Omar Sheikh’s Pak handler Ilyas Kashmiri also handled Headley

PranabDhalSamanta

A year after 26/11, renovation work on at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai on Sunday.

In late 1994, a milkman knocked on the door of a Ghaziabad house. As the door opened, he noticed men with guns inside, but he still delivered the milk. He then tipped off police who raided the place and rescued several foreign hostages being held by a group of terrorists, seeking the release of some arrested militant leaders including Maulana Masood Azhar. Azhar had been arrested in February that year.

When the police reached there, the commander of the terrorist group that called itself Al-Hadid — essentially it was a Harkat-ul Ansar-Harkat-ul Jihad-al-Islami operation — had just stepped out with his trusted lieutenant Omar Saeed Sheikh. The police confronted them as they returned and, in the gunbattle that ensued, Sheikh was injured and arrested but the commander escaped. He was none other than Ilyas Kashmiri. Omar Sheikh was later released in exchange for passengers aboard the hijacked IC-814 at Kandahar.

Kashmiri is the common thread that runs between Sheikh and David Coleman Headley, arrested by FBI for plotting terror attacks on India at the behest of the Lashkar-e-Toiba. Both were Pakistan-born anglicized youth, equally committed and skilled in understanding and adapting to the ways of the West. They did not fit the traditional description of a jihadi terrorist, yet were very effective in planning attacks.

Kashmiri, who was once the head of the infamous 313 brigade and the HuJI that carried out attacks in Kashmir, always looked for recruits with such attributes that allowed them to move under the radar, contributing to his terror missions abroad.

Headley or Daood Gilani was no exception. The FBI believes he is an alumnus of the Cadet College in Hassan Abdal, Pakistan which is very much like India’s military schools that train young children to join the Army. But Gilani moved to the US and then changed his identity in 2006. His cover for travels abroad was that of a representative of First Immigration Services, a company run by co-accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana.

Headley used “doctor” and “Pir Sahib” as the codewords for his patron-in-chief Ilyas Kashmiri. On September 13, amid press reports of Kashmiri’s death in a drone attack, he spoke to his contact in Pakistan who informed him that the “doctor may have got married there”. A distraught Headley shot back, “so it means our company has gone into bankruptcy then”.

FBI investigators believe that “getting married” was coded language for dying or having achieved martyrdom. This 13-minute phone call, according to the FBI, ended at 5.09 pm Chicago time and at 5.12 pm Headley did a Google search for Ilyas Kashmiri to read the latest reports. He repeated the search three days later on September 16 at 7.29 pm and accessed reports on Kashmiri’s alleged death.

The next day he again spoke to his Pakistan contact and said: “It is everywhere now… their marriage has been confirmed”. In the same conversation, a shaken Headley wanted to even fold up their activities. “But now there is nothing to do there. Now let us collect unemployment from the company… when a company lays off in case of bankruptcy, it discharges employees”. When his contact tried to console him that this was not a big loss to their effort, Headley replied: “No, it’s not a small loss, it is a major loss.”

On September 19, he spoke to a “family member” close to Kashmiri and said, “He was our Pir Sahib where you and I went… and we did baiat (oath of allegiance)” he just had a heart attack. It has made me very sad”. But on September 21, he got a call from his first Pakistani contact, who tells him that fresh reports indicate that Kashmiri is still alive. Headley could not control his emotions, “Buddy if this is true, then I will say a 100 prayers, a 100 prayers.”

It was not until September 30 that Headley got final confirmation of Kashmiri being alive. Excited, he made his contact swear several times on the veracity of the information and remarks, “So, he does not get married… so I will be able to meet him upon returning (to Pakistan)”. The reply is in the positive: “Absolutely right, he just today was asking about you”.

On October 3, Headley was off to Chicago’s O’ Hare International airport to board a flight for Philadelphia on his way to Pakistan — it was then that the FBI nabbed him, fearing he may not return for long or they may lose track of him.

Indian investigators believe that Headley, who had spent considerable amount of time and energy surveying targets in Copenhagen was under instructions to put the plan on hold and would have received fresh orders to go to India for attacks there. The Lashkar-e-Toiba member, who was in touch with Headley, had been persuading him to focus on India but FBI investigations suggest Headley was more keen on going ahead with Copenhagen, what he described as the “northern project” and the “mickey mouse project”.

This conflict comes to fore during that week in September when Headley is distraught by news of Kashmiri’s death. His undisclosed Pakistani contact, who is known to Kashmiri as well as the LeT, asks Headley to now reach out to his LeT contact. In that conversation, Headley complains that LeT’s eyes are “again in that direction”. This is important because the LeT contact, as recorded in FBI’s affidavits, had spoken last to Headley about revisiting “Rahul’s city”, a pointer to targeting India.

Headley also did not have a high opinion of his LeT contact, describing him as a person with “rotten guts” in the same conversation with his Pakistani contact, who does not disagree and says, “They do not want to take risks and want to be praised also”. To this, Headley responds: “Then there will be no profit because when you have high aims, as much as an investment will be risky as much is the chance of profits and at the same time there is chance of loss.”

Talk about a fresh attack on India figured first on July 3 when Headley’s LeT contact sent him an email inquiring about “new investment plans” even as Headley was working on the Copenhagen plan. He then asked Headley to revisit “Rahul’s city”, adding that “matters were good enough to move forward”. Headley asks a clarification on whether moving forward meant “towards Rahul” to the North. The reply came: “towards Rahul”.

Headley then asks a few pointed questions about the purpose of the visit and then whether the “northern project” was postponed. He never got a clear answer though he repeatedly asked the question in the email exchange that continued until August-end. At that point, FBI believes, the LeT contact was kept out of the Copenhagen plan. But Headley did tell his LeT contact that he will discuss the plans about “Rahul’s city” when they meet September-end.

While Indian investigators are moving on the assumption that Headley was a LeT member, the best understanding of Headley’s role comes from Headley himself in a September 20 conversation in coded language with one of Kashmiri’s “family members” when it was believed that Kashmiri was dead and Headley was gradually overcoming the “grief”.

“The main thing is business must go on. Main thing is I have some income… make some money. I don’t care if I am working for Microsoft or I am working for a GE or Philips, I don’t care. As long as I am making money, I don’t give a shit,” said Headley, leading FBI to conclude that in the end it did not matter to him whether he was working for Kashmiri’s group or the LeT.

Obama gives Interpol free hand in U.S.

No presidential statement or White House press briefing was held on it. In fact, all that can be found about it on the official White House Web site is the Dec. 17 announcement and one-paragraph text of President Obama’s Executive Order 12425, with this innocuous headline: “Amending Executive Order 12425 Designating Interpol as a public international organization entitled to enjoy certain privileges, exemptions, and immunities.”In fact, this new directive from Obama may be the most destructive blow ever struck against American constitutional civil liberties. No wonder the White House said as little as possible about it.

There are multiple reasons why this Obama decision is so deeply disturbing. First, the Obama order reverses a 1983 Reagan administration decision in order to grant Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, two key privileges. First, Obama has granted Interpol the ability to operate within the territorial limits of the United States without being subject to the same constitutional restraints that apply to all domestic law enforcement agencies such as the FBI. Second, Obama has exempted Interpol’s domestic facilities — including its office within the U.S. Department of Justice — from search and seizure by U.S. authorities and from disclosure of archived documents in response to Freedom of Information Act requests filed by U.S. citizens. Think very carefully about what you just read: Obama has given an international law enforcement organization that is accountable to no other national authority the ability to operate as it pleases within our own borders, and he has freed it from the most basic measure of official transparency and accountability, the FOIA.

The Examiner has asked for but not yet received from the White House press office an explanation of why the president signed this executive order and who among his advisers was involved in the process leading to his doing so. Unless the White House can provide credible reasons to think otherwise, it seems clear that Executive Order 12425′s consequences could be far-reaching and disastrous. To cite only the most obvious example, giving Interpol free rein to act within this country could subject U.S. military, diplomatic, and intelligence personnel to the prospect of being taken into custody and hauled before the International Criminal Court as “war criminals.”

As National Review Online’s Andy McCarthy put it, the White House must answer these questions: Why should we elevate an international police force above American law? Why would we immunize an international police force from the limitations that constrain the FBI and other American law-enforcement agencies? Why is it suddenly necessary to have, within the Justice Department, a repository for stashing government files that will be beyond the scrutiny of Congress, American law enforcement, the media, and the American people?

Karachi CCTV footage shows arsonists wreaking havoc

KARACHI: The CCTV footage of the Karachi riots has been released to the media. The footage captured by cameras installed by the city district government clearly shows arsonists setting fire to shops, vehicles and destroying public and private property.The images show several arsonists and rioters setting fire to cars and shops after the blast on Karachi’s Mohammad Ali Jinnah road.According to the CDGK, these and other visuals were also sent to police and other law enforcement authorities so that the people seen in the video can be identified and action can be taken against them.In the footage, police and other security personnel can be seen standing by, doing nothing, while miscreants were busy rioting.DawnNews spoke to DIG South Mr Ghulam Nabi Memon who heads the investigating unit probing the riots. He said the police did not open fire to avoid collateral damage.Memon said had the police opened fire they could have hit mourners in the procession and that would have had negative fallout. — DawnNews

more about "Karachi CCTV footage shows arsonists …", posted with vodpod

TTP denies hand in Karachi procession attack

[Is Pak Taliban spokesman telling the truth, or do terrorist bombers sometimes fear being too successful?]

Vehicles are on fire after a bombing struck a Shia procession in Karachi, December 28, 2009. —Photo by AP

KARACHI: The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Thursday denied any involvement in the Karachi Ashura procession attack which killed 44 people and left dozens others injured.

Azam Tariq, the TTP spokesman, denied having any involvement in the attack and said militant commander Azmatullah Shaheen’s claim was baseless and that he ‘acted on his own will’.

The TTP, said Tariq, does not target public places in Pakistan.

Earlier, on Wednesday, Asmatullah Shaheen, a top militant commander based in South Waziristan told news agencies by telephone that the TTP was behind the attack, warning that they would carry out more such attacks and also target government installations

Army, ISI Blocking UN Probe Into Bhutto Assassination

‘Limited mandate’ hinders UN probe into Bhutto’s killing

In this file photo taken on July 17, 2009, Peter Fitzgerald (R) a member of UN inquiry commission listens to Ben Malor, a UN official during a news conference in Islamabad. The inquiry commission has been denied access by the Pakistani government to interrogate the Army Chief and other top officials of intelligence agencies. –Photo by Reuters

KARACHI: The UN probe into the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has hit a road block as the government denied access to the incumbent Army Chief and other top serving military generals for interrogation.

The UN had appointed a three-member inquiry commission to determine the facts and circumstances under which Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007.

According to the terms of reference of the investigation, the UN had demanded that the commission should enjoy compelete cooperation from the government.

The commission wanted access to the Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, former ISI Chief Lt.Gen Nadeem Taj and former Military Intelligence Chief Lt.Gen Nadeem Ejaz Mian among other top officials of the intelligence agencies.

The UN probe commission’s terms of reference said ‘the government shall comply with the requests of the commission for assistance in collecting the required information and testimony, and shall provide it with the necessary facilities to enable it to discharge its mandate.’

A top government official confirmed to DawnNews that a written request had been received from the UN commission to interrogate military officials, including the incumbent Army Chief during the investigation process.

The official added that it was after thorough consultation by the government that the UN commission was informed in writing that access to abovementioned officials cannot be granted to them. –DawnNews

Mufti Usmani holds Blackwater responsible for blast

[Now would that be the Blackwater that works for the ISI, or the one that contracts for the CIA, or isn't it all the same?]

By Shamim Bano

Karachi

Contrary to the claim and media reports by the media about Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan taking responsibility of the Ashura bomb blast, Mufti Mohammed Rafi Usmani held US agency Blackwater responsible for the gory incident that claimed more than 40 lives.

Addressing a news conference along with Muhammed Taqi, Mufti Muhammed Naeem, Maulana Tanver-ul-Haq and others on Wednesday, Mufti Usmani said that Blackwater was involved in the killing of innocent people in the Muharram procession.

He said that soon after the blast, shops in the city’s economic hub were set ablaze which proved that the attack was “pre-planned and organized”.

Mufti Usmani said that the incident was a conspiracy against Islam and the government totally failed to control the situation, as it was the responsibility of the government to provide security to the citizens and to protect the property. He said that the terrorism act was not committed by any Muslim and instead it was the act of Blackwater that had hired locals to unleash terror in the city.

He alleged that Blackwater was hiring youths in Peshawar to carry out attacks and suicide bombings.

Mufti Usmai said that no person could carry weapons or other destructive items with him on occasions of religious processions and the incident was an attack on the country’s sovereignty.

“By the grace of God we achieved the country, but we do not take care of it. It is not only weaknesses of successive governments but also of the people who are the least bothered about taking care of their country,” he said.

The government, he said, must stop taking dictation from the US and form its own policies. Mufti Usmani demanded that immediate measures should be taken to compensate the affected traders of Boulton Market, Light House and other affected areas.

He also demanded conducting an independent inquiry into the incident and exposing those involved in the heinous crime.

Meanwhile, the Sunni Ittehad Council condemned the attack on the Ashura procession.

Addressing a press conference, Sahibzada Fazal Karim said that the attack on the procession was a conspiracy to destabilise the country.

He demanded of the government to constitute a commission headed by the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court to probe the matter and to ascertain the losses incurred by the traders within 15 days. He also demanded of the government to announce compensation for the affected traders so that they could restart their businesses again.

He also supported the strike call given by the Sunni Rahber Council for Friday.

Meanwhile, the Sunni Tehreek (ST) in a separate press conference also endorsed the Friday strike call and announced to hold a protest rally in the city on Saturday. ST leader Shakil Qadri said that protest rallies would also be held in other parts of the country.

More Motorcycles and Murder In Karachi

[Just the latest incident of multiple murders, probably using automatic weapons, associated with missing or stolen bikes.  All the assassinations of generals taking place lately have been on motorcycles, just like the recent "hit" in Karachi, where ISI i.d.s were recovered from the assailants.]

Bullet-riddled bodies found

Karachi

The bullet-riddled bodies of Ghulam Nabi, 35, and Aurangzeb, 32, were found lying opposite the Coast Guards’ Headquarter, in Korangi 2ž from the Zaman Town police limits.

The police also recovered a pistol and a motorcycle from the spot.

During investigations, it transpired that the motorcycle was snatched from Korangi Industrial Area (KIA) on December 22 by the slain, Ghulam Nabi, from an employee of a towel factory.

The police said that Nabi was wanted by police stations of Korangi, Zaman Town, Awami Colony and KIA in robbery cases.

The other deceased, Aurangzeb, belonged to Larkana and was employed in a towel factory in KIA. A case was registered and investigation is under way.

IMF Forces Pak Power and Gas Price Hikes, Jan. 1, Social Backlash Anticipated

Power, gas price hike may lead to mass agitation

By Khalid Mustafa

As many as 170 million people of the country will experience from January 1 the double edged sword of almost 18 per cent hike in gas prices and 13.6 per cent raise in power tariff for the January-March period. This would lead to massive inflation in the country, which may trigger a countrywide agitation against the government.

However, the decision to implement in staggering form or in one go will be taken by the top political leadership today (Dec 31).Background interviews say that the elected government would enforce the 13.6 per cent raise in power tariff most probably in staggering form, but the cascading effect would actually raise the power tariff to 15 per cent. However, the Ministry of Finance is adamant to enforce the 13.6 per cent power tariff increase in one go, keeping in view the wrath of the International Monetary Fund, which has recently given the fourth tranche of $1.2 billion of its bailout package.

The Finance Ministry also fears the wrath of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank that have already showed annoyance for not increasing the power tariff by 06 per cent from October 1, as the government has just implemented raise of 4.4 per cent. At that time, the government did not pass the 6.6 per cent raise across the board as its lifeline and agri tubewells consumers remained aloof from the raise. The decision to raise gas and power tariff may put the existence of the government in danger as in case of backlash from the masses, the anti-government forces will definitely capitalise on the anger of masses against the government.

However, now the government is in a quandary as to whether the subsidy to lifeline consumers or agri tubewells consumers be waived off or not, as again the incumbent regime, which is already in the middle of the storm, cannot afford to take back the subsidy at least from lifeline consumers, who consume just 50 units of electricity. The IMF and donor agencies want the elimination of the subsidy being extended to lifeline consumers, agriculture tubewells customers.

The top leadership is likely to take a political decision today to this effect, but if the subsidy is not withdrawn, then other categories of the power consumers would not face the 13.6 per cent raise, but would face more than that in addition to the accumulative effect of the staggering raise of 13.6 in three months.

Once Again Anti-State Elements Are Given Free Pass To Raise Hell In Karachi

[Will the day never come, when the Pakistani people stop taking this sort of abuse by authority figures and the shadowy sectarian outfits associated with them?  Do not forget that all of these groups are derivatives of Sipah e-Sahaba, or that Sipah was a creation of the ISI.  Over and over we read the same stories in the Pakistani press about murders, arsons and rioting directed against non-Sunni groups, while the police hide and the fire departments are attacked.  Pakistan, you know who is doing this and you know that elements within your own government are either encouraging it, or allowing it to happen.  The same can be said with all these terror bombings attributed to "foreign" sources, even though it is obvious to all that these foreign elements operate with impunity within your country, even though your ISI constantly monitors everything within its realm.  When you point the finger for what has happened in Karachi at Israel, India or the United States, do not forget that the ISI is the CIA's primary partner in all of this state terror.]

Ashura blast aftermath

Serious questions emerge about performance of LEAs

By Salis bin Perwaiz

KARACHI: Many questions have arisen after the suicide attack on the mourning procession on the 10th of Muharram-ul-Haram and the subsequent arsoning incidents that engulfed the country’s main business hub. Observers allege that the attack happened due to massive security failures. The questions being asked are:

Where was the contingency plan and the Anti-Riot Force? Why did personnel of law enforcement agencies vanish from the spot? Where was the extra force provided to the Sindh Police to tackle any untoward situation, none of which was seen rescuing public and private properties?

When miscreants were targeting major business centres like Boulton Market, Paper Market, Light House and others, where were the reserves of the Sindh Police? Where were the water cannons with which the Sindh Police Department was recently equipped?

Why did the police term the Qasba Morr blast on Muharram 9th a gas explosion? If that was so, where did the splinters come from and how the people received splinters injuries? After the two bomb blasts on the 8th and 9th of Muharram, why did the heads of law enforcement agencies not tighten the security along the Ashura procession?

Commenting on failures of law-enforcement agencies and the distressing episode, observers wondered that every unit of the Karachi Police had its reserves but why they were not used. According to a senior officer, the Karachi Police were provided about 1,700 policemen from the Training Centre. Earlier, in every major incident, it was witnessed that whenever any major law and order situation occurred, the Anti-Riot Force came to combat the rioters. This time, there was no sign of it. They added it seems that the departments had not thoroughly reviewed the contingency plan or they would have known that in case of terrorist activity, there were defined measures they were to adopt to tackle violence and to save public and private properties.

A constable or a policemen deputed for security duty has three options: First, if any violence has happened and rioters or miscreants are attacking public and private buildings, it is the duty of the police to retaliate and save the property but in this tragic violence, no action was taken from the police side. The police and other law enforcement agency personnel simply vanished from the spot. Why?

In the whole scenario, strangely not a single tear gas-shell was fired to disperse the arsonists. Observers said more than three days had passed and yet the police had failed to confirm that the blast was a suicide attack.

In a damning statement, on December 29, City Nazim Mustafa Kamal, told the media he was not contacted by any LEA head for coordination and was not invited to the Ashura security plan meeting, if there was any.

The City Nazim said the fire department was not supported by the LEA personnel as the mob had attacked the fire tenders. On 30th, he again claimedthat he was helpless and that the CDGK rescue workers were left at the mercy of the mob and there was no police help. He appeared in a section of the electronic media and showed footage of the rioting, which showed that there was no control over the rioters by the police.

Meanwhile, there are about six unclaimed bodies and some body parts at the Civil Hospital. The mystery of the police handling of the incident is forcing people to form their own hypothesis, some with pretty compelling evidence, but damning conclusions.

Afghans protest Obama over student killings

worldbulletin.net

Another Guantanamo Alumnus Creates Another “Al Qaida” Front–Coincidence or The Plan?

[Who remembers Abdullah Mehsud, the original creator of the so-called Pakistani Taliban, the TTP?  How about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was not in Guantanamo, but was a guest for an extended stay with the Jordanian secret police?  Wherever the United States wants to invade next, one of these former prisoners appears, to start another major militant movement, which inevitably justifies American military intervention.  While we were concerned about an Israeli airstrike on Iran and a US invasion of Pakistan, or a new incursion into one of the "Stans," Obama, Israel and the Saudis came-up with this new front.  Keep in mind two things--the guys we are launching airstrikes upon are Shia, who have nothing to do with Sunni "al Qaida," and the actual "al Qaida" guys rounded-up by the Yemenis have all been linked to the Mossad by hard physical evidence.  Mossad is "Al Qaida in Yemen."]

Bomb plot ‘ringleaders’ were freed from Guantanamo Bay

Obama orders tougher airline security as Cuban prison returns to haunt him

By Rupert Cornwell

REUTERS

The leader of al-Qa’ida in Yemen, Nasser al-Wahaishi, 2nd right, his deputy Said al-Shihri, 2nd left, the group’s field commander, Mohammed al-Oufi, right, and the group’s commander, Qassim al-Raimi, left, in a rare video

Bluntly admitting a “systemic failure” of US security procedures, President Obama last night ordered a report within 48 hours on what went wrong to allow a young Nigerian student to come within an ace of blowing up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day.

In his strongest statement on the incident – one of the most perilous terrorist threats since the 11 September attacks – Mr Obama acknowledged both human and systemic mistakes that had led to a “catastrophic” breach of security.

“When our government has information on a known extremist and that information is not shared and acted upon as it should have been, so that this extremist boards a plane with dangerous explosives that could cost nearly 300 lives, a systemic failure has occurred,” the President said in Hawaii last night, where he is on a Christmas break with his family. “I consider that totally unacceptable.”

Mr Obama’s stark words are a measure of how the almost successful attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is sending shockwaves far beyond the US. It leaves little doubt that Yemen, where the attack appears to have been planned, will become a de facto third front in America’s “war on terror” after Afghanistan and Iraq. It could also further delay the President’s promise to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

New details leave little doubt of the gravity of the attempted bombing. According to experts, the 80 grams of PETN explosive concealed in Abdulmutallab’s underwear could have ripped a hole in the plane’s side as it approached Detroit airport. The device was twice as powerful as the one used by the convicted shoe bomber Richard Reid on a transatlantic flight in December 2001.

The affair has ignited a furious political debate over US anti-terrorist procedures, with Republicans assailing the Obama administration for the system’s failure to identify Abdulmutallab as a risk, despite a host of pointers.

Among these, critics say, are the suspect’s purchase of a single ticket with cash, the fact that he was making the long journey from Nigeria to the US without luggage, and the warning given to the US authorities, including a CIA official, by Abdulmutallab’s father that his son had developed alarming extremist leanings. But it is the Yemen connection that is causing the most concern, and reinforcing doubts about the wisdom of closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

It now seems that at least two detainees from the prison who were released to Yemen are part of the al-Qa’ida affiliate group – called al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula – that has claimed responsibility for the attack. They are Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi, a field commander, and Said al-Shihri, said to be the group’s deputy leader, who was transferred by the Bush administration to the Saudi authorities and released in 2007. Abdulmutallab, 23, was living in Yemen between August and December this year, and has told investigators it was there that he was supplied with the device he tried to detonate. Earlier this month, the White House announced its intention to transfer the bulk of Guantanamo detainees to an empty prison in northern Illinois, and resettle most of the rest in third countries. That remains the plan, officials say. But of the 200-odd prisoners remaining at Guantanamo almost half are from Yemen – and only last week six Yemenis were sent back to their own country, even though it is a hotbed of al-Qa’ida activity.

According to top Yemeni officials, up to 300 al-Qa’ida militants could be based there, some of whom may be plotting new attacks on Western targets. “Of course there are a number of al- Qa’ida operatives in Yemen, and some of their leaders. We realise this danger,” Yemen’s Foreign Minister, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, told the BBC.

Mr Abu Bakr al-Qirbi insisted that for all its weaknesses, and its wars with Shia rebels in the north and separatists in the south, Yemen’s central government was committed to the conflict with al-Qa’ida. But, he said, it was not getting enough support from the West.

“We have to expand our counter-terrorism units and this means providing them with the necessary training, military equipment,” he said. The US, Britain and the EU could all help out, he added.

However the immediate priority for the Obama administration – and a prime reason for the President’s forceful words last night – is to regain control of the political fallout of the incident, amid accusations that, with its focus on healthcare reform, it took its eye off the terrorist ball.

“I don’t believe we’ll ever have more advance warning of an attack on America,” one anti-terrorist specialist said yesterday, incredulous that Abdulmutallab’s US visa had not been revoked, and that he was not on a list that would have stopped him boarding a US-bound plane.

Officials say that the father’s warning alone was not enough of a red flag. But Mr Obama has ordered a full review of the watch-list system, as well as an increase in the number of air marshalls on incoming international flights. But that has not defused the issue in the ferociously partisan political climate here. Republicans see fresh opportunity to paint Mr Obama as weak on terrorism, and will carry the offensive into Congressional hearings on the bombing attempt, set for next month.

Provide Aid to Yemen, Or the Bogeyman Will Get You

[Sounds like Bandar's threats against Britain about investigating royal bribes..SEE: Saudis told Britain it could 'face another 7/7']

To stave off al-Qaida, Canada must provide aid: Yemeni ambassador

BY JORGE BARRERA, CANWEST NEWS SERVICE

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, is a Nigerian man suspected of attempting to blow up Northwest 253 flight as it was landing in Detroit on Christmas day.

Photograph by: Handout, U.S. Marshals Service

OTTAWA —Canada needs to play a bigger role in Yemen to help the country loosen the grip of al-Qaida operatives who are trying to establish a presence there, says Yemen’s ambassador to Canada.

Ambassador Khaled Mahfoudh Bahah said the Canadian International Development Agency, Canada’s aid arm, needs to “urgently add Yemen to the recently pruned list of countries currently receiving aid from Ottawa to help raise the country’s standard of living and undercut the growth of al-Qaida.

“Canada cannot be far away from all of this . . . Canada has to look to that corner of the world,” said Bahah, in an interview Wednesday with Canwest News Service.

Bahah said the Yemeni government raised the issue of Canadian aid during a visit by the Speaker of the Senate, Noel Kinsella, in 2008, but never heard back from the Canadian government.

With the recent revelation of a Yemeni al-Qaida connection to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian engineering student who tried to blow up a plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit on Dec. 25, Bahah said now is the time for countries like Canada to increase their engagement with Yemen.

“It is time for CIDA to make Yemen a focus,” said Bahah. “Otherwise, it will be very costly to think of bringing Yemen back if we don’t look now at increasing its capacity and providing general assistance whether in education, health, water and its government capacity . . . CIDA needs to consider Yemen urgently because it is needed now.”

Bahah’s message to Canada echoes that of Yemeni government ministers who have called for more Western aid in the wake of the botched Christmas Day terror attack on a Northwest Airlines flight. The plane was reportedly flying over Canada when Abdulmutallab attempted to ignite an explosive hidden in his underwear.

Besides assistance from CIDA, Bahah said his government would also like the Canadian Coast Guard to share its expertise with Yemen’s coast guard to increase its ability to monitor the country’s shores.

“Individuals who come to the boundary of Yemen will mostly come from the seaside and the Horn of Africa,” he said. “If there is a strong coast guard on the Yemeni side, I think it would also help prevent and stop (Somali) piracy.”

The Gulf of Aden and a major international shipping lane separate Yemen from Somalia, which has become the world’s top haven for high-seas pirates.

Canada could also help Yemen deal with an increasing refugee burden from neighbouring countries along with sharing its expertise in unifying and governing a diverse and regionalized population, said Bahah.

Yemen became a republic in 1990 when North Yemen, which had gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1918, joined South Yemen, which had gained its autonomy from the British in 1967.

Bahah said al-Qaida has attempted to establish a presence in Yemen because it is facing pressure in places like Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. He said al-Qaida was attempting to exploit the high rate of poverty in the country, which has a yearly per capita GDP of $1,000. He said the population has an illiteracy rate of 50 per cent and a female illiteracy rate of 70 per cent.

Bahah said those kinds of numbers should be enough for Canada to add Yemen to the list of 20 countries currently receiving aid from CIDA.

“The support of CIDA would give some relief to the people of Yemen and it would be directly from the Canadian people to the Yemeni people,” he said. “It will create a kind of peace and respect for a Western country.”

In February, the Conservative government announced CIDA would provide aid to only 20 countries.

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Afghan Officer Blows-Away 8 CIA Men

Afghan attacks kill 8 CIA employees, 5 Canadians

Jonathon Burch and Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL

KABUL (Reuters) – A suicide bomber penetrated a foreign army base in Afghanistan to kill eight U.S. CIA employees on Wednesday, one of the spy agency’s largest death tolls, and a separate attack killed four Canadian troops and a journalist.

A “well-dressed” Afghan army official detonated a suicide vest at a meeting of CIA officials in southeastern Khost province, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters.

“This deadly attack was carried out by a valorous Afghan army member when the officials were busy gaining information about the mujahideen, in the (fitness) club,” he wrote in an email.

The attack is one of the most ambitious of the war, highlighting the Taliban’s reach and coordination at a time when violence has reached its highest levels since the overthrow of the Taliban regime by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001.

It was also the second Afghan army killing in as many days on the foreign troops and officials who are meant to be mentoring them, casting a shadow over plans to bolster the Afghan army and police to allow their troops to eventually bring them home.

U.S. President Barack Obama is sending 30,000 extra troops to tackle the violence and NATO allies are contributing thousands more. An Afghan army official said on Wednesday that Washington had pledged $16 billion to train the army and air force.

When asked how the attacker managed to launch an assault in a foreign military base, Taliban spokesman Mujahid replied: “Since the man was an officer, he had not much difficulties.”

U.S. officials said the dead Americans were CIA employees. Some people were also wounded in the explosion, defense officials said, but no U.S. or NATO troops were among them.

The CIA has been expanding its presence in the country, stepping up strikes against Taliban and al Qaeda militants along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Forward Operating Base Chapman, the site of the suicide attack, is near the Pakistan border, in one of the areas of Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgency is strongest.

The agency’s role hunting terrorism suspects in Afghanistan has been criticized by both Afghans and human rights groups.

JOURNALIST KILLED

The five Canadians — four soldiers and a journalist — were killed when their armored vehicle was hit by a bomb in southern Kandahar province, the Canadian Defense Ministry said.

The blast, about 4 km (2.5 miles) outside Kandahar, struck the patrol as it was visiting community reconstruction projects.

The Khost base targeted by the suicide attacker is also a center for reconstruction projects, a key part of Obama’s strategy to stabilize the country.

Washington has pledged a “civilian surge,” adding hundreds of U.S. experts to support work on development projects that aim to undermine support for the Taliban and other insurgents.

But foreign aid agencies warned earlier this year that the shift into the military bases, and the use of military personnel to carry out development projects, risked a dangerous blurring of the boundaries between troops and civilians.

The journalist killed was Michelle Lang, 34, on assignment for the Canwest News Service. She was on her first assignment in Afghanistan and had been in the country since December 11.

She is the third journalist to die in Afghanistan this year.

The attack brought Canada’s military deaths in Afghanistan to 138. Canada has a 2,800-strong military mission in Afghanistan, but the mission has become increasingly unpopular at home and it is scheduled to be withdrawn at the end of 2011.

(Writing by Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Ron Popeski)

Pakistan Says No to Indian Transit Route

No transit route to Afghanistan for Indian trucks: Pak

December 26, 2009 12:53 IST rediff.com
Notwithstanding United States’ pressure, Pakistan has denied allowing Indian goods to pass through its territory to Afghanistan.

According to The Nation, Pakistan has strongly opposed the US proposal of granting transit facility to Indian trucks to Afghanistan through its soil.

“Washington has swallowed the bitter pill and given up its moves to get land route transit facility for India [ Images ] through Pakistan,” a senior government official, who is privy to the issue, said.

Insiders said Pakistani authorities rebuffed the demands by pointing out towards India’s alleged involvement in terror activities in Balochistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas through Afghanistan.

However, Pakistan has agreed to allow Afghanistan more than 60 trucks a month for transporting of its goods up to the Wagah border.

Sources said both Pakistan and Afghanistan have also agreed to maintain a track of the supply trucks through an electronic tracking system.

The drivers of these vehicles would be responsible for the ultimate delivery of the goods in transit while Afghan goods arriving at Pakistani seaports will have to reach Afghanistan within 30 days after their clearance.

India Looking to Dominate In Afghanistan

Let India help Afghanistan

India’s close ties with Afghanistan mean it is well placed to step in when the west has flown its last soldier out of Kabul
guardian.co.uk Shashank Joshi Friday 25 December 2009
In the 19th century, Indian armies twice crossed the Hindu Kush, hoping to stitch together the patchwork political authority of the territory in the service of their British masters. Over a century later, the sovereign republic of India once more has a renewed presence in what was once its mountainous buffer from the Tsarist, and then Soviet, giant to the north.

A year ago, Indians completed the construction of Afghanistan’s new parliament building and, to compound the symbolism, provided training to the legislators who would make the country’s laws. Over a billion dollars in aid and investment, multiple consulates, and a little-reported thousand-strong troop presence all testify to the flourishing ties between the two democracies.

India is Afghanistan’s fifth-largest donor, pledging $1.2bn since 2001 and providing aid that spans education, health and infrastructure. The most eye-catching project, a 215km road connecting the Iranian border to Afghanistan’s arterial highway, will eventually allow India to transport goods by sea to an Iranian port it is developing, and thence to Afghanistan and beyond. This circumvents the overland route, blocked by Pakistan, but also gives a fillip to Indo-Afghan trade ($538m during 2007-8). Hamid Karzai, himself educated in India and the beneficiary of Indian military support during the 1990s, visited India four times in the first five years of his tenure. The Afghan national army, the linchpin of the new American strategy to pacify the country, receives training across India.

Not everyone is happy with the widening Indian footprint. Pakistan, long reliant on Afghanistan as a source of “strategic depth” has invoked fears of encirclement and Indian-sponsored separatism. This is in addition to the panoply of wild “conspiracy theorists who insist that every one of Pakistan’s ills are there because of interference by the US, India, Israel and Afghanistan”, says Ahmed Rashid, a noted Pakistani journalist.

Among other attacks, a car bomb at the Indian embassy in Kabul killed 41 in July 2008. According to the New York Times, American officials quickly presented “intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack” to demonstrate Pakistani culpability and “the ISI officers had not been renegades”.

Then in September 2009, General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force, suggested in a leaked assessment of the war that “while Indian activities largely benefit the Afghan people, increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan is likely to exacerbate regional tensions and encourage Pakistani countermeasures in Afghanistan or India”. The scarcely veiled threat of further bloodbaths such as Mumbai prompted renewed anger in the Indian media.

India has responded cautiously. Indian defence minister AK Antony insisted “categorically there is no question of Indian military involvement in Afghanistan not now, not in the future”. A former head of India’s foreign intelligence service has said that “sending troops is not an option”.

There are sound and perhaps compelling reasons for this reticence. There remain bitter memories of the 1,200 deaths suffered by an Indian peacekeeping force in Sri Lanka, and although Indian security forces have six decades of counterinsurgency experience, they face multiple intensifying guerilla wars at home from Maoists and separatists. Moreover, India’s coalition politics, featuring local parties with parochial interests, is hardly suited to sustaining ambitious foreign policies.

Yet more than 1,000 members of the paramilitary Indo-Tibetan Border Police are deployed in Afghanistan. President Obama’s affirmation to withdraw US forces by 2011 has generated a prospective vacuum, inducing Pakistan to renew its support for the Taliban. This has produced loudening, though still marginal, Indian voices in favour of more boots on the ground.

Amir Taheri, writing in The Times, suggests that a military commitment is “surprisingly popular in India”. One former diplomat argues that “influential sections of Indian opinion are stridently calling for an outright Indian intervention in Afghanistan without awaiting the niceties of an American invitation letter”.

The editor of the “realist” journal Pragati writes that “military involvement will shift the battleground away from Kashmir and the Indian mainland”. An affiliated blog draws on the idea of “force fungibility” to argue that “since it is not feasible for Indian troops to directly attack Pakistan’s military-jihadi complex, India should ensure that US troops do so” by “reliev[ing them] of duties in areas where they are not actually fighting the Taliban – especially in western and northern Afghanistan”.

Others have suggested that “the best contribution might be in the areas of combat training and creating capacities in logistics and communications”, still sorely lacking in the embryonic Afghan national army.

Support for the war is faltering in western capitals, partly because citizens cannot see how it furthers homeland security. The frequency and scale of attacks on India mean that Indians have no such trouble. National caveats on force employment – particularly from France, Italy, and Germany – hinder the efficacy of Nato troops, but Indian casualty sensitivity is almost certainly less than that in, say, Britain.

India’s longstanding cultural ties to Afghanistan – Bollywood movies are wildly popular there, for instance – mean that Indian soldiers would be less likely to be stigmatised as occupiers, with 73% of Afghans professing a favourable view of India (and 91% holding the opposite view of Pakistan).

India is also experienced at counterinsurgency, enjoys good relations with regional powers such as Iran and Russia (including bases in Tajikistan), and the large reserves of available forces. India has nearly 9,000 troops with the UN, and just withdrew 30,000 from Jammu and Kashmir.

The obstacle to India’s involvement is Pakistan. Yet few stop to evaluate the absurdity of having “today’s most active sponsor of terrorism” as a frontline ally against terrorists. In December 2009, the New York Times reported Pakistan’s refusal to crack down on Siraj Haqqani, the strongest Taliban commander in Afghanistan, on the basis that he was a “longtime asset of Pakistan’s spy agency”.

The truth downplayed in western capitals is that India is one of the only interested parties, the US included, that has an interest in both state-building and counterterrorism on the Afghan side of the Durand line. Creating incentives for it to expand its provision of security could lay the groundwork for a commitment that will last long after the last western soldier is flown – or desperately airlifted – out of Kabul.

Afghan soldier kills US service member at army base

* 2009 proves to be bloodiest year for international troops

HERAT: An Afghan soldier killed a US service member and wounded two Italian soldiers when he opened fire on foreign troops at an army base in western Afghanistan on Tuesday, said a senior Afghan army officer.

The shooting is the latest in a string of such incidents, at a time when Western countries are pouring resources into training Afghan soldiers and police to fight the Taliban insurgency. “The soldier opened fire on the two Italians and one American in a joint Afghan and foreign base,” a senior officer, General Khair Mohammad Khawari told Reuters.

“Two Italian soldiers were wounded and one American soldier was killed,” Khawari said. “The assailant comes from an area north of the Afghan capital Kabul and is thought to have mental health problems”, said Khawari.

A spokesman for NATO-led forces said a US service member had died following a shooting incident in western Afghanistan. Foreign and Afghan forces were investigating the incident, he said, but declined to give further details. Italian Defence Ministry officials said the attack, which was deliberate and not a case of friendly fire, occurred during a routine supply operation.

One Italian was lightly wounded in the thigh and the other in the hand and leg but both have returned to their duties. Violence in Afghanistan has reached its highest levels in the eight-year war and 2009 has been the bloodiest year for foreign troops. More than twice as many Americans have died in Afghanistan this year than in 2008.

Attacks by Afghan soldiers on their foreign mentors highlight the sometimes testy relations between the two and have prompted public debate in the West about the war and concern over the safety of troops embroiled in an increasingly unpopular conflict. Four US troops were killed and three wounded by Afghan soldiers in two other incidents earlier this year, one in the northeast and one just south of Kabul.

Karachi tragedy a planned conspiracy, says Iftikhar

By Zakir Hassnain

PESHAWAR: NWFP Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain said on Tuesday the Karachi tragedy on Youm-e-Ashur was a well-planned conspiracy to create chaos, lawlessness and confusion in the city.

Iftikhar, also the spokesman for the provincial government, said it was not the mourners that burnt buildings, a huge number of shops, banks and vehicles, adding it was in fact the anti-state elements that burnt and devastated property which showed it was a well-planned conspiracy to disrupt peace and create lawlessness and confusion.

Addressing a press conference, the spokesman condemned on behalf of the government and the people of the Frontier province the Karachi bomb blast claiming innocent lives and causing colossal damage to the property.

The minister expressed grief and sorrow over the tragic incident and sympathised with the bereaved families. Mian Iftikhar lauded the role of ulema that condemned the Karachi incident. The spokesman said the provincial government was determined to put an end to existence of terrorists and militants.

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claim Karachi bombing

Vehicles are on fire after a bombing struck a Shia procession in Karachi, December 28, 2009. — AP Photo

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Taliban on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 43 people in Karachi, and threatened more attacks.

“My group claims responsibility for the Karachi attack and we will carry out more such attacks, within 10 days,” Asmatullah Shaheen, one of the commanders of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, who spoke by telephone to a Reuters reporter in Peshawar.

The prospect of more violence comes at a tough time for embattled President Asif Ali Zardari. He already faces political pressure because corruption charges against some of his aides may be revived.

And Zardari has yet to formulate a more effective strategy against the Pakistani Taliban, despite relentless pressure from Washington, which wants his government to root out militants who cross over to attack US and Nato-led forces in Afghanistan and then return to their Pakistan strongholds.

The scale of his challenges was clear on Monday, when a suicide bomber defied heavy security around a Shia procession, killing 43 people and triggering riots.

In a sign of mounting frustrations, Pakistani religious and political leaders called for a strike for Friday to condemn that attack, one of the worst in Karachi since 2007.

The bloodshed illustrated how the Taliban, whose strongholds are in the lawless northwest, have extended their reach to major cities in their drive to topple the government.

“The bombing itself was bad enough, but the violence that immediately erupted was also very well planned,” said Sunni scholar Mufti Muneebur Rehman, who blamed Pakistani authorities for the chaos.

“We want the government not only to compensate those killed in the attacks, but also those who lost their livelihoods, and so we are calling for a complete strike on Friday,” he said.

The Taliban campaign and their hardline brand of Islam — which involves public hangings and whippings of anyone who disobeys them — angered many Pakistanis.
But the Karachi bomb suggested growing violence has raised suspicions of Pakistan’s government.

“The government is using the Taliban as an excuse for everything that is happening anywhere in the country,” said Noman Ahmed, who works for a Karachi clearing agency.

“The organised way that all this is being done clearly shows that the terrorists are being sponsored either by the government itself or some other state that wants to destabilise Pakistan.”

Security policy

Pakistan’s all-powerful military sets security policy. So the key gauge of public confidence may be how the army’s performance is viewed. In the 1980s, Pakistan’s army nurtured militant groups who fought Soviet occupation troops in Afghanistan. The Taliban emerged in the 1990′s after a civil war in Afghanistan.

Now Pakistan’s army faces home-grown militants.

“I don’t buy that foreign hands are involved (in the Karachi attack). They’re domestic elements. They’re those who were nurtured, trained and protected in late 1990s,” said Sajid Ali Naqvi, head of the influential Shias’ Islami Tehrik movement.

The bombing was one of the bloodiest in Karachi since an October 2007 attack on former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on her return to the country that killed at least 139 people.

Shia leaders, as well as Karachi’s dominant Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political party, backed the strike call, which could bring the teeming city of 18 million to a standstill.

The high-profile bloodshed had all the hallmarks of the Taliban, who often bomb crowded areas to inflict maximum casualties. The blast led some Pakistanis to conclude that several hands must have been involved.

“The Taliban, or whoever is behind this, cannot do it without the support of a government,” said Shahid Mahmood, whose perfume and watch shops were torched in the riots.

“They know that Karachi is the heart of Pakistan and if it goes down, the country will go down.”

Obama’s War, From Pakistan to Somalia

Terror havens in four states: US

“We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the US homeland.” – Photo by AP.

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has identified Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia as the four places where terrorists were hatching plans to attack the United States.

In a statement issued on Monday evening, Mr Obama also vowed to track down the plotters behind the attempted Christmas Day aeroplane bombing attack.

He said the attack was a serious reminder of the danger his nation faced.

Mr Obama said he also had ordered a thorough review of the airport screening process to determine how the alleged bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was able to fly into the United States.

Commenting on an attempt to bomb a US airliner while it was landing in Detroit, the president said he had directed his national security team to keep up the pressure on those who would attack his country. “We do not yet have all the answers about this latest attempt, but those who would slaughter innocent men, women and children must know that the United States will do more than simply strengthen our defences,” he said.

“We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the US homeland.”

Mr Obama noted that apparently the suspect in the Christmas incident was in the US security system, but not on a watch list, such as the so-called no-fly list.

“So I have ordered a thorough review, not only of how information related to the subject was handled, but of the overall watch list system and how it can be strengthened,” he said.

The second review would examine all screening policies, technologies and procedures related to air travel, he added. “We need to determine just how the suspect was able to bring dangerous explosives aboard an aircraft and what additional steps we can take to thwart future attacks.”

Evidence Suggests Phosphorus Used In Karachi Arson Attacks

Chemical used in ‘well-planned’ arson attacks

By Imran Ayub

A bulldozer work at a market which was burned by angry mob in Karachi. — Photo by AP

KARACHI: As firefighters succeeded in dousing the flames engulfing more than 2,000 shops on M.A. Jinnah Road following over 20 hours of effort on Tuesday, they found ‘obvious’ signs of chemicals used in the arson, lending credence to the suspicions of traders and investigators who see the arson as a premeditated and well-planned strike after a deadly attack on the Muharram procession that killed about 43 people on Monday.

Though the traders of more than a dozen wholesale markets found themselves clueless to the reason behind the violent reaction of the bomb attack, investigators, perhaps for the first time in the violent history of Karachi, enjoy immense technological edge provided by the city government’s command and control system.

“Our system has recorded each and every movement,” claimed City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal. “We offered the facility to the police for the procession’s surveillance despite the fact that it’s not our responsibility to make security arrangements. But we will do the same if they need help in investigations.”

The city nazim, who monitored the firefighting operation in the nearly 18 different wholesale markets housed in various buildings on M.A. Jinnah Road, said the firemen performed 36-hour duty before and after the tragic events despite the fact that they faced stiff resistance from arsonists who attacked the fire tenders and firefighters.

A few firefighters Dawn spoke to termed the blaze the worst in decades which went wild due to arson coupled with flammable products in different shops and stores.

“There are visible signs of phosphorus used in the fires,” said an official at the city government’s fire department. “Further description of the particular chemical used in the arson can only be established through proper chemical examination, which has not been ordered from any side, including the investigation agencies.”

He said the markets were set on fire one by one in a matter of minutes on M.A. Jinnah Road and the blaze raged from shop to shop and floor to floor.

Though the city police still look for more clues to the number of and links to the suspected suicide bomber, the investigators said they had acquired all the footage recorded by the city government’s surveillance cameras, which could help spot the arsonists.

“We have been analysing and further enhancing the footage to make them more effective,” said Capital City Police Officer Waseem Ahmed. “A sabotage attempt behind the fires can’t be ruled out but there is a question mark over the capability and performance of our fire department.”

He referred to the fact that delays in the arrival of fire tenders to the scene finally forced the police to call a recently-acquired anti-riot vehicle carrying 2,000 gallons of water for firefighting.

Ateeq Meer, the chairman of the Alliance of Market Associations, a common platform for nearly 300 markets and traders’ associations, echoed the same sentiments. But he also blamed the police for not rising to the occasion.

“They left the arsonists free to do what they willed,” he said. “Iqbal Market, Light House market of cloth, Kapra Market with wholesales markets of imported FMCGs (fast moving consumers goods), perfumes, glasses, chemical and medicine have been burnt to ashes. It has already made some 12,500 people unemployed as they were directly associated with the business in these markets, and turned about 2,500 traders into paupers.”

He cited the initial assessment, which estimated that more than Rs30 billion worth of losses were suffered by the traders, but was not ready to believe the government’s announcement for compensation.

“It has been more than two years when the government had come up with the same lollypops following violence in the wake of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination,” Mr Meer said. “They would again set up a committee to assess the damages, claims and then recommend just peanuts. That didn’t work in the past, neither it will work in the future.”

Post-bombing arson poses fundamental questions

By Qadeer Tanoli

Karachi

The riots and the ensuing arson and destruction in the aftermath of the suicide blast on Monday in the main Ashura procession on M.A Jinnah Road have raised several fundamental questions that need to be answered by the authorities.

Was there a delay in the firefighting? At least 2,500 shops were burnt to ashes by rioters, and shopkeepers are questioning the delay in the arrival of fire tenders. A City District Government Karachi (CDGK)-run fire station is situated near the spot of the incident, and shopkeepers believe that “timely action” could have reduced losses, which, according to Alliance of Market Association Karachi (AMAK) Chairman Attique Mir, currently stand at more than Rs30 billion.

The affected shopkeepers from Boulton Market told The News that rescue teams managed, at best, to merely salvage “burnt materials,” which cannot possibly be put to any use at all.

Who ‘stopped’ the fire tenders? Eyewitnesses said that ‘rioters’ first put set fire to hundreds of shops, and then some people made concerted efforts to stop fire tenders from the rescue operation. The first fire tenders managed to reach the spot after a considerable delay, a number of people alleged. By that time, the worst had already been done and the fire had begun to engulf other shops.

AMAK Chairman Attique Mir was of the opinion that the participants of the Ashura procession obviously did not walk around carrying petrol, which was used to set shops ablaze. “It seems that the attack on Boulton Market was preplanned; even the police failed to stop the destruction,” he said.

Who then, was carrying out the arson? There have been reports that specific chemicals were used to ignite the fires, which are not easily available to be used in impromptu protestors

Where was the police support? Misbahudin Farid, an official of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) who supervised the rescue operation unofficially in the absence of Executive District Officer (EDO) Municipal Services Masood Alam, said that while the fire department had reacted immediately, rioters created hurdles for it, delaying the arrival of fire tenders at the site.

During all of this, he said, the police was not available to support the fire department’s rescue operation.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Karachi Javed Haneef Khan told The News that the standard practice is to deploy eight fire tenders and a few ambulances with Ashura processions, to tackle any untoward event. He added, however, that the fire department officials, who had been deployed with the procession on Monday, had to run for their lives after they and their vehicles were attacked by mobs. The DCO said that even his own vehicle was set ablaze by rioters.

Did the fire tenders have water, chemical spray? Moreover, Mir said that the first fleet of the fire tenders which arrived on the scene did not have enough water to extinguish the blaze. Water had to be brought from the nearby sea, and the rescue operation began in earnest around 2:00am. Mir further said that the fire department did not have proper chemical sprays either which are needed to extinguish the sort of plastic-related fires that had erupted in a number of shops in Boulton Market. This was a straightforward equation given that a huge number of shops that were in flames historically dealt in plastic goods.

Farid, however, refuted Mir’s claims. “There was no issue regarding the availability of water for the fire tenders,” Farid told The News. He said that hydrants are situated near the site of the incident; around 40 fire tenders used water from this hydrant to extinguish the fire.

Moreover, early Tuesday morning, some fire tenders and a snorkel also came from Hyderabad to assist in the rescue operations.

However, the fires continued to rage well over 24 hours.

How pivotal will the C&CC’s footage be? A couple of days ago, the CDGK had claimed that every inch of the procession route will be monitored through cameras which are being controlled from the Command and Control Centre (C&CC) at the Civic Centre.

Will the footage be able to establish who was carrying out the arson?

The EDO Information Technology (IT) told The News that 23 cameras were installed along the route of the procession; each camera covers a range of two to three kilometres. DCO Khan added that footage of the riots does exist, and will be offered to whichever investigation agency demands it. “Cameras were monitoring activities from Nishtar Park to Merewether Tower. The C&CC should have footage of the rioters, although I have not seen it personally,” he said, adding that looking into these details and forming conclusions was the “job of experts”.

He, however, offered complete support to investigators, and said that the police have already collected some of the relevant records.

Why were important authorities not around? While EDO Municipal Services Masood Alam is currently on leave, Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza has reportedly not been in the city for the past three days, despite the fact that Karachi hosts one of the largest Ashura processions in the country every year, and there had already been security concerns voiced before the attack.

Shouldn’t Mirza, the security chief of the province, have been in the city to oversee the arrangements and coordination of an event that is a huge security risk?

Will the enquiry see the light of day? Will the report of the enquiry team constituted by the Interior Minister see the light of day unlike those of May 12 and April 9, which are still awaited?

When will investigations be completed, and when will evidence from the C&CC be made public? The city government had made a massive investment in the C&CC – a system which has now been put the test.

Karachi Attacks More Than Taliban–Think Usual Suspects

[There are forces other than just the so-called Pakistani Taliban at work here.  The sudden appearance of armed thugs...the missing law enforcement and fire-fighters...tell us that the same suspects who promoted rioting and fire-setting in past riots in Karachi are at it once again.  The only thing missing are the multi-colored flags.  Sectarian attacks in the home of the Sunni Tehreek are nothing new.  Who benefits from all of this--surely not the real Afghan Taliban, or the Pushtun people, who will bear the brunt of the reprisals for all of this?  The TTP are an anti-Taliban force who work for foreign forces, but more importantly, they serve the interests of the most virulent of all the anti-Taliban forces within Pakistan itself.  SEE: Waging War Upon Ourselves ]

Masked men ignited violence, claim eyewitnesses

By Zeeshan Azmat

Karachi

A group of mourners present in the procession on Monday have claimed that masked men, who were not part of the procession, appeared on the site and started destroying public property.

Syed Imam, a banker who witnessed the blast, said that he was standing very close to the spot where the blast occurred. “There was dark, thick layer of smoke soon after the blast. I saw several people enter into the road from side lanes and they started hammering the shutters of the shops with hammers.”

Mossa Ali, another mourner present on the spot, alleged that a group of masked-men also came on the road and started firing on people. “None of these men were present in the procession and all of a sudden they took control of the streets and damaged public and private property,” he said.

Jafery, another participant, said that the firing incidents started within five to 10 minutes of the blast. The mourners caught some people who were involved in the arson and ransacking but there were no law enforcement agency personnel present at that time, he added. Later on, the mourners decided to carry on the procession till its final destination and released the miscreants as there was no official present to handover them.

Zionist Handshake

from Rense.com

Western Troops Reportedly Kill 8 Children At Gunpoint In Afghanistan

People chant anti-American slogans and burn an effigy of U.S. President Barack Obama in Jalalabad, south Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009., during a protest against the recent killings of 10 civilians allegedly by the coalition forces in Kunar province, eight of them boys aged between 12 and 14. A NATO official said initial reports from troops involved in the fighting on Sunday indicated that the victims were insurgents.

(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghan civilians ‘shot dead’ by foreign forces

By Sardar Ahmad (AFP) – 5 hours ago

KABUL — Afghan government investigators on Wednesday accused foreign troops of dragging 10 people, including eight children, from their homes and shooting them dead.

Anti-US protests erupted in at least two cities over the alleged killings as President Hamid Karzai’s office published its report, likely to enflame tensions between the Afghan government and its Western military backers.

The presidential investigating team said the dead included eight children, between 13 and 17 years old, said a statement from Karzai’s office.

The alleged incident took place late Saturday in the eastern province of Kunar, where Taliban activity is high as the militants are believed to cross into Afghanistan across the porous border with Pakistan.

International forces based in Kunar and local police told Asadullah Wafa, head of the investigating team and a former governor of Kunar province, that “they were unaware of the incident,” Wafa told AFP.

“A unit of international forces descended from a plane in the Narang district of Kunar province and took 10 people from three homes, eight of them school students in grades six, nine and 10, one of them a guest, the rest from the same family, and shot them dead,” the statement said, quoting Wafa.

Wafa was shown documents by the principal of the school that the students attended, proving their status, the statement added.

Karzai had spoken to the father and uncles of the students, offering his condolences, and promised a full investigation.

“The president assured them that the government will seriously investigate the incident and deal with the culprits in accordance with the law,” the statement said.

Hundreds of university students blocked main roads in Jalalabad, capital of eastern Nangahar province, on Wednesday to protest the alleged deaths.

The protesters torched a US flag and an effigy of US President Barack Obama in a public square, after chanting “death to Obama” and “death to foreign forces”, witnesses said.

“Our demonstration is against those foreigners who have come to our country,” said Safiullah Aminzai, a student organiser.

“They have not brought democracy to Afghanistan but they are killing our religious scholars and children.”

Protesters in downtown Kabul tied green ribbons around their foreheads on which was written in red “stop killing us,” witnesses said.

Others chanted “foreigners out” and “death to the murderers of Afghan people”.

Civilian deaths in the eight-year war to eradicate a Taliban-led insurgency are a sensitive issue for the Afghan public, and fan tensions between Karzai and the 113,000 foreign troops.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which has 113,000 troops in Afghanistan, said it had no activities in the area at the time the alleged incident took place.

A senior Western military official said US Special Forces have been conducting operations in the area, separately from ISAF.

The United Nations released figures this week showing that civilian deaths rose 10.8 percent in the first 10 months of 2009 to 2,038, up from 1,838 for the same period of 2008.

The UN calculations show the majority, or 1,404 civilians, were killed by insurgents fighting to overthrow Karzai’s government and eject Western troops.

But extremists rarely claim responsibility for attacks that kill large numbers of civilians, instead blaming foreign forces in an increasingly effective propaganda campaign.

The Taliban rely increasingly on homemade bombs, which exact a horrific toll on civilians and military alike, with foreign troop deaths at a record 508 this year.

America Needs Pakistan?s Help – Again Part IV

America Needs Pakistan?s Help – Again Part IV

29 Dec, 2009 Jeff Gates

The Israel/India Alliance Below is the fourth installment in a 5-part series written forOpinion Maker by Jeff Gates, author of Guilt By Association. In April 2009, Tel Aviv signed a $1.1 billion agreement to provide New Delhi an advanced tactical air defense system developed by Raytheon, a U.S. defense contractor. That agreement confirmed what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier announced: “Our ties with India don’t have any limitation….” In May 2009, Israel delivered to India the first of three Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) shifting the balance of conventional weapons in the region by giving India air dominance over Pakistan. Israel has overtaken Russia as India’s chief arms supplier as New Delhi announced $50 billion in defense modernization outlays from 2007 to 2012. The fast emerging fact patterns suggest there is far more implied for Pakistan in this “special defense relationship” than meets the eye. In August 2008, Ashkenazim General David Kezerashvili returned to his native Georgia from Tel Aviv to lead an assault on separatists in South Ossetia with the support of Tel Aviv-provided arms and military training provided by Israel Defense Forces. That crisis ignited Cold War tensions between the U.S. and Russia, key members of the Quartet (along with the EU and the UN) pledged to resolve the six-decade Israel-Palestine conflict. Little was reported in mainstream media about the Israeli interest in a pipeline across Georgia meant to move Caspian oil through Turkey and on to Eurasia with Tel Aviv a profit-extracting intermediary undercutting Russia’s oil industry. Nor did mainstream media report on the self-reinforcing nature of serial well-timed crises that emerged in a compressed time frame. For example, on August 7, 2008, the ruling coalition led by Asif Ali Zarderi called for a no-confidence vote in Parliament on President Parvez Musharraf just as he was scheduled to depart for the Summer Olympics in Beijing. On August 8, heavy fighting erupted overnight in South Ossetia while the heads of state of both Russia and the U.S. were in Beijing. What other crises were then unfolding? But for pro-Israeli influence inside the U.S. government, would our State Department have backed the corrupt Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan, leading to record-level poppy production involving Karzai’s brother? Is the heroin epidemic presently eroding Russian society traceable to Israel’s fabled game theory war-planners who are infamous for disabling their targets from the inside out? Three months after the crisis in Georgia, a terrorist attack in Mumbai renewed fears of nuclear tension between India and Pakistan. When the Mumbai attackers struck a hostel managed by Chabad Lubavitch, an ultra-orthodox Jewish sect from New York, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni announced from Tel Aviv: “Our world is under attack.” See: “Israel and 9-11” By early December, Jewish journalists were arguing that Israel must “fortify the security of Jewish institutions worldwide.” In the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security continued its policy of dispersing U.S. taxpayer funds to protect synagogues and Jewish community centers. Pre-Staged Plausibility Soon after “India’s 9-11” was found to include personnel recruited from Pakistan’s western tribal region, President Zardari announced an agreement with Taliban tribal chiefs to allow Sharia law to govern a swath of the North West Frontier Province where Al Qaeda members reportedly reside. The perception of Pakistani cooperation with “Islamic extremists” created the impression of enhanced insecurity and vulnerability for the U.S. and its allies. That perceived threat was widely reported by mainstream media as proof of the imminent perils of “militant Islam.” With religious extremists portrayed as operating freely in a nuclear-armed Islamic state, Tel Aviv gained traction for its claim that a nuclear-Islamic Tehran posed an “existential threat” to the Jewish state. Meanwhile Israel’s election of an ultra-nationalist governing coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu further delayed resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict. More delay ensured more extremism and gained more media traction for those marketing a perpetual “global war on terrorism” and its thematic counterpart, The Clash of Civilizations. After the assault in Mumbai, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni argued: “Israel, India and the rest of the free world are positioned in the forefront of the battle against terrorists and extremism.” By its exclusion, Pakistan was implicated as harboring terrorists. Few Americans understand that Pakistan is dominantly Sunni and, unlike Iran’s Shi’a, abhors theocratic rule and the religious extremism common to Al Qaeda as well as the assorted strains of fundamentalism found among the Taliban. Game theory war planning suggests that Pakistan, not India, was the target of India’s 9-11. As with our 9-11, the strategic objective was not the event itself but the anticipated reaction—and the reactions to that reaction. Advised by legions of Ashkenazim, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s October 2009 mission to Pakistan was a diplomatic disaster. Right on cue, a terrorist attack in Peshawar killed dozens just as she arrived in Islamabad. Abrasive, arrogant and aloof, our top diplomat reinforced Pakistani concerns that their nation is surrounded by hostile forces. Clinton’s behavior fueled fears that the government of Pakistan is being set up for portrayal as a “failed state” by ultra-nationalist Jewish advisers to a nation—the U.S.—it has long considered a friend. When Barack Obama hosted the prime minister of India for his first state dinner, the anxiety level in Pakistan was heightened—particularly among those familiar with the dominance of Ashkenazi advisers in the Obama White House. Societal Conflict—By Consensus Meanwhile, India’s oligarchs continued to amass wealth and influence at a record pace as the caste system maintained its stranglehold on Hindu society. By 2007, India’s 40 billionaires had amassed a combined wealth of $351 billion, up from a combined wealth of $170 billion just since 2006. Though New Delhi cites the success of its high-tech sector and its “Bollywood” film industry as signs of a burgeoning middle class, the reality is far from reassuring. As in Russia where the wealth from privatization migrated to a small cadre of dominantly Ashkenazi oligarchs, a similar oligarch-ization is ongoing in India. While maintaining a vast underclass of “untouchables” mired in grinding poverty, India’s policy making elite gravitated to an economic model that traces its U.S. roots to the University of Chicago where Barack Obama taught for 11 years while he was being groomed for political office. The “Chicago Model” advances in plain sight behind an implied assumption that financial freedom is an appropriate proxy for personal freedom. Despite facts confirming that wealth and income are concentrating at record rates worldwide, this “consensus” model insists that nations vest their faith in the infallibility of unfettered financial markets. As that finance-fixated mindset morphed into the “Washington” consensus, the U.S.-dominated international financial institutions imbedded this narrow worldview in law worldwide. As with ordinary Russians, ordinary Indians see their rising prosperity dominated by an caste oligarchy that steadily amasses outsized wealth along with disproportionate political influence. As wealth concentrates, democracies become unworkable; as income concentrates, markets become unsustainable. Those profiled in Guilt By Association and the forthcoming Criminal State series are skilled in displacing facts with what targeted populations can be deceived to believe. Today’s money-myopic “consensus” traces its roots to a subculture within a subculture within a subculture whose belief in the unbridled pursuit of money preempts all other values. http://criminalstate.com/guilt-by-association/ The India-Israel alliance has inflicted on the economy of India the same paradigm that is systematically disabling the U.S. economy—from the inside out—while creating record gaps in wealth and income. Pakistan has an opportunity to resist the embrace of this flawed model and, by so doing, inspire other nations—including the U.S.—to devise a sensible path forward. Next in the series: When Will Israel Assassinate Barack Obama? An author, educator, attorney, merchant banker and adviser to policy-makers worldwide, Jeff Gates served as counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance (1980-87) prior to consulting 35 foreign governments. A Vietnam veteran, he is author of Guilt By Association, The Ownership Solution and Democracy at Risk. Seewww.criminalstate.com.

Israel’s Blitzkrieg on Middle East Oil, Widely Discredited Truth

[SEE: Israel seeks pipeline for Iraqi oil] [Widely discredited in the last years of his life, as a lunatic, conspiracy nut, Mossad (former?) agent, for his crazy, off-the-wall predictions, Vialls got some things exactly right, like the Israeli/American/British conspiracy to get Iraqi oil into Israeli hands.  The following 3-part pre-Iraq war report spells-out Zionist intentions to enrich the shitty little state that masquerades as a "democracy."  These plans extend to last year's Georgian/Russian eruption.  Since then, the plan has been up in the air, as the Zionist cabal that runs America figures out a new plan to rearrange the world to Israel's liking. Israel's Blitzkrieg on Middle East Oil "Operation Shekhinah" Copyright Joe Vialls, January - December 2002 In early March 2001, a leading European intelligence agency received disturbing news from its most senior and trusted agent in Tel Aviv. Aware of growing international resistance to its ruthless and murderous suppression of the Palestinians, the Israeli Cabinet had met to discuss the limited ways in which it could proceed with its plans to annex the rest of Palestine, with or without the support of principal ally America, or the “International Community”. At the time, the Israeli Cabinet had no idea that the subject matter of its March meeting would later become one of the prime reasons for the September attack on the World Trade Center. The Israeli Cabinet was seriously worried. Despite effective control of the western media by the Jewish-American lobby, risk assessment conducted in Tel Aviv showed there was still a high probability that continued ruthless Israeli activity in Palestine, would lead in turn to increased sanctions by the western nations. Initially the sanctions would take the form of decreased arms shipments to Israel, followed later by increasingly large cuts in overseas financial “aid”, still provided in the main by unwitting American taxpayers. Sooner or later financial aid might dry up completely, but this was not the worst case scenario. Eventually, if western public opinion became strident enough, America and Europe might feel compelled to impose a complete oil embargo on Israel. With no natural resources of its own, and only limited strategic oil reserves in the country, Israel’s armed forces would grind to a complete standstill in only a few weeks. Aircraft and battle tanks have an almost insatiable thirst for petroleum products, and when those products run out, the aircraft and tanks are no more use to their owners than chunks of aluminum and steel waiting for the recycling smelters. Clearly then, the Israeli Cabinet had to find an alternate source of oil, and find it quickly. Moreover, bearing in mind they would no longer be able to pay for the oil because of financial sanctions, the new source would have to be “free”. Back in the sixties, ambitious Israelis had made detailed plans to acquire just such an alternate source of oil by force, but the plans had to be shelved for geopolitical reasons. Those geopolitical restrictions no longer existed in 2001, so the old plans were taken out of storage, dusted off, and renamed Operation Shekhinah. Stealing oil reserves from another nation is certainly not an original idea. The closest historical precedent for Operation Shekhinah was probably back in 1941, when Roosevelt imposed a total oil embargo on Japan during the first American “War on Terror”. Seeing conflict as inevitable and recognizing its desperate need for an alternate source of oil, the Japanese responded accordingly, acutely aware that in order to reach and utilize the oil reserves in the Dutch East Indies, it would first have to overwhelm the [then] vastly superior US Navy. It was in this context that Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, suggested an air attack on the US Pacific Fleet, which had moved from its usual base at San Diego on the American west coast, to a mid-Pacific location at Pearl Harbor in May 1940. Yamamoto’s plan was a development of the traditional Japanese defensive strategy. He gambled on a surprise attack to destroy the American naval capability in the Pacific, including its all-important aircraft carriers, and create enough time, perhaps six months, to enable Japan to complete its territorial conquests. Simultaneous attacks by the Japanese army on Hong Kong, Malaya, the Philippines, Guam and the Dutch East Indies would capture the strategically important bases and areas rich in raw materials Japan felt was vital for its national survival and would also now be needed to sustain its war with America. The rest, as they say, is history. Along much the same lines, and for similar strategic reasons in 2001, Israel intended to launch a surprise attack against southern Iraq, capture its southern oil fields, then use the old existing Trans Arabian Pipeline [“Tapline”], to pump the oil back to its own refineries at Haifa. Technical details of the operation will be provided later in this report, and in part two to follow, but first we need to examine the chances of the operation succeeding, and the subsequent reaction of the western nations and Russia. Back in the sixties, when the operation was first planned by Israel, the British, Russians and Europeans had huge investments in the middle east, so an outraged backlash against Israel would have been immediate, and probably terminal for any ongoing “Jewish State” in Palestine. It was on this basis that the Iraqi plan was shelved and left to gather dust. However, during the years that followed, the entire geopolitical landscape changed. By March 2001, the Israeli Cabinet considered the risks to be minimal, and probably non-existent if Operation Shekhinah was handled correctly. What had changed the odds was the new status of Iraq. During the late eighties and nineties, the fledgling “New World Order” and the media had spent millions of dollars demonizing President Saddam Hussein, to the point where he was eventually regarded by 95% of the western public as “The Butcher of Baghdad”. Not only was this Iraqi demon allegedly manufacturing weapons of mass destruction almost identical to those stored in America, he was also the tyrant who “gassed his own Kurds at Halabja”. President Hussein did no such thing. In February 1990 the US Army War College published a report titled “Iraqi Power & US Security in the Middle East”, which proved the Kurds of Halabja died as the direct result of an Iranian Phosgene gas attack. But the western media, firmly in the grip of the Jewish-American lobby, wasn’t going to let the hard truth get in the way of its frantic vilification campaign. In light of Saddam Hussein’s new demonic status, the Israeli Cabinet reasoned in March 2001 that no one would now object to Israel taking strenuous action against this “known war criminal and killer of babies”. Instead, it was calculated that the action would be seen by the western public as daring. Once again the brave Jews would have taken a stand against a dictator in the sacred name of democracy; and hopefully the western public would not notice the millions of barrels of stolen Iraqi oil flowing back to its refineries in Haifa. And even if they did notice, what could they do about it with Israel already in occupation? Before Operation Shekhinah could be launched, Israel needed its own “tame” Arabs on the ground in both northern Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq. Detailed plans of the area had to be drawn up or updated, and airfields and assembly points for incoming Israeli aircraft and ground troops arranged. In order to avoid suspicion or unwanted prying eyes, Israeli agents infiltrated the areas and started offering certain Shi’ite Muslims in the area “free passage” to other countries away from their enemy Saddam Hussein, plus spending money to take with them, in exchange for their ramshackle homes in the area. Predictably there was no shortage of takers, and by mid April 2001 the preliminary operation was in full swing. Droves of Shi’ite Muslims quietly started departing the area for America, Europe and Australasia at enormous cost to the Israelis. Buying entire people smuggling operations was an incredibly expensive business, to which had to be added the ad hoc payments to the migrants and other significant expenses. Once again America unwittingly came to the rescue, with certain financial institutions in the World Trade Center laundering most of the massive funds needed. This activity was conducted with alacrity, because Israel had offered a dazzling quid pro quo to its financial juggernaut in New York City. Once firmly established in southern Iraq, the new Israel would be at the crossroads of middle east oil, not only with direct control of the giant southern Iraqi fields, but also within easy striking distance of Kuwait, northern Iran, and the northern Iraqi pipeline routes. From this position of enormous strength, Israel would be able to either control or blackmail the local states into marketing their oil in an “organized way”, rather than allowing any old Tom Dick or Harry to buy the stuff on the Rotterdam Spot Market. Using sophisticated insider trading techniques, OPEC would be neutered, and world oil supplies would come under the exclusive de facto control of NYMEX and the New York Stock Exchange in the World Trade Center. Concurrent with this activity, the Jewish-American Lobby was frantically urging the White House and US Department of State to step up its enforcement of the illegal “no fly” zones over northern and southern Iraq. The records show that attacks did indeed increase during this period, though the American and British pilots could not have known they were being deliberately used to “blind” the Iraqi air defenses, and ensure they stayed blinded in the run up to Israel’s Operation Shekhinah. When the Israeli surprise attack was finally launched, there would be not the slightest chance of detection by Baghdad until it was too late. The possibility of military intervention by the United States seemed to trouble the Israeli Foreign Minister, but risk assessment came to the rescue and calmed his fears. Though a few US military aircraft based in Kuwait would probably have to be destroyed, either on the ground or in the air, it was calculated that this would not be a problem in technical or public relations terms. Technically, the Israeli aircraft had home-grown fire control systems vastly superior to their American equivalents, and could be relied on to shoot down the US jets swiftly and with the minimum of fuss. In public relations terms the Israelis would later claim it was a case of “mistaken identity”, twist a few arms and grease a few palms in Washington, and the whole affair would be swept under the carpet. Once again the Israeli Cabinet had a sound precedent for this, in the form of the USS Liberty. On 8 June 1967, during the Six Day War between Israel and the Arab States, the unarmed American intelligence ship USS Liberty was attacked for 75 minutes by Israeli aircraft and motor torpedo boats. Thirty-four men died and 172 were wounded. Despite the proven fact that the USS Liberty was far offshore in international waters, and flying a bright, clean American flag, Israel insisted it was all a terrible case of mistaken identity, which it most certainly was not. Israel attacked the USS Liberty in an attempt to “blind” the American intelligence ship and prevent it forwarding details of Israel’s pre-emptive strikes to the Pentagon. The Jewish-American Lobby went to work with a vengeance in Washington, twisting arms and handing out pieces of silver. So effective was the lobbying that the murder of thirty four American sailors on the unarmed USS Liberty went largely unnoticed by the public, and the media was predictably silent on the matter. Though the Liberty’s Captain William Loren McGonagle was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepedity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, it was presented to him quietly at the Washington Navy Yard, rather than the White House as is customary. American politicians had bent over backwards to avoid embarrassing the murderers of the thirty-four American sailors. The Israeli Cabinet thus knew full well that any American “collateral damage” during Operation Shekhinah could be swept under the carpet in exactly the same way. By early June 2001 the trickle of Shi’ite “migrants” out of northern Saudi and southern Iraq had swelled to a flood, which came to the attention of at least two more European intelligence agencies. For reasons unknown but presumably acting on orders, the Shi’ites were all woodenly claiming they were Afghans, which was not a good move. Afghans speak Farsi but these people couldn’t speak a word of it, which is hardly surprising. The native language in both northern Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq is Arabic. Around this time Russia also became aware of the pending Israeli operation, though it is not yet known whether the information was leaked by a European agency, or provided direct by one of its own agents in Tel Aviv. But what was known by all by this time, was the actual start date for Operation Shekhinah: 2 October 2001, the first day of a seven-day Jewish holiday, and thus a most unlikely period in which expect an attack by Israel. Things then went very quiet for a few weeks until 12 July, when Pravda, still considered by many as the establishment voice of Russia’s old guard communists who control the military and intelligence agencies, printed a story on its page one entitled “Will the Dollar and America Fall Down on August 19? That’s the Opinion of Dr. Tatyana Koryagina”. Was Mother Russia using this expert, and deliberately citing the wrong date, in order to distance herself from involvement in the upcoming 11 September attack on the World Trade Center?

Israel Plans Blitzkrieg to Capture Arab Oil Fields (Part II)

Israel Plans Blitzkreig to Capture Arab Oil Fields (Part III)

Embassy Bombing Trial Confirms “al Qaida” in Yemen Is Mossad

[SEE: Trial of spies for Israel's Mossad to start next week ; Yemen says arrests militants with links to Israel October 6, 2008]

ISRAEL DENIES OPERATING ISLAMIC TERRORIST ORGANIZATION

AIMED AT UNITED STATES

BBC Middle East

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said the security forces have arrested a group of alleged Islamist militants linked to Israeli intelligence. Mr Saleh did not say what evidence had been found to show the group’s links with Israel, a regional enemy of Yemen. The arrests were connected with an attack on the US embassy in Sanaa last month which killed at least 18 people, official sources were quoted saying.

Israel’s foreign ministry has rejected the accusation as “totally ridiculous”.

“A terrorist cell was arrested and will be referred to the judicial authorities for its links with the Israeli intelligence services,” Mr Saleh told a gathering at al-Mukalla University in Hadramawt province.

“Details of the trial will be announced later. You will hear about what goes on in the proceedings,” he added.

The 17 September attack was the second to target the US embassy since April. Militants detonated car bombs before firing rockets at the heavily fortified building.

Mr Saleh did not identify the suspects, but official sources were quoted saying it was same cell – led by a militant called Abu al-Ghaith al-Yamani – whose arrest was announced a week after the attack.

An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said the Yemeni president’s statement was without foundation.

“To believe that Israel would create Islamist cells in Yemen is really far-fetched. This is yet another victory for the proponents of conspiracy theories,” Igal Palmor said in remarks reported by AFP.

EVIDENCE MOUNTS FOR US COMPLICITY IN TERRORISM

29 Dec, 2009 Gordon Duff

COULD TERROR WAR BE RESPONSE BY GOP AND ISRAEL AGAINST THREATS TO THEIR GLOBAL PLANS? When nothing adds up, its time we starting looking at what we know.  Our recent terrorist, now dubbed “the crotch bomber” is another dupe.  He could have been working for anyone, drugged, brainwashed or simply influenced, maybe by crazy Arabs, maybe by the Mossad, maybe by the CIA.  We only know the game is falling apart. We do know a couple of things.  Dad, back in Nigeria,ran the national arms industry (DICON) in partnershipwith Israel, in particular, the Mossad.  He was in daily contact with them.  They run everything in Nigeria, from arms production to counter-terrorism.  Though Islamic, Muttalab was a close associate of Israel.  He has been misrepresented.  His “banking” is a cover.  Next, what do we know about the two Al Qaeda leaders Bush had released, the ones who planned this? According to ABC news, the Al Qaeda leaders running the insurgency in Yemen were released from Guantanamo, although two of the highest ranking known terrorist there, without trial. Guantanamo prisoner #333, Muhamad Attik al-Harbi, and prisoner #372, Said Ali Shari, were sent to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 9, 2007, according to the Defense Department log of detainees who were released from American custody. Both of the former Guantanamo detainees are described as military commanders and appear on a January, 2009 video along with the man described as the top leader of al Qaeda in Yemen, Abu Basir Naser al-Wahishi, formerly Osama bin Laden’s personal secretary. With all the hoopla about trials in New York, not a word is said when top level terrorists are released to Saudi friends of the Bush family who let them go.  We are now fighting these two Bush friends in Yemen.  They are running a major insurgency there.  We have been using Cruise missiles and our jets to attack their bases in the last weeks. It is claimed by groups claiming to be Al Qaeda in Yemen that the Detroit attack was in retaliation to US attacks on bases in Yemen run by Al Qaeda leaders released by Bush. The government of Yemen, as reported in the BBC , says that the Al Qaeda terrorists, led by those released by Bush, are really Israeli agents though they have organized attacks against US targets: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said the security forces have arrested a group of alleged Islamist militants linked to Israeli intelligence. Mr Saleh did not say what evidence had been found to show the group’s links with Israel, a regional enemy of Yemen. The arrests were connected with an attack on the US embassy in Sanaa last month which killed at least 18 people, official sources were quoted saying. “A terrorist cell was arrested and will be referred to the judicial authorities for its links with the Israeli intelligence services,” Mr Saleh told a gathering at al-Mukalla University in Hadramawt province. “Details of the trial will be announced later. You will hear about what goes on in the proceedings,” he added. The 17 September attack was the second to target the US embassy since April. Militants detonated car bombs before firing rockets at the heavily fortified building. Mr Saleh did not identify the suspects, but official sources were quoted saying it was same cell – led by a militant called Abu al-Ghaith al-Yamani – whose arrest was announced a week after the attack. With continual reports from Pakistan that India and Israel have been involved in terrorst attacks against US supporters there and the recent reports that the Detroit bomber was assisted by an Indian while boarding in Amsterdam and partially confirmed reports that a second bomber, an Indian, was arrested and taken from the plane in Detroit.  MILive broke this story in the US which originated with Reuters: Reuters reports Dutch military police are investigating claims that an accomplice may have helped Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab board Northwest Flight 253 in Amsterdam on Christmas day without a passport. Kurt Haskell of Newport, Mich., took to the comments section of this Web site early Saturday to share his story: That he and his wife, Lori, saw a well-dressed man help Abdulmutallab board the flight without a passport under the guise he was a Sudanese refugee. The military police have already said Abdulmutallab did not go through passport control at Schiphol when he arrived from Lagos. In another interview on Inside Edition, Haskell described what happened: A passenger has come forward with disturbing new details about the plot to bring down a jet, including the astonishing claim that the accused terrorist was able to board the plane without a passport. Kurt Haskell showed INSIDE EDITION his boarding pass for Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. The lawyer, who lives outside Detroit, was returning home from an African safari when he says he saw the terror suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallabm, and another man, who he thought was Indian, approach the ticket agent. “Only the Indian man spoke,” says Haskell, “And what he said was, ‘This man needs to board the plane but he doesn’t have a passport.’ ” “His clothes were like jeans and a t-shirt or something, he looked kind of thin, like a 16-year-old teenager, and the other man, looked like he was 50 years old, looked like he was a wealthy, Indian man. I just couldn’t figure out why they were together,” Haskell tells INSIDE EDITION. Let’s review what we know thus far: Our terrorist traveled to Yemen to meet with terrorist there The terrorists in Yemen had been in Guantanamo but had been ordered released by the Bush Administration though they were, perhaps the most dangerous detainees held The government of Yemen tells us that Islamic terrorists there have been arrested who have proven ties to Israeli intelligence Our terrorists father, though we are told is a retired “Nigerian banker” actually ran their defense industry in close cooperation with Israeli Intelligence (Mossad) Our terrorist’s visa to the US was never with drawn, though he was on a “terrorist watchlist” Our terrorist, though flying from Nigeria, entered the Netherlands without passing thru customs, something impossible to do without assistance from an intelligence agency Our terrorist was being assisted by a man appearing to be Indian, who claimed our Nigerian terrorist was a Sudanese refugee with no passport (no passport was used entering the EU, something technically impossible) However, Dutch authorities, the same ones who confirmed he entered the country with no passport also confirmed he had a valid US visa, though on a terrorist watch list that is shared with Dutch authorities. We keep going back to 2007.  Why were these terrorists released to Saudi custody?  Why did Saudi Arabia release them soon afterward?  With the 2nd major terrorist front in the world being Yemen and the terrorist operation there under the control of released Bush detainees, there is reason for suspicion. Why have all of these facts, though easily verifiable, we have a much stronger case against the Bush Administration or Israel than Al Qaeda, an organization whose leaders are released and allowed to continue terror operations with full Saudi and American help? When Pakistan comes to us and says that Israel and India are involved in terrorism there and we ignore it, is it because it isn’t credible or because the US government has been involved, as we seem to be involved in Yemen? Why are we satisfied to take one person into custody, one person who ties to so many irregularities and ask nothing else? As with 9/11 and so many other seeminly impossible times when so many things go wrong that only great power and the cooperation of many agencies in many countries could make it possible, why do we ask nothing. We have a major investigation in Nigeria, not only of the father and his connections to Israel but our own embassy and why they left this visa alone when the individual was a known terrorist. How could this terrorist travel to Yemen to meet with an organization run by former detainees released by Bush and his Saudi friends, former detainees that Yemen claims are working for israel?  How could he do this and be allowed to return to Nigeria, a country whose intelligence services are tied to Israel and trained by Israel.  They would have known in a second. How did this terrorist enter the Netherlands without showing a passport?  Try it.  You will meet lots of Dutch people who will keep you in a small room for hours, days even.  It is absolutely impossible. People are picked up in the EU while in passport control for non-payment of child support.  I am being told they can’t find a terrorist? We haven’t begun to discover how he got past security equipment and screening.  It isn’t like he isn’t the highest profile potential terrorist who has entered Nigeria in decades.  He is Islamic, young and traveling alone.  Ask any young Islamic traveler how many times they have been searched. Is is on a terrorist watchlist.  This is like the “no fly list” on steroids.  You aren’t just denied flight, you are put under immediate surveillance. If he had shown his passport, it would have shown him entering Yemen, a known terrorist training ground.  This would have stopped him also. With the Bush administration releasing terrorist leaders and shepherding them back into their former profession, with our embassy, State Department, Homeland Security and every other organization we spent so many billions of dollars to “coordinate” all failing, is there, just perhaps, a minor sign of conspiracy?

Obama Has His Justification, Now to Find Some Yemeni Targets to Bomb

Report: US gears up for attack in Yemen after botched plane attack

American officials tell CNN that Washington, Yemen looking for new al-Qaeda targets in case Obama orders retaliatory strike; Yemen investigating whether Nigerian suspected in attempted attack spent time with terrorists in country

Yitzhak Benhorin

Published:

12.30.09, 10:34 / Israel News

WASHINGTON - The US and Yemen are looking at new targets in Yemen for a potential retaliation strike, two senior American officials told CNN Tuesday following the failed Christmas Day attack on a Detroit-bound airliner, which al-Qaeda in Yemen claims it organized.   According to CNN, the officials stressed the effort is aimed at being ready with options for the White House if President Barack Obama orders a retaliatory strike, adding that the effort is to see whether targets can be specifically linked to the airliner incident and its planning.

One of the officials was quoted by CNN as saying that the plan is part of a new classified agreement with the Yemeni government that the two countries will work together and that the US will remain publicly silent on its role in providing intelligence and weapons to conduct strikes.

The CNN report said that “by all accounts, the agreement would allow the US to fly cruise missiles, fighter jets or unmanned armed drones against targets in Yemen with the consent of that government.”

Officials in Yemen are investigating whether the Nigerian suspected in the attempted attack spent time with al-Qaeda terrorists in the country in the months leading up to the botched bombing.

According to CNN, the officials stressed the effort is aimed at being ready with options for the White House if President Barack Obama orders a retaliatory strike, adding that the effort is to see whether targets can be specifically

‘Extended period in Yemen’

Administrators, teachers and fellow students at the San’a Institute for the Arabic Language, where Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had enrolled to study Arabic, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he attended school for only the month of Ramadan, which began in late August. That has raised questions about what he did during the rest of his stay, which continued into December.

Abdulmutallab, 23, told US officials after his arrest he received training and instructions from al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen, a law enforcement official has said.  According to Yemeni officials, Abdulmutallab spent another extended period in Yemen, from 2004-2005.

People at the school who knew Abdulmutallab said he was not openly extremist, though he expressed anger over Israel’s actions against Palestinians in Gaza

CNN further reported that  Abdulmutallab’s father spoke with a CIA official in Nigeria about his son’s radicalization.

The official prepared a report on the meeting, but it was not disseminated by CIA headquarters, according to CNN, which cited an unidentified source.

Abdulmutallab’s father, a prominent Nigerian banker, had relayed concerns about his son’s behavior to the US Embassy in Abuja, but the son’s name was never placed on a no-fly list.

Yemen Claims Hundreds of “al Qaida” Bogeymen, at One-Million Dollars Each

[These days, the surest way to get the latest military hardware and mega-bucks in counter-insurgency funds is to claim that your country is infested with hundreds of these "super-terrorists," like the Nigerian guy, who couldn't even light himself on fire.  The CIA has really outdone itself with this "al Qaida" scam, just cry "wolf" and the money starts to flow towards you.  Our government and its many agencies are a plague on humanity, a plague on the human psyche.]

Yemen says may harbor up to 300 Qaeda suspects

LONDON

LONDON (Reuters) - Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said on Tuesday there could be up to 300 al Qaeda militants in his country, some of whom may be planning attacks on Western targets.

“Of course there are a number of al Qaeda operatives in Yemen and some of their leaders. We realize this danger,” he told BBC radio.

“And they may actually plan for attacks like the one we have just had in Detroit.”

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen, has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attempted bombing of a Delta Airlines plane as it approached Detroit. [nLDE5BR0KO]

Asked to specify the exact number of al Qaeda operatives, Qirbi replied: “I can’t give you really an exact figure. There are maybe hundreds of them: 200, 300 — I don’t have real (hard) figures.”

Nigerian suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, charged with trying to blow up the plane on Christmas Day, lived in Yemen from August to December.

He is said to have told the FBI that there are many more like him prepared to carry out such attacks, according to the BBC report.

Qirbi called for proper intelligence-sharing to stop al Qaeda suspects from traveling to Yemen from countries known to be hotbeds of militancy such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

He appealed for more help from the international community to train and equip counter-terrorist forces to neutralize them.

“We have to work in a very joint fashion in partnership to combat terrorism,” he said. “If we do that, the problem will be brought under control.

The United States, Britain and the European Union could do much more to improve Yemen’s response to counter the threat, he said. “There is some support that is coming, but I must say it is inadequate.”

“We need more training, we have to expand our counter-terrorism units and this means providing them with the necessary military equipment and ways of transportation; we are very short of helicopters.”