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Suspicious White Powder Delays Vienna-New York Flight
An Austrian Airlines flight to New York was delayed for six hours on Friday after the staff found a white powder on board, said an Austrian Airlines spokeswoman.
Shortly before passengers boarded the 1040 GMT flight on Friday,the staff found about a teaspoonful of unidentified white powder on a seat, then passengers were put on another aircraft that took off six hours late, said the spokeswoman, Livia Dandrea.
"The substance has been taken for analysis," she said. "The results are not yet known but preliminary tests have shown that it was not narcotic."
It was unlikely the substance would test positive for anthrax, a deadly bacteria in the form of a white powder, she added.
No terror alert was raised as no passengers had boarded the plane when the powder was found, Dandrea said. A Vienna airport official also confirmed there had been no terror alert.
Anthrax-laced letters caused the death of five people and the infection of 13 others in the United States in 2001, soon after the Sept. 11 attacks. The letters were sent to media organizationsand members of the US Congress, among others.
The motives for the attacks were not known and those behind the poisoned mail remain at large. Enditem
Xinhuanet, 26 Dec 2003
EU's Top Official Receives Letter Bomb
European Union Commission President Romano Prodi opened a letter bomb at his home in Bologna on Saturday but was not hurt when the package burst into flames, his spokesman said.
It was the second attack on the EU's top official in a week.
Last week, two small bombs exploded near Prodi's home, also without harming anyone. A previously unknown anarchist group claimed responsibility for that attack, saying it targeted Prodi as a representative of a repressive "new European order."
Prodi's spokesman Marco Vignudelli said it was unclear who had sent the latest bomb.
"Prodi himself managed to open the parcel. The pack exploded with a big fire," he said. "There were no injuries whatsoever. It was a small bomb."
On Dec. 21, two small bombs hidden in trash bins exploded outside Prodi's house in central Bologna. The devices — consisting of a cooking pot, a gas cylinder and a timer — went off within an hour of each other. No one was at home at the time.
Later, a group calling itself the Informal Anarchic Federation, using the acronym FAI in Italian, claimed responsibility in a letter sent from Bologna to La Repubblica newspaper. Investigators said they believed the letter was probably sent by the culprits.
The newspaper printed excerpts, in which the group said it was a federation of several organizations that have carried out similar small attacks in recent years.
"Today we have hit at the apparatus of control that is repressive and leading the democratic show that is the new European order," said the letter, which was received by the paper Tuesday.
It said the Dec. 21 attack was carried out "so the pig knows that the maneuvers have only begun to get close to him and others like him."
Prodi lives in Brussels, where the EU executive body is based, but he has been spending the Christmas holidays in his hometown in Italy.
24 December 2003, AP
Parcel Bomb Terrorists in Pakistan Regrouping
With Pakistan's known militant groups scrambling for cover amid international scrutiny of their activities and an ongoing crackdown by security forces, Pakistani investigators believe the embattled survivors may have banded together under a new umbrella -- the Muslim United Army.
"We're tracking a chaotic situation, where groups are not only disbanding and reforming under different names, but where groups that might formerly have had only loose connections with one another are consolidating their operations ... to go after Western and government targets," said one Crimes Investigation Department police official on the condition of anonymity. "How closely those connections go is something we're looking at."
The umbrella organization, known as the MUA, first surfaced in October 2002 when five parcel bombs arrived at police and government buildings in this volatile port city. Four of the bombs exploded, injuring nine people.
A deluge of e-mails claiming responsibility was sent to media outlets by Asif Ramzi, the MUA's self-proclaimed spokesman and an al Qaeda supporter, heralding the attacks as a warning "to police officers involved in operations against mujahedeen at the behest of the Americans."
Police had already been searching for Ramzi, head of the outlawed Lashkar- e-Jhangvi militant group, for possible involvement in the brutal 2001 murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl and a bomb attack on the U.S. Consulate here in June 2001, placing a $500,000 bounty on his head.
Investigators believed Ramzi died with three accomplices in a warehouse explosion in Karachi last December while trying to make more bombs.
"We thought that was the end of the so-called MUA," said the police official, who like many in the intelligence community figured the group was Ramzi's own, insignificant creation.
Then in May of this year, the MUA re-emerged to take responsibility for the bombing of 21 Shell gas stations in Karachi in a single day. While the attacks caused little more than material damage to the outlets, the existence of the MUA rapidly gained credence among law enforcement agencies.
Despite the June arrest of five MUA members in Karachi, investigators have made little headway infiltrating the group or identifying its modus operandi.
At this point, officials believe the MUA is led by top men of Lashkar-e- Jhangvi and Harkat al Mujahedeen al Aalmi, another militant group outraged by the U.S.-led war on terror and Pakistan's participation in it. After Ramzi's death, investigators believe that a hitherto unknown figure, one Sheikh Ahmed, assumed leadership.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is an even more militant offshoot of the group known as Sipah-e-Sihaba, which was banned by President Pervez Musharraf for its involvement in violent conflicts between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
In an interview, Mohammad Ilyas Saheer, Sipah-e-Sihaba's former financial secretary, confirmed that his group has links to other infamous terrorist organizations such as Jaish-e-Mohammad, Harkat ul Ansar and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.
But he denied that his group played any role in the MUA. "I can't speak for every cell, every fighter, some of which may have joined this army, but there is not yet any widespread agreement to create a supergroup," he claimed.
There have been no major terrorist attacks in the streets of the teeming port city of Karachi over the last five months but few are naive enough to believe the fight is over.
"There are a million-and-one places to hide here, so it's impossible for the police to catch every single one," said Jawaid Jafri, a computer science student at Karachi University. "All it takes is one motivated man with some weapons to disrupt an entire city."
Violence is nothing new for Karachi's 14 million residents. Throughout the 1990s, violence between Sunnis and Shiites, kidnaps for ransom and politically motivated massacres killed hundreds and left people with a sense that death could strike at any moment. Even militant attacks on Western targets, such as the June 2001 attack on the U.S. Consulate that killed 14 passers-by, have taken a higher toll among locals than foreigners.
"You always have it in the back of your head that it could happen anytime, anywhere," said Jafri. "At the same time, you're always hoping that this is all over."
The roots of the problem are deeply embedded in Karachi's body politic.
Beginning in the early 1980s, the city served as the main conduit for fighters and supplies for the Afghan jihad against Soviet forces. Many of the travelers married local women either en route into or out of Afghanistan, setting up hundreds of de facto safe houses here. After the Russian departure, Karachi remained a main staging base for those seeking to elude government attention.
Observers attribute the relative calm of the last few months to a belief that the terrorists are modifying their tactics in response to Pakistani security's diligent efforts to hunt them down.
"They're morphing, changing styles now, becoming more selective in their operations," said Ikram Sehgal, managing director of Security & Management Services, which provides security for dozens of multinational companies and diplomatic missions.
"Terrorists have been hit hard in Karachi by law enforcement agencies over the last couple of years, so the key now (for them) has to be avoiding unwanted attention to allow them to operate."
With regarding to the MUA, Sehgal said, "Al Qaeda's jihad is too closely associated with terrorism now in the minds of most Muslims, so the apparent idea is to create a new organization that is bigger than bin Laden."
Whatever the reason for the relative quiet, the MUA has left little doubt of its intentions.
"We will wage war against the kafir (nonbelievers)," reads one of the groups' communiques. "The mujahedeen will attack American interests throughout Pakistan until they leave, and continue the struggle to their last breath.
24 December 2003, San Francisco Chronicle
UK warning of Bio/Chem-Terror Attack
Hardly a week has gone by this year without a warning about al-Qaeda, a series of police raids or a court hearing for terrorism suspects.
The police and the intelligence services have been working flat out - the more arrests they make, the more information there is to process.
The more information they have, the more arrests they need to make...
Their first major task came in January with the discovery of traces of ricin at a flat in north London.
Ricin is a toxic material extracted from the beans of the castor oil plant. It can be fatal when inhaled, ingested or - most dangerously - injected.
Later that month, Richard Reid from Britain was jailed in the US for attempting to set fire to explosives hidden in his shoe on board an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami.
During his trial he expressed no regret, pleading guilty and saying: "I pledge to Osama Bin Laden. I'm an enemy of your country."
In April, two men from Leicester were found guilty of raising funds for al-Qaeda - the first and most significant convictions under British anti-terrorism laws since the 11 September attacks on America.
The pair - Baghdad Meziane and Brahim Benmerzouga - were each jailed for 11 years, but have been granted leave to appeal.
The threat from terrorists was underlined by the prime minister, who warned of the "real and present" threat posed to global security by international terrorists and said they were close to achieving nuclear capability.
It was a theme that
was echoed during the year by other political leaders, senior
police and law enforcement officers and those involved in civil
contingency planning.
But of all the public statements about the terrorist threat, most
striking was the assessment given by MI5 director general Eliza
Manningham-Buller.
Unlike her predecessor who rarely made speeches, Ms Manningham-Buller appeared in public twice within four months.
In June, she said it was "only a matter of time" before terrorists launched a biological, chemical or nuclear attack on a Western city.
She said renegade scientists had provided al-Qaeda with the information needed to launch such an attack. It might take the form of a radiological strike - sometimes known as a "dirty bomb".
In October, she spoke about her "fear" that the threat from Islamist terrorism would remain for a long time to come.
She offered an intriguing insight into the workings of al-Qaeda, describing the group as "sophisticated and particularly resilient".
Networks of individuals sympathetic to their aims were able to blend into British society - living normal, routine lives until called upon for specific tasks.
But it wasn't just words. On the ground, there were clear signs of the increased threat, as the authorities began to update their plans in the event of terrorist strike.
A simulated chemical attack was staged in central London to assess the ability of the emergency services to respond.
Concrete blocks were placed outside the Houses of Parliament - to deter suicide bombers.
And in February, light tanks and extra police were deployed at Heathrow Airport in response to intelligence indicating that terrorists were plotting to shoot down a plane.
But although the UK has now been placed on its second highest level of terror alert - classed as "severe general" - the public have been told not to be alarmed.
Stay vigilant, don't be complacent, and carry on as normal is the message.
23 December 2003, AP
10 Held After US Embassy Bomb“Hoax”
French police holding 10 people in relation to a warning of a bomb attack against the US embassy in Paris said today the alarm appeared to be a hoax but the suspects would likely be prosecuted for visa violations.
The 10 - most of whom were Egyptians in France illegally - were arrested yesterday after the embassy received a threat from a caller that it was about to be targeted by a "vehicle filled with explosives," officers with the anti-terrorist squad said.
Security was immediately tightened around the building, located on the Place de la Concorde at the bottom of the famous Champs-Elysees Avenue in the centre of the capital, but no attack or alarming behaviour materialised, police and an embassy spokeswoman told AFP.
The suspects were arrested on the basis of a list of telephone numbers the anonymous caller gave during the warning. But officers said after questioning them today and searching their homes that it looked like they had nothing to do with any terrorist plot.
A US embassy
spokeswoman, Melissa Clegg-Trip, confirmed that the embassy had
received a telephone bomb warning on the weekend and the decision
was made to boost security.
22 December 2003
Bomb Scare Turns Up Fake Devices
Police said they found three fake bombs in downtown Walnut Creek on Saturday night.
Police said they received a call at 11:30 p.m. from an anonymous tipster claiming there was a bomb in a parking lot near a bar at Locust and Cypress streets.
Officers evacuated the bar and a nearby restaurant after locating what appeared to be a pipe bomb. Officers found a second device under another parked car and a third on the roof of a bar.
Police said there were no explosives in the devices.
The call leading police to the fake bombs follows two similar incidents in recent weeks, police said.
In each case, the anonymous caller phoned in on a police business line and told police where to find a bomb.
San Francisco Chronicle 15 December 2003
Bomb Scare at UK Football Game
Fans heading to Loftus Road for Fulham's Premiership clash with Bolton today are being advised to travel on public transport due to a security alert.
Army bomb disposal experts have been called in to investigate whether an object found in the west London are is an unexploded Second World War bomb.
It was uncovered last week during excavation work on a construction site around the former White City London Transport Depot in Shepherd's Bush.
Police cordoned off the area and maintained if the object was a bomb, locals could be evacuated from their homes while there was a controlled explosion.
Making the "bomb" safe will then take at least 48 hours, a Scotland Yard spokesman revealed.
He said: "All precautions are being taken. Army bomb disposal experts, assisted by a specialist excavations contractor, are working to identify the object.
"Police have advised all agencies involved, and are working closely with the army, the contractors, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and British Transport Police, to deal with the incident.
"Contingency measures have been put in place should the object need to be exploded in a controlled setting. The safety of the public is paramount at all times."
16 December 2003, Ananova
Postal “Bomb” Turns Out to Be Vibrating Slippers
A pair of vibrating slippers brought a portion of Broad Street to a standstill Tuesday morning.
A postal worker at the Pawcatuck Post Office called police about a shaking package discovered while sorting the mail at 9:35 a.m. Stonington Police and Pawcatuck Fire Department personnel worked quickly to secure the area, closing Route 1 between the Pequot Trail fork down to the South Anguilla Road intersection. The post office and area buildings were evacuated.
Postal employees huddled a safe distance from the building as fire police directed detoured motorists caught between the roadblocks through the Pawcatuck Shopping Plaza onto Pequot Trail.
The shoebox-sized, pulsating package required the attention of the Connecticut State Police bomb squad, who arrived on the scene shortly after 11 a.m. Upon investigation, the bomb squad discovered a pair of fluttering footwear that caused the package to shake. Route 1 reopened at 12:15 p.m.
Later that afternoon, postal clerk Bill LaMarche offered a few tips on safely mailing holiday packages and presents.
"If it's something that runs by itself, try and disconnect the batteries before you send it," LaMarche said as he served a steady stream of customers. "Don't power things up before you send them."
Another simple step in avoiding mail snafus, LaMarche said is to not send liquid or powder substances unless they are very well packed.
And if you're worried about getting those gifts mailed on time, Dec. 20 is the deadline for sending packages domestically to arrive by Christmas. Express mail can be sent a few days later and still make it on time.
Westerley
News, 17 Decemer 2003
Lake Tahoe Bomb Squad Called Out for Suspicious
Package
It may not be dangerous, but Aaron Crawford will check it out anyway.
When a suspicious package, bomb threat, pipe bomb or huge firework dud is reported, the Douglas County bomb technician wastes little time. He suits up and examines what is suspicious.
Last week he responded to a suspicious package at the South Lake Tahoe administrative center where the police and sheriff's departments, El Dorado County Superior Court, the district attorney's office, probation and public defender's office are located.
The box, wrapped in duct tape with an Oklahoma return address, was addressed to Assistant District Attorney Hans Uthe.
Crawford suited up and then blew off the top of the package. Inside was a crystal with a light fixture. It was sent to Uthe in thanks from a woman whose charge was dropped to a misdemeanor.
"We've had suspicious ones before but we'd run over and run them through" the X-ray machine at the court and they would check out OK, Uthe said.
Last week's package was different. It had wires and batteries.
"It is part of the job and a measure of caution is used," Uthe said.
The city has a $6,000 contractual agreement with Douglas County Sheriff's Office that pays for bomb detection services each year. So does Carson City and the Nevada Legislature.
Crawford said he usually responds to defusing old blasting caps or dynamite found in mines or old irrigation ditches. Bomb threats also constitute a good portion of the call load.
El Dorado County Sheriff Jeff Neves said the bomb squad in Placerville responds to an average of one report a week. The same problem exists with people finding dynamite in old mines. Pipe bombs lying around are also a threat.
Neves said anybody who receives a suspicious package should leave it be. People sometimes make the mistake of bringing the package to a place where authorities can check it, but that place is usually in a populated area.
Tahoe Township Justice Court Judge Richard Glasson said his mail is screened by postal workers and an X-ray machine. Any suspicious packages that are delivered to his office are placed at the counter in front of a 3-inch glass pane and checked by Douglas County sheriff's deputies.
"That glass out in front, that's the 'Dirty Harry' glass," he said. "It'll stop a .44 mag."
Packages sent to the administrative center that are received at the post office at Al Tahoe are not screened, said Tom Millham, lead window clerk. Instead, packages that are sent are filtered. Packages over one pound are presented to clerks, he said.
"Right now we are asking all customers on all packages if (they) contain anything that is liquid, fragile, perishable, or potentially hazardous," he said.
Tahoe Daily Tribune,
11 December 2003
Letter
bomb attack on Kuwaiti writers
Kuwait says it has intercepted booby-trapped parcels addressed
to three Kuwaiti journalists a day after a letter sent to another
journalist caused a small explosion and injured one person.
The Communications Ministry said all three parcels were from the same source in Lebanon that sent the letter to Ahmed al-Jarallah, editor-in-chief of the liberal al-Seyassah daily newspaper. Jarallah's assistant was slightly hurt in the blast.
The oil-rich Gulf state, one of Washington's staunchest allies in the region and liberated from Iraqi occupation in 1991 by U.S.-led forces, was investigating what the ministry called a "criminal act".
The official Kuwait News Agency quoted a government official as saying post offices were put on alert after Thursday's incident.
The three parcels were addressed to Abdallah Al-Khalaf, secretary-general of the Kuwaiti Writers Association, and journalists Nasser al-Utaybi of al-Seyassah and Dr Abdallah Muhammad al-Shaykh of the al-Qabas daily newspaper.
Jarallah, known in Kuwait for his pro-American stance, has written editorials criticising authoritarian Arab governments. He was in Saudi Arabia at the time of the blast.
A spate of attacks against American targets in Kuwait occurred in the run-up to the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein in Iraq earlier this year. Some were blamed on radical Islamists who sympathise with militant groups such as al Qaeda.
12 December 2003, Yahoo
Parcel Service in India Suspended for Fear of Bombs
Security has been beefed up across the country, today being the 11th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Important buildings have been heavily fortified in New Delhi and many sensitive areas in Uttar Pradesh are under the security net. Preventive arrests have been made as the VHP is observing the day as “shaurya diwas” or valour day and Muslim groups are observing mourning.
Additional security forces, including the Rapid Action Force and the CRPF are in place at the epicentre of the dispute, the twin cities of Ayodhya-Faizabad. Many sensitive places in Uttar Pradesh in Meerut, Aligarh, Moradabad and Varanasi districts are under the security net. A high alert has been sounded in Vadodara and other places in Gujarat. Places of worship are also under strict vigil.
In Tamil Nadu…trains are being thoroughly screened by bomb experts, assisted by sniffer dogs. Parcel service remains suspended due to bomb threats. In Coimbatore, police are on high alert to prevent any untoward incidents. Armed policemen are patrolling places of worship including Palani and Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai. Vehicles are also being checked throughout the state.
Meanwhile, some identified people attacked the residence of Mayiladuturai MLA Jaga Veerapandiyan with petrol bombs. Tension prevailed in the town as rival rallies are planned by the BJP and the Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam.
7 December, 2003, Sun Network News
Hate mail sent to black men
Someone sent hate mail to more than 30 high-profile black men, including several NFL players, warning them to avoid relationships with white women or be castrated, the FBI said yesterday.
Some of the letters have been mailed from New Castle, special agent Bob Hawk said yesterday.
Agents have been investigating the case for almost two years and have no suspect, Hawk said, adding that most of the letters had Cleveland postmarks, but a few were sent from Youngstown, New Castle and Erie.
Dave Shaner, New Castle postmaster, said he is not familiar with the investigation and deferred comment to George Flanigan, media spokesman for the postal service in Erie.
"We really don't know anything about the investigation. It's in the hands of the FBI," Flanigan said this morning, adding, "We were totally unaware this was happening."
The FBI tried to keep the investigation low profile until the story broke in Palm Beach, Fla., where a well-known Miami Dolphins player received a letter, Flanigan said.
According to Flanigan, the postal inspector for the northwest Pennsylvania region told him he has not been called into the case.
Hawk said the letters "were sent to high-profile people in their respective communities - professional athletes, business leaders, civic leaders, community leaders or organizations." Six went to professional athletes.
Hawk would not identify who received letters and said only that they were mailed to the East and West coasts, the Midwest and the Southeast.
A memo sent Nov. 18 to all NFL teams by the league's security department said the threatening letters came from the same person.
"The memo went out to head coaches who were asked to share the information with security personnel and players," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said yesterday.
Hawk said the contents of the letters "complain about the relationships between black men and white females." He said the letters direct black males to end relationships with white women "or they're going to be castrated, shot or set on fire."
All the letters were typed and had similar margins, spacing and words, Hawk said. The letters usually were signed "angry white woman" or "angry Caucasian woman."
In Columbus, a police report said the mother of suspended Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett received a racially charged death threat addressed to her son.
Michelle Clarett received the letter, which had no return address, at her home on Oct. 2. The typed message was from "OSU cheerleaders" and said "black men should stay away from white women." It included other racial remarks and ended with a message that the writer will "kill and bomb the place."
Hawk was unsure if the Clarett letter was part of the current case.
An offender could be charged with sending threats through the mail, which is punishable from six months to five years in prison, Hawk said.
The letters came up in the Cleveland Browns locker room yesterday, but the team deferred all questions to the FBI. Safety Earl Little said he did not know of any teammates receiving threatening letters.
5 December 2003, Associated Press
Letter Bomb Found In Routine Search in Gaza Strip
A routine examination of outgoing mail from the Gaza Strip to Israel turned up a letter bomb in a large bag on Thursday.
Also in Gaza, two mortar shells were aimed at a settlement, and an Israeli army position was fired on.
The last ceasefire collapsed amid renewed violence
If the Palestinian ceasefire now under discussion in Cairo had been in force, it might have stopped the letter bomb.
But not the mortar attack, or the shooting.
The first stage of the truce being contemplated by the Palestinian militant groups would apply to civilians in Israel - not to soldiers or settlers.
Equally routine, say the Palestinians, was the killing (by their account) of seven people in the Occupied Territories this week, including a nine-year-old boy.
A senior Hamas official, Khaled Mashal, said in a newspaper interview that the last temporary ceasefire, or "hudna", had failed because of "Israel's crimes".
"We have no interest in speaking again of a truce," he said.
He added: "We must stand by our right to resist the occupation, defend our people and unite Palestinian ranks. It is on these issues that dialogue in Cairo must be focused."
5 December 2003, BBC
Parcel Bomb Components, Instructions Found at Traffic Stop in Jerusalem
Israel continued to receive warnings of pending terror attacks, one day after Israeli forces thwarted two suicide bombings -- including one at a high school. One Israeli official said the attacks were planned in Damascus.
In Cairo, talks set for Thursday between militant groups and Egyptian officials were expected to focus on a temporary ceasefire.
Palestinian Authority deputy foreign minister Zayad Abu Zayad said the only way a ceasefire could work is if Israel participates in it, by promising to stop its arrests and assassinations of Palestinian terrorists.
Israeli security sources said there were some 42 active warnings of terror attacks against Israel after security forces thwarted two suicide bombings on Wednesday.
Intensive searches in northern Israel on Wednesday resulted in the arrests of two suicide bombers and one other suspect. Roadblocks clogged traffic throughout sections of northern Israel on Wednesday as Israeli forces acting on an Intelligence tip launched a massive manhunt for the suspected terrorists.
Manir Shade Mohammed Rabia, 23, and Morad Hassan Diab Abu-Zeyton, 20, were captured in a village near the northern Palestinian city of Jenin, along with a 10 kilogram (22 pound) explosives belt hidden in a mosque in Bardeleh.
The two, both members of the Palestinian National Security Service and associated with Islamic Jihad, had intended to infiltrate into Israel and carry out a suicide attack at a school near the commercial center in the northern Israeli town of Yokneam.
Israeli security sources said the two terrorists had chosen to cross into Israel at Bardaleh because the security fence has not been completed there yet. Israel has received world censure for its construction of the barrier, which cuts across parts of the West Bank.
Earlier in the day, security forces nabbed another would-be Islamic Jihad suicide bomber who had intended to carry out an attack in the Jordan Valley area of Beit Shean.
"It just goes to show that the Palestinian Authority continues to do nothing to rein in terror," said David Baker, an official in Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office said.
"This terror is the crux of the problem, and the PA's unwillingness to do anything to stop it is deplorable," he said.
Security sources charged that the attack had been planned at the Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus.
Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim said that the instructions had come from Damascus, the money from Iran and the training for the Hizballah terrorist organization.
Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview earlier this week that he was eager to resume negotiations with Israel as part of an effort to arrive at a peace agreement.
Israel and the State Department suggested at that the time that if he was serious, he should stop supporting organizations that carry out terror attacks in Israel.
Deputy Defense Minister Boim said in a radio interview that while he wasn't saying that Assad had given the instructions for the attack, it was clear that he knew what the dozen or so terrorist groups headquartered in his capital were doing.
In October, following the suicide bombing of a Haifa restaurant by Islamic Jihad, Israeli jets bombed what Israel said was a terrorist training camp just outside of Damascus. It was the first time that Israel had bombed a target inside Syria since the 173 Yom Kippur War.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, at the Erez crossing point into Israel from the Gaza Strip, Israeli security forces discovered a package that contained explosives and instructions on how to make a bomb hidden in an outgoing mail truck, military sources said.
The parcel, which was sent to an address in eastern Jerusalem, media reports said, was discovered during an X-ray screening of the vehicle.
Palestinian militants also fired a Kassam rocket from the Gaza Strip at the southern Israeli city of Sderot. It landed in an open field and caused no damage, the army said.
4 December 2003, CNS News
FBI Investigates Anthrax Scare At IRS Building
The FBI is investigating an anthrax scare at the Kansas City Internal Revenue Service Building, KMBC reported. The incident happened just before 11 p.m. Sunday night.
According to the FBI, two employees working in the mail room came into contact with two envelopes that contained a white powder. A handwritten note was found with the envelopes that had the word "anthrax" on it, sources said.
The Fire Department's hazmat team was called. Nineteen people who had been in the area were decontaminated, including four firefighters. The two employees who found the envelopes were taken to an area hospital.
The FBI said initial tests indicated that the white powder was not hazardous. However, samples have been sent to a state testing lab. FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza said it would take at least 24 hours before officials could determine if the substance is anthrax.
"Anthrax is difficult to make. It would be unusual if someone could actually get anthrax and send it in the mail," Lanza said.
As a precaution, the people who were near the substance will begin a round of antibiotics.
The IRS said the mail room has been sealed off while the investigation continues.
1 December 2003, KMBC News
Postal Workers Question Mail’s Safety
It's been more than two years since the anthrax attacks struck fear into everyone who opened a mailbox. While the federal government has remained relatively silent about the safety of the mail, many postal workers insist the mail is not safe.
The probability of getting an anthrax-laced letter may for the moment be up there with winning the lottery, but the government has done little if anything to monitor consumer mail, according to interviews with postal employees. Home remedies such as baking the mail at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or nuking it in a microwave, have been suggested as possible means to kill the spores, but scientists warn this could lead to fires and will not necessarily kill anthrax.
Postal workers say not even the government mail is as safe as Congress has been led to believe. Only first-class mail addressed to government offices with ZIP codes beginning with 202-205 are being irradiated with biohazard-detection technologies. Even this has produced only mixed results, and at a cost of $10 million a year. Officials at the Library of Congress say that some of the irradiated mail sent there has been difficult to read and looks to have been aged 125 years by the process.
Even so, much of the mail sent to the government is not being irradiated. Agencies including the National Security Agency, the CIA, the National Ground Intelligence Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are on their own. While postal management insists parcels sent to Congress and the White House are being put through X-ray irradiation machines, postal employees such as clerk Dena Briscoe tell Insight the parcels are not being checked.
"The irradiation is the biggest joke of the entire thing," adds mail handler Vincent Gagnon. "The government mail is commingled with the other mail. The mail is not safe. It's not safe at all."
And it is being transported and handled by postal employees who claim their hazardous-materials training so far consists of being instructed to wash their hands and being shown a video on how to wear a mask that experts say provides little protection against inhaling anthrax spores. In fact, say disgusted postal employees, such masks now are rarely worn.
American Postal Workers Union Assistant Legislative Director Myke Reid recently testified before the House Government Reform Committee that the installation of Biological Detection Systems, or BDS, and filtration equipment can provide only limited protection. More than 50 percent of all letter-mail is presorted by mailing houses and bypasses the BDS, while detection, decontamination and treatment would occur only after workers had been exposed. Reid adds grimly the BDS would not have detected or killed the deadly ricin discovered last month at the Greenville, S.C., Air Mail Facility.
So why is only government mail being irradiated?
"That's what the Bush administration requested," says Bob Anderson, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service.
He adds "cost and practicality" played a key factor in not doing consumer mail.
Asked if he could guarantee that the consumer mail is safe, Anderson pauses again and replies, "I guess not."
Asked what he could say to calm public anxiety about all of this, the spokesman says flatly, "I just don't know."
30 November 2003,
Another Letter Bomb in Rome
It
is not excluded that the letter bomb found yesterday in the warehouse
of the SDA courier service, in Rome, is an inside job. According
to some information received by the investigators, there is some
tension inside the company. Naturally, verifications are being
made to make sure that the letter bomb was not sent by other groups,
especially anarchists. Giancarlo Capaldo, a Rome prosecutor, will
lead the investigations. He is also investigating, together with
colleagues of the anti-terrorism pool Giuseppe De Falco and Salvatore
Vitello, other letter bombs sent in the last few months.
28 November 2003, AGI
UK BOMB SCARE DELAYS MAIL DELIVERIES
Delivery of thousands of letters to homes and businesses was delayed today after an elaborate bomb hoax at Exeter's main postal sorting depot. A suspect package contained wires and powder and was made to look like a real bomb, police said. It was discovered at the Royal Mail's Sowton sorting office just after midnight and caused this morning's deliveries to be late.
The 12-inch long, four-inch wide box, which had no address on it, immediately aroused the suspicion of an employee and the police were called.
PC Roy Adams, spokesman for Exeter Police, said it appeared the package had been collected from a post box in the Exeter area and taken back to the depot with the rest of the mail.
The office was evacuated and a Royal Navy bomb disposal team from Plymouth was called.
Using X-ray equipment, the team could tell the package contained wires and items associated with a bomb, but by 4am was also able to confirm that it was not real.
The package was then seized by police and is currently being kept at Heavitree Road Police Station.
It is expected to be sent off to forensic laboratories later today for fingerprint and DNA analysis.
PC Adams said the offence was being taken extremely seriously, and could be punished with a maximum seven years in prison under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2002.
"Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to make this look like a real bomb," he said.
"In the current climate of terrorist threats, we will be doing our very best to locate the offender and prosecute them."
He added: "It has caused considerable disruption to mail deliveries and staff are working flat out to catch up with getting the post back to normal.
"We would like to praise the staff for their professionalism."
Don Veale, spokesman for Royal Mail, said: "Part of the building was evacuated at 2am and at approximately 4am they were given the all clear and work resumed.
"Twenty to 35 employees were affected. It was not in the main sorting office, it was in the dispatch area.
"We take security extremely seriously and any suspect package is acted on it immediately because the safety and well-being of our staff comes first.
"We lost about two-and-a-half hours of that part of the operation. There will be a slight delay to the mail and we apologise to our customers for that. It was due to circumstances beyond our control."
27 November 2003, Express and Echo
Bronx School Closes Due to Anthrax Scare
Authorities evacuated a Bronx middle school yesterday after a cafeteria worker there opened an envelope addressed to her containing a suspicious white powder - and a note that read, "You have been exposed to anthrax," cops said.
Preliminary tests by the Health Department did not indicate the powder was anthrax, and cops say they want to question the woman's ex-boyfriend, a former co-worker.
Last year, he was suspected of trying to poison her food with bleach, a police source said.
Cops, firefighters and EMTs were called to MS 142 in the Baychester section of The Bronx at around 8:30 a.m. yesterday to deal with the incident.
25 November
2003, New York Times
Man Arrested for Mailing Bomb
An Erie County man was charged with mailing an incendiary device to a Forest County resident, U.S. Postal Inspectors said Monday.
Robert Reichard, 43, of Edinboro, was arrested Sunday and charged with mailing threatening communications and mailing injurious articles. He was held in the Erie County Jail, pending a hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
It was not clear if Reichard had an attorney.
According to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, a resident, whom officials would not name, received a suspicious package last Wednesday and called the state police barracks in Tionesta for help.
The Erie Bomb Squad X-rayed the package and found it "contained items consistent with an incendiary device," according to a statement from postal inspectors.
With the help of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, state police and the bomb squad, postal inspectors traced the package back to Reichard.
24 November 2003, Associated Press
Taipei Police on High Alert in 'Rice Bomber' Probe
Taipei (Taiwan) police were on high alert after three explosive devices and three fake bombs were uncovered in the city's commercial Hsinyi district during the past two months.
The police suspected that all six devices were made by the same person. And the bomber had apparently moved from open areas to crowded streets as the latest bomb was found last Saturday at the Ministry of Finance's tax data center near Dunhua South Road and Chunghsiao East Road.
The first suspicious device was discovered at a post office building on Hoping East Road on Oct. 22. It was later found to be a false alarm as the box merely contained fragments of a broken vase.
A suspicious package addressed to the Military Intelligence Bureau was found at another postal office in Hsinyi district on Oct. 28, which was also a false alarm.
However, another device discovered on Oct. 27 at an outdoor musical hall inside Ta-an Forest Park, contained explosive powders, electrical wires and some rice. A soft drink paper carton found in the park's restroom on Nov. 13 was also a powerful explosive device.
The suspect is dubbed "rice bomber" by the media as all of the three real bombs were all put in a box with rice.
The bomber also attached a note, which read "protest the government's rice policy," and "do not import rice, the government should take care of the people," respectively, to two of the three explosive devices.
Police also noted that the "rice bomber" appeared to be getting better at making the bombs as each of the device is more sophisticated than the previous one.
So far, police said that the bomber meant to create a scare rather than actually hurting people, as warning signs were labeled on the boxes that contained the explosive devices.
However, police are concerned that the bomber is losing patience and maybe become upset over the lack of reaction, given that he has replaced fake explosive devices with real ones and moved from relatively remote locations to busy commercial areas.
The bomber did not contact any authorities or individuals to make any threats, and police conceded that there is few clues in the probe into the rice bomber.
But police believed that the bomber must have advanced knowledge in explosive devices, who may be a retired serviceman with a special forces background or an ex-convict with explosive device experience.
It was reported that the explosive powders used in the three bombs are typically found in firecrackers, though it is a highly dangerous process to separate the powders from fire crackers.
The bomber is more likely to have obtained the powder from underground firecracker factory directly or produce the powders by mixing other ingredients, police said.
The bomb scare could pose serious public safety hazards as it was reported that two of the devices were removed under unprotected situations, according to a report on the China Times Express.
The first bomb in Ta-an park was picked up by a visitor who later notified the local police station. And policemen arriving at the scene dismantled the bomb without the help of explosive experts from the Criminal Investigation Bureau.
The second bomb in a men's room in the park was taken to the Criminal Investigation Bureau without any protective device because policemen mistakenly thought it was a false alarm, the evening paper reported.
24 November 2003, China Post
Man Threatens to Send Anthrax in Letters
A Silicon Valley computer programmer has been arrested for threatening to torture and kill employees of the company he blames for bombarding his computer with web advertisements promising to enlarge his penis.
In one of the first prosecutions of its kind in the state that made "road rage" famous, Charles Booker, 44, was arrested on Thursday and released on $US75,000 ($104,000) bail for making repeated threats to staff of an unnamed Canadian company between May and July, the Northern California public prosecutor said on Friday.
Booker threatened to send a "package full of anthrax spores" to the company, to "disable" an employee with a bullet and torture him with a power drill and ice pick; and to hunt down and castrate the employees unless they removed him from their email list, prosecutors said.
Booker acknowledged that he had behaved badly but said his computer had been rendered almost unusable for about two months by a barrage of pop-up advertising and email.
"Here's what happened: I go to their website and start complaining to them, 'Would you please, please, please stop bothering me'," he said. "It just sort of escalated . . . and I sort of lost my cool at that point."
Booker now faces up to five years in prison and a $US250,000 fine, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for next month.
Booker identified the object of his rage as Albion Medical, which claims to produce the "Only reliable, medically approved penis enhancement".
The US House of Representatives could vote as early as next Friday to outlaw most internet spam, while a much tougher Californian law goes into effect on January 1.
23 November 2003, SMH News
Amsterdam Court Sealed Off in Anthrax Scare
Breda Court was sealed off on Friday and about 400 people ordered to remain inside the building after a suspect "anthrax" letter addressed to a judge was discovered in the postal room.
The letter was written in English and contained a suspect powder. Alarmed authorities prevented anyone from entering the building for several hours and urged the 400 people trapped inside to restrict their movements.
Police gave the all clear at about 2pm, but anyone who possibly came in contact with the letter were ordered to shower before leaving the building, Dutch associated press ANP reported.
A police spokeswoman said it is standard procedure that a building is hermetically sealed after a suspect letter is found. One man who grow tired of waiting left the court building via the emergency exit and authorities failed to apprehend him.
A laboratory in Lelystad will examine the contents of the letter to determine if it is laced with deadly anthrax spores. Initial results are expected later on Friday.
The Breda incident comes after the Dordrecht Appeals Court was also temporarily sealed off on Thursday after a suspect letter was found. The judge to whom the letter was addressed has since lodged a police complaint.
Meanwhile, the offices of the national driving test agency CBR in Rijswijk were recently evacuated after the discovery of a suspect letter. One staff member became unwell after opening the letter, but CIDC research institute tests confirmed it did not contain anthrax.
After the September 11 attacks in 2001, five people died and 17 were injured in the US when anthrax in powder form was sent through the mail, sparking global concern of biological terror attacks.
Envelopes with white powder soon started arriving in mailboxes right across the globe, including the Netherlands. Most were found to be harmless and Dutch authorities prosecuted several people for sending "joke" anthrax letters.
21 November 2003, Expatica
UK Law Firms Involved in Letter Bomb Scares
Clintons and Manches, two firms with high profile family law practices, have received suspicious and threatening packages in the post. The packages were addressed to solicitors in their family law departments.
Clintons received an anonymous letter bomb, forcing the firm to evacuate staff from its Covent Garden headquarters today.
“We confirm that our family department received a suspect package in the post this morning. The police were called immediately and removed the package immediately. The building was evacuated during this process,” a Clintons statement said.
Meanwhile, Manches called in the police earlier today after a lawyer in the firm’s family law department received a suspicious package. The firm said that, following forensic tests, the police established that any apparently threatening material contained in the package was a hoax.
A Manches spokesman told The Lawyer: “Yes we did receive an anonymous package. The police were called. After inspecting the package they told the firm that it was a hoax.”
20 November 2003, The Lawyer
Istanbul
rocked by double bombing
Bomb attacks on the British consulate and the HSBC bank headquarters
in Istanbul have left at least 26 dead and up to 400 injured.
The top UK diplomat in the city, Consul-General Roger Short, was
among at least 14 people killed in the attack on the consulate,
its chaplain Ian Sherwood said.
Both attacks are believed to have been carried out by suicide bombers. Witnesses reported seeing a van driving straight at the consulate building before the explosion.
The explosions follow last Saturday's suicide bomb attacks against two synagogues in Istanbul that killed 25 people.
Responding to news of the blasts, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said there could be "no holding back" in confronting the "menace" of global terrorism.
US President George Bush said the bombers had shown "utter contempt" for human life.
Istanbul is a city in chaos, the BBC's Steve Bryant says.
There is collapsed masonry, shattered windows, burned out cars and general scenes of confusion at the two sites. Much of the city's phone network has been cut.
Hospitals are inundated with hundreds of wounded people, traffic is blocking the roads and crisis officials are asking people to leave the centre to clear the way for ambulances.
HSBC said that "a number" of its staff had been killed.
A man who called the semi-official Anatolia news agency claimed that al-Qaeda and the Turkish Islamic militant group IBDA-C had jointly carried out the attacks.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan vowed to track down those responsible for the bombings.
"Turkey will be like a fist (against the culprits)...The best response for us is to stay calm in the face of terrorism," he told a news conference.
The 15-storey headquarters of the London-based bank towers over a busy shopping area, which correspondents say would have been crowded when the explosion occurred at 1110 Turkish time.
The consulate bomb occurred two minutes later. The main building had been undergoing refurbishment and many staff were working in outbuildings in the complex.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Turkey would not bow to terror.
"We are faced with organised terrorist attacks," he said. "This time it was British interests, last week it was two synagogues."
Murat Emre Duman was working in a building near the HSBC bank.
He said he saw "yellow smoke" coming out of the tower, and "shattered glass from cars and windows everywhere".
The explosion killed the 28-year-old wife of a friend, he told BBC News Online.
"I saw her body. My friend doesn't even recognise me. He's in a state of shock."
Trading on the Istanbul stock exchange was suspended after the explosions and the Turkish lira dived on foreign exchange markets.
A group claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda also claimed responsibility for the synagogue attacks last Saturday.
It warned that new attacks against the US and its allies were being planned.
Sixteen members of London's anti-terrorist police branch are to join the investigation into the latest attacks in Istanbul. UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is already heading to Istanbul.
The United States warned that more terrorist attacks were possible in Istanbul, closed its consulate and warned its citizens to stay away from the area where the bombings took place.
The Foreign Office in London issued the following number for people to call for information about those who may have been involved in the blasts: 020 7008 0000.
20 November 2003, BBC
Car
bomb targets UN Afghan office
A car bomb has exploded outside a United Nations office in the
southern Afghan city of Kandahar.
No one was killed or injured in the blast, which damaged windows
and barriers around the building, a UN spokesman said.
It is thought to be the first car bomb attack against the UN in Afghanistan.
Kandahar is the spiritual home of the hardline Islamic Taleban movement, who ruled Afghanistan until US-led troops ousted them in 2001.
Last week, a bomb exploded outside the offices of the aid agencies, Save the Children and Oxfam in the capital, Kabul. There were no casualties.
11 November, BBC
Dissidents
blamed for bomb hoax
Police are blaming dissident republicans for a hoax bomb at the
home of Londonderry's SDLP Mayor Shaun Gallagher.
One of Mr Gallagher's sons found the suspect device at the back
of the house when he went out to get some coal late on Monday
night.
The security forces carried out a controlled explosion on the device, described as a flask with wires wrapped around it.
Ten neighbouring houses in Capall Court in the Shantallow area of the city were evacuated during the incident.
It is believed the mayor's participation in Derry's Remembrance Day ceremony may have been the reason for the attack.
11 November, 2003, BBC
Nine
hurt in Pakistan bomb blasts
Three bombs exploded in the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta
late on Monday, police say.
They said two journalists and seven police officers were injured
in the explosions.
Witnesses said the first bomb went off near a school and that the casualties were caught in the second blast soon after they arrived to investigate.
The third device went off a little later, causing no casualties. No group has admitted carrying out the attacks.
11 November,
2003, BBC
Deadly blast hits Saudi capital
At least two people have died and many are injured after an apparent
suicide bomb attack on a housing complex in Saudi Arabia's capital,
Riyadh.
The
attack, shortly after midnight on Saturday, hit the Muhaya residential
compound in the west of the capital and left many children among
the wounded.
Saudi officials have said that the attack bore the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda suicide bombing.
"This is a crime against innocents which is in the style of al-Qaeda, it is an al-Qaeda operation," said a Saudi security source quoted by Reuters news agency.
The explosion came a day after the United States shut its diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia after "credible evidence" of a threat and the UK embassy in Bahrain issued a similar warning.
The US warned its embassy staff in the Saudi capital to stay at home on Sunday, "pending further assessment of the security situation".
Saudi police in Mecca recently uncovered a suspected al-Qaeda cell believed to be planning attacks.
Thirty-five people were killed in a string of suicide attacks in May on a Western compound in Riyadh.
The Saudi ambassador in London, Prince Turki al-Faisal, condemned the attack as "a terrible event carried out by evil people whose sole aim is the destruction of the kingdom".
The Muhaya compound contains about 200 houses, mainly home to foreigners from the Arab world - including Lebanese, Egyptians and Syrians.
There are no confirmed foreign fatalities, but one American is wounded and another missing, according to a US official.
No US diplomatic staff live in the compound, which is several kilometres away from the diplomatic quarter. The UK Foreign Office said two Britons were unaccounted for.
The compound is near several private residences belonging to the Saudi royal family, according to a Western diplomat quoted by Reuters news agency.
Government officials said that gunmen tried to enter the compound, and there was an exchange of fire with security guards.
Eyewitnesses said the attackers tried to get through an outer wall, to drive a car bomb