Iran & the Middle East

• According to reports, Iran has signed a deal with Russia to acquire 29 TOR-M1 surface-to-air missile systems.

• Special Report - Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia: 2002-2003

• Local Fatah primaries were halted in the West Bank town of Salfit "because of problems and divisions" among different groups that included the burning of ballot boxes. Mahmoud Abbas is vowing to end the violence and is promising security and transparency for upcoming elections.

• King Abdullah is urging the Jordanian parliament to pass a new set of anti-terrorism legislation, calling it the "largest security challenge" that Jordan has ever faced. Meanwhile, Jordanians are seeking to get back to their everyday lives.

• Fighting between rival clans broke out in the northern Gaza city of Beit Hanoun, leaving five dead that included a policeman. The Palestinian police chief is demanding more weapons to combat criminals and terrorists.

• Israeli helicopter gunships fired on targets in the Gaza strip, after Palestinians fired three Qassam rockets into Israel from the Gaza the day before. On Sunday, Palestinians again launched rockets into Israel from the Gaza.

• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced they will hold partial elections in the Federal National Council in the future and "comes amid growing American pressure on Arab countries to adopt democracy."

• Saudi security officials arrested 17 suspected militants in a series of raids around Riyadh on Saturday. Weapons and explosives were also confiscated in twelve seperate homes.

• According to reports, Syrian security forces clashed with terrorists in the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday, leaving five wounded.

• Israeli's military chief, Lt-Gen Dan Halutz doesn't believe diplomatic efforts will succeed in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Halutz pointed to Iran thwarting international pressure time and time again. In response, Iran has threatened counter-strikes against Israel.

America Domestic Security & the America's

• The Homeland Security and State departments are trying to come up with a cheap, convenient way for U.S. citizens and Canadians to prove their identities while crossing the border. Faced with growing opposition to a proposal requiring people to show passports or other similar IDs, the Bush administration will propose new forms of identification next spring, Homeland Security spokesman Jarrod Agen said.

• Representatives from various Lowndes County agencies and businesses in Georgia attended a workshop last Wednesday on agrosecurity awareness, and the ways to prevent agroterrorism. Mickey Fourakers, coordinator with the Lowndes County Extension, said the training is in connection with the Homeland Security Department and is designed for first responders like firefighters, deputies, emergency personnel, food processors and farmers.

• U.S. counterterrorism agencies have not detected a significant al-Qaida operational capability in the United States since the 2003 arrest of a truck driver who was in the early stages of plotting to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge. Nevertheless, al-Qaida's capabilities aren't clear and the group remains dangerous, the new deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Kevin Brock, said in an Associated Press interview.

• A report by Chris Zambelis at the Jamestown Foundation looks at radical Islam in Latin America, and examines possible evidence for Al Qaeda and even Hezbollah involvement in Latin America.

• High Court judge Herbert Volney spent the weekend viewing a video-taped copy of the November 4, Eid-ul-Fitr sermon delivered by Jamaat-al-Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr as he considers if he should hear a fresh bail application. The same judge had refused to grant Bakr bail on November 11 on the basis of objections raised by the State that if the 64-year-old Imam was released he would carry out the threats he made during the sermon.

• A new blog from the Center for Security Policy and Frank Gaffney reports that Venezuelan strongman Hugh Chavez is funding militantly anti-US political movements across the hemisphere. Chavez's government has also provided Venezuelan identity papers to many hundreds of Islamist extremists, to allow them to enter the United States.

Russia & South/Central Asia

• In Bangladesh Friday, police questioned 58 suspected Islamic militants in bombing attacks outside government buildings this past week that killed at least nine people and wounded scores of others, authorities said. Police said they also discovered and defused nine bombs that were left in plastic bags Friday near government buildings in the city of Khulna in southwestern Bangladesh and the central town of Sirajganj.

• A remote-controlled bomb ripped through a vehicle in volatile southern Afghanistan, killing a district government chief and two police officers, and wounding three others, authorities said Saturday.

• In another attack in Afghanistan, at least one police officer was killed and five others wounded when the vehicle they were travelling in was ambushed in neighbouring Helmand province.

• A New York Times article has some details on the escape of Omar al-Faruq and three others from Bagram last July.

• Here are the updates from the South Asia Terrorism Portal for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

• An update from CDI last week summarizes news and analysis about the events in Afghanistan and the U.S. war on terrorism in the surrounding region in the month of November.

• An article by Michael J. McNerney in the Winter issue of Parameters, the Army War College Quarterly, looks at how Provincial Reconstruction Teams are at work rebuilding Afghanistan, and how they can be used to stabilize that country.

• At least two people have been killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, police say. There were no reports of casualties among Canadian members of the US-led coalition who are thought to have been the target of the attack.

• Sri Lanka's government has blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for weekend attacks in which at least nine soldiers died. A landmine blast in northern Jaffna peninsula which killed six troops was a "terrorist attack" in breach of a truce accord, a government statement said.

• A joint investigation in India by the Intelligence Bureau and Jammu and Kashmir Police has discovered disturbing new evidence that mainstream political parties in the State have been infiltrated by operatives working for the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, and are being used to provide cover for the terrorist group's operations.

• The Jamestown Foundation's view on the Chechnya parliamentary elections is that there were no clear winners. The pro-presidential United Russia party won 33 out of 58 seats, but turnout was low.

Far East & Southeast Asia

• Following the destruction of several camps belonging to the communist New People's Army (NPA) by Filipino troops in Mindinao, Colonel Alfredo Cayton says the rebels are on the run.

• The United States' Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is requesting the Filipino government freeze the assets of four people associated with Osama bin Laden.

• An agent with the Philippino Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) was shot to death in Zamboanga while on the way to the Hall of Justice for a court hearing.

• Thailand's Phuket Island resort has turned down an offer to become the "sister city" of Bali, citing concerns over associating with an area struck by frequent terrorism.

• Indonesian police officials travelled to the Philippines and met with security officials in central Mindanao to discuss counterterrorism cooperation over reports that Indonesia terrorists were building training camps in Mindanao.

• The Australian parliament is preparing to adopt new anti-terrorism laws that civil liberty opposition groups characterize "as terrifying as terrorism itself."

• Tens of thousands of protesters marched for full democracy in Hong Kong on Sunday, as the city's legislature mulls over constitutional reform proposals.

Europe

• Recent arrests in Europe have pointed back towards Bosnia, where officials believe a terror cell is based with Euro-wide reach. The cell is described as a "series of overlapping networks" and recruits from Scandanavia.

• Belgian authorities are saying that France endangered an anti-terrorism operation targeting an al Qaeda cell in Brussels by leaking that a recent suicide bomber in Iraq was a Belgian woman.

• Member nations of the European Union have agreed to revise and update their strategy of counterterrorism initiatives and but still harbor disagreements over where to balance counterterrorism and civil liberties.

• The Netherlands will decide this week whether to deploy troops to southern Afghanistan, where questions and reluctancy remain.

• Spanish security forces are on alert after the recent detention of a group of Algerians believed to be linked to al Qaeda, were caught trying to exchange drugs for explosives. Authorities believe there may be two active al Qaeda cells in Logroño and Vitoria.

Africa

• The Polisario Front, the last remaining liberation movement fighting for independence in Africa, contested an earlier UPI report that it could be turning to Islamist organizations and organized crime. In an article titled "New danger in Africa" published earlier this week United Press International cited a European intelligence think tank stating that the Polisario could be turning to radical Islam.

• A Belgian national arrested by anti-terrorist police in Morocco in November claims he offered Samir A. the services of female suicide bombers to attack the headquarters of the Dutch security service AIVD. Mohamed Reha, a Belgian of Moroccan ancestry, said A. was prepared to co-operate in a suicide attack on the AIVD but only wanted male bombers.

• In the final round of parliamentary elections held Thursday, Egypt's most popular opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, failed to win any direct seats, according to official results. The final poll round was marred by the killing of one opposition activist, police attacks on the opposition and a crack-down on the press.

• The UN's World Food Programme on Sunday delivered its first aid shipment to starving Somalis since pirates prowling its lawless coast forced them to take a dangerous and slow land route. WFP operations in Somalia were sabotaged this year by the hijacking of two ships carrying food, which forced the UN food agency to opt for an equally treacherous and longer route over land.

The Global War

• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will go on the offensive next week to rebut European concerns over reports of a secret CIA prison system in Eastern Europe, making the case during a five-day trip to Europe that intelligence cooperation between the United States and Europe is essential to prevent future attacks, U.S. officials said.

• The latest CrisisWatch from the International Crisis Group says nine conflict situations deteriorated in November, and three improved. The situation in Ethiopia/Eritrea is still identitifed as a Conflict Risk Alert.

• Shadowy al Qaeda chemist Midhat Mursi (aka Abu Khabab) remains a source of concern, with little new information on his location. Mursi was last known to be running a rudementary chemical weapons testing camp in Afghanistan in 2001.

• Newsweek has an article examining the increasing number of female suicide bombers. Dan Darling of Winds of Change offered his own views.

• An Orlando Sentinel editorial looks at a Senate bill that would provide funds to secure loosely guarded weapons depots.

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