Egyptians in key vote on proposed constitution

Egyptians were voting Tuesday on a draft constitution that represents a key milestone in a military-backed road map put in place after the nation's Islamist president was overthrown in a popularly backed coup last July.

The two-day balloting also deals a heavy blow to the Muslim Brotherhood's campaign for the reinstatement of ousted President Mohammed Morsi and paves the way for a likely presidential run by the nation's top general, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Few doubt that Egyptians, who staged mass protests against Morsi's rule before his ouster, will turn out in big numbers and vote "yes" in the referendum.

A massive security operation was under way to protect polling stations and voters against possible attacks by militants loyal to Morsi, with 160,000 soldiers and more than 200,000 policemen deployed across the nation of some 90 million people.

The constitution would replace one signed into law by Morsi a little more than a year ago after it was approved in a referendum. The new text strips out disputed Islamist language while strengthening state institutions that defied Morsi: the military, the police and the judiciary.

Egypt's Western allies were hoping that a more competitive political field would emerge, three years after the Arab Spring tide of democratic change swept through the country.

Shortly before polls opened, an explosive device went off outside a Cairo courthouse in the densely populated neighborhood of Imbaba. The blast damaged the front of the building and cars parked outside. It shattered windows in nearby buildings, but caused no casualties.

Long lines of voters began to form nearly two hours before polling stations opened in Cairo, including in Imbaba, where the blast promptly whipped up anti-Brotherhood sentiment with chants and shouting against the Islamist group.

"The dogs, the traitors!" shouted a man on a motorcycle as he passed by the courthouse after the blast. A line of voters in a nearby polling station chanted in unison, "Long live Egypt!"

A crowd of several hundred angry residents gathered outside the courthouse, some carrying posters of el-Sissi. "Everyone must go now and vote to show those dogs, the Brothers," shouted one man.

Outside a nearby polling station, 67-year-old Alaa al-Nabi Mohammed echoed a similar sentiment - that Egyptians have consigned Morsi and the Brotherhood's year-long rule to the past.

"I am here to send a message to the world and to those who hate Egypt that we want to live and get our country back on its feet," he said.

Another voter, Ismail Mustafa, said he was voting "yes" in the hope of ending the turmoil that has engulfed Egypt since the 2011 ouster of the country's longtime autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak.

"This is it, we have had it. I will vote 'yes' even if it is the last thing I do," Mustafa said.

The Tuesday and Wednesday balloting is the first electoral test for the popularly backed coup that ousted Morsi and his Brotherhood.

A comfortable "yes" vote and a respectable turnout would bestow legitimacy on the cascade of events that followed the coup while undermining the Islamists' argument that Morsi remains the nation's elected president.

Morsi's Brotherhood, which is now branded as a terrorist group, has called for a boycott of the vote. Morsi himself is facing three separate trials on charges that carry the death penalty.

The unprecedented security surrounding the vote follows months of violence that authorities have blamed on Islamic militants. In the six months since Morsi's ouster, there has been an assassination attempt on the interior minister as well as deadly attacks on key security officers, soldiers, policemen and provincial security and military intelligence headquarters.

"You must come out and vote to prove to those behind the dark terrorism that you are not afraid," Interim President Adly Mansour told reporters after he voted early in the day.

Morsi's supporters have said they would stage massive demonstrations and have labeled the draft charter a "constitution of blood." In response, the government has warned it would deal harshly with anyone interfering with the referendum.

There were small demonstrations by Morsi supporters in parts of the country, but they only attracted dozens.

Most of Egypt's minority Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the population, have backed the removal of Morsi and the charter in hopes of winning religious freedoms.

"Anyone who was raised in Egypt will choose this constitution," said Verta Nassif, a 70-year old Christian from Assuit, a stronghold of Islamists and home to a large Christian community south of Cairo.

"We want Egypt to flourish and Muslims and Christians to live together in peace," said another Assiut voter, Nadia Saleeb, 70.

But in the days running up to the vote, Egypt looked more like a country going to war rather than one preparing for a transition to democratic rule. The government and the overwhelmingly pro-military media have portrayed the balloting as the key to the nation's security and stability over which there can be no dissent.

Hundreds of thousands of fliers, posters, banners and billboards exhort Egyptians to vote "yes." Posters - and campaigns - urging a 'no' vote have led to arrests.

The referendum is the sixth nationwide vote since the authoritarian Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011, with the five others possibly the freest ever seen in Egypt.

While unlikely to be stained by fraud, the vote is taking place at a time when many of the freedoms won in the uprising that toppled Mubarak have vanished in the months since Morsi was removed after just one year in office.

The new charter, drafted by a liberal-dominated committee appointed by the military-backed government, would ban political parties based on religion, give women equal rights and protect the status of minority Christians. But it also gives the military special status by allowing it to select its own candidate for the job of defense minister for the next eight years and empowering it to bring civilians before military tribunals.

The charter is in fact a heavily amended version of a constitution written by Morsi's Islamist allies and ratified in December 2012 with some 64 percent of the vote but with a nationwide turnout of just over 30 percent.

"The constitution is not perfect," said Ameena Abdel-Salam after she cast her ballot in Cairo's upscale Zamalek district. "But we need to move forward and we can fix it later."

For U.S. vets, violence in Fallujah brings mixed feelings

The home of some of the most ferocious fighting during the U.S. war in Iraq is once again witnessing extreme violence not seen in the country since the last of U.S. troops left two years ago, as al Qaeda insurgents regain control of the city of Fallujah in Anbar Province.

In total, almost a third of the 4,486 U.S. troops killed in Iraq died in Anbar Province. Fallujah was the scene of two significant battles in 2004 - Operation Vigilant Resolve and Operation Phantom Fury – where U.S. military fought against al Qaeda militants.

News of the return of al Qaeda to the city has stirred strong emotions among the men and women who fought in Fallujah, the largest urban military operation involving U.S. troops since the battle for Hue City, Vietnam, in 1968.

"I'm absolutely pissed; I don't know how to word it really. It's infuriating, it's just like everything we did and what my brothers and I did, was all for naught," former Marine Matthew Brown, 29, from Fayetteville, N.C., told CBS News.

"I feel kind of guilty that we dipped in. We did our jobs, we did it to the best of our abilities but all deployments come to an end," said Todd Bowers, 34, from D.C., a former Marine who was on his second deployment to Iraq when he fought in the surge for Fallujah.

 Ross Caputi, 29, from Boston, is a former Marine who became an anti-war activist. Caputi believes his fellow Marines lost their lives in vain.
"I feel like my friends' lives were squandered, it didn't really have anything to do with national security, not for the United States or for Iraq," he told CBS News.

"The rhetoric that was given about the siege, that we were fighting against terrorism and we were bringing freedom to Iraqis … and making America a safer place; the second siege of Fallujah did none of that and for all those reasons, my friends died in vain," said Caputi.

Thomas Brennan, a 28-year-old vet from Jacksonville, N.C., who served both in Iraq and Afghanistan and lost over half a dozen friends in his battalion, says his concern about the recent events is for those who lost family members.

"I don't think that a Gold Star mother or a Gold Star widow should ever have to feel like her husband's death was unnecessary or it wasn't for a greater good," said Brennan.

James Sperry, who was 19 years old when he was deployed in 2004, suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple broken bones when he was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade.

"It just shows that what I almost died for - and my life is shortened by my injuries, and I'm already having a lot of issues with my brain - it was almost all done for nothing," said Sperry, 28, from Lebanon, Ill.

"All of our blood spelt is now been erased by al Qaeda going in there and retaking the city. It's heartbreaking to see your biggest accomplishment in the service being taken away and there's nothing I can do about it," he added.
Caputi remembers the Battle of Fallujah was very different to the previous battles he fought in Iraq.

"This whole concept of winning hearts and minds kind of went out of the window. This was more of a World War II spiral all-out attack, with bringing tanks into the city and using air support and bulldozers and armed troops," said Caputi.

"At the time, we didn't realize what exactly we were doing. We didn't realize we were taking part in history. We were just doing what we were told," said Brown, who was shot by a sniper in Fallujah on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, 2004.

"Fallujah was something were you had two categories of Marines. Marines that were all pumped up and ready to go in there and knowing that this is our big job and then you had the other guys who would do anything to get out of it and get sent back home," said Sperry.

The current battle for Fallujah is the latest manifestation of the sectarian clash between Sunnis and Shi'ites, the two main sects of Islam.

"I'm angry about the situation, that Fallujah is going the way that it's going right now, it's turning to [expletive], and we put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into that city, into that country and it's extremely discouraging to know that it's all falling apart," said Brennan.

For Maj. Charleston Malkemus, 33, from Boston, MA., the ongoing violence is a symbol of how difficult the task at hand really was.

"We were fighting for the interests of America, we were fighting for the freedom of the people in Iraq and we were providing them an opportunity because that's pretty much all that we can do," said Malkemus, a member of the Marines' First Battalion, the first division deployed to Fallujah.

"We're not an occupying force. Ultimately, we were there to basically remove a dictator and provide them [Iraqis] with a direction that they could go with in the future," he said.

Unfortunately, that future has in recent years brought extreme violence back to Iraq, with almost 8,000 civilians killed in 2013 alone.

However, despite the recent gains by Islamic militants, Gen. Ray Odierno, the U.S. Army general who led U.S. forces through some of the most deadly years of the Iraq war, said on Tuesday he opposes sending U.S. combat troops back to Iraq.

Some veterans question whether they should have been there at all.

"We probably shouldn't have been over there in the first place to begin with," concluded Sperry. "I think we were conned into a war. I gave up full-rights scholarship for college to go to the Marine Corps, and I would do it again if I had the same information that I had back in the day, but with the information I know now I wouldn't have gone."

"I personally wouldn't say it was in vain, because I did get to interact with a lot of Iraqis that were genuinely appreciative of what we were doing over there. I think we made a difference for the time being that we were there but to think that it would make a lasting difference, you'd be slightly naïve," said Brennan.

"It makes it really tough, because we did lose a lot of great Marines over there, we lost a tremendous amount of Iraqi civilians and so I always get fearful to say that's it in vain, but it's tragically a lesson that we don't seem to learn when you commit to changing a place, it's a very, very long commitment," said Bowers, who was shot in the face by a sniper east of Fallujah.

But for some Marines, the next step in the Battle of Fallujah is no longer in their hands but in the hands of the Iraqis.

"We felt very proud of what we were doing over there for them [Iraqis], we felt very honored to be there to protect them, and we did the best that we could while we were there, but certainly, it couldn't have lasted forever," said Malkemus.

"To me, knowing that I helped make that difference to those people makes my deployment worth it, because I helped them see how life can be. We couldn't stay there forever, now it's on them to hold their country together," said Brennan.

5 questions: What's going on in Iraq?

The recent fighting in Iraq has posed a serious challenge to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his government, raising questions about his ability to hold the country together amid a rising insurgency.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that the United States will help the Iraqi government in the battle against al Qaeda-linked fighters in western Iraq, but he stressed it won't send troops.
Here are five questions about the deteriorating situation:
1. I thought the Iraq war was over. Why is there still fighting?
Well, actually last year was the deadliest since 2008. The number of dead reached its worst levels since the height of the Iraq war, when sectarian fighting between the country's Shiite majority and its Sunni minority pushed it to the brink of civil war. Those tensions continue to be fueled by widespread discontent among the Sunnis, who say they are marginalized by the Shiite-led government and unfairly targeted by heavy-handed security tactics.

Sunni anger has made it easier for al Qaeda-linked militants to recruit and operate while eroding the public's cooperation with security forces. Violence has flared in recent days because of the arrest of a Sunni lawmaker in Ramadi and the dismantling of protest sites by the army in Falluja and Ramadi.
Sunnis have rejected the authority of the government, and some Sunni officers in the army have deserted to fight Iraqi forces and attack police stations and prisons. Now fears are mounting that national elections in April will bring more violence and descend into civil war.
2. Wait, I thought al Qaeda was on the run? Now they control parts of Iraq?
The U.S. made impressive gains in weakening the so-called "core al Qaeda" leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but affiliate groups, specifically in Iraq, are gaining strength.
Since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops, the Sunni-led group tied to al Qaeda, known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), has staged a comeback amid Iraq's growing sectarian tensions and launched a series of bloody attacks on government buildings and personnel, killing thousands of civilians.
ISIS has been working doggedly to exploit the security vacuum across Iraq. Conflicting reports say ISIS this weekend captured the western city of Falluja and took control of most parts of the principal capital of Ramadi. Iraqi troops are now battling insurgents in both places for control.
3. Falluja and Ramadi were pretty important to the U.S. during the Iraq war. Isn't the U.S. going to help?
Both were important battlegrounds for the U.S. during the Iraq war. Falluja was an insurgent stronghold until U.S. Marines fought their bloodiest battle of the war in 2004 to drive militants out.

In Ramadi, the U.S. supported the "Awakening," in which tribal leaders turned on al Qaeda and aligned themselves with American and Iraqi forces to secure Anbar province. That was a turning point in the war. Now that U.S. troops are all out of Iraq, Washington is not eager to go back in.
Kerry said Sunday the U.S. would help the Iraqis in their fight against al Qaeda, but "this is their fight."

4. What does Syria have to do with it?
The international community has long been concerned about spillover from the civil war in Syria, and the conflict is clearly helping to fuel violence and tensions in neighboring and tensions in Iraq. ISIS was formerly known as al Qaeda in Iraq but was renamed to reflect its growing ambitions in Syria and Lebanon. Their goal is to establish a single Islamic state, or caliphate, based on sharia law.
Anbar province shares a 400-mile border with Syria and because of the power vacuum there, ISIS fighters move back and forth between the countries and mount attacks on both sides of the border. But with recent setbacks in Syria, ISIS has increased its attention to Iraq.
5. I heard these ISIS guys are in Lebanon, too? This region is a mess.
There are signs ISIS may have its sights on Lebanon as well. The group said it carried out a suicide bombing on Thursday in a Hezbollah-controlled southern suburb of Beirut. And it warned about more attacks against Hezbollah if it continued to send fighters to Syria to defend Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against the rebels.
Weak governments in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon have helped al Qaeda gain strength, and now Kerry calls ISIS "the most dangerous players in the region."
Iraq, Syria and Lebanon are all seen by many experts as proxy wars between Shiite Iran and Saudi Arabia, a Sunni nation. A full-blown civil war in Iraq, in addition to Syria, could further increase sectarian tensions and destabilize the region.

Car Bomb Kills 3 Police Officers in Afghanistan

A provincial official in Afghanistan say a suicide car bomber has attacked a security checkpoint in the country's east, killing three police officers.

Musa Khan Akbarzada, the governor of Ghazni province, says the attack Monday also wounded three officers in the Shilghar district.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in an email to journalists.

Earlier, the Interior Ministry said police had apprehended a 10-year-old girl who had intended to carry out a suicide attack against Afghan border police in southern Helmand province. In a statement, the ministry said the girl claimed her brother, a local Taliban commander, had sent her on the mission.

Afghan forces are seeing their casualties mount as the U.S.-led international force there pulls back ahead of its withdrawal at the end of 2014.

'Jihad Jane' Faces Prison Term for Terror Plot

A woman who called herself "Jihad Jane" online and helped suspected terrorists overseas is in court in Philadelphia awaiting sentencing.

A federal judge must decide if 50-year-old Colleen LaRose of Pennsburg, Pa., presented a real threat to the U.S. or was easy prey for extremists seeking followers with U.S. passports.

LaRose, wearing a black head scarf and green prison jumpsuit, smiled at her public defenders as she was brought into court.

She admits plotting to kill a Swedish artist over a cartoon that offended Muslims. The judge could sentence her to life in prison.

Prosecutors are asking for decades because they fear she remains dangerous, even though she has offered extensive cooperation.

Two co-defendants — Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, of Colorado, and Maryland teenager Mohammad Hassan Khalid — also await sentencing.

Top-secret court renews NSA snooping at critical point

The top-secret federal court that oversees government surveillance on Friday reauthorized the National Security Agency's program that collects data on nearly every phone call in the United States.
The three-month renewal by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is the first since two conflicting court opinions last month on the legality of the program.
Revealed publicly in leaks last year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the program is at the center of the surveillance debate in the United States.
Critics say it violates privacy rights of Americans whose data is collected even though there isn't any suspicion that they pose a security threat.
The NSA and its supporters say the bulk collection authority is crucial to uncovering potential terrorists who haven't yet come to the attention of national security officials.
The telephone data program, covered under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, has been authorized 36 times over the past seven years, the nation's top intelligence official said on Friday.
President Barack Obama said recently that he is contemplating making modest changes following an independent review of the initiative.
One possible change would remove the electronic surveillance effort from the NSA but requiring telecommunications companies, or perhaps a new quasi-government agency, to collect the data.
"The intelligence community continues to be open to modifications to this program that would provide additional privacy and civil liberty protections while still maintaining its operational benefits," Shawn Turner, spokesman for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said.
A federal judge in Washington last month called the program almost "Orwellian" and said it was likely unconstitutional. Days later another federal judge in New York, in a separate challenge to the program, said it was lawful.
The Justice Department on Friday filed an appeal of the Washington ruling. The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the New York suit, is appealing that decision.
Split decisions will likely set the stage for legal wrangling over the course of the coming year that could ultimately result in a Supreme Court case.

2 dead in clashes between Egyptian security, Muslim Brotherhood protesters

About 200 demonstrators in Egypt clashed with security forces and local residents, leaving two dead in the country's second-largest city Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said.

A crackdown by authorities on Muslim Brotherhood rallies in the coastal city of Alexandria left two demonstrators dead and two policemen wounded, according to the Interior Ministry.

"During the demonstrations, protestors cut off roads, threw Molotov cocktails, set fires, damaged private cars, and fired birdshot pellets, and clashed with local residents," the Interior Ministry said.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which was recently designated a terrorist organization by Egypt's military-backed government, claimed security forces had opened fire on demonstrators, killing two, including a college student, and wounding several others, according to a statement on the official Muslim Brotherhood website.

Social media video, posted by supporters of the now banned Islamist organization, shows a chaotic scene with youths throwing fireworks at police vehicles and small fires smoking near residential apartments and local businesses.

The overthrow of President Mohammed Morsy, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, in July 2013 spurred a deadly crackdown on Egypt's most organized opposition group. The group was recently banned by a court.

Supporters of the organization demand the reinstatement of Morsy, the country's first democratically elected president, and the full restoration of their political and social rights. But the interim government blames the group for a series of coordinated attacks, including a recent bombing on a police headquarters that left 16 dead and more than 100 injured.

Three dead in Egypt clashes

 Backers of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood battled police in Cairo and other cities after Friday prayers. At least three people died and 265 were arrested, the Interior Ministry said.

The ministry blamed the deaths on the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group that the Egyptian government declared a terrorist organization on Wednesday.

The government has threatened to arrest anyone who attends Muslim Brotherhood protests or provide financial support to the group, which helped propel ousted President Mohamed Morsy to power.

Morsy, the nation's first democratically elected president, was forced out of office in July by the nation's military and arrested following widespread protests and petitions calling for his removal.

 

Detractors said he was a tyrant trying to impose conservative values. Supporters called his removal a coup and a blow to the democratic movement that toppled former Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Since Wednesday's declarations, hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters have been arrested.

EgyNews, a state-run news agency, previously reported the Interior Ministry had told police to confiscate copies of the group's newspaper and seal off the publishing house that prints it.

The unrest comes as Egyptians prepare to vote a new constitution next month.

The proposed constitution would ban religious political parties and put more power in the hands of the military.

The Muslim Brotherhood has vowed to continue protesting.

"Let's begin with full force and peacefulness a new wave of majestic anti-coup action in a 'Revolutionary Rage' week," the group said Thursday on its website.

Syrian Troops Ambush and Kill Dozens of Rebels

Syrian government forces ambushed members of an al-Qaida-linked group on Friday, killing dozens of them near a historic Christian village north of Damascus, activists and state media said.

State TV said troops surprised fighters of the Jabhat al-Nusra or Nusra Front at dawn near Maaloula, which the group along with other rebels captured in late November for the second time this year. Maaloula had previously been firmly in the government's grip despite being surrounded by rebel-held territory.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that dozens of opposition fighters were killed, and that 20 were wounded.

Maaloula is on the edge of the rugged Qalamoun region, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of the capital, where the government has been on the offensive for weeks capturing a number of towns and villages in the area.

Syrian TV aired footage of dead rebels in an open area with patches of snow. Most of the gunmen were civilian clothes and some still had their rifles. One of the dead had two rocket-propelled-grenades tied to his back.

A TV reporter moved toward a wounded rebel who was lying on the ground and asked him what nationalities they had among them, and the wounded gunman responds, "We had Saudi citizens with us."

Saudi Arabia is among the strongest backers of Syrian opposition fighters who are trying to remove President Bashar Assad from power.

Maaloula was a major tourist attraction before the civil war. Some of its residents still speak a version of Aramaic, a biblical language believed to have been used by Jesus.

The village has been under rebel control since last month. Most of Maaloula's 3,300 residents have fled to safer areas.

In the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest, mortar rounds struck the government-held neighborhood of Jamaliyah killing at least four people, the state news agency SANA and the Observatory said. SANA said 14 people were wounded in the attack while the Observatory put the number of 15.

More than 120,000 people have been killed so far in the war, now in its third year, according to the Observatory, a Britain-based watchdog that closely monitors the violence in Syria through a network of activists across the country. The U.N. said in July that 100,000 Syrians have been killed, and has not updated that figure since. Millions of Syrians have been uprooted from their homes because of the fighting.

Philippine Police Arrest Abu Sayyaf Militant

Philippine authorities have arrested a suspected Muslim militant accused of kidnapping two European bird-watchers last year, officials said Thursday.

The suspect, Haik Asgali, was arrested late Wednesday in Sulu province in a joint police and military operation, police spokesman Reuben Theodore Sindac said.

He said Asgali's team kidnapped Dutch Ewold Horn and Swiss Lorenzo Vinciguerra while they were on a bird-watching trip in southern Tawi Tawi province in February 2012.

Militants from the Abu Sayyaf group are holding for ransom more than a dozen captives. U.S.-backed military offensives have crippled the group in recent years, but it remains a key security threat.

Sindac said Asgali is an operative of Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan Sahiron, one of the most wanted terrorist suspects in the Philippines.

The United States lists the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organization.

AP Exclusive: Al-Qaida Leader Targeting UN Workers

The shadowy leader of a powerful al-Qaida group fighting in Syria sought to kidnap United Nations workers and scrawled out plans for his aides to take over in the event of his death, according to excerpts of letters obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

Iraqi intelligence officials offered the AP the letters, as well as the first known photograph of the Nusra Front leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the head of one of the most powerful bands of radicals fighting the Syrian government in the country's civil war.

The officials said they obtained the information about al-Golani after they captured members of another al-Qaida group in September. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to journalists.

"I was told by a soldier that he observed some of the workers of the U.N. and he will kidnap them. I ask God for his success," read an excerpt of a letter given by officials from Iraq's Falcon Intelligence Cell, an anti-terrorism unit that works under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The officials said other letters planned the kidnapping and killing of other foreigners, and Syrian and Iraqi civilians.

One U.N. worker was kidnapped for eight months in Syria and was released in October. Another two dozen U.N. peacekeepers were briefly held this year. It's not clear if those abductions had any relation to al-Golani's letters.

Syria's uprising began with peaceful protests, but it turned into an armed uprising after Assad's forces cracked down on demonstrators.

Since then, hard-line Islamic brigades have emerged as the strongest rebel forces in Syria, chiefly among them the Nusra Front.

Under al-Golani's leadership, it has dominated rebel-held parts of southern Syria, and it is a powerful fighting force in the Damascus countryside and northern Syria, with an estimated force of 6,000 to 7,000 fighters.

Al-Maliki's Shiite-majority government is considered a quiet ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The officials may have released the letter excerpts to underscore the dominance of al-Qaida in Syria.

The intelligence officials did not where they found the al-Qaida fighters who handed over the documents. They also would not say when the letters were written, though they said it represented a tiny sample of a large cache of documents.

The officials couldn't explain why the letter excerpts were in a sloppily written, grammatically incorrect version of an Arabic dialect used across the Levant. It is believed that al-Golani was an Arabic teacher before he rose through al-Qaida's ranks, and typically hard-line Muslims try to write in classical Arabic.

It may have been that an aide was writing down al-Golani's speech. Arabs typically speak in dialects that are often quite different from the classical Arabic.

"The claim by Iraqi intelligence that Jolani and by extension, Jabhat al-Nusra, have been behind an explicit policy of kidnapping U.N. workers should be treated with some suspicion," said Charles Lister, a prominent analyst of Syria's militant groups. He referred to the Nusra Front by its Arabic name. "While it might well be true, elements within Iraq's security services have a clear interest in portraying jihadists in Syria and Iraq in a highly negative light."

Little is known about al-Golani, including his real name. He is believed to be 39 years old. The photograph suggests a man in his thirties.

Al-Golani is a nom de guerre, indicating he was born in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

American Abducted in Pakistan Calls for US Help

A 72-year-old American development worker who was kidnapped in Pakistan by al-Qaida more than two years ago appealed to President Obama in a video released Thursday to negotiate his release, saying he feels "totally abandoned and forgotten."

The video of Warren Weinstein was the first since two videos released in September 2012. Weinstein, the country director in Pakistan for J.E. Austin Associates, a U.S.-based firm that advises a range of Pakistani business and government sectors, was abducted from his house in the eastern city of Lahore in August 2011.

In the video sent Thursday to reporters in Pakistan including The Associated Press, Weinstein called on the U.S. government to negotiate his release.

"Nine years ago I came to Pakistan to help my government, and I did so at a time when most Americans would not come here, and now when I need my government it seems that I have been totally abandoned and forgotten," Weinstein said during the 13-minute video. "And so I again appeal to you to instruct your appropriate officials to negotiate my release."

It was impossible to tell how much Weinstein's statement, made under the duress of captivity, was scripted by his captors.

The video and an accompanying letter purported to be from Weinstein was emailed anonymously to reporters in Pakistan. The video was labelled "As-Sahab," which is al-Qaida's media wing, but its authenticity could not be independently verified. The letter was dated Oct. 3, 2013 and in the video Weinstein said he had been in captivity for two years.

In the video, Weinstein wore a grey track suit jacket and what appeared to be a black knit hat on his head. His face was partially covered with a beard.

Al-Qaida has said Weinstein would be released if the U.S. halted airstrikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen and also demanded the release of all al-Qaida and Taliban suspects around the world.

The White House has called for Weinstein's immediate release but has said it won't negotiate with al-Qaida.

David Colemen Headley Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Role in India and Denmark Terror Plots

WASHINGTON—David Coleman Headley, a U.S. citizen partly of Pakistani descent, was sentenced today to 35 years in prison for a dozen federal terrorism crimes relating to his role in planning the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, and a subsequent proposed attack on a newspaper in Denmark. Headley pleaded guilty in March 2010 to all 12 counts that were brought against him following his arrest in October 2009 as he was about to leave the country. Immediately after his arrest, Headley began cooperating with authorities.
Headley, 52, was ordered to serve 35 years, followed by five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber. There is no federal parole and defendants must serve at least 85 percent of their sentence. “Mr. Headley is a terrorist,” Judge Leinenweber said in imposing the sentence.
“There is little question that life imprisonment would be an appropriate punishment for Headley’s incredibly serious crimes but for the significant value provided by his immediate and extensive cooperation,” the government argued in seeking a sentence of 30 to 35 years.
In pleading guilty and later testifying for the government at the trial of a co-defendant, Headley admitted that he attended training camps in Pakistan operated by Lashkar e Tayyiba, a terrorist organization operating in that country, on five separate occasions between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, Headley received instructions from three members of Lashkar to travel to India to conduct surveillance, which he did five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks in 2008 that killed approximately 164 people, including six Americans, and wounded hundreds more. Headley’s plea agreement in March 2010 stated that he “has provided substantial assistance to the criminal investigation and also has provided information of significant intelligence value.”
In consideration of Headley’s past cooperation and anticipated future cooperation, which would include debriefings for the purpose of gathering intelligence and national security information, as well as testifying in any foreign judicial proceedings held in the United States by way of deposition, video-conferencing or letters rogatory, the Attorney General of the United States authorized the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago not to seek the death penalty.
“Today’s sentence is an important milestone in our continuing efforts to hold accountable those responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attacks and to achieve justice for the victims. Our investigations into Mumbai attacks and the Denmark terror plot are ongoing and active. I thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors responsible for this investigation and prosecution,” said Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
Headley was convicted of conspiracy to bomb public places in India; conspiracy to murder and maim persons in India; six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. citizens in India; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in India; conspiracy to murder and maim persons in Denmark; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in Denmark; and conspiracy to provide material support to Lashkar.
According to Headley’s guilty plea and testimony, he attended the following training camps operated by Lashkar: a three-week course starting in February 2002 that provided indoctrination on the merits of waging jihad; a three-week course starting in August 2002 that provided training in the use of weapons and grenades; a three-month course starting in April 2003 that taught close combat tactics, the use of weapons and grenades and survival skills; a three-week course starting in August 2003 that taught counter-surveillance skills; and a three-month course starting in December 2003 that provided combat and tactical training.
Mumbai Terror Attacks
After receiving instructions in late 2005 to conduct surveillance in India, Headley changed his given name from Daood Gilani in February 2006 in Philadelphia to facilitate his activities on behalf of Lashkar by portraying himself in India as an American who was neither Muslim nor Pakistani. In the early summer of 2006, Headley and two Lashkar members discussed opening an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities.
Headley eventually made five extended trips to Mumbai—in September 2006, February and September 2007, and April and July 2008—each time making videotapes of various potential targets, including those attacked in November 2008. Before each trip, Lashkar members and associates instructed Headley regarding specific locations where he was to conduct surveillance. After each trip, Headley traveled to Pakistan to meet with Lashkar members and associates, report on the results of his surveillance, and provide the surveillance videos.
Before the April 2008 surveillance trip, Headley and co-conspirators in Pakistan discussed potential landing sites in Mumbai for a team of attackers who would arrive by sea. Headley returned to Mumbai with a global positioning system device and took boat trips around the Mumbai harbor and entered various locations into the device.
Between November 26 and 28, 2008, 10 attackers trained by Lashkar carried out multiple assaults with firearms, grenades, and improvised explosive devices against multiple targets in Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, the Leopold Café, the Chabad House, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, each of which Headley had scouted in advance, killing approximately 164 victims and wounding hundreds more.
The six Americans killed during the siege were Ben Zion Chroman, Gavriel Holtzberg, Sandeep Jeswani, Alan Scherr, his daughter Naomi Scherr, and Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum.
In March 2009, Headley made a sixth trip to India to conduct additional surveillance, including of the National Defense College in Delhi, and of Chabad Houses in several cities.
Denmark Terror Plot
Regarding the Denmark terror plot, Headley admitted and testified that in early November 2008, he was instructed by a Lashkar member in Pakistan, to conduct surveillance of the Copenhagen and Aarhus offices of the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten in preparation for an attack in retaliation for the newspaper’s publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. After this meeting, Headley informed co-defendant Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed (Abdur Rehman), also known as “Pasha,” of his assignment. Abdur Rehman told Headley words to the effect that if Lashkar did not go through with the attack, Abdur Rehman knew someone who would. Although not identified by name at the time, Headley later learned this individual was co-defendant Ilyas Kashmiri. Abdur Rehman previously told Headley that he was working with Kashmiri and that Kashmiri was in direct contact with a senior leader of al Qaeda.
While in Chicago in late December 2008 and early January 2009, Headley exchanged e-mails with Abdur Rehman to continue planning for the attack and to coordinate his travel to Denmark to conduct surveillance. In January 2009, at Lashkar’s direction, Headley traveled from Chicago to Copenhagen to conduct surveillance of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus and scouted and videotaped the surrounding areas.
In late January 2009, Headley met separately with Abdur Rehman and a Lashkar member in Pakistan, discussed the planned attack on the newspaper, and provided them with videos of his surveillance. About the same time, Abdur Rehman provided Headley a video produced by the media wing of al Qaeda in approximately August 2008, which claimed credit for the June 2008 attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, and called for further attacks against Danish interests to avenge the publication of the offending cartoons.
In February 2009, Headley and Abdur Rehman met with Kashmiri in the Waziristan region of Pakistan, where they discussed the video surveillance and ways to carry out the attack. Kashmiri told Headley that he could provide manpower for the operation and that Lashkar’s participation was not necessary. In March 2009, a Lashkar member advised Headley that Lashkar put the newspaper attack on hold because of pressure resulting from the Mumbai attacks. In May 2009, Headley and Abdur Rehman again met with Kashmiri in Waziristan. Kashmiri told Headley to meet with a European contact who could provide Headley with money, weapons and manpower for the Denmark attack and relate Kashmiri’s instructions that this should be a suicide attack and the attackers should prepare martyrdom videos beforehand. Kashmiri also stated that the attackers should behead captives and throw their heads on to the street in Copenhagen to heighten the response from Danish authorities, and added that the “elders,” whom Headley understood to be al Qaeda leadership, wanted the attack to happen as soon as possible.
In late July and early August 2009, Headley traveled from Chicago to various places in Europe and met with and attempted to obtain assistance from Kashmiri’s contacts and, while in Copenhagen, he made approximately 13 additional surveillance videos. When he returned to the United States on August 5, 2009, Headley falsely told a U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspector in Atlanta that he had visited Europe for business reasons. On October 3, 2009, Headley was arrested at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, intending ultimately to travel to Pakistan to deliver the approximately 13 surveillance videos to Abdur Rehman and Kashmiri.
One of Headley’s co-defendants, Tahawwur Rana, 52, of Chicago, was sentenced last week to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to the Denmark terror plot and providing material support to Lashkar. Headley testified for the government at Rana’s trial in June 2011.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Collins and Sarah E. Streicker, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have worked on a broader investigation of the Mumbai attacks. The investigation was conducted by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the Chicago Office of the FBI, with assistance from FBI offices in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., as well as both U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Stopping a Would-Be Terrorist

The 20-year-old Saudi Arabian man living in Lubbock, Texas was intent on waging jihad against Americans—possibly even a former U.S. president—and he was one ingredient away from being able to build a powerful bomb.
But Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari’s deadly plans began to unravel when a shipping company’s suspicions were raised—illustrating once again how the FBI relies on private industry and the general public in the fight against terror.

	Setting Tripwires The FBI depends on private industry and the general public to help fight terrorism. Weapons of mass destruction coordinators in each of the 56 FBI field offices, along with other agents, regularly meet with representatives from industry and academic institutions, public health officials, local law enforcement, and first responders to raise awareness about threats to our national security. These efforts are known as setting tripwires, and the intent is to establish an early-warning network where those closest to an emerging situation—such as the Lubbock shipping company in the Aldawsari case—are aware of potential risks and are prepared to inform the FBI when suspicions are raised. “If not for those established tripwires and the liaison with the local police department—and them making the right decision to notify the FBI—I shudder to think what might have happened in the Aldawsari case,” said Special Agent Frazier Thompson. “If Aldawsari was able to get the phenol, there is no doubt in my mind he would have manufactured a very potent explosive device.” Thompson added, “Establishing and maintaining tripwires is critical to our national security, and the cooperation we received across the board on the Aldawsari case proved it.”

In early February 2011, a Lubbock shipping firm received a package from a North Carolina chemical company containing 10 bottles of phenol intended for Aldawsari. Combined with just two other chemicals, phenol can be used to make a potent explosive. Delivering such poisonous chemicals to an individual’s home is not common, so the shipping company contacted the North Carolina firm. Both decided that the phenol should not be delivered and that local law enforcement should be alerted. A Lubbock Police Department officer was called to the scene.
“That officer and his supervisor—because of their relationship with the FBI (see sidebar)—decided that this was something we needed to know about,” said Special Agent Frazier Thompson, who works in our Dallas Division. “Our initial focus was to identify Aldawsari to see if he had a legitimate reason for purchasing phenol.”
In a matter of days, members of our North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force learned that although Aldawsari had once been a chemical engineering student at Texas Tech, he was no longer enrolled there and had no affiliation with the university.
“He was trying to pass himself off as a Texas Tech student doing research on cleaning products,” said Special Agent Mike Orndorff, who worked the investigation. “Those credentials, if legitimate, would have allowed him to buy the phenol.”
Most alarming was that Aldawsari had already purchased the two other chemicals needed to make his bomb, along with test tubes, beakers, and protective gear. Through covert operations, investigators learned he had disassembled clocks and cell phones and stripped the wires off Christmas lights in apparent attempts to fashion timers and initiating devices.

Evidence of Aldawsari’s attempts to fashion timers and initiating devices.

“His apartment bedroom was basically a storage room where he kept his chemicals and equipment,” Thompson said. “He was sleeping in the living room on the couch or the floor.”
The investigation revealed troubling things about Aldawsari, who had come to the U.S. legally in 2008 on a student visa. “Based on evidence from the Internet and his journal entries,” Thompson said, “Aldawsari was radicalized before he ever came to the U.S. It appears he started planning this attack when he was a teenager and sought a scholarship to study specifically in America.”
By this point, surveillance teams were monitoring Aldawsari around the clock. “He was searching online for large targets such as dams and electrical plants,” Thompson said. He also searched for ways to conceal explosives in baby dolls and carriages and even sought the Texas address of former President George W. Bush.
On February 23, 2011, after agents were certain that Aldawsari was working alone, he was arrested and charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. In November, after being convicted by a jury, he was sentenced to life in prison.
“Aldawsari wanted to take out a lot of people,” Thompson said. “It scares me to think what might have happened if we hadn’t stopped him.”

Help Us Catch a Terrorist U.S. Citizen Wanted for Supporting Al Qaeda

The FBI today announced a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Ahmad Abousamra, a U.S. citizen from Massachusetts charged with traveling to Pakistan and Yemen to seek military training so he could kill American soldiers.
“Knowing that the public is the FBI’s best ally in finding fugitives, today we’re requesting your assistance to locate Abousamra,” said Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of our Boston office.

	Listen - Ahmad Abousamra Voice Clip - Podcast: Investigator Discusses Case

Abousamra is charged with conspiracy to provide material support or resources to al Qaeda. He was indicted in 2009 for taking multiple trips to Pakistan and Yemen in 2002 and 2004 to seek jihad training. He also traveled to Iraq with the hope of joining forces fighting against Americans overseas. Abousamra left the U.S. in 2006 and may be living in living in Aleppo, Syria with his wife, at least one daughter, and extended family.
Abousamra’s co-conspirator, Tarek Mehanna, was convicted of terrorism charges by a federal jury in December 2011 and sentenced last April to 17.5 years in prison.
“Both men were self-radicalized and used the Internet to educate themselves,” said Special Agent Heidi Williams, a member of our Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Boston who has been working the case since 2006. “They came to it independently, but once they found each other, they encouraged each other’s beliefs,” Williams said, adding that both Abousamra and Mehanna were inspired by the 9/11 terror attacks. “They celebrated it,” she said.
Abousamra is of Syrian descent and has dual U.S. and Syrian citizenship. He is 31 years old, 5’11” tall, and at the time of his disappearance weighed about 170 pounds. He has dark brown hair and brown eyes. He is fluent in English and Arabic, has a college degree related to computer technology, and was previously employed at a telecommunications company. Abousamra last lived in the U.S. in a prosperous Boston suburb and has family members in the Detroit, Michigan area.
One of his distinguishing characteristics is his higher-pitched voice, which can be heard on our website.
Today’s announcement is part of a publicity campaign employing traditional and social media to seek the public’s assistance. We are using social media to reach an overseas audience—information about Abousamra such as photos and audio clips can be found on the website and our Facebook, You Tube, and Twitter pages.
“Combining the reach and power of multiple media platforms is a powerful way to inform the public about our search,” DesLauriers said. “We believe publicizing Abousamra’s photo and characteristics will lead to a tip about his whereabouts and, ultimately, to his arrest.”
Thomas Daly, a sergeant with the Lowell Police Department in Massachusetts and a task force officer on the Boston JTTF since 2002, said catching Abousamra “will close the chapter on this story. We had two people who were planning to harm U.S. soldiers overseas,” Daly said, referring to Abousamra and Mehanna. “These two were actively radicalizing others. We can only assume Abousamra is still on the same path and remains a threat to our soldiers overseas.”
We need your help. If you have any information regarding Ahmad Abousamra, please contact your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate. You can also submit a tip electronically on our website.