Daily Intel Report 4-01-09

1. Qaeda, Taliban planning 9/11-like attacks in US, Europe: NWFP IG

* Navid says Taliban are spreading throughout Pakistan
* Claims five to 10 percent of country's madrassas are involved in indoctrinating suicide bombers

By Muhammad Bilal March 31, 2009 The Daily Times (Pakistan)
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C03%5C31%5Cstory_31-...

ISLAMABAD: Al Qaeda and Taliban are planning to stage terrorist strikes similar to the 9/11 attacks in the US and Europe, NWFP police chief Malik Navid told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior on Monday. The briefing, on the law and order situation in NWFP, informed the committee that the extremists were spreading throughout Pakistan, adding they planned to destabilise the Middle East to have a launch pad for terrorist attacks on the US or Europe. He said Arabs and people from other countries had entered Afghanistan in large numbers between 1979 and 1995, adding some had expertise in making biochemical weapons. He urged the government to focus on curbing militancy in the country, saying the activities of militants were rapidly increasing. Responding to question from Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) lawmaker Wasim Akhtar on whether the Taliban were moving towards the country's major cities, including Karachi and Lahore, Navid said the Taliban were in every city and town. Most groups choose to operate secretly, he added. "Their people are present in every city and town. In some places they are active, in others dormant. The Taliban's philosophy is to create pockets everywhere," he said. He said the Taliban were currently moving towards southern Punjab with intent to eventually reach the financial hub of the country, Karachi. He said the attack on the police academy in Lahore had proven that they were now established in the city…

Pakistani Taliban Leader Threatens Washington
By ZAHID HUSSAIN in Islamabad and MATTHEW ROSENBERG in Lahore
ASIA NEWS MARCH 31, 2009, 2:25 P.M. ET Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123847850370972947.html

The leader of the Pakistani Taliban threatened Tuesday to carry out a terrorist attack on the U.S. capital, and said his forces were behind an assault on a police academy in eastern Pakistan. Baitullah Mehsud said fighters loyal to him raided the police academy on the outskirts of Lahore on Monday to avenge continuing U.S. missile strikes against Islamic militants based along the border with Afghanistan, a region largely controlled by the Taliban and al Qaeda. The attack on the police academy, which left 12 people dead, "was in retaliation for the ongoing drone attacks in the tribal areas. There will be more such attacks," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location. Mr. Mehsud, who spoke with a handful of Pakistani reporters, is based in the South Waziristan tribal region, on the Afghan border. U.S. officials, who issued a $5 million bounty for Mr. Mehsud in March, have said they believe the leader of the Pakistan Taliban has ties to al Qaeda and has been involved in major attacks in Pakistan for several years. Mr. Mehsud's claim of responsibility for the attack at the police academy heightened fears that militant violence, which has engulfed much of northwestern Pakistan, is spreading to the country's eastern heartland, Punjab. Until recently, the province had been spared much of the violence, although some of Pakistan's most potent Islamic militant groups originated in the region and draw recruits from its poor, rural villages. Mr. Mehsud, the 35-year-old supreme commander of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, known as the Pakistan Taliban, also threatened to expand his targets beyond Pakistan...

Taliban Leader's Washington Threat Is Credible, Analysts Say
Tuesday , March 31, 2009 Fox News By Joshua Rhett Miller

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,511873,00.html

The United States has put a $5 million bounty on his head, and he says militants under his control are planning a terrorist attack in Washington that "will amaze everyone in the world." And he isn't Usama bin Laden. Baitullah Mehsud, commander of the Taliban in Pakistan, told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that his group was responsible for Monday's attack on a police academy in his country that killed seven police officers and injured more than 90 others. He also said, chillingly: "Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world." In an interview with local Dewa Radio, which was obtained by The Associated Press, Mehsud identified the White House as one of the targets. FBI spokesman Richard Kolko told FOXNews.com that the bureau is not aware of a specific or imminent threat to the United States. He added, without elaborating, that Mehsud has made similar threats to the U.S. But terrorism experts call Mehsud a "rising young star" who is linked both to the December 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the bombing last September that killed 54 people in the Marriott hotel in Islamabad -- and they say his threat to carry out an attack in Washington should not be discounted. "It should be taken seriously because [Mehsud] has ordered the deaths of many Pakistanis and Afghans and has a close alliance with Al Qaeda," said James Phillips, a terrorism expert and senior research fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Heritage Foundation. "It's not too much of a stretch to think he might be involved in an attack on the U.S. if he's able to get his followers inside the United States. He's a militant extremist whose threats cannot be ignored."…

2. Relatives of missing Somali men use homeland ties in search
by Laura Yuen, Minnesota Public Radio,
Sasha Aslanian, Minnesota Public Radio
March 30, 2009
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/30/somali_search/
Families of some of the young Somali-American men who are thought to be fighting with Islamic extremists in the Horn of Africa are trying their own methods to bring them safely home. They've turned to friends in the new Somali government and U.S. officials at neighboring embassies to help. Minneapolis, Minn. — The Somali community in Minneapolis is still well-networked into the homeland. Family and business ties make it surprisingly common for people to stay in touch with the social life and economy of this failed state. Somalia hasn't had a working government since 1991. Osman Ahmed, whose 17-year-old nephew Burhan Hassan disappeared last November, has been working his contacts back home to try to find his nephew. He knows the FBI is also on the case, but he says law enforcement is mainly concerned with making sure the men don't cause harm in the United States. Bringing people out of a war zone is another matter, he said…

3. Yemeni doctor cleared for transfer from Guantanamo

30 Mar 2009 23:49:27 GMT Reuters By Randall Mikkelsen

* Batarfi second to be cleared under Obama review

* Authorities may conduct more interviews with detainees

* U.S. says no inmates to be transferred to Bagram

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N30335108.htm

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - A Yemeni doctor held as a terrorism suspect at Guantanamo has been cleared for transfer to an unknown country under the Obama administration's plan to close the prison, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday. Ayman Saeed Batarfi is the second Guantanamo inmate to be cleared under the case-by-case reviews set up by President Obama in January. About 240 detainees remain at Guantanamo, and some have been held as long as seven years without charges. "The United States will initiate the appropriate diplomatic process, consistent with the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, to facilitate (Batarfi's) prompt transfer from Guantanamo Bay to an appropriate destination country," the department said in a court filing… Batarfi, who has contested his detention in U.S. courts, was moved to Guantanamo in May 2002, four months after he was taken into U.S. custody in Afghanistan in a U.S.-led offensive on al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his followers. He had been injured in an airstrike in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan before his capture. The United States accused Batarfi of being chief medical adviser for an al-Qaeda-linked group, obtaining military training and acquiring medical supplies for the group. He is alleged to have stayed in Tora Bora at bin Laden's personal request to treat wounded fighters…

4. Ottawa terror suspect Diab granted bail
Ottawa Citizen March 31, 2009 11:08 AM
http://www.canada.com/news/national/Ottawa+terror+suspect+Diab+granted+b...

OTTAWA — Hassan Diab, the Ottawa teacher accused in a fatal bombing in Paris in 1980, was granted bail under strict conditions Tuesday morning in Ottawa. The professor at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa faces extradition to France on charges that he bombed a synagogue in Paris as part of a radical Palestinian group, killing four people. While the extradition process goes on, though, Diab will not be in custody, Justice Robert Maranger ruled. He will be forced to wear an electronic tracking bracelet, however, and will only be allowed to leave his house unaccompanied if he's going to work, to attend court or in the case of a medical emergency. He is to be supervised by his common-law wife, Rania Tfaily, who Maranger characterized as "a very intelligent woman who knows precisely what she is getting into." Diab will still have to attend an extradition hearing to determine whether he must face murder and attempted murder charges in France. Characterizing the case against Diab as "moderate to high," the judge also said that extradition is "not a foregone conclusion."

5. U.S. Drops 'War on Terror' Phrase, Clinton Says
March 31, 2009 Wall Street Journal By JAY SOLOMON

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123845123690371231.html

THE HAGUE -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Obama administration has stopped using "war on terror," breaking with the Bush administration's terminology in describing the conflict with al Qaeda and militant Islam. "The administration has stopped using the phrase, and I think that speaks for itself," Mrs. Clinton told reporters as she traveled here for a United Nations-led conference on Afghanistan. The phrase has been criticized as having inflammatory connotations in the Muslim world. Some Democratic officials believe it is better to describe more specifically whom the U.S. is fighting, such as al Qaeda or the Taliban. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrives at Schiphol Airport, Netherlands on Monday, ahead of a U.N.-sponsored conference on the future of Afghanistan. Mrs. Clinton made her remarks in response to reporters' questions. Asked whether there was a specific policy decision on the terminology, she said: "I haven't gotten any directive about using it or not using it. It's just not being used."…

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

6. Quest for artificial nose to sniff out terrorists' fear

John Harlow From The Sunday Times (London) March 29, 2009

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5992949.ece

LAW enforcement agencies are seeking scientists to develop an artificial nose that can detect the smell of fear as terrorists pass through security at airports. The US Department of Homeland Security is advertising for specialists to devise airport scanners that will sniff out "deceptive individuals". The technology builds on recent breakthroughs in finding human scent-prints which, many researchers believe, may be as unique to individuals as fingerprints. Body odours also change perceptibly according to mood. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have already produced a gel that acts like the smell receptors in the human nose. Now they are trying to create a version that can isolate the tangy smell of adrenaline, the stress hormone, so that nervous passengers or those with a guilty conscience can be singled out. Homeland Security wants a device that automatically compares odours with scents collected from crime scenes and held in a "smell bank" which, like DNA or fingerprints, could be used in court. Last week officials said they only wanted to explore the possibilities but scientists are already predicting that it is only a matter of time before police will be able to sniff out crime artificially...

7. TSA's Secure Flight Begins Vetting Passengers
US Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) Press Release

Contact: TSA Public Affairs (571) 227-2829

http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2009/0331.shtm

WASHINGTON – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today the implementation of the Secure Flight program, which shifts pre-departure watch list matching responsibilities from individual aircraft operators to TSA and carries out a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. To date TSA has assumed the watch list matching responsibility for passengers on domestic commercial flights with four volunteer aircraft operators and will add more carriers in the coming months. "The implementation of Secure Flight is a critical step towards mitigating threats we know exist in our aviation system," said TSA Acting Administrator Gale Rossides. "Secure Flight improves security and protects passenger privacy and civil liberties by ensuring the confidentiality of government watch list matching protocols." Under Secure Flight, airlines will gather a passenger's full name, date of birth, and gender when making an airline reservation to determine if the passenger is a match to the No Fly or Selectee lists. By providing the additional data elements of gender and date of birth, Secure Flight will more effectively help prevent misidentification of passengers who have similar names to individuals on the watch list…

Dead bird in black soap seized at BWI Airport
March 31, 2009 - 12:19pm

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1637737

(Photo courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

BALTIMORE - Security officials at BWI Airport are still shaking their heads over what they found in the luggage of a traveler from Nigeria. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discovered a bird encrusted in black homemade soap while conducting a baggage inspection Friday. The traveler, who arrived from London, repeatedly denied having any animal products. "During the inspection, we uncovered something that looked like black soap," CBP Spokesman Steve Sapp says. "But upon further inspection, it turned out to be a dead bird encrusted inside that black soap. The traveler told us the bird was sacrificed, and she was bringing it in for a friend." Sapp says the concealed bird was a potential threat to American poultry since Nigeria has the bird flu. Investigators also found nearly four pounds of beef and three pounds of chicken bullion in the passenger's luggage….

8. FDA warns not to eat pistachios

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 Associated Press

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/31/fda-warns-not-to-eat-pis...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) Federal food safety officials warned Monday that consumers should stop eating all foods containing pistachios while they figure out the source of a suspected salmonella contamination. Still reeling from the national salmonella outbreak in peanuts, the Food and Drug Administration said Central California-based Setton Farms, the nation's second-largest pistachio processor, was voluntarily recalling all of its 2008 crop - more than 1 million pounds of nuts…

9. TORONTO CITY CENTRE AIRPORT

Island airport gets federal cash for border security
JENNIFER LEWINGTON CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF Globe and Mail (Canada) March 31, 2009

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090331.AIRPORT31/TPSt...

The cost of flying out of Toronto's downtown island airport is expected to drop a little after yesterday's announcement that the federal government will pick up a $1.7-million tab for border security officials. "Those savings definitely find their way into passengers' ticket prices," Porter Airlines president Robert Deluce said after federal Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan added six airports to the roster, which includes Pearson Airport, that are eligible to get federal funds for customs and immigration officers. Mr. Deluce could not estimate the impact of the federal decision on ticket prices, but said it would create a "level playing field" for his airline, which flies out of Toronto City Centre Airport, to compete against carriers at Pearson. A spokesman for the Toronto Port Authority, which operates the island airport, also praised the federal announcement, which takes effect tomorrow…

Criminals may still get high-security airport access: auditor general

Refugee backlog, tax cheaters among targets of AG's reports
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 | 5:02 PM ET CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/03/31/tech-090330.html
Airport employees with criminal records or links may still be able to gain access to high-security areas due to gaps in how security agencies share information, says a report from Canada's auditor general. "In the world of security intelligence, information sharing is critical," Auditor General Sheila Fraser said Tuesday in a statement before the release of the report. "Where there are legal constraints, the government needs to find a way of resolving them." A series of status reports released Tuesday by Fraser and Scott Vaughan, the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, found that many problems identified in previous audits on topics ranging from passport processing delays to the development of safety guidelines for drinking water have been addressed. While security and law enforcement agencies have dealt with some problems related to intelligence and their progress was deemed "satisfactory" in that regard, Fraser flagged some outstanding issues, saying:…

Financing, identity theft, money laundering

10. Miami Drug Case Has Hezbollah Tie
by IPT News Mon, 30 Mar 2009 at 11:17 AM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/blog/2009/03/miami-drug-case-has-hez...
An arrest in Colombia earlier this month seems to support concerns that Hezbollah is working with Mexican and South American drug cartels to establish a better foothold in the West. El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language edition of the Miami Herald, reported on the arrest of Jose Alberto Henao Jaramillo, who is wanted in a drug and money laundering case in Miami. That case already netted more than 100 arrests http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/america_latina/story/409615.html by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, El Nuevo Herald reported. Among them is Chekri Mahmoud Harb, who goes by the name "Taliban," and has alleged Hezbollah connections. The paper cites a Colombian government intelligence report which said "part of the money was presumably distributed for terrorist activities of groups like Hezbollah." Harb is charged with four conspiracy counts related to drug trafficking. It's a tangible sign http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/261.pdf amid growing concerns that Hezbollah is tapping South and Central American drug routes to extend its reach http://www.investigativeproject.org/blog/2009/03/a-journalists-chilling-... closer to the American border.

11. Alleged Money Scam Roils Islamic Center
Charges, Countercharges at Mosque

By Del Quentin Wilber and Michelle Boorstein Washington Post Tuesday, March 31, 2009; B01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/30/AR200903...?

In the Islamic Center of Washington, beneath the 160-foot minaret that towers over Embassy Row, a tale of intrigue has simmered for years. It is marked by bitter recriminations between two men who are credited with rehabilitating its reputation as a prominent symbol of Islam in the United States. The center's business manager has been accused of stealing $430,000 from the mosque in a complicated check scam. The key witness against him is the center's director and imam, a Saudi who says he noticed the crime when he spotted too many checks being written to a gardener. The Iranian-born business manager has a different story. He says the imam told him to take the money. About half was used to pay off debts and living expenses of two women who were close to the imam, and the rest was used to pay informants for tips about the mosque's security, he said. It was enough to confound a jury, which deadlocked 9 to 3 after the business manager's three-week trial last May. Now prosecutors are attempting to retry him, and the manager is firing back. He has accused the imam of committing perjury and obstructing justice. A federal judge is expected to rule in coming weeks on whether to drop the charges or prevent the imam from testifying…

12. 2 Mexican drug cartel members plead guilty
By JUAN A. LOZANO The Associated Press March 31, 2009, 2:01PM

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6351873.html

HOUSTON — A member of one of Mexico's most notoriously violent drug operations pleaded guilty Tuesday to threatening to kill two U.S. federal agents while they were cornered and held at gunpoint by members of the Gulf Cartel. Juan Carlos de La Cruz Reyna pleaded guilty to two counts of threatening to assault and murder a federal officer. De La Cruz Reyna was one of 10 alleged members of various cartels extradited to the U.S. from Mexico late last year. Another Gulf cartel member, Ruben Sauceda-Rivera, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a count of money laundering. Both Mexican citizens are set to be sentenced July 3. Sauceda-Rivera, 42, and de La Cruz Reyna, 34, were indicted in 2002 in Brownsville. Sauceda-Rivera originally faced 11 drug trafficking counts and one count of money laundering. As part of a plea deal, the drug trafficking charges will be dropped in exchange for the plea on money laundering charge, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison…

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

13. Controversy helped spread my message, Galloway says
British MP speaks to Toronto crowd via video link

Joseph Brean and Shannon Kari, National Post Monday, March 30, 2009

http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1444906

IPT NOTE: The court's opinion upholding the ban on Galloway's entry to Canada is posted at http://cas-ncr-nter03.cas-satj.gc.ca/rss/IMM-1474-09%20decision.pdf. It has been reported that the purpose of Galloway's speaking included fundraising for an entity that gave funds to Hamas, an action that is a terrorist crime in Canada and one that encourages Canadians to similarly commit a terrorist crime, clearly a danger to the security of Canada and thus justification for denial of entry on security grounds pursuant to s. 34(1)(d) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27, as amended ("the Act"), http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/sc-2001-c-27/latest/sc-2001-c-27.h....

TORONTO -- Controversial British MP George Galloway took shots at Canada's Immigration Minister on Monday night as he gave a speech he was not permitted to deliver in person… He was speaking to a Toronto audience by video link after a Federal Court judge declined to issue an injunction that would have allowed him to enter Canada yesterday. Justice Luc Martineau said Mr. Galloway has not suffered "irreparable harm" as a result of a finding by Immigration officials that prevented Mr. Galloway from entering the country to speak at a series of anti-war and pro-Palestinian rallies this week…

Galloway Addresses Canadian Audience Despite Ban
by IPT News Tue, 31 Mar 2009 at 2:31 PM

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3060

…On Sunday, Galloway spoke in person at a fundraiser in Falls Church, VA for the Muslim Link, http://www.muslimlinkpaper.com/myjumla/index.php?option=com_content&view... a newspaper in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area. He was joined by Mahdi Bray, executive director the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation. Last week, the Investigative Project on Terrorism uncovered Bray's felony record from the 1980s http://www.investigativeproject.org/1013/mahdi-brays-secret-checkered-pa... and showed how his get-out-the-vote efforts may be tainted by his own questionable voter registration http://www.investigativeproject.org/1015/mahdi-bray-voting-with-convicti....

14. Homeland Security shifts policy to target employers with illegal workers
Immigration reform effort looks to target American employers
By Josh Meyer and Anna Gorman Chicago Tribune Washington Bureau March 31, 2009

www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-immigration_tuesmar31,0,5809...

WASHINGTON — Stepping into the political minefield of Immigration reform, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will soon direct federal agents to emphasize targeting American employers for arrest and prosecution over the laborers who enter the country illegally to work for them, department officials said Monday. The shift in emphasis will be outlined in revamped field guidelines issued to agents of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division as early as this week, according to several officials familiar with the change in policy. It is in keeping with comments that President Barack Obama made during last year's campaign, when he said past enforcement efforts have failed because they focused on illegal immigrants rather than the companies that hire them…

MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

15. Al-Qaeda Infiltrating Pro-U.S. Militias in Iraq, Sources Say
By Rania Abouzeid / Baghdad Time.com Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1888604,00.html

Sheikh Hamid al-Hayess is not optimistic. A burly man with a thick black moustache and closely knitted brows, he is one of the founding members of the Anbar Awakening. The grouping of Sunni tribal sheikhs in the once al-Qaeda-infested western province turned against the insurgents and sided with the U.S military, providing the model for what became a nationwide campaign known as the Sahwa. But that model is in trouble. "The Sahwa has been infiltrated by al-Qaeda," he says somberly. "A civil war is coming." If it happens, this time the lines in the sand will more likely be between Sunnis. Iraq's minority Sunnis have become increasingly split between those like Sheikh Hamid, who are now allied with the Shi'ite-led government, and other Sunnis who are against it. Some co-religionists remain so anti-government they have either returned to the insurgency or sympathize with those who have. (See pictures of the sheikhs who helped bring stability to Anbar province.) In recent months, al-Qaeda in Iraq and its affiliates have been regrouping, recalibrating their targets and tactics; they have recruited disenfranchised members of the U.S.-allied Sahwa movement, planting them as sleeper agents among the mainly Sunni neighborhood patrolmen, who number some 94,000 nationwide, according to a highly placed source close to the insurgency. "Many of the Sahwa have returned after seeking forgiveness, but they are still Sahwa," the source tells TIME. "They wear the government's uniform, but they plant explosives and sticky bombs. The Sahwa is the biggest recruiting pool for al-Qaeda." …

16. Dubai arrests Russian after murder of Chechen warlord
Dubai's police have arrested a Russian in connection with the murder of a Chechen warlord in the Arab city state.
By Richard Spencer in Dubai Last Updated: 4:36PM BST 31 Mar 2009 The Daily Telegraph (London)

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3061

This will renew the focus on alleged involvement of Russia's government in the assassination of Sulim Yamadayev on Saturday. But Dubai's police have not endorsed these claims and, so far, they believe that an organised criminal gang may have been responsible. Major-General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the police chief, announced the arrest of a "Russian national who is under investigation". He added: "There is a suspect but we are still investigating. Nevertheless, the case is clear and there is no confusion over what happened. An organised criminal group was behind the assassination." Mr Yamadayev, a former head of the Russian-backed Vostok battalion in Chechnya, was shot in the car park of a luxury apartment block near Dubai's Jumeirah beach. He had been staying there for four months, using the false name "Sulaiman Madov". His murder follows that of other prominent Chechens, including his brother, in the last six months…

ASIA / PACIFIC

17. Terrorists storm Lahore police academy, kill more than 30
By Bill Roggio Long War Journal March 30, 2009 9:45 AM
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/03/terrorist_storm_laho.php
Pakistani police and Rangers have defeated a terrorist assault on a Police training facility in the eastern city of Lahore after an eight hour siege. Upwards of 34 police recruits and others have been reported killed and more than 90 have been wounded, some seriously, during the fighting. The attack is the latest in military-styled terrorist assaults on civilian and government installations and targets in Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. A terrorist assault team, estimated in size of 14 men, launched a coordinated attack on the Manawan Police Training School in what appears to be an effort to cause as much casualties as possible. The school had more than 750 trainees on campus plus scores of police officers and support staff. The attackers were well armed with assault rifles, hand grenades, and rocket propelled grenades. Reports also indicate they carried packs loaded with ammunition and other supplies. Some of the attackers were dressed in police uniforms while others wore civilian clothes. The assault team entered the compound after killing the security guards at the back entrance of the police academy. The team then fanned out into the compound and prepared to strike at the parade grounds, where recruits had gathered for morning exercises. The terrorist assault team appeared to have been well trained, according to accounts from survivors. One police recruit said the attackers lobbed grenades from three sides of the parade grounds, then entered the parade grounds and opened fire on the survivors. The attackers then moved into a building and took more than 35 recruits and officers hostage…

Baitullah Mehsud takes credit for Pakistan attacks, threatens US
By Bill Roggio March 31, 2009 11:41 AM Long War Journal
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/03/baitullah_mehsud_tak.php
Baitullah Mehsud, the Leader of Pakistan's unified Taliban movement, threatened to attack the US and took credit for three recent attacks in Pakistan, including yesterday's deadly military assault on a police training center in Lahore. Baitullah claimed responsibility for the Lahore attack attack as well as suicide attacks against security forces in Islamabad and Bannu during interviews with Pakistani news outlets and international wire services. "One attack was carried out just yesterday, the one carried out on the training center [in Lahore]," Baitullah told Aaj News. "The second attack that was carried out on the special branch of police .... near a hotel in the Sitara Market [in Islamabad] was also carried out by us. And the suicide attack in Bannu yesterday was also carried out by us."…

18. Banned Kuwait-based NGO runs covertly

Anwar Ali, Rajshahi The Daily Star (Bangladesh) March 31, 2009

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=82101

The Bangladesh chapter of Kuwait-based NGO Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) is still running its offices and covert activities although its registration was cancelled nearly two years ago. The NGO spends at least Tk 2 lakh a month, said a few contractors who worked for RIHS. But the source of this money remains mysterious because foreign funding of RIHS was stopped and its bank accounts closed following the cancellation of registration, they said. Senior officials of the NGO are meanwhile lobbying hard within the present government either for reconsideration of the cancellation of its registration or for getting permission to continue activities in some other name. The NGO Affairs Bureau cancelled RIHS's registration in May 2007 following a government decision made over intelligence recommendations. Ahle Hadith Andolon (Ahab) chief Asadullah Al Galib had helped RIHS get registered in November 1996… After the government banned al-Qaeda donor-suspect Al Haramain Foundation (now banned worldwide) in 2003, many Haramain staffs including five foreign nationals joined the RIHS. Four of the foreign nationals were later withdrawn from the country following the August 17 serial blasts. A Bangladeshi Haramain staff Mojibor Rahman still works as a receptionist of RIHS. The other nine staffs of RIHS are chief accountant Abdul Wadud, office secretary Fazlur Rahman, public relations officer Ataur Rahman, two officers for its orphanage section and four peons and guards. There are allegations that RIHS used to provide funds to the Islamist militants of Ahab, Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and other organisations, investigators said earlier…

19. Deadline Passes for Hostages in Philippines
Associated Press March 31, 2009

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123846253065972035.html

MANILA, Philippines -- The governor of a southern Philippine island declared a state of emergency authorizing him to order an attack on al Qaeda-linked militants after a deadline expired Tuesday for the beheading of one of their three Red Cross hostages. Gov. Sakur Tan signed the emergency order Tuesday, empowering him to order the arrests of the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers and their civilian supporters in a hardening of the government's position after officials failed to negotiate the release of the Swiss, Italian and Filipino hostages. Curfews and road checkpoints also can be established in the predominantly Muslim Sulu province, which includes the main island of Jolo. The order defined the hostage-taking 10 weeks ago "as a heinous crime that deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law." It was not immediately clear if an attack or a military rescue was imminent…

Philippine forces move toward Abu Sayyaf abductors
By JIM GOMEZ – March 31, 2009 Associated Press

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3062
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine troops and tanks advanced toward a jungle stronghold of al-Qaida-linked extremists after a deadline expired Tuesday for the beheading of one of three Red Cross hostages in a critical juncture of the 10-week crisis. Officials redeployed government forces near the Abu Sayyaf camp in Indanan township on southern Jolo Island and put the predominantly Muslim region under a state of emergency after talks for the safe release of the hostages became bogged down and the militants threatened to behead them by 2 p.m. Tuesday. There was no immediate indication that any of the Swiss, Italian and Filipino hostages, who have been held since Jan. 15, were killed after the deadline expired. Jolo Governor Sakur Tan said an informant told him that all the hostages were still alive but his source had no proof to back up his claim…

20. Helen Liu has strong links with Chinese army

Rowan Callick and Brad Norington | March 31, 2009 The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25267130-5013871,00.h...

THE wealthy Chinese businesswoman who befriended Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon and showered him with gifts is a leading member of an organisation with strong ties to the Chinese military. Helen Liu, who was born in the northeastern Chinese province of Shandong and is now an Australian citizen, is a member of the editorial committee of Shandong Ming Jia. The organisation, which translates as Shandong Celebrities Family, promotes the work of leading people from Shandong. It has extensive membership within the China's military, the Peoples Liberation Army, especially its logistics division. Ms Liu has attracted enormous attention after allegations reported last week that Mr Fitzgibbon had been the subject of a covert spy operation by officials from his own defence department because of his relationship with her. According to the claims, departmental officials regarded Ms Liu as a possible security risk. Ms Liu, who has had many property development interests in China and Australia, is among members of the Shandong Celebrities Family network whose activities are regularly covered by its own colour magazine… Over the years, Mr Fitzgibbon has introduced Ms Liu to Labor MPs at dinners. She paid for two trips Mr Fitzgibbon made to China in 2002 and 2005, which he failed to declare on his parliamentary statement of pecuniary interests until last week…

EUROPE

21. Bosnian intelligence tries to obtain information about extremists from imam

BBC Monitoring Europe – Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring

March 30, 2009 Monday Copyright 2009 British Broadcasting Corporation
Text of report by Bosnian privately-owned independent daily Oslobodjenje, on 25 March

[Report by "A.B.": "Attempt To Recruit Imam Ahmed Effendi Purdic Fails"]

http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk/index.htm subscription req'd, available on NEXIS/Westlaw

On 11 February the B-H Intelligence and Security Agency [OSA] tried and failed to find out something about possible terrorists and "sleepers" in Bosnia-Hercegovina through Ahmed effendi Purdic, the imam of the Stari Ilijas [Sarajevo suburb] dzemat [lowest administrative unit of B-H Islamic Community - IZ]. On that day a Muamer, an OSA official, visited Effendi Purdic, an official of the IZ who studied in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), and had a long conversation with him in the local mekteb [Islamic primary school]. The IZ official gave his boss Ferid effendi Dautovic, the chief imam of the IZ's Sarajevo Medzlis [middle-level administrative unit of IZ], a detailed account of the conversation, first verbally (on 16 February), and then in writing (on 24 February). "For the purpose of state security, they (B-H OSA) are interested in extremists who may be found where I had studied. I tried to explain to him [Muamer] that the Saudi government and the official Saudi ulema [Muslim scholars] did not support terrorism; quite to the contrary, they fought against them... He also explained that he was interested in our students who had studied there; he wanted to know whether there were extremists among them. I told him that I did not know that because I had not been in those circles, and neither had I known such people. Besides, I studied in Riyadh, where there was a small number of Bosnian students; upon their return home, all of them got involved in the IZ activities," Imam Purdic wrote, among other things, to the chief imam…

22. Spain releases PKK suspect ex-Turkish MP
A Spanish court released Remzi Kartal, a former lawmaker from the banned Democracy Party (DEP), on probation on Saturday.
Monday, 30 March 2009 13:36 AA
http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=39142

Spain released a former Turkish lawmaker, a PKK suspect who was sought for his alleged crimes in Turkey, on probation, sources said on Monday. A Spanish court released Remzi Kartal, a former lawmaker from the banned Democracy Party (DEP), on probation on Saturday. Kartal was captured and sent to prison in the Spanish capital of Madrid on March 24. Remzi Kartal has been sought internationally since 2006 and he was earlier detained in 2005 by the German police under a red warrant. He was released afterwards. The court verdict to release Kartal on probation came one day after it requested documents required for Kartal's extradition to Turkey from the Turkish Embassy in Madrid. Thus, Kartal will have to go to Madrid court every day and sign a document…

23. Turkey seeks to contain Islamic radicals
By SELCAN HACAOGLU – Associated Press March 30, 2009

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jmRul8_lHe1yXSOLW8XmsZ...

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — As the only Muslim member of NATO and a candidate to join the EU, Turkey has come to be seen as a bridge between East and West — held up by Washington as a shining example of how Islam is compatible with modern democracy. But as U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to come here next week in a trip some herald as a milestone in ties, Turkish leaders are grappling with a formidable challenge: radical Islamic groups preaching jihad and vowing to unravel Turkey's democratic achievements. The conundrum is twofold: A real threat from Muslim radicals intent on destabilizing the government, and the perception by many that by cracking down, Turkey is betraying the very democratic principles that have helped win it much trust and acceptance in the West…

24. Government moves to isolate Muslim Council of Britain with cash for mosques

Hazel Blears has demanded that Daud Abdullah be sacked

Richard Kerbaj From Times Online (London) March 30, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6004850.ece

Mosques and local Muslim community groups are to be given money and direct access to government ministers under a radical plan to isolate Britain's largest Islamic organisation, which the Government accuses of endorsing violent extremism. The move follows criticism of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which claims to represent half of the country's Muslims, by Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary. Ms Blears attacked the group for refusing to sack its deputy leader, Daud Abdullah, after he endorsed a pro-Hamas declaration that appeared to call for violence against Jews and Israel and condone attacks on British troops. The Government is planning to deny the organisation's representatives ministerial briefings across all departments in a move designed to undermine its standing among British Muslims. Sadiq Khan, the Minister for Community Cohesion, told The Times: "The days of lazy politicians just speaking to one or two powerful community groups or leaders are gone. You need to speak to individuals and local community groups, even though there will still be a role for umbrella groups to play." …

25. Jail foils terror copter breakout

Plan ... how breakout would work

By NEIL SYSON March 31, 2009 The Sun (UK)

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2351070.ece

JAIL bosses have foiled a plot by some of the country's most dangerous terrorists to escape in a hijacked helicopter. Al-Qaeda henchmen on the outside planned to hire the chopper for "business", then force the pilot to land in prison at gunpoint. The nine Muslim inmates were to kidnap the jail imam during prayers with weapons hidden in the prison mosque. They would move to a sports field using him as a shield and be picked up by the helicopter. But wardens acting on a tip-off swooped on the plotters' cells hours before the escape bid was due to start. The nine — including convicted terrorists — were segregated at Full Sutton, East Yorks. They will now be transferred to other jails. Officials were last night hunting for weapons in the mosque, which doubles as a chapel. One terrorist at the jail is Omar Khyam, 27 — sentenced to at least 20 years in 2007 for leading a gang that planned to blow up Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent and London's Ministry of Sound nightclub... Counter terrorism chiefs are understood to have confirmed to the Justice Department that a helicopter was on standby for the audacious plot...