Free Republic

Algerian radical spills beans on bin Laden "terror network" An Algerian Islamic radical arrested in France has proved a goldmine for investigators probing Osama bin Laden's militant network in Europe in the wake of the September 11 attacks, magistrates told AFP. French investigators now believe that after key testimonies from a handful of well placed members of bin Laden's al-Qaeda network the exiled Saudi extremist's secret organisation in Europe is unravelling fast. Since his arrest in Paris last Monday 27-year-old Yacine Aknouche has revealed his links with several al-Qaeda suspects including "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged "20th...

MONTREAL (CP) - The family of accused terrorist collaborator Mourad Ikhlef said Monday they fear for his life after he went missing following his deportation to Algeria. Ikhlef, who was flown to Algiers from Montreal on Friday, had claimed he might be killed if he were sent back to his North African homeland. An official with the federal Immigration Department, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Ikhlef's deportation on Monday, adding the department didn't know his whereabouts. "I don't know what the situation is," said the official. "I'm not even going to speculate why he hasn't shown." Ikhlef's brother,...

Nancy Soderberg, a former Ambassador to the United Nations and Foreign Policy Advisor under the Clinton administration, repeated the often-heard myth that President Clinton prevented Millennium attacks on the United States. Soderberg made the debunked claim as a guest on tonight's episode of The O'Reilly Factor (Thursday, February 9, 2006).Soderberg's claim would refer to the arrest of terrorist Ahmed Ressam at the U.S-Canada border on December 14, 1999. It was later learned that Ressam planned to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on or around New Year's Day 2000. Clinton defenders have often falsely cited this incident as evidence that...

The Algerian terrorist who plotted to blow up Los Angeles International Airport at the height of New Year celebrations five years ago was sentenced to 22 years in prison on Wednesday. Defence lawyers had asked for 12½ years for Ahmed Ressam, 38, while prosecutors wanted 35 years. Mr Ressam, who had briefly co-operated with authorities in tracking down other terrorists, said nothing in court, but Thomas Hillier, a federal public defender, said his client had given John Coughenour, a US district judge, a note prior to the sentencing. The note, according to Mr Hillier, said: “I am sorry for what...

The Associated Press has obtained an image of an explosives containment chamber, used to test nuclear weapons, from Iran. An IAEA inspector has confirmed the image's authenticity. The image was provided to The Associated Press by an official of a country tracking Iran's nuclear program who said the drawing proves the structure exists, despite Tehran's refusal to acknowledge it. The official said he could not discuss the drawing's origins beyond that it was based on information from a person who had seen the chamber at the Parchin military site, adding that going into detail would endanger the life of that...

U.S. and Yemeni officials say the supposed would-be bomber at the heart of an al-Qaida airliner plot was actually an informant working for the CIA. The revelation, first reported by The Los Angeles Times, shows how the CIA was able to get its hands on a sophisticated underwear bomb well before an attack was set in motion. Officials say the informant was working for the CIA and Saudi Arabian intelligence when he was given the bomb. He then turned the device over to authorities. Officials say the informant is safely out of Yemen. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity...

TSA Unable To Detect 33% Of Land Mines Sent Through Security A mechanical engineer from the Army's Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey was stopped by TSA officers at Newark Airport after they found two Claymore mines in her bag. This would be a victory for the TSA had they not just let the woman's co-worker through with a similar mine in their checked baggage. Which government agency deserves your scorn, the one whose employees tried to bring anti-personnel mines (even inert ones) on a plane or the one whose employees didn't detect a third of them?

NEWARK, NJ (CBS SF) — A New Jersey woman headed to San Francisco International Airport was briefly detained Tuesday after Transportation Security Administration screeners found explosive devices inside a suitcase she had checked for the flight, federal authorities told CBS San Francisco. TSA explosives experts said the woman’s luggage contained three small Claymore land mine casings, two of which were “packed with shrapnel.” .. ... TSA and local police confiscated the weapons, but allowed the woman – identified only as a resident of Union, New Jersey – to travel on a later flight to San Francisco.

It may take explosives to dislodge the frozen carcasses of a small herd of cows found in an old ranger's cabin high in the Rocky Mountains.

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.ice.gov/news/releases/1204/120420detroit.htm APRIL 20, 2012 DETROIT, MI Second Michigan man arrested in explosives investigation Suspected of possessing more than two tons of bomb-making materials SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – A second man suspected to be involved in an explosives investigation was arrested Thursday by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and deputies with the Chippewa County Sherriff's Department. Kenneth Kassab, 53, of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., was taken into custody without incident Thursday on charges related to the...

Yes, there is a right way to blow up an animal carcass This, according to the US Forest Service document entitled "Obliterating Animal Carcasses with Explosives," is the right way. See those rectangles? Those represent sticks of dynamite. Their placement demonstrates how they should be positioned in order to achieve what the document calls "total obliteration." Pro-tip: The diagram up top illustrates how to explode a carcass when it needs to be eliminated quickly and absolutely. Under less urgent circumstances, the explosive placement illustrated below (corresponding to "partial obliteration") should suffice. Pro-tip #2: In some cases, it is probably best...

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 20, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and resident of Lubbock, Texas, was arrested late yesterday by FBI agents in Texas on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in connection with his alleged purchase of chemicals and equipment necessary to make an improvised explosive device (IED) and his research of potential U.S. targets. The arrest and the criminal complaint, which was unsealed in the Northern District of Texas, were announced by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; James T. Jacks, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas; and Robert...

HELSINKI (AP) — A British-registered ship that was held in a Finnish port after authorities discovered 69 surface-to-air missiles and 160 tons of explosives onboard has permission to travel again, but without those materials or its captain, a port official said Monday. The M/S Thor Liberty was headed to China and had docked in the southern Finnish port of Kotka to pick up anchor chains when police last week discovered and seized the missiles and explosive piric acid on board. The Patriot missiles were an official shipment from Germany to South Korea, while Finnish authorities said the explosives were a...

EXCLUSIVE: You've heard this shocking "fact" before -- on TV and radio, in newspapers, on the Internet and from the highest politicians in the land: 90 percent of the weapons used to commit crimes in Mexico come from the United States. -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it to reporters on a flight to Mexico City. -- CBS newsman Bob Schieffer referred to it while interviewing President Obama. -- California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said at a Senate hearing: "It is unacceptable to have 90 percent of the guns that are picked up in Mexico and used to shoot judges,...

A 26-year-old Massachusetts man was arrested and charged today in connection with a plot to attack the Pentagon and the Capitol, the Justice Department announced.  Rezwan Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen, is accused of planning to use a remote-controlled aircraft filled with explosives to attack the buildings. He was also charged with attempting to provide support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization — specifically al-Qaida, the organization behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I know what you're thinking, PC police: "That's unfair, you Islamophobe!  Just because his name is Rezwan doesn't mean he's a Muslim, or that his planned attacks were...

BALI bomber Umar Patek was seeking a meeting with Osama bin Laden when he was arrested a few kilometres from the al-Qa'ida chief's hideout. The arrest in Abbottabad of Patek, the last major figure who was still at large for the 2002 Bali attacks that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, has raised a critical question: did Patek give vital information to the mission to kill bin Laden, or did his arrest by Pakistani intelligence risk upsetting the American operation? Patek was arrested on January 25, nine days after stopping in the mountain garrison town on his way to meet...

Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, after raising suspicions at a Killeen, Texas, gun shop where he purchased six pounds of gunpowder and several boxes of shotgun shells, was in police custody in Killeen on Thursday, accused of plotting to kill fellow soldiers in a frightening reprise of the November 2009 massacre at Fort Hood. Abdo, 21, who grew up in Garland outside of Dallas, was close to pulling off a "terror plot" in which the intended target was troops based at Fort Hood, said Killeen Police Chief Dennis Baldwin. "We would probably be here today giving you a different briefing had...

SNIPPET: "Note: PWP stands for PassWord-Protected, meaning that a login is required to view - let alone participate in - discussions. Since some in the audience don't understand the significance of this, allow me to spell it out: if only members can read the forum, then anyone observed reading the forum is a member. They have zero deniability (they couldn't have accidentally "wandered into" the site), and they had to make the effort to join (an expression of intent). While the goal here is to present a range of sites, the fact is that the jihadis themselves have largely coalesced...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Militants are showing renewed interest in using a surgically implanted bomb to blow up a commercial flight, though there is no indication an attack is imminent, a U.S. security official said on Wednesday, citing new intelligence. U.S. authorities have warned their counterparts abroad as well as air carriers about the new information and were taking steps to boost security. "The Department of Homeland Security has identified a potential threat from terrorists who may be considering surgically implanting explosives or explosive components in humans to conduct terrorist attacks," the advisory to foreign counterparts said, according to the U.S....

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Authorities found al Qaeda-related statements, a backpack containing ammonium nitrate, and spent 9mm shells Friday after stopping a suspicious vehicle close to the Pentagon and arresting a man, ABC's "Good Morning America" reported. Pentagon Police arrested one person Friday and closed several roads around the US Department of Defense headquarters after officers stopped a suspicious vehicle and discovered a backpack believed to contain ammonium nitrate, FOX News Channel reported. The vehicle was stopped about 6:00am local time Friday. Police were searching for one, or possibly two, other people who fled the vehicle when it was stopped by...