India, Russia start anti-terror group

New Delhi - March 31, 2003 - Last year, during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India, both Russia and India had signed an MoU to set up a group on counter-terrorism to function under their Joint Working Group on Afghanistan. "The modalities have been worked out and a meeting will be held later this year," an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said on Monday. In this connection, Foreign Secretary, Kanwal Sibal, visited Russia recently. A meeting was held in Moscow on March 28, and a joint statement was issued. The group will assess and chalk out strategies to meet the challenges thrown up by terrorism. The two sides emphasized the need for development of a comprehensive strategy - with appropriate key UN role - to deal with the increased production of narcotic drugs in Afghanistan and its illegal trafficking. "Serious concern was expressed over the escalation of subversive and terrorist activity by the Taliban and Al Qaeda remnants and others and their efforts to regroup with support from outside," the joint statement mentioned. 

The Asian Age - April 1, 2003

Al Qaeda using Iraq war to recruit new members

New York - April 7, 2003 - On website, in chat rooms and at radical mosques across the Muslim world, followers of Al Qaeda and other jihad movements are using the war in Iraq to recruit and reconnect with cohorts committed to holy war against America. "The current Al Qaeda leaders are all known now but the war is going to create new faces unknown to the rest of the world, and they will become tomorrow's leaders of the groups that will never stop battling America," said Mr. Mohammed Salah, a Cairo-based journalist who has covered Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda and other militant groups for more than a decade for the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat. Mr. Salah said Al Qaeda had a hard time recruiting after the war in Afghanistan ended and the organization was left scattered.

The Asian Age - April 8, 2003.

Alleged Laden tape urges suicide attacks

Islamabad - April 8, 2003 - A new audio tape purported to be from Osama bin Laden urges suicide attacks and calls on Muslims to rise up against Arab governments that support the attack on Iraq. In the tape, Bin Laden's supposed voice urges the faithful to attack governments in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Unlike previous recording allegedly by Bin Laden, this one has a single theme - suicide attacks. "All of them have been imposed upon you and jihad (holy war) against them is your duty," the Arabic language tape received on Monday in remote northwestern Pakistan said, which was obtained by Associated Press from an Algerian national, identified only as Aadil. Aadil said he slipped across the border from Afghanistan, where the tape was apparently recorded. It was translated by an Arabic speaking Afghan who met the terrorist mastermind years ago and who said the voice appeared to be of Bin Laden. It appeared the tape has been made after the outbreak of war in Iraq last month.

The Asian Age - April 8, 2003.

India Singapore plan terror JWG 

New Delhi - April 9 - Diplomatic sources say visiting Singaporean Premier Goh Chok Tong and Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee have discussed the issue of India and Singapore working together to set up a Joint Working Group to step up cooperation against terrorism. Singapore is concerned with the rise of Jammayiah Islamiyah extremist groups. Thirty-five militants of the group are currently under detention in Singapore. The cooperation is important for India as many of these groups have links to groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayyeba. Two of the militants now detained in Singapore are believed to have been trained in PoK. 

Hindustan Times - April 10, 2003

19 dead, 45 hurt in J&K violence 

Srinagar - Seven security personnel, including an Army Major and a block president of the ruling People's Democratic Party, were among 19 people killed as militants stepped up attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. Forty-five people were reportedly injured in the attacks. Suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants made an abortive bid to storm the sector headquarters of BSF in north Kashmir, triggering a gun-battle, which left three militants, two BSF personnel and a civilian dead. Three members of the suicide squad approached the sector headquarters at Bagh-Bandipora in Baramulla district from the rear side and hurled grenades and opened fire on the troops working in a garage, wounding two of them, a BSF spokesman said.

The Times of India - April 26, 2003

Eleven hurt in 'terror' blast at Jakarta airport

Jakarta - April 27 - A bomb ripped through a busy passenger terminal at Jakarta's main airport on Sunday, wounding 11 people in an attack that the police said was "meant to terrorise". The blast, witnesses said, occurred between a fast food restaurant and a ticket counter for Indonesia's national carrier, Garuda. Indonesian Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told the state news agency Antara that he believed that the blast was the work of the Free Aceh Movement which has been fighting a 26-year secessionist war with the government. The government on Thursday cancelled talks scheduled for this weekend that were supposed to address the increased tensions. Sunday's attack - the second bomb blast in a week - is the latest in a long series of bombings in Jakarta. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and is struggling to deal with a list of terrorist movements that mushroomed after the ouster of Suharto almost five years after a blast in the domestic departure area.

The Asian Age - April 28, 2003.

Time for Coordination

Here are some handy details if one wants to coordinate:

National Crime Squad 
www.nationalcrimesquad.police.uk 

National Criminal Intelligence Service, UK
www.ncis.gov.uk 

Interpol
www.interpol.com

Europol
www.eurpol.eu.int/index.asp


UK National Hi-Tec Crime Unit
www.nhtcu.org/hhtcu.htm

Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)
www.iwf.org.uk

HM Customs and Excise, UK
www.hmce.gov.uk/index.htm

IFPI World Anti-piracy Organisation 
www.ifpi.org


(Courtesy: Suresh Kumar RETNASINGHAM (Sid),
PO BOX 10516 
Birmingham
B43-6WD
West Midlands
England
UK)

Food for Thought

Kind words do not cost much. They never blister the tongue or lips. They make other people good-natured. They also produce their own image on men's souls, and a beautiful image it is.

Blaise Pascal
(1623-1662, French Scientist, Religious Philosopher)

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If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him, for an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Joseph E. O'Donnell