Posted on 04/15/2007 4:43:46 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT
http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=29469
Suspect found with forged IDs by TSA screener
By LILA FUJIMOTO, Staff Writer
Friday, April 13, 2007 11:21 AM
WAILUKU – The name on the duffel bag read Robert Folsom.
But when a federal Transportation Security Administration screener looked through the bag March 29 at Lanai Airport, she found a Hawaii driver’s license with a different name.
As she continued to examine the traveler’s belongings, she turned up 43 Hawaii driver’s licenses, each with photos of the same man but with 35 different names, addresses and Social Security numbers, said Deputy Prosecutor John Tam.
When Lanai police caught up with the suspect the next morning as he attempted to flee through a bedroom window of a Lanai City residence, they learned his real name is Shane James Deighan, a 33-year-old Honolulu resident with a prior forgery conviction.
Also found in his baggage were 19 credit cards, 11 of them matching one of the Hawaii driver’s licenses, with four of the credit cards signed on the back; three other apparently stolen Hawaii driver’s licenses with other people’s names and photos; two apparently stolen Texas driver’s licenses with other people’s names and photos; three Social Security cards, two blank checks, one military identification and a Canadian birth certificate.
Police also seized a laptop computer, laminate material, Exacto knives and paper that could have been used to forge some of the identifications.
“He had everything but the printer,” Tam said.
Police are continuing an investigation but verified that Deighan had the personal information of at least one real person – a Maui police lieutenant whose name, address, Social Security number and birth date were written in a notebook.
“I was surprised,” said the lieutenant, who doesn’t know Deighan and had “no idea” how he obtained the personal information.
The lieutenant said he was among Army Reserve members alerted last year about the possibility they could be subject to identity theft from missing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs records.
He recalled receiving a bill last year from Dell for a computer he hadn’t purchased. But after he questioned the charge, the company determined it was a case of fraud, he said.
During a preliminary hearing on April 4 in Wailuku District Court, Judge Jan Apo ruled there was enough evidence to support charges of unauthorized possession of confidential personal information, second-degree forgery, criminal possession of a forgery device, sale or manufacture of deceptive identification document and credit card forgery. Each charge is a Class C felony carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison.
With a stack of fake identification as thick as three decks of playing cards, Deighan could have disappeared, Tam said.
Apo increased bail for Deighan from $15,000 to $50,000.
Deighan, who is also known as Ethan Francoise James, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in 2nd Circuit Court. He was being held at the Maui Community Correctional Center.
When he showed up at Lanai Airport at 3:55 p.m. March 29, Deighan had five pieces of luggage and an Island Air ticket to Oahu in the name of Robert Folsom. He also had a Hawaii driver’s license with the name Robert Folsom and might have been allowed to board the airplane if not for the TSA screener, Tam said.
“She was the sharp one who caught it, noticed the difference in names,” he said.
A TSA supervisor said the screener has been on Lanai for several years, dealing with sometimes difficult situations, but one “known to perform very well under all circumstances.”
The supervisor said the Lanai situation was unique, but screeners are trained to be observant of what may be suspicious situations. He asked that the screener not be identified.
While the suspect fled from the airport, Lanai police tracked him to a residence on Lanai Avenue, where he was arrested about 7 a.m. the next day.
Lanai patrol officer Brandon Rodrigues, who went to the back of the home, recognized Deighan as he burst through a window screen to flee, according to police reports. The officer used a Taser stun gun to subdue the 6-foot, 175-pound suspect.
According to court records, Deighan was placed on five years’ probation after pleading guilty to second-degree forgery in a 2001 case on Oahu.
Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.
Copyright © 2005 The Maui News.
Thank you for posting the link for your thread, I am far behind on reading, so would have missed it.
Will be glad to see your links, anytime.
Are you on your way? Flats can be hell.
Thanks for the ping, on my way, Just heard Rush say 32 shot.
It is that time of the year.
http://passivemode.net/updates/2006/11/17/uk-rfid-e-passport-cracked.html
U.K. RFID E-Passport Cracked
Posted on Fri, Nov 17, 2006 by Registered CommenterJohn Jolly in RFID | CommentsPost a Comment
The Guardian
202326-555789-thumbnail.jpg
A British passport, issued before the days of the biometric document.Six months ago, with the help of a rather scary computer expert, I deconstructed the life of an airline passenger simply by using information garnered from a boarding-pass stub he had thrown into a dustbin on the Heathrow Express. By using his British Airways frequent-flyer number and buying a ticket in his name on the airline’s website, we were able to access his personal data, passport number, date of birth and nationality. Based on this information, using publicly available databases, we found out where he lived, his profession, all his academic qualifications and even how much his house was worth.
Today, some three million such passports have been issued, and they don’t look so secure. I am sitting with my scary computer man and we have just sucked out all the supposedly secure data and biometric information from three new passports and displayed it all on a laptop computer.
First it is necessary to explain why the new passports were introduced, and how they work.After the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre, in which fake passports were used, the US decided it wanted foreign citizens who presented themselves at its borders to have more secure “machine-readable” identity documents. It told 27 countries that participated in a visa waiver programme that citizens with passports issued after the 26th of last month must have micro-chipped biometric passports or would have to apply for a US visa. Among those 27 countries are the major EU members, and other friendly nations ranging from Andorra and Iceland to Singapore, Japan and Brunei. The UK, of course, is also included.
Fatally, however, the ICAO suggested that the key needed to access the data on the chips should be comprised of, in the following order, the passport number, the holder’s date of birth and the passport expiry date, all of which are contained on the printed page of the passport on a “machine readable zone.” When an immigration official swipes the passport through a reader, this feeds in the key, which allows a microchip reader to communicate with the RFID chip. The data this contains, including the holder’s picture, is then displayed on the official’s screen. The assumption at this stage is that this document is as authentic as it is super-secure. And, as we shall see later, this could be highly significant.
At the same time, Adam Laurie, my computer expert and technical director of the Bunker Secure Hosting, a Kent-based computer security company, and I began laying plans to examine the new passports. Laurie is actually not a scary individual - he is regarded in the industry as a technical wizard who cares about privacy and civil rights - but much of the electronic information he uncovers is. Two years ago, he revealed that Bluetooth mobile phones could be accessed remotely, drained of their contact details, diary entries and pictures, and manipulated to act as bugging devices. The cellphone industry spent millions of pounds plugging the gaps he exposed.
“I was amazed that they made it so easy,” Laurie says. “The information contained in the chip is not encrypted, but to access it you have to start up an encrypted conversation between the reader and the RFID chip in the passport.
“The Home Office has adopted a very high encryption technology called 3DES - that is, to a military-level data-encryption standard times three. So they are using strong cryptography to prevent conversations between the passport and the reader being eavesdropped, but they are then breaking one of the fundamental principles of encryption by using non-secret information actually published in the passport to create a ‘secret key’. That is the equivalent of installing a solid steel front door to your house and then putting the key under the mat.”
Booth is staggered. He has undercut Laurie by finding an RFID reader for £174, which also works. “This is simply not supposed to happen,” Booth says. “This could provide a bonanza for counterfeiters because drawing the information from the chip, complete with the digital signature it contains, could result in a passport being passed off as the real article. You could make a perfect clone of the passport.”
The Home Office thinks not. It correctly points out that the information sucked out of the chip is only the same as that which appears on the page, readable with the human eye. And to obtain the key in the first place, you would need to have access to the passport to read (with the naked eye) its number, expiry date and the date of birth of its holder.
However, some computer experts believe the Home Office is being dangerously naive. Several months ago, Lukas Grunwald, founder of DN-Systems Enterprise Solutions in Germany, conducted a similar attack to ours on a German biometric passport and succeeded in cloning its RFID chip. He believes unscrupulous criminals or terrorists would find this technology very useful.
Grunwald adds: “The problems could get worse when they put fingerprint biometrics on to the passports. There are established ways of making forged fingerprints. In the future, the authorities would like to have automated border controls, and such forged fingerprints [stuck on to fingers] would probably fool them.”
Neither is the human eye, according to research conducted by a team of psychologists from the University of Westminster in 1996. Remember, information - such as a new picture - cannot be added to a cloned chip, so anyone using it to make a counterfeit passport would have to use one that bore a reasonable resemblance to themselves.
Given the results of the Westminster study, if a terrorist bore a slight resemblance to you - and grew a beard, perhaps - he would have a good chance of getting through a border. Because his chip is cloned, with the necessary digital signatures, and because you have not reported your passport stolen - you still have it! - his machine-readable travel document will get him wherever he wants to go, using your identity.
Laurie has, however, rigged up a piece of equipment that can connect to a passport over 7.5cm. That isn’t as far as the Dutch 30cm, but it is enough if your target subject is sitting next to you on the London Underground or crushed up against you on the Gatwick Airport monorail, his pocketed passport next to the reader you have hidden in a bag.
Ah, the Home Office will say, but you still need to see the information in the passport that will form the key needed for connection. Well, not necessarily. Consider this scenario: A postman involved with organised crime knows he has a passport to deliver to your home. He already knows your name and address from the envelope. He can get your date of birth by several means, including credit-reference agencies or from the register of births, marriages and deaths (and, let’s face it, he delivers all your birthday cards anyway).
“If the rogue postman were to take your passport home, without opening the envelope he could put it against a reader and begin a ‘brute force’ attack in which your computer tries 12 different permutations every second until it has the right access codes,” says Laurie. “A five-digit number would take 23 hours to crack at the most. Once all those numbers were established, you could communicate with the RFID chip and steal all the information. And your passport could be delivered to you, unopened and just a day late.”
“What concerns me is that this demonstrates bad design on the part of the Home Office, and we know that government IT projects have a habit of going terribly wrong. There is a lack of security in what we can see - so what about the 90% of the iceberg in the system that we can’t see?
The problems we have identified with RFID chips in passports raise all sorts of questions about the UK’s proposed ID card scheme, which will use the same technology. The government has not said exactly what will be contained in the ID card’s chip, but there will be a National Identity Register that could contain around 50 pieces of information about you, ranging from your name, age, and all your addresses, to your national insurance number and biometric details. Eventually, you may need one to access healthcare. It could even replace the passport.
The Home Office insists that UK passports are secure and among the best in the world, but not everyone agrees. Last week, an EU-funded body entitled the Future of Identity in the Information Society (Fidis) issued a declaration on machine-readable travel documents such as RFID-chipped passports and ID cards. It said the technology was “poorly conceived” and added: “European governments have effectively forced citizens to adopt new … documents which dramatically decrease their security and privacy and increase risk of identity theft.”
It may be that at some point in the future the government will accept that putting RFID chips in to passports is ill-conceived and unnecessary. Until then, the only people likely to embrace this kind of technology are those with mischief in mind.
Coast Guard divers bust black-market oil traders in south
STAFF WRITER WITH CNA Monday, Apr 16, 2007, Page 2
Coast Guard special forces helped bust black-market oil traders in Kaohsiung last Friday by snorkeling in the ocean for nearly seven hours then ambushing the smugglers while on their fishing boats.
Kaohsiung prosecutors said a group led by suspect Chen Chih-hsien (陳志賢) and his wife Chen Li-chen (陳麗貞) colluded with local fishermen to buy their boat oil -- which they buy cheaply through government subsidies -- then ship it inland for sale to underground buyers at below-market prices.
DISGUISES
With lookouts disguised as fishermen surrounding the port where the oil was unloaded onto modified trucks, police determined that the only way to catch the smugglers in the act was to lie in wait in the water.
The navy is typically responsible for special operations and this was the first time a coast guard team -- which had been trained by the marines -- was responsible for this kind of specialized mission.
Coast guard boats dropped the 40 divers in the ocean outside the port at 7pm.
CLOSE CALL
The mission was almost called off, however, when the smugglers began their work three hours later than expected at 2am.
Commanders had ordered the divers to come back, worrying they would be too exhausted to continue after so many hours in the water.
But the coast guard divers insisted they weren't willing to waste all that time and effort by calling off the mission.
At around 1am smugglers in rafts began scouring the area for police.
They failed to discover the divers because the teams had split up, diving below the surface to avoid detection.
After the fishing boats arrived and the teams had regrouped, they received orders to sneak into the harbor, where they stormed the boats at approximately 2am.
SUSPECTS
Thirty suspects were captured in total.
The two Chens, who were directing from the shore, fled the scene in separate cars. Police later captured Chen Li-chen in Kaohsiung's Fengshan City (鳳山), while Chen Chih-hsien was arrested outside his home in Kaohsiung City.
Investigators in Miaoli County uncovered the racket at the end of last year when they discovered that machinery used by a black-market gravel ring was running on boat oil.
DOH adds warning label to Tamiflu
TEENS AT RISK? : Taiwan is the third country to warn doctors about prescribing the drug to teenagers, following reports of adverse reactions in Japan and South Korea
By Shelley Shan STAFF REPORTER, WITH DPA Monday, Apr 16, 2007, Page 1
The Department of Health (DOH) has decided to require importers of anti-flu drug Tamiflu to add labels warning teenagers of possible risks, following the country's first recorded case of behavioral disorder linked to the drug.
The announcement came after a 17-year-old high school student reported hallucinations, drowsiness and other abnormal behavior after being given Tamiflu.
Health officials said the student listened to his MP3 player during class, left his seat in the middle of an examination and was unable to answer even simple questions from his teacher.
The behavior disappeared after the student stopped taking the drug, officials said.
Health authorities in Taipei have told local representatives of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holdings, the manufacturer of Tamiflu, to complete the necessary procedures regarding this matter by the end of the month.
The department's announcement made Taiwan the third country to add a warning message to Tamiflu, following Japan and South Korea.
Bureau of Pharmaceutical Affairs Director-General Liao Chi-chou (廖繼洲), who was quoted in a Central News Agency report last Saturday as saying that the youth returned to normal after he stopped taking Tamiflu, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Center for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Lin Ting (林頂) yesterday described the case as "a bit unusual."
He said the center has strictly regulated the use of Tamiflu and doctors here have used very little of it.
The center, however, has stockpiled enough Tamiflu for 230,000 people in case of an outbreak of avian flu, as well as other medications and vaccines.
"We are unlikely to adjust the proportion of different anti-avian flu drugs in storage simply because of an isolated case, since we have limited options here," Lin said.
Japanese authorities have linked the drug to behavioral disorders and a spate of deaths among teenagers in Japan.
Roche, however, has rejected the allegations, saying Tamiflu has no dangerous side effects.
Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has ordered that Tamiflu not be prescribed for young people aged between 10 and 20 years old.
South Korean health authorities have also suspended the prescription of Tamiflu to young people following reports of sideeffects in Japanese users.
Thanks to Milford421 for this report....
Tied-up Columbia student left to die used fire set by creep to free herself
Pervert tried to kill her
Tied-up Columbia student left to die used fire set by creep to free
herself
BY JIMMY VIELKIND, LISA L. COLANGELO and MELISSA GRACE
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Monday, April 16th 2007, 4:00 AM
Tied up and left to die in a burning apartment, a Columbia student
used the blaze set by her sadistic rapist to free herself, Police
Commissioner Raymond Kelly said yesterday.
“It appears she was able to escape as a result of the fire,” Kelly
said. “She was tied, and the flame was used by her to break the
bond.”
The 23-year-old woman, identified by sources as a student at the
Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, endured 19 hours of rape and
torture at the hands of a sick creep in her Hamilton Heights
apartment Friday night.
In what Kelly called a “particularly vicious” assault, the fiend
tied his victim to a bed, cut her, raped her, burned her with
scalding water and chemicals - and then set the woman’s futon on
fire to cover up the crime, police said.
He was so brutal he slit her eyelids, Kelly said.
The student used the flames to free herself and fled her fifth-floor
apartment with her hands still bound to each other to get help from
a neighbor, officials said.
The woman remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition.
Cops yesterday were combing through surveillance video for images of
the attacker, who followed the woman into her building near City
College at 9:30 p.m.
Kelly said detectives were looking to see if there was any evidence
the rapist had attacked before, but said, “It does not appear right
now to be part of a pattern.”
One man said he saw the victim in the basement of the building
shortly after she escaped.
“She just kept saying, ‘I’ve been raped,’ “ said Ronald Ward, 19,
who spotted the fire and ran downstairs for help, where he found the
building’s superintendent, Carl Peroune, trying to soothe the woman
as they waited for an ambulance.
“She was down there crying,” Ward said.
Police were hunting for the attacker, described as a bald, 6-foot-1,
180-pound black man in his 30s with a goatee and a scar on his
abdomen.
Several residents of the woman’s six-story Hamilton Terrace
building, located on a quiet treelined block of neat rowhouses, said
she had moved in within the last two months.
“I’ve been living in this building 30 years, and nothing like this
ever happened,” said another resident, Teddy Perkins, 55. “This is
real shocking.”
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/under-investigation/
Shooter ID
ABC News has learned the shooter who killed himself was a student of Korean descent named Seung Hui Cho who lived in a campus dorm. Cho was reportedly carrying a backpack with a receipt for the purchase of a 9 mm Glock.
http://abcnews.go.com/
April 16, 2007 PM Anti-Terrorism News
Iraq group: We make own rockets - Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, head of Islamic
State of Iraq - SITE Institute summary
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AvM9QO_L3RK1UPmCEECiAsGs0NUE
http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications273807&Category=publications&Subcategory=0
(Iraq) Islamists Tear Down Crosses From Assyrian Churches, Tell
Christians to Convert or Die
http://www.aina.org/news/20070414141226.htm
(Iraq) Al-Qaeda Web Video Boasts U.S. Soldier Panic
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.405116084&par=
(Pakistan) Al Qaeda Drug Gang Busted By Irate Tribesmen
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20070416.aspx
Hezbollah claims ability to defend Lebanon
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/04/16/hezbollah_claims_ability_to_defend_lebanon/
Palestinians say no proof BBC reporter killing claim is true and BBC
reporter’s death still unconfirmed
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070416/ts_afp/mideastgazabritain_070416160139;_ylt=AvIRCMGYKi0kfbLaX0Bf8Q_MWM0F
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/04/16/bbc_reporters_death_still_unconfirmed/
Iran frees Swedes convicted of spying
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_swedish_prisoners;_ylt=AoluUTnGziUXgLRTA0kJQwqs0NUE
(Morocco) US shuts Morocco consulate after bomb threat - to review
security
http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=524873
(Commentary) Showdown on the Muslim Brotherhood - by Patrick Poole
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=27876
(Commentary) The Islamist Cham Offensive - by Douglas Farah
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/04/the_islamist_cham_offensive.php
Other News:
(UK) Don’t stare at Muslims says advice to schools
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article1654995.ece
(Iraq) Raped ‘for reading the Bible’ — attacker: “Let your Jesus help
you”
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21567726-2,00.html
Thank you for the link.
For the Professor to survive the Holocaust and then die on the anniversary all these years later, is beyond understanding.
All is beyond my understanding.
I have Neal Boortz on now, and Fox Radio is doing a special on the live events.
It can be heard at kdwn.com, I think.
Foreign OSINT Poised to Pounce
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htintel/articles/20070417.aspx
Foreign OSINT Poised to Pounce
April 17, 2007: While the U.S. intelligence community officially
recognized the importance of OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) back in 2004,
there has not been a lot of enthusiasm for using this growing source of
information.
The Internet has made OSINT a really, really huge source of useful
intelligence. It’s not just the millions of gigabytes of information that
is placed on the net, but the even more voluminous masses of message
board postings, blogs, emails and IMs (instant messaging) that reveal what
the culture is currently thinking. It was corporate intelligence
practitioners who alerted the government intel people to the growing
usefulness of Internet based data. Corporations have developed, over the last
few decades, a keen interest in gathering intel on competitors, new
markets, and all manner of things that might affect them. The Internet has
made this a much more useful exercise.
However, corporate intel specialists are concerned that government
agencies, especially the CIA, are not taking sufficient advantage of OSINT.
Part of the problem is cultural. The intelligence agencies have always
been proud of their special intel tools, like spy satellites,
electronic listening stations, and spy networks. Most of these things are unique
to government intelligence operations. People who use this stuff tend
to look down on a bunch of geeks who simply troll the web. Even when the
geeks keep coming up with valuable stuff, they don’t get no respect.
The fear is that, some foreign countries are exploiting OSINT more
effectively than the United States. No foreign intel agency will admit to
this, but there are indications that some nations are mining the
Internet quite intensively, and effectively.
Missile test forces jet to turn back
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - An Indonesian jet carrying hundreds of
passengers
was forced to turn around over Indian airspace after a nuclear-capable
ballistic missile streaked across the sky, the Foreign Ministry said
Friday.
Indonesia has demanded an explanation from India, which insisted that
aviation authorities were informed about Thursday’s test launch well in
advance.
The Garuda Indonesia Boeing 747 carrying 413 people was en route from
Jakarta to Saudi Arabia when the Indian control tower told pilots the
missile had been launched, said Ari Sapari, the national carrier’s
director.
Government officials did not say how far the plane was from the
missile.
Indonesia - which is struggling to defend its transportation-safety
record
after a series of deadly air, train and ferry accidents said it would
summon a diplomat from India to seek clarification.
The Seattle Times
SAS lambasted for late safety checks
Swedish aviation authorities on Sunday harshly criticized Scandinavian
Airlines System (SAS) for not carrying out safety checks on its planes
on
time.
“We are critical,” Gunnar Billinger, the head of the Swedish Civil
Aviation
Authority, told AFP, adding that SAS’ late safety checks were
considered
“serious”.
“All airlines... must carry out controls at set times,” he insisted.
Five SAS planes last year and three in 2005 did not undergo the
required
safety inspections on time, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter reported.
The aircraft in question were Airbus A330 and A340, which are used for
longhaul flights to the United States and to Asia, according to the
paper.
In one case last year, a plane flew 225 hours, the equivalent of 30
longhaul
flights, without first being found airworthy, Dagens Nyheter reported.
For a plane to be considered airworthy, safety checks must be carried
out at
specific dates and the aircraft must be found to conform with
guidelines set
by the country where it was made, which in the case of the Airbus
planes is
France.
Aircraft that are not certified airworthy are banned from flying. Any
flights they carry out are considered illegal, another aviation
authority
official told Dagens Nyheter.
Billinger meanwhile said SAS “remains a safe company”, pointing out
that the
Scandinavian airline had itself notified the authorities to the safety
lapses.
AFP
Israeli Holocaust Web site draws thousands of Iranians
Agence France Presse, April 16, 2007
Israeli Holocaust Web site draws thousands of Iranians
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=73756
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Thousands of Iranian surfers every month visit
a new Holocaust Web site in Farsi run by Israel’s Yad Vashem
Holocaust memorial, despite their leadership’s questioning the
Nazi genocide of Jews, the museum said.
Israel is on Monday marking the country’s annual Holocaust
Remembrance Day.
The Web site was put online by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem in
January, and has so far had some 25,100 visits, including 12,170
from inside Iran, spokeswoman Estee Yaari said.
It includes 20 historical chapters on World War II, the Nazi
regime, the systematic killings and photos from the Nazi death
camps and ghettos.
“We believe that making credible, comprehensive information about
the Holocaust available to Persian speakers can contribute to the
fight against Holocaust denial,” said Yad Vashem Chairman Avner
Shalev.
Iran’s firebrand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has branded the
systematic killing of six million of Europe’s Jews as a “myth,”
and last year Tehran hosted a controversial revisionist Holocaust
conference, sparking an international outcry.
Shalev calls the Web site a powerful tool against Ahmadinejad’s
rhetoric, which has included calls for the Jewish state to be
“wiped off the map.”
“Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust denial is especially dangerous because
he wants to use it not only to diminish the existence of the
Holocaust, but sees it as a method for paving the way towards the
possibility of destroying Israel,” Shalev said.
Although Yad Vashem generally shies from tainting its work in
political tones, Shalev admits that the Farsi Web site has “an
important political meaning” in Israel’s dealing with the Islamic
republic.
“The possibility for anybody in Iran to reach objective and
balanced information in Farsi is very important... the opposition
in Iran is important and people are looking for information,”
Shalev said.
According to emails translated by Yad Vashem, most Iranian
surfers who visit the site say they are staunch opponents of
their country’s leadership.
“The world should not allow people such as Ahmadinejad to fulfil
their evil intentions,” wrote one.
“I think you should invite the president of Iran to Yad Vashem,
just to see how he will respond to this,” wrote another anonymous
reader.
April 17, 2007 Anti-Terrorism News
(Afghanistan) Five killed as UN car blown up in Afghanistan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070417/wl_asia_afp/afghanistanunrest_070417120102;_ylt=AmXXL03JFwL5XB_EFKgJr7jOVooA
Afghanistan urges more terror cooperation with Pakistan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070417/wl_sthasia_afp/afghanistanpakistanturkeyunrestdiplomacy_070417114252;_ylt=AsF4_elKdVEIVrBWJhxpaZ7OVooA
(Iraq) Six killed in Iraq shootings
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2007/April/focusoniraq_April120.xml§ion=focusoniraq
Iraqi troops kill 25 insurgents
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/04/17/iraqi_troops_kill_25_insurgents/
Iraq denies Qaeda claim of slain police — denied claim that
Al-Qaeda-led militant group that it had kidnapped and killed 20 Iraqi policemen
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070417/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_14;_ylt=AvmNkaif9.fwS9AffG9coqYwuecA
(Iraq) Al-Qaeda group says Iraq a “university of terror”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070417/wl_nm/iraq_qaeda_baghdadi_dc_2;_ylt=ApS15Pf56YfClzbdCexBEZBX6GMA
(Iraq) US Military Says Eight Suspected Terrorists Detained in Raids
Near Baghdad, Fallujah
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-04-17-voa9.cfm?rss=middle
(Iraq) SITE: “Years of Achievements in the Country of the Unifiers” -
Audio Speech from Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, Emir of the Islamic State of
Iraq
http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications273807&Category=publications&Subcategory=0
Pakistan: Radical Mosque’s Clerics Suspend Talks After “Surveillance”
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.405407054&par=0
(Pakistan) Red Mosque Lal Masjid pulls out of talks
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\04\17\story_17-4-2007_pg1_4
(Pakistan) Suicide squad on way to Islamabad - to target government
functionaries if law-enforcement agencies crack down on Jamia Hafsa and
Jamia Fareedia
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\04\17\story_17-4-2007_pg1_9
(Pakistan) Security force personnel killed in militant ambush in NWFP
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news.asp?date1=4/17/2007#4
(Pakistan) Three children killed in grenade explosion in NWFP
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news.asp?date1=4/17/2007#1
(Pakistan Unrest) Musharraf, Bhutto clinch deal: report
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=7df62436-d4ae-4629-9dd1-c3f2b095468f&MatchID1=4450&TeamID1=3&TeamID2=2&MatchType1=2&SeriesID1=1104&PrimaryID=4450
(Philippines) 7 men kidnapped by suspected al-Qaida-linked militants,
Philippine police say
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/17/asia/AS-GEN-Philippines-Kidnapped-Workers.php
Philippines: Danger of Open War in Mindano, Warns Former Rebel Leader
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.405502640&par=0
(Thailand) Yala rally calls for action on security - Protesters
announce network to fight terror
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/17Apr2007_news01.php
(NYC) New York Bookseller Sentenced to 13 years for Lying to Feds in
Terrorism Case — Abdulrahman Farhane one of four charged in plot to help
Afghan terrorists buy weapons and communications equipment
http://www.wvva.com/News/index.php?ID=12387
(Guantanamo Bay) Top terror suspect Abu Zubaydah denies association
with Osama bin Laden
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20070416-111448-6993r.htm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070417/wl_afp/usattacksqaedazubaydah_070417004030
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/270795/1/.html
(Miami Padilla Trial) Judge allows mention of 9/11 in terror trial
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20070416-111448-5837r.htm
India: Pakistan still backs cross-border terrorism
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070417/wl_sthasia_afp/indiapakistankashmirunrestterrorism_070417050601;_ylt=AmXj5QKbxeAaiH_hVibt7e01NXcA
http://www.dawn.com/2007/04/17/top11.htm
(Indian Kashmir) Rebel supporters seen purged in Indian Kashmir
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070417/wl_sthasia_afp/indiakashmirunrestsecurity_070417074649;_ylt=AnjGbJg45ycEcfvRFFejVp5A7AkB
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/04_2007/jk-govt-officers-axed-for-terror-links-38677.html
(India) Six killed as rival separatist groups clash in India’s
northeast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070417/wl_sthasia_afp/indiaunrestnortheast_070417103328;_ylt=AuUZ1GvHi4BQCHgQnIxpg5FA7AkB
(Indonesia) Report: Jailed Indonesian terror suspect says family will
continue his struggle
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/17/asia/AS-GEN-Indonesia-Terror-Suspect.php
(Algeria) Al-Qaida’s new North Africa wing recruiting on margins of
Algerian society
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/17/africa/AF-GEN-Algeria-Bombings.php
(Algeria) One Algiers bomb “remote controlled”: Interior minister
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070417/wl_africa_afp/algeriaattacksprobe_070417110521;_ylt=AhqbFakE6pQvi.Lq2zzX7iR6CC8A
(Algeria) Thousands rally in Algeria against terrorism
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070417/wl_africa_afp/algeriaattacks_070417125132;_ylt=As3YV8knLtEOFx244DaHzh96CC8A
(North Africa) Attacks likely first part of al Qaeda plot, officials
say
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070416-095744-6372r.htm
(Nigeria) Gunmen attack police station in northern Nigeria, killing 13,
police say
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/17/africa/AF-POL-Nigeria-Elections-Violence.php
Spain: Anti-Terror Accord with Algeria Imminent
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.405537534&par=0
(Spain) Madrid “bomber” not arrested before attacks
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=81&story_id=38802
Terrorism: French and Spanish Interior Ministers Meet
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.405045044&par=0
(France) Taliban ‘await government contact over French hostages’
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=38830
(France) Al Qaeda infiltrated by French secret services years ago
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/17/content_5985576.htm
(UK) Universities ‘targeted’ by Islamic extremists
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/17/nuni17.xml
Italy tries US soldier in absentia for Baghdad “murder”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1665561.ece
(Israel) IDF kills Palestinian militant; four Israelis wounded in West
Bank
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/849485.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_shooting_2;_ylt=AkElbUuMi4KsbvuSJV_pCYruyucA
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinian_killed_1;_ylt=AtXcICu5KcXPKzH2OtoKZwfuyucA
Palestinian premier not welcome in the Netherlands because of Hamas
links, government says
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/17/europe/EU-GEN-Netherlands-Palestinians.php
Palestinian police repress BBC reporter solidarity rally
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/17/content_5989659.htm
BBC correspondent may have been “sold” to Islamic militants
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1662828.ece
(Iran/Israel) Shin Bet reports Iran trying to recruit Israelis as spies
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152814942&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Iran ‘is seeking N Korea’s nuclear expertise’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=WG1HWBBM3IJUBQFIQMFCFF4AVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/04/17/wiran17.xml
Egypt says nuke engineer passing intel to Mossad
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152815615&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
MEMRI: Islamist Websites Monitor No. 86
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=iwmp&ID=SP154507
(Australia) Returning mufti Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilali threatens to sue
- against those accusing him of supporting terrorism
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21575119-1702,00.html
(Ireland) Two suspected IRA dissidents charged with failed mortar
attack on police, soldiers
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/17/europe/EU-GEN-NIreland-IRA-Dissidents.php
Colombian rebels ELN say ready for talks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cuba_colombia_rebels_1;_ylt=As8w1eWQ.ln0IGNhWwWKieOwv7kA
North Korea may be preparing to shut reactor: report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070417/ts_afp/nkoreanuclearweapons_070417105633;_ylt=AnayUOiXuIVKj9ZOIOJKGfuCscEA
(Sri Lanka) Two killed by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels as Sri Lanka
celebrates New Year
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070417/wl_sthasia_afp/srilankaunrest_070417064701;_ylt=AhcVydqKzqzRs3NQPhdW_2EtM8oA
Other News:
(Pennsylvania) Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali to address US school
despite protest
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152811911&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(Minneapolis) Cabbies ordered to pick up all riders
http://www.startribune.com/1557/story/1123808.html
(Commentary) Sweden: Don’t give Islamic laws a place in Sweden
http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2007/04/sweden-dont-give-islamic-laws-place-in.html
Indonesia: “Model Islamic Village” in the works
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Religion&loid=8.0.405160333&par=0
(Belgium) Majority in Brussels not native Belgian
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=24&story_id=38819
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2007/04/016099print.html
April 17, 2007
NY man sentenced to 13 years for conspiring to fund jihad groups in Chechnya, Afghanistan
An update on this story. “NY man sentenced to 13 years in terrorism case,” by Edith Honan for Reuters:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Brooklyn bookstore owner who pleaded guilty to conspiring to transfer funds to militant groups in Afghanistan and Chechnya was sentenced on Monday to 13 years in prison.
Abdulrahman Farhane, 52, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court after pleading guilty in November to one count of conspiring to launder money and one count of lying to federal agents.
During the sentencing, prosecutors said after the September 11 attacks Farhane met frequently with Mohamed Alanssi, an FBI informant, and the two discussed sending money to jihadists.
Farhane was part of a larger case that accused four men with conspiring to provide material support to groups the United States says are involved in terrorist activities, all of which depended on Alanssi’s testimony.
Alanssi’s credibility was later called into question by defense attorneys when, in 2004, he attempted suicide by setting himself on fire in front of the White House in protest against his treatment by the FBI.
Two others — Tariq Ibn Osman Shah, a New York City jazz musician and martial arts instructor, and Mahmud Faruq Brent, a Maryland taxi driver — also pleaded guilty but have not yet been sentenced.
The fourth defendant, Rafiq Sabir, a doctor from Boca Raton, Florida, is scheduled to go on trial later this month.
Prosecutors said that Farhane, who moved to America from Morocco in 1987, stocked his store with anti-American books and that his address book read like “a Who’s Who of terrorist financiers in the United States.”
Two of Farhane’s children, who spoke with reporters after the sentencing, said that Farhane had been manipulated by Alanssi.
“Yes, he pleaded guilty because that was the only way out,” said his daughter, Asmaa Farhane.
They said that Farhane was an especially vulnerable target for federal investigators because he speaks little English and suffers from depression and what they described as “mental illness.”
Posted at April 17, 2007 02:02 PM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2007/04/016095print.html
April 17, 2007
Ahmadinejad tells the West: “Abandon your oppressive behavior. Otherwise you and your nations will be harmed”
1938 Alert. “Iran says could reveal new ‘nuclear achievements’,” by Parisa Hafezi for Reuters:
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will announce unspecified new “nuclear achievements” if the United Nations takes fresh steps against it over its disputed atomic program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday.
“If they (the United Nations) pass another resolution against Iran, our nation will reveal new nuclear achievements,” Ahmadinejad told a rally in the central province of Fars, the official IRNA news agency reported.
[...]
“The Iranian nation will stand up for its legal right and will not retreat even one iota to preserve its nuclear right,” Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech to a rally in the central Iranian city of Shiraz.
The crowd chanted “Death to America,” and “Nuclear technology is our right.”
Ahmadinejad is not the most powerful figure in Iran’s system of rule which gives the final word on policy, including nuclear affairs, to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But the president is often the most prominent voice both inside Iran and abroad because of his fiery and usually anti-Western speeches made on regular tours of the country.
“BULLYING METHODS”
The Security Council in March imposed a second round of sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt enrichment work, banning Tehran’s arms exports and putting financial bans on individuals and institutions. That resolution followed one in December.
Ahmadinejad said Iran would not yield to international pressure, calling on the West to give up its “bullying methods”.
“Abandon your oppressive behavior. Otherwise you (the West) and your nations will be harmed,” Ahmadinejad said, without elaborating.
Iran has threatened, if pressured, to review its membership of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the accord that obliges non-nuclear states to renounce the pursuit of atomic weapons.
Iran said on Sunday it would seek bids in the next few days for two new nuclear power plants and will partly run them on fuel produced at home.
Some Western diplomats and analysts say the move was to justify Iran’s insistence on producing its own atomic fuel. Western experts say it would be cheaper for Iran to import fuel, but Tehran says it needs the security of domestic production.
The two new power plants would be built at Bushehr, the southwest port city where Russians are building Iran’s first atomic plant.
Posted at April 17, 2007 12:37 AM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2007/04/016094print.html
April 17, 2007
Abu Zubaydah: What, me al-Qaeda?
Allegations of torture, in line with the al-Qaeda playbook. But he says the worst part was when they took his diary. “Top terror suspect denies association with Osama bin Laden,” from AFP:
WASHINGTON: Top terror suspect Abu Zubaydah told a US military tribunal he was tortured while in CIA custody, and now suffers seizures that affect his ability to speak and write, according to a transcript released on Monday.
In a lengthy hearing before the tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on March 27, Zubaydah denied associating with Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, despite having told interrogators that he had.
“Mr President and members of the tribunal, I would have liked to have spoken to you today on my own, but I have been having seizures lately, which have temporarily affected my ability to speak and write without difficulty,” he said in a written statement that was read by a military officer assigned to represent him.
Besides the seizures, Zubaydah told the tribunal he had problems with his left thigh and foot, according to a transcript released on Monday.
Ironic:
“Uh, I don’t like to admit I’m a sick person,” he said. “I try to be a good Muslim person but the truth is almost half of my body is not good.”
The Pentagon released a censored transcript of the proceeding, and references to what appeared to be details of his treatment at secret CIA detention facilities overseas were deleted.
But in a question-and-answer session, the tribunal’s presiding officer noted that Zubaydah “mentioned months of torture” in his written statement.
Zubaydah, who was wounded in a March 28, 2003 raid that ended in his capture, said most of the information related to what he was accused of having done had been extracted from him when he was half dead, “plus what they do torture me (sic).”
He said he had falsely told interrogators he was a partner of Osama bin Laden and of Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian captured entering the United States in December 1999 planning to bomb Millennium 2000 celebrations in the United States.
“So they write but they want what’s after, more information about more operations, so I can’t (sic),” he said. “They keep torturing me.”
Zubaydah said his greatest torment was the confiscation of a diary that he had kept, likening it to the loss of a child.
“For me, it is bigger than what CIA for me,” he said. “What they do on my body I will forget it, plus now taking the paper, my paper.”
Abu Zubaydah acknowledged facilitating the training of jihadists in Afghanistan to fight invaders of Muslim lands, but said his group only came under Osama bin Laden’s control in 2000 under pressure from the Taliban.
“Our doctrine has always been to go after enemy targets, and by that I mean military targets, which include the military members or civilians who work for or directly support the military,” Zubaydah said in a written statement.
“I disagreed with the Al-Qaeda philosophy of targeting innocent civilians like those in the World Trade Center,” he said.
Zubaydah is a Saudi-born Palestinian whose real name is Zayn Al Abidin Muhammad Husayn. The main evidence presented against him came from Ressam, the captured bomber.
Ressam said Zubayhdah knew about the millennium operation, although not specifically the date or the exact target of the bombing, the government alleged.
The government also alleged that entries in Zybaydah’s diary described plans to burn cities and farms in the United States, instigate race wars, attack gas stations and fuel trucks, and start timed fires.
Later in the article, Zubaydah claims he was only interested in “defensive jihad.”
Ressam allegedly told US investigators that in 1998 Zubaydah asked the Algerian to obtain five Canadian passports for a team of five other individuals to enter the United States to bomb several cities.
Zubaydah admitted to sending Ressam for training at the Khalden and Deronta camps in Afghanistan, but disputed other charges and instead portrayed his group as at odds ideologically with Al-Qaeda and competing with them for recruits.
“The statement that I was an associate of Osama bin Laden is false. I only met him in the year 2000. I’m not his partner and I’m not a member of Al-Qaeda,” Zubaydah said.
“Osama bin Laden wanted Al-Qaeda to have control of Khalden, but we refused since we had different ideas,” he said.
Zubaydah said his group’s aim was to train Muslims for “defensive jihad” in places like Bosnia and Chechnya that had been invaded by non Muslims.
“Our doctrine was not the same as what Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were promoting, which was and is a doctrine of offensive jihad,” he said.
Zubaydah said he distinguished fundamentalist Muslims from fanatics.
“I was always very selective about not working with the fanatical Muslims that wanted training, such as the Algerians of the Armed Jamaat Islamia,” he said. “In fact, the Armed Jamaat Islamia threatened my life because I refused to work with them.”
In 2000 the Taliban closed the two training camps after Osama bin Laden pressed to have all recruits come through his camps, he said.
Zubaydah said he visited Osama bin Laden to ask for help in keeping the camps open, but was rebuffed.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Zubaydah said some big jihadist groups were angry that they had been given no warning. But they decided to close ranks with Al-Qaeda in anticipation of a counter-attack, he said.
Posted at April 17, 2007 12:18 AM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2007/04/016091print.html
Karachi mosques announce: people being killed by virus transmitted through mobile phones
More crazy conspiracy theories, such that, when they turn toward the West, make people believe that 9/11 was an inside job, etc.
“Hello? You’ve Got a Virus,” from FoxNews, with thanks to BD:
What happened to Prince Albert in a can?
Today’s practical jokers are more likely to dial V for Virus, as mobile service providers in Pakistan have been inundated by calls from subscribers worried by a prank message that they could die of a deadly virus being transmitted via their phones, Reuters reported.
The rumor was so effective that some mosques in the country’s biggest city, Karachi, made announcements that people were being killed by a mobile virus and they should be aware of God’s wrath, Reuters reported.
Posted at April 16, 2007 06:41 PM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2007/04/016089print.html
Philippines: 70,000 flee as Muslim leader declares jihad in Sulu province
Severe interior spiritual struggle displaces 70,000. “Philippines: 70,000 People Flee As Muslim Rebel Declares Jihad In Sulu,” from AKI, with thanks to Fjordman:
Cotabato City, 16 April (AKI) - At least 70,000 Muslim civilians in the southern Filipino province of Sulu were displaced due to fighting between a faction of former rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the army. Abdul Wasan Mohamad, provincial social welfare and development officer in Sulu, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the number may increase as six towns were affected in the ongoing fighting that began when a group of MNLF forces, under leader Habier Malik attacked a Marine base near Panamao, on 13 April. Eighteen people, including two soldiers and a civilian, were killed in the incident.
“Non-government organizations and government agencies have provided evacuees with relief goods and medicines. But if the fighting continues, more and more civilians will be displaced,” Mohamad said.
The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has asked the military and MNLF to stop the fighting. Reports said the OIC proposed the creation of a small military monitoring mission in Sulu province.
But Jesus Dureza, Filipino president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s peace adviser, said that although they welcomed the concern of OIC, the army will undertake punitive action against Malik’s forces. Dureza asked the leadership of MNLF to take appropriate steps and deal with the criminal acts perpetrated by Malik.
“Unless decisively addressed by the MNLF leadership, this latest incident will pose as an additional challenge in our peace engagement with the MNLF,” Dureza said in statement.
MNLF deputy chairman Hatimil Hassan told reporters they would respect the appeal of the OIC.
“We have directed Malik’s group on the ground to silent their guns. We support the appeal of OIC to cease from further hostilities and resolve the matter in peaceful means,” Hassan said.
On 13 April, Malik declared a jihad, or holy war, against Manila and fired rockets on the positions of government security forces near Panamao. His action followed an attack by the army on an MNLF camp in nearby Indanan town, last week.
Posted at April 16, 2007 11:38 AM
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.