Morocco Says 2 Terror Cells Dismantled

Published October 30, 2010

| Associated Press

RABAT, Morocco-- The Moroccan Interior Ministry says two terrorist cells with links to Al Qaeda have been dismantled and their members detained.

In a statement Saturday, the ministry said the cells were made up of nine people, including a Yemeni national who's sought by that country and two people who'd already been convicted on terror charges.

One of the cells, called the "Front of the Saharawi Jihad," supported independence for the disputed Western Sahara territory and was plotting terrorist acts, the statement said.

The other was aimed at recruiting extremists to send to Iraq and was apparently in contact with groups in Al Qaeda's network, the statement said.

It did not give other details.

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2 Koreas Hold Reunions For War-Split Families

SEOUL, South Korea -- Hundreds of Korean family members separated for more than half a century by the Korean War embraced each other in tearful reunions Saturday, a day after troops exchanged gunfire in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the countries.

"I thought you were dead. Mother missed you so much," 61-year-old South Korean Lee Min-gwan told his 90-year-old North Korean father, Ri Jong Ryol, according to pool reports by local reporters.

"I did not forget (you) every single day for the past 60 years," Ri replied to his son, who was 100 days old when they were separated during the war.

Foreign media were not allowed to cover the reunions.

Lee was among 436 South Koreans who traveled by bus to North Korea's Diamond Mountain resort Saturday to take part in the three-day reunions with about 100 North Korean relatives.

The event is the first in a two-part series of reunions. On Wednesday, about 200 North Koreans are to begin similar three-day reunions with their South Korean relatives at the same resort.

Millions of Korean families were separated after the Korean peninsula's division in 1945 and the 1950-53 Korean War.

The reunions are emotional for Koreans, as most participants are elderly and are eager to see loved ones before they die. More than 20,800 family members have had brief reunions in face-to-face meetings or by video since a landmark inter-Korean summit in 2000. There are no mail, telephone or e-mail exchanges between ordinary citizens across the heavily fortified border.

The North Koreans told their South Korean relatives that they have led a "worthwhile life," saying all North Koreans "have formed a big harmonious family under the care of leader Kim Jong Il," North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported.

North Korea proposed the reunions -- the first in more than a year -- in an apparent conciliatory move after tensions flared over the sinking of a South Korean warship. An international investigation concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank the ship, killing 46 South Korean sailors. North Korea, however, denies involvement.

North Korea has also freed the crew of a South Korean fishing boat seized in August. In an apparent response to its overtures, South Korea sent 5,000 tons of rice to North Korea this past week as part of 10 billion won ($8.5 million) in pledged flood aid.

However, in an abrupt reversal Friday of the apparent thaw in tensions, North Korea fired two rounds at a South Korean guard post in the Demilitarized Zone and South Korean troops immediately fired back. No injuries were reported, and the reason for the attack was unclear.

The shooting came just hours after North Korea threatened to retaliate for South Korea's refusal last week to hold military talks.

The U.S.-led U.N. Command -- which oversees the armistice that ended the Korean War -- is considering launching an investigation of the incident, a command official said on condition of anonymity because a final decision had not been made.

The exchange highlighted the security challenges South Korea faces as it prepares to host next month's Group of 20 summit in Seoul, just 30 miles from the border.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asked China on Friday to use its influence with North Korea to keep it from taking any provocative actions ahead of the summit. Clinton made the request to Chinese Foreign Minster Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of a summit of East Asian leaders in Vietnam.

Communist North Korea has a track record of provocations against South Korea at times of internal change, external pressure or when world attention is focused on Seoul.

In 1987, a year before Seoul hosted the Summer Olympics, North Korean agents planted a bomb on a South Korean plane, killing all 115 people on board. In 2002, when South Korea was jointly hosting soccer's World Cup along with Japan, a North Korean naval boat sank a South Korean patrol vessel near their disputed western sea border.

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Maldives Apologizes to Couple Conned by Maldives Marriage Officiator

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Two Swiss tourists who chose the Maldives' white-sand beaches as the setting to renew their marriage vows were instead mocked by the officiator, who chanted abuse and curses in the local language at the unsuspecting couple.

The ceremony, posted on YouTube with English subtitles translating the abuse, has embarrassed the Maldives, and President Mohammed Nasheed condemned it as "absolutely disgraceful." Police arrested the celebrant and a helper -- an apparent damage-control bid for the country whose economy is driven by tourism.

Click here to view the video.

Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed "personally apologised" to the couple in a telephone conversation on Saturday afternoon, his office said in a statement.

"President Nasheed explained to the couple -- who have requested anonymity -- that the Maldives Police Service have arrested two members of the resort's staff who conducted the renewal of vows ceremony.

"The president said he will personally oversee an overhaul of the way wedding vows ceremonies are conducted in the Maldives," the statement said adding new regulations for resort weddings will be in place within a week.

Earlier, the Maldivian ambassador in Geneva conveyed to the couple the government's "profound and heartfelt apologies," the government said.

A video of the ceremony said to have taken place on October 11, during which the hapless couple were taunted and subjected to insulting and religious-tinged abuse.

The video has sparked fears for the Islamic country's tourism-dependent economy.
The Vilu Reef hotel initially identified the victims as Swiss but a senior tourism source in the Maldives told AFP they were French. Maldivian authorities declined to confirm their nationality.

However, Maldivian Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed said soon after the video was posted on YouTube that he was expressing his "intense regret" to European authorities.

The Foreign Ministry will also be writing to its counterparts in Europe "to offer our intense regret", Shaheed said in a statement.

Maldivian police have arrested the hotel employee who conducted the ceremony and used profanities throughout the renewal of wedding vows by the couple, who paid 1,300 dollars for the event.

"We have started investigations and are treating this as a very serious matter," police spokesman Ahmed Shiyam told AFP by telephone from the capital island Male.

He said the two men were taken before a magistrate who ordered them to be detained for five days. Both are being held at a Male police station, he added.

British comic Russell Brand and US pop star Katy Perry are the latest celebrities to head to the Indian Ocean nation for a honeymoon after tying the knot in India last weekend.

The Vilu Reef hotel said it was "unforgivable" that a staff member had read out the sexual and religious slurs in the Dhivehi language, and apologised for his conduct.

"You are swine," the couple were told. "The children that you bear from this marriage will all be bastard swine.

"Your marriage is not a valid one. You are not the kind of people who can have a valid marriage.

One of you is an infidel. The other, too, is an infidel and, we have reason to believe, an atheist."
The wife, wearing a white dress and carrying a bouquet, and her husband smile shyly through the ceremony.

In front of a table decorated with incense sticks, the English-speaking couple bow their heads in prayer through the torrent of accusations, curses and swearing.

The republic of the Maldives, a nation of palm-fringed islands scattered in the Indian Ocean, is one of the world's most exclusive honeymoon destinations and its economy relies heavily on tourism.

AFP contributed to this report.

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Two Students Charged in Rutgers Suicide Withdraw From School

Published October 29, 2010

| Associated Press

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. –  Two Rutgers University freshmen, accused of secretly broadcasting a classmate's sexual encounter online, have withdrawn from the school. The classmate later committed suicide.

Attorney Steven Altman says that means Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei will not face university disciplinary hearings.

Altman, who represents Ravi, told The Home News Tribune of East Brunswick his client plans to attend school somewhere else.

Wei's attorney, Rubin Sinins, told The Star-Ledger of Newark his client feared for her safety.
Ravi and Wei have been charged with invasion of privacy.

Authorities say Ravi used a webcam to capture his roommate, Tyler Clementi, having a sexual encounter with another man.

Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge days later.

Prosecutors are considering hate crime charges.

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High School to Receive Anti-Bullying Training After 'Beat the Jew' Game

Published October 29, 2010

| Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- Students at a Southern California high school where seniors were disciplined for playing a "Beat the Jew" game will receive anti-bullying training.

Eva Vega-Olds, project director for the Anti-Defamation League, said Friday her staff will conduct sessions for the 700-student sophomore class at La Quinta High School on Tuesday aimed at inspiring empathy, unlearning prejudice and motivating teens to take action against bullying and bias.

Seven seniors were disciplined last June for playing a game in which some students played the role of Nazis who blindfolded and dropped off other students playing Jews who had to find their way back to the campus.

The Jewish Federation of Palm Springs and Desert Area donated the funds to pay for the training sessions.

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Gunman on the Loose in D.C. May Have Vendetta Against Marine Corps

The FBI says an unidentified gunman who fired shots at the Washington-area Marine Corps museum and is believed to be responsible for three similar shootings may have a vendetta against the U.S. Marine Corps.

John Perren, the acting assistant director for the FBI's Washington field office, said during a press conference that investigators believe the person takes issue with the institution of the Marines, but not those serving in uniform. The shooter has made sure not to hurt anyone in the attacks and authorities don't believe the person wants to harm citizens or Marines.

The latest shots were fired overnight at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Va. -- the second time the facility has been targeted in a month.

The shooting occurred just hours after the FBI linked a shooting that took place overnight Monday at a Marine recruiting center in Chantilly, Va., with a previous shooting at the Marine Corps museum and another at the Pentagon. 

FBI Assistant Director John Perren said the overnight shooting bears the hallmarks of the others, but said authorities need to conduct forensic tests to see if they are connected.

Museum staff came into work Friday morning and found new bullet holes, a public information officer at the museum told Fox News.

No artifacts were damaged and no one was hurt, the officer said

FBI confirmed Thursday that ballistic evidence showed the same weapon was used in the previous shootings.

The latest of those shootings occurred at a vacant Marine recruiting station in Chantilly, Virginia sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning.

In the early morning hours of October 19 police and FBI investigators responded in force when six shots were fired into the south side of the Pentagon, leaving bullets embedded in two different windows. At the time police said the weapon used was believed to be a high-powered rifle.

And just two days earlier police in Quantico, Virginia responded to a similar attack on the Marine Corps Museum, where bullets were also fired at windows in the early morning hours.

The most recent shooting also comes just days before the Marine Corps Marathon, which  is set to take place in Washington on Sunday morning.

Authorities have yet to identify any suspects in the shootings, but are working under the assumption that the individual was part of the Marine Corps. and possibly dealing with a  traumatic event such as loss of a job, financial problems or divorce.

"We'd like to know what this grievance is and what we can do to try to help solve it," Perren said.

Perren urged anyone who may have information about the suspect to contact authorities and told people to quickly report gunfire or suspicious activity.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said Friday that security would be even tighter than usual for the Marine Corps Marathon because of the recent shootings. The Pentagon is a staging ground for Sunday's race.

Prince William County Police Department, the Quantico Marine Corps base military police and the FBI were investigating to see if the same weapon was used in the most recent shooting.

Fox News' Justin Fishel, Mike Levine, James Sprankle and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Yemen Authorities Arrest Explosive Parcel Suspect

SAN'A, Yemen -- Yemeni police arrested a woman on suspicion of mailing a pair of bombs powerful enough to take down airplanes, officials said Saturday as details emerged about a terrorist plot aimed at the U.S. that exploited security gaps in the worldwide shipping system.

Investigators were hunting Yemen for more suspects tied to al-Qaida and several U.S. officials identified the terrorist group's top explosives expert in Yemen as the most likely bombmaker.

The explosives, addressed to Chicago-area synagogues, were pulled off airplanes in England and the United Arab Emirates early Friday morning, touching off a tense search for other devices.

It still wasn't clear whether the bombs, which officials said were wired to cell phones, timers and power supplies, could have been detonated remotely while the planes were in the air, or when the packages were halfway around the world in the U.S. But the fact that they made it onto airplanes showed that nearly a decade since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, terrorists continue to probe and find security vulnerabilities.

The packages were addressed to two synagogues in the Chicago area. But British Prime Minister David Cameron said Saturday that he believes the explosive device found at the East Midlands Airport in central England was intended to detonate aboard the plane.

British Home Secretary Theresa May added that the bomb was powerful enough to take down the plane. A U.S. official said authorities believe a second device found in Dubai was similarly potent.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh told reporters that the United States and United Arab Emirates had provided intelligence that helped identify the woman suspected of mailing the packages.

A Yemeni security official said the young woman was a medical student and that her mother also was detained.

The police action was part of a widening manhunt for suspects believed to have used forged documents and ID cards, Yemeni officials said. One member of Yemen's anti-terrorism unit said the other suspects had been tied to al-Qaida.

The officials, like many in the U.S., spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation unfolding on three continents.

Al-Qaida's Yemen branch, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, took credit for a failed bombing aboard a Detroit-bound airliner last Christmas. The bomb used in that attack contained PETN, an industrial explosive that was also used in the mail bombs found Friday.

The suspected bombmaker behind the Christmas Day attack, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, is also the prime suspect in the mail bomb plot, several U.S. officials said. Al-Asiri also helped make another PETN device for a failed suicide attempt against a top Saudi counterterrorism official last year. The official survived, but his attacker died in the blast.

"The forensic analysis is under way," Obama's counterterror chief John Brennan said Friday. "Clearly from the initial observation, the initial analysis that was done, the materials that were found in the device that was uncovered was intended to do harm."

Officials said the plot was discovered thanks to intelligence passed from Saudi Arabia. Without that tip, it's unclear whether anyone would have discovered the bombs before they were airborne -- or on U.S. soil.

The U.S. already had been on the lookout for a such a plot, having received indications that the Yemeni-based al-Qaida faction was interested in "exploring an operation involving cargo planes," a U.S. counterterrorism official said.

U.S. authorities then acted quickly after receiving a tip "that suspicious packages may be en route to the U.S" -- specifically Chicago -- the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

Currently, American officials do not get details about the contents of a U.S.-bound cargo plane until four hours before it's scheduled to land. In the case of long distance flights, those planes would already be airborne. Once a plane lands, officials screen packages that they feel warrant a closer look.

The failed attack should be a "wake up call" that the U.S. needs to step up security on cargo planes, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Kit Bond, said.

U.S. officials were still cobbling together details about the packages but one official briefed on the investigation said authorities believed the plotters may have been associated with two institutions called "Yemen American Institute (for) Languages-Computer-Management" or the "American Center for Training and Development."

It was not immediately clear whether those institutions even exist or whether that information came from false documents or fake addresses.

The U.S. temporarily banned all incoming cargo and mail from Yemen. A UPS employee in Yemen said the office has temporarily halted receiving any packages for delivery.

In Chicago, the leader of a North Side synagogue told members of his congregation at weekend services that a smaller congregation that uses their building was one of the targets of the plot.

Rabbi Michael Zedek of Emmanuel Congregation said he was told by a Jewish leader in Chicago that the smaller Or Chadash congregation was one of the targets. The FBI did not confirm that, and both Zedek and Chadash Rabbi Larry Edwards said they had not spoken to law enforcement.

Or Chadash members took the news calmly, Edwards said. The synagogue, which has about 100 members, serves lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Jews and their families.

The White House said Brennan called Yemen's president and made clear that the U.S. is ready to help the Yemeni government in the fight against al-Qaida. The U.S. already assists Yemen with airstrikes and other counterterrorism support.

Yemen's al-Qaida branch is the most active of the terrorist group's affiliates and has increasingly become the face of its recruitment efforts in the West. The country is home to radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. He has been linked in the Christmas attack and has inspired other terrorists with his violent message.

Also hiding in Yemen is Samir Khan, an American who declared himself a traitor and helps produce al-Qaida propaganda.

The Homeland Security Department said it was stepping up airline security, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Americans did not need to change their travel plans.

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