Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Elder of Ziyon British MI5 Probes Suicide Attack Plots on Washington - David Leppard (Sunday Times-UK)
MI5 is investigating a suspected plot by Islamic terrorists to carry out multiple suicide bombings of the White House and the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Whitehall officials say the alleged conspiracy was organized by a senior al-Qaeda member using the codename Maximus, who communicated by e-mail with associates in Britain and elsewhere.
Canadian Terror Cell Busted - Al-Qaeda Bomb Expert Among Four Algerians in Toronto - Stewart Bell (National Post-Canada)
Canadian counter-terrorism investigators have dismantled a suspected terrorist cell in Toronto whose members included an al-Qaeda-trained explosives expert.
The cell consisted of four Algerian refugee claimants who had lived in Canada for as long as six years and were alleged members of a radical Islamic terror faction called the Salafist Group for Call and Combat.
The central figure was a former al-Qaeda training camp instructor who studied bomb-making at Osama bin Laden's Al Farooq and Khaldun training camps in eastern Afghanistan.
Australia Foils "Catastrophic" Terror Attack (Telegraph-UK)
Australian police say they have foiled a major terrorist attack on the country, and have arrested 17 men on charges of committing to "violent jihad in Australia."
In raids in Sydney and Melbourne, police seized chemicals, firearms, computers, backpacks, and travel documents.
"Intelligence was received that a group was making arrangements to stockpile chemicals and other materials capable of making explosives," said Morris Iemma, the New South Wales state premier.
Australian media had reported that possible targets were the Sydney Opera House, the harbor bridge, oil refineries, and the stock exchange.
Murder Attempt, Hijack Points to Al-Qaeda Presence - Leonard Doyle
A failed assassination attack on the prime minister of Somalia and an attempt to hijack a luxury American cruise ship off the coast has reinforced fears that the country is spiraling out of control as a center of al-Qaeda terrorism. The unsuccessful attack by pirates at the weekend was the first on a luxury cruise liner in the area. Political collapse in this failed state has created a power vacuum that is posing a danger to Somalis and the outside world. Since 2003, Somalia has witnessed the rise of a new, ruthless, independent jihadi network with links to al-Qaeda.
During the 1990s, extremism in Somalia was centered on the al-Ittihaad al-Islaami, a band of Wahhabi militants bent on establishing an Islamic emirate. Al-Qaeda also became established and attacked U.S. and UN peacekeepers, using the country as a transit zone for terrorism in neighboring Kenya. Leading members of al-Qaeda's East African network still hide in Somalia, according to the International Crisis Group. (Independent-UK)
