Chinese military experts urge int'l cooperation against urban terrorists - People's Daily Online:

"'Strike-2010' Sino-Thai joint anti-terrorism drill came to an end in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Oct. 19. In this joint drill, which focused on urban anti-terrorism for the first time, both parties conducted an in-depth exchange with each other on how to deal with urban terrorist activities so as to lay a solid foundation for urban anti-terrorism cooperation between the two countries in the future.

"Urban terrorist activities are a public hazard to international community!" said Tao Guang, head of the Chinese Guidance Team of this joint drill. Nowadays, cities have become “hotspot” sites for terrorists to produce terrorist activities. They endeavor to produce various types of terrorist attacks in important cities, so as to reach their political, economic and other purposes.

As pointed out by Tao Guang, urban terrorist attacks are usually launched during important events, such as during the Munich Olympics Games in 1972 when a terrorist organization hijacked and killed 9 Israeli athletes. "

This is magnificent, but are they going to consider fundamented accusations of terrorism funding by Chinese institutions when they are told about them? Or are they going to consider them only when they are directed only at China?

The Canadian Press: FBI: Man who admitted plotting to blow up Dallas office tower 'intended to die' for bin Laden:

"Hosam Smadi did two things before pushing the button he hoped would blow up a 60-story office tower and kill thousands of people that still bother FBI officials 13 months later.

Hosam Maher Smadi

An undercover agent posing as an al-Qaida terrorist offered Smadi ear plugs. He declined, saying he wanted to hear the explosion. Then he used his cellphone to secure a ghastly souvenir — a final picture of the building before it blew.

The inside story of the investigation, compiled from court documents and interviews with FBI officials in Dallas, is a tale of how the FBI stayed ahead of the would-be terrorist, giving him a decoy bomb and preventing him from harming anyone.

FBI officials offer a different portrayal of the meek, mild and apologetic young man who spoke politely to the judge during his two day sentencing hearing, which ended Tuesday with Smadi receiving 24 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

"He absolutely believed he had found al-Qaida, was committing an act on the scale of 9-11 and that he was going to get away with it," Tom Petrowski, the supervisory agent who led the FBI operation, told The Associated Press. "He loved (Osama) bin Laden more than his parents. He said he would die for him, intended to die for him, expected to die for him. He believed to the core that this was his destiny."

What a love story...

Background:
US: Jordanian man gets 24 years for attempting to blow Dallas skyscraper.

Two Britons linked to al-Qaida plans to attack Danish newspaper | World news | The Guardian:

"A British al-Qaida sympathiser living in Derby volunteered last year to help with a terrorist attack on targets in Denmark including the offices of the newspaper that published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, secret documents obtained by the Guardian reveal. A second British man is alleged to have handed over cash for the plot.

The two men were visited in August 2009 by David Headley, an extremist born in Pakistan but raised in the US, where he is now in custody. Headley, who was arrested two months later, was working for Ilyas Kashmiri, a senior Pakistani militant with links to al-Qaida.

Kashmiri, whom al-Qaida leadership figures have named as part of Osama bin Laden's group, told Headley to focus on a plan to attack the offices of the Danish Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which had published controversial cartoons of the prophet in 2005. He gave Headley $1500 (£954) to finance a surveillance trip. More general attacks in Denmark were also discussed. Headley said he understood that they might involve suicide bombings.

According to the documents, Kashmiri told Headley the two men in Derby – who were originally from Kotli, in north-east Pakistan – would help him. It transpired that one of the men had fallen out with Kashmiri, accusing the militant leader of allowing his son to steal funds for jihad, but he did agree to provide money for the mission; the other man "was available" for the attacks in Denmark, the documents reveal. These are based on 34 hours of interviews with Headley conducted by Indian investigators this summer.

They also describe in detail how Headley, having been deeply involved with the Lashkar-e-Taiba group in Pakistan and having conducted repeated surveillance trips for the Mumbai attacks, became involved with Kashmiri and, at one remove, al-Qaida. After spending six years with Lashkar, Headley said he became "mentally distanced" from the group and felt that the global agenda of Kashmiri and al-Qaida suited him better."

Background:
Mumbai bombings: Headley's plea is a "step forward in justice for victims".
FBI warned years in advance of Mumbai attacker's terror ties.

That is the final toll.Although no one has claimed responsibility, police believes the responsible of the attack are members of gang linked to Muslim terrorists from the South, called Al-Khobar.

A bomb ripped through a passenger bus Thursday in the southern Philippines, killing at least eight people and wounding 10 in an attack authorities blamed on an extortion gang with links to Muslim militants.

The bus was traveling with more than 50 passengers when the powerful blast shook the rear part of the vehicle from the overhead compartment, police Chief Superintendent Gil Meneses said. The force of the blast was so strong it decapitated two of the victims, he said.

The wounded were brought to hospitals near Matalam township in North Cotabato province. Police and army units interviewed survivors and combed through the twisted metal trying to extract the injured, Meneses said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. The south of the Philippines is home to kidnappers, extortion gangs and a decades-old Muslim insurgency.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang said authorities suspect the Al-Khobar extortion gang in the attack, saying the bus company involved in the bombing had been targeted for extortion in the past.

Al-Khobar is the most notorious of the region's extortion gangs, and authorities say it is made up of criminals and former Muslim rebels who have been blamed for attacking business establishments refusing to pay their ransom demands. The group is on a U.S. list of terrorist organizations.

Source.

For more information on Al-Khobar's activity, click here.

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Abu Hamza's £2m fight to keep British passport

HATE preacher Abu Hamza yesterday launched a new bid to keep his British passport in a legal battle that has so far cost £1.4million.

Hamza is fighting attempts to strip him of his citizenship arguing it is a breach of his human rights.

The hook-handed cleric says that he has been disowned by his native Egypt and that taking away his British passport would leave him “stateless”.

Hamza, 52, is in high-security Belmarsh prison, south London, where he is fighting an attempt by the Home Office to extradite him to the US where he is wanted on terror charges.

The cleric’s legal battle has run for more than six years. Legal experts predict the final bill will top £2million. The latest court hearing got underway yesterday at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in central London. It is expected to last three days at a cost of £120,000.

Hamza’s publicly funded legal team includes the eminent barrister, Ed Fitzgerald, QC, whose previous clients included child killers Myra Hindley and Jon Venables. The Home Office has its own barrister, junior and lawyers.

He can always go to live with the Talibans: I'm sure they agree on most things.

Anyway, it's appalling how this shameless haters speak of Human Rights, while at the same time, don't respect other people's Human Rights.

Photo: Ian Waldie / Reuters / Corbis.

jordanian-man-24-years-attempting-blow-dallas-skyscraper from rawstory.com - StumbleUpon

A 20-year-old Jordanian man was sentenced Tuesday to 24 years in prison for attempting to bomb a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas in September 2009, the Justice Department said.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi originally pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction after his arrest last year, which followed an undercover sting operation.

But the Justice Department said in May that Smadi had changed his plea to guilty after agreeing to a plea deal.

"The court's sentence of Mr. Smadi sends a clear message that there is a serious price to be paid by those who may be willing to carry out acts of violence in this country to further terrorist cause," Assistant Attorney General David Kris said.

Federal agents arrested Smadi in Dallas in late September after he dialed a cell phone number in an attempt to trigger a truck bomb he had parked underneath the office building.

Germany indicts eight Islamists for supporting terrorism abroad - Monsters and Critics

Federal prosecutors in Germany said on Tuesday that they have indicted eight people for supporting foreign terrorism and being members of a criminal organisations.

The eight - seven men and one woman aged between 17 and 30 - are accused of supporting al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Kurdish group Ansar al-Islam, through their membership of the German chapter of the so-called Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF).

All but the 17-year-old, who is Turkish, are German citizens.

An arrest warrant has been issued for the suspects, all of whom remain at large in Germany, a spokesman for the Federal Prosecutor's Office said.

A statement released by the office said that the GIMF was a 'militant Islamist organisation that had the goal of supporting the global jihad through the internet.'

Background:
Germany: arrested man confesses in court to terrorism charges.
Afghanistan: 8 German killed while receiving terrorist training.
Kenya: German linked to terrorism alarms authorities.
Germany: Islamists aim to infiltrate Hamburg mosques

Yemen sentences al Qaeda bomb maker to death | Reuters

Yemen sentenced to death an al Qaeda bomb maker on Monday who told the judge the "demise" of the country was in the hands of militants whose southern hideouts are being targeted by air raids.  

Saleh al-Shawish was arrested in January and prosecutors said he specialized in explosives while training with jihadist militants in Afghanistan.

Yemen is trying to quell a resurgent branch of al Qaeda in the country, which has increased its attacks on both Western and government targets in the Arabian Peninsula state, neighbor to top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.

Shawish confessed to his involvement in al Qaeda during the court sessions, the judge said in his sentencing, including attacks on oil installations, military bases and checkpoints.

His indictment said he specialized in building bombs and preparing suicide bombers.

"He belonged to al Qaeda and caused the death of a number of innocent people and damaged Yemen's status and its economic interests," the judge said. "The punishment for this is the death penalty."

Shawish, from Yemen's eastern province of Hadramout, rejected an appeal and told the judge: "God willing your demise is in our hands, starting in Abyan."

Background:
AQ terrorist confesses on trial.

FoxNews.com - Tajikistan hunts for elusive Islamic militant

Mumbai attacks: what is going to happen about Mr. Headley?
CIA Expert: 'Headley plea revealed Qaeda's European links'.
Mumbai attacks: India May Get Access To Headley.

OSLO'S appeals court decided Thursday to release one of three men arrested in July on suspicions of plotting a bombing on an as yet unclear target, a Norwegian newspaper reported.

The judges ruled that there was no risk that David Jakobsen, a 32-year-old Uzbek legally residing in Norway, would try to flee the country or destroy evidence, the Verdens Gang reported on its website.

Jakobsen and Mikael Davud, a 39-year-old ethnic Uighur from China who is a Norwegian citizen, were arrested in Oslo on July 8. A third man, Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak, a 37-year-old Iraqi Kurd who holds a Norwegian residence permit, was arrested in Germany and extradited to Norway.

Norwegian police suspect the three were plotting a bombing and are believed to have links to Al-Qaeda.

Jakobsen is the only one of the three suspects to have not confessed. He tipped off police about the bombing plot but investigators suspect that he may have played a double role.

The other two suspects have rejected having any link to Al-Qaeda but have admitted to plotting an attack although their versions of what the target was differ. The two are to remain in detention until Nov 1.

Source.

In the end, it doesn't matter what terrorist group they belong to. The interesting thing is that they were plotting to attack.

Two of them were legal residents in the country, another one is a Norwegian citizen, that is, a national. We'll see what decisions the court makes regarding this case in the future.

Swedish prosecutors have filed terror charges against two men accused of plotting suicide attacks in Somalia.

Investigators say the men, aged 22 and 26, belonged to the Somali al-Qaida-linked insurgent group al-Shabab.

They were charged Friday at the Goteborg District Court in southwestern Sweden for plotting to commit suicide attacks causing "widespread destruction."

The younger suspect is a Swedish citizen, while the nationality of the other was not clear.

Police arrested them in May and June as part of an investigation into Somalia-linked terrorism activities in the Nordic country.

Source.

Radical Islamists from a shut down Hamburg mosque linked to the September 11 attacks on the United States are now trying to infiltrate other mosques in and around the German city, according to officials and Muslim leaders. 

Small groups of radicals have turned up at several mosques trying to establish a new meeting place since the Taiba Mosque, where the 9/11 leader Mohammad Atta once prayed, was raided and closed by police in August, they told Reuters.

With radicals no longer grouped around one mosque near the city's main train station, security services have stepped up their observation of Islamists around the city and Muslim associations are on the lookout for suspicious newcomers.

"There are small groups of 3 to 5 people from the former Taiba Mosque who have gone to other mosques," said Ralf Kunz, internal affairs spokesman for the city government.

Individual radicals have turned up "at lots of mosques, both in Hamburg and the surrounding region," he said. "They have not been able to assemble at any mosque."

Hamburg police shut down the Taiba Mosque, formerly known as the Al Quds Mosque, in August, saying it had links with armed Islamist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

A so-called "Hamburg Travel Group" of 11 radicals linked to the mosque left Germany in March 2009 to fight against the U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Source. 

For being linked with yet another terrorist cell. Radical Muslim preacher linked to Bali arrested in Indonesia - Telegraph:

Al-Qaeda kidnappers tell France to drop veil ban - The Irish Times - Tue, Oct 12, 2010:
Background:
7 foreigners kidnapped near uranium mining site.

Three suspected al-Qaeda associates who were apprehended in West Africa by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents during an international anti-drug operation, were extradited to New York and appeared in federal court in Manhattan earlier this year, according to reports obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police's Terrorism and Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs committees.

The operation confirms the suspicions of terrorism experts that al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups are involved in narcotics trafficking to fund their terror operations.

The suspects -- Oumar Issa, Harouna Toure and Idress Abelrahman -- were charged with conspiracy to commit acts of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization after they allegedly agreed to transport as much as 1,000 kilos of cocaine. Allegedly, the drugs were earmarked for western European countries and the United States.

The cocaine interdiction and arrests occurred along the traffickers' favorite route through West Africa to North Africa that serves as a launch point for export to Europe. The suspects were taken into custody after an intense undercover investigation in which informants and agents posed as Colombian narco-terrorists who claimed they shared hatred for the United States with the African suspects.

According to the NACOP report, Colombian drug kingpins use the same transshipment techniques in Africa that they've successfully used in Latin America. The Colombian traffickers' utilized al-Qaeda's protection services in order to make certain shipments arrived at their destinations.

DEA officials report that in this case they were able to infiltrate the drug operation during the negotiations phase. The undercover DEA agents and informants indicated they were associated with the Colombia terrorist group FARC and could protect the shipment from West Africa to North Africa and ultimately to Spain.

Issa, Toure and Abelrahman claim to be from Mali, but their nation of origin is yet unknown.

Source (found).

Background:
Venezuela-Sahel: international net of drug trafficking and terrorism.
US charges 3 Al Qaeda men with drug trafficking to finance global terror.
Report: Hizbullah’s drug trafficking.
Drug Trafficking: More on "Air Al-Qaeda".
More on the links between South American drug traffickers and AQIM.
Northern Europe: Somali Muslim Khat-sale finances Islamic terrorism.
Spain: NC judge accuses Venezuela of ETA/FARC terrorism.
US: indictment links Hezbollah with Mexican drug cartels.
US: Walid Phares on Jihadist-Drug Cartels' links.

The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of a 2007 anti-terror law, which the government sought to bolster a U.S.-backed campaign against al-Qaida-linked militants but critics fear could muzzle civil liberties.
Left-wing alliance Bayan, one of the groups that sought the repeal of the Human Security Act, said Monday it would appeal last Friday's ruling. The law rarely has been used since it took effect because law enforcers fear the heavy punishment it includes for mistaken arrests and abuses.
Then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a staunch Asian ally of the U.S. campaign against terrorism, signed the anti-terror law in 2007 to turn her Southeast Asian country — regarded as a breeding ground of Islamic radicals — into a hostile territory for militants.
Arroyo cited terrorist attacks, including the bombing of buses, telecommunications and power lines.
The United States and Australia welcomed the new law, which took effect in July 2007. U.S. and Australian security officials have expressed fears that suspected terror training camps in the southern Philippines could produce militants who could strike anywhere in the world.
But several left-wing groups, legislators and human rights advocates separately petitioned the Supreme Court to declare the law unconstitutional, arguing its definition of terrorism was too broad and could cover legitimate dissent like labor strikes, anti-U.S. demonstrations and even daring stunts by Greenpeace activists who barge into ships and power plants.
The law defines terrorism as any of at least 12 violent crimes — including murder, kidnapping, arson, piracy, coup and rebellion — that cause widespread and extraordinary panic and force the government to give in to an unlawful demand.

Source.

A self-confessed militant admitted on Saturday carrying out deadly attacks on military targets and oil facilities in Yemen, as four other suspected Al-Qaeda members went on trial for planning attacks.

Saleh al-Shaoush was arrested on January 30 as he prepared to carry out a suicide bombing in the southeastern port of Mukalla. He had been stopped on his motorbike and found to be wearing an explosives belt and carrying two bombs.

Shaoush admitted in court taking part in seven deadly attacks in Hadramawt and Marib provinces.

"The acts attributed to me are correct," he said. "I prepared and carried out these operations voluntarily and without duress."

The court in Sanaa set Monday as a date for final deliberations in the case of Shaoush, who faces the death penalty if convicted.

In a separate hearing, the same court opened proceedings against four Al-Qaeda suspects for allegedly planning attacks on national and foreign targets in Yemen.

Source.

A British Airways computer expert alleged to have offered himself as a suicide bomber has appeared in court .

Bangladesh-born Rajib Karim, 30, from Clarendon Mews, Brunton Lane, Newcastle upon Tyne, appeared at Winchester Crown Court charged with four offences under terrorism legislation.

Karim faces two charges of engaging in conduct in the preparation of terrorist acts under the 2006 Terrorism Act.

He is also accused of one count of fundraising for the purpose of terrorism and one count of possessing a record containing terrorist material, both under the Terrorism Act 2000.

All four offences are alleged to have taken place between April 2006 and February this year.

Karim was arrested by officers from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command, working with colleagues in the north east of England, on February 25 this year.

Source.