Palm Springs Police and Fire crews are at the scene of a reported underground explosion near North Indian Canyon Drive and Tamarisk Road. Officials say the explosion occured just after 5 PM Friday evening in the 800 block of N. Indian Canyon.
Witnesses say the explosion blew a manhole cover off, and flames could be scene in the area. It is also reported that it might be rleated to an underground electrical transformer. Traffic on Indian Canyon is being diverted but it's not known how long it will be until traffic is allowed to pass through.
http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=6699265&nav=9qrx
Thank you Oorang for the post.
WIESBADEN: Authorities in Pakistan have arrested three Germans for suspected links to Islamist extremist groups, police in Germany said Friday. Two of the Germans were converts to Islam, the head of the federal police Joerg Ziercke, told reporters in the southwestern city of Wiesbaden, adding that the suspects were being held in Pakistan. The third man, already considered by the German authorities to be a dangerous individual with links to Islamist extremists, was of foreign origin and had been living in the Wiesbaden region, officials said.
They would not immediately say when the Germans were arrested, but the German newspaper Die Welt reported in its Saturday edition that the arrests were made “several days ago”. One suspect was arrested trying to cross illegally from Pakistan to Iran, the second was apprehended in Karachi, while the third was trying to return to Germany, Die Welt reported, quoting government sources.
News of the arrests followed an announcement by the German authorities that they had stepped up security in response to a greater threat of attacks at home and abroad due to the country’s military involvement in Afghanistan. The European Union’s Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini on a trip to Rome Friday, echoed German concerns about the threat of attacks. “We have registered an increase in the movement of people ready for terrorist attacks who are trained in hard-to-reach areas like Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the commissioner said.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\23\story_23-6-2007_pg7_4
Al Qaeda 'sergeant' becomes seventh terror suspect on the loose after snubbing control order (UK)
22nd June 2007
A suspected Al Qaeda recruiting sergeant is on the loose in Britain after becoming the seventh control order suspect to abscond. The Iraqi asylum seeker, a follower of dead Al Qaeda warlord Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, vanished from his home on Monday. His disappearance leaves the policy of using control orders to monitor terror suspects in tatters. A minister admitted that the orders cannot prevent "determined" suspects escaping.
The missing man is alleged to have been part of a six-man recruitment team sent to Britain by Al Qaeda in Iraq to enlist volunteers to join attacks on British and U.S. troops serving there. He managed to gain a foothold here by claiming to be fleeing persecution in Iraq. His admission to Britain is likely to reignite debate about the way the asylum system is abused by terror suspects. Around a quarter of those arrested under anti-terror laws are would-be refugees.
The fanatic, who was wearing an electronic tag and under a 14-hour curfew when he fled, has not been traced despite a huge manhunt. Although other control order suspects have been named and pictured, his identity is being kept secret on police advice.
Excerpted
Terror Suspect Arrested In India
Jun 23, 2007
The suspected leader of a terrorist cell in India was arrested Saturday in a police raid that also netted a colleague and a cache of weapons and explosives. Police said Harkat-ul-Jehad al-Islam's Indian operations leader, Jalaluddin, also known as Amanullah Mandal and Babu, was arrested in connection with the 2005 Shramjeevi train blast and the Sankat Mochan attack in Varanasi last year, The Times of India reported. His alleged accomplice, Naushad, also known as Hafiz and Sabir, was also arrested.
Police confiscated about 20 pounds of the explosive RDX, detonators, hand grenades, several automatic weapons, ammunition and cash, the newspaper said. Harkat-ul-Jehad, with headquarters in Bangladesh, has become the biggest terror threat in India and is blamed for deadly attacks on trains and the Mecca mosque in Hyderabad, as well as kidnappings and extortion. The group is believed to operate in close coordination with another terror group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been blamed for the Mumbai train blasts. Police sources told the Times the two men were arrested in a busy area in the center of Lucknow.
http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_21288308.shtml