Threat Matrix: July 2007

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Threat Matrix:
July 2007

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US Steps Up Security Following Attack in Britain

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made appearances on several television talk shows.

He told ABC's This Week program there is no indication of a linkage between the events in Britain and any specific attacks on the United States. "We do not have, at this point, specific, credible intelligence that there is an attack, a particular attack, focused on this country," he said.

But at the same time, speaking on CNN's Late Edition program, Chertoff said U.S. authorities are concerned about the threat of terrorism, especially in the coming months. "We have had a number of al-Qaida leaders quite publicly talking about how they want to carry out their threats against the West. So, given that and given the history that we have had over past summers, with attacks in Britain, I think we were clearly focused on this as a possibility," he said. Full story...

	More United Kingdom Attacks Possible
	More US Air Marshals on Flights to Europe
	Officials: Car Bomb Plot Bears al Qaida's Trademark

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/070717mobile.htm

July 17, 2007

ICE probe leads to indictment of Bakersfield convenience store owner for
Investigation reveals that driver’s licenses were sold to illegal aliens for approximately $2,000 each

MOBILE, Ala. - An employee of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety’s Division of Driver Services, her spouse, two Mexican nationals and an Uzbeki national were arrested here Friday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents for their role in a driver’s license fraud scheme that sold Mississippi Driver’s Licenses, including commercial driver’s licenses, to illegal aliens for approximately $2,000 each.

The investigation, headed by ICE, was closely coordinated with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.

Thirty-seven-year-old Melissa Green, of Tupelo, Mississippi, a driver license examiner for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, was part of the alleged conspiracy to recruit illegal aliens to purchase Mississippi driver’s licenses.

According to court documents, Green’s role in the scheme was to create computer records for the illegal aliens seeking a driver’s license.It is further alleged, that the members of the criminal organization were paid approximately $2,000 to provide a driver’s license to those who had not passed the required driving test and were in the country illegally.

Also arrested for their alleged involvement in the fraud scheme were Alfred Green, 40, (husband); Davron Gayupov, 29, of Gulfport, Mississippi; Baldamer Esquivel, 37, of Troy, Alabama; and Marco Martinez, 40, of Mobile, Alabama.

The Mobile ICE office initiated this investigation after local ICE agents received information alleging that the above-mentioned defendant, Marco Martinez, an employee at a local shipyard, was recruiting illegal aliens seeking identification to obtain employment in shipyards located in Mobile, Alabama.

“This case is a perfect example of the outstanding cooperation between ICE and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, which includes the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Mississippi Driver Services Bureau. Because of the outstanding coordination and cooperation of all agencies involved, a security vulnerability has been shut down,” said Michael A. Holt, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in New Orleans. “We are dedicated to identifying and dismantling criminal operations wherever and whenever we find them.”

Gina Vann, Deputy Criminal Chief, United States Attorney’s Office, Mobile, Alabama, said, “Communication between law enforcement agencies was key in this investigation. Hopefully, the swift prosecution of these defendants will send a message that such actions will not be tolerated.”

“We’ve been very involved in this investigation since its early stages, because the Department of Public Safety has a zero-tolerance policy toward this type of activity,” said Lt. Col. David Shaw, Director-Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

According to Mississippi law, it is illegal for a person who does not have legal status in this country to obtain a state-issued driver’s license. Mississippi Driver Services is in the process of reviewing hundreds of licenses issued by Green over a nine-month period. Driver Services plans to investigate and cancel all illegally issued licenses.

All defendants are pending federal court appearances in Mobile with prosecution by the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Alabama.

— ICE —

[Godzilla]

placemark

[Oorang]

Morocco connection again. Thanks Cindy.

[Cindy]

Yep and you’re welcome Oorang.

[Cindy]

ADDING 1 link to this prior post:

ICE.gov - News Release: "LONG ISLAND MAN ARRESTED FOR ILLEGALLY EXPORTING AVIATION PARTS FOR MILITARY FIGHTER JETS" (July 19, 2007)

US DOJ.gov/usao/nys - Press Release: "UNITED STATES ARRESTS LONG ISLAND MAN FOR ILLEGALLY EXPORTING AVIATION PARTS FOR F-5 AND F-14 MILITARY FIGHTER JETS" (pdf) (July 19, 2007)

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a post:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/017479.php

July 21, 2007

Report alleges Iraqi smuggling ring in southern New Mexico

“It makes me think of terrorism.”

“Report alleges Iraqi smuggling ring works out of Chaparral,” by Erica Molina Johnson for the El Paso Times (thanks to Denis):

CHAPARRAL — Residents in the close-knit community of Chaparral were surprised to hear that undocumented Iraqi and other Middle Eastern immigrants may be part of a human smuggling ring based here.

“Out of so many places, why here?” Chaparral resident Fabiola Gardea asked. “This is near my house. It scares me a lot because I never thought they would be this close.”

She said it would be easy for human smugglers to do well in the community.

“There’s a lot of empty houses and land everywhere,” she said.

Gardea said the possibility that some undocumented immigrants might be from Iraq is unsettling.

“It makes me think of terrorism,” she said. “They’re so close. Anything can happen. It’s very scary.”

ABC News reported that the FBI was investigating the possibility that Iraqi and other Middle Eastern immigrants might have been entering the country illegally through a smuggling operation based in Chaparral for more than a year.

Posted by Robert at July 21, 2007 1:17 PM

[Cindy]

http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html
http://www.memri.org/iran.html
http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=148

#

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/017467.php
(IRNA.ir)

July 21, 2007
“Iran urges more terror”

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=omarbakri
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=bakri

#

blog:

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=26332_Audio-_The_Real_Omar_Bakri_Mohammed&only

“Audio: The Real Omar Bakri Mohammed”
(July 21, 2007)

#

blog:

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/188774.php

July 21, 2007

“Public vs Private Face of Omar Bakri Mohammed: ‘Peace’ vs. ‘Hooray al Qaeda!’”

#

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=omar+%2B+bakri

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=omar+%2B+bakri&num=10&so=1&start=0

#

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bakri&search=

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_query=bakri&search_sort=video_date_uploaded&search_category=0&search=Search&v=

[Oorang]

Pakistani Cleric Demands Islamic Law
Sunday July 22, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The former chief cleric of a militant mosque being held in connection with a soldier's killing and a Taliban-like anti-vice campaign in Pakistan's capital renewed his demand Saturday for Islamic laws.

Maulana Abdul Aziz, head of Islamabad's Red Mosque, made his first public comments since his July 4 arrest, when he was caught fleeing the mosque during a government siege disguised in a burqa and high heels. Aziz's arrest came days after troops encircled the mosque, ordering him and his brother Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the mosque's deputy chief cleric, to surrender along with militant seminary students.

Ghazi refused to obey, prompting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to order a July 10 raid on the mosque and a subsequent shootout in which more than 100 people died, including Ghazi. The government says most of the dead were militants and that 10 were soldiers.

Aziz defended his actions, saying ``we were only demanding enforcement of Islamic law.'' ``Those sacrifices were for Islam,'' he told reporters, referring to the death of his son, brother and other students in the raid.

Excerpted

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6796642,00.html

Mother of militant Islam's dark past
July 21, 2007

RABIYAH Hutchinson, known as the mother of militant Islam in Australia, was involved in a drug scandal and investigated by child welfare authorities before becoming a Muslim. An investigation by The Weekend Australian can reveal that Hutchinson was born into a Sydney Presbyterian family before becoming a Baptist and then converting to Catholicism during her search for religious truth.

The 53-year-old's journey to conservative Islam took her to the mujaheddin camps of Afghanistan and into Osama bin Laden's inner circle, prompting intelligence sources to claim she was more highly connected to al-Qa'ida central than anyone else in Australia.

Her links to extremists, terrorists and terror suspects, as well as her string of marriages, including to highly ranked al-Qa'ida figure Mustafa Hamid, have made her the target of 24-hour surveillance by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. She has moved at least five times in the past few years.

Excerpted

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22108418-601,00.html

[Oorang]

Al Qaeda may be targeting Germany
22/07/2007

German authorities believe Al Qaeda is targeting Germany for possible attacks and that German Islamists have been travelling to Pakistan for "terrorist training", a top security official told a newspaper. In a preview of an article appearing today, Deputy Interior Minister August Hanning said: "The danger that there could be terrorist attacks here is very real." "We have many indications that Al Qaeda is targeting Germany and German installations abroad, such as embassies," Hanning was quoted as telling Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. "There is a new quality in the threat to Germany." Last month German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said authorities needed to increase vigilance due to the possibility that militants might carry out suicide attacks on German soil.

In April the US embassy in Berlin announced it was boosting security at its facilities in Germany in response to what it described as an increased threat of terrorism. Hanning, a former head of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency, also said German Islamists were being trained in Pakistan. Three German Islamists who trained there returned to Germany at the beginning of June, he said.

"We have to assume that the people who returned from Pakistan are planning attacks," he said. "This is a new, specific threat and is a cause for concern." He said the Interior Ministry was aware of 14 Islamists who went to Pakistan, some of whom were still there. He added that Berlin believed that there were more Germans who had gone to "terrorist training camps" in Pakistan.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0722/breaking3.htm

‘Osama’s whereabouts known to many’
Sunday, July 22, 2007

WASHINGTON: Many people, including some intelligence agencies’ officers, know the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden. The fugitive Al Qaeda founder is protected by fiercely loyal tribal chiefs in the mountains of the Hindu Kush, claims veteran journalist Arnaud de Borchgrave in the Washington Times.

Borchgrave, who in the past has written that Osama Bin Laden is alive and well and living in the city of Peshawar, claims to have high-grade sources in both Pakistan and the United States. He writes that in his meeting with NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani, the MMA leader felt “no compunction” in recounting his “Taliban likes and American dislikes”. Borchgrave calls the North Waziristan peace deal “a sham from the get-go”. The paper signed by tribal chiefs was, in effect, a deal with the Taliban, whose guerrillas continued to cross the “mythical border” with impunity. General Musharraf’s perceived weakness was rewarded with the affair of Lal Masjid in Islamabad, he adds.

Borchgrave writes, “Musharraf has never seriously cracked down on religious zealots who want him dead for ‘capitulating’ to Bush. And he now finds himself on the horns of a painful dilemma. He can see what most of the world perceives as an inevitable humiliating US withdrawal from Iraq, followed by a collapse of the NATO consensus in Afghanistan...But Musharraf knows he cannot afford to ignore President Bush’s resolve in the light of a new National Intelligence Estimate, which said publicly and unequivocally that Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies are back in business in FATA — big time.””

The reporter, who was born in Rawalpindi and has visited Pakistan many times over the years, quotes a former unnamed CIA agent as telling him, “Bush will give him [Musharraf] a little more time to establish his bona fides against the terrorists in FATA” and if he fails to deliver, US Special Forces will have to move in, backed up by predators and other unmanned bombers. Borchgrave points out that this would be “easier said than done” as both the army and intelligence agencies are opposed to the operation now under way. Many junior officers, he claims, are sympathetic to the MMA’s religious zealots.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\07\22\story_22-7-2007_pg7_24

[Oorang]

Al-Qaida video says attack called off
July 22, 2007

CAIRO, Egypt - An al-Qaida propaganda video posted Saturday on an Islamic Web site claimed the network's Afghanistan wing had called off a purported attack on a U.S. military convoy to save the lives of innocent Muslim civilians.

Entitled "Holocaust of the Americans in the land of Khorasan," which is a militant name for Afghanistan, the 38-second tape appears to be the latest in a series of videos released by the terror group to back up claims its fighters are faring well in the Afghan war.

The tape's authenticity could not independently be verified, but it was posted on a Web site commonly used by militants. It opened with a short section saying it was produced by as-Sahab, the al-Qaida media production wing. The footage begins with an animation depicting a raging fire while the accompanying title reads: "Keening for the bloods of Muslims, the Mujahideen (holy warriors) call off several operations."

It shows two U.S. army vehicles driving over a dirt road in a leafy area. No location or date is provided. As the camera moves, three civilians, two men and a woman in Afghani traditional dress, are seen passing by the convoy on foot. The video ends without showing any attack being carried out.

The video is accompanied first with lyrics calling Muslims to fight, then with a recitation of Quranic verses, urging the practice of jihad, or holy war, in which the mujahedeen are "winners." If not physically joining the fight, Muslims are urged to donate money for the war.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070722/ap_on_re_mi_ea/al_qaida_video

Kafeel Ahmed stored provocative videos
Sunday July 22 2007

HYDERABAD: Kafeel Ahmed, the man who drove the flaming jeep into the failed Glasgow airport bombing, had stored some provocative videos in Arabic, believed to be featuring a few Al-Qaeda leaders, in one of his hard disks.

The 120 GB hard disk, seized from his Bangalore residence, was brought to the city-based AP Forensic Sciences Laboratory (APFSL) recently. The experts did the ‘imaging’ of the hard disk on to another disk which led the Intelligence Bureau (IB) sleuths to this discovery. A mobile phone and a few other CDs are also under scrutiny.

Excerpted

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEU20070721123122&Page=U&Title=Hyderabad&Topic=0&

[Rushmore Rocks]

In spite of evidence to the contrary, I have a “gut feeling” that UBL is still alive, and just waiting to announce his presence when the “spectacular event” is imminent. Of course, I could be wrong. It has happened.

Thanks for all your research and posts. Much appreciated by those of us who just read and learn.

[Oorang]

Documents, Arms Seized From Hasina’s House (Bangladesh)
21 July 2007

DHAKA — The army-led joint securaity forces seized vital documents relating to the controversial purchase of MiG-29 and frigate in a raid on former Prime Minister Hasina Wajed’s residence shortly before her arrest on Monday, sources in Dhaka said yesterday. Hasina is facing two corruption cases that allege she received kickbacks in the MiG-29 and frigate purchase deal while she was prime minister from 1996 to 2001.

Security forces also seized 36 check books of different banks from Hasina’s library located on the third floor of her Sudha Sadan residence in Dhaka. A few check books indicated some 300 million taka were withdrawn from banks. The remaining check books are being examined, sources said. Security forces also took into their custody a licensed pistol found in the former premier’s residence.

Although the army-backed administration had issued instructions that all arms should be handed over to the authorities, the Awami League chief did not do so, it was alleged. Bullets were also seized from Hasina’s residence. A secret document concerning security forces was also found in the library.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=98749&d=21&m=7&y=2007

Decision loosens Musharraf’s hold on power: Stratfor
Saturday, July 21, 2007

WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court verdict reinstating the chief justice makes it “virtually impossible” for General Pervez Musharraf to sustain his hold on power, as the judiciary will now become all the more assertive in its efforts to force the president to seek compromises, according to Stratfor, an American news intelligence service.

The Supreme Court verdict will prevent General Musharraf from securing his own controversial re-election while holding the post of military chief. The verdict will further embolden an already energised judiciary, which will attempt to block any move by Musharraf with regard to his own re-election, as well as the parliamentary elections, Stratfor speculates.

According to the analysis, “In fact, the judiciary will now move to serve as a watchdog on all actions of this government and all future governments. Meanwhile, Musharraf will be forced to seek a negotiated settlement on the matter of his own re-election, and that will result in him stepping down as military chief in order to continue as president. Should he try to resist the pressure from the judiciary, it will only lead to massive political unrest. Musharraf cannot afford to manage protests by pro-democracy forces and simultaneously fight the jihadis who are waging a major.”

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\07\21\story_21-7-2007_pg7_12

[Godzilla]

placemark

[PGalt]

placemark

[PGalt]

Oorang...from your post #1873...

“WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court verdict reinstating the chief justice makes it “virtually impossible” for General Pervez Musharraf to sustain his hold on power, as the judiciary will now become all the more assertive in its efforts to force the president to seek compromises, according to Stratfor, an American news intelligence service.”

Some citizens of Lahore disagree with Stratfor...stating...

“this is a victory itself for musharaf, for the first time in our history we are seeing a free media and now a free judicary, surly this is a boost for musharaf”

Posted by: suh at July 21, 2007 12:17 AM

...from Lahore metblogs...more here...

http://lahore.metblogs.com/archives/2007/07/breaking_news_c.phtml

[Oorang]

Thanks for that info PGalt. I know when it comes to India and Pakistan one will always get differences, just the nature of the beast(s).

I prefer what you posted, that this is a good thing for Musharraf.

[texpat72]

Good Grief! That’s right next to Fort Bliss!

[Cindy]

Small world, huh?

[Cindy]

TRAVEL.STATE.GOV - CONSULAR INFORMATION SHEET: “GERMANY”
http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1123.html