Threat Matrix: September 2007

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[nwctwx]

The Birth of al Qaedastan

In the year 2016, the world may find itself gloomily marking September 6 as the tenth anniversary of the creation of the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan. The Emirate received de facto recognition when the Taliban used the name on the ceasefire agreement they signed with Pakistan on that day in 2006. If things go terribly wrong in the coming decade, they could come to rule a mountainous fragment of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Emirate would be a nightmare state: Osama bin Laden as sultan, Ayman al Zawahiri as vizier, and Mullah Omar the spiritual leader. An economy built on smuggling and heroin. Primary export: terrorism. Welcome to ‘Al Qaedastan’.

Analysts say the rise of a terrorist state straddling the rugged area between Pakistan and Afghanistan is now viable. The reason is a number of troubling trends. One, the revival of a Taliban firmly in the control of Al Qaeda. Two, the seeming inability of either Kabul or Islamabad to defeat the new threat militarily. Three, and the most striking, the Taliban’s systematic supplanting of the traditional tribal leadership in the area. Full story...

	Lebanon: Tiny Country, Big Threats
	Islamist Web Site Explains 'How to Join Al Qaeda'
	The Ongoing Hunt for Osama bin Laden

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September 2007

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[Oorang]

Explosives found in dumpster (Tennessee)
9/28/2007

Encased only in a cardboard box, explosive devices and detonators were brought to Sparta Police Department after they were discovered inside a dumpster on Bon Air Mountain. “They were something like you would use for military training,” said Police Chief Jeff Guth. The Tennessee Bomb and Arson Squad and special operations from Tennessee Highway Patrol were called in to help in the investigation.

More of the explosives had reportedly been removed by another person and taken to a residence in White County. According to Guth, the White County Sheriff Department and the special investigators went to the home and removed the items. “They [the explosives and detonators] were in canisters marked ‘explosive military,’ said Guth. “And there were blasting caps.” Guth said the Bomb and Arson Squad x-rayed the box and then removed everything out of the box and transported the items to an undisclosed location to be safely destroyed.

The dumpster was loaded up and transported to the landfill, and agents went through it making sure nothing else dangerous was contained. According to Herd Sullivan, White County Executive, this is the first time he knows of these types of items found at a county convenience center. “That doesn’t mean we haven’t had them before, but that is one reason we tell people not to scrounge around in the dumpsters because there is no telling what people throw away in those bags,” said Sullivan.

According to Tennessee law, it is against the law for a person to be found in possession of explosive components or unlawfully possesses any component part of an explosive including, but not limited to, a fuse cap, detonator or wiring. The incident is still under investigation. According to Guth, agents with the ATF and the Bomb and Arson Squad will be interviewing a “person of interest,” as well as additional potential witnesses.

http://www.spartaexpositor.com/newsdetail.asp?ArticleID=1840

[Cindy]

Waiting for that “person of interest” update.

Thanks for this post Oorang.

[Oorang]

Hamas says 50,000 gunmen ready to defend Gaza
Fri Sep 28, 2007

GAZA - Fifty thousand Palestinian gunmen and hundreds of suicide bombers are ready to repel or at least impede any large-scale Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, an official from the ruling Hamas said on Friday.

Israel has threatened to mount a massive ground sweep of Gaza as a last resort against cross-border rocket fire by Palestinian militants, which has not been significantly reduced by more limited air strikes and commando incursions. But Israeli officials say such a mission in the congested territory would mean major casualties on both sides, a price the Jewish state may not be willing to pay given the relatively low death toll exacted by the crude short-range Palestinian rockets.

Nizar Rayyan, a senior Hamas leader, promised Israel "a painful response" should it send in troops and tanks en masse. A Hamas-affiliated Web site quoted Rayyan as saying that "50,000 fighters, armed and brave in the battlefield" await an invasion and that 400 would-be suicide bombers wear their explosives belts around the clock, ready to attack tank columns. "Hamas leaders were surprised when 200 women volunteered to carry explosives to confront Israeli tanks too," Rayyan said.

Excerpted

http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSL28817099

[Oorang]

You’re welcome Cindy. I’ll keep a look out for a update.

[Rushmore Rocks]

Thank you all for the posts and pings while I was gone. My “just a few days trip” turned into a two week odyssey. Got back this afternoon, still trying to catch up.

[Cindy]

Thank you Oorang.

#

http://www.abc15.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=f4632f2b-a8ca-44c2-801e-69da782af079

“2 homes, car, dumpster catch fire in Phoenix”
Reported by: Chris Kline
Last Update: 8:55 am
(September 28, 2007)

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “While firefighters were busy putting out all the flame, a car and several dumpsters were set on fire in the same area.”

[Cindy]

ON THE INTERNET:

http://www.loftusreport.com/2007/09/26/radio-show-archive-september-25-2007/

“John Loftus and John Batchelor with guests Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi and Elio Bonazzi.”

http://www.loftusreport.com/2007/09/25/radio-show-archive-september-24-2007/

“John Loftus and John Batchelor with guest Steven Emerson”

[Oorang]

US study sees Russia, Pakistan most vulnerable to nuclear theft
Sept 27, 2007

A new study said Russia and Pakistan were particularly vulnerable to nuclear theft and more could and should be done worldwide to prevent nuclear weapons and materials from falling into "terrorist" hands. The report, commissioned by the US-run Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and published Wednesday, found that "the threat of nuclear theft and terrorism remains high in many parts of the world."

But "it appears that the highest risks of nuclear theft today are in Russia, Pakistan and at HEU-fuelled (highly-enriched uranium) research reactors," the report's author, Matthew Bunn, wrote. "We urgently need a stepped-up global campaign to secure every nuclear weapon and every significant cache of potential nuclear bomb material worldwide to stringent standards," Bunn said.

Nuclear security in Russia had improved dramatically since the mid-1990s, the report found. "But real risks remain," Bunn warned.

Excerpted

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_study_sees_Russia_Pakistan_most_vulnerable_to_nuclear_theft_999.html

London Internet whiz was vital militant link: FBI
Fri Sep 28, 2007

NEW YORK - A London student known online as "Irhabi 007" served as a vital communications link in three militant plots that had once appeared unrelated, FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Friday.

Mueller disclosed details of the student's role as a way, he said, of illustrating the importance of the Internet as a communications channel in modern terrorism and the challenges authorities face in tracking down militants. "The threat exists not only in the mountains of Pakistan, but also in the shadows of the Internet," Mueller told the Council on Foreign Relations in a speech.

Excerpted

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070928/wl_canada_nm/canada_security007_col_2

[Mata6858]

Suspicious item found inside U-Haul truck
12 News
Sept. 28, 2007 07:23 PM

MCSO spokesperson Doug Matteson says the anti-terrorism task force is on scene at the U-Haul Technical Center at Priest and Elliot in Tempe. A suspicious item has been found in the back of a truck that has been parked there for some time.

The Tech Center is where U-Haul designs and maintains its fleets.

U-Haul’s corporate headquarters are in Central Phoenix.

source www.azcentral.com

[Mata6858]

Update to Story
Suspicious items found inside U-Haul truck
Kevin Curran
12 News
Sept. 28, 2007 07:23 PM

Members of an anti-terrorism squad investigated materials found inside a U-Haul truck late Friday.

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Deputy Doug Matteson says staff at U-Haul’s Technical Center on Priest Dr. in Tempe did not like what they saw when they inspected a 14-foot truck that had been returned just after three o’clock.

The truck had a banner reading “Party City-Halloween” on it. advertisement

U-Haul vice president Bob Dolan would say little about what his staff found, “This information appeared suspicious enough to warrant something happening in the future.” He added this material is not necessarily something a prior renter would have left in the truck.

Despite the heavy police presence, operations at the facility were unaffected. The tech center is where U-Haul designs its trucks as well as services them.

Matteson says the suspicious items are not biohazards or hazardous materials, but there are a lot of papers. He added it was too early to tell if a suspect is being sought. They are also trying to determine truck’s last renter

[Cindy]

Thank you Mata.

This is interesting.

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1603333/posts?page=86#86

#

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/sept07/cfr092807.htm

“AL QAEDA TODAY
The Evolving Terrorist Landscape”
09/28/07

#

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/speeches/mueller092807.htm

Major Executive Speeches

Robert S. Mueller, III
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Council on Foreign Relations
New York City, New York

September 28, 2007

[Cindy]

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

#

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1903962/posts

Underground ‘terrorists’ with a mission to save city’s neglected heritage
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2554240.ece ^ | September 29, 2007 | Adam Sage

Posted on 09/28/2007 11:04:30 PM PDT by james500

By day, Lazar Kunstmann is a typically avant-garde Parisian, an urbane, well-spoken video film editor who hangs out in the fashionable Latin Quarter. By night he inhabits a strange and secret world with its base in the tunnels beneath the French capital – the world of the urban explorers.

Mr Kunstmann belongs to les UX, a clandestine network that is on a mission to discover and exploit the city’s neglected underworld. The urban explorers put on film shows in underground galleries, restore medieval crypts and break into monuments after dark to organise plays and readings. In the eyes of their supporters, they are the white knights of modern culture, renovating forgotten buildings and staging artistic events beyond the reach of a stifling civil service.

The authorities view them differently: as the dark side of the City of Light – irresponsible, paranoid subversives whose actions could serve as a model for terrorists. A police unit has been trained to track les UX through the sewers, catacombs and old quarries that are their pathways under Paris. Prosecutors have been instructed to file charges whenever feasible.

The stand-off is symbolic of French society: a rigorous bureaucracy on the surface with a bizarre subculture below.

Mr Kunstmann, a spokesman for the movement, met The Times last week in the back room of a bar in central Paris. Beside him sat a thin, austere-looking woman who sipped a beer, gave her name only as Lanso and barely said a word throughout the interview.

From time to time, however, she whispered into Mr Kunstmann’s ear and he relayed the message. “We are the counterpoint to an era where everything is slow and complicated,” he said. “It’s very difficult to get anything done through official channels. If you want to do it, you have to be clandestine.”

(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=gimf
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&tab=wb&q=gimf&btnG=Search+Blogs

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

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

#

http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373681
TERRORISM MONITOR

“GIMF Develops Defensive and Offensive Software for Jihadi Operations”
By Abdul Hameed Bakier

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “In July 2007, jihadi forums announced the creation of a new computer program called the Secrets of the Mujahideen, version 1.0. The objective of the program—which was published and distributed by the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) through many jihadi websites—is to replace the old and unreliable PGP corporation encryption tools that jihadis had used in the past. Since the release of the program, jihadi websites, especially the GIMF, are instructing their subscribers to communicate using the program’s encryption keys (http://ebnseren.modawanati.com , March 22). Furthermore, al-Qaeda operatives are using Secrets of the Mujahideen in an attempt to avoid U.S. eavesdropping operations against them (http://el-bilad.com , July 6).

Separately, and on the offensive front, jihadi hackers have also invented their own programs to steal data off other computers, part of a larger “Electronic Jihad.” Some of the Islamic hackers’ targets are computers attached to cameras transmitting live videos from intersections and other busy areas. They claim that these videos can be used to case potential targets.

This article will elucidate the documentation of the Secrets of the Mujahideen, in addition to providing information on the ongoing Electronic Jihad.”

[Cindy]

RECAP:

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: ""HE GOES ON THE INTERNET A LOT," SHE SAID." (SNIPPET: "“Too bad about those GIMF guys getting arrested, now isn’t it... Someone care to explain to us how there is some sort of wall between ‘Internet Jihad’ and ‘Jihad’? Because we don’t see any such wall.”) (September 25, 2007)

[Cindy]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/METRO/109290046/1001

Page 1 of 2 next | Email | Print | Subscribe

“Alien lockup program mulled”
By Seth McLaughlin
September 29, 2007

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The federal government would reimburse Virginia for financing a 1,000-bed detention center for illegal aliens awaiting deportation under a plan being sorted out by the state crime commission.”

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1903985/posts

“The Terrorist Roundup for September 29, 2007”
9/29/07

Posted on 09/29/2007 1:48:53 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter

[Cindy]

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

#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPSsKcpxJMk
“Video from Burma: SHOOT ON SIGHT”
(Added April 18, 2007)

#

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070925-15.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 25, 2007
“Fact Sheet: Burma: Calling for Human Dignity and Democracy”

#

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070925-4.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 25, 2007
“President Bush Addresses The United Nations General Assembly”
The United Nations Headquarters
New York, New York

#

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp578.htm

September 27, 2007
hp-578

Treasury Action Targets Violent Burmese Suppression

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today is designating 14 senior Burmese Government officials in the wake of that government’s longstanding oppression of the Burmese people and its recent use of violence against peaceful demonstrators. Treasury’s action follows President George W. Bush’s announcement of plans for tightening U.S. sanctions against the military regime in Burma, made before the UN General Assembly on September 25, 2007.

“We are today imposing sanctions against senior officials of the Government of Burma,” said Adam Szubin, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). “The President has made clear that we will not stand by as the regime tries to silence the voices of the Burmese people through repression and intimidation.”

The designations were made pursuant to Executive Order 13310, which authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to designate senior officials of the Government of Burma, the State Peace and Development Council of Burma (the military regime that rules Burma), the Union Solidarity and Development Association of Burma, or any of their successor organizations, as well as any individuals or entities that are owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, any person, whose property or interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order. Executive Order 13310 also blocked property and interests in property of the four entities listed on its Annex, the State Peace and Development Council of Burma and three banks controlled by the Government of Burma.

The Burmese government leaders designated today by OFAC include Senior General Than Shwe, Minister of Defense and Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC); Vice Senior General Maung Aye, Commander of the Army and Vice Chairman of the SPDC; Lieutenant General Thein Sein, Acting Prime Minister and First Secretary of the SPDC; and General Thura Shwe Mann, Joint Chief of Staff, Armed Forces and Member of the SPDC. The other senior officials of the Government of Burma named include other members of the State Peace and Development Council, key military officials, and other government ministers.

As a result of Treasury’s designations, any assets these individuals and entities may have that are within U.S. jurisdiction must be frozen, and U.S. persons are prohibited from transacting or doing business with them.

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1890027/posts?page=2238#2238

#

blog:

http://michellemalkin.com/2007/09/28/reports-military-junta-cuts-internet-access-in-burma/

“Reports: Military junta cuts Internet access in Burma; Sniper reportedly killed Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai; Update: Videos added; Update: Worldwide condemnation”

By Michelle Malkin • September 28, 2007 05:56 AM

#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPAFP3yn4jo

“Burmese Monks”

Description - Quote:

Added: 11 hours ago
From: jlilyea
Burmese Monks protesting at the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC (less)
Category News & Politics
Tags: Protest Myanmar Burma

[Cindy]

https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=73965

you are here: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report
“Warden Message: Violent Demonstrations, Caution Urged in Burma”
Consular Affairs Bulletins
East Asia / Pacific - Burma
28 Sep 2007