AMU Intelligence

Global Security Brief: 5-7-08

A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news.
By Professor Joseph B. Varner


Global War on Terror
A roadside bomb hit a police vehicle in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two officers. The blast happened just outside the capital of Khost province as the officers traveled from their homes to work. On Tuesday, the U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops detained 13 suspected militants during a raid in Zadran district of the neighboring Paktia province, the coalition said in a statement. One man received a head injury during the operation. He was transported to a military hospital for treatment.
Troops found weapons and ammunition following the search of the compounds. Militants are active in the country’s east where they use the porous borders with Pakistan to move men and equipment into Afghanistan. (Source: AP)


A Canadian soldier was killed yesterday and another soldier was injured when they came under enemy fire during a patrol in the Pashmul region of the Zharey district in Afghanistan. (Source: Northumberland Today-CAN)


Unknown gunmen riding on a motorbike shot dead two policemen in Pakistan’s south-west Balochistan province. The officers were on routine patrol in Sariab Road area of the provincial capital Quetta when they came under fire. Both died on the spot while the assailants managed to flee from the area. (Source: TopNews.In)


Pakistan Interior Ministry is learnt to have cautioned the Sindh Home Department about the entry of as many as five members of Baitullah Mehsud group into Karachi to carry out suicide bombings in the city. Baitullah Mehsud is a tribal leader in the Waziristan region, and is known to have worked with and aided both the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but his primary objective is defending tribal autonomy and territory. His suicide bombers may target officials and government property of the Port City. (Source: ANI)


U.S. officials are being advised in internal government documents to avoid referring publicly to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups as Islamic or Muslim, and not to use terms like jihad or mujahedeen, which “unintentionally legitimize” terrorism. Instead, in two documents circulated last month by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), the multiagency center charged with strategic coordination of the U.S. war on terror, officials are urged to use terms such as violent extremists, totalitarian and death cult to characterize al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. (Source: Washington Times)


Al-Arabiya television reports it has identified the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the network broadcast his photograph. The Dubai-based network, citing an Iraqi police official, said the real name of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who allegedly heads the Islamic State of Iraq, is Hamid Dawoud al-Zawi. Originally from Haditha, al-Baghdadi served in the Iraqi army under Saddam Hussein, then joined Al Qaeda in 2003, the police official told Al-Arabiya. The U.S. has described al-Baghdadi as a fictitious character. (Source: Fox News)


Iraq
A rocket slammed into Baghdad’s city hall and another hit a downtown park Tuesday as more frightened civilians fled a Shiite militia stronghold where U.S.-led forces are locked in fierce street battles. The American push in the Sadr City district, launched after an Iraqi government crackdown on armed Shiite groups began in late March, is trying to weaken the militia grip in a key corner of Baghdad and disrupt rocket and mortar strikes on the U.S.-protected Green Zone. But fresh salvos of rockets from militants arced over the city, wounding at least 16 people and drawing U.S. retaliation that escalated civilian panic and flight to safer areas. One rocket, apparently aimed at the Green Zone, blasted the nearby city hall. Three 122 mm rockets hit parts of central Baghdad, including destroying some playground equipment in a park. An Iraqi police station was damaged by a rocket that failed to detonate. U.S. forcing used airstrikes and tank fire against suspected militia positions following a rocket attack late Monday in Sadr City, the military said. At least six people were killed. An attack aircraft later fired two Hellfire missiles and killed three militants who were planting a roadside bomb in the Shiite neighborhood of New Baghdad on Tuesday. At least four civilians were killed in the clashes. The latest battles came as the Pentagon announced plans to cut U.S. troop strength by about 3,500 toward its goal of withdrawing the bulk of its “surge” forces sent last year into Baghdad and surrounding areas.
In the northern city of Mosul, one U.S. soldier was killed in an attack by Sunni insurgents on an American patrol. (Source: AP)


Iraq’s ambassador to the U.S. said yesterday that a high-level committee will investigate Iran’s role in arms trafficking across his country’s borders, after the discovery of large caches of weapons and explosive devices recently manufactured in Iran. (Source: Washington Times)


John Bolton, America’s ex-ambassador to the U.N., has called for U.S. air strikes on Iranian camps where insurgents are trained for war in Iraq. Mr Bolton said that striking Iran would represent a major step towards victory in Iraq. While he acknowledged that the risk of a hostile Iranian response harming American’s overseas interests existed, he said the damage inflicted by Tehran would be “far higher” if Washington took no action. (Source: Telegraph-UK)


United States
At the end of a tattered, sunbaked runway dotted with large green tents here is a building aptly called the Expeditionary Legal Complex Courtroom, surrounded by coils of concertina wire, where the most notorious alleged terrorists in U.S. custody are supposed to face charges related to the September 11, 2001, attacks. Nearly seven years later, however, not one of the approximately 775 terrorism suspects who have been held on this island has faced a jury trial inside the new complex, and U.S. officials think it is highly unlikely that any of the September 11 suspects will before the Bush administration ends. (Source: Washington Post)


A senior administration official said Wednesday America’s spy agencies for the first time would be tasked with gathering intelligence on threats to the nation’s computer networks under a policy that could be detailed by the White House as early as next week. Speaking at a security conference in Washington, the official said the Bush administration wants to harness the intelligence community’s offensive capabilities in defense of government and civilian computer systems. (Source: Washington Post)


Africa
The tiny port nation of Djibouti, a key U.S. ally in the Horn of Africa, has urged the U.N. Security Council to take immediate action to prevent a conflict with its northern neighbor Eritrea. In a letter to the council president circulated Tuesday, Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said Eritrea has launched a major military buildup on their border overlooking critical Red Sea shipping lanes. He accused Eritrea of carrying out “an undisguised and naked provocation against my country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” More than 1,200 U.S troops are stationed in Djibouti, which hosts the base for an anti-terrorism task force in the Horn of Africa. France also has a base in Djibouti, its former colony. (Source: AP)
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1399409
The peacekeeping force in Darfur said Tuesday it was still trying to evacuate those wounded in airstrikes two days earlier that an aid group reported left 12 people dead, including six children. The U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Ameerah Haq, called for immediate access to the wounded. (Source: AP)
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=582272
The main militant group in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern region said Tuesday that it is willing to cease hostilities if the federal government agrees to mediation by Jimmy Carter.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said the former U.S. President had accepted their invitation to help negotiate an end to the long-running conflict that has disrupted petroleum exports and contributed to the sharp rise in oil prices. (Source: AP)
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=673581
Zimbabwe, already facing a presidential run-off, hit new electoral turmoil on Wednesday after the ruling party and opposition filed legal challenges to half of the parliamentary results from March’s polls. State media said President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, which lost its majority for the first time in the March 29 election, was now challenging the outcome in 53 of the 210 constituencies while the opposition was disputing 52. The Herald newspaper, the government’s mouthpiece, said the volume of petitions filed with the electoral court had prompted the country’s chief justice to appoint 17 more judges there. (Source: AFP)
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080507/twl-zimbabwe-vote-4bdc673.html
Burundi’s last rebel group, the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), said on Wednesday it would return home to implement a long-awaited peace deal and drop its demand for an amnesty, boosting hopes for peace in the tiny country.
(Source: Reuters)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07781611.htm
Americas
Canada’s border control agency doesn’t know the whereabouts of 41,000 people ordered to leave the country, a national government watchdog agency said Tuesday. The report by Auditor General Sheila Fraser criticized the Canada Border Services Agency for failing to monitor observance of its removal decisions. The agency said in the report that it agreed with all of the auditor’s recommendations for improvements. Fraser’s report said the agency lacked contact information for 41,000 of the 63,000 people ordered to leave the country as of September 2007. It said the majority ordered deported were rejected refugee applicants and didn’t pose “a very high risk to the public.”
The report said the agency removed about 12,600 individuals in 2006 and 2007, including 1,900 criminals who “posed a high risk to Canada.” (Source: AP)
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1399337
Colombia extradited one of the country’s most feared paramilitary warlords to the United States early Wednesday to face drug trafficking charges. Carlos Mario Jimenez was flown to Washington, D.C., via Miami on a Drug Enforcement Administration plane, according to President Alvaro Uribe’s office. The announcement came just hours after Colombia’s top judicial panel overturned a Supreme Court decision that had temporarily blocked the extradition. (Source: AP)
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1399606
A suspected international arms dealer is accused of conspiring to sell to Marxist guerrillas in Colombia millions of dollars worth of weapons to be used to kill Americans there, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed yesterday in New York. U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia said the indictment stated that Viktor Bout had carried out his weapons-trafficking business since the 1990s by assembling a fleet of cargo airplanes capable of transporting weapons and military equipment to various parts of the world, including Africa, South America and the Middle East. (Source: Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080507/NATION/130753341/1002
Asia
The leaders of Japan and China called for a new era in relations at a summit Wednesday, pledging to hold annual meetings, resolve an angry dispute over maritime gas deposits and not allow their bitter history to divide them. The carefully choreographed summit between Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao, the first visit by a Chinese president to Tokyo in a decade, was aimed at bolstering ties between the Asian giants. (Source: AP)
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1398881
New outbreaks in China reported Wednesday put the number of children infected with hand, foot and mouth disease above 15,000 and the death toll has risen to at least 28 across the country. A 2-year-old girl in the southern province of Hunan died of the disease after being in a coma, the provincial health bureau said on its Web site.
Another death was reported in the neighboring Guangxi region, Guangxi health officials said but did not give any details. The official Xinhua News Agency said the victim was a 3-year-old boy who died May 3. (Source: AP)
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1397348
Following Saturday’s devastating Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar it is now reported that nearly 22,500 were killed and some 41,000 missing. About 1 million people are homeless and about 5,000 sq km (1,930 sq miles) remain underwater in Irrawaddy delta. (Source: Reuters)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP320706.htm
Europe
Polish authorities charged the Kuwaiti ambassador’s son with briefly abducting three Jewish teenagers at a hotel and claiming he had a bomb, police said Tuesday. The 23-year-old son of Ambassador Khaled Al-Shaibani, identified only as Mohammad A., was charged with holding the teenagers against their will. (Source: AP) http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1399397
Russian and U.S. officials signed a key agreement on civilian nuclear power Tuesday that could give Washington access to Russian technology and potentially hand Moscow lucrative deals on storing spent fuel. The deal, signed on the eve of Dmitry Medvedev’s inauguration as president, signals a reversal in policy for the U.S. administration on cooperating with Russia on nuclear issues. Cooperation had cooled in recent years, mainly due to disagreements over how to handle Iran’s perceived nuclear threat. (Source: AP)
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1398975
Dmitry Medvedev has taken the Russian Presidential oath of office, succeeding his patron Vladimir Putin. Wednesday’s inauguration ceremony in the Kremlin’s golden-hued Andreyevsky Hall brings Putin’s eight years as president to an end. But Putin is sure to continue to wield huge influence in the country. One of Medvedev’s first acts as president is expected to be the nomination of Putin as Prime Minister. Medvedev in turn has pledged to continue the policies pursued by Putin. (Source: AP)
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1399623
Middle East
Israel was bracing on Tuesday for a possible eruption in the political landscape if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigns or is suspended over the latest corruption probe into his affairs. The atmosphere of uncertainty has been heightened by a whirl of rumors and speculation due largely to a media blackout imposed on details of the case against the 62-year-old premier. The anti-fraud investigation is the fifth such probe of Olmert’s dealings before he became prime minister in 2006, although one case against him has been dismissed. He has denied any wrongdoing. (Source: AFP)
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080506/twl-mideast-israel-politics-corruption-o-575b600.html
Israeli tanks and bulldozers rumbled into the southern Gaza Strip early Wednesday, and Israel Air Forces aircraft struck a series of targets. At least 11 Palestinians, most of them militants, were wounded in the fighting. Palestinian witnesses said a total of 25 tanks and armored bulldozers entered Abassan, an area east of Khan Younis, setting off battles with local militants. Israeli aircraft carried out at least three airstrikes, including one attack that struck six Hamas militants. Three of the men were in critical condition.
Five other Palestinians, including one civilian, were wounded in two other airstrikes. After months of fighting, Egypt has been trying to mediate a truce between Israel and Hamas. The Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, is expected in Israel early next week to discuss his efforts, though it remains unclear whether he will be able to forge a deal. (Source: Ha’aretz)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/981576.html
At least three people were wounded Tuesday as Palestinian security forces who were trained in a U.S.-funded program battled gunmen in a northern West Bank town long known for its lawlessness. The operation marked the first major test for a group of Presidential Guard officers who are at the forefront of a $28 million U.S. effort to bolster the Palestinian Authority’s security capabilities through training and equipment. The effort is considered vital as the Palestinian Authority negotiates a peace deal with Israel, which has sharply criticized the authority for not doing enough to crack down on armed groups. In Tuesday’s clashes, one person, a 20-year-old student, was critically wounded by a bullet to the head, security and medical officials said. Two other people were later shot in the legs. (Source: Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/06/AR2008050602085.html
Israeli security has been stepped up in recent days following an increase in intelligence warnings of terrorist plans to carry out attacks during the Independence Day holiday.
Security sources that in recent days the number of specific warnings has risen to 11, from seven two weeks ago. These warnings have led the Shin Bet security service and the Israel Defense Forces to raise their levels of preparedness. In parallel to the specific threats, there are till dozens of warnings that intelligence assessments term “general.”
(Source: Ha’aretz)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/981374.html
Supporters of Lebanon’s Hizbullah-led opposition blocked main roads in Beirut with burning barricades on Wednesday, paralyzing the city and deepening a political conflict with the US-backed government. The opposition supporters set cars and tires ablaze to block the main road to Beirut’s international airport, where air traffic was suspended because of a strike by staff taking part in a labor union protest to demand higher wages. The opposition has backed the strike. Activists loyal to Hizbullah, a political group with a guerrilla army and backing from Iran and Syria, also blocked routes to Beirut’s main commercial district. (Source: Ynet News)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3540581,00.html
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urged Washington on Tuesday to show more sensitivity in dealing with Iran if it hopes to see Tehran make concessions on its nuclear program. The diplomats, speaking to The Associated Press after a meeting between IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei and Undersecretary of State John Rood, said the American diplomat made no commitments, but promised to take ElBaradei’s concerns back to his superiors. Rood, the top U.S. official on nuclear nonproliferation, declined to go into details of his discussions with ElBaradei beyond confirming that Iran and Syria were among the topics of the meeting. But one diplomat, who agreed to discuss the substance of the confidential meeting only on condition of anonymity, said ElBaradei urged the U.S. to broaden its approach to Iran to address Tehran’s economic and security concerns in exchange for nuclear concessions. (Source: AP)
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1399358

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