Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

erroristWarning.com Terrorism Headlines 08/03/2005 # 1

National:

[AP] USA - State Department Issues Worldwide Terror Caution

"Current information suggests attacks are planned in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East"

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBY57CPWBE.html

[News-Times] CONNECTICUT - School bus drivers to be on alert for terror

http://news.newstimeslive.com/story.php?id=73303&category=Local

[Philadelphia Inquirer] PENNSYLVANIA - Police detonate suspicious backpack on a SEPTA train

"bag contained wiring"

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jersey/12282435.htm

[Alton Telegraph] ILLINOIS - Suspicious device

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14961039&BRD=1719&PAG=461&dept_id=25271&rfi=6

[Union-Tribune] USA - Feel radioactive? Stay shy of the border [ Medical radiation patients setting off border monitors ]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/bell/20050802-9999-1m2bell.html

[Reuters] FLORIDA - Tax assessor threatened in Florida anthrax hoax

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N82608841.htm

[AP] USA - HHS May Use Mail to Deliver Emergency Meds

"In the event of a flu pandemic or a bioterrorism attack, help could arrive via the U.S. mail or from the fire station down the street"

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050802/D8BNRRRO0.html

[AP] NORHT CAROLINA - Amtrak Train Strikes Loaded Dump Truck and Derails in Raleigh, NC, Killing Two

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBD5N2IWBE.html

[Ottawa Citizen] CANADA - Hunting al-Qaeda: Inside the RCMP's search for a terror cell

http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=5da5e065-cdbb-4384-b3f1-790347e94e0c

[VOA] CANADA - Canadian Police Are Beefing Up the Security of Their Borders

"efforts by Canadian police to prevent border violations, especially by would-be terrorists trying to smuggle deadly weapons in or out of the
country"

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-08-02-voa22.cfm

[OfficialWire OP/ED] USA - Why The Border Patrol Can’t Do Its Job

http://news.baou.com/main.php?action=recent&rid=20386

[WDIV] MICHIGAN - Bomb Squad Investigates Possible Grenade In Yard

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/4798213/detail.html

[AP] RHODE ISLAND - Grenade found near berry farm in North Kingstown

http://www.abc6.com/engine.pl?station=wlne&id=16993&template=breakout_story_local_news.shtml&dateformat=%25M+%25e,%25Y

[Media General News Service] USA - A Dirty Bomb Could be a Catastrophe

http://washdateline.mgnetwork.com/index.cfm?SiteID=wsh&PackageID=46&fuseaction=article.main&ArticleID=7355&GroupID=215

[AP] USA - Feds arrest 582 alleged members of gangs [TW Editors note : MS-13; Latin Kings; Mexican Mafia, 582 down 10000+ to go ]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002415527_gangs02.html

[WND] USA/ MEXICO BORDER - Minutemen aid in arrest of 21 illegals

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45569

[NBCSandiego.com] USA / MEXICO BORDER - Man Shot In Head Near Border Survives

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/4802234/detail.html

[WND] USA / MEXICO BORDER - Feds' terror-threat response challenged

"While officials are talking, Minutemen are acting"

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45570

[The NewStandard] USA / MEXICO BORDER - Legislation Authorizing Civilian Border Patrols introduced

http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2175

[Seattle Weekly] USA / CANADA - Borderline Effective

"After an Arizona demonstration, 'minutemen' are coming to watch over the Washington-Canada border"

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0531/050803_news_minutemen.php

[Stars and Stripes] USA / OKINAWA - Suspicious package found near theater on Okinawa base

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=30726

[San Mateo County TImes] CALIFORNIA - Suspicious substance no hazard, say fire officials

"suspicious substance in an envelope sent two people to the hospital and forced the evacuation of an investment company's offices "

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_2907324

[AP] NEW YORK - 2 NY officials back terror check profiling

"Middle Easterners should be targeted for searches on city subways, two elected officials said, contending that police have been wasting time
with random checks in efforts to prevent terrorism in the transit system"

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/12286872.htm

[Terre Haute Tribune Star] INDIANA - Police arrest Terre Haute man after bomb explosion

http://www.tribstar.com/articles/2005/08/03/news/local_and_bistate/lb02.txt

[Editors Note - TerroristWarning.com is particularly interested in recent reports of pipe bombs, real or hoaxes, particularly within the last
week - please email any articles or reports to News@TerroristWarning.com Thank You ]

[The American Conservative] USA / IRAN - Attack on Iran: Pre-emptive Nuclear War

"In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same
for Iran"

"plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons"

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20050802&articleId=791

[Daily Dispatch] HOUSTON - Mistakes happen; delays in terror investigations can't [ TW EDITORS NOTE - FBI Drops the ball, again (Still )]

"Joseph Webber, the senior Immigration and Customs agent in Houston, has complained that the FBI took months to follow up on a lead he
sent them in his pursuit of obtaining a wiretap"

"Just as alarming, after Webber filed his complaint, he was notified that he was also the target of an investigation"

http://www.hendersondispatch.com/articles/2005/08/03/news/opinion/opin01.txt

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Feedback@TerroristWarning.com and tell us about your site.

International:

[ABC Radio Australia] PAPAU NEW GUINEA - PNG telephone exchange victim of sabotage

"criminals blew-up Telikom PNG's main telephone exchange using petrol bombs"

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1427648.htm

[AP] COLOMBIA - Bomb Kills 11 Colombian Police; 2,000 Right-Wing Fighters Disarm [Roadside Bomb]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBSWG4JVBE.html

[AP] NORTH KOREA - North Korean Envoy Says No Progress at Nuclear Talks

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBZZRU9WBE.html

[AP] COLOMBIA - Colombian Police Raise Death Toll in Roadside Bombing to 15

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB5RPF9WBE.html

[TVNZ] NEW ZEALAND - Suspicious powder found at Chch IRD [ Govt bldg, 3 taken to hospital ]

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411319/601379

[Stuff] NEW ZEALAND - Suspicious package forces Wellington road closure [ False alarm ]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3365130a10,00.html

[KUNA] TURKEY - Police defuses banner-bomb in Mersin

"police managed to defuse a bomb planted inside a banner hanged from a bridge "

http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=757354

[Australian] TURKEY - Bomb blast injures two

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16134988%255E1702,00.html

[Rising Nepal] NEPAL - Inform about suspicious persons, army requests people

http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/pageloader.php?file=2005/08/02/topstories/main6

[Reuters] IRAN - Bomb explodes outside BA, BP offices in Iran [ No casualties ]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/August/middleeast_August40.xml&section=middleeast&col=

[Anadolu News Agency] IRAN - Voice Bomb Caused Tehran Blast Today [ Voice Activated ]

"where the offices of British Airways, BP and Mercedes Benz are located"

http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20050802&hn=22542

[AP] IRAN - Motorcycle Gunman Assassinates Judge in Tehran

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBPQZ4HWBE.html

[Interfax] RUSSIA - Bomb found on Makhachkala outskirts

http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=11357785

[AP] SPAIN - Police Identify Syrian-Born Spaniards as Madrid Bombing Ideologues

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBL4W9JWBE.html

[NewIndPress.com] INDIA - In J&K, militants copycat Iraq: Car bomb as weapon

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEH20050802112541&Page=H&Title=Top+Stories&Topic=0

[Sofia News Agency] BULGARIA - Fake Bomb Tip Off Closes Sofia Airport

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=50779

[Reuters] EGYPT - Egypt police slay bomb suspect, wife

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/08/02/egypt_police_slay_bomb_suspect_wife

[TamilNet] SRI LANKA - Tamil Conference begins in Batticaloa amidst bomb explosion

http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=15527

[AP] RUSSIA - Russian general: Country’s nuclear missiles to remain combat-ready

http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1006487.php

[Manila Times] PHILIPPINES - Rebels stage simultaneous raids in Bicol; PNP on alert

"NPA attacked a communication tower and police outpost simultaneously"

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2005/aug/03/yehey/prov/20050803pro1.html

[VOA] BOSNIA - US Issues New Travel Warning for Bosnia

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-08-01-voa68.cfm

[SouthAsia network] INDIA / PAKISTAN - Possibility of A Nuclear War In South Asia: US Report

http://southasia.net/article504.html

[ABC Regional Online] AUSTRALIA - Police disarm explosives found in Perth

"Police have disarmed a package containing military-style explosives that was found in a car on the Perth foreshore"

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1429414.htm

[ABC Australia] AUSTRALIA - Police aware of terrorist cells: Keelty

"Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty says claims that 60 Islamic extremists are operating in Australia "

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1428898.htm

[TerroristWarning.com] GLOBAL - Do you have a non-profit or public service website related to homeland security, counter terrorism, law
enforcement, emergency preparedness, or public safety? If so, TerroristWarning.com wants to give you free advertising! Email us at
Feedback@TerroristWarning.com and tell us about your site.

Is this the original warning to the Spain attack? has link to a PDF copy. this is dated 3-19-2004 http://www.mil.no/felles/ffi/start/article.jhtml?articleID=71589 FFI explains al-Qaida document Since the Madrid bombings on 11 March there has been considerable media interest in a document found on radical islamist websites some months ago by researchers at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI). The document recommends "painful strikes" against Spanish "forces" specifically around the time of the Spanish elections and there has naturally been much speculation about the relationship between this text and the Madrid events. Brynjar Lia and Thomas Hegghammer now present some clarifications and reflections on the significance of the 42-page Arabic document called "Jihadi Iraq, Hopes and Dangers". Date and origin of the document According to the author, a provisional draft of the document was finished in September 2003, but it was not published until approximately 10 December. FFIâ€™s Brynjar Lia came across the document in December on website called "Global Islamic Media" which regularly posts various kinds of radical islamist texts. Lia then skimmed the document and interpreted it as a strategy document intended for the islamist resistance within Iraq. However, just after the Madrid bombings Brynjar Lia recalled the document and started analysing it in more detail with his colleague Thomas Hegghammer. The detailed reading provided many interesting new insights, particularly when coupled with details from the investigation of the Madrid attacks. Authorship and audience According to the heading of the document, it was prepared by the "Media Committee for the Victory of the Iraqi People (Mujahidin Services Centre)". This entity is previously unknown, but the reference to a "services centre" (markaz al-khidamat) echoes the "Services Bureau" (maktab al-khidamat), the organisation from which al-Qaida grew in the late 1980s. The document is written by a single person whose name does not appear anywhere in the document. However, the text contains a dedication to Yusuf al-Ayiri and several quotations from his books. Yusuf al-Ayiri was a key al-Qaida ideologist and media coordinator who was killed by Saudi security forces in May 2003. The fact that al-Ayiri is the only named person to receive a dedication in the document, and the fact that the author strongly recommends reading al-Ayiriâ€™s books indicate that the author was either part of the circle around al-Ayiri, or would like to be associated with his ideological legacy. Al-Ayiri wrote extensively on the Iraq war and his style was characterized by a very pragmatic military and political approach to jihad. His books paid little attention to religious and theological issues. Jihadi Iraq, Hopes and Dangers is similarly pragmatic and analytical, and this further suggest that the author is at least of the same ideological orientation of al-Ayiri, who was closely associated with al-Qaida. At several points in the text the author says "we think" or "we find", suggesting perhaps that the "Mujahidin Services Centre" does indeed refer to a closed circle of al-Qaida followers. The document is also dedicated more generally to islamists who have fought in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia and Iraq. This indicates that the text is not intended for internal organisational use but rather seeks to provide general strategic advice to a wider international audience of radical islamists. At the same time, the author presumes that the readers share his underlying ideological vision, because he does not deal with theological justifications for the strategy he proposes. Like al-Ayiri, the author sees no reason to spend time preaching to the choir about the need to wage jihad against the crusaders. He cuts straight to the crucial issue, namely how should the Mujahidin proceed in practical terms in order to oust the occupation forces from Iraq ? Thus he remains faithful to the subtitle of the document: "(A review of) the practical steps for the blessed jihad". Major themes The main thesis proposed in the document is that America cannot be coerced to leave Iraq by military-political means alone, but the Islamist resistance can succeed if it makes the occupation of Iraq as costly as possible - in economic terms - for the United States. The document therefore offers a number of specific "policy recommendations" in order to increase the economic impact of the insurgency and the jihadi campaign in Iraq. The most important of these recommendations consists of trying to limit the number of American allies present in Iraq, because America must not be allowed to share the cost of occupation with a wide coalition of countries. If the mujahidin can force US allies to withdraw from Iraq then America will be left to cover the expenses on her own, which she cannot sustain for very long. The intermediary strategic goal is therefore to make one or two of the US allies leave the coalition, because this will cause others to follow suit and the dominos will start falling. The document then analyses three countries (Britain, Spain and Poland) in depth, with a view to identifying the weakest link or the domino piece most likely to fall first. The author provides a surprisingly informed and nuanced analysis of the domestic political map in each country. He argues that each country will react differently to violent attacks against its forces because of domestic political factors: Poland, for example, is unlikely to withdraw from the coalition because there is political consensus on foreign policy, and the country has a very high tolerance for human casualties. Britain is easier to force out of Iraq, because the popular opposition to the war and the occupation is so high. However, the author estimates that Britain will only withdraw from Iraq in one of two cases: either if Britain suffers significant human casualties in Iraq or if Spain and Italy withdraws first. Spain on the other hand is very vulnerable to attacks on its forces, primarily because public opposition to the war is almost total, and the government is virtually on its own on this issue. The author therefore identifies Spain as the weakest link in the coalition. References to Spain The author devotes 6 out of 42 pages to a review of the domestic political situation in Spain. In the process he displays a knowledge of and interest in Spanish society which is striking. We do not know whether the author himself has intimate knowledge of Spanish politics or whether he is plagiarising good secondary sources. However, the very fact that he deems such a high level of detail necessary for his argument indicates that we are dealing with a politically very developed mind. It must also be noted that of the three case studies, the chapter on Spain is by far the best in terms of analytical clarity. The most interesting passage of the whole text is the authorâ€™s concluding remarks regarding Spain: "Aznarâ€™s position does not express the Spanish popular stance, and if the disparity between the government and the people were at the same percentage rate in Britain, then the government would fall. But this has not happened thus far, for a number of reasons, including: - That the Spanish people, despite the passing of more than quarter of a century of democracy, has not reached the level of e.g. Britain in terms of accountability of its rulers. So far it (the people) has accepted the lies of the politicians as the truth and it does not see a reason for holding them accountable. This is contrary to the British who try to hold Blair accountable for his lies in making a case for Britainâ€™s entry in the war on Iraq. - That most of the rightist electorate are very loyal to their party. Despite the fact that the vast majority of the Spanish opposed the war, in the last local elections the Popular party electorate voted for their party and remained loyal to it. - The power of the group Opus Dei in the Popular Party.. - The lack of direct influence of the Iraq events on life in Spain... - The weakness of the leftist opposition and the failure of mounting a political struggle. Therefore we say that in order to force the Spanish government to withdraw from Iraq the resistance should deal painful blows to its forces. This should be accompanied by an information campaign clarifying the truth of the matter inside Iraq. It is necessary to make utmost use of the upcoming general election in Spain in March next year. We think that the Spanish government could not tolerate more than two, maximum three blows, after which it will have to withdraw as a result of popular pressure. If its troops still remain in Iraq after these blows, then the victory of the Socialist Party is almost secured, and the withdrawal of the Spanish forces will be on its electoral programme. Lastly, we are emphasise that a withdrawal of the Spanish or Italian forces from Iraq would put huge pressure on the British presence (in Iraq), a pressure that Toni Blair might not be able to withstand, and hence the domino tiles would fall quickly. Yet, the basic problem of making the first tile fall still remains." (The passage is underlined and in bold types in the Arabic original) Relationship with the Madrid events The documentâ€™s significance derives first of all from the way in which it might be linked to the Madrid events. FFIâ€™s researchers think it is likely that the perpetrators of the attacks knew this document in some way or other. There are three reasons for this. First of all, the document highlights Spain as the politically most convenient target of the coalition countries present in Iraq, and it specifically mentions the Spanish elections as a good time to strike. Second, the recommendation to strike Spanish forces does not exclude attacks on other types of Spanish targets in other parts of the world. The perpetrators may have adopted the overall strategy outlined in the document while altering the tactics somewhat and taking the campaign onto Spanish territory. After all, the author makes a point out of the fact that the Iraq war has so far not affected life in Spain ("..lack of direct influence of the Iraq events on life in Spain"). Moreover, the fact that the document is addressed to global jihadists, and that it was posted on the "Global Islamic Media" website indicates that its scope went way beyond the Iraqi battlefield. Third, the man who assumes responsibility for the attacks appears on a video under the name Abu Dujana al-Afghani, echoing a reference to the historical Abu Dujana on page 2 of the document, which goes as follows: "Verily (the crusaders) do not and will not be turned away (from aggression against Islam) except by the youth who have sold their souls to God Almighty, and who have put on the headband of death ... the headband of Abu Dujana". Abu Dujana was one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad and known as a brave fighter. His trademark was a red headband known as the "headband of death" (â€˜asbat al-mawt), which he wound around his helmet before going into battle. For this reason "Abu Dujana" has sometimes been used as an alias by mujahidin in various parts of the world. In this case, however, we cannot exclude the possibility that the person on the videotape has chosen the alias Abu Dujana after reading this document. Alternatively, perhaps it is the author who deliberately hints at the Moroccan-Spanish cell by mentioning Abu Dujana. One must always be very careful to link anonymous ideological texts with specific events on the ground, especially when the texts contain few operational details. One by one, the abovementioned the points of convergence are not enough to link the document to the attacks. However, when the indications are considered as a whole and coupled with details from the investigation such as the videotape, a very interesting picture emerges. This leads us to suggest that we are dealing with a text which served as ideological inspiration and policy guidance for the terrorist attacks in Madrid. Relaterte artikler

1] Date: Tue 2 Aug 2005 From: Mary Marshall Source: New Scientist, 1 Aug 2005 [edited] _____________________________________________________________ Pig disease may be spreading between humans ----------------------------------------------- Vaccines to combat a deadly pig-borne disease were flown to south-western China on Sunday [31 Aug 2005], where the spread of the rare illness has already killed 36 people and infected 198. The unusually high numbers of people infected by the swine disease has led scientists to speculate that it may be being spread from human-to-human or that another disease entirely is to blame. _____________________________________________________________ _Streptococcus suis_ type II, although relatively common in swine, spreads to humans extremely rarely, and the size and virulence of this current outbreak, in the province of Sichuan, has taken the World Health Organization by surprise. _____________________________________________________________ The Chinese government responded on Sunday [31 Aug 2005] by airlifting the 1st batch of a vaccine for the infection -- enough to treat 360 000 pigs -- from the southern city of Guangzhou to the affected towns. The vaccine's manufacturers say they will be producing enough vaccine to treat 10 million pigs in the coming days, but vaccines take 3 weeks to produce immunity in the pigs. ______________________________________________________________ Health authorities in the province have distributed 2 million notices to educate poor, often illiterate farmers and their children not to slaughter pigs or eat their meat. 39 temporary roadside quarantine stations have been set up to prevent dead pigs from reaching markets; they will be burned instead. _____________________________________________________________ China's state-controlled media says the government has brought the disease under control and that no human-to-human transmission of infection has been found. But there has been widespread criticism of the way the situation has been handled, with parallels being drawn to China's handling of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and bird flu outbreaks. The authorities knew of the 1st human cases on 24 Jun 2005, but it only allowed the news out on 25 Jul 2005. And China has banned local and foreign reporters from entering the region. _____________________________________________________________ The secrecy has bred suspicion elsewhere. The WHO has said that it is baffled, because _S. suis_ has never affected so many people in an outbreak before; it usually just infects one or 2 people at a time. And when people have been infected previously, mortality rates have been below 10 percent, and different symptoms have been exhibited. _____________________________________________________________ "It could be another disease altogether, it need not be _Streptococcus suis_, because the presentation is so atypical," Samson Wong, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, told Reuters. "In past literature, there have been one or 2 cases when people died within 36 hours, but those were exceptions rather than the rule. The deaths in China are very unusual." _____________________________________________________________ Wong also says many patients in Sichuan were bleeding under the skin, a symptom that has been cited in only 2 or 3 cases in medical literature on the infection, and that deafness, which is commonly found with the disease, has been little mentioned in the outbreak. Experts quoted in other news reports have also said that the swine bacterium is an unlikely cause, with the symptoms, widespread geography of those affected and the speed of infection pointing to a viral infection. _____________________________________________________________ Other experts question China's denial of human-to-human spread. "The organism is carried on the pig's tonsils and is spread pig-to-pig through nose rubbing or coughing. But it's only found in small concentration on the pigs' tonsils, so it's difficult for a human to catch it that way," says Jill Thompson from the UK's Veterinary Investigation Centre in Edinburgh. _____________________________________________________________ "When the infection spreads to the brain, causing meningitis, it's in far greater concentration, and so it can be transmitted to humans who eat raw infected pork or handle the dead animal with open cuts," she told New Scientist. _____________________________________________________________ "It is so rare for humans to become infected, most farm workers develop some immunity from the endemic disease. What might have happened is that the bacteria have acquired virulence factors from another organism -- a bacterium or virus that might be harmless -- and the combined virulence factors have turned it into a superbug, which could be transmitted human-to-human through coughing," she suggests. _____________________________________________________________ Andrew Rycroft, a microbiologist from the Royal Veterinary College in Hertfordshire, UK agrees. "The likelihood is that once it gets established in the human respiratory tract, it can be transmitted by the respiratory tract between humans very much more quickly," he says, citing an analogy between the bubonic plague, which soon became the far more virulent pneumonic plague when it was transmitted by the human respiratory system. [Byline: Gaia Vice] _____________________________________________________________ -- ProMED-mail ****** [2] Date: Tue 2 Aug 2005 From: ProMED-mail Source: Reuters news alert, 2 Aug 2005 [edited] _____________________________________________________________ China farmers ignore swine flu hygiene orders ----------------------------------------------- Many frugal farmers in southwest China are refusing to bury infected pigs safely, Chinese media said on Tuesday [2 Aug 2005], raising fears that a deadly swine flu could spread further, after infecting almost 200 people and killing 36. _____________________________________________________________ Draconian measures were in place around the Chinese capital to prevent infection. The Beijing News said city authorities had blocked inward shipments of about 4000 tons of pork and pork products from stricken Sichuan province *****up to 31 Jul 2005. _____________________________________________________________ Many impoverished Sichuan farmers, having already bought piglets, inoculation and feed, are refusing to spend more on burying sick pigs with disinfectant. Instead, they slaughter them and eat the meat themselves. "Households are not following guidelines in dealing with sick and dead pigs to prevent possible harm," the Beijing News said. _____________________________________________________________ Asked whether her family had followed government orders to dispose of their sick pigs, the wife of a farmer in Sichuan's hard-hit Zizhong county reportedly told state television: "At any rate, we didn't eat them." _____________________________________________________________ Zizhong health worker Wen Youhai had admitted to simply taking farmers at their word that they had properly handled sick pigs rather than observing burials in person, the daily said. _____________________________________________________________ The Health Ministry Web site, in its latest bulletin, said 2 deaths and 17 infections with pig-borne bacteria _Streptococcus suis_ had been reported between Sunday [31 Jul 2005] and midday Monday [1 Aug 2005] in Sichuan. _____________________________________________________________ Health officials insist the outbreak is under control and that the latest victims represented previously undiagnosed cases, not new cases which would indicate the disease was spreading. A total of 198 people in 108 villages and townships in Sichuan had contracted the disease, apparently from slaughtering, handling or eating infected pigs, the ministry said. _____________________________________________________________ The official China Youth Daily published a picture of a stall owner in Ziyang city, where the disease was 1st reported in June 2005, selling pork at a traditional market. The headline read: "Ziyang residents dare to sell pork again." In one unconfirmed report, the Chongqing Evening News said last week [final week July 2005] an unscrupulous meat dealer had dug up sick and dead pigs he was forced by police to bury a day earlier and sold the meat in a nearby town for a big profit. ______________________________________________________________ Sichuan has launched a campaign to educate illiterate farmers and their children not to slaughter or eat sick pigs. _____________________________________________________________ The government has also vowed to punish officials caught covering up or delaying reports on infections. 2 officials and one health inspector have already been fired for negligence. While most of the infections have been found in Sichuan, cases have also been reported in Guangdong province and neighboring Hong Kong. _____________________________________________________________ Shipments of pork from Sichuan, China's top producer, to Hong Kong have been stopped, and the city has stepped up inspections and quarantine procedures on all live pigs and frozen pork imported from the mainland. _____________________________________________________________ Hong Kong health experts have confirmed the bacteria as _Streptococcus suis_ and found no evidence of any mutation, the South China Morning Post said. In addition to Beijing, other Chinese cities have also set up tight perimeter checks to block pork from Sichuan. _____________________________________________________________ -- ProMED-mail [_Streptococcus suis_ is the causative agent of a wide range of infections in pigs, including meningitis, arthritis, pneumonia, septicemia, endocarditis, encephalitis, polyserositis, and abscesses. The bacterium is endemic in all pig-raising countries world-wide, especially affecting large, intensively managed pig farms. The disease is not regarded to be highly infectious, most outbreaks are limited to the affected farms, and is not notifiable, nationally or internationally. Nevertheless, in the affected farms, significant economic losses may be observed, and, since antibiotic therapy gives unsatisfactory results, vaccines have been developed and widely used. The results of vaccination have been inconsistent. Human infection may occur, but it has generally been known as occupational, affecting farmers and personnel engaged with pig breeding and their handling, including slaughter, not a food-borne disease. _____________________________________________________________ The current spread of _Streptococcus suis_ in China seems odd. Something must be perturbing the usual epidemiology of this occupational infection. There may be several guesses (and I emphasize guesses at this point) based on the rereading of the reports: 1) The disease is being spread by the foodborne route, and, therefore, is being transported to markets at substantial distances. This would probably be associated with some clinical outbreak in swine in Sichuan, while sick pigs -- instead of being presented for slaughter -- are sold on the open market at heavily discounted prices. As knowledge of the outbreak in people dries up the local market, unscrupulous dealers would send the meat further afield, thus explaining the new cities involved. The farmer eating his own sick pig falls in this category as well. The articles above, and many others, refer incorrectly to this disease as swine flu. Swine influenza is a well known disease but it caused by the influenza virus, not _Streptococcus suis_. 2) There might be a co-infection with a virus that weakens certain human immune systems in the outbreak area and, therefore, allows opportunistic _Streptococcus suis_ infection. What virus can only be speculated. 3) There might be a synergism between 2 pathogens, say a virus and _Streptococcus suis_ . If the latter was occult and widespread in a latent form, it is just adding a match to tinder. 4) The old epidemiological adage: seek and ye shall find. This is more applicable to the newer cases and rather doubtful if representing the explanation for the outbreak in Sichuan. Unfortunately, there is little information on the swine populations in Sichuan, because one key factor in putting together the cause of the outbreak would be to know the status of local swine farms where the cases are occurring. There is little information, other than bans on pork, coming from the animal side, but unless there is evidence of an outbreak in pigs indicating a new, more virulent strain, occupational exposure to normal _Streptococcus suis_ could hardly explain the magnitude of the cases in humans generated this far. - Mods.PC, MHJ, TG, AS] [Additionally, the organism could have acquired a toxin or some other factor, increasing its virulence. To date, it has not clearly been spread from human to human, and the speculation of an analogy to pneumonic plague and its transmissibility is just that. - Mod.LL] _____________________________________________________________ [see also: Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (02) 20050801.2238 Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China 20050730.2217 Streptococcus suis, human - China (Hong Kong) 20050728.2196 Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (Sichuan)(02) 20050728.2194 Streptococcus suis, porcine, human - China (Sichuan) 20050727.2179 Undiagnosed deaths - China (Sichuan)(05): Strep. suis susp. 20050726.2169 Undiagnosed deaths - China (Sichuan)(04): Strep. suis susp. 20050726.2160 Undiagnosed deaths - China (Sichuan) (03) 20050725.2153 Undiagnosed deaths - China (Sichuan) (02) 20050724.2139 Undiagnosed deaths - China (Sichuan): RFI 20050724.2131] ...............arn/msp/ll/msp/pc/tg/mhj/lm *##########################################################* ***********************

August 03, 2005

Londoners face terror tax to pay for extra police

The London Times

By Stewart Tendler, Michael Evans and Richard Ford
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22989-1718983,00.html

LONDONERS could face a "terror tax" to pay for Scotland Yard's battle
with the bombers and the protection of millions of travellers.

Householders will see a rise in council tax next spring or a dramatic
cutback in police services unless ministers are prepared to find more
cash for the force.

The cost of investigations into the attacks on July 7 and July 21 is
already running at 500,000 pounds a day as 1,000 officers, often working
12-hour shifts seven days a week, hunt the terrorist masterminds.

Detectives are being drawn from other operations, including fighting
London's crime barons and high-profile murders to relieve tired officers.

At the same time police are committed to a massive security operation
as the threat level remains at its second highest amid concern that
another terrorist cell is poised to strike.

Despite 37 arrests since July 21, security chiefs have set the threat
level at "severe specific" and say that there is no alternative to
maintaining "appropriate" police patrols in London.

The result is that Scotland Yard, British Transport Police and the City
of London Police are daily deploying hundreds of officers across London
in a high-visibility operation.

Each Thursday their ranks are swelled to 6,000 officers, many armed, as
they patrol the Underground and mainline rail systems at a cost of more
than 2 million pounds.

Metropolitan Police finance chiefs are already trying to calculate the
burgeoning bill which is eating into reserves of 14 million pounds
saved from last year and an extra 14 million pounds given by the Home
Office in April for counter-terrorism operations.

Within days of the first bombs Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner, knew
that his force would be stretched, not only for manpower but cash, and
approached ministers.

A senior spokesman told The Times: "We are in consultation with central
government for extra funding. Obviously we have not got infinite
resources and we will have to find the money from somewhere."

Home Office officials say that ministers would look at any approach
under a system that allows special grants to be made in unusual
circumstances. However, if the crisis is lengthy the Treasury will become
involved and officials say that there may not be much room for manoeuvre.

The Treasury has agreed to pay 14.6 pounds million for Operation
Bracknell, the response to the tsunami on Boxing Day last year, but has
little other spare cash.

Len Duvall, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said he
hoped that ministers would rally to help but admitted that a rise in
the precept was possible.

"I am optimistic. We are facing a different situation than we have ever
faced before. It is a complex situation which has implications for
other forces and I expect government will recognise this," he said.

Last year householders on Band D in London paid 184 pounds for
policing. This year the figure rose to 196 pounds and is already certain to
rise again to meet the cost of wage increases.

On top of that there will be an increase of about 28p a week to meet
the cost of the Olympics in 2012.

For Sir Ian and his senior officers the headaches over cash are only
part of their problems. Manpower in local boroughs and specialist teams
is steadily being stripped to maintain the counter-terrorist effort.

Tarique Ghaffur, the Assistant Commissioner in charge of major
detectives covering organised crime and murder, disclosed yesterday that work
was down to a "trickle" on a number of high-profile cases.

They include new investigations into the murder of PC Keith Blakelock
during riots the Broadwater Farm Estate riots in Tottenham in 1985 and
the murder of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common more than ten years
ago. The investigation into the murder of AmÃ©lie Delagrange in West
London has also slowed.

Mr Ghaffur said that between 300 and 470 officers had been taken from
his units for counter-terrorism duties. He said: "Quite clearly there
could be long-term implications if this level of abstraction continues.
The Met is stretched and this is going to continue for a while."

He said that gun crime has started to climb again and the murder
detection rate is falling. New drives against drug dealers are also being cut
back.

ugust 02, 2005

The trail of phone calls and money that lead to Saudi Arabia

The London Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22989-1717295,00.html

By Daniel McGrory and Richard Owen

POLICE are tracking the worldwide money trail behind the London
bombers. They are also investigating the hundreds of telephone calls that the
bombers made before the attacks.

Intelligence agencies are studying a series of disturbing
communications from Britain to well-known al-Qaeda terrorists sheltering in Saudi
Arabia to see if it leads to another terror cell sheltering in Britain.

The messages from Saudi Arabia include transfers of cash to Britain. At
least one of the failed July 21 bombers spent time in Saudi Arabia.

Scotland Yard made clear that their search for the support network and
the "key logistical figures" behind the bombings will stretch worldwide
and could take months.

It was the flight of Osman Hussain, also known as Hamdi Isaac, the
suspected failed bomber, to join his brother in Rome that has led to
revelations in Italy about his family's alleged al-Qaeda links.

Anti-terror detectives in Rome disclosed yesterday how his brother,
Remzi Hussain, was already under scrutiny in relation to al-Qaeda's secret
financial network.

Carlo De Stefano, the head of Italy's counter-terror operations, said
that Remzi Hussain, who lives in Rome, has been under surveillance since
the attacks in the US on September 11, 2001.

He said that Remzi Hussain's souvenir shop selling African artefacts on
the Via Volturno near the city's railway station is being investigated
for its links to al-Barakaat, a finance company that has been banned by
the US and most Western countries.

Al-Barakaat is the so-called al-Qaeda banking network that wires money
around the globe. Investigators believe that it was such a system that
was used to fund previous terror operations, including the attack last
year on four trains in Madrid.

Terror financiers can shift cash to terror cells in any part of the
world by simple money transfers that are hard to trace.

Last night police said that Remzi Hussain is under arrest for
"falsifying documents". It was to his flat in Rome that his brother fled after
escaping Britain's biggest manhunt on July 29. When police searched the
flat on the Via Aurelia at Tor Pignatarra, a Rome suburb, they found
records of air tickets used in "recent times" by Remzi Hussain to Dubai,
Geneva, Zurich, Munich and Amsterdam.

In public, senior Italian officials said that Osman Hussain, who is
thought to have tried to kill himself and others by blowing up a Tube
train at Shepherd's Bush, was part of "a rag tag" group and not linked to a
major terror network.

Behind the scenes, however, Italian security forces have stepped up
their investigations, fearing that their country may be the next to suffer
a terrorist strike.

At the weekend Giuseppe Pisanu, the Interior Minister, said that
Hussain, his brothers and friends formed part of a "tightly knit network"
that posed a threat to Italy.

Alfredo Mantovano, Signor Pisanu's deputy, said on Sunday that "the
support network that Hamdi Isaac found in Italy confirms the presence in
our country of autonomous Islamic cells that may represent a concrete
threat".

Police have dismissed claims that other members of the July 21 bombing
attempts recently visited Rome, though they have asked for Scotland
Yard's help in trying to trace phone calls made from England.

Signor De Stefano told yesterday how intelligence services tracked
Hussain across Europe by surveillance technology to eavesdrop on his mobile
phone conversations.

Police and intelligence agencies listened as he desperately tried to
find a way out of the net that was closing around him. They picked up
Hussain speaking in an obscure Ethiopian dialect used on the border of
Somalia and Eritrea, which encouraged them to believe they had the right
man.

Hussain was tracked as he travelled by train through France to Italy
but dumped his British SIM card and replaced it with an Italian one that
was picked up by investigators in Rome.

He has allegedly told Rome police that his name is Hamdi Isaac, that he
was born in Ethiopia and came to Italy with five brothers. Two remain
in Italy, and both are under arrest; one emigrated to Canada while he
and one other went to Britain in 1992 claiming that they were refugees
from Somalia.

Hezbollah in Europe
By Patrick Devenny
FrontPageMagazine.com | August 3, 2005

http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=18983

The July terror attacks in London were a prime example of how an
evidently ragtag team of local jihadis, possessing little funding and skill,
could successfully kill dozens of their fellow citizens while plunging
one of Europe's great cities into chaos. If recent reports are to be
believed, the motley group, relatively unskilled in the ways of mass
terrorism and guerilla warfare, were able â€“ using explosives mixed in a
Tupperware container â€“ to send political shockwaves across the entire
continent. Their attack was the perfect practical realization of the
"new terrorism," a decentralized, low cost operation using anonymous
operators resulting in maximum casualties and panic.

While Europe certainly has sufficient reason to fear its restive ranks
of homegrown militants who utilize simple terrorist techniques, such a
threat pales in comparison to the so-far hypothetical one posed by
Hezbollah. The deadly terrorist organization - operating behind the
protective aegis of Iran - has meticulously constructed an extensive and
professional network of agents and terrorists that has metastasized all
across Europe. What Hezbollah brings to the threat level in Europe is
more dangerous than anything wielded by local extremist groups,
organizational attributes such as professional training, military grade
explosives, well placed spies, and centralized coordination. While the
indigenous European jihadis may be the West's current threat du jour, it would
be a serious miscalculation to overlook the power of Hezbollah's
European-based terrorist enterprise.

The leader of Hezbollah's efforts in Europe is the infamous chief of
its intelligence and security organization, Imad Mugniyah. Mugniyah, one
of the world's most prolific mass murders and the mastermind of the
1983 Beirut attacks which killed 241 Americans, currently oversees
Hezbollah's terrorist operations worldwide. His recent efforts in Europe are
only the latest incarnation of the organization's long term interest in
European operations, building upon its historic continental
infrastructure. This history has been a particularly bloody one, with Hezbollah
carrying out numerous terrorist attacks in Europe throughout the 1980s,
including the 1985 bombings of a Jewish film festival in Paris and of a
crowded restaurant in Spain which resulted in 18 deaths. Hezbollah was
also active in attempts on author Salman Rushdie's life, sending
numerous assassins to kill him while also murdering the Italian translator of
"The Satanic Verses." While Hezbollah has not carried out any major
attacks in Europe over the past several years, their murderous pedigree
has already been firmly established.

Hezbollah cells in Europe have proven particularly adept at
multitasking, running concurrent operations involving attack planning, espionage,
fundraising, and propaganda. The group has been disturbingly energetic
with regard to attack preparations, especially over the past decade. A
Hezbollah cell based in Spain was broken up in 1997 after its members
were caught smuggling large amounts of plastic explosives into the
country via Cyprus. Spanish investigators, following up on the arrest,
discovered even more explosives â€“ including massive amounts of military
grade plastique â€“ destined for distribution to numerous other
Hezbollah cells all throughout Europe. Ghulam Mahmud Qawqa, a Hezbollah agent
who had engineered several attacks in Jerusalem and was captured in
2003 by Israeli police, admitted that he had been working with numerous
Hezbollah cells in Europe to initiate a continent wide campaign against
Israeli and Jewish targets, at the personal behest of the Hezbollah
leadership. Other cells have been observed scouting out American embassies
and installations, with special consideration given to creating the
maximum amount of civilian death. While sporadic arrests have given
European investigators some idea concerning the extent of Hezbollah
infiltration, it is difficult to actually quantify their standing force on the
continent. Nevertheless, European officials have successfully
identified active Hezbollah cells in 20 European nations. In Germany alone,
officials estimate that 800 trained Hezbollah terrorists currently reside
in-country, without the knowledge of security forces.

Unlike other terrorist groups who are usually content with planning
future attacks and recruiting new killers, Hezbollah â€“ with the help of
Iranian intelligence - has built a first class intelligence
organization which runs extensive operations inside most European countries. The
primary mission for these Hezbollah agents is to recruit spies who can
easily infiltrate other nations, especially Israel, using their
European identification papers. In 2001, British national Jihad Shuman met
with Hezbollah agents in Britain, who then sent him to Israel to carry
out numerous espionage assignments. A year later, Canadian citizen Fawzi
Ayoub was briefed by his Hezbollah handlers in Europe before traveling
to Jerusalem, in order to facilitate arms transfers. Hezbollah agents
also recruited Danish citizen Ayad al-Ashuah in 2004 for espionage
purposes, including trips to Israel, where he scouted several targets for
future terrorist attacks. Spy networks, made up of visiting Palestinian
college students, have also been nurtured by Hezbollah, which uses them
to report on the movements of foreign officials and dignitaries.
Additionally, Israeli security experts charge that dozens of unidentified
Europeans have been recruited by Hezbollah intelligence for
reconnaissance missions within Israel over the past three years.

Europe has also proven to be especially conducive to Hezbollah
fundraising operations. The organization, which accrues an estimated $250
million dollars a year, has utilized lax European charity and monetary laws
to fill its coffers with untraceable donations. Numerous European
charities are little more than fronts for Hezbollah's money flow, including
charities such as the Lebanese Islamic Association, the al-Shahid
Social Relief Institution, the Help Foundation, Lebanese Welfare Committee,
and the Association of the Righteous, all of which operate or have
operated in nations such as Britain and Germany. European governments have
done little to stem this tide of unregulated funding, concerned more
with the sensitivities of their native Muslim populations than the
violence the money stream is funding.

In addition to their physical efforts on the continent, Hezbollah has
built an extensive propaganda and media apparatus aimed at Europe's
burgeoning immigrant Muslim population. The main conduit for this outreach
has been the al-Manar, or "the beacon," television network. Based in
Lebanon, the network regularly calls for the deaths of Americans and
Jews, while instructing viewers on how to commit suicide attacks. Until
December 2004, French based satellite provider Eutelsat carried the
hateful message of Al-Manar to an estimated 10-15 million viewers, many of
whom live in Europe. Only when an al-Manar program suggested Jews were
spreading AIDS among Arabs did Eutelsat finally pull the plug on
al-Manar's televised savagery. However, European viewers can still view
al-Manar on several alternate satellite feeds. The EU is currently
considering a complete ban of the station from European airwaves, but efforts
have been slow and ineffectual. Hezbollah also produces a mass
distribution newsletter in Germany, Al-Ahd, which carries the same fanatic
message as al-Manar to a large audience of sympathetic readers.

European governments have done little to stem this growth of Hezbollah
influence, primarily due to the fact that they are unable to summon the
requisite political will to simply declare Hezbollah a "terrorist"
group. Hezbollah, which has the blood of thousands of innocent people on
its hands, is still considered a "political" organization by many in the
EU. Some individual nations and their courts have taken limited steps
against Hezbollah infiltration, only to be stonewalled by the EU's
extensive bureaucracy, which persistently fails to even admit the existence
of a threat. These EU officials are, in effect, allowing Hezbollah to
lay the groundwork for a future terror war totally unimpeded.

Critics of the argument concerning the high-level threat Hezbollah
poses towards Europe would point out that Hezbollah has not attacked any
European target for the past ten years, while the more decentralized
jihadist groups have carried out numerous attacks, such as the bombings in
Madrid and London. However, the absence of overt action is hardly of
much comfort to those who have watched Hezbollah create a veritable
terrorist army under the noses of European security services. These same
critics must answer the critical question of why, why is Hezbollah
pouring so many resources into Europe if they have no interest in ever
carrying out attacks there?

One of the more disturbing explanations for Hezbollah's growing
interest in Europe rests in the groups close connections to the leadership of
Iran. Any Hezbollah action, no matter how minor, must be supervised
and approved by the Iranian intelligence service. Considering the
leading role played by European nations in the ongoing diplomatic effort to
halt the Iranian nuclear program, it would benefit the Iranian
leadership immensely to possess a large and professional intelligence and
terrorist apparatus which has already ingrained itself into the larger
European society. Were European nations to align themselves too closely with
any future hard-line American bargaining initiative, they could easily
find themselves at the mercy of the terrorist group they dutifully
ignored for so long.

Patrick Devenny is the Henry M. Jackson National Security Fellow at the
Center for Security Policy in Washington D.C.

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