Kenyan security forces say they are in the final stages of clearing the Westgate shopping complex in Nairobi, and ending the deadly three-day siege.
Explosions and heavy gunfire were reported earlier as soldiers stormed the mall, where suspected al-Shabab militants are thought to be holed up.
The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) said three "terrorists" had been killed and all escape routes sealed off.
The Victims link here
The Kenya attack----what happened (from BBC) link here
Somalia Al Shabab said attack was for Kenyan troops in Somalia----they are there with
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24211925
At least 62 people have been killed after militants believed to be from the Somali Islamist group al-Shabab stormed the Westgate shopping centre in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Kenyan journalist Joseph Warungu asks whether more could have been done to prevent the attack.
Kenya's timeline of terror
- 1998: US embassy in Nairobi bombed, killing 224 people - one of al-Qaeda's first international attacks
- 2002: Attack on Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa kills 10 Kenyans. Simultaneous rocket attack on an Israeli airliner fails
- 2011: Suspected al-Shabab militants raid Kenyan coastal resorts and a refugee camp, targeting and kidnapping foreigners
- 2011: Kenya sends troops into Somalia to tackle al-Shabab
- 2011-13: Numerous grenade attacks near Somali border and in Nairobi
When the Westgate crisis is finally over, the Kenyan government will need to ask itself some hard questions:
1) With the lessons learnt from the 1998 US embassy bombings and Westgate, how can we prevent such a terrible incident from happening again?
2) How can we review and restructure our security organs and co-ordinate them better so that they can be more effective in future?
3) With Kenyans' historical mistrust of the police, how can we rebuild their trust so that they easily and freely share valuable intelligence with the police?
4) How can we ensure that corruption does not become the terrorist's best weapon of mass destruction?
With President Uhuru Kenyatta himself losing a relative in the Westgate attack and pledging to stand firm against terrorism, Kenyans are hopeful that their government will focus its undivided attention on these pressing security concerns.
So how is it possible for terrorists to breach all this security and reach one of the most prestigious shopping centres in Kenya?
The answer is that 15 people with AK-47s and grenades are difficult to stop.
Who are Al Shabab? link here
Somalia's al-Shabab, which has carried out the deadly attack on a shopping centre in neighbouring Kenya, is linked with al-Qaeda. It has been pushed out of all of the main towns it once controlled in southern and central parts of Somalia, but still remains a potent threat.Al-Shabab means The Youth in Arabic. It emerged as the radical youth wing of Somalia's now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts in 2006, as it fought Ethiopian forces who had entered Somalia to back the weak interim government.
There are numerous reports of foreign jihadists going to Somalia to help al-Shabab and it has formed links with al-Qaeda.
It is banned as a terrorist group by both the US and the UK.
It has imposed a strict version of Sharia law in areas under its control, including stoning to death women accused of adultery and amputating the hands of thieves.
NYT article link here
Counterterrorism officials say that the Shabab’s sophistication has only increased as it has made common cause with groups including franchises of Al Qaeda in Yemen and Northern Africa and the Boko Haram organization in Nigeria, sharing tactics, techniques, training and financing.Now, it is clear that the group is using those resources to punish Kenya on its own soil, mostly for its role within Somalia, but also, to some degree, because of growing American support for the Kenyan security forces.
In recent years, Kenya has worked closely with the Americans on military cooperation, hunting Al Qaeda and combating piracy. The C.I.A. station in Nairobi is among the largest in Africa. And the United States ambassador to Kenya, Robert F. Godec, was formerly the State Department’s deputy coordinator for counterterrorism.
NPR on Al Shabab link here
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD ACTIVITIES BANNED IN EGYPT link here
A court in Egypt has banned "all activities" by the Muslim Brotherhood.The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters said the ruling applied to the Islamist movement, its non-governmental organisation and any affiliated groups.
It also ordered the interim government to seize the Brotherhood's funds and form a panel to administer its frozen assets until any appeal had been heard.
The military authorities have launched a crackdown on the group since ousting President Mohammed Morsi on 3 July.
The 85-year-old Islamist movement was banned by Egypt's military rulers in 1954, but registered an NGO called the Muslim Brotherhood Association in March in response to a court case bought by opponents who contested its legal status.
Following Mr Morsi's overthrow and the suspension of the Islamist-friendly 2012 constitution, the Cairo administrative court and the social solidarity ministry were tasked with reviewing the Brotherhood's legal status.
Who's Who in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood link here
Churches attacked in Pakistan link here
Protests and vigils have taken place across Pakistan as Christians demand better protection after suicide blasts killed at least 80 people at a church.Sunday's double suicide bombing is thought to be Pakistan's deadliest attack against Christians.
Many burials have taken place and candlelight vigils have also been held in memory of the victims.
Two Islamist militant groups with Taliban links said they ordered the attack to hit back at US drone strikes.
Reports say the walls of the church was dimpled from the force of the ball bearings that had been packed into the explosives, in an effort to cause as much damage as possible.
More than 120 people were wounded in the assault.
It is unclear exactly who was behind the attack, with two militant groups claiming responsibility. Jandullah and the Junood ul-Hifsa - both with past links to the Pakistani Taliban - said they had ordered the double bombing in retaliation for US drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal north-west.
The Pakistani Taliban, however, condemned the attack. Correspondents say the group frequently denies responsibility for attacks which take a heavy civilian toll.
It is the latest in a series of attacks on Pakistani Christians, who represent about 1.6% of the country's overwhelmingly Muslim population.
At least 11 Afghan policemen have been killed in an attack by Taliban militants on a checkpoint on the border with Pakistan, officials say.
The attack took place at a border post in the district of Shorabak in Kandahar province on Sunday morning.
A Taliban spokesman confirmed that the group had carried out the attack.
Afghan police are bearing the brunt of much of the Taliban's insurgency as foreign forces prepare to withdraw before the end of next year.
NATO troops have gradually been handing over responsibility for security to their Afghan counterparts, who now lead about 90% of all security operations.
Israel to act against foreign diplomats link here
Israel has threatened to take action against a French diplomat after video emerged of her pushing or hitting an Israeli soldier.
The incident took place on Friday near the Bedouin village of Khirbet al-Makhul in the West Bank.
Israeli forces had prevented European and UN diplomats from delivering aid to residents whose homes were demolished under a High Court order.
Israel's Foreign Ministry says the diplomats were breaking the law.
It said that border police and IDF soldiers did not use force to remove a French diplomat, Marion Fesneau-Castaing, from her vehicle as had been reported. However in footage of events she could be seen raising her hand to a border police officer.
Former GITMO detainee to appear in court link here
A former Guantanamo detainee is expected in court, in what would be his first public appearance since his capture in an Afghan firefight in 2002.At the hearing in Alberta, Canada, lawyers for Omar Khadr, 27, will challenge his terms of imprisonment.
He was 15 when he was detained wounded in Afghanistan after a gun battle during which he killed a US soldier.
Khadr was last seen in October 2010, though under strictly limited conditions, before a military court in Guantanamo, where he pleaded guilty to war crimes.
He received five concurrent eight-year sentences.
After being transferred to Canada last year, he was first held at the maximum security Millhaven Institution in eastern Ontario, largely in isolation.
NSA leaks ----interview with Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger link here
AP leak investigation Yemen Al Qaeda bomb plot double agent
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/us/fbi-ex-agent-pleads-guilty-in-leak-to-ap.html?_r=0
A former F.B.I. agent has agreed to plead guilty to leaking classified information to The Associated Press about a foiled bomb plot in Yemen last year, the Justice Department announced Monday. In a twist, the former agent had already been under investigation in a separate child pornography case, and he has also agreed to a guilty plea in it.
Federal investigators said they were able to identify the man, Donald Sachtleben, a former bomb technician, as a suspect in the leak case only after secretly obtaining A.P. reporters’ phone logs, a move that set off an uproar among journalists and members of Congress of both parties when it was disclosed in May.
“This prosecution demonstrates our deep resolve to hold accountable anyone who would violate their solemn duty to protect our nation’s secrets, and to prevent future, potentially devastating leaks by those who would wantonly ignore their obligations to safeguard classified information,” said Ronald C. Machen Jr., the United States attorney for the District of Columbia.
The 43-month sentence for leak-related offenses is the longest ever imposed by a federal civilian court in such a case, although a military judge last month sentenced Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Pfc. Bradley Manning, to 35 years in prison for leaking archives of documents to WikiLeaks.
Article from May
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/govt-obtains-wide-ap-phone-records-probe
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/us/fbi-ex-agent-pleads-guilty-in-leak-to-ap.html?_r=0
A former F.B.I. agent has agreed to plead guilty to leaking classified information to The Associated Press about a foiled bomb plot in Yemen last year, the Justice Department announced Monday. In a twist, the former agent had already been under investigation in a separate child pornography case, and he has also agreed to a guilty plea in it.
Federal investigators said they were able to identify the man, Donald Sachtleben, a former bomb technician, as a suspect in the leak case only after secretly obtaining A.P. reporters’ phone logs, a move that set off an uproar among journalists and members of Congress of both parties when it was disclosed in May.
“This prosecution demonstrates our deep resolve to hold accountable anyone who would violate their solemn duty to protect our nation’s secrets, and to prevent future, potentially devastating leaks by those who would wantonly ignore their obligations to safeguard classified information,” said Ronald C. Machen Jr., the United States attorney for the District of Columbia.
The 43-month sentence for leak-related offenses is the longest ever imposed by a federal civilian court in such a case, although a military judge last month sentenced Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Pfc. Bradley Manning, to 35 years in prison for leaking archives of documents to WikiLeaks.
Article from May
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/govt-obtains-wide-ap-phone-records-probe
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