By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

CAIRO, Egypt – The U.S. Navy is warning of possible al Qaeda attacks against ships off the coast of Yemen, where an offshoot of the terrorist network has established a significant base of operations over the past year.

Yemen became a focus of deep international concern in December when Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the failed attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner, showing the group based in an impoverished and unstable corner of the Middle East had global reach.

“Information suggests that al Qaeda remains interested in maritime attacks in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden along the coast of Yemen,” said an advisory from the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence.

The warning said such attacks could be similar to the 2000 strike against the Navy destroyer USS Cole in Yemen’s Aden harbor that killed 17 American sailors. The attackers used a small boat laden with explosives to blow a hole in the side of the ship.

“Other more sophisticated methods of attack could include missiles or projectiles,” said the advisory, which was dated March 10. In particular, ships are at greatest risk while in or near ports or at anchor, it said.

Yemen, whose location at the southern rim of the Arabian Peninsula places it near one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors, is a long-standing base of support for al Qaeda.

Besides an al Qaeda threat, ships transiting the area have been beset by Somali pirates who have seized control of vessels ranging from fishing trawlers to oil supertankers in search of ransoms in the millions of dollars.

For more information, please see:

AP – US Navy Warns Al-Qaeda Threatens Ships Off Yemen – 23 March 2010

Otago Daily Times – US Warns Of Al-Qaeda Threat To Ships Off Yemen – 23 March 2010

Reuters – U.S. Warns Ships Off Yemen Of Possible Al-Qaeda – 23 March 2010

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

THE NEGEV, Israel – Multiple Qassam rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip and into Southern Israel during the past week. On March 19, a rocket fired by Palestinian militants killed a foreign migrant worker, reportedly a man from Thailand working on a farm, and the first casualty in Israel by rocket fire since the massive fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip during the winter of 2008-2009. Eighty-eight Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the same period because of Israeli military operations and border clashes, according to the United Nations.

The rocket attacks are not, however, from Hamas, the ruling political party in Gaza. Since the end of the fighting in January 2009, Hamas has observed a de facto cease-fire with Israel. Rather, the rockets have been launched by some of the many disparate extremist militant groups in the Gaza Strip who have criticized Hamas for what they believe is its increasingly moderate stance toward Israel.

“These types of attacks from other groups in Gaza…anger Hamas, because Hamas wants to show the entire world they are in control here,” said Haidar Eid, a Gaza-based political analyst. “Hamas wants to govern and rebuild, but it’s not giving an alternative to the other groups who want to continue to fight Israel.”

Israel responded to the rocket attacks with airstrikes, attacking what Israel has characterized as a militant smuggling tunnel used to bring weapons into the Gaza Strip from Egypt. The airstrikes also targeted a workshop in Gaza City and an open field, according to Palestinian security officials and eyewitnesses.

Since Israel began its blockade on the Gaza Strip, Palestinians in Gaza have built a network of tunnels, used to bring in weapons as well as much-needed humanitarian supplies. During a recent trip to the Gaza Strip, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon condemned the blockade, saying it has caused “unnecessary suffering.”

As Israel ramped up military operations on the Gaza border, an Israeli soldier was killed on March 22, reportedly as a result of friendly fire.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Israel Raid Strikes Gaza Tunnel – 22 March 2010

Ma’an News Agency – Israeli Soldier Killed on Gaza Border – 22 March 2010

Ha’aretz – Gaza Rocket Fired at South Israel, Days After Deadly Strike – 21 March 2010

Christian Science Monitor – Hamas Fails to Rein in Rocket Attacks, Prompting Israel Strike – 19 March 2010

BBC News – Rocket Fire From Gaza Kills Man in Southern Israel – 18 March 2010

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANAA, Yemen– The United States is warning ships sailing off the coast of Yemen that al Qaeda is planning attacks similar to that of the USS Cole in 2000 that killed 17 U.S. sailors.

The Office of Naval Intelligence posted the warning in order to promote security for shipping companies and other vessels.  According to the warning, the exact method of a planned attack is not known but it “may be similar in nature to the attacks against the USS Cole in October 2000 and the M/V Limburg in October 2002, where a small to mid-size boat laden with explosives was detonated.”

The warning further noted that “Although the time and location of such an attack are unknown, ships in the Red Sea, Bab-al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden along the coast of Yemen are at the greatest risk of becoming targets of such an attack.”

The Naval Intelligence posting comes in an area that has been one of the most active for Somali based pirate attacks in recent months.  According to a number of government anti-piracy reports, there have been 23 pirate attacks or suspected pirate incidents against ships in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Bab-al-Mandeb Strait, and western Indian Ocean over the past two months.

Furthermore, an increased al Qaeda presence in Yemen and Somalia as of late has contributed to the growing piracy problem.  Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen based affiliate of Osama Bin Laden’s terrorist network, announced in late December that it was calling on Muslims to wage a “mast media campaign of gathering information on U.S. Navy ships, their crews, how they are serviced by other nations, and data on possible nuclear weapons on board.”

The Yemen based statement said that al Qaeda had targeted the Navy in the past by bombing the Cole and that “every American naval vessel in the seas and oceans: aircraft carriers, submarines, and all of its war machines within range of al Qaeda will be destroyed.”

As one counterterrorism official explained “Extremists on the Arabian Peninsula continue to look to maritime interests as possible terrorist targets.”

For more information, please see:

CNN- U.S. Intelligence: Al Qaeda May Target Ships off Yemen– 22 March 2010

Reuters- U.S. Warns Ships off Yemen of Possible Al Qaeda Attack– 22 March 2010

The Washington Times- Navy Warns Ships About Al Qaeda Risk Near Yemen– 22 March 2010

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On March 17, Iranian police arrested fifty individuals. The arrests came during clashes between opposition supporters and police in Tehran during a new year festival called The Feast of Fire. This festival comes on the even of the Persian new year, but religious leaders told Iranians that celebrating this year was “un-Islamic.” Despite the warnings, people took the streets leading to conflict throughout the Iranian capital.

Tehran’s police chief confirmed that there a number of clashes between young Iranians and police officers across the capital. Opposition leaders, however, told their supporters that they did not want a protest during the festival.

The BBC’s correspondent in Tehran, Jon Leyne said that there was no indication that these clashes would lead to a larger political purpose. Leyne explained that the clashes were more a show of defiance against the demands made by the religious authorities.

March  17 marked Chaharshanbeh Soori. Held on the final Wednesday before Norouz (New Year), the day celebrates the coming of spring and dates back to a time when Iran was Persia and Zoroastrianism ruled. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told reporters that the event created “a lot of harm and corruption which is why it is appropriate to avoid it.” Khamenei told reporters that the festival had no basis in Sharia law and amounted to heretical fire worship.

Opposition leaders told supporters not to protest during the festivities and to not to provoke security forces. Despite the requests, clashes took place in several parts of Tehran, according to opposition website Jaras. Additionally, videos posted on the internet showed clashes between protesters and security forces. There were also reports that security forces marked the vehicles of individuals who were actively celebrating the Chaharshanbe Soori festivities.

Iran’s deputy police chief, Ahamad Reza Radan, told the press that fifty people had been arrested for causing “an unacceptable level of nuisance to the public.”

Large protests have been held in Iran since June 2009’s Presidential Election. Opposition protesters insist that the election was rigged to ensure the re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian government has vehemently denied this charge.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Party or Protest? Fiery Night in Iran – 17 March 2010

BBC – Iranian Police Arrest 50 People at Traditional Festival – 17 March 2010

CNN – Iranians Celebrate Holiday Under Police Crackdown – 17 March 2010

By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – On March 13, Iran arrested thirty individuals that were accused of waging an organized, United States-backed cyber against the Islamic Republic. The news was reported by Iran’s Fars news agency. Iran accused the thirty individuals and their American backers of gathering information on Iranian nuclear scientists. The Islamic Republic also claims that individuals are being sent abroad for training on how to gather information for the United States.

Iran’s judiciary claims that the thirty arrested individuals began being funded by the United States in 2006. The plan, allegedly, was to destabilize the Iranian government. The Iranian judiciary continued to allege that former U.S. President George W. Bush supplied four hundred million dollars for the cyber war project against the Islamic Republic. A State Department spokesman chose not to respond to the report by Fars.

The overall project was dubbed “Iran Proxy, ” according to the Fars report. The Fars agency reported that “thirty people were arrested in connection with an organized American cyber war netowrk via a series of complex security measures in the field of information technology and communications.”

One branch of “Iran Proxy” was allegedly capable of infiltrating Iran’s data banks and sabotaging its web sites. It was also capable of facilitating contacts between opposition figures in Iran and, allegedly, U.S.-funded media such as Voice of America radio and Radio Farda. Fars also reports that the cyber war included the staging of “illegal demonstrations and encouraging the public to take part in them after the president elections.”

Fars also reported that the judiciary said the U.S. used anti-filtering software during the demonstrations to wage psychological war against the nation.

Iran claims that it has dismantled several of the allegedly U.S.-backed opposition networks. It claims that among those involved in the cyber warfare is the People’s Mujahideen Organization, a leftist groups exiled from Iran which launched attacks on the country from Iraq during the Hussein Regime. Iran claims that cyber warfare included sending individuals to train with the PMOI in Iraq in order to launch additional attacks on the Islamic Republic.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Iran Says it Struck US-Backed Opposition Groups – 13 March 2010

CNN – Iran Arrests 30 Accused of U.S.-Backed Cyber War – 13 March 2010

Reuters – Iran Arrests 30 Over U.S.-linked Cyber Ring: Report – 13 March 2010