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. Monday’s Winds of War briefings are given by Security Watchtower.

Top Topics

• Syrian leader Bashar Assad met with representatives from 10 Palestinian militant organizations, and urged them to continue their struggle towards statehood. The meeting came as international pressure on Syria continues to build.

• The Palestinian leadership is blaming Hamas for the assassination of Moussa Arafat, with one official saying “we have confirmed information that Hamas participated in the assassination operation.”

• Bangladesh police seized explosives, jihad material, and over 200 homemade bombs from a house they raided in Dhaka. Since the August 17th bombings, authorities have been cracking down on the banned Islamic group, Jumatul Mujahedin.

• After a 38 year presence, Israeli forces have withdrawn from the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Palestinian security forces began moving in as Palestinians celebrated into the night.

Other topics today include: Hezbollah still refuses to disarm; Iran’s involvement in Iraq; al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia; Kudistan trail; Congressional hearings on Iran; Jordanian militants sentenced; 9/11 heroes honored; BRAC report; Islamic law in Ontario; Padilla detention; Liberia elections; Egypt elections; Georgian revolution; militants killed in Pakistan; U.S.-Britain labelled terrorists; Fast food bombings in Karachi; Conflict in Taiwan straights; Anti-terror measures in Australia; ties between London bombers & al Qaeda; Italy allows phone taps; suicide operations and more.

Read the Rest…

Let’s see how that so-called ceasefire is going…

JERUSALEM POST: Bullets found in videotape at Hawara checkpoint

At the Hawara checkpoint outside of Nablus, soldiers thwarted an attempt by Palestinians to smuggle 20 bullets hidden in a videotape from Nalbus Friday morning.

JERUSALEM POST: PA Chairman Abbas: Happy Pessah to all Israelis

“I hope that the holiday [Pessah] will pass in peace and freedom for all people,” Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said in a telephone call to President Moshe Katsav Friday.

Abbas called to give a holiday blessing to the president and all Israelis, Army Radio reported.

Katsav responded that this is a time of good relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and that the situation should be taken advantage of.

But, Mahmoud, how do your people really feel about Pesach?

JERUSALEM POST: Palestinian teen caught smuggling pipe bombs

A 17-year-old Palestinian was caught attempting to smuggle four pipe bombs at the Beit Furit checkpoint outside of Nablus Friday afternoon.

A military policewoman manning the position stopped the teen for inspection and asked to check the bag he was carrying. At first he refused, but the policewoman later checked inside and discovered the pipe bombs.

He was detained for questioning, and the bombs were blown up by sappers.

Nine-fingered putz.

Okay, just the ladies this time… let’s see how the so-called cease-fire is doing…

JERUSALEM POST: Israeli wounded by roadside bomb near Gaza

An Israeli was wounded on Thursday afternoon when a bomb blew up underneath a vehicle north of the Karni Crossing in northern Gaza.

A helicopter has been summoned to airlift the wounded man to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

Let’s see how that so-called ceasefire is doing…

JERUSALEM POST: Two Palestinians arrested for planning to kill policemen

Two Palestinians are under arrest for allegedly planning to murder a group of Israeli policemen on the outskirts of Jerusalem and then mutilate them, police said Thursday.

The two men were part of a group of 14 suspects, including thirteen Arabs and one Jew, apprehended over the last several days during an undercover sting operation for selling an assortment of weapons and drugs to an undercover police officer.

A court-imposed gag order, which was in place on the case, was lifted Thursday afternoon.

According to police, the two prime suspects, brothers Walid and Nidal Shubaki, 30, of the West Bank village of A-Ram, approached the undercover police officer who was in the midst of his own investigation into allegations of illegal weapons sales, asking him for assistance in carrying out an attack on Israeli policemen during a patrol in the West Bank.

The suspects allegedly planned to open fire on the police jeep, in which three officers were to be traveling at the time, when the windows of the bulletproof vehicle were open and then chop off their feet and steal their weapons, police said. The two Arab men had intended to carry out the well-planned attack on the outskirts of Jerusalem in the coming days, police said.

Let’s see how that disarming first step of the so-called Roadmap is going…

JERUSALEM POST: IDF uncovers explosives hidden in oven in Nablus

The IDF uncovered three kilograms of explosive materials on Monday night that were hidden inside an oven in the Askar refugee camp in Nablus, Army Radio reported.

In addition, the army discovered a medium sized explosive device ready for use.

The intelligence that led to the discoveries came from interrogating a Fatah operative who was arrested a few days ago.

Mmmmmm… nothing like a fresh Palestinian Pie baking in the oven. The taste just explodes in your mouth.

Let’s see how that so-called ceasefire is holding up…

JERUSALEM POST: Two Israelis wounded, one seriously, in Gaza attack

Two Israelis were wounded Monday by a Palestinian sniper who fired at a group of construction workers near the IDF’s Hardon post on the Philadelphi route in the southern Gaza Strip.

One of the wounded was listed to be in serious condition, while the second was reported to have sufferred light to moderate wounds.

They were being evacuated by helicopter to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.

Let’s see how that so-called ceasefire is working out, shall we?

JERUSALEM POST: Soldier wounded by sniper fire in Gaza

A soldier was lightly wounded by Palestinian sniper fire directed at an IDF post near Gadid in Gush Katif on Sunday morning. Earlier, shots were fired at an IDF post near Rafah.

Shots were fired at soldiers deployed near Kadim in northern Samaria while in an early morning raid, security forces arrested Muhammad Abu Leila in the Askar refugee camp in Nablus, a member of Fatah, who planned to carry out attacks.

Let’s see how that so-called ceasefire and the incarceration of an Israeli Tourism minister’s murderers are doing so far…

HAARETZ: 3 East Jerusalem men held in plot to kill Shas’ Yosef

The Shin Bet security service has arrested three residents of East Jerusalem in connection with a suspected plot to assassinate Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, according to information released Sunday.

One of the three has already been charged and the other two are still undergoing questioning by Shin Bet agents.

The three - French citizen Salah Hamuri, Mutsan Mohammed Yavsha and Moussa Mohammed Darweesh - are members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The cell belongs to the same East Jerusalem faction of the PFLP as those behind the murder of cabinet minister Rehavam Ze’evi in a Jerusalem hotel in October 2001.

Ze’evi’s killers, jailed in Jericho, had apparently given their blessing to the attack on the rabbi.

Willie Horton never had it so good.

Let’s see how that so-called ceasefire is coming along…

HAARETZ: Hamas threatens to end truce over PA election delay

The Hamas movement said Saturday that any delay in Palestinian Legislative Council elections could affect the current truce the regional calm.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said if the balloting will not be held on time, the group would have to rethink its commitment to an informal cease-fire with Israel. Hamas agreed to the de facto truce on the understanding Abbas would pursue reforms in the PA.

The group plans to field candidates for the first time during the July 17 elections, and said the possible delay in vote was caused by fears among Fatah leaders that Hamas would gain political much power at Fatah’s expense.

Let’s see how the so-called cease-fire is doing…

From the front page of Haaretz:

A Palestinian boy jumping through a ring of fire during an Islamic Jihad rally in Gaza, Friday. (AP)

Words fail me.

So, how is that so-called cease-fire doing?

JERUSALEM POST: Bomb explodes by Kisufim crossing, no one wounded

An explosive device was detonated Friday afternoon near the Kisufim crossing in the Gaza Strip as IDF soldiers were passing through the area on routine patrol.

No one was wounded in the attack and no damage was caused, Israel Radio reported.

Also Friday, soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip discovered an explosive device weighing 40 kg.

Let’s see how that so-called ceasefire is doing…

HAARETZ: IDF captures Fatah man who infiltrated from Syria

A Fatah militant who infiltrated into the Golan Heights from Syria was captured Friday morning after a shootout with Israel Defense Forces troops, security sources said.

In a rare flare-up in the normally quiet Golan, a gunman penetrated the border fence and opened fired on the IDF’s Tel Hezka outpost, northeast of Katzrin.

IDF sources identified the attacker as a 21-year-old militant from Fatah, and said the man, who was wearing shirt emblazed with the Palestinian flag, told investigators he had planned to abduct an IDF soldier and take him back to Syria.

The gunman, who came from a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, penetrated the border fence and fired nine rounds into an IDF post in an attempt to explode a petrol container, officials said. IDF soldiers fired at him twice before taking him into custody for questioning, the sources said.

Fateh, as in Mahmoud Abbas’ Fateh.

Syria, as in Occupying Lebanon, Hosting Palestinian Terror Groups Syria.

No casualties were reported in the incident.

According to the IDF spokesman, “The responsibility for the incident lies with Syria and it must act to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

No French military officers serving as UN “observers” were harmed in this incident.

Yet.

Let’s see how that so-called cease-fire is progressing…

JERUSALEM POST: IDF confiscates 5000 bullets slated for Gaza

Soldiers of the Duhifat Batallion searching a Palestinian vehicle at a checkpoint at Ein Sinaya north of Ramallah on Thursday afternoon, discovered bags containing 5000 six milimeter bullets.

According to security officials, the bullets were purchased in Jericho and were slated for the Gaza Strip. The car driver succeeded in fleeing the area.

Also, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a terrorist group wholly controlled by the terrorist-sponsoring Fateh party, is distributing leaflets saying that the truce is voer.

Like it ever started.

Let’s see how the disarming of terrorists as the first step of the Roadmap is going…

JERUSALEM POST: Hamas fugitive arrested

A Hamas fugitive who was arrested by security forces in Nablus Thursday morning handed over his personal weapon to the soldiers, which was primed and ready to fire, and hidden in his sister’s underpants.

The army said that soldiers searching the fugitive’s home also uncovered bullets and a handgun, in the raid.

Elsewhere in the city, soldiers arrested a Tanzim fugitive.

Let’s see how the so-called cease-fire is doing…

REUTERS: Palestinian Gunmen Sign Peace Pledge for Jobs

More than 200 Palestinian militants have pledged not to carry out acts of violence in exchange for jobs, in a first step toward disarming gunmen wanted by Israel, a Palestinian official said on Tuesday.

The Palestinian Authority is seeking signed commitments from a thousand militants to allow them to join security forces or get civilian government jobs, but the program stops short of taking away their weapons immediately as Israel has demanded.

…

The effort to secure signed pledges has been aimed mainly at Fatah militants in the West Bank. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Islamic factions sworn to Israel’s destruction, have refused to lay down arms although they have committed to a de facto truce.

But Zakaria al-Zubaidi, a West Bank leader of Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, said he, too, would never disarm. “Abandoning a gun is like abandoning one’s honor,” he said.

What honor?

So let’s see how the so-called ceasefire is going…

JERUSALEM POST: Another boy-bomber caught at Hawara *

A 15-year-old Palestinian was caught at the Hawara checkpoint south of Nablus on Tuesday afternoon carrying five pipe bombs.

The teenager reached the checkpoint and unsuccessfully attempted to detonate one of the bombs. Soldiers aroused by his suspicious behavior aimed their weapons at him prompting him to drop the four other bombs that he had in his possession.

He was handed over to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) for questioning. IDF sappers are preparing to perform a controlled detonation of the charges.

Tuesday’s attempt to utilize a teenager to smuggle bombs past checkpoints is the fourth in the past year.

Five pipe bombs, eh?

Must have been for playing soccer.

So, how is that so-called ceasefire working out?

HAARETZ: Fatah man arrested for planning terror act at Hezbollah’s behest

Israel Defense Forces soldiers entered Nablus on Sunday and arrested a Fatah member suspected of planning a terror attack on behalf of Hezbollah.

The suspect, Firas Tanbor, had holed up in a building in the Jibal Simali neighborhood of the city. Paratroopers surrounded the building and threw stun grenades into it. The suspect then turned himself in.

Clashes broke out between soldiers and Palestinians in the area, according to Palestinian sources. Soldiers fired rubber bullets and tear gas, wounding ten Palestinians.

Let’s see how that so-called ceasefire is doing…

HAARETZ: Sharon condemns Palestinian mortar shelling on Gaza

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday condemned mortar shelling by Palestinian militants against Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, calling the barrage ‘a flagrant violation of the (Sharm el-Sheikh) understandings.

Speaking to reporters on his plane en route to the U.S., Sharon said that he will raise the issue during Monday’s meeting with President George W. Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

IDF sources said roughly 70 shells have been fired in all. According to Israel Radio, the IDF did not respond.

The shelling damaged several houses in the Gaza Strip settlements. Children were advised to evacuate yards and kindergartens.

They scream when the Israelis talk about demolishing the houses in Gaza settlements, but they still blast at them with mortar fire.

What do they WANT?

Oh. Wait. I know the answer to that. To kill Jews.

How silly of me.

HAARETZ: Police detain Hamas leader who entered Mount

Israeli police Sunday detained a senior Hamas leader after he entered the Temple Mount of the Old City of Jerusalem, violating a ban on worshippers from the West Bank.

Some 3,000 police were deployed the Old City of Jerusalem early on Sunday in a bid to head off expected protests by extreme rightists on the Temple Mount, and by young Palestinians angered by the killings over the weekend of three Palestinian youths in Gaza.

Witnesses said the Hamas leader, Hassan Yousef, was driving back to the West Bank from Jerusalem when he was stopped at an Israeli checkpoint and taken from his vehicle by police.

Palestinian propaganda has been shattered by reports that the “soccer-playing youths” were engaged in an entirely different activity…

The Arab press reported that the soldiers fired on innocent children who were playing soccer. Mofaz asked the PA to control the terrorists. The PA did not publicize that the youths were trying to smuggle weapons despite Israeli reports that the PA later caught two of them. PA chairman Abu Mazen insisted that the youth “were unarmed and did not endanger Israel.”

No corrections over AP and Reuters yet.

Let’s check on how that so-called cease-fire is going…

HAARETZ: IDF kills 3 Gaza youths; Jihad wing rescinds truce

“The Jerusalem Brigades is free of any commitment to calm after the Israeli shedding of Palestinian youths’ blood,” said Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Abdallah. “This means that now we are no longer committed to truce.”

…

According to Palestinian sources, the youths was playing on the outskirts of the Rafah refugee camp, several hundred meters from the frontier. IDF forces opened fire on them from the south.

“I saw a group of youths playing soccer in a playground about 50 meters from the fence,” said Wael Barhoum, 26. “Suddenly there was gunfire toward the youths from the Israeli side. I ran towards the playground and we saw two of the youths were dead and a third was wounded.”

Three men had approached a buffer zone near Israel’s border with southern Gaza in the Rafah refugee camp. Troops fired at them after they failed to heed warning shots, a military source said. Israel Radio quoted an IDF official who said the youths were crawling toward the fence.

(Note from friend: “I didn’t realize that soccer is played with bolt-cutters and knives.”)

UPDATE:
Another turbaned moonbat reverses the earlier statement.

So how is that so-called cease-fire holding up?

JERUSALEM POST: Israel to Abbas: Stop those firing Kassams

Israel called upon PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Friday morning to act quickly against those firing Kassam rockets, Army Radio reported.

The call comes after a Kassam was launched at Sderot Thursday night, after three months of quiet.

The rocket landed near a cemetery, and no one was hurt.

The warning system in the city failed when the rocket was fired, Army Radio reported.

Abbas had better choose a hat quickly, because it’s going to be needed for his chair for Christmas celebrations.

HAARETZ: Report: Hezbollah to drop arms if Israel quits Shebaa

Hezbollah would be prepared to discuss conditional disarmament if Israel withdrew from a disputed border area, the Lebanese guerrilla group’s deputy leader said in a British newspaper interview on Friday.

Sheikh Naim Kassem told the Financial Times that disarmament, called for by Washington and the United Nations, could pave the way for Hezbollah’s fighters to become a kind of reservist army working with Lebanese authorities.

But he said talks could not take place while Israel remained in the Shebaa Farms area, a tiny disputed border enclave between Lebanon, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, conquered from Syrian during the 1967 Six Day War.

So, let’s see how that so-called ceasefire is holding up…

REUTERS: Militants Fire Rocket Into Israel Despite Truce

Palestinian gunmen fired a rocket into Israel on Thursday in the first such incident since January when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took power and persuaded militants to cease fire.

There were no reports of casualties from the rocket launched from northern Gaza into Israel’s western Negev desert, according to Israeli military sources and Palestinian witnesses, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The area took frequent rocket fire in a 4 1/2 year Palestinian uprising.

About the first step of the so-called Roadmap…

HAARETZ: Palestinian militants tell PA won’t hand any weapons over

A new low-key attempt by the Palestinian Authority to disarm at least some militants has already run into trouble: gunmen said Wednesday they’ll keep their weapons out of sight, but won’t hand them over.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is under growing pressure from the United States and Israel to rein in militants. He has said he will do so by persuasion, not force, and has bought himself some time by getting militants to agree to a temporary truce with Israel.

“We agreed to hide our weapons, to keep them out of public view, but we are not going to hand them over to the Palestinian Authority,” said Kamal Ghanem, an Al Aqsa fugitive. “They asked them to give us the serial numbers of our guns, but we did not.”

Hamas and Islamic Jihad spokesmen also said Wednesday that the groups would not hand over weapons.

“We stopped using these weapons after the declaration of quiet, despite the daily violations (of the truce) by Israel,” said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman. He said a demand that gunmen hand over their weapons “is not acceptable.”

About that so-called ceasefire…

JERUSALEM POST: IDF soldier wounded south of Jenin

A soldier was lightly wounded by Palestinian gunfire near Kabbatiyah south of Jenin on Wednesday afternoon. Security forces were deployed in the Jenin area after warnings were received that terrorists planned to launch attacks.

Soldiers deployed south of Jenin also came under fire in an additional incident in the area.

About that so-called ceasefire…

JERUSALEM POST: Bomb detonated next to IDF patrol, near Sderot

Reports of a Kassam rocket falling near the southern town of Sderot have been investigated and proven incorrect.

In fact, the sounds heard by residents of Sderot were not the result of a rocket, but a roadside bomb detonated near an IDF patrol close to the security fence. No one was wounded.

About that so-called cease-fire…

HAARETZ: Hezbollah planned attacks on senior Israeli officials

A Palestinian was arrested by the security services in late February on suspicion of aiding Hezbollah in planning terror attacks on senior Israeli officials, the Shin Bet revealed on Wednesday.

Relatives of Nablus resident Wasem Nasser arranged a meeting with Hezbollah operatives during a family visit he made to Lebanon.

Nasser, a 21-year-old student at Al-Najaf University, underwent military training in Lebanon during the course of which he learned how to use various firearms and studied methods of collecting intelligence and operating eavesdropping devices.

His Hezbollah operators ordered him to photograph checkpoints, settlements and Israel Defense Forces bases and send them the images via the internet.

Hezbollah also succeeded to getting Nasser to smuggle back into Israel from Lebanon a GPS satellite navigation system hidden inside a car stereo.

Using the GPS device, Nasser pinpointed for his operatives the locations of checkpoints and bases in the Nablus area.

HAARETZ: IDF: Hezbollah reduces pressure for terror attacks

Over the past few weeks, Hezbollah has eased the pressure it had been placing on Palestinian terror organizations to carry out attacks on Israelis, a senior Israel Defense Forces officer said on Tuesday.

The IDF believes the decline in Palestinian violence will continue through the implementation of the disengagement plan.

The senior officer said the current period of relative calm serves the interests of most of the Palestinian players and added that he does not expect an outburst of violence before the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank, which is scheduled to begin in July.

The IDF attributes the change in Hezbollah’s position to the group’s internal politics in Lebanon in light of the call to withdraw Syrian military forces from the country.

Syria has also passed on requests to leaders of the Palestinian groups in Damascus to refrain from carrying out attacks that could create connections between Syria and anti-Israel terrorism.

(Create, or highlight?)

About that so-called “ceasefire” …

HAARETZ: Gunman wounds Israeli near Gaza settlement

A Palestinian gunman wounded an Israeli working near the southern Gaza Strip settlement of Morag on Tuesday afternoon.

The attack came as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prepared to meet representatives of some Gaza Strip settlements, whose members seek to be moved as a group to the Nitzanim area south of Ashkelon.

The man, shot while working on a fence in the hothouse area of the Rafah-area settlement, was rushed to medical care nearby, then evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva where he underwent surgery.

His condition was initially reported as serious, but rescue workers later said his wounds were not life-threatening.

About that so-called “ceasefire” …

HAARETZ: Shin Bet foils bombing attack at Latrun museum

Security forces have captured the members of a Palestinian terror cell who planned to carry out a triple bombing attack at the Latrun junction between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and a shooting attack on soldiers in the Ramallah area.

Security forces arrested the three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine cell some three months ago, the Shin Bet announced Monday evening.

The cell members, from the Ramallah region, admitted that they planned to dispatch two suicide bombers and a booby-trapped car to attack the Armored Corps museum located adjacent to the Latrun junction.

They also planned to ambush an Israel Defense Forces jeep near the West Bank city of Ramallah, kill the soldiers inside and hold the bodies in nearby Bir Zeit as bargaining chips.

About that so-called “ceasefire” …

HAARETZ: Militants fire explosive which hit Palestinian barracks

Palestinian militants fired either a mortar shell or a Qassam rocket before dawn Saturday, which hit a barracks housing Palestinian security officers, Israel Radio reported.

The militants launched the explosive from the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, according to Israel Radio.

HAARETZ: Fatah-linked militants admit getting funds from Hezbollah

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades have received money from Hezbollah to fund terror attacks, members of the Palestinian militant group revealed in an interview published Sunday.

In the article, published in the U.K.’s Sunday Times, a Brigades leader in the West Bank city of Nablus, Allah Sanakra, said that while he no longer receives money from Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad continues to do so. Brigades militants from the Nablus area, however, said Hezbollah officials remained in touch with them.

Sankara said he believes the money comes from Iran.

The interviews appear to confirm Israel’s contention that Hezbollah is trying to sabotage the quiet in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by supporting terror organizations there. Israel has declined to release proof of these allegations.

JERUSALEM POST: Palestinians warned not to collaborate with Hizbullah

Leaflets distributed in Ramallah on Wednesday warned Hizbullah against “meddling” in Palestinian affairs and threatened to punish any Palestinian who collaborates with the Lebanese organization.

The leaflets, signed by a hitherto unknown group called The Unit for Combating Foreign Intervention in Palestinian Affairs, accused Hizbullah of channeling funds to some Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The unprecedented warning comes against a backdrop of reports suggesting that Hizbullah was offering thousands of dollars to Fatah gunmen to carry out attacks on Israel. It also reflects growing tensions between Hizbullah and the Palestinian Authority over the decision to suspend terrorist attacks against Israel.

HAARETZ: Abbas orders crackdown on Ramallah militants shooting attack

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas ordered a crackdown on militants in the West Bank town of Ramallah early Thursday after a group of gunmen fired at his headquarters compound while he was inside, security officials said.

The group of 15 militants attacked the compound Wednesday before rampaging through the city, damaging several restaurants and forcing shops to close, witnesses and officials said. There were no injuries reported.

UPDATE:
Abbas kicked 26 terrorists out of the Mukata to whom he had formerly extended the previous resident’s offer of hospitality.

UPDATE 2:
It was just bluster:

Palestinian officials on Thursday backed away from a declaration that they would go after gunmen who shot up Mahmoud Abbas’ office building and rampaged through Ramallah, underlining the difficulties authorities face in restoring order in the chaotic West Bank.

Read the whole thing. Nobody’s on the same page, let alone the same book, shelf, or library.

JERUSALEM POST: Palestinian terrorist nabbed in Philippines

Philippine authorities have arrested a Palestinian man who allegedly trained al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in the past and returned to the Philippines for a possible terror mission, officials said Thursday.

Fawaz Zi Ajjur, whom security officials suspect may be an al-Qaida operative, was arrested Saturday in southern Zamboanga city as he arrived after a baffling, circuitous journey that took him to Russia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, the officials said.

Ajjur did not have a visa and was taken into custody by immigration agents at the Zamboanga airport, Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. said.

He was later allegedly identified by two captured Abu Sayyaf guerrillas as one of the foreign terrorists who trained them in bomb-making near Patikul town on the southern island of Jolo island a few years ago, a security official said.

HAARETZ: Mofaz: PA not doing enough in way of reforms, fighting terror

During a visit to the U.S., Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told senior officials President George Bush’s administration Wednesday that the Palestinians are not doing enough in terms of implementing reforms and fighting terror.

In talks with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Mofaz said their were large differences between PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ intentions, and what was happening on the ground. According to the defense minister, Israel does not see any progress by the Palestinians, especially on the issue of dealing with wanted militants.

Mofaz reported to senior administration officials on the preparations for the disengagement plan and stated the need for more progress on the Palestinian front. Mofaz mentioned reports that Palestinians were smuggling Strela anti-aircraft missiles into the Gaza Strip, and said that Israel made it clear to the Palestinians that if those responsible for the smuggling are not caught and the missiles not accounted for, Israel will take matters into its own hands. Mofaz did note, however, that the PA was operating against arms-smuggling tunnels under the Philadelphi route, along the Egypt-Gaza border.

Surprised?

HAARETZ: Security sources fear anti-aircraft missile attacks

Security sources said Tuesday they are concerned that anti-aircraft missiles the defense minister has said were recently smuggled into the Gaza Strip might be moved into the West Bank and used against commercial aircraft flying over central Israel.

The security sources said there was concern the missiles could be used against planes landing at or taking off from Ben Gurion International Airport, where flight paths veer close to the West Bank.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the cabinet earlier this week that Israel suspects that members of the Palestinian Authority’s military intelligence service were involved in smuggling shoulder-launched Strela anti-aircraft missiles into the Gaza Strip.

Such missiles, which are capable of striking an airplane more than three kilometers above the ground, were recently smuggled into Gaza from Egypt via tunnels in the Rafah area, despite the PA’s success in uncovering 17 to 20 such tunnels, Mofaz said.

He added that Israel has demanded the PA find and collect all the smuggled missiles, which he defined as “crossing a red line.”

For those who are interested, Weaponsurvey.com offers an overview of “Palestinian weapons production and smuggling.”

According to the BBC, while campaigning in Hammas strongholds, the front-runner to replace Arafat has vowed not to fight militant groups…

Mahmoud Abbas, tipped to become the new Palestinian president, says he will not fight against militant groups.

After receiving a hero’s welcome by militants in the Gaza Strip, Mr Abbas said he would use persuasion to bring about a ceasefire with Israel.

At one point during the visit at Rafah refugee camp he was hoisted on the shoulders of gunmen clad in black.

… Abbas did suggest that we would attempt to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and militants, but insisted that he would not oppose them with force…

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Abbas said he believed that he might be able to persuade the militants to agree a ceasefire, if elected.

“We will not use force with Hamas but we will use the way of persuasion and negotiation,” he said.

“We consider that fighting among Palestinians is a red line that must not be crossed.”

… In addition, he praised the militants and suggested he would defend them against attacks by the Israeli army…

When we see them, when we meet them, and when they welcome us, we owe them,” AP quoted him as saying.

“This debt always is to protect them from assassination, to protect them from killing, and all these things they are subject to by the Israelis.”

JERUSALEM POST: IDF forces kill Fatah Al-Aksa fugitive in Jenin refugee camp

Shouldn’t that be Arafat Martyrs Brigade? Who didn’t get the memo?

In the Jenin refugee camp overnight, Egoz and Nahal troops killed Palestinian fugitive Taher Abu Kamal, deputy to Jenin leader of the Fatah Al-Aksa Martyrs’ Brigades, Zakariyah Zubeidi.

According to Army Radio, IDF forces arrived at the building in which Abu Kamal was residing with the purpose of arresting him, and called on the people in the building to come out.

From inside the house, Abu Kamal opened fire on the troops, igniting an gun-battle which lasted for many hours.

During the battle, anti-tank missiles were fired at the four-story house, which caused great damage to the structure.

After the battle, soldiers scoured the wreckage and discovered Abu Kamal’s body inside the ruins of the house.

HAARETZ: Unoffical results: Hamas strong in local W. Bank elections

Hamas made a strong showing in local Palestinian elections in 26 communities across the West Bank on Thursday, according to preliminary elections results. Official results will be announced Saturday night.

This is the first time the Islamic faction has competed in the polls.

Some 150,000 eligible voters choose among more than 800 candidates in the election. Sixteen percent of the 360 local council seats were reserved for women.

According to the preliminary results, the ruling Fatah movement won a majority in 14 towns, while Hamas took control in nine communities. In two, a joint Hamas-Fatah slate won. The outcome of the vote in one community, Ya’bed, was not immediately available.

However, Hamas officials said they had won a majority in at least 17 local councils, based on reports from their election observers.

The discrepancy could not immediately be explained. However, on the local level, membership in a political faction is not always clear-cut, and some candidates could have been claimed by the rival groups.

HAARETZ: Blair: There must be a ‘total end’ to terrorism

British Prime Minister Tony Blair presented a clear message during his visit to Jerusalem Wednesday: The cessation of Palestinian terrorism is a paramount need for the renewal of the peace process, and the quid pro quo from Israel has to be the provision of a diplomatic horizon.

“There has to be a complete and total end to terrorism” in order for peace talks to succeed, Blair said. The world has changed in the last few years and people everywhere are fighting terrorism, he said. Terror was not a means to peace but an obstacle, he added.

In private talks, Blair was even more blunt, saying the Palestinians would get no assistance or political support from Britain unless terror stops. U.S. President George W. Bush will also not help them, he added.

When there are actions, “not just declarations,” it will be possible to return to the road map, he said.

Accusations from the Arab World of the UK not being an honest broker in 5… 4… 3… 2…

JERUSALEM POST: Would-be suicide bomber arrested

A 22-year-old resident of Abu Tor in Jerusalem, holder of an Israeli identity card, planned to carry out a double suicide bomb attack together with his 16 year old fiancee after being recruited by Hamas in Hebron – the same Hamas infrastructure who was responsible for the double suicide bomb attack in Beersheba in August this year.

Details released for publication by the Shin Bet on Wednesday revealed that Ahmed Yakub Jizawi, 22, who was arrested by the Gideonim undercover police unit on November 15, maintained close ties with Mutsab Hasalmon a senior member of the Hebron infrastructure who studied with Jizawi at the Abu Dis university.

Both were active in the Hamas Students Committee at the university. Shortly before his arrest, Jizawi informed Hasalmon of his intention to carry out a suicide bomb attack in Jerusalem on behalf of the Hebron infrastructure.

Where are they registered? Habib’s House Of Coffins?

HAARETZ: Police: Murder of woman near Green Line was act of terror

Police have determined that the murder of an Israeli woman in Moshav Nehousha near the border with the West Bank on Tuesday was a terrorist attack, Israel Radio reported Wednesday.

The body of Ariela Fahima was found at the entrance to her home by her 10-year-old daughter. The 39-year-old mother of four had been stabbed in the neck.

Police sources said Tuesday that they did not know if the attack was carried out by one or multiple attackers.

The commander of the Beit Shemesh police station, Meir Vardi, said Tuesday that a number of Palestinians who worked at the moshav have been arrested.

Police later discovered a hole in the moshav’s security fence, and residents said that the moshav’s alarm system has not been functioning due to a technical problem.

Will Tony Blair nod at her grave?

HAARETZ: Shin Bet arrests Hezbollah agent in territories

The Shin Bet security service said Tuesday that it recently arrested a Hezbollah agent who was sent to establish a terror cell in the West Bank. The agent allegedly planned to bomb train tracks and kidnap soldiers to exchange them for Palestinian prisoners.
The man, Mohammed Abu Rhweid is a Syrian-born Palestinian who later lived in Jordan. He entered the territories in 1998 and worked in the Galilee up until the beginning of the second Palestinian initifada in 2000.

According to the probe, Abu Rhweid underwent training by Palestinian militant group Abu Musa - a Fatah splinter group - in 2002. A year later he volunteered for the Iraqi army.

In Iraq, Abu Rhweid was trained by the Iraqi military and fought against American forces. He was stationed in a battalion that defended a Baghdad neighborhood and suffered a light head injury. After the war he returned to Jordan, where he was contacted by Hezbollah agents.

JERUSALEM POST: Anti-Katyusha laser to be tested

A new radar system for a Katyusha-killing laser cannon has been brought to Israel to be tested against Kassam rockets and mortar shells fired by the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The joint US-Israeli mobile laser gun, called the Nautilus, is still being developed and tested in the United States, but the radar arrived in the country a few days ago and will be deployed shortly near Sderot to track incoming rockets, military sources said.

They hope the radar will boost early warning of incoming rockets by a few precious seconds and help pinpoint their launch sites so the IDF can retaliate against the Kassam or mortar crews.

“This is just the radar and that is just one component of the Nautilus system. The main component is the laser gun, which fires a beam that destroys Katyushas, rockets, Kassams and mortar shells in the air,” said Prof. Yitzhak Ben-Israel, a former head of military research and development. He said the laser gun is still being tested and developed.

HAARETZ: Hamas vows revenge against Israel

In comments on Monday, the Islamic group’s leader in Gaza, Mahmud al-Zahar, also poured cold water on calls for a ceasefire with Israel.

“Aggression from Israel will be reacted by self-defence … whether within the occupied territories or outside the Green Line,” al-Zahar said.