US spy hid Dadullah's artificial leg during NATO attack

The Taliban have arrested an aide to Mullah Dadullah who allegedly not only provided information to US forces that led to the militant commander's death in Afghanistan but also hid his artificial leg as troops closed in…'We have captured Din Mohammed, an American spy who played a key role in trapping Mullah Dadullah,' an unnamed Taliban commander told Pakistan's The News in a telephone interview. The Taliban's chief military strategist died Friday in a US-led operation with about 10 of his men in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand. The Taliban commander claimed that Mohammed, a trusted friend of Dadullah, had confessed that he had spied for the Americans….(DPA, 17 May 07)

War-torn Iraq 'facing collapse'

Iraq faces the distinct possibility of collapse and fragmentation, UK foreign policy think tank Chatham House says. Its report says the Iraqi government is now largely powerless and irrelevant in many parts of the country. It warns there is not one war but many local civil wars, and urges a major change in US and British strategy, such as consulting Iraq's neighbors more…..(BBC, 17 May 07)

Iraq: Al-Sunna Offers Al-Qaeda olive Branch

Following violent clashes between al-Qaeda militants and members of other anti-government Sunni Muslim groups in Iraq in recent weeks, one of the groups, Ansar al-Sunna appears to have made a peace offer judging by messages posted on Islamist Internet sites. Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which uses the moniker Islamic State of Iraq, through its leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri, made the first overture in the wake of bloody clashes in the Sunni region of al-Anbar, by appealing for a truce….(AKI, 17 May 07)

A Resurgent al-Qaeda and U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy

Media headlines following the April 30 release of the State Department's annual report on global terrorism developments, Country Reports on Terrorism 2006, focused on the theme of increased terrorism. But the 335-page document, along with its accompanying statistical assessment produced by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), also contained important insights into the U.S. administration's evolving strategy to counter the terrorist threat….(Washington Institute, 17 May 07)

U.S.-Iran Talks on Iraq to Begin May 28

U.S.-Iranian talks about Iraq's security will begin on May 28, Iran's foreign minister said Thursday, keeping up Tehran's call for foreign troops to leave Iraq. Manouchehr Mottaki said the negotiations would be exclusively about Iraq and that a first meeting in the presence of Iraqi officials would try to set a more detailed agenda…..(AP, 17 May 07)

Street Battles in Iraqi Cities Point to Dire Security Status

Sprawling street battles between militia gunmen and Iraqi security forces erupted in three cities on Wednesday on a day of wide-ranging violence that underscored the grave security situation across much of Iraq….(New York Times, 17 May 07)

''Intelligence Brief: The Risk of Turkish Intervention in Northern Iraq''

Since the start of the U.S.-led intervention in Iraq in 2003, one of the primary goals of the United States has been to prevent Turkey from intervening militarily in northern Iraq. For the United States, maintaining the support of northern Iraq's Kurdish population has been critical throughout its intervention since it has faced instability in the central Sunni and southern Shi'a regions….(PINR, 17 May 07)

Afghans Protest at Pakistan Embassy

About 1,000 Afghans shouting "Death to Pakistan" demonstrated in front of Pakistan's embassy in Kabul Wednesday, blaming the neighboring country for some of the bloodiest border clashes in years…..(AP, 17 May 07)

Afghan minister wounded in Kandahar suicide raid

Afghanistan's information minister was wounded on Thursday when a suicide bomber targeted a car in which he was traveling in the southern city of Kandahar, the governor of the province said. The bomber rammed a car full of explosives into the vehicle in Kandahar city….(Reuters, 17 May 07)

Mortars hit aircraft at U.S. base in Iraq, police say

Mortar rounds hit a U.S. Air Force base north of Baghdad on Thursday, destroying one helicopter and damaging nine others, police said. The attack at Taji, a major Air Force on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, occurred about 2 a.m…..(AP, 17 May 07)

Iraq car bombing kills 32, hurts 50

A car bomb exploded near a market in a Shi'ite enclave northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 32 persons and wounding 50, police said yesterday. Hospital officials and victims said chlorine gas may have been used in the attack, but police and the U.S. military denied that….(AP, 17 May 07)

Fatah Troops Enter Gaza With Israeli Assent

Israel this week allowed the Palestinian party Fatah to bring into the Gaza Strip as many as 500 fresh troops trained under a U.S.-coordinated program to counter Hamas, the radical Islamic movement that won Palestinian parliamentary elections last year……(Washington Post, 18 May 07)

Met Employee Charged with Leaking Terror Secrets

A senior terrorism expert at the Metropolitan Police has been charged with leaking a highly sensitive report to a newspaper detailing Al-Qaeda's plans to carry out large scale attacks on British soil, it has emerged. Thomas Lund-Lack, 59, allegedly passed the document to the Sunday Times which warned that an attack "on a par with Hiroshima and Nagasaki" was being planned by leaders of the terrorist organization in Iraq…..(National News, 17 May 07)

Australian Who Plotted With al-Qaida Freed

An Australian who pleaded guilty to plotting with al-Qaida to bomb Israel's embassy in Australia was released on parole Thursday after serving half his nine-year sentence. Jack Roche, a British-born Muslim convert, was convicted in May 2004 after he confessed to being involved in a plan hatched by al-Qaida to attack the embassy building in Canberra, the nation's capital. The plot was never carried out…..(AP, 17 May 07)

Woman 'plotted Sydney bombing out of love'

A woman accused of planning to set off a car bomb in Sydney's Kings Cross to prove her love for her jailed boyfriend is to stand trial. A police statement of facts tendered today in Central Local Court said Jill Alison Courtney was "obsessed" with marrying Hussan Kalache…..(AAP, 17 May 07)

Man in Houston Taliban case gets 10 months

Shiraz Syed Qazi, 26, one of four Muslim men charged in the so-called Houston Taliban case, was sentenced today to 10 months in prison. The men were arrested in November and accused of training to join the Taliban's fight against U.S.-led forces overseas. Qazi was convicted in January of unlawful possession of a firearm….(Houston Chronicle, 17 May 07)

PM: Hicks' Return to Australia a Secret

…(David) Hicks will be sent to a maximum security prison in his hometown of Adelaide when he arrives by chartered jet as early as next week from the U.S. military prison in Cuba where he has spent more than five years. The 31-year-old former kangaroo skinner must be repatriated by May 29 under the conditions of a plea deal struck in March. His case marked the first U.S. war crimes conviction since World War II…..(AP, 17 May 07)

With Hussein Gone, Other Iraqi Trials Lose Impact

…Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein’s cousin, was once the most feared man in Iraq after Mr. Hussein himself. Mr. Majid earned his grim sobriquet for his role as the overseer of the so-called Anfal campaign of the late 1980s, in which tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurds were killed, many of them in poison gas attacks. Yet by the final day of testimony at his nine-month trial, Mr. Majid and five fellow defendants, facing possible death sentences, were figures in what in effect was a sideshow ….(New York Times, 17 May 07)

al-Qaida Plotter's Sentence Reduced

An al-Qaida operative who pleaded guilty in a plot to bomb high-profile targets in Britain and the United States should be eligible for parole after 30 years in prison instead of 40, an appeals court ruled Wednesday. The Court of Appeal reduced Dhiren Barot's sentence after ruling that the plot had not progressed far enough to merit the punishment, one of the toughest ever handed down in a British court…..(AP, 17 May 07)

Militant Now Backs Pakistan Government

A Pakistani militant leader suspected of ties with al-Qaida's No. 2 leader promised on Thursday to renounce violence and cooperate with the government, a regional official said. Maulvi Faqir Mohammed made the pledge to tribal elders who met with him on behalf of Pakistan's government in Bajur, a tribal region bordering Afghanistan….(AP, 17 May 07)

Model Airplane Terror?

…"You can literally go into a shop tomorrow and buy radio-controlled aircraft or a radio controlled helicopter that will carry a payload of explosives anywhere you want to," said David Hambling, a defense technology analyst. The threat is real. Accused terrorists have already tried. In Maryland, a teacher was found guilty of helping a terror group get an electronic autopilot system and video equipment to use on these little airplanes. Federal prosecutors say a Ohio man was indicted for conspiring with al Qaeda before he could use his remote controlled helicopter in an attack….(CBS, 17 May 07)

Senators Want CIA to Release 9/11 Report

A bipartisan group of senators is pushing legislation that would force the CIA to release an inspector general's report on the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The CIA has spent more than 20 months weighing requests under the Freedom of Information Act for its internal investigation of the attacks but has yet to release any portion of it. The agency is the only federal office involved in counterterrorism operations that has not made at least a version of its internal 9/11 investigation public…..(AP, 17 May 07)

Study: China Poses Challenge for U.S.

The growing power of China's military poses a fundamental challenge to existing order in East Asia, the Rand Corp. said Thursday. In reviewing security threats, the U.S.-financed research group proposed wide-ranging changes in strategy for U.S. forces around the world, including ''suppressing terrorists and insurgents by capturing and killing them.' ….(New York Times, 17 May 07)

Calif. Man's Terror Conviction Upheld

A federal judge on Thursday rejected a new trial for a Lodi man convicted of training at a Pakistani terrorist camp. Hamid Hayat, 24, faces up to 39 years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 10. Defense attorneys said they will appeal…..(AP, 17 May 07)

Suspect in Fort Dix terror case denied bail

…Agron Abdullahu, 24, a legal U.S. resident, is charged with helping illegal immigrants obtain weapons, an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Federal prosecutors on Thursday persuaded U.S. Magistrate Joel Schneider that Abdullahu was likely to flee and would be a serious risk to the community's safety if he was released….(NY Daily News, 17 May 07)

Armed group planning terror attacks eliminated in Chechnya -FSB

A criminal armed group that was planning to stage terror attacks targeting civilians has been eliminated in Chechnya, the Federal Security Service's Department for Chechnya told Interfax on Thursday….(Interfax, 17 May 07)

One killed, five wounded as IAF fires missile at car in Gaza

One person was killed and five were wounded when the IAF fired a missile at a vehicle traveling in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza on Thursday afternoon. The IDF said that Imad Shabanah, a top commander of a Hamas rocket manufacturing cell….(Jerusalem Post, 17 May 07)

Multiple blasts kill 11 Afghan police

A series of roadside explosions killed at least 11 police officers in Afghanistan on Thursday, witnesses and officials said, in the latest eruption of violence blamed on the Taliban. In a suburb of Kabul, police said they intercepted a truck carrying 1,500 kg of explosives destined for suicide attacks…..(Reuters, 17 May 07)

Taliban Claims Responsibility for Bombings That Killed 10 Afghan Police

Two bomb blasts 15 minutes apart killed 10 police Thursday, an official said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the coordinated attacks…..(AP, 17 May 07)

Who Is Stealing Iraq's Oil?

…The Government Accountability Office is about to release a report that estimates 100,000 to 300,000 barrels of oil goes missing every month. According to the New York Times, the GAO will not offer a conclusion about what specifically is happening to the missing oil, other than it is probably lost to corruption, smuggling or just bad accounting….(Time Magazine, 17 May 07)

Terrorists in the File Cabinet?

The arrest last week of three New Jersey terror suspects who entered the United States illegally more than two decades ago is raising new questions about weaknesses in American immigration controls before and after 9/11. NEWSWEEK has learned that an application for asylum filed in 1989 by the family of three suspects in the New Jersey plot stalled inside the federal bureaucracy for 16 years due to a paperwork “backlog.” Federal immigration officials finally took a more careful look at the family's immigration history two years ago, and recommended a more thorough investigation by the FBI and Homeland Security agents into possible immigration fraud, according to a source familiar with the case who asked not to be named talking about sensitive material. But before anything came of that investigation, the FBI and local authorities launched a separate undercover operation which resulted in the suspects' arrest last week on charges of plotting to shoot soldiers at Fort Dix, allegedly using assault rifles and machine guns…..(Newsweek, 17 May 07)

Turkish secularist parties unite

Two secularist opposition parties in Turkey are joining forces to challenge the Islamist-rooted ruling AK Party in the July general election…..(BBC, 17 May 07)

Islamic State Ends “Retaliation For Honor Expedition”, Extends The Dignity Plan
The Islamic State of Iraq’s War Ministry has announced that the “Retaliation For Honor Expedition” declared by Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir is now over and that the “Dignity Plan” declared by Sheikh Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi, Amir of the Islamic state has been extended… The “Retaliation For Honor Expedition” was a response to the rape of Sunni women in Anbar province by so-called National guard soldiers….(Al-Fajr Media, 17 May 07)

Jail chaplain who handed out anti-Islam booklets faces charges

A Christian jail chaplain accused of handing out anti-Islam cartoon booklets is facing administrative charges of gross misconduct and other offenses and has been stripped of pay during her suspension. The Rev. Teresa Darden Clapp was notified of the charges Tuesday, said Rockland County Sheriff James Kralik. He said they included gross misconduct, official misconduct, misconduct and gross negligence….(AP, 16 May 07)

Indonesia: People Trust Clerics More Than The President, Says Survey

Politicians have never been regarded as the most popular of people, and a recent leadership survey by the Islamic and Societal Research Center (PPIM) in Indonesia would seem to suggest that nothing has changed….(AKI, 16 May 07)

Egyptian Muslim Intellectual Criticizes Egypt's Treatment of Copts

Against the backdrop of the recent tension between Muslims and Copts in Egypt, Egyptian Muslim intellectual Tarek Heggy wrote an article titled "If I Were a Copt" in which he sharply criticized the Egyptian regime's policy towards its Coptic Christian population…..(MEMRI, 16 May 07)

Iraqi court to try al-Qaida militant accused of helping to coordinate hundreds of deadly attacks in Baghdad, US military says

An al-Qaida insurgent who allegedly helped plan hundreds of bombings in the Baghdad area and beheaded two Russian hostages will soon be face trial in an Iraqi court, the U.S. military said Wednesday. Omar Wahdallah Dad, also known as Abu Nur and "the Spider," has been in U.S. custody since December and will be tried under Iraq's anti-terrorism law, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters….(AP, 16 May 07)

Documents Shed Light on Fort Dix Suspect

One of the six men charged last week in a suspected plot to attack soldiers at Fort Dix told the others how to make bombs and gave them weapons…But according to the brief, Agron Abdullahu also told investigators after he was arrested on May 7 that Islam says it is wrong to kill civilians and that he thought it would be "crazy" to attack a military base…..(AP, 16 May 07)

Man Charged With Supporting al-Qaida

A man of Moroccan origin has been charged with helping to fund al-Qaida and supply foreign fighters to the terror group's affiliate in Iraq…The suspect _ identified only as Redouane E.H., 37, in court documents _ is also accused of co-founding a terrorist group in Sudan, federal prosecutors said in a statement….(AP, 16 May 07)

Airport: Amsterdam Fliers OK With Scans

Airline passengers barely blinked at using a new security scanning system this week that essentially lets guards peer beneath their clothes, a spokeswoman for Amsterdam's airport said Wednesday…..(AP, 16 May 07)

Al-Qaida expanding into Lebanon & the region says ex-spy chief

Al-Qaida is changing its tactics and new strategies are needed to combat it, the former head of Britain's intelligence agency said Tuesday, warning that Iraq has become the new epicenter for terror cells in exporting radical ideology…..(AP/Yalibnan, 16 May 07)

Pair Who Hatched Bomb Threat Get Prison

The idea seemed a long shot at best: One man would call police and accuse his friend of carrying a bomb in hopes the arresting officer would rough up the suspect enough to support a lawsuit. Instead of a civil case windfall, Duane Haffner and Leotis Sylvester Allen are going to prison. A judge on Monday sentenced Haffner, 23, to five years for making a terroristic threat. Allen, 22, received a four-year term. Both men are from the southeast Missouri town Jackson….(AP, 16 May 07)

Rights Group Sues Over Terror Watch List

Civil rights lawyers sued the Bush administration Wednesday over a Treasury Department terrorist watch list, asking a federal court to order the release of documents on the secretive program….(AP, 16 May 07)

Bush Taps Skeptic of Buildup as 'War Czar'

President Bush tapped Army Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute yesterday to serve as a new White House "war czar" overseeing the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, choosing a low-key soldier who privately expressed skepticism about sending more troops to Iraq during last winter's strategy review. In the newly created position, Lute will coordinate often disjointed military and civilian operations and manage the Washington side of the same troop increase he resisted before Bush announced the plan in January…..(Washington Post, 16 May 07)

Man Indicted in Clinic Bomb Scare

A man was indicted Tuesday on federal charges that he planted a makeshift bomb last month at a clinic where abortions are performed…Paul Ross Evans, 27, was arrested after the bomb was found in the parking lot of the Austin Women's Health Center on April 25. A bomb squad disposed of it; nobody was injured. The bomb contained an explosive powder and nails….(AP, 16 May 07)

A Portlander charged with shipping weapons to Iran says he's an unwitting dupe in a Homeland Security sting

…(Rob) Caldwell's trial in U.S. District Court in El Paso starts June 11, about four months after Homeland Security agents burst into a hotel room in San Antonio where Caldwell had just bought five missile batteries for a total of $5,000 to sell overseas. He's charged with two counts of conspiring to export defense articles without a license. If convicted of both counts, he could face up to 15 years in prison…Caldwell describes himself as a businessman who imports chemicals for fertilizer. A background check shows he was a registered import agent for chemical companies in California and New Jersey….(Wilamette Week, 16 May 07)

Kurd restaurateur's brother quickly deported to Turkey

…After the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Huseyin Parlak's motion to stay a removal order, the Department of Homeland Security in Detroit arrested Parlak on Monday and put him on a plane to Istanbul…Huseyin Parlak was granted a student visa in 2004 and was seeking political asylum status when the Turkish government reopened a criminal case against his brother, Ibrahim. His asylum request was denied by the Board of Immigration Appeals….(Chicago Tribune, 16 May 07)

US gets tough on EU passenger data

Fresh proposals to tighten up homeland security in the United States dictate all new international visitors must fill in an online from 48 hours before they travel. As no visa is needed for short-stay tourists from Britain, authorities are calling for extra time to check details currently provided upon arrival on paper form or sent electronically by airlines…..(Contractor UK, 16 May 07)

AP IMPACT: Laser Visas Are Rarely Used

The face- and fingerprint-matching technology that has been touted over the past decade as a sophisticated new way to stop terrorists and illegal immigrants from entering the country through Mexico has one major drawback: U.S. border inspectors almost never use it. In fact, the necessary equipment is not even installed in vehicle lanes along the border….(AP, 16 May 07)

Customs Breaks Privacy Laws in Data Collection, GAO Says

…The Government Accountability Office, in a report to be released tomorrow, says DHS's Customs and Border Protection agency has never publicly disclosed all the sources of data such as name, credit card number and travel history that it uses to detect passengers who may pose a security risk. "CBP's current disclosures do not fully inform the public about all of its systems for prescreening aviation passenger information, nor do they explain how CBP combines data in the prescreening process, as required by law,"….(Washington Post, 16 May 07)

Saudi Arabia: Bin Laden Fatwa Behind Attack on Oil Platform

Osama bin Laden directly ordered the failed attack against an oil platform in Saudi Arabia in February 2006, Saudi authorities announced on Tuesday. The revelation came from a terror suspect arrested by the police accused of having given logistic support to the suicide bomb cell that sought to attack the Abqiq site….(AKI, 16 May 07)