US Navy Ships Target of Terror Plotters

US Navy ships in Bahrain were the target of an alleged terror attack, it was claimed in court yesterday.

Two Bahrainis, accused of smuggling weapons into the country, planned to attack US ships and personnel at Mina Salman, say prosecutors.

They, aged 22 and 21, were arrested on April 26 – the day of the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix – when police allegedly seized machine guns, weapons, computer discs and other evidence from their homes in East Riffa.

Both appeared before the High Criminal Court for the first time yesterday, where they denied plotting terror attacks and smuggling weapons and ammunition into the country.

Police believe the pair had met members of a terrorist cell (Al Qaeda) abroad.

Their arrest came after National Security Agency received information that the 22-year-old unemployed man, of Jordanian origin, had intensified contacts with the cell in Iran.

Officers obtained a search warrant and found tapes, CDs, computers, bank statements and exchange company documents in his house.

He then led police to the other – a 21-year-old junior customs officer – who possessed the smuggled weapons.

Police raided his house and found two machine guns, a pistol, bullets, knives and swords, the court heard.

They also seized several books on building missiles, rockets, weapons and explosives, and pictures of the American Base and Navy ships along with research and videos on jehad, alleged prosecutors.

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North Korea Ship Has Turned Around

A North Korean ship tracked by the US Navy and suspected of transporting weapons or military know-how in violation of UN sanctions has turned around, a Pentagon official said.

The official declined to provide details, including where the Kang Nam 1 ship — reportedly originally bound for Myanmar — could now be headed, but news reports out of South Korea suggested the ship may be returning home two weeks after it set sail June 17.

A diplomatic source speaking on condition of anonymity told the Korea Herald that the ship was “near our waters,” which could suggest that sanctions were having an effect on reclusive North Korea.

“If the ship is on its way back, it would mean that Resolution 1874 is taking effect and causing the North to retreat,” Kim Tae-woo, vice president of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, told the newspaper.

The Kang Nam 1 quickly drew the attention of the US military under new UN sanctions designed to punish Pyongyang over its May 25 underground nuclear test.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, confirmed Sunday that the United States was tracking the cargo ship.

“Obviously we’re pursuing and following the progress of that ship very closely,” she told the CBS network.

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Navy Tracking Possible North Korean Nuke Shipment

The Navy is tracking a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying illegal weapons, equipment or nuclear fissile material that North Korea has been prohibited from transporting by the U.N. Security Council, top U.S. defense officials said Thursday.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon that “clearly, we intend to vigorously enforce the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874,” although the Navy cannot use force to stop or board the vessel suspected of carrying the contraband.

A U.S. warship could hail the North Korean ship and ask to search it, and if the ship’s crew didn’t comply, the U.S. sailors could order the vessel to sail to the nearest port and request officials in that port to do the search — although the U.S. ship couldn’t use force for that, either.

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Mullen, who briefed reporters with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, gave few details about how the Navy was tracking the North Korean ship — whether U.S. warships or aircraft were shadowing it — and what led U.S. officials to believe it was carrying contraband material.

The U.N. Security Council voted to place additional strictures on North Korea after the country detonated a nuclear bomb May 25 and launched ballistic missiles into the ocean off Southeast Asia. One of the restrictions was that North Korean ships suspected of carrying nuclear material would be interdicted at sea, but the North has said it would consider the boarding of any of its ships as an act of war.

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Pentagon: Chinese Ships Harassed U.S. Naval Ship in International Waters

The Pentagon charged Monday that five Chinese ships shadowed and maneuvered dangerously close to a U.S. Navy vessel in an apparent attempt to harass the American crew.

The Obama administration said the incident Sunday followed several days of “increasingly aggressive” acts by Chinese ships in the region.

U.S. officials said a protest was to be delivered to Beijing’s military attache at a Pentagon meeting Monday.

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A Chinese intelligence ship and four others surrounded the USNS Impeccable, an unarmed vessel with a civilian merchant marine crew, as the craft conducted ocean surveys in international waters in the South China Sea, the Defense Department said in a statement.

The Impeccable sprayed one ship with water from fire hoses to force it away. Despite the force of the water, Chinese crew members stripped to their underwear and continued closing within 25 feet, the Defense department said.

“We expect Chinese ships to act responsibly and refrain from provocative activities that could lead to miscalculation or a collision at sea, endangering vessels and the lives of U.S. and Chinese mariners,” Upton said.

via Fox News