New Delhi - October 1, 2003 - In a sensational report, an American web daily has claimed that Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda has formed the "first terrorist naval force" and positioned 15 ships in the Indian Ocean or the Pacific, even as the US state department issued a warning about threats to its maritime interests and Philippines government raised the alert levels at all its ports. The ships, it is said, were capable of carrying cargo of lethal chemicals, a 'dirty bomb' or even a nuclear weapon and could hit civilian ports on a suicide mission. "The freighters are believed to be some where in the Indian or Pacific Oceans. When the ships left their home ports in the Horn of Africa weeks back, some were destined for ports in Asia."

The Asian Age - October 2, 2003.

New Al Qaeda chief takes over in Persian Gulf

Washington - October 2, 2003 - US officials believe they have identified a former bodyguard of Osama bin Laden as Al Qaeda's new chief of terror operations in the Persian Gulf. Abu Hazim Al-Shair, a 29-year old Yemeni now believed to be living in Saudi Arabia, is one of a new crop of Al Qaeda men who are trying to fill the roles of senior bin Laden lieutenants who have been captured or killed since September 11. "Capable replacements appear to be emerging, many have demonstrated their ability to see previous operations through to fruition," says one US intelligence report.

The Indian Express - October 3, 2003.

LTTE redesignated as terrorist group

Washington - October 3, 2003 - The United States has redesignated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) along with others such as Pakistan-based terrorist outfit, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, the Al-Qaeda and the Hamas. Under the amended provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act, it is illegal for persons in the US or within US jurisdiction to provide material support to the designated terrorist outfits. The Act mandates American financial institutions to block assets; and visas are denied to representatives of these groups. The State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said that although the LTTE is engaged in a peace process with the Sri Lankan Government, Washington has determined that the group "continues to engage in terrorist activities" and hence the re-designation.

The Hindu - October 4, 2003

Naidu injured in blast, PWG hand suspected

Hyderabad - October 1, 2003 - Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, and State Information Minister B. Gopalakrishnan Reddy and two MLAs, C. Krishnamurthy and R. Rajsekhar, were injured on Wednesday when the convoy in which they were traveling was hit by a landmine. Four to six landmines had been planted and were set off with a camera flash. The man who set off the explosion escaped and the camera flash was recovered by the police about 50 yards from the site of the explosion. Naidu has been on the PWG's hit list for a long time. Though no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, outlawed Peoples War Group (PWG) was suspected of carrying out the explosion.
(PWG later on claimed responsibility)

Hindustan Times - October 2, 2003

Restaurant blast kills 18 in Israel

Jerusalem - At least 18 people were killed and some 30 injured on Saturday when a suicide bombing ripped through a popular seaside restaurant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, army radio reported. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Israel said the Palestinian Authority must take responsibility because of its failure to dismantle what it terms "the terrorist infrastructure of groups." Palestinian prime minister-designate Ahmed Qorei condemned the attack and urged all Palestinian groups to stop targeting civilians. He also called on the Israeli government to halt its confiscation of Palestinian land.

Times of India - October 5, 2003.

'Al Qaeda may target Queen at C'wealth conference'

London - October 5, 2003 - The UK government has learned that the Queen could be the target of an Al Qaeda terrorist attack during a visit to Nigeria later this year. The intelligence warnings indicate that Al Qaeda operatives hope to exploit weaknesses in Nigeria's security services to strike during the Commonwealth heads of government conference in December. In a taped message to Muslims broadcast in February this year, Osama bin Laden branded six governments Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Yemen and Nigeria apostate and called on Muslims to rise up and overthrow their relatively pro-Western regimes.

The Asian Age - October 6, 2003

UN on alert as West Asia goes back on the boil

Jerusalem - October 5, 2003 - Israel launched its deepest air raid into Syria on Sunday, attacking a training camp for Palestinian militants after a suicide bomber killed 19 people in an Israeli restaurant. At Syria's request, the UN Council called an urgent session after receiving a letter from Damascus describing the attack as "a grave escalation" of West Asian tensions. The United States urged both Israel and Syria to do nothing that would heighten tensions or lead to hostilities in West Asia. Israel said its warplanes hit a training base used by "terror groups" including Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for Saturday's suicide attack on the eve of the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday.

The Indian Express - October 6, 2003.

Osama bomb video circulating in UK

A chilling video featuring advice on how to make bombs and calls to holy war from Osama bin Lalden is circulating among radical British Muslims. The video includes a 20-second sequence during which a masked man shows how a detonator can be wired together. The man then gives instructions in Arabic on the construction of a bomb. The next sequence shows an exploding bomb in a building, apparently somewhere in Afghanistan, and footage of masked militants in what seems to be an Al Qaeda camp. The bomb-making pictures have been taken form a second video, circulating in Britain, which features demonstrations of terrorist and military techniques. Both the Prime Minister and Sir John Stevens, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, have said that a terrorist attack is "inevitable".

Hindustan Times - October 6, 2003.

Naxals Tell Rabri, Munda to stop police action or face Naidu-like attack

Patna - October 6, 2003 - Outlawed Naxalite outfit Peoples War (PW), affiliated to the banned PWG of Andhra Pradesh, has warned Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi and Jharkhand CM Arjun Munda either to stop police operations against their men in both the states or face an attack similar to the one on Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu. Calling Naidu an agent of imperialist powers, the outfit warned that it would continue such actions against anti-people leaders and oppressive police officers. The press communiqué issued by the Secretary of Bihar-Jharkhand joint state committee of PW says that Munda had booked 3200 poor people, including a large number of innocent tribals and minors under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Munda has been warned either to stop the 'anti-people' activities or be prepared to face the consequences.

The Indian Express - October 7, 2003.

Policemen killed in suicide blast

Baghdad - October 9, 2003 - A suicide driver roared through the gates of a police station in Baghdad's biggest Shia Muslim slum on Thursday morning and detonated his car bomb in the courtyard, killing eight persons - three policemen and five civilians - and injuring 45 people. Some 50 officers had gathered outside in the compound to collect their pay when the incident took place. Mangled police cars were scattered around the bomb site and debris filled the big courtyard in front of the police building. The plague of post-war violence flared elsewhere in the capital as well, as a Spanish military attaché was shot to death after four men knocked on his door, according to a Spanish diplomat in Baghdad who spoke on condition of anonymity. A school guard, opposite the diplomat's house, said the men tried to drag him out of his house. He escaped, tried to run away and was shot in the head. The diplomat died at the scene.

The Hindu - October 10, 2003

10 die in car bomb attack at CIA hub in Baghdad

Baghdad - October 12, 2003 - A powerful car bomb killed at least 10 people outside a central Baghdad hotel used by CIA officials and US officials on Sunday, injuring many and filling the air with dust and thick black smoke, the police said. Eye-witnesses said they saw a car crash through the security barrier at the Baghdad Hotel and explode. A concrete bomb wall protecting the hotel was blown over by the force of the blast.

The Asian Age - October 13, 2003.

Taliban back on the offensive, courtesy Pak

Chiang Mai (Thailand) - October 12, 2003 - Afghanistan's Taliban militia is regaining strength with the help of the Pakistani establishment and Islamic groups, says a reputed newsmagazine. Afghan leaders had complained to the US about the overt and covert assistance being extended to the Taliban from Pakistan. In Quetta, capital of the Baluchistan province where a hardline Pakistani Islamist group is in power, Taliban fighters can be seen on the streets without any fear of the Pakistani authorities, the Far Eastern Economic Review said in a report. Pakistani officials routinely deny any links with the renewed Taliban offensive in Afghanistan. The magazine added, "Musharraf is playing a deft game, exploiting the leverage over the Americans while doing just enough to curtail overt US criticism."

Hindustan Times - October 13, 2003

Taliban kill eight Afghan policemen

A large force of Afghan Taliban guerillas killed eight police officers and wounded two in a night attack on a district office in the volatile southern province of Zabul early on Sunday, a local official said.

Hindustan Times - October 13, 2003

Terror kingpin shot dead

Manila - The Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, on Monday praised security forces for an operation that killed one of Asia's most-wanted terror suspects, Al-Ghozi, whose escape from Philippine police headquarters three months ago embarrassed the Government. Al-Ghozi was a suspected bombmaker for the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

The Hindu - October 14, 2003

Osama's son rises in Al Qaeda ranks

Washington - October 14, 2003 - Saad bin Laden, one of Osama bin Laden's oldest sons, has emerged as a key player in the al Qaeda network and is part of a small group of leaders running the group from Iran, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. He was at his father's side in Afghanistan when Al Qaeda was formed and was groomed to take a leadership role. He and other senior Al Qaeda operatives in Iran were in contact with an Al Qaeda cell in Saud Arabia just prior to the May 12 suicide bombing in the Saudi capital that killed 35 people. Saad bin Laden and other All Qaeda leaders in Iran are protected by a secretive Iranian security force loyal to the nation's clerics and beyond the control of the central government, the report said. Saudi officials estimate there are up to 400 Al Qaeda members in Iran.

Hindustan Times - October 15, 2003

Now, pillow bombs feared on planes

Washington - October 14, 2003 - Airport screeners in US and elsewhere are on the look out for suspicious pillows, coats and stuffed animals after US intelligence concluded that Al Qaeda operatives are being trained to apply special chemicals to the material inside to transform them into bombs. "We judge this type of threat to be real and continuing," the Department of Homeland Security said in the August 8 warning. It noted there have been reports from several credible, independent sources that Al Qaeda is training to build such bombs. Confiscated Al Qaeda manuals show the sophistication of its preparations, the document said. Items such as buttons, zippers or wristwatches could be used in tandem with tightly packed nitrocellulose as power sources or ignition components to set off a detonation, the directive said. US officials said while airport X-ray machines cannot detect nitrocellulose, another type of technology called a trace-detection machine can. Screeners rub the inside of, say, a briefcase or jacket with a specially treated cotton swab or piece of gauze and then insert the swab into the machine. The machine heats the swab and can detect from the vapours whether explosive chemicals or narcotics are present. "This is a threat that has been anticipated in the design and development of the procedures our screeners follow," he said. That's why passengers are asked to remove their jackets and place them, as well as stuffed animals and pillows, on X-ray machines, he added.

The Indian Express - October 15, 2003.

Militants attack Chief Minister Mufti's house - Two BSF men among three killed

Srinagar - October17, 2003 - Two militants hurled grenades and opened fire on security guards posted at the official residence of the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, today. The Mufti was not at his residence at the time of the attack and the other members present were safe. The guards immediately retaliated but the militants managed to enter the multi-storeyed shopping complex nearby. Three persons, including two BSF guards, were killed and 15 wounded in the encounter.

The Hindu - October 18, 2003

UK unearths plot to kill Putin

London - Scotland Yard has thwarted a suspected plot to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin after arresting a renegade Russian intelligent agent, former KGB major, and another Russian in London. They were detained for six days at a high-security police station in London under the Terrorism Act, 2000, questioned, and released on condition that they returned to Moscow. The alleged plot was uncovered by the Yard nine days ago. Police were alerted after they received a detailed legal statement form Alexander Litvinenko, a former intelligence officer in Russia's FSB, the main successor organization to the KGB. A senior Whitehall source said that M15 was aware of the arrests: "This is a criminal investigation into something that has an international dimension,"

The Times of India - October 20, 2003.

MI5 chief says Qaeda may target food sector

London - October 17, 2003 - M-15 director-general Ms. Eliza Manningham-Buller said, "Western security services have uncovered networks of individuals, sympathetic to the aims of Al Qaeda, that blend into society, individuals who live normal, routine lives until called upon for specific tasks for another part of the network." She further added that new terrorist targets could include the chemical and food industry. Some of these individuals are in the UK. One of the lessons learnt from September 11 and other incidents was the ability of the terrorist to hide in plain sight, to be seen but not noticed and to all intents and purposes to live a law-abiding existence.

The Asian Age - October 18, 2003.

'Osama tape' threatens more attacks

Dubai - October 18, 2003 - An audio-tape purportedly from the Al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, broadcast from the Arab satellie channel, Al-Jazeera, today said: We, God willing, will continue to fight you and will continue martyrdom (suicide) operations inside and outside the United States until you abandon your oppression and foolish acts. " The Al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, vowed more suicide attack inside and outside he United States.

The Hindu - October 18, 2003.

Twin blasts shake Afghan city, no casualties report

Kabul - At least two explosions rocked the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, causing minor damage and no casualties, witnesses and officials said. Jalalabad police chief, Haji Ajab Shah, blamed members of the ousted Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies for their explosions. Taliban guerillas and their militant allies have been blamed for attacks all over Afghanistan since the movement's overthrow by US-led forces in late 2001.

The Asian Age - October 23, 2003.

Qaeda chiefs circulate scanner-proof bomb design to UK militants

London - October 26, 2003 - Al Qaeda chiefs are circulating plans to British extremists for a bomb designed to evade airport scanning machines. The plans, written in Arabic, include chemical formulas and diagrams for the large-scale production of substances such as TNT, C4 and PETN, one of the most powerful explosives. The Internet files detail a plan for using bombs that would not show up on conventional airport detection machines. M-15 has recently told Britain's emergency planners that there is a "real and serious" threat of north African Al Qaeda supporters carrying out a huge bomb attack in Britain. The discovery of the plans comes as the UK foreign office warned Britons against traveling to Saudi Arabia. This followed an assessment that found the terrorism threat to be "particularly serious at this time."

The Asian Age - October 27, 2003

5 policemen, 3 civilians killed as Maoists attack police post

Kathmandu: Maoist rebels attacked a village police station in Nepal's Midwest on Sunday killing at least five policemen and three civilians, the police said. The police officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said three civilians were also killed in the attack. Fighting between the rebels and government troops has escalated since the rebels pulled out of peace talks.

The Asian Age - October 27, 2003

40 killed as series of blasts hit Baghdad

Baghdad: Car bombers struck the International Red Cross headquarters and three police stations across Baghdad on Monday, killing about 40 people and injuring more than 200. The bombings came hours after clashes in the Baghdad area killed three US soldiers overnight, and a day after insurgents hit a hotel full of US occupation officials with a barrage of rockets, killing a US colonel and wounding 18 others. At the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Central Baghdad, witnesses said a suicide bomber drove an explosives-packed vehicle, apparently an ambulance, right up to security barriers outside the building and detonated it, blowing down the Red Cross's front wall, devastating the interior and blowing shrapnel and debris over a wide area.

The Times of India - October 28, 2003.

Srinagar-Jammu highway blast: 15 civilians injured

Srinagar: October 26, 2003 - Fifteen civilians were injured when militants detonated a powerful improvised explosive device (IED) on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway today, when an Army convoy, on way to Jammu, reached the main chowk at Bijbehara in South Kashmir district of Anantnag, official sources said. This was the second attempt by militants to target security force convoy on the highway. Yesterday, militants triggered an IED on the highway at Pampore, causing damage to three security vehicles.

Hindustan Times - October 28, 2003

Food for Thoughts


"I am like a remnant of a cloud of autumn uselessly roaming in the sky, O my sun ever-glorious! Thy touch has not yet melted my vapour, making me one with the light, and thus I count months and years separated from thee."

Rabindranath Tagore

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"Coming together is Beginning, Keeping together is Progress & Working together is SUCCESS."

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Winners don't do different things, They do things differently"