Jan 5, 2010 13:33 EST Last week’s suicide bomb attack on a base in Afghanistan which killed seven CIA officers and a Jordanian spy is raising fears in Pakistan that it could encourage an intensified drone bombing campaign to target those who planned the assault. Although it is too early to say for certain who ordered the attack, possibilities include the Pakistani Taliban who claimed responsibility; the Afghan Taliban who had earlier said the bomber was an Afghan army officer; the Haqqani network; al Qaeda; or a combination of different groups working together. U.S. media reports, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, have described the bomber as a double … Continue reading Attack on the CIA in Afghanistan raises jitters in Pakistan

John Goddard Staff Reporter Omar Hammami, known as Abu Mansour “al-Amriki,” is seen in a YouTube video. YOUTUBE.COM One of the most visible leaders of an Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist militia in Somalia spent a year in Toronto ingratiating himself into the Somali immigrant community as a convert to Islam. Omar Hammami – known to followers as Abu Mansour “Al-Amriki” (the American) – ate at Somali restaurants and prayed in Somali mosques. He married a Toronto woman of Somali origin and had a daughter with her. Then, after learning Somali ways, he left to join the Horn of Africa’s top terror … Continue reading Fanatic convert to terrorism spent year in Toronto

By Frank Gardner BBC Security Correspondent The CIA believed the bomber had vital information on al-Qaeda The revelation that the man who blew up himself, four CIA officers, three security guards and a Jordanian intelligence officer in Khost, Afghanistan, was a double agent is embarrassing for both the US and Jordan. For Washington, it risks making a mockery of the CIA’s attempts to track down and infiltrate the intimate circle of al-Qaeda’s leadership. One can only imagine how much false intelligence this al-Qaeda double agent had been feeding his handlers, before he killed them. For Jordan, this is a clandestine … Continue reading Afghanistan CIA killings a major blow to US and Jordan

By Moska Najib BBC News, Delhi Indie rock – but not from Britain or America. This is music from Afghanistan, of a kind seldom heard before, but now produced by a trio of young men. The band, Kabul Dreams, is made up of vocalist Sulaymon Qardash, bass player Siddique Ahmad and drummer Mujtaba Habibi, who claim to be the country’s first and only rock and roll group. “One year ago in December we decided to create this band and since it was happening in Kabul, we thought Kabul Dreams is a good name,” says the 19-year-old vocalist, who bears a … Continue reading Afghan dreams of rock and roll

Security was being tested at Bratislava Airport Irish police have released a man held over an explosives find, after Slovakian authorities admitted planting them in his luggage. The explosive was one of eight pieces of contraband placed with unsuspecting passengers at Bratislava Airport last weekend, broadcaster RTE reported. The 49-year-old unwittingly brought the material into Dublin when he returned from his Christmas holidays. He was arrested on Tuesday morning but has since been released without charge. Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said he was very concerned that Irish police had not been alerted for three days. Airport security detected seven … Continue reading Explosives planted on man to test airport security (what if the test guy was a Muslim?)

By Dominic Casciani BBC News Street campaigning and agitation: An al-Muhajiroun poster Islam4UK, the group that has claimed that it will march through Wootton Bassett, is the latest incarnation of a hardline Islamist organisation called al-Muhajiroun. Al-Muhajiroun, in its various forms, is an important part of the story of Islamist anger and the line between politics, protest and national security. The organisation is made up of a small band of tight-knit young men who advocate a worldwide Islamist system of government and, at the same time, vehemently denounce the foreign policies of the US and UK. It has a knack … Continue reading Profile: Islam4UK (nothing to do with Islam, only about power and publicity)

The Independent View: Wootton Bassett demonstrations: another Muslim point of view By Shaaz Mahboob | Published 5th January 2010 – 2:47 pm It was the afternoon of 31st October 2009 when emerging from the Piccadilly Circus tube station I received a text message informing me that Anjem Chaudhary had given up his plans to march through central London under the banner of Islam4UK that day. Not only was I pleasantly surprised but felt a deep sense of satisfaction at having, perhaps for the first time in the history of post-Rushdie-affair Britain, reclaimed the public sphere away from the pseudo-religious bigots. … Continue reading British Muslims preparing to trash Anjem Choudary and Maniac Mullahs in the UK

Zafar Hilaly India has also commenced the process of taking on board Kashmiri groups fighting for independence in discussions on the future of Kashmir. These are nascent but welcome steps. Nevertheless, they are not enough. India should restart the composite dialogue process Even the most foolish must know by now that the greater the turmoil, the higher the casualties, the more intense the indignation, the larger the media coverage, the deeper is the satisfaction that terrorists derive from their actions. And, as happens so often, an unwitting accomplice of the terrorists is their enemy. Today it is America and tomorrow … Continue reading Luck must go

Tuesday, January 05, 2010 Dr Maleeha Lodhi The writer is a former envoy to the US and the UK, and a former editor of The News. In remarks reported last week, Indian army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor reaffirmed that India was evolving a new military doctrine, and he outlined some of its key elements. The changes in the strategic environment held out by this pronouncement have significant implications for Pakistan and should give the country’s security managers much pause for thought. In November India’s army chief spoke of the likelihood of a limited war “under a nuclear overhang” in the … Continue reading India’s provocative military doctrine