Posted on 04/15/2007 4:43:46 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT
Europe's bio-threat readiness questioned
Image: European Community Europe discusses how to prepare itself in the face of bio-terrorism threats and "perversions" of science, not to mention naturally occurring bio-threats to human health.
By Brooks Tigner in Brussels for ISN Security Watch (11/04/07)
The EU must work much closer with its 27 national capitals and across the Atlantic to combat the growing threat of bio-terrorism, according to EU and US policymakers and scientists.
The European Commission aims to fire up discussion of the issue and prompt some solutions when it issues a consultative document on bio-preparedness in the coming weeks.
While Washington is pushing ahead with high levels of government spending and close public-private coordination to protect the US population against bio-attacks, policy in Europe still lacks focus and is splintered into separate national policies, despite universal concern among EU and national experts that their continent is highly vulnerable to attack. Pan-European research is just as fragmented, though current and forthcoming EU-funded projects aim to pull researchers in the same direction.
~~~~~~~~ snip~~~~~~~
There is no policy coherence in bio-preparedness in general across Europe, whether the issue is one of vaccine production, security at bio- and virological laboratories or national immunization policies.
(Excerpt) Read more at isn.ethz.ch ...
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Terrorism trial begins for Padilla
April 15, 2007
By Curt Anderson The Associated Press
MIAMI — Nearly five years ago, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft told the world that the United States had thwarted a frightening al-Qaida plot to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb” in a major city and had arrested a “known terrorist,” Jose Padilla.
Speaking at a hastily arranged June 2002 news conference in Moscow, Ashcroft darkly suggested the plot could have caused “mass death and injury” and that President Bush had designated Padilla, a U.S. citizen of Puerto Rican descent, as an enemy combatant who would be held in indefinite military custody rather than face civilian criminal charges.
• Alleged Padilla confessions that his jury won’t hear
“He was involved in planning future terrorist attacks on American civilians in the United States,” Ashcroft said, while a jittery nation still reeled from the Sept. 11 and anthrax attacks in 2001.
That started an unprecedented odyssey for Padilla, a 36-year-old Muslim convert and one-time member of Chicago’s Latin Disciples street gang. A new chapter begins Monday with jury selection for terror support charges in a case with no mention of the dirty-bomb allegations or purported plots inside the United States.
“It has had so many unbelievable twists and turns,” said Michael Greenberger, a University of Maryland law professor who directs the school’s Center for Health and Homeland Security. “It really will be the stuff of legend in terms of how we attempted to deal with terrorists in the war on terror.”
Padilla, held for 3½ years as an enemy combatant, and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun, 45, and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, 44, face possible life in prison if convicted on charges of conspiracy to “murder, kidnap and maim” people overseas and of providing support to terror groups.
The three have pleaded not guilty to being part of a North American support cell that funneled fighters, money and supplies to Islamic extremists fighting “jihad,” or Muslim holy war, in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia, Tajikistan and elsewhere around the world. The trial is expected to take at least four months.
Although there is no direct connection, the shadow of the
9-11 attacks hangs over the case, with dozens of potential jurors mentioning the suicide hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people in questionnaires meant to gauge their ability to be fair and impartial.
“It is not going to be possible to eradicate 9-11 from the thoughts of jurors,” said Philip Anthony, chief executive officer of the national jury consulting firm DecisionQuest. “Your strategic issue is ferreting out the underlying beliefs about 9-11. That’s a lot harder.”
Prosecutors say Hassoun acted as a South Florida recruiter and fundraiser for violent Muslim causes. Padilla, who had worked at a Taco Bell and as a hotel busboy after moving with his family to Broward County, became one of the warrior recruits. Padilla had converted to Islam in a Florida prison while serving a year for a 1991 weapons conviction.
A key piece of evidence is a purported “mujahedeen data form” that prosecutors say Padilla completed in 2000 — his fingerprints are on it — to join an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan.
Jayyousi’s alleged major role was publication of the “Islam Report,” which prosecutors say was used to spread extremist Islamic ideology and assist in the fundraising and terror support efforts. Jayyousi contends he was only reporting on global events of Muslim interest, and his lawyer says prosecutors are attempting to expand the case into a trial of various Islamic political and religious groups.
“The trial will ultimately become the United States vs. Islam,” said Jayyousi lawyer William Swor.
The alleged conspiracy goes back more than a decade, with prosecutors claiming more than 50,000 intercepted telephone calls and room conversations. Many of the conversations in Arabic use purported code, with words such as “soccer equipment” and “tourism” supposedly meaning weaponry and war.
“Critical to the government’s proving its case is persuading the jury that all the dots in what it claims was an international conspiracy can be connected,” said Carl Tobias, law professor at the University of Richmond.
Yet there’s little proof that the three were directly responsible for any specific acts of terrorism. In court papers, prosecutors listed more generalized victims such as Serbian and Croat forces in the 1990s Bosnian war, the Russian army in Chechnya and “moderate” Muslim governments in Libya, Tunisia and elsewhere.
Defense lawyers say providing assistance to one faction in these conflicts does not necessarily amount to a crime.
“There was a lot of killing on both sides,” Hassoun lawyer Jeanne Baker said of the Bosnian war. “Killing only becomes murder under certain specific circumstances. Defending Muslims is not committing murder.”
Padilla, the most famous of the defendants, becomes almost a bit player in this alleged conspiracy. His voice is only heard on eight of the FBI wiretaps and he is mentioned on about 20 others. One of those says that Padilla had gone to “the area of Osama,” an apparent reference to bin Laden’s al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan.
Padilla was hastily added to the existing Miami case in November 2005, a few days before a Supreme Court deadline for Bush administration briefs on the question of the president’s powers to continue holding him without charge. Padilla’s lawyers had been fighting during his long, isolated brig custody to get him out and into civilian courts.
“The way the law seemed to be heading was that the president could do whatever he wanted with someone picked up on the field of battle but not someone who was picked up in the United States,” Greenberger said.
The abrupt legal move essentially ended the war powers legal battle as it related to Padilla, though several Supreme Court justices said they would revisit the issue if it appears Padilla is treated unfairly.
Padilla claimed he was tortured while interrogated in the brig — a charge repeatedly denied by the Bush administration — and sought unsuccessfully to have his case dismissed for “outrageous government conduct.” His lawyers also wanted him declared incompetent to stand trial because of mental problems stemming from his brig custody, but that also was rejected.
U.S. officials also claim Padilla admitted involvement and training with al-Qaida during his brig interrogations, as well as the proposed “dirty bomb” plot and another plan to blow up high-rise apartment buildings. None of that can be used as evidence because Padilla had no lawyer present and was not read his Miranda rights.
“If he’s acquitted, it’s going to be a cautionary tale about denying full constitutional rights to U.S. citizens who are accused of a crime,” Greenberger said.
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/342029,153NWS4.article
Casablanca on full alert after fraternal suicide attack
CASABLANCA, Morocco (AFP) - Moroccan security forces beefed up security around Western interests here Sunday as they hunted suicide bombers a day after two brothers blew themselves up near the US consulate.
Five suicide bombers have killed themselves in the Moroccan port city in five days.
Security was tight as Casablanca braced itself for new strikes even as police said they had arrested the ringleaders behind earlier attacks.
Events in Morocco, together with the recent coordinated suicide bomb attacks in the Algerian capital Algiers, have fuelled fears of increased militant strikes across North Africa.
Wednesday’s attacks in Algiers, which killed 33 people, were claimed by an Al-Qaeda group.
In Casablanca, the authorities tightened security around the US, Belgian, Italian and Spanish consulates.
The US government warned of a high risk of violence against US citizens in the port city and advised Americans to stay at home.
“The potential for violence against American interests and citizens and other Western targets remains high in Morocco,” the US consulate in Casablanca said in a statement.
“Moroccan authorities continue to disrupt groups seeking to attack US- or Western-affiliated targets and arrest individuals associated with international terrorist groups.
“Establishments which are readily identifiable with the United States are potential targets for attacks.”
Bomber Mohamed Maha set off explosives 40 metres (150 feet) from the heavily guarded entrance to the US consular building in Casablanca on Saturday.
After the explosion, his younger brother Omar ran off along the Boulevard Moulay Youssef towards the American Language Centre, a private school, where he blew himself up, witnesses said.
There were no other fatalities but one woman was reported to have been injured in the blasts.
Police arrested six people in the area, including one man found with an empty explosives belt, a police source said.
The two brothers lived with their father and step-mother in an apartment in the Derb Sultan district, near where three suicide bombers killed themselves on Tuesday to avoid arrest.
Police shot dead a fourth would-be bomber before he could detonate his device.
Neighbours said that Mohamed, 32, had printed t-shirts for a clothing company while his brother had worked as a street vendor. They had not noticed any signs of militant activity by the pair.
Police said they had arrested the head of the group responsible for suicide explosions at a Casablanca Internet cafe on March 11 and Tuesday’s attacks.
The unnamed man and his deputy were arrested on the outskirts of Casablanca on Thursday during raids that followed the attacks two days earlier.
Police said the men led them to an apartment which contained equipment that might have been used for attacks.
“In their room, in which all the windows had been covered, we found communications equipment, documents and two bags,” a police official told AFP.
Police said they had been able to identify the rest of the group and were actively looking for them.
One of the three bombers who killed themselves on Tuesday was the brother of a man who died in a March 11 explosion at the Casablanca Internet cafe that sparked the police hunt.
Officials said all the men involved in both the March 11 and this week’s incidents grew up in the Sidi Moumen area.
A police official said Saturday’s incident was “a desperate act in response to the successful crackdown in recent weeks by the police and security services to dismantle terrorist cells”.
Terrorism analysts said the group behind the spate of bombings did not appear well organised.
Saturday’s blasts follow suicide bomb attacks in the capital of neighbouring Algeria including one on the prime minister’s office.
The attacks there were claimed by a group calling itself Al-Qaeda’s North Africa branch.
The US embassy in Algiers issued a warning Saturday that militants could be planning more attacks in the capital.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070415/wl_africa_afp/moroccoattacks_070415123913
THANKS.
Praying for you.
Thank YOU QUIX, YOU Freepers are always in the back of my mind.
I hope this trial doesn’t take as long as Zacarias Moussaoui’s did. Although I like the idea of Jose spending the rest of his life in beautiful Florance Co..
Casablanca on full alert after fraternal suicide attack
Sahara Dispute Limits Terror Fight
Townhall ^ | 4/13/07
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1817274/posts
Posted on 04/14/2007 9:29:54 AM CDT by Valin
With its endless expanse of desolate sands, the Western Sahara might not seem worth fighting over. But the thinly populated, Italy-sized region on Africa’s northwest coast is at the heart of a three-decade-long dispute that, U.S. officials and analysts say, inhibits the fight against terrorism across North Africa.
Any doubts about the seriousness of the terrorist problem in the region were undercut by attacks in Morocco, on Tuesday and Saturday, and Algeria, on Wednesday. In the latest attack, two suicide bombers blew themselves up in Casablanca near an American cultural center.
The incidents followed expressions of interest by al-Qaida in expanding its activities in the area.
It is a region that offers relatively easy access to potential targets across the Mediterranean in Europe. Detection of Muslim militants can be difficult in North Africa, with its undulating deserts and majestic mountains.
For three decades Morocco and Algeria have been divided over the phosphate-rich Western Sahara. Morocco claims sovereignty in the territory. Algeria supports the pro-independence Polisario Front rebels, who are based in Algeria, a short distance from the Western Saharan border.
The United States believes resolving the conflict could be a catalyst for improved counterterror cooperation throughout North Africa and for a free trade agreement that would promote economic growth and reduce the appeal of terrorist groups for unemployed youth.
“The United States remains concerned that that Western Sahara is a primary stumbling block for regional cooperation and development goals for the region,” State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.
“We look forward to realistic and workable solutions that bring peace, stability and economic prosperity” to the region that encompasses Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Jonathan Alterman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says Algerian-Moroccan counterterrorism cooperation is too limited. “There is no question they could cooperate more. It seems to me that the benefits of resolving the (Western Sahara) issue are obvious,” he says.
An internal report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, leaked in October, criticized Morocco for not giving Western Saharans the right to determine their future.
It accused Morocco of abusing the rights of pro-independence activists and using excessive force on them. Morocco said the report failed to take into account Polisario rights violations.
Of particular concern to the U.S. is the Algerian-based Salafist Group for Call and Combat. A year ago, the State Department’s then-counterterrorism chief, Henry Crumpton, told a conference in Algeria that the group had become a “regional terrorist organization,” and had forged links with militant groups in North Africa and beyond.
Months after Crumpton spoke, the group established formal ties with al-Qaida and later staged a series of seven near-simultaneous bombings in the Kabylie region of Algeria, killing six and wounding 30. In January, Tunisia announced that it had killed 12 and arrested 15 extremists who, it said, had crossed the border from Algeria.
Two suicide bombings in Algiers on Wednesday killed 33 people and wounded more than 200. Among the targets was the main government building in the capital.
The day before, in the Moroccan coastal city of Casablanca, suicide bombers killed one policeman and wounded 10 people.
Saturday’s attack in Casablanca injured one woman. Police arrested a man wearing an explosive belt and two other suspects in the neighborhood, which is also home to the American Consulate and a synagogue, an Interior Ministry official said.
A cease-fire between Morocco and the Polisario has been in effect since 1991. It is monitored by a 230-member U.N. peacekeeping force whose mandate ends April 30.
The U.S. has pushed for a settlement in Western Sahara, but compromise does not come easy. James A. Baker, the former secretary of state, tried for seven years to broker a settlement on behalf of the United Nations but gave up in 2004.
Morocco presented an autonomy plan to the United Nations on Thursday that would permit the election of a parliament and create a regional government in Western Sahara to oversee day-to-day affairs. But sovereignty would remain with the Moroccan government in Rabat.
In a new sign of flexibility, Morocco indicated a willingness to negotiate details of the plan with the Polisario rebels.
Days before the shift in the Moroccan position, Polisario leaders had urged an independence referendum and offered to forge a “special relationship” with Morocco should it lead to a sovereign state for the Saharawis, as the people of Western Sahara are known.
The Bush administration made clear its view to Moroccan officials this past week that the Polisario interests must be taken into account if lasting peace is to be achieved.
Overall, Morocco is one of the United States’ closest allies among the Arabs. The Polisario’s closest ally is Cuba, but it has strong diplomatic support among other developing countries, particularly in Africa.
You are quite welcome.
LOL, I missed your ping and have posting on the old thread all night.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1791631/posts?q=1&;page=5101
Thanks for the new thread.
Thank you for the new thread, it is perfect.
The prior threads in this series are:
World Terrorism prior threads:
WT Thread #1: [Started on January 1, 2006]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1550424/posts?page=4809
WT Thread #2: [The communist manifesto, muslim manifesto and list of elected in U.S. who belong to the Socialist party, on the first page of the thread]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1607641/posts?q=1&&page=4951
Thread #3:
Beginning of Israel/Lebanon War and so much more.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1650751/posts?q=1&&page=4601
Thread #4:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1679491/posts?q=1&&page=1
Thread #5:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1711256/posts?q=1&&page=1
Thread #6:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/1754972/posts?q=1&&page=5151
Thread #7:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1791631/posts?q=1&;page=1
Ping to thread #8.
Davey made it and I missed the ping.
Have several posts waiting and will be posting to “all”, not single pings.
Good morning to all of you.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1818076/posts
Natural Balance Pulling Venison Formulas (Pet Food Firestorm!)
Itchmo ^ | Monday April 15, 2007 | Milwaukee_Guy
Posted on 04/16/2007 6:03:26 AM PDT by Milwaukee_Guy
Itchmo has confirmed an email from Natural Balance that they are removing two products from sale:
Venison and Brown Rice Dry Dog Formula Venison and Green Pea Dry Dog Cat Formula
These products do not contain wheat gluten. No deaths or serious illnesses have been reported and no recall warning has been issued. The warning applies only to products sold in the last week, according to Natural Balance.
“Please know that at this time we are removing this product from the shelves, as we have had some phone calls indicating gastric upset after eating this formula. At this time, we are unsure if this could just be a particular batch problem, or simply customers switching diets too fast. However, in the meantime while we are looking further into this matter, we are not recommending to feed this formula, and are suggesting to feed our Potato and Duck or Sweet Potato and Fish Dry Dog Formula.”
(Excerpt) Read more at itchmo.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1818034/posts
FDA attempting to regulate supplements, herbs and juices as “drugs”
Newstarget ^ | 4/13/2007 | Mike Adams
Posted on 04/16/2007 4:28:30 AM PDT by djf
When it comes to health freedom, this is the FDA’s end game. A new FDA “guidance” document, published on the FDA’s website, reveals plans to reclassify virtually all vitamins, supplements, herbs and even vegetable juices as FDA-regulated drugs. Massage oils and massage rocks will be classified as “medical devices” and require FDA approval. The document is called Docket No. 2006D-0480. Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA is accepting public comments on the docket until April 30th. They tried to sneak this under the radar, but word got out and now the natural health community is up in arms over this rule. If you wish to protect your access to nutritional supplements, herbs, essential oils, homeopathic medicine or any other “complementary” or “alternative” modality, it is crucial that you take action to post your comments with the FDA right now and write your representatives in Washington to put a stop to this outrageous effort to destroy natural medicine. (And be sure to really write them. Just sending an email has virtually no impact compared to writing a physical letter in your own words.)
Click here for the direct link to the FDA’s comment posting page for this docket.
This move by the FDA is designed to once and for all destroy the 1994 DSHEA law that has made supplements “legal” while eliminating nutritional supplements and natural medicine from the United States, ensuring monopoly profits and control by drug companies and the FDA. It is the latest action item by the FDA / Big Pharma conspiracy that will not stop until health freedom has been abolished, drug companies rule the nation, and every citizen is diagnosied with a fictitious disease and drugged up on monopoly-priced pharmaceuticals.
Much more at the article site above.
If they get their way, YOU WILL NEED A PRESCRIPTION FOR VITAMIN C!!!!
[[[[The day will come when you need a prescription to buy tea and coffee...........granny]]]]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1818067/posts
France knew of 9/11 plot
Jerusalem Post/LeMonde ^ | 4-16-07
Posted on 04/16/2007 5:44:26 AM PDT by SJackson
A French intelligence service learned as early as January 2001 that al-Qaida was working on a plot to hijack US airliners, and it passed the information on to the CIA, Le Monde reported Monday.
The newspaper said it had obtained 328 pages of classified documents on Osama bin Laden’s terror network that were drawn up by the French foreign intelligence service, the DGSE, between July 2000 and October 2001.
The Defense Ministry did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Le Monde reported that the documents included a note dated January 5, 2001, which said al-Qaida had been working on a hijacking plot for months. The intelligence note reported that bin Laden had attended a meeting in Afghanistan in October 2000, where a final decision to carry out the plot was made, the newspaper said.
French intelligence officials apparently had no idea that al-Qaida was plotting to crash hijacked planes into buildings, as what happened in the Septeber 11 attacks.
Le Monde quoted Pierre-Antoine Lorenzi, a former chief of staff for the intelligence agency’s director, as saying, “You have to remember that up until 2001, hijacking an airplane did not have the same meaning as after September 11. At the time, that meant forcing an airplane to land in an airport to carry out negotiations. We were used to handling that.”
The newspaper said the DGSE report was passed on to the CIA chief in Paris, as was all information about possible threats to American interests.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1818064/posts
Recalling the Man Who Inspired Hitler
Arutz Sheva ^ | 4-16-07 | David Bedein
Posted on 04/16/2007 5:37:32 AM PDT by SJackson
David Bedein
A Muslim cleric inspired Hitler to Jihad.
April 16, 2007 Anti-Terrorism News
(Iraq) 13 Iraqi soldiers killed in ambush - near Mosul
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_ambush_1;_ylt=Ao6pTOY4GGQNnnE2SoLsPbRX6GMA
(Iraq) Sadr bloc pulls out of Iraqi government
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070416/ts_afp/iraq_070416104234;_ylt=AsyFrjZuSxuPM4bhRBOCUF1X6GMA
(Iraq) Armed groups seek official support to hunt Al-Qaeda in Iraq —
report
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1724963&Language=en
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/04/16/report_iraqi_militants_hunting_alqaida/
(Iraq) Caches of nitric acid seized in Baghdad
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070415-115817-6680r.htm
(Afghanistan) Suicide attack kills 10 in Afghanistan - attacking Kunduz
police training area
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_as/afghan_violence_41;_ylt=AtDfnla3uM6S5b1_95NJDB3OVooA
(Afghanistan) Report: Insurgents killed 669 Afghans in 2006
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_as/afghan_civilian_casualties_5;_ylt=AgbJaW0aWI2ngTuEE7ffdFjOVooA
(Afghanistan) NATO force says key Taliban killed
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/April/subcontinent_April610.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
(Thailand) Four killed in Thai south - five schools set on fire, attack
on military, drive by shooting, and other attacks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070416/wl_asia_afp/thailandsouthunrestarsontoll_070416061725;_ylt=AtuE1097ZDnKdCe2sPDBiMvuNREB
(Thailand) Teachers in South want surveillance cameras - to help
protect schools from terrorism
http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=118116
Philippines: 70,000 people flee Sulu province as Muslim Rebel declares
Jihad in Sulu
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.405031742&par=0
Indonesia’s Jemaah Islamiah forms hit squad: paper — to attack police,
prosecutors and judges
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070416/wl_nm/indonesia_security_ji_dc_1;_ylt=Ap89PXxltDICvIiAW0BIYOfaHXcA
http://www.straitstimes.com/portal/site/STI/menuitem.70300a17785a04285f53bcd7d3a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=30c8ebd3686f1110VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=vgnartid:30c8ebd3686f1110VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21565233-1702,00.html
(Pakistan) Karachi mass rally opposes “religious terrorists”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070415/india_nm/india294298
(Pakistan Lal Masjid) Pakistani students say government ‘gassed mosque’
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070416/wl_sthasia_afp/pakistanreligionseminary;_ylt=A0WTUcSuZCNG6fsAGAFvaA8F
(Pakistan) Lal Masjid mullahs to stop liquor sale in Islamabad
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\04\16\story_16-4-2007_pg1_4
(Pakistan) Musharraf’s Survival in Pakistan Election Insures Ally With
Questionable Sway
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266228,00.html
(Pakistan) Foreigners leaving N Waziristan: Taliban spokesman
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\04\16\story_16-4-2007_pg7_7
Pakistan: Tribes Vow Not to Shelter Uzbeks
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.404873486&par=0
(India) Four terrorists and three civilians killed in Jammu and Kashmir
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news.asp?date1=4/16/2007#1
(India) Deaths set off protests in Indian Kashmir - protest of death of
two Muslim men in shootout with security patrol
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070416/wl_asia_afp/indiakashmirunrest_070416071847;_ylt=Ao0xSVNJ7HPziW2BVbEIIUhA7AkB
(India) Interpol issues red corner notice against July 11 accused -
Rizwan Mohammed Dawrey sent funds from Saudi Arabia to India through
hawala channels
http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=9b2742b6-1a91-4a99-9f50-485831284956&;
(India) Two Maoist militants killed in Chhattisgarh
http://www.indiaenews.com/india/20070415/47417.htm
(Bangladesh) Update: 28 Islamist militants arrested across country
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news.asp?date1=4/16/2007#7
(Algeria) Bombers seek “second Iraq” in Algeria: Islamist
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070416/wl_nm/algeria_violence_dc_1;_ylt=AkVBjAl5jtziPdj_X2u7ZYlX6GMA
Algerian president visits blast victims as bombers identified
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070415/wl_africa_afp/algeriamoroccoattacks_070415210032;_ylt=AmzdvLiXcK8tp1ogUrn4kt16CC8A
(Sudan) U.S.: Sudan Government Supports Janjaweed Islamist Militia —
accused of widespread atrocities in Darfur
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_af/sudan_us_2;_ylt=AoRBqvWb_zDCZz8fp6vFCKIShIMA
(Yemen) Trial of 36 Yemenis charged with being affiliated with al-Qaida
resumes
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/15/africa/ME-GEN-Yemen-Terrorism-Trial.php
(Egypt) Muslim Brotherhood to run in election
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_brotherhood;_ylt=Aqvqh1lRRYhpLptx4txLQAQLewgF
(Israel) Netanya: Police searching for suspected terrorist
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152805453&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Hamas: Kidnapping soldiers is best solution to free “our heroes”
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/849024.html
(Israel) Haniyeh: Marwan Barghouti on prisoner list given to Israel
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152805986&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Hamas and Fatah approve plan to merge militias and terrorists into
unified security force - with US Congress approving $59 million (my title)
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55208
(Gaza) BBC “concerned” by claim Gaza correspondent killed Unknown group
called the, “Tawhid and Jihad Brigade” claims responsibility for the
kidnap and murder.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15632987.htm
(Gaza/Iran) Iran-backed Jihad Islami claims new homemade warhead and
engine extends Qassam missile range to 18 km
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=4068
(Lebanon) Hezbollah says will only disarm if mandated by Lebanese
referendum
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/849007.html
(Lebanon) Hizbullah: We have the weapons to defend Lebanon
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152803863&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(Lebanon) Fatah Al-Islam: the new terrorist threat hanging over Lebanon
http://www.lefigaro.fr/english/20070416.WWW000000477_fatah_al_islam_the_new_terrorist_threat_hanging_over_lebanon.html
(USA) Padilla case well past ‘dirty bomb’ charges
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20070415-111235-9762r.htm
Iran will ‘resist to the end’ on nuclear issue
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/16/wiran116.xml
Iran to reveal atomic steps if pressured-president — if UN passes
another resolution on Iran
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070416/ts_nm/iran_nuclear_resolution_dc_1;_ylt=AiVdzJ2mykzfhglJ7vP_Uy1Sw60A
Al Qaeda’s Maritime Threat - ICT analysis: “Maritime terrorism is
positioned to be their method of choice”
http://www.ict.org.il/apage/11847.php
(Turkey) One soldier, nine rebels killed in Turkey clashes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070416/wl_nm/turkey_kurds_dc_1;_ylt=AkqAVh64B3ctEpgHb_Pghb_tfLkA
(Turkey) Report: Islamic-rooted Turkish prime minister hints he will
run for president
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/16/europe/EU-POL-Turkey-President.php
(France) Report: French knew in January 2001 of al-Qaida plot to hijack
U.S. airliners
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_eu/france911_1;_ylt=An87drf_CWaYBvLI8mA04FgwuecA
UK: No more ‘war on terror’ - International Development Secretary
Hilary Benn says “war on terror” phrase to be discontinued in UK Cabinet
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_eu/britain_war_on_terror_1;_ylt=AnuGqC8lmRMsz_.D7PEnYyETv5UB
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152805309&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(UK) Britain grows Muslim terror database
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/04/16/britain_grows_muslim_terror_database/
(UK) MI5 adopts paedophile-tracking tactics for Muslim extremists —
focus on areas with large Pakistani communities — such as Birmingham,
Leeds and London
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1658085.ece
(Northern Ireland) Civil servant on terrorist charge
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6559747.stm
(Sri Lanka) Gunmen kill youth in northern Sri Lanka
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070416/wl_sthasia_afp/srilankaunrest_070416062859;_ylt=AvhG3FSk9jzQOPAW3sUjRvItM8oA
(North Korea) Report: S. Korea May Halt Aid to North
http://ap.washingtontimes.com/dynamic/stories/K/KOREAS_NUCLEAR?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME
Other News:
(Iran) Group cleared over Iran murders — vigilantes were not guilty
because their victims were involved in un-Islamic activities, the court
found
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6557679.stm
Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_holocaust_day_3;_ylt=As699srLoB1w74F19yCneOTuyucA
(UK) Britain vows to take rigid stand against anti-Semitism
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152804537&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[To get the new thread off to a good start]
Al Qaeda’s Abu Yahya al Libi:
Crown Prince or Pretender?
by Laura Mansfield
It’s been over nine months since we’ve heard from Al Qaeda leader Osama
Bin
Laden, and his minions are getting restless for word from the Sheikh
himself, as evidenced by a posting last week on a jihadist board that
had
many expecting an imminent release of a Bin Paden message.
But Bin Laden has gone silent for long periods of time before, leading
some
to speculate in the past that the terror leader had died or been
captured. The most
recent period of silence was from late October 2004 when he released a
video tape
just before the US presidential elections until January 2006, when he
released an audio
tape claiming that plans for attacks within the US were in progress.
So why is there so much angst beginning to appear among the jihadists
in
the absence of a Bin Laden message?
Perhaps the answer lies in the leadership vacuum that Al Qaeda is
currently
experiencing.
During the sixteen-month period from 2004 through early 2006 when there
was
no sign of Bin Laden, other charismatic men were steering the global
jihad
- men like Abu Mus’ab al Zarqawi, who was commanding headlines with his
exploits in Iraq and drawing new recruits into the global jihad like
flies
to honey. For much of this period, issues of Sawt al Jihad and Moaskar
al
Battar were being published regularly on the internet by Al Qaeda of
the
Arabian Peninsula. The Al Qaeda propaganda machine had no problems
finding
adequate material to keep the troops focused.
But since Zarqawi’s death at the hands of the US last summer, no one
else
has really stepped up to the plate.
Sure, we’ve had lots of messages from Al Qaeda second-in-command Dr.
Ayman
al Zawahiri. In fact we’ve had so many tapes in the last nine months
that
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer quipped on air to Vice President Dick Cheney that
Zawahiri was on TV more than Blitzer, who hosts a news show daily.
And let’s face it, Zawahiri may be the brains of Al Qaeda and wield
considerable influence over Bin Laden, he just doesn’t have the
charisma of
Osama. Nor does he have the charismatic appeal of a Zarqawi or even a
Moqrin. Although Zawahiri’s messages are key elements in the Al Qaeda
“marketing communications” program, they just aren’t doing the job of
rallying the troops.
In recent months, it has become apparent that Abu Yahya al Libi is
attempting to step in to this leadership vacuum.
Abu Yahya al Libi is considered by many jihadists to be a true mujahid
cleric, an Islamist preacher who has also earned his stripes on the
battlefield.
Al Libi’s big claim to fame until now has been his escape from American
custody in Afghanistan in 2005. He was being held at a prison in
Bagram,
Afghanistan, when he and three other jihadist detainees broke out of
the
facility. His three fellow escapees have either been killed or
recaptured,
yet al Libi continues to elude US forces.
This escape has earned him a considerable amount of legitimacy among
his
fellow jihadists, who view his escape as a victory over the Americans.
Al Libi has appeared in numerous videos through As Sahab since his
escape.
In the past nine months, the frequency of his videos has greatly
increased.
His rhetoric has become more and more inciting; back in July, he called
on
his followers to attack the White House. He has also called for the
group
to acquire and use weapons of mass destruction.
Al Libi has written letters to Zarqawi, issued fatwas against the
regimes
of Denmark and Afghanistan, and even delivered Eid messages to the
Islamic
Ummah.
His physical appearance in these videos has changed too; now he is
shown
with AK47 at his side, much like Bin Laden and Zawahiri.
In many cases, As Sahab translates the videos into English and provides
English subtitles and transcripts for the messages, a feature normally
found in videos of Bin Laden or Zawahiri.
Using the tapes featuring Al Libi that were produced by As Sahab as an
indicator, it becomes apparent that Al Libi has definitely moved up in
the
leadership chain in the Al Qaeda organizational charts.
Regardless of whether or not Bin Laden resurfaces with a video, it is
indisputable that Al Qaeda is in need of fresh leadership. After all,
Bin
Laden earned much of his mettle out in the field battling the Soviets
in
Afghanistan. Much of his legitimacy comes from his efforts in what is
seem
by the jihadists as their great victory over one of the infidel
superpowers.
But Bin Laden can’t get out and walk among his followers anymore.
Assuming
he is still alive, he must maintain tight security precautions for the
rest
of his life.A $50 million dollar reward from the Americans has
virtually
guaranteed that absent the emergence of a “safe haven” nation he will
have
to live out his days in hiding. (His current long period of silence is
very likely a result of these security precautions, rather than a sign
that
Bin Laden is dead.)
His followers need a leader, and Abu Yahya al Libi seems to be willing
and
able to take his place. He seems to have some sort of official sanction
from Al Qaeda, otherwise As Sahab would not be releasing his tapes in
the
manner that they are.
Al Libi has earned the respect of the jihadists as a result of his
escape
from an American prison in Bagram, and by eluding recapture since July
2005.
As we watch the emergence of Abu Yahya al Libi as an Al Qaeda leader,
we
need to consider who he is. Is he simply a pretender, one of many who
may
at times appear to be rising in the Al Qaeda leadership chain, only to
fall
by the wayside? Or are we watching the rise to power of the man who may
be
the ultimate successor to Osama Bin Laden, in effect the crown prince
of
the Global Jihad?.
Only time will tell.
For more translations and news on terrorism, visit
http://www.lauramansfield.com
The Jerusalem Post, April 16, 2007
Despite Pledge to US, Saudis Continue to Boycott Israel
By Michael Freund
Despite a promise made to Washington nearly 18 months ago to drop its
trade embargo against Israel , Saudi Arabia continues to enforce the
Arab League boycott, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
In November 2005, Riyadh pledged to abandon the boycott after
Washington conditioned Saudi Arabia ‘s entry into the World Trade Organization
(WTO) on such a move. A month later, on December 11, Saudi Arabia was
granted WTO membership.
The WTO, which aims to promote free trade, prohibits members from
engaging in discriminatory practices such as boycotts or embargoes.
Nonetheless, the Post has found, Saudi officials continue to bar
entry to products manufactured in Israel or to foreign-made goods
containing Israeli components.
“Goods made in Israel are not allowed here in Saudi Arabia,” Khaled
A-Sharif, assistant manager of the Saudi Customs Department at King
Abdul Aziz Airport outside Jidda, told the Post by phone. “Of course it is
not permitted,” he said.
In the past, A-Sharif added, products made by firms that had “a
relation” with Israel were also prohibited, but these were now allowed to be
brought into the country.
A Saudi customs official at the airport, who identified himself only
as Feisal, told the Post, “If it is made in Israel , then it is not
allowed here in Saudi Arabia . If it is made in any other country, then no
problem. But not from Israel .”
A Saudi customs official at King Fahd International Airport in
Dammam, who declined to give his name, told the Post Israeli-made goods would
be confiscated upon arrival and not permitted entry into the kingdom.
“You know, it is not allowed here,” he said.
US officials have said they continue to raise the boycott issue with
their Saudi counterparts.
In a written response appearing in last month’s Congressional Record,
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab addressed the question of Saudi
compliance after being queried on the matter by Sen. Gordon Smith.
In her reply to Smith, Schwab confirmed that continued Saudi
enforcement of the anti-Israel boycott would “not be in keeping” with Riyadh ‘s
commitments under the WTO.
Since the Saudis acceded to the WTO, Schwab wrote, “there have been
conflicting signals from Saudi officials” regarding the boycott.
“We have taken every available opportunity to raise this issue with
Saudi authorities to remind them of their commitment and our expectation
that they honor this commitment,” she said. “The administration will
continue to monitor the situation.”
As the Post revealed last year, the Saudis played host in March 2006
to a major international conference aimed at intensifying the
anti-Israel boycott, and an official Saudi delegation took part in a meeting of
the Arab League’s boycott office in Damascus last May.
[from a newsletter, url unknown]
Haaretz, April 13, 2007
There should have been a preventive strike
By Ze’ev Schiff
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/848025.html
In the coming days the Winograd Committee’s interim report on the
Second Lebanon War will be published. The report will deal, among
other things, with the six-year period preceding the war, 2000 to
2006.
The year 2000 is important as a kind of watershed. Hafez Assad
died and his son Bashar came to power. Bashar brought Hassan
Nasrallah closer and considered Hezbollah a part of his military
deployment. Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon unilaterally,
but in coordination with the United Nations over the
determination of the border. The second intifada broke out.
Hezbollah kidnapped three Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Mount
Hermon. During this time Iran helped Hezbollah to assemble a huge
battery of missiles in Lebanon.
Many assume that the Winograd Committee will focus on these six
years, on issues such as how the reserve units had almost no
training exercises, why the reserve units’ emergency warehouses
had emptied out, and why Israel assumed that Hezbollah’s missiles
would rust.
Advertisement
These are important questions, but there is a more important
question: Didn’t Israel make a serious mistake when it refrained
from responding with force to the build-up of the
Hezbollah-Iran-Syria military system next to the border?
Over the years a threatening system was established there, which
required an early preventive strike. Israeli avoidance of a
preventive strike finally led to the war in 2006.
Israel even avoided signaling to its enemies that it would not
return to business as usual in the face of the threatening
system. It did not try to stop the transfer of Iranian weapons to
Damascus, a move the Americans implied they would accept with
understanding. Israel never once struck at the convoys
transferring the missiles to Lebanon, and never struck even one
Hezbollah missile warehouse, or even the short-range rockets near
the border.
Although Israel prepared itself adequately for long-range
missiles and carried out several painful localized operations,
these did not affect the construction of the threatening system.
The result was that during this period Israeli deterrence against
Hezbollah and Iran increasingly eroded.
On March 7, 2000, even before the IDF withdrawal from Lebanon,
the head of Military Intelligence, Major General Amos Malka,
submitted a personal assessment to his superiors, in which he
wrote, among other things: “Those in favor of a unilateral
withdrawal are relying on the assumption that it is possible to
create a sufficiently powerful Israeli deterrence. It is doubtful
whether we will be able to create a deterrence. The Revolutionary
Guards are helping Hezbollah to set up a long-range weapons
system to reach areas in Israel where there is no protection for
the population. The result will be that a mutual
counter-deterrence will arise against Israel.”
Unlike Israel, Hezbollah did act. Its actions included the firing
of anti-aircraft artillery, which in effect harmed Israeli
communities, and it crossed the border and killed six Israelis in
an incident. About a month after the intifada broke out,
Hezbollah kidnapped three soldiers on Mount Hermon, and it did
the same in July 2006, three weeks after a military operation
began in the wake of the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit.
In six years Israel responded twice against the Syrians, but not
against the array of rockets, whose number had already reached
10,000. Israel hit a Syrian radar station in Dar el Beidar in
Lebanon, and a Palestinian training camp in Ein el Saheb in Syria.
The prime minister at the time, Ehud Barak, rejected the
suggestion by chief of staff Shaul Mofaz to take strong action
against Hezbollah after the kidnapping of the three soldiers. The
main reason was to not open a second front. Israel wanted to
focus on the Palestinian front.
This was later also the opinion of Ariel Sharon as prime
minister. Sharon certainly did not want to open a second, broader
front against Iran, which had built the threatening system in
Lebanon.
Hezbollah and Iran read things differently. They understood that
Israel was incapable of properly handling combat on two fronts at
the same time. Hezbollah acted on this assumption when it
embarked on the kidnapping on July 12, 2006. A few weeks earlier
it had not refrained from attacking the air force base on Mount
Meron with rockets.
It is a serious mistake to think that refraining from a reaction
to the kidnapping of the soldiers in July would have spared us a
war. The war would have arrived later, after greater incitement
on the part of Hezbollah and Iran.
Iraq’s chief of security is running a parallel spy agency
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/16/MNGEGP92FE1.DTL&feed=rss.news
Iraq’s chief of security is running a parallel spy agency
Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times
Monday, April 16, 2007
(04-16) 04:00 PDT Baghdad — Suspicious of Iraq’s CIA-funded national
intelligence agency, members of the Iraqi government have erected a
“shadow” secret service that critics say is driven by a Shiite agenda
and has left the country with dueling spy agencies.
The minister of state for national security, a Shiite named Sherwan
al-Waili, has built a spy service boasting an estimated 1,200 agents
out of a second-tier ministry with a minimal staff and meager budget,
Western officials say.
continued.........
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6558955.stm
US-Korean man jailed for spying
The two Koreas are still technically at war
An American man of Korean origin has been sentenced to nine years in
jail by a South Korean court for spying for Communist North Korea.
Jan Min-ho, also known as Michael Jang, was found guilty of passing
sensitive information about politicians and security to Pyongyang.
He was one of five people convicted of espionage by the court in Seoul.
Prosecutors have called it the biggest spying case since the two
Koreas began a process of reconciliation in 2000.
Two of the five are members of the left-leaning minor opposition
Democratic Labor Party (DLP).
Pyongyang had denounced the case as a “calculated plot” to smear North
Korea.
‘Politically-motivated’
Michael Jang, 44, was accused of being the group’s ring leader,
regularly meeting North Korean agents in China and Thailand after his
first visit to the North in 1989.
He was found guilty of passing on “national secrets”, which included
details about South Korean politics and its politicians.
“Judging from the danger and confidentiality of the crime, a heavy
jail sentence is not escapable,” judge Kim Dong-o told him.
The other four received jail sentences of between four and six years.
They were told by the judge that their links with Jang meant that they
could not avoid responsibility over the spying charges, “even if their
behaviour was driven from their aspiration for inter-Korean
unification”.
He said their sentences reflect the fact “it is hard to believe the
information they had delivered to the North seriously hurts national
security”.
The DLP - which has been under fire for its pro-North Korea image -
said the case was politically motivated.
“This shows that acts of trying to accuse our party of being
associated with a spy ring were only constructed to run the Democratic
Labor Party into the ground,” it said.
North and South Korea are still technically at war since their 1950-53
conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace agreement.
But South Korea has operated a so-called “sunshine policy” of
engagement with its Communist neighbour since 2000.
That policy has come under strain since North Korea tested a nuclear
device in October, with calls for the South to be tougher on its
neighbour.
Good morning.
Waiting for a tow-truck.
Flat tire - Happy Monday, I guess. LOL
I pinged you to the shooting at Virginia Tech thread.
At least I get to freep while waiting for tow.
U.S.: Aid worker missing in Philippines
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/14/philippines.aidworker/index.html?section=cnn_latest
U.S.: Aid worker missing in Philippines
POSTED: 11:54 a.m. EDT, April 14, 2007
(CNN) — A search is under way for a U.S. aid worker missing for
nearly a week in the northern Philippines, the U.S. Embassy in Manila
told CNN on Saturday.
U.S. authorities are seeking information on Julia Campbell, a U.S.
Peace Corps volunteer last seen on Easter Sunday in the town of Banaue
in Ifugao province, said embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop.
Campbell had planned to hike alone on April 8 in a hilly region near
Batad, Lussenhop said. The area, about 260 kilometers (163 miles)
north of Manila, is famed for its mountain rice terraces, Lussenhop
said.
The communist New People’s Army (NPA) also operates in the region,
Lussenhop confirmed.
continued.........
U.S. decides against freeing 5 Iranian agents
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18101894/
U.S. decides against freeing 5 Iranian agents
Administration resists Tehran’s pressure, State Department advise
By Robin Wright
Updated: 2:56 a.m. ET April 14, 2007
After intense internal debate, the Bush administration has decided to
hold on to five Iranian Revolutionary Guard intelligence agents
captured in Iraq, overruling a State Department recommendation to
release them, according to U.S. officials.
At a meeting of the president’s foreign policy team Tuesday, the
administration decided the five Iranians will remain in custody and go
through a periodic six-month review used for the 250 other foreign
detainees held in Iraq, U.S. officials said. The next review is not
expected until July, officials say.
The five, seized in a Jan. 11 raid by U.S. forces in the Kurdish city
of Irbil, are at the center of increasing tensions between Washington
and Tehran. The decision is certain to further irritate Tehran, which
has ratcheted up pressure on the United States and on its allies and
even its friends in the Iraqi government to win freedom for the Irbil
five.
The decision came as Iraq’s government spokesman, on a White House
visit Friday, urged better ties. “We feel that the improvement and the
better relations between the United States and Iran could minimize —
could make the [Iranian] interference less,” Ali Dabbagh said in a
news briefing with White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
continued.............
Group cleared over Iran murders
By Frances Harrison
BBC News, Tehran
Iran’s Supreme Court has acquitted a group of men charged over a series of gruesome killings in 2002, according to lawyers for the victims’ families.
The vigilantes were not guilty because their victims were involved in un-Islamic activities, the court found.
The killers said they believed Islam let them spill the blood of anyone engaged in illicit activities if they issued two warnings to the victims.
The serial killings took place in 2002 in the south-eastern city of Kerman.
‘Morally corrupt’
The case raises serious questions about vigilantes in Iran taking justice into their own hands and undermining the rule of law.
Up to 18 people were killed in just one year, but only five of the murders were tried in court.
According to their confessions, the killers put some of their victims in pits and stoned them to death. Others were suffocated. One man was even buried alive while others had their bodies dumped in the desert to be eaten by wild animals.
The accused, who were all members of an Islamic paramilitary force, told the court their understanding of the teachings of one Islamic cleric allowed them to kill immoral people if they had ignored two warnings to stop their bad behaviour.
But there was no judicial process to determine the guilt of the victims in these cases.
The group even killed a young couple they thought were involved in sex outside marriage, but media reports say the couple were either married or engaged to be married.
Lawyers for the victims’ families say the Supreme Court has five times overturned the verdict of a lower court that found all the men guilty of murder.
Now the Supreme Court is reported to have acquitted all the killers of the charge of murder on the grounds that their victims were all morally corrupt.
Some of the group may, however, face prison sentences or have to pay financial compensation to their victims’ families.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6557679.stm
Published: 2007/04/15 16:16:54 GMT
© BBC MMVII
BBC man’s ‘killing’ not verified
The BBC says it still has no independent verification of a claim by a Palestinian militant group that it has killed reporter Alan Johnston.
The corporation said it was “highly concerned” for Mr Johnston’s safety and reiterated calls for his release.
On Sunday, the previously unheard of Tawhid and Jihad brigades claimed it had executed Mr Johnston.
BBC colleagues have rallied for Mr Johnston, 44, who was abducted at gunpoint in Gaza City on 12 March.
His parents, Graham and Margaret, say they are desperately worried and have appealed for anyone with information about their son to make contact.
ALAN JOHNSTON
Born in Lindi, Tanzania, on 17 May 1962
BBC Kabul correspondent from 1997 to 1998
BBC Gaza correspondent from April 2004
Journalists have rallied in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in support of Mr Johnston, as public campaigns to secure his release continue.
Dozens of demonstrators held portraits of the journalist, who was seized at gunpoint in Gaza City on 12 March.
Others gathered outside the European Commission building in Brussels.
BBC rallies
BBC colleagues held a vigil at London’s Television Centre, in Birmingham and at Bush House, home of the World Service.
The corporation’s Director General Mark Thompson said the BBC was still seeking clarification of the reporter’s condition.
He praised Mr Johnston’s family, calling the wait for news “agonising” for them.
Earlier, in a statement, the BBC said it could not confirm the claims by the Tawhid and Jihad (Holy War and Unity) brigades, describing the story as a rumour without verification.
“We continue to be highly concerned for [Alan Johnston’s] safety and are demanding urgent clarification from the Palestinian and British authorities,” it said.
The Tawhid and Jihad brigades made its claim in an email to media organisations, linking Mr Johnston’s purported execution to the plight of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said the government was investigating the reports.
“We are working closely with the Palestinian Authority and are urgently seeking information from them and other sources,” he said.
‘Worrying time’
In the latest of almost daily demonstrations in the wake of Mr Johnston’s abduction, journalists gathered outside the Lebanese Press Syndicate building in Beirut to press for his release.
It’s very important to show our solidarity with any colleague that’s harmed because of his job
Diana Moukalled
Lebanese TV reporter
“We would like to appeal today to whoever is holding [Alan Johnston] to release him today unharmed,” the BBC’s Beirut correspondent, Kim Ghattas, told media.
Our correspondent said Mr Johnston had continued to do his job professionally, despite the risks.
But, more than a month since his abduction, there was concern about Mr Johnston’s mental health and physical state, she said.
Another demonstrator, Lebanese TV reporter Diana Moukalled, said it was very important “to show our solidarity with any colleague that’s harmed because of his job”.
Earlier, Mr Johnston’s parents Graham and Margaret Johnston issued a statement, saying it was a “desperately worrying time”.
They added: “We make a heartfelt appeal to anyone who may have knowledge of Alan’s situation and well-being to contact the authorities in Gaza.”
Mr Johnston, from Scotland, joined the BBC World Service in 1991 and has spent eight of the last 16 years as a correspondent, including periods in Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
He has lived and worked in Gaza for three years and was the only Western reporter permanently based in the often violent and lawless territory.
His posting in Gaza had been due to end in late March.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6559619.stm
Published: 2007/04/16 13:30:33 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Iran pardons jailed Swedish pair
Iranian authorities say they have pardoned two Swedish men jailed after photographing military facilities.
Stefan Johanssen and Jari Hjortmar, who had been sentenced to at least two years in jail, would be freed later on Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry said.
They were arrested in March 2006 for taking pictures of installations on the southern island of Qeshm.
Earlier this month Iran released 15 UK naval personnel detained while allegedly operating in Iranian waters.
Foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the pardoned pair would be handed over to Swedish diplomats.
“Following the requests of the families and repeated requests from Swedish politicians... they have been pardoned and will be freed at 1800 (1430 GMT),” he said.
The pardon was granted as part of Iran’s “humanitarian efforts”, he added.
Diplomatic efforts
According to Swedish media reports the men had been working as construction workers at the time of their arrest.
But Swedish officials said they would not comment until the men had arrived back home.
Qeshm is an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, about 1,400km (870 miles) south of the capital, Tehran, and near the city of Bandar Abbas.
Mr Hosseini said Urban Ahlin, a Swedish MP, had travelled to Iran several times in recent months to negotiate the release of the two men, AFP news agency reported.
A German citizen and a French man arrested in late 2005 have also been freed by Iran in recent months.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6560429.stm
Published: 2007/04/16 14:35:07 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Russia presses UK on Berezovsky
Russia’s chief prosecutor has sent a new request to the UK for the London-based Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky to be extradited.
Yuri Chaika’s request followed Mr Berezovsky’s claim on Friday that he was working to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia wants the UK government to strip Mr Berezovsky of his refugee status.
Russian prosecutors have previously charged him with fraud. He was granted political asylum in the UK in 2003.
Russia’s latest extradition request was triggered by Mr Berezovsky’s interview with the Guardian newspaper on Friday, in which he said he was plotting a “revolution” to overthrow President Putin.
The tycoon later clarified his words, stating that he was advocating “bloodless change” - not violence.
UK assessment
On Friday the UK Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, said she was aware of Mr Berezovsky’s comments to the Guardian, “appearing to call for the overthrow of the current Russian government by force”.
“I deplore such sentiments. We expect everyone living or working in, or visiting the UK, whatever their status, to observe our laws and regulations. The Home Office will now seek to collate full information on the alleged comments so that a review and full assessment can be made,” she said.
Writing in the Guardian on Monday, Mr Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mr Berezovsky’s motives had been laid bare.
“We now expect the British authorities to rethink their decision to harbour a fugitive billionaire,” Mr Peskov wrote.
Mr Peskov quoted a Russian academic, Andrei Piontkovsky, who called Mr Berezovsky “the embodiment of robber capitalism”.
Mr Peskov said Russia “no longer tolerates the unfettered personal acquisition of state assets”.
Mr Berezovsky has a fortune estimated at £800m ($1.4bn).
Previously an ally of former President Boris Yeltsin, he has already fought off Russian extradition requests on fraud charges which he said were politically motivated.
He was one of the first targets of President Putin’s crackdown on the Russian oligarchs - well-connected entrepreneurs who made fortunes during privatisation - and went into self-imposed exile at the end of 2000.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6559551.stm
Published: 2007/04/16 12:01:35 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Russian opposition in fresh rally
Hundreds of anti-Kremlin demonstrators have held a rally in St Petersburg, a day after a protest in Moscow ended in scuffles and arrests.
The participants gathered at a square in the city centre, but were encircled by a similar number of riot police and prevented from marching.
Smaller groups clashed with police after the main rally finished. Several opposition leaders were arrested.
Ex-chess champion Garry Kasparov was among 170 held in the Moscow march.
Mr Kasparov was freed several hours later after being fined $40 (£20) for public order offences.
The protesters, allied under the Other Russia coalition, say President Vladimir Putin is stifling democracy.
March banned
Reports say Eduard Limonov, leader of the radical National Bolshevik party, and several other organisers were arrested.
It is no longer a country... where the government tries to pretend it is playing by the letter and spirit of the law
Garry Kasparov
A number of participants had been detained on arrival in the city, including the leader of the Pora youth movement Andrey Sidelnikov and Olga Kurnosova, the local head of Mr Kasparov’s United Civil Front.
A reporter for the private Moscow Echo radio station said before the rally that he saw interior ministry troops and a water cannon in the city, adding that people could be forgiven for thinking a military operation was about to start.
Demonstrators were seen holding flags of various groups including that of the liberal Yabloko party and the hammer and sickle banner of the National Bolsheviks.
But correspondents say the turnout was not as good as the organisers might have hoped.
Organisers contemplated whether to try to march down the city’s main street, but were blocked by police and began to disperse after two hours.
One group of demonstrators who avoided the encirclement tried to march but were stopped at a nearby railway station, where scuffles broke out with police, local media said.
Reports say several people were beaten by police, including an elderly man.
Russian authorities sanctioned the rally but banned any marching.
President Vladimir Putin denies the opposition charge that he is trampling on democracy, accusing the opposition of destabilising Russia.
In Moscow on Saturday, a huge security operation, including more than 9,000 police, was launched to prevent protesters from gathering at Pushkin Square.
Mr Kasparov’s swift arrest followed warnings by the prosecution office on the eve of the march, stating that anyone participating risked being detained.
After being released Mr Kasparov said: “It is no longer a country... where the government tries to pretend it is playing by the letter and spirit of the law.”
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6556739.stm
Published: 2007/04/15 11:59:51 GMT
© BBC MMVII
[Without double checking, on the long list of news urls, this same acid was found in Iraq...........on todays url post..
The radio says the baby will be in the hospital many weeks.............granny]
US toddler burnt in park attack
A two-year-old boy is facing surgery after receiving serious burns at a playground slide in the US that had been vandalised with harsh chemicals.
Peyton Duschl received second and third-degree burns, mostly to his legs, after using the primary school slide.
Vandals had poured industrial-strength drain cleaner over the ride, and opened bottles of the dangerous chemical were found at the scene, police said.
A hazardous materials team was called in to clean the site in Maryland state.
The boy will have surgery on Sunday and is expected to stay in hospital for several weeks, his mother Carol Duschl said.
With a high sulphuric acid content, the cleaner was so strong that the accident and emergency department at the first hospital the boy attended had to be evacuated, said Michael Robinson, from the Baltimore County Fire Department.
“I just don’t understand what would draw somebody to do something like that,” Ms Duschl told US television station WMAR-TV. “What kind of sick joke is that?”
There were signs of forced entry to a storage room at Victory Villa Elementary School in Middle River, police spokeswoman Sgt Vickie Warehime said.
She said that whoever poured the chemical was also likely to have been burnt.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6556823.stm
Published: 2007/04/15 07:25:53 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Deadly shooting at US university
At least one person has been killed and one injured in a shooting on the campus of a university in Virginia, US, the Associated Press has reported.
The shooting at Virginia Tech reportedly took place in West Ambler Johnston Hall, a student dormitory.
A warning posted on the university’s web site warned students that there was a gunman on the loose on campus.
The website message advised students that the police were in attendance and to remain indoors until further notice.
“There’s just a lot of commotion. It’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on,” Jason Anthony Smith, 19, who lives in the building where the shooting took place told AP.
The state university in the town of Blacksburg has 26,000 students.
In August 2006 classes the campus was ordered shut and classes were cancelled when police were hunting an escaped prison inmate who killed a hospital guard and sheriff’s deputy close to the site.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6560685.stm
Published: 2007/04/16 15:26:12 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Chavez hosting summit on energy
The pros and cons of ethanol and plans for a 5,000 mile natural gas pipeline are top of the agenda at the South American Energy Summit in Venezuela.
The two day summit on the Caribbean island of Margarita is being hosted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Venezuela is the region’s only member of the oil-producers’ cartel Opec and Mr Chavez opposes the use of ethanol.
He is expected to give more details of a proposed gas pipeline between Venezuela and Colombia.
The Venezuelan energy minister Rafael Ramirez says the plan would involve investing $10m (£5.02m) on improving the quality of life in villages along the route of the pipeline.
Ethanol as a biofuel
Brazil’s President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva has rejected criticism from President Chavez and others that the use of ethanol as a biofuel would increase food prices.
Brazil is a pioneer in the use of ethanol made from sugar cane to power cars.
“All South American countries and Africa can easily produce oil seeds for biodiesel, sugar cane for ethanol and food at the same time,” Mr Lula said on his weekly radio programme.
Mr Chavez says he does not plan to pick a fight with the Brazilian leader.
“The issue is not ethanol as an additive,” he said.
“The issue is the US empire wanting to substitute gasoline with ethanol - that’s crazy.”
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/6560197.stm
Published: 2007/04/16 14:27:37 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Venezuela steps up land seizures
Venezuela’s government has seized more than 330,000 hectares (815,450 acres) of land to redistribute them under an agrarian reform programme.
President Hugo Chavez said 16 farms - which he described as large and unproductive - had been expropriated.
His government was moving towards a “collective property” policy as part of its “drive towards socialism”, he said.
Critics say land reform has failed so far to revive the agricultural sector and end dependence on food imports.
More expropriations
Mr Chavez announced the latest round of land seizures during his TV and radio programme Hello, President.
“From today [Sunday] this becomes social property to satisfy the needs of the people,” he said, speaking from one of the seized farms in the state of Barinas.
Another 13 farms would be expropriated in the coming weeks, Mr Chavez added.
He said the land would be used for cattle production.
In the past five years, almost 2m hectares have been seized after being declared unproductive or because the owners did not have the property documents in order.
Mr Chavez, who was re-elected with a large majority last year, has pledged to turn Venezuela into a socialist state.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6494843.stm
Published: 2007/03/26 10:04:22 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Civil servant on terrorist charge
A County Antrim civil servant working for the police has appeared in court on terrorism charges.
Aaron Hill, 22, of Mainebank, Randalstown, was alleged to have illegally accessed information from the PSNI computer system.
He was arrested last Friday during an investigation into terrorist crime. The court heard information was accessed over a five year period to April 2007.
He is accused of possessing information likely to be of use to terrorists.
Mr Hill is also accused of breaching the Data Protection Act and a further count of misconduct in public office.
He appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court on Monday.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6559747.stm
Published: 2007/04/16 11:37:47 GMT
© BBC MMVII
EU worry over Russia ‘crackdown’
By Steven Eke
BBC Russia analyst
The European Union has called on Russia to respect freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, after a weekend crackdown on demonstrators.
A spokeswoman for the EU said the body was very concerned about the police action in Moscow and St Petersburg.
Earlier, Russia’s human rights ombudsman said he intended to investigate the incident.
Police are accused of randomly beating demonstrators, journalists and even passers-by.
‘Exceeded authority’
The EU spokeswoman said the European Commission would continue to raise the issue of respect for basic freedoms in its regular meetings with Russian officials.
What are the authorities so afraid of?
Mikhail Romanov
Moskovskiy Komsomolets daily
Human rights groups in Russia say they intend to set up a commission to investigate why such force was used against peaceful demonstrators in Moscow on Saturday, and then St Petersburg, Russia’s second city, on Sunday.
They have been encouraged by a pledge from Vladimir Lukin, Russia’s official human rights ombudsman, who said he believed police had exceeded their authority.
In a key election year, the Russian authorities appear nervous. They have begun to use a degree of violence against demonstrations not seen since the 1980s, when the Soviet Union still existed.
Demonstrators argue that they have a constitutional right to participate in protests unimpeded by the authorities. They say a raft of laws and regulations - some introduced very recently - limiting such protests are simply unconstitutional.
That is not an analysis the authorities agree with. Russia’s top political commentators say there is a logic to the authorities’ actions.
Russia will hold parliamentary elections in December and then a presidential vote in March next year.
It is already clear that the authorities’ key strategy is to consolidate support for their parties and candidates by stressing unity in the face of an external enemy - namely the West.
In response to complaints from foreign governments that their journalists were also attacked by police, Russian diplomats have accused them of “unobjective coverage” of the protests.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6560523.stm
Published: 2007/04/16 14:48:37 GMT
© BBC MMVII
[Last night, Dr. Bill Wattenberg was asked about this, he says that Iran will have weapon grade material, before the end of the year...........granny]
Iran: “Only One Step Away from Producing Nuclear Weapons”
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=IA34207
Inquiry & Analysis-Iran
April 13, 2007
No. 342
Tehran Times: “A Country That Has... Uranium Enrichment Is Only One
Step Away from Producing Nuclear Weapons; This Step Is Not a
Scientific or a Technical [One] – But a Matter of Political Decision”
By Y. Mansharof*
Introduction
On April 10, 2007, after several postponements, Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered his long-promised message “that will
gladden all Muslims” at Iran’s Nuclear Day festivities.(1) During the
day’s main rally, held at the nuclear facility at Natanz, Ahmadinejad
said that Iran was now manufacturing nuclear fuel on an industrial
scale.(2)
At this stage, senior Iranian nuclear program officials are not saying
exactly how many centrifuges are operating at Natanz, apparently out
of fear of a possible military attack by the West.(3) At the same
time, both senior officials and the Iranian media are stressing the
importance of this accomplishment, and that it marks the point of no
return in Iran’s nuclearization process.
With this announcement, the Iranian regime is apparently trying to
achieve two aims. The first is to announce its nuclear progress
despite U.N. sanctions and international pressure, and thus to deter a
possible attack on its nuclear facilities. The second is to reduce
domestic criticism following the increase in Western pressures and
sanctions.(4)
The following are excerpts from Ahmadinejad’s April 10 speech and from
statements by other senior Iranian officials, as well as from the
Iranian press, on the issue.
Ahmadinejad: Iran Now Producing Nuclear Fuel on an Industrial Scale
“I declare today, in all pride, that from this day, Iran is among the
countries producing nuclear fuel on an [industrial] scale... Today,
Iran’s enemies are embarrassed by Iran’s progress in various areas...
According to a pre-set program, the Iranian government is determined
to produce at least 20,000 megawatts of nuclear electricity according
to a specific timetable... We warmly shake the hands of all
governments interested in holding talks with us and in cooperating
with us in this area.
“I [address] the governments that have so far refused to come to terms
with today’s reality and with the Iranian people’s right [to develop
nuclear technology], and demand that they stop acting aggressively,
illogically, hostilely, and in violation [of the law] towards Iran.
[They had better] know that every member of the Iranian people stands
fast behind its leaders, out of knowledge, faith, and absolute unity,
and [that the Iranian people] will defend its right to the end... The
[Western countries] should know that the path of the progress of the
Iranian people is irreversible... They must pay attention, and do
nothing to cause this brave and great people to reconsider the way it
deals with them. [Western countries] have tried this [hostile]
approach several times, and have seen that this [Iranian] people is
capable of [reconsidering its approach towards them]...”(5)
Larijani: We Are Rapidly Advancing Towards 54,000 Centrifuges
In an interview with the Iranian daily Kayhan, which is identified
with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian Supreme National
Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani, who is in charge of Iran’s
nuclear dossier, confirmed that UF6 gas had been injected into
centrifuges installed in the uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. He
said, “[The Western countries] must in any event accept a nuclear
Iran... We are moving vigorously along the path of obtaining... 54,000
centrifuges... The sanctions against us [UNSC Resolution 1747] have
had no effect, and will have no effect, on our movement towards this
goal [in the future]...”(6)
Larijani also noted that the purpose of the nuclear program could
change. He said, “We are not interested in such a thing taking place,
but when we encounter the ill temper and exaggerations of [the West,]
we are pressured by the Majlis, and could make different decisions.”(7)
With regard to the number of centrifuges at Natanz, Larijani said,
“The number of centrifuges doesn’t matter. But we have a work output
of 3,000 centrifuges. This level and above is considered
industrial...”(8)
Aghazadeh: We Are Aiming to Operate 50,000 Centrifuges
Iranian Atomic Energy Organization director Gholam Reza Aghazadeh also
refused to indicate the precise number of centrifuges operating in
Natanz. He said, “Iran’s program is not to install and operate only
3,000 centrifuges at the Natanz uranium enrichment facilities, but
50,000... We planned and invested for [the installation of] 50,000
centrifuges. The infrastructure that has been established – including
equipment for air filtering, electricity, a new air supply, and
everything required for this industry – was for 50,000 centrifuges...
I intentionally did not indicate any number [in my speech at the
Natanz celebrations]... because I wanted no misunderstandings in the
foreign media, [and I did not want] them to think that Iran’s [nuclear
program] included [only] 3,000 centrifuges...
“[The situation is] quite the opposite. As we enter the industrial
stage, the installation of the centrifuges will be carried out on an
ongoing basis, until all 50,000 [centrifuges] are installed... Our
declaration that we have entered the stage [of producing nuclear fuel]
on an industrial [scale means] that there is no turning back.”(9)
At the Natanz celebrations, Aghazadeh stressed that “despite the
commitments we have received from [various] countries, no expert or
[external] company has stood by us... but despite these challenges,
obstacles, and problems, Iran was determined to realize, by means of
its creative young people, its nuclear program – which includes
peaceful purposes, with the first priority being to produce a nuclear
fuel cycle as supreme science in nuclear technology... and in the past
year our young scientists have managed to produce 270 tons of UF6.
“Not long ago, [producing] this important substance was far from the
imagination of our country’s nuclear researchers and scientists. But
finally, we managed to attain [enrichment of] uranium, at [a level of]
3.5% to 5%... Now, as we enter mass production of centrifuges and
begin to produce [nuclear fuel] on an industrial [scale], we are
taking one more step towards the flowering of Iran...”(10)
Aghazadeh also pointed out, “Now that Iran has entered into production
of nuclear fuel on an industrial [scale], there will be no limit on
the production of nuclear fuel in Iran... This is the accomplishment
of some 3,000 expert scientists and the best of the forces that worked
in the past year night and day at the Natanz facility.”(11)
Kayhan Editor: Only One More Step to Nuclear Fuel Production
In an April 10 lecture on the current state of Iran’s nuclear dossier
to students and lecturers at Babol University for the Medical Sciences
in Mazandaran, Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the Kayhan daily which
is close to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said, “A country that
has attained the knowledge and technology of uranium enrichment is
only one step away from producing nuclear weapons. This [additional]
step is not a scientific or a technical step, but a matter of
political decision. But Iran announced several times that it would
never produce nuclear weapons...” Shariatmadari added that Iran had
decided to install at least 60,000 centrifuges.(12)
Kayhan: “The West Must Expect a Shock from Iran at Any Moment”
In an April 10, 2007 editorial headlined “Strategy of Ambiguity,”
Kayhan noted that since Iran had reached the point of no return in its
nuclear program, it could shape its nuclear program in accordance with
its political aspirations. The paper said that Iran was now acting far
from the eyes of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and that this
will enable it to surprise the West – which should at any moment
expect an earthshaking announcement from Iran. The following are the
main points of the editorial:
“Yesterday, Iran crossed the nuclear point of no return. Now it is for
all practical purposes a nuclear state, and in light of this reality,
its name should carry a different weight [than in the past] in any
kind of regional or super-regional security balance... From now on,
Iran is freed from technical limitations, and can choose the goals of
its nuclear program.
“We will see in which [direction] Iran’s political aspiration will
incline. If Iran is subjected to threats, and others want to act
[against it] illegally, the direction its desire will take is clear.
If it is treated without rules and laws – which is what is actually
happening – Iran will have a different aspiration [than it has
today]... What is important is that Iran now has the backing it needs
in order to choose any direction it wants.
“The event yesterday at Natanz sent a crystal-clear message to the
West: the path you are following is mistaken... Iran is following two
paths: one, the path of rapid progress in its technical work, and two,
the gradual reduction of the IAEA’s access to its nuclear facilities...
“Under the current threatening and unjust conditions, Iran has decided
to employ a strategy of ambiguity. Since Iran’s nuclear dossier was
illegally returned to the U.N. Security Council, the eyes of the IAEA
– the intelligence agency of the West – are finding it more difficult
every day [to monitor Iran’s activities]. When [the IAEA] reported on
[Iran’s nuclear dossier] to the Security Council last winter, Iran
announced that it would no longer be implementing the Additional
Protocol. A few months later, when sanctions resolution 1737 was
issued, Iran began to install 3,000 centrifuges at Natanz... When
sanctions resolution 1747 was passed, Iran further reduced IAEA access
[to its nuclear facilities] by stopping the implementation of the
agreements connected to the ‘Safeguards Agreement.’
“Now, when less than 15 days of the two-month extension given to Iran
under 1747 remain, Iran celebrates its entrance into the club of the
[countries] producing nuclear fuel on an industrial [scale]. The path
is completely clear... From now on, Westerners must expect a shock
from Iran at any moment. It is true that our hands are tied in the
Security Council, and that we have no great ability to restrain their
[i.e. the West’s] aggression. But the Westerners must not forget that
Iran’s hands are completely free in its nuclear facilities, and that
any sanctions resolution in New York... accelerates our technological
progress at Natanz. The new surprise has begun...
“According to [Iran’s] obligations under the agreement [with the
IAEA], it is required to inform the IAEA only 180 days before bringing
nuclear material into its facilities. That is, Iran... can patiently
plan and build the facilities it wants, and inform the IAEA [only]
when the work is finished. True, under the ‘Safeguards Agreement,’
(known as Section 3.1), any country that recognizes [the agreement]
must inform the IAEA about its nuclear facilities as soon as it begins
construction (not [180 days] before the facility begins operation).
But Iran – which implemented this agreement since May 2003 –
announced following sanctions resolution 1747 that it would stop
[abiding by Section 3.1]... This is precisely the strategy of
ambiguity.”(13)
In another editorial, published April 11, 2007 and headlined “Duel
with an Unloaded Gun,” Kayhan said, “Now America has expended all the
bullets in its clip. Now, it is Iran that will decide, in the face of
the shocked world, on the ‘news’ and the ‘event’ with which it will
strike the superpowers at their weak points and their Achilles heel.
Iran still has great wisdom in its clip – and each bullet of wisdom
prepares the ground for new opportunities, and makes Iran’s hands more
skilled... America is now dealing with the deadly hail of Iran’s
wisdom...”(14)
Resalat: Iran Has Become an Influential Force on a Global Scale
An article published April 11, 2007 by the conservative daily Resalat
stressed that Iran’s entrance into the club of countries producing
nuclear fuel on an industrial scale had been attained by relying
solely on domestic capabilities. It also stated that the West was
helpless in the face of this achievement, and that whether it
continued to object to Iran’s nuclearization or recognized its right
to do so, Iran had won. The following are the main points of the
article:
“On the day of the nuclear celebrations, Iran took another
[significant] step on the path to the country’s progress and
flowering. With the beginning of the production of nuclear fuel on an
industrial [scale], Iran has joined the limited group of countries
that [possess this capability]. When it declared that it was producing
nuclear fuel on an industrial [scale], Iran reached the point of no
return of nuclear technology, and today we are recognized as an
influential power in the regional and world balance.
“The phenomenal progress of Iran’s scientists in producing nuclear
fuel and in injecting [UF6] gas into 3,000 centrifuges is
significant... because no foreign country or organization helped Iran
in the slightest, and because Iran’s nuclear technology is completely
domestic...
“Now, in light of their progress, which brings pride to the sons of
the Iranian people, the powers of arrogance [i.e. the West, headed by
the U.S.] stand before two paths: Either they continue on the path of
their hostility towards Iran – and if they do, they will make the
Iranian people determined to conquer the highest peaks of science – or
they officially recognize the legal right of the Iranian people, and
stop being stubborn. In either case, victory will be with the great
Iranian people... Our experience with the difficulties raised by
Russia in operating the Bushehr nuclear reactor, and its failure to
send nuclear fuel to this reactor, have proven that others cannot be
trusted...”(15)
Tehran Times Editor: Recognize Iran’s Nuclear Rights – Or “The World
Will Again Witness the Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons”
In an article in the Iranian daily Tehran Times, which is identified
with Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Pervez Ismaili, who is also the
editor-in-chief of the conservative Iranian news agency Mehr, stated
that the West must recognize Iran’s nuclear rights, because Iran had
reached the point of no return in its nuclear program. The following
are the main points of the article, in the original English:
“...What happened in Iran on Monday provides a great opportunity for
the international community. In the current situation, particularly
since the 1990s, all nuclear tensions are focused on the idea that
there is only a short distance between attaining the expertise
required for gaining access to the complete nuclear fuel cycle to
produce nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes and using that ability to
produce nuclear weapons...
“However, the West’s severe reaction to Iran’s transparent nuclear
measures will certainly encourage developing countries to limit
transparency or even to establish secret underground installations and
eventually withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in
order to maintain their national interests... If the international
community fails to resolve the current crisis as soon as possible by
accepting Iran’s model, the world will again witness the proliferation
of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in the near
future, regardless of the outcome of the confrontation with
Iran...”(16)
* Y. Mansharof is a research fellow at MEMRI.
Endnotes:
(1) The declaration was postponed twice: It was meant to be delivered
in February 2007, in the context of the “Ten Days of Fajr”
celebrations marking the victory of the Islamic Revolution, and then
on the Persian New Year, March 21, 2007.
(2) In mid-March 2007, Iranian Atomic Energy Organization deputy
director Mohamed Saeedi revealed that Iran had already attained the
know-how necessary for a nuclear fuel cycle and for constructing
nuclear reactors, and also said that Iran had begun to use this
know-how. See MEMRI TV Clip No. 1404,
http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1404, March 13, 2007.
(3) Rooz, April 10, 2007.
(4) See MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 317, “Iranian Domestic
Criticism of Iran’s Nuclear Strategy,” January 24, 2007,
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=iran&ID=IA31707.
(5) IRNA, Kayhan (Iran), April 10, 2007
(6) Kayhan (Iran), April 10, 2007.
(7) IRNA (Iran), April 10, 2007.
(8) Mehr (Iran), April 9, 2007.
(9) IRNA (Iran), April 10, 2007.
(10) Kayhan (Iran), April 11, 2007.
(11) Jomhour-ye Eslami (Iran), April 11, 2007.
(12) Kayhan (Iran), April 11, 2007.
(13) Kayhan (Iran), April 10, 2007. In an April 9, 2007 article, the
Sobh-e Sadeq weekly, which is the mouthpiece of Iran’s Supreme Leader
Khamenei circulated among the Revolutionary Guards, notes that in a
letter given to IAEA chairman Mohammad Al-Baradei on March 29, 2007,
Iran informed the IAEA that it was suspending its implementation of
the Safeguards Agreement, and thus “from this moment on, Iran is not
obligated to notify the IAEA of its decisions [regarding] the
construction of new nuclear facilities.” Sobh-e Sadeq, April 9, 2007.
(14) Kayhan (Iran), April 11, 2007.
(15) Resalat (Iran), April 11, 2007.
(16) Tehran Times (Iran), April 11, 2007.
*********************
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent,
non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the
Middle East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as
background information, are available on request.
http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=29469
Suspect found with forged IDs by TSA screener
By LILA FUJIMOTO, Staff Writer
Friday, April 13, 2007 11:21 AM
WAILUKU – The name on the duffel bag read Robert Folsom.
But when a federal Transportation Security Administration screener looked through the bag March 29 at Lanai Airport, she found a Hawaii driver’s license with a different name.
As she continued to examine the traveler’s belongings, she turned up 43 Hawaii driver’s licenses, each with photos of the same man but with 35 different names, addresses and Social Security numbers, said Deputy Prosecutor John Tam.
When Lanai police caught up with the suspect the next morning as he attempted to flee through a bedroom window of a Lanai City residence, they learned his real name is Shane James Deighan, a 33-year-old Honolulu resident with a prior forgery conviction.
Also found in his baggage were 19 credit cards, 11 of them matching one of the Hawaii driver’s licenses, with four of the credit cards signed on the back; three other apparently stolen Hawaii driver’s licenses with other people’s names and photos; two apparently stolen Texas driver’s licenses with other people’s names and photos; three Social Security cards, two blank checks, one military identification and a Canadian birth certificate.
Police also seized a laptop computer, laminate material, Exacto knives and paper that could have been used to forge some of the identifications.
“He had everything but the printer,” Tam said.
Police are continuing an investigation but verified that Deighan had the personal information of at least one real person – a Maui police lieutenant whose name, address, Social Security number and birth date were written in a notebook.
“I was surprised,” said the lieutenant, who doesn’t know Deighan and had “no idea” how he obtained the personal information.
The lieutenant said he was among Army Reserve members alerted last year about the possibility they could be subject to identity theft from missing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs records.
He recalled receiving a bill last year from Dell for a computer he hadn’t purchased. But after he questioned the charge, the company determined it was a case of fraud, he said.
During a preliminary hearing on April 4 in Wailuku District Court, Judge Jan Apo ruled there was enough evidence to support charges of unauthorized possession of confidential personal information, second-degree forgery, criminal possession of a forgery device, sale or manufacture of deceptive identification document and credit card forgery. Each charge is a Class C felony carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison.
With a stack of fake identification as thick as three decks of playing cards, Deighan could have disappeared, Tam said.
Apo increased bail for Deighan from $15,000 to $50,000.
Deighan, who is also known as Ethan Francoise James, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in 2nd Circuit Court. He was being held at the Maui Community Correctional Center.
When he showed up at Lanai Airport at 3:55 p.m. March 29, Deighan had five pieces of luggage and an Island Air ticket to Oahu in the name of Robert Folsom. He also had a Hawaii driver’s license with the name Robert Folsom and might have been allowed to board the airplane if not for the TSA screener, Tam said.
“She was the sharp one who caught it, noticed the difference in names,” he said.
A TSA supervisor said the screener has been on Lanai for several years, dealing with sometimes difficult situations, but one “known to perform very well under all circumstances.”
The supervisor said the Lanai situation was unique, but screeners are trained to be observant of what may be suspicious situations. He asked that the screener not be identified.
While the suspect fled from the airport, Lanai police tracked him to a residence on Lanai Avenue, where he was arrested about 7 a.m. the next day.
Lanai patrol officer Brandon Rodrigues, who went to the back of the home, recognized Deighan as he burst through a window screen to flee, according to police reports. The officer used a Taser stun gun to subdue the 6-foot, 175-pound suspect.
According to court records, Deighan was placed on five years’ probation after pleading guilty to second-degree forgery in a 2001 case on Oahu.
Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.
Copyright © 2005 The Maui News.
Thank you for posting the link for your thread, I am far behind on reading, so would have missed it.
Will be glad to see your links, anytime.
Are you on your way? Flats can be hell.
Thanks for the ping, on my way, Just heard Rush say 32 shot.
It is that time of the year.
http://passivemode.net/updates/2006/11/17/uk-rfid-e-passport-cracked.html
U.K. RFID E-Passport Cracked
Posted on Fri, Nov 17, 2006 by Registered CommenterJohn Jolly in RFID | CommentsPost a Comment
The Guardian
202326-555789-thumbnail.jpg
A British passport, issued before the days of the biometric document.Six months ago, with the help of a rather scary computer expert, I deconstructed the life of an airline passenger simply by using information garnered from a boarding-pass stub he had thrown into a dustbin on the Heathrow Express. By using his British Airways frequent-flyer number and buying a ticket in his name on the airline’s website, we were able to access his personal data, passport number, date of birth and nationality. Based on this information, using publicly available databases, we found out where he lived, his profession, all his academic qualifications and even how much his house was worth.
Today, some three million such passports have been issued, and they don’t look so secure. I am sitting with my scary computer man and we have just sucked out all the supposedly secure data and biometric information from three new passports and displayed it all on a laptop computer.
First it is necessary to explain why the new passports were introduced, and how they work.After the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre, in which fake passports were used, the US decided it wanted foreign citizens who presented themselves at its borders to have more secure “machine-readable” identity documents. It told 27 countries that participated in a visa waiver programme that citizens with passports issued after the 26th of last month must have micro-chipped biometric passports or would have to apply for a US visa. Among those 27 countries are the major EU members, and other friendly nations ranging from Andorra and Iceland to Singapore, Japan and Brunei. The UK, of course, is also included.
Fatally, however, the ICAO suggested that the key needed to access the data on the chips should be comprised of, in the following order, the passport number, the holder’s date of birth and the passport expiry date, all of which are contained on the printed page of the passport on a “machine readable zone.” When an immigration official swipes the passport through a reader, this feeds in the key, which allows a microchip reader to communicate with the RFID chip. The data this contains, including the holder’s picture, is then displayed on the official’s screen. The assumption at this stage is that this document is as authentic as it is super-secure. And, as we shall see later, this could be highly significant.
At the same time, Adam Laurie, my computer expert and technical director of the Bunker Secure Hosting, a Kent-based computer security company, and I began laying plans to examine the new passports. Laurie is actually not a scary individual - he is regarded in the industry as a technical wizard who cares about privacy and civil rights - but much of the electronic information he uncovers is. Two years ago, he revealed that Bluetooth mobile phones could be accessed remotely, drained of their contact details, diary entries and pictures, and manipulated to act as bugging devices. The cellphone industry spent millions of pounds plugging the gaps he exposed.
“I was amazed that they made it so easy,” Laurie says. “The information contained in the chip is not encrypted, but to access it you have to start up an encrypted conversation between the reader and the RFID chip in the passport.
“The Home Office has adopted a very high encryption technology called 3DES - that is, to a military-level data-encryption standard times three. So they are using strong cryptography to prevent conversations between the passport and the reader being eavesdropped, but they are then breaking one of the fundamental principles of encryption by using non-secret information actually published in the passport to create a ‘secret key’. That is the equivalent of installing a solid steel front door to your house and then putting the key under the mat.”
Booth is staggered. He has undercut Laurie by finding an RFID reader for £174, which also works. “This is simply not supposed to happen,” Booth says. “This could provide a bonanza for counterfeiters because drawing the information from the chip, complete with the digital signature it contains, could result in a passport being passed off as the real article. You could make a perfect clone of the passport.”
The Home Office thinks not. It correctly points out that the information sucked out of the chip is only the same as that which appears on the page, readable with the human eye. And to obtain the key in the first place, you would need to have access to the passport to read (with the naked eye) its number, expiry date and the date of birth of its holder.
However, some computer experts believe the Home Office is being dangerously naive. Several months ago, Lukas Grunwald, founder of DN-Systems Enterprise Solutions in Germany, conducted a similar attack to ours on a German biometric passport and succeeded in cloning its RFID chip. He believes unscrupulous criminals or terrorists would find this technology very useful.
Grunwald adds: “The problems could get worse when they put fingerprint biometrics on to the passports. There are established ways of making forged fingerprints. In the future, the authorities would like to have automated border controls, and such forged fingerprints [stuck on to fingers] would probably fool them.”
Neither is the human eye, according to research conducted by a team of psychologists from the University of Westminster in 1996. Remember, information - such as a new picture - cannot be added to a cloned chip, so anyone using it to make a counterfeit passport would have to use one that bore a reasonable resemblance to themselves.
Given the results of the Westminster study, if a terrorist bore a slight resemblance to you - and grew a beard, perhaps - he would have a good chance of getting through a border. Because his chip is cloned, with the necessary digital signatures, and because you have not reported your passport stolen - you still have it! - his machine-readable travel document will get him wherever he wants to go, using your identity.
Laurie has, however, rigged up a piece of equipment that can connect to a passport over 7.5cm. That isn’t as far as the Dutch 30cm, but it is enough if your target subject is sitting next to you on the London Underground or crushed up against you on the Gatwick Airport monorail, his pocketed passport next to the reader you have hidden in a bag.
Ah, the Home Office will say, but you still need to see the information in the passport that will form the key needed for connection. Well, not necessarily. Consider this scenario: A postman involved with organised crime knows he has a passport to deliver to your home. He already knows your name and address from the envelope. He can get your date of birth by several means, including credit-reference agencies or from the register of births, marriages and deaths (and, let’s face it, he delivers all your birthday cards anyway).
“If the rogue postman were to take your passport home, without opening the envelope he could put it against a reader and begin a ‘brute force’ attack in which your computer tries 12 different permutations every second until it has the right access codes,” says Laurie. “A five-digit number would take 23 hours to crack at the most. Once all those numbers were established, you could communicate with the RFID chip and steal all the information. And your passport could be delivered to you, unopened and just a day late.”
“What concerns me is that this demonstrates bad design on the part of the Home Office, and we know that government IT projects have a habit of going terribly wrong. There is a lack of security in what we can see - so what about the 90% of the iceberg in the system that we can’t see?
The problems we have identified with RFID chips in passports raise all sorts of questions about the UK’s proposed ID card scheme, which will use the same technology. The government has not said exactly what will be contained in the ID card’s chip, but there will be a National Identity Register that could contain around 50 pieces of information about you, ranging from your name, age, and all your addresses, to your national insurance number and biometric details. Eventually, you may need one to access healthcare. It could even replace the passport.
The Home Office insists that UK passports are secure and among the best in the world, but not everyone agrees. Last week, an EU-funded body entitled the Future of Identity in the Information Society (Fidis) issued a declaration on machine-readable travel documents such as RFID-chipped passports and ID cards. It said the technology was “poorly conceived” and added: “European governments have effectively forced citizens to adopt new … documents which dramatically decrease their security and privacy and increase risk of identity theft.”
It may be that at some point in the future the government will accept that putting RFID chips in to passports is ill-conceived and unnecessary. Until then, the only people likely to embrace this kind of technology are those with mischief in mind.
Coast Guard divers bust black-market oil traders in south
STAFF WRITER WITH CNA Monday, Apr 16, 2007, Page 2
Coast Guard special forces helped bust black-market oil traders in Kaohsiung last Friday by snorkeling in the ocean for nearly seven hours then ambushing the smugglers while on their fishing boats.
Kaohsiung prosecutors said a group led by suspect Chen Chih-hsien (陳志賢) and his wife Chen Li-chen (陳麗貞) colluded with local fishermen to buy their boat oil -- which they buy cheaply through government subsidies -- then ship it inland for sale to underground buyers at below-market prices.
DISGUISES
With lookouts disguised as fishermen surrounding the port where the oil was unloaded onto modified trucks, police determined that the only way to catch the smugglers in the act was to lie in wait in the water.
The navy is typically responsible for special operations and this was the first time a coast guard team -- which had been trained by the marines -- was responsible for this kind of specialized mission.
Coast guard boats dropped the 40 divers in the ocean outside the port at 7pm.
CLOSE CALL
The mission was almost called off, however, when the smugglers began their work three hours later than expected at 2am.
Commanders had ordered the divers to come back, worrying they would be too exhausted to continue after so many hours in the water.
But the coast guard divers insisted they weren't willing to waste all that time and effort by calling off the mission.
At around 1am smugglers in rafts began scouring the area for police.
They failed to discover the divers because the teams had split up, diving below the surface to avoid detection.
After the fishing boats arrived and the teams had regrouped, they received orders to sneak into the harbor, where they stormed the boats at approximately 2am.
SUSPECTS
Thirty suspects were captured in total.
The two Chens, who were directing from the shore, fled the scene in separate cars. Police later captured Chen Li-chen in Kaohsiung's Fengshan City (鳳山), while Chen Chih-hsien was arrested outside his home in Kaohsiung City.
Investigators in Miaoli County uncovered the racket at the end of last year when they discovered that machinery used by a black-market gravel ring was running on boat oil.
DOH adds warning label to Tamiflu
TEENS AT RISK? : Taiwan is the third country to warn doctors about prescribing the drug to teenagers, following reports of adverse reactions in Japan and South Korea
By Shelley Shan STAFF REPORTER, WITH DPA Monday, Apr 16, 2007, Page 1
The Department of Health (DOH) has decided to require importers of anti-flu drug Tamiflu to add labels warning teenagers of possible risks, following the country's first recorded case of behavioral disorder linked to the drug.
The announcement came after a 17-year-old high school student reported hallucinations, drowsiness and other abnormal behavior after being given Tamiflu.
Health officials said the student listened to his MP3 player during class, left his seat in the middle of an examination and was unable to answer even simple questions from his teacher.
The behavior disappeared after the student stopped taking the drug, officials said.
Health authorities in Taipei have told local representatives of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holdings, the manufacturer of Tamiflu, to complete the necessary procedures regarding this matter by the end of the month.
The department's announcement made Taiwan the third country to add a warning message to Tamiflu, following Japan and South Korea.
Bureau of Pharmaceutical Affairs Director-General Liao Chi-chou (廖繼洲), who was quoted in a Central News Agency report last Saturday as saying that the youth returned to normal after he stopped taking Tamiflu, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Center for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Lin Ting (林頂) yesterday described the case as "a bit unusual."
He said the center has strictly regulated the use of Tamiflu and doctors here have used very little of it.
The center, however, has stockpiled enough Tamiflu for 230,000 people in case of an outbreak of avian flu, as well as other medications and vaccines.
"We are unlikely to adjust the proportion of different anti-avian flu drugs in storage simply because of an isolated case, since we have limited options here," Lin said.
Japanese authorities have linked the drug to behavioral disorders and a spate of deaths among teenagers in Japan.
Roche, however, has rejected the allegations, saying Tamiflu has no dangerous side effects.
Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has ordered that Tamiflu not be prescribed for young people aged between 10 and 20 years old.
South Korean health authorities have also suspended the prescription of Tamiflu to young people following reports of sideeffects in Japanese users.
Thanks to Milford421 for this report....
Tied-up Columbia student left to die used fire set by creep to free herself
Pervert tried to kill her
Tied-up Columbia student left to die used fire set by creep to free
herself
BY JIMMY VIELKIND, LISA L. COLANGELO and MELISSA GRACE
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Monday, April 16th 2007, 4:00 AM
Tied up and left to die in a burning apartment, a Columbia student
used the blaze set by her sadistic rapist to free herself, Police
Commissioner Raymond Kelly said yesterday.
“It appears she was able to escape as a result of the fire,” Kelly
said. “She was tied, and the flame was used by her to break the
bond.”
The 23-year-old woman, identified by sources as a student at the
Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, endured 19 hours of rape and
torture at the hands of a sick creep in her Hamilton Heights
apartment Friday night.
In what Kelly called a “particularly vicious” assault, the fiend
tied his victim to a bed, cut her, raped her, burned her with
scalding water and chemicals - and then set the woman’s futon on
fire to cover up the crime, police said.
He was so brutal he slit her eyelids, Kelly said.
The student used the flames to free herself and fled her fifth-floor
apartment with her hands still bound to each other to get help from
a neighbor, officials said.
The woman remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition.
Cops yesterday were combing through surveillance video for images of
the attacker, who followed the woman into her building near City
College at 9:30 p.m.
Kelly said detectives were looking to see if there was any evidence
the rapist had attacked before, but said, “It does not appear right
now to be part of a pattern.”
One man said he saw the victim in the basement of the building
shortly after she escaped.
“She just kept saying, ‘I’ve been raped,’ “ said Ronald Ward, 19,
who spotted the fire and ran downstairs for help, where he found the
building’s superintendent, Carl Peroune, trying to soothe the woman
as they waited for an ambulance.
“She was down there crying,” Ward said.
Police were hunting for the attacker, described as a bald, 6-foot-1,
180-pound black man in his 30s with a goatee and a scar on his
abdomen.
Several residents of the woman’s six-story Hamilton Terrace
building, located on a quiet treelined block of neat rowhouses, said
she had moved in within the last two months.
“I’ve been living in this building 30 years, and nothing like this
ever happened,” said another resident, Teddy Perkins, 55. “This is
real shocking.”
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/under-investigation/
Shooter ID
ABC News has learned the shooter who killed himself was a student of Korean descent named Seung Hui Cho who lived in a campus dorm. Cho was reportedly carrying a backpack with a receipt for the purchase of a 9 mm Glock.
http://abcnews.go.com/
April 16, 2007 PM Anti-Terrorism News
Iraq group: We make own rockets - Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, head of Islamic
State of Iraq - SITE Institute summary
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AvM9QO_L3RK1UPmCEECiAsGs0NUE
http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications273807&Category=publications&Subcategory=0
(Iraq) Islamists Tear Down Crosses From Assyrian Churches, Tell
Christians to Convert or Die
http://www.aina.org/news/20070414141226.htm
(Iraq) Al-Qaeda Web Video Boasts U.S. Soldier Panic
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.405116084&par=
(Pakistan) Al Qaeda Drug Gang Busted By Irate Tribesmen
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20070416.aspx
Hezbollah claims ability to defend Lebanon
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/04/16/hezbollah_claims_ability_to_defend_lebanon/
Palestinians say no proof BBC reporter killing claim is true and BBC
reporter’s death still unconfirmed
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070416/ts_afp/mideastgazabritain_070416160139;_ylt=AvIRCMGYKi0kfbLaX0Bf8Q_MWM0F
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/04/16/bbc_reporters_death_still_unconfirmed/
Iran frees Swedes convicted of spying
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_swedish_prisoners;_ylt=AoluUTnGziUXgLRTA0kJQwqs0NUE
(Morocco) US shuts Morocco consulate after bomb threat - to review
security
http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=524873
(Commentary) Showdown on the Muslim Brotherhood - by Patrick Poole
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=27876
(Commentary) The Islamist Cham Offensive - by Douglas Farah
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/04/the_islamist_cham_offensive.php
Other News:
(UK) Don’t stare at Muslims says advice to schools
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article1654995.ece
(Iraq) Raped ‘for reading the Bible’ — attacker: “Let your Jesus help
you”
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21567726-2,00.html
Thank you for the link.
For the Professor to survive the Holocaust and then die on the anniversary all these years later, is beyond understanding.
All is beyond my understanding.
I have Neal Boortz on now, and Fox Radio is doing a special on the live events.
It can be heard at kdwn.com, I think.
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