Headley Part of al-Qaida Plot to Attack Lockheed Martin

Self-confessed Mumbai plotter David Coleman Headley testified Tuesday that he was part of an al-Qaida inspired plot to assassinate the chief of U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

The plot was the brainchild of Ilyas Kashmiri, leader of the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI), and a senior commander of al Qaida's deadly 313 Brigade.

Headley is the key prosecution witness in the ongoing terrorism trial of a Chicago businessman, Tahawuur Hussain Rana. He used Rana's immigration office in Mumbai as a cover to scout for targets for the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist strike. Ten gunmen from the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) are suspected of being behind the plot that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

Headley has pleaded guilty to his role in the attacks and agreed to cooperate with federal investigators in exchange for evading the death penalty.

Headley told the jury he used Rana's computer to research details about Lockheed Martin and its CEO for Kashmiri, who was outraged at American drone strikes in Pakistan and wanted to attack the U.S. defense contractor in retaliation.

"There was a plan to kill him because he was making drones," Headley said.

During a visit to Pakistan last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded Pakistani authorities take action against five key al-Qaida leaders, including Kashmiri.

He has been responsible for jihadi attacks against U.S. and Western interests in the region. He is also suspected to be behind a suicide bomb attack against a top CIA base in the Eastern Afghan province of Khost in December 2009 that killed at least eight Americans.

Evidence presented thus far in the trial confirms earlier reports of a critical role played by Pakistan's powerful spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in the Mumbai attacks. A Pakistani intelligence officer, a former Army major, and a Navy frogman have been crucial to the carrying out of the attacks, Headley testified last week.

In recent months, the ISI has been charged with the abduction and torture of Pakistani journalists in retaliation to adverse news reports implicating the spy agency in terrorism-related activity. Last week, journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad went missing after he alleged secret negotiations between the Pakistani Navy and al-Qaida in a news report. His tortured body was found in Jhelum, in the Punjab district of Pakistan.

In light of growing evidence of ISI support for the Mumbai attacks, Indian authorities have demanded the Pakistani government take action against the rogue agency. India has, in fact, threatened to become a party to a lawsuit filed by the Israeli victims of the Mumbai attacks, Rabbi Gavriel Noah Holtzberg and his wife Rifka, to declare the ISI a terrorist group. A Mumbai Jewish facility that housed Holtzberg and his wife was one of the targets in the attacks.

Al-Qaida Seizes Yemeni City

Yemen's air force bombed a coastal city seized by the local al-Qaida branch, as the fragile nation teeters closer to civil war. Syria's protests also reignited over accusations that the regime, renewing the uprising that has rocked the nation since March 15^th.

The Yemeni government bombed Zinjibar, a provincial capital of 20,000, which was seized by al-Qaida of the Arabian Peninsula or local militants affiliated with the group last week. The bombing devastated the city and killed at least 13, in addition to a mass migration of refugees to neighboring towns. Yemeni forces also cracked down heavily on protesters in the city of Taiz, killing at least 50 protesters since Sunday.

There is also a growing possibility of civil war in the country, as fresh fighting has broken out between government forces and militants loyal to powerful tribal leader Sadeq al-Ahmar.

Syrian protests reignited following news that a 13 year-old Hamza el-Khatib was tortured by Syrian security forces, who beat and shot the child before breaking his neck and mutilating his body. Like Iran's symbolic martyr Neda Agha-Soltan, the boy's death has swung many fence sitters to the side of the protests. For them, the murder of el-Khatib proved the hollowness of the regime's promises, including a vague general amnesty offered by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Two Iraqis Indicted in Kentucky on Terrorism Charges

Two Iraqi nationals have been indicted on terrorism charges, the U.S. Attorney's office for the Western District of Kentucky announced Tuesday. The previously sealed indictment, returned last week by a federal grand jury, charged Waad Alwan and Mohanad Hammadi on 23 counts related to helping insurgents, including al-Qaida linked fighters, in Iraq.

Alwan and Hammadi, both residents of Bowling Green, were arrested on May 25^th.

They are charged with attempting to provide material support to al-Qaida in Iraq and conspiracy to transfer, possess and export Stinger missiles. Alwan, an Iraqi citizen, also is charged with conspiracy to use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) against U.S. troops abroad in addition to distributing information on how to make and use IEDs.

Alwan told an FBI informant that he fought with Iraqi insurgents between 2003 and his arrest by Iraqi authorities in 2006, according to an FBI affidavit.

Alwan bragged about his sniper skills, saying that his "lunch and dinner would be an American."

In a recorded conversation, Alwan told the informant he used "hundreds" of IEDs while in Iraq. Specifically, Alwan discussed a time where he and another individual planted an IED near street trafficked by "American vehicles." In 2005, U.S. forces found an unexploded IED in Bayji, Iraq. Recent analysis found Alwan's fingerprints on a component of the bomb.

Alwan also provided the FBI informant, whom Alwan believed to have connections with Iraqi mujahidin and Osama bin Laden, with detailed diagrams of how to build and use IEDs. FBI explosives experts who analyzed Alwan's drawings confirmed the IEDs from those plans would have been operational if built.

Alwan also told the informant that he would be willing to train Iraqi insurgents.

Last November, Alwan picked up three rocket propelled grenade launchers (RPGs) and three Pulemyot Kalashnikova machine guns (PKMs) and delivered them to the informant, believing that the weapons were intended for al-Qaida and other Iraqi insurgents.

Alwan later recruited co-defendant Hammadi for the weapons delivery operation and, in February, both helped transport more weapons and explosives and placed them in hidden compartments in a tractor trailer. Hammadi and Alwan hid stacks of cash in the trailer.

"When I did it and returned back, I was so comfortable I want to fly from joy," Alwan said later.

In March, Hammadi and Alwan performed a similar operation with more cash and Stinger surface-to-air missile launcher systems, which were inert and provided by the FBI.

Like Alwan, Hammadi said he acted as an insurgent in Iraq and participated in IED attacks. Hammadi told the informant that his group in Iraq had 11 Russian surface-to-air-missile systems.

"Whether they seek shelter in a major metropolitan area or in a smaller city in Kentucky, those who would attempt to harm or kill Americans abroad will face a determined and prepared law enforcement effort dedicated to the investigation and prosecutions necessary to bring them to justice," said U.S. Attorney David J. Hale in a press release.

Alwan and Hammadi face life in prison if convicted on all 23 counts of the indictment.

UN Peacekeepers Targeted in Lebanon Bombing

A growing number of Lebanese and European diplomats fear that Friday's roadside bomb attack in Lebanon which killed one Italian peacekeeper, wounded at least five others, and injured several civilians, could be the start of a new wave of violence against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). "With all the tension, we can't rule out other attacks. It could be just the beginning," a European diplomat told the Lebanese Daily Star newspaper.

One Lebanese member of parliament, Nohad al-Mashnouq of the March 14 Party, said Iran and Syria were behind the attack. "Friday's explosion is a clear Iranian-Syrian message to the international community not to interfere in Syrian affairs," he told al-Arabiya television.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but UNIFIL has frequently been the target of hostility from jihadist forces including Hizballah and al-Qaida.

The four-vehicle convoy was returning to southern Lebanon from Beirut along the Mediterranean coastal highway when the bomb detonated. Many in Lebanon have been bracing for violence given the recent instability in the region, including the 10-week-old wave of unrest in neighboring Syria. Lebanon has not had a functioning government since January, when parliamentary maneuvering by Hizballah toppled a moderate one headed by Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon provided "a decisive contribution to the stability of one of the most sensitive areas of the Middle East."

Israel has a decidedly different view of UNIFIL. It was established following Israel's March 1978 invasion of Lebanon to wipe out Palestinian terror bases there. UNIFIL was unable to stop the military buildup by Palestinian radicals there which triggered Israel's June 1982 invasion. Israel unilaterally withdrew its forces from Lebanon in May 2000 in the hope of attaining peace with Lebanon.

Instead, Hizballah responded with a massive military buildup, and on July 12, 2006 it staged a deadly cross-border raid that triggered a war with Israel. Since the 2006 war, UNIFIL has more than quadrupled its peacekeeping force to almost 9,000. But despite its substantial increase in size, it has again failed to prevent a Hizballah military buildup that has given the group a military infrastructure in southern Lebanon that is much more dangerous than the one Israel destroyed in 2006.

UNIFIL has been a terror target in the past. In June 2007, six members of a Spanish UNIFIL battalion were killed when their armored personnel carrier struck a bomb.

Somali Couple Charged with Lying in Terrorism Investigation

A Somali man and his wife have been indicted in San Antonio for allegedly making false statements to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and Texas immigration officials.

A federal indictment filed last week charged Abdullahi Fidse and Deka Sheikh on two counts: conspiring to provide false information which would obstruct the asylum and removal proceeding of Fidse and conspiring to lie about Fidse's ties to terrorism.

Fidse was in U.S. custody at a Pearsall, Tex. detention center at the time of the indictment. Sheikh was arrested Thursday in Madison, Wis.

The couple does not face terrorism charges, but prosecutors allege that Fidse lied when he told FBI officials investigating his ties to terrorism that he had never made a statement in support of Osama bin Laden.

The indictment also states that an undercover source taped Fidse in 2009 claiming that he bought a $100,000 armed battle vehicle which was later destroyed during fighting. Fidse claimed that the voice in the recording was manipulated by the FBI to sound like his own.

The indictment does not specify who was involved in the fighting using the vehicle or where it took place.

Fidse "coached" his wife as to how to respond to immigration officials' questions during his immigration court hearings, the indictment states. The two rehearsed their responses, which they knew to be false, via phone. They even created hand signals to secretly communicate with each other during court testimony.

Following their rehearsed lines, the defendants each told authorities that Fidse fled Mogadishu, Somalia in 2008 after his father was killed by Islamist militants and that they had first met in Ethiopia.

But prosecutors say that Fidse's father was not killed by al-Qaida or any of its Somali franchises and that Fidse and Sheikh, who had known each other since childhood, eventually married and lived together for three years. Fidse was living in Nairobi, Kenya, not Somalia, at the time he claimed his father was killed, officials say.

The charges come one month after a San Antonio court sentenced a Somali man to 10 years in prison for making false statements to authorities. U.S. District Court Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled that a terrorism enhancement be applied to Ahmed Muhammed Dhakane's sentence because he knowingly smuggled at least seven members of the al-Qaida linked Somali terrorist group Al-Ittihad Al-Islami (AIAI) into the United States.

Authorities told the San Antonio Express News that they couldn't comment on whether Fidse and Sheikh has been Dhakane's smuggling clients or if the cases are connected.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Roomberg, who successfully prosecuted the Dhakane case, is handling Fidse and Sheikh's case.

Fidse remains detained until his bail hearing scheduled for June 7^th. A Wisconsin judge has ordered Shiekh to be moved to San Antonio to face the charges. They face up to 13 years in prison if convicted on both counts.

Terrorists Shifting Operations to Sinai

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the new military government in Egypt is failing to limit the rise of international terror organizations in the Sinai Peninsula.

Citing the recent attacks on Egyptian pipelines carrying gas to Israel, Netanyahu said, "Egypt is having a hard time realizing its sovereignty in Sinai. International terror organizations are stirring in Sinai and their presence is increasing due to Sinai's connection to Gaza."

Netanyahu further cautioned that Hamas has moved some of its activities to Egypt, enabling the group to grow stronger and threatening Israel's future in the region, particularly with its peace partners Egypt and Jordan. Netanyahu also added that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is "not insignificant" and should not be overlooked.

Commenting on the turmoil in the Arab world, Netanyahu said that while Israel supports democracy, its future in the Arab countries remains uncertain, and thus Israel must act responsibly.

Meanwhile, Egyptian security forces are pursuing 400 al-Qaida operatives who have been spotted in the Sinai, according to a senior Egyptian security source. These operatives, comprised of Bedouins, Palestinians, and foreign Arab nationals, allegedly attacked several security stations in the past in Sinai city of El Arish. According to a report on Egypt's Al-Hayat television channel, the al-Qaida members are now planning additional terrorist attacks in Egypt and in Sinai.

North Sinai Governor Abdel Wahab Mabrouk denied the reports, saying they were mere rumors and denying any security officials made such comments to Al-Hayat.

Last January, following the arrest of 19 suspected al-Qaida militants by Egyptian security forces, Egypt's interior minister warned that al-Qaida was seeking to form terror cells in the Gaza Strip. The arrested operatives were suspected of planning suicide bombings at holy sites throughout Egypt.

AQAP Lays Out Mission

"The time has come for the Ummah to listen to the words of the Mujahideen fi sabeel Allah," al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)explained in a recently translated document, which laid out the organization's basic objectives. "The forces of global unbelief, led by the protector of the Cross, America, have pounced on the Muslims and allied themselves in a global campaign against terrorism."

"They plotted and executed and continue to execute all that they can in their war against Islam and the Muslims. This matter does not need to be proven, because it is seen and felt by the people in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Arabian Peninsula and elsewhere among the countries of Islam," claims the document "Who are the Mujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula?"

It is the fifth segment of the group's Da'wah series, an attempt to explain and propagate AQAP's perspective on Islam and jihad.

The group lays out nine goals the mujahideen, or fighters, are trying to achieve: the expulsion of Jews and Christians from the entire Arabian Peninsula; the liberation of the land, sea, and air above Muslim countries, as well as the defense of their honor and wealth; supporting Muslims everywhere through military means; freeing all Muslim prisoners everywhere; restoring the Holy Places of Islam to the rule of Muslims; evenly dividing the wealth of Muslims and the richness of resources in their lands; uniting the Muslims in a "brotherhood of faith;" forming the legendary army of Aden-Abyan, which will bring the Muslim victory; and, winning "the pleasure of Allah" and paradise.

The document also calls on all Muslims to aid them in a wide variety of ways. These include: encouraging others to take up jihad; defending the mujahideen and concealing their secrets; informing them about spies and threats; collecting donations and tithes on their behalf; taking care of the mujahideen's families; refraining from aiding non-Muslim states by paying taxes and customs; raising children for jihad; following the news of the mujahideen and spreading jihadi media; and boycotting Jewish and American goods.

"Do not ask, 'where do we begin?" the document states. "You are the beginning! You are the good seed! You are the hope of the nation; the solution, the candle that shall illuminate the darkness! You are the exemplary man! So do not say, 'Where do we begin?' Say, 'I will begin!"

New Nazi Party for Egypt

Egyptian leftist news portal Al-Badeel reports that a group of Egyptian activists will form a Nazi party for upcoming elections. The Egyptian Nazi group claims it will bring together prominent figures and ex-military officers, to promote fascist single-party rule.

Founding member Emad Abdel Sattar summed up the group's belief in single-party rule. The party "believes in vesting all powers in the president after selecting him or her carefully," and within the party "preparations are under way to choose the most competent person to represent the party." The appeal of authoritarianism comes from recent chaos in the streets, burning Coptic churches by Salafi Muslims, and random violence against civilians, according to the report.

Members are "increasing at an unexpected rate, and several people came to ask about the nature of the party and its plans," it says. The group has an ambitious plan to rapidly advance development in Egypt, in a single year, and rejects the "marginalized liberal parties, which are like dead bodies."

Nazis aren't the only group in the country that rejects long term democracy. Salafi Muslim groups support the reestablishment of the Caliphate, starting in Egypt, while the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party has sent mixed messages.

Flotilla Group Received MIllions From Canadian Government

A Canadian group that is sponsoring a boat from Canada to participate in the upcoming Freedom Flotilla II receives money from the Canadian government, the Toronto Sun reported on Friday.

The Montreal-based group Alternatives has received $5 million from the government in recent years. It is also listed as one of the "Canadian Endorsers" on the Canada Boat to Gaza website.

The Canada Boat to Gaza (CBG) will carry a delegation to Gaza in the end of June on a boat named Tahrir, meaning "liberation" in Arabic, along with at least 12 other ships from around the world. "Despite news that Egypt plans to open the Rafah border crossing," the group notes, "the maritime blockade by Israel remains a major obstacle to achieving normal life in Gaza. The Canadian Boat to Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla movement will continue our work until the Port of Gaza is opened to ensure free circulation of goods and people."

Egypt permanently opens the Rafah Crossing into Gaza starting Saturday. That will allow for more open shipments of goods and humanitarian aid into Gaza and greater movement for Palestinians.

Flotilla organizers have made it clear that their purpose is not to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. "The Mediterranean does not belong to Israel," Bulent Yildirim, one of the lead organizers of the upcoming flotilla, said last month. "Just because we have had shahids [martyrs], we are not fearful... We will not step back... Let all know this: Until the blockade on Gaza is lifted... and until our march to al-Aqsa is completed, this sea intifada and land intifada will continue!"

Yildirim's organization, IHH, instigated the deadly confrontation between flotilla passengers and Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara ship during the first flotilla last year. The United States is considering designating IHH as a terrorist organization, while the Turkish-based group continues to cooperate with organizations from around the world to sail to Gaza in late June, including the Canada Boat to Gaza and a group from the United States.

Hamas Leader: Two State Solution Is "Over and Done With"

"The two-state solution is over" and "armed confrontation will continue to be the main effort and the backbone of the resistance, until the liberation of [all] Palestine," Hamas' head of foreign liaisons told Al-Jadid/New TV on May 4.

According to a translation provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Beirut-based politburo leader Osama Hamdan said all Hamas discussions on liberating Palestine center on one non-negotiable foundation: "the return of the refugees to their homeland, and the return of the Israelis to the countries from which they came."

Hamdan's comments came on the heels of news that his organization, Hamas, had recently agreed to reconciliation terms with long-time Palestinian rival, Fatah. The reconciliation ended a four-year split that led to the establishment of separate governments in the West bank and the Gaza Strip.

Under the new agreement forged with Fatah, Hamdan's group, Hamas, can expect to hear many of its own views reiterated by senior Fatah leaders—especially on the topic of the "right of return."

"The right of return will remain sacred for every Palestinian who was forced by the Zionist war machine to leave his or her home and land in Palestine," Fatah chairman Mahmoud Abbas, told the Jerusalem Post on May 14. "Either we get the home and land peacefully, or we will make sacrifices until we return."

In the same article, Abbas argued that Israel's opposition to a two-state solution remained the major roadblock standing in the way of a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians had, after all, "accepted the two-state solution"—at least in Abbas' characterization.

One must look no further than Hamdan's comments to see that this has never been the case.

In a speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unequivocally endorsed a peace based upon a two-state solution, but ruled out any negotiation regarding the "right of return."

"Jews from around the world have a right to immigrate to the Jewish state," Netanyahu said. "Palestinians from around the world should have a right to immigrate, if they so choose, to a Palestinian state. This means that the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside the borders of Israel."

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