5 November 2012

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Thought for the Day | back to top |

“A moderate Islamist is as fantastical a notion as a moderate Nazi. Every member of this barbaric movement is a potential totalitarian thug. Western governments should neither accept nor work with the one or the other. (moderate and extremist Islamists)” ~Dr. Daniel Pipes, National Review Online October 30, 2012 Read more at: http://www.danielpipes.org/12103/islamism-unity Flash Points | back to top | Pakistan Media Houses Relocate Over Taliban Threat Pakistan Press Foundation 4 November 2012 Offices of several media organizations including those of Jang and The News have moved out of Badshah Towers over security fears. JournalismPakistan.com correspondent in Peshawar says that Geo TV are currently in the process of packing up from the building. The News, Jang and Nai Baat newspapers have shifted to Deans Trade Centre a short distance away, a location considered quite secure. The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) warned last month they would attack media houses and journalists for criticizing them in the wake of child education activist Malala Yousufzai’s shooting by the Taliban. Read more at: http://www.pakistanpressfoundation.org/latest-news/59336

JTIC Flashpoints JTIC 5 November 2012 SYRIA: Forty soldiers were killed and an unknown number of others were wounded or captured when militants from the Jaffar al-Tayar Brigade – members of the Deir ez Zour Revolutionary Military Council – assaulted and seized control of the Al-Ward oil field east of the city of Al-Mayadin in Deir ez Zour governorate on 4 November. (BBC/Associated Press) PAKISTAN: Eighteen people were killed when unidentified militants riding two motorcycles opened fire on a bus at a petrol station in the Khuzdar area of Balochistan province late on 2 November. The small-arms attack ignited fuel at the petrol station, causing a large fire which killed all 16 people on the bus and two people in a nearby vehicle. (Associated Press/Reuters) SUDAN: Thirteen people were killed and an unknown number of others were wounded or kidnapped when unidentified armed gunmen raided the village of Sigili, 40km southeast of the city of El Fasher, in North Darfur State on 2 November. The Minni Minnawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A-Minnawi) claimed the attack had been carried out by military forces and pro-government militiamen, and UNAMID issued a statement on 3 November confirming that the military had prevented a verification team from reaching the area. (Sudan Tribune/Radio Dabanga) PHILIPPINES: Four off-duty and unarmed soldiers were killed when suspected New People’s Army (NPA) militants opened fire on them as they were travelling to a market on the outskirts of Davao City in Mindanao on 4 November. (Philippine Daily Inquirer) THAILAND: Three people were killed and six others were wounded in a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack by suspected southern separatist militants outside a police station in the Reu Soh district of Narathiwat province late on 3 November. (Asian News Network/Bangkok Post) EGYPT: Three police officers were killed and another was wounded when suspected Islamist militants in a truck opened fire on their vehicle in the town of El Arish in North Sinai Governorate on 3 November. (Maan News Agency/Reuters/Associated Press) TURKEY: A civilian was killed and 18 others were wounded when a VBIED was detonated targeting a police special forces vehicle in the town of Semdinli in Hakkari province on 4 November. Officials attributed the attack to the Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan (PKK). (Reuters/Al-Arabiya) SOMALIA: A security guard and a civilian were killed when two suicide bombers detonated their explosives outside the Village restaurant in the Hodan district of the capital Mogadishu on 3 November. The bombers were reportedly trying to enter the restaurant but the security guard opened fire on them, forcing them to detonate their explosives outside. Unverified reports attributed the attack to the Shabab. (Al-Jazeera/Shabelle Media Network) AFGHANISTAN: The district police chief in the Dand district of Kandahar province, Rahmatullah Khan, was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack targeting his vehicle in the district on 3 November. One of Khan’s bodyguards was wounded in the attack. Khan was travelling to a police checkpoint in the district which was under attack at the time. (Al-Jazeera/Associated Press) COLOMBIA: Two civilians were killed and two others were wounded when unidentified militants opened fire on them in the Timbiqui area of Cauca department on 2 November. Local police attributed the attack to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). (Colombia Reports)

FURTHER READING: Ceding Ground - Shabab's Loss Of Territory In Somalia (JTIM) Flashpoints courtesy of JTIC.

Top Headlines | back to top | Karachi Turning Into Taliban Stronghold: Malik Dawn 4 November 2012 Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday that the government would move in accordance with the interim order of the Supreme Court on the law and order situation in Karachi and take action against the Taliban in the city. Talking to reporters, he said Karachi was turning into a stronghold of the Taliban and some measures against them had already been initiated. He said the government would address the apex court’s reservations on the situation in Karachi but added that some aspects of the reasons behind the law and order problem would also be brought to its notice. Read more at: http://dawn.com/2012/11/04/karachi-turning-into-taliban-stronghold-malik/ Gunmen Attack Nigerian Police Station; Kill 2 Cops CNN News 5 November 2012 Story Highlights  Two police officers die in the attack  Militant Islamist group Boko Haram is blamed  The group wants to impose a strict version of Sharia law Gunmen attacked a police station in northeast Nigeria early Sunday, killing two officers, the head of the police force in Yobe State said. The attackers, believed to be connected to the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, fired a rocket into the police station near the state capital, said police Commissioner Patrick Egbuniwe. One of the officers was killed by the blast, the other came under fire while responding to the attack. Read more at: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/04/world/africa/nigeria-violence/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 BOKO HARAM: We Won’t Negotiate Under Conditions – FG Vanguard 5 November 2012 The Federal Government said, yesterday, that it will not negotiate with Islamic sect, Boko Haram under conditions, even as mixed reactions have trailed the declaration by the sect of its readiness for dialogue to end series of suicide bomb attacks in many parts of the north. While some urged government to go ahead with the dialogue, others cautioned against the idea saying it would be counter-productive. However, the Presidency said it would discuss with the group without preconditions as demanded by the sect. This came as the group denied killing General Mohammed Shuwa and others who were killed in Maiduguri, weekend. Among those who okayed dialogue with Boko Haram are House of Representatives Speaker, Hon Aminu Tambuwal; Second Republic Governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa; Member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Daniel Reyenieju; Arewa Youths and Founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, who however, cautioned President Goodluck Jonathan against involving former Military Head of State and Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Buhari in the negotiation. Those opposed to the move include Second Republic Governor of Plateau State, Chief Solomon Lar and National Leader of National Action Council, NAC, Dr Olopade Agoro. Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/11/boko-haram-we-wont-negotiate-under-conditions-fg/

U.S. Investigators To Get Access To Benghazi Suspect Reuters by Mark Hoseball 3 November 2012 Authorities in Tunisia have agreed to allow FBI investigators access to a detained Islamic militant suspected of playing a role in the September 11 attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, U.S. officials said on Friday. Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/03/us-usa-benghazi-tunisia-idUSBRE8A200220121103 Petraeus’s Quieter Style At C.I.A. Leaves Void On Libya Furor New York Times by Scott Shane 2 November 2012 In 14 months as C.I.A. director, David H. Petraeus has shunned the spotlight he once courted as America’s most famous general. His low-profile style has won the loyalty of the White House, easing old tensions with President Obama, and he has overcome some of the skepticism he faced from the agency’s work force, which is always wary of the military brass. But since an attack killed four Americans seven weeks ago in Benghazi, Libya, his deliberately low profile, and the C.I.A.’s penchant for secrecy, have left a void that has been filled by a news media and Congressional furor over whether it could have been prevented. Rather than acknowledge the C.I.A.’s presence in Benghazi, Mr. Petraeus and other agency officials fought a losing battle to keep it secret, even as the events there became a point of contention in the presidential campaign. Finally, on Thursday, with Mr. Petraeus away on a visit to the Middle East, pressure from critics prompted intelligence officials to give their own account of the chaotic night when two security officers died along with the American ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, and another diplomat. The officials acknowledged for the first time that the security officers, both former members of the Navy SEALs, worked on contract for the C.I.A., which occupied one of the buildings that were attacked. The Benghazi crisis is the biggest challenge so far in the first civilian job held by Mr. Petraeus, who retired from the Army and dropped the “General” when he went to the C.I.A. Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/world/africa/petraeuss-lower-profile-at-cia-leaves-void-in- benghazi-furor.html?pagewanted=all Special: Europe Should Label Hezbollah A Terrorist Group, U.S. Urges | back to top | Europe Should Label Hezbollah A Terrorist Group, U.S. Urges Washington Post by Karen DeYoung 26 October 2012 White House counterterrorism chief John O. Brennan said Friday that European failure to join the United States in designating the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah a terrorist organization is undermining international counterterrorism efforts. “Let me be clear,” Brennan said in a speech in Dublin, European resistance “makes it harder to defend our countries and protect our citizens.” Brennan listed Hezbollah at the top of a list of joint U.S. and European security challenges. In addition to its alliance with terrorist activities by Iran, he said, “we have seen Hezbollah training militants in Yemen and Syria.” Read more at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/europe-should-label-hezbollah-a-terrorist- group-us-urges/2012/10/26/780da3aa-1fa6-11e2-ba31-3083ca97c314_story.html

NOTE: A video and podcast of Brennan’s speech may be downloaded from http://www.iiea.com/events/us- and-europe-security-cooperation-and-shared-challenges

Counterterrorism News by Nation & Region AFGHANISTAN | back to top | Taliban Leader Joins Peace Process In Afghanistan's Heart Khaama Press 4 November 2012 According to local authorities in western Herat province of Afghanistan, a prominent Taliban leader Mullah Baz Mohammad joined peace process along with his 12 fighters in Keshk-e-Rabat district. The Taliban leader was mostly operating against the Afghan government in Keshk, Keshk-e-Rabat-e-Sangi and Torghundi port highway and joined peace process on Saturday. Read more at: http://www.khaama.com/prominent-taliban-leader-join-peace-process-in-herat-403 Afghan Forces Kill 13 Taliban Militants, Arrest 25 Bokhdi News Agency 4 November 2012 Afghan police have killed 13 Taliban militants in a series of operations across the country over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. These operations have been conducted in Kabul, Kunar, Nangarhar, Sar-e-Pul, Kandahar, Maidan Wardak, Logar, Ghazni, Farah and Helmand provinces, during which 25 others were arrested. Read more at: http://bokhdinews.af/english/internal/8075-13-Taliban-militants-killed,-25-arrested-Gov ALGERIA | back to top | Algeria Gains Crucial Help in Fight Against Al Qaeda AP 3 November 2012 Weary from years of kidnappings, the inhabitants of Algeria’s rugged Kabylie mountains are finally turning against the fighters of Al Qaeda’s North Africa affiliate in their midst and helping security forces hunt them down. And that turnaround is giving Algeria its best chance yet to drive the terror network from its last Algerian stronghold. While defeated in much of the rest of the country, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb remains active in the Kabylie, partly because the Berbers there, the region’s original inhabitants before the arrival of Arabs, have long been deeply hostile to the central government and refused to provide information on militant whereabouts or activity. Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/world/africa/algeria-gains-berber-help-in-pushing-out-al- qaeda.html BURMA | back to top | Ethnic Violence Imperils Myanmar Reform Asia Times by Brian McCartan 3 November 2012 Renewed violence in Myanmar's western Rakhine State threatens to spread across the country as rising sentiment against ethnic Rohingyas becomes more generally anti-Muslim. Surging Buddhist versus Muslim violence underscores the urgent need for reforms related to ethnic minorities and the rule of law, issues that were neglected or exploited for political gain during the era of direct military rule. Read more at: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/NK03Ae02.html

CANADA | back to top | Montreal Jewish School Firebomber Fit To Stand Trial Montreal Gazette by Paul Cherry 30 October 2012 Omar Bulphred, who firebombed a Jewish school, served the entirety of his sentence and was re-arrested soon after his release, has been found fit to stand trial. He was arrested for allegedly violating his conditional release. Read more at: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Montreal+Jewish+school+firebomber+stand+trial/7470099/story.html Alleged Human Smuggling Ring Brought Romanians To Canada Via Mexico, Police Say National Post by Stewart Bell 25 October 2012 Canadian authorities are claiming to have uncovered a human smuggling ring that has brought hundreds of Romanian refugee claimants to the Toronto area through Mexico, the National Post has learned. The smugglers are charging between $10,000 and $30,000 for passage to Canada along a route that runs from Mexico to Texas to greater Toronto, according to sources who did not want to be identified. Those using the pipeline are said to be arriving in Canada indebted to the smugglers and are made to repay them by applying for welfare benefits and engaging in low-level organized crime, the sources said. Read more at: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/25/alleged-human-smuggling-ring-brought-romanians-to- canada-via-mexico-police-say/ COLOMBIA | back to top | Colombia To Expand Armed Forces By 25,000 Troops InSIght Crime by Elyssa Pachio 1 November 2012 Colombia's defense minister announced plans to increase the size of the armed forces by 25,000 troops over the next two years, raising the question of why the expansion is being planned when the government is in the middle of a peace process with guerrilla group the FARC. Read more at: http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/colombia-to-expand-armed-forces-by-25000-troops EGYPT | back to top | Sinai Salafists Threaten Israel, Egypt Security Jerusalem Post by Joanna Paraszczuk 1 November 2012 Fears that Iranian weapons smuggled from Sudan could reach jihadi groups as Egypt continues to struggle to exert control over Sinai. Security in the increasingly lawless Sinai Peninsula continued to be a pressing issue in both Egypt and Israel this week, with threats to both countries from the al-Qaida-affiliated Salafist jihadi groups who have found fertile breeding grounds in Sinai since the Egyptian revolution. On Thursday, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party demanded law enforcement authorities move to regain control of security in Sinai – following a week of reports of terrorist activity in the troubled peninsula. Read more at: http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=290187&R=R1&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Egypt Terror Threat Level Raised By UK Foreign Office BBC News 2 November 2012 It follows reports of an al-Qaeda plot to attack Western holidaymakers, foiled by Egyptian police in northern Sinai close to the border with Gaza. Read more at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20184114 FRANCE | back to top | Toulouse Jews Say Muslim Relations 'Non-Existent' France 24 by Tony Todd 2 November 2012 Relations between Jews and Muslims remain tense in Toulouse, six months after an al Qaeda-inspired gunman shot and killed three soldiers, a rabbi and three Jewish children, say the city's Jewish leaders. Read more at: http://www.france24.com/en/20121101-relations-between-toulouses-jews-muslims-are-deadlocked Two Shot Dead In Latest Marseille Gang Killing France 24 2 November 2012 Two young men were shot dead in the southern French city of Marseille on Thursday, in what investigators suspect was a drug-related hit. The killings once again drew national attention to the growing gang violence in France’s second largest city. Read more at: http://www.france24.com/en/20121102-france-marseille-killing-two-people-shot-dead-gang- crime-police GERMANY | back to top | German Reinsurance Broker Draws Up Map Of Potential Terrorist Targets Financial Times Deutschland 2 November 2012 Synopsis [from Open Source Center]: Aon Benfield, a reinsurance broker, has drawn up a map of potential terrorist targets in Germany and has calculated the statistical probability of attacks, according to Financial Times Deutschland. It said the map makes it easier for insurance and reinsurance companies to calculate the danger to a building near such targets and to set down a corresponding premium for the anti-terror insurance for buildings. Aon Benfield used data from US authorities as well as other sources. "According to our calculations, a terrorist attack is carried out in Germany every two years," Aon Benfield Germany head Jan-Oliver Thofern was quoted as saying. The broker identifies 1,515 terrorist targets in Germany, including political power centres, large facilities, infrastructure buildings, as well as financial and military centres. [Original Language: German] INDIA | back to top | Lashkar-E-Tayba Claims Attack On Army In Srinagar Stirling Assynt - South Asia Vol IX No21 2 November 2012 First major incident in city since May; Pakistan-based militants seeking to reinforce support following criticism by Taliban; Home Minister criticises Islamabad following incident but approval for Pakistani cricket tour of India shows that relations continue to improve Read more at: http://reports.stirlingassynt.com/?load=article&rid=2035&aid=21499

A Conversation With: Lt. Gen.Baljit Singh Jaswal, Former Commander Of Kashmir International Herlad Tibune Blog: India Ink by Betwa Sharma 2 November 2012 During a long conversation at the Assam Rifles Mess in Delhi Cantonment on Thursday, General Jaswal discussed the challenges of guarding the Line of Control, the lingering threat from Pakistan, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the life of a soldier in Kashmir. After two decades of militancy, the Kashmir Valley has been relatively calm during the past two years. Tourists from India and around the world flooded into the scenic valley last summer, and the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, has called for troop reductions and a repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. But military officials say the peace remains fragile and that the infiltration of militants from Pakistan continues, albeit in smaller numbers. The army has said that Kashmir isn’t ready for any drastic dilution of security. Read more at: http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/a-conversation-with-lt-gen-baljit-singh-jaswal-former- commander-of-kashmir/?ref=asia INDONESIA | back to top | Is Indonesia Ngruki Islamic School Teaching Terrorism? BBC News 4 November 2012 As recent terror arrests in Indonesia refocus attention on the country's fight against extremism, the BBC's Karishma Vaswani looks at the Islamic school said to have nurtured many of the militants. Amrozi, Mukhlas, Idris, Mubarok - all men who were involved in the deadly Bali bombings on 12 October 2002. But they have something else in common - they all graduated from the Al Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Solo - more commonly known as Ngruki. Indonesian officials believe the school is actively teaching radicalism and spreading messages of hate among its young students. Read more at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20177008 . Poso Terrorists Connected To Bima Network Jakarta Post 2 November 2012 The National Police confirmed on Thursday that the individuals apprehended and killed during antiterrorism raids in Poso, Central Sulawesi, on Wednesday are linked to a radical group in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara. “The suspects hail from Bima, West Nusa Tenggara and are connected with Umar bin Khatab, an Islamic boarding school in Sonco Sanolo Village, Bima Regency,” National Police Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said on Thursday. Read more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/02/poso-terrorists-connected-bima-network.html IRAN | back to top | Iran Claims To Have Domestically Produced A New Advanced Drone AP 4 November 2012 Iran's media is reporting the country has produced a domestically-made drone capable of hovering in midair. The Sunday report by several newspapers including the conservative Resalat says an advanced vertical take-off and landing or VTOL drone will be displayed in February. Read more at: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/04/iran-claims-to-have-domestically-produced-new- advanced-drone/

ISRAEL | back to top | Report: Intel Found On Slain Hamas Official Led To Sudan Strike Israel Hayom by Yoav Limor & Israel Hayom 29 October 2012 U.K.'s Sunday Times cites military intelligence reports that Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, assassinated in Dubai, was in possession of an agreement between Iran and Sudan from 2008 that permitted Iran to manufacture weapons in Sudanese territory. The Sunday Times reported that eight Israeli warplanes participated in the attack on the Yarmouk military complex near the Sudanese capital Khartoum. According to the report, planning for the operation began as a result of documents found on the body of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, whose assassination in Dubai in 2010 prompted worldwide speculation that it was a Mossad operation. The U.K. paper cited military intelligence reports stating that Mabhouh was in charge of procuring weapons for terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip, and was in possession of a copy of an agreement between Iran and Sudan from 2008 that permitted Iran to manufacture weapons in Sudanese territory. Read more at: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=6228

NOTE: Cited Sunday Times of London report (requires subscription) posted at: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Middle_East/article1156457.ece

Israeli Jets Bomb Sudan Missile Site In Dry Run For Iran Attack Sunday Times of London by Uzi Mahmaini & Flora Bagenal 28 October 2012 A long-range Israeli bombing raid last week that was seen as a dry run for a forthcoming attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has destroyed an Iranian run plant making rockets and ballistic missiles in Sudan. Eight Israeli F-15I planes — four carrying two one-ton bombs, escorted by four fighters — struck the giant Yarmouk factory on the southwestern outskirts of Khartoum, the capital, in the early hours of Wednesday. Read more at: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Middle_East/article1156457.ece [Subscription Required] Israel Military Says 3 Syrian Tanks Have Entered Demilitarized Zone In Golan Heights AP 3 November 2012 Three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights on Saturday, prompting Israel to complain to U.N. peacekeepers, a military spokesman said. The foray would be the first such violation in 40 years and hikes concerns that violence from Syria’s civil war could heat up a long-quiet frontier. Israel’s relatively low-key response of turning to the U.N. suggested it did not see the Syrian armor as an immediate threat. But the entry marks the most serious spillover of Syria’s turmoil at the frontier to date. Misfired Syrian shells have exploded inside Israel on several occasions and a tourist site was temporary shut after armed Syrians were spotted near by recently. The three tanks entered the DMZ on Saturday and Israel lodged a complaint with the peacekeepers, an Israeli military spokeswoman said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military protocol. She did not elaborate on what the tanks were doing. Read more at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-military-says-3-syrian-tanks-have- entered-demilitarized-zone-in-golan-heights/2012/11/03/51aedbc2-25c6-11e2-92f8-7f9c4daf276a_print.html

Abu Jihad Killing: Israeli Censor Releases Commando's Account BBC News 1 November 2012 Israel's military censor has cleared for publication an interview with a commando who killed the deputy of the then Palestinian chief Yasser Arafat. It has been widely believed that Abu Jihad was killed by Israeli agents in Tunis in 1988 but Israel has never officially acknowledged it. However, the censor has allowed Yediot Ahronot newspaper to publish the interview with Nahum Lev. Read more at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20172511

PTSS Daily Contributor Comment: The details of an assassination are often brutal, grim and unforgiving. It is surprising that, after all these years, the Israelis would allow this account to make it to the media. The published account will doubtless fuel the hatred of the average Palestinian for the Israelis in a culture that does not acknowledge time. Is that, perhaps, the point the Israelis wish to make?

JORDAN | back to top | Jordan Denies Pardon For Killer Of US Diplomat Jordan Times by Taylor Luck 1 November 2012 The Cabinet approved late Wednesday the release of five of six hardline Islamists granted a special Royal pardon, denying the release of a man charged with the 2002 slaying of a US diplomat. According to Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Samih Maaytah, the Cabinet signed off on a Royal pardon of five members of Jordanian jihadist Salfist movement, many of whom have spent over a decade in prison. In a press statement, Maaytah stressed that Mohammed Issa Demes, who was charged along with three men in connection with the 2002 slaying of USAID employee Laurence Foley, will not be among the released detainees. Read more at: http://jordantimes.com/us-diplomat-slayer-excluded-from-pardon----govt KENYA | back to top | Kenya Policeman Killed, 11 Injured In Church Attack BBC News 4 November 2012 A grenade attack on a church in a police compound in eastern Kenya has killed one police officer and injured at least 11 other people, reports say. The man who died was serving as pastor of the targeted church, in Garissa town near the border with Somalia. Read more at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20196493 LEBANON | back to top | Hezbollah Under Pressure Weekly Standard by David Schenker 23 October 2012 Hezbollah's days of dominating Lebanon are likely numbered, and the militia's recent behavior suggests that it sees the writing on the wall. To many Lebanese, the massive car bomb attack in Beirut on Friday that killed the Sunni Muslim head of internal security Wissam al Hassan and seven others evoked the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri.

Members of the Shiite militia Hezbollah were indicted for the 2005 crime, and the organization -- along with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's regime -- is a leading suspect in this latest outrage. Rather than a demonstration of strength, however, the attack highlights the militia's sense of insecurity. Read more at: http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/hezbollah-under-pressure LIBYA | back to top | Armed Men Occupy Libya Parliament Vicinity AP by Esam Mohamed 2 November 2012 Around 200 mostly armed protesters and militiamen occupied an area near Libya's parliament building on Thursday, blocking nearby roads and beating up journalists in protest of the country's new Cabinet. Read more at: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gXBXTK0Hym_YK6CZa93sgYSEg- 4Q?docId=23750524a4bb40d38e1ee4a5c6181775 Militias Battle In Tripoli CNN News by Jomana Karasheh 5 November 2012 Story Highlights  One of the militias was recently ordered dissolved for violating rules, official says  The gunfire and explosions, intense at time, were heard by a CNN producer  One person died and another was seriously wounded, according to a medical source Fighting between two militias erupted at the building that previously housed Libya's intelligence agency in central Tripoli early Sunday, sources said. One of the militias was recently ordered dissolved for violating rules, including torturing a detainee to death, the chief of Libya's temporary supreme security committee told LANA, the state news agency. Read more at: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/04/world/africa/libya-fight/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 MALAYSIA | back to top | Malaysia Shuts Down Al-Qaeda's Online Library Source by Author day month year Malaysia's internet regulator has shut down a terrorist web portal hosted in the country. Tawhed.net is said to be international terror organisation Al-Qaeda's largest online library. The move comes after two Malaysians were arrested in Beirut and are now facing terror charges at a military tribunal in Lebanon. Read more at: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/1234787/1/.html MOROCCO | back to top | Morocco Arrests Nine-Member 'Terror Cell': Ministry AFP 2 November 2012 Morocco on Thursday announced the arrest of a nine-member "terrorist cell" that authorities said planned to set up a training camp in the rugged Rif mountainous region from which to launch attacks. Read more at: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jdMQZmx6duXzPaOhM4ovAuueileQ? docId=CNG.476cff18e68a223abbaa2391e013ed90.91

NIGERIA | back to top | Gunmen Attack Nigerian Police Station; Kill 2 Cops CNN News 5 November 2012 Story Highlights  Two police officers die in the attack  Militant Islamist group Boko Haram is blamed  The group wants to impose a strict version of Sharia law Gunmen attacked a police station in northeast Nigeria early Sunday, killing two officers, the head of the police force in Yobe State said. The attackers, believed to be connected to the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, fired a rocket into the police station near the state capital, said police Commissioner Patrick Egbuniwe. One of the officers was killed by the blast, the other came under fire while responding to the attack. Read more at: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/04/world/africa/nigeria-violence/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 Christian Group Lauds Boko Haram's 'Peace Initiative' Nigerian Compass by Ted Odogwu 2 November 2012 Christian faithfuls in Kano have embraced the decision of the dreaded Boko Haram sect to embark on a cease fire, so as to create a conducive atmosphere for negotiation and dialogue that may usher in the much desired peaceful settlement. Chairman of the Kano Chapter of Christian Association Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Ransom Bello, who spoke on behalf of the Christians, said the development is a welcome one, especially coming from the sect. Read more at: http://www.compassnewspaper.org/index.php/news/nigeria-today/9457-kano-can-yankassai- comend-boko-harams-peace-initiatives Boko Haram Ready For Peace Talks With Nigeria, Says Alleged Sect Member Guardian by Monica Mark 1 November 2012 Talks must be held in Saudi Arabia and spearheaded by former military ruler, says man claiming to represent Islamist group The radical Islamist group Boko Haram is willing to enter peace talks with Nigeria's government if they are held in Saudi Arabia and spearheaded by a former military ruler, an alleged member of the sect has said. "We are not actually challenging the state, as people are saying, but the security [forces] who are killing our members, children and wives. If this government is sincere, [attacks] will come to an end," Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz said in the city of Maidugiri, the northern stronghold of Boko Haram. He said Muhamed Buhari, a Muslim colonel who ruled Nigeria for 20 months after seizing power in 1984, had to be a negotiator during talks. Read more at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/01/boko-haram-peace-talks-nigeria In Africa, An Islamist Convergence Seen As A Threat Washington Times by Kristina Wong 30 October 2012 Boko Haram may ally with al Qaeda branch The Islamist militant group Boko Haram has conducted terrorist attacks in Nigeria that bring it closer to al Qaeda in northern Mali, making linkages between the groups more likely and more dangerous, according to a paper published by the Combating Terrorism Center. Read more at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/30/dangerously-close-islamist-groups-rise-in- africa-b/

Gunmen Kill 20 In Northern Nigeria's Zamfara State Reuters 31 October 2012 Gunmen suspected to be armed robbers have killed 20 people in a village in the northwest Nigerian state of Zamfara, authorities said on Wednesday, a similar attack to one in June. Read more at: http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE89U01F20121031 NORWAY | back to top | Islamic Extremist Charges Widened The Foreigner by Lyndsey Smith 27 October 2012 Threats against Oslo’s Jewish community now form part of the indictment against Arslan Ubaydullah Maroof Hussain, reports say. Mr Hussain was arrested, Friday, after writing statements on his Facebook group that left Norwegian Jews feeling targeted. In his post, the accused wrote comments referring to the incident in 2006 where shots were fired at an Oslo Synagogue. Researcher Øivind Kopperud does not believe that Ubaydullah Hussain is alone in his views. He believes the police must view Mr Hussain’s comments as a wake-up call. Read more at: http://theforeigner.no/pages/news/islamic-extremist-charges-widened/ Islamist Held For Offering To ‘Guard’ Norwegian Jews With AK-47 JTA 31 October 2012 Norwegian police have increased security around Oslo’s main synagogue after an Islamist extremist threatened to “protect” the Jewish community with an “AK-47 assault rifle and a hunting permit.” Police on Oct. 27 recommended indicting Ubaydullah Hussain, the 27-year-old leader of the radical Islamic organization Profetens Ummah. He was arrested last week after Norwegian media reported on a comment that appeared on his Facebook account: “I will give them protection … as soon as I have received a hunting license and get hold of an AK47.” Hussain, a former soccer referee who was born and raised in Norway, also lamented the absence of fatalities in a 2006 shooting outside the synagogue. Hussain, who participated in recent protests outside the U.S. embassy in Norway in connection with the film "The Innocence of Muslims," later told Norwegian television he “could not confirm or deny” that his statements were a threat. Read more at: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/10/31/3110756/islamist-held-for-offering-to-guard- norwegian-jews-with-ak-47 PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY | back to top | Palestinian Terrorists On The Payroll - Opinion Wall Street Journal by Douglas Murray 25 October 2012 British taxpayers are helping to pay the salaries of jailed bomb makers Why do politicians always resign over the minor things, while getting away with the major ones? Swear at a policeman, for instance, and after a month of harrying from the media and your political opponents, you will finally stand down. Waste millions of pounds on a taxpayer-funded self-aggrandizement scheme, on the other hand, and you will not only get away with it, but be praised. Such is the case with Andrew Mitchell, former minister at the U.K. Department for International Development (DfID) and now—after an angry altercation with a Downing Street

policeman—former chief whip. Swearing at a policeman is bad. But far worse is what Mr. Mitchell presided over at DfID and what his former colleague Alan Duncan—who still has his job—allows to go on, even now. A report by Palestinian Media Watch recently revealed that British taxpayers have been paying salaries to terrorists. It revealed that £3 million every month is paid by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in salaries to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The salaries come from the PA's general budget. That "general budget" is kindly provided by the U.K., among other EU countries. Read more at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203897404578076840345518294.html?mod=googlenews_wsj PAKISTAN/AFPAK | back to top | Pakistan Has Suffered The Most From Terrorism: Zardari First Post 5 November 2012 Pakistan has suffered more than any other country from terrorism, President Asif Ali Zardari said at a SAARC conference here. Terrorism has claimed 40,000 lives in Pakistan and also caused economic loss of $80 billion, he said at the 6th meeting of SAARC speakers and parliamentarians Sunday. Durable peace in the region was in the interest of all, he said, and urged the SAARC nations to join hands to fight extremism and terrorism. Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/world/pakistan-has-suffered-the-most-from-terrorism-zardari-514242.html 6 Killed In NW Pakistan Suicide Blast Al Manar 4 November 2012 At least six people have been killed and several others injured after a suicide bomber attacked the office of a local peace committee in Buner town, northwest Pakistan. Read more at: http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?fromval=1&cid=19&frid=19&eid=73331 Bomb Kills Pakistani Anti-Taliban Politician AlJazeera 4 November 2012 Suicide bomber kills at least six in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, including head of a local militia. A suicide bomber in northwestern Pakistan killed the head of a local peace committee, three of his guards and two passers-by on Saturday, police said. Fateh Khan, whose committee opposes the Taliban, was killed as he left a petrol station in the main city of Buner, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 150km northeast of Peshawar. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack targeting Khan, local media quoted their spokesperson as saying. Read more at: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/11/201211311172881108.html Abbottabad Commission On Bin Laden Issues Findings Stirling Assynt: South Asia Vol IX No21 2 November 2012 Clears military and Government of knowledge; Washington dissatisfied with report; Obama publicly questions Islamabad’s complicity in protecting al-Qaeda leader, but bilateral relations unlikely to be significantly impacted. Read more at: http://reports.stirlingassynt.com/?load=article&rid=2035&aid=21501.

Van Attack, Blaze Kill 18 In Balochistan Dawn 2 November 2012 At least 18 people were killed Friday in a huge blaze that erupted after gunmen opened fire on a passenger van at a petrol station in the restive southwestern province of Balochistan, officials said. Seven women and four children sitting in the van were among the dead, senior local official Abdul Mansoor Kakar told AFP, and a number of shopkeepers were killed as the inferno consumed nearby shops. The incident took place in the outskirts of Khuzdar, around 250 kilometres southwest of Quetta, the capital of insurgency-hit Balochistan province. Read more at: http://dawn.com/2012/11/02/van-attack-blaze-kill-10-in-balochistan/ 168 Gunned Down In Pakistan's Karachi In Oct. Xinhua 31 October 2012 At least two people including a Crime Investigation Department official were killed in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 168 in separate incidents of target killing during the present month, local media reported. In October, it is estimated that 18 political activists including a student leader were killed in separate incidents of firing across the city. The month of October remained most fatal for the present government's coalition partner, Muttahida Qaumi Movemnet (MQM). According to local media reports, at least 10 MQM activists were killed in separate political motivated attacks in Karachi this month. Read more at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-10/31/c_131943124.htm Pakistani Brothers Reflect Their Country’s Contradictions Washington Post by Richard Leiby 28 October 2012 One cleric is a wanted terrorist who preaches that the United States is Pakistan’s worst enemy, determined to “wipe out every Muslim” with the help of his other nemesis, the Jews. His name is Hafiz Mohammad Saeed. The other cleric fondly recalls his years in the United States, where he drove a Chevy Suburban and allied himself with a prominent rabbi to promote religious tolerance. His name is Hafiz Muhammad Masood. Masood, 54, and Saeed, 62, are brothers. Their conspicuously different paths illustrate the often contradictory nature of Pakistan itself, a country that behaves like both friend and foe to its chief patron, the United States — frequently at the same time. As much as Pakistanis are said to loathe U.S. policies, many eagerly seek opportunities for themselves and their children in the United States. Masood was one of them, spending 21 years in the Boston area. Today he is the spokesman for the Lahore-based religious charity that his brother heads, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, or Party of Truth. The United States calls it a terrorist front group tied to the 2008 attacks in Mumbai and has offered $10 million for evidence leading to Saeed’s arrest or conviction. Masood has denied the accusations. Read more at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pakistani-brothers-reflect-their-countrys- contradictions/2012/10/28/f29af3ea-1c52-11e2-8817-41b9a7aaabc7_story.html Pakistani President For Policy To Stop Sim Cards To Militants Xinhua 2 November 2012 Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari, Thursday took serious note of the use of mobile phones by the militants and criminals and asked the government to work out a plan so that no sim cards are delivered at the retail shops and the outlets of mobile companies. Read more at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/02/c_131945552.htm

Rein In Terrorism Or Resign, Altaf Hussain Tells Govt GEO Pakistan 4 November 2012 Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain has said that if the president, the prime minister, and the interior minister were unable to deal a blow to the terrorists then they did not deserve to hold their offices, Geo News reported. “They should resign if they are so helpless against the terror-mongers”, Altaf said in a statement issued here to condemn the killing of a senior party worker in Hyderabad on Saturday night. Read more at: http://www.geo.tv/GeoDetail.aspx?ID=74045 RUSSIA | back to top | Senior Police Officer Killed In Russia's Kabarda-Balkaria Interfax News Agency 3 November 2012 Synopsis [from Open Source Center]: A senior policeman has been killed in the Russian republic of Kabarda- Balkaria, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. "The Mercedes car, which was carrying the police lieutenant colonel - an officer of the Main Directorate of the Russian Interior Ministry for the North Caucasus Federal District - was fired on by unidentified people at the entrance of the village of Zhalukokoazhe," the new agency quoted a security source as saying. The agency said the attackers had not been identified. [Original Language: Russian] Russia Backs Resorts To Stem Terrorism Washington Post by Kathy Lally 5 November 2012 After years of trying to suppress religious and ethnic tensions in its southwestern mountains with guns and troops, Russia is offering new incentives to combat unrest and terrorism: ski slopes and sandy beaches. The idea is to bring jobs and prospects to the people of the North Caucasus, where Islamic fundamentalism and separatist aspirations have resulted in death and violence in the region’s mountains and a thousand miles away in Moscow, the target of suicide bomber attacks. The vehicle is an $18 billion plan for seven ski resorts scattered through the mountains and three beach developments costing $4.6 billion on the Caspian Sea. Read more at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russia-backs-ski-resorts-in-hopes-of-stemming- terrorism/2012/11/04/0cf80b44-2426-11e2-9313-3c7f59038d93_story.html SOMALIA | back to top | Double Suicide Bombing At Mogadishu Restaurant Garowe 3 November 2012 A double suicide bombing at a restaurant in Mogadishu killed 3 people including the two suicide bombers and a guard, Garowe Online reports. The suicide bombers targeted the Village restaurant and cafe near Mogadishu’s Soobe’s intersection that was frequented by government officials and Somali diaspora and was also the scene of a devastating attack late September. According to local sources, the restaurant was packed with customers when two suicide bombers attempted to barge in the restaurant but were rejected by security guards. Read more at: http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Double_suicide_bombing_ at_Mogadishu_restaurant.shtml

Somali Forces Detain 15 Al-Shabab Suspects In Mogadishu Radio Gaalkacyo 3 November 2012 day month year Synopsis [from Open Source Center]: The Somali national security forces in collaboration with AMISOM (African Union's Mission in Somalia) have arrested 15 people during operations in Mogadishu, privately-owned Radio Gaalkacyo reported on 3 November. The operations were conducted following grenade attacks and killings in different areas of the Somali capital. Government troops and AU forces used armoured vehicles in the massive operations against Al-Shabab units in the city, the radio added. Somali police spokesman Abdullahi Barise said the operations would continue until security was firmly established in Mogadishu. [Original Language: Somali] EU Gives $200 Million For Security, Education In Turbulent Somalia Reuters by Yara Bayoumy 3 November 2012 The European Union has given Somalia 158 million euros ($200 million) to improve education, the legal system and security, its new envoy said on Saturday, as the Horn of Africa nation tries to recover from more than two decades of conflict. Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/03/us-somalia-aid-idUSBRE8A206R20121103 Somali Journalists - A Perilous Profession Economist Blog: Baobab 3 November 212 MOHAMED MOHAMUD, who was known as “Turyare” or “slightly hunchbacked” to his friends, was shot by unidentified gunmen in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on October 21st. One week later, he died of his injuries after failed abdominal surgery. The 22-year-old reporter with the local Radio Shabelle network became the 17th Somali journalist to die this year. The 18th followed the next day when Warsame Shire Awale, a popular radio personality, was gunned down. This has been the deadliest year on record for Somali journalists. The country is ranked, along with Syria, as the most dangerous place for journalists to operate, according to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ). Unesco has called for an official investigation, and a fierce debate is raging among Somalis over who is carrying out the murders and why. Read more at: http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2012/11/somali-journalists Somalia To Get First Female Foreign Minister BBC News 4 November 2012 Somalia is to get its first female foreign minister in a cabinet formed by new Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon. Fauzia Yusuf Haji Adan is among 10 politicians joining a cabinet that has been significantly reduced in size. She described her inclusion as "historic" for both the country and Somali women in particular. Read more at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20200037? Uganda Pulling Out Of Somalia, Says Amama Daily Monitor by Isaac Imaka 3 November 2012 In Summary: Prime Minister tells Parliament that troops will be deployed to Congo border and cites ‘malignment by UN’ as another factor behind the decision. The government has resolved to withdraw all UPDF troops in Somalia and other peace keeping missions in Africa and send the soldiers to protect Uganda’s western border with DRC, Premier Amama Mbabazi told Parliament on Thursday night. Read more at: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Uganda+pulling+out+of+Somalia++says+Amama/- /688334/1609986/-/d778u1z/-/index.html

Somalia Wants Ugandan Troops To Remain Shabelle New/Reuterss 4 November 2012 Somalia’s prime minister said on Saturday that it could be a challenge for his country if Uganda followed through on a threat to withdraw troops fighting Islamist rebels in southern Somalia. Uganda’s foreign affairs ministry said earlier that it would withdraw from peace keeping initiatives in Africa unless the United Nations amended a report accusing it of supporting rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid told Reuters in an interview that Somalia had not yet received any official communication from Uganda on the issue of withdrawing from the African Union force known as AMISOM. Read more at: http://shabelle.net/somalia-wants-ugandan-troops-to-remain/ SWEDEN | back to top | Counter-Terrorism Chiefs Resign In Protest The Local 4 November 2012 The director and deputy director of the Counter-Terrorism Co-operative Council (Nationellt centrum för terrorhotbedömning) have resigned after less than a year. "There was a lack of dialogue about the mission and the operations," the resigned director, Malena Rembe, told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN). The deputy director, whose identity is kept secret, has re-joined the National Defence Radio Establishment (Försvarets radioanstalt). The Counter-Terrorism Co-operative Council is tasked with analysing terror threats and informing and updating different authorities. It is a cooperative body coordinating the work of the National Defence Radio Establishment, the Swedish Security Service (Säpo) and the Military Intelligence and Security Service (Militära underrättelse-och säkerhetstjänsten). Rembe has been in the job for less than a year. She was previously head analyst at Säpo's counter-terrorism unit. On October 19th Rembe and her deputy chose to resign in quiet, without making a public announcement. Read more at: http://www.thelocal.se/44216/20121104/ SYRIA | back to top | Syrian Government Forces Quit Town Linking Aleppo To South: Monitor Reuters 2 November 2012 day month year Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have withdrawn from their last base near the northern town of Saraqeb, further weakening his ability to fight rebels in the country's largest city Aleppo, a violence monitoring group said on Friday. Saraqeb straddles the junction of two main highways leading to Aleppo and the pullout will make it harder for government forces to reinforce or resupply Aleppo, where they have been battling with rebels for control since late July. The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops had retreated from Alwees, northwest of Saraqeb, leaving the town and surrounding areas "completely outside the control of regime forces". Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/02/us-syria-crisis-town-idUSBRE8A10BL20121102

Syria Rebels 'Take Key Damascus-Aleppo Checkpoints' BBC News 1 November 2012 Rebel attacks on army checkpoints on the main road between Syria's biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, have left 28 government troops dead, reports say. Five opposition fighters were also killed in the attacks, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group. They came as regime helicopters and jets carried out air strikes in eastern suburbs of the capital and elsewhere. These often drop barrels of TNT, which are inaccurate but cause huge damage. Read more at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20172102 Syrian Rebels Execute Unarmed Government Soldiers; Fighting Kills Scores Nationwide AP by Babak Dehghanpisheh 1 November 2012 Syrian rebels executed at least a half-dozen unarmed government soldiers Thursday after attacks on checkpoints near the town of Saraqeb in northwest Syria. At least 28 soldiers and five opposition fighters were killed in the rebel operation, which targeted checkpoints on roads connecting Saraqeb to Aleppo and Ariha, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The execution of the troops, documented in a graphic video posted online Thursday, is not the first time that rebels appear to have committed war crimes. U.N. representatives and human rights groups have repeatedly criticized the Syrian opposition in recent months for carrying out summary executions and abusing detainees. Read more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/international/176868831_Syrian_Rebels_Execute_Unarmed_Government_Soldie rs__Fighting_Kills_Scores_Nationwide__Beirut_.html TUNISIA | back to top | Tunisia Says Foiled Plot To Kidnap Local Jews Reuters by Tarek Amara 1 November 2012 Tunisian police have arrested four people for allegedly plotting to kidnap local Jews for ransom, an official said on Thursday, stoking insecurity in the dwindling Jewish community after last year's "Arab Spring" revolt led to a resurgence of Islamists. Read more at: http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE8A002T20121101?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews Tunisia Security Officers Protest Against Violence AFP 2 November 2012 Hundreds of officers from several Tunisian security forces demonstrated on Thursday against attacks on them, particularly by Salafists, and protested at the lack of resoce [sic]and the presidential guard officers protested for an hour in front of the interior ministry, an AFP reporter said. "We denounce the violence against the officers and urge the government to take steps quickly to protect them and their families who are at risk," Sami Gnaoui, an official at the General Union of the National Guard, told AFP. The protesters were demanding they be given appropriate equipment and proper instructions to enable them to ensure their own safety when attacked. Read more at: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iyK_0Pm8zVy5qG2msPhWzUTGvE4 w?docId=CNG.e2aaf22f97b530f7faa9475f29b62108.71

TURKEY | back to top | PKK Supporters Storm University, School In Southeast Turkey Today’s Zaman 1 November 2012 A group of people linked with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) stormed and destroyed part of a university and a school in southeastern Turkish province of Hakkari on the Iraqi border. The incident was part of a series of events across Turkey where supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party and the PKK clashed with police in a show of solidarity with hundreds of pro-BDP hunger strikers in prisons across Turkey. Read more at: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-296793-pkk-supporters-storm-university-school-in-southeast- turkey.html In Turkey, Syria Poses A New Test For Erdogan’s Authority Washington Post by Anthony Faiola 4 November 2012 Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emerged during the past decade as a transformative leader of Turkey, pledging to make his country a model of Muslim democracy while presidingover an economic miracle of China-like growth and building a new brand of neo-Ottoman clout in the Middle East. All those goals are now under threat. A convergence of challenges are rocking this nation that straddles two continents, with the escalating crisis in neighboring Syria leaving the Islamist leader struggling among foreign allies and within his own electorate to muster support for a more forceful international response. Read more at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/in-turkey-syria-poses-a-new-test-for-erdogans- authority/2012/11/03/12c5cfce-2445-11e2-92f8-7f9c4daf276a_print.html Car Bomb Explodes In Turkey Causing Casualties, Report Says AP 4 November 2012 Turkey's leader says Kurdish rebels have detonated a car bomb in southeast Turkey, killing an 11-year-old child and wounding 18 other people. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the explosion occurred Sunday as an armored police vehicle was traveling on a road in the town of Semdinli, near the border with Iraq. The bomb went off close to a wedding celebration. Read more at: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/04/car-bomb-explodes-in-turkey-causing-casualties- report-says/?test=latestnews UGANDA | back to top | Uganda Pulling Out Of Somalia, Says Amama Daily Monitor by Isaac Imaka 3 November 2012 In Summary: Prime Minister tells Parliament that troops will be deployed to Congo border and cites ‘malignment by UN’ as another factor behind the decision. The government has resolved to withdraw all UPDF troops in Somalia and other peace keeping missions in Africa and send the soldiers to protect Uganda’s western border with DRC, Premier Amama Mbabazi told Parliament on Thursday night. Read more at: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Uganda+pulling+out+of+Somalia++says+Amama/- /688334/1609986/-/d778u1z/-/index.html

UNITED KINGDOM/NORTHERN IRELAND | back to top | British 'Terror Gang Boasted About Hitting David Cameron' The Telegraph by Tom Whitehead 26 October 2012 A British Muslim terror cell boasted about “hitting” David Cameron, his friends and other non-believers in the “land of Satan”. The al-Qaeda inspired group, from Birmingham, is accused of planning a suicide bombing campaign by exploding eight rucksacks packed with explosives in public places. One of the alleged ringleaders was secretly recorded by police justifying an attack, Woolwich Crown Court heard. Irfan Khalid, 27, said: “You think about it, you’re hitting his friends, in their home his friends in it these were Cameron and everyone they’re his friends.” Read more at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/9636190/British-terror-gang- boasted-about-hitting-David-Cameron.html UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | back to top | Pentagon Urged To Televise Gitmo Terror Trial AP 1 November 2012 The Pentagon is being urged to allow television broadcasts of the trial of five prisoners at Guantanamo who are charged in the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. In a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, lawyers for the defendants say televising the trial is the only way to dispel what they call "pervasive" mistrust of American military tribunals. Read more at: http://www.boston.com/news/world/caribbean/2012/11/01/pentagon-urged-televise- guantanamo-terror-trial/aOpwyxXRv2bTB5aQkoMbcM/story.html Ashland Man Gets 17 Years In D.C. Plot Telegram & gazette by Lee Hammel 1 November 2012 A 27-year-old Ashland man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 17 years in federal prison on terrorism- related charges. Rezwan Ferdaus, a Muslim who believed the United States is the enemy of Allah, pleaded guilty July 20. The charges stem from his plan to fly remote-controlled model aircraft filled with explosives into the Capitol and Pentagon buildings in Washington D.C. He was recorded saying that he had decided to “terrorize” the United States by attacking Washington to “severely disrupt … the head and heart of the snake.” The defendant, a Northeastern University graduate, was arrested Sept. 28, 2011, by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Read more at: http://www.telegram.com/article/20121101/NEWS/121109970/1116 Americans Slip From Minnesota to Somali Terror Group: FBI ABC Blog: The Blotter by Lee Ferran, Dana Hughes, Bazi Kanani & Jason Ryan 31 October 2012 Young American men continue to slip through a terrorist recruiting pipeline from the homeland to join the ranks of jihadists half a world away in East Africa, with two going as recently as three months ago, according to federal officials. The FBI confirmed a report by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) that in July two young men disappeared from their neighborhoods in Minneapolis and are believed to have traveled to Somalia to join al-Shabaab, the embattled al

Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group. Under "Operation Rhino," for years the FBI has been investigating what has been described as a recruiting pipeline from the Twin Cities, which boast large Somali immigrant populations, to Somalia. Both top U.S. officials and at least one prominent member of al-Shabaab said Americans account for dozens of the terror group's fighters. A 2011 Congressional report put the number around 40. Read more at: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/americans-slip-minnesota-somali-terror-group- fbi/story?id=17609306 Terrorist Offers Hurricane Sandy Aid, US Says No Thanks ABC Blog: The Blotter by Muhammad Lila 31 October 2012 The U.S. has turned down an offer of post-Hurricane Sandy assistance from one of the world's most wanted men, a Pakistani terror leader with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head. Hafiz Saeed, an Islamist militant who is alleged to have masterminded the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that left more than 160 people dead, issued a written statement Wednesday saying his organization was willing to send supplies and volunteers to help the U.S. East Coast recover. "We are ready to send food items, medicines and doctors to the U.S. for the people affected by the storm," said Saeed. "America [may] fix bounties on our heads but as followers of the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him), we feel it is our Islamic duty to help Americans trapped in a catastrophe." Saeed noted that the charity he heads had provided aid in Sri Lanka and Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami. Saeed is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terror group banned by the Pakistani government, and still heads its charity wing, Jamaat ud Dawa. Earlier this year the U.S. State Department offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture or arrest. Read more at: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/terrorist-offers-hurricane-aid-us/story?id=17607455 Officials Detail CIA Response To Benghazi Attack National Journal by Jonathan Miller 2 November 2012 Intelligence officials on Thursday offered for the first time a detailed timeline that showed officers on the ground responding within 25 minutes to the Sept. 11 attacks on the mission in Libya. According to several news reports, including The New York Times, anonymous intelligence officials said that a rescue party of CIA officers was deployed from a secret base within Benghazi and that the agency later sent reinforcements from Tripoli to battle the attack on the mission, which ultimately killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens. Approximately half-a-dozen officers raced from a base from a mile away and arrived at the mission in about 25 minutes, according to The Times, and were later joined by security agents from the State Department. The officers led a search for Stevens, but his body had apparently already been taken to a local hospital. The group evacuated personnel to the CIA base, or what has been commonly referred to as the "annex." Read more at: http://www.govexec.com/defense/2012/11/officials-detail-cia-response-benghazi- attack/59222/?oref=govexec_today_nl General CounterTerrorism News | back to top | Information Sharing In A Post-9/11 World ISN by Prem Mahadevan 31 October 2012 Sharing intelligence has always been driven by common interests, mutual trust and cooperative partnerships with like-minded agencies. In today’s question and answer session, the CSS’ Prem Mahadevan discusses the practical and strategic obstacles to this form of information sharing in the post 9/11 era.

Although Western governments monitored the activities of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan prior to 9/11, they failed to acquire ‘actionable’ information about terrorist plots. What are the main lessons that governments and the intelligence community have drawn from these terrorist attacks? The lessons of 9/11 have been differently understood by governments and intelligence agencies. For governments, it was a moment of political awakening, in a triple sense. First, 9/11 showed that domestically stable and well-policed Western societies could still be vulnerable to foreign-based terrorism. Second, it showed that some terrorist groups could not care less about widespread condemnation of their actions. Rather than win respectability among neutral audiences, they preferred to boost their credibility amongst committed followers by carrying out highly provocative attacks. Third, it showed that terrorist groups did not need to have a state sponsor in order to inflict heavy casualties; they just needed a safe haven within which to train and plan operations. All of these realizations led to a fundamental reassessment of the nature and scale of the threat that terrorism could pose to economically advanced and democratic states. Read more at: http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Digital-Library/Special- Feature/Detail?lng=en&id=154220&contextid774=154220&contextid775=154219&tabid=1453373770 Al Qa’ida & Affiliates | back to top | Al-Qaida-Linked Group In Burkina Faso, Algeria For Mediation Talks AP 3 November 2012 Representatives of an al-Qaida-linked group that controls northern Mali arrived on Saturday in Burkina Faso for talks with President Blaise Compaore, who is trying to mediate a solution to the conflict in the west African nation. A second delegation traveled to Algeria for talks with regional leaders there, officials said. Read more at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/mali-islamists-in-burkina-faso-for-mediation-talks- with-president-blaise-compaore/2012/11/03/9ce1fa7a-25ad-11e2-92f8-7f9c4daf276a_story.html Al-Qaeda At The Crossroads: How The Terror Group Is Responding To The Loss Of Its Leaders & The Arab Spring ICSR by Shiraz Maher & Peter R. Neumann October 2012 …The targeted killing of al-Qaeda leaders has certainly rocked the group and significantly affected its operational capabilities. That is not to say it is finished. Political instability in the Greater Middle East has weakened the organisation while simultaneously presenting it with new opportunities. By analysing the content on forums linked to al-Qaeda – and by juxtaposing this with the writings of alternative leadership figures, such as Ayman al-Zawahiri – this paper offers a broader interpretation of al-Qaeda’s strategy at this critical juncture in its history. The death of leadership figures, in itself, has done little to severely undermine the essentialist nature of the group’s basic ideology. However, its strategic future is likely to be increasingly shaped by events which seem beyond its control: namely, political transformation across the Middle East. Thus far, al-Qaeda has proved adept at offering an analysis of the Arab Spring which restores its own centrality to events, but this has been much harder to achieve in practice. However agile its narrative, its response to changes in the global political scene speaks of an organisation which is losing momentum and trying to contort itself to events which have taken it by surprise. It remains to be seen whether al-Qaeda can re-insert itself into the picture as vanguard or participant – and its prospects will vary dramatically from country to country. It also remains to be seen how Islamists operating within constitutional and democratic frameworks in countries like Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya will react to al-Qaeda’s kindred overtures. This is the context within which this paper seeks to explore al-Qaeda’s future. On the one hand, the loss of its leaders has squeezed the group. Revolutions across the Middle East have provided further strategic complications for al-Qaeda while also presenting it with new opportunities. The group’s response to these near-term challenges will determine its future trajectory. Read more at: http://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ICSR_Maher-Neumann-Paper_For-online-use-only1.pdf

The Way Forward On Combating Al-Qai’da-Inspired Violent Extremism In The United States: Suggestions For The Next Administration Institute for Social Policy and Understanding by David H. Schanzer October 2012 Events over the summer of 2012 have reinforced that violent extremism, hate crimes, and mass shootings by Americans continue to plague the United States. Since 9/11, individuals who have adopted a variety of ideologies, ranging from violent right-wing antigovernment extremism to left-wing anarchism, have perpetrated violent crimes in the U.S. However, according to the government, extremism inspired by al-Qa’ida and its adherents and affiliates “represent the preeminent terrorist threat to our country.”1 Efforts to address this specific threat have therefore been the predominant focus for domestic security officials over the past decade. Although this threat’s true magnitude tends to be overstated (as discussed below), there have been a significant number of serious incidents in the recent past where individuals linked to or inspired by al-Qa’ida’s ideology have attempted to cause large-scale violence inside the United States. Thus, whichever presidential candidate takes office next year, his administration will have to continue to focus on this threat by developing and implementing policies to address al-Qa’ida inspired violent extremism in the United States. This report identifies the key issues that the next administration will face in this area and recommends steps to develop an effective policy for combating violent extremism (“CVE”). Read more at: http://www.ispu.org/pdfs/ISPU_Brief_CombatingAQ_1023.pdf Not My Fault Strategy Page 4 November 2012 Al Qaeda is encouraging its members and any like-minded Moslems to make an effort to kidnap non-Moslem Westerners in order to exchange them for imprisoned terrorists. This was made clear when, in late October al Qaeda released a two-hour speech by their leader (Ayman al Zawahri) in which he repeatedly called for these kidnappings and provided some detailed advice. For example, Zawahri specifically praised the kidnapping of an American aid worker (71 year old Warren Weinstein) last year in Pakistan. Al Qaeda has been unable to obtain the release of any terrorists in return for Weinstein. This is mainly because the United States has a policy of not negotiating with terrorists, especially when it comes to ransom and releasing prisoners (especially those tried and convicted). But al Qaeda is encouraged by the fact that most governments (especially Israel, India and many European countries) will make deals, even if they sometimes do it secretly and unofficially. Read more at: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20121104.aspx Commentary & Opinion | back to top | Commentary: Pakistan's Heavyweights UPI by Arnaud De Borchgrave 1 November 2012 A.Q. Khan, Pakistan's hero who sold nuclear weapons secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya, has his own political party to promote his presidential ambitions. Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's national hero who peddled nuclear weapons secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya (under Moammar Gadhafi), now has his own political party to promote his presidential ambitions. He is also a media columnist and his anti-U.S. lucubrations are read in both English and Urdu. Khan's close ally Hamid Gul is the former intelligence chief who invented (two weeks after Sept. 11, 2001) the world's most preposterous canard: The CIA and Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, staged the terrorist attacks against New York's Twin Towers and the Pentagon. The objective: global agitation against the United States and Israel. Read more at: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/de-Borchgrave/2012/11/01/Commentary-Pakistans- heavyweights/UPI-78131351772481/

Islamism's Unity National Review by Daniel Pipes 30 October 2012 A Sept. 14 attack on the U.S. embassy in Tunis left 4 dead, 49 injured, several buildings looted and burnt out, and the black Salafi flag flying above the embassy grounds. In response, the ruling "moderate" Islamist party of Tunisia, Ennahda, forthrightly condemned the incident; Minister of the Interior Ali Larayedh recognized that the government "failed to protect the embassy and we should offer our apologies to the Americans." Ennahda's leader, Rachid Ghannouchi, more vehemently condemned the Salafis as a "danger" to freedom and security in Tunisia and called on a fight against them through every legal means. These statements reassured Americans that if long-bearded and burqa'ed crazies want to kill them, moderate- sounding Islamists in ties and hijabs are civilized, law-abiding allies. That in turn fits a policy going back to 1992 of fighting violent Islamists while cooperating with non-violent ones. Thus did American troops execute Osama bin Laden while American presidents helped Islamists reach power in Turkey and in Egypt. Many other differences mark variant strands of Islamism: Yusuf al-Qaradawi urges conversion to win over non- Muslims, Nigeria's Boko Haram prefers to kill them. The Hizb ut-Tahrir organization aims to bring all Muslims under the rule of a universal caliphate, Turkey's Fethullahis aspire to build a national form of Islam. Egypt's Islamist president routinely wears a tie, his Iranian counterpart never does. The former Cat Stevens sings a cappella nasheeds, while Somalia's Shabab ban all music on the radio. Women may not operate a car in Saudi Arabia but they drive taxis in Iran. Read more at: http://www.danielpipes.org/12103/islamism-unity Translations of this article are available in Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, German, French and Danish. US Must Abandon Policies That Cause Terrorism Gulf Today by John B. Quigley 4 November 2012 A reset is in order for our policy in the Middle East. From what the two candidates for the White House have said, neither seems to grasp the fact that current policy is fostering, not stopping, the violence we continue to face there. Hillary Clinton says we can’t protect our embassies and consulates in the Middle East with armed guards alone. She is right. But she proposes no solution. The only way we can function in the region is on the basis of a relationship that does not produce violence against us. We cannot in good conscience leave well-intentioned officials like Ambassador Christopher Stevens as targets over grievances that relate not to them personally but to our policies. Read more at: http://gulftoday.ae/portal/e88b9371-3337-4bca-aeb6-b3faf8e283cd.aspx Cyber Warfare | back to top | Report: Chinese Military Cyber Warfare Units Identified Washington Free Beacon by Bill Gertz 26 October 2012 “Chinese cyber espionage poses an advanced persistent threat to U.S. national and economic security,” states the report, set for publication Friday. The report by the Project 2049 Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank that focuses on Asian security issues, concluded that groups operating from Chinese territory have been “waging a coordinated cyber espionage campaign targeting U.S. government, industrial, and think tank computer networks.” The report said that despite difficulties in identifying direct links to Chinese military hackers, “the PLA General Staff Department (GSD) Third Department is likely a leading authority for cyber surveillance.” Read more at: http://www.1913intel.com/2012/10/26/report-chinese-military-cyber-warfare-units-identified- washington-free-beacon/

Cyber Security A Top Priority In Australia: Deloitte CSO Online by Hafizah Osman 31 October 2012 Australian and Asia-Pacific financial services industry organisations have made information security governance their top security initiative, according to professional services firm, Deloitte's 8th global financial services industry security survey. Read more at: http://www.csoonline.com/article/720543/cyber-security-a-top-priority-in-australia-deloitte Indonesia’s Cyber Defense Strategy And Its Challenges Jakarta Post by Yono Reksoprodjo 1 November 2012 A fast-growing economy has allowed Indonesia to increase its budget for infrastructure, education and defense. The government has proposed Rp 77 trillion (US$8 billion) for defense in 2013, up from Rp 72.54 trillion in 2012 and more than double the 2009 mark of Rp 33.67 trillion. The defense budget will be spent on the Minimum Essential Forces (MEF) defense strategy, which has been developed based on financial constraints rather than threats. Read more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/01/indonesia-s-cyber-defense-strategy-and-its- challenges.html Legal Aspects & Lawfare | back to top | End Of The Line For Holy Land Foundation IPT News 29 October 2012 The United States Supreme Court has decided not to accept appeals from the five Holy Land Foundation officials convicted of illegally funneling more than $12 million to Hamas, essentially concluding the case. The court had no comment in declining to hear the case Monday. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected similar arguments last year in upholding the convictions against Ghassan Elashi, Shukri Abu-Baker, Mohammad El-Mezain, Mufid Abdulqader and Abdulrahman Odeh. They were convicted on a total of 108 counts in 2008 and are serving sentences ranging from 15 years to 65 years in prison. Read more at: http://www.investigativeproject.org/3785/end-of-the-line-for-hlf Israelis Sue Chinese Bank For Aiding Hamas UPI 24 October 2012 The families of terror victims in Israel filed a $1 billion lawsuit in New York against the Bank of China for aiding Hamas, an Israeli law firm says. Shurat Ha Din-Israel Law Center filed the suit on behalf of five families of students who died in an attack on the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem March 6, 2008, in which eight students died. The suit alleges the Bank of China intentionally provided banking services to Hamas through its New York branch and "knowingly assisted the Islamic group ... with the full approval of the Chinese government," the firm's news release said. Read more at: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/10/24/Israelis-sue-Chinese-Bank-for-aiding- Hamas/UPI-53271351083073/

NOTE: The press release is posted at: http://www.israellawcenter.org/page.asp?id=341&show= photo&pn=1286&ref=report, and the complaint is posted at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/110977008/ Rot-v-Bank-of-China

Iran’s Canadian Assets Frozen Over $13M U.S. Terrorism Payout National Post by Adrian Humphreys 1 November 2012 An Ontario judge has issued a restraining order against Iran’s property in Canada — including its embassy in Ottawa and a former cultural centre in Toronto — as the family of an American woman killed in a terrorist attack tries to collect a $13-million judgment by a U.S. court from a wrongful death claim against Iran’s security agency. Three properties were frozen, ensuring they are not sold or transferred, until court can decide whether they should be forfeited to the victim’s family to help satisfy the U.S. court award. The property is owned by the government of Iran or by an “alter ego” used “as a front” for Iran, court heard. Justice Beth Allen of the Ontario Superior Court found that a case exists that Iran has title, either legally or beneficially, to the three properties, an initial success for the family of Marla Bennett. Ms. Bennett of San Diego was killed in 2002 in a bomb attack on the Hebrew University campus in Jerusalem, where she was a graduate student in Judaic studies. She was 24. Read more at: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/11/01/irans-canadian-assets-frozen-over-13m-u-s-terrorism-payout/ SC Orders Swift Disposal Of Anti-Terrorism Cases International news by Jamal Khurshid 4 November 2012 The Supreme Court’s (SC) monitoring judge for anti-terrorism courts, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, directed all quarters concerned on Saturday to make it convenient for the courts to expeditiously decide pending cases. Justice Hussain was conducting a meeting at the apex court’s Karachi registry to review the pace at which the anti- terrorism courts (ATCs) of the province were disposing of cases. The issue of pendency of various cases at the ATCs was discussed in detail with Prosecutor General Sindh Shahadat Awan. Awan informed the SC judge that a total of 1,329 cases were pending before 11 ATCs of the province, of which 43 cases were related to the years between 1999 and 2006. He submitted that the reason for the delay in the disposal of such cases was that either the accused were abstaining from proceeding with the cases or the investigation officers did not produce witnesses before the courts. The SC judge expressed his concern over the delay in several high-profile cases, including the Nishtar Park bomb blast and Ashura bomb blast cases, in which a large number of people had been killed between 2006 and 2009. Read more at: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-140863-SC-orders-swift-disposal-of-anti-terrorism-cases San Diego Terrorism Case Takes Lawyers To Africa North County Times by Greg Moran 3 November 2012 The federal prosecution in San Diego of four Somali immigrants on charges that they supported the terrorist group al-Shabaab will take an unusual detour this month with defense lawyers and prosecutors traveling to the Horn of Africa to interview witnesses. In an usual move, defense lawyers for the four men have set up videotaped depositions of eight witnesses — all of whom the lawyers say are crucial to the defense but unwilling or unable to travel to the U.S. for a trial, now set for next year. Read more at: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/courts/san-diego-terrorism-case-takes-lawyers-to- africa/article_bd79c36e-b143-582b-be61-f3e298ab2b40.html Anti-Terror Laws Face New Human Rights Challenge At European Court The Telegraph by David Barrett 3 November 2012 British counter-terrorism legislation is under threat from European judges in Strasbourg. Measures which allow police to keep terror suspects in custody for questioning for up to 14 days are at the centre of a legal challenge brought by Colin Duffy, an Irish republican dissident who was last week arrested over the murder

of David Black, a Northern Ireland prison officer. The case will raise fresh questions about Europe’s influence over our legal system, following rows over prisoner voting and the deportation of foreign criminals. It comes after Chris Grayling, the new Justice Secretary, pledged a radical rethink of Britain’s approach to the European Court of Human Rights. Read more at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/9653175/Anti-terror-laws-face-new- human-rights-challenge-at-European-court.html Narco-Terrorism | back to top | Own Interior Minister Describes Bulgaria As 'Organized Crime Oasis' Novinite 1 November 2012 Bulgaria's own Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov has described the country as an "oasis for organized crime". Tsvetanov's declaration came Thursday in the Danube city of Ruse when he was asked about the two Bulgarians sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Malaysia. "We have undertaken anything that we could. What I can send as a message to those young boys and girls who go abroad and think they can carry out trafficking or criminal activity, or drain credit cars, is to know that the laws in any of the countries that they visit are a lot more severe than they are in Bulgaria," Tsvetanov declared as cited by BGNES. Read more at: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=144708 Transnational Organized Crime And Fragile States OECD by Paula Miraglia, Rolando Ochoa & Ivan Briscoe 26 October 2012 Transnational organised crime (TOC) refers to a fluid and diversified industry that engages in illicit activities ranging from drug and human trafficking to drug smuggling, piracy and money laundering. Although it may affect strong states, conflict-affected and fragile states are especially vulnerable to the dynamics of TOC and may provide more favourable conditions for its development. The implications for those states are many and serious. This paper outlines the ways in which TOC has evolved in recent years and how policy might be adapted to take account of this evolution. It emphasises that TOC today is less a matter of organised cartels established in producer or end-user states, but increasingly characterised by fluid, opportunistic networks that may for example specialise in transport and logistics. The paper recommends tackling the problem through a comprehensive approach that considers TOC as but one element within a greater complex of cause and effect. This would entail a re-evaluation of many current assumptions about TOC and a reformulation of current policies. Read more at: http://www.clingendael.nl/publications/2012/20121026_briscoe_transnational_organised_crime.pdf At Launching Point Of Mexico’s Drug War, Quasi-Religious Cartel Rules 6 Years Later AP 2 November 2012 Forest-camouflaged pickups roared to life as the Mexican soldiers pulled on their black masks and hoisted their Heckler & Koch G3 assault rifles. The three-truck convoy pulled out of the base to patrol the rugged, mountainous region of the western state of Michoacan, when a raspy voice burst out of an unencrypted radio inside one of the cabs: “Three R’s, 53.” Three army vehicles, headed your way. Read more at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/at-launching-point-of-mexicos-drug-war-quasi- religious-cartel-rules-6-years-later/2012/11/02/bf0d8700-24a3-11e2-92f8-7f9c4daf276a_story.html

Leader Ousted, Nation Is Now A Drug Haven New York Times by Adan Nossiter 1 November 2012 When the army ousted the president here just months before his term was to expire, a thirst for power by the officer corps did not fully explain the offensive. But a sizable increase in drug trafficking in this troubled country since the military took over has raised suspicions that the president’s sudden removal was what amounted to a cocaine coup. Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/world/africa/guinea-bissau-after-coup-is-drug-trafficking- haven.html Uruguay, Argentina To Monitor Drug Flights InSIght Crime by Geoffrey Ramsey 31 October 2012 The governments of Uruguay and Argentina have signed an agreement to jointly monitor drug flights to try to stem the amount of drugs brought in via illicit flights into the two countries. Read more at: http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/uruguay-argentina-monitor-narco-flights Network Notes | back to top | The Challenge Of Protecting Critical Infrastructure Against Cyber-Attacks ISN by Daniel Stauffaucher & Barbara Weekes 26 October 2012 Cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure represent a threat to both governments and the private sector. Since small countries such as Switzerland are especially vulnerable, argue Daniel Stauffacher and Barbara Weekes, international mechanisms to deal with these cyber-threats are necessary. There has been a lot of discussion recently on the possible consequences of a sophisticated cyber-attack on critical infrastructure. In response, it has been suggested that this discussion – much of which is not based on real intelligence about legitimate or known threats – amounts to little more than hype and scaremongering that is, in turn, used to justify a heightened state of security. While there is some basis to such criticisms, they nevertheless miss the point. Governments that are accountable to their citizens must be prepared for “worst case” scenarios, or risk being accused of irresponsibility. In addition, the biggest danger in the realm of critical infrastructure protection is the absence of internationally accepted mechanisms for dealing with cyber-conflicts and attacks. Read more at: http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Digital-Library/Special- Feature/Detail?lng=en&id=154202&contextid774=154202&contextid775=154200&tabid=1453373730 Cyber Information Assurance And Critical Infrastructure Protection ISN 25 October 2012 Governments are pursuing public-private partnerships both to ensure continuity of services and to protect critical infrastructure from cyber-attacks. In today’s podcast, we look at the current status of such partnerships as well as the challenges they face in safeguarding cyber security. Read more at: http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Digital-Library/Special- Feature/Detail?lng=en&id=153927&contextid774=153927&contextid775=153905&tabid=1453350671 Need To Protect Critical Infrastructure Services Against Potential Cyber Terrorist Attacks: Study IT Wire by Peter Dinham 5 November 2012 New research into the perceived impact of critical infrastructure outages on the Australian public has revealed a higher reliance on basic services such as electricity and water supply and banking financial systems than mobile phone networks, the Internet or transport systems, according to a newly published study. Read more at: http://www.itwire.com/it-industry-news/market/57284-need-to-protect-critical-infrastructure- services-against-potential-cyber-terrorist-attacks-study

Science & Technology | back to top | China Building A 100-Petaflop Supercomputer ComputerWorld by Miachael Kan 31 October 2012 As the U.S. launched what's expected to be the world's fastest supercomputer at 20 petaflops, China is building a machine that is intended to be five times faster when it is deployed in 2015. Read more at: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9233097/China_building_a_100_petaflop_supercomputer?taxonomyId= 126 Terrorist Financing | back to top | Italy Money Laundering Probe Swoops On 21 Cash Transfer Bureau Reuters 31 October 2012 Italian police have sequestered 21 money transfer bureaux as part of an investigation into a scheme to launder billions of euros from drugs and people trafficking. The tax police said on Tuesday they had sifted through 30 million money transfer operations carried out in 2010- 2011 through 11 of Italy's major payment agencies, with an overall value of 10 billion euros ($13 billion). Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/31/italy-crime-moneylaundering- idUSL5E8LV8EB20121031 BSP Sees Further AMLC Overhaul Manila Bulletin by Lee C. Chipongian 4 November 2012 The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is reviewing further enhancements and overhaul of the inter-agency Anti- Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to ensure progress in the implementation of anti-monetary laundering and anti- terrorist financing regulations. The Philippines is still battling to get off the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s “gray list” which signifies that a jurisdiction is “making sufficient progress in the global campaign against money launderers and terrorists.” The FATF is under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Read more at: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/379969/bsp-sees-further-amlc-overhaul Transportation Security | back to top | Norway Considering New Security Measures Around Oslo Synagogue Views and News from Norway 2 November 2012 Several new security measures are being evaluated in the area around the Jewish community’s synagogue in Oslo’s St Hanshaugen district. A government minister visited the synagogue this week and a top city politician is also planning an emergency meeting next week with Oslo police and members of the Jewish organization DMT (Det Mosaiske Trossamfund). The heightened security comes after DMT officials expressed concern that they were being overlooked at a time when new threats have been made by local radical Islamists. Ola Elvestuen of the Oslo city government says security needs to be improved nationwide, and especially in Oslo. Read more at: http://www.newsinenglish.no/2012/11/02/synagogue-security-under-review/

WMD Terrorism | back to top | Iran Said to Nearly Finish Nuclear Enrichment Plant New York Times by David E. Sanger & William J. Broad 26 October 2012 Intelligence officials from several countries say Iran in recent weeks has virtually completed an underground nuclear enrichment plant, racing ahead despite international pressure and heavy economic sanctions in what experts say may be an effort to give it leverage in any negotiations with the United States and its allies. The installation of the last of nearly 3,000 centrifuges at a site called Fordo, deep under a mountain inside a military base near the holy city of Qum, puts Iran closer to being able to build a nuclear weapon, or come up to the edge, if its leaders ultimately decide to proceed. …Iran’s progress at Fordo was disclosed by officials familiar with the findings of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency who have been to the site recently as part of their regular visits. The officials included some from European governments who have opposed taking military action to slow the Iranian program, arguing that sanctions — with a mix of covert action — are far preferable. Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/world/middleeast/iran-said-to-complete-nuclear-enrichment- plant.html Books, Papers and Reviews | back to top | Social Media In Jihad And Counterterrorism Source by Author day month year About the CTX Journal The Combating Terrorism Exchange is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal produced by the Global ECCO project. Written for practitioners, by practitioners, many of the articles are in the first person, recounted by the people who've "been there, done that." Our goal is to offer CT operators the opportunity to learn from the experiences of their peer community around the world. From the Editor Welcome to our first special issue of CTX, "Social Media in Jihad and Counterterrorism," which is devoted to a wide-ranging exploration of social media and counterterrorism. Social media have become valuable tools for combating crime and terrorism. According to LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, four out of five respondents to their survey of law enforcement professionals reported using social media, particularly Facebook and YouTube, to aid investigations. One officer said he believed his department's use of social media allowed personnel to defuse a terrorist threat involving students at a local high school. Two-thirds said they thought access to social media helps solve crimes more quickly. Read more at: https://globalecco.org/ctx-vol-2-no-4

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