US plane bomber wanted to study sharia in Yemen
- A Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a U.S. airliner told his parents he wanted to study Islamic sharia law in Yemen shortly before cutting off contact with them, the Nigerian government said on Tuesday.
From goodness personified to deadly CIA attack suspect
Snips: Jalaluddin Haqqani, who visited the Reagan White House and was once described by Texas politician Charlie Wilson as "goodness personified", is believed by some US officials to have ordered the attack from his hideout in neighbouring Pakistan.
Mr Haqqani received thousands of dollars in financial support, arms shipments and provided the US with valuable intelligence. But after the Taliban seized power, he became more hostile to the West. After 9/11, Mr Haqqani, who had forged links with Osama bin Laden, was named number three on the hit-list of America's most wanted. Mr Wilson retained a fondness for him. Last year, he said: "I'd love to see him. I'd try to persuade him the Taliban was a force for destruction – which he definitely wasn't."
Terror handbook artist appeals for watchdog's aid
Snips: The government's anti-terror law watchdog has become involved in an artist's attempt to use jihadist handbooks and extremist tracts in his work.
Lord Carlile of Berriew has advised Xenofon Kavvadias after the Metropolitan police warned the Greek artist he could be arrested and prosecuted under the Terrorism Act if he mounts an exhibition featuring texts such as The Islamic Ruling on the Permissibility of Martyrdom Operations, a justification for suicide bombings used by Chechen extremists.
He now wants to install a bookshelf in an art gallery stocked with texts presented in court to secure terrorism convictions. They include Defence of Muslim Lands by Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, a jihadist who influenced Osama bin Laden, The Mujahideen Poisons Handbook, which details how to kill using homemade ricin and how to make poisons from tobacco and potatoes, and the Manual of Afghan Jihad (also known as the al-Qaida Manual), which explains how to plan, finance and execute terror attacks.
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