Spain sentences ETA linked individuals

Spain's National High Court sentenced 47 individuals to prison terms of between 2 and 20 years for collaboration with the Basque Separatist group ETA. Among those convicted and sentenced in December 2007, were lawyer Txema Matanzas, (UID 53690) who is to serve 14 years behind bars and the former head of political group KAS-Ekin Xabier Alegría (UID 53673) who was sentenced to 18 years. Miguel Ángel Zuloaga (UID 617617), Inmaculada Berriozabal (UID 131309) and Nekane Txapartegi (UID 778765) who did not appear in court were sentenced in absentia to 10, 12 and 11 years years respectively. For an in-depth look at ETA's financial network, check out this month's Expert Talk.

Al-Qaida claims reponsibility

After the 27th December suicide bomb attack in Rawalpindi which killed former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto and as many as 20 other individuals Mustafa Abu al-Yazid (UID 39173) also known as Shaykh Sai'id, the alleged leader and spokesman of al-Qaida in Afghanistan, contacted news agencies claiming that al-Qaida was responsible for the assasination. Al-Yazid stated that anti-Shi’ite militant group Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (UID 87610) operating under al-Qaida orders carried out the attack. Reports suggest that early December arrests made by the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence revealed that terror organisations had made plans which aimed at wiping out political individuals such as Benazir Bhutto and President Musharraf and referred to them as 'precious American assets'.

US sentences Indonesian for selling weaponry to Tamil Tigers

In December a US federal court sentenced Haji Subandi (UID 503686) to more than three years behind bars with a further three years of supervised release. Subandi and Erick Wotulu (UID 503685) together with others had planned to export surface to air missiles, machine guns and other military equipment and weaponry to the Liberation Tigers of Eelam aka Tamil Tigers, for use against Sri Lankan government forces. The conspiracy took place in September 2006. In addition the judge ordered that Subandi is to be deported from the USA once he has completed his sentence. To see who else was involved in the conspiracy check out his profile.

Iraqi forces capture senior al-Qaida linked operative

Late in December Iraqi forces stated that they had captured Ahmed Turki Abbas (UID 773687) during a clash with militants south of Baghdad. Abbas is reported to be the defence minister of a group known as the Islamic State of Iraq (UID 566585), an umbrella organisation for the Iraqi Salafi Jihadist insurgency, and believed to be an al-Qaida front group within Iraq. The group has claimed responsibility for a number of terrorism acts in Iraq.

Lodhi loses his appeal

In 2006 Faheem Khalid Lodhi (UID 223150) was the first individual to be prosecuted under Australia's new terror laws. He was jailed for 20 years after he was found guilty of conspiring to attack Australia's national electricity grid. In December 2007 Lodhi appealed against his conviction and sentencing which he claimed was excessive in comparison to those meted out for similar cases abroad. The New South Wales Court of Appeal rejected his bid. One of the judges stated "A terrorism offence is an outrageous offence and greater weight is to be given to the protection of society, personal and general deterrence and retribution... Rehabilitation and personal circumstances should be given very little weight in the case of an offender who is charged with a terrorism offence." Lodhi is allegedly a member of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (UID 40613) an internationally sanctioned terrorist organsiation.

Omagh bomb suspect remains on bail

In December the Dublin High Court confirmed that Colm Murphy (UID 60735) could continue to remain out on bail of £100,000. In January 2002 Murphy was convicted and jailed for 14 years for his alleged role in plotting the August 1998 Omagh bomb which killed 29 people and injured more than 300. In January 2005 this conviction was overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal and a retrial was ordered. Since then Murphy has appealed against the retrial a number of times, most recently in November 2007. Murphy is due back in court on March 14th. To read more about Murphy whose brushes with the law span decades and both sides of the Atlantic check out his profile synopsis and the verification sources.

Sentencing hearing for Padilla case

In January a Miami federal judge will decide how long Jose Padilla (UID 70365), Adham Amin Hassoun (UID 222505) and Kifah Wael Jayyousi (UID 292859) will spend behind bars. All three were convicted in August 2007 of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people overseas and of providing material support in the form of money, supplies and recruits to Jihadist groups. The hearing is expected to last for up to three days. The World-Check Terrorism and Insurgency Research Unit will update the relevant profiles with details of the sentences imposed by the judge as soon as the information becomes available.

Couple face trial in Austria

Mohammed Mahmout (UID 707043) and his spouse Mona Achmed Salem (UID 707044) were arrested in September 2007 and are to face trial on federal terrorism charges and membership of a criminal organisation. Their case is expected to reach trial within the next three months. Mahmout and his spouse posted a video on the Internet which threatened terrorist action against Austria and Germany if their countries' personnel were not withdrawn from Afghanistan. Potential targets were reported to have been OPEC and UN offices located in Vienna.

"The issue of countering terrorist and proliferation finance is also now firmly on the agenda of other international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union. At the United Nations, nearly every UN Security Council resolution that has been passed since September 11th, including all those designed to counter WMD proliferation and terrorism, contain financial provisions – from obligating states to perform enhanced scrutiny of financial transactions to the freezing of assets. "

Exposing the ETA Financial Network: Spanish Court issue Historic Ruling

Too often known terrorist movements are able to cloak their financial and logistical support structures in the shroud of legal and political legitimacy by capitalizing on a false distinction between the violent and ostensibly non-violent wings of their organizations. Many terrorist networks around the world exemplify this model and unfortunately achieve a modicum of legal and political legitimacy through their associated fronts in the West, where it happens that much of the world’s terrorist financing takes place.

By playing a name game in which functional sub-units of a terrorist organization operate under aliases distinct and separate from the movement’s known paramilitary apparatus, associated individuals and entities often plausibly deny any foreknowledge or responsibility for terrorist violence carried out in the name of the movement or cause.

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Further to our notice concerning the UK sanctions listing keyword, please be advised that the Bank of England (BOE) keyword will be removed from our database profiles at the end of January. Click here for more detailed information.

December was a quiet month on the watch lists with neither the UK HM Treasury nor the United Nations making any amendments or additions to their respective terrorist sanction listings.

The US Treasury OFAC made two additions. On 04-12-2007 they added Abdelmalek Droukdel who has been in the World-Check database since September 2004. You can read more about Droukdel in our August 31 Press Release here On 06-12-2007 OFAC added Fawzi Mutlaq al-Rawi the Chairman of the Iraqi wing of the Syrian Ba'th Party.

The European Union updated its watch lists. To read the original four press releases please click on the highlighted text. EU(1) 54 individuals. - EU(2) 48 entities. - EU(3) 35 individuals. - EU(4) 30 entities.

EVENTS:

19-21 February 2008

The EastWest Institute's (EWI) 5th Worldwide Security Conference (WSC5) will focus on combating terrorists and violent extremists and improving co-operation globally. More details

11-13 March, 2008

The Swedish National Defence College and the UK Defence Academy debate effective measures to combat trans-national threats. More details

28-29 February 2008

The conference intends to explore collaborative efforts to improve human security in Africa - improve conditions on the continent - prevent terrorist networks from exploiting grievances and garnering support. More details .

WORLD-CHECK NEWS

Previous Expert Talk articles including our initial three part series adressing the financing of terrorism vis-à-vis the unregulated sector written by John Solomon, Head of the World-Check Terrorism and Insurgency Research Unit can be read here.