World Terror Watch - News and Discussions

[I-G]

France urged to reveal 2002 Pakistan attack files

France urged to reveal 2002 Pakistan attack files

Anti-terror judges leading an inquiry into the 2002 killing of 11 French engineers in Pakistan have asked France's defence minister to open up classified government files, a source said Saturday.

Judges Marc Trevidic et Yves Jannier want "all documents" pertaining to the Karachi attack -- linked to a contract with French state firm DCN and murky commissions -- be made available, French weekly Le Point added on its website.

The inquiry has focused on allegations of a link to a corrupt 1994 submarine deal with Islamabad, amid suspicions the attack could have been ordered as punishment after Paris stopped paying commissions to Pakistani intermediaries.

The 11 engineers, along with three Pakistani victims, were employed on the submarine deal when a car packed with explosives rammed into their minibus on May 8, 2002.

The lawyer for the victim's families, Olivier Morice, believes the attack is directly linked to "a halt to commission payments" from France to Islamabad.

Magali Drouet, daughter of one victim, says the magistrates specifically believe the attack was ordered because payments were not made to Asif Ali Zardari, who is now Pakistan's president but was a minister at the time.

According to Le Point, the investigating magistrates want Defence Minister Herve Morin to order the release of sealed documents revealing the recipients of these payments plus intelligence files on the attack.

Two alleged members of an Al-Qaeda-linked group were convicted in Pakistan in 2003 over the Karachi attack, but both were acquitted in May this year after a court ruled there was insufficient evidence against them.

Details of the commission payments for the sub deal emerged in 2008 as part of an investigation into French arms sales.

Legal at the time -- although they have since been banned -- the commissions were set up when Edouard Balladur was prime minister. They stopped after his rival Jacques Chirac was elected president in 1995.

Investigators suspect Chirac blocked the payments because kickbacks were being siphoned off to fund a war chest for his rival Balladur, who ran unsuccessfully against him in the 1995 race.

Balladur's campaign manager was the young Nicolas Sarkozy. Now president, Sarkozy last month dismissed any suggestion of links to commission payments as "grotesque."

The Paris prosecutor's office has also said there were "no objective elements" linking the attack to the submarine deal.

Classified documents can only be disclosed if the defence minister acts following guidance from a special French government commission designed to protect the national interest.

Morin told French radio last month that he was unaware of the contents of any such documents, adding that he was "only committed to declassifying what the commission recommends be declassified."

France 24 | France urged to reveal 2002 Pakistan attack files | France 24

 

[I-G]

Pak detainee alleges MI5 trying to bribe him

Pak detainee alleges MI5 trying to bribe him

London, July 07: The British Security Service, MI5 has been accused of attempting to bribe a man who was jailed on terrorism charges, in a bid to persuade him to withdraw his custodial torture complaints.

Rangzieb Ahmed had three of his fingernails ripped out after MI5 and Greater Manchester police (GMP) drew up a list of questions for officers from a notorious Pakistani intelligence agency.

Ahmed says he was visited in prison by an MI5 officer and a police officer who offered to secure a reduction in his sentence or a payment of money to withdraw his torture complaints when his appeal against conviction is heard later this year.

"They said they wanted my advice about tackling extremism and then said they could offer me protection if I helped them. Then they said, 'If you withdraw what you are saying about torture, we can make a deal with you to reduce your sentence, or if you want to take money we can give you money," The Guardian quoted Ahmed, as saying.

His lawyers have written to the Crown Prosecution Service to complain that the approach was "grossly inappropriate" and amounted to an attempt to pervert the course of justice.

Apart from lodging an appeal against his conviction, Ahmed is also suing the British government for damages arising out of his treatment in Pakistan.

"Any attempt to conceal evidence of torture would amount, in this case, to an attempt to pervert the course of justice, and I would expect the courts to take a very serious view of the matter," Ahmed's lawyer Tayab Ali said.

The British Home Office refused to say anything on the matter.

"We don't comment on matters of security. Security service officers act within the law," a Home Office spokesman said.

The international community has expressed concern about Britain's involvement in the torture of detainees held by overseas intelligence agencies during the so-called war on terror.

Earlier this year, Martin Scheinin, a UN special rapporteur on human rights, reported that British intelligence personnel had "interviewed detainees who were held incommunicado by the Pakistani ISI in so-called safe houses, where they were being tortured".

Pak detainee alleges MI5 trying to bribe him

 

[I-G]

Rebels free 200 child soldiers in Central Africa

Rebels free 200 child soldiers in Central Africa

Geneva (IANS): A rebel group in the Central African Republic (CAR) has freed around 200 child soldiers, some as young as 10 years old, as part of a peace deal with the government, the WAM news agency reported Thursday.

The People's Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) has released 166 boys and 16 girls aged between 10 and 17 since April, the report said citing the UNICEF.

A majority of the freed children have been already reunited with their families, the UNICEF said in a statement.

The UN Children's Fund has welcomed the release of children and called for more demobilisation of armed groups in the conflict-torn country.

Last year, the rebels signed a peace deal with the government which paved the way for release of child soldiers, among a host of other measures.

"We are extremely pleased that APRD leaders are following through with their commitment to surrender the children in their ranks," Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEF's representative in Bangui, the CAR capital, said.

The UN agency has been working closely with the CAR government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for the release of child soldiers, majority of whom belong to the northern Ouham Pend province.

Two transit centres were set up where each released child soldier was given a "demobilisation kit" that includes clothes, sleeping mats, blankets and personal hygiene items.

The former soldiers also receive medical check-ups, basic literacy classes and counseling. Mdoe said the child soldiers come from a region where they lack basic services.

Sporadic fighting still continues in northern CAR, particularly near the borders with Chad and Sudan.

"Reintegration is a long and often difficult process in any circumstance, and the prevailing climate of insecurity adds to the challenges," Mdoe said.

The UNICEF has called for an additional $1 million to ensure the demobilisation and reintegration of the child soldiers, he added.

The Hindu News Update Service

 

[Singh]

Excl: Confessions of a LeT terrorist

n a startling confession to TIMES NOW , Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorist Shafquat reveals the sinister plot to target Baghlihar dam in India and to construct a tunnel from Sialkot to Jammu region to infiltrate terrorists from the other side of Pakistan.

Born and trained in Pakistan, Shafquat infiltrated into India with the mission of causing maximum destruction. Shafquat described to TIME NOW how the four terrorist travelled with a guide who was paid Rs 50,000. It was in the Shamsabari forests that the Indian Army carried out the encounter and got Shafquat and four of its accomplices in its custody. A huge cache of arms were also recovered including two AK 47, 20 grenades, 100 rounds of ammunition, two radio sets, 1 GPS, battery cells, bullet proof jackets and woolen clothes.

Shafquat, the terrorist, arrested two days back by the Indian Army, is 22 years old Pakistani who belongs to the Lashkar-e-Toiba terror outfit who was trained along with a 120 other terrorists in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and had crossed over into India through the Lipa Valley and got caught in an encounter with the Indian Army. This group of terrorists who infiltrated along with Shafquat had a three pronged plan to spread terror in Jammu and Kashmir.

The first plan was to target Baghlihar dam also known as Baghlihar Hydroelectric Power Project in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. Around 15 militants were provided training to target the dam. The second plan was to construct a tunnel to infiltrate terrorists from Sialkot in Pakistan to somewhere in Jammu region in India. 6-7 metres of tunnel has been completed. The last one was to target Indian Army camps near the Line of Control.

Excl: Confessions of a LeT terrorist- TIMESNOW.tv - Latest Breaking News, Big News Stories, News Videos

 

[1.44]

India's first anti-terror test fails, Govt directs urgent measures

India's first anti-terror test fails, Govt directs urgent measures
​

The first major test of India’s supposedly faster, smarter anti-terror system turned out to be a grand fiasco, it has now emerged.

On February 2, television and newspapers reported what appeared to be a well-coordinated operation by India’s security agencies to a mid-air hijack scare aboard an IndiGo flight the previous day.

Instead, proceedings of review meetings chaired by the Cabinet Secretary of India, KM Chand-rashekhar on February 7 and April 17 reveal disparate security agencies found it hard to mount a unified response.

Finally, four hours and five minutes after flight E6-334 first reported a hijack, 163 passengers were evacuated and a passenger, Jitender Kumar Mohala who threatened to hijack the plane, was arrested by the Delhi Police.

The documents, made available to HT, indicate India had yet not fixed the multi-agency chaos and indecision that left 183 dead and revealed massive bungling in the four days it took to subdue 10 Pakistani terrorists on November 26 in Mumbai last year.

The Cabinet Secretary, India’s most senior bureaucrat, convened a series of review meetings after the hijack drama involved IndiGo flight E6-334 from Goa to Delhi. The message: Fix the problems.

Director General (National Security Guard) N.P.S. Aulakh, when contacted, said: “Every issue noticed during the IndiGo operation has been dealt with after the meetings taken by the Cabinet Secretary.”

After the Air Traffic Control (ATC) flashed the “hijack” message, the Flight E6-334 landed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport at around 5.20 p.m. and NSG commandos arrived quickly enough at the airport from a nearby base — but without their commander. The officer got late as he had to come in from NSG headquarters in Manesar, Haryana, 50 km south of the airport.

Further time was lost as the NSG team and airport guards from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) quarreled about who would do what, the documents said.

No one knew who was to run the show, the documents said, citing the lack of “effective coordination” among the NSG, the CISF and the Delhi police.

The confusion wasn’t only about roles.

The NSG and the CISF — a paramilitary force tasked with protecting India’s economic infrastructure -- disagreed even about switching on floodlights around the parked aircraft.

Switch on the floodlights, said the CISF. No, switch them off, said the NSG.

The NSG was set up in 1984 as India’s elite anti-terror force, used most recently in the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai.

The February 1 comedy of errors continued.

Secure hotlines in control rooms did not work and unsecure mobile phones were used instead by intelligence and security agencies.

This behind-the-scenes confusion translated into chaos at the airport. “Many domestic flights faced problems in embarkation/disembarkation of passengers... difficulties in communication were noted as certain hotline equipments in control rooms were not responding properly,” the documents said.

“There was a time lag between stationing of the aircraft in the isolation bay (17.37 hrs) and door opening (19.50 hrs), evacuation process of passengers (21.13 hrs) and final delivery of baggage,” pointed out Nasim Zaidi, Director General of Civil Aviation during the February 7 meeting. Besides, air traffic was disrupted for hours as “the ground handling staff and vehicles could not access many other arriving aircraft that were held up for considerable time before reaching parking stand”.

The Cabinet Secretary has directed immediate corrective measures after two meetings with members of three bodies tasked with overseeing anti-hijack operations: Committee of Secretaries for Aircraft Hijack, the Central Committee and the Aerodrome Committee.

Among those who attended the meetings: Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, then Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, Secretary (External Affairs) Nalin Surie, Secretary (RAW) K. C. Verma, Director (Intelligence Bureau) Rajiv Mathur, Commissioner (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) R. R. P. N. Sahi, DGCA Nasim Zaidi and Airport Authority of India chairman VP Agrawal.

 

[1.44]

Militants gun down UN official helping Pakistan's refugees

Militants gun down UN official helping Pakistan's refugees
​

A UN official working in a camp for displaced civilians in Peshawar has been shot dead in a failed kidnapping as Pakistan's military seeks to reassure refugees returning to the war-scarred Swat Valley.

The Pakistani official, who worked for the UN refugee agency, was rushed to hospital, where he died yesterday.

"A national staff (member) of UNHCR at the Kutcha Gari camp has been a victim of a kidnapping attempt that turned into a shooting," UN spokesman Janos Tisovszky said.

UN spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker confirmed the official had been shot in the chest.

Senior Peshawar police official Abdul Ghafoor Afridi also confirmed the incident.

Peshawar is the capital of Pakistan's violent northwest region, where up to two million people have been displaced by fighting between government troops and Taliban militants.

Authorities have declared most of Swat Valley cleared of Taliban fighters after an offensive lasting almost three months and have allowed some of those who fled the fighting to return home.

However, officials say some Taliban forces are holding out.

Up to 14 have been killed in the region this week in fighting between government troops and militants.

"We have cleared the area, but an incident here or there can still happen," said an army spokesman in the Swat Valley.

"But the police are in full command of the situation and the military will stay there as long as needed."

The deadliest clash took place late on Tuesday night at Kabal town, which lies across the river from the Swat Valley's main city of Mingora.

Kabal has been considered a likely hideout of the Swat Taliban's leadership.

Army spokesman Sajjad Kasi said security forces, acting on a tip from residents, had raided an alleged hideout, killing six suspected militants.

But a statement issued by the military claimed that eight alleged insurgents, including two foreigners and one soldier, were killed in the shootout.

The statement said five other suspected militants died in clashes elsewhere in the valley.

According to the Pakistani army, it has killed more than 1700 militants since its latest offensive against the Taliban began in Swat more than two months ago.

The US strongly backs Islamabad's anti-Taliban campaign, viewing it as a test of Pakistan's resolve to curb an extremist insurgency that threatens to destabilise the the country.

Thousands of refugees began heading home on Monday, the first day of the government's official repatriation program that was supposed to focus first on about 200,000 refugees staying in relief camps and then only to allow people to return to certain zones in the valley.

But those in some camps have refused to return home until they are given promised financial assistance of about $376 a family, while others, who have been staying with relatives and friends, have begun to head back despite government requests that they wait.

And some have gone to areas not technically open, including Mingora.

According to the government, 23,951 families are registered at relief camps in the northwest.

Officials said on Wednesday that 2476 families from both relief camps and those staying elsewhere had returned to the region.

AP, AFP

STORY
Militants gun down UN official helping Pakistan's refugees | The Australian

 

[K Factor]

These militants are worse than animals. They shot and killed the person who was trying to their own countrymen. (

And they are supposed to be fighting for a just cause !

RIP.

 

[Fighter]

RIP
This is really bad news

 

[Calanen]

Chaos Besets 9/11 Hearing

Chaos besets 9/11 court hearing

Scenes of chaos have gripped a US military court in Guantanamo Bay where five alleged 9/11 plotters were due to appear together before a judge.

All five, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, initially refused to attend the hearing.

The judge rejected prosecution calls for them to be compelled to attend but three did appear after a recess.

The hearing focuses on whether two of the accused are mentally competent to represent themselves.

The 11 September 2001 attacks, in which hijacked airliners were flown into buildings in New York and Washington, killed nearly 3,000 people.

Microphone cut off

Walid Bin Attash, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi appeared in the courtroom after the recess.

Relatives of 9/11 victims watch the hearing in Guantanamo, 16 July
Relatives of 9/11 victims were watching the hearing

But Mr Hawsawi asked to leave again after he was refused the opportunity to speak. He was escorted out by US military guards.

Mr Bin Attash asked the judge whether he could question a witness.

When told he could not, he asked: "Even if he told lies?"

When the judge again insisted he could not question the witness, Mr Bin Attash replied: "This is good justice!"

Thursday's hearing was meant to focus on whether Mr Hawsawi and a fourth defendant, Ramzi Binalshibh, were mentally competent to represent themselves.

The US military lawyer representing Mr Binalshibh said he suffered from a delusional disorder.

When the lawyer went into detail about how he had been deprived of sleep, her microphone was cut off.

Trial questions

The fifth defendant, Mr Sheikh Mohammed, refused to attend the hearing.

Described by US intelligence as "one of history's most infamous terrorists", he earlier admitted being responsible "from A to Z" for 9/11.

Believed to be the number three al-Qaeda leader before his capture in Pakistan in March 2003, he told a pre-trial hearing at Guantanamo in December 2008 that he wanted to plead guilty to all charges against him.

The Obama administration has yet to announce how the five defendants will be tried or where they will be held if the camp at Guantanamo Bay is closed by January 2010, as promised.

US President Barack Obama has ordered a halt to military commissions at Guantanamo Bay but preparations continue for military trials and prosecutors say they are ready to begin proceedings against 66 detainees.

Mr Obama has conceded that some will be tried in military courts once Congress passes legislation which puts in place a number of legal safeguards.

BBC NEWS | Americas | Chaos besets 9/11 court hearing

 

[I-G]

2 Pakistani students held in UK terror raids to be freed

2 Pakistani students held in UK terror raids to be freed
AP 17 July 2009, 08:22pm IST


LONDON: Two Pakistani men detained during a series of terrorism raids in northern England are no longer considered a threat and will be released,
but they could still face deportation over immigration offenses, British officials said Friday.

The two men were among 12 students arrested in high-profile April raids, and have been held for several months in immigration detention. They had been due to be deported to Pakistan after the U.K. ruled they posed a risk to British national security, but officials have concluded they are no longer a threat, Jennifer Wilkes, a spokeswoman for the British High Commission in Islamabad, said in a statement.

Judge John Mitting told a court hearing in May that Britain's Home Office alleged the arrested men were linked to al-Qaida and involved in planning terrorist attacks in Britain. The men have maintained their innocence.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the police operation had foiled a ``very big terrorist plot,'' but law enforcement and security official have not disclosed any specifics of the alleged plans. Following the raids, police said there was insufficient evidence to charge any of the men with criminal offenses. They have remained held for deportation since.

``Their case has been kept under constant review, and as soon as it became clear that these individuals did not meet the criteria for deportation, the decision was taken to drop deportation proceedings,'' Wilkes said.

``This has clearly been a difficult time for these individuals, which we regret. It was however necessary, given the reason for their arrest and detention, to carry out a rigorous investigation,'' she added.

The Home Office said the two men will be released on Friday, but that authorities will now attempt to deport the men on different grounds. One was refused a visa extension in March, and authorities will attempt to revoke the second man's student visa because they do not believe he is carrying out legitimate studies, the ministry said. Both will be fitted with electronic tags while their cases are considered.

Lawyer Mohammed Ayub, based in Bradford, northern England, said his client Sultan Sher is one of the two men being released. He said he represents two other men still detained.

``All our clients have maintained throughout their ordeal that they were here on lawful purposes as students. Our clients reiterate they are neither extremists nor terrorists,'' Ayub said.

In addition to the two students due to be released, eight other men are awaiting deportation - seven to Pakistan and one to Afghanistan. One other man has returned to Pakistan voluntarily and another is a British national who was freed following his arrest.

Families of the arrested students in Pakistan reacted with anger, and have demanded that the men either be charged with an offense, or freed and allowed to complete their studies in Britain.

The case rattled British-Pakistani relations, already under pressure after Brown said that at least three-quarters of all terrorist plots against the U.K. have links to Pakistan - and specifically the country's northwest, where al-Qaida and the Taliban have strongholds.

Ayub said Britain's government should consider holding an inquiry into the police operation, to review mistakes. ``No other innocent person should have to suffer the ordeal that our clients have,'' he said.

``We appreciate that this case has caused concern to many people in Pakistan but want to make clear that the British government has at all times acted within U.K. law and in accordance with our duty to protect the safety of the public,'' Wilkes said.

2 Pakistani students held in UK terror raids to be freed - UK - World - NEWS - The Times of India

 

[1.44]

To keep Taliban away, Pakistan recruits 25,000 retired soldiers

To keep Taliban away, Pakistan recruits 25,000 retired soldiers
​

PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN - The government is recruiting 25,000 retired Pakistani soldiers for police duty in war-torn Swat and Buner districts to protect millions of displaced residents as they return home.

The idea is to triple the number of police stations and bolster the force above levels present before the Taliban drove them out. The extra manpower would serve as an additional shield against militants returning to launch raids or influence the population.

Early reports point to just such a resurgence in Taliban activity there. Returned residents and local journalists say that Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah has been heard on FM radio. In Buner – the first region that the military moved in to clear – the Taliban are setting up fresh checkpoints, pressuring refugees for money, and have burned the home of an outspoken journalist.

To quickly put more police on the ground, officials are turning to retired soldiers, who require less time to train and are less skittish about dangerous assignments. The strategy carries some risk given the differences between soldiering and police work.

"The best option is to train fresh people, because the nature of the job is different," says security analyst Gen. Talat Masood (ret.). "But the circumstances are such that [officials] have to fill in the gaps" in available recruits.

HUNDREDS OF MILITANTS STILL IN BUNER

Time is of the essence, given that returning residents are already encountering problems with militants.

Several families who returned home to Buner three days ago fled again after finding the Taliban in the area. They estimated some 250 to 350 Taliban remain, and sometimes appear in groups as large as 60 at one time. The militants were threatening people and demanding payments of 25,000 rupees ($305), which happens to be the amount the government is giving displaced people on ATM cards as they head home.

The Taliban are "threatening people, and some of them were beaten for getting assistance from the government," says Ikhtiar Bacha, who left Buner with his family two days after arriving.

Three family members of an influential local in Buner were killed by militants in the past week, according to Ikhtiar's brother, Mukhtiar Bacha. "More people will flee the area in the coming days," he predicts.

TALIBAN CHIEF RETURNS TO RADIO, BRIEFLY

Taliban leader Mr. Fazlullah's voice on FM radio early this week in Swat was an echo of days when the Taliban controlled the population through such broadcasts, which often included warnings or threats. His speech, which reports say was jammed within several minutes, raises doubts about military claims that Fazlullah had been injured in an airstrike.

According to General Masood, it could have been an old cassette recording.

Another sound returned to Mingora, the main city in Swat, recently: music, which militants there had banned. Abdullah, a student, said it was strange to hear music again in the city, where displaced people began returning Friday.

Security forces may have a huge task awaiting them. According to Hamidullah Khan, a reporter based in the city for the Pakistani daily newspaper Dawn, the military has held off from searching homes for fear of being blamed for looting. Instead, he says, the plan is to wait for residents to return so they can witness the searches.

During the fighting, the Taliban have taken over homes. In the case of prominent reporter Behroz Khan, suspected Taliban first looted, then took over his home in Buner. Then, last week, masked intruders burned it to the ground. Given threats the Taliban have made against his family, he suspects the home was targeted because of his reporting.

"As a journalist I am trying not to take sides, but the thing is I cannot, and journalists as a community should not treat the militants and the state on equal footing," says Mr. Khan. "It's glorifying them."

The area of Khan's village, near Pir Baba, remains in control of the Taliban he says. On Wednesday, the Taliban set up a checkpoint in his village – less than a mile from a route the military claims is cleared, he says.

WOOING RETIREES

The retired soldiers who agree to be police in these areas will be paid significantly more than their old salaries, says Jamal Nasir, who heads civilian security as the special home secretary for the North West Frontier Province, where Swat and Buner are located.

Additional police recruitment is part of a larger effort to muster a 400,000-strong antimilitant force, according to Abdul Wahid Khan (no relation to Behroz), a spokesman in the Ministry of Information.

He says the recruiters will first draw from retired police, then pull the remaining from the ranks of the retired military.

"In the Army, even the police, very young people get retired," says Mr. Khan, though neither he nor Nasir could say if an age limit has been set.

Nasir says the retirees would be under contract for two years and would undergo a training lasting "maybe a week or 10 days."

That's far too short, cautions Masood, who says they would need at least three months' training. However, former soldiers do bring some built-in skills, including physical toughness, basic education, knowledge of how to patrol, and experience with firearms.

"And of course, they won't run away. They will stand up to the militants," says Masood, who counts this as the most important qualification.

Before the military offensive, militants had killed more than 100 policemen and warned others not to serve. As a result, hundreds of police officers had resigned or taken leave.

To keep Taliban away, Pakistan recruits 25,000 retired soldiers | csmonitor.com

 

[I-G]

UK man convicted over suicide bomb plot

UK man convicted over suicide bomb plot

2009-07-17 13:09:14 GMT2009-07-17 21:09:14 (Beijing Time) SINA.com

LONDON – A British Muslim convert was jailed Friday for plotting to carry out a suicide bomb attack on a shopping mall in southern England.

Isa Ibrahim, a 20-year-old doctor's son who was educated at some of Britain's most exclusive private schools, was convicted of planning to kill himself and scores of innocent shoppers.

Judge Neil Butterfield said Ibrahim would be jailed for a minimum of 10 years.

"You are a dangerous young man, well capable of acting on the views you held in the spring of 2008," when he was arrested, the judge said.

Ibrahim — who changed his given name from Andrew and converted to Islam in 2006 — was convicted by a jury of making an explosive with intent to endanger life, and of making explosives with intent to cause serious injury or damage to property.

Prosecutors at Winchester Crown Court in southern England said Ibrahim probably planned to target the Broadmead shopping mall in Bristol, 120 miles (190 kms) southwest of London.

Ibrahim had been seen carrying out reconnaissance trips to the mall, and, following his arrest in April 2008, police found a supply of the homemade HMTD explosive, detonators and a suicide vest at his home.

Detective Superintendent Nigel Rock, the police officer who led the inquiry into Ibrahim's plot, said it "could have been a matter of days" before Ibrahim attempted to carry out his attack.

Ibrahim had claimed in court that he planned to detonate the vest safely, without wearing it, and post a video of his experiment on the YouTube Web site.

Prosecutors said Ibrahim had been increasingly interested in radical Islamic ideas and in violence. They told a jury that he had described Britain as a "dirty toilet" and had said the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States were a justified response to Western aggression toward Muslims.

"The device that Ibrahim was making was viable and he had taken steps to make it even more destructive by acquiring ball bearings and airgun pellets. He had identified a target. Had he carried out the attack he had been preparing, serious civilian casualties would have been inevitable," said Moira Macmillan, a counterterrorism lawyer with Britain's Crown Prosecution Service.

Police said Ibrahim was not known to authorities and appears to have become radicalized by researching extremist Islamic material posted on the Internet.

Prosecutors said that Ibrahim was a former drug addict who had been expelled from several private schools, including Downside School, a Catholic boarding school in southern England.

Rock said that Ibrahim was arrested after a tip-off from Muslims in Bristol. Ibrahim had bragged to members of a mosque about his plans to carry out an attack, and appeared for prayers with cuts and bruises over his hands and feet — likely caused by his attempts to develop a viable bomb.

"Without the support of the Muslim community, the worst could have happened," Rock said.

(Agencies)

UK man convicted over suicide bomb plot - World News - SINA English

 

[I-G]

Bristol man guilty of plotting suicide bombing of shopping mall
Guardian News and Media Ltd
Published: July 17, 2009, 23:30


London: A former public schoolboy was found guilty of plotting to carry out a suicide bombing using a vest packed with explosives at a shopping centre in Bristol.

Eisa Ebrahim, 20, made viable explosives, manufactured a suicide vest and carried out reconnaissance on the Broadmead shopping centre. Detectives believe he was about to launch an attack.

Police are heralding the case as a breakthrough as they say it is the first in which the information about a British would-be terrorist planning an atrocity in the UK has come just from a Muslim community.

Ebrahim's extremism did not come to the attention of the police until members of a mosque he attended grew worried about his behaviour and went to Avon and Somerset police.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Ebrahim was found guilty of making an explosive with intent to danger life or cause serious injury to property. He was also convicted of preparing terrorist acts by purchasing material to make an explosive, making that explosive, buying material to detonate the explosive, carrying out reconnaissance before the act, and "making an improvised suicide vest".

The trial has heard that when Ebrahim was arrested at his flat, the homemade explosive HMTD was found in a biscuit tin in the fridge. Also found was an electrical circuit capable of detonating the explosive at short range and a suicide vest hanging on the back of his bedroom door.

The trial heard that Ebrahim, whose parents are Christian, converted to Islam, changing his name by deed poll from Andrew to Eisa. He became radicalised after researching people such as Abu Hamza, and became fascinated by suicide bombing.

Ebrahim used the internet to find instructions on how to make explosives from household products such as hydrogen peroxide.

He claimed he had no intent to harm, but just wanted to set the vest off and film it for the video website YouTube.

Judge Justice Butterfield told the jury the prosecution's case was that he was a "disturbed" and "alienated" adolescent.

The defence's case was that Ebrahim was a "weak, lonely figure living in a fantasy world".


Gulfnews: Bristol man guilty of plotting suicide bombing of shopping mall

 

[I-G]

Naxalism is the biggest threat to security: BSF DG

Naxalism is the biggest threat to security: BSF DG
Updated on Saturday, July 18, 2009, 17:33 IST

Jammu: The BSF on Saturday admitted that Naxalism is the biggest threat to the country's security and all forces should pool their resources to deal with it.

BSF Director General ML Kumawat told reporters, "A number of districts and states in the country are facing the problem of Naxalism today, as they only believe in coming to power by the gun, which any Indian, who believes in democratic institutions or principles, will disapprove. All the forces should pool in their resources to deal with this threat."

"Naturally, we too will be playing a role in dealing with Naxalism," he said adding that BSF was engaged in dealing them in West Bengal and had earlier dealt them in Andhra Pradesh, in late 80s and early 90s.

"So, BSF has experience in dealing with guerrilla warfare, which Naxals are waging against the Centre and states," he said.

The BSF DG said that the force is also involved in guarding coasts in Gujarat border and added, "There were many incursion by Pakistani fishermen on a regular basis and we had prevented them with the help of other forces," he said

Being a marshy area and river flowing from Pakistan here, it was usually difficult to deal with them in absence of any hovercraft or All Terrain Vehicle (ATV), he said and added, "We used force, which led to curtailment of misadventure by fishermen and Pakistani marines."

"Now ATV, is going to be part of the BSF in a month or two and this vehicle has an advantage of moving in water like a boat and a regular vehicle on land. In addition to this we will also get flying boats," he said.

On threats of anti-national activities from Nepal, Kumawat said, "Drugs, counterfeit currency and terrorists are being sent to our country. Keeping this in view, the Centre has set up Sashastra Seema Bal to deal with such activities by gathering intelligence and coordinating with other forces."

Since, Nepal is a friendly country, we expect it to help us in dealing with these situations, the BSF DG said.

Even routes from Bangladesh and Myanmar were being used for such activities, he said.

Kumawat said that India, which has over 23,000 kilometre of border and 7,500 coastline has fence with Pakistan only.

It is a great challenge for security forces but in future our borders will be more secured, he said.

Bureau Report

Naxalism is the biggest threat to security: BSF DG

 

[I-G]

BSF seizes hashish, pistols in Rajasthan

BSF seizes hashish, pistols in Rajasthan

Jaisalmer (PTI): The BSF has seized ten kilograms of hashish, two foreign-made arms and magazines from a border outpost along the Indo-Pak International Border in Jaisalmer, officials said here.

The seizure was made near Pochina outpost in the district last night when a suspected intruder left them on seeing BSF men, some 50 meters inside the Indian territory.

However, no arrest was made in this regard, they said.

"The intruder entered into the Indian territory from Pakistan between 10.30 pm to 11 pm last night when it was raining in the area," they said.

The personnel rushed to the spot when they heard a gunshot which was mistakenly fired by the intruder who then fled back to Pakistan upon seeing the paramilitary men.

"Ten kg hashish, two pistols indicating Pakistani and Chinese origins, two magazines and a few another instuments have been seized from near pillar number 770," they said.

The Hindu News Update Service

 

[I-G]

Maoists threaten to kill PM Singh, Sonia Gandhi

Maoists threaten to kill PM Singh, Sonia Gandhi

Tue Jul 21, 2009 8:11am EDT



RANCHI, India (Reuters) - India's Maoist guerrillas on Tuesday threatened to kill the country's prime minister and ruling party leader in what analysts said was the most aggressive threat yet from an increasingly lethal and widespread insurgency.

The warning comes a month after the government listed the Communist Party of India (Maoists) as a terrorist group, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared them India's largest internal security threat.

The Maoists targeted Singh and Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, and invoked the memory of the 1991 assassination of her husband, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in a suicide blast blamed on Sri Lanka's now-defeated Tamil Tiger rebels.

"Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh have dared to ban the Maoists, little realizing that they would meet the fate of Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed by the LTTE (Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam)," a Maoist statement released in Hindi says.

India blamed the LTTE for killing Gandhi as revenge after a 1987-1990 Indian peacekeeping mission to Sri Lanka turned sour.

The statement, issued in the eastern state of Jharkand, also gave local Congress leaders a week to resign or "be taught a lesson." Jharkand police and Congress officials said they were taking the threat seriously, while Singh's office had no comment.

Sri Lanka crushed the LTTE in May after a 25-year war, in which the separatists had proved themselves ruthlessly efficient at killing politicians, police and other government officials to inspire fear, a tactic analysts say the Maoists have adopted.

"It is the boldest statement ever issued by them," said Colonel R. Hariharan, a Chennai-based security analyst who led military intelligence during India's peacekeeping mission to Sri Lanka.

"They are trying to assert themselves and becoming bolder and bolder and trying to get more visibility," he said.

Hariharan said the Maoists used to get logistical support and explosives training from the LTTE.

The Maoists have increasingly spread out of their rural eastern strongholds and are active in nearly a third of the country's 630 districts, up from a presence in less than a tenth of them in 2001, government and independent data shows.

They carry out hit-and-run attacks on police and extort money from businesses. In the mining state of Chhattisgarh, officials say they extort up to $60 million a year.

Earlier this month, Maoists ambushed and killed at least 29 police officers on patrol in the jungles, and counterinsurgency experts say police officers tackling the Maoists lack the proper training and equipment to be effective.

(Writing by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Bryson Hull and Sugita Katyal)


Indian Maoists threaten to kill PM Singh, Sonia Gandhi | International | Reuters

 

[I-G]

Goa police getting armed with INSAS rifles

Goa police getting armed with INSAS rifles

Updated on Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 13:53 IST

Panaji: Goa's police force is being equipped with modern, indigenous INSAS rifles, replacing the the British-make weapon .303, to augment security of the coastal state which is often on terror radar.

Well-placed police sources said INSAS rifles, inducted into the state's armoury a couple of months back, are being initially given to five sensitive police stations, including the one entrusted with security of the capital city.

INSAS has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). An abbreviation for Indian National Small Arms System, these rifles are manufactured at the Ordnance Factory at Ishapore, West Bengal.

The weapon was initially inducted into the armed forces and later in para-military agencies like Border Security Force (BSF). Police of militancy-hit states like Jammu and Kashmir are also armed with these modern rifles.

Goa, which has procured a small chunk of INSAS, intends to replace .303 rifles, a World War II vintage weapon, in two to three years, a senior police officer said.

The tourist state has already procured 7.62 mm SLRs (self-loading rifles) which have been provided to the India Reserve Battalion (IRB), a force raised to look after VVIP security and meet other emergency situations.

INSAS induction was done after imparting special training to a core group of policemen drawn from various police stations, officials said.

These rifles can be used for burst firing and also aimed shooting. Their burst firing range is 100 metres, while effective range is 450 metres, they said.

Goa, which receives nearly one million tourists every year, is on alert after the Central intelligence agencies warned of possible terror attacks on the western coast via the sea a few weeks ago.

The state had stepped up its coastal security in wake of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai last November.

Goa police getting armed with INSAS rifles

 

[I-G]

Two killed in shootout in Imphal market

Two killed in shootout in Imphal market

Indo-Asian News Service
Imphal, July 23, 2009
First Published: 12:44 IST(23/7/2009)
Last Updated: 12:57 IST(23/7/2009)

A militant and a woman passerby were killed in a shootout at a crowded marketplace in Imphal, near the Manipur Assembly on Thursday morning.

Four people were also injured when an unidentified militant armed with an automatic weapon was chased by a security team in the market area around 11 am, police said.

"The area was crowded with shoppers and vendors when the militant opened indiscriminate gunfire seeing a security team. In the ensuing gun battle, the militant and a civilian woman were killed," a police official said.

The identity of the militant was not immediately known. It is believed that the militant was trying to take the shopping complex hostage.

"We are not sure why the militant was moving in the market area with arms. There are some reports that the lone militant was planning to take people hostage at a shopping complex although we are still investigating the incident," the official said.

The shootout led to panic in the area, with shops downing their shutters.

Two killed in shootout in Imphal market- Hindustan Times

 

[RPK]

Roadside bombing kills 8 guards in S Afghanistan

Roadside bombing kills 8 guards in S Afghanistan


KABUL, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Eight security guards with a private security company were killed and four others sustained injures as their cars struck roadside bombs on Tuesday in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan, a statement of Interior Ministry issued here said.

"It occurred at 8 a.m. this morning when two cars, belonging to Humayon Security Company, were struck by remote control mine in Yakhchal area of Grishik district, leaving eight guards dead and four others injured, all Afghans," it said.

Moreover, it blamed the enemy of Afghanistan, a term used by official for Taliban insurgents, for carrying this gruesome incident.

In another incident on the same day, Afghan National Army (ANA) killed one Taliban militant and wounded another as they came in contact with Taliban rebels in Helmand province, said a statement of Defense Ministry.

"In continuation of operation Attal 41 (Hero 41) in Helmand province, a militant was killed and another wounded as they came in contact with ANA unit conducting searching operation around the Khanshin district," it added.

It also said that one mortar installing on a vehicle was destroyed and two more with three shells were also found by ANA.

A massive operation against Taliban militants, jointly launched by U.S. Marines and ANA, is going on in the restive Helmand province and over 80 militants have been killed since the operation launched on July 2.

 

[indian_sukhoi]

Taliban will sure target the Transport Development!!!


Road developments play a crucial role for Afghanistan progressive. India already proved effective in Afghanistan in infrastructure development.