A Guyanese man arrested earlier this week in St Maarten is wanted in connection with the alleged plot to blow up the JFK Airport in New York, media reports said yesterday. According to Thomson Financial out of The Hague, a fifth suspect was arrested over the alleged plot to blow up fuel tanks and pipelines at New York's John F. Kennedy International airport. It quoted Dutch media reports as saying that the unnamed man was the subject of an international warrant and had been arrested on Sint Maarten, the Dutch part of the island shared with France.
Last month, a court in New York charged Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim and three men from Guyana, former parliamentarian Abdul Kadir, Russell Defreitas, who worked at the JFK airport terminal, and Abdel Nur, with plotting between January 2006 and June 2007 to bomb the airport. Public Relations Officer of the police service in St Maarten, Yohan Lenard yesterday confirmed to Stabroek News by phone that a Guyanese is sitting in their jail in relation to terrorism. "If you are asking if we have a man sitting in our cell who is a Guyanese in relation to some form of terrorism the answer is yes.
But to say how deep or what exactly it is I am not at liberty to say because it is not the local St Martin police who are in charge of the investigation," he told this newspaper. Lenard would also not divulge the name of the suspect and further stated that it is The Netherlands' Detective Cooperation Team (RST) which is in charge of the investigation. While there are officers from the RST in St Maarten the public relations officer said that the headquarters of that law enforcement arm is in The Netherlands. It was surmised that US authorities approached The Hague with information on the man.
Excerpted
http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_general_news?id=56524573
The Dawn of Islamic Europe
July 13, 2007
SNIP:
Many Muslims (and yes, that word is "many," not "a tiny minority") sympathize not only with the goals of the terrorists, but with their means. As Mr. Laqueur correctly notes, "26 percent of [British] Muslims interviewed felt no loyalty to Britain; 40 percent opted for introducing the laws of sharia in certain parts of Britain … 13 percent justified terrorist attacks Al Qaeda style and 47% supported suicide attacks such as in Israel."
Excerpted
http://www.nysun.com/article/58364
Egypt arrests group of suspected terrorists
July 14, 2007
CAIRO — Authorities have arrested 35 men described as members of an al-Qaeda inspired group that was planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Egypt, police said Saturday.
The suspects, all of whom are Egyptian, were secretly arrested in April and are currently being investigated by the State Security Court, said a police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The men are suspected of joining a radical group that aimed to topple the Egyptian regime and carry out terrorist attacks financed by a militant organization in Iraq affiliated with al-Qaeda, he added. They were captured in two groups, one in the country's northern Qalyoubiya province and the other in the southern Beni Suef province, the official said.
Police arrested the suspects after receiving a tip that the group was promoting its goals through its website, but the leader of the group fled to a neighboring country before the operation, according to the official.
Excerpted
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-07-14-egypt-terrorists_N.htm
Well, I sure would like to know the name of that Guyanese man arrested.
Smiling at you Oorang, you’re post might be the tops of this week.
We’ll see.
Good for the Egyptians.
Great bust.
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_932.html
Travel Warning
United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520
This information is current as of today, Sun Jul 15 2007 00:19:32 GMT-0700.
SAUDI ARABIA
June 14, 2007
This Travel Warning updates information on the security situation in Saudi Arabia and reminds U.S. citizens of recommended security precautions. It supersedes the Travel Warning issued December 19, 2006.
Due to concerns about the possibility of additional terrorist activity directed against American citizens and interests, the Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia. The United States Mission in Saudi Arabia remains an unaccompanied post as a result of continued security concerns. Non-emergency employees and all dependents of the U.S. Embassy Riyadh and Consulates General Jeddah and Dhahran were ordered to leave the country on April 15, 2004. An armed attack on the U.S. Consulate General in Jeddah occurred on December 6, 2004, resulting in casualties among the non-American staff and damage to consulate facilities. On November 13, 2005, the Consulate General in Jeddah closed the visa section for security reasons that require the assistance of the Government of Saudi Arabia to resolve. On May 12, 2006 a lone gunman fired shots at the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah. There were no injuries. The consular section remains open for American citizen services.
Terrorist groups continue to target housing compounds and other establishments where Westerners may be located. Saudi Government facilities are also targets. In addition to car bombs and armed assaults involving multiple gunmen against such facilities, terrorists have used ambush attacks to kidnap and/or assassinate individual Westerners. In February 2007, four French residents of Saudi Arabia returning from Madain Saleh were killed in a shooting incident while resting on the side of the Tabruk-Medina highway, approximately 17 km north of Medina. In February 2006, there was a terrorist attack on Saudi oil facilities in Abqaiq in the Eastern Province. There were no U.S. citizens or Westerners injured in this attack.
American citizens who choose to visit or remain in Saudi Arabia despite this Travel Warning are strongly urged to avoid staying in hotels or housing compounds that do not apply stringent security measures including, but not limited to, the presence of an armed guard force, inspection of all vehicles, and a hardened security perimeter to prevent unauthorized vehicles from approaching the facility. American citizens are further advised to exercise caution and maintain good situational awareness when visiting commercial establishments frequented by Westerners or in primarily Western environments. Keep a low profile, varying times and routes for all required travel, and ensure that travel documents and visas are valid. American citizens are also advised to exercise caution while driving, entering or exiting vehicles.
U.S. citizens who travel to or remain in Saudi Arabia despite this Travel Warning are strongly urged to register with the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh or the Consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran through the State Department’s travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov , in order to be included in the Mission’s warden network. Updated travel and security information for Saudi Arabia is issued periodically via the warden network.
From time to time, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Saudi Arabia may restrict the travel of official Americans or suspend public services for security reasons. In those instances, the Embassy and Consulates will keep the local American citizen community apprised through the Warden System and make every effort to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens. Warden messages can be found on the U.S. Embassy Riyadh website: http://riyadh.usembassy.gov .
Updated information on travel and security in Saudi Arabia may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 from within the U.S. or Canada or, from outside the U.S. or Canada, on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. For additional information, consult the Department of State’s Consular Information Sheet for Saudi Arabia, the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, and Middle East and North Africa Public Announcement at http://travel.state.gov .
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070714-103610-5911r
“Cairo metro on alert after bomb threats”
AFP
July 14, 2007
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “CAIRO — Metro stations in Cairo are on high alert after several bomb threats were made against a single station, a security source said Saturday.
Bomb squads and sniffer dogs have been deployed and metal detectors installed at metro stations around the capital, the source said.
“There were a series of phone calls made threatening to bomb the Shubra Al Kheima station [in northeast Cairo],” the source said, with the latest coming Thursday.
The increased security measures, which include bag searches, have been going on for days but were never officially announced by authorities.
“So security has been heightened at all stations in Cairo as a preventative measure. The police take these matters very seriously,” the source said.
No arrests have been made, as police focus their investigation on the gritty and impoverished industrial suburb of Shubra Al Kheima.”