ORLANDO, Fla. -- Six customs inspectors at the Orlando Sanford International Airport have told federal officials that they were instructed to falsify passenger information. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers allege that in 2005, supervisors told them to falsify information typically gathered during direct interviews and inspections of international passengers or crew members, according to documents originally obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.
The Associated Press received the documents from federal officials Saturday. The whistle-blowers, Selma Ocasio, Jose Vazques-Quinones, Eilliam Errico and three other inspectors who are not named in the report, allege that supervisors told them to falsify information entered into a computer database, such as race, length of stay and number of bags. When questioned about the practice, supervisors allegedly said "things were done differently in Sanford."
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http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070526/APN/705261785
Mohmand elders fear Taliban, decline invite to Sunday’s jirga
Saturday, May 26, 2007
PESHAWAR: A proposed jirga of Saafi tribe in Mohmand Agency has been postponed after tribal elders declined the invitation to avoid being “victims of Waziristan-like target-killings”, tribal elders said on Friday.
The Mohmand Agency political administration has been pressing major tribes of the area to unite against increasing Taliban-linked activities and had summoned a jirga for the purpose tomorrow (Sunday).
“No tribal elder is ready to openly support the administration against the Taliban,” a tribal elder, asking not to be named, told Daily Times. Security agencies have warned the government that Mohmand Agency was “exposed” to the Taliban phenomenon because the area borders Bajaur Agency and overlooks Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Kunar provinces where there is a resurgence of the Taliban. “Frankly speaking, I am not mad to take on the Taliban … I know what happened to the people who tried this in Waziristan,” said another elder asking not to be named.
As fears of “Taliban reprisal” are gripping the Mohmand region, a meeting was held in Gandahab near Ghalanai, the regional headquarters of Mohmand Agency, on Friday where speakers paid tribute to Nazar Muhammad who was ‘martyred’ in Kunar province while fighting US forces. A participant of the meeting told Daily Times on the telephone that speakers highlighted the need for jihad against the Americans in Afghanistan. He said that Karachi-based cleric Sheikh Fazal Muhammad told the gathering of about 1,500 men including “armed and masked Taliban” that the mujahideen lacked modern weapons, but were using suicide bombers to fight back the enemy (the US). The source said that Umar Baacha, a youth introduced to the gathering as provincial head of the mujahideen, also spoke on the occasion. “We will sacrifice thousand more lives to drive out the Americans from Afghanistan,” the source quoted Baacha saying to the gathering.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007/05/26/story_26-5-2007_pg7_4
Thank you Oorang.
All very interesting.