors have accused officers of the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation of being a front for Hamas.

Source: www.nysun.com/article/60635

HAMAS Propaganda Discovered in Offices of HLF Beneficiaries (back)

August 16, 2007

The terror support trial of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) continued this morning with direct examination of the Legal Advisor for the Counterterrorism Division of the Israeli Security Agency (ISA), who testified under the pseudonym ‘Avi.’ Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth J. Shapiro resumed her questioning by walking the jury through an extensive list of Zakat (Charity) Committees throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip that were controlled by HAMAS and received contributions from the global HAMAS charitable network - which included the Richardson, Texas-based HLF.

Posters, videos, key chains, postcards, documents, and other evidence was collected by the Israeli Defense Forces during Operation Defensive Shield in April of 2002. The operation, initiated in response to a series of terrorist attacks in March 2002 that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 Israeli civilians, revealed a cache of HAMAS propaganda stored in the offices and subsidiaries of these supposed charitable societies. ‘Avi’ testified that the seized materials were used to glorify martyrdom and indoctrinate children.

Most of the posters contained pictures of famous HAMAS fighters and martyrs including Yehya Ayyash, known as the ‘the Engineer,’ who is called the ‘father of martyrdom operations’ on the website of the HAMAS military wing, the Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades.

In a video seized from the Muslim Youth Society in Hebron , a school or camp ceremony can be seen where children are singing lyrics like ‘Death for my country is a wish’ and ‘Long live Ezzedeen Brigades.’

‘Avi’ testified that documents he reviewed show that even the Palestinian Authority considered HLF and other western-based charities HAMAS financiers.

Cross examination of ‘Avi’ began Thursday afternoon with questions focusing on the board members of the Zakat Committees and their status according to the Department of Treasury. John Cline, Defense Attorney for Ghassan Elashi, questioned ‘Avi’ about changes in the size and composition of the Board of Directors of the Zakat Committees, and whether the board members were designated as terrorists entities by the Treasury Department.

Cline did not ask any questions during his cross examination about the materials the Israeli Defense Forces recovered in the offices of the Zakat Committees. This, despite the fact that the materials showed links between the committees and HAMAS, and were the focus of ‘Avi’s’ testimony.

Cross examination will continue on Monday.

Source: http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/08/hamas_propaganda_discovered_in.php

CAIR Cites Counterterrorism Blog in HLF Legal Filing (back)

August 17, 2007

In the case of United States versus Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), et al, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) clearly doesn’t like it when the Counterterrorism Blog and the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) is presenting the news on this subject.

In an Amicus Curiae brief by CAIR to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, CAIR complains about the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) postings on the Counterterrorism Blog with news in regards to the HLF case and CAIR.

In CAIR’s Amicus Curiae brief, CAIR apparently believes that it can protect its first amendment rights by silencing the Counterterrorism Blog and other organizations reporting the news. Unfortunately, it does not understand that the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution applies to all Americans, even those that CAIR does not agree with or does not like.

In CAIR’s Amicus Curiae brief, on page 36, CAIR states that ‘the list of unindicted coconspirators has spread and gained notoriety through non-mainstream media, as well, including various ‘anti-terrorism’ weblogs. These weblogs are often extremely biased and inaccurate in their reporting, leading to even more severe damage to the reputation of the unindicted coconspirators. ‘

In CAIR’s Amicus Curiae brief on pages 36 and 37, CAIR gives the Counterterrorism Blog as an example of ‘extremely biased and inaccurate’ ‘anti-terrorism weblogs’:

‘See.... HLF Trial Update, Counterterrorismblog.org (June 29, 2007) (writing that ‘prosecutors have recently named [CAIR] and [ISNA] as Muslim Brotherhood front groups in addition to unindicted co-conspirators’ and attaching the unindicted co-conspirator list to the article)’

The specific CTB blog posting by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) that CAIR objects to is:

HLF Trial Update: Muslim Brotherhood on the Witness Stand. See for yourself.

The Counterterrorism Blog will continue to report the news, regardless of how much it displeases CAIR.

Source: http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/08/cair_tries_to_silence_ctb.php

TERROR MODUS OPERANDI

Suicide Bombings are Effective - So Expect More (back)August 15, 2007

Suicide bombings are becoming more frequent around the world and remain a highly lethal and effective terrorist tactic, according to a study funded by the Federal Government.

The survey of suicide attacks over the past 25 years by a Flinders University academic, Raiz Hassan, finds the popularity of the technique can be easily explained.

‘It works,’ said Professor Hassan. ‘Suicide bombing is the precision weapon of the militarily challenged.’

From Hezbollah’s success in pushing the US and France out of Lebanon in the early 1980s to the advances of the Tamil Tigers in the north of Sri Lanka and the Hamas campaign in Gaza, Professor Hassan said there was no shortage of examples where suicide attacks had achieved political and territorial concessions.

‘They are much more lethal compared to non-suicide attacks,’ Professor Hassan said. ‘They cause more deaths, they provide psychological impacts, impacts that are further enhanced by the media coverage.’

Professor Hassan’s research found suicide attacks were 12 times more lethal than non-suicide terrorist operations. On average, each suicide attack kills 13 and injures 30 people.

While suicide attacks accounted for just 3.5 per cent of all terrorist attacks between 1981 and 2006, they accounted for 30 per cent of all deaths, an extraordinary 13,195 fatalities.

Professor Hassan noted that, before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, there had been 315 suicide attacks in the preceding 20 years. But from 2003 to 2006 there have been almost 1100 suicide attacks, 56 per cent of them in Iraq .

Professor Hassan said the tactic was also on the rise in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan .

‘What we are seeing may be the tip of the iceberg and that is a very depressing prospect.’

Professor Hassan had originally intended to interview terrorist groups members - including leaders - for his research but was told that he would breach the Government’s anti-terrorism laws. The project, which received more than $800,000 from the Government, had to be recast.

However, the Adelaide academic still delved into the controversial area of what motivates people to take the extraordinary step to take their own life and kill innocent civilians in pursuit of a military or political objectives.

Source: www.smh.com.au/news/national/suicide-bombings-are-effective—so-expect-more/2007/08/14/1186857512096.html

How to be a Jihadi: Taliban’s Training Secrets (back)

August 16, 2007

The Taliban has published its first military field manual detailing how to spring ambushes, run spies and conduct an insurgency against coalition forces in Afghanistan .

At 144 pages, Military Teachings - for the Preparation of Mujahideen, is a minutely detailed ‘how to’ book on subjects ranging from tactics and weapons to building training camps and spycraft.

The guide, which is similar in its aims to British and American military field manuals, was obtained by The Daily Telegraph from a source in Pakistan who claimed to be close to the Taliban. Its cover bears the image of two crossed swords and the Koran, the arms of the Taliban’s ousted government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

The book, written in the Pashto language, ‘will soon be made available to the commanders in Afghanistan as well as its adjacent tribal areas in Pakistan ‘, the source said. He added that copies of the manual had been circulated to the Pakistani tribal area of Bajaur. Its publication highlights the extent of the Taliban’s revival six years after it was deposed by a US-led invasion.

‘This is the first of its kind and shows a significant level of organisation,’ said Brigadier Mahmood Shah, a retired military intelligence officer who was in charge of security in the tribal areas.

Brig Shah said ‘soft’ Pakistani government policy towards the pro-Taliban militants had allowed them to flourish in the lawless ethnic Pashtun tribal areas that straddle the Afghan-Pakistani border.

Maulana Nek Zaman, an MP from North Waziristan , where security forces and local pro-Taliban militants are engaged in daily skirmishes, said the manual had a potentially large readership. ‘It is not a case of just Taliban who are fighting but all the tribes are resisting because they have been attacked,’ he said.

Last year the Taliban published a pocket-sized code of conduct which described suicide bombers as ‘Omar’s missiles’, referring to the Taliban’s spiritual leader, Mullah Omar. It laid out the rules of daily life including a ban on relations with young boys - an activity favoured by some Afghan fighters.

The military manual is divided into 10 chapters and appears to be the result of a collaboration between religious scholars and specialists in terrorist, logistical and intelligence tactics. It is illustrated with simple formulas for the preparation of explosives, pictures and diagrams of light and heavy weaponry, ammunition and communication equipment.

The bulk of the manual details basic military skills such as firing positions and how to use different weapons. It advises on how to carry out remotely controlled attacks on enemy vehicles, and shows how to strike aircraft and armoured vehicles by targeting weak points.

It shows with diagrams how to target vehicles passing through rough terrain at low speed and how telegraph poles and trees can be used to range in on a target.

It also explores methods of blowing up bridges, railway tracks and power and telephone lines.

Its preface sets out the Taliban’s justification for war: ‘In a situation where infidels and their crooks are ruling the world, it is the prime duty of all the Muslims to take arms and crush those who are bent upon crushing the Muslims throughout the world.

‘This is the best time to take on the usurpers and occupants of our holy land. They should be killed, slaughtered and destroyed.’

It sets out to convince women and children to join the Taliban with verses from the Koran.

‘In this situation the children are not bound to seek the permission of their parents; a woman should go to jihad without the permission of her husband, a slave without the permission of his master, a student without the permission of his teacher, could go to jihad. And this is totally applicable in the prevailing situation where the infidels have occupied the land of the Muslims in Afghanistan ,’ it states.

It addresses the question of prosecuting jihad without one’s ruler’s permission, making a veiled reference to Pakistan ‘s president, Gen Pervez Musharraf, and the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. ‘Islam does not allow a person, group or an entity to announce jihad, without the permission of the ruler of the day (Khalifa).’ However, it states ‘if a Khalifa is a puppet of the infidels, then there is no need to seek his permission for jihad.’

The manual also plays on the heightened Pashtun sense of virility. ‘Jihad is a man’s job. Those lacking qualities of being a man cannot do jihad.’

Military students are advised to run spy networks drawn from political prisoners, ‘criminals, especially murderers’, beggars, hairdressers and ‘international visitors - players, filmmakers, artists etc’.

‘Is it fair to slaughter enemy spies?’ it asks. The answer it gives, perhaps unsurprisingly, is yes.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/16/wtaliban116.xml

Hundreds of Saudi Suicide Bombers Languish in Iraqi Jails (back)

July 16, 2007

Hundreds of Saudis who sneaked into Iraq to carry out suicide bombing now languish in Iraqi jails, said Iraqi National Security Adviser Mufaq al-Rubaai.

He said 160 of them have already been sentenced and the rest are awaiting trial.

He did not specify the type of punishment, but Iraqi courts usually pass death sentences with regard to cases involving violence and resistance of U.S. and Iraqi troops.

Saudi Arabia is constructing a massive fence along its borders with Iraq to prevent its national crossing into the country.

Rabaai said many more Saudis who were used as ‘suicide bombers’ have died in Iraq .

Analysts say the Saudis make up the core of foreign fighters in Iraq and carry out most of the suicide bombings targeting U.S. troops and government forces.

Rabaai said Iraq and Saudi Arabia were coordinating efforts on how to check the flow of Saudi fighters into Iraq .

‘When these people receive their training in Iraq it is very likely that they will return to the (Saudi) Kingdom. Therefore we both are fighting them together,’ he said.

Rabaai made the remarks in Saudi Arabia where he is on a several-day visit aimed at bolstering security measures along the countries’ borders.

Source: www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-07-16\kurd1.htm

PROPAGANDA

The Saudi Press and Terror (back)

August 14, 2007

Recently the issue of Saudi citizens’ involvement in terror attacks around the world has entered the Saudi public discourse. Numerous reports indicate many Saudis are involved in terror activities in Iraq . The Los Angeles Times recently reported statements by a senior US military official and Iraqi parliament members claiming 45% of the foreign insurgents in Iraq are Saudis, not Syrians or Iranians.

Major General Abd-al-Karim Khalaf, director of the National Command Center at the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, recently reported to Saudi daily al-Watan on the arrest of some 70 Saudi civilians who came to Iraq . ‘Most of the arrested Saudis confessed during interrogations that they arrived in Iraq after being influenced by religious rulings of clerics, calling for armed action in Iraq,’ he said.

There are also reports implicating Saudis in the terror incidents in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in North Lebanon . According to the Lebanese security forces 30% of the Fatah al-Islam members fighting the Lebanese Army are Saudis. Furthermore, there have been reports of Saudis killed or arrested during the fighting, and some of them have already been extradited to Saudi Arabia . For example one of the combatants, Abdullah al-Bishi, a former Al Qaeda member from Saudi Arabia , reportedly came to Lebanon via Iran in order to join Fatah al-Islam. The Saudi Minister of the Interior, the Emir Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz, expressed his hopes for coordination with the Lebanese government over the matter of the arrested Saudis in Lebanon . There have also been reports of Lebanese radicals coming to Saudi Arabia to recruit terrorists.

Saudis have also been arrested in Syria and Jordan . On July 8, 2007, the Saudi National Human Rights Association sent a committee to examine the conditions of the Saudis arrested in Syria , Jordan and Lebanon . Dr. Zahir bin Fahd al-Harthi, a council member of the Saudi National Human Rights Association and its official spokesperson, reported there are 73 Saudis imprisoned in Jordan . Among the prisoners, he said, was Fahd al-Fahiki, a follower of Takfir ideology who is serving a life sentence.

Moreover, a diplomatic source reported to the Lebanese news agency Al Markazia that as a precondition to dialogue between the two countries Saudi Arabia demanded that Syria extradite 980 Saudi members of Al Qaeda, who are in one of the refugee camps in central Syria near the border with Lebanon .

Following these reports, and given the recent events in Lebanon , the Saudi press has expressed criticism over the involvement of Saudi youths in terror attacks around the globe, particularly in Iraq and Lebanon . A few columnists claimed that the fact so many Saudis are involved in global terror has become a real problem that can no longer be ignored. Others blamed Saudi Arabia for being unaware of the Saudis presence in Lebanon . It was further claimed that Iran and Syria are responsible for training Saudis into terrorists and sending them to Iraq and Lebanon . Below are excerpts from a few of these columns.

Saudis Involved in Terror Around the World

Jamil al-Dayyadi, a columnist and editor of Saudi daily Al Hayat, wrote in the London daily, Al Hayat, ‘I was not surprised that…the commander of terror attacks in Chechnya was a Saudi [or that] reports concerning the investigations of the latest round of explosions and terror attacks in London [say] some of those involved were doctors of Saudi origin, and that some of them lived in Saudi Arabia for many years. In the suicide bombings against Spanish tourists in Yemen as well, the blame was placed on a Saudi, judging by the statements of Yemen ‘s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh. This in addition to [Saudi] Mansur al-Kabur, who went searching for Heaven in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon by detonating himself…

‘All these reports pose us a question we keep repeating: Why have Saudis become the common element in terror attacks and perpetual members…in all terror organizations? …Young Saudis burn in Iraq , Somalia , Lebanon and in the past also in Afghanistan , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Sudan and other places and countries. [Saudi youngsters] constantly provide fuel sources in all extremist conflagrations…

‘Why are the young Saudis trying to change the world with radical terrorist thought and spreading death everywhere? Why do they force the world to see the Saudis as people who will only explode everywhere?...Surely there are opportunities afforded Saudi youths, in line with the economic, social, academic and political reality in Saudi Arabia, which train them to protect their nature and their tolerant self…yet they still serve as easy prey for terror organizations and a generous and renewable source of suicide bombers for these organizations, to send them into the hubs of lethal conflagrations.. What justification is there for the Saudis continued embrace of radical terrorist thought?’

Similar words were written by the Saudi liberal Mashri al-Dayyadi, in an article in the London daily al-Sharq al-Awsat: ‘We know there are fundamentalists who stick their noses where they do not belong and that many of them are not Saudi, such as the Jordanian al-Zarqawi, the Egyptian Abu Hamza al-Mahajr, the Syrian Abu Musab…yet we can not deny that there is a large Saudi presence in the terrorist conflagrations everywhere. Were not 15 of the 19 terrorists responsible for September 11 Saudis? And in Iraq , do we not hear every day, or so it seems, of a Saudi belonging to Al Qaeda, or put on trial for being a member of Al Qaeda, or arrested for participation in fundamentalist military action?

‘We cannot close our eyes to these facts, or ignore them. There is a ‘problem’ that makes the recruitment of Saudi youngsters and their entanglement in all the world’s problems into an easy task. This, of course, after the fundamentalist mark is imprinted, and after transforming every political crisis in the world into a battle demanding men who swear fealty to death, and there are many of those…Did not some of the clerics in Saudi Arabia say clearly and gently that Bin Laden is a ‘mujathid who erred?’ As if this Bin Laden did not burn the Islamic world and caused it to retreat a few centuries back…’

Iranand Syria Guilty of Training Saudis to Become Terrorists

Abd al-Rahman al-Rashid, former editor of the London al-Sharq al-Awsat and CEO of Al Arabiya channel, blamed Iran and Syria for training Saudis in terror. In an article in al-Sharq al-Awsat, al-Rashid writes: ‘It is odd that the Saudi ambassador to Pakistan announced that there were no Saudis among the Red Mosque fighters. It might be he said the words and placed his hand to his heart fearing he was wrong. The reason for this is that the Saudis constitute the majority of the fighters in the battles of radicals around the world…

‘Since September 11, the question has been asked: Are the Saudis aware that they have become a global problem…? They are not aware due to continued denial and the improvised protection from outside accusations. The Saudis are always the targets of reproof, and they attribute the crimes to traditional Saudi fundamentalism, despite it having no ties with terror. This is because one of its foundations is leaving political matters to the ruler, i.e. the state. But ‘Saudi Radicalism’ today is a new creature – pure Salafism, alongside a rebellious political approach imported from outside, more specifically from the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria , Egypt and Jordan …

‘Although Saudi Arabia is the primary country fighting radicals and lawbreakers, including its own civilians, Iran , which sanctions terror and finances it, has no civilians fighting abroad. Iran and Syria are blamed for training Saudis and sending them to Iraq and now to Lebanon as well, and all the terror organizations are seeking a war that would capture Saudis ready to fight. Why the Saudis? Because they are prepared, mentally and politically, like time bombs as a service and part of the game played by organizations with extremely dangerous political plans. We must examine and investigate why the Saudi has become willing to die for a problem he knows nothing about.’

Islamic Websites Target Only Saudi Youths

Columnist Abdullah Bin Bahit writes in the Saudi daily Al Jazeera: ‘The famous Islamic websites aid in planting the idea of jihad and cultivating it within the young, and also provide it a framework. Other websites equip the youths with news about jihad, while still others act to construct the image of the enemy, defining it and setting the combat arena. Furthermore, there are websites distributing Islamic anthems and religious lectures in order to complete the ideological and mental preparation [for jihad].

‘The interesting part of this system is that it mostly targets the [Saudi] Kingdom and Saudi youths. These websites would not have gone up had they not known there were thousands of Saudi youths thirsty for ideology and awaiting it. These websites do not target Syrian youths, or youth from the Persian Gulf or Malaysia , or Muslim youths anywhere else. [Likewise, these websites] do not incite other governments and their leadership. They focus only on the [Saudi] Kingdom and Saudi young men. This explains why the common element to terror activities worldwide is [that their perpetrators] are Saudi youths.’

Saudi Youths Willing to Commit Suicide Quickly and Cheaply

Columnist Fars Bin Hazam writes in the Saudi daily al-Riyadh: ‘The presence of 300 Saudis in Lebanon does not mean the number of foreigners in it reached 1,000, because the quality of activists present there was chosen carefully for a number of reasons. One of them is the willingness of Saudi young men to commit suicide quickly and cheaply, more than other Arab youths. Al Qaeda and Fatah al-Islam planned to execute a large number of suicide bombings against civilians, hotels, places of worship, governmental and diplomatic institutions and specifically against the Saudi embassy in Lebanon…’

Saudi Arabiais to Blame for its Ignorance of the Saudis Presence in Lebanon

Columnist Abdullah Nasr al-Fusan criticizes the Saudi embassy in Lebanon for not even knowing about the presence of Saudi fighters in Lebanon . In a column in the Saudi daily Al Watan under the headline ‘Does Our Embassy in Lebanon Have no Eyes?’ al-Fusan writes: ‘We were surprised by what occurred just as our embassy in Beirut was surprised. Furthermore, our security forces were surprised by the announcement purporting that our civilians suddenly appeared in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp alongside the Fatah al-Islam gang, after conflict erupted between it and the Lebanese army…

‘Had Nahr al-Bared been in Syria , we would forgive our embassy there and say that the harsh winds might have caused it an eye infection. Had it been located in Iraq , we would have said the insurgencies there blinded us. Had it been in Somalia or other similar countries, we might have sought justification for our embassies. But how can we forgive our embassy in Lebanon ? That same country where our ambassador tours day and night, and every senior or not-so-senior Lebanese official, including opposition leaders, receives him with open arms…

‘We cannot ask the [Saudi] embassy [in Lebanon] to be briefed on all the Saudis entering Lebanon and leaving it… neither can we ask it to know about all the Saudis entering Lebanon without passports or other identification…But it cannot be absolved for being unaware of the presence of all these Saudis in the nests, whose stench has been reeking for a number of months…’

Source: www.omedia.org/Show_Article.asp?DynamicContentID=2519&MenuID=729&ThreadID=1014017

http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=mideast&item=070818104305.lg61cjoc.php

18/08/2007 10:43 ANKARA, Aug 18 (AFP)
Hijackers of Turkish plane of Turkish, Syrian nationality: official

Two men who hijacked a Turkish passenger plane Saturday and later surrendered are of Turkish and Syrian nationality, Turkish Interior Minister Osman Gunes said.

“One of them, Mehmet Resat Ozlu, is a citizen of the Turkish Republic. The other... holds a Syrian passport, but is probably a person of Palestinian origin,” he said.

The authorities were continuing to examine their ID documents, he added.

http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=mideast&item=070819111858.sm7clb3d.php

19/08/2007 11:18 TEHRAN, Aug 19 (AFP)
Sacked Iran minister warns of energy ‘catastrophe’

Iran’s sacked oil minister has issued a parting warning to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, predicting a looming “catastrophe” in the Iranian energy sector because of high consumption, media reported Sunday.

“If we do not find a solution to the energy problem in the next 15 years, the country will face a catastrophe,” Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh was quoted as saying at his farewell ceremony late on Saturday by the ISNA student news agency.

“I am ready to prove that if the fuel situation continues along current trends we will face an energy crisis in the future,” he said. “The current pattern of consumption is a disaster for the country.”

The comments by Vaziri Hamaneh, who also revealed for the first time that he was sacked in a cabinet reshuffle last week, are a stark warning about the energy problems of a country rich in natural resources.

Iran is OPEC’s number two crude oil producer and is also pinning major hopes on its gas reserves, estimated to be the second largest proven reserves in the world after Russia.

But frenzied consumption of petrol forces it to import millions of litres per day of refined oil to make up for a domestic shortfall. Wasteful heating methods also create gas shortages in winter.

The government introduced petrol rationing in June in a bid to ease the immense strain on the budget of importing petrol for Iran’s 70 million people, but it is still forced to import huge quantities of petrol daily.

A further problem comes from under-investment in its oil fields, an issue compounded by US action to prevent banks lending to Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.

The influential research centre of parliament also sounded a downbeat note on the future of Iran’s gas industry, saying that exports would not be possible in the next 10 years given the scale of domestic consumption.

“It seems that for at least the next 10 years there will not be any extra gas for export. Iran is advised to remove gas export from the country’s policy due to the limited production capacity,” it said.

Turkey is currently the only recipient of Iranian gas exports, receiving several billion cubic metres annually.

But Iran is seeking to export large quantities of gas to Turkey and other countries in the Middle East, as well as to India and Pakistan through new pipelines.

Vaziri Hamaneh confirmed for the first time that he was sacked in the reshuffle, which also saw the departure of Industry Minister Alireza Tahmasebi and was seen as a bid by Ahmadinejad to step up his control over the economy.

“I did not resign, because I still have the ability to work. Anyone who has the ability to work will not resign,” Vaziri Hamaneh said, according to the Mehr news agency.

“Sacking me from the ministry was the president’s idea, and I obliged,” he added.

Vaziri Hamaneh is a veteran oil ministry official who was Ahmadinejad’s fourth choice for the post when he took power in 2005. Two candidates were rejected by parliament and another stepped back of his own accord.

He complained that in the “two years of Ahmadinejad’s government, oil managers had been forced to pay for all mistakes made in the past.

“And I say here if these group’s pressures are not stopped, the industry and the country will face crisis.”

Tahmasebi also launched a stinging attack on Ahmadinejad’s economic policies in his resignation letter, complaining of under-investment and damaging personnel changes.

Mob lays siege to police station
A police station in Norfolk came under siege in the early hours when a group of about 100 people hurled beer and wine bottles at the building.

The attack in Great Yarmouth happened after police arrested three people in a van carrying sound equipment.

Police later broke up an “unlicensed music event” at an industrial estate.

Ch Supt Bob Scully said the arrested people were not involved in the police station attack, but they were linking the two incidents.

‘Serious risk’

The attack was declared a major incident by Norfolk Police and Ch Supt Scully said: “We acted swiftly to control the situation and restore order.

“What occurred was entirely unacceptable and inexcusable. This was large scale anti-social behaviour and officers dealing with the incident were put at serious risk.

“It is behaviour that won’t be tolerated.”

Police said they broke up the “unlicensed music event” at a warehouse on the Harfrey industrial estate on the outskirts of the resort just before midday.

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Published: 2007/08/19 11:24:30 GMT

Fighting fakes in a virtual world
By Simon Atkinson
Business Reporter, BBC News

Take a trip to an inner-city market stall and there’s a good chance that you will be able to pick up a watch or a pair of sunglasses, being passed off as made by Rolex or Oakley.

The goods will invariably be cheap and, almost certainly, bootleg - or fake - versions of the real thing.

Now go on a shopping spree in the virtual world of Second Life - the 3D world populated by on-screen representations (avatars) of real life people, and you will see a similar phenomenon.

Here, the possessions don’t physically exist. They are computer-generated adornments for your avatar, in the game.

But products like these are appearing - often without the permission of the brand owner.

Legal presence

The design of Second Life means that players, or rather residents, can make and sell goods in exchange for the world’s currency, the Linden Dollar, which has an exchange rate with the US dollar.

Currently $1 will buy about 240 Linden Dollars.

And commerce is booming, with transactions worth about $1.5m in real money taking place every day.

Firms are clamouring to get involved with more than 100 big brand names having a presence - from Coca-Cola and Microsoft to BMW and the fashion designer Jean-Paul Gautier - as well as thousands of smaller traders.

But when they do get on board, some are finding that their intellectual property (IP) - typically brands and content they own - are already there.

So perhaps it is inevitable that one of Second Life’s newest residents is a UK law firm.

Rip-offs

Inside the virtual world, visitors to the swish offices of Field Fisher Waterhouse see floor-to-ceiling glass windows, fish tanks built into the walls and can-meet representatives of the firm.

In part, it sees its arrival as another means of promoting the firm and attracting potential employees. And by hosting a real-world, real-time conference in its virtual office, attendees from around the world can participate, all at little cost.

But, says partner David Naylor, it is also positioning itself to drum up some business - advising on legal matters which crop up in the virtual world.

“Second Life’s technology makes it as easy for users to create infringing contents and assets as it is to create original, non-infringing items.”

SECOND LIFE FACTS
Registered users; 8.7m
Active users: 1.7m
Amount spent a day: $1.5m
Source: Linden Labs

“Often the people buying it won’t be able to tell it is a rip-off and probably don’t care. But the sellers are cashing in on the goodwill that has been built up in the real world by these brands for their own gain.

“It’s a frontier-like environment and the economics of piracy-related activities are too compelling for some.”

While nothing is certain in the rapidly developing environment of the virtual world, Mr Naylor feels it is inevitable that the situation will come to a head at some stage.

“Given the increasing amounts at stake, the real question might not be whether we see IP infringement-related actions brought in connection with virtual world activities, but how will they play out,” he says.

Setting bad example

A Second Life resident himself, Mr Naylor’s avatar is called Solomon Cortes, a dapper chap, whose wardrobe includes a smart suit he bought in-world to customise his appearance.

There is little to stop an offender creating another avatar - or character - and start infringing again
David Naylor, Field Fisher Waterhouse

While his clothes have come from “official” outlets, not all people who should know better are so scrupulous.

“There are some companies, even quite high profile ones, which have created virtual replicas of real world buildings or deck out their Second Life offices with designs, artwork and virtual furniture which are blatantly infringing copyright,” he says.

“So when you consider that even they are doing it, it’s no wonder there’s a problem.”

Second Life has about 8.7 million users worldwide - though only about 1.7 million have accounts used in the past three months.

Many regularly spend a few Linden Dollars on things which boost their enjoyment of the environment from trips to a casino to replica football kits.

Users can also buy vehicles as a means of travelling around Second Life.

These include cars, sold by dealerships set up by real-life motor firms. Other sellers flog unauthorised versions of the same cars.

Buying something branded without the authorisation of the company concerned not only means it misses out on revenue - but - Mr Naylor argues leaves them open to damaged reputation.

In the case of Mercedes, the firm has built a race track where users can test drive its latest models.

“They will have spent a lot of time and money on doing that,” Mr Naylor says.

“If someone comes along with a fake Mercedes car which does not work well or looks like an old version of a vehicle, or underperforms against Mercedes own virtual cars, then you can see why the company might be unhappy.”

Cinema sessions

As more businesses move in to the virtual environment, it is also becoming increasingly possible to buy real world goods from Second Life’s virtual stores.

Dell, for example, allows users to customise a PC within the virtual world and have the real thing delivered to their doorstep.

“That this is happening makes protecting your brand in-world even more important,” Mr Naylor argues.

Many firms already anxious about IP abuse in the virtual world are already facing the situation elsewhere on the internet.

While music and film companies battle against illegal downloading and the plethora of their copyrighted material on websites such as YouTube, Second Life is equally full of such content.

A visit to in-world cinemas will allow you to watch releases including the Latest Pirates of the Caribbean film to The Simpsons movie, while the bars play hits from Rhianna to the Rolling Stones.

However despite what seem to be legitimate legal concerns - and the presence of lawyers such as Mr Naylor - it is not always clear what action, can be taken. not least because avatars mean that real identities are kept secret

“Finding out who is behind illegal practices could be a drawn out process, potential requiring legal action forcing the identity of the perpetrators to be revealed,” Mr Naylor adds.

“And even if successful, there is little to stop an offender creating another avatar - or character - and start infringing again.”

Then there is the problem of establishing under which jurisdiction the offence is committed.

Is it in the country where the perpetrator is based? Or perhaps in San Francisco where the Linden Labs’ servers are located?

Despite the difficulties, Mr Naylor feels that there will become a need for advice to be offered to those firms which choose to get involved in virtual worlds.

This could range from what rights you have over land in-world to the employment law implications of hiring another resident in your virtual business.

“There are definitely risks for firms which get involved in virtual worlds, but there also great opportunities too.”
Story from BBC NEWS:
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Published: 2007/08/18 00:37:23 GMT

Nafta trade talks likely to stall
Analysis
By Steve Schifferes
Economics reporter, BBC News

As the three leaders of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) meet in Canada, they face growing protectionist pressures at home.

US President George Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mexican President Felipe Calderon will meet Monday at a Quebec resort complex.

But their plans to expand and deepen the trade deal are under attack from activists, trade unionists and farmers.

The fiercest attacks have come from US Democrats as the 2008 election looms.

Mass demonstrations

The mood is very different from the early years of the Bush administration, when the president journeyed to Quebec to push for a Free Trade Area of the Americas, stretching from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in Argentina and rivalling the EU in size.

NAFTA FACTS
Started in 1994
Allows free trade between US, Canada and Mexico
Trade between partners grew at over 10% per year
Side agreements regulate environment, labour
Critics say 1m US manufacturing jobs were lost

But now the pressure is on Nafta, which accounts for $700bn in cross-border trade and investment, and which Mr Bush has made the cornerstone of a Security and Prosperity Partnership with his two Nafta partners.

Thousands of anti-globalisation protesters are expected to converge on the summit at the weekend, although the police have established a 25km security cordon around the site.

Union worries

All the Democratic presidential candidates condemned the Nafta trade deal as unfair to workers at a rally last week organised by the US trade union federation, the AFL-CIO.

Nafta and the way it has been implemented has hurt a lot of US workers
Senator Hillary Clinton

Even Hillary Clinton, whose husband Bill Clinton played a key role in getting Congress to pass the Nafta deal in 1993, expressed scepticism about whether US workers benefited from free trade deals.

“Nafta and the way it has been implemented has hurt a lot of US workers. So clearly we have to have a broad reform in how we approach trade,” she told 17,000 union workers at Soldiers Field in Chicago.

Barack Obama, Hillary’s main rival for the Democratic nomination for president, said US trade agreements had tilted against workers, because “corporate lobbyists” had too much influence.

US unions, who will have a strong influence on the Democratic primaries, have long held that unfair free trade deals with countries without strong labour laws have cost US workers their jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector.

Nafta, Cafta, Afta...

Despite the rhetoric, the Democrats are unlikely to roll back the 13-year old Nafta treaty completely.

But their approach could lead to more aggressive US enforcement.

And their opposition is affecting the prospects of other trade deals being implemented.

Even small-scale trade deals with individual Latin American countries are in trouble, after Democrats insisted that countries which sign free trade deals with the US must introduce tough labour laws.

The Andean Pact free trade deal, which includes Colombia and Peru, is being blocked by Congressional Democrats, although the deal with Peru may survive if the government passes a new labour code.

Gary Hufbauer, of the Peterson Institute for International Affairs, said the approach smacked of a new imperialism which involved “bullying Latin America”, was “heavy-handed” and gave fodder to populist regional leaders.

And the Central America Free Trade Agreement, which passed Congress by just two votes in 2005, is also in their spotlight.

Mexican woes

It is not just in the US that there is unease about regional economic co-operation.

In Mexico, where Felipe Calderon won a narrow victory against a populist opponent last year, the costs as well as the benefits of Nafta are evident.

Mr Calderon desperately wants an immigration deal with the US to improve the rights of the millions of Mexican immigrants who have flooded across the border for a better life, despite the promise of Nafta.

But despite Mr Bush’s efforts, the US Congress rejected his immigration reform plans.

At home, Mr Calderon also faces opposition from farmers to the imminent opening-up of the politically sensitive maize sector to corn imports from the US, which, it is feared, could wipe out the livelihood of many in rural areas.

Blame Canada?

Even in Canada, which has gained enormously from being able to export its raw materials freely to the US, there is frustration over the aggressive US enforcement of the trade deal.

One point of friction has been Canada’s exports of softwood timber to the US housing market.

The US has long claimed that the Canadian government, which owns much of the land on which the timber was harvested, was giving its firms an unfair subsidy by not charging them enough for the right to cut down the trees.

Despite several rulings in both Nafta and the World Trade Organisation, the US has continued to pursue the matter for several years, and it is now likely to go to another arbitration court.

Canadians are worried about growing protectionist pressures in the US, and their mood has not been improved by the tight security regulations implemented in regard to cross-border travel.

World trade

The US domestic pressures come at a time when the world trade talks have stalled, not least because the US Congress has refused to extend the Bush administration’s trade promotion authority.

Without that extension, trade deals negotiated by the president can then be amended piecemeal by Congress.

The growing tensions over trade and immigration could also weaken the US position in Latin America, which is already under challenge from rival ideologies.

And the protectionist pressures are likely to strengthen as the US presidential election approaches in November 2008, particularly since many of the key battleground states are in the highly industrialised Mid-West.

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Published: 2007/08/18 00:41:09 GMT

Safety work at fire-ravaged hotel
Construction crews are working to make safe a seaside hotel gutted by fire as search teams wait to begin looking for two people still missing.

A man died and five people were hurt in the blaze at the Penhallow Hotel in Newquay, Cornwall, on Saturday morning.

Police said they believed the dead man, who was 43, had fallen from a second-floor window of the hotel.

Two other people who were reported missing after the fire have presented themselves to police in Newquay.

Supt John Green said the fire was still smouldering and no-one could begin searching until it was completely out.

“There’s still smoke issuing from what remains of the Penhallow Hotel and therefore it is still a fire,” he told BBC News 24.

He said search teams hoped to gain access to the scene by Sunday afternoon.

More than 80 people safely escaped from the building, but there are fears for those still missing.

HOTEL FIRE HELPLINE
Holdsworth Hotels has set up a helpline for anyone concerned about a friend or relative on 01254 889 900

Chief Constable Stephen Otter said: “The longer we go on the more concerned we become for the welfare of those people.”

Four people are still in hospital and one, an elderly woman, is critical, but her condition is improving.

Clearing debris

John McMillan, a director at Holdsworth Hotels which owns the Penhallow, said the company was “shocked and saddened” at what had happened.

He said the health and safety of guests was of “paramount concern” and that he was confident the evacuation of the hotel had gone “to plan”.

“A fire marshal was appointed for each floor and I am confident the staff did their job and it worked as well as possible,” Mr McMillan added.

On Sunday morning, Supt Green said teams were beginning to clear rubble from the road beside the hotel.

Hotel demolished

“We will then start pulling debris from the scene. We hope to have screens up and to get in by early afternoon,” he continued.

“There will be two teams of fire and police investigators. The fire investigators will look for the cause of the fire and the police will look for evidence linked to any cause of death and any bodies that may be in there.”

Anyone who was in the building at the time of collapse was unlikely to have survived, Supt Green added.

Earlier, specialist demolition crews pulled down the precarious upper floors of the four-storey hotel.

Wooden fire escape

Cornwall Fire Brigade chief officer Matt Littmoden said there had been a timber fire escape at the rear of the hotel.

He said there had been issues over the “structural integrity” of the fire escape, but no concerns over the fact it was made of wood.

The fire escape had last passed a safety inspection in 2006. The hotel’s owners said smoke detectors and fire doors had been checked two weeks ago.

Police said a burglary took place the evening before the fire, but they were not currently linking the two events.

They are keen to talk to any potential witnesses of the burglary which happened shortly after 1900 BST on Friday.

Devon and Cornwall emergency services said that when the fire broke out at 0015 BST, the hotel was close to capacity with 86 guests, three members of staff and a coach driver in the building.

And Supt Green said assistance was drawn from a wide area to tackle the blaze.

“We live in a very rural part of the world. With its own beauty comes the fact that resources can be dispersed across the 1,400 square miles of Cornwall,” Mr Green said.

Some guests from the hotel were cared for at the nearby Reef Surf Lodge and a sports hall while more than 70 are returning to their homes in north-west England.

Floral tributes have been placed near the hotel. One read: “In tragic circumstances such as these all I can offer is my personal sympathy and condolences for everyone who is affected by this terrible event.”

The Penhallow is used regularly by Robinsons Holidays, a family-run tour operator based in Lancashire. Robinsons and Holdsworth Hotels are owned by the same parent company, O&C Holdsworth.

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Published: 2007/08/19 12:10:08 GMT

‘Acid attack’ on Tamil journalist
A Tamil journalist has been attacked with acid in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, a media rights group has said.

KP Mohan was attacked as he left hospital where he was undergoing treatment after an assault by soldiers in June, the Free Media Movement said.

Sri Lankan authorities are investigating the attack in June.

Media activists say that fighting between the army and the Tamil Tigers has made the country one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists.

Acid was thrown at Mr Mohan, defence reporter for Tamil daily newspaper Thinakkural, as he was leaving hospital where he had been treated for an elbow wound, the Free Media Movement said.

They said his condition was not known to be critical, but that the attack “will make all journalists think twice before any critical reporting.”

Fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels has intensified in recent months in the north and east of the island after the breakdown of a 2002 ceasefire.

More than 60,000 people have died since the rebels began fighting for an independent homeland in the 1970s.

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Published: 2007/08/16 15:01:44 GMT