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Showing posts from December 12, 2010

How Indian Mujahideen is trying to resurrect itself ?

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Source: Rediff Image: Two were killed and 32 injured in the Varanasi blast on December 7 Investigations into the Varansi blast reveal that the Indian Mujahideen is back in action and is all set to pump fresh blood into its outfit, reports Vicky Nanjappa. T he Varanasi blast came as a wake up call for the country, especially for the security agencies, who belived that the terror group Indian Mujahideen was decimated. The IM claimed responsibility for the Decmber 7 blasts, only to prove that the outfit is opreational and efforts are being made to breathe new life into it. Investigations into the blast have revealed the names of the perpetrators of the terror attack. A fter ascertaining that the IM indeed was behind the blast, the police were on the trail of the operatives who planted the bombs. Sources tell  rediff.com  that the men who planted the bombs were migrant workers and have managed to flee to Bangladesh. "We have alerted our counterparts in Bangladesh w

Authorities Tracking Holiday Terrorist Threats in US, Europe

Source: AOL NEWS WASHINGTON (Dec. 16) -- Counterterrorism officials are tracking threats to the U.S. and Europe from al-Qaida and affiliated groups during the holiday season, authorities said. They have not yet seen evidence of specific plots aimed at the U.S. The FBI and Homeland Security Department have alerted state and local law enforcement to be wary of suspicious behavior and to regularly change security measures to interfere with any terrorist plans. The warning was sent in a bulletin Wednesday, obtained by The Associated Press. It did not include information about specific plots or intelligence. On Saturday, a suicide bomber blew himself up on a pedestrian street in Stockholm, Sweden, killing himself and injuring two people. Iraqi officials say that captured insurgents said this week that the suicide bombing was part of attacks being planned by al-Qaida against the U.S. and Europe during the Christmas season. Even before the revelations from the captured Iraqi insurgents, U.S.

Terrorist or freedom fighter?

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Source: Boulders weekly By Pamela White Julian Assange Newt Gingrinch has accused him of “information terrorism” and said he should be treated like an enemy combatant. Radio personality and columnist Jeffrey T. Kuhner has said the United States should treat him as they would any other high-profile terrorist target. And none other than former Nixon wonk G. Gordon Liddy has called for him to be added to the “kill list” of terrorists who can be assassinated without a trial. Meanwhile, activists, hacktivists and some media are calling him a hero. Time readers have voted him Person of the Year, and the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence, a group of retired CIA officers, have given him the Sam Adams Award. Last and definitely least, Italy’s Rolling Stone magazine is honoring him as Rockstar of the Year. So which is it? Is WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange a

Oil or Terrorism: Which Motivates U.S. Policy More?

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Source: Eurasia review By Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed Among the batch of classified diplomatic cables recently released by the controversial whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, several have highlighted the vast extent of the financial infrastructure of Islamist terrorism sponsored by key U.S. allies in the ongoing “War on Terror.” One cable by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December 2009 notes that “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.” Despite this, “Riyadh has taken only limited action to disrupt fundraising for the UN 1267-listed Taliban and LeT [Lashkar e-Tayyiba] groups that are also aligned with al-Qaeda.” Clinton raises similar concerns about other states in the Gulf and Central Asia. Kuwait remains reluctant “to take action against Kuwait-based financiers and facilitators plotting attacks outside of Kuwait.” The United Arab Emirates is “vulnerable to abuse by terrorist financiers and

‘Iran cut Hezbollah aid due to sanctions’

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Source: middleeast war and peace Iran has been forced to slash aid to the Lebanese Hezbollah because Tehran is being squeezed by international sanctions over its nuclear programme, a newspaper reported on Thursday The English-language Jerusalem Post said recent Israeli intelligence assessments had concluded Iran had cut annual funding to Hezbollah by more than 40 percent, causing a crisis within the militant militia. Iran had been providing Hezbollah with a billion dollars a year in direct military aid, with the funds being used to buy weapons and invest in training, the report alleged. Iran is deemed to be the ideological and financial backer of the Shia movement, which fought a devastating war against Israel in

Has al-Qaida targeted Christmas?

Source: Stars and stripes WASHINGTON – Not even Christmas is immune to the war on terrorism. Iraqi officials are saying that suspected insurgents have confessed al-Qaida wants to launch attacks in the United States and Europe during Christmas. Meanwhile, recent bombings in Sweden targeted Christmas shoppers, and a man was arrested in Oregon for trying to blow up a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Last year, a man tried to detonate a bomb hidden in his underwear to bring down a passenger plane on Christmas Day. Just this week the FBI and Homeland Security Department issued a warning to law enforcement agencies to be wary of anything that could be related to terrorist plans. Does the danger of terrorist attacks go up during Christmas? Perhaps. Yes, says terrorism expert Peter Bergen, who noted that Islamic militants attacked churches on Dec. 24, 2000, in Indonesia. The year before, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the future leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, planned attacks against tourist si

OVER 650 SEAFARERS HELD HOSTAGE IN SOMALIA !

Source: Australia.to Friday, 17 December VESSEL BURNING OFF EYL (ecop-marine) At 23h22 LT (20h22 Z) local marine observers at the Somali coast reported on 16. December 2010 a burning vessel not far from the coastal town of Eyl in Puntland at the western Indian Ocean coast of north-east Somalia. Neither the name or any other identification of the vessel are yet known, since apparently no distress signal was sent and no radio contact was made. The mobile phone network in the area is very weak tonight. The observers speak of a larger ship - not just a small dhow and the naval command centres were informed. Further reports awaited. FAMILIES OF K ENYAN HOSTAGE SEAFARERS IN DISTRESS (ecop-marine) A second vigil was held today in Mombasa by the family members of hostage seafarers on three vessels abducted in Somalia. 39 Kenyan seafarers are held on Korean-owned, Kenyan-flagged GOLDEN WAVE 305, six on Thailand-owned and -operated FV TAI YUAN 227 and one Kenyan lady, who was a pas

Bomb hits US Embassy vehicle in Yemen

Source: AP on google (AP) – 9 hours ago SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A group of American embassy staffers came under attack when a bomb was thrown near their vehicle outside a restaurant in Yemen's capital, U.S. and Yemeni officials said Thursday. No one was hurt in the attack Wednesday evening in Hadda, a commercial district in the capital, said U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. "Those in the vehicle were not injured. We have an ongoing investigation. The attack occurred in Hadda," he said, adding that "the bomb went off outside the vehicle." Two Yemeni security officials said that several suspects were arrested, including a Jordanian in his 20s. Another U.S. official said the blast disabled the vehicle, adding that the embassy believes it was "likely" an attempt to target U.S. interests. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. The U.S. Embassy in Sanaa said in a statement on i

Bus bomb kills 14 Afghans

Source: AFP on google By Aref Karimi (AFP) – 14 hours ago HERAT, Afghanistan — A bomb killed 14 members of the same family in Afghanistan Thursday, underscoring record violence levels as a US review said its strategy to defeat Al-Qaeda and the Taliban was on track. The roadside bomb, blamed on Taliban militants, blew apart the minibus in which the family was travelling north of the historic city of Herat, near Afghanistan's northwest border with Turkmenistan. It came after the defence ministry accused NATO of killing four Afghan soldiers in an air strike in a Taliban flashpoint area in the south, the deadliest zone for US-led troops fighting the nine-year insurgency. "The incident took place in Kushki Kuhna district at 11:00 (0630 GMT). As a result 14 passengers, all members of an extended family, were killed," Herat provincial spokesman Rafi Behrozyan said of the bus attack. "This is the work of the Taliban." Four other people were injured and two m

Terrorism 'still a threat'

Source: the age THE terrorism threat to Australia has not decreased, Defence Minister Stephen Smith says, effectively rejecting an Australian intelligence assessment revealed in WikiLeaks cables. Then head of the Office of National Assessments Peter Varghese told US diplomats in October 2008 terrorism was ''a good news story that is getting better, with the violent Islamist threat receding''. He told them al-Qaeda had failed to achieve the strategic leadership role it sought in the Islamic world. The Americans also reported that the ONA had assessed the tide had turned on Jemaah Islamiah. Exclusive: The WikiLeaks Australia files View the secret cables here Advertisement: Story continues below <iframe id="dcAd-1-4" src="http://ad-apac.doubleclick.net/adi/onl.age.news/national;cat=national;ctype=article;pos=3;sz=300x250;tile=4;ord=6.4627969E7?" width='300'

Indonesia holds cleric on terrorism charge

Source: UPI JAKARTA, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir could face a death sentence after Indonesian police formally charged him with inciting terrorism. Bashir, 71, has remained in custody since being arrested in August over allegations of involvement in setting up a militant training camp in Aceh, the isolated province of 4.5 million people on the northern tip of Sumatra Island. The decision to formally charge Bashir, who previously served more than two years in jail before being cleared of involvement with the proscribed Jemaah Islamiah group, comes after police captured one the country's most wanted terrorist suspects, Abu Tholut. Tholut, 49, was picked up recently during a raid on his wife's house. Tholut, also known as Mostofa, Pranata Yuda and Imron Baehaqi, is believed linked to Jemaah Islamiah, which allegedly has ties with al-Qaida. JI, whose goals at one time included the formation of a single Islamic south Asian state, continues

All-state dragnet for 31 militants

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source: telegraphindia ARCHIS MOHAN New Delhi, Dec. 14: The Centre has sent a dossier of 31 wanted militants, including 19 members of the Indian Mujahideen that has claimed responsibility for the Varanasi blast, to all the states and to Indian missions in West Asia. The dossier contains their photographs, their antecedents and details of their involvement in terrorist activities. Intelligence agencies have also constituted special teams to hunt down those of the men who are in India. Sources said only about 10 of them are suspected to be in the country and the rest in Pakistan or West Asia. The dossier, which includes the names of 12 militants of the Jam-I-yyathul Ansarul Muslimeen (JIAM) active in Kerala and Karnataka, has been shared with

‘Terrorism is a battle of minds not of bombs’

source: the local As Sweden struggles to come to grips with the suicide bomb attack that shook central Stockholm on Saturday, Sweden-based Bangladeshi journalist Tasneem Khalil argues that the defence of freedom involves raising questions rather than throwing bombs in retaliation. Islamic extremism 'a threat' to Sweden: Säpo (15 Dec 10) Bombings an 'attack on democracy': Vilks (14 Dec 10) Sweden bomber fulfilled al-Qaeda threat: will (13 Dec 10) In a time of crisis or terror, journalism and social debate not only involve reporting and analysing the facts on-the-ground but also exposing the misnomers and falsities that gain currency. The act of terrorism in Stockholm this Saturday will surely be a boon for the peddlers of hatred like the Sweden Democrats in Sweden and Jihadist groups across Europe, as well as the merchants of fear attached to the military-defence-surveillance industry. We need to realise and act upon the fact that terrorism is a batt

Rounding up the LTTE in Europe

Source: daily mirror srilanka Delegations of European countries here to investigate into terrorist activities in the EU By Kelum Bandara Delegations from several European countries including Switzerland, Belgium and The Netherlands visited Sri Lanka to have meetings with regard to investigations into LTTE activities in their countries, the External Affairs Ministry said. A Ministrial report  says that the Sri Lankan Embassy in Rome is constantly working with Italy-Sri Lanka agencies to ensure the definite prosecution of 31 LTTE activists arrested in that country in 2008. The report says that the activities of the pro-LTTE groups such as Italian Tamils of Ealam Tamil are closely monitored. The Embassy in Hague had coordinated with   the Dutch Counter Terrorism Bureau and the Public Prosecutor’s Office of that country regarding investigations into the LTTE’s criminal activities. A delegation from the Prosecutor’s Office visited Sri Lanka in July, 2010 in this regard. Ano

PM, Chidambaram and Tamil Nadu CM on LTTE hit list?

Source: PM, Chidambaram and Tamil Nadu CM on LTTE hit list?  NEW DELHI: The banned outfit, LTTE, may have lost a majority of its cadre during the Sri Lankan army operations, but has been trying to regroup through new recruitments from Tamil refugees and reportedly plans to launch spectacular strikes on high-profile targets like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , home minister P Chidambaram and Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi . Referring to intelligence inputs, sources said, some LTTE cadres, who escaped the wrath of the Lankan army during the all-out operations in the island nation earlier this year, were trying to regroup in India and planning attacks on top political leaders, especially when they travel in Tamil Nadu. Though there is no "specific intelligence" of such attack, the security agencies have taken these inputs seriously as former PM Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE suicide squad members in the southern state in 1991. Besides,

From Sweden to Macedonia: Radical Islam Continues Probing EuropeThis past weekend Sweden became the latest country in Western Europe to suffer from ra

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Source: weekly standard This past weekend Sweden became the latest country in Western Europe to suffer from radical Islamist terrorism. As reported by Swedish papers, Iraqi-born Taimur Abdulwahab Al-Abdaly, aged 28, who blew up a car and then himself in downtown Stockholm, had been granted Swedish citizenship in 1992. But he then went to Britain to study, and UK media say he was radicalized over the last decade in the town of Luton, north of London. Al-Abdaly was thrown out of the Islamic Centre of Luton, also known as the Al-Ghurabaa or “Strangers’” mosque, for preaching jihad. The mosque is considered a center of radical ideology, even as it repudiates violence. Leaders at the Luton mosque are visibly oriented toward Saudi-style Wahhabism, with a history of linkage to the extremist Al-Muhajiroun, or “Religious Refugees,” led by jihadist preacher Omar Bakri Muhammad. The latter has been expelled from Britain. At the Luton mosque, men typically grow long beards, women are cloaked in

Why are British Universities Producing Islamic Terrorists?

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Source: suite101 The Stockholm bomber, Taimour al-Abdaly, was the latest Muslim graduate from a British university to become a terrorist in the name of Islam. Coincidence? Iraqi-born Taimour Abdulwahab Al-Abdaly became the latest Islamic terrorist to have passed through the British university system on December 11th, 2010, when the former University of Bedfordshire student blew himself up in a Stockholm street. Last year's failed plane bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (University College London), was said to have become radicalised while studying just a little further south in the capital. British universities are under suspicion of allowing themselves to become breeding grounds for Islamic radicalism. Is it coincidental, or is there something about the university system that provides a fertile environment for brainwashing fundamentalists. University is Traditionally Liberal and Rebellious Universities have a reputation for been liberal and rebellious. This was particularly ev

WikiLeaks cables: US fears over west African cocaine route

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Source: Guardian Embassy cables reveal concerns over Latin American cartels and terror groups using west Africa as drug route into Europe Security guards stand among drug prevention posters outside Kotoka International Airport, in Accra, Ghana Photograph: Tugela Ridley/AFP/Getty Images When an unidentified plane crashed into the desert in northern Mali in November 2009, it was immediately suspected of smuggling cocaine from Latin America. The west African route to the lucrative European markets had been growing in popularity for some time following successful anti-smuggling operations in the Caribbean. But what was truly shocking about the mysterious unmarked, burned-out aircraft nearly 10 miles from a makeshift airstrip, was its size. The Boeing 727-200 was big enough to carry 10 tonnes of the drug. It was obvious the Colombian cartels were now plying the

Al-Qaeda's new front: terrorism meets crime in a lawless north African desert

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Source: Irish times US marines with African soldiers in a training exercise aimed at helping to combat Sahel guerillas. Photograph: Jacob Silberberg/Getty The burnt-out Boeing French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Malian president Amadou Toumani Touré leave in Bamako in February after a French hostage was released. Photographs: Al-Andalus, Serge Daniel/AFP/Getty and Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty ): TV footage of the hostages seized in Arlit in September RUADHÁN Mac CORMAIC in Mali WITH ITS RUTTED sandy roads, low-rise skyline and small-town friendliness, Bamako feels less like a capital city than a compressed archipelago of villages. An air of provincial ease endures despite the choking traffic and big-city pressures. Bisected by the mighty Niger river as it runs through the heart of west Africa, Mali’s capital is one of the fastest-growing cities on the continent. At the vast central market, goats stand tethered to wooden posts, men laze in the dry heat and women with children strapped to t

US embassy cables: the documents

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Source: guardian Friday, 24 July 2009, 13:13 C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 001702 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF / FO , AF /W, AND AF /RSA EO 12958 DECL : 07/23/2019 TAGS PREL , EAID , MASS , PHUM , XY "> XY , NI , UK SUBJECT: WEST AFRICA: PDAS CARTER HEARS UK CONCERNS ABOUT DRUGS, TERRORISM, AND GOVERNANCE REF: A. LONDON 1373 B. LONDON 1229 Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Daniel McNicholas, reasons 1. 4 (b/d). 1. (C) Summary. Foreign Office West and Southern Africa DAS-equivalent Janet Douglas told PDAS Carter July 22 that relative stability in West Africa and a UK budget crunch had meant a reduced UK presence and programming in West Africa, but agreed that Briton Edwin Dyer's June murder in Mali by AQIM had been a "game changer." It re-focused UK attention on security and criminality issues in the region and prompted new efforts