Life Sentence for Embassy Bomb Plotter

His case became a political issue over American terror response, but Ahmed Ghalfan Ghailani was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday because of his role in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa.

U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed in near-simultaneous attacks attributed to al-Qaida in August 1998. The blasts killed 224 people and wounded thousands. Ghailani helped fellow conspirators buy a truck and gas cylinders used in the bombings and performed other services.

He was acquitted on 224 counts of murder in November but convicted of one conspiracy count. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan would not allow prosecutors to use evidence obtained from Ghailani while he was allegedly tortured at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

He made no statement before Kaplan handed down the sentence.

Kaplan upheld Ghailani's conviction last week, saying the evidence showed Ghailani's involvement in securing supplies for the bombing and his relationship with al-Qaida operatives proved he knew the ultimate plan.

That evidence rendered any plea for leniency based on his treatment in U.S. custody ineffective. "This crime was so horrible," Kaplan said Tuesday. "It was a cold-blooded killing and maiming of innocent people on an enormous scale.

"It wrecked the lives of thousands more... who had their lives changed forever. The purpose of the crime was to create terror by causing death and destruction on a scale that was hard to imagine in 1998 when it occurred."

In a statement, Attorney General Eric Holder hailed the sentencing as proof that U.S. courts can bring terrorists to justice. "Ghailani is the fifth person to be convicted in federal court in connection with the embassy bombings," Holder said, "and we hope this life sentence brings some measure of justice to the victims of these attacks and their families and friends who have waited so long for this day."

Terror Attack at Moscow Airport

Islamist militants from Russia's volatile North Caucasus' region are suspected in the bombing of a terminal and café in Moscow's busiest commercial airport, the Guardian reports. The attack at Domodedovo airport is the second suicide bombing in a year targeting Moscow transportation, following a lethal attack on the city's metro system in March.

Russian police believe the bomb weighed around 15 pounds. It was activated outside of the Asiya café in the international arrivals terminal, killing at least 35 people and injuring around 168 others.

"There was a massive boom and then a wave of heat and pressure that swept along the floor, bent my legs and flung me aside," Artyom Zhilenkov, a Russian businessman, told the Guardian. "I was looking toward a dark-skinned man when it happened. I think it was the suitcase standing next to him that exploded." Other witnesses reported hearing a man shout, "I'll kill you all!" before the explosion.

No group has claimed responsibility. The Kavkaz Center, a clearinghouse for information on the terrorist umbrella organization "Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus," carried an article criticizing the Russian regime and describing the attack. It did not claim responsibility for the bombing, although it called the perpetrators of earlier attacks in the city "martyr bombers." Other jihadi websites, such as Ansar al-Mujahideen, praised the attack as a 'martyrdom operation' but did not issue statement of responsibility.

Egypt Blames Church Attack on Palestinian Group

A Gaza-based Palestinian militant group with ties to al-Qaida orchestrated the New Year's Eve suicide bombing at a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egyptian authorities say. The attack, which killed 23 people, was blamed on a group called the Army of Islam.

The group allegedly recruited Egyptians to carry out the bombing.

"We have conclusive proof of their heinous involvement in planning and carrying out such a villainous terrorist act," said Egyptian Interior Minister Habib Adly.

The state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported that one the masterminds of the attack confessed meeting with Army of Islam operatives in Gaza. They asked him to identify churches and synagogues which could be targeted for attack. He recommended three targets in Alexandria, and then persuaded the Gaza militants that a suicide bomber was preferable to a car bombing.

An Army of Islam spokesman denied the allegations, as did a Hamas official in Gaza. "Despite our praise to those who executed the attack, the Army of Islam has no connection to the Alexandria church bombing," the group said in a statement cited by the Los Angeles Times.

Israel's top intelligence official recently claimed that as many as 500 Gaza militants identify with al-Qaida and that some communicate with the group. The Alexandria attack is among a number of terrorist acts targeting Christians in the Middle East and Africa. Several Islamist groups and their officials tried to cast the bombing as a Jewish plot.

Treasury Loses Key Sanctions Architect

The man responsible for aggressive economic sanctions against Iran, al-Qaida, North Korea and other terrorist groups is leaving his post at the Treasury Department.

Stuart Levey's resignation letter is expected to be on President Obama's desk today, and he'll leave his post as Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence in a month, the Wall Street Journal reports. Levey's longtime assistant David Cohen is expected to be nominated as his replacement.

Levey has held the position since 2004. Under his leadership, the terror-financing section became "a major cog in the U.S. national-security apparatus," the Journal's Jay Solomon wrote, with hundreds of people tracking international financing and export license applications. He has been tireless in enlisting international cooperation for shutting off banking access to terrorist financiers and rogue states like Iran and North Korea.

He has not indicated what prompted his departure or what he intends to do next. He pledged to stay at Treasury for six months when the Obama administration came into office, said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Levey's departure "will have no effect on policy, or on our ability to execute the President's policy."

Cohen inherits significant challenges, especially after the latest round of international talks over Iran's nuclear program fell apart Saturday. Iranian officials demanded the existing sanctions be suspended as a pre-condition, and the talks went nowhere.

Accused Arms Dealer Linked to Kremlin, Hizballah, al-Shabaab

Branded the "Merchant of Death," former Russian Air Force officer Viktor Bout is accused of selling arms to Marxist Colombian terrorists. The BBC reports that Bout, who has also been dogged by charges that he provided arms to Angolan rebels and accused Liberian war criminal Charles Taylor, may also have been funneling arms to Hizballah and the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab.

"The direct accusation is that his planes brought in weapons for al-Shabaab, which is pretty much top of the wanted list in terms of terrorist activity and Islamic militant activity in Somalia," said Alex Yearsley, an arms-control expert working as a United Nations consultant. There are also allegations that Bout was negotiating with Hizballah to bring them missiles, and that Israel was so concerned that it tried to "take him out" years ago, Yearsley said.

"When he was working in Iran in 2005 and when he appears in Beirut in 2006 with the Hizballah-Israel war - when Russia was supplying a great deal of weapons through Iran, which ended up in Russian hands - at that point, he was very useful to them and he was working on behalf of the Russian state," said journalist Douglas Farah, author of Merchant of Death, a book about Bout.

A Kremlin source told the BBC that Bout had "close relations with officials in the Kremlin" including people who worked in the office of Russian presidents Vladimir Putin and Boris Yeltsin.

Bout was arrested in 2008 in a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sting operation in Bangkok. He is accused of offering to provide surface-to-air missiles to DEA agents posing as Marxist rebels from Colombia. Bout was allegedly told that American nationals could be targeted with those weapons, but stated that "We're together, we have the same enemy." Extradited from Thailand to the United States in November, he faces a life sentence if convicted on the arms-trafficking charges.

New Video Teaches IED Construction

The Islamic State of Iraq's publication group, Al-Furqan Media, has released a new video on the construction, deployment, and use of improvised explosive devices [IEDs]. The Arabic video, "Destructive IEDs," appears in Ansar al-Mujahideen's English forum with the message "Prepare Yourselves!"

The video features scenes about constructing IEDs, both for use against military and civilian targets. In one section of the video, an explosives expert demonstrates the construction of a simple IED with a detonator, explosives and a copper explosively formed penetrator [EFP]. After the construction section, the video shows footage of successful operations and gives advice about camouflaging devices from minesweepers in urban and rural environments.

The video also contains common features in a number of jihadi videos. These include pictures and footage of attacks on American soldiers, denouncements of Islamic scholars that do not "defend the religion," and speeches by leaders of the jihad, including Osama bin Laden.

On Ansar Al-Mujahideen's forum, a graphic calling the video a "presentation to the Mujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula" accompanies dozens of links to file transfer websites.

Turkish Flotilla Ship Hailed in Lebanon

As organizers plan a new flotilla aiming to reach Gaza, the lionization of the Mavi Marmara continues in the Middle East. A ceremony in Beirut this week honored the ship where a deadly confrontation took place as IHH operatives on board clashed with Israeli commandos in the Mediterranean Sea May 31^st.

"The pouring blood of the Mavi Marmara martyrs for Palestine united the blood of Arabs, Turks and Kurds," IHH head Bulent Yildirim told the audience. "The Mavi Marmara ship constituted a new sense of brotherhood. Israel will be definitely defeated, because we are struggling for the oppressed."

Yildirim placed the ship in a line of infamous vessels, including Noah's Ark and the Titanic.

The ship tried to break an embargo against aid to Gaza's Hamas-led government. Israeli intelligence reports show that Yildirim planned the violent confrontation, which left nine Turks dead. No one was injured on other ships that were part of the flotilla but did not resist when commandos boarded.

In Beirut, plaques of honor were given to Yildirim, IHH executive board members, and relatives of two of the Mavi Marmara "martyrs."

Ahmet Dogan, the father of Furkan Dogan, the only Turk killed with U.S. citizenship, said "Furkan always said there was a price pay for freedom of Palestine. He had done what he said; he paid the price that would end the pain of the Gazan children. We are proud of all the martyrs of the Mavi Marmara as the families."

Ahmet Dogan and Furkan's brother will be the guests of honor at American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) Chicago's 3^rd Annual Fundraising dinner this February.

During a press conference held Tuesday in Beirut, Viva Palestina leader George Galloway announced his organization will participate in the upcoming flotilla, also known as Freedom Flotilla II. "We are not afraid of you. We will return through land…and through sea, and we will prove this to you on May 31^st," Galloway said, addressing Israel.

Galloway is scheduled to speak on Saturday in Dearborn, Mich., to raise money for Viva Palestina USA and the U.S. Boat to Gaza, a coalition of organizations and individuals who plan to launch a U.S. boat to participate in the upcoming flotilla. When Galloway tried to visit the United States last month to speak to a series of fundraisers, he was denied entry into the country after airline officials told him there were problems with his visa.

Embassy Bomb Plotter's Conviction Upheld

A federal judge in New York has rejected a defense motion to throw out the conviction of a key conspirator in the 1998 al-Qaida bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Jurors had plenty of evidence to conclude Ghalfan Ghailani had "active participation in critical aspects of the conspiracy" behind the attacks, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled Friday.

The August 1998 truck bombings killed 224 people and injured thousands. While jurors convicted him of the conspiracy, they acquitted Ghailani on 224 counts of murder. Defense attorneys argued that was an inconsistency which demanded his conviction be overturned or that he be granted a new trial.

Kaplan's 56-page ruling forcefully dismissed those arguments. Evidence and testimony showed that Ghailani, who does not know how to drive, bought one of the trucks and gas cylinders used in the attack. Kaplan wrote. FBI agents found identical blasting caps and residue of the explosive PETN in a locked armoire where he had stayed. In addition, he fled Nairobi days before the attacks on a fake passport, using the same cover story as other al Qaida operatives in the plot.

"That a plot was afoot to bomb something was obvious," Kaplan wrote, "and the jury was entitled to find that Ghailani knew at least that much."

The trial was the first criminal prosecution of a Guantanamo detainee. Ghailani was captured in Pakistan in 2004 and spent five years at the naval base in Cuba. In the trial, Kaplan prohibited prosecutors from using evidence obtained during the alleged torture.

Ghailani faces a minimum of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced by Kaplan Tuesday. Prosecutors are asking for a life sentence.

Lashkar Employs Bangladeshi Groups to Strike Terror

Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) is teaming up with Bangladeshi extremist groups to launch terror strikes in India, according to a report on a leading Indian web portal. The LeT has joined hands with the extremist group the Jamaat ul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) that seeks to establish a Taliban-style government and is believed to be behind the 2005 bombings across Bangladesh that targeted leading public figures. Indian intelligence maintains the JMB is strengthening its hold in India by running hawalas, or informal financial networks, to fund terrorist activities in the region.

Lashkar's presence on Bangladeshi soil is further corroborated by the 2009 arrest of three operatives from a madrassa in Chittagong, Bangladesh's main seaport and second-largest city. The operatives claimed receiving assistance from Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI.

Lashkar has had close ties to the extremist Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami/Bangladesh (HuJI-B), a group on the State Department's list of terrorist groups. But the ISI, which reportedly provided the support structure for Lashkar and other terror groups to operate in Bangladesh, feels that HuJI-B has been on the radar of Indian intelligence for years which might make it harder for the group to carry out attacks. Moreover, the ISI wants the HuJI-B to focus on operations in India's northeast region where separatist movements are rife and are looking for help from terrorist groups.

In addition to Lashkar, there have been news reports claiming the presence of the Karachi-based Pakistani group, the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), in Bangladesh. A Bangladeshi jihadist named Belal Hossain was arrested last March along with three other Bangladeshi nationals for plotting attacks in India under the guidance of the JeM.

Hossain has been linked to the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight to Kandahar, Afghanistan. The hijacking was carried out to secure the release of Maulana Masood Azhar, who at the time was being held in Indian custody in a prison in Jammu. The entire operation was reportedly hatched in Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital city. Azhar founded the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) in 2000 soon after his release. The Treasury Department designated Azhar and other individuals and entities tied to the LeT and JeM last November.

Project Identifies Pearl Conspirators

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told the truth when he boasted to interrogators that he killed Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002, a new investigation into the case finds. The Pearl Project, spearheaded by Pearl's colleague Asra Nomani, issued its report Thursday.

The 3½ year investigation concludes that 27 people were involved in Pearl's kidnapping and murder in Pakistan, where Pearl was investigating the shoe-bomber Richard Reid.

Of them, "14 remain free on the streets of Pakistan, one of them allegedly making suicide vests in Waziristan," Nomani writes in a summary on the Daily Beast website. Although four men were convicted in Pakistani courts for the murder, "in fact, justice was not served. Leads weren't followed. Suspects weren't interviewed. And alleged co-conspirators weren't prosecuted. The truth was left behind."

The report contains fascinating details from Mohammed's interrogations, including his reaction to the 9/11 attacks and indecision among his kidnappers and al-Qaida officials about what to do with Pearl once they kidnapped him. Mohammed told interrogators he decided to kill Pearl for propaganda and to ensure he'd face the death penalty if arrested by the U.S. Conveniently," he added, "Danny was Jewish."

The FBI confirmed Mohammed's claim by analyzing his veins and comparing them with the hand shown on video beheading Pearl. He was already dead, the investigation finds, but the murder wasn't videotaped, so it was restaged for cameras.

The investigation was conducted by Georgetown University faculty and students. It is modeled after the Arizona Project, in which journalists investigated the murder of a colleague as he investigated organized crime. Read the full report from the Center for Public Integrity here. For more on Nomani, click here.

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