Posts tagged "Security"

Cameras installed to track Muslims in UK city

by Abdullah on Jun 5, 2010 Muslims, Security, Terrorism, United Kingdom • Comments Closed • Muslims, Security, Terrorism, United Kingdom

About 150 automatic number plate recognition cameras (ANPRs) have been installed in two predominantly Muslim areas of Britain’s second biggest city Birmingham from the government’s anti-terrorism fund, it was reported Saturday.

The cameras, including 40 concealed in walls and trees, are targeted to track the precise movement of people entering and leaving the Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath neighbourhoods of Birmingham, central England in the first surveillance of its kind in the UK.

The installation project, which is three times the number to monitor the city centre, was principally been sold to locals as an attempt to combat antisocial behavior, vehicle crime and drug dealing in the area.

But according to the Guardian, the cameras have been paid for by a £3 million grant from the Terrorism and Allied Matters Fund, which has been previously used to monitor potential targets but not whole communities.

Respect Party councillor for Sparkbrook Salma Yaqoob said that the funding arrangement was not made clear to the local authority, which was only told at a briefing the money was from the Home Office.

“The terrorism aspect was certainly not emphasised in that meeting. In fact it was me having to be portrayed as the awkward squad, or even paranoid, for even raising the issue of whether this was really about counterterrorism,” Yaqoob said.

“I raised my concern then: is this really about spying?” she said, but who was told “No, this is about burglary and crime.”

The surveillance of Muslims is in addition to the government’s Prevent extremism program, which the Institute of Race Relations has already castigated as “one of the most elaborate systems of surveillance ever seen in Britain”.

Prevent, set up by the Home Office over two years ago, offers additional funding to work with community groups to effectively spy on all Muslims as potential terrorists.

British lawmakers say privacy concerns raised by body scanners are overblown

by Abdurrahman on Mar 25, 2010 Body Scanner, Privacy, Security • Comments Closed • Body Scanner, Privacy, Security

LONDON (AP) — The privacy fears raised by the deployment of full body scanners at airports are overblown, a committee of British lawmakers said Wednesday, adding that the technology was no more of a threat to passengers’ rights than pat-downs or bag searches.

The government promised to install body scanners across Britain’s airports after a botched attempt to bring down a Detroit-bound jet on Dec. 25 — allegedly by a terrorist who hid explosives in his underwear. But privacy groups bristled at the prospect of scans that can peer under clothes to reveal hidden items, likening them to a “virtual strip search.”

The lawmakers said the fears were over-hyped.

“Air passengers already tolerate a large invasion of their privacy,” the House of Commons’ Home Affairs Committee said in a report covering counterterrorism measures at Britain’s airports. “We do not feel that full body scanners add greatly to this situation.”

The report welcomed the introduction of the scanners and recommended that other security measures be adopted quickly, including new equipment to sniff out trace levels of explosives. (more…)

Britons and Australian held in Yemen over suspected links to al-Qaeda

by Abdurrahman on Jun 5, 2010 Security, Taliban, World News • Comments Closed • Al-Qaeda, Security, Terrorism

Yemeni officials have claimed that some of the foreign nationals detained have connections with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who attempted to blow up a transatlantic airliner on Christmas Day last year, and Anwar al-Awlaki, a jihadist cleric.

The arrests of the British nationals follow an investigation into the activities of an Australian woman by police in the capital Sana’a after information was supposedly passed to the Yemenis by the Australian government.

Shyloh Jayne Giddens, a Muslim convert who moved to Yemen to bring up her two children in an Islamic country, has been detained without charge in Sana’a's political prison since May 15.

Her Australian passport was cancelled two months ago by the Australian government for “national security reasons”.

Ms Giddens, 30, was teaching English in Sana’a at the time of her arrest. She denies having any terrorist links.

At least two of the British nationals being held are of Yemeni extraction, and others detained include American and French nationals as well as “Asians and Africans”, the Independent reports.

Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian student responsible for the failed Christmas Day attack, told US investigators after his arrest that there were “many like me” trained by the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP).

US intelligence officials warned in February that al-Qaeda was trying to recruit English-speaking westerners, particularly women, who could easily slip past security controls to launch terrorist attacks.

Cop protecting Obama accidentally shoots self

by Abdullah on Nov 7, 2010 India, Obama, Security, US • Comments Closed • India, Obama, Security, USA

An assistant police inspector from Mumbai’s police crime branch, which was ordered to protect US President Barack Obama during his visit to India, accidentally shot himself in the leg near the hotel where the president is staying.

The Hindustan Times reports that Suhas Chaudhary’s .38 was not locked, which led to the accidental firing on Saturday. Police report that Chaudhary had just finished his shift of guarding the Taj Mahal Hotel. When he was getting into his vehicle, he removed his gun and accidentally pulled the trigger.

No one else was reported to be injured and neither President Obama nor Michelle Obama were at the hotel when it happened. The bullet grazed Chaudhary’s leg before hitting the ground. He was taken to hospital.

Mumbai police’s crime branch is part of the outer security ring of the president’s three-day visit to the country, which concludes Monday. Obama’s 10-day trip to Asia will then move on to Jakarta, Seoul and Yokohama before he returns to Washington.

Full-body scans at airports might violate teachings of some faiths

by muqaddas on Mar 25, 2010 Body Scanner, Islam, Privacy, Security, Terrorism, US • 1 Comment • Airport, Body Scanner, Privacy, Security, Terrorism

By Helen T. Gray, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

A security officer examines a computer screen showing a scan from a RapiScan full-body scanner at Manchester Airport, Photograph by: Phil Noble, Reuters

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – As Mahnaz Shabbir thought about a coming flight, she grew worried about the full-body scanners used at some airports.

Kansas City International Airport will be one of 11 airports getting body scanners by this summer, federal authorities announced last week. The scanner coming to KCI would be installed at a security checkpoint serving Southwest Airlines.

Shabbir is concerned that the scanners might compromise the modesty teachings in Islam. Other religious groups, such as Orthodox Jews and conservative Christians, express similar views.

The question is whether religious teachings on modesty will be trampled in the march toward better security.

“In Islam, both men and women should dress modestly,” said Shabbir, who does diversity training. “Women covering their arms, chest and hair are part of being modest, even though some Muslim women may not cover their hair and even wear sleeveless tops.

“But the body scan is going underneath our clothing and going where nobody should be looking except your spouse and your physician. So when some strange person, even in another room, is looking at you, my thought is, ‘Oh, my gosh, who is looking at my body?’” (more…)

Gates says U.S. to supply drone aircraft to Pakistan

by sufisahab on Jan 22, 2010 Army, Drones, Pakistan, Politics, Security, US • Comments Closed • Army, Pakistan, Politics, Security, USA

The United States will supply drone aircraft to Pakistan which will significantly enhance the country’s surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, visiting U. S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday.

Talking to reporters in Islamabad, Gates said that 12 RQ-7 Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be part of one billion dollar allocation for Pakistan from its Coalition Support Fund.

He said weapons and equipment will also be provided to Pakistan for the war against terrorism.

The Shadow UAVs will help build the Pakistan Army’s capacity for intelligence-gathering, said the U.S. defense secretary.

Gates did not reply to a question whether the U.S. would impose any condition as that the Shadow drones could not be used along Pakistan’s eastern border with India. (more…)

Guard against terrorism

by Asad on Jun 12, 2010 Muslims, North America, Terrorism • Comments Closed • Muslims, Security, Terrorism, USA

FBI special agent Richard J. Kolko confirmed the arrests of the New Jersey suspects.

The arrests of two more Americans as would-be jihadists recently, as they were trying to board flights from New York City to Somalia, is a warning that the face of terror may be changing. Threats not only come from abroad; they can be homegrown.

Domestic terrorism is not new … as this area, home to the late Timothy McVeigh, is all too aware. And the two New Jersey men unmasked by an undercover New York City police officer and arrested as they headed toward hoped-for terror training were just the latest episode in domestic arrests that started with the Lackawanna Six shortly after 9/11.

So far, there have been 49 cases of radicalization and recruitment to jihadist terrorism within the United States, and 133 arrests. And so far, the would-be terrorists have proven, thankfully, inept.

But it only takes one. And America must not let down its guard.

“There is no long mile between the terrorist wannabe and the lethal zealot,” Rand Corp. analyst Brian Jenkins testified May 26 before the House Homeland Security Committee.

America’s Muslim-American community plays a huge role in maintaining our guard. It has indeed been helpful … the local chapter of the Muslim American Public Affairs Committee has been recognized for its work with the FBI … but there must be no let-up in community condemnation of terrorism and the organizations that support it. (more…)

Pakistan ‘arrests five Britons at Islamabad airport’

by Abdurrahman on Jan 19, 2010 Pakistan, Security, United Kingdom • Comments Closed • Pakistan, Security, United Kingdom

Airport officials thought to be investigating whether passports were genuine or fake

They were arrested along with five Pakistani nationals after they were allegedly seen swapping boarding cards, the officials said.

However, a spokesman for the Foreign Office said that no British nationals had been arrested.

According to a Pakistan immigration official, five British nationals were booked onto a flight to Manchester, believed to be operated by local airline Air Blue, while the Pakistani nationals were due to board a flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The ten had already completed immigration and security checks, including having their photographs taken, and were in the departure lounge when they were arrested, the officials said.

A Foreign office spokesman said there was no indication that the incident was terrorism-related, while other sources suggested the motivation for swapping boarding cards was more likely to be illegal immigration into Britain by the Pakistani nationals.

“We’re investigating their motives,” said a Pakistan interior ministry official.

Pakistan refuses to stop boot-stomping at Wagah

by Abdullah on Nov 7, 2010 India, India border, Pakistan, Security, Wagah • Comments Closed • Border, India, Pakistan, Security, Wagah

BSF and Pakistan rangers perform beating the retreat ceremony at the Indo-Pak Wagah border in Amritsar

Islamabad, Nov 7 (IANS) Pakistan has shot down an Indian suggestion to do away with the aggressive posturing and boot-stomping during the traditional flag-lowering ceremony at the Wagah border post between India and Pakistan, an official said.

‘The troops will continue their daily parade as part of the flag lowering and hoisting ceremonies at Wagah border in the traditional enthusiastic style without any change as such,’ said Nadeem Raza, a spokesman for Pakistan Rangers (Punjab).

‘However, it has been decided to revive formal handshake between the officers representing the two sides.

‘No change has been introduced in the parade’s style otherwise, and the apprehensions expressed by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) regarding the ‘hostile gestures’ by the Rangers are baseless,’ he added.

The Rangers were yet to receive a fresh request or proposal from the BSF about how to minimise the aggressive gestures during the drills, the spokesman said.

During a joint media briefing Oct 30 by Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) Director General Maj. Gen. Muhammad Yaqoob Khan and his BSF counterpart Raman Srivastava, the Rangers chief had said both countries had agreed to tone down the hostile gestures exchanged by soldiers at Wagah border during the flag hoisting and lowering ceremonies.

‘Though it was not on our agenda, on my counterpart’s request we have discussed it and decided to tone down the offensive gestures like fist gestures, hand touching, thumb-showing, staring etc. The soldiers from both sides will also shake hand with each other so as to have a cordial environment during the daily flag lowering ceremony,’ he had said.

Khan now said the drill at Wagah will ‘continue in its traditional way’.

‘These practices were not aggression and were just part of the drills,’ the Dawn Sunday quoted Khan as saying.

Security companies in Pakistan on rise but at risk

by Abdurrahman on Jan 16, 2010 Pakistan, Security, Terrorism • Comments Closed • Pakistan, Security, Terrorism

Clients in the capital city complain that the private security companies are ignoring the quality of their employees, adding that some companies are not well qualified and their employees not well trained while several companies even enter into illegal operation for profits.

A security manager of a private security company based in Islamabad, on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that some of the companies have training facilities for their employees but most of the companies don’t concentrate on enhancing the security-related skills of its employees.

”Companies like ours always prefer to employ personnel of the armed forces and believe that they are already trained, but for non-armed man the companies have no training facilities. I think even the ex-army men need some training,” he said.

Private security companies are supposed to train their guards or hire ex-servicemen, but in reality they are not following the serules, clients said.

Moreover, dozens of companies don’t pay salaries to the guards on a periodic basis, while payment of some companies are too low to satisfy its employed guards who sometime perform duties for more than 10 hours a day.

A 48-year-old guard of a private company told Xinhua that he hasn’t got his last month salary so far as they are paid, generally, after 54 days. He said that he is an ex-army man and a retired driver.

He said he had gone through a month-long training after he joined the previous company but in the current company he got no training.

Another guard, 50, who retired from Pakistani army said the company pays him a monthly salary of 6,000 Pakistani rupees (about71 U.S. dollars) while the company charges its clients much more.

”After retirement I joined a security company in Karachi then came to Rawalpindi. In the present company I don’t know even about the status of any contract, neither they signed any contract with me,” he said.

Without any leave policy and with a low pay, he said he had to quit. (more…)

1 2 »

Advanced search