Feds Unsure If Arrests Have Foiled al-Qaeda Terror Plot

According to the New York Daily News, Federal agents from Denver and New York to Pakistan are still racing to solve an Al Qaeda bomb plot, unsure whether the arrest of three suspects has put the terror gang out of business.

“They’re still looking,” a senior counterterror official told the Daily News. As to whether they have identified all the conspirators, “nobody knows the answer for sure,” the official said.

FBI arrest documents showed prime suspect Najibullah Zazi, 25, an Afghan, visited the city from Colorado on the 9/11 anniversary carrying a laptop with bomb-making notes he wrote. Specific attack plans or targets remain unknown, a Justice Department statement said.

Zazi was collared in Aurora, Colo., near Denver, by the FBI on Saturday night and was charged with lying about the bomb notes. He’ll likely soon be slapped with tougher terrorism charges, sources said.

Also nabbed for lying to feds was Flushing mosque Imam Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, an NYPD snitch who the FBI says alerted Zazi and his father, Mohammed, 53, after cops quizzed him about the son.

The senior official said the feds believe the plot is now “compromised” and would be “hard to bring forward.”

“We think we have a pretty good handle on the threat, but we’d know a lot more if Afzali hadn’t tipped them in the beginning,” another insider said.

The source added that court papers released yesterday reveal only a “sliver” of the conspiracy.

“The FBI is investigating several individuals in the U.S., Pakistan and elsewhere, relating to a plot to detonate improvised explosive devices in the U.S.,” the Justice Department said.

The Zazis will appear in court today in Denver as Afzali comes before a federal judge in Brooklyn.

via Source – NY Daily News.

Terror Suspect Had Bomb Guide, Handwritten Notes

The central figure in what authorities describe as a widening inquiry into a possible plot to detonate explosives in the United States had been trained in weapons and explosives in Pakistan and, according to court papers released Sunday, had made nine pages of handwritten notes on how to make and handle bombs.

The court papers, released after the arrests in Colorado of Najibullah Zazi and his father, as well as that of an imam in Queens, showed that during a search in New York of the younger Mr. Zazi’s rental car on Sept. 11, agents found a laptop computer containing an image of the notes. According to a criminal complaint, the notes “contain formulations and instructions regarding the manufacture and handling of initiating explosives, main explosives charges, explosives detonators and components of a fusing system.”

Read Full Article – NYTimes.com.

Denver Terror Cell Plotting Attack At Center of New York Probe

The New York Daily News is reporting the Queens New York terror raids yesterday, are a part of FBI probe into Denver-based cell plotting attack on 9/11 scale.

According to the report here, the FBI probe that triggered raids in Queens is now focused on a Denver-based terror cell plotting another attack said to be on the scale of 9/11.

From the NY Daily news Article

Hundreds of FBI agents are on the ground in Colorado, conducting round-the-clock surveillance on five suspects including a man who recently visited Queens, sources told The News.

New York authorities searched three Flushing apartments and detained several men – later released – after getting a warrant to look for bomb-making components, explosive powders and fuses.

“The FBI is seriously spooked about these guys planning another 9/11,” a former senior counter-terrorism official told the News. “This is not some … FBI informant-driven case. This is the real thing.”

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told reporters it’s an ongoing investigation with plenty of “substance.”

The 24-7 counter-terror operation included Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants used to intercept calls and e-mails, as well as overseas-linked wiretaps to eavesdrop on Arabic and Pashto-speaking targets.

Read Full Article

From The Denver Post

The focus of an anti-terrorism investigation turned to Denver today, one day after federal authorities raided several New York City homes in an investigation sparked by a suspected al-Qaeda associate from Colorado.

Multiple news organizations are reporting that the suspect, a man known to friends as Najibullah, traveled to New York from Colorado, prompting the raids. The reports say agents in New York were looking for bomb-making components.

There has been no official announcement about the investigation’s details. Kathleen Wright, spokeswoman for the Denver FBI, said she could not confirm or deny that the agency is surveilling or investigating a terror suspect in Colorado.

Denver police referred calls to the FBI.

Read Full Article

Denver Man Detained And Released

A Denver man, detained and then released Monday in connection with the New York City terrorism raids, had recently traveled to Pakistan before he showed up in New York last Thursday with bomb-making documents, other law enforcement officials told ABC News.

Hundreds of FBI agents are “on the ground in Colorado, conducting round-the-clock surveillance on five suspects,” the Daily News reported.

Source

Terrorists Shifting Focus to Soft Targets

Bombing hotels abroad is becoming more attractive to terrorists… because it’s easier. As military and government targets get harder to hit, the global intelligence company Stratfor says terrorists are content to strike hotels and other soft targets instead.

Stratfor says the number of attacks on hotels has more than doubled since Sept. 11. 2001, when compared with eight years before. Injuries and deaths have increased sixfold when compared with the same period.

And when terrorists check in as guests, it gives them full access to the grounds. Such was the case in the July 17th suicide attacks at the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Indonesia.

Stratfor also says al-Qaida is changing from a centralized organization with global goals to regional “franchises” with more parochial aims and strong grass-roots support.

Source

Al-Qaeda Threatens Spectacular Attacks On UK

In an astounding revelation, Al-Qaeda extremists have claimed that home-grown terrorists are plotting to attack targets in Britain. According to reports, in an internet magazine read by thousands of Islamic extremists Al-Qaeda has labeled Britain and Europe as a bigger enemy than the United States.

It further says that the strikes are being planned by terrorists living in Britain and others overseas, and warns of “spectacular attacks”, ‘The Sun’ reports.

The site is promoted by supporters of deported hate preacher Abdullah al-Faisal who was booted out of Britain after serving a jail sentence for being found guilty of three charges of soliciting the murder of Jews, Americans, and Hindus, and two charges of using threatening words to stir up racial hatred.

Source

Rusty has more over at Jawa.

Egypt Nabs Al-Qaida-linked Terror Cell Plotting Suez Attacks

Egyptian authorities have arrested 25 al-Qaida-linked terrorists on suspicion of plotting attacks on oil pipelines and ships crossing the Suez Canal. On Thursday, a Palestinian-led cell planning terror attacks on ships crossing the Suez canal was nabbed in Egypt.

The Egyptian Interior Ministry said the new cell was led by a Palestinian and included 24 Egyptians, mostly engineers and technicians.

They planned to use mobile phones to detonate explosives against ships crossing the Canal, the statement said.

The group learned how to make car bombs through communicating with al-Qaeda terrorists on jihadist websites, according to an Interior Ministry statement.

Source

Police Search For 2nd Terror Cell In UK

A second al-Qaeda terror cell is believed to be planning carnage in the UK.

Senior security sources last night revealed they are hunting extremists aiming to bomb a location such as a nightclub or shopping centre.

They believe the cell will target London rather than the North- West, where 11 men were arrested on Wednesday, as the capital holds more “international significance”.

Evidence gleaned from the arrests was revealed to Cobra, Whitehall’s emergency committee of intelligence chiefs and ministers.

One source said: “We are investigating whether the men were being used to set up attacks while the second group would carry them out. We expect more arrests.”

Despite security services’ claims about imminent attacks no weapons, explosives or bomb factory have been uncovered.

An 18-year-old was freed into the custody of Border authorities for deportation. Those still in custody refuse to talk. “They are more or less mute,” said the source.

Source

Austrian Al-Qaeda Cell Watched For 3 years

he Austrian public prosecutor’s office has reportedly been investigating an Austrian cell of worldwide terror network Al-Qaeda for three years.

The magazine News will have a report about that in its edition that goes on sale tomorrow (Thurs) based on documents allegedly in the possession of the Office for Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism (BVT).

The magazine claims US officials informed their Austrian counterparts at the end of 2005 that Austrian citizen Abdulrahmen H., born in Mödling, Lower Austria in 1983, and four others had trained as para-militaries at an Al-Qaeda camp in Pakistan from August to October 2005.

News said Abdulrahmen, the head of the Austrian Al-Qaeda cell, had been killed along the Afghan-Pakistani border and another cell member had died in Afghanistan. The magazine added three other cell members were abroad, one in prison in Tunisia.

News also reported BVT investigators had questioned a former Al-Qaeda member in October 2007 in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina about the training of Austrian cell members at Al-Qaeda camps.

The magazine added that, according to the charge against German terror suspect Aleem Nasir, Abdulrahman H. had trained at explosives expert Nasir’s “Mir Ali” camp in Pakistan.

Source

Terrorism Recruiting Manual Discovered By West Point Researchers Worries Authorities

For months now, counterterrorism officials have seen signs that al-Qaida has been looking for new and innovative ways to recruit terrorists, including a new manual that has surfaced on the Internet.

Researchers at West Point recently stumbled on the 51-page manual while they were visiting a jihadi chat room, called Ecles. It’s a Web site that allows members to have interactive discussions, post videos and download manuals. Ecles is the second most popular jihadi chat room on the Web, and al-Qaida often posts things there. Because of that, it is a place counterterrorism analysts track regularly.

So when the West Point analysts discovered a step-by-step primer called “The Art of Recruiting Mujahedeen,” it got their attention. On one level, the manual might be an early indication that al-Qaida is trying to identify new sleeper terrorists. On the other hand, the book is so basic it seems to suggest al-Qaida is getting desperate for new members.

Brian Fishman, the head of research at West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center, says he was struck by the remedial tone of the book. At the end of a chapter, for example, there are questions to judge both the recruiter’s progress and the recruit’s.

“The recruiter himself doesn’t have to use a lot of judgment — they are simply the intermediary for the technique that is being taught in the handbook,” Fishman says.

Here’s how the manual, as translated by the CIA, suggests a recruiter build a rapport with a recruit:

“This stage lasts approximately three weeks,” it says. “You must do something important at this stage. You must identify his interests and relations with people and how he spends the whole 24 hours, meaning you study him secretly to be reassured about your choice.”

This section touches on such things as being nice to the recruit. It suggests the recruiter pretend to be his friend, perhaps even buy him small gifts. It ends with a questionnaire to assess progress. “Is the recruit anxious to see you?” it asks. You get one point for “no” and three points for “yes.” Does he accept your advice and respect your opinion? It reads a little like one of those relationship quizzes in women’s magazines. “If you have received less than 10 points, you are on the wrong path, repeat the stages from the beginning. From 10 to 18, you are on your way.”

Read Full Article At NPR

Homegrown Jihad: The Terrorist Camps Around the U.S.

Watch The Trailer Here

Homegrown Jihad: The Terrorist Camps Around the U.S. premiered On February 11, 2009, at 7:30 pm. at the Landmark Theater in Washington, DC.

According to the press release, “The American public was never supposed to know. The 2006 Justice Department document that exposes 35 terrorist training compounds in the U.S. was marked “Dissemination Restricted to Law Enforcement.” All the copies of Sheik Muburak Gilani’s terrorist training video, “Soldiers of Allah,” had been confiscated and sealed, all of them, that is, except one that Christian Action Network now reveals in the documentary Homegrown Jihad: The Terrorist Camps Around the U.S.” Read more

Al-Qaeda Satellite Cell Smashed – Karachi

A militant Al-Qaeda satellite cell linked to Pakistan’s top Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, and other jihadi organisations was targeted in a major raid by security forces in Karachi on Friday.

Three key militants died during the raid on the cell, which was allegedly planning a campaign of destruction. Their targets are believed to have included the bureau of the country’s intelligence services (ISI), NATO supply lines from two Karachi ports and anti-Taliban politicians.

The satellite cell had direct links to Baitullah Mehsud and Qari Zafar, the alleged mastermind of the devastating bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel, which killed at least 53 people and injured 260 others in Islamabad last week.

Security officials were reluctant to confirm it but it is understood to have been the same cell that was behind the 18 October assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when she returned from exile. Bhutto was later killed in a second attack in December.

A key Al-Qaeda militant, Rahimullah, alias Ali Hasan (Photo), was arrested during Friday’s raid, that was conducted by a joint team of Pakistani police and intelligence agencies on the outskirts of Karachi’s Baldia Town, near the border of restive Balochistan province.

While three militants died in the raid, Rahimullah was taken into custody.

Sultan Umer, Siddiq Mehsud, cousin of Baitullah Mehsud, and Waseem Bengali are believed to be the men killed in the raid on Friday. All were members of Laskhar-i-Jhangvi, an Islamist terror group linked to Al-Qaeda.

However, mystery surrounds the whole episode as police previously stated that the three men had committed suicide by blowing up their jackets but in the hospital their bodies were intact.

Rahimullah, a Karachi-based ethnic Pashtun, has in the past been linked to Laskhar-i-Jhangvi and Harkat-i-Jehad-i-Islami, another jihadi group linked to Al-Qaeda and is alleged to have killed several high profile religious clerics.

He was believed to have been involved in various incidents, including attacks on the US Consulate in Karachi which has been the target of several suicide attacks between 2002 and 2006.

Security sources said while there was only a single cell that had been smashed in Friday’s raid, Rahimullah’s arrest could help uncover the funding networks used by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda from the Middle East.

Police also found the body of Shaukat Afridi, a contractor who transported NATO supplies from Karachi to Afghanistan through tankers. He was abducted from Clifton Karachi in May 2008 and his captors were demanding 64,000 dollars ransom.

He was believed to be killed in a cross fire between the police and militants.

Full Article

Hezbollah Training Hit Squads In Iran: U.S.

Iraqi Shiite assassination teams are being trained in at least four locations in Iran by Tehran’s elite Quds force and Lebanese Hezbollah and are planning to return to Iraq in the next few months to kill specific Iraqi officials as well as U.S. and Iraqi troops, according to intelligence gleaned from captured militia fighters and other sources in Iraq.

A senior U.S. military intelligence officer in Baghdad described the information Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. Read more

One Man Terror Cell The New Face of al Qaeda

The creation of one-man terror cells seems to be the new strategy of Al Qaeda terrorists.

Intelligence officials have discovered an online Al Qaeda manual that prescribes that group leaders should training new recruits to operate as smaller cells around the globe. Read more