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Alarm Bells Now Ringing Because Airline Terror Dry Runs Covered Up

Posted by Gabrielle Cusumano on Wednesday, July 25, 2007 3:33:55 PM

"The report also says that a background check in the FBI's National Crime Information Center database, which was performed June 18 as part of a visa-extension application, produced "positive hits" for past criminal records or suspicious behavior for eight of the 12 Syrians, who were traveling in the U.S. as a musical group. " (From Drudge Report below)


 

From a long article in the Washington Times:

Report confirms terror dry run
By Audrey Hudson


THE WASHINGTON TIMES
May 30, 2007

[page 2]:

"Agency management was not only covering up numerous probes and dry-run encounters from Congress and other federal law-enforcement agencies, it was also hiding these incidents from their own flying air marshals," said P. Jeffrey Black, an air marshal stationed in Las Vegas.
Homeland Security officials initially denied the complaints and blamed passengers who reported the incident to the press as behaving hysterically. However, the inspector general report shows that air marshals had the group of men under surveillance before they boarded the plane.

"Prior to boarding, one of the air marshals noticed what he later characterized as 'unusual behavior' by about six Middle Eastern males, who arrived at the gate together, then separated, and acted as if they did not know each other," the report said.

"According to the air marshals, these men were sweaty, appeared nervous and arrived after the boarding announcement. The air marshals made eye contact with one another to ensure they were aware of this behavior," the report said.

The inspector general's two-year investigation was originally released in April 2006 but was then wholly redacted except for two sentences. The re-release stems from a Freedom of Information request by The Times on April 25, 2006, which was answered Friday.

Portions of the report remain redacted. However, current and former air marshals who reviewed a copy provided by The Times say the activities of the men details a dry run for a terrorist attack.
"This report is evidence of Homeland Security executives attempting to downplay and cover up an unmistakable dry run that forced flight attendants to reveal the air marshals and compel the pilots to open the flight deck door," said Robert MacLean, a former air marshal who was fired last year for revealing that the service planned to cut back on protection for long-distance flights to save money.

Suspicious behavior

According to the report, Flight 327 was "delayed for five minutes because one of the 13 suspicious passengers, who appeared not to understand English and walked with a limp, was seated in the emergency exit row. The flight attendant determined he was unable to operate the emergency procedures and delayed the flight while having him exchange seats."

"On the flight, 13 Middle Eastern men behaved in a suspicious manner that aroused the attention and concern of the flight attendants, passengers, air marshals and pilots," the report said. The men "walked in the aisle, appearing to count passengers," and "several men spent excessive time in the lavatories."

"One man rushed to the front of the plane appearing to head for the cockpit. At the last moment, he veered into the first-class lavatory, remaining in it for about 20 minutes," according to the report. One man carried a McDonald's bag into the lavatory, and "another man, upon returning from the lavatory, reeked strongly of what smelled like toilet bowl chemicals."

"Some men hand signaled each other. The passenger who entered the lavatory with the McDonald's bag made a thumbs-up signal to another man upon returning from the lavatory. Another man made a slashing motion across his throat, appearing to say 'No.' "

As the flight descended into Los Angeles, the report said, "four of the suspicious individuals stood up and made their way to the back of the plane," where "the individuals used the rear lavatory, and one of the men was doing stretching exercises/knee bends by the exit door."

Warning signs

The men were briefly detained, but only two were questioned.

"The Federal Air Marshal supervisor examined the visas, but did not notice the visas had expired on June 10, 2004," the report said. One of the air marshals assigned to the flight noticed the expiration, but "erroneously believed he was not legally entitled" to run a background check.

According to the report, the marshal's "primary concern, at that time, was not whether the visas expired, but to copy the visa pages so that Customs and Border Patrol could later run a database check on these individuals."

The FBI issued a warning in April 2004, just two months before the flight, that terrorists may be trying to enter the country under cultural or sports visas, the same visas carried by the 12 Syrian men who claimed to be musicians.

Robert Jamison, deputy administrator for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), defended the agency's action in its official response to the IG audit, which is included in the report.

"The reported suspicious activity was determined to be unfounded, and not a terrorist threat, and therefore did not merit an HSOC referral," he said.

The inspector general disagreed, and said TSA's actions once the matter became public proved that the agency thought otherwise.

The "HSOC clearly signaled a referral was merited by logging the Flight 327 matter into its database on July 26, 2004, after a July 22, 2004, Washington Times article, and an inquiry from the White House Homeland Security Council."

Mr. Jamison said, "Law-enforcement assessments made by the FAMS and FBI on June 29, 2004, were appropriate."

However, the inspector general said the FBI did not begin a full investigation until July 19, and air marshal officials were assigned to assist the FBI between July 22 and Aug. 4.
"It's unfortunate that the suspects were released from custody, but it's not surprising," said Jeffrey Denning, a former air marshal who quit the agency last month.

"The overt behavior of the 13 men on Flight 327 was indicative of a terrorist probe. It appeared rehearsed, coordinated and planned. It was menacing activity," Mr. Denning said.

Past behavior
A background check conducted weeks later in the FBI's Automated Case Support (ACS) system revealed that the promoter was involved in a similar probe on Jan. 28, 2004.
The unnamed promoter "was one of eight passengers acting suspiciously aboard Frontier Airlines Flight 577 from Houston through Denver, to San Francisco," the report said.
"Flight attendants reported all eight passengers kept trying to switch seats while boarding and during the flight, made repeated service requests in what the attendants described as an effort to keep the flight crew occupied. One took a cell phone into the front lavatory, remained in the lavatory for over 15 minutes, but did not appear to have the phone when leaving the lavatory," the report said.

The incident followed a series of breaches of airline security in December and January, when the FBI issued a memo warning that suicide terrorists were plotting to hijack trans-Atlantic planes by smuggling "ready-to-build" bomb kits past airport security to be assembled in aircraft bathrooms.

"Terrorist operatives are more confident that they can successfully smuggle [bomb] components, rather than fully assembled bombs past airport security," the memo said. "It is conceivable terrorists may plan to use this private area to construct [bombs] in order to facilitate access to the cockpit, or position themselves in front of the passengers."

Electronic devices, such as cell phones, can be used to detonate explosives.

'Defenseless' flights

"What is disturbing to us as pilots is that there are now a number of incidents like this taking place across our industry and the vast majority of our flights are still defenseless," said Captain David Mackett, president of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance.

"If I were a member of Congress, I'd be asking some hard questions about why such a small percentage of flights have armed pilots or air marshals aboard, while the TSA whistles past the graveyard, asking us to believe none of this is related to terrorism," Mr. Mackett said.
The audit was initiated "because of media reports concerning actions taken by departmental personnel in response to events on Flight 327" and "to determine the various systems for recording and reporting suspicious passengers and activities."

The report sought to "determine the specific circumstances relating to Flight 327, including the department's handling of the suspicious passengers after the plane landed."

The inspector general made three recommendations, with part of one being redacted.
One recommended that the marshal service "develop or acquire technology to permit effective and timely in-flight communication," a capability that air marshals say they still lack despite a $15 million congressional appropriation to develop the technology.

"When handling suspicious passengers and activities aboard commercial aircraft," the department was directed to establish guidelines to clarify agency roles and responsibilities and share information. The inspector general called the follow-up action "inadequate."
The final recommendation was to develop and execute a memorandum of understanding with the FBI, which the Federal Air Marshal Service said was unneeded.

All Credit to Elitetrader at: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=9e4639a38b090400f7c73bb784b454c7&postid=1486571#post1486571
__________________________________________________________________________
April 19, 2007

Dry runs for jihad terror attacks on airplanes


In "From King Sifax to John Doe: Reporting Suspicious Behavior" in WomensWallStreet.com, the intrepid Annie Jacobsen reveals that at least two of the Syrians on the Northwest Flight 327 that she made famous were involved in an earlier dry run -- on Frontier Airlines Flight 577. In discussing the Flying Imams' lawsuit, she says:

The cunning part of the lawsuit is summed up in an April 14, Op-Ed piece from the New York Times written by James Zumwalt:
"Some security experts suggest the imams' conduct may have been intended to identify aviation security weaknesses. Their John Doe lawsuit tends to support this theory, as such a complaint can also serve to manipulate our legal system to silence those who might otherwise report suspicious activity."

I am John Doe, in spirit, and I'm also John Doe in reality. I am Annie Jacobsen and three years ago, I saw something on an airplane and I said something about it. I wasn't sued -- but a whole lot of other things happened instead.


What I saw on Northwest Flight 327 was a group of Syrian men act as though they were going to hijack the plane. The men blocked the aircraft aisles, knocked over a passenger and spent so much time in the aircraft bathrooms that one Syrian emerged covered in toilet chemicals. As the flight was about to land, seven of the men stood in the aisle and used the toilets while the leader read from a small red book. One of the men then made a slashing motion across his throat and mouthed the word, 'no.'


What I saw on that Detroit-to-Los Angeles flight was so alarming it never occurred to me to censor myself when it came to speaking out about what happened on the flight. It never occurred to me to worry about getting sued. First I spoke with federal agents for two hours, under oath, detailing what I saw. Later, after I learned that the government botched the investigation of the Syrians and then tried to cover their mistakes, I spoke up about that. For three years now, I've spoken up about what I saw as a guest on more than 400 radio and television programs. I've written 28 articles on the subject as well as a book. I'm so glad I did.

Federal counterterrorism agents have told me that the Syrians on the flight I was on were practicing how to build a bomb in the aircraft toilet -- that the flight I was on was something known in counterterrorism circles as a "dry run." Other federal agents have told me it was more likely "the real deal called off." But that information came to me much later. That information came long after WomensWallStreet.com published my original 3,000-word article in which I describe exactly what I saw.


Any reasonable person would have done what I did; others on the flight went on television and described the terror resulting from what they saw on Flight 327, too. Eventually, the White House asked the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, to investigate exactly what happened on the flight. The investigation, called Review of the Department's Handling of Suspicious Passengers Aboard Northwest Flight 327, took 22 months to complete (I was interviewed for the investigation). The review is a textbook case of why reporting suspicious behavior must be a citizen's protected right. If this review were used in the imams' lawsuit against John Doe, it could function as John Doe's defense item Exhibit-1. But the review can't be used in John Doe's defense because the government classified its findings.


The reason the review is being withheld from the public eye is because its contents embarrasses the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The report contains information that ties at least two of the Syrians from the dry run on Flight 327 to an earlier dry run on different airlines -- Frontier Airlines Flight 577. That the TSA missed connecting these dots and instead allowed the Syrians to go free without answering some serious questions reveals a great flaw in the aviation security net.


The earlier incident happened on January 24, 2004 during a Houston-to-San Francisco flight. Joe Hodas, media spokesman for Frontier Airlines, confirmed this incident with me. Hodas politely declined to add further details of the Syrians' suspicious activity on Flight 577 citing "safety and security concerns." What Hodas also confirmed with me was that it was the Frontier Airlines flight crew who notified officials about the suspicious behavior onboard. Those flight attendants saw something and they said something. They didn't worry about being sued.

All credit to JihadWatch.com at:http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016126.php

__________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Terrorists Stage Dry Runs Over American Skies

By David Hinz Posted in — A newly released report from the US Inspector General has confirmed that an incident aboard a 2004 Northwest Airlines flight from Detroit to Los Angeles was a terrorist dry run. On Northwest flight 327, June 29, 2004, thirteen Syrian Muslims acting suspiciously throughout the flight caused concern for passengers, flight crew and the two Federal Air Marshals aboard.

One of those passengers was Annie Jacobsen, an author and free-lance investigative reporter. In her book about the experience, Terror in the Skies she states:

If dry runs are really going on, they need to be performed by people. And since dry runs involve testing the system, there's always a chance that the U.S. government will catch on and actually interrogate the people involved. For that reason, as one federal agent [explained], "it's common practice to switch out 'operatives' who are in essence working as part of a terrorist cell."

According to the inspector general report, one of the air marshals noted six or more of the Muslim men who arrived together at the airport gate, then separated and pretended not to know each other.

According to the air marshals, these men were sweaty, appeared nervous and arrived after the boarding announcement. The air marshals made eye contact with one another to ensure they were aware of this behavior.

Passengers and crew noted myriad suspicious behavior from the thirteen men. Jacobsen became so concerned that she contacted a member of the flight crew in an attempt to alert the pilots, and possibly divert the flight to safety.

One of the flight attendants passed Jacobsen a note telling her to remain calm, that there were Air Marshals aboard and that they were monitoring the situation. Still, the behavior of the men caused the passengers to be frightened. From the Washington Times article:

The men "walked in the aisle, appearing to count passengers," and "several men spent excessive time in the lavatories."

"One man rushed to the front of the plane appearing to head for the cockpit. At the last moment, he veered into the first-class lavatory, remaining in it for about 20 minutes," according to the report. One man carried a McDonald's bag into the lavatory, and "another man, upon returning from the lavatory, reeked strongly of what smelled like toilet bowl chemicals.”

"Some men hand signaled each other. The passenger who entered the lavatory with the McDonald's bag made a thumbs-up signal to another man upon returning from the lavatory. Another man made a slashing motion across his throat, appearing to say 'No.' "

As the flight descended into Los Angeles, the report said, "four of the suspicious individuals stood up and made their way to the back of the plane," where "the individuals used the rear lavatory, and one of the men was doing stretching exercises/knee bends by the exit door."

After the flight touched down, the FBI rushed to the gate, escorting the Muslim men to an interrogation area. Amazingly enough, however, only two of the men were ever actually questioned.

The Syrian men, who suddenly knew each other -- after several had pretended not to during the flight -- told authorities that they were musicians contracted to play at a private club in the California desert. The Federal Air Marshal supervisor examined their visas, which turned out to be temporary cultural visas, and failed to note that the men were traveling on visas which had expired. In addition, according to the newly released report, eight of the men appeared on a background check in the FBI's National Crime Information Center database, for criminal or suspicious behavior.

More damning even than that was the fact that a mere two months earlier, in April of 2004, the FBI had issued a warning that would-be terrorist might be entering the US using sports or cultural visas. This was clearly a complete security breakdown on the part the FBI and of Homeland Security personnel. They were all immediately released.

"The reported suspicious activity was determined to be unfounded, and not a terrorist threat, and therefore did not merit an HSOC referral," stated Robert Jamison, Deputy Administrator of the TSA.

Due primarily to the publicity generated by Jacobsen’s writings on the subject, an FBI investigation was begun concerning the incident in July of 2004. That belated investigation uncovered the fact that one of the men, the “promoter” of the musicians, had been involved in a similar incident aboard a Frontier Airlines flight. On Jan 28, 2004, eight passengers aboard Frontier Flight 577 from Houston to San Francisco, engaged in suspicious behavior.

"Flight attendants reported all eight passengers kept trying to switch seats while boarding and during the flight, made repeated service requests in what the attendants described as an effort to keep the flight crew occupied. One took a cell phone into the front lavatory, remained in the lavatory for over 15 minutes, but did not appear to have the phone when leaving the lavatory," the report said.

The incident followed a series of breaches of airline security in December and January, when the FBI issued a memo warning that suicide terrorists were plotting to hijack trans-Atlantic planes by smuggling "ready-to-build" bomb kits past airport security to be assembled in aircraft bathrooms.

Although this information was available as early as 2005, when the report was first published, and then rescinded, additional security measures preventing passengers from including small amounts of liquids in their carry-on luggage were not enacted until last year.

If these two incidents sound eerily familiar, there is the case in Minnesota of the “flying Imams.” In November of 2006, the six clerics alarmed passengers on a US Airways jet with their behavior. The six Muslim men, traveling on one-way tickets, first brought notice to themselves with loud praying in the airport terminal prior to the flight. Not in and of itself suspicious, once on board, the six left their assigned seats and positioned themselves with two at the front of the plane, two at the rear and two near the emergency exits in the middle of the plane.

Air marshals and passengers could not fail to note that this was the same configuration of the 911 terrorists. In addition, an Arabic speaking passenger overheard two of the Imams conversing, condemning the execution of Saddam Hussein, and speaking derogatorily about President Bush.

Subsequent investigations determined that the airline and passengers over-reacted, and that the Imams were unfairly targeted because of their religion. Right! While the government might have determined the incident to be innocent, pilots are not convinced.

"What is disturbing to us as pilots is that there are now a number of incidents like this taking place across our industry and the vast majority of our flights are still defenseless," said Captain David Mackett, president of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance.


"If I were a member of Congress, I'd be asking some hard questions about why such a small percentage of flights have armed pilots or air marshals aboard, while the TSA whistles past the graveyard, asking us to believe none of this is related to terrorism," Mr. Mackett said.

Nearly five years after 911, the Department of Homeland Security has still done almost nothing to make the skies safer for air travelers.

According to Air Marshal P Jeffrey Black, “Agency management was not only covering up numerous probes and dry-run encounters from Congress and other federal law-enforcement agencies, it was also hiding these incidents from their own flying air marshals.”

To sum it all up, we know that Islamic terrorists have continued to probe our airport and homeland security defenses, looking for weakness and points of attack. During the past five years DHS officials have utterly failed to take any substantive measure to protect the American people from attack. The agency has covered up its own incompetence, burying reports about their incompetence.

The original inspector general’s report, which took two years to complete, was first released in 2006, only to be redacted in its entirety. The Washington Times filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the report, which was finally made public this past month.

All credit to: David Hinz and  Red State at:

http://www.redstate.com/blogs/david_hinz/2007/jun/16/terrorists_stage_dry_runs_over_american_skies
Gabrielle Cusumano
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__________________________________________________________________________
From The Drudge Report

According to the Homeland Security report, the "suspicious passengers," 12 Syrians and their Lebanese-born promoter, were traveling on Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles on expired visas. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services extended the visas one week after the June 29, 2004, incident.

The report also says that a background check in the FBI's National Crime Information Center database, which was performed June 18 as part of a visa-extension application, produced "positive hits" for past criminal records or suspicious behavior for eight of the 12 Syrians, who were traveling in the U.S. as a musical group.


In addition, the band's promoter was listed in a separate FBI database on case investigations for acting suspiciously aboard a flight months earlier. He was detained a third time in September on a return trip to the U.S. from Istanbul, the details of which were redacted.
The inspector general criticized the Homeland Security officials for not reporting the incident to the Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC), which serves as the nation's nerve center for information sharing and domestic incident management.
The report comes three years after the incident, which was not officially acknowledged until a month later, after The Washington Times reported passenger and marshal complaints that the incident resembled a dry run for a terrorist attack. After reviewing the report, air marshals say it confirms their earlier suspicions.

Posted by GZlives at 2007-05-30 07:22 PM | Reply | Flag: 

An air marshal who told The Times that he has been involved personally in terror probes that were ignored by federal security managers, called such behavior typical.

"Agency management was not only covering up numerous probes and dry-run encounters from Congress and other federal law-enforcement agencies, it was also hiding these incidents from their own flying air marshals," said P. Jeffrey Black, an air marshal stationed in Las Vegas.
Homeland Security officials initially denied the complaints and blamed passengers who reported the incident to the press as behaving hysterically. However, the inspector general report shows that air marshals had the group of men under surveillance before they boarded the plane.
"Prior to boarding, one of the air marshals noticed what he later characterized as 'unusual behavior' by about six Middle Eastern males, who arrived at the gate together, then separated, and acted as if they did not know each other," the report said.
"According to the air marshals, these men were sweaty, appeared nervous and arrived after the boarding announcement. The air marshals made eye contact with one another to ensure they were aware of this behavior," the report said.
The inspector general's two-year investigation was originally released in April 2006 but was then wholly redacted except for two sentences. The re-release stems from a Freedom of Information request by The Times on April 25, 2006, which was answered Friday.
Portions of the report remain redacted. However, current and former air marshals who reviewed a copy provided by The Times say the activities of the men details a dry run for a terrorist attack.
"This report is evidence of Homeland Security executives attempting to downplay and cover up an unmistakable dry run that forced flight attendants to reveal the air marshals and compel the pilots to open the flight deck door," said Robert MacLean, a former air marshal who was fired last year for revealing that the service planned to cut back on protection for long-distance flights to save money.

Posted by GZlives at 2007-05-30 07:23 PM | Reply | Flag:

According to the report, Flight 327 was "delayed for five minutes because one of the 13 suspicious passengers, who appeared not to understand English and walked with a limp, was seated in the emergency exit row. The flight attendant determined he was unable to operate the emergency procedures and delayed the flight while having him exchange seats."
"On the flight, 13 Middle Eastern men behaved in a suspicious manner that aroused the attention and concern of the flight attendants, passengers, air marshals and pilots," the report said. The men "walked in the aisle, appearing to count passengers," and "several men spent excessive time in the lavatories."
"One man rushed to the front of the plane appearing to head for the cockpit. At the last moment, he veered into the first-class lavatory, remaining in it for about 20 minutes," according to the report. One man carried a McDonald's bag into the lavatory, and "another man, upon returning from the lavatory, reeked strongly of what smelled like toilet bowl chemicals."
"Some men hand signaled each other. The passenger who entered the lavatory with the McDonald's bag made a thumbs-up signal to another man upon returning from the lavatory. Another man made a slashing motion across his throat, appearing to say 'No.' "
As the flight descended into Los Angeles, the report said, "four of the suspicious individuals stood up and made their way to the back of the plane," where "the individuals used the rear lavatory, and one of the men was doing stretching exercises/knee bends by the exit door."

The men were briefly detained, but only two were questioned.
"The Federal Air Marshal supervisor examined the visas, but did not notice the visas had expired on June 10, 2004," the report said. One of the air marshals assigned to the flight noticed the expiration, but "erroneously believed he was not legally entitled" to run a background check.
According to the report, the marshal's "primary concern, at that time, was not whether the visas expired, but to copy the visa pages so that Customs and Border Patrol could later run a database check on these individuals."
The FBI issued a warning in April 2004, just two months before the flight, that terrorists may be trying to enter the country under cultural or sports visas, the same visas carried by the 12 Syrian men who claimed to be musicians.
Robert Jamison, deputy administrator for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), defended the agency's action in its official response to the IG audit, which is included in the report.
"The reported suspicious activity was determined to be unfounded, and not a terrorist threat, and therefore did not merit an HSOC referral," he said.
The inspector general disagreed, and said TSA's actions once the matter became public proved that the agency thought otherwise.
The "HSOC clearly signaled a referral was merited by logging the Flight 327 matter into its database on July 26, 2004, after a July 22, 2004, Washington Times article, and an inquiry from the White House Homeland Security Council."
Mr. Jamison said, "Law-enforcement assessments made by the FAMS and FBI on June 29, 2004, were appropriate."
However, the inspector general said the FBI did not begin a full investigation until July 19, and air marshal officials were assigned to assist the FBI between July 22 and Aug. 4.
"It's unfortunate that the suspects were released from custody, but it's not surprising," said Jeffrey Denning, a former air marshal who quit the agency last month.
"The overt behavior of the 13 men on Flight 327 was indicative of a terrorist probe. It appeared rehearsed, coordinated and planned. It was menacing activity," Mr. Denning said.

Posted by GZlives at 2007-05-30 07:25 PM | Reply | Flag: 

A background check conducted weeks later in the FBI's Automated Case Support (ACS) system revealed that the promoter was involved in a similar probe on Jan. 28, 2004.
The unnamed promoter "was one of eight passengers acting suspiciously aboard Frontier Airlines Flight 577 from Houston through Denver, to San Francisco," the report said.
"Flight attendants reported all eight passengers kept trying to switch seats while boarding and during the flight, made repeated service requests in what the attendants described as an effort to keep the flight crew occupied. One took a cell phone into the front lavatory, remained in the lavatory for over 15 minutes, but did not appear to have the phone when leaving the lavatory," the report said.
The incident followed a series of breaches of airline security in December and January, when the FBI issued a memo warning that suicide terrorists were plotting to hijack trans-Atlantic planes by smuggling "ready-to-build" bomb kits past airport security to be assembled in aircraft bathrooms.
"Terrorist operatives are more confident that they can successfully smuggle [bomb] components, rather than fully assembled bombs past airport security," the memo said. "It is conceivable terrorists may plan to use this private area to construct [bombs] in order to facilitate access to the cockpit, or position themselves in front of the passengers."
Electronic devices, such as cell phones, can be used to detonate explosives.

"What is disturbing to us as pilots is that there are now a number of incidents like this taking place across our industry and the vast majority of our flights are still defenseless," said Captain David Mackett, president of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance.
"If I were a member of Congress, I'd be asking some hard questions about why such a small percentage of flights have armed pilots or air marshals aboard, while the TSA whistles past the graveyard, asking us to believe none of this is related to terrorism," Mr. Mackett said.
The audit was initiated "because of media reports concerning actions taken by departmental personnel in response to events on Flight 327" and "to determine the various systems for recording and reporting suspicious passengers and activities."
The report sought to "determine the specific circumstances relating to Flight 327, including the department's handling of the suspicious passengers after the plane landed."
The inspector general made three recommendations, with part of one being redacted.
One recommended that the marshal service "develop or acquire technology to permit effective and timely in-flight communication," a capability that air marshals say they still lack despite a $15 million congressional appropriation to develop the technology.
"When handling suspicious passengers and activities aboard commercial aircraft," the department was directed to establish guidelines to clarify agency roles and responsibilities and share information. The inspector general called the follow-up action "inadequate."
The final recommendation was to develop and execute a memorandum of understanding with the FBI, which the Federal Air Marshal Service said was unneeded.



All credit to Matt Drudge and the Drudge Report at: http://www.drudge.com/news/94969/report-terrorists-conducted-dry-run
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Wires, Switches, Pipes, Cell Phone Components Seizures At Airports And Dry Run Terror Attack Alerts

Posted by Gabrielle Cusumano on Wednesday, July 25, 2007 2:50:20 PM
"The seizures at airports in San Diego, Milwaukee, Houston and Baltimore included “wires, switches, pipes or tubes, cell phone components and dense clay-like substances,” including block cheese, the bulletin said. “The unusual nature and increase in number of these improvised items raise concern.”

Security officers were urged to keep an eye out for “ordinary items that look like improvised explosive device components.”


 
4  Supicious Airport Seizures concerns TSA

AP, 7/25/07: Airport security officers around the nation have been alerted by federal officials to look out for terrorists practicing to carry explosive components onto aircraft, based on four curious seizures at airports since last September.


The unclassified alert was distributed on July 20 by the Transportation Security Administration to federal air marshals, its own transportation security officers and other law enforcement agencies.


The seizures at airports in San Diego, Milwaukee, Houston and Baltimore included “wires, switches, pipes or tubes, cell phone components and dense clay-like substances,” including block cheese, the bulletin said. “The unusual nature and increase in number of these improvised items raise concern.”

Security officers were urged to keep an eye out for “ordinary items that look like improvised explosive device components.”


The 13-paragraph bulletin was posted on the Internet by NBC Nightly News, which first reported the story.

‘No credible, specific threat’

A federal official familiar with the document confirmed the authenticity of the NBC posting but declined to be identified by name because it has not been officially released.


“There is no credible, specific threat here,” TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe said Tuesday. “Don’t panic. We do these things all the time.”

Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke described the notice as the latest copy of a routine informational bulletin for TSA workers, airport employees and law enforcement officials.

A statement posted late Tuesday by the TSA on its Web site confirmed that “a routine TSA intelligence bulletin relating to suspicious incidents at U.S. airports” had leaked to news organizations. The statement added, “During the past six months TSA has produced more than 90 unclassified bulletins of this nature on a wide variety of security-related subjects.”


The bulletin said the a joint FBI-Homeland Security Department assessment found that terrorists have conducted probes, dry runs and dress rehearsals in advance of previous attacks.


It cited various types of rehearsals conducted by terrorists before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; the July 7, 2005, London subway bombings; the Aug. 2, 2006, London-based plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights using liquid explosives and the 1994 Bojinka plot in the Philippines to blow up multiple airliners over the Pacific Ocean.

Four seizures

The bulletin said the passengers carrying the suspicious items seized since September included men and women and that initial investigation had not linked them with criminal or terrorist organizations. But it added that most of their explanations for carrying the items were suspicious and some were still under investigation.

The four seizures were described this way:

  • San Diego, July 7. A U.S. person — either a citizen or a foreigner legally here — checked baggage containing two ice packs covered in duct tape. The ice packs had clay inside them rather than the normal blue gel.
  • Milwaukee, June 4. A U.S. person’s carryon baggage contained wire coil wrapped around a possible initiator, an electrical switch, batteries, three tubes and two blocks of cheese. The bulletin said block cheese has a consistency similar to some explosives.
  • Houston, Nov. 8, 2006. A U.S. person’s checked baggage contained a plastic bag with a 9-volt battery, wires, a block of brown clay-like minerals and pipes.
  • Baltimore, Sept. 16, 2006. A couple’s checked baggage contained a plastic bag with a block of processed cheese taped to another plastic bag holding a cellular phone charger.

All credit to Paul Rega and Project Disaster at: http://projectdisaster.com/?cat=118

_____________________________________________________________________________________


 

DHS IG’s report confirms terror dry run aboard Flight 327

Posted by Tim Sumner

Update, 2:53 PM EDT: Hot Air has the video of Annie Jacobsen and Audrey Hudson on FoxNews today. Update II, 5:30 PM EDT: I’ve added the same YouTube video at the bottom of this post.

This morning, in the Washington Times:

A newly released inspector general report backs eyewitness accounts of suspicious behavior by 13 Middle Eastern men on a Northwest Airlines flight in 2004 and reveals several missteps by government officials, including failure to file an incident report until a month after the matter became public. According to the Homeland Security report, the “suspicious passengers,” 12 Syrians and their Lebanese-born promoter, were traveling on Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles on expired visas. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services extended the visas one week after the June 29, 2004, incident. The report also says that a background check in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database, which was performed June 18 as part of a visa-extension application, produced “positive hits” for past criminal records or suspicious behavior for eight of the 12 Syrians, who were traveling in the U.S. as a musical group.

Annie Jacobsen was aboard Flight 327 that day, witnessed the events, spoke with flight attendants during the flight, and identified herself as a witness immediately after the plane landed. Yet she was interviewed only after the promoter and 12 Syrians were released and after insisting on providing the authorities a statement. She has followed the investigation and written extensively about it in the Womens WallStreet Journal. Yesterday, she wrote that, “It took the US government two years and eleven months to confirm what I have been writing since the flight landed.” She added that the DHS IG’s report shows:

The flight was a dry run for a future terrorist attack involving planes. The Federal Air Marshal Service grossly mishandled what happened during the flight. The Syrians terrified flight crew and passengers. The Federal Air Marshal Service grossly mismanaged what happened after the flight landed in Los Angeles. The Federal Air Marshal Service attempted to cover up their egregious incompetence by issuing false statements and misleading the public about the severity of what happened on the flight.

The Washington Times also reported:

In addition, the band’s promoter was listed in a separate FBI database on case investigations for acting suspiciously aboard a flight months earlier. He was detained a third time in September on a return trip to the U.S. from Istanbul, the details of which were redacted.

The inspector general criticized the Homeland Security officials for not reporting the incident to the Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC), which serves as the nation’s nerve center for information sharing and domestic incident management.



The report comes three years after the incident, which was not officially acknowledged until a month later, after The Washington Times reported passenger and marshal complaints that the incident resembled a dry run for a terrorist attack. After reviewing the report, air marshals say it confirms their earlier suspicions.
…
An air marshal who told The Times that he has been involved personally in terror probes that were ignored by federal security managers, called such behavior typical. “Agency management was not only covering up numerous probes and dry-run encounters from Congress and other federal law-enforcement agencies, it was also hiding these incidents from their own flying air marshals,” said P. Jeffrey Black, an air marshal stationed in Las Vegas. Homeland Security officials initially denied the complaints and blamed passengers who reported the incident to the press as behaving hysterically. However, the inspector general report shows that air marshals had the group of men under surveillance before they boarded the plane.
…
Portions of the report remain redacted. However, current and former air marshals who reviewed a copy provided by The Times say the activities of the men details a dry run for a terrorist attack. “This report is evidence of Homeland Security executives attempting to downplay and cover up an unmistakable dry run that forced flight attendants to reveal the air marshals and compel the pilots to open the flight deck door,” said Robert MacLean, a former air marshal who was fired last year for revealing that the service planned to cut back on protection for long-distance flights to save money.

Only 2 of the 13 suspects were ever interviewed by the FBI and Federal Air Marshal Service. In addition, one of the suspects was interviewed with another suspect (the promoter) interpreting. Does that sound like an investigation conducted by professionals?


After 9/11, the shoe-bomber, years of allegedly intense airport screening, a then recent security alert about the construction of bombs aboard airliners in flight, an air marshal that day noticing the visas of the 12 Syrians had expired, the promoter known then to have been involved in an earlier incident aboard an airliner, and both flight crew and on-board air marshals witnessing the behaviors, the release of the 13 after only two hours — without interviewing the other 11 or doing a full database check of them — was sheer incompetence.

You can read the Washington Times’ full report and download a copy of the Inspector General’s report by clicking here.


I have been told that Annie Jacobsen will be on Fox&Friends this morning, during the 8 a.m. EDT hour, and Audrey Hudson of the Washington Times will be on FoxNews at 11:20 a.m. I will have my tape recorder running.


Editor: Here is the video of Annie Jacobsen on FoxNews this morning, followed by Ellen Howe, a spokewoman (not a Federal Air Marshal) for the TSA.

Dry run?
Category  News & Politics
Tags: jacobsen   flight   327
URL
Embed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2W0jpyqeNo

And this is the video of Audrey Hudson, the Washington Times’ national security reporter on FoxNews this morning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIeYLy1JwHU

Remember, Annie Jacobsen was aboard Flight 327 and Air Marshals have said it was a terrorist dry run. Ellen Howe is in the business of spin and a third of the IG’s report remains redacted so we do not know how other officials characterized the incident. Yet I have read what Annie Jacobsen and Audrey Hudson have written on this and the redacted IG’s report. Ms. Howe smugly saying, “that’s not what the report says found,” as in her ‘talking-head’ estimate is superior to that of an eyewitness and far more than “one or two” Air Marshals is balderdash.

 
« Naughty at the border | US Airways seeks dismissal of Flying Imams’ lawsuit »
 
All Credit to 9/11 Families For a Safe and Strong America at:

http://www.911familiesforamerica.org/?p=271_________________________________________________________________________________
May 27, 2007
Northwest Airlines Flight 327: A terrorist dry run


In mid-2004 we followed the apparent terrorist dry run that took place in late June of that year on a Northwest Airlines flight from Detroit to Los Angeles. We followed the story and even played a role in identifying the Syrian band on the flight in numeorus posts including "Angel Band" and "Not, repeat not Kulna Sawa." Passenger Annie Jacobsen, whose "Terror in the skies -- again?" originally reported the story, expanded the story into the book Terror in the Skies: Why 9/11 Could Happen Again.

Now Audrey Hudson reports:

The inspector general for Homeland Security late Friday released new details of what federal air marshals say was a terrorist dry run aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles on June 29, 2004.

Several portions of the report remain redacted. The release stems from a Freedom of Information request by The Washington Times in April 2006. The Times first reported on July 22 that this and other probes and dry runs were occurring on commercial flights since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Hudson reprints a few excerpts from the 51-page report and notes that the Washington Times will print the full report on Wednesday. The IG report assesses how the Department of Homeland Security handled the "suspicious" event and why it was not logged into the database of suspicious events. The excerpts don't support the federal characterization of the events as a terrorist dry run, but they back up Jacobsen's account. And the full report, I understand, does much, much more, reporting, for example, contary to what DHS said at the time, that the visas on which the group was traveling were in fact expired.

Via Flying Imams.

UPDATE: The Washington Times notes blog coverage of their story here.

All Credit to Scott and Powerline at: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/017760.php

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UK-US bomb plotter Barot fighting for his life after prisoners' attack

Posted by Gabrielle Cusumano on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 5:20:43 PM
 "Dhiren Barot, the 'Dirty Bomb' plotter was last night fighting for his life after fellow prisoners doused him with boiling oil and water."

UK-US bomb plotter Barot fighting for his life after prisoners' attack

London, July 16 : Dhiren Barot, the 'Dirty Bomb' plotter was last night fighting for his life after fellow prisoners doused him with boiling oil and water.

Barot, 35, is in intensive care with third degree burns after the attack in the Frankland Jail, Durham. Inmates had previously made several death threats against Barot.

Barot is serving a 30 year prison sentence for plotting to plant radioactive, chemical or toxic gas bombs and pack limousines with nails and explosives in the UK and America. Barot had earlier been moved from the Belmarsh Jail in South East London, after jail officials expressed fears for his safety.

He was arrested in August 2004 and accused of conspiracy to murder. He admitted to planning to bomb several targets, including the New York Stock Exchange, the International Monetary Fund headquarters and the World Bank.

Mr. Justice Butterfield of the Woolwich Crown Court was told by the prosecution that Barot intended to create a 'memorable black day' of terror and considered using a radioactive 'dirty bomb'.

Mr Justice Butterfield said the plot could have seen carnage on a 'colossal and unprecedented scale' if successful.

Mr Justice Butterfield said Barot had not achieved any of his terror goals and that, on the evidence, he had not 'moved to the final stages of achieving them'. But he added that this was no thanks to him.

The court heard Barot prepared meticulous plans for al-Qaeda figures on a series of synchronised attacks in the UK.

The central plan was for the construction and deployment in a basement car park underneath a building of an improvised explosive device using gas cylinders hidden in limousines. Files found on Barot's computers revealed the planning.

In the document, Barot had written his primary objective of the project was to 'inflict mass damage and chaos'.

The court heard Barot's plot also included plans to detonate a bomb under the River Thames to flood the Tube network and potentially drown hundreds of commuters.

Barot, who recruited other bomb plotters, was sentenced to life in prison last November. It was recommended he serve 40 years, but that was cut to 30 years on appeal in May.

Barot was born in India then moved to Kenya with his family. They came to England in 1973 and his banker father had to work in a factory to support them.

Hindu Barot converted to Islam at the age of 20. He later travelled to Pakistan for al-Qaeda training and funding.

Last week, Barot had demanded prisoner of war rights for himself and fellow al-Qaeda fanatics in jail.

Barot was quoted by The Mirror as saying that it is unfair that he was facing frequent searches and curbs because of his desire to interact with his Muslim inmates.

--- ANI 
 
Asian News International at:http://www.newkerala.com/july.php?action=fullnews&id=46949
______________________________________________________________________________________
All Credit to Associated Press via Yahoo. News at:

AP
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070717/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_terror_threat

Al-Qaida likely to attack US, intel says

By KATHERINE SHRADER and ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writers 37 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The terrorist network Al-Qaida will likely leverage its contacts and capabilities in Iraq to mount an attack on U.S. soil, according to a new National Intelligence Estimate on threats to the United States.

The declassified key findings, released Tuesday, laid out a range of dangers — from al-Qaida to Lebanese Hezbollah to non-Muslim radical groups — that pose a "persistent and evolving threat" to the country over the next three years. As expected, however, the findings focus most of their attention on the gravest terror problem: Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

The report makes clear that al-Qaida in Iraq, which has not yet posed a direct threat to U.S. soil, could become a problem here.

"Of note," the analysts said, "we assess that al-Qaida will probably seek to leverage the contacts and capabilities of al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI), its most visible and capable affiliate and the only one known to have expressed a desire to attack the homeland."

The analysts also found that al-Qaida's association with its Iraqi affiliate helps the group to energize the broader Sunni Muslim extremist community, raise resources and recruit and indoctrinate operatives — "including for homeland attacks."

President Bush acknowledged that al-Qaida is strong today, but he said it's not nearly as strong as it was prior to Sept. 11, 2001 because the United States has kept the pressure on — worked to "defeat them where we find them" — so they won't attack America.

"Al-Qaida would have been a heck of a lot stronger today had we not stayed on the offensive," Bush said in the Oval Office after meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "And it's in the interest of the United States to not only defeat them overseas so we don't have to face them here, but also to spread an ideology that will defeat their ideology every time — and that's the ideology based upon liberty."

National Intelligence Estimates are the most authoritative written judgments of the 16 spy agencies across the breadth of the U.S. government. These agencies reflect the consensus long-term thinking of top intelligence analysts. Portions of the documents are occasionally declassified for public release.

The White House brushed off critics who allege the administration released the intelligence estimate at the same time the Senate is debating Iraq. White House press secretary Tony Snow said critics are "engaged in a little selective hearing themselves to shape the story in their own political ways."

Democrats said the report was proof U.S. anti-terrorism efforts were being drained by the Iraq war.

"We must responsibly redeploy our troops out of Iraq, handing responsibility for security over to the Iraqis and leaving only those forces required for limited missions," said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. "This will allow us to concentrate our efforts on Afghanistan and the al-Qaida terrorists who attacked us on 9/11."

The new report echoed statements made by senior intelligence officials over the last year, including the assessment of spy agencies that the country is in a "heightened threat environment." It also provided new details on their thinking and concerns.

For instance, the report says that worldwide counterterrorism efforts since 2001 have constrained al-Qaida's ability to attack the U.S. again and convinced terror groups that U.S. soil is a tougher target.

But, the report quickly adds, analysts are concerned "that this level of international cooperation may wane as 9/11 becomes a more distant memory and perceptions of the threat diverge."

Among the report's other findings:

_Al-Qaida is likely to continue to focus on high-profile political, economic and infrastructure targets to cause mass casualties, visually dramatic destruction, economic aftershocks and fear. "The group is proficient with conventional small arms and improvised explosive devices and is innovative in creating new capabilities and overcoming security obstacles."

_The group has been able to restore key capabilities it would need to launch an attack on U.S. soil: a safe haven in Pakistan's tribal areas, operational lieutenants and senior leaders. U.S. officials have warned publicly that a deal between the Pakistani government and tribal leaders allowed al-Qaida to plot and train more freely in parts of western Pakistan for the last 10 months.

_The group will continue to seek weapons of mass destruction — chemical, biological or nuclear material — and "would not hesitate to use them."

_Non-Muslim terrorist groups probably will attack here in the next several years, although on a smaller scale. The judgments don't name any specific groups, but the FBI often warns of violent environmental groups, such as Earth Liberation Front, and others.

The publicly disclosed judgments, laid out over two pages, are part of a longer document, which remains classified. It was approved by the heads of all 16 intelligence agencies on June 21.

The high-level estimate notes that the spread of radical ideas, especially on the Internet, growing anti-U.S. rhetoric and increasing numbers of radical cells throughout Western countries indicate the violent segments of the Muslim populations is expanding.

"The arrest and prosecution by U.S. law enforcement of a small number of violent Islamic extremists inside the United States ... points to the possibility that others may become sufficiently radicalized that they will view the use of violence here as legitimate," the estimate said. "We assess that this internal Muslim terrorist threat is not likely to be as severe as it is in Europe, however."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070717/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_terror_threat
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Americans, Do As The British " If you suspect it, report it !" The New Scotland Yard Guide To Suspicious Activity

Posted by Gabrielle Cusumano on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 4:59:45 PM

"The terrorist threat remains real and there is no room for complacency. The public should remain alert and aware of their surrounding at all times. If something strikes you as suspicious and out of place then trust your instincts and call the police. "

Specialist Operations

If you suspect it, report it

In an emergency

If you think you have seen a person acting suspiciously, or if you see a vehicle, unattended package or bag which might be a threat, immediately move away and call 999.

Anti-Terrorist hotline

If you think that you may have seen something suspicious or you are unsure about somebody’s activities or behaviour, however insignificant it may seem at the time, call the Anti-Terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321. The minicom number is 0800 032 45 39. Calls are taken in confidence by specialist officers who will analyse your information. They’ll decide if and how to follow it up. Your call could be vital to us however unsure you may be.

Our frequently asked questions page may help If you do not wish to speak to the police direct or require further advice about the Anti-Terrorist hotline.

The terrorist threat remains real and there is no room for complacency. The public should remain alert and aware of their surrounding at all times. If something strikes you as suspicious and out of place then trust your instincts and call the police.

Terrorists have to live somewhere. They store their equipment and materials somewhere. They need vehicles. They have people who help them - and these people might come and go at strange times of the day and night. They may make unusual financial transactions or use false documents to hide their real identities. They may be behaving differently to how you've known them to behave in the past.

If you suspect it, report it. You can also give non-urgent information that may assist police investigations online through www.online.met.police.uk.

Van Passport Chemicals Information
  • Van – Terrorists need transport. If you work in commercial vehicle hire or sales, has a sale or rental made you suspicious?
  • Passport – Terrorists use multiple identities. Do you know someone with documents in different names for no obvious reason?
  • Mobile phone – Terrorists need communication. Anonymous, pay-as-you-go and stolen mobiles are typical. Have you seen someone with large quantities of mobile phones? Has it made you suspicious?
  • Camera – Terrorists need information. Observation and surveillance help terrorists plan attacks. Have you seen anyone taking pictures of security arrangements?
  • Chemicals – Do you know someone buying large or unusual quantities of chemicals for no obvious reason?
  • Mask and goggles – Terrorists use protective equipment. Handling chemicals is dangerous. Maybe you’ve seen goggles or masks dumped somewhere.
  • Credit card – Terrorists need funding. Cheque and credit card fraud are ways terrorists generate cash. Have you seen any suspicious transactions?
  • Computer – Terrorists use computers. Do you know someone who visits terrorist-related websites?
  • Suitcase – Terrorists need to travel. Meetings training and planning can take place anywhere. Do you know someone who travels but is vague about where they are going?
  • Padlock – Terrorists need storage. Lock-ups, garages and sheds can all be used by terrorists to store equipment. Are you suspicious of anyone renting a commercial property?
Funding Protective equipment Travel Storage

Our frequently asked questions page may help If you do not wish to speak to the police direct or require further advice about the Anti-Terrorist hotline.


All Credit to The Metropolitan Police and The New Scotland Yard at:
http://www.met.police.uk/so/at_hotline.htm
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Islamic Terrorist Network Cells In The US. Be Aware, Summer 07' Resembles Summer 01'

Posted by Gabrielle Cusumano on Saturday, July 14, 2007 7:41:04 PM
 Maps of Islamic Terrorist Network in America

 

The image in its original context on the page: www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1061070/posts

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Islamic Fundamentalist Networks in the United States

Terrorist Map of the US.jpg (121932 bytes)

The image in its original context on the page: www.doglegs.net/cclovett/mapof.htm
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Terrorism in the US leading up to September 11, 2001

JULY 21, 2000

Suspected Hizballah Cell Disrupted

     On July 21, 2000, members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Charlotte, North Carolina, arrested 18 members of a suspected cigarette-smuggling ring. Another individual suspected of helping the Charlotte smuggling ring was arrested the same day in Detroit, Michigan. The smuggling proceeds are alleged to have been sent to support the activities of Hizballah, a terrorist organization which operates primarily from Lebanon. Charges included several Immigration and Naturalization Service violations as well as visa fraud, money laundering, racketeering, and material support for a terrorist organization. Eight of the suspects have been denied bail. In 2000, one female subject pled guilty to visa and marriage fraud charges and was sentenced to probation. In 2001, six subjects (three male, three female) pled guilty to visa and marriage fraud charges with sentences ranging from time served to probation. One female subject was found guilty of marriage fraud by jury trial. Charges of marriage fraud were dismissed against one female, a U.S. citizen. One nonindicted Lebanese female was voluntarily deported. The remaining subjects were awaiting trial at the end of 2001.

 

DECEMBER 17, 2000

Terry Nichols’ Appeal Denied

     On December 17, 2000, a federal appeals court denied convicted Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols’ request for a new trial. The appeal alleged that the FBI had withheld information that could have helped his case. The three-judge panel ruled that any information withheld by the FBI would not have provided a “reasonable chance of changing the outcome” of the case. Nichols is serving a life sentence for his role in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people.

DECEMBER 20, 2000

Five Suspects Indicted in Embassy Bombing Conspiracy

     On December 20, 2000, a grand jury in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) returned an indictment against five suspects in the case of the United States v. Usama bin Laden, et al. The five suspects, Saif Al-Adel, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah, Ahmed Mohamed Hamed Ali, and Anas Al-Libi were charged in the overall conspiracy, led by Usama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda organization, to kill U.S. nationals and engage in other illegal acts. In addition, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah has been charged for his role as the mastermind of the August 7, 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

October 12, 2000

BOMBING OF USS COLE, ADEN, YEMEN

     On October 12, 2000, two suicide pilots of a small bomb-laden boat pulled alongside of the USS Cole at midship, offered friendly gestures to several crew members, and detonated their explosives. The U.S. destroyer, en route to the Persian Gulf, was making a prearranged fuel stop at the port of Aden, Yemen, when the attack occurred. The blast ripped a hole in the side of the USS Cole approximately 40 feet in diameter and killed 17 U.S. Navy personnel. At least 40 other crew members were injured.

     Numerous FBI field offices and legal attaches, several hundred FBI agents and support staff, and Joint Terrorism Task Force personnel took part in the investigation into the bombing of the USS Cole. The FBI also established a cooperative working relationship with the Government of Yemen. Investigation revealed that the USS Cole bombing followed an unsuccessful attempt on January 3, 2000, to bomb another U.S. Navy ship, the USS The Sullivans. In this earlier incident, the boat sank before the explosives could be detonated; however, the boat and the explosives were salvaged. The boat was then refitted and the explosives were tested and reused in the USS Cole attack.

     The suspects in the bombing of the USS Cole were believed to have ties to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic Army of Aden, an extremist group opposed to the Yemeni Government and the presence of U.S. and other Western influences in Yemen. By year’s end, Yemeni authorities had arrested eight suspects, including Jamal Muhammad Ahmad Al-Badawi and Fahad Muhammad Ahmad Al-Quso, two of the alleged masterminds of the USS The Sullivans and the USS Cole attacks. Al-Badawi and Al-Quso are known Al-Qaeda operatives who trained in Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan during the 1990s. Other suspects, including alleged key coconspira-tors Tawfiq Mohummad bin Saleh bin Roshayed bin Attash and Mohammed Hamdi Mohammed Sadiq Al Ahdal, remain fugitives.

Photograph of U S S Cole

 

TERRORIST ACTIVITY by REGION 1980 - 2001

Map of U S and terrorist activity by region - Northeastern 144 - Puerto Rico 103 - Western 97 - Southern 72 - North Central 56 - International 8 - Unknown 4 - Total 484

*Although designated as a single act of international terrorism, the aircraft attacks of September 11,
2001, have been designated as one terrorist incident in the Northeastern region and one terrorist
incident in the Southern region for the purposes of this graph. Similarly, although the anthrax mailings that occurred from September through November 2001 have been categorized as a single act of terrorism, the incidents have been designated as one terrorist incident in the Northeastern region and one terrorist incident in the Southern region for the purposes of this graph.

 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

Aircraft Attack

New York, New York Arlington, Virginia

Stony Creek Township, Pennsylvania

(One act of International Terrorism)

     On the morning of September 11, 2001, four U.S. commercial airliners were hijacked by four coordinated teams of terrorists. The 19 hijackers who carried out the operation were affiliated with

 

Photograph of aerial view of 9 11 attack in New York

Photograph of aerial view of 9 1 attack in Pennsylvania
Photograph of aerial view of 9 11 attack on Pentagon

Aerial views of the September 11 crash sites, clockwise from upper left: World Trade Center in New York City; Stony Creek Township, Pennsylvania; Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

Al-Qaeda, a worldwide terrorist network that had previously attacked U.S. military and diplomatic targets. The hijackers used knives, boxcutters, and possibly pepper spray to attack passengers and flight crews and to commandeer the aircraft. After taking control of the aircraft, the hijackers flew toward preselected targets on the U.S. East Coast. Three of the commandeered aircraft reached their destinations, destroying the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and badly damaging the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth aircraft crashed into a remote field in Stony Creek Township,

Pennsylvania, as passengers attempted to regain control of the airplane. All of the passengers on each of the aircraft were killed in the attack, as were more than 2,500 people in the twin towers and the Pentagon. In total, 2,783* people died in the September 11 attack, making it the most deadly act of terrorism ever committed. The September 11 attack also marked the first known suicide terrorist attack carried out in the United States since the FBI began keeping terrorist records.

     The coordinated attack began shortly after American Airlines (AA) flight 11 departed Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, bound for Los Angeles, California, at 7:59 a.m. Eighty-one passengers and 11 crew members were onboard the Boeing 767 aircraft. Minutes into the cross-country flight, a team of five terrorists--Mohamed Atta, Abdul Aziz al Omari, Satam al Suqami, Waleed al Sheri, and Wail al Shehri--commandeered the aircraft. At 8:13 a.m., AA flight 11 diverted from its charted course. It is believed that Mohamed Atta, who had obtained flight training in the United States during the prior two years, had taken over the aircraft’s controls, redirecting it toward New York City. At approximately 8:46 a.m., AA flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Less than two hours later, at 10:25 a.m., the North Tower collapsed.

     At approximately 7:58 a.m., United Airlines (UA) flight 175, a Boeing 767 aircraft, departed Boston’s Logan International Airport bound for Los Angeles, with 51 passengers and 9 crew members onboard. Shortly after takeoff, the plane was hijacked by five terrorists--Marwan al Shehhi, Fayez Ahmed Banihammad, Ahmed Alghamdi, Hamza Alghamdi, and Mohand Alshehri. It is believed that Marwan al Shehhi, who received flight training in the United States during the prior two years, took over controls of the aircraft, flying it toward New York City. At 9:05 a.m., UA flight 175 struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center, which collapsed 50 minutes later at 9:55 a.m.

     At 8:20 a.m., AA flight 77, a Boeing 757 aircraft, departed Dulles International Airport in Herndon, Virginia, en-route to Los Angeles, with 58 passengers and six crew members on-board. Among the passengers were five hijackers--Hani Hanjour, Khalid al-Mihdar, Nawaf al-Hazmi, Salem al-Hazmi, and Majed Moqed--who subdued the passengers and crew and commandeered the flight. It is believed that Hani Hanjour, who began pilot training in 1996 in the United States, took over controls of the aircraft. At 8:55 a.m., the aircraft began an unauthorized turn to the southeast, to return toward the Washington, D.C., area. At 9:37 a.m., AA flight 77 crashed into the southwest side of the Pentagon. In addition to the 64 victims aboard the aircraft, 125 people in the Pentagon died as a result of the crash and resulting fire.

     At 8:42 a.m., UA flight 93, a Boeing 757 aircraft, departed Newark (New Jersey) International Airport en-route to San Francisco, California, with 37 passengers and seven crew members on-board. Among the passengers was a team of four hijackers--Ziad Samir Jarrah, Saeed Alghamdi, Ahmad Ibrahim A. al Haznawi, and Ahmed Alnami. The aircraft reached a cruising altitude of more than 35,000 feet by 9:15, and the automatic pilot was engaged. At approximately 9:28 a.m., a manual override to change altitude and direction was executed. The aircraft climbed to more than 40,000 feet and turned from its westerly direction to the southeast. Although the automatic pilot remained engaged for the remainder of the flight, the aircraft descended gradually to an altitude of 5,000 feet. Ziad Samir Jarrah, the only hijacker with flight training, having obtained a pilot’s license in the United States during the prior two years, is believed to have taken over the controls of the aircraft after the hijacking. As the aircraft descended, passengers were herded to the rear of the airplane, where at least one of the hijackers told passengers to place telephone calls to their loved ones. Through these telephone calls and recordings from the cockpit voice recorder and air traffic control tapes, investigators were able to piece together some details from the final moments of UA flight 93. Passengers set in motion a plan to regain control of the flight--possibly by throwing scalding water on the hijackers. UA flight 93 crashed into a remote field in Stony Creek Township, Pennsylvania, at approximately 10:03 a.m. The crash resulted in the deaths of all 33 passengers and seven crew members.

* This number does not include the 19 hijackers, all of whom died in the attack.

SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER 2001

Bacillus Anthracis Mailings

New York, New York Washington, D.C. Lantana, Florida

(One act of Terrorism)

     In the fall of 2001, the United States was subjected to the most significant bioterrorist attack in the nation’s history. A total of four anthrax-tainted parcels were recovered, including letters mailed to NBC News Anchor Tom Brokaw, the editor of The New York Post

Patrick Leahy people and were treated and recovered. As a pre-cautionary measure, an additional 20,000 people were given antibiotics and 21 buildings, including offices of the U.S. House Representatives U.S. Senate facilities, were amination.

     Anthrax, the bacterium by several (skin lesions), intestinal ence symptoms If left untreated, of becoming

     The first victim of anthrax exposure, Robert Stevens, was employed with American Media Incorporated (AMI), the nation’s largest publisher of tabloid newspapers. Stevens sought medical treatment after he began experiencing flu-like symptoms

on September 30, 2001; on October 4, 2001, laboratory results indicated pulmonary anthrax; and on October 5, 2001, within three days of being hospitalized, Stevens died. Days later, a second victim, also an employee of AMI, became ill with pulmonary anthrax. The second victim was treated promptly with antibiotics and recovered fully. Although no anthrax-tainted parcels were recovered at the AMI facility, swabbings indicated the presence of Bacillus anthracis at a number of locations within the AMI building; the facility was closed and at year’s end was undergoing additional testing.

In September 2001, letters were mailed to The New York Post and to NBC News Anchor Tom Brokaw. The letters were postmarked in Trenton, New Jersey, on Tuesday, September, 18, 2001–exactly one week after the September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. A CBS employee and the seven-month-old baby of an ABC producer also tested positive for cutaneous anthrax suggesting that additional letters may have been sent to the New York offices of CBS and ABC; however, no letters were recovered from these locations.

     In October 2001 letters were addressed to U.S. senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy. Both letters contained anthrax powder along with references to “September 11, 2001,” “Anthrax,” and “Allah.” When the Senator Daschle letter was opened by a staff member, a small cloud of anthrax spilled out of the envelope. The U.S. Capitol Police and FBI were notified, and the area was vacated and secured immediately.

     The letter to Senator Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was recovered from a quarantined postal facility on November 16, 2001. The envelope included the same fictitious return address hand-printed on the Daschle letter: 4th Grade, Greendale School, Franklin Park, NJ 08852. All four anthrax-tainted letters were mailed in envelopes that were prestamped and embossed with a blue “Federal Eagle” design on the front. These envelopes can be purchased only in U.S. Post Offices, via the Internet, or through catalogue phone order. Additionally, the four letters were all processed at the Hamilton Distribution Center located in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, and were postmarked in Trenton, New Jersey.

     Although the four recovered letters bore many similarities, significant variations exist between the letters sent to senators Daschle and Leahy and those sent to the media. The two letters mailed to the senators contained a more refined form of anthrax powder. The text of the letters also varied between the two sets of letters. The two known letters addressed to the media included the following language: “9/11/01 // THIS IS NEXT // TAKE PENACILIN NOW // DEATH TO AMERICA // DEATH TO ISRAEL // ALLAH IS GREAT” (double slashes inserted for clarity and indicate line breaks in the text). The letters sent to the senators stated "YOU CAN NOT STOP US. WE HAVE THIS ANTHRAX. YOU DIE NOW. ARE YOU AFRAID? DEATH TO AMERICA. DEATH TO ISRAEL. ALLAH IS GREAT.” These letters are being examined by FBI Laboratory personnel as part of the ongoing investigation.

     By the end of 2001, 11 cases of pulmonary anthrax were confirmed, seven cases of cutaneous anthrax were confirmed, and four additional cases remain suspect. Five of the 18 confirmed anthrax cases resulted in death. Each of the deaths resulted from pulmonary (inhalation) anthrax. These are the first known deaths in the United States resulting from criminal use of a biological agent.

 

Photograph of Anthrax Letters sent in 2001
 Anthrax-tainted letters

OCTOBER 14, 2001

Arson

Litchfield, California

(One act of Domestic Terrorism)

     During the early morning of October 14, 2001, a fire was reported at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Corral in Litchfield, California. Upon arrival, firefighters encountered a large hay barn fully engulfed in flames. A search of the property, consisting of several corrals housing more than 100 horses, revealed that fences had been cut and gates opened, in an apparent attempt to allow the horses to escape. Three intact improvised incendiary devices similar to those used in previous arsons attributed to the ELF were also recovered. The ELF claimed responsibility for the arson, which caused damages estimated between $75,000 and $85,000.

Photograph of Anthrax Testing

 

NOVEMBER 12, 2001

Burglary and Vandalism

San Diego, California

(One act of Domestic Terrorism)

     On November 12, 2001, the San Diego (California) Police Department responded to a burglary and vandalism report at Sierra Biomedical. A Sierra Biomedical van was covered with red paint and graffiti referencing the ALF. It was subsequently determined that toxic chemicals believed to be acid and bleach had been deliberately poured throughout the research facility. Additional graffiti in black spray paint stating that “VIVISECTION IS FRAUD” and “THE ALF WAS HERE” was also found at the facility. Damages were estimated to exceed $500,000. The ALF claimed responsibility for this incident via an e-mail sent to the vice president and general manager of Sierra Biomedical.

TERRORISM PREVENTIONS

MARCH 29, 2001

Planned Bombing

Los Angeles, California

(Prevention of one act of Domestic Terrorism)

     On March 29, 2001, Ronald Mike Denton was arrested for threatening to attack the Chevron Oil Refinery at El Segundo, California. He was indicted on three counts: interference with commerce by threats or violence, threat to use a weapon of mass destruction, and mailing threatening communications. Investigation revealed that Denton had been employed by the Chevron Refinery for approximately 12 years. Dissatisfied with working conditions and promotion decisions, he was placed on stress leave. As a condition of his leave, Denton was required to undergo outpatient psychiatric treatment. During his sessions, Denton repeatedly threatened to destroy the refinery and surrounding communities. At the time of his arrest, several firearms were found in his bedroom, including an SKS assault rifle, 1,400 rounds of jacketed ammunition, and books on how to create explosives and survive as a fugitive.

Additionally, placards and Chevron employee identification cards that allowed Denton access to the refinery were found in his automobile. Illegal fireworks were also found, which could have facilitated Denton’s detailed plan to detonate seven liquid petroleum gas spheres, some of which held up to 6,272,692 pounds of highly volatile fuel. Had Denton carried out his planned attack, financial losses could have exceeded $4.8 billion.

DECEMBER 11, 2001

Planned Bombing

Los Angeles, California

(Prevention of one act of Domestic Terrorism)

     On December 11, 2001, Irving David Rubin and Earl Leslie Krugel were arrested by the Los Angeles Joint Terrorism Task Force for conspiring to build and place improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, California, and the local office of Congressman Darrell Issa. Rubin and Krugel were subsequently charged with conspiracy to destroy a building by means of an explosive, as well as possession of a destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence. Rubin and Krugel were active members of the Jewish Defense League (JDL), a violent extremist Jewish organization. Statements by Rubin and Krugel indicated that they had planned the attack against the mosque to demonstrate the militancy of the JDL. Krugel further indicated that the attack was planned to provide a “wake up call” to the Muslim community. It was determined that Rubin and Krugel had already acquired the necessary components to build an IED, including pipes, fuses, and smokeless powder.

Photograph of Irving David Ruben

 Irving David Rubin

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

JANUARY 19, 2001

Former San Joaquin Leader, Donald Rudolph, Pleads Guilty to 1999 Propane Plot

     On January 19, 2001, Donald Rudolph pled guilty to withholding knowledge of a conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction in connection with a 1999 plot to destroy a propane storage facility near Elk Grove, California. Rudolph also pled guilty to conspiring to kill a U.S. district judge. The plot to attack the propane storage facility was disrupted on December 3, 1999, when members of the Sacramento Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Kevin Ray Patterson and Charles Dennis Kiles. Patterson, Kiles, and Rudolph were associated with an antigovern-ment group active in the central region of the state. When arrested, Patterson and Kiles were in posses-

sion of detonation cord, blasting caps, grenade hulls, and various chemicals, including ammonium nitrate. They were also in possession of numerous weapons. Patterson and Kiles were awaiting trial at year’s end.

JANUARY 24, 2001

Buford O'Neal Furrow enters Guilty Plea in Shooting at North Valley Jewish Community Center

     On January 24, 2001, Buford O’Neal Furrow pled guilty to the murder of Joseph Ileto, a U.S. postal employee, and to shooting several children at the North Valley Jewish Community Center. The attack took place on August 10, 1999, when Furrow fired gunshots into the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, California. While fleeing the scene, Furrow shot and killed Joseph Ileto. On March 26, 2001, Furrow was sentenced to five life sentences plus 110 years and required to pay $690,000 in restitution to his victims.

 

TERRORIST ACTIVY by CLASSIFICATION 1980 - 2001

DOMESTIC ACTS OF TERRORISM 345

INTERNATIONAL ACTS OF TERRORISM 136

TOTAL 481*

Graph of terrorist activity by classification 1980 - 2001 1980 - Total 30 1981 - Total 46 1982 - Total 55 1983 - Total 39 1984 - Total 25 1985 - Total 36 1986 - Total 36 1987 - Total 22 1988 - Total 17 1990 - Total 13 1991 - Total 11 1989 - Total 27 1992 - Total 4 1993 - Total 21 1994 - Total 2 1995 - Total 4 1996 - Total 8 1997 - Total 25 1998 - Total 17 1999 - Total 19 2000 - Total 9 2001 - Total 16

 

JANUARY 31, 2001

Verdicts Handed Down in the Pan Am 103 Bombing Case

     On January 31, 2001, a special three-judge Scottish court announced its verdict in the trial of two former Libyan intelligence operatives charged with the downing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988. The trial of the two men began in Camp Zeist, The Netherlands, on May 3, 2000. The court convicted one defendant, Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi, of 270 counts of murder. (The defendants were charged with one count of murder for each person who perished in the bombing.) The other defendant, Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted on all charges and released by the court. Al-Megrahi was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence; he is appealing the court's decision. The bombing killed all 259 passengers onboard and an additional 11 individuals on the ground. The two subjects had been accused of being agents of the Libyan Intelligence Service and were given refuge in Libya until April 5, 1999, when Libya agreed to turn the suspects over for trial. By year’s end, the Libyan Government had continued to deny involvement in the bombing.

FEBRUARY 27, 2001

Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) Members Arrested in Los Angeles

     On February 27, 2001, federal, state, and local officials in Los Angeles executed three search warrants and arrested seven individuals on charges of alleged material support of a terrorist organization, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). The individuals arrested are alleged to have knowingly conspired to support the MEK by conducting fund raising, financial transactions, and other activities in support of the MEK organization.

APRIL 6, 2001

Ahmed Ressam Convicted

     On April 6, 2001, after a three-week trial in Los Angeles, California, Algerian-born Ahmed Ressam was found guilty on nine criminal counts emanating from a plot to detonate explosives at the Los Angeles International Airport during the U.S. Millennium celebrations. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 130 years, and Ressam awaited sentencing at year’s end. In June 2001, Ressam agreed to cooperate with the U.S. Government in the investigation.

     On December 14, 1999, authorities arrested Ressam for possession and transportation of explosives found in his rental car as he attempted to enter the United States from Canada at Port Angeles, Washington. The search revealed over 100 pounds of white powder–later determined to be urea sulfate–as well as approximately eight ounces of a highly volatile nitroglycerine mixture and fusing systems components. Other items found in Ressam’s car were a number of forms of identification linked to at least seven aliases–including one used at the Port Angeles border entry point–and maps and guidebooks indicating that he was targeting the Los Angeles airport. A hotel reservation for Ressam near the Seattle Center resulted in a cancellation of the New Year’s celebration at the Space Needle.

     Investigation by the FBI and other domestic and foreign law enforcement agencies revealed that Ressam had attended Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and was acting with others as part of a terrorist cell based in Canada. The investigation led to the December 30, 1999 arrest in New York of an Algerian man, Abdelghani Meskini. Testimony given by Meskini purported that he had conspired with Algerian-born Mokhtar Haouri to provide material support to Ressam’s plot to smuggle explosives into the United States. Meskini signed a plea agreement in a federal court in Manhattan, and he agreed to testify against other suspects accused of participating in the millennial bombing plot. Haouri was extradited to the United States from Canada to stand trial, and on July 13, 2001, he was found guilty on the charge of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist act and four counts of bank, credit card, and document fraud. Haouri was acquitted on the charge of aiding and abetting a terrorist act. He awaited sentencing at year’s end.

     The investigation relating to associates of Ressam, Meskini, and Haouri continues. On April 6, 2000, the Department of State announced a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Abdelmajid Dahoumane for his role in the millennial bombing plot. Dahoumane was arrested in Algeria in August 2000, where he remains in custody for terrorism-related charges in that country.

     On August 27, 2001, Abu Doha, a 37-year-old Algerian, was indicted on eight counts, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, for his role in the plot. The indictment alleges that Doha met with Usama bin Laden to plan an attack against a major airport in the United States and that Doha coordinated the attack with Ressam. Doha awaits extradition from the United Kingdom to stand trial in the United States.

     On December 12, 2001, Samir Ait Mohamed, a 32-year-old Algerian man living in Canada, was indicted in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on charges of conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism and to provide material support to a terrorist act; these charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Mohamed allegedly tried to obtain weapons for Ressam’s use in commiting bank robberies to raise money for the millennial bombing plot. Mohamed was arrested on November 15, 2001, by Canadian authorities in British Columbia and awaits extradition to the United States to face trial.

Photograph of Ahmed Ressam

JUNE 11, 2001

Execution of Timothy McVeigh, Convicted Oklahoma City Bomber, First Federal Execution in 38 Years

     In accordance with the sentence rendered by a unanimous jury on June 13, 1997, Timothy McVeigh died by lethal injection on June 11, 2001, at Terra Haute Prison, Indiana, for bombing the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. McVeigh was convicted on June 2, 1997, on 11 counts of murder and conspiracy for launching an attack against the U.S. Government, which resulted in an explosion that killed 168 people, including 19 children.

     Shortly after McVeigh waived his rights to appeal his conviction and sentence on December 28, 2000, his execution was scheduled for May 16, 2001. The original execution date was postponed to allow McVeigh’s attorneys to review additional documents turned over to the court by the FBI. This evidence had not been available to the court during the 1997 trial. After two appeals to extend McVeigh’s stay of execution were denied, on June 7, 2001, McVeigh requested that his death sentence be carried out. McVeigh was executed on June 11, 2001, at 7:00 a.m. with an audience comprised of 25 witnesses and 300 survivors and relatives of the victims who perished in the Oklahoma City bombing. The McVeigh execution marked the first use of the death penalty by the federal government in 38 years.

JUNE 21, 2001

Fourteen Suspects Indicted in Khobar Towers Bombing

     On June 21, 2001, the Eastern District of Virginia filed 46 charges against 14 suspects (13 Saudis and one Lebanese) arising from the June 25, 1996 truck bomb attack on the Khobar Towers military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Nineteen American servicemen were killed and 372 other Americans and Saudis were injured. All 14 suspects, Ahmed Al-Mughassil, Ali Al Houri, Hani Al-Sayegh, Ibrahim Al-Yacoub, Abdel Karim Al-Nasser, Mustafa Al-Qassab, Sa’ed Al-Bahar, Abdallah Al-Jarash, Hussein Al-Mughis, Ali Al-Marhoun, Saleh Ramadan, Mustafa Al Mu’alem, Fadel Al-Alawe and the unnamed Lebanese male, were indicted for conspiracy based on their connection to Saudi Hizballah.

JULY 5, 2001

FBI Arrests Aryan Nations Leader in Ohio

     On July 5, 2001, Special Agents from the FBI’s Cincinnati field office arrested Danny William Kincaid, leader of the Ohio chapter of the Aryan Nations, on federal weapons violations and for possession of an explosive device. Kincaid was arrested after a 13-month investigation by federal agents. He is charged with the illegal sale of at least 15 firearms. Kincaid was awaiting trial at year’s end.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2001

Office of Homeland Security Announced

     In a speech before both houses of Congress on September 20, 2001, President George W. Bush announced the creation of the Office of Homeland Security. The President named former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge as its acting Director. The Office of Homeland Security and its Director will report directly to the President and will be responsible for coordinating matters related to security pre-paredness.

SEPTEMBER 23, 2001

Signing of Executive Order 13224 to Block Terrorist Assets

     On September 23, 2001, President Bush issued Executive Order 13224 in response to terrorist acts committed by foreign terrorists against the United States. EO 13224 identifies Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entities and Individuals that are considered a threat to the United States’ national security, and enables the U.S. Government to block their assets in any financial institution in the United States or held by any U.S. person. EO 13224 also expands U.S. Government authority to permit the designation of individuals and organizations that associate with, finance, or provide other support services to designated terrorists.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2001

U.N. Security Council Passes Binding Counterterrorism Resolution

     As a result of the September 11 terrorist attack, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 1373 on September 28, 2001, as an international attempt to collectively prevent terrorist acts and identify countries that provide safe-havens or support for terrorist groups. In order to combat terrorism, each U.N. member is required to take specific measures.

OCTOBER 18, 2001

Sentencing of Four Al-Qaeda Members Convicted of Bombing U.S. Embassies

    On October 18, 2001, following a 6-month trial, four Al-Qaeda members received life sentences without parole for their roles in a conspiracy to kill Americans which resulted in the August 1998 vehicle bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In addition, each was ordered to pay $7 million in restitution to the victims’ families and $26 million in restitution to the U.S. Government. Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, Wadih El-Hage, and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh were convicted on May 29, 2001, in the Southern District of New York on a variety of charges related to the embassies’ bombing plot that included murder, conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, and conspiracy to destroy buildings or property of the United States. El-Hage was the only U.S. citizen held accountable for the attacks. The four were originally scheduled to be sentenced in September 2001, but sentencing was delayed due to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11.

     In the previous year, on October 20, 2000, a former U.S. Army sergeant, Ali Mohamed, pled guilty to assisting in the 1998 plot to bomb the U.S. embassies. Mohamed, a 48-year-old native of Egypt, implicated Usama bin Laden in the plot, stating that in 1993, he was asked by bin Laden to survey potential U.S. targets in Nairobi. In a statement to the court, Mohamed said, “these targets were selected to retaliate against the United States for its involvement in Somalia.” Two other terrorists, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim and Mohamed Sulieman Al-Nalfi were charged separately in the Southern District of New York for their roles in the 1998 bombings. After allegedly attacking and critically wounding a corrections officer at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on November 2, 2000, Salim was severed from the trial and will be tried separately on attempted murder charges in connection with the assault. Mohamed Sulieman Al-Nalfi was arrested in Africa on November 10, 2000. Charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, Al-Nalfi is in custody and awaits trial in the Southern District of New York.

     Three individuals, Ibrahim Hussein Abdelhadi Eidarous, Adel Mohammed Abdul Almagid Abdul Bary, and Khaled Al Fawwaz, are being held in the United Kingdom and are expected to be extradited to stand trial in the Southern District of New York for their involvement in the 1998 bombings.

     The bombings at the U.S. embassies on August 7, 1998, resulted in 214 deaths, including those of 12 Americans. During the trial, the jury heard evidence that Mohamed assisted with the construction of the bomb that exploded in the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam, and Al-Owhali drove the bomb in a vehicle and parked it at the U.S. embassy in Nairobi. From the beginning, Usama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda terrorist network were viewed as orchestrating the bombings. In order to carry out the attacks, Al-Owhali and Mohamed attended weapons and explosive training at an Al-Qaeda terrorist training camp in Afghanistan. For their direct involvement in the attacks, government attorneys had originally sought the death penalty for Mohamed and Al-Owhali; this marked the first time the U.S. Government had sought the death penalty for individuals charged with committing acts of international terrorism.

OCTOBER 26, 2001

USA PATRIOT Act Enacted

     On October 26, 2001, the President signed the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001” (USA PATRIOT Act). A description of the act and its implications for U.S. law enforcement’s investigation and prosecution of persons who engage in terrorist activity is provided in the In-Focus section of this report.

OCTOBER 31, 2001

Symbionese Liberation Army Extremist Pleads Guilty

     On October 31, 2001, Kathleen Ann Soliah pled guilty to two counts related to the 1975 plot to plant car bombs designed to kill Los Angeles police officers. These attacks were planned in retaliation for the deaths of six Symbionese Liberation Army members by law enforcement during a shoot-out in Los Angeles. The indictment was handed down on February 26, 1976. Soliah remained a fugitive for 23 years until her arrest on June 16, 1999, predicated on information provided by a viewer of the television show America’s Most Wanted. To avoid capture, Soliah was living in St. Paul, Minnesota, using the alias Sara Jane Olsen.

NOVEMBER 19, 2001

Reward of $25 Million Offered for Usama bin Laden

     On November 19, 2001, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell authorized a reward of up to $25 million for information leading to the capture of Usama bin Laden and other key Al-Qaeda leaders. The Rewards for Justice Program was established by the 1984 Act to Combat International Terrorism. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security administers the program, under which the Secretary of State may offer rewards of up to $5 million for information that prevents or favorably resolves acts of international terrorism against U.S. persons or property worldwide. The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, which became law on October 26, authorizes the Department of State to offer or pay rewards of greater than $5 million if the Secretary of State determines that a greater amount is necessary to defend the United States against terrorist acts.

NOVEMBER 30, 2001

Sentencing of White Supremacist Brothers for Synagogue Arsons

     On November 30, 2001, Benjamin Matthew Williams and James Tyler Williams were sentenced for setting fires to three synagogues on June 18, 1999, and an abortion clinic on July 2, 1999, all in Sacramento, California. Benjamin Williams received a sentence of 30 years in prison, while his brother was sentenced to 21 years and three months in prison. The brothers were also ordered to pay $1 million in restitution. The Williams brothers, who are followers of the World Church of the Creator and the Aryan Nations, pled guilty in September 2001. The Williams brothers are also awaiting trial on murder charges for their suspected role of killing a homosexual couple on July 2, 1999. If convicted, the Williams brothers could face the death penalty.

DECEMBER 4, 2001

Leader of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan sentenced

     On December 4, 2001, Jeff Berry, leader of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, was sentenced to seven years in prison for conspiracy to commit criminal confinement with a deadly weapon. The charges stemmed from a 1999 incident in which Berry refused to allow a local reporter and his camera-woman to leave his home following an interview.

DECEMBER 5, 2001

Arrest of Anti-Abortionist Clayton Lee Waagner

     On December 5, 2001, Clayton Lee Waagner was arrested without incident by the Springdale (Ohio) Police Department at a local copy center. On September 14, 2001, Waagner had been placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List, stemming from a series of crimes related directly and indirectly to his violent anti-abortion activism. On February 22, 2001, Waagner escaped from an Illinois jail, after being convicted for firearms and other charges and awaiting a possible 15-years-to-life sentence.

Waagner was apprehended as a result of a nationwide manhunt; he has been accused of mailing hoax anthrax letters to reproductive health clinics nationwide during September and October 2001. On September 18, 2001, Waagner was indicted for firearms violations in Tennessee and a carjacking in Mississippi. Additional charges may surface against him in connection with additional bank robberies in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Photograhp of Clayton Lee Waagner

 

DECEMBER 11, 2001

Zacarias Moussaoui Indicted on Conspiracy Charges Related to the September 11 Terrorist Attacks

     On December 11, 2001, Zacarias Moussaoui was indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia on six counts, including conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism. The indictment alleges that Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, was involved in the conspiracy which resulted in the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Moussaoui is alleged to have trained in a terrorist training camp run by Al-Qaeda and conspired with several of the 19 hijackers who participated in the attacks.

DECEMBER 22, 2001

Arrest of Alleged Shoe Bomber

     On December 22, 2001, Richard C. Reid was arrested after flight attendants on American Airlines flight 63 observed him apparently attempting to ignite an improvised explosive device in his sneakers while onboard the Paris-to-Miami flight. Aided by passengers, the attendants overpowered and subdued Reid and the flight was diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. Reid, who was traveling on a valid British passport, has been indicted on nine counts, including placing an explosive device on an aircraft and attempted murder. FBI investigation has determined that the explosives in Reid's shoes, if detonated in certain areas of the passenger cabin, could have blown a hole in the fuselage of the aircraft. Reid's indictment charges that he trained in camps operated by Al-Qaeda.

 
Photograph of F B I test blast
Photograph of Richard Reid

Clockwise from top:
shoe worn by Richard C. Reid aboard American Airlines flight 63;
Richard C. Reid;
FBI test-blast of comparable explosive charge.

 

IN FOCUS

TRENDS IN ANIMAL RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EXTREMISM

     During the past several years, the violence and destructive activities perpetrated by animal rights and environmental extremists in the United States and elsewhere have increased in frequency and intensity. These extremists have used arson, harassment, death threats, animal releases, and razor blade threat letters to intimidate individuals and businesses they perceive to be abusive to animals or destructive to the environment. The victims include, but are not limited to, fur farmers and retailers, research laboratories and personnel, circuses, zoos, fast food restaurants, forestry services, and large corporations. These terrorist acts are committed by persons and groups who believe all animals and all parts of the ecosystem, no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential, have the right to exist, be respected, and be protected from destruction by humanity. The use of violent criminal means to achieve these goals represents a departure from the larger and more mainstream animal welfare and environmental movements, which support the humane treatment of animals and the protection of the environment and its resources, but operate within existing laws to promote these causes.

     Animal rights extremists in the United States often claim their actions on behalf of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). The ALF’s ideology is one of unwavering support for the liberation of captive animals by any means, including criminal activity. ALF activists in the United States have generally adhered to the movement’s stated mandate of protecting human life during the course of its “direct actions” while simultaneously causing severe economic damage to various retailers, fur farms, laboratories, and other animal enterprises.

     The emphasis placed upon economic damage underscores a very practical aspect of the movement's approach to terrorism. ALF activists engage in very few

“symbolic” acts of terrorism; instead, the movement’s attacks are specifically designed to cause a sufficient level of economic hardship to drive individual enterprises out of operation. Thus, the most likely targets of ALF terrorism are very specifically chosen. That is, ALF activists will not merely attack a university where animal research is conducted, but rather will attempt to locate the specific laboratory at the university where the research is being conducted, free the experimental animals, and subsequently destroy research data and equipment or the facility itself. Rather than simply “send a message,” these actions are designed to bring about an end to the perceived animal abuse.

     ALF activities in the United States during the past 25 years have included a wide variety of tactics with a broad range of sophistication. A review of the movement's literature, which includes a running tally of ALF activities nationally and internationally, indicates a significant level of criminal activity ranging from graffiti, broken windows, and other acts of petty vandalism to pipe-bombings, large-scale mink releases, destruction of research documentation, and arson.1 ALF has a considerable history of committing low-level criminal activity in the United States dating back to the 1970s. However, ALF's activities began to fall under increased federal scrutiny in the late 1980s, in the aftermath of an arson at the Veterinary Medicine Research Building at the University of California-Davis in April 1987. ALF claimed responsibility for the attack, which resulted in an estimated $3.5 million in damages.2 At the time, this arson represented one of the most destructive acts of animal rights extremism in American history, although in recent years, the group has claimed responsibility for a number of arson attacks that have been equally destructive. In August 1992, for example, ALF extremists raided the campus of Michigan State University and set fire to an office, destroying files containing 32 years of toxicology and nutrition research.3 The ALF also claimed responsibility for the July 1997 arson of a horse-rendering plant in Redmond, Oregon, which resulted in over $1 million in damage to the physical plant and caused significant secondary costs resulting from the loss of revenue normally generated by the facility. In May 1998 the ALF claimed responsibility for an attack on a processing plant owned by Florida Veal Processors, Inc., in Wimauma, which caused approximately $500,000 in damage.

     Although ALF activists have carried out numerous multimillion dollar arson attacks, the ALF has also consistently targeted fur farms in a campaign of animal “liberations.” The ALF Information Service web site provides information detailing how and when to strike a fur farm. Individuals interested in “hitting” a fur farm are encouraged to scout out the farm to determine the types of security measures in place, the best time to target a facility, and when pelting will begin (the web site explains that security measures are typically increased during pelting season). The web site further explains that fur farmers may relax security precautions after pelting season, and that “if at all possible pelting/skinning/feed sheds can be burned to the ground or have extensive damage done to them by using paint or acid. Pelting machines, equipment and feeding tractors can also be damaged.”4

The ALF’s attacks against animal enterprises are closely emulated by the movement's environmental counterpart, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). While the level of cross-affiliation between the two movements is unclear at this time, extremists adhering to ALF and ELF ideologies often use the same tactics and spokespersons, suggesting some degree of interaction and, perhaps, coordination. In addition, the web sites of the two movements often intermingle claims of responsibility for destructive activities, further suggesting some level of operational coordination.

     The ELF specifically advocates arson and the destruction of laboratories/research facilities that use animals for scientific study, fur farms, horse ranches, meat-processing plants, and corporations associated with the forest and logging industry. Collectively, the ELF refers to these acts as “monkeywrenching.”

     According to ELF literature posted on the ALF Frontline News Service, the ELF movement is an “international underground organization consisting of autonomous groups of people who carry out direct action according to E.L.F. guidelines.” These guidelines, posted on the ELF web site, are as follows:

I. to inflict economic damage to those who profit from the destruction and exploitation of the natural environment;

II. to reveal and educate the public on the atrocities committed against the environment and all the species which cohabitate in it; and

III. to take all necessary precautions against harming any animal, human and non-human.

The group’s literature also claims that the ELF “operates in groups called cells that may consist of one to many individuals working together. Each cell is autonomous not only to the public, but also to one another. This secure structure helps to keep activists out of jail and free to continue conducting actions.” Through acts of sabotage, the ELF’s goal is to inflict as much economic damage as possible on corporations whose interests are perceived to be at odds with the environment.5 The ELF may be best known for the October 19, 1998 arson fires at the Vail Ski Resort in Vail, Colorado, in which four ski lifts, a restaurant, a picnic facility, and a utility building were destroyed. The fires were set at multiple structures in two different locations on the top of Vail Mountain (elevation approximately 11,200 feet). Total structural loss was estimated at approximately $12 million. On October 21, 1998, the ELF, claiming sole responsibility for the arson on behalf of the lynx, sent an e-mail message to several news agencies in Colorado. The message warned that further action would be taken if necessary.

     Violent extremism on behalf of animal rights and the environment is clearly on the rise in the United States. Much like terrorist groups of the past, animal rights and environmental terrorists are adopting increasingly militant positions with respect to their ideology and chosen tactics. Terrorists who engage in criminal activity on behalf of these causes have continued to distinguish themselves from their counterparts in the mainstream animal welfare and conservation movements, who oppose the inhumane treatment of animals and environmental degradation but choose legal and nonviolent means of opposition.

     Given the increasing frequency and intensity in activity, law enforcement officials are increasingly faced with the challenge to respond to animal rights and ecoterrorism at the local, state, and national levels. Investigations of extremist acts perpetrated by the ALF and the ELF pose formidable challenges, given the focus of these movements on evidence destruction, secrecy, and operational security.

 

1 See the ALF “Diary of
Actions” at
www.enviroweb.org/ALFIS.
2 Bent L. Smith, Terrorism in
America: Pipe Bombs and Pipe
Dreams (Albany, N.Y.: State
University of New York Press,
1994), p. 1349.
3 Constance Holden, “Animal
rightists trash MSU lab,”
American Association for the
Advancement of Science,
vol. 255, no. 5050, p. 1349.

4 www.animalliberation.net

5 The Seattle Times “Eco-Terrorism, Radical environmentalists’ sabotage has cost business, developers millions,” May 1, 2000.

Photograph of vadalism by E L F

 

THE USA PATRIOT ACT

     On October 26, 2001, the President signed the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001” (USA PATRIOT Act).6 This major piece of legislation, drafted in direct response to the terrorist attack of September 11, consists of more than 150 sections. The Act is far-reaching in the areas of law it touches. Changes were made to national security authorities, the substantive criminal law, immigration law, money-laundering statutes, victim assistance statutes, as well as other areas. Summarized below are some of the major changes the Act made to bolster the FBI's capabilities in the fight against terrorism.

     On the national security front, the modifications made by the USA PATRIOT Act were geared toward improving the process by which federal law enforcement officials obtain legal authority for conducting surveillance and searching for agents of a foreign power; strengthening the sharing and coordinating of information at the national level; and issuing subpoenas for certain records associated with national security investigations.

The Act made several amendments to the “Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978” (FISA).7 FISA provides a formal procedure, approved by Congress, for the government to obtain court orders authorizing the use of electronic surveillance and physical searches within the United States to obtain “foreign intelligence information.”8 In practice, the language of the statute was interpreted over the years to mean that the gathering of foreign intelligence information, as opposed to criminal prosecution, had to be the “primary” purpose for requesting surveillance or search authority under FISA. Section 218 of the “USA PATRIOT Act” altered this so that the gathering of foreign intelligence now must be a "significant" purpose for requesting an order from the FISA Court. The practical effect of this change is to allow personnel involved in FISA surveillance or searches to consult with law enforcement officials to coordinate efforts to investigate or protect against attacks, terrorism, sabotage, or clandestine intelligence activities.

     Other modifications made to FISA by the USA PATRIOT Act include the expansion of the number of judges who review applications for FISA orders from seven to 11; extension of the duration of electronic surveillance and search orders on certain categories of individuals determined to be “agents of a foreign power”; granting of “roving” authority which allows the FBI to efficiently serve orders on communications carriers and thus meet the challenges posed by agents of a foreign power who rapidly switch telephone carriers, cell phones, or Internet accounts as a way of thwarting surveillance; and modification to the legal standard for compelling the production and type of business records.

     The USA PATRIOT Act changed key features of existing National Security Letter (NSL) authority. NSLs are a type of subpoena issued in foreign counterintelligence and international terrorism investigations to obtain records under the statutory authority of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (telephone and Internet Service Provider records), the Right to Financial Privacy Act (financial institution records), and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (records from credit bureaus). Congress changed the legal standard for this authority to require that the information sought be relevant to an ongoing investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities. The change in predication for this investigative tool allowed the FBI Director to delegate signature authority for NSLs to the Special Agents in Charge of FBI field offices.

     The Act also created a new definition of “domestic terrorism,” in order to correspond to the existing definition of “international terrorism.” The term is defined to mean activities occurring primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States involving acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state and appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.

     On the criminal side, the definition of a federal crime of terrorism was modified to include several offenses likely to be committed by terrorists, including a number of aircraft violence crimes and certain computer crimes. New federal offenses include attacks on mass transportation systems, vehicles, facilities or passengers; harboring or concealing persons who have committed or are about to commit a variety of terrorist offenses; expansion of the prohibition on providing material support or resources to terrorists to include expert advice and assistance; and possessing a biological agent or toxin of a type or in a quantity that is not reasonably justified for specifically defined purposes. Additionally, the “International Money Laundering Abatement and Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001” was incorporated into the USA PATRIOT Act and was intended to significantly increase the United States’ ability to combat the financing of terrorism. In making these modifications to existing laws, Congress intended to strengthen the capabilities of federal law enforcement in the fight against terrorism while simultaneously protecting civil liberties. All FBI investigations are authorized in accordance with strict guidelines set down by the Attorney General of the United States. One set of these guidelines, the Guidelines on General Crimes, Racketeering Enterprises, and Terrorism Enterprise Investigations, makes clear that investigations of suspected terrorists will not be carried out on the basis of race, ethnicity, or religious affiliation. Additionally, the amended legal authorities stipulate that no investigation of a U.S. person may be conducted solely on the basis of activities protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

The image in its original context on the page: www.fbi.gov/.../terror/terror2000_2001.htm
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A Coded Signal To Attack the US?

Posted by Gabrielle Cusumano on Saturday, July 14, 2007 8:53:56 AM

 

"A new FBI analysis of al Qaeda messages, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, warns that “continued messages that convey their strategic intent to strike the U.S. homeland and U.S. interests worldwide should not be discounted as merely deceptive noise.”
______________________________________________________________________________________

Latest Tape - Did al-Qaeda Send A Coded Signal To Attack

By News Admin | July 13, 2007

Fearing a possible coded signal to attack, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials are studying an unusual pattern of words in the latest audiotape from al Qaeda’s No. 2 man, Ayman al Zawahri.On the tape, posted on the Internet Wednesday, Zawahri repeats one phrase three times at the end of his message.

Have I not conveyed? Oh God be my witness.

Have I not conveyed? Oh God be my witness.

Have I not conveyed? Oh God be my witness.

A new FBI analysis of al Qaeda messages, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, warns that “continued messages that convey their strategic intent to strike the U.S. homeland and U.S. interests worldwide should not be discounted as merely deceptive noise.”

Intelligence analysts are also investigating technical clues that Zawahri’s most recent audio message was phoned in via computer phone, using voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP.

The ease and frequency of Zawahri’s propaganda messages is one of the factors that have led U.S. intelligence analysts to worry abut a possible attack against the United States this summer.

The new FBI analysis, reviewing more than 70 al Qaeda messages over the last 14 years, found a recurring theme of “the duty to kill Americans — both military and civilian.”

Source - The Blotter

“Have I not conveyed? Oh God be my witness”. These are the same words used by Muhammad in his final sermon, delivered on the Ninth Day of Dhul Hijjah 10 A.H (632 A.D.) in the Uranah Valley of mount Arafat in Mecca.

“Ye people! Listen to my words: I will deliver a message to you, for I know not whether, after this year, I shall ever be amongst you here again. O people! verily your blood, your property and your honor are sacred and inviolable until you appear before your Lord, as this day and this month are sacred for all. Verily you will meet your Lord and you will be held answerable for your actions. Have I not conveyed the message? O Allah! Be my witness. He who has any trust with him, should restore it to the person who deposited it with him. Beware, no one committing a crime is responsible for it but he himself. Neither the son is responsible for the crime of his father, nor the father responsible for the crime of his son.”

In the final passage Muhammad states it again saying, “All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness, O God, that I have conveyed your message to your people”.

From his words, Muhammad appeared to know that this would be his final sermon and in many ways it was his farewell. Is al-Zawahiri using these words to convey the same message…? A farewell, believing his time is short. If so, it could be significant.

Topics: Homeland Security News | No Comments »

Terror Leader: U.S. Attack Will Dwarf London Bombings

By Homeland Security NTARC News | July 13, 2007

As senior intelligence and law enforcement officials met again today in the White House Situation Room to deal with the “summer terror threat,” a top terror commander said an attack was coming that would dwarf the failed bombings in London and Glasgow.

Taliban military commander Mansour Dadullah, in an interview broadcast on ABC News’ “World News With Charles Gibson,” said the London attacks were “not enough” and that bigger attacks were coming.

“You will, God willing, be witness to more attacks,” he told a Pakistani journalist in an interview conducted just four days ago.

Just last month, Dadullah presided over what was termed a terror training camp graduation ceremony in Pakistan, supposedly dispatching attack teams to the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Germany.

In this new interview, Dadullah talked about the ease with which he and his men operate inside Pakistan.

“We have many friends,” he said. “It is very easy for us to go in and out of the tribal areas. It is no problem.”

Indeed, the rugged mountains of Pakistan have emerged as a safe haven for al Qaeda and the Taliban.

“They are the central front for al Qaeda,” said Seth Jones, who studies the area for the RAND Corporation, a national security think-tank. “They are the area al Qaeda has based its international and regional operations. It is a very serious threat to the U.S. security,” he said.

Pakistan continues to deny al Qaeda enjoys a safe haven in its territory.

Source -Read More At The Blotter

Topics: Homeland Security News | No Comments »

National Intelligence Estimate - al Qaeda Preparing To Strike U.S.

By News Admin | July 12, 2007

Al Qaeda is stepping up its efforts to sneak terror operatives into the United States and has acquired most of the capabilities it needs to strike here, according to a new U.S. intelligence assessment, The Associated Press has learned.

The draft National Intelligence Estimate is expected to paint an increasingly worrisome portrait of al Qaeda’s ability to use its base along the Pakistan-Afghan border to launch and inspire attacks, even as Bush administration officials say the U.S. is safer nearly six years into the war on terror.

Among the key findings of the classified estimate, which is still in draft form and must be approved by all 16 U.S. spy agencies:

Al Qaeda is probably still pursuing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons and would use them if its operatives developed sufficient capability.

The terror group has been able to restore three of the four key tools it would need to launch an attack on U.S. soil: a safe haven in Pakistan’s tribal areas, operational lieutenants and senior leaders. It could not immediately be learned what the missing fourth element is.

Read More

All Credit to National Terror Alert at: http://www.nationalterroralert.com/
__________________________________________________________________

Brian Ross and ABC News' The Blotter Reports of July 13, 2007

Signal to Attack? Worries Over Latest al Qaeda Tape

 

July 13, 2007 12:36 PM

Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report:

Signaltoattac_mn Fearing a possible coded signal to attack, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials are studying an unusual pattern of words in the latest audiotape from al Qaeda's No. 2 man, Ayman al Zawahri.

On the tape, posted on the Internet Wednesday, Zawahri repeats one phrase three times at the end of his message.

Have I not conveyed? Oh God be my witness.

Have I not conveyed? Oh God be my witness.

Have I not conveyed? Oh God be my witness.

A new FBI analysis of al Qaeda messages, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, warns that "continued messages that convey their strategic intent to strike the U.S. homeland and U.S. interests worldwide should not be discounted as merely deceptive noise."

THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS

Intelligence analysts are also investigating technical clues that Zawahri's most recent audio message was phoned in via computer phone, using voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP.

The ease and frequency of Zawahri's propaganda messages is one of the factors that have led U.S. intelligence analysts to worry about a possible attack against the United States this summer.

The new FBI analysis, reviewing more than 70 al Qaeda messages over the last 14 years, found a recurring theme of "the duty to kill Americans -- both military and civilian."

Do you have a tip for Brian Ross and the Investigative Team?

All Credit to ABC News and Brian Ross at:http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/07/signal-to-attac.html

and

Exclusive: Terror Commander: New Attack Will Dwarf Failed Bomb Plot

 

July 13, 2007 4:37 PM

Brian Ross and Maddy Sauer Report:

Terrorcommande_mn As senior intelligence and law enforcement officials met again today in the White House Situation Room to deal with the "summer terror threat," a top terror commander said an attack was coming that would dwarf the failed bombings in London and Glasgow.

Taliban military commander Mansour Dadullah, in an interview  broadcast on ABC News' "World News With Charles Gibson," said the London attacks were "not enough" and that bigger attacks were coming.

"You will, God willing, be witness to more attacks," he told a Pakistani journalist in an interview conducted just four days ago.

Photos Inside an al Qaeda/Taliban 'Graduation'

Just last month, Dadullah presided over what was termed a terror training camp graduation ceremony in Pakistan, supposedly dispatching attack teams to the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Germany.

In this new interview, Dadullah talked about the ease with which he and his men operate inside Pakistan.

THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS

"We have many friends," he said. "It is very easy for us to go in and out of the tribal areas. It is no problem."

Indeed, the rugged mountains of Pakistan have emerged as a safe haven for al Qaeda and the Taliban.

"They are the central front for al Qaeda," said Seth Jones, who studies the area for the RAND Corporation, a national security think-tank. "They are the area al Qaeda has based its international and regional operations. It is a very serious threat to the U.S. security," he said.

Pakistan continues to deny al Qaeda enjoys a safe haven in its territory.

Exclusive Video Terror Chief: Attack on the U.S. Is Coming

"The problem is people don’t understand the local environment," the Pakistani ambassador to the United States, Mahmud Ali Durrani, told the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

"Pakistan is doing more than its share. We have done a lot, we have captured a lot, we've killed a lot, and we continue to do it not just for your sake, but more so for our own sake," he said.

In testimony before Congress this week, U.S. intelligence officials were straightforward in saying they believe Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan and freely operating there.

"It's not that we lack the ability to go into that space," said Tom Fingar of the office of the Director of National Intelligence.

"But we have chosen not to do so without the permission of the Pakistani government," Fingar told members of Congress who demanded to know why the U.S. did not take more decisive action against a known enemy.

U.S. officials say Pakistan consistently denies the U.S. military permission to go after known al Qaeda training camps.

The situation has grown even worse since February, officials say, when Vice President Dick Cheney traveled to Islamabad to demand Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf take action. 

"Their (al Qaeda's) situation is actually better today than it was even then," said the RAND Corporation's Jones.

"The U.S. has provided $5.6 billion in coalition support funds to Pakistan over the past five years, with zero accountability," said Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-Calif., at the hearing.

"Why is Pakistan still being paid these large sums of money, even after publicly declaring that it is significantly cutting back patrols in the most important border area?" he asked.

Do you have a tip for Brian Ross and the Investigative Team?


All Credit to ABC News and Brian Ross at:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/07/terror-commande.html
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"GAO Stings Nuclear Agency: Obtains License To Buy Radio Active Materials" ABC News Reports

Posted by Gabrielle Cusumano on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 9:52:54 PM
"To start, the investigators set up a dummy construction company that in reality was no more than a mail drop in Martinsburg, W.Va.  Twenty-eight days and no questions from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission later, the "company" received a license to legally buy certain quantities of Americium-241 and Cesium-137. "

 

GAO Stings Nuclear Agency; Obtains License to Buy Radioactive Materials

July 11, 2007 6:57 PM

Brian Ross and Joseph Rhee Report:  From ABC NEWS The Blotter

Gaostingsnucl_mn Congressional investigators, in an undercover sting on the federal agency charged with protecting the U.S. from a radioactive attack, found out how easy it might be for terrorists to get their hands on the materials for a dirty bomb.

Their radioactive material of choice?  Americium-241, which is commonly used in certain kinds of construction equipment, called moisture-density gauges, and is "incredibly toxic," according to Daniel Hirsch, the president of the Committee to Bridge the Gap, a nuclear watchdog group.

"Americium is a material very similar to plutonium," Hirsch told ABC News. "In fact, it's about 50 times more toxic than plutonium gram for gram."

Photos How Easy Is It to Buy the Materials for a Dirty Bomb?

To start, the investigators set up a dummy construction company that in reality was no more than a mail drop in Martinsburg, W.Va.

Twenty-eight days and no questions from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission later, the "company" received a license to legally buy certain quantities of Americium-241 and Cesium-137.

"It was much too easy, much too easy, to get the licenses that would have allowed individuals setting up a dummy corporation to obtain enough material to create a dirty bomb," said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who initiated the investigation in his role as ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

Dirty bombs are composed of a conventional explosives and radioactive material but don't generate a nuclear explosion.

Documents seized from al Qaeda operative Dhiren Barot, who was sentenced to life in prison in the U.K. last November, detail plans for a dirty bomb with Americium that would "maximize terror and chaos" in a series of coordinated attacks.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it regrets issuing the license without first checking out the buyer, but it stressed it doesn't believe a radioactive dirty bomb is a significant threat.

"If the effects are psychological and not real, we should not hype it," Edward McGaffigan, a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission since 1996, said.  "Things nuclear get hyped, things chemical apparently do not."

"The problem is that we live in a post 9-11 world," said Sen. Coleman. "The NRC, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has been operating in a post-1945 world."

In congressional hearings slated for tomorrow, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to announce changes in its policy that would mandate one of its agents to personally visit the site of any company that wants to buy radioactive material to make sure they are legitimate.

Also

story image

National security investigates a potentially U.S.-bound al Qaeda cell.

Play video | » More ABC News video
» Show all news video

All credit to ABC News  at:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/07/goa-stings-nucl.html
______________________________________________________________________________________
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Carver Elementary School Updated "Mosque and State: Taxpayer Dollars, Time Devoted to Islam in Schools" CNS News

Posted by Gabrielle Cusumano on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 6:36:54 PM

“Free to pray at recess”

Christians, Jews want equal time for prayer in San Diego school district that accommodates Muslim students obligated to pray five times a day toward Mecca"   (2nd article here)_______________________________________________________________________________
Mosque and State: Taxpayer Dollars, Time Devoted to Islam in Schools
By Fred Lucas
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
July 10, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - Decisions by public schools and colleges to provide special prayer times or to make other allowances for Muslim students have raised eyebrows -- but not all groups that oppose expressions of religion in the public domain are speaking out.

Some religious liberty advocates -- who have long battled efforts to purge government of religious displays, Bible readings and graduation prayers -- regard the Muslim-accomodation trend as an opportunity that should be seized.

In one instance, the University of Michigan is preparing to spend $25,000 to install two footbaths at its Dearborn campus to accommodate Muslim students wanting to wash their feet before prayers.

Muslims initially were willing to raise the money to cover the cost, but the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union -- often a foe of faith in the public square -- said there was no constitutional reason why the university could not fund the project.

Kary Moss, director of the group, told the Detroit Free Press that providing the footbaths was "reasonable" and "an attempt to deal with a problem, not an attempt to make it easier for Muslims to pray."

A Michigan ACLU spokeswoman declined to comment further until a formal opinion is issued on July 14.

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a group that frequently sides with the ACLU in such disputes, believes the decision to spend the money on the footbaths singles out one religion for special treatment.

"There are serious constitutional questions when you have non-neutral accommodations available that's not equal to everyone," the group's assistant legal director, Richard Katskee, told Cybercast News Service. "There is no particular religious appearance to footbaths, but they serve no secular use. It's like building a church on campus and saying its okay because everyone is allowed in."

Muslim students on the Dearborn campus defended the decision. Providing the footbaths is not just a religious accommodation, argued Majed Afana, vice president of the Muslim Student Association chapter. It's also a safety measure so students won't fall while washing their feet in conventional sinks, he said.

"Various accommodations are made for students on campus," Afana told Cybercast News Service. "It's something for all the students. It's not a school endorsement of religion. It's available to every student. I heard sports people say they would use it. I heard women say they would use it in the summertime if they wore flip flops."

A university statement calls the footbaths "a reflection of our values of respect, tolerance and safe accommodation of student needs."

University spokesman Terry Gallagher said university space is allotted for other religious student groups, which -- like all other campus clubs -- are eligible to receive university money.

Citing a voluntary freshman survey, he said about 11 percent of the student body at the Dearborn campus is Muslim.

The footbaths in Michigan are similar to one that will be provided for students at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College. Yet at that same college, the administration reportedly banned a campus coffee cart from playing Christmas carols last year and warned faculty and staff to refrain from displays that represent a particular religious holiday during December. The administration did not respond to queries.

"There is clearly a double standard couched in multi-culturalism and diversity, to the detriment of other religions, most especially Christianity," said Brian Rooney, spokesman for the Thomas Moore Law Center, a Christian legal group.

'Accommodate all faiths'

Another school stoking controversy in this area is Carver Elementary in the San Diego Unified School District, which provides students with a 15-minute break each afternoon at what is traditionally a Muslim prayer time.

District spokesman Jack Brandais said students aren't required to pray during this time. Also, other students in the San Diego school district conduct Bible studies and other faith activities during lunch, recess and after school, he added.

"Federal law says that students are allowed to participate in religious practice during non-instructional time," Brandais told Cybercast News Service.

But critics say the problem in this and other cases is that the extra time and space is being allotted for a specific religion, thus favoring it above others.

"The absence of extending that accommodation to kids of other faiths clearly amounts to a state endorsement of religion," Brad Dacus, president of the Sacramento-based Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), a religious liberties legal group, told Cybercast News Service.

Rather than banning Islamic accommodations, however, PJI is urging the district to become a national model by allowing voluntary prayer time for children of all faiths.

"I do see a golden opportunity for the district to provide true tolerance -- not abolition, but true accommodation to allow the spiritual needs of students to be met without amounting the endorsement of any particular faith," Dacus said. "One thing that will not be tolerated is a school district accommodating prayer for one faith, but not for all."

But Katskee of Americans United insists that isn't the solution. The San Diego school prayer time violates the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution, he insisted.

"To say if Muslims do something unlawful, then Christians and Jews should get to do something unlawful as well is not the way to go about it," Katskee said. "A violation is not solved by extending the violation to others."

(In another California case, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006 ruled in favor of the Byron Union School District after parents sued over a seventh-grade history class that required students to take Muslim names, memorize Muslim prayers and verses from the Koran, and give up something, such as watching TV, to represent fasting. The court ruled that the school, in Contra Costa County, was using the role-playing to educate the students about Islam, not indoctrinating them. The 9th Circuit is the same court that in 2002 declared the words "under God" to be unconstitutional in the Pledge of Allegiance.)

'Logistical requirements'

Like many other schools, L.V. Beckner High School in Richardson, Tex., did not allow students to pray in school. But after a Muslim student sued, it clarified the policy in 2005 and now allows prayer during lunch breaks or in a designated praying area.

That same year, the Cliffside Park, N.J., school district allowed 14-year-old Muslim girl to use her lunch time to pray.

In both cases, the schools -- which had first attempted to prohibit the prayer -- said they were providing non-instructional time permitted by the law.

An allotted prayer time for Muslim students differs from setting aside school time for other prayers because Islam requires prayers at a specific time in the day, said Ibraham Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).

"Muslims just have logistical requirements that need to be filled," he told Cybercast News Service.

As for the foot-washing facilities, Hooper said Muslims have been criticized before for washing their feet in public sinks. "We get it both ways," he said.

"We get criticism from the right -- from the same people who demand real accommodations for their own religion," Hooper said.

(CNSNews.com correspondent Whitney Stewart contributed to this report.)

ALL CREDIT TO CNS NEWS AT:
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200707/CUL20070710c.html_

______________________________________________________________________________________
"In the early 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited state sponsorship of prayers in public schools. But now the question has a new slant as some schools have taken steps to accommodate Muslim students’ strict obligation to pray five times a day towards Mecca. "


“Free to pray at recess”

Christians, Jews want equal time for prayer in San Diego school district that accommodates Muslim students obligated to pray five times a day toward Mecca


San Diego public school students may have some time set aside in their school day to invoke Allah's blessings, ask the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, or praise the Lord -- if Christian and Jewish students have religious rights equal to those of Muslims.

In the early 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited state sponsorship of prayers in public schools. But now the question has a new slant as some schools have taken steps to accommodate Muslim students’ strict obligation to pray five times a day towards Mecca.

Should schools accommodate the rights of Christians, Jews, and other believers as well? The Pacific Justice Institute, a non-profit legal defense organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom, parental rights, ?and other civil liberties, says the answer is an obvious "Yes."

“At Carver Elementary School Muslim students have been accommodated in order to worship and pray in a classroom specifically set aside for this purpose during the 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. school hour on a daily basis,” noted Pacific Justice attorney Peter Lepiscopo
in a June 7 letter to the School Board of the San Diego Unified School District.

Since “the Board is further developing a Daily Prayer Time Policy,” Lepiscopo wrote, “Pacific Justice is requesting not only that Carver Elementary offer the same prayer time for Christians, Jews, and other believers” but also that any policy “should be extended to Grades K through 12 throughout the District.”

In a statement to the press, San Diego Unified School District spokesman Jack Brandeis contended that the Institute’s requests go beyond the accommodations the district is making for Muslim students. At Carver Elementary, Brandeis said, students can choose to go to recess or to pray for about ten minutes during the school day. Students of any faith are free to pray at recess as well.

The District says that going beyond this would put them in violation of the law.

"Voluntary, student-initiated prayer in schools should not be controversial,” Pacific Justice president Brad Dacus contended in a press release. “The federal courts have held that schools do not endorse everything they fail to censor, and this could be a terrific opportunity for a whole community to recognize the importance of faith in our youth -- without government involvement or interference."

Kevin Snider, chief counsel for Pacific Justice Institute, informed California Catholic Daily in a telephone interview that in the last 18 months, the Institute has organized more than a dozen Pastors' Seminars “up and down the state” on a variety of topics, with more meetings scheduled in the next few months.

Snider reports that “Pacific Justice gets three to six dozen participants -- drawn from local ministerial associations -- at a typical morning or luncheon meeting discussing legal options. PJI is fully prepared to train California pastors, priests and rabbis to have a role in encouraging public school students in their faith while staying within constitutional boundaries."

All Credit to California Catholic Daily  at: http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle









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'Terrorism 'on the cheap in Britain' home-made explosive devices contained hydrogen peroxide and chapatti flour in deadly quanities.

Posted by Gabrielle Cusumano on Monday, July 09, 2007 9:15:45 PM
 [...]"Britain as yet untouched by Islamic terrorism, workers didn't think twice about the request for a massive stockpile of highly concentrated 18 per cent hydrogen peroxide - a chemical normally used in small quantities to bleach hair."


Tue 10 Jul 2007

Terrorism 'on the cheap' as four plotters bartered for bomb materials

JASON CUMMING

THE sheer scale of the order for the potent chemical raised eyebrows at the cosmetics factory on the nondescript industrial estate in Renfrewshire.

It was two weeks before the 7 July bombings targeting London's transport network. But with Britain as yet untouched by Islamic terrorism, workers didn't think twice about the request for a massive stockpile of highly concentrated 18 per cent hydrogen peroxide - a chemical normally used in small quantities to bleach hair.

They also would not have realised that the new batch of the substance they manufactured was destined to become a key component of the home-made bombs being constructed by a gang determined to launch an attack "bigger and better" than the looming 7 July explosions.

The 52-litre (14 gallon) order placed by a north London shop was too large to be filled immediately by Professional Beauty Systems - based in Inchinnan, near Erskine.

With the benefit of hindsight, Simon McPartland, the firm's general manager, last night recalled the request in June 2005 as "quite a large order for that strength of product".

He told The Scotsman: "It's a very commonly used product in the hairdressing trade and we sell to wholesalers in quite considerable quantities. We supplied it in good faith. We had no idea it would be used to make bombs."

Muktar Said Ibrahim, Yassin Omar, Ramzi Mohammed and Hussain Osman - who were convicted of conspiracy to murder yesterday - began to prepare for the 21 July plot months earlier. It was a journey that would also lead at least two of them to Scotland on a camping trip the jury was told to "get fit for jihad".

They bought the first components of their home-made explosive devices in April 2005, eventually collecting more than 440 litres (97 gallons) of hydrogen peroxide.

The court was told that one puzzled shopkeeper was informed the buyers were carpenters who required the substance to bleach wood.

Another inquisitive salesman was told the chemical would be used for "stripping wallpaper from walls", the jury heard.

The stockpile of four-litre bottles included the batch supplied by the Renfrewshire firm following an order by Pak Cosmetics in Finsbury Park, north London.

At the time, Professional Beauty Systems had only 36 of four-litre bottles in stock and had to make a new batch of another 16 bottles on 24 June, 2005.

The jury heard the gang was offered hydrogen peroxide at the trade price of £5.40 per bottle. Ibrahim later managed to negotiate a 20p per unit discount as he was buying in bulk.

More than 200 empty bottles were recovered at Omar's flat in north London when police raided it four days after the attacks.

It was at this makeshift "bomb factory" where the gang boiled the chemical to a concentration of 70 per cent to increase its explosive potential. This process took several hours, with ringleader Ibrahim overseeing events.

Chapatti flour bought by Mohammed was to act as the accelerant, the fuel mixed with the hydrogen peroxide which would explode when detonated.

To trigger the device, Ibrahim made detonators up to four weeks before the failed attacks using his own version of TATP - triacetone triperoxide which is nicknamed "Mother of Satan" by Islamic extremists - from liquid hydrogen peroxide, nail polish remover and acid.

The detonator, placed next to the main charge in a 6.25-litre plastic container, was a cardboard tube filled with homemade TATP. Inside the tube lay a small screw-in torch bulb connected to long wires and a connector and battery.

The theory was that when a current passed through the bulb, the filament would heat up, igniting the TATP inside the glass and the rest of the detonator. This, in turn, would set off the main charge.

On the night of 20 July and into the early hours of the day of the failed attacks, the four would-be "martyrs" sat in a circle on black bin liners at Mohammed's home and spent several hours assembling their own bombs, instructed by Ibrahim.

The explosives were packed in plastic tubs, with screws, bolts, tacks and other pieces of metal taped to the outside of the containers as shrapnel.

Police said scientific tests on the devices proved they were all viable. They do not know for certain why they did not work.

The court heard they failed at the last moment because of problems with the explosive mixture, hot weather or mere "good fortune".

The hydrogen peroxide which was manufactured in Renfrewshire was not the gang's not the only link to Scotland. The jury was told that two of the men convicted yesterday went on a camping trip to Scotland in 2004 to "get fit for jihad".

Some members of the gang had also been under police surveillance during a camping trip to the Lake District almost 15 months before their alleged attempt to bomb three Tube trains and a bus.

Their photographs were taken as they lined up with others on the trip, on a bank holiday weekend in May 2004, apparently to take part in prayer.

Ibrahim returned to Britain from a trip to Pakistan in March 2005. He was in the country at the same time as two of the 7 July bombers - Shehzad Tanweer and Mohammad Sidique Khan - but officials do not know if they ever met.

When the devices failed to explode on 21 July, the would-be suicide bombers fled, sparking a massive police manhunt. Police seized 28,000 CCTV tapes in the aftermath of the attack. About 7,500 were viewed - the equivalent of 18,000 hours of footage.

In one of the most chilling images shown to the jury, Mohammed attempts to detonate his charge with his backpack facing a mother and young child.

Investigators believe the transit system was not the original target, but was chosen following the successful attacks two weeks earlier. Their original target is unknown.

One police source last night admitted that the use of hydrogen peroxide - which also featured as a raw material bombs made by the 7 July terrorists - was worrying.

He added: "It isn't a case of mass international funding of terrorism. This is one of the main difficulties of the terrorist threat we are facing - it is cheap."

Related topic

All Credit for this article to The Scotsman: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1072592007

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"The Brits That Plotted To Wreak Death and Carnage" The Times Online (UK)

Posted by Gabrielle Cusumano on Sunday, July 01, 2007 2:52:47 PM

"Members of the five-man cell, who were jailed for life in April, were directed by “core” Al-Qaeda figures after training in terror camps in Pakistan. "

July 1, 2007

Police check Bluewater gang’s links to attempt to bomb clubs

David Leppard and Dipesh Gadher

Detectives hunting the West End car bombers believe the suspects are most likely to be home-grown extremists linked to an overlapping network of terrorist cells implicated in previous plots against British targets.

Some may be known to police and be on the run after escaping Home Office control orders.

Those in the frame may be associates of the so-called Crevice gang, which planned to attack the Ministry of Sound nightclub in central London and the Bluewater shopping mall in Kent.

Members of the five-man cell, who were jailed for life in April, were directed by “core” Al-Qaeda figures after training in terror camps in Pakistan.

The Brits that plotted to wreak death and carnage

Five men who hoped to kill thousands with a fertiliser bomb were described as ruthless misfits who betrayed their country

Background

The brother of one jailed gang member, who has been on the run since breaching a government-imposed control order six weeks ago, is said to have been keen to bomb a nightclub.

“There is a real possibility the suspects may have a connection through a family of cells with the Crevice gang,” said a senior government security official. “It is very possible these people met each other at training camps.”

The suspects may also have drawn inspiration from another cell led by Dhiren Barot, an Al-Qaeda “general”, who drew up sophisticated plans to target London hotels and office buildings by parking limousines packed with gas canisters in underground car parks.

Barot, now serving 30 years in prison, outlined his plot in a document called Gas Limos Project, which he prepared for Al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan.

In the document, which was found on a laptop computer, Barot wrote: “Place 12-13 full size cylinders in each limo. A few should be sprayed yellow because yellow cylinders in the West signify toxic gas.

“This will aid to spread terror and chaos when the emergency service teams arrive. Underneath and around the cylinders generously place some loose pieces of charcoal (that have been presoaked in petrol). Place a 10-litre petrol can containing nails next to each cylinder.”

Barot envisaged detonating the cars with grenades or pipe bombs. “Estimated casualties to be hundreds if the building collapses,” he said.

Security officials insist there was no intelligence pointing to a car bomb attack in the West End. But there are concerns that extremists who were on the surveillance back-burner could have escaped their attentions.

“They are saying this is leftfield, that it came out of the blue,” said a senior Whitehall official. “What that means is they think it’s possible that these were people they have been aware of who suddenly did this.

“It may be that these are people that they know about – but just hadn’t realised what they were up to.”

Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP and security expert, said: “The real nervousness for the agencies is that these may be people they know but haven’t picked up. It’s happened before.

“It calls into question the strategy about leaving these people in play and not arresting them.”

Such concerns reflect the fall-out from the investigation into the July 7 attacks two years ago, which killed 52 people.

The authorities initially claimed the suicide bombers were unknown “clean skins”, but it soon emerged that Mohammad Sidique Khan, the 7/7 leader, and Shehzad Tanweer had been under surveillance a year earlier.

The two bombers were photographed at meetings with Omar Khyam, the leader of the Crevice gang that was plotting to detonate a fertiliser bomb.

Bugged conversations of the Crevice cell revealed the plotters’ disdain for nightclubs. Discussing the Ministry of Sound, one gang member said: “No one can put their hands up and say they are innocent...those slags dancing around.”

A key member of the Crevice gang was Anthony Garcia. During his trial, an Al-Qaeda supergrass revealed that Garcia’s brother, Lamine Adam, had allegedly wanted to bomb a nightclub and was seeking a formula for explosives.

The supergrass’s testimony was not considered strong enough for prosecution. However, Adam, 26, and his younger brother, Ibrahim, 20, were placed on control orders in February 2006 on the grounds that they planned to kill British soldiers serving abroad.

The two brothers and a friend, Cerie Bullivant, 24, who was put on a control order last July, went on the run six weeks ago. Police think they may have slipped abroad, but they cannot rule out that the trio could still pose a threat within the UK.

Lord Carlile, the government’s terrorism watchdog, said: “I would certainly not view this as a failure by the authorities in any sense,” he said. “Looking for home-grown cells is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Baptism of fire for security trio

It was a baptism of fire for Britain’s new anti-terror team.

Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, was woken by an early morning phone call on Friday alerting her to the attempted attack. She chaired a meeting of the Cobra emergency response committee in her first full day in the job.

Admiral Sir Alan West, 59, the former head of the Royal Navy, is the Home Office security minister. A hero of the Falklands war where his frigate, HMS Ardent, was sunk in an Argentine attack, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Lord Stevens, 64, former commissioner of the Metropolitan police, is the government’s new adviser on international security. Best known internationally for leading the Operation Paget inquiry into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997, which concluded it was an accident.

All Credit to THE TIMES ONLINE (UK) AT: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2010131.ece


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UK fertiliser bomb plot  (Time Line) at: BBC Online In Depth
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/457000/457032/html/nn1page6.stm
Back | Next
Five men have been found guilty of plotting to kill hundreds in an al-Qaeda-linked bomb plot. The international conspiracy included links to the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Two other men on trial at the Old Bailey were found not guilty.

Spider diagram showing known links between accused

Omar Khyam

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Full profile
 Omar Khyam, 26, Crawley

The group's ringleader, Khyam grew up in a secular household. When he was in his late teens, he travelled to Pakistan, without his family’s knowledge, to attend a mujahideen training camp. In 2001, Khyam travelled to Afghanistan to meet the Taleban. He co-organised a training camp in 2003 attended by many of the plotters - and was instrumental in buying bomb ingredients.

Back | Next

THE PAKISTAN CONNECTION
Map of key locations in Pakistan and timeline of events
June-August 2001: Khyam meets friends from 2000 training camp and visits Taleban in Afghanistan. Continues to visit Pakistan.
September-November 2001: Babar moves to Lahore, Waheed Mahmood to Gujar Khan and Amin to Kahuta in Pakistan.
January-March 2002: Khawaja makes trip to Pakistan via UK.
1) Gujar Khan, Feb/March 2003 - Meeting at Waheed's home
Babar says Waheed suggests attacks in UK, after explosives training in Pakistan. Meeting also attended by Garcia, Amin and others.
2) Kohat, May/June 2003 - Training camp
Amin and Khyam learn to use explosives. Babar says Khyam tells him in June that he wants to attack UK "pubs, nightclubs, or trains".
3) Malakand, July/August 2003 - Training camp
Attended by Khyam, Shujah Mahmood (found not guilty), Garcia, Akbar, Khawaja and others. Babar turns back as wife having baby. Weapons training received. Babar says two ammonium nitrate bombs tested.
Waheed Mahmood leaves Pakistan in April 2003, Khawaja in July and Garcia, Shujah Mahmood and Akbar in August.

Pakistan - to which many defendants have family ties - played a key role in the UK fertiliser bomb plot.

Between September 2001 and February 2002, Babar, Amin and Waheed Mahmood all moved there. Khawaja and Khyam were both visitors - the latter also travelling to Afghanistan and meeting the Taleban.

In early 2003, a key meeting took place at Mahmood's Gujar Khan home. According to Babar, Mahmood suggested attacking the UK instead of trying to fight in Afghanistan.

At two training camps, some of the suspects learned to use weapons and explosives. This, says the prosecution, was the "principal purpose" for visiting Pakistan.

Key events also took place in the UK during this period. Babar met Garcia and Khyam who, he says, indicated that he was working for al-Qaeda's third in command.

Khyam was also introduced to Canadian suspect Khawaja at a house in Hayes.


UK fertiliser bomb plot ( page 2)
Back | Next
Fertiliser bought Nov 2003, surveillance starts Feb 2004

Van from Crawley, fertiliser from Burgess Hill, storage in Hanwell
 
 

 
UK fertiliser bomb plot (page 3)

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UK fertiliser bomb plot
Back | Next
Six arrests in UK and one each in US, Pakistan and Canada

As the plot appeared to move towards its final stages and a possible attack, police acted.

On 29 March, Khawaja was arrested in Canada. Hours later, six of the seven British suspects were in custody.

Amin, the final UK suspect, was held in Pakistan in early April - where he claims he was tortured. He was returned to the UK a year later.

Babar, who had gone back to the US, was arrested in New York. He turned supergrass and was central to the trial.

 

With many suspects back in the UK, the bomb plot started to take shape. Some 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser was bought to use as an explosive and put in storage, in Hanwell, West London.

But by February 2004, police and security services were watching gang members and had removed the fertiliser.

When Khawaja visited from Canada to discuss detonators, he was collected by Khyam in a bugged car. A meeting he attended was also watched.

The plotters were also heard discussing possible targets and finalising their plans.

 

 

UK fertiliser bomb plot

Back | Next

Five men have been found guilty of plotting to kill hundreds in an al-Qaeda-linked bomb plot. The international conspiracy included links to the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Two other men on trial at the Old Bailey were found not guilty.

Spider diagram showing known links between accused

Back | Next

 

 

UK fertiliser bomb plot

Back | Next

THE PAKISTAN CONNECTION
Map of key locations in Pakistan and timeline of events
June-August 2001: Khyam meets friends from 2000 training camp and visits Taleban in Afghanistan. Continues to visit Pakistan.
September-November 2001: Babar moves to Lahore, Waheed Mahmood to Gujar Khan and Amin to Kahuta in Pakistan.
January-March 2002: Khawaja makes trip to Pakistan via UK.
1) Gujar Khan, Feb/March 2003 - Meeting at Waheed's home
Babar says Waheed suggests attacks in UK, after explosives training in Pakistan. Meeting also attended by Garcia, Amin and others.
2) Kohat, May/June 2003 - Training camp
Amin and Khyam learn to use explosives. Babar says Khyam tells him in June that he wants to attack UK "pubs, nightclubs, or trains".
3) Malakand, July/August 2003 - Training camp
Attended by Khyam, Shujah Mahmood (found not guilty), Garcia, Akbar, Khawaja and others. Babar turns back as wife having baby. Weapons training received. Babar says two ammonium nitrate bombs tested.
Waheed Mahmood leaves Pakistan in April 2003, Khawaja in July and Garcia, Shujah Mahmood and Akbar in August.

Pakistan - to which many defendants have family ties - played a key role in the UK fertiliser bomb plot.

Between September 2001 and February 2002, Babar, Amin and Waheed Mahmood all moved there. Khawaja and Khyam were both visitors - the latter also travelling to Afghanistan and meeting the Taleban.

In early 2003, a key meeting took place at Mahmood's Gujar Khan home. According to Babar, Mahmood suggested attacking the UK instead of trying to fight in Afghanistan.

At two training camps, some of the suspects learned to use weapons and explosives. This, says the prosecution, was the "principal purpose" for visiting Pakistan.

Key events also took place in the UK during this period. Babar met Garcia and Khyam who, he says, indicated that he was working for al-Qaeda's third in command.

Khyam was also introduced to Canadian suspect Khawaja at a house in Hayes.


Back | Next

 

 

UK fertiliser bomb plot

Back | Next

Fertiliser bought Nov 2003, surveillance starts Feb 2004

Van from Crawley, fertiliser from Burgess Hill, storage in Hanwell
1 of 4

With many suspects back in the UK, the bomb plot started to take shape. Some 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser was bought to use as an explosive and put in storage, in Hanwell, West London.

But by February 2004, police and security services were watching gang members and had removed the fertiliser.

When Khawaja visited from Canada to discuss detonators, he was collected by Khyam in a bugged car. A meeting he attended was also watched.

The plotters were also heard discussing possible targets and finalising their plans.


Back | Next

 

 

UK fertiliser bomb plot

Back | Next

Six arrests in UK and one each in US, Pakistan and Canada

As the plot appeared to move towards its final stages and a possible attack, police acted.

On 29 March, Khawaja was arrested in Canada. Hours later, six of the seven British suspects were in custody.

Amin, the final UK suspect, was held in Pakistan in early April - where he claims he was tortured. He was returned to the UK a year later.

Babar, who had gone back to the US, was arrested in New York. He turned supergrass and was central to the trial.

Back | Next

 

UK fertiliser bomb plot

Back | Next

Five men have been found guilty of plotting to kill hundreds in an al-Qaeda-linked bomb plot. The international conspiracy included links to the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Two other men on trial at the Old Bailey were found not guilty.

Spider diagram showing known links between accused

Back | Next

 

UK fertiliser bomb plot

Back | Next

THE PAKISTAN CONNECTION
Map of key locations in Pakistan and timeline of events
June-August 2001: Khyam meets friends from 2000 training camp and visits Taleban in Afghanistan. Continues to visit Pakistan.
September-November 2001: Babar moves to Lahore, Waheed Mahmood to Gujar Khan and Amin to Kahuta in Pakistan.
January-March 2002: Khawaja makes trip to Pakistan via UK.
1) Gujar Khan, Feb/March 2003 - Meeting at Waheed's home
Babar says Waheed suggests attacks in UK, after explosives training in Pakistan. Meeting also attended by Garcia, Amin and others.
2) Kohat, May/June 2003 - Training camp
Amin and Khyam learn to use explosives. Babar says Khyam tells him in June that he wants to attack UK "pubs, nightclubs, or trains".
3) Malakand, July/August 2003 - Training camp
Attended by Khyam, Shujah Mahmood (found not guilty), Garcia, Akbar, Khawaja and others. Babar turns back as wife having baby. Weapons training received. Babar says two ammonium nitrate bombs tested.
Waheed Mahmood leaves Pakistan in April 2003, Khawaja in July and Garcia, Shujah Mahmood and Akbar in August.

Pakistan - to which many defendants have family ties - played a key role in the UK fertiliser bomb plot.

Between September 2001 and February 2002, Babar, Amin and Waheed Mahmood all moved there. Khawaja and Khyam were both visitors - the latter also travelling to Afghanistan and meeting the Taleban.

In early 2003, a key meeting took place at Mahmood's Gujar Khan home. According to Babar, Mahmood suggested attacking the UK instead of trying to fight in Afghanistan.

At two training camps, some of the suspects learned to use weapons and explosives. This, says the prosecution, was the "principal purpose" for visiting Pakistan.

Key events also took place in the UK during this period. Babar met Garcia and Khyam who, he says, indicated that he was working for al-Qaeda's third in command.

Khyam was also introduced to Canadian suspect Khawaja at a house in Hayes.


Back | Next

 

 

UK fertiliser bomb plot

Back | Next

Fertiliser bought Nov 2003, surveillance starts Feb 2004

Van from Crawley, fertiliser from Burgess Hill, storage in Hanwell
1 of 4

With many suspects back in the UK, the bomb plot started to take shape. Some 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser was bought to use as an explosive and put in storage, in Hanwell, West London.

But by February 2004, police and security services were watching gang members and had removed the fertiliser.

When Khawaja visited from Canada to discuss detonators, he was collected by Khyam in a bugged car. A meeting he attended was also watched.

The plotters were also heard discussing possible targets and finalising their plans.


Back | Next

To Continue with(many pages) article go to:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/457000/457032/html/nn4page1.stm 


Begin Article at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/457000/457032/html/nn1page6.stm

___________________________________________________________________________
New York Post

PROBERS EYE HOMEGROWN GANG

By LEELA de KRETSER

Story Bottom

July 1, 2007 -- The terrorists who packed two Mercedes-Benzes with explosives and left them in busy central London, and those who drove a flaming SUV into a Glasgow airport, are likely homegrown extremists directed by al Qaeda, it was reported yesterday.

As British officials called in the army's special forces to help hunt the suspects, detectives linked them to a known terror cell called the Crevice Gang, the Sunday Times of London reported.

The five men who made up the cell were jailed in April for plotting to attack London's Ministry of Sound nightclub and a shopping mall in Kent.

But sources told the paper that the brother of one of the jailed Crevice terrorists shook off his surveillance and is on the run. Apparently, he has always wanted to bomb a nightclub, the sources said.

"There is a real possibility the suspects may have a connection through a family of cells with the Crevice Gang," a senior government security official told the newspaper.

"It is very possible these people met each other at training camps."

It has previously been reported that the London terror plotters were associated with al Qaeda operative Dhiren Barot, who admitted plotting to blow up the New York Stock Exchange, along with sites in London.

Barot drew up "sophisticated plans" to pack limousines with gas canisters and leave them in underground garages.

The Independent reported yesterday that police think that the first explosion outside of the Tiger Tiger club may have been intended to draw panicking revelers out on to the streets, where they would be have been joined by emergency services.

Then another, bigger bomb in the second Mercedes among them could have been triggered - causing hundreds of deaths and even taking out a building.

Scotland Yard has so far identified three suspects in the foiled attack from surveillance cameras placed around London's streets, according to several media reports.

The Sunday Times also quoted security sources that said Metropolitan cops and domestic spy agency, MI5, had called in the army's Special Reconnaissance Regiment to hunt the car-bomb suspects.

"It's promising. We are on the trail," a senior intelligence official told the Sunday Times.

All Credit For This Article to The New York Post At:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07012007/news/regionalnews/probers_eye_homegrown_gang_regionalnews_leela_de_kretser.htm

__________________________________________________________________________

M15 In The Dock Over 7/7 Failures
01/05/2007

350busbomb By Simon Bucks, Associate Editor, Sky News (Online)

So M15 is in the dock for failing to stop the 7/7 bombers.

The end of the Crevice trial yesterday, which saw five British Asians jailed for planning to cause death and destruction with fertilizer bombs, should have been a good day for the Security Service.

Instead, they are facing new criticism for failing to follow up links between the Crevice plotters and two of the 7/7 bombers.

Is it fair? M15 argue they didn’t follow up the connections because the pair were never identified as being connected with the fertilizer bomb plot, and instead appeared to be petty fraudsters. Maybe: transcripts of conversations between the Crevice gang leader Omar Khyam and the 7/7 bomber Mohammed Sidique Khan records them discussing “operations” and visits to Pakistan training camps.

But there is another side to the argument. M15 remains a relatively small organisation. It cannot possibly put under surveillance everyone who comes into its sights. It is on record as saying that is dealing with more plots than ever, and they are more complex than ever. It has to prioritise. If the government gave M15 more cash to hire more agents, and put more people under surveillance, would that make us safer? And what would be the price?

The logical conclusion of that process is a Stasi style intelligence service, with agents in every street, neighbours spying on neighbours and everyone mistrusting each other.

The 7th July bombings were dreadful atrocities, and it is not surprising that the relatives of those who died want a public inquiry into exactly what happened. It was an especially black day for M15, but set against the successes the intelligence services have had in foiling terrorist plots, is the level of criticism levelled at them proportionate to their failings?
Written by Sky News, 01/05/2007 at:
http://skynews6.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/05/m15_in_the_dock.html

___________________________________________________________________________

We let firebrand preachers plant terrorist seeds - now it's too late

Last Updated: 6:09am BST 05/05/2007


 

The select group invited to bid farewell to Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller as head of MI5 two weeks ago knew that the roof was about to fall in on the service she had led for almost five years.

At its Thames House HQ, newspaper editors and business chiefs mingled with the country's most senior spooks, among them Dame Eliza's successor, Jonathan Evans.

There was praise for her efforts from John Reid, the Home Secretary, who was joined at the party by his predecessors Charles Clarke and Jack Straw.

It was a fitting celebration of a high-flying career that had, necessarily, been spent mainly in the shadows.

But the event that she and they were all waiting for was taking place across London in the Old Bailey, where a jury had already spent three weeks deliberating on the fate of seven British Muslim men accused of a fertiliser bomb plot.

Everyone at the reception realised that when it delivered its verdict, the balloon would go up.

What they knew - and the jury didn't - was that the gang thwarted by MI5's Operation Crevice had been linked to two of the July 7 suicide bombers in London.

More than that, MI5 had them in its sights but considered they were peripheral figures providing support to terrorists.

The trial ended on Monday, since when arguments have raged over who knew what and when; who passed what on to whom; and whether MI5 tried to cover up its failures. Surprisingly, the hue and cry has been led by David Davis, the shadow home secretary, who would become the minister in charge of MI5 if the Tories won back power.

The survivors and the relatives of the dead of July 7 have also been anxious to know whether more could have been done to stop the atrocity. But the controversy has disguised the bigger picture that has emerged since the fertiliser bombers were arrested three years ago.

Operation Crevice was the point at which it became horribly apparent that the terrorist threat was home-grown. More than that, when MI5 discovered after July 7 that the two sets of plotters had been connected, another truth dawned: instead of a loose patchwork of domestic extremists, they were dealing with an organisation.

Furthermore, as both Crevice and July 7 demonstrated, the terrorists were in direct contact with al-Qa'eda leaders in Pakistan. None of this was fully understood when the Crevice plotters were arrested in March 2004.

At the time, police and political leaders were fearful of a major attack, and the atrocities in Madrid, Bali and elsewhere had alerted the public to the threat of what ministers prefer to call "international terrorism."

But while the al-Qa'eda link gave the phenomenon an international dimension, the terror group now "franchises" out its operations to domestic fanatics.

In Britain, the "franchise" is with young men largely from a Pakistani background because they can move easily in and out of the country to the sub-continent. More than 400,000 Britons each year go to Pakistan on innocent family visits.

Another lesson, learned somewhat belatedly, was the influence of the so-called "preachers of hate" who a decade ago had been dismissed as hot heads but whose pernicious influence was now all too apparent.

How did Omar Khyam, the leader of the Crevice gang, turn from an ordinary lad from a fairly comfortable Home Counties home into a terrorist?

Why does a young man raised in Sussex manage to separate himself from the tolerant, liberal and open society that gave him a pretty good life, to the extent that he wants to destroy it?

As the judge told Khyam and the others: "You have betrayed the country that gave you every opportunity." One of the key influences on him was the now-outlawed organisation al-Muhajiroun led by the self-styled sheikh, Omar Bakri Mohammed.

Now exiled in Lebanon, his name - and those of Abu Hamza, Abu Qatada and other militant clerics - regularly crop up in these stories. Yet, for years they were allowed to drop their poison into the ears of impressionable young zealots with hardly an official eyebrow being raised.

Khyam's head was turned by the prospect of becoming a "freedom fighter" for radical Islam. He went to Pakistan to train at an al-Qa'eda camp and, although his worried family brought him home, a terrorist was born.

Anthony Garcia, born in Algeria, also made it to Pakistan to learn to fight as did Jawad Akbar, a student from Crawley.

So, a pattern emerged of young Muslims, radicalised by firebrand preachers who were allowed to operate for far too long in the society they were pledged to destroy. If there was a failure, then this was it. The failure over 10 years or more to take seriously the fanatics who had a grip on the country's young Muslims.

The Government is trying to put the genie back on the bottle, but it is too late. MI5 is monitoring 2,000 individuals in hundreds of networks who they say are actively involved in supporting al-Qa'eda. Thousands more are said to be sympathisers and supporters.

The London bombers added yet another, terrifying, element to the mix - a readiness to commit suicide. As Peter Clarke, the head of the Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism command, said recently, people in the wider Muslim community are harbouring suspected terrorists and are reluctant to co-operate with the authorities.

This, then, is the real lesson of Operation Crevice: without extreme vigilance, top quality intelligence and a lot of luck, July 7 will not be the last attack in Britain.

Dame Eliza's leaving party was tempered by the sobering thought that the country faces a sustained and growing threat, and one that will last a generation.

All Credit to THE TIMES ONLINE AT:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/04/nterror204.xml

______________________________________________________________________________________
Sunday, 6 May 2007
The jihadi house parties of hate

From The Sunday Times.
Britain’s terror network offered an easy target the security services missed
The barbecue was in full swing. Young men spilt out onto the street from the modest garden in a north London suburb and the air was thick with Urdu and heavily accented English.

The invitation had been specific: no wives or girlfriends. The party was to raise funds for a jihadi training camp: “Make sure your pockets are full.”

The party, held four years ago within a few hundred yards of the Metropolitan police training centre in Hendon, helped to forge alliances among British Islamist radicals that were to be put to murderous effect.

By the end of the evening £3,500 had been raised for a camp at Malakand on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Within weeks two of the most dangerous British-born jihadi terrorists — Mohammad Sidique Khan, leader of the 7/7 suicide bombers, and Omar Khyam, leader of the so-called Crevice gang — were learning to make bombs at Malakand.

Details of the party were disclosed this weekend by one of the guests, Hassan Butt, a former associate of the Islamist radicals who has turned against violence.
 
Butt’s account both illustrates the extent of the jihadist network in Britain and throws harsh new light on the failure of the British security services to catch Khan before his 7/7 operation in London in which 52 people died.
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Posted on 2:11 AM by Esmerelda Weatherwax
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Sunday, 6 May 2007
Revealed: deadly links of UK's Islamic terror network
A linked article from The Sunday Times.

A former Islamic militant has disclosed for the first time the extent of the Al-Qaeda terror network in Britain.

Hassan Butt, who was stabbed in the street recently after publicly denouncing fundamentalist violence, revealed that more than 100 jihadis held an Al-Qaeda summit in London four years ago to coordinate their British activities into a single force.

Among those present was Mohammed Junaid Babar, a US citizen who later became a supergrass after being arrested by the FBI. His evidence was crucial to the conviction last week of the Islamist “Crevice gang”, who had plotted to set off bombs in London and Kent.
After the summit, said Butt, he drove to Batley in West Yorkshire with Babar who directed him to the home of Mohammad Sidique Khan, who later led the bombers who hit London on July 7, 2005. Butt said he got the impression that Babar knew Khan well.

This disclosure of the supergrass’s close link to Khan will increase pressure on MI5 to explain why the bomber was not arrested and the 7/7 outrage prevented.

This weekend fresh doubts were raised over the official account of how much the intelligence services knew about the 7/7 bombers before their suicide attacks.
The rest is here. Read the other article about Hassan Butt below.
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Posted on 2:15 AM by Esmerelda Weatherwax
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Sunday, 6 May 2007
Unholy row at clergy soccer game
A friendship-building football match between Muslim and Christian clergy in Norway was called off after a row over the participation of women players.

Muslim Imams had refused to play against women because it went against their beliefs about close physical contact with the opposite sex. But when the church decided to drop its women players, the priests' team captain walked out in protest.

The game was meant to be an enjoyable end to a day-long conference in Oslo.

Members of the two faiths had been discussing ways of encouraging greater inter-faith dialogue at the "Shoulder to Shoulder" event.

Just hours before the match, the church released a statement saying it had been called off.  "We realise now that it will be wrong to have a priest team without women," the statement said.

"The reactions we have had today shows us that this is being interpreted as a gender-political issue. This is why we cannot go through with the soccer match."
Mr Fykse Tveit said the outcome had not been solely negative.  "Both sides have learned to better understand our cultures and we have had an open discussion."
Which I hope means that the Christians have learnt how misogynist Islam is and the Muslims have learnt that we are wiseing up to them.
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Posted on 2:55 AM by Esmerelda Weatherwax
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Sunday, 6 May 2007
Teachers backed over Muslim wear
From the BBC
Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer will tell headteachers common sense decisions stopping Muslim pupils wearing Islamic dress would not breach human rights.

He is expected to tell the National Association of Headteachers' annual conference that teachers who act properly should not fear legal action.

He will back the decision of a Luton school to stop a Muslim girl wearing the jilbab, a long gown.

Lord Falconer will tell the conference in Bournemouth human rights are based on freedom, equality, tolerance and respect which are truly British values. They are not at odds with common sense decisions, he will say.

The Lord Chancellor will argue those who act properly in response to issues such as those raised in Luton should not fear a legal challenge under the Human Rights Act.
Let us hope that he also supports  Judges when they direct that veils be removed in court.
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Posted on 3:00 AM by Esmerelda Weatherwax
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All Credit To The  New English Review  at:
http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_days.cfm/d/6/m/5/y/2007
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Britain's Security Level Raised To "Critical" Latest Reports After Attempted Attacks-via Sky News

Posted by Gabrielle Cusumano on Sunday, July 01, 2007 2:11:35 PM

Suspect Car Blown Up At Scottish Hospital

Updated: 18:17, Sunday July 01, 2007

A suspect car has been blown up by police in the grounds of the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley as five suspects remain in police custody in connection with the terror attacks.

The burning jeep at Glasgow airport
The burning jeep at Glasgow airport

The Scottish hospital, where one of the Glasgow bombers is being held, was cordoned off as army disposal experts were called in to carry out a controlled explosion.

Strathclyde Police said they believed the car was connected to the attack at Glasgow airport on Saturday but did not contain explosives.

Meanwhile homes in Sunningdale Grove, in Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire have been raided as police widen their net in the search for the would-be terror bombers in London and Glasgow.

Two men rammed a burning Jeep Cherokee into the main terminal at Glasgow Airport on Saturday, leaving passengers screaming in terror.

Today it emerged the car was packed with gas canisters which would have caused massive casualties if they had exploded.

One of the bombers, believed to have been driving the car, was severely burned and remains in a critical condition under armed guard in the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

A second man in the car, a 27-year-old, is in police custody.

Assistant Chief Constable John Malcolm is appealing for information on the movements of the Jeep, registration L808 RDT, on Saturday.

He said: "I need information regarding sightings of this vehicle in the past few weeks and in particular the past few days."

He said the force was reviewing CCTV footage from the airport and was receiving up to "100 calls an hour" from the public.

Smoke billows following the attack
Smoke billows following the attack

The attack follows the attempted bombings in London early on Friday morning, when two Mercedes packed with petrol and nails were parked in London's West End near the Tiger Tiger nightclub.

Since then a 26-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman have also been arrested on the M6 near Sandbach in Cheshire.

A fifth terror-related arrest was made in Liverpool after two homes were searched in the Penny Lane area.

Homes in Houston, near Glasgow, are also being searched by Strathclyde Police.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said the links between the three attacks were becoming "ever clearer".

He said: "We are learning a great deal about the people involved in the attacks and are pursuing new lines of inquiry."

The government has raised Britain's terror alert level to critical, meaning an attack is expected imminently.

An incident room is taking calls on 0800 0560944.

All Credit To Sky News at:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1273122,00.html


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Britain On Red Alert

Britain is on a critical level of terrorism alert, following the arrests of two men who rammed a burning car into the Glasgow Airport's main terminal - an attack being linked to Friday's foiled car bomb plot in London. Enda Brady reports for Sky News.

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Police Comb House Near Glasgow

Updated: 15:33, Sunday July 01, 2007

The residents of a house near Glasgow being searched by police following an attack on the city's airport were two men who did not engage with the close-knit local community, neighbours have said.

A police tent has been erected outside number six Neuk Crescent in the village of Houston, six miles from Glasgow.

The Houston house searched
The Houston house searched

A man living nearby told how his friend living opposite had seen two men of Asian appearance going into the house.

Callum Graham said: "As far as I know, people had no dealings with them. We think they have only been there a few months."

Another local resident, May Gordon, said she had never seen anyone using the property, which she said was strange for an otherwise close-knit street.

Mrs Gordon, 67, said: "Whoever it was kept very much to themselves. They come and they go. These people are the first ones who have hardly spoken since they arrived."

Many residents interviewed said they did not recall having seen a Jeep - the type of vehicle used in the Glasgow airport attack - in the area.

However, one Neuk Crescent resident, Maya Logan, said she recalled seeing a man washing a 4x4-style Jeep outside number six.

She said it was being washed around two weeks ago, and that she had seen it parked outside the property in recent weeks.

"I can't remember the colour or the make, but it was a big 4x4 Jeep," Mrs Logan said.

Another neighbour, Craig Logan, said: "I came out of my house at about 8.15am and there were lots of police about. Top and the bottom of the street had been cordoned off.

"There was a guy in a forensic suit going in and out of number six."

Mr Logan said he thought the property had been recently rented out although he did not know the occupants.

Police declined to give details of the search but revealed it was connected to the incident at Glasgow airport.

All Credit for News, Graphics, Photographs and Videos to SKY NEWS at:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1273143,00.html

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