Daily Intel Report 3-24-09
1. US admiral condemns China's 'aggressive' actions
By FOSTER KLUG – Associated Press March 19, 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2988
IPT NOTE: The witness list, with links to prepared statements, is posted at http://armed-services.senate.gov/e_witnesslist.cfm?id=3699
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top U.S. commander says China's "aggressive and troublesome" run-in with an unarmed American ship shows that Beijing is not yet ready to behave acceptably. Adm. Timothy Keating told senators that Beijing's suspension of military contact last year because of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and last week's South China Sea confrontation are "vivid reminders" that it has yet to become a "responsible stakeholder." The U.S. has pushed for more frequent and intense communications with China to avoid military confrontations that could upset a relationship crucial to solving global crises. But Keating, who heads the Pacific Command, said the bilateral military relationship "certainly isn't where we want it to be." The United States says its Navy survey vessel was harassed and threatened by Chinese-flagged trawlers in international waters; China claims the U.S. ship was conducting surveillance within its exclusive economic zone…
HEARING: THE UNITED STATES PACIFIC COMMAND, UNITED STATES STRATEGIC COMMAND AND UNITED STATES FORCES KOREA
SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE, CHAIRED BY: SENATOR CARL LEVIN (D-MI);
http://armed-services.senate.gov/e_witnesslist.cfm?id=3699
Admiral Timothy Keating, Commander, US Pacific Command
http://armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2009/March/Keating%2003-19-09....
General Kevin Chilton, Commander, US Strategic Command
http://armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2009/March/Chilton%2003-19-09....
General Walter Sharp, Commander, UN Command and Republic of Korea/US Combined Forces Command, and Commander of US Forces Korea
http://armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2009/March/Sharp%2003-19-09.pd...
2. Source: 'Several' Missing Somali-Americans Back in U.S. After Overseas Terror Mission
Thursday, March 19, 2009 Fox News By Mike Levine
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509839,00.html
Many of the Somali-American men who were recruited to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group overseas have returned to the United States, according to a source familiar with an FBI investigation into the matter — but the FBI still has not revealed publicly if it is pursuing arrests in the case. "Some of the guys who were missing aren't missing anymore," the source said. "Some of them got blown up and some of them came back, and some of them are still there [in Somalia]." For several months the FBI has been investigating at least 20 Somali-American men from the Minneapolis area who traveled to war-torn Somalia, where some of them trained and fought with an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group known as al-Shabaab, according to counterterrorism officials. Asked to characterize how many of those men are now back on American soil, the source would only say that "several" have returned. Federal authorities believe the men went to Somalia to join al-Shabaab, which has been warring with the moderate Somali government since 2006... At a Senate hearing in Washington last week, counterterrorism officials said there is no intelligence to indicate that Somali-Americans who traveled to Somalia are planning attacks inside the United States… Minneapolis has become the hub — and the media focus — of the FBI's investigation. But the FBI is casting a wide and growing net across the country, even in places hundreds of miles away from Minneapolis. Testimony from counterterrorism officials and others at the Senate hearing last week suggested that the FBI investigation is active in Columbus, Ohio; Cincinnati, Ohio; Boston; Seattle; and San Diego...
Source: Missing Somali-American Spotted at Minneapolis Shopping Mall
Sunday , March 22, 2009 Fox News By Mike Levine
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510073,00.html
At least one of the Somali-American men who returned to the U.S. after being recruited to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group was spotted at a Minneapolis mall in November. But the man hasn't been seen or heard from since and may have been arrested, a local Muslim leader told FOX News…But Muslim leaders in the Minneapolis area told FOX News that they believe arrests are coming…
Somali man's return to Minn. has locals buzzing
The 22-year-old from Minneapolis is in hiding, a community leader said, adding that the recruit for jihad had a change of heart.
By ABBY SIMONS and RICHARD MERYHEW, Minneapolis Star Tribune March 22, 2009
http://www.startribune.com/local/41634522.html?
A young Somali man from Minneapolis believed to have been recruited by a terrorist group to travel to his war-torn homeland has returned to Minnesota, a community leader said Saturday. Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, said Saturday that the 22-year-old man was recruited for jihad before a change of heart led him to return in recent months. Jamal wouldn't confirm the man's identity, saying that he and his family fear for their safety and are in hiding. Others identified him only as Kamal… FBI special agent E.K. Wilson declined Saturday to comment about the development or the status of the travelers "because of the ongoing investigation," he said… Farhan (Omar) Hurre, director of the Abubakar As-Saddique mosque in south Minneapolis, said Saturday that he knows of at least 10 people within the Somali community who received subpoenas in the past two months… In late November, an imam and youth director from Abubakar were prohibited from boarding a flight to Saudi Arabia. At that time, an attorney representing the mosque, the largest in the Twin Cities, said they were put on a federal "no fly" list because they and the mosque were connected by rumor to the missing men. Sources close to the federal investigation have said that Ahmed, along with some of the other missing men, including Burhan Hassan and Mustafa Ali, 17, of St. Paul, spent time at or had ties to Abubakar…
3. Convict in Fort Dix plot case tries to oust lawyer
The Associated Press Posted on Fri, Mar. 20, 2009
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/new_jersey/41566592.htm...
CAMDEN, N.J. - One of the five men convicted in the Fort Dix trial wants to fire his lawyer and waive his right to appeal. Eljvir Duka (el-VEER' DOO'-kah) wrote the judge on Thursday that he wants to give up his rights because he rejects the American legal system. He calls it a system of "injustice." His lawyer has not returned a message seeking comment. It's Duka's second letter to the judge in a week. Earlier, he wrote that the judge should convert to Islam. Duka, his two brothers and two other men were convicted in December of conspiracy to kill military personnel…
4. Terrorism Recruiting Manual Worries Authorities
by Dina Temple-Raston National Public Radio Morning Edition, March 23, 2009 ·
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102193723
For months now, counterterrorism officials have seen signs that al-Qaida has been looking for new and innovative ways to recruit terrorists, including a new manual that has surfaced on the Internet. Researchers at West Point recently stumbled on the 51-page manual while they were visiting a jihadi chat room, called Ecles. It's a Web site that allows members to have interactive discussions, post videos and download manuals. Ecles is the second most popular jihadi chat room on the Web, and al-Qaida often posts things there. Because of that, it is a place counterterrorism analysts track regularly. So when the West Point analysts discovered a step-by-step primer called "The Art of Recruiting Mujahedeen," it got their attention. On one level, the manual might be an early indication that al-Qaida is trying to identify new sleeper terrorists. On the other hand, the book is so basic it seems to suggest al-Qaida is getting desperate for new members. Brian Fishman, the head of research at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, says he was struck by the remedial tone of the book. At the end of a chapter, for example, there are questions to judge both the recruiter's progress and the recruit's... Here's how the manual, as translated by the CIA, suggests a recruiter build a rapport with a recruit: …
5. SAIC helps Army counter improvise explosive devices
By David Hubler Mar 23, 2009 Washington Technology
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2989
Science Applications International Corp. will help the Army with technical support in its battle against improvised explosive devices. The five-year contract could be worth as much as $41 million if all options are exercised. The contract from the U.S. Army Evaluation Center (AEC) calls for SAIC to provide information and analysis to assist in making decisions concerning counter-IED systems in war zones. Under the delivery order, SAIC will provide technical and business process support for the planning, development and execution of objectives of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Test Board (IED-JTB), SAIC officials said. The IED-JTB is the center for all Defense Department actions that support combatant commanders and their joint task force efforts to defeat IEDs. SAIC also will provide information to the warfighter about the characteristics and functions of deployed systems, and through testing help maximize counter-IED initiatives throughout DOD…
6. Nation of Islam mosque killing of NYPD cop still a mystery, 37 years later
BY Alison Gendar NEW YORK DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF
Updated Sunday, March 22nd 2009, 12:28 PM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2990
The 1972 slaying of a city cop inside a Harlem mosque moved quickly from political hot potato to police cold case, with no convictions or answers for the slain officer's family. A new NYPD investigation, launched more than two years ago, only opened old wounds - and left Officer Phillip Cardillo's son now demanding a federal probe in the racially charged shooting.… The son wants a Department of Justice investigation, while lawyers who have been involved in the case for decades say the answers could lie in long forgotten FBI files… Officer Cardillo was fatally wounded April 14, 1972, after answering a phony 911 call of a cop in trouble inside the Nation of Islam Mosque No. 7 on W. 116th St. He died on April 20... Sixteen witnesses were identified in the mosque's basement - but all were quickly let go as Mayor John Lindsay, Rep. Charles Rangel and then-Police Commissioner Patrick Murphy feared a race riot...
7. Arrest in anti-Semitic threat
BOMB HOAX | Police say fingerprint, computer link Rogers Park man
Chicago Sun-Times March 21, 2009 BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter
http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1488981,CST-NWS-threat21.article
IPT NOTE: The gov't press release is posted at http://chicago.fbi.gov/pressrel/2009/cg032009a.htm
Fingerprint and computer analyses have linked a 25-year-old North Side man to a letter sent to an Orthodox Jewish high school threatening to set off bombs in the area unless the recipients "back off from Gaza in Palestine," according to a criminal complaint filed Friday. Mohammed Alkaramla, who has dual U.S. and Jordanian citizenship, was arrested Friday after the FBI said fingerprints on the letter matched those on Alkaramla that were on file with the Chicago Police Department from a 2003 marijuana arrest, according to the complaint filed by prosecutors. Agents also found a computerized draft of the letter on Alkaramla's laptop computer, the complaint said, along with evidence he had done a Google search the day before the letter was received for the following search terms: "Bomb attack + Israel + letters," "Jewish elementary schools in Chicago" and "Sample Thread [sic] Letter." …
JORDANIAN NATIONAL ARRESTED FOR SENDING THREATENING LETTER TO JEWISH SCHOOL
US Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois March 20, 2009
http://chicago.fbi.gov/pressrel/2009/cg032009a.htm
NOTE: Copies of the criminal complaint filed in this case are available from the Chicago FBI's press office at (312) 829-1199.
8. 'Fusion Centers' Expand Criteria to Identify Militia Members
Do you like Ron Paul or oppose abortion? You may be a member of a militia, according to a new report by a government information collection agency.
By Joshua Rhett Miller FOXNews.com Monday, March 23, 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2991
If you're an anti-abortion activist, or if you display political paraphernalia supporting a third-party candidate or a certain Republican member of Congress, if you possess subversive literature, you very well might be a member of a domestic paramilitary group. That's according to "The Modern Militia Movement," a report by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC), a government collective that identifies the warning signs of potential domestic terrorists for law enforcement communities… MIAC is one of 58 so-called "fusion centers" nationwide that were created by the Department of Homeland Security, in part, to collect local intelligence that authorities can use to combat terrorism and related criminal activities. More than $254 million from fiscal years 2004-2007 went to state and local governments to support the fusion centers, according to the DHS Web site…
Air, rail, port, health & communication infrastructure security
IPT NOTE: For more infrastructure news, see Dep't of Homeland Security Daily Open Source Infrastructure Reports http://www.dhs.gov/xinfoshare/programs/editorial_0542.shtm; Public Safety Canada Daily Infrastructure Report http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/dir/index-eng.aspx; TSA Press Releases http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/index.shtm
9. Industrial Control Systems Vulnerable to Cyberthreats, Expert Says
By Matthew Harwood 03/20/2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2992
IPT NOTE: The witness list, with links to their prepared statements, is posted at
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2993
The industrial control systems (ICSs) that run the United States' critical infrastructure, such as electrical grids and nuclear plants, are woefully vulnerable to cyberthreats, whether intentional or unintentional, a nuclear engineer told a Senate committee yesterday… Although many incidents have not been publicly documented, Weiss told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation he has verified over 125 incidents involving ICSs, the most known being supervisory control and data aquisition (SCADA) systems… In an unidentified case, Weiss said, a denial of service (DoS) attack shutdown the computers controlling pumps at a nuclear plant. It resulted in plant shutdown. In another incident in Bellingham, West Virginia, in 1999, a pipeline ruptured and over 200,000 gallons of gasoline poured into a creek. The creeks eventually ignited, killing three people and destroying $45 million worth of property. The National Safety and Transportation Board investigation into the accident determined the rupture occurred because of the SCADA system…
Software lobby seeks greater role in U.S. security
Fri Mar 20, 2009 4:40pm EDT Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE52J5QQ20090320
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. software industry is pushing for a greater role as government officials develop a policy to ward off attacks on the nation's communications infrastructure, a trade group said on Friday. The Business Software Alliance, which represents companies including Microsoft Corp and Dell Inc., told White House officials this week the government should share more threat and attack information with the industry. It submitted a set of recommendations to Melissa Hathaway, the acting senior director for cyber space at the White House, this week, the group said. She had asked for industry views in an earlier meeting. The private sector owns about 85 percent of critical infrastructure in the United States, according to BSA…
A bill to shift cybersecurity to White House
by Stephanie Condon March 20, 2009 6:00 PM PDT
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10200710-38.html
Forthcoming legislation would wrest cybersecurity responsibilities from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and transfer them to the White House, a proposed move that likely will draw objections from industry groups and some conservatives. CNET News has obtained a summary of a proposal from Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) that would create an Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor, part of the Executive Office of the President. That office would receive the power to disconnect, if it believes they're at risk of a cyberattack, "critical" computer networks from the Internet… Giving the White House cybersecurity responsibility was one of the top recommendations of a commission that produced a report last year to advise President Obama on cybersecurity issues. However, the Homeland Security Department, which currently has jurisdiction over cybersecurity, has insisted the reshuffling of duties is not needed…
Cybersecurity – Assessing Our Vulnerabilities and Developing An Effective Defense
US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
Thursday, March 19, 2009 10:00 AM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2993
Dr. James Lewis, Director and Senior Fellow of the Technology and Public Policy Program
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/LewisTestimony.pdf
Dr. Joseph Weiss, Managing Partner, Applied Control Solutions
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/WeissTestimony.pdf
Dr. Ed Amoroso, Chief Security Officer, AT&T
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/TestimonyofEdAmoroso31709.pdf
Dr. Eugene Spafford, Professor and Executive Director
Purdue University's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/CommerceTestimonySpafford.pdf
Financing, identity theft, money laundering
10. Four indicted in N.J. for roles in car-theft ring
By Allison Steele Philadelphia Inquirer March 21, 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2994
Four people were indicted yesterday for their alleged roles in a multimillion-dollar theft ring that stole luxury cars from dealerships in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and shipped them to West Africa. Investigators believe members of the ring stole car keys from dealerships in Camden, Gloucester and Burlington Counties in New Jersey, as well as Philadelphia and Springfield in Pennsylvania. They would return to the dealerships and steal the cars, according to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office… They were indicted on second-degree charges of theft and receiving stolen property for allegedly loading the stolen cars onto shipping containers bound for Sierra Leone. Authorities believe Bah and Barrie arranged for the cars to be delivered to a Glassboro auto salvage yard, where they were loaded into containers. Kamara and Diallo allegedly had cars brought to New Brunswick. All four men had the cars shipped to Port Newark, then to Sierra Leone in West Africa, according to the state. Among the cars stolen were a $37,000 Jaguar and two $46,500 Audis. Authorities believe that the thefts have been going on for years and that hundreds of cars may have been stolen. "This was a major criminal enterprise, not just thieves stealing cars from the street and chopping them for parts," N.J. Attorney General Anne Milgram said yesterday in a statement…
Old Bridge man among 4 accused in ring that sent stolen high-end cars to Africa
By JOSHUA BURD • Staff Writer • March 23, 2009
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090323/CRIME/90323005
MIDDLESEX COUNTY … Five other men, all from Philadelphia, also have been indicted during the investigation for stealing cars from dealers in southern and central New Jersey and supplying them to the network. Additional information about those charges was not available yesterday. Milgram said that, in most cases, the keys to the targeted cars were stolen from the dealership and later used to locate and steal the cars from the lots. The ongoing investigation has linked the theft ring to more than 150 vehicle thefts from dealerships in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, Milgram said. Authorities are expecting additional charges. The indictments by state grand juries resulted from "Operation CargGo" — an investigation led by officials from the New Jersey State Police, Cherry Hill police and state Division of Criminal Justice. They worked with the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, North Brunswick police and several Philadelphia and Pennsylvania law-enforcement agencies...
11. New Virginia driver's license focuses on security
By Julian Walker The Virginian-Pilot © March 23, 2009
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/03/new-drivers-license-focuses-security
RICHMOND - … Beginning this spring, the [Virginia] Department of Motor Vehicles will issue redesigned licenses and identification cards with black-and-white pictures. Enhanced security is the reason for the change, but those concerned about their appearance can take comfort that messy makeup and mismatched clothing won't be as noticeable on the new version… The shift away from color photos is one of about 25 security features intended to make the cards tamper-proof. Current licenses are made of laminated layers that can be peeled off and altered. Another aspect of the design is a second, smaller photo of the driver that will be visible from both sides of the license. Virginia will be one of three jurisdictions, along with Sweden and a Canadian province, whose licenses bear that characteristic, according to the DMV. Other publicly revealed security features include laser engraving, hard-to-duplicate ink colors in the background design and holograms visible under black light. Some security details are known only to law enforcement officials. The price for all that technology is $6.5 million annually in production costs, an increase from the $2 million Virginia now spends on license expenses…
Border security, immigration, customs
IPT NOTE: For more details, see US Customs and Border Protection releases at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/ ; US Immigration and Customs Enforcement http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2754 , and Canada Border Services Agency http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html
12. "Law Enforcement Responses to Mexican Drug Cartels"
Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs
DATE: March 17, 2009 TIME: 10:30 AM ROOM: Dirksen-226
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=3718
Panel I
Terry Goddard, Arizona Attorney General, Phoenix, AZ
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=3718&wit_id=7718
William Hoover, Assistant Director for Field Operations
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Washington, DC
Anthony P. Placido, Assistant Administrator and Chief of Intelligence
Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington, DC
http://judiciary.senate.gov/pdf/09-03-17HooverPlacidoTestimony.pdf [Hoover & Placido joint statement]
Kumar Kibble, Deputy Director, Office of Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=3718&wit_id=7717
Panel II
Denise Eugenia Dresser Guerra, Professor, Department of Political Science
Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Mexico City, Mexico
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=3718&wit_id=7720
Jorge Luis Aguirre, Journalist, El Paso, TX
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=3718&wit_id=7716
13. Agents find $3 million on Texas bus
By LYNN BREZOSKY San Antonio Express-News March 21, 2009, 1:38AM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6326279.html
Customs agents in Laredo, aided by a sniffer dog, found 75 bundles of U.S. currency totaling nearly $3 million hidden in the floor of a commercial bus crossing into Mexico, Customs and Border Protection said Friday. No one was immediately arrested or detained, but Immigrations and Customs Enforcement continued to investigate, CBP spokeswoman Mucia Dovalina said… The cash was found Thursday night after a CBP dog alerted to the aroma of currency coming from inside the bus's floor and an X-ray scan confirmed odd shapes. Officers found 75 tape-wrapped bundles in a makeshift compartment underneath the passenger seats. Dovalina said the cash, which was still being counted Friday morning, totaled $2,997,510…
14. Prison time haunts freed ex-agents
Sara A. Carter Saturday, March 21, 2009 Washington Times
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2995
Former U.S. Border Patrol agent Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos wakes up in the middle of the night expecting a guard to shine a flashlight in his face. Jose Alonso Compean, his colleague, still has nightmares that he's not really home. It has not been easy readjusting to life outside their one-man prison cells, where they spent the last two years of their lives in segregation. Since the commutation of their sentences by George W. Bush on his last day as president, the former agents, who were charged with the nonfatal shooting of a Mexican national after he abandoned a load of marijuana near the border, are learning to live in the world again. Since being released from prison on Feb. 17, both men were confined to house arrest for 31 days and were barred from speaking to the news media until their sentences ended Friday. In an exclusive interview with The Washington Times, the two men, now fighting to have their convictions wiped off the record, spoke of their ordeal since the incident in Fabens, Texas, in 2005 that changed their lives… Mr. Ramos' attorney, David Botsford, has asked the Supreme Court to review the convictions, and an answer as to whether the court will review the case is expected within a week, the agents said…
Other items
15. Ottawa may halt grants to 'anti-Semitic' groups
Review Launched
By Joseph Brean, National Post March 19, 2009
http://www.canada.com/Life/Ottawa+halt+grants+anti+Semitic+groups/140509...
IPT NOTE: See related item #36 below.
As part of a "zero tolerance approach towards anti-Semitism," the federal government is reviewing all its public service grants to remove state support from groups that advocate hatred or express support for terrorism. "We are just at the beginning of the process of trying to formalize and operationalize that principle. In my department, we will be engaged in a cross-government process," Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, told an audience yesterday at the University of Toronto, co-hosted by the campus Hillel and Conservative Party clubs.… He gave the example of discovering last year that the Canadian Islamic Congress had been providing sensitivity training sessions to the Canadian Air Transportation Security Authority. "No comment," he said. "They're no longer doing that."… The review announcement is the latest twist in a bitter war of words between Mr. Kenney and Khaled Mouammar, the president of the Canadian Arab Federation.…
16. Religious group wants to meet with Cleveland Mayor Jackson about new taxi policy it says hurts Muslims
Plain Dealer (Cleveland) March 20, 2009 Friday Stan Donaldson
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/religious_group_wants_to_meet.ht...
A religious advocacy group has asked to meet with Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson in order to change a new directive at Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport that bans Muslim cab drivers who leave their vehicles to pray. The Cleveland-based chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations said earlier this month that Standard Parking Co., a group contracted by the city to handle parking operations, enacted a new policy that prohibits cab drivers from leaving their vehicles while they wait in line to pick up arrivals at the airport. The policy also bans prayer in the taxi queue and prohibits other cab drivers from advancing vehicles in the taxi line for the praying driver. If seen praying, they will be in violation of the policy and could be banned from picking up fares…
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport officials, Muslim cabbies to discuss prayer concerns
Saturday, March 21, 2009 Stan Donaldson Plain Dealer Reporter
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2996
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport officials will meet Monday with Muslim taxi drivers to try to resolve an issue over a mandate the cabbies say bans them from praying as they wait to pick up passengers…
MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA
17. Experts Plant Seeds to Foster Agricultural Success in Iraq
American Forces Press Service March 23, 2009
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=53598
FORWARD OPERATING WARRIOR, KIRKUK, Iraq, March 23, 2009 – The food that finds its way onto the tables of Iraqi residents has its origins somewhere, and Team Borlaug researchers are on a mission to see where that journey begins. They traced some of the food's origins to a local animal processing plant and market March 18 here in Kirkuk. The team is on a nearly six-month tour of northern Iraq to study the agriculture and offer guidance on how it can be improved. "Our mission is to assess agriculture in Multinational Division North's area and provide recommendations to the command regarding project development and how to get Iraqis back to work in agriculture," Dustin Kinder, Team Borlaug's chief, said. The team comprises agricultural experts with varying backgrounds, Kinder said. The Defense Department contracted their services through the Borlaug Institute of Agriculture, an academic think tank based at Texas A&M University…
18. Fowler's driver freed
The Associated Press March 23, 2009 at 11:22 AM EDT
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2997
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations says the driver of two Canadian diplomats kidnapped in Niger in December has been released unharmed. It says Soumana Mounkaila, a Niger national, was freed after several governments in the region intervened. He was kidnapped along with the UN Special Envoy for Niger, Robert Fowler, and Fowler's aide, Louis Guay...
19. Trial of Canadian terror suspect postponed
Agence France Presse March 19, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hxdQTtmz8DTSp7G0C_Aq6...
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — An Ethiopian court on Thursday postponed the trial of a Canadian suspect who has been in prison for two years on terror-related charges, an AFP correspondent reported. Bashir Makhtal, an Ethiopian-born Canadian citizen, was among a group of at least 150 who were detained by Kenyan forces on its border with Somalia as they fled Ethiopia's war with Somali Islamist rebels in late 2006. The 40-year-old, who faces the death penalty if convicted, is accused of being a senior member of the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front as well as supporting the Islamic Courts Union before the group's ouster from Somalia by Ethiopian troops two years ago…
20. Bin-Ladin tape calls Somali president an apostate -
Jazeera TV BBC Monitoring Africa – Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
March 19, 2009 Thursday Copyright 2009 British Broadcasting Corporation
Text of report by Qatari government-funded, pan-Arab news channel Al-Jazeera satellite TV on 19 March
http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk/index.htm subscription req'd, available on NEXIS/Westlaw
Al-Qa'idah leader Usamah Bin-Ladin has urged the Somalis to topple the regime of President Sharif Shaykh Ahmad. In an audiotape posted on the Internet, Bin Ladin described the new Somali president as an apostate, adding that he is a modified version of Karzai, Rabbani, and Shah Mas'ud.
Source: Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 1010 gmt 19 Mar 09
21. Somali Islamists behead two sheikhs: group
Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:36am EDT By Abdi Sheikh and Abdi Guled Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE52J2G620090320
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's hard-line al Shabaab insurgents have beheaded two sheikhs from a rival Islamist movement, a spokesman for the Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca group said on Friday. The killings happened on Thursday, the same day al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden urged Somalis in an audio tape to topple the new president of the lawless Horn of Africa nation. Al Shabaab, which Washington accuses of having close ties to al Qaeda, has been battling rival Islamists from the Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca movement for control of central regions....
Shabaab leader admits links to al Qaeda
By Bill Roggio March 22, 2009 4:10 PM Long War Journal
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/03/shabaab_leader_admit.php
A senior leader of the radical Islamist group Shabaab in the southern city of Kismayo has welcomed Osama bin Laden's call to overthrow the government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, and also said Shabaab would maintain its contacts with al Qaeda. Sheik Hassan Yacquub Ali, the Information Minister for the Shabaab-controlled administration in Kismayo, said bin Laden's latest message was proof that al Qaeda and other Islamist groups continue to support the Islamist groups in Somalia, Shabelle reported. Yacquub made the statements during a press conference in southern Somalia...
22. Yemeni officials say suicide bomber trained in Somalia
BBC Monitoring Africa – Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
March 19, 2009 Thursday Copyright 2009 British Broadcasting Corporation
Text of report by Somali pro-Puntland government Puntlandpost website on 18 March
http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk/index.htm subscription req'd, available on NEXIS/Westlaw
Yemeni officials have said that the person responsible for the suicide attacks in Yemen in which four South Korean tourists were killed was trained in Somalia and that he crossed the Red Sea. The suicide bomber who killed the tourists in Yemen is said to be Abdirahman Mahdi Al-Ajbari. Officials in Yemen have said that they believe the suicide bomber was trained in the war-torn country of Somalia. Yemen has in the recent past seen an increase in the number of explosions and abductions targeting tourists in the country. The country has also seen an increase in the number of confrontations between government forces and groups allied with Al-Qa'idah…
Reports US will target al-Qaeda elements in Yemen untrue, official
Yemen News Agency (SABA) [22 March 2009]
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news178972.htm
SANA'A, March 22 (Saba) – A Yemeni official source has denied that the US will carry out land and air strikes against al-Qaeda targets in Yemen, dismissing reports that a Yemeni official had made statements for the official website of the United States Department of Defense over the matter. The state-run 26sep.net cited the source as saying all information included in the reports were untrue and baseless…
Yemen court hands death sentence in Israel spy case
Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:09am EDT Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE52M1B120090323
SANAA (Reuters) - A Yemeni court sentenced an Islamist to death and handed down jail sentences against two others on Monday after convicting them of seeking to work for Israeli intelligence services… The three were charged with emailing the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and offering to work for the intelligence service of the Jewish state…
23. Police foil terror attack at Haifa shopping center
By Fadi Edayat, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 00:04 22/03/2009
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072730.html
Police sappers neutralized several explosive devices in the parking lot outside Haifa's Lev Hamifratz shopping mall Saturday evening. olice evacuated the mall following the discovery of the devices, causing heavy traffic delays in the area. A little known Israeli Arab organization known as the Galilee freedom brigade claimed responsibility for the attempted attack. No one was hurt. The devices found contained dozens of kilograms of explosives, police sources said, and could have caused extensive damage and loss of life had they been detonated…
