Veteran al-Qaida operative providing insight into bin Laden's network
Associated Press
Aug. 13, 2004 12:15 PM
LONDON - A newly arrested al-Qaida operative is providing valuable insight into the inner workings of Osama bin Laden's network as the United States remains on alert for attacks, U.S. officials and a diplomat in Africa told The Associated Press.
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian wanted in the deadly bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, has much to say. His life has tracked al-Qaida's evolution from a tightly organized network assaulting prominent U.S. targets to a looser group struggling to maintain momentum.
Ghailani, once on the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list with a $5 million bounty for the 1998 embassy bombings, was apprehended last month in Pakistan during a sweep that netted more than 20 al-Qaida suspects in that country and led to more than a dozen arrests in Britain.
Attention surrounding the arrests has focused on another suspect, Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, an alleged al-Qaida computer expert. But Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said, "The most important arrest that has been made of late has been that of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani."
Excerpted
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0813AlQaidaVet13-ON.html
Hurricanes, beheading, vermin.....
Now for some good news, sort of
08.13.04
Agents can now "Expedite Removal" of Illegals
New Authority for Border Patrol Agents
The Department of Homeland security gives Border Patrol Agents the power to send illegal immigrants back home without appearing before a judge. Officials are not calling this process a "deportation.", they call it "expedited removal" and it gives Agents in the field a power they haven't used before, at least not in the El Paso Area.
The rule applies to illegal immigrants who've been in the country for less than two weeks, and who've been caught within 100 miles of the border - that could be anywhere between El Paso and Truth or Consequences (NM). The removal process generally takes more than a year and involves a hearing before an Immigration Judge, but under the new plan an immigrant can be deported just 8 days after being caught.
The Homeland Security Department says Mexican or Canadian Nationals are not the focus of this sweep, it's geared more toward people from other nations in an effort to fight terrorism. But according to one immigration attorney, these removals are a violation of civil liberties.
http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=2172488&nav=AbC0Pr2b