"O Reino Unido não faz controlo dos emigrantes, na base de terrorismo da Interpol" in Guardian, 8 de Julho de 2007

Ronald Noble, secretary general of the international police cooperation agency, said Britain needed to "catch up" and enact tougher checks. The comments came as the UK security minister warned of a battle of up to 15 years against al-Qaida-inspired terrorism, and as the investigation into attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow continued across three continents. Mr Noble, who was a leading law enforcement official in the US treasury department under Bill Clinton, told the Sunday Telegraph of his concerns. "We have the passport numbers, fingerprints and photos of more than 11,000 suspected terrorists on our database. But the UK does not check it against immigrants coming into the country or foreign nationals it has arrested," he said. "The guys detained last week could be wanted, arrested or convicted anywhere in the world and the UK would not know." Six out of the seven suspects held in Britain over the recent attempted car bombings and the attack on Glasgow airport are not British. It is not known whether they are on Interpol's database. Interpol said last night that the UK makes just 50 checks a month of the database; France by comparison makes 700,000 checks and Switzerland makes 300,000. Mr Noble said that Gordon Brown's promise last week to share a list of potential terrorists with other countries had yet to materialize. "British citizens might be surprised to find that this watch list announced by your prime minister last week has not been sent to Interpol," he said. "Why is it that some countries make sure passengers do not carry a bottle of spring water on to a plane, yet aren't careful to ensure convicted felons aren't entering their borders with stolen passports?"

A Home Office spokesman said last night that the Serious Organised Crime Agency did consult Interpol databases and added that the government was "committed" to better sharing of data with European countries. But the Interpol criticism was seized upon by the Conservatives, who said the government's intentions were being undermined by incompetence. "Yet again it is not the government's policy that is the problem - it is their lack of competence in delivering on that policy which is threatening our security," said shadow home secretary David Davis. Mr Brown used an interview yesterday to call for an international register of terrorists. "We do now need more information flowing internationally about who are potential terrorists and who are potential suspects," he told Sky News. "I want the system that we are trying to expand between Europe, a system whereby we know who are potential terrorist suspects, we expand that to other countries in the world and then we may have a better idea of people coming in to different countries - whether as professional recruits or in other ways - about what the dangers and the risks we face are." The security minister, Admiral Sir Alan West, said Britain's anti-terrorism message was failing to get across and the public might have to be "un-British" and inform on people they suspect. Admiral West told the Sunday Telegraph that Britain faced a long fight against terrorism: "I believe it will take 10 to 15 years." He said the UK was "not getting our message across properly", and added that he did not like the concentration on the "Muslim community". "I have a lot of Muslim friends and they see themselves as British. We've got to be very careful. The threat is to our British way of life and all of our British people," he said.

At the weekend, Bilal Abdullah, a 27-year-old doctor, appeared at City of Westminster magistrates' court charged with conspiring to cause explosions and was remanded in custody. A total of seven people remain in custody, one of whom is being held in Australia, and another suspect is seriously ill in hospital. The investigation into the London and Glasgow plots has seen the security and intelligence agencies stepping up their search for the international links of those responsible. As the Guardian reported last week, they believe that some of those behind the conspiracy had links with al-Qaida in Iraq. One of those arrested in connection with the plot is understood to have recently contacted members of the al-Qaida group in Iraq. A report by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, Jtac, warned in April that an al-Qaida commander in Iraq had talked about a big attack on Britain "ideally" before Tony Blair left office. Officials are also investigating possible links between Kafeel Ahmed, who remains critically ill after the failed attack on Glasgow airport, and Abbas Boutrab from Algeria, convicted two years ago by a Diplock court in Belfast for downloading information from the internet on how to blow up airliners. Mr Ahmed was studying at Belfast's Queen's University between 2001 and 2004. Security sources confirmed yesterday that the two men were in Northern Ireland at the same time. But one source described Boutrab as "a bit of a loner". Mr Ahmed suffered 90% burns after the Jeep he is believed to have been driving slammed into Glasgow airport in what counter-terrorism officials believe was an attempted suicide car bombing. Indian police yesterday raided properties where Mr Ahmed and his doctor brother Sabeel, who is also a suspect, had stayed in Bangalore. They said they had recovered CDs about the conflicts in Chechnya and Iraq.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2121808,00.html
JPTF 2007/07/09

"Oito fanáticos da Al-Qaeda trabalham para a polícia (mas esta não ousa despedi-los) in Daily Mail, 7 de Julho de 2007

Up to eight police officers and civilian staff are suspected of links to extremist groups including Al Qaeda. Some are even believed to have attended terror training camps in Pakistan or Afghanistan. Their names feature on a secret list of alleged radicals said to be working in the Metropolitan and other forces.The dossier was drawn up with the help of MI5 amid fears that individuals linked to Islamic extremism are taking advantage of police attempts to increase the proportion of ethnic staff. Astonishingly, many of the alleged jihadists have not been sacked because - it is claimed - police do not have the "legal power" to dismiss them. We can also reveal that one suspected jihadist officer working in the South East has been allowed to keep his job despite being caught circulating Internet images of beheadings and roadside bombings in Iraq. He is said to have argued that he was trying to "enhance" debate about the war. Classified intelligence reports raising concerns about police staff's background cannot be used to justify their dismissal, sources said.

Instead, the staff who are under suspicion are unofficially barred from working in sensitive posts and are closely monitored. Political correctness is blamed for the decision not to sack them. It is widely feared that "long-term" Al Qaeda sleepers are trying to infiltrate other public sector organisations in the UK. In November last year, it was revealed that a leading member of an extremist Islamic group was working as a senior official at the Home Office. MI5 has warned in the past that suspects with "strong links" to Osama Bin Laden's killers have tried to join the British security services and, in January, exiled radical Omar Bakri claimed that Islamic extremists were infiltrating the police and other public sector organisations. Suspicions are growing that the gang behind the failed London bomb attacks could have received inside information about rescue procedures in the aftermath of an atrocity in the capital. The Daily Mail can reveal that the second device parked near Haymarket was left at a designated "evacuation assembly point" where civilians and the emergency services would have gathered had the first bomb gone off. Investigators are trying to establish whether the bombers knew the significance of the location. Sources said it is unlikely that the Met is the only force which may have been infiltrated by Al Qaeda sympathisers. Omar Altimimi, a failed asylum seeker jailed for nine years yesterday for hoarding manuals on how to carry out car bombings, had applied to work as a cleaner for the Greater Manchester force. In a separate development, it is understood that a policeman was removed from his post after concerns about his conduct in the aftermath of a major anti-terrorist operation in the past two years. For legal reasons, the Mail cannot reveal any more about the case.

The MI5 list of suspected Islamists working in the police is said to have been drawn up in the aftermath of the 7/7 terror attacks in London. MI5 checked staff details at the Met and other forces with intelligence databases on individuals said to have attended radical Islamic schools - or Madrassas - and terror training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is thought that intelligence files on those who frequently visit pro-Jihad websites and who have associated with so-called preachers of hate were also compared to details of officers and civilian staff in the Met. As a result of the review, eight officers and civilian staff were identified as Al Qaeda sympathisers or people of concern because of their links to Islamic extremists. The disclosure will raise concerns about the system for vetting new recruits, each of whom is the subject of counter-terrorism checks to ensure they are suitable to join the police. Scotland Yard's vetting unit is regarded as one of the best in the country. But sources said it is often impossible to carry out satisfactory checks on recruits who were raised overseas or who have spent considerable periods out of Britain before applying to join the Met. In such cases, the Met has to rely on overseas agencies to carry out intelligence checks on their behalf. Privately, officials doubt whether certain countries in Africa, Middle East or the Indian sub-continent are able to carry out meaningful vetting. As a result of the Stephen Lawrence public inquiry report, which accused the Met of being "institutionally racist", Scotland Yard has in recent years employed thousands of officers and civilian staff from the ethnic minorities in an attempt to reach recruitment targets. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "All employees upon joining the Met and during their careers undergo a range of security checks. These are robust and vary according to the type and sensitivity of individual postings. "We take matters of security very seriously and if an issue arises, people may be subjected to further assessment. "This may lead to restrictions in relation to where an individual works in the organisation or whether they are suitable to remain in the service."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=466832&in_page_id=1770&ct=5
JPTF 2007/7/7

"Quarenta e cinco médicos muçulmanos planeavam ataques terroristas nos Estados Unidos" in Telegraph, 6 de Julho de 2007

A group of 45 Muslim doctors threatened to use car bombs and rocket grenades in terrorist attacks in the United States during discussions on an extremist internet chat site. Police found details of the discussions on a site run by one of a three-strong "cyber-terrorist" gang. They were discovered at the home of Younis Tsouli, 23, Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London heard. One message read: "We are 45 doctors and we are determined to undertake jihad and take the battle inside America. "The first target which will be penetrated by nine brothers is the naval base which gives shelter to the ship Kennedy." This is thought to have been a reference to the USS John F Kennedy, which is often at Mayport Naval Base in Jacksonville, Florida. The message discussed targets at the base, adding: "These are clubs for naked women which are opposite the First and Third units." It also referred to using six Chevrolet GT vehicles and three fishing boats and blowing up petrol tanks with rocket propelled grenades. Investigators have found no link between the Tsouli chat room and the group of doctors and medics currently in custody over attempted car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow. However, sources said it was "definitely spooky" that the use of doctors for terrorist purposes was being discussed in jihadi terrorist circles up to three years ago. Part of the inquiry into the London and Glasgow incidents will focus on whether al-Qa'eda has recruited doctors or other medical professionals because they are less likely to attract suspicion and can move easily around the western world.

The three "cyber terrorists" - a British national and two who had been given the right to live in Britain - are facing lengthy jail sentences after admitting using the internet to spread al-Qa'eda propaganda inciting Muslims to a violent holy war and to murder non-believers. They had close links with al-Qa'eda in Iraq and believed they had to fight jihad against a global conspiracy by kuffars, or non-believers, to wipe out Islam. The three are the first defendants in Britain to be convicted of inciting terrorist murder on the internet. They waged cyber-jihad on websites run from their bedrooms. Tsouli promoted the ideology of Osama bin Laden via email and radical websites. He said in one message he was "very happy" about the July 7 bombings in London in 2005. Tsouli, along with Tariq Daour, a biochemistry student, and Waseem Mughal, a law student, were intelligent, computer-literate men who promoted violent propaganda. They created chat forums to direct willing fighters to Iraq and discuss murderous bomb attacks around the world. Films of hostages and beheadings were found by police. Daour, 21, of Bayswater, west London, who was born in the United Arab Emirates, yesterday admitted inciting another person to commit an act of terrorism wholly or partly outside Britain. Moroccan-born Tsouli, 23, of Shepherd's Bush, west London, and British-born Mughal, 24, of Chatham, Kent, admitted the same charge on Monday. They are due to be sentenced today. They also admitted conspiring together and with others to defraud banks, credit card companies and charge card companies. Daour had instructions for making explosives and poisons, the court was told. Police found instructions on causing an explosion with "rocket propellant'' and constructing a car bomb. In one on-line conversation, Daour, asked what he would do with £1 million, replied: "Sponsor terrorist attacks, become the new Osama." The three men outwardly appeared to be leading normal lives, studying and living with their parents. Tsouli had come to the UK with his family from Morocco in 2001. Mughal had a degree in biochemistry from Leicester University and was studying for his masters. Daour, who was granted British citizenship in May 2005, had applied to start a law degree.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/05/nterror405.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox
JPTF 2007/07/06

"Clérigo paquistanês jura não se render" in BBC News, 6 de Julho de 2007

The deputy leader of radical Islamic students besieged at the Red Mosque in Pakistan's capital Islamabad has said he would rather die than surrender. Abdul Rashid Ghazi's defiant statement came as the stand-off, which has seen 19 people killed, entered a fourth day. President Pervez Musharraf has ordered his security forces to hold back from a full assault. Gen Musharraf is said to be anxious to avoid casualties among women and girls still inside the complex. Mr Ghazi had earlier said he would leave the mosque on certain conditions, including being allowed to look after his ailing mother. The offer to end the confrontation came after Mr Ghazi's brother Maulana Abdul Aziz - leader of the mosque - was captured while trying to escape wearing a woman's burqa. Pakistani government ministers dismissed the deal. Shortly afterwards, Mr Ghazi said he would not surrender unconditionally. "We have decided that we can be martyred but we will not surrender. We are ready for our heads to be cut off but we will not bow to them," he said.

Hard-liners
Separately, Pakistan's media reported that Gen Musharraf's plane came under fire as it took off from a military base close to the capital. Officials denied the reports, but police said they had found two anti-aircraft guns on a rooftop near the air base, in Rawalpindi. It was not clear if the guns had been fired. Gen Musharraf, who has survived previous assassination attempts, was said to be unharmed. Meanwhile sporadic explosions and gunfire continued into Friday morning as the army, backed by tanks and helicopter gunships, blasted holes in walls surrounding the Red Mosque (Lal Masjid). Officials said guns had been fired and grenades launched from those inside. Overnight, much of the city was plunged into darkness, after storms caused failures in the power supply. It is believed several hundred religious students are still inside the complex, after more than 1,000 left under mounting pressure from security forces. Officials said about 60 of those remaining are hard-liners, who have been at the vanguard of campaigning for the imposition of strict Islamic law (Sharia) in Islamabad. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the government is piling psychological pressure on those still inside with a mass demonstration of force demanding unconditional surrender. The view here is that the clerics want an honourable exit, but the president is determined to inflict absolute defeat on the Red Mosque, our correspondent says.

'Human shields'
Speaking in a telephone interview broadcast on Pakistani television, Mr Ghazi said he had told government mediator Chaudry Shujaat Hussain that his followers were ready to surrender. But Mr Ghazi said he had insisted the authorities promise not to detain anyone who they could not prove belonged to any banned militant groups, or were not wanted for any crime. The cleric also demanded a guarantee of safety for himself and his family, saying he wanted to remain on the premises with his sick mother until they were able to move elsewhere. Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan said Mr Ghazi and the remaining students would have to lay down their arms unconditionally like all those who left the mosque since the violence began on Tuesday. Earlier, Mr Khan accused the Red Mosque Islamists of using women and children as human shields, saying a number of them were being held hostage in the building's basement.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6276428.stm
JPTF 2007/07/06

"Clárigos desesperados escondem-se por detrás de crianças em Islamabade" in Der Spiegel online, 5 de Julho de 2007

Increasingly desperate clerics at Islamabad's hard-line Lal Masijd, or Red Mosque, used women and children as human shields against the approaching Pakistani military, as the third day of the siege saw repeated fire fights and ground-shaking explosions. The blasts, which started before dawn, were thought to be military artillery or explosives used to break down the high walls of the fortified compound as Pakistani forces continue trying to force out hundreds of radical students holed up inside. Militants in the mosque exchanged rifle and automatic gunfire throughout the day with the army and paramilitaries who had penned them in and cut off all supplies. Military Cobra helicopters hovered overhead, drawing occasional fire from the besieged compound. Government officials and aid workers, who entered the mosque to bring out the dead, said the remaining students, were being held hostage by increasingly desperate clerics. "Some of the students are wounded and still the clerics are not allowing them out to get medical care," said Nisar Hasnain, a relief worker with the Khubaib Foundation, who went into the mosque compound to attend to the wounded and bring out the dead.

Hostile to Aid Efforts
He said the religious leaders were hostile to their aid efforts, but eventually allowed his team to remove the bodies of 10 men. "The doctor said one of the dead bodies was more than 12 hours old," Hasnain said, shocked that the clerics had broken a fundamental Islamic law stating the dead should be buried as quickly as possible. The violence in the Pakistani capital is only the most recent chapter in a months-long conflict simmering between the Red Mosque and the government of President Pervez Musharraf. Mosque leaders would like to see the establishment of an Islamic theocracy similar to that created by the ousted Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan. Musharraf, a close ally of the United States in the war on terror, is currently facing both a growing militancy movement in Pakistan as well as rising pressure from pro-democracy activists enraged at his attempt to fire the country's chief justice in March. Liberal politicians have pressed the president to crack down on the two cleric brothers in charge of the mosque. Meanwhile, there are concerns abroad about a growing Taliban-like movement. On Thursday, though, immediate concern was for the children trapped inside the mosque. Parents, who had sent their children to the seminary for a well-reputed education, begged and argued with soldiers to be let through to the mosque despite outbreaks of gunfire and tear gas in the air."My girl is only 18 and she is scared", said one mother, wiping tears from her face with the corner of her brightly colored headscarf. "I managed to speak to her on the telephone and she begged me to come and get her out," she said, preferring not to give her name. "But that was at 10 this morning and I haven't heard anything since. I need to get in there to get my daughter out."

Unable to Bring their Children Out
Other parents argued with police, pushing to get past the barbed wire and being restrained by the heavily armed men. "Inside the conditions are very poor, the students are really hungry and they have nothing to drink," Hasnain sympathized. But Colonel Ali, head of the paramilitary Rangers, said he had allowed some parents in, but they had been unable to bring their children out. "When the parents come back out, they tell us that the boys and the girls are not being allowed to come out by the people in the mosque," he said. "It is terrible and pathetic." The number of people left in the mosque was difficult to ascertain, but Col. Ali estimated it to be 400, half of them women. He said interrogation of around a thousand people who left voluntarily revealed that a hundred armed men remained inside. On Thursday, Pakistani Interior Minister Afftab Sherpao estimated that there were around 60 radical Islamists inside armed with Kalashnikovs, hand grenades and Molotov cocktails. As night fell on the capital, a plume of smoke from another massive explosion rose on the horizon obscuring the Red Mosque's minaret.

Suicide Attacks?
With the next dawn would come Friday, the Muslim holy day, and expectations of increased tension with sensitive afternoon prayers. But, the decision to raid the holy building, even on the Sabbath, was not something the government would shy away from, an official told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "That is not an issue, the military will go all out," said a senior government official, requesting to remain anonymous. "The only restraining factor is the women and children," she added. "Then, there will be no inhibitions." Nonetheless, fears remained of a massive reaction to any image of armed soldiers entering the sacred ground. While public support for the Red Mosque comes from a very limited section of Pakistan's population, the violation of the holy site would doubtlessly create problems for Musharraf. Tension was further increased as the extremist religious students and their teachers threatened suicide attacks on the military if they attack the sacred site. "I don't know, there may be suicide bombers but it is not definite," Col. Ali said. "There are many hostages in there, but there is also the hardcore who is left. The government is thinking on different options, but we will not know until the time comes how it will play out."
http://www.spiegel.de/international
JPTF 2007/07/06

"Nº 2 da Al-Qaeda diz que o fim do Ocidente está eminente" in CNN, 5 de Julho de 2007

In a newly released videotaped message similar to a "fireside chat," al Qaeda's second-in-command issues advice and directives for the Muslim world, terrorism expert Laura Mansfield said Wednesday.

In the one-hour, 34-minute video, titled "The Advice of One Concerned," Ayman al-Zawahiri includes clips from other videos and news broadcasts, including one from al-Furqan, the video production arm of the Islamic State of Iraq, according to Mansfield, who obtained the video.

Al-Zawahiri says in the message that the defeat of the West is imminent, and that "the enemy" is trying to forestall the inevitable, Mansfield said.

"The good omens of the new dawn of victory have begun to loom on the horizon, with Allah's permission and will," he says.

"And the stage preceding victory is normally, in the history of nations, the stage in which there is most seen an increase in conspiracies, plots and inciting of discord in an attempt by the enemy, who has begun to see his defeat approach, to push back and delay the defeat as much as he can."

Al-Zawahiri does not reference the recent terrorism incidents in the United Kingdom in the video.

Mansfield said it appears to be more of a "state of the ummah [community]" style of address "intended to try and provide advice to the Muslim world in a manner similar to the 'fireside chat.' "

Al-Zawahiri advises people in Iraq and the Palestinian territory, Mansfield said, and renews his call for young men to join the jihad in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Included is a video clip of the late Sheikh Abdullah Azzam -- an extremist in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation -- reminding Muslims that jihad is their responsibility.

Al-Zawahiri also rebukes Fatah for battling Hamas in the Palestinian territory, telling party members to "return to your religion, your Islam, your honor and your Arabness."

Last month, al-Zawahiri, in an audiotaped message posted on several Islamist Web sites, voiced his support for Hamas leaders who maintain control of Gaza after a split with Fatah, a more moderate Palestinian faction.

"We say to you, now that you are in control of Gaza, you should remember two things: One is that being in power is not a goal in itself, but the goal is, rather, to implement the rule of Allah," al-Zawahiri said in that audiotape, according to a CNN translation.

"Two, this control is incomplete and unstable, for the [Israeli] plans are being made to invade Gaza. Unite with your mujahedeen brothers in Palestine and do not stir up problems with them.

"Unite your ranks with all of the mujahedeen in the world for the upcoming battle [of Gaza] that I expect the Egyptians and Saudis to participate in."

The audiotaped message was a reversal of al-Zawahiri's previous criticism of Hamas, issued after its leaders agreed to form a unity government with Fatah leaders.

Hamas fighters wrested control of Gaza from Fatah security forces two weeks ago, prompting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, based in the West Bank, to replace the Hamas leadership with an emergency government.

Since then, the United States, the European Union and Israel have agreed to release funds to the new Palestinian government. The money had been frozen after Hamas won legislative elections last year.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/04/zawahiri.video/index.html
JPTF 2007/07/05

"Brown: Não digas que os terroristas são muçulmanos" in Daily Express, 3 de Julho de 2007

Gordon Brown has banned ministers from using the word “Muslim” in ­connection with the terrorism crisis. The Prime Minister has also instructed his team – including new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith – that the phrase “war on terror” is to be dropped. The shake-up is part of a fresh attempt to improve community relations and avoid offending Muslims, adopting a more “consensual” tone than existed under Tony Blair. However, the change provoked claims last night that ministers are indulging in yet more political correctness. The sudden shift in tone emerged in comments by Mr Brown and Ms Smith in the wake of the failed attacks in London and Glasgow. Mr Brown’s spokesman acknowledged yesterday that ministers had been given specific guidelines to avoid inflammatory language. There is clearly a need to strike a consensual tone in relation to all communities across the UK

Mr Brown’s spokesman
“There is clearly a need to strike a consensual tone in relation to all communities across the UK,” the spokesman said. “It is important that the country remains united.” He confirmed that the phrase “war on terror” – strongly associated with Mr Blair and US President George Bush – has been dropped. Officials insist that no direct links with Muslim extremists have been publicly confirmed by police investigating the latest attempted terror attacks. Mr Brown himself did not refer to Muslims or Islam once in a BBC TV interview on Sunday. Ms Smith also avoided any such reference in her statement to She said: “Let us be clear – terrorists are criminals, whose victims come from all walks of life, communities and religions. Terrorists attack the values shared by all law-abiding citizens. As a Government, as communities, as individuals, we need to ensure that the message of the terrorists is rejected.” Tory backbencher Philip Davies said: “I don’t know what purpose is served by this. I don’t think we need pussyfoot around when talking about terrorism.” But former Tory homeland security spokesman Patrick Mercer said: “This is quite a smart idea. We know that the vast majority of Muslims are not involved in terrorism and we have to accept there are sensitivities about these matters.”
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/12172
JPTF 2007/07/04

"Não em nosso nome" in Guardian, 3 de Julho de 2007

por Asim Siddiqui

Blaming UK foreign policy is not the answer. Where are the Muslim marches in revulsion against acts of terror in Islam's name?

The events of the last few days have been sobering for us all. The response from some UK Muslim groups (influenced by Islamist thinking) is still largely to blame foreign policy (undoubtedly an exacerbating influence but not the cause), rather than marching "not in my name" in revulsion against terrorist acts committed in Islam's name. By blaming foreign policy they try to divert pressure off themselves from the real need to tackle extremism being peddled within. Diverting attention away from the problems within Muslim communities and blaming others - especially the west - is always more popular than the difficult task of self-scrutiny. And what part of foreign policy do the Islamists want us to change to tackle terrorism? Withdrawal from Iraq?

The UK presence on the ground in Iraq is minuscule compared to the US. We currently have 5,500 troops from 40,000 at the start of the invasion. We will reduce them further to 5,000 by the end of the summer. The bulk of which will be located near Basra airport in a supporting role. Next year will likely see the numbers dwindle even further. Our troop presence is far more symbolic than military. It provides the Americans with their "coalition of the willing". The US, by contrast, is the only serious occupier in the country with over 160,000 troops. The government will not (and cannot) admit it, but we have been in withdrawal mode since the end of the war.

And once we've left Iraq, will they be satisfied? Of course not. Their list of grievances is endless: Afghanistan, Chechnya, Kashmir, Palestine, Burma ... so long as the world is presented as one where the west is forever at war with Islam and Muslims there is nothing we can do to appease the terrorists and those who share their world view. Instead it is this extremist world view that must change.

Take for example the idea that radical Islamists are concerned about Muslim life (let's ignore human life in general for a moment). Where is their outrage at the 400,000 Muslims slaughtered in Darfur? Where are the marches and calls for action against this ongoing genocide? Where is the "Muslim anger" boiling up amongst British Islamists? It is nowhere to be seen because the Darfurians have been massacred by fellow Muslims, not by the west. Hence it does not appear on the Islamist radar screen as a "grievance". Such is the moral bankruptcy of this ideology.

No, it's not foreign policy that's the main driver in combating the terrorists; it is their mindset. The radical Islamist ideology needs to be exposed to young Muslims for what it really is. A tool for the introduction of a medieval form of governance that describes itself as an "Islamic state" that is violent, retrogressive, discriminatory, a perversion of the sacred texts and a totalitarian dictatorship.

When the IRA was busy blowing up London, there would have been little point in Irish "community leaders" urging "all" citizens to cooperate with the police equally when it was obvious the problem lay specifically within Irish communities. Likewise for Muslim "community leaders" to condemn terrorism is a no-brainer. What is required is for those that claim to represent and have influence among young British Muslims to proactively counter the extremist Islamist narrative. That is the biggest challenge for British Muslim leadership over the next five to 10 years. It is because they are failing to rise to this challenge that the government feels it needs to act by further eroding our civil liberties with anti-terror legislation to get the state to do what Muslims should be doing themselves. If British Muslim groups focus on grassroots de-radicalisation then this will provide civil liberty groups the space they need to argue against any further anti-terror legislation.

Of course I would like to see changes in our foreign policy and have marched on the streets (with thousands of non-Muslims) in protest on many occasions. But blaming foreign policy in the face of suicide attacks is not only tactless but a cop-out that fails to tackle extremism, fails to promote an ethical foreign policy and fails to protect our civil liberties.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/asim_siddiqui/2007/07/not_in_our_name.html
JPTF 2007/07/03

"O que está por detrás deste terror?" in Jornal de Notícias, 3 de Julho de 2007

1. Os últimos dias de Junho ficaram assinalados no Reino Unido por tentativas frustradas de atentados terroristas em Londres e Glasgow. Embora ainda não haja certezas quanto aos autores, os indícios conhecidos sugerem estarmos na presença de acções ligadas aos meios islamistas-jhiadistas, aparentemente infiltrados no país através do Médio Oriente e inspirados no modelo da al-Qaeda. Face a estes acontecimentos surge uma questão: quais as razões mais profundas por detrás destes actos de terror?

2. Num texto surpreendente publicado no Guardian o ex-islamista e jihadista britânico Hassan Butt faz um apelo veemente à renúncia ao terror afirmando que "matar em nome do Islão não é mais do que um anacronismo". Relatando a sua experiência, refere que lhes "era ensinado por predicadores britânicos e paquistaneses radicais" que a reclassificação do globo como "Terra da Guerra (Dar ul-Harb) permite a qualquer muçulmano destruir a santidade dos cinco direitos que a cada ser humano são garantidos sob o Islão: vida, bem-estar, terra, pensamento e crença. No Dar ul-Harb vale tudo, incluindo a traição e a cobardia de matar civis".

3. Este relato mostra a complexidade do problema. Por isso, há uma separação que urge traçar entre os muçulmanos que querem viver a sua vida normalmente e praticar pacificamente a sua religião (o Islão) e os que se apropriam para fins políticos do Corão e dos Ahadith. Estes últimos desenvolveram uma ideologia política radical (o islamismo), que no seu extremo violento (o jihadismo) usa o terror. Este é o legado que as actuais e futuras gerações vão ter de enfrentar.
http://jn.sapo.pt/2007/07/03/mundo/o_esta_detras_deste_terror.html
JPTF 2007/07/03

"Pelo menos seis turistas espanhóis morreram num ataque terrorista com carro bomba no Iémen" in ABC 2 de Julho de 2007

Al menos seis turistas españoles han muerto -siete según la policía yemení- y otros siete han resultado heridos tras la explosión de un coche bomba en la provincia de Mareb, zona turística situada a 190 kilómetros de la capital yemení. El ataque, provocado por un terrorista suicida, tenía como blanco un convoy en el que viajaban 14 turistas. Dos personas de nacionalidad yemení han perdido también la vida. Los turistas españoles partieron el día 30 de junio desde Madrid, Barcelona y Bilbao en un viaje organizado por Viajes Banoa para visitar Yemen, que se ofrece como el 'País de la Reina de Saba'. El tour -cuyo precio supera los 2.000 euros- estaba programado para un grupo de entre seis y quince personas, más un guía, y la duración era de 25 días.

Vinculación con Al Qaeda
Por el momento nadie se ha responsabilizado del ataque, aunque la Policía del país lo atribuye a la red terrorista Al Qaeda, que tiene una importante presencia en la región, lugar de origen de la familia de Osama Bin Laden. Al Qaeda ya fue responsabilizada del atentado del año 2000 contra el USS Cole en Aden, en el que murieron 17 marinos estadounidenses, y contra un petrolero francés, que provocó la muerte a una persona en 2002. El embajador español en Yemen, Marcos Vega Gómez, se encuentra en estos momentos de camino al lugar donde ha ocurrido el atentado. El ministro de Asuntos Exteriores, Miguel Angel Moratinos, comparecerá ante los medios de comunicación a las 19:30 horas en la sede del Ministerio.

Advertencias de Exteriores
El Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores advierte, en su página en Internet, de que existe riesgo de atentados terroristas en algunas zonas de Yemen, por lo que recomienda "máxima vigilancia" a la hora de emprender un viaje a este país. "Existe riesgo de acciones terroristas y algunas tribus recurren al secuestro de ciudadanos extranjeros para conseguir algún trato de favor del Gobierno. Por ello, se desaconseja vivamente visitar el país sin el concurso de una agencia de viajes de confianza", indica el Ministerio.

16 turistas muertos desde 1994
Dieciséis españoles han muerto desde 1994 en el extranjero, víctimas de atentados contra turistas, incluidos los seis fallecidos hoy en Yemen. El último atentado en el que se vieron afectados españoles se produjo en la Casa de España de Casablanca el 16 de mayo de 2.
http://www.abc.es/20070702/internacional-internacional/menos-cuatro-muertos-siete_200707021716.html
JPTF 2007/07/02

"O meu apelo aos meus companheiros muçulmanos: devem renunciar ao terror" in Observer, 1 de Julho de 2007

por Hassan Butt

As the bombers return to Britain, Hassan Butt, who was once a member of radical group Al-Muhajiroun, raising funds for extremists and calling for attacks on British citizens, explains why he was wrong.

When I was still a member of what is probably best termed the British Jihadi Network, a series of semi-autonomous British Muslim terrorist groups linked by a single ideology, I remember how we used to laugh in celebration whenever people on TV proclaimed that the sole cause for Islamic acts of terror like 9/11, the Madrid bombings and 7/7 was Western foreign policy. By blaming the government for our actions, those who pushed the 'Blair's bombs' line did our propaganda work for us. More important, they also helped to draw away any critical examination from the real engine of our violence: Islamic theology. Friday's attempt to cause mass destruction in London with strategically placed car bombs is so reminiscent of other recent British Islamic extremist plots that it is likely to have been carried out by my former peers. And as with previous terror attacks, people are again articulating the line that violence carried out by Muslims is all to do with foreign policy. For example, yesterday on Radio 4's Today programme, the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: 'What all our intelligence shows about the opinions of disaffected young Muslims is the main driving force is not Afghanistan, it is mainly Iraq.' He then refused to acknowledge the role of Islamist ideology in terrorism and said that the Muslim Brotherhood and those who give a religious mandate to suicide bombings in Palestine were genuinely representative of Islam. I left the BJN in February 2006, but if I were still fighting for their cause, I'd be laughing once again. Mohammad Sidique Khan, the leader of the 7 July bombings, and I were both part of the BJN - I met him on two occasions - and though many British extremists are angered by the deaths of fellow Muslim across the world, what drove me and many of my peers to plot acts of extreme terror within Britain, our own homeland and abroad, was a sense that we were fighting for the creation of a revolutionary state that would eventually bring Islamic justice to the world. How did this continuing violence come to be the means of promoting this (flawed) utopian goal? How do Islamic radicals justify such terror in the name of their religion? There isn't enough room to outline everything here, but the foundation of extremist reasoning rests upon a dualistic model of the world. Many Muslims may or may not agree with secularism but at the moment, formal Islamic theology, unlike Christian theology, does not allow for the separation of state and religion. There is no 'rendering unto Caesar' in Islamic theology because state and religion are considered to be one and the same. The centuries-old reasoning of Islamic jurists also extends to the world stage where the rules of interaction between Dar ul-Islam (the Land of Islam) and Dar ul-Kufr (the Land of Unbelief) have been set down to cover almost every matter of trade, peace and war. What radicals and extremists do is to take these premises two steps further. Their first step has been to reason that since there is no Islamic state in existence, the whole world must be Dar ul-Kufr. Step two: since Islam must declare war on unbelief, they have declared war upon the whole world. Many of my former peers, myself included, were taught by Pakistani and British radical preachers that this reclassification of the globe as a Land of War (Dar ul-Harb) allows any Muslim to destroy the sanctity of the five rights that every human is granted under Islam: life, wealth, land, mind and belief. In Dar ul-Harb, anything goes, including the treachery and cowardice of attacking civilians. This understanding of the global battlefield has been a source of friction for Muslims living in Britain. For decades, radicals have been exploiting these tensions between Islamic theology and the modern secular state for their benefit, typically by starting debate with the question: 'Are you British or Muslim?' But the main reason why radicals have managed to increase their following is because most Islamic institutions in Britain just don't want to talk about theology. They refuse to broach the difficult and often complex topic of violence within Islam and instead repeat the mantra that Islam is peace, focus on Islam as personal, and hope that all of this debate will go away. This has left the territory of ideas open for radicals to claim as their own. I should know because, as a former extremist recruiter, every time mosque authorities banned us from their grounds, it felt like a moral and religious victory. Outside Britain, there are those who try to reverse this two-step revisionism.

A handful of scholars from the Middle East has tried to put radicalism back in the box by saying that the rules of war devised by Islamic jurists were always conceived with the existence of an Islamic state in mind, a state which would supposedly regulate jihad in a responsible Islamic fashion. In other words, individual Muslims don't have the authority to go around declaring global war in the name of Islam. But there is a more fundamental reasoning that has struck me and a number of other people who have recently left radical Islamic networks as a far more potent argument because it involves stepping out of this dogmatic paradigm and recognising the reality of the world: Muslims don't actually live in the bipolar world of the Middle Ages any more. The fact is that Muslims in Britain are citizens of this country. We are no longer migrants in a Land of Unbelief. For my generation, we were born here, raised here, schooled here, we work here and we'll stay here. But more than that, on a historically unprecedented scale, Muslims in Britain have been allowed to assert their religious identity through clothing, the construction of mosques, the building of cemeteries and equal rights in law. However, it isn't enough for Muslims to say that because they feel at home in Britain they can simply ignore those passages of the Koran which instruct on killing unbelievers. By refusing to challenge centuries-old theological arguments, the tensions between Islamic theology and the modern world grow larger every day. It may be difficult to swallow but the reason why Abu Qatada - the Islamic scholar whom Palestinian militants recently called to be released in exchange for the kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston - has a following is because he is extremely learned and his religious rulings are well argued. His opinions, though I now thoroughly disagree with them, have validity within the broad canon of Islam. Since leaving the BJN, many Muslims have accused me of being a traitor. If I knew of any impending attack, then I would have no hesitation in going to the police, but I have not gone to the authorities, as some reports have suggested, and become an informer. I believe that the issue of terrorism can be easily demystified if Muslims and non-Muslims start openly to discuss the ideas that fuel terrorism. (The Muslim community in Britain must slap itself awake from this state of denial and realise there is no shame in admitting the extremism within our families, communities and worldwide co-religionists.) However, demystification will not be achieved if the only bridges of engagement that are formed are between the BJN and the security services. If our country is going to take on radicals and violent extremists, Muslim scholars must go back to the books and come forward with a refashioned set of rules and a revised understanding of the rights and responsibilities of Muslims whose homes and souls are firmly planted in what I'd like to term the Land of Co-existence. And when this new theological territory is opened up, Western Muslims will be able to liberate themselves from defunct models of the world, rewrite the rules of interaction and perhaps we will discover that the concept of killing in the name of Islam is no more than an anachronism.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2115832,00.html
JPTF 2007/01/07

"Ameaça terrorista ‘crítica‘ na sequência do atentado em Glasgow" in Guardian, 1 de Julho de 2007

Britain was braced last night for a fresh wave of terrorist attacks as the national threat level was raised to 'critical' following an attempted car bombing of Glasgow airport.
Just four days into his premiership, Gordon Brown was dealing with the most dangerous situation facing Britain since the attacks on London in July 2005. Police and intelligence officers confirmed that there was a direct link between the Scottish attack and the attempting car bombing of London on Friday - confirming the reality of a renewed UK offensive by Islamic extremists. Last night the Prime Minister summoned intelligence chiefs and ministers to a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee in Whitehall to discuss the deteriorating security situation. It was agreed to raise the threat level to the highest degree possible, a decision that confirmed another attack is expected imminently. In a televised address from Downing Street, a sombre-faced Brown urged people to be 'vigilant' and support the police and security services. He said: 'I know that the British people will stand together, united, resolute and strong.' As night fell, armed police began stopping vehicles entering airports throughout the UK after warnings were circulated that a nationwide terror cell is preparing more attacks. Liverpool and Glasgow airports were closed down. At 3.11pm, a Jeep Cherokee wreathed in flames crashed into the doors of the main terminal building at Glasgow. Driven by two 'Asian-looking' men, it came to a halt as they threw petrol over it and appeared to try to detonate the vehicle. With the help of bystanders, the two men were overpowered and arrested. One was fighting for his life last night, after throwing petrol over himself and setting it alight. There was a further twist last night as the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, where the man was being treated, was evacuated after a suspect device was found. Strathclyde Police later said that the man had possibly been wearing a suicide belt.

The Jeep attack, bearing the hallmarks, police said, of an al-Qaeda plot, came 36 hours after extremists attempted a double car bomb attack in the heart of London's West End using two Mercedes packed with petrol, nails and 'patio gas' canisters. The attacks appeared to have slipped completely under the radar of the security services. Amid concern over further attacks, police also said that they were stepping up the hunt for five terror suspects who have evaded control orders. In a day of dramatic developments, intelligence sources confirmed the attack on Glasgow airport appeared to be aimed at killing passengers setting off at the start of the Scottish school holidays. The British attacks prompted the White House to tighten security at US airports. As with the failed London attack, the explosives and gas canisters which appeared to be in the Jeep did not detonate, a stroke of fortune that may again have saved the lives of hundreds. Witnesses described chaotic scenes as the Jeep sped towards the terminal entrance. Robin Patterson, 42, of Rochester, Kent, saw the car burst into flames. 'There was an enormous explosion and it really was a big explosion,' he said. 'The guy next to the car, his skin and clothes just fell off him. He was like an absolute lunatic.' Another described one of the men throwing punches at police while screaming: 'Allah, Allah.' The Prime Minister's new terrorism adviser, Lord Stevens, said last night: 'Make no mistake, this weekend's bomb attacks signal a major escalation in the war being waged on us by Islamic terrorists. Now it is clear a loose but deadly network of interlinked operational cells has developed.' Meanwhile in London, a massive investigation into what could have been Britain's most deadly terror attack widened last night. Police and intelligence sources told The Observer that they were now investigating the existence of an Islamic terror cell in the capital. One major branch of the inquiry is tracking down a number of terror suspects who have slipped their control orders, a development that raises fresh questions over their effectiveness. One man being sought is Lamine Adam, 26, who, in evidence at the recent Crevice terror trial that saw five jailed for plotting fertiliser bomb attacks in the UK, allegedly boasted of targeting nightclubs. One of the Mercedes cars involved in the attack was left outside the busy Tiger Tiger nightclub in Haymarket, in the centre of the West End. The other Mercedes was found in a nearby street. Other men urgently wanted by police are his brother Ibrahim, 20, and Cerie Bullivant, 24, who have also evaded control orders. The government's independent reviewer of anti-terror legislation, Lord Carlile, has said that there is 'solid evidence' that the trio had wanted to join insurgents abroad and attack British troops serving in Iraq. Security sources said it remains 'possible' that the men were involved in the attempt to bring carnage to London.

After being briefed on the progress of the police investigation, the new Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, released a statement urging greater vigilance. It read: 'The police are clear that the most important contribution that the public can make is to carry on reporting anything suspicious and to remain vigilant. I must stress we must not let the threat of terror stop us getting on with our lives.' The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, reiterated that the capital faced 'a very real threat' and called on Londoners to be 'vigilant'. Hundreds of extra police were drafted on to the streets to step up security and to reassure the public. The Gay Pride Festival, which saw hundreds of thousands of people making their way from Baker Street to Trafalgar Square, was accompanied by 350 officers, while extra police were drafted in for the Wimbledon tennis championships and the Diana concert at Wembley. Among other terror suspects police want to track down are former tube worker and 26-year-old Londoner Zeeshan Siddiqui. Court evidence has heard how he trained with a London suicide bomber in Pakistan. Another individual police desperately want to track down, even if only to eliminate him from their investigation, is Bestun Salim, who disappeared from his Manchester home last year, and is alleged to have links to Ansar al-Islam, a group linked to the terrorist network of the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's notorious insurgent leader who was killed last year.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2115693,00.html
JPTF 2007/07/01