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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48252
Troops Detain Dozens, Kill Suspected Terrorist in Iraq
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 28, 2007 – Iraqi and coalition forces captured 32 suspected terrorists and killed another in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said.
During an operation in Mosul today, coalition forces captured a wanted individual believed to be an al Qaeda in Iraq leader with connections to terrorist operations. The suspect, who allegedly received foreign funding, has waged a campaign of murder and intimidation, hijacking fuel trucks, manufacturing car bombs, and using improvised explosive devices against coalition forces, military officials said.
An IED detonated near one of the ground force’s vehicles during the operation, officials said, but no injuries were reported. The suspect identified himself to coalition troops, who detained him.
Elsewhere in Iraq today, coalition forces captured a wanted individual south of Baqouba who allegedly is an al Qaeda in Iraq leader in the Khan Bani Saad area, and is associated with several al Qaeda leaders around Diyala, military officials said. Troops detained one additional suspect.
South of Baghdad today, coalition forces captured another wanted individual believed to be a weapons and foreign terrorist facilitator in the region with numerous ties to foreign terrorists, officials said.
During operations in Iraq yesterday:
— Coalition forces detained eight suspects in central and northern Iraq while targeting terrorists allegedly associated with foreign terrorists and al Qaeda in Iraq planners and financiers. The detainees are suspected of attacking coalition and Iraqi security forces, military officials said.
— Iraqi and coalition forces captured three terrorists in the Ameriya area in an effort to disrupt a terrorist cell allegedly responsible for IED, rocket and small-arms attacks against the combined Iraqi-coalition force and Iraqi civilians. During the operation, troops shot and killed a man who tugged at his clothing as if detonating a suicide vest bomb, military officials said.
— Iraqi special operations forces and U.S. Special Forces soldiers captured a suspected extremist cell leader in Baghdad. The suspect reportedly purchased and transported weapons used in attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces, officials said.
In Iraq during Nov. 26 operations:
— An Iraqi emergency response unit advised by U.S. Special Forces soldiers captured seven suspects in the Doura neighborhood of Baghdad who allegedly are responsible for a wide range of criminal activities, including kidnapping and murder, officials said.
— The Habbaniyah special weapons and tactics team and U.S. special operations forces captured four suspects, including an individual who allegedly has housed al Qaeda terrorists and has been involved in numerous small-arms attacks, ambushes and IED attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces in Habbaniyah.
— Iraqi special operations forces and U.S. forces detained two suspects in Mosul during a raid aimed at disrupting terrorist activities in the area.
— Fifth Iraqi Army Division and U.S. forces detained a suspected al Qaeda in Iraq terror cell leader and a second suspect while raiding a terrorist safe house in Saker village. The terrorist cell allegedly is believed to be responsible for kidnapping and assassinations, along with constructing and emplacing improvised explosive devices, military officials said.
— Iraqi security forces and U.S. Special Forces soldiers detained a suspected terrorist in Tikrit believed to be involved in several kidnappings, IED, mortar, rocket-propelled-grenade, and car-bomb attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
Police in Slovakia and Hungary arrest 3 trying to sell radioactive material
3 hours ago
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - Police in Slovakia and Hungary arrested three people and seized one kilogram of an unspecified but "dangerous" radioactive material the suspects were trying to sell for $1 million, Slovak authorities said Wednesday.
The Czech news agency CTK, citing unconfirmed reports, said the material seized by authorities was enriched uranium. Slovak police spokesman Martin Korch declined to comment on the report, saying specialists were examining what he described only as "dangerous radioactive material."
Two of the suspects were arrested in eastern Slovakia, and the third was arrested in Hungary, Korch said. The suspects were not identified. Eastern Slovakia's border with Ukraine is the European Union's easternmost frontier, and authorities have spent millions tightening security in the past few years, fearing terrorists or organized crime syndicates could smuggle weapons, explosives and other contraband into the EU.
Slovak and Hungarian police worked together on the case for several months, Korch said. He would not say how long the suspects were under surveillance, or detail how they were arrested and to whom they were trying to sell the material.
Hungary's National Bureau of Investigation had no comment Wednesday. Erich Tomas, a spokesman for the Slovak Interior Ministry, said he had no information about the case. The U.S. Embassy in Bratislava, the Slovak capital, also had no immediate comment.
There have been concerns that Eastern Europe could be a source of radioactive material for a so-called "dirty bomb," which would use conventional explosives to scatter radioactive debris. Experts say such a weapon would frighten far more people than it would harm.
In 2003, police in the Czech Republic, which borders Slovakia, arrested two Slovaks in a sting operation in the city of Brno after they allegedly sold undercover officers bars of low-enriched uranium for $715,000. Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said the UN nuclear watchdog would be following up on the case. "It will be important to determine whether the material in question is nuclear," Fleming said. Such incidents are tracked in an IAEA database, she said.
The IAEA reported in August that there were more than 250 reported thefts or losses of nuclear material around the world in 2006, an increase of about 200 per cent from 2002. Concerns about nuclear smuggling have generally been focused on Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union, where security at nuclear-related industries deteriorated after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
The U.S.-based Nuclear Threat Initiative, an organization dedicated to reducing the global threat from nuclear weapons, said in a report last year that Russia remains the prime country of concern for contraband nuclear material. Matthew Bunn, a senior researcher at Harvard University's Project on Managing the Atom, said highly enriched uranium and plutonium "exist in more than 40 countries around the world, and in pretty much every country more security is needed."
Pavel Podvig, a researcher at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Co-operation, said that a kilogram of enriched uranium alone would not pose a great danger but the fact that people may be able to get their hands on it should be cause for alarm. "The biggest danger is that apparently people can still obtain a kilogram of uranium, of some degree of enrichment," said Podvig. "That means there are loopholes in some kind of a system."
In 2006, Georgian agents working with CIA officials set up a sting that led to the arrest of a Russian citizen who tried to sell a small amount of weapons-grade uranium that he had in a plastic bag in his jacket pocket.
In 1997, two men who officials said planned to smuggle five kilograms of enriched uranium to Pakistan or China were arrested in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. That uranium reportedly had been stolen from a plant in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan. "There was great concern after the demise of the Soviet Union that this sort of thing was going to be on the increase because obviously there were huge amounts of nuclear materials and weapons," said Kate Hudson, chairwoman of Britain's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. "There was great concern about a black market developing."
But that has not really happened, Hudson said. "The kind of massive problem that had been envisioned hasn't come to fruition," she said.
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5g9rUmYCMEiY_fujFsEhuIjjjWg1w
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48264
Coalition Troops Detain 12 in Iraq Operations
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2007 – Coalition forces detained 12 suspects during operations today targeting al Qaeda in central and northern Iraq.
— Coalition forces captured a wanted individual during operations in Tarmiyah while targeting a foreign terrorist facilitator and associate of senior al Qaeda leaders. They also detained two other suspects without incident.
— Coalition forces captured a wanted individual north of Samarra during operations targeting foreign terrorist facilitators and senior terrorist leader associates. The wanted individual is believed to be an al Qaeda leader in the area.
— Coalition forces detained four suspects while targeting al Qaeda members responsible for assassination-style murders in Hawija. Coalition forces also targeted their associates in Mosul, detaining three suspects without incident.
— Forces detained one suspect in Bayji while further targeting al Qaeda terrorists involved in kidnappings, money extortion and sectarian-related murders.
“We’re continuously attacking al Qaeda in Iraq to bring down the networks responsible for conducting attacks against the Iraqi people,” said Army Col. Donald Bacon, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman.
In other operations today, coalition forces killed two armed men and detained five other suspected criminals during operations in the Khan Bani Said area, north of Baghdad.
The targeted individual reportedly was a significant facilitator and trainer specializing in explosively formed penetrators within “special group” criminal elements in the Khan Bani Said area and Baghdad who have not honored Muqtada al-Sadr’s pledge for a ceasefire. The suspected criminal also reportedly was an associate of several other senior-level criminal element leaders who were involved in attacks on coalition forces.
During the assault on the targeted building, two armed men came out of the building with assault rifles aimed toward coalition forces. The ground force engaged the armed men, killing them in self-defense. During the operation, coalition forces detained five additional suspected criminals without incident.
“We will continue to show restraint towards those who honor Muqtada al-Sadr’s pledge to stop attacks,” said Army Maj. Winfield Danielson, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “While Iraqi and coalition forces are making progress against criminals who are not honoring this pledge, their networks remain a dangerous enemy of Iraq that must be removed.”
In operations earlier this week:
— Apache helicopter crews killed three insurgents southeast of Baghdad after an attack on a coalition forces convoy Nov. 27. The attack originated from a house near the road the convoy was on near the Tigris River. The Apaches, from the 3rd Infantry Division, were called to engage the enemy forces in the house. After positive identification of the enemy was made and clearance was given by ground forces, the Apaches attacked the enemy forces at the house with 30 mm cannon and Hellfire missiles, killing three.
— A group of local citizens turned in a weapons cache to a checkpoint in Hawr Rajab, Nov. 27. The cache consisted of seven blasting caps, 13 pressure plates, two fire extinguishers and 28 two-liter bottles filled with homemade explosives.
— Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were conducting a foot patrol near Maderiyah on Nov. 25 when they found an abandoned house with copper wires extending out of a window. This led them to believe the house was rigged with explosives. Iraqi citizens confirmed the house was abandoned. An explosive ordnance disposal team was called, and saw the copper wires were attached to blasting caps on jugs filled with homemade explosives. It was determined that approaching the house to destroy the bombs would be too much of a risk, so the area was cleared, and an Air Force F-16 destroyed the house.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)