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India-Pakistan

Gujarat coordination brought Delhi shootout success

2008-09-20

The successful operation leading to the gunning down of SIMI operative Bashir alias Atiq who was involved in Ahmedabad and New Delhi blasts has once again underlined the importance of co-ordination between intelligence and investigative agencies at the Centre and in states. Sources put down the breakthrough to the coordination among cops of the Capital, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, with the Intelligence Bureau acting as the facilitator. According to sources critical inputs came from the Gujarat police, which has extracted reams of crucial information from the SIMI/Indian Mujahideen activists being held for the Ahmedabad blasts and the failed attack on the diamond city of Surat. The IB officials, after the input had been vetted by their units in Maharashtra and Gujarat, passed it on to Delhi Police which developed it with the help of scientific investigation before zeroing in on the hideout at L-18 at Batla House in Jamia Nagar. Apparently the Ahmedabad crime branch which is probing the serial blast cases of July 26 in which 57 were killed, had collected phone call details of Mufti Abu Bashar and Sajid Mansuri, two important suspects in these blasts. After the Delhi blasts, there was suspicion of the same persons being involved. "As the same module was behind both the blasts, we further questioned Bashar and Sajid Mansuri on the Delhi blasts", said a crime branch official. Delhi police took Bashar away on Thursday. Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Ashish Bhatia, told TOI that Bashar's statement was vital for further investigation. "We got his call list and analysed it. We found some of the numbers from Delhi's certain areas, Jamia Nagar among them. We gave this list to central agencies," he said. These agencies - Intelligence Bureau (IB) and National Security Guards (NSG), then further analysed and corroborated the location of the calls. The agencies were also given the statements of the accused recorded by Ahmedabad crime branch which also talked about Bashar's visits to Delhi. "The Mufti was needed to identify the places we suspected. He took us to Jamia Nagar and we confirmed it was the same place mentioned in the statement. A local STD PCO booth was used to make calls to various places in India, which we identified. Then we kept these flats under surveillance," said a senior Delhi police official.

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Europe

7 held in Denmark after anti-terror sting

2006-09-06

Follow-up on yesterday's story. EFL. ODENSE, Denmark - Seven men faced preliminary charges of plotting a terror attack in Denmark on Tuesday, while two others arrested in pre-dawn raids were released. Investigators said they launched the pre-emptive raids early Tuesday after having the group under surveillance for some time, though they said they were not sure what stage of planning the suspects were in. The clues police found indicate that they were very likely planning an attack somewhere in Denmark,’ Justice Minister Lene Espersen told The Associated Press. It was the most serious matter I have had in my time as justice minister,’ she said. Police went in and stopped the group as it was preparing an attack.’ Officials said the nine suspects arrested were Danish citizens between the ages of 18 and 33. Findsen said eight had immigrant backgrounds, but did not specify from what countries. Two of them were released later Tuesday, but the other seven arrived for a closed court hearing in Odense, handcuffed with plastic strips that were removed upon the request of the defense lawyers. Prosecutor Erik Terp Jensen demanded that they be held in custody on preliminary charges of plotting terror acts as the investigation continues. The maximum sentence is life in prison, although such sentences are commuted after 16 years under Danish laws. So they get a second chance to commit a terrorist act. Witnesses said several more people were rounded up in the raids, but released after police checked their identities. Investigators did not reveal the planned target of the attack, and said it was hard to evaluate how far the suspects had progressed in their preparations. With the general terror situation, the Danish Security Intelligence Service didn’t want to run any unnecessary risk,’ Findsen said. The Danes generally are a sensible people. He said the sweep was not related to a terror investigation in Germany in which four Lebanese suspects are being held in connection with a failed train bombing attempt. German media claimed one of the suspects, Youssef Mohamad el Hajdib, who was arrested Aug. 19 in the northern German city of Kiel, was heading to Denmark. German and Danish media reported that German police had found a telephone number in his pocket for Abu Bashar, an imam living in Odense. Abu Bashar denied knowing el Hajdib, but said it was a matter of time before terrorists would strike Denmark. "Youse guys are gonna get it by Allan!" 'Osama Bin Laden said in a message three years ago that he will punish the countries that have (troops) in Iraq,’ he told the AP. 'Denmark is on the list. I am afraid of the message of Osama Bin Laden that he will do something against Denmark.’ Abu Bashar said he knew the suspects arrested Tuesday as members of Odense’s Muslim community, and predicted they would be found innocent. I believe that very, very soon they will be released,’ he said. And deported along with your fat ass. How's Mauritania sound?

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Europe

Danish Police Arrest 9 Terror Suspects

2006-09-05

Police in Denmark on Tuesday arrested nine people suspected of plotting a terror attack with materials they acquired to build explosives, intelligence officials said. Justice Minister Lene Espersen called the case "very serious," and said the group had been under surveillance for some time. "It is among the worst that has happened in Denmark," she told the TV2 channel, without providing any details. Lars Findsen, head of the Danish Security Intelligence Service, said the suspects had acquired materials to build explosives "in connection with the preparation of a terror act," without elaborating. He did not reveal the planned target of the attack and said it was hard to evaluate how far the plot had come along. "With the general terror situation, the Danish Security Intelligence Service didn't want to run any unnecessary risk," Findsen said. He said the suspects _ one ethnic Dane and eight people with immigrant backgrounds, all between the ages of 18 and 33 _ would face a custody hearing later Tuesday in Odense, 100 miles west of Copenhagen. Espersen said all nine were Danish citizens. The suspects were arrested early Tuesday in Vollsmose, a mostly immigrant suburb west of Odense, Denmark's third-largest city. The sweep came nearly two weeks after four young Muslims were charged in Copenhagen in connection with a Bosnian terror probe. Investigators said the network planned to blow up a target in a European country to force the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. The four men, who have not been identified, were charged with helping to provide weapons and explosives to two men arrested in Bosnia. The four have denied any wrongdoing. Police did not say if the new arrests were related to that case. Findsen said, however, the arrests were not related to a terror investigation in Germany in which four Lebanese suspects are being held in connection with a failed train bombing attempt. German media claimed one of the suspects, Youssef Mohamad el Hajdib, who was arrested Aug. 19 in the northern German city of Kiel, was heading to Denmark. German and Danish media reported German police found a telephone number in his pockets for Abu Bashar, an imam living in Odense. Abu Bashar has denied knowing el Hajdib but told newspaper Fyens Stifitstidende that it was a matter of time before terrorists would strike Denmark. "I fear a terror attack in Denmark because there are Danish troops in Iraq," he was quoted as saying.

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