Georgetown Security Law Brief

Commentary: Should we arm the Syrian rebels?

05/11/13:  Foreign Policy published an article by Rosa Brooks discussing arming Syrian rebels. As tempting as it is, past experience suggests that arming the Syrian opposition could be every bit as hazardous, difficult and uncertain as putting US boots on the ground. I don't mean to suggest that arming the Syrian opposition should be taken off the table entirely. But if we proceed, we should do so only with the utmost caution: After all, history suggests that US efforts to arm insurgents tend not to end well. Like so many global tragedies, this is one with no simple solution. It's a mess, and any "solution" will be messy, as well. But as with any proposed intervention with humanitarian motives, "do no harm" should be our first priority. If we can help, we should, even if there is some risk involved -- but if our actions are likely to just make things worse, we should refrain, painful as that is.

DNI supports review of intelligence on alleged Marathon bomber Tsarnaev

05/01/13: CNN reports Director of National Intelligence James Clapper believes an independent review of how the government handled its investigation of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev prior to the attack is a prudent step “to ensure that nothing was missed.”  Clapper spokeswoman Shawn Turner said the DNI believes all of the agencies involved in collecting and sharing information “took all the appropriate steps,” but that the Intelligence Community inspector general, a watchdog that investigates risks, vulnerabilities, and deficiencies within sixteen intelligence-related agencies and departments across the government will lead a review.  Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with Boston police days after the April 15 bombings.  His brother Dzhokhar, also a suspect, remains in custody and has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction.

Congress’s war crimes power at issue

04/25/13:  The SCOTUS Blog reports after pondering the issue for more than a month, the DC Circuit Court voted on Tuesday to review anew Congress’s power to create new war crimes that apply to alleged terrorist acts that occurred even before those laws were enacted.  In ordering en banc review in the case of a Yemeni national held at Guantanamo Bay, the Circuit Court nullified a Circuit panel decision in January overturning three war crimes convictions of that individual. The coming decision by the seven-judge Circuit Court almost certainly will be appealed to the Supreme Court, by whoever loses at the Circuit Court, and that could lead to a major new ruling on the powers of the special military commissions that have had a troubled seven-year history at the US military prison on the island of Cuba. The rehearing order came in the case of Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al Bahlul, who has been described by military prosecutors as a propagandist for the late terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden.  He was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted by a military tribunal of providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, and soliciting others to do so. Although the en banc Circuit Court will be reviewing the government case involving Bahlul, the actual target of its review will be a decision by a different panel of the Circuit Court last October, in the case of another Yemeni national — Salim Ahmed Hamdan, often described by prosecutors as a driver for Osama bin Laden.  It was in overturning Hamdan’s conviction on a “material support” charge that the Circuit Court narrowed the powers of military commissions to try crimes that did not exist in U.S. or international law at the time of the conduct charged as criminal.  It was on the basis of that ruling that the Circuit Court wiped out Bahlul’s convictions, leading the Obama administration to ask for en banc review in early March. In ordering further review of Congress’s power to define war crimes, the Circuit Court told lawyers not only to brief and argue the issues that had been decided by the Hamdan panel, but also two new issues: whether the detainees at Guantanamo Bay are protected by the Constitution’s Ex Post Facto Clause, which generally bars prosecuting someone for a crime when the act was not a crime at the time it occurred; and whether the crime of conspiracy allegedly committed by Bahlul did violate international law concept at the time of his conduct.

New York judge sentences bin Laden secretary to life

04/25/13:  The Miami Herald reports a former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden got a strong rebuke from a judge on Tuesday as he was sentenced to life in prison for a second time after claiming the Sept. 11 attacks and Superstorm Sandy were "God's punishment" for injustice by the United States against him and others. "You, sir, in my judgment, are a committed terrorist who has betrayed his country," U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told Wadih El-Hage after listening to the claims of the Lebanese-born man who became a US citizen. El-Hage said he was treated unjustly before his 2001 conviction in the August 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. The attacks killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans. The judge said a life sentence was necessary in part because El-Hage, 52, was "quite likely to engage in or further terrorist activities against this country in this district until your last breath, if you were ever released." He also re-imposed a $33.8 million restitution order, saying $7 million would go to the families of victims and the rest to the U.S. government. El-Hage was convicted in 2001 of conspiracy and other charges and was sentenced to life in prison. A federal appeals court in Manhattan ordered a resentencing after El-Hage argued that the federal sentencing guidelines under which he was sentenced were no longer mandatory.

UN: Afghan opium production increases

04/15/13: The Miami Herald reports a UN report released Monday said opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has been increasing for a third year in a row and is heading for a record high.  The boom in poppy cultivation is at its most pronounced in the Taliban’s heartland in the south, the report showed, especially in regions where troops of the US-led coalition have been withdrawn or are in the process of departing.  Increased production has been driven by unusually high opium prices, but also indicates that Afghans are turning to illicit markets and crops as the real economy shrinks ahead of the expected withdrawal of foreign combat troops at the end of 2014.  Afghanistan is by far the world’s largest producer of opium, last year producing 75 percent of the global crop.

Syria crisis: Al-Nusra pledges allegiance to al-Qaeda

04/11/13:  The BBC reports the leader of the al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group fighting in Syria, has pledged allegiance to the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani said the group's behaviour in Syria would not change as a result. Al-Nusra claims to be have carried out many suicide bombings and guerrilla attacks against state targets. Al-Nusra has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the US. Debates among Western leaders over whether to arm Syria's rebels have often raised the concern of weapons ending up in the hands of groups such as al-Nusra. Even though Mr Jawlani said in the statement that al-Nusra had received help from the Islamic State in Iraq group, correspondents say al-Nusra clearly does not want to highlight those ties. Al-Nusra is seen as trying to win the support of the population in rebel-held areas, and also to keep the goodwill of the other opposition groups who do not want to be associated with al-Qaeda. Spokesmen for the Free Syrian Army, considered the main armed opposition group in Syria, reacted to Wednesday's statement by distancing themselves from al-Nusra.

Judge rules against veteran who fought alongside Syrian rebels

04/09/13:  The New York Times reports in his brief but sensational sojourn in the Syrian civil war, Eric G. Harroun made a bit of a splash. He loaded Facebook and YouTube with scenes from the battlefield and gibes at the government of President Bashar al-Assad. In Web postings by both sides in the bloody conflict, he was “The American” — a former Army private from Arizona fighting with the Syrian opposition. But in federal court here on Monday, it was clear just how drastically Mr. Harroun’s luck had turned. Prosecutors said Mr. Harroun, 30, who is accused of firing a rocket-propelled grenade while fighting alongside a designated terrorist group, might ultimately face charges carrying a minimum sentence of 30 years and a maximum of the death penalty. A judge declined to release him to home detention in his mother’s custody in Arizona, as the defense sought and a pretrial investigation proposed. Magistrate Judge Ivan D. Davis said Mr. Harroun had “actively and knowingly participated in fighting with a group the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization,” the Nusra Front, which the United States considers part of Al Qaeda’s branch in Iraq. Even though he was fighting to oust Mr. Assad — a goal the United States fervently supports — his brief alliance with the Nusra Front “makes him a dangerous individual,” Judge Davis said. He noted prosecution claims that Mr. Harroun had said after leaving Syria that he wanted to go to Palestine and fight against the Israelis.

Ex-soldier is charged with aiding terrorist group

03/29/13:  The New York Times reports a former American soldier was charged Thursday with fighting alongside a terrorist group that is battling the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, whose ouster the United States has sought for nearly two years. The soldier, Eric Harroun, 30, of Phoenix, who served in the United States Army from 2000 to 2003, is accused of entering Syria in January and participating in attacks on Assad forces led by the Al Nusra Front, which American officials say is part of Al Qaeda in Iraq, a designated terrorist group. Mr. Harroun, who posted reports about his time in Syria on Facebook and YouTube, was charged in Alexandria, Va., with “conspiring to use a destructive device outside the United States,” a crime that can carry a life sentence. He was arrested Wednesday after arriving at Dulles International Airport and made an initial appearance in Federal District Court on Thursday. According to an affidavit filed in the case, Mr. Harroun told an FBI agent, Paul Higginbotham, that he was part of an “RPGteam,” firing rocket-propelled grenades, which qualify as a “destructive device” under the law. The charge does not have any connection to terrorism, though more charges could be filed later.

Airplane bomber set for March 20 prison release

03/18/13: The Miami Herald reports Mohammed Rashed, who pled guilty to an airplane bombing that killed a Japanese teenager in 1982, will be released from a US prison Wednesday due to his cooperation with other antiterrorism investigations.  The release does more than spring loose a convicted terrorist. It also could deprive the government of a star witness in the event that Abu Ibrahim, a Palestinian master bomb-maker who authorities say orchestrated Rashed’s attack and similar strikes around the world, is ever captured.  A former top lieutenant, Rashed could implicate Ibrahim as the architect of the attack and help establish his identity if prosecutors ever could bring him to the US to face justice.  Once freed, Rashed may not continue cooperating, though the Justice Department says it has enough other evidence for a conviction.

New Prime Minister says Bulgaria won't take lead in EU Hezbollah sanctions

03/17/13: Haaretz reports Bulgaria's new interim Prime Minister said Saturday he would not initiate any move to impose EU sanctions on the Islamist group Hezbollah, even though the country had implicated Hezbollah in a bombing at a Black Sea resort.  Marin Raikov did not give a reason for his decision, but it will likely be seen as a concession to Bulgarian opposition groups, who have argued the country could open itself up to more attacks if it takes the lead in blacklisting Hezbollah.  "Bulgaria will not initiate a procedure [for listing Hezbollah as a terrorist organization]," Raikov told state media.  "We will only present the objective facts and circumstances and let our European partners decide."  Last month, then-Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said an investigation had linked Hezbollah to the Black Sea attack.

Miami imam found guilty in supporting Pakistani Taliban

03/05/13:  The New York Times reports the imam of a small mosque in a working-class neighborhood here was found guilty in federal court on Monday of providing thousands of dollars of support to the Pakistani Taliban. Capping a two-month trial, the imam, Hafiz Khan, 77, an American citizen who came to the United States in 1994, was found guilty by a jury of two counts of conspiracy and two counts of providing material support to terrorists. Each count faces a maximum 15-year prison sentence. Federal prosecutors said Mr. Khan and, to a lesser extent, other relatives, not only embraced the Taliban’s mission but also helped finance it. Mr. Khan, they said, sent an estimated $50,000 to the Pakistani Taliban, which is allied with Al Qaeda and is responsible for attacks against the Pakistani police and military targets. Prosecutors built their case around hundreds of FBI recordings of Mr. Khan’s telephone conversations. In those calls, he praised Taliban attacks, including those against United States military personnel and the failed 2010 attempt  to detonate a bomb in Times Square. He also discussed the thousands of dollars he was funneling to Pakistan. Prosecutors also relied on bank records and a confidential informant.

Four Somalis in US found guilty of supporting terrorists back home

02/23/13:  CNN reports a Somali terror leader implored his fellow countryman in California to send money 'to finance jihad," triggering a chain of events that ended with four convictions. US government agents recorded dozens of such calls a few years ago, according to the Department of Justice. And on Friday, a jury found four Somali nationals guilty of supporting terrorism in their native country. The verdict came after prosecutors played the recordings to jurors in a San Diego federal court during weeks of trial. The four, who included an imam and a cab driver, had raised $10,000 and wired it to the Islamist terrorist group Al-Shabaab, according to the original indictment. Cab driver Basaaly Saeed Moalin had many phone conversations with former Al-Shabaab leader Aden Hashi Ayrow, before a U.S. missile strike ended the latter's life in May 2008. Investigators from the FBI, Homeland Security and a San Diego anti-terror agency recorded dozens of them. Federal prosecutors filed charges in November 2011. The group pleaded not guilty. But the recordings convinced the jurors otherwise.

Weapons seized off Yemen point to Iran, US official says

02/05/13:  CNN reports a cache of weapons seized from a ship off the coast of Yemen had markings that indicate they came from Iran, a US official said Tuesday.  The markings on those weapons -- which included surface-to-air missiles, potent explosives and rocket-propelled grenades -- indicate they came from Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities, said the official, who declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information.  The weapons were believed to be headed for Shiite Muslim insurgents in Yemen, the official told CNN. The country's government has fought periodic battles against the Houthis, a Shiite rebel movement in northern Yemen, in a conflict seen as both separatist and sectarian.

Israel arrests 23 Hamas members in West Bank

02/04/13: Reuters reports Israel arrested twenty-three Hamas members in the occupied West Bank on Monday, some of them lawmakers.  Hamas said in a statement that lawmakers Ahmed Attoun, Hatem Qafisha, and Mohammed al-Talhad had been detained in the early hours of the morning, as well as several local leaders.  An Israeli military spokeswoman would not confirm whether Hamas lawmakers had been arrested and did not provide any of the men’s names or say why they had been detained.  “Twenty-five Palestinians were arrested, twenty-three of them belonged to Hamas,” she said.  Hamas, which is dedicated to the destruction of Israel, won the last Palestinian parliamentary election in 2006.  In 2007, after a unity government collapsed, it seized control of the Gaza Strip from Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement.

Yemen says intercepted ship had weapons from Iran for insurgents

02/04/13: Al Jazeera reports Yemeni officials confirmed on Saturday that a ship intercepted last month off its coast was an Iranian vessel trying to smuggle explosives and surface-to-air missiles into the country.  Officials in Washington said the seizure of the ship on January 23 was coordinated with the US Navy, and that the intercepted shipment was believed to have been from Iran and destined for insurgents in northern Yemen.  A US official said Sunday the ship demonstrates “ever-pernicious Iranian meddling in other countries in the region.”  The Yemeni government believes that Iran is supporting the Houthis, a Shi‘a insurgent group based in northern Yemen.  Tehran denies any interference in Yemen’s affairs.

Iraqi immigrants sentenced for plotting to help al-Qaeda

01/30/13: CNN reports two Iraqi men living in Kentucky received long prison sentences this week after being convicted of a series of charges involving a plot to help al-Qaeda.  Mohanad Shareef Hammadi and Waad Ramadan Alwan were arrested last August in Bowling Green, Kentucky in a terror-related sting operation.  After arriving in the United States, the men were monitored by federal authorities and told an FBI undercover agent they wanted to provide weapons and explosives to al-Qaeda in Iraq.  Hammadi pleaded guilty in August to twelve counts, including four counts of aiding al-Qaeda in Iraq.  Alwan pleaded guilty to twenty-three counts in December, including plotting to kill Americans overseas.  Alwan, 31, was sentenced to forty years in federal prison. Hammadi, 25, got a life sentence.

Analysis: Who decides the laws of war?

01/27/13: The New York Times today features this piece by Charlie Savage discussing Brigadier General Mark S. Martins, the chief prosecutor of the military commissions system who is leading the case against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantánamo Bay detainees accused of aiding the September 11 attacks.  General Martins is currently involved in a dispute with the Justice Department as to whether to defend a past conviction by those tribunals on a charge of conspiracy after that charge was invalidated by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a separate case.  The dispute involves the thorny question, which has vexed national security law going back to the decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in 2006, as to whether conspiracy to commit a war crime is a standalone offense under the laws of war.  On the other hand, Benjamin Wittes at Lawfare argues the dispute between General Martins and DOJ has less to do with substantive questions about the laws of war and as more about tactical legal positions.  Both pieces are worth a read.

UAE charges 94 in Islamist coup plot

01/27/13: The Miami Herald reports the United Arab Emirates says ninety-four people face charges for allegedly trying to overthrow the state as part of widening crackdowns on Islamist groups with suspected links to the Muslim Brotherhood.  Sunday’s statement by official news agency WAM did not name the UAE suspects, but authorities have been arresting perceived dissidents for months.  The crackdowns have brought complaints from rights groups and raised tensions with Egypt, which is led by Muslim Brotherhood member President Mohammed Morsi.  UAE Attorney General Salem Saeed Kubaish siad the suspects built a secret network to plot the coup and raised money through real estate and other deals.  He also claimed the suspects had links to the Muslim Brotherhood and others for expertise and financial support.

Report: some Algeria attackers were at Benghazi

01/23/13: The New York Times reports a senior Algerian official said Tuesday that several Egyptian members of the squad of militants that lay bloody siege to an Algerian gas complex last week also took part in the deadly attack on the United States Mission in Libya in September 2012.  The Egyptians involved in both attacks were killed by Algerian forces during the four-day ordeal that ended in the deaths of at least thirty-eight hostages and twenty-nine kidnappers.  But three of the militants were captured alive, and one of them described the Egyptians’ role in both assaults under interrogation by the Algerian security services, the official said.  If confirmed, the link between two of the most brazen assaults in recent memory would reinforce the transborder character of the jihadist groups now striking across the Sahara.

Detention law challenge fails

12/14/12:  The SCOTUS blog reports Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday refused to block enforcement of a broad new grant of detention power for the government, indicating that she felt a need to be cautious about putting into effect a judge’s ruling that struck down that new law, at least while the issue was under review in a federal appeals court.  Ginsburg acted without seeking a response from the federal government to a plea by writers and political activists who fear they may be seized under that new law. The full text of Ginsburg’s order, as shown on the Court’s docket, reads: “Application (12A600) denied by Justice Ginsburg.  The application to vacate the order entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit staying a permanent injunction entered by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is denied.  See Doe v. Gonzales, 546 U.S. 1301, 1308-1309 (2005) (GINSBURG, Circuit Justice).”

US places militant Syrian rebel group on list of terrorist organizations

12/11/12:  The New York Times reports The United States has formally designated the Al Nusra Front, the militant Syrian rebel group, as a foreign terrorist organization. The move is aimed at building Western support for the rebellion against the government of President Bashar al-Assad by quelling fears that money and arms meant for the rebels would flow to a jihadi group. The notice in the register lists the Al Nusra front as one of the “aliases” of Al Qaeda in Iraq. In practical terms, the designation makes it illegal for Americans to have financial dealings with the group. It is intended to prompt similar sanctions by other nations, and to address concerns about a group that could further destabilize Syria and harm Western interests.

Yemen security chief tells Iran to stop backing rebels

12/11/12:  Reuters reports Yemen's security chief has told Iran to stop training and funding Shi'ite Muslim rebels who, along with al Qaeda-backed Islamists and southern separatists, are staging one of three insurgencies threatening to pull the chaotic country apart. Major-General Ali al-Ahmadi, president of Yemen's National Security Board, also said al Qaeda appeared not to number more than 700-800 in the country, including a few hundred Saudis. But the group's Yemeni wing, which has plotted attacks on international airlines and sworn to bring down Saudi Arabia's monarchy, had sleeper cells on top of this that authorities had yet to track down, he told Reuters on Sunday.

Guilty plea in New York synagogue bomb plot case

12/05/12: The Miami Herald reports a New York man pled guilty Tuesday to rare state-level charges that he plotted to blow up city synagogues.  Ahmed Ferhani, 27, was one of two men arrested in a May 2011 weapons-buying sting.  Authorities called him a homegrown terrorist out to avenge abuse of Muslims around the world.  He envisioned posing as a Jew so he could infiltrate a synagogue and leave a bomb inside, prosecutors had said in court documents.  “By targeting a synagogue ... I intended to create chaos and send a message of intimidation and coercion to the Jewish population of New York City, warning them to stop mistreating Muslims,” Ferhani said Tuesday in a prepared statement.  Ferhani is expected to receive a ten-year sentence and then will likely face deportation.

FBI: Four California men charged in terror plot

11/20/12:  The New York Times reports four Southern California men have been charged with plotting to kill Americans and destroy U.S. targets overseas by joining al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan, federal officials said Monday. The defendants, including a man who served in the U.S. Air Force, were arrested for plotting to bomb military bases and government facilities, and for planning to engage in "violent jihad," FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said in a release. A federal complaint unsealed Monday says 34-year-old Sohiel Omar Kabir of Pomona introduced two of the other men to the radical Islamist doctrine of Anwar al-Awlaki, a deceased al-Qaida leader. Kabir served in the Air Force from 2000 to 2001.

UN adds Haqqani network to Taliban sanctions list

11/06/12:  The BBC reports the UN Security Council's Taliban sanctions committee has added the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, accused of attacks in Afghanistan, to its blacklist. A travel ban, arms embargo and asset freezing are part of the sanctions. It comes after the US said it had decided to designate the group a terror network, subjecting it to sanctions.

Massachusetts man sentenced to 17 years in terror plot

11/01/12:  The Miami Herald reports a Massachusetts man was sentenced Thursday to 17 years in prison in a plot to fly remote-controlled model planes packed with explosives into the Pentagon and US Capitol. Rezwan Ferdaus pleaded guilty in July to attempting to provide material support to terrorists and attempting to damage and destroy federal buildings with an explosive. Ferdaus was arrested last year after federal employees posing as members of al-Qaida delivered materials he requested, including grenades, machine guns and plastic explosives.

 

Sudan blames Israel for Khartoum arms factory blast

10/25/12:  The BBC reports the Sudanese government says it believes Israel was responsible for explosions at a military factory in the capital Khartoum on Tuesday. Minister Osman said four Israeli planes attacked the factory and two people were killed. Israel has not commented. Sudan has blamed Israel for such attacks in the past. Correspondents say Israel believes weapons are being smuggled through the region to Gaza. Leaked US State Department documents three years ago suggested that Sudan was secretly supplying Iranian arms to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Men 'planned mass suicide attack'

10/23/12:  The BBC reports three Birmingham men have gone on trial accused of planning a bomb campaign prosecutors say may have been bigger than the 7 July London attacks. The men are accused of planning a mass suicide bomb campaign that could have led to eight rucksack bombs being used against multiple targets in the UK.  The men, appearing at Woolwich Crown Court, deny engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts. The terror charges relate to the period between December 2010 and September 2011.

Minn. trial opens window on Somalia terror group

10/19/12:  The Miami Herald reports the trial of a Minneapolis man convicted in a conspiracy to send young men from Minnesota to the terrorist group al-Shabab in Somalia has provided the most detailed look yet into what has been called one of the largest investigations into the recruitment of U.S. fighters to a foreign terrorist organization. Mahamud Said Omar, 46, was convicted Thursday on five terrorism-related counts, including one that could land him in prison for life. Authorities say he provided money for al-Shabab weapons and helped some young recruits get plane tickets for Somalia - pushing them toward the terror group after they were indoctrinated in Minneapolis.

 

Reports indicate extremists get most arms sent to Syrian rebels

10/15/12: The New York Times reports most of the arms Saudi Arabia and Qatar are shipping to supply Syrian rebel groups fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad are reportedly going to hard-line Islamic jihadists, and not the more secular opposition groups that the West wants to bolster.  That conclusion, of which President Obama and other senior officials are aware from classified assessments of the Syrian conflict that has now claimed more than 25,000 lives, casts into doubt whether the White House’s strategy of minimal and indirect intervention in the Syrian conflict is accomplishing its intended purpose of helping a democratic-minded opposition topple an oppressive government, or is instead sowing the seeds of future insurgencies hostile to the United States.

"Abu Hamza" pleads not guilty to terrorism charges

10/10/12: Al Jazeera reports Abu Hamza al-Masri pled not guilty Tuesday to terrorism charges in federal court after Britain extradited him to the US last week to face trial and a potential life sentence.  Judge Katherine Forrest in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York set a trial date of August 26, 2013, for the Egyptian-born Islamist cleric often simply called Abu Hamza.  He is accused of participating in a 1998 hostage-taking in Yemen that resulted in the deaths of three Britons and an Australian; he is also charged with providing material support to al-Qaeda by trying to set up a training camp in Oregon and with attempting to organize support for the Taliban in Afghanistan.  Al-Masri could face up to life in prison if convicted.

Extradited UK terror suspects face charges in US

10/07/12: Al Jazeera reports Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan, two Muslim clerics who were extradited to the US from Great Britain, have pleaded not guilty to federal charges of providing terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Chechnya with financial aid, arms and personnel.  The two suspects appeared in the US District Court for the District of Connecticut hours after being extradited along with three other suspects on Saturday.  If convicted, the two men face life sentences.  Abu Hamza al-Masri, Khalid al-Fawaz and Adel Abdul Bary, the three others extradited, appeared at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.  Al-Masri was formally arraigned for the eleven charges levied against him, but is not expected to enter a response until Tuesday.

Senate panel report criticizes post-9/11 federal-state "fusion centers"

10/03/12: The LA Times reports a two-year Senate investigation has found that a federal domestic security effort to help state and local law enforcement catch terrorists by setting up more than seventy information-sharing centers around the country has threatened civil liberties while doing little to combat terrorism.  The so-called fusion centers were created in 2003 after the September 11 Commission concluded that federal, state, and local law enforcement should collaborate more in counterterrorism efforts.  Homeland Security Department officials have credited the centers for helping uncover terrorist plans, including a 2009 plot to bomb the New York subway.  But the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, reviewing intelligence reports for thirteen months in 2009 and 2010, “could identify nothing that uncovered a terrorist threat [or] a contribution any fusion center made to disrupt an active terrorist plot.”

Clinton to remove Iranian exile group from terror list

09/21/12: CNN reports that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to notify Congress as early as Friday that she intends to take the Iranian exile group Mujahedin-e-Khalq, or MEK, off a State Department terror list. The notification will be followed by a formal de-listing from the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations in the coming days.  MEK was placed on the US terrorism list in 1997 because of the killing of six Americans in Iran in the 1970s and an attempted attack against the Iranian mission to the United Nations in 1992. However, since 2004, the United States has considered the residents of Camp Ashraf "noncombatants" and "protected persons" under the Geneva Conventions.

Russia widens definition of treason in new bill

09/21/12:  The Miami Herald reports that Russia's Kremlin-controlled parliament on Friday tentatively approved a new bill offering a looser definition of high treason, which is seen by some as part of the widening Kremlin's crackdown on dissent. The current law describes high treason as espionage or other assistance to a foreign state damaging Russia's external security, while the new bill drafted by the main KGB successor agency widens it to include moves against Russia's "constitutional order, sovereignty and territorial and state integrity." It also expands the interpretation of treason to include activities such as financial or consultative assistance to a foreign state or an international organization.

DC Circuit upholds Taliban member's narco-terrorism conviction

09/05/12: McClatchy reports the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Tuesday upheld the first-of-its-kind conviction of a former Afghan Taliban member on federal narco-terrorism charges.  Khan Mohammed was the first Afghan Taliban member to be tried in an American courtroom, and the first individual convicted under a 2006 federal narco-terrorism law.  Mohammed failed to persuade the DC Circuit that his drug dealing couldn’t be linked to a specific act of terrorism.  “Mohammed need not have planned for his drug proceeds to fund terrorist ends,” Circuit Judge Thomas B. Griffith wrote for the three-judge panel.  “It is sufficient that the proceeds went to a terrorist – him.”  Prosecutors presented considerable evidence that Mohammed viewed drug dealing as a way to hurt the United States.

Obama Administration divided over Haqqani Network terror designation as deadline looms

09/01/12: The Washington Post reports that the Obama Administration is deeply divided over whether to designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani Network as a terrorist group, with some officials worried that doing so could complicate efforts to restart peace talks with the Taliban and undermine already-fraught relations with Pakistan.  In early August, Congress gave Secretary of State Hillary Clinton thirty days to determine whether the group meets the criteria for designation as a foreign organization engaging in terrorist activity that threatens US citizens or national security.  If Clinton says it does not, she must explain her rationale in a report due September 9.  Acknowledgment that the group meets the criteria, however, would probably force the administration to take action, which the military strongly favors but some in the White House and State Department have resisted.

Russia to request US extradition of convicted arms dealer

08/25/12: JURIST reports the Russian Justice Ministry announced Thursday that it has filed a formal request with the US government for a copy of the verdict of reputed Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who in April was sentenced by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York to twenty-five years in prison.  The request serves as an overture for a larger request that Washington extradite Bout to Russia to serve out his sentence.  Bout, 45, was convicted in November on four counts of conspiracy relating to his proposed sale of anti-aircraft missiles to drug enforcement informants posing as potential buyers for the guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) which the US has designated a foreign terrorist organization.  The US can refuse the request since Bout’s appeal is still pending.

Iraqi national in Kentucky pleads guilty to attempting to aid al-Qaeda

08/23/12: The blog War on Terrorism reports an Iraqi citizen pled guilty to federal terrorism charges Wednesday in the US District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.  Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 24, pleaded guilty to all charges in a twelve-count indictment.  He was charged with five counts of attempting to provide material support to terrorists and four counts of attempting to provide material support to al-Qaeda in Iraq, a designated foreign terrorist organization.  He also faced one count of conspiracy to transfer, possess, and export Stinger missiles and with two counts of making false statements in immigration matters.  He now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison under the sentencing guidelines and a mandatory minimum of twenty-five years.

US seizes cash tied to Hezbollah

08/22/12: The Washington Times reports federal authorities Monday seized $150 million in connection with a civil money laundering and forfeiture complaint charging that a massive, international scheme in which entities linked to Hezbollah, including the now-defunct Lebanese Canadian Bank (LCB), used the US financial system to launder narcotics trafficking and other criminal proceeds through West Africa and back into Lebanon.  Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Michele M. Leonhart and US Attorney Preet Bharara in New York said that from January 2007 to early 2011, at least $329 million was transferred by wire from LCB and other financial institutions to the United States for the purchase of used cars that were then shipped to West Africa.  Cash from the sale of the cars and proceeds from narcotics trafficking went to Lebanon through Hezbollah-controlled money laundering channels.

Standard Chartered faces suit from victims of 1983 Lebanon bombing

08/17/12: The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog reports a lawsuit filed Wednesday seeks to hold the bank Standard Chartered liable for the 1983 bombing of a US marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon that killed 241 American servicemen.  The suit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York by families of the victims of the attack, alleges that the recently revealed claims that Standard Chartered helped Iran hide 60,000 financial transactions from US regulators also kept assets hidden from the victims.  The plaintiff group was awarded $2.66 billion in damages from Iran by a federal court in Washington DC that found Iran liable in the bombing.  The new suit alleges that Standard Chartered’s actions hid assets the plaintiffs could have seized to satisfy the 2007 ruling.

Mexican "drug queen" extradited to US

08/12/12: BBC News reports Mexico has extradited to the United States a woman accused of setting up some of the first drug smuggling routes up the Pacific coast into California.  Sandra Avila Beltran, dubbed Queen of the Pacific, has been handed over to the American authorities to face cocaine trafficking charges.  Mexican prosecutors accuse her of having played a major part in the build-up of the Sinaloa Cartel in the 1990’s.  Beltran, who has been in prison since 2007, denies any wrongdoing, but prosecutors she worked alongside Mexico’s most wanted man, Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman, to build up one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations.  She is the niece of Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, known in the 1980’s as the “Godfather” of drug trafficking into the US.

Congress demands State Department designate Haqqani Network terrorist organization or say why it won't

07/20/12: The Washington Post reports Congress wants the State Department to list the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist organization or explain why it refuses to do so.  The House gave unanimous approval late Tuesday to a bill forcing the Obama Administration to take a position, an action that follows Senate passage of the measure in December.  The bill now goes to President Obama, who has not announced his position on the matter.  The State Department has been studying since last year whether to add the Haqqani network to a list of foreign terrorist organizations, but has yet to render a decision.  The State Department said last week that the administration already has designated a number of the group’s leaders as terrorists and imposed sanctions on them.

Uzbekistan man gets nearly 16 years for providing material support to terrorism and threatening to kill Obama

07/16/12: The War on Terrorism blog reports an Uzbek national was sentenced Sunday to fifteen years and eight months in prison for providing material support to terrorism, threatening to kill President Obama, and illegally possessing a weapon.  Ulugbek Kodirov, who has lived in the United States since 2009, pled guilty in February to the charges in the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.  Kodirov entered the United States on a student visa in June 2009. His visa was revoked on April 1, 2010, for failing to enroll in school.  Thereafter, he was unlawfully present within the United States.  He was living in an extended-stay motel in Pelham at the time of his arrest.

US presses Iranian dissident group to vacate Iraqi base

07/07/12: The New York Times reports the Obama Administration on Friday stepped up pressure on a dissident Iranian group to complete a move from its longtime base in Iraq.  The State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism, suggested that the group, the Mujahedeen Khalq, or People’s Mujahedeen, known as the MEK, could remain on the department’s list of terrorist organizations if it does not completely vacate Camp Ashraf, its location since 1986.  Under a court ruling, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton must decide by October whether to drop or renew the terrorist designation for the group.  The Iraqi government has set July 20 as a deadline to close Camp Ashraf, which was given to the MEK by Saddam Hussein.  Iraq is now deeply hostile to the group.

Court awards $813 million against Iran for 1983 Beirut terrorist bombing

07/05/12: The Blog of Legal Times reports a federal judge in Washington has awarded $813 million to victims of the 1983 terrorist bombing at the US Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, the latest in a string of large money judgments awarded against Iran for its role in the attack.  US District Court Chief Judge Royce Lamberth noted in his opinion that courts have issued more than $8.8 billion in judgments against Iran to date for its role in the bombing.  “Iran is racking up quite a bill from its sponsorship of terrorism,” Judge Lamberth wrote.  In this latest case, the court entered judgment in favor of the plaintiffs in 2009 and appointed a special master to sort through the damages claims.  Lamberth approved $183 million in compensatory damages and $630 million in punitive damages.

US targets informal banks allegedly aiding Taliban

06/30/12: The Washington Post reports the Obama Administration imposed sanctions on a pair of informal money-exchange networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan on Friday in what officials described as the first use of the tactic to attack the financial underpinnings of Taliban militants who rely on the system to fund their insurgency.  The sanctions announced by the Treasury Department were coordinated with similar measures adopted by the United Nations as part of a broad effort to slow the flow of cash used by the Taliban to pay salaries and purchase weapons for attacks in Afghanistan.  These informal cash networks, commonly known as hawalas, have long been used by Taliban commanders and other militants to move funds back and forth across the Afghan-Pakistani border.

US indicts man for aiding al-Qaeda in Yemen

06/30/12: The New York Times reports a man being held in Britain has been indicted in Manhattan on charges that he helped to develop online propaganda for al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen.  He is expected to be sent soon to New York.  The indictment alleges that Minh Quang Pham, 29, traveled to Yemen and took an oath of allegiance to the affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), received training from the group and provided it with expert advice and assistance in photography and graphic design.

Indonesian court sentences Bali bomb-maker to twenty years

06/22/12: BBC News reports an Indonesian court has convicted a militant of making explosives used in the deadly 2002 Bali bombings and sentenced him to twenty years in jail.  Umar Patek was found guilty of murder and bomb-making in connection with the Bali attacks, which killed more than 200 people, mostly foreigners.  He admitted helping mix chemicals, but said he was not involved beyond that.  Prosecutors did not ask for the death penalty after Patek apologized to victims and their families.  Patek was found guilty of all six charges, some terrorism-related, that he was facing.  He is the last key player to be tried in Indonesia in relation to the Bali attacks.

US adds three Boko Haram leaders to global terrorist list

06/21/12: The Long War Journal reports the US State Department has added three leaders of the al-Qaeda-linked Boko Haram group in Nigeria to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT’s).  Today’s designations mark the first time that members of the Nigerian terror group have been officially recognized as a threat to the United States, although the group itself has not been added to State’s list of terrorist organizations.  Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, was added to the SDGT list along with Khalid al Barnawi and Abubakar Adam Kamba, both of whom “have ties to Boko Haram and have close links to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb,” according to the State Department press release.