down with murder inc

Fear is the mindkiller: surely some co-incidence!?

Bioterror: fear of the invisible; threataganda...

UK Ricin scare non-existent
In April 2004 ten Iraqis and North Africans were arrested in the north of England on suspicion of planning to bomb Manchester United's football stadium. The individuals were detained for eight days but no charges were made. It later emerged that the so called terrorists were Manchester United fans and the supposedly incriminating tickets were for a game two years previously.
Similarly in December 2002 nine Algerian men were arrested for supposedly setting up a ricin poison factory. No ricin was ever found and no criminal charges were brought. As with the war in Iraq the evidence is non-existent. socialist review
Kerry says threat of terrorism is exaggerated - Wash Times
Scientists say bioterror threat 'exaggerated'
Tom Inch, who chairs the UK chemical weapons convention advisory committee, told the meeting that if terrorists used a chemical agent in a confined space such as the London Underground, "some people would die but not a huge number high explosives would be far more dangerous." Fear and panic would probably do more harm than a nerve agent or toxin such as ricin.
The problem for terrorists, Dr Inch said, is that even the deadliest chemicals are extremely difficult to distribute in a way that causes mass casulties. unknown news scrapbook

Since the 9/11 attacks hundreds of people have been arrested in the UK under anti-terror laws, but only a handful convicted. - BBC
MI5 chief reveals terror threat
In her lecture hosted by City of London police, she also defended the government over accusations it had tried to manipulate public opinion before the Iraq war by sending in troops to protect Heathrow Airport from a terrorist attack.
She said the accusation the government had sent tanks to Heathrow Airport in February as a cynical ploy was "quite wrong". BBC

Bush wins 2004 US election using fear as a platform

Bush wins majority of senate, Now has similar control over democracy to Blairs majority in UK Parliament

Blair visits Bush after election 'victory'

Blair uses terror to prepare for elections

What do they hope to acheive?
Same levels of fear as seen in the USA

Nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim-Americans, according to a nationwide poll.
Dec. 17, 2004 ITHACA, N.Y. - The survey conducted by Cornell University also found that Republicans and people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing Muslims civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious.
Researchers also found that respondents who paid more attention to television news were more likely to fear terrorist attacks and support limiting the rights of Muslim-Americans.
Its sad news. Its disturbing news. But its not unpredictable, said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society. The nation is at war, even if its not a traditional war. We just have to remain vigilant and continue to interface.
The survey found 44 percent favored at least some restrictions on the civil liberties of Muslim Americans. Forty-eight percent said liberties should not be restricted in any way.
The survey showed that 27 percent of respondents supported requiring all Muslim-Americans to register where they lived with the federal government. Twenty-two percent favored racial profiling to identify potential terrorist threats. And 29 percent thought undercover agents should infiltrate Muslim civic and volunteer organizations to keep tabs on their activities and fund-raising. - The Associated Press

Blair : War on terror NOT a war on muslims
because we have agreed to let Turkey enter the EU in TEN YEARS TIME!!!
The Prime Minister said the decision to start talks was characterised by a feeling of "people wanting to work together and come together". He added: "Even though this is obviously over a significant timeframe, this is very important and I think it's a good day for Europe, for Turkey and for the wider world." Mr Blair suggested that it would be "at least a decade before this membership comes about". He admitted 'concerns' existed over religious issues, but insisted: "The important thing is that we're stating as a fundamental principle the fact that [just because] Turkey is a Muslim country does not mean it should be barred from the European Union.
"That is a very, very important signal right across the world."
The decision would increase security and prosperity in Europe and the wider world, he added.
The Prime Minister also stressed that Turkey would be treated the same as the previous accession countries and that the "Copenhagen criteria will apply". source
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had earlier said that the offer to Turkey of a firm start date for negotiations for their entry into the European Union was a 'very big prize'. - PMs statement

Turkey and the United States have an important strategic relationship,Turkey's democracy is an important example for the people in the broader Middle East, and I want to thank you for your leadership."
Bush to Erdogan in front of the cameras

Turkeys big EU prize? For what? Censoring news on Iraq?

"I'm being interviewed by many outlets. Today, one of them was by reporters for one of the larger newspapers in Turkey, the Yeni Safak Newspaper.
I'll leave the reporters nameless, for reasons you'll soon see.
The newspaper has been translating various articles of mine into Turkish and running them, particularly those concerning the most recent Fallujah massacre. The report who was interviewing me today told me that the former American consulate here, Eric Edelman, asked the Prime Minister of Turkey to pressure his paper to not run so many of my stories.
"Why did he do this," I asked him.
"Edelman said it was the wrong news," he told me with a smile.
Turns out Edelman also asked that articles by Robert Fisk and Naomi Klein not be run so often in Yeni Safak either."
Dahr Jamail via rense

er Drug running?

The FBIs Office of International Operations, in conjunction with the CIA and the US State Department counter-narcotics section, the United Kingdoms MI6, Israels Mossad, Pakistans ISI, the US DEA, Turkeys MIT, and the governments and intelligence agencies of dozens of nations, were in one way or another involved in the illicit drug trade either trying to stop it or benefit from it. What can be surmised from the public record is that from 1998 to September 10, 2001, the War on Drugs kept bumping into the nascent War on Terror and new directions in US foreign policy.-

It's easy to imagine the thousands of drug couriers, middlemen, financiers and lab technicians moving back and forth between Pakistan and Turkey, and over to Western Europe and the United States, and the tidbits of information they gleaned from their sponsors as they traveled. As information gathering assets for the intelligence agencies of the world, they must have been invaluable. And given the dozens of foreign intelligence services working the in the counter-narcotics/terrorism fields, the "chatter" that just dozens of well-placed operatives may have overheard about attacks against Western targets must have found its way into the US intelligence apparatus. But, again, who could believe the audacity of non-state actors organizing a domestic attack against the supreme power of the day, the USA? Implementing a new strategic direction and business deals may have overcome the wacky warnings from the counter-narcotics folks.

Back in the late 1990's and early 2000, who would have believed the rants of a drug courier from Afghanistan saying that some guy named Bin Laden was going to attack America, particularly if it involved America's newest friend, Turkey? Or that a grand design to reshape Central Asia and the Middle East with Turkey and Israel as pivot points was being pushed by the Clinton Administration as a matter of national policy. A Fantastic Tale Turkey, Drugs, Faustian Alliances & Sibel Edmonds - John Stanton

Drug use and
drug trafficking in Europe

Trapped in a
web of
covert killers

On the Trail
of Turkey's
Terrorist Grey Wolves

Turkey's Terrorists:
A CIA Legacy
Lives On

The 1981
Assassination Attempt of
Pope John Paul II,
The Grey Wolves, and
Turkish & U.S.
Government Intelligence
Agencies

Former CIA/DIA deep-cover agent "Chip" Tatum reveals more disturbing details about high-level control of global drug-running and money-laundering operations - by David G. Guyatt [part 1][part 2]

The CIA needs you

ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE - UNCENSORED

"Faced with their biggest crisis of the post-war period, the end of the Red Menace which justified the budgets, the careers and the gongs, they have emerged with budgets renewed, new agendas approved; untouched by the politicians, unsupervised by anyone, still - we are not supposed to laugh - still accountable to the Crown not Parliament ( i.e. to no-one). Both MI6 and MI5 have reacted to the new conditions post Cold War in thoroughly competent, even creative ways. Needing something something to justify the budget, MI6 picked the international drug trade. Far as I know, since MI6 joined the 'war against drugs' the price of cocaine and heroin in the UK at street level has halved: it is now cheaper to get off your face, as they say in Hull, on smack than it is on alcohol. And didn't I read a few months ago that MI6 had persuaded Clare Short to task them to provide her with early warning of coups in the developing world? An honest-to-goodness license to do anything, anywhere. Only a Labour government, timid and ignorant, would fall for a proposal as preposterous as that one. " - lobster-magazine

MI5 is linked to death of drugs baron 'Popeye'
Customs demand answers over smuggler whose exploits cost life of heroic agent

WHEN the millionaire drugs baron known as "Popeye" absconded from prison, the criminal underworld was sure that his friends in the British security services had helped Roddy McLean to escape.

[snip] agents are also angry at the apparent reluctance of their own officers to demand a full, public investigation. The Prison Service has yet to fully explain why McLean, a category-A convict, was moved so quickly to Leyhill open prison in south Gloucestershire, which has the worst record in Britain for absconders. He lied to the authorities about wanting a transfer to be closer to his wife, who had just bought a home in Edinburgh. On a Saturday in November 2003 McLean was allowed out of prison for a day release. A van-load of MI5 agents are alleged to have been waiting for him. They are said to have given him a fresh set of clothes. a new identity and fake documents and slipped him on to a ferry to Ireland. McLean travelled on to Wexford on the southeast coast to make contact with fellow smugglers, who would help him to get in touch with a notorious London-based crime family. The authorities were desperate to discover the heroin- smuggling routes that the Turkish-Cypriot crime clan were using. Within 24 hours of his escape, McLean, who gained the nickname "Popeye" because of his love of the sea, was sailing for a rendezvous with a Spanish fishing boat to pick up a consignment of cannabis. - timesonline.co.uk

Cover-up of Convenience-the Hidden Scandal of Lockerbie

who they really are and why they are really interested in drugs

watch: SPY SECRETS: playing dirty from the History channel

spot the subliminal message!!!

Terror is the cover story:
The threat is most likely to come from those people associated with an extreme form of Islam, or who are falsely hiding behind Islam.
If a threat is from a particular place then our action is going to be targeted at that area.
It means that some of our counter-terrorism powers will be disproportionately experienced by the Muslim community.
It was a reality that should be recognized.
Home Office minister Hazel Blears
Welcome to Perception Central - William Bowles

UK police
John Fazey - former police inspector and prospective BNP Euro candidate. With up to 12 Midlands police exposed as BNP members, police resolve is questioned about committment to anti-racism.
BNP member, Phazey, describes police racism: "Of course you heard words like 'paki' and 'nigger' but it didn't mean any more than someone saying Paddy for an Irishman or Jerry for a German... I remember there was one officer who, whenever an Asian officer came into the room, would go 'coon, coon' like he was making the noise of a pigeon." TWAFA

John Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, writes for the News of the world??? [prop. R.Murdoch]
John Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, was at the centre of a political row yesterday after he warned that 200 "Osama Bin Laden-trained terrorists" are "walking Britain's streets".
Sir John, who five weeks ago was given a peerage personally by Tony Blair, said the terrorists - some of whom are born in Britain - would "commit devastating terror attacks against us if they could".
Sir John, writing in the News of the World, said it was "vital" that the Government's Prevention of Terrorism Act was "enacted as soon as possible".
He accused the detainees in Belmarsh, locked up for years without trial, of being "a group of al-Qa'ida's spiritual leaders" and criticised the Law Lords for saying they should be freed under human rights laws. This would allow them to "continue propagating their perverted brand of Islamic fundamentalism into impressionable minds". - Independent

Jason Burke, author of Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam, told the BBC's Today programme that the main threat was from those with no previous convictions who felt it was their religious duty to act.
"That's where the threat comes from, not from 200-Osama Bin Laden trained militants 'stalking the streets'," he said. - BBC
I think the term al-Qaeda, particularly now, is of dubious use when trying to describe the phenomenon of contemporary Islami Suni Muslim militancy. Al-Qaeda is commonly perceived to be a tight-knight terrorist organization led by bin Laden. Something that comes close to that description existed in Afghanistan between around 1997 and 2001. That entity no longer exists. - Buzzflash interview with Jason Burke

Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police,
In 1999, he was awarded the Queen's Police Medal for Distinguished Service and he was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours, 2003, for his services to policing. In Feburary 2005, Sir Ian Blair succeeded Sir John Stevens as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.
"I have long been in favour of intercept evidence being used in court. The court can then weigh it up. At the moment, nobody can test it," Sir Ian told the Daily Telegraph.
"In policing terms (the use of intercept evidence) would make my job much easier," he added. -source

Sir Ian Blair has made some controversial partisan remarks on BBC television, on the supposed need for even more terrorism laws (as if there are not far too many already), and which add to the "Climate of Fear" by raising the possability of bubonic plague attacks.
He also called for "iris scan" ID cards, another New Labour Party only policy, right in the middle of the General Election campaign.
Partial transcript from BBC1 television "Breakfast with Frost" Sunday 17th April 2005:

DF - Sir David Frost, TV interviewer IB - Sir Ian Blair , the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police

DF: [voiceover] The case has shed more light on this, on the terrorist threat here, and I have been discussing this, and other issues with Britain's, most senior Police Officer, Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

We talked in his office at Scotland Yard, and I began by asking him what general conclusions he drew, what lessons he drew , from last week's events:

IB: There, there's real clarity, now, that, er, Al-Quaida affiliates are targetting Britain, that's the first thing.

Secondly, I think we always have to mourn, the death of, er, Stephen Oake.

Thirdly, the important point is to say, this is one individual, arhh, this is not the whole Muslim community. Ninety nine point nine per cent of Muslims and ninety nine cent, per cent of Asians are law abiding people.

For such a "Politically Correct" Policeman, he should not be confusing "Asians" with "Muslims". There are billions of "Asians" who are non-Muslim and millions of Muslims who are non-Asian - spyblog

source

Fake terror story;
Britain's '9/11' foiled by security forces

Security forces thwart al-Qaeda plan to attack Canary Wharf and Heathrow
Security chiefs claim they have foiled four or five terrorist attacks
Upcoming Queens speech expected to be dominated by security

Blair says terror threat 'real'

Mr Blair said New Labour recognised the kind of challenges faced by the UK. "If we want to help the British people cope with economic globalisation, terrorism, organised crime, the pressures of modern work and family life we have to change radically the way public services, the welfare state and the criminal justice system work."

BBC

more than coincidence?

Britain would be safer from a terrorist attack under Labour than any other party, Peter Hain has said.

Just how far

are they going to go?

Mr Clarke defended the tough new law. He reminded MPs that the Madrid bombings took place during the Spanish general election campaign.
"Maybe such things can always be possibilities here too," he said. - February 2005
As we move towards a system of justice that found favour with the South African Government at the time of apartheid and which parallels Burmese justice today, if hon. Members will pardon the oxymoron, I am reminded that our fathers fought and died for liberty - my own father literally - believing that these things should not happen here, and we would never allow them to happen here. But now we know better. The unthinkable, the unimaginable, is happening here. - Hackney MP Brian Sedgemore - Hansard

Police Commissioner parrots the official line...
Election and wedding make Britain 'prime terror target'
13:05pm 24th February 2005 Britain's most senior police officer issued a stark warning today about the risk of a terrorist attack in the run-up to the General Election.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said there were several factors which made Britain a high profile target for a possible terrorist strike.
These included the Royal wedding of the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles and Britain's presidency of the G8 and European Union, he said.
Sir Ian warned that terrorists would remember the effect the Madrid bombing had on the Spanish general election last March.
The Spanish electorate, unhappy at their government's handling of the fallout of the attacks, which killed more than 170 rush hour commuters, used the election to unseat the ruling Conservative party in favour of the Socialist opposition - which had pledged to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq.
Terrorists have 'long memories'
Addressing a meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority today, Sir Ian said it would be "unwise" for him to speculate about whether there was any specific information relating to the risk of an attack here in the run up to the election.
However, he said: "Terrorists have long memories. They understand what happened in Madrid and know what the impact of that was on the Spanish electorate. - Mail
Interpol sounds bio-terror alarm
The world is ill prepared for the looming threat of a biological terror attack, the head of Interpol has said.
Ronald Noble told the BBC the danger of an al-Qaeda attack had not diminished since the 9/11 strikes on the US.
The head of the global police body also denied governments had played up the risks for political gain.
"I don't think it is the sounding of false alarms," Mr Noble said, citing recent evidence. "I think the alarm is real and it is continuing to ring."
'Millions at risk'
Recent attacks around the world; indications that al-Qaeda plans to use biological and chemical weapons; and its statements claiming "the right to kill up to 4 million people" are "enough evidence for me to be concerned", Mr Noble said.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC's Ten O'Clock News, he warned that the potential cost of a biological terror attack left no room for complacency.
"When you talk about bio-terrorism, that's one crime we can't try to solve after it happens because the harm will be too great."
"How could we ever forgive ourselves if millions or hundreds... or tens of thousands of people were killed simply because our priorities did not include bio-terrorism?" - BBC FEAR

Secret courts

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) is one of the most controversial - and certainly the most secret court within English law.
It is the venue of appeal for foreign nationals facing detention, deportation or exclusion from the UK on grounds of national security. It has the same powers as the High Court and is presided over by senior judges.
Siac's hearings and rulings are never fully revealed to the public - or to the appellant themselves - because they include testimony from members of the secret security services which the government says it cannot divulge. BBC

'freed' prisoners still guilty? OF WHAT?
Being a muslim?

"Their release from the Cuba camp was secured after the US concluded they presented a low risk.

The five returning men are Shafiq Rasul, 24, Asif Iqbal, 20, and Ruhal Ahmed, 21, all of Tipton, West Midlands, Jamal Al-Harith - also known as Jamal Udeen - 35, of Manchester, and Tarek Dergoul, 24, of east London.

Uniformed police officers, acting as an escort team on behalf of the government, and two independent observers, including one from the
Muslim community, are also on the flight.

Medical teams are on hand to examine them and provide treatment if
required. Under the Terrorism Act, the men could be detained for up to
nine hours while immigration staff or police verify their details.

Guantanamo Britons due to arrive
At-a-glance: Guantanamo Bay Britons

Jamal al-Harith, 37, who arrived home three days ago after two years of confinement, is the first detainee to lift the lid on the US regime in Cuba's Camp X-Ray and Camp Delta.
The father-of-three, from Manchester, told how he was assaulted with fists, feet and batons after refusing a mystery injection.
He said detainees were shackled for up to 15 hours at a time in hand and leg cuffs with metal links which cut into the skin.
Their "cells" were wire cages with concrete floors and open to the elements - giving no privacy or protection from the rats, snakes and scorpions loose around the American base.
He claims punishment beatings were handed out by guards known as the Extreme Reaction Force. They waded into inmates in full riot-gear, raining blows on them. Prisoners faced psychological torture and mind-games in attempts to make them confess to acts they had never committed. Even petty breaches of rules brought severe punishment.
My Hell in Camp X-Ray

"A British Muslim man detained by Anti-Terrorist Police in London was terrorised despite making NO attempt to resist arrest. Police forced him to prostrate with his arms in cuffs and taunted him by saying, "Where is your God now?"
The detainee, after being kicked and punched all over his body, suffered over 40 injuries including urinary bleeding, a black eye and severe bruising. (London December 2003)"
544 arrested under Terrorism Act 2000 in Britain between 11 September attacks and 31 January Only 98 were charged under it (Home Office Statistics)
Of those, less than 5 have been convicted 17 foreign nationals have been held without charge under emergency powers granted in 2001.
Their only crime was that they were practicising their religion
Community groups describe this as "racial profiling," i.e. considering somebody suspicious because of their style of dress
Many being arrested then released without charge is evidence of "fishing expeditions" by the Police.
And what is the result? 450+ Muslims harassed, abused, loss of jobs, trauma and to date, NO apology or compensation

stop police terror

defending...FREEDOM!!!???

yet again: four interrogated after YEARS of Guantanamo captivity
Guantanamo four arrive back in UK
The last four British men held as terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay have arrived back in the UK, after almost three years in US custody.
The men, one from Birmingham and three from London, were held after the US accused them of having al-Qaeda links.
The RAF C-17 plane carrying Moazzam Begg, Martin Mubanga, Richard Belmar and Feroz Abbasi touched down at RAF Northolt in west London.
They were arrested on arrival and taken to Paddington Green police station.
After the plane touched down, a police van was driven on board and later left the base, taking the men to the central London station.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said the four had been arrested under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which refers to the alleged involvement in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism - BBC
NOTE : MI6 interrogated these suspects 9 times in Guantanomo Bay -

Feroz Abbasi
Moazzam Begg

these people are labelled Terrorist...by neo-nazi, neo-cons

The UK Government is breaking the law by holding
foreign 'terror' suspects
without trial or access to lawyers

Terror detainees win Lords appeal

Detaining foreign terrorist suspects without trial breaks human rights laws, the UK's highest court has ruled. In a blow to the government's anti-terror measures, the House of Lords ruled by an eight to one majority in favour of appeals by nine detainees.

The Law Lords said the measures were incompatible with European human rights laws, but Home Secretary Charles Clarke said the men would remain in prison.

He said the measures would "remain in force" until the law was reviewed.

Most of the men are being held indefinitely in Belmarsh prison, south London. - BBC

statement given at the Royal Court Theatre

"I now feel that whatever difference I might make as a Special Advocate on the inside is outweighed by the operation of a law that is fundamentally flawed and contrary to our deepest notions of justice."
"My role has been altered to provide a false legitimacy to indefinite detention without knowledge of the accusations being made and without any kind of criminal charge or trial." "Such a law is an odious blot on our legal landscape and for reasons of conscience I feel that I must resign". - Ian Macdonald QC - Top Lawyer Quits over 'Odious' Anti-Terror Laws
How goat-rustling claims led to pair's jailing
A Dorset farmer's suspicions about a group of Muslim men looking at his goats became part of former Home Secretary David Blunkett's case for using emergency powers to detain two asylum-seekers.
The farmer's fears that the men intended to steal the animals for ritual sacrifice were relayed to M15, where officers concluded that they were holding a clandestine meeting to elect a terrorist leader.
This became part of the case against two Algerians, known only as G and H, who were imprisoned without trial under emergency anti-terrorism powers rushed through Parliament after 11 September.
But now court papers seen by The Independent show that this intelligence had been rubbished by the tribunal that reviews the grounds for detaining foreign terror suspects.
The Special Immigration Appeal Commission accepted that the police report may have only shown that the men were enjoying a male-bonding holiday.
The judges concluded: "It is most unfortunate that a combination of a poor police report and a failure to look properly into the available information led to a mistaken attempt to paint a picture of a gathering to elect an emir or leader of a group."
Since his arrest three years ago, G, disabled with polio since childhood, has suffered severe mental illness. After hearing medical evidence, the judges agreed to allow him to live at his home address.
H, 32, came to this country in in 1993. He has been arrested and released without charge on four occasions. Belmarsh: Lawyers withdrew from hearings

The case against the foreign terror suspects imprisoned in Britain without trial for three years is partly founded on flawed and inaccurate intelligence, court papers reveal.
Alarming weaknesses in the secret services' evidence cast serious doubt on the Home Secretary's justification for detaining 12 men held under emergency legislation rushed through Parliament in the aftermath of 11 September.
Last month a historic judgment in the House of Lords triggered a constitutional crisis when the judges ruled that the men's detention was in breach of human rights law.
The documents reveal:
A security service assessment was embarrassingly withdrawn after it emerged that the purpose behind a visit to Dorset by a group of Muslim men had not been to elect a terrorist leader but to get away from their wives for the weekend.
Confirmation that the Government is using evidence of association with the Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg to hold at least two of the foreign terror suspects under its emergency powers.
False allegations made against one of the Algerian detainees in relation to his association with Mr Begg arose from an MI5 surveillance operation of Mr Begg's Islamic bookshop in Birmingham in 2000. MI5 wrongly claimed that weapons had been found there.
The Home Secretary has been forced to concede that some of the funds raised by the detainee Abu Rideh for alleged terrorist activity were sent to orphanages in Afghanistan run by a Canadian priest.
Testimony against two of the detainees came from an affidavit sworn by a man who was offered a lenient sentence in return for evidence.
Newspaper reports, including ones in The Guardian and La Stampa, were used by the Home Secretary to support allegations of terrorism against at least two of the detainees.
Two of the detainees were awarded compensation for false arrest shortly before they were detained under the anti-terrorist emergency powers.
MI5 reports, as part of the evidence against the detainees, describe the men as being "excessively security conscious" when travelling to and from London shopping centres.
The detention certificate of F, one of the Algerian detainees, was revoked after it emerged he should have been deported to France rather than imprisoned without trial.
One of the detainee's children has been taken into care. - source

Babar Ahmed

Babar Ahmed is a 30 year old IT Engineer whose father immigrated to Britain from Pakistan 40 years ago. He was born and brought up in the UK. He is a British citizen
He was arrested last December and held for six days before being released without charge. While in custody, he sustained 50 injuries, two of them life-threatening

In the Name of Counter-Terrorism: Human Rights Abuses Worldwide

MY NOTE:[it is alleged that Tooting [London UK] police broke into his flat pushed him prostate on the floor in a praying position while screaming at him:
"Now pray to your God..."
& "Where is your God now...?"

see:
The Crown Prosecution Service has advised that no criminal charges should be preferred against any Metropolitan Police Service officers as a result of complaints made on behalf of Mr Babar Ahmed.
CPS decides not to prosecute police officers accused of assaulting Babar Ahmed
Babar's injuries are our injuries!

He was re-arrested in August and held under an extradition warrant from the US who allege that he used the Internet to raise funds for terrorist activities. Under a new extradition agreement the US does not have to produce any evidence in court to substantiate this allegation. - caged prisoners

MY NOTE: it is alleged that Babar used the word JIHAD in literature on the internet
Used in context the word JIHAD CAN simply mean:
GAINING EMPOWERMENT AND STRENGTH VIA KNOWLEDGE
Literally, jihad means doing one's utmost to realize a goal. It is not the equivalent of war
IMAGINE IF SCIENTISTS WERE BEING ROUNDED UP FOR USING THE WORDS 'ATOMIC OR 'NUCLEAR'

Example of ludicrous Press
fear-mongering about Babar's case:

British terrorism suspect had US Navy plans: prosecutors
August 07, 2004 - British citizen facing extradition to the United States on terrorism charges was found in possession of detailed military plans for a US Navy battle group in the Gulf, federal prosecutors said.
An indictment unsealed in Connecticut also accused Babar Ahmad, 30, of operating two US-based web sites that solicited financial support for terrorist organizations, including the Taliban and Chechen rebels.
"In order to dismantle terrorist organizations, we must attack them at their roots, so it is critical that we uncover and sever the financing stream and communication that supports the terrorists' violent intentions," said US Attorney Kevin O'Connor.

Details of the indictment were also read to Ahmad earlier Friday in a court in London, where he had been arrested by British police two days earlier.
Asked if he understood the charges, he replied: "Not really. It's all a bit confusing to me." He was remanded in custody pending a second appearance in a week's time.
O'Connor said the document concerning the US naval battle group operating in the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf in 2001 was found on a floppy disc by British police during a search of Ahmad's parents' house last December.
It specifically described the battle-group's vulnerability to a terrorist attack, and provided examples of how such an assault might be launched, said authorities. "Fortunately no attack occurred, thank God," O'Connor said.
Charges contained in the indictment include conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists -- an offense punishable by life imprisonment -- conspiracy to launder money to support the Taliban, to kill persons in a foreign country, and soliciting crimes of physical violence.
The process of bringing Ahmad to the United States could take years. "Extradition does not move as quickly as any of us would like," O'Connor said, while praising the cooperation of British law enforcement in the case.
The websites allegedly operated by Ahmad offered instructions on how to obtain and send supplies, including gas masks and night vision goggles, to terrorist groups, the indictment said. And they gave precise details of how to get into Afghanistan through Pakistan without being detected.
The indictment also cited e-mail traffic linking Ahmad to the Chechen group that seized a packed Moscow theater in October, 2002. More than 125 of the hostages died in a rescue attempt.
The investigation that resulted in Friday's indictment took more than two years. "We hear often in the United States how patient and persistent terrorists are," O'Connor said. "Cases like this demonstrate that we are more patient and more persistent. "No matter where they're hiding, be it a cave, be it in the ground, be it in a safe house or in the dark corners of cyberspace, law enforcement is there as well," he said.- source

False terror alerts need round ups -
When the US Homeland Security Secretary, Tom Ridge, stood under the glare of the television lights in Washington a week ago and announced the latest terror alert, a series of events began that seem like episodes from an airport novel.
Barricades were erected in several US cities, surveillance of suspects in London was stepped up, and, as we later learned, an al-Qa'ida computer expert went on emailing his UK contacts under the supervision of Pakistani intelligence. Then there was a wave of arrests in Britain, headlines about a plot to blow up Heathrow airport, police were said to be questioning the leader of a UK terror cell, and revelations about what was on the laptop computers of "significant" figures in al-Qa'ida's attack planning unit. It all read, with enough detail to lend verité, like one of the new breed of terrorism thrillers. Except for one thing. It wasn't the whole book, just a few tantalising chapters. What, then, is the whole story?
Mr Ridge announced on Sunday that the US had "new and unusually specific information about where al-Qa'ida would like to attack". He said it related to al-Qa'ida surveillance of at least five financial institutions in Washington, New York and Newark, New Jersey. - The Sting and The Spin: Will A Small House in Willesden Unlock The Secrets of al-Qa'ida?
Was Evidence gained under torture?
Al Qaeda's telecommunications engineer Mohammed Naeem Nur Khan, who was arrested this summer, provided information that helped intelligence services catch cells around the world, according to Sejeel Shahed aka Abu Ibrahim the former head of the fundamentalist group "Al Muhajerun" in Pakistan.
In an interview with Asharq Al Awsat, Shahed, who was in prison with Nour Khan in Lahore, claims that the latter was the one who told them about the whereabouts of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani. He says Nour Khan also led the British authorities to a cell in Britain, resulting in the arrest of 13 men in London, including Babar Ahmed, a relative of Nour Khan.
He also told officials about another relative of his living in NY called Jenid Babar, 29, who was later arrested. Shahed says Nour Khan was the only prisoner who was allowed to have a laptop and he was often taken by Pakistani intelligence officials for interrogations. He claims they later found out that he was telling the officials about what's going on inside the prison. Shahed was released from prison and is now in London. He denies having any relations with al Qaeda. - ABC News
BBC March 2005 - British man 'ran terror websites'
In claims dating back to 1997, the US government accuses Mr Ahmad of "conspiring to support terrorism", saying he "sought, invited and solicited contributions" via websites and emails.
Mr Ahmad could face the death penalty or trial by military commission if extradited. BBC
The death penalty on evidence gained from torture...what a precedent...

Terror Suspect Can Be Extradited
A British man accused of supporting terrorism and conspiring to kill Americans can be extradited to stand trial in the United States, a judge ruled Tuesday in the first terrorism case to test new rules allowing U.S. officials to seek extradition without providing evidence of the crimes.
Lawyers for suspect Babar Ahmad said he was being made a scapegoat and vowed to fight his extradition in the High Court.
"This is a difficult and troubling case," said Judge Timothy Workman, who allowed extradition after receiving assurances from U.S. authorities that they would not seek the death penalty or declare Ahmad an "enemy combatant," a category applied to detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and one that affords fewer legal protections.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke, Britain's top law-and-order official, has 60 days to decide whether Ahmad will be extradited. Ahmad's lawyers said they would appeal a decision by Clarke to send him to the United States.
"We are still hopeful he will not be extradited, said Ahmad's father, Ashfaq Ahmad. "The home secretary - let's see what he decides. Even if he decides Babar should be extradited, we will go to a higher court and we will fight it to the very end." - cbsnews

UPDATE: Terror suspect to be extradited to US
16/11/2005 - British Home Secretary Charles Clarke decided today to order the extradition of British terror suspect Babar Ahmad to the United States.
Ahmad's family said they would be appealing against his extradition in the High Court.
The US alleges that Ahmad, currently being held in jail in the UK, raised money to support terrorism in Chechnya and Afghanistan through internet sites and emails. - IOL

Ricin Terror Scaremomgering as case reveals 10 released with no Ricin found - [yes, you read that right!]
However, An al-Qaeda 'suspect' who stabbed to death a policeman has been jailed for 17 years for plotting to spread ricin and other poisons on the UK's streets" [yes, you also read that right!]

Kamel Bourgass has previously been found guilty of the murder of PC Steven Oake...after a 'terror Swoop' went badly wrong

Terror swoop - in plain clothes?
Anti-terrorist officers went to the flat to detain a suspect who had been certified as an international terrorist by ex-Home Secretary David Blunkett. They were not aware that Bourgass, who was wanted over the ricin find, was also hiding there. Two uniformed officers entered the flat first, but later discarded their protective helmets. Special Branch officers had no protection and DC Oake was wearing a rugby shirt and an anorak.
DC Oake was alone, unarmed and unprotected, in the flat's tiny bedroom guarding both Bourgass and the other suspected international terrorist who had not been handcuffed.
At the time there were 24 people involved in the police operation in or outside the building but only DC Oake and PC Fleming were in the tiny bedroom with Bourgass and the other suspect.
Bourgass was then formally arrested under the Terrorism Act on suspicion of involvement in the ricin find. But, as he tried to escape, he stabbed four police officers a total of 13 times before he was overpowered. DC Oake was stabbed eight times. - ITV story [right]

four officers were 'stabbed' 13 times?
"he was stabbed 8 times, and that 3 other policemen suffered cuts/stabs as well, so that is feasible. Every cut is likely to be called a "stab" in court, and only one of them might have been the fatal one. The claim is that he punched PC Oake in the groin, broke free and got hold of a kitchen knife. Why he was not in handcuffs or why he was still at the scene more than an hour after the door was kicked in is a mystery" - Spyblog
thats x 13 [so, mimmick a stabbing action 13 times for yourself - takes a while doesn't it?]

17 years for 'public nuisance' charge?

Al-Qaeda suspect jailed over poison plot
Wed Apr 13 2005 - A suspected al-Qaeda terrorist has been jailed for killing a Special Branch detective and his involvement in a poison plot.
Failed Algerian asylum-seeker Kamel Bourgass was found guilty last June for the murder of Special Branch detective Stephen Oake during a raid on a flat in Crumpsall Lane, Manchester on January 14, 2003.
Because of reporting restrictions, the multi-million pound case can only now be revealed.
In a second trial, which has just ended, Bourgass, 31, was convicted of a charge of conspiracy to commit a public nuisance "by the use of poisons and explosives to cause disruption, fear or injury".
Initially, ten men were charged. Five were subsequently brought to trial, including Bourgass. They have since been cleared but he has been given a 17-year sentence over the public nuisance charge. However,
he was cleared of conspiracy to murder.

Detective Constable Oake was involved in the hunt for men said to be involved in an alleged poison plot after a suspected ricin laboratory was discovered in Wood Green, north London, nine days earlier. - itv.com

By definition, how is it possible to be convicted of conspiracy, all on your own ?

though I hate to say it: did the Special Branch know Bourgass was armed? Did they know that a conviction would be difficult? Did they send in Det. Oakes and his fellow officer in plain clothes before of after the padded tooled up brigade? Did they Goad knowing they could be attacked by a jumpy Bourgass, who was more than a little wary of racism perhaps?
Don't think the cops are capable?: Read this
FIVE retired police officers were [...] being quizzed as part of a reinvestigation of the original inquiry into the brutal murder of a prostitute 17 years ago.
South Wales Police said five retired officers - four men and a woman - were in custody and were being questioned in connection with offences of false imprisonment, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and misconduct in public office.

Remember those Ricin arrests?

Flashback 2003: British anti-terrorist branch men swooped down on suspected terrorists in the north and east of London in September of 2002 and January of 2003. In one operations on January 5, the plant poison ricin was claimed to have been found in an apartment above a pharmacy in a place called Wood Green. The news flashed around the world.
Two days after the January 5th search of the Wood Green "poison cell" flat, and well before the outbreak of war with Iraq, the chief scientist advising British anti-terrorism authorities, Martin Pearce -- leader of the Biological Weapon Identification Group at Porton Down, had finished lab tests which indicated the ricin finding was a false positive. "Subsequent confirmatory tests on the material from the pestle and mortar did not detect the presence of ricin. It is my opinion therefore that toxins are not detectable in the pestle and mortar," wrote Pearce in one document.
But in an astonishing example of sheer incompetence, another employee at Porton Down charged with passing on to British authorities the information that the preliminary finding of ricin was in error, turned around and did the opposite, informing that ricin had indeed been detected.
At the time of Colin Powell's presentation to the UN Security Council, expert sources in this matter within the UK government surely knew that no ricin had been recovered from the Wood Green group of alleged terrorists, men included by the Secretary of State as part of the US government's rationale for going to war with Iraq. Whether Powell, the Bush administration or U.S. intelligence also knew is unknown. Whatever the case, it was another example of the United States' horrendous intelligence on weapons of mass destruction. - globalsecurity
which one of these stories is true?
If no ricin was found at the flat in Wood Green, London...How can Kamel Bourgass be guilty of 'being a nuisance' by threatening to use it?

Terror Spin?: Trials give terror battle insight
One man has been found guilty of a poison conspiracy but eight others have been cleared. The trials at the Old Bailey gave an insight into how the security services sought to tackle the threat posed after 9/11.
The conviction of Kamel Bourgass releases the stopper on a much bigger story.
Police found the ingredients and recipes for poisons
The authorities in Britain have revealed that al-Qaeda was planning co-ordinated chemical and biological attacks right across Europe - some of which were masterminded in a flat above a chemist shop in north London.
The targets in the capital were to include the underground system as well as suburban streets.
In Paris, the authorities suspect al-Qaeda was to target the Metro, the Eiffel Tower and other tourist attractions in France.
There are also links to groups in Spain, Italy and Germany. The former Home Secretary, David Blunkett, said: "It is absolutely certain that al-Qaeda were planning and preparing for co-ordinated attacks. We were very close indeed to disaster. We were actually much calmer and much more reassuring to the public than we felt ourselves."
The story goes back to 1998 and Osama Bin Laden's terrorist training camps in the Tora Bora Mountains of Afghanistan.
Among the terror trainees was Kamel Bourgass who had been selected as a poisons maker. - By Mark Easton Home Editor, BBC News

Fake Terror - Ricin Ring That Never Was
Yesterday's trial collapse has exposed the deception behind attempts to link al-Qaida to a 'poison attack' on London By Duncan Campbell The Guardian - UK 4-15-5
Colin Powell does not need more humiliation over the manifold errors in his February 2003 presentation to the UN. But yesterday a London jury brought down another section of the case he made for war - that Iraq and Osama bin Laden were supporting and directing terrorist poison cells throughout Europe, including a London ricin ring.
Yesterday's verdicts on five defendants and the dropping of charges against four others make clear there was no ricin ring. Nor did the "ricin ring" make or have ricin. Not that the government shared that news with us. Until today, the public record for the past three fear-inducing years has been that ricin was found in the Wood Green flat occupied by some of yesterday's acquitted defendants. It wasn't.
The third plank of the al-Qaida-Iraq poison theory was the link between what Powell labelled the "UK poison cell" and training camps in Afghanistan. The evidence the government wanted to use to connect the defendants to Afghanistan and al-Qaida was never put to the jury. That was because last autumn a trial within a trial was secretly taking place. This was a private contest between a group of scientists from the Porton Down military research centre and myself. The issue was: where had the information on poisons and chemicals come from?
The information - five pages in Arabic, containing amateur instructions for making ricin, cyanide and botulinum, and a list of chemicals used in explosives - was at the heart of the case. The notes had been made by Kamel Bourgass, the sole convicted defendant. His co-defendants believed that he had copied the information from the internet. The prosecution claimed it had come from Afghanistan.
I was asked to look for the original source on the internet. This meant exploring Islamist websites that publish Bin Laden and his sympathisers, and plumbing the most prolific source of information on how to do harm: the writings of the American survivalist right and the gun lobby.
The experience of being an expert witness on these issues has made me feel a great deal safer on the streets of London. These were the internal documents of the supposed al-Qaida cell planning the "big one" in Britain. But the recipes were untested and unoriginal, borrowed from US sources. Moreover, ricin is not a weapon of mass destruction. It is a poison which has only ever been used for one-on-one killings and attempted killings.
If this was the measure of the destructive wrath that Bin Laden's followers were about to wreak on London, it was impotent. Yet it was the discovery of a copy of Bourgass's notes in Thetford in 2002 that inspired the wave of horror stories and government announcements and preparations for poison gas attacks.
It is true that when the team from Porton Down entered the Wood Green flat in January 2003, their field equipment registered the presence of ricin. But these were high sensitivity field detectors, for use where a false negative result could be fatal. A few days later in the lab, Dr Martin Pearce, head of the Biological Weapons Identification Group, found that there was no ricin. But when this result was passed to London, the message reportedly said the opposite.
The planned government case on links to Afghanistan was based only on papers that a freelance journalist working for the Times had scooped up after the US invasion of Kabul. Some were in Arabic, some in Russian. They were far more detailed than Bourgass's notes. Nevertheless, claimed Porton Down chemistry chief Dr Chris Timperley, they showed a "common origin and progression" in the methods, thus linking the London group of north Africans to Afghanistan and Bin Laden.
The weakness of Timperley's case was that neither he nor the intelligence services had examined any other documents that could have been the source. We were told Porton Down and its intelligence advisers had never previously heard of the "Mujahideen Poisons Handbook, containing recipes for ricin and much more". The document, written by veterans of the 1980s Afghan war, has been on the net since 1998.
All the information roads led west, not to Kabul but to California and the US midwest. The recipes for ricin now seen on the internet were invented 20 years ago by survivalist Kurt Saxon. He advertises videos and books on the internet. Before the ricin ring trial started, I phoned him in Arizona. For $110, he sent me a fistful of CDs and videos on how to make bombs, missiles, booby traps - and ricin. We handed a copy of the ricin video to the police.
When, in October, I showed that the chemical lists found in London were an exact copy of pages on an internet site in Palo Alto, California, the prosecution gave up on the Kabul and al-Qaida link claims. But it seems this information was not shared with the then home secretary, David Blunkett, who was still whipping up fear two weeks later. "Al-Qaida and the international network is seen to be, and will be demonstrated through the courts over months to come, actually on our doorstep and threatening our lives," he said on November 14.
The most ironic twist was an attempt to introduce an "al-Qaida manual" into the case. The manual - called the Manual of the Afghan Jihad - had been found on a raid in Manchester in 2000. It was given to the FBI to produce in the 2001 New York trial for the first attack on the World Trade Centre. But it wasn't an al-Qaida manual. The name was invented by the US department of justice in 2001, and the contents were rushed on to the net to aid a presentation to the Senate by the then attorney general, John Ashcroft, supporting the US Patriot Act.
To show that the Jihad manual was written in the 1980s and the period of the US-supported war against the Soviet occupation was easy. The ricin recipe it contained was a direct translation from a 1988 US book called the Poisoner's Handbook, by Maxwell Hutchkinson.
We have all been victims of this mass deception. I do not doubt that Bourgass would have contemplated causing harm if he was competent to do so. But he was an Islamist yobbo on his own, not an Al Qaida-trained superterrorist. An Asbo might be appropriate.
________________________________________________________
Duncan Campbell is an investigative writer and a scientific expert witness on computers and telecommunications. He is author of War Plan UK and is not the Guardian journalist of the same name

Say what? The FBI wrote the manual?

British Government Ordered Shutdown Of Fake Ricin Story
"Update: The Insider asked The Guardian why they removed the above article from their website but they provided no explanation until we offered to publicise the fact. On 20 April 2005 we received a vague statement from The Guardian by email stating that the article was removed for "legal reasons":- "I can tell you that the article The Ricin Ring That Never Was was removed from the archive for legal reasons." This was the response from the newspaper when The Insider asked for further clarification:- "The article was not removed because of any inaccuracy. It was to do with a PII certicate [sic] protecting the identity of Porton Down [government weapons laboratory] experts who appeared as witnesses in the trial."
The Register
The Insider

Update: is this the kind of justice we can all expect?

MI5 'acts on facts gained under torture'
By Duncan Gardham(Filed: 21/10/2005)
The head of MI5 has submitted evidence to the House of Lords indicating that her agents are prepared to act on intelligence obtained under torture in the fight against terrorism.
In a seven-page statement to the law lords, Eliza Manningham-Buller said experience showed that material received from foreign authorities as a result of what she called "detainee reporting" had "proved to be very valuable in disrupting terrorist activity".
Ms Manningham-Buller said that MI5 and the secret intelligence service MI6 did not, as a rule, inquire closely into the origin of information received from foreign security agencies, especially when an urgent response was needed. "Where circumstances permit", the agencies would seek to acquire "as much context as possible" about how the information was obtained, she wrote. But she added: "Where the reporting is threat-related, the desire for context will usually be subservient to the need to take action to establish the facts, in order to protect life." The Law Lords are considering an earlier Appeal Court ruling that evidence obtained by abuse of detainees overseas may be admissible in a British court, so long as UK agents do not participate in or solicit it.
Ms Manningham-Buller's comments, seen by Channel 4 News, are contained in a statement to law lords hearing an appeal by 10 terror suspects who argue that evidence from torture overseas should not be used in the Home Office's attempt to deport them.
A Home Office spokesman said it would not comment on the case. - telegraph

Channel 4 TV news seems to somehow been given, and published a facsimilie copy of some of the evidence (.pdf) which Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the Director General of MI5 the Security Service , which Channel 4 claim was evidence for the Law Lords "torture" appeal currently being heard.
However, given the date of the document, 20th September 2005, perhaps it was actually intended for submission to the British Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights call for evidence on Counter-Terrorism Policy and Human Rights, at any rate, they should certainly review this statemment in their Inquiry.
This mentions the completely unsurprising statement of fact or history, that foreign countries', security and intelligence agencies are not accountable to British ones, and that cooperation and liason officers cannot afford to ask too many questions about whether they suspect that an informant in the custody of such a foreign security agency might have been tortured, especially if they want the "intelligence product" to keep flowing.
What is interesting are the abbreviated examples cited:
Djamel Beghal, detained in the United Arab Emirates, and who allegedly revealed details of a plot against the US Embassy in Paris.
and
Mohammed Meguerba who was questioned in Algeria and whose alleged information led to the failed "ricin plot" in Wood Green in London, and indirectly to the murder of PC Stephen Oake in Manchester by Kamel Bourgass, and to the dubious arrest, prosecution and attempts at deportation of other alleged "ricin plotters", despite their aquittal in court.
Mohamed Meguerba was the person whose alleged "questioning" by the Algerian authorities led, intially to a false tip off to the British authorities about a non-existent address in London , followed by a tip off to the flat above the chemists shop in Wood Green where the "non-existant ricin plot" failed to present itself as an immediate "clear and present danger" to the public, although there was obvious evidence of intent, despite insufficient technical knowledge or skill to carry out such a plot.
Does this show that people being tortured or merely brutally questioned, are likely to try to give answers which they think the ir interrogators want to hear ?
see MI5 "don't ask if it was torture" evidence and the non-existent ricin plot from spyblog

Ressam provided detailed information on terror suspects
Ahmed Ressam, the Algerian convicted of planning a year 2000 terrorist attack on the U.S., has provided federal agents with detailed information on individuals "identified as significant players in al-Qaida and other terrorist networks," according to documents filed in court yesterday.
All told, the 37-year-old Ressam provided information on more than 100 people, according to documents his lawyers submitted in court in preparation for his sentencing later this month.

Ressam, who was arrested in Port Angeles on Dec. 14, 1999, with a car loaded with bomb-making material, was convicted in May 2001 of conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism and eight other related counts.
Facing up to 130 years in prison for a plan to set off a powerful suitcase bomb at the Los Angeles International Airport, Ressam agreed to cooperate in exchange for a 27-year prison sentence.
His attorneys have said in the past that information from Ressam has proved so valuable, particularly since the Sept. 11 attacks, that he deserves additional time off his sentence.
Federal public defender Thomas Hillier, reached yesterday, declined to discuss the defense strategy for the April 27 sentencing.
However, defense documents filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle lay out in general terms the scope of Ressam's cooperation. Sealed attachments detail that cooperation. The attachments were sealed to allow prosecutors time to decide what portions they believe should remain out of public view.
Telephone messages left at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle were not immediately returned yesterday evening.
The defense documents name only one individual Ressam has talked about — Abu Doha, the man Ressam claims led the Algerian section of the Afghan terrorist training. Doha, who lives in London, was indicted by a New York grand jury a month after the Sept. 11 attacks in connection with the millennium plot.
Between Ressam's conviction in May 2001 and April 2003, the documents say, he spent more than 200 hours in interviews and an additional 65 providing depositions or trial testimony. He has been interviewed by agents from Canada, Spain, Great Britain, Germany and Italy, the defense said.
While not mentioned specifically in the documents, Ressam provided U.S. prosecutors with key information in the prosecution of Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker and the only man indicted in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. Ressam has told investigators that Moussaoui was at a training camp in Afghanistan while he was there, sources have previously confirmed.
Over months of interrogations, the documents state, Ressam gave agents information on everything from the location of other terrorist cells to individuals planning terrorist attacks. He provided an inside look at terrorist recruitment, codes, explosives, ideology and security, the documents claim.
"In short," it concludes, "he provided everything he knew." - By Mike Carter Seattle Times staff reporter

al Masri- ex Egyptian policeman=what?

Al Queda : Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade
spurious claims: do they even exist?

Abu Hafs was an Egyptian national, who was nicknamed al-Masri meaning 'the Egyptian' in Arabic. He was a core member of the Islamic Jihad group, which successfully carried out the assassination of the Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat on October 6, 1981.
Abu Hafs joined Osama bin Laden in the early 1980s when the two were fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. He participated in the establishment of al-Qaeda (the base) organization.
As a former Egyptian police officer, Abu Hafs al-Masri took charge of the organization's security. He assumed control of the training camps after the former commander Abu Ubaida al-Banshiri was drowned in Victoria Lake, Uganda, in 1996.
One of al-Masri's daughters was married to one of bin Laden's sons. disaster-management

Purported al-Qaida statement No.1 al Masri Al Jazeera analysis MEMRI Ace of Base Guardian

Don't forget:

BLAIR: "luk, he's a fascist,
not me, er, honest!"

Hours after anti-terrorist police officers broke up an alleged ricin terrorist plot, Tony Blair appeared on television describing the find as a stark illustration of the dangers that were posed by weapons of mass destruction.
The following month, Mr Blair went to the Commons to tell MPs that the alleged conspiracy was "powerful evidence" of a continuing terror threat to the nation. It is a theme to which he will no doubt return nearer the election. -

The same house?
AND THAT:
The acquittals also cast doubt on the reliability of the evidence against the former Belmarsh detainees who were released under strict control orders last month.

The terms of the orders signed by the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, include fresh allegations that all had "links with North African groups involved in the use of toxic chemicals in the UK". But the only apparent evidence for that link was that the former Belmarsh detainee known as P, a double-amputee Algerian, was arrested in Manchester at the same house where DC Oake was murdered. P is now the subject of a control order.
ALSO: Since 11 September 2001, the police have made 702 arrests, mostly of Muslim men, under the Terrorism Act 2000. Only 17 have been convicted of any terrorist offence.
Plotter's flat contained ricin ingredients 'for an attack on Jewish centre'

Bruises on his face: telltale signs...

Gareth Peirce, solicitor for three of the cleared men, told the BBC: "There were no poisons made. There seemed to be a pathetic, clumsy, amateurish attempt to make some by a man who was conceded by all to be a difficult, anti-social loner."
She said the case had been wrongly used to boost the argument for war in Iraq.
"There was a great deal that this country was led to believe that in part caused it to go to war on Iraq, erected on the basis of an alleged major conspiracy involving ricin. It is appropriate that that now is revisited." - CNN
NLP:
ASYLUM ASYLUM ASYLUM
TERROR TERROR TERROR

BBC News 24 - April 14th: " Opposition leader Michael Howard has criticised the government on allowing a failed asylum seeker to 'implement a terrorist attack'..."

IT NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPENED yet, this is spun to suggest it did...
BBC Online: "Tory leader Michael Howard has said Tony Blair's failure over asylum led to ricin plotter Kamel Bourgass being able to commit his crimes..."
Echos of fearmongering in the media follow:

The Mail lays the blame squarely at the door of the UK's "asylum 'chaos'" which "allowed ricin plotter to kill".

"This officer was killed by someone who should have been deported when his asylum application failed." - Ricin plotter caged

Jews were target of UK poison plot
Police killer and his plot to poison Britain
Ricin case 'shows asylum chaos'

Police are Racist - BBC

My life as a secret policeman By Mark Daly

BBC: This is NOT Racism

It's a TERROR PLOT

does it not strike one as slightly odd, that after months and years of detention, most of the suspects are cleared because there isn't any meaningful evidence... and only one person is convicted in on conspiracy charges...
Why are the headlines of a Ricin plot taking precedent over the death of Det. Oakes?
why does the media not use the Murder of a policeman as the reason to promote fear?
could it be because previously the BBC have made a programme which labels the Police force as institutionally racist?
Do these tactics really seek to protect the population? or do they result in control of them?
This media propaganda is an operation: it seeks to make you think:
"...if the terrorist threat is as imminent as the authorities claim they are, i'd like to see the authorities get it right"
The right tactics being: more draconian laws, Identity cards, etc.

still the charges, arrests & trials continue. why?
IT 'PLEASES el PRESIDENTE'

Three charged over terror plot
April 13, 2005 US authorities have revealed terrorism charges against three Britons whose arrest in Britain on similar charges followed heightened security last year at major financial institutions in US cities.
Dhiren Barot, 33, Nadeem Tarmohammed, 26, and Qaisar Shaffi, also 26, are charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, conspiring to aid terrorists, aiding terrorists and conspiring to damage or destroy commercial buildings, according to the March 23 indictment in US District Court in New York today.
All three face life in prison if convicted. White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters President George W. Bush was pleased by the indictments.
"We're going to continue to go after and pursue those who seek to do us harm and those who seek to do harm to the civilised world. This is another significant step in the global war on terrorism," Mr McClellan said.
The three are detained in Britain on charges they plotted attacks with radioactive or chemical weapons and are not expected to stand trial until later this year. US authorities said they would seek their extradition after their trials.

Charles Hoskinson

what systems of detection and border control
are being relied on in the war on terror?

Not paying bribes can brand you Bin Laden in Pakistan:
[World News]: Karachi, Feb.2 : Failure to pay a bribe to Immigrationn officials in Pakistan may lead to you being branded as an Al- Qaeda terrorist and handed over to the American FBI.
According to Onlinenews, this is exactly what happened to a Pakistan born Canadian citizen, who was handed over to the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by the Pakistani Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) and Immigration authorities on false charges of suspected links with the Al-Qaeda after refusing to pay them 5,000 dollars as a bribe.
The paper quoted Malik Muhammad Azam as saying that he was tortured for three days and then deported after refusing to fulfill the FIA personnel's demand.
" I was later boarded on a PIA flight to be deported. Another FIA personal contacted me saying that it is time to give them bribery otherwise I was going to be handed over to USA on the suspicion of having links with Al-Qaeda, " Azam was quoted as saying.
After deportation, Azam was picked by FBI officials from the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight, who took him into a room and interrogated him for five hours following which he was deported to Canada.
Canadian immigration officials then took him into custody at the Toronto Peterson airport, where he was debriefed for one hour, before being set free. (ANI) - source

The Case of 'C'

An Egyptian terror suspect known only as "C" has been freed after being interned under anti-terror legislation for more than three years, it emerged today.
C, who had been granted refugee status in 2000, was arrested in December 2001, just after the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act, which sanctioned detention without charge or trial, gained royal assent. He had been sentenced in absentia to 15 years imprisonment in Egypt for trying to recruit army officers to a terrorist group.
In October 2003 the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) - the independent panel which hears appeals from foreign terror suspects detained under the emergency laws - concluded the government had "reasonable grounds" to suspect that C had a "senior leadership role in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad in the United Kingdom".
Siac chairman Mr Justice Ouseley said: "He would still have the will, commitment and ability to resume his activities in the UK were he to be released."
C had been due to apply again for his release at a Siac review hearing later this week. It is understood, however, that he was released from Woodhill prison yesterday evening, without any conditions, after the government withdrew a certificate issued against him under the 2001 act.
In a statement to MPs this afternoon the home secretary, Charles Clarke, said: "Assurances have been given to the House of Commons that cases are kept under constant review and as part of this process, I concluded, on the basis of all the information available to me, that the weight of evidence in relation to C at the current time does not justify the continuance of the certificate. I therefore decided to revoke the certificate with immediate effect."
C's solicitor, Natalia Garcia, said the decision had come as a complete surprise. She said Mr Clarke had even submitted a statement to court for the review hearing saying that C was still a risk and that he should remain in detention.
"It came completely out of the blue," she told BBC Radio 4's The World at One programme. "We were in court [yesterday] morning where we heard the solicitor of the home secretary say that the only conditions of release he would accept would be house arrest and then by late afternoon I got a phone call to say that my client was about to be released with no conditions at all.
"By seven o'clock in the evening he was a completely free man. more fron the Guardian

Farid Hilali extradition based on Voice analysis
Mark @ Spyblog notes:
Farid Hilali, the Moroccan facing the first European Arrest warrant extradition in the UK to Spain, has today lost his extradition hearing at Bow Street Magistrates Court, according to the Press Association report in The Scotsman.
District Judge Timothy Workman (who also heard the new "rapid" extradition to the USA hearings involving Babar Ahmad)
"added that Hilali had the right to appeal to High Court against his decision within seven days."
Farid Hilali is accused of somehow being part of Al-Quaeda in Spain, before the September 11th 2001 attacks, and was not involved in the Madrid railway bombings (he was being held in Belmarsh at the time).
It would appear that yet again, the UK extradition court did not ask any questions about the alleged eveidence against Farid Hilali, only the points of extradition lae about possible torture or the lack of a fair trial.
According to the flimsy reports abouut this case, there have to be some doubts that the Spanish authorities have identified the right man, soley on the basis of an alleged electronic "voice analysis" of a mobile phone conversation. How they obtained suitable voice samples from a prisoner being held in Belmarsh high security prison is unclear.
If Farid Hilali was a member or associate of AL-Quaeda, he was ahrdly a linchpin of the organisation, and we do not support any extremist views he may have. However, the legal precedent that this case sets is a chilling one, it cannot be justice, if people can be arbitarily arrested and extradirted to face serious charges in another European Union country , simply on some alleged "voice analysis", by a secret police agency (Unidad Central de Informacion Exterior - UCIE) of a foreign state (Spain) of a mobile phone conversation, which in itself contained no overt threats, and which it has not been established was to or from a mobile phone actually in the suspects's possession. All of this relates to an alleged terrorist plot in a third country, the USA, which has not brought any evidence or even accusations against Fatrid Hilali with respect to the September 11th 2001 attacks.
- Mark @ Spyblog

Verint inks security deal with US government agency
Jul. 24 2003 - Comverse subsidiary Verint Systems, which provides digital video security and surveillance solutions, has announced that it received a multi-million dollar order from a new government agency customer in the United States. Verint said the order was for its Reliant communications interception solution, which is designed to enable government agencies to intercept and analyze voice and data communications for a variety of investigative purposes, including gathering intelligence and establishing evidence for the conviction of criminals.
"We are delighted to be working with this new government agency customer," said Dan Bodner, president and CEO of Verint Systems Inc. "We have significant experience working with government and law enforcement agencies worldwide, and are committed to developing advanced voice and data communications interception solutions." - source
[Verint is the new name for Comverse Infosys, one of the companies implicated in the Israeli/Neocon spy scandal. ]

Al Queda tapes artificial?
Could the bin Laden tape have been created using concatenated text-to-speech synthesis (TTS) or voice conversion technology? Voice conversion transforms the voice of one person into someone else's voice. For example, it would make Judith Markowitz' voice sound like the voice of Humphrey Bogart. Today, conversions produced by such systems may be recognizable as the target-speaker's voice but they often sound stilted and unnatural. "They sound artificial" says Dr. Carline Henton, president of Talknowledgy (see 'The State of TTS,' this issue). "The problem is that many so-called voice conversion systems are based on the same limited rules as parametric TTS systems such as DECTalk use."
Bin Laden would get better results using commercial concatenative TTS. In order to generate flexible, natural-sounding TTS, though, he's have to spend a minimum of ten hours in a professional recording studio providing high-quality samples of his speech. The recorded material would be segmented into labeled units and stored in a large database. It might be possible to use existing tapes of bin Laden's voice for this purpose but they would lack necessary acoustic variants. They also wouldn't have sufficient consistency in quality, volume, and the other factors necessary to produce units that, when concatenated, sound as if they were spoken naturally and at the same time. According to Henton mismatches of this sort could be covered up. "You could hide any acoustic artifacts of the concatenation process by having a sufficiently noisy-enough channel, which is typical of Bin Laden's speeches." - Bin Laden Speaking

Experts are ALWAYS right shocker!!!

Even with all the current digital wizardry, faking the videotape in which Osama bin Laden appears to take credit for the Sept. 11 attacks would be extremely difficult, experts said.
The biggest hurdle would be mimicking the cadence and rhythm of human speech. Synchronizing a doctored soundtrack with existing video would also be tough, and technology that can synthesize Arabic speech is still in its infancy.
Chi-Lin Shih, a language modeling scientist at Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs, described the process as akin to reassembling a broken vase by gluing together its shards. Close scrutiny would likely reveal the cracks. - Experts: Faking Tape Tough To Do

September 11 Suspect Facing Extradition to Spain Voice/Speech Recognition/Synthesis Voice Analysis Lacks Accuracy Counterintelligence Interrogation
New Bin Laden Tape - Same as the Last Bin Laden Tape Brainwashing Psion Teklogix workshops: All you need to know about voice technology Voice Cloning

Fertiliser 'bombers' face long show-trial

Gang 'planned UK terror campaign'
Mar 21 2006 - Seven men have gone on trial accused of planning a campaign of terror in Britain. Three had more than half a ton of ammonium nitrate fertiliser, which can be used to make bombs, the Old Bailey was told. The seven, all British citizens, deny the allegations.
They are accused of conspiring between January 1, 2003, and March 31, 2004, with Canadian Mohammed Momin Khawaja and with others unknown, to "cause by explosive substances, an explosion or explosions of a nature likely to endanger life".
The accused are: Omar Khyam, 24, Waheed Mahmood, 34, Shujah Mahmood, 19, and Jawad Akbar, 22, all from Crawley, West Sussex; Anthony Garcia (also known as Rahman Adam), 23, of Ilford, east London; Nabeel Hussain, 20, of Horley, Surrey, and Salahuddin Amin, 31, from Luton, Bedfordshire.

Khyam, Garcia and Hussain also deny a charge under the Terrorism Act 2000 of possession of an article for terrorism - 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser - between November 5, 2003, and March 31, 2004. The fertiliser was found at a west London storage depot in 2004. Brothers Khyam and Shuja Mahmood also deny having aluminium powder for terrorism between October 1, 2003, and March 31, 2004. Aluminium powder can also be used to make bombs.
The judge, Sir Michael Astill, warned the jury not to be influenced by anything outside the trial process, saying: "Terrorism has been at the forefront of matters and debate worldwide for a long time. "It became the subject of much discussion of late in the United Kingdom after the bombings in London on July 7, 2005. Much of the factual reporting has been fair and accurate. Some of it has not. "Many different theories and views have been offered and inevitably most members of the public will have an opinion about terrorism and its causes. It is therefore reasonable to expect that you bring to this court a point of view. It would not be reasonable to expect you to approach your task now as if you had never had an opinion."
But, he added, it was essential that the jurors tried to put aside any opinion they did have. He warned the jury not to carry out their own research on the internet and told them that the trial was likely to last "many months". - icnorthlondononline.icnetwork.co.uk

er..these terrorists were obviously trying to remain undeground...keeping a low profile...and managed to obtain half a ton of ammonium nitrate fertiliser... how did they get hold of that without making themselves really obvious...er...making any sense to you? me neither

Planning to bomb western targets...really?
On Mainstream TV news the reports on March 22nd were headline news - Plot to blow up 'Bluewater shopping centre'
how handy! The general public have been primed...

flashback: Bluewater was in the news 2005 as a 'hoodie ban was implemented...
the hoodie ban spread to other shopping centres. A school in Wales told parents that hoods were "used to hide pupils' identity during unacceptable behaviour". Shopping centres said they made thieves impossible to identify on closed-circuit television. Naturally, there were protests. The ban was "blatant discrimination based on stereotypes and prejudice", said the Children's Society. Another children's charity, NCH, said young people were "mystified" by opposition to the tops. "I get intimidated by men in suits but I don't say they can't wear 'em," a teenager, Paddy from Leeds, told The Guardian. The Prime Minister was unrepentant. In Parliament, the Government announced its third term, "reform and respect" agenda. It included legislation to curb binge drinking, knife use, graffiti, vandalism and classroom misbehaviour. - theage.com.au

Bluewater shopping complex targetted by terror cell
Wednesday, 22nd March 2006, 13:04
Category: Crime and Punishment - LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK) -
Seven British al Qa'eda supporters claimed a nightclub was a legitimate target because of "all the slags dancing around", a court heard today. And the gang wanted to blow up a massive shopping centre full of families on a busy Saturday to make an "impact" similar to the Madrid commuter train bombings, the Old Bailey was told.
Bluewater in Kent was identified as a potential target and the terrorist cell were keen to set off a massive fertiliser bomb quickly in the aftermath of the bombings of commuter trains in the Spanish capital by al Qa'eda that left nearly 200 people dead. The group also discussed targetting a central London nightclub and said the target was justified and the clubbers were not "innocent" because of "all the slags dancing around."
The potential targets were picked up during the secret bugging of the cell's conversations by the security services and anti-terror police who put two of the alleged defendants under surveillance from February 2004, the court heard. Omar Khyam, 24, had travelled to Pakistan and had attended terror training camps on handling explosives while Jawad Akbar, 22, had claimed to be working for the terror group's "number three" Abdul Hadi, the court heard.
The British nationals, of Pakistani descent, were then alleged to have gathered more than half a tonne of ammonium nitrate fertiliser for their campaign. But the plot was smashed after more than 700 anti-terror police swooped on a west London storage depot and discovered the fertiliser, which could be detonated to cause a deadly explosion in 2004.
The seven, the majority from Crawley in West Sussex, were arrested on March 30 2004, a week before two of the alleged plotters were to fly to Pakistan. Khyam, his younger brother Shujah-Ud-Din Mahmood, 18, Anthony Garcia, 27, Nabeel Hussain, 20, Akbar, Waheed Mahmood, 33, and Salahuddin Amin, 30, are accused of conspiring to cause an explosion likely to endanger life contrary to section 3 (1)(a) of the Explosive Substances Act 1883. At the same time Canadian Momin Khawaja was arrested and awaits trial for his part in the conspiracy in Ontario. And American citizen Mohamed Babar who has pleaded guilty to two offences described by US officials as the "British Bomb Plot" is due to give evidence against the group.
It is alleged the seven Britons plotted between January 1, 2001 and March 31 2004 to set off a series of bombs against as yet unidentified targets in the UK.
Khyam, Garcia and Hussain are also charged under the Terrorism Act 2000 of possessing an article for terrorism - namely 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser between November 5, 2003 and March 31, 2004. Brothers Khyam and Mahmood also deny having aluminium powder - an ingredient in explosives - between the same dates.
The court heard that a listening device placed in Khyam's car recorded a conversation between Khyam and Waheed Mahmood on March 19, 2004 - eight days after the deadly Madrid bombs that ripped apart four rush hour trains which left 192 people dead and 2,050 people wounded.
Prosecutor David Waters QC told the jury: "This defendant, Waheed Mahmood made it clear he wanted to act and to do so sooner rather than later.
"He asked Khyam: 'Is it worth getting all the brothers together tonight and asking who would be ready to go?' "And his general attitude was revealed very clearly when in relation to the Madrid bombing he said: 'Spain was a beautiful job weren't it, absolutely beautiful man, so much impact.'
"Waheed even raised the possibility of, as he described it: 'a little explosion at Bluewater - tomorrow if you want. I don't know how big it would be we haven't tested it but we could tomorrow - do one tomorrow.'
"Bluewater is, as you will know, a very large shopping centre in Kent and this conversation was taking place on the Friday so the following day would be the Saturday."
Five days before on March 14, Khyam and his younger brother were recorded in the car praising the Madrid bombing.
Mr Waters QC said: "When the view was expressed that the Madrid bombing should have been carried out in June because there would have been all those families on holiday, Shujah's reaction was to say 'fantissimo' and Khyam's reaction was it seems to compare it in that respect with the Bali bombing."
The court also heard that Mahmood worked for Transco, the company responsible for Britain's electricity anfd gas infrastructure and he had CDs detailing the country-wide system.
And a bug placed in Akbar's Uxbridge home revealed that Akbar and Khyam discussed potential targets on February 22.
Mr Waters QC said: "It was a conversation which ranged over a number of topics of interest to young men pursuing such a plan as they were concerned with, however a reoccurring theme was that of potential targets.
"Jawad Akbar referred to attacks upon the utilities, gas, water or electrical supplies. Alternatively, a big nightclub in central London might be a target.
"As he put it 'The big nightclub in central London, no-one can put their hands up and say they are innocent - those slags dancing around.'
"Indeed, as the conversation went on, Jawad Akbar went on: 'I think the club thing you should do but the gas would be much harder.'"
Days later he told his wife that he did not want to appear too religious to avoid police attention and that he might have to return to Pakistan.
Mr Waters said Akbar told his wife: "'Whatever they are going to make me do is going to someone who is going to act like completely stupid, they are going to train me up and probably send me back here, act like completely stupid and do a big mission.'
"He went on to say: 'When we kill the Kuf (non-believers) this is because we know Allah hates the Kuf.'"
Then on March 1, he sounded anxious because two CDs from a set of 14 CDs from Transco detailing the gas and electricity network were missing.
Mr Waters added: "He said in relation to this: 'Its something else much more seriouser (Cor), I don't even know where I put them..its CDs...two CDs... They got Transco written on them... Transco, you know what if we get raided today we're finished.'
"He went on to say: 'No I wasn't I was going to say its serious and that's it... I'm never going to tell you what it is.'"
Mr Waters QC said the conversation came to an abrupt end with the words: "'The less you know the better, get your stuff and get into the kitchen.'"
The court heard that Khyam and Shujah planned to flee to Pakistan on April 6 but were arrested on March 30.
Khyam, from Crawley but who also lived in Slough; Shujah-Ud-Din Mahmood, from Crawley; Garcia, from Ilford; Hussain from Horley, Surrey and also a student at Brunel University in Uxbridge; Akbar from Crawley and Uxbridge; Mahmood from Crawley; and Amin from Luton, Beds, all deny the charges.
The trial, expected to last six months, continues

'Al-Qaeda cell plotted UK bombings'
ANGUS HOWARTH 22nd March 2006
SEVEN British al-Qaeda supporters plotted to blow up pubs, nightclubs and trains in Britain because the UK had been left "unscathed" in the US-led war on terror, the Old Bailey heard yesterday. The Muslim men are alleged to have attended terror training camps in Pakistan before gathering more than half a tonne of ammonium nitrate fertiliser for their campaign. The alleged plot was smashed after more than 700 anti-terror police swooped on a west London storage depot and discovered 600kg of the substance used to make bombs. The seven men were arrested after Mohamed Babar, an American citizen, pleaded guilty to two offences described by US officials as the "British Bomb Plot", it was alleged.
Omar Khyam, 24, from Crawley, West Sussex, was said to be "at the centre of operations". The other defendants are his brother Shujah Mahmood, 19, Waheed Mahmood, 34, and Jawad Akbar, 22, all from Crawley, Anthony Garcia, 23, of Ilford, east London, Nabeel Hussain, 20, of Horley, Surrey, who was a student at Brunel University, and Salahuddin Amin, 31, from Luton, Bedfordshire.
They deny conspiring to cause explosions between 1 January, 2003 and 31 March, 2004.
Khyam, Garcia and Hussain also deny a charge under the Terrorism Act 2000 of possession of an article for terrorism - the 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser. Brothers Omar Khyam and Shuja Mahmood also deny having aluminium powder for terrorism. Mohammed Momin Khawaja, a Canadian national, is awaiting trial there over the plot.
Prosecutor David Waters told the jury: "The allegation is that they played their respective roles in a plan to acquire the ingredients necessary to manufacture a bomb or bombs which would be deployed at the very least to destroy strategic plant within the United Kingdom, or more realistically, to kill and injure citizens of the United Kingdom."
By the time police made arrests, Mr Waters said, the group had most of the necessary components in place "and all that remained before their plans achieved their ultimate goal was for the target or targets to be finally agreed".
The jurors heard that it was of significance to the case that Waheed Mahmood had worked for National Grid Transco - a contractor that operates the UK's electricity and gas supplies. Mr Waters told how in July 2003 members of the group travelled to a training camp in Kalam, Pakistan, posing as tourists visiting lakes and glaciers, even taking photographs of themselves. At the camp, they are alleged to have carried out a successful explosion using between 0.5kg and 1kg of ammonium nitrate, and aluminium powder, and making a U-shaped hole under the ground. The court heard how two of the defendants had claimed they were working for Abdul Hadi, said by Khyam to be the third most senior al-Qaeda terrorist. Mr Waters said Babar met Waheed Mahmood who was already an al-Qaeda supporter in Pakistan, towards the end of 2001. But at the time, both opted out of attending a terrorist training camp because they "agreed that it would be crazy to do that and put their heads above the parapet so soon after 9/11" the court heard.
However, in November 2002 the American travelled to London where he met Khyam and what he described as the "Crawley lot" and Amin while raising funds for the Afghani Taleban. Babar returned to Pakistan in early 2003 where he met Garcia and Amin and thoughts turned to targeting the West. Nothing materialised and by Easter 2003 Babar, Khyam and Mahmood were back in the UK, where Babar met Khyam's younger brother. But in July 2003 Babar was back in Pakistan and joined terrorist training camps along with Khyam, his brother, Amin, Akbar, Garcia and Canadian-based accomplice Khawaja.
Mr Waters added that Babar obtained aluminium powder and ammonium nitrate - a vital component for an improvised explosion.
The court heard that by autumn 2003 they had plotted to smuggle detonators into the UK by ferry from Belgium because security would be less strict.
The trial continues.
Plans to hold terror suspects for longer may be revived
MINISTERS could resurrect plans to extend the period for which police can hold terrorist suspects without charge, Charles Clarke signalled yesterday.
Four months after MPs rejected plans for 90-day detention, the Home Secretary said that a new extension could be proposed as soon as next year. Although the Terrorism Bill that will extend the pre-charge period to 28 days from 14 is still passing through parliament, the government is already planning a new "omnibus" terror bill that will amalgamate and supersede all existing laws.
"I don't think we should pre-judge and say what we have got on the length of detention is there forever," Mr Clarke told MPs at Westminster when asked about the new legislation. "I'm not advertising a view that we wish to re-visit 28 days. But I am not accepting that it will be 28 days come what may." Mr Clarke repeated his view that MPs decision to reject the 90-day measure has led to "a state of affairs where we are less well protected [from terrorist attacks] than we should be."
David Davis, the Tory shadow home secretary, warned Mr Clarke that the Opposition would continue to block any "divisive" move to resurrect the 90-day detention plan. "When parliament previously defeated the issue of 90-day detention, the government should have realised that the British people would not tolerate such Draconian measures," Mr Davis said. - scotsman.com

now it all gets very silly, Nuke threat Psyops

Gang 'plotted to buy atom bomb'
By Simon Freeman, and Nicola Woolcock - Times Online - March 22, 2006
A member of a British terror cell with alleged links to al-Qaeda was involved in a plot to buy a nuclear bomb, the Old Bailey heard today.
Salahuddin Amin, one of seven defendants alleged to be behind a foiled plot to bomb a significant British target, had information passed to him about an atomic weapon while he was at a terrorist camp in Pakistan, the court was told.
The plan was to buy the device from the Russian Mafia in Belgium after arranging a deal on the internet, prosecutor David Waters QC said.
Mr Amin, 31, from Luton, Bedfordshire, later told police he did not believe the offer of an atomic bomb could be genuine. Mr Waters said the episode signalled the position the defendant held within terrorist circles.
Mr Waters said: "An indication as to the trust imposed in Amin and his position in the Pakistani end of the organisation is perhaps gained from the passing of information to him in relation to a radioisotope bomb.
"Abu Munthir [whom he had once met in a Luton mosque] asked Amin to contact a man named Abu Annis on Munthir's behalf. Amin did so via the internet and Abu Annis said they had made contact with the Russian mafia in Belgium and from the mafia they were trying to buy this bomb. "Amin told the police in interview that he didn't believe this could be genuine. In his own words, he didn't think it was likely 'that you can go and pick an atomic bomb up and use it'. "And indeed nothing appears to have come of this. However, as I say, it perhaps gives an indication as to Amin's position in, and his usefulness to, the organisation."
Mr Waters said that whether the possibility of acquiring and using a radioisotope bomb were realistic or not, Mr Amin had made a "fundamental and a concrete and immensely important contribution" to the conspiracy to cause explosions. He also said that Mr Amin had been trained in the preparation of ricin.
On the opening day of the trial yesterday, jurors heard that six of the defendants trained at terrorist camps in Pakistan, two were said to have worked for al-Qaeda's third-in-command and one said that Britain "needed to be hit because of its support for the US".
Their alleged plan to attack a nightclub, train or pub was averted at the last minute -after they had acquired all the bomb ingredients but before they could decide which site to hit. The men, mostly British-born, are standing trial after being held at Belmarsh prison for up to two years.
The defendants, the court was told, obtained ammonium nitrate fertiliser, aluminium powder and detonators to set off the device remotely. The plot, which involved accomplices in Canada, America and Pakistan, was foiled after months of surveillance by MI5, anti-terrorism and Special Branch officers.
Salahuddin Amin, 31, of Luton; Shujah Mahmood, 18, and his brother, Omar Khyam, 24, Jawad Akbar, 22, and Waheed Mahmoud, 34, all of Crawley; West Sussex; Anthony Garcia, 27, of Ilford, East London; and Nabeel Hussain, 20, from Horley, Surrey, all deny conspiring to cause an explosion likely to endanger life, between October 2003 and March 2004. Mr Khyam, Mr Garcia and Mr Hussain also deny possessing 600kg of fertiliser, containing ammonium nitrate, for the purposes of terrorism. Mr Khyam and Shujah Mahmood deny possessing aluminium powder, also for the purpose of terrorism.
The trial continues.
THE DEFENDANTS
Omar Khyam, 24, from Crawley, West Sussex. Formerly lived in Slough. Also known as Ausman. Said by the prosecution to be "very much at the centre of operations"
Anthony Garcia, 27, from Ilford, East London. Also known as Rahman Adam, Abdul Rahman, John Lewis or Rizvan. Allegedly taught weapons training at camps in Pakistan
Nabeel Hussain, 20, from Horley, Surrey. Lived in Uxbridge while a student at Brunel University. The only defendant not to attend training camps in Pakistan and the only one given bail
Jawad Akbar, 22, from Crawley. Also lived in Uxbridge for a time. Also known as Hamza
Waheed Mahmood, 34, from Crawley. Worked for National Grid Transco, which the prosecution said would be a significant point in this case. Also known as Abdul, Esmail or Javed
Shujah Mahmood, 18, Omar Khyam's younger brother. Also from Crawley. Prosecution alleges that he arrived in Pakistan with digital scales for weighing ratios of ammonium nitrate to aluminium powder
Salahuddin Amin, 31, from Luton. Spent considerable period in Pakistan. Also known as Khalid

news spreads as fast as fake evidence gained from torture

London Al-Qaeda Cell Planned to Purchase Nuclear Bomb from Russian Mafia - Report
22.03.2006 - A member of a British terror cell with alleged links to al-Qaeda was involved in a plot to buy a nuclear bomb from the Russian Mafia in Belgium, the Times said Wednesday.
Salahuddin Amin, one of seven defendants alleged to be behind a foiled plot to bomb a significant British target, had information passed to him about an atomic weapon while he was at a terrorist camp in Pakistan, the court was told.
The plan was to buy the device from the Russian Mafia in Belgium after arranging a deal on the internet, prosecutor David Waters said.
Mr Amin, 31, from Luton, Bedfordshire, later told police he did not believe the offer of an atomic bomb could be genuine. The prosecutor however said the episode signaled the position the defendant held within terrorist circles.
At the request of his fellow terrorists, Amin contacted a man named Abu Annis via the internet and Abu Annis said they had made contact with the Russian mafia in Belgium and were trying to buy the bomb. Amin told the police in an interview that he didn't believe this could be genuine. In his own words, he didn't think it was likely "that you can go and pick an atomic bomb up and use it".
Mr Waters said that whether the possibility of acquiring and using a radioisotope bomb had been realistic or not, Mr Amin had made a "fundamental and concrete and immensely important contribution" to the conspiracy to cause explosions. He also said that Mr Amin had been trained in the preparation of ricin.
The trial continues. - mosnews.com

Anti-Terror Evidence gained from torture?