Al Qaeda Urges Somali Pirates To Attack Ships

A senior Saudi Arabian al Qaeda operative has called on Somali jihadists to step up their attacks on “crusader” forces at sea in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, and on land in neighboring Djibouti, which hosts France’s largest military base in Africa.

“To our steadfast brethren in Somalia, take caution and prepare yourselves,” Sa’id Ali Jabir Al Khathim Al Shihri aka Abu Sufian al-Azdi says in a new audiotape acquired by CBS News. “Increase your strikes against the crusaders at sea and in Djibouti.”

Shihri warns Somali militants against a conspiracy led by “the crusaders, the Jews and traitor Arab rulers,” to put an end to the Muslim extremists’ progress in Somalia.

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It was the first clear sign since the U.S. and French navies thwarted recent pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden that al Qaeda is trying to take advantage of anti-Western sentiment, and a ready supply of well-armed young men with access to boats and maritime skills, in the restive country.

Al Qaeda does have links to Islamic extremist groups operating in Somalia but, thus far, piracy and al Qaeda’s brand of terrorism have remained largely separate. The pirates in the Gulf of Aden have always sought ransom payments or loot — they have not been motivated by Islamic fundamentalism.

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Homeland Security Warns of Rise in Right-Wing Extremism

An intelligence assessment released to law enforcement last week claims news of recession, the election of an African American president, rumors of new gun restrictions and the inability of veterans to reintegrate create fertile ground for radicalizing and recruiting right-wing extremists.

The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement agencies that recent news is helping “right-wing extremist groups” recruit new members and could lead to violence, and warns about the possible recruitment and radicalization of returning veterans.

DHS’ Office of Intelligence and Analysis issued an intelligence assessment last week that said it has no specific information that domestic right-wing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence, but right-wing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on fears about the recession and the election of the first African American president. The office called them “unique drivers for right-wing radicalization and recruitment.”

“Right-wing extremists have capitalized on the election of the first African American president, and are focusing their efforts to recruit new members, mobilize existing supporters and broaden their scope and appeal through propaganda, but they have not yet turned to attack planning,” the assessment reads.

“The current economic and political climate has some similarities to the 1990s when right-wing extremism experienced a resurgence fueled largely by an economic recession, criticism about the outsourcing of jobs and the perceived threat to U.S. power and sovereignty by other foreign powers.,” it continues.

The report also suggests that returning veterans are attractive recruits for right-wing groups looking for “combat skills and experience” so as to boost their “violent capabilities.” It adds that new restrictions on gun ownership and the difficulty of veterans to reintegrate into their communities “could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks.”

“Proposed imposition of firearms restrictions and weapons bans likely would attract new members into the ranks of right-wing extremist groups … The high volume of purchases and stockpiling of weapons and ammunition by right-wing extremists in anticipation of restrictions and bans in some parts of the country continue to be a primary concern to law enforcement,” the report says.

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Taliban Using U.S. Firms to Host Web Sites

Militant groups are using the Internet to rally followers and boast of deadly new attacks — and they’re using American-owned Web hosts to do it, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

On March 25, a purported Taliban Web site called the voice of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” heralded a deadly attack on coalition forces in the country. The site claimed four soldiers were killed in the ambush and the “mujahideen took the weapons and ammunition as booty.”

The message, while written by the Taliban across the globe, was broadcast from Texas.

Web hosts like ThePlanet, located in Houston, are falling victim to the militant efforts, renting cyberspace at inexpensive prices and unknowingly becoming the voice of extremists.

“The relatively cheap expense and high quality of U.S. servers seems to attract jihadists,” Rita Katz, co-founder of the Site Intelligence Group, told the Post.

Pakistan has reportedly vented to U.S. officials about militants’ use of American Internet services since last fall, when an investigation found the Mumbai attackers made Internet phone calls though a server based in Houston.

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E-bombs EMP Weapon Worries Counter-Terrorism Experts

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Japan Firm Says Nuke Shelter Sales Up

A retailer of nuclear fallout shelters in Japan said Monday that sales soared in the lead-up to North Korea’s rocket launch as jittery residents took their safety into their own hands.

Osaka-based Shelter Co said it received 12 orders in just two months ahead of Sunday’s launch — more than double the number it usually sells in an entire year.

Pyongyang said the rocket it launched over Japan on Sunday carried a satellite into orbit, but Washington, Tokyo and Seoul believe the launch was a cover for a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Most orders for the Swiss-made 2.8 million yen (28,000 dollar) “household nuclear shelters” came from northwestern Akita and Iwate prefectures, located under the rocket’s path, said company president Seiichiro Nishimoto.

“This is a record in the 30 years I’ve been in this business,” he told AFP, adding that he had also received about 150 enquiries.

“Japanese want to be prepared. I expect the number of orders to increase.”

Other retailers said they saw no dramatic rise in orders.

“Japanese people are not that worried about North Korea. They are watching the situation calmly,” said Nobuko Oribe, an executive of Oribe Seiki Seisakusho, a fallout shelter manufacturer based in Kobe city.

Japan, despite being the only country to have suffered atomic attacks, has very few nuclear shelters.

Pakistan Terror Attack Prompts Warning From Homeland Security, FBI

The attack on Sri Lanka’s cricket team in Pakistan this week has prompted US intelligence officials to caution local authorities to be on the lookout for possible similar assaults at American sports events.

The notice, along with details of the attack in Lahore, Pakistan, is part of an intelligence assessment that points out no plots are known to exist against sports events in the United States. Read more

Is WMD Attack Inevitable?

Earlier this week Vice President elect Joseph Biden was briefed on the just released study by the Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism that a WMD attack was likely sooner than later and that the supposed “margin of safety” was narrowing. The “top line” of the report is that while terrorist groups with al Qaeda still being the prime concern and suspect lacked the technical capabilities to actually make the weapon, the ability to find cooperating scientists could enable such an attack is increasing. Further, the Commission warned that all roads lead to Pakistan when it comes to weaponizing a WMD. Specifically, the Mumbai attacks last week, of necessity, raise the specter of an attack being planned and launched from inside of Pakistan, and more specifically, from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

In a sense, the release of this new government report, is new, but it is not necessarily news. The warnings about bio-terrorism have been a part of a clarion call since November 3, 2003 when an unclassified CIA Report discussed the risks inherent in the super-accelerated biotechnology sector. The earlier report, “The Darker Bioweapons Future” went just so far. If told us that the fear was the proliferation of weapons, of labs going research and of the growing number of people engaged in the science of developing new “bugs” so that countermeasures could be developed. They talked about the development of elixirs of combinations of a mild pathogen with its antidote a virulent mixture; or of designer pathogens designed to challenge existing antidotes to force the development of new ones; or most scary, a stealth virus that could lie dormant until triggered. What “The Darker Bioweapons Future” did not cover was the possibility of scientists becoming turncoats and offering weapons skills and capabilities to terrorists, and that the origin of the threat might be in Pakistan. Frankly, it took the passage of a few years and some history to conclude that the threat might be real, and that the enemy might lie in the guise of a lab coat. In 2003, no one really considered the possibility that a scientist might “go to the dark side.”

Some of the highlights and recommendations of the report to take away from the report were:

- Nuclear and biological weapons are proliferating: Yes, indeed, they are. The question of course relates to their availability to access of terrorists organizations to them. The statement that as proliferation continues that more countries come into possession the more likely a nefarious end occurs, is obviously true.

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