News

General security, policy

1. Tension rises as North Korea nuclear deal unravels

By Kim Sengupta The Independent (UK) Thursday, 9 October 2008

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1195

North Korea banned UN weapons inspectors from its main nuclear complex today amid reports that it was also preparing for a mass testing of missiles at a disputed sea border. The decision to stop the monitors throughout the Yongbyon centre is seen by analysts as a significant step towards jettisoning a deal to dismantle its atomic bomb programme. At the same time, Pyongyang accused South Korea of encroaching on its territory and warned that "decisive action" would be taken to counter the move. Today's developments prompted the US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to say that Washington was "reviewing the situation". According to reports, an American surveillance satellite has detected preparations for the launch of up to ten missiles at the Chodo naval base. Pyongyang has already barred UN inspectors from the plutonium-producing section of Yongbyon but continued allowing them to check on the shutdown status of other parts of the plant…

2. U.S. Urgently Reviews Policy On Afghanistan

By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Thursday, October 9, 2008; A01

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1192

The White House has launched an urgent review of Afghanistan policy, fast-tracked for completion in the next several weeks, amid growing concern that the administration lacks a comprehensive strategy for the foundering war there and as intelligence officials warn of a rapidly worsening situation on the ground. Underlying the deliberations is a nearly completed National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan and the Pakistan-based extremists fighting there. Analysts have concluded that reconstituted elements of al-Qaeda and the resurgent Taliban are collaborating with an expanding network of militant groups, making the counterinsurgency war infinitely more complicated. As the U.S. presidential election approaches, senior officials have expressed worry that the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan is so tenuous that it may fall apart while a new set of U.S. policymakers settles in. Others believe a more comprehensive, airtight road map for the way ahead would limit the new president's options. Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, President Bush's senior adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan, has told Pentagon, intelligence and State Department officials to return to the basic questions: What are our objectives in Afghanistan? What can we hope to achieve? What are our resources? What is our allies' role? What do we know about the enemy? How likely is it that weak Afghan and Pakistani governments will rise to the occasion?...

NATO mulls expanding its drug role in Afghanistan

By Paul Ames, Associated Press October 9, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2008-10-09-546898805_x.htm

BUDAPEST, Hungary — The United States on Thursday pushed NATO allies to order their troops to target Afghanistan's thriving heroin trade in a bid to stem the flow of drug money to the widening insurgency against the troubled international military mission. A two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers comes amid an increase in violence that has created doubts about whether Western forces can win the war against the resurgent Taliban militants. "If we have the opportunity to go after drug lords and drug laboratories and try and interrupt this flow of cash to the Taliban, that seems to me like a legitimate security endeavor," said U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the meeting. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will seek more troops, equipment, funding and other contributions to the Afghan war from the allies...

3. Syria releases detained US journalists, State Department says they're safe in Damascus embassy

By MATTHEW LEE Associated Press 3:44 PM EDT, October 9, 2008

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1196

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The State Department says two American journalists who were detained by Syrian authorities have been released and are safe at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. A department spokesman said Thursday that Holli Chmela and Taylor Luck are in good condition and getting in touch with their families after being picked up while allegedly trying to illegally cross into Syria from neighboring Lebanon. Their disappearance earlier this month prompted the U.S. Embassy in Beirut to appeal for information about their whereabouts...

Syria Says 2 Missing Americans Have Been Arrested

By ALBERT AJI The Associated Press Thursday, October 9, 2008; 10:04 AM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1197

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Two American journalists who went missing during a vacation in Lebanon eight days ago were arrested Thursday in Syria after they crossed the Lebanese-Syrian border with the help of smugglers, Syrian officials said…

4. Defense Industry Worries About Cutbacks
Financial-Industry Bailout Could Prompt Congress To Trim Costly Pentagon Programs, Executives Say
By AUGUST COLE Wall Street Journal October 10, 2008
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122359358620221023.html

Defense-industry executives are starting to worry that the costs of rescuing the financial industry will be taken in part out of the Pentagon's programs, and that could have a big impact on their companies. As recently as a few weeks ago, the executives were relatively bullish about the long-term prospects for defense spending, regardless of which party wins the White House in November. But as the financial turmoil on Wall Street has spiraled into an international crisis, that optimism is fading… It could be months before any specific programs come under pressure. The defense budget for fiscal 2009, which started Oct. 1, is set, and Pentagon officials are well into planning the 2010 budget. The Pentagon's regular budget for fiscal 2009, not including special funding for Iraq and Afghanistan, stands at more than $540 billion. That figure, up about 5.5% from fiscal 2008, is at a record level…

5. Ft. Dix defense seeks to bar beheading videos

By George Anastasia Philadelphia Inquirer Oct 9, 2008

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1193

The lawyer for the lead defendant in the Fort Dix terrorism trial has asked the court to bar prosecutors from playing videos found on his client's computer that show Muslim terrorists beheading their victims. Rocco Cipparone, who is representing Mohamad Shnewer, argued that the videos were irrelevant, had no connection to the charges in the case and would unduly prejudice the jury… Cipparone's motion comes in the midst of jury selection by Judge Robert Kugler, lawyers and prosecutors. On Tuesday, they began individually questioning potential jurors. That process will continue today. Kugler has said he hoped to get a pool of 80 to 100 qualified jurors before the lawyers begin the final selection process. Twelve jurors and six alternates, chosen anonymously for security reasons, will hear testimony in the case. Opening arguments are tentatively set for Oct. 20. The trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks…

6. Chinese Muslims' Release Into U.S. Blocked for Now
Hope Yen Associated Press 10-09-2008

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202425147586

A group of Chinese Muslims set to be freed into the U.S. this week from Guantanamo Bay found their freedom stymied yet again after a simple government plea: What's a couple more weeks or so in jail after nearly seven years? That in essence was the Bush administration's argument to a federal appeals court in a 19-page emergency request that maintained there would be only "minimal harms" if the detainees were to stay at Guantanamo a while longer. Late Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit agreed, halting the 17 men's release for at least another week to give the government more time to make arguments in the case. The appeals court set a deadline of next Thursday for additional filings, when it will be left up to the judges to decide how quickly to act -- and in whose favor…

7. Harkat gains more access to evidence
Prosecutors preparing new set of disclosures for terror suspect
Andrew Duffy, Canwest News Service Wednesday, October 08, 2008
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1198

Ottawa terror suspect Mohamed Harkat learned yesterday that he will see more of the previously secret evidence that national security agents have collected against him. Federal Court Justice Simon Noël revealed that Crown prosecutors were preparing a new series of disclosures to be made to Mr. Harkat and his defence team. That evidence is also expected to be made public. Mr. Harkat welcomed the development in his security certificate case, which began with his arrest in December 2002... CSIS alleges Mr. Harkat operated a guest house for jihadists in Pakistan and travelled to Afghanistan in the early 1990s. Mr. Harkat, who denies any connection to terrorism, lives under strict bail conditions in Ottawa. He will be back in Federal Court today, seeking to win the right to move to a new Ottawa condominium. He currently lives in the basement of a home owned by the jilted lover of his mother-in-law…

Air, rail, port, health & communication infrastructure security

IPT NOTE: For more infrastructure news, see Dep’t of Homeland Security Daily Open Source Infrastructure Reports http://www.dhs.gov/xinfoshare/programs/editorial_0542.shtm; Public Safety Canada Daily Infrastructure Report http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/dir/index-eng.aspx

8. Richmond Conference to Focus on Disaster Preparedness, Hazmat

Release date: 10/09/2008 Contact Information: Roy Seneca 215-814-5567

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1199

PHILADELPHIA (Oct. 9, 2008) – Who do you call when terrorists try to explode a dirty bomb, criminals set up a meth lab full of toxic chemicals, or a hurricane hits your town? These and other questions will be answered Oct. 26-29 at the Richmond, Va. Convention Center, where one of America’s foremost emergency preparedness conferences is expected to attract 1,000 disaster experts and hazmat technicians to learn the best response techniques and examine state-of-the-art detection and cleanup technology at more than 100 exhibits. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency annually sponsors the Emergency Preparedness & Prevention and Hazmat Spills Conference for first responders, counter-terrorism professionals, emergency managers, and medical, fire, law enforcement and industry personnel. Co-hosting this year will be the City of Richmond and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Virginia Association of Hazardous Materials Response Specialists, and Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties.Highlights of this year’s conference agenda are instruction in street-smart chemistry for first responders, making informed decisions quickly in a disaster, facing conflicting demands as the situation deteriorates, and knowing how to handle a railroad emergency… Key speakers at the 2008 conference will include:… More information is available at the conference website: http://www.2008conference.org/, or by calling the conference hotline at 1-800-364-7974.

9. Consumer Advisory: Sherwood Brands Pirate's Gold Milk Chocolate Coins may be Contaminated with Melamine

Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2008/20081008e.sht...

Melamine - Certain products from China - 2008 Main Page http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/2008melamine.shtml

Report on Testing Results

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/2008melinfoe.shtml

OTTAWA, October 8, 2008 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume, distribute, or sell the Sherwood Brands Pirate’s Gold Milk Chocolate Coins described below. This product is being recalled due to positive test results for melamine conducted by the CFIA. The affected product, Sherwood Brands Pirate’s Gold Milk Chocolate Coins, is sold in 840g containers containing 240 pieces per container bearing UPC 0 36077 11240 7 and lot code 1928S1. This product is sold nationally through Costco stores and may also have been sold in bulk packages or as individual pieces at various dollar and bulk stores across Canada…

10. TSA Proposes Large Aircraft Security Program
Proposal to Achieve Comprehensive General Aviation Security
Transportation Security Administration Press Release Oct. 9, 2008
http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2008/1009.shtm

Click here http://www.tsa.gov/assets/pdf/nprm_lasp.pdf to read the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on the Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP).

WASHINGTON — The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that it has transmitted to the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would strengthen the security of general aviation by further minimizing the vulnerability of aircraft being used as weapons or to transport dangerous people or materials. The proposed regulation would reduce the susceptibility of large aircraft misuse by individuals wishing to harm the United States and its citizens. The Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) regulation would require all U.S. operators of aircraft exceeding 12,500 pounds maximum take-off weight to implement security programs that would be subject to compliance audits by TSA. The proposed regulation would also require operators to verify that passengers are not on the No Fly and/or Selectee portions of the federal government's consolidated terrorist watch list…

TSA proposes screening private jet passengers
October 10, 2008 By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-10-09-background_N.htm

WASHINGTON — Travelers who fly on private corporate jets would have to clear background checks before boarding under a new proposal made Thursday by the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA is seeking to impose the security requirements on roughly 15,000 corporate jets and 315 small airports that currently have none. A group of private-plane owners and pilots warned that the proposal could be costly and represent an unprecedented intrusion into private flying. Hundreds of thousands of people travel each year on such jets. There is no specific threat to corporate jets, but the TSA said in its 260-page proposal that many are the same size and weight as commercial planes "and they could be used effectively to commit a terrorist act." Private jets, possibly packed with explosives, could fly into a building or could transport terrorists or dangerous materials, the TSA said…

Financing, identity theft, money laundering

11. Treasury Reports on Assets in U.S. of Terrorist Countries and Designees
By Andrew Cochran Counterterrorism Blog October 9, 2008

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2008/10/treasury_reports_on_assets_in.ph...

The U.S. Treasury has released its latest annual report on the assets in the U.S. of state sponsors of terror and the other international terrorism program designees (Acrobat file http://counterterrorismblog.org/upload/2008/10/treasury_reports_on_asset...). This report, mandated under law since 1991, is the sixteenth released by the Treasury and covers calendar year 2007. As of December 31, 2007, the amount of assets of international terrorist organizations and individuals which were blocked totaled over $20.7 million. Of that, over $11.3 million constituted assets of Al Qaeda, and that level was an increase of almost 46 percent over the level blocked as of the end of 2006. The report states, "The increase in blocked terrorist organization assets in 2007 is due to new or additional blockings, interest paid on blocked funds, and increased share price on certain blocked securities." As of December 31, 2007, the amount of blocked funds in the U.S. relating to the state sponsors of terrorism on that date (Cuba, Sudan, Syria, North Korea, and Iran) totaled over $315 million, including a small amount of funds in foreign branches of U.S.-based banks. Additionally, there were $87 million in funds of Iran and Syria which were not blocked, and also unvalued real and tangible personal property located in the U.S. The report includes more details on each of those three categories.

12. Russia's Deripaska Faces Western Investigations
U.S., U.K. Probes of Industrialist Focus on Transfer of Funds; He Also Has Business Setback, Ceding Stake in German Firm
By GLENN R. SIMPSON and SUSAN SCHMIDT Wall Street Journal Oct 10, 2008
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122359420472121077.html?mod=googlenews_w...

Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, whose business is facing a squeeze amid the credit crisis, also is under investigation by U.S. and U.K. authorities in connection with a $57.5 million wire transfer last year, according to people familiar with the matter. Separately, in a second recent blow to his industrial empire, Mr. Deripaska is ceding a stake in a German construction company, Hochtief. Just a week ago, his holding company, Basic Element, gave up a 20% stake in Canadian auto-parts maker Magna International Inc. In a third development, the Bush administration is putting Russian economic interests under greater scrutiny, partly in response to Russia's August invasion of Georgia. Among other things, the U.S. is stepping up its reviews of Russian investments and of visa applications by Russian businessmen suspected of criminal ties. The 40-year-old Mr. Deripaska has been ranked by Forbes as among the world's 10 richest people, with assets of $28 billion. They include nearly 5% of General Motors Corp. Mr. Deripaska is allied with the Kremlin and has longtime ties to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In the past, authorities in the U.S. have accused Mr. Deripaska of having ties to organized crime, which he has denied. In 2006, the Federal Bureau of Investigation persuaded the State Department to revoke a U.S. visa he had obtained, according to diplomatic and law-enforcement officials...

13. HLF's Hamas Fundraisers Don't Add Up
IPT News October 9, 2008
http://www.investigativeproject.org/article/788

DALLAS – Internal records detailing fund raising hauls by the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) indicate that the group took in hundreds of thousands of dollars more than it reported on tax forms, an FBI agent testified Wednesday. An HLF ledger shows $396,000 was collected at various fundraisers in 1990, Agent Robert Miranda testified. But HLF's tax returns reported only $88,490 that year. Entries on the ledger indicate Hamas leaders routinely were part of the fundraisers. In a comment section next to the donation totals, numerous entries note that the Hamas guest speakers "took it." Other notations indicate defendant Mohamed El-Mezain also "took it." El Mezain, a former HLF chairman, is among five men on trial, accused of conspiring to provide material support to Hamas. Prosecutors say HLF illegally channeled more than $12 million to the Palestinian terrorist group through donations to a series of charities, or zakat committees. Miranda's testimony marked at least the second example in which tens of thousands of dollars in HLF funds go unaccounted for. Last week, FBI agent Lara Burns described two separate HLF donations of $100,000 to an Islamic center but accompanying paperwork accounted for only $20,000 in each case, she said...

Double-jeopardy claimed in Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial

08:50 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 By JASON TRAHAN The Dallas Morning News
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1191

Attorneys for a defendant in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case asked a federal judge Wednesday to dismiss the charges against their client because they say FBI testimony tainted the jury by treading too closely to his prior convictions. U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis is expected to rule on whether to drop the case against Ghassan Elashi, Holy Land's former board chairman and co-founder, on double jeopardy-grounds by Tuesday, when the trial resumes after Monday's federal holiday for Columbus Day. Judge Solis denied oral requests made late Wednesday by attorneys for all five defendants for a mistrial and to have their cases severed from Mr. Elashi's. If Judge Solis deems that charges should be dropped against Mr. Elashi, the trial of the other four would presumably continue, but that was not completely clear Wednesday evening. At issue was testimony Wednesday afternoon by FBI Special Agent Robert Miranda about InfoCom, Mr. Elashi's former computer services company that he ran with his four brothers. Under questioning from prosecutor Jim Jacks, Agent Miranda told jurors that InfoCom did business with Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook, whom the U.S. government has designated a terrorist. Mr. Elashi is serving nearly seven years in prison for convictions in 2004 and 2005 related to InfoCom. One of those convictions found that Mr. Elashi conspired with Mr. Marzook to launder at least a quarter-million dollars through InfoCom…

14. KINDHEARTS
Toledo Muslim charity sues federal officials over frozen assets
By ERICA BLAKE TOLEDO BLADE Thursday, October 9, 2008
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081009/NEWS02/810090...

IPT NOTE: The complaint and related documents are posted at http://toledoblade.com/assets/pdf/TO57168109.PDF [99 pages].

A local Muslim charity has sued three government officials and has requested that the more than 2 ½-year block on its financial assets be lifted, saying that the government has not proved any wrongdoing by the group. Kindhearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc., filed the lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Toledo. Listed as defendants are U.S. Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson, Adam Szubin, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and Attorney General Michael Mukasey. According to the lawsuit, the Office of Foreign Assets Control froze the assets of the Toledo-based non-profit charity on Feb. 19, 2006. At the time, government officials cited the USA Patriot Act provision that authorizes assets to be frozen while an entity is being investigated as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist.” Since the freeze, the government had “provisionally determined” to designate KindHearts as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, although the group has never actually been officially labeled with the designation, the lawsuit said. Yet, the government has kept its assets frozen and has not given the group any meaningful way to challenge the designation. The lawsuit challenges the freeze on its assets and the pending investigation. Also, KindHearts is seeking a temporary restraining order as well as permanent relief barring the government from designating the organization a terrorist group…

15. California Woman Sentenced to 37 Months in Prison in Connection with Scheme to Defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States

Department of Justice FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, October 2, 2008
CRM (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/October/08-crm-881.html

WASHINGTON – A California woman was sentenced today to 37 months in prison in connection with a $15 million scheme to defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor of the District of Columbia announced. Cristina Song, 50, of Whittier, Calif., was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the Honorable Richard W. Roberts. In addition to her prison sentence, Song was ordered to serve three years of supervised release following her release from prison, ordered to forfeit $300,000 and pay restitution of more than $12 million to the Ex-Im Bank. The substantial assistance Song provided to the government in its investigation and prosecution of the scheme was taken into consideration at sentencing…

16. Libya begins payments to terror victims: official
By MATTHEW LEE – Associated Press Oct 9, 2008

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ioldoglB9NS7sO2LOY6qQtqgztTgD93N2O7G0

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior U.S. official says Libya has started paying money into a fund to compensate the families of American victims of Libyan-linked terror attacks. The official says Libya made a substantial payment Thursday as part of an agreement reached earlier this year to fully restore ties between the United States and Libya. The money deposited into a U.S. account is not the full amount needed, but the official says it demonstrates Libya's willingness to resolve compensation claims. The official spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement of the payment, which will go to the families of victims of the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco….

17. Party store operators indicted in food stamp fraud

U.S. attorney says trio illegally bought $938,000 in vouchers, paying less than half their value in cash.
Paul Egan Friday, October 10, 2008 Detroit News

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1200

DETROIT -- A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted three operators of a Detroit party store who are accused of food stamp fraud totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. Dicra Zia, 38, of Southfield, Latif Barash, 42, of Sterling Heights and Montha Barash, 36, of Sterling Heights were charged with conspiracy, food stamp fraud and wire fraud, Acting U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg said in a news release. Zia and Latif Barash are also charged with money laundering. They operated the Express Lanes Party Store on Dexter on the city's west side. It's alleged that in 2004 and 2005, the trio paid cash for food stamps worth about $938,000, giving the low-income recipients of the food stamps less than half of what the stamps were worth. Federal law strictly prohibits the cash sale of food stamps, because the program is intended to make sure poor people get enough to eat, Berg said...

Border security, immigration, customs

18. DPS cracks down on illegal immigrants
Texas now requiring proof of legal status before issuing a driver's license
By CLAY ROBISON Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau Oct. 8, 2008, 9:14PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6047852.html

AUSTIN — In a clampdown on illegal immigrants, the Texas Department of Public Safety has adopted a new policy requiring non-citizens to prove they are in this country legally before they can obtain or renew a driver's license. Gov. Rick Perry applauded the change, which went into effect Oct. 1, as a way to strengthen the state's security… But Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said the policy change is a bad idea because illegal immigrants are going to drive anyway…

19. Feds indict 35 members of alleged drug-trafficking cells
By Greg Moran San Diego Union-Tribune 4:04 p.m. October 8, 2008

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081008-1604-bn08bust2.html

SAN DIEGO – Federal authorities on Wednesday announced the indictments of 35 members of a half-dozen drug-trafficking cells that shuttled drugs north and cash south through Imperial County. The indictments focused on six distribution cells that ran drugs for a Mexican organization known as the Sinaloa cartel, U.S. Attorney Karen Hewitt said at a news conference. Led by Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman, the Sinaloa cartel is believed to be one of the groups currently locked in a bloody gang war with the weakening Arellano Felix cartel for dominance in Tijuana. In addition to thousands of pounds of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine, federal law enforcement also grabbed more than $9.5 million in cash. That represents the largest amount of currency seized in the history of the U.S. Attorney's Office here, which also covers Imperial County, she said. So far 19 people have been arrested, including four people who were arrested in Mexico. An additional 16 suspects remain at large, she said. ..

20. Two Colombians Arraigned in Washington, D.C. on Terrorism and Drug Charges

US Department of Justice Thursday, October 9, 2008

NSD (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/October/08-nsd-912.html

WASHINGTON – Two Colombian citizens who were extradited from the Republic of Colombia earlier this week have made their initial appearances in federal court in Washington, D.C., on terrorism and drug charges related to their alleged involvement with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), a designated foreign terrorist organization in Colombia. Jose Maria Corredor-Ibague, 42, a/k/a “Boyaco,” and Carolina Yanave-Rojas, 34, a/k/a “Edilma Morales Loaiza,” a/k/a “La Negra,” were arraigned late yesterday in federal court in the District of Columbia after being extradited to the United States on Tuesday. Both are scheduled to have a detention hearing tomorrow at 1:30 pm before U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler. The defendants face charges contained in two separate indictments returned in the District of Columbia…

Other items

21. Controversial activists attended Obama Muslim meeting
Posted on Thursday, October 09, 2008 10:32 PM ET
By Jim Popkin, NBC News Senior Investigative Producer
http://deepbackground.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/09/1525564.aspx
The Obama campaign’s Muslim outreach director participated in a meeting in mid September that was attended by several controversial Muslim activists, NBC News has learned. The Obama campaign now concedes that was a misjudgment, and that its top Muslim staffer would not have attended the meeting if she had known the full participant list beforehand. “Would a campaign staffer have attended if they were aware of the complete list of attendees? No,” said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt in an email statement to NBC.On September 15, newly named Muslim outreach director Minha Husaini spoke to a small group of Muslim leaders and potential Obama supporters at a hotel in Springfield, Virginia, several meeting participants and the campaign said. Two other Obama-affiliated Democratic Party workers joined Husaini and also spoke to the crowd. Some Virginia and Washington, D.C.-based Muslim activists and interested citizens attended, and flyers were passed out from “Arab Americans for Obama” stating Sen. Obama’s goals for achieving peace in the Middle East, protecting the civil liberties of Arab Americans and ending the war in Iraq… Nearly a month later, the meeting is drawing controversy--and not because of anything said at the meeting itself…

Obama's Staff Slips Up With Muslim Outreach
By SUSAN SCHMIDT OCTOBER 10, 2008 Wall Street Journal Page A8
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122360316634321799.html?mod=todays_us_pa...
The Obama campaign said it was a mistake for an outreach coordinator to join a meeting last month attended by leaders of two controversial Muslim groups as it seeks votes from large Muslim populations in swing states. Minha Husaini, newly named as head of the campaign's outreach coordinator to Muslims, attended a discussion session Sept. 15 with about 30 Muslim leaders and community members in suburban Washington, the Obama campaign confirmed. Participants included leaders of the Council of American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim American Society, which have been cited by the government in the past for ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas…

MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

22. Use of 'Sticky IEDs' Rising in Iraq
Magnetized Devices Cling to Undersides of Vehicles

By Ernesto Londoño Washington Post Thursday, October 9, 2008; A14

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/08/AR200810...

BAGHDAD, Oct. 8 -- Iraqi insurgents are increasingly using magnetically attached bombs known as "sticky IEDs" to assassinate mid- and low-level Iraqi officials, Iraqi and U.S. officials said. Rigged with magnets so they will adhere to the undersides of automobiles and detonated by remote control or with timers, the bombs have been used in Iraq sporadically since 2004. This year, U.S. military officials said, they have investigated roughly 200 cases involving magnetic bombs, and Iraqi officials said they have noted an increase in assassination attempts in which attackers use guns equipped with silencers. The magnetic bombs "are very dangerous and very difficult to discover," said Brig. Gen. Ali Abdul Ameer, a police commander in Baghdad. "It's stuck on in one place, and it blows up in another place." These assassination attempts mark a shift from mass-casualty attacks that triggered a backlash against insurgent groups and militias, U.S. military officials said, and come as the Iraqi government is asserting more control over security matters in the country and as the United States starts to reduce troop levels…

23. Syria downplays troop buildup on Lebanese border
Damascus says it's merely beefing up border security. But the US issued Syria a strong warning, and Israeli troops are on alert.
By Jonathan Adams Christian Science Monitor posted October 09, 2008 at 9:55 am EST

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1009/p99s01-duts.html

Syria this week continued to mass troops on its border with northern and eastern Lebanon. But officials from both countries dismissed US and Israeli concerns about the buildup as alarmist hype. Damascus claims it is merely beefing up border security to prevent smuggling and the infiltration of Islamic extremists from northern Lebanon. But some fear Syria wants to use the threat of Sunni Islamic terrorism as a pretext for reentering Lebanon. Syria withdrew its troops from its neighbor in 2005 under intense international pressure. Last month, Syria's president publicly warned that northern Lebanon had become a haven for Sunni militants who aim to destabilize his country. That warning came before back-to-back car bombings in Damascus (Sept. 27, blamed on Sunni extremists) and in northern Lebanon's Tripoli (Sept. 29) that killed at least 22. Gulf News, a Dubai-based daily, reported Wednesday that the Lebanese foreign minister had downplayed concerns about the military ramp-up…

24. Palestinian Militant Admits Hezbollah Financial Support
Thursday 09 October 2008 By Kifah Zaboun Asharq Al-Awsat

http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=14349

Ramallah, Asharq Al-Awsat- Contacting Salim Thabit, the senior official in Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Brigades and commander of the Imad Mughniyeh groups, required much more than the usual time it takes to contact any of the brigades' officials or any other Palestinian official. It took two days. His cell phone is off constantly and he switches it on at a predetermined time to receive a call from a known source. The people of the Gaza Strip know him very well. He is responsible for one of the most qualitative operations in Gaza, the Ashdod Port operation of 2004 in which 11 Israelis were killed…

ASIA / PACIFIC

25. Suicide bomber strikes during Pakistani anti-terror summit
Zahid Hussein, Islamabad From Times Online (London) October 9, 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4912488.ece

A suicide attacker struck at the heart of Pakistan’s anti-terrorism operation today targeting military intelligence officials as politicians were briefed on the battle against violent extremists. Witnesses and police officials said the bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a four story residential block at the headquarters of the Anti Terrorist Force in the Islamabad suburbs injuring up to seven people. The vehicle had passed through a high security cordon to carry out the second terrorist attack in the Pakistani capital in three weeks. Last month, 53 people were killed and hundreds more injured in a truck bomb attack on the Marriot Hotel inside a supposedly safe zone…

EUROPE

26. Two NHS doctors go on trial for terrorism
Jenny Booth From Times Online (London) October 9, 2008

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4911813.ece

Two NHS doctors will go on trial in London today charged with trying to murder hundreds of people in botched car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow. Bilal Abdulla, 29, and Mohammed Asha, 28, will appear at Woolwich Crown Court, south-east London accused of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions. They deny the offences. Prosecutors have told the trial judge, Mr Justice Mackay, that they will portray the pair as Islamic extremists intent on terrorising their adopted homeland. The alleged attacks began