Weekly Security Brief - May 19th

by **Sabre** 19/5/2014, 15:45

Dilitas Weekly Security Brief This email has been compiled from current, open source data supplied through contacts within Diplomatic Posts, law enfo

Weekly Security Brief - May 19th Pic%20blurred%20city%20workers

[ltr]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.[/ltr]

[ltr]Regards,
Christopher Cully
Managing Director[/ltr]

[ltr]The threat to the UK from International Terrorism is SUBSTANTIAL
The threat to Great Britain from Irish Republican Terrorism is MODERATE[/ltr]

[ltr]Domestic:[/ltr]

[ltr]
A man is due to appear at the Old Bailey on 19 May in relation to breaching his Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures order. It is understood that the man who cannot be named for legal reasons was arrested last week by West Midlands Police and is accused of two breaches of the order.[/ltr]

[ltr]On 15 May, police sealed off an area near the Bank of England in London's financial district responding to a security alert after a car was abandoned with an open door in the middle of an intersection. Photographs [...] showed a car parked with one door open in the center of Bank Junction near the Bank of England. A police spokesperson said, "At 11.02 City of London Police were called to a vehicle abandoned in suspicious circumstances at Bank junction. "Following assessment the vehicle was declared safe, with the pedestrian cordon being lifted at 12.19 and road closures expected to end in the near future."[/ltr]

[ltr]Almost 1,000 foreign prisoners are being held in British jails after the end of their sentence because authorities cannot deport them, including 10 who have been able to stay in this country for more than five years. Many of the foreign offenders, who include rapists, pedophiles and murderers, are using human rights laws to fight against their deportation and remain in Britain at a cost to taxpayers of up to £34 million a year. The number of foreign offenders awaiting deportation has risen by two thirds under the Coalition, from 491 to 850.[/ltr]

[ltr]Northern Ireland and Eire:[/ltr]

[ltr]A man has been arrested and charged after a bomb was found in a vehicle parked in a hotel car park in County Dublin a week ago. Samuel Devlin, 55, was arrested during a Garda investigation into the device. It is not known whether the hotel was the target, or whether the device was to be used elsewhere.[/ltr]

[ltr]Media reporting last week has stated that the main suspect in the murder of Kieran Doherty in 2010 was the senior dissident republican Peter Butterly, who himself was murdered last year. It is understood that Doherty and Butterly were members of the Real IRA at the same time and had once held joint business interests. The Real IRA has claimed responsibility for Doherty’s death, but to date no individual has been charged with his murder.[/ltr]

[ltr]Three men who pleaded guilty to possession of a bomb when a vehicle they were travelling in was stopped in 2012 have each been sentenced to ten years imprisonment. At the time of the stop in Creggan, a two-way radio was also found in the car along with a rucksack containing a viable explosively-formed projectile and improvised firing pack. It is understood the device was designed to pierce armoured vehicle. Jason Ceulemans, Damien Harkin and Neil Hegarty will each serve five years in prison and the remainder on licence.[/ltr]

[ltr]Plans by victims of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings to sue the UK government for collusion have been answered by border Protestants vowing to sue the Dublin government for supporting the IRA. It was revealed this week that relatives of 33 people killed in loyalist bombings of Dublin- Monaghan of 1974 are suing the British Government over alleged collusion with those responsible.[/ltr]

[ltr]International:[/ltr]

[ltr]At least ten people are reported dead and an unknown number injured after two blasts in the Gikomba market area of Nairobi. The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office is now advising against non-essential travel to Mombasa Island, Kiwayu and coastal areas north of Pate Island, the Garissa district, the Eastleigh area of Nairobi and other areas of the capital. The beach resorts of Malindi, Diani, and Moi International Airport are not covered by this warning. Somali group Al-Shabaab has been blamed for a recent spate of terror attacks in Kenya.[/ltr]

[ltr]UK package holiday operator Thomson is evacuating all of its customers from Kenya after Britain, France, the US and Australia issued warnings about travel to the country following a number of terrorist-related attacks. The travel agency is reported to have around 400 customers in Kenya, including those in coastal resort of Mombasa and on safari. The company said it also cancelling all flights to Mombasa until the end of October. The UK Foreign Office has warned against all non- essential travel [the warning stating] "There is a high threat from terrorism, including kidnapping. The main threat comes from extremists linked to al-Shabaab, a militant group that has carried out attacks in Kenya in response to Kenya's military intervention in Somalia."[/ltr]

[ltr]A suicide blast in the northern Nigerian city of Kano has killed four people, police say.
They say that the blast happened in a street with many bars and night spots. Witnesses say that the explosion was caused by a bomb in a car in the predominantly Christian area of Sabon Gari. The blast could be heard from several miles away. The militant Islamist group Boko Haram has carried out attacks in Kano state and other areas of northern Nigeria.[/ltr]

[ltr]The insurgency waged by Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Muhammad Shekau, who claimed the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls, has grown so ruthless that even former Islamist allies have cut ties. Awareness and condemnation of Shekau has spread across the globe after he released a video boasting about the April 14 mass abduction in Chibok, Borno state, in which he threatened to sell the hostages as "slaves". But for Nigerians, the chilling video was consistent with an Islamist leader who is believed to have masterminded waves of horrific attacks since he took charge of Boko Haram [...] in 2009. At times Shekau makes threats against specific Nigerian targets. At others, he seems completely disconnected from current events, threatening world leaders who are dead, like recent warnings against ex-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and the late pope John Paul II. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has rejected the idea of a swap of Boko Haram prisoners for schoolgirls who were kidnapped by the Boko Haram group a month ago.[/ltr]

[ltr]A reportedly British-born Nigerian army deserter has been arrested on suspicion of helping to mastermind a string of atrocities on behalf of the Boko Haram terrorist group. Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, was held in Sudan on an international arrest warrant. He is wanted for questioning in connection with two recent bombings in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, that killed nearly 100 people.[/ltr]

[ltr]Six Malian government officials and two civilians have been killed in an attack by rebels in northern Mali, the country's UN peacekeeping force says. The head of the mission, known as Minusma, called the killings in the town of Kidal a "barbaric crime". On Saturday, at least 17 people died in clashes between the army and Tuareg rebels in Kidal. The fighting broke out during a visit by PM Moussa Mara. In 2012 a Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali triggered a military coup.[/ltr]

[ltr]Three people were killed and more than 20 injured in an attack on a protest camp at the Democracy Monument in central Bangkok last Thursday. Attackers apparently armed with firearms and grenades attacked the camp in the early hours of the morning. The protesters are seeking the resignation of the Thai government. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.[/ltr]

[ltr]Attacks on Chinese interests have left one Chinese worker dead and around 150 other people injured. The death occurred in an attack on a Taiwanese steel mill in Ha Tinh province in north-central Vietnam last Wednesday. Hundreds of other Chinese-associated enterprises were attacked in Binh Duong, north of Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday, with 15 factories being set on fire. Vietnam and China are currently engaged in a maritime territorial dispute which is causing raised tensions in the region.[/ltr]

[ltr]The defence in the trial of former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity is due to begin today. The 72-year-old is one of the most high-profile suspects to appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Mr Mladic denies 11 charges dating to the 1992-95 Bosnian war. He is specifically accused of a role in the massacre of more than 7,000 Bosniak men and boys at Srebrenica. The massacre was Europe's worst atrocity since World War II.[/ltr]

[ltr]The Libyan government has insisted that it remains in control of the country despite a series of heavy attacks and clashes over the weekend. The parliament building in the capital Tripoli was overrun by a militia group, and two people were killed. Later a militia spokesman demanded that the assembly hand over power to a body drawing up a new constitution.[/ltr]

[ltr]Last Thursday, Yemen said that it had foiled a number of al-Qaeda attacks on government, military and diplomatic premises in the capital Sanaa and arrested several suspected would-be suicide bombers. Two weeks ago, the army launched its biggest offensive in nearly two years to try to dislodge the Islamist militant group from its southern strongholds, after a wave of attacks against government officials, security forces, foreigners and energy facilities. Source The Interior Ministry said security forces had thwarted "a number of cowardly terrorist operations that al Qaeda had planned in the capital" targeting "vital government establishments, security and military headquarters as well as some foreign embassies".[/ltr]

[ltr]Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the general who ousted an elected Islamist president and is set to become Egypt’s next head of state, called on the United States to help fight jihadi terrorism to avoid the creation of new Afghanistan in the Middle East. In his first interview with an international news organisation in the run-up to the May 26-27 vote, Sisi called for the resumption of US military aid which was partially frozen after a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. Asked what message he had for President Obama, Sisi replied, “We are fighting a war against terrorism...We need American support to fight terrorism, we need American equipment to use to combat terrorism,” he said. Sisi said the West must understand that terrorism would reach its doorstep unless it helped eradicate it.[/ltr]

[ltr]Three people arrested in Turkey by police investigating the Soma mine disaster are facing a charge of causing multiple deaths, officials say. They were among 25 people detained on Sunday, including several mining company officials. The explosion and fire on Tuesday sent carbon monoxide gas into the mine's tunnels, claiming 301 lives. It was the country's worst-ever mining disaster and sparked protests against the government and mine operators. "The crime of which the suspects are accused is causing multiple deaths and injuries due to negligence," public prosecutor Bekir Sahiner told journalists. Six of those arrested on Sunday have now been released, he added.[/ltr]

[ltr]During his London visit last week, Secretary of State John Kerry said that he has seen “raw data” indicating that the Syrian government has used chlorine gas as a chemical weapon in a “number of instances” in recent months. “There will be consequences” if evidence of new chemical use is confirmed, Kerry said, but “we’re not going to pin ourselves down to a precise date, time, manner of action.” Speaking after a meeting of the Syrian opposition’s principal international backers, he also said they had agreed to expand humanitarian, diplomatic and military aid to the rebels[/ltr]

[ltr]A New York jury has deliberated for six hours without reaching a verdict in the trial of an Egyptian imam accused of supporting terrorist organisations from his London mosque. Jury deliberations began yesterday (15 May) in the case against Abu Hamza, being tried under the name Mustafa Kamel Mustafa. The jury return will return on 19 May. Prosecutors said the 55-year-old cleric provided a satellite phone to men who abducted 16 tourists in Yemen in December 1998. Four
hostages died.[/ltr]

[ltr]The trial of a hospital technician found to have jihadist literature and bomb making materials in his home has commenced in Ottawa, Canada. Misbahussin Ahmed pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy to facilitate terrorist activity, participating in a terrorist group and possession of explosive substances. The trial, which is expected to last eight weeks, runs alongside that of Ahmed’s alleged co- conspirator Dr Khurram Sher which is expected to come to a verdict next month.[/ltr]

[ltr]Footage has recently emerged from Syria of an apparently British fighter helping execute a prisoner loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. [...] Unfortunately, it is no surprise that a British citizen is carrying out such an act, as Brits have been killing, and being killed, in jihadist conflict zones for decades. Worryingly, the numbers now seem to be growing, rather than diminishing. In the 1990s, a small but steady stream fought in Chechnya, Bosnia, Kashmir and Afghanistan [then Iraq, Somalia and Yemen]. Now the conflict has spread to Syria, where security officials claim that the numbers of Brits travelling are higher than Iraq and Afghanistan combined. As of December 2013, researchers at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation assessed the number that had fought there could be as high as 366. There are understandable fears over the activities of radicalised, battle-hardened returnees from the Syrian jihad. However, there are no guarantees that they will automatically involve themselves in terrorism-related activity back home. Only 28 percent of those who have committed "Islamist"-related offences since 1999 had received any known terrorist training, and only 4 percent had fought in foreign conflict zones. While these numbers may be reassuring, sheer weight of numbers means returning fighters will likely plan terrorist acts against domestic targets. The threat is clearly significant.[/ltr]

[ltr]According to a new report by the Woodrow Wilson Centre's Gabriel Weimann, terrorists are using social media for the same reasons most us do - quick, easy, anonymous communication - and these new tactics are making it difficult for counterterrorism officials to stop attacks. In his report, titled "New Terrorism and New Media" and released to the public this week, Weimann explains that "terrorists' most important purposes online are propaganda, radicalisation, and recruitment." Social media, it turns out, is a really good way for them to do that.[/ltr]

[ltr]The National September 11 Memorial Museum has been applauded as a fitting way to honour the victims of the 2001 attacks, but it is not without its controversies. President Barack Obama dedicated the $700m 9/11 museum during its ceremonial opening last week, ahead of the public opening this week. Most of the exhibition space is located in the foundations of the collapsed skyscrapers, up to 70ft beneath Ground Zero. It includes the 36ft piece of steel known as the Last Column, a burnt-out ambulance and walls covered with portraits of the nearly 3,000 victims. The 9/11 Museum director and management has decided to stand firm and will air a 7- minute al-Qaeda documentary, titled, “The Rise of Al-Qaeda” despite protests by Muslim groups who are complaining about the use of the words “Islamist” and “jihad”.[/ltr]

[ltr]The United States is to sell $800 million worth of combat aircraft, armoured vehicles and surveillance equipment to Iraq to enhance security in the country amid an al-Qaeda insurgency and rising sectarian tensions. The deal comes just two and a half years after US troops withdrew from the country bringing an end to the Iraq War.[/ltr]

[ltr]Cyber News:
Britain's MI5 has warned corporate leaders that foreign spies and agents are recruiting IT employees to get access to classified information. The Financial Times, which quoted anonymous Whitehall officials, said that MI5 spoke to corporate executives on the matter of increasing their "digital defences". Officials warned that IT staff are vulnerable to honey-traps, and insider threats such as espionage from within a company go overlooked by most firms. The FT said, "Grooming a source with access to highly sensitive information used to be a process that cold war spymasters would spend years orchestrating, but now, even the most junior IT employees can be highly coveted intelligence assets thanks to their often wide-ranging network privileges." Cyber-attacks are ranked as a "tier 1 threat" by the UK's national security risk assessment. This is defined as an event that will probably occur, and with it bring major impact.[/ltr]

[ltr]Forget everything you think you know about crime. In the next 20 years, “traditional” crime as we know it today will be largely replaced by cyber-crime. In fact, this is already happening. Take bank robberies: According to the American Bankers Association, bank robberies are being steadily replaced by ATM-skimming and other ‘cyber-heists.’ FBI statistics show bank robberies are down 60% since their peak in 1991, and they plummeted another 23% just between 2011 and 2012. Other crimes are also following suit. Car thieves around the country are now using ‘mysterious gadgets’ to remotely unlock car doors without having to jimmy the lock or smash the window. Burglars have been robbing hotel rooms using a keyless door hacking tool that was first revealed at the Black Hat hacking conference.[/ltr]

[ltr]An Iranian hacking group has moved from politically motivated website defacements to a new specialty – cyber espionage. The group known as the Ajax Security Team has been outed as the perpetrators of a number of espionage operations against US-based defence contractors in addition to targeting Iranians using software that bypasses the country’s Internet filters.[/ltr]

[ltr]And Finally ...[/ltr]

[ltr]A police officer lost his car keys after arresting a suspect - and had to ask his prisoner's mum for a lift to the station. The officer accidentally locked the keys in the boot as he was about to put the cuffed man in his patrol car. Sheepishly, he went back to the suspect's house to ask his mother if she had a car and if she could drive them to the police station. She agreed and ushered her son and the officer - still handcuffed together - into the back of her three-door Vauxhall Corsa as neighbours on the housing estate jeered and laughed. According to the report, he was "met with some hostility" when he arrested the man for assault in Nottinghamshire in April.[/ltr]

[ltr]Significant Forthcoming Anniversaries:[/ltr]

[ltr]20 May 2011 Suicide bomber on motorbike attacks US Consulate vehicle in Peshawar, killing one Pakistani and wounding 10 others.
21 May 2002 VBIED outside US Embassy in Lima, Peru kills nine Peruvians.
21 May 1991 Assassination by a female PBIED of Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi
24 May 1994 Four Islamists are each jailed for 250 years for imprisonment for the February 1993 VBIED attack on the World Trade Centre.
24 May 2000 Israeli troops withdraw from Lebanon after 22 years of occupation
26 May 2014 Memorial Day – US & Spring Bank Holiday - UK
27 May 1964 Founding day of FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
29 May 1972 Japanese Red Army terrorists mount grenade and automatic weapons assault on passengers at Tel Aviv’s Lod Airport killing 26 people
30 May 2001: The founder of the extremist group, the Japanese Red Army announces its dissolution, regrouping as a legal entity[/ltr]

[ltr]2 June 1953 Coronation Day of HM Queen Elizabeth ll
3 June 2007 Authorities in New York disrupt plot to blow up jet fuel supply tanks and pipelines at JFK International Airport in the city
3 June 1982 Shlomo Argov, Israeli ambassador to London, was shot in an assassination attempt outside the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane, London W1
4 June 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon (follows the near fatal shooting of the Israeli Ambassador to London – Shlomo Argov)
4 June 1989 Massacre of students in China’s Tiananmen Square
4 June 1999 Turkish police kill two terrorists allegedly planning to attack the US Consulate.
5 June 2014 World Environment Day
6 June 1944 Commemoration of the D-Day Landings
6 June 1984 Radical Sikhs in India’s Punjab storm and occupy the Golden Temple
6 June 2001 Bomb maker Inderjit Singh Reyat charged in connection with the 1985 Air India sabotage that killed 329 people.
7 June 2011 Harun Fazul, wanted in connection with August 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killed by Somali forces; U.S. Secretary of State sees “significant blow to al-Qaeda, its extremist allies, and its operations in East Africa”
7 June 2006 Abu Mus‘ab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, killed in Coalition raid
8 June 2000 British Attaché, Brigadier Stephen Saunders, is murdered in a street ambush. November 17 claimed responsibility
9 June 2009 Massive lorry bomb attack on the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan, kills 18 and injures at least 50.
10 June 1973 U.S. Anniversary of Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States (Pro-life and pro-choice activists organize gatherings on this day)
12 June 2014 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil
14 June 1985 Hijacking of TWA flight 847 by Hezbollah and forced to Beirut. US Navy diver, Robert Stethem, is murdered by the hijackers.
15 June 2001 A Sudanese citizen and an Indian national are arrested in India for plotting to blow up US Embassy in New Delhi.
15 June 1996 Provisional IRA detonated a massive vehicle bomb in Manchester city centre. At about 3,000 kg in weight, the VBIED was one of the largest devices to function in peacetime UK.
23 June 1985 Sabotage of Air India flight 185 off the Irish coast. Kills 329 people
25 June 1996 Bomb at the U.S. military base at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia kills 19 US airmen.
26 June 1995 Attempted assassination of Egyptian president Mubarak during a visit to Ethiopia.
27 June 1994 Sarin gas attack in the Japanese city of Matsumoto kills 7 people. Aum Shinrikyo sect responsible.
28 June 1988 US Defence Attaché William Norden is murdered in Athens by November 17 terrorist group.
28 June 1914 Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo precipitates the 1914-1918 Great war.
29 June 2007 Two VBIED’s left in London’s Cockspur Street and Haymarket are made safe by police explosives officer.
29 June 1999 PKK Leader Abdullah Oçalan is sentenced to death by hanging for treason. Later commuted to life in jail.
30 June 2007 Two individuals attempt to crash a VBIED into a Glasgow Airport passenger terminal.[/ltr]

[ltr]Visit Dilitas at our Facebook page.[/ltr]

[ltr]Ensure that your own security arrangements are adequate and robust at all times.
Report any suspicious activity to Police immediately
Confidential Anti Terrorist Hotline: 0800 789 321 or dial 999[/ltr]

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