Thanks to Milford421 for this report:
Suspicious mail creates HazMat incident - NJ
Similar incidents in NY (previous post) Financial
firms....Suspicious mail creates HazMat incident
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
PLAINSBORO — An administrative assistant with Munich- Reinsurance
America Inc. opened an envelope Monday morning and found a blank
greeting card and a plastic zip-closure bag filled with a white
powder, police said.
The envelope was addressed to the chief financial officer at the
company’s building at 555 College Road East.
Police were contacted along with the Middlesex County Hazardous
Materials Response Team, officials said.
The investigation revealed that the substance was corn starch. The
incident is under investigation.
http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-10/118775572698750.xml&coll=5
Thanks to Milford421 for this report:
Officer injured, downtown evacuated after ammonia gas leak in
Meridian
Click-2-Listen
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
By Emily Ingram
Tribune-Herald staff writer
MERIDIAN — Officials are investigating after clouds of noxious
ammonia gas shut down a Central Texas courthouse square Monday
morning.
Workers at the Bosque County Courthouse in Meridian, as well as
neighboring businesses and homes, were evacuated or shut down twice
in an hour as a food plant released the gas, said Dewey Ratliff,
Bosque County emergency management coordinator.
The gas came from a safety release valve on a refrigeration unit at
the Double B Foods company that “popped off” and released a “pretty
significant amount” of the gas into the air at about 8:30 a.m.,
Ratliff said.
The kolache-producing company is located across from the county
courthouse, on Meridian’s town square.
Officials scrambled to evacuate the area and closed people indoors
in a maneuver called “shelter in place,” he said.
The gas dissipated in 20 to 25 minutes, but after15 minutes of clear
air, another larger gas cloud was released from the plant, Ratliff
said.
A Bosque County Sheriff’s deputy suffered respiratory distress while
trying to evacuate the area and was taken to Goodall-Witcher
Hospital in Clifton, Ratliff said. He was treated and later released.
Officials allowed people back downtown about 30 minutes after the
second cloud of gas was released. Ratliff said there were no other
reports of hospitalizations from the gas as of Monday evening.
Everyone within a block of the company would have been agitated by
the gas, enough to have breathing issues, Ratliff said. Ammonia gas
is fatal in large amounts.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Environmental
Protection Agency were investigating the incident Monday evening,
Ratliff said. No citations had been issued.
Monday’s incident wasn’t the first time the gas has been released
into the air from the plant. Ratliff said in the three to four years
he has been in Meridian, ammonia gas has been released “at least a
half dozen” times.
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/08/21/08212007wacammonia.html
Thanks to Milford421 for this report:
Two exploding packages delivered in Canada.
Canada Free Press and the Northeast Intelligence Network are
following this case closely.
Full size image: PARCEL BOMB LABEL
Canada Free Press article
http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/Toronto082107
About 3 years ago, at Seattle, a fisherman, hooked and towed to dock a floating boat.
He thought that some fishermans small aluminum boat had broken its mooring line, the boat was a floating bomb, filled with explosives.
This was about the same time of the floating bombs, the alert was out, to NOT touch floating black trash bags [several in Louisiana] and floating styrofoam ice chests, it was summer and about now, or at least near our major holidays, as in July 4th.
as my memory stored the above.
granny]
Thanks to Milford 421 for this alert.
Suspicious Boat Reported by Ferry Crew Member on 8/18.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/snohomishcountynews/2003846877_bl
otter22n.html
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 - Page updated at 02:02 AM
Police report
Incidents from law-enforcement agencies around the county
Emonds County -
Saturday - August 18, 2007
“A Washington State ferry crew reported a suspicious boat near the
bottom of Main Street”.
Not the right one, but interesting:
Floating bombs all over the place:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13187-2004Jun28.html
FBI Warns That Terrorists May Use Floating Bombs
Reuters
Tuesday, June 29, 2004; Page A02
Homemade bombs and mines hidden in inner tubes or other harmless-looking flotsam may be bobbing in U.S. waters, a confidential FBI bulletin warned shortly before new anti-terror shipping laws take effect.
The FBI report, issued Wednesday and titled “Potential Indicators of Floating Improvised Explosive Devices or Terrorist Improvised Mines,” said the agency knew of no specific planned attack, an FBI official said yesterday. But he said the bulletin sought to warn local, state and federal authorities that such attacks could occur.
continued..........
What I want is not here, but there are lots of dead bodies floating in black plastic bags:
This is not the one that I recalled, but a 2000 report:
https://www.keysso.net/pio/crimereports/Year_2000/december2000.htm
December 26, 2000
Home made explosive device found aboard boat in Lower Keys
A homemade explosive device was found aboard a boat today on Rockland Key. The owners of the 24-foot open fisherman type boat called the Sheriff’s Office shortly after nine a.m., stating that their boat was missing from a docking area on Big Coppitt Key. While they were filing a report with Deputy Genie Hernandez about the missing boat, they spotted the boat across the bay on nearby Rockland Key. Apparently, after it was set adrift, another boater had spotted the vessel floating unattended and towed it in. The owners went aboard to inspect it with Sheriff’s Deputies when they noticed that a liquid-filled plastic jug with attached wires and some type of timing device had been placed near the boat’s forward console.
The Deputies called for Sheriff’s bomb squad technician, Sgt. Bobby Randolph. After inspecting the device, Sgt. Randolph determined that the explosive device consisted of a plastic jug of gasoline that had been wired with a timing device. Sgt. Randolph said that the timing device itself had ignited, but it failed to cause the gasoline to explode. Randolph said that someone had definitely tried to fire bomb the boat. The device was safely removed from the boat. The case is under investigation. Anyone with information should call the Sheriff’s Office at 296-2424. Anonymous calls can be made to the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-346-TIPS. Crime Stoppers will pay cash for information leading to an arrest in this case.
from this search:
A 1952 report on UFO’s, I see Russia and lots more, should be very interesting, it is from declassified papers and may be what my brother was talking about having see in Alaska:
http://www.cufon.org/cufon/5004aiss.htm
http://www.keysso.net/pio/crimereports/year_2007/august_2007.htm
August 19, 2007
Detective arrests two after USCG pursuit of migrant smugglers
Lower Keys - Sheriff’s detectives arrested two men after they fled from the U.S. Coast Guard Friday with 19 Cuban migrants on board their go fast boat.
According to Detective Paul Schultz, the Coast Guard was notified by the Cuban Government at 4:30 a.m. Friday of a go fast type boat headed northbound from Cuba with possible Cuban migrants on board. The Coast Guard was able to locate the vessel and launched a boat and a helicopter to intercept it. The 33 foot 2007 Avanti with twin 275 horsepower Mercury engines was located, headed for the Marquesas and the Coast Guard attempted to stop it using the lights and siren on it’s pursuit vessel. The boat refused to stop.
Visible on board the boat were a number of passengers that reportedly appeared to be Cuban migrants. The operators of the boat, later identified as 26 year old Yudel Armada of Hialeah and 23 year old Dariel Sanchez of Homestead, refused to stop. Instead, they continued to flee at speeds reaching 45 knots. Several times during the pursuit, the suspects attempted to ram the Coast Guard vessel, one time actually hitting it.
Because of the extreme danger to both the passengers on the fleeing boat and the crew on the Coast Guard vessel, Detective Schultz said the Coast Guard finally had to fire a weapon into the starboard engine of the go-fast, bringing it to a stop. Sanchez and Armada were both taken into custody and were taken to U.S. Coast Guard station Key West. The Sheriff’s Office was notified and responded, arresting the two men for fleeing and eluding police, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and reckless operation of a vessel and they were booked into the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island.
According to Detective Schultz, the Coast Guard took custody of the 19 Cuban migrants, who will reportedly be repatriated to Cuba. No one was reported to be injured during the incident.
http://www.keysso.net/pio/crimereports/year_2007/august_2007.htm
August 14, 2007
Inmate escapes from Marathon jail
Escaped Inmate 22 year old Naoul Senat. Click photo for a larger version
Marathon - An inmate, being held in the Marathon jail on drug charges, escaped by climbing over a fence today.
22 year old Senat Naoul was arrested by Key West Police in June on drug charges, and was subsequently charged with violation of probation. Investigations have revealed just before 9 a.m. today he placed two chairs up against an outer fence at the Marathon jail and climbed over the fence. He was last seen wearing blue jail pants and a white t-shirt. He is described as a black male, five foot seven inches tall, 130 pounds with short black hair. He is originally from Haiti but his last known address is at 3920 South Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West. Jail officials say they will be investigating the circumstances of the escape.
Detectives are investigating. A notice to be on the lookout for him has been sent out to all law enforcement agencies in our region.
Anyone with information about Senat, or his whereabouts, should call the Sheriff’s Office or call Crime Stoppers of the Florida Keys. Callers to Crime Stoppers may remain anonymous and are eligible for a cash reward if their information leads to an arrest. The Crime Stoppers hot line number is 1-800-346-TIPS.
Our history lessons for today, so full of information, you will want to weep...............keep reading, as it is a collection of articles:
Vets refuse to forgive Kerry for antiwar acts
Washington Times ^ | February 20, 2004 | By Charles Hurt
Posted on 09/07/2004 1:24:21 PM PDT by Calpernia
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1209454/posts
Posted on 08/22/2007 1:26:32 PM PDT by Fedora
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1884984/posts?page=15
[2006]
Zetas break silence
Tuesday , June 06, 2006 Posted: 08:18 PM
Related Stories:
Tuesday , June 06, 2006
Valley warning
WESLACO - They are one of the deadliest gangs working along the U.S.-Mexico border. They admit to causing terror in Mexico and say they’re busy in America. They are known as Los Zetas, and they sat down to speak with NEWSCHANNEL 5.
Along the Rio Grande, there are secrets. Secrets of kidnapping, murder and violence. It is that violence against the innocent that caused two members of the Zetas to come forward.
The meet was arranged by an individual who wished to remain anonymous. We met our contact at a restaurant, then it was off to rent a cheap motel room. Once there, the Zetas soon followed.
Both men, who will be identified simply as Zeta-1 and Zeta-2 confirmed they were members of the violent gang of former Mexican soldiers who now work for the Gulf Cartel. Their boss is the infamous Osiel Cardenas Guillen.
“Zetas are an armed group,” said Zeta-1 in Spanish. “They pick up any people. They kill them. They kidnap them. They rob their houses. They find away to make people disappear.”
The center of Zeta activity, the “stronghold,” is the town of Carmago, Mexico, right across the river from Rio Grande City in Starr County. The men in the room say at least 50 of them are there, in a secluded compound, plotting their next move.
It’s the same in other Mexican border cities like Reynosa, Miguel Aleman, and the violence-plagued Nuevo Laredo.
“They figure how they are going to kill,” Zeta-1 said. “Burn(ing) in containers of diesel. They can dismember and put you in concrete containers. They toss you in the river, and you never see your family again.”
Zeta-1 says he has killed people.
The motivation for these men, according to Zeta-2, is simple: money.
“I was in the military. I was a soldier,” he said.
Zeta-2 was a soldier, trained by U.S. Special Forces to protect his country. Now, he is running with drug traffickers.
“They (Zetas) offered me a lot of money,” Zeta-2 said. “While in the military they don’t pay much. With that, I decided to work with them.”
The military training comes in handy with the arms the Zetas carry, including 9mm weapons and infared technology - all parts of an armory equivalent to an American SWAT team. Drug money pays for it all.
The Zeta arsenal could make the group attractive to other groups, like al-Qaeda or the Mara Salvatruchas. When asked about their ties to terror groups, Zeta-1 said he would “not respond very well if they have any relations with terrorists.”
But, he did acknowledge a tie with the MS-13.
“”They don’t work together. But there are some of the Maras inside the organization.”
While the Zetas are a problem for Mexican police, they also claim to work with drug dealers in the United States. Their work includes cold-blooded killings. They told us they knew of a hit on two men outside a Rio Grande City restaurant, and the murder of two men watching a cock-fight in Starr County.
“They cross the river. They do the job over here,” Zeta-1 said. “They kill. They pick up - they make people disappear, and they come back to the Mexican side. That’s why police never find them.”
But it is also innocents who get targeted.
“Whatever person,” Zeta-2 said. “Whatever person has money. Rich people that have money. They get them. They pick them up and take their money.”
And the pursuit of money knows no bounds - even the ice cream man is a target. The Zetas claim there is no place to hide in Mexico.
“The municipal police, the state police, the ministerial police, the police of the state,” Zeta-1 said. “The soldiers and the federal preventive police. The military on the border. They are bought by the Zetas.”
The Zeta’s tools even include uniforms given by the police themselves. Another tool is torture. It was the torture of the innocent that caused Zeta-1 to break the code of silence.
“I talked about a short time ago, there is a tiger that they put live people in with to get information,” he said. “Once they get the information. All the information they get - after this throw them to the tiger to eat them up. They never find their body.”
“I realized these are many injustices that they are committing,” he added.
These two members of the Zeta army also have a warning for American law enforcement: They are here, with cells operating in Roma, Rio Grande City and Mission - and more are coming.
“It’s is not a lie,” Zeta-2 said. “They need to check good, because it is true.”
http://www.newschannel5.tv/2006/5/22/7820/Zetas-break-silence
[2006]
Al Qaeda Leader: Materials Smuggled Across Border
Thursday , November 02, 2006 Posted: 10:31 PM
NEWSCHANNEL 5 Investigation
Related Stories:
Friday , May 11, 2007
New Terror Trend
Terrorists trying to blend in with Mexican culture
A NEWSCHANNEL 5 investigation reveals what the feds don’t want you to know. Suspected terrorists are hiding inside the U.S. and they got here by sneaking across the Mexican border.
What we’ve been reporting for more than a year has been confirmed by a government report just released. (Click here to download the report.)
And a brand new interview by Pakistani investigative reporter Hamid Mir is bringing in more information.
Mir has interviewed some of America’s most dangerous terrorist enemies. This time the Al Qaeda commander he talked to gave a grim warning that another attack on America is coming very soon.
“We can attack America anytime,” says Abu Dawood during the interview. He also told the reporter that Muslims must leave America.
Mir says, “Abu Dawood told me, ‘We are determined to attack America again and that attack will be bigger than 9/11.”
The Al Qaeda commander says the attack will be led by Adnan El Shukrijumah. He goes by many aliases but is called Brother Adnan by his terrorist friends.
Brother Adnan is wanted by the feds for possible terrorist threats against the U.S. He’s considered armed and dangerous
According to the Pakistani reporter, Dawood said Brother Adnan “had smuggled some dangerous materials from the Mexican border to inside the United States of America.”
“It’s the kind of scenario that worries everybody,” says Fred Burton, a former special agent for the U.S. State Department.
Burton spent much of his federal career studying terrorists, predicting their next move. He now does the same thing at Stratfor, a private intelligence agency in Austin.
NEWSCHANNEL 5 asked Burton about the threat.
“I think it has to be viewed credible, until proven otherwise,” he says.
The former special agent tells us the U.S. government is well aware Al Qaeda’s been working hard to get a dirty bomb into the country, an explosive packed with nuclear materials small enough to carry in a suitcase.
Smugglers have been caught 300 times in the past four years trying to sneak in radioactive material, which could be used to make a dirty bomb.
That’s what the International Atomic Energy Agency told the London Times last month.
But Burton says, “I think if Al Qaeda has a dirty bomb, we would have seen it by now.” He says a chemical attack is more likely and the Valley could be a launching ground.
Burton says there are several specific locations in Houston, which if hit, could carry out a devastating terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
However Burton also says if Al Qaeda really does have a dirty bomb, border cities are much more vulnerable to attack, because he says terrorists don’t want to get caught.
“You’d want to bring that in right across the border, and you’d want to detonate that as soon as you can,” he explains.
We asked who would be at risk.
“You would look at cities such as El Paso or Brownsville,” he replied.
For law enforcement, it’s a very big worry, says Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr.
He testified to lawmakers in Washington about the dangers of terrorists and terrorist weapons getting smuggled in through South Texas.
The sheriff tells us his biggest fear is that something could go wrong with a bomb.
“We’re not prepared,” he says.
The possible dangers are also a concern to U.S. Congressman Solomon Ortiz. He was among the first in Washington to sound the alarm about dangers at the border.
Ortiz says, “The biggest threat is people coming in and we don’t know who they are.”
The government does know terror groups like Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah are active in Latin America. In fact, members of Hezbolla are already inside the U.S., coming in through the Mexican border.
We’re also learning these Middle Easterners are changing their Islamic names to Hispanic names, buying fake documents, learning Spanish and posing as Hispanic immigrants.
Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo says there’s even a training camp in Brazil teaching Middle Easterners how to blend in to the Mexican culture.
According to government intelligence, Middle Eastern aliens from countries known to harbor terrorists are smuggled to staging areas in places like Venezuela and the tri-border region between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Then they’re smuggled again through Mexico and our border right into the U.S.
There’s a big payoff for those who sneak them in. Mexican illegals pay smugglers an average of $2,000. Middle Easterners pay as much as thirty times that amount, up to $60,000!
“I don’t think they really care who they’re bringing across, as long as they get paid for it,” says Texas Congressman Michael McCaul. He put out the report, which also says Islamic terrorist groups may be using Mexico as a refuge.
During our investigation, we found out a lot of people from suspicious countries are crossing right here in South Texas. Since 9/11, literally hundreds of illegal aliens have been caught here from places like Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Pakistan.
Federal law enforcement estimates only ten to thirty percent of illegals who cross are actually caught.
Governor Rick Perry says, “To think that international terrorists have not already exploited our border is naive.”
http://www.newschannel5.tv/2006/11/2/30781/-Al-Qaeda-Leader—Materials-Smuggled-Across-Border-
Other interesting investigations:
http://www.newschannel5.tv/Investigations
http://www.laotze.blogspot.com/
Expatguy has several articles on the planned Islamic state and caliphate.
If you haven’t been to his site lately, it is time for a visit.
http://www.antimullah.com has also been updated.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1209454/posts?page=248#248
In post 248, there is a list of Viet Nam POW’s in Russian prison camps, it is quite detailed.
Calpernia, thank you for posting the important bits of history, those hidden bits, that many do not know about.
August 22, 2007 PM Anti-Terrorism News
(Turkey) Report: Egyptian claiming al-Qaida ties and Turkish citizen
charged with hijacking in Turkey
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/europe/EU-GEN-Turkey-Hijacked-Plane.php
(Afghanistan) Taliban tapping British troops’ mobiles to taunt
soldiers’ families
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=476959&in_page_id=1811
(Afghanistan) 11 dead in Taliban bombing (updated)
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22292458-663,00.html
(Afghanistan) 11 NATO troops wounded in Taliban attack
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-08-22-afghanistan_N.htm
(Al Qaeda) In Their Own Words — Newly translated writings of the al
Qaeda leadership: “The Al Qaeda Reader”
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/thornton081907.html
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/038551655X?ie=UTF8&tag=privatepapers-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=038551655X
(Algeria) Al Qaeda Maghreb says member behind Algeria attack
http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN245224.html
(Algeria) Al-Qaida in North Africa denies responsibility for car
bombing in Algeria
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/europe/EU-GEN-Algeria-Violence.php
(Egypt) Police arrest two Muslim Brotherhood lawmakers in latest
crackdown
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/africa/ME-GEN-Egypt-Brotherhood-Arrests.php
Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for launching missiles at S. Israel
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1835929&Language=en
Iran develops 900-kg “smart bomb” - official media
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-29101020070822
Senior Hamas official: Palestinian President Abbas launching full-out
war in West Bank
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/africa/ME-GEN-Lebanon-Palestinians.php
(Lebanon) Hamas rep in Lebanon told Iranian TV that suicide bombings
against Israel justified, especially attacks in buses (shortened)
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/osama_hamdan0807e.htm
Lebanese Shi’ite Scholar Slams Syria, Iran, Hizbullah; Declares Support
for Saudi Efforts (shortened) - MEMRI transcript
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD169307
(Lebanon) Germany to Continue Naval Deployment to Lebanon
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2747782,00.html
Albanian, Saudi Militants Among Kosova Jailbreakers - Saudi terrorism
suspect, 2 leaders of Albanian National Army group escaped Aug. 18
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/08/4-see/see-220807.asp
(U.S.) Spy chief discloses classified details about U.S. foreign
surveillance work
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/america/NA-GEN-US-Spy-Chief-Opens-Up.php
(U.S.) New U.S. appeals court reveals growing pains for terrorism
prosecution plans
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/america/NA-GEN-US-Terror-Appeals-Court.php
(U.S.) Imams drop ‘John Doe’ suit — against “John Doe” airline
passengers for reporting suspicious behavior
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070822/NATION/108220091/1002
NBC Video: Look inside online jihad — Evan Kohlmann quoted
http://video.msn.com/v/us/fv/fv.htm??g=37e3aa83-31b5-47a5-81ec-19271184ead7&f=34&fg=rss
The cyberwar against America
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/22/opinion/edmelnick.php
(U.S.) HLF Trial: Fundraising Speakers Include Hamas Leaders, “Yusuf
Islam” (aka Cat Stevens?)
http://counterterrorismblog.org/site-resources/images/linking.pdf
(U.S.) Poultry Farm Industry Group unwilling to support U.S. Homeland
Security by completing a form on propane -— lobby group protests DHS
attempts to regulate anyone purchasing 7,500 pounds of propane (my title)
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/22/terror/main3194196.shtml
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Terror_Chickens.html
(U.S.) Commentary: Terror trials hurt the nation even when they lead to
convictions.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010505
(U.S.) Commentary: Padilla Case Proves System Works
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/08/padilla_case_proves_system_wor.php
(UK) Scotland: Student terrorism trial date set — Mohammed Atif
Siddique in Glasgow charged with possession of bomb making instructions, the
use of various weapons systems, terrorist training camp information
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6525961.stm
(Germany) Dresdner Bank Joins Others in Withdrawing From Iran - Third
major German bank ends business
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2747687,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
French police arrest former Red Brigades member
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/europe/EU-GEN-France-Red-Brigades-Arrest.php
(Canada) Alleged terrorist Adil Charkaoui wants restrictions against
him lifted
http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=canada&articleID=2741547
(Canada) Charkaoui witness recants, reporter tells court — withdrawn
his allegations against the accused al-Qaeda sleeper agent
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/08/22/charkaoui-court.html?ref=rss
(Australia) Secret terror stockpile — of emergency drugs to treat
victims of a terrorist strike
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22292460-5006301,00.html
(Philippines) Human Security Act loopholes allow funneling of terrorist
funds - Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) assistant governor
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=89563
Somalia: Grenade Explosion Kills Two in the Capital
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708220781.html
Somali pirates release crew of hijacked Danish ship
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/europe/EU-GEN-Denmark-Somalia-Hijacked-Ship.php
(Columbia) 5 Colombian farmers killed in a suspected FARC attack in
country’s northwest
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/america/LA-GEN-Colombia-Massacre.php
Other News:
Norwegian Christians, Muslims adopt declaration on right to covert
between religions
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/europe/EU-GEN-Norway-Religious-Freedom.php
Priest: Pakistan Short on Religious Freedom
http://www.zenit.org/article-20296?l=english
(U.S.) M80 Publicity Assisting CNN on Promotion of “CNN Presents: God’s
Warriors”
http://www.amazon.com/tag/religion/forum/ref=cm_cd_et_md_pl/?%5Fencoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx417AUXOWKSRN&cdMsgNo=1&cdPage=1&cdSort=oldest&cdThread=Tx1R9FDR6AC8HO4&cdMsgID=Mx30K3H1PYBGQ32#Mx30K3H1PYBGQ32
Commentary: The Battle for the Artic
http://rightsidenews.com/content/view/73/31/
Propaganda Alert:
(UK) How the West humiliated the Muslim world
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?storyID=8297
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6e2648ea-5014-11dc-a6b0-0000779fd2ac.html
US launches ‘MySpace for spies’
By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
Published: August 21 2007 20:29 | Last updated: August 21 2007 20:29
Spies and teenagers normally have little in common but that is about to change as America’s intelligence agencies prepare to launch “A-Space”, an internal communications tool modelled on the popular social networking sites, Facebook and MySpace.
The Director of National Intelligence will open the site to the entire intelligence community in December. The move is the latest part of an ongoing effort to transform the analytical business following the failure to detect the 9/11 terrorist attacks or find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Thomas Fingar, the deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, believes the common workspace – a kind of “MySpace for analysts” – will generate better analysis by breaking down firewalls across the traditionally stove-piped intelligence community. He says the technology can also help process increasing amounts of information where the number of analysts is limited.
“Burying the same number of analysts in ever higher piles of hay would no more increase the number of needles,” says Mr Fingar.
Underscoring the power of social-networking sites, the Central Intelligence Agency recently used Facebook to help boost applications for the national clandestine service. The move sparked concerns that the CIA was monitoring members, which the agency denies.
”Earlier this year, the CIA used Facebook - an excellent peer-to-peer marketing tool - to advertise employment opportunities with the agency,” said George Little, a CIA spokesman. “This effort, part of a much broader campaign leveraging traditional and new advertising media, was used strictly for informational purposes.”
The DNI has also built an internal collaborative site called Intellipedia, modelled on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. It has also created a version of http://del.icio.us, the social book-marking site, for members of the intelligence community. Another tool that has been developed is a national intelligence library, which can be accessed from A-Space.
While MySpace and Facebook have spread like wildfire, particularly among the younger generations of internet users, members of the intelligence community are divided. Mike Wertheimer, the senior DNI official for analytic transformation and technology, illustrates the dilemma with an example from an internal blog thread last year.
A female employee who had arranged a high-school reunion on MySpace asked why the community had not created a similar tool. That prompted a response that she wasn’t thinking big enough. But Mr Wertheimer says two other people immediately jumped in with concerns about a “counter-intelligence nightmare” that could cost US lives.
“That is very typical within the intelligence community of the approach to social networking tools,” says Mr Wertheimer. “The positive value is…not easily quantified. The negative, the risk for people under cover… is drawn out so starkly, even though it is speculative, that they tend to carry the day.”
But he says the intelligence community needs to consider that not sharing information can also cost lives, a lesson learned from the 9/11 attacks.
“We are willing to experiment in ways that we have never experimented before,” he adds. “It breaks a lot of traditional senses that people’s lives are at risk, and how can you take any step that increases that risk.”
Mr Wertheimer says A-Space will initially be voluntary to assuage worries of spies concerned about blowing their cover. The DNI wants some foreign intelligence services to participate in A-Space, but there has been some resistance.
“I would say in the entire community, the folks most virulently against sharing the information are the foreign partners,” says Mr Wertheimer, who says the also want access to the intelligence library.
“They ask ‘well can we have access?’,” says Mr Wertheimer. “I ask them back if you want access, what services are you willing to create for the library, what data are you willing to put in it, have you thought through your risk/profit scenario? They kind of stand back because that is not normally how we talk to them. It is a new day.”
A-Space will be equipped with web-based email and software that recommends areas of interest to the user just like Amazon suggests books to its customers. The site will also allow users to create and modify documents, and determine user privileges, in a similar fashion to Google Documents.
Mr Wertheimer says the new infrastructures should help break down some of the physical communications problems in the intelligence community.
“I am unable to send email, and even make secure phone calls, to a good portion of the Intel community from my desktop because of firewalls,” he says.
In September, the DNI and the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, a public-private intelligence group, will hold a conference to enlist support and ideas from the private sector and academia.
“We have gotten to the stage where we want to open this up, tap more ideas, stimulate some competition to help us here,” says Mr Fingar.
Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, invited the chief executives of Facebook and MySpace to participate, but so far Mark Zuckerburg, the CEO of Facebook, has declined. A Facebook spokeswoman said the decision was purely because of scheduling conflicts.
Email the reporter: demetri.sevastopulo@ft.com
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
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Iranian-American freed from Tehran jail
By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
Published: August 21 2007 22:16 | Last updated: August 21 2007 22:16
Haleh Esfandiari, a Washington-based Iranian-American academic, was released on bail on Tuesday after spending almost four months in a Tehran jail on charges of espionage and involvement in planning a “soft revolution” against the Islamic Republic.
Her detention – and that of three other dual nationals – had fuelled a climate of fear among other academics and heightened tensions between Iran and the US. President George W. Bush demanded their release in June.
The incident exposed Iranian sensitivity to the links between academics and US institutions and think-tanks amid mounting tension between the two countries over the development of Iran’s nuclear programme and allegations of Iranian involvement with Shia militia in neighbouring Iraq.
“I’m very happy. It was unexpected. I thank all those who made efforts to make it possible for me to go home,” Ms Esfandiari said outside the Evin prison after being released. State-run television showed her walking out of the prison grounds before meeting her family, who were waiting in a car on a nearby street.
It was not clear if Ms Esfandiari, who is the Middle East director of the Woodrow Wilson Center, would be allowed to leave the country or if a court date had been set to hear her case. Her bail was set at 3bn rials ($320,000, €240,000, £160,000) Lee Hamilton, head of the Woodrow Wilson Center and a former US congressman, welcomed the release and called for her return to the US.
Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer for Ms Esfandiari and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was confident that there was no evidence against her client and that she would be “acquitted” if the case came to trial.
Three Iranian-American national citizens, including Ms Esfandiari, were arrested in May on similar charges, while another has been barred from leaving the country since January.
An unnamed judiciary official was quoted by Iranian news wires as saying Kian Tajbakhsh, like Ms Esfandiari charged with espionage and linked to the New York-based Open Society Institute, would be released on bail “in a few days”. No more details were given.
In a controversial move last month, Iranian television aired “confessions” by Ms Esfandiari and Mr Tajbakhsh, which the foreign ministry said had revealed a US-backed plot to overthrow Iran’s clerical rulers. The US denounced the broadcast.
The arrests have created anxiety among dual national citizens with links to western political circles who are now wary of travelling to Iran. Many Iranians inside the country who have had connections with European embassies in Tehran also refuse to see diplomats.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Bangladesh curfew restores calm
Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, and five other cities are quiet following a curfew that was imposed after violent clashes between police and students.
Shops and most offices are shut and the roads are empty apart from army checkpoints and patrols.
At least one person died and several hundred were hurt as rioting by students demanding an end to emergency rule spread across the country.
Universities and colleges remain closed as part of the indefinite curfew.
Mobile phone service has been restored after it was shut down overnight.
For now the measures seems to have brought the situation under control, says the BBC’s John Sudworth, in Dhaka.
Clashes broke out in the capital on Monday, and spread to other parts of the country, including Sylhet in the north and the port of Chittagong in the south.
The violence poses the most serious challenge to the emergency government since it took power six months ago, says our correspondent.
‘Evil forces’
The curfew started at 2000 on Wednesday (1400 GMT).
Dhaka, normally choked with traffic, is very quiet, our correspondent says.
Some people are being allowed to travel through the checkpoints, mostly on foot or bicycle rickshaw, but the roads, still patrolled by the army, are empty.
We request channels to stop televising footage of violence until further notice because this might instigate further violence
Government adviser Mainul Husein
Late on Wednesday, the head of the caretaker government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, addressed the nation.
He said “evil forces” and opportunists were trying to foment anarchy, but he promised the curfews were only a temporary measure.
The government declared Thursday a public holiday and ordered universities and colleges in the six cities to close and told all students to leave their campuses.
Television stations have been ordered to stop broadcasting footage of the violence.
Correspondents say the protests appear to be growing more violent, and are turning into a popular movement demanding the immediate restoration of democracy.
Slum dwellers, shop keepers, rickshaw pullers and businessmen joined stone-throwing students in violent and bloody demonstrations in Dhaka. They confronted police who baton charged them and fired tear gas.
The first casualty of the unrest was a rickshaw puller killed during rioting in the north-western town of Rajshahi, officials said.
Police are accused of using tear gas indiscriminately, at one point on Tuesday even firing it into a female students’ dormitory at Dhaka University to prevent them from joining the protests.
Apology sought
Monday’s clashes began when students in Dhaka said they had been “manhandled” by soldiers during a football match.
Violence continued even though a student demand that troops be withdrawn from the Dhaka campus was met early on Wednesday.
The students have also demanded a public apology from the army chief, Gen Moeen U Ahmed, and want soldiers who have beaten up students to be punished.
The violence is in contrast to widespread popular support for the interim government when it came to power in January promising to stamp out corruption and to hold elections by the end of 2008.
But discontent has been rising in recent months, most notably over the increasing cost of living.
Two other military governments in the past - that of Ziaur Rahman and Muhammad Ershad - were both brought down in protests that were started by students.
Keeping the peace will now be the major test of this government’s authority, our correspondent says.
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Published: 2007/08/23 07:45:08 GMT
Terror accused was ‘model pupil’
A student on trial accused of terror offences has been described as a “model pupil” by a former teacher.
Mohammed Atif Siddique, from Alva in Clackmannanshire, is facing a total of five charges, which he denies.
Former deputy head teacher at Alva Academy, Alexander Donoghue, said the 21-year-old had an excellent attendance record and was respectful to staff.
The charges against him include possessing articles useful to a person preparing for an act of terrorism.
‘Quiet boy’
The jury at the High Court in Glasgow heard Mr Siddique was a pupil at the secondary school between August 1997 and March 2002, where he had gained seven Standard Grade qualifications.
Mr Donoghue had taught him in computing and social education.
He said: “He was a very quiet boy, always very well turned out, very respectful, but not a very high academic achiever.”
I would say that he was above average in terms of attitude, always wore his uniform, very polite and courteous to staff
Alexander Donoghue
Mr Donoghue said that Mr Siddique had not come to anyone’s attention during his time at the school.
He added: “I would say that he was above average in terms of attitude, always wore his uniform, very polite and courteous to staff.”
Mr Donoghue also told the court Mr Siddique had grown a beard by the next time they met in 2006, but agreed it was not unusual for former pupils to change their appearance after leaving the school.
Mr Siddique was arrested in Alva on 13 April last year.
He has been charged with three offences under the Terrorism Act of 2000, one under the 2006 act and a breach of the peace.
They include possessing articles useful to a person preparing for an act of terrorism, such as instructions on bomb-making and guerrilla tactics.
He has also been accused of putting details on websites to encourage terrorism.
Internet sites
The first charge claims that between 1 March, 2003, and 13 April, 2006, he had articles “in circumstances which gave rise to a reasonable suspicion that they were connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism”.
He allegedly committed this offence at his Alva home, at Ibrox public library, Glasgow Metropolitan College and Glasgow Airport.
The second charge alleges that he collected material and recorded information which could have been used in terrorism.
The third charge relates to allegations that he committed a breach of the peace between 1 September, 2003, and 30 September, 2005.
Mr Siddique has been accused of showing students at Glasgow Metropolitan College images of suicide bombers and beheadings by terrorists.
He also allegedly threatened to become a suicide bomber and carry out acts of terrorism in Glasgow or elsewhere and claimed to be a member of al-Qaeda.
The fourth charge alleges that between 1 September, 2003, and 13 April, 2006, he provided instruction on using or making firearms and explosives on three internet websites he owned.
The fifth and final charge alleges that Mr Siddique distributed terrorist publications on the sites to encourage acts of terrorism on 13 April, 2006.
Mr Siddique is being defended by Donald Findlay QC, with Scotland’s senior advocate depute, Brian McConnachie QC, leading the prosecution.
The trial, before Lord Carloway, continues.
Story from BBC NEWS:
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Published: 2007/08/22 16:22:04 GMT
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Detonators taken from railway van
People are asked to be vigilant after detonators were stolen from a Network Rail van in Derbyshire.
Thieves took 12 of the yellow disc shaped detonators from the vehicle parked on Gadsby Rise at Nether Heage at about 0520 BST on Wednesday.
The detonators are regularly used on railway lines and contain a small amount of explosive material.
They can explode if hit with force or ignited and give off a blast similar to a shotgun firing.
Officers have urged anyone with any information on the theft to contact them.
Story from BBC NEWS:
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Published: 2007/08/22 14:54:45 GMT
© BBC MMVII
[photos]
Meat con gang boss tracked by BBC
A businessman who sold unfit meat to hospitals, schools and supermarkets has been jailed for six years after spending four years on the run.
Peter Roberts, 72, known as “Maggot Pete”, was convicted in 2003 of fraud but fled the country after the start of the 12-week trial.
A BBC Inside Out investigation tracked him to Northern Cyprus and presented evidence to local authorities.
Roberts was deported and appeared at Derby Crown Court on Wednesday.
He will now serve the six-year prison sentence that was imposed in 2003 for his role in leading a gang which made at least £1m selling diseased chicken carcasses.
The scam involved selling the contaminated meat from a plant in Denby, Derbyshire, to meat wholesalers.
It ended up in major supermarkets across the UK and was even sold to hospitals and schools, the court heard.
Roberts was convicted at Nottingham Crown Court in September 2003 of conspiracy to defraud and failing to surrender to custody.
The investigation into Denby Poultry Products began in December 2000.
The multi-agency operation involved more than 100 police officers as well as around 50 local authority environmental health officers and Meat Hygiene Service staff.
Denby Poultry Products was a pet food processing plant registered to receive waste from poultry slaughterhouses for use in pet food.
But the business became involved in a chain of supply that stretched to businesses in Northampton, Milton Keynes and Bury.
Anonymous tip-off
The gang was based at premises described as rat-infested and sewage-ridden, where they butchered one million unfit chickens and turkeys before selling the meat.
Police raided the company’s premises in March 2001 after an investigation lasting more than 30 months triggered by an anonymous tip-off.
A Food Standards Agency spokesman said: “Since that investigation much has been done to ensure that as far as possible such criminal activities are prevented.
“Last year the agency set up an independent Food Fraud Task Force, charged with reviewing current controls with a particular focus on meat.
“The expert group have supported the initiatives already undertaken and makes its final report next month.”
The full BBC Inside Out East Midlands investigation into Maggot Pete will be aired on 19 September.
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Published: 2007/08/22 16:08:43 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Record number of people leave UK
More people left the UK last year than in any year since current records began in 1991, statistics show.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicate that some 385,000 people left the UK for the long term in the year to mid-2006.
Many of those leaving were “long-term migrants” and not British citizens.
Long-term migration into the UK, meanwhile, was 574,000. The figures show the UK population grew to 60,587,000 - an increase of 349,000.
‘Turnover population’
Of those who left the UK last year, 196,000 were British citizens while 189,000 were “long-term migrants” who had been living in the UK for more than a year.
And according to the Migration Research Unit at University College London, it is the number of non-Britons, or the “turnover population”, that has pushed up the figures for those leaving.
“The majority of those are people who came in from Eastern European countries in May 2004 - what we call the A8 countries - and I think what the figures suggest is that, maybe we’re now capturing more of those people going home [in the statistics],” Professor John Salt told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme.
The latest figures available from the ONS for the most popular places among emigrating Britons show that [from January 2004 to December 2005] Australia was the number one choice.
TOP TEN EMIGRATION COUNTRIES FOR UK CITIZENS - 2004 & 2005
Australia - 71,000
Spain - 58,000
France - 42,000
New Zealand - 30,000
USA - 25,000
Canada - 17,000
Netherlands - 8,000
UAE - 7,000
Germany - 6,000
South Africa - 6,000
Source of estimates: ONS
Those figures - published in April - suggest that, over that two year period, 71,000 British citizens started new lives in Australia compared with 58,000 in Spain and 42,000 in France.
Dean Morgan, of the website workpermit.com, said the bad summer weather had led to a large number of inquiries about emigration.
“Normally in July and August time its quite quiet but this year we’ve been inundated,” he told BBC News.
“Perception of crime is another of the main reasons for people wanting to leave,” he said.
“Also, people are worried about their children and they worry about their jobs and their future here and possibly the economy as well.”
Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa seemed to be the most popular destinations for emigration, Mr Morgan added.
Figures questioned
Meanwhile, the figures also indicated that during the same period, 74,000 people arrived in the UK from the eastern European countries that joined the European Union in 2004, while 16,000 people from those countries left.
However, according to Home Office statistics, around 200,000 people from the same countries registered for work in the UK during that time.
Campaign group Migrationwatch said the figures did not add up.
“This once again highlights that the government has no real grip of immigration or any meaningful idea of the true number coming to and leaving the UK which makes planning for these large population increases extremely difficult,” said chairman Sir Andrew Green.
There is a pull on the heart strings for people to go back [home]
Dr Jan Mokrzycki Federation of Poles in Great Britain
But the Home Office said that while the ONS figures only included those staying in the UK for more than a year, its statistics featured all short-term applications for work, as well as applications from those who may never arrive in the country.
Dr Jan Mokrzycki, of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain, said that although the wage levels were better in the UK than in Poland, the costs of living were also high and many Polish people had realised they were just as well off at home.
“It works out just about even and, of course, there is also a pull on the heart strings for people to go back,” he added.
The ONS figures released on Wednesday also revealed that one in four babies born in the UK had a mother or father born overseas.
The proportion of babies born to a foreign parent rose from 20% in 2001 to 25%.
“That reflects the cumulative effect of immigration over the last 40 years,” a spokesman for the ONS said.
Overall, the UK saw an increase in births to 734,000 in the year compared with 663,000 four years earlier.
Ageing population
In addition, the figures suggested that the number of people aged 85 or over grew by 6% to 1,243,000 while the number of people of retirement age increased by 1% to 11,344,000.
The largest population growth by district (during 2001-2006) was 14% in Westminster, followed by Camden and South Northamptonshire - both 12%.
The greatest reductions at 2% were in Rushmoor, Middlesbrough, Sefton and Burnley.
The average age was 39 compared with just over 34 in 1971.
The method by which migration statistics are compiled changed in 1991, making some comparisons with earlier figures difficult.
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Published: 2007/08/22 17:42:09 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Pakistan’s ‘extraordinary prisoner’
By Syed Shoaib Hasan
BBC News, Islamabad
News of Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan’s release from custody in Pakistan has attracted a great deal of attention.
But then Mr Khan was no ordinary prisoner.
At the time of his arrest three years ago, he was accused of being a key link between al-Qaeda leaders and militants.
“But now any charges against him are gone with the wind,” said his lawyer, Babar Awan, after his client was released for lack of evidence.
All this is a far cry from July 2004, when Mr Khan was arrested amid much fanfare and widely labelled as the “information technology chief of al-Qaeda in Pakistan”.
That same description was apparently used by none other than President Pervez Musharraf in his autobiography.
While the president never used Mr Khan’s name, his choice of words tally with all that is known about Mr Khan.
The book says he was born in Karachi and graduated from a local engineering university with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering.
It goes on to say he was recruited into al-Qaeda by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, ran al-Qaeda’s information technology wing after Mohammed’s arrest, and was himself arrested in Lahore on 21 July, 2004.
‘Vital breakthrough’
The arrest was hailed as a “vital breakthrough in the war against terror” at the time.
And it is true to say that today, questions still remain as to what exactly were Mr Khan’s connections with al-Qaeda, if indeed he had any.
Intelligence officials are in no doubt. They say that a laptop recovered from Mr Khan at the time of his arrest contained information about several terror plots.
They say it also contained details of targets such as financial buildings, railway networks and airports in the UK and US.
Along with other information gleaned from the suspect’s interrogations, security agencies said it helped them foil several terror plots.
They say the information also led them to arrest several alleged al-Qaeda operatives, including Ahmed Khalfan Gailani.
Mr Gailani, chief suspect in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in East Africa, was arrested in Gujarat in north-eastern Pakistan.
There has always been a cloud of controversy over his exact status
Information provided by Mr Khan also reputedly led to the arrests of 13 al-Qaeda suspects in the UK, in July 2004.
President Musharraf said in his autobiography that the arrest was one of the major hidden successes of the “war on terror”.
With this background, it seemed that Mr Khan was destined to spend the rest of his life in a Pakistani or American secret prison.
At best, it seemed likely he would be sent to Guantanamo Bay.
But there has always been a cloud of controversy over his exact status.
The press has been full of conspiracy theories alleging Mr Khan’s connections with foreign and domestic intelligence agencies.
Amid the flurry of speculation, no-one is sure where he is now.
While the news of his release was made public on Monday, he was actually freed at least a month earlier, in mid-July.
Among the various theories about his whereabouts, the most popular is that he has moved abroad.
Some analysts say that Mr Khan’s release confirms that he was co-operating with Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and was kept in custody for his own safety.
‘Pivotal role’
They say the old al-Qaeda network has now been all but broken in Sindh and Punjab provinces.
“In Karachi especially, the last major al-Qaeda operatives left were arrested in 2005,” says an ex-intelligence official.
“In this regard many believe Mr Khan played a pivotal role.
But most analysts agree that there is now a new wave of militants, largely unknown to security agencies.
“It’s a murky tale in which there are no clear answers to any of the key questions,” said the official.
Story from BBC NEWS:
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Published: 2007/08/21 18:41:58 GMT
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