Cuban Bio-Weps a Threat to US?

By Bill West

The Miami Herald reported Wednesday that a Cuban defector who was a Cuban army colonel in charge of their military medical services for ten years has now publicly stated the Cuban government is involved in developing and stockpiling biological weapons. The defector, Roberto Ortega, claims he has now gone public because he believes the US government has not acted sufficiently on the information he previously provided in confidence. According to Ortega, Cuban personnel originally collected samples of the germ warfare material in Africa and Cuban scientists successfully reproduced the deadly agents at a secret underground facility southwest of Havana.

While the official US Government position on Cuba's bio-weapons appears undeterminative, some officials have indicated in the past their belief the Cubans do possess such weapons to some extent. If Ortega's claims are correct, this may pose a serious potential terror threat to the US.

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The Muslim Brotherhood and the Growing Sunni-Shiite Conflict

By Victor Comras

My colleague Olivier Guitta has just posted an excellent piece on the growing Sunni Shiite conflict. The heightened tensions between these two principal confessions of Islam is already putting great pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood. There has long been a significant movement within the Muslim Brotherhood supporting a closer alliance between Hamas and Hezbollah in their war against western influence in the Middle East and against Israel. Muslim brotherhood members in Egypt and around the Middle East rallied behind Hezbollah and it leader, Hassan Nasrallah during last years Israel-Hezbollah conflict and the early stages of Nasrallah's challenge to the current Lebanese government. But this could all well backfire against the Muslim Brotherhood. They have already lost some key Saudi financial and other support, and are witnessing a growing backlash, in Eygpt, against their identification with on-going Shiite proselyzing activities in Eygpt. This provided a convenient moment for the Egyptian government to crack down on Muslim Brotherhood members and sympathizers.

Interestingly, against this background, the Muslim Brotherhood still went ahead last week – along with Al Jazeera Television -- to bring together, on the same TV platform, Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qarawdawi (Sunni) and Iran ex-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (Shiite). The gathering was termed as “the first high-profile meeting between top Sunni and Shiite Scholars.”

Rafsanjani and Al Qarawdawi both tried to use the meeting to express a common bond against Israel and Western influences in the region. Rafsanjani used the session to garner greater support for Iran’s nuclear program. He blamed “"ignorant" Sunnis and Shiites” for stroking tensions and playing into the hands of Zionism and “Satan” America. These enemies, he said, were trying to pit Muslims against one another and to throw a spanner in the good work of Sunni and Shiite scholars to cement unity. "The acts of extremists from both sides should not be allowed to disunite Sunnis and Shiites,” he said, “Zionism and Israel are the main danger." "The Muslim nation with up to one billion Muslims and some 60 Muslim heavyweight countries with energy sources and great potentials must join forces to defend the unity of Muslims."

Al Qarawdawi also expressed a warm desire for greater Sunni-Shiite unity, but criticized Iran and Shiite leaders for their proselytizing activities. Such proselytizing, he said, had to stop in Sunni dominated countries such as Egypt, Sudan and Tunisia. He warned that Shiite leaders must also put an immediate stop (and should issue a Fatwa banning) those in the Shiite community from continuing to “insult the companions,” referring specifically to Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (the 4th Caliph) who is revered by Sunni muslims. For him, this was the only real stumbling block for greater Sunni-Shiite unity -- rather than the ongoing Shiite-Sunni conflict in Iraq and Lebanon. While he called on Iran's leader's to help stop the violence in Iraq, that appeared throughout his presentation as a secondary issue. When it came to the West, and to Israel, Qaradawi and Rafsanjani sang the same song. Qaradawi made it clear that differences with Shiites should not be used as a pretext by any Sunnis for not supporting Tehran in its confrontation with the United States. "If Iran was attacked by the United States, we would rally behind it, no doubt about that," he said. "We cannot tolerate an aggression on any Muslim country…I said it before for many times that we will support Iran definitely," he said. He also added his personal support for Iran's "right to have a peaceful nuclear technology."

I doubt this joint presentation with Rafsanjani will help improve Saudi - Muslim Brotherhood relations. This is an issue that bears close watching.

Another front on the Sunni-Shiite war

By Olivier Guitta

I just wrote a piece for The Examiner on the aggressive proselytizing going on in the Arab world.
Here is an excerpt:
While the media focuses on the aggressive Iranian expansion in the whole Middle East, another insidious campaign is being orchestrated by Iran to control the region. Proselytizing is the new name of the game.

And since, through this Iranian-sponsored operation, Sunnis have been converting to Shiism in significant numbers, Sunni states are starting to react. That could well open a new front in the Sunni-Shiite war.

Of all Sunni countries, Saudi Arabia is the one feeling the most threatened by this new wave of Shiite proselytizing. “If it’s not to export the revolution like in the time of the Khomeini regime, Shiism exportation, as we see it today is still unacceptable” noted Saudi Social Affairs Minister Abdel Mohsen al Hakas.

Interestingly, Saudi King Abdullah went further in a recent interview with the Kuwaiti daily Al Seyassah when he accused Shiites of trying to convert Sunnis and added that he knew exactly who was behind this campaign, clearly pointing his finger at Tehran.

It is a vital issue for the kingdom, which does not want more potential destabilization since its own Shiite minority already represents 10 percent of the total population and is located in the oil-rich region of the country.

While it looks like ex-Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Prince Bandar is pushing for U.S. military action against Iran, other leaders inside the kingdom are trying to fight off Iran on the religious front. That’s why Rihab Massud, a close advisor to Bandar stated: “Iran will never become the leader of the Islamic world.”

A Small But Important Step on Darfur

By Douglas Farah

The International Criminal Court took the small but important step of naming names in the Darfur atrocities, homing in on the inner circle of president Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

The ICC outlines the clear lines of responsibility of senior government officials in the creation and direction of the _janjaweed_ militias now famous for ravaging their own people, raping women and burning desolate huts in a genocidal effort of ethnic cleansing. This is terrorism writ large.

It is not enough, but the name and shame campaign is at least a step. Perhaps the West should go further in naming and shaming, now that the government, while long known to be responsible, is finally being called to some modest account.

Sudan is an Islamic republic, run by leaders of the international Muslim Brotherhood. The Darfur atrocities are as much a religious campaign as it is ethnic. Yet no one asks what, in the name of Allah, gives a government of self-proclaimed Islamists, the right, within its own religious context, to carry out such atrocities? My full blog is here.

UN Counter-Terrorism Handbook -- Form Over Substance

By Victor Comras

Following up on a recommendation contained in last year’s UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, the UN has put together a new on-line “counter-terrorism” handbook which is meant to help guide countries wishing to assess UN counter-terrorism support services. As the UN Counter-Terrorism Handbook Site states:

This site has been created to provide Member States with current and relevant information on the United Nations' and its entities' work and resources contributing to countering terrorism. A number of different search functions are provided to help you better determine and access the information you need….The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Online Handbook is an initiative that arose from the call of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy … to “ensure overall coordination and coherence in the counter-terrorism efforts of the United Nations system. Combining information from the { 22-member Counter-Terrorism Implementation} Task Force, the Online Handbook provides Member States, UN country teams, and relevant institutions with information available {from} United Nations counter-terrorism related resources.

While this new "handbook" represents more form than substance, it certainly makes it a lot easier to access and identify what's actually going on within the the 22 different UN agencies, offices and committees that touch on some aspect of counter-terrorism. Unfortunately, when it comes to substance, the information and data now available is quite paltry.

The most useful information is contained on the Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee’s new website. One has access, there, to the Consolidated List of designated individuals and entities associated with Al Qaeda and the Taliban. There is also a link to UNSC Resolution 1735 (2006) which, like previous resolutions, places a clear obligation on all countries to cut off their funding, to freeze their assets, to stop their international travel and to keep arms, explosives and other military equipment out of their hands. Unfortunately, there appears little the committee can do to hold countries failing in these responsibilities accountable.

The new Al Qaeda and Taliban Committee Website also provides separate direct links to the reports issued by the Committee’s Monitoring Team and the previous Independent Monitoring Group. The Monitoring Team reports provide a useful overview of the systemic problems and issues associated with implementing the required measures against al Qaeda and the Taliban. But, they lack the punch, and the “name and shame” accountability that was associated with the more independent Monitoring Group’s reports.

Another useful item now available via the handbook is a just issued “Best Practices in Combating Terrorism” pamphlet just published by Interpol. The pamphlet provides a basic review of Interpol services that can be enlisted by any country to assist in combating terrorism. This includes some very basic services such as helping countries disseminate information and post “look outs” for known and suspected terrorists, including those already designated by the UN Al Qaeda Committee.

The UN Counter-Terrorism Committee has also been given a website facelift. This site provides a useful jumping off spot for researching the various UN offerings with regard to counter-terrorism technical assistance and capacity building. One can also research the various country submitted reports concerning their national counter-terrorism laws and strategies.

While there is still little new substance-wise, the greater transparancy into UN Counter-Terrorism activities may serve as a catalyst to spur on these UN groups to greater, and more effective activities.

Will a Lebanon Deal Come at Syria's Expense?

By David Schenker

Today the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where I am a senior fellow in Arab politics, released my newest analysis of the most recent discussions on the future of Lebanon. Several paragraphs from it follow, and you can read the entire piece on the Washington Institute site.

The basic deal seems to be more power for Hizballah in return for ending the possibility of a renewed Syrian role in Lebanon through a tribunal exposing Syria’s involvement in the Hariri assassination. Still, based on press accounts, an agreement remains uncertain. According to the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, as of February 21, Riyadh and Tehran had crafted a proposal that was being vetted with Damascus. Meanwhile, Nabih Berri had delivered the opposition’s notes on required modifications to international tribunal law for Saudi review. Cabinet composition is still under discussion, according to al-Hayat, with the opposition sticking to its demand for a blocking third.

It is not clear that the Saudis will be able to convince Iran or Hizballah to back down from demands for a blocking third or opposition to the tribunal. Unlike the Fatah-Hamas national unity government deal brokered by Riyadh earlier this month, $1 billion in funding may not do the trick. Moreover, it seems implausible that Iran and Hizballah will be lured into a deal merely by the carrot of avoiding civil war. If money and fears of Sunni-Shiite violence are not enough to convince Iran to allow the tribunal to proceed, this round will likely fail, just as the Arab League mediation did.

For the time being, it appears that Iran and Hizballah will not sacrifice Syria for a Lebanon deal. Ultimately, however, if a deal is to be reached and Lebanon is to avoid civil war, Hizballah will have to consent—even if only temporarily—to approve the tribunal in parliament. The framework of the deal, as currently structured, essentially forces Hizballah to choose between securing its local interests (more political power in Lebanon) and protecting its Syrian ally (by opposing the tribunal). While Hizballah and Iran would like both, it seems likely that, at the end of the day, they will choose to prioritize political power. And this is what troubles Damascus.

Coalition Forces in Iraq Still Finding Foreign Aid For Terrorists in Recent Captures

By Andrew Cochran

Captures in Iraq in recent days highlight the continued prevalence of foreign fighters and funding for Al Qaeda and other terrorists from Iraq's "neighbors" in the Muslim world. Today, according to a Defense Department press release, coalition forces captured a suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq emir in Baghdad, three "suspected foreign terrorist facilitators" in operations near Samarra, and eight more in "a foreign fighter safe house" west of Mahmudiyah. DoD announced on February 25 that Iraqi Ninewa Special Weapons and Tactics Team arrested "a suspected member of a foreign fighter smuggling network" who is "believed to be part of a network facilitating the movement of foreign fighters, arms and money into Iraq" that support insurgent attacks targeting Iraqi civilians and Iraqi Security Forces. And another raid in Mosul led to the discovery of "a large amount of Egyptian and Syrian money and false passports and identification cards." Last week, Iraqi police captured Issa Abdul-Razzaq Ahmed, who had traveled to neighbouring countries, especially Syria and the UAE, to collect funds for militant operations in Iraq. Ahmed was one of the most wanted Al Qaeda-connected terrorists in Iraq.

Evan Kohlmann has posted here often, most recently on February 24, on the presence of foreign fighters in the Iraq jihad. The Iraq Study Group report (a.k.a. Baker-Hamilton report) on Iraq, released in December, slammed Gulf states for doing little to stop funding for the insurgency: "Funding for the Sunni insurgency comes from private individuals within Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, even as those governments help facilitate U.S. military operations in Iraq by providing basing and overflight rights and by cooperating on intelligence issues." Will the U.S. push Gulf states to do more to stop this funding, just as it apparently pushing Pakistan to pursue terrorists in Waziristan? Or are we trying to stem Sunni-based terrorism by Al Qaeda and others in Iraq while fomenting a Sunni-vs.-Iran war elsewhere? That kind of "complicated" foreign policy move isn't something at which the U.S. has excelled, especially in the Middle East (remember Iran-Contra?).

Protect the U.S. From British "Homegrown" Terrorists by Ending Visa Waiver Program

By Michael Cutler

The war on terror is continuing and many of the countries that are America's staunchest allies are becoming increasingly aware of the threat that terrorists pose within their own borders. This article released yesterday states that there are more than 1,600 "home grown" al-Qaeda terrorists in Great Britain planning to launch attacks against England. Anyone who would launch a terrorist against attack England would have to see the United States as a potential target as well.

No one can doubt the close relationship that the United States and Great Britain have. Great Britain has assumed a major role in assisting the United States in prosecuting the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. England is among the 27 countries whose citizens are not required to obtain visas before seeking entry into our country. However, the disturbing fact is that there are terrorists who live in Great Britain that hate England and the United States. Examples of the hatred abound. Richard Reid, the so-called "Shoe Bomber" was a British national who hid explosives in his shoes, intent on downing an airliner. British citizens participated in the bombing of the famed British subway system called the "Underground" in England. Other terrorist plots have been disrupted when British authorities discovered them before they could be set into motion including a plot to bring seemingly harmless fluids onto airliners, meet up with confederates who carried other fluids that when mixed together would create potent explosives to be used to destroy number of airliners over the Atlantic Ocean as these airliners were en route to the United States. These attempts at concealing explosives in shoes and seemingly innocuous fluids has resulted in a ratcheting up of security measures in the United States. When we travel by plane, these days, we know that we will have to remove our shoes and that we will be severely restricted in the quantity of fluids that we may bring on board the airliner with us. This is our country's response to the threat that explosives may be concealed by terrorists who would use them to blow up airliners in flight and kill hundreds of innocent travelers. Most travelers in the United States just shrug off these impositions and say that it is just a "sign of the times." Indeed, I believe that it is probably prudent to take these measures.

However, why is our nation unwilling to end the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) in this day and age when Americans have gotten used to all sorts of inconveniences and indignities in the name of security? The visa requirement provides 4 major enhancements that would aid our efforts to protect our nation.

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What Makes Iran so Different From Other Potential Targets

By Douglas Farah

It is clear that Iran will not halt its nuclear program. How far away the nation is to being able to build a bomb is the subject of much debate, and I don't know enough to opine.

But one thing makes attacking Iran far more difficult and dangerous on a global level than attacking Iraq or Afghanistan because Iran can strike back in many places around the world.

It has a network of well-trained operatives, in the form of Hezbollah operatives and small numbers of Quds forces, already in place, trained in the arts of sabotage, demolitions and intelligence gathering. This network can be activated quickly, if Iran feels the need to retaliate against U.S or European targets.

These groups, in turn, have access to economic resources that make cutting off, even with concerted efforts, because they are deeply entrenched in the grey economies of Africa and Latin America that have been relatively impervious to previous crackdown efforts.

Iran will not be occupied militarily, and will likely be able to continue to function as a state after any possible attack-a state under sanction and pressure, but a state nonetheless, with all the trappings that go with it. My full blog is here.

Egypt's NileSat Takes Al-Zawraa, Militant Iraqi TV Channel, Off Air

By Andrew Cochran

On January 26, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross passed on a story from the BBC that al-Zawraa TV, a 24-hour station set up by the Islamic Army of Iraq and subordinate to the Mujahideen Shura Council, had been picked up by Saudi-run Arabsat. Daveed and Nick Grace had written about al-Zawraa in a January Daily Standard article.

The BBC story noted that Egypt's NileSat was already broadcasting al-Zawraa and quoted an unnamed American official saying, "Al-Zawraa is glorifying the killing of American and Iraqi government officials, which we strongly object to. This needs to be taken care of. . . . This should never have been on air in the first place, much less over the satellite of a country that professes to be a friend of the United States."

Today, Lebanon's Daily Star reports that NileSat has removed al-Zawraa, with this explanation: "'The Iraqi Al-Zawraa satellite channel on NileSat 101 was cut off after it repeatedly interfered with the transmission of several other channels,' the state-owned Al-Gomhuriyah newspaper reported. It said several channels had been experiencing transmission problems that were traced to Al-Zawraa. The channel was initially disconnected on Thursday and the problems stopped immediately."

Good move by the Egyptians. Et tu, Saudis?

Complete Text: "Bin Laden and the Oil Weapon" (from Al-Qaida's Sawt al-Jihad #30)

By Evan Kohlmann

Al-Qaida's Committee in the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia) has recently released the first new issue of its official magazine, Sawt al-Jihad ("Voice of Jihad"), in nearly two years. Among other subjects, Sawt al-Jihad #30 addresses the aftermath of the Abqaiq (Buqayq) oil refinery attack in early 2006 in an article titled "Bin Laden and the Oil Weapon." The author of the piece mocked the response in Western countries to the Abqaiq attack, insisting, "targeting the region’s oil is not an unusual or new thing... Nevertheless, the enormity of the target and the severity of the shock caused many observers to forget past events and led them to claim that Bin Laden had just begun to target oil [interests], and that this was a strategic shift in Al-Qaida policy!!" The article described oil interests as "an easy target for all the enemies of the United States" and urged terrorist strikes on "petroleum interests in all regions that the United States benefits from, and not only in the Middle East", including targeting "oil production wells, export pipelines, loading platforms, tankers--and anything else that will deprive the United States of oil... disrupt and stifle its economy, and threaten its economic and political future."

Click to view complete text of "Bin Laden and the Oil Weapon" (Sawt al-Jihad #30) c/o Globalterroralert.com

See also:
- Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia Issues Rules on Attacking Oil Facilities (February 2006)
- Al-Qaida claims Abqaiq (Buqayq) operation by "Brigade of Shaykh Usama Bin Laden" (February 2006)
- Al-Qaida names Abqaiq "martyrs" from the "Bin Laden Brigade" (February 2006)
- Al-Qaida statement on recent events in Saudi Arabia (July 2006)
- [NEFA Foundation]: "Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia: 2002-2003"

Bangladesh Stalled on Enacting Terrorist Finance Law

By Jonathan Winer

Internal political tension over making it illegal to finance terrorism has continued to stall enactment of a strengthened anti-money laundering law in Bangladesh. As a result, the country, whose governance remains among the weakest in the world, continues to be without meaningful legal barriers to money laundering and terrorist finance.

While enactment of an improved AML/counter terrorist finance law would not make it difficult for anyone to launder money through Bangladesh any time soon given the country's universally available hundi system, it would at least provide a foundation for the country's principal banking institutions to begin to develop meaningful AML controls.

The stalled legislation would criminalize terrorist financing; create a functional finnacial intelligence unit; provide for asset forfeiture; and facilitate international cooperation. That it continues to remain stalled because of political forces that view terrorism to be a "political" issues speaks volumes about the growing influence of extreme Islamists in Bangladesh.

Islamist influence has grown almost geometrically in Bangladesh over the past ten years, with growing discrimination against minorities, secularists, and women seeking social reform.

There are, remarkably, some positive signs. The current caretaker government, unlike its predecessor, which left Bangladesh as a near safe-haven for terrorism, is cooperating with India, China, Pakistan and the U.S. among other countries in various counter-terrorism initiatives.

But development of comprehensive counter-terrorist activities in Bangladesh would require the country meaningfully to improve its overall governance and to develop functional systems for its underground banking system. These problems continue to "threaten the social fabric" of the country, the chief advisor to the caretaker government told Dhaka businessmen February 25. How is the battle against it going? To clean up the country prior to elections, the military sought and got the resignation of the two senior officials of the country's anti-corruption commission in early February, who were widely seen as protecting the most corrupt senior members of the outgoing government.

With eyes wide open, and recognizing that there will be constant set-backs, the U.S. and other donor countries need to continue to press Bangladesh to enact the comprehensive AML and terrorist finance law. They will then need to provide for significant, long-term assistance and training in AML implementation. These must be accompanied by the provision and implementation of strategies for registering and integrating the country's underground banks into a regulatory system that still readily facilitates remittances for Bengal expatriates working as laborers throughout the Middle East and indeed, the world.

New Video: Al-Qaida's "Convoy of Martyrs" in Iraq

By Evan Kohlmann

The propaganda video "Convoy of Martyrs" that was produced by Al-Qaida's "Mujahideen Shura Council" (the precursor to the current "Islamic State of Iraq") in late 2006 has finally been publicly released. The video includes interviews with many foreign jihadists fighting for Al-Qaida in Iraq--mostly of Saudi and Syrian origin. In a recorded plea to his family, one young man from the Arabian Peninsula, Abu Nasser al-Janoobi, admonishes his brother, "I beg you to depart for the land of honor and manhood. Don't just sit there and stay behind, and don't listen to anyone who tries to stop you. Just go and kill the Americans. Just kill them and don't leave any survivors." Another Saudi national, Abul-Abbas al-Jeddawi, shows off an explosives-packed suicide car bomb and explains jubilantly, "At the end [of the wire], you can see the button which I will press on my way to paradise."

Video: Click to view excerpts from Al-Qaida's "Convoy of Martyrs" in Iraq

See also: Video - "The Role of Foreign Fighters in the Iraqi Jihad" (NEFA Foundation)
- Biography of Sudanese nationals Hassan Abdel Rahman and Sadiq al-Jilani
- Biography of Yemeni national Abu al-Mardiyah al-Yemeni
- "State of the Sunni Insurgency in Iraq: 2006" (Report and Chart)
- [NEW YORK TIMES]: "The Ever-Mutating Iraq Insurgency"
- (November 2006) - Saudi Arabian Prison Escapees Killed in Iraq

Turkish Administrative Court Freezes Yasin Al-Qadi’s Assets

By Andrew Cochran

According to Turkish news reports, Yasin Al-Qadi’s assets in Turkey will finally be frozen after years of delay. Today’s Hurriyet reports (translated for me by a respected source):

Administrative Law Divisions Council of the Turkish Administrative Court repealed the previous verdict that allowed passage of the Council of Ministers decision not to freeze Yasin Al-Qadi’s claims and assets. Previously, a verdict of the 10th Division had allowed the Council of Ministers decision on not freezing Al-Qadi’s assets.

The new decision means that Al Qadi’s entire assets have been frozen definitively. Al-Qadi’s name was included in the terrorist financiers list prepared by the UN Security Council on September 28, 2001. Complying with the UN decision, the Council of Ministers at the time had decided to freeze Al-Qadi’s assets in Turkey along with that of 131 individuals. Al-Qadi, in return filed a lawsuit to repeal the part of the Council of Ministers’ decision that concerned him. The 10th Division of the Administrative Court complied. The Council of Ministers appealed the decision; however, the appellate court dropped the case when Prime Minister declared that "he was a guarantor to Al-Qadi and trusted him as much as he trusted himself."

Administrative Law Divisions Council of the Turkish Administrative Court first denied the not-guilty plea for Al-Qadi at the Court of Appeals, and later on stopped the execution of 10th Division’s rule on the case. At the end of yesterday’s meeting, Al-Qadi’s appeal was reexamined, and ruled that the Council of Ministers was required to enforce the UN decision and that there were no legal irregularities in the previous decision to freeze Al-Qadi’s assets in Turkey.

The decision would be a stunning and important reversal of the policy protecting Al-Qadi. CT Blog Contributing Experts have written often about the refusal of the Turkish government to freeze Qadi's assets. You can access all such posts through this special archives page, and here is a sample list:

More on Yasin al-Qadi's Connections to Turkey's Prime Minister
Its time to Put Yasin Al Kadi Out of Business!
U.S. Designates Important bin Laden/Qadi Associate
Switzerland Files Criminal Charges Against Saudi Businessman For Financing Terrorism
Turkey Prosecutor Absolves Yasin Al-Qadi, But Is He Right!

N.Y. Times: U.S. Engagement in Somalia Greater than Acknowledged

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Today the New York Times has an article on Somalia reporting that U.S. military engagement there was greater than the government has acknowledged:

The American military quietly waged a campaign from Ethiopia last month to capture or kill top leaders of Al Qaeda in the Horn of Africa, including the use of an airstrip in eastern Ethiopia to mount airstrikes against Islamic militants in neighboring Somalia, according to American officials. The close and largely clandestine relationship with Ethiopia also included significant sharing of intelligence on the Islamic militants' positions and information from American spy satellites with the Ethiopian military. Members of a secret American Special Operations unit, Task Force 88, were deployed in Ethiopia and Kenya, and ventured into Somalia, the officials said. . . . It has been known for several weeks that American Special Operations troops have operated inside Somalia and that the United States carried out two strikes on Qaeda suspects using AC-130 gunships. But the extent of American cooperation with the recent Ethiopian invasion into Somalia and the fact that the Pentagon secretly used an airstrip in Ethiopia to carry out attacks have not been previously reported.

Actually, that last sentence is not true. Regular CT Blog readers should not be surprised that U.S. military engagement in Somalia was greater than previously acknowledged by the government because I reported this in Pajamas Media well over a month ago, on January 9. An excerpt from my previous report:

U.S. ground forces have been active in Somalia from the start, a senior military intelligence officer confirmed. "In fact," he said, "they were part of the first group in." These ground forces include CIA paramilitary officers who are based out of Galkayo, in Somalia's semiautonomous region of Puntland, Special Operations forces, and Marine units operating out of Camp Lemonier in Djibouti. . . . Pajamas Media previously reported that Ethiopia's use of helicopter gunships capable of targeting the Islamic Courts Union's ground forces was a decisive factor in the army-to-army fighting against the ICU. A senior military intelligence source says that some of the gunships earlier described as Ethiopian were in fact U.S. aircraft. This has been confirmed by Dahir Jibreel, the transitional government's permanent secretary in charge of international cooperation, who said that U.S. planes and helicopters with their markings obscured have been striking targets since December 25.

The CT Blog: you heard it here first.

Iran's Move in Latin America

By Douglas Farah

Seems like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela is not the only one who is entering into new strategic alliances with Iran while much of the world is backing away.

It is not much of a surprise that Nicaragua's new/old president Daniel Ortega has, according to my sources who have seen the documents, already signed agreements to send a small group of "diplomats" to Tehran for intelligence training.

In addition, Nicaragua will support Iran's nuclear ambitions and other Iranian positions. In exchange, Nicaragua will get a hydroelectric plant, a motorcycle factory and other economic toys. This is all in concert with Venezuela, who, as today's Washington Post reports, Chavez is consolidating his control in Venezuela while buying support of other nations. Along with his "brother" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Chavez is pledging a $2 billion investment fund for the region.

Chavez and Ahmadinejad are certainly free to spend their money as they see fit. The aid is given without the stringent marco economic conditions of the loans from the World Bank and IMF. Fine.

But there are conditions nonetheless, and it is truly unbelievable to read that there are those who think this is all done from the altruistic natures of Chavez and Ahmadinejad. My full blog is here.

Explosive situation in Lebanon will continue

By Olivier Guitta

While incidents keep on piling up in Lebanon, precursor signs are pointing to an escalation of the situation triggered by Syria's allies.
First incidents against the international forces of UNIFIL in the South are increasing.
For instance last Sunday Spanish soldiers were attacked with stones by pro Hezbollah villagers in Debbine. Then on Monday it was the turn of French troops, a medical unit composed of doctors and nurses who came to Marun El Ras to treat for free some local villagers. The French were quite violently kicked out by locals favorable to Hezbollah who told them not to come back.
These incidents have not been given much publicity but they spell disaster.
On Tuesday a Minister even denounced Hezbollah's role in fomenting violence against UNIFIL troops. At the same time, UNIFIL troops are playing low profile and downplaying these stories in order to avoid terror attacks against their troops by Hezbollah terrorists.

But the confirmation of new trouble has been given by the always very knowledgeable Kuwaiti newspaper Al Seyassah. Indeed it reports that during his last week end's visit to Tehran, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad was reassured by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khameni. Indeed according to the new Iranian roadmap, Syria's allies Nabih Berri and Hassan Nasrallah will not let create the international Court. And Syria must work to implode Lebanon.

Khameni promised Assad that he will prevent the two main Shia leaders: president of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri and the secretary general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah to approve the International Court. On the other hand, Khameni pointed out to Assad that he needs to work on overthrowing the current government. Assad returned to Damascus and told his entourage that he was going “to force Hariri and Siniora to capitulate and to accept an imposed solution”.

Time will tell what's in store but unfortunately it looks like Lebanon is going to plunge again in bloody violence.

Al Qaeda in Iraq Promises Revenge For Alleged Rape in Iraq

By Andrew Cochran

The leader of Al Qaeda's "Islamic State of Iraq," Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, issued an audio tape today titled, “At Your Rescue, Sister,” threatening revenge for the alleged rape of "Sabrin al-Janabi" (a pseudonym for a Sunni woman) by Iraqi police. You can hear the entire tape from Evan Kohlmann's website (over 11 minutes long, of which Muhajir's message is about 7 minutes in length). Comments from Rita Katz's SITE Institute:

Muhajir claims that within ten hours of hearing this news, 300 Mujahideen volunteered for suicide operations, fifty of which are from the Janabiya tribe and twenty who want to marry Sabrin if she is not married. He states: “To you, the caravans of martyrs: Go ahead with Allah’s blessing and engulf their checkpoints in fire, destroy their homes, and spill their blood to flow as streams. Our Emir said: ‘I call upon every Mujahid to bear his arm and do not release it from his grasp until he meets Allah as a martyr or receives Allah’s reward’.” Muhajir adds additional appeals by the Emir of the Believers, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi: “crush their camps, cut them into pieces, and pull their hearts from their bodies.”

You can access Evan's CT Blog posts about Muhajir and Al Qaeda in Iraq from his archives page.

Samjhauta Explosion: All Eyes and Ears on March 6 Indo-Pak Anti-Terror Meeting

By Animesh Roul

Somebody has rightly observed that the glass is both half-full and half-empty for India-Pakistan relations, as things stand now. After showing extreme restraint and caution following the February 18 blasts on Indo-Pak peace train (Samjhauta Exp), India has reportedly slammed Pakistan Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed's ‘irresponsible' comments against New Delhi’s alleged non-cooperative attitude in the investigations and in providing details of the victims. Rashid earlier observed that no information was being provided about the dead by India after many futile attempts. However, Indian authority rebuked saying that he should get in touch with his own foreign office.

This blame game is not restricted to sharing information on victims alone. There are few hiccups on the terror-probe front too. Pakistan showed displeasure and has not taken kindly to the India’s fingers towards a possible Pakistani (PoK) connection in this. This is evident from its FO spokesperson’s interview with a local TV channel. On top of it, it was made clear that Islamabad will not allow interrogation of its nationals injured in the tragedy by the Indian officials.

Meanwhile, at least seven people (suspects) detained for questioning so far in a coordinated raid from neighboring states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Old Delhi locality of the National Capital. One of the arrested suspects resembled one of the sketches of two suspects released by the Haryana police on Feb 20. Two of them (See the sketches) had reportedly jumped off the train 15 minutes before the blasts.

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Washington Times: Changing Minds

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I have a column in today's Washington Times about a promising initiative in the American Muslim community designed to promote civic engagement. This initiative picked up steam after the terrorist plot uncovered last month in which nine Pakistani Muslims living in Britain planned to kidnap, torture and behead a fellow British Muslim -- a soldier who had served in Afghanistan. The American Muslim community has not reached the same level of radicalism as Europe's Muslims, and part of the thinking behind the initiative is that one reason for the differences between Muslims on the two continents is that American Muslims are far more engaged in the society in which they live. An excerpt:

But civic engagement is a process, rather than a given. Since the terror plot's announcement, [al-Husein] Madhany has approached officials in American Muslim organizations with a promising idea. It involves focusing a forthcoming conference of a major American Muslim organization on the theme of civic engagement. The conference's speeches would center on this theme, and at the end the organization would announce a contest for excellence in sermon writing that engages the issue of "how North American Muslims, individually or collectively, can take leadership roles in long-term civic engagement efforts."

Using theological sermons to spread this theme would be an important step because those who hold the pulpit are seen as authority figures in the Muslim community. There will be an immediate on-the-ground impact if the pulpit is used not to condemn those who participate in American democracy, but to encourage such participation.

Civic engagement, according to Mr. Madhany, occurs at many levels. Volunteerism, starting at a young age, is central. "We should promote children entering the Cub Scouts, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America," Mr. Madhany says. "It's also not dismissing your Muslim children's career goals if they include becoming fire chiefs, first responders, public servants within government, or policemen."

Mr. Madhany explains that aspects of this project would include involvement in education boards, parent-teacher associations, county boards and tax boards. What is critical is involvement in issues of importance to the community -- not through advocacy organizations (of which there are plenty within the American Muslim community), but through groups focused on social services and the social good.

Read the whole article here. On a personal note, al-Husein Madhany -- who designed the civic engagement initiative that my column discusses -- is a long-time friend of mine, and plays a prominent role in my book My Year Inside Radical Islam.

Cairo Can and Should Seize Hamas Funds

By Matthew Levitt

Over the past year Hamas leaders have smuggled cash into Gaza across the Egyptian border on several occasions in an attempt to circumvent the existing sanctions barring financial transactions with Hamas or the Hamas led Palestinian government.

* In May 2006, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri was caught trying to smuggle $817,000 into the Gaza Strip.

* In June 2006, Hamas’ Mahmoud al-Zahar, the Palestinian Foreign Minister, brought $20 million across the border stuffed into 12 suitcases.

* In November 2006 Mushir al-Masri and Ahmad Bahar reportedly carried suitcases containing over $4 million into Gaza.

* In December 2006, Palestinian Prime Minister and senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh tried – unsuccessfully – to carry approximately $35 million from Iran across the border.

Now, in the wake of the agreement Saudi Arabia brokered between Hamas and Fatah in Mecca, Russia and some European countries are already suggesting these sanctions should be lifted, though that position is both premature and shortsighted. In fact, now is the time to better enforce the existing sanctions regime. Egypt could help.

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Imam Musa: "they are not suicide bombers; they are heroes"

By Andrew Cochran

On Monday I posted about Imam Abdul Alim Musa of Washington, who was caught on tape, taken by Steven Emerson's Investigative Project on Terrorism, supporting Palestinian terrorists. Last night on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes," Steve discussed additional videos taken by IPT of Musa and showed one clip in which he threatens to lead an effort to "burn America down." Steve also revealed that Musa has been to Iran and the Sudan, and discussed other clips in which Musa apparently voices support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran's late Ayatollah Khomeini. You can see the entire "H&C segment here, and the transcript of the program follows below.

As Steve suggested last night, if Musa personally traveled to Iran and the Sudan, did he also send money as "material support" to terrorists in those countries?

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New Indictments For Conspiring to Commit Terrorist Acts Against Americans (updated)

By Andrew Cochran

One year ago to this day, I posted about indictments announced that day against three men in Ohio for supporting terrorist attacks in Iraq and of threatening to kill President Bush. Today, DOJ announced additional indictments in that case against the three Ohio men and added two men from Illinois to the superseding indictment. The DOJ press release announced charges against the two new defendants, Zubair A. Ahmed and his cousin, Khaleel Ahmed, both of Chicago, for conspiring to commit terrorist acts against Americans overseas. The three Ohio men (Amawi, El-Hindi and Mazloum) are jointly charged in the new indictment with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Amawi is charged with making threats against the President; Amawi and El-Hindi are charged with distributing information regarding explosives; and El-Hindi is charged with making and using false documents.

You can download all indictments in the case from the website of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, which is leading the prosecution. The indictments provide chilling details of the defendants' alleged training received with the help of another person, named only "the Trainer":

On or about April 29, 2005, AMAWI, MAZLOUM, and another individual practiced target shooting at an indoor range. AMAWI paid for the rental of two shooting lanes, and the rental of two handguns, a Beretta 9 mm pistol and a Glock 40 caliber pistol. AMAWI, MAZLOUM, the Trainer, and the other individual discussed the importance of keeping their training secret. On or about April 29, 2005, the Trainer discussed with AMAWI and MAZLOUM training with real explosives during the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, when the sounds of the explosions would not raise undue suspicion... On or about October 14, 2004, in the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division, the defendant, MOHAMMAD ZAKI AMAWI, knowingly and willfully did verbally threaten to kill or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, to and in the presence of another person.

UPDATE: A CT Blog reader points out language in the indictment indicating that plotting with the two new defendants occurred at a "convention in Cleveland," which was almost certainly the 2004 convention of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and Muslim American Society (MAS). Among the honored speakers at that convention was Imam Fawaz Damra, leader of Ohio's largest mosque, who lied to the FBI about his friendships with leaders of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, raised funds for Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists (he was an associate of Sami al-Arian), and was convicted for lying about past links to terrorist groups and ultimately deported. You can access numerous past CT Blog posts about Damra's activities and associations here, and you can read about MAS and ICNA in this post.

Mustapha Khalfi, the Moroccan Islamist who spent a year in the US including Congress criticizes the US

By Olivier Guitta

How surprising!
Ilan Weinglass and I have been trying to open some eyes last year about the fact that this dangerous Islamist should not have been allowed in our country and even less given a Fulbright scholarship and work in Congress.
For the full story please click here, here and here.

Then in yesterday's Washington Post, Craig Whitlock interviews Khalfi and of course forgets to mention that Khalfi's party the PJD is an Islamist party very close to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Here's the excerpt:
Mustapha Khalfi, a member of Parliament from the opposition Justice and Development Party, said the government was arresting suspects, based on little evidence, to please U.S. officials. "They are pushing us to do some bad things," he said. "This conflicts with U.S. policy to strengthen democracy and to strengthen human rights."

Khalfi said the number of Moroccans joining the fight in Iraq had been exaggerated. At the same time, he added, as long as the U.S. military remains in Iraq, many Moroccans will feel duty-bound to help the resistance.

"There's a long tradition in the Muslim world of solidarity against occupation," he said. "It's rooted in our society. To explain it and understand it is easy."

Conclusion: we should stop paying for our enemies to come to study in our country with our tax dollars just so that they can spread their venom when they go back home.
Would it have been so difficult to pick a moderate Muslim instead of Khalfi whose blatant anti-Americanism and Anti-Semitism were well known before he reached our shores.

Problems with DOJ's Counterterrorism Numbers

By Douglas Farah

The Washington Post today carried a look at problems with the Justice Department's accounting of the number of terrorism cases it handles and other issues.

One thing stands out: the statement that U.S. attorneys "counted hundreds of terrorism cases that did not qualify for the designation because they involved minor crimes with no connection to terrorist activities."

This may be true in a technical sense, and there may be some deep problems with DOJ record keeping. As the Inspector General said, it may be decentralized, haphazard and in need of an overhaul.

But it is also wrong to summarily discount the cases made against suspected terrorists on other charges, because those are the charges that could be brought. My full blog is here.

Shutting Hezbollah's "Construction Jihad"

By Matthew Levitt

On February 20, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Jihad al-Bina, Hizballah’s construction company in Lebanon, effectively shutting the terrorist group’s firm out of the international financial system. While the designation will not take effect at the United Nations—sanctions under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 only target elements associated with al-Qaeda or the Taliban, to the exclusion of any other terrorist groups—international lenders and donors, including financial institutions, NGOs, and governments, are unlikely to want to assume the reputational risk of working to rebuild Lebanon in partnership with Hizballah instead of the Lebanese government. Moreover—and contrary to conventional wisdom—the designation presents a rare public diplomacy opportunity in the battle of ideas in the war on terror.

The full article can be found here.