Free Republic

Farid Benyettou .. The Islamist "spiritual guide" who allegedly helped radicalise the Kouachi brothers behind the deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo now works as a trainee nurse in the accident and emergency unit of one of the Paris hospitals where some of the victims of the assault on the magazine were taken. ... Benyettou was a known recruiter of candidates for jihad for Iraq, operating in the 19th arrondissement of Paris in the early 2000s. Jean-Julien Xavier-Rolai, the public prosecutor at the time, described him as the “spiritual guide” of the Kouachi brothers and “the link between the suburbs of...

"Gaza flotilla: 2 dead, dozens injured in navy boarding." By JPOST.COM STAFF AND YAAKOV KATZ 05/31/2010 07:00 SNIPPET: "Passengers tried to wrest weapons from soldiers, Army Radio reports; Turkish leadership in emergency meeting to discuss response to attack at sea. Passengers tried to grab weapons away from soldiers boarding the Gaza protest flotilla, starting the violence, Army Radio reported Tuesday morning, responding to accusations that Israeli commandos assaulted the ships guns blazing."

Excerpt - KABUL, Afghanistan - A lawmaker who briefly served as prime minister during Afghanistan's civil war was shot and killed outside him home in Kabul on Wednesday. Abdul Saboor Farid, a member of Afghanistan's upper house of parliament, was prime minister for one month in 1992 when the country plunged into a bitter civil war following the defeat of the Soviet army by the U.S.-backed mujahedeen fighters. He was killed outside his house in northern Kabul, said Gen. Zulmay Khan, Kabul province's deputy police chief. ~ snip ~

ROME, Oct 25 (AFP) - An Egyptian man arrested last week in the southern Italian port of Gioia Tauro accused of having links with terrorists was carrying sophisticated communication equipment, Italian police said Thursday. Rizk Amid Farid, 43, had with him a portable computer, three mobile telephones including one with satellite link-up, and a Thai Airways identity pass giving him access to airports and credit at various banks. He was discovered hiding in a container at the port last Thursday. All the explanations given to Italian anti-terrorist police for his possession of such items have so far rung false. He ...

OTTAWA (CP) - Canadian diplomatic officials in Rome are scheduled to visit a man Italian police charged with terrorism after he was found comfortably camped out in a cargo container. Rizk Amid Farid, 43, is being held in the southern Italian town of Palmi on international terrorism charges. Police found Rizk dressed in a suit and set up with a cellphone, cameras, a laptop computer and a variety of documents, inside a shipping container from Egypt. He is a Canadian citizen, and holds a legitimately issued passport. Reynald Doiron, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said two consular ...

THURSDAY OCTOBER 25 2001 Business-class suspect caught in container BY RICHARD OWEN IN ROME AND DANIEL MCGRORY ITALIAN police were investigating last night why a suspected al-Qaeda hijacker would smuggle himself halfway around the world locked inside a shipping container with its own bed and toilet. The bizarre discovery of an Egyptian carrying a Canadian passport was made on the dockside in Gioia Tauro in southern Italy, where detectives believe they may have foiled another hijacking. They were questioning Rizik Amid Farid, 43, about his choice of travel and why he was carrying airport maps and airside security passes for ...