Recent Appearances...

Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances...

International-UN-NGOs

Davos Discomfort: Globalists Nervous Ahead of West-West War

2025-01-26

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Savin

[REGNUM] This past week, heads of government, banks, large corporations, as well as economists and other supporters of the program that the founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Klaus Schwab calls the “fourth industrial revolution” or “reset” gathered once again in Davos, Switzerland.

The WEF is also well known for working with celebrities and public figures to help advance its agenda. This time, former Spice Girl Melanie Brown was featured in Davos as a victim of domestic violence.

The speeches of many participants were a rather strange cocktail of ideas of globalism, capitalism, technological development and neoliberalism, seasoned with "democratic" rhetoric. There is no point in dwelling on all the speeches in detail; it is worth highlighting only the most striking details.

THE BEGINNING CONFRONTATION
Compared to previous forums, there was a certain nervousness in the air, caused, above all, by the return to the White House of Donald Trump, who has effectively declared war on globalism, and therefore on the agenda that the Davos Forum is promoting.

Ahead of the meeting, various economists and bankers called 2025 a difficult year that could change. And that is absolutely true: under Trump, the EU will come under greater pressure.

In his Davos speech, he accused European Union regulators of targeting Apple, Meta* and Google, calling the lawsuits against US companies a "form of taxation."

The US president specifically cited a €13 billion court case that Apple lost last year. The EU court in Luxembourg upheld a landmark 2016 ruling that Ireland had violated state aid laws by giving Apple an unfair advantage. And the money, which had been sitting in an escrow account until the final ruling, should be returned.

Given that virtually all major US tech companies support Trump (and he, accordingly, them), the White House is clearly intent on pushing the interests of these giant corporations in the EU.

In general, with the new course of US foreign policy, the globalists gathering at the WEF are unlikely to feel comfortable.
Secret depravity of the Davos global elite
Especially considering that there is a clear division in the EU between supporters and opponents of Trump.

There is, for example, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who will certainly be listening closely to signals from Washington. On the other hand, there are the heads of Germany and France, who are still having problems with the electorate.

And, of course, the most striking example of the emerging confrontation with the US is Britain, which is closely linked to the EU. Its Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with the easy help of billionaire and one of the key members of Trump's team Elon Musk, has already received the nickname "Pakistan rapist".

GLOBALIZATION IN CHINESE
The second noteworthy moment of the forum was the speeches by representatives of China. In a special address, Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Ding Xuexiang called on governments to support multilateral institutions and warned against the ever-wider use of protectionist policies.

"We must jointly uphold and practice genuine multilateralism. Multilateralism is the right way to maintain world peace and promote human progress. It is the golden key to solving the difficulties and challenges facing the world," he said.

Earlier, the US administration of Barack Obama, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, advocated for the aforementioned “multilateralism”. Why is China now talking about it?

To some extent, this country is trying to replace the globalization under the auspices of the United States with its own globalization. Of course, it differs from the American one in a number of parameters, but still, from the point of view of national economies, it is the same globalization.

Under it, goods and services are displaced by Chinese ones, and the expansion of international infrastructure (the Belt and Road Initiative) serves the long-term interests of China itself, helping to saturate other countries with its goods. It is just done more gently, without the overt pressure or coercion previously practiced by Western transnational corporations.

FIGHTING "OPPONENTS OF DEMOCRACY"
As for the notable speeches of other state leaders, commenting on the US desire to have greater control over the Panama Canal, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino once again stated that the canal belongs to his country and called for respect for international agreements. He also emphasized the strength of Panama's alliance with the US.

Trump uses his menacing rhetoric and pressure as a “booster” in further negotiations, including to strengthen the US position in Central America as a whole.

In reality, a military intervention to establish control over the canal, which Panama fears, is unlikely. And the American president's harsh attacks are explained by the presence of infrastructure in the canal area, operated by China.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also spoke at the forum, calling on the EU to help “make social media great again” (to borrow Trump’s slogan) by cracking down on tech platforms he says are run by lawless tycoons.

“Tech billionaires want to overthrow democracy. This is the truth about the terrible threat we face,” Sanchez said, citing the spread of “disinformation” that fuels anti-liberal political movements. “The technology that was supposed to liberate us has become an instrument of our own oppression,” the Spanish prime minister said.

The truth is that with the advent of Trump, social media began a sharp turn away from the liberal globalist agenda, although they had previously followed it and introduced strict censorship towards any opponents and critics of it.

But now that the liberals’ criticism has “suddenly” become in demand, they immediately began to be indignant, explaining the new rhetoric as the machinations of “opponents of democracy.”

Volodymyr Zelensky also attended the forum, but he did not distinguish himself with any innovations. He was concerned that the US and Russia could reach an agreement on Ukraine, so he called on the EU to unite and continue to provide assistance to Kiev. In his opinion, Europe is interested in strengthening and repelling the “Russian threat”.

His call for NATO countries to increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP surprisingly coincided with Donald Trump's demands. Although Zelensky has his own interest here - receiving further military-technical assistance.

However, it is unclear how European countries can stabilize their economies without cheap Russian gas in order to increase military spending. The EU leadership has confirmed that energy resources will become even more expensive. Therefore, increased spending, which continues to destroy the European economy, is inevitable.

Therefore, statements about the EU investment plan, which supposedly will ensure a technological breakthrough, support the “green” agenda, and strengthen collective defense, do not look very convincing.

Overall, the Davos forum leaves a strong impression that both it and the globalists' program as a whole, despite their connections and influence, continue to crack. And the most significant contribution to this is now being made by the main player in the Western world - the United States.

Link

Europe

Early release for bombmaker Willie Brigitte

2009-12-01

AUSTRALIA'S most notorious terrorist Willie Brigitte will be free from jail next year, having served less than half his sentence for conspiring to blow up the nation's only nuclear reactor and the power grid.

Caribbean-born Muslim convert Brigitte made headlines in 2007 when he was sentenced in France, following his arrest in Sydney, to a maximum nine years in jail for joining an al-Qaeda-backed Pakistani terror cell out to bomb Lucas Heights nuclear plant, the national electricity grid and/or a military base.

But The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the French Justice Ministry is considering releasing the 41-year-old on an early release good behaviour plan - possibly in the new year. He is expected to immediately leave France for the Middle East, with Australia definitely off his itinerary.

Authorities close to his case in Paris said the decision would no doubt cause some diplomatic ructions in Australia but that the judiciary was a separate arm of the state.

The French national's lawyer Jean Claude Durimel last night confirmed the expected early release of his client.

"He will be free next year, it was nine years but with good behaviour," Mr Durimel said. "Of course he is happy. He had no problem in prison, he had good behaviour and when people are of good behaviour they may leave early."

Mr Durimel visited Brigitte in his maximum security cell in a complex outside Paris in the past couple of months to break the news.

"He is very angry because he thinks that the Australian authorities pursued him for a political purpose. He always said he was not a terrorist and that the file was empty but for him it was a political decision and not a judicial decision," Mr Durimel said.

Brigitte was born on the Caribbean island of Guadaloupe, a French territory, to affluent parents. He joined the navy in 1989 but quit four years later and moved to Paris.

There he embraced a radical form of Islam and began associating with members of Algeria's Islamist extremist Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat. He ran survival training lessons in the forests outside Paris for those wishing to fight for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Twice divorced, he moved to Pakistan in 2001 following the September 11 bombings. It was there he began to train in earnest for jihad with other foreigners at a base run by the al-Qaeda-backed Lashkar-e-Toiba, as they all awaited for their instructions to attack the West.

He later moved back to Paris but in May 2003 was given money and instructions to move to Sydney and make contact with an established terror cell and await further instructions. Ten days after he arrived in Sydney he married his third wife, unsuspecting army reservist and recent Muslim convert Melanie Brown.

She said she only became suspicious of her husband when he continuously questioned her about her time as a signaller in East Timor, the military equipment she used and her knowledge of army bases. She later sought to downplay the admission.

He moved about in Lakemba in Sydney's southwest, with authorities oblivious to his background or intent. He worked at a takeaway shop and attended a local mosque. Then he made contact with Sydney architect Faheem Khalid Lodhi. The Pakistan-born architect was central to the plot to bomb a major icon such as the nuclear plant, Pine Gap spy base in central Australia, the national electricity grid or Holsworthy barracks.

The plot was in its infancy when the French authorities discovered Brigitte had travelled to Australia and requested from the Australian Embassy any details of his travel. The request was initially ignored so the French sent ASIO a message, but it was a public holiday and the fax for urgent assistance was left on a machine in Canberra. About 10 days later Brigitte was arrested on immigration irregularities and was detained - and his full background revealed.

Brigitte was deported in October and during interrogation said he was trained as a bombmaker and dispatched to cause death and destruction.

Link

-Short Attention Span Theater-

Scary Spice names Eddie Murphy babydaddy

2007-04-14

Former Spice Girl Melanie Brown has listed Eddie Murphy's name on the birth certificate of her infant daughter, her publicist said Friday. The 31-year-old Brown, known as Scary Spice when she was in the megahit group of the '90s, gave birth to the child April 3 in Santa Monica, Calif. Brown's publicist, Nadine Bibi, didn't immediately respond Friday to an e-mail from The Associated Press asking for details.
"How about some details, Nadine? When Eddie was doinkin' her, did Scary go 'oooh! oooh!' or did she just lay there, or did she holler 'Oh, slam it to me, big boy!'?... Nadine?... Nadine?... You're not responding, Nadine."
Arnold Robinson, a spokesman for Murphy, declined comment.
"Don't look at me! I was in the other room!... With Nadine."
Brown has said ex-boyfriend Murphy is the father.
"Dat's right! He dunnit! I wuz there! I seen it!"
The 46-year-old "Dreamgirls" star has said he isn't sure, while Brown has said there is "absolutely no question that Eddie is the father."
"I ain't sure it wuz me..."
"It wuz you, Eddie! You know it wuz you!"
"Wudn't me."
Brown has an 8-year-old daughter, Phoenix Chi, from her marriage to Jimmy Gulzar. Murphy has five children from his marriage to Nicole Mitchell Murphy.

Link

Europe

French prosecutor seeks 10 years for Willie Brigitte

2007-02-11

A French prosecutor requested on Friday a 10-year jail sentence for French Muslim convert Willie Brigitte from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, for allegedly conspiring with Pakistani extremists to plot terrorist attacks in Australia. Lawyers for 38-year-old Brigitte called for his acquittal, saying the prosecution's case was riddled with inaccuracies and would not have stood up in an Australian court.

Deported from Australia in 2003 following a tip-off from the French authorities, Brigitte is charged with "criminal conspiracy in relation with a terrorist enterprise", which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. The verdict is due on March 15. "Willie Brigitte played an important role in a cell that was preparing an attack in Australia," said state prosecutor Vanessa Perree. "There is no reason that someone implicated in this type of project should be allowed to take part in French society -- although I doubt he wants to."

Perree ruled out any possibility of parole for the first seven years but Brigitte's three years spent in French custody would be taken into account, meaning he could be released from 2010. Brigitte protested his innocence on Monday, saying terrorism went against the teachings of Islam, but refused to speak for the rest of the three-day trial, saying he "has lost all hope of being understood"

He converted to Islam in 1998 and is alleged to have drifted quickly into radicalism, running paramilitary training camps in France to toughen up Islamist fighters, and undergoing weapons training in Pakistan. In May 2003 he is accused of travelling to Australia on the orders of Pakistani extremist group Lashkar e-Taiba to carry out an attack, whose planned targets are thought to have included a Sydney nuclear plant, the city's power grid or military installations around the country.

The court heard evidence of a web of connections linking Brigitte to Lashkar e-Taiba operatives in Australia, Britain and the United States. Key to the prosecution's case is a flurry of phone calls between Brigitte and top Lashkar e-Taiba operatives in Britain and Pakistan in the days before he left for Australia, and British intelligence findings indicating the group paid for his trip. Once in Australia, Brigitte is accused of joining a cell led by a Pakistani-born radical, Faheem Khalid Lodhi, who was jailed for 20 years in 2006 over the alleged terror plot. "It was Willie Brigitte's arrival that activated the cell," the prosecutor said.

According to French intelligence, Lodhi started purchasing ingredients for explosives and gathering maps and images of sensitive military sites only after Brigitte's arrival. But Brigitte's lawyer Jean-Claude Durimel said the prosecution had twisted the chronology of events, pointing out that one batch of explosives had been bought after Brigitte's arrest in Australia. He also rejected the material elements against Brigitte -- a leaflet with images of nuclear installations, and scribbled notes on how to stay concealed in public places -- as weak, saying the same evidence had been dismissed in the Australian trial of his alleged accomplice, Lodhi. "If Willie Brigitte is supposed to have prepared a terrorist attack in Australia, why didn't the Australians keep him in their country to try him? An attack requires a target -- we have been given a hypothetical list including everything from the Sydney Opera house to military bases or the 2003 Rugby World Cup. After three and half years in detention, Willie Brigitte still doesn't know the target of the attack he is accused of plotting," Durimel charged.

The defence also argued that Brigitte's initial statement to French police -- saying he knew Lodhi was planning an attack but denying further involvement -- should be discounted by the judges. Brigitte later retracted his statements, saying they had been obtained under pressure, and repeated the allegation in a letter read out in court. Durimel also read a letter by Brigitte's Australian wife, a Muslim convert and former army signaller named Melanie Brown, saying she was pressured into making incriminating statements against him. She had described him to police as shifty, saying he interrogated her about her work in military encryption, and that she suspected he was involved in illegal activities. In the letter Brown said she was threatened with detention by French police when she tried to visit Brigitte in jail and had "told them what they wanted to hear".

Link

Europe

Brigitte in court for nuclear plot

2007-02-06

A FRENCH Muslim convert suspected of plotting to attack an Australian nuclear power station goes on trial on terrorism charges in a Paris court today.

Willy Brigitte faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of association with criminals involved in a terrorist enterprise by the main Paris criminal court.

Prosecutors allege Brigitte, 38, and Sajid Mir, his co-accused who will be tried in absentia, considered targeting a nuclear power station or another high-profile facility near Sydney.

"He will plead his innocence," Brigitte's lawyer Jean-Claude Durimel said. "He denies being a terrorist, a potential terrorist, or having prepared any attack whatsoever or wheresoever."

Brigitte has spent almost 3-1/2 years in preventive detention since he was extradited to France in October 2003 following his arrest in Australia.

The case against Brigitte is based on documents found at his Sydney home, an investigation by Australian authorities into suspects linked to the Frenchman and testimony to French police by an Islamic militant, who later withdrew his allegations.

Australia's chief spy said Brigitte had been "almost certainly involved" in activities aimed at harming the country. Australia has been targeted by militant Islamic groups because of its role alongside US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Group of campers"

At the time of his arrest, Brigitte was working in a local restaurant and was married to Melanie Brown, a former Australian soldier and also a convert to Islam.

Brigitte, who comes from the French Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe, told French police he had gone to Australia to rebuild his life after turning his back on radical Islam.

But Australian authorities said a search of his Sydney home produced documents linking him to Pakistani Islamic radicals recruiting volunteers to fight in Kashmir, disputed by India and Pakistan.

According to the French investigation, Brigitte travelled to Yemen in 1998 and 1999, and then to Pakistan, staying in fundamentalist religious centres.

Back in France, they say he led the so-called "group of campers" that conducted military-style training in Fontainebleau Forest near Paris and the Normandy region in the late 1990s.

Several members of the group were among those convicted in May 2005 of providing logistical support to the assassins of Ahmad Shad Masood, the leader of the Northern Alliance killed on the eve of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Two group members died fighting with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and a third was captured by U.S. forces and held without trial in the U.S. military jail at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Link

Europe

Willie Brigitte goes on trial for Oz plot

2007-02-07

This clown was bad news. If the Frenchies can put him away, we might have a chance against the rest.

A French Muslim convert accused of plotting to attack a Sydney nuclear reactor and strategic targets across Australia, goes on trial from Wednesday in Paris on charges of terrorist conspiracy. Willie Brigitte, a 38-year-old from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, was arrested in Australia in 2003 following a tip-off from the French intelligence services, and deported for immigration offences. In French custody since his return, Brigitte faces up to 10 years' imprisonment on charges of "criminal conspiracy in relation with a terrorist enterprise", at the outcome of the three-day trial.

Brigitte has been portrayed in Australia as the country's most dangerous Al-Qaeda link, suspected of plotting destruction on the scale of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. France's top anti-terrorism judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, who investigated the case, suspects him of setting up a terror cell in Australia on the orders of the Pakistani Islamic extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Its alleged targets included the Pine Gap US electronic intelligence outpost in central Australia, the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney, and military bases across the country.

Its alleged targets included the Pine Gap US electronic intelligence outpost in central Australia, the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney, and military bases across the country. But according to the former head of France's DGSE foreign intelligence agency, Alain Chouet, French prosecutors may have trouble proving their case. "Objectively, there isn't very much against him. The case is not empty -- this young man is certainly a troublemaker, involved in radical circles -- but nothing like the terrorists of September 11."

"If the Australians had concrete, converging evidence, why didn't they prosecute him themselves?" Chouet asked. "Willie Brigitte is not the case of the century and he is certainly no Islamist mastermind."

However Louis Caprioli, who was head of the DST domestic intelligence agency at the time of Brigitte's arrest, said the evidence against him was solid. "One thing is certain, he wasn't in Australia for a holiday in the sun. It was an operational trip, aimed at setting up a cell with a view to carrying out attacks," he said. "To liken him to Osama bin Laden is to make him sound more important than he is, but he certainly had an important operational role."

Brigitte was first spotted by French DST agents in 1998, after he converted to Islam and travelled to Yemen to attend a Koranic school seen as linked to Al-Qaeda. Back in Paris, he started attending a radical Islamist mosque, rubbing shoulders with members of the armed Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).

I wonder if that mosque is still open. If it is, why?

He allegedly went on to run forest training camps in France to toughen up would-be Islamist fighters, and was linked to a group that abetted the murder of the anti-Taliban Afghan war chief Ahmad Shah Massood, killed two days before September 11. After 9/11, Brigitte is thought to undergone combat training in Pakistan -- after a "sleeping period" back in France -- and was allegedly summoned to Australia by a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative. Moving under the wing of Faheem Khalid Lodhi, a Pakistani-born architect sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2006 for planning to blow up Sydney's power grid, he settled in a southwest suburb of Sydney.

There he spent five months working in a kebab shop, married an Australian Muslim convert and former army signaller, Melanie Brown, and allegedly drew up plans for his own attack. His French lawyer Jean-Claude Durimel insists his client went to Australia "for a change of life" and says there is "no material evidence" against him. "My client has never been a terrorist, he never plotted any kind of attack in Australia. The prosecution doesn't even know the target of this alleged attack: they've listed everything except the Sydney Opera House," Durimel said. The French prosecution against Brigitte was made possible by the catch-all offence of "criminal conspiracy in relation with a terrorist enterprise" -- the charge used in almost all terrorism cases in France. One of the toughest anti-terrorism laws in Europe, it gives judges wide-ranging powers of preventive arrest and detention, but has been criticised as paving the way for unfair imprisonment.

Lemme guess. Hitler would have loved French anti-terror laws (rolls eyes)

However, France's Bruguiere -- who has spent two decades tracking Islamic militants among France's five-million strong Muslim community -- says the law is his chief weapon, allowing him to break up radical groups before they are able to act.

Link

-Short Attention Span Theater-

Scary side to baby doubts

2006-12-09

ACTOR Eddie Murphy is not sure if he is the father of former Spice Girl Melanie Brown's unborn child. The singer, however, is quite certain he is.

"Black guy, right? With a moustache? He was wearing a hat. Yep. I'm sure it wuz him."

"I am obviously upset and distressed at some of the comments made by Eddie Murphy to the media," Brown, 31, said in a statement. "I have no idea why anyone would want to conduct themselves in this kind of manner about such a personal matter in such a public way.
Maybe he didn't mean what he said when the two of you were horizontal?
"My main concern is for the wellbeing of my daughter, Phoenix, and, of course, the baby. I was astonished (at) what Eddie said. There is absolutely no question that Eddie is the father."

Brown's publicist said the woman known as Scary Spice when she was ~~somebody~~ in the British megahit group of the 1990s was not giving interviews "at this stage".

Murphy, 45, whose latest film, Dreamgirls, premiered in New York earlier this week, was recently asked by a TV interviewer if he was excited that Brown was pregnant. "Now you're being presumptuous, because we're not together any more," Murphy replied. "And I don't know whose child that is until it comes out and has a blood test. You shouldn't jump to conclusions, sir."

A spokesman for the star of the Shrek, Doctor Dolittle and Beverly Hills Cop films said he would not comment on the actor's personal life. Murphy escorted film producer Tracey Edmonds to the Dreamgirls premiere in New York. When asked if Edmonds was his "new lady" he smiled and replied: "Yeah." The People magazine website has quoted Edmonds, the ex-wife of singer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, as saying she has been dating Murphy "for about a month and a half". Murphy's wife, Nicole, filed for divorce last year, citing irreconcilable differences.
He likes to cat around, she doesn't like him doing it. Sounds irreconcilable to me.
The couple were married in 1993 and have five children together.

Link

Europe

Terror suspect Willie Brigitte to face French court

2006-11-13

ALLEGED French terrorist

Willie Brigitte, suspected of planning a jihadist bomb attack in Sydney, will face a Paris court in February on charges of associating with terrorist organisations.

In what promises to be a sensational three-day trial, which Australian authorities are hoping will cast light on the web of alleged terrorist rings in Australia, Mr Brigitte will face an open court in Paris. His lawyer, Jean-Claude Durimel, told The Australian that Mr Brigitte, who has been held in a Paris jail for three years since Australian authorities delivered him into French hands, will appear before a tribunal on February 7, 8 and 9.

Mr Durimel said his client would deny the charges, claiming the dossier prepared by leading French investigating magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere was hopelessly inadequate. "There is no proof," Mr Durimel said from Paris. "It's an empty dossier."

Mr Brigitte will appear before three judges, with no jury. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years' jail. The trial will be the culmination of an extraordinary joint investigation by Australian and French secret services, led by the once revolver-packing judge Mr Bruguiere, known as "Le Cowboy" and responsible for arresting Carlos the Jackal.

Mr Brigitte's wife, Melanie Brown, a former Australian soldier, is believed to be a friend of Rabiyah Hutchison, a fellow convert to radical Islam.

Ms Hutchison was once married to the head of Jemaah Islamiah's terror cell in Australia, Abdul Rahim Ayub. Her two sons by that marriage, Mohammed and Abdullah, were recently arrested in Yemen on suspicion of being part of an al-Qa'ida plot to smuggle arms to Somalia.

Ms Brown caused a media sensation when, soon after her husband was thrown into prison in France, she visited him wearing Islamic dress. Mr Durimel said Ms Brown had not seen Mr Brigitte since then.

She revealed two years ago that her marriage was over and has been busy rebuilding her life in Sydney, studying full-time at the University of Sydney and learning Indonesian.

She is still living in the Lakemba area, in Sydney's southwest, and has kept a tight network of female Muslim friends.

Mr Brigitte was expelled from Australia on visa irregularities and delivered into Mr Bruguiere's authority. Australia is believed to have moved to arrest him after a tip-off from the French.

The charges against Mr Brigitte are understood to be based on allegations he trained in Pakistan with a group linked to al-Qa'ida, Lashkar-e-Toiba, in 2001, and was preparing to go war in Afghanistan. Mr Durimel has denied his client fought in Afghanistan, but has been vague on whether he was in Pakistan, saying "he travelled a lot".

Mr Brigitte grew up in France's Caribbean colonies. He has been linked to the same alleged plot as one of his associates in Sydney, Australian-born architect Faheem Lodhi, accused of planning to blow up the Sydney electricity grid and several defence sites.

Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock declined yesterday to say whether Australian officials would give evidence at the trial, attend as observers, or take action against Mr Brigitte after the French case is complete.

Link

Down Under

Yemen ties terror's loose ends

2006-11-04

LONG before he was arrested in Yemen this week, Marek Samulski was suspected by intelligence services of keeping bad company. The 35-year-old Sydney web-designer of Polish extraction, commonly known as Abdul Malik, was boarding a plane at Sydney airport with his wife and children in August 2004 when ASIO officers swooped. "Malik's good looks and winning smile earned him an interview with the Anal Surveillance Investigation Officers," his angry wife Raygana later wrote. "They gave me mine and the children's passports and told me these were 'good' (but) they took Malik for questioning for about 30-45 minutes."

ASIO eventually let him board the flight, but it seems Samulski did not take the hint. Now he finds himself alone in a jail cell in Yemen - a captive of raids that have netted two other Australians and at least two senior al-Qa'ida figures alleged to have been plotting to import arms into Somalia. But the raids have also unearthed an extraordinary and disturbing network of "noodle-nation" links between senior terror figures in Australia and overseas.

Hutchison, a convert to hardline Islam, has had her passport revoked at ASIO's request after trips to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, where she is suspected of rendezvous with extremists.

The two men arrested alongside Samulski in Yemen were none other than Mohammed and Abdullah Ayub -- the sons of the notorious Abdul Rahim Ayub, the former head of Jemaah Islamiah's Australian terror cell. It turns out that the mother of the two boys and former wife of Ayub is Rabiyah Hutchison, one of the most closely watched women in Australia. Hutchison, a convert to hardline Islam, has had her passport revoked at ASIO's request after trips to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, where she is suspected of rendezvous with extremists. Hutchison is believed to have befriended Melbourne man "Jihad" Jack Thomas and his wife shortly before Thomas travelled on his ill-fated trip to South Asia in 2001 - a trip that led him to be charged with terrorism-related offences. "Hutchison got into the head of Jack Thomas and his wife when they were living in Sydney," one source told The Weekend Australian yesterday.

Among Hutchison's friends is another Australian convert, Melanie Brown, the wife of jailed French terror suspect Willie Brigitte.

The husband of Hutchison's eldest child Rahma is Khaled Cheikho, who is in a NSW prison awaiting a commital hearing on terrorism charges. Among Hutchison's friends is another Australian convert, Melanie Brown, the wife of jailed French terror suspect Willie Brigitte, and one of the key links between al-Qa'ida and several people in Sydney and Melbourne accused of terrorist offences.

Like Hutchison,

Samulski converted to Islam for love - so he could marry his South African Muslim girlfiend, Raygana Toefy, in 1992.

Samulski converted to Islam for love - so he could marry his South African Muslim girlfiend, Raygana Toefy, in 1992. But his converison to the radical brand of Islam came a while after Hutchison's. A long-time friend said yesterday that up until September 11, 2001, Samulski had not been particularly religious. "For many years, he wasn't a strict Muslim; I can't ever remember him going to the mosque," said the friend, who asked not to be named. "But I do remember that around the time of September 11, he and his wife started acting differently."

She began wearing a burka and he started attending the mosque regularly. Soon after she had their third child in 2004, they moved to Yemen. "We were surprised they left so quickly; they didn't even say goodbye," the friend said.

She was intent on moving the family to Yemen so that their children could be taught the way of Islam.

Mrs Samulski seemed to have a strong influence over her husband and her beliefs were more radical. "Marek was a nice guy, very friendly, but his wife was a bit unusual," the friend said. "She was intent on moving the family to Yemen so that their children could be taught the way of Islam."

So how did this network of extremists come to be exposed by events across the other side of the world? The answers lie inside a red-brick apartment building in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, in a radical district just outside al-Islam University, which was home to the three Australians arrested this week. For six months, British and American spies had the building and two of its occupants under close watch. The furtive activities of a young British citizen and a firebrand Dane convinced them a terror plot was being hatched. Any new friends, or visitors, were scrutinised, such as the three young Australians who appeared on the scene some time in late September.

In the early hours of October 17, the operation was shattered by a Yemeni secret police raid that swept up all eight foreigners living in the building and at least 12 other men across Yemen. Yemeni authorities insist they dismantled an al-Qa'ida cell and disrupted a gun-running ring to neighbouring Somalia.

The trio -- the Ayub brothers and the Polish-born Samulski -- initially didn't fit the bill as terror suspects. The men the spies had been watching were strongly connected to ranking al-Qa'ida members. The newcomers didn't seem to be. But in the early hours of October 17, the British-led operation was shattered by an unexpected Yemeni secret police raid that swept up all eight foreigners living in the building and at least 12 other men across Yemen. Yemeni authorities insist they dismantled an al-Qa'ida cell and disrupted a gun-running ring to neighbouring Somalia.

The three weeks since have exposed much of the progress and many of the shortcomings in the Western efforts to collaborate with the Arab world in the war on terror. Yemen, a hotbed of radicalism in eastern Arabia and home to a steadily rising tide of militant Salafi Islamic beliefs, has long been a priority target for Western intelligence. But it has also been a surprisingly recalcitrant partner in getting the job done collectively.

Abu Atiq was allegedly an associate of two of the September 11 hijackers and a protege of the virulently anti-Western Salafi cleric and head of Islamic studies at al-Islam, Abdul al-Majid al-Zindani.

The US Central Intelligence Agency and Britain's MI6 are still fuming that their operation was blown. The man at the centre of the arrests is believed to be a senior Somali al-Qa'ida figure from the Horn of Africa states of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, who is known by the alias al-Ansar. As significant a figure as he is, the key to the raids appears to be a Yemeni known as Abu Atiq, who was arrested about six weeks before the October 17 swoop. Abu Atiq was allegedly an associate of two of the September 11 hijackers and a protege of the virulently anti-Western Salafi cleric and head of Islamic studies at al-Islam, Abdul al-Majid al-Zindani, who the US wants arrested on terror charges. But Atiq's biggest claim to notoriety is his alleged role in a foiled al-Qa'ida plot to bomb oil and gas facilities in Yemen.

All the men worshipped at a nearby Salafi mosque, in a dusty, downtrodden district with red-stone ramshackle houses, skittish, scruffy children and burka-clad women. When The Weekend Australian inquired about the Ayubs and Samulski, a man with a flowing ginger beard, selling perfume and soap, waved us down the road to the honey vendor. He passed us on to the skull-capped youths in the Islamic bookshop. The Salafis of Sanaa are a secret society within a culture that fears direct questioning from strangers or authority figures -- and with good reason. The secret police and Government Intelligence Service play a powerful role in Yemen, especially among groups like the Salafis, who are seen as a subversive threat to the regime. Many have ended up in the Central Security Prison in Sanaa.

It is here that the Australians are being held, in separate cells and without visitors. The Australian consul from the embassy in Riyadh is yet to be granted access to any of the men and British embassy staff in Sanaa were only allowed one fleeting visit before the Australian official arrived to take carriage. Mohammed Ayub celebrated his 19th birthday alone in his cell yesterday. Abdullah Ayub turned 21 in a nearby cell on October 21.

Locals in Sanaa insist, perhaps apocryphally, that the two stories of the complex above ground sit atop eight stories underground, where torture rooms and darkened cells are often used. Whether or not people are tortured here, Western officials and aid groups are adamant that torture is regularly used in Yemen on terror suspects, or political prisoners. With their infamous father and firebrand mother, the Ayub brothers are likely to be treated with caution by the Yemenis. And with scant consular access, the Australians may know little of their fate. The future may be more promising for Samulski, with Yemeni officials indicating he may be released soon, although Raygana has not been permitted to see him in prison.

In a blog in 2004, she speaks of her family's excitement about moving to Yemen, where they planned to learn Arabic and immerse themselves in Islam. "What I love about Yemen is the fact that everyone prays (and) there are many mosques within walking distance of our home," she writes.

Link

Down Under

Oz terror plans found in rubbish bin

2004-12-15

This trial is a Big Deal, I think. This guy is bad news.

A man who trained extremists at a Pakistani militant camp plotted a major bomb attack on Sydney, a court has heard. The allegations against Faheem Lodhi, 34, were made yesterday at a Central Local Court committal trial. Lodhi, a Punchbowl architect, is accused of colluding with French terror suspect Willie Brigitte to bomb the city's electricity network and military bases. He faces a maximum life sentence if convicted of 10 charges under Commonwealth law. The six-day trial before Magistrate Michael Price will hear evidence via satellite from terrorists serving jail sentences in America and Singapore. Commonwealth prosecutor Richard Maidment, SC, told the court Lodhi worked in a "professional capacity" as a paramilitary at the Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist group camp in Lahore in October, 2001. Lodhi allegedly worked as a clerk, training groups and individuals who were expected to apply techniques such as "surveillance, invisible ink, dead letter drops and self-defence".

Well sure, you always hire a Pakistani for this. They're the best.

Lodhi is accused of implementing plans to shelter Brigitte in preparation for a terror assault on Sydney's electricity grid or military bases in May 2003. It was claimed Australian Federal Police agents found photographs of these targets dumped in a bin by Lodhi at Lake Gillawarna Reserve on October 25, 2003. Lodhi allegedly met Brigitte at the airport then found him a flat in Wiley Park, later assisting with the Frenchman's plans to marry Australian woman Melanie Brown. In October, Lodhi allegedly used the name M Rasul of Rasul Electrical to purchase maps of the electricity grid in preparation for, "bombing the system". The court heard Lodhi asked an architect colleague where to buy chemicals, explaining he wished to "manufacture jewellery".

"Lissen, Mahmoud, I'm thinkin' about making jewellery. Any idea where I can get some cyanide?"

Just days later, he is accused of duping an employee of Deltrex Chemicals, stating he was starting a detergent business.

"Yeah, I need lots of, um ... cyanide, yeah, that's it, I'm making soap."

Lodhi ordered dangerous chemicals used to produce explosives, the court heard. Mr Maidment said the chemicals matched notes written by Lodhi which revealed instructions for bombs and grenades made of urea nitrate, potassium chlorade and cyanide gas. After Lodhi's arrest in April, Federal agents searched his home and seized four US military images, and 600 files relating to extremist operations.

Link

Down Under

Jihadists taking over Sydney Mosque from Moderates

2004-07-05

YOUNG, hardline Muslims are moving to take control of the Sydneyâs Lakemba Mosque and depose its moderate leader, Sheik Taj el-Din Al Hilaly. Supporters of Sheik Hilaly believe a number of rival groups are organising a coup against him, including one led by Sheik Abdul Salam Mohammed Zoud, The Sunday Telegraph has learned. Sheik Zoud runs Lakembaâs Haldon St prayer hall, which has long been of interest to ASIO. He presided at the marriage last year of terror suspect Willie Brigitte to Melanie Brown.
and as you may guess Sheik Zoud says he is against terrorism but doesnât define it

Link

Down Under

$2.65m to âsaveâ hardlinerâs mosque

2004-06-25

Saudis have donated almost $2.65 million to buy a mosque in Sydney for supporters of one of Australiaâs most hardline Islamic clerics. Saudi fundraiser Sheikh Muhammad Bin Abdullah Al-Dawish said that his campaign to raise money for the mosque had been successful after the intervention of the mufti of Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Al-Dawish told The Weekend Australian from Saudi Arabia that the mufti had "spoken to a few officials" and the money was raised. He said he did not know who was behind the mosque in Sydney and he had never visited Australia. But Muslims would always donate if they thought a mosque anywhere in the world was under threat of closure. "This is not unusual. People all through the Middle East would make donations if this happened in Canada or Australia," he said.

Articles have appeared in Arabic newspapers and websites overseas appealing for donations to help pay for the Sydney mosque, with warnings that Jews or Buddhists were trying to buy the site. Supporters of the project in Australia expressed surprise yesterday at Sheikh Al-Dawishâs comments, saying that no money had flowed through to them. Supporters of Sheikh Abdul Salam Mohammed Zoud are trying to raise funds before next monthâs settlement date for the mosque in the southwestern suburb of Belmore. Supporters paid a 10 per cent deposit for the property and two adjoining sites ahead of the auction in May. The mosque is around the corner from Sheikh Zoudâs small prayer hall, whose congregation includes Bilal Khazal, charged this month with compiling a jihad book that was likely to facilitate a terrorist act. French terror suspect Willie Brigitte was married at the prayer hall to former Australian soldier Melanie Brown before his deportation from Sydney late last year. Sheikh Zoud, who is among clerics teaching a fundamentalist form of Islam called Salafi, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

It is unclear if his growing congregation would move from the prayer hall after the settlement date to the larger mosque, which is currently closed. Supporter and Sydney-based cleric Moussaab Legha said he doubted the money for the mosque had been raised offshore because nobody from his community had heard about it. Sheikh Legha from the Voice of Islam radio station said locals were working hard to raise the money themselves. Advertisements were being played on the radio station and people were collecting donations in the streets. Sheikh Al-Dawish said he and two other clerics formed a committee in Saudi Arabia to raise the mosque money, with notices posted on Islamic websites and chatrooms. "The Islamic community is concerned about the Judaisation of the neighbourhood and a deposit has been paid in case the mosque is sold to the Jewish community," one of their notices says.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More