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Locked on 12/01/2007 8:51:55 PM PST by Admin Moderator, reason:
New thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1933472/posts |
Posted on 11/01/2007 8:43:53 PM PDT by nwctwx
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www.alhesbah.net/v/showthread.php?t=153772
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http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/in_call_for_donations_al_qaeda.php
(E-PRISM.org)
“In “Call for Donations,” Al Qaeda Admits Financial Stress”
By Andrew Cochran
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “On November 20, I posted on the success of the U.S.-led Iraq Threat Finance Cell in disrupting Al Qaeda in Iraq’s financial network. Reuben Paz, one of the leading experts in the CT community and the founder and Director of the Project for the Research of Islamist Movements (PRISM) at the GLORIA Center in Israel, has written a follow-up to that post for us, with an analysis of Al Qaeda’s admission of financial distress. I am pleased to run Mr. Paz’s analysis below in its entirety with my gratitude:”
November 26, 2007 11:13 AM
Heart breaking.
Jihad — another day.
LONDON - The nation's secret services want to recruit more non-white and Muslim agents, a top official said Monday, dismissing the "myth" of British spies resembling 007 agent James Bond.
In unprecedented BBC interviews with the MI5 and MI6 domestic and foreign intelligence agencies, two British Asian staff also denied that Muslims were specific targets. The head of recruitment at the MI6, interviewed in the security service's London headquarters, stressed the need for its foreign staff to come from a wider range of ethnic backgrounds.
"We need people to deploy into a range of situations around the world and people who have a different ethnicity can often go places and do things and meet people that those from a white background can't," he told the BBC. "There are some places that white males can't go," added the official, identified only as Mark.
Excerpted
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071126/wl_uk_afp/britainsecurityasiamuslimsspies
Egyptian police find land mines, bombs buried in Sinai desert
November 26, 2007
EL ARISH, Egypt: Police have found more than a 100 land mines and nine bombs hidden in the northern Sinai desert, a security officer said Monday.
Authorities believe Islamic militants had buried the explosives, but no militants were in the vicinity when the police, acting on a tip, uncovered the cache, said the northern Sinai security official. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the land mines and bombs had been stashed in sacks buried a few meters (yards) in soil about 40 kilometers (25 miles) to the west of the Egyptian-Israeli border.
Islamic militants have carried out three major bomb attacks in the Sinai since October 2004. The blasts in the resorts of Sharm el-Sheik, Taba and Dahab killed 125 people. The government blamed the attacks on a local Islamic militant group, which appears to have been inspired by al-Qaida ideology.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/26/africa/ME-GEN-Egypt-Explosives.php
November 26, 2007
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel07/editor112607.htm
FBI Response to Congressional Quarterly Article Alleging Willie T. Hulon and Phil Mudd’s Involvement in So-Called “Falafel Investigation”
We at the FBI were surprised to read about a supposed FBI program to monitor the sales of Middle Eastern food products in the San Francisco Bay area in support of counterterrorism intelligence gathering (“FBI Hoped to Follow Falafel Trail to Iranian Terrorists Here,” November 2, 2007).
Having never heard of this, I spoke to the counterterrorism managers, who in the story were identified as having hatched the plan, as well as everyone else who would have had any knowledge of it. Nobody did. At one point in the story, writer Jeff Stein opines “as ridiculous as it sounds,” in reference to the alleged food monitoring plan, which reportedly was described to Mr. Stein by “well-informed sources.”
In this case, too ridiculous to be true.
While the story may have been the source of some amusement, I appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight on something that touches on something so important as national security and civil liberties.
John Miller
Assistant Director, Office of Public Affairs
Federal Bureau of Investigation
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Thanks for all the latest news links.
You’re very welcome Palladin.
Much of the senior leadership of the most active Palestinian terrorist organization in the West Bank recently received orders to prepare to enter U.S.-run security training courses, according to the author of a new book. The courses, meant to train forces to fight terrorism, are to be reportedly stepped up following this week's Annapolis summit.
WND's Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein, author of the recently released ""Schmoozing with Terrorists," said yesterday he received information much of the senior leadership of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group were told they will be entering U.S. anti-terror training courses for security forces associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah forces.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah's declared military wing, took credit along with the Islamic Jihad terror group for every suicide bombing in Israel between 2005 and 2006. The Brigades is responsible for more terrorism from the West Bank than any other Palestinian Arab organization, carrying out thousands of shootings and grenade attacks.
Many members of the Brigades serve openly on Fatah's security forces, including the Force 17 presidential guards and Fatah's Preventative Security Services, which function as Palestinian police forces. Abbas last June appointed senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader Mahmoud Damra as commander of Force 17. Damra, who was arrested by Israel last November, was on the Jewish state's most-wanted list of terrorists.
Excerpted
You’re welcome Palladin.
UPDATE:
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1930886/posts
BREAKING NEWS: FBI downplays reports of terrorist threat against Fort Huachuca
Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Review ^ | Bill Hess
Posted on 11/26/2007 5:53:54 PM PST by SandRat
FORT HUACHUCA — A federal report in May that this southern Arizona Army post may be the target of Middle Easterners who were smuggled into the United States from Mexico is “not valid or credible,” a FBI spokesman said Monday.
While an agency report has been leaked to some members of the media it does not mean the document contains vetted and true information, Special Agent Richard Kolko said.
More information will be published in Tuesday’s Herald/Review.
A bomb exploded Monday in a block of flats in the northern town of Vratsa destroying an apartment and injuring one. A 67-year-old woman suffered fractures and was taken to the hospital, the police report.
The blast seriously damaged the building while falling debris smashed against the nearby parked cars. Investigation of the case has been immediately launched.
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=87886
New York court says border inspections of Muslims constitutional
Monday, November 26, 2007
NEW YORK - U.S. immigration authorities acted constitutionally when they subjected dozens of people returning from an Islamic convention in Canada to screening tactics usually reserved for people suspected of being terrorists, an appeals court said Monday.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld the conclusion of a federal judge in Buffalo that the December 2004 inspections, which involved fingerprinting people, did not violate constitutional rights to practise religion and avoid unlawful searches.
"We do not believe the extra hassle of being fingerprinted and photographed - for the sole purpose of having their identities verified - is a significant additional burden that turns an otherwise constitutional policy into one that is unconstitutional," a three-judge panel wrote.
The U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection had received intelligence that gave it reason to believe people with terrorist ties would be attending certain Islamic conferences during the 2004 year-end holiday season.
Excerpted
http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=canada&articleID=2828937
Thanks for the update Cindy. Will be interesting to see what they say tomorrow.
Yep.
A man who sold eight stolen army rocket launchers has told a Sydney court he didn't think twice about the potentially disastrous consequences of the deals. The witness, identified only as Harrington, told Sydney's Central Local Court he received the rocket launchers from former army officer Dean Steven Taylor, who is charged with receiving and possessing two stolen rocket launchers, two rockets, and five handgrenades stolen from the army in 2002.
Mr Taylor was allegedly given the rockets by his brother-in-law and army captain Shane Della-Vedova and sold them on to Harrington, a criminal associate. At today's committal hearing for Mr Taylor, Harrington said Mr Taylor offered him the weapons on the first day they met during a visit by Mr Taylor to Long Bay Jail.
An inmate at the time, Harrington said Mr Taylor made the offer knowing his criminal connections. He said that as well as the rocket launchers, rockets and grenades, Mr Taylor offered him bulletproof vests and night-vision goggles. He said the rocket launchers were so lightweight they could be lifted with a single finger and slipped easily inside a sports bag.
He on-sold five grenades and eight of 10 rocket launchers to various criminal associates, including Taha Abdul Rahman and Sam Sayed, he told the court. "I was just on-selling them to whoever I could," Harrington said. "I don't know what (Abdul Rahman) wanted them for, I just supplied them to him."
Mr Taylor's lawyer Peter Doyle said the items were dangerous. "They could easily lead to death and destruction," Mr Doyle said. "But as long as you were paid money, you didn't care?" Harrington replied: "At the time, no."
He said Mr Taylor also had given him a copy of a book called The Terrorist Handbook, which he had discarded in a cupboard of his spare bedroom. Detective Sergeant Darryal Abeyasekera told Magistrate Brian Moloney that police had found a copy of the book during raids on Mr Taylor's house.
Commonwealth prosecutor Paul Roberts SC had earlier told the court that terrorism-related charges had been laid as a result of the launchers "falling into the wrong hands". Harrington turned informant and wore a wire when meeting Mr Taylor and Mr Della-Vedova in March this year. The hearing continues.
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,22822459-922,00.html
What would be the most logical target Iran would strike in case of a U.S. or Israeli attack on its nuclear sites?
Qatar.
In fact, Iranian Revolutionary guards have already threatened to attack Qatari oil and gas facilities (hence crippling the world economy by creating an oil and gas shock) by sea and air by using suicide boats and air missiles. For Iran, it's a no-brainer: Qatar hosts the largest U.S. base in the Middle East (8,000 U.S. soldiers are stationed there) and is also viewed by some as being friendly with Israel.
What is Qatar doing about it?
First and foremost, Qatar has been heavily using the diplomatic weapon. Its strategy is to befriend everyone: from Israel to Hamas, from Syria to France. Even though Qatar's deputy foreign minister Mohamed al-Ruhaimi firmly believes that "speaking to everyone allows us to have a dynamic and independent policy," it is a recipe for disaster. For instance, Qatar has not been terror-free: in fact, in March 2005, a suicide bomber (most likely linked or inspired by al-Qaida) killed one Briton and wounded 12 people in Doha in an attack at a theater frequented by Westerners.
Also, while Qatar is the only country with Iran, heavily investing in Syria, and thereby propping up the Assad regime, it does not seem to pay off. Quite the contrary. In June 2006 the Kuwaiti daily Al Seyassah reported that Qatar had foiled a destabilization plot against the regime and that Qatari authorities had arrested about 100 Syrian workers and five Syrian intelligence officers. This plot was reportedly conceived by Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law and chief of Syria's security services, Assef Shawkat, with the help of Hezbollah's mastermind, Imad Mugniyeh. They were to activate sleeping cells in the Gulf and target vital and strategic centers in Qatar. Syria wanted to take revenge on Qatar because of its vote at the United Nations for resolution 1680, which calls for a final drawing of the borders between Syria and Lebanon and the reestablishment of normal diplomatic relations between the two states.
On the diplomatic front, Qatar has been handling Iran carefully.
For proof, Qatar was the only country to reject a U.N. Security Council resolution against Tehran. Another reason for this policy is that according to a figure cited by the French daily, Le Figaro, 30 to 40 percent of Qatari citizens are of Iranian descent. But appeasing Iran might not be enough to stave off a conflict with its powerful Shiite neighbor. Just a spark might ignite a fire: for example a major diplomatic incident broke out last year between the two countries when Qatar's emir called the Gulf "Arabian" and not "Persian."
Finally another potential source of conflict is the sharing of the enormous offshore gas reserve of the North Field (the largest natural gas reserve in the world with 25 trillion cubic meters) between the two nations, which is bound to ignite major tension, in particular as the Iranian economy worsens.
But Qatar has also a few fail-safe measures: one of them is obviously the U.S. military presence in the country. Another one is a military treaty with France obligating the latter to intervene militarily to defend the tiny Gulf state. France would be treaty bound to send troops to the region to retaliate against Iran. Recently, Qatari diplomats have been reminding France of its commitments. Last but not least, since March 2006 Qatari refineries and vital oil installations have been protected by batteries of Patriot missiles.
An Iranian attack on Qatar might literally plunge the world into a new global war. Gulf and Western countries are taking this scenario seriously. That is why military activity in the Gulf has been increasing tremendously in the past few months. According to British sources, the stock of weapons, missiles, and combat planes in the six neighboring countries to Iran is now three times what it was at the onset of the Iraq war in 2003. The skies are getting darker once more in the Middle East.
http://www.metimes.com/International/2007/11/26/first_target_for_iran_qatar/1356/
Wishing our politicians would do the will of the people rather than the will of big business, lobbyists and foreign governments with anti-American agendas who have excessive control over the US dollar and/or who have dictated US immigration policy because a substantial number of their citizens are in the US illegally would be MY wish.
Thanks for that post Oorang. Reminder we all need to be proactive, watching and noting anything suspicious, especially with Christmas shopping ahead for many of us. Shopping malls, strip malls and big box stores are usually crammed the closer we get to December 25th. Schools need to be ever-vigilant as there are special programs this time of the year, usually in the evening so parents can attend.
Wales Prince Charles visited Konya and Mevlana Museum with his wife Camilla. Charles quoted from Koran in his speech and showed his interest in Islam.
Britain alters its vocabulary to avoid offending Muslim radicals
Snippets: British counter-terrorism officials have said that government ministers must abandon “offensive and inappropriate” language. They were not talking about profanity, however. The “language” referred to was politically incorrect statements that could offend Islamist sympathizers.
National Security Service (MI5) chief Jonathan Evans warned earlier this month that terrorists were radicalizing people as young as 15 to carry out acts of terrorism in Britain. Britain’s youth are turning against their own country. As a means of curbing this trend, Evans has said that close attention must be paid to “our use of language” so as to avoid offending any would-be Islamist terrorist. “We are tackling a threat which finds its roots in ideology, so words really do matter,” he commented.
MI5 chiefs argue that the phrase “war on terrorism” is an exaggeration that legitimizes the actions of suicide bombers. To avoid offense, it is now the “struggle against terrorism.”
One counter-terrorism official said that the terrorist threat must never be described as a “Muslim problem.
As journalist Melanie Phillips said, “Far from upholding and protecting the culture that is under attack, the British government and counter-terrorism establishment are instead pushing us all further down this dark path. The lights are going out in Britain. This is the way freedom dies.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=egypt
http://www.memri.org/egypt.html
#
UPDATE:
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3795.htm
(”Source: Al-Masri Al-Yawm, Egypt, November 24, 2007”)
“Middle East Christian Association To Stop Activity In Egypt”
BLOG ENTRY SNIPPET: “It added that the organization was being subjected to government terrorism and had funding problems that made it difficult to continue its activity.”
(November 26, 2007)
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http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3645.htm
(”Source: Al-Gumhouriyya, Egypt, November 12, 2007”)
“Egypt Arrests Two Activists From Middle East Christian Association”
BLOG ENTRY SNIPPET: “Activists Wagiya Yaaqoub and George Abd Al-Malak, from the Canada-based Middle East Christian Association (MECA), have been arrested for investigation on charges of posting online material that harms Islam.”
(November 12, 2007)
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1930477/posts
Christian Woman Sentenced To Three Years For ‘Lying’ On Marriage Certificate [Egypt]
AHN ^ | Nov 26 2007 | Joseph Mayton
Posted on 11/25/2007 7:35:29 PM PST by camerakid400
Cairo, Egypt (AHN) - An Egyptian court has sentenced a woman to three years in prison because her father converted to Islam briefly 45 years ago. Under Egyptian law, religion is passed to children from the father.
Shadia Nagui Ibrahim, 47, a Christian, was charged with fraud for putting Christianity as her religion on her marriage certificate, even though she was unaware that her father’s conversion in 1962 had made her officially Muslim.
According to reports, Ibrahim’s father left home in 1962 when the woman was only two years-old and converted to Islam.
However, only a few years later he returned to the family after a reconciliation with his wife, moved back in and re-converted to Christianity.
Egyptian law stipulates that a citizen cannot convert away from Islam, so the elder Ibrahim was forced to forge his documents to show he was Christian.
The main problem in the case is that under the law, Muslim women are forbidden to marry a Christian man, and thus Ibrahim was charged with “providing false information on official documents” for stating she was Christian on her 1982 marriage certificate.
She was sentenced previously to three years in absentia in 2000, but those charges were later dropped. When she was detained this August, after a brief court appearance, the judge sentenced her to three years.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=russia
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=putin
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http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200711/INT20071126b.html
“Russia Gives No Leeway on US Missile Shield Proposals”
By Sergei Blagov
CNSNews.com Correspondent
November 26, 2007
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