Pakistan seeks OIC states’ support to eliminate terror

25 May 2009
The Nation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday urged the OIC member states to support its efforts aimed at eradicating the menace of terror while reiterating its commitment to fight against extremism and radicalism. In his address to the 36th session of OIC Council of Foreign Ministers held in Damascus, Syria, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Malik Amad Khan said, “Pakistan continues its fight against militancy, violent extremism and terrorism. We are fighting ideologies of violence and a retrogressive interpretation of Islam.”

“Terrorists have martyred over 6000 innocent men, women and children in the last eight years in Pakistan. Recently, their atrocities have forced hundreds of thousands of innocent Pakistanis to leave their homes and seek shelter in other parts of the country,” he said, according to foreign office statement issued here. “This huge cost notwithstanding, the people of Pakistan are united in eradicating this menace, root and branch. Their sacrifices must be supported by the international community, particularly the Islamic states and in particular this Organisation,” he said.

Amad said, “Let us utilise this meeting to renew our pledge that we all will persevere in our efforts to deal with this menace.” “A misguided minority among us is trying to hijack our great religion. They are trying to promote extremism and terrorism in the name of religion,” he said.

It was a matter of pride for us that the OIC states were united in eradicating terrorism and extremism from the world and in their respective societies, he said. “We have done more than anyone else in the world to fight terrorism and promote moderation, not merely through counselling and lectures but by actually fighting terrorists even when the stability in our own societies is at risk,” he said, the statement added.

“There is no justification for stereotyping and insulting Islam or any other divine religion in the name of freedom of expression. We understand that those who are promoting this trend are also a minority in their societies,” he said. “Unfortunately, they enjoy freedom to promote their odious agendas.

We all agree that interfaith dialogue and cooperation is necessary to promote international harmony. However, this dialogue must lead to evolving an effective international framework to prevent the defamation of religions,” he said. The OIC Secretary General enjoyed the support of Islamic organisation to explore establishment of such a framework, he said.

“The establishment of OIC Observatory on Islamophobia is a welcome development. We hope this Observatory will meticulously record and report incidents of defamation of Islam, Islamophobia and related intolerance in all parts of the world,” Amad said. “For durable peace and stability, international community must address injustices done to the occupied Muslim peoples. Their just causes must not be de-legitimised. They should be enabled to exercise their inalienable right of self-determination,” he said.

He said, “The OIC must remain united in its support to end foreign occupation of Islamic peoples and territories. We must not allow abuse of fight against terrorism to justify violation of the right of self- determination of the occupied Muslim peoples.” Pakistan had consistently extended unequivocal support to the Palestinians in their struggle against foreign occupation, he said. “We believe in, and strongly support the international efforts for the final settlement of the issue culminating in the shape of a viable and independent state of Palestine with Al-Quds as its capital,” he said.

“The people of Jammu and Kashmir are struggling for their right of self determination. Over a half century has passed since they were promised this right. Yet the promise is un-kept. We are thankful to our brothers for their unstinting support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle against foreign occupation,” he said.

“Pakistan is committed to achieving durable solution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspiration of the Kashmiri people. For this purpose, India should resume the Composite Dialogue process in all earnest and sincerity,” he said.

Pakistan shared special affiliations with Afghanistan, he said adding our two peoples shared common roots of faith, culture and history.

“Pakistan has been an active participant in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. We continue to host over 2 million Afghan refugees. We look forward to the creation of such conditions in Afghanistan that would enable their return and reintegration so that they can contribute to Afghanistan ‘s development,” he said. Pakistan would remain supportive to the Iraqi government in its efforts to promote security, stability and prosperity in Iraq, he said.

“In the post Second World War security architecture, the share of Islamic states was negligible. We must remain vigilant that the reform of the United Nations as well as the expansion of the Security Council should not relegate the vast majority of the UN membership particularly the OIC members to a second class status,” Amad said.

He said that OIC remained at the centre of our common endeavours to promote unity, solidarity and IKHWA among Muslims. “With other members, Pakistan remains committed to transforming the OIC into a revitalized, cohesive and strong organization fully capable of protecting the interests of all its members,” he said.

Court rules in Wood v MET that surveillance and retention of photographs of activists is incompatible with Human Rights Act

On Thursday a ruling by the Court of Appeal found the police had broken the UK’s Human Rights Act when they undertook a surveillance operation against Campaign Against Arms Trade in 2005. The court of appeal, relying on Marper v UK, ordered the Metropolitan police to destroy photographs its surveillance teams had taken of arms-trade campaigner Andrew Wood.

Lord Justice Dyson said:

“The retention by the police of photographs taken of persons who have not committed an offence, and who are not even suspected of having committed an offence, is always a serious matter.”

Lord Collins said:

“There was a very substantial police presence … when I first read the papers on this appeal, I was struck by the chilling effect on the exercise of lawful rights such a deployment would have.”

The case follows an investigation by the Guardian that revealed police had been targeting thousands of political campaigners in surveillance operations and storing their details on a database for at least seven years.

Andrew Woods open ed in The Guardian.
Court ruling: Wood v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis [2009] EWCA Civ 414 (21 May 2009)

US relies heavily on foreign intelligence services to capture, interrogate and detain terrorist suspects

The United States is now relying heavily on foreign intelligence services to capture, interrogate and detain all but the highest-level terrorist suspects seized outside the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, according to current and former American government officials in the New York Times.

Egypt Arrests 7 in Bombing of Cairo Bazaar

Egyptian authorities said Saturday that they had arrested seven people connected with a terrorist cell affiliated with Al Qaeda that they said was responsible for bombing a popular tourist site in February, killing a French teenager.The authorities said the bombing at the Khan al-Khalili bazaar was intended as the start of a campaign of terrorism aimed at destabilizing Egypt through attacks on oil facilities and tourist sites. They said the group, which they identified as the Islamic Army of Palestine, had also planned attacks outside of Egypt, including in France.

“These infiltration attempts from abroad are new, and all their communication is carried out through the Internet,” said a general with the Interior Ministry who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss security issues. “I think it is a new phenomenon for Egypt.”

Bomb sensing ‘puffing’ detection technologies scuttled, EPIC starts campaign against body scanners

USA Today reports that a $36 million anti-terrorism program designed to detect bombs on airline passengers by shooting air blasts to dislodge explosive particles is being scuttled because the machines proved unreliable at airports.

The “puffer” machines — glass portals that passengers enter for checkpoint screening — are being removed after the Transportation Security Administration spent $6.2 million on maintenance since 2005. Removing them will cost nearly $1 million, TSA spokeswoman Sterling Payne said.

Problems emerged after the TSA bought 207 puffers for $30 million starting in 2004. Ninety-four were installed in 37 airports. The other 113 machines stayed in storage.

Dirt and humidity in airports led to frequent breakdowns, Payne said. The TSA has removed 60 puffers and will pull the rest but has no deadline. The puffers, costing $160,000 each, attempted to identify bomb residue on clothing. They were used as added screening on passengers who had gone through metal detectors.

Some of the machines had trouble detecting bombs, said Hasbrouck Miller, a vice president of puffer manufacturer Smiths Detection. “It was a torturous four years,” Miller said, describing repair efforts. “The TSA finally got tired of pursuing that angle and moved on to something else.”

As a replacement, the TSA is installing body scanners that create images of passengers through their clothing. The TSA plans to have 250 scanners next year, costing $170,000 each, its 2010 budget shows.

The puffers are the first screening equipment to be widely installed and removed, though other technology has been troubled.

For example, the Homeland Security Department removed a handful of advanced biological-weapons detectors from New York City transit hubs in March after the devices began failing, department spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said. Older, slower detectors remain in New York and about 30 other cities.

Also in March, the department launched a second effort to install sensors and cameras along the U.S.-Mexico border after an initial $600 million installation faced so many problems it was scrapped.

The failures show how machines that test well in labs struggle under intense use at airports, land borders or rail stations. “You need to have some pretty robust equipment to put in airports, and these (puffers) may not be robust enough,” former TSA deputy administrator Stephen McHale said.

Security consultant Rich Roth said the TSA faced pressure in 2004 to improve airport screening, and puffers were the best equipment available. “We knew it didn’t work 100%, but we still used it because it gave you an edge over terrorists,” Roth said.

Former Homeland Security inspector general Clark Kent Ervin said he thinks the TSA is doing a better job testing equipment before installing it.

Roth called the new scanners “more robust technology” because they spot guns, knives and other metal objects that would evade a puffer machine.

EPIC launches national campaign against body scanners

The national campaign, which will gather signatures from organizations and relevant professionals, is set to launch this week with the hope that it will go “viral,” said Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which plans to lead the charge. Right now, without regulations on what the Transportation Security Administration does with this technology, she said, “We don’t have the policy to hold them to what they say. They’re writing their own rule book at this point.”

Late last month, freshman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced legislation to ban the body scanners.

EPIC statement.
CNN report.
HR.2027 here.

Pakistan, India and US Begin Sharing Intelligence

Pakistan and India have begun sharing intelligence on Islamic extremists, with the prodding of the US, in an arrangement that represents unprecedented cooperation between the two nuclear-armed South Asian nations. Washington hopes the cooperation will get a lift from last week’s Indian elections, in which the incumbent Congress Party won by a wide margin over a Hindu nationalist party traditionally more hostile to Pakistan. The Central Intelligence Agency arranged for Pakistan and India to share information on Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group widely blamed for last November’s terrorist attack on Mumbai, as well as on Taliban commanders who are leading the insurgency against Pakistan’s government, said US officials.

FBI seeking more funds for electronic surveillance in 2010

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2010 reveals that America’s political police intend to greatly expand their high-tech surveillance capabilities.

According to ABC News, the FBI is seeking additional funds for the development of “a new ‘Advanced Electronic Surveillance’ program which is being funded at $233.9 million for 2010. The program has 133 employees, 15 of whom are agents.”

Known as “Going Dark,” the program is designed to beef up the Bureau’s already formidable electronic surveillance, intelligence collection and evidence gathering capabilities “as well as those of the greater Intelligence Community,” ABC reports. An FBI spokesperson told the network:

“The term ‘Going Dark’ does not refer to a specific capability, but is a program name for the part of the FBI, Operational Technology Division’s (OTD) lawful interception program which is shared with other law enforcement agencies.”

“The term applies to the research and development of new tools, technical support and training initiatives.”

Much more at Intel Daily. HT to Georgetown SLB.

Judge threatens DOJ lawyers with sanctions in Al Haramain surveillance case

Georgetown SLB reports that government lawyers now face sanctions and the possibility of a judgment
that the United States committed illegal surveillance, following an order filed on Friday by Northern District of California Chief Judge Vaughn Walker. Walker ordered Justice Department lawyers to explain why he should not essentially enter a default judgment against the government for violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by spying on the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation.

UK Intelligence and Security Committee Review of the Intelligence on the London Terrorist Attacks on 7 July 2005

The ISC published a report, Could  7/7 Have Been Prevented? , and concluded, as it did in an earlier
report in 2006, that MI5 had neither the resources nor the evidence to  exposed the suicide plotters.

The ISC said that had MI5 put Khan and Tanweer under surveillance over the 15 months leading up to the July 7 bombing,

“it is very possible that they would have heard them talking about their plan to bomb London and they could have stopped them. But for MI5 to have carried out consistent surveillance on the very large numbers who fell into the same category it would have needed to be a very different organisation, both in terms of its size and how it operates. . . hundreds of thousands of surveillance officers, as opposed to their current 3,500.”

MI5 said that at that time it had enough resources only to give “reasonable” coverage to 6 per cent of the overall known threat. More than 30 per cent of suspects were given coverage that had significant gaps, and more than 60 per cent had coverage described as “inadequate” or “none” because of the priority choices it had to make. Fifty-two “essential” targets had no coverage at all. “These are astounding figures,” the ISC said.

Jonathan Evans, the Director-General of MI5, said that even today, with more resources including a tripling of his budget since 2001, he could only “hit the crocodiles nearest the boat”.

More at The Times.

1 in 7 freed Guantanamo detainees ‘rejoined’ the fight another Pentagon report finds, HRW questions number

The New York Times reports that an unreleased Pentagon report concludes that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has returned to terrorism or militant activity.

In at least one case the US Defense Department’s claim that a former Guantanamo detainee is a “recidivist” to terrorism appears to be based on a confession obtained through torture, Human Rights Watch said.

Kudaev is one of seven Russian citizens whom the US government picked up in Afghanistan after September 11, 2001 and sent to Guantanamo. They were returned to Russia in 2004 despite their fears of being tortured and ill-treated back home. Human Rights Watch detailed their harassment and mistreatment by Russian authorities in a 2007 report, “The Stamp of Guantanamo.”

The former detainee, Rasul Kudaev, has been held for more than three years in pretrial detention in Nalchik, a city in southern Russia, where he is accused of participating in an October 2005 armed uprising against the local government.