Monday Winds of War Briefing
Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the global War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. Monday's Winds of War briefings are given by Peace Like a River and Security Watchtower.
Top Topics
* Hamas won a landslide election victory in major cities in the West Bank, stunning Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, and prompting the Israeli Foreign Ministry to say that "if Hamas was ever to become a dominant force in Palestinian politics, that would be the end of the peace process." The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution calling for Hamas to be prevented from running in elections until it recognizes Israel's right to exist, but the Bush administration has also indicated they will not get involved in the Palestinian elections. The European Union is considering cutting aid to the Palestinians if Hamas wins parliamentary elections. Hamas denounced the resolution and said they would participate and put forward candidates regardless. Division within the Fatah Party have Mahmoud Abbas threatening to to quit, while some are urging him to delay the January elections.
* The Al Aqsa Martyr Brigades claim they have developed a Qassam rocket that can hits targets in Israel from up to 11 miles away. Over the last two weeks, Palestinian terrorists have fired 92 rocket and mortar shells on Israel, including a series of Qassam rocket attacks that landed in the Western Negev. In response, IDF artillery units pounded northern Gaza, and Israeli aircraft targeted Palestinian terrorists who were firing rockets into Israel, hitting key bridges being used by the group and wounding four.
* President Bush refused to say whether the National Security Agency eavesdropped without warrants on people inside the United States but leaders of Congress condemned the practice on Friday and promised to look into what the administration has done. On Saturday he defended the program, saying he authorized its use more than 30 times since the 2001 terror attacks, but only to intercept the international communications of people who have been determined to have "a clear link" to al-Qaida or other terrorist organizations.
Other topics today include: Terrorists shoot Israeli settler; bomb-packed vehicle found in Nablus; The Mehlis Report; Sharon to hospital; Jordan steps up security; Patriot Act; Immigration Bill Amendment; Bakr trial; Rebel attack in Columbia; Firefight in Kashmir; Clashes in Afghanistan; Car bombing in Kabul; Counterterrorism in Bangladesh; Security faltering in Kyrgyzstan; IED kills 3 Filipino officers; anti-terrorism legislation in Philippines; Thai authorities battle insurgency; Counterterrorism raids in Paris; Basque bombing in Spain; Bosnia passes arms to Afghanistan; Iran missile purchases reported; EU closer to sanctions on Iran; Terrorism & Africa's diamond trade; Cheney trip to Middle East; US threat warning; and much more.
Iran & the Middle East
* Palestinian terrorists shot and killed an Israeli settler in the West Bank on Friday, while he was passing near the Beit Haggai settlement immediately south of Hebron.
* Israeli analysts say that democracy is slowly taking hold in Iraq and the insurgency is losing its Sunni support-base. "Basically the U.S. efforts are working and progress is being made, which doesn't mean there aren't problems," said Prof. Barry Rubin, an analyst with the GLORIA Center at the Interdisciplinary Center near Tel Aviv. "The turnout is good because [it means] people think they're going to win. Intimidation isn't working. It shows that people want [democracy]," said Rubin.
* Palestinian authorities discover a bomb-packed vehicle outside of the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, West Bank.
* With the string of recent bombings in Lebanon and the Mehlis report results pointing at Syrian officials, there is a heightened sense of concern and caution on the streets in Beirut.
* Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a mild stroke on Sunday and is expected to recover and be back at work in a few days. The seventy-seven year old never lost consciousness. News of his admission to the hospital drew cheers and celebrations from Palestinians in Gaza, who fired off weapons into the air and handed out candy.
* Six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) began a joint military exercise named Jazeera Hawk-1 in Qatar on Sunday, "aimed at practicing command missions, joint control, planning and executing joint air assignments." They also stated that a peaceful Iranian nuclear program was "not worrisome," but also warned of the potential security consequences of a nuclear weapons program.
* Hundreds of Jordanian security forces conducted security sweeps in looking for Islamic terrorists in the city of Irbid, following intelligence that pointed to a possible suicide car bomb threat. On Sunday, a Jordanian court handed down a second death sentence for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, for a failed suicide bombing at the border a year ago.
America Domestic Security & the America's
* Senate Democrats blocked passage Friday of a new Patriot Act to combat terrorism at home, depicting the measure as a threat to the constitutional liberties of innocent Americans. The Senate voted 52-47 to advance a House-passed bill to a final vote, eight short of the 60 needed to overcome the filibuster backed by nearly all Senate Democrats and a handful of the 55 Republicans.
* The Justice Department's inspector general has found that FBI agents mishandled a counterterrorism case in 2002, falsified records to cover up their mistakes and retaliated against a whistleblower for exposing the problems.
* A House-Senate agreement reached Friday opened the way for Congress to approve a two-year extension of a post-9/11 law providing federal insurance backup for catastrophic losses suffered in a terrorist attack. The Senate approved the compromise by voice vote late Friday, and the House is expected to follow suit on Saturday as Congress moves to finish its work for the year.
* The House voted Thursday to add an amendment to the immigration bill HR4437 calling for the 700-mile fence to be built in five sections, leaving roughly 1,300 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border between the unfenced sections. One section would start five miles west of the Columbus, N.M., port of entry and end 10 miles east of El Paso. The bill, called the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, passed the House late Friday 239-182. Congress was still struggling over other aspects of the bill.
* At least 51 people who crossed the border illegally have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism since such tracking began 14 months ago, according to figures released to Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., by the Department of Homeland Security.
* A group linked to terrorist organization Hezbollah has cloned the cellphones of Rogers Communications executives, including that of CEO Ted Rogers, The Globe and Mail reported Saturday. The Rogers Wireless bill listed more than 300 calls made in the month of August, some to foreign countries, including Pakistan, Libya, Syria, India and Russia.
* Abdullah Khadr, accused of links to terrorism, was arrested by the RCMP Saturday night in Toronto on a provisional warrant issued by the United States. The warrant is issued when a foreign government makes an application to Ottawa for the arrest of an individual based in Canada.
* The hearing of the conspiracy to murder re-trial against Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Imam Yasin Abu Bakr has been set to engage the attention of a High Court judge in January next year, officials at the Supreme Court said yesterday. Bakr was charged with conspiring to murder two expelled members of his Mucurapo Road mosque, Salim "Small Salim" Rasheed and Zaki Aubaidah, his son-in-law on June 4, 2003, at Citrine Drive, Diego Martin.
* The police officer who slapped five charges against Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr was grilled extensively last week by Bakr's lead attorney, Pamela Elder. Insp Christopher Holder of the Port of Spain Criminal Investigations Department laid five charges against Bakr, one for sedition, three for inciting the demand of money, property and the breach of the peace and a fifth count of terrorism. The charges all arose from Abu Bakr's Eil-ul-Fitr sermon at the Mucurapo Road Mosque in St James on November 4.
* A paper (available here as PDF) by Peter DeShazo of the CSIS says Bolivia is in the midst of a deep political crisis that may be further exacerbated by results of the December 18 elections. The very real prospect of a deepening crisis in Bolivia, with negative implications for regional development and security, poses a serious challenge to Bolivia’s neighbors and to the United States.
* Hundreds of fighters from three rebel armies united to attack a village in western Colombia, officials said Sunday, offering new details in the bold assault that killed at least five police officers.
Russia & South/Central Asia
* Police in Indian-administered Kashmir say two suspected militants and an army soldier have died in a gun battle. The fighting broke out on Friday morning when soldiers raided a hideout of suspected militants in Rajouri district of Jammu.
* A US soldier and a suspected Taleban fighter have been killed in fighting in Afghanistan in the northeast of Kandahar province, US military says. US troops were on patrol with Afghan soldiers when they came under fire, a US military statement says.
* An Afghan terrorist blasted himself in an attempt to set a bomb near a mosque in the town of Mazari Sharif, Reuters reported. The mosque was expected to be visited by the Minister of Youth of Afghanistan Amin Afzali.
* A bomb has exploded in a car near the new Afghan parliament in Kabul, killing a suspected suicide bomber. Friday's explosion took place just 500 metres from the building where MPs will meet on Monday for the historic opening of the new parliament.
* Four policemen and three suspected Taliban fighters were killed in two separate attacks in volatile southern Afghanistan, police and a provincial officials have said. About a dozen suspected insurgents stormed a police checkpost on a main highway late Saturday, sparking a fierce gun battle in which three policeman and a attacker were killed, highway police commander Mohammad Nabi Allahyar said Sunday.
* Here are the daily updates from the South Asia Terrorism Portal for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
* Law enforcers continued the hunt for the hideouts of the activists and the masterminds of the outlawed Jamiatul Mujahidin Bangladesh (JMB) and arrested six persons for their alleged involvement in bomb terrorism from Sirajganjm, Chapai Nawabganj and Gazipur areas Thursday.
* Security forces in Bangladesh say they have arrested the military head of a banned Islamic militant group blamed for a series of suicide bombings. The suspected operations commander of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Ataur Rahman Sunny, was held during a raid in the capital, Dhaka, on Wednesday.
* Police in Bangladesh seized a huge amount of bombs and explosives and arrested four militants in the second major success this week against radicals fighting for Islamic rule, officials said on Saturday.
* The Rapid Action Battalion has been conducting a countrywide crackdown on the Islamist terrorist and arrested about 12 militants of banned Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from different parts of that country on Friday. The arrested JMB cadres were identified as Jamil, Shamshuddin Aftab and Monirul Islam.
* Bangladesh's leading Ulema Saturday denounced bomb terrorism in the name of Islam and called upon the millions of religious–minded Muslims in the country to resist such heinous acts unitedly. Addressing a big rally at the city’s Paltan maidan the Islamic thinkers said the activists and masterminds of bomb terrorism are the enemies of Islam as well as humanity.
* A new law in Bangladesh having provisions for the prevention of 'terrorist financing' will soon replace the existing Anti-Money Laundering Act 2002. The final draft of the law titled, "Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act 2005", which is expected to be placed before the Cabinet tomorrow (Monday) for its approval, seeks to empower the Bangladesh Bank to suspend or stop operation of any account, for 30 days, involved in suspicious transactions without any prior notice.
* Scandinavian ceasefire monitors in Sri Lanka have blamed Tamil Tigers for shooting at an unarmed military helicopter earlier this week and said the attack seriously undermined the fragile truce. The Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) called Wednesday's shooting of a Mi-17 transport helicopter flying over the east of the island a "gross violation" of a ceasefire that went into force in February 2002
* Among the seven items in the latest issue of Chechnya Weekly from The Jamestown Foundation is a report the lower house of Chechnya's newly-elected parliament, unanimously voted on December 14 to rename the capital, Grozny, in honor of Akhmad Kadyrov, the pro-Moscow president assassinated in May 2004.
* The main representative of Al Qaeda in the North Caucasus was killed in the Russian internal republic of Dagestan in November, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Friday. The "ideologist" of the international terrorist network, Sheikh Abu Omar Al Seyf, came to the region about 10 years ago on the orders of Osama bin Laden, the FSB’s social communication center was quoted by RIA-Novosti as saying.
* A report from the International Crisis Group entitled Kyrgyzstan: A Faltering State looks at the unrest and violence in that country. The government is losing control over public security.
Far East & Southeast Asia
* A magistrate in Australia refused to grant bail for two men who have been charged with terrorist offenses, saying that granting them bail would provide an unacceptable risk to society.
* The Communist New People's Army (NPA) detonated a roadside bomb on a Filipino military convoy in North Cortabato, killing three officers and wounding eleven other soldiers. The troops were headed to Nabubdasan to provide medical care to farmers in the region at the time of the attack.
* President President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo prodded the Filipino Senate to pass an anti-terrorism bill recently passed in the House of Representatives, saying "we appeal to the Senate to finish the job as a supreme act of patriotism to save lives from the scourge of evil."
* Thousands of Muslims, led by former Indonesian President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, marched through the streets of Jakarta to protest against terrorism.
* Thai authorities continue to battle an Islamic insurgency in southern Thailand, a conflict that has killed more than 1,100 people in less than two years. Security analysts describe the 3,000 armed insurgents as "committed, hard-core, Islamo-separatists."
Europe
* Counterterrorism raids in Paris this week have netted 25 Islamic terror suspects, as well as yielding caches of explosives, detonators and guns. One of the suspect had ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's network in Iraq. At least fourteen suspects were released without charges, while 11 others are suspected of financing terror and remained detained.
* According to one report out of London, two of the four suicide bombers that carried out the July 7th bombings of the London subway, were scrutinized earlier by British intelligence and weren't considered a threat.
* A bomb exploded Saturday in the Basque region of France, after a threat was called in by the ETA. No injuries were reported.
* Four European nations led by Denmark, are preparing a reform initiative at the U.N. Security Council that would require disclosure to individuals targeted for sanctions as to why they are included on the list, and allow for appeals if requested.
* Rather than destroying weapon stockpiles left over from the 1992-1995 war, the Bosnian Serb government will donate them to the Afghanistan. The transfer will include 4,500 rifles, 400 machineguns, and one million rounds of ammunition.
* According to one report out of Germany that cites a German intelligence report, Iran has purchased eighteen BM-25 missiles from North Korea with the intention of using them to expand their own range on missiles.
* Following weeks of inflammatory rhetoric, many Europeans are now leaning towards sanctions against Iran over their nuclear program. The United States is pushing for a two front approach, isolating and marginalizing the Iranian government, while reaching out and offering assistance to the Iranian people.
Africa
* United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed on Ivory Coast have been extended by a year and imports of rough diamonds have been banned. Terrorist organizations like al-Qaida and civil war groups are reportedly getting funds from diamond trade proceeds in Africa.
* Investigations into Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad bil-Maghrib (the Monotheism and Jihad group in Morocco) cells broken up by Moroccan security have revealed the inroads al-Qaeda has made into the region.
* Ethiopia and Eritrea are still caught up amidst a messy decision to end the longstanding border conflicts between the countries. Events of the last couple of weeks indicate that both countries might well sort out their long-standing border dispute militarily again. Ethiopia earlier announced withdrawal of its troops from the tense Eritrea-Ethiopian border.
* A United Nations genocide expert Friday voiced disappointment in the efforts of Sudan’s Government to address the crimes committed in Darfur region, where conflict has been marked by massive displacement, rights abuses and widespread killings.
* A truth commission tasked with investigating more than four decades of human rights abuses in Morocco uncovered nearly 600 disappearances and the deaths of about 500 people during street riots or while in police custody, the state news agency reported Friday. The commission — the first its kind in the Arab world — called for reform of the country's judicial and security sectors, along with constitutional guarantees of human rights, presumption of innocence and fair, open trials, the MAP news agency reported.
* In an interview led by the Iqra channel — an Islamic satellite TV -, the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir denounced American hostility to Arab and Islamic countries. He also said the international Zionist movement is using all means to eradicate Arabs and Islam and target all Muslim countries, including Sudan.
The Global War
* U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney will go to Afghanistan for the first session of its new parliament this week and also make stops in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Oman -- all allies in the U.S. war against terrorism. He will also meet with President Hamid Karzai and visit U.S. troops.
* The scientific community faces a new dilemma with the rapid biotech advances that could on one hand save lives, while on the other wind up being used by terror organizations to carry out biological attacks on a civilian population.
* The United States has warned of possible militant attacks on its interests in the Middle East and North Africa and urged Americans there to be vigilant, the US embassy in Kuwait said on Saturday. "Credible information has indicated terrorist groups seek to continue attacks against US interests in the Middle East and North Africa," the US embassy in Kuwait said in a statement dated Dec. 15 and posted on its Web site on Saturday.
* He hasn't been heard from in more than a year, but one news site reports that it has obtained a new tape of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. But U.S. officials are skeptical of the report, CBS News reports.
* According to an article in the December issue of National Defense, only a few months ago, the primary message was the Navy’s relevance in the U.S. war on terrorism, homeland defense and maritime security, as well as preparing for a possible war in the Pacific. But naval contributions to relief efforts following major natural disasters during the past year—the Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and a devastating earthquake in Pakistan—have prompted a rethinking of naval roles and missions, noted Adm. John B. Nathman, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command.
* The Chinese petroleum company, Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau (ZPAEB), will start drilling the first exploratory well in the Gambela basin, in western Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border. ZPAEB is contracted by Petronas, the Malaysian company which signed an agreement with the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines and Energy (MoME) to explore and develop oil reserve in the Gambela concession.
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Top Topics
* Hamas won a landslide election victory in major cities in the West Bank, stunning Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, and prompting the Israeli Foreign Ministry to say that "if Hamas was ever to become a dominant force in Palestinian politics, that would be the end of the peace process." The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution calling for Hamas to be prevented from running in elections until it recognizes Israel's right to exist, but the Bush administration has also indicated they will not get involved in the Palestinian elections. The European Union is considering cutting aid to the Palestinians if Hamas wins parliamentary elections. Hamas denounced the resolution and said they would participate and put forward candidates regardless. Division within the Fatah Party have Mahmoud Abbas threatening to to quit, while some are urging him to delay the January elections.
* The Al Aqsa Martyr Brigades claim they have developed a Qassam rocket that can hits targets in Israel from up to 11 miles away. Over the last two weeks, Palestinian terrorists have fired 92 rocket and mortar shells on Israel, including a series of Qassam rocket attacks that landed in the Western Negev. In response, IDF artillery units pounded northern Gaza, and Israeli aircraft targeted Palestinian terrorists who were firing rockets into Israel, hitting key bridges being used by the group and wounding four.
* President Bush refused to say whether the National Security Agency eavesdropped without warrants on people inside the United States but leaders of Congress condemned the practice on Friday and promised to look into what the administration has done. On Saturday he defended the program, saying he authorized its use more than 30 times since the 2001 terror attacks, but only to intercept the international communications of people who have been determined to have "a clear link" to al-Qaida or other terrorist organizations.
Other topics today include: Terrorists shoot Israeli settler; bomb-packed vehicle found in Nablus; The Mehlis Report; Sharon to hospital; Jordan steps up security; Patriot Act; Immigration Bill Amendment; Bakr trial; Rebel attack in Columbia; Firefight in Kashmir; Clashes in Afghanistan; Car bombing in Kabul; Counterterrorism in Bangladesh; Security faltering in Kyrgyzstan; IED kills 3 Filipino officers; anti-terrorism legislation in Philippines; Thai authorities battle insurgency; Counterterrorism raids in Paris; Basque bombing in Spain; Bosnia passes arms to Afghanistan; Iran missile purchases reported; EU closer to sanctions on Iran; Terrorism & Africa's diamond trade; Cheney trip to Middle East; US threat warning; and much more.
Iran & the Middle East
* Palestinian terrorists shot and killed an Israeli settler in the West Bank on Friday, while he was passing near the Beit Haggai settlement immediately south of Hebron.
* Israeli analysts say that democracy is slowly taking hold in Iraq and the insurgency is losing its Sunni support-base. "Basically the U.S. efforts are working and progress is being made, which doesn't mean there aren't problems," said Prof. Barry Rubin, an analyst with the GLORIA Center at the Interdisciplinary Center near Tel Aviv. "The turnout is good because [it means] people think they're going to win. Intimidation isn't working. It shows that people want [democracy]," said Rubin.
* Palestinian authorities discover a bomb-packed vehicle outside of the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, West Bank.
* With the string of recent bombings in Lebanon and the Mehlis report results pointing at Syrian officials, there is a heightened sense of concern and caution on the streets in Beirut.
* Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a mild stroke on Sunday and is expected to recover and be back at work in a few days. The seventy-seven year old never lost consciousness. News of his admission to the hospital drew cheers and celebrations from Palestinians in Gaza, who fired off weapons into the air and handed out candy.
* Six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) began a joint military exercise named Jazeera Hawk-1 in Qatar on Sunday, "aimed at practicing command missions, joint control, planning and executing joint air assignments." They also stated that a peaceful Iranian nuclear program was "not worrisome," but also warned of the potential security consequences of a nuclear weapons program.
* Hundreds of Jordanian security forces conducted security sweeps in looking for Islamic terrorists in the city of Irbid, following intelligence that pointed to a possible suicide car bomb threat. On Sunday, a Jordanian court handed down a second death sentence for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, for a failed suicide bombing at the border a year ago.
America Domestic Security & the America's
* Senate Democrats blocked passage Friday of a new Patriot Act to combat terrorism at home, depicting the measure as a threat to the constitutional liberties of innocent Americans. The Senate voted 52-47 to advance a House-passed bill to a final vote, eight short of the 60 needed to overcome the filibuster backed by nearly all Senate Democrats and a handful of the 55 Republicans.
* The Justice Department's inspector general has found that FBI agents mishandled a counterterrorism case in 2002, falsified records to cover up their mistakes and retaliated against a whistleblower for exposing the problems.
* A House-Senate agreement reached Friday opened the way for Congress to approve a two-year extension of a post-9/11 law providing federal insurance backup for catastrophic losses suffered in a terrorist attack. The Senate approved the compromise by voice vote late Friday, and the House is expected to follow suit on Saturday as Congress moves to finish its work for the year.
* The House voted Thursday to add an amendment to the immigration bill HR4437 calling for the 700-mile fence to be built in five sections, leaving roughly 1,300 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border between the unfenced sections. One section would start five miles west of the Columbus, N.M., port of entry and end 10 miles east of El Paso. The bill, called the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, passed the House late Friday 239-182. Congress was still struggling over other aspects of the bill.
* At least 51 people who crossed the border illegally have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism since such tracking began 14 months ago, according to figures released to Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., by the Department of Homeland Security.
* A group linked to terrorist organization Hezbollah has cloned the cellphones of Rogers Communications executives, including that of CEO Ted Rogers, The Globe and Mail reported Saturday. The Rogers Wireless bill listed more than 300 calls made in the month of August, some to foreign countries, including Pakistan, Libya, Syria, India and Russia.
* Abdullah Khadr, accused of links to terrorism, was arrested by the RCMP Saturday night in Toronto on a provisional warrant issued by the United States. The warrant is issued when a foreign government makes an application to Ottawa for the arrest of an individual based in Canada.
* The hearing of the conspiracy to murder re-trial against Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Imam Yasin Abu Bakr has been set to engage the attention of a High Court judge in January next year, officials at the Supreme Court said yesterday. Bakr was charged with conspiring to murder two expelled members of his Mucurapo Road mosque, Salim "Small Salim" Rasheed and Zaki Aubaidah, his son-in-law on June 4, 2003, at Citrine Drive, Diego Martin.
* The police officer who slapped five charges against Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr was grilled extensively last week by Bakr's lead attorney, Pamela Elder. Insp Christopher Holder of the Port of Spain Criminal Investigations Department laid five charges against Bakr, one for sedition, three for inciting the demand of money, property and the breach of the peace and a fifth count of terrorism. The charges all arose from Abu Bakr's Eil-ul-Fitr sermon at the Mucurapo Road Mosque in St James on November 4.
* A paper (available here as PDF) by Peter DeShazo of the CSIS says Bolivia is in the midst of a deep political crisis that may be further exacerbated by results of the December 18 elections. The very real prospect of a deepening crisis in Bolivia, with negative implications for regional development and security, poses a serious challenge to Bolivia’s neighbors and to the United States.
* Hundreds of fighters from three rebel armies united to attack a village in western Colombia, officials said Sunday, offering new details in the bold assault that killed at least five police officers.
Russia & South/Central Asia
* Police in Indian-administered Kashmir say two suspected militants and an army soldier have died in a gun battle. The fighting broke out on Friday morning when soldiers raided a hideout of suspected militants in Rajouri district of Jammu.
* A US soldier and a suspected Taleban fighter have been killed in fighting in Afghanistan in the northeast of Kandahar province, US military says. US troops were on patrol with Afghan soldiers when they came under fire, a US military statement says.
* An Afghan terrorist blasted himself in an attempt to set a bomb near a mosque in the town of Mazari Sharif, Reuters reported. The mosque was expected to be visited by the Minister of Youth of Afghanistan Amin Afzali.
* A bomb has exploded in a car near the new Afghan parliament in Kabul, killing a suspected suicide bomber. Friday's explosion took place just 500 metres from the building where MPs will meet on Monday for the historic opening of the new parliament.
* Four policemen and three suspected Taliban fighters were killed in two separate attacks in volatile southern Afghanistan, police and a provincial officials have said. About a dozen suspected insurgents stormed a police checkpost on a main highway late Saturday, sparking a fierce gun battle in which three policeman and a attacker were killed, highway police commander Mohammad Nabi Allahyar said Sunday.
* Here are the daily updates from the South Asia Terrorism Portal for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
* Law enforcers continued the hunt for the hideouts of the activists and the masterminds of the outlawed Jamiatul Mujahidin Bangladesh (JMB) and arrested six persons for their alleged involvement in bomb terrorism from Sirajganjm, Chapai Nawabganj and Gazipur areas Thursday.
* Security forces in Bangladesh say they have arrested the military head of a banned Islamic militant group blamed for a series of suicide bombings. The suspected operations commander of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Ataur Rahman Sunny, was held during a raid in the capital, Dhaka, on Wednesday.
* Police in Bangladesh seized a huge amount of bombs and explosives and arrested four militants in the second major success this week against radicals fighting for Islamic rule, officials said on Saturday.
* The Rapid Action Battalion has been conducting a countrywide crackdown on the Islamist terrorist and arrested about 12 militants of banned Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from different parts of that country on Friday. The arrested JMB cadres were identified as Jamil, Shamshuddin Aftab and Monirul Islam.
* Bangladesh's leading Ulema Saturday denounced bomb terrorism in the name of Islam and called upon the millions of religious–minded Muslims in the country to resist such heinous acts unitedly. Addressing a big rally at the city’s Paltan maidan the Islamic thinkers said the activists and masterminds of bomb terrorism are the enemies of Islam as well as humanity.
* A new law in Bangladesh having provisions for the prevention of 'terrorist financing' will soon replace the existing Anti-Money Laundering Act 2002. The final draft of the law titled, "Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act 2005", which is expected to be placed before the Cabinet tomorrow (Monday) for its approval, seeks to empower the Bangladesh Bank to suspend or stop operation of any account, for 30 days, involved in suspicious transactions without any prior notice.
* Scandinavian ceasefire monitors in Sri Lanka have blamed Tamil Tigers for shooting at an unarmed military helicopter earlier this week and said the attack seriously undermined the fragile truce. The Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) called Wednesday's shooting of a Mi-17 transport helicopter flying over the east of the island a "gross violation" of a ceasefire that went into force in February 2002
* Among the seven items in the latest issue of Chechnya Weekly from The Jamestown Foundation is a report the lower house of Chechnya's newly-elected parliament, unanimously voted on December 14 to rename the capital, Grozny, in honor of Akhmad Kadyrov, the pro-Moscow president assassinated in May 2004.
* The main representative of Al Qaeda in the North Caucasus was killed in the Russian internal republic of Dagestan in November, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Friday. The "ideologist" of the international terrorist network, Sheikh Abu Omar Al Seyf, came to the region about 10 years ago on the orders of Osama bin Laden, the FSB’s social communication center was quoted by RIA-Novosti as saying.
* A report from the International Crisis Group entitled Kyrgyzstan: A Faltering State looks at the unrest and violence in that country. The government is losing control over public security.
Far East & Southeast Asia
* A magistrate in Australia refused to grant bail for two men who have been charged with terrorist offenses, saying that granting them bail would provide an unacceptable risk to society.
* The Communist New People's Army (NPA) detonated a roadside bomb on a Filipino military convoy in North Cortabato, killing three officers and wounding eleven other soldiers. The troops were headed to Nabubdasan to provide medical care to farmers in the region at the time of the attack.
* President President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo prodded the Filipino Senate to pass an anti-terrorism bill recently passed in the House of Representatives, saying "we appeal to the Senate to finish the job as a supreme act of patriotism to save lives from the scourge of evil."
* Thousands of Muslims, led by former Indonesian President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, marched through the streets of Jakarta to protest against terrorism.
* Thai authorities continue to battle an Islamic insurgency in southern Thailand, a conflict that has killed more than 1,100 people in less than two years. Security analysts describe the 3,000 armed insurgents as "committed, hard-core, Islamo-separatists."
Europe
* Counterterrorism raids in Paris this week have netted 25 Islamic terror suspects, as well as yielding caches of explosives, detonators and guns. One of the suspect had ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's network in Iraq. At least fourteen suspects were released without charges, while 11 others are suspected of financing terror and remained detained.
* According to one report out of London, two of the four suicide bombers that carried out the July 7th bombings of the London subway, were scrutinized earlier by British intelligence and weren't considered a threat.
* A bomb exploded Saturday in the Basque region of France, after a threat was called in by the ETA. No injuries were reported.
* Four European nations led by Denmark, are preparing a reform initiative at the U.N. Security Council that would require disclosure to individuals targeted for sanctions as to why they are included on the list, and allow for appeals if requested.
* Rather than destroying weapon stockpiles left over from the 1992-1995 war, the Bosnian Serb government will donate them to the Afghanistan. The transfer will include 4,500 rifles, 400 machineguns, and one million rounds of ammunition.
* According to one report out of Germany that cites a German intelligence report, Iran has purchased eighteen BM-25 missiles from North Korea with the intention of using them to expand their own range on missiles.
* Following weeks of inflammatory rhetoric, many Europeans are now leaning towards sanctions against Iran over their nuclear program. The United States is pushing for a two front approach, isolating and marginalizing the Iranian government, while reaching out and offering assistance to the Iranian people.
Africa
* United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed on Ivory Coast have been extended by a year and imports of rough diamonds have been banned. Terrorist organizations like al-Qaida and civil war groups are reportedly getting funds from diamond trade proceeds in Africa.
* Investigations into Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad bil-Maghrib (the Monotheism and Jihad group in Morocco) cells broken up by Moroccan security have revealed the inroads al-Qaeda has made into the region.
* Ethiopia and Eritrea are still caught up amidst a messy decision to end the longstanding border conflicts between the countries. Events of the last couple of weeks indicate that both countries might well sort out their long-standing border dispute militarily again. Ethiopia earlier announced withdrawal of its troops from the tense Eritrea-Ethiopian border.
* A United Nations genocide expert Friday voiced disappointment in the efforts of Sudan’s Government to address the crimes committed in Darfur region, where conflict has been marked by massive displacement, rights abuses and widespread killings.
* A truth commission tasked with investigating more than four decades of human rights abuses in Morocco uncovered nearly 600 disappearances and the deaths of about 500 people during street riots or while in police custody, the state news agency reported Friday. The commission — the first its kind in the Arab world — called for reform of the country's judicial and security sectors, along with constitutional guarantees of human rights, presumption of innocence and fair, open trials, the MAP news agency reported.
* In an interview led by the Iqra channel — an Islamic satellite TV -, the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir denounced American hostility to Arab and Islamic countries. He also said the international Zionist movement is using all means to eradicate Arabs and Islam and target all Muslim countries, including Sudan.
The Global War
* U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney will go to Afghanistan for the first session of its new parliament this week and also make stops in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Oman -- all allies in the U.S. war against terrorism. He will also meet with President Hamid Karzai and visit U.S. troops.
* The scientific community faces a new dilemma with the rapid biotech advances that could on one hand save lives, while on the other wind up being used by terror organizations to carry out biological attacks on a civilian population.
* The United States has warned of possible militant attacks on its interests in the Middle East and North Africa and urged Americans there to be vigilant, the US embassy in Kuwait said on Saturday. "Credible information has indicated terrorist groups seek to continue attacks against US interests in the Middle East and North Africa," the US embassy in Kuwait said in a statement dated Dec. 15 and posted on its Web site on Saturday.
* He hasn't been heard from in more than a year, but one news site reports that it has obtained a new tape of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. But U.S. officials are skeptical of the report, CBS News reports.
* According to an article in the December issue of National Defense, only a few months ago, the primary message was the Navy’s relevance in the U.S. war on terrorism, homeland defense and maritime security, as well as preparing for a possible war in the Pacific. But naval contributions to relief efforts following major natural disasters during the past year—the Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and a devastating earthquake in Pakistan—have prompted a rethinking of naval roles and missions, noted Adm. John B. Nathman, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command.
* The Chinese petroleum company, Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau (ZPAEB), will start drilling the first exploratory well in the Gambela basin, in western Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border. ZPAEB is contracted by Petronas, the Malaysian company which signed an agreement with the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines and Energy (MoME) to explore and develop oil reserve in the Gambela concession.
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