Al-Qaeda Is Shifting Its Tactics and Finding New Followers

Via Al-Qaeda Is Shifting Its Tactics and Finding New Followers:

Nearly seven years after Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda is bloodied, but not bowed - leaving it still capable of dealing a devastating blow. Al-Qaeda is a different organization than it was in 2001. Today, bin Laden is more inspirational than operational. Although he is still dangerous, for the moment, he is more of a terrorist icon than a terrorist operative. It is believed he is not directing al-Qaeda's day-to-day terrorism operations around the world like he did before 9/11.

Al-Qaeda has long sought to recruit terrorist operatives already in place in the West and bin Laden has been especially keen to recruit converts to Islam. These new adherents can often easily overcome the challenges of racial profiling. There is a sinking sense that Islamist radicalization is catching fire in Europe, based on the increased number of plots in recent years involving homegrown terrorists there, as well as Europeans serving in violent jihad overseas. An April Europol report indicated that terrorist attacks in the EU were up almost 25 percent in 2007 and that Pakistan-based al-Qaeda groups are the main drivers of extremism and terrorism concerns in the EU.

We've also had terrorism attempts in the U.S., too, by "self-radicalized" people who were inspired by, but had little or no physical contact with, al-Qaeda. Terrorist cells in Ohio, Illinois, California, New York and New Jersey targeted the U.S. government, the military and critical infrastructure.

The writer is a Heritage Foundation senior fellow and a former deputy assistant secretary of defense.

Al Qaeda: Explosives Expert Among 4 Afghanistan Leaders Killed

The following news item should help set right anyone's mythology that the US in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere are hurting "poor innocent Arab shepherds" who only want to raise sheep, raise a family, and spread peace throughout the world. May righteous Jews and Americans continue to capture and kill our enemies in al-Qaeda, the civilization-hating Muslim terror network. Via FoxNews:

Al Qaeda confirmed in a Web statement Sunday the death of a senior commander known as a top explosives and poisons expert, who is believed to have been killed in a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan last week.

The statement said Abu Khabab al-Masri and three other commanders were killed. It did not give details on when or how they were killed, but Pakistani authorities have said they believe al-Masri died in an American airstrike last Monday on a compound near the Afghan border.

Pakistani officials have said six people were killed in that strike, in the country's lawless South Waziristan tribal region.

Al-Masri, an Egyptian militant whose real name is Midhat Mursi, had a $5 million bounty on his head from the United States. He is accused of training terrorists to use poisons and explosives, and is believed to have trained homicide bombers who killed 17 American sailors on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.

He is also believed to have helped run Al Qaeda's Darunta training camp in eastern Afghanistan, until the camp was abandoned amid the 2001 U.S. invasion of the country. There he is thought to have conducted experiments in chemical and biological weapons, testing materials on dogs.

For more on Al-Masri' s relationship to Osama bin Laden, see this. In addition, although the Weekly Standard incorrectly reported Abu Khaba al-Masri's death in 2006, their article, here, on the criminal legacy of his life is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about the militaristic core of Islam and how it institutionalizes homicide.

Canada Removes Terrorist Websites

A new area for righteous activists, moralists, ethicists, and the superb intelligence units of the US and Israeli governments to combat and destroy. From Canada Removes Terrorist Websites:

The Canadian Internet service provider iWeb recently removed three websites powered by Hamas and Hizbullah - both designated as terrorist organizations in Canada. Jonathan Halevi, co-founder of the Orient Research Group Ltd. and a senior researcher of the Middle East and radical Islam at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, had filed a complaint after discovering that an official Hamas website was being hosted in Canada. After reporting that Hizbullah may be activating sleeper cells in Canada, CBC questioned iWeb about two additional websites, one promoting Hizbullah and the other in support of Hamas, both of which were eventually taken down.

According to Halevi, as much as 95% of online activity powered by terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda and Hamas, is hosted by American servers.

"Nobody is getting sued for supporting terrorist organizations on the Web. There is an urgent need for an international Internet police," he said.

Muslim Terrorists May Be Trying To Sink the Dollar

There is no doubt that the best recourse to exact revenge against Muslim terrorists and their supporters who are holding westerners - especially the US - hostage to their Muslim-infected OPEC policy which is to charge all westerners enormous sums of money for oil taken out of the earth by technology that WE TAUGHT THEM HOW TO USE, is for the US to jack up the price of wheat, corn, and oat that WE export to those same "starving" 3rd world Muslim-infested countries.

That's right, I said it. Jack up the price of wheat, corn and oat that we sell to Muslim countries. That's the only way that we can level the playing fields. Via IsraelNN.com:

Mujahideen Muslim terrorists may be behind the sinking American dollar as part of a campaign to cripple the American economy, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported. The media watch group, which specializes in tracking Arabic language websites, said that postings on websites the past two years reflect a move toward waging an economic war against the United States.Financial, rather than military, losses that will prompt the U.S. to change its policies in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Mujahideen terrorist groups that operate in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries "have come to the conclusion that it is financial, rather than military, losses that will prompt the U.S. to change its policies in the Middle East and elsewhere," according to MEMRI.

An article recently posted in Sada Al-Jihad (Echo of Jihad) magazine and posted on several Muslim websites, discusses the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. as having influenced the decline in the dollar. It also cited the cost of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan as draining the American economy.

Another recent posting stated, "The dollar can expect two additional blows that will break its back... [namely] the announcement of the return of the [religious rule of the] Caliphate..." and the reinstatement of the gold standard in international monetary trade. It urged Mujahideen "to get rid of American dollars" before an "imminent" terrorist attack that "will put an end to the so-called United States of America and destroy its economy completely."

MEMRI concluded, "Given that it is highly atypical for Al-Qaeda to give prior warning of its attacks, the message is probably an attempt to pressure Muslims to sell dollars, in order to generate pessimism in the dollar market and thus accelerate the drop in its value."

Al Qaeda Discusses Losing Iraq

Al Qaeda web sites are making a lot of noise about why they lost in Iraq. Western intelligence agencies are fascinated by the statistics being posted in several of these Arab language sites. Not the kind of stuff you read about in the Western media. According to al Qaeda, their collapse in Iraq was steep and catastrophic. Today, al Qaeda has been shattered, with most of its leadership and foot soldiers dead, captured or moved from Iraq. As a result, al Qaeda attacks have declined more than 90 percent. Worse, most of their Iraqi Sunni Arab allies have turned on them, or simply quit. This "betrayal" is handled carefully on the terrorist web sites, for it is seen as both shameful, and perhaps recoverable. Click here to read it all.

MI5 investigating Al-Qaeda attempt to infiltrate British labs, get killer viruses

Via JihadWatch.

Watch for the howls of protest to come, in which the possibility of Al-Qaeda's actually obtaining such viruses will be lost amid cries of "racism" and infringement of privacy, etc. "M15 in terrorist checks on 800 killer virus labs," by Jason Lewis in the Daily Mail:

MI5 and anti-terrorist police are carrying out secret background checks on thousands of scientists amid fears that Al Qaeda is trying to infiltrate British research laboratories to obtain deadly viruses.

The vetting, which includes checks on family backgrounds, political views and associates, is part of a review of some 800 laboratories in hospitals, universities and private firms where staff have access to incurable viruses such as ebola.

Last night, Whitehall sources confirmed the crackdown by MI5 and the police's National Counter Terrorism Security Office.

A series of spot checks and detailed inspections are also being led by experts from the Health and Safety Executive.

Last week one of the HSE's top inspectors revealed details of its investigation, which until now has been highly secret.

Dr Paul Logan, of its Biological Agents Unit, told a Commons sub-committee on biosecurity: "We work very closely with the security services. We advise them on toxins and pathogens.

"They are looking at very different things at the moment in terms of vetting of staff, looking at physical security and how easy it is to break into premises and the wider security issues."...

US Military Kills al-Qaida Leader

Good news. From My Way News:

A U.S. military helicopter fired a guided missile to kill a wanted al-Qaida in Iraq leader from Saudi Arabia who was responsible for the bombing deaths of five American soldiers, a spokesman said Sunday.

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Gregory Smith said Jar Allah, also known as Abu Yasir al-Saudi, and another Saudi known only as Hamdan, were both killed Wednesday in Mosul.

According to the military, al-Saudi conducted numerous attacks against Iraqi and U.S. forces, including a Jan. 28 bomb attack that killed the five U.S. soldiers.

Rest in pieces, fother mucker.

Abbas admits: Al Qaeda active in Gaza

For the first time, Mahmoud Abbas tells the truth. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday admitted what Israeli security experts have been saying for over a year - that Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist network is active in the Gaza Strip. Speaking to the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat, Abbas said that Al Qaeda cells were receiving assistance from Gaza's Hamas rulers in setting up a base of operations. Abbas complained that the Hamas-Al Qaeda alliance would only hinder the overall Palestinian goal of gaining sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and declaring a sovereign state that includes the Gaza Strip.

Islamists planned attacks across Europe

Reuters likes to call them "Islamist extremists", but that is duplicitous term, because the word "Islamist" already implies "extremist". Regardless, this should come as no surprise to anyone, except of course Islamists, their defenders and apologists. From Islamists planned attacks across Europe:

Islamist extremists were planning attacks across Europe, especially against public transport, before their arrests in Barcelona last weekend, a Spanish paper reported on Saturday, citing a would-be attacker's testimony.

The Al Qaeda-inspired cell planned to attack the Barcelona metro and other targets in Spain, Germany, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom, said the bomber turned police informant.

In testimony that led to the arrest of 14 South Asians last Saturday, the informant told police the group had a preference for attacks on public transport, especially metro systems, El Pais newspaper reported.

Two pairs with explosive-filled bags were to enter separate Barcelona subway stations and other members of the group were to detonate their bombs by remote control, said the witness.

On Friday, Spain's government said the Barcelona cell was preparing to carry out the metro attack either last weekend or in the following 15 days.

Two other pairs of suicide bombers had been assigned targets elsewhere in Spain, another was to attack Germany, three were given objectives in France and two more were to strike Portugal.

The informant said the Barcelona cell had six suicide bombers and other members responsible for preparing explosives and planning attacks in other European states. Four of those arrested have since been released due to lack of evidence.

Al Qaeda was to take responsibility for the Barcelona attacks through Baitullah Mehsud, a Taliban commander the Pakistani government says was behind the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, El Pais said.

The Barcelona bombings could have taken place less than two months before Spain's March 9 general election.

Islamic militants attacked Madrid commuter trains days before Spain's last general election in March 2004, killing 191 people and wounding 1,800. They said the attacks were made in revenge for Spain sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Furthermore, why bother with the term "al-Qaeda" as the name for "Islamist extremism" anyway. Muslims are involved in 25 of some 30 conflicts going on in the world: in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, East Timor, India, Indonesia (2 provinces), Kashmir, Kazakastan, Kosovo, Kurdistan, Macedonia, the Middle East, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Sudan, Russia-Chechnya, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan. Wouldn't the term "Islamist" be sufficient?

Doesn't this mean that extremist Islam is the norm and normal Islam is extremely rare?

Balkan Terrorists Target Euro Police Convention

An important alert via the excellent 1389 blog:

The 11th European Police Congress, to be held in Berlin on 29-30th January is the target of a Balkan Al Qaeda franchise.

The convention will be inaugurated by Franco Frattini, Vice President of the European Commission, Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security. The second item on the agenda is “Global, European and National threats by Terrorists: National Concepts to face the Challenge.”

In a programme note (bottom Programme section) it is advised that one of the speakers, Dr Darko Trifunovic - a maverick young investigator from the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Security Studies - will not be able to attend due to “pressure and death threats” made against him by radical groups that are under his investigation. He has decided not to “expose himself and the congress to further danger.”

Dr Darko Trifunovic has been conducting research into the origins, ambitions and operating methods of what he calls “white Al Qaeda”, the home grown branch of the terrorist franchise organization in the various areas of the Balkans.

It first took foothold in Bosnia-Herzegovina after the Western powers in the 90’s saw the influx of Afghan war veterans into the territory as an easy way to support the Bosnian Muslims. Since the Dayton Peace Accord Iranians as well as Saudi Wahhabis have flooded the statelet with funds, over-sized mosques and subversive organizations, one of which has members throughout the Bosniak diaspora in Europe, Canada and the US. One such is CNAB, the center of gravity of the present threats against Trifunovic.

Trifunovic has also found new links between Bosnia and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the London and Madrid train bombings. Specifically mentioned are Mohammed Atta, who coordinated the 9/11 outrage, and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Bosnian citizenship holder and war veteran, former Al Qaeda ‘Operations Chief’, who - according to Dr Darko Trifunovic - took over the leadership of the Al Qaeda media campaign (’the Committee’) during the planning of the 9/11. Atta’s place of residence was a Bosnian hamlet before launching off to Hamburg and the US for his fatal mission.

With the knowledge of the UN interim governors in Kosovo, Albanian-American radicals were actively recruiting terrorists for ‘the war against America’ prior to the 9/11 attack, of which they had foreknowledge. The UN however, did nothing.

The Foreign Area Officer Association FAOA posits that the Sarajevo based organization, AIO’s (Aktivna Islamska Omladina)[1] “(…) Islamic weekly magazine SAFF [2] and organization’s website have been fronts of radical Islamic preaching, gaining notoriety for publishing interviews with terrorists who have fought against US forces in Iraq and expressing solidarity with the jihadists and suicide bombers in Israel.” FAOA also links the AIO with members throughout the Bosniak diaspora in Europe and the US, one of which is the CNAB, now the center of gravity, threatening Trifunovic.

Click here to read the full alert.

Warning: Al-Qaeda Planning Attacks on Israelis in Turkey

From Warning: Al-Qaeda Planning Attacks on Israelis in Turkey:

Israeli security services have received specific intelligence that al-Qaeda cells in Turkey are planning to carry out terror attacks on Israeli targets and sites affiliated with the U.S., Yediot Ahronot reported Monday.

Al-Qaeda Heads List of Suspects in Bhutto Assassination in Pakistan

I have no doubt that Bhutto's assassination was an inside job. Linkage thanks to Daily Alert. From Al-Qaeda Heads List of Suspects in Bhutto Assassination in Pakistan:

At the top of the list of suspects in the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is the al-Qaeda terrorist network and its legion of allies, including loosely affiliated groups that espouse similar views and, in some cases, share training facilities and other resources. But several officials said it is equally plausible that the assassination was carried out with the support - or at least the tacit approval - of Pakistani government employees. Retired Marine Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, former chief of Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters for the Middle East, said there is "no doubt in my mind" that the culprits are linked to al-Qaeda. Bruce Reidel, a former CIA official and onetime member of the National Security Council, said of al-Qaeda: "They had means, plenty of martyr wannabes. And they probably had inside information on her route and security."

See also Al-Qaeda Seen as Top Suspect in Bhutto's Slaying:

Within Pakistan, Osama bin Laden's group has worked with more than a dozen radical fundamentalist Islamist organizations that have grown in power and mainstream popularity. Two of them, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, changed their names in recent years in order to avoid U.S. and Pakistani sanctions. All of them are Sunni Muslim-based and oppose Bhutto in part because she was female and from the Shiite sect.

MEMRI: Major Jihadi Cleric says 9/11 Was a Sin

Unheard of compunction from a Muslim radical. An important read excerpted from MEMRI:

Over the last few weeks, Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif, one of the least public yet most important figures in the global jihad movement, has published a long-awaited new work, Wathiqat Tarshid Al-'Aml Al-Jihadi fi Misr w'Al-'Alam ("Document of Right Guidance for Jihad Activity in Egypt and the World"), in which he calls for a stop to jihad activities in the West and also to those against the ruling regimes in Muslim countries.

The new book, which Imam wrote while serving a life sentence in Egypt, was published in serial form in two Arab dailies, the Kuwaiti Al-Jarida and the Egyptian Al-Masri Al-Yawm, and has been the subject of extensive discussion and polemic among Islamists and observers of Islamist movements. The document is at once a book and a formal initiative, and the majority of leaders and members of the Jihad organization in the Egyptian prisons have signed the document and promised to stop armed activities. This entire process was facilitated by the Egyptian authorities, and the document was reviewed by a commission of Al-Azhar scholars. [1]

The book has generated such interest due to its author's standing and importance among radical Islamists. In addition to his given name, Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif, he is also known as "Dr. Fadl" and "'Abd Al-Qader Bin 'Abd Al-'Aziz." His 1988 book on the laws of jihad, Al-'Umda fi I'dad Al-'Udda ("The Essentials of Making Ready [for Jihad]"), was used as a jihad manual in Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. [2]

Some of the most enthusiastic supporters of Sayyed Imam's new document have been leaders of Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya, another Egyptian jihad group which, in 1997, began its own process of ideological revisions. These revisions eventually led to a wide-ranging reassessment of their beliefs, and they published a number of polemical tracts against Al-Qaeda.

(See MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 309, "The Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya Cessation of Violence: An Ideological Reversal," December 22, 2006, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA30906 .)

In recent interviews and statements, members of Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya and other like-minded individuals have given an upbeat assessment of the new book's impact, expressing the hope that Sayyed Imam's revisions would lead to something similar in Al-Qaeda itself, or perhaps to an internal split or a weakening of support for Al-Qaeda. [3]

Al-Zawahiri addressed the issue of Sayyed Imam's new book even before it was published, in the course of a feature-length video produced by Al-Sahab called Quwwat Al-Haqq ("The Power of Truth"). He argued that the revisions, which he calls the "retractions," were simply the product of torture in the Egyptian prisons; he said that he didn't blame their author for having broken down, but rather those outside the prisons who were enthusiastically promoting his new book. These latter he compared to gravediggers, who as soon as they hear that someone is sick, rush to him and wait eagerly for him to die so they can earn their living by burying him.

This line of defense has since been taken up by other Al-Qaeda spokesmen and supporters.The most vocal of these is Hani Al-Siba'i, an Egyptian Islamist living in London, who appears frequently on the Arab satellite stations and in the press. He also heads the Al-MaqrezeCenter for Historical Studies, and runs the website http://www.almaqreze.net/.

A third category of responses is that of independent jihadists. The most important of these to date has been Abu Basir Al-Tartusi, a prominent radical sheikh. Unlike Al-Qaeda, he does not believe that Sayyed Imam was forced to write his new book, and he offers his reasons for believing that it was written out of conviction. Also unlike Al-Qaeda, he undertakes a refutation of the central arguments in the book, and pillories Sayyed Imam for employing what are, in his opinion, weak proofs to try to stop the jihad. He accuses Sayyed Imam of going from extreme to extreme, noting that in the past both he himself and Al-Zarqawi's erstwhile mentor, Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, had criticized Sayyed Imam for being too radical and too quick to declare other Muslims apostates. [4] (For more on Abu Basir Al-Tartusi, see MEMRI Special Report No. 40, "Expatriate Syrian Salafi Sheikh Al-Tartusi Comes Out Against Suicide Attacks," February 10, 2006, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sr&ID=SR4006.)

It should be noted that Sayyed Imam's revisions are less far-reaching than those of Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya. He does not clearly state that he no longer considers the current rulers of Muslim countries to be apostates; the reason he forbids fighting them is primarily that this jihad has little or no chance of success, and thus does more harm than good. He has also not renounced his previous writings, and claims that they were merely misunderstood. He is much clearer on other topics, like the shari'a prohibition on killing Western tourists, civilians in Western countries, and so on. The question of what precisely the document says and does not say is a complex one that will be taken up in future reports.

In the coming weeks and months, MEMRI will be providing full coverage of Sayyed Imam's new book and the reactions to it. By way of introduction, the following are excerpts from the first two segments of a six-part interview granted by Sayyed Imam to the Al-Hayat daily. In the interview, he deals at length with the 9/11 attacks, his relationship with Al-Zawahiri, and the emergence of Al-Qaeda. He describes the 9/11 attacks as betrayal and perfidy; Al-Zawahiri as a charlatan prone to betraying his friends, bin Laden as lacking a solid religious education, and Al-Qaeda as an organization without a shari'a authority and without a moral compass.

Al-Qaeda Kingpin: I Trained 9/11 Hijackers

More Muslim hubris. I don't expect any less from a culture whose greatest contribution to civilization was the concept of zero. From Al-Qaeda Kingpin: I Trained 9/11 Hijackers:

Louai al-Sakka sits isolated from the world and fellow inmates 24 hours a day at Kandira prison east of Istanbul, since being convicted last year in connection with the bombing of the British consulate in Istanbul that killed 27 people. By his own account he is a senior al-Qaeda operative who took part in the beheading of Briton Kenneth Bigley in Iraq and helped train the 9/11 bombers. Sakka also had been planning to sink Israeli cruise ships off the Turkish coast using motorized dinghies. His downfall in August 2005 was a result of a nighttime explosion that caused a fire in his apartment, where firefighters found a do-it-yourself bomb factory.

Jerusalem Viewpoints from JCPA

Received by email:

Greetings from Jerusalem,

We just published two new and very insightful Jerusalem Viewpoints that I think you'll find of interest:

"The Muslim Brotherhood: A Moderate Islamic Alternative to Al-Qaeda or a Partner in Global Jihad?" by Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi

"The Palestinian Authority and Jewish Holy Sites in the West Bank: Rachel's Tomb as a Test Case" by Nadav Shragai

FBI: Al-Qaeda May Strike U.S. Shopping Malls in LA, Chicago

The FBI is warning that al-Qaeda may be preparing a series of holiday attacks on U.S. shopping malls in Los Angeles and Chicago, according to an intelligence report distributed to law enforcement authorities Thursday. The alert said al-Qaeda "hoped to disrupt the U.S. economy and has been planning the attack for the past two years."

Was California arson by Al Qaeda?

Received by email. Written by Emanuel Winston:

For some time American Security Intelligence knew that Islamist Terrorists have been filtering into America, as "sleeper" cells, observing and awaiting their chance or signal from abroad. The State Department as America’s gate-keeper has held the gates wide open and they came in.

The 19 hijacking terrorists who perpetrated 9/11 on America, killing almost 3,000 men, women and children could have been stopped. The 19 came into America freely, took air plane flying lessons, hijacked four planes, crashed two that collapsed the Twin Towers/World Trade Center, one smashed the Pentagon and one was downed by the passengers into a field in Pennsylvania. Of the 19 Al Qaeda terrorists, 15 were Saudis and 4 were Egyptians.

The FBI were instructed by the State Department NOT to investigate Muslims, lest it offend our oil sources. As a result, American universities are flooded with Muslim so-called students whose favorite classes are nuclear physics, chemistry and biology.

That’s the price we pay for America’s open borders and lack of security. Giving out driver’s licenses wholesale will only increase America’s dangers. SEE BELOW! That’s real life happening NOW!

Investigators know now that at least one of the huge fires in California was caused by arson. They could have been caused by a simple nut or, as happened in the Carmel forests of Israel and the forests on Route 1 to Jerusalem which were set by Muslim arsonists.
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One Email report from AP (in full below) saying that: AL QAEDA MAY HAVE SET THE FIRES THAT ARE RAGING IN CALIFORNIA. "The FBI alerted law enforcement agencies June 25th that an al-Qaeda terrorist now in detention had talked of masterminding a plot to set a series of devastating forest fires around the western U.S....Many forest law enforcement officers had no idea the warning had been issued."

PHOENIX (AP) — The FBI alerted law enforcement agencies last month that an al-Qaeda terrorist now in detention had talked of masterminding a plot to set a series of devastating forest fires around the western United States.

Rose Davis, a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, told The Associated Press that officials there took note of the warning but didn't see a need to act further on it.

The contents of the June 25 memo from the FBI's Denver office were reported Friday by The Arizona Republic. Davis declined to share a copy of the memo and an FBI spokeswoman in Denver didn't immediately return a telephone call.

The Republic reported that the detainee, who was not identified, said the plan involved three or four people setting wildfires using timed devices in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming that would detonate in forests and grasslands after the operatives had left the country.

The memo noted that investigators couldn't determine whether the detainee was telling the truth. The newspaper said many forest law enforcement officers it contacted had no idea the warning had been issued.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Daniel Pearl's widow drops lawsuit

The widow of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl has withdrawn a lawsuit seeking damages against al-Qaida, a dozen reputed terrorists and Pakistan's largest bank.

In a letter Tuesday to the federal judge presiding over the case, lawyers for Mariane Pearl noted that Habib Bank Limited and the other defendants in the case had not answered the lawsuit filed in July, but they otherwise did not explain their reason for dropping the action.

The lawsuit had sought unspecified damages against people and organizations that Mariane Pearl alleged were involved in the kidnapping, torture and murder of her husband in 2002.

Pearl, 38, The Wall Street Journal's South Asia bureau chief, was abducted from Karachi, Pakistan, while researching a story on Islamic militancy in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Pearl's execution and beheading were videotaped by his kidnappers and displayed on the Internet. His remains were found in a shallow grave on Karachi's outskirts.

Among the defendants in Mariane Pearl's lawsuit were al-Qaida; the al-Rashid Trust, an outlawed Islamic charity; and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the imprisoned al-Qaida No. 3 leader and mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The suit alleged Habib Bank knowingly provided financial services for al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

Several men charged in the kidnapping and murder case have been convicted in Pakistan, including British-born Islamic militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh.

He was sentenced to death in 2002, and three of his accomplices were given life prison terms. Their appeals are pending.

Mohammed, caught in Pakistan, is being held at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He claimed he personally beheaded Pearl, according to a partial Pentagon transcript of his testimony at a military tribunal.

Mariane Pearl was represented by Motley Rice, a law firm based in Mount Pleasant, S.C. The firm has brought other suits against Middle Eastern banks and companies on behalf of Sept. 11 victims.

The Saudi Roots of 9/11

From The Saudi Roots of 9/11:

In The Siege of Mecca, Wall Street Journal writer Yaroslav Trofimov pulls back the curtain surrounding events that the Saudis would very much rather the world forgot.

The November 1979 siege of the Grand Mosque in Mecca laid the groundwork for al-Qaeda and the events of Sep. 11. Juhayman al-Uteybi led the siege. Driven by Wahhabi orthodoxy, Juhayman hated all infidels.

America's then-president Jimmy Carter's naive faith in peacemaking was no match for fundamentalist fury.

Carter's administration was busy propping up the Saudis even as outlandish conspiracy theories implicating the U.S. swept the Muslim world. Embassy staff fled murderous mobs from Pakistan to Libya.

Damage from the siege and the battle to recapture it meant reconstruction costing billions - payable to the Bin Laden Construction Company.

Al-Qaeda Targets West from Horn of Africa

From Al-Qaeda Targets West from Horn of Africa:

The Horn now ranks alongside the Middle East as the area of greatest concern to British counter-terrorism officials, coming second only to Pakistan, where al-Qaeda's core leaders are ensconced. Al-Qaeda operatives based in the Horn, probably in the failed state of Somalia, could choose to target Britain, which has a large Somali community. Of the four men convicted for the failed bomb attacks in London on 21 July 2005, all were from the Horn and two were of Somali origin.