Iran

• If ever proof was required to demonstrate Ahmadinejad is the rule rather than the exception, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said he would give nuclear technology to Sudan. Peaceful nuclear energy, of course. The U.S. is furious.

• Iran has recieved several BM-25 surface-to-surface missiles from North Korea. The missiles have a range of 2,500km, putting parts of Europe in range.

• The CSIS says that, if Iran were to attempt to block the Straits of Hormuz, its submarines and much of the IRGC would be destroyed 'in a matter of days'.

• A Congressional intelligence panel has said that the U.S. does not know how close Iran is to building nuclear weapons. One of the committee members said: 'Our intelligence is thin'.

• If the Security Council agrees to sanctions against Iran, Iran will cease ties with the nuclear watchdog. Iran was given until April 28th to ceases uranium enrichment and resume cooperation with the IAEA - nothing to suggest they'll do that as of writing. Larijani has said that they will hide their program if sanctions are implemented. A blast from the past: UK sets Iran deadline to end nuclear bomb work - dated September, 2004.

• A book written by two German journalists from Die Zeit claim that Iran is 5-10 years from a nuclear bomb.

• A former Iranian official claims that the U.S. is conducting operations in Iran to destabilise the country. A UPI expert said the operations amounted to a series of 'pin pricks' of no strategic value.

• The prospect of sanctions shouldn't keep the mullahs awake, though. Both China and Russia are still against sanctions targeting Iran.

• Despite it all, Russia is still Iran's number one weapons supplier.

• If Iran is attacked, Iran sponsored terrorists will strike American interests all over the world, says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Ali Larijani has suggested the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline in Azerbaijan.

• Iranian conservatives have scuppered $1.2 billion in contracts to build ethane crackers. The lawmakers claimed that Iranian companies could do the work for less money. The reversal in position has prompted speculation that other foreign companies may pull out of bids and projects.

The Middle East

• Egypt broke up another terror group earlier this month - Jamestown takes a closer look at al-Ta'efa al-Mansoura, and how they fit in to the development of Salafi terror groups in Egypt.

• Fearing an Iranian missile strike, Israel has raised the alert level of its Arrow units. The command centre for the anti-ballistic missile batteries have also been reinforced.

• PA president Mahmoud Abbas has warned Hamas that he has the authority to oust their government and that, unless Hamas agree to talks with Israel, he will do just that.

• The Arab League has transferred $50 million to the new Hamas-run PA. FM Mahmoud al-Zahar says he estimates the PA will need $140m/month, and that he believes Hamas will manage to raise it.

• The United Nations leading investigator in the case of Rafik Hariri's murder has met with Syrian president Assad.

• U.S. officials have told reporters that the U.S. will not recognise unilateral borders set by Israel as final.

• Six men facing charges of firing rockets at U.S. warships moored in Aqaba have pleaded not guilty. Another six men accused of involvement are still at large. The group consisted of Iraqis, Syrians and a Saudi residing in Jordan. A Jordanian soldier was killed when the rockets missed their target and struck a hospital.

• The leader of the PFLP, arrested by Israeli forces in March from Jericho prison, will not be tried at this time for the murder of Rehavam Ze'evi. Ahmed Sa'adat will face other charges related to smuggling weapons and terrorism.

• President Bush has ordered that all assets and property of individuals involved in the murder of Rafik Hariri be seized. Those involved in Syrian-sponsored terrorism in Lebanon, or in obstructing investigations in to said terrorism, will also have their assets seized. The U.S. is also pushing for another UN resolution concerning continuing Syrian interference in Lebanon, as part of an apparent new diplomatic offensive against Syria.

• The Israeli air force has struck a Qassam-launching car in Gaza. An Islamic Jihad member was killed and several others wounded.

• Having elected another terrorist group to office, palestinians can look forward to increased aid from the United Nations, besides the U.S., France and others.

• Jordan's King Abdullah has called for Israel to surrender its alleged nuclear arsenal. He told reporters that Israel being disarmed was a precondition for Middle East peace, and it was unfair to prevent Iran from building the bomb while Israel allegedly has nuclear arms already.

• An Israeli lieutenant colonel has been convicted of spying for Hezbollah. The Bedouin officer was acquitted of treason.

• The failed woman suicide bomber who tried to blow up an Amman hotel says her marriage was a sham, intended to get her in to Jordan. She said she wanted to murder Jordanian hotel guests to avenge the deaths of her brothers, Iraqi al-Qaeda terrorists, at the hands of U.S. forces.

• Hezbollah chieftan Hassan Nasrallah has admitted that his group has provided financial, political and media support to palestinian terrorist groups. He denied his group had armed them.

Iraq and the Gulf

• Hundreds of Shi'ite militiamen have moved to Kirkuk to fight any Kurd attempts to take control of the city. The oil-rich region sits roughly between the Kurd and Arab territories.

• U.S. forces, working with Iraqi troops, are having success in using the jihadis' cell-phones against them. Besides eavesdropping and tracking positions, Iraqis with the correct accents are apparently using the phone numbers of terrorists and spreading disinformation.

• Military experts believe that a section of the former Mukhabarat, the M-21, is behind many of the IED attacks ongoing in Iraq. M-21 had, and may still have, a laboratory dedicated to developing improved IEDs. Related, an IED blast has killed four coalition soldiers in southern Iraq, three Italian and one Romanian.

• Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani has called for militias in Iraq to be disarmed. Sistani told prime minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki 'weapons must be in the hands of government security forces that should not be tied to political parties but to the nation'. The U.S. is concerned about plans to merge the militias with the army, suggesting that militia members should be allowed in to the military on an individual, rather than on a group, basis.

• Gulf states will fund Hamas, fearing that Iran will buy the group's loyalty.

• An Iraqi ministry says at least $700 million in Iraqi gov't money has been transferred from Iranian front companies to Iraqi political parties.

• Saudi Arabia has developed several layers of defence against terrorist attacks. Hotlines allow citizens to inform authorities of impending acts or suspicious behaviour. Embassies are guarded by newly trained troops and hotels are ringed by anti-truck bomb barriers. Captured terrorists have been 'reindoctrinated'. CCTV covers large parts of Riyadh.

• British citizen Mobeen Muneef has been given 15 years by an Iraqi court for entering Iraq illegaly and violating passport laws. Muneef attended several al-Muhajiroun meetings before smuggling himself in to Iraq from Syria. U.S. Marines arrested him in Ramadi, allegedly involved in moving weapons. Would you believe his family are crowing about his human rights being violated?

• Tariq al-Hashemi, Iraq's new vice president, lost his brother to terrorists two weeks ago. Today, his sister was gunned down. Iraqi media reported that locals left the woman and her bodyguards to die, fearing the consequences of helping them.

• Yemen is to extradite 16 Saudi terror suspects to Saudi Arabia. 60 more AQ suspects are to face trial soon in Yemen itself.

• Iraq's government is to have a 'superior council for culture', according to the culture minister. The ministry is building and renovating museums and is planning to build cultural institutes in remote regions of the country.

• Webihadeen are considering whether al-Qaeda in the Peninsula is losing its sense of murderous direction. Following a call for the murder of an Islamist forum director by apparent al-Qaeda members, posters are worried that AQ in the P may be turning down the GIA route...

The Americas

• Details are still sketchy on this one, but counterterrorist officers in the U.S. have arrested five men - one in Utah, four in California. They were arrested as part of an investigation in to a senior al-Qaeda terrorist currently detained in Iraq. Current charges relate to money laundering and fraud, but at least some of that cash allegedly ended up in Jordan, in some rather nasty hands...

• Mustafa Khalfi has longstanding connections to SDGTs (Specially Designated Global Terrorist entities), and he also works in Congress for Rep. Jim McDermott (D).

• The Senate has diverted money intended for Iraq to increase border and port security on the continental United States.

• What exactly did Sami al-Arian admit to? Well, he admitted to associating with PIJ and aiding PIJ members.

• Construction of the Freedom Tower has begun. The tower will stand were the World Trade Center once did. It will be 1,360 feet high, the same height as the twin towers, with a spire raising the overall height to 1,776 feet.

• The Bank of New York has been criticised for not tightening controls on money laundering. The bank has channeled $7 billion in Russia money, as well as $3 billion destined for Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and Hamas.

• A Pakistani is being tried in New York for plotting to bomb the subway. Shahawar Matin Siraj and James Elshafay were arrested in 2004. An NYPD informant told the court Siraj had been infuriated by the photos of Abu Ghraib prison.

• A British Muslim applying for an American visa has been told he will have to pay an extra $80 for a security check. Mohammed Umar Haleem Khan said that embassy staff had told him that a lot of 'bad people' shared his name.

• The case of Ali Al-Timimi, a Muslim community leader convicted of terrorism offences, will be referred to another court because his lawyers believe his phones were tapped by the NSA.

• Hamid Hayat, the younger of the Lodi pair, has been convicted of supporting terrorism, due to his attending a training camp run by al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

• Another UAE takeover has been approved by the U.S. administration. The Dubai takeover of Doncasters, a British firm that builds engine for U.S. warplanes - including the JSF, is worth $1.2 billion.

• Mexico's number one threat is organised crime. Two crime syndicates are waging war to take control of the massive Nuevo Laredo-Laredo smuggling routes. Mexican criminal gangs smuggle hundreds of tonnes of cocaine in to the U.S., and thousands of rifles in to Mexico, every year. That war is spilling in to Laredo, U.S.A. with drive-bys on the American side. Recent near-misses have prompted deputies to patrol in body armour, carrying assault rifles.

• South American narcotics syndicates are relocating to Venezuela, under pressure from Colombian authorities.

• Senator Specter has threatened to block NSA funding unless the White House gives him answers on the NSA's wiretap program.

• Secretary Rice has vowed 'action' following the revelation that an Iranian who serves as an aide to Ali Larijani arrived in the U.S. with a green card.

• Mary McCarthy, the CIA official who allegedly leaked classified material to the press, may not face charges after all.

• President Bush has announced new security measures for America's ports, including background checks for port workers to ensure they aren't terrorists, illegals or both.

• FARC is adapting to the increased pressure from Colombian police and military forces, by terrorising civilians and officials. They're also offering steady jobs in the drugs trade to favoured persons.

Europe

• A British Muslim has faced court over charges of possessing media 'likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism'. Atif Siddique was refused bail. Police said the arrest was made as a part of an 'intelligence-led' operation. Atif's brother, Asif, is still in custody. Two other men arrested at the same time have since been released.

• Peter Griffin (nothing to do with Family Guy) is on trial in Germany for being a member of the AQ Khan network. Griffin, a British citizen, is accused of assisting in Libya's efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Gotthard Lerch, a German citizen, is also facing charges of facilitating Libya's acquisition of a nuclear weapons program. He faces 15 years for aiding in the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

• 'Neutral' Sweden is pulling out of a peacekeeping exercise because those nasty Israelis are going to be there, too. Israel is unlikely to be involved in peacekeeping, Sweden says, making their involvement pointless.

• Turkish police have arrested six people for planning terrorist attacks in the country. Five Turks and a foreign national were arrested in the south of the country. One of the six had travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

• ETA's 'ceasefire' was highlighted with the destruction of a hardware store in Navarre, which the socialists say was not ordered by ETA. The Navarre police believe it was. Related, a Batasuna leader has been jailed for glorifying terrorism.

• The Dutch writer who took over Theo van Gogh's column has been attacked by Moroccans. Ebru Umar, of Turkish origin, was assaulted in Amsterdam.

• Turkish Islamist newspapers close to the AKP and PM Erdogan are spreading vile anti-American and antisemitic incitement. The dailies have alleged institutional rape of Iraqi women by GIs, U.S. responsibility for earthquakes and tsunamis, and praised terrorism and Hitler, and printed tracts from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

• British police in Lancashire are teaching Muslims how to spot terrorists.

• A terror suspect arrested in Britain is facing deportation to Algeria. While cleared of plotting to use ricin, the Home Office maintains that 'Y' is still a threat to national security. British authorities describe 'Y' as having links to Finsbury Park Mosque, and of being the British leader of the Algerian DHDS.

• Six French ex-Gitmo guests are to face French courts over their alleged terrorist activities. Five of the six were released by French authorities following their return from Guantanamo Bay, but have since associated 'with criminals in relation to a terrorist enterprise'.

• Five members of a Moroccan GICM cell busted in Belgium are to appeal against their convictions. The public prosecutor has told the press, not to mention the initial court, the five men had numerous contacts with other known GICM cells in Europe. The five were part of a group of 11 men convicted in February - the other six will not appeal.

• The European Union is raising all sorts of hell about the CIA's alleged rendition flights. Amnesty International says at least 1,600 CIA flights are known to have occurred.

• The IRA is definitely disarming, according to the Independent Monitoring Commission, and definitely committed to non-violence.

Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

• Vladmir Putin says the future is east. He is threatening to divert future oil and gas exports to Asia, rather than Europe.

• Are Russia and Georgia about to have a shooting war? Winds of War speculated on this a year or so back, and we were wrong then. Let's hope that this is wrong, too.

• Russian forces have thwarted a car bombing thought to have been planned for Russia's Victory Day, celebrating the defeat of Germany in 1945.

• Chechen terrorist leader Mouladi Odoghov has said that he intends to send suicide bombers to carry out attacks on Russian soil.

• Kyrgyz president Bakiyev, using very presidential language, has threatened to put demonstrators in wheelchairs if the opposition mount a coup. Bakiyev won the July election in a landslide, following the previous leader's flight to Russia, but has since been accused of backtracking on democratisation.

• Beneath Kazakhstan's stable exterior lies a dark side of political assassination, battles over media control and clashes within the country's ruling family.

• A protest in southern Dagestan turned ugly when Russian police attempted to break up a rally. A protestor was killed, a policeman shot and wounded, and numerous others hurt.

• Ever keen for cash, Russia has launched an Israeli spy satellite in to space on one of its rockets. Israeli officials say the satellite will track Iran's nuclear program.

Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh

• Australia and the U.S. are warning of a heightened threat of terrorist attacks in Kabul. The threats concern the upcoming anniversary of the overthrow of the communist government in 1992.

• Waziristan gets worse and worse up to 5,000 tribesmen are fighting alongside the Taliban, launching daily attacks on the Pakistani army.

• U.S. warplanes struck pro-Taliban targets on both sides of the Afghanistan/Pakistan border Tuesday, while Afghan police fought a pitched battle with Taliban, killing 11. Five Afghan soldiers were killed in other operations in the restive south. U.S. warplanes also struck a meeting of terrorist financiers, killing three of the four men targeted.

• As if Afghanistan didn't have enough troubles, there is a lack of teachers. Why? Because enrolment in primary education has increased 55% in the 2000-2004 period. I'd hazard a guess and say overthrowing the Taliban probably increased the population's hunger for knowledge. Related, the UN has slammed the systematic targeting of schools by the Taliban.

• An Afghan bombmaker and four members of his family were killed when a bomb he was building exploded in his house in Balochistan. Balochi police have arrested several Afghans for involvement in attacks against local infrastrucutre and security forces.

• In the city of Ghazni, Afghanistan, the government banned motorbikes and similar vehicles, following several Taliban attacks using those vehicles. The Taliban retaliated by banning all vehicular movement. As it stands, there are a few motorbikes around, but not many cars. It sounds like the locals are more scared of Taliban threats than anything else.

• The Taliban in Helmand province is promising to attack British forces. Britain's defence secretary has admitted the troops face 'massive risks'.

• The last two members of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh’s Shura council have been arrested on Tuesday. The head of the elite Rapid Action Battalion says JMB's 'backbone is now completely broken'.

• The wife of Bangla Bhai, number two in the JMB, will be sent to jail. She admitted to writing JMB communiques and prior knowledge of terrorist activity.

• Pakistan and India are working towards an accord against an accidental nuclear exchange.

• A Spanish communist politician has claimed that a Spanish helicopter in the relatively peaceful west of Afghanistan was attacked by militants. He said there had been no injuries.

• Maoist terrorists in India have blown up a rail carriage - no-one was wounded, but rail traffic was disrupted.

• Two blasts in Kashmir have wounded 20 people. An IED detonated next to a military vehicle, and a grenade was thrown at a patrol.

Far East & South East Asia

• The truce between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers appears to be ending, following a suicide bombing against the army's top official. 10 people were killed, and the army chief seriously wounded. The air force has struck LTTE bases, leading thousands of people to flee the area, fearing open warfare. The LTTE has killed nearly 100 people in recent days and weeks. Thus far, the army hasn't fallen for the LTTE's trap by carrying out large scale attacks that harm civilians.

• China has been accused of selling the organs of executed prisoner to 'health tourists' from Western and south Asian countries.

• China's strategic interests are shifting east, as reflected by the visits paid by the defence minister to five south Asian countries. Related: China's tightening relationship with China.

• China’s American diplomacy - Hu's version.

• Crisis sidestepped in Nepal? The king has agreed to reinstate the parliament, dissolved by the monarch. The 'seven-party alliance', composed of various opposition groups, have called off crippling protests. The Maoists, of course, are having none of it, calling the announcement 'a conspiracy against the Nepali people'. That hasn't stopped them from calling a three month ceasefire, though.

• Hizb-ut-Tahrir - Wolves in sheep's clothing - in Sydney are spreading an Islamic supremacist message.

• Jemaah Islamiyah's war against Indonesia continues apace, but they seem to be using a two-pronged strategy: attacking Westerners, and also formenting civil strife.

• South Korea is apparently capable of national outrage when a neighbouring country claims territory from them - in certain instances, of course. South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun has accused Japan of denying Korean independence by claiming several uninhabited islands which may provide access to gas fields.

• An Australian Muslim on trial for planning terrorist attacks was trying to start a detergent business, according to his defence lawyer. Faheem Khalid Lodhi had legitimate business reasons for possessing maps and aerial photographs of Australian power grids and military installations. Lodhi's terrorism manual was nothing more than a "Boy's Own spy kit".

• Documents seized from the terrorists behind the second Bali bombing reveal how the Jemaah Islamiyah cell selected their target and planned their attack.

• South Asia and the Pacific may soon become the world's number three arms market. A British government report says the regional market - which includes Pakistan, India, China, the Koreas and Australia - will grow 15-25% of the world's defence expenditure.

• An Abu Sayyaf plot to attack anti-government protests scheduled for May Day has been thwarted by police. Officers raided a safe-house, seizing blocks of C4, grenades and other bomb paraphenalia. Good news, but if anything, Abu Sayyaf is getting stronger, despite U.S. advice, training and cash support for the Filipino forces trying to break up the group.

• Skipping Friday prayers in moderate Malaysia is now a crime. Malaysia's religious authorities can fine or jail any Muslim who fails to attend.

• The Myanmar military junta is concerned about a possible U.S. invasion. An internal military document reveals the army is concerned about potential American backing for native Burmese groups, or even a multinational invasion. The document also said the army is planning to fight a war of attrition, post-invasion, along the lines of the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. As Callimachus notes, in a different context, we will probably find IEDs and gunmen dressed in civilian clothing wherever we fight for the forseeable future.

Africa

• Sudanese ruler Omar Hassan Bashir has turned down a UN suggestion to send peacekeepers to Darfur. Khartoum has founded two militias - the Darfur Jihad Organisation and the Blood Brigades - to wage war against any UN forces, and Osama bin Laden has stated his intention to fight in Darfur, too.

• British ally Uganda has been arming Congolese militias in exchange for minerals and resources. The Revolutionary Movement of Congo has raped and pillaged its way through northern Uganda. The deals breach an arms embargo placed on the Congo by the United Nations.

• The GSPC has murdered nine off-duty guards and a civilian. An IED disabled the minibus the unarmed guards were riding in, and the terrorists mounted the vehicle to murder the wounded.

• How much has changed in Mauritania, since the coup in August? The new leader is from the same powerful tribe as the old leader, prompting speculation that the old power structures will remain. That said, there is a new electoral commission, and referendums and elections have been scheduled.

• The African Union has presented the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels with a draft security agreement.

• The Niger Delta gunmen who threatened Nigerian oil exports have not made good on their threats to carry out further attacks on oil installations. Instead, they're stealing oil from pipelines to sell on the black market.

The Global War

• Has the Global Islamic Media Front been penetrated by intelligence agents? After suspicions of penetration of the al-Hesbah forum and the arrests of Saudi terrorists, the GIMF is under scrutiny from webihadeen.

• Nine nations have contributed personnel to a joint intelligence unit for warships trying to secure the seas from pirates and terrorists. The Coalition Intelligence Fusion Cell advises international task forces operating around the Gulf, and along the coasts of Kenya and India/Pakistan.

• Islamic terrorists are smuggling bomb components, rather than the completed weapon itself. In Iraq and Israel, terrorists are smuggling components past security in to 'secure' areas, and assembling them behind enemy lines.

• The Organization for the Islamic Conference is pushing hard for the EU and UN to provide legal protections for their prophet, following the reprinting of several Danish cartoons around Europe. The OIC is having some success, too.

• NATO is looking considering improved relationships with countries like Australia, Japan and New Zealand, which share Western values, said deputy secretary-general Alessandro Minuto Rizzo. Rizzo said expansion made sense because potential flashpoints are no longer in Europe, but in 'other parts of the world'. However, membership is not being considered at this point, according to Sec. Gen. de Hoop Scheffer. For now, Afghanistan is NATO's 'number one priority'.

• A new study outlines how al-Qaeda uses the media as a weapon in their fight against just about everything.

• The International Committee of the Red Cross says that conditions at Guantanamo Bay have 'improved considerably'. The ICRC chief said it was 'extremely regrettable' that the media have shifted focus from Chechnya and Burma to Gitmo.

No, seriously...

• The United Nations Environment Program has awarded 'Screaming Mary', one of the terrorists who seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, with the Champion of the Earth prize. Massoumeh Ebtekar says she has no regrets about invading American soil and holding people hostage.

• Hamas/PA Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar says $450,000 cash was stolen from his hotel room in Kuwait.

• While Spain's Socialists want to give apes human rights, in Sierra Leone, police are hunting a gang of terrorist chimps who murdered a driver and wounded three Western tourists.

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