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Showing posts from April 3, 2011

Opinion: Trucking Fights Terrorism

By Martin Rojas Vice President of Security and Operations American Trucking Associations This Opinion piece appears in the April 4 print edition of Transport Topics.  Click here to subscribe today. Earlier this year, we were once again reminded that the United States continues to face the possibility of a terrorist attack on our soil, a threat that hasn’t abated in the decade since 9/11. In February, a visiting Saudi Arabian student, Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, was arrested in Lubbock, Texas, and accused of plotting to bomb several locations throughout the state — including the home of former President George W. Bush. Aldawsari’s arrest and indictment not only may have put an end to these plans but also received extensive media coverage that highlighted the role one trucking company’s vigilance played in foiling an alleged terrorist plot. The trucking company, Con-way Freight, credited the alertness and security training of its employees in informing law-enforcement organizations about

Terrorism claims more than 3,000 lives in 2 years

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Local residents look at the wreckage of a vehicle of a suicide bomb attack site in the small town of Jandol in the district of Lower Dir on April 4, 2011. PHOTO: AFP/FILE ISLAMABAD:  Terrorism incidents  claimed more than 3,000 lives and injured 9,000 during the last two fiscal years in Pakistan. Speaking in Senate on Friday, Interior Minister Rehman Malikrevealed that the figures did not include security personnel and those killed in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). He said that terrorists had carried out 2,500 suicide attacks and bomb blasts across the country. Balochistan topped the list with the 1,633 incidents and 760 people killed in the province. The highest death toll in the last two years was in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with 1,524 losing their lives in 716 incidents. In Punjab 600 people lost their lives in 27 suicide attacks and bomb blasts. Sindh reported 134 people being killed in 56 such incidents. Islamabad suffered 125 casualties in 16 incidents and Azad Kashm

Expert: “Azerbaijan makes information terrorism”

BY  TIMES.AM  AT 8 APRIL, 2011, 6:35 PM Stepanakert airport will work, and it was repeated by Artsakh Republic authorities many times. Nobody in Armenia pays attention on Azerbaijani terrorist announcement towards the attack of the planes. Today Armenian experts spoke about the case at “Armat” press club. “Many Azerbaijanis regretted themselves after they have made the announcement, as it is difficult technically to attach the airplanes flying from the mountainous plain. Our position doesn’t let them enter Artsakh territories,”  Artsrun Hovhannisyan , the military expert, announced about this during the meeting with the journalists. The speaker reminded about 1992, when Azerbaijanis attacked three Armenian civilian airplanes. One of them was destroyed and the two others landed emergency. “The three planes were attacked by the military measures, and don’t believe it was a humanitarian violation. The only think which may bridle Azerbaijanis, is the threat towards international forces,

BOOK REVIEW: Unravelling terrorism Pakistan —by Sara De Silva

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Source: daily times Pakistan: Terrorism Ground Zero  By Rohan Gunaratna and Khuram Iqbal Reaktion Books, Pp 352  For those who have ever wondered why Pakistan continues to dominate the media headlines in recent years, the exact answers to the question are presented in this book. Many fail to grasp the gravity and the complexity of the threat that emerges from within and simultaneously impacts both regional and international security. For this reason, contextualising the militancy in Pakistan and the region becomes imperative not only to demystify common perceptions but also to plan a long-term strategy to counter the serious threat of terrorism. Against this backdrop, Pakistan: Terrorism Ground Zero by Rohan Gunaratna and Khuram Iqbal offer an interesting and compelling case of how Pakistan became an epicentre of global terrorism over the years. Ultimately, this work demonstrates why grasping the complex nature of the threat is paramount in winning a crucial battle against the glo

India highlights problem of 'state complicity' in terrorism

Source :IE India today underlined the problem of "state complicity" in terrorism and called for a global pact to combat the menace. "We must squarely face the issue of state complicity," said Hardeep Singh Puri, India's permanent ambassador to the UN during a discussion on the root causes, impact and responses to terrorism. He said while some states justify acts of terrorism, others "have also irresponsibly used terrorism as an instrument of state policy". "Nations that believe they can switch violence on and turn it off are being short-sighted," he stressed. He warned that terrorists will be the first to turn on their erstwhile benefactors once these benefactors have outlived their utility. The top Indian envoy also underlined the need of a – global compact – to battle terrorism. He described the failure of the UN to produce a comprehensive treaty as one of the most "egregious instance of institutional failure." "UN response

'Wahhabism behind Yemeni extremism'

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Source: Press TV Interview with Zayd al-Isa, Political Commentator from London. Brothers in Terror: President Obama with King Abdullah Saudi troops have allegedly been terrorizing Bahraini citizens by perpetrating beatings, kidnappings, shootings and rapes in majority Shia villages. Press TV interviewed Political Commentator Zayd al-Isa regarding the Saudi troops brutal terrorizing of peaceful Bahraini citizens. Press TV: Mr. al-Isa, I would like to get your reaction to the news today of the sacrilege of a mosque and Qur'an by Saudi forces in Bahrain. al-Isa: This is not something actually new. This is something the Saudi forces and the Saudi religious institutions are actually used to according to the Salafi-Wahhabi ideology, which is practiced, propagated and exported by Saudi Arabia. They have done similar acts of destroying cultural and religious institutions in Bosnia, and they have done it against cultural symbols in Afghanistan. They have done it in

Ergenekon Plot Massive Trial in Turkey Provides Look into 'Deep State'

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  By Daniel Steinvorth in Istanbul The investigation involved wave upon wave of arrests of politicians, former military leaders and shady, underworld figures. The trial threatens to devolve into a uniquely Turkish power struggle. At issue is a possible putsch -- and Turkey's future. Go to a cinema in Turkey these days and "Vali" will likely be among the films showing. It centers on an honest governor from the provinces who becomes the pawn of inscrutable powers; people around him start dropping like flies. As the movie progresses, it becomes clear that the strings in the affair are being pulled from abroad -- from the West. The nationalist film's takeaway message is that the fatherland is in grave danger -- and someone must come to the rescue. REUTERS Turkish gendarmes and demonstrators outside the courthouse west of Istanbul where the Ergenekon trial is taking place. For many Turks, this frightening scenario mirrors the realities of their coun

'The Imam's Army'

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Source: spiegel Arrested Journalist's Book Claims Turkish Police Infiltrated by Islamic Movement By Jürgen Gottschlich in Istanbul AP Islamic theologian Fethullah Gülen (1998 photograph). An unpublished book by a recently arrested Turkish journalist alleges that his Gülen movement has infiltrated Turkey's police force. Islamic theologian Fethullah Gülen is one of the most powerful men in Turkey, even though he lives in exile in the US. The recent arrest of prominent Turkish journalist Ahmet Sik shows what can happen to those who cross his Gülen movement. Sik was about to publish a book alleging that Gülen sympathizers have infiltrated Turkey's police force. Fikret Ilkiz makes an elegant impression, with his graying hair, slender facial features and his expensive suit jacket. The lawyer speaks succinctly, but with a precision that has an incisive quality. Ilkiz represents Turkey

Military Intelligence monitoring foreign left-wing organizations

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IDF officers say special department has been created to monitor left-wing groups that the army sees as aiming to delegitimize Israel; department will work closely with government ministries. By Barak Ravid Military Intelligence is collecting information about left-wing organizations abroad that the army sees as aiming to delegitimize Israel, according to senior Israeli officials and Israel Defense Forces officers. The sources said MI's research division created a department several months ago that is dedicated to monitoring left-wing groups and will work closely with government ministries. In recent weeks, the head of the new unit has been taking part in discussions in the Prime Minister's Office about how to prepare for the possible arrival of a Gaza-bound flotilla in May. Left-wing demonstration against loyalty oath bill

Beck Disappears Violent Right-Wing Extremism

media maters April 05, 2011 12:06 am ET by Mike Burns On tonight's edition of his Fox News show, Glenn Beck railed against former Vermont Governor Howard Dean for asserting that he "grew up in an era when the left-wing was ... burning down buildings" and  "doing appalling things that they had no business doing just as the right is doing today." Beck dismissed the notion of right-wing violence, pointing to Bill Ayers and "radical leftists" to support his claim that violence only comes from the left. But there have been numerous attacks on progressives and right-wing acts of violence in recent years, including a shootout and assassination plot against organizations attacked by Beck by ex-con Byron Williams. After airing a clip of Dean's remarks, Beck stated that he hasn't seen anyone on the right "burning down buildings and targeting cops like [Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn] did in the 1960s." Be

Mother of insurgencies or reinvention?

M.S. Prabhakara  Source: the hindu   Has the Naga insurgency come to terms with its unrealised and, indeed, unrealisable sovereignty aspirations?

Aust troops help disrupt Taliban plans

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AAP Australian troops and their Afghan allies have significantly disrupted Taliban springtime preparations for the upcoming fighting season, Defence says. Ten insurgent leaders and bombmakers were either killed or captured in recent joint operations between Australian and Afghan troops. Commander of the Australian Forces in the Middle East Major General Angus Campbell said the effectiveness of the insurgent leadership in central and western Oruzgan Province had been seriously undermined. Advertisement: Story continues below "Partnered Special Forces operations in March have resulted in 10 key insurgent commanders no longer posing a threat to local nationals and Coalition forces in Oruzgan province," he said in a statement. "The insurgency is now more vulnerable than it has been in recent years and after a winter period where

Al Qaeda Returns To Afghanistan

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Source: neotommy Gunfight and airstrike in Korengal Valley (Photo Courtesy U.S. Army) Eighteen months after a controversial U.S. pullout from the insurgent hotbed that is the Korengal Valley, in northeast Afghanistan, new reports indicate that al Qaeda has surged back to power in the area. "Over the past six to eight months, al Qaeda has begun setting up training camps, hideouts and operations bases in the remote mountains along Afghanistan's northeastern border with Pakistan," according to Afghan and Taliban sources with whom the Wall Street Journal spoke. Once reduced to a couple dozen members, al Qaeda has apparently grown. United States military forces had been skirmishing with insurgent forces -- both Taliban and al Qaeda -- in the region for as long as U.S.-led coalition troops were deployed there. Dubbed "The Valley of Death" by soldiers who served in the region, the Korengal has been a testing ground for American counterinsurgency strat

Pakistan's unconventional viewpoint on terrorism

Katyayani Murti Source: The Hindu Turkish diplomat's view on why for Islamabad cross-border terror is not quite terror CHENNAI: Pakistan's Kashmir policy could be informed by an unconventional view of cros

India's terrorism risk pool surges

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Source: rediff I ndia's terrorism risk pool has surged to a record Rs1,700 crore (Rs 17 billion), the highest since the Mumbai terror attack on November 26, 2008, when claims worth Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) were disbursed. Prior to the attack, the size of the pool was around Rs1,400 crore (Rs 14 billion). "This is very good for the industry. The advantage of having such a pool was felt while settling the claims for the Mumbai terror attacks [ Images ]," said Yogesh Lohiya, chairman and managing director, General Insurance Corporation of India [ Images ]. The terrorism pool in India was set up in 2002 with an initial corpus of Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York. The corpus is set aside by the general insurance companies to ensure the bottom line of insurance companies does not take a hit when claims are made following a terror attack. The pool covers companies/institutions for a liability of