Cargo Bomb Larger Threat Than Christmas Day Plot

Parcel Bombs 4 Times Larger Than Christmas Plot


Al-Qaida's top bombmaker raised his game, officials believe, by following his miss on a crowded U.S.-bound passenger jet last Christmas with four times more explosives packed into bombs hidden last week on flights from Yemen.

The two bombs contained 300 and 400 grams of the industrial explosive PETN, according to a German security official, who briefed reporters Monday in Berlin on condition of anonymity in line with department guidelines. By comparison, the bomb stuffed into a terrorist suspect's underwear on the Detroit-bound plane contained about 80 grams.

Early forensics on the two bombs packed inside computer printer cartridges point to Ibrahim al-Asiri, the master bomb maker for the Yemen-based group known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

"It shows that they are trying to again make different types of adaptations based on what we have put in place," said John Brennan, President Barack Obama's counterterrorism adviser. "So the underwear bomber, as well as these packages, are showing sort of new techniques on their part. They are very innovative and creative."

Al-Qaida's propaganda machine remained unusually silent about the attacks Monday as U.S. counterterrorism officials looked for new ways to root out the Yemen-based group. Its members number about 300 people hidden in an area of rugged, desert twice the size of Wyoming.

U.S. counterterrorism teams headed for Yemen to hunt for suspects in a plot that revealed security gaps in the worldwide shipping network and reminded the West that al-Qaida was constantly looking to exploit those gaps.

With the U.S. already deeply involved in Yemen's fight against terrorism, it was not immediately obvious how to effectively increase military and intelligence efforts in the impoverished country.


Increased Scrutiny

The U.S. and its allies Monday further tightened scrutiny of shipments from Yemen. U.S. counterterrorism officials warned police and emergency personnel to be on the watch for mail with characteristics that could mean dangerous substances are hidden inside.

And Germany's aviation authority extended its ban on air cargo from Yemen to include passenger flights. Britain banned the import of larger printer cartridges by air on Monday as it also announced broader measures to halt air cargo from Yemen and Somalia following the ink cartridge bomb plot.

The Dutch anti-terrorism agency banned all airborne post and freight from Yemen entering the Netherlands.

The exposed plot could fuel calls for the wider use of imaging technology designed to detect explosives, which is not standard, but freight firms are reluctant to bear the full cost.

Tighter international air cargo security rules could deal a blow to trade and the world economy as it recovers from the global recession. According to airlines association IATA, about 35 percent of the value of world trade is carried by air.

Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International magazine, said new technology would not eliminate the risk or airline attacks.

"The only thing that has prevented things has either been good luck or people," he told Reuters.

Yemeni authorities on Monday continued to hunt for suspects tied to the mail bomb plot, but a young woman arrested soon after the attacks were thwarted was released. Investigators there said someone had stolen her identity and used it to mail the package.

U.S. and British officials said they believed planes were the targets, not the two Chicago-area synagogues named on the addresses. Exactly how the bombs would have worked, however, remains a focus of investigators. One package was wired to a timer. A second was wired to a cell phone.

Activating a bomb by cell phone while a plane is in midair is unreliable because cell service is spotty or nonexistent at high altitudes. Further complicating the plot, it be would unlikely for terrorists in Yemen to know which planes the bombs had been loaded onto and when they were airborne.

With U.S.-bound cargo out of Yemen temporarily frozen, Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole said Monday the U.S. would provide Yemen with new screening equipment for cargo. Yemen has promised to step up its security at airports.

The U.S. had been monitoring intelligence on an al-Qaida mail bomb plot for days when a specific tip came in from Saudi Arabia, identifying tracking numbers for the packages. A Yemeni official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation, identified Jabir al-Faifi, a Saudi militant who had joined al-Qaida in Yemen, as the tipster.


Tipster's Role Unclear

It's unclear, however, what level of detail al-Faifi provided. He was captured in Yemen last month and was turned over to the Saudis before the packages were mailed, making it unlikely he would have known the tracking numbers.

Nobody, including the Internet-savvy al-Qaida group in Yemen, has taken credit for the failed attack. Jihadist Web sites contained numerous messages praising the attempted bombing but nothing official from the group's leadership. The group claimed credit for the Christmas attack three days later.

Though al-Qaida core is based in the lawless tribal regions of Pakistan, offshoot groups have sprung up in other countries, including Yemen and Algeria. The Yemen group is the most active affiliate and has become a leader in recruiting and propaganda, especially in the West thanks to its English-speaking, U.S.-born spokesman, Anwar al-Awlaki.

The U.S. is providing some $300 million in military, humanitarian and development aid to Yemen this year, according to State Department counterterrorism coordinator Daniel Benjamin. About half of that is for military equipment and training, including some 50 special-operations trainers for Yemeni counterterror teams.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday that the U.S. would not reduce that aid in response to the failed attack.

The FBI, Pentagon and CIA all have people on the ground in Yemen, working with counterterrorism officials in Yemen. A military and intelligence campaign, financed and directed by the U.S., to target al-Qaida has had mixed results.

Brennan said Yemeni cooperation is better than it has ever been but still could be better. The failed bombing will put added pressure on Yemen to go even further, perhaps by allowing additional U.S. troops or airstrikes within its border.






In Wake Of Cargo Plot, U.S. Weighs Options On Yemen


The Obama administration is having a series of high-level meetings on how to approach the situation in Yemen this week in the wake of a plot to send bombs from Yemen to the United States, senior U.S. officials said.

The discussions will address a variety of issues on security and the scale and pace of aid.

But officials say last week's incidents have first and foremost highlighted the vulnerabilities in aviation and maritime security in Yemen. They say the State Department and Department of Homeland Security are on the verge of instituting a new program, the details of which were actually agreed to before last week. Officials describe the plan, which will be run by DHS but paid for by the State Department, as a program to train, equip and assist Yemen with aviation and maritime security in a more effective way.

While the Transportation Security Administration already has the mandate to provide secondary screening of passengers bound for the United States and to screen all air cargo, the Obama administration is increasingly worried about gaps in the system that could leave the United States vulnerable. These gaps are related less to technology and more about corruption and capacity within the Yemeni government, officials said.

"It's not just about people and cargo," one official said. "You can have all the X-ray machines you want, but if someone is paid to turn the machine off at the right time, that doesn't do one bit of good."

As part of the plan, TSA will have a long-term presence in Yemen for the next few years, the officials said. In addition to providing more equipment and coaching of Yemeni authorities on how to screen cargo, the U.S. personnel will also be working with the Yemen's interior ministry to vet new hires.

Officials describe a vibrant debate within the administration on the right balance between military aid and development assistance in aiding Yemen in its wider counterterrorism efforts.

Officials at U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the region, have proposed a $1.2 billion package of military equipment and training over the next six years. But some outside of the military believe the United States is already giving an appropriate level of military assistance to Yemen, including the frequency of drone strikes.

The United States has already ramped up its assistance to Yemen over the past several years. Baseline U.S. assistance to Yemen increased from $17.2 million in fiscal year 2008 to $67.5 million in 2010. President Obama has already requested around $106.6 in baseline assistance for FY 2011.

U.S. counterterrorism assistance has more than doubled over the past year from $67 million in FY 2009 to $150.5 million in FY 2010.

Officials said that much of this year's assistance has only recently been obligated, and new programs are in the process of being implemented.

U.S. Special Forces troops have expanded the type of training they're giving to Yemen's military, while adding more special operations forces to the training mission there.

A defense official with knowledge of the counterterrorism effort calls it "more complex training," that combines air support with tactical operations on the ground. He says the top number of special operations forces in Yemen number "no more than 50, but the exact number constantly fluctuates with specific operations."

Earlier this year Defense Secretary Robert Gates approved spending $150 million to train and equip Yemen's security forces, specifically so they can fight al Qaeda. That includes helicopters, planes and other equipment -- and more than doubles the amount of aid the U.S. military authorized in 2009. A senior defense official says the United States and Yemen have shared surveillance and intelligence on al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula activity inside the country.

"This doesn't really change the calculus on the military or operation side," another official said. "Most folks feel we are already doing what we need to be doing."

The United States is also expanding its intelligence operations in Yemen with more operatives and analysts working closely with the Yemen government and other U.S. partners inside Yemen, a U.S. official said. The increased focus on Yemen predates the Christmas Day attempt to blow up an airliner over Detroit.

U.S. officials had said earlier this year that there were ongoing discussions at the White House about what the level of CIA activity should be in Yemen, including the possibility of having the CIA mount a drone operation in Yemen similar to the one in Pakistan that has led to the deaths of a number of al Qaeda operatives who were the targets of the missiles fired from the unmanned planes.

However, any decision to pursue such an action would most likely require the approval of Yemen's president, who this past weekend indicated his country would not accept foreign intervention in tracking down al Qaeda.

Officials at the White House and State Department are concerned that increasing the size of military assistance might be counterproductive and not absolutely necessary. There is also concern that Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh will use U.S. weapons against his political enemies and further destabilize the country.

Some favor a more modest approach that provides counterterrorism aid, including training and equipment as part of a broader plan to promote development and stability in the country.

Officials do note Yemeni forces have stepped up attacks against militants over the past year, and especially since the failed Christmas Day attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound flight by Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was trained in Yemen.

But they say while the Yemeni government has reaffirmed its commitment to fighting militants, there is still concern about the lack of political will by President Saleh in launching a full-scale assault against al Qaeda.

They acknowledge a variety of challenges to giving aid to Yemen, including corruption, transparency and the weak capacity of the government of President Saleh, whose country is the poorest in the Arab world and which is facing a violent separatist movement in the south as well as a rebellion in the northwest. That is why the State Department has called for more training of Yemeni police, security services prosecutors, intelligence officers and working with the Yemeni government to pass relevant laws.

Officials warn that unless the United States helps develop Yemen, the country risks becoming a failed state, which would allow Al Qaeda to operate with complete impunity.

"It's not just training, it involves mentoring and advising," one official said. "Of course we need to and will help with the immediate security, but we have to work even harder on the big-picture development issues that are making Yemen even more of a longer-term threat than the threat posted by the immediate short-term issues."




Yemen Parcel Bombmaker Believed To Be Al-Qaeda Terrorist Ibrahim Hassan Al Asiri


US Intelligence Officials say the detonator on one of the devices is almost exactly the same as one he is thought to have made for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called Underpants Bomber.

Originally born to a pious family in Saudi Arabia, Ibrahim is one of 85 people on the kingdom's list of wanted terrorists. After serving jail time in his home country, he fled to neighbouring Yemen two years ago with his brother Abdullah to become key members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has bases in the lawless mountain areas beyond the writ of central government.

The slightly-built 28-year-old, who is the son of a retired soldier, is believed to be the movement's resident bombmaking expert - skills he first put to chilling use in a suicide attack in which he recruited his own younger brother, Abdullah, 23, to act as the "martyr".

The attack was an audacious attempt on the life of the Saudi Deputy Minister of the Interior, Prince Muhammad Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, who has personally led an innovative programme in the kingdom to encourage jihadis to reform.

Posing as a jihadist keen to repent, Abdullah gained a private audience with Prince Muhammad in his office, and then detonated a bomb hidden in his own body. It failed to kill the prince but killed Abdullah, who is believed to have been brainwashed into believing in jihadist ideology by his brother.

Following on from sacrificing his own sibling, Ibrahim Asiri is believed to have designed the underwear bomb used by Abdulmutallab in his failed mid-air attack on an airliner over Detroit last Christmas.

US intelligence believes that Ibrahim is now in regular contact with the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is likewise on the run in Yemen. Known as the the so-called "YouTube" jihadist, sermons by al-Awlaki posted on the internet are believed to have seduced hundreds of new recruits into joining al Qaeda.

One serving US intelligence officer told The Sunday Telegraph that there was now debate underway about pressuring Yemen into allowing the CIA to base armed drone aircraft there for a sustained attack on al Qaeda bases.

This would be a similar offensive to the one that has been underway for some time against al Qaeda militants in Pakistan's tribal areas, although it carries the risk of backfiring if civilian casualties are sustained.

Drone attacks have already been used in Yemen from time to time, but the inability so far of Yemen's weak government to reign in the militants means Washington believes such strikes may have to beefed up.

Yesterday, the atmosphere the Yemeni capital, San'aa, was tense, with traffic jams across the city as police and soldiers manned additional checkpoints and vehicle searches. Nestling in mountains, the ancient capital already has many hallmarks of a city frequently wracked by terrorist violence. Toyota pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns guard courthouses and government buildings, and the US and British embassies - both of which have been directly attacked in the past two years - are virtual fortresses encircled by 20 foot high bombproof walls. It was, however, business as usual at the San'aa bureaus of Fedex and UPS, the two international delivery companies via whom the bombs bound for Chicago were posted. The two firms both have shabby offices on Hadda Street, a busy thoroughfare frequented by young Yemenis and expats. Nervous-looking staff at both branches declined to comment on the investigation when approached by The Sunday Telegraph yesterday, although outside the office of Fedex a group of private security guards appeared to be on watch.

For ordinary Yemenis, who are now used to terrorist violence on a daily basis, news of the latest terror plot has been greeted with little more than a resigned shrug. "If Yemen's on the news it means more police and more checkpoints on the streets the next day," moaned one taxi driver.

Yesterday, the Yemeni authorities were questioning cargo workers at the airport and employees of the local shipping companies contracted to work with FedEx. However, while the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has pledged his full co-operation with the US authorities, the reaction of other Yemeni officials to the parcel bomb plot so far has been to downplay the incident.

A statement distributed by Saba, the government's official news agency, warned the media against "rush decisions in a case as sensitive as this one and before investigations reveal the truth."

It claimed that security measures at Yemeni airports had been tightened, with modern screening systems introduced for all flights. At the airport yesterday, where extra security guards were on duty, employees claimed to be bemused by the plot claim.

"There is no way these packages could have come from Sana'a airport," said worker Abdul Rowi. "We check every single bag, we have no idea how these packages entered the airport."

According to a senior governmental official who spoke to the Yemen Post, Yemeni security forces arrested two local women under suspicion of sending the packages to the United States.

The Yemeni official claimed that the two women sent the packages in order to damage the reputation of Yemen rather than on Al-Qaeda's account. That report, however, appears to conflict with British and US claims that the bombs were viable devices, leading some to describe it as a crude attempt at news management by the Yemeni authorities.


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Sources: CNN, MSNBC, Telegraph.co.uk, Whitehouse.gov, Youtube, Google Maps

Ibrahim Al-Asiri & Qasim Al Raymi: Radical Jihadists; Cargo Bomb Plot MasterMinds

Did Al-Qaida Commander Telegraph Cargo Bomb Plot?


Some U.S. Intelligence officials investigating the printer bomb plot are focusing on the suspected role of an al-Qaida military commander in Yemen who, in a little noticed audiotape just three weeks ago, appeared to forecast a major upcoming terror operation against the West using experimental "explosive charges" and "suitable munitions."

Qasim al Raymi, a fanatical jihadi who is considered by some officials the most dangerous member of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), hinted several times on the tape about an upcoming attack. He referred at one point to the use of explosives "as an experiment" as well as a cryptic reference to "the most important card" that might soon be used, without explaining what that might be, according to an English translation of the audiotape obtained Monday by NBC News.

In the long and rambling audiotape, which was released by AQAP in the second week of October and got almost no public attention at the time, al Raymi threatened the overthrow of Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

But he also he hinted at upcoming "external operations," adding: "The operations are being planned and prepared day and night. God willing, soon the ummah of Islam (the Islamic world) will hear what heals their hearts toward its enemy."

While it is not unusual for AQAP operatives to make public threats of terror attacks, some of the language used by al Raymi in the audiotape has led U.S. analysts to conclude that he may well have been referring to the plot to send sophisticated bombs concealed in printer cartridges that was foiled late last week.

"He was forecasting the operation," said one U.S. government official familiar with the audiotape, speaking on condition of anonymity. "He mentioned they were going to be using these new techniques."

At the same time, some U.S. officials were casting doubt on the role that a former Guantanamo detainee may have played in tipping off Saudi authorities to the plot. According to some widely circulated reports, Jaber al-Faifi, had provided the crucial intelligence about the existence of explosives concealed in the cargo aboard planes that were intercepted last week in Dubai and the United Kingdom. But U.S. officials now say it is unlikely that he was in a position to have specific information about the details and timing of the plot.




The former detainee, Jaber al-Faifi, was released from Guantanamo in early 2007, then graduated from a Saudi "rehabilitation" program — only to flee to Yemen and rejoin with AQAP. But in early September, al-Faifi is supposed to have contacted Saudi authorities saying he wanted to turn himself in. AQAP publicly announced that al-Faifi had been "captured" by the Saudis as early as Sept. 3, according to Gregory Johnsen, an analyst with Princeton University who is one of the leading authorities on AQAP.

Either way, U.S. officials said al-Faifi had left AQAP far too early to have had specific intelligence about which planes the printer bombs were concealed in. Moreover, given that AQAP clearly knew that al Faifi was in Saudi custody, they would have likely taken steps to change any operational plans he was privy to, they said.

"At some point, the logic falls off the train," said one official, referring to reports that al-Faifi provided the crucial intelligence that foiled the plot. "He left (AQAP) too early."

This does not mean that al Faifi did not provide other useful information that might have helped lead to the plot as well as about other operations, the officials said, including reports that AQAP was planning attacks in France and other countries in western Europe.

Still, the disputed reports about al-Faifi appear to indicate that U.S. officials have yet to piece together a full picture of how the package plot came about and who was behind it.

While some U.S. officials have publicly talked about other AQAP figures as likely suspects in the plot — including bomb-maker Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri and radical imam Anwar Al-Awlaki — others say that al Raymi is a far more important player in the group and the most likely mastermind of the attempted attack.

Al Raymi is considered perhaps the most ruthless of all AQAP figures. He once threatened to cut off the leg of a Yemeni prosecutor who put him on trial and has gained stature within the organization since he escaped from Yemeni prison (along with 22 other al-Qaida operatives) in 2006. Last January, the Yemeni government announced that al Raymi was killed in an airstrike along the Saudi border, only to be embarrassed shortly thereafter when he resurfaced as one of AQAP’s key leaders.

Al Raymi, a Yemeni who went to Afghanistan in the 1990’s and met Osama bin Laden, has been linked to numerous AQAP plots, including a planned attack on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen. Abdullah Hassan Taleh al-Asiri, a Saudi militant who killed himself during an attempt to assassinate the Saudi deputy interior minister last year (and the brother of Ibrahim Asiri, AQAP’s bomb-maker) once served as al Raymi’s bodyguard, a U.S. official said.

"He’s the real one, he’s the planner," said one U.S official. "He’s the most dangerous guy."




Yemen Parcel Bombmaker Believed To Be Al-Qaeda Terrorist Ibrahim Hassan Al Asiri


US intelligence officials say the detonator on one of the devices is almost exactly the same as one he is thought to have made for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called Underpants Bomber.

Originally born to a pious family in Saudi Arabia, Ibrahim is one of 85 people on the kingdom's list of wanted terrorists. After serving jail time in his home country, he fled to neighbouring Yemen two years ago with his brother Abdullah to become key members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has bases in the lawless mountain areas beyond the writ of central government.

The slightly-built 28-year-old, who is the son of a retired soldier, is believed to be the movement's resident bombmaking expert - skills he first put to chilling use in a suicide attack in which he recruited his own younger brother, Abdullah, 23, to act as the "martyr".

The attack was an audacious attempt on the life of the Saudi Deputy Minister of the Interior, Prince Muhammad Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, who has personally led an innovative programme in the kingdom to encourage jihadis to reform.

Posing as a jihadist keen to repent, Abdullah gained a private audience with Prince Muhammad in his office, and then detonated a bomb hidden in his own body. It failed to kill the prince but killed Abdullah, who is believed to have been brainwashed into believing in jihadist ideology by his brother.

Following on from sacrificing his own sibling, Ibrahim Asiri is believed to have designed the underwear bomb used by Abdulmutallab in his failed mid-air attack on an airliner over Detroit last Christmas.

US intelligence believes that Ibrahim is now in regular contact with the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is likewise on the run in Yemen. Known as the the so-called "YouTube" jihadist, sermons by al-Awlaki posted on the internet are believed to have seduced hundreds of new recruits into joining al Qaeda.

One serving US intelligence officer told The Sunday Telegraph that there was now debate underway about pressuring Yemen into allowing the CIA to base armed drone aircraft there for a sustained attack on al Qaeda bases.

This would be a similar offensive to the one that has been underway for some time against al Qaeda militants in Pakistan's tribal areas, although it carries the risk of backfiring if civilian casualties are sustained.

Drone attacks have already been used in Yemen from time to time, but the inability so far of Yemen's weak government to reign in the militants means Washington believes such strikes may have to beefed up.

Yesterday, the atmosphere the Yemeni capital, San'aa, was tense, with traffic jams across the city as police and soldiers manned additional checkpoints and vehicle searches. Nestling in mountains, the ancient capital already has many hallmarks of a city frequently wracked by terrorist violence. Toyota pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns guard courthouses and government buildings, and the US and British embassies - both of which have been directly attacked in the past two years - are virtual fortresses encircled by 20 foot high bombproof walls. It was, however, business as usual at the San'aa bureaus of Fedex and UPS, the two international delivery companies via whom the bombs bound for Chicago were posted. The two firms both have shabby offices on Hadda Street, a busy thoroughfare frequented by young Yemenis and expats. Nervous-looking staff at both branches declined to comment on the investigation when approached by The Sunday Telegraph yesterday, although outside the office of Fedex a group of private security guards appeared to be on watch.

For ordinary Yemenis, who are now used to terrorist violence on a daily basis, news of the latest terror plot has been greeted with little more than a resigned shrug. "If Yemen's on the news it means more police and more checkpoints on the streets the next day," moaned one taxi driver.

Yesterday, the Yemeni authorities were questioning cargo workers at the airport and employees of the local shipping companies contracted to work with FedEx. However, while the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has pledged his full co-operation with the US authorities, the reaction of other Yemeni officials to the parcel bomb plot so far has been to downplay the incident.

A statement distributed by Saba, the government's official news agency, warned the media against "rush decisions in a case as sensitive as this one and before investigations reveal the truth."

It claimed that security measures at Yemeni airports had been tightened, with modern screening systems introduced for all flights. At the airport yesterday, where extra security guards were on duty, employees claimed to be bemused by the plot claim.

"There is no way these packages could have come from Sana'a airport," said worker Abdul Rowi. "We check every single bag, we have no idea how these packages entered the airport."

According to a senior governmental official who spoke to the Yemen Post, Yemeni security forces arrested two local women under suspicion of sending the packages to the United States.

The Yemeni official claimed that the two women sent the packages in order to damage the reputation of Yemen rather than on Al-Qaeda's account. That report, however, appears to conflict with British and US claims that the bombs were viable devices, leading some to describe it as a crude attempt at news management by the Yemeni authorities.


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Sources: CNN, MSNBC, Telegraph.co.uk, Whitehouse.gov, Youtube, Google Maps

FBI Arrest 3 Suspects Connected With Faisal Shahzad

Cash Couriers Target of Northeast Raids, Source Says


Raids by Federal Agents in Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey on Thursday are focused on a system of "cash couriers" who bring money into the United States from overseas, a source close to the investigation said.

Three people were taken into custody, according to a U.S. official -- two in Massachusetts and a third in Maine. A statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that three people were taken into custody on alleged immigration violations, but provided no further details.

All three are from Pakistan, according to a U.S. official. One is a so-called "visa overstay." Another was in the process of being removed from the United States, but had not yet been ordered removed, as he was attempting to adjust his status so that he could stay in the country, the official said.

A federal law enforcement source said the initial two detained were connected to the case, but said they were "collateral" in the sense that they may not have had direct knowledge of or input into the Times Square plot.

Investigators searched locations in and around Boston, Massachusetts, and in New York and New Jersey, a federal law enforcement source said.

Two locations on Long Island were among the targets of the raids, a federal law enforcement source told CNN. The FBI executed search warrants at both locations in Suffolk County, New York, in eastern Long Island, the source said. Tim Motz, a Suffolk County Police spokesman, said officers from that department were assisting federal agents. No arrests had been made.

Some of the money allegedly ferried by the cash couriers is thought to have been made available to finance operations like the abortive Times Square attack. The source close to the investigation said two individuals have been under surveillance at least since Wednesday, but could not confirm that they were two of the three individuals arrested in the raids.

The source said there is no direct evidence connecting those under surveillance to the Times Square attempted bombing, but they are being investigated for possible links.

"These searches are the product of evidence that has been gathered in the investigation since the attempted Times Square bombing and do not relate to any known immediate threat to the public or active plot against the United States," Attorney General Eric Holder told the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday. "I share that information just to indicate that this is an ongoing investigation and that we are actively pursuing all those who were involved in it."

One of the searches took place in Watertown, Massachusetts, according to a federal law enforcement official. CNN affiliate WCVB-TV reported that two people were taken into custody in Watertown.

A Watertown resident who lives near the home where the search warrant was executed told WCVB he was sitting in his living room watching television at about 6 a.m. when he "heard an FBI agent scream, saying 'Don't move' or 'Put your hands up,' something like that."

"I thought I was dreaming, actually, because in a small town, who would think, you know, that you'd hear an FBI person?" said the man, who did not give his name in the interview posted on WCVB's website.

When he looked out the window, he said, he saw 15 or 20 FBI agents lined up, with their guns drawn and pointing at the house. He said after a few minutes, a couple of agents went inside the house. "I was expecting to hear gunshots or something, you know, but there wasn't ever any gunshots," he said.

After a few minutes, agents brought a man out in shackles, put him in a car and drove away, the man said. He said he'd never seen the man before, but noted that new residents have moved into the home every few years.

Photos from Watertown showed yellow police crime scene tape around a large white Colonial-style house. The photos were taken by WickedLocal.com, a local news website.

One photo showed a man in an FBI shirt talking with two other men. Another showed a man walking out of the house holding a plastic bag that appeared to contain an electronic or computer-related device or accessory.

Another search unfolded in Brookline, Massachusetts, where police were helping the FBI search a Mobil gas station on Harvard Street, said Lt. Philip Harrington of the Brookline Police Department.

Video from CNN affiliate WHDH-TV of Boston showed apparent law enforcement officers at the gas station. They were examining a parked gray four-door sedan, its two front doors and trunk open.

Diane Chung, who manages a Japanese fusion restaurant across from the gas station, said investigators were swarming the scene when she got to the restaurant around 9:30 a.m. She said the gas station was completely blocked off.

She said she hadn't seen authorities bringing anyone out of the gas station and hasn't seen them enter any other businesses in the area.

Michael Sobelman, owner of Michael's Deli on Harvard Street, took a stroll down the street to check out what he said was rare commotion along the retail and commercial stretch.

"You can see them taking stuff out," he said. "You'd never have thunk something like this is going on."

News media and police packed the area as three or four helicopters hovered over the scene. Sobelman said he saw the FBI load vehicles with material from the gas station.

"I'm shocked that it could happen in an affluent community like this," Sobelman said. "I tip my hat to the FBI and praise them for their work and their diligence and looking behind the scenes into everything."

A search warrant was also being executed at a home in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, according to J.J. Klaver, FBI spokesman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. No one was in custody. A federal law enforcement source told CNN raids were also being conducted at a business called Prompt Printing in Camden, New Jersey. The home in Cherry Hill was believed to be that of the shop's owner, the source said.

Shahzad, a 30-year-old Pakistani American, is the only person charged in the May 1 attempted bombing at Times Square.

He was arrested while trying to fly out of New York two days after he allegedly attempted to set off a car bomb in the always-crowded tourist hotspot. The bomb failed to detonate.

Shahzad has been charged with five counts in connection with the case.

According to court documents, he admitted to law enforcement officials that he attempted to detonate the bomb and that he recently received bomb-making training in the Waziristan region of Pakistan.

Court documents also said that Shahzad returned to the United States via a one-way ticket from Pakistan on February 3. He had told immigration officials upon his return that he had been visiting his parents in Pakistan for the previous five months, the complaint said.

Holder said Shahzad was working with the Pakistani Taliban.


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Sources: CNN, NY Daily News, Google Maps

Mayor Bloomberg vs Obama: White House Cuts NYC's Security Funding

White House Slashes NY Anti-Terrorism Funds


Eleven days after the botched plot to bomb Times Square, the Obama administration on Wednesday slashed some $53 million from the city's terror-fighting budget.

"For the administration to announce these cuts two weeks after the attempted Times Square bombing shows they just don't get it and are not doing right by New York City," fumed Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

To top it off, the news arrives as President Obama comes to town today amid buzz he will meet with the very cops who helped thwart the bombing.

Obama will also be tapping the city's deep pockets for the Democratic Party.

"The President seems more interested in raising money for political campaigns than providing New York the money it needs to defend itself against Islamic terrorism," said Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.), the top Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.

The cuts, to be announced today, target the annual allocations for transit and port security, legislators said.

The New York City area will get $111million for transit security in the final 2010 budget - a 27% chop from last year's $153 million. The port security program is getting chopped from $45 million to $33.8million - a cut of 25%.

"The fact that the Obama administration would cut New York's homeland security funding just 11 days after the Times Square car bomb attempt is dangerous and unconscionable," King said.

The Department of Homeland Security had forecast the cuts in December, but local leaders thought the administration would change its mind after a car packed with fireworks, propane and fertilizer nearly detonated in Times Square on May 1.

Another terror plot busted up last September targeted the city's subways.

"Just when we thought they finally realized a war on terror is going on, they do something like this," raged City Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Queens), head of the Council's Public Safety Committee.

"This leaves us more vulnerable to 'man-caused disasters,'" he said sarcastically, referring to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's term for terror attacks.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Matthew Chandler begged to differ with New York's interpretation, insisting his agency is "actively engaged in supporting New York City's first responders and overall preparedness."

He argued that in 2009, the administration gave the area more than $457 million for "terrorism and other threats." He blamed Congress for appropriating less money for 2010, and an administration official said if New York includes the cash it got from the economic stimulus bill passed in 2009, it's actually getting $47.3 million more than last year for ports and transit protection.

King was unimpressed by that math, arguing the stimulus cash is a one-time payout that won't be repeated.

"That's a story they're coming up with at the last minute, because an hour ago they were saying they couldn't give us the money because Congress only allocated $300 million," he said. "Actually, Obama only asked for $250 million."

King noted there is nothing stopping the administration from giving the city a bigger slice. "New York should get first shot, because we're the No. 1 target," he said.


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Sources: CNN, MSNBC, NY Daily News, Politico, Youtube, Google Maps

Times Square Bomb Threat Linked To Pakistani Man (Terrorism)

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Pakistani Man Sought In NYC Bomb Case


Two NYC law enforcement officials say that authorities have identified the buyer of the sport utility vehicle used in the botched Times Square bombing and are seeking him as a potential suspect.

One of the officials tells The Associated Press that the potential suspect is a man of Pakistani descent who recently traveled to Pakistan. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is at a sensitive stage.

The officials say the man is a Connecticut resident who paid cash weeks ago for the SUV parked in Times Square on Saturday and rigged with a crude propane-and-gasoline bomb.

NBC News' Pete Williams reported the man's name was on an e-mail that was sent to the seller of the car last month, as well as other evidence suggesting he had a role in the attempted bombing.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported on Monday that an FBI-led terrorism task force has taken over the investigation of the failed car bombing in Times Square because of indications it was connected to international terrorism, a senior law enforcement source said.

The probe had been overseen by the New York Police Department. Responsibility for it shifted to a Joint Terrorism Task Force as Obama administration officials said the incident increasingly appears to have been coordinated by more than one person in a plot with international links, the Post reported on its Web site.

The White House, according to the Post, intensified its focus on the failed bombing Saturday in New York City, in which explosives inside a Nissan Pathfinder were set ablaze but failed to detonate at the busy corner of Broadway and 45th Street.

Emerging from a series of briefings, several officials told the Post it was too early to rule out any motive but said the sweeping investigation was turning up new clues.

SUV Sold for cash

A law enforcement official says the registered owner of the SUV used in the botched bombing told investigators he sold it for cash three weeks ago.

The official told The Associated Press that the Connecticut owner questioned Sunday about what happened to the SUV says he sold the vehicle to a stranger.

Officials continued to look into the history of the vehicle as one way to crack the case. The vehicle identification number had been removed from the Pathfinder's dashboard, but it was stamped on the engine and axle, and investigators used it to find the owner of record.

Investigators tracked the license plates to a used auto parts shop in Stratford, Conn., where they discovered the plates were connected to a different vehicle.

They also spoke to the owner of an auto sales shop in nearby Bridgeport because a sticker on the Pathfinder indicated the SUV had been sold by his dealership. Owner Tom Manis said there was no match between the identification number the officers showed him and any vehicle he sold.

Hundreds of hours of video

In New York, police and FBI were examining hundreds of hours of video from around the area and wanted to speak with a man in his 40s who was videotaped shedding his shirt near the Pathfinder.

The video shows the man slipping down Shubert Alley and taking off his shirt, revealing another underneath. In the same clip, he looks back in the direction of the smoking vehicle and puts the first shirt in a bag.

They traveled to Pennsylvania for video shot by a tourist of a different person and were evaluating the tape and determining whether to make it public.

In Washington, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Saturday's attempted bombing was a terrorist act.

Attorney General Eric Holder, who earlier in the day refused to classify the incident as terrorism, said the bomber intended to spread fear across New York and said investigators had some good leads in addition to the videotape that was released Sunday.

Investigators had not ruled out a range of possible motives, and federal officials said they hadn't narrowed down whether the bomber was homegrown or foreign.

One federal law enforcement official, according to the Washington Post, cautioned that, while investigators are examining unspecified international communications that may be connected to the attack, "that doesn't get you to an international plot, a multi-organizational plot."

"We're just not there," the official told the Post.

Another U.S. official, recounting a conversation with intelligence officials, was quoted in the Washington Post: "Don't be surprised if you find a foreign nexus. ... They're looking at some telltale signs, and they're saying it's pointing in that direction."

‘Every lead has to be pursued’

Early Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told NBC's "Today" show that no suspects or theories had been ruled out.

"Right now, every lead has to be pursued," she said.

And investigators had not ruled out a range of possible motives.

Barry Mawn, who led New York's FBI office at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and has since retired, said suspects could range from those sympathetic to the interest of U.S. enemies to a domestic terrorist to a disgruntled employee who worked in Times Square.

The Pakistani Taliban appeared to claim responsibility for the bomb in three videos that surfaced after the weekend scare, monitoring groups said. New York officials said police have no evidence to support the claims.

The SUV was parked near offices of Viacom Inc., which owns Comedy Central. The network recently aired an episode of the animated show "South Park" that the group Revolution Muslim had complained insulted the Prophet Muhammad by depicting him in a bear costume.

The date of the botched bombing — May 1 — was International Workers Day, a traditional date for political demonstrations, and thousands had rallied for immigration reform that day in New York.

Security had been also been tight in the city in advance of a visit to the United Nations by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a nuclear weapons conference.

Police said the bomb could have produced "a significant fireball" and sprayed shrapnel with enough force to kill pedestrians and knock out windows. The SUV was parked on a street lined with Broadway theaters and restaurants and full of people out on a Saturday night.

The SUV was captured on video crossing an intersection at 6:28 p.m. Saturday. Vendors pointed out the Pathfinder to police about two minutes later. Times Square, clogged with tourists on a warm evening, was shut down for 10 hours.

The explosive device had cheap-looking alarm clocks connected to a 16-ounce can filled with fireworks, which were apparently intended to detonate the gas cans and set the propane afire in a chain reaction, said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

A metal rifle cabinet placed in the cargo area was packed with fertilizer, but NYPD bomb experts believe it was not a type volatile enough to explode like the ammonium nitrate fertilizer used in previous terrorist bombings.

The exact amount of fertilizer was unknown. Police estimated the cabinet weighed 200 to 250 pounds when they pulled it from the vehicle.

To experts in explosives, it seemed to be the work of someone who really didn't know what they were doing.

Chris Falkenberg, president of Insite Security, which works with Fortune 500 companies, said the device, as described by authorities, "doesn't differ much at all from 'The Anarchist Cookbook'" — the underground 1971 manual for homemade explosives.

He said revelations that the fertilizer used could not have exploded suggested "this is amateur hour. My kids could build a better bomb than this."

President Barack Obama telephoned handbag vendor Duane Jackson, 58, of Buchanan, N.Y., on Monday to commend him for alerting authorities to the smoking SUV. The White House said Obama thanked Jackson for his vigilance and for acting quickly to prevent serious trouble.


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Sources: MSNBC, Google Maps

Gulf Oil Spill Espionage Or True Leak? Foreign Oil Dependency

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With Oil Spill (and Blame) Spreading, Obama Will Visit Gulf Coast Today


It may be time to stop referring to the Deepwater Horizon rig accident in the Gulf of Mexico as an oil spill.

A spill sounds like something temporary, a glass of milk overturned, which empties and then can be cleaned up.

But what is unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, not far from the sensitive shorelines of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, isn't a spill. It's an unchecked gush of crude oil from beneath the bottom of the ocean into the water — and no one can say for sure when it will finally stop.

That was the sense of experts and politicians alike as the battle against the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe entered a new and more intense stage.

By early Friday morning, April 30, officials had received the first reports of oil reaching the southern shores of Louisiana, and scientists in Fort Jackson were already treating the first of many oiled birds. BP, the energy company that leased the oil rig — and which, as many politicians emphasized Friday, is financially responsible for the accident — continues to estimate that about 5,000 bbl. of oil are leaking daily from the wreck.

But the Mobile Press-Register reported Friday that a confidential federal report dated April 28 estimates oil could be leaking at a rate up to 10 times greater. "We need to take every measure we can to protect our coastlines, our wildlife and our people," said Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal in a press conference Friday afternoon.

Jindal was one of several government officials who turned up the criticism on BP, which is spending at least $7 million a day to stop the oil flow and control the spill.

The governor questioned whether the hundreds of miles of booms put in place would be sufficient to protect the shoreline from incoming oil. "I do have concerns" about BP, Jindal said while sidestepping questions about potential lawsuits against the energy company.

The situation has gotten so bad that President Obama will visit the area on Sunday. On Friday, Ken Salazar — one of three Cabinet-level officials who arrived in Louisiana to help coordinate the federal response — called on BP to "work harder, faster and smarter to get the job done," while Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson announced that the agency would begin monitoring the region's air and water quality.

"We continue to urge BP to leverage additional assets to help lead the response in this effort," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. "It is clear, after several unsuccessful attempts to secure the source of the leak, it is time for BP to supplement their current mobilization." And documents emerged that showed BP had previously downplayed the possibility of a major spill.

Clearly something has to change, because nearly everything BP has tried to do to stanch the flow of oil has fallen short.

Efforts to use underwater robots to activate a blowout preventer on the ocean floor that would seal the well have failed repeatedly, while work to conduct an in situ burning of the oil on the water surface — somewhat successful yesterday — had to be curtailed because of bad weather.

The company is set to begin using chemical dispersants on the oil underwater, which has never been tried before, and is about to begin drilling a relief well that could eventually plug the gushing well.

But nothing is likely to fix the situation within weeks. It took responders 10 weeks to stop a similar broken well off the western coast of Australia in 2009. "This is the application of new technology," said Doug Suttle, BP's chief operating officer. "Like everyone involved, we're trying to bring this event to a close as quickly as possible and address the impact as soon as possible."

But with the oil making landfall in Louisiana — and set to reach the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida coasts by Monday — the impact is already being felt. Louisiana fishermen in Venice docked their boats this afternoon, knowing waters could be closed for a long, long time.

Lawsuits have already been filed by seafood companies against BP and Transocean, the rig's operator. Analysts estimate that the Louisiana fishing industry could sustain $2.5 billion in losses, while Florida could lose $3 billion in tourism income.

BP CEO Tony Hayward said in an interview with Reuters that the company would compensate those affected by the spill, but the cost could be $8 billion or more — and the company's stock price has already dipped 12%. And the cost to the Gulf's ecosystems could be unimaginable.

"Our thirst for fossil fuel means we've been playing Russian roulette with our environment," said Ken Rosenberg, director of conservation science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "The gun just went off."

In response, President Barack Obama put a freeze on new offshore-drilling leases until a review of the accident could be carried out. But he declined to back away from the pursuit of offshore drilling.

"I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security," Obama said on Friday. He went on to remind reporters that BP was ultimately responsible for paying for the cleanup but that "we are fully prepared to meet our responsibilities to any and all affected communities."

As the accident goes from a spill to something far worse, it may be BP paying the check, but ultimately the buck will stop in the White House, and Obama will be judged.






Industry Corporate Spies


Chicago's Abbott Laboratories, like most firms in the aggressively competitive drug industry, observes the most stringent plant security: work areas are grilled off and guarded, gates open only briefly for shift changes and deliveries, employee parcels are scrutinized.

It is impossible, however, to police minds and memories. Abbott is seeking an injunction against two former employees, claiming that they memorized the formula for its highly successful Sucaryl, an artificial sweetener, and duplicated it in a competing product.

Abbott is only one of a growing number of companies with such security problems. Last week, at an American Management Association conference in Manhattan, businessmen were startled to hear statistics showing that industrial espionage has risen 50% in recent years. Corporate losses through spying and the theft of goods and processes now run to $2 billion yearly.

Telltale Carbons. The rise is due partly to increased job mobility; workers unavoidably take knowledge with them from company to company. Another cause is the fierce competition built up by an avalanche of new products. No fewer than 26,000 are introduced every year, at a cost of more than $6 billion in research and development expenditures.

Under such costly pressures, many companies find it valuable to learn surreptitiously what new competitive products lie ahead or where another company does its test-marketing.

Espionage is heaviest in the electronics, chemical, drug, petroleum and toy industries, but some of it goes on almost everywhere. In a Harvard business-school survey of executives, 25% replied that "spying or other types of undercover information collection had recently been discovered" in their industry;

The survey also found that executives under 50 are less concerned than their elders about the ethics of pirating and spying.

Some firms go so far as to hire professional spies, plant informers inside other companies, bribe or blackmail employees for information, tap telephones, even sort rubbish.

"I'm picking up a couple of barrels of trash a night now," a California private detective admitted last week. "The way they use these carbons only once now, it's a cinch."

Not all of the espionage work is underhand, of course: many companies regularly instruct salesmen and other fieldworkers to report back any news and gossip, also sift trade journals, advertisements and Government reports for additional wisps of information.

Two-Way Mirror. The rise in spies, along with increasing theft and embezzlements, has produced stronger counterespionage as well as more frequent lawsuits.

In what has become a benchmark decision, B.F. Goodrich Co. recently won an injunction forbidding a Goodrich space-suit engineer who had gone over to International Latex to use knowledge gained at Goodrich on his new space-suit work.

So far, Du Pont has legally gagged a chemical engineer who knew its chloride process for making titanium dioxide paints when he left for American Potash & Chemical; a court order prohibits him from working on titanium dioxide processes.

Spy-workers are sometimes trapped by counterspy-workers sent into plants by such protective agencies as Willmark or the Merit Protective Service. Companies on the defensive are also using closed-circuit television, two-way mirrors, lie-detector tests, and telephone taps of their own.

But the very best preventive, businessmen decided at the A.M.A. meeting, is none of these things: it is for companies to keep their employees so content that they will not stoop to snoop for others, and will not be tempted to take their secrets to another company.


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Sources: MSNBC, TIME, Youtube, Google Maps