National News

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Al-Qaeda Likely to Attack U.S., Says New Report (Yahoo! News) “Al-Qaida is using its growing strength in Pakistan and Iraq to plot attacks on U.S. soil, heightening the terror threat facing the United States over the next few years, intelligence agencies concluded in a report unveiled Tuesday,” reports the Associated Press. “… In the National Intelligence Estimate prepared for President Bush and other top policymakers, analysts laid out a range of dangers--from al-Qaida to Lebanese Hezbollah to non-Muslim radical groups--that pose a ‘persistent and evolving threat’ to the country over the next three years.” [View article] [View report]

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International News

Japanese Nuclear Plant Leaks Radiation After Quake (London Guardian) “Radioactive material leaked undetected for days at [a Japanese] earthquake-battered nuclear power plant even as the utility was assuring the public that the damage posed no danger to those outside the site, company executives admitted Thursday,” according to the Associated Press. “The revelation cast more doubt on the plant’s emergency measures and the response by Japan’s largest power company … Tokyo Electric Power Co. confirmed reports that radioactive material was leaking as late as Wednesday night, nearly three days after the plant suffered a near-direct hit from a [6.8-magnitude] quake that killed 10 people and injured more than 1,000 in Kashiwazaki on Japan’s northern coast. It was government inspectors who found radioactive iodine venting from an exhaust pipe at the plant’s No. 7 nuclear reactor … An exhaust fan inside the building may not have been turned off as instructed in the operations manual.” The iodine “revelation reinforced concerns about the plant’s safety, coming a day after Tokyo Electric issued a list of previously unreported damage from the quake--including a fire, burst pipes and waste spillage.” Plant officials said that they “hadn’t known about the nearby offshore fault line in which the quake occurred.… People in the Kashiwazaki region struggled to put their lives back together but basic services such as water had not been restored to some areas.” [View article]

Libya Lifts Death Sentences on Medics in HIV Case (Reuters AlertNet) “Libya lifted death sentences on Tuesday against five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor convicted of deliberately infecting children with HIV, paving the way for them to be freed after eight years in jail,” reports Reuters. (See last week’s newsletter.) [View article]

Albania Is First Country to Destroy All Its Chemical Weapons On July 11, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed the destruction of the entire chemical weapons stockpile in Albania. The 182 countries that are party to the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention are obligated to destroy these weapons. Over 33% have been destroyed under international monitoring. All chemical weapons stockpiles are to be destroyed by 2012. [View press release]

Top Leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq Captured (Time) “Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also known as Abu Shahid”--“the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaeda in Iraq”--“was captured in Mosul on July 4,” reports the Associated Press. “… al-Mashhadani served as an intermediary between al-Masri and Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.” [View article]

Seven Sunni Iraqi Resistance Groups Form Coalition (Melbourne, Australia, Age) “Seven important Sunni-led insurgent groups fighting the US occupation in Iraq have agreed to form a public political alliance to prepare for negotiations in advance of a US withdrawal,” reports the Age. “… leaders of three of the insurgent groups--responsible for thousands of attacks against US and Iraqi armed forces and police--said they would continue their armed resistance until all foreign troops were withdrawn from Iraq. They also denounced al-Qaeda for sectarian killings and suicide bombings against civilians.” [View article]

Britain Releases Two Held in Bomb Plot (Washington Post) “Two men arrested in connection with the bungled car-bomb plots in London and Glasgow, Scotland [see the July 6 newsletter], were released Sunday without charge,” reports the Washington Post. “… The men, ages 25 and 28, have not been named, but British media reports say they were trainee doctors at the [Royal Alexandra] hospital, which is where one of the primary suspects, Bilal Abdulla, reportedly worked.… Eight people were originally detained in the case. Three have been charged, including Abdulla, 27, a British-born Iraqi doctor. The driver of the Jeep is being detained in a Glasgow hospital, and another man remains in custody in London but has not been charged. Three have been released.” [View article]

Australian Doctor Accused of Supporting Car Bombers in Britain (Australian) “Dr Mohamed Haneef” was released on bail “pending his trial for ‘recklessly’ supporting a terrorism organisation,” reports the Australian. “… The case against Haneef centres around a mobile phone SIM card, registered in the doctor’s name, but allegedly found in the possession of terror suspect Kafeel Ahmed when he drove a flaming jeep in Glasgow Airport on June 30. Haneef has admitted giving the SIM card to Ahmed’s brother Sabeel, who was the second person charged in the UK in relation the failed plot, when Haneef left for Australia last year.” [View article]

Toxic Cloud Follows Ukraine Derailment (London Guardian) “A train carrying yellow phosphorus derailed in western Ukraine, releasing a cloud of toxic gas into the air over 14 villages” on Tuesday, reports the Associated Press. “Twenty people were hospitalized and hundreds evacuated … Rescuers extinguished a fire that broke out in the highly toxic substance … The poison cloud produced by the fire contaminated 35 square miles.” [View article] [View Focus on Hazmats]

Large Cache of Explosives, Arms Seized in India (Times of India) “Security forces unearthed a huge arms haul, including 60 kg of explosives, nine assault rifles and 11 Chinese pistols, at a house in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday,” reports the Times of India. [View article]

Australia Says Al-Qaeda ‘Disrupted and Degraded’ (Yahoo! News) “Australia’s foreign minister said Sunday that Al-Qaeda had been ‘disrupted and degraded’, disputing claims that the network had gained strength despite nearly six years of the so-called ‘war on terror,’” reports Agence France-Presse. “Alexander Downer [responded] to reports in the United States that a new intelligence assessment [see last week’s newsletter] would show that Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda had rebuilt itself after being heavily targeted in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.… ‘But it’s also true to say that Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda-related and linked organisations still remain a very serious threat.’” [View article]

British Police Get Live Access to Vehicle-Tracking Cameras (BBC) British “police are to be given live access to London’s congestion charge cameras--allowing them to track all vehicles entering and leaving the zone” of restricted traffic in the heart of the city, reports the British Broadcasting Corporation. “Anti-terror officers will be exempted from parts of the Data Protection Act to allow them to see the date, time and location of vehicles in real time. They previously had to apply for access on a case-by-case basis.” [View article]

FARC Member Found Guilty of Hostage-Taking Last week, Juvenal Ovidio Ricardo Palmera Pineda, also known as Simon Trinidad, a senior member of the designated foreign terrorist organization Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC, was found guilty by a federal jury in the District of Columbia of conspiracy to engage in the hostage-taking of three American citizens in the Republic of Colombia. On February 13, 2003, five Americans conducting aerial counter-drug surveillance in rural Colombia crash-landed. FARC guerrillas executed two of them; the other three men (Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Thomas Howes) have been held hostage by FARC ever since. [View press release]

Briton With Rocket Plans Convicted of Terrorism (London Telegraph) Yassin Nassari, a British Muslim, “was jailed for three and a half years [Wednesday] for trying to smuggle into Britain blueprints showing how to build a missile,” reports the London Telegraph. “… Police found jihadi material on a laptop and removable hard drive including blueprints for an Al Qassam 1.5 rocket used by the Palestinian terrorism group Hamas. The files showed detailed measurements and information about the missile and how to make the propellant and explosive charge.” A “Qassam rocket is cylindrical and contains a small warhead on its tip,” according to GlobalSecurity.org. “The rocket contains four small stabilizing wings on one end, a middle section containing the engine, and an attached warhead with a detonating fuse on the other end. The rocket is constructed from iron approximately 2.5-3mm thick.” [View Telegraph article] [View GlobalSecurity.org article]

Russia Halts Antiterror Cooperation With Britain (Voice of America) “Russia has escalated its diplomatic dispute with Britain, expelling four British diplomats and also suspending bilateral cooperation in the struggle against terrorism” in reaction to Britain’s “expulsion Monday of four Russian diplomats,” reports Voice of America. “… British-Russian ties have deteriorated since the Kremlin refused to extradite Alexander Lugovoi, a former KGB intelligence officer accused of murdering Kremlin-critic Alexander Litvinenko last year in London. Litvinenko was also an ex-KGB officer.” [View article]

Al-Qaeda Ramps Up Its Propaganda (Christian Science Monitor; USA Today) Al-Qaeda’s “propaganda campaign has improved in both production quality and volume over the past year,” reports the Christian Science Monitor. “Al Qaeda propaganda outlets have been working at a high rate over the past year … the Al Qaeda media wing, known as As Sahab … has released at least 63 audio and video messages so far this year, compared with 58 in 2006, according to the Associated Press.” Ayman al-Zawahiri has used As Sahab for “at least 10 messages since January.” The propaganda has included “Al-Baghdadi”--“actually a fictional character dreamed up by al-Qaeda in Iraq to bolster its local credibility because the group is largely run by non-Iraqis,” reports USA Today. “The voice heard in the recordings belonged to an Iraqi actor.” [View Monitor article] [View USA Today article]

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United Nations News

UN Says North Korea Has Shut Down Its Reactor (Washington Post) “United Nations inspectors have verified that North Korea has shut down its sole functioning nuclear reactor … confirming [that] the isolated country had taken its first step in nearly five years to halt production of atomic weapons,” reports the Associated Press. “South Korea sent more oil to the North on Monday to reward its compliance with an international disarmament agreement.” [View article]

UN Cites $2.5 Billion Global Shortfall in Aid Six months after the launch of an appeal to meet the most urgent needs of 27 million people in nearly 30 countries, the world body and its partners still require $2.5 billion to respond to the world’s most severe crises. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that $1.8 billion has been mobilized through the 2007 Humanitarian Appeal, but that the amount is only 43% of the funding requirements. [View press release]

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DHS News

New York and Washington Get Top Urban Homeland Security Grants (Washington Post) “The Department of Homeland Security increased counterterrorism funding for Washington and New York City [Wednesday] but warned that doling out more federal cash to the nation’s largest urban areas would require the virtual elimination of aid to mid-size cities,” reports the Washington Post. “… This year, a simplified calculation focused on population size, economic importance, and the presence of security facilities and ‘nationally significant critical infrastructure’ such as bridges, dams and power plants, [Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff] said. Seven high-risk cities received a total of $410 million, or 55 percent of the money set aside for an Urban Area Security Initiative, while 39 other cities shared the remaining $337 million.” [View article] [View grant list]

New HSI Report Abstracts Abstracts of three more Homeland Security Institute reports are now available on the institute’s website: Radicalization, December 2006 Community Policing Within Muslim Communities, December 2006 Integration of Maritime Security Plans, December 2006

DHS Stakeholders Conference Briefings Presentations from the Homeland Security Department’s May 2007 Stakeholders Conference are now available on the institute’s website.

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Other Federal News

Federal Commission Will Study Import Safety (USA Today) “President Bush has given a new Cabinet-level committee a very short timeline--just 60 days--to develop plans to guarantee the safety of [imported] food and products …” reports USA Today. “The Interagency Working Group on Import Safety was established and met for the first time Wednesday.” [View article] [View executive order]

$968 Million in Grants Offered for Interoperable Communications The Commerce and Homeland Security departments are offering $968 million in Public Safety Interoperable Communications grants to help state and local first responders improve public safety communications and coordination during disasters. The program will assist public safety agencies to enhance interoperable communications of voice, data, and/or video signals. Applications are due by August 17, and grants will be awarded by September 30. [View press release]

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State and Local News

Suspicious Package Reports Swamp Major Cities (MSNBC) “Building evacuations, street closings and bomb-squad appearances are almost routine in big cities like Washington and New York, where police departments are stretching their resources to deal with suspicious item reports,” according to the Associated Press. But “police say they are careful not to discourage the public from reporting suspicious packages.… In New York, records indicate there has been a sharp jump in the number of suspicious package reports, with 814 in 2002 … to 37,614 last year.” While “authorities in Boston don’t keep track of how many suspicious package calls they receive … police say the number has tripled since Sept. 11.” Costs can be high because “bomb technicians are typically brought in to analyze suspicious packages. If concerns linger, the response can involve X-ray machines to examine the device and robots to destroy it. The process can drag on for hours.” [View article]

Sick 9/11 Workers Sue Billion-Dollar Insurance Fund (Yahoo! News) “Ailing ground zero workers went to court Tuesday to demand that the company overseeing a $1 billion Sept. 11 insurance fund spend the money to pay for their health care,” reports the Associated Press. “The workers have already filed a class action lawsuit claiming [that] the toxic dust from the World Trade Center site gave them serious, sometimes fatal diseases. On Tuesday, they sought compensation from the WTC Captive Insurance Co., the company in charge of money appropriated by Congress to deal with Sept. 11 health-related claims.… It was filed by attorneys representing thousands who became ill after working to clean up the site while breathing toxic trade center dust, including more than 100 who have died.” An attorney representing the workers said that WTC Captive had spent not one penny on health benefits for the workers. But “the company has spent more than $73 million of the insurance money in legal fees and other expenses.” [View article]

Man Found Guilty in Plot to Bomb Oil Facilities (USA Today) Michael C. Reynolds “was convicted [on July 13] of plotting to help a supposed al-Qaeda operative blow up U.S. oil pipelines and refineries,” reports the Associated Press. His supposed al-Qaeda “contact turned out to be Shannen Rossmiller, a judge from Conrad, Mont., who was working for the FBI.… Reynolds wanted to work with al-Qaeda to target the Williams natural gas refinery in Opal, Wyo.; the Transcontinental Pipeline, a natural-gas pipeline that runs from the Gulf Coast through Pennsylvania to New York and New Jersey; and a Standard Oil refinery in Perth Amboy, N.J., that no longer exists.” [View article]

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Education The Homeland Security Institute lists these education programs as a service to readers who may be interested; it does not endorse them or their courses. New education listings are posted for four weeks. Graduate Certificate in Biohazardous Threat Agents & Emerging Infectious Diseases (Fall; Washington, DC) This new online program at Georgetown University will focus on the science behind the agents and diseases in question--specifically, the microbiology of CDC Category A through C biothreat agents (that is, smallpox, plague, anthrax, tularemia, and Ebola) and the history of bioterrorism and the need for biosurveillance, as well as their implications in homeland security. The application deadlines are August 1 for the fall semester and November 1 for spring. [View course website] 18th Annual Hazmat Continuing Challenge (September 4-7; Sacramento, CA) The annual Continuing Challenge Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Workshop provides training, networking, and hands-on learning opportunities to all employees in hazardous materials emergency response fields. [View course website] Medical Management of Chemical and Biological Casualties (September 9-14, October 21-26; Aberdeen, MD, and Ft. Detrick, MD) This course is conducted by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense. It is designed for Medical Corps and Nurse Corps officers and physician assistants, Medical Service Corps officers, and other selected medical professionals. It comprises classroom, laboratory, and field training. [View course website] Field Management of Chemical and Biological Casualties (September 24-28, November 5-9; Aberdeen, MD) This course is conducted by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense. It is designed for Medical Service Corps officers and non-commissioned officers in medical or chemical specialties. It comprises classroom, laboratory, and field training. [View course website]

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New Upcoming Events (After four weeks, new events will be moved to the Upcoming Events page) ACE Exchange VI (July 30–August 1, Brooklyn, NY) The Automated Commercial Environment is the commercial trade processing system being developed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to facilitate legitimate trade while strengthening border security. The ACE Exchanges will provide information on ACE and allow an open forum of communication between Customs and Border Protection and the trade community. The conferences will educate the trade community on the benefits of ACE, its impact on business operations, and legal policy changes under way, such as the new mandatory electronic manifest policy. [View conference website] Continental Divide Disaster Behavioral Health Conference (August 6-7; Colorado Springs, CO) This interactive conference is designed to assist emergency management planners, public health officials, medical personnel, and behavioral health specialists in improving care provided to those affected by catastrophes. The major speakers are leading experts in the disaster behavioral health field. The conference addresses disaster planning, response, and recovery issues. [View conference website] (September 11-13; Baltimore) The expo will feature the latest products and tools from the leading suppliers in biometrics applications. More than 100 biometrics leaders--giants, upstarts, plus research and standard groups--will be there, along with reps from the top technology firms and biometric specialists attending the co-located Biometric Consortium Conference. [View conference website] CBRN Resilience 2007 (September 20-21; London) Participants will understand global chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear strategies and how these are shaping the future requirements and tactics of the blue-light services and responsible agencies; benchmark their post-incident response, recovery, and operational sustainability plans, including mass decontamination of personnel and infrastructure, health care, and logistical support; and assess preparedness and joint working initiatives among police, fire and rescue, ambulance, and local, regional, and national government. [View conference website] Interdisciplinary Analyses of Aggression & Terrorism (September 27-30; Madrid, Spain) This conference, sponsored by the International Colloquium on Conflict and Aggression and the Society for Terrorism Research, will feature researchers from around the world who will present their findings and offer directions for future study. It will include structured discussion and play as well as casual conversation, questions, answers, and sharing of ideas with colleagues. [View conference website] National Emergency Management Assn. Conference (September 28–October 2; Oklahoma City) The conference will feature presentations by leaders in emergency management, along with exhibits, workshops, and committee meetings. [View conference website] 3rd Symposium and Exhibition on International Civil Aviation Organization Machine-Readable Travel Documents, Biometrics and Security Standards (October 1-3; Montreal) The symposium and exhibition will cover the main features and benefits of globally interoperable and ICAO-compliant machine-readable travel documents and e-passports and the latest biometric technology to enhance security in airline passenger service systems, enrollment, issuance, and border control inspection systems. [View conference website] 2007 Joint Chemical Biological Decontamination and Protection Conference and Exhibition (October 22-24; Virginia Beach, VA) This conference, sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Association, will focus on creative acquisition to combat existing and emerging world threats through state-of-the-art decontamination and protection. [View conference website] U.S. Coast Guard 2007 Innovation Expo (October 28–November 2; New Orleans) The Coast Guard and industry will display innovative solutions and will present and discuss the many challenges faced in maritime homeland security. Participants will see and discuss emerging Coast Guard innovations, meet Coast Guard and industry innovators who are making a difference, and discuss opportunities to meet homeland security, search & rescue, law enforcement, environmental protection, and other mission requirements. [View conference website] Technologies for Critical Incident Preparedness (November 6-8; San Francisco) The conference will address pandemic preparedness and response, securing our borders, lessons learned in preparedness for and response to natural disasters, food chain safety and security, information and intelligence sharing, weapons of mass destruction, special operations, federal resources for state and local emergency responders, cyber-security tools and resources, response and recovery, incident commander software, personal protective equipment, transportation security, communications interoperability, the Safety Act, simulation and training, school security, the Defense Department’s role in supporting homeland security, and critical infrastructure protection. [View conference website] AAAS Annual Meeting (February 14-18, 2008; Boston) The theme of next year’s annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science is “Science and Technology from a Global Perspective,” emphasizing the power of science, technology, and education to assist less-developed segments of the world society, to improve partnerships among already developed countries, and to spur knowledge-driven transformations across a host of fields. [View conference website]

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Calls for Papers (March 16-20, 2008; Orlando, FL) SPIE is soliciting papers on imaging, sensors, and displays as they relate to homeland security and other topics. The deadline for submitting abstracts is September 3. [View call for papers]

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