Drugs and Terrorism PSA

Hezbollah Drug Ties To Colombia

British Jury Renders Split Verdict in Airliner Bomb Plot

Source: Entire Article
by Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, September 9, 2008; Page A20

A British jury returned guilty verdicts Monday against Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27, Assad Sarwar, 28, and Tanvir Hussain, 27, who were among eight British Muslims charged with plotting to bomb at least seven planes flying to the U.S. However, the jury declined to convict any of the eight of plotting to bomb airliners. The three were convicted only of "conspiracy to murder persons unknown" and face the potential of life in prison. In July, the three men pleaded guilty to conspiring to set off bombs, but they continued to deny targeting airplanes. Ali and Sarwar testified that they intended to detonate bombs at Parliament or other high-profile sites.

The entire article can be found here.

Hezbollah Smuggling Drugs, Weapons Into US Aboard Mini Subs

FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN
Now terror subs prowl Caribbean
Navy fears Hezbollah bringing drugs, weapons to United States
Source: Entire Article
05 Sep 2008 12:44 AM PDT

The waters in the Caribbean and around Latin America for a long time have provided a path for illicit drugs to flow into the United States, but the U.S. Navy has increased its patrols in the region now looking for something else… Hizbollah terrorists, according to a report from World Net Daily..

Mini-subs used by terrorists

The Navy, in trolling for mini-submarines sometimes used to transport drugs, has discovered that some of them apparently are being operated by Hizbollah. The mini-subs are small semi-submersibles, made of fiberglass and capable of carrying up to four people plus a payload. They are popular with drug smugglers, and now the U.S. is concerned elements of Hizbollah have begun using them for drug-running or smuggling weapons.

Hizbullah Terrorists

For more information on the involvement of terrorists and drug trafficking read the following article.

Global Terrorist And Drug Trafficking Cartels

Drug Trafficking and Terrorism

Heroin Drug Bust at Border May be Linked to Hizbullah

'Helpless' fight against drug smuggling aids terror funding

Hizbullah spying through Facebook

Source: Entire Article
Arutz 7
by Gil Rosen

(IsraelNN.com) According to the intelligence community in Israel, Hizbullah terrorists are becoming increasingly computer savvy, using Facebook to learn more about IDF soldiers, potential targets for kidnappings.


Yeshiva World News reported that IDF intelligence officials are concerned that soldiers may unwittingly give the enemy information through social networking sites or even arrange to meet an internet companion who is in fact a terrorist. The IDF has undertaken an aggressive awareness campaign for soldiers, instructing them to be careful regarding what information they may reveal, cautioning and instructing them not to reveal the name of the branch of the service in which they serve, unit details et cetera. This is especially true of soldiers serving in the air force, intelligence, and elite combat units.

Dangerous Liaisons

One military intelligence official explained that Facebook has become a major resource for terrorists seeking to gather information on soldiers and IDF units. Other concerns including meetings arranged via Facebook in which soldiers remain unaware of the true identity of terrorists, befriending them and then revealing classified information that will be used to harm soldiers in the future. A soldier who serves in an intelligence unit was recently sentenced to 19 days in a military jail for posting a photo of his base on Facebook.

Hizbullah Terrorists

War Room Photo

Israeli civilians have taken up the matter as well. A recently created users' group is dedicated to stopping intelligence leaks through the social networks. The group numbers more than 800 members who report any security violations they encounter. The group's founder said that he decided to act when he was traveling abroad. While surfing the internet he ran into a picture of two female soldiers inside a war room with a classified map including clearly visible sensitive code names in the background.

Hizbullah’s Role in Attacks Against U.S. and British Forces in Iraq

by Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi
Published August 2008
Vol. 8, No. 9
26 August 2008

Asharq Alawsat reported on August 18, 2008, that Hizbullah operatives were involved in attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces in four Iraqi provinces. In June 2006, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield disclosed that Hizbullah cadres had attacked U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq. Hizbullah units claimed responsibility for operations against coalition forces and Iraqi security personnel as early as the latter part of 2005.

A senior U.S. intelligence officer said that activists of the “Special Groups” (Shiite terror cells in Iraq) undergo training and military instruction administered by the Iranian Revolution Guards’ Qods Force and Lebanese Hizbullah at training camps in the cities of Qom, Tehran, Ahwaz, and Mashad.

The official website of the Hizbullah Brigades in Iraq features scores of video clips depicting the setting off of a number of sabotage charges in one place; the use of two explosive charges in succession in order to harm rescue forces as well; the use of mortars mounted on trucks in order to make a quick getaway, and the launching of a shoulder-fired Strela missile against helicopters.

Hizbullah’s deep involvement in terror throughout Iraq demonstrates that the organization does not view itself purely as a Lebanese factor with national and local objectives, but as an arm of Iran in spreading the Shiite Islamic Revolution throughout the Middle East and in the long term throughout the entire world. Hizbullah's strategic ties with with Iran's Revolutionary Guards for the purpose of operations in Iraq once again illustrate how Iran, in general, and its Revolutionary Guards, in particular, directly promote international terrorism globally.

To the rest of this paper click here.

Israel firm on boycotting Durban II despite UN plea

Sep 2, 2008 23:34 | Updated Sep 3, 2008 10:08
Source Jpost

Israel is still likely to boycott the so called "Durban II" conference, set for 2009, in spite of a plea made by the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay that it reconsider its position.


On Monday, her first day in office, Pillay said, "My instinct would be to get as many countries to participate as possible." But Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Roni Leshno Yaar said in response, "So far I have no reason to believe that Israel was wrong in deciding not to participate." Israel fears Durban II would be a repeat of the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hate-fest that characterized the first UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, which met in Durban, South Africa in 2001. Although the follow-up conference is to be held in Geneva, it has been nicknamed Durban II.

The US and Israel walked out of the first Durban conference in protest. The US has not yet decided whether to take part in Durban II, but has threatened to boycott it, as well as using a vote in the UN General Assembly last year to protest the conference. Canada has already said it plans to boycott the conference. France, the UK and the Netherlands have also threatened not to attend.

Among the concerns regarding the event is the fact its planning committee is chaired by Libya, and has as its vice chairs Iran and Cuba. Leshno Yaar, who plans to meet Pillay in the next few days, said he would raise the issue of Durban II with her. "I am willing to listen to her position on this conference and I will share with her our concerns," he told The Jerusalem Post by phone from Geneva.

"So far I have no reason to believe that Israel was wrong in deciding not to participate. In fact, all the signs are leading to one conclusion: that it is going to be a repeat of the previous Durban conference. This is unfortunate and we regret this," he said.

Leshno Yaar said he hoped that Pillay could serve as a moderate voice and could use her influence to guarantee that the anti-racism conference would not display the same anti-Semitism as the first one. He also hoped to raise with her the Human Rights Council's anti-Israel record, even though she has no direct jurisdiction over that council. Pillay, a South African jurist, takes over the post of UN rights chief after serving for five years as a judge on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, the first permanent independent court set up to try cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Before being appointed to the ICC, she served eight years with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), including four years as its president.

During her tenure, the court made several ground-breaking rulings that shaped international criminal law. Executive Director of UN Watch Hillel Neuer said that little is known about Pillay's positions on Jews or Israel. On Tuesday, Pillay's first critical statements on the job were about Iran, not Israel. Pillay took that country to task for executing juvenile offenders for crimes committed when they were as young as 15. Her spokesman said the global body is "very concerned and saddened at reports from the Islamic Republic of Iran concerning the recent execution of two juvenile offenders."

On Monday, Pillay pledged to "fearlessly focus on protecting the victims around the world," noting the task "does involve speaking out against the violators." Such an approach has been rejected by many developing nations at the UN, who believe singling out any country for criticism is detrimental. They make an exception for Israel. Pillay's spokesman, Rupert Colville, identified Reza Hedjazi and Benham Zaare as two youths executed by Iranian authorities last month. He said Hedjazi was believed to have been 15 at the time of his alleged crime, and Zaare one year older.

"These executions appear to be in clear violation of international law," he told reporters, adding that there is an "absolute prohibition" against the death penalty for minors. He said Iran had ratified two global conventions specifically banning execution for crimes committed before age 18.

AP contributed to this report.

A Ticking Radioactive Time Bomb

September 3, 2008
Source
National Terror Alert Response Center

Since the end of the cold war, the United Nations has logged more than 800 incidents in which radioactive material has gone missing, often from poorly guarded sites. Who is taking it - and should we be worried?

A little before dawn on a recent summer morning, a convoy of three large blue lorries, a handful of police cars and a bus rumbled along the dual carriageway heading north out of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. Even if it had not been so early, the motorcade would probably not have drawn much attention. The lorries were unmarked, the bus carrying a few sleepy policemen was old and scruffy, while the lumbering shipment was big and slow enough to explain the escort and its flashing blue lights.

But for Bulgaria, and indirectly for the rest of us, the convoy’s progress marked an important transition - the departure of the country’s last remaining stockpile of High Enriched Uranium (HEU), the stuff of which nuclear bombs are made. It took two years of talks and preparatory work before the highly radioactive material - just over 6kg of spent fuel from a defunct research reactor - was fished out of the storage pools in which it had lain unused and largely forgotten for nearly 20 years. It was sealed in steel casks - custom-made by …koda, the Czech car manufacturer - and lowered into the three anonymous blue trucks.

Over the course of the morning of July 5, the convoy made its way over the mountains and down to the banks of the river Danube, where the containers were winched into a long, black barge bound for Ukraine. Ten days and a rail journey later, the HEU arrived in Russia, whence it had come nearly half a century earlier as a gift. In Chelyabinsk, just east of the Urals, it is to be reprocessed or blended down. I was permitted to witness its secret journey on condition that nothing was printed until the shipment reached its destination, and this small but massively lethal fragment of the cold war was made safe.

The operation was the latest in a series - part of an accelerating scramble to clean up the scattered legacy of nuclear profligacy. In the 50s and 60s, the US and Soviet Union exported HEU-powered nuclear reactors to their allies for power generation and experimentation. When the cold war finally came to an end, deals were done on dismantling the redundant weapons in the former Soviet republics. Under a programme called Megatons To Megawatts, one tenth of America’s electricity is generated from uranium from thousands of former Soviet warheads. The Russians blend down HEU in the warheads to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU), which cannot be used in bombs; the Americans transport it to nuclear power stations back home.

However, that still left thousands of kilograms of weapons-grade material, mostly HEU, in civilian reactors at power stations and universities around the world, some with no more security than a watchman and a padlock.

As the logic of deterrence and mutually assured destruction recedes from the collective memory to be supplanted by the fears evoked by the September 11 attacks, nuclear terrorism has emerged as the number one threat to western security. The suicidal extremist driving a crude nuclear device into the centre of a major city is now the ultimate nightmare. George Bush and Tony Blair went to war in Iraq with the ostensible aim of preventing Saddam’s assumed nuclear stockpile falling into the hands of al-Qaida jihadists.

Barak Reacts to Kassam Strike with One-Day Closure of Crossings

Arutz: Link to Article Source

(IsraelNN.com) Arab terrorists violated the two-month-old temporary ceasefire Tuesday night with the 43rd Kassam rocket on the western Negev since the truce went into effect on June 19. Defense Minister Ehud Barak retaliated by ordering that all Gaza crossings be closed, hours after announcing the reopening of the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Gaza Terrorists Launching

The weapon exploded in an open area at a kibbutz west of Sderot, and there were no injuries or damage. Dozens of mortar shells also have been fired on Israel in the past eight weeks, in violation of the agreement, but Israel has not carried out any counter terrorist operations.

Dozens of mortar shells also have been fired on Israel in the past eight weeks, but Israel has not carried out any counter terrorist operations.

The Gaza crossings were re-reopened this week following previous retaliatory measures aimed at discouraging Arab terrorists from continuing the attacks on Israel, which began nearly eight years ago with the beginning of the Oslo War in September 2000.

Defense Minister Barak said the crossings will remain closed until Thursday, when the situation will be reexamined. Gaza residents have been able to circumvent the crossings by receiving goods and merchandise smuggled through a large network of tunnels underneath the Philadelphi Route, which includes the city of Rafiah that straddles the Egyptian-Gaza border.

Alon Shuster, chairman of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council where the latest rocket struck, reiterated charges that government is not making a sufficient effort to protect area residents, particularly in terms of fortifying public and private buildings.

"Even if there were total calm, my mind wouldn't be at rest," he said. "I still believe that the government is not doing all it needs to be doing in terms of fortification. Even the ongoing budget debates should not interfere with the fortification efforts."

For more information about the Israelis who are being affected by Kassam attacks visit Iron Rain.

Son of top Hamas leader converts to Christianity

By Aaron Klein
Source: WorldNetDaily
Posted: July 31, 2008

JERUSALEM – The son of one of the most popular leaders in the Hamas terrorist organization has moved to the U.S. and converted to Christianity, it has emerged. In an exclusive interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper, Masab Yousuf, son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheik Hassan Yousef, slammed Hamas, praised Israel and said he hoped his terrorist father will open his eyes to Jesus and to Christianity.

"You Jews should be aware: You will never, but never have peace with Hamas. Islam, as the ideology that guides them, will not allow them to achieve a peace agreement with the Jews. They believe that tradition says that the Prophet Muhammed fought against the Jews and that therefore they must continue to fight them to the death."

Masab slammed Palestinian society as "an entire society [that] sanctifies death and the suicide terrorists. In Palestinian culture a suicide terrorist becomes a hero, a martyr. Sheiks tell their students about the 'heroism of the shaheeds.'"

Masab's father is considered the most popular Hamas figure in the West Bank. He is serving a sentence in Israel for planning or involvement in multiple terror attacks, including an infamous 2002 suicide bombing in the school cafeteria of Jerusalem's Hebrew University in which nine students and staff members were killed.

Further articles on this subject can be found at:

Article 1

Israeli Ad Pulled Due to Saudi Pressure

Source: Arutz 7
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) Nissan Motor Company has asked its Israeli distributor to pull a local television commercial for the new Nissan Tiida (sold in the U.S. under the name Versa). The decision came after a Saudi Arabian official threatened Nissan with a region-wide boycott.

The commercial, produced by the firm of Inbar-Merhav-Shaked, depicts a group of Gulf Arabs in traditional dress and surrounded by bodyguards attacking a Tiida compact. After hitting, cursing and throwing a shoe at the car, the protagonist is pulled away as a voice-over says, "When you are the most fuel efficient, it's clear that you won't be loved by the oil emirates."



The Japan Times of August 9 quoted a Nissan spokesman in Japan as saying, "The commercial was produced by a local automobile distributor based on its own judgment, and Nissan Motor has nothing to do with the commercial." Daniella Raybenbach, spokesperson for Nissan Israel, confirmed that they had received a request to kill the ad.

Upon the release of the commercial earlier this month, Saudi Arabia's Dubai-based MBC TV quoted a Saudi official as saying, "It's my opinion that Nissan made a huge error by igniting these [racist] instincts. We need to apply punishments... against these things. In order for Nissan to keep its interests in the region, it must apologize." Other Arabic newspapers followed suit in calling for a boycott of Nissan.

The Nissan Company's corporate website claims that it "is one of the most popular and successful automobile brands" in Saudi Arabia. In June 1994, Nissan "set up a regional Middle East headquarters in Dubai, thus becoming the first Japanese car manufacturer to accomplish this feat," the website boasts.

Search for Terrorist in Kenya

Source: NTVKenya

Homegrown Terror Threat - U.S. Lawmakers Take Aim

Source: FoxNews.com
08 Aug 2008 02:01 AM CDT

Many Americans believe that the threat of homegrown terrorism is gravest in Europe, but according to the U.S. government, in the last 18 months more than a half-dozen plots were thwarted right here at home.

Sen. Joe Lieberman says the threat is growing.

“Bottom line: There is a threat of homegrown terror in America,” he said. “It is not as great as in European cities, but it is growing and we have to take it seriously.”

Three young Ohioans were convicted in June on terrorism charges after officials gathered evidence against them that included suicide bomb belts filled with ball bearings.

Mohammed Amawi, Marwan el-Hindi and Wassim Mazloum were part of a terror cell in Toledo that wanted to launch attacks against U.S. troops overseas — made all the easier by their status as Americans.

“Being an American gives you a passport around the world,” said Andrew Cochran, chairman of the Counter terrorism Foundation and editor of the Counter terrorism blog. “These again are instances of homegrown's who take it to the limit. … These people wanted to go all the way to Iraq.”

Other homegrown terrorists have planned attacks on the homefront. Derrick Shareef, then just 22, was inspired by a violent Islamist ideology to plan a grenade attack against a shopping mall in Rockford, Ill. He eventually pleaded guilty to terror charges.

The Internet is fast becoming the dominant tool for the training and recruitment of terrorists. Some lawmakers are attempting to shut down such sites and those with the most extreme propaganda tapes, often made by Al Qaeda’s media arm, As-Sahab.

“I am continuing to work to try to bring down the terrorist Web sites on the Internet,” Lieberman said. “I think the critical role… [is] reaching out to try to stop the problem in local areas before it starts.”

The shutting down of certain Web sites is a prospect some critics are dreading.

Gaza Terrorists Warn Truce May End in Three Weeks

Source: Arutz 7 News

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

(IsraelNN.com) The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in Gaza warned Thursday that the temporary ceasefire may end in three weeks, when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins. The month is frequently marked by an increase in terrorism.

Map of Gaza

PRC official Abu Mujahed charged that Israel is violating the agreement by not making progress in freeing terrorists and prisoners or opening up the border at Rafiah. He also said Israel must allow free movement at Gaza crossings. Israeli security sources said they have relaxed examinations of goods and merchandise passing through Gaza crossings as the temporary ceasefire enters its eighth week, although one rocket was fired on Israel this week.

PRC terrorists allowed several journalists to film a training exercise in which bombs were exploded and live fire was used in a raid on a mock Israeli army base built on the grounds of former Jewish communities that Israel destroyed three years ago.

Abu Mujahed told Reuters that "politicians will stop talking and military men will act" if Israel does not show progress in freeing hundreds of Arab terrorists and prisoners and allowing free movement of good at Gaza crossings.


"The Zionist occupation has not yet agreed to the demand to release our prisoners, so our fighters are preparing for the next round in which we will try to abduct more Israeli soldiers to swap them for our hero prisoners," a PRC spokesman told Reuters.

Abu Mujahed said that the PRC and other terrorist groups had agreed to abide by the truce, which began in mid-June, for 10 weeks, when Ramadan begins. He did not say whether Hamas also was looking towards Ramadan as a possible date for renewal of attacks on Israel.

The ceasefire officially calls for a halt in terrorist attacks and Israel counter terrorist actions in Gaza for several months, when it may be extended to Judea and Samaria.

Hamas has demanded that Israel allow Egypt and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to re-open the border at Rafiah, where the international boundary runs through the city. Israel and Hamas differ on the conditions of the ceasefire, Hamas claiming that the border must be re-opened before talks can advance on freeing kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Israel has said that the agreement calls for the border to be opened up after Shalit is returned home.

Olympic Terror Threat By Chinese Islamic Group

Source: National Terror Alert
Posted: 07 Aug 2008 11:06 AM CDT

An Islamic group that has threatened to attack the Olympics released a new video warning Muslims to avoid planes, trains and buses used by Chinese, a US group that monitors militant organizations said Thursday.

The six-minute video, issued two days before the Beijing games open, was purportedly made by the Turkistan Islamic Party, which seeks independence for China’s western Xinjiang region, the SITE Intelligence Group said. The militants are believed to be based across the border in Pakistan, where security experts say core members have received training from al-Qaeda.

“Choose your side,” says the speaker, grasping a rifle and dressed in a black turban and camouflage with his face masked. “Do not stay on the same bus, on the same train, on the same plane, in the same buildings, or any place the Chinese are,” he warns Muslims, according to SITE.

The Washington-based IntelCenter, another agency that monitors militant groups, identified the speaker as Abdullah Mansour from the group’s religious education department. He speaks in the Turkic language of the Uighurs, a Muslim minority with a population of about 8 million in Xinjiang.

Last month, the group issued videotaped threats and claimed responsibility for a series of bus bombings in China in recent months. The latest video features graphics similar to ones used earlier: a burning Olympics logo and an explosion imposed over an apparent Olympic venue.

The latest video claims the communist regime’s alleged mistreatment of Muslims justifies holy war. It accuses China of forcing Muslims into atheism by capturing and killing Islamic teachers and destroying Islamic schools, according to the SITE. It says China’s birth control program has forced abortions on Muslim women.

“I think what they’re doing is they’re trying to capitalize on the buildup to the games,” said Ben Venzke of IntelCenter.

More than 100,000 soldiers and police were guarding Beijing and other Olympic co-host cities. Terrorism experts say the heavy security presence would likely force attackers to target less-protected areas.

“I think the actual Olympics themselves, the venues, the guests, the athletes, are going to be safe,” said Drew Thompson, director of China studies at the Nixon Center in Washington. “I would not be an alarmist.”

Thompson added that Uighur groups haven’t demonstrated they have the capacity to attack Beijing or other host cities during the games.

Abbas's US-Trained Police Proving Helpless Against Terror

by Gil Ronen
Source: Arutz 7

(IsraelNN.com) The Palestinian Authority / Fatah special police force that was trained by the US to fight terrorists has turned out to be a failure, according to recent reports. The US-backed police force was supposed to enable Israel to turn over security control of Judea and Samaria to the PA, as a prelude to a possible retreat from its biblical heartland. But so far the force's contingent in Jenin has been running scared from the terrorists it was supposed to bring under control.

According to WorldNetDaily, the Jenin unit's first mission was to clear out a section of Kabatiya, a neighborhood south of Jenin which is considered the main base for the Islamic Jihad terrorist group.

About 200 policemen attempted to engage members of Islamic Jihad, Hamas and Fatah's own "Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades." But witnesses, including members of Fatah and Israeli security sources, said that within less than 30 minutes of the start of the clashes, the elite PA police force retreated from the scene. "The security men ran away scared. They didn't arrest anyone," said one witness.

"The security men ran away scared. They didn't arrest anyone."
"No chance for the troublemakers"

The PA's special force has been undergoing training under the supervision of US Middle East envoy Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton since late 2006. An initial contingent of 500 police officers was deployed in Shechem, in northern Samaria, in February of 2008, and another 480 members of the elite force deployed in Jenin in early May. The Jenin force's commander, Suleiman Amran, announced to the media that following the deployment, there is "no chance for troublemakers to return to Jenin."

Gen. Dayton personally oversaw the Jenin and Nablus units' training at US-operated bases in Jordan and in the Judean city of Jericho, and his office has been closely monitoring the police force's deployment. The budget for the force's training and arming was reported to be in the millions of dollars.

However, an Israeli security official closely monitoring the progress of the Shechem and Jenin forces said that they could not fight terrorism. "The Israel Defense Forces must do most of the work for them in that regard. When it comes to public security, they can block off streets and create a perimeter and carry out other basic duties, but beyond that, fighting crime isn't going well," the security official said.

Helpless in Shechem

In Shechem, the new police force proved helpless against 13 senior leaders of the "Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades" who were pardoned last June by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on condition they disarm and refrain from attacks, but who nonetheless publicly took up arms and vowed terror attacks against Israel. They then created a stronghold in the Old City of Shechem, calling themselves the Night Warriors of Al Aqsa.

According to informed security sources, among the Brigades leaders rejecting the agreement were Hanni Ka'abe, Mahdi Abu Jazaleh, and brothers Omar and Amer Haqube. The US-backed Shechem police unit was called upon to eject the "Night Warriors" from Shechem's Old City.
"They couldn't even get near the stronghold without being heavily fired upon and then retreating."

Fetah Police Units

A large force attempted to raid the terrorists' stronghold several times, but according to security officials, the assaults repeatedly failed. "We are talking about six attempts so far, five of the attempts utilized more than 300 policemen against the 13 terrorists and all attempts failed miserably," said a security official. "They couldn't even get near the stronghold without being heavily fired upon and then retreating," the official said.

In the end, the IDF raided the Brigades' stronghold, killing Brigades terrorist leader Ka'abe in a shootout and sending at least five other rebel Brigades terrorists into hiding. "Israel had to come in and do the work for the Palestinian force," said a security official. "I don't know how they can handle security without Israel backing them up."

Dayton blames Israel
Dayton was recently quoted as blaming Defense Minister Ehud Barak for the police force's failures, according to the PA’s Ma’an News Agency. Dayton reportedly praised the PA in meetings with foreign consuls in Ramallah, but criticized Barak and the IDF. The PA, he said, is “acting with great seriousness in the realm of security as part of its responsibility to secure its territories.” However, he said, Israel causes the PA to fail, in part by refusing to grant PA officers free access to areas under Israeli control.

Meanwhile, US training of elite PA security forces continues. A new, three-month course began in March at US-controlled bases in the Jordanian village of Giftlik, according to Israeli security officials. More than 600 "elite PA soldiers" are enrolled in the current course.

The plan of instruction calls for a 1,400-hour curriculum that includes human rights law, defensive tactics, first aid, urban and rural small-unit tactics, firearms, mounted- and foot-patrol techniques, crime scene investigations and more.

Cigarette lighters for handguns
However, according to a recent report in the Herald Tribune, the force's instruction has been inept to the point of being pathetic. In its poorly translated instruction manuals, for example, the words "cover fire," a term to describe small-arms fire to pin down the enemy, was translated as "extinguish a burning fire."

"Instruction in defensive tactics for hundreds of students was taught with three practice batons, a few handcuffs, and dummy pistols that were actually novelty cigarette lighters. The students had none of the safety equipment normally associated with police work," wrote a Tribune reporter. "In the classrooms, I watched as students were taught radio communications without radios, driving and vehicle maintenance with no vehicles, foot-patrol tactics without weapons or radios, and mounted-patrol tactics without vehicles."

In addition, fully 10 percent of the students were reported to be functionally illiterate.

Hillel Fendel contributed to this report.

Through this video is from one year ago, it helps details some of the issues.

Hamas and Fatah Clash in Gaza Jun 14, 2007

Bin Laden To Deliver ‘Strong Message’ to Muslims

Posted: 18 May 2008 09:45 AM CDT
Source: AFP

Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden will shortly deliver a “very strong” message to Muslims, a website used by Islamist militants announced on Sunday.

“To the Islamic ummah (nation), soon, God willing, a very strong address from the lion of Islam, Sheikh Osama bin Laden,” the Internet site said.

The announcement comes two days after an audio message posted on the Internet in which bin Laden slammed Western leaders for taking part in Israel’s 60th birthday celebrations.

“The participation of Western leaders with the Jews in this celebration confirms that the West supports this ugly Jewish occupation of our lands and that they stand in the Israelis’ trench against us,” he said on Friday.

Bin Laden vowed that Muslims would battle on for Palestine.

“We will continue the fight against the Israelis and their allies… and we will not give up one inch of Palestine, God willing, as long as there is one sincere Muslim on this earth.”

Kassam Attack Narrowly Misses Strategic Target in Ashkelon

by Hana Levi Julian
14 Iyar 5768, May 19, '08
Source: Arutz 7

(IsraelNN.com) Gaza-based Palestinian Authority terrorists aimed another series of missile attacks at the port city of Ashkelon on Monday, one of them narrowly missing a strategic site. Media is constrained from reporting which site, to avoid spotting for them.

Ashkelon, home to slightly more than 108,000 souls, is Israel's 13th largest city and hosts sizeable oil and gas pipelines as well as a large electricity power station.

No one was injured and no property damage was reported.

Gaza terrorists fired three mortar shells at Israeli communities in the western Negev later in the day. The shells landed in open areas in the Shaar HaNegev and Eshkol regions. No injuries were reported.

Terrorist groups in Gaza had fired seven mortar shells at Israeli communities by Monday evening. None of the attacks succeeded in causing injury or damage.

The attacks came as the government stated that a major offensive against the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza is growing more likely. Egyptian mediators are hoping to stave off such a scenario with a tahadiyeh, or period of "calm," between the Hamas terrorist organization and Israel, even if only unofficially agreed upon at this point.

A 24-year-old mother and her 2-year-old daughter are still in serious condition in Tel HaShomer Hospital following a Grad missile attack on a medical clinic on the top floor of Ashkelon's Chutzot Mall last week.

The baby returned to the operating room Monday to undergo another in a long series of surgeries. Doctors are hoping to save both her legs and remove remaining shrapnel from her head.

Mofaz Calls for Gaza Offensive, but Indirect Talks on Shalit

Transportation and Road Safety Minister Shaul Mofaz called for an immediately offensive against the Hamas terrorist authority in Gaza. The former Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff told Voice of Israel government radio Monday morning that he would suggest letting the army decide exactly what type of counterterrorist assault to carry out.

"The present situation (of constant Kassam and other missile attacks) is intolerable," asserted the Kadima minister. "We have to create a situation in which Hamas will come to us and request a ceasefire. The policy of restraint is over."

Mofaz called for a less aggressive approach to bringing home kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit.The former IDF Chief of Staff argued that it would be proper for Israel to conduct "indirect negotiations" with Hamas for Shalit's return, even though Israel has officially banned all contacts with Hamas

IDF, ISA Nab Iranian-trained Gaza Terrorist

The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) released for publication Monday the news that intelligence and IDF personnel have arrested a former Fatah terrorist who trained in Iran under the elite Revolutionary Guards.

Ala Abu Madif, who reportedly joined a different Gaza terrorist group after leaving Fatah, is a resident of the northern Gaza town of Khan Younis, located near the destroyed Gush Katif Jewish community of Neve Dekalim.

Abu Madif was involved in several sniper and rocket attacks on Israeli citizens and was prepared to stage a suicide bombing attack at the time of his arrest.

Jerusalem-area Arabs Accused of Selling Weapons to PA

by Hana Levi Julian
14 Iyar 5768, May 19, '08
Source: Arutz 7

(IsraelNN.com) The Jerusalem District Police have cleared for publication the news that a group of Jerusalem-area Arabs have been arrested on charges of trading and selling weapons to Palestinian Authority residents of Judea and Samaria.

The 13 suspects, who are residents of Shuafat, were arrested in a joint sting operation by the Israel Police and Border Police over the past several weeks. Each confessed to the charges against him.

The weapons that were recovered by the police were brought to a munitions laboratory to determine whether they had been fired.

IDF Approves 20 New PA Police Stations

Meanwhile the IDF approved on Monday the establishment of 20 new PA police stations in Judea and Samaria as part of the ongoing effort to ease restrictions on Arab life in the territories. Thus far, four police stations have been established in the areas around the PA-controlled Samarian cities of Kalkilya and Tulkarm.

The US-trained PA police force is tasked with maintaining law and order in Judea and Samaria, although the IDF remains in control of dealing with terrorism. The police force operates only during daylight hours.

In addition to the increased number of police stations throughout the PA areas, 70 security roadblocks were removed by the IDF during the month of May, including the Sheep Junction in Judea where a number of Jews have been murdered by PA terrorists in the past.

10 Arrested in France, Germany, Netherlands In Terror Probe

National Terror Alert Response Center

Posted: 17 May 2008 02:01 AM CDT

Source: The Boston Globe

A three-country police sweep yesterday instigated by France netted 10 people suspected of financing terrorist movements - and threw the spotlight on Al Qaeda-linked militants with roots in Uzbekistan.

Eight suspects were detained in France, one in Germany and one in the Netherlands, said a senior French police official who was only authorized to discuss the arrests on condition of anonymity.

The suspects’ names and nationalities were not given but officials said they were Turkic-speaking. The primary languages in Turkey and most countries in Central Asia are Turkic.

The official said French police suspect the suspects collected funds for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a militant group said by the United States to have close ties to Al Qaeda. But a Turkish Islamic extremist group may also be linked to the case.

Afghan Hijacker Found Working as Cleaner at Heathrow Airport

National Terror Alert Response Center

Posted: 18 May 2008 02:02 AM CDT

Source: Fox News

An Afghan hijacker who won the right to live in England is working at Heathrow Airport in London as a cleaner in the British Airways training center, the Daily Mail reported.

Nazamuddin Mohammidy, 34, was among nine hijackers who in 2000 diverted an Ariana Airlines flight with 160 passengers on board to Stansted Airport in Essex, England.

The group, armed with guns and hand grenades, claimed it was fleeing the Taliban and threatened to kill all the passengers unless they were granted asylum. It took four days for the hijackers to surrender.

Mohammidy appeared in court this week after police pulled him over while he was driving a car around the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow, the Daily Mail reported.

At first authorities thought he was an unlicensed cab driver but were shocked to discover he was one of the hijackers and had a British Airways pass on him.

He initially was arrested on charges of being in breach of bail over assault charges for allegedly attacking his landlord, and then it emerged that he was one of the Stansted hijackers.

He has spent months working for a firm that has a contract to clean at Heathrow. Sources told the Daily Mail that Mohammidy’s British Airways pass did not give him airside access, but it did allow him to go into secure areas.

al Qaeda Warns non-Muslims in Arabian Peninsula

From: The National Terror Alert Response Center
By Inal Ersan of Rueters India
May 16, 2008
Full Story

DUBAI, May 15 (Reuters) - An al Qaeda Yemeni wing threatened attacks on Thursday across the Arabian Peninsula against non-Muslim foreigners including tourists and journalists.

"We warn you not to enter the Arabian Peninsula under any name or cover be it as tourists, diplomats, scientists, experts or journalists; you will be a primary target for the mujahideen," al Qaeda in the South of the Arabian Peninsula said in the editorial of its e-magazine.

"We stand absolved from (the rights) of any infidel who has entered the Arabian Peninsula. (Targeting) their blood and money are religiously right," it said in reference to non-Muslim foreigners, whom al Qaeda calls infidels.

Al Qaeda-linked militants in neighboring Saudi Arabia have waged attacks on Western targets but appear to have been weakened due to a security crackdown.

Yemen has seen a surge in small attacks on government buildings and foreign embassies in recent weeks. In April, an al Qaeda-linked group said it fired three mortar rounds at a complex housing Americans and other Westerners in Sanaa. No one was hurt.

The attack was aimed at expelling infidels from the Arabian Peninsula, home to Islam's holiest sites, it said. In March, a school near the U.S. embassy was hit by mortars injuring 13 girls and five Yemeni soldiers in an attack Washington said was aimed at its mission.

Jordanian Professor Recommends Nuclear Suicide Bombers

By Hana Levi Julian

May 16, 2008

(IsraelNN.com)

Jordanian University lecturer Ibrahim Alloush recommended on Al-Jazera television this week that suicide bombers be equipped with small nuclear bombs.


According to a transcript provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Dr. Alloush said, "Whoever managed to get a martyrdom-seeker into Dimona, should consider how to get martyrdom-seekers into Dimona and elsewhere armed with non-conventional explosives - and perhaps even small nuclear bombs," he stated. "We should think in this direction."

Alloush lived for 13 years in the United States, earning graduate degrees at Ohio University and Oklahoma State University, where he earned a doctorate in economics.

As the editor of the "Free Arab Voice", he was jailed by the Jordanian government in 2003 for incitement, after publishing an article saying there were American bases in Jordan "taking part in the aggression against Iraq."

Holocaust Denier, Al-Qaeda Supporter

Alloush also maintains that the Holocaust never took place. In 2005, Alloush said in an interview with Al-Jazeera television quoted by MEMRI, "The Holocaust is exploited to justify the Zionist policies and to justify the enemy state's right to exist. There is evidence and scientific research proving that the Holocaust is a lie."

The Jordanian professor also strongly supports Osama bin Laden's international al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

Holocaust Denier, Al-Qaeda Supporter

Alloush also maintains that the Holocaust never took place. In 2005, Alloush said in an interview with Al-Jazeera television quoted by MEMRI, "The Holocaust is exploited to justify the Zionist policies and to justify the enemy state's right to exist. There is evidence and scientific research proving that the Holocaust is a lie."

The Jordanian professor also strongly supports Osama bin Laden's international al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

'America Got What it Deserved on 9/11'

Moreover, Alloush, said in the same 2005 interview that the US deserved the Al-Qaeda attack on Washington and the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

"America brought the 9/11 attacks upon itself. Okay? This is a case of the chicken coming home to roost. In other words, you have brought this problem upon yourselves," he said. "As long as America occupies the Arab homeland and the Islamic world militarily, politically, economically, and culturally, and as long as it supports the Zionist entity, it should expect something."

The full video can be viewed at MemriTV here.