Weekly Security Brief - July 21st

Dilitas Weekly Security Brief
This email has been compiled from current, open source data supplied through contacts within Diplomatic Posts, law enforcement agencies and UK intelligence services.
The information herein is to keep you informed of the current security situations within the UK and the rest of the world. Please feel free to forward this document to colleagues.
If you require more specific information on any other prevailing matters, please contact us at info@dilitas.com detailing what you require and we will respond to you.

Regards,
Christopher Cully
Managing Director

The threat to the UK from International Terrorism is SUBSTANTIAL
The threat to Great Britain from Irish Republican Terrorism is MODERATE

Domestic:

A damages action brought against the UK over a 2004 rendition case involving a Libyan politician and his wife is being heard at the Court of Appeal later. Abdul Hakim Belhaj and Moroccan Fatima Boudchar claim British intelligence assisted the US in arranging their rendition from China to Libya. Mr Belhaj was the leader of an Islamist group which fought the Gaddafi regime. He alleges the UK bore a liability for his abduction and detention - and subsequent torture in Tripoli. But the High Court found last December the claims were beyond its jurisdiction.

Thousands of people have marched through central London to call for an end to Israel's ground campaign and air strikes in Gaza. Protesters marched from Downing Street to the Israeli embassy in Kensington. A police blockade stopped them from gaining access. Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly and Hyde Park Corner were closed. More than 300 Palestinians have been killed since 8 July, officials in Gaza report. Five Israelis have died. Before the event up to 15,000 people were expected to attend. However, the police were not able to verify how many were there. The event was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and is part of a national day of action.

Northern Ireland:

A suspicious package left outside an Alliance Party office in east Belfast has been declared a hoax. Army explosives experts were called out to deal with a suspect package at the offices on the Newtownards Road on Friday night. Roads were sealed off and traffic diverted as a controlled explosion was carried out. The premises, used by East Belfast MP Naomi Long, have been targeted a number of times.

International:

18th July 2014: Britain and America have implicated Russia in the “unspeakable” missile attack on Flight MH17 as diplomatic relations reached their lowest point since the Cold War last Friday. Barack Obama, the US president, described the deaths of nearly 300 people as an “outrage” as he issued a stark warning to Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart, for supporting the separatists who are thought to have fired the missile. David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said it was an “appalling, shocking, horrific” incident and added that “those responsible must be held to account”.
Both leaders called for Mr Putin to allow the crash site to be “properly investigated” amid reports that armed separatists were denying investigators access.

Malaysia expressed concerns that the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has not been properly secured. The country's transport minister called on all parties to respect the integrity of the crash site. Pressure is mounting on Russia and Ukraine, who blame each other for the incident, as members of the international community worst affected by the crash call for answers

Emergency workers in Ukraine say they have now found 196 bodies at the crash site of the Malaysian airliner MH17. Most of these bodies have been put in refrigerated rail wagons in the nearby rebel-held town of Torez, but it is unclear who has access to them. A total of 298 people were on MH17 when it was reportedly hit by a missile on Thursday. All are thought to have died. Western countries have criticised the pro-Russian rebels in the area for restricting access to the crash site. The BBC's Fergal Keane, at the site, says the indiscipline and chaos of the last two days has been replaced by the robust presence of former riot policemen who now form a cordon around the central area of the aircraft wreckage. Ukraine's government and the rebels have accused each other of shooting down the Boeing 777, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Prime Minister David Cameron is to tell MPs what is being done to gain full access to the site of the Malaysia jet crash, including pressure on Russia. The prime minister spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday and has indicated he wants the EU to bring in more sanctions against Moscow. Ten passengers from the UK were among 298 people killed when flight MH17 was downed in east Ukraine on 17 July.

Britain will push to tighten sanctions against Russia unless Moscow's position on the Malaysia Airlines crash changes, the foreign secretary has said. Philip Hammond warned the UK would seek to persuade the EU "to go further in terms of sanctions", ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers, tomorrow, Tuesday. Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels have accused each other of shooting down the Boeing 777, killing 298 passengers. The Russian ambassador to the UK said sanctions would have a negative effect.

The British government has told Vladimir Putin to "get out of east Ukraine", and accused Russia of "sponsored terrorism" in the wake of the flight MH17 outrage. Michael Fallon, who was made defence secretary in a cabinet reshuffle last week, said of Putin and Moscow-backed rebels' disruptions of investigation: “We have to make it very clear if there is any more interference like this – and it turns out he was behind it – there will be repercussions. He has to be clear the West will act.” Meanwhile, David Cameron says tighter EU sanctions against Russia could be necessary in the face of the tragedy. Writing in The Sunday Times, the prime minister said it may be "time to make our power, influence and resources count". Cameron wrote of his “anger that a conflict that could have been stopped by Moscow has been fomented by Moscow” and that some in the West, instead of “finding the resolve to deal with this issue, have simply hoped it would go away”. The prime minister concluded: “We must turn this moment of outrage into a moment of action.” However, the Russian ambassador to the UK warned sanctions would have a negative effect on hostilities. Alexander Yakovenko said he regretted recent decisions by the US and EU to impose sanctions, claiming it "can only encourage the Ukrainian authorities to continue violence".

US Secretary of State John Kerry says there is overwhelming evidence of Russian complicity in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane in Ukraine. Mr Kerry called on Russia to take responsibility for the actions of the rebels, saying their handling of the dead had been "grotesque". All 298 people on flight MH17 died when it was reportedly hit by a missile. Russia has been accused of providing the rebels with an anti-aircraft system that was allegedly used in the attack. Earlier, the remains of up to 196 people were loaded on to refrigerated rail wagons in eastern Ukraine, to be taken to an unknown destination. Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has called on pro-Russian separatists not to use the bodies as pawns in their conflict with the Ukrainian authorities.

Ukraine's defence minister says part of the rebel-held eastern city of Luhansk has been retaken by government forces. Valeriy Heletey said government troops had captured the south-eastern section and had surrounded the airport. Electricity and water supplies were earlier knocked out in much of the city and a major oil refinery was reportedly on fire. Shelling has killed more than 20 people, the city council says, as Ukrainian forces fight the rebels. Correspondents say there are differing reports as to who is to blame. There is no sign of a ceasefire in east Ukraine despite pressure for a truce after Thursday's airliner crash.

Israel says it has expanded its ground operation against Hamas, with residents in Gaza reporting the heaviest shelling since the conflict began 13 days ago. In a statement, Israel's military said additional forces had joined "the effort to combat terror" in Gaza. More than 40 people were killed in one district east of Gaza City, hospital officials have told the BBC. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is due to arrive in Qatar on Sunday to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. His visit is part of a regional tour aimed at helping Israelis and Palestinians "end the violence and find a way forward", the UN said. But the death toll continued to rise at the weekend, with the number of Palestinians killed now 395 since the operation began, according to Palestinian health officials. The majority of those killed are civilians, the UN says.

Israel says it has broadened its ground operation against Hamas, as Gaza residents report the heaviest shelling since the fighting began 13 days ago. Four Palestinians died in new airstrikes on Saturday, including two children and the son of a senior Hamas official. As UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon travels to the region for talks, Israel's military said it will expand its operations.

The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after holding an emergency closed-door meeting on the crisis. The urgent talks came after Ban Ki-moon described Israel's shelling of a Gaza City suburb as "an atrocious action". Sunday was the deadliest day of fighting, with 13 Israeli soldiers and more than 100 Palestinians killed. US Secretary of State John Kerry is due in Cairo on Monday to discuss the crisis with Egyptian leaders.

A series of car bombs in the Iraqi capital have killed at least 26 people, police and medical officials say. Five bombs went off across Baghdad on Saturday, with three blasts reportedly taking place in less than 10 minutes. The mostly Shia neighbourhood of Abu Dashir was hit, as were the districts of Baiyaa, Jihad and Kadhimiya. Iraq is experiencing an upsurge in instability. The government is battling Islamist militants, who have seized cities in the country's north-west.

Gunmen have killed at least 20 soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint in western Egypt, security officials say. The attackers used grenade launchers and heavy machine guns when they attacked the desert post some 390 miles (630km) west of Cairo, officials said. It is not yet clear who carried out the assault. Militants have intensified a campaign against the security forces since the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi was ousted from power just over a year ago. The attack took place on the Farafra-Cairo highway in Wadi al-Jadid governorate, security officials said. Three of the gunmen were also killed, state-run news agency Mena reported. The country's presidency has declared three days of mourning, saying: "Terrorism will be uprooted from every part of Egypt."

One Jewish man and two youths have been charged by Israeli prosecutors with the murder of Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdair, the justice ministry says. The 29-year-old from the West Bank settlement of Adam and two 16-year-olds from the same family were not named. The 16-year-old Palestinian was beaten and burned to death in Jerusalem on 2 July in an apparent revenge attack. It came two days after the bodies were found of three Israeli teens who were abducted in the West Bank on 12 June.

Gunmen on a motorcycle have killed at least four people and injured several others in the Kenyan city of Mombasa. Police were quoted by local media as saying that the gunmen had fired indiscriminately at passers-by. The port city has seen a wave of violence in recent months, with a number of bombings and gun attacks. The violence has largely been attributed to Somali al-Shabab militants but many say local political rifts are to blame.

Many people are feared dead after suspected Boko Haram Islamist gunmen attacked a town in north-east Nigeria it was reported on 18th July 2014. Eyewitnesses told the BBC that half of Damboa had been burnt down, including the town's main market. At least 18 bodies so far have been recovered from the attack, which lasted for several hours. The death toll is expected to rise, residents say. Boko Haram's violent campaign to establish an Islamic state has killed thousands of people in recent years.

At least 14 Tunisian soldiers have been killed in a militant attack near the Algerian border with at least 20 others wounded, the defence ministry says. They say gunmen, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and rifles, raided two checkpoints near Mount Chaambi. It is reportedly the heaviest death toll registered by the army since independence in 1956.

Rival militias are locked in battle at Libya's main international airport, with reports of at least four people killed in the fighting. Clashes resumed at Tripoli airport on Sunday, after attempts at a ceasefire failed. Missiles, rockets and tanks were said to be used. The fighting began last week, damaging planes and forcing the airport to shut.

Diplomats have agreed a four-month extension to the deadline for an agreement between Iran and world powers on Iran's nuclear programme. The US says it will unblock $2.8bn in frozen Iranian funds, in return for Iran continuing to convert its stocks of 20%-enriched uranium into fuel. The talks have aimed to persuade Iran to limit its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. World powers suspect Iran seeks atomic weapons, which Iran denies. The country insists that it is enriching uranium for use in nuclear power stations and for medical purposes. Reuters reports that negotiations will now resume in September, with a final deadline set for 24 November.

Iran has turned all of its enriched uranium closest to the level needed to make nuclear arms into more harmless forms, the UN nuclear agency says. The conversion of its stock of 20%-enriched uranium was part of a deal to curb Iran's nuclear programme. The US said last week it would unblock $2.8bn in frozen Iranian funds in return for Iran's compliance. A four-month extension to talks on Iran's nuclear ambitions was agreed on Friday between Iran and world powers.

Too many governments are "rubber-stamping" mass surveillance programmes, the UN human rights watchdog warns. In a report, the UN body said more needed to be done to ensure that surveillance was balanced against its harm to personal privacy. It added that mass retention of data to aid surveillance was "neither necessary nor proportionate". The report comes as the UK passes an emergency law to make ISPs and mobile companies store user data.

Spanish police say they have arrested one of Colombia's most wanted men, Hernan Alonso Villa, known as "el Raton" (The Mouse). He is suspected of being head of a gang of 200 people linked to international drug trafficking and extortion. Hernan Alonso Villa was arrested on a road outside Alicante in southern Spain after a month-long tracking operation. He is considered one of the main leaders of the "Oficina de Envigado" group which operates around Medellin.

Bulgaria has given the EU's police agency the names of two people it suspects of involvement in the bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists and a bus driver last July. Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said he hoped Europol would carry out "a thorough check and analysis" of the information gathered so far. Bulgaria last week said it believed the two suspects are members of Hezbollah. The Lebanese Shia group has strongly denied any involvement in the attack. The bus carrying Israeli tourists was attacked by a suicide bomber at the airport of the Black Sea resort of Burgas on 18 July 2012.

Significant Forthcoming Anniversaries:

21 July 2005 Attempted suicide bomb attacks on London’s transport system, an attack that almost mirrored the attacks two weeks earlier that killed 52 people. The four co-conspirators involved were each jailed in July 2007 to a minimum of 40 years behind bars.
22 July 2011 Lone attacker, Norwegian national, Anders Brevik, sets of a VBIED at a government building in Oslo, then later, goes on shooting rampage in Utoya; more than 70 killed – mainly young students, and dozens wounded
22 July 2005 Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes is shot dead by police officers as he is mistaken for a suspected suicide bomber at Stockwell underground station.
24 July 2001 Tamil Tigers attack Bandaranaike international airport in Sri Lanka killing 18 and injuring 12, and destroying 24 aircraft.
25 July 1995 Algerian Islamist terrorists blamed for a bomb that functioned at a Paris metro station (Saint-Michel) killing seven people.
26 July 1996 Car bomb functions at the Israeli Embassy in Kensington, London.
28 July 2005 Largest ever mobilization of British police officers since World War Two when the Met Police Service, the British Transport Police and City of London Police deploy officers at rail stations and transport hubs within the capital.
28 July 2005 Provisional IRA calls on all its ‘units’ to dump their weapons and made a formal announcement of the end of their campaign of violence.
31 July 2002 Nine students, including five US citizens, killed and 85 wounded by bomb at Hebrew University, Israel. HAMAS responsible, later apologizes for American deaths.
31 July 1959 Founding day of the Basque terrorist group, ETA.

August 1, 1990 Iraqi troops invaded and occupied Kuwait.
August 2, 2003 Iraq: Car bomb explodes in front of Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad, killing 19 and injuring 50.
August 2, 2001 Real IRA - Vehicle borne IED functions at Ealing Broadway, London injuring several people.
August 5, 2003 Car bomb explodes in front of Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, killing 13 and injuring 149. The radical Jemaah Islamiya were blamed.
August 6, 1945 Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and on 9th, on Nagasaki.
August 6, 1991 Former Iranian Prime Minister Shapur Bakhtiar and his assistant are assassinated in Paris.
August 7, 1998 Near simultaneous bomb attacks on the American Embassy buildings in African cities of Nairobi and Dar es Salaam kills 224 people (12 U.S. citizens) and injures more than 5,000.
August 9, 1971 Beginning of Internment in Northern Ireland.
August 10, 2006 Police foil a plot to sabotage civilian airliners departing from Heathrow Airport on trans-Atlantic flights – Known as ‘Operation Overt’
August 10, 1987 The Greek domestic terrorist group, November 17, attack a bus carrying U.S. airmen injuring 10.
August 11, 1988 According to some ‘experts’, this is the date on which Osama bin Laden founded al-Qaeda.
August 14, 1994 ‘Carlos the Jackal’ is arrested in Sudan and extradited to France where he is sentenced for terrorism offences in December 1997 to life in prison.
August 14, 1969 First deployment of British troops in Northern Ireland (Londonderry).
August 14, 1945 VJ Day - Japan surrenders ending WW2.
August 14, 1947 Pakistan Independence Day,
August 15, 1998 Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh, Northern Ireland kills 29 people.
August 17, 1988 Sabotage suspected in an air crash that killed Pakistan leader, General Zia ul-Haq, and the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan.
August 20, 1998 Afghanistan, Sudan: U.S. cruise missiles strike against terrorist locations in retaliation for African embassy bombings two weeks earlier.
August 23, 1996 Osama bin Laden issues message entitled 'A declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places.
August 24, 2004 Two Chechen female suicide bombers set off explosives on two Russian airliners. The subsequent crashes of the aircraft killed all 89 passengers on board the two planes.
August 24, 1975 Turkish ambassador to France and driver killed in Paris; Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia [ASALA] responsible.

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