Georgetown Security Law Brief

Lawmakers question UK's military capabilities

02/08/12: The Miami Herald reports that Britain would struggle to mount another operation on the scale of its intervention in Libya because of massive defense cuts, a report from UK lawmakers said Wednesday. The Defense Committee report said the intervention in Libya, which led to the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi, was successful and justified but has raised "important questions" about the extent of the UK military's capabilities. "The real test is whether the success of this mission was a one-off or whether the lessons it has highlighted mean that future such missions can be successfully undertaken, whilst maintaining the UK's capability to protect its interests elsewhere," said committee Chairman James Arbuthnot.

US reassures Europe on defense cuts

02/04/12: The Wall Street Journal reports that the Obama administration sought to reassure anxious European allies Saturday that budget cuts won't undercut the US's commitment to their security. "We made this decision only after ensuring that our force posture adjustments will not weaken our ability to meet our commitment to the security of Europe," US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told a security conference in Munich, Germany. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a rare joint appearance in Europe with Mr. Panetta, brushed aside "some of the doubts" expressed in European capitals about Washington's continued commitment to the continent, saying the US still sees Europe as its "partner of first resort."

Two German men plead guilty to terror charges in UK

02/02/12: The Seattle Times reports that two German men have pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in a London court. Christian Emde, 28 years old, and Robert Baum, 24 years old, pleaded guilty to possessing information useful for terrorist acts. Emde pleaded guilty to four offenses, including possessing copies of the al-Qaida magazine, Inspire, which contained articles with headlines such as "Make A Bomb In The Kitchen Of Your Mom."

German intelligence agency criticized for spying on lawmakers

02/02/12: The Los Angeles Times reports that that Germany’s intelligence service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, is in a bad spot. First, the office came under fire after the revelation that a group of neo-Nazis had allegedly committed at least 10 killings, despite decades of intelligence monitoring. Then, the newsweekly Der Spiegel reported last month that 27 members of Parliament, all with a left-wing party, have been under observation by the intelligence service.

Militants admit to plan to bomb London Stock Exchange

02/01/12: The New York Times reports that a group of four Islamic militants, all of them British citizens, admitted involvement on Wednesday in a conspiracy inspired by Al Qaeda to place a bomb in the toilets of the London Stock Exchange, part of a plot that, prosecutors said, was foiled after undercover counterterrorism officers tailed them as they surveyed London tourist attractions. The four were among a group of nine men who had been set to plead not guilty to terrorism charges but changed their plea to guilty when they learned of the likely sentences, Britain’s Press Association news agency reported.

Libyan detainees sue former MI6 chief over their rendition

01/31/12: The Huffington Post reports that two former Libyan detainees, Sami Al Saadi and Abdel Hakim Belhadj, at the center of claims that British spies were involved in rendition and torture, are launching legal proceedings against the former director of counter-terrorism at MI6. The two men claim that evidence of the UK's role in the couple's rendition is detailed in a number of documents held by the Libyan security services, which came to light after the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

UK Court upholds extradition in Iran missle case

01/31/12: ABC News reports that Britain's High Court says a retired businessman who allegedly plotted to sell missile components to Iran cannot appeal against his extradition to the United States. Two judges said Tuesday that Christopher Tappin could not take his fight against extradition to Britain's Supreme Court. US authorities allege Tappin offered in 2006 to sell Iranians specialized batteries for Hawk missiles for $25,000, not knowing that his contacts were undercover US agents.

Norway court convicts men in al Qaeda-linked bomb plot

01/30/12: Reuters reports that a Norwegian of Chinese Muslim origin with alleged links to al Qaeda was convicted on Monday of plotting to blow up a Danish newspaper that had printed cartoons of Islam's Prophet Mohammad, and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Mikael Davud, who was accused of leading a bomb plot, had admitted he intended some day to attack Chinese interests like the Chinese embassy in Oslo but he was charged only with plotting to bomb the Danish newspaper. Prosecutors had earlier recommended an 11-year prison sentence for Davud.

France, Karzai want faster NATO Afghanistan exit

01/28/12: The Boston Globe reports that France and Afghanistan agree NATO should speed up by a year its timetable for handing all combat operations to Afghan forces in 2013, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday, raising new questions about the unity of the Western military alliance. Sarkozy also announced a faster-track exit for France, the fourth-largest contributor of troops in Afghanistan -- marking a distinct break from previous plans to adhere to the US goal of withdrawing combat forces by the end of 2014.

Vatican rewrites anti-money laundering, terror finance law

01/28/12: The Washington Post reports that the Vatican has rewritten its 2010 anti-money laundering law after European inspectors found that it didn’t fully meet their tough standards to combat the financing of terrorism. The new law requires the Vatican to create a list of terror organizations based on those issued by the United Nations and requires the Vatican enter into agreements with other countries to share financial information.

Irish may try IRA veteran over North Korean scam

01/27/12: The Omaha World Herald reports that an Irish Republican Army veteran long accused of laundering counterfeit US $100 bills on behalf of North Korea could face trial in Ireland. High Court Justice John Edwards said he has forwarded an evidence file to state prosecutors against Sean Garland, 76, who denies smuggling more than $250,000 worth of fake American banknotes from the North Korean embassy in Moscow in 1998. Edwards issued his follow-up statement one month after he rejected a 6-year-old US extradition warrant for Garland.

Serbian war criminal arrested after more than 4 years on the run

01/25/12: JURIST reports that  Convicted Serbian war criminal Radovan Stankovic was arrested Saturday in Bosnia and Herzegovina after being on the run since May 2007 when he escaped from a Bosnia prison. Stankovic was convicted of multiple war crimes in 2006, including rape, enslavement and torture. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) prosecutor Serge Brammertz welcomed the arrest, saying it "is significant for the victims of the grave crimes he has been convicted for."

US judge orders release of more IRA recordings

01/23/12: The Boston Globe reports that a federal judge has ordered Boston College to turn over more interview transcripts and recordings of former IRA members. In a five-page ruling, Judge William Young ordered the college to turn over transcripts of seven interview subjects in an oral history project to US prosecutors, who had subpoenaed them on behalf of British investigators. British police requested the information for their investigation into the 1972 slaying of a Belfast woman.

Three acquitted of murder plot against Swedish artist

01/21/12: ABC News reports that a Swedish court has acquitted three men accused of plotting to murder an artist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog. In Friday's ruling, the Goteborg district court said the defendants lied about why they visited an art gallery where Lars Vilks was expected to make an appearance, and were armed with knives, but it hadn't been proved that they intended to kill him. The ruling was expected as the three men — of Somali and Iraqi origin — had been released pending the decision.

Swede blames Mossad for Bangkok arrest

01/20/12: The Modesto Bee reports that a Lebanese-Swedish man detained in a terror probe in Thailand has told a Swedish newspaper that he's innocent and blamed Israel's Mossad spy agency for his arrest. The tabloid Aftonbladet on Friday said it spoke to 47-year-old Atris Hussein in a Bangkok prison where he's being held on allegations of illegally possessing explosive materials. Hussein was quoted as saying he is "100 percent innocent" and that "much of the material the police found in my warehouse had been placed there, probably by the Israeli security service Mossad." Police have said Hussein was storing 8,800 pounds of explosive materials in Bangkok before shipping them to another destination.

UN asked to examine US efforts to squelch Spain torture probe

01/20/12: The San Luis Obispo Tribune reports that two legal rights groups on Thursday asked the United Nations to investigate allegations that Spanish and US officials collaborated to quash criminal probes into whether the Bush administration authorized illegal killings and torture of terrorism suspects. The request, made to the UN's special rapporteur for judicial independence, accused the United States of interfering with Spain's justice system in three different criminal cases. The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights and the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights asked that the UN demand that both governments refrain from meddling in court cases.

Norwegian security chief resigns after intel gaffe

01/19/12: The Palm Beach Post reports that the chief of Norway's domestic intelligence service hastily resigned from her post after disclosing classified information in an open hearing in Parliament, apparently about Norway's intelligence activities in Pakistan, officials and media reports said Thursday. Janne Kristiansen, head of Norway's PST security service, "expressed herself in a way that could be interpreted as a breach of confidentiality," Justice Minister Grete Faremo said. Norwegian media reported the classified material was mentioned in her answer to a question from a lawmaker about Norway's contacts with Pakistani security and intelligence agencies.

France senate panel rejects genocide denial ban

01/19/12: JURIST reports that a committee of the French Senate voted on Wednesday to oppose a law that would outlaw genocide denial, including the World War I-era killings of more than one million Armenians by Turkish soldiers. The proposed law, which was approved by the French National Assembly in December, sparked animosity in Turkey, which does not consider the 1915 killings genocide. If passed, the law would impose criminal penalties on those who are deemed to be "condoning, denying or grossly trivializing crimes of genocide."

Verdict postponed in Frankfurt airport shooting

01/19/12: The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that a German court says the verdict in the case of an alleged Islamic extremist who has admitted killing two US airmen at Frankfurt Airport last year is again being delayed to hear more evidence. At issue are allegations that suspect Arid Uka, a 21-year-old ethnic Albanian from Kosovo, was seen in 2010 in an Islamic fundamentalist prayer room in the Bosnian city of Zenica. A federal investigator cast doubt on that claim, however, testifying there was no evidence that he had crossed the border into Bosnia.

Boston and Belfast spar over fate of secret IRA tapes

01/17/12: The Boston Globe reports that a trans-Atlantic legal showdown could determine whether Gerry Adams, the Irish republican chieftain long at the center of Belfast war and peace, faces trial over his IRA past. Police probing the Irish Republican Army's 1972 killing of a Belfast mother of 10 want to seize taped interviews with IRA members that Boston College hoped to keep locked up for posterity. Researchers fighting the handover in court next week warn that disclosure could trigger attacks against IRA veterans involved in the secrecy-shrouded project and undermine Northern Ireland's peace.

European Court rules UK cannot deport radical cleric

01/17/12: CNN reports that the United Kingdom cannot deport a radical cleric linked to al Qaeda to Jordan because evidence obtained by torture could be used against him there, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in a landmark case Tuesday. Abu Qatada has been fighting to remain in the United Kingdom since he was first arrested under anti-terrorism legislation nearly a decade ago. He would be "at real risk of ill-treatment or a grossly unfair trial if deported to Jordan, where he is wanted on terrorism charges," the court said in a statement announcing the ruling.

Army withdrawing two brigades from Europe

01/14/12: The Hill reports that in a move reflecting the Pentagon’s new cost-cutting strategy, the US Army is planning to withdraw two of its four brigades from Europe. The Army is replacing the two brigades with rotational units, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in an interview with the Defense Department’s American Forces Press Service. The move is part of both a reduction in ground forces for the Army as well as a strategic shift toward the Asia-Pacific region.

Afghanistan to open embassy in Greece to help with illegal immigrants

01/08/12: The Chicago Tribune reports that Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry says it will open an embassy in Greece within a few months to assist tens of thousands of Afghan illegal migrants there. Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Musazai says the new embassy in Athens should be open by the end of March. He says that Kabul will close its embassy in Bulgaria at the same time. Musazai said Sunday that about 50,000 Afghans illegally enter Greece each year, seeking a better life in the European Union. Most choose the country because of its porous land border with Turkey.

Britain issues warnings of terror threats in Kenya

01/07/12: CNN reports that British officials Saturday warned of terror threats in Kenya as the east African nation battles Islamist militants in neighboring Somalia. "Kenyan authorities have alerted the public to a heightened threat from terrorist attacks in Nairobi. We believe that terrorists may be in the final stages of planning attacks," the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement. It said the attacks may target places where expatriates gather such as hotels, shopping centers and beaches.

Obama signs new sanctions against Belarus into law

01/05/12: JURIST reports that US President Barack Obama signed the Belarus Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2011, which will impose new sanctions on Belarus. The law labels President Alexander Lukashenko a dictator and states that he "established himself in power by orchestrating an illegal and unconstitutional referendum that enabled him to impose a new constitution, abolishing the duly elected parliament." The new sanctions require the US to investigate Belarus' arms deals and its possible censorship of the Internet, as well as denying visas to a list of Belarusian officials.

Former Turkish president indicted for 1980 coup

01/04/12: The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that the ailing, 94-year-old former Turkish president who came to power in a 1980 military coup could face life imprisonment for the military takeover. Kenan Evren and former air force commander Tahsin Sahinkaya are charged with crimes against the state, said prosecutor Huseyin Gorusen. A court will now have to decide whether to accept the indictment and order a trial. The legal action against Evren and Sahinkaya comes as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government is curtailing the military's clout in Turkey.

Thousands protest over new Hungarian constitution

01/03/12: The Boston Globe reports that tens of thousands of protesters on Monday jeered Hungarian leaders outside a glitzy gala to mark the country's brand new constitution, accusing the government of exerting control over everything from the media, to the economy and religion. A diverse crowd chanted, whistled and hoisted placards outside the State Opera as Prime Minister Viktor Orban and guests celebrated inside. Many protesters called the premier the "Viktator."

European Union mulls new powers for piracy mission

12/30/11: The Columbus Telegram reports that German officials say the European Union is considering expanding the scope of its anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa to allow the destruction of pirates' equipment on the beaches of Somalia. The EU's anti-piracy force patrols the seas off the coast of the country. German Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said Friday that the "limited destruction of piracy logistics on the beach" is under discussion but "no deployment on land."

Iraqi man arrested on suspicion of helping 5 Iraqis, al-Qaida members, hide in Romania

12/30/11: The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that prosecutors have arrested an Iraqi man on the suspicion he helped five of his countrymen who were members of al-Qaida hide in Romania. Prosecutors said Friday that Mohamad Al Dulaimi created phantom companies in Romania, starting in 2006, to allow the Iraqis to travel in and out of the country. They said in a statement that the men were wanted for terrorist attacks in Iraq, but provided no further details. Prosecutors said Al Dulaimi will be indicted on charges that he helped terrorists.

US extradites war crimes suspect to Bosnia

12/27/11: The Miami Herald reports that Bosnian authorities say the United States has extradited a Muslim Bosnian woman accused of killing Bosnian Croat civilians during the 1990s conflict in the region. The prosecutor's office said Tuesday that Rasema Handanovic, 38, has arrived in Bosnia and will appear in front of judges Wednesday. Handanovic was extradited a week after the US handed over her comrade Edin Dzeko, who is accused of taking part in the same killings. Both are alleged to have belonged to a Bosnian Army unit that attacked the southern Bosnian Croat village of Trusina in 1993, killing 18 civilians.

Germany says impounded Patriot missiles were legitimate

12/22/11: The Miami Herald reports that a shipment of 69 surface-to-air missiles impounded by Finnish authorities was a legitimate delivery from Germany to South Korea, a German official said Thursday. The announcement came after Finnish authorities seized the Patriot missiles and 160 tons of explosives on a British-registered cargo ship and detained two Ukrainian crew members on suspicion of violating weapons export laws. Police said the missiles didn't have the right transit documents and the explosive picric acid wasn't properly stored on the M/S Thor Liberty, which docked in Kotka, southern Finland, on December 15.

Iran blocks UK website in new diplomatic spat

12/22/11: The Boston Globe reports that Iran has blocked access to a British government website aimed at Iranian audiences in a new act of aggression against the UK, Britain's Foreign Secretary said Thursday. William Hague claimed that the website -- the online presence of Britain's now shuttered embassy in Tehran -- had been deliberately targeted by the Iranian regime. The decision to disrupt access to the site follows the violent storming of Britain's embassy by demonstrators last month, when a mob trashed rooms, damaged furniture, scrawled graffiti and tore up a portrait of Queen Victoria, as staff took shelter.

Commentary: British Court of Appeal decision implicitly repudiates Goldsmith memo

12/20/11: Opinio Juris features commentary by Kevin Jon Heller concerning the Court of Appeal judgment ordering the UK government to seek the release of Yunus Rahmatullah, an alleged member of Lashkar-e-Taiba who has been detained at Bagram since 2004, from US custody.  What is particularly interesting about the decision is that it directly — though implicitly — rejects a little-known memo written by Jack Goldsmith while he was at the Office of Legal Counsel, in which he argued that “operatives of international terrorist organizations” were not “protected persons” for purposes of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which provides that “[i]ndividual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of motive.”

Rights groups accuse Europe of CIA flights coverup

12/20/11: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a majority of 28 mostly European countries have failed to comply with freedom of information requests about their involvement in secret CIA flights carrying suspected terrorists, two human rights groups said Monday. London-based Reprieve and Madrid-based Access Info Europe accused European nations of covering up their complicity in the so-called "extraordinary rendition" program by failing to release flight-traffic data that could show the paths of the planes. The groups said only seven of 28 countries had supplied the requested information.

UK court grants Assange extradition appeal

12/16/11: The Local reports that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been granted permission to appeal against extradition from Britain to Sweden over rape allegations and a hearing will start on February 1, a court said Friday. The decision means Assange will spend a second Christmas at the country mansion of a wealthy supporter in Norfolk, eastern England. He was arrested last December on a European arrest warrant issued by Sweden after allegations by two women of sexual assault and rape. Assange believes the allegations are politically motivated and linked to WikiLeaks' release of hundreds of thousands of classified US files about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Carlos the Jackal sentenced to life, again

12/16/11: CNN reports that "Carlos the Jackal," once among the world's most wanted fugitives, has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in a series of fatal bombings in the 1980s, a French court said. The 62-year-old, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, was on trial for his role in the attacks on two trains, a train station and a newspaper office in France in 1982 and 1983. The bombings killed 11 and injured more than 100. He was sentenced late Thursday.

Bookseller Ahmed Faraz found guilty of terror offenses

12/13/11: The BBC reports that a bookseller from Birmingham has been convicted of possessing and distributing material that prosecutors said "primed people for terrorism". Ahmed Faraz had material including an al-Qaeda training manual, bomb making instructions, and footage of murders - Briton Ken Bigley's among them. Faraz, 32, had claimed the material was for academic research. Jurors at Kingston Crown Court found Faraz guilty of 11 of 15 counts against him. He will be sentenced today.

Mladic pleads not guilty, trial set for March

12/09/11: Jurist reports that after previously refusing to enter a plea, former Serbian general and alleged war criminal Ratko Mladic pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges linked to the execution of more than 30 Muslim prisoners in the eastern town of Bisina in July 1995. The presiding judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Alphons Orie, scheduled the pre-trial conference for March 26 with the trial to begin March 27. The Mladic case is expected to last years, and the court is anxious to avoid a similar delay in the legal process that allowed Slobodan Milosevic, Mladic's boss, to evade justice when he died of a heart attack in 2006 before his trial concluded.

Germany arrests man for links to an alleged al-Qaida bomb plot in Europe

12/08/11: The Washington Post reports that Federal prosecutors say they have arrested a 27-year-old German man on charges he was part of an al-Qaida bomb plot in Europe. Prosecutors’ spokesman Marcus Koehler said in a release Thursday that suspect Halil S. was arrested in Bochum on charges of membership in a terrorist organization. Koehler says the suspect, is accused of providing financial and logistical support for three other suspects arrested in April on suspicion they were making a bomb.

Awlaki's father promotes son’s speeches

12/07/11: The Investigative Project on Terrorism reports that Nasser al-Awlaki, the father of al-Qaida ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki, has released a YouTube video encouraging others to follow his deceased son's terrorist teachings. The video was released through the YouTube channel of British Islamist group United Ummah, the latest reincarnation of the recently banned organization Muslims Against Crusades."Anwar was assassinated because of his teachings," Nasser said in his video address, which was played at a protest in front of the American Embassy in London on December 2^nd.

45,000 Germans evacuated due to WWII bombs

12/04/11: CNN reports that life has come to a standstill in the western German city of Koblenz, where 45,000 people -- nearly half of the city´s population -- have been evacuated after the discovery of several dangerous World War II bombs. "It's the largest German evacuation since the end of the war," fire brigade spokesman Ronald Eppelsheim said Sunday. For 65 years, the Rhine River hid three bombs that were dropped by American and British warplanes in the last years of the war. When water levels dropped to record lows last week, the bombs were finally found.

Serbs clash with NATO in north Kosovo

11/24/11: Reuters reports that NATO troops fired tear gas and gunfire was heard in north Kosovo late on Wednesday as hundreds of Serbs poured into the streets to defend barricades erected against the country's ethnic Albanian authorities.  Sirens called Serbs out to respond as NATO soldiers moved to dismantle one of more than a dozen roadblocks erected in July against an operation by the Kosovo government to post border police in the mainly Serb north, a Reuters witness said.

No armed FBI agents at 2012 Olympics

11/23/11: The Associated Press reports that the national security coordinator for the 2012 London Olympics sharply rejected reports that armed FBI agents would be taking part in securing the games, insisting Tuesday that Britain did not need outside help to keep the event safe. Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison dismissed a Guardian newspaper report suggesting that the United States would send dozens of armed FBI agents to protect US interests.

Turkey detains al-Qaida suspects

11/22/11: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Turkish police on Tuesday detained 15 people on suspicion of links to the al-Qaida terror network, the state-run news agency said. The suspects were detained in simultaneous police raids in the central Anatolian city of Konya, the Anadolu Agency said. State-run TRT television said they were suspected al-Qaida members but gave no other details. Police would not comment.

British court backs Iraqis' bid for inquiry into abuse

11/22/11: The Huffington Post reports that Britain's Court of Appeal on Tuesday backed a bid by more than 100 Iraqi civilians to force a public inquiry into claims they were abused by British troops. Three appeals judges ordered the government to reconsider its decision not to hold public hearings into allegations of torture and degrading treatment by British soldiers and interrogators in southern Iraq. The 128 claimants assert they were subjected to beatings, sleep deprivation and other ill-treatment between March 2003 and December 2008 in British-controlled detention facilities.

Russian military chief warns of nuclear war risks

11/18/11: CBS News reports that, according to its top military officer, Russia is facing a heightened risk of being drawn into conflicts at its borders that have the potential of turning nuclear. General Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, cautioned over NATO's expansion eastward and warned that the risks of Russia being pulled into local conflicts have "risen sharply." Makarov added, according to Russian news agencies, that "under certain conditions local and regional conflicts may develop into a full-scale war involving nuclear weapons."

EU & US initial new deal on air passengers' data

11/18/11: The Bellingham Herald reports that the EU says it has initialed a new agreement with the United States on the transfer of air passengers' data for flights from Europe to America. The EU said Thursday the accord addresses European privacy concerns because it sets clear limits to what the data can be used for by US authorities, and contains stronger data protection guarantees. If endorsed by the EU Council and the European Parliament, it will replace the existing agreement from 2007.

Germany to launch national registry of Neo-Nazis

11/17/11: The Voice of America reports that Germany is launching a national registry of neo-Nazis similar to a list of Islamic extremists put in place after September 11, 2001. Interior Minister Hans-Peter Frederich said the new registry will hold information gathered from police and intelligence agents from across Germany. The announcement of the new list comes as authorities open a fresh investigation into a string of murders of Turkish immigrants and a Greek.

Dutch Supreme Court reduces terrorist's sentence

11/15/11: The Boston Globe reports that the Netherlands' Supreme Court Tuesday slightly reduced the sentence of an Islamic radical convicted of recruiting and indoctrinating young Muslims for his group that plotted terrorist attacks. The court found that Nouriddin el Fahtni's eight-year sentence was longer than allowed by law and reduced it to seven years and four months. El Fahtni's group is linked with the so-called "Hofstad" group that includes figures such as Mohammed Bouyeri, who is serving a life sentence for the 2004 murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh.

Four held in UK terror raids

11/15/11: The Telegraph reports that officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit detained the men at their homes in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham, England on suspicion of travelling to Pakistan to undertake terrorist training and of raising funds for terrorist purposes. A police spokesman said the suspects, aged between 19 and 24, had been arrested as part of Operation Pitsford, a large-scale inquiry which has already seen eight other people charged with a variety of offences.