IACTTS

Tuesday, 5 November 2013

DR Congo M23 rebels 'end insurgency'

M23 military leader Sultani Makenga (file pic March 2013)

The government says M23 military leader Sultani Makenga has fled

The M23 rebel group in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo says it is ending its insurgency, hours after the government claimed military victory.

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To understand the tenuous hope of possibly ending DR Congo's conflict, it is important to look at how M23 rebels were recently routed”

Moses RonoBBC Africa security correspondent

In a statement, the movement said it would adopt "purely political means" to achieve its goals and urged its fighters to disarm and demobilise.

The government said the last remaining rebels had either surrendered or fled across the border overnight.

At least 800,000 people have fled their homes since the conflict began in 2012.

A summit of African leaders on Monday night in the South African capital Pretoria agreed that the M23 should make "a public declaration renouncing rebellion" to allow a peace accord to be signed with the Congolese government.

Congolese Defence Minister Alexandre Luba Ntambo, after the meeting, said once the rebels had publicly abandoned their insurgency the government "would make a public declaration of acceptance of this". Five days later, a formal peace agreement would be signed, he added.

The BBC's Milton Nkosi in South Africa says, with its announcement on Tuesday, the M23 appears to have met the conditions of the African leaders.

While Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was at the summit, Rwanda's Paul Kagame was conspicuous by his absence, our correspondent says. Rwanda's foreign minister was at the meeting, however.

The UN has regularly accused Rwanda and Uganda of supporting the M23, although both governments deny the allegation.

The US and other donors have cut aid to Rwanda over the allegations.

'Hit-and-run operations'

DR Congo Information Minister Lambert Mende said on Tuesday that Congolese special forces had driven the rebels out of their final hilltop strongholds near the Ugandan border.

Tanks and helicopters from a UN intervention brigade with a tough new mandate to "neutralise" rebel groups approved earlier this year have also been involved in recent fighting.

"We can say that it's finished. But you never know," Mr Mende told the BBC's Newsday programme. "Those who escaped can come with hit-and-run operations so we have to end everything politically so that we are sure our people can sleep quietly without any threat."

Rebel military chief Sultani Makenga was among those who had crossed the border either to Rwanda or Uganda, he added.

M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa announced on Tuesday that "the chief of general staff and the commanders of all major units are requested to prepare troops for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration on terms to be agreed with the government of Congo".

Peace talks broke down in October in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, following two months of negotiations.

The Congolese army began a big offensive against rebel positions on 25 October, securing their last major stronghold at Bunagana on the Ugandan border last week.

The M23, made up of army deserters who are mainly ethnic Tutsis, was named after a 23 March 2009 peace deal signed by the government and a former militia.

The rebels accused the government of failing to live up to the terms of the agreement and took up arms in April 2012, at one point seizing the regional capital, Goma.

Eastern DR Congo has been wracked by conflict since 1994, when Hutu militias fled across the border from Rwanda after carrying out a genocide against Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

A number of rebel factions operate in the two eastern provinces of North and South Kivu.

The end of the M23 would send an intimidating message to the other groups, raising hopes of an end to two decades of conflict, BBC Africa security correspondent Moses Rono says.

Rebels in Congo

The M23 has been the most active group since April 2012
Made up mostly of ethnic Tutsis, like Rwanda's leaders
US and other donors have cut aid to Rwanda, accusing it of backing the M23
Rwanda denies the charges
At least 10 other armed groups still operate in eastern DR Congo
They often make money by controlling the trade in the region's minerals such as gold, tin and coltan

Inside DR Congo

Eastern DR Congo is awash with a variety of different rebel groups – some have come from neighbouring countries, while others have formed as self-defence groups. Many are taking advantage of the lack of a strong state to seize control of the area's mineral riches.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24816223]

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Package in Edinburgh bar was not a bomb, officers confirm

Emergency crews were called to the scene at the bar in Leith on Monday

Bomb disposal experts who were called out to deal with a suspicious package found in an Edinburgh bar have confirmed it was a false alarm.

Officers were called to the bar on The Shore in Leith at about 20:30 on Monday. The area was evacuated and several roads were cordoned off.

Police Scotland said the bomb squad "safely disposed of the package".

The package was found not to be a bomb. Police Scotland have appealed for information about who left the package.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-24815720]

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Thirteen Mexicans killed in gun battles in Matamoros

Mexican Navy marines on patrol in Mexico City on 16 July, 2013

Nine of the victims died in gun battles with Mexican marines

Thirteen people were killed on Sunday in gun battles in the northern Mexican city of Matamoros in Tamaulipas state, officials say.

Twelve men and one woman were shot dead in three separate clashes.

In two of the incidents, Mexican marines clashed with armed men, while in the third suspected members of rival gangs opened fire on each other.

Matamoros is on the US-Mexico border in an area disputed by the Gulf and Zetas drug cartels.

Four men and one woman were killed in the first shoot-out between two rival groups on the main highway leading from Matamoros to the city of Reynosa.

The second gun battle happened just hours later on the same highway, when members of the Mexican marine force gave chase to an armed group and killed four of them.

Four more men were killed in central Matamoros after they opened fire on marines, officials said.

Local media said the weapons and munitions found at the scenes of the shoot-outs suggested they belonged to organised crime groups.

The Zetas and the Gulf cartels have battled for years to control the lucrative smuggling routes through Matamoros, which is across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

Mexican forces in July and August captured the head of the Zetas, Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, and the head of the Gulf Cartel, Mario Ramirez Trevino.

Analysts had predicted a rise in violence as cartel members tried to fill the vacuum left by their leaders.

More than 77,000 people are estimated to have been killed in drug violence in Mexico since the then-president, Felipe Calderon, launched a war against the cartels in late 2006.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-24803143]

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Monday, 4 November 2013

Al Qaeda militants bomb oil pipeline in Yemen

Suspected Al Qaeda militants blew up an oil pipeline in Shabwa province of Yemen Monday, causing an oil leak and sending black smoke billowing into the sky, an official said.

The powerful bomb explosion ripped through Shabwa's oil pipeline which transports some 10,000 barrels per day to Yemen's Belhaf export terminal in the Gulf of Aden, a government source told Xinhua.

"Armed terrorists of the Al Qaeda group placed a bomb under the pipeline in al-Saed region in the outskirts of Shabwa. The huge explosion caused a leak in the pipeline," the source said.

The Yemeni official accused militants of the Yemen-based Al Qaeda offshoot of the bombing.

Armed groups have been repeatedly attacking Yemen's oil pipelines.

Yemen's oil production rapidly declined from 400,000 barrels per day at the beginning of the last decade to the current 270,000 barrels per day.

The country's transitional government, which depends on oil exports for up to 70 percent of its budget, has beefed up security measures to protect the pipelines and prevent further attacks.

[http://newindianexpress.com/world/Al-Qaeda-militants-bomb-oil-pipeline-in-Yemen/2013/11/04/article1871952.ece?utm_content=buffer790b3&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer]

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Police hunt missing terror suspect Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed

A terror suspect who has gone missing after changing into a burka at a mosque is being hunted by police.

Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed, 27, who was subject to an order restricting his movements, was last seen on Friday leaving the site in Acton, west London.

CCTV images showed him leaving with his face totally covered.

Police say Mr Mohamed, who has been linked to the Somali militant group al-Shabab, should not be approached but do not believe he poses a direct threat.

Ports notified

Security minister James Brokenshire said: "National security is the government's top priority and the police are doing everything in their power to apprehend this man as quickly as possible.

"The police and security services do not believe that this man poses a direct threat to the public in the UK.

"The home secretary, on police advice, applied to the High Court for an order protecting anonymity to be lifted in order to assist with their investigation."

A Labour source said the party would be seeking an "urgent parliamentary explanation" over the case.

The home secretary could be asked to come before MPs to explain what has happened, although the Commons speaker has the final say on whether the question is granted.

Somalia-born Mr Mohamed, who police say has breached his terrorism prevention and investigation measures (TPim) notice, is 5ft 8in tall, and of medium build.

Mr Mohamed arrived at the An-Noor Masjid and Community Centre, in Church Road, Acton, at approximately 10:00 GMT on Friday, and was seen inside at 15:15 GMT.

CCTV images issued by Scotland Yard showed him arriving wearing a jacket and trousers and then leaving the mosque in the burka.

The Metropolitan Police advised anyone who saw Mr Mohamed not to approach him and to call 999.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "The Counter Terrorism Command immediately launched inquiries to trace Mr Mohamed and these continue.

"Ports and borders were notified with his photograph and details circulated nationally. Public safety remains our priority."

The court-imposed anonymity order banning the publication of Mr Mohamed's name was lifted on Saturday to allow police to make a public appeal for information.

TPims are aimed at protecting the public from people the home secretary believes to have engaged in terrorism-related activity for whom it is not feasible to prosecute or deport.

The court-approved orders include a requirement that their subjects report daily to the authorities, stay overnight at a specified address, wear a GPS tag, and face restrictions on travel, movement, association and communication.

They were introduced in January 2012 to replace control orders, which had been in place for seven years and also included the power to relocate suspects.

'Extremely serious'

When the TPims order was obtained, Mr Mohamed was said to have received terrorist training in Somalia and fought on the front line in support of al-Shabab.

Court documents also say he supported a UK-based network supporting terrorist-related activity in Somalia and had been involved in attack planning against Western interests in east Africa.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called for answers on how Mr Mohamed, who is said to now be a UK citizen, was able to abscond and described the situation as "extremely serious".

"Clearly police and security agencies will be doing everything possible to locate this terror suspect and ensure public safety," she said.

"The home secretary also needs to provide information about the decisions made over Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed's TPim, how he was able to abscond and what the risks to the public are."

She called for the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, David Anderson, to "investigate urgently what has happened and the adequacy of the controls and powers in this case".

Police released CCTV images of Mr Mohamed arriving at the mosque...

... and leaving the mosque

Analysis

Danny ShawHome affairs correspondent, BBC News

The TPims system is under intense scrutiny on several fronts.

The disappearance of Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed raises questions as to whether the regime, dubbed "control orders-lite", is in fact too light.

Mohamed is the second suspect to abscond. On Boxing Day 2012, Ibrahim Magag vanished after reportedly hiring a black cab. He has not been seen since.

There are also doubts about the robustness of the electronic tags that suspects have to wear.

Last week, prosecutions against three men, accused of tampering with their tags, were dropped when it emerged they may have inadvertently come loose.

Then there's the wider question: How will police and MI5 monitor suspects when their TPims expire after the maximum two years?

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24799675#TWEET943926]

Two French journalists killed in Mali town of Kidal

RFI said the two journalists were passionate about Africa

Two journalists for French radio station RFI have been killed after they were kidnapped in the northern town of Kidal in Mali.

Claude Verlon and Ghislaine Dupont were abducted after interviewing a local political leader. Their bodies were found outside the town soon after.

French President Francois Hollande called the killings "despicable".

The killings come days after France was celebrating the release of four hostages from neighbouring Niger.

Analysis

Mark DoyleBBC News, Mali

This latest incident is part of an upsurge in violent attacks in Mali. It comes after a period of relative calm following the French military intervention in January, which pushed a number of extremist Islamic groups out of the main towns of the north.

I was in Kidal two days ago. It's a small town but the epicentre of a long-running dispute between ethnic Tuareg desert nomads and most of the rest of the Malian population, which is black African.

This incident took place in broad daylight very close to a base housing several hundred French soldiers and UN peacekeepers.

Despite this serious security presence, a group of armed men seized two foreign journalists outside one of the most sensitive residences in Kidal, drove them away and killed them.

'Strange noise'

Radio France Internationale said Claude Verlon and Ghislaine Dupont were on their second assignment in Kidal, having travelled to the town in July to cover the first round of the presidential election.

Ambeiry Ag Rhissa, a local official of the MNLA ethnic Tuareg separatist group, said the pair had just left his house after interviewing him when they were kidnapped.

"I heard an unusual noise in the street," he told France 24. "Their car was parked in front of my house, about 10m from the door.

"I went out to see what was happening. Once I got to the door, I saw a car, a pick-up, parked next to theirs. There was a man on the ground who had a weapon. He immediately pointed it at me and said: "Go back inside, go back in!"

"So I went in, and shortly afterwards they took off with the two journalists. They left in a great hurry."

He said he did not see how many kidnappers were there, but other sources said four men forced the journalists into a beige truck which was then driven off into the surrounding desert.

One report said the kidnappers' vehicle was being pursued by the security forces; a French attack helicopter was seen above Kidal a few hours after the abduction occurred.

A spokesman for France's armed forces said its troops never had any visual or physical contact with the gunmen following the abduction.

Two helicopters flew over the area after a French patrol found the journalists' bodies on a desert track some 10km (six miles) to the east of Kidal, Col Gilles Jarron said.

The French journalists were interviewing a political leader before their abduction

Nicolas Champeaux, a journalist with RFI's African service, said he and his colleagues were "devastated" by what had happened.

He called 57-year-old Ghislaine Dupont a "relentless, tenacious reporter" with a great sense of humour who was "always encouraging us to dig more, to look out for more, to get closer to the action on the front line but also to investigate".

Sound technician Claude Verlon, 55, was a true professional who was "fun and interesting to work with". "He was also used to difficult areas" and "loved challenges", Mr Champeaux said.

Confirming their deaths, the French foreign ministry said it would "in conjunction with the Malian authorities, make every effort to find out as soon as possible about the circumstances of their death".

A statement from President Hollande's office said he "expresses his indignation over this despicable act", adding that he is meeting ministers on Sunday to discuss the incident.

A spokesman for Mali's government said it condemned "in the strongest terms this barbaric and cowardly act" and "reiterates its determination to continue to fight against terrorism and organised crime."

Their deaths bring to 42 the number of journalists around the world killed so far in 2013.

Deaths of journalists

42 journalists killed in 2013
1,009 journalists killed since 1992
596 journalists murdered with impunity since 1992
456 journalists in exile since 2008

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists

Kidnappings

The BBC's international development correspondent Mark Doyle, who was in Kidal just two days ago, describes it as a small place with a population of some 10,000.

He says it is at the epicentre of a political dispute between ethnic Tuareg nomads and the rest of the population of Mali, who are black Africans.

There are 200 French troops and 200 UN peacekeepers as well as a Malian army base in Kidal.

It is extremely surprising, our correspondent says, that such an attack could have happened in broad daylight under the noses of so many troops.

Earlier this week, four Frenchmen were released three years after being kidnapped by al-Qaeda-linked gunmen targeting French firms operating a uranium mine in neighbouring Niger.

The hostages had been held in the deserts of northern Mali.

Jubilation at their release was tempered by speculation that the French government had paid as much as a 20m euros (£17m; $26m) ransom.

Hostage-taking has become a big money-making business by extremist groups in the Sahara, say observers.

Much of it goes towards buying the means to carry out more kidnappings: Procuring four-wheel drive jeeps, fuel, weapons and GPS systems, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner reports.

France led an operation to oust Islamist rebels from northern Mali - its former colony - earlier this year, sending in thousands of troops.

It handed over responsibility for security to a UN force in the summer.

But French troops are still in the country helping to prevent a resurgence of militant activity in the region.

Mali timeline

2011: Tuareg fighters leave Libya after Gaddafi toppled and take up arms at home in Mali
March-April 2012: Separatist and Islamist groups seize control of northern Mali
Jan 2013: French-led forces oust rebels from towns
June 2013: Government and separatist rebels sign peace deal
July 2013: Elections held to reunite Mali

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24787682]

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How do terrorists communicate?

By Frank GardnerBBC security correspondent

Over recent years, the options for open and covert communication have multiplied

The list, say experts, is endless and limited only by individuals' imaginations.

Over the last two decades the number of available choices for terrorists, organised criminals and of course, ordinary, law-abiding citizens to communicate has proliferated alongside the growth in digital technology.

There are essentially two categories here: secret and public messages, both of which carry a risk of detection for the original sender.

Sophisticated terrorists are all too aware of the risks of leaving a "digital footprint" that can be traced and identified, hence why it took so long for US intelligence to track down Osama Bin Laden, who relied on couriers delivering messages and data by hand.

Counter-terrorism officials, like MI5's Director-General Andrew Parker, contend there should be no digital "oasis" where law-breakers or terrorist planners can hide messages and communicate freely without fear of surveillance or interception. His critics argue that government intrusion into private communications has already gone much too far.

Production houses

When it comes to disseminating information as widely as possible, the internet has long been the obvious choice.

Back in 2001, in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, al-Qaeda's leadership posted a number of videos from their Pakistan hideouts to the Qatar-based TV station al-Jazeera. Frustrated by the channel's decision to broadcast only a small fraction of them, heavily edited, al-Qaeda then switched to uploading them to the internet.

Since then, al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Somalia's al-Shabab have all developed media production houses to churn out their online messages, some of which are produced to high production standards.

From Yemen, the local al-Qaeda franchise AQAP disseminates the online magazine Inspire, which famously carried an article aimed at recruits in America entitled "How to build a bomb in your mom's kitchen". Inspire has been cited as the inspiration behind a number of jihadist attacks in the US and Britain but British police warn that anyone caught downloading it will be arrested and prosecuted.

As to secret means of communication, there will doubtless be many obscure methods known only to practitioners, IT experts and those working in government Signals Intelligence (often contracted to Sigint).

Combo shows pictures broadcast by the Russian state-run Rossiya television of a young man, allegedly a British spy, in a park outside Moscow taking a rock being used as a high-tech version of the spy's traditional letter-box or dead drop, shown on 23 January 2006

A British MI6 agent was caught using a fake rock with a transmitter as a modern-day "dead drop" in Moscow in 2006

Loners leave a minimal trail - so, for example, the convicted Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik spent four years with almost no social contact while he planned his attacks of 2011. But here are some of the more commonly known options:

Disposable Sim cards. Cheap and legally available for cash, these can be bought anonymously over the counter, inserted into a mobile phone, used once and then thrown away. Corporate executives have also used them in Russia and China for fear of having their regular phones hacked.
Dead drops. An old Cold War method used by spies to drop off physical packages of information or photographs in places like hedges or behind dustbins. These would then be retrieved by someone else as they walked past, probably whistling and wearing a Homberg hat and turned-up collar. In a Moscow park in 2006, Britain's MI6 intelligence agency was caught red-handed with a "spy rock" - a fake rock containing a transmitter where informants could wirelessly leave information that could then be retrieved in a modern-day version of the dead letter drop. In today's computer age, digital dead drops are a way of one person sending a message to another over the internet - crucially without pressing the Send button. A message is prepared in draft but not sent. The intended receiver is then separately given the sender's login details so they can view the draft message and if necessary reply.
Email and SMS text message. Wary terrorist planners have tended to communicate in code or use metaphors when discussing targets, knowing they may well be intercepted. For example, two of the 9/11 planners, Mohammed Atta and Ramzi Binalshibh, referred to the World Trade Centre as "architecture", the Pentagon as "arts" and the White House as "politics".
Social media, chat rooms and gaming. An increasingly popular way of disguising messages in seemingly innocuous interchanges between online "gamers". Many online forums are encrypted and require passwords to join. Some may well be infiltrated by government intelligence agents posing as online militants.
USB sticks. A small and discreet way to carry large quantities of data, they are also highly vulnerable to malware and viruses.
Jpegs or Gifs. Also known as "steganography" or the art of hiding a message within a message. Digital images encoded as Jpegs or Gifs can in theory be used to carry other data with them using an innocuous subject title.
Satellite phone. Despite encryption technology these remain susceptible to interception and terrorist leaders have long been wary of using them even from - or perhaps especially from - remote, sparsely populated areas.
Courier by hand. The Bin Laden method that worked for years. It avoids leaving any digital trail but of course still needs a human courier who can be tracked to his destination, as was the case with the al-Qaeda leader, killed by US Navy Seals in Pakistan in 2011.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-24784756]

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