Website Based In Minnesota Posts How To Join al Qaeda Info

On August 26, Islamist websites hosted in Minnesota posted an item titled “How to Join Al-Qaeda.” Among other items the website teaches how to join al-Qaeda, form a jihad cell, and select a western target. It is not clear when the item was written; it was produced by the website Al-Thabitoun ‘Ala Al-’Ahd, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda in Egypt and is currently inactive.

The item calls on every Muslim to regard jihad as a personal duty and to take initiative to establish a jihad cell without waiting for recognition from Al-Qaeda. It goes on to elaborate on how to form and run the cell, how to raise funds, and how to select a target, “for example, assassinating the American ambassador,” which, it states, “takes no more than a gun and a bullet.”

The following are excerpts from the item:

“You feel that you want to carry a weapon, fight, and kill the occupiers, and that it is our duty to call for jihad as much as to call for prayer… All that is required is a firm personal decision to fulfill this obligation, and participation in jihad and the resistance…

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American Airlines Flight Delayed – Passenger Concerned With Arabic Speaking Men

A conflict between passengers at Lindbergh Field Tuesday night caused the overnight delay of an American Airlines flight headed to Chicago.

Flight 590 was scheduled to depart at 11 p.m. for Chicago O’Hare International Airport but was rescheduled for Wednesday at 10:15 a.m. after some kind of dispute among customers started at the gate and continued onto the plane, said American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner.

While Wagner said it is the airlines policy not to disclose any information about their passengers, televised reports claimed that the incident involved a group of six to seven Iraqi Americans and another passenger who was apparently uncomfortable that the men were speaking in Arabic.

The jet left the gate at 11:14 p.m. but did not take off and instead returned at 11:26 p.m. after a traveler with a child elected to get off the plane, Wagner said.

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Al Qaeda Has Active Plot To Hit The West

The head of the National Counterterrorism Center speaks out on Al Qaeda’s plans, America’s readiness—and the nature of the war on terror.

Al Qaeda has an active plot to hit the West. The United States knows about it but doesn’t have enough tactical detail to issue a precise warning or raise the threat level, says Vice Admiral (ret.) John Scott Redd, who heads the government’s National Counterterrorism Center.

In an interview at his headquarters near Washington, D.C., Redd told Newsweek’s Mark Hosenball and Jeffrey Bartholet that the country is better prepared than ever to counter such threats. But he also believes another successful terror attack on the U.S. homeland is inevitable.

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Bomb Threats Received Across The Country

Bomb threats are being received at banks, universities, stores, shopping centers and more across the country. Several of the calls appear to have been placed from outside the United States. In one instance, a Wal-Mart store wired $10,000 to an account after being threatened.

Man Extorts $10,000 From Wal-Mart Store

Police said a bomb threat at a Wal-Mart in Newport was part of a broader money scheme that has hit other businesses around the country.

Sgt. James Quinn of the Newport police said a man called the store around 7 a.m. threatening a bomb and demanding that the store wire $10,000 to an account. Quinn said the store sent the money.

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Bomb Threat Caller Threatens Shoppers – Forces Several To Strip

A similar threat was received at a Dillons grocery store in Hutchinson Kansas. At the Dillons, it appeared the caller had some sort of visual access to the store.

Police received two calls about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday claiming there were bombs at the Dillons stores at 13th and Main and 30th and Plum streets. The store at 13th and Main was searched and nothing was found. But at 30th and Plum, in north Hutchinson, an employee also received a threatening call.

Jim Peterson, one of the hostages, said he was in the checkout line when the store manager told everyone to come to the front of the store. He said the manager was right next to him, talking to the caller.

Peterson said the manager was pleading with the caller not to harm anyone in the store.

“He was just beside himself,” Peterson said of the manager. “Everyone was really scared. We didn’t know if there was a bomb.”

At one point, the caller or perhaps a second person called the police. Capt. Troy Hoover said he spoke with the man briefly.

Walter Merian of Sterling said he and the other hostages obeyed the caller out of fear. He said he was worried someone was posing as a hostage and had a weapon.

“We thought if we tried something we could get shot,” he said.

Merian, Peterson and police said the caller demanded the female hostages take off their clothes. About 20 minutes later, the caller made a similar demand of the males.

Merian and Peterson said some complied out of fear of what would happen if they didn’t. Others refused.

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As stated previously, similar bomb threats have been received at numerous locations across the U.S. Below, are links to several of those stories.

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Bomb Threat Prompts Vons Store Evacuation

Safeway in Prescott evacuated over bomb threat

FBI agents are investigating a bomb scare at a Prescott Safeway store Tuesday morning because the incident was similar to bomb scares at Safeway stores in other parts of the nation.

“We are aware of other similar incidents with bomb threats at Safeway stores nationwide,” FBI Special Agent Deborah McCarley said Tuesday. “We are looking into whether they are connected.”

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Bomb Threat At North County Grocery Store

A North County supermarket was evacuated Friday after a caller threatened to detonate a bomb and carry out a shooting rampage at the store unless money was wired to an Internet account, authorities said.

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Police investigate bomb threat at Sandy Safeway

The Sandy Safeway has reopened for business after a bomb threat shut down the grocery store for three-and-a-half hours Thursday.

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Police respond to bomb threat in Buchanan store

A bomb threat and hostage situation at the Hardings grocery store on Niles/Buchanan Road in Buchanan has forced the evacuation of the surrounding area.

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Banks in Missouri and Kansas receive bomb threats

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University of Iowa Receive Bomb Threat

The University of Iowa received another bomb threat today – its third e-mailed threat in just over two weeks.

But UI officials believe the e-mail today, and possibly the previous threats, could be part of a national rash of bomb threats at colleges and universities.

“Apparently these are happening on campuses all across the country,” UI spokesman Steve Parrott said.

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Two bomb threats and two evacuations at an Orem Macy’s store this morning.

Police say a man called early today to say there was a bomb in the store at 800 North State Street. He ordered store personnel to put cash on the front desk and leave.

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Bomb threats close Salem, Fairlawn Wal-Marts

Two separate but similar bomb threats led to evacuations of the Salem and Fairlawn Wal-Marts during the mid-day hours today. Both stores re-opened within two hours.

The first call came to Salem. Police say a man called the Woodforest National Bank office inside the store and said there was a bomb inside the building. The caller said the bomb would be detonated unless money was wired to an account. There are no details regarding how much money was demanded; police say the Western Union address given was not in the Roanoke area.

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Bomb Threat Raises Concern on Local College Campus

MTSU was among five universities across the country to receive bomb threats on the first day of the fall semester.

Three Middle Tennessee State University employees received e-mails Monday saying there were explosive devices on campus. Authorities said they checked several buildings, but didn’t find anything.

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Bomb threat closes King Soopers

A bomb threat this morning has closed the King Soopers shopping market at 30th Street and Arapahoe Avenue.

Police searched the building and found nothing, according to police spokeswoman Julie Brooks, and now bomb-sniffing dogs are being brought in to search the site.

Brooks said someone called in the threat and asked that money be wired or a bomb would be detonated in the market.

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Dean receives Bryan Hall bomb threat via e-mail

Police officers were dispatched to Bryan Hall Sunday after being notified of a bomb threat, IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said.

Around 10 a.m., a dean in the building received a threatening e-mail mentioning a bomb around Bryan Hall, a building where the University president and other administrators work.

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UNH office receives fake bomb threat

Local police are working with federal authorities to investigate who e-mailed a fake bomb threat to the University of New Hampshire’s admissions office Sunday morning after several other schools across the country received bomb threats, too.

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School Bus Thefts Concern Houston Authorities

Houston Police Department’s Criminal Intelligence Division, the FBI and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office are all concerned about a large number of school buses that have been stolen in the Houston area over the last several months.

An 11 News investigation uncovered that 17 large, yellow school buses were stolen recently from various charter schools, business schools and private bus companies. Not one has disappeared from HISD.

Most, if not all, were taken from locations on Houston’s north side. One off west Tidwell, another from the Lopez bus company off Melrose and Berry Street.

Timothy Williams is the superintendent at the High School for Business.

“We were going to park them over there inside the gate. Until we could get a gate around the facility, but we really didn’t think that was going to be a problem,” said the charter school’s superintendent.

While it is important to point out that there is no known threat, HPD’s Criminal Intelligence Division mentioned in a recent e-mail that these school bus thefts are a homeland security concern.

One detective told 11 News a bus might have been stolen and taken across the border to Mexico.

Nevertheless, since the Sept. 11 attacks the thought of terrorists targeting children has certainly been discussed by the Department of Homeland Security. And that is why finding out what happened to these buses is very important.

Published reports in 2004 said that the U.S. Military found information in Iraq pertaining to U.S. schools.

Reportedly, there have been hundreds of thefts of school bus radios in the United States.

With all that being said, 11 News was reminded Monday by law enforcement officials that school buses remain one of the safest ways to get to and from school. In fact, nationwide, school buses transport nearly 24 million kids to school daily.

And bus drivers all around the country are being trained regularly to look out for suspicious people and activities.

Source -KHOU

The Hunt For Osama Bin laden

Newsweek magazine takes an in-depth look at the hunt for the terror mastermind in it’s upcoming Sept. 3rd issue. Here’s an excerpt:

“The Americans were getting close. It was early in the winter of 2004-05, and Osama bin Laden and his entourage were holed up in a mountain hideaway along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Suddenly, a sentry, posted several kilometers away, spotted a patrol of U.S. soldiers who seemed to be heading straight for bin Laden’s redoubt. The sentry radioed an alert, and word quickly passed among the Qaeda leader’s 40-odd bodyguards to prepare to remove “the Sheik,” as bin Laden is known to his followers, to a fallback position. As Sheik Said, a senior Egyptian Qaeda operative, later told the story, the anxiety level was so high that the bodyguards were close to using the code word to kill bin Laden and commit suicide”.

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Pyro-Terror: Are Greek Wildfires An Act Of Terrorism

A top prosecutor ordered an investigation Monday into whether recent arson attacks in Greek forests could be considered terrorism, the Public Order Ministry said.

Meanwhile, a fire broke out on the fringes of Athens a day after a massive effort prevented the birthplace of the Olympics from being devastated by flames.

Dimitris Papangelopoulos, who is responsible for prosecuting terrorism and organized crime, ordered the investigation to determine “whether the crimes of arsonists and of arson attacks on forests” could come under Greece’s anti-terrorism law, the ministry said in a statement.

The probe also will seek to establish the identities of the alleged perpetrators.

Could it happen here?

The threat of similar pyro-terrorist attacks pose a significant risk to the U.S. and the fires in Greece should be a wake-up call.

In 2003 an FBI memo alerted law enforcement agencies that an al-Qaeda terrorist being held in detention had talked of masterminding a plot to set a series of devastating forest fires around the western United States.

It was reported that the detainee, who was not identified, said the plan involved three or four people setting wildfires using timed devices in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming that would detonate in forests and grasslands after the operatives had left the country.

“The detainee believed that significant damage to the U.S. economy would result and once it was realized that the fires were terrorist acts, U.S. citizens would put pressure on the U.S. government to change its policies,” the memo said.

Passenger Arrested After Attempting To Open Plane Door During Flight

A passenger tried to open a plane door during a Frontier Airlines flight on Saturday morning but was subdued by airline staff and passengers, an airline spokesman said.

Police and Transportation Security Administration staff met Flight 514 after the plane landed in New York City and took the man into custody, said Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas.

Hodas said the man, whose name was not released, would not have been able to open the door even if he had not been subdued. “You need special training to open the door,” he said.

There were 128 passengers and five crew members on the plane, Hodas said.

Passenger Bobby Vigil of Estes Park told KUSA-TV in Denver that the man had been acting strangely. Vigil said he and other passengers helped a flight attendant tie the man to his seat with duct tape.

“The whole rest of the flight, all the way in, he was yelling and trying to bite the tape, and they ended up restraining him with an extra lap belt,” said Vigil.

Philadephia – Fumes From Packages Sicken Several

UPDATE : The substance that sickened 17 people Friday in Fountain Hill and Bethlehem has been identified as a common industrial solvent, authorities said today.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the material found on FedEx packages is the chemical compound 2-Ethoxyethanol, also known as Cellosolve and ethyl cellosolve. It is used as an anti-icing compound in brake fluids and other industrial products.

It can be absorbed through the skin and can be an irritant to the eyes, nose and throat, according to the DEP. Anyone in contact with the material should wash thoroughly with soap and water, and rooms should be ventilated.

Authorities identified the substance through field analysis conducted by the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s 3rd Civil Support Team, a unit based at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa., that specializes in weapons of mass destruction.

The DEP is holding FedEx responsible for what authorities are classifying as an industrial accident. Anyone who had a FedEx package delivered Friday and has noticed any odors or visible staining on the outside packaging should call FedEx at 610-317-5200 until 4 p.m. today and from 6 a.m. on Monday.

FedEx will make arrangements to have the affected package removed for disposal.

Original Story:

Suspicious packages delivered to St. Luke’s Hospital-Fountain Hill, including two that temporarily sickened six people, caused the evacuation of three buildings in the Lehigh Valley on Friday and sent FBI agents, police, firefighters and hazardous materials teams scurrying to investigate.

As midnight neared, investigators still had not identified the substance on two of the packages. Special scent-sensing equipment from the National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap arrived late in the evening.

At 11 p.m., Bethlehem police were securing a fourth building, at 1005 Lehigh St. in the city, where at least one package was delivered Friday and some people went home not feeling well, according to Lt. Dave Strawn.

Strawn said investigators found that the substance had leaked from a box onto other boxes on a FedEx plane.

Strawn also said the FBI doesn’t believe this was a terrorist attack.

The first package, delivered by FedEx about noon to the hospital’s Estes Building, was damp and caused five people to complain of sore throats or eyes, officials said.

Officials evacuated the building, which was cleared within an hour, and FBI agents from the Allentown office arrived and took over the investigation.

Report – Iraqi Terrorists Caught Along Mexico Border

President Bush’s top intelligence aide has confirmed that Iraqi terrorists have been captured coming into the United States from Mexico.

The confirmation comes from National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell, who talked about the situation in an interview with the El Paso Times recently.

“Coming up through the Mexican border is a path,” McConnell said. “Now, are they doing it in great numbers? No, because we’re finding them and we’re identifying them and we’ve got watch lists and we’re keeping them at bay.”

But, he said, “There are numerous situations where people are alive today because we caught them (terrorists).”

Read Article – WorldNetDaily

Car Carrying Four Men Speeds Past Customs Entry In Port Angeles

A car carrying four men reportedly sped through the U.S. Customs port of entry off the ferry from Victoria on Wednesday night.

The Port Angeles Police Department received a report through the PenCom dispatch center of the car failing to stop for inspection.

The car disembarked off the MV Coho at about 9:20 p.m. after the day’s last southbound sailing.

It reportedly raced past the checkpoint so quickly that nobody could determine a license plate number or even the plates’ jurisdiction.

The car turned left – or eastbound – onto Railroad Avenue from the port of entry, according to reports.

Police were looking for a four-door gray car or sport utility vehicle with four occupants, possibly Asian, headed east out of Port Angeles, said Sgt. Glen Roggenbuck.

Port Angeles police officers were unable to catch up with the vehicle and alerted the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department and State Patrol, Roggenbuck said.

No more information was available Wednesday night. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at the scene declined comment.

Customs officers check all vehicles disembarking the Coho in covered lanes between the ferry landing and Railroad Avenue.

Citizenship verification is done by U.S. officials at the Coho’s Black Ball Transport terminal in Victoria before passengers and motorists board the 341-foot ferry.

Terrorist captured in 1999 at same port of entry

On Dec. 14, 1999, Customs officers uncovered an al-Qaida-trained Algerian national, Ahmed Ressam, at the same Port Angeles port of entry.

A trunkload of bomb-making materials were found inside the rented sedan he was driving.

Ressam fled on foot, but was quickly captured by customs inspectors in downtown Port Angeles.

Ressam was tried in federal court and found guilty of plotting to blow up a terminal at Los Angeles International Airport with the explosives and gear in the car.

Source

Stamford – Police Detain Suspect In Suspicious Package Case

Police have detained a suspect in the delivery of a suspicious envelope to a downtown military recruiting station yesterday, with an arrest expected, according to Assistant Chief Robert Nivakoff.

The unidentified suspect, described as a white Stamford man in his 40s, was being questioned by police last night. Evidence gathered at the scene led to this man, Nivakoff said.

An announcement about the case is expected sometime today, police said. Yesterday’s incident involved the second suspicious envelope delivered to the recruiting station in the last two months.

The envelope, slipped into the recruiting station mailbox yesterday morning, held batteries and other “bomb-making components,” said Lt. Sean Cooney, a police department spokesman.

He would not say what else was inside.

It was nearly identical to an envelope left at the same U.S. Army/U.S. Air Force station on July 19, police said.

Both bore “unusual writing” and were placed in the station’s mailbox, Cooney said. Police are investigating whether the suspect detained yesterday is connected to the previous incident.

Police evacuated the recruiting station and nearby buildings just before noon yesterday and blocked off Bedford Street, between Spring and Broad streets, for more than an hour.

They destroyed the envelope with a water cannon and found it contained no explosives, Cooney said.

Police called the FBI to assist in the case and videotaped the area yesterday to see whether anyone suspicious was in the crowd, Cooney said.

The writing on the outside of the envelope was in a foreign language, but police would not disclose the language or what was written.

Two military recruiters at the office yesterday declined comment.

Update: FBI Working Through Tips In Washington Ferry Investigation

FBI agents are working through tons of tips they received after releasing a photo of two men who they say were acting suspiciously aboard Washington state ferries. (see story below)

Publicizing the photo of men who haven’t been accused of a crime was an unusual move by the FBI. Officials with the Bureau say they just want to talk to the two men.

The State Patrol says investigators started by showing the pictures to ferry workers, Then they showed them at a fire and police training exercise.

With no new leads, they decided to get all the ferry riders involved by publicizing the photos and asking, “do you know who these men are?”

The FBI won’t say if the two were taking pictures – just that the two were unusually interested in the size of the boats, how they work, and the docking procedures.

They were spotted on different ferry runs on different days over a period of four to six weeks.

The men appear to be of middle eastern decent, and the FBI admits there is profiling here — but they insist it’s not racial profiling.

“We’re looking at the behavior,” said FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs. “If you’d like to say we’re profiling particular behavior, I’d be comfortable with that. Because this is behavior people felt uncomfortable with.

“And this is what we’re asking people to do. To be on the lookout for things they feel are unusual or suspicious.”

Taliban Commander – Osama Bin Laden Is Alive

A Taliban commander in Afghanistan said al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is alive and well, according to the transcript of a video provided by a US-based organization that monitors extremist Web sites.

“He is extremely healthy and active,” Mansour Dadullah said, according to the video’s English-language subtitles. The clip was dated June 15, according to reports.

Since bin Laden escaped US and Afghan forces at the battle of Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan in December 2001, there have been no confirmed sightings of him.

He has released several video and audio tapes from his presumed hiding places on the mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Bush administration said in its latest National Intelligence Estimate last month that al-Qaeda, the group that carried out the September 11 attacks on the US, is regaining strength in Pakistan and honing its tactics in Iraq.

The State Department is offering as much as $25 million for information leading to bin Laden’s capture.

Dadullah, whose brother Mullah Dadullah was a top commander in the Taliban until he was killed this year, said he was contacted by bin Laden.

“I received a message from him in which he advised me, ‘I must follow Mullah Dadullah and continue the same activities so that the mujahedeen may not weaken.’ ”

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