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2002 TERRORISM NEWS ARCHIVE
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/ Archive
/ 2002
- "Critics
Decry Detention of M. Eastern Men: Critics
Say Detention of Middle Eastern Men in California Harms Terrorism Fight."
...
"A post-Sept. 11 federal registration policy that led to the detention
of hundreds of Middle Eastern immigrants hurts more than it helps the war
on terrorism, critics charged." ... "The detention of some immigrants who
showed up to register under a new security policy drew comparisons to the
internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II." ... "Critics alleged
the detentions probably failed to net a single terrorist but did rile law-abiding
Muslims who already feared being scapegoated."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- "Terror
Suspects Found With Chemicals in Paris." ... "In
the latest sweep against suspected Islamic militant groups here, French
officials said today that they had arrested four people early Monday and
had seized chemicals and a military personal-protection suit, suggesting
that the suspects may have been preparing a chemical attack." -By
John Tagliabue -NYTimes
via -Google-News
OPINION
- 
- 
- 
- TIA:
Total Information Awareness
- "Snooping
in All the Wrong Places: Not only would the
Administration's plan to centralize every American's records destroy privacy,
the security payoff would be minimal." ... "The 2002 elections proved one
thing: The promise of security wins votes. The GOP campaigned on a pledge
to make the country safer, and it brought home one of the biggest midterm
victories in decades. That huge win may have emboldened the Bush Administration
to ignore widespread criticism of the Defense Dept.'s $240 million effort
to develop a Total Information Awareness system (TIA)." ... "The outrage
over TIA doesn't seem to have reached the President's ear, but it should.
It's not too late for him to realize the folly of such a plan. Funded by
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the project would
combine every American's bank records, tax filings, driver's license information,
credit-card purchases, medical data, and phone and e-mail records into
one giant centralized database. This would then be combed through for evidence
of suspicious activity." -By Jane Black
-BusinessWeek/Daily
- "Feds
Indict 7 in Texas Terror Probe: Feds Indicte
[sic] Employees of Texas Computer Firm and Hamas Leader on Terrorism-Related
Charges." ... "The leader of an Islamic militant group, his wife, and five
brothers work at a Texas computer firm were indicted on charges of trafficking
with terrorist states Libya and Syria, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced
Wednesday." ... """The war against terror is a war of accountants and auditors
as well as weaponry and soldiers," Ashcroft said. "We will pursue the financiers
of terror as well as pursue the thugs who do their work.""
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- "Four
men arrested in Texas by anti-terrorism task force."
... "Four men connected to a computer company that did business in the
Middle East were arrested by federal anti-terrorism agents early Wednesday
on money-laundering charges." ... "The four men worked at Infocom, a suburban
Richardson computer company that federal agents raided in September 2001."
-By Angela K. Brown -StarTribune.com
- "Bush
Has Widened Authority of C.I.A. to Kill Terrorists."
... "The Bush administration has prepared a list of terrorist leaders the
Central Intelligence Agency is authorized to kill, if capture is impractical
and civilian casualties can be minimized, senior military and intelligence
officials said." ... "Despite the authority given to the agency, Mr. Bush
has not waived the executive order banning assassinations, officials said.
The presidential authority to kill terrorists defines operatives of Al
Qaeda as enemy combatants and thus legitimate targets for lethal force."
... "The president is not legally required to approve each name added to
the list, nor is the C.I.A. required to obtain presidential approval for
specific attacks, although officials said Mr. Bush had been kept well informed
about the agency's operations." ... "But the decision by the Bush administration
to authorize, under certain circumstances, the killing of terrorist leaders
threatens to thrust it into a murky area of national security and international
law that is almost never debated in public because the covert operations
are known only to a small circle of executive branch and Congressional
officials." (1, 2)
-By James Risen and David Johnstone
-NYTimes via
-AltaVista-News
- 
- "Report: Al
Qaeda deal for nerve gas: U.S. suspects nerve
agent VX was smuggled through Turkey." ... "The Bush administration has
received a credible report that Islamic extremists affiliated with al Qaeda
took possession of a chemical weapon in Iraq last month or late in October,
according to two officials with firsthand knowledge of the report and its
source. They said government analysts suspect that the transaction involved
the nerve agent VX and that a courier managed to smuggle it overland through
Turkey." ... "Even authorized spokesmen, with one exception, addressed
the report on the condition of anonymity. They said the principal source
on the chemical transfer was uncorroborated, and that indications it involved
a nerve agent were open to interpretation." -By Barton
Gellman -WashingtonPost
via -MSNBC
- "Mitchell
withdraws from terrorism panel." ... "Citing a reluctance
to quit his law firm, former Sen. George Mitchell on Wednesday withdrew
from the new commission that will investigate the Sept. 11 attacks." ...
"Mitchell was to be vice chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist
Attacks, which former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is heading. Replacing
Mitchell will be former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind." ... "The commission
will follow up the work of the congressional inquiry that issued its final
report Wednesday on intelligence failures leading up the terrorist attacks.
The commission will conduct a broader investigation, looking at issues
beyond intelligence, including aviation security and immigration." -By
Ken Guggenheim -AP
via -SFGate.com
Law
Enforcement News
- "Feds
Raid Software Firm." ... "Federal agents who raided
a Quincy, Mass., software firm Thursday night continue to look for monetary
connections to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, but sources say the firm's
software appears safe." ... "Ptech Inc., a developer of business-process
modeling software, was raided late Thursday night by U.S. Customs Service
agents, according to law enforcement officials. But initial concerns that
the company's technology may have compromised the security of its customers,
which include the FBI, the Department of Energy, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, the Navy, the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration
and the U.S. House of Representatives, now appear unfounded, according
to authorities." (1, 2)
-By Renee Boucher Ferguson, Dennis Fisher and Chris
Gonsalves -eWEEK
- Law
Enforcement News
- Bali
bombings - "Indonesians
nab alleged terror chief." ... "Indonesian police
said Wednesday they had arrested the operations chief of Jemaah Islamiyah
[JI], an al-Qaeda-linked group widely blamed for attacks throughout Southeast
Asia, including blasts that killed nearly 200 people on the resort island
of Bali." ... "Investigators hope the arrest of Mukhlas, also known as
Ali Gufron, will shed light on the shadowy group and expose the extent
of al-Qaeda's reach in the world's most populous Muslim nation."
-AP via -USATODAY
-
- "Two
freed in Kenya attack probe." ... "On Friday, police
found two launchers and two unused surface-to-air missiles less than a
quarter mile from the end of the runway where the Arkia Boeing 757 narrowly
escaped being shot down as it took off." ... "Israeli intelligence sources
said the missiles used in the attack were "almost certainly SA-7s, or Strela
missiles."" ... "Israel's Mossad spy agency, which has a long record of
hunting terror suspects, is leading the investigation into the twin attacks
on Israeli tourists in Kenya." -CNN
/World
/Asia
- "'No
al-Qaeda link' to Kenya detainees." ... "No connection
has yet been established between 12 people detained over attacks on Israeli
targets in the Kenyan city of Mombasa and the al-Qaeda network, Kenyan
authorities say." ... "United States officials have said they believe a
Somali-based Islamic group may have carried out the bombing, which was
immediately preceded by a failed missile attack on a nearby Israeli plane."
... "The officials say the group, Al-Ittihad al-Islamiya (AIAI), also known
as the Islamic Union, is a prominent militant organisation in the Horn
of Africa with links to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network." ... "A previously
unknown group called the Army of Palestine earlier claimed responsibility
for the attacks." ... "But US officials are focusing attention on AIAI
because of its suspected al-Qaeda links and presence in Kenya."
-BBC/News
- "Al
Qaeda blamed as attack on Israelis in Kenya kills 15."
... "Suicide bombers blew up a hotel in Kenya on Thursday, killing 15 people,
minutes after missiles narrowly missed an Israeli airliner taking off nearby,
in apparently synchronised attacks on Israeli tourists." ... "Israeli and
Kenyan officials swiftly blamed the al Qaeda network but Washington said
it was premature to point the finger at the group it holds responsible
for the September 11 attacks on the United States." ... "A Kenyan security
source said it was believed attackers who targeted the Israeli airliner
used shoulder-borne missile launchers. German intelligence sources described
the weapons as Soviet produced SA 7 ground-to-air missiles." -By
Noel Mwakughu -Reuters/Asia
- "President
signs bill to establish independent Sept. 11 probe, names Kissinger as
its head." ... "The commission has a broad mandate,
building on the limited joint inquiry conducted by the House and Senate
intelligence committees. The independent panel will have 18 months to examine
issues such as aviation security and border problems, along with intelligence."
... "However, Bush did not set as a primary goal for the commission to
uncover mistakes or lapses of the government that could have prevented
the Sept. 11 attacks. Instead, he said it should try to help the administration
learn the tactics and motives of the enemy."
-AP via -USATODAY
Bali
bombings - "'Suicide
bomber detonated one Bali blast'" ... "The alleged
mastermind of last month's Bali bombing on Friday confessed to planning
and staging the attack and revealed that one of the two bombs used in the
attack was detonated by a suicide bomber." ... "Imam Samudra, who was arrested
late on Thursday while trying to board a ferry in the west Java port of
Merak, told investigators on Friday that he had planned the attack in an
attempt to engage Jihad in Indonesia, police said." -By
Shawn Donnan in Jakarta -FT.com
Osama
bin Laden
- "Bin
Laden Tape Authentic, U.S. Intelligence Officials Say."
... "Linguists at the National Security Agency who have been assigned for
many years to study bin Laden's voice and analyze tape recordings and intercepts
of his suspected conversations have no doubt it is the voice of al Qaeda's
leader. But the quality of the tape, in which bin Laden is believed to
be speaking into a telephone that is near a tape recorder's microphone,
is not good enough to allow a 100 percent certainty that it is him, a U.S.
intelligence official said." -By Dana Priest and Susan
Schmidt -WashingtonPost
- "White
House Denies Assertions on Preoccupation With Iraq."
... "The White House disagreed sharply today with assertions by senior
Democratic senators that the campaign against terrorism is lagging and
that a preoccupation with Iraq is one of the reasons." ... ""We have locked
up or detained or eliminated important Al Qaeda leaders," Condoleezza Rice,
President Bush's national security adviser, said at a news briefing." ...
""We have eliminated their base in Afghanistan, so they cannot operate
in the way that they have in the past. We have strengthened the resolve
and the capacity of countries like Yemen and the Philippines and countries
in Africa to deal with this threat. A lot has been done."" ... "Dr. Rice
noted that Mr. Bush has said repeatedly that the campaign will be a long
one. "It took a while for them to lodge themselves in 60 countries around
the world, including the United States," she said. "It's going to take
a while to break them up."" (1, 2)
-NYTimes via -Google-News
Law
Enforcement News
- "FBI
warns of risk of al-Qaida attack." ... "Two days
after intelligence experts said an audiotaped threat indicated terror mastermind
Osama bin Laden was still alive, the FBI has warned that al-Qaida is likely
to attempt a “spectacular” attack intended to inflict large-scale casualties
and damage the U.S. economy. The warning was unusual because of its dire
language, but NBC’s Pete Williams reported that the alert was not based
on any new alarming information, and officials described it as the latest
in a regular series of warnings it sends out to local law enforcement officers."
... "The FBI law enforcement bulletin circulated Thursday to officials
nationwide contains no information about the timing, location or method
of a possible attack." -MSNBC
Osama
bin Laden -
"As
New Tape Is Evaluated, Bush Calls Qaeda Threat Real."
... "The White House has been told that government linguistics experts
believe the voice on a new audiotape praising recent terror attacks and
broadcast on Arab television is Osama bin Laden's, administration officials
said today [20021113]."
... "Both the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency
were carefully scrutinizing the tape, which was first broadcast on Al Jazeera,
the satellite television channel based in Qatar, on Tuesday. Officials
said that although it was being subjected to digital analysis, it was of
such poor quality that experts would probably be unable to determine its
authenticity conclusively. Even so, specialists were conducting still more
comprehensive tests." -By
James Risen with Judith Miller -NYTimes
via -AltaVista-News
Osama
bin Laden -
"Experts
scrutinize bin Laden message." ... "U.S. intelligence
experts scrutinized a recorded message reportedly from terror mastermind
Osama bin Laden on Wednesday, the first evidence in a year that the elusive
leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network is still alive. Although CIA analysis
was not yet complete, U.S. officials told NBC News that the voice on the
audiotape, which praises recent attacks, is that of bin Laden. “It’s him,”
a senior official said." ... "Steve Emerson, a terrorism expert, told NBC’s
“Today” show Wednesday that “the voice is very similar.” Emerson described
the detailed tests CIA voice analysts are conducting on the recording as
“sort of like a DNA check of somebody’s tissue. They’re going to determine
with 100 percent certainty whether it’s his (voice), and I think it is.”"
-MS-NBC
- Law
Enforcement News
- Bali
bombings - "Bali
Suspect Said Student of Cleric Prime Suspect in Bali:
Bombings Studied Under Militant Muslim Cleric, Investigator Says." ...
"A top investigator on Monday said the prime suspect in the Bali bombings
studied under a detained Muslim cleric who heads the group that foreign
intelligence services blame for the attack." ... "Police have been trying
to establish a link between Amrozi and Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual
leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah organization, since they arrested Amrozi
last week." ... "Bashir is currently detained for a series of church bombings
in 2000. He has not been named a suspect in the Bali blasts."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- Law
Enforcement News
- Bali
bombings - "10
now sought in Bali probe." ... "Bali bombing suspect,
Amrozi, has given police several names of others linked to the attack,
including his brothers, friends and co-workers, police sources said Sunday."
... "Several of those wanted by police include foreigners, according to
intelligence sources." ... "Police spokesman Edward Aritonang said, while
Amrozi has admitted to knowing Ba'asyir and another JI leader, Riduan Isamuddin
-- also known as Hambali -- he has not mentioned their involvement in the
Bali attack." -Report contributed to by Atika Shubert
-CNN /World
/Asia
- Law
Enforcement News
- Bali
bombings - "Americans
were the target of Bali bombings, investigator says, citing key suspect."
... "The reported confession of an Indonesian man identified as Amrozi
has prompted more arrests and linked the blasts to a fugitive, Riduan Isamudin,
also known as Hambali, who has been tied to the Sept. 11 hijackers." ...
"Blame for the attack is increasingly turning to Jemaah Islamiyah the al-Qaida
linked terror group said to be seeking a pan-Islamic state in Southeast
Asia." ... "Two security experts citing militant and intelligence sources
said Friday that Jemaah Islamiyah leaders met in southern Thailand earlier
this year and agreed to target tourist venues like the Bali nightclubs.""
-By Steven Gutkin -AP
via -Boston/Globe
- Bali
bombings
- Law
Enforcement
- "Van
owner 'confesses' to planting Bali bomb." ... "Indonesian
police say a suspect has confessed during interrogation to being part of
a group that planted the Bali nightclub bomb that killed more than 180
people." ... "National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar said the man, named only
as Amrozi, told interrogators that he was involved in planting a bomb in
a minivan used in the October 12 attack on the Sari Club in the resort
town of Kuta." ... "The massive blast caused by the car bomb was one of
three coordinated explosions which investigators say were designed to inflict
maximum casualties." -CNN
- "US
hits Qaeda in Yemen: Fires missile from spy
plane, killing 6 in car." ... "A US missile fired from a [Predator] spy
plane destroyed a car in a lawless stretch of northern Yemen Sunday, killing
a senior Al Qaeda leader and five other members in the first American military
strike against the terrorist group outside Afghanistan since the Sept.
11, 2001, attacks." ... "The Hellfire missile was fired from a CIA-controlled,
unmanned plane, according to US officials quoted by news agencies. The
Yemeni news agency SABA said initial information indicated the dead included
Ali Qaed Sinan al-Harithi, also known as Abu Ali." -By
Anthony Shadid -Boston/Globe
- Law
Enforcement
- "Interior
Department Struggles to Upgrade Its Police Forces."
... "The Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument, the Hoover Dam and
half of the Alaska pipeline are all protected against terrorist attack
and other threats by police forces that auditors have long described as
ill trained, poorly managed, dysfunctional and, in some instances, corrupt."
... "The department has more than 4,300 officers in seven agencies, including
the United States Park Police, the National Park Service and the Bureau
of Land Management. They are responsible for protecting most of the nation's
historic icons, like Mount Rushmore and the Washington Monument, some of
which have been the target of terrorist threats in the last year. But few
of the agencies have intelligence or terrorism offices, or the ability
to gather crime and enforcement statistics." (1, 2)
-By Joel Brinkley -NYTimes
via -Google-News
- "Gas
clouds Moscow rescue: Since the siege's end,
the hostage death toll has been rising steadily from 67 to 90 to 117."
... "The initial wave of relief – and praise for President Vladimir Putin
– that swept over Moscow is now turning to suspicion and anger as the death
toll of the hostages continues to rise. Breaking a news blackout Sunday
evening, a Moscow health official admitted that the gas used by Russian
forces killed 115 of the 117 hostages that had died. The official said
that 150 people were still in intensive care." -By
Fred Weir -CSMonitor/buy
- "Experts:
Valium Gas Used in Raid." ... "Military experts and
toxicologists say Russian commandos probably pumped a gas containing Valium
into a Moscow theater to subtly disable and disorient heavily armed Chechen
rebels prior to Saturday's dramatic assault." ... "Experts also mentioned
BZ [a hallucinogenic drug], or 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, as a possibility
for the gas used by the Russians." ... "BZ was a research focus of the
U.S. Army during the Cold War at the former Edgewood Area labs near Washington.
It belongs to a class of drugs known as anticholinergics that interrupt
the brain's chemical messaging system between cells, leading to confusion
and hallucinations. It needs an hour to take effect, so authorities would've
had to release it into the theater long before the actual assault." -By
Joseph B. Verrengia -AP
via -SeattleTimes.NWsource
Sniper
- "Sniper
suspects in hand: Evidence mounts against a
former soldier and a teenager. Motives for killing spree may include revenge
and outrage." ... "It's unlikely that terrorism, even of a homegrown variety,
was the main motive behind the sniper shootings that have clouded life
in Washington this October, say experts." ... "Details about the men arrested
Thursday morning in connection with the case suggest instead that a mix
of anger, self-importance, and desire for revenge lay behind the murders."
... ""There are a lot of scattered, little ... pieces, but nothing really
pulls them together yet," says Stanley Bedlington, a former senior analyst
at the CIA's Counterterrorism Center." -By Peter Grier-CSMonitor/buy
- "Chechens
Kill One Moscow Hostage." ... "Chechen rebels holding
hundreds of hostages in a Moscow theater shot and killed one captive and
said they were ready to die for their cause, warning Thursday that thousands
more of their comrades were ``keen on dying.''" ... "A blanket-shrouded
body, identified only as a woman, was dragged out of the theater Thursday
afternoon, apparently killed in the early hours of the hostage drama. Sergei
Ignachenko, a spokesman for the Federal Security Service, said the woman
appeared to be in her 20s and had been shot in the chest and her fingers
were broken." -AP
via -Guardian.co.uk
OPINION
- 
-
- Bali
bombings. -
"Threat
of unreality TV: In the media, places like
Bali only feature as tourist playgrounds. That endangers us all." ... "For
the past nine months, priests and tribal leaders in West Papua, the easternmost
province of Indonesia, have been trying to warn the world that an Islamic
fundamentalist movement is using their land as a training ground. Laskar
Jihad is commanded by a man trained by al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Some of
its members have already been involved in terrorism in the islands of Ambon
and Sulawesi. Since January they have established seven bases in West Papua.
With the help of the Indonesian police and army, they have been stockpiling
arms, recruiting Javanese immigrants and training them for combat." ...
"Since the jihadis arrived, Neles Tebay, a Papuan journalist, has been
sending urgent messages to newspapers and broadcasters around the world,
desperate to attract attention to this protected terrorist network. But
even when eight Pakistani mojahedin arrived, his warnings failed to generate
any response in the newsrooms of either Europe or North America. The Papuans,
ignored and abandoned by the rest of the world, have been reduced to begging
the Indonesian authorities to uphold the law and disarm the jihadis before
they attack." ...
- Bali
bombings. -
"Bali
Blast May Have al-Qaida Link: Bomb That Destroyed
Indonesian Nightclub May Be Linked to Islamic Extremist Group Allied With
al-Qaida." ... "Though police stopped short of saying the bomb was made
and planted by Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been blamed for a series of
bombings in Southeast Asia in recent years, the use of ammonium nitrate
reinforces suspicions the group was involved."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- 
- Bali
bombings. -
"Indonesia
passes emergency terrorism laws." ... "Indonesian
President Megawati Sukarnoputri has signed into law two decrees expanding
powers of police to deal with terrorism in the wake of last weekend's deadly
bomb attacks on the island of Bali." ... "The new laws give authorities
sweeping powers to detain terror suspects without charge for up to six
months and provides for the death penalty for convicted terrorists." ...
"The new laws will be made retroactive to cover those responsible for the
Bali bombings." -AP
-Reuters -CNN
- Bali
bombings. -
"Indonesian
police send team to see militant Bashir." ... "Foreign
intelligence officials believe [Abu Bakar] Bashir is a leader in the al
Qaeda-linked regional Jemaah Islamiah network, blamed for planning terrorism
acts throughout Southeast Asia. Some have linked it to last weekend's Bali
bombings that killed more than 180 people. Bashir has denied any links
to terrorism or knowledge of Jemaah Islamiah." -Reuters
-AlertNet.org/Newsdesk
-
- Bali
bombings. -
"Australia
says it fears bomb attacks in Jakarta." ... "The
Australian government said on Saturday it had received intelligence that
parts of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta may be bombed in attacks aimed
at Westerners and urged its citizens to leave."
-Reuters -AlertNet.org/Newsdesk
- "Yemen
feels the backlash." ... "Yemen's support for the
USA's 'war on terrorism' may be having a negative effect on the peace and
stability of the country - as evidenced by the attack on the French tanker
Limburg." ... "To avert the burgeoning threat, US special-forces trainers
have deployed to Yemen in the past year for a continuing training programme
to assist the government in the creation of a counter-terrorism unit. A
Yemeni official told Jane's Defence Weekly that teams of 20-30 trainers
from US Special Operations Command have worked in Yemen, training local
soldiers on 2-3 week courses before returning to bases outside the country.
The official said, however, there are no US forces based in Yemen. A permanent
US presence would not be accepted by Yemen's powerful tribes." -By
Richard Engel -Jane's/Defence/Weekly
- Bali
bombings. -
"'Bali
Was a Wake-up Call to Indonesia': Exclusive:
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz tells TIME that a killer bomb blast
will prompt Jakarta to crack down on terror, and that its hesitancy is
based on concerns for democracy." ... "After a half-century of living under
various autocracies and dictatorships, the Indonesians are leery of giving
police too much power." -By Mark Thompson
-TIME.com
-
- Bali
bombings. -
"Grief
turns to anger as Australia's Bali toll rises." ...
"More than 180 people were killed on Saturday when blasts ripped through
nightclubs packed with foreign tourists at Kuta Beach on the Indonesian
resort island, with 30 Australians identified among the corpses so far
but up to 119 feared dead." ... "As the criticisms mounted, Prime Minister
John Howard flew to Bali on Thursday for a one-day visit to attend a memorial
service for the victims and to assess the situation." -By
Belinda Goldsmith -Reuters
-AlertNet.org/Newsdesk
-
- Bali
bombings. -
"Texas
woman victim of Bali blast." ... "Karri Casner, 23,
of Flower Mound, was vacationing at Kuta Beach at the time of the explosion
and has not been seen since Saturday." ... "Another Texan, Jake Young from
Midland, has been reported missing in the explosion, but has not yet been
found." -AP
via -HoustonChronicle.com
- Bali
bombings. -
"Jakarta
links Bali bombing to Al Qaeda: Security boosted
at plants of U.S. energy companies." ... "In the government's most explicit
acknowledgment that Al Qaeda is operating in Indonesia, the defense minister
linked the terrorist group Monday to a nightclub explosion Saturday that
killed and wounded hundreds of people on the resort island of Bali." ...
"President George W. Bush, linking the bombing of a French oil tanker off
Yemen and the shooting of two U.S. Marines in Kuwait, said Monday that
the Bali explosion appeared to be part of "a pattern of attack" by Al Qaeda."
... "Australia said Monday it had information linking Al Qaeda to the Bali
bomb blasts, Reuters reported from Bali." -By Seth
Mydans -NYTimes
-IHT.com
- Bali
bombings. -
"Bombing
in Bali Seen as Opening New Front in Fight on Terror."
... "The blast that killed nearly 200 people on the Indonesian resort island
of Bali this weekend is a different type of terrorism from what the Bush
administration has campaigned against, and will open a new geographic front
in that campaign, Western officials said yesterday." ... "The target was
not an American embassy, military outpost or financial institution that
would represent American power, of the sort that terrorists have attacked
in the past. Rather, it was a nightclub whose revelers were mostly Europeans
and Australians; indeed, Indonesians were often turned away at the door."
(1, 2)
-By Raymond Bonner -NYTimes
via -AltaVista-News
- "Experts
skeptical of reports on al-Qaeda-Baghdad link." ...
"A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the new
assertions an "exaggeration." Other intelligence experts said some of the
charges appeared to be based on old information and that there was still
no "smoking gun" connecting Iraq with the Sept. 11 attacks on the United
States." ... "Vince Cannistraro, former CIA counterterrorism chief," ....
"... accused the Bush administration of overstating uncorroborated information
from al-Qaeda detainees. "They're cooking the books," Cannistraro said."
-By Barbara Slavin and John Diamond
-USATODAY
- "U.S.
Has 'Solid Evidence' of Al Qaeda Operating in Iraq."
... "The United States has "solid evidence" senior al Qaeda operatives
have been in Baghdad, Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today.
He could not confirm whether such individuals are still in Iraq." ... "The
secretary said intelligence shared among Coalition members about the al
Qaeda relationship with Iraq is "evolving" and of "varying degrees of reliability."
Some intelligence was culled from interviews with high-ranking al Qaeda
detainees in U.S. custody, Rumsfeld said during an afternoon Pentagon media
briefing." ... "Intelligence agencies have confirmed contacts between Iraq
and al Qaeda's leaders. Rumsfeld said the two entities have discussed "safe-
haven opportunities in Iraq (and) reciprocal nonaggression" agreements,
among other issues." ... ""The reports of these contacts have been increasing
since 1998," Rumsfeld said, and have expanded to include "credible evidence"
that al Qaeda leaders sought contacts in Iraq for assistance in acquiring
weapons of mass destruction capabilities." ... "One report, in particular,
indicates that Iraq provided training in chemical and biological weapons
to al Qaeda." ... "Rumsfeld again reminded that the U.S. goal in dealing
with Iraq isn't finding absolute proof, but preventing attacks on America
and her allies." ... ""It is a puzzle," he said about drawing conclusions
from scraps of intelligence from various sources. "It is the task of taking
these disparate pieces and putting them together so that people can make
their own judgment."" ... -By Kathleen T. Rhem
-DefenseLINK.mil/news
- "US
Says Israeli Moves at Arafat Complex Not Helpful."
... "The White House on Sunday urged Israel to ease its siege of Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat's largely demolished Ramallah headquarters, saying
Israeli actions near the complex were "not helpful" to ending Palestinian
suicide bombings or promoting Palestinian reforms." -By
Arshad Mohammed -Reuters
via -Miami/Herald
- "Yemen
raid nets al-Qaeda suspects." ... "Yemeni security
forces have arrested at least five suspected members of Osama Bin Laden's
al-Qaeda network north of the capital, Sana'a."
-BBC /News
ANTHRAX
NEWS
- "[Photo]Copiers
Cited in Fla. Anthrax Spread." ... "Investigators
believe the microscopic spores spread from the first-floor mail room where
the letter was opened and onto reams of copy paper stored there, the source
said; the spores then spread into the air by fans inside the [photo copy]
machines loaded with the copy paper." -AP
via -ChicagoTribune
- "[Illinois]
Islamic charity charged again after court victory."
... "A federal judge Friday threw out perjury charges against a Chicago-area
Islamic charity and its leader, but prosecutors quickly filed new, related
charges just a few hours after the stunning courtroom ruling." ... "Prosecutors
have alleged in court that Palos Hills-based Benevolence International
Foundation and its executive director, Enaam Arnaout, have ties to Osama
bin Laden's terrorist network, but defense lawyers have blasted the government
evidence as weak and tenuous." -By Matt O'Connor and
Laurie Cohen
-ChicagoTribune
- "Key
9/11 plotter seized in Pakistan." ... "U.S. officials
say Pakistan is holding one of America's most wanted al Qaeda operatives
-- a man who by his own recorded admission played a key role in the September
11 attacks." ... "Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni national, was arrested by
Pakistani officials in the city of Karachi last Wednesday, a year to the
day after the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington." -By
Kelli
Arena, et. al. -CNN
- "U.S.,
Pakistan Officials Question Key 9/11 Suspect." ...
"A U.S. official said Binalshibh was captured in Karachi by Pakistani authorities
with help from the FBI and CIA." ... "[Pakistan's Interior Minister Moinuddin]
Haider said Pakistan was ready to hand the suspects over to the U.S. authorities
if there was evidence they were involved in terrorist activities. But the
German government said it also wanted to try Binalshibh." ... "Pakistani
police said U.S. agents had traced Binalshibh to a three-story building
in an upmarket district of the sprawling port city of Karachi thanks to
a satellite phone call." -By Aamir Ashraf -Reuters
via /World
- "Ramzi
Binalshibh: al-Qaeda suspect." ... "Western intelligence
officials believe he is the missing link - the one person who can put all
the pieces of the al-Qaeda strategy into context." ... "Mr Binalshibh is
the only person believed to have attended both of the crucial meetings
held to plan the operation, one in Malaysia and the other in Spain." -BBC
/News
- "Israelis
Intercept 'Mega-Bomb': Worries Grow Over Threat
of Unconventional Attacks." ... "Sept. 5 -- On the eve of the Jewish New
Year, Israeli civilian guards manning a back-road checkpoint today intercepted
a vehicle outfitted with what authorities here described as a mega-bomb:
1,300 pounds of explosives, two barrels containing gasoline and metal shards,
and a cell phone rigged as the detonator." -By Molly
Moore and John Ward Anderson-WashingtonPost
- "Afghanistan
Violence Flares: Would-Be Assassin Targets
Karzai After Deadly Explosion in Capital." ... "President Hamid Karzai
narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in the southern Afghan city of
Kandahar ... [Thursday] evening, just three hours after a powerful car
bomb exploded in a crowded street in downtown Kabul, the capital, killing
at least a dozen people and injuring scores more." -By
Pamela Constable -WashingtonPost
- "[Afghanistan]
Police Say 15 Killed, 20 Hurt in Kabul [car bomb] Blast."
-Reuters via -Miami/Herald
- "Germany
reveals plot behind 9/11." ... "German federal prosecutor
Kay Nehm said the Hamburg cell was planning an attack on America as early
as October 1999, and decided to target the World Trade Center six months
later." -CNN
/Europe
- "Germany
Says Hijackers Picked Trade Center as Target in 2000."
... "The Qaeda terror cell in Hamburg that included three of the Sept.
11 suicide hijackers had chosen the World Trade Center as the target of
an attack as early April or May 2000, Germany's federal prosecutor said
today." ... "Mr. Nehm, detailing charges against Mounir el-Motassadeq,
the only person in German custody in connection with the attacks, said
one of the hijackers, Marwan al-Shehhi, had mentioned the World Trade Center
as a target in a conversation with a librarian." -By
Desmond Butler -NYTimes
via -AltaVista-News
- "Al
Qaeda Deputies Harbored by Iran: Pair Are Plotting
Attacks, Sources Say." ... "Two figures who have assumed critical roles
in the al Qaeda hierarchy in recent months, including one reported dead
by the Pentagon, are being sheltered in Iran along with dozens of other
al Qaeda fighters in hotels and guesthouses in the border cities of Mashhad
and Zabol, according to Arab intelligence sources." ... "The two -- Saif
al-Adel, an Egyptian on the FBI's most-wanted list, and Mahfouz Ould Walid,
also known as Abu Hafs the Mauritanian, whom U.S. officials reported had
been killed near the eastern Afghan city of Khost in January -- are directly
involved in planning al Qaeda terrorist operations, according to the intelligence
sources, who are outside Saudi Arabia and did not want their names or countries
disclosed." -By Peter Finn-WashingtonPost
- Osama
bin Laden
- "Iraq
Said to Plan Tangling the U.S. in Street Fighting."
... "Overmatched militarily, Iraq now regards its best option to be raising
the political and military costs of an attack for the United States and
any allies it may be able to attract, in the hope that Iraq's foes will
lose their stomach for an invasion, analysts say." ... "Iraq has also sought
to inflame the Arab-Israeli conflict by providing money to the families
of Palestinian suicide bombers. Its calculation is that Washington will
find it too difficult to assemble a coalition for action against Iraq if
the Middle East is in crisis." (1, 2)
-By Michael R. Gordon -NYTimes
via -AltaVista-News
- "Abu
Nidal murder trail leads directly to Iraqi regime."
... "It has now become very clear and much confirmed that the Iraqi regime
headed by Saddam Hussein was directly responsible for the assassination
of the Palestinian terrorist Sabri al-Bana, known to the world as Abu Nidal."
... "So why has Saddam acted now? The best explanation is that the Iraqi
dictator is now feeling the pressure from the ongoing US deliberations
over a potential invasion to topple his regime. In any such adventure,
the anti-Saddam elements within Iraq would most likely play an important
role in turning the tide against Saddam. He has therefore moved to eradicate
those dangerous elements, both as a pre-emptive measure to protect his
position and as an example to other prospective internal enemies still
at large." -By Mohammed Najib
-Jane's/DefenceWeekly
Osama
bin Laden
- "Tapes
show al Qaeda trained for urban jihad on West." ...
"Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network has trained recruits in urban terrorist
tactics that could be used to bring the group's brand of jihad to Western
cities, according to experts who viewed tapes obtained by CNN in Afghanistan."
-By Nic Robertson -CNN
- 911
Lawsuit - "Families
of 9/11 victims file suit: 'Enablers of terrorism'
named." ... "The complaint, based on information from an investigative
team paid for by the plaintiffs, names three prominent members of the Saudi
royal family: Princes Turki al Faisal al Saud, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al
Saud and Mohammed al Faisal al Saud. It alleges that Prince Sultan, the
Saudi minister of defense and aviation, has donated at least $6 million
since 1994 to four Islamic charities that allegedly supported al Qaeda."
... "The suit also alleges Turki al Faisal al Saud, a powerful former Saudi
intelligence chief, worked against the proposed extradition of bin Laden
and other al Qaeda members from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia in 1998. In
return, the suit alleges, bin Laden agreed not to undermine the Saudi government."
-By Cassio Furtado -Miami/Herald
911
Lawsuit -
- "Attack
victims sue over alleged Sept. 11 financing." ...
"Individuals named in the suit included Saudi-born extremist Osama bin
Laden and several of his relatives, as well as three members of the Saudi
royal family: Turki al Faisal al Saud, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al Saud and
Mohammed al Faisal al Saud." ... "The banks named in the suit were: Al
Baraka Investment and Development Corp., National Commercial Bank, Faisal
Islamic Bank, Al Rajhi Banking and Investment, Al Barakaat Exchange LLC,
Dar Al Maal Al Islami and Al Shamal Islamic Bank." ... "Charitable groups
named included: the International Islamic Relief Organization, Sanabel
Al Kheer Inc., Muslim World League, Saar Foundation, Rabita Trust, Al-Haramain
Islamic Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation and the World
Assembly of Muslim Youth." -By Deborah Charles
-Reuters via -AlertNet.org/Newsdesk
- "Iran
quietly signals an openness to terror fight:
Iran steps back from the 'axis' by handing over Al Qaeda suspects." ...
"Iran's low-key handover to Saudi Arabia of 16 Al Qaeda suspects is a deliberate
message to the US that may hint at future neutrality – if not actual cooperation
– in any US military action against Iraq, say Iranian and Western analysts."
-By Scott Peterson
-CSMonitor/buy
- "Pakistan
Issues Warrants for 6 US Bombing Suspects." ... "A
Pakistani court issued arrest warrants on Saturday for six fugitives suspected
of being involved in a car bomb attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi
that killed 12 people and injured 20, defense lawyers said." ... "Three
leading suspects in the attack ... have already been arrested...." ...
They "are members of al-Almi, an offshoot of the radical Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
organization." -By Imran Maqbool
-Reuters via -Miami/Herald
- "Pakistan
IDs One Hospital Attacker." ... ""The body of one
terrorist who died in the attack has been identified and further investigations
are in progress," said Iftikhar Ahmad, a spokesman for Pakistan's Interior
Ministry. Ahmad declined to release the man's identity or identify the
militant groups that trained him." -By Munir Ahmad
-AP via -Miami/Herald
- "Deadly
grenade attack at Pakistan hospital." ... "Four people
have been killed in a grenade attack on a missionary hospital near Islamabad,
the second assault on a Christian institution in Pakistan in less than
a week." ... "The assault was the fourth fatal attack by suspected Islamic
militants on Christian establishments since October." ... "On Monday, six
people were killed when three gunmen attacked a Christian missionary school
in the resort town of Murree, also near Islamabad." -CNN
- "Explosions
rock Colombia as new president takes office." ...
"Huge explosions rocked the area around Colombia's parliament and presidential
palace Wednesday as hard-liner Alvaro Uribe was sworn in as president of
this troubled country. At least 14 people were killed and 69 wounded, police
said." ... "Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus said intercepted radio messages
among members of the country's largest rebel group the leftist
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC showed the
FARC was behind the attack." -AP
via -USATODAY
-
"Briefing
Depicted Saudis as Enemies: Ultimatum Urged
To Pentagon Board." ... "A briefing given last month to a top Pentagon
advisory board described Saudi Arabia as an enemy of the United States,
and recommended that U.S. officials give it an ultimatum to stop backing
terrorism or face seizure of its oil fields and its financial assets invested
in the United States." ... A RAND Corporation analyst, Laurent Murawiec,
presented the briefing "on July 10 to the Defense Policy Board, a group
of prominent intellectuals and former senior officials that advises the
Pentagon on defense policy." -By Thomas E. Ricks-WashingtonPost
- "Hamas
says looking to new 'creative' methods." ... "The
militant Hamas organization announced Sunday morning that due to the [Israeli]
government's new policy of destroying the homes of suicide bombers and
expeling the bombers' family members to Gaza, it is having to rethink its
bombing strategy and come up with new "creative" methods to strike at Israel."
... "A senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Abu Shneb," ...
"confirmed that last week's bomb attack at the Hebrew University on Mt.
Scopus in Jerusalem, in which an explosive device was placed on a cafeteria
table - and a suicide bomber was not used - signaled a change in the movement's
operational methods in light of Israel's decision to expel families of
suicide bombers." -By Daniel Sobelman -Ha'aretzDaily
- "11
killed, more than 60 wounded, in four terror attacks."
-Ha'aretzDaily
- "Different
Kind of Attack Hits Israel." ... "The Hamas bomb
planted in a university cafeteria Wednesday marked a departure from the
suicide attacks that have rocked Israel for nearly two years, but it was
not clear whether it signaled an overall tactical shift by Palestinian
extremists." ... "It was reminiscent of terror attacks from an earlier
era, when bombings were carried out by secular, nationalist Palestinian
groups, rather than the fundamentalist Islamic movements that have been
at the forefront of the suicide attacks in recent years." -By
Mark Lavie -AP
via -Miami/Herald
- "At least six
killed, more than 70 wounded in bomb blast at Hebrew University cafeteria."
... "An apparent suicide bomber detonated explosives in a crowded cafeteria
at Hebrew University during lunchtime Wednesday, killing at least six people
and reportedly wounding more than 70." ... "The blast, at the university’s
Frank Sinatra International Student Center, came at a time when classes
are not in session. However, students are taking exams and the cafeteria
was busy at the time." -Steve Weizman
-AP via -IHT.com
- "Palestinian
Gunmen Kill Rabbi: Attack is the First Armed
Response to Last Week's Israeli Air Strike." ... "Two Palestinian militant
groups claimed responsibility for killing Rabbi Elimelech Shapira, 43,
and wounding another man in an ambush as they drove along a road near a
Jewish settlement close to the West Bank city of Qalqilya." -By
Megan Goldin -Reuters
via -WashingtonPost
- "Israeli
strike kills Hamas leader, at least 14 others." ...
"In an attack criticized by President Bush as "heavy-handed," an Israeli
warplane fired a missile that flattened a Gaza City apartment building
early Tuesday, killing a Hamas leader at the top of Israel's most wanted
list. Palestinians said at least 14 other people, including nine children,
died in the airstrike." ... "The attack killed Salah Shehadeh, 48, a founder
and the top commander of Hamas' military wing, known as Izzadine el-Qassam,
the group said. The group has carried out scores of attacks, including
more suicide bombings than any other Palestinian faction in the current
Mideast conflict." -AP
via -USATODAY
-
- "Al-Qaeda's
New Hideouts: Chased out of Afghanistan, bin
Laden's fighters are lying low — but are hot to strike back — in Pakistan."
... "While the U.S. and coalition forces continue to squeeze al-Qaeda inside
Afghanistan, thousands of militants have slipped across the border since
last winter. Officials estimate that, altogether, more than 3,500 al-Qaeda
operatives and their Pakistani comrades are hunkered down in the tribal
belt along the Afghan border and in the sprawling cities of Karachi and
Peshawar, sheltered by homegrown extremists. Since December, Pakistani
authorities working with U.S. intelligence agents have caught more than
380 suspected al-Qaeda members. In Peshawar last week, U.S. and Pakistani
officials detained seven suspected terrorists but failed to snatch two
senior al-Qaeda aides who were the main targets of the raids." -By
Tim McGirk
-TIME.com
- "Dual
suicide bombers kill 3 in Tel Aviv."
-CNN
- "Seven
killed in West Bank terror attack."
-CNN
- "Men
Arrested in U.S. Consulate Bombing: Three Men
Arrested in Pakistan in Connection With U.S. Consulate Bombing and French
Hotel Blast." ... "Officials said the trio arrested Monday were suspected
in the June 14 car bombing outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi that killed
at least 12 Pakistanis and injured 50 others, and the May 8 suicide bombing
outside the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi, which killed the 11 Frenchmen and
three other people, including the bomber."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- Osama
bin Laden - "Feds
Zero In on 9-11 Mastermind." ... "Investigators believe
they have identified a Kuwaiti lieutenant of Osama bin Laden as the likely
mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a senior U.S. counterterrorism
official said Tuesday." ... "Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, designated one of
the FBI's most-wanted terrorists, is at large in Afghanistan or nearby,
the law enforcement official told The Associated Press."
-By John J. Lumpkin -AP
via -WashingtonPost
-
- "India
set to launch 'small war': US Secretary of
Defense Rumsfeld will go to Asia next week to try to ease tensions between
India and Pakistan." Despite the tense standoff, one analyst suggests ""the
Indians are practicing a policy of 'compellance,' " says Stephen Cohen,
a senior fellow in security issues at the Brookings Institution, reached
at a conference in Tokyo. "They are threatening to use force to compel
another country to alter its behavior. In this case, their target is both
Pakistan and the US, and they are compelling the US to put pressure on
Musharraf to rein in cross-border terrorism."" -By
Scott Baldauf and V.K. Shashikumar -CSMonitor/buy
- "Libya
offers $2.7bn to Lockerbie families." ... "The offer,
which totals $2.7bn, still has to be approved by the families, and Libya's
announcement that it would link the payout to the lifting of both United
Nations and US sanctions against it made further diplomatic wrangles a
certainty. "These are uncharted waters," Jim Kreindler, a lawyer for the
victims' families, said in a statement." ... "The explosion of Pan Am flight
103 in 1988 killed 259 passengers and crew members, 181 of whom were American,
as well as 11 residents of the Scottish village. Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi,
a Libyan intelligence agent, was convicted of the crime last year by a
Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands. He was sentenced to life in
prison." -By Oliver Burkeman
-Guardian.co.uk
- "US
drawing a hard, fast line around Iran: 'War
on terror' gives blunt force to the way Washington sorts out friends and
foes." -By Ann Scott Tyson
-CSMonitor/buy
- "Kidnapped
reporter's wife willing to die for husband."
-By Afzal Nadeem -ChicagoSunTimes
- "Deadline
to kill captive reporter extended a day."
-CNN
- "Group
threatens to kill kidnapped U.S. reporter:
The kidnappers of a Wall Street Journal reporter in Pakistan claim their
hostage is an agent for Israel and have threatened to kill him within 24
hours if their demands are not met." -CNN
- "Shootout
in India Leaves Four Dead. ... Gunmen
on motorcycles sprayed automatic gunfire outside the U.S. government cultural
center on Tuesday, killing five people and wounding 20, police and U.S.
officials said.." -By Sujoy Dhar
-AP via -LAtimes
ANTHRAX
NEWS - "FBI
Investigates Possible Financial Motive in Anthrax Attacks."
-By Susan Schmidt and Joby Warrick -WashingtonPost
Osama
bin Laden - "Bin
Laden: Destruction Greater Than Expected."
-By John J. Lumpkin -AP
via -LAtimes
Osama
bin Laden - "Cheney:
Tape evidence bin Laden behind terror attacks."
-CNN
Osama
bin Laden - "U.S.
Fears Bin Laden Gain in Nuclear Effort: Concern
Over 'Dirty Bomb' Affects Security." -By Bob Woodward,
Robert G. Kaiser and David B. Ottaway -WashingtonPost
- ANTHRAX
NEWS - "U.S. Postal Service Moves to
Sterilize Mail: In the wake of anthrax contamination
of the mail, the postal service is taking new steps to keep the system
safe." -PBS
/NewsHour /health
/Bioterrorism
ANTHRAX
NEWS - "Anthrax
Found on Letter Near Victim's Home: Traces
of the bacterium--too minute to cause disease, experts say--are found on
mail in a Connecticut town near the one where an elderly woman died."
-By Megan Garvey-LAtimes
- "Utah: Center for Foreign Language Training:
Utah is now a hotbed for training foreign language interpreters, who help
intelligence agencies intercept potential terrorist communications. WeekendAll
Things Considered host Lisa Simeone talks with NPR's Howard Berkes."
-NPR/News
/ ATC
Osama
bin Laden - "Al
Qaeda architect's influence raises fear: Bin
Laden adviser [Egyptian doctor Ayman al-Zawahiri] considered brains behind
holy war."-By E.A. Torriero and Michael Martinez -ChicagoTribune
Afghanistan
- "Al-Qa'eda
lab shows potential chemical weapons bid."-AP
via -USATODAY
Osama
bin Laden - "Bin
Laden's death 'will not end attacks'" explains to
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. -BBC/News
Osama
bin Laden- "CIA
Told to Do 'Whatever Necessary' to Kill Bin Laden:
Agency and Military Collaborating at 'Unprecedented' Level; Cheney Says
War Against Terror 'May Never End'" -By Bob Woodward
-WashingtonPost
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