Bin Laden is ‘virtually impotent,’ Bush adviser says
“This is a man on the run in a cave who is virtually impotent other than his ability to get these messages out,” Frances Townsend said Sunday on CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer.”
She called the tape, which surfaced last week, “propaganda.”
The U.S. is taking the tape “very seriously” and is piecing through it for clues, but the al Qaeda leader is not known to have ever used a tape “to trigger any operational activity,” said Townsend.
Townsend said the U.S. has “no specific or credible information right now about an imminent attack.”
She added the “ongoing plots around the world” are concerning.
“And we continue to make sure that the information is being shared not only with our agencies overseas, but our investigative agencies here at home like the FBI and local police departments.”
Algeria : four terrorists arrested
Three terrorists were arrested on Saturday in the wilaya (province) of Medea (80 km south of Algiers). They were planning to carry out a terrorist attack in the town, according to security services.
The terrorists were carrying food, pasta, tea, nuts, electrical cables and batteries. Two guns and a hand-made bomb were recovered as well, said the same sources. The terrorists belong to the Armed Islamic Group (GIA).
Twin suicide blasts kill 20 in Afghan south-police
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept 10 (Reuters) – At least 20 people, most of them civilians, were killed on Monday in two simultaneous suicide attacks in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand, a provincial police official said.
Some 45 people were wounded in the twin raids that targeted a group of police in a shopping area of Girishk district of the province, a long-time bastion of Islamist Taliban guerrillas and the main drug-producing region of Afghanistan — the world’s largest producer of heroin.
Twin tower detective backs call for public inquiry into 7/7 attacks
A senior detective who worked on the September 11 investigation has joined calls for a public inquiry into the July 2005 suicide bombings in London.
Detective Superintendent Des Thomas told The Times that an independent examination of the apparent intelligence failures that allowed the 7/7 bombers to strike was essential to prevent a repetition of those mistakes.
Mr Thomas, whose 35-year police career also included IRA and Animal Liberation Front cases, is prepared to appear as a witness on behalf of a 7/7 survivors’ group that is taking the Government to court in an attempt to force an inquiry.
UK’s popular ‘Spooks’ show driving away potential MI5 women spies
“Spooks” painted a false picture of armed officers haring around London shooting terrorists.
Until recently, more than half the security service’s staff was female but the proportion is now in sharp decline.
MI5 commissioned research to find out why, as the decline happened despite the fact that women can get to the top of the service.
Two of the last four heads of the service have been women – Dame Stella Rimington in the 1990s and Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, who retired earlier this year.
International database to help fight terrorism
New ways of fighting global terrorism were discussed at the Sixth International Meeting of the Heads of special services, security agencies and law-enforcement organisations. A databank of organisations and individuals suspected of terrorist connections has been presented by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
The meeting is officially over. Dozens of reports and hours of discussions are behind.
“Despite many political differences that may exist between states, we are all trying to work together to safeguard our people at home from terrorists who do not care when they mount an attack if civilians are injured or killed,” Howard Stoffer from the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee, stated.
Sept. 8 Airpower Summary: C-130s Deliver Cargo, Warfighters
Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations Sept. 8, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
In Afghanistan, while providing overwatch for coalition forces near Kajaki Dam, Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles struck an enemy compound with guided bomb unit-12s. Friendly forces had taken fire from the compound. Joint terminal attack controller confirmed the rounds hit their targets. The F-15Es also successfully attacked bunkers, buildings and a possible weapons cache with GBU-31s and GBU-38s.
Bin Laden son Hamza rises to al-Qaida cause
ON THE sixth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, Osama bin Laden remains free — but he could now be joined in his campaign by his son, Hamza.
Militant sources say while bin Laden’s whereabouts are unknown, Hamza has recently come to the tribal belt, the al-Qaida stronghold on Pakistan and Afghanistan’s border.
The news came from a militant who was formerly in one of bin Laden’s camps before 9/11 and maintains links with groups affiliated with him.
Referring to bin Laden by his nom de guerre of “sheik,” he said: “Sheik’s own son, young Hamza, is now here and he is among friends.
“No one has any idea where bin Laden is.
“Two-and-a-half years ago he was in (Afghanistan’s eastern province of) Kunar and we do not know where he is now.”
Hamza, bin Laden’s second son and still in his mid-teens, is thought to be taking a senior role in al-Qaida’s growing guerilla network in Afghanistan.
Nigeria moves to secure embassies ahead of Sept 11
ABUJA, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Nigeria has taken steps to secure foreign embassies after the United States warned that U.S. and other Western interests were at risk of terrorist attack, the national police chief said on Monday.
The warning, contained in a warden message for American citizens in Nigeria on Friday, gave few details, but said potential targets included official and commercial installations in the capital Abuja and the commercial city of Lagos.
“There is no substantial evidence (of a specific threat), but we know that Sept. 11 is a day that people, especially Americans all over the world, are apprehensive,” police chief Mike Okiro told reporters in the capital Abuja.
Explosive device found in Dublin
A suspect device has been found at Summerton Lane, Strawberry Beds near Lucan in Dublin.
The army’s bomb disposal unit investigated the device.
They were alerted to the incident at around 7pm.
First female HM arms carrier– a law student – among 2 arrested
Jammu : Jammu and Kashmir police arrested a female Law student, allegedly working as arms carrier with Hizbul Mujahideen, along with a UBGL launcher and a grenade besides some AK ammunition, when she was on her way to Srinagar from Surankote area of Poonch district. On her disclosure police has also arrested a top ranked Upper Ground Worker (UGW) of HM from Udhampur area.
Well informed sources in the police told News Agency of Kashmir that based on a lead provided by intelligence agencies, Special Operation Group of Jammu and Kashmir police had kept a close watch on the movement of a female student from a private law college, Dogra Law College.
Al-Qaeda to release new Bin Laden video
Al-Qaeda’s media arm announced that it will release a new video of Osama bin Laden presenting the last testament of one of the September 11 suicide hijackers, marking the sixth anniversary of the attacks.
The announcement came only days after bin Laden appeared in his first video in three years, giving an address to the American people, lecturing them to abandon capitalism and democracy and convert to Islam.
The announcement came in a banner advertisement posted on an Islamic militant web site where al-Qaeda often releases messages and was signed by Al-Sahab, the media arm of bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terror network.
“Coming soon, God willing, the testament of the attacks on New York and Washington, Abu Musab Waleed al-Shehri, presented by Sheik Osama bin Laden, God preserve him,” the banner read. It showed an image of bin Laden wearing the same black beard and clothes as in the most recent video.
How the CIA Helped Germany Foil Terror Plot
With the help of the CIA, German investigators foiled what would likely have been the most devastating terror attack of its kind in the country’s history. The plans of a fanatical group of Islamists trained in Pakistan reveal just how great a risk Europe faces.
Fritz Gelowicz is assumed to be the ringleader of the German terror cell.
It was early June at the G-8 summit in the German seaside resort of Heiligendamm, and climate protection and hedge funds were the key issues on the agenda. But then there came the moment when the news of a potential terrorist plot reached Chancellor Angela Merkel. Not a word of it was mentioned in the summit’s official communiqués. Merkel and US President George W. Bush met alone to discuss what he called “the Pakistan matter.” America felt threatened, and the threat, US intelligence agents told their president, was coming from Germany — once again, just as it had on Sept. 11, 2001.
‘Suicide bombs’ hit Afghan town
At least 20 people have been killed in two suicide bombings in a southern Afghan town, police say.
More than 40 people were hurt in the blasts in Gereshk in Helmand province, the defence ministry said. Many of the casualties were civilians.
The bomber was trying to kill a senior provincial official who survived the attacks, the defence ministry said.
US surge plan in Iraq ‘working’
The military objectives of the US troop surge in Iraq “are largely being met”, the top US military commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, has said.
Gen Petraeus’ comments came as he and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker began testifying before Congress.
The testimony has been billed as “make or break” for President George W Bush’s resolve to stay the course in Iraq.
A record 168,000 US troops are now in Iraq after 30,000 arrived in the surge between February and June.
Some 30 Taliban Reported Killed In Afghanistan
September 9, 2007 (RFE/RL) — More than 30 Taliban militants are reported to have been killed in fighting in southern Afghanistan, while Pakistani troops reported killing 11 more pro-Taliban militants along the border in northwestern Pakistan, and two Pakistani soldiers killed.
The British Defense Ministry said two British soldiers were killed on September 8 when their patrol was attacked during an operation against Taliban in Helmand Province. Two British troops were also seriously wounded, and several insurgents were reported killed.
The United States military said Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces, backed by air strikes, killed more than 30 Taliban fighters in a separate clash in Helmand.
Taliban says ‘ready for talks’ with Afghan govt
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) — The Taliban said Monday it was ready for talks with the Afghan government after President Hamid Karzai offered negotiations in a bid to end the rebels’ nearly six-year bloody insurgency.
Karzai made the offer on Sunday, with the insurgency spiralling to its highest level this year, saying peace could not be achieved without dialogue.
“For the sake of national interests … we are fully ready for talks with the government,” senior Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP.
Pro-Taliban militants free more than 200 troops in Pakistan
Islamabad – Islamic militants on Monday released 264 soldiers and military officers after holding them captive for 11 days in Pakistan’s restive tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, media reports said.
The troops were handed over to members of a tribal council and were expected to be moved to their base in Wana, the main town in the tribal district of South Waziristan, the Geo news channel reported.
Military spokesman Major General Arshad Waheed said he could not confirm the report.
Officials Warn of Continuing Terrorist Threat
WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 — The nation’s top counterterrorism officials are warning today that the United States will face a persistent threat from Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups for years to come, but they plan to offer no specific evidence of any imminent plots against targets on American soil.
Speaking on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, four senior intelligence and law enforcement officials are appearing this morning before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In their prepared testimony, they say that American agencies have better terrorist-threat information now than they did six years ago, are sharing it better among themselves, and are taking improved steps to protect the nation’s homeland security.
Algeria attack: suicide bomber al-Zarqawi wanted to join Al-Qaeda in Iraq
Algerian suicide bomber “Abu Musab al-Zarqawi” who targeted a naval barracks in Dellys area (70 km east of Algiers) was 15 years old. His real name is Nabil Belkacemi. He was studying in a junior high school but he could not sit final exams because he joined armed groups in mountains a week before the Algiers attacks on April 11.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack and published his picture in a statement on its website. Nabil Belkacemi was living in Algiers.
Residents say he was a religion-practising teenager but he has never been fanatic. He was frequenting the same mosque as the suicide bomber Marwane Boudina alias Muad Bnu Jabal who targeted the Government Palace in Algiers on April 11.
SAS SGT DIED IN RAID
The sas soldier killed in Iraq was shot in the head during an attempt to capture a top al-Qaeda leader, it emerged yesterday. Sergeant Eddie Collins was leading a 30-strong team which raided a terrorist safe house in Baghdad on Wednesday. It is believed he was killed instantly when insurgents counter attacked. One SAS source said planners had underestimated how many fighters would be in the building. The main target was believed to be one of the men who took over from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after he was killed last year.
Pilots: Cockpits remain vulnerable to terrorist assault
WASHINGTON (CNN) — If one hardened cockpit door is good, would two barriers be even better?
Many airline pilots believe the answer is “yes,” and are hoping to reinvigorate efforts to require so-called “secondary barriers” on every commercial plane in the country.
Pilots praise the hardened cockpit doors mandated after 9/11, saying they have done as much as anything to protect aircraft from terrorist assaults. But planes remain vulnerable for short periods of time during some flights when pilots go to the lavatory, get meals or, on long flights, change out crews.
Currently, flight attendants sometimes block the aisle with beverage carts to prevent possible terrorists from rushing the cockpit. But pilots believe the barriers — relatively inexpensive gates that would be deployed before pilots come out of the cockpit — would solve that vulnerability.
Motorbike suicide bomber kills 28
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up in a crowded square in southern Afghanistan just before evening prayers on Monday, and preliminary reports said up to 28 people were killed, officials said.
The explosion — one of the deadliest since the fall of the Taliban — went off in the town of Gereshk in Helmand province, the world’s largest poppy-growing region and site of the country’s worst violence this year.
Gereshk district chief Abdul Manaf Khan said about 28 people were killed, saying 13 police had died and about 15 civilians. Dr. Tahir Khan said 23 people were killed and 59 wounded.
Algerians protest against terrorism after suicide attacks
ALGIERS — Tens of thousands of Algerians protested against terrorism Sunday after two suicide bomb attacks in recent days claimed by an Al-Qaeda offshoot killed at least 52 people.
Demonstrations were held in Algeria’s major cities, including the capital Algiers, where participants gathered in a sports arena, displaying banners saying “no to violence and crime.”
Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem was among politicians attending the rally, where speakers denounced suicide attacks as “contrary to the values of Islam.”
Canadian soldiers, journalist unhurt, but shaken by IED blast in Afghanistan
ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan (CP) — After choking on the dust in the relentless Afghan heat for the better part of two days, everyone was happy to say goodbye to Ghundy Ghar.
The remote Canadian outpost in the Zhari district of Afghanistan is the reason soldiers have to be tough. A few tarp-covered shelters and three inches of fine dust everywhere, life at Ghundy Ghar is not easy.
The day before, the Van Doo’s 3rd Battalion battle group had pushed through on two roads leading to the base, on a mission to help secure an area considered Taliban country.
Cops link arrests to new 9/11 terror plot
MANILA, Philippines – Police are linking the arrest of three terror suspects to a new plot to launch attacks in Metro Manila and Palawan in time for the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.
Police officials, however, said the plot had been thwarted as a result of the arrests.
Senior Supt. Dennis Peña, Palawan provincial police chief, said the plot was to be timed for the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States that would be remembered today.
Relatives Tour Pentagon Memorial Site
As the sixth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States approaches, a memorial is rising on the grounds of the Pentagon near Washington, D.C. Family members of those aboard the hijacked plane that struck the Pentagon — and the military and civilian personnel who died inside — gathered Friday (September 7th) at the site. VOA’s Robert Raffaele has more.
Marine unit to leave Iraq this month – Petraeus
WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) – The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, said on Monday a unit of Marines deployed as part of a surge of forces would leave Iraq this month and other units should follow in 2008.
“Later this month, the Marine Expeditionary United deployed as part of the surge will depart Iraq,” Petraeus told Congress.
Seven U.S. soldiers killed in Baghdad accident
BAGHDAD, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Seven U.S. soldiers were killed and 11 injured in a vehicle accident in Baghdad on Monday, the U.S. military said.
It said two suspects being transported in the vehicle were also killed. The military said the cause of the accident was under investigation.
