The first ruling within the new Dutch anti-terror law: “Anyone who preaches hate and violence lays the basis for committing crimes directed at instilling fear among the people and destroying Dutch democracy.” Source: BBC

Agence France-Presse reports that a prominent London-based militant Islamic scholar has issued a fatwa banning suicide operations:

“To my mind, these operations are closer to suicide than to martyrdom-seeking, and they are taboo and not permissible” for a number of reasons, wrote Syrian-born Abdul Menem Mustafa Halimeh, alias Abu Baseer al-Tartussi, on his website.

The Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat, which reported Tartussi's fatwa on Saturday, described him as a top ideologue for Islamist militants and said his edict had provoked angry reactions on Islamist websites, with some accusing him of letting down Al-Qaeda followers.

Tartussi cited several reasons for banning suicide operations including:

Suicide violates dozens of (Islamic) religious texts; and

Suicide bombings often “wrongfully killing innocent and sacred souls, be they Muslim or otherwise.”

From California Yankee.

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the global War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. In addition, we also have our in-depth Iraq Report today.

Today's Winds of War briefing is brought to you by Bill Roggio and evariste of Discarded Lies.

Top Topics

• London encountered Islamic terrorism first hand on July 7, 2005. There were four bombs detonated, three on trains and one on a double decker bus. The current death toll in the attack is 50 killed and over 700 wounded. London has long been a haven for radical Islamists and terrorists. al Qaeda is recruiting those with “technical and professional qualifications” within Britain. Mustafa Setmarian Nasar and Mohammed al Qarbouzy are believed to be suspects. Three suspects were arrested at Heathrow Airport, but later released. There are unconfirmed reports that two suicide bombers were shot by British police. Tim Worstall has the week's Britblog roundup.

• Arnold Kling on terrorism, social capital, and civil society.

• The body of the final SEAL Team member lost in Afghanistan has been recovered. The Times Online reports the SEALs may have been close to a high-value target. Meanwhile, Pakistan states it will provide 4,000 extra troops to secure the Afghan-Pakistan border.

• Chrenkoff's Good News from Afghanistan!

• More good news: an Imam preaching anti-Americanism is drowned out by pro-American sentiments in a Kuwaiti mosque. Apparently this is not an isolated phenomina in Kuwait.

Other Topics Today Include:

Russia hearts Iran; IRGC cop power grab; Enter Scimitar; Bombs in Iraq; PA strikes it rich; PA MP resigns over reforms, security; Saudis discover jihadi teachers in rural schools; Gitmo exit strategy; Air France denied; “Peace” in Sudan; chop-chop in the Stan; LeT training camps; Kyrgyzstan's election; China's buildup; Japan's rampup; Thailand's insurgency; Jemaah Islamiah's recruiting prowness; IRA involved in London bombing?; build your own bomb vest; and much, much more…

Read the Rest…

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the global War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. Thursday's Winds of War briefings are given by me, Colt, of Eurabian Times.

TOP TOPICS

• Three British men have been indicted for plotting WMD attacks on financial institutions in New York, New Jersey and Washington D.C.

• Prime Minister Sharon and Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz have told a Knesset committee that they envision 4,000 Egyptian soldiers patrolling the Israel-Egypt border.

• Spanish police have arrested a man who allegedly helped buy the explosives used in the Madrid train bombings. In other 3/11 news, 11 Pakistanis have been arrested for funding al-Qaeda cells, including Mohammed the Egyptian, as well as Amjad Farooki (believed responsible for the Daniel Pearl murder).

Other Topics Today Include: Iran denies uranium smuggling; IRGC seethes; Germany's biggest trade partner; Cairo bomber's family arrested; Hezbollahland; Karami quits against; Hamas terror mall; A-Q leaders nabbed in Baghdad; LAX bomber spills the beans; CAIR-founder funded terrorism; Bourgass trained in poisons in Afghanistan; BND thinks A-Q have radiological weapons; MILF A-Q links don't matter; Taliban caught; UN approves treaty; and more.

Read the Rest…

JERUSALEM POST: Italian FM: Hizbullah belongs on EU terror list

Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini told Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom that the Italian government supports Israel's claim that Hizbullah should be included in the European Union's list of terrorist organizations, Israel Radio reported.

In a meeting between the two in Rome, Fini promised that Italy would work to persuade fellow European Union member countries that Hizbullah belongs on the terror list.

Fini was scheduled to meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei on Friday.

He promised Shalom that he would relay Israel's request to the Palestinians regarding the need for complete cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians during Israel's disengagement from Gaza.

Back in November, I wrote on the murder of Theo Van Gogh and concluded that it was far more than the actions of a small group of misguided fanatics but was instead an act carried out by al-Qaeda as part of a far more sinister plot aimed at destabilizing the Netherlands. Now, courtesy of the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, which are kind enough to publish their findings in English in marked contrast to some other countries I could name, we get a professional evaluation of the killing.

I told you so.

This is my summary of the Norwegian report, with their findings in bullet form and my comments (if any, since this is a really good report) beneath. I substitute “al-Qaeda” for “Islamist militants” at various points in my summary of the report since, as the report itself notes, this is who they are talking about.

• Introduction
• Modus Operandi
• Profile of the Assassin and His Network
• Profile of Mohammed Bouyeri
• The Hofstad Network and International Contacts
• Motivational Factors
• Concluding Remarks

Radio Netherlands reports:

The Dutch cabinet has announced a range of new measures, including plans to add hundreds of extra staff to the agencies involved in combating terrorism, hundreds of millions of euros in additional funding for equipment, and a whole series of preventative measures.

Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, self described Judge of the Sharia Court of Britain says,

” And I declare we should ourselves join the global Islamic camp against the global crusade camp,”…”The response from the Muslims will be horrendous if the British government continues in the way it treats Muslims,” he said, adding that suicide bombings were a possibility.

Sheikh Omar is listed in the Jewish Virtual Library with a BIO . Interesting fellow.

Well, that didn't take long…

MAARIV: Al-Manar stirs uproar in France after accusing Israel of spreading AIDS

Less than ten days after Hezbollah’s “al-Manar” television station was permitted to broadcast in France, one of its commentators has stirred uproar after he accused Israel of “repeated attempts in the past several years to spread AIDS throughout the Arab world”.

The commentator, who was defined as an expert on the “Zionist entity”, described at length how Israel has been trying to spread dangerous diseases, including AIDS, in the Arab world.

The French regulatory body, which granted “al-Manar” permission to broadcast in the country, announced on Tuesday it would demand the French parliament to immediately cease its transmissions.

President of the regulatory authority, Dominique Bodis, accused the Lebanese station of violating the rules of the broadcasting license. “It must be taken off the air. Its broadcasts are filled with hatred, violence and racism”, he said.

Hezbollah's/Al-Manar's response in Dar Al-Hayat:

In a statement, Al-Manar said it had respected a pledge to unbiased reporting that staved off an earlier ban, and told the council not to bend to pressure to block its broadcasts.

“The channel affirms its commitment to the agreement and is surprised by the decision since it is intent on carrying out the agreement”, it said, calling CSA to “stick to the agreement and not submit to the political pressure being exercised upon it.”

Oh, and Happy World AIDS Day!

According to the ticker at Haaretz:

The Netherlands agrees to outlaw Hezbollah, says it hopes its European Union partners will follow suit.

Backlash from the murder of Theo van Gogh?

EU will likely not outlaw Hezbollah outright, considering that France has agreed to allow Hezbollah-mouthpiece station Al-Manar to use French satellite resources to broadcast.

Expatica reports:

Re-branded as the AIVD, or General Intelligence and Security Service in English, the organisation seemed bereft of enemies of the state. September 11 in the US and more recently the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam on 2 November has changed all that. The focus is now firmly on “Islamic terror”. Armed with the promise of “several tens of millions of euros” in increased funding, the AIVD has been given new orders in direct response to the brutal assassination of Van Gogh. The organisation has been tasked with tightening surveillance on suspected “extremists” and preventing future attacks.

AP: Hezbollah-linked TV station allowed to broadcast in EU

The French public broadcasting regulator authorized an Arabic-language television station close to the Lebanese Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group to transmit programs within the European Union.

The Al-Manar station, well known within the Arabic world, had committed itself in an agreement “not to incite hatred, violence or discrimination based on race, sex, religion or nationality,” said the French Audiovisual Council.

Jewish groups had earlier urged French authorities not to grant a licence to the channel to transmit programmes in France after it had put out material criticized for perceived anti-Semitic content.

Following complaints, the audiovisual authority asked Al-Manar to submit a reasoned application to register as a broadcasting organisation.

A top French court in August warned Lebanese-based Al-Manar channel it would curtail its satellite transmissions to France if it did not commit itself to a code of professional conduct.

(Italics added for emphasis)

CNN: Madrid bombing suspect pleads guilty

A 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty Tuesday to carrying explosives used in the Madrid terror bombings that killed 191 people.

He was sentenced to six years in a juvenile detention center and five years probation.

The brief court session marked the first trial in connection with the March 11 attacks. The boy, whose identity was not disclosed, was shielded by a screen in the high-security courtroom.

Haaretz reports:

Dutch authorities say 13 young Muslims arrested on terrorism charges in the Netherlands following the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh are members of a radical Islamic group with international links and a Syrian-born spiritual leader. Dutch intelligence calls the group the “Hofstad Netwerk,” and a Justice Ministry official says 43-year-old Syrian Redouan al-Issar, the alleged spiritual leader, has disappeared without a trace.

TurkishPress reports

Dutch police detained 38 members of the terrorist organization PKK in their country on Friday. The Dutch Prosecutor's Office said that Dutch police found a training camp of the terrorist organization near Eindhoven in their operation, and detained 38 terrorists in their operations against the training camp and several houses in Eindhoven, The Hague, Rotterdam and Capellaan den IJssel. The Office stated that police seized many documents, weapons and equipment in their operation. Twenty of the detainees were preparing to stage terrorist attacks in Turkey, the Office noted.

Europeans have not yet realised the seriousness of the threat of global terrorism, NATO's secretary general has warned.

There is a critical “perception gap” between Europe and the US, said Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in New York on Thursday (11 November).

Differences between European allies and the US are one of the reasons for the strained relations within NATO, stressed the head of the alliance.

“If the gap is to be bridged, it has to be done from the European side and not from the United States”, he said according to IHT.

EUobserver

Rohan Jayasekera, Associate Editor of the free speech advocacy magazine Index on Censorship, has called Theo Van Gogh's work “An abuse of his right to free speech” and urged readers to “applaud Theo van Gogh's death as the marvellous piece of theatre it was”.

In Mr. Jayasekera's editorial (hat tip), he blames Van Gogh's death on the nature of Van Gogh's criticisms of Muslims.

Van Gogh's juvenile shock-horror art finally led him to build an exploitative working relationship with Somalia-born Dutch MP Ayann Hirsi Ali, whose terrible personal experience of abuse has driven her to a traumatizing loss of her Muslim faith.

[snip]

A sensational climax to a lifetime's public performance, stabbed and shot by a bearded fundamentalist, a message from the killer pinned by a dagger to his chest, Theo van Gogh became a martyr to free expression. His passing was marked by a magnificent barrage of noise as Amsterdam hit the streets to celebrate him in the way the man himself would have truly appreciated.

And what timing! Just as his long-awaited biographical film of Pim Fortuyn's life is ready to screen. Bravo, Theo! Bravo!

Reuters reports:

Dutch police stormed an apartment and arrested two people on Wednesday, ending a 14-hour stand-off that began when suspects sought in anti-terrorism probe wounded three officers in a hand grenade blast. A police spokesman said a special police unit entered the apartment in The Hague to end the drama that began when officers launched a pre-dawn raid on the building. Police said the suspects resisted arrested and threw a grenade at them. Heavily armed police had circled the building all day, which is located in a poor neighborhood of The Hague where almost half the population is immigrant. The area was cordoned off and the airspace over the city closed. One bystander estimated there were almost 200 police on the scene, including officers wearing balaclava masks and carrying machineguns.

The BBC reports:

A police anti-terror operation in The Hague has ended with the arrest of two suspects after a violent 14-hour siege, Dutch officials say. Three police officers were wounded in a grenade explosion earlier during the raid. Two of them remain in hospital. One of the suspects held was injured in the shoulder, officials said. Earlier, a Muslim school in Uden was burned down - part of a spate of attacks after the murder of film-maker Theo van Gogh, a critic of Islam.

More info at:
Expatica.com/Netherlands
NewsNow/Netherlands

From the AFP via the ABC :

Dutch police have mounted a major anti-terror raid in The Hague, the city's Attorney-General has said.

The raid on an apartment came as part of an operation launched by the public prosecutor's office, Hans Moraal said, without giving details.

Three policemen were injured, two seriously, when one of the suspects threw a handgrenade at them, police spokesman Frans Rijnswou said.

Mr Rijnswou said airspace over The Hague had been closed and residents in five streets close to the targeted apartment evacuated before the operation commenced.

Very good review of the “Barcelona Process” can be found here. For those who do not know, the Barcelona Process is the European Union’s initiative to foster Democracy in the Middle East. Reading this is invaluable to understanding how Europe sees the situation of the Middle East, and why our approach is upsetting them so much.

Here is the bulls-eye quote form the document…

The United States and the European Union may find themselves clashing fairly often on whether or to what degree to engage these nations, creating opportunities for such states to play the United States and the European Union off one another.

A related key difference concerns the issue of enforced regime change. The United States argues that the only option for dealing with certain recalcitrant regimes (e.g., Saddam Hussein's regime) is to remove them from power. Immediately after the invasion of Iraq, some U.S. officials warned of the potential for a similar fate for the government of Bashar Assad in Syria. In contrast, most Europeans favor a gradual, long-term approach to reform. They regard political reform in the Middle East as a generation-long challenge that will require patience and a need to work with entrenched regimes. Many Europeans have voiced fears that the United States has a far shorter attention span and is unwilling to commit to a decades-long endeavor. Strong differences over Iraq between the Americans and the Europeans starkly illustrate the damage to transatlantic relations that the issue of regime change can inflict

U.S. policymakers tend to seek out individuals who can serve as “champions” of reform, looking for an Arab Gorbachev who might spearhead regional reform. The Europeans are leery of identifying individual reformers as recipients for EU support, concerned that such choices will inevitably politicize aid.

This post was cross-posted here.

Stay Free.

AP: Spain Seizes More Weapons From Separatists

French police, using information from raids that netted the suspected leader of the Basque separatist group ETA and a huge arms cache, have found more weapons in hideouts allegedly kept by the group, Spanish officials said Monday.

The new finds came Sunday night in the towns of Saint Pierre de Irrube and Urrugne in the Basque region of southwest France, the Spanish Interior Ministry said.

A Spanish official said it was not immediately clear if the hideouts were new ones, or simply more weapons were found in ones that French and Spanish police detected on Oct. 3.

Those raids led to the arrest of ETA's suspected leader, known widely by his alias Mikel Antza, and his companion, Soledad Iparraguirre, also suspected of being a senior ETA member, near Pau in southwestern France.

In the new raids, the weapons seized include 55 pounds of dynamite, 61 pistols, one anti-tank grenade and a number of assault rifles.

Welcome! This briefing will be looking hard at the dark places most mainstream media seem determined to look away from, to better understand our declared enemies on their own terms and without illusions. Our goal is to bring you some of the top jihadi rants, idiotarian seething, and old-school Jew-hatred from around the world, leaving you more informed, more aware, and pretty disgusted every month. This Winds of Change.NET HateWatch briefing is brought to you by Lewy14. (Email me at my handle “hatewatch” here at windsofchange.net). Entil'zha veni!

HIGHLIGHTED TOPICS

• Religious Hate: Associated Press recognizes global Jihad; Hostage taking and beheading roundup; Rape as politics by other means; Jihad curricula examined at Al-Azhar; Suicide bombers OK according to Islamic cleric – in Norway; Danish born Muslim claims his own country’s leaders are terror targets.

• Idiotarian Seethings: Pakistani Islamist party sees anti-Globalization struggle as jihad; Islamist connections on the left and right; Chomsky’s anti-Semitism deconstructed; IHT columnist suggests Israeli nukes be dismantled.

• Race and Culture: More on the flight of Arab Christians; Barak speech a “security threat” at Concordia; anti-Zionism vs anti-Semitism in Europe; Reality TV in the Magic Kingdom; Radio Islam goes on the air in Chicago; Dark picture painted of Islamist influence in Iraq; To be a Jew in Baghdad; To be Yussuf Islam in Bangor.

• A Hopeful Note: Reaction to fatwa calling for killing of Americans; Qatari academic looks for root causes – of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories; Tunisian University Lecturer argues against Sharia; Ridicule is mightier than the sword.

The News of the World has the story:

THESE is the chilling moment anti-terrorist police swooped on a gang suspected of trying to buy radioactive material for a “dirty bomb” that could have slaughtered thousands of Britons. Three men were arrested at a London hotel after a joint operation between the News of the World and Scotland Yard's elite Anti-Terrorist Branch. A fourth was arrested later. We infiltrated a sinister underworld network believed to be acting for Mr Big in Saudi Arabia—a known al-Qaeda hotbed.

By sheer coincidence the BCC will show its drama Dirty War today, about a dirty bomb attack by terrorists on the City of London.

ARAB NEWS: Abu Hamza Could Face British Charges

Abu Hamza Al-Masri, who is wanted in the United States on terrorism charges, could be charged in Britain within weeks, a government lawyer said yesterday.

Al-Masri, 47, who has been held since May on a US warrant, appeared by video link from Belmarsh Prison in southeast London at an extradition hearing at Bow Street Magistrates Court.

Treasury Counsel Hugo Keith, appearing for the US authorities, said London’s Metropolitan Police had completed their investigation of Al-Masri and reported to the Crown Prosecution Service, which will decide whether to charge him under the Terrorism Act.

“It’s my understanding that a decision is likely to be made around about the end of the first week in October,” Keith said.

The Crown Prosecution Service said it hoped to make a decision before the extradition hearing scheduled for Oct. 19.

(He was a one-armed, one-eyed Egyptian-born people killer…
One-armed, one-eyed Egyptian-born people killer…
One-arned, one-eyed Egyptian-born people killer…
Sure looks strange to me!)

CNN republishes six still images appearing today in El Pais newspaper, from a security camera capturing the very moment when the bombs inside the Atocha station on March 11 exploded.

The gallery is here.

This time not in the Netherlands, but inside Spain.

AFP: Syrian, Algerian arrested over Madrid train bombings

A Syrian and an Algerian have been arrested in Spain in connection with the March 11 Madrid train bombings, the Spanish interior ministry said.

Detained in the south-east coastal city of Valencia, Safwan Sabagh and Abdelkrim Beghadali, both 41, had been previously arrested in March in connection with the same investigation but released for lack of evidence.

The ministry said their fingerprints were found in the apartment in the Madrid suburb of Leganes in which seven people suspected of involvement in the bombings blew themselves up as the police closed in on April 3.

Their prints, and well as two phone numbers used by Sabagh, were also found in a Skoda car used by the bombers, responsible for nearly 200 deaths, and later found in Leganes, the ministry said.

UPDATE. EFE news agency reports (warning; link in Spanish) that Abdelkrim Beghadali, one of the two men arrested, is the imam of a mosque in Torrent, a town near Valencia in Eastern Spain.

AGI (Italy): Italian Interior Minister Warns of Sleeping Terror Cells

Rome, Aug 16 - "We don't exclude the risk that sleeping or partially active terrorist groups and even single individuals might mobilise suddenly, hitting the national territory directly, even if there are no direct impulses from abroad," said the Interior minister, Giuseppe Pisanu, in the traditional August bank holiday press conference at the Internal Affairs Ministry.

… As to the new threats from Al Qaeda, Pisanu said that they are "in perfect harmony with the previous ones." "We don't underestimate them, but we don't let them scare us, and we continue with the preventive measures already implemented." According to Pisanu, "the Italians don't change their habits, answering in the most composed way to the continuing announces in the media that only want to increase the fear for Islamic terrorism."

REUTERS: Libya to Pay $35 Million to Berlin Bomb Victims

Libya has agreed to compensate more than 160 non-U.S. victims of the 1986 bombing of a West Berlin nightclub, the Libyan ambassador to Germany told Reuters on Tuesday.

The agreement should help the oil-rich North African nation end its pariah status and improve its ties with the European Union, whose trade and aid partnership with Mediterranean countries it wants to join.

“The memorandum will be signed tonight in Berlin. The volume is $35 million,” Ambassador Said Abdulaati said, adding that a formal contract would be signed in two weeks in Tripoli.

The lawyers representing the victims declined to comment on the ambassador's statement.

“I have no comment. That is not the state of my knowledge,” said lawyer Stephan Maigne. A spokesman for lawyer Ulrich von Jeinsen said the parties had agreed to maintain silence.

The German government had no comment yet, a spokesman said.

An item published in gazeta.ru (Russian language link) states that Italian analysts have designated likely dates for terrorist acts.

“According to Italian analysts, the periods from August 14 through 19 and September 5 through 15 are the most probable days for Islamic groups to commit terrorist acts, reports Europa Press, citing [the Italian news agency] ANSA.”

The gazeta.ru article went on to note that the September dates coincide with the visit of Pope John Paul II to Loreto and that of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to Bari, and recalled that the “Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades” had given the Italian government a two-week deadline at the beginning of August to get out of Iraq.

Note: An attempt to independently verify this information via web searches for stories involving “Europa Press,” “ANSA,” “John Paul,” and “Berlusconi” came up empty as of this post.

(Cross posted here.)

REUTERS: UK Navy: Qaeda Has Plan to Target Merchant Shipping

Intelligence shows al Qaeda has plans to target merchant shipping in a bid to disrupt world trade, Britain's top navy officer said in an interview published on Thursday.

“We have got an underlying level of intelligence which shows there is a threat,” the Royal Navy's First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sir Alan West, was quoted as saying by Lloyd's List maritime newspaper.

The Defense Ministry confirmed West had given the interview in which he reiterated previous warnings about the threat of an attack on the world's commercial fleets.

“What we've noticed is that al Qaeda and other organizations have an awareness about maritime trade … They've realized how important it is for world trade in general,” he said.

Reuters carry two reports on the latest statement to come out of what is perceived to be Al Qaeda's European branch, the Abu Hasef Al Masri brigades. In it, they vow 'bloody war' on Europe, after Europe declined earlier to take up Al Qaeda on its truce offer.

Reuters:

Qaeda-Linked Group Vows 'Bloody War' on Europe

Jul 28, 4:41 PM (ET)

DUBAI (Reuters) - Muslim militants claiming links to al Qaeda vowed in a statement on Wednesday to launch a “bloody war” on Europe after a “truce” offered by Osama bin Laden expired earlier this month.

“Today, we have declared a bloody war on you and we will not stop raids against you until you return to the correct path,” said the statement signed by Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades and posted on an Islamist Web site, which has carried previous statements from the group.

“After the truce determined by our sheik Osama bin Laden ended, and after you have not returned to the correct path, we declare a war in your faces and in the face of your silent people whose silence proves their support to you,” it added.

The authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified.

The group had warned in an internet statement earlier this month it would launch new attacks on Europe once the truce, which expired in mid-July, ended.

Al Qaeda leader bin Laden, in an audiotape on April 15, gave European states three months to pull troops out of Afghanistan, Iraq and other Muslim countries or face new attacks like the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people on March 11.

In the same statement, they theaten Silvio Berlusconi's Italy:

Reuters:

Qaeda-Linked Group Says Berlusconi Its First Target

Jul 28, 5:28 PM (ET)

DUBAI (Reuters) - Muslim militants claiming links to al Qaeda said in a statement on Wednesday Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was their first target for attack.

“We will shake the cities of Europe and we will start with you Berlusconi, and we will make it bloody until you return to the correct path. Wait for us Berlusconi and your other allies as well, wait for our promise which we have revealed to you and are now revealing to Europe,” said the statement signed by Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades and posted on an Islamist Web site.

More at Southern Watch

JERUSALEM POST: France bans Hizbullah's al-Manar

The French Broadcasting Authorities (CSA) on Wednesday complied with a recommendation by the French government to ban Hizbullah's al-Manar satellite television from broadcasting in France.

On July 12 of this year, the French Ministry of Interior sent an advisory memo to the CSA recommending al-Manar's transmission via the European satellite operator Eutelsat be “immediately terminated due to their anti-Semitic content.”

Al-Manar is the official mouthpiece of Lebanon's Shiite guerrilla group Hizbullah.

AP: Britain to Issue Terror Information Kits

Britain's top law enforcement official said Sunday he is preparing to issue a booklet with advice on what to do in case of a terrorist attack or a civil emergency.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said the pamphlet was inspired by information kits issued by the Australian government last year.

He said Britons should be “alert but not alarmed” about the threat from terrorism.

“I spent from Sept. 11 a lot of political energy and political clout persuading people not to over-hype what was going on,” Blunkett told British Broadcasting Corp. TV.

“Not because the threat isn't real … but because we need to go about our daily lives. We need to keep our economy and our social life going and if people were over-frightened they would change their behavior.”

AP: Morocco Warns Spain About Militants

Moroccan authorities have warned Spain that they have lost track of 400 suspected militants who trained in al-Qaida terrorist camps in Afghanistan, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Most of the suspects in the Madrid train bombings were Moroccan, prompting that country's government to alert Spanish anti-terrorism judge Baltasar Garzon of the situation during a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, in early July.

About 600 Moroccans were known to have trained in Afghanistan in camps sponsored by Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), the daily El Pais said, quoting unidentified sources close to police and judicial officials.

But Morocco knew the whereabouts of only 200 of them, El Pais said.

AP: U.S. seeking cleric's extradition

Lawyers acting for the U.S. government on Friday outlined a series of alleged terrorism offenses by radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri as they sought his extradition in a British court.

But his defense attorney said al-Masri wouldn't receive a fair hearing if he was sent to the United States and expressed fears that some American evidence against him may have been obtained from tortured witnesses.

Defense lawyer Edward Fitzgerald also told Belmarsh Magistrates Court in south London that the preacher could face the death penalty in the United States for charges relating to a hostage-taking in Yemen.

Al-Masri, 47, nodded to confirm his name and age and shook his head when asked if he wanted the charges to be repeated.

(Now put your right hand on the Ko- … oh, wait. Put your left ha- … well, how about a foot?)

SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE: Morocco is Europe's biggest terrorist threat, Spain's judge Garzon says

Morocco – home to most of the suspects in the Madrid train bombing – is teeming with some 100 al-Qaeda-linked cells that are capable of suicide attacks and pose Europe's biggest terrorist threat, Spain's leading anti-terrorism judge testified Thursday.

Each cell has five to 10 members, “so we are talking about 900 to 1,000 people who could be sought by police now in Morocco,” Judge Baltasar Garzon told lawmakers investigating the March 11 attacks, which killed 190 people. Garzon cited police and intelligence data.

“In my opinion it is the gravest problem Europe faces today with this kind of terrorism,” Garzon said, noting that many of those groups are in northern Morocco, with members who speak perfect Spanish and are able to slip easily in and out of Spain. The two countries are just a short ferry ride away from each other across the Strait of Gibraltar.

JERUSALEM POST: Suicide bomber's brother and sister face retrial

A judge on Thursday ordered a retrial for a brother and sister facing terrorism charges over their involvement in the Mike's Place suicide bombing - perpetrated by their brother last year.

Jurors told the Old Bailey criminal court they could not agree on verdicts for Parveen Akther Sharif, 35 and Zahid Hussain Sharif, 36. They were charged with failing to report information about their brother, Omar Khan Sharif, 27, that could have prevented an act of terrorism.

Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said they will face another jury later this year. Parveen Sharif will also be retried on a charge of inciting her brother to commit an act of terrorism.

The pair have denied all the charges.

Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades is reminding Europe that their three-month truce is about to expire and renewing threats to carry out attacks in Europe.

An al Qaeda-linked group vowed to renew attacks on Europe and urged Muslims to flee once Osama bin Laden's three-month truce ends on July 15, two Arabic-language newspapers reported on Friday.

“To the European people … you only have a few more days to accept bin Laden's truce or you will only have yourselves to blame,” said the statement purported to be from the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades which claimed responsibility for the March 11 train bombings in Spain which killed 191 people.

Al Qaeda leader bin Laden, in an audiotape on April 15, extended a truce to Europeans if they withdrew troops from Muslim nations. He said the offer not to attack Europe would last three months.

It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the new statement, parts of which were published by London-based newspapers Asharq al-Awsat and al-Hayat. The papers said the letter was dated July 1 but did not say how they obtained it.

European analysts are not taking the threat seriously.

An American, who admits being part an alleged plot to blow up London pubs, rail stations and restaurants, faces 30 years to life in prison under an agreement with federal prosecutors in New York.

Mohammed Junaid Babar, who quit a £40,000 a year computer job in the hope of joining the fight against US troops in Afghanistan, has admitted terrorism charges.

He was arrested in New York by the Joint Terrorism Task Force in April as a material witness – a person whose testimony is required in a criminal investigation before a grand jury or in a trial – and has been in custody ever since.

Babar, 29, the grandson of Pakistani immigrants, has not been publicly charged.

JERUSALEM POST: French anti-terror police make arrests

French anti-terror police arrested more than a dozen people and seized weapons in early morning raids Tuesday of suspected Islamic militants in the Paris region, police officials said.

Details were still coming in and searches were still underway. But police said the sweep targeted Islamist circles and that at least 13 suspects were picked up shortly after 6 a.m. (0400 GMT).

Weapons also were seized in a detainee's home, police said. Under French anti-terror laws, the suspects can be questioned for 96 hours without charge.

by Dan Darling, Winds of Change.NET

Over the last several days, a multi-national initiative by several European nations has succeeded in disrupting al-Qaeda's infrastructure in no less than 3 separate nations. While most of this is directly related to the renewed European anti-terrorism drive following the tragic events of 3/11, it has also succeeded in uncovering what appears to be, at least on the surface, a definite threat to the United States.

Introduction

Most of the relevant background information on the identity of the group that carried out the Madrid bombings, the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (Salafi Jihad), can be found in my earlier special analysis written in the aftermath of 3/11. Little has changed since, with the exception of two new faces stepping to the fore. In addition to Jamal Zougam, Amer Azizi and Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed have also emerged as key conspirators in the Madrid bombings. I would probably say that Azizi is likely to be ahead of Ahmed in the al-Qaeda pecking order, given his role in 9/11 and apparent relocation to Iran. Azizi is described as a top lieutenant to Abu Musab Zarqawi, which given his role in 9/11 would tend to present a great many problems for anyone who wants to argue that Zarqawi isn't an al-Qaeda leader. After all, he's the new al-Qaeda operations chief, apparently picking up where 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed left off.

Ahmed, however, remained in Europe, likely taking up the role of leader of the European al-Qaeda network now that Abderrazak al-Mahjoub has been arrested. He's a former explosives expert for the Egyptian army and served as an instructor at an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. This clearly identifies him as a major player right from the start because in addition to the Muslim Brotherhood, many of the Islamists who made up the core of Gamaa al-Islamiyyah and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (two key groups that would eventually merge with bin Laden's own to form al-Qaeda) recruited members of their military wings from disgruntled members of the Egyptian military who were angry over first Anwar Sadat and later Hosni Mubarak for their decision to support peace with Israel. Al-Qaeda military commander Saif al-Adel, for example, was formerly an Egyptian special forces colonel trained by the Soviet Bloc.

Ahmed's arrest and its implications

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CNN: UK Muslim cleric Hamza arrested

A man arrested in London on an U.S. extradition warrant and due in court later Thursday is reported to be controversial Muslim cleric Abu Hamza.

London's Metropolitan Police refused to confirm the detention, saying only that officers from the Extradition and International Assistance Unit arrested a “British citizen, aged 47” at about 3 a.m. Thursday following an American request for his extradition.

But police sources told The Associated Press that Hamza was the man arrested.

Hamza's lawyer said he was the man being held, saying she had spoken to him and he remained “calm.”

CNN: Turkey foils 'NATO bomb plot'

Turkish officials say police have foiled a bomb plot targeting a NATO summit in Istanbul that will be attended by world leaders including U.S. President George W. Bush.

Police detained at least 16 members of Ansar al Islam, a terrorist organization linked to al Qaeda, the governor of Bursa province said in a statement Monday.

Otuzkaan Koksal said police confiscated a large number of weapons and bomb-making materials in the raid in Bursa, 250 kilometers (160 miles) south of Istanbul.

He said officers seized about 4,000 CDs featuring training instructions from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Koksal said Ansar al Islam had planned to carry out more attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq after the June 28-29 NATO summit.

JERUSALEM POST: Terror suspects accused in Sweden

Lena Bjoerken, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office in Stockholm, said the four may be connected to terrorist activities outside Europe. She declined to elaborate.

Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet reported on its Web site that the four were suspected of helping arrange attacks on YS soldiers in, citing an unnamed source.

The four were arrested Monday night in separate operations in the capital, Stockholm, and in the southern city of Malmoe. They were not identified in keeping with Swedish practice.

“We can confirm that four people have been arrested and questioned,” SAPO spokesman Robert Dahlberg told The Associated Press. “They are suspected of having connections to terrorist activities — Islamic extremism.”

CNN: Report: Spain's Jews terror target

A Jewish cemetery and cultural center on the outskirts of Madrid were targets for suspected Islamic terrorists linked to the Madrid train bombings last month, a Spanish newspaper reported Tuesday.

Jacobo Israel Garzon, president of the Jewish community in Spain, told CNN he could not confirm the El Mundo report that it did not seem unusual.

“It's sad information,” he said. “This demonstrates the same as the March 11 attacks in Madrid, that the elements are here and they are violent and will attack anything that goes against their interests.”

JERUSALEM POST: Report: Madrid terrorists planned to bomb mall

Terrorists who blew themselves up last weekend as police moved in to arrest them over the March 11 bombings had been plotting an imminent attack on a sprawling shopping center outside Madrid, a newspaper reported Thursday.

Police combing through the apartment found evidence that included maps of Parquesur, a retail and leisure complex less than a mile (1.6-kilometer) from the apartment in the town of Leganes, El Mundo said, quoting police.

The police also found at least two backpacks and a belt, all packed with dynamite and wired to detonators, the paper said.

Interior Ministry officials were not available to comment on the report.

JERUSALEM POST: Report: chemical attack plot foiled in Britain

British and US intelligence agencies and police foiled a plot to create a chemical vapor bomb in Britain, the British Broadcasting Cor