Damascus Implicated in Attacks on Dissidents' Families

The Syrian government is targeting relatives of regime critics through a campaign of terror, ranging from threatening phone calls to beatings and murder, the Associated Press reported Friday.

One recent murder victim was Zainab al-HosnI, an 18-year-old resident of Homs in central Syria. She was arrested by plainclothes security officials July 27 in an apparent effort to silence her brother Mohammed, who had been organizing protests there. According to Amnesty International (AI), he was informed by telephone that Zainab would not be released unless he ended his activities.

Mohammed was arrested earlier this month and died in government custody. Security forces summoned his mother Sept. 13 to retrieve his body, which showed signs of gunshots, burns and bruises. At the same morgue, she found her daughter's body. Zainab had been decapitated and her arms were cut off, AI reported.

In July, Syrian pianist Malek Jandali participated in Washington rally calling for freedom in Syria. Not long after, pro-regime thugs stormed his elderly parents' home in Damascus and beat his mother Lina and his father, Maamoun. Jandali later posted photographs of his bloodied parents on Facebook.

Radwan Ziadeh, a Syrian-American activist in Washington, learned earlier this month that his brother had been arrested following a protest in Daraa, his hometown. In a recent interview, Ziadeh expressed concern that his brother's treatment in custody would be extremely brutal.

"I always have some guilt that I have put my family in some pressure and always they have been interrogating my mother and my brothers, trying actually to use them as a hostage (sic) to push me to be quiet," he said.

Last month, the FBI announced it was investigating reports that Syria is threatening and intimidating dissidents in the United States.

Pakistan's Spy Agency Accused of Ties to Terrorist Network

The nation's highest-ranking military officer has tied Pakistan's powerful military spy agency, the Inter-Service Intelligence Directorate (ISI) to the Sept. 13 attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul by Afghan militants.

In a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen accused the ISI of having ties to the Haqqani insurgent network, a key faction of the Afghan Taliban that has ties to al-Qaida and operates out of the lawless tribal belt in Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan.

"With ISI support, Haqqani operatives planned and conducted that truck bomb attack, as well as the assault on our embassy. We also have credible evidence that they were behind the June 28^th attack against the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul and a host of other smaller but effective operations," Mullen said.

"The Haqqani network acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency," he added.

Haqqani operatives have carried out several high-profile attacks in Afghanistan including a truck bomb attack on a NATO military base that killed at least five people and injured 77 soldiers, as well as a coordinated attack on the U.S. Embassy and the NATO force headquarters in Kabul that killed at least seven Afghans.

Pakistan's army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani dismissed Mullen's accusations of ISI complicity in U.S. embassy attack in Kabul, describing the allegations as "very unfortunate and not based on facts."

Kayani suggested that Pakistan's communications with the Haqqani network were in large part because of efforts to negotiate a peace deal with insurgents in the region.

"On the specific question of contacts with the Haqqanis … Admiral Mullen knows fully well which … countries are in contact with the Haqqanis. Singling out Pakistan is neither fair nor productive," Kayani said.

In response to Mullen's remarks, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani underscored Washington's and Islamabad's mutual need for each other.

"They can't live with us. They can't live without us," Gilani said. So, I would say to them that if they can't live without us, they should increase contacts with us to remove misunderstandings."

Relations between the U.S. and Pakistan have seen a steady decline following the May 2 raid by Navy SEALS on Osama bin Laden's walled off compound in the Pakistani military city of Abbottabad. American officials alleged Pakistani complicity in bin Laden's hiding and openly questioned how the al-Qaida leader was living in Pakistan for more than five years without the knowledge of authorities. Drone strikes that have targeted senior al-Qaida leaders in Pakistan in recent months have been another deterrent in relations.

Recordings Show Carolina Man Plotting Quantico Attack

A North Carolina man discussed his plan to attack the U.S. Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va. with an FBI informant, audio tapes played in court Wednesday revealed.

FBI informant Abdullah Eddarkoui told a New Bern, N.C. jury that Daniel Patrick Boyd spoke every day about "jihad and fighting."

"I did some preliminary reconnaissance [at Quantico], and what I saw was amazing," Boyd said in one recording. "I saw the residences of all their commanding officers."

Boyd, the ringleader of a North Carolina-based terrorist cell, pleaded guilty Feb. 9 to conspiring to murder, kidnap and maim individuals in a foreign country and to a charge of material support to terrorists.

Boyd, along with six others, was arrested in 2009 and charged with conspiring to wage jihad abroad. A superseding indictment charged Boyd, his son Zakariya and Hysen Sherifi with plotting to kill U.S. military personnel at Quantico.

Prosecutors introduced the tapes of Boyd's conversations because they speak to the remaining defendants' intentions. In one recording, Boyd said that Sherifi was in on the plan to attack Quantico.

FBI agent Paul Minella also testified Wednesday, linking Sherifi and the two other defendants, Ziyad Yaghi and Omar Hassan, to Boyd. Minella said that Sherifi performed weapons training with Boyd and his two sons. Hassan and Yaghi planned to meet up with Boyd in Israel in 2007.

Defense attorneys say that while their clients made anti-American statements, they were not involved in any plot to wage jihad abroad.

Boyd's sons and co-defendants Zakariya and Dylan pleaded guilty to conspiracy.

Three other defendants indicted in the case are not at trial. Anes Subasic, who is representing himself, will be tried separately. Jude Kenan Mohammad is at large and believed to be in Pakistan. Defendant Bajram Asllani was arrested in Kosovo last year, but a European Union judge rejected an extradition request, ruling that the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Kosovo.

Daniel Boyd has agreed to testify against Sherifi, Yaghi and Hassan at trial. The trial, which began Monday, is expected to last several weeks.

DOJ Still Mum on Islamic Bank Settlement

A senior Justice Department official on Wednesday offered no new information about a secret agreement reached last month with the Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (IICG) despite repeated questions from a ranking senator.

As the Investigative Project on Terrorism reported Aug. 25, the settlement is worth more than $30 million and ends an investigation into IICG tax law violations that dates back to 2006. Court papers in a civil lawsuit in Texas claim IICG agreed to pay $37 million in three installments.

The IICG is connected to the Dar al-Maal al-Islami Trust (DMI), an Islamic financial institution founded by Saudi Prince Mohamed al-Faisal and which had at least two influential Muslim Brotherhood figures on its board.

The investigation into the IICG started in Boston with a domestic affiliate. The case was being handled by a prosecutor from the counter-terror section, although the settlement is believed to focus solely on tax evasion. The prosecutor, Corey Smith, wrote in January that "a settlement of the Criminal Case with [IICG] criminal counsel is likely in the very near future."

DOJ officials have refused to release the agreement or discuss it in any way. During a hearing on terror financing before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said she didn't know anything about the deal, which DOJ divisions investigated it or why it cannot be disclosed.

Monaco, who leads the National Security Division, promised to get answers for Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, after Grassley asked a series of questions about the deal, called a non prosecution agreement. Grassley expressed frustration, since his questions were spelled out in a letter sent to Attorney General Eric Holder two weeks ago.

Such outcomes often are publicized, Grassley noted, wondering why that didn't happen here. "Would it be possible because the department got a bad deal and they're trying to hide it?" he asked.

"I'm not sure if it is in fact normal practice to disclose the terms of any particular settlement agreements in that regard," Monaco said.

If there is a national security element, Grassley said, that shouldn't prevent disclosure of its contents to the committee. "We have the capacity to review classified information," he said.

Attack on Marines Linked to Seattle Terror Plot

Note: This post has been updated to correct a reference to the Marines targeted.

In what may be a new development in a June South Seattle terror plot, state prosecutors filed charges Tuesday against a longtime criminal in Washington state who attempted to run two Marines off the road, and who allegedly had contact with one of the terrorism suspects.

According to the charges, Michael D. McCright, who also goes by Mikhial Jihad, swerved at a government-owned sedan on July 12 after noticing the uniform of the Marine staff sergeant driving the car.

"His eyes widened and he appeared to become angry," the staff sergeant reported to the police.

McCright then quickly pulled in front of the sedan and jammed on his brakes in an effort to cause a collision. The second Marine in the car, a gunnery sergeant, managed to report McCright's license plate to the Washington State Patrol. Both Marines were uninjured in the incident.

The charges assert that McCright initially denied any involvement in the incident and avoided detectives until he was tracked down and arrested on Sept. 8 in Seattle.

Adding to the potential significance of the crime is evidence entered by prosecutors showing that McCright had been in contact with Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, who is one of the two defendants charged with plotting to attack the South Seattle military processing station in June.

"Investigators have confirmed that the cell phone used by the defendant … was used on at least three occasions to contact Abdul-Latif prior to Latif's arrest by federal authorities," King County prosecutor Gary Ernsdorff said in court papers. "The FBI is continuing to investigate defendant McCright's possible connection to domestic terrorism."

The charges only assert that McCright's cell phone was used to contact Abdul-Latif, but the nature of their relationship has yet to be determined.

Abdul-Latif was arrested along with Los Angeles resident, Walli Mujahidh, several weeks before McCright's attempted attack on the Marines for allegedly plotting a suicide operation against a military induction and processing center. The two suspects planned to use automatic weapons and grenades to target recruits and Department of Defense employees working there. Both men are now in Federal custody and face life in prison if convicted.

McCright, charged with second-degree assault, also faces life in prison if convicted as a repeat "three strike" violent offender. He is expected to be arraigned on Sept. 27.

Illinois Rep's Apology for America

It's one thing to criticize a specific policy or statement, but U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley felt compelled to "apologize on behalf of my country" to Muslim Americans during impromptu remarks at an Islamic college Saturday.

Quigley, D-Ill., has represented a suburban Chicago district since 2009 and serves on the House Judiciary Committee.

The apology was videotaped and posted on a conservative Illinois-based website called Rebel Pundit.

The remarks were made at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation at the American Islamic College in Chicago. Other invited speakers included representatives of the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations A 2009 Hudson Institute report identified the AIC as having been planned by the Brotherhood-affiliated Muslim Students Association (MSA). The AIC was once headed by MSA founder Ahmed Sakr.

The tape is an excerpt of Quigley's full remarks, starting with him describing an ideological war in America in which people cynically "create scapegoats … who pit one group against the other."

He invoked comments by Martin Luther King, saying "discrimination against anyone or any faith is discrimination against all." While Quigley said he was optimistic things would change, "I think it's appropriate for me to apologize on behalf of this country for the discrimination you have faced."

See the tape here.

Jury Gets Irvine 11 Case

SANTA ANA - Jury deliberations begin this morning in the case of 10 students charged with misdemeanors stemming from an orchestrated series of interruptions during a February 2010 speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at the University of California, Irvine.

In closing arguments, attorneys on both sides claimed the case is about preserving First Amendment rights. Defense attorneys say their clients exercised their rights to protest. But in doing so, prosecutors say, they violated Oren's right to be heard.

The 10 defendants are among 11 people arrested during the speech. The disruptions were spelled out in great detail by emails distributed by UC Irvine's Muslim Student Union (MSU). They stood up and shouted accusations of murder and genocide at the ambassador, before being escorted out by police. A large group of cheering pro-Palestinian supporters staged a walkout shortly after the students' disruption.

The students' actions violated well-known norms and standards for such a gathering, Deputy District Attorney Dan Wagner said in closing arguments. Multiple admonitions by the professor who organized the event and the university chancellor did not stop the protest, nor did the arrest of each demonstrator. The students believed that their right to disrupt gave them a 'Heckler's Veto' over the ambassador's right to free speech, he said.

Although 10 students disrupted the ambassador, the only limitation to their interruption was a lack of more students willing "to go all the way," Wagner said.

This was not about the students' right to free speech, Wagner said, but rather an attempt to "shut down" the opinions of someone with whom they disagreed.

Defense arguments highlighted the students' right to protest and technical challenges to the prosecution's case. The students' actions were heroic, said attorney Lisa Holder, and the university administration and police had no right to stop their legitimate form of protest.

"Rude in not unlawful, peaceful protest is not unlawful," added defense attorney Jacqueline Goodman.

The defendants supporters cheered many of the arguments, prompted Judge Peter Wilson to threaten to clear the courtroom. But no one was forced to leave.

Report Finds Extremism Remains in Saudi Textbooks

The Saudi Arabian government continues to make obscure, insignificant revisions to its incendiary textbooks, according to a report by the Hudson Institute released Monday.

Like earlier versions, the 2010-11 textbooks contain anti-Semitism, including "blood libel" aimed at advancing Saudi politics; fear-mongering about the "infidel" and information about the on-going victimization of Muslim minorities in the West.

Comparing 2006-2008 Saudi textbooks to the latest editions, the report, "Ten Years On: Saudi Arabia's Textbooks Still Promote Violence," documents relatively minor changes made by the Saudi government. The books continue to focus on Saudi national security concerns, rather than promoting the rejection of religious extremism.

Twelve of 15 "highly intolerant and violent passages we singled out in our 2006 and 2008 studies remain essentially unchanged, with only some slight mediation of wording." the Hudson report notes. One section glorifying jihad and blaming Jews for the country's problems were removed, "though the same or similar teaching remains elsewhere in the curriculum."

The newest edition of a 12^th grade text "no longer sanctions killing and robbing outright, but instead asserts that polytheists – and 'infidels' generally – should be fought but only under certain conditions."

The Hudson Institute has tracked Saudi curricula and its direct correlation with religious extremism for many years. The U.S. government has also pressed the Saudi government regarding its curricula, but Riyadh maintains it has already implemented such reforms, or needs more time to do so.

Such textbooks, and the Saudi refusal to completely reconfigure their curricula, hinder efforts at combating radicalism worldwide, since it was these same works that influenced Osama bin Laden, as well as many other Saudi-born terrorists.

That's not just the Hudson Institute's view. In an interview shortly before his death, Saudi Prince Muhammad Abdallah Al-Faysal called for curriculum reform, a report from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) shows. "Basically, it is the philosophy of our education. What do we want our child to be? We have produced terrorists who carried out bombings."

Al-Faysal died August 25.

To read the full Hudson report, click here.

Court Tosses Out al-Qaida Plotter's Sentence

A federal appeals court ruling threw out a 17-year prison sentence for al-Qaida plotter Jose Padilla Monday, suggesting the prison term imposed by a Miami federal judge was too lenient. The ruling ordered a new sentencing for Padilla.

A federal jury convicted Padilla, Adham Hassoun and Kifah Jayyousi in April 2007 on terrorism-related charges that that included financial support and recruitment for al-Qaida and other Islamist terror groups. Padilla was sentenced to 17 years, Hassoun to 15 years and Jayyousi to 12 years.

Padilla, a former Chicago gang member and convert to Islam, was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in 2002 on suspicion of plotting to bomb apartment buildings and detonate a "dirty bomb" in the United States. He was held for three years without charge as an enemy combatant until he was moved to a civilian prison and charged in a Miami federal court. The "dirty bomb" allegations were not part of his indictment.

The appeals court upheld the Padilla's conviction, along with those of Hassoun and Jayyousi.

"The record shows that the government presented evidence that the defendants formed a support cell linked to radical Islamists worldwide and conspired to send money, recruits and equipment overseas to groups that the defendants knew used violence in their efforts to establish Islamic states," according to the ruling.

It also upheld Hassoun and Jayyousi's sentences. But it found that the sentencing judge who presided over the four-month trial did not attribute enough importance to Padilla's training at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan.

"Padilla posed a heightened risk of future dangerousness due to his al-Qaida training," the ruling said.

It also ruled that the judge "attached little weight to Padilla's extensive criminal history, gave no weight to his future dangerousness, compared him to criminals who were not similarly situated and gave unreasonable weight to the conditions of his pre-trial confinement."

Iranian Ambassador: UN Vote "a Step Towards Wiping Out Israel"

Western diplomatic efforts aimed at heading off a United Nations resolution on Palestinian statehood appear to be making little or no progress. The United States and other allies are trying to find a way to push Palestinians back into direct peace talks with Israel, but those efforts have been rejected.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas complained that "all hell has broken out against us" over the UN effort, but that there was no turning back from the present course.

That course, Iran's ambassador to Egypt said in a weekend interview, was merely one stage in a broader effort. The push for full membership as a UN member state "is a step towards wiping out Israel," said Ambassador Mojtaba Amani in an interview with Al-Watan al-Arabi. "But the Palestinians must that follow a correct example and complete all the measures to prevent the Zionist Entity from depriving them their rights."

Abbas reportedly rejected offers of concessions from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including compromises on language describing the borders of a future state and describing Israel as a home for the Jewish people.

"From now until I give the speech, we have only one choice: going to the Security Council. Afterwards, we will sit and decide," he said.

The United States has promised to veto any Palestinian request for full inclusion as a member state before the council. But the PA likely would secure an upgrade of its current status as an observer if it turned to the full UN General Assembly. Western diplomats say that will lead only to disappointment for Palestinians and not get them any closer to actual statehood.

And there are risks for the Palestinians if they refuse to alter their course. If Congress follows through on threats to cut off American aid to the Palestinian Authority, "the risk of PA collapse is very real," PA central bank chief Jihad al-Wazir told Reuters.

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