Threat Matrix: January 2008

Previous Thread ^

[Cindy]

Fyi Only.

https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=77817

YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report
“Warden Message: Mongolia Air Travel Information”
CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS
East Asia / Pacific - Mongolia
3 Jan 2008

[Cindy]

Fyi Only.

https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=77807

YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report
“Warden Message: Uzbekistan Earthquake Preparedness”
CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS
South / Central Asia - Uzbekistan
3 Jan 2008

[Cindy]

UPDATE:

https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=77812

YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report
“Warden Message: Colombo Terrorist Attack”
CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS
South / Central Asia - Sri Lanka
3 Jan 2008

[bd476]

Thanks for the Ping and the link, Cindy.

Here's what IRIS has:

(I put the Magnitude in red font. Earthquake Depth is in italics to the right of the Magnitude.)

IRIS Seismic Monitor Events List Kyrgyzstan

Last 2 Weeks of Earthquakes

(within 10 degrees of LON=72.91, LAT=40.39)

01-JAN-2008 06:32:33 40.39 72.91 5.7 42.6 KYRGYZSTAN

31-DEC-2007 19:26:26 41.21 71.83 4.8 17.8 KYRGYZSTAN

31-DEC-2007 18:23:37 41.24 71.83 5.0 16.9 KYRGYZSTAN

26-DEC-2007 04:45:33 40.36 73.03 5.3 46.0 KYRGYZSTAN



IRIS Seismic Monitor Events List Kyrgyzstan

[Cindy]

Thank you very much bd476.
I appreciate it.

[Oorang]

Explosion at biodiesel plant injures three in Defiance (Ohio)
January 3, 2008

Authorities say an explosion Thursday afternoon at a biodiesel plant in northwest Ohio has injured three people. 1 of those injured has been taken to a Toledo hospital and the other two are being treated at a Defiance hospital.

Officials say the injured had been in an office at the plant. Police in Defiance say the explosion happened around 3 p.m. at American AG Fuels. It's not clear what caused the blast.

Authorities evacuated a two-block area next to the plant for about two hours until residents were allowed to return. The plant began processing soybean oil to make biodiesel within the last three years.

http://www.wdtn.com/Global/story.asp?S=7574216

Rotterdam terror attack foiled (Netherlands)
Thursday 03 January 2008

Three men arrested in Rotterdam on New Year’s eve following a tip off by the security services were planning a terrorist attack on the city’s Erasmus bridge where 15,000 people were due to celebrate the New Year, according to Thursday’s Telegraaf.

The paper says its information comes from ‘well informed sources’ involved in the investigation. Three men in their 30s, two with dual Dutch and Moroccan nationality and one alleged to be an illegal immigrant from Sudan, are currently in police custody.

Although there has been widespread speculation over whether the suspects were planning a terrorist attack, the security service and public prosecution office have said only that the men were suspected of planning an attack in the near future. A spokeswoman for the prosecution department declined to comment on the possible target of such an attack or its motive, reports news service ANP.

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2008/01/suspects_planned_terror_attack.php

Illegal immigrants walk three miles through Channel Tunnel in attempt to sneak into UK
03.01.08

Four illegal immigrants who breached tight security to sneak into the French entrance to the Channel Tunnel were only spotted three miles inside by a train driver. The gang were walking along one of the main rail tunnel, with 100mph Eurostar trains to Britain passing just feet away when they were stopped at 8.30am on Wednesday morning, police said.

Eurostar passengers suffered three hours of delays to trains in both directions while French frontier police officers and a French Channel Tunnel fire crew arrested the immigrants and returned them to France. The group were just feet from high-speed trains travelling at 100mph

A Calais frontier police spokesman added: "They were risking their lives by walking against the tunnel wall, very close to trains passing at high speed. "They were glimpsed by a train driver passing them at about 100mph, who immediately alerted the authorities. "Trains were stopped while police and fire teams used the main service tunnel to catch up with the immigrants and head them off. "They have been arrested and are being held in custody by frontier police in Calais."

The four men, believed to be Afghans who have been in Calais for several weeks, now face prosecution for breaking and entering into Eurotunnel property and could be jailed for up to a year before being deported, the spokesman said.

Excerpted

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23430629-details/Illegal%20immigrants%20walk%20three%20miles%20into%20Channel%20Tunnel%20in%20attempt%20to%20sneak%20into%20UK/article.do

[Cindy]

“the Channel Tunnel”

Duly Noted and thank you Oorang.

[Oorang]

Russia foils atomic smugglers
Jan.4/2008

Russia has admitted that customs officials thwarted more than 120 attempts to smuggle "highly radioactive" material out of the country last year. The disclosure is likely to fuel concern about how many illegal exports were not halted. It will also lead to new fears that Moscow has failed to stop material becoming available on the black market that could be used by terrorists to make radioactive "dirty" bombs.

A further 722 cases of illegal importing of highly radio-active material into Russia were detected - possible evidence of a dangerous trade between ex-Soviet states. The figures come as Britain continues to demand the extradition of the Russian MP Andrei Lugovoi for allegedly poisoning the former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium-210 in London in November 2006.

British sources indicate that this polonium originated at a Russian state facility. But Nikolai Kravchenko, of the Russian customs service, said: "Industrial shipments of this substance are being exported from Russia legally."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/03/wrussia103.xml

25 militants killed in S Waziristan
Thursday, January 03, 2008

PESHAWAR: At least 25 militants have been killed in two days of fighting between security forces and the Taliban in South Waziristan, officials said on Wednesday. Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said the Frontier Corps (FC) had ceased fire on the request of a local jirga.

Arshad said four FC personnel, who were kidnapped in the Luddha area on Tuesday, had not been recovered so far, adding that 30 to 35 suspects had been taken into custody in this connection. A curfew has been imposed in Parachinar as clashes between Sunni and Shia groups, NNI reported.

An army Cobra gunship helicopter crash-landed near Thal, Parachinar, due to a technical malfunction on Wednesday, an ISPR statement said. The pilot and co-pilot were safe.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008/01/03/story_3-1-2008_pg1_10

[Oorang]

You're welcome Cindy. I wonder if Mughniyeh has his grubby hands in this:

French MP: Syria has 10 to 15 active terrorist cells in Lebanon
Wednesday, 2 January, 2008

Beirut - Syria has 10 to 15 terrorists cells throughout Lebanon which are protected by and given logistical support by Syria’s allies Hezbollah and Amal according to French parliamentary sources. A member of the French parliament has disclosed this information to Kuwait newspaper Al Seyassah.

The cells according to the MP are similar to the thirty three member terrorist cell that was discovered recently in Lebanon and was charged by Lebanese military magistrate . All the members of this cell were part of the Syrian intelligence and were protected by Amal and Hezbollah.

The French MP, who is a member of the national security and foreign relations committee of the parliament and who has access to sensitive intelligence reports said that the terrorist cells are similar to Fatah al Islam terrorist organization , that Syria tried but failed in marketing it as part the Al Qaeda network. The Lebanese army fought Fatah al Islam terrorist at the Nahr el Bared Palestinian refugee camp for 106 days last summer , the battle ended in the defeat and disbanding of the terrorist organization. Its leader Shaker al Absi escaped the battle and fled to Syria where he came from.

The French MP said the Syrian cells are scattered throughout the areas dominated by Amal and Hezbollah such as eastern Bekaa region along the borders with Syria, Southern Beirut suburbs , Palestinian refugee camps in south and north Lebanon that are dominated by radical groups associated with the Syrian regime . The French MP also said that the 4 Syrians arrested in the Bar Elias spy cell last summer and charged with espionage turned out to be employees of the Syrian intelligence and report to Rustom Ghazaleh , the dreaded head of Syria intelligence in Lebanon during the occupation. The four Syrians are: Mohammed Abd Al-Rahim Abd Al-Rahim, Ahmad Mohammad Asili, Barakat and Hassan Abdullah Salah Eddin Mohamed Saleh".

The French MP also revealed that according to European intelligence reports Amal, Hezbollah and Syrian Social Nationalist Party ( SSNP) intelligence agents help , arm and train the Syrian terrorists cells , they also pay them salaries using the Iranian funds that are channeled directly from Iran to Hezbollah. The French MP believes that "these terrorist cells that have been formed over the past two years, along with those cells that were left behind by Syria following its military withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005 , are behind the assassination of leaders of March 14 that were hostile to Damascus.”

http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2008/01/french_mp_syria.php

[Cindy]

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

#

Note: photo included.

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_14395.shtml

“ETA claims two latest bomb attacks in the Basque Country”
By m.p. - Jan 2, 2008 - 1:36 PM

[Cindy]

Opinion: I wouldn’t put it past him.

It would be great if someone could grab that jerk early on this year.

[Cindy]

RECAP:

JIHAD WATCH.org (AP): "INTERPOL PUTS 5 IRANIANS ON WANTED LIST" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The Iranians targeted are former intelligence chief Ali Fallahian; Mohsen Rabbani, former cultural attache at Iran's embassy in Buenos Aires; a former diplomat, Ahmad Reza Asghari; Mohsen Rezaei, former head of the Revolutionary Guards; and Ahmad Vahidi, a Revolutionary Guards general. Hezbollah militant Imad Moughnieh, one of the world's most sought terrorism suspects, also was named.") (November 8, 2007) (Read More...)

STRATFOR.com: "GEOPOLITICAL DIARY: THE RE-EMERGENCE OF A TERRORISM ARTIST" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Reports indicate that Imad Fayez Mugniyah has been training Shiite militants from Arab Persian Gulf states -- specifically, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain -- in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley for use in retaliatory attacks if the United States strikes Iran.") (October 26, 2007, 02:00 GMT) (Read More...)

STRATFOR.com: "IRAN'S CONTINGENCY PLAN" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Sources in Hezbollah say Mugniyah is spending most of his time these days in Lebanon and has in many ways overshadowed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah as the organization's strongman. These reports align with similar indications that a split is deepening within Hezbollah's leadership over how to manage its affairs with Syria and Iran. Mugniyah has had a close relationship with Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security.") (October 25, 2007, 18:45 GMT) (Read More...)

Google - News Search: "IMAD FAYEZ MUGNIYAH"

REWARDS FOR JUSTICE.net - WANTED: "IMAD FAYEZ MUGNIYAH" (Read More...)

FBI.gov - MOST WANTED TERRORISTS - WANTED POSTER: "IMAD FAYEZ MUGNIYAH" aka "Hajj" (Read More...)

"www.waronline.org/terror/bin%20laden/mugniyah-2.jpg" (Read More...)

[Cindy]

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

#

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948076/posts

Philippines arrests (Abu Sayyaf) militant over murder of Americans: military
AFP on Yahoo ^ | 1/3/08 | AFP
Posted on 01/03/2008 8:41:08 PM PST by NormsRevenge
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) - Philippine troops have arrested a senior Islamic militant over the kidnap and killing of a group of tourists, including two Americans, in 2001, a military statement said Friday.

Soldiers backed by police raided a hideout of the Al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf group in southern Margosatubig island on Thursday, the statement said.

Troops arrested Abu Sayyaf commander Tuatin Anahaly and seized a cache of weapons including a pistol that he was carrying, near the city of Zamboanga.

Anahaly has been on the run since a two-million-peso (48,700-dollar) bounty was placed on this head over his role in the abduction of three Americans and a group of Filipinos from a resort off western Palawan island.

Five of the hostages, including two of the Americans, were later killed.

Many of the Abu Sayyaf gunmen who took part in the raid have since been killed or captured, and last month 14 Abu Sayyaf members were sentenced to life in prison over the incident.

The Abu Sayyaf, set up with funds from the Al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, has been blamed for the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines, including a 2004 ferry bombing on Manila that claimed more than 100 lives.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thank you for the ping.

Happy New Year to you and those you love.

[Cindy]

ADDING to post no. 66:

http://internet-haganah.com/harchives/006275.html

04 January 2008
“AN TNOITATION TO REFLECTION AND REPENTANCE”

SNIPPET: “Tnoitation?
Good help is hard to find in Waziristan these days?”

[Cindy]

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1948116/posts

Update 1-North Korea makes threat after missed nuclear date
U.K. Reuters News ^ | 4 January 2008 | Yoo Choonsik and Jon Herskovitz
Posted on 01/03/2008 11:12:59 PM PST by AmericanInTokyo

(Adds North Korean media report)

SEOUL, Jan 4 (Reuters) - North Korea said on Friday it would boost its war deterrent, a day after the United States said it was sending its nuclear envoy back to Asia to discuss an atomic disarmament deal on which Pyongyang has missed a deadline.

North Korea failed to fully account for its nuclear weapons programme or answer U.S. suspicions that it has secretly tried to enrich uranium for weapons. It was supposed to have made the declaration by the end of 2007.

“(We) will further strengthen our war deterrent capabilities in response to U.S. attempts to initiate nuclear war,” the prickly state’s communist party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary.

......

(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...

[Cindy]

RECAP and UPDATED:

MEMRI IWMP.org: "AL-QAEDA IN THE ISLAMIC MAGHREB CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR ATTACK IN MAURITANIA" (Posted January 2, 2008)

COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG.org: "NEFA FOUNDATION: 'AL-QAIDA NETWORK IN THE ISLAMIC MAGHREB' CLAIMS 'VICTORIES IN ALGERIA AND MAURITANIA'" by Evan Kohlmann (December 30, 2007)

Link (pdf)

JIHAD WATCH.org (AP, DEUTSCHE WELLE): "MAURITANIA: JIHADISTS KILLED FAMILY OF FRENCH TOURISTS" (December 27, 2007)

SEATTLE TIMES.com (AP): Nouakchott, Mauritania - "MURDER OF FRENCH TOURISTS IN MAURITANIA LINKED TO AL-QAIDA GROUP" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Islamic extremists allied with al-Qaida are the suspected killers of four French tourists in Mauritania; the Frenchmen were gunned down after they stopped for a Christmas Eve picnic in this northwest African country.") (Updated December 26, 2007, 01:47 PM)

BBC NEWS.com: "TOURISTS SHOT DEAD IN MAURITANIA" (Last updated December 24, 2007, 21:26 GMT)

[Cindy]

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/OliverNorth/2008/01/04/crude_awakening

TOWNHALL.com: “CRUDE AWAKENING” -Column by Oliver North (January 4, 2008)

#

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=284256727244281

IBD EDITORIALS: “OVER A BARREL” by Investor’s Business Daily (January 3, 2008, 4:20 pm PT)

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1741897/posts

#

QUOTE:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1741897/posts?page=355#355

UPDATE:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080104/NATION/928787937/1001

“US Airways, airport seek trial in imams’ suit”
By Audrey Hudson
January 4, 2008

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “US Airways and Minneapolis airport officials are demanding a jury trial in a civil rights lawsuit filed by a group of Muslim imams who were removed from a flight for suspicious behavior.

The airline and Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which oversees Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, are also claiming immunity for their employees named in the suit, citing a “John Doe” law passed by Congress last year that, among other things, protects people acting in an official capacity to prevent terrorist attacks.

“We believe the police officers acted appropriately and that it is important that airports across the nation be able to take action when there is a reasonable belief that travelers could be threatened,” said Patrick Hogan, MAC spokesman.”

355 posted on 01/04/2008 1:44:20 AM PST by Cindy

[Cindy]

UPDATE:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080104/NATION04/410150204/1008

“Inside the Ring”
By Bill Gertz
January 4, 2008
“Coughlin sacked”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Stephen Coughlin, the Pentagon specialist on Islamic law and Islamist extremism, has been fired from his position on the military’s Joint Staff. The action followed a report in this space last week revealing opposition to his work for the military by pro-Muslim officials within the office of Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England.

Mr. Coughlin was notified this week that his contract with the Joint Staff will end in March, effectively halting the career of one of the U.S. government’s most important figures in analyzing the nature of extremism and ultimately preparing to wage ideological war against it.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Mr. Coughlin was accused directly by Mr. Islam of being a Christian zealot or extremist “with a pen,” according to defense officials. Mr. Coughlin appears to have become one of the first casualties in the war of ideas with Islamism.”