The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT)
General security, policy
1. Obama: Iran 'year or more' from getting bomb; US looks for Iran to slow uranium enrichment; Iranian cyber warfare commander shot dead in suspected assassination 2. State Dep't official urges Congress to delay new Iran sanctions; To this tycoon, Iran sanctions were like gold 3. China asks US to lift sanctions on arms proliferators, Iran traders; China conducts satellite capture in space as part of Star Wars military program 4. US Delta Forces capture Al Qaeda leader, one of U.S.' most-wanted terrorists, in Libyan raid; US said to hold suspect on Navy ship; Target in US raid on Somalia called top Shabaab planner of attacks abroad 5. State Dep't designates as SDGTs the Muhammad Jamal Network and Muhammad Jamal 6. Benghazi's Al Qaeda Connection 7. Defense in Al-Timimi treason case seeks info on al-Awlaki 8. Belgium extradites Al-Qaeda's Nizar Trabelsi to US to face charges in terrorism conspiracy 9. Hearing: Al Shabaab recruitment of Somali-Americans threatens national security 10. State arrest warrant issued for Boston marathon suspect to preserve right to prosecute him
Air, rail, port, health, energy & communication security
11. Authorities investigating how 9 year old evaded security & boarding procedures at Twin Cities airport 12. NY man accuses FBI of putting him on no-fly list after refusal to inform on Muslim neighbor 13. GAO report: U.S. could improve defense against dangerous cargo Financing, money laundering, fraud, identity theft, civil litigation 14. FBI shuts alleged online drug marketplace, Silk Road Border security, immigration & customs 15. JFK gets automated passport system to reduce delays 16. Former TSA screener pleads not guilty in LAX threats case
International
17. Kenya says al Qaeda-trained Sudanese man helped lead mall attack 18. Explosions across Baghdad kill at least 38 people 19. Father, son with Michigan ties held in Egypt 20. CIA ramping up covert training program for moderate Syrian rebels 21. Suspected Islamist fighters attack northern Mali city 22. 20 killed as Boko Haram, Nigerian troops clash 23. Israel's PM condemns "heinous attack" that left girl, 9, wounded; points accusatory finger at PA for recent upsurge of violent incidents 24. 4 US soldiers killed in Taliban suicide attack 25. White Widow's 'Jihadi children': Secret diary of fugitive Briton reveals she is raising family to murder 'Islam's enemies' Comment / analysis 26. Claudia Rosett: Iran's Sequel to North Korea's Nuclear Playbook 27. Yaakov Lappin: Israel Hopes to Avoid Third Intifada Despite Palestinian Rhetoric, Violence 28. Charles C. Johnson: CAIR collects millions from foreign donors thanks to non-profit shell game 29. Sohrab Ahmari: An American Blogger vs. Palestine's First Family 30. Abigail R. Esman: Canadian Muslims Protest "Honor Killing" Label As Racist
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. Obama: Iran 'year or more' from getting bomb
JULIE PACE Associated Press October 6, 2013 5:05 AM http://news.yahoo.com/obama-iran-more-getting-bomb-084042446--politics.html
WASHINGTON
(AP) — President Barack Obama says U.S. intelligence agencies believe
Iran is still "a year or more" away from producing a nuclear weapon, an
assessment he acknowledged was at odds with Israel. "Our estimate is
probably more conservative than the estimates of Israeli intelligence
services," Obama said in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated
Press… Obama's comments on Iran came amid signs that long-standing
tensions between the U.S. and Tehran might be easing. In late September,
Obama spoke by phone with President Hassan Rouhani, Iran's new,
more-moderate sounding leader. The 15-minute call marked the first
direct exchange between U.S. and Iranian leaders in more than 30
years...
U.S. looks for Iran to slow uranium enrichment
October 3, 2013 12:35pm EDT By Arshad Mohammed and Timothy Gardner Reuters
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The United States is looking for Iran to take specific
steps to slow its uranium enrichment and to open a wider window into its
nuclear program, a top U.S. official said on Thursday ahead of October
15-16 negotiations with Tehran. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman,
the lead U.S. negotiator with Iran, also urged U.S. lawmakers to hold
off on imposing additional sanctions against Iran ahead of the talks.…
Iranian cyber warfare commander shot dead in suspected assassination The head of Iran's cyber warfare programme has been shot dead, triggering further accusations that outside powers are carrying out targeted assassinations of key figures in the country's security apparatus. By Damien McElroy, and Ahmad Vahdat 8:00PM BST 02 Oct 2013 The Daily Telegraph (London) http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11081
Mojtaba
Ahmadi, who served as commander of the Cyber War Headquarters, was
found dead in a wooded area near the town of Karaj, north-west of the
capital, Tehran. Five Iranian nuclear scientists and the head of the
country's ballistic missile programme have been killed since 2007. The
regime has accused Israel's external intelligence agency, the Mossad, of
carrying out these assassinations. Ahmadi was last seen leaving his
home for work on Saturday. He was later found with two bullets in the
heart, according to Alborz, a website linked to the Revolutionary Guard
Corps. "I could see two bullet wounds on his body and the extent of his
injuries indicated that he had been assassinated from a close range with
a pistol," an eyewitness told the website…
2. State Dept. official urges Congress to delay new Iran sanctions
By Paul Richter Los Angeles Times 2:14 PM PDT, October 3, 2013 www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-state-congress-iran-sanctions-20131003,0,1909747.story
IPT NOTE: The list of witnesses, with links to their prepared testimony, is posted at http://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/reversing-irans-nuclear-program. Full transcript available on NEXIS.
WASHINGTON
– A senior U.S. diplomat urged Congress to delay tough new Iran
sanctions legislation until after upcoming negotiations on Iran's
nuclear program for fear of undermining the talks. Wendy Sherman, the
State Department's third-ranking official, told senators Thursday
morning she would prefer a delay so that she could tell Iranian
negotiators at the mid-October meeting in Geneva that "this is your
chance" to propose an acceptable deal to curb Iran's disputed nuclear
program… She said the administration doesn't necessarily object to new
sanctions, and would be willing to work with Congress after the meeting
to determine what kind of sanctions might build additional pressure on
Iran. She stopped short of endorsing the pending legislation…
REVERSING IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Presiding: Senator Menendez Date: Thursday, October 03, 2013 Time: 10:00 AM Location: Senate Dirksen 419 http://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/reversing-irans-nuclear-program [see website for links to witnesses' prepared statements; full transcript on NEXIS]
Panel One
The Honorable Wendy Sherman, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, U.S. Dep't of State Panel Two The Honorable James F. Jeffrey, Philip Solondz Distinguished Visiting Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Washington, DC Mr. David Albright, President, Institute for Science and International Security, Washington, DC Dr. Ray Takeyh, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations, Washington, DC
To This Tycoon, Iran Sanctions Were Like Gold
By THOMAS ERDBRINK New York Times October 5, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/05/world/middleeast/to-this-tycoon-iran-sanctions-are-like-gold.html
TEHRAN
— He called himself the "economic basij," a reference to Iran's
hard-line paramilitary organization and defender of the Islamic
Revolution. He drove a black Mercedes 500 SL and wore a $30,000 watch,
as befits a man who put his self-worth at $13.5 billion. Not bad for a
39-year-old who began his career in the 1980s selling sheepskins and
emerged more recently as a critical actor in Iran's effort to evade
United States sanctions on its oil sales. But it has all come tumbling
down for the tycoon, Babak Zanjani, whose accounts were frozen by the
United States Treasury in April and who has been blacklisted by the
European Union. Adding to his troubles, he has come under scrutiny by
officials of the new pragmatist Iranian government, who suspect him of
having worked with what they considered the corrupt inner circle of the
previous president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They accused Mr. Zanjani last
week of withholding $1.9 billion in oil revenues, prompting Parliament
to begin an investigation into his business dealings. His rise and now
possible fall have opened a window into the secretive, shadowy world of
Iranian tycoons who have made their fortunes, at least in part, by
helping Iran evade the sanctions intended to thwart its nuclear program…
3. China Asks U.S. to Lift Sanctions on Arms Proliferators, Iran Traders
Also asks for loosening of controls on civilian-military space and defense technology, hardware
BY: Bill Gertz Follow @BillGertz October 4, 2013 5:00 am Washington Free Beacon
http://freebeacon.com/china-asks-u-s-to-lift-sanctions-on-arms-proliferators-iran-traders/
China
is asking the Obama administration to lift sanctions on five Chinese
state-run companies that were hit with U.S. sanctions in the past for
arms sales and other illicit transfers to rogue states. According to
Obama administration officials, the request to lift sanctions on the
five companies was made within the past two months by the Chinese
Ministry of Commerce as part of preparations for an upcoming meeting of
the U.S.-China Joint Commission of Commerce and Trade. The next
commission meeting will be held in November or December. Other Chinese
demands outlined in a wish list from China included loosening controls
on U.S. exports of dual-use, civilian-military space and defense
technology and hardware…
China Testing New Space Weapons
China conducts satellite capture in space as part of Star Wars military program
BY: Bill Gertz Follow @BillGertz October 2, 2013 5:00 am Washington Free Beacon
China
last week conducted a test of a maneuvering satellite that captured
another satellite in space during what Pentagon officials say was a
significant step forward for Beijing's space warfare program. The
satellite capture took place last week and involved one of three small
satellites fitted with a mechanical arm that were launched July 20 as
part of a covert anti-satellite weapons development program, said U.S.
officials familiar with reports of the test. One official described the
satellite-grabbing spacecraft as a "mobile satellite launch vehicle."…
4. Al Qaeda leader — one of U.S.' most-wanted terrorists — captured in Libya: officials
Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, known by his alias of Anas al-Libi, was captured in Libya on Saturday, officials say. Al-Libi is linked to the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in eastern Africa.
BY RICH SCHAPIRO / NY DAILY NEWS OCT 5, 2013, 10:23 PM UPDATED: OCT 6, 2013, 5:23 AM
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/wanted-al-qaeda-leader-captured-libya-article-1.1477444
Nazih
Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, known by his alias of Anas al-Libi, was captured
in Libya on Saturday. Al-Libi was one of the U.S.'s most-wanted
terrorists. One of the U.S.' most wanted terrorists — an Al Qaeda
leader linked to the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in eastern
Africa — was captured in Libya on Saturday, officials said. U.S.
commandos riding in a three-car convoy grabbed Nazih Abdul-Hamed
al-Ruqai outside his home in the capital city of Tripoli — dealing the
latest blow to the diminished terror group. The 49-year-old, known by
his alias Anas al-Libi, was parking outside his home after dawn prayers
when the vehicles surrounded him and troops smashed his car window, said
his brother Nabih. They grabbed Libi's gun before throwing him in one
of the cars and speeding off. The brother said Libi's wife watched the
capture from her window. A U.S. official said there were no American
casualties in the operation led by the U.S. Army's Delta Force…
Libyan government seeks US explanation after Delta Force raid snatches wanted al-Qaida suspect
Associated Press OCTOBER 06, 2013 8:26AM
A
SUSPECTED Libyan al-Qa'ida figure nabbed by US special forces in a
dramatic operation in Tripoli was living freely in his homeland for the
past two years, after a trajectory that took him to Sudan, Afghanistan
and Iran, where he had been detained for years, his family said. The
Libyan government bristled at the raid, asking Washington to explain the
"kidnapping."… Several dozen members of the Islamic group Ansar
al-Sharia, which has links to militias, protested on Sunday in Benghazi,
Libya's second largest city, denouncing al-Libi's abduction and
criticising the government. "Where are the men of Tripoli while this is
happening?" they chanted, waving black Islamist flags...
U.S. Said to Hold Qaeda Suspect on Navy Ship
By BENJAMIN WEISER and ERIC SCHMITT New York Times October 7, 2013
An
accused operative for Al Qaeda seized by United States commandos in
Libya over the weekend is being interrogated while in military custody
on a Navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea, officials said on Sunday. He is
expected eventually to be sent to New York for criminal prosecution…
The decision to hold Abu Anas and question him for intelligence purposes
without a lawyer present follows a pattern used successfully by the
Obama administration with other terrorist suspects, most prominently in
the case of Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, a former military commander with
the Somali terrorist group Shabab. Mr. Warsame was captured in 2011 by
the American military in the Gulf of Aden and interrogated aboard a Navy
ship for about two months without being advised of his rights or
provided a lawyer…
Target in U.S. Raid on Somalia Is Called Top Shabab Planner of Attacks Abroad
By NICHOLAS KULISH, ERIC SCHMITT and MARK MAZZETTI New York Times October 7, 2013 http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11083
NAIROBI,
Kenya — The target of the American commando raid in the Horn of Africa,
a Kenyan of Somali origin known as Ikrimah, is one of the Shabab
militant group's top planners for attacks beyond its base in Somalia, an
American official said Sunday. Though Mr. Ikrimah had not been tied
directly to the Shabab's deadly assault on a shopping mall in Nairobi
last month, fears of a similar attack against Western targets broke a
deadlock among officials in Washington over whether to conduct the
raid. Special-operations commanders were in favor, pushing for a more
aggressive response to the rising threat from the group in Somalia,
while administration officials were nervous about incurring American
military casualties. As it turned out, there were none, according to a
United States official — but Mr. Ikrimah was not captured, and there is
as yet no evidence that he was killed in the firefight that broke out on
the Somali coast in the early hours of Saturday morning. Mr. Ikrimah
is an associate of two Al Qaeda operatives who were involved in the 1998
bombing of the American Embassy in Nairobi and in the 2002 attacks on a
hotel and an airline in Mombasa. SEAL Team 6, the Navy commando unit
that killed the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, was dispatched to try
to apprehend him…
'Western special forces' raid al-Shabaab stronghold in Somalia
Western special forces raided a town in southern Somalia controlled by al-Shabaab on Saturday, carrying out a strike aimed at senior commanders of the radical Islamist movement behind last month's Kenya shopping centre massacre.
By David Blair 7:30PM BST 05 Oct 2013 The Telegraph (London)
The
assault took place shortly before dawn on the coastal town of Barawe,
110 miles south of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. Ahmed Abdi Godane, the
leader of al-Shabaab, is known to have stayed in Barawe in the past.
The fishing town is in the heart of an area controlled by the al-Qaeda
affiliate. Al-Shabaab claimed that British and Turkish special forces
carried out the raid and that one SAS officer was killed. However, a
Ministry of Defence spokesman said that "no UK forces at all" were
involved. Turkey's government made a similar denial. France, which has
carried out raids in Somalia in the past, also said that none of its
soldiers was deployed…
5. Terrorist Designations of the Muhammad Jamal Network and Muhammad Jamal
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Department of State Washington, DC October 7, 2013
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/10/215171.htm
The
Department of State has designated the Muhammad Jamal Network (MJN) and
founder, Muhammad Jamal, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists
under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets terrorists and those
providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. Muhammad Jamal
journeyed to Afghanistan in the late 1980s where he trained with
al-Qa'ida (AQ) and learned how to construct bombs. Upon returning to
Egypt in the 1990s, Muhammad Jamal became a top military commander and
head of the operational wing of Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), then
headed by AQ leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Jamal has been arrested multiple
times by Egyptian authorities for terrorist activities and was
incarcerated for years in Egypt. Muhammad Jamal has developed
connections with al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), AQ senior
leadership, and al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leadership
including Nasir 'Abd-al-Karim 'Abdullah al-Wahishi and Qasim Yahya Mahdi
al-Rimi…
6. Benghazi's Al Qaeda Connection
by Eli Lake The Daily Beast Oct 7, 2013 2:42 PM EDT http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/07/benghazi-s-al-qaeda-connection.html The Obama administration has been loathe to draw any connections in public between al Qaeda and the Benghazi attacks on September 11, 2012. A new State Department designation of an Egyptian terrorist however makes that link. Eli Lake reports. The U.S. government is now acknowledging, at least indirectly, a significant al Qaeda connection to the 9-11 anniversary attacks on the U.S. mission and CIA station in Benghazi. On Monday, the State Department designated the Mohammed Jamal Network (MJN) and its founder, Mohammed Jamal as terrorists. The Wall Street Journal first reported on October 1, 2012 that fighters affiliated with MJN participated in the Benghazi attacks. The Daily Beast and other news outlets have since confirmed the report. Seth Jones, the associate director for the international security and defense policy center at the RAND Corporation, told the Daily Beast, "There was at least one member and may have been more members from the Mohammed Jamal network on the compound for the attack on Benghazi along with members of Ansar al-Sharia and members of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb." The designation released Monday from the State Department does not mention the network's role in Benghazi. It does state that Jamal has been in close contact with al Qaeda leaders since he traveled to Afghanistan in the late 1980s. When Jamal returned to Egypt in the early 1990s he became the operational commander for Egyptian Islamic Jihad. At the time the group was led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is currently the leader of al Qaeda… Militant Link to Libya Attack U.S. Tracks Egyptian Operative Freed From Prison in Wake of Arab Spring By SIOBHAN GORMAN And MATT BRADLEY Wall Street Journal October 1, 2013 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444549204578020373444418316.html
The
revolutions that swept the Middle East and North Africa also emptied
prisons of militants, a problem now emerging as a potential new
terrorist threat. Fighters linked to one freed militant, Muhammad Jamal
Abu Ahmad, took part in the Sept. 11 attack on U.S. diplomatic outposts
in Libya that killed four Americans, U.S. officials believe based on
initial reports. Intelligence reports suggest that some of the attackers
trained at camps he established in the Libyan Desert, a former U.S.
official said. Western officials say Mr. Ahmad has petitioned the chief
of al Qaeda, to whom he has long ties, for permission to launch an al
Qaeda affiliate and has secured financing from al Qaeda's Yemeni wing.
U.S. spy agencies have been tracking Mr. Ahmad's activities for several
months. The Benghazi attacks gave a major boost to his prominence in
their eyes. Mr. Ahmad, although believed to be one of the most potent
of the new militant operatives emerging from the chaos of the Arab
Spring, isn't the only one, according to Western officials. They say
others are also trying to exploit weaknesses in newly established
governments and develop a capacity for strikes that could go well beyond
recent violent protests in Libya, Egypt and elsewhere…
7. Defense in treason case seeks info on al-Awlaki
October 4, 2013 1:44PM Associated Press
IPT NOTE: Court documents in Al-Timimi's case are posted at http://www.investigativeproject.org/case/86
ALEXANDRIA,
Va. (AP) — Lawyers for a Muslim scholar convicted in 2005 of soliciting
treason are pressing a judge and prosecutors for information they
believe could show that American-born al-Qaida leader Anwar al-Awlaki
was once a government informant. Ali Al-Timimi was spiritual leader for
a group of northern Virginia Muslims who played paintball to train for
holy war. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for exhorting
some of them to join the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Al-Timimi's lawyers said Friday in federal court in Alexandria they are
suspicious about a 2002 visit al-Awlaki paid to al-Timimi. The defense
now suspects al-Awlaki went there as an informant to get incriminating
information on al-Timimi, and that should have been disclosed at trial…
8. Alleged Al-Qaeda Member Extradited to U.S. to Face Charges in Terrorism Conspiracy
Defendant and Others Planned Suicide Bomb Attack Against Americans in Europe U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia (202) 514-7566 October 03, 2013
WASHINGTON—Nizar
Trabelsi, a Tunisian national, has been extradited to the United States
to face charges in federal court in the District of Columbia stemming
from a conspiracy to carry out a suicide bomb attack against Americans
in Europe. Trabelsi was arrested in Belgium on Sept. 13, 2001, before
he carried out the planned attack. After 12 years in custody there,
where he served time on Belgian charges, Trabelsi was extradited and
transported today to face charges in the United States. Trabelsi was
indicted in 2006 by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia, and a superseding indictment was filed the
following year. The charges were unsealed today. The indictment alleges
that Trabelsi personally met in the spring of 2001, with Osama bin
Laden to volunteer for a suicide bomb attack against U.S. interests.
Preparations unfolded over the next several months, according to the
indictment, with Trabelsi allegedly obtaining chemicals in Europe and
subsequently joining others to scout a potential target: a military
facility that was used by the United States and the United States Air
Force…
Belgium extradites Al-Qaeda fighter to US
(AFP) – October 3, 2013
Brussels
— Belgium extradited a Tunisian former professional footballer turned
convicted Al-Qaeda fighter to the United States on Thursday, the justice
minister said. Nizar Trabelsi, who was arrested just two days after
the September 11 attacks in 2001, was sentenced to 10 years in jail in
2003 for plotting a suicide truck bombing against a Belgian air base
where American troops are stationed. Washington has long sought his
extradition, suspecting him of also being behind a more devastating
Al-Qaeda plot than the one he was convicted of in Belgium. The
43-year-old Trabelsi had long battled to avoid extradition to the United
States for fear of "inhumane" treatment…
9. Al Shabaab Recruitment of Somali-Americans Threatens National Security Experts say U.S. needs a more effective strategy BY: Daniel Wiser Washington Free Beacon October 3, 2013 4:45 pm http://freebeacon.com/al-shabaab-recruitment-of-somali-americans-threatens-national-security/ IPT NOTE: List of witnesses with links to prepared statements posted at http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/hearing-al-shabaab-how-great-threat. Full transcript available on NEXIS. Somali-American youth will remain vulnerable to recruitment by al Shabaab, the al Qaeda-affiliated group that perpetrated the attacks on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, last month, and pose a threat to national security absent a more effective U.S. strategy to prevent their radicalization, experts said Thursday. The attacks on the mall in Nairobi by more than a dozen heavily armed members of the Somalia-based al Shabaab, reportedly including several Americans, killed more than 70 people and wounded more than 200. More than 40 Americans from cities with large Somali immigrant populations such as Phoenix, Ariz. and Minneapolis, Minn. left to join al Shabaab between 2007 and 2010, either through the U.S.-Mexican border or by legally flying out of the United States, according to testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee by Seth Jones, associate director of the RAND Corp.'s International Security and Defense Policy Center…
Hearing: Al-Shabaab: How Great a Threat?
2172 House Rayburn Office Building Washington, DC 20515 | Oct 3, 2013 10:00am
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/hearing-al-shabaab-how-great-threat [see website for links to witnesses' prepared statements; full transcript on NEXIS]
Witnesses
Seth Jones, Ph.D., Associate Director, International Security and Defense Policy Center, RAND Corporation
Mr. Dan Borelli, Chief Operating Officer, The Soufan Group
Mr. Mohamed Farah, Executive Director, Ka Joog
Mr. Richard Downie, Deputy Director and Fellow, Africa Program, Center for Strategic and Int'l Studies
10. State arrest warrant issued for marathon suspect
Monday, October 7, 2013 By: Associated Press http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11088
WOBURN,
Mass. — A Massachusetts court issued an arrest warrant Monday for
Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as prosecutors sought
to preserve their right to try him on state charges in the killing of a
police officer for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Tsarnaev,
20, remains in custody after pleading not guilty to 30 federal charges
stemming from the April 15 explosions, which killed three people and
injured more than 260. State prosecutors sought a default warrant — a
type of arrest warrant — because U.S. marshals have said they won't
bring Tsarnaev to state court until his federal case concludes. A
magistrate issued the warrant the day Tsarnaev was scheduled to be
arraigned on state charges. The step was largely procedural to preserve
the state's right to try him in the death of MIT officer Sean Collier
and charges stemming from a shootout with Watertown police as he
allegedly tried to escape…
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/
11. MSP airport security proves no barrier to 9-year-old stowaway
Authorities are investigating how the boy evaded security and Delta boarding procedures at the Twin Cities airport during last week's adventure. by: PAT PHEIFER, Star Tribune Updated: October 6, 2013 - 11:11 PM
The
9-year-old boy who stowed away on a Delta flight from Minneapolis to
Las Vegas on Thursday passed through three security checkpoints at the
airport without a boarding pass or identification, officials and an
airline expert said Sunday... The boy got through the Transportation
Safety Administration (TSA) checkpoint and past a Delta gate agent, and
didn't get scrutinized by flight attendants before the plane took off
from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, said Terry Trippler,
owner of ThePlaneRules.com... Delta spokeswoman Leslie Scott said Sunday
that the incident is under investigation. The airline "is working with
the various authorities involved," she said. The TSA, in a statement to
news organizations Sunday, said it was reviewing whether checkpoint
changes were needed. As for Thursday's incident, the TSA said: "The
child was screened along with all other passengers to ensure that he was
not a threat to the aircraft."…
12. Queens man accuses FBI of putting him on no-fly list after refusal to inform on Muslim neighbor
Muhammad Tanvir says FBI agents barred him from travelling by plane after he turned down an offer to spy on his Muslim neighbor. By Daniel Beekman / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, October 2, 2013, 5:53 AM
No
spy, no fly. A Queens man is accusing the FBI of barring him from air
travel in retaliation for his refusal to inform on his Muslim
neighbors. Muhammad Tanvir claims FBI agents put him on the no-fly list
after he turned them down and then told him he could get off by
snooping. The suit describes Tanvir as a permanent resident of the U.S.
who reached the country in 2002. The FBI declined to comment.
13. Report: U.S. could improve defense against dangerous cargo
By Ted Jackovics Tampa Tribune Staff Published: October 6, 2013
IPT NOTE: GAO report may be downloaded from http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-764
TAMPA
— The United States could improve assessing the risk of foreign cargo
that might contain weapons of mass destruction, including shipments from
at least eight ports whose cargo regularly arrives at the Port of
Tampa, a Government Accountability Office report stated. But U.S.
Customs and Border Protection has not assessed the risk posed by foreign
ports since 2005, the GAO found. Customs and Border Protection does
not have a presence at about half the foreign ports the agency considers
high risk, the report said. Because U.S. security programs depend on
cooperation from host countries, there are challenges to implement
programs at new locations…
FINANCING, LAUNDERING, FRAUD, IDENTITY THEFT, CIVIL LITIGATION
14. FBI shuts alleged online drug marketplace, Silk Road
Wed, Oct 2 2013 by Emily Flitter Reuters
NEW
YORK (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement authorities have shut down "Silk
Road," an anonymous Internet marketplace for illegal drugs like heroin
and cocaine and criminal activities such as murder for hire, and
arrested its alleged owner. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said
Wednesday it arrested Silk Road owner, Ross William Ulbricht, 29, known
online as "Dread Pirate Roberts," in San Francisco on Tuesday, according
to court filings. Ulbricht, who holds an advanced degree in chemical
engineering, appeared in federal court on Wednesday and a bail hearing
was set for Friday… Federal prosecutors in New York charged Ulbricht
with one count each of narcotics trafficking conspiracy, computer
hacking conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, the filing said.
"Silk Road has emerged as the most sophisticated and extensive criminal
marketplace on the Internet today," FBI agent Christopher Tarbell said
in the criminal complaint…
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
15. JFK gets automated passport system to reduce delays
Published: Monday, 7 Oct 2013 | 9:52 AM ET By: Harriet Baskas, Special to CNBC
JFK
International is getting automated passport machines Monday to speed up
the arrival of U.S. passengers from international flights. It's the
latest airport—and one of the largest—to get the system. Similar
self-service machines already in use at Chicago's O'Hare International
Airport Terminal 5, and at two airports in Canada (Vancouver and
Montreal) are already helping to significantly cut down wait times at
customs that, at times, have forced arriving international passengers to
stand in line for up to five hours or to be held back on a plane. JFK
is the busiest U.S. entry point for international travelers, and 40
automated passport kiosks have been purchased by Delta for use in
Terminal 4, where it is the largest tenant among more than 30 airlines.
At JFK, only U.S. citizens will initially be able to use the machines,
but soon Canadian citizens should be able to use the machines as well...
16. Former TSA screener pleads not guilty in LAX threats case
By City News Service POSTED: 10/07/13, 12:24 PM PDT The Daily Breeze
LOS
ANGELES - An ex-Transportation Security Administration screener pleaded
not guilty Monday to making threats directed at LAX terminals on the
eve of the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror strikes. Nna Alpha
Onuoha, 29, faces federal charges of conveying false and misleading
information and making telephonic threats on Sept. 10, shortly after he
resigned his TSA job at Los Angeles International Airport. U.S.
District Judge Beverly Reid O'Connell scheduled a Nov. 26 jury trial.
Onuoha, a Nigerian-born naturalized U.S. citizen who has lived in the
United States for eight years, is being held without bond. According to
the six-count indictment, Onuoha returned to LAX shortly after he
resigned and left an eight-page letter addressed to a TSA manager, then
placed threatening calls to airport officials, demanding the airport be
evacuated…
MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA
17. Kenya says al Qaeda-trained Sudanese man helped lead mall attack
Sat, Oct 5 2013 By James Macharia Reuters
NAIROBI
(Reuters) - Kenya's government said a Sudanese man trained by al Qaeda
was among the leaders of a raid on a Nairobi shopping mall in which at
least 67 people were killed, the worst attack in the country in 15
years. Al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for
the assault two weeks ago on the Westgate center, saying it was an act
of revenge for Kenya's military campaign in Somalia, but the identities
of the gunmen have remained unclear. A Kenyan military spokesman on
Saturday named four of the attackers, saying they also included a Kenyan
Arab and a Somali. Closed-circuit television footage from the Westgate
mall was broadcast on Kenyan television channels that appeared to show
four men with guns walking around the mall's supermarket and a storage
room. Major Emmanuel Chirchir, the spokesman for the Kenya Defence
Forces (KDF), named the four as Abu Baara al-Sudani, Omar Nabhan,
Khattab al-Kene and Umayr…
18. Explosions across Baghdad kill at least 38 people
October 7, 2013 2:14pm EDT Reuters
BAGHDAD
(Reuters) - Bombs exploded across the Iraqi capital on Monday, killing
at least 38 people, police said, as suspected Sunni Islamist militants
pursued a campaign to provoke intercommunal conflict. Eight of the 10
blasts in Baghdad were in mainly Shi'ite districts, but there was also
an explosion in a mixed area and another in the predominantly Sunni
Muslim neighborhood of Doura. In the deadliest attack, a parked car
blew up in a commercial street in Husseiniya, killing five people… A
surge of violence has killed more than 6,000 people across Iraq this
year, reversing a decline in sectarian bloodshed that reached a climax
in 2006-07…
19. Father, Son With Michigan Ties Held in Egypt 8:34 AM, Oct 2, 2013 By Niraj Warikoo Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013310020019 and DETROIT -- The former president of Islamic American University - a controversial leader with the Muslim Brotherhood known for anti-Semitic remarks - and his son are being detained by Egyptian authorities. Salah Soltan, who used to live in Dearborn, Mich., was arrested last week at the airport in Cairo while he was attempting to board a plane for Sudan. He was later charged with attempted murder and inciting others to kill protesters, according to the Daily News in Egypt and other publications. His son, Mohamed Soltan, 25, was arrested Aug. 25 and charged with six crimes ranging from funding a terrorist organization to membership in an armed militia. The arrests of the Soltans are part of a wider crackdown by the Egyptian government against the Muslim Brotherhood and others associated with them. Family members and friends say the charges are trumped up… 20. CIA ramping up covert training program for moderate Syrian rebels
By Greg Miller, Washington Post Published: October 2, 2013
The
CIA is expanding a clandestine effort to train opposition fighters in
Syria amid concern that moderate, U.S.-backed militias are rapidly
losing ground in the country's civil war, U.S. officials said. But the
CIA program is so minuscule that it is expected to produce only a few
hundred trained fighters each month even after it is enlarged, a level
that officials said will do little to bolster rebel forces that are
being eclipsed by radical Islamists in the fight against the government
of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad… The officials, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said the agency
has sent additional paramilitary teams to secret bases in Jordan in
recent weeks in a push to double the number of rebel fighters getting
CIA instruction and weapons before being sent back to Syria…
21. Suspected Islamist fighters attack northern Mali city
Reuters October 7, 2103 7:12am EDT
BAMAKO
(Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants hit the northern Malian city
of Gao with artillery fire on Monday, in the first attack on the
insurgents' former stronghold in months, city residents, military and
local government officials said. Gao was the first city freed from
Islamist occupation by a French-led military intervention that drove al
Qaeda-linked fighters from the country's north earlier this year. While
it bore the brunt of the guerrilla-war waged by remnants of the
defeated insurgents in the months following the January offensive, until
Monday's violence the area had not seen an attack since May…
22. 20 killed as Boko Haram, Nigerian troops clash 2013-10-07 09:01 Agence France Presse
Maiduguri
- Boko Haram Islamists claimed five lives in an attack on a mosque in
northeast Nigeria over the weekend, before being repulsed by soldiers
who killed 15 of the insurgents, the military said in a statement on
Sunday. The latest attack by the extremist group, which has been waging
an insurgency since 2009, struck on Saturday morning at Damboa town in
Borno state, the group's stronghold…
23. Netanyahu: Palestinian incitement responsible for Psagot incident
PM
condemns "heinous attack" that left girl, 9, wounded; points accusatory
finger at PA for recent upsurge of violent incidents.
By JPOST.COM STAFF Jerusalem Post 10/06/2013 12:11 http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11092
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday condemned the incident in which a
nine-year old girl was allegedly wounded a day earlier in the West Bank
settlement of Psagot. In remarks made at the start of the weekly
cabinet meeting, the premier called the incident "a heinous attack."
"This past year has been the quietest in over a decade, but lately we
have noticed an increase in the number of terrorist attacks," Netanyahu
said, pointing an accusatory finger at the Palestinian Authority… Former
IDF Central Command chief Gadi Shamni fears that in light of the past
month's attacks in the West Bank, a new intifada could be in the works…
The attacks he is referring to include the kidnapping and killing of
soldier Tomer Hazan by a Palestinian co-worker; the shooting of Givati
infantry soldier Gavriel Kobiin Hebron, both of which occurred three
weeks ago; and Saturday night's attack in Psagot.
ASIA / PACIFIC
24. 4 US soldiers killed in Taliban suicide attack
Written by Bill Roggio on October 6, 2013 10:43 AM to Threat Matrix http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2013/10/four_us_soldiers_killed_in_tal.php The Taliban claimed credit for today's suicide attack in the Zhari district of Kandahar that killed four US soldiers during a "partnered" military operation. The district of Zhari, along with Panjwai, is considered to be the cradle of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan. The International Security Assistance Force announced the deaths of four soldiers early this morning in a press release that had few details:… The Taliban claimed credit for the attack in a statement released on their website, Voice of Jihad. In the statement, the Taliban said the attack included 10 IEDs and two suicide bombers, who were identified. The full statement is reproduced below: … EUROPE
25.
The White Widow's 'Jihadi children': Secret diary of fugitive Briton
reveals she is raising family to murder 'Islam's enemies'
Samantha Lewthwaite is on the run from police and is linked to terrorism
The widow of a 7/7 bomber allegedly took part in the Westgate mall attacks Officers found a diary and photos at a safe house in Mombasa, Kenya She describes plans to raise her three children to be terrorists as well
By REBECCA EVANS The Daily Mail (UK) 16:08 EST, 4 Oct 2013 | UPDATED: 04:19 EST, 5 Oct 2013
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11093
Written
by the world's most wanted woman, it is a chilling manifesto for
terrorism. 'White widow' Samantha Lewthwaite spells out over nine
scrawled pages her need to murder disbelievers and incites others –
including her children – to do the same. The crumpled A4 manuscript was
found in a Kenyan safe house in which she and fellow Islamic extremists
were planning an attack on two hotels and a shopping centre. Police
also discovered spent AK-47 cartridges and photographs of the
29-year-old's four children. The document shows she is grooming them to
follow in the footsteps of their father, 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay...
COMMENT / ANALYSIS
26. Iran's Sequel to North Korea's Nuclear Playbook
Claudia Rosett, Contributor Forbes.com OP/ED | 10/07/2013 @8:15AM http://www.forbes.com/sites/claudiarosett/2013/10/07/irans-sequel-to-north-koreas-nuclear-playbook/ Claudia Rosett is journalist-in-residence with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and heads its Investigative Reporting Project.
27. Israel Hopes to Avoid Third Intifada Despite Palestinian Rhetoric, Violence
by Yaakov Lappin Special to IPT News October 3, 2013 http://www.investigativeproject.org/4182/israel-hopes-to-avoid-third-intifada-despite
Yaakov Lappin is the Jerusalem Post's military and national security affairs correspondent, and author of The Virtual Caliphate (Potomac Books), which proposes that jihadis on the internet have established a virtual Islamist state.
28. CAIR collects millions from foreign donors thanks to non-profit shell game
Posted By Charles C. Johnson on 11:21 PM 09/21/2013 In US http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11094 IPT NOTE: See the Daily Caller website for original source documents embedded with the article.
29. An American Blogger vs. Palestine's First Family
A writer who detailed Yasser Abbas's business holdings found himself being sued—in the U.S. By SOHRAB AHMARI Wall Street Journal Oct 3, 2013 Updated October 4, 2013, 3:44 p.m. ET http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303464504579105582310211624.html Mr. Ahmari is an assistant books editor at the Journal.
30. Canadian Muslims Protest "Honor Killing" Label As Racist
by Abigail R. Esman Special to IPT News October 7, 2013 http://www.investigativeproject.org/4183/canadian-muslims-protest-honor-killing-label-as |
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Tuesday, October 08, 2013
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