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)