11-05-08 Daily Update

1. North Korean Plane Was Grounded at U.S. Request
By JAY SOLOMON, KRISHNA POKHAREL and PETER WONACOTT
Nov 1, 2008 Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122549443144289535.html

India blocked a North Korean plane from delivering cargo to Iran in August, responding to a U.S. request based on fears about the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The secret action, described by Western and Asian officials, took place nine weeks before President George W. Bush removed North Korea from Washington's list of terrorism sponsors, as part of an agreement to declaw the North's nuclear program. U.S. diplomats say engaging North Korea is the best way to ensure its nuclear program doesn't grow more dangerous. But the August incident underscores concern about the Stalinist state's ties to America's foes across the globe. U.S. intelligence officials have said North Korea was helping Syria build a nuclear reactor until the site was bombed by Israel last year. Syria and North Korea reject the charge. According to the Western and Asian officials, the North Korean plane, an Ilyushin-62 long-range jet owned by the North Korean state airline, made a stop in Myanmar on Aug. 7 and sought permission from Indian air-traffic controllers to fly over Indian airspace. India eventually blocked the flight at Washington's behest, the officials said...

U.S. Efforts Divert Iran-Bound Cargo
India Denied Passage to N. Korean Jet
By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Tuesday, November 4, 2008; A09
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1485

The United States thwarted a suspect shipment from North Korea to Iran by persuading the Indian government to deny clearance for the North Korean flight to travel through Indian airspace, U.S. officials said yesterday. Nine weeks after the flight was diverted in August, the Bush administration removed North Korea from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism in a bid to salvage an accord to end Pyongyang's nuclear programs. U.S. officials suspect the North Korean plane, an Ilyushin-62 jet owned by the North Korean state airline, was carrying sophisticated technology -- such as ballistic missile parts -- that could be used in a program for weapons of mass destruction…

2. Iran holds student living in U.S. on security charges
Tue Nov 4, 2008 12:23pm EST Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4A32ML20081104

TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian female student, who was arrested in Tehran last month while visiting from the United States, is accused of acting against national security, the judiciary said on Tuesday. Women's rights activists say Esha Momeni lives in the United States and was in Iran for research on the women's movement in the Islamic Republic as part of her university studies when she was detained in the capital on October 15. In the first comment by the judicial authorities on the case, judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi said Momeni was being held in Tehran's Evin prison. "The charge against her is crime against national security and her case is currently under preliminary investigation," Jamshidi told a news conference, referring to a common charge against dissenting voices in the Islamic Republic... Iranian women's rights campaigners said Momeni was working on a film and had interviewed activists in Tehran as part of her studies in California. She came to Iran about two months ago… "It is definitely unwarranted ... she hasn't done anything wrong," activist Sussan Tahmasebi said about the accusation against Momeni. "Hopefully she will be released soon." She said Momeni was born in the United States and held both Iranian and U.S. citizenship...

3. Guantanamo Jury Sentences Bin Laden Aide to Life Term

By Peter Finn Washington Post Tuesday, November 4, 2008; A10

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1486

An al-Qaeda propagandist who promised endless war against the United States was sentenced to life in prison yesterday, after his conviction at Guantanamo Bay on 35 counts of solicitation to commit murder, providing material support for terrorism and conspiracy. Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, a 39-year-old Yemeni, was the second person to be convicted by a military jury. The sentence was a boost for the Bush administration after Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's driver, received a light sentence in August in the first war-crimes jury trial held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. "When will it be safe for this man to leave confinement?" said Army Maj. Daniel Cowhig, the lead prosecutor, speaking to nine jurors. "Never!" The jury deliberated for four hours yesterday before convicting Bahlul and took less than an hour to hand up a life sentence. The court was told that Bahlul, described by prosecutors as al-Qaeda's media chief, directed gory recruitment videos celebrating terrorist attacks and taped the final statements of two of the hijackers who attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Bahlul sat with bin Laden that day to follow radio coverage of the attacks, prosecutors said. Bahlul refused to defend himself at the week-long trial and instructed his military attorney to remain silent throughout the proceedings, an order that the lawyer said he followed with great reluctance…

Next President Will Face Test on Detainees
By WILLIAM GLABERSON and MARGOT WILLIAMS Nov 3, 2008 New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/03/us/03gitmo.html?

IPT NOTE: See related item # 30 below.

They were called the Dirty 30 — bodyguards for Osama bin Laden captured early in the Afghanistan war — and many of them are still being held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Others still at the much-criticized detention camp there include prisoners who the government says were trained in assassination and the use of poisons and disguises. One detainee is said to have been schooled in making detonators out of Sega game cartridges. A Yemeni who has received little public attention was originally selected by Mr. bin Laden as a potential Sept. 11 hijacker, intelligence officials say. As the Bush administration enters its final months with no apparent plan to close the Guantánamo Bay camp, an extensive review of the government’s military tribunal files suggests that dozens of the roughly 255 prisoners remaining in detention are said by military and intelligence agencies to have been captured with important terrorism suspects, to have connections to top leaders of Al Qaeda or to have other serious terrorism credentials...

4. Guantanamo Inmates To Launch First Habeas Corpus Challenges

Agence France Presse Nov 4, 2008

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1484

WASHINGTON (AFP)--Six Algerians detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for the last seven years are to become on Thursday the first prisoners to challenge their continued imprisonment in a U.S. federal court… After years of legal wrangling, the U.S. Supreme Court in June granted Guantanamo detainees access to the civil court system and the right to file Habeas Corpus cases challenging their detention. The case of the Algerians is the first of a series of such cases… Some 250 prisoners remain in the military base, and all of them have started Habeas Corpus challenges. The prisoners have each passed before Combatant Status Review Tribunals, or CSRT, where they were classified as enemy combatants, a ruling that justifies their continued detention under Bush administration guidelines. Of the 250, only 20 have been charged and must stand trial in front of a military tribunal for "war crimes."…

5. Dix plot defendant feared being branded a terrorist if caught
Jury hears recordings as FBI informant awaits cross-examination
Tuesday, November 04, 2008 BY JOHN P. MARTIN Newark Star-Ledger
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1487

One of the men accused of buying illegal assault weapons and plotting to attack Fort Dix told an FBI informant he was worried about getting caught and branded as a terrorist. "I got five kids, so I don't wanna go down," Dritan "Tony" Duka, told the informant, according to recordings played yesterday at his trial in Camden… Duka, an Albanian from Cherry Hill, made the comment in April 2007 while allegedly discussing his desire to buy AK-47 assault rifles, M-16 machine guns and handguns. He and four others were arrested a month later when FBI agents delivered the weapons in a sting. Prosecutors say Duka and the others were radical Muslim immigrants who wanted to start a jihad in America by attacking Fort Dix or another military site. Also charged in the case were his brothers Shain and Eljvir, and two friends, Serdar Tatar of Philadelphia and Mohamad Shnewer of Cherry Hill… Jurors heard Duka's comments while listening to a fifth day of recordings made by the FBI and its informant, Mahmoud Omar. During one recording in early 2007, Shnewer allegedly suggested to Omar that the conspirators consider attacking the Philadelphia Naval Base during the annual Army-Navy football game...

Map of Fort Dix Becomes Focus of Terror Trial
Tuesday, November 04, 2008 Associated Press

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,446567,00.html

CAMDEN, N.J. — Testimony at the trial of five men accused of plotting an attack on a U.S. Army base centered Monday on a map of the New Jersey military installation that was found in one suspect's home. Prosecutors have said the men's possession of the map represents a concrete step in their plans to attack soldiers at Fort Dix and that the map connects the conspiracy to defendant Serdar Tatar, whose father owns a pizza shop that delivered to Fort Dix soldiers. No attack occurred…

6. Too soon to challenge security law, judge finds
Michelle Shephard National Security Reporter Toronto Star Nov 3, 2008 8:08 pm

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/529857

Canada's new national security certificate law has survived its first constitutional challenge, but the federal government's victory may only be a temporary reprieve. Federal Court Justice Allan Lutfy ruled Monday that it was "premature" to challenge the provisions of the immigration law that Parliament redrafted in February. The Supreme Court had struck down the previous law as unconstitutional in February 2007, objecting to the government's use of secret evidence. The new law introduces the role of security-cleared "special advocates," who can privately challenge the classified intelligence presented by Canada's spy service. But a group of Canada's top civil litigators had argued that the new law's restrictions on how special advocates can communicate — such as having to seek the judge's permission before talking to the accused -- made fair trials impossible… Lutfy ruled that, since the five cases of non-citizens the government has accused of terrorism offences and wants deported are only now underway, it's too early to see if the law infringes their rights…

7. The 10 Most Important Jobs to Be Filled Quickly at DHS
By Rob Margetta, CQ Staff CQ HOMELAND SECURITY Nov. 3, 2008 – 7:58 p.m.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=hsnews-000002982529&cpage=1

For months now, reporters and pundits have played one of Washington’s favorite parlor games in election years: who’s going to replace (fill in the blank) in the new administration. Naturally, for homeland security focused folks, who is going to replace DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff has led the pondering and pontificating. A long list of candidates who could head the Department of Homeland Security exists, and all anyone can currently agree on is that there is no clear favorite. But whoever is elected president Tuesday will have to find not only a secretary who is up to the job and can be quickly confirmed, but also nominees for a host of other critical roles… So, beyond the secretary and the deputy secretary (who has the task of running the day-to-day DHS operations) what are the 10 most critical jobs for the next administration to fill to get DHS up and running under new management quickly and with as little transition shock as possible? We asked a wide assortment of lawmakers, former homeland security officials and outside experts to give us their lists. They were surprisingly consistent, with almost everyone agreeing on which were important enough to make it into the top 10. What follows is a summation of their responses, listed in no particular order:…

8. Security agent is expected to testify in public
Andrew Duffy The Ottawa Citizen Monday, November 03, 2008

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1488

OTTAWA - For the first time in six years, a national security agent is expected to testify Tuesday in public as to why the federal government considers Mohamed Harkat a terrorist. Mr. Harkat was arrested in December, 2002 on the strength of a security certificate that declared him a threat to Canada. Until now, however, the evidence against him has been presented in secret hearings, or through the release of written briefs. Mr. Harkat is in Federal Court this week for a hearing to determine whether government ministers made a reasonable decision in labeling him an al-Qaeda sleeper agent. A similar hearing in 2005 upheld the case against Mr. Harkat, but that finding was later overturned by the Supreme Court. The high court ruled that the process was so secretive that it frustrated Mr. Harkat's ability to defend himself. This time, Mr. Harkat has been represented in the secret portion of the reasonableness hearing by two special advocates, acting on his behalf. The public portion of the case is expected to hear from a Canadian Security Intelligence Service witness, who will outline the spy agency's evidence against Mr. Harkat…

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

9. Fake IDs used to defraud health system
Expert says existing privacy laws hinder criminal probes into problem
Pauline Tam The Ottawa Citizen Tuesday, November 04, 2008

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1489

Criminals are exploiting lax security in government databases to assume false identities and take advantage of Canada's health care system, a leading expert in identity fraud warns. But such scams go largely unprosecuted because there is no concerted effort by government agencies to go after bogus health care claimants, says former Edmonton police detective Joe Pendleton. Mr. Pendleton, who helped uncover one of the country's most notorious identity-theft schemes, told an Ottawa conference of privacy experts yesterday that existing federal and provincial privacy laws hinder criminal investigations by keeping even the most basic patient health records out of the reach of police. The situation is made worse by a lack of co-operation from health officials, who don't appear to take the problem seriously, said Mr. Pendleton, who now works as a security consultant... Mr. Pendleton recounted the case of William Skupowsky, a U.S. citizen who was arrested in Calgary in 2001 for using a Canadian passport that he had obtained by assuming the identity of a dead nine-year-old boy from British Columbia…

10. Unisys wins Homeland Security contract

Philadelphia Business Journal Nov 4, 2008
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2008/11/03/daily10.html

Unisys Corp. said Tuesday it has been awarded a $1.4 million task order to provide secure e-mail and identity management services for the 18,000 employees of Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. The Blue Bell, Pa., information-technology company was awarded the task order under the Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions contract. The Department of Homeland Security selected Unisys (NYSE:UIS) to be a prime contractor for two categories of that contract in 2006. The amount of money it will receive from that designation will depend on the number of task orders it wins. The task order covers the first phase of the Baseline Automation Support Infrastructure for Citizenship Services and will be completed over 16 months.

Financing, identity theft, money laundering

11. HLF Defense Expert Offers Alternate Interpretations
IPT News November 4, 2008
http://www.investigativeproject.org/article/799
DALLAS - When officials at the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) spoke of jihad, or the need to support Palestinian mujahideen, they weren't necessarily endorsing violence. And when they praised Hamas and brought in leaders of the designated terrorist group to speak at fundraisers, they weren't necessarily providing support. That was the message John Esposito, a Georgetown University professor of Religion and International Affairs and director of the university's Saudi-funded Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding told jurors in HLF's terror support trial Monday. Esposito was called as an expert witness to explain that some of the strident language jurors have heard coming from Holy Land officials may have a different, more benign meaning. The men are accused of illegally providing millions of dollars to Hamas through a series of Palestinian charities...

12. Organized gangs of thieves hit retailers hard

Victoria Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle Thursday, October 30, 2008
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/30/BU2413QLAS.D...

(10-29) 18:15 PDT -- When state and federal law enforcement officers in June recovered more than $5.5 million in stolen goods and arrested 17 suspected members of a Bay Area shoplifting crime ring, it was clear it was more than a typical shoplifting bust. The theft of large volumes of goods - razor blades, Oil of Olay, Tylenol and other merchandise from such well-known retailers as Safeway, Target and Walgreens - was part of an organized crime ring. Organized retail crime, which FBI officials estimate accounts for as much as $30 billion in losses a year nationwide, is on the rise and expected to increase in the holiday season and as the economy worsens, according to experts speaking Wednesday at the Northern California Organized Retail Crime Conference and Symposium in Newark. "This is a lot more serious than just shoplifting because of the organization and sophistication," said state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, who spoke at the conference and is planning to reintroduce legislation that would enhance the penalties for people convicted of organized retail theft… What makes organized retail theft different from a conventional shoplifter swiping a DVD or a pair of jeans for personal use is that these criminals send out a band of cohorts - often with shopping lists of items to steal - that can swipe thousands of dollars of merchandise within minutes…

Border security, immigration, customs

13. S. Arizona officers on alert after Sonoran chief killed
Nov. 4, 2008 12:00 AM Associated Press

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1498
Southern Arizona law-enforcement officers were on alert after Mexico's Sonoran state police chief was killed Sunday near the border in Nogales, Mexico. Sonora police director Juan Manuel Pavon Felix was riddled with bullets as he entered a hotel, according to the state investigative police office. Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada said his department and the U.S. Border Patrol put SWAT teams on alert and took other steps after initial reports that the gunmen might try to cross from Mexico. He says none did. The report said the gunmen were armed with automatic rifles and hand-held and rocket-propelled grenades. Scores of soldiers and police officers have been killed in escalating drug violence in Mexico. Last month, the State Department urged Americans to use caution when traveling in northern Mexico.

Gunmen kill Mexican police chief in border city
Associated Press Nov 4, 2008

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1499
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Gunmen killed a state police chief in the border city of Nogales and three police detectives in central Guanajuato state, as a wave of drug-related violence batters Mexican security forces, authorities said Monday. In Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, authorities on Monday found the bullet-riddled bodies of six men in a vegetable warehouse along with more than 100 shell casings from assault rifles. The bodies of three other men were found in a sport utility vehicle on a Tijuana street on Sunday. All had apparently been shot to death. On Sunday night, Sonora state police chief Juan Manuel Pavon Felix was shot dead as he entered a hotel with his bodyguard and other officers, according to a statement from the state investigative police office. Pavon had just finished directing police operations in the city, the statement said. In Guanajuato, the state attorney general reported that gunmen killed three state police detectives on Monday at a restaurant near the border with the violence-plagued state of Michoacan, where drug cartels have been fighting bloody turf battles…

MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

14. Security services foil a twin terror attack against Algiers and Hassi Messaoud airports

04-11-2008 El Khabar (Algeria) By M.B.A/ Translation A.A
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1490

Security services have managed foiling a twin terror attack on Hassi Messaoud Airport and Algiers International Airport, following information leaked from Al-Qaeda fiefs in Europe.
However, authorities have decided allotting the security management of airports nationwide to the Army, as to cope with any potential attack. Well informed sources told El Khabar that the security services have been delivered vital information from their special sources in Europe, unveiling a terror plot which was to be committed by the GSPC. The same sources said the think is about hijacking an aircraft from Hassi Messaoud Airport, as well as a committing a suicide car bomb against Algiers International Airport. The abovementioned information pressed on security services setting emergency security plan in several airports, including the aforementioned airports. The security plan involved Special Forces, pertaining to the Army, who managed disguising as passengers in Algiers Airports and in some flights, too. The same sources said such measures have been taken on the right time and managed foiling the execution of the terror plot.

15. American school in Syria obeys order to close

By ALBERT AJI The Associated Press Monday, November 3, 2008; 1:27 PM

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1491

DAMASCUS, Syria -- An American school in Damascus closed its doors and told students to go home Monday after the Syrian government ordered it shut down in response to a deadly U.S. cross-border raid near the Iraqi border. A voice message on the school's answering machine said the Damascus Community School was closed to comply with the government's decision. Students and teachers were seen leaving the school grounds Monday afternoon. The closure order came two days after Syria said U.S. troops in four helicopters attacked a building inside Syria near the Iraqi border. Washington hasn't formally acknowledged the raid, but U.S. officials say the target was a top al-Qaida in Iraq figure. The school and the cultural center, which are linked to the U.S. Embassy, cater to a small American community in the Syrian capital and other foreign residents. The Syrian government had demanded the cultural center close immediately and the school close by Thursday…

16. Lebanon arrests cell suspected of working for Israel's Mossad since 1980s

By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent and The Associated Press 02/11/2008
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1033280.html

Lebanon's military intelligence has captured two members of a spy network suspected of working for the Mossad since the 1980s, according to an army statement. The military also said the men were involved in intelligence gathering ahead of the assassination of Hezbollah's second-in-command, Imad Mughniyeh. The two suspects have confessed to gathering information on the movements of local politicians, the Lebanese army said on Saturday. The terse military statement did not name the two detainees or say when they were captured, but did mention that they had advanced communication equipment and cameras. If the report is accurate, the existence of high-tech equipment could indicate the group was a cell on a specific and predefined intelligence gathering data, as opposed to other so-called spy rings which Israeli intelligence reportedly uses to recover random pieces of intelligence…

Report: Alleged Lebanon spy was tracking Hezbollah for Israel
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 13:20 03/11/2008
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1033846.html

The Lebanese citizen who was recently arrested for allegedly spying on behalf of Israel has been identified as Ali Jarrah, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported on Monday. Jarrah is suspected of monitoring the movements of senior Hezbollah officials, according to the report. The newspaper also said that he was arrested in July by Hezbollah, before being transferred to the custody of the Beirut authorities…

17. Morocco bans French magazine for insulting Islam
By HASSAN ALAOUI Associated Press Nov 3, 2008

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1492

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — The Moroccan government has banned an issue of the French magazine L'Express International, claiming it insults Islam in articles exploring the relationship between that religion and Christianity. Information Minister Khalid Naciri said Sunday that he had no choice but to ban the current issue because of the offensive nature of the articles it contained. The minister said the kingdom's press code allows the government to shut down or ban any publication deemed to offend Islam or the king. The cover of this week's L'Express is titled "The Jesus-Muhammad Shock" — also the title of a book by Christian Makarian, one of the magazine's chief editors. The weekly said the series of articles was inspired by a meeting planned this week in Rome between Christian and Muslim scholars and is intended to "help the dialogue between Islam and Christianity." Naciri did not specify exactly what was considered offensive, but told The Associated Press that "our country should not be used by anyone to spread articles that could be prejudicial to our religion or undermine public order."…

18. Ethiopia warns of 'imminent' terror attack
Agence France Presse Nov 4, 2008

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gK-KHXXSiMPsuoKqg3AFb-7khwzw

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopia on Tuesday warned of an "imminent" terrorist attack and urged its citizens to be vigilant but did not elaborate on the nature of the risk. "There is proven evidence that a plot to undertake a terrorist attack in Ethiopia exists at this very moment," the National Anti-terrorism Taskforce warned in a statement received by AFP here. "We urge the public to remain vigilant and cooperate with security officials in foiling this imminent attack," it added. A series of bomb blasts have rocked the Ethiopian capital this year with authorities blaming neighbouring Eritrea, along with secessionist groups such as the Ogaden National Liberation Front and the Oromo Liberation Front...

ASIA / PACIFIC

19. Taliban suicide attack kills seven in Pakistan's northwest
By Bill Roggio The Long War Journal November 4, 2008 10:25 AM
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/11/taliban_suicide_atta.php
A suicide bomber killed seven Pakistanis in the latest attack on Pakistan's beleaguered security forces in the Northwest Frontier Province. The suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint near the town of Doabo in the district of Hangu. The Pakistani government claimed only one policeman was killed, but Geo TV said three policemen and four civilians were killed. Four policemen were also injured in the attack. The bombing in Hangu is the latest in a series of attacks against the police and the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province and the tribal areas. There have been five suicide attacks against the police and Frontier Corps in Hangu, South Waziristan, Mardan, Mohmand, and Bannu since Oct. 26. Twenty-eight policemen and paramilitary troops have been killed in the attacks, and dozens more have been wounded. The Taliban and al Qaeda are conducting "simple operations that are easy to execute, and avoid complications that may lower chances of success," to strike at Pakistani security forces, Daily Times reported…

AP Interview: Pakistan PM urges next US president to stop missile strikes on the border
By NAHAL TOOSI | Associated Press 8:35 AM EST, November 4, 2008

http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/sns-ap-as-pakistan,0,3693015.story

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) _ The next U.S. president must halt missile strikes on insurgent targets in northwest Pakistan or risk failure in its efforts to end militancy in the Muslim country, the prime minister warned Tuesday. Yousuf Raza Gilani said visiting U.S. Gen. David Petraeus "looked convinced" when he warned him the strikes were inflaming anti-American sentiment but that he got no guarantee the attacks would end. Gilani's remarks in an interview with The Associated Press underscore how shaping a policy to deal with the militant threat in nuclear-armed Pakistan and its new civilian leaders will be a key task for the next U.S. president. They also revealed the rising strain the missile strikes have placed on relations between the two nations seven years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks forced them into an uneasy alliance…

20. Bomb threats to embassies ahead of Bali executions
Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor From Times Online (London) November 4, 2008

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5077655.ece

Western embassies were threatened with explosions today as Indonesia braced itself for the execution by firing squad of the three men who bombed two Bali nightclubs in 2002, killing hundreds of people, most of them foreign tourists. The US and Australian embassies in the capital, Jakarta, reported finding no bombs after a warning was sent to the Indonesian police. “I have put TNT bombs around the US and Australian embassies,” the mobile telephone text message said. “I will pull the trigger if Amrozi and his friends are executed.” But security forces were on alert across the country after indications that the three Bali bombers – Amrozi Nurhashyim, Ali Gufron and Imam Samudra – could be executed any day now after the failure of their final appeal last month. The execution – by rifles aimed at the heart from close range – could be as early as the early hours of Wednesday. But the authorities may decide to avoid potential embarrassment, and any security scares for a VIP guest, and wait until the departure of the Prince of Wales, who leaves Indonesia tomorrow at the end of a five day trip…

21. Pilot allowed to fly despite positive test for explosive
Natalie O'Brien The Australian November 05, 2008
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,,24604386-23349,00...

A VIRGIN Blue pilot who tested positive for traces of explosives and then avoided security guards was allowed to continue unchecked and fly a passenger aircraft. The security breach at Sydney's domestic airport in August was sparked when the pilot, who has not been identified, was selected for the random explosives testing but left the security screening area while guards were waiting for the results of the sample. Instead of calling in the Australian Federal Police and grounding all the outbound Virgin Blue flights until the pilot was found, the guards covered up the security breach. An investigation by The Australian into the incident has exposed a widespread problem with the testing of pilots that could be exploited by terrorists. Security sources say pilots are often not selected for the explosives testing because of their aggressive attitude towards it. It is understood that there have been several incidents in Australian airports in which pilots have refused the random explosives test, leading to reprimands from the airlines. Aviation security experts warned of the risks involved in pilots refusing to undergo the tests…

22. Thailand: At least one killed and 70 injured in bomb attacks in south

Nov 4, 2008 AKI

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=3.0.2667449937

Narathiwat, 4 Nov. (AKI) - One person was killed and more than 70 people were injured in Thailand on Tuesday when three bombs exploded in a busy market and a tea shop near a local government office in the country's troubled Muslim-majority south. Police said one of the bombs was a car bomb that exploded at a fruit market opposite a district office where village leaders were meeting in Narathiwat province. "There are still no reports of any deaths because police cut off all mobile phone signals at the scene of the attack. All of the injured were hospitalised," a senior police official said… Since January 2004 more than 3,400 people have been killed in sectarian conflict in Thailand's three southernmost provinces, where there is a Muslim majority in the predominantly Buddhist country. Muslim rebels are fighting for the creation of an independent Islamic state in the provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani.

23. Police make first arrests in deadly India bombs
Tue Nov 4, 2008 2:57pm IST Reuters By Biswajyoti Das

http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINDEL31076820081104?sp=true

GUWAHATI, India, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Police arrested three suspected separatist rebels on Tuesday and released a sketch of a suspect in connection with bombings in India's northeastern state of Assam that killed 84 people and wounded about 300. Police say those arrested were members of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), blamed for colluding with Islamist militants in last week's attack, the worst in a region where dozens of insurgencies have raged for decades… A little-known Islamist militant group, the Islamic Security Force-Indian Mujahideen, sent a mobile telephone text message to a local television station claiming responsibility for the coordinated blasts. Police suspect the bombings were carried out to avenge attacks on Muslim settlers, mostly from neighbouring Bangladesh, by indigenous tribes that killed at least 47 people in September and October…

EUROPE

24. Bin Laden son in Spain asylum bid

Story from BBC NEWS: Published: 2008/11/04 11:23:34 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7708029.stm

One of Osama Bin Laden's sons has asked for political asylum in Spain, local officials say. Omar Osama Bin Laden, aged 27, made his claim after a scheduled stopover at Madrid's Barajas airport on a flight from Egypt to Morocco. The reasons for his asylum request were not immediately clear. The self-declared pacifist son of the al-Qaeda leader was earlier this year refused entry to live in the UK with his 52-year-old British wife. The Spanish authorities said they would deal with Mr Bin Laden's case "speedily", Spain's El Pais newspaper reported. He was carrying a Saudi passport, the Spanish interior ministry officials said. He currently lives in Cairo, with wife Zaina Alsabah-Bin Laden, formerly named Jane Felix-Browne, from Cheshire…

25. Lawyers for London Al Qaeda bomb plot gang cost taxpayer £5 million
By Shekhar Bhatia Last updated at 12:00 PM on 04th November 2008 The Daily Mail (UK)

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/1495

Lawyers defending a terror gang cost the taxpayer £5 million in legal aid, it was revealed today. Ringleader Dhiren Barot intended to murder thousands by detonating bombs on the Heathrow Express, under the Thames and in US buildings including the New York Stock Exchange. He admitted conspiracy to murder and was jailed at Woolwich crown court with seven members of his gang in November 2006. But he and his gang's case cost millions after Barot waited almost two years before he finally entered a guilty plea - knowing he faced an 80-year sentence if he denied his role and was found guilty. The Court of Appeal later decided to reduce his minimum tariff from 40 to 30 years. That process alone is likely to have added tens of thousands of pounds to the cost to the taxpayer. Among those who profited from the case was Barot's solicitor, Mudassar Arani, who has already earned thousands of pounds more in legal aid from other terror cases including that of the jailed extremist cleric Abu Hamza. Other lawyers who would have received legal aid payments were Ian Macdonald QC and barrister Ali Bajwa, who represented Barot when he appealed against his sentence…