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Coalition Forces free hostage, catch kidnappers

Iraqi soldiers sift through hay bales outside an Iraqi household looking for hidden contraband items in a village near Salaman. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Sean E)

Iraq, August 21, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers rescued a hostage being held by terrorists, captured the kidnappers, and seized weapons from a terrorist safe-house during a cordon and search operation Aug. 18.

The Soldiers conducted the raid at 8 p.m. in the Muthana Zayuna district of central Baghdad.

Within 45 minutes, the unit surrounded the house, entered, detained three kidnappers and freed the hostage. The Soldiers also seized two pistols and an AK-47 assault rifle.

Later, Task Force Baghdad Soldiers patrolling in northeast Baghdad pulled over three men in a vehicle shortly after midnight Aug. 19 for violating curfew. When the patrol searched the vehicle they found one of the occupants had $4,600 in U.S. currency in his possession.

The Soldiers questioned the vehicle occupants to find out where they lived. When U.S. forces searched the house, they found bomb-making materials and more U.S. currency. The three suspects were taken into custody for questioning.

In other combat operations, Coalition Forces captured 12 more terror suspects in an early-morning raid carried out in south Baghdad just after 1:30 a.m. Aug. 19.

Three hours later, a Task Force Baghdad unit acting on a tip conducted a precision operation to seize a suspected terrorist in west Baghdad. The suspect is believed to have participated in a bomb attack against Iraqi civilians and Coalition Forces.

By Task Force Baghdad PAO

Discovery is Home!

Space Shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. (Image credit: NASA/KSC)

August 21, 2005

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida -- The Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery successfully landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Discovery, riding piggy-back on the modified Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), made a sweep of the Brevard County beaches as it circled for a landing, giving residents a birds-eye view of the duo.

Cheers from media and Kennedy Space Center employees erupted when the 747's wheels touched down. Landing on Runway 15, the vehicle came to a stop where it was then towed to the Mate/Demate Device (MDD) at the SLF. During the next few hours Discovery will be lifted off the 747. The vehicle will be backed-out and the orbiter will be gently lowered to the runway on its landing gear.

On Monday, the Discovery will be towed by a diesel-powered tractor to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) via a two-mile tow-way strip from the SLF. Once inside the OPF the payload bay doors will be opened and the materials brought back from the International Space Station will be unloaded. After Discovery is inside the processing facility, Mission STS-114 will be completed.

Space Shuttle Discovery is slated for Mission STS-121 in March, 2006.

+ Discovery's Homecoming Photo Gallery

+ Latest from Dryden | + Media Advisory

+ Previous Ferry Flights From the Dryden Photo Gallery

+ Landing Photo Gallery | + Archived Landing Coverage

NASA announced that the next Space Shuttle mission, STS-121, is now targeted for March 2006. This will be the second test flight to the International Space Station in the Shuttle Return to Flight series. NASA Administrator Mike Griffin and Associate Administrator for Space Operations William Gerstenmaeir made the announcement at a briefing on August 18th.

"We are giving ourselves what we hope is plenty of time to evaluate where we are," said Administrator Griffin. "We don't see the tasks remaining before us being as difficult as the path behind us."

+ View Transcript (53 Kb PDF) | + Read Press Release

A pair of "Tiger Teams" continues to investigate the External Tank foam loss during Discovery's launch on July 26. Gerstenmaier says the teams have identified the major areas of concern and are making good progress on dealing with the problems.

Discovery will be used for STS-121 instead of Atlantis, putting NASA in a better position for future missions to the Space Station. Atlantis will fly the following mission, STS-115, carrying Space Station truss segments which are too heavy to be carried by Discovery. By changing the lineup, the program won't have to fly back to back missions with Atlantis, as was previously scheduled.

Source : NASA

Police foil gas attack on Commons

Sun Aug 21, 3:30 AM ET - The sun sets behind the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. British police believe they have foiled a nerve gas attack by the Al-Qaeda terrorist network on the British parliament, the Sunday Times reported(AFP/File/Jim Watson)

August 21, 2005

David Leppard and Robert Winnett

SCOTLAND YARD believes it has thwarted an Al-Qaeda gas attack aimed at ministers and MPs in parliament. The plot, hatched last year, is understood to have been discovered in coded e-mails on computers seized from terror suspects in Britain and Pakistan.

Police and MI5 then identified an Al-Qaeda cell that had carried out extensive research and video-recorded reconnaissance missions in preparation for the attack.

The encrypted e-mails are said to have been decoded with the help of an Al-Qaeda “supergrass”. By revealing the terrorists’ code he was also able to help MI5 and GCHQ, the government’s eavesdropping centre at Cheltenham, to crack several more plots.

The discovery of the suspected Commons nerve gas plot was behind the decision to increase security around parliament this summer.

A senior officer said that the scheme had led to the intervention of Eliza Manningham-Buller, head of MI5, to assess parliament’s security.

The operation to deter the sarin gas attack is referred to in an internal police document obtained by The Sunday Times.

It is a minute of a meeting of senior police officers held last month at Specialist Operations 17 (SO17), the unit responsible for protecting parliament, and reveals that the team were waiting to be briefed on the plot.

This weekend a senior officer disclosed that the thwarted plot mentioned in the document involved a gas or chemical “dirty bomb” attack against parliament. “The House of Commons was one of their targets as well as the Tube,” he said.

“They were planning to use chemicals, a dirty bomb and sarin gas. They looked at all sorts of ways of delivering it.”

But despite the successful police operation and upgraded security measures, senior officers are worried that security at the houses of parliament remains “unacceptable”.

The police security memo, drawn up after the July 7 attacks, reveals high-level fears that suicide terrorists could use a black cab or a visit to an exhibition to mark the 400th anniversary of the gunpowder plot.

It discloses that a military unit — said to have been special forces — recently carried out a secret examination of security at the House of Commons. It is believed that the exercise highlighted the ease with which terrorists could kill dozens of MPs in the debating chamber.

“(It was) felt all SO17 contingency plans should be reviewed against the new threat — a plan for a Kratos (suicide bomber) incident was required,” the minutes record. A senior officer said that he “felt particular attention should be paid to cabs entering the (parliamentary) estate”.

The memo records: “(A senior official) expressed grave concern at the shortage of security officers. He was worried that commitments such as the forthcoming exhibition on the gunpowder plot just could not be covered. He felt that an unacceptable number of posts were being closed down.”