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October 17:
The Times of London reports that Islamic radicals have begun exploiting the chaos left by Pakistan’s deadly October 8th earthquake. Al-Qaeda linked charities such as Dawa and the al-Rasheed Trust, as well as the Hamas-linked Jamiat-i-Islami political party, have begun organizing medical aid and relief services in remote regions of the South Asian state ignored by the government of Pervez Musharraf.
The Islamist humanitarian offensive has fanned fears of a further radicalization of the Pakistani population. “Nobody else came to help us,” one earthquake survivor has told the influential British daily. “We are grateful to them and we offer them our support back.”
A new series of proposed federal antiterrorism laws is drawing outrage from Australia’s Islamic leaders. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports that the Southeast Asian nation’s Muslim leaders are taking aim at a key provision of the draft legislation, which provides authorization for Australian police to use lethal force when making dangerous arrests. “The shoot-to-kill policy” could lead to deadly cases of mistaken identity similar to the shooting of a Brazilian immigrant by British policemen back in July, says Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Ameer Ali. “We don’t want to have that scenario so I think we should be very careful in trying to implement these sort of laws in Australia.”
The Australian government, meanwhile, is moving ahead with a major expansion of its domestic counterterrorism capabilities. The
Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Australian Security Intelligence Organization will double in size over the next five years, from 980 to 1860 employees, in an effort to counter “home-grown” terrorist threats. Most of the new agents are expected to come from Muslim and ethnic communities in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region in a reflection of the importance attached by officials in Canberra to “language skills and awareness of different cultural backgrounds.” The ASIO will also invest heavily in sophisticated new information technology systems, including surveillance capabilities and computer hardware.
October 18:
A cooperative anti-narcotics sting carried out by China, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand has unraveled a major transnational drug trafficking ring based in Southeast Asia. According to the Xinhua news agency, police from the four countries have arrested some 70 Chinese, Burmese and Laotian nationals and seized more than 1,500 pounds of heroin, dozens of guns, as well as rocket launchers, grenades, and communications equipment.
October 21:
The New York Times reports that Afghanistan’s Islamic militants are beginning to emulate their counterparts in Iraq. U.S. officials are attributing an upsurge in violence over the past month in southern Afghanistan to new tactics – such as suicide attacks and roadside bombs – that are becoming more and more commonly utilized by
the 2,000-3,000 Taliban irregulars and 100 al-Qaeda elements operating in and around the Southwest Asian state. The shift in tactics, intelligence specialists say, is designed to attract the attention – and the money – of terror financiers from the Middle East, who are currently focused on the Iraqi insurgency.
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