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Jack's Report

Not much news on the U.S. media.
FOX is starting to look like one of those tabloids you find at the store checkstand. "Will Mark Geragos be free from the Peterson trial in time to take on the Hacking media event in this ongoing soap opera?"

Jack

IDF: Palestinian ambulances used to transport bombs
By JPOST.COM STAFF

An advanced IDF explosives-detection device employed at the Hawara checkpoint near Nablus discovered that a Palestinian ambulance was being used to transport explosive material.

The device found scent traces of explosives material inside the ambulance, Israel Radio reported Monday. The ambulance driver was arrested.

IDF forces have started employing advanced explosives-detection technology at checkpoints and roadblocks in the Palestinian territories, Israel Radio reported Monday.

The devices are based on advanced X-ray and measurement technology. In their testing stages, they will be deployed at every checkpoint if found to be effective.



Aug. 2, 2004 13:04 | Updated Aug. 2, 2004 15:05
Terror plans found on al-Qaida computerBy ASSOCIATED PRESS

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

Pakistani intelligence agents found plans for new attacks against the United States and Britain on a computer seized during the arrest of a senior al-Qaida suspect wanted for the 1998 twin US embassy bombings in East Africa, the information minister said.

The plans were found in e-mails on the computer of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian arrested July 25 after a 12-hour gun battle in the eastern city of Gujrat, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Monday.

"We got a few e-mails from Ghailani's computer about (plans for) attacks in the US and UK," he said, adding that the information has been shared with Pakistan's allies - a reference to the United States.

Ahmed said authorities have also arrested another top suspect believed to be a computer and communications expert, and that that man was cooperating with investigators.

"He is a very wanted man, but I cannot say his name now," Ahmed said. He said the man was a militant, but refused to say if he was part of al-Qaida.

Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayyat confirmed that Ghailani was sharing "vital" information, but he would not comment on what it was.

"He has given us vital information, but we cannot share specifics," Hayyat said. An intelligence official said the information about a US attack appeared to be centered on New York.

Hayyat said Ghailani remains in Pakistani custody.

The Home Office in London, which is responsible for policing and security in Britain, had no immediate comment on the computer seizure.

Two AK-47 rifles, plastic chemicals, two computers, computer diskettes, and a "large amount" of foreign currency were recovered from the home in Gujrat where Ghailani was seized. More than a dozen others, including his wife and several children, were also arrested in that raid.

Officials believe the group was making plans to flee Pakistan on false passports. Gujrat is a center for document forgers and human smugglers in Pakistan.

The intelligence official also confirmed the arrest of a computer engineer who would send messages using code words to al-Qaida suspects. Pakistani television reported that his name was Noor Mohammed, but the official said that was just an alias.

Ahmed would not confirm whether the information from Ghailani or the computer expert is what prompted US Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to issue a warning Sunday about a possible al-Qaida attack on prominent financial institutions in New York, Washington and Newark, New Jersey.

Ridge specifically thanked Pakistan for its help in the war on terror during his press conference Sunday.

Ahmed said that Pakistani forces are still acting on the information the computer expert is supplying, and that it is an ongoing investigation.