ROCK ISLAND - Police continue to investigate a report of suspicious activity at St. Pius X Church. Rev. Mike Schaab sent a letter home to parents of Jordan Catholic School students Wednesday warning about "several men of apparently Middle Eastern origin" visiting a Feb. 16 Mass who allegedly took photographs inside the church and its exterior.
Parishioners contacted police with the license plate of one of the cars driven by the men, but Capt. Scott Harris said tracing the plate has been unsuccessful. The plate numbers ran by police have turned up no record, but officers are checking different variations and sequences which may lead back to the green Ford reported by parishioners, he said.
Capt. Harris said additional patrols were provided during the past weekend church services. They have also contacted the Statewide Intelligence Terrorism Center which will record the matter and provide feedback if there are similar incidents reported in the state. He said this does not mean the suspicious activity was related to terrorism, it is simply an investigative tool used to record incidents and provide data for comparison.
Excerpted
http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=375554
Catholic School - “Suspicious” Men Ping:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1963607/posts?page=965#965
WASHINGTON: The State Department on Friday ordered nonessential diplomats and the families of all American personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade to leave Serbia, following an attack on the compound.
The move, made at the request of U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Cameron Munter, came as U.S. diplomats across the Balkans went on alert, girding for more anti-American violence after Serb rioters stormed and torched the Belgrade embassy Thursday, causing as-yet undetermined damage and drawing fierce condemnation from Washington. "We are not sufficiently confident that they are safe here," Munter said in an interview in Belgrade.
A State Department official said 14 embassy employees were on the site when a mob attacked but that all American and local staff are safe. The charred body of one person found in the compound is believed to be that of a protester, spokesman Sean McCormack said. Protests over the declaration of independence by the former Serbian province of Kosovo have increased tensions across the region. And new mass demonstrations are expected following recognition of Kosovo by the United States and other Western countries.
Excerpted
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/22/america/US-Kosovo.php
6 killed, at least 40 hurt in blast at home of senior Islamic Jihad activist
2/22/08
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A powerful blast went off at the house of a senior Islamic Jihad activist today, killing him and five others. At least 40 people were hurt, including nine who were in critical condition.
Witnesses said the three-storey home of Ayman Atallah Fayed was flattened by the blast, and that six nearby homes were badly damaged. Islamic Jihad claimed Israeli warplanes hit the house in an airstrike, but Hamas police said the cause of the blast is unclear.
Islamic Jihad said Fayed was among the dead, and that the group would carry out reprisal attacks against Israel. Fayed was a senior member of the Islamic Jihad military wing. Israel routinely targets top militants in airstrikes, but the Israeli military said it had no knowledge of any strike in Bureij.
“Police continue probe of `suspicious’ men at R.I. church (Illinois)”
That’s creepy too. We’ll have to keep watch for any more of these. Thanks, Oorang.