Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) — U.S. border agents spotted possible extremist links of the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner and had singled him out to be questioned when the plane landed, an administration official said.

In a routine check of passengers scheduled to arrive in the country, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was in a federal database of people who may have ties to terrorists and decided to interview him before allowing him admission to the U.S., the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.  Read more... (778 words, 1 image, estimated 3:07 mins reading time)

There’s been plenty of resistance to the new full-body scanners that have been installed in airports all over the world in the wake of The Great Underwear-Bomb Scare of 2009. Our own Scott Carmichael worried just last week that images of nude children could surface and find their way into the hands of pedophiles.

After Alan Johnson, the UK Home Secretary, announced yesterday that full-body scanners would be introduced at Heathrow Airport in about three weeks, many in the UK have grown concerned that a full-body scan of a child would break laws against child pornography. The law in question is the Protection of Children Act from 1978, which prohibits creating an indecent image or “psuedo-image” of a child.  Read more... (245 words, 1 image, estimated 59 secs reading time)

Janet Napolitano says the system worked. No, we were brave and lucky.

A U.S. government that has barred the phrase “war on terror” has nonetheless acknowledged that a failed Christmas day bomb attack on an airliner was a terrorist attempt. Can we all now drop the pretense that we stopped fighting a war once Dick Cheney and George W. Bush left the White House?  Read more... (866 words, 1 image, estimated 3:28 mins reading time)

Fears that al-Qaeda is planning a wave of suicide attacks with syringe bombs have been heightened after it emerged that a Somali man tried to board an aircraft last month carrying the same type of device as that used by the Detroit bomber.

Police in Somalia said the terrorist was caught “red handed” in Mogadishu trying to take powdered chemicals, liquid and a syringe onto a commercial airliner bound for Dubai. The suspect had 1kg of chemical powder – more than 12 times as much as the Detroit bomber – though the exact composition of the chemicals is not yet known.  Read more... (561 words, 1 image, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

Britain has been accused of being a “menace to the outside world” as American anger over the UK’s perceived failure to tackle Islamic extremism intensified.

Senior policymakers in the United States said the attempted suicide bomb attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is thought to have become radicalised in London, was further evidence that one of the biggest threats to US security came from Britain, where the capital has been dubbed “Londonistan” by critics.  Read more... (536 words, 1 image, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

As the fallout continues from Islamist extremist Anjem Choudary’s plans to hold a march through Wootton Bassett, demands are being made to ban not only the march but Choudary’s Islam4UK outfit itself, with yesterday’s Guardian reporting Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling’s call to “ban the organisation”.

Terrorism-Act-2000There are currently 45 proscribed organisations under the terms of the Terrorism Act (2000), which states (p. 2, Ch. 11, Part II, Sec. 3.5) that an organisation is considered to be “concerned in terrorism” if it:

(a) commits or participates in acts of terrorism,
(b) prepares for terrorism,
(c) promotes or encourages terrorism, or
(d) is otherwise concerned in terrorism  Read more... (438 words, 1 image, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

First Published: 11:16AM BST 24 Oct 2008

Plans to allow passengers to be virtually strip searched by the machines were denounced by MEPs as a threat to personal dignity.

They believe the images, if stored or published, could end up being published online revealing embarrassing details of celebrities.The full body scanners can potentially show off medical details such as breast implants.

The European Commission is proposing the airports use the scanners by 2010. They insist passengers would still be able to opt for traditional metal detectors, combined with the pat-down search if necessary.  Read more... (308 words, 1 image, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)

The full body scanners being introduced to Britain’s airports risk breaking child protection laws against making indecent images of children, campaign groups have claimed.

The pictures created by the scanners are so graphic they are tantamount to “virtual strip searching”, according to privacy campaigners who oppose the use of the security devices.

Ministers may be forced to consider making under-18s exempt from the scans and civil liberties campaigners are demanding measures to ensure the images, which will include those of celebrities, are not leaked onto the internet. Airport officials say the images from the £80,000 scanners are only seen by a single security officer in a remote location before it is deleted.  Read more... (398 words, 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Controversial passenger profiling techniques could be used in response to the attempted Detroit plane bombing, the Home Secretary has announced.

Alan Johnson said he was looking at whether ”additional targeted profiling” was needed to beef up airport security.

Passengers could be searched according to their race, ethnic background, age and gender, a decision that is likely to face opposition from civil rights groups. Announcing a series of new security measures, Mr Johnson warned passengers would face further delays as more were searched before they board planes.  Read more... (356 words, 1 image, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

Still small in numbers, but it reaches Saudi Arabia, Somalia and now U.S.

SANA, Yemen – Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has rapidly evolved into an expanding and ambitious regional terrorist network thanks in part to a weakened, impoverished and distracted Yemeni government.

While Yemen has chased two homegrown rebellions, over the last year the Qaeda cell here has begun sharing resources across borders and has been spurred on to more ambitious attacks by a leadership strengthened by released Qaeda detainees and returning fighters from Iraq.  Read more... (1825 words, 1 image, estimated 7:18 mins reading time)