Daily Intel Report 4-02-09
1. Obama Discusses N. Korean Missile at G-20
By Michael D. Shear and Debbi Wilgoren Washington Post Thursday, April 2, 2009; 7:25 AM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3083
LONDON, April 2 -- Just before world leaders launched their economic summit, President Obama sat down with South Korean president Lee Myung-Bak Thursday morning to discuss security on the Korean peninsula, including a pending missile launch by North Korea. The two leaders met at the ExCel Center, where the G-20 summit is being held. Thursday's all-day opening session is aimed at finalizing the summit's main goal -- a statement of unity by of heads of state in managing the global financial crisis. Senior White House officials said Obama and Lee discussed the missile test that North Korea is expected to launch any day now, despite repeated protests by the United States, Japan and South Korea and disapproval from Russia and China. While the reclusive North Korean government says the missile test is part of a peaceful research effort to put a communications satellite into orbit, experts outside the country say it is an effort to try out long-range missiles that could eventually be armed with nuclear warheads…
2. Terror Prisoners Can Challenge Detention in U.S. Courts
Associated Press APRIL 2, 2009, 3:21 P.M. ET
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123869076689982991.html
IPT NOTE: The court's opinion is posted at https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2006cv1697-31
WASHINGTON -- A federal judge ruled Thursday that some prisoners in the war on terror can use U.S. civilian courts to challenge their detention at a military air base in Afghanistan, for the first time extending rights given to Guantanamo Bay detainees elsewhere in the world. U.S. District Judge John Bates rejected U.S. arguments that three foreign detainees at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan should be denied the right. He said non-Afghan detainees captured outside the country and moved to Bagram for a lengthy detention should have access to the courts to prevent the U.S. from being able to "move detainees physically beyond the reach of the Constitution and detain them indefinitely." The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to challenge their detention in court. But the government had argued that it didn't apply to those in Afghanistan. In his 53-page ruling, Judge Bates said the cases were essentially the same. He quoted the Supreme Court ruling repeatedly in his judgment and applied what he said was a test created by it to each detainee. It is the first time a federal judge has applied the ruling to detainees in Afghanistan. Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said the department is reviewing the ruling. He pointed out that President Barack Obama has ordered a review of detention policy, and that an interagency task force is working to finish a report by July that outlines the legal options for handling terror suspects in the future…
3. Defense Department Designs 'Baby MRAP' for War in Afghanistan
Wednesday, April 01, 2009 Fox News By Matt Sanchez
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512006,00.html
Ask any soldier who's been to both countries: Afghanistan is not Iraq. It's a different war against a different enemy in a different country with an entirely different terrain and altitude. One thing is the same, though. The Improvised Explosive Device — the deadly "IED" roadside bombs that blew up Humvees and the soldiers inside them along the dusty roads of Iraq — is an equally effective weapon in the rocky steeps of Afghanistan. When the Humvee proved unable to withstand IED attacks in Iraq, the U.S. military built a new vehicle — the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) — to replace it. And like a neglected sibling, the troops in Afghanistan automatically acquired the MRAP as a hand-me-down. It's the wrong vehicle for the new war. "Best vehicle in Afghanistan? Two legs. And maybe a mule to pack the .50 caliber machine gun," Arizona National Guardsman Anthony McGee said, only half-jokingly... "Breakdowns were an almost everyday occurrence." So it's back to the drawing board. Soon there'll be a new king of the road: the MRAP All Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV), nicknamed the "Baby MRAP," which is being "designed for mobility and survivability," says Cheryl Irwin, spokeswoman for the Office of the Secretary of Defense…
4. Inside the Ring: Military strained by Obama trip
Bill Gertz INSIDE THE RING Washington Times Thursday, April 2, 2009
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/02/inside-the-ring-89874599...
Air Obama
President Obama's European visit this week has strained Air Force heavy-airlift capabilities and obliged the military to hire more foreign contractors to help resupply U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, according to military sources. The large delegation traveling with the president in Europe required moving several transports, including jumbo C-5s and C-17s, from sorties ferrying supplies to Afghanistan to European bases for the presidential visit, said two military officials familiar with the issue. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid any misunderstanding with White House officials. The Air Mobility Command, part of the U.S. Transportation Command, was ordered to provide airlift for the president's entourage of nearly 500 people, including senior officials, staff, support personnel, news reporters and some 200 Secret Service agents for the European visit, which began Tuesday in London. Airlift for the traveling entourage also was used to move the president's new heavy-armored limousine and several presidential helicopters used for short transits. To make up for the shortfall, the Air Force had to increase the number of Eastern European air transport contractors hired to fly Il-76 and An-124 transport jets into Afghanistan loaded with troop supplies, the two officials said. The airlift crunch comes at a particularly difficult time, as the military is stepping up deliveries of supplies in advance of a surge of 21,000 U.S. troops…
So long GWOT
The U.S. government is playing down the Obama administration's decision to do away with the term "global war on terrorism," known for the past eight years by the acronym GW0T. A survey of several departments and agencies shows that the term "global war on terrorism," while not specifically banned, is in disfavor due to the new administration's decision not to label counterterrorism efforts a war. A White House official said the terminology change is less about semantics and more about the focus of the Obama administration, "keeping America safe." A military official close to Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said budget guidance from the White House recommended ending use of GWOT for budget documents. Instead, the favored term will be "overseas contingency operations." Adm. Mullen for the past two years avoided using the term and has encouraged others not to use it, the official said. An FBI official also said there is no ban on using the term GWOT within the main domestic counterterrorism agency…
Bremer's Surge
He was the man President George W. Bush tapped to run Iraq in those highly chaotic post-invasion days when a deadly insurgency was taking hold. Special correspondent Rowan Scarborough recently caught up with L. Paul Bremer III, the former ambassador and aide to former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger who nows does consulting and sits on a Catholic Charities board. The topic: the troop surge that even Mr. Obama, who opposed it and said it would not work. Mr. Obama later called it a surprising success...
5. Son of jailed ex-CIA spy: I was just a messenger
By WILLIAM McCALL – Associated Press March 31, 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3084
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The son of an imprisoned ex-CIA spy claims he was "just the messenger" when he traveled around the world taking cash from his father's former Russian handlers, according to taped phone conversations played in court Tuesday. Federal prosecutors played the recordings of Nathaniel Nicholson talking to friends and relatives, telling them the FBI had interviewed him but he had done nothing wrong and did not expect to go to prison. At one point, an unidentified friend says Russians "have cool accents" and asks, "We're not like, against the Russians, are we?" Nicholson and his father, Harold Nicholson, have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to act as agents of a foreign government and money laundering. Prosecutors say the younger Nicholson traveled on behalf of his father, who pleading guilty in 1997 to conspiring to commit espionage after being paid $300,000 to pass CIA secrets to the Russians, including the identities of other CIA officers and recruits he had trained. Harold Nicholson is accused of tapping his old contacts for more money by sending his youngest son to San Francisco; Mexico City; Lima, Peru; and Nicosia, Cyprus, between October 2006 and December 2008…
6. 2nd man guilty in Iran aircraft parts scheme
The Associated Press April 2, 2009
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/AP/story/981197.html
MIAMI -- A second man has pleaded guilty in Miami federal court to charges of scheming to illegally export military aircraft parts to Iran. Traian Bujduveanu pleaded guilty Thursday to a single conspiracy count. He acted as his own lawyer and faces up to five years in federal prison when sentenced June 11. He's a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Romania. Iranian-born Hassan Keshari previously pleaded guilty. Prosecutors said both men were illegally helping Iran obtain parts for such aircraft as the F-14 Tomcat fighter, C-130 cargo plane and AH-1 attack helicopter. The parts were shipped from South Florida to Dubai and on to Iran…
7. 'Confused' CSIS official misspoke on torture
BILL CURRY Globe and Mail Update April 2, 2009 at 1:41 PM EDT
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3085
IPT NOTE: The clarification letter is posted at http://images.theglobeandmail.com/v5/content/pdf/CSISletter0402.pdf
OTTAWA — The head of Canada's spy agency said an official may have been "confused" this week when he told MPs that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service will use information obtained by torture. The agency's director, Jim Judd, appeared before the same MPs at the House of Commons public safety committee Thursday, informing the MPs they would be receiving a written clarification today from lawyer Geoffrey O'Brian. "I think it's unfortunate that Mr. O'Brian may have been confused in his testimony. He will be clarifying that in a letter to the committee today," Mr. Judd told MPs. "I know of no instance where such use of information has been made by our service." Mr. Judd appeared at committee alongside other senior federal officials and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan. He later clarified that comment, saying that information from torture may have been used in the past but several policy revisions in recent years - including the response to recommendations from the Maher Arar inquiry - mean it is no longer allowed…
How CSIS handled a prior torture confession
COLIN FREEZE Globe and Mail Update April 2, 2009 at 4:23 PM EDT
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3086
IPT NOTE: The excerpt is posted at http://images.theglobeandmail.com/v5/content/pdf/CSIStortureIacobucci040...
Just weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, CSIS received unsolicited intelligence about a seeming al-Qaeda plot to bomb Parliament Hill. It was known from the outset the confession was likely tainted by torture. At the same time, the threat was not dismissed. The following excerpt from the 2008 Iacobucci Internal Inquiry lays out precisely the steps CSIS and other agencies took as they attempted to verify the threat. Eventually, the intelligence travelled the world, snowballing into a series of cases that culminated in the Maher Arar Affair. The man at the centre of the "confession" at hand was an Arab-Canadian, Ahmad Abou El Maati, a veteran of Afghanistan's civil wars who had moved to Toronto to drive trucks. In November, 2001, he was arrested in Syria, and held in the Middle East until 2004. He returned to Canada where he was ultimately found by a federal judge to have been tortured overseas. The judge found Canadian agencies mischaracterized Mr. El Maati as an "imminent threat" prior to his travels and interrogation…
8. A break-in, a slaying, a Khadr marriage mystery
April 01, 2009 Michelle Shephard National Security Reporter Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/612188
When Ottawa police received a routine 911 call for a suspected break-in last month, they could never have foreseen the strange saga that would unfold – one that involves a federal court judge, the notorious Khadr family, RCMP protection and a wedding that would set tongues wagging among Ottawa's political elite. The home belonged to Patrick J. Boyle, a well-known and connected judge of Canada's tax court. Police reportedly found the front door smashed, the house ransacked and what appeared to be holes from .22-calibre bullets in the windows. The incident combined with Boyle's position raised alarms since the police force was already investigating the murder of his colleague, former Tax Court Chief Justice Alban Garon, who was killed alongside his wife and a neighbour in 2007. But then another connection came to light. Boyle had recently become the father-in-law of Zaynab Khadr, the outspoken sister of Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr. The link to the Khadr clan, once called "Canada's First Family of Terrorism" because of the patriarch's former association with Al Qaeda's elite, would make the already curious March 20 break-in even more suspicious. Boyle and his wife were given RCMP protection and the federal police force's INSET division, which normally investigates terrorism cases, was called in. Although Ottawa police and the RCMP would not comment on the details of the case, the Star has learned that documents were reportedly taken from Boyle's home and that the three bullet holes indicated the shots were fired from close range. No one was home at the time of the break-in, which was discovered by Boyle's teenaged daughter that Friday afternoon…
The marriage is Zaynab's fourth and her first in Canada. Her father, Ahmed Said Khadr, had arranged her previous marriages beginning when she was just 16, as he shuttled his children around Canada, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Khadr, a Canadian citizen born in Egypt, operated various charities in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but after 9/11 fled with his family to the tribal border region. Long suspected of connections to Al Qaeda due to his acquaintance with its leader Osama bin Laden, both the UN and U.S. listed him as a suspected terrorist financier. He was killed by Pakistani forces in October 2003. U.S. Special Forces fighting in Afghanistan captured Zaynab's younger brother, Omar, in July 2002. The Pentagon held and interrogated the 15-year-old at Bagram for three months before transferring him to the American base at Guantanamo Bay where he remains today. Now 22, Khadr was charged under the Bush administration with five war crimes, including murder for allegedly throwing a grenade that fatally wounded U.S. soldier Christopher Speer. The case is currently under review and U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered the Guantanamo prison closed by next year…
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. Senate Legislation Would Federalize Cybersecurity
Rules for Private Networks Also Proposed
By Joby Warrick and Walter Pincus Washington Post Wednesday, April 1, 2009; A04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/31/AR200903...
Key lawmakers are pushing to dramatically escalate U.S. defenses against cyberattacks, crafting proposals that would empower the government to set and enforce security standards for private industry for the first time. The proposals, in Senate legislation that could be introduced as early as today, would broaden the focus of the government's cybersecurity efforts to include not only military networks but also private systems that control essentials such as electricity and water distribution. At the same time, the bill would add regulatory teeth to ensure industry compliance with the rules, congressional officials familiar with the plan said yesterday. Addressing what intelligence officials describe as a gaping vulnerability, the legislation also calls for the appointment of a White House cybersecurity "czar" with unprecedented authority to shut down computer networks, including private ones, if a cyberattack is underway, the officials said…
10. Politicians go undercover to expose security flaws at Pearson
Minister, senator sneak into restricted areas without being stopped by airport officials
COLIN FREEZE From Thursday's Globe and Mail April 2, 2009 at 4:00 AM EDT
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3087
Two men in baseball caps and windbreakers breached the perimeter of Pearson International Airport on Sunday. Stepping out of a van on a public roadway, then passing through doorways they spent half an hour lingering around the tarmac. They spoke to airport workers, but faced no questions as to what credentials they had used to gain access to one of Canada's most important transportation hubs. If anyone had bothered to ask, they might have been shocked. One of the visitors was federal Transport Minister John Baird. The other was Colin Kenny, the Liberal who chairs the Senate's national security committee. On that rainy afternoon they decided to leave their partisanship behind in Ottawa to fly to Toronto to check on airport security themselves. What they found alarmed them. "No one stopped us. No one asked for a pass," said Mr. Kenny in an interview. "It's not mischievous, it's due diligence." In a separate interview, Mr. Baird declined to speak about details but was clearly perturbed. "What I saw was unacceptable," he said. "There will be changes based on what I saw." The RCMP and the Auditor-General have recently issued warnings about criminal networks infiltrating airports…
Toronto airport yanks RCMP privileges after undercover visit
Greater Toronto Airport Authority urges Transport Canada to investigate activities involving its own Minister after he and a senator sneak into restricted areas
COLIN FREEZE Globe and Mail Update April 2, 2009 at 4:15 PM EDT
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3088
TORONTO — Toronto's airport authority has responded to an alleged security breach at Pearson Airport by pulling escort privileges from four airport Mounties and has urged Transport Canada to investigate the activities involving its own Minister. The Globe and Mail reported Tuesday that Transportation Minister John Baird and Senator Colin Kenny visited the Toronto airport this past weekend to check on security measures. While doing so, they entered the airport tarmac from a public roadway outside the perimeter without having their credentials checked. At the time the politicians were accompanied by four plainclothes RCMP minders. The GTAA responded to The Globe's report by issuing a statement Thursday morning. "Preliminary reports from the Minister and the Senator indicate that the RCMP officers were not vigilant in supervising their temporary pass holders," the release said. "Pending the completion of a review of the situation, the GTAA has revoked the escort privileges of the RCMP officers involved."…
Financing, identity theft, money laundering
11. ATF Arrests Million Dollar Cigarette Smugglers In Queens
Cigarettes Had A Street Value Of Over $3 Million
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives News Release
New York Field Division April 1, 2009
www.atf.gov Contact: Special Agent Joseph Green (718) 650-4000 http://www.atf.gov/press/2009press/field/040109ny_cigarette-smugglers-ar...
NY – Ronald B. Turk, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) New York office today announced the arrests of two (2) individuals who purchased untaxed cigarettes from ATF while also selling ATF counterfeit New York State/City Tax Stamps. Guang Ming Wang, age 58 and his son, Feishan Wang, age 30, both residents of Queens, were arrested by ATF Agents without incident today in Flushing. Guang Ming Wang arrived at a prearranged meet location with $312,000 in cash and over 200,000 counterfeit tax stamps. As the cash and stamps were exchanged for a shipment of 12,000 cigarettes, he was immediately taken into custody. Feishan Wang was arrested at the same time in front of 144-05 29th Road in Queens. Both Wang's have been involved in this particular illicit operation since June 2008, which included 12 undercover deals involving the purchase of untaxed cigarettes and counterfeit tax stamps. During the nine month investigation, Guang Ming Wang purchased a total of 31,980 cartons of untaxed cigarettes for $846,000 and also sold ATF 103,950 counterfeit NY State/City tax stamps for $4,000. After the undercover sales of cigarettes, both Wang's were observed by agents unloading the contraband at two locations, 144-05 29th Road and 135-06 62nd Ave. in Queens. Federal search warrants were executed at both locations after the arrests…
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. National Guard says it would need more money for border security effort
Associated Press Posted: 03/31/2009 11:40:21 AM MDT
http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_12037547
A National Guard official said Tuesday that the Guard would need additional money to send more soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border. Major Gen. Peter Aylward said the Guard is analyzing needs on the border, but any response would require more money. Aylward is the director of the Joint Staff of the National Guard Bureau. He testifed before a House Homeland Security subcommittee. Outside the hearing, Aylward said $43 million would be needed through the end of the year. He said Congress had authorized a maximum of 4,000 soldiers for a counterdrug program that places troops throughout the country, but lawmakers have provided only enough money for 2,500 soldiers. Of those, 371 Guard members are doing counterdrug work on the border, said Mark Allen, National Guard spokesman…
13. US lawmakers vote for Mexico border funds
April 1, 2009 Agence France Presse
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3089
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Alarmed by violence from Mexico's drug war, the US Senate voted Wednesday for a 550-million-dollar package to stop the southward flow of guns and money to cartels from US sources. Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman and Republican Senator Susan Collins had introduced the measure, which aims to hire, train, equip and deploy more federal agents and investigators for the US-Mexico border region. "The Mexican drug cartels are presenting an unprecedented security threat to the United States," Lieberman said as Washington ramped up its response to the border violence and looked for ways to help Mexico wage its campaign. The Senate approved the initiative, an amendment to annual budget legislation, by a parliamentary procedure called unanimous consent, with no lawmakers objecting. The amendment includes 260 million dollars for the US Customs and Border Protection to hire, train, equip and deploy 1,600 officers and 400 canine teams to toughen border inspections...
14. Boeing wins Secure Border Initiative work on northern border
By ELISE CASTELLI Federal Times April 01, 2009
http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=4016208
The Homeland Security Department tapped Boeing today to expand the Secure Border Initiative (SBI) to the northern border. Under the one-year, $20 million contract, Boeing will construct towers to house a system of day and night video cameras that will help Customs and Border Protection monitor the borders and waterways in the Detroit and Buffalo, N.Y., areas. The project will test whether the cameras already in use on the southern border can work for the vastly different terrain of the north, said Mark Borkowski, executive director of Customs and Border Protection's SBI program. The Detroit and Buffalo crossings are among the busiest on the northern border and have a lot of water traffic in the Great Lakes region that is difficult to monitor, he said. CBP will test the cameras to see how they help track river and lake traffic to ensure boaters heading for U.S. shores originated there, he said. The work on the northern border is an order under Boeing's existing SBInet contract, which until now encompassed only the southern border. The initial pilot in Arizona, known as Project 28, was riddled with technological problems and cost overruns, and it became the subject of congressional scrutiny...
More cameras for Canada border
April 1, 2009 By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-04-01-borderfence_N.htm
WASHINGTON — The U.S. will expand its use of security cameras on the Canadian border to see whether it can set up an extensive monitoring system similar to what protects the Mexican boundary, the Homeland Security Department announced Tuesday. The department this summer will position 44 cameras in Detroit along Lake St. Clair, which separates the city from Canada, and 20 cameras in Buffalo along the Niagara River. There are now about 20 cameras along the entire 4,000-mile border between Canada and the continental U.S. The $20 million program marks the department's first major effort to see whether the northern border, which has large swaths of woods, hills and lakes, can benefit from the extensive camera network along the 1,900-mile U.S.-Mexican border, said Mark Borkowski, head of the department's Secure Border Initiative…
15. Feds raid Bellingham engine firm again, seize evidence
JOHN STARK - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD April 2, 2009
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/top/story/855735.html
BELLINGHAM—U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents confiscated documents and computers after serving a search warrant early Thursday, April 2 at Yamato Engine Specialists, 2020 E. Bakerview Road. ICE spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said the operation was part of a criminal investigation into the company, which had been the target of a Feb. 24 immigration raid that resulted in the arrest of 28 workers accused of being in the country illegally. The plainclothes ICE agents, identified by blue ICE windbreakers, carried out several carboard boxes of documents sealed with tape marked "evidence," loading them into an ummarked dark blue Ford Explorer. They also expected to confiscate some computers, Dankers said, but there would be no arrests. She declined further comment on the ongoing investigation. Shirin Dhanani Makalai, administrative manager and member of the family that owns the firm, said she was notified of the operation at about 6:15 a.m. Thursday, and was told to be at the plant as soon as possible. She said she arrived about 20 minutes later to find about 20 federal agents going through the company's offices…
Other items
16. Temple firebomb hate-crime appeal fizzles like attack
BY Jose Martinez New York Daily News Friday, March 27th 2009, 4:00 AM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3072
Yes, it's a hate crime when you try to firebomb a synagogue on the eve of Yom Kippur because "the f---ing Jews in Riverdale send money" to Israel. A state appeals court upheld the no-brainer 2003 hate-crime conviction Thursday of Mazin Assi, who claimed he couldn't be guilty because he targeted a building. "There is no question that [Assi] chose the synagogue because of the religion or religious practices it represents." the judges' 18-page decision read. Congregation Adath Israel was empty except for a caretaker on Oct. 8, 2000, when Assi and three Arab-American friends bought bottles of Devil's Spring vodka to make Molotov cocktails. The four men tossed the alcohol and rocks through the glass door of the temple on the eve of the holiest day of the Jewish faith, but the alcohol didn't ignite. Assi, 29, who is doing five to 15 years in prison, also unsuccessfully argued that the hate crime measure was not yet in effect because it had just been enacted hours earlier…
17. Bias suits settled with Gold'n Plump, job agency
Muslim workers receive $1.35 million under a religious discrimination settlement.
Last update: March 31, 2009 - 11:00 PM Minneapolis Star Tribune CHRIS SERRES
http://www.startribune.com/business/42229422.html?
A federal judge gave approval for Gold'n Plump Inc. and an employment agency to pay $1.35 million to settle lawsuits alleging religious discrimination against Muslims at a chicken processing plant in Cold Spring, Minn. The money will go to 128 Somali Muslims who claim that St. Cloud-based Gold'n Plump violated their religious rights by refusing to allow them prayer breaks during work hours, and to another 28 workers who said a St. Paul employment agency, the Work Connection Inc., required them to sign forms acknowledging they would be required to handle pork. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigated the allegations and said it found cause to believe discrimination occurred, according to lawsuits filed last year. In a settlement approved Tuesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeanne Graham, Gold'n Plump will add a paid break during the second half of each shift to accommodate Muslim employees who wish to pray. The break is in addition to one early in the shift and lunch breaks required by law. The Work Connection has agreed to provide offers of employment to the 28 job seekers who were turned away for not signing the "pork form." The $1.35 million settlement includes $985,000 for legal costs and $365,000 in cash payments to the 156 workers.
MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA
18. DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release No. 212-09 April 02, 2009
http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12586
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lance Cpl. Nelson M. Lantigua, 20, of Miami, Fla., died March 31 as a result of a non-hostile incident in Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 10 Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The incident is currently under investigation…
19. Court sentences two Yemenis to death for spying for Iran
[31 March 2009] Saba News (Yemen)
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news179797.htm
SANA'A, March 31 (Saba) – The state security court sentenced on Tuesday two Yemenis to death for spying for Iran and acquitted a third for lack of proof. The court convicted Abdul-Karim Ali Abdul-Karim, 33, and Hani Ahmed Deen, 31, of spying for Iran and sentenced them to death. The three defendants had been arrested in Aden province on June 9, 2008 for illegal contact with Iran and went on trial in October. The defendants were accused of spying for Iran and handing over information, documents and photos relating to military secrets and the country's political, security and economic situation to the detriment of Yemen.
20. Axe-wielding terrorist kills boy, wounds 7-year-old in Bat Ayin
By JPOST.COM STAFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN AND YAAKOV KATZ
Apr 2, 2009 12:30 | Updated Apr 2, 2009 18:03
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3090
An axe-wielding terrorist infiltrated the West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin Thursday afternoon, killing 16-year-old Shlomo Nativ and wounding 7-year-old Yair Gamliel… Gamliel, who was rushed to hospital and admitted in moderate condition with a fractured skull, is the son of Ofer Gamliel, one of three men convicted in 2003 and sent to prison for 15 years for a failed bomb plot against an Arab girls' school in east Jerusalem…
21. Group of Fatah members flees Hamas persecution
By Wafa Issa, Staff Reporter April 1, 2009 The Gulf News (UAE)
http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/General/10300056.html
Sharjah: A group of Gaza-based members of the Palestinian faction Fatah have relocated to the UAE fearing alleged Hamas persecution. Holding deep grudges, with some saying they have lost family members to Hamas fighters, most say they do not expect any reconciliation in the next round of talks between the rival factions. The two Palestinian factions are expected to resume the reconciliation talks on Wednesday. In the March 19 talks the two factions failed to agree on the formation of a unity government to heal their divisions...
22. Al-Hiraki killers inch closer to death as verdict upheld
Samir Al-Saadi Arab News April 2, 2009
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=121103&d=2&m=4&y=2009
JEDDAH: The Jeddah General Court has upheld a death sentence passed on a Canadian and a Jordanian convicted for the murder of a 19-year-old Syrian youth in a schoolyard brawl in 2007. The court was asked to review its verdict by the Supreme Judicial Council in February. The council, which endorses all capital and corporal punishments issued by lower courts, made a number of inquiries and sent the case back to the Jeddah General Court. The council inquiries have not been made public but have been described as "technical" by inside sources. "The court prepared its reply. It upheld the death penalty verdict," said a court source who did not want to be named. "The court will send its official reply on Saturday," he added. Two Canadian brothers and a Jordanian were charged and convicted for the murder of Syrian national Munzer Al-Hiraki in an after school fight in January 2007. The older Canadian brother, Mohammed Kohail, 23, and the Jordanian national, Mohanna Ezzat, 22, were sentenced to death early last year. The verdict was upheld by the Appeals Court last November but was not endorsed by the Supreme Judicial Council in February…
ASIA / PACIFIC
23. Taliban kills 13 in suicide assault on Kandahar government center
By Bill Roggio Long War Journal April 1, 2009 12:27 PM
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/04/taliban_kills_13_in.php
Taliban suicide bombers disguised as Afghan soldiers attempted to kill the Kandahar provincial council after entering the compound. The complex attack is the latest in the series of similar assaults that have targeted police and government installations in Afghanistan, as well as in India and Pakistan. The attack took place at the Kandahar provincial council office as a meeting was in progress. One of the attackers detonated a car bomb at the front gate, allowing the three other suicide attackers dressed as Afghan National Army troops and carrying AK-47 assault rifles to penetrate security and enter the compound. Security forces on the scene killed two of the Taliban bombers, while the third was able to detonate his vest. Most of the casualties appear to have been inflicted during the suicide bombing at the front gate of the complex. Seven civilians and six policemen were killed in the attack, The Associated Press reported. The Taliban were targeting a tribal meeting being held at the compound, Ahmad Wali Karzai, President Hamid Karzai's brother and the chief of the provincial council who escaped the attack, said. But the provincial education director and the deputy health director were among those killed. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi took credit for the attack...
US hunts Baitullah to stop Taliban's spring offensive
Thursday, April 02, 2009 By Amir Mir The News (Pakistan)
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=170379
LAHORE: The Obama administration's March 26, 2009 decision, announcing $5 million head money for information on Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, is largely aimed at dissuading his 25,000-plus private army to join hands with the Taliban militia of Afghanistan headed by Mulla Mohammad Omar, who intends to launch a major spring offensive to knock out the Karzai government as well as the Nato forces in Afghanistan. Well-informed diplomatic circles in Islamabad say the Obama administration's efforts to hunt down the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban commanders are actually motivated by recent US intelligence reports that the Taliban leaders have chalked out a three-pronged strategy for their coming spring offensive for Afghanistan — cutting off the Nato supply lines running from Pakistan to Afghanistan, recruiting fresh volunteers and the creation of a strategic corridor running from Pakistan all the way to the Afghan capital Kabul. Since the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in October 2001, sources say, this is for the first time that the Taliban have come up with the idea of creating such a corridor, which is hard to materialise without the support of Pakistani Taliban led by Commander Baitullah Mehsud. The Americans believe the Taliban militia on the Pakistani side of the border has already cut off many Nato supply lines running from Pakistan by repeatedly attacking trucks carrying supplies for the Nato troops in Afghanistan and setting them on fire...
Arakzai strike targeted senior Taliban, al Qaeda commanders
By Bill RoggioApril 2, 2009 3:47 PM Long War Journal
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/04/arakzai_strike_targe.php
Yesterday's airstrike in Pakistan's tribal agency of Arakzai targeted a meeting being held by senior lieutenants of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Taliban in the Arakzai, Khyber, and Kurram tribal agencies, was one of several senior Taliban leaders targeted in the latest US Predator airstrike. Hakeemullah was not killed in the strike, The News reported. In a phone call to The News, Hakeemullah admitted the strike hit one of his training camps. He then threatened to conduct suicide attacks in Islamabad to avenge the attack as the Pakistani government has been cooperating with the US to carry out the strikes…
24. Govt fears overseas money 'funds terror'
April 2, 2009 - 7:24AM AAP
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/3091
The federal government is concerned that money sent out of Australia is being used to fund terrorist organisations. Anyone who sends funds to an overseas customer or client must report it to the federal government's financial intelligence unit. Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland is concerned that some of the transactions are not being reported. He wants the financial intelligence unit - the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) - to focus on the small-time operators that are sending money overseas… Mr McClelland said many small transactions can accumulate to "sufficient funds" to perpetrate terrorist acts. Around 5,500 businesses are registered with AUSTRAC. But head of the organisation Neil Jensen says officers often find more that are not in the system…
China 'running' spy ring in Australia: Tony Abbott
Patricia Karvelas, Political correspondent | April 03, 2009 The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25282368-5013871,00.h...
TONY Abbott has intensified a fierce debate over links to Beijing, accusing China of running an extensive spy network in Australia and encouraging rioting when the Olympic torch was paraded through Canberra last year to upstage any pro-Tibet protests. In comments the Government described as constituting "smear" and "innuendo", Mr Abbott said China was powerful but ultimately self-interested. "When the Olympic torch came here, the Chinese embassy mobilised 10,000 people to go out and, in effect, stage a pro-Beijing riot," Mr Abbott said. "I think we've got to understand China is both a friend and a competitor, a very tough competitor." At the time the Olympic torch travelled through Canberra, pro-Chinese demonstrators were accused of heckling Tibetan protesters but police did not describe the day as a riot. The Government has been under fire from the Opposition for being too close to China after a series of controversies including Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon's links to prominent Chinese-Australian businesswoman Helen Liu and the secrecy surrounding the visit to Australia of China's propaganda chief, Li Changchun, and his meeting with Kevin Rudd. Questions have also been raised about the Prime Minister's push for China to be given greater representation at the International Monetary Fund, days after his meeting with Mr Li...
25. (Updated) Abu Sayyaf frees Mary Jean
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 04/03/2009 1:52 AM
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/04/02/09/updated-abu-sayyaf-fr...
ZAMBOANGA - Islamic militants released a Filipina Red Cross aid worker Thursday, leaving a Swiss and an Italian still held captive, officials said. Mary Jean Lacaba, one of three International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) aid workers in the southern Philippines, was freed 77 days after she was kidnapped along with two ICRC staff, Eugenio Vagni of Italy and Andreas Notter of Switzerland, on January 15. A spokesman at ICRC headquarters in Geneva said Mary Jean Lacaba had been released by her captors on the island of Jolo at 9.00 pm local time, Thursday… The rebels had threatened to behead one of the hostages on Tuesday unless there was troop withdrawal from much of Jolo island. Officials ignored the demand… The Abu Sayyaf has kidnapped several other westerners over the past decade, many of whom were ransomed off for millions of dollars, according to the Philippine military. They also murdered an American hostage, Guillermo Sobero, in 2001, while a second American, the Christian missionary Martin Burnham, was killed in a military attack the following year that led to the rescue of his wife, Gracia Burnham...
