AUTHOR:
TerrorismCentral Editorial Staff
TITLE:
TerrorismCentral Newsletter - September 3, 2006
SOURCE:
TerrorismCentral, September 3, 2006
TEXT:
Disasters remain a major theme this week, with the anniversary of the levee breaches that inundated New Orleans, the current hurricane and monsoon season, and the meeting of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. As well as coverage in the Disaster Reduction Monitor, there are reports on the economic impact in ETM/Economies, and some preparedness resources in Recommended Reading. Another disaster covered this week is the second anniversary of the Beslan school siege, and an independent report that casts further doubt on the official description. Other stories of government corruption are found in ETM/Corruption, and in some of the cases covered in the coverage of anti-money laundering and terrorist finance.
1. Global Terrorism Monitor
2. Political Risk Monitor
3. AML/CFT Monitor
4. Emerging Threat Monitor
5. Critical Infrastructure Monitor
6. Disaster Reduction Monitor
7. Recommended Reading
8. Asset Management Network News
For detailed analysis, background information and source documents become a Global Terrorism Monitor subscriber. You can purchase this and other titles here:
TAMNI Publications
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GTM Africa
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Algeria's 6-month amnesty for Islamic militants has expired. Only some 300 accepted the offer, in which they surrender in exchange for immunity, excluding certain serious crimes. The amnesty has been controversial for granting the military immunity from prosecution.
Thomas Lubanga has become the first war crimes suspect charged at the International Criminal Court. As leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) he is charged with recruiting child soldiers, and may face other serious crimes.
http://www.icc-cpi.int/press/pressreleases/175.html
Moroccan authorities undertook an anti-terrorism sweep, arresting 56 people suspected of planning attacks against tourist sites and government facilities.
Nigerian militants in the Niger Delta released an Italian oil worker kidnapped last week. The body of a Shell community liaison officer, abducted 20 August, was found. Continued government operations have maintained tensions at a high level, and security concerns led oil workers to stage a brief strike. This weekend, Nicholas Dickson, leader of the Niger-Delta Enlightenment and Expedition Force (NDEEF), was arrested, and his fellow kidnappers dispersed. Increased security operations has also led the Movement of the Niger Delta People (MONDP) to issue a statement calling for peace.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/cover/september06/03092006/f203092006.html
In the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a drive-by grenade attack injured nine people in a crowded market on Thursday. On Wednesday unknown attackers fired on a Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) training camp, killing two militiamen.
Sudan has continued a major offensive in Darfur. A bombing campaign helped to recapture a rebel-held town in the northern part of the state, which the rebels have promised to retake. Amid high levels of insecurity associated with repeated attacks, no casualty reports are available. A Red Cross worker abducted in mid-August has been killed.
The ceasefire between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has come into force. LRA has three weeks to assemble at secure locations in southern Sudan then a comprehensive peace agreement will be negotiated.
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GTM Americas
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Colombia reports that the remains of paramilitary commander Carlos Castano have been found, pending DNA confirmation. Castano organized the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), which was responsible for thousands of atrocities during the 40-year guerilla war.
Peru's investigation of a judge's assassination has revealed alliances between Peru's Shining Path rebels and Colombian and Mexican drug cartels.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4158670.html
The US Department of Defense is reorganizing its policy directorate and will establish a Global War on Terrorism Task Force.
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,111731,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-arms-pentagon.html
Under the "war on terrorism", the US Department of Defense has expanded the role of the Special Operations Command and its forces, to cover counterterrorism coordination and related tasks. In "Special Operations Forces: Several Human Capital Challenges Must Be Addressed to Meet Expanded Role" the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that personnel requirements have not been determined, and makes recommendations for improved personnel management.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-812
Venezuela has condemned a ten-fold increase in violent border groups that have followed activities in Colombia following implementation of the Colombia Plan, a Colombian-US anti-drug campaign.
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GTM Asia Pacific
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Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Director General Paul O'Sullivan spoke of the evolving but acute and unabated threat of terrorism
http://www.asio.gov.au/Media/Contents/business_council_of_australia.htm
http://www.asio.gov.au/Media/Contents/australian_security_industry_association.htm
Of the 13 men arrested in March and accused of membership in a Melbourne terrorist cell, 11 have been committed to trial on charges of membership in a terrorist organization and, in some cases, with terrorist financing.
Jack Thomas ("Jihad Jack") has become the subject of Australia's first control order. It requires that he stay home from 12 am to 5 am, visit police three times per week, use only telecommunications and computer equipment approved by the federal police and public or satellite phones only in an emergency. He is not to communicate with any member of a listed terrorist group, not to communicate with others about any terrorist acts, agree to be fingerprinted, and agree not to leave the country. Thomas had been freed 18 August when a court overturned his 5-year sentence for material support of al Qaeda. The case has raised civil liberty concerns.
http://esearch.fedcourt.gov.au/Esearch?showDoc=24871465 (magistrate transcript in Word)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1728340.htm
http://newsletters.fairfax.com.au/cgi-bin16/DM/y/eBAEb0InFtU0Bhi0LvAh0Ef
http://www.amnesty.org.au/news_features/news/hrs/draconian_laws_in_action_undermine_australias_human_rights_obligations
Militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, claims in an interview with Australian television ABC that the 2002 Bali bombings were a US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) plot. He claims the CIA hijacked "the bomb made by Amrozi and his friends", which would have killed no one, and replaced it with a micro-nuclear device. This claim was dismissed as nonsense by the Australian government. In Indonesia, Amrozi, Mukhlas, and Imam Samudra are awaiting execution for their role in the bombings, and Bashir has appealed for their release.
http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1727436.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2006/s1724308.htm
In East Timor 56 men have escaped from the Dili prison, including rebel leader Alfredo Reinado. International police and troops are searching for the escapees. Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has blamed the Australian-led peacekeepers for failing to increase security, enabling the men to simply walk out. Hours after his escape, Reinado called for people to join him in a people power revolution.
http://www.unmiset.org/
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/fugitive-timorese-rebel-calls-for-peoples-revolt/2006/08/31/1156817034665.html
Thai police found a fake bomb near caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's home, just days after defusing explosives in a car also near his home. Thaksin has accused military officers of attempting his assassination, and dismissed Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) deputy director General Panlop Pinmanee on suspicion of masterminding the plot. Pinmanee has dismissed the accusation as crazy. Analysts point to the design of the device and other inconsistencies that suggest involvement of amateurs, not military experts. More than half of people surveyed believe the government orchestrated the incident and suspect it was a ploy to gain public sympathy support.
In southern Thailand reports emerged last week that militants met to plan intensified guerilla actions through the rest of the year, supported by a new separatist group called Bersatu. Fear of attacks began to hinder trade, and worsened as attacks began to materialize. On Monday, the mutilated and bullet-riddled body of a defense volunteer was found, and a roadside bomb narrowly missed a police patrol. On Tuesday, one person was shot dead in Pattani and a couple was shot and injured in Narathiwat. The major incident occurred on Thursday when men and women dressed as vocational students carried bombs in books, folders, and bags and left them in or on counters, bins or phone booths in and around at 22 banks in the commercial centers of Yala and Betong. The nearly simultaneous explosions, triggered by mobile phones, killed two people and injured at least 24. The attacks appear designed to further disrupt the already fragile regional economy. Five suspects have been detained.
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GTM Europe
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German police face new challenges in identifying a new generation of terrorists, as represented by the inconspicuous students Youssef el Hajdib and Jihad Hamad now associated with an attempted train bombing.
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,433839,00.html
Beslan, Russia, marked the second anniversary of the school siege in which more than 330 people, mostly children, were killed. The official version that bombs planted by the hostage-takers in the school gym triggered the tragedy again has been called into question with the release of Russian investigator Yuri Savelyev's new report. The weapons and explosives expert who also served on the official parliamentary commission, concluded that the rebels' homemade devices did not explode, and suggested that grenades fired by the surrounding Russian forces triggered the explosions.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060903/53455002.html
http://www.pravdabeslana.ru/doklad/oglavlenie.htm (in Russian)
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/09/01/banreport.shtml
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/02/europe/EU_GEN_Russia_Beslan_Anniversary.php
http://www.mosnews.com/column/2006/09/01/beslantwoyears.shtml
Basque separatist group ETA used explosives in a car found in France at the end of June. Now, the Spanish interior ministry has stated that this does not represent tests of a new type of explosives.
http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/11743
One of three explosions at the Turkish holiday resort of Marmaris injured 21 people, including ten British tourists, when it blew apart a minibus. Hours later, an explosion killed three and injured several others in another coastal resort, Antalya. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), which is linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), claimed responsibility and promised more attacks, to wreak havoc on Turkey. On Wednesday, a homemade bomb exploded in a rubbish bin on Wednesday, injuring a woman in the port city of Mersin.
UK authorities have requested the extradition of Rashid Rauf from Pakistan. The British citizen was arrested in Pakistan earlier this month over the alleged transatlantic aircraft bomb plot. However, the extradition cites his role in a 2002 murder. Pakistan and the UK do not have an extradition treaty.
British police launched raids in London and East Sussex. Of 14 men arrested in London, 12 suspected of preparing or instigating acts of terrorism were from a Chinese restaurant. Searches continue as the Islamic school, Jameah Islameah, near Tunbridge Wells. The school has not been registered by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), and therefore does not officially operate as a school. Investigators are looking for evidence of terrorist training. In a separate operation in Manchester, two men were arrested.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5307818.stm
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1863820,00.html
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1863813,00.html
http://www.islamicjameah.org.uk/
Nabeel Hussain, Mohammed Yasar Gulzar and Mohammed Shamin Uddin have joined eight other men charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism in connection with the alleged transatlantic airliner bomb plot. Four others have been charged with lesser crimes. Five other suspects remain in custody.
http://cms.met.police.uk/news/arrests_and_charges/anti_terrorism_operation_update
Rauf Mohammed has been found not guilty of four charges under the Terrorism Act 2000 related to making and possessing a video of London sites, which the prosecution deemed potential terrorist targets, but the Iraqi minicab driver said were filmed as a tourist souvenir.
In Northern Ireland, police warn that a series of petrol bomb attacks have emerged as sectarian, and may spiral beyond property damage to loss of life.
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GTM Middle East
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Al Qaeda has released a new videotape opened by Ayman al-Zawahiri and featuring Muslim convert Adam Gadahn ("Azzam the American"), who is wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for questioning. They called for Americans and othe unbelievers to convert.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3CEAF7CA-B984-4E18-A1D2-2691D4A761E9.htm
http://www.fbi.gov/terrorinfo/gadahn.htm
In Gaza, Israeli air and land attacks killed one civilian, two Palestinian presidential guards and two Hamas members on Monday. On Wednesday, Israeli defense forces killed two members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a 14-year-old boy, and four other Palestinians, and injured five. On Saturday, a father and his son were killed and four Palestinians were injured when Israeli troops raided a house, and a third was shot dead near a border crossing. The Israeli offensive in Gaza was launched two months ago, after militants captured an Israeli soldier. More than 200 Palestinians, many civilians, have died during the offensive. One Israeli soldier was killed in friendly fire. The captured soldier remains a hostage.
On Monday, an upsurge of violence in Iraq's southern town of Diwaniya left dozens dead. Government forces lost control of parts of the city, and troops engaged in fierce battles with the Mehdi Army, a Shia militia. At least 19 soldiers and some 40 militiamen were killed, and more than 40 people were injured. In Baghdad, a suicide car bomber outside the interior ministry killed 13 people, including at least eight policemen, and injured more than 60. An explosion on Tuesday at a disused oil pipeline south of Diwaniya sparked a massive fire. As many as 50 people were killed, and many others injured. The cause is under investigation, but is likely to have been sparked by people siphoning fuel from a leak. Also on Tuesday, Baghdad police found more than 20 bodies, tortured and shot dead in two different locations. Two Shia militiamen in Baquba were killed in an attack on the office of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr. One US soldier was killed in Anbar, and a second in a vehicle accident.
The worst attack on Wednesday was a bombing at Baghdad's Shura market that killed 24 and injured 35. Also in Baghdad, a car bomb killed three and injured 21; justice ministry official Nadia Mohammed, her bodyguard and driver were shot dead; and three textile workers were shot and killed in a taxi. In Buhriz, a roadside bomb killed a family of five in their car. In Hilla, a bomb on a bicycle exploded, killing 12 men outside a police recruitment center. Thursday, a car bomb, mortar attacks, and other bombs killed at least 43 people in Baghdad and injured 112. 14 South Asian pilgrims traveled through the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar en route to the holy Shia city of Karbala when they were ambushed, tortured, and shot dead. (This incident was reported on Saturday.)
On Friday, 1 September, coordinated car bomb and missile attacks in Baghdad in the space of 30 minutes killed 68 people and injured nearly 300. In Doura district a roadside bomb killed three policemen, another north of Baghdad killed three. A kidnapped intelligence officer under Saddam Hussein was found shot dead. A policeman in Numaniya was shot and killed. On Saturday, US officials handed over control of Abu Ghraib prison to the Iraqi Justice Ministry. In addition to reporting the deaths of 14 pilgrims, bombings and armed assaults killed more than 30 people across the country.
Today, Sheikh Hassan Mohammed Mahdi al-Jawadi, a representative of revered Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, was hot and killed in front of his office. A similar drive-by shooting had also killed his son, a policeman, two weeks ago. Iraqi officials announced that senior al Qaeda in Iraq commander Hamed Juma Faris al-Suaidi ("Abu Humam", "Abu Rana") had been arrested in mid-June, when he was found severely wounded. A roadside bomb killed two US soldiers in Baghdad.
Israel has continued violations of Lebanese airspace, and says it will not lift the siege until all of UN resolution 1701 is implemented, suggesting this could take place in up to two weeks.
Original estimates suggested that about 100 cluster bomb sites in Lebanon would take more than a year to clear. Assessments so far indicate there are at least 359 separate sites, which contain 100,000 unexploded bomblets. Some 90 percent of these occurred in the last 72 hours of the conflict, leading UN humanitarian leader Jan Egeland and others to accuse Israel of completely immoral use of cluster. Israel has said their actions complied with international law.
In the West Bank, Israeli troops shot and killed an unarmed 64-year-old civilian on Monday. Clashes on Tuesday killed two members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades near Nablus. On Wednesday, Islamic Jihad leader in the West Bank, Hossam Jaradat, died of injuries received when Israeli troops shot him in the head last week. He had survived five previous assassination attempts. On Thursday, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander Fadi Khafisha was shot dead in Nablus, and five other people were injured. Israeli operations at the end of the week targeted rocket-launching sites.
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GTM South Asia
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Monday in Afghanistan opened with a suicide bombing in the southern province of Helmand. At least 17 people, mostly children, were killed in the crowded bazaar opposite a police station, and 47 were injured, several critically. On Tuesday a suicide attack near Kandahar narrowly missed a NATO convoy, but killed an Afghan civilian passing by, and injured an army officer. Clashes n Helmand on Friday killed one British soldier and injured a second. An investigation is under way to identify the cause of a RAF Nimrod plane crash in Kandahar, which killed 14. A weekend Afghan-NATO operation in the south has killed more than 20 suspected insurgents. Suicide bombings through 12 August have killed 105 civilians, five times the number of police and soldiers usually targeted in such attacks.
Violence in Afghanistan's southern provinces has contributed to a dramatic increase in opium cultivation, with production soaring by 59 percent this year. The large-scale drug operations, terrorism, crime, and corruption have left this area on the verge of collapse.
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/press_release_2006_09_01.html
Bangladesh has been given a list of 112 Indian separatists and 172 alleged separatist camps that India's Border Security Force (BSF) believes are in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) have said they will review the details and act on them, but Bangladesh previously has denied Indian rebels are in the country.
The High Court has upheld death sentences imposed against Jamaatul Mujahideen militants, including JMB leader Abdur Rahman, his deputy Siddiqul Islam ("Bangla Bhai"), and five others. Eight JMB members have been sentenced to life in prison. Ongoing operations led to the arrest of five JMB.
India's Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police in the 13 states with active Maoist insurgencies have joined Union Home Secretary V K Duggal to assess intelligence cooperation and progress in security cooperation. During the discussion, the Chhattisgarh incident in which some 800 heavily armed rebels got past security and attacked a relief camp, killing at least 31 people, will illustrate rising fatalities and the use of new and more organized tactics.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/11675.html
Nepal's army expressed grave concern over Maoists' taking an army officer and five others. There have also been reports of increased intimidation. Peace talks continue.
Pakistan's High Court in Lahore ruled that the government failed to justify detention of Hafeez Mohammed Saeed and ordered his release. He leads the Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is listed in the US as a terrorist organization that finances Lashkar-e-Toiba, but is not banned in Pakistan. He was detained after the July train bombings in Bombay (Mumbai) in which Lashkar, which he led previously, has been implicated. Hours after his release, he was arrested again when the Punjab state government ordered another 60-day detention.
A bomb in the southeastern Balochistan town of Hub killed five and injured ten people on Tuesday. Baloch nationalists are suspected. Fifteen suspects have been arrested. Tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti's body was recovered from his cave six days after his death, which triggered violent protests. His low-key private burial took place on Friday.
A Punjab court has sentenced Irfan Ali shah to death on 40 counts connected with masterminding an October 2004 bombing on a gathering of Sunni Muslims in which 40 were killed and nearly 10 injured. A second suspect is still wanted. Shah is appealing this conviction.
Sri Lanka launched a new military offensive against Tamil Tigers near the eastern port of Trincomalee. At least 13 soldiers have been killed and more than 90 injured. Air raids killed three Tigers and up to 20 civilians, although these casualties could not be verified. The army claims to have killed more than 60 Tigers. Tamil radio journalist Nadaraja Guruparan was kidnapped on Tuesday and released the next day. Fighting on Tuesday in the eastern town of Muttur killed 18 Tigers and injured 20, and 16 suspected Tigers were killed in the northern town of Mannar. On Friday, the sea Tigers attacked a navy patrol. The navy reports that two of its boats were damaged, and two sailors injured and says that it sank 12 Tiger boats and killed up to 100 fighters. The Tigers dispute these numbers, which cannot be independently verified.
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission says that it is now convinced that Sri Lanka's military forces were responsible for killing 17 local employees of Action Against Hunger on 11 August. The government "vehemently denied, condemned and regretted" the SLMM ruling.
http://www.slmm.lk/
http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca200608/20060830govt_slams_henriccson_ruling_aid_workers_killing.htm
http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/news/press/release_aug30_06.html
http://www.aahuk.org/Press%20Releases/SriLanka10August2006.htm
For detailed analysis, background information and source documents available only to subscribers of the Political Risk Monitor, visit our online store:
TAMNI Publications
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PRM Africa
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As Democratic Republic of Congo prepares for its presidential runoff election, violence remains a problem. In the northern Ituri district, with a high population of internally displaced persons, armed gangs attacked aid workers, forcing them to flee. Planting season has begun, but continued insecurity could hinder cultivation.
Ethiopian cattle rustlers launched a raid in Kenya's northern Marsabit district. They killed one herdsman and stole more than 200 cattle. Kenyan police fought the bandits through last Sunday, leaving 17 dead by Monday morning. 21 cattle and 6,000 goats and sheep were recovered. Further attacks later on Sunday left another six Kenyans dead, and several others injured. Hundreds of people were displaced.
Guyana held general elections that gave President Bharrat Jagdeo and his People's Progressive Party another term in office.
1 September marked the 37th anniversary of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's coup. His speech on the occasion called for supporters to kill enemies asking for political change: " We can not tolerate that the enemy undermines the power of the people and the revolution". This was one of several speeches made in the past month.
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=13356537
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.aspx?cu_no=2&item_no=105473
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/940D71D9-31B8-4CB3-AE87-B11178A701BE.htm
http://www.rcmlibya.org/Green_Book.html(in Arabic)
Moroccan authorities left a group of 50 citizens from Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, and Senegal in a desert zone at the Mauritania-Western Sahara border. They were left without food or water, and one Malian man died before Spanish relief agency Medicos del Mundo intervened.
http://www.medicosdelmundo.org/ (in Spanish)
Publisher of Le Republicain, Maman Abou, and editor Omar Keita Lalo were sentenced in Niger court to 18 months in prison and a fine for spreading false news. The conviction followed an article claiming that Niger Prime Minister Hama Amadou preferred ties to Iran over those with the West and was not concerned with human rights or transparency. A reporter for l'Enqueteur has also been imprisoned.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/africa/niger01sept06na.html
Nigeria has scheduled elections for state governors and regional assemblies for 14 April. In preparation for the elections, police are purchasing 70,000 new assault rifles and other firearms.
http://www.inecnigeria.org/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5304896.stm
Representatives from Somalia's interim government and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) have joined a second round of peace talks hosted in Sudan.
South Africa's National Assembly has approved an anti-mercenary law under which citizens must obtain government approval to work as security staff abroad or to serve in foreign armies. The bill now moves to the upper house, the Council of Provinces. The Institute for Security Studies warns that this could affect humanitarian work.
http://www.iss.co.za/index.php?link_id=5&slink_id=3539&link_type=12&slink_type=12&tmpl_id=3
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2hi/programmes/crossing_continents/4877098.stm
http://ipoaonline.org/en/gov/southafrica.htm
Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir has granted a pardon to Slovenian envoy Tomo Kriznar, who had been sentenced to two years in prison for alleged espionage and acknowledged entry without a visa.
The UN Security Council has approved a UN mission in Sudan including the current mission, Darfur, and border areas. Sudan President Omar al-Bashir is resolutely opposed to a UN force, and called on his people to be prepared to fight these colonial ambitions. Meanwhile, the conflict is escalating further towards all out war.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sc8821.doc.htm
http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmis/
http://www.africa-union.org/
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-01T133812Z_01_L01372165_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SUDAN-DARFUR-EU.xml
http://www.darfurinfo.org/
http://www.theirc.org/media/www/darfur_hope_amid_the_violence.html
Uganda announced a plan to help the nearly two million people displaced during the 20-year conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), now that LRA and the government have agreed a ceasefire and negotiations towards a permanent peace.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news09013.php
Zimbabwe authorities deny the Solidarity Peace Trust's findings in "Meltdown Report: Murambatsvina One Year On", which describes the aftermath of the May 2005 operation to "get rid of the filth", which involved forced evictions of some 700,000 people, and the widespread destruction of the informal economy. Solidarity reports:
* The new houses promised by Robert Mugabe's government have failed to materialize
* Many people are failing to access basic health care.
* Many children are not attending school.
* Those who earned their living in the informal sector are no longer permitted to do so.
* Hunger is rife.
http://www.solidaritypeacetrust.org/reports/meltdown.pdf
http://www.solidaritypeacetrust.org/index.php?page=images&report=15 (picture gallery)
http://www.solidaritypeacetrust.org/index.php?page=videos (video)
http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/sokwanele/welcometoanewzimbabwe_29august2006.html
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PRM Americas
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Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced plans to train and arm 4,400 Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers over the next decade.
http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=1302
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency/security-securite/menu-e.html
Guyana is holding general elections under heightened security to prevent the violence attendant in recent votes.
Haitian legislator Rodney Alcide was kidnapped on 25 August. Alcide was freed two hours later, but the fate of his driver and bodyguard is unknown.
http://www.radiokiskeya.com/article.php3?id_article=2477 (in French)
A study published in The Lancet finds that "crime and systematic abuse of human rights were common in Port-au-Prince. Although criminals were the most identified perpetrators of violations, political actors and UN soldiers were also frequently identified. These findings suggest the need for a systematic response from the newly elected Haitian government, the UN, and social service organizations to address the legal, medical, psychological, and economic consequences of widespread human rights abuses and crime".
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673606692118/abstract
Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal said that a partial recount had not changed the original result of July's presidential election, which gave victory to conservative candidate Felipe Calderon by half a percent. The top election authority refused a full recount and dismissed allegations of widespread fraud. Defeated leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has refused to accept the verdict, calls for the election to be annulled, and promised to continue fighting, including ongoing mass protests. The judges have until 6 September to formally declare a president-elect. This weekend, left-wing deputies caused chaos in Mexico's parliament, forcing outgoing President Vicente Fox to abandon his address to the nation. Throughout the country, social upheaval has spread, opening the question of how far unrest and protests will go.
The Islamic Society of North America held its convention in the US state of Illinois. Former Iranian President Khatami was one of the speakers, delivering a scathing criticism of US policies that have intensified rather than reduced terrorism. He called instead for dialog and cooperation between the West and the Muslim world.
http://www.isna.net/conferences/annualconvention/
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0609030224sep03,1,16046.story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-060902khatami-chicago,1,5678818.story
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-khat03.html
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=45459
Caracas, Venezuela Mayor Juan Barreto announced plans to expropriate two golf courses and use the land to address a housing shortage for the capital's poor.
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PRM Asia Pacific
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At the Burma-Thailand border, some 150,000 ethnic Karens are living in temporary camps where they fled Burma's military offensive. The US has previously offered to resettle them, but it ran up against post-9/11 regulations against granting refugee status to anyone providing material support to terrorism, in this case the Karen National Union (KNU), and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army. Now the Department of State has exercised discretionary authority to determine material support was inapplicable, opening the door to resettlement. The decision comes after a controversial incident in which more than 600 Karen laborers were arrested during their New Year celebration, which had attracted a crowd of some 70,000 more than the few hundred for which the police had prepared. Those arrested were deported to Burma for violating travel restrictions connected to their work permits.
Ching Cheong has become the first Hong Kong journalist charged with spying in China since it resumed sovereignty in 1997. The Chine correspondent for Singapore's Straits Times was detained in April 2005 and has now been sentenced to five years in prison for purchasing information and providing it to Taiwan intelligence, charges he, his family and colleagues deny. The trial was held in secret, and the sentence will be appealed.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/asia/china31aug06na.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5284754.stm
In East Timor there has been a recent escalation of burning and stoning houses in the capital Dili, both within communities and at displacement sites.
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=44f85769a
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=44f8136125
The Civil Society Alliance for Democracy (Yapikka) conducted a survey to measure the impact of regional autonomy. They found that rather than bolstering accountability and public service, regional autonomy has instead led to nepotism, ethnocentrism, and a resurgence of tribalism.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060831.@01
39 Japanese boats entered waters near the disputed Northern Territories (Japan)/Kuril Islands (Russia) on Sunday. Tensions have been high since August, when Russian border guards fired on a Japanese trawler, killing one and detaining three crewmembers. Two have since been returned to Japan, but the captain remained in custody. Russia protested the intrusion, but later acknowledged it was legal under a seaweed harvesting agreement. This is one of the issues that have prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty to end World War II.
http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/181fb87ecf096111c32571d90036e754?OpenDocument
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/31/eng20060831_298464.html
http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=549&language_id=1
http://www.sakhalin.ru/Engl/
Vietnam marked National Day on 2 September. For this occasion, more than 5,300 prisoners were released under a general amnesty that included prominent pro-democracy dissident Pham Hong Son, who had been imprisoned more than four years ago for posting an article about democracy online. He is still subject to house arrest.
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PRM Europe
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In Belgium, the Flemish town of Merchtem has instituted a ban on speaking French in school.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5305484.stm
In Bosnia, campaigning has begun ahead of general elections on 1 October. The elections will lead to self-government, independent of international representatives, for the first time since the war ended eleven years ago.
Frances ruling conservative party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) held its party conference. Interior minister and presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy proposed obligatory community service, and condemned the 1968 student uprisings for leading to a sense of entitlement in young people. He also tried to heal the rift with youths and Greens that had followed last year's urban riots.
http://www.u-m-p.org/site/index.php (in French)
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L0355203
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/03/europe/EU_GEN_France_Youth.php
A Dutch appeals court has ruled that under special circumstances the intelligence service AIVD can tap reporters' phones. The decision overturns a lower court ruling by finding that two De Telegraaf reporters' publication of classified AIVD dossiers about an underworld drugs dealer involved a matter of national security.
http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/j091/secret091.html
https://www.aivd.nl/aspx/get.aspx?xdl=/views/aivd/xdl/page&SitIdt=25&VarIdt=13&ItmIdt=98489 (in Dutch)
http://www.telegraaf.nl/ (in Dutch)
Slovakia has a substantial Hungarian minority comprising some 10 percent of the population. In the past month there have been a number of attacks against Hungarians. These began with acts of defacement and intimidation but recently this escalated into two attacks, against a young woman and a teenage boy, in which they were badly beaten for speaking Hungarian. These attacks led the Hungarian foreign minister to summon the Slovak ambassador to protest the attacks. Slovakia suggests that Hungary is over-reacting. Tensions between the two countries are high.
http://www.slovakspectator.sk/clanok.asp?cl=24512
http://www.pes.org/content/view/624/90
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-08-29-voa3.cfm
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/1281
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PRM Middle East
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The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator warned that Gaza is a "ticking time bomb" marked by conditions so severe that a social explosion is inevitable. The World Food Program characterized Gaza's economy as hitting rock bottom, with 70 percent of the population facing food insecurity and dependence on international assistance. Jan Egeland explained, "you cannot seal off an area, which is a little bigger than the city of Stockholm, has 1.4 million people, of whom 800,000 are youth and children, and then have 200 artillery shells go in there virtually every day, seal off the borders so that it is very hard for them to send anything out, crippling the economy, for people to live or even humanitarian supplies to get in". His call for donors to generously fund assistance efforts for the Palestinians succeeded in raising pledges of $500 million. Meanwhile, the freeze on Palestinian finances has made it impossible to pay even the minority of citizens who have jobs, leading to a strike by tens of thousands of unpaid civil servants, particularly in the West Bank. This has closed schools and paralyzed the health sector.
http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2006/060830_Egeland.doc.htm
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55381
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55356
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reaffirmed his country's commitment to support the UN resolution on Lebanon, supporting its territorial integrity and the reconstruction effort.
Iranian intellectual Ramin Jahanbegloo, a joint Iranian-Canadian citizen, has been freed from detention. He was arrested at Tehran airport in May, accused of undermining the government and links to foreigners.
http://www.iranproject.info/
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=f2024f0c-b004-4121-b276-d2a00392865f&k=83094
"Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq" is a US Defense Department report to Congress that indicates progressive trends driving the country towards civil war. It addresses political stability, economic activity, and the security environment. Completion of a national unity government and development of the National Reconciliation and Dialog Project indicated political progress. Debt reduction and improved electricity and oil production indicated progress in economic activity, but fell short of targets, and serious challenges remain. Regarding security, the report says:
"Setbacks in the levels and nature of violence in Iraq affect all other measures of stability, reconstruction, and transition. Sectarian tensions increased over the past quarter, manifested n an increasing number of execution-style killings, kidnappings, and attacks on civilians, and increasing numbers of internally displaced persons. Sunni and Shia particularly al-Qaeda in Iraq and rogue elements of Jaysh al Mahdi (JAM), are increasingly interlocked in retaliatory violence and are contesting control of ethnically mixed areas to expand their existing areas of influence. Concern about civil war within the Iraqi civilian population and among some defense analysts has increased in recent months. Conditions that could lead to civil war exist in Iraq.... In the current reporting period the average number of weekly attacks increased 15 percent over the previous reporting period average, and Iraqi casualties increased by 51 percent compared to the previous quarter". More than 3,000 Iraqi casualties occur each month, and by July, two-thirds were the result of sectarian incidents.
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/Security-Stabilty-ReportAug29r1.pdf
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert has announced two governmental inquiries, one to examine the military and one to examine the political conduct of the war. The powers and make-up of the committees is unknown, but they fall short of public demands for an independent inquiry.
http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speechhaifa280806.htm
Lebanon's strengthened UN peacekeeping force has begun to arrive with a contingent of Italian troops. France will command the force until February 2007, when Italy will take over. Italy is providing the largest number of troops. Other pledges include:
* Bangladesh - up to 2,000 troops
* Belgium - up to 392 troops
* Denmark - at least two ships
* Finland - 250 troops
* France - 2,000 troops
* Germany - maritime and border patrols but no combat troops
* Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Spain - 1,000 troops each
* Italy - up to 3,000 troops
* Norway - 100 soldiers
* Poland - 500 troops
For Lebanon's rebuilding, an international donors' meeting raised pledges of more than $940 million, bringing the total raised to $1.2 billion of the nearly $4 billion required. Should the pledges materialize, they can contribute to removing the remnants of war and to repairs of 15,000 homes, 78 bridges, 630 km roads, and mitigate agricultural losses including $185 million crops, a million poultry, and 25,000 goats and sheep. 2,000 workers are out of jobs because their firms were destroyed in the bombings, and unemployment is expected to rise from the official level of nine percent to as high as 20 percent in the near future.
Despite these grim statistics, Rym Ghazal writes that "Lebanese prove humor is the best medicine", and Nour Samaha describes the value of graffiti.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=75147
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=75139
Syria has agreed to increase guards on the boarder with Lebanon to help stem the flow of arms as stipulated in the UN resolution that ended Israel's incursion into Lebanon.
Yemen's presidential and municipal election campaigns have been marred by the arrests of 17 candidates, as well as the murder of an independent presidential candidate and a media official.
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PRM South Asia
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Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia led a huge march to mark the 38th anniversary of the founding of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. She promised that the next elections, in January 2007, will be held according to the constitution. Opposition parties continue to insist they will boycott the elections unless demands for reforms are met.
Nepal's high level commission investigating atrocities in the fight against the pro-democracy movement as well as Maoist rebels has heard testimony from senior officials and plans to question King Gyanendra over his role in the crackdown against pro-democracy protestors. In April, three weeks of protests over the King's assumption of direct rule left 21 dead and 5,000 injured.
In Pakistan's Balochistan province, a widespread general strike was called to protest last week's killing of tribal autonomy leader Nawab Akbar Bugti. Clashes this week occurred when some 10,000 people attended a memorial service, injuring several. Protests continued, with roadblocks severing key roads in place by Wednesday. The number of arrests in four days of violence is around 850.
India has described Bugti's death as unfortunate and a tragic loss to the people of Balochistan, and warned Pakistan that military force is not a solution.
Sri Lanka has assured India that no Pakistani pilots are involved in the military campaign against the Tamil Tigers.
http://www.lankaeverything.com/vinews/srilanka/20060903002941.php
The AML/CFT Monitor is a monthly 16-page print publication. News highlights from the past week are provided in this free email update, but detailed analysis, background information and source documents are only available to subscribers. Purchase a subscription at our online store:
TAMNI Publications
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AML/CFT Incidents/Cases
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A money-laundering ring between the Dominican Republic and the US state of Massachusetts has been dismantled, with ten arrests.
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/060901boston.htm
http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=17010
In Guam, Kong Kwok Chan ("Ken Chan") has been sentences to nine years in prison for money laundering and related charges in connection with drug trafficking.
http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060901/NEWS01/609010309/1002
Hong Kong's District Court has sentenced two Indian men to 40 months prison for money laundering and other charges in connection with an advance fee fraud.
http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/lawandorder/060901/html/060901en08001.htm
The Central Bank of Malaysia has investigated its first money laundering case. It led to 41 charges against UK national Bryan John Marsden and his Malaysian wife Phan Sew Ken for receiving the proceeds of illegal activities, using online services.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/8/31/courts/15292060&sec=courts
http://www.sitnews.us/0906news/090206/090206_charged.html
http://www.bnm.gov.my/
In New Zealand's Tauranga District Court six people were charged with money laundering in a scheme involving stolen checks.
http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3699571
Nigeria's Plateau State Speaker Simon Lalong, his deputy Usman and five other legislators were charges on 21 counts of money laundering and related crimes.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=57101
Hafeez Mohammed Saeed, leader of the Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, and former leader of Lashkar-e-Toiba, has been released from detention following a Pakistan court ruling that there was no evidence to justify holding him. Jamaat-ud-Dawa is listed in the US as a terrorist organization that finances Lashkar, but is not banned in Pakistan. Soon after, the Punjab state government ordered his detention for a further 60 days: this is being appealed.
Somali financial services firm al-Barakat and all its international representatives have been removed from a US terrorist list. Prior to 9/11, al-Barakat floated the Somali economy with international money transfers/remittances/hawala. They were blacklisted after 9/11 on suspicion of using hawala to finance terrorism - accusations that have been refuted. Despite being removed from the list, some $9 million of funds remain blocked, preventing the company from resuming operations.
Money laundering charges against Northern Ireland estate agent Philip Johnston have been dropped, with no reason given. Johnston has lodged a complaint with the Police Ombudsman, which is investigating the case, and he is considering other legal action to compensate him for harm to his reputation and business since his April 2005 arrest.
Tony Danillo has been indicted in California court on more than 100 counts of money laundering and fraud in connection with real estate deals to defraud homeowners of $7 million.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15411054.htm
Christopher Bouchard has pleaded guilty in New Hampshire court to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with drug trafficking. His associate Peter Foster has also been convicted.
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/060901Concord.htm
In New York Court, Canadian citizen Stephan Clark pleaded guilty to conspiracy with two co-defendants, Leslie Pinsky and Raymond Payne, in connection with a $30 million telemarketing fraud that laundered funds through HSBC.
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/060901ny.htm
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AML/CFT Legislation and Regulation
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The Eastern and South African Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) concluded their meeting with a unanimous agreement to collaborate in the fight against regional crime and terrorism, including how to establish international AML standards in the context of local realities.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200608290241.html
http://www.esaamlg.org/
In Australia the Attorney General's Department is asking entities and industry representative bodies affected by proposed reforms to Australia's Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing legislation t complete a business impact survey.
http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/agdhome.nsf/Page/RWP8B2E91AF7CF4CFCACA2570C900112F4C
Although Chile's constitutional court rules some provisions to strengthen bank secrecy laws were partially unconstitutional, the Finance Ministry said it is proceeding with new regulations to report suspicious transactions and other money laundering efforts.
http://www.easybourse.com/Website/dynamic/News.php?NewsID=48035&lang=fra&NewsRubrique=2
At the XIV Egmont Group Plenary meeting in Limassol, Cyprus, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) entered into agreements with its counterpart agencies in Chile, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Japan, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Peru and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. These Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) set out terms for the sharing of financial intelligence on suspected money laundering and terrorist activity financing and the protection of personal information.
http://www.fintrac.gc.ca/publications/nr/2006-07-20_e.asp
http://www.uif.gob.pe/ (in Spanish)
The International Monetary Fund issues its report on the Central African Economic and Monetary Community's (CEMAC) observance of FATF's AML/CFT regulations. CEMAC authorities view the regional risk of money laundering as high, and have addressed through intelligence and police services but have not yet established definitive information of terrorist financing, particularly through religious organizations. Little precise and quantitative information is available regarding the scope of criminal activity, corruption, or embezzlement of public funds. Mechanisms to begin combating AML/CFT must be embedded into the promotion of good governance and fight against corruption.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=19855.0
The People's Bank of China issued its annual anti-money laundering report, saying it has laid the groundwork for the country's anti-money laundering legal system, which is currently being debated in the legislature. In 2005, the central bank and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) conducted investigations into 1,614 suspected cases of money laundering, provided police with evidence in 2,790 criminal cases, and broke up more than 50 money laundering rings. Among these were underground banks, illegal foreign exchange bureaus, embezzlement of public funds, drug smuggling, and illegal lotteries.
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/25/eng20060825_296580.html
http://www.pbc.gov.cn
Jordan has submitted a new draft Money Laundering Law to Parliament for approval.
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093125249
Oman launched its first AML/CFT seminar to address policies and enforcement measures. Its new AML strategy focuses on training and continuous information exchange.
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093125549
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/08/31/10063918.html
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093125256
The Central Bank of Russia revoked banking licenses of CB United Transport Bank and Bank Transregional Financial Company for repeatedly breaking the AML/CFT law. http://www.akm.ru/eng/news/2006/august/31/ns1769676.htm
The UK's new money laundering rules in force from 1 September are addressed in this letter to the (JMSLG)
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/other/money_laundering/letter_310806.pdf
http://www.bba.org.uk/bba/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=362&a=7611
The Bank of England issued a corrected listing for a sanctioned Democratic Republic of Congo individual, Iruta, Douglas Mpamo, and updated the al Qaeda sanctions list.
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/news/2006/084.htm
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/news/2006/083.htm
The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today added to its list of Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers four individuals and two companies tied to Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, a leader of Colombia's North Valle drug cartel. They are his parents Omar Ramirez Ponce and Carmen Alicia Abadia Bastidas, and business associates Jorge Rodrigo Salinas Cuevas and Edgar Marino Otalora Restrepo, pharmaceutical distribution company Disdrogas Ltda. and the Colombian holding company Ramirez Abadia y Cia. S.C.S.,
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp74.htm
Treasury also designated the Islamic Resistance Support Organization charity ("Hayat al-Dam", "Lil-Muqawama al-Islamiya", "Islamic Resistance Support Association") as a fundraiser for Hezbollah. This action prohibits transactions with US entities and freezes any IRSO assets under US jurisdiction. A representative of IRSO says the charity was established by Lebanese citizens to aid fellow citizens suffering from Israeli aggression, and has no assets in the US.
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp73.htm
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=75148
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AML/CFT Modalities
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The Central African Economic and Monetary Community's (CEMAC) reported to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that high regional risks of money laundering are tied to corruption, embezzlement of public funds, fraud linked to oil production, and criminal activities including smuggling, counterfeiting, and trafficking in precious stones, weapons, and narcotics.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=19855.0
Donor-advised funds are separate accounts held by a public charity to receive contributions from donors who may recommend, but not control, charitable distributions from the account. US Internal Revenue service examinations reveal that some donor-advised funds and their supporting organizations are used in abusive schemes. This is addressed in the new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, "Tax-Exempt Organizations: Collecting More Data on Donor-Advised Funds and Supporting Organizations Could Help Address Compliance".
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-799
Writing in Front Page Magazine, Debbie Schlussel reports that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Mormons, is the largest single donor to the US branch of Islamic Relief Worldwide, a charity designated by Israel as supporting Hamas.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=24206
For detailed analysis, background information and source documents consider subscribing. Subscriptions to Emerging Threat Monitor can be purchased at our online store:
TAMNI Publications
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ETM Corruption and Transnational Crime
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The Independent Commission Against Corruption, which fights public corruption in New South Wales, Australia, has released a guide for voiding corruption when lobbying government councilors.
http://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/files/pdf/Lobbying_local_government_councillors.pdf
The Ontario Superior Court in Canada has frozen the personal assets of Lord Conrad Black and his wife worldwide. His personal spending, under court supervision, is limited to $20,000 per month. This step followed a request from Hollinger, which Black once controlled, in connection with a lawsuit regarding alleged asset stripping.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1156974612477&call_pageid=968350072197
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/departments/business/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003085029
Former Central African Republic President Ange-Felix Patasse has been sentenced to 20 years in prison with hard labor and fined for theft of public funds by setting up fictitious companies.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55333
The joint German and UK "Operation Sunrise" disrupted an E165 million carousel fraud. Officials scanned over 30,000 mobile telephones to capture data about their movement into the EU from third countries and provide evidence of carousel transactions involving Missing Trader Intra-Community Fraud (MTIC) Value-Added Tax (VAT) fraud. MTIC. Activity focused on the Swiss German border as a common route used to reintroduce goods previously involved in fraud and exported to a third country back into the EU to be used in further frauds. The more complex carousel fraud involves the same goods, most commonly mobile phones and computer chips, being traded around contrived supply chains within and beyond the EU, re-entering the UK on a number of occasions with the VAT being stolen each time. In 2005 mobile telephones to the value of E2.1 billion were imported into Germany from Switzerland, despite having no manufacture of mobile telephones there, and no obvious commercial reason for such trade. In 2004-5 carousel fraud is estimated to have cost the UK up to GBP 1.9 billion in stolen VAT revenues
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/articles/nojournal/Further_Missing_Trader_Fraud_Research.pdf
Lithuania has arrested an arrest warrant for former Economy Minister Victor Uspaskich, who is suspected of fraud and tax evasion.
Malawi's opposition politician and musician Lucius Banda has lost his seat in parliament following a sentence of 21 months in prison with hard labor for forging the school certificate that allowed him to stand for parliament.
The US Department of State's Inspector General found that Kenneth Tomlinson, chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, repeatedly used government employees to perform personal errands, billed more days of work than permitted by regulation, put a friend on the payroll, and ran a horse racing operation. No criminal charges have been pursued, but a civil inquiry is under way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/washington/29cnd-broadcast.html
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14642021/site/newsweek/
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has settled enforcement proceedings against Prudential under which they will pay $600 million in a global civil and criminal settlement for having concealed identities of Prudential representatives and those of their customers in order to evade market timing limitations on mutual funds.
http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2006/2006-145.htm
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ETM Economies and Financial Systems
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"Managing Climate Risk - Integrating Adaptation" is a report from the World Bank that describes the need to integrate climate risk with development strategies.
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21035991~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) plans to reform quotas and governance to better reflect members relative positions in the global economy and make the organization more responsive, including enhancing participation of low-income countries. Initially they will give Chine, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey more voting power, reflecting their growing economic importance.
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2006/pr06189.htm
The UN Conference on Trade and Development's (UNCTAD) annual report says the US is shouldering too much of the burden to sustain worldwide, while Japan and Germany are under-performing. Japan and Germany need to lower their trade surpluses and do more to help stimulate the global economy, lest global trade imbalances create financial crises.
http://www.unctad.org/Templates/webflyer.asp?docid=7183&intItemID=2508&lang=1
Pension obligations for 83 of the largest 100 Canadian companies traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange exceeded pension assets by a total of $25 billion Canadian ($21.45 billion) as of Dec. 31, 2005. This is among the findings in Towers Perrin's annual review of defined benefit pension plan financial http://www.towersperrin.com/tp/getwebcachedoc?webc=HRS/CAN/2006/200608/2006_Trends_Pension_Financial_Impact_e.pdf.
Pension deficits among the UK's 200 largest pension funds rose to GBP51 billion at the end of August. Rising bond prices increased costs.
http://www.businessinsurance.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=8304
China's parliament has passed the Corporate Bankruptcy Law, which is more aligned with market-based companies by providing more protection to creditors. The law is intended to increase investor confidence.
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ETM Environment and Climate Change
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A coalition of development and environment calls for immediate action on climate change before Latin America and the Caribbean go "Up in Smoke". The report "confirms that largely regular and predictable temperature and rainfall patterns, are changing, becoming less predictable and often more extreme. It catalogues the impact of climate change and environmental degradation ranging from drought in the Amazon to floods in Haiti and elsewhere; vanishing glaciers in Colombia to extreme cold in the Andes; and hurricanes, not only in Central America and the Caribbean, but also in southern Brazil. Across the region the capacity of natural ecosystems to act as buffers against extreme weather events and other shocks is being undermined leaving people more vulnerable". These environmental changes in turn increase the impacts of already chronic malnutrition; the agriculture, fishing, coral, tourism, and water economic sectors; spread disease; and hinder access to food, safe water, and clean air. Worse yet, should seasonal El Nino-type conditions become more permanent, it could dry out and kill the rainforest, a situation which could alter the global carbon balance with devastating global consequences.
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/z_sys_publicationdetail.aspx?pid=226
The World Bank and a coalition of 11 utilities, banks, trading firms and others have put together the largest emissions trading scheme ever, more than double any previous agreement.
http://carbonfinance.org/
California Governor Schwarzenegger and the state legislature have agreed to introduce new legislation that would cut greenhouse gas emissions, making California the first state to impose limits on expulsion of carbon dioxide and other gases.
Climate change is driving worldwide genetic changes in the Drosophilia subobscura fruit fly species. The report, in the 31 August issue of Science, suggests genetic impacts on many other organisms.
http://www.sciencemag.org
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/daily/24573/
Oregon State University researchers have found that the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by plankton in large areas of the Pacific Ocean is much less than previously thought, thereby reducing by up to four percent the amount previously believed sequestered.
http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/newsarch/2006/Aug06/dieoff.html
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ETM Human Rights
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Terre des Hommes and UNICEF issued "Action to Prevent Child Trafficking in South Eastern Europe - a Preliminary Assessment". The report, using examples from Albania, Kosovo, Moldova, and Romania, examines initiatives and strategies to prevent trafficking. They warn that piecemeal efforts have failed to protect children from falling prey to traffickers. Some 1.2 million children are trafficked around the world each year.
http://www.terredeshommes.org/
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_35499.html
30 August marked the International Day of the Disappeared. In connection with this event, Amnesty International released information that the "war on terror" had led to new patterns of enforced disappearance in South Asia. Many were eventually acknowledged as being held in Guantanamo Bay, but others are believed held in Pakistan. Some people were released after threats not to reveal their detention, others were criminally charged, and in at least one case the body was found six months after his capture.
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA040012006
A US federal judge in New York ordered the city to end its practice of denying assistance to battered immigrant women and children, and certified the lawsuit brought by the New York Legal Assistance Group and the Legal Aid Society as a class action suit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/nyregion/30immigrant.html
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ETM Infectious Diseases
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The US Department of Agriculture and Interior announced that tests of avian influenza samples from wild ducks found they carried a low pathogenic strain, not the H5N1 variety.
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2006/09/0337.xml
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published a new handbook to help Latin American farmers prevent avian influenza.
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000381/index.html
Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Toronto describe a new anthrax toxin inhibitor designed to tackle the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant strains.
http://news.rpi.edu/campusnews/update.do?artcenterkey=1694
Danish researchers have found an extremely aggressive bacteria (S191) that has been able to crowd out other bacteria, raising the possibility that it could point the way to more effective anti-bacterial substances.
http://denmark.dk/portal/page?_pageid=374,610590&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&ic_itemid=929605
http://www.galathea3.dk/
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ETM Natural Resources
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Protests in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka against plans to develop an open-cast coal mine in the north have led to violent clashes in which a police officer has been killed. A day-long strike on Wednesday also closed schools, offices, and transportation. Three people were killed when police opened fire on protesters last weekend. Now, the government has determined that open-pit mining will not be allowed.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/08/31/d6083101011.htm
http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/09/03/d6090301085.htm
http://www.asia-energy.com/project.php
Chad's President Idriss Deby has taken steps to ensure that the country will control its own oil resources. The effort began last week when Malaysian state oil company Petronas and the US firm Chevron were ordered to leave after failing to pay taxes of $500 million. Together these two companies control 60 percent of the consortium that runs Chad's pipeline and Exxon Mobil controls the other 40 percent. Deby wants control moved to the government. He has established a commission to renegotiate with the companies, and discussions are under way.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4151844.html
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55326
BHP Billiton workers have ended a strike at the world's largest private copper mine, at Escondida Chile. The strike began 7 August, and reduced output by half, costing more than $200 million in lost sales. Unions agreed to end the strike after agreeing to accept a pay rise of five percent above inflation, a bonus of $16,667 per worker, and other contract improvements.
In Peru's Yanacocha gold mine, anti-mining protests demanding environmental protection and jobs have reduced output, but the government has brokered an agreement to establish a commission to supervise the operation and ensure that mineral wealth is shared.
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ETM Populations
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Following massive Polish emigration to Western Europe, Poland's Ministry of Labor has issued a new directive under which work restrictions for Belarussian, Russian, Ukrainian, and Turkish workers have been relaxed to help fill labor gaps. At the same time, Poland has a 15.7 percent unemployment rate.
The Center for Environment and Population released "US National Report on Population and the Environment". The report warns that as the only industrialized country that has experienced strong population growth in the last decade, nearing 300 million people, the US appetite for food, water, and land will create serious pressures on environmental and water resources.
http://www.cepnet.org/documents/USNatlReptFinal.pdf
Standard and Poors new report "Katrina Anniversary Finds Some Local Louisiana Governments Benefiting While Others Are Picking Up The Pieces" addresses the economic impact of the changing demographics following the catastrophe, which caused more than $81 billion in damages, and led to severe population losses in some areas.
http://www.standardandpoors.com
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ETM Social Responsibility
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Oxfam released "In the Public Interest" to address what governments do to better finance public services and help end poverty.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/campaign/he/public_interest.htm
Maritime services group Wilhelmsen ASA, Pacific Gas and Electric Company of the US, and Det Norske Veritas (DNV) announced the formation of The Global Leadership and Technology Exchange (GLTE), which will help industrial groups share technology and innovation to enhance both their environmental and business performance.
http://www.wilhelmsen.com/index.asp?strUrl=1006952i&sid=1000160
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ETM Technology
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A group of medical charities and eminent scientists wrote a letter to the Times (London) in which they said stem cell therapy offers promise, but warns against patients going abroad for treatment as most of the extravagant claims have not been properly tested. The warning was prompted by a recent announcement by Advanced Cell Technology regarding a new method of obtaining stem cells without destroying an embryo.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,59-2332298,00.html
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673606692970/fulltext
http://www.advancedcell.com/press-release/advanced-cell-technology-announces-technique-to-generate-human-embryonic-stem-cells-that-maintains-developmental-potential-of-embryo
The Orion is planned as a new generation of spacecraft, replacing the space shuttle.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/orion/orion_contract.html
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ETM Weapons (WMD, Proliferation)
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has released to the Board of Governors and the UN Security Council its report, "Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran". Iran has ignored the 31 August deadline to stop its nuclear program and instead recently began further nuclear enrichment, but President Ahmadinejad insists they are open to negotiation. Their enrichment activities are proceeding more slowly than expected.
http://www.isis-online.org/publications/iran/IAEAreport31August2006.pdf
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/IaeaIran/index.shtml
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sc8792.doc.htm
http://www.isis-online.org/publications/iran/defiantbutdelayed.pdf
The Center for Nonproliferation Studies has updated and redesigned its "Inventory of International Nonproliferation Organizations and Regimes".
http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/inven/index.htm
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute released a paper warning that an Australian uranium enrichment industry would speed up development of nuclear weapons and could encourage regional nations to follow.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20316908-29277,00.html
http://www.aspi.org.au/publications.cfm?pubID=98
Physicians for Social Responsibility evaluated three attack scenarios to determine that the US health system is woefully unprepared for radiological disaster or attack. See the report, "The U.S. and Nuclear Terrorism: Still Dangerously Unprepared".
http://www.psr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=StillDangerouslyUnpreparedCopy
Tokyo police raided the head office of Mitutoyo Corporation and arrested five executives suspected of exporting without permission advanced measurement devices that could be used in a nuclear weapon to Malaysia.
http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=200-7726r
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/tokyo-company-accused-of-exporting-parts-for-nuclear-weapons/2006/08/25/1156012740567.html
The Islamic Republic of the Comoros has ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention.
http://www.opcw.org/pressreleases/2006/PR49_2006.html
The Government of Peru and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) organized a technical meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean.
http://www.opcw.org/pressreleases/2006/PR50_2006.html
The US Army announced the destruction of 50 percent of the number of munitions in its declared chemical stockpile.
http://www.cma.army.mil/docviewerframe.aspx?docid=003675943
5. Critical Infrastructure Monitor
Critical Infrastructure Monitor gives you the background and analysis missing from these news briefings. Subscriptions can be purchased from our online store:
TAMNI Publications
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CIM Banking and Finance
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The UK Financial Services Authority issued a consultation paper regarding the proposed merger of customer functions in the approved-persons regime.
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Communication/PR/2006/084.shtml
Wells Fargo announced upgrades to its online security platform including:
* A real-time risk analysis by Bharosa with data integrated from Quova Inc. that determines whether a customer is signing on from his/her usual location or if someone is trying to fraudulently login from a different PC and location.
* A risk management system by Actimize Inc. that detects fraud by analyzing transaction and session behavior.
* One-time passwords for customers' high dollar money movement applications, such as RSA Security's RSA SecurID two-factor authentication tokens for small business customers.
https://www.wellsfargo.com/press/200060828_layersecurity?year=2006
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CIM Chemical
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The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released its Strategic Plan draft for public comment, including new goals concerning safety studies and outreach.
http://www.csb.gov/index.cfm?folder=news_releases&page=news&NEWS_ID=307
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CIM Commercial Facilities
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Developers and environmentalists have demanded that the Bangladesh government clarify a new construction law.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/09/03/d60903050155.htm
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CIM Cybersecurity
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StopBadware.org has issued a warning that the free version of AOL 9.0 includes bundled software applications and other components that could be potentially damaging. AOL is addressing the specific issues raised.
http://www.stopbadware.org/blog/articles/2006/08/28/stopbadware-releases-report-on-aol-9-0
Compromises of personal data last week included:
* A laptop stolen from the US Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) w may contain names, dates of birth and commercial driver's license numbers of 193 people from 40 motor carrier companies.
http://www.dot.gov/affairs/fmcsa0406.htm
* Nearly 19,000 people buying online ATandT DSL items have been affected by a security breach in which crackers obtained credit card details.
http://att.sbc.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=22531
* O2 mobile phone company disabled access to its online BillManager after finding a programming error that allowed registered users to see other customers' phone records.
http://www.o2.co.uk/business/sme/businessservices/o2billmanager
* An auditing firm retained by Wells Fargo lost equipment containing personal information on employees health claims.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9002944
Redspin describes the risks with automated teller machines (ATMs) connected to a bank's internal network.
http://www.redspin.com/docs/ATM_Vulnerabilities_04_10_06.pdf
Nicholas Lee Jacobsen has been sentenced in US court to one year of home detention and a $10,000 fine in connection with cracking T-Mobile computers to obtain personal records of hundreds of customers, including a Secret Service agent.
PortAuthority Technologies Inc sponsored the Ponemon Institute " National Survey on the Detection and Prevention of Data Breaches", demonstrating deep pessimism among respondents that corporate data breaches can be prevented. Key findings include:
* 59 percent of companies surveyed believe they can effectively detect a data breach, but a staggering 63 percent believe they cannot prevent a data breach. High false positive rates of up to 35 percent affect an organization's ability to detect a breach.
* 41 percent of companies surveyed do not believe they are effective at enforcing data security policy. The top reason given for failed enforcement is lack of resources.
* Companies report a 68 percent probability of detecting a large data breach (more than 10,000 data files), while small data breaches (fewer than 100 files) are likely to be detected only 51 percent of the time.
* 16 percent of companies surveyed believe they are invulnerable to a data breach.
* Excessive cost was cited as the primary reason organizations do not use leak prevention technologies, with 35 percent stating that leak prevention technologies are too expensive.
http://www.portauthoritytech.com/news/releases/pr_082806_ponemon.html
Today's Times (London) reports that stolen identities of Britons, including credit cards, home addresses, and security passwords, are sold on Russian websites for as little as a pound a piece.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2340900,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2340545,00.html
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) called for stronger encryption, comprehensive transaction logging and auditing, and tighter access controls to protect government information. GAO's report, " Information Security: Federal Reserve Needs to Address Treasury Auction Systems", is available here:
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-659
A second GAO report addressed " Information Security: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Needs to Improve Its Program".
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-620
A stolen credit card was used to purchase more than a thousand Barbra Streisand tickets, which have been invalidated.
http://www.ticketmaster.com/barbrastreisand
Al Qaeda sympathizers have been publishing a German blog.
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,434404,00.html
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CIM Dams and Bridges
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Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have agreed to build a bridge at the Kazungula crossing that links the three countries across the Zambezi River, replacing a hazardous ferry crossing. The new bridge will open a regional north-south trade route.
India's Kerala Government will develop a comprehensive disaster management plan to address security threats posed by the Mullaperiyar dam in a region that has suffered recent tremors. There are suggestions the dam had outlived its 60 years and that requests to increase the water level to support deepwater shipments was dangerous.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/03/stories/2006090311810100.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/01/stories/2006090115230100.htm
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CIM Energy
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Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi has become the first premier to visit Central Asia, where he has focused on energy. In Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan he agreed on joint uranium development and discussed other energy issues.
Oil deposits in Norwegian waters near the Arctic Circle are under consideration for an EU energy alternative to possibly undependable Russian supplies. Turkey has also been identified as a key supplier.
http://www.upi.com/Energy/view.php?StoryID=200-7335r
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=16582
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether BP manipulated crude oil and unleaded gas markets, other inquiries are examining whether information on pipe corrosion had been manipulated and a range of other issues.
http://www.cftc.gov
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9072-2332866,00.html
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4149369.html
http://www.forbes.com/2006/08/29/browne-bp-explosion-cx_cn_0829autofacescan02.html
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CIM Government Facilities
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UK government buildings are at risk of attacks using suicide truck bombs, sparking immediate security measures, including hundreds of bollards, to improve security.
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1300702006
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CIM Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste
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The Australian Conservation Foundation says that uranium mining is unnecessary, unsafe and unpopular, and it should be ruled out in Queensland.
http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=923
Electricite de France has awarded initial contracts for construction of a new nuclear plant.
http://www.edf.com/71988d/Accueilfr/Presse/Touslescommuniques/AttributiondedeuxgrandsmarchespourlaconstructiondelafuturecentralenucleairedetypeEPRdEDF
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CIM Public Health and Healthcare
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The devastating impact of obstetric fistula is described in a new World Health Organization report:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr45/en/index.html
The Palestinian Health Ministry is in a serious financial crisis that is contributing to a growing humanitarian crisis.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr46/en/index.html
Spain has introduced further restrictions on smoking by introducing a partial ban in bars and restaurants.
In the US state of Massachusetts, which is in the process of implementing mandatory insurance legislation, the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy released a survey revealing a 19 percent reduction in the uninsured population.
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=pressreleases&agId=Eeohhs2&prModName=eohhspressrelease&prFile=pr_060828_uninsured_numbers_reduced.xml
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CIM Telecommunications
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Amid warnings that old phones can reveal confidential information, a new mobile security specification is being released.
http://www.komotv.com/stories/45202.htm
http://www.techworld.com/mobility/news/index.cfm?newsID=6745
https://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org/faq/MobileDeviceFAQ/
The European Commission is considering the current telecommunications industry and ways in which it could become more competitive.
http://www.hhlaw.com/newsstand/detail.aspx?news=657
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/ecomm/info_centre/documentation/studies_ext_consult/index_en.htm#2006
South African telecommunications regulator ICASA has ended the monopoly of domestic fixed-line operator Telkom by granting a license to SNO's Neotel.
http://www.neotel.co.za/neotel/view/neotel/en/page432?oid=2053&sn=Detail
http://www.icasa.org.za/
Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN) in South Africa has slowed its rapid rate of expansion by announcing reduced mobile phone subscriber targets in Iran and Nigeria. They are continuing building out networks in Sudan and Afghanistan, both unstable and difficult areas in which to develop their business.
http://www.mtn.co.za/?pid=9522&fullstory=358
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CIM Transportation
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The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) has launched a toolkit to help European civil aviation authorities and air navigation services reduce the risk of general aviation airspace infringements.
http://www.eurocontrol.int/corporate/gallery/content/public/docs/pdf/pressreleases/2006/060830_infringement_toolkit.pdf
The US Transportation Security Administration has encountered a range of technology failures leading to suspension of installations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/03/us/03research.html?hp&ex=1157256000&en=35ebea236841990a&ei=5094
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-09-02T234559Z_01_N02201367_RTRIDST_0_SECURITY-AIRPORTS.XML
NASA is working with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and United Airlines to develop guidelines for flightcrews to operate crippled aircraft using "throttles-only control" to address threats from MANPADS. The DHS-led propulsion controlled aircraft recovery (PCAR) project revives earlier lessons learned from NASA's propulsion controlled aircraft (PCA) program of the mid-1990s, but differs significantly in that it requires no hardware or software modifications.
http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/Article.aspx?liArticleID=208697
The International Maritime Bureau has launched a new service that offers an online piracy map to provide a visual aid to better understand the nature and location of attacks and to track incidents.
http://www.icc-ccs.org/main/news.php?newsid=71
After the Malacca Strait was taken off the Joint War Committee of the Lloyd's Market Association high-risk list earlier this month Indonesia is attempting to have all of its waters and ports removed from the list.
Former Lockheed engineer De Kort used YouTube to publicize his concerns over security vulnerabilities with Coast Guard patrol boats.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/28/AR2006082801293.html
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CIM Water
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Colorado State University engineers are testing a water security warning system.
http://newsinfo.colostate.edu/index.asp?url=news_item_display&news_item_id=48300849
News highlights from the past week are provided in this free email update, but detailed analysis, background information and source documents are only available to subscribers. Disaster Reduction Monitor subscriptions and other titles can be purchased here:
TAMNI Publications
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DRM Incidents
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Monsoon rains in India's western Rajasthan state have killed at least 135, including at least 100 in the Thar desert district of Barmer. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced and some 50,000 animals have died.
In Iran's northeastern city of Mashhad a passenger plane skidded off the runway and caught fire, killing 29 of the 148 people on board. A burst tire is thought to have caused the accident.
Monsoon rains in Nepal triggered landslides in two southwestern villages. Hundreds of people were rescued, five died, and three were injured.
Heavy rain in Somalia's capital Mogadishu has led to severe floods in which five people, including two children, have died, and more than 2,000 people have had their homes destroyed or were forced to leave. The flooding was particularly harmful as it followed a prolonged drought. The Union of Islamic Courts, which has controlled the city since June, called for assistance from local businesses and the international community.
The toxic mudflow in Java has continued unabated, inundating villages and roads, and leading to the death of another man.
Hurricane John lashed Mexico's Baja California peninsula, causing property damage and flooding, but there have been no deaths.
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DRM Response and Recovery
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On 29 August 2005, Hurricane Katrina made its second landfall in New Orleans, Louisiana as a category three storm. Rising waters soon breached the levees designed to withstand this level of storm, which at its height had reached category 5. Within 48 hours 80 percent of the city was underwater. Federal assistance began to arrive a day later. In the aftermath:
* 1,695 people died, and 153 remain missing
* 78,000 homes in New Orleans were destroyed
* The population of the city fell from 455,000 before Katrina to about 200,000
* Suicide rates have tripled
Read more on Hurricane Katrina in last week's Newsletter Recommended Reading section:
https://terrorismcentral.com/Newsletters/2006/082706.html
The Louisiana Department of Insurance issues its estimate of reported claims and injured losses from Katrina as of 31 July:
* Number of parishes with Katrina-related insurance claims filed: All 64 parishes
* Parish with most claims: Jefferson Parish- 218,939 claims costing $4.4 Billion
* Parish with costliest claims: Orleans Parish- $5.1 Billion for 179,123 claims
* Parish with fewest claims: Caldwell and Claiborne tied with 24 claims each totaling $168,000 and $176,000 respectively
* Line of business with most claims filed: 57.6 percent of all claims filed are Homeowners; 413,052 claims filed, costing $5.8 Billion
* Line of business with highest payment per claim: $85,169 per Commercial Multi-Peril claim
* Number of parishes with more than 10,000 claims: 12 (East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Lafourch, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, and Washington)
http://www.ldi.state.la.us/public_affairs/Press_Releases/2006_Press_Releases/La%20Insurance%20facts%20about%20hurricane%20katrina%208-28-06.htm
Harvard Medical School researchers concluded the most comprehensive mental health survey among Katrina survivors from Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. They found that incidents of serious mental illness doubled compared to a pre-Katrina survey.
http://web.med.harvard.edu/sites/RELEASES/html/8_28Kessler1.html
Preliminary investigation into the 27 August Comair Flight 5191 crash in Kentucky suggests that the plane used a runway that was too short, and only one air traffic controller was on duty, in violation of the Federal Aviation Administration's own rules. Take-off procedures had changed the week before, but the pilots were unaware of the change.
http://www.comair.com/news/index.html?id=317
http://www.ntsb.gov/
Hundreds of thousands of survivors of last October's earthquake in Pakistan-administered Kashmir have returned home from temporary camps, allowing the UN to hand over responsibility for managing the remaining camps to local authorities.
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/earthquake
As Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano's seismic activity has fallen assistance to more than 100,000 affected people has arrived. Ash clouds during the eruption killed five, severely burned 50, and injured 40 others. The risk of further activity remains high.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/HMYT-6T7QEE?OpenDocument
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DRM Risks
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Colorado State University has reduced its hurricane forecast from 15 to 13 named storms.
http://newsinfo.colostate.edu/index.asp?url=news_item_display&news_item_id=542457115
The Insurance Research Council released its Public Attitude Monitor 2006. Its findings show that many in the US believe that a natural disaster is likely to cause harm or property damage to their households sometime in the next five years. Most support the adoption and enforcement of building codes to make new homes stronger and safer, but do not support government subsidization of insurance costs and do not support subsidization of the cost of insurance in high risk areas by policyholders in low risk areas.
http://www.ircweb.org/news/20060831.pdf
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DRM Mitigation
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The International Disaster Reduction Conference took place last week. Speakers from multiple disciplines addressed risks including those relating to pandemics and endemics, terrorism, climate change and natural hazards as well as disasters of a technical, biological or chemical nature. Experts emphasized that recent mega-disasters demonstrate that a single approach to risk management is insufficient.
http://www.davos2006.ch/
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Disaster_experts_seek_ways_to_lower_risks.html?siteSect=105&sid=7009488&cKey=1156745614000
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Global_warming_pushes_science_to_the_limits.html?siteSect=105&sid=7023503&cKey=1157030943000
Also note our "Disaster Reduction Resource Guide", which can be purchased at our online store:
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TP&Category_Code=SPRT0003
Japan completed its annual earthquake drill, in which more than 800,000 people across the country practices responding to a major earthquake.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Joint Forum released "High-level principles for business continuity". It contains high-level guiding principles building on traditional business continuity management to reflect current risks and the interdependencies of the global financial sector.
http://www.bis.org/publ/joint17.htm
The US Food Safety and Inspection Service suggests consumers review Department of Agriculture recommendations for keeping food safe before, during and after a hurricane or tropical storm, especially when accompanies by floods and power outages.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Keeping_Food_Safe_During_an_Emergency/index.asp
September is National Preparedness Month in the US.
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/press_release/press_release_0988.xml
Since this comes during commemorations for the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricane disasters and the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction meeting in Davos, we thought it appropriate to point people towards preparedness resources.
The place to start is always with your local disaster agency or Red Cross branch. Here are web site links to international emergency preparedness sites:
http://epix.hazard.net/internet_sites.html (International)
http://www.dfat.gov.au/apec/emprep/index.html (Asia Pacific)
http://www.disasters.org/emgold/Library/GEMS.htm (International)
http://www.ema.gov.au/ (Australia)
http://www.emergencymanagement.org/states/ (US)
http://www.icrc.org (International)
http://www.paho.org/English/dd/ped/PED-about.htm (South America)
http://www.ready.gov (US)
http://www.redcross.org (US)
http://www.ukresilience.info/ (UK)
http://www.undmtp.org/links.htm (International)
For a comprehensive list of private and public resources, consider our own "Disaster Reduction Resource Guide", available at our online store.
http://secure.netsolhost.com/573566.585211/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TP&Category_Code=SPRT0003
TerrorismCentral's public library offers additional resources here:
https://terrorismcentral.com/Library/Government/US/FEMA/FEMAList.html
And note recent Newsletter coverage:
"Recommended Reading"
https://terrorismcentral.com/Newsletters/2005/082706.html#7
"2005: Year of Disasters"
https://terrorismcentral.com/Newsletters/2005/122505.html#FeatureArticle
"Disaster Reduction"
https://terrorismcentral.com/Newsletters/2005/101605.html#FeatureArticle
"Conflict and Disaster: The Tsunami in northeast Sri Lanka and Aceh, Indonesia"
https://terrorismcentral.com/Newsletters/2005/010905.html#FeatureArticle
8. Asset Management Network News
Anything else on your radar screen? Consider our custom research and report services for internal use or customized information distribution.
We will be attending "Connected Health -Empowering Care through Communications Technologies" on 18-19 September, where we will provide information on lessons learned and experiences shared between the financial services and healthcare industries, such as payment systems, security, identity management, data normalization, and outsourcing. The symposium "is bringing together thought leaders from each aspect of healthcare and technology, to discuss the innovative applications of new healthcare communications technologies. Interactive sessions, workshops and panel discussions will focus on the application of these technologies and the impact on providing quality patient care, the management of telemedicine programs in healthcare settings and strategies for integrating connected health throughout the healthcare system". The Connected Health Initiative is a project involving Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Partners Telemedicine.
http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?i=f72fe396-bcfc-4e8b-bd21-15f2e83d5673