Threat Matrix: February 2007

How al-Qaida Fared in 2006
-Full Story-

In 2006, agents of al-Qaida, as well as those inspired by its ideology, continued their attacks. Violence in Iraq intensified, and Afghanistan saw its bloodiest year since 2001.

Despite worsening chaos on those fronts, counterterrorist forces arrested and killed high-profile terrorists and kept the West free from attack. But these actions don't appear to have weakened the appeal of al-Qaida's agenda. "Home-grown" militants around the world joined its jihad, as regional fighting heightened perceptions of a global war on Islam.

Here's an assessment of some of the most significant gains and losses for al-Qaida last year: Read more..

	Azzam the American: The Making of an al Qaida Homegrown
	Islamic Cells of Revenge Joins the al Qaida Movement
	Most Dangerous Destinations 2007

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=letterbomb
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=mailbomb

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Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1779936/posts?page=3#3

Update -

Two people have been injured after an 'item of mail' exploded at the offices of a company in Wokingham, Berkshire.
The incident comes just a day after a letter bomb exploded at an office in London.

Thames Valley police said that the incident took place at the Oaklands Business Centre and the injuries sustained by the two people were minor.

The building was evacuated and a cordon was placed around it.

Police said they were aware of the incident in London but said it was "too soon" to speculate on a connection.

Sky sources said that the company targeted deals with the enforcement of speeding fines.

3 posted on 02/06/2007 3:04:51 AM PST by HAL9000 (Get a Mac - The Ultimate FReeping Machine)
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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07020023.htm

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com

Monday, February 5, 2007

Gaza Baptist Church Seized

OPEN DOORS USA
Jerry Dykstra, Media Relations Director
Phone: 616-915-4117
Email: JerryD@odusa.org
Website: www.OpenDoorsUsa.org

BULLETIN FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA ANA, CA (ANS) -- Palestinian Authority (PA) police of the Fatah party have seized the six-story Gaza Baptist Church building as a watch point against militants supporting the governing Hamas movement.

Hanna Massad, pastor of Gaza Baptist Church, wrote in a Feb. 3 prayer SOS that late on Feb. 2, PA police officers demanded the building key from the church’s lone guard. The guard, who had no key, informed church leaders, who refused to give the key to police. Police then broke into the building, taking up positions on the sixth floor. The guard called a church leader, who informed Massad.
Because of the battles raging on Gaza’s streets, Massad has been unable to leave his house to check on the building, he told Open Doors. Brother Andrew spoke at the new building’s dedication in November 2006. The building houses the church’s sanctuary, Gaza’s only Christian library, a guest hostel and a mammogram clinic.

Massad described the crisis as “the worst situation we ever went through in Gaza.”

Open Doors USA President/CEO Dr. Carl Moeller, who also attended the building dedication last November, says: “Christians and Muslims in Gaza are caught in the crossfire. And it’s getting worse. Please pray with me for Pastor Massad. It is so vital that the Gaza Baptist Church remains open so ministry can be carried out to those who are even now more marginalized. My heart goes out to all of them; many of whom I personally met last November.”

Gaza fighting pits forces controlled by the secular Fatah party, including the police, against the majority Islamic party Hamas. Should PA police fire at Hamas militants from the commandeered church, reprisal fire could severely damage the building as has happened before, the pastor said.

A fresh cease-fire was declared Sunday evening, but there was no indication it would be any more successful than previous truces in recent weeks of factional fighting, reported the Associated Press (AP) on Sunday. Gaza Baptist Church leader Khader Khoury noted that nine cease-fire attempts have occurred in five days.

Even if police abandon the church building, gunfire flies on the streets as rival factions vie for control. Frightened Gazans remain in their homes. Massad told Open Doors Sunday morning that early worship had been cancelled because Gaza is “not stable.”

Gaza had a “noisy morning” Sunday. “Some shooting here and there,” Massad said.

“It’s a very dangerous situation. It’s in God’s hands,” he said. “Nothing I can do, nothing anybody else can do can help the situation. He’s the one who protects.”

The Gaza Strip’s border is closed, locking 1.4 million Palestinians in a coastal territory just 27 miles long and 5 miles deep. Food and other basics are running short, reported AP on Sunday.

Prayer requests:

* God will protect Gaza’s believers.
* Believers will experience the power of God’s peace.
* God will give Massad strength and wisdom to minister.
* There will be no gunfire around the church building and that God will protect this building for His glory.
* Gaza’s leaders will receive wisdom to stop the fighting.

An estimated 200 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with another 200 to 400 million facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers in the world's most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers. To partner with Open Doors, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (888-524-2535) or go to our USA website at www.OpenDoorsUsa.org.

(For more information or to set up an interview, contact Jerry Dykstra at 616-915-4117 or email jerryd@odusa.org).

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

American Graffiti or Al Qaeda Threat?

Monday 5 Feb 2007

By Annie Jacobsen in category U.S. Homeland Security

The first time flight attendant Charlotte Smith* found the mysterious writing inside the bathroom cabinet of a 757 aircraft while flying for a major airline, she got spooked. It was February 23, 2005. A flight attendant for twelve years, Charlotte was working the coach class cabin of flight 853 traveling from New Jersey to California. Everything was normal, until her discovery.

In the first of a series of interviews, Charlotte explained:

“By a fluke, I opened up a compartment in the mid-galley lav [lavatory] and there it was, on the back of the cabinet behind where you refill the paper towels:

CHENAULT LIVES

ZATU”

The three words Charlotte found were handwritten in black marker and in capital letters. Puzzled by the presence of odd handwriting on an area of an airplane that is off limits to passengers, Charlotte began to look further. She then opened up each of the compartments in that lavatory, carefully examining each panel wall. That’s when she discovered another set of words, also written in black marker, but inside a different cabinet.

Those words were:

“CHENAULT IS KING“

Charlotte documented the incident. She noted the time, the flight number and the aircraft identification number. Charlotte brought the unusual discovery to the captain’s attention. The captain was not concerned. Instead, he told Charlotte he would make sure the cleaning crew cleaned it up.

At home, Charlotte filed a report about the incident with the airline’s Flight Safety Reporting System program, or FASRS. But the story of the enigmatic writing does not end there. Charlotte didn’t think much more about the incident until fourteen months later. On April 22, 2006, Charlotte found it again.

Excerpt. More at link.

http://www.theaviationnation.com/2007/02/05/american-graffiti-or-al-qaeda-threat

Police: Beach Burglar Sent Stolen Items To West Bank

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- A man accused of breaking into at least nine Miami Beach homes and stealing jewelry, electronics and money so he could send them back to his homeland in the West Bank is behind bars.

Police said Raed Aldin admitted to committing nine burglaries in Miami Beach, including Debra Muller's home two months ago.

"He took jewelry and cameras and perfume bottles and took my husband's shoes," Muller said. "I mean, it was really weird."

What is perhaps even weirder, though, is what he allegedly did with the stolen items. Police said Aldin told them he sent the stolen goods -- valued up to a half-million dollars -- back to his homeland in the West Bank.

Police said they linked the burglaries to Aldin from a stolen cell phone that they used to track him down.

"We had no doubt that if he kept it up, at some point, we would see him behind bars," said Michael Bok, who was also burglarized.

Police said Aldin could be behind at least two dozen beach burglaries.

http://www.local10.com/news/10941857/detail.html
pic at link

UN's Vienna Office Closed Over Bomb Threat
6 February 2007

Police in Vienna have closed off the UN office in the Austrian capital, after a bomb threat came in by phone.

The building, known as UNO City, also houses the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

All vehicles passing in the area are being searched and this has led to huge traffic jams. Bomb squads have been sent to the area but have turned up nothing yet. The Vienna office is UN's third biggest in the world after the headquarters in New York and the Geneva Office.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=76342

Militants kill two "U.S. spies" in Pakistani tribal areas
2007-02-06

ISLAMABAD - Suspected militants have killed two Afghan men in Pakistan tribal region over suspicion that they were spying for the United States, the local News Network International news agency reported on Tuesday. Their bodies were found along a main road in village Mubarak Shahi, some 15 km east of Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan tribal region, said the report quoting witnesses.

A note, written in the local Urdu language, had been left with the bodies that said that they were spying for the United States and warned that anyone will face the same fate who spies for the United States. Bullets reportedly hit both in head and legs and their hands tied at the back. The authorities had placed bodies at the premises of town committee for identification. No group claimed responsibility of the incident.

Another Afghan national was shot dead near the Pakistani-Afghan border in North Waziristan on the same charges a few days ago. The incidents of target killings and murder on the charges of espionage for the United States have increased in North Waziristan in recent weeks.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-02/06/content_5705189.htm

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WORLD/meast/02/05/iraq.lawmaker/story.vert.jj.qabas.jpg

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http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/05/iraq.lawmaker/index.html

"U.S. military: Iraqi lawmaker is U.S. Embassy bomber"
POSTED: 1031 GMT (1831 HKT), February 6, 2007

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A man sentenced to death in Kuwait for the 1983 bombings of the U.S. and French embassies now sits in Iraq's parliament as a member of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ruling coalition, according to U.S. military intelligence.

Jamal Jafaar Mohammed's seat in parliament gives him immunity from prosecution. Washington says he supports Shiite insurgents and acts as an Iranian agent in Iraq.

U.S. military intelligence in Iraq has approached al-Maliki's government with the allegations against Jamal Jafaar Mohammed, whom it says assists Iranian special forces in Iraq as "a conduit for weapons and political influence."

Repeated efforts by CNN to reach Jamal Jafaar Mohammed for comment through the parliament, through the ruling Shiite Muslim coalition and the Badr Organization -- the Iranian-backed paramilitary organization he once led -- have been unsuccessful. "

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