Islamist Militants In Mumbai Terror Attack Pretended To Be Malaysians!

Several of the Islamist militants who attacked Mumbai this week visited the city a few months ago and lived there for a while pretending to be students, the Times of India reported on Saturday.

Quoting from interrogation reports of one of the militants taken into custody, the newspaper said nine militants rented an apartment in the Colaba area of downtown Mumbai, near where the attacks were carried out.

The group often visited the two luxury hotels that were among the city landmarks attacked on Wednesday night, it added.

The militants, who were mainly Pakistanis, pretended to be Malaysians during their reconnaissance visit, the newspaper said.

At least 10 militants slipped into Mumbai this week after hijacking an Indian fishing trawler in international waters and killing the four crew, it said. They came ashore in rubber dinghies and the trawler was found abandoned off Mumbai.

In all, 16 militants took part in the attack, the newspaper said, but it did not give details on how the others may have entered the city.

At least 144 people have been killed and more than 280 wounded in the attacks. Indian commandos were still trying to flush out two or three militants holed up in the Taj Mahal hotel. (Reuters)

***** For a live coverage of the ongoing commando operation and gunbattle, click HERE.

Mayhem In Mumbai - Coordinated Terror Attack. At Least 82 Killed

Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital Wednesday night, killing at least 82 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said. A group of suspected Muslim militants claimed responsibility.

Parts of the city remained under siege as dawn approached Thursday, with police and gunmen exchanging occasional gunfire at two hotels and an unknown number of people still held hostage, said A.N. Roy, a top police official. Soldiers also took up positions across the city.

A raging fire and explosions struck the landmark Taj Mahal hotel shortly after midnight. Screams could be heard and black smoke billowed from the century-old edifice on Mumbai's waterfront. Firefighters sprayed water at the blaze and plucked people from windows and balconies with extension ladders.

The attackers specifically targeted Britons and Americans, witnesses said. Officials said at least 200 people were wounded.

The motive for the onslaught was not immediately clear, but Mumbai has frequently been targeted in terrorist attacks blamed on Islamic extremists, including a series of bombings in July 2006 that killed 187 people.

State home secretary Bipin Shrimali said four suspects had been killed in two incidents when they tried to flee in cars, and Roy said two more gunmen were killed at the Taj Mahal. State Home Minister R.R. Patil said nine more were captured. They declined to provide any further details.

An Indian media report said a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen had claimed responsibility for the attacks in e-mails to several media outlets. There was no way to verify the claim.

Police reported hostages being held at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, two of the best-known upscale destinations in this crowded but wealthy city.

Gunmen who burst into the Taj "were targeting foreigners. They kept shouting: "Who has U.S. or U.K. passports?" said Ashok Patel, a British citizen who fled from the hotel.

Authorities believed seven to 15 foreigners were hostages at the Taj Mahal, but it was not immediately clear if hostages at the Oberoi were Indians or foreigners, said Anees Ahmed, a top state official. It was also unclear where the hostages were in the Taj Mahal, which is divided into an older wing, which was in flames, and a modern tower that was not on fire.

State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said U.S. officials were not aware of any American casualties, but were still checking. He said he could not address reports that Westerners might be among the hostages.

"The United States condemns this terrorist attack and we will continue to stand with the people of India in this time of tragedy," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. "President Bush offers his condolences to the Indian people and the families of the innocent civilians killed and injured in the attacks."

Johnny Joseph, chief secretary for Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, said 82 people had been killed and 120 had been wounded.

Officials at Bombay Hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a Japanese man had died there and nine Europeans were admitted, three of them in critical condition with gunshot wounds. All were brought in from the Taj Mahal, the officials said.

At least three top Indian police officers - including the chief of the anti-terror squad - were among those killed, said Roy, the senior police official.

Blood smeared the floor of the Chhatrapati Shivaji rail station, where attackers sprayed bullets into the crowded terminal. Press Trust of India quoted the chief of the Mumbai railway police, A.K. Sharma, as saying several men armed with rifles and grenades were holed up at the station.

Other gunmen attacked Leopold's restaurant, a landmark popular with foreigners, and the police headquarters in southern Mumbai, the area where most of the attacks took place. The restaurant was riddled with bullet holes and there were blood on the floor and shoes left by fleeing customers.

Officials also reported that terrorists attacked the city's Cama and Albless Hospital and G.T. Hospital, but it was not immediately clear if anyone was killed in those places.

A British citizen who was dining at the Oberoi hotel told Sky News television that the gunmen who struck there singled out Britons and Americans.

Alex Chamberlain said a gunman, a young man of 22 or 23, ushered 30 or 40 people from the restaurant into a stairway and ordered everyone to put up their hands. He said the gunman spoke in Hindi or Urdu.

"They were talking about British and Americans specifically. There was an Italian guy, who, you know, they said: 'Where are you from?" and he said he's from Italy and they said 'fine' and they left him alone. And I thought: 'Fine, they're going to shoot me if they ask me anything - and thank God they didn't," he said.

Chamberlain said he managed to slip away as the patrons were forced to walk up stairs, but he thought much of the group was being held hostage.

Early Thursday, several European lawmakers were among people who barricaded themselves inside the Taj, a century-old seaside hotel complex and one of the city's best-known destinations.

"I was in the main lobby and there was all of a sudden a lot of firing outside," said Sajjad Karim, part of a delegation of European lawmakers visiting Mumbai ahead of a European Union-India summit.

As he turned to get away, "all of a sudden another gunmen appeared in front of us, carrying machine gun-type weapons. And he just started firing at us ... I just turned and ran in the opposite direction," he told The Associated Press over his mobile phone.

Hours later, Karim remained holed up in a hotel restaurant, unsure if it was safe to come out.

The British Foreign Office said it was advising all British citizens in Mumbai to stay indoors.

Britain's foreign secretary, David Miliband, strongly condemned the attacks. "Today's attacks in Mumbai which have claimed many innocent victims remind us, yet again, of the threat we face from violent extremists," Miliband said in a statement.

India has been wracked by bomb attacks the past three years, which police blame on Muslim militants intent on destabilizing this largely Hindu country. Nearly 700 people have died.

Since May a militant group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen has taken credit for a string of blasts that killed more than 130 people. The most recent was in September, when a series of explosions struck a park and crowded shopping areas in the capital, New Delhi, killing 21 people and wounding about 100.

Mumbai has been hit repeatedly by terror attacks since March 1993, when Muslim underworld figures tied to Pakistani militants allegedly carried out a series of bombings on Mumbai's stock exchange, trains, hotels and gas stations. Authorities say those attacks, which killed 257 people and wounded more than 1,100, were carried out to avenge the deaths of hundreds of Muslims in religious riots that had swept India.

Ten years later, in 2003, 52 people were killed in Mumbai bombings blamed on Muslim militants and in 2006 a series of seven blasts on railway trains and at commuter rail stations killed at least 187.

Relations between Hindus, who make up more than 80 percent of India's 1 billion population, and Muslims, who make up about 14 percent, have sporadically erupted into bouts of sectarian violence since British-ruled India was split into independent India and Pakistan in 1947. (Huffington Post)

***** I'm sure that the influence of yoga on people had nothing to do with the terrorist bombings in Mumbai. Since some of the extremists have been captured we can expect that over the next few days and weeks, details about the groups responsible for this senseless violence will come out.
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Is Malaysia Protecting Thai Insurgents?

From Bangkok Post, Breaking News

The government of Malaysia knows that extremists from southern Thailand have crossed the border to take refuge in Malaysia, media reported from that country on Wednesday.

Last week, Thai authorities said three insurgents had fled into Malaysia to try to hide among either extremist sympathisers or the general Malaysian population.

The New Straits Times quoted "sources" in the border town of Kota Baru as saying authorities "are aware of the presence of several suspected Thai militants" in the upper east coast provinces of Kelantan and Terengganu.

Both provinces have many residents who are sympathetic to the separatist demands of the Thailand-based insurgents and terrorists.

"Sources said the authorities had been monitoring these groups for the past few years but had yet to take any action against them as they were living here legitimately and had not committed any offence," said the national newspaper.

"The men are also believed to have dual identity cards."

Earlier reports said three religious teachers known as ustaz and four other Thai men had fled to Malaysia to escape arrest in connection with a series of bombings in the deep South.

"Kelantan police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi declined to comment on the matter, saying that it was a sensitive issue," according to the reports on Wednesday.

***** The unsaid implication of the above report is that Malaysia is stirring shit in Thailand by siding with terrorists. As a fellow ASEAN member could we possibly be participating in such an unneighbourly act? Let's not forget that we are a 'model Islamic nation' which had never encouraged or had a hand in spreading terrorism. Or have we?
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Indonesia Becoming Terrorist Complacent; Malaysian Government Fuelling Radical Islam - Study

The decline of the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) has led some Indonesian political leaders to believe that further counter-terrorism measures are unnecessary, a new study says.

Security experts Dr Carl Ungerer and Dr Peter Chalk also warn that Malaysian ruling party polemics, designed to win the ethnic Malay vote, appeared to be producing an environment conducive to the emergence of Islamic extremism.

The study, released on Wednesday by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) surveyed the evolving terrorist threat in Southeast Asia.

That includes Muslim radical movements in the Philippines and southern Thailand, but most importantly for Australia, the activities of JI in Indonesia.

JI is blamed for terrorist attacks on Bali in October 2002, which killed 202 people including 88 Australians, and in October 2005 which killed 23 including four Australians.

JI also is blamed for the attacks on the Jakarta Marriott Hotel in August 2003 and on the Australian embassy in Jakarta in September 2004. Each attack killed 11.

The study said JI had been hard hit by Indonesian security forces, assisted by Australia, with key members captured or killed. It had now split into a small pro-bombing group and another, more moderate group.

Dr Ungerer and Dr Chalk said JI could still count on a hard core of 900 militants and continued to represent a significant threat to Australian and regional security interests.

"Complacency will remain one of the biggest challenges Australia faces in pursuing its counter-terrorism strategies in the region. There are already some signs of this in Indonesia," they said.

"According to one Indonesian analyst, elements of the political leadership in Jakarta believe that the terrorist problem has diminished and that further counter-terrorism initiatives against JI are unwarranted or, at the very least, are unnecessary.

"Moreover, there appears to be little genuine effort across the Indonesian government to understand the underlying support dynamics or the continuing role of religious schools associated with the JI movement and affiliated jihadist groups."

Dr Ungerer and Dr Chalk said Australia needed to pay close attention to the internal dynamics of states not presently afflicted by Muslim conflicts.

Cambodia had been identified as a potential extremist logistics hub because of lax border controls, endemic corruption, entrenched criminal activity and the presence of a substantial Muslim population.

They said another state to watch was Malaysia, praised for its effective counter-terrorism stance, but which produced some of JI's most infamous leaders. "It has become increasingly apparent that radical Islam is being fuelled, somewhat paradoxically, by the policies of the central administration," they said.

"Various commentators have observed that a troubling enabling environment for extremism may have begun to surface as a result of the polemics of the ruling United Malays National Organisation, which aims to give institutional expression to a more fundamentalist ideology in order to win the Malay ethnic vote and, thereby, outflank the Parti Se-Islam Malaysia opposition." (THE AGE, Australia)

***** The irony is that Pak Lah's much touted Islam Hadhari was to supposed to usher in a more moderate face of the religion. Instead, like the state of our politics, the reverse seems to be the reality. What our PM had intended to do and what really happened are glaring opposites. Eliminate corruption he said, but we are deeply entrenched in slime at the moment. He talked the talked, but when push came to shove he didn't walk, he balked. And therein lies the tragedy of good intentions, roughly wrestled down and shattered by a lack of genuine leadership.

Indefinite Jail For Indian-Origin 'Osama Bin London'

Indian-origin Briton, Mohammed Hamid, who was recently convicted in the UK as a major recruiter for Islamist extremism, has been sentenced to indefinite imprisonment for public protection.

Hamid, 50, of east London, allegedly organised secret training camps, one of which was attended by the four failed suicide bombers of 21 July 2005.

Hamid on Friday was jailed for seven-and-a-half years - but told he would not be released until he had reformed.

Hamid was born to Indian parents in Tanzania, and later moved to England. He grew up in Batley, Yorkshire.

The trial judge at the Woolwich Crown Court Justice Pitchers also jailed Hamid's accomplice Atilla Ahmet, who made hate speeches alongside Hamid, for six years and 11 months.

The Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence against Hamid was the first use of the powers in a terrorist case.

The police say that Hamid, who once described himself as "Osama bin London", played a crucial role in grooming young men for terrorism and possible training overseas.

Justice Pitchers told him: "Mohammed Hamid, you are, in my judgement, dangerous. You can be quite genuinely amusing and charming. You also have real knowledge of the Koran and Islamic teaching. However, that is only one side of you.

"You used your charm and knowledge of the Koran to influence others to terrorism. I believe you have sent trainees to Afghanistan. You continue to be a danger, not directly from your own actions, but from your ability to persuade others by criminal actions to commit terrorism offences themselves."

Hamid was found guilty of three counts of soliciting to murder and three counts of providing terrorism training.
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Lee Kuan Yew Warns S'pore Must Brace Itself If Terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari Escapes To Indonesia

The city-state must brace itself for a "return hit sometime" if accused terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari has escaped to Indonesia, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew warned in a published report on Saturday.

The alleged leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamish's (JI's) Singapore branch, who fled from a detention centre last month, would not be able to launch an attack if he is still in Singapore, Lee said in a media wrap-up after a week-long visit to three Gulf nations.

The escape of the 47-year-old man accused of plotting six years ago to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport is a "very severe lesson in complacency" and shows that the city-state is not infallible, said Lee, Singapore's founding prime minister."We should have known that here is a man who has had several escapes," The Straits Times quoted Lee as saying. "But obviously, he is a very wily sort of person and must have won the confidence of whoever were his custodians."

"So when he said he wanted to go to the toilet, they allow him to go," Lee said. "Whether the toilet had bars and there was no exit from the windows, that has to be explained."

Authorities have not disclosed details of how Mas Selamat managed to escape from the Internal Security Department's detention centre, triggering criticism and ridicule on the internet for the country that has long prided itself for its security and restrictions.

Mas Selamat's escape has sparked the biggest manhunt in Singapore's history.

"I give him full marks for having won the confidence of his custodians - that he's completely docile, completely passive and he's going to remain in captivity," Lee said.

The public has been urged to be on the lookout for a man with a limp in a greenish-gray long-sleeved, hip-length shirt popular with Malays, which has been determined to be missing from Mas Selamat's belongings.

Still convinced the escapee is in Singapore, police are not relaxing their scouring of forests, jungle areas and the shores and seas. Inspections at checkpoints to Malaysia have left vehicles waiting for up to 15 hours.

Indonesia's army has also beefed up border patrols and set up roadblocks. The Java-born Mas Selamat fled Singapore in December 2001 and was subsequently arrested twice in Indonesia for violating the country's immigration laws. He was sent back to Singapore in 2006.

The escape shows "that it is a fallacy, it is stupid to believe we are infallible. We are not infallible. One mistake and we've got a big explosive in our midst. So let's not take this lightly," Lee was quoted as saying.

He called it a "very severe lesson of complacency." The authorities had been confident that they had their prisoner "sized up,' but he had sized up his custodians in turn.

Lee said he was not so worried as long as the fugitive had not made arrangements prior to his escape and was still in Singapore.

"He can't assemble an explosive in Singapore on his own, he can't get a team in Singapore, a JI team, to mount an attack," said Lee, referring to the South-East Asian terrorism network.

If he can get into Indonesia he "has his old networks," Lee said. "Then we have to watch out for a return hit sometime."

More than 1,000 officers from the Special Operations Command, police land divisions, Gurkhas and immigration officers have been involved in the search.

At the Singapore government's request, Interpol sent a photograph, fingerprints and other information to its 186 agencies worldwide, identifying the fugitive as a "potential threat to the safety and security of the public at large around the world."

Mas Selamat was also accused by the ministry of having been involved in plans to attack the US Embassy, the American Club and Singapore government buildings in retaliation for the city-state's arrest and detention of fellow JI members. (Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan)

***** To be constantly on guard for terrorist attacks by this person is a heavy price to pay for a momentary lapse of vigilance.
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Doom Lies Ahead If Taliban Prevail - Afghan President Karzai

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said his country, along with Pakistan, faces "gloom and doom" from Taliban insurgents, and called for the world to "join hands" to defeat the Islamist rebels.

In an interview published on Sunday by the Washington Post, Karzai also said that the United States had been supportive of Kabul's positive relationship with Iran, despite the tension between Washington and Tehran.

Asked about the strength of the Taliban in their attacks inside Afghanistan, Karzai suggested that the group has external backers.

"They would not be strong without support," he said.

Karzai, who had just returned from Pakistan, declined to specify who is backing the Taliban, which US intelligence has said receives support from tribal areas on Pakistan's western border.

But Karzai said that "Pakistan and Afghanistan and the United States and the rest of the world must join hands in sincerity in order to end this problem."

He said that he found Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf "more cognisant of the problems of extremism and terrorism. And that's a good sign, and I hope we will continue in that direction."

"We have to end extremism. We have to end support to extremism in the region," he added. Unless we do that, the picture is one of doom and gloom - for Pakistan, and as a consequence for Afghanistan."

Karzai applauded the US support for his government in Afghanistan - including the planned deployment of 32 000 US Marines - and the battle against terrorism as "fundamental and strong".

But he added: "It will make a difference when the Americans are clear and straightforward about this fight," saying the US should "mean what they say and do what they say".

He said that Washington had encouraged Kabul in its close relationship with Iran, despite US-Iran tensions. "We have had a particularly good relationship with Iran the past six years. It's a relationship that I hope will continue," Karzai said.

"The United States very wisely understood that it was our neighbour and encouraged that relationship," he said.

"We don't like a nuclear region, of course. Nobody wants nuclear weapons... But the United States has been very understanding and supportive that Afghanistan should have a relationship with Iran." (Independent Online)
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Al-Qa'ida Sent Me To Kill Bhutto, Says Teenager

A teenage suspect arrested in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas has told police that he was a member of a team sent by an al-Qa'ida-linked militant leader to kill the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto last month.

Aitezaz Shah, 15, had confessed to investigators he had been part of a five-man squad deployed on 27 December in Rawalpindi, where Ms Bhutto was killed, a senior intelligence official said. Shah said the killers were dispatched by Baitullah Mehsud, a militant leader from the South Waziristan region with strong ties to al-Qa'ida and an alliance with the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan. Shortly after Ms Bhutto's assassination, President Pervez Musharraf's government said it had intercepted a phone call in which Mehsud congratulated the perpetrators. A spokesman for the leader denied the claim.

There were suspicions that the authorities might be seeking to cover up the possible involvement of members of the military or intelligence, but last week, the CIA said it had concluded that people in Mehsud's network, aided by al-Qa'ida, were responsible.

Maulvi Mohammed Umar, a purported spokesman for Mehsud, denied his group had links with Shah, or that he had been dispatched by Mehsud to kill Ms Bhutto, calling the claim "government propaganda".

Ms Bhutto died after an attacker fired at her, then detonated an explosive vest which killed at least 20 other people. The teenager is said to have identified the attacker as "Bilal", aided by a man called "Ikram". Shah was arrested in Dera Ismail Khan with another suspect called Sher Zaman. He allegedly told officials he had been ordered to carry out a suicide attack on a Shia mosque there today during the feast of Ashura, and Zaman was to give him an explosive vest.

On Friday, the military said that up to 90 Islamic militants aligned with Mehsud had died in clashes with Pakistani troops in South Waziristan. (The Independent On Sunday)
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Iran Is World's Leading State Sponsor Of Terror: US President George W Bush

US President George W Bush said on Sunday that Iran is threatening the security of the world, and that the United States and Arab allies must join together to confront the danger "before it's too late."

Bush said Iran funds terrorist extremists, undermines peace in Lebanon, sends arms to the Taliban, seeks to intimidate its neighbors with alarming rhetoric, defies the United Nations and destabilizes the entire region by refusing to be open about its nuclear program.

"Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terror," Bush said in a speech he delivered about midway through his eight-day Mideast trip that began with a renewed push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace pact - an accord he said whose "time has come."

"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere," Bush said. "So the United States is strengthening our long-standing security commitments with our friends in the Gulf, and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late."

Bush lauded democratic reforms in Gulf nations ruled by authoritarian leaders. He said the Iranian government in Tehran needs to make itself accountable to its people. And he called on the Palestinians to reject extremists, although he did not mention the Islamic radical group Hamas, which has gained control of the Gaza Strip.

"This new era is being built with the understanding that power is a trust that must be exercised with the consent of the governed," Bush said.

Bush spoke at the Emirates Palace, an opulent, gold-trimmed hotel where a suite goes for US$2,450 (euro1,656) a night. Half the audience was dressed in western attire and the other half in Arabic clothes - white robes and headdresses for men and black abayas, many with jeweled edges, for women.

Bush said advancing democracy and freedom is the core of his administration's foreign policy and critical to US security.

"The United States has no desire for territory. We seek our shared security in your liberty. We believe that stability can only come through a free and just Middle East where the extremists are marginalized," the president said.

In renewing his "Freedom Agenda" - Bush's grand ambition to seed democracy around the globe - he declared that "democracy is the only form of government that treats individuals with the dignity and equality that is their right."

"We know from experience that democracy is the only system of government that yields lasting peace and stability," he added.

Yet he was speaking about democracy in a deeply undemocratic country, the Emirates, where royal rulers make virtually all the decisions. Large numbers of foreign resident workers have few legal or human rights, including no right to citizenship and no right to protest working conditions.
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Plot By Islamic Terrorists To Blow Up Eiffel Tower Foiled

A plot by Islamic terrorists to blow up the Eiffel Tower, which could have been the French 9/11, has been unearthed.

A scrambled short-wave radio conversation exposing the planned attack on the world’s most visited monument was picked up by Portuguese air traffic controllers and passed on to French spy chiefs.

The 1,060 ft high tower has on an average more than 16,000 visitors a day and a successful strike on the iron tower, could cost thousands of lives.

The plot was uncovered in a “vague and muffled’’ radio conversation picked up by air traffic controllers in Lisbon, the Daily Mail reported.

A police source close to France’s DST intelligence agency said, ‘’It was a muffled conversation in Arabic that was passed on to us as a matter of course, but our analysts clearly identified the threat.’’ “Security at the tower was already tight, but is now being stepped up.’’

The plot comes in the wake of other threats made in recent days on the websites linked to Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda terror network, calling for the “brothers of Islam to strike Paris.’’ (DNA)
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Morocco Jails 50 Islamists For Terror Plots

A Moroccan court convicted 50 radical Islamists on Friday of plotting bombings and robberies and jailed them for up to 25 years, court officials and lawyers said. They were members of the Ansar el Mehdi, "Mehdi Partisans" group, and shortly after they were rounded up in 2006 the authorities seized explosives and laboratory equipment.

The government said the group planned to declare 'holy war' in northeast Morocco, had recruited members of the police and the military and planned to rob banks and convoys and use the money to buy more explosives.

Their leader, Hassan Khattab, was jailed for 25 years and the 49 others were sentenced to between two and 20 years in prison, including four women who got five-year jail terms. All the defendants pleaded not guilty. One man who stood trial with the others was acquitted. Khattab smiled to display his indifference as the judge read out the sentences. "We did nothing to get such sentences. We left our children alone and hungry," said Abdesalam Debibeh, who was sentenced to eight years in prison.

The court found the defendants guilty of plotting to bomb government buildings and tourism landmarks in Casablanca and other cities and belonging to an illegal group, collecting money to fund terrorism and undermining state security and public order.

During the trial Khattab broke his silence only to deny the charges against him, attack the Moroccan government as an "apostate dictatorship" and assail its ally, the United States. "I say to (US President) Bush 'we are coming to attack you,'" he said. "One day we will manage to wipe you out."

Moroccan police have broken up more than 50 cells and arrested some 3,000 people since 2003, when suicide bombings killed 45 people in Casablanca. (TOI)
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Writer On Prominent Radical Islamic Web Site Gloats Over Benazir Bhutto's Death

A writer on a radical Islamic web site forum gloated over slain Pakistani People’s Party leader Benazir Bhutto’s recent tragic death.

The article headline read, “Another sworn enemy of Allah hit the dust.” The commentary was carried on the Al-Ekhlaas forum, which the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) in an Oct. 2007 bulletin said has become “become one of the most prominent and popular Islamist forums.”

MEMRI added, “Al-Ekhlaas posts communiqués and videos by terrorist organizations like the Islamic State of Iraq (affiliated with al-Qaeda Iraq) and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, as well as materials by religious scholars who support the mujahideen, including fatwas, essays and books. In addition, it serves as a platform where Islamists exchange information and views on operational and ideological issues.”

Apparently penned by an individual calling himself Abu Haitham, the post read in part that “Bhutto’s death was Allah’s answer to … an apostate who sold her religion for a miserable price.”

The writer than asked who killed Bhutto and who stands to benefit the most. He said that many people believe Bhutto’s death is the work of al-Qaeda, which, he opined, as being quite likely.

Then Haitham said, “As an apostate, Bhutto should (have been) not only (an) al-Qaida target, but a target for every Muslim. Her blood and wealth were legal. However, al-Qaida has not confirmed or denied responsibility. And unless they do, or unless a solid evidence emerges, no one can make such claim with certainty.”

Haitham added some more shocking rhetoric. He said, “Muslims will be extremely happy if sending Bhutto on a one way trip to … hellfire was the work of Allah at the hands of al-Qaida or any Muslim.”

The post criticized Bhutto as being “American to the bone” and “an enemy of Allah,” and implied she was basically just a pawn of the United States. The writer commented, “She was Harvard educated and has gone through the amazing American mill (which) … is almost like magic. One enters the machine from one end and, regardless of ethnic or religious background, he/she exits from the other end as an American as an apple pie.”

Haitham concluded by saying, “May Allah bring more tyrants to their disgraceful death. May Allah protect the leaders of Jihad against the cross worshipers, Osama bin laden, Ayman Zawahri, Mulla Omar, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, Abu Hamzah al-Muhajir and all other leaders and Mujahedeen everywhere and keep them as thorns in the side and the throats of all infidels and apostates.”

In addition to the posting with its evident happiness over Bhutto’s death (and thousands of other commentaries, links and videos about a variety of other issues), a news release from the Al-Fajr Media Center, a group associated with Iraqi terrorists, was also available on the Al-Ekhlaas forum.

Detailing and praising the killing and wounding of a number of American soldiers it read in part, “ … two roadside bombs were detonated at this patrol in another place leaving three of its soldiers killed, and others wounded to reach the total of 13 crusader soldiers killed – may Allah kill them all on … every Muslim’s Land … All praise and gratitude are due to Allah.”

The release continued with a prayer, “O Revealer of The Book, Mover of the clouds, Destroyer of the co-coalition (the enemies), destroy the co-coalition. Destroy the spiteful … Zionist Crusaders and whosoever aids them. O Allah, make them and their weaponry a booty for the believers. O Allah defeat them, destroy them O the All-Strong, the All-Mighty.”

In an Oct. 2007 statement, MEMRI said that Al-Ekhlaas is currently hosted by four different servers: three in the U.S. and one in Malaysia. (Jeremy Reynalds, News By Us)
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Benazir Killing: "It's Against Our Culture To Attack Woman," Says Taliban

Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban

In a new twist to the killing of former Premier Benazir Bhutto, the Taliban commander blamed by the Pakistan government for masterminding the assassination denied any involvement in the attack.

Maulvi Muhammad Omar, a spokesman for Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, said in Peshawar on phone from an undisclosed location that the government was trying to implicate Mehsud to cover up its ‘failure’ to provide security to Bhutto.

"We are sad over Benazir Bhutto's death. We do not have any enmity with Pakistani leaders and are only opposed to the US," Omar said and described the government's claims about Mehsud's involvement in the suicide attack as ‘propaganda’.

The Interior Minister had on Friday blamed Mehsud and al-Qaida for a series of suicide attacks across Pakistan and the assassination of Bhutto, who was killed by a suicide attacker after an election rally in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said al-Qaida was bent on destabilising Pakistan.

Mehsud was recently chosen as chief of the Tehrik Taliban-e-Pakistan, a coalition of pro-Taliban groups from Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas.

Maulvi Omar said it was against tribal culture and traditions to attack a woman.

Omar also said a transcript released by the Interior Ministry of a purported conversation in which Mehsud apparently congratulated another person for the attack on Bhutto was ‘fabricated’. "Mehsud never congratulated anyone for the killing of Benazir Bhutto," he said. (Express India.com)

***** Everything seems to be in a state of disarray in Pakistan following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. There is so much confusion about what killed her; whether it was the gunshots, the suicide bomb or the impact which resulted in a fractured skull. Even the injuries sustained by her is shrouded in mystery. Now there are accusations, counter-accusations and denials over who really was responsible. Only time will unravel the true story behind this dastardly crime.

Malaysia Frees Four Suspected Militants Held For Five Years Under the ISA

Jemaah Islamiah's 'Future' Islamic State
Malaysia has freed four suspected Islamic militants held without trial under a tough security law for five years, a rights group said on Friday.

Malaysia can detain people for consecutive two-year terms without trial under internal security laws used mostly against suspected members of militant groups such as Jemaah Islamiah (JI), which is fighting for an Islamic state in Southeast Asia.

This month, five ethnic Indian activists from a group that had staged a mass anti-government protest were detained under such laws.

The GMI group, which opposes detention without trial, said the four suspected militants had been freed on Dec. 19 from a detention centre in northwestern Malaysia.

It said three of the four men -- Bakkery Mahhamud, Mohd Zamri Sukirman and Sabri Jaafar -- had been detained in December 2002 and the fourth, Zamzuri Sukirman, in January 2003.

Internal Security Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.

The government has said in the past it would release detainees if they no longer posed a threat.

Malaysia has used the Internal Security Act, a legacy of its counter-insurgency campaign against the communists during British colonial times, to lock up dozens of suspected Islamic militants since Sept. 11, 2001.

The GMI rights group welcomed the release of the four, but said it was concerned by the residency curbs imposed on them and said many others were still in detention without trial.

"There are scores of detainees who are still being detained in the Kamunting Detention Camp, for the same allegations as those who were released," the group said in a statement.

Under Malaysia's Restricted Residence Act, the government can order people to remain within restricted zones around their homes and to report regularly to police.

The GMI called for all detainees at Kamunting to be either freed or charged and tried in court. (Reuters India)
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Bali Bombers' Only Regret Is That Muslims Died In The Attack

The three Indonesians sentenced to die for the 2002 Bali blasts, which killed more than 200 people, say they are ready to be executed and their only regret is that Muslims died in the attack.

The three militants - Imam Samudra, Mukhlas and Amrozi, who was dubbed "the smiling bomber" because of his constant grin during the trial - are being held at Indonesia's top security Batu Prison off the southern coast of Java.

They met family members yesterday in what is likely to be the last such visit before they are executed by firing squad.

"People ask me, why am I smiling? I am happy because I will be united with 72 angels in heaven," said Amrozi.

"In the past I have killed many with my bombs. I have been tested by spending time in this prison, but if you make infidels angry you will be rewarded. And soon I will enjoy the fruit of my deeds, if I get executed, God willing," he said.

The two blasts on Bali's Kuta strip on October 12, 2002, one at Paddy's Bar, the other at the Sari Club, killed 202 people including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesian citizens.

The attacks were blamed on southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah.

Amrozi, a motorcycle mechanic, his brother Mukhlas, and Imam Samudra were the only three involved in the bombings to be sentenced to death.

"My brother Amrozi was visited by a dead friend in a dream last night, who told him a flying creature with a golden saddle is waiting to take him to heaven. This is why we will not ask for pardon," Mukhlas said. (Gulf News)

***** Mental illness manifests itself in many ways, occasionally comedic while at other times with tragic consequences.
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Al-Qaeda Reaches Out To Youth With Flashy Websites

Over 100 English Internet sites, packed with flashy videos of car bombings and other terror strikes, are helping spread the message of the so called jihad by Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups among Muslims in the US and Europe, taking advantage of their anger over Iraq war.

While their reach is difficult to assess, it is clear from a review of extremist material and interviews that militants are seeking to appeal to young American and European Muslims by playing on their anger over the war in Iraq and the image of Islam under attack, The New York Times reported quoting terrorism experts.

Tedious Arabic screeds, it reports, are reworked into flashy English productions. Recruitment tracts are issued in multiple languages, like a 39-page, electronic, English version of a booklet urging women to join the fight against the West.

There are even online novellas like 'Rakan bin Williams,' about a band of Christian European converts who embraced Al-Qaeda and "promised God that they will carry the flag of their distant brothers and seek vengeance on the evil doers," it adds.

Militant Islamists are turning grainy car-bombing tapes into slick hip-hop videos and montage movies, all readily available on Western sites like YouTube, the online video smorgasbord. "It is as if you would watch a Hollywood movie," Abu Saleh, a 21-year-old German fan of Al-Qaeda videos, was quoted as saying. He visits Internet cafes in Berlin twice a week to get the latest releases.

The Internet has totally changed. Al-Qaeda and its followers, the Times says, have used the Internet to communicate and rally support for years, but in the past several months the Western tilt of the message and the sophistication of the media have accelerated.

For the full report click HERE.
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Bali Bombers Will Not Ask for Clemency

Three Indonesian militants on death row for their involvement in planning the Bali bombings five years ago said on Saturday they were ready to die and would not seek a presidential pardon.

Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas, also known as Ali Gufron, were sentenced to death for the October 12, 2002, resort island bombings in which over 200 people died. They face execution by a firing squad after the country's top court rejected their appeal.

"Clemency is not from Islamic law. I have been living as a Muslim and will die as a Muslim," state news agency Antara quoted Imam Samudra as saying after Eid al-Fitr prayers at their prison mosque on Nusakambangan island in Central Java.


"Clemency is only proposed by guilty people and we are not among the guilty people," he said. "Even if were we to die right now, God willing, we will enter heaven as martyrs."

The three men have already said in a statement read by their lawyers that they will not seek a presidential pardon and that if they are executed, their death will bring "light to the faithful and burning hellfire for the infidels".

Indonesia's Constitutional Court is expected to rule on October 30 on a petition challenging the legality of the death penalty which was filed by lawyers for six Australians on death row for drug trafficking in Bali.

It is not clear if a decision in favour of the petition would affect the fate of the Bali bombers.

Hundreds of activists, religious leaders and other Indonesians have signed a petition calling on the government to scrap the death penalty altogether. "Various studies show that the death penalty has no deterrent effects," said a statement by the Alliance for the Abolition of the Death Penalty. Signatories includes leaders of Indonesia's main religions, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Amnesty International has also appealed to Indonesia to commute all death sentences and spare the Bali bombings trio. "Executions can create martyrs whose memories become a rallying point for their organisations," Amnesty said in a statement.

The bombings in Bali and other attacks that have hit Indonesia in recent years have been blamed on the Southeast Asian Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah.

But analysts say the security threat from Jemaah Islamiah (JI) appears to have been contained. "The threat from JI is much less than it was five years ago," said Sidney Jones, Southeast Asia director of the International Crisis Group think-tank. JI still exists as an organisation but most of its members aren't interested in bombing."

The last big bomb attack in Indonesia was over two years ago when three Islamic militants blew themselves up in beachside restaurants in Bali, killing 20 people. (Independent Online)
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Saudi Youth Exploited To Commit 'Heinous' Acts For Jihad, Says Grand Mufti

Saudi youth are being exploited and misled by foreign groups to commit crimes in the garb of Jihad, Board of Senior Ulema and Administration of Islamic Research Chairman Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Mohammad Al Shaikh has said.

''Saudi youth have been exploited by foreign suspicious circles under the banner of jihad to commit heinous acts for destructive goals,'' he pointed out.

In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the grand mufti warned young Saudis against travelling abroad for jihad.

He attributed lack of sufficient knowledge of Islam and proper guidance as the main factors that created problems for young men in differentiating between right and wrong, Gulf News reported.

He pointed out that getting involved in acts of destruction was in clear defiance of the ''state leader and Ulema'' and could corrupt the whole nation.

''By doing so, these young men violate divine commandments as they disobey their legitimate ruler, subjugate their will to people with deviant ideologies and advocate fundamentalism and extremism,'' Shaikh Abdul Aziz noted.

He urged the youth to strictly abide by the Islamic principles and teachings, fear God and obey rulers.
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Two Egyptian Students Indicted For Carrying Explosive Material In The US

Two Egyptian students at the University of South Florida were indicted Friday for carrying explosive materials across states lines and one of them was charged with teaching the other how to use them for violent reasons.

Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24, an engineering graduate student and teaching assistant at the Tampa-based university, faces terrorism charges for teaching and demonstrating how to use the explosives. He and Youssef Samir Megahed, 21, an engineering student, were stopped for speeding August 4 in Goose Creek, South Carolina, where they have been held on state charges.

The two men were stopped with pipe bombs in their car near a Navy base in South Carolina where enemy combatants have been held. They were held on state charges while the FBI continued to investigate whether there was a terrorism link. Mohamed was charged with distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction, which is a terrorism-related statute, a Justice Department official said. The crime carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.

He and Megahed both face with charges of transporting explosives in interstate commerce without permits, which carries a 10-year prison penalty. Their defense attorney, Andy Savage, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The indictment was handed up in Tampa, Florida. In South Carolina, where Mohamed and Megahed have been held in the Berkeley County jail, U.S. Attorney Reginald I. Lloyd praised state and federal authorities for cooperating in the four-week investigation that initially did not look like a terrorism case.

"The arresting deputy's vigilance and the immediate response of our local investigators and prosecutors are highly commendable," Lloyd said in a statement.

Since the August 4 arrest, authorities sought to determine whether Mohamed and Megahed were fledgling terrorists or merely college students headed to the beach with devices made from fireworks they bought at Wal-Mart in their car, as they claimed. The local sheriff in South Carolina said the explosives were "other than fireworks."

The charges follow several searches in Tampa, including of a storage facility and a park where the explosives might have been tested, authorities said. Both Mohamed and Megahed are in the county legally on student visas, officials said.

***** These two students were in the US legally on student visas. If things like this keep happening, there will come a time when innocent Muslim students would have no country to go to, or which will accept them, other than Islamic states.
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Islamic Militants Held Under ISA For Four Years, Freed.

Malaysia's government has freed another four suspected Islamic militants jailed without trial for more than four years but authorities have restricted their movements, activists said Monday.

It was the second release this year of alleged militants held under the Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial. Four men were freed in June.

The latest four releases came on Aug. 15, 16 and 17 from the Kamunting prison camp in northern Malaysia, rights group Abolish ISA Movement said in a statement. The suspects were freed on the condition that they remain within the districts in which they live.

Three of the men — Shukry Omar Talib, Mohammed Kadar and Mohamad Azmi Abdul Karim — were arrested in early 2002 while Shahime Ramli was detained in March 2003. All were held on suspicion of being members of the regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, the rights group said.

The group called for the restrictions to be lifted so that they could return to normal life. It also slammed the "selective releases" of ISA detainees by authorities, saying another 40 JI suspects held under the security law remained in Kamunting.

The group called on the government to "release or prosecute all ISA detainees in Kamunting."

Internal Security Ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment. The government usually does not publicly announce the release of people held under the ISA. No reason was given for the release, but security officials have said in previous cases that suspects were freed after they repented following intensive rehabilitation.

Hundreds of people were arrested under the ISA in a sweep against Jemaah Islamiyah and its local affiliate, Kumpulan Militan Malaysia, mostly between 2001 and 2003. Jemaah Islamiyah is widely blamed for a string of terror attacks in the region, most notably the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly Western tourists.

Malaysian opposition groups and activists have called for the ISA to be repealed, saying the law is widely abused to silence dissidents, but officials insist it is necessary to protect national security and ensure stability. (International Herald Tribune)
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