Radioactive Poisoning of Former Palestinian Leader ?

Last Update on a Scientific Approach: October 20

An examination which began in 2012 has raised suspicion that former Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat might have been poisoned using Polonium 210, a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 138 days. Due to that rather short half-life, it should be difficult to detect traces of the isotope so many years after its application in rather small doses. On the other hand, any poisoning using Polonium 210 would imply the help of specialists in a nuclear facility and, most probably, of government authorities as such isotope needs to be freshly produced in an environment that is usually under the strict control of national authorities.

Only to remember that the case of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko and who had obviously been poisoned with Polonium 210 in his British exile, necessarily culminated in accusations of the Russian leadership under Vladimir Putin. In the case of Arafat it might be the Israeli government this time that would pass as the most plausible culprit, even though Arafat had made himself many enemies, including those in his own ranks.

俄专家:不足以断定阿拉法特被放射性钋毒死

Headline:
Russian expert: Not enough to conclude that Arafat died from poisoning by radioactive Polonium.

资料图：当地时间11月27日，约旦河西岸城市拉姆安拉的阿拉法特墓，巴勒斯坦已故领导人亚西尔·阿拉法特的灵柩被打开并提取了尸骨样品。

The data scheme:
On November 27 [2012] local time at the Arafat mausoleum in Ramallah, situated on the westbank of river Jordan, the coffin of Palestine's former leader Yassir Arafat was opened and samples from the skeleton were taken.

中新网10月14日电据俄罗斯媒体14日报道，俄罗斯核与辐射安全领域知名专家认为，2004年死亡的巴勒斯坦前领导人阿拉法特的遗体和遗物上 发现放射性同位素钋210的可能性非常小。

A telegram by China News Network on October 14 [2013] and which is referring to a Russian media report [from the same day] says a Russian expert, well-known in the field of nuclear radiation, considers the probability as very low to discover the radioactive isotope Polonium 210 on, both, corpse and [other] remainings of former Palestinian leader Arafat who had died in 2004.

英国杂志《柳叶刀》刊登了瑞士医学家的研究结果，证明阿拉法特可能是被放射性钋210毒死。

The British journal "Lancet" [had] published the research results of a Swiss doctor proving that Arafat probably died from poisoning by radioactive Polonium 210.





[Source: China News 中新网 on October 14, 2013]

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Some more information on the above mentioned Swiss research can be found in the following excerpt taken from a French source:

Après avoir analysé les effets personnels d'Arafat, les scientifiques de l'Institut de radiophysique (IRA) de Lausanne ont en effet relevé que "plusieurs échantillons contenant des traces de fluides corporels (sang et urine) contenaient une radioactivité plus élevée et inexpliquée au polonium 210". C'est cette substance hautement toxique qui avait tué en 2006 Alexandre Litvinenko, l'ex-agent du KGB devenu opposant à Poutine.

After having analyzed the personal remainings of Arafat, the scientists from the Institute of Radiophysics (IRA) in Lausanne in deed discovered that "some specimen containing traces of body fluids (i.e. blood and urine) showed an increased and inexplicable radioactivity related to Polonium 210". It was this highly toxic substance that killed in 2006 Alexander Litvinenko, the ex-KGB agent who had become an opponent of Putin.


Arafat poisoned ? Experts confirm it's "possible".
[Photo showing Arafat's mausoleum in Ramallah.]

[Source: Metronews - France on October 14, 2013]

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Editor's Note: Scientific Approach

Po 210 is an alpha emitter that has a half-life of 138.4 days. It decays directly to its stable daughter isotope, Pb 206 which is simple lead. During that decay, one milligram of Po 210 emits about as many alpha particles per second as 5 grams of Radium Ra 226. It can therefore be considered as extremely hazardous to human tissue, if Polonium has been incorporated. An external contact with Polonium, however, would provide no danger at all, because dead cell material on the outside of human skin would serve as a shield against further intrusion of alpha particles into healthy tissue.

A detection of very small amounts of lead (Pb), the final product of Polonium decay, is generally possible with modern multi-channel x-ray spectroscopy but would not deliver any clue hinting at its origin. Any elevated amount of lead could therefore be related to environmental influence or, let's say, to the use of leaded fuel in some old-fashioned Palestinian cars. However, things could be different, if it was possible to detect different isotopes of one single element. This would require a high-end equipment available in any institute for radiophysics.

This is just showing the sophisticated aspect of a Polonium poisoning leaving no bloody dagger on the scene of crime.

Here now the Russian expert speaking as quoted by China News:

［专家］说：“如果阿尔法粒子衰变，形成新原子核，在低频环境下能够发现原子核数量和衰变链。这种情况不可能查明，哪一种同位素导致衰变。很可能是钋210 ”。他指出， 目前有关研究数据公开的信息不多，不足以做出单一的结论。

[The expert] said: " In case of an alpha particle decay, a new atomic nucleus is formed. In a low frequency environment [*] its quantity and chain of decay can be found. That state [of development] cannot be verified by investigation as the isotope [of origin] is subject to decay. Most probably it is Polonium 210. " He pointed out that, at present, there is not much information made public on related research data, being not enough to [release] one single conclusion.

* = This could be a frequency environment comprising the distinct x-ray frequencies emitted from such newly formed atomic nucleus. It then comes to x-ray analysis using a high-end multi-channel analyzer that would allow to detect different atomic species. Such instruments are being used in radioactivity research where a maximum resolution is needed.

The determination of different isotopes belonging to the same atomic species, however, should require another technique. Now, it is known that nuclear magnetic resonance NMR and mass spectrometry MS are usually applied for isotopic determination. A rather small amount of human tissue and the very low concentration of lead to be expected in such specimen, should then require some additional refining of preparation and measurement techniques.

As similar problems have already occured before, there is a good chance to find an appropriate technique while searching scientific publications. That's how I found a publication on " a reliable procedure for picogram-quantity Pb isotopic determination (Pb-204, Pb-206, Pb-207, and Pb-208) on a multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer ". The technique described here was used to determine lead isotopes in coral skeleton, a problem which resembles much the determination of lead isotopes in human skeleton:

While it is generally accepted that Polonium Po-210 is subject to an alpha decay, it only needs to detect an obviously elevated amount of the stable lead isotope Pb-206 in human tissue in order to conclude that a Polonium poisoning might have happened. Naturally occuring lead usually contains some 24% of Pb-206 which doesn't enter into the human blood circuit except in very rare cases when humans come close to lead metal or its by-products. At least, Arafat was not working at a gazoline pump serving leaded fuel ...

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Recent visitors to "blueprint news":

Nobel Prize 2013 for "God Particle" Theory

Yesterday, October 8, Peter Higgs and his predecessor François Englert were named as the new laureates of the Nobel Prize in physics 2013. Their [ "God Particle" Theory ] has already inspired many scientists in their understanding of elementary processes related to the creation of the universe.


CNN evening news on October 8, 2013.


Peter Higgs - Finally Trapped By Cell Phone
Peter Higgs - Enfin Attrapé Par Le Cellulaire

The French magazine LEXPRESS describes Peter Higgs as a modest guy in his eighties and who hates modern accessories like cell phones. However, finally he has been trapped by global cell phone news.

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Choice of localized visitors to "blueprint news", detected during the first week of October 2013:



Another choice of localized visitors and who came during the last 30 hours:

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A Lecture on History:



The Khmer Rouge period (1975–1979) in Cambodia's history refers to the rule of Pol Pot ("Brother No.1") and the Khmer Rouge Communist party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea.

The four-year period cost approximately 2 million lives through the combined result of political executions, disease, starvation, and forced labor. Due to the large number of deaths, the proceedings during the rule of the Khmer Rouge are commonly known as the Cambodian Holocaust or the Cambodian Genocide.

Democratic Kampuchea was a practically isolated state. Only the People's Republic of China had some diplomatic influence as can be seen from sporadic official visits by high-ranking Chinese delegations that, however, seemed to have no real impact on the proceedings in Cambodia. The Mao-Tse-Toung Boulevard in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh might be a reminder of that time, marked as well by the end of the Mao era in China.


Mao meeting with Pol Pot (center) and Ieng Sary,
foreign minister of the Khmer Rouge government.

After a Vietnamese invasion overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979, Vietnamese occupation authorities established the People's Republic of Kampuchea, installing Heng Samrin and other pro-Vietnamese Communist politicians as leaders of the new government. That invasion came because the Vietnamese minority in Cambodia was subject to a massacre like many other groups of Cambodia's society.

It was at the very beginning of the invasion that I happened to participate at a New Year's festival of the Vietnamese Students' Association in West-Berlin. On that evening, a member of the North-Vietnamese embassy in East-Berlin appeared with a film documentary of recent developments on the Vietnamese - Cambodian front and which showed the first Cambodian mass graves discovered by Vietnamese troops. Such, I happened to be among the first westeners to see pictures related to the genocide under the rule of Pol Pot. As far as I remember, it took a week or so that single pictures from that documentary were finally shown on TV.


Pol Pot under house arrest.

A modern documentary, broadcast by a German TV station only some years ago, proved that Cambodia still had problems at that time to sue those responsible for the Cambodian genocide. In an interview while being under house arrest, Pol Pot (1925-1998) was even telling a journalist he was " too old now and unwilling to remember all those things that happened in the old times and had no importance for him any longer ".

U.S. Strike Al-Qaeda in Libya and Somalia

Last Update: October 8

On Saturday October 5, the U.S. Army's Delta Force, which has responsibility for counterterrorism operations in North Africa, carried out attacks in Somalia and the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

The attacks struck Islamic extremists who played a role in the bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, on August 7, 1998, that killed more than 220 people.

In Tripoli, U.S special forces captured Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, known by his alias Anas al-Libi, in a raid. Al-Libi (photo below) is on the FBI's most-wanted list with a $5 million US bounty on his head.




The Pentagon's chief spokesman George Little said Saturday al-Libi "is currently lawfully detained by the U.S. military in a secure location outside of Libya." He did not disclose further details.

Libya said Sunday it has asked the United States for "clarifications" regarding the abduction in Tripoli of al-Qaeda leader al-Libi adding that Libyan nationals should be tried in their own country.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday defended the capture of al-Libi, saying complaints about the operation from Libya and others are unfounded. Kerry said the suspect was a "legal and appropriate target" for the U.S. military and will face justice in a court of law. Kerry added it was important not to "sympathize" with wanted terrorists.

Earlier, Kerry said the raids would send the message that terrorists "can run but they can't hide."

[Source: Associated Press AP on October 7, 2013]




美国特种部队海豹突击队5日在索马里南部港口城市巴拉韦实施突袭，对一处海边寓所实施空降打击。该目标据称是反政府武装索马里青年党据点，也是一名武装头目的藏身处。

On [October] 5, a U.S. special forces Navy Seals shock brigade carried out a surprise attack in the South-Somalian seaport of [Balawei => Barawe] and targeted some dwelling place on the sea in an airborne attack. It is said their target was a stronghold of the armed Somalian Youth Party which is opposing the government and was, as well, the hiding-place of an armed leader.

依照索马里青年党多名头目描述，突击队员由直升机空降至海滨寓所，意图谋杀一名青年党指挥官，但行动失败。

Relying on the description [given by] many leaders of the Somalian Youth Party, members of the shock brigade [moved] by helicopter to the seashore residence with the intention to murder a commander of the Youth Army. However, the operation failed.

[Sky News: Their target was Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, also known as Ahmed Godane, who claimed responsibility for last month's Nairobi shopping mall massacre that killed at least 67 people, according to a Somali intelligence official.]

索马里青年党发言人表示，“这次差劲的行动由白人实施，他们开了两艘船从海上过来……青年党一名卫兵死亡，增援赶到后把外国人赶跑。我们发现了许多血，也许打伤了他们中一些人。”

A spokesman for the Somalian Youth Party stated: "That disappointing operation was carried out by white people. They came over the sea on two ships ..... one guard of the Youth Party died. After reinforcement rushed in, the foreigners hurried to run away. We discovered much blood and wounded several among them."

如果基本事实属实，那么这是4年来海豹突击队首次在索马里实施打击行动。2009年，海豹突击队在同一地区展开行动，击毙一名“基地”组织头目。

If the basic facts are real, this should be the first combat mission of a Navy Seals shock brigade in Somalia during the last four years. In 2009, a Navy Seals shock brigade launched an operation in the same region [where they] shot dead a leader of Al-Qaeda organization.

索马里政府高级官员说，行动前，索马里政府得到美方通知。 综合新华社电/专稿

A high-ranking official in the Somalian government said the Somalian government received notice from the U.S. side before the operation [took place].

- Summary of a telegram from Xin Hua agency / special manuscript -

[Source: mil.sohu 搜狐军事 quoting Xin Hua news agency 新华社 on October 7, 2013]



Al-Shabaab released photos of U.S. gear it says was left behind in the aborted raid.


Editor's Note:
The Chinese expression meaning "Youth Party 青年党" is used to indicate the Arabic name "Harakat Ash-Shabaab Al-Mujahidin حركة الشباب المجاهدين‎ " or "Movement of the Mujahideen Youth". From there, the abbreviation Al-Shabaab is usually taken to name the militant Islamist party in Somalia's civil war which is considered as the Somalian faction of Al-Qaeda.



Defiant Somalian rebels and African Union troops in 2012.

Until August 2011, Al-Shabaab, the Islamist party of Somalia, reached its maximum influence when it controlled half of the country's territory including parts of Somalia's capital Mogadishu. During 2012 that influence decreased, due to military intervention by the African Union. In September 2012, finally, Al-Shabaab was forced out of its most important strongholds and decided to wage a guerilla war that soon swapped into neighbouring Kenya where the bloody attack on a Nairobi shopping mall has just ended. The so-called White Widow, Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of an Al-Shabaab terrorist of Irish origin, is now suspected of having participated in the Nairobi attack. As her whereabouts could not be detected up to now, she has landed on the wanted list of Interpol:

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The Lonely Wolves of Al-Qaeda

To complete my recent blogspot on Al-Qaeda activities, I decided to add another blogspot on this subject and which is based on an article published by the Spanish magazine CAMBIO 16. In their August 2013 edition, CAMBIO 16 published a feature on Ceuta, the tiny Spanish enclave in Morocco, now seen as a hotbed of jihadism. Here are some excerpts from that feature giving an idea how an isolated Muslimic community can serve as a point of formation for single acting jihadist warriors who are then named lonely wolves. From there, the Spanish article received its title ¡ Menos Lobos ! which can be translated in a rather free style as Need for Less Wolves.


Ceuta - A Factory for Jihadists ?

Hace unos días se llevó a cabo en Ceuta una nueva redada antiyihadista que se suma a la que en 2006 se hizo en el mismo barrio del Príncipe Alfonso y que terminó con la absolución en el Supremo de todos los detenidos.

Some days ago, Ceuta experienced a new anti-jihadist raid that added to another in 2006 and which took place in the same quarter of Prince Alfonso and ended with a "not guilty" verdict before the Supreme Court for all those arrested.

Un lobo solitario es un yihadista que ha combatido en Afganistán, Irak o más recientemente en Siria junto a sus hermanos musulmanes, siguiendo el plan de una organización que le ha llevado desde un punto distante en Europa o África hasta el lugar señalado para participar en los combates. Es un lobo solitario porque a su regreso al país de origen se ha convertido, segun señalan los expertos policiales, en un 'animal herido', sicológicamente hablando, capaz de qualqier acción terrorista individual, sin ningún protocolo organizativo.

A lonely wolf is a jihadist who has fought in Afghanistan, Iraq or more recently in Syria close to his Muslim brethren, such following the plan of an organization that brought him from a distant point in Europe or Africa to a definite place in order to participate in fightings. He is a lonely wolf because, at his return to his homeland, he has transformed into a 'wounded animal', from a psychological point of view, and who is capable of any individual terrorist action whatsoever without any organized guidance.

Para llegar a ser lobo solitario hay que haber combatido, sobrevivido y regresado. Para que haya lobos solitarios es preciso que existan yihadistas reclutados entre los musulmanes en puntos 'calientes' de la geografía política islámica, como por ejemplo los barrios Príncipe Alfonso o Príncipe Felipe, de Ceuta. Las mezquitas, los cafetines, los mercadillos, las calles de los barrios marginales son el lugar propicio para desarrollar estructuras de logística, adoctrinamiento y reclutamiento entre jóvenes dispuestos a dar su vida por el Corán. Y esa es, ahora, la gran preocupación del gobierno.

To become a lonely wolf it needs to have fought, survived and returned. For having lonely wolves is precisely why there exist recruited jihadists among Muslims in "hotspots" of the political geography of Islamic Ceuta, for instance in the quarters of Prince Alfonso and Prince Felipe. The mosques, the small cafés, the small markets, the streets of suburban quarters are perfect places for the development of structures for logistics, instruction and recruitment of youths decided to give their lives for the Coran. And that is now the government's great worry.



Al menos eso es lo que sostiene la política oficial de este gobierno y de las fuerzas de seguridad del Estado, Cuerpo Nacional de Policía y Guardia Civil, que en los últimos nueve años han desarrollado más de quince grandes operaciones contra el terrorismo islámico, con cobertura judicial. De esas operaciones - Nova, Saeta, Sello, Tigris, etc. - se deduce que España es un hervidero de criminalidad terrorista en sus distintas versiones: las que tienen a nuestro país como blanco, las que forman parte de una red internacional de organización de atentados y la que sirve como base para el ejercicio de acciones violentas en otras partes del mundo, como las zonas de conflicto antes señaladas.

This is, at least, what is being supported by official policy of that government and of state security forces, [both] national body of police and Guardia Civil, and who have carried out more than 15 great operations against Islamic terrorism with juridical cover during the last nine years. From these operations - [named] Nova, Saeta, Sello, Tigris etc. - can be derived that Spain is a whirlpool of terrorist crime in its different forms: Those [taking our country for an empty space (?)], those making part of an international network for the organization of assassinations and which is serving as a base for carrying out violent operations in other parts of the world, like the regions of conflict mentioned above.


Terrorist action is something else than the
expression of radical ideas as democracy
is safeguarding the freedom of expression.
[explanation given for a "not guilty" verdict]

In the past, Spanish judiciary seemed to have problems with sentencing terrorist suspects as the CAMBIO 16 article is telling us. One of those suspects who, for the time being, received a "not guilty" verdict and returned to his quarter of Prince Felipe in Ceuta city is now being described by Spanish police as follows:

Karim Abdeselam, alias Marquitos, ha sido acusado por la Policía como responsable máximo de la red que, según ellos, enviaba yihadistas a Siria para cometer atentados terroristas. Según fuentes policiales, Marquitos cumplía órdenes directas del actual número uno de Al-Qaeda, Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

Karim Abdeselam, alias Marquitos, had been accused by the police as the main responsible of that network which, they said, invited jihadists to Syria in order to commit terrorist assassinations. According to sources within the police, Marquitos acted under direct orders from the actual No. 1 of Al-Qaeda, Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

El ministro del Interior, Jorge Fernández, en una nueva y urgente rueda de prensa declaró que había "varias remesas" de yihadistas esperando a ser enviadas a Siria desde Marruecos y Ceuta y que la operación realizada había servido para "neutralizar" la amenaza de quienes regresan a sus países de origen para continuar con la 'yihad individual', es decir, convertirse en lobos solitarios.

The minister of the interior, Jorge Fernandéz, declared in another urgent press conference there were "different deliveries" of jihadists awaiting to be sent to Syria from Morocco and Ceuta, and the operation carried out [by security forces] served to "neutralize" the threat from those who returned to their countries of origin in order to continue with an 'individual jihad', which means to transform themselves into lonely wolves.

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Today's Google Logo: Reminding the German Reunification (National Holiday October 3).




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Deutschland - Sibirisches Erdgas und ölige Nebenprodukte

Ein Besucher vom russischen Erdgasfeld bei Urengoy an der Grenze zum Polarkreis.
Für die Zusammenhänge zwischen einer Versorgung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
mit sibirischem Erdgas und deutscher Politik lesen Sie das historische Kalenderblatt:

Thema:
Die neue Ostsee-Pipeline für Erdgas aus Sibirien unter der Aufsicht von Gazprom-Manager Gerhard Schröder.

Eine deutsche Episode:
Die Kontroverse um eine Bürgschaft der Bundesregierung für diese Pipeline unter Bundeskanzler Gerhard Schröder.

Im Juni 2005 trafen sich Deutsche-Bank-Vorstand Tessen von Heydebreck und der Vorstandschef von Gazprom Alexej Miller in der litauischen Hauptstadt Vilnius. Hier berieten sie über einen Kredit der Deutschen Bank und der Staatlichen KfW Bankengruppe in Höhe von einer Milliarde Euro – getragen zu gleichen Teilen von 500 Millionen Euro je Bank – für den Bau des Zubringer zwischen dem Gasfeld Juschno-Russkoje (Mehrheitsaktionär BASF-Tochter Wintershall) und der Hafenstadt Wyborg. Abgesichert werden sollte der Kredit durch eine Bürgschaft.

Anschließend beauftragten die beiden Banken die PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, die sich im Auftrag des Bundes um Bürgschaften für ausländische Unternehmen kümmert.

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Anmerkung:
Seit 2012 ist das deutsche Unternehmen BASF-Wintershall auch an der Erschließung des Gasfeldes im sibirischen Urengoy beteiligt, das als weltweit zweitgrößtes Erdgasvorkommen gewertet wird.


Vertragsabschluss zwischen dem BASF-Vertreter Bock und Gazprom-Chef
Miller über die Erschließung des Urengoy-Feldes am 14. November 2012.

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Fortsetzung des Bürgschafts-Krimis:
Vier Tage nach der Bundestagswahl 2005, die für die SPD und ihren "Hartz IV-Kanzler" Gerhard Schröder verloren ging, stellten am 22. September desselben Jahres die Banken ihr Vorhaben dem interministeriellen Ausschuss zur Vergabe von Garantien vor. Das Gremium setzte sich unter der Leitung des Wirtschaftsministeriums aus den Finanz-, Außen- und Entwicklungshilfeministerien zusammen. Das Kanzleramt war dort nicht vertreten.

Am 24. Oktober, zwei Wochen nach der Ankündigung Schröders, sich aus der Politik zurückzuziehen, tagte das Gremium erneut und bewilligte die Bürgschaft unter den Konditionen, dass der Bund 900 Millionen Euro plus Zinsen im Falle eines Scheiterns übernehmen würde. Anders als sonst üblich gilt die Bürgschaft aber auch für „die Deckungszusage sowohl für das politische als auch das wirtschaftliche Risiko“.

Bei den Feierlichkeiten zum Baustart der Pipeline am 9. Dezember 2005 teilte Gazprom-Chef Alexej Miller mit, dass Gerhard Schröder Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender der Betreibergesellschaft Nord Stream werden soll. Dies führte zu Kritik von verschiedenen Seiten, insbesondere von Politikern der Oppositionsparteien, da Schröder das Projekt als Bundeskanzler selbst aktiv mitgestaltet und zusammen mit Russlands Präsident Wladimir Putin forciert hatte.

Bekannt wurde diese Bürgschaft erst am 31. März 2006 in einer Gerichtsverhandlung zwischen Gerhard Schröder und dem FDP-Politiker Guido Westerwelle. Westerwelle behauptete, dass Schröder den „Auftrag“ zum Bau der Pipeline gegeben hätte, doch dieser wollte wegen Rufschädigung gegen Westerwelle vorgehen. In der Verhandlung legte Westerwelles Verteidiger einen Vermerk des Finanzministeriums vor, der an den Haushaltsausschuss des Bundestags adressiert war. Aus dem Papier geht hervor, dass Putin und Schröder den Bau der Pipeline „vereinbart“ hätten, woraus die Verteidigung den „Auftrag“ ableitete. In diesem Papier war aber auch von der Bürgschaft und den Konditionen die Rede.

Schröder entgegnete den Vorwürfen der Verbindung zwischen der Bürgschaft des Bundes und seinem Sitz im Aufsichtsrat, dass das Bundeskanzleramt nicht im Gremium zum Beschluss der Bürgschaft beteiligt gewesen war. Auch unterstrichen er und Gazprom, dass es nie zu der Bürgschaft gekommen sei, weil Gazprom den Kredit zum Bau des Abschnittes letztendlich nicht nutzte.

Nach Angaben aus Regierungskreisen haben zwar der damalige Wirtschaftsminister Wolfgang Clement (SPD), Schröders Wirtschaftsberater im Kanzleramt Bernd Pfaffenbach und Staatssekretär im Finanzministerium Caio Koch-Weser von den Verhandlungen gewusst und die Bürgschaft genehmigt, der Kanzler selbst wurde aber „bewusst“ nicht informiert. Allerdings haben sogar Schröders Koalitionspartner – Bündnis 90/Die Grünen – erklärt, dass Schröder davon gewusst haben muss.

Im Juni 2007 kritisierte der Leiter des Auswärtigen Ausschusses des US-Kongresses, Tom Lantos, Schröder wegen dieser Angelegenheit scharf; die Bundesregierung wies die Äußerungen Lantos’ mit „Deutlichkeit und Entschiedenheit“ zurück.

Kommentar:

Von Gerhard Schröder haben wir zum letzten Mal gehört, als es um die Unterstützung für den regionalen Wahlkampf seiner Frau Doris ging. Er begnügt sich jetzt damit, Kaffee zu kochen und Brote zu streichen. Darüber hinaus weicht er bohrenden Fragen nach den Umweltschäden aus, die eine von ihm geleitete Gazprom-Tochter in Russland zu verantworten haben soll.

Wie dem auch sei, die Flurschäden, die Schröder in der SPD hinterlassen hat, sind unübersehbar. Immerhin steht der Partei selbst nach zwei Legislaturperioden noch immer keine qualifizierte Führungsmannschaft zur Verfügung, der man die Lösung komplizierter Probleme zutraut. Nach dem nüchtern-blassen und völlig uneinsichtigen Müntefering, den Schröder uns hinterließ, hat der (nach eigenen Angaben) doppelte Sitzenbleiber Steinbrück auch keine bessere Figur gemacht. Schön, wenn jemand so offen mit seiner Dummheit umgeh'n kann. Wir sind ja schon froh, wenn uns kein Kandidat mit einem getürkten Titel hinters Licht führt.

So ist es vielleicht kein Wunder, dass Gerhard Schröder zum ersten ehemaligen Spitzenpolitiker der Bundesrepublik wurde, von dem man hört, dass er Leibwächter beschäftigt, damit ihn niemand verhauen kann. In Russland oder, sagen wir, Kolumbien wäre so etwas normal.

Al-Qaeda - New Strategy and Local Strength

- Last Update Inserted on September 29 -

Yesterday, September 17, the English language service of Al-Jazeera TV came with an article on new guidelines for jihad given by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the actual leader of Al-Qaeda organization. That article can be downloaded from the above link as a PDF file (about 200 kB). It reveals the new strategy of al-Zawahiri's organization and is dedicated to his followers on the anniversary of September 11.



[Source: Al-Jazeera TV الجزيرة on September 17, 2013]

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Inserted Update for September 20 / 21:

Today we learn about Al-Qaeda acting on the Syrian battlefield:




سوريا.. تواصل التناحر ببلدة اعزاز والمعارضة تدين القاعدة

Headline:
Syria ... Mutual killing continues in the community of Al-Azaaz, and Al-Qaeda is to blame for the confrontation.

وكان مسلحون متطرفون قد اقتحموا أعزاز على بعد 5 كيلومترات من الحدود السورية التركية وقتلوا 5 على الأقل من أفراد "الجيش الحر"، واحتجزوا نحو 100 شخص.ـ

Armed extremists attacked [the town of] Al-Azaaz from a distance of five kilometer from the Syrian-Turkish border, killed at least five [members] of the "Free Army" and took about 100 persons hostage.

[Source: Al-Alam TV قناة العالم on September 20, 2013. Al-Alam is an Iranian TV station broadcasting in Arabic.]



معارك عنيفة بين الجماعات المسلحة في اعزاز السزرية

Fierce battles between armed groups in the Syrian [town of] Al-Azaz.
[The above photo is showing Al-Qaeda warriors presenting their flag.]




الحرب في سوريا: "القاعدة" تسيطر على بلدة أعزاز الأستراتيجية بعد قتال شرس ضد الجيش الحر

The War in Syria:
Al-Qaeda tracing [a demarcation line] in the strategic [important] community of Al-Azaaz after cruel [behaviour] against the Free Army.

[Source: BBC Arabic بي بي سي العربية, London, on September 18, 2013]


According to CNN (September 20) the attacking force of Al-Azaaz should belong to an Al-Qaeda related organization named the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS). On September 23 / 24, CNN published the following justification given by ISS for their driving out of moderate rebel fighters from the border town of Al-Azaaz. First time, by the way, I encountered the expression "pro-democracy traitors".




The border checkpoint near Al-Azaaz which is being used for
sending international and U.S. help to Syrian victims of war.

While one Al-Qaeda group is fiercely fighting in the Aleppo region against their former allies from the "Free Syrian Army" (FSA), a quite different development can be observed in neighboring Ar-Raqqah province.

In Ar-Raqqah another Al-Qaeda related organization, the "Al-Nusra Front", has come into the focus of news media. As the English language channel of Al-Jazeera reported on September 21, a "Free Syrian Army" (FSA) brigade with hundreds of fighters had joined the Al-Nusra Front in a move considered as a huge blow to moderate rebel forces.




ـ"الشين بيت" يحذر من انضمام فلسطينيين الى القاعدة

Headline: "Shin Bet" [predicts] an integration of Palestinians into Al-Qaeda.

خاصة- حذر تقرير استخباري اسرائيلي لـ "الشين بيت" من انضمام فلسطينيين من داخل مناطق 48 إلى القاعدة في سوريا، حيث من الممكن أن يستخدموا المعرفة التي حصلوا عليها ضد اسرائيل، حسب وصف التقرير.ـ

Ghaza - An intelligence report from Israel's [home security agency] Shin Bet is warning of the recruitment of 48 Palestinians from the [region] for Al-Qaeda in Syria. It is therefore possible that they might use the knowlege they had obtained opposing Israel, according to what the report is indicating.

وذكرت صحيفة يديعوت احرونوت أن الخطر الثاني الذي تفرضه مشاركتهم يتمثل في نقل المعلومات الاستخبارية عن اسرائيل الى عناصر الجهاد العالمي.ـ

The [Israeli] journal Yedioth Ahronoth reminded of another danger which is being imposed by their cooperation and which appears in secret intelligence reports [on the Israeli side] about elements of global jihad.

[Source: Al-Quds / Jerusalem القدس, Palestinian daily (old title: The Arabic Jerusalem), on September 21, 2013]

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September 18: A Jordanian specialist for Islamic communities presents his personal evaluation of Al-Qaeda's military and moral strength:



الباحث يطلق دراسة تشخص اتجاهات المجموعات و الفصائل المسلحة في سورية

Headline:
The investigator launches a study on the [identification] of tendencies [within] groups and armed units in Syria.

أبو رمان: "القاعدة" الفصيل الأقوى في سورية

Headline:
Abu Ramaan: "Al-Qaeda" is the strongest unit in Syria.

اعتبر الباحث المتخصص في شؤون الجماعات الإسلامية الدكتور محمد أبو رمان أن "تنظيم القاعدة" بات هو الفصيل المسلح الأقوى على الساحة السورية في الوقت الراهن

Dr. Mohammad Abu Ramaan, special investigator for matters [concerning] Islamic communities, considered "Al-Qaeda organization" as the strongest armed unit on the Syrian [battle]field for the moment.

[Source: Al-Ghad / Tomorrow الغد, Amman / Jordan, on September 18, 2013]

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Alleged plannings of Al-Qaeda operations in Syria were revealed by Lebanese media on September 13:

معارض سوري: مسلحو «القاعدة» قد يفجرون سدي الفرات والبعث

Syrian Opposition:
Armed [elements of] Al-Qaeda could blow up [an artificial] barrier of [river] Euphrat and [Sid] Al-Baeth (*).

(*) Sid Al-Baeth is an artificial barrier of river Euphrat at Ar-Raqqah township in the Syrian district of Ar-Raqqah سد البعث في محافظة الرقة which is bordering Turkey. Damage to the barrier itself or the river control system of a neighboring tributary could result in extensive flooding of the area.



The director of the bureau of information at "the organization for the national coordination of powers for a democratic change in Syria" disclosed that the opposition warned [residential employees] to receive instructions [about notifying on existing elements from] the "Islamic Nation of Iraq and Syria" (Daaesch) and the "Al-Nusra front", [all those] related to "Al-Qaeda" and preparing the detonation of an [artificial] Euphrat barrier and [that of] Al-Baeth on river Euphrat near the town of Ar-Raqqah in Northern Syria.

كشف رئيس المكتب الإعلامي لـ«هيئة التنسيق الوطنية لقوى التغيير الديموقراطي السورية» المعارضة منذر خدام عن تلقيه معلومات تفيد بقيام تنظيمي «الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام» (داعش) و«جبهة النصرة»، المرتبطين بتنظيم «القاعدة»، بالتحضير لتفجير سدّي الفرات والبعث على نهر الفرات قرب مدينة الرقة شمال سوريا، محذراً من وقوع «كارثة إنسانية لم يشهدها العالم من قبل» في حال تنفيذ التفجير.وقال خدام، في اتصال هاتفي مع «السفير»، «وردتني معلومات من صحافي في منطقة خاضعة لسيطرة هذين التنظيمين (داعش والنصرة) أخبرني أنه يملك معلومات عن تحضيرات لتفجير السدين (الفرات والبعث)، فقمت بإرسال هذه المعلومات الى هيئة التنسيق لدراستها، كما قمت بنشر خبر تحذيري عبر صفحتي الشخصية على موقع التواصل الاجتماعي (فايسبوك)».وأوضح رئيس المكتب الإعلامي لهيئة التنسيق أن كل ما يملكه هو مجرد معلومات «تحتاج لدراسة، إذ لا يمكن لجماعات إرهابية أن تفجر السدين ببساطة، إلا أن ذلك لا يعني إهمال هذه المعلومات وعدم متابعتها»، مشيراً في الوقت ذاته إلى أنه إذا تم تنفيذ هذا التفجير فإن «الآثار ستكون كارثية على سوريا، وحتى على العراق».وتأتي تصريحات خدام، بعد أيام من تناقل ناشطين معارضين خبراً حول إقدام طوافات عسكرية سورية بقصف محيط سد الفرات بالبراميل المتفجرة، وهو ما نفته وكالة الأنباء السورية (سانا)، والتي اعتبرت أن نشر الخبر جاء «لتغطية أي عمل إرهابي للمجموعات المسلحة هناك».وسيطرت جماعات مسلحة، أبرزها «النصرة» و«الدولة الإسلامية»، في شباط الماضي، على منشأة سد الفرات، التي تبعد 55 كيلومترا عن مدينة الرقة، الخاضعة أيضاً لسيطرة المسلحين. ويعد سد الفرات الأكبر في سوريا، وهو بطول 4.5 كيلومترات، وارتفاع 60 مترا، ويحجز خلفه بحيرة الأسد التي تصل مساحتها إلى نحو 640 كيلومترا مربعا، تسهم في ري مشاريع زراعية كبيرة في المنطقة الشرقية. كما يولد السد نحو 880 ميغاواط من الكهرباء يومياً. أما سد البعث فهو سد تنظيمي، ويبعد نحو 30 كيلومترا عن سد الفرات.ـ



[Source: Al-Manar المنار on September 13, 2013. This is Hezbollah TV in Lebanon quoting an article from As-Safir Newspaper جريدة السفير, Beirut. The article seems to be based on information received from employees of the public services in Syria.]


Inserted Update for September 29:

Further plannings of Al-Qaeda organization were quoted by a nationwide Chinese news service on September 26. Here are some excerpts from the original text:


U.S. drone at daybreak.

机密情报曝光：基地组织欲反制无人机

Classified intelligence exposed:
Al-Qaeda going to [or: willing to] reverse control of unmanned aircraft.

过去十年间，美国军方和情报机构策划的无人机空袭，导致约3000人死亡。……在巴基斯坦、阿富汗、也门、索马里等地的行动大大受限。同时，无人机攻击造成了大量的平民死伤，……

During a period of ten years, air raids using unmanned aircraft had been planned by U.S. military and the intelligence apparatus, resulting in a death toll of about 3.000 people. .....
In Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia [these] operations have extensively gone to their limit. In the same time, unmanned aircraft attacks caused a great toll of dead and wounded among the common people. .....

美国政府掌握的情报显示，基地组织领导层已要求运用技术手段，想方设法击落、…… 2010年以来，反美势力的反无人机战术的确在迅猛发展。

As intelligence grasped by the U.S. government is showing, the command of Al-Qaeda organization then needed to look for technical measures that could be applied, and everything possible was tried to shoot down [such U.S. drones] .....
Since 2010, there is indeed some swift and violent development of anti-drone war technique [applied] by anti-American forces.

同年［2010］，土耳其当局逮捕了一名基地组织成员，这名23岁的数学专业高校生被分配到的任务之一，就是设法解析无人机的攻击模式。

In the same year [2010], Turkish authorities arrested a member of Al-Qaeda organization. That 23 year old high-school student, specialized in mathematics, was assigned to some kind of mission [which consisted in] finding out a way to analyze the pattern of attack of unmanned aircraft.

2011年1月，在被无人机“重点关照”的巴基斯坦北瓦济里斯坦地区，美国国防情报局侦测到异常电子信号，认为此系“首度发现恐怖分子对GPS干扰能力进行测试”。不过，此举并不能对军用GPS频率或加密通信链路构成威胁。从种种迹象看，发送不明信号者似乎想当然地以为，只要干扰了地面GPS接收机，就会影响无人机瞄准固定目标的能力。

In January 2011 and in the Northern Waziristan region of Pakistan which is a "focal point" for observation by unmanned aircraft, the U.S. national defence intelligence office detected an unusual electronic signal. They considered this [signal] to be related to a " discovery of terrorists by head measuring [using] a GPS interference capacity measuring test ". This [signal], however, could not arise from some military used GPS frequency or some [linked pathway] for secret communications that would impose any threat. [According to] all sorts of indications observed, a transmission of unclear signals can seemingly be taken into consideration. It only needs interference with some [surface] GPS receiver to be able to influence the ability of an unmanned aircraft [that is] aiming at a fixed target.

美国陆军情报部门也发现，恐怖分子正开发激光探测器等项目—每当无人机打算发射激光制导导弹，这种探测器就可以发出警报。

The U.S. army intelligence department discovered as well that terrorists are exploiting laser detectors whenever unmanned aircraft intend to launch laser guided missiles.

国防情报局当下的结论是：“基地组织下属的技术研发部门仍然缺乏成功整合和部署打击无人机系统的技术知识。”然而，对恐怖分子效忠的工程师们一旦“克服重大设计挑战，这类系统可能会给美国在阿富汗和巴基斯坦的活动造成巨大破坏。”

The national defence intelligence office immediately came to the following conclusion: " The group for technical [studies and development] subordinate to Al-Qaeda organization still lacks success in conformity and deployment when it comes to the technical know-how of hitting the unmanned aircraft system. " However, [if] engineers devoted to [the matter of] the terrorists once " overcame the significant challenges of planning, that [weapon] system could probably create huge damage to U.S. activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "

[Source: He Xun / Harmonious Message 和讯 on September 26, 2013. With its main office in Beijing, He Xun News Network is present as well in other regions of PR China.]

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Inserted Update for September 27 / 28:

As to the internal communications of Al-Qaeda, the U.S. daily Washington Times published an article on September 27 that reported al-Qaeda's recent use of social media:

Al Qaeda opens first official Twitter account

An official al-Qaeda website that is restricted to members of the terrorist group opened its first Twitter account this week in what U.S. officials say is an effort to resolve a major split over Syria’s Islamist rebels.

The Shamukh al-Islam website, used as an official clearing house for al-Qaeda members to communicate and issue propaganda statements, started its first Twitter account on Tuesday.

The first posts on the account focused on divisions between two al-Qaeda rebel groups in Syria, al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

[Source: Washington Times on September 27, 2013]




On September 28, the Egyptian daily Al-Mogaz الموجز quoted the Washington Times article as follows:

واشنطن تايمز: القاعدة تنشئ أول حساب على تويتر

Washington Times: Al-Qaeda creates its first Twitter account.

وأصدر الحساب 29 تويتة جذبت 1532 تابعا بحلول ظهر الجمعة.ـ

On the account there have been published 29 tweets attracting 1532 followers as of Friday noon.


Logo of Shamukh al-Islam

[Source: Al-Mogaz الموجز, Cairo, on September 28, 2013]

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Please Note:
The above visitor from Pakistan seems to have used an unspecific national internet access point and can therefore be regarded as "not fully localized". His/her IP No. could then be of only limited use when it comes to undertake an identification of his/her position. In fact, the above used IP address has a report of being inactive during the last nine weeks and is marked as "toxic". A rather cryptic ISP is obviously referring to some Pakistani internet provider and who is operating similar IPs.
Furthermore, the Nokia handy used doesn't belong to the latest generation. There's only one other visitor to "blueprint news" who is using such kind of device for sporadic visits from Nigeria.

However, the Pakistani visitor has offered us an interesting view on his country and neighbouring Afghanistan. It is showing all those places that are related to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda: Kabul, Kandahar in Afghanistan, the tribal area of Quetta, as well as Jalalabad and even Abottabad.

Five days later, another visitor interested in Al-Qaeda came from an administrative district of Islamabad and only a few steps away from Pakistan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority:






Choice of visitors to "blueprint news" on September 15/16, 2013, and who could be located by a country tag in their web address:

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Ragtime on an Earth-Like Planet ...