Posted on 06/19/2007 4:43:36 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT
Saudi King Says Middle East Crisis Will Affect The World
DUBAI, June 19 (Bernama) -- The Saudi king has warned of an impending "explosion" in the Middle East, saying that it will not only affect the region but will spread all over the world, the English daily Gulf News reports.
"The Middle East region suffers from the longest conflict in our contemporary history which is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Israel's occupation of Arab lands," King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, said in an interview with the Spanish El Pas newspaper which was published simultaneously in Al Riyadh newspaper yesterday.
"At this point in time we are exerting efforts to solve this conflict, but we are witnessing an expansion of the crisis to include other countries like Iraq and Lebanon," he said.
"This makes the region replete with troubles that pose grave concerns for us. My fears are the fears of all reasonable men that the explosive situation will not be confined to the region but will extend to the whole world," he added.
The Saudi monarch yesterday began a five-nation trip that will take him to Spain, France, Poland, Egypt and Jordan.
King Abdullah also underlined the importance of solving the problem of Iran's nuclear programme peacefully in a way that guarantees all countries in the region to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in accordance with the standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=268361
(Excerpt) Read more at bernama.com ...
THREATS
‘Army of Islam’ Threatens to Execute Johnston (back)
June 17, 2007
A shadowy group holding a British correspondent for three months threatened on Sunday to kill him, in a video broadcast by the Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel.
A spokesman for The Army of Islam, identified as Abu Khattab, told Al-Jazeera that there was no deal to release BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, and ‘ if the situation gets more complicated concerning us and our group, then we will ingrate ourselves to Allah by slaying this journalist.’
The authenticity of the video could not be independently confirmed. Earlier, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza said there had been no new developments in the case, despite reports that Johnston would be released soon.
Johnston was abducted from a Gaza City street on March 12.
Source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813056226&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
Iran’s Long Game Sets Stage for War (back)
June 17, 2007
by Uzi Mahnaimi
ISRAEL awoke last Friday to find itself encircled by enemies with its most determined foe, Iran , entrenched on its southern doorstep in Gaza .
Hamas’s stunningly swift victory in a brief civil war has left the Jewish state at its must vulnerable for three decades.
Inspired by a philosophy of militant Islam and backed by Iranian weaponry and military training, Hamas poses a direct threat to Israel and, if left unchecked, will soon be in a position to step up its lethal rocket attacks on towns and villages across the border.
In Lebanon to the north, Israel faces Hezbollah, the militant Syrian-backed militia, which has rebuilt its frontline forces - also with Iranian help - since last summer’s war exposed the shortcomings of the Israeli defence forces. The Lebanese government can do little to curb Hezbollah’s growing strength.
’ Tehran has succeeded in planting an Iranian division in the north and now they have a foothold in the south by establishing their southern division - Hamas,’ said a source in Israel ’s defence ministry.
Then there is Syria , with which Israel is still officially at war. Damascus is demanding the return of the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said recently his country did not want war with Syria but warned that a ‘miscalculation’ could spark one.
To the east - beyond Jordan - lie the deeply unstable Iraq and the greatest threat of all in Israeli eyes, Iran . Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has declared that Israel should be ‘wiped off the map’ and continues to advance a nuclear programme in defiance of the United Nations security council.
Israeli intelligence has little doubt that if Israel or the US attacks Iran’s burgeoning uranium enrichment programme, much of the retaliation will come from Tehran’s clients on its borders.
They are also watching a fierce debate inside the US administration between doves led by Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, and hawks such as Vice-President Dick Cheney, on the repercussions of any military strike against Iran .
With the doves seemingly holding the upper hand in Washington , US support for a hardline Israeli response may be fading. But Israeli leaders continue to warn that they will prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Ehud Barak, who is expected to be appointed defence minister tomorrow, met Olmert to agree a crisis plan to deal with the threat of Hamas before Olmert left for Washington to meet President George W Bush this week.
’ Israel will not tolerate a Hamastan at its back door,’ said one of Barak’s close associates.
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1942881.ece
Treasury Designates al-Qaeda, LIFG Operatives (back)
June 15, 2007
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated three Libyan individuals who are members of both al Qaida and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). Today’s action was taken pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which is aimed at prohibiting transactions with terrorists and their supporters and freezing their assets.
‘These terrorists execute roles throughout al Qaida and LIFG, from recruitment to military training to procurement of explosive components,’ said Adam J. Szubin, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). ‘We are publicly holding them to account for their dangerous actions.’
Identifying Information
Nur Al-Din Al-Dibiski
AKAs: Salem Nor Eldin Amohamed al-Dabski
Salim Nur al-Din al-Dabski
Salim Nur al-Din al-Dabaski
Abdallah Rajab
Abdullah Ragab
Abu al-Ward
Abd al-Ward
Abu al-Wurud
Abu Naim
DOB: circa 1963
POB: Tripoli , Libya
PASSPORT: 1990/345751 ( Libya )
Nur al-Din al Dibiski traveled to Afghanistan in the early 1990s, where he joined al Qaida and received military training in al Qaida’s camps. Dibiski is believed to be a senior member of the LIFG and a member of that terrorist group’s military committee. Dibiski also joined the LIFG while he was in Afghanistan , and as of August 2005 was identified as a member of the LIFG in Iran .
Sa’id Yusif Ali Abu Azizah
AKAs: Said Youssef Ali Abu Aziza
Sa’id Yusif Ali Abu Azizat
Sa’id Yusif Abu Aziz
Sa’ud Abu Aziz
Abu Therab
Abu Thurab
Abu Turab
Abdul Hamid
Abd al-Hamid
DOB: 1958
POB: Tripoli , Libya
PASSPORT: 87/437555 ( Libya )
Sa’id Yusif Ali Abu Azizah is a member of and recruiter for al Qaida, and was responsible for al Qaida’s publications and mass media operations. Azizah, who underwent terrorist training in an al Qaida training camp, supervised one of bin Laden’s guesthouses in Peshawar , Pakistan .
Azizah joined the LIFG in 1995. Azizah has long been involved in recruiting new LIFG members and sending them to Afghanistan for military training and combat experience. On behalf of LIFG, Azizah has focused on the return of recruits to Libya to conduct operations against the government.
Azizah was identified as a member of al Qaida in Canada in 2003, and became the leader of the LIFG in Canada in 2004.
Ali Sulayman Mas’ud `Abd Al-Sayyid
AKA: Aly Soliman Massoud Abdul Sayed
AKA: Mohamed Osman
AKA: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
AKA: Ibn al-Qayyim
AKA: Ibn El Qaim
AKA: Al-Zawl
DOB: 1969
POB: Tripoli , Libya
PASSPORT: 96/184442 ( Libya )
Abd al-Sayyid is one of al Qaida’s early members and is reportedly a member of the al Qaida military committee. He was assigned by al Qaida’s leadership to deliver messages to al Qaida members in Libya that contained instructions for terrorist plots in Libya . `Abd al-Sayyid was also tasked by LIFG to enter Libya secretly, and was involved in arming an al Qaida group in Libya .
Abd al-Sayyid was at one time in charge of al Qaida activities in Yemen , where he tasked one al Qaida operative to obtain electrical ‘igniters’ for explosives. In 1993, `Abd al-Sayyid coordinated with a LIFG member to bring an explosives expert to Yemen to make an improvised explosive device to be catapulted on the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa.
Abd al-Sayyid later returned to Sudan , where he was in charge of al Qaida operations and was a regional LIFG leader. He followed orders of the LIFG leadership, particularly LIFG leader and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) Abd al-Rahman al-Faqih. `Abd al-Sayyid also received funds from a Switzerland-based LIFG member.
In 2003, `Abd al-Sayyid received explosives detonators from a LIFG security committee member in Sudan and was involved in planning an attack on the Sudanese president and vice president.
Source: http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp462.htm
TERRORISM PREVENTION
The Mullahs’ Achilles Heel (back)
June 15, 2007
The past week has very possibly been the key turning point in the drive to cripple the Iranian government and force it to back off its nuclear weapons program. Uncovered by the mainstream media, a courageous and far-sighted effort by Reagan’s assistant secretary of defense, Frank Gaffney, to force state pension systems to stop investing in companies that do business with Iran or Sudan has won key victories in Florida, California, and Ohio.
Spurred by vigorous lobbying by key legislators in each state, these massive pension funds are now committed to disinvest from companies that invest in Iran ‘s or Sudan ‘s energy industries.
Gov. Charlie Crist (R) of Florida signed legislation last week banning such pension-fund investments. On June 5, the California Assembly unanimously voted to require CalPERS and CalSTRS, the public employee and teacher retirement systems, to disinvest from companies that invested in Iran ‘s defense, nuclear or oil industries. CalPERS has about $2 billion now invested in companies that would be covered by the law. Imagine the hit that these companies’ CEOs and directors will take in their bonuses that are linked to stock prices when these shares are dumped on the market! California Assemblyman Joel Anderson, noting that ‘money is the mother’s milk of terrorism,’ decried how California pension funds - the largest in the country - are ‘funding © terrorist groups that are trying to kill us.’
Meanwhile, in Ohio , the five public pension systems gave in to demands from state legislators that they too disinvest from companies that are doing business in Iran and Sudan . The pension funds had originally resisted calls for disinvestment, claiming they impeded their mission of maximizing returns on their investments, but they have now told the state House Speaker, Jon A. Husted - who brokered the deal - that ‘they would work to pull most of their money out of companies with ties’ to Iran or Sudan, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Their decision came as a bill to require such disinvestment was working its way through the legislature.
These actions come on top of the trailblazing decision of Missouri state Treasurer Sarah Stillman to stop investing in companies that do business with Iran , Syria , Sudan or North Korea .
United Nations sanctions are important, but these state pension decisions directly impact the 485 companies that Gaffney’s group, has found to invest in the four terror-sponsoring nations identified in the Missouri disinvestment program.
Iran ‘s key vulnerability is its economy, which is totally dependent on energy revenues. Eighty-five percent of government revenues come from the energy sector, and these revenues are expected to drop from $55 billion in 2006 to only $44 billion this year due to a rise in domestic demand for energy and decreasing energy production. By 2014, it is estimated Iran will export no oil at all unless foreign investment comes to the rescue and helps generate additional production. Iranian oil reserves are the second largest in the world, but are of no use to the ayatollahs unless they can get at them. By cutting off foreign investment in the energy sector, these state government s have gone a long way toward destabilizing the Iranian regime.
Now it is up to Congress to pass legislation requiring the Bush administration to apply the sanctions already legislated in the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act passed in the mid-90s but never applied due to national security waivers by Presidents Clinton and Bush. By forcing the president’s hand - even passing the bill over his veto - Congress will relieve Bush of a political quandary. The reason the president keeps granting waivers on the applications of the formidable set of sanctions that could descend on Iran is that Europeans resent the extraterritorial application of American power over their companies that invest in Iran . (That’s why state pension fund disinvestment is so effective: It is a way of leveraging foreign companies through market forces even though we have no political control over them.)
All the speculation about military action against Iran misses the point: It is through economic disinvestment in their energy and banking industries that we can exert maximum leverage and likely topple this pernicious regime - or force it to give up its nuclear program.
Dick Morris is a former adviser to President Clinton. To get all of Dick’s his columns e mailed to you, register for free at DickMorris.com
Source: http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=28763
U.S. Warns Others To Not Deal With Iran (back)
June 14, 2007
The United States has threatened to penalize international oil companies that do business with Iran .
Under a law already in existence, the U.S. government has the power to impose fines and other penalties in such circumstances.
The U.S. State Department says several international companies have been warned that the law will be implemented if they cross the line.
In a recent address to Asian oil officials, Iran ‘s oil minister Seyed Kazem offered mutual relationships with the Iranian oil industry.
Iran currently has plans to finalize details on five proposed refinery projects in China , Malaysia , Singapore , and Indonesia .
Source: http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/3a8a80d6f705f8cc/id/256595/cs/1/
TERRORISM RESPONSE
U.S. Secretly Met With Followers of Blind Sheik Omar (back)
June 16, 2007
Followers of Omar Abdel Rahman made overtures to U.S. diplomats one year before the radical sheikh entered the United States on a visa approved by a CIA agent.
During several meetings with diplomatic officers at the U.S. embassy in Cairo , members of al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya (The Islamic Group) provided extensive details about the operations of one of Egypt ‘s most notorious terrorist organizations.
Initiated by al-Gama’a, the meetings were aimed at creating a dialogue with the U.S. in the hopes of eventual, unspecified cooperation. The initiative was based on a perception that the U.S. enjoyed similar cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt .
Less than four years after the approach, an al-Gama’a terror cell led personally by Abdel-Rahman bombed the World Trade Center in New York City .
The 1989 meetings are described in secret cables from the U.S. embassy in Cairo , which were declassified and released as part of a Freedom of Information Act request by INTELWIRE.
THE APRIL 1989 MEETING
An April 25, 1989 cable from the Cairo embassy describes several meetings between unidentified ‘embassy officers’ and a self-proclaimed member of al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya. The name of the member is redacted, as are several other sections of the cable.
Signed by U.S. ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner, the cable is addressed to several other U.S. embassies and to U.S. intelligence services and military posts. It was classified as ‘secret.’
Known as the ‘blind sheik,’ Rahman was considered the main spiritual guide for both al-Gama’a and al-Jihad, otherwise known as Egyptian Islamic Jihad. At the time of the meeting, Rahman was under detention in Egypt but was expected to be released shortly.
In meetings with embassy officials, the member said al-Gama’a and al-Jihad were, in fact, the same organization. Historically, the two groups have had overlapping membership and agendas. Today, they are considered separate organizations, and Al-Gama’a has renounced the use of violence.
The member estimated al-Gama’a membership as between 150,000 and 200,000, a figure which the embassy suspected was exaggerated.
The member said he was part of al-Gama’a Shura Council while he was in prison, between September 1981 and October 1988. He said his specialty was organizing protests and demonstrations. The member disputed government characterizations of al-Gama’a as ‘secret’ and ‘violent’ and disavowed attacks that had been attributed to the group.
The member provided printed material concerning Rahman and al-Gama’a beliefs and goals. He said the group found the government of Saudi Arabia to be ‘the best Islamic government today’ but faulted Saudi King Fahd for failing to take a hard line against Iran .
However, the member said, Rahman met with an Iranian delegation in Pakistan during the autumn of 1988 and was ‘favorably impressed.’
Rahman also traveled to the United States in 1988 to speak a conference, the member said. The ‘blind sheikh’ traveled to the U.S. yearly, the member said, on trips supported by Saudi Arabia .
Embassy officials were skeptical about some of the claims made by the member and recorded their suspicions concerning his motives, as well as questioning whether his approach to the embassy had the blessing of his superiors in al-Gama’a.
Embassy officials noted that their skepticism ‘leaps instantly from the favt that he has revealed much more than we would have considered prudent.’
THE MAY 1989 MEETING
In May, embassy officials met with ‘a young lawyer of ‘The Islamic Group’ (or Jihad as it is called by the government).’ The meeting came after ‘repeated recent contacts’ between al-Gama’a and U.S. diplomats, the cable states.
The May cable is addressed only to the Secretary of State, the consul in Alexandria and the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington , D.C. It is signed by Wisner and classified ‘secret’ and ‘department only.’
The lawyer repeated the figure of 150,000 to 200,000 members and reiterated other key points from the April cable. Embassy officers believed this figure included a loose group of ‘sympathizers’ and did not ‘represent an Islamic revolutionary vanguard.’
He claimed ‘he was informing us about his group as a result of a ‘change in thinking’ within the group.’
Al-Gama’a was ‘concerned about the ‘radical and violent image’ of the group presented by the government,’ according to the lawyer.
The laywer said an individual, whose name was redacted, ‘had persuaded them that U.S. diplomats were ‘sincere,’ so they decided to present this ‘true picture’ directly to’ embassy officers. It’s not clear whether this is a reference to the individual described in the April cable, or whether that individual and the lawyer are the same person.
The cable states:
‘[redacted] had told us separately that [redacted] had opined that the government was not persecuting the Muslim Brotherhood because the U.S. was ‘supporting’ the Muslim Brotherhood against the more radical Islamic trends. On this widely accepted conspiratorial premise, the ‘Islamic Group’ may be making its own bid for outside support.’
An embassy officer told the lawyer that ‘the U.S. does not intervene in internal affairs nor support any group of any sort against the government of Egypt .’
Among the points and claims made by the lawyer:
Members of al-Gama’a are ‘unified in a single ideology, though there are different ‘styles’ of action from region to region.’
Members can directly contact other members across Egypt .
Omar Abdel-Rahman was described as the mufti of the group, or alternatively as its emir. The former title is a religious position, the latter implies some degree of operational control. However, a separate individual was identified as the chief operational leader. The name of that person is redacted.
The 11 members of al-Gama’a Shura Council were named by the lawyer, but the names were redacted from the cable before its release by the State Department.
The lawyer characterized other known Egyptian Islamist groups as having been disbanded or largely imprisoned, including Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Takfir Wal Hijra. Later reporting suggests this claim was significantly inflated.
The Muslim Brotherhood was seen by al-Gama’a as part of the ‘governing establishment.’
Al-Gama’a members ‘reject the concept of ‘takfir,’’ i.e., condemning opponents such as the government as infidels who may be attacked with impunity.
The lawyer claimed the Egyptian government had ‘pinned’ the name Jihad on al-Gama’a in order to blame the group for attacks on Christians. The laywer denied al-Gama’a had any role in attacking Christian interests in Egypt .
The laywer accused the Muslim Brotherhood of ‘playing games’ and acting out of personal and property interests.
‘Local groups of Islamic youth exist around the country,’ according to the lawyer. ‘Because they lack proper religious guidance, they do crazy things’ which are then blamed on al-Gama’a. However some of these youth are also members of al-Gama’a, he conceded.
Sayyid Qutb and his book is the group’s primary ideological inspiration, particularly his anti-secular (and anti-American) tract ‘Milestones on the Road.’
The cable concludes with a reference to a follow-up cable describing the organizations ties to foreign governments. However, the follow-up cable was not included in this FOIA release.
THE 1990 VISA
Approximately one year after the last meeting in Egypt , in May 1990, Omar Abdel Rahman obtained a visa to enter the United States (Time Magazine, May. 24, 1993). The visa was issued in by the U.S. embassy in Khartoum , Sudan .
Rahman’s name had been placed on a terrorist watchlist that should have kept him out of the United States . Embassy officials said the visa was issued in error and began an investigation of the embassy official who approved the passport.
That official turned out to be an officer of the CIA (New York Times, July 14, 1993). According to the Times, the CIA officer was working as a consular official as part of his official cover and did not act on behalf of the CIA. Officials described the event as a ‘coincidence,’ according to the Times.
Rahman traveled from Sudan to Pakistan , then entered the U.S. in July 1990. He was subsequently indicted and convicted for leading a cell of terrorists in New York City responsible for the World Trade Center bombing and a thwarted ‘Day of Terror’ plot in which several New York landmarks were targeted for simultaneous truck bombings.
INTELWIRE has obtained more than 1,400 pages of declassified U.S. State Department documents concerning Egyptian radical groups. For more information about INTELWIRE research services, please contact J.M. Berger.
POLICE AND CRIME ISSUES
British Law Threatening U.S. Freedom of Speech (back)
June 16, 2007
The author of a U.S.-published book that accused a former Saudi banking executive of funding terrorism is battling a precedent that experts say could give any foreign libel law priority over U.S. free press and speech guarantees.
The case involving Rachel Ehrenfeld is one of the ‘most important First Amendment cases of the past 25 years,’ and its potential for damaging the U.S. free press is ‘not yet readily recognized,’ 30-year American Civil Liberties Union board member Harvey Silverglate told her.
Ehrenfeld, who has posted information about her case on the website of the American Center for Democracy, which she directs in its research of Middle East-based terrorism, told WND the situation is very simple, and very scary.
In 2003, she documented and wrote, ‘Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It,’ that alleged Saudi Arabian billionaire Khalid Salim A. Bin Mahfouz helped in that pipeline of financing.
Mahfouz formerly was president of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia and Forbes estimates his personal wealth at more than $3 billion. He says he condemns terrorism and never has assisted Osama Bin Laden or others.
Several of those books were purchased via the Internet by British buyers, and a short time later Mahfouz filed a libel action against Ehrenfeld within Great Britain, where antiquated libel laws put the burden of proof on the defendant.
She didn’t respond, and later was ordered by a British High Court judge to pay about $120,000 in a down payment on damages as well as destroy copies of her book, which had been published by Bonus Books.
However, she’s battling back, claiming what was described as ‘libel tourism’ is impeding her ‘ability to research and write freely about international terrorism’ and is seeking through the U.S. courts to have that ruling nullified.
She recently moved a step toward victory when the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asked the New York State Supreme Court for a clarification on a state law that appears to give U.S. courts jurisdiction on the issue.
Judge Wilfred Feinburg, at the Court of Appeals, concluded, ‘The question is important to authors, publishers and those, like Mahfouz, who are the subject of books and articles. The issue may implicate the First Amendment rights of many New Yorkers, and thus concerns important public policy of the state.
‘Because the case may lead to personal jurisdiction over many defendants who successfully pursue a suit abroad against a New York citizen, the question before us is also likely to be repeated,’ he continued.
Circuit Judges Pierre N. Leval and Jose A. Cabranes joined Judge Feinberg in the ruling.
The focal point is where should such claims be handled, in a nation like England where several books were purchased online, or in the United States, where the book was written, and where Mahfouz has had business activities because he served Ehrenfeld with documents in New York.
The case bears some striking similarities to a lawsuit that WND is appealing now to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In that case, WND, based in Oregon, has been ordered by a Tennessee state court decision that in order to use the truth of some articles as a defense in a defamation case it also must reveal sources – to which WND does not have access – regarding the articles written by free-lance reporters that were posted on the Internet news provider’s website during 2000.
The implications of that case, also, are huge regarding the First Amendment, because unless the state decision is overturned, shield law protections like those that protected Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in their pursuit of the Watergate scandal could be banished nationwide.
‘If this is law, all President Nixon needed to do in order to retain his presidency is sue Woodward and Bernstein for defamation, force them into this Hobson’s Choice and, by presumption, establish that the information attributed to the confidential source was false,’ said attorney Larry Parrish, who is handling the appeal of a Tennessee lawsuit brought by a top Al Gore fundraiser.
‘The alternative for Woodward and Bernstein would have been to disclose the name of Deep Throat and suffer a breach of confidence judgment in favor of Deep Throat,’ he said.
The appeal to the Supreme Court is in a landmark $165 million defamation lawsuit involving WND, in which a Tennessee appeals court banned WND from defending itself based on the truth of a series of articles during the 2000 presidential election, because they included information from a confidential source to which WND didn’t have access.
Ehrenfeld told WND her book was thoroughly documented before it was published, and the Saudi billionaire chose England to file his action because of the libel laws, which are opposite of U.S. laws.
‘In the United States, he doesn’t have a case. But in England all you have to do is file a case. Then the defendant has to prove what he or she writes is true, and not done with malice,’ she said.
She told WND that could have been done, but the costs would have been extremely high.
‘The book was not published in England. I don’t live in England. I don’t see any reason to go to England. The expenses would have been horrendous,’ she said.
A U.S. district court judge to whom her original complaint was assigned agreed that U.S. courts had no jurisdiction in the foreign matter, but the 2nd Circuit panel recognized the dangers developing.
‘They decided that I have a case [in U.S. courts] and therefore every American writer in a similar situation can to the same thing,’ she told WND.
‘This is a very important case for reporters and writers and national security,’ she said.
She expressed concern that major media influences in the United States have largely, to date, ignored the case about a precedent to which they could become subject.
Media ignoring pivotal cases
Joseph Farah, editor and founder of WND, has expressed the same concern about the battle his company has been waging for years.
‘I know many of my colleagues in the press care about the First Amendment,’ he said. ‘Anyone who cares about the First Amendment needs to start caring about this monumental case. This has the potential to be bigger than New York Times v. Sullivan. Yet little media interest has been stirred.’
Lee Kaplan, in an article on FrontPageMagazine.com said the Ehrenfeld ruling from the appellate court was a ‘breath of fresh air’ from the ‘Saudi petrodollars [that] buy influence throughout the world for the Islamic feudal kingdom that finances world terrorism and propaganda.’
‘In suing Mahfouz here in the USA, Ehrenfeld asked the Federal Court to declare the default judgment against her obtained by bin Mahfouz in England’s High Court – details concerning his terror financing as outlined in ‘Funding Evil’ – as unenforceable in the U.S., and contrary to the free speech protections that all Americans enjoy. The 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals established for the future that other American writers and publishers will not be silenced by Saudi petrodollars and their influence on information in America,’ he concluded.
Should Mafhouz pursue the complaint in the United States, he noted, then he also would be subject to U.S. laws and Ehrenfeld ‘can demand his financial records in pre-trial discovery to show the validity of her terrorism-financing accusations.’
Daniel Kornstein, Ehrenfeld’s lawyer, said the situation of libel claims brought by non-U.S. citizens in foreign courts against American writers ‘has been on the increase and is an alarming trend.’
‘It is a vitally important issue for the publishing industry and for authors because of the concerns it raises about the chilling effect on free speech,’ he said.
In an article for The Family Security Foundation Inc., Adrian Morgan noted that present UK libel laws are based on a statute from 1819 and puts the burden of proof of the defendant.
Just last month, he noted, the London Times concluded that the nation’s libel laws ‘have never been about protecting individuals … they are about protecting the rich and powerful.’ That article was removed from its website soon, because even reporting critically on individual cases can violate the laws.
Ten years earlier, a libel case in Maryland concluded with a ruling that a UK money award could be waived, because it violated the U.S. protections of free speech, Morgan wrote.
Ehrenfeld, with a Ph.D. in criminology from the Hebrew University School of Law, has lectured at Columbia, researched at New York University and has acted as an adviser to the U.S. Defense Department.
Ehrenfeld said the costs of such litigation continues to rise, and donations can be sent to the Legal Support Fund at the American Center for Democracy.
Ehrenfeld is considered an authority of the ‘shadowy movement of funds through international banking and governments to fund terrorism.’
Fluent in several languages, she has testified before congressional committees, as well as the European Parliament, and provided evidence to the British Parliament, and consulted government agencies such as the Department of Defense and Homeland Security.
She also is a member of the board of directors of the Committee on the Present Danger along with former Secretary of State George Schulz and former CIA Director James Woolsey.
In the WND case still pending, the 2000 reports by the free-lance writers mostly documented allegations of corruption involving then-Vice President Al Gore and others in Gore’s home state. Some Tennessee observers believe the series had such impact that it was responsible for Gore losing the state – and thus the presidential election. Had Gore won his home state, the disputed Florida vote in 2000 would have been meaningless and Gore would have had enough electoral votes to become president.
The reports included information about a Savannah, Tenn., auto dealer, friend of Gore and Democrat activist Clark Jones, who brought the action and has been determined by the courts to be a public figure.
Jones, who raised more than $100,000 for Gore’s presidential campaign, alleges personal embarrassment and humiliation from the articles, which said he reportedly intervened in a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe into narcotics trafficking in Hardin County in 1999. The car dealer also alleges the articles implicated him in the 1980 arson of his own business, the Jones Motor Company, and also pegged him as a suspected drug dealer.
Parrish said the decision, if not changed, would be disastrous for the news industry.
‘Because of the Internet invading the news dissemination business, it’s to a point that the rules for the entire nation will be determined by the state with the most restrictive rules of law,’ Parrish said. Almost every newspaper, broadcast station or news service posts information on websites, and nothing can prevent those postings from being downloaded in any location, in this case Tennessee.
Since Tennessee law as it is being applied gives reporters the same opportunity for withholding a confidential source in a civil defamation case as they have before a grand jury – none, he said, that very well could become the standard nationwide.
‘Investigative reporting has been able to exist and continues with the requirement that names be divulged in a grand jury. You transport that same requirement into a civil defamation case against reporters and you will shut down the information from confidential sources,’ Parrish said.
‘It is not complicated. This Court [U.S. Supreme Court] explicitly and unequivocally has held that there is a newsgatherer’s First Amendment privilege of nondisclosure; the court of appeals straightforwardly ruled that there is no such privilege…’ the appeal to the Supreme Court said.
‘This Court, to protect the public interest in free-flowing access to news, at a heavy price to public figure-plaintiffs in civil defamation suits, has repeatedly ruled that the First Amendment makes it extraordinarily difficult for a public figure to obtain a judgment in such a civil defamation suit. All of the public policy this Court has so assiduously declared will go up in flames if what was … decided can occur without this Court intervening to reverse,’ the appeal said.
Source: http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56207
TERROR MODUS OPERANDI
Jemaah Islamiyah Dreams of Islamic State (back)
June 15, 2007
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), whose leader Indonesian police announced Friday they had in custody, draws its inspiration from Al-Qaeda and dreams of creating a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia.
The outfit is accused of carrying out a slew of bloody attacks in Indonesia, most notoriously the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people and dragged the region into the global battle against extremism.
JI’s ultimate goal is to unite Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and the southern Philippines into a fundamentalist Islamic state, and it uses terrorist attacks to destabilise regional governments.
It has its roots in Darul Islam, a group which fought for an Islamic state in Indonesia in the 1950s and 1960s and survived a military defeat in the 1960s.
JI was nurtured by Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir and fellow Indonesian Hambali while they were in exile in Malaysia after fleeing Indonesia under the rule of former dictator Suharto.
According to court documents, Bashir formally co-founded JI in Malaysia in 1993 with Abdullah Sungkar and assumed leadership when Sungkar died of natural causes in 1999.
Hambali, along with many top JI militants, had fought in the anti-Soviet campaign in Afghanistan. He helped build JI into a terrorist network inspired by what he had learnt from Al-Qaeda, of which he was a senior member.
Captured JI head Zarkasi trained in Pakistan while the head of JI’s military wing, Abu Dujana, who was caught as he rode his motorcyle just hours earlier last Saturday, also fought in Afghanistan, according to police.
Two JI militants under arrest in Indonesia have said that its bombers believed they were fulfilling bin Laden’s wishes.
‘Both Hambali and Abu Bakar Bashir issued the fatwa (religious edict) from Osama bin Laden which says all Muslims must defend themselves and take vengeance for the actions of Americans, because they have wronged, or killed civilians everywhere,’ said one of the militants, Mohamed Nasir Abas.
Jemaah Islamiyah, whose name means ‘Islamic community’, has staged more than 50 bombings or attempted bombings in Indonesia since April 1999.
These included the Christmas Eve bombings in 2000 that targeted 38 churches or priests and killed 19 people, a suicide attack on Jakarta’s Marriott hotel in August 2003 which killed 12 and another suicide blast outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta in September 2004 in which 12 people died.
The group is also suspected of involvement in bombings in the Philippines, where its followers have attended training camps, and of bomb plots in Thailand and Singapore.
Dozens of alleged members have been rounded up in the region and former operations chief Hambali is in US custody after being arrested in Thailand in 2003.
Bashir, JI’s alleged spiritual leader or ‘emir’, was released from prison in June last year after serving time for a criminal conspiracy that led to the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombings.
The white-bearded cleric, who has hailed bin Laden as a ‘true Muslim fighter’ but denies terror links, was cleared of more serious charges of planning terrorist attacks.
Indonesian police killed one of JI’s most wanted members, Malaysian Azahari Husin, in a raid in November 2005 but his compatriot, Noordin Muhammad Top, remains on the run.
Two Indonesians named Dulmatin and Umar Patek are also at large.
Analysts say JI has split in recent years between supporters and opponents of attacks on targets which have taken a heavy toll on mainly Muslim Indonesians.
Police allege that Dujana had sheltered Noordin, who is said to head the militant splinter group, but said he is refusing to give any information about his whereabouts.
Source: http://www.philstar.com/index.php?News%20Flash&p=54&type=2&sec=91&aid=2007061534
Islamist Students Protest in Iran (back)
June 15, 2007
Islamist students have hurled stones, eggs and paint-filled bags during an anti-British demonstration outside the country’s embassy in Tehran.
About 100 people joined the protest held under the banner ‘Treason and diabolical acts of the British government in Iran’ ahead of a reception marking the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, and warned Iranian guests not to attend.
Several dozen anti-riot police kept the demonstrators away from the embassy gates after they intercepted a truck carrying flowers into the premises and destroyed its load.
Banners erected in front of the embassy read: ‘Shame to the British servants’, and ‘Great Britain commits treason and supports traitors’.
Mojtaba Ebrahimi, head of the Islamic students society, told protesters he knew ‘what sort of artists, politicians and disgusting Iranians and traitors had been invited.’
The Siasat e-Ruz newspaper spoke of ‘suspect invitations at a time when security experts have expressed their concern with British embassy activities in recent months.’
The hardline Kayhan newspaper also wrote about what it described as an embassy plan to ‘break the taboo of Iranians communicating with foreigners,’ which it said included inviting Iranian artists to the reception.
Iranian authorities have regularly accused the United States and Britain of seeking to stir unrest amongst ethnic minorities in its sensitive border areas close to the Turkish, Iraqi and Pakistani frontiers.
Iran is also at loggerheads with the West over its controversial nuclear program, while tensions with Britain were exacerbated by Iran’s seizure of 15 British sailors in the Gulf in March.
Source: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=492897
Let’s Welcome Hamas (back)
June 15, 2007
History has a way of repeating itself, and not always proceeding from tragedy to farce, as the shopworn quotation from Karl Marx would have it.
“Calm settled over Gaza today,” reports the New York Times this morning. In the wake of Israel’s complete withdrawal in 2005, and the ensuing jockeying for power between Hamas and Fatah, the former has now come to power in the strip. What now?
Already there are voices explaining that if Hamas is to satisfy the aspirations of the long-suffering residents of Gaza, it will inevitably be compelled to abandon its terroristic tactics and to embrace a more pragmatic and realistic approach to Israel and to the world around it. And as if on cue, we have a confirming dispatch this morning from the Associated Press: “Hamas vowed Friday to secure the release of kidnapped British journalist Alan Johnston, a promise seemingly meant to avoid alienating the outside world and to tell other armed groups in Gaza that it intends to impose order.” Britain’s Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell, visiting Israel earlier this week, “held out hope that Hamas or some within it would yet moderate,” telling the Jerusalem Post that “I genuinely don’t think that [Hamas’s] positions are set in tablets of stone forever and a day.”
Perhaps, but what can we learn from the recent past?
When Israel withdrew from the security zone it had established in southern Lebanon in 2000, there were numerous predictions, noted the Israeli analyst Gal Luft in 2003, “that the radical Shiite group Hizballah, whose forces had relentlessly attacked the occupying Israeli troops, would close up military operations and henceforth focus solely on Lebanese domestic affairs.”
But what actually happened? First, wrote Luft, Hizballah declared that its “objective was the liberation of the entire land of Palestine and the destruction of the ‘Zionist entity.” It then seized control of the entire buffer zone that had been occupied by Israel and turned it into “a de facto state within a state.” Hizballahland” was what Luft christened this territory as he pointed to the fact that the terrorist organization had “managed to amass an impressive stockpile of weapons, including 10,000 rockets and missiles capable of hitting a quarter of Israel’s population.”
That was 2003. By 2006, Hizballah had 20,000 rockets and missiles, and its depredations led Israel and Lebanon into a massive and bloody war.
What lies ahead for Hamastan? It is of course conceivable—anything being conceivable—that the newly empowered Hamas leadership will move in the direction of pragmatism; that is what our own pragmatic logic suggests they should do. But perhaps these Islamic radicals operate under a different system of reasoning. The spectacle of the losers of the Gaza power struggle—their fellow Palestinians—being tossed from fifteen-story buildings and shot in the knees before being shot in the head suggests that sometimes it is not only history that goes in cycles, but illusions about history as well.
Source: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/contentions/index.php/schoenfeld/547
Canada: Controversial Islamist Editor to be Honoured by Arab Group (back)
June 15, 2007
A man who once described Canada — his adopted homeland — as a ‘fully paid-up member of the Anglo-Saxon mafia’ is being honoured tomorrow evening following a two-day meeting of the Canadian Arab Federation at Toronto’s City Hall.
Today and tomorrow the CAF will be celebrating its 40th anniversary and holding its policy convention at that famous landmark paid for by Toronto taxpayers.
Zafar Bangash, editor of Crescent International, an Islamist newsletter, will be honoured Saturday night at the CAF’s gala dinner at Brassaii Bistro, 461 King St. W., for his ‘unwavering’ support of Palestine.
Besides calling Canada the mafia, on Sept. 16, 2001 when all of us were still reeling from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Bangash, while denouncing the killing of innocent civilians, wrote the attack ‘was most likely a successful attempt by one of America’s many victims to hit back very, very hard.’
Bangash, who in his writings refers to the vast majority of Canadians — that being non-Muslims — as ‘kuffar or kufr’, which means non-believers and infidels, calls on all Muslims to either commit and ‘prepare ourselves to make the kinds of sacrifice that were required of Ibrahim (sacrificing his son) ... or we rely solely on material resources and sink to the level of the kuffar,’ (Feb. 2004).
So, sacrifice everything, including your children fighting the hated kuffar, or become like the loathed kuffar.
Nothing negative?
Ah, but perhaps when Bangash refers to kuffar, he just means non-Muslims and intends nothing negative by it, right? Not according to his writings.
In his April 1-15, 1999 posting, Bangash writes: ‘Most importantly, few Muslims realize that Allah demands of his guests that they openly declare their dissociation from the kuffar and mushrikeen (the Noble Qur’an, 9:1-3).’
It would appear, however, that Bangash will make an exception Saturday night as he will rub elbows with other reward recipients including kuffar-like Sid Ryan, president of CUPE, Ontario, who was instrumental in leading his union to boycott Israel.
How does that saying go: The enemy of my enemy is my friend?
Of course the common enemies are: the Great Satan, (aka, the U.S.), the Great Satan No. 2 (aka, Israel) and Zionists (i.e., most Jews.)
Ever wonder what will happen to us kuffar should Bangash’s oft-repeated dream of making Canada an Islamic state modelled after Iran come to pass?
In his July 1-15, 1999 editorial (which like the others can be read on muslimedia.com) states: ‘As Allah says in the noble Qur’an, ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and those who are with him are harsh towards the kuffar but kind and compassionate towards each other,’ (47:29).’
So much for equality for all!
Bangash is also a big fan of Hezbollah and Hamas, organizations that Canada has declared illegal.
When reached yesterday in Toronto by phone, Khaled Mouammar, national president of the CAF, refused to believe that Bangash uses the term kuffar.
‘No, no, no, he has never said that,’ exclaimed Mouammar. ‘He’s a man of dignity. He has no blood on his hands like those Israeli war criminals who come to Canada and are received by our politicians, like Ariel Sharon,’ said Mouammar, who is also giving an award to Ehab Lotayef, the Montreal activist behind a boycott of Chapters and Indigo book stores because the owners are Jewish and support Israel.
The irony in all this is that recently, the CAF urged Toronto Police Service’s Hate Crime Unit to monitor an upcoming Fraser Institute conference on the terrorist threat in Canada.
As for Canada being like the mafia, the mafia would never stand for such disloyalty.
Source: http://www.torontosun.com/Comment/2007/06/15/4262675-sun.html
ISLAM
U.S. Muslims: The Culture War (back)
June 17, 2007
A recent poll found that American Muslims are largely assimilated into American society. But in cities with growing Muslim populations, the assimilation process isn’t always going so smoothly.
CBN News recently traveled to Minneapolis, where demands by some Muslim immigrants are causing a backlash.
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has traditionally been known as a busy Midwestern hub — not a cultural battleground.
That changed last November, when six Muslim imams were kicked off a U.S. Airways flight there. Passengers complained the imams were praying loudly and moving about the plane speaking Arabic.
The incident sparked a media firestorm and many local Muslims blamed the airport, not the imams. It also highlighted a cultural divide in the twin cities.
Much of the debate surrounding Muslims in Minneapolis centers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. Not only did the infamous ‘Flying Imams’ incident take place here; there’s also been an ongoing controversy surrounding Somali Muslim cabbies refusing to carry passengers who have alcohol in their possession.
Katherine Kersten, a columnist for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, said, ‘The Muslim American Society - Minnesota chapter issued a fatwa regarding the transportation of alcohol by cabbies at the airport - telling them that essentially they would burn in hell, that they would be cooperating in sin, that they would be forbidden to do this.’
The Chicago Tribune has described the Muslim American Society, or MAS, as the American arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, a worldwide Islamist movement.
Somali activist Omar Jamal says that groups like this have attempted to radicalize the city’s growing Somali Muslim population.
‘The majority of Somali people really thought that the idea was crazy — to refuse service to a passenger carrying alcohol,’ Jamal explained. ‘And this was only cooked up by a very small group — and other organizations like MAS and CAIR.’
The airport has threatened to suspend any cabbies who turn down passengers for religious reasons. But that hasn’t stopped the radical movement from expanding its influence.
The Minneapolis Community and Technical College recently installed ritual foot washing basins in its bathrooms. Muslim students will be able to wash their feet before they pray.
Kersten says the school hasn’t always been so eager to accommodate students’ religious beliefs.
‘There is a very strong disfavor on the part of the administration when it comes to Christianity,’ she said. ‘You know, Christmas decorations, any music that has even a remote connection to Christmas during the Christmas holiday season. Whereas the administration there seems to be bending over backwards to provide welcome and accommodation to Muslim students.’
School officials declined CBN News’ request for an interview. The school has been consulting with the Muslim Students Association’s accommodations task force on how to better serve its Muslim students. The MSA. was founded by the Saudi government.
Kersten says the group wants more than just foot baths.
‘They want to see separate housing for Muslim students on campus,’ she said. ‘They want to see separate food, or halal — ritually pure food. They want separate hours for Muslim women in gyms and swimming pools. They want imams and religious counselors paid with public funds. And they want religious and holiday observances of Eid — the end of Ramadan and other Muslim holidays on public school campuses here.’
Some local Muslims feel they have been victims of discrimination and that the accommodation is overdue.
Ahmed Tharwat hosts ‘Belahdan,’ a cable program in the twin cities focusing on Arab-American issues.
‘We used to think, like, racism and immigrants’ issues are blacks’ or Latinos’ issues,’ he said. ‘And now we find out that we are the new blacks in this country now.’
‘We are a country of customer service,’ he said. ‘We accommodate the big, the divorced, the gay, the tall, the overweight. We accommodate a lot of people, including Muslim cashiers at a Minneapolis Target store who refused to check pork products. Pigs are considered unclean in Islam. So the cashiers were reassigned to another department.’
Likewise, 70 Somali Muslims recently walked off their jobs at an Omaha meat packing plant because they weren’t given enough time to pray. They were allowed to return to work.
Tharwat says these are labor-management issues that should be resolved by the companies.
But Kersten fears that America could be heading down the same path as Europe and Canada, where a growing number of Muslims are demanding to govern themselves by Islamic Sharia law.
She says an official from the Muslim American Society told her the following:
‘All you Americans should be learning Islamic law, because it’s going to be important. There are two systems here that conflict, and they’ll have to live in harmony.’
Tharwat says that the choice is simple.
‘We have eight million Muslims,’ he said. ‘What do you want to do with them? Do you want to alienate them the way we did to blacks and other minorities? Or do we want to accommodate them and not fall in the problem the Europeans did?’
Muslim leaders here say that Minneapolis should serve as a model for other U.S. cities in its willingness to accommodate its Muslim minority.
But critics say there’s a fine line between accommodation and subjugation. It’s an issue that other U.S. cities may soon have to deal with, as their Muslim communities continue to grow in numbers and influence.
Source: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/174333.aspx
Toxic fumes impairing our ability to fly, say pilots
Toxic fumes on planes are poisoning pilots and rendering them unable to
fly
safely, say pilots, who are campaigning for “aerotoxic syndrome” to be
recognised as a disease.
Two official investigations are being opened after concerns that highly
toxic fuel contaminants are leaking into cabin air supply on commercial
airliners in flight. The UK government is to fit air-monitoring
equipment on
board aircraft amid increasing concerns that passengers, pilots and
cabin
crew are being exposed. And 1500 pilots will take part in the first
major
health study designed to establish the extent of the problem.
“We’re basically the canaries - getting knocked down by the fumes
first,”
says Susan Michaelis, a former pilot who believes she was poisoned by
fumes
from leaked engine fuel while flying. She and other grounded pilots
launched
a campaign for the condition to be recognised, at a meeting at the UK’s
Houses of Parliament on 18 June.
Compressed air is routinely drawn off engines and supplied to aircraft
cabins. If the seal inside the engine is not secure, engine oil can
leak
into the cabin and contaminating air with toxic tricresyl phosphate
(TCP),
says Michaelis.
Dirty socks
Michaelis, who is currently at the University of New South Wales,
Australia,
carried out a survey of 250 pilots and found that 85% had detected
contaminated air - which smells like “dirty socks” - while flying. Of
these, 57% reported symptoms of ill health relating to the incident,
and 8%
had to be retired on health grounds.
Michaelis believes that the long term effects of prolonged exposure are
largely overlooked by airline companies. Symptoms related to long term
exposure purportedly include neurological and respiratory problems,
memory
loss, difficulties with speech, and chronic fatigue.
“Passengers should be made aware that the pilot’s ability to fly is
being
impaired,” says Michaelis. One affected pilot reportedly fell asleep in
a
flight simulator after exposure in a real aircraft, and was told he was
unfit for flight.
“Everybody recognises that there are incidents where fumes enter
cabins,”
says Jonathon Nicholson, a spokesperson for the UK’s Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA). “But we will not take any action until it is proven
that
the leaked fuel causes long term health effects.”
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12093-toxic-fumes-impairing-our-ability-to-fly-say-pilots.html
Arkansas Man Pleads Guilty to Stabbing Fellow Airplane Passenger
Tulsa, OK (AP) - An Arkansas man has pleaded guilty to a federal
assault
charge for stabbing a man with a pen while on board a Southwest
Airlines
flight that was diverted to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Danny Hughey, Jr. of North Little Rock pleaded guilty in Tulsa to
assault
with a dangerous weapon and officials say he is expected to be
sentenced to
five years probation.
Hughey admitted stabbing the man last July on a flight from Las Vegas
to
Little Rock. The plane was diverted to Tulsa International Airport
where
Hughey was arrested.
Authorities say Hughey has a history of mental problems and says he
heard
voices on the plane telling him a passenger was going to try to hijack
the
flight.
The victim was stabbed in the neck and hand but wasn’t seriously
injured.
unknown url
June 20, 2007 Anti-Terrorism News
(Iraq) US-led forces strike Qaeda strongholds in Iraq - killing at
least 30 alleged insurgents, the US military said Wednesday
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070620/wl_afp/iraqunrest_070620092217;_ylt=AjDQFmfuFcf75Yaf23.UMxNX6GMA
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.427394446&par=0
http://www.indiaenews.com/middle-east/20070620/56926.htm
(Iraq) Gunmen blew up two Sunni mosques Wednesday south of Baghdad - no
casualties - updated death toll on Tuesday mosque bombing is 87 dead
(my title)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070620/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_070616155330;_ylt=AsLO0IQRYT98PHTsjFPuziVX6GMA
(Iraq) Insurgents arrested, caches seized in Operation Marne Torch —
MNF
http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=996093
(Iraq) Tribes help U.S. against al-Qaeda
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-06-20-tribes-iraq_N.htm
(Afghanistan) 3 killed in Afghan mosque shooting - Taliban militants
overran another district in southern Afghanistan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070620/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan_44;_ylt=AswlStMSsXnDiHkUL.yTk3bOVooA
(Afghanistan) 3 NATO soldiers killed in roadside blast in southern
Afghanistan
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/20/asia/AS-GEN-Afghan-Violence.php
(Afghanistan) Attack that killed kids targeted al-Qaida leader
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19318805/
Turkey detains 23 in anti-al Qaeda swoop-media
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20874215.htm
Lebanese army says it has taken part of siege camp
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070620/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonunrest_070620095704;_ylt=AjUgqBOY7KdgyaQ2t9GdYdjagGIB
(Lebanon) Judge issues arrest warrants against 4 Al-Qaeda suspects
http://www.terra.net.lb/wp/Articles/DesktopArticle.aspx?ArticleID=350613&ChannelId=4
Israel in first deadly clash with Gaza fighters since Hamas takeover
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070620/wl_mideast_afp/mideast
Israeli Jets Bomb Palestinian Rocket Launchers in Gaza for First Time
Since Hamas Takeover
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284813,00.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070620/wl_nm/palestinians_israel_airstrikes_dc_2;_ylt=AqXB0zE.gBO2EsJhgUPfZ2TuyucA
IAF targets Kassam launchers in Gaza
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813078934&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(Gaza) IDF soldier wounded, three Palestinian gunmen killed in south
Gaza raid
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/873074.html
Hamas lists seized U.S. weapons - Claims over $400 million in
munitions, equipment taken from compounds
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56262
Israel to Allow in Palestinians Fleeing Gaza
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284773,00.html
Court: Israel must aid Gazans at Erez
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813073418&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(Gaza) Israel allowing all foreigners out of Gaza, official says
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/20/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Palestinians-Foreign-Nationals.php
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3415362,00.html
(Jordan) Two convicted terrorists escape from Jordanian jail
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1319931.php/Two_convicted_terrorists_escape_from_Jordanian_jail
(Pakistan) 18 foreign nationals included among 30 terrorists who were
killed in Waziristan blast: Political Adm
http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11208&Itemid=2
Paksitan: At least 22 die in Waziristan “blast”
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.427339972&par=0
(Pakistan) Scouts arrest 4 “suicide bombers”
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\20\story_20-6-2007_pg7_55
(Pakistan) Authorities arrest 39 people in explosion probe
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\20\story_20-6-2007_pg7_14
(Pakistan) US fears “Nuclear-armed mullah” takeover in Pakistan
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\20\story_20-6-2007_pg7_10
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0619/p07s01-wosc.html
(Pakistan) Britain slams Pakistan Religious Affairs Minister’s suicide
attack warning
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\20\story_20-6-2007_pg7_3
(Pakistan) Britain ‘deliberately provokes’ Muslims, say Pakistani
protesters
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070620/wl_sthasia_afp/britainrushdiepakistan_070620094502;_ylt=AhRzX83I0mh0r4_qik3YZSTzPukA
(Pakistan) ‘Sir’ title sought for bin Laden to avenge Rushdie
knighthood
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/74462.html
(Pakistan) Lal Masjid standoff: Pakistan to rebuild seven mosques —
with the hope of ending a prolonged siege at a girl’s seminary
http://in.news.yahoo.com/070620/43/6h6g8.html
Pakistan: New strategy to fight terrorism
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.427390320&par=0
(India) Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) targets India Gate, Golden Temple,
Vaishnodevi
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1104724
(India) Thousands mourn separatist rebels shot in Kashmir
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070619/india_nm/india303831_2;_ylt=Ag4zalubE_oRS_wl7XYuiDw1NXcA
(India) Fury as presidential hopeful urges women to throw off “veil of
invader”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1957758.ece
(India) Militants kill two para-military personnel in Assam
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news.asp?date1=6/20/2007#3
(India) Naxalites kill two security force personnel in Bihar
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news.asp?date1=6/20/2007#4
(India) Maoists kill civilian in Chhattisgarh
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news.asp?date1=6/20/2007#5
(Thailand) Police raid insurgents, arrest three - Thai border patrol
police officer was killed in a drive-by shooting
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=119577
Indonesia student jailed over terror website
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21939488-1702,00.html
Indonesia terror suspect Abu Dujana won’t turn in wanted man
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813081946&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Indonesia: Terror suspect meets family
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.427501326&par=0
Philippines: Italian priest “could be released soon”
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.427309148&par=0
Somalia: Gunmen Attack a Police Station Overnight
http://allafrica.com/stories/200706190367.html
EU, U.S. reach preliminary deal on SWIFT data: EU
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070620/pl_nm/security_eu_us_dc_1;_ylt=AnjwwsrMNh.W2gIh08kYBJ0Tv5UB
Swiss Internet terror trial opens - Moez Garsallaoui and Malika El Arou
accused of Al Qaeda bomb-making web sites
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070620/ap_on_re_eu/switzerland_internet_terror_1;_ylt=AvzZ1osFfaF5QIbMGGWvLd0wuecA
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.427441686&par=0
Spanish PM meets with Basque gov’t leader for first talks since end of
ETA cease-fire
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/20/europe/EU-GEN-Spain-Basques.php
(UK) Ambassador: Britain facing decades in Afghanistan
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/20/nafghan120.xml
(UK) Vigil marks 100th day of captivity for BBC’s Alan Johnston
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.427310160&par=0
(UK) Light shed on IRA murder of Nairac
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/20/nira120.xml
(USA) DHS acknowledges own computer break-ins — problems involved
DHS’s unclassified computer networks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070620/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/dhs_computer_security_6;_ylt=Agt51Qx2fRdTtG3ES5PO7T0Tv5UB
(USA) Colorado: Homemade explosions land man in jail
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/06/19/homemade_explosions_land_man_in_jail/9771/
9/11 Trade Center attack simulation finds planes’ impact stripped
fireproofing from towers
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/20/america/NA-GEN-US-Sept-11-Simulation.php
(Guantanamo Bay) Six Terror Suspects Released From Detention In
Guantanamo Bay
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007692046
Terror Web 2.0: The Net-Centric Operations of Terrorist Groups Today
http://analysis.threatswatch.org/2007/06/terror-web-20/
Australia: Al-Qaida seems to be rebuilding forces
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813080622&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Sri Lanka military says kills 70 rebels in a day
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070620/wl_nm/srilanka_clash_dc_4;_ylt=AhQ97724WJcJU2A543EPK1MtM8oA
Sri Lanka sinks 5 rebel boats; military says 40 killed
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/June/subcontinent_June776.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
Sri Lanka seeks hackers to down pro-Tiger website
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070620/wl_sthasia_afp/srilankaunrestinternetmediacensorship_070620095034;_ylt=At7h8T0JHSbUctCoaJDbFJYtM8oA
(North Korea) U.S. says 6-way Korea talks may resume in July
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070620/ts_nm/korea_north_dc_40;_ylt=AvrLrKLD9Iz.mRoeLXwdP6yCscEA
China plans “dirty bomb” drill ahead of Olympic Games
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6722473,00.html
Commentary: Michelle Malkin on Salman Rushdie
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGI4MGU4NjUxZDRmZWQwOGEyMTA1NWM0NDcxYTcwYTQ
Ohio’s Governor Speaks at CAIR Banquet; Ohio’s Press Snoozes
http://newsbusters.org/node/13568
June 20, 2007 PM Anti-Terrorism News
(Afghanistan) Afghan districts retaken from Taliban and Afghan district
falls into the hands of Taliban
http://in.news.yahoo.com/070620/43/6h6m8.html
http://in.news.yahoo.com/070620/139/6h6kx.html
(Afghanistan) New Taliban Leader Had Been in Afghan Custody; Released
in Hostage Deal
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/06/new_taliban_lea.html
(Iraq) U.S. Opts Not to Release Iranians Detained in Iraq Raid - Wash
Post: Won’t release 5 until at least October
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/20/AR2007062001456.html?hpid=moreheadlines
(Pakistan) USA Dept of Homeland Security Chief: Bin Laden “in Pakistan”
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2007/06/homeland_security_chief_bin_la.html
Israeli planes, tanks hit Gaza
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070620/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians;_ylt=ApOEboDedDLu2iB6Z0MNdWPuOrgF
Hamas Leader Warns Israel Not to Attack
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTTkrAlHlGd4QAugfQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHZkMjZyBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNzcg—/SIG=132ksltug/EXP=1182459456/**http%3a//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070620/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_hamas_leader_2
(Hezbollah) U.S. lawmakers pressuring EU on Hezbollah terrorism
designation
http://www.pr-inside.com/u-s-lawmakers-pressuring-eu-on-hezbollah-r158703.htm
Banning Hizbollah in Europe (prepared statements to Congress)
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/06/banning_hizballah_in_europe.php
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/06/banning_hezbollah_in_europe.php
(Palestinian Territories) Mahmoud Abbas rules out talks with Hamas
“killers, coup plotters”
http://www.eitb24.com/new/en/B24_54248/world-news/PALESTINE-Mahmoud-Abbas-rules-out-talks-with-Hamas-killers/
(Lebanon) Palestinian mediators bring hope of ceasefire to Lebanon
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0620/p99s01-duts.html
Jemaah-Islamiya, Abu Sayyaf Are Top Terror Networks In The Philippines
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007700549
(Russia) Shootout in Chechnya kills at least 3
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTTkhSknlGaswA5BbQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHZkMjZyBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNzcg—/SIG=12l1vr772/EXP=1182458834/**http%3a//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070620/ap_on_re_eu/russia_chechnya_1
(Tajikistan) Amnesty Offered to Tajikistan Militants - Hundreds in
prison for 1992-7 civil war
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTTkrWkXlGa1YBTh3QtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHZkMjZyBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNzcg—/SIG=12ojeo2vf/EXP=1182458710/**http%3a//www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/20/ap/world/main2958353.shtml
(USA) Bin Laden may have arranged family’s US exit: FBI docs - FBI
agent’s note leads to speculation - actual documents
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=181992
http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/2007/Saudi%20Docs%202.pdf
(Spain/Canada) Canadian Police arrest suspected ETA member - Suspect in
2000 Madrid car bombing - second ETA arrested in Canada in June
http://www.eitb24.com/new/en/B24_54255/politics/LATEST-ARREST-Canadian-Police-arrest-suspected-ETA-member/
Other News:
Muslims hold new protests against Rushdie knighthood
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070620/wl_asia_afp/britainrushdie
(UK) Home secretary defends Rushdie knighthood
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,2107282,00.html
Commentary: Death to Rushdie, Again
http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=28822
(UK) Muslim officer is first on the beat donning hijab
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/features/2007/06/18/b6d3db74-45cf-4141-92a1-5960f6158597.lpf
Commentary: Journey into Islam
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/06/journey_into_islam.html
Hackers target ‘legitimate’ sites
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6221306.stm
Professional Protester, Jihadi-style
http://www.snappedshot.com/archives/964-Professional-Protester,-Jihadi-style.html
Do check this one out:
http://www.snappedshot.com/archives/964-Professional-Protester,-Jihadi-style.html
Al Qaeda. The role in the North Caucasus
Andrei Soldatov, Irina Borogan / Agentura.Ru Studies and Research Centre / published in Novaya Gazeta, No. 32 (1152), April 24-26, 2006
An analysis by Agentura.Ru Studies and Research Centre (ASRC) how the role played by Al Qaeda n the North Caucasus has changed over the last years. Research includes commentaries of experts from Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies (Singapore), PRISM and Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies ( Israel).
http://www.agentura.ru/english/terrorism/alqaedanc/
[snipped from an old email]
For anyone curious about the CIA’s censorship procedures, there is an
old, but still curious file on such a case at the Boston University
Library’s Special Collections Department. The 1984 book was
“Outrageous Good Fortune” by Michazel Burke, who was deputy to the
U.S. High Commissioner for West Germany in 1951-54. As that deputy,
Burke ran covert ops behind the Iron Curtain. Prior to the German
assignment, Burke set up the American OPC operation aimed at
overthrowing the Albanian Com! munist regime. The CIA censors even
forbad Burke from naming even the country involved in that 1949-50
covert operation. Some of the correspondence over this matter is
bemusing to say the least.
This is the html version of the file http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/TheRecordsofthePermanentUnderSecretarysDepartment_1.pdf.
G o o g l e automatically generates html versions of documents as we crawl the web.
To link to or bookmark this page, use the following url: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:lP105u_jhroJ:www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/TheRecordsofthePermanentUnderSecretarysDepartment_1.pdf+The+Noulens+Affair‘&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us&client=firefox-a
Google is neither affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its content.
These search terms have been highlighted: noulens affair
Page 1
Foreign &
Commonwealth
Office
THE RECORDS OF THE PERMANENT
UNDER-SECRETARY’S DEPARTMENT
Liaison between the Foreign Office and
British Secret Intelligence, 1873-1939
FCO Historians
March 2005
Page 2
Page 3
CONTENTS
Introduction to PUSD Records
5
Dervishes, Dracula and Diplomacy: Arminius Vambéry and
the British Foreign Office
10
Dockside Diplomacy: The Foreign Office and the
Constantinople Quays Company
19
Chocolate for Zedzed: Basil Zaharoff and the secret diplomacy
of the Great War
27
The Secret Service Committee, 1919-1931
42
The Secret Intelligence Service and the Case of Hilaire Noulens
54
SIS on the eve of war, 1939
65
continues......................
Interesting: China & history :
http://litten.de/abstrtoc/abstr1.htm
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.