Terrorism Act section 58A -Channel 4 , BBC and others in breach of photographing constables about their duties guarding Home Secretary

Now here is a conundrum.

Channel 4 (as well as BBC Channels) obligingly showed fillum / video in news items of Jacquie Smith finishing off a punishing day at the Home Office and arriving at 4 pm at the easily identified and distinctive house she sometimes shares with her obliging sister (No dogs, childen or spliffs) .

No doubt ready to shuck of her shoes and settle down with a kebab and a long, well iced G & T... ready no doubt to make a fist at her red boxes with her obliging chinless chum from the office.

Now these fillums (Channel 4 is still up on You Tube herefronted by the scrumptious Victoria MaDonald) show (inter alia)

1. The distinctive Ministry car
2 The mandarin paper / file / red box office wallah
3. The details of the procedure the Home Secretary uses to enter her sisters house
4 . Shots (see above) of Plods with guns loitering outside said property - note also still snapper busy at work.

Lots of other info that would help terrists no doubt - not including Google Earth pics of Plod Slow, Bo, WEave, Duck, Slow, Slow, Slow, Gay pride Wedding Taxi service available directly from Yellow Pages etc.,

Ignoring the fact that the Home loving Home Secretary told Der Spiegel and the German nation this week ..Monday, February 16, 2009 Terrorist attack "Highly likely" Home Secretary tells the Germans but not UK citizens ... We believe that an attack is highly likely and could happen at any time and without warning.

Not only would it appear reckless that she parade publicly in this way - exposing herself to evident and needless risk but also of her sister's neighours ... although they evidently keep a better eye on her movements than Plod.

The taking and use of identifiable pics of the Plods - plus security procedures etc., must surely constitute an offence under the provisions now enacted this week of the Terrorism Act section 58A. @ Para 76 ***

Therefore where do Lord Patel's screen grabs come as evidence ... ? Why isn't Jon Snow / producer / VCR Editor / cameraman / focus puller / best boy, not cooling their heels in Paddington nick and disgorging their DNA, sweaty fingerprints, birth details, drugs preferences etc , etc.,

*** Para 76

(1) After section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (collection of information) insert—

“58A Eliciting, publishing or communicating information about members of armed forces etc

(1) A person commits an offence who—

(a) elicits or attempts to elicit information about an individual who is or has been—

(i) a member of Her Majesty’s forces,

(ii) a member of any of the intelligence services, or

(iii) a constable,

which is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or

(b) publishes or communicates any such information.

Just a thought.

Spooky ladies call for repeal of terror induced abusive laws .......

Ministers 'using fear of terror'

Old spooky colleague (now 73 - retired in '96 head of UK MI5 brand of spookery) Dame Stella Rimington was interviewed by the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.

"It would be better that the government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism - that we live in fear and under a police state,"

Former redoubtable Irish president Mary Robinson and President of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) accuses the US and the UK of undermining the framework of international law."Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and to repeal abusive laws and policies enacted in recent years.

"Human rights and international humanitarian law provide a strong and flexible framework to address terrorist threats."

Report: Leading Jurists Call for Urgent Steps to Restore Human Rights in efforts to counter terrorism( ICJ website )- "Assessing Damage, Urging Action" based on 16 public hearings covering moe than 40 countries.

“In the course of this inquiry, we have been shocked by the extent of the damage done over the past seven years by excessive or abusive counter-terrorism measures in a wide range of countries around the world. Many governments, ignoring the lessons of history, have allowed themselves to be rushed into hasty responses to terrorism that have undermined cherished values and violated human rights. The result is a serious threat to the integrity of the international human rights legal framework.”

One wonder's if our kebab loving, BMI challenged, bag lady Home Secretary is reading and listening .... or even PC Slow, Slow, Slow, between shifts on his gay taxi service for those seeking almost wedded bliss.

"repeal abusive laws" don't get me going.



La Vanguardia is a moderate Spanish language newspaper , based in Barcelona with the largest circulation outside the Madrid dailies, since 1881, it accepts and prints letters in Catalan (or in their quaint usage - Catalunya)

UPDATE FRIDAY 20th Feb 2009 : Spyblog has a useful update on the interview by the Spanish with Stella and the Daily Telegraph (17/2/09) take on the interview 2 weeks after it took place "

As someone has remarked , someone has an agenda to cause prolems for kebab guzzling Home Secretary, demi homeless, intellectuall powehouse Jacqui Smith.

Definitely not Boris or anyone at Tory HQ shirley ?

Newsnight - How they undertake in depth investigations into the number of "major terror plots" that the Prime MInister talks about

Newsnight have an e-mail address to which the public are invited to suggest subjects for investigation. (Meirion Jones is a Newsnight producer and (for example) produced Greg Palast's fundNewsnight report on vulture s he also produced Michael Crick's report for Newsnight (BBC2) on the Israeli nuclear sales in the 50's and 60's *** , which was broadcast on 9 March 2006 and wrote an article on it in the New Statesman in 2006 )

We sent an e-mail to Meirion Jones - NewsnightInvestigations@bbc.co.uk

Quite a simple investigation really - here are the basics - just how many "major" terror plots are there ? If in May it was 6 and now it is 30 then it has increased 500% which is remarkable. Of course if the figure of 30 - much quoted elsewhere, is a lie, then that is of interest.

Let us know how you get on.

Result

Someone calling himself Meirion rung back a short while ago. He explained that there were 2,000 people under active investigation and this is what the pM was referring to.

Explained it was good of him to translate for the PM and Government but that wasn't what PM said - he talked of major terrorist plots. That was what Blair & Quick said to MP's , that was what "advisers" with PM talked about.

Evidently not interested in pursueing how many amjor . minor plots there were / are and sawe tis just as semantic onfusion. He remains convinced 2,000 folks un UK were being actively investigated - which is not difficult to believe - the Plods in the Terrorist section must fill in their time doing something - we have over 350 in Greater Manchester alone.

Derided any idea that MI5/6/7/8/9 had infiltrated the plotters of anything - although secret services get up to all sorts.

Poo poohed the Patel plot that the 7/7 bombers were unware of the contents of their bags - they have lots of information they cannot reveal - they know what the 7/7 bombs were made of .....

Totally closed mind to anything but the official party line that the UK is simply crawling with crazed fundamentalist Muslims busy mixing Brylcreem, pepper and Lucozade in bed sits - although somehow connected with a mulit million pound funded hghly successful guerilla force in Afghanistan / Pakistan with access to military explosive etc.,

*** We were selling bits and pieces to the Israeli's for their nuclear programme at the time after 1964 when Harold Wilson installed Anthony Wedgewood Benn (as he then styled himself) as Minister of Technology.

"I'm not only surprised," he says, "I'm shocked." Neither he nor his predecessor Frank Cousins agreed to the sales, he insists, and though he always suspected civil servants of doing deals behind his back, "it never occurred to me they would authorise something so totally against the policy of the government".

Not me guv, I 'no nuffink abaht it .

Plod gets new advice on Terrorism Act 2000, Section 44 stop and search procedures - get your free copy now ....

The well informed SpyBlog brings our attention to the publication by The National Police Improvement Agency, on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers of updated advice:
Practice Advice on Stop and Search in relation to Terrorism (.pdf)

They bring attention to the statement evidently from Orwell's Ministry of Truth :-

Every person searched under (Terrorism Act 2000 ) section 44 should be told explicitly that they are not suspected of being a terrorist.

Anybody who thinks they may be stopped and searched under Section 44 ( i.e : you intend to walk the dog, take photographs in the street, heckle Jack Straw , assassinate the Queen ) would be well advised to run off a copy and keep it handy.

Not only would it be helpful to check that anything Plod may :
1) Say
2) Do

... conforms to the Act and it's provisions . It might put them on notice that you are well equipped to deal with any such interference to your public progress - Section 2-8 on Photography is essential reading to any happy snapper.

9/11, Madrid, 7/7, Bali, Mumbai ..expecting the unexpected

Tomi Ungerer was a commercial artist with leftist intent who prospered in the 60's and produced many of the iconic anti-war poster images.

He created a created a campaign for the New York Lottery ..."Expect the Unexpected" which they never used but was tweaked to promote the Village Voice.
It may well be, post 9/11 and the War of Terror a suitable brand tag for the unexplained and inexplicable things that happen violently in the world.

President Asif Zardari of Pakistan was in New York the weekend of September 26th / 27th September. To pass the longeurs of the weekend he called in on CIA Director Michael Hayden who was passing through New York. Nobody but them knows what they discussed but maybe they chatted about the ideas Hayden put forward to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for “Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) reform” in July.

Maybe they talked about the unexpectedly warm fall weather , prospects for quail.

One result appears to have been that on 29th September , Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha replaced Lt. Gen. Nadeem Taj as director general of (ISI).

Taj, a Musharraf relative and appointee, got an Irishman's rise and is now heading Gujranwala’s XXX Corps.

Lt. General Pasha, remarkably, just promoted from major general, had been director general of military operations (DGMO). As such , he headed the Pakistan Army’s operations in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and so his appointment would not indicate any change in the military establishment’s war on terror policy.

Pasha has also represented Pakistan at the tripartate commission meetings and served as UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s adviser on peacekeeping operations.

The Pakistan Army simultaneously announced some other senior personnel changes. Perhaps the most significant is the appointment of Lt. Gen. Tahir Mehmood as corps commander in Rawalpindi — the second most critical position, behind chief of army staff, for any coup.

The new corps commanders for Bahawalpur and Karachi are, respectively, Lt. Gen. Muhammad Yousaf and Lt. Gen. Shahid Iqbal. Lieutenant General Mohsin Kamal, formerly Rawalpindi corps commander, has been appointed military secretary at GHQ.

As Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Kayani (who became head of the army last November when President Pervez Musharraf stepped down from his military role)met with Prime Minister Gilani on the Monday an announcement was made that some senior officers were scheduled for retirement that weekend.

As head of ISI, General Pasha will be dealing directly with the Central Intelligence Agency and will have to handle Washington’s concerns over Taliban and Al Qaeda forces staging attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.

The appointment of General Pasha came two months after the new civilian government tried but failed to wrest control of the spy agency from the army, which has always run it.

The well informed English language newspaper Dawn said that Kayani , “has put in place a new team to implement his vision for reviving the prestige of the armed forces and for enhancing the security of the state.”

It was no surprise therefore when in early November General Pasha, visited Washington for talks with America's top military and spy chiefs, and everyone seemed to come away smiling.

Probably celebrations were hedl to mark the decease of Khalid Habib, who was said (by the CIA at least) to be al Quaeda's deputy chief of operations. On October 16th he was reported killed. The CIA had been gunning for Habib for several years, including a January 2006 Predator attack that produced false reports that he had been killed.

This is seen by some observers as evidence since General Pasha' s promotion of growing and clandestine cooperation between the United States and Pakistan on the Pakistan / Afghanistan border which U.S. intelligence officials now regard as the crucial front in the war on terrorism.

It is also said to be concrete evidence that Sirdari's chance encouter with Michael Hayden resulted in a secret agreement for coordination of both intelligence and further Predator attacks and a jointly approved list of high-value targets ( Gulbuddin Hekmatyr, the Haqqani family and clan, Mohammad Omar and Baitullah Mehsud) . This is said to signify a recognition by Zardari government, and Gen. Kiyani, that the imminent threat to Pakistan's security comes from Islamic terrorists rather than from arch-rival India.

Fast forward Mumbai

We may never fully grasp who were the planners / funders / traners / facilitators of the audacious and highly successful terror attacks in Mumbai. A great deal of misinformation has been spread bith by invention, uninformed officials, and my malicious intent to obfuscate.

There has however been a leitmotif to sell the attack to the US public as yet another front in the War of Terror. Joe Biden in his acceptance speech on August 27th , as Barack Obama's running mate said (text npr) ;

"As we gather here tonight, our country is less secure and more isolated than at any time in recent history.... the resurgence of fundamentalism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the real central front against terrorism."

He went on to be more specific ...

"The fact is, al-Qaida and the Taliban — the people who actually attacked us on 9/11 — have regrouped in those mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and are plotting new attacks."

On Thursday, October 6, 2005 Mayor Bloomberg at a press conference said a "credible threat" has been made against the subway system of New York City. NYPD and National Guard presence, as well as the terror alert level, was been increased.

During a press conference, Mayor Bloomberg stated that an unidentified news outlet knew about the threat as many as two days in advance, but did not release the story to the public for security reasons, and that the threat seems to have originated from abroad.

While New York was on high-alert The Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Russ Knocke down-played the risk, "the intelligence community has concluded this information to be of doubtful credibility. We shared this information early on with state and local authorities in New York"

CNN ran a story the same day that stated "According to law enforcement sources, the information garnered from the individual in Iraq claimed that a group of 15 to 20 people were in the United States to carry out the attacks in the New York metropolitan area."

They also reported that this announcement of a possible attack on New York's subway system had prompted San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit to raise its alert, from orange to "enhanced orange,"on the Friday. ( as they helpfully pointed out the 7th 3 months to the day after the Lonon 7/7 attacks)(?)

The Hindustan Times on November 28th , reported that again Mayor Bloomberg had put the city's underground metro system on high alert following the horrific terror attack in Mumbai.

The decision to put the underground metro system on high alert was taken after New York received reports of potential terrorism threat.

"Just today, we dealt with an unsubstantiated report of potential terrorism here in New York. This report led the New York Police Department to take precautionary steps to protect our transit system, and we will always do whatever is necessary to keep our city safe"

President George W. Bush issued a statement on Friday 28th November , saying the wounded were in his thoughts and prayers.

"My Administration has been working with the Indian government and the international community as Indian authorities work to ensure the safety of those still under threat. We will continue to cooperate against these extremists who offer nothing but violence and hopelessness."

White House Spokeswoman Dana Perino said senior administration officials met Friday afternoon and focused on ensuring everything possible is being done to help American citizens affected by the attacks.(Fox)

On introducing Hilary Clinton as his choice for Secretary of State President elect Barack Obama carried on the the theme...

And as we learned so painfully on 9/11, terror cannot be contained by borders, nor safety provided by oceans alone.

Last week, we were reminded of this threat once again when terrorists took the lives of six American among nearly 200 victims in Mumbai. In the world we seek, there is no place for those who kill innocent civilians to advance hateful extremism.

We'd all better get ready to expect more of the unexpected....

Dmitrijs Smirnovs, Latvian economist - Latvian Secret Police arrest him for bad-mouthing the stability of Latvia's banks, national currency, the lat

"To be controlled in our economic pursuits means to be controlled in everything." Friedrich August von Hayek

The UK's EU cousin , Latvia saw their national economy take a very steep nose dive this year. After joining the EU in 2004 they rejoiced that had the highest growth rate in the European Union. Latvia is now in deep recession. Their economy shrank 4.2% in the third quarter.

In late September, Sweden's Swedbank, the biggest bank in Latvia in terms of assets aw deposits slide - not hugely but by 3% .

Parex, a big locally owned rival, also lost customers - 5% of its deposits in October. In the bars and coffee shops Latvians pondered about the solvency of the country and thre strength of thei currency the lat.
Dmitrijs Smirnovs, a 32-year-old Ventspils University College (Ventspils Augstskola) lecturer and economist , took part in a discussion organized by a small local newspaper, Ventas Balss. He reflected a common view that hard times were on the horizon: "All I can advise is this: First, don't keep money in banks. Second, don't keep money in lats."

Shortly afterwards, on Oct. 6, the Security Police opened a criminal investigation into people who "spread rumor and untruthful information". They mobilized to combat destabilizing chatter about banks and exchange rates. Agents directed their attention to Internet chat rooms, newspaper articles, cellphone text messages and even rock concerts. A popular musician was taken in for questioning after he cracked a joke about unstable Latvian banks at a performance.

Swedbank, supported by guarantees from the Swedish government, saw customers return. Latvian owned Parex, sank deeper into trouble as depositors continued to flee.

Fearing the worst, Latvia's government took a 51% stake in Parex and then approached both the European Union and the IMF for help.

A few days later, Mr. Smirnovs was picked up outside his home by two plainclothes officers from the Security Police and taken to Riga for questioning.

Latvia's Security Police are usually busy hunting spies, terrorists and other threats (mainly Russian) to the 2.4 million people who keep 26 local banks busy.

Now free after having been held without charge for 2 days Mr. Smirnovs is still under investigation for bad-mouthing the stability of Latvia's banks and the national currency, the lat. Investigators suspect him of spreading "untruthful information." They've ordered him not to leave the country and seized his computer.

Finance Ministry officials acknowledge that secret police won't save the country from economic crises. But they do believe Security Police vigilance makes the public think twice before spreading uninformed gossip about banks.

"It is a form of deterrence," says Martins Bicevskis, Finance Ministry state secretary.

Gene Zolotarev, an American financial manager who has lived in Latvia for years, says that he's "not generally a fan of totalitarianism," but doesn't mind the probes. "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures."

Dzintars Jaundžeikars, chairman of the National Security Commission of the Latvian Parliament, the Saeima, has come out in favor of punishing rumor-mongers and making people "think before they speak" about matters of the national currency and economy. (Free Speech Latvia blog)

For those who think of Latvia of a small countruy, far away of which we know little.. this picture may help your understanding.

Bob Quick, slow on the uptake and lies to the House of Commns as well

At 11.06 am on the morning of April 22nd 2008 the House of Commons Committee considering the Counter terrorism Bill welcomed as witnesses Sir Ian Blair Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and bovine Bob Quick, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police, with responsibility for counter-terrorism probably dumber (if it is possible) than his predecessor Peter Clark.

Bob was of course also chairman of the ACPO-TAM committee having replaced the previous occupant "Randy" Andy Hayman who left in rather hurrid circumstances. See Dec 10th 2007 Just Imagine , Andy Hayman CBE was in charge of terrism - and de Menezes murder - what a wanker see also "Randy" Andy - Sex in the City suffering from what is increasingly known as Chief Constable Syndrome, a deeply felt urge to shag the staff, then promote them and often fiddle their expenses.

Quite why this arithmetically challenged bobby sent some 20 of the Met's anti-terrorist unit to arrest an MP, root for hours in his house, constituency office and House of Commons office is a mystery. If he have an explanation the following suggest it might not be worth believing a word he says - we take it for granted that Sir Ian Blair is a persistent and egregious liar and shows they have nothing but contempt for the House of Commons and it's members of Parliament.

Tuesday 22 April 2008 Counter Terrorism Bill considered by the Public Bill Committee (Hansard)

Q 9 Martin Salter: I have three quick questions for Sir Ian Blair and Mr. Quick. I know that you put some of this evidence in front of the Select Committee on Home Affairs a few months ago, but, for the benefit of the Committee, could you indicate how many serious terrorist plots the police and the security services have disrupted since the London bombings of 7/7?

Sir Ian Blair: I will stretch to something like 12, but where would you get to, Bob?

Bob Quick: I am still being briefed on the very complex history to fighting terrorism, but my understanding is in the order of about 15 occasions. On some very recent occasions we have been able to disrupt terrorism by some sophisticated and unusual methods. That is what we do. We are constantly seeking opportunities to disrupt. That is part of a multi-pronged attack on terrorist activity.

Curious then that David Leppard May 4, 2008 in a Times article reported that - Ian Blair admits he misled MPs over terror threat

"Blair gave evidence to MPs in support of 42-day detention, stating to a Commons committee that police had disrupted “something like 12” serious terrorist plots since the 2005 London bombings. However, Scotland Yard now accepts that the true number is six. "

UPDATE : A lawyer writes ..

The offence of grooming was introduced when the Sexual Offences Act 2003 was reviewed to take account of the behaviour of paedophiles. ..."a new offence of meeting a child following sexual grooming, which makes it a crime to befriend a child on the internet or by other means and meets or intends to meet the child with the intention of abusing them. The maximum sentence is 10 years imprisonment." CPS Guidance Notes

see 28th November Damian Green MP has ruffled feathers in the Security Industry Authority - hence Plod's anti - terrorist overkill ..."The Anti terrorist squad took away from Damian green's home, consituency office and his House of Commons office, bxes , bags of papers , correspondence and PC's hard disks etc., .... let's hope they don't get them somehow mixed up and discover pornography, paedophile images ......"

PS : How did the Press find out that the Police were using the term grooming ? Surely not a leak from the Met. Again.

PPS : Rambler Asssociation issue Press Release advising Damian Green and Christopher Galley (Currently like Dr David Kelly in a "safe" house) not to take long solitary walks in the countryside.

BBC2 Newsnight sued for libel by Hanif Malik over “The BBC’s Children in Need charity and the 7/7 bombers”.

BBC 2 Newsnight had a lead story in August this year “The BBC’s Children in Need charity and the 7/7 bombers”.

Leeds community leader Hanif Malik claims that the BBc2 programme , that through a charitable body he led, he was responsible for fraudulently and improperly diverting money provided by Children in Need for educating disadvantaged children to Islamic extremists.

He has instituted libel proceedings in the High Court against the BBC and is asking for damages of £100,000 from the BBC. (Press Gazette today)

The writ, claims that the Newsnight story also alleged that the money was used to produce radical Islamist propaganda and to give financial support to some of the men later responsible for the terrorist bombings in London on 7 July 2005.

Malik claims that his character and reputation had been seriously damaged, and that he had suffered considerable distress, embarrassment, anxiety, and injury to his feelings. He also wants aggravated damages, saying the allegations were extremely serious and highly damaging, given his high profile in Leeds, and his prominent role in multi-faith and community initiatives before and after the bombings.

He accused the BBC of failing to carry out any proper checks before broadcasting the allegations. he maintains that one of the principal BBC sources is unreliable.

Malik says that the BBC failed to give him any chance to reply to the allegations. Apparently BBC journalist Richard Watson (he received a second Royal Television Society award - this time for his investigation into the Officially infiltrated MI5 /6/ SAS radical Islamist group Al Muhajiroun) left a message saying he would like to ask questions about funding.

Malik said there was nothing to suggest the story concerned Leeds Community School or terrorism, and he saw no reason to respond to the message, and he did not do so.

Neither Watson nor anyone else from the BBC made any attempt to put the allegations to him, he claimed.

Malik argued that there was no urgency to publish the story, and that the BBC had no reason for not carrying out proper checks or giving him a proper opportunity to respond before the story was broadcast.

He is also seeking an injunction banning repetition of the allegations against him.

Richard Watson has his own page on the BBC2 Newsnight website where you can see selections of his reports - curiously omitting “The BBC’s Children in Need charity and the 7/7 bombers”.

The page has some fascinating external links - well it did just now..



The Charity Commission show Hanif Malik is a Trustee of 1043485 -
ISLAMIA EDUCATIONAL TRUST LEEDS - 1081006 FAITH TOGETHER IN LEEDS 11
1110303 THE ORPHAN CHILD Details of Faith Together can be found on the Communities and Local Government website.

Prospect magazine -"Taking sport seriously"
This is not the first time these sort of allegations have been made , when Prospect magazine made similiar claims they published an apology in December 2007 which you can find here ....

HANIF MALIK: AN APOLOGY

In issue 135 we published an article entitled "The Making of a Terrorist" by Shiv Malik. A letter by Martin Gilbertson commenting on certain aspects of this article was published under the title "My brother the bomber 2" in Issue 136. Both the article and the letter made reference to Hanif Malik, a prominent community leader in Beeston and the former director of the Hamara Healthy Living Centre. The article and the letter made a number of serious allegations about Mr Malik. These included allegations in both publications that he promoted the spread of radical Islamist ideas and in the letter that he allocated public funding in a discriminatory way, controlled a gang of Muslim youths known as the "Mullah Boys" and had dishonestly concealed the closeness of his relationship with the 7/7 bombers.

We accept that there is no truth whatever in any of the allegations made. Mr Malik is a respected community leader who has repeatedly expressed his shock at the 7/7 bombings and has been prominent in a number of local multi-faith initiatives. He has never been a supporter of radical Islamism. We are happy to take this opportunity to put the record straight and to apologise unreservedly to Mr Malik for the upset and distress which was caused. We have agreed to pay him substantial damages for libel along with his legal costs. The article and the letter have been removed from our website. (See review of article at Yahya Birt Director of City Circle )

Those not too familiar with the 7/7 story might not remember how Mr Gilbertson - from Blackpool, but a longtime resident of Yorkshire - who was / is a former Hell's Angel and Motorhead roadie and was said to be now working towards a university thesis on the radicalisation of Islam in Leeds.

But it was his IT expertise that was sought out by the men who ran four entwined institutions in Beeston frequented by two of the July 7 bombers - the Iqra Islamic bookshop, the Leeds Community School, the "al-Qaida gym" and the Hamara Youth Access Point (YAP), an offshoot of a mainstream Muslim community centre nearby.... read more about this fascinating man ... Guradian June 24th 2006

Poor Journalism 13th Oct 2005 exposed has some fascinating information about the fascinating journalist Shiv Malik ..

Shiv Malik is a Leeds graduate who has worked on recent articles for the Independent on Sunday and New Statesman. His claims to fame are "outing" Dilpazier Aslam, the Guardian trainee, and also calling a lot of other employers to inform them that they are employing members of Hizb ut-Tahrir. He has also written disparaging articles about other Islamic groups including Young Muslims
and Islamic Society of Britain.

A story in the Independent on 15th July 2005 just after the 7/7 bombings shows that Hanif Malik was recognisable as a community leader / spokesperson.

The BBC are of course a highly reputable, extremely well funded international news organisation who employ lots of MI5 contacts, MI6 contacts, fact checkers, solicitors, Editors, sub-Editors, Researchers, gofers, ladies with clip boards etc., and cannot possibly have made a mistake or been stupid enough to believe these stories. Can they ?

Unless of course they had another agenda?

The Murder of Dr David Kelly - an Anniversary missed

On Thursday, July 17th 2005 some time between 3 and 3:30pm, Dr. David Kelly started out on his usual afternoon walk. About 18 hours later, searchers found his body, left wrist slit, in a secluded lane on Harrowdown Hill, near his home.

Page 722 The Blair Years A Campbell Diary entry July 18th

"Then Tom told me the body had been found. This was getting more and more grim...then TB came on the plane. I said I'd really had enough. He said we should have a judicial enquiry now. I said I really wanted to go and I felt I should do it now.I had been determined to clear my name .... I was clear it had all gone too far ..."

Charles de Menezes - remembered - murdered in an act of state sponsored terrorism - then whitewashed covered up

Cousin Alex Pereira said "At the inquest we will be able to ask questions and find out the truth," he said. "(The police) have to explain why they lied and everyone will see that a crime was committed here. Whoever did this should be punished for it. We feel we have to come back and fight but sometimes it's difficult for us."

Witnesses appearing before the Inquest, so far scheduled for September , have already been assured of their anonymity.




Nick Hardwick has been re-appointed as Chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission it was announced by the Home Secretary on 27th March 2008.

Deutsche Bank's role in questionable tax shelters - fire destroys bank and records - LMDC and it's interesting people

Subsequent to the recent interesting activities exposed of UBS bank this interesting article about interesting things is published in its entirity for those interested people interested in such interesting matters. Some emphasis has been (mis?) placed.

U.S. widens Deutsche Bank inquiry By Lynnley BrowningPublished: Thursday May 18th, 2006 International Herald Tribune

NEW YORK: A U.S. investigation of Deutsche Bank's role in questionable tax shelters has widened to include a broader array of shelters than previously known, according to people briefed on the inquiry.

The largest German bank has been under investigation as an outgrowth of the criminal inquiry into the accounting firm KPMG, but the investigation has recently widened to include the bank's links with other firms, and to include shelters not covered in the KPMG case, specifically shelters known as digital options. Digital options involve complex offsetting trades in foreign currency options to produce losses.

Deutsche Bank has been in talks with U.S. prosecutors in New York over its tax shelter work. In August, KPMG reached a $456 million deferred-prosecution agreement with prosecutors and admitted criminal wrongdoing over four types of shelters, some of them ones that Deutsche Bank worked on. A smaller German bank, HVB, has also settled with prosecutors. But Deutsche Bank's extensive role in the creation and sale of questionable tax shelters may complicate its negotiations.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment. The bank has said in the past that the transactions it arranged for tax shelters were regular and ordinary.

Prosecutors are examining how Deutsche Bank helped to make and sell a digital option shelter called Cobra to more than 1,100 wealthy investors around 1999 and 2000, according to the people who have been briefed on the inquiry. The prosecutors are also looking at the bank's similar role in making and selling a shelter similar to Cobra known as Homer, which was sold through Bank One, and at a related shelter called MLD, for market-linked deposit.

J.P. Morgan Chase, ( who snaffled up Bear Stearns) which acquired Bank One in 2004, declined to comment.

Many aggressive tax shelters look alike, and from the late 1990s through recent years different promoters had various names for their own shelters, although they were typically updated versions of existing shelters.

Cobra (currency options bring reward alternatives Ho.Ho.Ho.), Homer (hedge option monetization of economic remainder Ditto ) and MLD are all regarded by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as variations of a widely used abusive tax-avoidance strategy known as Son of Boss. The IRS has never considered any Son of Boss shelter valid for deductions and had banned them by September 2000. Deutsche Bank has been accused in lawsuits of continuing to promote shelters that were variations of Son of Boss after that date.

Details about these shelters are outlined in internal documents that have emerged in civil litigation against Deutsche Bank brought by wealthy investors who bought the tax shelters.

David Deary, a lawyer in Dallas who has filed lawsuits against Deutsche Bank in U.S. District Court in Manhattan and in a Texas State court, among others, on behalf of wealthy investors who bought digital options shelters, said: "Deutsche Bank was the driving force behind every tax strategy that involved digital options. And without Deutsche Bank, none of these tax shelters could have been sold and implemented."

One internal document that has emerged is a PowerPoint presentation of Homer from October 2001 that outlines the steps Deutsche Bank and the law firms White & Case and Jenkens & Gilchrist took to put the shelter together for individual clients. The document, eight pages long, breaks down the shelter into nine stages, each containing multiple steps like "pretrade" document creation, "options to trust" and "partnership liquidation."

The document indicates that the core workings of Homer revolved around Deutsche Bank's arranging trades and loans that were intended to lose money. The tax agency considers such transactions to be a hallmark of an abusive tax shelter. The document also describes how Deutsche Bank transferred the losses between trusts and partnerships, to generate artificial losses. Over all, the document depicts, through a maze of boxes and arrows, how Deutsche Bank worked side by side with the law firms to carry out the shelter.

Amazing fire hits Deutsche Bank and their office records : No Amazing pictures

Reading this alongside another intersting news story is helpful to those intersted inthese interestingmatters go to link for rest ...

Just short of the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks which destroyed the World Trade Center, a seven-alarm fire raged through the half-demolished Deutsche Bank building at ground zero, killing two firefighters on August 18.

The building at 130 Liberty Street had been irreparably damaged when the south tower of the Trade Center collapsed into it on September 11, 2001. (but strangely enough for airplane resistant Manhattan Towers did not fall down like WTC 7) However, the building had stood shrouded in black netting for the past six years, oddly untouched by the cleanup and demolition efforts that had immediately gotten under way on the rest of ground zero.

Demolition of the contaminated building did not begin until February 2007, when in tandem with environmental regulators, workers finally began disassembling the 41-story building from the top down, using acetylene torches to slice though the steel beams and disassemble the structure. They had reached the 26th floor when the fire broke out. More see also appointing Bovis " Consultants to the corporation have confirmed that the tower has excessive levels of asbestos, dioxin, lead, silica, quartz, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chromium and manganese."

On June 14th 2007 Mayor Bloomberg and then Governor Eliot Spitzer announced that JPMorgan Chase had won the bid to buy and build the new tower at 130 Liberty Street to replace the Deutsche Bank Building

Readers are also directed to learning more about the LMDC (Lower Manhattan development Corporation) set up to revive the city centre after 9/11 and their Directors. Intersting people such as John C Whitehead former Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Director of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Harvard Board of Overseers, Haverford College, . He is presently Chairman of the Goldman Sachs Foundation .

Michael Balboni is Deputy Secretary for Public Safety and has day-to-day responsibility for managing homeland security affairs, emergency preparedness and response, and law enforcement. Prior to this appointment he was the Chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs. He was the author of the state's Anti-Terrorism Law of 2001 that mandates severe penalties for those who commit terror acts, make terror threats, or render assistance to terrorists. He also authored a 2002 law that helps protect the state's water supply from terror attacks. In 2005, he authored the Chemical Plant Security Act, the first of its kind in the nation. In 2004, Mr. Balboni was appointed to serve on a national task force reviewing allocation of federal money for homeland security measures. In 2005, he was named Senior Fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University.

Interesting people.

Also interesting is a news release from LMDC 30th April 2008 MILESTONE REACHED ON 130 LIBERTY STREET

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) announced today that another milestone has been reached at 130 Liberty Street (see above) and that the final stages of work on the abatement and decontamination have commenced. Since the tragic fire of August 18, 2007, the LMDC has worked closely with federal, state and city agencies to enhance safety conditions for first responders, workers and residents and to make modifications to the plan for abating the building.

Facsinating and must read blog post from the time of the fire here Samskara-Mandala’s Weblog
"The recent fire of the Detusche Bank at the former site of The World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York, might be cause for some re-examination of a myth that just won’t die. That is of the real reason for the destruction of the twin towers at what is now called Ground Zero. " etc ... etc ...

GMP Counter Terrorism Unit hot on the trail of ...er.. terrorists

In the shadow of the memorial service of murdered Chief Constable Michael Todd who had been so closely connected with so called Anti-Terrorist operations both at Scotland Yard and the GMP this is worth considering...

The Greater Manchester Police have posted a curious note on their website "GMP Counter Terrorism Unit first year (Trafford)" which reports the results of the sterling work of GMP CTU, which now has more than 300 officers and staff.

It starts , somewhat confusingly (if this is their First Anniversary), "Since the creation of the GMP CTU, in July 2007" .. and then continues, " ... Omar Altimimi was sentenced to 9 years for terrorist offences and Yusuf Abdullah was sentenced to 3 years for proceeds of crime offences. In November 2007, Abdul Rahman pleaded guilty to terror offences and was sentenced to 6 years in prison. And in January 2008, two men, Steven Kerr Robinson and Wayne Cook, were jailed for a total of 12 years for terrorist offences."

It is worth considering what these cases are, as they may well be unfamiliar to many readers.

Abdul Rahman

When this came to court at Manchester Crown Court in November 2007 the Times reported "Shop worker Abdul Rahman admits urging Muslims to jihad".

It appears that as a result of plea bargain Rahman had initially been charged with assisting another to commit or prepare a terrorist act, which carries a maximum life sentence on conviction.

The judge, his Honour Clement Goldstone QC, indicated that the defendant would only be jailed for a maximum of 6 years and this charge dropped if he pleaded guilty to 3 lesser charges to avoid a trial :
1. Possessing a letter which amounted to a “call to arms” from a friend who was fighting in Afghanistan (sent by his friend and former housemate Aslam Awan, 25, who was fighting in Afghanistan and is now banned from entering the UK)
2. Disseminating terrorist propaganda - the first person ever to be charged and convicted for this offence.
3. Aiding the breach of a control order ( he had helped a 22-year-old British man - who cannot be named coded as AK -) flee to Pakistan by paying his airfare. Rahman gave him £480 to flee the country. Before taking a flight to Lahore via Tehran, CCTV filmed AK at Birmingham Airport after he had ditched his usual traditional Muslim attire for Westernised clothing.

When arrested Rahman had a jiffy bag ready to send to Afghanistan containing two hunting knives and mobile phones. When police raided Rahman's house, they found computer discs of speeches given to crowds in Pakistan claiming "Allah is calling for jihad".

The report adds that Video footage of Rahman and two other men were released by Greater Manchester Police today, but this does not appear to have been produced as evidence in court.

The clips, recorded in the winter in the Lake District, show Rahman singing jihadi songs and giving a commentary as the two other men crawl on their stomachs through the snow as if they were Mujahideen in Afghanistan. The clips were found when police raided Rahman's home. See videos edited by GMP here Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 this looks more like a bunch of Asian lads fooling about in the snow playing cops 'n' robbers.

Rahman was reprimanded by the judge for grinning as he sat in the dock whilst the case against him was outlined. He came to the UK in September 2004 on a four-year student visa to study biotechnology at Dundee University, but quit the course after one day telling his tutors he had money problems.

Omar Altimimi & Yusuf Abdullah

The BBC first reported on this case on Friday, 7 July 2006, "Pair charged after terror raids " 8 addresses in Bolton had been raided on 27th June 2006 and as a result Omar Altimimi, 36, from Lansdowne Road, Bolton, was charged with four offences under the Terrorism Act 2000. Yusuf Abdullah, 29, of no fixed address, faced one charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act and a further charge under the Theft Act.

The BBC provided further explanation that Mr Altimimi's charges relate to the possession of articles for the purposes of terrorism, and the collection of information likely to be useful for terrorism purposes and that he also faced a charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

It also appears from a report of his trial at Manchester Crown Court in the International Herald Tribune that Altimimi was arrested in March 2006 on suspicion of money laundering, involving US$54,610 (€40,109) stolen from the Yemen Tourist Board. At the time of his arrest, Altimimi was attempting to withdraw funds transferred to him by Abdullah, police said. This was 7 weeks prior to the raids in Bolton.

The GMP reported (undated) "Man found guilty of terrorism offences" that the case started with a fraud investigation at the Nationwide Building Society in Bolton which involved the attempted Yemeni fraud.

It appears that Altimimi had multiple identities which he used fraudulently - Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Porter, head of the Greater Manchester Police Counter Terrorism Unit, said: "We will never know who Altimimi really is. He developed a range of identities, which would allow him to expand his terrorist activities. He is a congenital liar and has lied throughout this investigation." He had arrived in Britain from the Netherlands in 2002, and applied for asylum for himself, his wife and their three children claiming to be an Iraqi fleeing persecution.

2 computers had been seized at addresses in Lansdowne Road, and Eastbank Street in Bolton which were said to belong to Altimimi. These revealed terrorist material, much of it downloaded from a secret password protected Al-Qaeda Internet site. Details of this here at Manchester Evening News report 6/ 6/2007 "'Terror hoard' on dad's computer " - which would have filled 900 filing cabinets if printed out said the prosecution, making bombs, setting up terrorist cells etc.,

There was also material related to a job description for a role in Greater Manchester Police, application form for Bolton Council and for a teacher training position with Bolton Community College.

It became clear that Altimimi also had a number of different identities that he was using - by the end of the investigation three different names and eight bank accounts had been linked to Altimimi. One identity was this ...


Articles found in his shoe when arrested included an Immigration and Nationality Directorate card issued by the Home Office in the name of Iraqi, Abdullah Mahr Abou Hawas (above) , a Halifax debit card in the name of AHM Abdullah and a Co-op bank card in the name of Abou Hawas.

During the investigation officers carried out enquiries in 14 countries stretching from Scandinavia through to Middle East. A BBC video news report on video is available here

Yusuf Abdullah, 30, (also known as Nashwan Gassar) pleaded guilty to money laundering when on trial with Altimimi in July 2007 which related to the fraud on the Yemen Tourist Board about which the Nationwide Building Society had tipped the Police off .

The jury at Manchester Crown Crown found Atlimimi guilty on Wednesday 4th July of four counts of possessing material of use to terrorists, then convicted him Thursday 5th July of two further charges of the same offense and two counts of money laundering.

The following day Judge Maddison , Recorder for Manchester handed Altimimi a 9 year sentence and Abdullah 3 years. He added that Altimimi was "a sleeper for some sort of terrorist organisation, it is not known when, if and how you might have been called upon to play your part."

Although Tony Porter had said ""We will never know who Altimimi really is," the prosecution told the court that Altimimi was linked to terrorists in the Netherlands and to Junade Feroze, (The Blackburn car dealer arrested in his gold Mercedes) who had been sentenced the previous month to 22 years in prison for his part in a "dirty bomb plot" led by Dhiren Barot.

Tim Barnes QC prosecuting said “He is associated through an address in Rotterdam with Arab terrorists in Europe. The Crown can also prove that he sent a money order to Thailand to a man who was subsequently convicted in his absence of terrorist offences in France.”

Another defendant in the case known by the name of Bakhtiyar Berwiss also wanted in connection with the Yemen bank transfers absconded while on bail.

Steven Kerr Robinson & Wayne Cook

The BBC first reported on this obscure case on 7th May 2007 when Steven Kerr Robinson, 42, from Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, was due to appear appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday 8th May charged with offences under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.. Packages containing caustic soda were sent in the post to a councillor in Blackburn, Lancashire, and a journalist in Glasgow on 25 April.

At the trial at Manchester crown Court reported by the Daily Record (now removed)but cached here headlined "Poisoned Vodka SNLA Terrorist Gets 6yrs " Scott Robinson had admitted sending vodka bottles filled with lethal caustic soda to a journalist and a councillor at an earlier hearing. BBC report here

His co-accused and neighbour, Englishman Wayne Cook, 46, had denied the charges of using noxious substances to harm or intimidate but was found guilty.

The Court was told Robinson said he was acting under orders from a man (Adam Busby)who claims to be the leader of the Scottish National Liberation Army.

The judge told the pair: "What you did was to prepare packages into which you placed bottles, miniature vodka bottles, from which the vodka was removed and caustic soda placed.

"You then sent them through the post. One was sent to a lady, a journalist in Scotland, and another to a councillor on Blackburn-with-Darwen Council.

"The reason you did that was in furtherance of a campaign by the Scottish National Liberation Army. People are entitled to their views - they are not entitled to the sort of actions which that organisation carry out."

The court was told one of the vodka bottles, sent to councillor John Wright, was intercepted by Royal Mail. The other was received by journalist Myra Philp, (who was at the time executive news editor at Scottish Express Newspapers) who said after the verdict she had been the target of a campaign of SNLA harassment.

The prosecution claimed Cook, a neighbour of Robinson in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, had become involved with the plot for revenge against Blackburn-with-Darwen Council after his son died in their care.

Counter-terrorist boss Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Porter said: "This was not some clumsy joke. Had anyone drunk the contents, they would, in all likelihood, have died." ..or put another way, if anyone receiving unsolicited a small bottle of vodka that had been inxpertly tampered with had drunk it without notincing it ddn't smell of vodka and tasted pretty damn awful ....

They both got six years each.

Summing up

So there you have it, Abdul Rahman who absconded on a student visa and his wannabe mates larking about in the snow - and keeping a letter sent to him and bunging a mate on the run £500 quid. Why wasn't he returned to Pakistan when he dropped out before he beacame such a pain in the ass ?

Altimimi (?) and Abdullah. Evidently no-good criminals who were caught in a raid wait 7 weeks AFTER they are brought to the attention of the GMP Counter Terrorism Unit, as a result of action by alert Nationwide Building Society staff . Which gives another guy Bakhtiyar Berwiss the opportunity to do a runner and A & A ample time to remove anything of interest to Plod. Masses of agit-jihadi fillums and literature and petty fraud (the bit which they managed to uncover) - they got to visit 14 countries however, which will improve their knowledge of geography and different currencies if nothing else. Abdullah was in fact only prosecuted under Proceeds of Crime Act and a further charge under the Theft Act so he can not in any sense be called a terrorist.

Again, an evident failure of the asylum / immigration service to let Altimimi in the country and let him stay.

Robinson & Cook - Terrorists ? Dangerous lunatics, maybe. It is odd that these Bolton based terrists acted on behalf of the SNLA who want to reverse English immigration into Scotland and restore gaelic as the country’s national language

The results of 300 man years work plus (and plus a lot of overtime - luvvly jubbly sarge !) , and a wodge of taxpayers money ... either there is no terrist threat out there to worry about or there are plenty and these guys haven't a fucking clue about how to find them, never mind fit them up.

The cost ? Who knows ...and who cares ? This is the cost of the War on Terror.

Chief Constable Michael Todd gets laid ... to rest

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

A time to be born a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot. A time to Kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.

(Ecclesiastes Chp 3 v 1–4)

Is the fine reading at the head of Time4Reflection the curious website of Sheryl Sleigh. It was her birthday on March 8th which she spent with Chief Constable Michael Todd .

The Mail on Sunday says ..."Twice-wed Mrs Sleigh, currently married to Christopher T. Sleigh, who at 70 is 28 years her senior, is the author of spiritual poetry based on the meaning of life and love and has published her work in several books. "

"Mrs Sleigh and her husband live in a large imposing stone-built farmhouse down a private road on the wild moors above Hyde in Cheshire – where mass murderer Dr Harold Shipman lived.
On Friday, an elderly man who would not identify himself as Mr Sleigh refused to answer questions or allow our reporter to contact Mrs Sleigh. "

Urgent news from No 10 - Cat re-installed - safe to bomb Iran

From No 10 Downing Street 11th September Press briefing..... and there will be absolutely no fucking pictures of cats on this blog. None. Period.

The Press were also told that Sir Ronnie Flanagan former Chief Inspector of Constabulary and leading patient for the NI Alzheimers for Police Officers Syndrome was is leading an independent review of the police service for the Home Secretary. Well he would if he could fucking well remember what he did between 1974 and 2006... un fortunately it's all a blur.