Daily Terrorism Update
General security, policy
1. U.S. and Poland Seal Missile Pact
Deal on Defense System Signed Despite Russian Warnings
By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Thursday, August 21, 2008; A09
WARSAW, Aug. 20 -- The United States and Poland signed an agreement here Wednesday to place parts of a U.S. missile defense system on Polish territory, finalizing a long-negotiated deal in the face of Russian warnings that Poland would become a potential target for attack. At a signing ceremony with the Polish political leadership, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the system, which will place 10 missile interceptors and more than 100 U.S. troops here, will "help us to respond to the threats of the 21st century." The agreement, suddenly concluded after 18 months of negotiations, came at a time of heightened tensions between Russia and the NATO alliance over the war in Georgia. NATO on Tuesday said it will suspend "business as usual" with Russia after its invasion of its southern neighbor. Despite pledges from Moscow that it would withdraw its troops, Rice said there was little sign Wednesday that the Russians are ending what NATO has called their "occupation" of Georgia. German and French officials voiced similar charges Wednesday that there was no sign that a withdrawal had begun in earnest. In a continuation of tit-for-tat rhetoric over Georgia, Moscow said Wednesday that it will "freeze all military cooperation with NATO and allied countries," according to a statement by the Norwegian Defense Ministry reported by the Associated Press. Norway, a NATO member, said it had received a telephone call from the Russian Defense Ministry…
2. Fear of new Mid East 'Cold War' as Syria strengthens military alliance with Russia
Kevin O’Flynn in Moscow and James Hider, Middle East Correspondent
The Times (London) August 21, 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article4573599.e...
Syria raised the prospect yesterday of having Russian missiles on its soil, sparking fears of a new Cold War in the Middle East. President Assad said as he arrived in Moscow to clinch a series of military agreements: “We are ready to co-operate with Russia in any project that can strengthen its security.” The Syrian leader told Russian newspapers: “I think Russia really has to think of the response it will make when it finds itself closed in a circle.” Mr Assad said that he would be discussing the deployment of Russian missiles on his territory. The Syrians are also interested in buying Russian weapons. In return Moscow is expected to propose a revival of its Cold War era naval base at the Syrian port of Tartus, which would give the Russian Navy its first foothold in the Mediterranean for two decades. Damascus and Moscow were close allies during the Cold War but the Kremlin’s influence in the region waned after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Yesterday’s rapprochement raised the possibility that Moscow intends to re-create a global anti-Western alliance with former Soviet bloc allies...
3. President Bush Attends Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention, Discusses Global War on Terror
Orange County Convention Center
Orlando, Florida
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/08/20080820-3.html
Fact Sheet: Protecting America From Terrorism
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/08/20080820-6.html
In Focus: National Security
http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/nationalsecurity/
Fact Sheet: Protecting America From Terrorism
For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary August 20, 2008
Addressing The Veterans Of Foreign Wars, President Bush Highlights Policies To Fight The War On Terror, Defend America, Expand Freedom, And Care For Our Military And Veterans
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/08/20080820-6.html
4. Justice Department Reaches Agreement to Protect Employment Rights of U.S. Army Reservist
US Department of Justice FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, August 21, 2008
CRT (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/August/08-crt-737.html
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice announced today that it has settled its employment lawsuit on behalf of Tracey Marshall, a sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, against the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County, Fla. The Department’s complaint, filed last October in the U.S. District Court in Tampa, alleged that the Clerk’s Office violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). The Clerk’s Office failed to reemploy Marshall in her prior position as supervisor of the Clerk’s Court Clerk II Section of the Circuit Criminal Division when she return from active duty in October 2005. In addition, it is alleged that the Clerk’s Office retaliated against Marshall after she took action under USERRA, by transferring her from the Clerk’s Circuit Criminal Division to the Clerks Traffic Department, which offered a lower pay rate. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the Clerk’s Office will reinstate Marshall to Manager of the Court Clerk Area of the Clerk’s Circuit Criminal Division and pay her a $2,500 monetary award…
5. ManTech gets $820M, two-year IED support contract
Associated Press 08.20.08, 7:15 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/08/20/ap5343534.html
FAIRFAX, Va. - ManTech International Corp. said Wednesday it has received an $820 million contract from the U.S. Army to support vehicles that remove and detect improvised explosive devices. As part of the two-year contract with the Army's Tacom life-cycle management command program office, ManTech will support mine detection systems, mine retrieval systems, and medium and heavy mine protected vehicles, in addition to other services...
6. Justice delays new rules on terror investigations
By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press August 21, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6c4wr5
The Justice Department has agreed to delay new rules giving the FBI greater leeway in investigations of suspected terrorists, deferring to concerns by senators that innocent Americans might be targeted. In a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy released Thursday, the department said it will postpone the rules until after FBI Director Robert Mueller appears before the panel on Sept. 17. However, the department still wants to have the rules in place by Oct. 1 to help the FBI more nimbly investigate national security cases, wrote Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Keith D. Nelson. He said that the rules, known as attorney general guidelines, would harmonize multiple and varying sets of standards for how the FBI conducts investigations into one regulation...
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
7. Security cameras to monitor entire Bay
01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 By Daniel Barbarisi Providence Journal
PROVIDENCE — A camera and radar system to track and view ships and boaters all the way from the Atlantic to Providence Harbor will soon be in place, making Rhode Island’s coastal waterways perhaps the most closely scrutinized in the nation. Providence yesterday approved a deal with defense contractor Raytheon Co. to buy four cameras and a limited radar system to be deployed in upper Narragansett Bay. Providence would link its cameras to an existing system run by the Department of Environmental Management that watches southern Narragansett Bay, creating a Bay-wide visual network to track large ships and watch over small boaters alike, city and state officials said. It almost certainly marks the first time a coastal state has had visual surveillance of nearly all its shipping and boating lanes…
8. Security breach?
A TSA inspector is able to enter several parked, unattended jets, but the airline defends its security practices
By Jon Hilkevitch Chicago Tribune 11:04 PM CDT, August 20, 2008
www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-tsa_21aug21,0,5107335.story
The Transportation Security Administration suffered embarrassment Wednesday over an inspector who climbed carelessly around the outside of nine American Eagle planes parked overnight at O'Hare International Airport. But just hours later, the agency struck back, saying the government employee portrayed as a bumbling Barney Fife was able to expose security lapses by entering seven of the jets. The investigator gained access to the unattended Embraer regional jets during random inspections that are conducted every day at U.S. airports to verify compliance with security regulations and uncover potential security risks that criminals or terrorists could capitalize on to tamper with aircraft, agency officials said. But American Airlines, the parent company of American Eagle, said it followed all security procedures…
9. FDNY probe finds series of big failures led to Deutsche horror
BY ALISON GENDAR and JONATHAN LEMIRE New York Daily News
Wednesday, August 20th 2008, 10:08 PM
… The two firefighters killed in last year's inferno at the old Deutsche Bank building died as a result of a perfect storm of neglect and tragic mistakes, the FDNY's internal review of the fatal fire shows. The report - which will be released today - blames the FDNY for not conducting mandatory inspections; the Buildings Department for not issuing a formal permit for demolition and the building's contractor for shoddy work that turned the condemned skyscraper into a death trap, sources who reviewed the report told the Daily News. "These guys' fate was sealed as soon as they got in that fire," said a source who was briefed on the 176-page document. "And when they called for help, they couldn't even get through right away," the source said. Tragically, when firefighters Joseph Graffagnino - who would have turned 35 years old Wednesday - and Robert Beddia began to scream "Mayday!" their cries could not be immediately acted upon, according to the report. Though FDNY protocol is for radio communication to cease when a "Mayday" is issued, continued radio chatter made it difficult for the officers on the ground to hear where the panicked firefighters were trapped, the report says…
10. Online Crime Map 'UCrime' Illustrates Campus Incidents
The Baltimore startup provides real-time data about the date, time, location, and type of crime on campuses.
By K.C. Jones InformationWeek Aug. 18, 2008
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=2101014...
A new Web site with an eye on public safety will compile and map crime statistics from places where they're not always easy to access -- college campuses. UCrime, a Baltimore startup, launched its online services this summer with a Web site that provides maps and automated alerts for students, prospective students, parents, administrators, faculty, public safety officials, and those living near universities. It promises to provide real-time data about the date, time, location, and type of crime on campuses. Alerts are available to those who request them and transmit via e-mail or mobile devices. They also are available through Facebook. The Web site compiles its information from police departments, newspapers, and other sources of public information. The maps display icons like burglars and money bags to show where theft has occurred. They illustrate arrests with handcuffs. The site also contains social networking features that allow users to comment on particular crimes. Colin Drane, CEO of UCrime.com, said that the social networking features make UCrime.com particularly useful for students, administrators and security personnel…
11. Fingerprints provide clues to more than just identity
Published: Thursday, August 7, 2008 - 13:29 in Physics & Chemistry
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/08/07/fingerprints.provide.clues.m...
Fingerprints can reveal critical evidence, as well as an identity, with the use of a new technology developed at Purdue University that detects trace amounts of explosives, drugs or other materials left behind in the prints. The new technology also can distinguish between overlapping fingerprints left by different individuals - a difficult task for current optical forensic methods. A team led by R. Graham Cooks, Purdue's Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry, has created a tool that reads and provides an image of a fingerprint's chemical signature. The technology can be used to determine what a person recently handled. "The classic example of a fingerprint is an ink imprint showing the unique swirls and loops used for identification, but fingerprints also leave behind a unique distribution of molecular compounds," Cooks said. "Some of the residues left behind are from naturally occurring compounds in the skin and some are from other surfaces or materials a person has touched." The team's research will be detailed in a paper published in Friday's (Aug. 8) issue of Science. Demian R. Ifa, a Purdue postdoctoral researcher and the paper's lead author, said the technology also can easily uncover fingerprints buried beneath others…
Financing, identity theft, money laundering
12. US man arrested in connection to alleged Hamas fundraising
Agence France Presse August 21, 2008
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hHSZ7z5AbcQVoCv86ap85paqSNZQ
IPT NOTE: The indictment is posted at http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/646.pdf
LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The US Department of Justice announced Thursday they arrested a man over his alleged fundraising for a foundation authorities say backs Hamas, the Palestinian organization Washington has designated a terrorist group. Akram Musa Abdallah, also called Abu Saiaf, 54, of Mesa, Arizona, was arrested on Wednesday on charges of lying to authorities over his involvement in fund-raising for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which US officials say funnels money to Hamas. According to the indictment, Abdallah was involved in fund-raising activities for the Holy Land Foundation in the Phoenix, Arizona area between 1994 and 1997...
Alleged HLF Fundraiser Charged
August 21, 2008 Investigative Project on Terrorism Blog
http://www.investigativeproject.org/blog/2008/08/alleged-hlf-fundraiser-...
An Arizona man has been indicted for lying to FBI agents about his work on behalf of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. Akram Musa Abdallah was interviewed by FBI agents in January 2007 and denied raising money for HLF. In fact, the indictment charges, he helped organize HLF fundraisers in the Phoenix area. In January 2007, when the interviews occurred, prosecutors and agents were gearing up for the Hamas-support trial of HLF and five former officials. That ended in a mistrial in October. Now, those same prosecutors and agents are gearing up for the retrial, scheduled to begin Sept. 15.
13. PharmaCare Charged With Dealing in Stolen Property
John Pacenti Daily Business Review August 21, 2008
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202423943015&pos=ataglance
IPT NOTE: The indictment is posted at http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/images/news_photos/50240/Indictment.p...
The Web site for PharmaCare Health Services told retailers it aimed to be their "secondary source of health & beauty care products." But federal prosecutors charge the Sunrise, Fla.-based company specialized more in the five-finger discount of shoplifting on a grand scale. "Defendants bought and sold approximately $7.9 million of stolen over-the-counter medications and health and beauty aids, which had not been legitimately obtained," said the nine-count indictment unsealed Aug. 13. The Internal Revenue Service and other agencies busted a shoplifting ring that was allegedly run by two brothers who marketed the stolen medications and other drugstore products. PharmaCare Health Services stored, packaged, cleaned and distributed the medications and other products to retail businesses. It used professional shoplifters -- known as boosters -- to steal the merchandise, according to the indictment naming seven defendants. The stolen products included teeth-whitening strips, razor blades and expensive creams, according to Ellie Michaud, spokeswoman for the Internal Revenue Service in West Palm Beach, which tracked the money in the operation. Products were stolen from Walgreens, Target, CVS and Rite Aid, she said. She did not know what medications were targeted. Nasir "David" Khan, his brother Asif "Jordan" Khan and their former brother-in-law Michael Spencer ran the company, the indictment alleges…
14. RCMP, CBSA and OPP investigation leads to RCMP seizure of 2,500,000 contraband cigarettes
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2008/20/c5687.html
SOUTH GLENGARRY, ON, Aug. 20 /CNW/ - A 40 year old male resident of St-Isidore-de-Laprairie, Quebec is facing charges under the Excise Act 2001 for possession of a tobacco product not properly stamped, after a joint investigation by the Canada Border Services Agency, RCMP and the Ontario Provincial Police. On August 19th, 2008 at 3:15 p.m., RCMP and O.P.P. officers stopped a 2005 Hino flatbed truck transporting a 20 foot shipping container on Highway 401 eastbound in South Glengarry, Ontario. RCMP officers searched the shipping container and seized 12,500 resealable bags of contraband cigarettes. Seized are 2,500,000 cigarettes estimated to be worth $275,000. It is believed that the cigarettes were manufactured in the United States and smuggled into Canada. The 2005 Hino flatbed truck worth an estimated $25,000 as well as the shipping container worth an estimated $1,500, were also seized. The driver was also arrested on a Correctional Service of Canada warrant and is being held in custody. He will appear at the Alexandria court on October 8th, 2008 regarding the Excise Act 2001 charge…
Border security, immigration, customs
15. Homeland Security Explores Ambitious Plan to Collect More Personal Data From Foreign Travelers
The department will try to gather biometric data on all departing foreigners without causing delays
By Alex Kingsbury Posted August 20, 2008 US News & World Report
The Department of Homeland Security is studying how best to implement a little-noticed congressional mandate to gather, search, and store biometric data from all foreign visitors leaving the country. The objective is to collect better data on foreigners who violate the law while in the country or who overstay their visas. Foreigners coming to the United States already face a string of requirements for entry, from providing digital fingerprints and photographs to a new rule that goes into force in a few months for travelers—even from countries like France, Italy, and the United Kingdom—to register their airline itineraries three days before arrival. The new measures could end up discouraging more foreigners from traveling to the United States for either business or tourism as the process becomes increasingly onerous. DHS, which oversees Customs and Border Protection, is in the process of studying systems to handle the millions of visitors and estimates that the program will cost some $3 billion and have an accuracy rate of 97 percent. To that end, the department has already asked for a three-fold increase in the US-VISIT program budget to cover the cost of pilot studies and additional analysis of the program...
MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA
16. Grooming a female suicide bomber
Al Qaeda in Iraq seeks out vengeful widows and social rejects. A jail in Diyala holds suspected recruiters.
By Alexandra Zavis Los Angeles Times August 21, 2008
BAQUBAH, IRAQ — From the jail cell she was sharing with her mother, sister and 1-year-old son, the young widow watched with a sardonic expression as the boy weaved unsteadily toward a visiting American soldier and lifted his arms to be carried. "Aboud," she called out to the toddler, "tell them to release me." The police say the matriarch, Ikran, used her two daughters, Asma and Ilaf, to recruit their girlfriends to blow themselves up in the name of the insurgent group Al Qaeda in Iraq. Even though the women were terrified of the masked men who took over their neighborhood, they said they'd never do such a thing -- "Life is a gift from God." Although it remains far from clear whether the women committed the crimes of which they were accused, the tale they shared from their barren cell offers a peek into the violent and claustrophobic world in which women are groomed to become suicide bombers. As violence levels have plunged across Iraq, the number of attacks carried out by female suicide bombers has increased -- a potent threat that is especially difficult to counter. The gowns favored by devout Muslim women easily conceal explosives, and it is culturally unacceptable for the men who make up the bulk of the Iraqi security forces to frisk them…
17. Bungled raid in Diyala threatens political developments, military operations
By Bill Murray Long War Journal August 20, 2008 3:56 PM
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/08/bungled_raid_in_diya.php
BAQUBAH, IRAQ: Recent political progress in Diyala may unravel after a botched attempt to capture a provincial official at the main governmental center in Baqubah killed an assistant to the provincial governor. An attempt to arrest a Sunni member of the provincial parliament, Husain al Zubsidy, by a special division of the Iraqi Army went foul early on Aug. 19, causing a 30-minute firefight between the Iraqi army and local police. A special assistant to the governor of Diyala was killed in the shootout. The assistant, al Tamimi, was also a close relative of the governor of Diyala, Ra’ad Rashid al Tamini, and the killing has threatened to unhinge gains made in recent weeks. Some of the participants in the raid claimed they were part of a dirty division' that operates at the Prime Minister's behest. The identity of the unit could not be verified. Earlier today, the deputy president of the Parliament's Security and Defense Committee called for the disbandment of Iraq’s counterterrorism and special operations forces units, citing abuses in Diyala province, Voices of Iraq reported...
18. Tactics change in Iraq
Improved security allows lighter hand
Richard Tomkins Washington Times Thursday, August 21, 2008
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/21/tactics-change-in-iraq/
BAGHDAD — Recent U.S. military success in quelling extremist violence in Baghdad has helped change the way American troops do business in the Iraqi capital. Troops who once kicked in doors during searches in questionable neighborhoods now knock and ask permission to enter during operations to ferret out terrorists and their weapons. Military convoys that pushed aside civilian traffic to reach their destinations are less aggressive and bullying in maneuvering through Baghdad´s traffic-jammed streets as the number of improvised explosive devices decreases. Civil-affairs efforts - from helping refurbish schools to funding business development to improving neighborhood sewerage services - have moved from the back seat to the front. U.S. officials say the focus has shifted from killing or capturing the enemy to winning the hearts and minds of the people upon whom the enemy has depended...
19. Algerian terror attack kills 12 SNC-Lavalin employees
Victims were local contractors
Stewart Bell and Matthew Coutts National Post Wednesday, August 20, 2008
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=737514
A dozen employees of Canada's SNC-Lavalin were killed in a car bombing in Algeria Wednesday, the latest in a wave of terrorist attacks that have targeted Canadian and Western companies in the North African country. Fifteen staff of the Montreal-based engineering firm were also wounded in the early morning attack, which occurred when an explosive-laden vehicle struck their bus near a hotel entrance as the workers were on their way to the Koudiat Acerdoune water treatment plant. A spokesperson for Canada's Foreign Affairs ministry said none of the dead or injured were Canadian citizens. All were believed to be Algerians locally employed by SNC-Lavalin, which said in a statement that "we strongly deplore this act of terrorism." Canadian intelligence officials have been warning about the dangers to Canadians in Algeria, where a large number of Canadian companies operate despite car bombings, suicide attacks and a resurgent Islamist terrorist faction aligned with al-Qaeda…
20. Pirates seize Japanese, Iranian ships off Somalia
August 21, 2008 Associated Press
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ipMHyUWWbt0DgJ6MbFCi3HeMrqFwD92MH3Q00
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — An international maritime body says armed pirates have hijacked a Japanese-operated tanker and an Iranian bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia. The latest hijackings on Thursday come two days after pirates seized a Malaysian palm oil tanker in the same area. Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau says pirates opened fire on the Iranian vessel before boarding it. He says that less than an hour later a Japanese-operated tanker with 19 crew was also attacked and seized near the same area. Choong says a multi-coalition naval force has been informed and is taking action…
21. Yemen hands over Saudi suspects after al-Qaeda plots uncovered
DPA Aug 21, 2008, 7:40 GMT
http://tinyurl.com/5e8asl
Sana'a, Yemen - Yemen has extradited to Saudi Arabia eight Saudis one week after Yemeni police uncovered suspected plots by al- Qaeda to carry out terrorist attacks in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, a state-run weekly reported Thursday. The eight men were 'wanted by Saudi security authorities on security-related charges,' said the 26 September newspaper, the defence ministry mouthpiece. 'The handover was made within the past two days in line with cooperation between the two brotherly countries, and under the security cooperation agreement,' the paper quoted an unnamed security source as saying. This is the latest such handover between Yemen and its oil-rich neighbour Saudi Arabia under an extradition agreement inked in 2003. Last week, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said police had discovered plots by al-Qaeda to strike targets in inside the country and in Saudi Arabia...
ASIA / PACIFIC
22. Three Polish soldiers, 30 militants killed in Afghanistan
Agence France Presse August 21, 2008
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i9UDZBSx791KZfzyf3AUtOe0uvjA
KABUL (AFP) — Afghan and international troops killed more than 30 militants in a clash near Kabul, military forces said Thursday, confirming that three Polish soldiers had also died in a bomb blast. Troops called for air support after coming under fire Wednesday during a search operation in Laghman province, northeast of Kabul province, the US-led coalition said. "During the operation, more than 30 militants were killed and a large cache of mortar rounds and IED (improvised explosive device) materials were destroyed by the commandos," it said in a statement. No civilian casualties were reported, the force said. The strikes were called when the area was clear of women and children after about 200 civilians were seen fleeing, the statement said. The separate NATO-led force meanwhile confirmed that three of its soldiers had been killed when an IED hit their vehicle in eastern Afghanistan Wednesday...
3 Canadian soldiers killed in Kandahar
Scott Deveau Canwest News Service Thursday, August 21, 2008
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Three Canadian combat engineers were killed and one was seriously injured early Wednesday morning when their convoy hit an improvised explosive device on the main highway outside Kandahar City. There was a daylong embargo on the news while the families of the three slain soldiers were contacted. One of the soldiers was identified as Sgt. Shawn Eades who was on his third tour of Afghanistan. The names of the other two soldiers who died in the attack have been withheld for now at the request of the families. All were combat engineers with 12 Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment, which is based out of Edmonton. While in Kandahar, they were attached to the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group...
23. Pakistan suicide bombers hit arms factory
Two suicide bombers have killed at least 57 people in Pakistan as part of an escalating campaign of violence, in a serious blow to the country's stability.
By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad
Last Updated: 2:52PM BST 21 Aug 2008 The Daily Telegraph (London)
http://tinyurl.com/5fttzm
A further 70 people were wounded in the explosion outside Pakistan's main military arms factory. The bombers detonated the explosives almost simultaneously outside two gates of the large factory complex in the northern town of Wah, near the capital, Islamabad. It is one of the country's most sensitive military installations. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the blasts, in revenge for military operations. It was the second incident of suspected militant violence in nuclear- armed Pakistan since key US ally Pervez Musharraf resigned as president on Monday, leaving the pursuit of the "war on terror" to a bickering coalition government. "It's a massive attack," said the local police chief, Nasir Durrani. "Two men apparently blew themselves up outside the factory during a shift change. The bombers were on foot and they exploded themselves less than a minute apart," he said…
24. Indonesian extremist charged over attack
Agence France Presse August 21, 2008
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g45zCqdQTpRigfR51PlZ82K2tMOA
JAKARTA (AFP) — Indonesian prosecutors demanded more than five years' jail Thursday for an Islamist hardliner accused of inciting an armed attack on a moderate rally, as his trial opened amid tight security. Hundreds of police formed a cordon outside South Jakarta District Court for the trial of Islamic Defenders Front leader Rizieq Shihab, who is accused of being behind the June attack by hundreds of his stick-wielding followers. The radical preacher was read charges of inciting hatred and violence and could face up to five-and-a-half years in prison, less than a possible nine years earlier floated by prosecutors. Scores of white-clad FPI supporters surged towards a car carrying Shihab as he arrived at the court, and chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greater) as he entered the courtroom. His lawyers argue he cannot be held responsible for the attack, which saw a mob of religious fanatics armed with wooden sticks set upon the peaceful rally at the national monument in Jakarta. Several people were injured as the extremists beat unarmed demonstrators including old women and children. Police failed to stop the attack, sparking criticism that the government was afraid to enforce the law in the face of a militant fringe of Islamic extremists…
25. Philippines cancels peace deal with Muslim group
Reuters - Thursday, August 21 07:49 am
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080821/tpl-uk-philippines-rebels-9e08e31...
MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines announced on Thursday it had cancelled a peace deal with the country's biggest Muslim rebel group after fighting broke out this week, but a guerrilla leader rejected its calls for re-negotiation. The announcement by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's government that it was giving up on the agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forged only last month looks certain to prolong a decades-long conflict in the south. "The cancellation of the memorandum of agreement is a painful step in our collective effort to come to an agreement with the MILF," Lorelei Fajardo, a spokeswoman for Arroyo, said in a statement to reporters… The peace deal, which envisaged the enlargement of a Muslim autonomous area in the Mindanao region, has been halted by the Supreme Court pending hearing an appeal by Christian groups that it was unconstitutional. Earlier this week, about 40 people were killed when MILF renegades, angered at the stalling of the agreement, attacked two towns in the volatile south of the country. The government has reinforced troops in the region and has ordered that they pursue the attackers. The military said five people were wounded in fighting on Wednesday. It is the worst violence for years in the Mindanao region, where the rebellion has prevented any significant development of some of the richest mineral and hyrdrocarbon resources in Southeast Asia…
26. Accused's book a 'rare' guide for al-Qa'ida's enemies
Natalie O'Brien The Australian August 22, 2008
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24221721-5001561,00.h...
THE book at the centre of a Sydney man's terrorism trial is unusual in the sense that it urged readers to avenge the enemies of al-Qa'ida in a specific, co-ordinated manner, according to a US terrorism expert. Evan Kohlmann told the trial of Sydney man Belal Saadallah Khazaal that manuals with instructions on how to build explosives were available on the internet, in bookshops and libraries. "(But) what is rarer is manuals directing you to use this knowledge in a co-ordinated manner to have a real impact," Dr Kohlmann told the NSW Supreme Court yesterday. The jury has already been told the book compiled by Mr Khazaal, The Provision on the Rules of Jihad: Short Judicial Rulings and Organisational Instructions For Fighters and Mujaheddin Against Infidels, includes a list of target countries, including the US, Britain and Australia, and the order of priority in which they should be attacked. Mr Khazaal, of the southwestern Sydney suburb of Lakemba, has pleaded not guilty to knowingly making a document connected with assistance in a terrorist act and to attempting to incite a terrorist act. It is alleged the offences occurred between September and October 2003…
27. Australian farms face 'agro-terror' attack threat
BY DAVID MCLENNAN 21/08/2008 12:00:00 AM Canberra Times
Australian agriculture's strength of being relatively disease-free also makes the nation more vulnerable to a terrorist attack on the sector, a report warns. An Australian Strategic Policy Institute analysis issued this week said little consideration had been given to threats to the agriculture sector, which was an integral part of the Australian economy responsible for 4per cent of gross domestic product. ''A major disease outbreak in the agricultural sector, therefore, would have substantial economic repercussions from the farmyard to the kitchen table,'' author Carl Ungerer said. He pointed to the inquiry into last year's equine influenza outbreak and its finding that there were ''continuing vulnerabilities in Australia's biosecurity systems''. ''Fixing these systemic problems is a high priority.'' … Although the probability of the sector coming under attack was low, there was a threat, as shown by the discovery of information on chemical and biological agents found during a raid on a terrorist financier associated with Jemaah Islamiah in the Philippines recently. Jemaah Islamiah was responsible for the two Bali bombings…
EUROPE
28. MI5 report challenges views on terrorism in Britain
Exclusive: Sophisticated analysis says there is no single pathway to violent extremism
Alan Travis, home affairs editor The Guardian.co.uk Wednesday August 20 2008 19:01 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/20/uksecurity.terrorism1
MI5 has concluded that there is no easy way to identify those who become involved in terrorism in Britain, according to a classified internal research document on radicalisation seen by the Guardian. The sophisticated analysis, based on hundreds of case studies by the security service, says there is no single pathway to violent extremism. It concludes that it is not possible to draw up a typical profile of the "British terrorist" as most are "demographically unremarkable" and simply reflect the communities in which they live. The "restricted" MI5 report takes apart many of the common stereotypes about those involved in British terrorism. They are mostly British nationals, not illegal immigrants and, far from being Islamist fundamentalists, most are religious novices. Nor, the analysis says, are they "mad and bad". Those over 30 are just as likely to have a wife and children as to be loners with no ties, the research shows…
COMMENT / ANALYSIS
29. Threat Analysis: AQIM Suicide VBIED Attacks Kill 54 in Two Days
Information Cutoff Date: August 20, 2008; 0830 Hours
NYPD SHIELD intelligence briefs are current as of the information cutoff date. The
information is therefore preliminary and subject to further analysis and revision.
NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau
Pete Patton
Terrorism Threat Analysis Group
Free registration required at www.nypdshield.org
http://tinyurl.com/6rk39l
