IRAN

• Teheran's plan to dominate southern Iraq.

• Prime Minister Blair says there is unproven evidence of Iranian and/or Hezbollah involvement in the killing of British soldiers in Iraq. The Daily Mirror quoted an unnamed defence source, who claimed that the Revolutionary Guard has training camps in Iran, Lebanon and maybe Syria.

• The Euros are going to try to get the Russians to pressure Iran on the nuclear issue.

• A joint statement from Russia and Iran confirmed that they plan to have Bushehr operational in 2006. And after that, Russia is going to build more nuclear plants in Iran.

• Russia has also asked the EU to delay referring Iran to the UNSC (where they will veto any anti-Iran measures). The EU has agreed.

• Iran says that negotiations are their 'strategic choice in the nuclear issue'. I wonder why...

THE MIDDLE EAST

• The Egyptians are denying statements from the Israelis that there is an al-Qaeda base in the Sinai. The head of Israeli military intelligence said that the jihadis had expelled locals from the area and placed mines to prevent an attack. Shabak head Yuval Diskin said the terrorists in the Sinai are “stronger than even the Egyptians themselves were aware of.” (Incidentally, score another one for Debka: Last month, Egypt dispatched thousands of security forces to hunt down the suspected terrorists, but were not very successful in their sweep. A police major-general and a lieutenant-colonel were killed by a land mine during the sweep. That blow led to the forces’ withdrawal. )

• A terrorist captured in Iraq by U.S. forces says that a Syrian named Louai Sakka, arrested for planning to blow up Israeli tourists on a cruise-ship, gave the cell who attacked Istanbul in 2003 $50,000.

• President Bush says that Syria may pose a risk to peace in the Holy Land.

• Fatah militias are running rampant in Gaza. A university president and his aides were beaten, two journalists were briefly kidnapped and a turf-war between rival factions in the al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades killed one and wounded two.

• A new laser-radar system has been deployed near Gaza. The THEL system is designed to give early warning of rocket attacks, and to destroy projectiles with a laser.

• The flow of arms in to Gaza from Egypt has increased since the Egyptians took over the border.

• The IDF is furious about the Supreme Court ruling that has banned soldiers from telling neighbours to knock on terrorists' doors and ask them to come out quietly. Presumably, kicking the door in and getting in a gunbattle would be safer for local civilians.

• A senior Shia cleric in Lebanon says that Hezbollah is the Lebanese Army's reserve to protect the country from Israel.

• Russia may sell Syria the advanced SS-26 Iskander rocket.

• Syria says the gates of hell will open if the U.S. attacks Syria

IRAQ AND THE GULF

• Danish troops have been in more gunbattles than the public is aware of. Not many, though. Five serious incidents, according to the Danish regional daily 'JydskeVestkysten'.

• Terrorist chieftan Syed Salahuddin is to visit Mecca to promote mass-murder in Kashmir.

• Bill Roggio on the Iraqi Security Forces. Strategy Page has a look at the Iraqi Army in action.

• Zarqawi has clarified his war on Shi'ite anti-U.S. terrorists. Al-Sadr's goons are apostates, but not a priority target.

• After having to rescue two SAS men from a terrorist militia and their corrupt comrades-in-arms in the Basra police, the British will pay compensation.

• Two AKs used to attack a U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia have been traced back to the Yemeni Defense Ministry.

THE AMERICAS

• The U.S. wants to be able to stop-and-search ships far from U.S. waters.

• It looks like the NYC subway threat was a hoax.

• Hezbollah is planning a new TV station, aimed at North American and Europe.

EUROPE

• The trial against an Algerian al-Qaeda suspect will continue. Abbas Boutrab is being tried in an Irish court for possessing instructions on how to blow up an airliner. If you read the BBC account, he did in fact have a doctored Italian passport, too. He was acquitted of using it to get a job, however.

• The British have banned 15 terror groups from operating in the U.K., not including Hizb ut-Tahrir. (The link includes the full list.)

• A North African man arrested in Italy has admitted that he came to Italy to carry out a suicide attack.

• The Dutch are about to ban the burqa.

• A Danish newspaper has hired bodyguards to protect staff after death threats following a series of cartoons featuring Mohammed.

• A report from two of NATO's most senior generals will blast the state of Europe's militaries and suggest integrating research and procurement.

WEST ASIA & THE 'STANS

• Dan: The South Asian Earthquake and US Foreign Aid, and how it has affected local terror gangs.

• A woman carrying a bomb in J&K was killed when it exploded.

• 18 Afghan policemen have been killed in an ambush in Helmand.

• Suicide bombings in Kandahar killed six, and one Pakistani and two Chinese terrorists were killed in anti-insurgency operations.

AUSTRALASIA AND THE ORIENT

• Indonesia's former president, Abdurrahman Wahid, says that the police had a role in the Bali bombings of 2002.

• Filipino police say that JI and Abu Sayyaf are poised to strike across the country.

• The ASG killed two soldiers and a civilian driver.

• The Japanese military is buying PAC-3s to improve their air-defence coverage.

• China may take advantage of the war on terror to challenge the U.S. in space.

• North Korea is counterfeiting huge quantities of U.S. dollars. The State Department says that isn't helping U.S.-North Korea relations.

AFRICA

• 30 heroic GSPC jihadis attacked a coffee shop in eastern Algeria, and slit the throats of two patrons. They were about to murder another 18 civilians, when they were frightened off by headlights from a vehicle.

• The U.S. is trying to get Libya involved in anti-terror operations in North Africa.

• A cargo ship carrying rice for tsunami victims in Somalia was hijacked. That's the twentieth attack on ships in Somali waters since March.

• Post-coup Mauritania will retain its ties with Israel.

THE GLOBAL WAR

• Dan Darling: Democracy is not a panacea for terrorism.

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