World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #12 Security Watch

http://www.ic3.gov/media/2008/081205-2.aspx

Intelligence Note

Prepared by the Internet Crime
Complaint Center (IC3)

December 5, 2008
Updated on December 8, 2008

New Technique Utilizing Private Branch Exchange (PBX) Systems To Conduct Vishing Attacks

The FBI
has received information concerning a new technique used to conduct vishingi attacks. The recent attacks were conducted
by hackers exploiting a security vulnerability in Asterisk software. Asterisk is free and widely used software developed to integrate PBXii systems with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP),
digital Internet voice calling services; however, early versions of the Asterisk
software are known to have a vulnerability. The vulnerability can be exploited by
cyber criminals to use the system as an auto dialer, generating thousands of vishing
telephone calls to consumers within one hour.

The vulnerability referred to in this alert is a known vulnerability. Digium, the
original creator and primary developer of Asterisk, released a Security Advisory,
AST-2008-003, in March of 2008, which contains the information necessary for users
to configure a system, patch the software or upgrade the software to protect against
this vulnerability.

If a consumer falls victim to this exploit, their personally identifiable information
(PII) will be compromised.
To prevent further loss of consumers’ PII and to reduce the spread of this new technique,
it is imperative businesses, using Asterisk, upgrade their software to a version
that has had the vulnerability fixed.

Further, consumers should not release personal information in response to unsolicited
telephone calls. Providing your PII will compromise your identity!

If you have been a victim of Internet crime, please file a complaint at
www.IC3.gov.

1. Vishing utilizes caller ID spoofing via VoIP to contact potential
victims in order to gain access to their PII by convincing the victim that the criminal
is associated with a legitimate business with a need to know the victim’s PII.
2. PBX Systems are used by companies to allow telephone calls
between VoIP enterprise users on local lines while allowing all users to share a
limited number of external lines.

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/12/113071.htm

Remarks at Pathways to Prosperity Plenary Session I
Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Panama City, Panama
December 10, 2008

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you very much, and I am really delighted to join my foreign minister colleagues and the trade ministers here for our Pathway ministerial. It’s our first opportunity to get together after the heads of state meeting. This groundbreaking forum is bringing together partners who share a fundamental commitment to expanding opportunities for their people. And that commitment is grounded in democratic values, and it is also grounded in a belief that open markets and free trade leads to growth, and that that can indeed be used to promote social mobility.

I want to thank especially President Torrijos for his opening remarks and for hosting us here, and to you, Sam, our good friend, for all of the wonderful work that you’ve done to make this ministerial possible, and to all of your colleagues for their efforts.

The Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas Initiative aims to build on the remarkable democratic consolidation of our hemisphere over the last two decades. The nations of the region, amidst different traditions that we embody, are still consolidating the powerful convergence of ideals and interests. We agree on first principles, that the path to greater opportunity and social justice is different for every country. But its features are similar: democracy in the rule of law, responsible governance and open economies, and investment in the health and education of our people.

Our governments know that when you invest in people, they can fuel your societies’ economic and social transformation. Thus, democracy, development, and social justice are partners in delivering for humankind. Our governments also know that the truly great challenges of our day can best be met by marshaling our complementary strengths and abilities in the service of our shared goals. Our leaders recognized in their joint communiqué in New York on September 24th that to fully realize the benefits of trade liberalization and open markets, we must promote, integrate, and advance all aspects of our hemispheric, economic and development agenda.

Our discussions today will focus on five key paths to achieving these goals: increasing the capacity for small businesses and farmers to take advantage of trade; deepening regional trade; expanding regional cooperation on economic development and competitiveness; better coordinating labor and environmental standards and enforcement; and engaging the private sector and civil society in our efforts.

For the United States, the Pathways Initiative also builds on our bipartisan commitment to supporting democratic partners in tackling the challenges of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. Our hemisphere’s potential is enormous and our success is linked intimately to the success of our neighbors. In recent years, most democratic governments in our hemisphere – left, right and center – have been doing the right things to help more people prosper. They have been opening markets and expanding opportunities, boosting trade and attracting investment, fighting corruption and enforcing the rule of law. We respect the results that they are achieving and we are supporting them.

Under President Bush, with the support of Congress, the United States has doubled development assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean. We are working to unlock the vast potential of our region’s citizens by investing in improved healthcare and education, in access to capital, in economic infrastructure and security. Here in Panama, for instance, we have established the first regional healthcare training center where medical professionals from six countries are receiving training that they can carry home to their fellow citizens.

The United States has also worked to forgive billions of dollars in debt that too long hampered the potential of some of the poorest nations in the region. And through the Millennium Challenge Account initiative, we are allocating assistance where it will have the greatest impact: in countries that demonstrate a commitment to political and economic freedom, in healthcare and education for their people, in the sustainable use of natural resources, the control of corruption, and respect for civil liberties and the rule of law.

Through the Millennium Challenge, we have begun to fulfill nearly $1 billion in commitments to our compact partners like El Salvador and Peru and Paraguay that are governing justly, promoting economic freedom, and investing in their people. Our challenge in this period of financial turmoil, in this period of uncertainty, in this period, frankly, of great concern, we must sustain our commitment to the principles and practices that are proven to reduce poverty and expand social justice. Market economies and global trade and finance regimes, like any system designed by men and women, are not perfect. But they are engines of opportunity and social justice.

So I am gratified by the participation of so many important parties in this Pathways Initiative. By coming together to renew and build on our commitment to trade and investment liberalization, we send a powerful signal that we are not going to repeat the mistakes of the Great Depression when nations deepened that crisis by turning inward and adopting protectionist policies. Free trade and open markets remain the surest path to growth, and it is the path that our region will follow to prosperity.

There are other important ways for nations to demonstrate their commitment to open markets. One is to fulfill the G-20 commitments to refrain from imposing new trade or investment barriers for the next 12 months. The United States Congress also has an immediate opportunity by passing our free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama, and – as well as the South Korean Free Trade Agreement. And this Administration will continue urging it to do so.

Passage of FTAs would cap a decade and a half of dramatic expansion of free trade and economic integration in our hemisphere. More importantly, it would create an unbroken chain of free trading nations stretching from Canada to Chile, spreading prosperity and enhancing competitiveness of each country in today’s globalized economy.

So with a clear sense of the importance of this initiative, I look forward to learning about the priorities of our partners, to exchanging thoughts and proposals of how we can ensure that this shared vision of greater opportunity and social justice for all of our citizens is indeed realized. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

# # #

Released on December 10, 2008

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1940.htm

Title of Video: Arab Islamist Clerics to Palestinians: Slaughter the Jews Like You Did in 1929; Blow Yourselves Up in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

#1940 - Arab Islamist Clerics to Palestinians: Slaughter the Jews Like You Did in 1929; Blow Yourselves Up in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
Al-Manar TV (Lebanon), Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas/Gaza) -
December 3-5, 2008 - 00:04:00

#1939 - Palestinian Cleric Sa’d Abu Jleidan: The Jihad against the Jews Will Continue until Their Annihilation
Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas/Gaza) -
November 6, 2008 - 00:02:24

#1938 - French Author of Anti-American Conspiracies Thierry Meyssan, Who Moved to Lebanon: The US Assassinated Rafiq Al-Hariri
Al-Jazeera TV (Qatar) -
November 22, 2008 - 00:08:51

#1937 - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Implies US Involvement in Mumbai Terror Attacks
Channel 1 (Iran) -
December 2, 2008 - 00:01:53

#1936 - Pro-Syrian Former Lebanese Minister Wiam Wahhab: Saudi Royal Family Was Originally Jewish; Was Behind Mumbai Terror Attacks
Al-Jadid/New TV (Lebanon) -
December 1, 2008 - 00:01:52

#1935 - Lebanon’s Taekwondo Champion Mustafa Najjar Learns Hebrew and Vows to Destroy Israel
Al-Manar TV (Lebanon) -
November 30, 2008 - 00:01:30

#1934 - Egyptian Cleric Hassan Abu Al-Ashbal Calls on President-Elect Obama to Convert to Islam, and Threatens: We Have People Who are Eager to Die
Al-Nas TV (Egypt) -
November 27, 2008 - 00:03:17

#1933 - PLO Ambassador to Lebanon Abbas Zaki: We Consider the U.S to Be an Enemy Country
OTV (Lebanon) -
November 7, 2008 - 00:01:14

#1932 - Saudi Cleric and Women’s Rights Activist Clash over Types of Common-Law Marriage in the Arab World
Abu Dhabi TV -
October 27, 2008 - 00:05:49

#1931 - Sudanese Islamist Hassan Al-Turabi and Egyptian Human Rights Activist Farida Al-Naqqash Clash over the Heritage of the Islamic Movement in Sudan
Al-Arabiya TV (Dubai/Saudi Arabia) -
October 16, 2008 - 00:04:12

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2008/dec/113077.htm

Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
December 10, 2008

Georgia: $1 Billion Assistance Commitment (Taken Question)

Question:How much of the $1 billion U.S. assistance package for Georgia has been received? How much has been used? On what has the money been spent so far?

Answer: To date, approximately $310 million has been provided as part of the $1 billion U.S. assistance package to Georgia. Another $447 million has either been allocated for specific projects and activities or is in the process of being allocated. The $243 million balance of the U.S. commitment will need to be requested by the next Administration and appropriated by the next U.S. Congress. All of the assistance is subject to standard U.S. Government monitoring and oversight.

Distributed to date:
$60 million in humanitarian assistance: Funding for the humanitarian effort has continued since the start of the conflict in early August. Initial funding provided emergency relief supplies such as food, water, bedding, and medicine.

$250 million in direct budget support to the Georgian Government: In the context of falling revenues in the aftermath of the conflict, direct budget support will enable the Government of Georgia to meet its fiscal responsibilities as it faces extraordinary expenditures to address both the needs of internally displaced persons and economic reconstruction. An agreement providing this assistance was signed between the United States and Georgia on October 22, 2008. The Georgian government has drawn down approximately 15 percent of the total to date in support of its obligations with respect to pensions for government retirees, State Health Care Program, allowances for post-conflict IDPs, financing of vouchers for secondary schools, and salaries for government employees. The agreement providing the budget support assistance adheres to standard U.S. Government provisions for monitoring and oversight, including requirements for monthly reporting from the Georgian government on the uses of the funding and the right to conduct an audit at any time up to three years after the last withdrawal of funds.

In process:
$100 million via MCC: On November 21, Georgian Prime Minister Grigol Mgaloblishvili and Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO Ambassador John Danilovich signed an agreement to provide an additional $100 million to Georgia’s existing $295 million Compact. The funds will be disbursed over the course of the remaining two and a half years of Georgia’s Compact, and will be used to finance the rehabilitation of roads connecting the Samtskhe-Javakheti region to Turkey and Central Georgia, water supply and waste water projects outside Tbilisi, repairs to the trunk gas pipeline, and priority energy sector studies.
$50 million in urgent reconstruction and stabilization assistance: The U.S. Government is proceeding to obligate funds in support of projects to support the safe, voluntary and orderly return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to secure post-conflict areas and to support general economic recovery in the Shida Kartli region, which was hard hit during the recent conflict. Funding, will contribute to IDP food and shelter needs, help farmers reestablish their livelihoods, and enable the Georgians to provide police protection to its citizens in the region.

$176 million via OPIC: OPIC-provided financing will be used to help make affordable mortgages available to the people of Georgia and support commercial and residential property development projects. OPIC hopes to have agreements signed to provide this financing in late 2008-early 2009.

$121 million in other reconstruction and development assistance: In addition to the resource allocations listed above, the Administration is working to identify high-priority projects that support Georgia’s economic reconstruction needs, assistance for IDPs, energy-related programs, activities to strengthen Georgia’s democratization, and other development assistance. It is our goal to provide this funding to Georgia by early next year.

2008/1031

Released on December 10, 2008

[no names]

http://www.cbs8.com/stories/story.148486.html

3 Arrested, Woman Safe After Frightening Kidnapping
Watch Video

Last Updated:
12-10-08 at 1:05PM

Sheriff’s deputies who stopped a car today for a traffic violation in El Cajon discovered an apparent kidnapping victim inside, authorities said.

snipped...

After the car stopped, the men got out and fled on foot and the woman told deputies she had been kidnapped a couple of days ago, Munsey said.

snipped....

The car was registered to the woman, who lives in unincorporated La Mesa and was described by Munsey only as elderly. She was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation, he said.

A local TV news station reported that the woman was found beaten, bound and gagged in the car’s trunk. Sheriff’s officials in the department’s public affairs office could not immediately confirm the report.

No other details were immediately released. The investigation was ongoing, Munsey said.

http://www.cbs8.com/stories/story.148272.html

In Lean Times, SoCal Residents Trade Guns For Food

Last Updated:
12-08-08 at 8:52AM

LOS ANGELES — A program to exchange guns for gifts brought in a record number of weapons this year as residents hit hard by the economy look under the bed and in closets to find items to trade for groceries.

Continues and tells what is coming next.

[has hidden links on site and photos]

Belgian weekly Knack is coming out with a series of articles about the radical Islam in Antwerp. The first article is titled “The Jihadis of Antwerp-North” (De jihadi’s van Antwerpen-Noord).

It brings an interview with the mysterious blogger responsible for the Islam Colonia blog and brings up interesting questions regarding the recent ‘terror threat’ video in Belgium.

Following is a translation of the first half. I will post the rest soon.

See also: Antwerp: Youth leave for Jihad training in Pakistan

Every year dozens of Muslim youth depart Antwerp for madrassas in Pakistan. But in addition small groups of extremists prepare themselves here in Belgium for Holy War. Flemish convert P. didn’t fall into the trap several years ago, became an informant for the security services, and now tells his story.

“In 2001, I was then seventeen, I didn’t feel good with myself. In my quest I felt more and more attracted to Islam. I had many Moroccan friends. I opposed Israel and supported a Palestinian state. Unwittingly I ended up in a radical community.” Speaking is P., a 25 year old Flemish, who converted to Islam seven years ago. “Newcomers without any background in Islam are the easiest prey for the extremists. They don’t know the religion and believe that what they are taught is the only right way.”

The recruiters who look for new recruits for the radical ideas leave no opportunity unused. Like a type of Jehovah’s Witnesses they go out to win new youth for the ‘true Islam’. They hang around non-profit (VZW), go to football matches and approach youth on the street. “When they hear that I wanted to be Muslim they checked up who I was, how were my relations with my parents, and what friends I had. Then it followed again and again in the same vein: they try to substitute your existing contacts by faith and the mosque. Internet and other cafes are the devils. Contact with infidels is only justified if you get an advantage from it. That I calculatingly wanted to convert in the year of the September 11 attacks yet speeded everything up.”

The whole time P. concealed his new religion and way of life from his nearest surroundings. At the beginning of 2002 his parents did learn about it. Mother couldn’t understand it. Father was afraid of radicalizing.

“Islam was omnipresent in my daily life. Evenings during the week I stayed sometimes till 10pm in the mosque to talk politics. The Americans were the great bogeyman, but also the Pakistani government must be fought because they collaborated with president George W. Bush.”

More and more Antwerp Muslim youth are approached to to go to the Middle East. P. was also told that he should go for forty days to Pakistan in order to become a better Muslim and better man.

Luckily for P. a Pakistani friend then convinced him not to go so far. “In that period I got a tape from an imam where Osama Bin Laden was glorified. The federal police in Antwerp found it interesting and wanted to collaborate with me further. It was 2003 and they had then yet little information about the Pakistani extremists in Antwerp.”

RADICAL IMAMS

The Pakistani mosque Khatim-Al-Anbia on Oranjestraat in Antwerp-North counts already for years as one of the most radical of Antwerp, particularly due to the presence of the extremist movement Khatme Nubuwwat. In 2004 and 2005 two famous Pakistani religious leaders came there. Although the security services were aware of the arrival of Sammy-Ul-Haq and Fazlur Rehman, heads of the Islamic party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, the two couldn’t be stopped at the border due to their parliamentary mandate.

Rehman is the son of Mufti Mahmood, who died in 1980, a supporter of the Afghan Jihad against the invasion of the Russians in 1979. Junior pronounced his fatwa against the whole West in 1998 in the Pakistani media, but was yet a few years later named a serious favorite for his country’s premiership. That he didn’t become prime minister had to do particularly with the presence of the US, which couldn’t tolerate an outspoken Taliban friend like Rehman in that position.

The Antwerp youth that each depart to Pakistan by the dozens spend their forty days without exception in the madrassa of Ul-Haq. Haqqania, as the big Koran school is called, is one of the most wide-known in Pakistan. Ul-Haq is principal and declared in 2005 in the Asia Times that whenever the Taliban put out a call for fighters, he would simply close down the madrassa and send his students off to fight.

P. knows a Kyrgyz who is known in Antwerp as Abdul Aziz. “He had lost his family in his homeland and let himself be carried away by imam Abdul Hameed. Day and night he was back in the mosque. One time I saw him back after a long time. He was just back from the madrassa in Pakistan. Later he departed again. The Pakistanis who come to Belgium during Ramadan confirmed to me that he’s again in Pakistan. But now he’s away already much longer than forty days.”

There was a large scale observation operation of the Belgian security services during the visits of Rehman and Ul-Haq. Since then the extremists in the area of Khatim-Al-Anbia are thoroughly aware that they are being watched by the security services. Imam Abdul Hameed, representative of the Pakistani Jamaat Tabligh, lives in Antwerp and in Athens. A number of British terror suspects appear in his address-book. Jamaat Tabligh or Tablighi Jamaat is an international organized fundamentalist movement that according to the anti-terrorism cell of the Belgian federal police often functions as a step on the way to a terror group.

In the big Moroccan mosque El Muslimin on Jan Palfijnstraat Nordin Taouil was an imam till 2006. Due to his numerous appearances in the media Taouil is one of the most famous imams of Flanders. In the Great Mosque of Brussels he keeps occupied with teaching Belgian converts. Less known is that he’s the man to which the faithful turn to for learning in the madrassas in Pakistan and Algeria. That’s why the infiltrators of the Moroccan intelligence service are also very interested in ins and outs of El Muslimin. Taouil was elected to the Muslim Executive in 2005 with 1360 votes, but he did not get a seat because the State Security Service delivered negative counsel.

Saïd Aberkan is the imam there for the past two years, but he’s not much more than a straw man. Behind the scenes Taouil holds the reins tight.

Nevertheless the presence of Taouil is perhaps one of the top reasons why El Muslimin missed recognition by the Flemish government and the matching subsidies last year. Flemish Minister of Internal Affairs Marino Keulen did not receive counsel from the State Security Service. Just like negative counsel, that means that the mosque cannot be recognized.

ATTACKS

Each of the 36 Antwerp mosques has its own community. But for the faithful who wish it so the dividing wall between most prayer houses is nonexistent. Fuad Ellouzati, a young man whom P. met a year and a half ago in Omar mosque on Tulpstraat (Antwerp-North) is a good example of that. Moderate Muslims who know him see with regret how in the past months he exchanged the Moroccan branch of the worldwide organization Jamaat Tabligh for the Pakistani in Oranjestraat.

“Abdul Hameed has Fuad completely in his power,” says P. “Fuad even lives in his house and is on the point of going to learn in a Pakistani madrassa.” Recently the security services have been onto Ellouzati. P. interviewd him at the beginning of this year with a camera while he was cleaning the Omar mosque and thereafter put the movie on YouTube.

Ellouzati calmly delcares there that what happened in Madrid, London and New York can also happen in Belgium. “We are soldiers of Islam. Ultimately every Muslim is a mujahedeen. It’s normal that the Twin Towers and the Pentago were attacked by plane. The Americans wanted to destroy Ilsam. The attacks are then normal, no? We have here in Europe also extreme Muslims. They go over bodies. It’s my right to commit attacks. Even if for that I must take innocent lives.”

The movie is still available on YouTube. Maybe this was the reason why the federal police dropped in on P. two weeks ago. There could be a link with the DVDs that were put into the post boxes of several Flemish media a number of days beforehand . Three agents called in by his parent’s house where he still live. When they heard that he wasn’t home they went to question him at work. After that they forced him and his mother to sign a paper in which he agreed to a house search. So they wouldn’t return 15 minutes later with wailing sirens, close off the whole street and seal up his room, they said.

After that all the closets in his room were searched, his mobile calls and contact numbers examined and his e-mail and other files downloaded.

After P. contacted the federal police in Antwerp in 2003 he decided in 2006 also to report to the State Security Service. For the n-th time he had seen on the street a Moroccan actively recruit young Muslims. Shotly afterwards his good friend Nezir Shala, an Albanian Kosovar, disappeared, he says. “He was a moderate Muslim who warned many youth against radicalizing,” says P. “He was afraid of nobody and gave out brochures advising against suicide attacks. He was threatened and physically attacked till bleeding. People from one’s own community who turn against radicalism, are the greatest enemies of extremists. A moderate Muslim is for them much more dangersou than an infidel. At the end of 2006 Shala left for a short trip to Tilburg. He was to meet a friendly imam. The evening before that he was yet attacked by men of Jamaat Tabligh. When after a while I inquired by his girlfriend where he was, she told me that he never returned from Tilburg.”

P. can only guess where Shala is now. “I tried then to call him. In the best case he’s living in hidign or he returned to his native land. But I fear that he could have been killed off.”

P. craved from Islam something other than a political battle. He wanted to be a moderate Muslim who depelted power from his faith. In all the mosques he visited he determined that there is always somewhere a small group of extremists who gathered also out of the prayer services. The leaders are not rarely intelligent young men who speak several languages, have a permanent job and most fear appearing in a negative light.

—
Posted By Esther to Islam in Europe at 12/10/2008 01:24:00 PM __._,_.___

Islam In Europe

News and Opinions about the Muslim
and Islamic Community in Europe and the West

http://islamineurope.blogspot.com

Dozens of Muslim youth leave Antwerp every year for Pakistan. There they are immersed in radical Islam. But also in Belgium they prepare in and out of the mosques for the war with the West.

There are five mosques in Antwerp-North barely several hundred meters from each other. Besides being prayer houses for thousands of moderate Muslims they are also the base for small extremist groups who spread expressly anti-Western ideas. A not unimportant portion of the younger Muslims often leave for Pakistan to be instructed in madrassas or Koran schools. The most important destination for the Antwerp youth is the Haqqania madrassa of Samy Ul-Haq, a head of the Pakistani Islamic Party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. Ul-Haq visited the Khatim-Al-Anbia mosque in Antwerp a couple of years ago. In 2005 he declared in Asia Times that whenever the Taliban put out a call for fighters, he would simply close down the madrassa and send his students off to fight.

The majority of the Antwerp youth return to Belgium after forty days. But here and there there’s one, such as Kirgies Abdul Aziz who never come back.

The Belgian security services are aware of the extremist danger of the groups. Some can easily get weapons in Belgium. They also organize “jihad trainings” in the Ardennes for the youth. When a few neighbors from Agimont (next to Dinant) complaints about the acts last year and the local police arrived on site, there was little to do. Nonetheless the youth were incited with anti-Jewish songs and considered the nightly trips as preparations for Holy War.

Belgian extremist groups are not limited to Antwerp. In Liege and Brussels mostly young Muslims are occupied with Jihad. They are often led by seemingly well integrated colleagues or older imams. The French sheik of Syrian origin Bassam Ayachi of the Centre Islamique Belge in Anderlecht is one such man. The federal police is happy that they’ve gotten rid of this dangerous person for a while. Ayachi was arrested in the Italian port city Bari several weeks ago. Five non-EU citizens who had been smuggled from the Middle East to Western Europe were found in a hidden compartment of his camper. In Italy there are very strict punishments for such crimes.

Flemish P. (25) converted to Islam when he was 17. He quickly got in touch with recruiters who very actively sought young recruits for the Holy War. When P. was ready to depart to Pakistan, he finally saw straight. He contacted the Antwerp police and later also became an informant for the State Security Service.

He was interviewed in Belgian weekly Knack (I will try to have it translated soon).

Source: Knack (Dutch)

—
Posted By Esther to Islam in Europe at 12/10/2008 08:33:00 AM __._,_.___

Islam In Europe

News and Opinions about the Muslim
and Islamic Community in Europe and the West

http://islamineurope.blogspot.com

December 10, 2008 PM Anti-Terrorism News - UnitedStatesAction.com

(U.S.) Georgia: Terrorism charges against Georgians detailed
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2008/12/10/georgia_terrorism_suspects.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13
-— “Atlanta terrorism defendants Syed Haris Ahmed and
Ehsanul Islam Sadequee communicated with and gave
information to terrorists bent on waging violent jihad, according to new indictments by a federal grand jury”
-— “That includes their trying, in 2005, to join Lashkar-e-Taiba”
-— Praised attack on Pentagon in video
-— “Khan also had maps and timetables for the Washington
and New York public transit systems; information on truck routes
into New York; schematics of the financial district in lower Manhattan;
aerial photos of the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba;
and information on paramilitary training camps in Pakistan, the indictment said”

(U.S.) Supreme court weighs lawsuit against FBI Director Robert Mueller, former Attorney General John Ashcroft
— Pakistani Muslim Javaid Iqbal lawsuit that “claims prisoners
detained after the Sept. 11 attacks were abused because of their religion and ethnicity”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081210/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_detainee_lawsuit

(U.S.) Economy puts emergency readiness in peril
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-12-09-biocutbacks_N.htm?csp=34

Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba training in US, Canada, UK, Australia
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/dec/10mumterror-lashkar-training-in-us-canada-uk-australia.htm

(Pakistan) Joint Chiefs of Staff Mullen praises Pakistan for arrest of militants
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081210/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_pakistan

(UK) Home Secretary Jacqui Smith: Councils to be told of local extremists and terror threat
— Daily Telegraph says “veiled reference to Hizb ut Tahrir”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/3701980/Jacqui-Smith-Councils-to-be-told-of-local-extremists-and-terror-threat.html

Iranian nuclear workers arrested for spying
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/10/iran.spy.arrests/index.html

Israel Pardons 45 Fatah Terrorists
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128800

(Hamas) U.S. accused of meeting secretly with terrorists
— Hamas political adviser says Obama administration will favor dialogue
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83245

Arab Islamist Clerics to Palestinians: Slaughter the Jews Like You Did in 1929; Blow Yourselves Up in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1940.htm

Somalia: Islamist Leader in Hiran Region Declares ‘Jihad On Ethiopia’
http://allafrica.com/stories/200812100054.html

Somali pirates ‘put down Ukranian hostage revolt’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/piracy/3698083/Somali-pirates-put-down-Ukranian-hostage-revolt.html

North Korea nuclear talks hit impasse
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081210/wl_nm/us_korea_north_22

Other News:

Somalia - Christian in Kenya Refugee Camp Attacked, Shot
— “Muslim zealots jail convert, burn home of another; in Somalia, a mother and daughter raped”
http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=short&idelement=5724&backpage=summaries

(Australia) Young Oz kids to be taught Islamic tenets at new Sydney center
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-58699.html
-— Global Islamic Youth Center
-— “A group founded by a Muslim extremist plans to build a huge complex in Sydney to teach young people Islam.”
-— GIYC founder Sheik Feiz Mohammad “was exposed two years
ago for having called on children to sacrifice themselves to Allah, describing Jews as ‘pigs’ and calling non-believers ‘filth’”
—— Australian Daily Telegraph: Teach the children - Sheik’s vile lesson of hate
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24777277-5001021,00.html?from=public_rss
—— Australian Daily Telegraph: Education in hate for ‘tender hearts’
——— Sheik Feiz Mohammad: “We want to have children and
offer them as soldiers defending Islam. Teach them this: there
is nothing more beloved to me than wanting to die as a
mujahid (holy warrior). Put in their soft, tender hearts the zeal of jihad and a love of martyrdom.”
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24777133-5001021,00.html?from=public_rss

(Canada) Dishonored in life, dishonored in death: Honor killing victim lies in numbered grave - Aqsa Parvez
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023865.php
http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2008/12/10/7692161-sun.html
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/12/canada-no-heads.html

(UK) Academics ‘have abandoned Israeli boycott’, say opponents
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/dec/10/boycott-israel-ucu-palestinians

UNHRC slams Israel for ‘crimes against humanity’
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728129426&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

(U.S.) November 30: Homeland Security in disarray, officials warn
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/11/30/homeland_security_in_disarray_officials_warn/

ACT!For America — Northern Virginia & DC Metro Chapter
http://actdcmetro.wordpress.com/

__._,_.___

If reposting elsewhere, please credit source of this research as UnitedStatesAction.com

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2008/dec/113087.htm

Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
December 10, 2008

1267 Committee Sanctions Lashkar e-Tayyiba Associated Individuals and Entities

Today the UN Security Council’s al-Qaida/Taliban Sanctions Committee (the “1267 Committee”) took several actions related to the terrorist group Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LET):

* It listed four members of the terrorist group Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LET) for targeted sanctions (including asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo). These individuals are Muhammad Saeed a.k.a. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Haji Muhammad Ashraf, and Mohmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq.
* It added a new alias for the group: Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD), which is an LET front operation.
* It added additional aliases for Al Rashid and Al Akhtar Trusts, which have raised funds for LET.
o The Al Rashid Trust aliases are: Al Amin Welfare Trust, Al Amin Trust, Al Ameen Trust, Al-Ameen Trust, Al Madina Trust, Al-Madina Trust.
o The Al-Akhtar Trust aliases are: Pakistan Relief Foundation, Pakistani Relief Foundation, Azmat-e-Pakistan Trust, Azmat Pakistan Trust.

The United States is pleased that the Committee has decided to move forward on these high-priority designations. These actions will limit the ability of known terrorists to travel, acquire weapons, plan, carry out, or raise funds for new terrorist attacks. Today’s listings reaffirm the Council’s commitment to updating the 1267 Consolidated List to ensure it continues to serve as a tool to help member states deter terrorist activities of al-Qaeda and affiliated groups.

The 1267 Committee originally designated LET in 2005, citing its affiliation with al-Qaida. Pakistan banned LET in 2002. The United States and EU have also sanctioned the group.

2008/1035

Released on December 10, 2008

http://albany.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel08/judge121008.htm

U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Northern District of New York
100 South Clinton Street
Room 900; P.O. Box 7198
Syracuse, New York 13261-7198
(315) 448-0672

December 10, 2008

NEWS RELEASE

FORMER NEW YORK STATE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTED EXTORTION AND BRIBERY

A former Supreme Court Justice of the Third Judicial Circuit of the State of New York was charged today with attempted extortion and federal program bribery, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division announced. Thomas J. Spargo, 65, was charged in an indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of New York.

According to the indictment, while Spargo was a state Supreme Court Justice in 2003, he allegedly solicited $10,000 from an Ulster County, N.Y., attorney who had cases pending before the judge. The indictment further charges that Spargo solicited the money by causing the attorney to fear that Spargo would use his official acts and influence to harm the attorney if he was not paid and, conversely, to help the attorney if he was paid.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Richard C. Pilger and Trial Attorney M. Kendall Day of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, headed by William M. Welch II, Chief. The case was investigated by the FBI – Albany Division.

An indictment is merely a charge, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20081209_mexico_and_war_against_drug_cartels_2008

Mexico and the War Against the Drug Cartels in 2008
December 9, 2008

Mexico’s war against drug cartels continued in 2008. The mission President Felipe Calderon launched shortly after his inauguration two years ago to target the cartels has since escalated in nearly every way imaginable. Significant changes in Mexico’s security situation and the nature of the drug trade in the Western Hemisphere also have occurred over the last 12 months.

In this year’s report on Mexico’s drug cartels, we assess the most significant developments of the past year and provide an updated description of the country’s powerful drug-trafficking organizations. This annual report is a product of the coverage we maintain on a weekly basis through our Mexico Security Memo and various other reports.
Mexico’s Drug-Trafficking Organizations

Gulf cartel: As recently as a year ago, the Gulf cartel was considered the most powerful drug-trafficking organization in Mexico. After nearly two years of bearing the brunt of Mexican law enforcement and military efforts, however, it is an open question at this point whether the cartel is still intact. The group’s paramilitary enforcement arm, Los Zetas, was the primary reason for Gulf’s power, but reports of Zeta activity from this past year suggest that the much-feared group now operates independently. Without the Zetas, the Gulf leadership has struggled to remain relevant.

Los Zetas: During the past 12 months, Los Zetas have remained a power to be reckoned with throughout Mexico. The group operates under the command of Heriberto “El Lazca” Lazcano. The organization’s leadership suffered significant losses during 2008, including the April arrest in Guatemala of Daniel “El Cachetes” Perez Rojas, who commanded Zeta operations in Central America. Even more significant, however, was the November arrest of Jaime “El Hummer” Gonzalez Duran, who was captured during a raid in the northwestern city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas state. Gonzalez was believed to rank third in the Zeta chain of command.

Beltran Leyva organization: The Beltran Leyva family has a long history in the narcotics business. Until this past year, the organization formed part of the Sinaloa federation, for which it controlled access to the U.S. border in Sonora state, among other responsibilities. By the time of Alfredo Beltran Leyva’s January arrest, however, the Beltran Leyva organization’s alliance with Sinaloa was over, as it is rumored that his arrest resulted from a Sinaloa betrayal. Since then, the organization has quickly become one of the most powerful drug-trafficking organizations in Mexico, capable not only of smuggling narcotics and battling rivals but also demonstrating a willingness to order the assassination of high-ranking government officials. The most notable of these was the May targeted killing of acting federal police director Edgar Millan Gomez.

Sinaloa cartel: Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is the most wanted drug lord in Mexico. Despite the turbulence that his Sinaloa cartel has experienced this past year, it is perhaps the most capable drug-trafficking organization in Mexico. This turbulence involved the loss of key allies, including the Carrillo Fuentes organization in Ciudad Juarez, as well as the split with the Beltran Leyva organization. But the loss of these partners does not appear to have affected the cartel’s ability to manage the trafficking of drugs from South America to the United States. On the contrary, the Sinaloa cartel appears to be the most active smuggler of cocaine and has demonstrated the ability to establish operations in new environments like Central America and South America.

Carrillo Fuentes organization: Also known as the Juarez cartel, the Carrillo Fuentes organization is based out of the northern city of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state. The cartel is led by Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, who took over after the 1997 death of his brother Amado, the cartel’s former leader. Throughout this year, the Juarez cartel has maintained its long-standing alliance with the Beltran Leyva organization, which has been locked in a vicious battle with the Sinaloa cartel for control of Juarez.

Arellano Felix organization: Also known as the Tijuana cartel, the Arellano Felix crime family has been weakened almost beyond recognition over the past year due to the efforts of both U.S. and Mexican law enforcement to capture several of its high-ranking leaders. Of these, perhaps the most symbolic was the October arrest of Eduardo “El Doctor” Arellano Felix. Fighting among the various elements of the cartel itself has resulted in the splitting of the organization into two factions that continue to do battle on a daily basis.
Calderon’s Success Story

Since taking office in December 2006, President Calderon has undertaken extraordinary measures in pursuit of the country’s drug cartels. The policies enacted by Calderon’s administration saw some progress during his first year in office, although it has only been during the past year that the continued implementation of these policies has produced unprecedented results in the fight against the cartels.

One such result has come in the form of record seizures of illegal narcotics, weapons and drug-manufacturing laboratories, including the July raid of the largest methamphetamine production facility ever discovered in Mexico, where authorities seized some 8,000 barrels of precursor chemicals. The Mexican government also has succeeded in pursuing the cartels’ leadership. Important members of nearly all the country’s drug-trafficking organizations have been arrested over the last 12 months, although the highest-ranking kingpins continue to evade capture. One indication that the government’s crackdown has made it increasingly difficult to smuggle drugs in and out of Mexico is the revelation that many drug traffickers have turned to other illegal activities, such as extortion, kidnapping and human trafficking, to supplement their incomes.

Despite the endemic challenges presented by bureaucratic infighting and rampant corruption, there is simply no denying that the Mexican government has disrupted the cartels’ operations in meaningful ways.
2008: A Year of Flux

One consequence of these achievements has been greater volatility in the balance of power among the various drug-trafficking organizations in the country. Mexican security forces’ relentless focus on the Gulf cartel has severely damaged the organization’s capabilities.

This development presented opportunities to the other criminal groups over the past 12 months, and it has led to even greater turf battles and power struggles. It is premature to predict which cartels will remain on top once the dust has settled.

Historically, the Mexican drug trade has been controlled by two large and competing drug cartels, each of which has had a base of operations in a Mexican city along the U.S. border. A similar outcome after the current flux is certainly possible, but changes in the country’s security environment and shifting areas of cartel operations might add new dimensions to the country’s criminal landscape.
Changing Geography

The year 2008 has seen a shift in the geography of the drug trade in the Western Hemisphere, nearly all of which can be attributed to the situation in Mexico. The United States remains among the primary destinations for drugs produced in South American countries such as Peru and Colombia, and Mexico continues to serve as the primary transshipment route. The path between South America and Mexico is shifting, however.

One of these shifts involves the increasing importance of Central America. After the Mexican government implemented greater monitoring and control of aircraft entering the country’s airspace, airborne shipments of cocaine from Colombia decreased more than 90 percent, according to an October report. Similarly, maritime trafficking reportedly has decreased more than 60 percent over a two-year period. As a result, Mexican smugglers have expanded their presence in Central American countries as they have begun to rely increasingly on land-based shipping routes to deliver drugs from South American producers. In addition — and likely as a result of the more difficult operating environment — Mexican drug-trafficking groups also have increased their operations in South America to begin providing drugs to markets there and in Europe.

The presence of Mexican cartels in Central and South America illustrates two important points. First, there is no question that Mexican groups are now the central figures in the drug trade in the Western Hemisphere. Nothing demonstrates this better than the fact that it is the Mexican traffickers — not the Colombian or Peruvian producers — who are conquering new turf and even expanding to other markets. The second point is that the drug trade does not necessarily have to revolve around U.S. consumers. While the United States remains a top consumer of cocaine, expanding markets in Latin America and Europe, as well as a continued crackdown in Mexico, could produce a more profound shift in drug-trafficking routes.
Deteriorating Security

One apparent paradox for the Calderon administration has been that, even while the government has clearly succeeded in damaging the cartels, the country’s security situation has continued to deteriorate at what appears to be an unstoppable rate. Just last week, the total number of drug-related homicides in Mexico in 2008 surged past 5,000. This puts Mexico on track to more than double the previous annual record of 2,700 killings, set in 2007.

In addition to the drastic rise in the number of killings, the violence has escalated in other important ways that are more difficult to quantify. For one, Mexican cartel violence has remained a brutal enterprise, with this past year registering perhaps the most significant beheading incident. Second, attacks on security forces have increased. Law enforcement and military personnel have represented some 10 percent of cartel casualties, compared to approximately 7 percent during 2007.

In addition, a series of assassinations of high-ranking government officials in Mexico City made it clear that almost anyone can be considered a cartel target. An expansion of the cartels’ arsenals also contributed to the escalation in violence, including the July discovery of explosive-actuated improvised incendiary devices in vehicles near a cartel safe house, and the February failed assassination attempt with an improvised explosive device (IED) in Mexico City.

Finally, 2008 witnessed the first clear case of the indiscriminate killing of civilians, when alleged members of the La Familia crime organization threw two fragmentation grenades into a crowd during Mexico’s Independence Day celebration in Morelia, Michoacan state.

Of particular concern to the United States is how this rampant violence continues to cross the border. No single incident better demonstrates this than the Phoenix home invasion in June. In that incident, cartel hit men armed with assault rifles and wearing Phoenix Police Department raid shirts killed a drug dealer. The assault had all the makings of a Mexican cartel hit, especially in the attackers’ willingness to engage police officers if necessary.
Looking Ahead

The deteriorating security situation certainly has become the top priority for the Calderon administration, with Mexico’s crime problem now officially considered a matter of national security. The government is considering the implications of increasing casualties, not only among security forces but also among civilians.

Moreover, the initial strategy of relying on the military only over the short term appears increasingly unfeasible, as police reforms have proven far more difficult to achieve than the administration anticipated. Despite the costs, Calderon has shown no signs of letting up. Assistance from the United States will begin expanding under the Merida Initiative, but foreign assistance is only one part of the solution. Perhaps recognizing that at present it is the cartels — not the government — that ultimately control the level of violence in the country, the Calderon administration is exploring plans to escalate the military’s commitment to the fight.

Of course, a sudden drop in violence could make such an escalation unnecessary. There is currently no indication that the violence will soon taper off, but it might also be premature to assume that the violence will continue to escalate in the way it has so far. Attacks involving IEDs or the indiscriminate killing of civilians, for example, have yet to be repeated.

Despite this caveat, the obvious danger is that the cartels have shown themselves to be remarkably innovative, vicious and resilient when backed into a corner. Given their powerful arsenals and deep penetration of the country’s institutions, a further increase in attacks against security forces and government officials seems all but inevitable.

Tell Stratfor What You Think

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December 11, 2008 Anti-Terrorism News - UnitedStatesAction.com

(Iraq) At least 55 killed in Iraq restaurant bombing - north of Kirkuk
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28173545/

(Iraq) US captures 6 in raids against al-Qaida - near Tarmiyah
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081211/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_7

(Iraq) US to begin transfer of Iraqi prisoners on Feb 1
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081211/wl_mideast_afp/iraqusmilitaryprisoners_081211151714

(Afghanistan) Coalition moves on Taliban before election
— “Persuading isolated locals to back government a tough sell”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/11/disruptive-operation-coincides-with-voter-registra/

(Afghanistan) US general David McKiernan warns British forces are in Afghanistan stalemate in war on Taliban
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/12/11/us-general-warns-british-forces-are-in-afghanistan-stalemate-in-war-on-taliban-115875-20961746/
-— Same General Kiernan that supported Afghan govt efforts for
“reconciliation” with Taliban, calls for “political solution,” view war against “bad guys”
-— When McKiernan asked why Taliban fight, he says “[p]overty, fear,
intimidation, some for ideological reasons, some because it’s the fighting season”
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/109.html#McKiernan

(Afghanistan) U.S. to send more troops to Afghanistan - Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/12/11/gates.afghanistan/index.html
-— October 6, 2008 - AP reported that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates “endorsed efforts to reach out to members of the Taliban or other militants in Afghanistan who may be considered reconcilable, much like what has happened in Iraq.”
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Oct06/0,4670,EUGatesAfghanistan,00.html
-— More on Gates and “reconciliation” with Islamic supremacist Taliban
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/109.html#Gates
-— More from the Defense Secretary who brought us the “War on Extremism”
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/04/13/Gates_Enemy_in_Iraq_is_extremism/UPI-69821208117940/
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/documents/national_defense_strategy_073108.pdf

(Pakistan) Mumbai terror mastermind placed on UN blacklist
— Pakistani LeT Jihadist Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5322840.ece

(Pakistan) UN says Pakistan charity front for terrorist group
— Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) front Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081211/ap_on_re_as/un_un_terror_sanctions
-— Lashkar founder says U.N. action defames Pakistan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081211/india_nm/india369804
-— Pakistan vows to comply with UN curbs after Mumbai
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081211/india_nm/india369831

(Pakistan) Report: Pakistan closes charity linked to Mumbai attacks
— Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) front Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081211/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_88;_ylt=AqxgRJC5tTv1BcjRVJgNR3cBS5Z4
-— Report: Pakistan Govt launches crack down against Jamat-ud-Dawa
http://www.geo.tv/12-11-2008/30510.htm

(Pakistan) Report: Govt bans statements of banned outfits in media
http://www.geo.tv/12-11-2008/30506.htm
-— But will Pakistan Jihadists continue to directly contact members of counterterrorism community to spread propaganda?
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2008/11/jamatuddawa_let_political_wing.php

(Pakistan) Lashkar chief Hafeez Saeed remains defiant
-— Hafiz Saeed lead of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) front Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD)
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/mumbaiterrorstrike/Story.aspx?ID=NEWEN20080076157&type=News
— Terror chief in Mumbai attacks denial
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/12/11/pakistan.mumbai.attacks/index.html?section=cnn_latest
-— AKI: “Pakistan: Charity chief challenges UN sanctions”
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.2804587884
-— IHT: “Pakistani charity rejects being added to terror list”
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/11/asia/nations.php

(Pakistan) Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief brainwashed Mumbai attackers
— Hafiz Saeed lead of LeT front Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/LeT_chief_brainwashed_Mumbai_attackers/rssarticleshow/3823282.cms

Pakistan epicentre of terrorism, says Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/southasia/news/article_1447802.php/Pakistan_epicentre_of_terrorism_says_Indian_premier__2nd_Roundup__
-— Pakistan needs to do more: Manmohan
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Pakistan_needs_to_do_more_Manmohan/articleshow/3824381.cms
-— India demands Pakistan hand over 40 wanted ‘terrorists’
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5323757.ece

(Pakistan) NWFP: Bomb explosion wounds 12 Afghan refugees in Pakistan - in Kohat
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1959424&Language=en

(Pakistan) Warning over danger posed by Pakistan-based terrorists
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/3705889/Mumbai-attacks-Warning-over-danger-posed-by-Pakistan-based-terrorists.html
-— December 10, 2008: Joint Chiefs of Staff Mullen praises Pakistan for arrest of militants
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081210/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_pakistan

(Pakistan) US increasingly entangled in Islamist web in south Asia
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081211/pl_afp/indiaattacksuspakistanafghanistan
-— Comment: Analysts never consider identifying enemy ideology of Islamic supremacism and developing strategy

(Pakistan) Mumbai Terror Group Trained American Jihadists
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/12/let-usa.html

(India) Mumbai attacks war on India, says India Congress MP Rahul Gandhi
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Mumbai_attacks_war_on_India_says_Rahul_Gandhi/articleshow/3824194.cms

(India) Transcript: Mumbai terrorist confession
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/beeea092-c697-11dd-97a5-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

(India) War with Pakistan “no solution”, India says
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081211/india_nm/india369822

(India) Terror in India not linked to Kashmir: external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Terror_in_India_not_linked_to_Kashmir_Pranab/articleshow/3823846.cms

(India) IED defused in Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/IED_defused_in_Srinagar-Muzaffarabad_road/articleshow/3823644.cms

(India) Mumbai Attacks: Arrested terrorist Kasab remanded to police custody till Dec 24
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Arrested_terrorist_Kasab_may_not_be_produced_in_court_today/articleshow/3821920.cms

(U.S.) Officials Worry Attacks in Mumbai Could Spur Copycats in the West
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122895354114996367.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

(U.S.) Justices voice concerns about 9/11 detainee lawsuit
— by Pakistani Muslim Javaid Iqbal lawsuit
— “’”What you have to show is some facts,’ said a skeptical
Chief Justice John Roberts to the lawyer for the Pakistani native
bringing the suit, ‘showing that they (top officials) knew of a policy that was discriminatory based on ethnicity and country of origin.’
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/10/scotus.detainees/index.html?eref=ib_us

(U.S.) Holy Land Foundation Post-Trial: U.S. Attorney responds to Star-Telegram column on Holy Land
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/12/us-attorney-responds-to-starte.html
-— Prosecutor: Sanders draws wrong conclusion about trial
—— Sanders challenges Star-Telegram columnist Bob Ray Sanders
who claimed convictions based on”religious bigotry and political pressure than facts”
http://www.star-telegram.com/242/story/1077640.html
-—— November 30, 2008: Star-Telgram: “SANDERS: Holy Land Five convictions mark sad day for American justice system
http://www.star-telegram.com/242/story/1064204.html

(U.N.) Security Council, Expressing Deep Concern Over “Continuous Terrorist Attacks”
-— Malaysia: “called on the international community to reject any attempt to link Islam with terrorism”
-— Azerbaijan: concerned about “unacceptable attacks against Islam... [and] “defamatory manifestations and misconceptions”
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9524.doc.htm
—— clearly no concern about Islamic supremacism on 60th anniversary of UDHR
http://anti-jihad.org/blog/2008/12/human-rights/
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/119.html

(Iran) Obama’s atomic umbrella: U.S. nuclear strike if Iran nukes Israel
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1045687.html
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2008/12/11/report-obama-offer-israel-nuclear-umbrella-iran/

(Lebanon) US State Dept Dailey: There are few members of al-Qaeda in Lebanon
http://www.iloubnan.info/politics/actualite/id/30332/lebanon/Dailey:-There-are-few-members-of-al-Qaeda-in-Lebanon

(Israel) Army readies for Gaza border attacks
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728155998&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Somalia: Sheik Sharif Says Ethiopia is Committed to Withdraw
http://allafrica.com/stories/200812110672.html

(Somalia) Pirates cashed in $120m - UN
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2440845,00.html
-— Somalia backs US plan to hunt Somali pirates
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/11/africa/AF-Somalia.php

Algeria: UN chief recalls victims of Al-Qaeda attack
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.2804736067

(Russia) One person wounded in Ingushetia blast
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1959404&Language=en

(Turkey) Chechen warlord gunned down in Instanbul
http://en.rian.ru/world/20081211/118804141.html

(Belgium) Brown in ‘suicide bomb plot’ as police seize 14 al-Qaeda terrorists ‘targeting EU summit’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1093876/Brown-suicide-bomb-plot-police-seize-14-al-Qaeda-terrorists-targeting-EU-summit.html?ITO=1490
— Al-Qaeda terror plot fears at EU summit
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5326082.ece
— Belgian police ‘thwart imminent al-Qaeda attack’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/3708568/Belgian-police-thwart-imminent-al-Qaeda-attack.html

(Belgium) 14 alleged Islamic extremists held in Belgium
— “Terror expert says men wanted to free an imprisoned al-Qaida member” - Nizar Trabelsi
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28174400/
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,465292,00.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Belgian_police_arrest_14_al-Qaida_suspects/articleshow/3824019.cms?TOI_latestnews
-— “suspects include a man who was allegedly ready to launch a suicide attack”
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.2804857308

German Islamists face no charges after deportation from Egypt
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/245774,german-islamists-face-no-charges-after-deportation.html

(Philippines) Damage, no injuries from south Philippines bomb
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/afp/20081211/tap-philippines-blast-unrest-5cc1ef8.html

Philippines says kidnappings may revive militants
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAN280148.htm

(Philippines) In Basilan, Philippines, a US counterterrorism model frays
— Think-tank analyst Scott Harrison claims Philippines Jihad due to “Poverty, neglect, and abuse”
— No acknowledgement of Islamic supremacism
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20081211/wl_csm/ovacuum_1

China may be next in al-Qaeda’s crosshairs
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1213078
Sri Lanka: Militants claim to have killed 89 soldiers
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.2804627573

North Korean prison life detailed
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28170220/

Other News:

Iranian Activist Lawyer Not Allowed To Leave Tehran For Award — for Human Rights
http://www.payvand.com/news/08/dec/1109.html
-— Demonstrating the type of “human rights” that Iran’s support of “Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam” represents
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/cairodeclaration.html
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/090.html#A
http://web.archive.org/web/20060501234759/http://mypage.bluewin.ch/ameland/Islam.html

MEMRI: “Eminent Indian Islamic Scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Calls for Deconditioning the Muslim Mind to Eliminate Supremacist Views and Hatred”
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD214708

(U.S.) Texas: Controversial doll to remain on most store shelves
http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2008/12/11/pasadena_citizen/news/113008_baby_doll.txt

Somalia: Islamists Destroy Graves, Kill Robbers
— “Sheik Hassan Yaqub Ali, the information secretary of the Islamic
administration in Kismayu told reporters that the graves in temples are against the Sharia law”
http://allafrica.com/stories/200812100134.html

Takaful Malaysia eyes Indonesia for expansion
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSKLR14101020081210

The Rise of Islamic Banking in a Time of Economic Crisis
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/world/2008/12/10/the-rise-of-islamic-banking-in-a-time-of-economic-crisis.html

Italy: Muslim cemetery to open in south
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=3.0.2801516997

(Australia) Court gives Islamic school project go-ahead - Bass Hill
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/11/2444237.htm
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24786462-5001021,00.html

November 13, 2008: Lawyers Broadside Mideast Bloggers, Media With ‘Hisba’ Lawsuits
http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/11/13/lawyers_broadside_mideast_bloggers_media_with_hisba_lawsuits/4257/

Philippine pigs found with Ebola Reston virus
— note that this has historically been found to be NOT harmful to humans
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/11/asia/AS-Philippines-Sick-Pigs.php
-— Ebola Reston discovered by USAMRID in 1989 in Reston, VA -— 20 miles from White House
-— documented by Richard Preston in “The Hot Zone”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_Reston
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Zone

Propaganda:

(Egypt) Middle East Times: “Muslim Brotherhood Bloggers Could Be Washington’s New Hope”
— Khalil al-Anani questions how many “reformers” are within the Islamic supremacist Muslim Brotherhood
— but Anani sugggests Washington “reach out” to so-called “reformer bloggers” who love “Charlise Theron and Brad Pitt”
http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/12/09/muslim_brotherhood_bloggers_could_be_washingtons_new_hope/6874/
—— Comment: no mention of Muslim Brotherhood’s inherent Islamic supremacist nature
—— IPT Profile on Muslim Brotherhood
http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/135.pdf
—— Muslim Brotherhood Movement Page (Hizb Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimoon)
http://www.ummah.net/ikhwan/
—— Theme: “Allah is our objective. The messenger is our leader. Quran is our law.
Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”
—— June 11, 2008: Muslim Brotherhood: Friend or Foe – New IPT Profile
http://www.investigativeproject.org/article/685

Commentaries:

“Honest, rather than defensive, introspection about why terrorism
has found a home in Islam might help find the answer” - Frida Ghitis
-— No more mollycoddling: Attack jihad at source
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/122008/12112008/430869

The Saudi plan: 100 years of dhimmitude? - by Elihu D. Richter
-— “The first requirement of any peace plan has to be respect for life and human dignity of all minorities.”
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728145886&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Hugo’s Hezbollah - by Alan Levine
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=DE00261D-D4E1-428C-A8AA-698495018B83

There is no moral equivalence — by Ramesh Thakur
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081210.wcoindia11/BNStory/specialComment/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20081210.wcoindia11

AIG and Sharia Finance - Sunday 5:30 PM ET Radio

Jeffrey of Anti-Jihad League of America will be addressing AIG and
its business ventures in Sharia-Compliant Finance
on Sunday, December 14, at 5:30 PM ET

on John Batchelor Radio Program
http://www.johnbatchelorshow.com/

New York, WABC-AM 770
Washington DC, WMAL-AM 630
San Francisco, KSFO-AM 560
Los Angeles, KFI-AM 640

— see related report
AIG Defies U.S. Taxpayers by Promoting Sharia in America
http://anti-jihad.org/blog/2008/12/aig-defies-us-taxpayers/
— ongoing petition
End U.S. Ownership of Sharia Business Now Petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/stopaig/petition.html

Sharia Finance Commentaries:

Learn Sharia Finance at MIT
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/academic/courses/15.994.php
http://bokertov.typepad.com/btb/2008/12/learn-sharia-fi.html

Islamic Banking - by Rachel Ehrenfeld and Samuel A. Abady
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=A3900E8D-E619-46F3-943F-EB6BB86A8C3A

Hugging Shari’a Finance at the Fed - by Alyssa A. Lappen
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=1EBFAAF7-CFB8-4B05-8966-B8DDF998A748

Against Nazi News:

(Germany) Munich prosecutors get Demjanjuk’s Nazi guard case
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/11/europe/EU-Germany-Nazi-Guard.php
__._,_.___

If reposting elsewhere, please credit source of this research as UnitedStatesAction.com

Rush is saying this morning that the news media is talking about your Gov. needing to go in the hospital for mental problems, the old and current Russia method of canceling the opinion that they do not agree with.

This entire scene is so unreal, hard to think of it as normal American politics.

I would suggest that you move, but I do not know of the perfect spot to move to.

We are back to the cold war era, must find a mountain top that we can defend, grow our food and not be dependent on the rest of the loonies.

LOL, which will get us adjoining cells, for they will not allow folks to be free today in America.

December 11, 2008 PM Anti-Terrorism News - UnitedStatesAction.com

(Afghanistan) Taleban tax: allied supply convoys pay their enemies for safe passage
-— One fuel importer: “We estimate that approximately 25 per cent
of the money we pay for security to get the fuel in goes into the pockets of the Taleban”
-— “Another boss, whose company is subcontracted to supply to
Western military bases, said that as much as a quarter of the value of a lorry’s cargo went in paying Taleban commanders”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5327683.ece

(Afghanistan) Taleban extract heavy tribute to let vital NATO supplies pass
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5327618.ece

(Pakistan) Pak media raises fears of a Taliban takeover
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Pak_media_raises_fears_of_a_Taliban_takeover/articleshow/3825455.cms

(Pakistan) Mumbai attacks ‘mastermind’ placed under house arrest
— Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) front Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD)’s Hafiz Mohammed Saeed
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/3709448/Mumbai-attacks-mastermind-placed-under-house-arrest.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pak_bans_Jamaat-ud-Dawa_arrests_Saeed/articleshow/3824291.cms

Pakistan on tightrope with raid on Jamaatud Dawa
-— Rand’s Christine Fair: “I almost see them as a state actor”
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\12\story_12-12-2008_pg7_4
-— US hopes for Pakistani ‘shift’ on Lashkar
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\12\story_12-12-2008_pg7_14

(Pakistan) NWFP: Taliban attack NATO supplies terminal in Peshawar
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\12\story_12-12-2008_pg7_20

(Pakistan) NWFP/FATA: ‘Terrorist’ killed, another injured - Hangu/Orakzai
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\12\story_12-12-2008_pg7_24

(Pakistan) FATA: Six killed in suspected US missile strike in S Waziristan
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\12\story_12-12-2008_pg1_11
http://www.geo.tv/12-12-2008/30522.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/3710796/US-missile-strike-kills-6-in-Pakistan.html

(Pakistan) US to blunt any threat from Tribal Areas: Bush
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\12\story_12-12-2008_pg1_10

(Pakistan) ‘Pakistan to defend itself if war imposed’
— Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\12\story_12-12-2008_pg7_2

(Pakistan) ‘Terrorist camps exist in Pakistan’
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\12\story_12-12-2008_pg7_21

(U.S.) Stop using songs to ‘break’ terror suspects: Pop stars
— Burce Springsteen and Britney Spears complain
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/No_songs_to_break_terror_suspects/articleshow/3825402.cms

Belgian police arrest ‘al Qaeda legend’
-— “federal prosecutor’s office in Belgium identified one of the suspects as Malika El-Aroud”
-— “El-Aroud’s late husband was one of two men who killed
Ahmed Shah Massoud, a leader of the Northern Alliance, in a suicide mission ordered by Osama Bin Laden”
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/12/11/belgium.terror.arrests/index.html
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023882.php
-— Belgian Police Break Up Plot Linked to al-Qaeda
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1865917,00.html?xid=rss-world

Greek protests spread to European cities
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/3709695/Greek-protests-spread-to-European-cities.html

(Italy) AKI: “Italy: Jailed leader of Christian terror group wanted to target academic, police say”
-— “Jailed former far-left Italian terrorist Roberto Sandalo”
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.2804874580

Other News:

Iran arrests blogger who visited Israel
— “Derakhshan had previously defended his visit, saying that it countered “horrific” Israeli propaganda”
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728163521&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Indonesia: Muslims burn Christian church, riot
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023881.php
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=17085&t=Muslims+burn+Christian+church+in+Indonesia

Nigeria-Six Pastors Killed, 40 Churches Razed in Jos Violence
— Compass report on Thanksgiving attack on Christians in Nigeria
http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=short&idelement=5725&backpage=summaries

MEMRI: Liberal Author Dr. Shaker Al-Nabulsi: Secularism Will
Triumph in the Arab World; Terrorism’s Crimes Are ‘The Death Struggle of Fundamentalism’
http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD214808

(Pakistan) Dancing girls of Lahore strike over ‘Taliban’ law
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/dancing-girls-of-lahore-strike-over-taliban-law-1062907.html

Commentaries:

How a Real “War Within Islam” Would Look - by Andrew Bostom
http://www.andrewbostom.org/blog/2008/12/11/how-a-real-%E2%80%9Cwar-within-islam%E2%80%9D-would-look/

(Afghanistan) Time: “Before he sends another U.S. soldier off to
die or be maimed in Afghanistan, President-elect Obama needs
to deliver the blunt message to the leaders of Pakistan and
Afghanistan that we will no longer tolerate their complicity in the
deaths of Americans and our allies, a slaughter that began on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, and continues to this day”
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1865730,00.html?xid=rss-world
-— Comment: But Time article fails to identify the ideology of Islamic supremacism as the root problem
-— See also regarding “our allies”:
-—— December 9, 2008: Afghanistan ready to accept mediation with Taliban from Muslim countries
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1959173&Language=en
-—— December 1, 2008: Pakistan’s The News - Army official calls Baitullah Mehsud, Fazlullah ‘patriots’
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=18709
-—— November 26, 2008: Karzai Offers Taliban Leader Mullah Omar ‘Protection’ For Peace
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20081126\ACQDJON200811261221DOWJONESDJONLINE000762.htm&selected=9999&selecteddisplaysymbol=9999&StoryTargetFrame=_top&mkt=WORLD&chk=unchecked&lang=&link=&headlinereturnpage=http://www.international.na
-—— November 25, 2008: Karzai: “If there is no deadline, we have the
right to find another solution for peace and security, which is negotiations”
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/25/asia/AS-Afghan-UN.php
-—— November 24, 2008: Karzai: Talks With Taliban Are The Only Solution To The Conflict In Afghanistan
http://www.thememriblog.org/urdupashtu/blog_personal/en/11611.htm
-—— November 23, 2008: CNN: “Obama promises Afghanistan more aid”
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/23/afghanistan.karzai.obama/index.html
-—— October 17, 2008 - Jihad and the “Reconciliation” with Islamic Supremacism
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/109.html
-—— October 15, 2008 - Christian Science Monitor: Some Afghans live under Taliban rule – and prefer it
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1015/p01s01-wosc.html
-—— October 3, 2008: Karzai proposes Mulla Umar to return to Afghanistan
http://www.geo.tv/10-3-2008/26156.htm
-—— August 1, 2008 - Pakistan and Delusions about Negotiating on Jihad
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/095.html
-—— June 10, 2008 - Pakistan and the Growing Threat of a Sharia Mini-State
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/087.html
-—— Pakistan Public Polls on Support for Sharia
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/sources_reconciliation.html#Pakistan_Sharia

Against Nazi News:

(U.S.) White Supremacist Leader Indicted on Federal Charges for Threats, Witness Intimidation
— “William White, the self-proclaimed commander of the neo-Nazi group
the American National Socialist Workers Party, was charged with five
counts of communicating threats in interstate commerce, one count of
communicating an extortionate threat in interstate commerce and one count of witness intimidation”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,465684,00.html

Nazi hunters fault Australia, Hungary for inaction
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728164172&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

__._,_.___

If reposting elsewhere, please credit source of this research as UnitedStatesAction.com

Thanks for the link to Bostom’s “War Within Islam” article which includes a link to filmmaker Sean Langan’s account during his three month captivity.

Outstanding work, granny.

December 12, 2008 Anti-Terrorism News - UnitedStatesAction.com

Pakistan not to hand over its citizens to India
— “decided at a meeting of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani here on Friday”
http://www.geo.tv/12-12-2008/30556.htm

Pakistan seeks evidence against Mumbai suspects
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_99

Pakistan says crackdown on militants launched to avoid terrorist label
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1959583&Language=en
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Crackdown_to_avoid_terror_state_tag_Pakistan/articleshow/3828607.cms
-— LeT’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa ban averted Pak being declared terrorist country: Defense Minister, Ahmad Mukhtar
—— Pakistan DM Mukhtar reportedly tells media: “Pakistan
could fight against enemy, but it is not possible to go on war against the entire world.”
http://www.geo.tv/12-12-2008/30550.htm

(Pakistan) Countrywide crack down against LeT’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa continues
http://www.geo.tv/12-12-2008/30532.htm

Pakistan PM Gilani admits links between Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa
-— Gilani: “the two groups have the same leadership.”
http://www.newsweek.com/id/173825

(Pakistan/Germany) Banning JuD not sufficient: Germany
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Banning_JuD_not_sufficient_Germany/articleshow/3829214.cms

(Pakistan/Germany) Lashkar-e-Taiba members (LeT) in Germany, interior minister says
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/245920,lashkar-e-taiba-members-in-germany-interior-minister-says.html

(Pakistan/Europe) Could Mumbai Attackers Have Europe in Their Sights?
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1865614,00.html?xid=rss-world

(Pakistan/U.S.) Senator Lugar: ‘US erred in not shutting down Lashkar, Jaish after 9/11’
http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/dec/11mumterror-us-erred-in-not-shutting-down-lashkar-after-911.htm
-— But Senator Lugar supports calls for negotiations with
Islamic supremacist Muslim Brotherhood by endorsing U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project Report
http://www.usmuslimengagement.org/storage/usme/documents/rgl_us_muslim_engagement_dear_colleague.pdf
http://www.usmuslimengagement.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=51
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/engagement_with_mb.html
-— Report calls for engagement with Islamic supremacist Muslim Brotherhood
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/engagement_with_mb.html#engage_mb
-— Report calls for considering discussions with Islamic supremacist Hamas and Hezbollah
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/engagement_with_mb.html#engage1

(Pakistan) Probe Mumbai blasts thoroughly: US
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Probe_Mumbai_blasts_thoroughly_US/articleshow/3829741.cms
— Comment: like Pakistan’s investigation of Rashid Rauf?

(Pakistan) Captured terrorist Kasab my son, says father in Pakistan
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Captured_terrorist_Kasab_my_son_Pakistani/articleshow/3827622.cms
-— Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab, aka Azam Amir Kasab,
Ajmal Amir Kasab, Azam Amir Kasav, Ajmal Amir Kasab, Ajmal Amin Kamal, Ajmal Amir Kasav

(Pakistan) NWFP: NATO containers attacks’ investigation underway
http://www.geo.tv/12-12-2008/30545.htm
-— Planner of attacks on NATO supplies arrested? Taliban’s Musatafa Kamal Kamran Hijrat
—— Peshawar police dismiss as “gossip”
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\12\story_12-12-2008_pg7_19

Bangladesh Islamist party pledges military training in seminaries
— Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami seeks military training in madrassas
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-59413.html

(India) Mumbai police get Fahim Ansari’s custody
-— Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Fahim Ansari
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Mumbai_police_get_Fahim_Ansaris_custody_/articleshow/3829516.cms

(India) Manipur: Three militants shot dead in India
— “People’s United Liberation Front” (PULF)
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1959551&Language=en

(Afghanistan) Gates Predicts ‘Sustained’ Afghan Mission
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/11/AR2008121103382.html?wprss=rss_world
-— October 6, 2008 - AP reported that U.S. Defense
Secretary Robert Gates “endorsed efforts to reach out
to members of the Taliban or other militants in Afghanistan
who may be considered reconcilable, much like what has happened in Iraq.”
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Oct06/0,4670,EUGatesAfghanistan,00.html
-— More on Gates and “reconciliation” with Islamic supremacist Taliban
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/109.html#Gates

Afghan troops losing support from locals
— NATO spokesman: “The insurgents however, seek to exploit
the civilian population, using them as human shields, causing
terror and destruction to their homes, infrastructure and livelihoods”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/3724570/Afghan-troops-losing-support-from-locals.html
-— October 15, 2008 - Christian Science Monitor: Some Afghans live under Taliban rule – and prefer it
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1015/p01s01-wosc.html

(Afghanistan) NATO: Forces kill 4 civilians in Afghanistan - bus refused to stop in Wardak
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/12/asia/AS-Afghan-Violence.php

(U.S.) Fort Dix jurors prepared for closing arguments
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20081212/NEWS01/812120345/1006/RSS01
— Closings set for Monday in Fort Dix plot trial
http://www.centredaily.com/news/local/crime_courts/story/1011532.html

(UK) Time to tackle the non-violent extremists, says Home Secretary Smith
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/11/counter-terrorism-strategy-extremists
-— yet fails to define “extremism” or address Islamic supremacism

UK Jury: Police failures led to death of Brazilian mistaken for terrorist
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728174173&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

(Iran) ‘Israel has reached the end of the road’
-— Iranian protestors “chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” as they demonstrated on streets leading to the Teheran University compound”
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728173271&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Iran accuses Barack Obama of ‘cowboy talk’
-— Ali Larijani: “We are proud of supporting Hizbollah since
they are defending their homeland and you are wrong in calling them terrorists.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3711108/Iran-accuses-Barack-Obama-of-cowboy-talk.html

(Israel) 2 Kassam rockets hit western Negev
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728172230&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

(Israel) Report: ‘US spies on Israel to gain info on its atomic capabilities’
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728174058&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

(Yemen) ‘Muslim extremist kills Yemeni Jew’
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728172536&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
-— Moshe Yaish Nahari killed in Riydah

(U.S./Somalia) Minneapolis: Teen disappears: ‘Mom, I’m in Somalia’
— 17-year-old Burhan Hassan
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/12/minneapolis.somalis/index.html?eref=ib_topstories

(Somalia) ‘Thousands’ desert Somalia forces
— BBC: “More than 80% of Somalia’s soldiers and police have
deserted, some taking weapons, uniforms and vehicles, the UN says”
— “head of the UN monitoring group on Somalia, Dumisani
Kumalo, said Islamist insurgents got many of their weapons and ammunition from the deserters”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7779525.stm

Sudan: Gunmen kill leader of Darfur camp
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.2806501521
— 3 policemen, others die in attack in Darfur
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/12/africa/AF-Sudan-Darfur-Attack.php

Turkey keeping military option against Kurds: minister
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081212/wl_afp/mexicoturkeykurdsmilitarypolitics_081212041332;_ylt=AkPXXWcYi6qswuj_cZDYlND7SpZ4

(Belgium) 6 Suspected Al Qaeda-Linked Extremists Charged in Belgium
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,465855,00.html
-— Woman who preached jihad on internet charged with five other ‘al Qaeda militants’ over suicide plot to kill EU leaders
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1093876/Woman-preached-jihad-internet-charged-al-Qaeda-militants-suicide-plot-kill-EU-leaders.html?ITO=1490

(Belgium) Antwerp: The Jihadis of Antwerp North (1)
http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2008/12/antwerp-jihadis-of-antwerp-north-1.html
-— Antwerp: Youth leave for Jihad training in Pakistan
http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2008/12/antwerp-youth-leave-for-jihad-training.html

(Germany) Prosecutor: Computer terrorists now key part of Islamist network
— Monika Harms: “The desk man in front of a personal computer has become an essential component of the global jihad”
— DPA qualifies her comments adding “referring to the Arabic term for ‘struggle.’”
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/245932,prosecutor-computer-terrorists-now-key-part-of-islamist-network.html

(Spain) Dissident ETA prisoners moved to Basque jails: report
http://www.expatica.com/es/news/local_news/Dissident-ETA-prisoners-moved-to-Basque-jails_-report.html

(Europe) Der Spiegel: Anarchists in Europe - What Unites the Stone-Throwing Black Bloc?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,595938,00.html
-— Greek Youths Also Angry at Govt’s Fiscal Policies
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=6447235

(Philippines) Metro bomb plot bared
— MILF’s Guiamalodin Edsrafil arrested
-—”Moro Islamic Liberation Front planning to carry out bomb attacks in key cities around the country”
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20081212-177647/Metro-bomb-plot-bared
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/139163/PNP-Arrested-MILF-member-was-out-to-carry-out-Manila-bombings
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAN124618.htm

(Philippines) UN: Muslim rebels agree to end use of child soldiers
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/7f01c65d06dce5276887d45369261f20.htm

(Philippines) Senator Pimentel hails plan to create advisory panel on talks with MILF
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/139089/Pimentel-hails-plan-to-create-advisory-panel-on-talks-with-MILF

Indonesia: Muslim separatists jailed for five years
— Suganda, Dedi Mulyadi, Dede Suparman
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=3.0.2806501703
Indonesia: Southeast Asian Informant Taken Off UN Terror List
— Jemaah Islamiyah’s Nasir Abbas,
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/19206?tid=37

China downplays attack on French embassy website
http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/local_news/China-downplays-cyber-attack-on-French-embassy-website-.html

(North Korea) French Doctor: Kim Jong Il Did Have a Stroke
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,465853,00.html

(Colombia) Betancourt urges Dutch government to talk to FARC Terrorist Group
http://www.expatica.com/nl/news/local_news/Betancourt-urges-Dutch-government-to-talk-to-FARC.html

(Colombia) France takes in first Colombian ex-rebel
— former FARC terror group member
http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/local_news/France-takes-in-first-Colombian-ex_rebel.html

Commentaries:

Jihad Made in the USA — by Patrick Poole
— “Incredibly, jihadist recruiting events in America have long been ignored by government and media.”
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/somalis-leaving-us-for-jihad/

Stop pampering Pakistan’s military — by Brahma Chellaney
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20081212/cm_csm/ychellaney_1

Let us be Realistic about relations with Pakistan - by Prem Prakash
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-59561.html

Other News:

(Pakistan) Rawalpindi: ‘Honour’ killing accused remanded in police custody
— Mustafa Syed charged with killing ex-fiancee Rizwana Juanjua for exercising free will
— she “feared that her family might kill her in the name of honour”
http://www.dawn.com/2008/12/12/top18.htm

“Pakistan to uphold human rights: Zardari”
http://www.dawn.com/2008/12/12/top16.htm
-—— August 1, 2008 - Pakistan and Delusions about Negotiating on Jihad
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/095.html
-—— June 10, 2008 - Pakistan and the Growing Threat of a Sharia Mini-State
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/087.html
-—— Pakistan Public Polls on Support for Sharia
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/sources_reconciliation.html#Pakistan_Sharia
——— See Also: December 10, 2008: Human Rights, Islamic Supremacism, and our Responsibilities
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/119.html

“Islam: The way of life of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad”
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023896.php
-— South Florida Muslims use bus ads, hotline to counter “Obsession” DVD campaign
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023894.php
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2008/12/south_florida_muslims_use_bus.php

Islamic supremacist terrorists gush over CNN coverage
— ‘Defeat for Christians,’ proof Islam ‘will shine all over the world’ gush over CNN coverage
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83407

Japan moves carefully toward Islamic finance
http://islamicfinanceupdates.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/japan-moves-carefully-toward-islamic-finance/

Saudi Arabia may be making more than just peace with the Taliban.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/173828

(Israel/Belgium) Haaretz: “Far-right Belgian party Vlaams Belang says invited to Jerusalem meet”
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1046051.html

(U.S.) Washington Post: “Pentagon May Have Mixed Propaganda With PR”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/11/AR2008121103319.html
-— Comment: according to Washington Post, an unapologetic propaganda arm for Islamic supremacists
-—— June 20, 2007: Washington Post - Engage With Hamas - We Earned Our Support - by Ahmed Yousef
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/19/AR2007061901736.html?sub=AR
—— Washington Post: Hezbollah Supporter - Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah - Muslims Speak Out
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/muslims_speak_out/2007/07/sayyed_fadlallah.html

Propaganda:

(Saudi Arabia) Saudi Gazette: “Efforts in human rights exemplary, says HRC “
-— states “[t]he Kingdom’s efforts and contributions in protecting
human rights have been widely praised by the concerned international organizations and institutions”
-— boasts over Islamic supremacist Kingdom of Saudi Arabia support for “human rights”
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2008121224123
—— Ignores Saudi “abstention” in support of Universal Declaration on Human Rights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights#History
-—— see also:
——— December 10, 2008: Human Rights, Islamic Supremacism, and our Responsibilities
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/119.html

(Saudi Arabia) VIDEO: Call for dialogue on Islam - Saudi King Abudallah during Mecca coverage by CNN
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/12/12/nasr.islam.internal.dialogue.cnn
-— November 12, 2008: Saudis in move to improve image of Islam
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4bd05afa-b03b-11dd-a795-0000779fd18c.html
— November 13, 2008: Saudi King Abdullah “advocating peace, justice and tolerance as the key Islamic values”
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\11\13\story_13-11-2008_pg7_1
— November 15, 2008: Bush: Changing your religion is a right
—— “Addressing the UN General Assembly, he said that
the UN Declaration of Human Rights, adopted 60 years ago,
enshrines ‘the right to choose or change religions and the right to worship in private or public.’”
—— “European speakers stressed the supremacy of
individual human rights in speeches that amounted to veiled criticism of Muslim governments.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/3454228/Bush-Changing-your-religion-is-a-right.html
— November 18, 2008: Saudi Arabia: Asian immigrant forced to clean mosques for ‘skipping prayers’
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=3.0.2720941512

(Saudi Arabia) Middle East Online: “Jihadis doing mea-culpa as Riyadh preaches anti-terrorism”
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=29177
-— “However, Hamza Wahid Hashem, political science professor
at the University of King Abdel Aziz, said that extremism is inherent in Saudi society”

Financial Times: “Islamists are questioning the merits of their embrace of the political process”
-— Roula Khalaf portrays Islamic supremacist Muslim Brotherhood as “moderate”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fbb33f82-c7b5-11dd-b611-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
http://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/roulakhalaf
-— May 28, 2005 - Roula Khalaf: US should open dialogue with Islamists
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0f03208a-cee4-11d9-8cb5-00000e2511c8,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0f03208a-cee4-11d9-8cb5-00000e2511c8.html&_i_referer=

Against Nazi News:

Germany gets go-ahead to prosecute ‘Ivan the Terrible’ in last Nazi trial
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/3724126/Germany-gets-go-ahead-to-prosecute-Ivan-the-Terrible-in-last-Nazi-trial.html

__._,_.___

If reposting elsewhere, please credit source of this research as UnitedStatesAction.com

http://dallas.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel08/dl121208.htm

For Immediate Release
December 12, 2008 FBI Dallas
Contact: Special Agent Mark White
(972) 559-5000

Suspicious White Powder Letters Received Around the United States

Since Monday, letters containing a note and suspicious white powder have been received by the offices of more than 30 governors across the country, said Robert E. Casey, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Dallas FBI.

The white powder in each of these letters has been field screened and the tests have met with negative results. The powder has been forwarded to local laboratories for further testing. The FBI has contacted the governors’ offices to be on the lookout for additional letters.

To date, all letters have been postmarked from Texas. It’s likely there will be more. These letters are all similar in nature.

Sending a hoax letter is serious and can have severe consequences. This is a great drain on each city’s response teams.

This investigation is being conducted by the FBI and United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

Anyone with information on who may be sending these letters is requested to contact the FBI, USPIS, or local law enforcement.

If you receive a letter, please notify the FBI and your local authorities. Information on how to handle a suspicious package can be found on www.fbi.gov.

http://dallas.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel08/dl120508.htm

For Immediate Release
December 5, 2008 Richard B. Roper, U.S. Attorney
Northern District of Texas
Contact: (214) 659-8600

Arrests Dismantle Cocaine and Methamphetamine Trafficking Organization in
Abilene, Texas
Defendants Arrested are Members of the West Texas Puro Tango Blast Prison Gang

ABILENE, TX—Ten members of the West Texas Puro Tango Blast prison gang allegedly involved in a major cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking organization operating in the Abilene, Texas, area, and throughout North Texas, were arrested without incident this morning by federal, state and local law enforcement officers in an early morning round-up, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. The arrests were made in the Abilene area as well as in Brownsville, Arlington, and Corpus Christi, Texas.

Two additional alleged members of that organization are already in custody on related charges; another alleged member is a fugitive. All 13 defendants are charged in a 13-count federal indictment returned in Lubbock last month and unsealed this morning.

U.S. Attorney Roper said, “Today’s enforcement action, the culmination of a nearly two year investigation, has effectively shut down a dangerous drug trafficking organization operating in Abilene. Once again, an operation such as this demonstrates the commitment of federal, state and local law enforcement to work together to aggressively address drug dealing and take the profit out of illegal narcotics sales.”

“Today marks the culmination of a successful two year investigation into the criminal activity of the west Texas Puro Tango Blast prison gang,” said Robert E. Casey, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas FBI. Casey continued, “This collaborative effort on the part of the federal government and local law enforcement to aggressively deal with drug, gun and violent gang activity here in West Texas continues to achieve positive results. The FBI remains committed to the disruption and dismantlement of these organized violent gangs through the continued multi-agency Task Force concept. I would specifically like to thank the efforts of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Abilene Police Department, Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, Stephens County Sheriff’s Office, Arlington Police Department, Brownsville Police Department, Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Security Threat Group, West Central Texas Inter-Local Task Force, U.S. Marshal’s Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.”

Those defendants arrested this morning are:

Ricardo Valdiviez, a/k/a “Ricky,” 24, Brownsville, Texas
Ramiro Olivo, a/k/a “Burrito,” 28, of Arlington, Texas
Steven Ildefonso Flores, 33, of Abilene, Texas
Larry Villareal, 32, of Abilene, Texas
Serafin Moreno, a/k/a “Serf,” 31, of Corpus Christi, Texas
Eric Tonche, a/k/a “Quat,” 27, of Abilene, Texas
Jacob Adam Garcia, a/k/a “Little Jake,” 25, of Abilene, Texas
Lorenzo Barela, 29, of Abilene, Texas
Rolando Solis, 27, of Abilene Texas
Jennifer Grace Cortez, 26, of Abilene, Texas

Defendant Fidel Hernandez Gomez, a/k/a “Gordo,” 44, an illegal alien who resided in Abilene, is already in custody on federal charges and defendant Joe Anthony Diaz, 26, of Abilene, Texas, is in custody on state charges.

Defendant David Rodriguez, 34, a/k/a “Super Dave,” remains a fugitive.

James L. Capra, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Dallas Division, said “The arrests and seizures made today will significantly impact and disrupt this large scale drug trafficking organization. Today’s actions of determined federal, state and local agencies ensure that our communities will be safer. Illegal drugs do not discriminate, and they attack the very core of our society. The people of the Abilene area need to know that we are committed to serving this fine community and we will be relentless in our efforts to ensure that our communities continue to be safe and a great place to live and raise children.”

All of the defendants will make their initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Abilene, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Philip R. Lane, on Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

Defendants Ricardo Valdiviez, David Rodriguez, Ramiro Olivo, Steven Ildefonso Flores, Joe Anthony Diaz, Larry Villareal, Serafin Moreno, Eric Tonche, Jacob Adam Garcia, and Jennifer Grace Cortez are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

Defendants Fidel Hernandez Gomez, Ramiro Olivo, Steven Ildefonso Flores, Larry Villareal, Serafin Moreno, Eric Tonche, Jacob Adam Garcia, and Rolando Solis, are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Several of the defendants are also charged in substantive counts and defendants Eric Tonche and Lorenzo Barela are also charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Defendant Rolando Solis is also charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

The indictment alleges that participants in the conspiracy, as members and associates of the West Texas Puro Tango Blast criminal organization, distributed, and possessed with intent to distribute, cocaine and methamphetamine. They would acquire large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine, transport it to various locations, and then store it at various locations.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. However, if convicted, each of the defendants, with the exception of Lorenzo Barela, faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison and a fine of up to $4 million. Barela, who is not currently charged in the conspiracy, faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

While stating the investigation is ongoing, U.S. Attorney Roper praised the excellent investigative efforts of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), FBI, DEA, Texas Department of Public Safety, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, West Central Texas Interlocal Crime Task Force, Abilene Police Department, Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, Stephens County Sheriff’s Office, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Security Threat Group Gang Intelligence Unit.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cody L. Skipper of the Lubbock, Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office.