Britain won't allow radical cleric back in
The government said Friday that it would bar the London-based Syrian cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed from ever returning to Britain, which had granted him political asylum and which had been his home for the last 20 or so years.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/news/terror.php

Heathrow struggles to recover as strike eases
British Airways has resumed flights from Heathrow Airport following an unofficial strike.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/news/heathrow.php

Letter from the Philippines: Long afterward, war still wears on Filipinos
For a people wounded by Japan like no other in Southeast Asia, Filipinos are now very friendly toward Japan.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/news/phils.php

Italy'sriver of cocaine puts nation onthealert
Acknowledging that cocaine use has surged, Italian authorities said they were treating the findings as a wake-up call.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/news/cocaine.php

U.S. minorities are becoming the majority
The United States as a whole is moving in the direction of its two most populous states, California and Texas, where members of racial and ethnic minorities account for more than half the population.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/news/census.php

North Korea to release prisoners
The move appeared partly intended to improve the international image of the totalitarian regime.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/news/korea.php

Sunnis join to oppose Shiite call for region
Angered by Shiite calls for a federal region, Sunni clerics urged followers Friday to vote against the constitution if it contains measures they believe would divide the country.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/news/iraq.php

Palestinians get a rare chance to celebrate
In a land of poverty, violence and dashed dreams of statehood, Palestinians are revving up for the rarest of events in the Gaza Strip: a celebration.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/news/mideast.php

Life at the front: GIs savor the good life
First Lieutenant Taysha Deaton of the Louisiana National Guard went to war anticipating a gritty yearlong deployment of sand, heat and duress, but ended up spending nights in a king-size bed beneath imported sheets and a down comforter.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/news/soldiers.php

Chinese banker convicted
One of the best-known bankers in China was convicted Friday of embezzlement and given a suspended death sentence, state media reported, highlighting efforts in China to crack down on corruption amid a series of banking scandals.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/business/boc.php

Democracy alone can't defeat terrorism
Washington should realize that democracy is not an antidote to terrorism.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/news/edgause.php

In defense of common sense
In science, when the evidence is tentative, we should not be
embarrassed to call on common sense for guidance.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/opinion/edhorgan.php

It's time China and Japan started to get along
With relations between China and Japan at a crossroads, returning the
bilateral relationship to a positive trajectory is the greatest challenge.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/12/opinion/edyuan.php

New kind of criminal is prowling the Web
Law enforcement authorities and computer security specialists warn that new breeds of white-collar criminals are on the prowl.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/07/business/thugs.php

Jakarta trial to begin in murder of activist
A Garuda Indonesia airline pilot is scheduled to go on trial Tuesday in the slaying of Indonesia's best-known human rights activist.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/08/news/indo.php

Old Europe, new ideas: A look at what works
Amid the current pessimism about Europe, a number of things appear to work rather well.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/09/news/works.php

Between Rock and a hard place, hope rises
No historical slights are ever forgotten in Europe, but few flourish quite as robustly as the one between Gibraltar and its formidable neighbor, Spain.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/10/news/gibraltar.php

A dreamer: Was he the 'fifth man' who left bomb in park?
Of all the men suspected of taking part in the attempted bombings July 21, Wahbi Mohamed seems the most unlikely, according to people who know him.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/04/news/suspect.php

Iran confirms plan to resume uranium conversion
Iran also said it was unconcerned about referral of its nuclear case to the U.N. for possible sanctions.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/07/afr...eb.0807iran.php

Terrorism pushes roots into the northern Sinai
While the sands of the Sinai have long been home to smugglers, the area had never been known as a breeding ground for extremists, according to many Egyptian experts and officials.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/07/news/egypt.php

Blair's New Authoritarianism

Terror and Democracy

By Tariq Ali

In the face of terror attacks Anglo-Saxon politicians mouth the same rhetoric. One sentence in particular--shrouded in layers of untruth--is constantly repeated: 'We shall not permit these attacks to change our way of life.' It is a multi-purpose mantra. The first aim is to convince the public that the terrorists are crazed Muslims who are bombing modernity/democracy/freedom/ 'our values', etc.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9748.htm

http://snipurl.com/gwts

Roy Hattersley : End this chorus of intolerance :

It is uncivilised to demand that Muslims abandon their way of life
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,...1547594,00.html

http://snipurl.com/gwui

Israeli soldier jailed for killing peace activist:

An Israeli sergeant was jailed for eight years yesterday for the manslaughter of Tom Hurndall, a British peace activist, ending the impunity enjoyed by Israeli soldiers who kill civilians in combat.
http://snipurl.com/gwuk



Settler-funding a billion dollar question:

Israel's illegal effort since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war to fill the West Bank and Gaza Strip with Jews has grown from the scattered actions of zealous squatters into a network of 142 settlements that house nearly 240,000 people.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/714...642D2A7986E.htm

http://snipurl.com/gwum



Interview of President Bush by Israeli Television:

Mr. President, how imminently is the Iranian threat? A: The United States and Israel are united in our objective to make sure that Iran does not have a weapon.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9750.htm

http://snipurl.com/gwun

U.S. report warns of China sub threat:

Little noticed by the public, a just-released Pentagon report to Congress carries a strong warning that China's rapidly expanding and improving submarine fleet poses a mounting military threat to the United States.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...nationworld-hed

http://snipurl.com/gwur



Pakistan tests cruise missile:

With a range of more than 300 miles and able to evade Indian radar by hugging the ground, the Hatf VII Babur missile is designed to match India's BrahMos missile, tested in 2001.
http://snipurl.com/gwus



The Guardian profile: Tim Berners-Lee :

Sir Tim, named last year as the greatest living Briton, is rightly heralded as the godfather of the web. It was he who, as a physicist working in Switzerland, turned the internet from a disparate collection of academic and military computer systems into an international network.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1547428,00.html

http://snipurl.com/gwuu

France strongly condemns assassination of Sri Lankan FM Xinhua
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Saturday that France strongly condemned the assassination of Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, calling for the country's peace process to go on.
Foreign Minister in Sri Lanka Is Assassinated New York Times
Peace fears as Sri Lanka mourns BBC News
CNN International - Bloomberg - EiTB - Rediff - all 1,728 related »

Hamas chiefs insist fight goes on BBC News
Founders and leaders of Hamas have made a rare public appearance together to assert the Palestinian militant group's right to continue its armed campaign. They spoke in Gaza only two days before Israel is due to start pulling settlers and troops out of the territory. The group has largely kept to a truce with Israel called in February by the Palestinian Authority's president.
Hamas vows continued resistance after Gaza pullout Reuters
Erekat urges revival of peace talks after Gaza withdrawal Xinhua
Los Angeles Times - National Post - البوابة - MSNBC - all 938 related »

Heathrow: Most sacked employees Indians Rediff
Asians, mostly Indians, were among the majority of 800 workers sacked by a catering firm at Heathrow airport, which triggered a wildcat strike by British Airways ground staff, disrupting flights and leaving thousands of people stranded. Hundreds of ground staff walked out on Thursday in support of workers fired by US company Gate Gourmet, BA's in-flight meal supplier. Tara Shah, 39, and her husband Kiran worked at the catering firm. She was one of those sacked over megaphone. Kiran was off for the day so he was sacked through a letter. "Many couples have been sacked," she told reporters. "We don't know what we are going to do. We have four children and a mortgage to pay. The way we have been treated is shocking." Tara Shah said the company appeared to have miscalculated the scale of the opposition. "We are very strong and we are angry. This gives me hope." Another sacked employee Sabajit Sidhu, a mother of two from Slough, said managers underestimated the resilience of their workers and the ties that unite airport workers of all races, ages, religions and both sexes. "I work for Gate Gourmet but some of my relatives are baggage handlers," she said. "I am very proud of the fight we are showing. They treated us terribly. "We were held in the canteen for hours and then they just pushed us out of the building. I worked there for six years. I think they have made a big mistake," said Sidhu. Harinder Atwal, 45, joined the company a decade ago. The mother of three was a senior shop steward and said relations between staff and senior managers seemed to deteriorate 18 months ago. "They wanted to reduce our pay. The drivers would go from £8 an hour to £6.35 and overtime would go to a flat rate. They wanted five days' sick pay instead of 25. Six or seven months ago they said they needed 675 redundancies but then they sought to bring in the seasonal staff. "The new managers are from Germany and they want us to work in a way they are accustomed to. The managers used to understand their workforce but not anymore," said Atwal. The outcome of the dispute will have implications not just for the running of the airport, but also for many of the largely Asian neighbourhoods that surround it. Heathrow draws on the Asian communities of Southall, Slough, Hounslow, Hayes, Ealing and Brentford in the recruitment of its 70,000 workforce. Women and men from those areas work as baggage handlers, security, cleaning staff and immigration staff at the airport. But they are also heavily employed by ancillary industries. Owing to the strike, British Airways was now facing a £30 million legal battle with passengers over its refusal to pay cash compensation for cancelling 600 flights in the past two days, reports said. Under the European passenger rights regulation, which came into force in February, passengers are entitled to cash payments of up to £400 if their flight is cancelled with less than two weeks' notice. Bitish Airways resumed flights to and from Heathrow Airport when the walkout by its ground crew ended on Friday. But the airline said it would take several days to fully restore its service. A BA spokeswoman said seventy thousand BA passengers were stranded on Friday.
Airline works to clear backlog after crippling Heathrow strike Wired News
BA works to clear backlog after crippling strike Reuters.uk
Guardian Unlimited - New York Times - Manchester Evening News - Bloomberg - all 2,112 related »

Clarke uses 'personal power' to ban Bakri from UK Guardian Unlimited
The radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed was banned yesterday from setting foot in Britain again under a "personal power" exercised by the home secretary, Charles Clarke. Last night the man nicknamed "the Tottenham Ayatollah" was at liberty in Beirut after being released from a day of questioning by the Lebanese authorities.
UK Bars Return of Muslim Cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed Bloomberg
Bakri declared 'a free man' in Lebanon Daily Star - Lebanon
Times Online - EiTB - Reuters Canada - Scotsman - all 917 related »

New HIV Strategy Shows Promise CBS News
A new treatment strategy has shown promise in helping to transform HIV into a curable infection. Preliminary research published this week in The Lancet medical journal outlines how scientists used an anti-convulsant drug to awaken dormant HIV hiding in the body, temporarily invisible but dangerous. HIV infection is incurable because current drugs only work when the virus is multiplying. The virus only multiplies when it is in an active cell. However, HIV sometimes infects dormant cells, and when it does so it becomes dormant itself. While the virus poses no threat in its resting state, the problem is that the sleeping cells sporadically wake up, reactivating the virus, causing it to multiply. Patients must continue to take the medications for life so that they can fight the virus coming out of the reawakened cells. Only if every last infected dormant cell is wiped out — or the virus purged from all of these cells — can patients be free of medication and be cured, experts say. Figuring out how to clear this reservoir of latent infection, or whether that's even possible, is one of the hottest areas of AIDS research. Over the last few years, a handful of other drugs have been shown to decrease the size of the dormant HIV pool, but they were subsequently abandoned as impractical because their effect was either too weak or the side effects too toxic. The latest drug, valproic acid, shows more promise, said Dr. Warner Greene, director of the Gladstone Institute for Virology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco. "It's a first baby step, showing that maybe the use of (this type of drug) — far more likely in combination with one or two other agents — might be a viable approach for tackling this latency problem," said Greene, who was not involved with the research but is conducting similar studies. "The idea, if we could ever do it, is to purge every latently infected cell. Treat patients for probably two or three years, they'd be able to come off their antiretroviral therapy and they'd be virus free," he said. The study, led by Dr. David Margolis at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, tested the ability of valproic acid to reduce the number of infected dormant cells. Four patients on standard therapy were given the pills to take twice daily for three months. The size of this pool of infected dormant cells decreased by 75 percent in three out of the four patients, the study found. "This finding, though not definitive, suggests that new approaches will allow the cure of HIV in the future," Margolis said. "This is a baby step, but it's a significant conceptual move forward." Margolis said he believes the drug reactivates the virus inside the dormant cell, either waking up the cell with it, or killing it. Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy, a professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, who also studies the dormant HIV issue, said that Margolis' results were an impressive first try. "It's enormous for just three months treatment to have such an effect," he said, adding that the findings merit urgent further study. "I think it's very exciting news." However, some other experts were less optimistic. "It's extremely unlikely that this approach would work," said Dr. Robert Siliciano, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University who was one of the scientists who discovered the dormant infection problem in the mid 1990s. "It assumes something about the mechanism which we don't know is true. The mechanism may involve other issues that are not affected by this drug." "It didn't get all the cells. That's probably because it's not really targeting the right mechanism for latency," Siliciano said. "It's got to be a 99.9999 percent reduction to be useful. When you stop the drugs the virus explodes back so quickly, even if you had one latently infected cell left, in a matter of days you would be back to where you started from." Siliciano said he also doubts the valproic acid approach will solve the problem because it's likely that HIV lies dormant in other types of cells that scientists have not discovered yet and tackling those reservoirs may require a completely different approach. "It's a little bit premature to be talking about a cure for HIV," he said.
New HIV Therapy Clears Out Hidden Virus Forbes
AIDS Cure Possible, Study Suggests FOX News
Aidsmap - Independent - Voice of America - BBC News - all 250 related »

West Nile on the move Provo Daily Herald
A week after mosquitoes in Goshen and Genola tested positive for West Nile virus, three horses have contracted the disease. Tests have also confirmed that the virus has spread to mosquitoes in Payson, said Lance Madigan of the Utah County Health Department. In addition, a state lab confirmed late Thursday that two so-called sentinel chickens, set out by the county and tested weekly as indicators of the disease, also tested positive for West Nile. The county keeps five flocks of sentinel chickens around the county, and it was not immediately clear where the two infected chickens came from. The infected horses were likely euthanized, though their fate could not be confirmed, Madigan said. The horses lived in the Goshen/Genola area. The names of the owners were not released. With the disease on the move, human cases are likely to follow, said Joseph Miner, director of the Utah County Health Department, in a statement. "Our experience has shown that once West Nile enters an area, it can spread rapidly," Miner said, noting that no human cases of West Nile have been found in Utah County to date. "The best way for our citizens to protect themselves and their families is to avoid mosquito bites. "There is no reason to panic. Using mosquito repellents with DEET is the simplest, most effective way to protect yourself. This is especially important from dusk to dawn, as the mosquitoes that transmit the disease primarily bite during evening hours until morning." Protecting horses is not so simple. County officials on Thursday did not call for horse owners to get their horses vaccinated because the vaccines are likely ineffective this late in the year. "I don't want to say it's too late, but if they haven't vaccinated their horses by now, it's almost too late," Madigan said. State officials advised horse owners to vaccinate in April. More than 100,000 doses of the vaccine were sold in Utah last year, while only five horses contracted West Nile virus -- a success compared to 35 cases the year before, said Utah State Veterinarian Mike Marshall at the time. There are, however, an estimated 400,000 horses in Utah, he said. Every unvaccinated horse is at risk. Horses that have never been vaccinated should have been given one shot in April with a follow-up dose this month, he said. Horses that were vaccinated last year needed only one dose in April. Half of all horses that contract the virus die, he said. Nearly all of those that live are forever "mentally damaged -- not what you want to trust your daughter on, so getting the vaccine is pretty cheap," he said. Vaccine shots are available from veterinarians, he said. Shots cost about $20. Bob Mower, mosquito abatement director for Utah County, asked farmers on Thursday to help county officials identify low-lying areas where water collects on their property. "Get rid of standing water," said Mower in a statement. "This is where mosquitoes live and breed. Last week we had an inspector come back with a dipper overflowing with mosquito larvae. Most of our farmers and ranchers know where water collects, and we are asking for that information to be passed onto the Mosquito Abatement Division. If we can find these locations and treat them, that can go a long way to controlling the adult mosquito population." Most people who are infected with West Nile virus do not show any symptoms, said county officials in a statement. About one in every five have flu-like symptoms with fever, muscle aches, and possibly a rash. While those individuals recover, the illness can be prolonged. About one in 150 develop more severe illness affecting the brain and spinal cord. They may have headache, paralysis, and stiff neck, and may suffer long-lasting or permanent disability and even death. The risk of severe illness increases with age, but all age groups are at risk of illness.
For information about West Nile virus, call the Utah County Health Departments Mosquito Abatement offices at 851-7637. Caleb Warnock can be reached at 756-7669 ext. 19 or cwarnock@heraldextra.com.
Six more dead birds had West Nile San Diego Union Tribune
Additional human case of West Nile Virus identified Tampa Bay's 10
San Jose Mercury News - Detroit Free Press - Chicago Tribune - Rapid City Journal - all 100 related »

Kadirgamar's assassination shatters Lankan peace Hindu Business Line
WITH the brutal assassination of the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Mr Lakshman Kadirgamar, on Friday night in Colombo, the fragile peace process has been shattered.
Will Sri Lanka's peace process totter? BBC News
Top Sri Lanka minister shot dead, Tigers blamed Malaysia Star
Xinhua - Bloomberg - CNN International - Aljazeera.com - all 1,817 related »

Why 'Greater Israel' Never Came to Be New York Times
FOR those who long considered it folly to settle a handful of Jews among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the decision to remove them starting this week seems an acceptance of the obvious. What possible future could the settlers have had? How could their presence have done the state of Israel any good? But for those, like Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who created and nurtured the settlements, the move to dismantle them is something very different. It is an admission not of error but of failure. Their cherished goal - the resettlement of the full biblical land of Israel by contemporary Jews - is not to be. The reason: not enough of them came. "We have had to come to terms with certain unanticipated realities," acknowledged Arye Mekel, Israeli consul general in New York. "Ideologically, we are disappointed. A pure Zionist must be disappointed because Zionism meant the Jews of the world would take their baggage and move to Israel. Most did not." David Kimche, who was director general of Israel's foreign ministry in the 1980's, noted: "The old Zionist nationalists' anthem was a state on 'the two banks of the River Jordan.' When that became impractical, we talked about 'greater Israel,' from the Jordan to the sea. But people now realize that this, too, is something we won't be able to achieve." The failure has two main sources. First, contrary to the expectations of the early Zionists, as Ambassador Mekel noted, most of the world's Jews have not joined their brethren to live in Israel. Of the world's 13 million to 14 million Jews, a minority - 5.26 million - make their home in Israel, and immigration has largely dried up. Last year, a record low 21,000 Jews immigrated to Israel. Of course, Israel is a remarkably successful state, a democracy with a high standard of living and many proud accomplishments. Yet the misery that Zionists expected Jews elsewhere to suffer has not materialized. More than half a century after the establishment of the Jewish state, more Jews live in the United States than in Israel. The second explanation for the shift in settlement policy is that the Palestinian population has grown far more rapidly - and Palestinians have proved far more willing to fight - than many on the Israeli right had anticipated. On Thursday, the newspaper Haaretz reported that the proportion of Jews in the combined population of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza had dropped below 50 percent for the first time. This means, many Israelis argue, that unless they yield territory, they will have to choose a Jewish state or a democratic one; they will not be able to have both. While all acknowledge that Jewish immigration never achieved anticipated levels and that the Palestinian population has ballooned, the question of the role played by Palestinian violence in Mr. Sharon's decision to disengage is hotly contested. Some argue that the two Palestinian intifadas, or uprisings, from 1987 to 1993 and from 2000 to the present, drove Israel out. Others say that Israel's increasingly effective counterterror measures - the building of a barrier, killings of terror leaders and military reoccupation of selective Palestinian cities - broke the back of the insurgents, allowing Israel the sense of strength to walk away. In fact, both factors seem likely to have played a role. "Of course terror has a role in the disengagement," said Michael Oren, a senior fellow at the Shalem Institute, a conservative Jerusalem research group. "It convinced us that Gaza was not worth holding onto and awakened us to the demographic danger. It took two intifadas for a majority of Israelis to decide that Gaza is not worth it." A senior Israeli official who spent years closely associated with Likud leaders, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said that Israelis long had little respect for Palestinians as fighters, but that had changed. "The fact that hundreds of them are willing to blow themselves up is significant," he said. "We didn't give them any credit before. In spite of our being the strongest military power in the Middle East, we lost 1,200 people over the last four years. It finally sank in to Sharon and the rest of the leadership that these people were not giving up." Some came to a similar conclusion much earlier. The Israeli left has been calling for a withdrawal from Gaza for years, and even many on the right believed settlement there to be futile and counterproductive. Mr. Kimche, the former foreign ministry official, recalled that when Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of the conservative Likud party was running against Yitzhak Rabin of Labor in the early 1990's, several Shamir advisers told him: "Unless you withdraw from Gaza, you're going to lose these elections." He did not withdraw; he lost. Mr. Rabin himself said that he decided to negotiate a withdrawal with the Palestinians when he realized how unpopular military service in Gaza had become. "He said privately - I heard him say it - that military reservists don't want to serve in the occupied territories and while they are not formally refusing they are finding excuses to stay away," Yoel Esteron, managing editor of Yediot Aharonot, recalled. "That put a real burden on the army and it meant we couldn't stay there forever." With Gaza soon no longer in their hands, Israelis will face a much more complex set of decisions regarding the occupied West Bank. Settlements in distant corners of the West Bank are also being dismantled in the coming weeks, but no one knows how much more land Mr. Sharon and his successors will be willing to yield. What is clear, however, is that the internal Israeli logic of what is taking place this week - a scaling back of ambition in the face of reality - could lead to traumatic withdrawals of larger numbers of people on the West Bank. As Mr. Sharon said in an interview with Yediot published on Friday, when asked about other isolated settlements, "Not everything will remain."
Gaza withdrawal to happen at midnight CNN
Further pullouts possible National Post
News24 - Jerusalem Post - Chicago Tribune - San Francisco Chronicle - all 1,227 related »

Fearing backlash, Pentagon moves to block new Abu Ghraib photos:

The Pentagon has moved forcefully to block the release of new video evidence of prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, arguing it would help recruit new Islamist insurgents and endanger American lives.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=65237

http://snipurl.com/gxa6



Video: Mosaic: World News Reports from Middle East TV For 08/12/05:

The nation's only uncensored compilation of daily television news reports from more than 15 countries in the Middle East. QuickTime Video.
http://snipurl.com/gxa8



London bombings: the truth emerges :

An investigation into the four suicide bombers from the first attacks and the people alleged to be behind the July 21 plot has found no evidence of any al-Qa'ida "mastermind" or senior organiser.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article305547.ece

http://snipurl.com/gxaa



What al-Qaida Really Wants:

al-Qaida's strategy for the next two decades. It is both frightening and absurd, a lunatic plan conceived by fanatics who live in their own world, but who continually manage to break into the real world with their brutal acts of violence.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9753.htm

http://snipurl.com/gxab



Taliban behead four spies in Afghanistan:

Taliban militants beheaded four people, including a policeman, for allegedly spying for the US-led military
http://pakistantimes.net/2005/08/13/top17.htm#1907

http://snipurl.com/gxac



Two U.S. soldiers killed in explosions in Afghanistan:

A U.S. soldier was killed in an explosion on Thursday in Afghanistan, while an Army paratrooper died from wounds received in another explosion earlier in the week.
http://story.irishsun.com/p.x/ct/9/id/88b3...11cd3571b4f088/

http://snipurl.com/gxad

The Sunday Times - Britain



August 14, 2005

No 10 refuses to reveal Iraq war e-mails
DAVID CRACKNELL, POLITICAL EDITOR
Read the Downing Street Memo



DOWNING STREET is refusing to release e-mails from a senior official relating to the attorney-general’s legal advice in the run-up to the Iraq war, raising suspicions that No 10 intervened at a crucial time.
It has admitted that an aide reporting to Tony Blair sent confidential e-mails relating to the advice just days before Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, issued a summary version of his legal advice which stated unequivocally that the war was legal.



His original advice, issued 10 days earlier on March 7, 2003 warned that a decision to go to war could be challenged in the international courts.

Until now the government has maintained that Goldsmith was left to get on with his work during this crucial 10-day period without political interference from Downing Street.

Last week, however, Downing Street admitted to The Sunday Times that during that period Baroness Morgan, until recently Blair’s director of government relations, sent e-mails “relating” to the legal advice. It is not clear to whom they were directed.

No 10 says that it will not release the e-mails because they relate to the “formulation of government policy”, which could suggest they reflect the arguments going on about the legal flaws in the case for war.

Senior government sources suspect that the e-mails contain a summary of the arguments that No 10 was privately making to Goldsmith that, contrary to his original advice, war was justified because Saddam Hussein was in breach of United Nations resolutions.

It has been reported that Morgan and another key Blair ally, Lord Falconer, the lord chancellor, held a meeting with Goldsmith on March 13 to discuss his opinion. Goldsmith has rejected the idea that pressure was put on him.

No 10 made the admission about the Morgan e-mails after a request under the Freedom of Information Act. However, Downing Street is refusing to release the e-mails, claiming it is not in the public interest.

Opposition MPs are likely to claim the reluctant release of the March 7 legal advice as a precedent that should lead to the Morgan e-mails being published. They want to know whether the documents were given to the official inquiries held into the Iraq war and its aftermath, including those of Lord Hutton and Lord Butler.

A senior source at the Department for Constitutional Affairs, which Falconer heads, said colleagues had been been “s***ing” themselves that the Morgan e-mails would be released after No 10 went against precedent and released Goldsmith’s full legal advice during the election.

No 10 has twice stalled since the first request by The Sunday Times three months ago. The Sunday Times is now appealing to the information commissioner.

The Sunday Times - Britain

August 14, 2005

US warns of new attacks on London
DAVID LEPPARD

AMERICAN intelligence chiefs have warned that Al-Qaeda terrorists are plotting to drive hijacked fuel tankers into petrol stations in an effort to cause mass casualties in London and US cities in the next few weeks.

The leaked warning, contained in a bulletin issued by the US Department for Homeland Security last week, says the attacks aim to create catastrophic damage at about the time of the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

The warning came as it emerged that the British Department for Transport had for the first time issued guidelines ordering a tightening of security around the UK road tanker fleet.

The US warning has been circulated among law enforcement agencies and fuel transport agencies. Although a preamble states that “no other intelligence exists to corroborate this specific threat”, the intelligence report is highly specific.

It says: “Al-Qaeda leaders plan to employ various types of fuel trucks as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED) in an effort to cause mass casualties in the US (and London), prior to September 19. Attacks are planned specifically for New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. It is unclear whether the attacks will occur simultaneously or be spread over a period of time. The stated goal is the collapse of the US economy.”

The document goes on to suggest that the proposed methods will involve suicide drivers: “Some of the vehicles used will be hijacked. The type of vehicle may be anything from gasoline tanker trucks to trucks hauling oxygen and gas cylinders. Water trucks filled with gasoline or other highly combustible material may also be used. The detonation of the vehicles will be carried out by driving them into gas stations or ramming explosive-laden vehicles into the trucks carrying the fuel.”

The intelligence report says that the terrorist cells thought to be planning the attack will “execute the plan upon receipt of an order”. It goes on to speculate that the videotape released last week by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda’s deputy leader, may have been meant as “the activation signal to the cells”. In the video al-Zawahiri warned that attacks would continue in Britain until it pulled out of Iraq.

The report says that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of the alleged masterminds of the September 11 attacks, has told US interrogators that he had developed plans for targeting petrol stations. This was “due to their apparent vulnerability and the potential destructive force of a fuel-driven explosion”, it says.

The use of petrol tankers as mobile bombs has been a well-tested Al-Qaeda tactic in the Middle East. Terrorists in Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq have all used large fuel tankers against military and civilian targets.

A fuel tanker attack on the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996 killed 19 US servicemen. Four weeks ago terrorists exploded a fuel tanker in a busy market town 25 miles south of Baghdad killing nearly 100.

Although the specific threat of a tanker attack on London is thought to be new, Scotland Yard and MI5 have long feared that Al-Qaeda would try vehicle attacks on key targets in the capital.

Last year police disrupted an alleged plot to bomb a “soft target” — thought to be a Soho nightclub — with a truck bomb. More than half a ton of fertiliser, which can be used to make explosives, was recovered in a raid in north London.

Security sources say that fears about the use of fuel tankers has led to them being closely monitored when they enter the City of London.

Concrete security barriers have been placed in other key locations across the capital to stop vehicles packed with explosives reaching buildings such as parliament.

The Americans have previously been fearful that terrorists might use commercial vehicles for bomb attacks and warn that delivery vans could gain easy access to high-value economic targets. The FBI has also said that terrorists could use limousines packed with explosives to get near VIP targets.

The British Department for Transport issued new guidance on July 1 to prevent fuel tankers being hijacked and used as weapons. The security measures require carriers to be properly identified and transit sites to be made secure. All relevant staff are to be given security training. The measures apply to all dangerous goods transported by road or rail.



In California and Australia the authorities are introducing remote-controlled shut-down devices to stop any fuel tanker if it is hijacked. In Singapore the government has just begun putting tracking devices on petrol tankers to monitor their movements. Details of the latest intelligence warning were leaked to the American media last week, but no mention was made of the threat to London. The bulletin said the “stated goal is the collapse of the American economy”.

The disclosure of the warning has led to a disagreement among officials about the seriousness of the threat. Senior officials in Washington who were briefed on it last week said it was described as specific enough to warrant attention.

The FBI cautioned that the source of the information was not necessarily reliable. They said that the specific threat of a tanker attack to mark the anniversary of September 11 could not be verified.

This weekend British officials said they were unwilling to make any detailed comment on the warning. One government official said he knew of no specific intelligence warning of a fuel tanker attack in Britain: “It’s obviously a particular type of Al-Qaeda modus operandi used. But it hasn’t been used in Europe before.”


As The Sunday Times revealed last week, MI5 has provisionally found the July 7 and July 21 bombings were not linked and found no evidence of a single mastermind. It points to “self-starter” units inspired rather than directed by Al-Qaeda.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20...33874_2,00.html

The Sunday Times - Britain
August 14, 2005

Leaked US intelligence document warning of terrorist attacks on London and America using fuel tankers

Advisory General
New York State Office of Homeland Security
Message
Green

August 11, 2005

This communication from the New York State Office of Homeland Security is Sensitive. The New York State Office of Homeland Security in conjunction with the Upstate New York Regional Intelligence Center,
issues the following advisory to the Oil, Gas, and Transportation sectors:

George Pataki
Governor
James Kallstrom
Advisor on
Counter-Terrorism

The United States Intelligence Community has repeatedly advised of threat streams suggesting al Qaeda and affiliated groups have considered using a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) in a US-based attack.

There are numerous historical and current threat streams to suggest the terrorist use of tanker fuel trucks, among other vehicle types, to facilitate a major explosion targeting critical infrastructure and designed to create mass casualties or economic destruction.

Senior al Qaeda operational planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, captured in Pakistan in March 2003, has told interrogators that he had developed terrorist plots targeting gas stations due to their apparent vulnerability and the potential destructive force of a fuel-driven explosion. Terrorists in Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq have effectively used large fuel trucks as VBIEDs against military and civilian coalition targets.

The following tear line information, provided by the Intelligence Community, identifies a possible threat to the United States involving the use of fuel tankers as Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices. This tear line has been widely disseminated throughout law enforcement channels, generating numerous inquiries regarding the imminent nature of the threat.

Although this report makes an attack appear imminent, no other intelligence exists to corroborate this specific threat stream. This scenario represents just one of many possible methods of attack known to be considered by terrorist organizations.

Begin tear line:

1. (FOUO) Al Qaeda leaders plan to employ various types of fuel trucks as vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED) in an effort to cause mass casualties in the US (and London), prior to 19 September. Attacks are planned specifically for New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. It is unclear whether the attacks will occur simultaneously or be spread over a period of time. The stated goal is the collapse of the US economy.

2. (FOUO) Some of the vehicles used will be hijacked. The type of vehicle may be anything from gasoline tanker trucks to trucks hauling oxygen and gas cylinders. Water trucks filled with gasoline or other highly combustible material may also be used. The detonation of the vehicles will be carried out by driving them into gas stations or ramming explosive-laden vehicles into the trucks carrying the fuel.

Page 1

Fuel Laden VBIED

3. (FOUO) The attackers will be members of small Al Qaeda cells which are spread throughout the US. The cell responsible for the specific attack will execute the plan upon receipt of an order.

4. (FOUO) It is possible that the tape recently released on television by Zawahiri was meant as the activation signal to the cells and not so much as an indictment to Bush or Blair.

End tear line:

In light of a potential VBIED threat in the US, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has disseminated bulletins incorporating the advantages for terrorists in using large, official looking vehicles, and suggested measures for owners and operators of facilities where large vehicles are housed.

Excerpts of FBI Bulletin #166, dated May 10, 2005 are included below:

VEHICLES AS VBIEDS

On January 12, 2005, DHS and the FBI published Joint Bulletin 162, titled "Terrorist Tactics: Analysis of the Surveillance Notes Concerning Certain U.S. Financial Buildings." This bulletin provides information on VBIED attacks using a limousine, to which security personnel provide some degree of deference, or in a service/delivery vehicle, because they do not attract unwanted attention. Exploding a device in an underground parking lot, VIP area, or near the main entrance or a support column were the main attack options offered in the notes. Terrorists have shown creativity in their VBIED platforms, ranging from tanker trucks (Khobar Towers in 1996) to rental trucks (World Trade Center in 1993). A delivery vehicle acquired through a legitimate source could provide the following advantages when deployed as a VBIED:

Heavy/large payload capacity.

Vehicle interior and contents are not visible.

Vehicle, due to its size, could ram security barriers.

Access to high value symbolic or economic targets.

Can fit in parking garages (based on the size of the vehicle).

Easy licensing procedures (based on the size and purpose of the vehicle).

Delivery vehicles can typically remain stationary for extended periods without drawing suspicion.

Public perception as a recognized entity (recognized company delivery van).

Rigging vehicle for VBIED use in privacy (e.g. at night, in a private garage after hours).

Page 2

Fuel Laden VBIED

POTENTIAL SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES

The Office of Homeland Security, in cooperation with the Upstate New York Regional Intelligence Center, encourages owners and operators of fuel depots, truck companies and gas stations to report any of the following activities to the UNYRIC Counter Terrorism Center at 1-866-SAFE-NYS.

Individuals videotaping or photographing premises for no apparent reason.

Suspicious individuals apparently surveilling delivery of fuel from tanker-trucks.

Inquiries regarding the frequency of fuel deliveries to your business.

Any information regarding the loss, theft or attempted theft of any tanks, vehicles, or driver's license credentials or licenses used in the transportation of bulk fuel to your station.

Theft of fuel or unexplained loss from your business inventory or tractor-trailer-tanker.

Customer requests to purchase unusual amounts of fuel, not typical of most transactions, or an unusual method of payment.

Unusual inquiries from strangers concerning how to store bulk fuel or handle it on premises.

SUGGESTED PROTECTIVE MEASURES

The following are the recommended general protective measures that apply to facilities with both controlled and uncontrolled access, and specific protective measures recommended for soft targets with controlled access.

General Protective Measures for Controlled and Uncontrolled Access:

Security personnel and private citizens should be advised to remain vigilant in ensuring that large vehicles of any kind in the vicinity of critical infrastructure facilities are viewed as a security risk until proven otherwise.

Ensure all personnel are provided periodic security briefings regarding present and emerging threats.

Specific Protective Measures for Soft Targets with Controlled Access:

Be alert to the necessity for thoroughly checking large vehicles of any kind attempting to gain access to controlled critical infrastructure facilities.

Review existing vehicle bombing prevention procedures to incorporate thwarting the use of a moving vehicle bomb, and consider adjusting buffer zones further from potential targets.

Page 3

Fuel Laden VBIED

Adjusting buffer zones further from potential targets.

Periodically rearrange exterior vehicle barriers, traffic cones and road blocks to alter traffic patterns near facilities.

Limit the number of access points and strictly enforce access control procedures.

Approach all illegally parked vehicles in and around facilities, question drivers and direct them to move immediately; if the owner cannot be identified, have vehicle towed by law enforcement.

Provide vehicle inspection training to security personnel, and institute a robust vehicle inspection program to include checking the undercarriage of vehicles, under the hood and in the trunk.

Deploy explosive detection devices and explosive detection canine teams.

Institute/increase security patrols varying in size, timing and routes.

Increase perimeter lighting and maintain/remove vegetation in and around perimeters.

Encourage personnel to be alert and to immediately report any situation that appears to constitute a threat or suspicious activity.

Guard force turnover and personnel authentication procedures.

Implement random security guard shift changes.

Deploy visible security cameras and motion sensors - review security camera footage daily to detect possible indicators of pre-operational surveillance.

As always, observance of suspicious individuals and activities, or any threats received should immediately be reported to the Upstate New York Regional Intelligence Center, Counter Terrorism Center, at 1866-SAFE-NYS.

Please treat this and all other communications from the Office of Homeland Security as SENSITIVE

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Other pullout foes threatened to stage huge rallies and run the roadblocks to create chaos in hopes of torpedoing the withdrawal. Police spokesman Avi Zelba said authorities set up a cordon of roadblocks in southern Israel on Sunday to prevent opponents from interfering with the pullout. Only residents of southern Israel and those with a legitimate reason for being there will be allowed to cross, police said. Vice Premier Shimon Peres gave a pep talk to troops stationed near the Gaza border, telling them their coming task was crucial to protecting Israel's democracy. "The settlements must be evacuated. They cannot stay here,'' he told reporters. "I understand that there are feelings. I have sympathy (for the settlers), but they cannot replace a national choice.'' Settlers made last-minute preparations of their own. They planned to block entrances to their communities early Monday to prevent soldiers from delivering eviction notices. 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