The IPT Update

General security, policy
1.  Pentagon contractor used Iran for project in possible violation of sanctions; Israeli officials warn of rapid uranium enrichment by Iran
2.  US sees direct threat in attack at Kenya mall; U.S. cites renewed terror threat in global travel warning; Eric Holder: No confirmation Americans among attackers; Canada investigating report Ontario man among terrorists
3.  US spy's secrets assist Chinese electronic warfare against U.S. military data links; China bans certain North Korean exports for fear of weapons use; Russia, China hold large-scale war games
4.  3 charged in NYC with fighting for al-Shabab terrorist group; are part of elite suicide bomber unit
5.  NY man sentenced to 14 years for chemical weapon attack at Albany Medical Center
6.  Plea deal reported for ex- U.S. soldier who fought with Al Qa'ida affiliated group in Syria
7.  Man convicted in Toronto 18 plot, Ali Mohamed Dirie, dies fighting in Syria.
8.  Staten Island man sentenced to 13 years for making false statements in matter involving int'l terrorism
9.  Ex-FBI agent pleads guilty to leaking information of "upgraded" underwear bombs
10. Law enforcement shares findings of the investigation into the Washington Navy Yard shootings
11. Update on Via terror case
12. Judge reserves decision on whether Omar Khadr should be moved to provincial prison

Air, rail, port, health, energy & communication security
13. US malls focus on security upgrades following deadly Kenya siege; Gunman ID'd as Sang Ho Kim in "work related" shooting near Roosevelt Field Mall
14. Man loses hands in explosion at Boston apartment
15. Statement from FBI regarding bomb threat found on board American Eagle flight 3648
16. TX man sentenced for aiming laser at Customs and Border Protection helicopter
17. European insurers discover cyber protection market

Financing, money laundering, fraud, identity theft, civil litigation
18. EU lawmakers call for end of US bank data deal
19. Al-Qaida ties suspected of Iraqi refugee living in San Antonio, accused of social security fraud
20. Canada Revenue Agency revokes the registration of the ISNA Development Foundation as a charity
21. Treasury targets business network of the Mexican drug trafficking organization Los Gueros
22. Ohio brothers plead guilty to $2 million food-stamp fraud
23. NJ bank fined $8.2 million over federal money-laundering violations
24. ID theft ring scammed thousands of cell phone from Verizon, AT&T, Apple, Best Buy

Border security, immigration & customs
25. Cost to physically deport convicted terrorist from Canada more than $117,000
26. Afghan interpreter who helped save Purple Heart recipient has visa revoked

Other items
27. Brooklyn man Is charged with role in 2 deaths in Pakistan over arranged marriage
28. TN school system halts world studies field trips after mosque controversy

International
29. Kenya mall takeover: FBI agents helping to fingerprint bodies, collect DNA in the rubble; Interpol issues arrest warrant for Samantha Lewthwaite, Briton dubbed the 'White Widow', at Kenya's request, labelling her a "danger" to the world; African militants turn more to social media
30. Inside the Ring: 'Framework' draft keeps military action in Syria off the table; Warning on Kenya attack
31. Theft of US weapons in Libya involved hundreds of guns, sources say
32. 'Se*ual jihad': Tunisian women go to Syria to 'relieve' holy warriors, return pregnant; Alliance of rebel groups calls for an Islamist Syria, not a U.S.-backed democracy
33. Suicide bombers kill 60 Christians outside Pakistan church
34. An Indian terrorism case, with links to informal cash transfers
35. Jewish businesses in India warned to tighten security
36. Mother, uncle of 'Jihad' convicted in French court
37. No German, No Benefits:  Turkish Family Fights Language Requirement

Comment / analysis
38. Douglas Farah:  Some regional militaries tilt left against U.S.
39. IPT News:  Radical Imagery at NY Muslim Day Parade
40. IPT News:  Wolf Demands FBI Punish Agents For CAIR Contact
41. Khaled Abu Toameh:  A new intifada?
42. Anat Berko:  The Only Commonality is Mass Killing

The Investigative Project on Terrorism Update is designed for law enforcement, the intelligence community and policy makers for non-profit research and educational use only.   Quoted material is subject to the copyright protections of the original sources, which should be cited for attribution, rather than the Update.

THE AMERICAS

GENERAL SECURITY, POLICY

1.  Pentagon Contractor Used Iran for Project
Supplier to U.S. Forces in Afghanistan Shipped Through Iran, in Possible Violation of Sanctions
By JAY SOLOMON and NATHAN HODGE Wall Street Journal Updated Sept 26, 2013, 9:47 a.m. ET
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304713704579093251911750142.html

The company that holds the multibillion-dollar Pentagon contract to supply U.S. forces in Afghanistan with food and water brought in supplies to build an Afghan warehouse through Iran, in a possible violation of U.S. sanctions.  Anham FZCO used Iran's Bandar Abbas seaport last year to land equipment and building materials that were then transported across Iran, according to business executives involved in the process and corporate emails reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Completing the warehouse at Bagram military base near Kabul put Anham in position to win the Pentagon supply contract, which it did in June 2012.  Anham, which the Journal asked about the matter about two weeks ago, said in a statement on Sunday that it "has made a voluntary disclosure to the Treasury and Commerce Departments that some items were transshipped through Iran."  Anham said "foreign-produced items shipped by a third party vendor hired by a foreign subsidiary of Anham" were involved, adding that "all or some…may have been eligible for such transshipment under legal exceptions in place at the time." Anham said it "is working with Treasury and Commerce to fully investigate the matter to determine what occurred and to determine whether any laws were broken."…

Israeli Officials Warn of Rapid Uranium Enrichment by Iran

New technology could allow Iran to secretly bypass Israeli red line

BY: Abraham Rabinovich Washington Free Beacon September 24, 2013 3:48 pm

http://freebeacon.com/israeli-officials-warn-of-rapid-uranium-enrichment-by-iran/

JERUSALEM—The red line drawn by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding Iran's nuclear program has been rendered obsolete by technology, according to Israeli officials who are pushing for a concerted new effort to block Iran's possible acquisition of nuclear weapons.  Netanyahu warned in his address to the United Nations General Assembly last year that if Iran enriches 250 kilograms of uranium to a level of 20 percent it would be in position to make a secret dash for nuclear weapon production before the international community could stop it. Netanyahu then hinted at Israeli military action if Iran tried it.  Although Iran indeed slowed its enrichment program following his talk—it has today 170 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20 percent—Israeli officials have told Ha'aretz that in recent months the Iranians have found a way to circumvent Netanyahu's red line.  The International  Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported last month that Iran has installed 1,000 new generation centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear installation. The devices have greater enrichment efficiency, the Israeli officials say, and could produce enriched uranium four or five times faster than older centrifuges.  This would permit them to skip the 20 percent stage and enrich uranium rapidly from 3.5 percent to 90 percent, which is weapons-grade level. Thus Tehran's hints about being flexible about its 20 percent stockpile are meaningless, they say, because it could reach nuclear capability without going through that intermediate stage.  Ephraim Asculai and Emily Landau, in a paper published by the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, warned about Iran's potential for a nuclear breakout…

2.  U.S. Sees Direct Threat in Attack at Kenya Mall

By NICHOLAS KULISH and JEFFREY GETTLEMAN New York Times September 26, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/world/africa/us-sees-direct-threat-in-attack-at-kenya-mall.html

NAIROBI, Kenya — Viewing the deadly siege at a shopping mall in Kenya as a direct threat to its security, the United States is deploying dozens of F.B.I. agents to investigate the wreckage, hoping to glean every piece of information possible to help prevent such a devastating attack from happening again, possibly even on American soil.   For years, the F.B.I. has been closely watching the Shabab, the Somali Islamist group that has claimed responsibility for the Nairobi massacre and recruited numerous Americans to fight and die — sometimes as suicide bombers — for its cause.   The Shabab has already attacked most of the major actors trying to end the chaos in Somalia — the United Nations, Uganda, aid groups, the Somali government and now Kenya. The United States has spent hundreds of millions of dollars bankrolling anti-Shabab operations for years, and there is growing fear that the group could turn its sights on American interests more directly, one of the reasons the Obama administration is committing so many resources to the investigation in Kenya…

U.S. Cites Renewed Terror Threat in Global Travel Warning
By Gopal Ratnam - Sep 26, 2013 12:01 AM ET Bloomberg News 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-25/u-s-cites-terror-threat-in-issuing-global-travel-warning.html

Americans traveling abroad should beware of potential terror attacks aimed at them in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East by al-Qaeda or its affiliated groups, the U.S. State Department said in a global travel alert… Two U.S. officials familiar with the warning said that while it's a routine renewal of the department's worldwide caution, it also reflects mounting intelligence that suggests Islamic terrorist groups loosely affiliated with what remains of al-Qaeda's core leadership in Pakistan may be planning a new series of attacks against Western targets.  The officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be identified because the intelligence is classified, said the renewed caution also is an indication that, despite the 2011 death of Osama bin Laden, his radical ideology has been spreading to new areas, making it more difficult to detect and contain threats. They declined to discuss specific warnings…

Eric Holder: No confirmation Americans among Nairobi attackers
By JOSH GERSTEIN and ZACHARY WARMBRODT | 9/25/13 1:02 PM EDT Politico.com

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11037

Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the U.S. lacks confirmation that Americans were among the perpetrators of the recent terrorist attack on  a Nairobi shopping mall…

Canada investigating report 24-year-old Ontario man among militants in deadly Kenya mall siege
Stewart Bell | 22/09/2013 | Last Updated: 23/09/2013 8:58 AM ET National Post
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11038 

Canadian authorities are investigating an unverified report that a 24-year-old Ontario man was one of the Al-Shabab gunmen who stormed a Nairobi shopping mall over the weekend…

3.  Chinese Military Capable of Jamming U.S. Communications System

U.S. spy's secrets assist Chinese electronic warfare against U.S. military data links

BY: Bill Gertz Follow @BillGertz September 20, 2013 4:59 am Washington Free Beacon
http://freebeacon.com/chinese-military-capable-of-jamming-u-s-communications-system/

China's military is using stolen U.S. military secrets obtained from a convicted spy to defeat a high-technology communications system used in joint warfighting, combined arms warfare, and missile defenses, according to U.S. officials.  The disclosure that China has the capability of jamming the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System, or JTIDS, was revealed in a Chinese military technical article published in July…

China Bans Certain North Korean Exports for Fear of Weapons Use

By JANE PERLEZ New York Times Sept 25, 2013

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11039

BEIJING — In a sign of increasing concern about North Korea's nuclear ambitions, China published a list on Tuesday that included militarylike hardware and chemical substances that would be banned from export to North Korea for fear that they could be used in constructing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.  The items in the 236-page document are prohibited from being sent to North Korea because "the dual-use products and technologies delineated in this list have uses in weapons of mass destruction as well as their vehicles," the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.  The list was released 10 days after new satellite photographs showed that North Korea may be resuming production of plutonium at its newly reconstructed nuclear reactor at Yongbyon…

Russia, China Hold Large-Scale War Games

NATO to counter with E. European war games in November

BY: Bill Gertz Follow @BillGertz Washington Free Beacon September 26, 2013 5:00 am

http://freebeacon.com/russia-china-hold-large-scale-war-games/

Pentagon intelligence agencies are closely watching Russian and Chinese war games now taking place in Europe and Asia involving tens of thousands of troops.  Meanwhile, NATO military forces are set to conduct large-scale maneuvers in November that will be designed to counter growing concerns of a westward Russian military encroachment, according to U.S. officials.  "The Russians are moving forces closer to Europe, and that is troubling," said a military official…

4.  3 charged in NYC with fighting for al-Shabab terrorist group
September 23, 2013 Associated Press
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/23/3-charged-in-nyc-with-fighting-for-al-shabab-terrorist-group/

IPT NOTE:  Original press release regarding charges is posted at http://www.justice.gov/usao/nye/pr/2012/2012dec21.html.  Court documents posted at  http://www.investigativeproject.org/case/648

NEW YORK –  Three men facing federal terrorism charges in New York City have strong ties to the same extremist Islamic group that's claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on an upscale Kenyan shopping mall, U.S. authorities say.  Prosecutors in Brooklyn describe the defendants — Ali Yasin Ahmed, Madhi Hashi and Mohamed Yusuf — as "dangerous and influential" members of al-Shabab who were part of an elite unit of suicide bombers. They were captured in Africa last year while traveling to Yemen to team up with the Al Qaeda offshoot there.  The three had links to Al Qaeda operatives in East Africa "who sought to carry out attacks against the United States and Western interests in that region," prosecutors wrote in a letter filed on Sept. 18, three days before rampaging gunmen killed dozens in an attack on the Nairobi mall…

Three Supporters of Foreign Terrorist Organization Al-shabaab Charged in Brooklyn Federal Court, Face Life in Prison
US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York December 21, 2012
http://www.justice.gov/usao/nye/pr/2012/2012dec21.html

5.  New York Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Chemical Weapon Attack at Albany Medical Center
U.S. Attorney's Office Northern District of New York (315) 448-0672 September 19, 2013 

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11040
SYRACUSE, NY—Martin S. Kimber, 60, of Ruby, New York, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Lawrence E. Kahn to 14 years in prison, five years' supervised release thereafter, forfeiture of his home and car ,and $200,450 in restitution to the Albany Medical Center following his guilty plea to using a toxic chemical, mercury, as a weapon and tampering with consumer products at the Albany Medical Center, in Albany, New York, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York Richard S. Hartunian. Kimber admitted that on four occasions, he spread mercury, a potentially fatal neurotoxin, throughout various areas of the Albany Medical Center in ways thar could lead to inhalation or absorption of the mercury to retaliate for what he thought were unfair hospital bills.  When Kimber entered his guilty plea on November 29, 2012, he admitted that:…

6.  Phoenix Army veteran Eric Harroun who fought in Syria gets plea deal
ABC15.xom Posted: 09/24/2013 Last Updated: 15 hours and 10 minutes ago By: Navideh Forghani
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11041

IPT NOTE:  Court documents posted at http://www.investigativeproject.org/case/636

An Army veteran accused of fighting alongside an al-Qaida-affiliated group of Syrian rebels is out of jail following a secret plea deal.  Thirty-one-year-old Eric Harroun of Phoenix had been charged with providing material to support a terrorist group and faced life in prison.  "I feel betrayed by my government, by my country. I didn't do anything and that's why I'm out right now," said Harroun.  But under a deal entered in federal court in Alexandria, Harroun pleaded guilty to an obscure law regulating munition exports. He was sentenced to time served. He was released on September 19th.  Harroun is on probation for three years. He states that although he has a federal conviction, his voting rights and right to bear arms were not revoked as part of the plea deal…

Former U.S. Soldier Charged with Conspiring to Use Destructive Device While Fighting with Al Qa'ida Affiliated Group in Syria
US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia March 28, 2013
http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae/news/2013/03/20130328harrounnr.html

U.S. Citizen Indicted For Conspiring To Provide Material Support To A Foreign Terrorist Organization
US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia June 20, 2013
http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae/news/2013/06/20130620harrounnr.html

7.  Toronto 18: Ali Mohamed Dirie, convicted in plot, dies in Syria
Man convicted in Toronto 18 plot, Ali Mohamed Dirie, dies fighting in Syria.
By: Michelle Shephard National Security Reporter, Toronto Star Published on Wed Sep 25 2013
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11042

He pleaded guilty in a sensational Toronto terrorism trial, served his time and then left Canada to fight in Syria where he was reportedly killed.  Ali Mohamed Dirie was convicted for his involvement in the 2006 terrorism plot to blow up Toronto and area targets, in a case that was dubbed the "Toronto 18" because of the number of youths and Muslim men arrested.  After his release in 2011, Dirie reportedly left Canada for Syria.  He is one of dozens of Canadians  who have joined the conflict in Syria where more than 100,000 have died, as rebel fighters and Al Qaeda militants battle loyalists of President Bashar Assad's regime...

8.  Staten Island Man Sentenced To 13 Years In Prison For Making False Statements In A Matter Involving International Terrorism

Defendant Attempted to Travel to Pakistan to Join a Violent Jihadist Group, and Join the U.S. Army to Defect and Join Enemy Forces Overseas
US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York September 20, 2013

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nye/pr/2013/2013sep20c.html

IPT NOTE:  Court documents are posted at http://www.investigativeproject.org/case/495

Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, a United States citizen and resident of Staten Island, New York, was sentenced to 13 years in prison today in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.  In March 2013, Shehadah was convicted at trial of making false statements in a matter involving international terrorism.  In addition to the prison term, Shehadeh was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release... According to court filings and the evidence introduced at trial, in early 2008, Shehadeh devised a plan to travel to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan in order to join al Qaeda or the Taliban…

9.  Ex-FBI agent pleads guilty to leaking information of "upgraded" underwear bombs

By JESSICA HARTOGS / CBS NEWS/ September 23, 2013, 5:53 PM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11043

An former FBI agent has pleaded guilty to leaking classified information to The Associated Press relating to a disrupted terrorist plot.  Donald J. Sachtleben, an ex-FBI bomb technician from Indiana, disclosed the existence of a foiled terrorist attack to an AP reporter in April and May of 2012.  The information revealed the existence of an upgraded underwear bomb to be detonated on an airplane by a suicide bomber. The CIA disrupted the Yemen-based plot masterminded by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)...

10.  Law Enforcement Shares Findings of the Investigation into the Washington Navy Yard Shootings
FBI Washington Public Information Office (202) 278-3519 September 25, 2013 

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11044

WASHINGTON—Today, law enforcement officials shared findings to date of the investigation into the shootings that occurred at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday, September 16, 2013… Through information and evidence gathered in interviews, searches, and other investigative activity, investigators and analysts have gained a greater understanding of the recent movements and activities of deceased shooter Aaron Alexis, 34… Photographs and video taken at the Washington Navy Yard can be accessed at www.fbi.gov/washingtonnavyyard.

11.  'You are not my wife': VIA terror suspect refuses to be touched by female officer after court appearance
Megan O'Toole 23/09/2013 | Last Updated: 24/09/2013 2:51 AM ET  National Post
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11045

One of the men accused of plotting to attack a Toronto-bound passenger train erupted in court Monday, telling a female police officer attempting to escort him from the room to back off because "you are not my wife."  The outburst from Chiheb Esseghaier, who has repeatedly used court as a platform to espouse his religious views, came toward the end of the hearing, as the female officer moved toward the prisoner's box to handcuff him… A male officer was already in the room to escort his co-accused, Raed Jaser, back to his cell; in response to Mr. Esseghaier's complaint, the male and female officers switched places. Mr. Jaser did not raise an issue… The Crown has opted to skip preliminary hearings in other recent terrorism cases, including that of Mohamed Hersi, a Toronto man who stands accused of plotting to join the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab. Mr. Esseghaier and Mr. Jaser will next return to court on Oct. 21, when Mr. Jaser is scheduled to begin his bail hearing. Mr. Esseghaier, meanwhile, has failed in his quest to find a lawyer willing to base his defence on the Koran rather than the Criminal Code... Police allege they received guidance from al-Qaeda in Iran as they plotted to kill passengers on a train headed to Toronto from New York. A third man, Ahmed Abassi, faces related charges in the United States…

12.  Judge reserves decision on whether Omar Khadr should be moved to provincial prison

CTVNews.ca Staff  Published Monday, September 23, 2013 5:57AM EDT
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11046

An Edmonton judge has reserved his decision on whether former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr should be transferred from a federal maximum security prison to a provincial facility.  Justice John Rooke said Monday he will issue his decision "at a later time," not giving a specific timeframe… Khadr is currently serving his sentence at the federal maximum-security Edmonton Institution, but his lawyer is arguing that the 27-year-old should be treated as a young offender and moved to a provincial jail… Toronto-born Khadr was 15 years old when he was captured by U.S. soldiers after a firefight in Afghanistan. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to five war crimes, including throwing a grenade that killed an American soldier. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and was transferred from Guantanamo Bay to Canada last fall…

AIR, RAIL, PORT, HEALTH, ENERGY & COMMUNICATION SECURITY

IPT NOTE: For more, see DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Reports http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/editorial_0542.shtm ; DHS Blog http://www.dhs.gov/news-releases/blog;   TSA Releases http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/index.shtm ; TSA Blog http://blog.tsa.gov/

13.  US malls focus on security upgrades following deadly Kenya siege
By Joshua Rhett Miller Published September 24, 2013 | FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/24/kenya-prompts-quick-reaction-from-some-us-malls/

Shopping malls and other soft targets in the United States should increase security measures and update emergency response plans in the aftermath of the Kenyan mall massacre that killed at least 72 people, experts told FoxNews.com.  While overall security at so-called soft targets like sports arenas, hotels, restaurants, movie theaters and housing complexes has increased dramatically in recent years, Saturday's mass shooting in Nairobi should have an immediate impact among those who safeguard such commercial and residential locations… The primary challenge to secure a shopping mall is to maintain a sense of openness while simultaneously employing a high level of security measures like surveillance cameras, guards, adequate lighting. Utilizing the overall design of the property, particularly near primary access points, is also crucial to the "dynamic discipline,"… 

Two people shot near Roosevelt Field Mall in N.Y.; gunman sought by police, report says
By Iris Carreras September 25, 2013 12:35 PM CBS News
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11047

 (CBS) EAST GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - Authorities in Nassau County on Long Island said they are looking for a suspect after two people were shot Wednesday morning near a mall in East Garden City, according to CBS New York.   The shooting reportedly happened at around 10 a.m. in an industrial area near the Roosevelt Field Mall. Police said the suspect entered a building, pulled out a gun and shot two people… Police have swarmed the area and the mall was placed on lockdown. Exits at nearby highways were also closed. Area schools continued with classes but no one was allowed to enter or leave the buildings, according to the station…

Gunman ID'd as Sang Ho Kim in "work related" shooting near Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island; 1 dead,

By Stephanie Slifer Topics Daily Blotter September 25, 2013 2:01 PM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11048

 (CBS) EAST GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - Authorities are looking for a man named Sang Ho Kim who they say walked into a business near the Roosevelt Field Mall in East Garden City, N.Y. Wednesday morning and opened fire, shooting two people over an apparent business deal gone bad, killing one of them, according to police… 

14.   Man loses hands in explosion in Boston apartment
By Elizabeth Landers and Jason Hanna updated 10:04 PM EDT, Fri September 20, 2013
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/20/us/massachusetts-apartment-blast/index.html

(CNN) -- A man lost both of his hands and four other people were injured in an explosion Friday morning at a southern Boston apartment building, Boston police said… Police spokeswoman Neva Coakley said the nature of the explosion at the building in the Hyde Park neighborhood wasn't immediately clear. However, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis told The Boston Globe that the man who lost his hands had been mixing chemicals in his basement apartment, and that the chemicals exploded...

15.  Statement from FBI New Orleans Regarding Bomb Threat On Board American Eagle Flight 3648
FBI New Orleans September 24, 2013 

Public Affairs Specialist Mary Beth Romig (504) 816-3325

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11049

NEW ORLEANS—This morning, a bomb threat note was found in the lavatory of American Eagle Flight 3648, a commuter plane from Dallas-Ft. Worth, (DFW) bound for Monroe, Louisiana (MLU). The note stated that the bomb would detonate upon landing. The plane, scheduled to arrive at 10:26 a.m., landed safely and was isolated on the east side of the airfield. There were 15 passengers and three crew onboard.  The FBI, Monroe Police Department and Bomb Squad, and other emergency response crews were notified and responded to Monroe Regional Airport and began their necessary protocols in regard to personnel and traveler safety, examining the plane and handling passengers and the flight crew. A bus was dispatched to transport the passengers and crew to the terminal for interviews.  No devices were found on board the aircraft after a search by the Monroe Police Department Bomb Squad…

16.  Donna Man Sentenced for Aiming Laser at Customs and Border Protection Helicopter
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas (713) 567-9000 September 25, 2013 

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11050

MCALLEN, TX—Margarito Tristan, III, 28, of Donna, has been ordered to federal prison for aiming a laser at a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) helicopter, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Tristan pleaded guilty July 1, 2013.  Today, U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez ordered him to prison for a term of 18 months, to be immediately followed by a two-year term of supervised release.  On March 7, 2013, CBP Air and Marine offices were conducting a night training operation in CBP helicopter, designated Omaha 26A. At approximately 10:20 p.m., while conducting a training flight near Weslaco, the pilots were illuminated by a green laser, at which time their eyes were irradiated by the laser, causing them disorientation…

17.  European Insurers Discover Cyber Protection Market

By AFP on September 23, 2013
http://www.securityweek.com/european-insurers-discover-cyber-protection-market

It's already a booming market in the United States, but in Europe, companies are also waking up to the idea of cyber insurance to protect themselves against Internet attack.  And insurance companies are projecting strong growth in the coming years.  On the other side of the Atlantic, where companies are obliged to inform US authorities of online attacks, the cyber insurance market is already highly developed, totalling $1.3 billion (960 million euros) per year, according to Christopher Lohmann, head of Germany and central Europe at Allianz Global Corporate and Speciality.  Europe is still a long way off that…

FINANCING, LAUNDERING, FRAUD, IDENTITY THEFT, CIVIL LITIGATION

18.  EU lawmakers call for end of US bank data deal
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sept 24, 2013

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/24/3647534/eu-lawmakers-call-for-end-of-us.html

BRUSSELS -- Several European lawmakers are seeking to end an agreement that grants U.S. authorities access to bank data for terrorism-related investigations because of Washington's surveillance programs.  Three lawmakers said Tuesday that leaks by Edward Snowden alleging that the U.S. National Security Agency targeted a Belgium-based system of international bank transfers, known as SWIFT, means the agreement has been effectively voided.  But the EU Commission, the bloc's executive body, says sharing the bank data under the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program provides "law enforcement authorities a powerful tool in the fight against terrorism."  Still, Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told lawmakers she has not received sufficient answers from her U.S. counterparts regarding the spying allegations…

19.   Suspect in scam tied to terror group
By Guillermo Contreras San Antonio Express-News September 20, 2013

[requires subscription] http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11051 

On the surface, Ahmed Khudhur Tayyeh is a refugee, resettled in San Antonio in 2008 by the United Nations to help him escape persecution in his native Iraq.  The way this region's Joint Terrorism Task Force tells it, however, the 39-year-old is suspected of having ties to al-Qaida.  He was arrested earlier this month on an indictment charging him not with terrorism but with theft from the government, defrauding the Social Security Administration out of $7,995 in disability benefits and with withholding information that he had been getting a side income.  As one of nearly 200,000 Iraqi refugees approved by the U.S. government for resettlement in America since 2007, Tayyeh was given a green card, despite giving conflicting stories about how he injured his leg… The government here gave him disability benefits because the injury supposedly prevented him from working…  

20.  The Canada Revenue Agency revokes the registration of the ISNA Development Foundation as a charity
Canada Revenue Agency Ottawa, Ontario, September 20, 2013.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/nwsrm/rlss/2013/m09/nr130920-eng.html?rss

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will revoke the registration of the ISNA Development Foundation, a Mississauga-based charity. The notice of revocation will be published in the Canada Gazette with an effective date of September 21, 2013.  On August 20, 2013, and in accordance with subsection 168(1) of the Income Tax Act, the CRA issued a notice of intention to revoke the registration of the ISNA Development Foundation as a charity. The letter stated, in part, that:… Our analysis of the information obtained during the course of the audit has led the CRA to believe that the Organization had entered into a funding arrangement with the Kashmiri Canadian Council/Kashmiri Relief Fund of Canada (KCC/KRFC), non-qualified donees under the Act, with the ultimate goal of sending the raised funds to a Pakistan-based non-governmental organization named the Relief Organization for Kashmiri Muslims (ROKM) without maintaining direction and control. Under the arrangement, KCC/KRFC raised funds for "relief work" in Kashmir, and the Organization supplied official donation receipts to the donors and disbursed over $281,696 to ROKM, either directly, or via KCC/KRFC.  Our research indicates that ROKM is the charitable arm of Jamaat-e-Islami, a political organization that actively contests the legitimacy of India's governance over the state of Jammu and Kashmir, including reportedly through the activities of its armed wing Hizbul Mujahideen. Hizbul Mujahideen is listed as a terrorist entity by the Council of the European Union and is declared a banned terrorist organization by the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967….

21.  Treasury Targets Business Network of the Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization Los Gueros

Action Targets Individuals and Companies Linked to Rodriguez Olivera Brothers

US Department of the Treasury Sept 24, 2013

http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl2170.aspx

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of six companies and five individuals linked to the Mexican drug trafficking organization Los Gueros.  The individuals designated today are key family members and associates of Los Gueros' leaders who are acting on behalf of the organization, including Juana Olivera Jimenez, Rosalina Rodriguez Olivera, Felipe Reyes Magana, Juan Carlos Duran Nunez, and Andres Martin Elizondo Castaneda.  The designated businesses are owned or controlled by Los Gueros, and/or by individuals acting on their behalf, and are suspected of being used by the group to launder their illicit proceeds….

22.  Two Brook Park Men Plead Guilty To $2 Million Food Stamp Fraud
US Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio Sept. 23, 2013

http://www.justice.gov/usao/ohn/news/2013/23septfood.html

…Saed (Sam) Wahdan, 41, and his brother, Maher (Mario) Wahdan, 42, each pleaded guilty one count of conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud, one count of food stamp fraud and two counts of unlawful redemption of food stamps. Maher Wahdan also pleaded guilty to an additional count of theft of public funds…. The Wahdans are scheduled to be sentenced on April 24, 2014.  Nidal Jaber, 45, also of Brook Park, was also indicted for his role in the conspiracy. His charges are pending.  Between January 2008 and March 2012, the Wahdans and others conspired to commit more than $2 million in food-stamp fraud through four of their businesses:  One Stop Beverage, 5105 Franklin Blvd.; Bridge Deli and Beverage, 4700 Bridge Ave.; Franklin Beverage and Deli, 4719 Franklin Blvd., and Scott Food Mart, 951 Linn Drive….

23.  NJ bank fined $8.2 million over federal money-laundering violations

By Ed Beeson The Star-Ledger  on September 24, 2013 at 12:44 PM http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2013/09/saddle_river_valley_bank_to_pa.html
Saddle River Valley Bank, a former community bank in Bergen County that once was controlled by private equity magnate J. Christopher Flowers, has agreed to pay $8.2 million to settle federal claims that it broke U.S. anti-money laundering laws.  The settlement comes after a federal investigation found that the bank failed to monitor at least $1.5 billion of transactions between it and what are known as "casas de cambio," or non-bank currency exchange businesses, in Mexico and the Dominican Republic…

24.  ID Theft Ring Scammed Thousands Of Cell Phones From Verizon, AT&T, Apple, Best Buy
Janet Novack, Forbes Staff September 24, 2013
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11053

In a new twist on identify theft fraud, a Michigan operation allegedly used "credit mules" posing as new or existing cell contract customers to scam thousands of free or subsidized phones from AT&T T, Verizon Wireless,  Best Buy, Radio Shack and Apple stores.  According to a previously unreported federal lawsuit filed last Friday, during a four month investigation, U.S. Secret Service agents watched as individuals carrying Apple iPhone boxes and cell store shopping bags trooped into a store in Taylor, Michigan run by iBuy Express, Inc., dealt with a clerk shielded by bullet proof glass, and then left iBuy without their boxes and bags, but with wads of cash. Investigators riffling through iBuy's trash found bags from AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Best Buy, Radio Shack and Apple stores; receipts for phones shipped by AT&T and Verizon to Michigan addresses; and SIM cards, indicating, the government alleges, that the phones were being unlocked or hacked for sale in overseas markets.  According to the suit, the credit mules sometimes scammed new, subsidized phones by using stolen identities to sign new two year cell phone service contracts with multiple carriers. At other times they used "account takeovers"— posing as an established customer who wants to add new lines and phones to his or her cell plan.…

BORDER SECURITY, IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS

IPT NOTE:  US Customs & Border Protection, http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/ & http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/press_announce_lp.xml; US Immigration and Customs Enforcement http://www.ice.gov/news/ ; Canada Border Services Agency http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html

25.  Cost to physically deport convicted terrorist more than $117,000
By Tobi Cohen, Postmedia News September 20, 2013  
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11054

OTTAWA — It cost the federal government more than $117,000 to charter the LearJet and medical team that rid Canada of a man many consider the poster boy for everything that has gone wrong with the immigration system.  After losing his bid for a stay of removal on medical grounds — his last bargaining chip after 26 years of legal wrangling — Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad was deported to Lebanon in May.  The convicted Palestinian terrorist linked to a deadly 1968 attack on an Israeli passenger jet had been living in Ontario since 1987.  During a news conference to trumpet his removal, then-immigration minister Jason Kenney said it likely cost Canadian taxpayers millions in court costs to fight his attempts to stay over a quarter-Century.  The government was unable at the time to say how much more his deportation cost taxpayers but documents released to Postmedia News through access to information legislation put the price tag of the Latitude AeroMedical Works air ambulance with registered nurse and registered respiratory therapist alone at $117,313...

26.  Afghan Interpreter Has Visa Revoked

Source: False warnings of security risks have plagued program

BY: Alana Goodman September 25, 2013 4:59 am Washington Free Beacon

http://freebeacon.com/afghan-interpreter-has-visa-revoked/

An Afghan interpreter who helped save the life of a Purple Heart recipient had his U.S. visa abruptly revoked just days after receiving it, in what Afghan refugee advocates say exposes a major flaw in the visa system.  Janis Shinwari, an Afghan interpreter who fought alongside 1st Lt. Matt Zeller in a 2008 firefight in the Ghanzi Province, received a visa on Sept. 3 after a two-year application process and a high-profile advocacy campaign by Zeller.  But shortly after Zeller announced the victory, Shinwari was informed by the U.S. embassy in Kabul that his visa had been revoked, the New Yorker reported.  The State Department said it could not comment on the specific case, but one official said national security concerns may have played a role…

OTHER ITEMS

27.  Brooklyn Man Is Charged With Role in 2 Deaths in Pakistan

By MOSI SECRET New York Times Sept 26, 2013

http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11055

The arranged marriage had already cleaved the family in two: on one side was a Brooklyn-born bride, in hiding after she escaped her new husband's home in Pakistan, where she said she was held captive by her relatives. On the other was her father, now jailed in Brooklyn, who was so furious over his daughter's departure that he threatened to kill those who had helped her flee.   On Wednesday, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn added another level of intrigue to the case when they charged the father, Mohammad Ajmal Choudhry, with conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country.   The charges came after Mr. Choudhry spent months in jail on lesser charges, all the while claiming that he had never acted on his threats, even though he had told his daughter, Amina Ajmal, in secretly recorded conversations in February, "I will catch each and every person of their family, and will kill them, until I find you."  Four days later, two people in Pakistan were dead.   In a brief appearance on Wednesday in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, Mr. Choudhry, a cabdriver, pleaded not guilty to the new charges. Later, his lawyer, Joshua L. Dratel, said, "We don't believe they have a case." …

28.  School system halts world studies field trips after mosque controversy
Parental complaint leads district to change practice
Sep. 21, 2013  The Tennessean Written by Tena Lee
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11056

Students will no longer be allowed to take field trips to religious venues after the stepfather of a Hendersonville High School student accused the school system of promoting Islam, starting another debate about the role of religion in Sumner County schools.  The American Civil Liberties Union sued the school system in 2011 over teacher-led prayer and promotion of Christianity on school campuses. In the settlement, Sumner schools admitted no wrongdoing, but new rules were put in place barring teachers from praying with students or leading Bible studies on school grounds, and prohibiting youth ministers from visiting schools other than to see family members.  The latest controversy, which has gained national attention on talk radio and cable news outlets, started at the end of August when some parents asked about a planned field trip to a mosque and a Hindu temple during a back-to-school night, said Mike Conner, the stepfather of a freshman at Hendersonville High. Concerns were raised about why the 36-week world studies course would only take students on visits to two religious venues, rather than houses of worship related to all five religions studied in the class…

MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

29.  Kenya mall takeover: FBI agents helping to fingerprint bodies, collect DNA in the rubble
U.S. officials confirmed that agents are aiding the investigation in Nairobi. The death toll is at 72, with Al-Shabab — the militant group behind the four-day takeover of Westgate Mall — claim that the Kenyan forces demolished the building, burying 137 hostages.
By Ginger Adams Otis / New York Daily News Wednesday, September 25, 2013, 5:52 AM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11057

FBI agents pored over the rubble inside Nairobi's crushed Westgate Mall Wednesday, trying to fingerprint bodies and collect DNA as the grim work of pinpointing the nationalities of civilians and gunmen who perished in the shopping center got underway.  U.S. officials confirmed agents were on the ground lending technical assistance and aiding Kenya's investigation into the four-day terrorist attack that began Saturday inside the upscale Westgate Mall.  The death count remained at 72 — 61 civilians, six Kenyan soldiers and five suspected Islamic terrorists.  That was expected to rise, however, as the Red Cross said another 71 civilians were still missing…

Samantha Lewthwaite arrest warrant issued by Interpol
Interpol has issued an arrest warrant for Samantha Lewthwaite, the Briton dubbed the 'White Widow', at the request of Kenya, labelling her a "danger" to the world.
By Tom Whitehead 3:26PM BST 26 Sep 2013 The Daily Telegraph (London)
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11059

The international police body has issued a so-called "red notice" to 190 countries to make them "aware of the danger posed by this woman".  The move, which came at the request of the Kenyan authorities, will add to the suspicions over whether Lewthwaite, 29, was involved in the Westgate shopping centre attack in Nairobi.  Interpol said the red notice would "activate a global tripwire for this fugitive" for information on her whereabouts.  Both the Kenyan and British authorities have been unable to rule out whether Lewthwaite was involved in the terror atrocity at the weekend.  Survivors of the outrage have talked about seeing a "pale skinned woman" among the attackers.  Lewthwaite is already wanted by the Kenyans after being suspected of being part of a terror plot to target tourist spots in 2011.  She has been on the run since then and has earned her nickname because she is the widow of 7/7 suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay whose bomb killed 26 people on a London tube in 2005…

Samantha Lewthwaite: The quiet Home Counties girl who now tops the list of terrorism suspects
Samantha Lewthwaite was a shy 11-year-old schoolgirl growing up in the Home Counties when she first developed a crush on a Muslim boy.
By Sam Marsden The Daily Telegraph (London) 9:56PM BST 24 Sep 2013
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11058

African Militants Turn More to Social Media
Facebook, Twitter Strain to Ban Groups, but New Accounts Emerge
By YOREE KOH Wall Street Journal September 22, 2013, 7:09 p.m. ET
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304713704579091720477473610.html?mod=e2tw

SAN FRANCISCO—Militants who attacked a shopping mall in Nairobi made active use of Twitter to broadcast their goals, leading the company to try to shut their accounts, in a behind-the-scenes struggle over access to the short-message service.  Twitter Inc. suspended the account of Somalia's al-Shabaab militant group after the rebels used the service to claim responsibility for the deadly attack. Hours later, the group resurfaced using a different account name to give real-time updates of the siege. That account, too, has since been suspended… The San Francisco-based company doesn't actively monitor the content in search of potential violations to these rules. Instead, it relies on external reports of such violations.  But the Somali militant group's use of Twitter illustrates a growing conundrum for the company—and other social-media sites such Facebook Inc.—to keep pace with violations as terrorist organizations and supporters increasingly use the platform to spread their views and activity.  According to Facebook's community standards, government-recognized terrorist organizations aren't allowed on the social-networking site…

30.  Inside the Ring: 'Framework' draft keeps military action in Syria off the table
By Bill Gertz The Washington Times Wednesday, September 25, 2013

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/25/inside-the-ring-inside-the-syria-chemical-weapons-/

State Department officials at the United Nations briefed reporters Tuesday about Syria arms talks that day between Secretary of StateJohn F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.  From the briefing, it appears the Obama administration is backing away from an outline "framework" arms agreement reached in Geneva with the Russians that states any Syrian violations of chemical arms dismantlement would be met with a "Chapter 7" response under the U.N.Charter. That section authorizes the use of military force under the U.N. Security Council.  According to the officials, it now appears Russian officials have prevailed in seeking to keep formal references to Chapter 7 out of two draft documents on the Syrian arms deal…

WARNING ON KENYA ATTACK

A report from Africa in the aftermath of the deadly al-Shabab terrorist attack on a Nairobi shopping mall indicates Kenya's intelligence agency had advance warning that the al Qaeda-linked group was planning attacks.  The Kenya National Intelligence Service reported in August that an al-Shabab cell had been activated in the coastal city of Mombasa, according to an intelligence report obtained by the Nairobi newspaper, The Standard.  The report said four al-Shabab terrorists had traveled to Mombasa from Somalia around Aug. 15 to join a terrorist cell in the Mtopanga section of the city. The cell included two Islamist clerics…

NSA CHIEF ON SNOWDEN 

National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith B. Alexander said Wednesday that former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has harmed U.S. national security and helped America's enemies by disclosing the agency's secrets.  Gen. Alexander also suggested that both China and Russia gained access to the stolen classified documents held by Mr. Snowden, whom the general described as an "IT administrator responsible for moving data to a common website."…

31.  Theft of US weapons in Libya involved hundreds of guns, sources say

By Adam Housley Published September 25, 2013  FoxNews.com
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11060

EXCLUSIVE: The recent theft of massive amounts of highly sensitive U.S. military equipment from Libya is far worse than previously thought, Fox News has learned, with raiders swiping hundreds of weapons that are now in the hands of militia groups aligned with terror organizations and the Muslim Brotherhood.  The equipment, as Fox News previously reported, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/11/us-military-weapons-equipment-stolen-in-libya-raids/, was used for training in Libya by U.S. Special Forces. The training team, which was funded by the Pentagon, has since been pulled, partly in response to the overnight raids last August.  According to State Department and military sources, dozens of highly armored vehicles called GMV's, provided by the United States, are now missing. The vehicles feature GPS navigation as well as various sets of weapon mounts and can be outfitted with smoke-grenade launchers. U.S. Special Forces undergo significant training to operate these vehicles. Fox News is told the vehicles provided to the Libyans are now gone.  Along with the GMV's, hundreds of weapons are now missing, including roughly 100 Glock pistols and more than 100 M4 rifles. More disturbing, according to the sources, is that it seems almost every set of night-vision goggles has also been taken. This is advanced technology that gives very few war fighters an advantage on the battlefield…

32.  'Se*ual jihad': Tunisian women go to Syria to 'relieve' holy warriors, return pregnant
Published time: September 20, 2013 13:25 Edited time: September 21, 2013 20:01
http://rt.com/news/sexual-jihad-tunisia-syria-133/
Tunisian women have traveled to Syria to wage 'se*ual jihad', performing intercourse with dozens of Islamist fighters and returning home pregnant, Tunisia's Interior Minister Lotfi ben Jeddou told MPs.  The Tunisian girls "are [se*ually] swapped between 20, 30, and 100 rebels and they come back bearing the fruit of se*ual contacts in the name of se*ual jihad and we are silent doing nothing and standing idle," the minister said during an address to the National Constituent Assembly on Thursday.   "After the se*ual liaisons they have there in the name of 'jihad al-nikah' [s*xual holy war] they come home pregnant," ben Jeddou continued.   Ben Jeddou did not elaborate on how many Tunisian women had returned to the country pregnant with the children of jihadist fighters…

Alliance of rebel groups calls for an Islamist Syria, not a U.S.-backed democracy
By Ashish Kumar Sen-The Washington Times Wednesday, September 25, 2013
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/25/alliance-of-rebel-groups-calls-for-an-islamist-syr/

Eleven Syrian rebel groups, including a powerful al Qaeda affiliate, have rejected the Western-backed opposition coalition, calling for a new Syria under Islamic law and dealing a severe blow to U.S.-led efforts to support a democratic alternative to embattled President Bashar Assad.  In a statement read out in an online video late Tuesday night, the rebel alliance called on other militants fighting to topple the Assad regime to unite under a "clear Islamic framework."…

ASIA / PACIFIC

33.  Suicide bombers kill 60 Christians outside Pakistan church
A pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a 130-year-old church in Peshawar after Sunday Mass, killing at least 60 people in the deadliest attack on Christians in recent history.
By Ashfaq Yusufzai, in Peshawar, Taha Siddiqui in Islamabad and Dean Nelson in New Delhi

12:36PM BST 22 Sep 2013 The Sunday Telegraph (London)
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11061

Religious violence and attacks on security forces have been on the rise in Pakistan in past months, undermining Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's efforts to tame the insurgency after coming to power in June.  Two suicide bombers are believed to have entered the All Saints Church after shooting dead police guards, and detonated their explosive vests.   Police said 350 members of the congregation were in the church when the bombers struck and that the death toll is expected to increase because many were being treated in hospital are in a critical condition. Dr Iqbal Afridi, medical superintendent at the city's Lady Reading Hospital said he had declared a medical emergency and all leave for surgeons had been cancelled...

Pakistan Christians Issue Call for Protection

By DECLAN WALSH New York Times Sept 24, 2013
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11062

LONDON — With its Muslim-style minarets topped by a large black cross, the All Saints Church in

Peshawar has for more than a century offered a daring architectural expression of Muslim-Christian harmony and cohabitation.   This is how the Taliban destroyed it: two suicide bombers rushed the church doors as worshipers streamed out on Sunday. One attacker exploded his vest inside, the other just outside.   The death toll had risen to 85 by Monday evening, when Christians across the country protested the worst atrocity their community has suffered in Pakistan's history….

34.  An Indian Terrorism Case, With Links To Informal Cash Transfers
by Krishnadev Calamur NPR September 19, 201310:09 AM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11063
Police in India arrested the co-founder of an organization blamed for terrorist attacks across the country. But it was the revelations following the August arrest of Yasin Bhaktal, the alleged head of the Indian Mujahideen, that caught our eye.  The Times of India reported that Bhaktal's handlers in Pakistan sent him money through the hawala system. That, if you remember, is the widely used system of cash transfers that came under scrutiny following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Some estimates put the hawala transfer system at billions of dollars each year.  Matthew Levitt, a former FBI official now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told WBUR in 2010 how the system worked:…

35.  Jewish businesses in India warned to tighten security
September 25, 2013 8:18am  JTA.org
http://www.jta.org/2013/09/25/news-opinion/world/jewish-businesses-in-india-warned-to-tighten-security

 (JTA) — Amid a terror threat, Jewish establishments in India have been instructed by police to tighten security in and around their businesses.  The call came following the interrogation of Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal by the National Investigation Agency in New Delhi, as well as in the wake of the Islamist attack on an upscale mall in Nairobi, Kenya.  According to New Delhi Television  (NDTV), Bhatkal told investigators that Jewish establishments in Mumbai have been surveyed by Indian Mujahideen members for possible terrorist strikes.  The Islamist militant group reportedly was trying to seize Jewish hostages to trade them for terrorists, the Hindustan Times reported.  Indian police called on Jewish establishments to hire security guards, install security cameras and issue ID cards for admittance to the businesses, according to NDTV. They also have been instructed to not allow parking around their buildings.  There reportedly are 12 Jewish establishments in Mumbai, including four in the southern part of the city. One of the buildings, the Nariman Chabad House, was the site of a November 2008 terror attack in which six people were killed…

EUROPE

36.  Mother, uncle of 'Jihad' convicted in French court

JAMEY KEATEN AP September 20, 2013
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268781/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=PyLcyxQv

PARIS (AP) - A French appeals court convicted a woman and her brother on Friday for "justifying a crime" after her toddler son, named Jihad, went to preschool in a T-shirt bearing the words "I am a bomb" and "Jihad: Born on Sept. 11," a defense lawyer said.  Bouchra Bagour was given a 2,000-euro fine and a one-month suspended prison sentence and her brother, Zayed, received a 4,000-euro fine and two-month suspended sentence in the court in southeastern Nimes, her lawyer, Gaele Guenoun, said by phone.  The ruling, which strikes at the intersection of free speech and France's laws barring hate speech and denial of crimes like genocide, comes months after a lower court in nearby Avignon acquitted the defendants. In France, prosecutors can appeal such rulings - and they did in this case, to the Nimes appeals court.  Under French law, justifying a crime in public is punishable by up to five years in prison and a 45,000-euro fine…

37.  No German, No Benefits
Turkish Family Fights Language Requirement
By Bruno Schrep Der Spiegel 09/24/2013 05:26 PM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11064

Imhan K., a Turkish woman living in Germany, had her welfare benefits slashed after her husband refused to let her take German courses. Now a court must decide whether immigrants can be forced to learn the language and adopt Western mores.  After three-and-a-half years of legal wrangling, there's still no end in sight. At least officially, the case centers on €290.70 ($392). The K. family, thus identified to safeguard its privacy, is made up of ethnic Turks living in Germany. They claim that the state owes them the money. But, in reality, it's a matter of principle.   The questions at the heart of the dispute are: Can immigrants be forced to learn German? Can people who decline such an offer be denied welfare benefits? Or, viewed from the other perspective, can immigrants who live off state benefits refuse to integrate into society, or can they live as a group as if on an island and free of societal obligations? …

COMMENT / ANALYSIS

38.  Some regional militaries tilt left against U.S.
BY DOUGLAS FARAH Miami Herald September 18, 2013
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/18/v-print/3635684/some-regional-militaries-tilt.html

Douglas Farah is the president of IBI Consultants, a national security consulting company and a senior non-resident associate of the CSIS Americas Program.

39.  Radical Imagery at NY Muslim Day Parade
IPT News September 24, 2013
http://www.investigativeproject.org/4173/radical-imagery-at-ny-muslim-day-parade

40.  Wolf Demands FBI Punish Agents For CAIR Contact
IPT News September 19, 2013
http://www.investigativeproject.org/4165/wolf-demands-fbi-punish-agents-for-cair-contact

41.  A New Intifada?
by Khaled Abu Toameh September 24, 2013 at 5:00 am Gatestone Institute
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3989/new-intifada

42.  The Only Commonality is Mass Killing
by Anat Berko Special to IPT News September 24, 2013
http://www.investigativeproject.org/4170/the-only-commonality-is-mass-killing
Anat Berko, Ph.D, a Lt. Col. (Res) in the Israel Defense Forces, conducts research for the National Security Council, and is a research fellow at the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel. She was a visiting professor at George Washington University and has written two books about suicide bombers, "The Path to Paradise," and the recently released, "The Smarter Bomb: Women and Children as Suicide Bombers" (Rowman & Littlefield)

The IPT accepts no funding from outside the United States, or from any governmental agency or political or religious institutions. Your support of The Investigative Project on Terrorism is critical in winning a battle we cannot afford to lose. All donations are tax-deductible. Click here to donate online. The Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation is a recognized 501(c)3 organization.