| latest news |
Terrorists possibly targeting Texas
U.S. intelligence agencies early this month eavesdropped on two suspected al-Qaida operatives discussing potential terrorism in Texas timed for the July Fourth weekend, raising the specter of an attack on energy facilities in the Houston area, officials here said Monday.
That information, which did not specify a target, an exact time or a type of terrorist attack, was passed along to state officials.
Federal homeland security officials have informed Texas law enforcement agencies of intelligence reportedly gathered from suspected al-Qaida operatives discussing potential terrorism in the state next month.
Authorities obtained intelligence pointing to a possible terrorist threat in Texas during the July 4 holiday, but said Tuesday there was not information pointing to a target or location, a U.S. counterterrorism official in Washington, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press.
One counterterrorism official said the information suggested a threat to petroleum interests in Texas in early July. Another said it only mentioned Texas and the July 4 holiday.
Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the agency receives a significant number of threats and intelligence information regularly.
"We have to run them all down," he said. "The vast majority of them turn out to be not credible."
25 June 2003, Homeland Security News
Hoax
bomb at councillor's home
An SDLP councillor in County Londonderry has vowed to continue
with his work after a hoax bomb was left outside his house.
Councillor Billy Leonard was woken when a bottle of paint was thrown through an upstairs window of his home in High Road, Portstewart.
Another bottle was hurled against an outside wall, striking a balcony.
When Mr Leonard went downstairs he found a black bag containing a tin box had been left outside his front door.
A battery, timer and pipe were found inside the box, but they were not connected.
"Obviously that was only confirmed after the Army fired a shot into the box and examined it themselves," he said.
Mr Leonard, who was at home with his wife and four boys aged between 10 and 17, said the activity had "nothing whatsoever to do with democracy".
"The people who come in the dark of night and attack a family home have nothing to offer," he added.
He said he would not be intimidated by the attackers.
The police said a package containing what appeared to have been a homemade incendiary explosive device had been left at the scene.
But they said after examination it was found to have been an "elaborate hoax".
24 June 2003, BBC
Bomb
threat 'remains high'
The discovery of two bombs in the past week is evidence that the
threat from dissident republicans remains high, Northern Ireland's
chief constable has said.
Hugh Orde said there would have been bomb attacks in Northern Ireland but for the actions of the security forces on both sides of the border.
Two people who were arrested in connection with the discovery of a 1,200lb van bomb in Londonderry on Sunday were released without charge on Tuesday.
Two other men are still being questioned by police in Donegal, in the Irish Republic.
On Friday, gardai said they had foiled a major operation by dissident republicans, following the discovery of 500lb of explosives in County Monaghan near the border.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Orde said: "The Garda Siochana intercepted one attempt to create a bomb that we think was probably heading to Northern Ireland. "Officers from Derry intercepted another bomb, a huge bomb double the size of Omagh, which we are convinced was also heading for a location in Northern Ireland.
"We don't know where they were going to currently but it shows how high the threat is. It also shows how effective this police service working with the gardai is."
The Derry bomb was found in a van which was being driven suspiciously on the Foyle Bridge. Officers found the vehicle abandoned a short time later on the nearby Clooney Road.
Two men are being questioned in County Donegal. They were arrested by gardai in Buncrana.
21 June 2003, BBC
Texaco
walkout after bomb scare
About 900 contractors have walked out of a west Wales oil refinery,
a day after the site experienced a bomb scare.
One of the contractors, who did not want to be named, said workers were concerned about safety issues at the Texaco plant in Angle, near Pembroke Dock.
He said they had not been told about what was going on when a section of the site was evacuated on Tuesday.
But a Texaco spokesman said that he had not been given an official reason for the walk-out.
It is believed the contractors will return to work on Thursday.
An unidentified package was spotted by security guards near the butane stores at the east side of the refinery late on Tuesday morning.
Police and bomb disposal experts were called to the scene, and police officers arrived and staff working in an exclusion zone of 100m in all directions around the package were moved.
"At no point at all did the police or the bomb squad recommend that the whole site be evacuated," said a Texaco spokesman.
The exclusion zone was in place throughout the day, until after the bomb squad arrived.
The experts X-rayed the package, which was found to be innocent.
"Texaco want to emphasise that at no point at all did any authority suggest that it was necessary to evacuate the site," added the spokesman.
Chief Inspector Roger Hughes of Dyfed-Powys Police confirmed that an investigation had been conducted at the refinery.
"As a result of the investigation the package has been examined and it has been established that it was non-explosive," he said. "Inquiries are proceeding to establish its origin.
"It should
be emphasised that due to the early identification of the package
and control measures implemented, there was no significant danger
to the public."
11 June 2003, BBC
Office
damaged in bomb attack
Office premises in Londonderry have been damaged in an early morning
petrol bomb attack.
The incident happened at the Northern Ireland Probation Board office at Crawford Square, off the Northland Road in the city.
The ground floor window of the premises was smashed in the attack. Minor scorch and smoke damage was also caused to the building.
Detectives have said they are keen to speak to two men who were seen in the area at the time and who may be able to help police with their enquiries.
8 June 2003,
BBC
Spanish car bomb kills two
A car bomb explosion has killed two policemen and injured at least
two other people in a town in northern Spain.
The explosion occurred in a square in the town of Sanguesa in Navarra province.
Officials said the bomb attack bore the hallmarks of the Basque separatist group, ETA.
It follows Sunday's municipal elections, the first since Madrid banned the radical separatist party Batasuna on the grounds it formed part of ETA, listed as a terrorist group by the US and European Union.
"ETA has murdered once again," Deputy Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in Madrid, vowing to use "all means at our disposal" to fight the group.
30 May 2003, BBC
Parcel Bomb Explosion Injures 4 in Spain
An explosion rocked a post office in the Mediterranean resort city of Valencia, injuring four people, the Interior Ministry said.
It gave no details, but news reports said it was a parcel bomb. The explosion came a day before nationwide municipal and regional elections.
The news agency Europa Press quoted officials as saying one of the injured was in serious condition and the other three were treated and released.
Mayor Rita Barbera was quoted as saying the explosives were contained in an envelope.
24 May 2003, AP
Bomb
defused at party office
Army bomb experts have carried out a controlled explosion on a
device in west Belfast.
It was left at the offices of Republican Sinn Fein in the Beechmount
area of the Falls Road.
It is understood the package contained an explosive substance attached to an alarm clock. A number of other items have been taken away for examination.
A member of staff found the package on Monday morning as they arrived to open the office.
Police cordoned off the area and Army bomb disposal experts were called in.
No group has claimed responsibility for leaving the device.
19 May, 2003
UK
security stepped up
Customs officers
in the UK are to be issued with new detection equipment in an
effort to stop terrorists bringing in material for a radioactive
bomb.
Equipment which detects radioactive material has been on trial at the port of Dover for the past six months checking cars and lorries.
The move is part of an international intelligence operation to stop so-called "dirty bombs" being used by terrorists.
The Home Office said the new equipment was just one of many measures to improve port security and not a response to a particular threat.
Customs and Excise are using around £50m to set up this scheme - part of an extra allocation of £330m in the budget for counter-terrorist activities.
They have only just been given this extra responsibility for counter-terrorism at ports, deemed to be a very important part of Britain's defences against terror groups.
Eventually the equipment will be mobile enough to be made deployed at any point of entry - there are around 1,000 in the UK - if the FBI or MI6 intelligence identifies a risk at any particular port or airport.
13 May 2003, BBC
Saudi
bomb attacks
A series of bomb attacks in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday
were all targeted at luxury compounds housing foreign nationals.
Blasts were reported at four compounds in Riyadh in quick succession at about 2330 local time.
Buildings in the Al-Hamra compound, in the Gharnata district of the city, were badly damaged in what appeared to be a co-ordinated attack involving car bombs and gunmen.
Some witnesses reported that the attackers apparently began their assault when guards opened a security gate to let another vehicle leave.
A security official told the Associated Press that a black Chevrolet car crashed into a residential housing block in al-Hamra.
At the separate Vinnell compound, a residential block housing defence workers was "very seriously damaged", according to US ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert Jordan.
The third compound, in the Cordoba district of the city, was less seriously damaged as the bomb exploded at the gate rather than inside the premises.
13 May 2003, BBC
Bomb
threat at Cherie charity event
Cherie Blair
was forced to pull out of a London charity event following the
threat of a suicide bomb attack.
She
was due to speak at an annual charity event at The Dorchester
on Park Lane but the hotel received an anonymous phone call from
an "Arab sounding" man an hour before Mrs Blair was
due to attend.
Britain's former ambassador to the US, Sir Christopher Meyer explained Mrs Blair's absence to the 220 guests, including the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, in The Dorchester ballroom.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said police were not prepared to discuss "matters of security".
13 May 2003, BBC
Bomb
at unionist headquarters
A letter bomb has partially exploded inside the Ulster Unionist
Party's headquarters in east Belfast. There were no injuries
The package was addressed to party leader David Trimble at their headquarters.
Police said the package partially detonated when it was opened, and that little damage was caused.
It included some matches attached to a video cassette.
Army bomb experts who examined what remained of the device said it had the potential to cause serious injury if it had fully detonated.
East Londonderry assembly member David McClarty said security forces have told the party it was a "real" device that contained live ammunition.
He said the device had ignited rather than exploded.
Mr Trimble's special adviser David McNarry said party staff were going through their normal routine of opening the post at the time.
"I can say that there seemed to be on the front of the envelope a Church of Ireland reference and logo. Therefore the person opening it seemed to think this was just some kind of promotion material," he said.
"But as he opened it there was a flame which shot out. He dropped it and we immediately evacuated.
"The incendiary device, if that's what it was, seemed to self extinguish."
Mr McNarry said whoever carried out the attack had achieved nothing.
"Most of us thought we were over all this sort of stuff," he added.
The Ulster Unionists said they would be reviewing security at their headquarters.
12 May 2003,
BBC
Firebombs
In Chico.
Militants have again struck the quiet college town of Chico, California.
Last weekend, violent activists left "plastic milk containers
filled with flammable liquid (and rigged to ignite) underneath
two new SUVs on display at a local auto dealer." Although
the perpetrators left no calling card, the PETA-funded Earth Liberation
Front (ELF), is a potential suspect. ELF vandalized 60 SUVs in
one night just last week.
According to police, the two bombs "resemble a device left at a local fast-food restaurant in March." That time around, the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) claimed responsibility.
The incendiary devices planted by ALF and ELF in Chico were built according to the recipe demonstrated by convicted Animal Liberation Front arsonist (and recipient of over $70,000 from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) Rodney Coronado, during a speech before hundreds of young people at American University in January:
"Here's a little model I'm going to show you here. I didn't have any incense, but this is a crude incendiary device. It is a simple plastic jug, which you fill with gasoline and oil. You put in a sponge, which is soaked also in flammable liquid. I couldn't find an incense stick, but this represents that. You put the incense stick in here, light it, place it underneath the 'weapon of mass destruction,' light the incense stick -- sandalwood works nice -- and you destroy the profits that are brought about through animal and earth abuse. That's about two dollars"
Center for Consumer Freedom, 7 May 2003
Man
killed in pipe bomb stunt
A Northamptonshire man fascinated with explosives blew himself
up after putting a home-made pipe bomb in his mouth and lighting
the fuse, an inquest has heard.
Kevin Barnes, 20, of Joseph Priestly Court in Daventry, took the device into his mouth and lit it with a lighterlighter as his flatmates and girlfriend looked on.
The bomb, which might have been created using instructions from a book on explosives blew up, causing him serious head injuries, and he died on the same day.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, the Northamptonshire Coroner said she was satisfied he had not intended to take his own life.
She said complications from a risky medical procedure meant to save him contributed to his death.
Mr Barnes was described as a risk-taker with a history of harming himself and the inquest heard he had a short temper.
His girlfriend, Elizabeth Elliot, said: "My opinion was that Kevin was mucking about but didn't actually mean for the pipe bomb to go off.
"People threatened to go to the police about it but Kevin was Kevin; nobody had the guts to."
BBC, 7 May
2003
