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27/08/2008

Sensitive legal documents relating to a major drugs prosecution in Liverpool have been found on a tip in Lancashire.

The files, which were meant to be destroyed, relate to Operation Montrose, which saw 59 men jailed over drug dealing in 2005.

They include more than 100 "restricted" statements from officers and forensic experts and the personal details of witnesses and suspects.

HM Courts Service (HMCS) said it was investigating.

A spokesperson said: "We will investigate all allegations of breaches or incidents. "HMCS takes data security extremely seriously."

The files had been dumped at Farrington Moss recycling centre near Preston.

They were found by a member of the public who noticed the huge pile of files while he was recycling his newspapers.

The CPS said copies of its files were sent to lawyers and the courts.

Assistant Chief Constable Colin Matthews said he was calling for an urgent review of procedure.

"This is of particular concern due to the sensitive nature of some of the documents recovered," he said.

"During a court case, documents are supplied to the Crown Prosecution Service, the courts and defence and as such Merseyside Police has no control over how other parties dispose of their copies."

He said that inquiries were continuing as to how the files ended up on the tip but they were confident they were not put there by Merseyside police.

"I will be calling for an urgent review of the procedures for the distribution and disposal of court papers to ensure that the safety of witnesses is not the subject of potential compromise in the future," ACC Matthews said.

27/08/2008


A devout Shia Muslim has been convicted of child cruelty after forcing two boys to beat themselves during a religious ceremony, in an unprecedented case.

The jury at Manchester Crown Court found 44-year-old Syed Mustafa Zaidi guilty of two counts of child cruelty.

The boys, aged 13 and 15, were forced to beat themselves with a zanjeer whip, with five curved blades.

Zaidi, of Station Road, Eccles, Salford, also flogged himself during the ceremony in January.

The court heard the boys admit that they had wanted to beat themselves, but not under duress and not with the whip.

The Ashura ceremony takes place during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar and commemorates the death of Husayn, a central figure in the Shia faith.

Zaidi admitted he allowed them to use the bladed whip, but denied his actions were wrong, saying: "This is a part of our religion."

A local Muslim leader Safdar Zia has said the community was now working with police and the Crown Prosecution Service on a code of practice for the Ashura practice.

"We cannot eliminate this practice, but we can and will work to a code of practice so that the children don't get hurt, the law isn't broken, and the people who do want to take part don't get prosecuted," he said.

"We have to take into account people's beliefs and their rights, and we will respect them.

"But we are not above the law and we never will be and working with the authorities is the best chance we've got to prevent any harm being brought against any children."

The boys suffered cuts from the zanjeer five-bladed whip

During the trial the 14-year-old boy, who was 13 at the time, said that during the ceremony Zaidi told them both: "Start doing it, start doing it."

The child told the court: "We said 'we don't want to do it'."

He said he saw Zaidi flogging himself before washing blood from the whip and handing it to the 15-year-old boy.

The boy said Zaidi continued to pressure the older teenager to whip himself.

He said the 15-year-old boy "swung it once or twice and said 'I don't want to do it anymore'."

Zaidi told the court: "It was an emotional time and the children were happy, they asked for it. No one forced anyone.

"If I'd known this would be the result of breaking the law I would never have done it."

The boys both received multiple lacerations to their backs, mainly superficial, with several deeper cuts.

Supt Nadeem Butt, of Greater Manchester Police, said: Zaidi had "abused the vulnerability" of the children, gone against the wishes of his own community and broken the law.

Carol Jackson, of the Greater Manchester Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said the prosecution "was not an attack upon the practices or ceremonies of Shia Muslims".

"Indeed, the prosecution relied as part of its evidence upon the president of the local Shia community centre," Ms Jackson said.

"We are satisfied that, given the age of the children involved, the coercion employed by Syed Mustafa Zaidi, who did not accept that he was wrong, and the possibility of such an incident occurring again, the decision to prosecute by the Crown Prosecution Service was the correct one.

"This is a very unusual case and the first of its kind to be prosecuted by the CPS in England ."

Zaidi will be sentenced on 24 September.

27/08/2008


US and Russian warships took up positions in the Black Sea today in a risky war of nerves on opposing sides of the Georgia conflict.

With the Russians effectively controlling Georgia's main naval base of Poti, Moscow also dispatched the Moskva missile cruiser and two smaller craft on "peacekeeping" duties at the port of Sukhumi on the coast of Abkhazia, the breakaway region that the Kremlin recognised as independent yesterday.

The Americans, wary of escalating an already fraught situation, cancelled the scheduled docking in Poti of the US Coast Guard vessel, the Dallas, and instead sent it to the southern Georgian-controlled port of Batumi, 200km (124 miles) from the Russian ships, where it delivered humanitarian aid.

"Let's hope we don't see any direct confrontation," said Dmitri Peskov, the spokesman for the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, as the Russians challenged the US policy of using military aircraft and ships to deliver relief supplies.

"The decision to deliver aid using Nato battleships is something that hardly can be explained," said Peskov. "It's not a common practice."

He said Russian naval forces were taking "some measures of precaution" around the Black Sea as the worsening dispute caused by Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia independence brought strong criticism from the key European countries most reluctant to sever relations with Russia.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, spoke to President Dmitri Medvedev today, the first western leader to talk to the Kremlin since Medvedev announced the recognition of the two secessionist regions of Georgia. She made it plain she had voiced her strong disapproval to the Russian leader.

"I made clear above all that I would have expected that we would talk about these questions in [international] organisations before unilateral recognition happened," she said. "There are several UN Security Council resolutions in which the territorial integrity of Georgia was stressed, which Russia also worked on."

The French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said Russia had broken international law and, along with other senior European officials, worried that Russia's decision to redraw Georgia's borders would encourage Moscow to act similarly with other former parts of the Soviet Union such as Ukraine.

"We cannot accept these violations of international law ... of a territory by the army of a neighboring country," he said.

Germany and France, who opposed the US and Britain in April in blocking Georgian negotiations to join Nato, have been the most reluctant to punish Russia for the Georgian conflict of the past three weeks and are desperate to try to revive the Russia-Georgia peace plan mediated by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, a fortnight ago.

Paris and Berlin agree the unilateral recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia left the peace plan ineffectual. A summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Monday is to ponder Europe's options.

With mounting warnings of western economic or trade sanctions against Russia, an EU official admitted that threats to block Russian membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) were meaningless. The push for Russian admission being driven not by Moscow but by western business interests keen to tap the large Russian market, he said.

Peskov warned that trade sanctions against Moscow would hurt the west as much as Russia.

He admitted that South Ossetia, a mountainous region of 70,000 people, would struggle to establish itself as an independent state, but stressed that Russia's constitution made it possible for Russia to expand.

"My country will extend the arm of cooperation and friendship to ease the transition period [for South Ossetia]," he said.

EU officials complained that Moscow was seeking to control the distribution of international relief. EU aid officials were demanding entry to the Russian controlled regions, but were being barred unless they handed over the aid to the Russian authorities for distribution.

27/08/2008


Personal details of council tax payers have turned up on a computer sold on eBay - a day after data on a million bank customers was found in the same way.

Thousands of bank account numbers, sort codes, names and addresses were stored on the hard drive owned by a borough council.

Further personal details were found including conversations about householders' divorces and family bereavements. The computer was sold on eBay for just £6.99.

Officials at Charnwood Borough Council in Leicestershire promised to investigate the apparent data breach urgently.

Yesterday the bank details, maiden names and even signatures of more than a million bank customers had been found on a computer sold for £35 on eBay.

Computer experts said the two eBay sales were the 'tip of the iceberg' of the secondhand computer market. They warned that thousands of used computers were sold every year without data being properly deleted.

The latest discovery was made by a buyer who bought the hard drive to practise his technical skills.

He received it in the mail on August 15 and - using data recovery equipment easily obtainable on the internet - discovered 35,000 files. They included council tax bills, photographs of council staff and internal memos.

The 36-year-old, who asked not to be named, said he had tried to contact Charnwood's security officer but had no response.

'I can see from these documents who is having financial problems, and who is getting bailiffs sent round to their house,' he said.

' There is even information about a death on there. I was stunned to find 35,000 items - documents, photos, memos.

'There is a lot of stuff many people would find interesting, like bank account numbers and sort codes from payments made over the phone.

'These organisations should know better and know how to handle the disposal of people's personal information.'

Data on the hard drive dates from 2002 to this July.

In one telephone transcript, a council employee notes that a female taxpayer, whose name and address is given, receives just £70 a week from her job in a pub, is separated from her husband and has 'no goods worth chasing'.

One resident of Syston in Leicestershire, whose name, address and phone number were listed in a file on the hard drive, said she was horrified by the discovery.

The Information Commissioner's Office has pledged to investigate.

27/08/2008



Rebecca Adlington has received a heroine's welcome as she arrived back in her home town of Mansfield, England.

The 19-year-old double Olympic swimming champion appeared stunned as she was greeted by 15,000 spectators waving 'Well done Becky' flags as she enjoyed an open top bus tour.

The self-confessed shoe addict also looked thrilled as she was presented with a pair of £460 gold Jimmy Choo heels, appropriately made from water snake.

The huge turn-out was the equivalent of a quarter of Mansfield turning out to cheer the star.

Such is the excitement in the Nottinghamshire town that the municipal baths are to be renamed The Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre and the former Yates's pub, the Adlington Arms.

Rebecca, who won the 400m and 800m freestyle events in Beijing, breaking the Olympic record in the later competition, was then treated to a fireworks display before going on to a private party featuring her old school's band.

She is the most successful English swimmer of the past 100 years.

Her father Stephen, 50, said: 'What Rebecca has achieved really is mind-boggling. To me she's still my little girl - to everyone else she's a superstar.'

Rebecca said: 'It's just been so overwhelming. When I got home everyone was out.

'It's so nice to see everyone who has supported me, it's good to see all their efforts pay off as well.

'I knew a little bit about this, just what mum and dad had told me.

'I think London will be an amazing opportunity for kids to get involved in sport. Even if you just have fun with it, you don't have to be professional - just enjoy it.'

Rebecca became Mansfield's and England's greatest-ever sporting success when she clinched gold in both the 400m and 800m freestyle in Beijing.

Sherwood Swimming Baths where she trained will be renamed the Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre when it reopens in September next year after a £5million refurbishment.

A Yates's Wine Lodge in Mansfield has also talked of renaming itself the Adlington Arms, although the swimmer's advisers have been less keen to endorse the move.

In the 800m freestyle she finished seconds ahead of the rest of the field, breaking one of swimming's most illustrious world records in the process. Her time of 8:14.10 was 2.12s under Janet Evans' record time.

Rebecca's mother Kay, 48, father Stephen, 50, and two sisters Laura, 21, and 24-year-old Chloe, joined her on the open-top bus tour as it made its way through the Nottinghamshire town, England .

26/08/2008


America despatched a naval destroyer carrying humanitarian aid to the Georgian port of Poti today as Washington moved to challenge Russia's stranglehold on its Caucasian neighbour.

A US embassy spokesman in Tibilisi said that the USS McFaull had left the southern port of Batumi to unload cargo at Poti, a handling point for commercial cargoes that Russian troops have occupied for more than a week. Russia has reserved the right to inspect cargoes at the port, raising the prospect of its military challenging the US operation to transfer the supplies of water, food and nappies to Georgian soil.

The move puts US servicemen in close range of their Russian counterparts for the first time since the conflict began. Russian troops have dug-in around the town of Poti in positions that control key strategic roads and railheads. The Russian positions lie some 30 miles south of the disputed enclave of Abkhazia.

Without a ground troop presence in Georgia, America's naval presence in the Black Sea allows it some measure of leverage with Russia through a 21st century version of gunboat diplomacy. Russia has responded in kind, despatching the flagship of its Black Sea fleet, the Moskova to a testing area "to check its radio-controlled weapons and onboard communications systems" after just two days in port.

Moscow has defied Western pressure to withdraw its troops from inside Georgia despite ceasefire committments to de-escalate the conflict.

The Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flew to meet President Dmitry Medvedev in the Russian resort of Sochi for a summit expected to open the way for Moscow to recognise independence declarations by two separatist Georgian regions.

America condemned a Russian parliamentary resolution to recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent from Georgia as "unacceptable", while the Group of Seven expressed "alarm" and European governments urged Medvedev not to go along with it.

The daily business newspaper Vedomosti reported that the meeting would address parliament's call for recognition of the two rebel regions as well as the question of Russian troop numbers in Georgia.

In the lead-up to the parliament vote, Medvedev had signalled support for independence but experts have speculated that he may decide to refrain from any formal declaration recognising the two territories to avoid a collision with the West. ity

Former Soviet bloc republics continue to seek Western security guarantees in response to Russian aggressions in Georgia. Estonia today called on Nato to build a military facility in his country, which has a large Russia speaking population. Officials said the Baltic states would use a Nato meeting in London next month to demand a tougher Western approach.

"It is time to again think about whether NATO should build new infrastructure, including in Estonia," Foreign Minister Urmas Paet told the broadcaster in a separate interview yesterday. "Russia's actions in Georgia have changed the international reality."

26/08/2008


More than 3,200 laptops and mobile phones containing sensitive information have been lost or stolen from Government departments, it was revealed on Monday.

An astonishing 468 devices a year - more than one every day - have vanished since 2001.

The revelation cast grave doubts on Labour's claims that it can be trusted with confidential data as it seeks to introduce ID cards.

Critics said it proves ministers behave 'recklessly' with the public's personal details, and called for a massive shake-up in the way electronic data is protected.

Experts warned that terrorists plotting a catastrophic attack, as well as fraudsters and blackmailers, could wreak havoc by using details stored on the computers to steal identities.

The statistics were released in a series of written Parliamentary answers to MPs increasingly worried about the handling of data by Whitehall officials following a series of high-profile bungles.

Only last week, a computer memory stick containing the personal details of 127,000 prisoners and high-risk offenders, including rapists and murderers, was lost by an employee of a private contractor working for the Home Office. Last November, two computer discs holding information - including bank details and National Insurance numbers - of 25million child benefit claimants got lost in the post.

The new figures reveal that at least 3,278 items have vanished from Labour Government departments, including 2,168 laptops, 947 mobile phones and 163 'personal digital assistant' (PDA) palmtop computers, such as Blackberrys.

The worst offender was the Ministry of Defence - which lost 994 laptops, eight mobile phones and 12 PDAs. Defence chiefs refused to say what was on the devices, but confirmed that some of the information was classified as 'secret' or 'restricted'.

The Department for Work and Pensions, responsible for overseeing benefits, had 271 laptops, 128 mobile phones and 20 PDAs vanish.

The other main culprits included the Ministry of Justice, from which 169 laptops, 172 mobile phones and one PDA disappeared, and the Department of Health, which reported that 315 devices had gone missing.

Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather, who uncovered the statistics, said: 'The Labour government has a disgraceful history of recklessness with personal data, showing a complete disrespect for our privacy.

'Many Whitehall departments hold huge amounts of sensitive information on individuals, and they have a responsibility to keep it safe. If these missing laptops contained private or personal details, then the Government urgently needs to own up.

'Year after year, the taxpayer is footing the bill for this Government's shocking carelessness.

'It is time we had a complete rethink on the way electronic data is protected.

'How can they expect us to trust them to keep our personal information safe in their unnecessary and expensive ID card scheme?'

Simon Davies, director of the human rights group Privacy International, said criminals would need only three pieces of information about a person to launch a 'massive attack' on their identity.

He added: 'This demonstrates the woeful state of Labour Government security.

'The implications of these laptops and mobile phones going missing is absolutely enormous.

'Labour Ministers are playing Russian roulette with people's lives because they are refusing to take measures to improve the safety of information kept by Whitehall departments.

'If a criminal gets hold of some of this information, the sky is the limit for them.

'They will steal identities and destroy lives. We are overdue a cataclysmic criminal attack on identity and ministers are not heeding the warnings.'

Following the recent data scandals, Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell launched a sweeping review of procedures within departments and agencies for the storage and the use of data.

In January, he issued a blanket ban on Whitehall staff taking unencrypted laptops containing personal details from their offices.

26/08/2008


Highly sensitive information on American Express, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland customers was stored on the machine's hard drive.

It includes names, addresses, mobile phone numbers, bank account numbers, sort codes, credit card numbers, mothers' maiden names and even signatures.

'A thief's treasure chest': Andrew Chapman with the hard disk drive he bought on eBay containing the private bank details of more than a million people

It was described as 'a data thief's treasure chest', with everything a criminal needs to assume a customer's identity - and clear out their bank account.

The massive data loss - one of the worst ever in England - is a clear breach of the banks' obligation under the Data Protection Act to keep all personal information secure.

Coming just days after the Home Office admitted losing the details of 127,000 criminals, it is certain to fuel public concern about how the Labour run Government and businesses look after our secrets.

Last night it was revealed that a second computer from the same site has gone missing, meaning yet more information could have been leaked.

IT security expert Adam Laurie said: 'This is appalling. This information is worth millions - a thief could easily use it to go on an enormous shopping spree.'

Liberal Democrat spokesman Tom Brake said: 'This is yet another example of a seemingly trusted organisation appearing to be sloppy with people's personal information.

'This kind of data is invaluable and needs to be treated as such. People are entitled to wonder why they are constantly being told about the importance of protecting personal information when large organisations don't seem to follow the same rules themselves.'

Both American Express and NatWest/RBS claimed they need to establish how many customers are affected before deciding how to act.

'But it is likely that everyone whose details have been exposed will be forced to change their credit cards and bank accounts.
tom brake

Liberal Democrat spokesman Tom Brake described the data loss as sloppy

'The companies involved could also be fined.

Last year the Financial Services Authority fined Nationwide £980,000 after it lost a laptop containing customer information.

'The banking information was being held by the archiving firm Graphic Data, which copies paperwork from some of England,s biggest financial organisations, then stores it digitally.

It was on a computer previously used at the company's archive in Shoeburyness, Essex.

A former employee sold it on eBay for just £35.88 earlier this month. Crucially, he did so without first erasing the internal hard drive.

It was only when buyer Andrew Chapman started looking at the hard disk that its astonishing contents came to light.

Mr Chapman, a 56-year-old IT manager from Oxford, said: 'I couldn't believe it. In front of me was reams of extremely confidential information about thousands and thousands of people.'

Some of the data first belonged to NatWest and includes thousands of applications for credit cards.

They have the applicant's name, address, date of birth, email address, bank account number, sort code, mothers' maiden name, card number and signature.

There are also 1,314 credit card balance transfer requests received by American Express.

Each contains the customer's name, address and signature and the numbers of the cards. Information from RBS included yet more card applications and credit checks.

The Information Commissioner's Office said it would investigate urgently.

Graphic Data said: 'Certain pieces of IT equipment have been removed from a secure area. We are seeking to recover this equipment, which apparently contained customer data.

'We take customer privacy and data security very seriously.'

A spokesman for NatWest/RBS said: 'RBS and NatWest take data protection extremely seriously and have very strict procedures to ensure the security of information at all times.

'Any breach of these procedures is totally unacceptable and is investigated as a matter of urgency.'

American Express said it was 'looking into it'.

The scandal is the latest in a series of high-profile data security breaches.

Just last week the Home Office admitted one of its contractors had lost a computer memory stick holding the details of 127,000 criminals.

The blunders have increased public distrust of the authorities' ability to keep their personal information secret - and increased opposition to the proposed national identity card scheme.

As someone with a limit of more than £20,000 on his credit card, Christopher Tomlins was shocked to learn that NatWest has lost the information that could give anyone access to his account.

When told about the breach by the Daily Mail, Mr Tomlins, 32, said: 'It is like they have given my house keys to a stranger and then said, "Help yourself".'

Mr Tomlins's personal information is revealed in a photograph of an application for a NatWest 'black' credit card he made on April 14, 2005.

The completed application form contains his name, address, date of birth, mobile phone number and home phone number.

It also reveals his mother's maiden name, signature, annual income, bank account number, bank sort code and the 16-digit number of the credit card he was granted.

Yesterday Mr Tomlins, who runs his own lighting company in Ealing, West London, said: 'I am amazed that NatWest have let this information get out. If the company looking after the information was getting rid of the computer, they should have destroyed the hard drive.'

Mr Tomlins's details were contained on one of 227 photographs of separate credit card application forms found on just one of 32 computer files containing NatWest card information.

26/08/2008


THE News of the World has smashed an evil gang working inside MOSQUES to sell fake passports to potential terrorists.

The cocky crooks were convinced they were untouchable, knowing police raids could inflame racial tension.

But after our three-month undercover investigation the gangsters haven’t a prayer. Acting on our damning evidence, cops this week shut the scam down.

Earlier we watched a Bangladeshi Mr Big’s team of fixers tout for business, offering genuine Bulgarian passports doctored with fake IDs for £2,500 a time among devout worshippers the East London Mosque in Whitechapel.

Across the city at the Central Mosque in Regent’s Park another crew of henchman was peddling the same service.

When we met the gang boss face to face, posing as zealots on the run from the police, he was unfazed and bragged he had helped more than 50 illegals into the UK, adding:

“These are genuine documents. Nobody can challenge you. Just give me your photographs and choose a name, in four weeks you’ll have a new identity.

“Because Bulgaria’s in the European community you have full rights in this country. You can live here legally, take advantage of the free NHS, everything. And no one can stop you travelling.”

We launched our covert operation when a whistleblower from the East London mosque contacted us. Mr Big had tried to recruit the man to his dodgy sales team.

Beneath the mosque’s landmark gold dome and minarets our bearded source told us quietly: “The boss offered me £100 commission for every customer.

“He said it’s easy to find buyers—especially on Fridays at the main Jumma prayers when the mosque is packed.He then handed me a passport and asked me to deliver to a Bangladeshi who’s here illegally.

“I was so furious I came straight to the News of the World. Not only is it against our religion to commit fraud, these documents could be used by extremists.”

The passport he had was issued in the Bulgarian capital Sofia and numbered 33849711.

The photo and signature were covered with tamper- proof plastic embedded with official logos and holograms.

We tracked down Mr Big through one of his touts. By phone our investigator spun him the yarn that he was an Islamic extremist seeking travel documents for a cell of Muslim radicals trying to evade capture by the law.

The 29-year-old boss was still happy to do business and said: “I can help. We can make as many passports as you want.”

He arranged to meet us at the Nagina cafe just minutes from his home in Ilford, on the London/Essex border. He arrived in a flash BMW with personal number plate and listened calmly as our man again claimed to be a wanted terrorist.

Unconcerned, Mr Big tucked into kebabs and samosas as he told us: “These are 100 per cent genuine passports. I know a Bulgarian who has a connection in the Home Office over there. That’s how I get them. I charge £2,500 but as you will want more I can do them for £2,000 a piece.”

At a second meeting the crook eagerly took our order, carefully counted our £600 deposit, shoved it in his pocket and cynically murmured: “Allah will help us.” As he swaggered off he vowed: “Just wait for my call. Everything will be sorted.”

And it was. After our tip-off police raided Mr Big’s home at dawn on Wednesday and arrested him. In another swoop on a flat in Benfleet, Essex, a second man was detained.

Cops found images of underage children on a computer, along with binoculars on a window sill overlooking a junior school.

A man appeared before magistrates on Wednesday, charged with with making false identity documents. He was remanded in custody to await trial. Another man, arrested on suspicion of child porn offences, was released on police bail.

26/08/2008

YouTube allows terrorist sympathizer to spread terrorist propaganda. That propaganda incites Muslims to become terrorists and kill Americans & other coalition forces.

No, most Muslims who view this propaganda won't become terrorists. That's not how propaganda works.

But many will cheer. Some will become sympathetic. Some of those will become angry or, even worse, inspired. Some of these will donate funds to "resistance movements". Others will join the "Islamic resistance" in Somalia, Chechnya, Kashmir, Afghanistan, or Iraq. If they can get there.

And some will stay home and kill. Or try to.

The worst part? YouTube knows that al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations use their platform and do nothing (or not nearly enough) about it.

Sure, Islamic extremists have long used the internet. Before there was a YouTube, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's underground army of internet helpers, led by Britains Younis Tsouli, thought they had perfected the art of preparing and disseminating propaganda meant to show that the jihadis were winning and terrify Muslims into non-cooperation with the US.

Looking back, they were amateurs. Because compared to the global reach of YouTube, their distribution systems were clumsy and limited.

If you were already a jihad sympathizer you could always find al Qaeda's propaganda. But it was work. Now? YouTube is your one stop-shopping experience where all the latest videos showing Americans getting killed are just one click away.

What WalMart is to retail, YouTube is becomiing for the jihad community.

The most hardcore jihadis continue to hangout at forums like Ekhlaas and al-Firdaws where links to videos are swapped (many of these videos hosted at archive.org, which like YouTube is also owned by Google). But YouTube reaches a much wider audience and is much more easily accessed than the password protected forums where one is only admitted after having been "vouched" for.

What's the difference?

According to Alexa, the percent of global internet users who visited Ekhlaas, al Qaeda's official propaganda outlet, over the past three months is 0.00016%.

Al-Firdaws, which has what many consider the most "authentic" of all the English language terrorist forums, boasts 0.00029% of internet users.

YouTube? 18.5% of all internet users regularly visit YouTube.

While al Qaeda's official outlets reach only tens of thousands of people a day, by distributing their propaganda through YouTube they have a potential audience in the tens of millions.

So, if you've had loved ones killed or wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan over the past three years you may just want to thank YouTube for giving terrorists the tools they need to raise funds and recruit new blood.

How bad is it over at YouTube? Very.

For instance, meet user "abdullhasif" from "Iraq". Apparently "abdullhasif's" occupation is "jehad" and he works for "Al Qaeeda".

In addition to posting several official al Qaeda as-Sahab productions, he also likes to post videos of American soldiers being shot in Iraq.

Now meet "elekhlaas" from Iraq. He says (in Arabic) that his channel's mission is to "transfer the facts and true picture of the raging fight being waged between the young heroes of Islam". He features Osama bin Laden's Message to the peoples of the West on the 60th Anniversary of Israel.

Here is "fas556". His website is " http://www.al-ekhlaas.net" which happens to be the closest thing al Qaeda has to an official forum. It is the place where al-Fajr releases all of al Qaed'a productions (either through their as Sahab or al Furqan brands). The same Ekhlaas forum I mention above.

Fas556 is 25 and lives on the Arabian Peninsula. His avatar, the symbol he has picked to represent himself online, is the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq--al Qaeda's front group in Iraq. He doesn't have many videos, just two. One a tribute to Osama bin Laden. The other one lamenting the tragedy of the Crusader occupation of Muslim lands and encouraging Muslim youths to become mujahideen.

How many others at YouTube have some relationship with Ekhlaas? Hundreds if not thousands.

Some examples:

User: thair123
Homepage: http://www.ek-ls.info/forum/ (alternate Ekhlaas URL)
Avatar: Army of al-Mustafa (al Qaeda ally in Iraq)
Videos: Islamic State of Iraq (al Qaeda), Ansar al-Islam (designated terror group), Army of al-Mustafa
Major theme: Killing Americans

User: islamicstate
Homepage: http://ek-ls.org/forum (alternate Ekhlaas URL)
Avatar: Islamic State of Iraq (al Qaeda)
Videos: (favorites only) al Qaeda in Iraq.
Themes: al Furqan al Qaeda in Iraq support videos (Americans killed, mujahideen martyrs, IEDs, etc)

User: AlqaedaBase (group)
Homepage: Ekhlaas
Avatar: Tawhid wal Jihad (old al Qaeda in Iraq under Zarqawi)
Videos: al Qaeda interviews and al Qaeda martyrs
Themes: General al Qaeda support

User: fatehalislam33
Homepage: Ekhlaas (see "more info" on all videos)
Avatar: Fatah al-Islam (al Qaeda in Lebanon)
Videos: Fatah al-Islam
Themes: Salafi Sunni jihad in Lebanon

User: HerosDocument
Homepage: Ekhlaas (see "more info" on all videos)
Avatar: Ayman al-Zawahiri
Videos: al Qaeda as Sahab productions
Themes: General al Qaeda support

User: CPOJdrbj (Confidential Path of Jihad)
Homepage: http://verity4all.c.la/ (French jihadi site, links Ekhlaas)
Avatar: Confidential Path of Jihad
Videos: Original productions in support of Ekhlaas, al Qaeda in Iraq, al Qaeda
Themes: Lauding martyrs of al Qaeda & urging others to follow their example

Those are only some examples of users who directly link to the Ekhlaas forum. Thousands of others openly support violent jihad and show videos of attacks on Americans and other coalition troops in that context.

But of all the thousands--and I mean literally thousands--of jihad propaganda videos on YouTube, you know which one pisses me off the most? Al Qaeda in Iraq video showing the desecrated body of Major Troy Gilbert.

Troy and his wife Ginger have five children together.

The user lists the disgusting video as comedy.

via : Jawa report.

26/08/2008


The FBI is investigating a possible assassination plot against the Democratic candidate Barack Obama which was reportedly thwarted by the local police.

The attempt was supposedly timed to occur during Mr Obama's acceptance speech before an audience of some 70,000 at Invesco Field on Thursday night. Law enforcement officers told a local television station that one of the suspects "was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He responded in the affirmative."

Police stopped a swerving vehicle early on Sunday morning and inside reportedly discovered drugs, ammunition, a bulletproof vest, two rifles, walkie-talkies and a rifle scope. Three men were subsequently arrested.

The authorities said there were "federal implications" in their actions but they were reluctant to confirm that an assassination plot had been halted in its tracks.

Those arrested were Tharin Gartrell, the 28-year-old driver; 32-year-old Nathan Johnson who was arrested in a hotel some three hours later; and Shawn Adolph, a 33-year-old who was hospitalised after jumping out a hotel window as the police sought him. “We're absolutely confident there is no credible threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention, or the people of Colorado,” said Troy Eid, the US chief prosecutor for Colorado.

The FBI is also investigating threats made against Barack Obama, officials said.

"It's premature to say that it was a valid threat or that these folks have the ability to carry it out," said a US government official.

25/08/2008

GORDON Brown flies back to his ( So Called ) Britain today into a storm over his plummeting popularity.

Polls show that any hopes he had of benefiting from a Beijing bounce by his association with the country’s Olympics success were unfounded.

A YouGov survey gave the Tories a 22-point lead, with 48 per cent to Labour’s 26. A separate ComRes poll showed Labour on 25, 21 points behind the Tories on 46.

Nearly a fifth of people who generally thought of themselves as Labour expected to back the Conservatives or Lib Dems at the next election.

In Beijing, Mr Brown had to endure the spectacle of Tory London Mayor Boris Johnson accepting the Olympic flag in a high-profile handover to mark the capital’s role as host of the 2012 Games. Pressed about his own hopes of still being PM in 2012, Mr Brown said it was for the public to decide.

The pressure appeared to show during interviews. He was said to have snapped in response to questions about his prospects that the journalist was “very fortunate’’ to have been granted any of his time and he was not going to do an “all-round interview about everything in politics.’’ He insisted he was “totally focused’’ on getting the country through its difficulties.

There was new speculation yesterday about Mr Brown’s plans for a reshuffle. While some Labour ministers are expecting a call next week, there are suggestions he will keep them guessing until after the Labour conference in the last week of September.

25/08/2008


When Parliamentarians routed the main Royalist army at Naseby in 1645, King Charles I's days were numbered.

Today, the site where 27,000 men took up arms for the most important battle of the English Civil War remains one of the England's best preserved battlefields, in recognition of its place in history.

But it was not English enough to recreate battle scenes between Cavaliers and Roundheads for a £7 million Channel Four bodice-ripping drama, despite its excellent credentials.

Instead, the producers of The Devil's Whore chose countryside 6,000 miles away near Cape Town in South Africa, claiming it looked more like the 17th-century site than latter-day Northamptonshire, English does.

Furious historians today claimed an opportunity for strict authenticity had been sacrificed to keep costs down.

James Kemp, of the English Civil War Society, said: 'It just seems bizarre. You could not get any more authentic than the actual English battlefield site itself.

'The main site is in good condition and set perfectly in rolling English countryside. South Africa certainly doesn't spring to mind when you think of alternative locations.

'There may be issues with cost and the odd telegraph pole in the background but surely with the technology they have and a bit of camera work this wouldn't be a problem?

'It's a real shame as it undermines the hard work that is done by volunteers who help recreate English history here for English people. It makes you wonder what they will do next.'

Northamptonshire county councillor Ursula Jones, an amateur historian, said: 'It's a shame they couldn't use the historic site because it's been so well preserved.'

The 15,000-strong New Model Army, led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, took three hours to overwhelm the 12,000 Royalists assembled in Naseby on the morning of June 14, 1645.

Just 400 Cavaliers were killed or injured compared to 1,000 Roundheads who were slain. A further 5,000 of those loyal to the king were captured.

Royalist forces never fully recovered from the defeat and in 1649 Charles I was executed.

The interregnum ended in 1661 when a coronation was held for Charles II after his return from exile.

But this was only allowed to happen with the consent of Parliament - setting England on course to adopt a parliamentary monarchy form of English government.

The Devil's Whore, a four-part epic co-funded by American network HBO which is to be screened this autumn, is set between 1642 and 1660.

It shows events through the eyes of a fictional 17-year-old, Angelica Fanshawe, who is born into an English Royalist family but becomes friendly with leading Parliamentarians including Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Rainsborough.

Liza Marshall, controller of drama for Channel Four, defended the decision to film in South Africa, saying it looked more like 17th century England than Naseby does today.

'It's much more affordable to film there and we found a region where the countryside just looks similar to England, with oak trees and other familiar locations,' she said.

Film and drama producers have been turning increasingly to unlikely sites for shoots in recent years because of tax breaks and cheap labour.

Prague was used to recreate 19th century London in From Hell, a film about Jack the Ripper starring Johnny Depp.

25/08/2008

Coalition forces captured two suspected senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders in Baghdad during recent operations, dealing AQI a hefty blow by removing experienced terrorists from the top of the extremist network.

Salim ‘Abdallah Ashur al-Shujayri, also known as Abu Uthman, was captured during an operation Aug. 11. He is reportedly the AQI emir of the Rusafa district of Baghdad. Ali Rash Nasir Jiyad al-Shammari, also known as Abu Tiba, was captured Aug. 17. Both men are assessed to be longtime members of AQI.

Abu Tiba is assessed to be the AQI senior advisor in Baghdad, providing guidance and targeting assistance to subordinates throughout the city, including Abu Uthman. Abu Tiba is suspected of terrorist activity since 2005. He was previously reported to be the AQI emir of the Karkh district of Baghdad and managed the AQI presence in the capital during its most active operational period in early 2007. He reportedly oversaw financial and attack operations for up to 15 attack cells, providing them with money, weapons and explosives. He is alleged to have personally approved targets for car and suicide bombings targeting Iraqi civilians, intended to incite sectarian violence.

In Baghdad’s Rusafa district, Abu Uthman is suspected of overseeing car-bombings and suicide attacks by his network, which targeted Iraqi civilians and attempted to incite sectarian violence. Reporting also indicates he associates with AQI senior leaders, including AQI leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.

Abu Uthman was initially a leader in another extremist group where he handled the group’s finances and oversaw a group of 100 subordinates. He is alleged to have participated in both battles in Fallujah in April and November 2004, when other terrorists began calling him “Abu Nimr,” meaning “The Tiger.”

He is believed to be the planner behind the kidnapping of American journalist Jill Carroll. His associates have allegedly been involved in several other kidnappings, including a group of Christian peacemakers and Margaret Hassan.

Although the capability of AQI’s bombing network in Baghdad is degraded, it is still able to conduct sporadic attacks, targeting Iraqi civilians. In 2007, AQI conducted almost 300 bombings, killing more than 1,500 civilians and injuring more than twice that many. In the first half of 2008, 28 attacks killed 125 Iraqi civilians.

“The capture of Abu Tiba and Abu Uthman eliminates two of the few remaining experienced leaders in the AQI network,” said Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, MNF-I spokesman. “Iraqi and Coalition forces have made great strides in improving security in Iraq, especially in Baghdad.”

25/ 08/2008

A WOMAN has been raped by a bogus ASIAN taxi driver. The victim was walking along the A6 in Hazel Grove, Gtr Manchester when a van pulled up alongside her.

She got in and asked the driver to take her home but he drove a short distance then pulled over and attacked her.

The woman was let out of the van near Carpet Right.

The driver was Asian, in his late 20s or early 30s, and had short hair, gelled back.

He was wearing jeans and a grey or blue hooded top.

The vehicle was a white van, with luminous yellow and orange stripes on the side.

Police are appealing to anyone with information about the incident to contact them on 0161 872 5050, or via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

They are also stressing that anyone on a night out should think in advance about how they are going to get home, and to stay in groups wherever possible.

They point out that the only taxis that are licensed to pick up on the streets are black cabs.