Mystery Surrounds Terror Suspect's Vanished Years

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From 'TheAge.com.au': Aafia Siddiqui cut a ghostly figure in a New York court during the first week in August — not surprisingly for someone who during five years seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth. US prosecutors say Siddiqui, 36, is a desperate would-be terrorist who was arrested in Afghanistan, and on July 18th of this year she opened fire on US Army and FBI officers before being shot, wounded and subdued. But the only thing that seems sure, given her obvious frailty, was that she had recently been shot. The wound, her lawyer Elizabeth Fink said, was still "oozing".


Aafia Siddiqui

Nothing else has been clear about the US-educated Pakistani neuroscientist since March 2003, when she disappeared in Karachi along with her three children, then aged seven, five and six months. No one has explained where Siddiqui, a diminutive woman who was once a star student at top US universities, has been for the past five years. No one has explained where her children are now. "These are the two key questions," said Joanne Mariner, counterterrorism expert at Human Rights Watch in New York. "It's really, really mysterious."

Living in the US at the time of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she was briefly detained over her support for Islamic charities, which was seen as suspicious. She was never charged. In 2003, alleged September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed named her under interrogation and in 2004 she appeared on a US list of alleged al-Qaeda operatives. Yet Mohammed's testimony has since been discredited by revelations that he was tortured in US custody.

Prosecutors in New York are charging her with assault and attempted murder, but they are not linking her to al-Qaeda. Defence lawyers claim the alleged shoot-out with FBI and US Army officers in Afghanistan was invented to cover up the truth about Siddiqui's disappearance into a secret US prison system. A brilliant graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, near Boston, Siddiqui is far from a typical al-Qaeda suspect. But Sam Zarifi, Asia director for Amnesty International, says that hundreds of people in US custody disappeared into a legal vacuum and that Siddiqui may have been sucked in, too.

Relatives believe that after leaving her parents' house in Karachi, she and her children were kidnapped, handed to US forces and imprisoned illegally at the Bagram base in Afghanistan. Defence lawyers said they had had too little time to find out from her what had happened. Some human rights activists believe she was none other than Bagram's near-legendary "prisoner 650", the sole female inmate at the base, who other detainees claim to have heard screaming. Siddiqui is said to have first been apprehended in Afghanistan with a bag full of suspicious liquids in glass containers — but whether the liquids were dangerous is not stated.

In the alleged struggle at a police station, prosecutors indicate they do not know how many rounds Siddiqui allegedly fired, or even how many bullets struck her. Defence lawyers also want to know under what jurisdiction Siddiqui was held between the alleged July 18th incident and August 4th, when prosecutors say she was formally arrested and flown to the US. So far, Siddiqui has revealed little. Asked by the judge at her initial hearing this week whether she understood the charges, she answered: "Yes". Then she shook her head.

Italy: Five Held In Raid On Terror Suspects

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From 'The Guardian': Italian police broke up a suspected terror cell, arresting four Tunisians and a Moroccan in Bologna and the nearby towns of Faenza and Imola. The five were accused of international terrorism, but have yet to be formally charged. A sixth suspect is being sought. Those arrested include the Tunisian alleged ringleader, Khalil Jarraya, a veteran of Bosnia's 1992-95 war, and four others he allegedly recruited to take part in suicide attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The arrests followed a three-year investigation based on wiretaps and on training material found in previous searches of the suspects' homes. 'These are people who were radicalised in the West and declared themselves ready to become martyrs for jihad,' said police in Bologna. The cell is alleged to have sent funds to Bosnian groups linked to terrorist organisations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The money came from legitimate work carried out by the group's members as well as from insurance scams, for which a charge of fraud was added to the arrest warrants. The cell was not part of any specific terrorist organisation, police said, but saw itself as close to al-Qaeda.

Trial Begins In Denmark Against Terror Suspects

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From 'Associated Press': Two alleged Islamic militants accused of preparing a bomb attack went on trial in Denmark on August 11th, with prosecutors showing secret video footage of them testing a highly explosive material in an apartment building in Copenhagen. The prosecution said the two men conducted the small test blast with the same explosive that was used by suicide bombers who killed 52 commuters in London in 2005. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty but admitted making triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, saying it was to be used for fireworks.

Denmark's intelligence service said earlier that the suspects had links to leading al-Qaida figures, but the charges read Monday in a Copenhagen court did not mention such links. The 22-year-old men were arrested during an anti-terror sweep in September in the Danish capital. They cannot be named under a court order. If convicted, the defendants of Afghan and Pakistani background could face life in prison, although such sentences are generally reduced to 16 years under Danish law. The Pakistani also is a Danish citizen, while the Afghan has a staying permit in Denmark.

In May 2007, Denmark's PET intelligence service was tipped off by an unidentified foreign service that the man of Pakistani origin was on his way back to Denmark after having spent time in a terrorist training camp in Pakistan. PET then tapped his phone and computer, and secretly installed surveillance video cameras in his home in Copenhagen, prosecutor Lone Damsgaard told the City Court in Glostrup, a city suburb. It was unclear what the target of the alleged planned terrorist attack was, but Damsgaard said the defendant of Pakistani origin asked contacts in Pakistan through an Internet chatroom for addresses of hotels and the Danish Embassy in Islamabad.

On June 2, 2008, a car bomb exploded outside the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, killing six people and wounding about 35. But the defendants are not accused of involvement in that attack. Footage from the surveillance cameras played in court showed the Pakistani defendant sitting on the floor in his apartment in Copenhagen, saying he was getting ready for a martyrdom trip. In other footage, the two men are seen leaving the room after which an explosion is heard, followed by the men returning from the stairwell of an apartment building in a densely populated area of Copenhagen. Damsgaard said they were testing the TAPT there on September 1 — three days before they were arrested. Bomb manuals were found in both men's apartments, one concealed in a pillow cover, the other in a book, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors have called both defendants Islamic militants without providing the name of what group or groups they belonged to. A third man was arrested and charged in the case for allegedly urging the kidnapping of Danes abroad as a way to force Danish authorities to release the two jailed defendants now on trial. The third man's trial is scheduled for later this year. A verdict is expected on October 23rd. Danish police say they have thwarted a series of terrorist attacks in recent years.

Iraqi Forces Improve As Violence Drops

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From 'American Forces Press Service': Despite the recent drawdown of Coalition troops in Iraq, violence levels continue to drop as Iraqi Security Forces grow in competency and size, a senior Coalition spokesman said on August 7th. Throughout the past few weeks, Coalition forces have drawn down troop numbers in Iraq. The last of the five original surge brigades, two Marine battalions and an Australian battle group have redeployed without the need for replacements, said Navy Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll.

At the same time, Iraqi forces have grown by more than 148,000 troops, and the Sunni Muslim "Sons of Iraq" citizen security groups are more than 100,000 members strong, Driscoll said. "This [surge of Iraqi forces] explains how we can continue to see very low levels of violence even though [Coalition forces] have taken away a lot of combat power...” he said.

Recent Iraqi-led operations in Basra have allowed the local citizens to regain control of their city. The operations drove the insurgency - mostly Iranian-backed "Special Groups" criminals - either into hiding or into Iran for sanctuary, the admiral said. "The operations in Basra really instituted the rule of law there," Driscoll said. "The people there are able to live freely again without intimidation and extortion by militias." The operations were also a great success for the Iraqi government and prime minister. Individuals who once saw Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as a leader partial to a certain sect, now proclaim him as a nationalist, a leader for the people of Iraq, he said.

Recent operations in Amarah and Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood saw similar success by Iraqi Security Forces and the local Sons of Iraq. Iranian-backed Special Groups and militia gangs were forced from the cities, reportedly to Iran to find refuge, he said.

Coalition and Iraqi forces in Diyala province and Mosul, however, are fighting a "more determined enemy," he said. Iraqi forces recently launched a large-scale operation against al-Qaida in Mosul but were unsuccessful. Mosul is a key territory for al-Qaida because of its location along the Syrian border, which is an important line of communication and an infiltration route into Iraq. Al-Qaida is determined to maintain its foothold, he said. "What you saw and what you're seeing now in Mosul and Diyala is a more determined enemy in terms of holding ground," he explained. "Al-Qaida still remains a lethal threat."

Despite al-Qaida's perseverance, Driscoll said, the terrorist group isn't as influential as it once was. Less than two years ago, it was a powerful group on the brink of causing a civil war in Iraq, he said. But today, al-Qaida doesn't hold any territory or city. The group's fighters still have "pocket areas" in Diyala, Mosul and Anbar, but Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition forces are very aggressively targeting to eliminate them, he added.

As Iraqi Security Forces develop into a national defense force, Coalition forces continue to develop the Iraqis' counterinsurgency force within in the Iraqi Army, which is showing much-improved capabilities, he said. "The Iraqis are really developing and have come a long way," Driscoll said. "It takes a while to develop the kind of leadership they've shown. We're focusing on that key leadership and bolstering them so we have a vibrant and successful counterinsurgency force."

Hamdan Sentenced In First Terror Tribunal

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From 'Christian Science Monitor': Osama bin Laden's former driver was sentenced on Thursday to five and a half years in prison at the conclusion of the first trial of a terror suspect by special military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The sentence, far below the 30 years to life sought by the US government, means that Salim Hamdan of Yemen could be eligible for release in five months after receiving credit for time already served. The sentence is a double-edged sword for the Bush administration, which had hoped a harsh sentence in the Hamdan case would send a stern message to would-be Al-Qaeda sympathizers around the world. But the five-year sentence also underscores the fairness of the particular military panel in the Hamdan case, analysts say.



The sentence was handed down by a panel of six military officers, hand-picked by the Pentagon, who a day earlier rejected US government arguments that Mr. Hamdan was a terrorist conspirator. Instead, the panel convicted Hamdan of providing material support to Al-Qaeda by continuing to serve as a driver and body guard to Bin Laden – even after he learned the group was involved in terrorism. The panel announced the sentence after hearing testimony and argument from both prosecutors and defense lawyers. Mr. Hamdan read a statement during the hearing apologizing to the victims of the 9-11 attacks. "I don't know what could be given or presented to these innocent people who were killed in the US," Hamdan said, according to the Associated Press. "I personally present my apologies to them if anything what I did have caused them pain."

Prosecutors had asked the panel to sentence Hamdan to at least 30 years in prison. Prosecutor John Murphy was quoted by the Associated Press as urging the panel to deliver a sentence that would keep American society safe from Hamdan. The panel – the first US war crimes tribunal since World War II – was empowered to hand down a sentence anywhere from no punishment to life in prison. Military Judge Keith Allred, a Navy Captain, told the panel they could consider Hamdan's seven years in US detention and that he is the sole supporter of his wife and two children.

The five-year sentence raised immediate questions about whether the US government would make good on repeated suggestions that even if Hamdan was acquitted of all charges he could still be held at Guantanamo as an unlawful enemy combatant until the end of the war on terror. "It is not clear that the length of sentence is all that meaningful to Mr. Hamdan. It is not as though whenever his sentence has been served he is going to be leaving there," says Madeline Morris, director of Duke Law School's Guantanamo Defense Clinic.

Others say the government would be ill-advised to refuse to release Hamdan after he's served his sentence. "To the extent you go to the trouble of looking at specific offenses committed by a particular enemy combatant, you adjudicate, you prosecute, and you obtain the result, then you have to live with the consequences," says David Rifkin, a Washington lawyer and supporter of the Bush administration's military commission effort. "Whatever the sentence is once he has finished serving it, he should be released."

Mr. Rifkin said the panel's sentencing decision will make it harder for critics to suggest the commission process is unfair. He admitted he was "surprised" by the five-year sentence, "but I wasn't there to listen to the evidence." Linda Malone, director of the Human Rights and National Security Law Program at William and Mary Law School, said the administration's prior position on holding enemy combatants raises important questions.

"The overriding problem is that the Bush administration has said that [Hamdan] will be held until the war on terror is over, regardless of what sentence he gets," Professor Malone says. "It is almost Kafkaesque that regardless of what the sentence might be and whatever credit he is given [for his prior detention], they are saying they are going to hold him until the war ends – and everyone knows that is virtually limitless."

Following the announcement of his sentence, Hamdan spoke to the panel, thanking them and, once again, apologizing. "I want to apologize one more time to all the members and I would like to thank you for what you have done for me," he said, according to the Associated Press. Judge Allred then told Hamdan: "I hope the day comes that you return to your wife and daughters and your country, and you're able to be a provider, a father, and a husband in the best sense of all those terms." Hamdan responded: "God willing."

Documents Link Anthrax Scientist to Terrorism Warning

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From 'Newsroom America': Emails ordered released by a federal judge bolster the government's case that a scientist who killed himself earlier this week was probably solely responsible for the 2001 anthrax attacks in the U.S. Moreover, the government said, the scientist - Dr. Bruce Ivins - was the sole custodian as a microbiologist at Fort Detrick, Maryland, of the particular strain of anthrax used in the attacks, though he wasn't the only one who had access to it. The emails warned that Osama bin Laden's "terrorists for sure have anthrax and sarin gas" and have "just decreed death to all Jews and all Americans." Who the emails were sent to was redacted before they were released, reports said. U.S. law enforcement officials released the hundreds of pages of material to address the growing questions about the strength of its evidence against the military scientist.

Brigade Commander: Rashid Progress 'Phenomenal'

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From 'American Forces Press Service': Iraqi Security Forces have made such an improvement that Coalition forces in Baghdad’s Rashid district are able to turn their attention to rebuilding the area, the commander of the brigade assigned there said on August 4th. Army Colonel Ted Martin, commander of the 4th Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, said he has seen “phenomenal progress” since he was first in Iraq in 2003. “For the first time, I've seen Iraqi Security Forces that can plan, prepare and execute first-class offensive operations,” Martin said via video teleconference from Camp Falcon. “I've also seen a high level of trust and respect by the people of Rashid for their own army and police forces.”


First Lt. Justin Crawford greets young Iraqis - July 26.

Iraqi and Coalition forces are working closely together in the region, which once was one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq, a battleground containing al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) and Iranian-sponsored “special groups.” In July 2007, 824 attacks took place in the district, a daily average of 27 attacks. But Coalition and Iraqi forces have worked together to turn the situation around, Martin said. “Together, we conduct relentless offensive operations designed to kill, capture or drive from Rashid anyone who threatens the safety and security of the people we have sworn to protect,” he said.

When the brigade arrived in March, an average of five attacks per day took place in the district. Today, the daily average is 1.5 attacks, the colonel said. “I believe this reduction in violence is a direct result of the conditions set by the success of the surge in forces and combat power,” Martin said. “We built on this success and have seen a dramatic reduction in violence in the past four months.” Other statistics reinforce this conclusion. April saw 18 rocket and mortar attacks in the district, and only three took place in July. April’s 69 roadside bomb attacks reduced to 37 in July. There were 30 direct-fire attacks in April and five in July.

Roadside bombs continue to be the biggest threat to Coalition and Iraqi forces, Martin said, noting they are “emplaced by special group criminals who operate as part of the illegal militias in Baghdad.” These groups continue to try to destabilize the Iraqi government, he said. “I think they want to undermine the government, and they’re using the neighborhoods of Rashid as a battlefield,” Martin said. “I'm pretty confident that we've denied them that capability.” The biggest change in the region is in the mood of the people of the district, Martin said. Since May, the local population has provided the intelligence helpful to Coalition and Iraqi forces in taking on the enemy, he said. “There seemed to be a wedge that was placed between the people and the insurgents, and we tried to exploit that,” he added.

Martin said the reduction in violence has allowed him and his soldiers to shift their focus toward improving essential services and helping their ISF partners. “It is my firm belief that the decisive defeat of the special group criminals and militias in May and June of this year has opened a window of opportunity for us to make substantial and lasting improvements in the Rashid district,” he said. So far, the brigade has completed 22 projects valued at more than $5 million, and 78 active projects are valued at more than $45 million. The Iraqi government is kicking in on the reconstruction effort in the district, contributing $18 million in government funds, and Martin said he expects that amount to rise as the government becomes more established.

Iraqi Troops Show Increased Self-Sufficiency

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From 'Centcom': This past June, Iraqi Army Soldiers in Taji recovered two broken down humvees on their own and restored them without any help from Coalition maintenance. “Probably the most exciting thing for me is I compare (today) to our partnership with the IA (Iraqi Army) in 2006, and it’s night and day,” said Captain Steve Chadwick, who was stationed in Tal Afar and Ramadi at that time. Just two years ago, Coalition mechanics took care of the bulk of repairing vehicles and replacing parts. Not anymore, said Chadwick.


ISF keeps watch at Najaf Airport - July 20.

Maintenance is not the only area where ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) are more proficient. There are now more Regional and Divisional Training Centers in Iraq than ever before, with classes taught by either Iraqi noncommissioned officers or civilian instructors who are experts in a specific field. “The future is the IA taking up training all on its own. It’s already begun,” said Captain Kyle Kirby, an ISF coordinator with the 10th Mountain Division. Before, many of these courses were supervised or even taught by Coalition instructors. Iraqi forces units also relied more heavily on training with Military Transition Teams.

The Coalition’s partnership with ISF has shifted from a leading role to a strategic one. The Coalition now serves as an “enabler” to help ISF complete missions. This means providing support using advanced technologies Iraqi forces have not yet established. “We make sure the Iraqis get the necessary training and advice, so that they may operate their own military properly,” said Captain Thomas Obrien, an aide de camp for the Iraqi Assistance Group, which works in partnership with ISF.

One of the major goals in improving Iraq’s forces is by increasing the number of NCOs and officers who can lead and mentor fellow troops. Two elements are working to achieve this goal: recruiting centers and military academies. Currently, there are 13 recruiting stations across Iraq taking applications from local citizens; former IA members wanting to return to service; and Sons of Iraq. Mobile recruiting drives engage the population in areas without local centers. Three more centers are planned for future efforts.

There are now 15 Iraqi Police academies in Iraq that can accommodate and train a sum of 20,000 recruits. Among the 15, two academies train National Police and three train border enforcement agents. Another 24 military academies train a variety of ISF, including a naval center, five officer schools and other Army training centers and branch schools. By the end of 2008, eight training cycles, which began in December 2007, will be complete in an effort to stand up 13 IA Divisions. Each training cycle produces 14,000 new troops, which will account for 112,000 new ISF members by January 2009. Of those, 4,000 will be new officers.

The number of schools and recruits continues to rise, and the quality and variety of their training programs is also improving. Regional centers, such as the ones in Taji and An Numaniyah, teach proficiency in logistics, advanced medical courses, maintenance, armor, welding, and engineering. The training and proficiency of the ISF continue to secure the Iraqi people. Their successes make way for major improvements in the economy, infrastructure and future of Iraq. “It’s a good sign to see them taking control of their own country,” said Captain Dave Hansen, of Plano, Texas, officer in charge of the Fusion cell for 10th Mountain Division.