2 held over attempt to assassinate Yemen’s chief rabbi

By Yossi Melman

The Yemeni authorities arrested two people last week on suspicion of trying to assassinate the rabbi of the local Jewish community, Yahya Yusuf Musa, according to reports in the Yemeni media. This was the latest in a series of reports reflecting the difficult situation of Yemen’s Jewish community.

In the capital city of Sanaa, the community has been shrinking steadily, and currently numbers about 65 people, most of whom fled there from rural areas in fear of their lives. They live in a heavily guarded compound allocated by the Yemeni government.

The other main concentration of Jews is in Saada, which since 2004 has been the scene of fierce fighting between the Sunni government and rebel Shi’ite tribes.

“They would come at night and shout slogans like ‘death to America,’ ‘death to Israel’ and ‘damn the Jews,’” a local rabbi said of the tribesmen.

According to The Washington Post, the threat that Islamic extremists pose to Saada’s Jewish community, which numbers some 300 people, has grown in recent months, and many now want to leave. Since July, 57 Yemeni Jews have moved to the United States, and another 38 are slated to do so soon. The U.S. government views them as refugees, so they are entitled to entry visas and economic aid from the government along with the aid they receive from Jewish organizations. A few Yemeni Jews have also moved to Europe and Israel.

At its height, Yemen’s Jewish community numbered some 60,000 people. However, about 50,000 of them moved to Israel soon after the state was established.

Five killed at secessionist protest in south Yemen

Sopurce: BBC NEWS

Five people, two of them soldiers, have died in southern Yemen in clashes between security forces and protesters demanding secession, officials say. Shooting began as troops had tried to disperse a rally in the town of Ataq, in Shabwa province, witnesses said. The protesters wanted the restoration of the former republic South Yemen, which was independent until 1990. There have been other similar clashes in the south in recent months, fuelling concern about the country’s stability. Yemen, an impoverished country of 23 million, also faces an intensifying conflict in the north between government forces and Houthi rebels, which has drawn in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and displaced thousands of people.  ‘Surrounded’ Wednesday’s demonstration in Ataq, 500km (310 miles) south-east of the capital Sanaa, happened five days before the 42nd anniversary of the British withdrawal from Aden, which gave independence to South Yemen. People in southern Yemen complain the central government marginalises them Many of the protesters reportedly carried the flag of the former Marxist republic, highlighting their opposition to the central government. Nasser Huwaider, a member of the secessionist Southern Movement, said the security forces had opened fire on the 1,000-strong crowd first. “They surrounded us from every side and started shooting,” he told the Associated Press news agency, adding that many protesters had later been arrested. Violence in the south broke out after an opposition rally in April marking the 1994 civil war, in which an attempt by the south to secede was quashed by the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had led the north to unification with the south. People in the south, home to most of Yemen’s oil facilities, have long complained the central government takes advantage of their resources but marginalises and discriminates against them.

Army identifies paratroopers killed in Afghan bomb attacks

Source: Miami herald

BY JAY PRICE

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WILSON, Afghanistan – Two U.S. paratroopers were killed and five others wounded, all from the same company, in a pair of unrelated bomb blasts Sunday.

The seven were members of the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based 82nd Airborne Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, which arrived in August on a yearlong mission to mentor Afghan army and national police units.

Killed were Sgt. James M. Nolen, 25, of Alvin, Texas, and Pfc. Marcus A. Tynes, 19, of Moreno Valley, Calif. The military released their names late Tuesday.

The soldiers were assigned to work with Afghan security forces about 20 miles west of Kandahar near an area where insurgents control several small farming villages. There are almost daily attacks on Afghan and NATO security forces and supply convoys passing on Highway 1, the main east-west highway in the region.

Nolen, Tynes and three of the wounded soldiers were riding in an armored Humvee on a dirt road when an unusually large improvised bomb exploded near their vehicle and ripped it apart, said soldiers who went to the scene.

Many of the paratroopers working with the Afghan police in that area use the larger and heavier MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles), which are designed to increase the chance of survival in a bomb blast. But there aren’t enough for all the troops and some units must use the less-protected Humvees, according to soldiers with their unit and another that works closely with them.

The other two paratroopers were wounded by a booby trap. One stepped on a device that triggered an anti-personnel mine hidden in a wall.

The 4th Brigade has now lost eight soldiers killed in action on this deployment, said Maj. Michelle Baldanza, the brigade spokeswoman. That includes one who was swept into a river in the northwest part of the country early this month while on a routine resupply mission. His body was later recovered. Another soldier was lost in the river in the same incident and remains missing.

(Price reports for The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C.)

Three injured in Peshawar blast

Source: BBC NEWS

Two policemen and an 11-year-old girl have been injured in a roadside bomb blast in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, police say. The remote-controlled device targeted a police station chief who was travelling through the Rashidabad area, a police official told the AFP news agency. The police chief survived the attack, though his car was damaged. A spate of bomb attacks in and around the city of Peshawar in recent weeks have killed hundreds of people. Attacks across Pakistan have dramatically increased as the army continues its offensive against the Taliban in the South Waziristan region. A senior police official said that the police station chief was driving to his office in his private car when the bomb went off. An 11-year-old girl, the official and his guard were injured, police said. Eyewitnesses said the car was damaged and its windshield smashed. The city has been frequently targeted by militants in recent weeks. Earlier this month, a suicide car bomb attack on Pakistan’s main intelligence agency in the city killed at least 12 people and injured 40. And more than 100 people were killed in a blast at a market in Peshawar last month.

Venezuela Urges UN Security Council to Take Up Colombia Conflict

Photo: AP

Venezuela’s U.N. ambassador, Jorge Valero (file photo)

Source: VOA NEWS

Venezuela says that Colombia’s long-running internal conflict with rebels and drug traffickers is a threat to its security and other nations in the region.  In a letter Wednesday, Venezuela’s foreign minister asked the United Nations Security Council to review the situation.  

In the letter, Venezuela’s foreign minister said Colombia’s internal conflict constitutes “a serious threat to international peace and security” and should be on the council’s agenda. 

Armed conflict in Colombia is not new.  Military forces there have been battling anti-government insurgents, particularly the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, for four decades. 

Venezuela is also upset about the agreement signed last month between Bogota and Washington that gives U.S. troops access to seven Colombian bases for anti-drug operations. 

Venezuela’s U.N. ambassador, Jorge Valero, told reporters that the deal threatens the peace and security of his country and others in the region.  

“The seven military bases installed in Colombia are meant to project the global power of the U.S. and to deter with its military threat of intervention countries that maintain a critical position in relation to its imperialist policies,” said Jorge Valero.

Valero went on to say that the accord violates Colombia’s sovereignty and should be suspended.

“The agreement ascribed to between Colombia and the United States turns Colombia into a foreign territory, a country subjected to the presence of a foreign government,” he said. “Thus, Colombia loses its sovereignty.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the agreement is about bilateral cooperation and does not concern other countries.

Tensions between Colombia and Venezuela escalated earlier this month, after Venezuela blew up two pedestrian foot bridges that connect the two countries.  Colombia brought the incident to the attention of the Security Council. 

But it is unclear what, if any, action either country wants the council to take.  The Security Council tends to be the venue of last resort.  Analysts say a disagreement of this type is more likely to be settled through regional bodies such as the Organization of American States.   

Somali Insurgents Order Halt to Imported Food Aid

 

Photo: AFP Photo

Shabab militia patrol Bakara Market in Mogadishu (File)

Source: VOA NEWS Islamist insurgents tell UN’s World Food Program to stop importing food aid. Al-Shabab group says massive importing of food is ruining Somalia’s agriculture sector.

 Islamist insurgents in Somalia have told the United Nations’ World Food Program to stop importing food aid into the country.

The group al-Shabab said in a statement Wednesday that the massive importing of food is ruining Somalia’s agriculture sector.

The rebels said the WFP must start buying food from local farmers for distribution to the needy.

Al-Shabab warned Somali businesses to stop working with the U.N. agency by January 1, and said the WFP must empty its warehouses of food aid by that date.

The United Nations estimates about half of Somalia’s population — about 3.8 million people — is dependent on food aid.  The world body blames the food shortage on drought and ongoing fighting between government forces and Islamist militants.

Al-Shabab controls much of southern Somalia.  

Separately, the World Food Program and the humanitarian group World Vision have withdrawn staff from parts of southern Somalia because of violence.

A spokesman, Peter Smerdon, for the U.N. food agency tells VOA that staff members have been evacuated from the Jubba regions because of security concerns.

Al-Shabab is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s moderate Islamist government and impose strict Sharia law throughout the country.  The group has also fought clashes against another insurgent group, Hizbul Islam.

Bombs shake Iraq before Muslim holiday By Jomana Karadsheh,

Source: CNN
CNN November 26, 2009 8:26 a.m. EST

The Iraqi military displays a car bomb built to be triggered by a cell phone in Baghdad on Wednesday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Third vehicle bomb in Baghdad adds to Thursday death toll
• At least six killed, dozens injured, as bombs explode in Baghdad, smaller towns
• Two bombs went off in busy marketplace; children among the injured
• Markets in Iraq are packed as people prepare for Eid al-Adha holiday on Monday

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) – A series of bombings in Iraq, just before a major Muslim holiday, killed at least six people and wounded 44 others on Thursday.

The two deadliest attacks Thursday were in the towns of Iskandariya and Yousifiya, south of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said.

Two bombs detonated in quick succession about 11 a.m. at a busy marketplace in Iskandariya, killing at least two people and wounding 28 others, including children, the official said.

Iskandariya, part of Babil province, is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Baghdad.

In the second attack, a parked car bomb exploded at a taxi and bus stop in Yousifiya. The blast killed at least two people and wounded 10 others, the official said.

As Iraqis prepare to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, public places like markets are packed with shoppers.

In Baghdad, three bombs attached to civilian vehicles caused casualties.

One of the bombs detonated on a highway in eastern Baghdad, killing the driver in the car and wounding two civilian bystanders.

In southwestern Baghdad’s Saydiya neighborhood, an Iraqi was killed and three others were wounded when a bomb attached to a civilian vehicle detonated.

In northern Baghdad, a driver was wounded when a bomb attached to his vehicle exploded.

Maoists more deadly with landmines than with AK-47

Subhashish Mohanty /
Source: DNA

Thursday, November 26, 2009 0:20 IST Email

Bhubaneswar: It’s not AK-47 and .303 rifles but land mines that are turning into a lethal weapon in the hands of Maoists, particularly those active in bordering areas of Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. “Yes, they are using it extensively, either killing policemen or blowing up trains,” said I-G (operations) Sanjeeb Marik

Police officials in anti-Maoist operations point out that the Maoists prefer these mines to inflict maximum casualty. Mostly, they use the impoverished land mines “though they also have Chinese weapons.”

To make these bombs, they collect gelatine sticks and dynamites from mining areas or attack vehicles carrying explosives for mining purpose. Most of the gelatine sticks are produced in Gomia, Jharkhand. They even procure explosives from the Indian Explosives and Detonator Limited factory in Sundergarh district. It’s no big deal, the factory does not have a boundary wall.

Ammonia or urea manure is mixed to the gelatine to make it deadlier. The explosive is put inside a container, the upper portion of which is made air-tight. In the lower portion, they make a hole and place a detonator connected with wires. The land mine is placed near causeways. When a vehicle passes by, they trigger an explosion from a comfortable position. “50 gms of explosive is enough to kill a man, 10 kg can toss a vehicle to 25 feet,” said a senior cop.

Forces are vulnerable to these mines as the Road Operating Party fails to clean the road before movement of forces.

Govt. report: Air cargo still vulnerable to terrorists

By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Transportation Security Administration is failing to ensure the security of boxed cargo in passenger planes, leaving the airplanes at risk for a terrorist attack, according to a government report obtained by USA TODAY.

“Air cargo is vulnerable,” says a report by the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general.

The report, out today, cites repeated problems with the TSA’s program to stop terrorists from sneaking a bomb into any of the tens of thousands of cargo packages carried each day in the bellies of passenger planes.

Investigators were able to slip into supposedly secure warehouses where cargo is stored before being loaded onto airplanes and walk around unchallenged, the report says. Inspector General Richard Skinner also found some workers who handle the cargo had not received required background checks or training.

The TSA “has not been effective” in making airlines and freight-handling companies comply with security rules for cargo, Skinner said in his report.

In a response attached to the report, TSA acting Administrator Gale Rossides said agency leaders “are in agreement” that the problems should be addressed. The report’s six recommendations, including improved employee training, “will provide additional benefit to TSA,” Rossides wrote.

TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee said agency inspectors are focusing on airlines and companies deemed “higher risk” because of past problems.

The report raises “legitimate concerns,” as the TSA is under congressional mandate to tighten scrutiny of the 12 million pounds of cargo carried each day alongside luggage in passenger planes, said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.

The report shows the TSA does not have enough personnel to handle new rules for screening cargo, he said. Passenger planes carry everything from produce and medical supplies to computers and auto parts.

Unlike luggage, airplane cargo is not screened by the TSA. The agency oversees airlines, freight handlers and manufacturers who pack and transport cargo, and ensure its security.

The oversight process “has not effectively ensured” that those companies comply with TSA regulations, the inspector general said. The report noted that the TSA’s own inspectors had found repeated violations of agency rules but said “there are repeat patterns of violations that the TSA has been unable to resolve.”

Al Qaeda Yemen wing poses special menace: U.N. official

Source: Reuters

Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:18am EST

By William Maclean, Security Correspondent

LONDON (Reuters) – Al Qaeda’s Yemen wing is probably the most dangerous of its regional offshoots since it is closest to the leadership and seeks to attack oil giant Saudi Arabia, a U.N. counter-terrorism official said.

Richard Barrett, Coordinator of the U.N. Taliban-al Qaeda Sanctions Monitoring Committee, added the menace of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was compounded by its ability to hide in unstable Yemen and the boldness of its ambition, shown by an attack on Saudi Arabia’s security chief in August.

“The most dangerous group is AQAP,” he told Reuters on Monday, saying it was seeking to attract Saudis in militant circles, “a lot” of whom were intent on attacking the kingdom.

“I don’t know for sure but if you look at the relationship between al Qaeda in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area and any group outside, the closest is with (al Qaeda) people in Yemen.”

“That’s where they try and keep the closest contact. Although al Qaeda in the Maghreb and al-Shabaab (in Somalia) may be more active, it’s the Yemeni (al Qaeda) people who are the closest,” he said in an interview.

From a base believed to be in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, whose father was born in Yemen, has made a determined effort to foster self-managing affiliates further afield in southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East to hit the “infidel” West and its local allies.

Barrett suggested other al Qaeda wing including in north Africa and the Horn of Africa probably carried out more frequent attacks but the peninsula group’s affinities with Gulf Arabs at al Qaeda’s core gave it extra clout in the global network.

“AQAP is the key group for the leadership because its members are from the Arabian peninsula and can move around easily, and are culturally attuned to many within the leadership,” said Barrett.

Al Qaeda’s Yemen wing announced in January it had changed its name to AQAP, signaling an intent to strike regionally and in particular against energy power Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s northern neighbor and the world’s largest oil exporter.

The move has deepened regional concern about Yemen as the impoverished country’s security forces are already stretched by an insurgency in the north and separatist unrest in the south.

A failed attempt in August by an AQAP suicide bomber to kill Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who heads the kingdom’s anti-terrorism campaign, was the first attack on a royal family member since al Qaeda began attacks in the kingdom in 2003.

“The attack on Prince Mohammed was very daring and very determined and would have given them a huge boost to morale — all that publicity, and to get so close!” said Barrett.

“It will bring a lot of recruits in, too, from central Arabia,” he said, adding that AQAP also “finds some local support (in Yemen).”

Barrett, a former senior British counter-terrorism official, monitors compliance with sanctions against people and organizations with ties to the Taliban, al Qaeda and bin Laden.

(Editing by Samia Nakhoul)