(Intelligence Agencies Have Intercepted A) Multi-Attack Terror Plot On European Cities

[Turborama]

Source: Sky News

Intelligence agencies have intercepted a terror plot to launch Mumbai-style attacks on London and other European cities, according to Sky News sources.

Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said militants based in Pakistan were planning simultaneous attacks on London and other major British cities.

The group - thought to be linked to Al Qaeda - were then planning similar attacks in France and Germany.

He said the plot was in the "advanced but not imminent stage" and the plotters had been tracked by spy agencies for some time. Intelligence sources said the planned attacks would have been similar to the commando-style raids carried out in Mumbai.

Read more: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Multi-Attack-Terror-Plot-On-London-And-Other-UK-Cities-Paris-And-Germany/Article/201009415747154?lpos=UK_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15747154_Multi-Attack_Terror_Plot_On_London_And_Other_UK_Cities,_Pari

[YOY]

1. Sky news...snicker...

n.t.

[Turborama]

3. Sky News has won an International Emmy Award for its coverage of the Taliban in Pakistan.

9:37am UK, Tuesday September 28, 2010

The channel won the News Category for its special report called http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Pakistan-Sky-News-Special-Exclusive-Reports-About-The-Taliban/Article/200903415247066">Pakistan - Terror's Frontline which presented exclusive coverage revealing that the Taliban are in control of a large part of Pakistan.

Sky's chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay became the first foreign journalist to enter the Swat Valley after the Taliban took control in March 2009.

The Taliban gave Stuart and his team permission to visit, suspending the standing order to catch or kill all foreigners entering Swat.

He was able to obtain footage of Taliban training camps for suicide bombers and saw evidence of attacks on security forces there.

More: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Sky-News-Wins-An-International-Emmy-Award-For-Its-Exclusive-Coverage-Of-The-Taliban-In-Pakistan/Article/201009415746563?lpos=UK_News_Second_Home_Page_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15746563_Sky_News_Wins_An_International_Emmy_Award_For_Its_Exclusive_Coverage_Of_The_Taliban_In_Pakistan_

[YOY]

4. Like I or anyone else should give a shit what Murdoch's empire reports.

Sky News is European Fox News. If it appears like it's got some integrity that part is only because it needs to appear so for a slightly more discerning viewer base we have not been fed on a steady diet of constant whining about "liberal media bias". Scratch the surface and the same old stench rises up to greet you.

[Turborama]

6. Do you get Sky News? I get both Sky and Faux and there's a vast difference between the two

Sky News is a British news channel.

Unlike in America where all bets are off for honesty and integrity, OFCOM is in charge of the accuracy and impartiality of news on British TV: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/broadcast-codes/broadcast-code/impartiality

However, it's likely that this will change soon as Cameron has a former Murdoch employee, Andy Caulson, (ex-editor of The News Of The World) as his communications manager. Murdoch has made it clear that he wants to kill the BBC and Cameron has made it clear he wants to water down the powers of OFCOM.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jul/10/lord-carter-david-cameron-ofcom


This is all pointing in the direction of "Faux news UK" in the not too distant future but it doesn't exist yet.

[YOY]

9. Two approaches. One end goal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Murdoch_(media_executive)

[Turborama]

10. Yeah, I've been following his battle with the BBC & what went on during the UK's election

On 28 August 2009, Murdoch delivered the MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, in which he attacked the BBC and UK media regulator Ofcom calling the BBC's expansion "chilling" and "In this all-media marketplace, the expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of news provision, which are so important for our democracy".

The BBC Chairman Sir Michael Lyons officially responded "We have to be careful not to reduce the whole of broadcasting to some simple economic transactions. The BBC's public purposes stress the importance of the well-tested principles of educating and informing, and an impartial contribution to debate in the UK."

In April 2010, Murdoch and his associate Rebekah Brooks stormed into the offices of The Independent to complain about an advertisement campaign by the newspaper . The advertisement read "Rupert Murdoch won't decide this election - you will".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Murdoch_(media_executive)#Business_career
-

I've been posting about those topics here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=4355500">Tory links to Murdoch under scrutiny after Ofcom ruling

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=365120">The Listening Post: The Murdoch Empire Vs. The BBC, How News Corp. Sees The BBC As A Global "Threat" (VIDEO & Related Link)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=458289">"The Truth Behind The UK General Election" & Why Murdoch's Son Stormed Into The Independent's Office (VIDEO & Related Article)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=463905">Furious Political Editor Of Murdoch's Sky News Totally Flips Out & Almost Slaps Labour's Spin Doctor (VIDEO & A Lot Of Related Links)

[pnorman]

14. K & R for all the valuable links on this thread, particularly here.

n/t

[Blue Owl]

7. When it comes to international propaganda...

the Sky's the limit.

[newtothegame]

21. How bout NPR?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/09/29/130208869/reports-european-terror-plot-foiled-by-drone-strikes-in-pakistan

[YOY]

25. It's been going downhill, thanks for asking!

Because I really need to hear some idiot tell me how the constitution does not promote seperation of church and state and to hear Rush Limbaugh defended on publicly funded NPR.

Not to mention the Bush and Clinton Economic Advisors I hear a few years ago basically sucking each other off with acceptance of what I have learned (and anyone who likes demonstrative fact can learn as well) to be failed economic policy. Must be nice to get the platform to save you own legacy without opposition.

All in the past years....

[Turborama]

26. Al Jazeera English?

Europe 'terror plot foiled'
Spy agencies disrupt an al-Qaeda linked plot to launch attacks on major European cities, media reports say.

Last Modified: 29 Sep 2010 15:19 GMT

=snip=

Richard Barrett, the head of the United Nations' al-Qaeda monitoring team, told Al Jazeera that al-Qaeda is struggling to field large operations, and that the alleged plot probably would have relied on a small cell.

"They are squeezed for money, it's very much harder for them to connect with people in other countries," he said. "They have to rely on lone individuals or small cells to conduct attacks."

The US military reportedly helped its European allies track down the suspected plotters in Pakistan after investigators uncovered the plan.

Germany said on Wednesday that it was aware of the "long-term" al-Qaeda aim to attack Western targets, but that it had no evidence of any "concrete" plans.

Full article: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/09/201092923819317720.html

They just broadcast a good report on this, I'll add it here when they've uploaded it to their YouTube channel.

[YOY]

27. Honestly just not familiar enough with it to make a decent call.

Neither a watcher nor incredibly familiar with all the nuances of that network.

[mbperrin]

2. Terra! Terra! Terra!

Hey, is thing on?

[Myrina]

5. Score 1 for the Obama Admin --

... kept us safe from more terra attacks than the previous Administration did. Why, look, Al Q is so afraid of Prez Obama they didn't even try to target any US cities.

See, Rush? See?

[KansDem]

8. See, George, that's how it's done!

You use your (then) 16 US intelligence agencies to stay on top of things:

The 17 IC member agencies are:

Air Force Intelligence
Army Intelligence
Central Intelligence Agency
Coast Guard Intelligence
Defense Intelligence Agency
Department of Energy
Department of Homeland Security (added after 9/11)
Department of State
Department of the Treasury
Drug Enforcement Administration
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Marine Corps Intelligence
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
National Reconnaissance Office
National Security Agency
Navy Intelligence
Office of the Director of National Intelligence





...but then, it wasn't really about "they hate us for our freedoms," was it?

[Turborama]

11. ABC: 'Credible But Not Specific' Threat of New Terrorist Attack

Officials in Europe, US on High Alert for Commando-Style Raids After Capture of Suspected German Terrorist

By RICHARD ESPOSITO, RHONDA SCHWARTZ, MATTHEW COLE and ANNA SCHECTER
Sept. 28, 2010

US and European officials said Tuesday they have detected a plot to carry out a major, coordinated series of new terror attacks in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and possibly the United States.

A senior US official said that while there is a "credible" threat, no specific time or place is known. President Obama has been briefed about the threat, say senior US officials.

Intelligence and law enforcement authorities in the US and Europe said the threat information is based on the interrogation of a suspected German terrorist allegedly captured on his way to Europe in late summer and now being held at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.

US law enforcement officials say they have been told the terrorists were planning a series of "Mumbai-style" commando raids on what were termed "economic or soft" targets in the countries.

Full article: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-credible-specific-threat-terrorist-attack/story?id=11747364

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Anything coming from an 'interrogation' at Bagram is highly dubious

After all, that's where they've murdered men while torturing them, in the past. It makes Guantanamo look like a Caribbean vacation.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. I'm implying that the USA may still have people who torture working for it

No, I don't think the Augean Stables of the CIA and their contractors have been fully cleaned out yet.

That won't necessarily make Obama a war criminal; but he's not pure. After all, the contract he's put out on that American citizen in Yemen (to kill him with or without a trial) is arguably illegal.

[Turborama]

19. More details are coming out about this "suspected German terrorist"

From CNN International...

U.S. warns Europe of Mumbai-style terror attacks
From Nic Robertson and Paul Cruickshank

September 29, 2010 -- Updated 10:58 GMT

The man, Ahmed Sidiqi, was detained in Kabul in July and transferred to U.S. custody where he has "revealed details about the terror plot," said the official, who did not want to be named because he is not authorized to talk to the media. The man and several other Germans traveled from Hamburg to the Afghan-Pakistan border area in 2009, where he joined the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an extremist group allied with al Qaeda, German intelligence officials said.

Sidiqi, once captured, "started to talk a lot," and detailed a "Mumbai-style" attack in Europe, the German official said.

=snip=

Sidiqi is from Hamburg where he worked for a cleaning company at the Hamburg international airport, the German official said.

He attended the Masjid Taiba mosque, formerly known as the Al-Quds mosque, in Hamburg, which became known as the meeting place of those behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. Among those who prayed there was Mohammad Atta, one of the hijackers who commandeered the first plane that crashed into New York's World Trade Center. Sidiqi was part of Atta's circle, the official said.

Full article: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/29/europe.terror.plot/

[pauldp]

12. "Thought to be linked to Al Qaeda" - A.K.A the Pakistani I.S.I.

Like the Taliban in Afghanistan and just like the Mumbai attacks.

[The abyss]

15. Wow! A-whole-lota-shakin’-goin’-on.

The imperial forces are firing off missiles and taking out Al CIAda leaders in Pakistan.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4557525

Meanwhile Emanuel Goldstein’s operatives have reveled a multi-attack terror plot to be carried out somewhere in un-defined Europe.

I would be looking at the US of A heartland for the next false flag. Already did Europe: London & Madrid. They got to get the US taxpayers back in line.

[Turborama]

16. The Guardian: 'Mumbai-style' terror attack on UK, France and Germany foiled

Richard Norton-Taylor and Owen Bowcott
Wednesday September 29 2010

A plot to launch "commando-style" attacks on Britain, France, and Germany has been intercepted and foiled by drone attacks on militants based in Pakistan, security and intelligence sources said last night.

The plan for suicidal onslaughts similar to the 2008 atrocity in Mumbai – where 166 people were killed in a series of gun and grenade assaults – was disrupted after a combined operation involving US, UK, French and German intelligence agencies, officials said.

British security and intelligence sources, who have been concerned for some time about the possibility of a Mumbai-style attack in Europe, confirmed that they believed a plot was being hatched from Pakistan.

=snip=

American officials declined to comment on specific plots in Europe or elsewhere but acknowledged that targeted drone strikes in Pakistan were meant to disrupt militant networks planning attacks. "It shouldn't surprise anyone that links between plots and those who are orchestrating them lead to decisive American action," a US official told Reuters. "The terrorists who are involved are, as everyone should expect, going to be targets. That's the whole point of all of this."

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/29/terror-attack-plot-europe-foiled

[Turborama]

20. NBC: 'No U.S. dimension' to Europe terror plot

NBC, msnbc.com and news services

updated 53 minutes ago

LONDON — Intelligence officials have found "no U.S. dimension" to alleged terror plots targeting European cities, NBC News reported Wednesday.

Militants based in Pakistan were planning simultaneous strikes in London, as well as cities in France and Germany, according to Britain's Sky News.

The Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704791004575520360733161910.html">reported that investigators were examining whether the plot extended to the U.S.

However, a senior counterterrorism official told NBC News early Wednesday that no U.S. link had been uncovered.

More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39413455/ns/world_news-europe/

[newtothegame]

22. So we've increased anger and possible terror attacks on the U.S. by starting the Iraq War.

What exactly did London, Paris and Berlin do? :shrug:

[Turborama]

23. Britain was involved heavily in Iraq. NATO are heavily involved in Afghanistan

Britain, France and Germany all have troops in Afghanistan.

[Bragi]

24. I'm good with this particular victory over terrorism

This appears to be a case of counterintelligence operations working properly and even well.

This is a good thing, if true, and I don't see any reason to doubt that it is true, beyond my usual Pavlovian inclination to declare every story of this sort "fear-mongering".

One of the areas where I think the left is quite blinkered is in its refusal to believe that Islamic terrorism actually exists.

Just because the Bush-style "war on terrorism" is misguided and counter-productive doesn't mean that Islamic terrorism doesn't exist, or isn't as threat.

So I applaud the Euros and any involved US agents for stopping these terror plots.

[Turborama]

28. More details from Der Speigel

Bin Laden Said to Have Financed European Terror Plot

10/02/2010

German Islamist Ahmad Sidiqi has delivered new details about the apparent new terrorist plot against Europe and the United States. According to information obtained by SPIEGEL, he has told his interrogators that al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden approved the attack plans and also provided financing. German investigators now want to examine the credibility of Sidiqi's claims.

The No. 3 ranking member of the al-Qaida terror network allegedly prepared to carry out fresh attacks in Europe -- at least those are the claims made by German Islamist Ahmad Sidiqi during his interrogations, according to information obtained by SPIEGEL.

He met with Sheik Younis al-Mauretani early this summer under conspiratorial circumstances in the city of Mir Ali in Pakistan, the German claimed. He said he discussed possible attacks in several European countries, including France and Britain. He allegedly claimed that Osama bin Laden had given his personal approval for the plans and that he had also provided some of the money that was needed for the attacks.

American soldiers arrested Sidiqi in early July in Kabul, and he is currently being interrogated at the Bagram US military base. Sidiqi allegedly told his interrogators that he had fought in Afghanistan and had also met Said Bahaji, one of the men who provided support for the terrorists involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, airplane attacks in New York and Washington.

More: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,720879,00.html