Soaring Debt Increases Risk of Social Unrest Worldwide

The world’s five biggest AAA-rated states are all at risk of soaring debt costs and will have to implement austerity plans that threaten “social cohesion”, according to a report on sovereign debt by Moody’s.

The US rating agency said the US, the UK, Germany, France, and Spain are walking a tightrope as they try to bring public finances under control without nipping recovery in the bud. It warned of “substantial execution risk” in withdrawal of stimulus.

“Growth alone will not resolve an increasingly complicated debt equation. Preserving debt affordability at levels consistent with AAA ratings will invariably require fiscal adjustments of a magnitude that, in some cases, will test social cohesion,” said Pierre Cailleteau, the chief author.

“We are not talking about revolution, but the severity of the crisis will force governments to make painful choices that expose weaknesses in society,” he said.

If countries tighten too soon, they risk stifling recovery and making maters worse by eroding tax revenues: yet waiting too is “no less risky” as it would test market patience. “At the current elevated debt levels, a rise in the government’s cost of funding can very quickly render debt much less

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Hakeemullah Mehsud is Alive, Says Former ISI Officer

A former officer in the Pakistani military intelligence service with close ties to terrorist groups has denied that Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, was killed in a US air strike according to a report at The Long War Journal.

Khalid Khawaja, a self-described humans rights activist with deep ties to the Taliban, al Qaeda, and a host of terrorist groups operating on Pakistani soil, claimed today that two of his associates met with Hakeemullah last week.

“Two of my acquaintances were with Hakeemullah Mehsud on March 9 while Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas had claimed he was dead early last month,” Khawaja told the Press Trust of India.

“I challenge the government to deny my claim and then I will disclose the names of those who were with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief on March 9,” Khawaja claimed.

via Read Full Article – The Long War Journal.

Mumbai – Terror Attack Thwarted, Two Arrested

Indian police have arrested two men suspected of plotting a series of terror attacks in Mumbai. The pair aimed to attack a market, a shopping center and a state-owned gas facility, according to anti-terrorism officers. Police said the men had links with terror groups in Pakistan and were acting on directions from handlers there.

Vinesh Agarwal, an inspector with Mumbai’s anti-terrorism squad, said: “We believe they were taking instructions from across the border to attack three or four targets in Mumbai.”

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From CBS News

Indian police said Sunday they prevented a major terrorist strike in Mumbai by arresting two men who were preparing to attack several targets in the city, the country’s financial and entertainment hub.

K.P. Raghuvanshi, chief of Mumbai’s anti-terrorism squad, said the two Indian men – both residents of the city – had targeted a popular shopping mall, a market and a state-owned gas facility. He said Abdul Latif Rashid and Riyaz Ali were arrested late Saturday in Mumbai’s Matunga suburb.

Source

Terror Alert Sounded in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata

From the India Times NEW DELHI: With arrested Indian Mujahideen cadres unveiling fresh terror plans of the ISI-LeT combine to target metropolitan cities here, the
home ministry has issued alerts to Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata seeking a security beef-up at all vulnerable spots.

The alerts, issued in the wake of disclosures made by Indian Mujahideen terrorist Salman Ahmed — arrested recently from Sidharthnagar on the UP-Nepal border and suspected in serial blasts at Ahmedabad, Varanasi and Gorakhpur — ask the governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal to take all possible steps to foil any bids by terrorist outfits to strike in the aforesaid cities. Though an MHA official clarified that the alerts were not really based on specific and verified threats, he said the agencies “are not taking any chances on whatever information we have received.

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Terror Warning for Oil Tankers In Malacca Strait

Malaysia and Indonesia said on Thursday they are stepping up security in the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, following the Singapore navy’s warning of possible attacks on oil tankers.

The Singapore navy “has received indication a terrorist group is planning attacks on oil tankers in the Malacca Strait,” the Singapore Shipping Association said in an advisory. “The terrorists intent is probably to achieve widespread publicity and showcase that it remains a viable group.”

It did not name a group or say where the intelligence came from.

Malaysia’s coast guard said it was increasing security measures in the narrow waterway that tankers use to carry oil from the Middle East to Japan and China.

Indonesia is intensifying patrols there, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro told Reuters. “We will increase the security and step up patrols in that area. Oil tankers can pass, but we will increase our readiness.”

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Four Arrested in UK Terror Raids Includes BA Airline Employees

Three men were arrested in dawn raids this morning, taking to four the number being held over allegations of terrorism fundraising.

It follows the arrest on Thursday of a 30-year-old British Airways employee in Newcastle. A second BA staff member was among the group arrested this morning.

The three men, aged 31, 32 and 43, were seized by police at 5am today in Slough.

The men are now being questioned about a plot to fund a terrorist attack.

Police refused to clarify what positions the two BA employees had within the airline. Sources said the latest arrests were ’significant’.

A spokesman for British Airways said: ‘An employee was arrested in Slough today. We take all matters relating to security extremely seriously and as a responsible company always fully cooperate with the police.

‘As with any issue relating to a police investigation it would be inappropriate to comment further.’

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Morocco – Active Terrorist Cell Broken Up

Moroccan police have dismantled a terrorist network that was “active in several towns” of the north African kingdom, the state security service announced on Tuesday.The network included six members who “were planning to commit terrorist acts inside the national territory,” the security service said in a statement, without saying when the arrests took place.

“Within the framework of efforts by security forces to combat terrorism and extremism, these services dismantled a terrorist network of six people imbued with Takfirist ideology…,” the statement said.Takfiris are a tiny minority of Muslims in Morocco, but they believe that society and its leaders have turned away from the narrow path of what they see as true Islam.

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CIRA and RIRA Join Ranks in Ireland – Raises Threat Level

CIRA and RIRA Join Ranks in Ireland: Threat at Highest Level Since 1998 – Jenni Hesterman

Hidden in the news last week – a 250 pound bomb exploded in front of a court house in Newry, Northern Ireland on 23 Feb.

Reminiscent of a period known as “The Troubles” when IRA bombings were a regular occurrence in the UK, police received a message from the bombers and were able to clear the area just minutes before the device went off.

Takeaways from this bombing:

- Officials in Ireland know that due to the sophistication of the bomb and other data not released to the public that the CIRA and RIRA are now sharing tactics and have “crossfertilized”.

- Police were told the bomb was set to go off in 30 minutes, the actual explosion was 17 minutes after the call. Whether this was an attempt to also target first responders is unknown, but worthy of noting.

- This is the first large car bomb attack since the deadly Omagh attack in 1998 and the bombing of a police station in 2000.

- Other smaller attacks are taking place across Northern Ireland, including a live mortar left outside of a police station last week, and a car bomb that killed a police officer. The attacks are widespread and persistent.

Why should we care about the increased terrorist activity in Ireland?

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Jenni Hesterman - Counter Terror Forum

Jenni Hesterman is a retired Air Force colonel, a contributing editor for The Counter Terrorist magazine, a full professor of counter terrorism studies at American Military University and a senior Analyst for the MASY Group, a global intelligence and risk management firm.

In addition to this, she is the author of the blog: www.counterterrorforum.com and contributor to National Terror Alert.

Her blog, Counter Terror Forum highlights items of interest regarding threats to national security, terrorism, transnational crime, organized crime, and gangs.

The site also serves to support the law enforcement and intelligence community with open source reporting and analysis.

Libyas Gaddafi Urges Jihad Against Switzerland

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi called on Thursday for a “jihad” or armed struggle against Switzerland, saying it was an infidel state that was destroying mosques.

“Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against (the Prophet) Mohammad, God and the Koran,” Gaddafi said during a meeting in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi to mark the Prophet's birthday.

“The masses of Muslims must go to all airports in the Islamic world and prevent any Swiss plane landing, to all harbors and prevent any Swiss ships docking, inspect all shops and markets to stop any Swiss goods being sold,” Gaddafi said.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry said it had no comment on Gaddafi's remarks.

via Libya’s Gaddafi urges jihad against Switzerland | Reuters.

Afghan Soldiers and Taliban Trash Talk in Battle

It’s a remarkable combination of psychological warfare, political roundtable and trash-talking. Afghan soldiers and Taliban fighters taunt each other, debate each other and try to persuade each other almost daily over their radios, at times while even shooting at each other.

[...]

To the Taliban, religion is politics and they are willing to die for their way of life. At least half the Afghan Army’s and its government’s job here is to sell the Talibs on the notion that they can have their religion, they just have to keep the politics separate. Easier said than done when it comes to fundamental beliefs about the nature of being and whom the almighty favors.

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Green Prince – Son of Hamas Founder Spied for Israel

The son of one of Hamas’s founding members was a spy in the service of Israel for more than a decade, helping to prevent dozens of Islamist suicide bombers from finding their targets, it emerged yesterday.

Codenamed the “Green Prince” by Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of the Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, supplied key intelligence almost daily from 1996. He tracked down suicide bombers and their handlers from his father’s organization, the Haaretz newspaper said.

Information supplied by him led to the arrests of some of the most- wanted men by Israeli forces, including Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah leader tipped as a potential president, who was convicted of masterminding terrorist attacks, along with one of Hamas’s top bomb-makers, Abdullah Barghouti, who is no relation of the jailed Fatah chief.

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Cops Track Woman Who Helped Terror Suspect Headley -India

The trail of the German Bakery blast in Pune has led investigators to West Bengal and to a woman who was recruited by a local terror cell to assist 26/11 accused and US national David Coleman Headley. Investigators have found a concrete link between Headley and the Pune blast.

According to officers, Amir Raza Khan, who has been blamed for a spate of serial explosions in the country over the past few years, had teamed up with Headley to engineer the blasts, including that in Pune.

Raza is a resident of Kolkata and founder of the Amir Raza Commando Force. While he is now believed to be in Pakistan, the police say his girlfriend helped Headley establish his terror network. An investigator said the woman is still in India and was seen only two weeks ago.

“We have got information that Raza not only met Headley but also Tahawwur Rana to finalise the strategies for creating terror in India,” an officer said.

According to investigators, Raza had deputed his girlfriend to assist Headley when he was conducting reconnaissance trips across India.

“The woman, too, is from Bengal and is about 26 years old. Over the past two years, she travelled with Headley whenever he visited various Indian cities to establish his terror network. We have information that she was the one who had arranged the accommodation for Headley when he visited Ajmer, Kanpur and Delhi. At all these places, Headley stayed at hotels near local Chabad houses. For instance, in Ajmer, he took a room that was facing the Chabad House there,” an investigator said.

via Cops track woman who helped Headley: India Today – Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood..

al Qaeda Recruiting English Speakers and Women

al Qaeda in Yemen is actively recruiting English-speaking individuals according to intelligence officials in this Fox News report., Investigators say they are looking for people who are more like Americans, having been born in the United States or Canada. “Anyone who can fit in and not attract suspicion” is desirable to the terror network right now, said one official.

An investigative source also said that among those attracting attention by the intelligence community are women recruits. The next wave of terrorists may include Western women, possibly Canadian, with forged documents. The use of women would be seen an evolution in Al Qaeda's strategy from the failed Christmas Day attack by accused “underpants bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

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Talibans Top Commander Captured In Secret Joint Raid

The New York Times is reporting that the Taliban’s top military commander was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials.

The commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is an Afghan described by American officials as the most significant Taliban figure to be detained since the American-led war in Afghanistan started more than eight years ago. He ranks second in influence only to Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban’s founder, and was a close associate of Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mullah Baradar has been in Pakistani custody for several days, with American and Pakistani intelligence officials both taking part in interrogations, according to the officials.

via Secret Joint Raid Captures Taliban’s Top Commander – NYTimes.com.

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