Well, I'm going offline now. Will be out of the office tomorrow. Gotta pick up a truck I bought and get the title transfered and tagged and all that unfun stuff.
This weekend is octoberfest, a camping party. Lots of fun.
Have to work this Sunday so I'll be back then. Stay safe everyone.
Terrorism Summary 10/07/04The fast pace of breaking events as I finish this up suggests that this might be a busy weekend for terrorists. The WOT continues in spite of nay-sayers. There are currently three ‘HOT’ spots in the world – Iraq, Australia, and Afganistan – all due to impending elections. Tension continues in the US as our election cycle moves towards election day too. The today’s attacks on hotels in Bagdad and the Egyptian Sinai could be part of a developing series of attacks threatened by Zarqwai earlier last month. Let me know if you want on or off the Ping list.
Current National Homeland Defense threat level is YELLOW
10/7/04 Local Threat Level ORANGE for NYC, N. New Jersey, D.C No Change since 8/1/04
1. Attack threat windows
10/4/04 Primary Window: We are now 27 days away from election day and if AQ is intending to attack before Nov 2, their window of opportunity is rapidly closing.
10/7/04 A tip on or about 9/8/04 to the DHS referred to a Sept. 24 to Oct. 10 window for a potential attack in NYC using a fuel truck. We are now IN this subwindow with 3 days left.. Just for the record, the second presidential debate will be held Oct 8th.
10/7/04 The American Computer Scientists Assoc (ACSA) put out a press release dated 9/25/04, indicating that Oct 6 & 7th would be likely days for an AQ attack to occur if it is to be successful in influencing the American elections. The 6th has quietly passed and currently the only significant action is a minor attack on a hotel in the Green zone in Bagdad.
10/7/04 With the approach of Ramadan (October 15/16 – Nov 12) discussion is beginning to turn to the potential for terror during that time frame especially since U.S. elections are during Ramadan. Terror timed to the holy month of Ramadan in 2003 struck the International Red Cross in Baghdad, a housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey. Analysts see another temptation for terrorists: exploiting a symbolic date in Muslim history -- a date many in the West don't know of. Within Ramadan you have the anniversary of the Battle of Badr, which was the first jihad that took place in 624 and the commanding general of the underdog Muslims that were fighting the war was Mohammed himself. The anniversary of the Battle of Badr falls on almost the same day as the U.S. election.
Secondary window: (10/7/04) This window could potentially be extended to Inauguration Day in January 2005. I would consider this period a high risk for potential assassination attempts on the new administration, especially if Bush wins reelection.
2. Attack Indicators
10/4/04 There is still anticipation of an OBL video/audio tape to soon appear. However, there is some speculation that it may come out AFTER the attack in order to allow him to gloat.
3. Current Terrorist Operations
International Airlines
10/5/04 Over the past week and a half, false bomb threats have forced at least half a dozen flights to make emergency landings in Europe and the US, frightening passengers, tangling schedules and costing airlines big money.
Iraq
10/7/04 News and discussion on TM and other related sites has pointed out the complexity of the nature of combating the terrorists / guerrilla forces primarily in the Sunni Triangle – the most unstable part of Iraq. And the desperation of recent attacks shows that we are winning. I’ve collected some article excerpts to provide a little more information on this.
The U.S. military is fighting the most complex guerrilla war in its history, with 140,000 American soldiers trained for conventional warfare flailing against a thicket of insurgent groups with competing aims and no supreme leader. The three dozen or so guerrilla bands agree on little beyond forcing the Americans out of Iraq.
In other U.S. wars, the enemy was clear. In Vietnam, a visible leader — Ho Chi Minh — led a single army fighting to unify the country under socialism. But in Iraq, the disorganized insurgency has no single commander, no political wing and no dominant group.
U.S. troops can't settle on a single approach to fight groups whose goals and operations vary. And it's hard to sort combatants from civilians in a chaotic land where large parts of some communities support the insurgents and others are too afraid to risk their lives to help foreigners.
Beyond that, the estimated 20,000 insurgents have little in common, although groups have occasionally work together in temporary alliances of convenience. U.S. commanders describe the war as a "compound insurgency" sorted into four groups with different tactics and goals.
Three are made up of Sunni Muslims, almost all of whom are Iraqis. A fourth group is radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia, formed of Shiite Muslims, Iraq's largest social grouping.
The largest insurgent bloc is composed of Iraqi nationalists fighting to reclaim secular power lost when Saddam Hussein was deposed in April 2003.
The second is a growing faction of hardcore fighters aligned with terrorist groups, mainly that led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The U.S. military believes they want to turn Iraq into an anti-Western stronghold that would export Islamic revolution to other countries in the region. Bill Gertz writes: The goal of the Zarqawi network is to transform Iraq into a "hell" for Iraqis and foreigners residing there by keeping the war going and preventing a stable regime from emerging through elections. Zarqaqi’s group also wants to foment strife between Shia and Sunni Muslims.
A third group consists of conservative Iraqis who want to install an Islamic theocracy, but who stay away from terror tactics like car bombings and the beheading of hostages.
The fourth, al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, seeks to make the cleric the nationwide Shiite leader.
Ordinary criminals also pitch in on attacks when they are paid. And gangsters who abduct people regularly sell their hostages to terror groups, which have beheaded some.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&u=/ap/20041004/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_complex_insurgency_2&printer=1
Some of these militant groups fighting US-led troops in Iraq plan to unite under one umbrella and rein in sectarian attacks by loyalists of suspected Al Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, a Kuwaiti daily said Monday.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2004/October/focusoniraq_October39.xml§ion=focusoniraq
This unification appears to be an attempt to counter outside terrorists imported by Al-Zarqawi. It could well be that some of these ‘groups’ who oppose Zarqawi are the ones providing the US with intelligence of his safe houses and meetings with operatives. Other competing groups could also be included in the tips. Recently, some communiqués have been posted on TM that appear to be from representatives of this new coalition of terrorists.
10/7/04 This is an interesting article providing more insight into terror operations in Iraq as well as toward the Western world.
Georstrategy Direct - Subscription | 10/07/04 | Bill Gertz
Al Qaida-linked terrorist Abu Musab al Zarqawi is preparing to carry out a major terrorist attack in Europe or the United States, according to Iraqi intelligence sources. A report prepared by Iraqi intelligence agencies has uncovered new information about Zarqawi's Tawhid wa Jihad terrorist group, including the composition of his movement and his strategy and objectives.
Abu Musab al Zarqawi -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- The Iraqi report reveals that Zarqawi and his group continue to have close ties to Al Qaida, contrary to some European intelligence reports indicating Zarqawi is a competitor of Osama Bin Laden. The report stated that Zarqawi is working on a large operation to rival the September 11 terrorist attacks to be carried out in the United States or in Europe.
The attack will be carried out with the assistance of secret Zarqawi cells currently based in European cities and possibly even in the U.S.
The report was published Sept. 22 in the Iraqi newspaper Al Watan.
The report stated that Zarqawi's Tawhid wa Jihad has between 1,000 and 1,500 terrorists from Iraq and other Arab and Islamic nations. Among them are experts in use of explosives, grenade launchers, mortars and assault weapons.
Zarqawi has surrounded himself with a small, close circle of aides who have been with the group for years.
One of the members of the Zarqawi group was identified as Abu Ali, a rocket expert who was a military officer under Saddam Hussein's regime. A second close aide is Abu Muhammad, a former Lebanese soldier who is a specialist in explosives. Muhammad lived for a time in Denmark before the U.S. invasion.
Zarqawi's terror group operates in Fallujah and has nine commanders that are responsible for combat areas. The commander of Baghdad was identified as Umar Bazyani, who was recently arrested and has provided information on the terrorist network.
The northern commander is Husayn Salim and the Mosul commander is Abu Talat.
Zarqawi's deputy and chief is Abu-Mahdi al Shami, who is believed to be a Syrian.
According to the report, Zarqawi has 500 terrorists in Fallujah, 400 in Mosul, 60 in Al Anbar, 50 in Samara, 80 in Al Diyala province and 150 in Al Qaim near the Syrian border. Others are spread out in other cities.
The goal of the Zarqawi network is to transform Iraq into a "hell" for Iraqis and foreigners residing there by keeping the war going and preventing a stable regime from emerging through elections.
The group also wants to foment strife between Shia and Sunni Muslims.
Zarqawi admires Bin Laden but is not part of his formal Al Qaida network, the report stated. It also noted that U.S. intelligence agencies believed Zarqawi played a role in connecting Saddam's regime to Al Qaida, but that other intelligence sources believe the connections between Saddam and Al Qaida were direct and did not go through Zarqawi.
10/5/04 Militiamen fighting under the banner of radical Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are pumping themselves up with drugs before confronting coalition forces, according to U.S. military reports and State Department and Iraqi sources.
Although quelled in Najaf in August, the Mahdi's Army militia is still active around southern Iraq and continues to largely control the Baghdad slum known as Sadr City — the target of repeated U.S. military air raids and tank patrols.
"They give their suicide bombers barbiturates, and the amphetamines are for street fighters who are facing off with the U.S.," a State Department analyst said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20041005-022526-7903r.htm
10/5/04 U.S. forces confirmed the arrests of 80 Iranian fighters who had posed as regular Iraqis.
Last week Iran Focus reported the arrest of Nashaat Abd Ali Al-Hussaini an Iranian agent who was detained and later made startling revelations in his interrogation about the role of the Iranian embassy in Baghdad in the espionage and sabotage activities conducted by clerical regime.
Al-Hussaini’s also revealed that his handler was Mohammad Qorbani, a senior agent of the MOIS who is working under diplomatic cover in the Iranian embassy in Baghdad and who runs a large spy ring in Iraq.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and other state agencies have been sending more gunmen and weapons into Iraq in recent weeks in preparation for a “hot October”, according to sources in the Iranian government with a good knowledge of security issues.
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=418
Italy
10/7/04 No new developments.
Afghanistan - October 9 Elections
10/7/04 A LOUD explosion rattled the Afghan capital near the US Embassy and other diplomatic missions early today, and a US official said staff at the embassy were heading to an underground bunker built for emergencies.
Lieutenant-Commander Ken MacKillop, a spokesman for international peacekeepers, said it was not clear what caused the blast or if there were any casualties or damage. "We are alert and investigating," he said.
Heavily-armed US and Afghan troops sealed off the roads leading to the diplomatic area. Beth Lee, a spokeswoman for the US embassy, said staff had been ordered to take cover in an underground bunker. http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11009569%255E1702,00.html ^
10/6/04 Attackers set off a bomb as a convoy carrying Afghan President Hamid Karzai's vice presidential running-mate and other dignitaries passed along a road in northeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing one man and injuring five others, officials said. The vice-presidential hopeful, Ahmed Zia Massood, escaped unharmed.
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBRQAVBZZD.html
This incident has sparked some concern in TM in its similarity to an attack that killed Massood’s brother, the leader of the Northern Alliance, just before 9/11.
Pakistan
10/7/04 Pakistan announced a ban on religious and political gatherings nationwide after a bomb attack against Sunni Muslim radicals in a central city early Thursday killed at least 39 people and wounded about 100 others.
Police suspected it was a sectarian attack, and army troops were deployed to keep order in Multan, where about 2,000 angry Sunnis gathered outside a hospital where victims were taken, shouting "Shiites are infidels!" and slogans against the government.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&e=2&u=/ap/20041007/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_bomb
Israel
10/6/04 The warning issued by Prime Minister Sharon on Monday - that Israel is taking measures to protect itself from Iran - is the best news to come over the wires in weeks. This followed a statement, quoted last month in Maariv, from the prime minister's national security adviser, Giora Eiland, who said that Iran will reach the "point of no return" in its nuclear program by November. Zev Chafets, a former aide to another prime minister, Menachem Begin, noted in a recent column that "point of no return" was the same phrase that Begin used when he decided to launch, in 1981, a pre-emptive strike that destroyed the reactor at the center of Saddam's a-bomb program, Osirak. Begin's daring defense minister then was the same Ariel Sharon who is premier today.
http://www.nysun.com/article/2781
10/5/04 Israel killed Bashir ad-Dabbash, the chief military commander of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, in a airstrike Tuesday, the highest profile Israeli assassination for months. Another militant killed was Zarees Alareer, also a member of the Islamic Jihad. Islamic Jihad has vowed revenge for the attacks.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6419485
Four hours later a second strike killed two Fatah terrorists driving in the Jebalya camp, and another terrorist in car in Gaza City’s Shati camp.
Iran
10/6/04 Iran has produced "a few tons" of the gas needed to enrich uranium, a top nuclear official said Wednesday, confirming the country has defied international demands and taken a necessary step toward producing nuclear fuel - or nuclear weapons.
Uranium hexafluoride gas is the material that, in the next stage, is fed into centrifuges used to enrich uranium. Uranium enriched to a low level is used to produce nuclear fuel to generate electricity and enriched further can be used to manufacture atomic bomb.
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBYOHN8ZZD.html
Russia
10/5/04 At least 10 members of the al Qaeda terror network are active on Russian territory, the head of the FSB announced Tuesday.
Intelligence has linked al Qaeda with the separatist movement in Russia’s Muslim southern province in the past, and Moscow has cited al Qaeda’s alleged involvement in the separatist war when pressuring the West to extradite separatists who have asylum in Great Britain and the United States, in particular after the deadly spate terror attacks on Russian soil in August and September.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/10/05/alkaeda.shtml
England
10/6/04 Law-enforcement officials tell TIME that information from computer files seized with the group revealed plans for specific attacks in London, including "blowing up high-rise buildings housing multinational companies" by driving bomb-laden cars into underground garages. Other targets included the Heathrow Express, a rail line between the airport and London, and an unspecified synagogue. There were also plans for "hijacking a gasoline tanker and smashing it into a building." The British cell leader, Dhiren Barot—a.k.a. Issa al-Hindi—traveled to New York City in early 2001, according to The 9/11 Commission Report, "to case potential economic and 'Jewish' targets." U.S. officials hope to learn from the continuing investigation whether a sleeper cell remained in the U.S. to carry out these missions."
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101041011-708959,00.html
Syria
10/7/04 Syrian President Bashar Assad is offering to make peace with Israel and says he is ready to cooperate with the United States in stabilizing Iraq, a former senior State Department official said Wednesday.
"Something is going on in Syria and it is time for us to pay attention," said Martin Indyk, assistant secretary of state for the Near East and U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Clinton administration.
In a three-hour meeting with the Syrian president last month in Damascus, Indyk said he detected a "clear change" in Assad's views on a number of fronts.
On peacemaking, Assad offered to hold talks with Israel without preconditions, Indyk said, and had made several overtures to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that the latter rebuffed.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/485831.html
These actions follow Syria’s offer to send Iraqi nuclear scientists to Iran. Syrian response has makes one think Hmmmmm, a Libyan overture in anticipation of a Bush win in November?
10/7/04 The United States has stepped up pressure on Syria to halt its support for terrorists in Iraq.
Two senior U.S. officials recently visited Damascus to convey the message. During the visit, Assistant Defense Secretary Peter Rodman presented intelligence linking Syria to Iraqi terrorist groups.
Syria's government has denied any involvement in support for terrorists in Iraq.
Egypt
10/7/04 Explosions rocked three resort towns in Egypt near the Israeli border Thursday night, as a Jewish holiday was winding down. Security officials said that terrorists were behind at least one of the blasts.
The first explosion shook the Hilton hotel in the Taba resort, packed with vacationing Israelis, at around 10 p.m. An official at Taba Hospital in Egypt says at least 29 people have been killed and 114 injured in explosions on the Sinai Peninsula.
Israeli medics said they had transferred 22 wounded people to hospitals, but there were believed to be many more. Witnesses said there were people trapped under the ruins of the western side of the hotel. Two smaller blasts followed just hours later.
"I heard one very big explosion coming from Taba direction and then, after a while, I heard two smaller explosions from Nuweiba," near Ras al Shitan, human rights activist Abdel Raziq said by telephone.
The second explosion took place in Ras Hasatan (search), a tourist attraction popular among Israelis located about 15 miles south of Taba. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134806,00.html
On Sept. 9, the Israeli government urged citizens not to visit Egypt, citing a "concrete" terror threat to tourists in an area. The warning, issued by the counter-terrorism center in the Prime Minister's office, identified Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, where Taba is located, as the target of a potential attack.
Saudi Arabia
10/5/04 After a lull of nearly five months, Al Qaida has resumed targeting Western housing compounds in Saudi Arabia. Over the weekend, Saudi authorities reported a machine-gun attack of a Western compound in Riyad. There were no injuries reported and authorities failed to make any arrests. The attack took place on late Oct. 1 on the Seder Village compound in eastern Riyad. Several shots were fired toward the compound from a moving car.
N. Korea
10/7/04 Reportedly has 600 computer hackers ready to conduct cyber warfare.
S. Korea
10/5/04 Security concerns sparked by the deployment of South Korean troops to Iraq increased Monday, with both South Korean and U.S. military and government agencies at heightened states of alert.
Indonesia
10/7/04 Nothing new to report.
Central America
10/7/04 Nothing new to report.
France
10/7/04 The French government believes that two French journalists taken hostage in Iraq may have been taken to Syria with the connivance of authorities in Damascus. French officials would not comment officially yesterday but suspicions were confirmed by a senior politician and reported by the newspaper, Le Figaro, which employs one of the missing men.
It might now be easier for Paris to negotiate "state to state" with Syria than with small groups of hostage-takers with "changeable moods", the newspaper said http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=569535
10/4/04 French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has called a ministerial crisis meeting on two French journalists held hostage in Iraq as efforts to secure their release threatened to turn into a fiasco.
Raffarin summoned his top ministers after a row broke out between the government and two self-appointed negotiators whose parallel mediations on behalf of Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot collapsed at the weekend.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=596185§ion=news
10/6/04 Ten suspected Islamic militants, including one of Osama bin Laden's alleged associates, went on trial Wednesday in connection with the millennium plot to attack the Christmas market in the eastern French city of Strasbourg.
Eight of the suspects were on hand for the trial at the Paris criminal court. Another is detained in Britain while one who had been released pending trial did not appear in court. All are Algerians or French-Algerians.
http://www.houmatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041006/API/410060654
United States
10/5/04 McAllen TX had its third active link to terrorism with the MRE scandal at the Wornick Co. plant. Freeper TheLion reminded me that there were two other recent events. The first was the arrest of Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed at the airport after she illegally entered the country from Mexico. The second was the arrest of Atbin H. Forghan of Canton, Massachusetts, on a burglary charge. However, Forghan was later cleared of any terrorist related charges.
4. Attack method.
10/7/04 No real change in the preferred method of choice of AQ which are bombs - the bigger the better. With the exception of 9/11, car/truck bombs have been widely used. Stolen fuel / propane trucks seem to be high on LEA's radar. Hijacked airlines are still on AQ’s hit parade too.
Also of concern are assassinations and kidnappings / hostages. Both of these actions are relatively low tech and highly possible. Increasing uneasiness about potential attacks against schools.
5. Personnel
10/7/04 AQ is allegedly restoring its mid-level operatives to make up for losses. The degree of autonomy given these new operatives is unknown but likely highly dependent upon the status of OBL and his inner circle.
6. Significant meetings canceled:
10/74/04 No new cancellations.
7. Security has been heightened in specific cities
10/7/04 No significant change since 8/11/04. NYC, N. NJ and D.C. are still at threat level ORANGE and DHS continues to review the threat towards these potential targets daily. Specifically identified targets include the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in D.C.; Prudential Financial in Northern New Jersey; and Citigroup buildings and the New York Stock Exchange in New York. I don't look for any change in the status of these locations until after the inauguration at the earliest.
GENERAL: Ongoing work to upgrade security at sea ports and airports.
8. Military operations.
10/7/04 3 carrier groups deployed (CV-67 Kennedy, CV-63 Kitty Hawk, CVN-74 Stennis), 1 is on standby and preparing for October deployment (Abraham Lincoln), 3 are post deployment and 5 under going maintenance.
10/7/04 F-117s are still deployed in S. Korea.
9. Dept of Homeland Scty. / State Department
10/7/04 An FBI bulletin issued Wednesday says the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are "currently unaware of any specific, credible information indicating a terrorist threat to public and private schools, universities or colleges in the U.S." But given the recent terror attack on a Russian school, such a scenario is not hard to imagine -- and the bulletin issued Wednesday urges schools to secure entries and exits; and to watch for suspicious activity as a precaution, Fox News reported. On Sept. 30, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that U.S. authorities in Iraq had detained a man, an Iraqi national, who was carrying a computer disk containing a publicly available report about crisis planning in San Diego schools and other school districts.
10/7/04 The Education Department has advised school leaders nationwide to watch for people spying on their buildings or buses to help detect any possibility of terrorism like the deadly school siege in Russia.
The warning follows an analysis by the FBI and the Homeland Security Department of the siege that killed nearly 340 people, many of them students, in the city of Beslan last month.
"The horror of this attack may have created significant anxiety in our own country among parents, students, faculty staff and other community members," Deputy Education Secretary Eugene Hickok said in a letter to schools and education groups.
The safety advice is based on lessons learned from the Russia incident. But there is "no specific information indicating that there is a terrorist threat to any schools or universities in the United States," Hickok said.
Federal law enforcement officials also have encouraged local police to stay in contact with school officials and have encouraged reporting of suspicious activities, the letter says.
In particular, schools were told to watch for activities that may be legitimate on their own — but may suggest a heightened terrorist threat if many of them occur.
Among those activities:
_ Interest in obtaining site plans for schools, bus routes and attendance lists;
_ Prolonged "static surveillance" by people disguised as panhandlers, shoe shiners, newspaper or flower vendors or street sweepers not previously seen in the area;
_ Observations of security drills;
_ People staring at or quickly looking away from employees or vehicles as they enter or leave parking areas;
_ Foot surveillance of campuses involving individuals working together.
The effort is the latest by the Education Department and other federal agencies to encourage school officials to maintain and practice a plan for responding to emergencies.
After the terrorist takeover of the Russian school, President Bush asked his top advisers to review their strategies for dealing with hostage situations, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has said.
The federal government is advising schools to take many steps to improve the security of their buildings. Those include installing locks for all doors and windows, having a single entry point into buildings and ensuring they can reach school bus drivers in an emergency.
The Education Department sent its letter by e-mail Wednesday to school police, state school officers, school boards, groups representing principals and many other organizations.
The Homeland Security Department also sent a bulletin Wednesday to federal, state and local emergency officials to provide fresh guidance based on the review of the school siege in Russia.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/20041007/ap_on_re_us/schools_warnings_2&printer=1
10. Suspicious Domestic Incidents Not Currently Linked to Specific Terrorism Attempts
10/5/04 As was posted in earlier summaries as well as TM discussions, there appears to be an organized reconnaissance on-going against hospitals and medical facilities. The first warning came out at about the same time as DHS increased security levels to ORANGE for specific east coast town. Recently, more disturbing incidents were reported by freeper locochupacabra occurring in northern Illinois. In at least two incidents two middle eastern men entered hospitals in Sandwich and Peru Illinois. At the first location they posed as doctors and began asking questions about the facilities emergency plans, security programs, etc. The second incident they were found wandering around the hospital and ran away when confronted. 10/6/04 The FBI is investigating envelopes containing suspicious powder that were sent to several newspapers, including one in North Carolina, in the last several days.
The letter received by The News bore a return address of an Arlington, Va., post office box and a Sacramento, Calif., postmark - as did some of the other letters, said FBI spokesman Jeff Tarpinian in Omaha, the field office leading the investigation.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Charlotte Observer received letters Monday, officials at both newspapers said. The FBI was investigating.
No injuries have been reported.
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041006/APN/410060529&cachetime=5
Prior to the first Presidental Debate, about a dozen envelopes were sent to various places throughout Florida. All were negative for any toxins or poisons.
Musab al-Zarqawi had threatened to spread the attacks outside of Iraq. The Israeli warning on the potential attack in the Sinai also noted that this was a supply route for Zarqawi. This combined with the attacks on the hotels in Bagdad could be the start of a serious round of attacks in the Middle east and possibly Europe.