International News

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U.S. Interrogates Terror Suspects at Secret Ethiopian Prisons (Metro Canada) “CIA and FBI agents hunting for al-Qaida militants in the Horn of Africa have been interrogating terrorism suspects from 19 countries—including Canada—at secret prisons in Ethiopia, notorious for torture and abuse. Human rights groups, lawyers and several western diplomats assert [that] hundreds of prisoners, who include women and children, have been transferred secretly and illegally in recent months from Kenya and Somalia to Ethiopia, where they are kept without charge or access to lawyers and families. The detainees include at least one U.S. citizen and some are from Canada, Sweden and France, said a list compiled by a Kenyan Muslim rights group and flight manifests obtained by The Associated Press.” [View article]

Iran Releases British Sailors and Marines (BBC) “The 15 Royal Navy sailors and marines held in Iran for almost two weeks are being reunited with their families,” reports the British Broadcasting Corporation. They were “freed by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a ‘gift’ to the British people on Wednesday.” (See last week’s newsletter and the Quote of the Week.) [View article]

Al-Qaeda Is Seen as Restoring Leadership (New York Times) “As Al Qaeda rebuilds in Pakistan’s tribal areas, a new generation of leaders has emerged under Osama bin Laden to cement control over the network’s operations, according to American intelligence and counterterrorism officials,” reports the New York Times. “The new leaders rose from within the organization after the death or capture of the operatives that built Al Qaeda before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks”—although “the group’s leadership is now more diffuse, with several planning hubs working autonomously and not reliant on constant contact with Mr. bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri, his deputy.… Experts say they still see Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia as largely independent of Al Qaeda’s hub in Pakistan but that they believe the fighting in Iraq will produce future Qaeda leaders.” [View article]

Al-Qaeda Is ‘Still Radicalising British Youth’ (London Telegraph) “A secret intelligence document warns that al-Qaeda agents in the [United Kingdom] are training young Muslim men and women to fight British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan,” reports the Telegraph. “The dossier” notes “high levels of operational activity by UK-based Islamist extremist networks.… The document, which was distributed to the Counter Terrorist Command (SO15), the Cabinet Office and the Home Office, reveals that government buildings, Ministry of Defence establishments and sites such as the London Eye are at ‘severe’ risk of terrorist attacks.” [View article]

Police Find Explosives Stash in Northern Spain (Reuters AlertNet) “Police found 140 kilos (310 lb) of explosives on [March 31] in the Basque Country and neighbouring Navarra region in northern Spain,” reports Reuters. This followed the “discovery of explosives and other bomb-making equipment on” March 28. [View article]

New Antiterror Database Stirs Controversy in Germany (Deutsche Welle) “Germany’s first single database from which both police and intelligence officials can tap information about terrorism suspects went into operation” March 30, reports Deutsche Welle (German Radio). “But critics say the measure could erode civil liberties.… German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said it was needed to strengthen security in view of the threat posed by Islamic terrorists.… The computer databank allows police and intelligence agencies easier access to a range of information on terrorism suspects, including membership of terrorist groups, firearms registration information as well as Internet and telecommunications data. Other details cover bank account and safety deposit box information, school, university and apprenticeship data, family status and religious affiliation as well as travel data, including visits to areas suspected of housing terrorist training camps.” [View article]

Security at Russian Nuclear Sites Has Improved, but Is It Sustainable? Since 1993, the Energy and Defense departments “have worked to improve security at sites housing weapons-usable nuclear material and warheads in Russia and other countries,” spending over $2.2 billion, notes the Government Accountability Office. The departments “report to have improved security at 62 Russian warhead sites.” However, the reports of “secured” buildings may be exaggerated; furthermore, a Joint Action Plan developed by the Energy Department and Russia omits “two sites containing many buildings with vast amounts of nuclear material,” and “sustainability of U.S.-funded security upgrades may be hampered by access difficulties, funding concerns, and other issues.” [View abstract]

Three Charged in 2005 London Transit Attacks (London Guardian) “Three men have been charged with conspiracy to cause explosions in connection with the July 7 suicide bombings in London,” reports the Guardian. “… Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, of the Metropolitan police, said the three men who had been charged were those who had been detained on March 22. [See the March 23 newsletter.] Sadeer Saleem, 26, Mohammed Shakil, 30, and Waheed Ali, 23, who was previously known as Shipon or Chipon Ullah, are accused of conspiring with the four 7/7 suicide bombers.” Clarke expected that there will be further arrests. [View article]

Next 9/11 Could Be Launched From Britain, Says Chertoff (London Telegraph) “The United States fears that the next September 11–style attack on America could be launched by Muslims from Britain or Europe who feel [like] ‘second-class citizens’ and alienated by a ‘colonial legacy’, according to the US Homeland Security chief. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Michael Chertoff … said the US was determined to build extra defences against so-called ‘clean skin’ terrorists from Europe.” [View article]

British Preachers of Hate Could Get Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ITV, England) “Religious extremists who try to recruit others to spread their message of hate could be handed Antisocial Behaviour Orders,” reports ITV. The orders “will be used to target the ‘radicalisers’ who cannot be charged with criminal offences, Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said.” [View article]

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New this week in the Journal of Homeland Security In “The Swiss–U.S. Counterterrorism Partnership,” Urs Ziswiler, Swiss Ambassador to the United States, discusses joint activity in combating the financing of terrorism and exchanging information, along with two new areas of cooperation: responding to bioterrorism and threat convergence. In “A Battle at the Border: Coping with Carrizo Cane,” Gail Cleere of the Homeland Security Department’s Science & Technology Directorate discusses ways to reduce the cover provided by Carrizo cane (a foreign plant) along the U.S.-Mexican border.

National News

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Detainee Rights Cases for Now (Washington Post) “A divided Supreme Court declined [on Monday] to consider fresh questions about the legal rights of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, rejecting an appeal by inmates there who are seeking access to federal courts to challenge their imprisonment as ‘enemy combatants,’” reports the Washington Post. “The court decision was a significant victory for President Bush,” but “the high court eventually may hear the cases.” [View article]

Raids on Illegal Immigrants Separate Them From Their U.S.-Born Children (Washington Post) “As the government’s crackdown on illegal immigrant workers has intensified in recent months, so have the consequences for a large subgroup of U.S. citizens: American-born children of illegal immigrants,” reports the Washington Post. These U.S.-born kids number “at least 3.1 million,” and “until recently, their parents’ illegal status had limited impact on these children’s lives, because, although every year hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are detained attempting to cross the U.S. border, once they make it in, they are rarely caught.… Under rules adopted by Congress in 1996, a judge cannot allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States merely because they have a child who is a U.S. citizen. Instead, parents must prove that if they were deported the child would suffer ‘exceptional and extremely unusual hardship’—a standard often interpreted to apply to serious medical cases only.” [View article]

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DHS News

Major DHS Preparedness Components Move to FEMA As directed by the Post-Katrina Emergency Reform Act of 2006, major national preparedness components and functions of the Homeland Security Department, including the Office of Grants and Training, the U.S. Fire Administration, National Capital Region Coordination, Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness, and the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program, transferred to the Federal Emergency Management Agency effective April 1. [View press release]

Border Patrol Basic Training Looks Good to GAO “Adding 6,000 new agents to the Border Patrol by the end of” next year caused congressional concern about “the content, quality, and cost of the Border Patrol’s basic training program for new agents,” notes the Government Accountability Office. However, the program “exhibits attributes of an effective training program,” and “the Border Patrol is pursuing accreditation of its training program from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation organization.” Furthermore, the “average cost per trainee at the academy is consistent with that of [similar] training programs.” [View abstract]

Interoperable Communications for First Responders: A Long Way to Go The “$2.15 billion in grant funding” that the Homeland Security Department has “awarded to states and localities from 2003 through 2005 for communications interoperability enhancements … along with technical assistance, has helped to make improvements,” according to the Government Accountability Office. “However, states that GAO reviewed had generally not used strategic plans to guide investments toward broadly improving interoperability. Further, no national plan was in place to coordinate investments.” DHS requires statewide plans by the end of 2007 and is itself “required to implement a National Emergency Communications Plan. However, no process has been established for ensuring that states’ grant requests are consistent with their statewide plans.” [View abstract]

TSA Seeks Input on New Airport Security System (Government Computer News) “The next-generation security system for U.S. airports may include seamless, continuous tracking of passengers and their baggage from the time of reservation to arrival at their destination, according to a new notice posted by the Transportation Security Administration,” reports Government Computer News. “TSA published a request for information [RFI] on Tuesday to invite vendor ideas for such a system and its IT architecture. The system will include credential verification, identity management and tracking of passengers and their baggage. It must be able to integrate with existing systems, including sensors and threat detection and command and control systems.” [View article] [View RFI]

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Other Federal News

House Armed Services Committee Bans ‘Global War on Terror’ Phrase (Military Times) “The House Armed Services Committee is banishing the” phrase global war on terror “from the 2008 defense budget,” reports the Military Times. “… A memo for the committee staff, circulated March 27, says the 2008 bill and its accompanying explanatory report that will set defense policy should be specific about military operations and ‘avoid using colloquialisms.’ … Also banned is the phrase the ‘long war,’ which military officials began using last year.” In December, the British Foreign Office told cabinet ministers to drop the phrase “war on terror” (see the Dec. 15 newsletter). [View article]

U.S. Terrorism Prosecutions Decline (Government Executive) “The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonpartisan research group that collects and analyzes official government records, has found that prosecutions for crimes that the Justice Department calls domestic terrorism increased sharply after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,” reports National Journal. The “prosecution of international terrorism cases … [has] dropped precipitously”—while “domestic prosecutions have decreased only about half as much.… the prosecution rate in a third category—financial support of terrorists—has declined in the past year but … the drop-off has not been nearly as significant.” The reports find “that more prosecutions are aimed at domestic terrorism and terrorist financing” and that “the government is counting as domestic terrorism some cases that appear to have little, if anything, to do with the kind of organized attacks perpetrated by Al Qaeda on 9/11.” [View article] [View report]

The Emergency Alert System Is Limited, but a Good Replacement Is Hard to Find “Broadcast radio and television, cable operators, and satellite radio operators … appear generally prepared to participate” in the Emergency Alert System, but there is an “unreliable method for relaying” the “messages to the public,” according to the Government Accountability Office. “GAO found a lack of ongoing testing” and “problems with equipment and software.” However, developing a better system faces obstacles, such as “achieving cooperation among federal, state, and local emergency management organizations on the use of a standardized technology for disseminating alerts.” [View abstract]

GAO Finds No One in Charge of Validating Anthrax Detection Sampling The testing of postal facilities after the 2001 anthrax attacks concentrated on likely areas of contamination rather than “probability sampling, which would have allowed agencies to determine, with some defined level of confidence, when all results are negative, whether a building is contaminated,” according to the Government Accountability Office. “… to improve the overall process for detecting anthrax and increase confidence in negative test results,” the Homeland Security Department should validate “individual activities as well as the overall process,” but DHS said it has limited “authority to direct the activities of other agencies.” [View abstract]

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State and Local News

Arizona Teen Faces Terrorism Charge (KPHO-TV, Phoenix) A Mesa “middle school student who allegedly confronted a girl with a knife and was later found with a backpack full of restraining devices and weapons faces a series of charges, including terrorism,” reports the Associated Press. “… the 14-year-old eighth grader at Powell Junior High in Mesa told police he planned to hold his class hostage.” [View article]

New York Musician Pleads Guilty in al-Qaeda Case (Yahoo! News) “A New York City jazz musician and martial arts instructor pleaded guilty on Wednesday to pledging allegiance to al Qaeda and offering to train would-be terrorists in hand-to-hand combat,” reports Reuters. “The prosecution’s case against Tariq Ibn Osman Shah was based largely on taped conversations between him, an undercover FBI agent posing as an al Qaeda recruiter and an FBI informant, Mohamed Alanssi.” [View article]

Fighting Gangs, Los Angeles Steps Up Deportations (Los Angeles Times) “Suspected gang members who are in the country illegally and are arrested for even minor crimes could face quicker deportation under new policies unveiled Wednesday by the top two prosecutors in Los Angeles,” reports the Los Angeles Times. “… immigrants appear to make up a significant portion of the gang population.… All suspected gang members charged with breaking gang injunctions as well as other offenses such as graffiti vandalism, and loitering are being checked for immigration violations … Those whose criminal records show illegal status are turned over to federal authorities.” [View article]

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Private-Sector News

In One Day, U.S. Hits Limit for Skilled-Worker Visas (BusinessWeek) “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Tuesday it reached its limit for 2008 H-1B visa petitions in a single day and will not accept any more, to the dismay of technology companies that rely on the visas to hire skilled foreign workers,” reports the Associated Press. “The agency began accepting petitions Monday for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 and said it received about 150,000 applications by mid-afternoon. The temporary visas are for foreign workers with high-tech skills or in specialty occupations. Congress has mandated that the immigration agency limit the visas granted to 65,000, although the cap does not apply to petitions made on behalf of current H-1B holders, and an additional 20,000 visas can be granted to applicants who hold advanced degrees from U.S. academic institutions.” [View article]

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Dual-Benefit Solutions

New Lab Can Diagnose Radiation Victims (BusinessWeek) “The government has opened a laboratory capable of diagnosing radiation exposure to civilians caught in a nuclear accident or terrorist attack,” reports the Associated Press. “The new $1 million Cytogenetics Biodosimetry Laboratory, dedicated [March 30] in Oak Ridge [TN], will be able to estimate personal radiation dosages based on chromosome damage in blood samples collected from victims wherever the incidents occur. The information should help physicians decide treatment.” [View article]

Dual-benefit news archive

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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.

Upcoming Events

New Events (After four weeks, new events will be moved to the Upcoming Events page) Defense Industrial Base Critical Infrastructure Program Conference & Exhibition (April 10-12; Miami) At this conference, attendees will hear from senior federal, state, local, private-sector, and defense industry leaders on key critical infrastructure issues and challenges. Exploring public- and private-sector concepts of resiliency from the perspective of intentional redundancy and business continuity planning will advance the national critical infrastructure protection goal and position the public and private sectors to mitigate the effects of deliberate efforts to destroy, incapacitate, or exploit critical infrastructure capabilities. For more information, call Christy Goehner at (703) 247-2586. [View conference website] Physical Security Inspections & Audits (April 12-13; Arlington, VA) This conference for federal, state, and local security officers, government building and facilities managers, and companies with critical infrastructure to be protected provides attendees with a roadmap for conducting physical security system inspections and interpreting the results. [View conference website] Fourth World Congress on Chemical, Biological and Radiological Terrorism (April 14-20; Dubrovnik, Croatia) Industry, government, research, and academic professionals in science, medicine, and policy, along with first responders and hazmat specialists, industry leaders, and specialists in computer risk modeling and planning, training and local community interface and communications, will consider WMD nonproliferation; commercial infrastructure security; hazard and consequence management and communications; terrorism using chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive weapons; and more. [View conference website] Medical Aspects of Disaster Management Conference (April 18-19; Arlington, VA) The conference will bring together experts in the field of medical planning and consequence management to help federal, state, local, and private stakeholders become better informed and ultimately help shape their organization’s role in the medical consequence management mission through a thorough discussion of recent events and what responders and medical experts learned from their experiences in the field. [View conference website] Freedom and Security: Europe Without Borders (April 18-20; Serock, Poland) “European security as a horizontal issue” is the main theme of this conference, to consider as a whole the individual concepts that make up security, such as the physical protection of national borders, information security of the European economy, and crisis management. [View conference website] Civil Liberties and the War on Terror (April 25; Worcester, MA) Jeffrey Rosen, legal affairs editor for the New Republic, and Jeremy Rabkin, professor of government at Cornell University and author of Why Sovereignty Matters, will debate the issue of civil liberties and the war on terror at Holy Cross College. The debate is free and open to the public. [View press release] Biological Sampling and Detection Symposiums (April 30–May 2; Richmond, VA) A mix of first responder, homeland and military defense, and system developers, set in an informal atmosphere that promotes wide information exchange, broad community contacts, and multi-dimensional views of common problems. [View conference website] Global Border Security Conference & Expo (May 8-10; San Antonio) This conference addresses the challenges and trade opportunities of the daily movement of more than 1 million people (including over 600,000 aliens), over 300,000 private vehicles, and over 80,000 shipments of goods across U.S. borders. [View conference website] (May 21-22; Luxemburg) With the support of the European Commission, the Forum for Public Safety Communication Europe has been established to facilitate consensus building in public safety communication and information management systems. [View forum website] ACE Exchange IV and V (May 21-23, Laredo, TX; June 4-6, Buffalo, 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] Naval Institute Homeland Port Security Conference (May 22; Baltimore) “Sum of All Fears” is the theme of this year’s conference. In the face of terrorist threats and smaller, more lethal weapons of mass destruction, how do we keep our ports secure? [View conference website]

Calls for Papers Society for Risk Analysis (Dec. 9-12; San Antonio) The Society’s 2007 annual meeting will focus on the theme “Risk 007: Agents of Analysis.” The deadline for online submission of abstracts and proposals for symposia is May 21. [View conference website]

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