A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news.

By Professor Joseph B. Varner

Global War on Terror

A suicide bomber blew him self up as an Afghan army convoy slowed to pass a pothole-riddled section of road Friday in eastern Afghanistan, killing four soldiers and a child.

Four other soldiers were wounded in the attack, about eight miles west of Khost city, said Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi. Suicide bombers frequently target military convoys, but civilian passers-by are often killed in such attacks. In eastern Kunar province, meanwhile, deputy police chief Abdul Sabor Allayer said a rocket hit a schoolyard on Wednesday in Asmor district, killing one student and wounding four others. The victims were between eight and 14 years old. Afghanistan's Education Minister said earlier this year that the number of students and teachers killed in Taliban attacks spiked in the past year in a campaign to close schools and force teenage boys to join the Islamic militia. UNICEF says 236 school-related attacks occurred last year.

(Source: AP)

Gunfire broke out Thursday at a protest in western Afghanistan against a U.S. sniper in Iraq who used a Quran for target practice. Officials said a NATO soldier and two civilians were killed. Police opened fire on demonstrators who threw rocks and set tents on fire near a military airfield in western Ghor province. Two civilians were slain and seven others were wounded. Gunfire also killed one NATO soldier from Lithuania and wounded another, but it was not clear who shot at them. The Lithuanian Defense Ministry identified the dead soldier as Sgt. Arunas Jarmalavicius, 35, the first Lithuanian soldier killed in Afghanistan. (Source: AP)

Weapons from Iran have turned up in Afghanistan in "significant quantities" over the last two years, which NATO says is causing it great concern. Last week, NATO sounded the alarm over Afghanistan's southern neighbour, Pakistan, for providing "safe havens" for the Taliban through deals struck with the Pakistani government. Pakistan remains the biggest external security headache for NATO, which leads the 40-country International Security Assistance Force for Afghanis-tan, because Taliban and Al Qaeda militants are able to regroup, rearm, rest and train in its lawless tribal belt across what is a porous and unmanageable border. Threats from inside Iran are also undermining the rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan, said NATO spokesman James Appathurai in a wide-ranging interview on the regional security threats to Afghanistan. Mr. Appathurai said signs of Iranian weapons emerged "in the last two years" and that the military is watching this "relatively recent phenomenon" very closely. Over that time, there have been reports of shipments of arms, with apparent links to Iran, being seized by coalition forces inside Afghanistan. During a visit to Canadian troops in Kandahar this past Christmas, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said weapons from Iran are a threat in Afghanistan. (Source: Canada.com)

Pakistan's government said Thursday it is ready to ask the U.N. to investigate the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a move opposed by President Pervez Musharraf. Law Minister Farooq Naek said officials had finalized a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asking for the probe. Naek said he and Pakistan's foreign minister would carry the letter to U.N. headquarters in New York "very soon," once Ban gives them an appointment. Musharraf and the United States have opposed a U.N. investigation as unnecessary. Washington is urging Pakistan's new government to focus on tackling Islamic militancy and mounting economic woes. But the two ministers said the world body should probe the killing given the alleged involvement of international terrorists and the political sensitivity of the case in Pakistan. (Source: AP)

Pakistan's new government Wednesday agreed to pull its forces out of a restive region near the Afghan border and allow elements of Islamic Sharia law to be imposed there in return for a promise by local Islamic militants to end a wave of terror and arrest foreign terrorists operating in the area. The accord came a day after Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte expressed deep reservations about such accords, noting that a similar deal struck by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in 2006 had allowed Taliban and al-Qaeda forces to recruit and rearm. (Source: Washington Times)

Police arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with a bombing Thursday at a restaurant in southwestern England that left the suspect injured. Police evacuated a large part of Exeter city center after a small explosion at the Giraffe restaurant around lunchtime. An additional explosive was found near the scene and defused by a bomb disposal team, police said. Police said suspect Nicky Reilly was seen entering the restaurant's toilet shortly before the blast. He suffered serious facial injuries in the explosion and was hospitalized. He was the only person injured. Deputy Chief Constable Tony Melville told reporters: "Our investigation so far indicates that Reilly, who has a history of mental illness, has adopted the Islamic faith. We believe ... he was preyed upon, radicalized, and taken advantage of." Police did not provide a motive or further details, but said it did not appear to be part of a wider plot. London's Metropolitan Police said it had sent a small team of counterterrorism officers to provide support for the investigation. The restaurant, Giraffe, is a part of a chain of eateries popular among families. (Source: AP)

British police and intelligence officials searched a house in southwest England on Friday to try to determine what drove a young Muslim convert with a history of mental illness to walk into a busy restaurant with two bombs. Armed officers raided the home of 22-year-old Nicky Reilly in Plymouth late Thursday. Police said Friday that the search was continuing. (Source: AP)

Two men arrested after an explosives scare at a Swedish nuclear plant were released Thursday and police said they were no longer considered a threat to the power station.

The two maintenance workers were arrested Wednesday after security guards at the Oskarshamn nuclear plant found traces of a highly explosive substance on a plastic bag that one of them was carrying. The incident triggered a major security alert, prompting officials to shut down one of the plant's three reactors as bomb squads searched for explosives. None were found. After keeping the two middle-aged Swedes in custody overnight, investigators said there was not enough evidence to keep them in jail on suspicion of plotting sabotage. (Source: AP)

Iraq

Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric has been quietly issuing religious edicts declaring that armed resistance against U.S.-led foreign troops is permissible, a potentially significant shift by a key supporter of the Washington-backed government in Baghdad. The edicts, or fatwas, by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani suggest he seeks to sharpen his long-held opposition to American troops and counter the populist appeal of his main rivals, firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia. (Source: AP)

A U.S. helicopter strike north of Baghdad killed eight people in a vehicle, including at least two children, Iraqi officials said Thursday, insisting all the dead were civilians. The U.S. military said six were Al Qaeda militants but acknowledged children were killed.

Iraqi and U.S. officials each put the number of slain children at two. The reason for the discrepancies between the two accounts and the TV footage was not known. It was the latest incident threatening to alienate Sunni Arabs, who have played a key role in the steep decline in violence over the past year by joining forces with the Americans against Al Qaeda in Iraq. Beiji, an oil hub 155 miles north of Baghdad, lies in a largely Sunni Arab area. (Source: AP)

On Tuesday, some 10,000 Iraqi soldiers and police deployed in Sadr City, which for years was the unquestioned bastion of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. The deployment was enabled by a truce between al-Sadr and the government. (Source: AP)

Two of the U.S. military's most prominent voices on Middle East issues are holding out the prospect of improved relations with Iran despite tensions over its nuclear and military ambitions. Army Lieutenant General Martin Dempsey, acting head of the U.S. Central Command, said in an Associated Press interview that Washington and Tehran could seek common ground on tough issues like combating the illicit drug trade in Afghanistan if Iran would stop its "malign activity" inside Iraq. Army General David Petraeus, who is expected to win Senate confirmation as the permanent head of Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that although Iran is fueling proxy wars in the Middle East he sees a possibility of "more constructive relations." Their remarks reflect a U.S. effort, from President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates on down, to highlight Iranian activity that Washington deems harmful in Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East while also encouraging Tehran to change its behavior. (Source: AFP)

Army General David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said he expects to recommend additional cuts in U.S. troop levels there this fall. Petraeus said he would assess conditions before his departure in September, when he is scheduled to take over the U.S. Central Command. (Source: Washington Post)

The Pentagon's spies are looking to "eliminate" opponents' abilities to strike from space, or online. A new plan from the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, retired Gen. James Clapper, warns that the "current patchwork of passive defense" in cyberspace "is likely to fail in the face of greater vulnerabilities and more sophisticated threats. Defense intelligence must do its part to defeat this critical threat." In recent months, military officials have been issuing shrill warnings about attacks from space and cyberspace -- and darkly promising massive and devastating retribution, if the United States is struck. A recently-launched Air Force program is searching for "full control" of "any and all" computers. "Every potential adversary, from nation states to rogue individuals... should be compelled to consider... an attack on U.S. systems resulting in highly undesirable consequences to their own security," a recent Defense Department report notes. (Source: Blog.wired.com)

The current House version of the fiscal 2009 Defense Authorization bill contains a provision that would require the Pentagon to report annually on the threat posed by tactical nuclear weapons. The $601 billion bill contains language stating that numerous "nonstrategic" nuclear weapons are deployed by various countries and "their prevalence and portability make them attractive targets for theft and for use by terrorist organizations." "The United States should identify, track, and monitor these weapons as a matter of national security," the bill states, noting that a report should assess the risks of these arms being obtained by rogue states, terrorists and non-state entities. The measure appears aimed at countering tactical nuclear arms, including so-called "suitcase" nuclear weapons that actually are steamer trunk-sized bombs, developed during the Cold War by both the United States and Soviet Union. According to Russian officials in the 1990s, not all of Moscow's portable nuclear weapons have been accounted for since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. (Source: Washington Times)

The Senate yesterday approved $165 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan well into the next presidency, but in a break with President Bush and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, it also approved billions of dollars in domestic spending that includes a generous expansion of veterans' education benefits.

The war funding measure, which passed 70 to 26, will be twinned with the domestic spending package and sent to the House for final approval after Congress's Memorial Day recess. Senators stripped the package of all language that mandated troop withdrawals and sought to govern the conduct of the Iraq war, which had been in a previous version approved by the House. But the separate domestic spending package served notice to the White House that in an election year, lawmakers from both parties will demand coupling Iraq war funds with priorities at home. In total, the bill would cost more than $250 billion over 10 years, including $51 billion for the veterans' education benefits alone. (Source: Washington Post)

A U.S. Air Force Minuteman III strategic missile lit up the early morning sky over Southern California yesterday as part of test launch of the long-range missile. An Air Force spokesman from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., said the missile launch at 3:04 a.m. PDT flew a southwest course. Its simulated warhead hit a ocean target 5,250 miles away in an area 230 miles southwest of the Pacific island of Guam. The flight test was about 1,000 miles longer in range than most tests and successfully hit its target. Pentagon officials said the Minuteman III test was a routine reliability test of the nuclear delivery system. But it also will be used as part of a plan to convert up to 50 of the 500 Minuteman IIIs from nuclear to conventionally-armed long-range missiles, as part of what the military calls deep strike, or the capability of conducting very rapid long-range conventional attacks against weapons of mass destruction or terrorist targets. (Source: Washington Times)

U.S. officials said Thursday they will review whether more juveniles were detained at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay than the eight they have reported. The U.S. told a U.N. committee on child rights last week that "no more than eight juveniles, their ages ranging from 13 to 17 at the time of their capture," have ever been detained at the facility in remote eastern Cuba. (Source: AP)

Africa

Since May 14, fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the SPLA has devastated the Sudanese town of Abyei, which has been virtually destroyed. Almost the entire local population has fled to the north and south of the town to seek refuge. Abyei, located in the centre of Sudan, and its surroundings had, prior to the fighting, a population of approximately 130,000, but almost 60,000 have now been displaced. (Source: Reuters)

Somali pirates on Friday released a UAE-owned ship they captured a week ago. The owners of the MV Victoria told the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Program that the ship was released Friday and is now traveling with a handful of Somali soldiers on board to ensure its safe passage, said Andrew Mwangura, who is the coordinator of the program. Marwan Shipping and Trading Company, based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, owns the MV Victoria, but the vessel flies a Jordanian flag. The MV Victoria will travel to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, its destination before it was hijacked on May 17, to offload its cargo. (Source: AP)

Asia

North Korea's food shortages are unlikely to lead to a massive famine like the one that killed up to 2 million people in the 1990s, a South Korean intelligence agency official said Friday. The National Intelligence Service has told Parliament that the North faces a shortfall of about 1.2 million tons of food this year but international aid, including 500,000 tons of food promised by the United States, is expected to address some of the shortage. North Korea has relied on foreign assistance to feed its 23 million people since the 1990s, when natural disasters and mismanagement devastated the country's economy. As many as 2 million people are believed to have died from famine at the time. (Source: AP)

The presidents of China and Russia have condemned a U.S. plan for a global missile defense system. Chinese President Hu Jintao and new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev say in a joint statement that the plan "does not help to maintain strategic balance and stability or strengthen international efforts to control nonproliferation." Medvedev arrived Friday in Beijing on his first overseas trip since his inauguration this month. Moscow and Beijing have formed closer ties in recent years as part of their efforts to counterbalance Washington's global dominance. (Source: AFP)

Defense intelligence officials said this week that China's new J-10 jet fighter was built with the help of Israel, under the U.S.-sponsored Lavi jet fighter program canceled back in 1987. According to the officials, Russia also has helped with the J-10 program, helping Beijing to develop a new J-10 engine to replace the current one, a Chinese copy of the CFM-56 jet engine developed jointly by General Electric and the French company Snecma. The J-10 was under development in secret for years but its deployment was only acknowledged by Beijing in January 2007. It is considered a fourth-generation fighter-bomber comparable to the U.S. F-16. The defense officials' comments followed a report in Jane's Defence Weekly stating that the J-10 is a close copy of the Lavi jet, and that Chinese developers had access to a Lavi prototype in Chengdu, where the J-10 was designed and built. Documents in Hebrew on the Israel Aircraft Industries jet also were observed by Russian engineers. The Lavi was developed with $1.8 billion in U.S. aid to Israel. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in 2005 sharply restricted U.S. military technology sharing with Israel over concerns about Israeli-Chinese military cooperation.

The Israeli-Chinese J-10 cooperation involved "decades"-long exchanges between Russian, Israeli and Chinese aircraft developers, the magazine stated, quoting Russians involved in the program. The cooperation included extensive design and performance modeling, wind-tunnel testing and advanced aerodynamic design input. (Source: Washington Times)

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on a mission to open Myanmar to international disaster assistance, said the ruling junta agreed Friday to allow "all aid workers" into the country to help survivors. Ban's comments came after a crucial two-hour meeting Friday with the junta leader, Senior General Than Shwe, the country's most powerful figure. Myanmar's junta has until now refused to allow an influx of foreign aid and experts to reach survivors of Cyclone Nargis, which struck three weeks ago and killed at least 78,000 people and left 56,000 missing. (Source: AP)

Government troops and ethnic Tamil separatists fought gunbattles that killed 22 rebels and two soldiers in war-ravaged northern Sri Lanka, the military said Friday. Fighting has escalated in recent months along the front lines separating government-controlled territory and the Tamil Tiger rebels' de facto state in the north. The government has pledged to capture the rebel-held territory and crush the insurgents by the end of the year. Diplomats and other observers say, however, that the army has faced more resistance than expected. The latest battles erupted Thursday in the Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar and Welioya areas bordering the rebel-held territory. (Source: AP)

Europe

Northern Ireland paramilitary groups that refuse to disarm will lose their legal right to hand over weapons without fear of criminal prosecution, the British government announced Thursday. At a conference commemorating the Good Friday peace accord, Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward said Britain and Ireland would not continue to fund a disarmament commission led by retired Canadian Gen. John de Chastelain. Without the commission, a weapons amnesty in place since 1997 would end, exposing paramilitary members to prison if they try to hand over arms to police. Woodward did not specify a deadline for ending the amnesty. He said he planned to make a decision in the coming months or year. (Source: AP)

The German parliament's upper house approved the European Union's new treaty on Friday, the document's last legislative hurdle in the 27-nation bloc's most populous country. The document, known as the Lisbon Treaty, easily won the necessary two-thirds majority in the upper house, which represents the country's 16 state governments. All but one state voted in favor, giving the treaty 65 out of a possible 69 votes. Germany becomes the 14th country to approve the treaty in parliament. Only President Horst Koehler's signature, usually a formality, is required to complete ratification. (Source: AP)

Serbia has withdrawn its ambassador to the Czech Republic to protest the country's recognition of Kosovo's declaration of independence. A Foreign Ministry statement released Friday says Serbia's government has also lodged a formal protest with the government in Prague. Kosovo was Serbia's medieval heartland, but is now populated mostly by ethnic Albanians. It declared independence from Serbia in February.

Kosovo has won recognition from the United States and more than half of European Union member nations. Serbia and its traditional ally Russia oppose Kosovo's statehood. (Source: AP)

Georgia's election commission says President Mikhail Saakashvili's party is on track for a huge majority in Parliament. The commission says a nearly complete vote count from Wednesday's election indicates Saakashvili's party will hold about 120 of the Parliament's 150 seats. It says the United National Movement has nearly swept the district races that fill half the seats. Saakshvili's opponents dispute the results and are devising strategies to contest them. A leader said Friday that the main United Opposition bloc considers the election illegitimate and might refuse to take parliament seats it wins. (Source: AP)

Middle East

After rejecting Israel's conditions for a cease-fire, Hamas officials on Thursday expressed disappointment over Egypt's failure to endorse their stance. "Instead of putting pressure on Israel to accept the truce, the Egyptians are pushing us to accept the Israeli conditions," a top Hamas official in Gaza said. A Hamas delegation headed by Mahmoud Zahar and Musa Abu Marzouk that held talks in Cairo this week with Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman left Egypt Thursday after failing to reach an agreement on the terms of the truce proposal. Suleiman is reported to have warned that the entire Hamas leadership would be wiped out if Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza to halt Palestinian rocket attacks. (Source: Jerusalem Post)

An Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldier was wounded by an anti-tank missile fired by Palestinian gunmen during activity against terror infrastructure in south Gaza on Friday. On Thursday IDF forces uncovered an anti-tank missile and launcher in a school yard in the Gaza City neighborhood of Sajaiyeh. Earlier Thursday, a Palestinian was killed and 18 others were injured as IDF soldiers opened fire at a procession approaching the border fence organized by Hamas. At first, the soldiers attempted to disperse the procession using crowd dispersal means, but at a certain stage the forces spotted a number of gunmen and fired at the lower part of their bodies. (Source: Ynet News)

A truck loaded with four tons of explosives blew up on the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing Thursday in Gaza. IDF sources said the truck was supposed to explode on the Israeli side, but must have blown up too early either due to a technical problem or because it ran into poles near the crossing. The Israel Defense Forces believes that the failed attack was part of an attempt to abduct IDF soldiers. The truck blew up about 100 meters from the Israeli side of the crossing. Islamic Jihad released a video of the suicide bomber, Ibrahim Nasser, 23, showing a young bearded man in uniform, smiling as he brandished a Kalashnikov rifle. Palestinians also fired mortar rounds at Israeli positions during the attack, which occurred while the area was covered by dense fog. The explosion left a 12-meter-wide hole and shattered windows at nearby Moshav Netiv Ha'asara. (Source: Ha'aretz)

Israel never pledged to withdraw from the Golan Heights and return to the 1967 borders as part of peace negotiations with Syria, despite declarations of officials in Damascus, Israeli sources told Israel Channel 10 Thursday. The sources said Israel had initially intended to wait for direct negotiations to begin before publicizing news of renewed contact, but Syria had wanted the talks to be made public. (Source: Ha'aretz)

The U.N. Security Council is giving strong backing to the deal to end Lebanon's 18-month political crisis. But the council dropped a specific reference to a 2004 resolution demanding the disarmament of the Hezbollah militia, which is widely seen as the victor in the agreement reached Wednesday in Qatar's capital, Doha. A statement approved Thursday by the 15 council members calls for full implementation of the Doha agreement, in conformity with an agreement that ended Lebanon's Civil War (1975-90) "and all relevant Security Council resolutions..." While the U.S. insisted that the relevant measures include the 2004 resolution demanding the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon, other council members disagreed. (Source: AP)

The United Nations peace-keeping force in Lebanon has maintained a quieter-than-usual presence since the Hizbullah takeover. Lebanese sources said UNIFIL has increased its coordination with the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah in the south of the country. The sources said UNIFIL commanders have stopped patrols near Shi'ite villages and have coordinated checkpoints with local agents of Hizbullah or army officers regarded as close to the militia. (Source: World Tribune)

U.S. Secretary of State Rice and British Foreign Secretary Miliband said Thursday they believed Hizbullah had been weakened by this month's fighting in Beirut despite the greater influence the militant group gained in Lebanon's cabinet. "Hizbullah lost something very important, which is any argument that it is somehow a resistance movement on behalf of the Lebanese people," Rice said. "The guns of Hizbullah were trained on their own people. The long term consequences of that are potentially going to strengthen the forces of democracy in Lebanon," said Miliband. (Source: Reuters)

Lebanese Army Commander General Michel Suleiman will be elected as Lebanon's next president, according to the deal reached in Qatar by the rival Lebanese leaders. Suleiman was appointed by the Syrians as commander of the Lebanese Army in 1998. His brother-in-law, Gebran Kuriyyeh, was the official spokesman of Hafez Assad, father of the current Syrian president Basher Assad. Suleiman praised Hizbullah for its alleged victory during the summer 2006 war with Israel. (Source: Ya Libnan-Lebanon)

Kuwait has reported a doubling of its crude oil export capacity. The state-owned Kuwait Oil Co. reported a capacity of 2.6 million barrels per day. Executives said the sheikdom has reached a total projected production capacity of 3.4 million barrels per day. On Wednesday, the price of crude oil reached $134 per barrel. KOC chairman Sami Al Rashid said his company has launched two phases of the Export Facilities Project, constructed by South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries. Al Rashid said the project was scheduled to be completed in March 2009 and would increase oil exports to 3.4 million barrels per day. (Source: World Tribune)

The United Nation's nuclear watchdog says it has received new proposals from Iran regarding its provocative nuclear program. Mohammad ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he received Iran's "proposals" in response to the "additional bundle of incentives" the country received from the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany, KUNA, the Kuwaiti news agency, reported Friday. The content of the proposals was unclear but it was related to Iran's controversial nuclear program, the news agency said. Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's IAEA representative has denied claims his country had tested nuclear warheads, reiterating Iran's nuclear program was to produce electricity. (Source: UPI)

Iranian Justice Seeking University Students Movement and University Students Mobilization Basij will jointly sponsor International Conference on Israel's End on May 26th, 2008. According to public relations of the above mentioned Students Movement, the timing of the conference is adjusted to coincide with the sad 60th anniversary of Palestine's occupation by the Zionists. The guests of the conference that would be attended by Iranian and foreign students of universities in Tehran will be intellectuals and university professors from Egypt, Venezuela, Morocco, Lebanon, Indonesia, the United States, Pakistan, Argentina, India, Iraq, Syria, Chile, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, France, Tunisia, and a number of other countries. Supporting the Palestinian nation's righteous liberation movement and signs of the illegitimate Zionist regime's upcoming downfall are among the axes of the international conference. (Source: IRNA-Iran)

The U.S. will aggressively impose more sanctions on Iran as long as it refuses to give up sensitive nuclear work and uses the world's financial system for "terrorism," U.S. Secretary of State Rice said on Thursday. "If Iran has peaceful intent as they say, then they should have no problem with the International Atomic Energy Agency having complete and absolute and total access. The word that is coming out is that that is not" the case, said Rice. (Source: Reuters)

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A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news.

By Professor Joseph B. Varner

Global War on Terror

Pakistan's new government has signed a peace deal with pro-Taliban militants, in what some U.S. officials call a "victory for Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda." Under the terms of the 15-point plan, signed Wednesday in the city of Peshawar, the Pakistani army will withdraw thousands of troops deployed to the Swat Valley region, an area where officials believe local Taliban militants are hiding. The militants have promised to stop suicide bomb attacks and hand over any foreign militants, according to Bashir Bilour, a senior minister of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province. (Source: ABC)

Eight Al Qaeda-linked militants were handed life sentences on Wednesday, three in absentia, for plotting a 2004 chemical attack on the U.S. Embassy and other sites in the kingdom. The men alleged associates of slain Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been sentenced to death in a previous trial in 2006. But an appeals court overturned those sentences because the prosecutor was apparently one of the plot's targets. The men were arrested in 2004, weeks ahead of what prosecutors called a sophisticated plot to set off a cloud of toxic chemicals that could have killed tens of thousands of people. At that point the plan was in an "advanced stage," with chemicals, weapons and vehicles already in place, according to an indictment. Al-Zarqawi had given the men more than $118,000 to finance the plot, it said. If carried out, it would have been one of the first known chemical attacks by Al Qaeda-linked militants. The targets included the U.S. Embassy in the capital Amman, the prime minister's office and the intelligence service's headquarters. (Source: AP)

A senior Somali Islamist opposition leader vowed in an interview published on Thursday to force Ethiopian troops from his country and warned that UN-sponsored peace talks would fail. "We are going to liberate Somalia from Ethiopia," Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys was quoted as saying in the British newspaper The Guardian. UN-sponsored peace talks that opened last week in Djibouti are doomed to fail unless Ethiopia first withdraws all its forces, he added. (Source: AFP)

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Wednesday he would keep troops in neighbouring Somalia until "jihadists" were defeated, in remarks likely to harm the chances of U.N.-brokered peace talks. In a move supported by the United States but providing a target for militants, Meles moved thousands of troops into Somalia in late 2006 to help the nation's struggling government topple an Islamist movement that controlled most of the south. Since then, allied Ethiopian-Somali troops have faced near-daily attacks in an insurgency drawing comparisons with Iraq and undermining stability across east Africa. (Source: Reuters)

Officials at a Swedish nuclear plant shut down one of its three reactors for inspections after a man tried to enter the power station with traces of a highly explosive substance, a spokesman said Thursday. Reactor O1 at the Oskarshamn plant was stopped late Wednesday as a security precaution, because it could not be ruled out that two maintenance workers arrested on suspicion of plotting sabotage had accessed areas near the reactor. The two contractors were arrested Wednesday after security guards found traces of explosives on the handle of a plastic bag that one of the men was carrying.

Police said the substance was believed to be triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, an explosive used in the 2005 London transit bombings. (Source: AP)

Iraq

United States

In response to the announcement of indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel, Secretary of State Rice said Wednesday: "We knew about these discussions from their inception and we have been kept informed. As we noted at the time of Annapolis, we would welcome any steps that might lead to a comprehensive peace in the Middle East....Now, obviously, there is not going to be a comprehensive peace if there continues to be support for terror. There's not going to be a comprehensive peace if there continue to be rejectionist groups that are not willing to accept the principles on which peace might - must be built, two states living side by side, an end to armed conflict which brings death to innocent people....Until that kind of behavior stops, it's going to be very difficult to get to a comprehensive peace." (Source: State Department)

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, President Bush's nominee to lead U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, supports continued U.S. engagement with international and regional partners to find the right mix of diplomatic, economic and military leverage to address the challenges posed by Iran. In written answers to questions posed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he will testify today, Petraeus said the possibility of military action against Iran should be retained as a "last resort." But he said the United States "should make every effort to engage by use of the whole of government, developing further leverage rather than simply targeting discrete threats." (Source: Washington Post)

The military's elite Special Operations Command has quietly stepped back from a controversial plan that gave it the authority to carry out secret counterterrorism missions on its own around the world. The decision culminates four years of misgivings within the military that the command, with its expertise in commando missions and unconventional war, would use its broader mandate too aggressively, by carrying out operations that had not been reviewed or approved by regional commanders. A new Special Operations commander, Admiral Eric Olson of the Navy Seals, has now said publicly that he intends to play a different role, and will instead continue the command's new mission as coordinator of the military's counterterrorism efforts around the world. The shift reverses what Donald Rumsfeld put in place as defense secretary in 2004, when he said he wanted the Special Operations Command, based in Tampa, Florida, to operate unilaterally; he believed that it would be more aggressive in hunting down terrorists than the regional commanders, who are tied most closely to conventional forces. (Source: IHT)

Career FBI agent Bassem Youssef told a House Judiciary Committee subcommittee Wednesday, "The FBI counter-terrorism division is ill-equipped to handle the terrorist threat we are facing." Youssef said that counter-terrorism agents and managers at FBI headquarters often lack basic knowledge about Middle Eastern culture, language and terrorists' ideology. The result is that agents are wasting resources chasing leads that more sophisticated observers would quickly dispense with. The time and energy expended on marginal cases has diverted resources from investigating more substantial threats, he said. The son of immigrant Christian Egyptians and a decorated counter-terrorism agent, Youssef has long been the highest-ranking Arab American agent in the FBI and one of its few native Arabic speakers. He was passed over for promotions after the September 11 attacks, and filed a lawsuit in 2003 claiming the bureau discriminated against him based on his ancestry. (Source: Los Angeles Times)

More than one out of every three positions in an elite FBI division that tracks Al Qaeda terrorists is vacant, according to an internal bureau document. Efforts are under way at the FBI to canvass for "volunteers" to fill what the agency said is a "critical" need in its counterterrorism efforts. A senior bureau official said yesterday that because of significant staffing shortages and a lack of experienced managers, the FBI cannot properly defend the United States against "another catastrophic and direct attack by Middle Eastern terrorists." Bassem Youssef, chief of the communications analysis unit of the FBI's counterterrorism division, said the bureau's International Terrorism Operations Sections (ITOS), which include those that track Al Qaeda terrorists, are "inexcusably understaffed." (Source: Washington Times)

Senator Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., has asked Google to remove videos produced by Islamist terrorists from YouTube. "A great majority of these videos document horrific attacks on American soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan," he said. Other videos "provide weapons training, speeches by Al Qaeda leadership, and general material intended to radicalize potential recruits." Lieberman asks Google to apply its own community guidelines, which forbid graphic violence, and videos that show "someone getting hurt, attacked, or humiliated." In response, 80 videos were removed from YouTube by Google. But while Lieberman considers this a good start, he says it is not enough. (Source: ABC News)

World oil prices broke yet more records on Thursday, catapulting above 135 dollars a barrel for the first time on runaway fears about rampant demand exceeding supply, analysts said. Brent North Sea oil struck a historic height of 135.14 dollars a barrel and benchmark New York light sweet crude hit an all-time peak of 135.09 dollars. (Source: AFP)

Africa

South African President Thabo Mbeki approved troop deployments to help stop attacks on migrants that have claimed two dozen lives, his office said Wednesday.Red Cross officials in South Africa said about 13,000 people have been displaced since the violence began last week, CNN reported. Many of the victims are Zimbabweans and others from neighboring countries who have fled to South Africa for political or economic reasons.

The violence began in Johannesburg's Alexandra Township, police said, and has spread. Reports indicate mobs shoot, beat and burned some victims. (Source: UPI)

Government officials say 27 people are dead following an insurgent attack on an army base in northern Mali. The Defense Ministry says armed insurgents battled soldiers in the far northern desert town of Abeibara for about eight hours Wednesday before being pushed back. The ministry says 27 people killed, 10 of them soldiers. Ethnic Tuareg rebels active in the area have claimed responsibility for the attack. But they say only one of their fighters died in the skirmish. Rebels also say they've taken some 60 soldiers hostages. (Source: AP)

Americas

Denmark's foreign minister has made a plea for peace among Arctic nations, including Canada, on the eve of an international summit in Greenland aimed at easing territorial tensions in a region experiencing unprecedented melting and thought to contain a quarter of the world's remaining oil reserves. (Source: Canada.com)

Two Mexican policemen were shot and their bodies dumped in a car on a busy Mexico City-bound highway, police said on Wednesday, the latest in a spurt of brutal drug gang murders near the capital. The bodies, which showed torture marks, were left with death threats directed at anyone backing powerful drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman, Mexico's most wanted man. They were found late on Tuesday in the trunk of a car abandoned on the Cuernavaca-Mexico City highway, a route used by commuters between the capital and the small colonial city where many have weekend homes. (Source: Reuters)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused the United States on Wednesday of using anti-drug flights for spying, and said that fighter jets are ready to defend Venezuela's sovereignty. Chavez said a U.S. Navy plane that flew into Venezuelan airspace during a purported anti-drug mission was actually involved in reconnaissance. The U.S. Navy plane was detected by Venezuelan authorities Saturday near the Caribbean island of La Orchila, and its crew was questioned over the radio by Caracas' airport control tower. Chavez said that pilots who fly Venezuela's SU-30 Sukhoi combat jets, newly bought from Russia, were "starting their engines" shortly after the U.S. Navy plane was detected. (Source: AP)

Asia

A Japanese farmer who committed suicide by drinking pesticide vomited the poison at a hospital before he died, releasing toxic fumes that sickened more than 50 people, the hospital said Thursday. Doctors were trying to pump the 34-year-old man's stomach when he threw up, spraying his rescuers with chloropicrin, causing 54 doctors, nurses and patients to develop breathing problems and eye sores. Ten of them were hospitalized themselves, and 90 hospital personnel had to be called in to help with the emergency Wednesday night, said Tomoko Nagao, spokeswoman for the Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital in southern Japan. (Source: AP)

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flew into Myanmar's disaster zone Thursday as he pressed the country's leaders to open the doors to critical international aid for some 2.5 million cyclone survivors. In a meeting with Prime Minister Thein Sein, Ban stressed that foreign aid experts needed to be rushed in because the crisis had exceeded Myanmar's national capacity, according to a U.N. official at the talks. Ban was then flown by helicopter to the cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy delta, the country's rice bowl, where most of the 78,000 deaths from Cyclone Nargis occurred. Another 56,000 are officially listed as missing. (Source: AP)

Europe

Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek announced Wednesday that the Czech government had approved the main accord on the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile radar in the country, the CTK news agency reported. The agreement must now be approved by parliament along with an accord covering the conditions for US forces to be based in the Czech Republic, CTK cited Topolanek as saying after a cabinet meeting in the northwestern town of Teplice. (Source: AP)

The long military standoff in Abkhazia, where a separatist dispute has risked escalating this year to a renewed war, has entered a phase of quiet diplomacy aimed at easing tensions and urging negotiations, according to officials on both sides of the conflict. No agreement to negotiate has been reached, and the differences between the Abkhaz and Georgian governments remain vast. Both sides caution that an act of significant violence or other provocation could lead swiftly to war. But this month, after Russia sent paratroopers and artillery across its borders to reinforce its peacekeeping contingent in the enclave, and as unmanned Georgian aerial drones flew reconnaissance missions overhead, an American and a Georgian delegation traveled separately here to Sukhumi, the capital of the breakaway region, to discuss the possibility of talks. The dialogue appeared to reduce for the moment the risk of a resumption of large-scale fighting and to create a chance to discuss confidence-building measures - even as military incidents continued along the contested zone. On Wednesday, for example, as parliamentary elections were being held in Georgia, a firefight in the village of Kurcha destroyed two buses and wounded at least two civilians. (Source: IHT)

A Turkish news agency says two Turkish soldiers have been killed in a clash with Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey. Dogan news agency says the clash erupted on Mount Kato in Sirnak province, bordering Iraq. Thursday's report says one soldier was also wounded in the overnight clash. Kurdish rebels have been fighting for autonomy in Turkey's southeast since 1984. Tens of thousands have been killed in the fighting. Some rebels infiltrate Turkey from bases in neighboring Iraq. Turkey has launched several air attacks and one major ground offensive across the border into Iraq so far this year.

(Source: AP)

Middle East

The Islamic Jihad militant group said a Palestinian suicide bomber died in a truck bomb blast near the Erez border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Thursday.

There were no reports of Israeli casualties from the explosion of the truck, which was packed with 400 kilos (about 900 pounds) of explosives. Islamic Jihad said the bomber, Ibrahim Nasser, 23, was a member of its armed wing, the Al Quds Brigade. It said the truck blew up earlier than planned, a few hundred metres (yards) from the border crossing. The powerful explosion damaged buildings on the Palestinian side of the border and Palestinians shot at Israeli troops at the crossing without hitting anyone. Other armed Palestinian militants who followed the truck fled after their car rolled over, witnesses said. Israel's army radio said the car was targeted by a military helicopter and that several militants were hit. (Source: AFP)

An Israel Defense Forces soldier was wounded on Wednesday when a mortar shell fired by Palestinians in Gaza exploded at the Zikkim base near Ashkelon. (Source: Ha'aretz)

Israel set terms for concluding a peace deal with Syria on Thursday, closing ranks with Washington in demanding Damascus distance itself from Iran and stop supporting Palestinian and Lebanese militants. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel wanted to live in peace with its neighbors, but Syria needed to "distance itself completely" from "problematic ties" with Iran. Syria must also cease "supporting terror - Hizbullah, Hamas." (Source: Reuters/Washington Post)

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A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news.

By Professor Joseph B. Varner

Global War on Terror

The two latest messages believed to be from Osama Bin Laden emphasize the centrality of a struggle against Israel and raise the question as to why he did not concentrate on Iraq. Perhaps the shift from Iraq to the "Palestinian question" is meant to attract support, leading to a theory among some Western intelligence analysts that Al Qaeda accepts that it is in trouble in Iraq. Nigel Inkster, Director of Transnational Threats and Political Risk at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London said, “Al-Qaeda could now be preparing its followers for a strategic failure in Iraq. It therefore needs a rallying cry and Palestine is a no-brainer. There is some evidence that support for Osama Bin Laden has been dropping in the Arab world because of revulsion about Al Qaeda behavior and especially the killing of Muslims. On the other hand, there is still an appetite and ambition to engage in terrorism spectaculars in Western Europe and the U.S., though the capacity might not match the ambition. But they only have to be lucky once." (Source: BBC News)

Officials say violence in Afghanistan has left 18 dead, including two NATO soldiers and 14 insurgents. A NATO statement says a soldier and civilian interpreter were killed when an explosion hit them during a patrol in eastern Ghazni province on Tuesday. It says two NATO soldiers were wounded, one of whom later died at a military hospital. The statement does not give any details about the victims' nationalities or the nature of the explosion. In neighboring Zabul province, deputy governor Gulab Shah Alikhel says airstrikes and a three-hour gun battle killed an Afghan army soldier and 14 insurgents. He says six of the dead insurgents appear to be Arabs. Afghan security forces seized insurgents' ammunition and night vision goggles. (Source: AP)

A Moroccan prosecutor on Tuesday urged a court to impose prison sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years for alleged members of a militant cell accused of supporting insurgents in Iraq and plotting terrorist bombings. The prosecutor said the 27 suspects plotted to disrupt law and order in Morocco and recruit men willing to fight in the name of radical Islam. The defendants, many of them from the town of Tetouan in northern Morocco, have all denied any ties to Al Qaeda or any other terrorist group. The case is being heard by the criminal court in Sale, near the capital, Rabat, that specializes in handling terrorism cases. The trial is scheduled to resume May 27. (Source: AP)

Moroccan security officials Wednesday said they captured the first suspects of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The official Moroccan news agency, Maghreb Arab Press, said 11 suspects were trained in suspected Al Qaeda camps in Iraq and North Africa. "The network, including a Moroccan living in Belgium, is believed to have links with groups sending volunteers to Iraq and to camps of Al Qaeda's branch in North Africa," the Moroccan news agency reported. Moroccan officials said the cell was plotting attacks in the European Union and specifically a hotel in Belgium, though officials in Brussels couldn't confirm the allegations. This was the second Al Qaeda affiliation uncovered by Moroccan officials in May. A Moroccan court earlier this month accused 27 citizens of "forming a criminal gang with the goal of preparing and committing terrorist acts," Med Basin Newsline said Wednesday. (Source: UPI)

Gunmen kidnapped three aid workers, two Italians and a Somali, in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region on Wednesday, the latest in a string of attacks against humanitarian groups. A local security official confirmed the kidnapping and said the security forces were trying to locate the hostages. The kidnapping took place at around 6:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) in the village of Awdhegle, 70 kilometres (45 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu. The three who were abducted all worked for an Italian non-governmental organisation called Cooperazione Italiana Nord Sud (CINS), or North-South Italian Cooperation. The elder said the non-Italian hostage was Abderahman Yusuf Arale, the local head of the Italian aid group. In Rome, a foreign ministry spokesman confirmed the kidnapping of the two Italians. Somali security officials in the region where the kidnapping took place said that CINS staff had already come under attack at a checkopint on May 2. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said that three people had died in the exchange of fire, one attacker, one member of the CINS escort and one member of the Somali security services, although they could not certify that the Italians were targeted. Aid workers, including foreigners, have been repeatedly targeted by armed groups in Somalia in recent months. The spate of kidnappings and killings has complicated the delivery of aid to the most affected populations in the Horn of Africa country, where the U.N. says one of the world's worst humanitarian catastrophes is unfolding.

On May 13, gunmen abducted a Kenyan teaching at Mogadishu University. Kidnappers are also holding two aid workers: a Kenyan and a Briton, seized in April in southern Somalia whose whereabouts remain unknown. In early May, gunmen killed a truck driver working for the World Food Programme in central Somalia. The U.N. and aid groups have scaled down operations in Somalia owing to increased insecurity, largely blamed on Islamist militants who have waged a deadly guerrilla war since they were ousted by joint Somali-Ethiopian forces in early 2007. Amnesty International has pleaded with the militants to end the kidnapping and killing of foreign workers in Somalia a nation where 2.6 million Somalis, including a million displaced people, require help to feed themselves. Earlier this month, Islamist rebels pledged to kill foreigners and pro-government supporters after U.S. airstrikes killed their leader Aden Hashi Ayro, who was accused of being the Al Qaeda leader in the country. The U.N. is currently trying to build trust between the government and moderate Islamists at talks that were launched on May 12 in Djibouti.

(Source: AP)

Authorities sealed off a nuclear plant in southeastern Sweden after a welder arrived for work with a plastic bag containing traces of an explosive substance. Investigators were questioning the man, a welder who was scheduled to do work at the Oskarshamn plant on Wednesday. Plant operator OKG downplayed the incident, saying there was no threat to the safety of the plant, located about 150 miles (250 kilometers) south of Stockholm. Police said the man was carrying a plastic bag with an unknown amount of triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, an explosive used in the London bombings in 2007. (Source: AP)

Iraq

Iraqi troops tightened their grip on the Baghdad militia bastion of Sadr City on Wednesday, a day after moving into the Shiite district for the first time in eight weeks. More Iraqi soldiers were seen deploying in the district and dozens of blasts were heard as they carried out controlled explosions of roadside bombs planted by militiamen during deadly clashes with U.S. troops. The Shiite radical movement of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had agreed that its Mahdi Army militia would offer no resistance to the Iraqi troops' deployment under a truce deal it reached with the government on May 10. (Source: AFP)

United States

In 2002, as evidence of prisoner mistreatment at Guantánamo Bay began to mount, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents at the base created a “war crimes file” to document accusations against American military personnel, but were eventually ordered to close down the file, a Justice Department report revealed Tuesday. The report, an exhaustive, 437-page review prepared by the Justice Department inspector general, provides the fullest account to date of internal dissent and confusion within the Bush administration over the use of harsh interrogation tactics by the military and the Central Intelligence Agency. In one of several previously undisclosed episodes, the report found that American military interrogators appeared to have collaborated with visiting Chinese officials at Guantánamo Bay to disrupt the sleep of Chinese Muslims held there, waking them every 15 minutes the night before their interviews by the Chinese. In another incident, it said, a female interrogator reportedly bent back an inmate’s thumbs and squeezed his genitals as he grimaced in pain. (Source: New York Times)

Oil prices rose above $130 a barrel Wednesday for the first time, as supply concerns mounted and the dollar weakened. Light, sweet crude for July delivery hit a record $130.47 a barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange after closing at $128.98 in the floor session. By afternoon in Europe, it had retreated to $129.77 a barrel, up 79 cents. (Source: AP)

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices, but the White House threatened to veto the measure.

The bill would subject OPEC oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, to the same antitrust laws that U.S. companies must follow. (Source: Reuters)

Africa

Police patrolled opposition areas of Guinea's capital on Wednesday after overnight protests against President Lansana Conte's sacking of a consensus prime minister appointed last year to end a bloody general strike. Prime Minister Lansana Kouyate, a former diplomat, had repeatedly clashed with Conte and his close associates in the latest power struggle at the top of the world's leading exporter of bauxite, the raw ore used to make aluminum. Conte, a chainsmoking diabetic in his mid-70s who seized power in a 1984 army coup, sacked Kouyate without warning in a decree broadcast on Tuesday evening, replacing him with a former mines minister from his own party, Ahmed Tidiane Souare. (Source: Reuters)

Twenty-one Sudanese army soldiers have been killed in fierce fighting with southern forces in the contested oil-rich town of Abyei, army sources said on Wednesday. The army accused the Sudan People's Liberation Army, from semi-autonomous South Sudan, of attacking its positions in the town on Tuesday. The assault has raised fears for a 2005 north-south peace deal that ended two decades of civil war. "Twenty-one Sudan Armed Forces soldiers were killed and 54 were injured," said armed forces spokesman Brigadier Uthman al-Agbash. He gave no estimate for numbers of dead on the other side and the SPLA was not immediately available for comment. He said the clashes in the central region, sparked by a local dispute last week, appeared to have stopped. But aid workers said the area remained tense. The U.N. says at least 50,000 people have fled a week of fighting in Abyei, at the centre of a region claimed by both the northern Sudanese government and South Sudan. (Source: Reuters)

Xenophobic violence that has killed at least 24 people in South Africa spilled over to the volatile Zulu heartland on Wednesday and security officials discussed whether to use troops to quell the wave of unrest. The attacks on African immigrants, accused by many poor South Africans of taking scarce jobs and fuelling crime, have forced thousands of people from their homes, unnerved investors and hit the rand currency. Local media in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province said at least six immigrants were wounded in an overnight attack on a Nigerian-owned tavern in the port city of Durban. The Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party, the ruling ANC's main rival in KwaZulu-Natal, said the Durban attacks showed the anti-foreigner violence had spread to the province, home to South Africa's biggest ethnic group, the Zulus. (Source: Reuters)

Uganda's rebel army has stepped up a campaign of child abductions in the three countries where it operates, according to foreign investigators, humanitarian groups and Ugandan military authorities in the capital, Kampala. The Lord's Resistance Army, a messianic armed movement that has waged a 21-year insurrection against the Ugandan government, has recently scooped up more than 100 boys and girls. The children are then forced into the rebel army ranks or made to serve as sexual hostages. The abductions are being carried out in southern Sudan, Congo and the Central African Republic, three nations where the rebels maintain bases. Last month, the group kidnapped 100 children in the Central African Republic and 30 others along the Sudan-Congo border. (Source: Washington Post)

Americas

Canadian sources said that last week, the Defence Department ran into problems with its $2.9-billion plan to buy three new supply ships, announced with fanfare by the Conservative government in 2006. The ships are intended to replace the Preserver and the Protecteur, oil tankers and supply ships that were built in the 1960s. The navy’s wish list for the vessels includes more capabilities than are typical for such ships, with a shipboard hospital, some weapons and the ability to offload soldiers and equipment at dockside. But sources in Ottawa say the proposals that have come back from the two companies qualified to bid are so steep that even without some of the capabilities requested, the planned budget may not be enough for three ships.

(Source: Chronicle Herald-CAN)

There are no police anymore in Villa Ahumada. Even the mayor has fled. Drug gangs have virtually seized this town of 1,500 not far from Texas, as Mexico's cartels grow increasingly audacious. The Mexican military took over the police department this week because all 20 officers on the force have either been killed, run out of town or quit, officials said Tuesday. Mayor Fidel Urrutia took refuge in the state capital of Chihuahua City, 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away, where he's waiting for the soldiers to recover his town. (Source: AP)

Washington's top diplomat in Venezuela said Tuesday the United States is taking steps to make sure its counter-drug planes don't stray into Venezuelan airspace again, but President Hugo Chavez's government isn't satisfied. U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy acknowledged an S-3 Navy plane flew into Venezuelan airspace during an anti-drug mission over the Caribbean Sea, saying it was an accident due to a navigational error. But Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro presented Duddy with a protest letter and said after their meeting that he was not satisfied. (Source: AP)

Asia

Japan's parliament voted to allow the country's space programs to be used for defense for the first time Wednesday as part of Tokyo's push to give its military a greater international role. The upper house of parliament approved the legislation with an overwhelming 221-14 vote. The vote followed earlier approval by the lower house, thereby lifting a 1969 ban on military use of outer space. The law, one of several moves in recent years by Japan to give greater freedom to its armed forces, allows the military to develop more advanced spy satellites for intelligence gathering and missile defense. However, the law says that the space programs will have to be limited to defense only as defined in the nation's pacifist constitution. The U.S.-drafted 1947 constitution prohibits Japan from offensive warfare. The law came with a supplementary resolution to ensure transparency and review within two years of enactment, said ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Hiroshi Okada, who chairs the upper house Cabinet affairs committee. (Source: AP)

Myanmar shunned a U.S. proposal for naval ships to deliver aid to cyclone victims on Wednesday, according to state-run media, dimming hopes that the vessels could provide a major boost to relief efforts. The New Light of Myanmar, a mouthpiece for Myanmar's ruling junta, said that such assistance "comes with strings attached," citing fears that Washington wants to overthrow the country's government and seize its oil. The U.S., as well as France and Great Britain, have naval vessels loaded with humanitarian supplies off the Myanmar coast, and had been waiting for a green light to deliver them. The article did not say whether the French and British supplies would be allowed. The state media report said that other U.S. aid airlifted into the country was welcome, an apparent reference to ongoing relief flights, which land in the country about five times a day. American officials are required to hand the aid to Myanmar authorities upon landing in Yangon, from which it is a difficult journey to the Irrawaddy delta. (Source: AP)

Police lobbed tear gas shells to break up an anti-Maoist rally during a day-long strike in the Nepali capital on Wednesday in a protest over the killing of a businessman by Maoist former rebels. Ram Hari Shrestha, a restaurant owner, was abducted and killed in southern Nepal earlier this month. Maoists said some of their members killed him, but they were not acting on the party's orders. They have vowed to bring the culprits to justice. Schools and businesses were shut in Kathmandu on Wednesday, as protesters set up road blocks and burned tires at some intersections to stop vehicles. (Source: Reuters)

Sri Lanka's air force launched a strike on Tamil Tiger rebels near the front lines in the war-ravaged northern region, while infantry clashes killed 25 rebels, the military said Wednesday. Air force helicopter gunships attacked a rebel mortar launching point near the front lines in northern Jaffna peninsula early Wednesday. He said the air attack was carried out in support of army troops fighting the rebels. He did not have details of damage or casualties. Meanwhile, ground battles Tuesday in the Welioya, Vavuniya and Mannar areas bordering the rebels' de facto state in the north killed 25 rebels. In the worst fighting, soldiers killed 19 rebels in three separate battles in Vavuniya, the statement said. It said nine soldiers were wounded in the same clashes. Scattered battles in Welioya and Mannar killed six rebels and wounded eight soldiers. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan was not immediately available for comment. (Source: AP)

Europe

Doubts over the British Government's plan to order two 65,000-tonne aircraft carriers were lifted yesterday when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced that it was ready to sign the £3.9 billion contract. A full audit of the carrier program, including an assessment of whether there will be enough crew and pilots to man the huge vessels, has been ordered by one of the MoD's senior military commanders. The breakthrough in the long-awaited contract came yesterday when Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, gave approval for building the two super-carriers, the first of which, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is supposed to be ready for operations in 2014. (Source: The Times-UK)

Spanish and French police arrested the reputed leader of the armed Basque separatist group ETA and five other people, hitting back amid a sustained campaign of bombings by the militant organization, officials said Wednesday. Francisco Javier Lopez Pena and three other alleged ETA members were detained in the southwestern French city of Bordeaux on Tuesday night. Two more people were arrested Wednesday, one in Spain and a French citizen in France who was linked to the Bordeaux apartment, he said. French police said handguns and materials that could be used for making bombs were found in the apartment. (Source: AP)

Georgians voted Wednesday in parliamentary elections seen testing the ex-Soviet republic's democratic credentials as the pro-Western president accused neighbouring Russia of encouraging "turmoil." The election, which polls forecast will be won by President Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement, opened under sunny skies in the strategic ex-Soviet republic. (Source: AFP)

Middle East

Egypt's government is seeking emergency funding for security forces in anticipation of riots over rising food prices.

"Since December 2007, food prices have risen by 50 per cent, a matter that should prompt the increase of allocations," Deputy Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Jihad Yusuf said. Officials cited labor unrest and the bread shortage, which has resulted in several deaths over the past two months. In a briefing to parliament, Yusuf said the ministry was spending more money on advanced security equipment meant to quell riots. The official cited communications systems, plastic shields, tear gas and other non-lethal weapons. (Source: World Tribune)

Israeli intelligence officials believe Hamas currently has, in Gaza, several hundred factory-made BM-21 rockets, each with a range of 20 kilometers. They also have 6-kilometer.-range B-12 rockets. The locally-made Kassam II has about the same range, but the B-12 is more reliable. In 2002, Hamas began firing Kassam I rockets at Jewish settlements in Gaza and into southern Israel. By 2003, there was the Kassam II, with a range of 8 kilometer. The Kassam III has a range of 10 kilometer. By June 2004, about 200 Kassams had been fired into southern Israel. By the end of 2005, over 400 Kassams had been fired at Israeli targets. In the next six months, another 600 rockets were fired. About a thousand Kassams were fired into Israel during 2006. This doubled, to two thousand in 2007, and during the first four months of 2008, another 2,000 were fired. For every 30-40 Kassams fired, an Israeli is killed or wounded. Hamas has hopes that someday soon they will attack in conjunction with Hizbullah firing rockets into northern Israel, and Iran firing rockets into Tel Aviv. (Source: Strategy Page)

Palestinian Authority (PA) forces recently deployed in Jenin are highly motivated to reduce the political and military capabilities of Hamas and of Islamic Jihad. "The enemy is whoever threatens the PA," Palestinian soldier Fa'id Yusuf explained. "And that mainly means Hamas. We are acting to enforce the law and against anyone who endangers us. We fought Israel in the past, I even stole cars from there, but now we've had enough. Now, give me peace with my cousins." Armed gunman have disappeared from the streets of Jenin and even of Kabatiya to the south, considered an Islamic Jihad stronghold. The green flags of Hamas have disappeared from the streets and Hamas welfare institutions have closed down. The commander of the Palestinian forces in the Jenin district, Major-General Suliman Umran, says that Palestinian and Israeli officers are working together in an unprecedented manner in some Area B villages. "The young people who watch them are learning it's possible to cooperate. The Palestinian forces are different now," Umran said. (Source: Ha'aretz)

Israel and Syria have launched indirect peace negotiations, with Turkey acting as a go-between, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced on Wednesday. Peace talks between Syria and Israel broke down in 2000 over the fate of the strategic Golan Heights plateau occupied by Israel for four decades. (Source: AFP)

Lebanon's feuding factions ended an 18-month political crisis Wednesday after reaching a breakthrough deal that gives the militant Hizbullah and their allies veto power on any government decision. The agreement is a major triumph for Hizbullah, handing the armed Shiite guerrilla group increased political power and further eroding the government's frail command of the religiously and politically divided country. The deal brokered after five days of talks in Qatar, were a dramatic cap to Lebanon's worst internal fighting since the Civil War (1975-90). At least 67 people were killed when clashes broke between pro-government groups and the opposition in the streets Beirut and elsewhere earlier this month. As Lebanon came close to a new all-out war, Arab League mediators intervened and got the sides to agree to hold last-ditch negotiations in the Qatari capital, Doha, to resolve the crisis. (Source: AP)

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, will acknowledge it was unable to follow up on the allegations in a report to be presented as early as Friday to its 35-nation board. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei expressed optimism a month ago when he announced that Iran agreed to review intelligence collected by the U.N. agency, just a few weeks after Tehran had declared the books closed on any attempt to look into its alleged nuclear arms programs. But the diplomats said Iran had again rejected the evidence presented by agency officials as bogus and refused to hold further discussions or allow U.N. experts to check into the charges. In February, IAEA Deputy Director General Olli Heinonen detailed the intelligence, and the results of the agency's own investigations, to the board at a closed door presentation. Those present at the meeting said the material included an Iranian video depicting mock-ups of a missile re-entry vehicle. They said Heinonen suggested the component was configured in a way that strongly suggested it was meant to carry a nuclear warhead. (Source: AP)

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A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news.

By Professor Joseph B. Varner

A provincial governor says a roadside blast has killed five nomads and dozens of sheep in southwestern Afghanistan. The Nimroz province Governor Ghulam Dastagir says the nomads were transporting sheep on a truck when their vehicle hit the freshly planted bomb late on Monday. Dastagir accused Taliban militants for the blast. It happened on the road frequently used by Afghan and foreign troops. More than 1,200 people, mostly militants, have died in insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan this year.

(Source: AP)

A Taliban suicide bomber killed four Afghans on Sunday in the heart of a town taken from rebels five months ago and a foreign soldier in a U.S.-led force died in another blast. The soldier, whose nationality was not released, was killed with an Afghan "non-combatant" in the blast in the southern province of Zabul, the coalition said in a statement that gave no further details. Another soldier was seriously injured in the attack in which a bomb blew up a military vehicle. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, but the extremist Taliban militia, in government until 2001, has carried out a series of similar attacks. The insurgent group confirmed it was behind a suicide bombing that tore through a bazaar in the town of Musa Qala, a Taliban base and drugs centre in the province of Helmand for 10 months until troops entered in December. The attacker ran at a police vehicle patrolling the town and exploded on impact. Four civilians were killed and three wounded, two of them seriously. Five policemen were hurt. A day earlier a NATO helicopter carrying the Helmand governor, Gulab Mangal, came under fire from Taliban as it was about to land in Musa Qala. In another operation, Afghan soldiers killed 15 Taliban in "face-to-face fighting" in the western province of Badghis on Saturday. The violence left 8,000 people dead last year, most of them rebels, and alarmed Afghans as well as some of the nearly 40 nations with troops here in what they say is a battle to stem more terror attacks worldwide. (Source: AFP)

The Afghan government will decide when foreign troops will leave the country, the foreign minister said on Tuesday, but added they would be needed until Afghan security forces could stand on their own feet. Currently some 60,000 foreign troops led by NATO and the U.S. military are stationed in Afghanistan where the Al Qaeda-backed Taliban movement has made a comeback since 2006. The number of Western-trained and funded Afghan security forces fighting against the militants stands at nearly 150,000. (Source: Reuters)

A roadside bomb exploded Tuesday near a military truck in northwestern Pakistan, wounding at least five troops and one civilian. Local police chief Ibrahim Khan said the bomb was apparently attached to a bicycle and went off in the town of Kohat, about 40 miles south of Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but it comes two days after a suicide bombing outside a military base in the northwestern town of Mardan that killed 11 people, including four soldiers. A Taliban militant group claimed responsibility for that attack. (Source: AP)

A Yemeni-American on the FBI's most-wanted list of terror suspects was jailed in Yemen after an appeals court upheld his 10-year prison sentence, officials said Monday. Washington had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to Jaber Elbaneh's arrest, but Yemeni law forbade his extradition even after the police arrested him in 2004. Elbaneh, who has been accused of belonging to Al Qaeda, has been convicted of plots to attack oil installations in Yemen and of involvement in a 2002 attack on the French tanker Limburg off Yemen's coast that killed one person.

(Source: IHT)

Moroccan security services have arrested 11 people on charges of plotting attacks in Morocco and Belgium and having links to Iraq's insurgency, the Moroccan state news agency said Monday. The suspects, including a Moroccan living in Belgium, were arrested in the cities of Nador and Fez, the MAP agency said, citing unidentified police officials. The report did not say when the arrests took place. Those arrested are accused of having links to cells sending fighters to Iraq's insurgency and to camps of an Algeria-based militant group, Al Qaeda in Islamic North Africa. The report said authorities believed the suspects were planning attacks in Morocco and Belgium, without elaborating. (Source: AP)

Iraq

President Bush has apologized to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for an American sniper's use of a copy of the Quran for target practice, Maliki's office said Tuesday. A statement issued by al-Maliki's office said Bush offered the apology in a telephone call to the Iraqi leader late Monday. Bush told al-Maliki that the sniper would face trial, it added. The U.S. military said Sunday it had disciplined the sniper and removed him from Iraq after he was found to have used Islam's holy book for target practice on May 9. The copy of the Quran was found two days later by Iraqis on a firing range in Radwaniyah, west of Baghdad, with 14 bullet holes in it and graffiti written on its pages. On Saturday, the top American commander in Baghdad, Major General Jeffery Hammond, and other officers held a formal ceremony apologizing to tribal chiefs in Radwaniyah.

(Source: AP)

United States

Foreign oil imports fell in the United States in the first quarter of 2008, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. Foreign imports fell to 57.9 percent of the country's consumption, down from 58.2 percent a year ago. The trend is pushed by high oil prices, biofuel production mandates and improved fuel efficiency in cars, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. Increased demand in emerging markets has kept oil prices high in spite of a decline in the United States. (Source: UPI)

The Louisiana National Guard unit that was called home in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was ordered yesterday to prepare to return to Iraq for its second tour. The members of the 256th Brigade Combat Team were not alone. Pentagon officials notified about 40,000 active-duty and National Guard soldiers yesterday that they will be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in the upcoming months and years. About 25,000 active-duty troops and 14,000 National Guard members will be called to replace those returning from the region. The majority will be going to Iraq. (Source: Washington Times)

Africa

President Thabo Mbeki made an impassioned appeal for South Africans to respect the dignity of foreigners as calls grew on Tuesday for troops to be sent in to stamp out xenophobic violence. The flare-up in the Johannesburg region, now believed to have claimed the lives of 23 people and displaced thousands, has badly stretched police resources in one of the world's most crime-ridden cities. While the overall situation appeared Tuesday to have calmed down slightly, tension was palpable in many townships where mobs armed with axes and machetes could still be seen roaming the streets. (Source: AFP)

Americas

A day after surrendering to the army, a one-eyed, battle-hardened female rebel commander urged other guerrillas Monday to follow her example and abandon their decades-long struggle. Nelly Avila Moreno, better known as "Karina," denied her bloody reputation during a news conference. She said she surrendered because she was encircled, had a bounty on her head and was spooked by the recent murder of a fellow rebel leader by one of his bodyguards. Avila, 40, nevertheless expressed admiration for Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chavez, who has been implicated in seeking to arm and finance the rebels in documents the Colombian government says it found on the computer of a different slain guerrilla. (Source: AP)

Asia

Japan should boost defense spending instead of decreasing it as Tokyo's Asian neighbors expand their military budgets, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan said Tuesday. Over the last decade China has increased military expenditures by an average of 14.2 percent annually, and South Korea's defense budget has grown 73 percent, said J. Thomas Schieffer, U.S. ambassador in Japan since 2005. In contrast, Japan's ratio of defense spending to gross domestic product has been declining. Japan's Ministry of Defense expects a budget of $46 billion this fiscal year through March 2009, down 0.8 percent from the previous year, a trend Schieffer called "troubling." (Source: AP)

China said it was struggling to find shelter for many of the 5 million people whose homes were destroyed in last week's earthquake, while the confirmed death toll rose Tuesday to more than 40,000. Meanwhile, rescuers pulled a 31-year-old man to safety, the second known case of someone being found alive a week after the May 12 earthquake. Ma Yuanjiang was saved from the debris of the Yingxiu Bay Hydropower Plant after a 30-hour rescue effort. Ma was able to speak and began to eat small amounts of food, colleague Wu Geng told the agency. A miner was rescued after being trapped for 170 hours Monday. The State Council, China's Cabinet, raised the overall confirmed death toll to 40,075, most of those in Sichuan province. Officials have said the final number killed by the quake is expected to surpass 50,000.

(Source: AP)

Taiwanese prosecutors launched a corruption probe against outgoing President Chen Shui-bian on Tuesday, hours after he completed eight combative years in office. The Supreme Prosecutors Office, which reports directly to the Supreme Court, said in a statement that Chen was being investigated for his role in the handling of a special presidential fund used to pursue Taiwan's foreign diplomacy. There was no immediate comment from Chen. The investigation relates the alleged embezzlement of $484,000. Chen's wife was indicted in December 2006 over the fund's handling. At the time, prosecutors said Chen could be indicted once he left office, ending his presidential immunity. (Source: AP)

Meanwhile, Taiwan's new President took office Tuesday and set the tone for his administration's policy on rival China: better economic and political ties but no plans for unification with the mainland. The inauguration of Ma Ying-jeou, 57, represents a clear break from the eight-year presidency of Chen Shui-bian, whose confrontational pro-independence policies often led to friction with Beijing, and with the United States, Taiwan's most important foreign partner. (Source: AP)

The U.N. Secretary-General will meet the head of Myanmar's ruling junta during a visit this week to discuss assistance for cyclone victims. U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes says Ban Ki-moon is supposed to visit Myanmar on Thursday for talks and an inspection of the devastated area. On Sunday, he is supposed to attend a meeting of aid donors in Yangon. (Source: AP)

Pakistan said it would release nearly 100 Indian prisoners in a goodwill gesture as it resumed peace talks with India on Tuesday for the first time since Islamabad's new civilian government took over from military rule. India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the new "democratic environment" in Pakistan would help the two nations seek "peace, stability and economic development." Both neighbor countries want to sustain the slow-moving dialogue, started four years ago under former military strongman, President Pervez Musharraf. But the instability of the new Pakistan government could further hinder progress. Top civil servants from the two foreign ministries met Tuesday in Islamabad to review the four rounds of talks held since the peace process began in early 2004. (Source: AP)

Middle East

France has had contacts with the leaders of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas "for several months," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday. In an interview with Europe 1 radio, Kouchner said Hamas still does not recognize the State of Israel but is "more flexible than before" on the subject. Historically, Hamas has called for Israel's elimination. In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "We don't believe it is helpful to the process of bringing peace to the region." The U.S. and EU consider Hamas a terrorist organization. (Source: Washington Post)

Israel is reportedly skeptical that a cease-fire with Hamas will be reached and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is preparing for a large-scale military operation in Gaza, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said in recent closed-door meetings, adding that he is letting the process play out in order to show respect for the Egyptian leadership. (Source: Jerusalem Post)

Israel is demanding that Egypt engage in thorough screening efforts deep within Egyptian territory in order to stop all those who travel to Iran, and particularly those who return from it, as well as the rocket launchers, explosives, and anti-aircraft rockets sent to Hamas by Iran. In the wake of the Philadelphi Route breach in January, Egypt managed to work effectively in Sinai to prevent the infiltration of armed Hamas men planning to carry out attacks. Now, Israel is demanding that Egypt prevent unarmed Hamas men who are traveling to Iran for training from passing through Egypt. Israeli security officials say that what matters is not what Hamas does or demands, but rather what Egypt does. President Mubarak will determine whether a lull in Gaza goes into effect or not, through the actions of his people on the ground. For Israel, the key lies with vigorous Egyptian activity that would cut Gaza off from the "bosses" in Tehran. (Source: Ynet News)

Israel is mistaken if it thinks that a truce with Hamas would mean that "resistance operations" would end, Osama Hamdan, Hamas' representative in Lebanon, said Monday. "As far as Hamas is concerned, all options remain open." (Source: Jerusalem Post)

A Palestinian carrying four pipe bombs was killed Monday at the Hawara checkpoint south of Nablus in the West Bank. Corporal Michal Ya'akov of the military police spotted four pipe bombs strapped to his body. "I identified the explosive devices and yelled 'bomb in the checkpoint' and cocked my rifle. Everyone aimed at the Palestinian's head and neck so as not to set off the explosives," she said. (Source: Ynet News)

Palestinian terrorists on Tuesday launched two Kassam rockets from Gaza at the Sderot area. (Source: Jerusalem Post)

Iran's disputed nuclear program has sent a wave of interest in atomic energy across the Middle East, a think tank said Tuesday, warning that it risked setting the scene for a regional nuclear arms race. At least 13 Middle Eastern countries either announced new plans to explore atomic energy or revived pre-existing nuclear programs between February 2006 and January 2007, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, or IISS, said in a report. While the flurry of interest in nuclear power is still tentative, the report said countries such as Saudi Arabia, Algeria or Egypt could soon feel the need to match Iran's nuclear ambitions. The report cautioned that most of the programs were still immature, it noted that sustainable new reactor projects in the Middle East were at least 10 or 15 years away, and said motivations were mixed.

(Source: AP)

US President George W. Bush intends to attack Iran in the upcoming months, before the end of his term, Army Radio quoted a senior official in Jerusalem as saying Tuesday.

The official claimed that a senior member of the president's entourage, which concluded a trip to Israel last week, said during a closed meeting that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were of the opinion that military action was called for. However, the official continued, "the hesitancy of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" was preventing the administration from deciding to launch such an attack on the Islamic Republic, for the time being. The report stated that according to assessments in Israel, recent turmoil in Lebanon, where Hizbullah de facto established control of the country, was advancing an American attack. Bush, the officials said, opined that Hizbullah's show of strength was evidence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's growing influence. They said that according to Bush, "the disease must be treated, not its symptoms." (Source: AP)

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By Jenni Hesterman

LTTE suicide bomber Dhanu with a wood necklace minutes before killing former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991.

Officials in Israel are speaking openly about their recent success hindering suicide bombings that caused their country incalculable psychological and economic damage. Although the U.S. has been spared this particularly brutal and effective means of terrorizing the populace, law enforcement must be ever vigilant of the threat of suicide bombing in public areas such as shopping malls, amusement parks, sports venues, restaurants and hotels. Lessons learned by Israel and other countries combating suicide bombings are certainly applicable and worthy of analysis by all engaged in the war on terror.

The May 21, 1991 suicide bombing and assassination of Rajiv Ghandi, a former Prime Minister of India, gives a particularly useful blueprint for this type of operation. The assassination proposal originated with a senior officer in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who was angry about PM Ghandi’s decision to send Indian troops into Sri Lanka to assist their government’s battle with LTTE. Since Ghandi’s return to power was imminent, the officer was determined to kill him. He next recruited 4 lieutenants to execute the plan. One lieutenant went to a particular neighborhood and began recruiting locals who would harbor the assassination team. Another began to solicit explosive experts who could assemble the device. Another began recruiting the suicide bomber and accomplices that would carry out the mission.

This case study illustrates that many people are engaged in the planning of a suicide bombing. These players are obviously sources that could provide valuable to the dismantling of a terrorist operation during the early stages. Israel places a high value on Human Intelligence and weaves HUMINT into all aspects of their law enforcement activities. A prevalent saying in their intelligence community guides their efforts: “the small bring in the big”. Israeli law enforcement and intelligence collection agents build long term, lasting relationships on the ground with all types of business people. For instance waitresses, bartenders, taxi drivers and barbers can be a wealth of information. Emergency room employees, gas station workers, and grocery or drug store employees are all good collection sources. Around a specific target, street vendors are worthy of engagement since they frequent the same area and have a perfect viewpoint for noticing out-of-the-ordinary activity. If protecting a church is the objective, the clergy and worshippers are valuable informants. The key is to cultivate the relationship; visit the sources regularly, build their trust, instruct them on what to look for, and make sure they have a way of contacting you 24/7 if they notice something suspicious. Your sources are force multipliers and critical to gleaning the information needed to identify, monitor and then disrupt terrorist activities.

Prior to the assassination of PM Ghandi, the suicide bombing team made two dry runs. Both were photographed. In the second dry run, on May 12th, the suicide bomber, known as Dhanu, approached an important government official and future Prime Minister, V.P. Singh, at a public event and was able to practice the entire bombing sequence of events. She placed a wood necklace on him, bent and kissed his feet. Just 11 days later, she did the same to PM Ghandi and pulled the trigger on her bomb belt.

Similar to other types of terrorist attacks, such as the 7/7 attacks in London, dry runs will happen prior to a suicide bombing. The area may be videotaped or photographed, and a team member may walk the ground and pace off their steps. Notes may be taken about the crowd size at various times. The builders of the bomb need special materials and will visit stores to collect what they require. Often, as in the case of the would-be transatlantic aircraft bombers currently on trial in London, they will spread their visits out among several stores so as not to draw attention to themselves when purchasing large quantities of items. If illegal weapons such as grenades are needed, the builder will need to move out of the circle of those aware of the plot, potentially exposing him and the planners. Well cultivated sources will notice this unusual activity and alert you.

Now that the enemy is using women and children as bombers, profiling does not carry the weight it once did. A suicide bomber can be any gender, age, or from any socioeconomic background. As in the case of the Ghandi assassination, the bomber may be an innocent person who is brainwashed into thinking that killing themselves and the target is logical, or the bomber could be a victim of the plot who forced to cooperate. Therefore, emerging facial recognition technology employed near the target may not work when it comes to detection of a suicide bomber and in fact, that detection would come too late.

Perhaps the only and last lines of defense against suicide bombings are the law abiding, observant, brave sources in our communities.

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A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news.

By Professor Joseph B. Varner

Global War on Terror
A U.N. rights official has alleged that foreign intelligence agents have taken part in secret raids in Afghanistan that have killed civilians. U.N. special rapporteur Philip Alston told reporters Thursday he is aware of at least three such recent raids in the country's south and east. He said no one was taking responsibility for the killings. He said one raid in January that killed two Afghan brothers was conducted by Afghans and personnel from a U.S. Special Forces base in Kandahar. (Source: Globe and Mail)

Canada and its allies in Afghanistan face increased threats from Taliban extremists because of deals they have struck with Pakistan that could be giving the extremists havens across the border, NATO said yesterday. NATO spokesman James Appathurai said attacks in eastern Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan, rose 50 per cent in April. (Source: Canada.com)

On Wednesday, the morning after serial blasts tore through the pink-walled center of this western Indian city in one of the first terror attacks in many months, the authorities imposed a daylong curfew, the police and civic leaders shooed people off of the streets to stave off any prospect of Hindu-Muslim tension, and foreign tourists were restricted to their hotel rooms. There were no further leads on who may have been responsible for the Tuesday evening bombings, eight explosions in all, said A.S. Gill, the director general of police for Rajasthan State, of which Jaipur is the capital. "The intention obviously was to create communal disturbances," he said, adding that nothing of the sort had yet materialized. "It's totally peaceful." The police were interrogating several people. The explosives had been attached to bicycles, the mangled ruins of which were found at the site. The official death toll climbed to 63 by Wednesday afternoon, according to the office of the Rajasthan State chief minister, Vasundhara Raje, with more than 100 others injured. The bombs targeted the dense warrens of the 18th century walled city. One went off in front of a temple to the Hindu god Hanuman, which is particularly crowded with worshipers on Tuesdays. Others exploded within minutes of each other at busy intersections and in markets thronged with shoppers, including the popular Johri Bazaar, which is lined with jewelers. The dead and wounded included Hindus and Muslims. The last major bombing in India was in August, when a pair of bombs went off in an outdoor auditorium and restaurant in the southern city of Hyderabad, killing more than 40. Two years ago, serial blasts along the commuter train line in Mumbai, the country's commercial capital, killed nearly 200. Similar terrorist attacks aimed at religious sites in recent years have not succeeded in setting off sectarian violence. The Hindu holy city of Varanasi was struck by a pair of bombings in March 2006, killing 14. More than two dozen people were killed in September 2006 in a series of explosions in and near the largest mosque in Malegaon, and a blast killed two worshipers in one of the holiest Muslim shrines in Ajmer, also in Rajasthan, last September. (Source: IHT)

Jordan's state security court on Wednesday sentenced three Jordanians to 15 years in jail for plotting an attack against U.S. President Bush when he visited the kingdom in 2006. (Source: AFP)

A French judge on Wednesday convicted seven men on terrorism charges for recruiting young French Muslims to fight against U.S. forces in Iraq. Prosecutors alleged that the seven, five Frenchmen, a Moroccan and an Algerian, helped send about a dozen French fighters to training camps linked to the insurgent group Al Qaeda in Iraq. The investigation of an alleged recruiting ring started four years ago after a young Frenchman was found dead in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. The discovery fueled nationwide concern that France's poor immigrant communities could become fertile recruiting grounds for disenfranchised Muslim youths who might then turn to suicide attacks against European targets. (Source: Washington Post)

A long-delayed trial of CIA operatives and former top Italian intelligence officials moved forward here on Wednesday, as a judge ruled that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi could be called to testify about the abduction of a radical Muslim cleric here in 2003. Testimony also began Wednesday. The cleric's wife, Ghali Nabila, said her husband, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, known as Abu Omar, was taken from Italy and transferred to a prison in Egypt, where, she said, he was repeatedly tortured. While acknowledging a program of "extraordinary rendition," or abducting terrorism suspects outside the United States, the Bush administration claims that no one is sent to nations that torture. (Source: IHT)

The chief judge of the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, war court has set June 5 for the first court appearances of reputed September 11 2001, mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four suspected conspirators. The judge, Marine Colonel Ralph Kohlmann, notified military defense attorneys by e-mail Wednesday that he would preside over the case. He scheduled arraignment of the five men at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba. (Source: Seattle Times)

Iraq

A youthful suicide bomber killed at least 23 people Wednesday in an attack against relatives of Colonel Faisal Ismail al-Zobaie, a U.S.-backed police chief and former insurgent who has turned against his onetime comrades. Zobaie, the police chief of Fallujah in Anbar province, said a bomber of about 12 years of age attacked the funeral of Zobaie's uncle. He said insurgents had seized his uncle, a school principal, on Tuesday, demanding to know whether the police chief was his nephew. Iraqi officials said 25 people were wounded in the bombing in addition to a death toll of at least 23. The U.S. military said in a statement that "preliminary reports indicate" 14 people were killed and eight were wounded.

Another bombing Wednesday was carried out by a teenage girl who targeted Iraqi soldiers south of Baghdad, according to the U.S. military. At least one Iraqi soldier was killed and seven were wounded. (Source: Washington Post)

United States

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday that the United States should construct a combination of incentives and pressure to engage Iran, and may have missed earlier opportunities to begin a useful dialogue with Tehran. (Source: Washington Post)

An Army board headed by General David H. Petraeus has selected several combat-tested counterinsurgency experts for promotion to the rank of brigadier general, sifting through more than 1,000 colonels to identify a handful of innovative leaders who will shape the future Army, according to current and former senior Army officers. The choices suggest that the unusual decision to put the top U.S. officer in Iraq in charge of the promotions board has generated new thinking on the qualities of a successful Army officer, and also deepened Petraeus's imprint on the Army. Petraeus, who spent nearly four of the past five years in Iraq and has seen many of the colonels in action there, faces confirmation hearings next week to take charge of Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia. (Source: Washington Post)

The United States has detained approximately 2,500 people younger than 18 as illegal enemy combatants in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay since 2002, according to a report filed by the Bush administration with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. (Source: Washington Post)

The House Armed Services Committee approved a bill early Thursday that authorizes $601.4 billion in defense spending for next year, including a 3.9 percent pay raise for troops. The pay increase and other service benefits included in the bill, such as a prohibition on increased health care fees, is more than President Bush wants. But it is in synch with a broader election-year effort by lawmakers to boost benefits for service members and veterans. (Source: AP)

Africa

Mob violence against Zimbabweans and other foreigners this week has killed at least two people and injured about 60 in an impoverished Johannesburg neighborhood, authorities said Wednesday. The nightly attacks first began Sunday night and officials appealed for an end to the violence. On Wednesday, African National Congress leaders including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela visited Alexandra, the crowded township where the attacks occurred, to urge more compassion for foreigners. (Source: AP)

Americas

Canada's military strategy for the next 20 years exists in a document that, for now, is being withheld from the public and is for the eyes of federal cabinet only. The revelation yesterday contradicts the official government line that was put forth Monday when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mr. MacKay, announced the "Canada First Defence Strategy," with great fanfare. At the time, Mr. MacKay's spokesmen said Canadians would have to rely on the speeches of the Prime Minister and Defence Minister, not a written document that laid out the plans. (Source: Ottawa Citizen)

Asia

The Chinese government accelerated its massive rescue-and-recovery operation Wednesday, dispatching hundreds of busloads of civilian rescue teams, paramilitary police and youthful volunteers toward earthquake-ravaged regions in a vivid demonstration of the Communist Party's power to mobilize. Lines of buses and cars, many with red banners carrying political slogans, filled highways leading north from the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, near the epicenter of Monday's quake. They were joined by trucks carrying cranes, front-end loaders and tarps. Li Chengyun, the vice governor of Sichuan, estimated that 26,000 people were still buried under collapsed buildings and that an additional 14,000 were missing, according to the official New China News Agency. As rescue teams reached more isolated towns and villages, it became clear the death toll could eventually reach 50,000. On Wednesday, the number of con--firmed dead rose to nearly 15,000, according to a government estimate. The people of Fuxin, a farming village on the edge of Mianzhu city, 40 miles north of Chengdu, said they lost 300 children when the Fuxin No. 2 Primary School pancaked right after the tremor. There were also concerns about disasters that could compound the crisis. A dam near the city of Dujiangyan had started to crack, forcing the deployment of 2,000 soldiers to forestall flooding. (Source: Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/14/AR2008051400784.html

Burmese military authorities have agreed to let 160 aid workers from four Asian countries assist its struggling cyclone relief effort, aid officials said Wednesday, the government's first acknowledgment that it needs foreign expertise. Thailand's Ministry of Public Health confirmed that it is sending 30 doctors, along with medical supplies, on Wednesday to work in Burma for two weeks. U.N. officials said India, China and Bangladesh have also been asked to send experienced disaster relief teams. The news came as five more U.S. military C-130 transport planes, carrying such desperately needed supplies as water, mosquito nets, plastic sheets, blankets and hygiene kits, flew into Burma's largest city, Rangoon, in an acceleration of U.S. assistance following Tropical Cyclone Nargis. The United Nations noted other "progress" as it tried to get aid to the worst-hit areas in the Irrawaddy Delta. Long-awaited visas for some U.N. disaster relief and logistics experts have come through. (Source: Washington Post)

Europe

The Spanish government accused Basque militants of detonating a powerful truck bomb outside a barracks housing police officers and their families in northern Spain on Wednesday that tore through the building and killed a policeman. The explosion on the outskirts of Legutiano, a small town near Vitoria, the Basque capital, struck the barracks without warning in the middle of the night, as about 30 members of the Spanish Civil Guard and their families slept. (Source: IHT)

Whenever the United States sends missile defense negotiators to the Czech Republic and Poland, where the Bush administration intends to deploy parts of its anti-ballistic shield, they encounter surprisingly different attitudes. In the Czech Republic, where negotiations are all but complete, the administration deals with a government that believes that the threat the shield is designed to counter comes from Iran and other "rogue" regimes. In Poland, traditionally one of the closest U.S. allies in this part of Europe, Donald Tusk's center-right Civic Platform coalition has taken a dramatically different stance. It believes the threat comes from Russia, not the Middle East. (Source: IHT)

The Kremlin rolled out the red carpet Wednesday for Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, the first foreign official to hold talks with President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin since they took up their new positions last week. Steinmeier had hoped to bring to Moscow an agreement from the European Union that would launch negotiations on a long-delayed EU-Russia trade and cooperation accord. But EU countries failed Tuesday to agree on how to begin despite an earlier agreement reached in Lithuania on Sunday that should have allowed the talks to move forward. Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy and Luxembourg had sought a more flexible negotiating mandate that would allow softer language toward Russia. (Source: IHT)

Middle East

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has recently changed his stance on the issue of a cease-fire and, according to top officials, now believes that Israel and Hamas are on a collision course. Ashkenazi had been reluctant to endorse a broad ground offensive, but the deadly attacks from Gaza in the past week have made him inclined to recommend a ground operation deep inside the territory. (Source: Jerusalem Post)

As President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert were meeting in Jerusalem on Wednesday, a Palestinian Grad rocket crashed into a busy shopping mall in central Ashkelon, wounding 15 people and burying several shoppers under piles of rubble. In addition to those badly wounded, 11 more suffered from moderate wounds and 62 people were treated for shock. (Source: Ynet News)

Three days ago, Hamas started to target Ashkelon in order to welcome President Bush with an impressive rocket attack. Rocket cells test-fired several rockets that missed, but every strike was more accurate than the previous one. On Wednesday, they fired one of the 200 Grad (Katyusha) rockets they possess with lethal precision. As opposed to the Kassam, whose warhead contains 16 pounds of explosives, the Iranian Grad's warhead contains 44 pounds of explosives, which enabled it to penetrate the mall's thick walls and cement ceiling. The attack on Ashkelon was also Hamas' response to the terms presented by Israel Monday for a cease-fire. Hamas is unwilling to tie the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit to the cease-fire agreement and is unwilling to end arms smuggling and building up its military strength. If Israel is unwilling to accept Hamas' terms, Hamas says, it will see Grad attacks on Ashkelon and we'll see who breaks first. Hamas estimates that as long as President Bush and other leaders are in Israel, the Israeli government would not respond with a fierce military operation. (Source: Ynet News)

Lebanon's government cancelled measures on Wednesday that angered the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement and triggered the worst internal conflict since the country's Civil War (1975-90). The U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said in a statement after a meeting that it was taking the step in line with a request by the Lebanese army to preserve civil peace and promote an Arab League mediation effort to end Lebanon's 18-month-old political crisis. (Source: Reuters)

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Dozens of protesters blocked a road Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, claiming U.S.-led coalition forces killed three civilians, and a local official said police fatally shot one of the protesters and injured three of them. Villagers from the area carried three bodies to a major highway during the protest. Police allegedly opened fire, killing one and wounding three. The coalition said its troops were attacked Friday while searching compounds in the Shinwar district of Nangarhar province. "Several militants were killed" and nine insurgents were arrested, the coalition said in a statement Saturday. The coalition said the operation was targeting a "foreign fighter network" and that militants in the area had recently attacked coalition forces. The troops destroyed several automatic rifles, grenades and ammunition discovered in the compounds. (Source: AP)

Two armored Humvees were missing from a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, a military spokesman said Monday. The military was investigating whether the vehicles were stolen, although officials believed they were likely still in the possession of U.S. personnel but simply unaccounted for. The two vehicles were reported missing on May 6 from U.S. Camp Phoenix in the capital, Kabul. (Source: AP)

The first group of Malaysian peacekeepers left the Philippines on Saturday as peace talks between the government and Muslim rebels were stalled. The stalled talks raised fears that clashes could escalate again in the troubled south. Malaysian Major General Datuk Mat Yasin Bin Mat Daud, leader of an international monitoring team, said he hopes a peace agreement will be signed soon. The withdrawal is a sign of Kuala Lumpur's impatience with the slow pace of negotiations that it has brokered to try to bring an end to more than 30 years of Muslim separatist insurgency. The departing 29 Malaysians represent half of the peacekeeping force, and the other 12 Malaysians are to depart August 31. There also are contingents from Brunei and Libya, plus one Japanese aid worker. Rebel negotiators walked away from a meeting in December to protest Manila's insistence on keeping any accord within the Philippine constitution. The Malaysian facilitator of the talks, Othman Abdul Razak, has said that if Manila "wants to stick to the constitution, things will not move." Rodolfo Garcia, the chief government negotiator, tried to allay fears that the Malaysians' departure would trigger renewed fighting between government troops and the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). (Source: AP) Iraq Shiite groups brokered a reported cease-fire Saturday with militants fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad's Sadr City as the country's army launched an offensive in Mosul against Al Qaeda's main bastion in Iraq. Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, an aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said the cease-fire will go into effect Sunday. The cease-fire may not necessarily end the seven-week old clashes in Sadr City, the stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, as U.S. military has blamed clashes on breakaway groups. The bulk of the 60,000-strong Mahdi Army is not believed to have participated in the clashes. Instead the violence is blamed on splinter groups that have refused to honor a general cease-fire ordered by al-Sadr last August. Al-Sadr has directed his supporters to only fight when attacked. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military on the reported deal. (Source: AP) U.S. troops fought street battles with Shiite militia in Baghdad's Sadr City, killing three people on the first full day of a deal to end fighting in the area, a military official said Monday. U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover said troops came under attack in three incidents on Sunday evening and Monday morning in Sadr City, stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia of anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Stover said two "criminals" were shot dead by U.S. troops in two confrontations while the third was killed by a tank shell. (Source: AFP) United States More than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003 were sent anyway, Pentagon records show. This reliance on troops found medically “nondeployable” is another sign of stress placed on a military that has sent 1.6 million service members to the war zones. (Source: ArmyTimes.com) The military command overseeing the nation's most elite forces has moved away from a contentious plan that gave it broad control over anti-terrorism operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hot spots around the globe. The expanded authority for U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., was hammered through by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld well before he resigned in November 2006. The shift caused friction among leaders at other warfighting organizations who saw it an intrusion into their geographic domains. Navy Admiral Eric Olson, the command's senior officer since July 2007, has steered clear of micromanaging specific missions against Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups. The command's primary focus is to ensure these plans are fused into a broader strategy for defeating extremist ideologies. That reflects Olson's position that the troops closest to the action know best how to handle it. (Source: AP) Terrorists, insurgents and other enemies of U.S. forces are likely to use more lethal weapons and some advanced fighting tactics in years to come, according to a new Army future threat assessment called “Asymmetric Threats to Current and Future U.S. Forces.” The assessment found that U.S. adversaries will likely use more unmanned aerial vehicles, improved rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank guided missiles, shoulder-fired missiles, and vehicle-mounted mortars along with small to medium arms. The threat assessment cites the possibility of vastly increased UAV use by terrorist groups or hostile foreign governments. The report found that UAVs are currently in use by more than 32 countries worldwide, and that their costs are dropping with some of them priced at $2-3,000. The threats they pose are broken up into categories by the report including chemical threats, weaponized UAVs and so-called swarm UAVs which could be used to send hundreds of football-sized UAVs packed with explosives toward a target location. Another expected area of increased focus among potential enemies is so-called technicals, commercial vehicles outfitted with weapons such as mortars or small arms, the report states. Prevalent now in Iraq and Afghanistan, technicals have been used increasingly by insurgents. For instance, the report includes photographs of vehicle-mounted 14.5mm heavy machine guns hidden from view by a tarp. “Between January and March of 2007, insurgents in Iraq shot down multiple helicopters with technicals.” Also listed in the report is a new, more lethal, tandem blast RPG 32, a weapon able to fire from longer ranges and reload faster than its predecessor, the RGP 29. The mobile, six to ten-pound RPG 32 can hit targets out to 700 meters and beyond with anti-tank, anti-personnel and thermobaric rounds. Made by a Russian-Jordanian company called Bazalt, the RPG 32s are increasing available on the open market, Combs said. Of particular concern is the likelihood that groups of RPGs will be mounted on light aircraft and fired from the air. (Source: ArmyTimes.com) U.S. authorities rushed aid to disaster areas Monday after a series of tornadoes tore across the United States, killing at least 23 people and shattering homes and businesses. U.S. President George W. Bush called it a "sad day" for devastated communities in the states of Missouri, Oklahoma and Georgia and promised emergency federal aid. A total of 14 people were reported dead in Missouri, seven in Oklahoma, and two in the southeastern state of Georgia. There were also scores of injured. Numerous tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma late Saturday as the storms ripped across the state at 35-45 miles per hour (55-70 kmh), killing seven in the area near the town of Picher. Some 150 people were injured there. (Source: AFP) Africa Hundreds of rebels from war-ravaged Darfur clashed with Sudanese security forces on the doorstep of the capital Saturday in a dramatic widening of the five-year-old conflict. It was the first foray into the seat of the Sudanese government by a rebel group once confined to the western region, which is deeply scarred by the struggle between the ethnic African rebels and the Arab-dominated central government. The country's Interior Minister said government forces successfully "chased" away the rebels by nightfall, about three hours after the first outbreak of violence, and killed a rebel leader and his aide. State television showed footage of the fighters in handcuffs and soldiers driving confiscated jeeps through empty streets, saluting colleagues standing at attention. (Source: AP) Sudan severed relations with Chad on Sunday, accusing it of supporting fighters who assaulted the capital the night before, and warned that a top Darfur rebel leader was hiding somewhere in the city. A curfew was lifted in Khartoum but remained in effect in the capital's twin city of Omdurman, where rebels were still loose. The country's official news agency said more than 300 rebels were arrested Sunday across Omdurman. (Source: AP) Sudan on Monday arrested Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi and pressed its pursuit of Darfur rebels who threatened again to attack the capital as sporadic gunfire rang out across Khartoum. Two days after Darfur rebels attacked the capital's twin city of Omdurman, witnesses said gunfire could be heard in Khartoum around the U.S. embassy as government forces continued to pursue Darfur rebels believed to be hiding. Associates of prominent opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi said he and at least four members of his Popular Congress party were rounded up on Monday. The arrests come two days after an attack on the capital by Darfur rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the first time regional rebels have ever brought decades of violence so close to the seat of Sudanese power. The most powerful rebel group fighting government forces in Darfur, the JEM shares the Islamist ideology of Turabi, although both he and the rebels have always denied any links with each other. A friend-turned-foe of President Omar al-Beshir, Turabi last spent more than a year in detention after an alleged coup plot until he was freed in June 2005. (Source: AFP) http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080512/twl-sudan-conflict-politics-4bdc673.html Robert Mugabe's government Monday brushed off opposition calls for conditions to be attached to a run-off presidential vote in Zimbabwe, as first round victor Morgan Tsvangirai prepared to return home. After more than a month spent lobbying neighbouring countries for support as his country sank deeper into a post-election crisis, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai has indicated his return is now imminent. But while Tsvangirai has insisted he will only run in a second round against Mugabe if the ballot is guaranteed to be free and fair, the government has ruled out any suggestion that Western observers will oversee the voting and said the MDC leader had no reason to fear for his safety. (Source: AFP) Americas The North American Aerospace Defence Command is reportedly already planning how it will protect the 2010 Olympics with potentially everything from fighter aircraft to sophisticated surveillance planes. (Source: Canada.com) Authorities quarantined a train in Ontario Friday after a woman died and several others reported being ill. But a doctor later ruled out a serious infectious disease and said the train would likely soon resume its journey. Dr. David Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer, said that an elderly woman who died on the train did not have an infectious disease and the illnesses were unrelated. A passenger who was airlifted to a hospital and five others who reported being sick had unrelated minor illnesses, Williams said. He called it a confluence of three different events. (Source: AP) A reconnaissance unit from the Canadian Forces' disaster assistance response team landed in Thailand yesterday to pave the way for a possible deployment to cyclone-stricken Myanmar. The Canadian advance team touched down in Bangkok the same day that the House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion calling on reclusive Myanmar to open its borders to foreign aid workers. (Source: Globe and Mail) Gunmen killed the son of one of Mexico's reputedly most-powerful drug lords in the northern city of Culiacan, a government official said Saturday. The death of Edgar Guzman, son of suspected Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin Guzman, comes as Mexico is shaken by a wave of drug-related violence as gangs battle security forces and each other for control of trafficking routes north. Edgar Guzman was shot dead in the Pacific Coast state of Sinaloa on Thursday, said an official with the federal Attorney General's office who was not authorized to be quoted by name. Mexican media reports said the gunmen opened fire on Guzman in the parking lot of a shopping center in Sinaloa's capital, Culiacan. About 500 bullet casings from AK-47 rifles were found at the site, El Universal and Reforma newspapers reported. (Source: APhttp://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1340803) A newly disclosed set of documents that Colombia's government says were recovered from a slain rebel's computers indicate senior Venezuelan officials tried to help arm Colombia's main guerrilla army. The electronic documents, more than a dozen, were shown to The Associated Press on Friday. They detail alleged meetings between senior Venezuelan officials, including that country's chief of military intelligence and Interior Minister, and top leaders of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Some discuss the procurement of weapons, others rebel training for Venezuelan home defense forces. Venezuelan officials maintain that Bogota is manipulating the truth. (Source: AP) Asia A U.S. diplomat left North Korea on Saturday with boxes of documents detailing two decades of activities at the nuclear reactor that has been at the heart of the communist country's nuclear weapons program. Washington plans to scrutinize the technical logs from the Yongbyon reactor to see if North Korea is telling the truth about a bomb program that it has agreed to trade away for economic and political rewards. Sung Kim, the U.S. State Department's top Korea specialist, returned to South Korea by land after collecting approximately 18,000 secret papers during a three-day visit to Pyongyang. The State Department said North Korea provided the records Thursday. (Source: AP) A powerful earthquake buried 900 students in central China on Monday and killed at least 107 people, as several schools and a water tower collapsed in the tremor, state media reported. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck central China, but sent thousands of people rushing out of buildings and into the streets hundreds of miles away in Beijing and Shanghai. The temblor was felt as far away as Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand. (Source: AP) The United States delivered its first relief supplies to Myanmar on Monday, as the U.N. urged the reclusive nation to open its doors to foreign experts who can help up to 2 million cyclone victims facing disease and starvation. The unarmed military C-130 cargo plane, packed with 28,000 pounds of supplies, flew out of the Thai air force base of Utapao and landed in Yangon, capping prolonged negotiations to persuade Myanmar's military government to accept U.S. help. Several Myanmar Cabinet ministers, military officers and the top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar, Shari Villarosa, greeted the plane. (Source: AP) The lives of thousands of cyclone survivors are at extreme risk as people scramble out of the shattered Delta region to find food and shelter. Displaced people are living in appalling conditions in make-shift shelters and camps where overcrowding and unsanitary conditions are prevalent. These are the findings of a World Vision assessment team that visited 26 shelters across Myaung Mya. As thousands of villagers leave the hardest-hit areas of the Irrawaddy Delta, they embark on a journey where there is almost no food or shelter and water is contaminated by salt, human remains or animal carcasses. In Myaung Mya, an area some 50 kilometers north of the devastated town of Labutta, World Vision Myanmar staff says some 30,000 people are seeking food, water and medical attention. Children - many of them orphans, are suffering from fever, diarrhea and respiratory infections. (Source: Reuters) Police detained more than 600 female Tibetan protesters, including many Buddhist nuns, on Sunday after breaking up several demonstrations against China's recent crackdown in Tibet. It was the largest number of protesters detained on a single day since Tibetan exiles began almost daily protests in March against Chinese policies in Tibet and the first time that only women demonstrated. (Source: AP) Europe A pro-Western coalition determined to bring Serbia into the European Union made a surprisingly strong showing in parliamentary elections, but faced the specter of a protracted power struggle with rivals who vowed to join forces to form a government. The challenge cast a shadow over President Boris Tadic's claim of victory in Sunday's vote, and triggered fresh political turmoil in a country divided over whether it should join the EU or shift toward its traditional ally Russia and revert to its nationalist past. Tadic proclaimed "a great day for Serbia" after projections by an independent monitoring group and partial results from the state electoral commission gave his Coalition for a European Serbia a 10 percent lead over the ultranationalist Radical Party. (Source: AP) Air strikes launched in retaliation for a rebel raid killed 19 Kurdish fighters in Turkey's southeast, the military said Saturday. Six soldiers died in the violence. The military initially said two soldiers were killed in the attack late Friday but later raised the death toll to six, saying four more troops died while pursuing suspected rebels in Hakkari province. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), denied the military's claims of 19 rebel deaths, saying "not a single guerrilla was killed." The European-based, pro-Kurdish news agency Firat also quoted a rebel leader, Zubeyir Aydar, as saying PKK commanders "were on top of their duties." The military called the strikes in retaliation for a PKK attack earlier Friday on a military outpost in Hakkari province, an area where the borders of Turkey, Iran and Iraq meet. Firat said the PKK attacked the station with anti-aircraft guns and mortar shells, preventing the military from sending reinforcements to the area. (Source: AP) Turkish warplanes and artillery units destroyed key Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq, including a communications center, in a second day of raids on rebel positions, the military said Sunday. Turkish troops "intensely and effectively" struck rebel targets in the Avasin-Basyan area in northern Iraq late Saturday but were careful to avoid civilians or local Iraqi Kurdish forces, the military said, without giving any casualty toll. In a separate statement a few hours later, the military said it also struck a rebel "media and propaganda" center. It gave no other details. There was no immediate rebel response to the claims. (Source: AP) Middle East Palestinian militants bombarded southern Israel with rockets and mortars on Saturday, part of a new outburst of violence that threatens fragile Egyptian efforts to broker a truce in the Gaza Strip. No one was hurt in the early morning attacks. The flare-up in violence began Friday when Hamas militants fired mortar shells that killed a 48-year-old Israeli man while he was gardening at his home near the Gaza border. Three other people were wounded. Israel retaliated by firing missiles at two Hamas police stations late Friday, killing five militants. Israel said militants fired 21 rockets and four mortars by late Saturday afternoon, directly striking a house in the rocket-scarred border town of Sderot, a frequent target for militants. Another landed next to a Jewish seminary and another in the courtyard of a local college. Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is expected in Israel early next week to discuss his efforts to wrest a cease-fire from the two sides. A spokesman for Hamas' armed wing said his group would "continue fire until the last moment" before a cease-fire is completed. Palestinian militants frequently shoot crude rockets and mortars into southern Israel from Gaza. The attacks, which have killed 14 people since late 2001, often provoke Israeli airstrikes and ground incursions that kill far more Palestinians. Hostilities have ebbed since more than 120 Palestinians died in a a broad Israeli military offensive two months ago. Though both sides appear eager to halt the fighting, Hamas also wants Israel to end its blockade of Gaza, which is meant to pressure the group to stop Palestinian militants from firing their salvos into Israel. (Source: AP) A member of the militant group Hamas has been killed in an explosion along Gaza's fence with Israel, the group said Sunday. The Islamic group's military wing says the member was killed and another injured during a "holy mission." Such language is used when explosives meant for an attack on Israel explode prematurely. Israel's army said it was not operating in the area at the time of the explosion early Sunday. Fighting has escalated since an Israeli man was killed in a mortar shell attack on southern Israel on Friday. In retaliation, Israeli forces fired missiles that killed five Hamas militants. (Source: AP) A Palestinian rocket landed in Sderot near a bus carrying schoolchildren on Sunday. The bus windows were shattered, a fire broke out nearby, and three children were treated for shock. (Source: Ynet News) The first Palestinian rocket that struck Ashkelon on Monday landed near an elementary school. One woman suffered from shock and several houses sustained damage. Another landed in the Ashkelon. (Source: Ynet News) Hezbollah gunmen melted off the streets of Beirut Saturday, heeding an army call to pull the fighters out after the Shiite militants demonstrated their military might in a power struggle with the U.S.-backed government. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, in his first public statement since sectarian clashes erupted on Wednesday, said Lebanon can no longer tolerate Hezbollah having weapons. He called on the army to restore law and order and remove gunmen from the streets. Despite his tough talk, Saniora made a key concession to the Hezbollah-led opposition that would effectively shelve the two government decisions that sparked the fighting. At least 12 people were killed and 20 wounded when pro- and anti-government groups fought in a remote region of northern Lebanon. (Source: AP) U.S. intelligence officials now reportedly suspect that Iran helped finance the secret nuclear reactor project in Syria. Syria is believed to lack the resources needed for the high costs associated with the large reactor complex and building containing a plutonium reactor at al Kibar, in a remote area of eastern Syria new the Euphrates River. The agreement between North Korea and Syria to build the reactor was developed in the late 1990s or early 2000s and by 2007 the reactor was nearly complete. The Israelis carried out an airstrike on the facility in September 6, knocking out the facility and revealing to both the Syrians and North Koreans that the secret reactor had been compromised. (Source: geostrategy-direct.com) According to U.S. officials, European intelligence officials and diplomats, North Korean businessman Ho Jin Yun's Namchongang Trading (NCG) provided the critical link between Pyongyang and Damascus, acquiring key materials from vendors in China and probably from Europe, and secretly transferring them to a construction site near the Syrian town of Al Kibar. Western spy agencies were able to track the movement of NCG employees and purchases to Syria in 2003, where the outlines of the reactor scheme eventually became apparent. The Syrian site was closely scrutinized by Western intelligence officials for months before it was destroyed by Israel. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen said, "The reactor which was being built was not very far from being operational and needed to be hit. U.S. officials say that as the government cleared the site of debris after the bombing, some telltale reactor components that had been deliberately hidden became visible. (Source: Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/10/AR2008051002810.html Syria went to extraordinary lengths to conceal its undeclared construction of a plutonium-producing nuclear reactor from spies in the sky and on the ground in recent years, according to a draft report by independent nuclear experts briefed by Bush administration officials. The effectiveness of the camouflage effort raises new doubts about the prospects for certain detection of future clandestine nuclear weapons-related activities, the Institute for Science and International Security concluded in its report on the Syrian facility. U.S. intelligence officials last month released images of the Syrian facility before it was bombed by Israel last September and bulldozed by the Syrian government once the raid became public. U.S. and Israeli officials have said the facility was a nearly completed nuclear reactor built with North Korean help and fitted with a false roof and walls that altered its shape when viewed from above. According to the ISIS report to be released this week, the fake roof was just the start. Syrian engineers went to "astonishing lengths" to hide cooling and ventilation systems, power lines and other features that normally are telltale signs of a nuclear reactor, authors David Albright and Paul Brannan wrote. For example, the main building appears small and shallow from the air, but it was evidently built over large underground chambers, tens of meters in depth, that were large enough to house the nuclear reactor, as well as a reserve water-storage tank and pools for spent fuel rods. An extensive network of electrical lines appears to have been buried in trenches. Traditional water-cooling towers were replaced with an elaborate underground system that discharged into the Euphrates River. And, instead of using smokestack-like ventilation towers prominent at many reactor sites, the ventilation system appears to have been built along the walls of the building, with louver openings not visible from the air, the authors contended. (Source: Washington Post) At least 40 developing countries from the Persian Gulf region to Latin America have recently approached U.N. officials here to signal interest in starting nuclear power programs, a trend that concerned proliferation experts say could provide the building blocks of nuclear arsenals in some of those nations. At least half a dozen countries have also said in the past four years that they are specifically planning to conduct enrichment or reprocessing of nuclear fuel, a prospect that could dramatically expand the global supply of plutonium and enriched uranium, according to U.S. and international nuclear officials and arms-control experts. Much of the new interest is driven by economic considerations, particularly the soaring cost of fossil fuels. But for some Middle Eastern states with ready access to huge stocks of oil or natural gas, such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the investment in nuclear power appears to be linked partly to concerns about a future regional arms race stoked in part by Iran's alleged interest in such an arsenal (Source: Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/11/AR2008051102212.html Joe Varner is Assistant Professor and Program Manager for Homeland Security at American Military University | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) May 9, 2008 - 09:29 Somali Waters: When Will Kidnapping for Profit Lead to Kidnapping for Jihad? Strategic analysis by The Institute of Terrorism Research and Response A recent upsurge in piracy in waters near Somalia, with 31 ships seized in 2007, has led the International Maritime Bureau to advise merchant ships against approaching closer than 200 nautical miles from the country's coast. The acts of piracy have been criminal in nature and have garnered pirates handsome sums of ransom money for their efforts. In a recent hijacking, which ended Saturday when the pirates' demands were apparently met, a Spanish fishing boat carrying 26 crew members was seized on April 20, off the coast of Somalia. Spanish news media said that no official contacts between the pirates and the Spanish government took place, but that the ship's Spanish-Basque owners had been negotiating over pirate demands for one million euros (1.55 million US dollars) at a London hotel. Earlier this month, a French luxury yacht was overrun by pirates who also demanded a ransom. After they received the money, they released the ship's crew and passengers. However, the pirates were then captured by French commandos and brought to court in Paris. But the recent French incident is the exception to the rule, as most pirates profit from their hijackings and escape to hijack another day. In another recent maritime incident that appears to be terrorist in nature, and which was attributed to al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen, a Japanese oil tanker was hit by fire from a mobile rocket launcher. The attackers were in a small, easily maneuverable and unidentified boat. The attack took place 270 miles off the east coast of southwest Yemen, April 21. TAM-C analysts note that the successes of the pirates in the waters of Somalia and of the terrorists in the waters of Yemen are likely to lead to two developments further threatening local maritime travel and commerce: a) Jihadist forces and criminal pirates will act in collusion, perhaps funding terrorist activities through piracy (just as crime and terrorism go hand-in-glove in Afghanistan, the Balkans, and elsewhere). b) Jihadist forces will take note of how easy it is to obtain dozens of hostages through pirate tactics (overwhelming or intimidating a target ship's crew, rather than hit-and-run attacks, etc.), which they will then emulate in order to extort political concessions or to carry out mass murder of "infidels", rather than for ransom money. Furthermore, as it becomes harder to target air travel and targets on land because of their hardened defenses, maritime travel may become a preferred target for terrorist hijackings. In 1985, an early case of just such an attack was the Achille Lauro hijacking by PLO terrorists. In light of our analysis that jihadist "piracy" is just around the corner, TAM-C will be monitoring adversarial training and surveillance for planned maritime operations. Clients with maritime assets may contact ITRR for further briefings and updates. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) May 8, 2008 - 21:57 Global Security Brief A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news. By Professor Joseph B. Varner Global War on Terror A suicide bomber in a car blew himself up close to a convoy of foreign troops in Kabul on Thursday, but instead wounded three civilians. The bomber in a white Toyota Corolla vehicle died in the blast, which happened in the capital's western outskirts shortly after a convoy carrying foreign troops passed by, said a regional police chief Zulmay Khan. Three civilians, including a woman and two men, were wounded in the blast. There were no reports of casualties among those in the convoy. (Source: AP) Two female Japanese tourists kidnapped in Yemen's Marib province Wednesday were freed after tribal mediation. The two women were kidnapped by members of the Aziza tribe, who demanded that Yemeni officials release one of their tribesman who was in government custody, said the security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. It was not immediately clear if the tribesman was released. (Source: AP) A special immigration appeals commission in Britain has decided to release a Muslim preacher accused of having ties to Al Qaeda. Radical Muslim preacher Abu Qatada, who had been jailed in Britain since 2002, was granted bail Thursday by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. (Source: AP) Iraq A rocket attack on a coalition military base in Basra killed two civilian contractors Friday. The two civilian contractors died when rockets slammed into the US-led coalition's base near Basra's international airport, wounding eight others, including four coalition soldiers. Coalition forces responded with Hellfire missiles, killing six militants. (Source: AFP) Africa Pressure mounted on Zimbabwe Thursday to admit foreign observers to oversee a presidential election run-off amid fresh claims that pro-government militias were deliberately instilling terror. The opposition said 30 supporters had now been killed and a union chief said 40,000 farmworkers and their dependents had been made homeless, although authorities played down the levels of violence. Six days since results from an inconclusive March 29 poll were announced, there was still no word on when a second round would take place nor whether the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would participate. (Source: AFP) Americas A military judge threatened to suspend the war-crimes trial of a Canadian detainee, scolding the government Thursday for failing to provide records of his confinement at Guantanamo. Attorneys for Omar Khadr say details of his interrogations and mental health could provide grounds to suppress self-incriminating statements at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba. Khadr is accused of killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. (Source: AP) Mexico's acting federal police chief was shot dead Thursday outside his home, a brazen attack that comes as drug traffickers increasingly lash back at a nationwide crackdown on organized crime. Edgar Millan Gomez was shot 10 times after he opened the door to his Mexico City apartment complex, where at least one gunman was waiting for him before dawn. Two bodyguards were also wounded. Millan died hours later in a hospital. (Source: AP) A leftist rebel group linked to a series of oil pipeline blasts on Wednesday rejected an offer from Mexico's government to hold talks. The People's Revolutionary Army dismissed a proposal by President Felipe Calderon because it said the offer showed no willingness to solve crimes allegedly committed by current and past administrations against its members. The small rebel group, known as the EPR, last week said it would call a cease-fire if the government stopped investigating its members and supporters. Mexico's Interior Department responded that it was ready to hold talks with the group, but would not halt investigations or prosecution of rebels. (Source: AP) Brazil will permanently station troops in Indian reservations along its borders in response to growing concerns that its territorial sovereignty is at risk, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said on Thursday. Indian lands account for roughly 12 percent of Brazil's vast territory and border on nearly all of its nine neighbors. (Source: Reuters) Asia Aid groups here report that people have began to starve to death in remote rural areas of North Korea where state food rations have been cut since late last year as grain prices have soared. Good Friends, a Seoul-based aid group, reported thatNorth Koreans in the South Pyongan Province are dying of starvation. (Source: World Tribune) Several hundred Tibetan protesters tried to storm the Chinese Embassy's visa office in Nepal on Thursday, kicking the gates and throwing banners inside the fortified compound. More than 200 were detained. Thursday's protest by about 300 people, including many Buddhist monks and nuns, was the latest in a series of demonstrations by Tibetan exiles in Nepal and one of the largest in front of the visa office. The office is in the heart of Nepal's capital, Katmandu. (Source: AP) At least 74 Tamil Tiger rebels and three Sri Lankan soldiers have been killed in the latest battles in the island's north, according to the defence ministry on Thursday. It said the three days of fighting that ended on Thursday occurred in the Vavuniya, Mannar and Weli Oya areas, from where government forces are trying to push into the guerrillas' northern territory. Troops on Thursday advanced into rebel-controlled areas in the Mannar district killing 10 guerillas, the statement said, adding that one soldier was killed and another injured in the clashes. (Source: AFP) Pakistan said it test-fired a short-range cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead Thursday, one day after archrival India test-fired a long-range missile with nuclear capability. The 220-mile-range Pakistani missile, known as the Ra'ad or Hatf VIII, was developed exclusively for launch from aircraft. The statement did not disclose the launch site but said the missile "has special stealth capabilities," and is a "low altitude, terrain-following missile with high maneuverability." (Source: AP) Europe Serbia's rival nationalists and pro-Europeans on Thursday waged a last-ditch battle for votes ahead of weekend elections that give hardliners their best shot at power since Slobodan Milosevic's ouster. The ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) are the frontrunners heading into Sunday's general elections, considered a referendum on European Union integration, thanks to the trauma of Kosovo's independence. With 34 percent of voter support in the latest survey, the SRS are tipped to form a nationalist government with the party of outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Socialists of late president Milosevic. Trailing them by one percentage point are a pro-European camp spearheaded by President Boris Tadic's Democratic Party (DS), which is expected to struggle to find suitable coalition allies. (Source AFP) When Boris Yeltsin left the Kremlin eight years ago, he gave Vladimir Putin the pen he had used to sign important documents and decrees, a gesture symbolizing the transfer of power to Russia's new president. When Putin left the Kremlin, he took the pen with him. Putin, who became prime minister Thursday, has signaled that he intends to remain Russia's principal leader, at least in the short term _ and possibly much longer. He is keeping the trappings of his presidency and many of its powers as well. (Source AP) Russia threatened Thursday to send more troops to the Georgian separatist province of Abkhazia if Georgia added to its own military presence in the region, Russian news agencies quoted the Defence Ministry as saying. The statement quoted by Interfax and RIA Novosti, said the current troop level was 2,542 servicemen and that the maximum allowed under accords ending fighting between Georgia and Abkhaz rebels in the 1990s was 3,000. The threat to send almost 500 more soldiers came despite an outcry from Georgia and its allies in the West over the earlier deployment of reinforcements announced last week. The total number of Russian troops in Abkhazia, whose separatist government is backed by Moscow, is not open to outside monitoring. On Sunday, a Defenee Ministry spokesman had told AFP that the number was already 3,000. (Source: AFP) Middle East On the eve of Israel's 60th Independence Day, the country's population stands at 7,282,000, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. (Source: Jerusalem Post) Sirens wailed across Israel and the nation came to a standstill in a solemn two-minute ritual Wednesday as the country marked its annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks. (Source: AP/International Herald Tribune) Seven Palestinian men were wounded Tuesday in exchanges of fire between Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces and residents of the West Bank town of Kabatiya, near Jenin. A group of local residents, some of them armed and some affiliated with Islamic Jihad, did not approve of the PA's activity in the area. Residents claimed that the security forces fired at them massively and indiscriminately. (Source: Ynet News) The PA operation in Kabatiya marked the first major test for a group of Presidential Guards who are at the forefront of a $28 million U.S. effort to bolster the PA's security capabilities. Islamic Jihad said two of its fighters were among the injured. (Source: Washington Post) An Israel Air Force strike Tuesday on a Hamas mortar launching squad near Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza killed one gunman and wounded three others, according to Palestinian officials. (Source: Ha'aretz) Palestinians in Gaza fired two Kassam rockets that landed in Sderot on Tuesday. In addition, Palestinian terrorists fired six mortar shells at southern Israel. (Source: Jerusalem Post) Sectarian fighting tore through the streets of Beirut on Thursday as Shiite Hezbollah supporters and the Lebanese government's Sunni backers battled with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades after Hezbollah's leader vowed to fight any attempt to disarm his men. Security officials said four people were killed and eight wounded. Sunni leader Saad Hariri called on Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah to work with him to end the conflict between their factions and "pull fighters off the street ... to save Lebanon from hell." (Source: AP) Two days of violence have erupted in Lebanon, weeks after the Lebanese Army became aware of and sought to stem the infiltration by insurgents from Syria. Officials said Lebanese Army and security forces have bolstered their presence along the border with Syria. They said the forces were sealing areas of the border used by Palestinian and other insurgents believed sent by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. (Source: World Tribune) A senior Israeli defense official said on Tuesday that Iran was now on track to master the technology needed to enrich uranium within six months. This means Iran could have a nuclear weapon by the middle of next year. Israel is also concerned that Iran is developing a cruise missile that can evade interception by Israel's Arrow anti-ballistic missile defense system. (Source: Jerusalem Post) Iran said Thursday that a bomb, not an accident, caused last month's explosion in a mosque that killed 14 people and injured more than 200. Immediately after the April 12 blast in the southern city of Shiraz, Iranian officials said it was caused by a homemade bomb. The following day, the government changed its account and said the explosion was an accident caused by ammunition leftover from a recent military exhibition in the mosque. But Thursday's report by the official news agency IRNA again said the explosion was no accident, and those responsible had ties to the West. IRNA quoted Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi as saying: "The group that planted the bomb had been in contact with some western countries, particularly Britain and the United States." Iranian security agents have detained six suspects but the main suspect was sill at large, Ejehi told reporters late Wednesday. (Source: AP) Joe Varner is Assistant Professor and Program Manager for Homeland Security at American Military University | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) 1 Year Update: Revisiting the Fort Dix Plot By Jenni Hesterman On May 7, 2007, a lengthy federal investigation culminated with the arrests of six men accused of planning attacks at Fort Dix and possibly other military installations in New Jersey. According to the indictment, which was the result of a 16 month operation by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the men conducted multiple surveillance runs, purchased AK-47s and M-16s, and attempted to procure a rocket propelled grenade launcher to “increase the number of killings.” Five of the six men are charged with conspiracy to murder members of the uniformed services, and all five have pled not guilty. Three of the defendants are brothers, Dritan Duka (age 28), Shain Duka (26) and Eljvir Duka (23), ethnic Albanians from the (former Yugoslav) Republic of Macedonia. The Duka family entered the U.S. illegally across the Mexican border in 1984. In 1989, their father (now facing multiple immigration charges) made an application for asylum with INS, acknowledging the family's illegal entry into the country; the case was not adjudicated and legal residency status never conveyed. Between 1996 to 2006, police charged Dritan and Shain Duka with a number of offenses including marijuana possession, improper behavior, prowling, disturbing the peace, and obstructing the administration of law. They were fined between $20 and $830 on various occasions and sent home, according to court records. The three brothers were also issued about 50 traffic citations between 1997 and 2006 for speeding, driving without licenses, driving while on the suspended list, and failure to appear in court. Meanwhile, the Duka brothers operated a roofing business with several large contracts, including one to make repairs at their mosque, Masjid Al-Aqsa, located in Philadelphia. Also charged in the case are Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer (22), Dritan Duka's brother-in-law, a Palestinian cab driver from Jordan who is a naturalized U.S. citizen; Serdar Tartar, born in Turkey, who worked at his father's pizzeria and had regular access to Fort Dix; and Agron Abdullahu, an Albanian from Kosovo charged with aiding and abetting by providing weaponry instruction to the group. Earlier this year, Abdullahu pled guilty to 1 count of conspiracy to allow possession of firearms by illegal aliens and was sentenced to 20 months in jail, followed by 3 years of supervised release. Prosecutors say that although he supplied weapons to the group, he was against the idea of attacking a military installation. However, he was present with the other men, who laughed while watching a video that showed a U.S. Marine getting his arm blown off. The plot unraveled in early 2006, when the men attempted to convert a videotape of their firearms training session into to a DVD at a Circuit City store in N.J. This caught the attention of store employee Brian Morgenstern, the unsung hero of this case, who notified the authorities and prevented untold casualties. The men continued to work at their jobs, while attempting to buy an arsenal of weapons from an FBI informant. Their conversations were taped by a confidential witness who infiltrated the group, and the transcripts provide a detailed, chilling look into the minds of these would-be murderers and their motivations. Recent developments indicate the men are possibly engaged in terror recruiting while in prison awaiting trial, or at the very least, haven’t abandoned their radical cause. In December 2007, the court received evidence that Eljvir Duka wrote a letter to another Muslim inmate specifically stating “were (sic) going to sacrifice all for the sake of allah in jihad” and referring to the “fight we weren’t able to finish”. A video released by the court purportedly shows letters being delivered between their prison cells. The government also filed discovery with the courts indicating that defendant Shnewer gave another inmate a copy of an Al Qaeda-produced DVD last month. Guards found a copy of the disc in a book in the detention center's law library. The debate about the authenticity of the letter, the letter exchange video and the Al Qaeda DVD will take place when the trial for the 5 remaining defendants starts September 29, 2008. An innovative website devoted to the trial was developed by the U.S. District Court trying the case, and contains orders and decisions by the court. Soon the court will post evidence presented by both the prosecution and defense, and will eventually provide updated coverage of the trial. About the Author Jenni Hesterman is a retired Air Force colonel and counterterrorism specialist. She is a senior analyst for The MASY Group, a Global Intelligence and Risk Management firm that supports both the U.S. Government and leading corporations. She is also an adjunct professor at American Military University, teaching courses in homeland security and intelligence studies. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) May 7, 2008 - 08:50 Global Security Brief A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news. By Professor Joseph B. Varner Global War on Terror A roadside bomb hit a police vehicle in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two officers. The blast happened just outside the capital of Khost province as the officers traveled from their homes to work. On Tuesday, the U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops detained 13 suspected militants during a raid in Zadran district of the neighboring Paktia province, the coalition said in a statement. One man received a head injury during the operation. He was transported to a military hospital for treatment. Troops found weapons and ammunition following the search of the compounds. Militants are active in the country's east where they use the porous borders with Pakistan to move men and equipment into Afghanistan. (Source: AP) A Canadian soldier was killed yesterday and another soldier was injured when they came under enemy fire during a patrol in the Pashmul region of the Zharey district in Afghanistan. (Source: Northumberland Today-CAN) Unknown gunmen riding on a motorbike shot dead two policemen in Pakistan's south-west Balochistan province. The officers were on routine patrol in Sariab Road area of the provincial capital Quetta when they came under fire. Both died on the spot while the assailants managed to flee from the area. (Source: TopNews.In) Pakistan Interior Ministry is learnt to have cautioned the Sindh Home Department about the entry of as many as five members of Baitullah Mehsud group into Karachi to carry out suicide bombings in the city. Baitullah Mehsud is a tribal leader in the Waziristan region, and is known to have worked with and aided both the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but his primary objective is defending tribal autonomy and territory. His suicide bombers may target officials and government property of the Port City. (Source: ANI) U.S. officials are being advised in internal government documents to avoid referring publicly to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups as Islamic or Muslim, and not to use terms like jihad or mujahedeen, which "unintentionally legitimize" terrorism. Instead, in two documents circulated last month by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), the multiagency center charged with strategic coordination of the U.S. war on terror, officials are urged to use terms such as violent extremists, totalitarian and death cult to characterize al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. (Source: Washington Times) Al-Arabiya television reports it has identified the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the network broadcast his photograph. The Dubai-based network, citing an Iraqi police official, said the real name of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who allegedly heads the Islamic State of Iraq, is Hamid Dawoud al-Zawi. Originally from Haditha, al-Baghdadi served in the Iraqi army under Saddam Hussein, then joined Al Qaeda in 2003, the police official told Al-Arabiya. The U.S. has described al-Baghdadi as a fictitious character. (Source: Fox News) Iraq A rocket slammed into Baghdad's city hall and another hit a downtown park Tuesday as more frightened civilians fled a Shiite militia stronghold where U.S.-led forces are locked in fierce street battles. The American push in the Sadr City district, launched after an Iraqi government crackdown on armed Shiite groups began in late March, is trying to weaken the militia grip in a key corner of Baghdad and disrupt rocket and mortar strikes on the U.S.-protected Green Zone. But fresh salvos of rockets from militants arced over the city, wounding at least 16 people and drawing U.S. retaliation that escalated civilian panic and flight to safer areas. One rocket, apparently aimed at the Green Zone, blasted the nearby city hall. Three 122 mm rockets hit parts of central Baghdad, including destroying some playground equipment in a park. An Iraqi police station was damaged by a rocket that failed to detonate. U.S. forcing used airstrikes and tank fire against suspected militia positions following a rocket attack late Monday in Sadr City, the military said. At least six people were killed. An attack aircraft later fired two Hellfire missiles and killed three militants who were planting a roadside bomb in the Shiite neighborhood of New Baghdad on Tuesday. At least four civilians were killed in the clashes. The latest battles came as the Pentagon announced plans to cut U.S. troop strength by about 3,500 toward its goal of withdrawing the bulk of its "surge" forces sent last year into Baghdad and surrounding areas. In the northern city of Mosul, one U.S. soldier was killed in an attack by Sunni insurgents on an American patrol. (Source: AP) Iraq's ambassador to the U.S. said yesterday that a high-level committee will investigate Iran's role in arms trafficking across his country's borders, after the discovery of large caches of weapons and explosive devices recently manufactured in Iran. (Source: Washington Times) John Bolton, America’s ex-ambassador to the U.N., has called for U.S. air strikes on Iranian camps where insurgents are trained for war in Iraq. Mr Bolton said that striking Iran would represent a major step towards victory in Iraq. While he acknowledged that the risk of a hostile Iranian response harming American’s overseas interests existed, he said the damage inflicted by Tehran would be “far higher” if Washington took no action. (Source: Telegraph-UK) United States At the end of a tattered, sunbaked runway dotted with large green tents here is a building aptly called the Expeditionary Legal Complex Courtroom, surrounded by coils of concertina wire, where the most notorious alleged terrorists in U.S. custody are supposed to face charges related to the September 11, 2001, attacks. Nearly seven years later, however, not one of the approximately 775 terrorism suspects who have been held on this island has faced a jury trial inside the new complex, and U.S. officials think it is highly unlikely that any of the September 11 suspects will before the Bush administration ends. (Source: Washington Post) A senior administration official said Wednesday America's spy agencies for the first time would be tasked with gathering intelligence on threats to the nation's computer networks under a policy that could be detailed by the White House as early as next week. Speaking at a security conference in Washington, the official said the Bush administration wants to harness the intelligence community's offensive capabilities in defense of government and civilian computer systems. (Source: Washington Post) Africa The tiny port nation of Djibouti, a key U.S. ally in the Horn of Africa, has urged the U.N. Security Council to take immediate action to prevent a conflict with its northern neighbor Eritrea. In a letter to the council president circulated Tuesday, Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said Eritrea has launched a major military buildup on their border overlooking critical Red Sea shipping lanes. He accused Eritrea of carrying out "an undisguised and naked provocation against my country's sovereignty and territorial integrity." More than 1,200 U.S troops are stationed in Djibouti, which hosts the base for an anti-terrorism task force in the Horn of Africa. France also has a base in Djibouti, its former colony. (Source: AP) http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1399409 The peacekeeping force in Darfur said Tuesday it was still trying to evacuate those wounded in airstrikes two days earlier that an aid group reported left 12 people dead, including six children. The U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Ameerah Haq, called for immediate access to the wounded. (Source: AP) http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=582272 The main militant group in Nigeria's oil-rich southern region said Tuesday that it is willing to cease hostilities if the federal government agrees to mediation by Jimmy Carter. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said the former U.S. President had accepted their invitation to help negotiate an end to the long-running conflict that has disrupted petroleum exports and contributed to the sharp rise in oil prices. (Source: AP) http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=673581 Zimbabwe, already facing a presidential run-off, hit new electoral turmoil on Wednesday after the ruling party and opposition filed legal challenges to half of the parliamentary results from March's polls. State media said President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, which lost its majority for the first time in the March 29 election, was now challenging the outcome in 53 of the 210 constituencies while the opposition was disputing 52. The Herald newspaper, the government's mouthpiece, said the volume of petitions filed with the electoral court had prompted the country's chief justice to appoint 17 more judges there. (Source: AFP) http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080507/twl-zimbabwe-vote-4bdc673.html Burundi's last rebel group, the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), said on Wednesday it would return home to implement a long-awaited peace deal and drop its demand for an amnesty, boosting hopes for peace in the tiny country. (Source: Reuters) http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07781611.htm Americas Canada's border control agency doesn't know the whereabouts of 41,000 people ordered to leave the country, a national government watchdog agency said Tuesday. The report by Auditor General Sheila Fraser criticized the Canada Border Services Agency for failing to monitor observance of its removal decisions. The agency said in the report that it agreed with all of the auditor's recommendations for improvements. Fraser's report said the agency lacked contact information for 41,000 of the 63,000 people ordered to leave the country as of September 2007. It said the majority ordered deported were rejected refugee applicants and didn't pose "a very high risk to the public." The report said the agency removed about 12,600 individuals in 2006 and 2007, including 1,900 criminals who "posed a high risk to Canada." (Source: AP) http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1399337 Colombia extradited one of the country's most feared paramilitary warlords to the United States early Wednesday to face drug trafficking charges. Carlos Mario Jimenez was flown to Washington, D.C., via Miami on a Drug Enforcement Administration plane, according to President Alvaro Uribe's office. The announcement came just hours after Colombia's top judicial panel overturned a Supreme Court decision that had temporarily blocked the extradition. (Source: AP) http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1399606 A suspected international arms dealer is accused of conspiring to sell to Marxist guerrillas in Colombia millions of dollars worth of weapons to be used to kill Americans there, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed yesterday in New York. U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia said the indictment stated that Viktor Bout had carried out his weapons-trafficking business since the 1990s by assembling a fleet of cargo airplanes capable of transporting weapons and military equipment to various parts of the world, including Africa, South America and the Middle East. (Source: Washington Times) http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080507/NATION/130753341/1002 Asia The leaders of Japan and China called for a new era in relations at a summit Wednesday, pledging to hold annual meetings, resolve an angry dispute over maritime gas deposits and not allow their bitter history to divide them. The carefully choreographed summit between Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao, the first visit by a Chinese president to Tokyo in a decade, was aimed at bolstering ties between the Asian giants. (Source: AP) http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1398881 New outbreaks in China reported Wednesday put the number of children infected with hand, foot and mouth disease above 15,000 and the death toll has risen to at least 28 across the country. A 2-year-old girl in the southern province of Hunan died of the disease after being in a coma, the provincial health bureau said on its Web site. Another death was reported in the neighboring Guangxi region, Guangxi health officials said but did not give any details. The official Xinhua News Agency said the victim was a 3-year-old boy who died May 3. (Source: AP) http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1397348 Following Saturday's devastating Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar it is now reported that nearly 22,500 were killed and some 41,000 missing. About 1 million people are homeless and about 5,000 sq km (1,930 sq miles) remain underwater in Irrawaddy delta. (Source: Reuters) http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP320706.htm Europe Polish authorities charged the Kuwaiti ambassador's son with briefly abducting three Jewish teenagers at a hotel and claiming he had a bomb, police said Tuesday. The 23-year-old son of Ambassador Khaled Al-Shaibani, identified only as Mohammad A., was charged with holding the teenagers against their will. (Source: AP) http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1399397 Russian and U.S. officials signed a key agreement on civilian nuclear power Tuesday that could give Washington access to Russian technology and potentially hand Moscow lucrative deals on storing spent fuel. The deal, signed on the eve of Dmitry Medvedev's inauguration as president, signals a reversal in policy for the U.S. administration on cooperating with Russia on nuclear issues. Cooperation had cooled in recent years, mainly due to disagreements over how to handle Iran's perceived nuclear threat. (Source: AP) http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1398975 Dmitry Medvedev has taken the Russian Presidential oath of office, succeeding his patron Vladimir Putin. Wednesday's inauguration ceremony in the Kremlin's golden-hued Andreyevsky Hall brings Putin's eight years as president to an end. But Putin is sure to continue to wield huge influence in the country. One of Medvedev's first acts as president is expected to be the nomination of Putin as Prime Minister. Medvedev in turn has pledged to continue the policies pursued by Putin. (Source: AP) http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1399623 Middle East Israel was bracing on Tuesday for a possible eruption in the political landscape if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigns or is suspended over the latest corruption probe into his affairs. The atmosphere of uncertainty has been heightened by a whirl of rumors and speculation due largely to a media blackout imposed on details of the case against the 62-year-old premier. The anti-fraud investigation is the fifth such probe of Olmert's dealings before he became prime minister in 2006, although one case against him has been dismissed. He has denied any wrongdoing. (Source: AFP) http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080506/twl-mideast-israel-politics-corruption-o-575b600.html Israeli tanks and bulldozers rumbled into the southern Gaza Strip early Wednesday, and Israel Air Forces aircraft struck a series of targets. At least 11 Palestinians, most of them militants, were wounded in the fighting. Palestinian witnesses said a total of 25 tanks and armored bulldozers entered Abassan, an area east of Khan Younis, setting off battles with local militants. Israeli aircraft carried out at least three airstrikes, including one attack that struck six Hamas militants. Three of the men were in critical condition. Five other Palestinians, including one civilian, were wounded in two other airstrikes. After months of fighting, Egypt has been trying to mediate a truce between Israel and Hamas. The Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, is expected in Israel early next week to discuss his efforts, though it remains unclear whether he will be able to forge a deal. (Source: Ha’aretz) http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/981576.html At least three people were wounded Tuesday as Palestinian security forces who were trained in a U.S.-funded program battled gunmen in a northern West Bank town long known for its lawlessness. The operation marked the first major test for a group of Presidential Guard officers who are at the forefront of a $28 million U.S. effort to bolster the Palestinian Authority's security capabilities through training and equipment. The effort is considered vital as the Palestinian Authority negotiates a peace deal with Israel, which has sharply criticized the authority for not doing enough to crack down on armed groups. In Tuesday's clashes, one person, a 20-year-old student, was critically wounded by a bullet to the head, security and medical officials said. Two other people were later shot in the legs. (Source: Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/06/AR2008050602085.html Israeli security has been stepped up in recent days following an increase in intelligence warnings of terrorist plans to carry out attacks during the Independence Day holiday. Security sources that in recent days the number of specific warnings has risen to 11, from seven two weeks ago. These warnings have led the Shin Bet security service and the Israel Defense Forces to raise their levels of preparedness. In parallel to the specific threats, there are till dozens of warnings that intelligence assessments term "general." (Source: Ha’aretz) http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/981374.html Supporters of Lebanon's Hizbullah-led opposition blocked main roads in Beirut with burning barricades on Wednesday, paralyzing the city and deepening a political conflict with the US-backed government. The opposition supporters set cars and tires ablaze to block the main road to Beirut's international airport, where air traffic was suspended because of a strike by staff taking part in a labor union protest to demand higher wages. The opposition has backed the strike. Activists loyal to Hizbullah, a political group with a guerrilla army and backing from Iran and Syria, also blocked routes to Beirut's main commercial district. (Source: Ynet News) http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3540581,00.html The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urged Washington on Tuesday to show more sensitivity in dealing with Iran if it hopes to see Tehran make concessions on its nuclear program. The diplomats, speaking to The Associated Press after a meeting between IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei and Undersecretary of State John Rood, said the American diplomat made no commitments, but promised to take ElBaradei's concerns back to his superiors. Rood, the top U.S. official on nuclear nonproliferation, declined to go into details of his discussions with ElBaradei beyond confirming that Iran and Syria were among the topics of the meeting. But one diplomat, who agreed to discuss the substance of the confidential meeting only on condition of anonymity, said ElBaradei urged the U.S. to broaden its approach to Iran to address Tehran's economic and security concerns in exchange for nuclear concessions. (Source: AP) http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1399358 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) May 6, 2008 - 13:27 Global Security Brief A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news. By Professor Joseph B. Varner Global War on Terror U.S.-led coalition troops killed several militants during a raid in eastern Afghanistan, while a roadside bomb in the south wounded five people, including three policemen, officials said Tuesday. The coalition troops killed the militants during a raid Monday on several compounds in the Achin district of Nangarhar province. During the raid troops also detained a militant suspected of involvement in helping foreign fighters and conducting bomb attacks in the region. The coalition did not provide the exact numbers of militants killed. (Source: AP) A leading human rights group on Tuesday accused Ethiopian troops in Somalia of killing civilians and committing atrocities, including slitting people's throats, gouging out eyes and gang-raping women. In a new report, Amnesty International detailed chilling witness accounts of indiscriminate killings in the Horn of Africa country and called on the international community to stop the bloodshed. Ethiopia's government said the report was unbalanced and "categorically wrong." The London-based rights group said testimony it received suggested all parties to Somalia's conflict have committed war crimes. But it singled out Ethiopian troops, who are in the country to back Somalia's U.N.-sponsored government, for some of the worst violations. (Source: AP) Lebanon began an investigation Monday into allegations that the militant Hizbullah group set up surveillance cameras near the Beirut airport to monitor the comings and goings of anti-Syria Lebanese politicians and foreign dignitaries. The charges have intensified political tensions in the country, giving a new twist to the war of words between Lebanese factions that support the Western-backed parliament majority and the Hizbullah-led pro-Syria opposition. Judicial officials said Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza ordered the investigation after receiving documents from the defense and interior ministers about Hizbullah's alleged placement of cameras just outside the airport in the Lebanese capital. (Source: AP) Intelligence sources and Western diplomats have told The Times that a new force, an Algerian group calling itself Al Qaeda in the Land of Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), aims to create an arc of influence throughout North Africa by spreading Osama bin Laden’s “brand” through a fusion of disparate fundamentalist groupings. Ernst Uhrlau, the head of the German foreign intelligence agency, said recently: “We are watching the activities of Al Qaeda in North Africa with great concern. A handful of groups have become ensconced there, largely unobserved, and are strengthening bin Laden’s terrorist network. What is evolving there brings a completely new quality to the jihad on our doorstep.” In Tunisia this week the French President Sarkozy echoed this nervousness. Sarkozy warned: “Who could believe that if tomorrow, or after tomorrow, a Taliban-type regime were established in one of your countries in North Africa, Europe and France could feel secure?” In 2006, on the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat , a fundamentalist group that has rejected an Algerian offer of an amnesty and pardon, announced its “merger” with Al Qaeda and an oath of allegiance to bin Laden. (Source: The Times-UK) Islamic fighters say an overnight U.S. airstrike blasted a remote area of central Somalia hours after armed civilians met there, but no one was hurt. The U.S. military denies the report. Two Islamic insurgents say they heard airplanes overnight and about 10 explosions in the Odam rural area where armed civilians had been meeting Monday. They alleged the strike was carried out by the U.S., though they gave no evidence. A spokesman for the U.S. military in Tampa, Florida, said the U.S. had "no activities there overnight." Last week, a U.S. airstrike killed the suspected leader of Al Qaeda in Somalia and 24 other people. (Source: AP) Four police officers were killed when a roadside bomb exploded in Grozny, Chechnya, Russian prosecutors said Monday. An investigation into the incident by the Russian prosecutor's office of the Chechen Republic in under way, ITAR-TASS reported. Criminal proceedings have also been initiated in connection with the incident. According to Chechen police, the explosion happened at 11:10 p.m. Sunday, ITAR-TASS reported. It struck officers of the district's Interior Ministry as well as a patrol service regiment that was on duty. The explosion was detonated by a radio-controlled device at a crossroads. (Source: UPI) The intelligence communities of the European Union and the United States are moving apart in their perception of the Al Qaeda threat. CIA Director, Michael Hayden, said the intelligence agencies of the United States and the European Union view differently what he termed terrorism and other issues. Hayden said his government regarded Al Qaeda as part of a global threat while EU members focused on law enforcement. Still, Hayden said U.S. and EU intelligence cooperation was closer than ever. (Source: World Tribune) FBI Director Robert Mueller said last week that the FBI has uncovered small groups of Al Qaida terrorists in the United States, although he declined to provide details. In House Judiciary Committee testimony, Mueller was asked about cells of Al Qaeda in the country. “As to your first question as to whether we have found affiliates or, as you would call them, cells of Al Qaeda in the United States, yes, we have. Again, I cannot get into it in public session, but I would say yes, we have.” Mueller defended the FBI’s Muslim outreach program that critics say have put the bureau in a role of providing legitimacy to Muslim groups that support overseas extremists. (Source: World Tribune) Iraq About 3,500 American soldiers are scheduled to leave Iraq in the coming weeks, the U.S. military announced, part of a plan to reduce the number of troops who were part of last year's "surge" by 20,000. The soldiers, part of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, will redeploy to Fort Benning, Georgia. The U.S. sent some 30,000 additional troops into Iraq last year to help stem growing violence. The troop increase, a truce by a key Shiite Muslim militia and the rise of Sunni fighters who allied with the U.S. in the battle against Al Qaeda were credited with a sharp decrease in bloodshed during the last 10 months. The soldiers are part of the third of five "surge" brigades scheduled to leave the country. The other two are expected to return to the U.S. by the end of July, leaving an estimated 140,000 troops in Iraq after a peak of more than 160,000. (Source: AP) United States The commitment of forces in Iraq and Afghanistan by America would make it "a very significant challenge" to go to war on a third front with Iran. Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, conceded that the U.S. did not have a free hand to confront Iran, when questioned about Washington's response to the possibility of a nuclear attack on Israel by Tehran. (Source: The Times-UK) Admiral Eric T. Olson said Monday in his first interview since becoming commander of U.S. Special Operations Command last July that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are making such heavy use of the nation's Green Berets and other elite warriors that they cannot fulfill their roles in other parts of the world Olson said, "We're going to fewer countries, staying for shorter periods of time, with smaller numbers of people than historically we have done." (Source: AP) Eight ships that were supposed to be the government's latest, best weapon for stopping terrorists, illegal immigrants and smugglers now float unused in a U.S. Coast Guard shipyard in Baltimore, the symbol of a nearly $100 million taxpayer debacle. Instead of patrolling, the ships were deemed unfit for the high seas after just a couple of months of use and eventually will be dismantled without ever fulfilling their promise. The Coast Guard hopes to finally put the problems with its much maligned "Deepwater" program behind it, taking ownership this month of a brand new 418-foot national security cutter that was built from scratch after contractors bungled the modernization of the earlier eight ships. Commissioning of the USCGC Bertholf will be the next major step in a 25-year, $24 billion project to extend the Coast Guard's reach further than ever before beyond U.S. shores. Taxpayers, however, won't see much benefit until the Bertholf is tested and cleared for duty over the next couple of years. (Source: Washington Times) Africa Zimbabwe's ruling party urged supporters Tuesday to refrain from violence in the build-up to a presidential election run-off, accusing the West of trying to turn the region into a "theatre of war". (Source) Americas Allowing an industry lobby group to oversee the safety of business aircraft in Canada has created a system plagued with troubling holes, a federal review has found. The Transport Canada review last year flagged shortcomings in the way the Canadian Business Aviation Association was running the program, including: No procedures to cancel or suspend a private operator's certificate when problems are found. No structured oversight of private operators. No collection or analysis of safety data to ensure the program's effectiveness. The review was obtained by the Star under access to information legislation. (Source: The Star) Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier, has warned that Canada's armoured vehicles are limited in the amount of protection they can carry, so the military is starting to look for a replacement in the near future. The Chief of the Defence Staff said the LAV-3s are excellent and many improvements have been made to ensure that troops in Afghanistan are better protected. However, General Hillier also points out that the LAV-3's suspension and other technical aspects of the vehicle have been pushed to the limit by the improvements. That, in turn, prevents more armour or other systems from being installed. (Source: Ottawa Citizen) The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have charged that tens of thousands of Sri Lankans living in Canada have been funding the Tamil Tigers' terrorism campaign through a secret strategy of profiling carried out using Canada's electoral database. In what amounts to the most detailed examination of alleged terrorist fundraising ever filed in a federal court, the national police force claims as much as $50,000 a month was being drawn from bank accounts in Toronto and funnelled to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. The Tigers' operation in Canada, responsible for providing 15 per cent of global funds for the secession movement, identified potential donors by postal code and used a "sales team" of locals to extract the cash, alleges the 400-page police affidavit unsealed in the Federal Court of Canada this week. The affidavit suggests the Toronto offices of the World Tamil Movement - a non-profit organization - may have been generating funds for the Tigers. The RCMP says it has also obtained a significant letter sent to Toronto from the head of the Tamil Tigers. Velupillai Prabhakaran, one of the world's most sought-after fugitives, is said to have urged that Canadian Tamils commit about 15 per cent of the global contribution to his cause. In 2006, the RCMP raided the Montreal and Toronto offices of the World Tamil Movement, just days after the Conservative government declared the Tamil Tigers a banned terrorist entity. (Source: Globe and Mail) Ottawa is giving $5 million to the provinces and territories to ensure they’re able to respond when disaster strikes, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said Monday during a stop in Toronto to kick off Emergency Preparedness Week. The funds, available under the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program, are expected to support some 360 local emergency preparedness projects aimed at purchasing new equipment, enhancing training and emergency management planning. (Source: Chronicle Herald) Asia The risk of a human influenza pandemic remains real and is probably growing as the bird flu virus becomes entrenched in poultry in more countries, health officials warned on Tuesday. Some 150 experts are attending a meeting hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to update its guidance to countries on how to boost their defences against a deadly global epidemic. The H5N1 avian flu virus has infected flocks in much of Asia, Africa and parts of Europe. Experts fear it could mutate into a form that passes easily from person to person, sparking an influenza pandemic that could kill millions. (Source: Reuters) China's outbreak of child-targeting hand-foot-mouth disease is spreading, with nearly 12,000 cases and 26 deaths reported by officials. The disease is caused by a virus that causes small, blister-like bumps in the mouth, hands and feet. The blisters may also appear in the diaper area and on the legs and arms. The worst-affected is China's eastern Anhui province, where 22 children have died in Fuyang City alone, Xinhua reported. Total number of cases reported in the province now exceeds 5,800, including 689 new ones registered Sunday. Of those, 1,314 remain hospitalized. Health officials say some cases have been triggered by enterovirus 71 or EV71, a highly contagious virus that preys on children usually between ages 2 and 6, the report said. The report said tests have shown 25 of the 26 deaths reported so far were as a result of EV71. (Source: UPI) Deputy U.S. Secretary of State John Negroponte will travel to Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing this month, the State Department announced on Tuesday as the United States continues its push for a long-delayed declaration of North Korea's nuclear activities. Negroponte will travel to the three Asian capitals May 7 to 12 "for discussions with his counterparts on a broad range of bilateral, regional and global issues." The statement said Negroponte would consult with South Korea, Japan and China on recent developments in the region and political and economic issues and strengthen ties and cooperation on regional and global issues. It gave no other details. China hosts six-party talks aimed at getting North Korea to eventually give up all nuclear weapons and programs under a 2005 multilateral agreement. Tokyo and Seoul are involved as well. The agreement to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula was reached among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. (Source: Reuters) The toll from the cyclone that battered Myanmar last weekend rose above 22,000 dead and 41,000 missing Tuesday as the international community prepared to rush in aid, state radio reported. A news broadcast on government-run radio said that 22,464 people have now been confirmed dead from Cyclone Nargis, which tore through the country's rice bowl and biggest city of Yangon early Saturday. The broadcast added that 41,000 were still missing, raising fears the death toll would soar. (Source: AP) Pakistan's new government, already at odds over how to confront President Pervez Musharraf, faced new strains Tuesday over a delay in elections in which ruling coalition leaders had hoped to run for Parliament. (Source: AFP) Europe Boris Tadic, the pro-Western president of Serbia, has received death threats in a tense week leading up to a crucial parliamentary election, officials and the news media said Monday. The newspaper Blic reported that Tadic had received a letter accusing him of "treason" and warning that he would "receive what he deserves, a bullet in the forehead." (Source: IHT) Russian and U.S. officials are to sign an agreement on civilian nuclear power that would reverse decades of little cooperation and hand Russia lucrative deals on storing spent nuclear fuel. A U.S. Embassy official says the deal is to be signed Tuesday, the last day of Vladimir Putin's Presidency. Dmitry Medvedev succeeds Putin as president Wednesday. Work on the agreement got under way after Putin and President Bush pledged to increase cooperation in this field at the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg in 2006. The Bush administration's willingness to reverse course and work with Russia appears to reflect the U.S. view that Moscow is now a partner in the effort to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions. (Source: AP) Russia's deployment of extra troops in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia has brought the prospect of war "very close", a minister of ex-Soviet Georgia said on Tuesday. Separately, in comments certain to fan rising tension between Moscow and Tbilisi, the "Foreign Minister" of the breakaway Black Sea region was quoted as saying it was ready to hand over military control to Russia. (Source: Reuters) Middle East World oil reached a new record price near 121 dollars a barrel as concerns over the United States economy eased, analysts said Tuesday. (Source: AFP) Security and medical officials say Egyptian border police have fatally shot a Nigerian man who was trying to cross illegally into Israel. The security official says the guards also shot three Sudanese men and one woman who were also trying to sneak into Israel on Tuesday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. (Source: AP) It was reported that by day, Awad al-Qiq was a respected science teacher and headmaster at an UNRWA school in Gaza. By night, Palestinian militants said, he built rockets for Islamic Jihad. An Israeli air strike killed Qiq, 33, last week. His family denied he had any militant links, despite a profusion of Islamic Jihad posters at his home. But militant leaders hailed him as a martyr who led Islamic Jihad's "engineering unit." (Source: Reuters) Israel and the Palestinian Authority are both unhappy over a request by U.S. Secretary of State Rice that they publish a memorandum of understanding on the progress of their final-status negotiations to date before President Bush arrives on a visit next week. "The work of drafting such a document will merely halt the progress and the momentum," argued one Israeli official. Both Israel and the PA would prefer to keep this progress under the media's radar for now. Israeli officials who met with Rice said their impression is that she is determined to produce an achievement at almost any price, given the political capital that both she and Bush have invested in the Palestinian issue over the last year. (Source: Ha'aretz) An intoxicated Arab man from Kuwait who claimed he had a bomb briefly held three Jewish teenagers captive in their Polish hotel room on Monday. Police forces stormed the room at central Warsaw's Holiday Inn and released the captives unharmed. No explosives were found in the hotel, which was evacuated during the incident. (Source: Jerusalem Post) The Gaza Health Ministry said one man was killed, five were wounded and one is still missing after a cross-border smuggling tunnel collapsed on Monday. (Source: AP/Ynet News) Hizbullah now has about 27,000 rockets and missiles, more than double its supply before the 2006 war, Israeli officials say, including Iranian missiles capable of hitting Tel Aviv. Israeli officials say Hizbullah's most potent weapons include about 500 Iranian Zilzal guided missiles, with ranges of 77, 136 and 186 miles. In addition, Hizbullah has 4,000 to 6,000 Iranian Fajr 3 and Fajr 5 rockets with ranges of 27 and 46 miles, respectively. And Syria has provided an estimated 20,000 rockets. Hizbullah is stronger than before the war. They have improved their antitank capabilities, the number and quality of their rockets. Western security officials say they discovered last year that Iran was procuring telescopic sights for antitank guns and rocket-propelled grenades from an Eastern European country. Communications among Iranian diplomats revealed that the sights were earmarked for Hizbullah, say the officials. Iran also furnished night-vision equipment and binoculars. (Source: Los Angeles Times) An Iranian envoy said Monday his government will not submit to extensive nuclear inspections while Israel stays outside the global treaty to curb the spread of atomic weapons. Nuclear safeguards are far from universal, he said, adding that more than 30 countries are still without a comprehensive safeguard agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure full cooperation with that U.N. body. (Source: AP) | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) Brace Yourselves - the Russian Bear is Stirring By Joseph B. Varner So the Russians have elected Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor, Dimitri Anatolyevich Medvedev, as President. Is anyone really surprised? Although there may not have been any voter fraud to speak of, there is little question that the process itself was rigged. The whole campaign was carefully staged to give Medvedev such an enormous advantage that his defeat was virtually impossible. Putin himself would have remained President except that Russia's constitution prohibits him from holding that office for three consecutive terms. Instead, he has graciously offered to serve as Prime Minister to the new President and will run for that purpose in December's parliamentary elections as a member of the United Russia Party. Given that party's virtual lock on the Duma (Russia's Parliament) which elects the Prime Minister, there is no doubt whatsoever that he will succeed. Having secured control of the majority Party, the Duma, the security and defense ministries, and even the President himself, Putin will have succeeded in making himself Russia's newest strongman. No-one should expect significant changes under in Russian policy under Dimitri Medvedev. He has been a close associate of Putin since he was a young man of 25 years. Medvedev was educated as a lawyer and was an assistant professor in law at Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) State University from 1990 until 1999. From 1990-95 he served as a legal adviser to the mayor of St. Petersburg and was an advisor to Vladimir Putin's external affairs team on behalf of the city council. In 1999, when Putin was selected to be then-President Boris Yeltsin's Prime Minister, Medvedev was named Deputy Chief of Staff to the Russian Cabinet. One month later, when Putin took over as acting President, replacing Yeltsin, he was appointed the President's Deputy Chief of Staff. He ran Putin's successful 2000 presidential election campaign. As a reward for both loyalty and victory he was appointed Putin's First Deputy Chief of Staff and was elevated to Chief of Staff in October 2003 and First Deputy Prime Minister soon thereafter. In 2002 Medvedev was named chairman of the board of the natural gas monopoly Gazprom. Gazprom produces a reported 90 percent of Russian gas. It is responsible for 8 percent of Russia's GDP and 20 percent of the central government's revenue. Gazprom is also a major source of gas for the European market, accounting for an estimated 28 percent of that continent's supply in 2005. As First Deputy Prime Minister, Medvedev led efforts to improve key sectors of Russias economy, including housing and health care. He oversaw a number of major initiatives in agriculture and education and helped restructure Putin's relations with Russia's powerful economic oligarchs who made fortunes in the Yeltsin years. During the recently concluded presidential campaign Medvedev promised to diversify the economy. He promised to improve schools, build housing, encourage business and change the tax codes in ways to encourage household and social stability, including offering tax breaks for retirement savings, charitable donations and education and medical costs. He said that he favors a healthcare system that allows more choice, and challenged bureaucracy and corruption in the government. All of this is a clone of Putin's own domestic agenda. On foreign and national security policy, Medvedev is also likely to continue to follow Putin's lead, and not just because he needs Putin's support to remain in office. In truthm Medvedev and Putin see eye-to-eye on all the issues. Medvedev will continue to renew the projection of Russian power around the globe. He will resist attempts by other Eastern European countries to join NATO and will strenously oppose the deployment of American missile defence components in Poland and the Czech Republic. He will also take steps to re-assert Russia's influence over the those states that formerly made up the Soviet Union. Most dangerous of all, he will continue Russia's recent policy of staging aggressive strategic bomber patrols and ballistic missile tests. He will maintain or increase an already inflated level of defence spending and will continue to modernize his country's military. Given his history with Gazprom, he can be expected to use energy as a strategic weapon. This will pose a significant challenge to those countries that have become so dependent on Gazprom to satisfy their energy needs. All of this is to say that de facto power in Russia remains firmly in the hands of Vladamir Putin even if - for the time being at least - de jure power passes into the hands of one of his most trusted protégés. And if all goes according to what appears to be the plan, that power will likely remain in Putin's hands for a long time to come. Originally posted on IntelligenceDigest.ca March 5, 2008. Joe Varner is a program director for Homeland Security at American Military University | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) May 5, 2008 - 13:11 Much At Stake at NATO Summit By Joseph B. Varner The great American theologian and anti-slavery activist James Freeman Clarke once quipped that a politician thinks of the next election; a statesman the next generation. If that is so, then on the international scene at least, Stephen Harper is quietly establishing his credentials as a statesman. So far the Harper government’s management of its transatlantic relations has been solid. Since coming to office in January 2006, it has taken important steps to end and reverse the decline in Canada’s ability to meet its international defence obligations. It appears to be on the road to successfully persuading our allies to provide reinforcements for Canadian soldiers in Southern Afghanistan (Poland has already offered to supply a number of helicopters in support of the NATO mission and the US has, at least for the short term, begun the deployment of an additional 2600 Marines. Further contributions can be expected in time.) Meanwhile, by recognizing the independence of Kosovo, it has made a strong statement that we are committed to standing by our historic North Atlantic partners in the diplomatic arena as well. All this positions Canada to play a significant, perhaps decisive, role in at this year’s NATO summit shaping some of the most difficult decisions the alliance has ever had to make. Establishing a mechanism by which both the Ukraine and Georgia can join NATO is the most contentious political issue on the table at the summit. The Harper government, along with nine other countries including the US, reportedly favours such a move. Other countries, led by France and Germany, are saying ‘not right now’, citing Ukraine and Georgia’s ongoing internal divisions and, in Georgia’s case, external conflicts. For its part, Russia is warning that closer ties between NATO and Ukraine will result in a “deep crisis in Russian-Ukrainian relations”, a prospect not to be taken lightly. Since NATO operates by consensus, strong opposition from one or more members could derail proposed membership for the two potential NATO member countries. Canada and its allies will therefore have to present their case for membership clearly and forcefully. Objections raised by the French and Germans are not without merit and, taken on their own, would probably be sufficient to scuttle any plans. The problem is that there are other factors to be considered. To begin with, backing down now, in response to threats, would only embolden Russian leaders, encouraging them to demand further concessions ‘or else’. Backing down would also confirm the dangerous perception that bullying the western allies works. It must also be noted that it is the Russians themselves who have been behaving in a recklessly provocative fashion of late. Most of the trouble that is plaguing Ukraine and Georgia is actually being fomented by them in a clumsy attempt to exert control over the affairs of the two universally recognized independent states. Russia has even threatened to cut off oil and gas supplies to Ukraine if it continues courting NATO membership and has warned that it will begin pointing its considerable nuclear arsenal at them if they proceed, as well as at Poland – already a full member of NATO. Russia has not confined its intrigue to its immediate geographical vicinity either. For the first time in many years the Russians have conducted military maneuvers in both the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. Russian naval and air forces recently test fired cruise missiles in the Bay of Biscay, their combat aircraft recently 'buzzed' a US aircraft carrier in international waters, and their strategic bomber command has resumed combat air patrols on a level not seen since the Cold war, testing NATO air defenses by staging mock air raids. And let’s not forget Russia’s recent unilateral claim of sovereignty over much of the arctic, including areas of Canada’s north. Russia seems not to care that behaviour like this is, in fact, a major reason why the Ukrainians and Georgians, along with other central and eastern European countries, want to be part of NATO – they are justifiably alarmed by the concurrent decline in democracy in Russia and its growing aggressiveness. They want nothing more than to preserve their new found freedom and they believe that joining the North Atlantic Treaty is the best means of achieving this goal. The time has come for NATO to push back firmly, otherwise Russia, still controlled by Vladimir Putin, will tread all over central and eastern Europe and beyond, including the arctic. It is therefore in Canada’s interest to help make this happen. Canada should certainly pressure its western NATO allies France and Germany to share in the heavy lifting in southern Afghanistan – hard. At the same time, however, the Harper government must not lose sight of the broader strategic issues at play in central and eastern Europe. A decision by France and Germany not to send troops to Kandahar would be disappointing, but it might open the door to a more assertive effort by Canada to get them to drop objections to establishing a framework for future Ukrainian and Georgian membership in NATO, especially in view of our support for their position on Kosovo in the face of vehement and not altogether unreasonable opposition. For the first time in more than a generation, a Canadian Prime Minister can legitimately lay claim to the ‘moral high ground’ in relation to Canada’s European allies. Whether this was by design or by accident, let’s hope that the Harper government continues to practice the kind of prudent and responsible foreign policy that has got us here. Originally published on IntelligenceDigest.ca April 2, 2008. Joe Varner is Assistant Professor and Program Director for Homeland Security at American Military University | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) Global Security Brief A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news. By Professor Joseph B. Varner Global War on Terror Three accidental explosions in the Afghan capital have left nine people dead and more than 20 wounded, including some counternarcotics police, officials said Monday. A policeman dropped a rocket-propelled grenade that exploded as his unit set off from Kabul on Monday on an opium poppy eradication mission north of the city. Three policemen were killed in the blast. At least eight others were wounded. Also Monday, four children died and one was wounded when an old artillery shell they were playing with exploded. Another police official, Sayed Ekramudin, said two civilians were killed and 13 others wounded in an explosion Sunday at a refuse dump in the city's northern outskirts. Ekramudin said a truck had hit a buried explosive. (Source: AP) Islamic insurgents killed at least three Ethiopian soldiers during a gunfight in the Somali capital on Sunday. Mohamed Toshow said both sides exchanged fire after an attack on an Ethiopian water tanker in southern Mogadishu. Ethiopian troops supporting the shaky U.N.-backed transitional government come under daily attack by Islamic insurgents, who receive support from Ethiopia's archenemy Eritrea. In an unrelated incident, inter-clan fighting in western Somalia killed at least 12 people and wounded at least 15 others during a land dispute, residents said Sunday. (Source: AP) A Shiite rebel leader in Yemen warned Sunday that his group will escalate its fight against the government if the army continues an offensive that has left almost 20 rebels and soldiers dead over the past two days. Six rebels and six soldiers were killed in clashes overnight Sunday in and around the mountainous rebel stronghold of Saada in northern Yemen, according to a security official and an eyewitness. A day earlier, three soldiers and four rebels were killed in similar clashes. Thousands have died in violence between the rebels and the government of this predominantly Sunni country since the rebellion erupted in 2004. On Friday, a bomb rigged to a motorcycle blew up amid a crowd of worshippers leaving a Shiite mosque in Saada, killing at least 18 people and wounding about four dozen, according to officials. Both sides blamed each other for the attack. Rebel leader Abdel Malak al-Hawthi said on Sunday that tribal chiefs have stepped in to mediate a new cease-fire, but warned that his group would escalate fighting "if the government insists on the option of war." The Shiite fighters signed two cease-fire agreements with the government in June 2007 and January of this year, but sporadic violence continues. The rebels said the government is corrupt and too closely allied with the West. The government has charged al-Hawthi with sedition, forming an illegal armed group and inciting anti-American sentiment. Many officials in Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and in Yemen's government suspect Iran and Libya support al-Hawthi. Sunni governments in the region suspect Shiite Iran is trying to increase its influence by supporting Shiite groups like the militias in Iraq and Hizbullah in Lebanon. Al-Hawthi denies that his group, known as the Young Faithful, receives funds from Iran. Yemen is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, but Al Qaeda loyalists are active in the country. (Source: AP) Suspected Islamic militants clashed with police in Chechnya, killing two law enforcement officers, a regional official said Saturday. A group of about 25 suspected militants fought with government forces late Friday in Chechnya's southern district of Urus-Martan. One police officer and a soldier were killed, and one officer was wounded. At least four militants were wounded. (Source: AP) Iraq The Turkish military says a raid in northern Iraq earlier this week killed more than 150 Kurdish rebels. The military said Saturday it successfully hit all its targets in a three-hour air operation on Mount Qandil. The raid ended early Friday. (Source: AP) The U.S. military is reportedly drawing up plans for a “surgical strike” against an insurgent training camp inside Iran if Republican Guards continue with attempts to destabilize Iraq, western intelligence sources said last week. One source said the Americans were growing increasingly angry at the involvement of the Guards’ special-operations Quds force inside Iraq, training Shi’ite militias and smuggling weapons into the country. U.S. commanders are increasingly concerned by Iranian interference in Iraq and are determined that recent successes by joint Iraqi and US forces in the southern port city of Basra should not be reversed by the Quds Force. Although it was reported that U.S. military leaders are firmly opposed to any attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, they believe a raid on one of the camps training Shi’ite militiamen would deliver a powerful message to Tehran. British officials reportedly believe the U.S. military tends to overestimate the effect of the Iranian involvement in Iraq. But they say there is little doubt that the Revolutionary Guard exercises significant influence over splinter groups of the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army, who were the main targets of recent operations in Basra. The CBS television network reported last week that plans were being drawn up for an attack on Iran, citing an officer who blamed the “increasingly hostile role” Iran was playing in Iraq. The American news reports were unclear about the precise target of such an action and referred to Iran’s nuclear facilities as the likely objective. According to the intelligence sources there will not be an attack on Iran’s nuclear capacity. “The Pentagon is not keen on that at all. If an attack happens it will be on a training camp to send a clear message to Iran not to interfere.” President George W Bush is known to be determined that he should not hand over what he sees as “the Iran problem” to his successor. A limited attack on a training camp may give an impression of tough action, while at the same time being something that both Gates and the U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, could accept. (Source: The Times-UK) Iran said Monday it would not hold a new round of talks with the U.S. on security in Iraq until American forces end their current assault against Shiite militias. U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and Iraq's government spokesman said Sunday that the crackdown would continue even if Iran pulled out of the talks. (Source: AP) United States In a brief news conference yesterday it was announced that the Peleliu Expeditionary Strike Group was being sent on a regular rotation. Led by the amphibious assault ship Peleliu, the convoy comprises the amphibious ships Pearl Harbor and Dubuque, the cruiser Cape St. George and the destroyers Halsey and Benfold. On board were Marines from the Camp Pendleton-based 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which took part in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, 2004 tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia and additional tours in Iraq from 2005 to 2007. The Marines were joined by aviators from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 21 and Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Light 45, both based at North Island Naval Air Station. Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166 at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station also went along. (Source: SignOnSanDiego.com) The U.S. is reportedly drawing up plans to send 7,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan to combat a resurgent Taliban and Al Qaeda, at a time when NATO countries appear unwilling to contribute further forces. The increase is being considered by the Pentagon after President Bush returned from a NATO summit in Romania last month disappointed by few pledges of extra troops by his European allies. The plans, which have yet to be formalized or sent to the White House, would increase the number of US troops in Afghanistan to about 40,000, the largest American presence since the war began more than six years ago. Last week Robert Gates, the U.S. Defense Secretary, said that America may consider taking over NATO’s command in southern Afghanistan, where British, Canadian and Dutch forces are concentrated. (Source: The Times-UK) Africa Unknown assailants attacked an oil installation in restive southern Nigeria and some crude production has been lost, Royal Dutch Shell PLC officials said Saturday. Shell spokesman Precious Okolobo said the attackers hit a flow station belonging to Shell's joint venture in southern Nigeria late Friday and that some oil production had been shut down. He gave no further details. Flow stations are intersections for tubes carrying oil from wells to export terminals. The region's main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, did not immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment or claims for the attack. (Source: AP) Insurgents attacked an army convoy in northern Mali Saturday, violating a cease-fire and sparking a fire fight that left five people dead. It was the first major clash since the ethnic Tuareg rebels and the government signed a cease-fire a month ago. Libya had brokered that deal in an attempt to restore peace to a region that has been plagued by raids, kidnappings and clashes for more than a year. On Saturday morning, a group of armed men attacked an army supply vehicle outside of the town of Tessalit. He said four attackers and one soldier died in the fighting. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. (Source: AP) Rebels in Ivory Coast have begun to disarm, a crucial step toward long-awaited presidential elections that many hope will secure an end to years of war, officials said Sunday. About 1,000 rebels have arrived since Friday at a demobilization center in the northern city of Bouake, a former rebel stronghold. In all, about 43,000 rebels are expected to lay down their arms over a five-month period at six demobilization sites in the north and west. Some 26,000 will be reintegrated into civilian life, and the remainder will be integrated into the national army. In a statement, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, the former rebel leader, congratulated his fighters for starting the process, sending a "strong signal" that the peace accord signed in Burkina Faso last year is being implemented. Defense Minister Michel Amani Nguessan called the move "irreversible," and said it "should represent an end to the mistrust ... we've seen since the start of this crisis." Rebels took up arms in 2002, seizing the northern half of the country. Though the nation was officially reunited last year after the Burkina Faso accord, former rebel soldiers have retained de facto control of the northern half of the world's leading cocoa producer. (Source: AP) Troops opened fire and killed at least two people as tens of thousands of people rioted over high food prices in Somalia's capital Monday. Several people also were injured in the protest in Mogadishu in this Horn of Africa nation. (Source: AP) Americas Records obtained by The Canadian Press show that Russian bombers are again regular visitors along Canadian and U.S. Arctic airspace. One military analyst says it's all part of the Russian effort to re-establish itself on the world stage, especially in the Arctic. Rob Huebert of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary said: “The Russians are just telling all the Arctic nations, 'We're back.' ” Since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last August that Russia would resume its long-range air patrols, about two Tu-95 bombers a month have been flying into the buffer zone just outside Canadian and U.S. airspace in the Arctic. Documents show that Canadian CF-18 Hornets have flown five such Bear intercept missions, one in 2006 and two each in September and November last year. American jets have flown another 12 such missions in the Arctic. (Source: Globe and Mail-CAN) Bolivia's largest state voted Sunday on a sweeping autonomy referendum that leaders said would forge "a new Bolivia," defying leftist President Evo Morales who called the vote unconstitutional. Minor clashes across Santa Cruz state injured at least 25 people during the politically charged vote, which sought to separate the state's freewheeling capitalism and mixed-blood heritage from Morales' vision of a communal state ruled by indigenous Andean values. Relatives of a 70-year-old man said he was killed when police fired tear gas to break up one scuffle between pro- and anti-autonomy factions. The information could not be confirmed with authorities. Pre-election polls showed the referendum drawing as much as 70 percent support, though they were conducted by local news media sympathetic to the cause. (Source: AP) Asia China on Sunday raised the death toll to 24 following the outbreak of a virus in another province a day after the Health Ministry ordered heightened efforts to stem the spread of infectious diseases. Official Xinhua News Agency said an 18-month old boy who died in Foshan city in Guangdong Friday had died from enterovirus, known as EV-71. Another child who died in the district on April 25 also tested positive, it said. The deaths follow the 22 that have already died in central Anhui province, 1,000 miles to the north. Prompting the government to act was an unusual jump in cases of the enterovirus, known as EV-71, in Fuyang, a fast-growing city set in the rural heartland of central China. As of early Saturday, 3,736 cases of EV-71 were reported in Fuyang's mainly rural outskirts, a rise of 415 in about 24 hours, health officials said. Besides the 22 deaths, 1,115 people remain hospitalized, 42 of them in serious or critical condition, said the health department of Anhui Province, where Fuyang is located. (Source: AP) Communist rebels ambushed an army convoy in the southern Philippines with land mines and machine-gun fire Monday, killing three soldiers and wounding 13. Two army trucks carrying troops back to barracks from a combat operation hit several land mines along a highway in President Roxas town in North Cotabato province. About 20 New People's Army rebels then opened fire on the soldiers from the side of the road, killing three and wounding at least 13. (Source: AP) Indonesia extradited four rebel soldiers suspected in the attempted assassinations of East Timor's President and Prime Minister, the police chief said Monday. The East Timorese men, who were detained after illegally crossing the border last month, were flown to the capital, Dili, where they will face trial in the February 11 shootings. (Source: AP) Local reports in Myanmar say a cyclone killed more than 350 people and ripped apart thousands of homes, but tensions between the country and the West may make its military government reluctant to ask for international aid. Five states within Myanmar, also known as Burma, have been declared disaster areas, reported Myaddy television, which is operated by the military. Those are Yangon, Irrawaddy, Bago, Karen and Mon states. (Source: CTV.ca) Heavy weekend fighting between government troops and Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka's war-ravaged northern region left 35 rebels and eight soldiers dead, the military said Sunday. The latest battles erupted Saturday along the front lines in the Mannar and Welioya regions. In the worst fighting, soldiers killed 13 Tamil rebels in Janakapura in Welioya. Four soldiers were killed and six soldiers and 26 rebels were wounded. Sporadic fighting in the northern Mannar district killed 18 rebels and one soldier, the official said, adding that six soldiers and six rebels were wounded in that fighting. Separate fighting in Welioya left four rebels and three soldiers dead. (Source: AP) Europe Forces from Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia shot down two unmanned Georgian spy planes over the territory on Sunday. Georgia denied the claim and traded accusations with Russia, which is struggling with the West for influence in the country strategically located on the Caspian Sea. Each says the incident indicates the other is preparing for war over the breakaway region. Strained relations between Georgia and Russia, which has close ties with Abkhazia, have worsened since Georgia accused Moscow of shooting down a pilotless Georgian reconnaissance plane over the breakaway region two weeks ago. Russia denied involvement and separatist Abkhazian officials said their forces shot it down. (Source: AP) Georgia has deployed nearly 7,500 troops on its border with breakaway region Abkhazia. Abkhazia Defense Minister DeMerab Kishmaria said should a military operation begin, about 3,000 troops will be used to seize the Kodori Gorge, which in the northeast of Abkhazia, RIA Novosti reported Sunday. Abkhaz armed forces, he added, had also been put on combat alert and that there would be enough forces and military equipment to repulse any "Georgian aggression." The Russian news service reported that a Russian federal security source said Saturday that Georgia, "with the participation of foreign experts," had prepared a plan for "armed action" against Abkhazia. (Source: UPI) Middle East Jerusalem must be taken off the negotiating table, Israeli Transportation Minister and former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Friday. Speaking to leaders of U.S. Jewish organizations in New York, Mofaz said that reaching a final status agreement with the Palestinians by the end of the year would force Israel to give up on its very foundations and "sell" its national assets. He said Israel should try and reach a gradual interim deal with the Palestinians, since it was uncertain if the PA leadership could fulfill its agreements. He stressed that Israel must ensure it has defensible borders that can withstand every remaining test. (Source: Jerusalem Post) Israeli Prime Minister Olmert met visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rice on Saturday evening after she arrived for a 36-hour visit. He is expected to hold a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas on Monday. A senior PA official in Ramallah said that in the wake of Abbas' recent talks in Washington with President Bush and Rice, it was "unrealistic" to expect a breakthrough between the Palestinians and Israelis before the end of the year. (Source: Jerusalem Post) On Sunday, four Israelis were treated for shock when three Kassam rockets fired by Palestinians in Gaza struck the city of Sderot. One rocket hit a cemetery, causing damage. The second destroyed the roof of a shop in the city's commercial district and the third damaged a residential building. (Source: Ha'aretz) Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, said on Sunday that Iraq has "concrete evidence" Iran is fomenting violence in the country and that a high-level panel had been formed to document the proof. (Source: Washington Post) Lebanese Communications Minister Marwan Hamada told the London-based Asharq Alawsat Sunday that the Iranian organization aiding Hizbullah in restoring its infrastructure after the war is also building a communications network with separate landlines that span most of Lebanon and would enable Hizbullah to listen to any entity within Lebanon. (Source: Ynet News) Six world powers agreed Friday to offer Iran a new mix of incentives to curtail its nuclear program, updating an offer made to Iran in June 2006, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband announced in London. The centerpiece of the new offer is international assistance for a civilian nuclear program. After meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top foreign policy figures from Russia, China, France and Germany to discuss Iran's disputed program, Miliband said the group "reviewed and updated" an offer made to Iran in June 2006. (Source: Washington Post) Thousands of Kuwaitis have demonstrated against a government crackdown on illegal tribal primaries, with some of them throwing stones at a security building before storming it, the Interior Ministry said Sunday. The confrontation Saturday evening was the third between authorities and tribesman over the banned parliamentary primaries since Kuwait's leader dissolved the legislature in March and ordered early elections on May 17. No injuries have been reported from any of the protests. The crowd of several thousand gathered in front of a security building south of Kuwait City on Saturday, demanding the release of members of the Mutair tribe arrested for carrying out the primaries, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. (Source: AP) Joe Varner is Assistant Professor and Program Manager for Homeland Security at American Military University | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) May 2, 2008 - 10:12 Global Security Brief A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news. By Professor Joseph B. Varner Global War on Terror The U.S. State Department congressionally-mandated “Country Reports on Terrorism” said Al Qaeda enjoyed its safe haven in Pakistan and rebuilt its capabilities since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. The report said Al Qaeda attacks rose sharply in 2007 due to restored capabilities despite the loss of major commanders. The report also cited a revived network in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But the report said Pakistan has also been the main victim of Al Qaeda's resurgence. The State Department recorded a doubling of Al Qaeda strikes in Pakistan from 2006 and 2007. The attacks were also deemed more lethal as the number of fatalities quadrupled last year. At the same time, Al Qaeda appears to have lost its steam in Iraq. The report said Al Qaeda strikes, mostly suicide bombings, in Iraq dropped slightly between 2006 and 2007. The State Department concluded that Al Zawahiri has become Al Qaeda's "strategic and operational planner." Al Zawahiri, an Egyptian national, has been regarded as No. 2 in Al Qaeda. (Source: World Tribune) Muslim rebels have forced hundreds of mainly Christian families off their farms in the southern Philippines, escalating tensions in the region ahead of the withdrawal of Malaysian peace monitors next week. Rolando Garcia, mayor of Kalamansig town on the troubled southern island of Mindanao, said on Friday that heavily-armed members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) claimed the farmers' land belonged to the Muslim minority. The 11,000-strong MILF is meant to be observing a ceasefire and a spokesman for the rebel group said he was unaware of any land seizures. (Source: AFP) An explosion at a mosque in north Yemen has caused many casualties. Dozens of people were killed or wounded in the blast, news agency AFP reported, citing witnesses. A security source told Reuters the blast took place as worshippers were leaving the mosque in the Saada region, the site of a Shia rebellion. The cause of the blast was not immediately known. (Source: BBC) U.S. missiles destroyed the house of the man identified by the U.S. military as the top Al Qaeda commander in Somalia, killing him and 10 others Thursday in a pre-dawn attack that analysts warned could torpedo peace talks. The killing of Aden Hashi Ayro comes amid escalating fighting and a spiraling humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa nation. Islamic fighters have staged a series of attacks on towns in the months leading up to the U.N.-sponsored talks, scheduled to start May 10. The insurgents typically hold the towns for a few hours, free people from jails, then withdraw with captured weapons. Somali government officials have said Ayro, who was believed to be in his 30s, trained in Afghanistan before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and headed Al Qaeda's cell in Somalia. (Source: AP) Moroccan police have arrested one of nine convicts who escaped from prison in April and were linked to deadly 2003 terrorist attacks in Casablanca. Police arrested Mohamed Chetbi and two men who helped him to hide out. It did not say where the arrests occurred or provide other information. Chetbi and eight others tunneled to freedom in the town of Kinitra, about 30 miles northeast of the capital, Rabat. The disappearances were discovered April 7, the Justice Ministry said at the time. Chetbi had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in a series of nearly simultaneous suicide bombings in downtown Casablanca in 2003 that killed 45 people, including the 12 bombers. Chetbi's exact role was not clear. (Source: AP) A Kuwaiti man released from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay in 2005 has carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq, his cousin told Al Arabiya television yesterday. A friend of Abdullah Saleh al-Ajmi in Iraq informed his family that Abdullah carried out the attack in Mosul, his cousin Salem said. He did not say when the suicide bombing happened. Abdullah, 30, had been missing for two weeks and his family learned he left Kuwait illegally for Syria, he said. Abdullah had sent messages to his wife from Iraq. (Source: Washington Times) One of Osama bin Laden's sons has been denied British residency because London authorities think his presence in the country would cause "considerable public concern," the man's wife said yesterday. Omar Osama bin Laden, a 27-year-old metals trader, had hoped to live in Britain with his British-born wife. The couple lives in Cairo but she is eager to return to her country, where she has a home. But his wife, Zaina Alsabah, said Omar's residency application was rejected. Omar has not renounced his father, but says he wants to be an "ambassador for peace" between Muslims and the West. (Source: Washington Times) Many theories are circulating inside U.S. intelligence agencies on who killed notorious Hizbullah terrorist Imad Mughniyah, who was blown up in a car bomb attack in Damascus February 12. One theory popular in the Middle East is that the hit was an Israeli intelligence operation. An Israeli hit is considered possible but unlikely since even though Israel's Mossad has a long arm, the bombing took place in the Syrian capital, considered a very difficult intelligence operating area. A prime suspect is Syria itself, specifically Syrian intelligence agents who would have known Mughniyah's personal security measures and travel. Syria's government is investigating the killing and recent reports from the region state Damascus is blaming Saudi Arabian agents for the killing, a charge Riyadh has denied. Iran also is suspected. Despite its decades-long backing of Mughniyah, Tehran, this theory goes, was not happy with Mughniyah and wanted him out of the way. Even Hizbullah is a suspect, based on stories of growing factionalism inside the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror group. Still another theory is that the killing was the work of Lebanon's security service, in retaliation for the terrorist killings of Lebanese officials. Asked who killed Mughniyah, Mark Kimmitt, Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for the Middle East, said in a brief interview recently that he knows at least 15 theories on the death of Mugniyah, who has been blamed for killing more Americans than any other terrorist, not counting Al Qaeda. "And all 15 could be wrong," said Mr. Kimmitt, a retired Army one-star general, adding: "Whoever did it, the world is a better place without him." (Source: Washington Times) Iraq The U.S. military on Friday blamed Al Qaeda in Iraq for a double suicide bombing that killed at least 35 people during a wedding procession through a crowd of people cheering the bride and groom in a town northeast of Baghdad. The attack Thursday evening came amid heightened worries that Al Qaeda militants are regrouping, despite recent security gains by U.S.-led forces. The terror network announced April 19 that it was launching a one-month offensive against U.S. troops and U.S.-allied Sunnis. Thursday's blasts occurred in Balad Ruz, a predominantly Shiite Muslim town 45 miles northeast of Baghdad. An Iraqi female suicide bomber imitating pregnancy detonated the first bomb, the military said. A male bomber also blew himself up. The woman bomber blew herself up as people were dancing and clapping while members of the passing wedding party played music. The male bomber attacked minutes later as police and ambulances arrived at the scene. The two explosions tore through the stalls and stores that lined the area. At least 35 people were killed and 65 were wounded, including the bride and groom. Diyala has been a flashpoint in the battle against Al Qaeda in Iraq, which the U.S. military says has been increasingly using women as suicide bombers. Explosive belts are easier to conceal under female clothing and women are often not treated with the same suspicion as men. Two suicide bombings staged by women last week in Diyala killed a dozen people. (Source: AP) United States The nation's top military officer warned yesterday that the transition to a new American president will mark a "time of vulnerability" as the United States fights two wars, and he said military leaders are already actively preparing for the changing of the guard. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Admiral Michael G. Mullen, said the U.S. political transition will be "extraordinarily challenging," particularly as the military is engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan and faces interference in both countries from Iran. Mullen spoke on a day when Pentagon officials announced that a second U.S. aircraft carrier group, the USS Lincoln, had arrived in the Persian Gulf for a brief overlap with another carrier. (Source: Washington Post) With energy prices soaring and the federal deficit approaching $400 billion, senators from both parties moved yesterday to force Iraq to shoulder more financial responsibility for its reconstruction and self-defense. Under the plan, Iraq also would have to pay to train and equip its security forces and provide the salaries of Sunni-dominated "Sons of Iraq" security groups. In addition, the administration would have to negotiate cost-sharing agreements for U.S.-Iraqi joint military operations, with an eye toward Iraq picking up the tab for items such as fuel. (Source: Washington Post) Applicants for government security clearances will no longer have to declare whether they sought mental health counseling after serving in combat zones, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced yesterday. The policy change is part of a broader Pentagon effort to reduce the stigma that military service members and civilian defense workers face in seeking care for post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological wounds of war. (Source: Washington Post) Africa Gunmen opened fire on a convoy Thursday in eastern Chad near the Sudanese border, killing a French aid worker. The U.N. said the attack was the second targeting of a humanitarian worker in Chad in less than a year. Gunmen shot and killed a driver working for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in late 2007, and in March, a French peacekeeper working with a European force in eastern Chad was shot to death by Sudanese soldiers when his vehicle strayed across the badly marked border. Eastern Chad has become a zone of uprooted refugees from Sudan's Darfur region spilling across the border. Displaced Chadians, humanitarian groups and EU peacekeepers work in the tense area, and Sudan has been hostile to the peacekeeping mission, which has not yet fully deployed. France has found itself deeply engaged this year in Chad, its former colony. Besides contributing to the EUFOR peacekeeping mission, French soldiers were deployed during a brief but tense effort by Chadian rebels to seize the presidential palace. A failed bid by a French aid group, Zoe's Ark, to bring 103 children, allegedly orphans from Darfur, to France ended in scandal and recrimination that translated into distrust among many Chadians for all aid groups. (Source: AP) Zimbabwe's opposition on Friday disputed results of a March 29 presidential election released by electoral officials, saying opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had the outright majority needed to avoid a run-off. Official data seen by Reuters showed Tsvangirai had 47.9 percent of the vote, beating President Robert Mugabe with 43.2 percent, but not enough to escape a second round contest with the veteran leader, who has led Zimbabwe since 1980. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says Tsvangirai got 50.3 percent of the vote. (Source: Reuters) The U.N. Security Council has extended its Western Sahara mission, charged with monitoring the cease-fire between Morocco and independence-seeking rebels. The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved the one-year extension, calling on parties to engage in a "more intensive and substantive phase of negotiations" to resolve the dispute, the council said in a news release issued from New York. The mission also is charged with organizing a referendum on self-determination. Morocco maintains that its sovereignty over Western Sahara should be recognized, but the Frente Polisario, said a referendum including independence as an option should decide the territory's status. The Frente Polisario is a rebel movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco. In a report on the matter, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote the commitment of the two parties to negotiate was welcomed, but a breakthrough hasn't happened yet. (Source: UPI) Americas President Evo Morales celebrated May Day by announcing the nationalization of Bolivia's leading telecommunications company, Entel, and returning four foreign-owned natural gas companies to state control. (Source: AP) Asia North Korea has agreed to blow up the cooling tower attached to its Yongbyon nuclear facility within 24 hours of being removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, diplomats said this week. The destruction of the cooling tower is intended by U.S. officials to be a striking visual, broadcast around the globe that would offer tangible evidence that North Korea was retreating from its nuclear ambitions. Wisps of vapor from the cooling tower appear in most satellite photographs of Yongbyon, making it the facility's most recognizable feature, though experts say its destruction would be mostly symbolic. North Korean officials had privately indicated previously they would destroy the tower as part of the disablement of Yongbyon. During talks last week with a top U.S. State Department official, Sung Kim, North Korea reaffirmed it would act quickly after Pyongyang is removed from the terrorism list. (Source: Washington Post) China has secretly built a major underground nuclear submarine base that could threaten Asian countries and challenge American power in the region. Satellite imagery shows that a substantial harbor has been built which could house a score of nuclear ballistic missile submarines and a host of aircraft carriers. Of even greater concern to the Pentagon are massive tunnel entrances, estimated to be 60feet high, built into hillsides around the base. Sources fear they could lead to caverns capable of hiding up to 20 nuclear submarines from spy satellites. The US Department of Defence has estimated that China will have five 094 nuclear submarines operational by 2010 with each capable of carrying 12, 8000 kilometer range, JL-2 submarine launched ballistic missiles. Within the next five to 10 years the Peoples Liberation Navy is expected to build up to six carriers. The location of the base off Hainan will also give the submarines access to very deep water exceeding 5,000 meters within a few miles, making them even harder to detect. This will also allow them to move into their fire stations with greater ease and speed than their previous bases. (Source: Daily Telegraph) Michael Pillsbury, a Pentagon consultant on China, said recently that the U.S. strategy of "hedging" against an emerging military threat from Beijing by building up U.S. forces in the Pacific likely will continue whoever is elected president in November. Pillsbury made the comments during a panel discussion at a Jane's U.S. Defense Conference and noted that a key part of the strategy is the U.S. buildup of forces on Guam. (Source: Washington Times) The American ambassador to Nepal has met for the first time with the leader of the country's former communist rebels, which Washington still officially considers terrorists, the U.S. Embassy said Friday. (Source: AFP) Indian intelligence and security agencies are worried over the efforts of Maoist rebels to set up bases in the already restive northeast, which has now overtaken Jammu and Kashmir in militancy-related violence. Security experts are analyzing the possible ramifications of the move. Following inputs from the Intelligence Bureau, the Interior Ministry sounded a red alert to the region's seven states directing them to put their police and central paramilitary forces on high alert, said a top IB official, who declined to be named. The official said agencies are worried because the presence of Maoist rebels would further complicate the situation in the region, already under the grip of a severe armed conflict. Intelligence inputs sent to the federal Interior Ministry suggest Maoist rebels have supported the issue of scheduled tribe status in Assam that would grant the state's residents greater access to educational and employment opportunities. Assam's tribal communities have demanded the status. Intelligence inputs suggest Maoists have targeted two comparatively weak separatist outfits, the All Adivasi (tribal) National Liberation Army and Adivasi Viper Militant Force. The inputs say Maoists have already established contacts with these two organizations, which are active in the districts of Assam bordering Bhutan. These two groups have launched a massive recruitment drive in various parts of Assam and other northeastern states. (Source: UPI) Europe U.S. State Department officials have not asked the Belarus missions in Washington and New York to close, a State Department spokesman said Thursday. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry Wednesday told U.S. diplomats they were declared persona non grata and asked to leave Minsk within 72 hours. The expulsion came after the United States imposed sanctions because of the authoritarian rule of President Alexander Lukashenko. (Source: AP) Middle East Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas underwent heart tests in a Jordanian hospital yesterday, a spokesman said, describing his condition as good. "President Abbas has had some tests carried out in a hospital in Amman, including cardiac catheterization," spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said. "He will be back in (the West Bank city of) Ramallah tomorrow," Abu Rdainah said. (Source: Turkish Daily News) Islamic Jihad said on Thursday it would not formally sign onto an Egyptian-brokered truce with Israel but would not be the first to violate it. Egypt is expecting Israel to accept and implement the cease-fire proposal agreed on by the Palestinian factions, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit's bureau chief said Wednesday. But a number of factions were equivocal in their support for a ceasefire, and some said they reserved the right to retaliate against Israeli attacks. In a new statement, Zeyad al-Nakhala, deputy to exiled Islamic Jihad chief Ramadan Shallah, said the group could not be a party to a truce agreement that did not also apply at the onset to the occupied West Bank. Meanwhile, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is expected to arrive in Israel shortly to receive Israel's official response to the Egyptian cease-fire proposal. (Source: Ha’aretz) Israeli forces have killed two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including a Hamas militant who Israel says was involved in the capture of an Israeli soldier in 2006. An Israeli airstrike killed the militant Nafez Manzur Thursday in the town of Rafah in southern Gaza. The Israeli military says Manzur was involved in a 2006 raid on an Israeli border post near Gaza in which militants captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and killed two others. Shalit remains in captivity. The other casualty in Thursday's violence, an elderly civilian, was shot and killed near the southern town of Khan Younis. The Israeli army confirmed its forces were operating in the area, but gave few other details. (Source: VOICE OF AMERICA) Palestinian medical officials on Thursday said a 62-year-old civilian was killed and three militants wounded by Israel Defense Forces fire, during fighting in Gaza. The Israeli Defense Forces had no immediate comment. (Source: Ha’aretz) The Middle East Quartet called on Israel to halt the building of settlements, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said after a meeting of the so-called Quartet of Middle East peace mediators. The Quartet “called on Israel to freeze all settlement activities,” he said after the meeting in London. The Quartet comprises the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is negotiating with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for an agreement that would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state. (Source: Bloomberg) The head of the Arab League is urging Lebanese lawmakers to quickly elect a new president. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa says such a step would meet the Syrian-backed opposition's demand for the formation of a national unity government. Moussa spoke at an Arab economic forum Friday in Beirut, a day after holding talks with top leaders from the Western-backed parliamentary majority and the opposition led by the militant Hizbullah group. (Source: AP) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raised fresh doubts Thursday about the nature of Iran's nuclear program, saying if the clerical state really wanted only an avenue to peaceful atomic energy it could quickly have it. Instead, Iran is stonewalling on an attractive deal to trade away only the part of the program that could result in a nuclear weapon, Rice said ahead of a gathering of the U.N. nations that have presented a carrot-or-stick package to Iran. (Source: AP) It was reported in the internet press that the U.S. military has drafted and won approval for attack plans in response to an Iran attack. Western diplomatic sources said the U.S. military's Central Command has submitted plans for an air and naval strike on Iran. The sources said the plan envisioned escalating tensions that would peak with an Iranian-inspired insurgency strike against U.S. military assets in the Gulf. Meanwhile, on April 29, a second American aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, steamed into the Gulf in what officials termed a show of force. They said the U.S. Navy plans to withdraw a carrier group, USS Harry S. Truman, from the region. Officials said the Defense Department has sought an update for plans to attack Iran amid what they term its "increasingly hostile role" against the United States. The officials cited the weapons flow to insurgency groups in Iraq as well as confrontations with U.S. ships in the Gulf. Under the plan approved by the Defense Department, Central Command would be allowed to retaliate for an Iranian attack with U.S. air strikes. The sources said the plan contained a series of options that range from a limited to full-scale attack. The most comprehensive retaliation would target all Iranian military assets in the Gulf. The sources said the aim of Central Command was to prevent any Iranian attempt to block the Straits of Hormuz, the passage of 40 percent of global oil. In the second stage, the U.S. Navy and Air Force would strike missile centers and command and control facilities deep in Iran. Much of the strikes would be conducted from the two U.S. Navy carrier strike groups in the Gulf. If the second stage of the plan is implemented, the sources said, the U.S. military would also target Iran's nuclear weapons program. The sources said all major facilities, including Arak, Bushehr and Isfahan, would be destroyed. The sources said the Pentagon has not approved a CENTCOM option to initiate a U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear program. They said that at this point the Pentagon was concern with protecting the huge U.S. Navy presence in the Gulf. The U.S. Military has dismissed reports that it is preparing for a strike on Iran. (Source: World Tribune) Joe Varner is Assistant Professor and Program Manager for Homeland Security at American Military University | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) May 1, 2008 - 08:32 Global Security Brief A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news. By Professor Joseph B. Varner Global War on Terror The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday that Al Qaeda and its associated networks were the greatest terrorist threat to the United States and its partners in 2007. The department's congressionally mandated Country Reports on Terrorism indicated Al Qaeda "reconstituted some of its pre-September 11, 2001, operational capabilities" in tribal areas of Pakistan. The network uses terrorism, subversion, propaganda and open warfare, the report said, and also "seeks weapons of mass destruction in order to inflict the maximum possible damage on anyone who stands in its way." While Al Qaeda has been weakened since the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, its leaders "continued to plot and to cultivate stronger operational connections" in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. The report said Afghanistan remained threatened by the Taliban, other insurgent groups and criminal gangs, some of which were linked to Al Qaeda and terrorist sponsors outside the country. State sponsorship of terrorism "continued to undermine efforts to eliminate terrorism," and the report said, "Iran remained the most significant state sponsor of terrorism." The report also noted "significant achievements" against terrorist leadership targets, noting the capture or killing of key terrorist leaders in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Iraq and the Philippines. (Source: UPI) Pentagon officials are quietly considering a significant change in the war command in Afghanistan to extend U.S. control of forces into the country’s volatile south. The idea is partly linked to an expectation of a fresh infusion of U.S. combat troops in the south next year. Taliban resistance has stiffened in the south since NATO took command there in mid-2006, and some in the U.S. administration believe the fight against the Taliban could be strengthened if the United States, whose span of control is limited to eastern Afghanistan, were also in charge in part or all of the south. Among the NATO nations fighting in the south are Canada, Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark. Canada’s contingent of up to 2,500 troops operates mainly in Kandahar province. A Canadian general is commander of the southern region now and he is scheduled to be replaced by a Dutch general later this year, part of a rotational pattern that some senior Pentagon officials believe gives the commander and his staff too little time on the ground to be fully effective. The internal Pentagon discussions about expanding the U.S. command role were described in recent Associated Press interviews with several senior defence officials who have direct knowledge but were not authorized to talk about it publicly. All said they thought it unlikely that a decision would be made any time soon. (Source: Chronicle Herald-CAN) Roadside bombs struck a NATO patrol and two civilian vehicles in Afghanistan, killing nine people and wounding 10, officials said Thursday. A blast targeting a NATO patrol south of Kabul killed an alliance soldier and wounded four others Wednesday, the military alliance said in a statement. NATO did not identify the nationalities of the troops attacked in Logar province. Militants often target Afghan and foreign troops with roadside bombs. In the southern Kandahar province, roadside bombs hit two civilian cars Wednesday on a road frequently used by foreign and Afghan troops, killing eight civilians and wounding six others. (Source: AP) The Taliban reportedly has regained control of Pakistan's Darra Adamkhel region and resumed its activities despite the presence of security forces. The region is in the North-West Frontier province near the border with Afghanistan, where violence has escalated with the regrouping of the Taliban. The Taliban retook the region after an impasse in the talks between provincial government officials and tribal elders to guarantee safety of the Indus Highway. The development comes despite the new Pakistani coalition government's policy to end violence in its tribal areas by engaging the militants. The Taliban Monday captured a military pick-up carrying two army engineering corps employees in the region. The abductees were later released but the militants kept the vehicle. The government had been asking the Sheraki tribe under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulations law to hand over the militants. (Source: UPI) A top Al Qaeda-linked militant long hunted by U.S. and Filipino troops was wounded during a military attack on a rebel encampment in the southern Philippines, a military spokesman said Thursday. Philippine troops bombarded the Abu Sayyaf camp with artillery and mortar fire near Jolo Island's Indanan township on Wednesday, killing at least one militant and wounding rebel commander Isnilon Hapilon in the hand. At least one Filipino soldier was wounded in ensuing clashes. Washington has offered a $5 million reward for Hapilon, who has been accused of involvement in the abduction of 17 Filipinos and three Americans in May 2001. There were reports that Hapilon's son, an Abu Sayyaf member identified as Tabari, may have been killed, but the military has not been able to confirm that fact. (Source: AP) The weekend plot to kill Afghan President Hamid Karzai was masterminded by militants with links to Al Qaeda members who reside in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, an Afghan intelligence official said Thursday. Saeed Ansari, a spokesman for the Afghan intelligence service, said that one of those killed during a raid on a militant hideout in Kabul on Wednesday was also linked to a deadly suicide attack on the city's luxurious Serena Hotel in January. Ansart identified him as Humayun. After the Serena attack, in which eight people died, intelligence officials said Humayun had links to a network led by a militant leader Siraj Haqqani. Haqqani's network is believed to have links with Al Qaeda members who operate from Pakistan's tribal areas, where Afghan officials say Haqqani is also based. The U.S. military has a $200,000 bounty out on him. Intelligence chief, Amrullah Saleh, has said those killed in the raid Wednesday and three other gunmen who tried to assassinate Karzai on Sunday, were in contact with militants inside Pakistan's tribal regions. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attempt on Karzai's life during a military parade on Sunday. Karzai survived unharmed, but three people, including a lawmaker, were killed. Three assailants also died. Sunday's assault was at least the fourth attempt to assassinate Karzai since he came to power six years ago. (Source: AP) The man believed to be the head of Al Qaeda in Somalia was killed in an overnight airstrike along with 10 other people, an Islamic insurgent group said Thursday. The spokesman for the Islamic al-Shabab militia, Sheik Muqtar Robow, said the strike killed Aden Hashi Ayro, his brother, another commander and six others at his house in the central Somali town of Dusamareeb, about 300 miles north of Mogadishu. Six more people were wounded, two of whom later died. It was not immediately clear who was behind the airstrike. Over the past year, the U.S. military has attacked several suspected extremists in Somalia, most recently in March when the U.S. Navy fired at least one missile into a southern Somali town. Somali government officials have said Ayro trained in Afghanistan before the September 11, 2001, terror attacks and is the head of Al Qaeda's cell in Somalia. Sheik Muhidin Mohamud Omar, who Robow described as "a top commander" in the Al-Shabab, was also killed. (Source: AP) Iraq A car bomb aimed at a U.S. patrol in Baghdad on Thursday killed at least nine Iraqi civilians and wounded 26. The explosion occurred about 9:15 a.m. in a crowded commercial area in eastern Baghdad, police officials said, adding the nine killed included three women and a child. The U.S. military said no American soldiers were killed, although three were wounded in the attack. (Source: AP) The U.S. military said it killed 17 militants amid escalating fighting in the Shiite slum Sadr City. In fighting late Wednesday and early Thursday in Sadr City, U.S. soldiers killed 17 militants in a series of clashes. Several of the militants had fired on the military or were preparing to. Other militants were killed while planting a roadside bomb. The fighting was reported in statements issued Thursday by the military. Health officials also said clashes in Baghdad's Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City killed eight people, including two women and a child, and wounded 18 others, including women and children. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has accused fighters of the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army of using residents as human shields during close combat in the teeming slum, which has become the epicenter of fighting since a government crackdown triggered clashes in late March. (Source: AP) United States The Department of Homeland Security today will reportedly begin an eight-day disaster-preparedness drill, testing in part how federal, state and local government agencies would respond to a large-scale terrorist attack in Seattle. This drill, one of the largest emergency simulations ever planned in the Northwest, will center on three fictional events in Washington and Oregon. The first is a simulation of a terrorist attack on downtown Seattle today. The second is a release of toxic chemicals on May 5 at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon. And the third is an explosion of a chemical tanker truck on May 6 in Whatcom County. (Source: Seattle Times) The Justice Department yesterday agreed to grant lawmakers limited access to secret memos that authorized CIA interrogation strategies, an offer that Senator Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) immediately criticized as "certainly too late . . . and too little, as well." Bowing to intense pressure from congressional Democrats, senior Justice officials said they soon will release unredacted versions of memos drafted by staff members in the department's Office of Legal Counsel. Several of the controversial memos have been repudiated while others remain under fire from critics who say they encourage torture and civil liberties abuses. (Source: Washington Post) CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said in a speech yesterday that swelling populations and a global tide of immigration will present new security challenges for the United States by straining resources and stoking extremism and civil unrest in distant corners of the globe. The population surge could undermine the stability of some of the world's most fragile states, especially in Africa, while in the West, governments will be forced to grapple with ever larger immigrant communities and deepening divisions over ethnicity and race. Hayden, speaking at Kansas State University, described the projected 33 percent growth in global population over the next 40 years as one of three significant trends that will alter the security landscape in the current century. By 2050, the number of humans on Earth is expected to rise from 6.7 billion to more than 9 billion. With the population of countries such as Niger and Liberia projected to triple in size in 40 years, regional governments will be forced to rapidly find food, shelter and jobs for millions, or deal with restive populations that "could be easily attracted to violence, civil unrest, or extremism." Hayden sais European countries, many of which already have large immigrant communities, will see particular growth in their Muslim populations while the number of non-Muslims will shrink as birthrates fall. The CIA director also predicted a widening gulf between Europe and North America on how to deal with security threats, including terrorism. While U.S. and European officials agree on the urgency of the terrorism threat, there is a fundamental difference, a "transatlantic divide" over the solution. While the United States sees the fight against terrorism as a global war, European nations perceive the terrorist threat as a law enforcement problem. (Source: Washington Post) Hayden also warned that Russia's declining population will require Moscow to import foreign workers, increasing racial and religious tensions in the former superpower that still has thousands of nuclear weapons. (Source: Washington Times) Africa Zimbabwe's opposition rejected a presidential runoff election despite a media report Wednesday saying the long-delayed official tally delivered them a victory short of an outright win. CNN quoted an unidentified senior official with Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party as saying results from the March 29 election gave opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai 47 percent of the votes while President Robert Mugabe trailed with 43 percent. (Source: AP) Americas The Canadian government has also been working on a quick-fix plan to buy six big Chinook helicopters from the United States army to bolster the Afghan mission and meet a requirement of the Manley report on extending the deployment. While government sources have suggested that the Chinook deal would cost "a couple of hundred million dollars," an American defense agency has told Washington legislators that the cost could run to $375 million when spares, tools, technical support and training are included. (Source: Chronicle Herald-CAN) The Canadian government refused yesterday to fork over any extra cash to Sikorsky Inc., which has asked for hundreds of millions in additional funds to deliver promised helicopters to the Canadian Forces. Issuing a warning that applies to all federal suppliers, Public Works Minister Michael Fortier said Sikorsky has to live up to its $5-billion contracts to provide 28 Cyclone helicopters to replace Canada's 40-year-old Sea Kings. Sikorsky won a competition in 2004 to replace Canada's aging fleet of Sea King maritime helicopters. At signing, the firm agreed to deliver the first replacement aircraft next January. But Sikorsky told the government earlier this year that it will not meet the original deadline, invoking a delay of up to 30 months. Senior government officials told The Globe and Mail this week that Sikorsky is also asking for $250-million to $500-million in extra funding to give additional power to its helicopter. (Source: Globe and Mail-CAN) Mexican President Felipe Calderon's decision to talk with guerrillas linked to gas pipeline explosions could encourage foreign investment in Mexico at a time when the government is pushing to open the oil industry to private partnerships, experts said Wednesday. Last year's pipeline attacks cost Mexico hundreds of millions of dollars and forced the shutdown of hundreds of businesses marking the resurgence of a shadowy leftist group that had been largely dormant since waging bloody battles with government troops in the 1990s. Negotiations could be the only way to prevent further guerrilla attacks, since it is nearly impossible to provide security for Mexico's nearly 7,000 miles (11,000 kilometers) of pipelines. Calderon's administration on Tuesday set various conditions for talks with the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP), which pledged a cease-fire during negotiations. (Source: AP) A dissident former general has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for bombing attacks on Spanish and Colombian diplomatic missions in Venezuela's capital. The state-run Bolivarian News Agency reported Wednesday that former National Guard General Felipe Rodriguez was convicted of conspiracy and aggravated burning of property for the 2003 attacks. Rodriguez, who was sentenced Tuesday, was accused of planning the explosions at the Spanish Embassy and Colombian Consulate, which injured four people. Venezuelan officials said at the time that the bombings were meant to destabilize the government of President Hugo Chavez, who shortly beforehand had warned Spain and Colombia not to interfere in Venezuelan affairs. (Source: AP) France's top diplomat sought help from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday to press for the liberation of rebel-held hostages in Colombia. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is aiming at restarting talks to free hostages who include French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. (Source: AP) Asia North Korea has tentatively agreed to give the United States thousands of records from its Yongbyon nuclear reactor dating back to 1990 to complement an expected declaration of its nuclear programs, administration and congressional officials said yesterday. The United States is seeking access to those records, as well as samples from toxic waste and the destruction of the "cooling tower" at the North's main nuclear complex in response to criticism that it is lowering the bar in negotiations with Pyongyang. The tentative agreement was reached last week in Pyongyang between Kim Kye-gwan, the chief North Korean negotiator, and Sung Kim, director of the Korea office at the State Department. North Korea missed a December 31, 2007, deadline to disclose details of its nuclear past, a key step in negotiations in which the North would receive aid and other economic assistance for giving up atomic weapons and the ability to produce them. The Bush administration has been holding off on announcing the latest deal to give the North Korean diplomat time to clear it with his superiors. Officials said they were waiting for official confirmation from Pyongyang, which could come as early as today. The United States estimates that North Korea has between 65 and 110 pounds of plutonium. It triggered a small nuclear explosion in an October 2006 test. Also last week, the administration told Congress that a Syrian plutonium facility that was bombed by Israel in September was built with North Korean help. (Source: Washington Times) About 350 people fled their homes in northern Japan on Thursday to escape poisonous fumes released by a neighbor who killed himself by mixing detergent and other chemicals, the latest in a series of such suicides. The panic in Otaru came just hours after national police urged Internet providers to crack down on Web sites spurring a wave of detergent-related suicides in which 50 people have reportedly died in the past month. The rash of such suicides in Japan, which already has one of the world's highest suicide rates, has triggered widespread concern because the powerful fumes can seriously harm bystanders and rescuers. (Source: AP) Europe Three bombs exploded in Spain's Basque region on Thursday. No one was injured in the blasts, which police said were carried out by the separatist group ETA. All three blasts, which occurred on the traditional workers holiday of May Day, targeted labor-related government buildings. Basque regional police said one of the bombs went off in Arrigorriaga near Bilbao and the other two exploded in San Sebastian. The first bomb targeted a Labor Ministry building and came without warning. The other two were preceded by a call from someone who claimed to be from ETA. The person warned when and where the bombs would explode. The San Sebastian bombs were smaller than the first and exploded near a Basque regional government office of an agency that deals with workplace safety. ETA declared a cease-fire in March 2006 but ended it in December of that year after failing to win concessions in talks with the government. The group has killed more than 800 people in its decades-old struggle to create an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France. (Source: AP) It was reported that Ukraine faces an uphill battle in its efforts to join NATO, with objections from Russia and about half of its population opposed to membership in the Western alliance. Ukrainian officials are confident that their nation will eventually join NATO, despite Russian objections that kept it from being invited into the Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the alliance's recent summit in Bucharest, Romania. (Source: Washington Times) http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080501/FOREIGN/253562734/1003 Belarus expelled 10 U.S. diplomats Wednesday, deepening a dispute over sanctions imposed on the former Soviet republic by Washington because of the authoritarian rule of President Alexander Lukashenko. Jonathan Moore, the head of the U.S. mission, told reporters in the Belarusan capital, Minsk, that he had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry and informed that the American diplomats had 72 hours to leave the country. (Source: Washington Post) NATO repeated its warnings Wednesday to Russia against meddling in the affairs of Georgia as it deals with its two breakaway republics. The military alliance said Russia's actions threaten to "undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Georgia as it deals with the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Two days after a visit by Georgian special envoy David Bakradze to NATO headquarters in Brussels resulted in a warning to Russia to refrain from using force to aid the breakaway republics. Russia has sent peacekeeping troops to the region, saying it suspects Georgia is preparing to invade the breakaway republics amidst rising tensions. It says Georgia has gathered 1,500 soldiers and police units in the upper Kodori Gorge region of Abkhazia, where Tbilisi still holds sway. Georgia has denied it has any plans to invade the republics. (Source: UPI) News agencies quoted the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that extra Russian troops deployed Thursday in the Georgian separatist zone of Abkhazia, despite Georgia's objections and concern in NATO. The troops were setting up camp, defenses and communications. There was no immediate information about how many extra troops had been sent to bolster the force of more than 2,000 peacekeepers already deployed under accords ending the separatist war between Georgia and the Abkhaz minority in the early 1990s. (Source: AFP) Middle East Several Palestinian militant groups signed off Wednesday on a temporary truce proposal, but a cease-fire appears unlikely. Israeli officials say it would merely be a pretext for Hamas and other militant groups to rearm for a new round of hostilities. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Wednesday that if the Gaza militant groups stopped launching rockets at southern Israeli cities and halted weapons smuggling over the Egyptian border, Israeli army attacks would end automatically. The prospect of reopening the Rafah crossing and ending Gaza's isolation isn't yet an option, Regev said, but a period of mutual calm "could create a positive dynamic." (Source: Los Angeles Times/Minneapolis Star Tribune) Twelve Palestinian factions have accepted Cairo's proposal for a temporary truce with Israel, beginning in Gaza, Egypt announced on Wednesday. As a reward for Hamas' acceptance of the Egyptian truce proposal, Egyptian authorities released Ramzi Hamid, 35, a senior commander of Hamas' armed wing, who was held in an Egyptian prison for four years. (Source: Jerusalem Post) On Wednesday, the Israel Air Force bombed a rocket-manufacturing plant in Rafah in Gaza, killing one person and wounding three. (Source: Jerusalem Post) The person killed in the Rafah airstrike was the deputy commander of the Islamic Jihad military wing, according to Palestinian sources, who said he also served as a school headmaster at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency school. (Source: CNN) Palestinians in Gaza fired two Kassam rockets that landed near Sderot Wednesday night shortly after the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony began in the town's sheltered cultural center. Some 15 rockets were fired at Israel on Wednesday. (Source: Ynet News) Senior U.S. administration officials stressed during meetings last week in Washington with Mahmoud Abbas that President George Bush does not intend at this stage to present guidelines of his own for resolving the core issues of an Israeli-Palestinian permanent peace agreement. The American message was that the administration is pleased with the pace of negotiations and does not intend to intervene with guidelines. Officials who met with Abbas in Washington also said Abbas had not brought any political proposal of his own regarding the core issues. "It was as though he had arrived without a real agenda and without preparing," one official said. (Source: Ha'aretz-Israel) Iran has taken command of its nuclear technology and could have an atomic bomb in a year, Transportation Minister, Shaul Mofaz, was quoted as saying Wednesday, citing Israeli intelligence. According to Israel Channel 10 television, Mofaz made the comments during talks with U.S. officials in Washington. (Source: Jerusalem Post) Joe Varner is Assistant Professor and Program Manager for Homeland Security at American Military University | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) News Feed Subscribe to our Blog Links Home Web Resources Preparedness Guides About the Blog Terms of Use Search Search this blog: Blogroll Blogs of War Counterterrorism Blog Drudge Report Heritage Foundation Policy Blog Homeland Security National Terrorism Alert Huffington Post International Leadership Forum Law, Terrorism and Homeland Security Blog Milblogs Talking Points Memo Terror Free Tomorrow Think Progress TruthDig Reporting for Duty War and Piece Powered by Movable Type 4.3-en | About the Blog| Terms of Use|