| news sep/oct 2004 |
Slovak Presidential Office Receives Suspicious Mail with Powder
The Slovak Presidential Office received a suspicious envelope containing white powder in it, addressed to the office's head Milan Cic, the Interior Ministry said Friday.
Slovak Presidential Office representatives received the envelope at a Bratislava post office, and has been sent to a laboratory in central Slovakia for analysis.
Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, Parliament Deputy Chairman Bela Bugar, Deputy Prime Minister Pal Csaky, Parliament Chairman Pavol Hrusovsky and Economy Minister Pavol Rusko have all received suspicious mails recently and the results of analyses were negative.
The envelope addressed to Cic has been received at a different Bratislava post office than the previous suspicious mails, which were all found in one place.
All the cases are being investigated by the police as scare-mongering. The unknown perpetrator faces up to five years in prison if found guilty.
Several envelopes with powder addressed to high-ranking politicians have been discovered in Slovakia after the September 11,2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
The Banska Bystrica laboratories have analyzed more than 250 suspicious consignments intercepted in Slovakia, with no anthrax being discovered in any of them.
The laboratories
have analyzed about 30 suspicious consignments this year with
the result being negative in all the cases,
29 Oct 2004, Xinhuanet
Saudi Diplomat Receives Parcel Bomb
A senior Saudi Arabian diplomat received a parcel disguised as a gift that contained four hand grenades and a threatening letter warning him to leave Islamabad.
The parcel was inscribed "Ramazan gift from (parliament Speaker) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain".
It was received at the residence of Abdullah Al-Omri, deputy head of mission of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Islamabad.
"The parcel was immediately handed over to Islamabad police before the hand grenades exploded," The News Tuesday quoted Saudi Arabian Ambassador Ali Awadh Assiri as saying.
Pakistani authorities have beefed up security at Al-Omri's residence and for his movements.
Replying to a question, the ambassador said he did not have any evidence of Al-Qaeda's involvement, but he would not rule this out.
In March, this year a Saudi Arabian school principal here had received a similar parcel with a threatening letter.
Threatening Letter with Powder Sent to Newspaper
A letter threatening the life of the governor and containing a powder was opened at the local newspaper Thursday, police said.
Three other similar letters, two delivered to the newspaper and one to a local television station, were not opened, according to Capt. Mark Stephens of Cheyenne Fire and Rescue.
Initial tests of the powder released at the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle showed no dangerous chemicals but more thorough tests were being conducted, Stephens said.
Ten people who were exposed to the powder at the Tribune-Eagle were decontaminated and treated and released from United Medical Center. None reported any ill health affects, according to Sgt. Mark Munari of the Cheyenne Police Department.
All the letters were similarly addressed on standard envelopes, authorities said.
''They were postmarked within the state of Wyoming,'' Munari said, declining to be more specific.
No one was allowed to enter or leave the newspaper building until authorities could determine what the powder substance was.
Editor Reed Eckhardt said the newsroom was operating with a skeleton staff but had every intention of publishing a Friday edition on time.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal said in a statement that his office did not receive any suspicious mail.
''My thoughts
are with the employees of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle and KGWN-TV
as they deal with a type of situation that unfortunately has become
only too common in the world we live in,'' Freudenthal said. ''I
have the utmost confidence in the law enforcement teams that have
taken charge of the investigation, and I am certain we will have
answers soon. In the meantime, we will proceed carefully.''
26 Oct 2004, Indo Asian News Service
Mail Bomb Injures Four in Turkey
Four people from the same family were injured in southeastern Turkey on Friday when a bomb planted in a parcel they received by mail exploded, Anatolia news agency reported.
There was no immediate word on who had sent the parcel to the Sahin family in the village of Kizilagac in the mainly Kurdish province of Mus.
One of the
four injured was in serious condition, Anatolia said, adding that
he was a village guard, or local government-armed milita fighting
against Kurdish rebels in the region on the side of the Turkish
army
22 Oct 2004, AFP
UK Bank in Terror Powder Scare
A bank in central Manchester was sealed off today during a series of hoax poison alerts at branches across the country.
Police and fireman wearing special chemical suits surrounded HSBC, on King Street, in the heart of the financial district.
The alarm was raised shortly after 9am when a package containing a white powder was opened by staff.
Forensic tests later showed it to be baking powder.
In the past, white powder has been associated with poisons like anthrax or Ricin.
Police later confirmed that the alert was one of a series of incidents at HSBC branches, including those at Liverpool, Leeds and Oxford.
Dog handlers guarded the Manchester bank, while fire crews in protective clothing and breathing apparatus went inside.
A special decontamination unit was set up in the street as part of an emergency plan which also involved hospitals being alerted.
There were no customers in the building when the package was opened. Staff who came into contact with the powder were kept inside.
It is understood there was a note found in the parcel sent to the Manchester branch.
The first police officers and fire crews were called to the bank at about 9am. Customers were still able to use cashpoints on the outside of the building until about 11am when the surrounding area was cordoned off.
Staff working on the upper floors of the HSBC branch were unaffected by the incident.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "At 9.10am officers were called to a bank on King Street after a member of staff reported opening a package containing white powder.
"As a precaution the bank has been sealed off and emergency services are in attendance.
"Nobody has required medical attention and there's no danger to the public.
"Forensic officers attended the scene to determine the contents of the package.
"It is believed similar incidents have occurred at HSBC banks in Leeds, Oxford and Liverpool."
Liverpool's Dale Street branch of HSBC in the city centre was sealed off shortly after 10am as a precaution after a worker opened a letter which declared that it contained poison.
Forensic tests proved the Manchester envelope and letter harmless and the King Street bank was re-opened shortly before midday.
21 Oct 2004, Manchester News
Letter Bombs Turn up in Bavarian Politicians’ Mail
The seven letters all bear certain similarities. They were addressed to politicians, were delivered in Bavaria, and were filled with a mixture of explosive powder that was secured to such everyday items as margarine tops, ice cream packaging or card containers.
The first letter bomb arrived in April at a county council member's office. Over the next four months, four others turned up. In most cases, the suspicious letter caught the eye of the secretaries of the local politicians to whom they were addressed and could be deactivated. That changed in late August when a secretary suffered minor facial injuries when she opened the sixth letter.
At that time, police still assumed they were dealing with a case that was restricted to a group of neighboring counties in Lower Bavaria. Investigators said they had reason to believe that just one person was behind the incidents. Based on the psychological profile they have drawn up on the bomber, they said that the person appeared to hate all politicians, irrespective of their party, was indifferent to the possible injuries the bombs could cause and wanted to show off his power.
But the case took on new significance on Oct. 12. A letter containing the same type of explosives prepared in the same manner arrived at the Munich office of the Polish Consul General Vaclav Oleksy.
After this letter was discovered, prosecutors in the district of Passau decided that they had to take their investigations one step farther and turn to DNA testing in the search for the person behind the bombs.
They decided to take this step because the DNA material taken from the fifth letter in August gave investigators an important clue: It matched the DNA material secured in 2002 during a series of break-ins in the town of Hutthurm near Passau. The burglar was never caught, but seemed to be very familiar with the town and was considered to possibly be a resident of the town.
Last week, about 2,000 men aged between 16 and 70 registered in that community were asked to provide saliva samples that could be compared with the DNA on the letter.
But Wolfgang Neuefeind, the senior prosecutor in Passau, said this week that no sample matched the DNA material from the letter. He would not disclose how many men had submitted their samples. Since no match was found, investigators have extended the collection of samples to several communities north of Hutthurm.
“If someone refuses to provide the sample, the person is by no means automatically a suspect,“ Neuefeind told F.A.Z. Weekly. “Maybe we would investigate that person, maybe not.“ He stressed that a DNA match would be only one of several pieces of evidence necessary to convict someone.
The attacks were directed at politicians across the party spectrum. In April, one bomb each arrived at the offices of the chief administrator of the Passau district, Hanns Dorfner, and the lord mayor of the city of Passau, Albert Zankl, both members of the Christian Social Union. In June, a bomb was sent to a Social Democrat member of German parliament, Brunhilde Irber. It was addressed to the office in her home constituency, the neighboring district of Deggendorf. In August, employees at the office of the Social Democrat chief administrator of the district Dingolfing-Landau, Heinrich Trapp, noticed black powder coming out of a letter addressed to their boss. Later that month, two letter bombs were secured on the same day, one addressed to the Social Democrat lord mayor of the city of Straubing, Reinhold Perlak, and one to the chief administrator of the district of Regen, Heinz Wölfl from the Christian Social Union. His secretary was slightly injured by a flame that came from the letter.
20 Oct 2004, FAZ
Screening Air Cargo More Complex than Campaign Ads Suggest
The proposal looks good on paper: Require every piece of cargo loaded onto passenger airplanes to be inspected for explosives or other tools of terrorism.
But experts at Sandia National Laboratories said this week that closing the loopholes in air cargo security is not that easy.
"This is a really complex problem," said Rebecca Horton, manager of Sandia's explosive detection group. "It's not an easy step to go from screening and checking baggage to screening large containers of cargo."
Meanwhile, the issue has been a focus of debate in the congressional race between Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., and Democratic state Sen. Richard Romero. The two candidates have sparred over it in television ads and in their debates.
Romero launched a television ad Oct. 6 that accused Wilson of doing "a favor to terrorists" by refusing to support measures in Congress that would have required inspection of all cargo loaded onto passenger planes. The ad included a photo of Osama bin Laden.
The bill would have stripped funding from the Transportation Security Agency if the mandate was not accomplished.
The legislation— sponsored in 2003 by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass.— initially passed the House. Forty-two Democrats voted against the Markey proposal, while 43 Republicans voted for it.
The measure was later stripped out of a final Homeland Security bill at the urging of the Bush administration, airlines and the U.S. Postal Service.
Romero's ad prompted a sharp retort in TV and newspaper ads from Wilson, who called the "favor to terrorists" accusation "appalling." She argued that the proposal wasn't feasible and could have hurt, not helped, efforts to keep passenger planes safe.
"The technology does not now exist to be able to screen cargo containers with the reliability that's needed for passenger aircraft," Wilson said in an interview late last week. "We're investing in research and development to get better technology to detect explosives, but we can't buy it at this point."
Romero's ad aired in New Mexico for the final time, as scheduled, on Monday. Romero said he stands behind its content.
"The technology is there (to screen all cargo) but the will is not there," Romero said. "Just saying 'we can't do it' is like saying we couldn't go to the moon, but by golly we did. I don't think you can put a price on human life."
Sandia officials said they are helping to develop a prototype spectrometer machine within the next 18 months that could make strides toward identifying explosives in shipping containers. But it could take several years, or more, before the device is ready.
Sandia officials stressed that they are nonpartisan and not taking sides in the Wilson-Romero dustup over air cargo security.
Asa Hutchinson, an undersecretary in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told Congress in a letter dated July 2003 that Markey's bill wasn't feasible and could cripple the air cargo industry and possibly the overall economy.
"Only a small percentage of the nation's air cargo could be physically screened efficiently with available technology without significantly impeding the supply chain," Hutchinson wrote.
"Furthermore, because of significant technology limitations, there is no practical way to achieve 100 percent manual screening/inspection of air cargo. Ultimately, passenger carriers would be denied the ability to transport cargo. This would effectively shut down a vital segment of the industry at a time when it can least afford the lost revenue."
Federal officials have taken steps to improve air cargo security since Sept. 11, 2001.
For example, the Postal Service tenders only letter mail or small parcels weighing one pound or less to commercial passenger air carriers. It has been determined by federal officials that packages of this size are not a threat.
Heavier mail cannot be carried on commercial passenger aircraft unless screened by TSA employees.
Larger packages can be carried if they are from a "known shipper" that has undergone an extensive background check.
Also, dogs are used to try to detect explosives headed for cargo holds.
Sandia officials contend that human inspection is by no means foolproof and said existing X-ray techniques could damage some cargo. About 22 percent of all air cargo is shipped on passenger planes, according to the federal government.
Romero said Wilson's vote against more stringent inspections was triggered in part by campaign contributions from the airline industry. The Center for Public Integrity reported that Wilson received about $73,000 from the transportation industry during this election cycle, but did not specify how much of that was from airlines.
Forcing comprehensive air cargo screening is "not practical for (Wilson) because she does get quite a bit of money from those airlines," Romero said.
Wilson said she's simply trying to support federal efforts to improve air cargo security, not undermine it by stripping funding from the agency charged with keeping airline passengers safe.
"Let's do the things that work and not waste time and money on things or might even degrade the security of cargo," Wilson said.
19 Oct 2004, Alubuquerque Journal
Post Office Scanners Detect Anthrax but Not Other Biohazards
On Oct. 29, three years after the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, San Francisco will receive a scanner for anthrax and other viruses at its main postal plant -- but the high-tech machine will offer no safeguard against deadly poisons like ricin, an omission that has postal workers worried.
The United States Postal Service expects the bioweapon detection systems, or BDS, to be online at 283 facilities by year's end, according to Jeff Fitch, a spokesman at the Postal Inspector's San Francisco office. Nine postal clearinghouses received the machines earlier this year, and in the Bay Area, Oakland is in the process of rolling out the system. San Francisco's should be online by early November.
"We're very excited about this technology," Fitch said. "As a postal inspector, this is equivalent to early warning detection, or -- not to oversimplify -- smoke detectors."
The 283 chosen facilities are America's postal distribution hubs, Fitch said, meaning all of America's 200 billion annual pieces of mail will move through them.
The systems scan for anthrax spores using a high-speed, automated DNA analyzer. DNA samples are collected with a hood that sucks in air from the passing mail. If anthrax is found, the entire facility is automatically shut down, employees are either quarantined or evacuated, and postal inspectors are sent in to retrieve the sample.
Ricin, however -- which was used in a mail attack in February -- and other poisons cannot be identified. And the machines can't actually detect the anthrax until it is released into the air.
Fitch said the Postal Service is concerned about other poisons, but "the immediate threat was anthrax, so we started with that." The holes in security worry the American Postal Workers Union, however, which also has complaints about the procedure after the detection of anthrax.
"There is a delay of notification from the time of detection and when the employees are informed," said Omar Gonzalez, western regional coordinator for the union. "There's a lack of procedure as to where the employees are supposed to report," after anthrax is detected, he added.
Despite its flaws, the machine's ability to complete an evaluation on-site and within an hour and a half is a huge step forward in security -- previously, samples were sent to laboratories and results could take days.
The Postal Service was flummoxed during the 2001 anthrax attacks, officials said. In the wake of the 2001 virus scare, postal employees were told to look at packages for signs -- a dubious method that led to widespread panics and more than 20,000 reports of white powder.
The new systems, by comparison, have never shown a false positive, according to the Postal Service. Most importantly, the scanners will ensure that the mail "never stops moving," Fitch said.
18 Oct 2004, San Francisco Examiner
Ticking Gift Mailed to Tony Blair Causes Bomb Alert
A TV company sparked a bomb alert when they posted a pedometer to Tony Blair.
Tyne Tees Television sent the Prime Minister and other MPs the gadget, used to measure how far you have walked, as part of a fitness programme.
The devices were sent to their home addresses, including Blair's house, Myrobella, in Trimdon, County Durham.
As the unmarked parcel was put through the X-ray machine used to scan all Blair's post, staff were horrified to see an image of a battery and a ticking clock face.
The bomb squad were called in from Catterick, Yorkshire, to deal with what staff thought could be a terrorist explosive device.
A police spokesman said: 'After taking a look using their specialist equipment, they found the device was nothing more than a pedometer.
'They had been sent to the Prime Minister and other north- east MPs by a senior executive at Tyne Tees Television in a well-meaning bid to promote ITV's Britain On The Move campaign.'
Tyne Tees bosses were told that while Blair appreciated the sentiments, the next time they decided to send such a gift to the Prime Minister it was advisable to inform the police first.
A spokeswoman for Newcastle-based Tyne Tees said: 'We were advised that in Westminster there was a lot of interest shown in the campaign,so we sent a pedometer to all of our local MPs.
'It was during the summer recess so they went to the constituency addresses. We did get a call from Durham police asking to confirm that we had sent it.'
Experts believe adding extra steps to your daily total has many health benefits.
13 Oct 2004, Daily Record
Letter Bomb Discovered in Polish Consulate in Munich
The Polish consulate received a letter bomb Tuesday, believed to have come from the same source as several others recently sent to political figures in the southern state of Bavaria, authorities said.
A secretary became suspicious when she noticed wires in an envelope addressed to the consul general, and did not open it, state police said.
A special letter bomb unit of the Bavarian state police has taken over the investigation. Police are offering $12,300 for information that leads to the person sending the letter bombs.
Six Bavarian politicians have received letter bombs since April. One exploded, slightly injuring an employee in an office of the state's governing Christian Social Union party in the town of Regen.
13, Oct 2004, AP
Bomb explodes on Indonesian Island
A small bomb exploded outside the house of anti-corruption activist on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi early Tuesday, breaking windows but causing no injuries, police said.
The bomb - the second attack on the home the activist Hidayatullah in the past year - exploded at 3:30 a.m. (1930 GMT) in the Southeast Sulawesi provincial capital of Kendari, about 1,740 kilometers (1,080 miles) northeast of the capital Jakarta.
"The explosion came from a rudimentary low explosive device, and we are investigating the motive," said local police spokesman Capt. Juhartono.
No one has been arrested but some police officials believe the attack was in response to Hidayatullah's campaign against corruption in the local parliament.
His group, the People's Mandate Assembly, have repeatedly held protests against authorities' failure to detain corrupt legislators.
Indonesia is considered one of the world's most
corrupt countries and graft is widespread in most government institutions.
But in recent months, prosecutors have begun charging dozens of
local politicians with corruption in a campaign to clean up local
and regional governments.
12 October 2004,
Bomb at Pakistan Shiite Mosque Kills Four
A suicide attacker detonated a bomb Sunday at a Shiite mosque in the eastern city of Lahore, leaving at least four people dead and injuring others, according to a witness and officials.
The witness said a man carrying a briefcase tried to enter the Husainia Hall mosque in the ancient walled part of the city during evening prayers but was blocked by security guards. He then detonated a bomb in the briefcase.
``Our two security guards were martyred and the suicide bomber was killed,'' said witness Sajjad Bhutta.
Punjab province Law Minister Raja Basharat Illahi said four people were killed. Also, four people were injured, but not seriously.
He said the blast occurred outside the mosque late in the afternoon during a scuffle between the attacker and guards who stopped him from going inside.
Police said dozens of people were praying in the mosque at the time.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed condemned the bombing.
The attack was the third this month against a religious target in Punjab, stoking fears of spiraling sectarian violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
On Oct. 1, a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque killed 31 people in Sialkot city, then six days later, a car bombing at a gathering of Sunni Muslim radicals in Multan city killed 40 people.
No group claimed responsibility for those attacks, which prompted authorities to ban religious gatherings across the country - except for Friday prayers at mosques.
Adding to the tensions, on Saturday two prominent Sunni clerics were gunned down in the volatile southern city of Karachi, triggering riots by their followers.
Most Sunnis and minority Shiites live peacefully together in this Islamic country, but militants from both sects stage attacks.
10 October 2004, AP
Bomb' left in a parking lot turns out to be inert replica'
A box -- about the size of those that normally contain shoes -- wrapped in Christmas paper and inscribed with the word "Bomb" was planted between two cars Friday in the parking lot outside the Ukiah Jack in the Box, located next to the Golden Gate Shell Station on Airport Park Boulevard.
About 10:45 a.m., an anonymous caller to 911 alerted law enforcement to the suspicious package which -- after resulting in a response from both the Ukiah Police and Fire Departments, as well as a CDF-Fire arson bomb investigator out of Chico and the Sonoma County Sheriff's Bomb Squad -- turned out to be an "inert replica of an explosive device," according to police.
Jack in the Box and Golden Gate Shell were immediately evacuated, the surrounding area cordoned off with yellow tape, and loitering transients and people determined to purchase fast food despite the evacuation were shooed-off by emergency personnel.
Meanwhile, because there is no bomb squad in Mendocino County, the only thing left for police and firefighters to do was wait.
"This is the second potential explosive device in a week," Ukiah Fire Department engineer/paramedic Larry Goodman said. "It's sad that people are doing this ... knowing they can just tie up all these services and watch everyone squirm. This could have been mitigated if we still had a bomb squad (in the county) ... now we have to wait hours to get somebody to respond from Napa or Chico," Goodman said. "County seats should all have their own bomb squads 'cause that is where people are going to go to get attention," he added.
About 1 p.m., CDF-Fire arson bomb investigator Phil Porto arrived from Chico.
The first thing he did was to photograph the box. Then he used a long cord, made a noose and carefully placed the noose around the package before stepping back about 300 feet -- possibly a safe distance away -- to reel in the cord, which he apparently did in order to get an idea of the weight of the package without picking it up.
With that done, Porto too waited.
Just past 1:30 p.m., the Sonoma County Sheriff's Bomb Squad arrived to assist Porto via a computer and a robot, which resembled a Mars rover, with tracks on the front and wheels on the back and a camera mounted on top of a long pole.
By 2 p.m., the robot was out of the truck and headed toward the potential bomb.
"The robot is going to do what I typically do myself ... take the package, toss it, articulate its arm with the package in it, then move it to a vacant area" and examine it, Porto told emergency personnel. "Do not be in line of sight, just in case anything goes wrong. We have to treat this thing real," he said.
The cordoned-off area was extended further out into the Wal-Mart parking lot and then the robot -- built by Romotec and controlled either with a radio remote or with a fiber optic cable -- went in. Its job was only to handle the package.
A viewing device, hooked up to a laptop computer with a monitor, was the tool used for examining the package, which showed investigators it was safe to pick up.
At around 2:45 p.m., the anything-but-a-Christmas-present was opened to expose what police would only describe as an "inert replica of an explosive device," due to the fact that the case is under investigation.
Surveillance cameras could possibly assist in catching the person responsible.
"We do have surveillance cameras but (for security purposes) we do not discuss where they are located," Jack in the Box Media Relations spokesman Brian Luscomb said.
He said sales are also not discussed by the fast food chain, so he wouldn't speculate how much business was lost due to the four-hour closure.
9 October 2004, Daily Journal
35
killed in suspected bomb blasts in Egypt
A suspected car bomb ripped through a hotel on the Red Sea coast
of Egypt's Sinai desert, one of three explosions targeting tourists
that left at least 35 people dead and scores more wounded.
Israeli public television, citing a police source, said a car bomb detonated close to the entrance of the Hilton Hotel in the resort of Taba just across the border from Israel, destroying a large part of the building.
Shortly after the hotel blast, another two explosions rocked tourist camps at Shitani and Ras Soltan which lie on the coast road of the desert peninsula to the south of Taba.
An Egyptian police source said the three explosions killed at least 35 people and left another 125 wounded. Earlier reports said at least 23 Israelis were killed in the Hilton blast.
The explosions occurred as Israelis were celebrating the end of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, and followed warnings from the country's intelligence services that Israelis should keep out of the Sinai desert.
"From the first information that we have received it could have been a car bomb attack," a senior Israeli foreign ministry official told AFP.
Hospital sources said the casualties were of different nationalities.
"I am standing in front of the hotel. I heard a big explosion about 30 minutes ago that smashed all the windows. The power went off," a witness who gave his name as Eitan told Israeli radio.
Egyptian public television had said earlier that the Hilton blast was caused by a gas leak.
The explosions came amid a massive Israeli army offensive in the north of the Gaza Strip, a wedge of land near the border with Egypt, that has left 93 Palestinians dead in less than 10 days.
Ambulances were seen shuttling across the border checkpoint between Taba and the Israeli resort of Eilat, where hospital staff wheeled bloodied victims on stretchers.
Resorts dotted along the Sinai's desert coast have remained popular holiday spots for Israelis since the territory was handed back to Egypt as part of a 1979 peace deal, the first between Israel and an Arab country.
But Taba was excluded from Israel's 1982 handover of the Sinai and was only returned in 1989 after years of wrangling following a ruling by the International Court of Justice.
Ties between the two neighbours have soured since the start of the Palestinian intifada or uprising against Israeli occupation four years ago.
But thousands of Israeli tourists are still drawn to the Sinai, especially for its outstanding Red Sea diving and its hotel casinos, banned in the Jewish state.
The Jerusalem Post reported on September 11, after the government travel advisory, that vacationing Israelis were continuing to flock to the Sinai, despite repeated and increasingly dire official warnings of attacks.
"Because nothing has happened since previous warnings were issued, the public seems to be treating advisories from counter-terrorism experts and the foreign ministry as akin to the boy who cried wolf," the paper said.
It estimated that over the past summer alone, around 300,000 Israelis took holidays in Sinai, thus replacing Turkey as Israelis' most popular tourist destination.
Avi Dichter, the head of Israel's Shin Beth domestic security agency, told the cabinet on September 19 that prompt action had thwarted a plot by Palestinian militants to strike Israeli tourists in the Sinai.
Dichter said that the
attack had been planned by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas
to coincide with the Jewish new year holidays between September
15 and 18.
8 Oct 2004, AP
Bomb
blast injures 10 at Indonesian embassy in Paris
A bomb exploded outside the Indonesian embassy in Paris injuring
10 people, officials said.
Nine of the 10 injured were taken to hospital after the blast, which occurred beneath an Indonesian flag flying outside the building, in the upscale embassy district located in the western part of the capital.
Most of those hurt, who included four embassy staff members, were hit by flying glass. None of the injured were seriously hurt.
The blast was "obviously an act with criminal intent," Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said, as he visited the scene along with the head of Paris police.
"A medium strength explosive device was placed just before 5:00 am (0300 GMT) at the foot of the Indonesian embassy, under its flag," said Paris chief of police Jean-Paul Proust.
"The explosion formed a crater and scattered glass some 30 metres around the area," he added.
Local residents said many windows in neighboring buildings were broken, and several nearby cars damaged, as 16 fire trucks and 53 men raced to the scene.
"There was a big light and then a huge explosion," said a local resident who was awakened by the blast which left a small crater around 50 centimetres (18 inches) across in the pavement.
Indonesia's president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the attack saying: "I'm saddened by and condemn the act of violence against our embassy in France.
"We call on the French government to uphold law and provide further protection for our citizens in France."
Police cordoned off the area around the embassy building after the blast which came just hours after three attacks on the Egyptian Sinai peninsula left at least 19 dead and 38 missing, many of them Israeli tourists.
Villepin said no group had so far claimed responsibility for the explosion, adding he was to hold talks later in the day at the ministry to examine the dangers facing France at the moment.
Indonesia, which has in past months found itself the target of extremist attacks, on Friday urged its missions abroad to be on heightened alert.
In August 2003 a suicide bomber killed 12 people in an attack on the US-franchised J.W.Marriott hotel in Jakarta. The attack was blamed on the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group.
The group is also believed to have been behind the September 2003 truck bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta which killed nine people, and is also suspected of involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202.
"The foreign ministry has called on all Indonesian embassies around the world to be on alert and vigilant," foreign ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin said in Jakarta.
"We are trying to contact embassy staff. We are looking into details of the incident," he added.
Indonesian police have named two Malaysians, Azahari Husin and Noordin Muhammad Top, as prime suspects in the attack on the Australian embassy and warned they could be planning further strikes.
The two men remain
on the run.
8 Oct 2004, AP
Bomb
explosion in Pakistan kills 40 people
At least 40 people were killed and up to 100 injured on Thursday
when a suicide car bomb exploded at a rally of Sunni Muslims in
the central Pakistani city of Multan.
A suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives into the crowd
as the Sunnis were gathering to commemorate the one-year anniversary
of the assassination of Azam Tariq, a prominent Sunni leader.
A second bomb attached to a motorcycle went off two minutes later
in the crowd.
The attack came just six days after last week’s bomb attack at a Shia mosque in Sialkot - another city in central Pakistan - which killed 30 people. Information minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said it could have been a sectarian act of revenge.
The frequency of the attacks has prompted concerns over a new spate of sectarian violence involving the two largest Muslim sects, whose hardline groups have fought each other for almost two decades.
Shaukat Aziz, the prime minister, convened an emergency meeting and the interior ministry would propose a ban on large religious gatherings, interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told reporters.
Officials also have tightened security across the country. More police have been sent to stand guard at prominent Shia places of worship.
“The attacker chose the moment when the maximum number of people were gathered around the place,” said a senior interior ministry official in Islamabad on Thursday.
“Whoever carried out this attack knew very well that it would cause many casualties and just add to the tensions in the country”.
Tensions have been high in many cities including Multan since Wednesday when Amjad Hussain Farooqi, a Sunni militant killed by Pakistani security forces more than a week ago, was finally buried in his village. Mr Farooqi was accused of being linked to last December’s two failed assassination attempts on General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s military ruler.
The security official also said the latest attack could be a response to the Pakistani military’s intensified crackdown on militants linked to al-Qaeda and Afghanistan’s former Taliban regime. The militants are believed to be hiding in a remote tribal belt along the Afghan border.
“As ridiculous as this may sound, there’s ample ground to suggest that attacks on both Shia and Sunni targets may be the work of hardline militants. It’s in their interest right now to provoke unrest in Pakistan to push the government away from pursuing militants” he said.
But others
including western officials said the claim was hard to prove
7 Oct 2004, AP
Make-Your-Own Bomb: An Investigation
Police chiefs have voiced concern about how easy it is to build
a home-made bomb using readily available materials and know-how.
A Sky News investigative team was able to buy the ingredients
with cash - and pick up a guide to bomb-making at a high street
book shop.The Association of Chief Police Officers told Sky News
that police had been working with chemical suppliers for years
to ensure their products were bought only for legitimate use.
A statement said: "We would like to see an exploration of ways in which better controls on the sale of such products can be introduced."
The Home Office told Sky News there was a need to balance the risks of substances like ammonium nitrate against the proven benefits to farmers.
A spokesman said: "The Home Office has asked the chemical industry to produce a code of practice."
This, it said, would
promote direct deliveries from manufacturers to farmers "to
shorten supply chains and ensure better traceability".
6 Oct 2004,
Cities
get powder-laced letters
Mayors and administrators of 10 Broward County cities received
powder-laced envelopes at their offices Thursday, spurring fears
of another anthrax attack in South Florida.
None of the powder tested by late Thursday, however, turned up as anthrax or any other biological agent.
The first two envelopes were reported around 3 p.m. in Tamarac and Sea Ranch Lakes, Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne said. The Sheriff's Office quickly warned all Broward cities to be on the lookout for similar mailings.
Over the next several hours, powder-laced envelopes were discovered in Davie, Oakland Park, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Sunrise, Lauderdale Lakes, Wilton Manors, Fort Lauderdale and Weston. Jenne said all but one municipality received the envelopes. Weston found its letter at a local country club.
All of the envelopes had Memphis, Tenn., postmarks and no return address. Most were addressed to each city's mayor.
Jenne, who heads the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force, said his agency was working with the FBI to try to find out who sent the envelopes. He said the culprit, if found, will be held criminally and financially responsible, even if Thursday's scare turns out to be a hoax.
"It's not funny. We take this very serious," Jenne said. "I think when you see white powder and South Florida, some alarms go off."
In October 2001, a worker at the American Media building in Boca Raton died after he was exposed to an anthrax-laced envelope that was mailed to the building. American Media, which publishes several tabloid newspapers, eventually moved from the contaminated building and no one was prosecuted.
Sgt. Vince Higgins of the Memphis Police Department said Thursday afternoon he hadn't heard about the letters, but the investigation would be handled by postal inspectors and homeland security officials. His agency may be asked to serve warrants and on this type of issue, he said, the work is usually done fast.
Jenne did not know why the envelopes were sent to the 10 cities but expected more municipalities to get similar mailings in the next few days. He also did not rule out a link to the presidential debate Thursday night at the University of Miami.
"Frankly, I would not be surprised if that was it," Jenne said.
Employees in Sea Ranch Lakes, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and Oakland Park opened the envelopes. Jenne said a woman in Sea Ranch Lakes who complained of nausea after being exposed to the powder was taken to a local hospital as a precaution. Firefighters decontaminated city workers who were exposed to the powder with soap and water.
Several fire departments used their hazardous materials units to test the powder, including the Sheriff's Office, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and Sunrise.
One official, Tamarac Mayor Joseph Schreiber, seemed to be taking the situation in stride. When asked if he was worried after he opened a powder-laced letter, he laughed.
"Worried? Who the hell would want to kill me?" Schreiber said. "They didn't send it to the White House. They sent it to Tamarac.
"The mayor is more important than the White House," he joked.
Staff writers Brittany Wallman and Sallie James, and Mike Jachles of NBC 6 contributed to this report.
6 Oct 2004
Bomb Scare At British High Commission in
Lagos
Security has been beefed up at the Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi, Lagos residence of the Deputy British High Commissioner in Nigeria and the Walter Carrington Crescent Annex of the High Commission, following the recent discovery of a parcel suspected to be a bomb at the Deputy High Commissioner's residence.
Dependable police sources told Vanguard that the strange discovery caused pandemonium at the Deputy High Commissioner's residence as people scampered for safety. According to sources, a distress call was sent to the police authorities which immediately dispatched a Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) to the scene, following which the strange parcel was evacuated. When Vanguard visited the Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, residence of the British Deputy Commissioner, fierce looking armed police men and detectives were seen at strategic locations. They declined to utter a word. Efforts to get the reaction of the Deputy High Commissioner on the issue also failed.
When contacted, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ighodalo, claimed he was not aware of the development. However, a source at the Ikoyi Division said the parcel had been sent to the appropriate section for analysis. According to sources, "we got a call at about 18.20 hours last week that an article wrapped in parcel, suspected to be a bomb was placed at the residence of the British Deputy High in Nigeria on 3, Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi and a bomb disposal squad was dispatched to the area where the parcel was removed for analysis. We are still expecting the report of the analysis to determine what manner of bomb it was."
Officials of the Deputy High Commission in Lagos denied knowledge of the incident, but on further enquiry, a source who pleaded anonymity said he could neither deny nor confirm the story, adding that the mission had reacted to the story.
30 Sep 2004,
Suspicious Mail Evacuates San Francisco Fire Department
The Fire Department evacuated about 100 employees from its headquarters and a nearby construction site Monday after a mailroom worker found a suspicious envelope oozing with an oily residue.
An on-site X-ray of the envelope concluded it was not an explosive, said Fire Chief Joanne Hayes White. Police spokesman Dewayne Tully said Monday that bomb squad investigators determined the residue was not toxic and was not likely to have been intended as a threat directed at the agency. Police are conducting an inquiry to determine who sent the envelope, he said.
The envelope was addressed to a person who did not work for the Fire Department, Hayes White said.
Fire Department employees were evacuated from headquarters at Second and Townsend streets shortly after 11 a.m. -- along with about 85 workers from an apartment building construction site on the 600 block of Second Street -- for more than an hour, Hayes White said.
The San Francisco Police Department bomb squad, the Fire Department Hazardous Materials unit and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms all arrived to investigate. Police shut down Second Street between Townsend and Brannan streets and redirected traffic, although no major traffic snarls were apparent.
No one was injured in the incident. The chief said she was mindful of another incident earlier this month where six governors nationwide were sent envelopes rigged with matches designed to ignite upon opening.
"We wanted
to make sure the employees were safe and not take any chances,"
Hayes White said
27 Sept 2004, SF Enquirer
Bomb rips through bank in Nepal
A bomb ripped through a bank in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu
and a suspected Maoist rebel was shot dead as a guerrilla strike
shut down shops and transport in much of the Himalayan kingdom.
The blast shattered windows of the Nepal-Bangladesh Bank and of several houses at Lalitpur on the capital's outskirts but caused no casualties, police said.
They described the attack as a scare tactic to enforce the two-day stoppage called by the Maoists, who are fighting to overthrow the monarchy.
"Two Maoists in
a taxi stopped at an engineering college outside the bank and
left a bag of explosives, which the driver threw out causing the
blast. We think the goal was to blow up the taxi," Lalitpur
Chief District Officer Thaneswore Devkota said.
"This was an attempt by the Maoists to scare people into
observing their strike," Devkota told AFP.
In the southeastern Ilam district, troops shot dead a Maoist activist
who was threatening shopkeepers, police official Krishna Basnet
said.
Suspected rebels stopped and set ablaze 10 vehicles in the central Dhading district. They were headed to Kathmandu as part of a month-long tour of Asia by activists lobbying for land rights for peasants.
Police said the attackers did not harm the 19 activists and five journalists on the People's Caravan for Food Sovereignty, who were mostly from other Asian countries.
The Maoists also claim to be fighting on behalf of the rural poor but were upset that the activists were defying the strike, a police officer said.
The guerrillas, who enjoy free rein in much of the countryside, have been building pressure on the government which has tried unsuccessfully to resume talks to end the insurgency that has claimed 10,000 lives since 1996.
Most stores remained closed in Kathmandu and other cities in eastern Nepal and long-distance bus services were halted. But police said there was more traffic on the roads of the capital than during past Maoist strikes, which saw a complete shutdown.
The government had threatened to withdraw official cars from public employees who observed the stoppage.
The rebels in past strikes have destroyed cars whose drivers defied their orders. The home ministry has promised to compensate 90 percent of any damages inflicted during the shutdown.
Streetside vendors also defied the strike Tuesday, which fell on the second day of the Kumari harvest festival. The Maoists have pledged not to interfere with the five-day pageant which is a major tourist attraction.
The tourist industry had appealed for the strike to be called for. Tourism supports 1.25 million jobs in the cash-strapped Himalayan kingdom.
The Maoists called the strike Tuesday and Wednesday to protest at the alleged killing of two senior rebels by troops on September 3. An army spokesman denied troops killed the pair.
In August the guerrillas ordered traffic not to enter or leave Kathmandu for a week, sending prices of fresh produce soaring in the city of 1.5 million.
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has invited the Maoists to resume talks which broke down in August 2003 over rebel demands for a convention to draft a new constitution.
Maoist chief Pushpa
Kamal Dahal, better known as "Prachanda," or "The
Fierce," said Friday the rebels would only negotiate if they
were certain the talks would not be scuttled by King Gyanendra,
whom he blamed for the failure of two previous peace bids.
27 Sept 2004, AP
Wife
of Malaysian JI leader questioned over bomb attacks
Indonesian police have questioned the wife of one of two Malaysian
Jemaah Islamiah (JI) leaders wanted over a series of bomb attacks,
including the Australian embassy bombing earlier this month.
Indonesia's national chief of detectives Suyitno Landung revealed that two men from East Java that police had suspected of carrying out the suicide attack on the embassy had been ruled out by DNA tests.
Police have since taken DNA samples from the relatives of four other men in Java, including the family of one man who wrote letters to his wife and parents explaining he was to become a martyr.
Another man who police identified by the initials IR who carried those letters has been arrested by police - only the second man to be detained since the bombing.
Indonesian police have also revealed they have questioned the wife of Noordin Mohammad Top, one of two Malaysian JI leaders thought to have planned the attack.
County offices evacuated
after envelope bomb scare
27 Sep 2004, AP
Mail
came from state prison
The county administration building was evacuated on Thursday afternoon
when a clerk opened a package and black powder spilled out.
The flat, padded, legal-size envelope was sent to the public works department with a return address of Folsom State Prison, Folsom, California, sheriff's Capt. Gene Lyerla said.
"The county gets tons of mail every day. The clerk was opening the mail with a letter opener like she does every day. The powder spilled out. She said it had a sulfur smell. She said she felt a little nauseated," Lyerla said.
The woman was treated by firefighters/paramedics at the scene.
The Explosive Ordnance Division out of Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield was called to the scene to identify the powder.
"The envelope was examined by the experts and contained nothing harmful," Lyerla said.
A similar envelope was also received on Thursday at county juvenile hall, he said. "It was opened by staff, who found nothing inside the envelope."
That envelope was turned over to the sheriff's investigation division. "We'll initiate the investigation and will be in contact with the (Folsom) prison," Lyerla said.
Lyerla did not know if the envelope had the Folsom State Prison stamp on it.
Attempts by the Register to talk to a spokesman from Folsom State Prison on Thursday were unsuccessful.
"Inmates are allowed to write to anyone they want to," said Dan Cunningham, Napa County Department of Corrections director.
According to prison regulations, the only thing not permitted is inmates writing to other inmates in other correctional facilities without permission from the wardens at each facility," Cunningham said.
Letters sent by Napa County inmates are stamped with the jail identification on the outside of the envelope.
"Inmates can only mail letters in envelopes purchased from us. And those envelopes are marked with the county jail official stamp.
"We have the right to open all outgoing and incoming mail," Cunningham said.
Cunningham said outgoing mail is rarely opened by jail staff unless it sends up a red flag.
"There shouldn't be any contraband inside the jail for the inmates to mail out," he said. "Generally, correctional facilities are more concerned about incoming mail."
Inmates have the right to send mail out every day. "The mail is already sealed when we get it from the inmates," Cunningham said.
Legal mail, such as correspondence between an inmate and his attorney, the court, or court officers, may not be opened except by the person to whom the mail is addressed.
Recognized legal mail to inmates cannot be opened by the staff, Cunningham said. "If an inmate got a piece of legal mail and we were suspicious, we could only open it in the presence of the inmate. We don't read it. We check for contraband and turn it over to the inmate."
Anyone sending false legal mail to an inmate may be charged with a criminal offense. The inmate could be disciplined and have his mail privileges taken away for three days.
In addition to the jail stamp, all outgoing mail must have the inmate's number on the return address.
The county administration building was reopened around 3:45 p.m. Many of the employees left for the day after the evacuation because they were not sure when or if they would be allowed to return to work, County Executive Officer Nancy Watt said on Thursday afternoon.
"We're open for
business, but as you can imagine, we have a very limited staff,"
Watt said. "We went floor to floor to evacuate the building.
It was all done very orderly. Once we were outside, the sheriff's
deputies checked to make sure everyone was out. The employees
met at the Veterans Park."
24 Sep 2004, AP
Bomb Disabled Near N.C. Elections Office
Bomb squad police Friday disabled a suspected homemade bomb found near the front door of a county elections office.
State elections director Gary Bartlett described the device as a soda bottle filled with a clear liquid in which a battery and wire were placed - topped by what appeared to be a light bulb similar to a Christmas tree light.
``We do not know if it was a random act or if there was a threat against an election officer,'' he said.
Offices in and around the Buncombe County Board of Elections building were evacuated while the bomb squad disabled the device.
Police Capt. Tom Aardema said a county employee reported seeing the device Friday morning. He said he knew of no threats beforehand, and that police were searching for suspects.
``We've got a lot of good leads, and, of course, we have the device,'' Aardema said.
24 Sept 2004,
AP
Workers suspected of bomb scare
Federal police yesterday put together a list of names of airport
workers they believe could have been responsible for an explosive
device found on a Virgin Blue flight.
Workers at Sydney airport have emerged as the prime suspects in
the planting of the package in the cargo bay of a Virgin Blue
737 aircraft on Monday.
The device, described by police as a non-electronic "improvised explosive device" contained the compound powder thermite, which is used in grenades. If ignited, it can burn through steel.
The Australian Federal Police declined to comment yesterday but sources confirmed a review had found the most likely culprit was a worker from Sydney airport and not Maroochydore, where the 11.15am flight DJ-474 originated.
AFP agents were, however, set to interview managers of the Sunshine Coast airport.
The device was found at 11.30am on Monday by Virgin baggage handlers.
But the handlers carried the suspicious device into the airport passenger terminal to be screened at an X-ray machine, sparking a security scare.
The issue was the subject of heated discussions across the aviation and law enforcement industry yesterday.
The Courier-Mail has learned:
• WorkCover will today serve Virgin Blue airlines with formal written notice to immediately train staff on handling potential bombs threats or face prosecution.
• Botany Bay Local Area Command police chiefs have called for a full explanation why their officers were not called sooner.
• The Australian Protective Service bomb team was slow in calling the NSW Police bomb squad.
• The baggage handler who bungled the discovery has been sent away for "re-training" – even though he had never had training in the first place.
"We are encouraged by WorkCover's planned action but more needs to be done," Transport Workers Union executive officer Scott Connolly said.
Politicians, airport chiefs and police traded verbal blows yesterday over the bungle.
After several hours of deliberations, the AFP Protective Service issued a brief statement defending its handling, saying it called NSW police bomb squad after making an assessment of the situation.
But NSW Police countered with the fact they were not told until one hour and 40 minutes after the device was found.
"We arrived on the scene in six minutes after we were called," a NSW Police spokesman said yesterday.
Sydney Airport Corporation yesterday declined repeated requests for comment about Monday's incident.
Prime Minister John Howard waded into the debate saying: "The Australian Federal Police are investigating it right now. When that investigation has reached a stage where something can be said either by the police or by the transport minister then a statement will be made."
Transport Minister
John Anderson played down the discovery and the apparent breach
in security protocols claiming the planting of the device was
probably a stunt. "It's not a serious bomb; it's made to
look like one," he said.
24 Sep 2004, AP
Village Post Office Targeted with Powder Threat in UK
A Post Office was sealed off after a disgruntled customer sent a package of white powder — which turned out to be talc.
The security alert was sparked yesterday afternoon when the package arrived at Mattishall Post Office with a note saying: "Get my post to me on time".
The post office immediately alerted the police and the package was treated as a potential chemical or biological incident. Workers were put into isolation and the building was sealed off just after 5pm.
At least a dozen officers raced to the scene and spent two hours examining the package before confirming it was talcum powder. However, the hoax would have cost thousands of pounds in police time and resources.
Post Master Tony Blackman, 44 and his 42-year-old wife Marie have been at the Dereham Road post office for more than two years.
"The post lady dropped off post to us as she does each day but there was something about this package that didn't look right," Mr Blackman said. "I noticed some white powder around the package and immediately informed police."
Mr Blackman managed to remain calm, despite workers being isolated and the area sealed off to ensure the substance was not hazardous. He worked in post offices in London for 25 years, which he said prepared him for yesterday's attack.
"I wasn't at all scared — these are things I have grown to be vigilant about," he added. "I was aware of the potential of a chemical attack but I remained calm, bagged up the package and washed my hands."
Mr Blackman added: "All our post is delivered on time and even if it wasn't, it is a very over the top way of demonstrating your annoyance.
"We are just regarding it as a silly prank and will wait to see what the police find out."
Inspector Howard Marriott, of Norfolk police, pledged there would be a thorough investigation which would look at forensic evidence to try to catch the culprit.
He added police would treat the hoax very seriously as it had used a lot of police time and resources, and caused suffering from those involved and those who came into contact with the powder.<