Threat Matrix: October 2006

Karzai Says bin Laden Not in Afghanistan
-Full Story-

President Hamid Karzai has insisted that Osama bin Laden is not in his country, in the latest installment in a row with the leader of Pakistan who says the Al-Qaeda chief is in Afghanistan.

Other militant leaders including Islamist warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar were also not in the country, Karzai told reporters in a briefing about his visit to the United States that was overshadowed by the spat.

'I can assure you they are not in Afghanistan,' Karzai said yesterday after being asked for his reaction to comments by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf who said Thursday that bin Laden is here.

	Musharraf: Bin Laden Is Alive and Hiding in Afghanistan
	Pakistan’s Intelligence Agency Comes under Fire
	Musharraf Warns West
	Behind the NIE

Thread Forty-One

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http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/documents/criminal_info.pdf
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/documents/plea_agreement.pdf

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October 13, 2006

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan/press/2006/usao_gan_061013.html

Note: The following text is a quote:

Rome, Ga., Resident Pleads Guilty to Material Support of Foreign Terrorist Group

Local Businessman and Imam Provided Money to Hamas

ROME, Ga. – Mohamed Shorbagi, 42, of the Rome area pleaded guilty in federal district court to providing material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization, U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias of the Northern District of Georgia announced today. The criminal information and plea agreement, which were filed on Aug. 28, 2006, had been sealed until today, as was the plea hearing.

“There are two important points to make about this case,” said U.S. Attorney Nahmias. “First, this case illustrates that people who illegally support foreign terrorist organizations may be found anywhere in the United States, even in quiet and pleasant places like Rome. Second, we will use every lawful tool to ferret out terrorism and those who provide material support to it, regardless of where they live or how they try to hide their criminal activities.”

Nahmias noted that Hamas is a terrorist organization operating primarily in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which has engaged in numerous terrorist attacks aimed at Israeli military personnel, police officers and civilians. Hamas attacks have killed numerous innocent people, including American citizens, and have undermined the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Federal law makes it a serious felony to provide any material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

“The FBI is committed to working with our partners here and abroad to investigate and disrupt the activities of those who provide funding and other support to terrorist groups,” stated Special Agent in Charge Gregory Jones of the FBI. “It is very disturbing to see people in the United States who are so willing to offer their assistance to known terrorist organizations, and this case should remind us all of the continued need to be vigilant.”

“This joint investigation has exemplified what can be accomplished through persistence and interagency cooperation,” stated Special Agent in Charge Kenneth A. Smith of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “The investigation highlights the Department of Homeland Security's goal to identify, investigate and disrupt national security threats and financial avenues being utilized in support of terrorist organizations. I believe that a strong message has been sent that we will not tolerate those individuals in the United States who provide funds for terrorist interests abroad.”

According to U. S. Attorney Nahmias and the information presented in court: On Oct. 8, 1997, the United States formally designated Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization. After that date, and continuing until Dec. 4, 2001, Shorbagi provided financial support to Hamas and conspired with unnamed others to provide such material support. He did so knowing that Hamas had been designated as a foreign terrorist organization and that Hamas engaged in terrorist activity. Shorbagi provided the support through donations to the “Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF),” knowing that some or all of the money was, in fact, destined for Hamas. Shorbagi knew that money provided to HLF was actually funneled to Hamas in part because he was a Georgia representative for HLF and he had attended HLF meetings at which high-level Hamas officials made presentations condemning Israel. Shorbagi also had hosted high-level Hamas officials at the Rome, Ga. mosque at which he served as Imam.

Shorbagi was charged in a Criminal Information on Aug. 28, 2006, with one count of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. That charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Shorbagi has entered a plea agreement in which he agrees that, under the federal sentencing guidelines, he would be sentenced to the statutory maximum of 15 years in prison. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Shorbagi has agreed to cooperate fully and truthfully with the Government. If the Government determines that such cooperation substantially assists in the investigation or prosecution of other persons, it will file a motion asking the court to reduce Shorbagi’s sentence. Shorbagi also agreed to pay full restitution to the victims of fraud crimes he had committed, which the Government agreed not to charge in consideration of his cooperation.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2006, at 1:30 p.m., before U.S. District Judge Harold L. Murphy.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Floyd County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Dammers is prosecuting the case.

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NOTE: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.treasury.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/actions/20061013.shtml

Office of Foreign Assets Control
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10/13/2006

The President signed the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act (“DPAA”), into law on October 13, 2006. In order to take appropriate account of the relevant provisions in the DPAA, and to continue the Administration's pursuit of sanctions against Sudan, the President issued an Executive Order, "Blocking Property Of And Prohibiting Transactions With The Government Of Sudan" on October 13, 2006 (“ the E.O.”). The E.O. blocks all property and interests in property of the Government of Sudan that are in the United States, that come within the United States, or that are or come within the possession or control of U.S. persons, including their overseas branches, and prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in any transactions involving such property or interests in property. It also prohibits all transactions by U.S. persons relating to Sudan’s petroleum or petrochemical industries, including, but not limited to, oilfield services and oil or gas pipelines. The current sanctions will no longer prohibit trade and related transactions or humanitarian assistance in the areas of Sudan specified in the DPAA, including Southern Sudan, Southern Kordofan/Nuba Mountains State, Blue Nile State, Abyei, Darfur, and marginalized areas in and around Khartoum, provided that the Government of Sudan does not have any property interest in the transaction. In addition, the new Order preserves a full trade ban on the areas of Sudan not specified in the DPAA.

PERSECUTION.ORG
http://www.persecution.org

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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s06100092.htm

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Arabic teacher thrashes student for wearing cross
Principal consigns cross to dustbin

By Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service in Pakistan

KASUR, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- A 15-year-old Christian female student had to confront wrath and thrashing by her Arabic teacher when the cross-wearing teen refused to shed her cross on Friday, October 13 in the district of Kasur, some 50 Km from eastern city of Lahore.

“The cross is our Christian religious symbol so I cannot remove it,” the BosNewsLife news service quoted Kiran Shahzadi as telling her Muslim teacher, Naisra Latif.
According to the report the girl was taken to the principal of the government secondary school who pulled the cross from her neck and consigned it to a dustbin.

The report went on to claim that the principal made Kiran stand under sun that made her faint.

Kiran was taken to a hospital where the doctor who examined her pronounced that she had been beaten, it added.

It further said that the police refused to file case against the accused despite insistence of some Christian leaders.

Without naming it said that the father of the girl, Yaqoob Masih was asked by a police official that “Pope has also blasphemed against our Holy Prophet.”

Muslim fury on the Pope’s comment has not subsided

Reacting to Pope Benedict XVI comment linking Islam with violence, some 38 renowned Muslim scholars have written an open letter to the pontiff, saying there would be no Church in the Muslim world if Islam had ever advocated violence.

According to the Pakistan Urdu Newspaper Daily Jang the letter which was posted on an Islamic magazine’s website said Jihad was not a holy war but a struggle in the way of God.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Pakistan.

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

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Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1720109/posts

Iran rejects U.N. stance on North Korea
Yahoo News (AP) ^ | october 16, 2006 | ALI AKBAR DAREINI

Posted on 10/16/2006 2:51:07 AM PDT by John Carey

Iran's president said his country has no reservations about pursuing its nuclear ambitions despite the U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea for its purported nuclear test.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again rejected the U.N. Security Council's demand that Tehran suspend its nuclear activities in response to concern they are aimed at acquiring nuclear weapons.

The comments represented Iran's first official reaction to the council's vote Saturday to punish North Korea's defiance of international will.

The United States said Sunday that it hoped the sanctions would be a lesson to Iran not to follow North Korea's example.

But Ahmadinejad's remarks suggested North Korea's claim to have tested an atomic bomb has emboldened Tehran in its own standoff with the U.N.

"Some Western countries have turned the U.N. Security Council into a weapon to impose their hegemony and issue resolutions against countries that oppose them," Ahmadinejad was quoted by the state-run television as saying Monday.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...

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