Man gets life sentence for terror plot
James Sturcke and agencies | November 7, 2006
Dhiren Barot, who meticulously researched a plot to commit mass murder on a "colossal and unprecedented scale" in Britain and the US, was today jailed for life.
Judge Mr Justice Butterfield said Barot's plans would have caused carnage affecting millions of people if they had succeeded, and said he must serve at least 40 years before being considered for parole.
"This was no noble cause," the judge said. "Your plans were to bring indiscriminate carnage, bloodshed and butchery, first in Washington, New York and Newark, and thereafter the UK, on a colossal and unprecedented scale.
"Your intention was not simply to cause damage, panic or fear. Your intention was to murder, but it went further.
"It was designed to strike at the very heart of democracy and the security of the state. And if successful, it would have affected thousands personally, millions indirectly, and ultimately the whole nations of the US and the UK."
Woolwich crown court heard that 34-year-old Barot, who admitted conspiracy to murder, had been moving into the "final stages" of his plans to launch terror attacks on the UK when he was arrested.
He planned "back to back" strikes including packing limousines filled with explosives and detonating them in underground car parks, using a radioactive "dirty bomb", and a proposed gas attack on the Heathrow Express, Edmund Lawson QC told the court.
Barot also planned an additional attack, suggesting that a tube tunnel under the Thames could be punctured and allow water to flood into the London Underground network.
Speaking after sentence was passed, Peter Clarke, the head of the Metropolitan police's counter terrorist command, described Barot as "a full-time terrorist".
"His training showed through," he said. "He used anti-surveillance, coded messages and secret meetings, but he could not evade capture. He was stopped before he could attack the British and American people. As always, our concern for public safety was paramount."
Mr Clarke said the arrest and conviction would be "seen as landmark in the fight against terrorism in the United Kingdom".
"For well over two years, we have been unable to show the British public the reality of the threat they faced from this man," he added. "Now they can see for themselves the full horror of his plans."
The home secretary, John Reid, said the case demonstrated "that the terrorist threat remains very real and serious".
Barot carried out extensive research and planning for the attacks, including reconnaissance visits to the US, use of the internet and visits to public and specialist libraries.
He wrote detailed documents on planned attacks in both countries, discovered on computer hard drives following his arrest in August 2004. Handwritten notes referring to chemical mixtures were also recovered.
In the "gas limos project" document, recovered from a laptop during a counter terrorist operation in Gujrat, Pakistan, Barot wrote of the pandemonium that could be caused by a bomb exploding on a tube train travelling under the Thames.
" ... Imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion were to rip through here and actually rupture the river itself," he wrote. "This would cause pandemonium, what with the explosions, flooding, drowning, etc that would occur/result."
Barot was born in India into a Hindu family, which moved to north London when he was a baby. He converted to Islam as a young man, travelling to terrorist training camps in Pakistan and the Philippines, the court was told during the two-day hearing.
The attack plans were discovered in a document called Eminem2.doc, which was found on the hard drive of a laptop computer seized during the raid in Pakistan in July 2004.
Mr Lawson said the raid had been linked to an operation to identify and locate Naeem Noor Khan, a leading figure in the al-Qaida network with connections to the UK.
He told the court significant work had been carried out to establish Barot's authorship of the gas limos document, and that this was no longer disputed.
"It is plainly a presentation for the consideration of the al-Qaida leadership in Pakistan for approval and funding for plans to acquire explosives, hazardous, radioactive, inflammable material for use in co-ordinated terrorist attacks," he added.
The gas limo blasts were to have been launched simultaneously with other attacks including a dirty bomb, an attack on trains and the hijacking of petrol tankers to ram into a target.
Barot undertook reconnaissance missions in the UK and US in 2000 and 2001, during which he filmed buildings including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank headquarters in Washington DC and the Stock Exchange and Citigroup buildings in New York.
Although there was no evidence that he had foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks on the US, one clip, played in court, showed the World Trade Centre with someone imitating the noise of an explosion in the background.
Footage from Barot's reconnaissance in New York was discovered concealed in a video of Bruce Willis' film Die Hard with a Vengeance, which is about terrorist attacks on New York. Police found the video in a London garage.
Times Online : Al-Qaeda plotter sentenced to life
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Al-Qaeda plotter sentenced to life
By Adam Fresco | November 7, 2006
A British al-Qaeda terrorist who planned to carry out a series of explosions at prestigious London hotels and mainline stations, killing thousands of people, was jailed for life today.
Muslim convert Dhiren Barot, 34, who admitted planning "back-to-back" attacks on London and also planned to attack iconic buildings in America, was told by a judge at Woolwich Crown Court that he would serve a minimum of 40 years before he would be considered for release.
Judge Mr Justice Butterfield said Barot’s plans would have caused carnage on a "colossal and unprecedented scale" if successful.
He told Barot: "This was no noble cause. Your plans were to bring indiscriminate carnage, bloodshed and butchery first in Washington, New York and Newark, and thereafter the UK on a colossal and unprecedented scale."
He added: "Your intention was not simply to cause damage, panic or fear. Your intention was to murder, but it went further. It was designed to strike at the very heart of democracy and the security of the state.
"And if successful, would have affected thousands personally, millions indirectly and ultimately the whole nation of the US and the UK."
As the judge finished speaking Barot, wearing a khaki zip-up cardigan, black shirt and white t-shirt, picked up a stack of papers and marched out of the dock to the cells, all the while staring angrily at the bench.
The court had earlier heard how Barot plotted terror atrocities on the eastern seaboard of the United States and in Britain using explosive-packed limousines and a dirty bomb.
The judge told Barot that if he had been passing a determinate sentence it would have been 80 years, but as he had passed a life sentence the tariff he attached was half that, a minimum of 40 years in jail before he can be considered for release.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter-Terrorism Command, said: "By his own admission Barot wanted to commit mass murder on both sides of the Atlantic. He was the leader of the plot. If he had succeeded, hundreds if not thousands could have died.
"His plans to set off a dirty bomb in this country could have caused widespread fear, panic and disruption.
"Barot was a determined and experienced terrorist. He went to terrorist training camps in 1995, long before 9/11, or the invasions of Afghanistan or Iraq. He is not someone who has recently been attracted to the terrorist cause.
"He is a full-time terrorist. His training showed through. He used anti-surveillance, coded messages and secret meetings, but he could not evade capture. He was stopped before he could attack the British and American people. As always, our concern for public safety was paramount.
"I cannot praise highly enough everyone who has been involved in this case for their tireless and skilful work in bringing Barot to justice. His arrest and conviction will be seen as a landmark in the fight against terrorism in the United Kingdom
"For well over two years we have been unable to show the British public the reality of the threat they faced from this man. Now they can see for themselves the full horror of his plans."
John Reid, the Home Secretary, said: "The nature and severity of today’s sentence shows that the terrorist threat remains very real and serious.
"This individual pleaded guilty to conspiring to murder people in the UK and the United States through a series of bomb attacks.
"His case highlights the extraordinary investigative work that is undertaken and shows the importance of ensuring that the police are provided with all the tools they need to counter the continuing threat.
"We owe a tremendous debt to the police and intelligence agencies. They work extremely hard to protect us and I want to offer my thanks to them for their continuing efforts."
In court, Mr Justice Butterfield said Barot was a member or close associate of the al-Qaeda organisation.
The judge told Barot: "You have devoted most of your adult life to seeking means to bring death and destruction ... for reasons which I do not begin to understand you decided that you should use the life that you have been given in order to end the lives of others."
The judge said: "There will be those who think that you should be kept in prison for the rest of your life. They may say you showed no mercy to the innocent people...
"I understand that reaction of course... but I draw back from that."
He said he took into consideration the 34-year-old’s guilty plea - albeit two years and three months after his arrest and with his trial just weeks away.
He said that Barot, in the event, had not achieved any of his terror goals and that, on the evidence, he had not "moved to the final stages of achieving them".
But he added that this was no thanks to him.
Mr Justice Butterfield told him that the two years and 94 days he had already spent on remand would be taken into consideration and added: "If ever you are released you will be on licence for the rest of your life.
"Let the defendant go down."
The judge dealt first with Barot’s plans for terrorist attacks on five key financial institutions in New York, Washington and Newark in the United States.
Barot carried out reconnaissance for the plans before the 9/11 atrocity in which New York’s twin towers were destroyed.
The judge told Barot: "Had it not been for the dreadful events of September 11, 2001, I have little doubt that one or more of those proposals would have become a dreadful reality."
The 9/11 attacks having occurred, Barot turned his attention to the UK, the judge said. The former north London schoolboy had carried out "substantial research" for his plan, named the Gas Limos Project.
At some point, his plans were put before his "al-Qaeda overlords". Targets were identified and shopping lists for the equipment required were prepared.
Mr Justice Butterfield said that Barot’s conduct while under surveillance suggested his continuing involvement in nefarious activities associated with "his lifelong wish to cause explosions".
"It was only a matter of time before the grim reality of your plans took effect," the judge said. "It is impossible to convey in a few words the gravity of what you hoped to achieve."
By Adam Fresco | November 7, 2006
A British al-Qaeda terrorist who planned to carry out a series of explosions at prestigious London hotels and mainline stations, killing thousands of people, was jailed for life today.
Muslim convert Dhiren Barot, 34, who admitted planning "back-to-back" attacks on London and also planned to attack iconic buildings in America, was told by a judge at Woolwich Crown Court that he would serve a minimum of 40 years before he would be considered for release.
Judge Mr Justice Butterfield said Barot’s plans would have caused carnage on a "colossal and unprecedented scale" if successful.
He told Barot: "This was no noble cause. Your plans were to bring indiscriminate carnage, bloodshed and butchery first in Washington, New York and Newark, and thereafter the UK on a colossal and unprecedented scale."
He added: "Your intention was not simply to cause damage, panic or fear. Your intention was to murder, but it went further. It was designed to strike at the very heart of democracy and the security of the state.
"And if successful, would have affected thousands personally, millions indirectly and ultimately the whole nation of the US and the UK."
As the judge finished speaking Barot, wearing a khaki zip-up cardigan, black shirt and white t-shirt, picked up a stack of papers and marched out of the dock to the cells, all the while staring angrily at the bench.
The court had earlier heard how Barot plotted terror atrocities on the eastern seaboard of the United States and in Britain using explosive-packed limousines and a dirty bomb.
The judge told Barot that if he had been passing a determinate sentence it would have been 80 years, but as he had passed a life sentence the tariff he attached was half that, a minimum of 40 years in jail before he can be considered for release.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter-Terrorism Command, said: "By his own admission Barot wanted to commit mass murder on both sides of the Atlantic. He was the leader of the plot. If he had succeeded, hundreds if not thousands could have died.
"His plans to set off a dirty bomb in this country could have caused widespread fear, panic and disruption.
"Barot was a determined and experienced terrorist. He went to terrorist training camps in 1995, long before 9/11, or the invasions of Afghanistan or Iraq. He is not someone who has recently been attracted to the terrorist cause.
"He is a full-time terrorist. His training showed through. He used anti-surveillance, coded messages and secret meetings, but he could not evade capture. He was stopped before he could attack the British and American people. As always, our concern for public safety was paramount.
"I cannot praise highly enough everyone who has been involved in this case for their tireless and skilful work in bringing Barot to justice. His arrest and conviction will be seen as a landmark in the fight against terrorism in the United Kingdom
"For well over two years we have been unable to show the British public the reality of the threat they faced from this man. Now they can see for themselves the full horror of his plans."
John Reid, the Home Secretary, said: "The nature and severity of today’s sentence shows that the terrorist threat remains very real and serious.
"This individual pleaded guilty to conspiring to murder people in the UK and the United States through a series of bomb attacks.
"His case highlights the extraordinary investigative work that is undertaken and shows the importance of ensuring that the police are provided with all the tools they need to counter the continuing threat.
"We owe a tremendous debt to the police and intelligence agencies. They work extremely hard to protect us and I want to offer my thanks to them for their continuing efforts."
In court, Mr Justice Butterfield said Barot was a member or close associate of the al-Qaeda organisation.
The judge told Barot: "You have devoted most of your adult life to seeking means to bring death and destruction ... for reasons which I do not begin to understand you decided that you should use the life that you have been given in order to end the lives of others."
The judge said: "There will be those who think that you should be kept in prison for the rest of your life. They may say you showed no mercy to the innocent people...
"I understand that reaction of course... but I draw back from that."
He said he took into consideration the 34-year-old’s guilty plea - albeit two years and three months after his arrest and with his trial just weeks away.
He said that Barot, in the event, had not achieved any of his terror goals and that, on the evidence, he had not "moved to the final stages of achieving them".
But he added that this was no thanks to him.
Mr Justice Butterfield told him that the two years and 94 days he had already spent on remand would be taken into consideration and added: "If ever you are released you will be on licence for the rest of your life.
"Let the defendant go down."
The judge dealt first with Barot’s plans for terrorist attacks on five key financial institutions in New York, Washington and Newark in the United States.
Barot carried out reconnaissance for the plans before the 9/11 atrocity in which New York’s twin towers were destroyed.
The judge told Barot: "Had it not been for the dreadful events of September 11, 2001, I have little doubt that one or more of those proposals would have become a dreadful reality."
The 9/11 attacks having occurred, Barot turned his attention to the UK, the judge said. The former north London schoolboy had carried out "substantial research" for his plan, named the Gas Limos Project.
At some point, his plans were put before his "al-Qaeda overlords". Targets were identified and shopping lists for the equipment required were prepared.
Mr Justice Butterfield said that Barot’s conduct while under surveillance suggested his continuing involvement in nefarious activities associated with "his lifelong wish to cause explosions".
"It was only a matter of time before the grim reality of your plans took effect," the judge said. "It is impossible to convey in a few words the gravity of what you hoped to achieve."
Schenectady Gazette : View From Here
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
The View From Here
Carl Strock | November 7, 2006
Following the convictions last month of the two Albany Muslims, Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain, on charges of money-laundering in support of terrorism - convictions that in my opinion were an insult to justice - a number of you wrote or called to ask how you could help the families of the two, having in mind that Aref has a wife and four young children and Hossain a wife and six young children.
I can now report that a fund has been established for that purpose, thanks to the efforts of some 50 people who got together at the Friends Meeting House on Madison Avenue in Albany a couple of weeks ago. If you wish to contribute you can make a check payable to the Aref-Hossain Family Fund and send it to Steven Downs, 26 Dinmore Road, Selkirk, NY 12158.
Downs is former counsel to the Commission on Judicial Conduct who worked as a volunteer on the criminal case. The money will be deposited in a dedicated account at Trustco Bank.
I am assured there are no expenses associated with the fund and that all the money will go to the families.
Mohammed Hossain owned and operated the Little Italy pizza shop on Central Avenue, and his family still has that, though the federal government took the deeds to two dumpy rental properties that he also owned.
Yassin Aref was the prayer leader, or imam, at a storefront mosque a few blocks away on Central Avenue, which was his only source of income. Before that, having arrived in this country as a refugee, he worked as a janitor at Albany Medical Center. Efforts are under way to try to find lodging for his family.
Aref is Kurdish, from Iraq, and had refugee status in the United States, along with his wife. Three of their children were born in Syria, and the youngest was born here.
Aref is 37 years old, Hossain is 51. They face decades in prison when they are sentenced in February, though I have conflicting information as to the exact sentencing guidelines.
The people who established the support fund - Quakers, Unitarians and others who count themselves as progressives - also formed a group called the Muslim Defense Committee to work on building long-term relations between the Masjid As-Salam mosque and the surrounding non-Muslim community. "The big thing we're trying to do is organize events on a regular basis to bring the larger community in to meet and get to know the families at the mosque, so the mystique is kind of eradicated," said Cathy Callan, one of the people involved in the effort. "These are our neighbors."
You can contact the committee at callanca@gmail.com or jlombardo@nycap.rr.com. They have also started a Website: nepajac.org/aref&hossain.htm.
I do take heart from this compassionate coming-together of ordinary people in Albany, though to my mind there remains a huge imbalance between the good that can be done by 50 or even 100 concerned citizens and the evil that was perpetrated by our government in tricking two otherwise law-abiding men into a deal that could be construed as supporting terrorism, just as there remains a huge imbalance between the $1,000 or so that has so far been raised and the need. How far can $1,000 go in getting two immigrant families redirected without their husbands and fathers?
I should mention, by the way, that I received a letter from Aref, the more intellectual of the two victims, in response to a column I wrote in which I said I hung my head in shame, apologized on behalf of my country, wished the two of them luck, and mentioned in passing that I did not share their faith. The letter was written from the Rensselaer County Jail, where the two men are kept in isolation while they await sentencing.
I quote exactly, so please allow for Aref's imperfect English, which is his third language: "You wrote the faith you are not sharing it with me but you are! Speaking the truth and supporting it. Care about your family and had mercy on weak, sick and children. Hate unjust and tricky. Believe me that exactly my faith so I am going to share this faith with you. Only I will believe in God to it!"
That's the kind of guy he is. and that's the kind of guy our government is going to put in prison for much of the rest of his life, leaving his family in the lurch.
As opposed to say, Shahed Hussain, known as Malik, the Pakistini hustler who was running a scam at the Department of Motor Vehicles where he had a contract to do translating and instead was actually taking drivers-license exams for people, so they could pass them, and charging up to $1,000 for his crooked services.
He's the character the FBI recruited to deceive Aref and Hossain into exchanging cash for checks, by playing to their religion and coming onto them as a brother, and who for his duplicitous services won a recommendation from the U.S. attorney's office that he be allowed to stay in this country without going to jail.
Thanks a lot, U.S. attorney's office, I want to say. Thanks a lot, FBI. You did a swell job of making the United States a better, safer country.
Meanwhile, thanks sincerely to the people who came together to form the Muslim Defense Committee and establish the Aref-Hossain Family Support Fund. Keep your head high," Aref urged me in his letter, and I urge you the same.
Carl Strock | November 7, 2006
Following the convictions last month of the two Albany Muslims, Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain, on charges of money-laundering in support of terrorism - convictions that in my opinion were an insult to justice - a number of you wrote or called to ask how you could help the families of the two, having in mind that Aref has a wife and four young children and Hossain a wife and six young children.
I can now report that a fund has been established for that purpose, thanks to the efforts of some 50 people who got together at the Friends Meeting House on Madison Avenue in Albany a couple of weeks ago. If you wish to contribute you can make a check payable to the Aref-Hossain Family Fund and send it to Steven Downs, 26 Dinmore Road, Selkirk, NY 12158.
Downs is former counsel to the Commission on Judicial Conduct who worked as a volunteer on the criminal case. The money will be deposited in a dedicated account at Trustco Bank.
I am assured there are no expenses associated with the fund and that all the money will go to the families.
Mohammed Hossain owned and operated the Little Italy pizza shop on Central Avenue, and his family still has that, though the federal government took the deeds to two dumpy rental properties that he also owned.
Yassin Aref was the prayer leader, or imam, at a storefront mosque a few blocks away on Central Avenue, which was his only source of income. Before that, having arrived in this country as a refugee, he worked as a janitor at Albany Medical Center. Efforts are under way to try to find lodging for his family.
Aref is Kurdish, from Iraq, and had refugee status in the United States, along with his wife. Three of their children were born in Syria, and the youngest was born here.
Aref is 37 years old, Hossain is 51. They face decades in prison when they are sentenced in February, though I have conflicting information as to the exact sentencing guidelines.
The people who established the support fund - Quakers, Unitarians and others who count themselves as progressives - also formed a group called the Muslim Defense Committee to work on building long-term relations between the Masjid As-Salam mosque and the surrounding non-Muslim community. "The big thing we're trying to do is organize events on a regular basis to bring the larger community in to meet and get to know the families at the mosque, so the mystique is kind of eradicated," said Cathy Callan, one of the people involved in the effort. "These are our neighbors."
You can contact the committee at callanca@gmail.com or jlombardo@nycap.rr.com. They have also started a Website: nepajac.org/aref&hossain.htm.
I do take heart from this compassionate coming-together of ordinary people in Albany, though to my mind there remains a huge imbalance between the good that can be done by 50 or even 100 concerned citizens and the evil that was perpetrated by our government in tricking two otherwise law-abiding men into a deal that could be construed as supporting terrorism, just as there remains a huge imbalance between the $1,000 or so that has so far been raised and the need. How far can $1,000 go in getting two immigrant families redirected without their husbands and fathers?
I should mention, by the way, that I received a letter from Aref, the more intellectual of the two victims, in response to a column I wrote in which I said I hung my head in shame, apologized on behalf of my country, wished the two of them luck, and mentioned in passing that I did not share their faith. The letter was written from the Rensselaer County Jail, where the two men are kept in isolation while they await sentencing.
I quote exactly, so please allow for Aref's imperfect English, which is his third language: "You wrote the faith you are not sharing it with me but you are! Speaking the truth and supporting it. Care about your family and had mercy on weak, sick and children. Hate unjust and tricky. Believe me that exactly my faith so I am going to share this faith with you. Only I will believe in God to it!"
That's the kind of guy he is. and that's the kind of guy our government is going to put in prison for much of the rest of his life, leaving his family in the lurch.
As opposed to say, Shahed Hussain, known as Malik, the Pakistini hustler who was running a scam at the Department of Motor Vehicles where he had a contract to do translating and instead was actually taking drivers-license exams for people, so they could pass them, and charging up to $1,000 for his crooked services.
He's the character the FBI recruited to deceive Aref and Hossain into exchanging cash for checks, by playing to their religion and coming onto them as a brother, and who for his duplicitous services won a recommendation from the U.S. attorney's office that he be allowed to stay in this country without going to jail.
Thanks a lot, U.S. attorney's office, I want to say. Thanks a lot, FBI. You did a swell job of making the United States a better, safer country.
Meanwhile, thanks sincerely to the people who came together to form the Muslim Defense Committee and establish the Aref-Hossain Family Support Fund. Keep your head high," Aref urged me in his letter, and I urge you the same.
Filed under
Albany,
entrapment,
FBI,
Mohammed Mosharref Hossain,
Shahed "Malik" Hussain,
Yassin Muhiddin Aref
by Winter Patriot
on Tuesday, November 07, 2006
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BBC : Man 'planned massive explosions'
Monday, November 06, 2006
Man 'planned massive explosions'
BBC News | November 6, 2006
A Muslim convert planned to detonate a dirty bomb and launch an attack on London's Tube, a court has heard.
Former Hindu Dhiren Barot, 34, from London, plotted "massive explosions" in the US and UK, aiming to kill hundreds.
Barot, who last month admitted conspiracy to murder, wanted to pack limousines with gas cylinders and also use a radioactive "dirty" bomb.
Lawyers for Barot have insisted that he had neither funding nor bomb-making materials at the time he was caught.
Barot, from Kingsbury in north-west London, described by prosecutors as "a member or close associate" of al-Qaeda is due to be sentenced on Tuesday.
"The plan was to carry out massive explosions here and in the USA, the principal object being to kill hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people without warning," prosecutor Edmund Lawson QC told Woolwich Crown Court
Barot, who had been under surveillance by the security service MI5, was arrested by armed police in August 2004.
The BBC, The Times and the Associated Press news agency successfully challenged a judge's ruling that had threatened to prevent reporting of details from the court hearing.
Mr Lawson told the court Barot had been planning 11 September-style synchronised attacks in Britain, which could have involved a dirty bomb and a gas attack on the Heathrow Express train service.
He had also plotted to detonate a bomb under the River Thames to flood the Tube network and potentially drown hundreds of commuters, Mr Lawson added..
The prosecution said Barot had written: "Imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion were to rip through here [London] and actually rupture the river itself.
"That would cause pandemonium, what with the explosions, flooding, drowning etc that would occur."
Other targets in Britain had included the Savoy hotel and mainline train stations, Waterloo, Paddington and King's Cross, the prosecution said.
Barot also planned to strike the IMF and the World Bank in Washington DC.
The New York Stock Exchange building and the Citigroup headquarters, as well as the Prudential building in Newark, New Jersey, were also among his targets.
Barot admired the Madrid train bombings and wrote he was bent on creating "another black day for the enemies of Islam and a victory for the Muslims", Mr Lawson said.
At the heart of Barot's plot was a scheme entitled "gas limos project", uncovered in a document signed by him and found in Pakistan, Mr Lawson said.
Barot had planned to fill limousines with gas cylinders and detonate them in underground car parks near financial institutions.
His plans for bombings in the US were initiated before the 11 September attacks, then shelved, but worked on as late as February 2004, Mr Lawson maintained.
False identities
These US plans were then used in the planning of synchronised attacks in the UK, he added.
"The gas limos project might be seen as the culmination of Barot's murderous plans.
"There were various possible methods of attack raised for consideration, including part of what was to be considered for the UK.
"They included parking limousines packed with explosives next to or underneath the target buildings, arson, by means of hijacked petrol tankers, or igniting gas cylinders and even possibly the use of an aeroplane."
The court heard how Barot had used false identities, and at least one false passport, and had only been caught because of a "meticulous and impressive" police operation with input from British, American and Pakistani intelligence.
The prosecution said Barot had first received training in the use of weapons and explosives in 1995 in a mountainous area near the disputed territory of Kashmir.
BBC News | November 6, 2006
A Muslim convert planned to detonate a dirty bomb and launch an attack on London's Tube, a court has heard.
Former Hindu Dhiren Barot, 34, from London, plotted "massive explosions" in the US and UK, aiming to kill hundreds.
Barot, who last month admitted conspiracy to murder, wanted to pack limousines with gas cylinders and also use a radioactive "dirty" bomb.
Lawyers for Barot have insisted that he had neither funding nor bomb-making materials at the time he was caught.
Barot, from Kingsbury in north-west London, described by prosecutors as "a member or close associate" of al-Qaeda is due to be sentenced on Tuesday.
"The plan was to carry out massive explosions here and in the USA, the principal object being to kill hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people without warning," prosecutor Edmund Lawson QC told Woolwich Crown Court
Barot, who had been under surveillance by the security service MI5, was arrested by armed police in August 2004.
The BBC, The Times and the Associated Press news agency successfully challenged a judge's ruling that had threatened to prevent reporting of details from the court hearing.
Mr Lawson told the court Barot had been planning 11 September-style synchronised attacks in Britain, which could have involved a dirty bomb and a gas attack on the Heathrow Express train service.
He had also plotted to detonate a bomb under the River Thames to flood the Tube network and potentially drown hundreds of commuters, Mr Lawson added..
The prosecution said Barot had written: "Imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion were to rip through here [London] and actually rupture the river itself.
"That would cause pandemonium, what with the explosions, flooding, drowning etc that would occur."
Other targets in Britain had included the Savoy hotel and mainline train stations, Waterloo, Paddington and King's Cross, the prosecution said.
Barot also planned to strike the IMF and the World Bank in Washington DC.
The New York Stock Exchange building and the Citigroup headquarters, as well as the Prudential building in Newark, New Jersey, were also among his targets.
Barot admired the Madrid train bombings and wrote he was bent on creating "another black day for the enemies of Islam and a victory for the Muslims", Mr Lawson said.
At the heart of Barot's plot was a scheme entitled "gas limos project", uncovered in a document signed by him and found in Pakistan, Mr Lawson said.
Barot had planned to fill limousines with gas cylinders and detonate them in underground car parks near financial institutions.
His plans for bombings in the US were initiated before the 11 September attacks, then shelved, but worked on as late as February 2004, Mr Lawson maintained.
False identities
These US plans were then used in the planning of synchronised attacks in the UK, he added.
"The gas limos project might be seen as the culmination of Barot's murderous plans.
"There were various possible methods of attack raised for consideration, including part of what was to be considered for the UK.
"They included parking limousines packed with explosives next to or underneath the target buildings, arson, by means of hijacked petrol tankers, or igniting gas cylinders and even possibly the use of an aeroplane."
The court heard how Barot had used false identities, and at least one false passport, and had only been caught because of a "meticulous and impressive" police operation with input from British, American and Pakistani intelligence.
The prosecution said Barot had first received training in the use of weapons and explosives in 1995 in a mountainous area near the disputed territory of Kashmir.
NYT : New Telemarketing Ploy Steers Voters on Republican Path
Monday, November 06, 2006
New Telemarketing Ploy Steers Voters on Republican Path
By CHRISTOPHER DREW | November 6, 2006
An automated voice at the other end of the telephone line asks whether you believe that judges who “push homosexual marriage and create new rights like abortion and sodomy” should be controlled. If your reply is “yes,” the voice lets you know that the Democratic candidate in the Senate race in Montana, Jon Tester, is not your man.
In Maryland, a similar question-and-answer sequence suggests that only the Republican Senate candidate would keep the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. In Tennessee, another paints the Democrat as wanting to give foreign terrorists “the same legal rights and privileges” as Americans.
Using a telemarketing tactic that is best known for steering consumers to buy products, the organizers of the political telephone calls say they have reached hundreds of thousands of homes in five states over the last several weeks in a push to win votes for Republicans. Democrats say the calls present a distorted picture.
The Ohio-based conservatives behind the new campaign, who include current and former Procter & Gamble managers, say the automated system can reach vast numbers of people at a fraction of the cost of traditional volunteer phone banks and is the most ambitious political use of the telemarketing technology ever undertaken.
But critics say the automated calls are a twist on push polls — a campaign tactic that is often criticized as deceptive because it involves calling potential voters under the guise of measuring public opinion, while the real intent is to change opinions with questions that push people in one direction or the other.
The calls have set off a furor in the closing days of a campaign in which control of Congress hinges on a handful of races.
Late last week, Representative Benjamin L. Cardin, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maryland, demanded a halt to the calls, saying “this sort of gutter politics” was distorting his record. Some political analysts said the practice could mislead voters and discourage them from taking calls from more objective pollsters.
Andrew Kohut, a longtime pollster and the president of the Pew Research Center in Washington, said the automated calling “smells like a push poll, it feels like a push poll, so I guess we have to call it a push poll.”
But Harold E. Swift, one of the organizers of the Ohio group, said he viewed the move beyond phone banks or simple taped attack messages as a “very sophisticated approach to voter education.” The goal, he said, is to “make people aware of the candidate’s stand on the issues that are important to them.”
Mr. Swift said his group, Common Sense Ohio, is a nonprofit advocacy organization and is financed by wealthy Republican donors. A sister organization, Common Sense 2006, has received a donation from the Republican Governors Public Policy Committee, an affiliate of the Republican Governors Association. Under federal law, the groups are not required to disclose their donors publicly or reveal how much money they have raised.
Mr. Swift acknowledged in an interview that if some critics thought the group’s polling approach seemed deceptive, “I grant that they can reach that conclusion.”
During the automated calls, which last about a minute, the moderator first asks whether the listener is a registered voter or which candidate he favors. Voters receive different sets of questions depending on how they answer. The system then asks a series of “yes” or “no” questions about different issues, and each answer guides the system forward.
For instance, in the Montana race, if a voter agrees that liberal-leaning judges seem to go too far, the moderator quickly jumps to another question that highlights the differences between Mr. Tester and the Republican incumbent, Senator Conrad Burns: “Does the fact that Jon Tester says he would have voted against common-sense, pro-life judges like Samuel Alito and John Roberts, and Conrad Burns supported them, make you less favorable toward Jon Tester?”
In Tennessee, after listeners are asked if terrorists should have the same rights as Americans, this comparison between Representative Harold E. Ford Jr., the Democratic Senate candidate, and Bob Corker, the Republican, is given: “Fact: Harold Ford Jr. voted against the recommendations of the 9/11 commission and voted against renewing the Patriot Act, which treats terrorists as terrorists. Fact: Bob Corker supports renewal of the Patriot Act and how it would treat terrorists.”
In some cases, Democrats say, the language is too provocative, and, in others, contrary facts are omitted. Mr. Ford and Mr. Tester, the Montana State Senate president, are both said in the calls to have voted repeatedly for tax increases, but no mention is made of the times they voted for tax cuts, their campaigns say.
Mr. Cardin, who supports stem cell research, said he was incensed that the issue was reduced to the notion that he voted to allow “research to be done on unborn babies,” while his opponent, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, “opposes any research that destroys human life.”
Mr. Swift said his group had tried to report each candidate’s views accurately. But, he said, “it is very challenging to take something as complex as a person’s background and track record and communicate it in a 30-second sound bite.”
He added, “This is a time of year for pretty strongly worded positions on all sides.”
Even some Democratic strategists acknowledge that the distortions are no worse than the television and radio advertisements by both sides and that they probably do not cross any legal lines. While many Democratic campaigns and support groups also rely on computer-dialed telephone attacks, Republican leaders said they had not seen Democrats use any poll-like solicitations in the major races this year.
Common Sense Ohio was formed in July to run issue advertisements in the governor’s race there, and it became involved in the Senate races in Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Ohio and Tennessee, and in the abortion referendum in South Dakota.
Mr. Swift said two of the six people who formed the group, including its president, Nathan Estruth, worked at Procter & Gamble. Mr. Swift said that he and another of the organizers were retired from the company and that the group’s members shared conservative views on taxes and social issues.
Mr. Swift, who was once in charge of global privacy issues at Procter & Gamble, said some of the donors asked the group to expand beyond Ohio. He said Mr. Estruth, who was traveling and could not be reached for comment for this article, was familiar with ccAdvertising, a company based in Herndon, Va., that was hired to place the Common Sense calls.
Gabriel S. Joseph III, the president of ccAdvertising, said in an interview that the company, which also handles commercial marketing campaigns, began using the interactive software in political and lobbying campaigns in 2000. Its chairman, Donald P. Hodel, was a cabinet official in the Reagan administration and later served as the president of two conservative groups, the Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family.
Mr. Joseph said his computers could make as many as 3.5 million calls a day on behalf of all clients, at 10 to 15 cents a call. According to its Web site, the company has also run phone campaigns for a number of conservative organizations, including the National Rifle Association, and for businesses as varied as mortgage lenders and a local Starbucks.
Mr. Swift said that through the calls his group had identified core supporters, who will receive a reminder call on Election Day.
Neither Mr. Swift nor Mr. Joseph would say how many people had been called in the effort, though Mr. Joseph said his company had tried to reach every home in Maryland.
Given Census Bureau estimates of just over two million households in the state, the calls could cost $200,000 to $300,000.
Mr. Joseph said that in a typical campaign, half of the homes answered the calls. About 20 percent of the people who were called answered some of the questions, he said, and only about 10 percent completed an entire survey.
Despite the controversy, some experts question how much impact the calls will have amid the rest of the political fog, especially since some voters quickly get annoyed with the technique.
Richard H. Timberlake, a retired minister in Knoxville who supported Mr. Ford, said he hung up after the first two questions. “It became almost a barrage against him,” Mr. Timberlake said.
By CHRISTOPHER DREW | November 6, 2006
An automated voice at the other end of the telephone line asks whether you believe that judges who “push homosexual marriage and create new rights like abortion and sodomy” should be controlled. If your reply is “yes,” the voice lets you know that the Democratic candidate in the Senate race in Montana, Jon Tester, is not your man.
In Maryland, a similar question-and-answer sequence suggests that only the Republican Senate candidate would keep the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. In Tennessee, another paints the Democrat as wanting to give foreign terrorists “the same legal rights and privileges” as Americans.
Using a telemarketing tactic that is best known for steering consumers to buy products, the organizers of the political telephone calls say they have reached hundreds of thousands of homes in five states over the last several weeks in a push to win votes for Republicans. Democrats say the calls present a distorted picture.
The Ohio-based conservatives behind the new campaign, who include current and former Procter & Gamble managers, say the automated system can reach vast numbers of people at a fraction of the cost of traditional volunteer phone banks and is the most ambitious political use of the telemarketing technology ever undertaken.
But critics say the automated calls are a twist on push polls — a campaign tactic that is often criticized as deceptive because it involves calling potential voters under the guise of measuring public opinion, while the real intent is to change opinions with questions that push people in one direction or the other.
The calls have set off a furor in the closing days of a campaign in which control of Congress hinges on a handful of races.
Late last week, Representative Benjamin L. Cardin, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maryland, demanded a halt to the calls, saying “this sort of gutter politics” was distorting his record. Some political analysts said the practice could mislead voters and discourage them from taking calls from more objective pollsters.
Andrew Kohut, a longtime pollster and the president of the Pew Research Center in Washington, said the automated calling “smells like a push poll, it feels like a push poll, so I guess we have to call it a push poll.”
But Harold E. Swift, one of the organizers of the Ohio group, said he viewed the move beyond phone banks or simple taped attack messages as a “very sophisticated approach to voter education.” The goal, he said, is to “make people aware of the candidate’s stand on the issues that are important to them.”
Mr. Swift said his group, Common Sense Ohio, is a nonprofit advocacy organization and is financed by wealthy Republican donors. A sister organization, Common Sense 2006, has received a donation from the Republican Governors Public Policy Committee, an affiliate of the Republican Governors Association. Under federal law, the groups are not required to disclose their donors publicly or reveal how much money they have raised.
Mr. Swift acknowledged in an interview that if some critics thought the group’s polling approach seemed deceptive, “I grant that they can reach that conclusion.”
During the automated calls, which last about a minute, the moderator first asks whether the listener is a registered voter or which candidate he favors. Voters receive different sets of questions depending on how they answer. The system then asks a series of “yes” or “no” questions about different issues, and each answer guides the system forward.
For instance, in the Montana race, if a voter agrees that liberal-leaning judges seem to go too far, the moderator quickly jumps to another question that highlights the differences between Mr. Tester and the Republican incumbent, Senator Conrad Burns: “Does the fact that Jon Tester says he would have voted against common-sense, pro-life judges like Samuel Alito and John Roberts, and Conrad Burns supported them, make you less favorable toward Jon Tester?”
In Tennessee, after listeners are asked if terrorists should have the same rights as Americans, this comparison between Representative Harold E. Ford Jr., the Democratic Senate candidate, and Bob Corker, the Republican, is given: “Fact: Harold Ford Jr. voted against the recommendations of the 9/11 commission and voted against renewing the Patriot Act, which treats terrorists as terrorists. Fact: Bob Corker supports renewal of the Patriot Act and how it would treat terrorists.”
In some cases, Democrats say, the language is too provocative, and, in others, contrary facts are omitted. Mr. Ford and Mr. Tester, the Montana State Senate president, are both said in the calls to have voted repeatedly for tax increases, but no mention is made of the times they voted for tax cuts, their campaigns say.
Mr. Cardin, who supports stem cell research, said he was incensed that the issue was reduced to the notion that he voted to allow “research to be done on unborn babies,” while his opponent, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, “opposes any research that destroys human life.”
Mr. Swift said his group had tried to report each candidate’s views accurately. But, he said, “it is very challenging to take something as complex as a person’s background and track record and communicate it in a 30-second sound bite.”
He added, “This is a time of year for pretty strongly worded positions on all sides.”
Even some Democratic strategists acknowledge that the distortions are no worse than the television and radio advertisements by both sides and that they probably do not cross any legal lines. While many Democratic campaigns and support groups also rely on computer-dialed telephone attacks, Republican leaders said they had not seen Democrats use any poll-like solicitations in the major races this year.
Common Sense Ohio was formed in July to run issue advertisements in the governor’s race there, and it became involved in the Senate races in Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Ohio and Tennessee, and in the abortion referendum in South Dakota.
Mr. Swift said two of the six people who formed the group, including its president, Nathan Estruth, worked at Procter & Gamble. Mr. Swift said that he and another of the organizers were retired from the company and that the group’s members shared conservative views on taxes and social issues.
Mr. Swift, who was once in charge of global privacy issues at Procter & Gamble, said some of the donors asked the group to expand beyond Ohio. He said Mr. Estruth, who was traveling and could not be reached for comment for this article, was familiar with ccAdvertising, a company based in Herndon, Va., that was hired to place the Common Sense calls.
Gabriel S. Joseph III, the president of ccAdvertising, said in an interview that the company, which also handles commercial marketing campaigns, began using the interactive software in political and lobbying campaigns in 2000. Its chairman, Donald P. Hodel, was a cabinet official in the Reagan administration and later served as the president of two conservative groups, the Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family.
Mr. Joseph said his computers could make as many as 3.5 million calls a day on behalf of all clients, at 10 to 15 cents a call. According to its Web site, the company has also run phone campaigns for a number of conservative organizations, including the National Rifle Association, and for businesses as varied as mortgage lenders and a local Starbucks.
Mr. Swift said that through the calls his group had identified core supporters, who will receive a reminder call on Election Day.
Neither Mr. Swift nor Mr. Joseph would say how many people had been called in the effort, though Mr. Joseph said his company had tried to reach every home in Maryland.
Given Census Bureau estimates of just over two million households in the state, the calls could cost $200,000 to $300,000.
Mr. Joseph said that in a typical campaign, half of the homes answered the calls. About 20 percent of the people who were called answered some of the questions, he said, and only about 10 percent completed an entire survey.
Despite the controversy, some experts question how much impact the calls will have amid the rest of the political fog, especially since some voters quickly get annoyed with the technique.
Richard H. Timberlake, a retired minister in Knoxville who supported Mr. Ford, said he hung up after the first two questions. “It became almost a barrage against him,” Mr. Timberlake said.
NYT : Insulting Our Troops, and Our Intelligence
Friday, November 03, 2006
Insulting Our Troops, and Our Intelligence
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN | November 3, 2006
George Bush, Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld think you’re stupid. Yes, they do.
They think they can take a mangled quip about President Bush and Iraq by John Kerry — a man who is not even running for office but who, unlike Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, never ran away from combat service — and get you to vote against all Democrats in this election.
Every time you hear Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney lash out against Mr. Kerry, I hope you will say to yourself, “They must think I’m stupid.” Because they surely do.
They think that they can get you to overlook all of the Bush team’s real and deadly insults to the U.S. military over the past six years by hyping and exaggerating Mr. Kerry’s mangled gibe at the president.
What could possibly be more injurious and insulting to the U.S. military than to send it into combat in Iraq without enough men — to launch an invasion of a foreign country not by the Powell Doctrine of overwhelming force, but by the Rumsfeld Doctrine of just enough troops to lose? What could be a bigger insult than that?
What could possibly be more injurious and insulting to our men and women in uniform than sending them off to war without the proper equipment, so that some soldiers in the field were left to buy their own body armor and to retrofit their own jeeps with scrap metal so that roadside bombs in Iraq would only maim them for life and not kill them? And what could be more injurious and insulting than Don Rumsfeld’s response to criticism that he sent our troops off in haste and unprepared: Hey, you go to war with the army you’ve got — get over it.
What could possibly be more injurious and insulting to our men and women in uniform than to send them off to war in Iraq without any coherent postwar plan for political reconstruction there, so that the U.S. military has had to assume not only security responsibilities for all of Iraq but the political rebuilding as well? The Bush team has created a veritable library of military histories — from “Cobra II” to “Fiasco” to “State of Denial” — all of which contain the same damning conclusion offered by the very soldiers and officers who fought this war: This administration never had a plan for the morning after, and we’ve been making it up — and paying the price — ever since.
And what could possibly be more injurious and insulting to our men and women in Iraq than to send them off to war and then go out and finance the very people they’re fighting against with our gluttonous consumption of oil? Sure, George Bush told us we’re addicted to oil, but he has not done one single significant thing — demanded higher mileage standards from Detroit, imposed a gasoline tax or even used the bully pulpit of the White House to drive conservation — to end that addiction. So we continue to finance the U.S. military with our tax dollars, while we finance Iran, Syria, Wahhabi mosques and Al Qaeda madrassas with our energy purchases.
Everyone says that Karl Rove is a genius. Yeah, right. So are cigarette companies. They get you to buy cigarettes even though we know they cause cancer. That is the kind of genius Karl Rove is. He is not a man who has designed a strategy to reunite our country around an agenda of renewal for the 21st century — to bring out the best in us. His “genius” is taking some irrelevant aside by John Kerry and twisting it to bring out the worst in us, so you will ignore the mess that the Bush team has visited on this country.
And Karl Rove has succeeded at that in the past because he was sure that he could sell just enough Bush cigarettes, even though people knew they caused cancer. Please, please, for our country’s health, prove him wrong this time.
Let Karl know that you’re not stupid. Let him know that you know that the most patriotic thing to do in this election is to vote against an administration that has — through sheer incompetence — brought us to a point in Iraq that was not inevitable but is now unwinnable.
Let Karl know that you think this is a critical election, because you know as a citizen that if the Bush team can behave with the level of deadly incompetence it has exhibited in Iraq — and then get away with it by holding on to the House and the Senate — it means our country has become a banana republic. It means our democracy is in tatters because it is so gerrymandered, so polluted by money, and so divided by professional political hacks that we can no longer hold the ruling party to account.
It means we’re as stupid as Karl thinks we are.
I, for one, don’t think we’re that stupid. Next Tuesday we’ll see.
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN | November 3, 2006
George Bush, Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld think you’re stupid. Yes, they do.
They think they can take a mangled quip about President Bush and Iraq by John Kerry — a man who is not even running for office but who, unlike Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, never ran away from combat service — and get you to vote against all Democrats in this election.
Every time you hear Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney lash out against Mr. Kerry, I hope you will say to yourself, “They must think I’m stupid.” Because they surely do.
They think that they can get you to overlook all of the Bush team’s real and deadly insults to the U.S. military over the past six years by hyping and exaggerating Mr. Kerry’s mangled gibe at the president.
What could possibly be more injurious and insulting to the U.S. military than to send it into combat in Iraq without enough men — to launch an invasion of a foreign country not by the Powell Doctrine of overwhelming force, but by the Rumsfeld Doctrine of just enough troops to lose? What could be a bigger insult than that?
What could possibly be more injurious and insulting to our men and women in uniform than sending them off to war without the proper equipment, so that some soldiers in the field were left to buy their own body armor and to retrofit their own jeeps with scrap metal so that roadside bombs in Iraq would only maim them for life and not kill them? And what could be more injurious and insulting than Don Rumsfeld’s response to criticism that he sent our troops off in haste and unprepared: Hey, you go to war with the army you’ve got — get over it.
What could possibly be more injurious and insulting to our men and women in uniform than to send them off to war in Iraq without any coherent postwar plan for political reconstruction there, so that the U.S. military has had to assume not only security responsibilities for all of Iraq but the political rebuilding as well? The Bush team has created a veritable library of military histories — from “Cobra II” to “Fiasco” to “State of Denial” — all of which contain the same damning conclusion offered by the very soldiers and officers who fought this war: This administration never had a plan for the morning after, and we’ve been making it up — and paying the price — ever since.
And what could possibly be more injurious and insulting to our men and women in Iraq than to send them off to war and then go out and finance the very people they’re fighting against with our gluttonous consumption of oil? Sure, George Bush told us we’re addicted to oil, but he has not done one single significant thing — demanded higher mileage standards from Detroit, imposed a gasoline tax or even used the bully pulpit of the White House to drive conservation — to end that addiction. So we continue to finance the U.S. military with our tax dollars, while we finance Iran, Syria, Wahhabi mosques and Al Qaeda madrassas with our energy purchases.
Everyone says that Karl Rove is a genius. Yeah, right. So are cigarette companies. They get you to buy cigarettes even though we know they cause cancer. That is the kind of genius Karl Rove is. He is not a man who has designed a strategy to reunite our country around an agenda of renewal for the 21st century — to bring out the best in us. His “genius” is taking some irrelevant aside by John Kerry and twisting it to bring out the worst in us, so you will ignore the mess that the Bush team has visited on this country.
And Karl Rove has succeeded at that in the past because he was sure that he could sell just enough Bush cigarettes, even though people knew they caused cancer. Please, please, for our country’s health, prove him wrong this time.
Let Karl know that you’re not stupid. Let him know that you know that the most patriotic thing to do in this election is to vote against an administration that has — through sheer incompetence — brought us to a point in Iraq that was not inevitable but is now unwinnable.
Let Karl know that you think this is a critical election, because you know as a citizen that if the Bush team can behave with the level of deadly incompetence it has exhibited in Iraq — and then get away with it by holding on to the House and the Senate — it means our country has become a banana republic. It means our democracy is in tatters because it is so gerrymandered, so polluted by money, and so divided by professional political hacks that we can no longer hold the ruling party to account.
It means we’re as stupid as Karl thinks we are.
I, for one, don’t think we’re that stupid. Next Tuesday we’ll see.
Filed under
Bush,
Dick Cheney,
Iran,
Iraq,
Rumsfeld
by Winter Patriot
on Friday, November 03, 2006
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Spero News : UK: Muslim arrested at Heathrow on terror charges
Friday, November 03, 2006
UK: Muslim arrested at Heathrow on terror charges
by Adrian Morgan | November 3, 2006
A 29-year old Muslim man was arrested at Heathrow airport, west of London, as he waited to board a plane to Islamabad, Pakistan.
The man, named as Sohail Anjum Qureshi, is a resident of Forest Gate, east London. He was in possession of £9,000 ($17,000) cash, a night vision scope, two metal batons, two backpacks, two sleeping bags. He also had a computer disk and hard drive which contained a document entitled "The Mujahideen Poisons Handbook."
He was arrested at Heathrow on October 18, and Wednesday he appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates Court, accompanied by three security guards. Bald-headed with a goatee beard and wearing glasses, he was charged on three counts related to acts of terrorism.
The clerk of the court said that Qureshi had "On October 18th 2006, at Heathrow Airport, with the intention of committing acts of terrorism or assisting another to commit such acts, engaged in conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention, namely by preparing to take to Islamabad articles including £9,000 in cash, a night vision scope, two metal batons, two sleeping bags, two rucksacks and a disk and an external hard drive containing data including manuals detailing combat techniques and a copy of the Mujahideen Poison Handbook contrary to section 5(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006."
He was charged additionally with possessing a list of the articles, with a purpose of carrying out a possible terrorist act. Thirdly, he was charged with possessing the hard drive which had the "poisons Handbook", which were likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing terrorism.
The presiding senior District Judge referred the case to be heard at the Old Bailey, the central criminal court. On November 17, there will be a pre-trial hearing at either the Old Bailey or Luton Crown Court.
Police have not said if Qureshi is a British citizen or not. There was no application for bail.
In separate news, also mentioned in the Daily Mail, the same City of Westminster Magistrates Court today ordered that charges against two individuals should be dropped. Mehran Hussain, aged 25 and Umair Hussain, aged 23, brothers who lived in Chingford, had been accused of not disclosing information about a possible terror plot.
On August 10, a police operation, code-named "Operation Overt", revealed that there had been a plot to blow up US-bound transatlantic airliners using liquid explosives. Twenty people were arrested in connection with this plot, and it was revealed that there was a link to Al Qaeda in Pakistan. As a result of the revelation, no passengers were allowed to board planes carrying any liquids. Mothers were made to taste their babies' milk before entering any planes.
Mehran and Umair Hussain were charged under Section 38B (1) (a) and (2) of the Terrorism Act 2000 - "had information which he knew or believed might be of material assistance in preventing the commission of another person namely, Nabeel Hussain, of an act of terrorism and failed to disclose it as soon as reasonably practicable."
These charges related to the apparent activities of their brother Nabeel Hussain, aged 22, from Waltham Forest, northeast London. The charges against Nabeel Hussain still stand. He is charged on two counts. Firstly, he is charged under Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 , where is said to have "conspired with other persons to murder other persons." He is additionally charged under Section 5 (1) of the Terrorism Act 2006 for"preparing to smuggle parts of improvised explosive devices on to aircraft and assemble and detonate them on board."
It was decided that there was not enough evidence to convict Nabeel Hussain's brothers. Though the terror alert level is still set at "severe" in Britain, and security at airports is still maintained with vigilance, the rule on banning liquids from being brought onto planes is to be relaxed. It was announced today that, as of Monday (November 6), people boarding planes will be allowed to carry 100 milliters of fluid onto an aircraft. This is a very small amount - the equivalent of a third of an average can of drink.
The fears of the air-terror plot involving liquid explosives had been described before, in a notebook belonging to Ramzi Yousef, who conducted the first bomb attack upon the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993, which killed six people and injured 1,000.
The notebook was discovered in the Philippines. The plan which had been approved by Al Qaeda, was later known as "Operation Bojinka" (Bojinka is the Croation word for "explosion"). In a Manila hotel room in 1995, details of the plot were found in the notebook, after chemicals burning in a sink alerted security services.
The plot of Operation Bojinka would have involved eleven planes, flying out from Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore, bound for the United States. The FBI believed that Yousef even made a "trial run" of this plane bomb. He left a device under the seat of a Philippine Airline plane in December 1994 on a two-stage flight. He had assembled the device on board the aircraft on the first stage of the flight and then disembarked. It blew up a Japanese businessman, killing him and injuring 10 others.
by Adrian Morgan | November 3, 2006
A 29-year old Muslim man was arrested at Heathrow airport, west of London, as he waited to board a plane to Islamabad, Pakistan.
The man, named as Sohail Anjum Qureshi, is a resident of Forest Gate, east London. He was in possession of £9,000 ($17,000) cash, a night vision scope, two metal batons, two backpacks, two sleeping bags. He also had a computer disk and hard drive which contained a document entitled "The Mujahideen Poisons Handbook."
He was arrested at Heathrow on October 18, and Wednesday he appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates Court, accompanied by three security guards. Bald-headed with a goatee beard and wearing glasses, he was charged on three counts related to acts of terrorism.
The clerk of the court said that Qureshi had "On October 18th 2006, at Heathrow Airport, with the intention of committing acts of terrorism or assisting another to commit such acts, engaged in conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention, namely by preparing to take to Islamabad articles including £9,000 in cash, a night vision scope, two metal batons, two sleeping bags, two rucksacks and a disk and an external hard drive containing data including manuals detailing combat techniques and a copy of the Mujahideen Poison Handbook contrary to section 5(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006."
He was charged additionally with possessing a list of the articles, with a purpose of carrying out a possible terrorist act. Thirdly, he was charged with possessing the hard drive which had the "poisons Handbook", which were likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing terrorism.
The presiding senior District Judge referred the case to be heard at the Old Bailey, the central criminal court. On November 17, there will be a pre-trial hearing at either the Old Bailey or Luton Crown Court.
Police have not said if Qureshi is a British citizen or not. There was no application for bail.
In separate news, also mentioned in the Daily Mail, the same City of Westminster Magistrates Court today ordered that charges against two individuals should be dropped. Mehran Hussain, aged 25 and Umair Hussain, aged 23, brothers who lived in Chingford, had been accused of not disclosing information about a possible terror plot.
On August 10, a police operation, code-named "Operation Overt", revealed that there had been a plot to blow up US-bound transatlantic airliners using liquid explosives. Twenty people were arrested in connection with this plot, and it was revealed that there was a link to Al Qaeda in Pakistan. As a result of the revelation, no passengers were allowed to board planes carrying any liquids. Mothers were made to taste their babies' milk before entering any planes.
Mehran and Umair Hussain were charged under Section 38B (1) (a) and (2) of the Terrorism Act 2000 - "had information which he knew or believed might be of material assistance in preventing the commission of another person namely, Nabeel Hussain, of an act of terrorism and failed to disclose it as soon as reasonably practicable."
These charges related to the apparent activities of their brother Nabeel Hussain, aged 22, from Waltham Forest, northeast London. The charges against Nabeel Hussain still stand. He is charged on two counts. Firstly, he is charged under Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 , where is said to have "conspired with other persons to murder other persons." He is additionally charged under Section 5 (1) of the Terrorism Act 2006 for"preparing to smuggle parts of improvised explosive devices on to aircraft and assemble and detonate them on board."
It was decided that there was not enough evidence to convict Nabeel Hussain's brothers. Though the terror alert level is still set at "severe" in Britain, and security at airports is still maintained with vigilance, the rule on banning liquids from being brought onto planes is to be relaxed. It was announced today that, as of Monday (November 6), people boarding planes will be allowed to carry 100 milliters of fluid onto an aircraft. This is a very small amount - the equivalent of a third of an average can of drink.
The fears of the air-terror plot involving liquid explosives had been described before, in a notebook belonging to Ramzi Yousef, who conducted the first bomb attack upon the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993, which killed six people and injured 1,000.
The notebook was discovered in the Philippines. The plan which had been approved by Al Qaeda, was later known as "Operation Bojinka" (Bojinka is the Croation word for "explosion"). In a Manila hotel room in 1995, details of the plot were found in the notebook, after chemicals burning in a sink alerted security services.
The plot of Operation Bojinka would have involved eleven planes, flying out from Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore, bound for the United States. The FBI believed that Yousef even made a "trial run" of this plane bomb. He left a device under the seat of a Philippine Airline plane in December 1994 on a two-stage flight. He had assembled the device on board the aircraft on the first stage of the flight and then disembarked. It blew up a Japanese businessman, killing him and injuring 10 others.
Market Wire : Liquid Bomb a Hollywood Fantasy says Pentagon Advisor
Friday, November 03, 2006
LIQUID BOMB A HOLLYWOOD FANTASY SAYS PENTAGON ADVISOR
November 3, 2006
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- (MARKET WIRE) -- November 03, 2006 -- THE "liquid bomb" threat that disrupted this country's air traffic was a piece of Hollywood fantasy.
That is the verdict of renowned American terrorist expert Marvin Cetron, who arrives here this weekend to talk to travel and tourism leaders at World Travel Market, where 100 ministers and 202 nations will be present at ExCeL London.
AS Britain prepares to relax the emergency hand luggage regulations that disrupted and cost the airline industry a near 30 per cent drop in passenger traffic, Cetron says:
"It turns out that the liquid explosives central to the tale are largely a Hollywood fantasy.
"They require hours to prepare even after being smuggled on board, plus a lot of ice to keep them cool during the process", said Cetron, a security advisor to the Pentagon.
"To remain undetected, they also need passengers and a flight crew with a defective sense of smell. And they are likely to blow up in mid-preparation with just enough force to kill the would-be chemist, but no one else.
"British authorities, apparently prompted by Washington, trumpeted their arrest of some two-dozen plotters who, it is said, planned to blow up airliners flying from Britain to the United States in August.
"On closer examination, there probably was less to the scheme than met the eye.
"The plot was more farcical than fearsome. But it triggered a new round of airport security precautions, shrank airline profits for a few weeks, and brought the risk of terrorism back to public awareness.
"It was a grim reminder that they could face worse things than high oil prices.
"Notwithstanding the gang that couldn't bomb straight, terrorism does remain a serious risk."
November 3, 2006
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- (MARKET WIRE) -- November 03, 2006 -- THE "liquid bomb" threat that disrupted this country's air traffic was a piece of Hollywood fantasy.
That is the verdict of renowned American terrorist expert Marvin Cetron, who arrives here this weekend to talk to travel and tourism leaders at World Travel Market, where 100 ministers and 202 nations will be present at ExCeL London.
AS Britain prepares to relax the emergency hand luggage regulations that disrupted and cost the airline industry a near 30 per cent drop in passenger traffic, Cetron says:
"It turns out that the liquid explosives central to the tale are largely a Hollywood fantasy.
"They require hours to prepare even after being smuggled on board, plus a lot of ice to keep them cool during the process", said Cetron, a security advisor to the Pentagon.
"To remain undetected, they also need passengers and a flight crew with a defective sense of smell. And they are likely to blow up in mid-preparation with just enough force to kill the would-be chemist, but no one else.
"British authorities, apparently prompted by Washington, trumpeted their arrest of some two-dozen plotters who, it is said, planned to blow up airliners flying from Britain to the United States in August.
"On closer examination, there probably was less to the scheme than met the eye.
"The plot was more farcical than fearsome. But it triggered a new round of airport security precautions, shrank airline profits for a few weeks, and brought the risk of terrorism back to public awareness.
"It was a grim reminder that they could face worse things than high oil prices.
"Notwithstanding the gang that couldn't bomb straight, terrorism does remain a serious risk."
WP : Air Plot Said to Target Cities
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Air Plot Said to Target Cities
By Dan Eggen | Washington Post Staff Writer | November 2, 2006
A group of alleged terrorists arrested in London in August planned to blow up airliners over U.S. cities to maximize casualties, rather than over the Atlantic Ocean as many intelligence officials originally thought, according to recent remarks by a senior FBI official.
The comments by Mark Mershon, head of the FBI's New York field office, indicate that U.S. and British intelligence officials now think that the airliner plot was aimed at maximizing the potential loss of life and economic impact.
"The plan was bring them down over U.S. cities, not over the ocean," Mershon said Oct. 24 at the Infosecurity 2006 conference in New York, according to Government Security News, which first reported the remarks this week.
Authorities had previously said it was unclear where the alleged terrorists intended to detonate liquid explosives, which they planned to smuggle onto as many as 10 transatlantic flights. Michael P. Jackson, deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said shortly after the plot was thwarted that while the conspirators appeared to be targeting nonstop flights to the United States, "the real focus was to blow up airliners and the people on them."
British police arrested 25 people in raids across Britain after uncovering the alleged plot. Eleven have been charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism. Two brothers, Umair Hussain, 25, and Mehran Hussain, 23, were released Wednesday after a British court ruled evidence against them was insufficient to warrant a trial.
Christine Monaco, a spokeswoman for the FBI in New York, declined to comment on Mershon's speech.
Mershon told cybersecurity conference attendees that representatives of MI5, the British intelligence service, briefed the FBI on the liquid explosives case in recent weeks. "It would make your hair stand up to be in the room to hear that presentation," Mershon said, according to GSN.
Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert and Georgetown University professor, said the case indicates that Islamic extremists remain focused on attacking U.S. cities.
"They were clearly desirous of exceeding 9/11," Hoffman said. "The loss of life on the air and ground would be significant."
By Dan Eggen | Washington Post Staff Writer | November 2, 2006
A group of alleged terrorists arrested in London in August planned to blow up airliners over U.S. cities to maximize casualties, rather than over the Atlantic Ocean as many intelligence officials originally thought, according to recent remarks by a senior FBI official.
The comments by Mark Mershon, head of the FBI's New York field office, indicate that U.S. and British intelligence officials now think that the airliner plot was aimed at maximizing the potential loss of life and economic impact.
"The plan was bring them down over U.S. cities, not over the ocean," Mershon said Oct. 24 at the Infosecurity 2006 conference in New York, according to Government Security News, which first reported the remarks this week.
Authorities had previously said it was unclear where the alleged terrorists intended to detonate liquid explosives, which they planned to smuggle onto as many as 10 transatlantic flights. Michael P. Jackson, deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said shortly after the plot was thwarted that while the conspirators appeared to be targeting nonstop flights to the United States, "the real focus was to blow up airliners and the people on them."
British police arrested 25 people in raids across Britain after uncovering the alleged plot. Eleven have been charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism. Two brothers, Umair Hussain, 25, and Mehran Hussain, 23, were released Wednesday after a British court ruled evidence against them was insufficient to warrant a trial.
Christine Monaco, a spokeswoman for the FBI in New York, declined to comment on Mershon's speech.
Mershon told cybersecurity conference attendees that representatives of MI5, the British intelligence service, briefed the FBI on the liquid explosives case in recent weeks. "It would make your hair stand up to be in the room to hear that presentation," Mershon said, according to GSN.
Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert and Georgetown University professor, said the case indicates that Islamic extremists remain focused on attacking U.S. cities.
"They were clearly desirous of exceeding 9/11," Hoffman said. "The loss of life on the air and ground would be significant."
LAT : Two freed in alleged terrorism plot
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Two freed in alleged terrorism plot
From Times Wire Reports | November 2, 2006
Two brothers charged in an alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners were released after a British court ruled the evidence against them was insufficient to warrant a trial.
Umair Hussain, 25, and Mehran Hussain, 23, had been charged with failing to disclose information about an act of terrorism in connection with the alleged plot.
The two had been accused of withholding information about their brother, Nabeel Hussain, 22, who is one of 11 people charged with conspiracy to commit murder and preparing acts of terrorism.
From Times Wire Reports | November 2, 2006
Two brothers charged in an alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners were released after a British court ruled the evidence against them was insufficient to warrant a trial.
Umair Hussain, 25, and Mehran Hussain, 23, had been charged with failing to disclose information about an act of terrorism in connection with the alleged plot.
The two had been accused of withholding information about their brother, Nabeel Hussain, 22, who is one of 11 people charged with conspiracy to commit murder and preparing acts of terrorism.
NYT : British Authorities Charge Suspect With Violations of Terrorism Laws
Thursday, November 02, 2006
British Authorities Charge Suspect With Violations of Terrorism Laws
By SARAH LYALL | November 2, 2006
LONDON, Nov. 1 — A 29-year-old man from East London was charged Wednesday with trying to take terrorism-related materials, including a manual titled “The Mujahideen Poisons Handbook,” on a Pakistan-bound flight from Heathrow Airport.
The man, Sohail Anjum Qureshi, was arrested by antiterror officers at the airport on Oct. 18 as he was waiting to board a flight to Islamabad, Pakistan. He was carrying about $17,000 in cash, a night-vision scope, two metal batons, two backpacks, two sleeping bags and a computer disk and hard drive containing a combat-training manual as well as the poison manual, the authorities said.
Mr. Qureshi, who lives in the Forest Gate neighborhood, has been charged with three counts of violating British antiterrorism laws and is to appear in court on Thursday. The authorities said that the charges were related to terrorist activities that were to have been carried out abroad, and that Mr. Qureshi was not involved in any of the other terrorism cases they were investigating.
In a separate case, a judge freed 2 of the 24 men arrested in August on suspicion of being part of what the authorities said was a foiled plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airplanes with homemade liquid explosives. The men, Mehran Hussain, 24, and Umair Hussain, 25, both of Chingford, East London, were set free after a hearing at a magistrate’s court in central London.
The judge in the case, Quentin Purdy, said there was “insufficient evidence” to put the two men on trial. But he warned the men, who are brothers, that they should not consider themselves exonerated, and he said that if new evidence came to light, prosecutors were free to charge them again.
The men had been charged with failing to disclose information to the authorities about their brother, Nabeel, a suspect in the bombing-plot case.
Nabeel Hussain, 22, remains in custody, charged with conspiracy to murder and with planning to bring liquid bomb-making materials on board airplanes and then to assemble and detonate them in midair.
By SARAH LYALL | November 2, 2006
LONDON, Nov. 1 — A 29-year-old man from East London was charged Wednesday with trying to take terrorism-related materials, including a manual titled “The Mujahideen Poisons Handbook,” on a Pakistan-bound flight from Heathrow Airport.
The man, Sohail Anjum Qureshi, was arrested by antiterror officers at the airport on Oct. 18 as he was waiting to board a flight to Islamabad, Pakistan. He was carrying about $17,000 in cash, a night-vision scope, two metal batons, two backpacks, two sleeping bags and a computer disk and hard drive containing a combat-training manual as well as the poison manual, the authorities said.
Mr. Qureshi, who lives in the Forest Gate neighborhood, has been charged with three counts of violating British antiterrorism laws and is to appear in court on Thursday. The authorities said that the charges were related to terrorist activities that were to have been carried out abroad, and that Mr. Qureshi was not involved in any of the other terrorism cases they were investigating.
In a separate case, a judge freed 2 of the 24 men arrested in August on suspicion of being part of what the authorities said was a foiled plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airplanes with homemade liquid explosives. The men, Mehran Hussain, 24, and Umair Hussain, 25, both of Chingford, East London, were set free after a hearing at a magistrate’s court in central London.
The judge in the case, Quentin Purdy, said there was “insufficient evidence” to put the two men on trial. But he warned the men, who are brothers, that they should not consider themselves exonerated, and he said that if new evidence came to light, prosecutors were free to charge them again.
The men had been charged with failing to disclose information to the authorities about their brother, Nabeel, a suspect in the bombing-plot case.
Nabeel Hussain, 22, remains in custody, charged with conspiracy to murder and with planning to bring liquid bomb-making materials on board airplanes and then to assemble and detonate them in midair.
This Is Local London : 'Air plot' brothers set free
Thursday, November 02, 2006
'Air plot' brothers set free
By Peter Law | November 2, 2006
TWO brothers from east London charged over the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic planes have been released.
Mehran Hussain, 24, and Umair Hussain, 25, of Chingford walked free from Westminster Magistrates' Court after a judge found there was insufficient evidence for a trial.
The pair, who were arrested during the terror raids across London on August 9, were released almost three months after police foiled the alleged plot to blow jetliners from London to the US.
continued...
The Hussain brothers had been charged with failing to disclose information on their brother Nabeel, a suspect in the case.
Nabeel is among 11 people charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism.
He was granted bail last week, along with a 17-year-old suspect.
By Peter Law | November 2, 2006
TWO brothers from east London charged over the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic planes have been released.
Mehran Hussain, 24, and Umair Hussain, 25, of Chingford walked free from Westminster Magistrates' Court after a judge found there was insufficient evidence for a trial.
The pair, who were arrested during the terror raids across London on August 9, were released almost three months after police foiled the alleged plot to blow jetliners from London to the US.
continued...
The Hussain brothers had been charged with failing to disclose information on their brother Nabeel, a suspect in the case.
Nabeel is among 11 people charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism.
He was granted bail last week, along with a 17-year-old suspect.
The Scotsman : Airports to relax restrictions on plane hand luggage
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Airports to relax restrictions on plane hand luggage
November 2, 2006
AIRPORT security restrictions will be relaxed from Monday to allow passengers to carry small amounts of liquid on flights.
The Department for Transport has said passengers will be able to carry liquids as long as they are in containers no larger than 100ml and which are enclosed in transparent plastic bags.
It means toiletries such as toothpaste and aftershave will be permitted in carry-on bags for the first time since 10 August, when authorities foiled an apparent plot to blow up passenger flights between Britain and the United States. Passengers will still be allowed to buy drinks and other liquids at shops beyond security checkpoints.
• A judge yesterday found there was "insufficient" evidence for a trial of two brothers charged in connection with the alleged airliner bomb plot. Mehran Hussain, 24, and Umair Hussain, 25, both of London, were discharged following a committal hearing at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court.
They had been accused of failing to disclose information about their brother Nabeel, a suspect in the case.
November 2, 2006
AIRPORT security restrictions will be relaxed from Monday to allow passengers to carry small amounts of liquid on flights.
The Department for Transport has said passengers will be able to carry liquids as long as they are in containers no larger than 100ml and which are enclosed in transparent plastic bags.
It means toiletries such as toothpaste and aftershave will be permitted in carry-on bags for the first time since 10 August, when authorities foiled an apparent plot to blow up passenger flights between Britain and the United States. Passengers will still be allowed to buy drinks and other liquids at shops beyond security checkpoints.
• A judge yesterday found there was "insufficient" evidence for a trial of two brothers charged in connection with the alleged airliner bomb plot. Mehran Hussain, 24, and Umair Hussain, 25, both of London, were discharged following a committal hearing at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court.
They had been accused of failing to disclose information about their brother Nabeel, a suspect in the case.
Turkish Press : Troops cordon off Pakistan airstrike town
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Troops cordon off Pakistan airstrike town
November 1, 2006
KHAR, Pakistan (AFP)
Pakistani troops have sealed off a troubled frontier zone amid a third day of tensions over a deadly air raid on an Islamic school that was said to have been visited by Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The clampdown came despite calls by a human rights group for an independent investigation into claims that the 80 people who were killed in the attack in the troubled Bajaur region on Monday were all students and teachers.
Hundreds of soldiers threw a tight cordon around the rugged and conservative district bordering Afghanistan a day after 15,000 tribesmen protested against the Pakistani and US governments and vowed to take revenge.
"They are not allowing anyone to leave or enter Bajaur, it is completely sealed off," resident Irfanullah told AFP, speaking by telephone.
Markets and schools in Khar, the main town in Bajaur, also remained closed for a third day.
Pakistani authorities said the area was sealed for "security reasons", without elaborating. Part of neighbouring Mohmand tribal agency was also cordoned off.
Security forces were also on alert nationwide against the possibility of militant reprisals for the airstrike on the seminary, particularly with Britain's Prince Charles in Pakistan on a high profile tour.
He and his wife Camilla were visiting earthquake-hit Pakistani Kashmir on Wednesday.
Anti-Western feeling has been high amid allegations by Islamist leaders that US forces based in Afghanistan either launched the raid themselves using Predator drones or ordered Pakistan to carry it out.
US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch Wednesday urged the Pakistan government to give journalists and activists access to the shut-off area to establish the facts behind the raid.
"The Pakistani government should allow independent investigators into the area to determine who carried out the attack, how it was planned and executed, and who was killed," HRW South Asia researcher Ali Dayan Hasan said.
"The onus is on the Pakistani government to provide a credible account of the legitimacy of the attack resulting in the deaths of so many," Hasan said in a statement.
However Pakistan security officials say that Egyptian born Zawahiri -- Osama bin Laden's deputy -- and London airliner bombing plot mastermind Abu Obaida Al-Misri had frequently visited the seminary in the past.
Neither were in the madrassa at the time of the attack, the officials said at a briefing.
They identified Al-Misri as Al-Qaeda's operational commander in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, which borders Bajaur.
They also said he was a mentor to Rashid Rauf, a Briton arrested by Pakistan in August in connection with the alleged conspiracy to blow up transatlantic jets, the security official said.
"The madrassa that was targeted was frequently visited by Al-Qaeda leaders, including Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Obaida Al-Misri," one official said on condition of anonymity.
The attack followed months of surveillance and was necessary because the training camp's chiefs were "in a hurry to push them out after training for attacks" in either neighbouring Afghanistan or Pakistan, they said.
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has said Zawahiri escaped a CIA Predator raid in Bajaur in January. Reports said at the time that Al-Misri may have also died but the security official said they were untrue.
November 1, 2006
KHAR, Pakistan (AFP)
Pakistani troops have sealed off a troubled frontier zone amid a third day of tensions over a deadly air raid on an Islamic school that was said to have been visited by Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The clampdown came despite calls by a human rights group for an independent investigation into claims that the 80 people who were killed in the attack in the troubled Bajaur region on Monday were all students and teachers.
Hundreds of soldiers threw a tight cordon around the rugged and conservative district bordering Afghanistan a day after 15,000 tribesmen protested against the Pakistani and US governments and vowed to take revenge.
"They are not allowing anyone to leave or enter Bajaur, it is completely sealed off," resident Irfanullah told AFP, speaking by telephone.
Markets and schools in Khar, the main town in Bajaur, also remained closed for a third day.
Pakistani authorities said the area was sealed for "security reasons", without elaborating. Part of neighbouring Mohmand tribal agency was also cordoned off.
Security forces were also on alert nationwide against the possibility of militant reprisals for the airstrike on the seminary, particularly with Britain's Prince Charles in Pakistan on a high profile tour.
He and his wife Camilla were visiting earthquake-hit Pakistani Kashmir on Wednesday.
Anti-Western feeling has been high amid allegations by Islamist leaders that US forces based in Afghanistan either launched the raid themselves using Predator drones or ordered Pakistan to carry it out.
US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch Wednesday urged the Pakistan government to give journalists and activists access to the shut-off area to establish the facts behind the raid.
"The Pakistani government should allow independent investigators into the area to determine who carried out the attack, how it was planned and executed, and who was killed," HRW South Asia researcher Ali Dayan Hasan said.
"The onus is on the Pakistani government to provide a credible account of the legitimacy of the attack resulting in the deaths of so many," Hasan said in a statement.
However Pakistan security officials say that Egyptian born Zawahiri -- Osama bin Laden's deputy -- and London airliner bombing plot mastermind Abu Obaida Al-Misri had frequently visited the seminary in the past.
Neither were in the madrassa at the time of the attack, the officials said at a briefing.
They identified Al-Misri as Al-Qaeda's operational commander in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, which borders Bajaur.
They also said he was a mentor to Rashid Rauf, a Briton arrested by Pakistan in August in connection with the alleged conspiracy to blow up transatlantic jets, the security official said.
"The madrassa that was targeted was frequently visited by Al-Qaeda leaders, including Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Obaida Al-Misri," one official said on condition of anonymity.
The attack followed months of surveillance and was necessary because the training camp's chiefs were "in a hurry to push them out after training for attacks" in either neighbouring Afghanistan or Pakistan, they said.
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has said Zawahiri escaped a CIA Predator raid in Bajaur in January. Reports said at the time that Al-Misri may have also died but the security official said they were untrue.
Filed under
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Ayman al Zawahri,
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Guardian : Discharge for two transatlantic bomb 'plot' accused
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Discharge for two transatlantic bomb 'plot' accused
November 1, 2006
Two brothers charged in connection with the alleged transatlantic airliner bomb plot walked free from court today after a judge found there was "insufficient" evidence to put them on trial.
Mehran Hussain, 24, and Umair Hussain, 25, both of Chingford, east London, were discharged by district judge Quentin Purdy after a committal hearing at the City of Westminster magistrates court in central London.
The brothers, who were arrested at their home on August 9, had been accused of failing to disclose information about their brother Nabeel, 22, a suspect in the case. They were among more than a dozen people variously charged in connection with the alleged plot.
Addressing the men, district judge Purdy said: "On the evidence before me there is insufficient material to put you on trial."
But he told the men that today's decision did not necessarily mean proceedings were over. If any further material came to light, the discharge would not prevent prosecutors from taking action on this or any other matter arising.
It was a "discharge on the basis of insufficient evidence at this stage, that does not necessarily mean an acquittal".
The men left the court without comment. They were joined by relatives and supporters, some of whom were crying with relief.
A Crown Prosecution Service statement said: "We believed there was sufficient evidence to charge these defendants with an offence under section 38 (b) of the Terrorism Act 2000. The court decided today that there was no case to answer. We respect the court's decision."
Zahir Ahmed, who represents Mehran Hussain, said his client had "maintained his innocence through from the moment of his arrest".
Timor Rustem, for Umair Hussain, said outside court that his client was "very pleased" to be back with his family.
Last Friday, after a hearing in chambers at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith granted bail to Nabeel Hussain and a 17-year-old male who cannot be named because of his age.
November 1, 2006
Two brothers charged in connection with the alleged transatlantic airliner bomb plot walked free from court today after a judge found there was "insufficient" evidence to put them on trial.
Mehran Hussain, 24, and Umair Hussain, 25, both of Chingford, east London, were discharged by district judge Quentin Purdy after a committal hearing at the City of Westminster magistrates court in central London.
The brothers, who were arrested at their home on August 9, had been accused of failing to disclose information about their brother Nabeel, 22, a suspect in the case. They were among more than a dozen people variously charged in connection with the alleged plot.
Addressing the men, district judge Purdy said: "On the evidence before me there is insufficient material to put you on trial."
But he told the men that today's decision did not necessarily mean proceedings were over. If any further material came to light, the discharge would not prevent prosecutors from taking action on this or any other matter arising.
It was a "discharge on the basis of insufficient evidence at this stage, that does not necessarily mean an acquittal".
The men left the court without comment. They were joined by relatives and supporters, some of whom were crying with relief.
A Crown Prosecution Service statement said: "We believed there was sufficient evidence to charge these defendants with an offence under section 38 (b) of the Terrorism Act 2000. The court decided today that there was no case to answer. We respect the court's decision."
Zahir Ahmed, who represents Mehran Hussain, said his client had "maintained his innocence through from the moment of his arrest".
Timor Rustem, for Umair Hussain, said outside court that his client was "very pleased" to be back with his family.
Last Friday, after a hearing in chambers at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith granted bail to Nabeel Hussain and a 17-year-old male who cannot be named because of his age.
CNN International : UK 'air plot:' Brothers released
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
UK 'air plot:' Brothers released
November 1, 2006
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Two brothers charged in an alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners have been released after a British court ruled there was insufficient evidence to warrant a trial.
Westminster Magistrate's Court confirmed that the case of Umair Hussain, 25, and Mehran Hussain 23, was discharged due to "insufficient information evidence."
The two faced charges of failing to disclose information about the suspected role of their brother Nabeel Hussain, 22, one of 11 people charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism in the plot.
Police arrested 25 people in raids across Britain on August 9 and 10 and charged 17 of them, after uncovering a suspected plot to attack up to 10 U.S.-bound passenger jets using liquid explosives.
The alleged plot was uncovered when a member of Britain's Muslim community noticed an acquaintance acting suspiciously and went to authorities, leading investigators to plant an undercover British agent in the group, U.S. and British authorities said.
The arrests sparked heightened terror alerts in Britain and the United States and ushered in tighter security regulations on airline passengers.
CNN's Eileen Hsieh in London contributed to this report.
November 1, 2006
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Two brothers charged in an alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners have been released after a British court ruled there was insufficient evidence to warrant a trial.
Westminster Magistrate's Court confirmed that the case of Umair Hussain, 25, and Mehran Hussain 23, was discharged due to "insufficient information evidence."
The two faced charges of failing to disclose information about the suspected role of their brother Nabeel Hussain, 22, one of 11 people charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism in the plot.
Police arrested 25 people in raids across Britain on August 9 and 10 and charged 17 of them, after uncovering a suspected plot to attack up to 10 U.S.-bound passenger jets using liquid explosives.
The alleged plot was uncovered when a member of Britain's Muslim community noticed an acquaintance acting suspiciously and went to authorities, leading investigators to plant an undercover British agent in the group, U.S. and British authorities said.
The arrests sparked heightened terror alerts in Britain and the United States and ushered in tighter security regulations on airline passengers.
CNN's Eileen Hsieh in London contributed to this report.
Times Online : Brothers charged in airline 'plot' walk free
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Brothers charged in airline 'plot' walk free
November 1, 2006
Two brothers charged in connection with the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners this summer walked free from court today after a judge found there was insufficient evidence to put them on trial.
Mehran Hussain, 24, and Umair Hussain, 25, both of Chingford, East London, were discharged by District Judge Quentin Purdy following a committal hearing at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London.
The brothers, who were arrested on August with 22 other people across London and the Midlands, had been charged with failing to disclose information that might have have been "of material assistance" in preventing their younger brother, Nabeel, who is 22, from carrying out a terrorist act.
Nabeel Hussain, also from Chingford, East London, is one of 11 people charged with conspiracy to murder and to smuggle explosives onboard aircraft with the intention of detonating them.
He was granted bail on Friday, along with a 17-year-old suspect who cannot be named because of his age. The youth has been charged with having materials useful to terrorism, including a book on improvised explosive devices, some suicide notes and wills with the identities of persons prepared to commit acts of terror.
Twenty-four people, of whom 17 were eventually charged, were arrested in Britain on August 9 after an operation by security services in the US and the UK in connection with the alleged plot.
November 1, 2006
Two brothers charged in connection with the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners this summer walked free from court today after a judge found there was insufficient evidence to put them on trial.
Mehran Hussain, 24, and Umair Hussain, 25, both of Chingford, East London, were discharged by District Judge Quentin Purdy following a committal hearing at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London.
The brothers, who were arrested on August with 22 other people across London and the Midlands, had been charged with failing to disclose information that might have have been "of material assistance" in preventing their younger brother, Nabeel, who is 22, from carrying out a terrorist act.
Nabeel Hussain, also from Chingford, East London, is one of 11 people charged with conspiracy to murder and to smuggle explosives onboard aircraft with the intention of detonating them.
He was granted bail on Friday, along with a 17-year-old suspect who cannot be named because of his age. The youth has been charged with having materials useful to terrorism, including a book on improvised explosive devices, some suicide notes and wills with the identities of persons prepared to commit acts of terror.
Twenty-four people, of whom 17 were eventually charged, were arrested in Britain on August 9 after an operation by security services in the US and the UK in connection with the alleged plot.
Monsters and Critics : 'Airline plot' brothers walk free from court
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
'Airline plot' brothers walk free from court
November 1, 2006
Two brothers who had been charged in connection with the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners have walked free, reports suggest.
The men were appearing at court in relation to the alleged plot, which brought Britain's air transport network to a near-standstill in August.
But the judge today ruled that there was 'insufficient evidence' to charge either Mehran Hussain, 24, or Umair Hussain, 25, and allowed them to walk free, according to media reports.
The brothers had been charged with failing to disclose information about their brother, Nabeel, who is still being held in relation to the alleged plot.
They appeared at a committal hearing at the City of Westminster magistrates today but have now been discharged.
© 2006 Adfero Ltd.
November 1, 2006
Two brothers who had been charged in connection with the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners have walked free, reports suggest.
The men were appearing at court in relation to the alleged plot, which brought Britain's air transport network to a near-standstill in August.
But the judge today ruled that there was 'insufficient evidence' to charge either Mehran Hussain, 24, or Umair Hussain, 25, and allowed them to walk free, according to media reports.
The brothers had been charged with failing to disclose information about their brother, Nabeel, who is still being held in relation to the alleged plot.
They appeared at a committal hearing at the City of Westminster magistrates today but have now been discharged.
© 2006 Adfero Ltd.
BBC : Pair not to face 'air plot' trial
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Pair not to face 'air plot' trial
BBC News | November 1, 2006
Two brothers charged in connection with an alleged airliner bomb plot have walked free from court.
The judge at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London ruled there was insufficient evidence to put them on trial.
Mehran Hussain, 24, and Umair Hussain, 25, of Chingford, east London, were discharged after a committal hearing.
They were accused of failing to disclose information about a brother, Nabeel, who was a suspect in the case.
District Judge Quentin Purdy said there was not enough evidence to try the brothers.
The pair, who had been arrested at their home on 9 August, had been charged in connection with an alleged plot to bomb trans-Atlantic airliners in mid-air.
The alleged plot sparked a massive security clampdown, which led to widespread disruption at British airports in August.
BBC News | November 1, 2006
Two brothers charged in connection with an alleged airliner bomb plot have walked free from court.
The judge at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London ruled there was insufficient evidence to put them on trial.
Mehran Hussain, 24, and Umair Hussain, 25, of Chingford, east London, were discharged after a committal hearing.
They were accused of failing to disclose information about a brother, Nabeel, who was a suspect in the case.
District Judge Quentin Purdy said there was not enough evidence to try the brothers.
The pair, who had been arrested at their home on 9 August, had been charged in connection with an alleged plot to bomb trans-Atlantic airliners in mid-air.
The alleged plot sparked a massive security clampdown, which led to widespread disruption at British airports in August.
Khaleej Times Online : Pakistan probes Zawahiri links after airstrike
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Pakistan probes Zawahiri links after airstrike
(AFP) | November 1, 2006
KHAR, Pakistan - Pakistani security forces were on alert for more protests Wednesday after an air raid that killed 80 people at a religious school visited in the past by Al Qaeda number two Ayman Al Zawahiri.
Egyptian-born Zawahiri, who has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head, was not in the madrassa in Bajaur agency at the time of Monday’s attack but had frequented it previously, a security official told a briefing late Tuesday.
Another former visitor was the alleged mastermind of August’s foiled London airliners plot, identified as Abu Obaida Al Misri, Al Qaeda’s operational commander in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province, which borders Bajaur.
Al Misri was also a mentor to Rashid Rauf, a Briton arrested by Pakistan in August in connection with the alleged conspiracy to blow up transatlantic jets, the security official said.
‘The madrassa that was targeted was frequently visited by Al Qaeda leaders, including Ayman Al Zawahiri and Abu Obaida Al Misri,’ the security official said on condition of anonymity.
Security officials said they were guarding Wednesday against the possibility of militant reprisals for the airstrike on the seminary, particularly with Britain’s Prince Charles in the middle of a high-profile visit to Pakistan.
More than 15,000 pro-Taleban tribesmen chanted slogans against Pakistan and the United States Tuesday at Khar, the main town in Bajaur which is near the site of the helicopter attack, while there were smaller rallies nationwide.
Villagers said the dead were mainly students and alleged US involvement. But Pakistan said the Islamic school or madrassa was a virtual factory for suicide bombers intending to launch attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The protest passed peacefully but was marked by calls from an Islamic cleric for more suicide attacks against ‘the enemy’. Gun-toting tribesmen also burned effigies of US President George W. Bush.
Another 5,000 gathered in the Khyber tribal zone.
Islamist leaders accused the United States of either ordering the strike on the madrassa or of actually carrying out the raid using Predator drones.
Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf has said Zawahiri escaped a CIA Predator raid in Bajaur in January. Reports said at the time that Al Misri may have also died but the security official said they were untrue.
Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said there was ‘no US role’ in the attack. Musharraf insisted that no civilians died in the raid, Pakistan’s deadliest ever against insurgents.
The unrest meant Prince Charles and his wife Camilla were forced to cancel a visit Tuesday to the northwestern city of Peshawar, near the tribal belt, during they were meant to visit a moderate madrassa.
But there were only small protests in Peshawar involving around 1,500 people. Other rallies took place in cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Multan.
(AFP) | November 1, 2006
KHAR, Pakistan - Pakistani security forces were on alert for more protests Wednesday after an air raid that killed 80 people at a religious school visited in the past by Al Qaeda number two Ayman Al Zawahiri.
Egyptian-born Zawahiri, who has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head, was not in the madrassa in Bajaur agency at the time of Monday’s attack but had frequented it previously, a security official told a briefing late Tuesday.
Another former visitor was the alleged mastermind of August’s foiled London airliners plot, identified as Abu Obaida Al Misri, Al Qaeda’s operational commander in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province, which borders Bajaur.
Al Misri was also a mentor to Rashid Rauf, a Briton arrested by Pakistan in August in connection with the alleged conspiracy to blow up transatlantic jets, the security official said.
‘The madrassa that was targeted was frequently visited by Al Qaeda leaders, including Ayman Al Zawahiri and Abu Obaida Al Misri,’ the security official said on condition of anonymity.
Security officials said they were guarding Wednesday against the possibility of militant reprisals for the airstrike on the seminary, particularly with Britain’s Prince Charles in the middle of a high-profile visit to Pakistan.
More than 15,000 pro-Taleban tribesmen chanted slogans against Pakistan and the United States Tuesday at Khar, the main town in Bajaur which is near the site of the helicopter attack, while there were smaller rallies nationwide.
Villagers said the dead were mainly students and alleged US involvement. But Pakistan said the Islamic school or madrassa was a virtual factory for suicide bombers intending to launch attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The protest passed peacefully but was marked by calls from an Islamic cleric for more suicide attacks against ‘the enemy’. Gun-toting tribesmen also burned effigies of US President George W. Bush.
Another 5,000 gathered in the Khyber tribal zone.
Islamist leaders accused the United States of either ordering the strike on the madrassa or of actually carrying out the raid using Predator drones.
Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf has said Zawahiri escaped a CIA Predator raid in Bajaur in January. Reports said at the time that Al Misri may have also died but the security official said they were untrue.
Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said there was ‘no US role’ in the attack. Musharraf insisted that no civilians died in the raid, Pakistan’s deadliest ever against insurgents.
The unrest meant Prince Charles and his wife Camilla were forced to cancel a visit Tuesday to the northwestern city of Peshawar, near the tribal belt, during they were meant to visit a moderate madrassa.
But there were only small protests in Peshawar involving around 1,500 people. Other rallies took place in cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Multan.
Filed under
Afghanistan,
Ayman al Zawahri,
Bush,
drones,
Karachi,
Lahore,
Pakistan,
Rashid Rauf,
suicide,
Taliban
by Winter Patriot
on Wednesday, November 01, 2006
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