New Straits Times (Singapore) 28/01/2010

KUALA LUMPUR: Police last week acted quickly to forestall a serious threat to national security when they nabbed 10 terror suspects with links to international terrorist organisations.

The nine foreigners and a Malaysian were also believed to be linked to a Nigerian student who attempted to blow up a US-bound flight on Christmas Day.

Among the foreigners nabbed here were several Nigerians but the authorities are tight-lipped over the details.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the nine foreigners had only just arrived here when they were nabbed.

“They would not have had time to do much and establish themselves here,” Hishammuddin said.

“They posed a serious security threat to the country and have been detained under the ISA (Internal Security Act).”

He, however, refused to reveal the nationalities of the foreign suspects and organisation they were affiliated to.

He said police were tipped off by international anti-terrorism agencies and swung into action.

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Reuters 28/01/2010

Army-ruled Myanmar on Thursday said it had arrested 11 people who had planned to derail this year's elections by plotting to bomb an industrial zone and attack military convoys.

State media said the 11 were trained by the separatist Karen National Union (KNU) and were arrested over a three-day period last week in Mingaladon, an industrial zone and army garrison town on the outskirts of Yangon.

"Terrorist insurgents are hatching evil plots to hinder and jeopardise peace, stability and development of the nation and . the task of holding the 2010 election," MRTV said, reading a statement from the Home Ministry.

Myanmar plans to hold its first general election in two decades some time this year, which the junta says is the final step on its democratic "road map". Critics say the military will continue to run the country under the facade of civilian rule.
The statement, also carried in Thursday's newspapers, said the authorities seized TNT & C4 explosives, 43 detonators, a computer, a satellite telephone, a pistol and gun power.

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The Nation (Pakistan) 28/01/2010

Declaring that the United States has strengthened partnerships with its anti-terrorism allies, President Barack Obama on Wednesday cited his adminitration's effective fight against al-Qaeda militants but said nothing specific about close ally Pakistan.

Although Obama took note of partnerships in Asia, his first State of the Union address made no mention of Pakistan, a US ally in the war on terror. There was also no reference to India-Pakistan relations and their impact on regional stability. The contentious Middle East conflict was another major ommission in the speech.

"We have prohibited torture and strengthened partnerships from the Pacific to South Asia to the Arabian Peninsula. And in the last year, hundreds of Al Qaeda’s fighters and affiliates, including many senior leaders, have been captured or killed – far more than in 2008," he told American lawmakers in his first State of the Union address.

Obama's address focused largely on economic recovery initiatives that his administration is pursuing but he also touched on foreign policy challenges including the fight against terrorism, Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the nuclear issue with reference to efforts to "reverse the spread of (nuclear) weapons" and consequences for North Korea and Iran for pursuing their nuclear programmes.

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Reuters 27/01/2010

President Barack Obama approved secret joint U.S. military and intelligence operations with Yemeni troops that began six weeks ago and killed six regional al Qaeda leaders, The Washington Post reported.

Obama approved a December 24 strike against a compound where a U.S. citizen, Anwar al-Aulaqi, was believed to be meeting with regional al Qaeda leaders, the newspaper said in its Wednesday editions.

He was not the target and was not killed but since has been added to a short list of U.S. citizens to be killed or captured by the U.S. military's clandestine Joint Special Operations Command, military officials told the Post.

The American advisers do not take part in raids in Yemen but help plan missions, develop tactics and provide weapons, the paper said.

The United States is also sharing highly sensitive intelligence with Yemeni forces, including electronic and video surveillance, three-dimensional terrain maps and analysis of the al Qaeda network, the Post said.

"We are very pleased with the direction this is going," a senior administration official was quoted as saying about the cooperation with Yemen.

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