Top Secret

A second batch of secret government files has been found on a train, this time detailing Britain’s efforts to tackle terrorism financing, the drugs trade and money-laundering.  The files, stamped “UK Top Secret,”   were found on a London-bound train on Wednesday, the same day classified documents on al-Qaida and Iraq were handed to the British Broadcasting Corp.  The top secret files contained assessments of al-Qaida’s vulnerabilities and the capabilities of Iraq’s security forces.   (BBC, via  National Terror Alert,)

Today the UK raised the terror threat for citizens living in the UAE (United Arab Emirates), to the highest level -- any connection to the secret files found on trains???   

A statement posted on the Web site of the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi says the country has "a high threat of terrorism." It says the British government believes "terrorists may be planning to carry out attacks in the UAE."

It says the attacks "could happen at any time," and that British citizens should "maintain a high level of security awareness."

Over the weekend we learned that a nuclear smuggling network run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the rogue Pakistani nuclear scientist, have electronic blueprints for an advanced nuclear weapon, but that they have not been able to determine whether they were sold to Iran or the smuggling ring’s other customers.

The plans appear to closely resemble a nuclear weapon that was built by Pakistan and first tested exactly a decade ago. But when confronted with the design by officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency last year, Pakistani officials insisted that Dr. Khan, who has been lobbying in recent months to be released from the loose house arrest that he has been under since 2004, did not have access to Pakistan’s weapons designs.

In interviews in Vienna, Islamabad and Washington over the past year, officials have said that the weapons design was far more sophisticated than the blueprints discovered in Libya in 2003, when Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi gave up his country’s nuclear weapons program.

But the latest design found on Khan network computers in Switzerland, Bangkok and several other cities around the world is half the size and twice the power of the Chinese weapon, with far more modern electronics, the investigators say. The design is in electronic form, they said, making it easy to copy — and they have no idea how many copies of it are now in circulation.  (New York Times)

From the Washington Post:

The drawings, discovered in 2006 on computers owned by Swiss businessmen, included essential details for building a compact nuclear device that could be fitted on a type of ballistic missile used by Iran and more than a dozen developing countries, the report states.

The computer contents -- among more than 1,000 gigabytes of data seized -- were recently destroyed by Swiss authorities under the supervision of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, which is investigating the now-defunct smuggling ring previously led by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

But U.N. officials cannot rule out the possibility that the blueprints were shared with others before their discovery, said the report's author, David Albright, a prominent nuclear weapons expert who spent four years researching the smuggling network.

Al-Qaeda is also planning to carry out attacks on Danish soil, the head of the Scandinavian country's PET intelligence service warned -- "We see now ... al-Qaeda behind a targeted training and planning of terror attacks on Danish soil."  (News24)  Also Denmark’s Foreign Affairs Minister said the Embassy of his country in Algeria has received serious threats from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.  (El Khabar)

Tourists are also warned about the strict drug laws in the UAE.

It seems to me that all roads lead back to Pakistan these days.  It doesn't help when security officials leave their Blackberries, their laptops, their top secret documents, out for anyone to grab and use.

Comments

[Michael]

The Feds have known about A.Q.Khan, Al Qaeda, and their possession of Nukes...and materials to construct small nuclear devices for a long time. This latest "revelation" is another wake-up call for those of us who've been sleeping.

http://www.globalpolitician.com/23437-terrorwmd

[David]

As much as I hate to concede this at last, the administrations of America, Israel and the UK are now dullards and sweating, quaking cowards. Time to convert our swimming pools into bomb shelters.

[Debbie]

Steve and Mustang:

Also, it sounds like Afghanistan is getting fed up with Pakistan. Two countries who are key in the war on terror, bickering about what goes at their border... Not good news. I think we have been walking a tight rope with Pakistan, but it might be time to get serious.

[Steve Harkonnen]

Sounds to me as if Britain has their own John Walker and Jerry Whitworth. Compromises such as these would tell me to look at any Muslim sources in Britain's armed forces. That would be the first place to look, but they're like us...too afraid to do it in case someone draws the old Islamophobe card.

Our government's love affair with Pakistan deeply concerns me. Britain's involvement is equally as bad.

Maybe there's an honest reason we're tied to Pakistan. I think it's all because of their nuke assets. We have to kiss their asses because of that.

[Mustang]

This is all bad news, my friend. I hate to say it, but it looks like few of us are paying much attention to “the enemy,” and that most people will remain nonchalant until someone detonates a nuclear device on Western soil. Meanwhile, negligent elected officials continue to provide encouragement to the enemy by ignoring an obvious attempt by al-Qaeda (and affiliates) to rend the fabric of our society and economy. I think this is primarily the result of government officials being exempt from personal accountability for criminal negligence.

Meanwhile, Karzai has served notice to Pakistan that he’s getting tired of Taliban forces sneaking into Afghanistan from Pakistan. That’s good news. So too is information that our Special Forces are killing these people right and left . . . but I have to wonder why the US is on such friendly terms with the Pakistani government. Maybe kissing their butts isn’t such a sound foreign policy after all. The Bush Administration has not exhibited much genius in this area, have they?