PINELLAS PARK - Firefighters called in a hazardous materials team early this morning after putting out a fire in a storage trailer that contained radioactive material. Police reported a fire just before 1:30 a.m. at Driggers Engineering Service, 12220 49th St. N.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze quickly but called for extra help when they found a box labeled "radioactive material" in the debris. Investigators are assessing the materials. The trailer was unoccupied, and no one was hurt in the fire.
extremist terror suspect arrested(Spain)
March 5, 2009
3-Column Format MADRID: Spanish police have arrested a Moroccan man wanted on suspicion of belonging to an Islamic terror group that had allegedly prepared attacks on government and tourism targets in the North African kingdom, the Interior Ministry said Thursday.
The 21-year-old arrested Tuesday is accused of belonging to a cell that was broken up in Morocco in September, the ministry said in a statement that did not give his name. Moroccan authorities say the suspect allegedly proposed that the cell also commit attacks in Spain, the ministry said. Spanish police arrested him on international warrant that Morocco issued last month.
The suspect is accused of links with a group called Fath al-Andalus. After it was broken up with the arrest of 15 people late last summer, the official Moroccan news agency MAP quoted police as saying the cell had "operational links with foreign extremists belonging to al-Qaida."
Excerpted
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/05/europe/EU-Spain-Terror-Arrest.php
Dr. Nagaratnam Ranjithan has spent decades building a thriving medical practice in Maryland as a kidney specialist. Federal authorities say he has also helped finance Asian death squads.
Two weeks ago, the U.S. Treasury Department froze the assets of Ranjithan’s Tamil Foundation, alleging that the money he has raised for Sri Lanka has actually gone to help the Tamil Tigers, a group that the State Department says is a terrorist organization. The Tigers have been blamed for thousands of civilian deaths.
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http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/Experts-DC-fertile-ground-for-financing-of-terrorism-40578482.html
Des Moines police report suspicious activity on airplane
March 4, 2009
Security officials say they found something suspicious Tuesday night while cleaning a plane at the Des Moines Airport. Maintenance staff found a 9-volt battery in one of the seats on the plane, ASA Delta Connection flight 5318. The bottom of the battery had been taken off and one of the cells was pulled up, police said.
The battery was tagged as evidence, placed in a bag and stored in a locker as investigators try to figure it out. Police were called to take a report about 10:30 p.m.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090304/NEWS/90304005/1001