• Chief Scottish law official vows to prosecute Lockerbie bombers

    Speaking on the twenty-third anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing, Scotland’s most senior law officer promised to bring the individuals responsible to justice; Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland said, “I think I would be failing in my duty if I didn’t properly seek to take advantage of the opportunity that has opened up with the fall of Gaddafi”; Mulholland added, “I am determined to get the answers these families deserve”; so far Abdelbaset al Megrahi is the only individual convicted of the bombing; al Megrahi is currently living in Libya after Scottish authorities released him on compassionate grounds on account of his terminal prostate cancer

  • Ethiopia convicts two Swedish journalists on terrorism charges

    On Wednesday two Swedish journalists were convicted of supporting terrorism by an Ethiopian court after they entered the country with an ethnic Somali group; the journalists will be sentenced next week and could spend as long as fifteen years in prison; the journalists say they were gathering news, but the judge doubted their explanation and accused them of being members of the Ogaden National Liberation Front; Jonas Nordling, the chairman of the Swedish Union of Journalists, said the ruling was purely political and meant to deter journalists from covering the area

  • U.S. halts $700 million in Pakistani aid

    Last week U.S. lawmakers froze $700 million in aid to Pakistan until it proves that it has taken steps to help thwart the threat of improvised explosives devices; the move comes as part of the mounting tension between the two countries; following the secretive raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, the United States has taken a firmer stance in pressuring Pakistan to pursue terrorists

  • Court orders Indian government to compensate terror victims abroad

    The high court in Kerala, India has ruled that the central government is responsible for paying compensation to the families of Indian citizens killed abroad in terrorist attacks if the foreign government is not willing; the ruling stems from a petition filed by Margaret D’cruz, whose husband was killed by a bomb blast while working in Saudi Arabia in 1985; the court ordered the Indian government to compensate the widow as Saudi authorities did not investigate the case or prosecute the terrorists; under Saudi law the perpetrators must pay compensation

  • India convicts six of terrorist attack on science institute

    Over the weekend Indian authorities found six members of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba guilty of attacking the Indian Institute of Science; the attack occurred in 2005 as delegates exited an international conference; the attackers killed one and injured four others

  • Student arrested on terrorism charges in U.K. over suspicious document

    Officials in the United Kingdom have arrested a twenty-two year old student on suspicion of being a terrorist after customs officials discovered a questionable document; the student was travelling from Pakistan and had flown into Birmingham International Airport via Dubai; the student was questioned as part of a routine “port stop” by immigration agents when the suspicious document was found; he is currently being held for questioning by the West Midlands Counterterrorism Unit

  • U.S. freezes Lebanese terrorist leader’s assets

    Last week the U.S. Treasury Department added Saleh al Qarawi, a senior leader of Abdullah Azzam Brigades (AAB), to its list of global terrorists; AAB, based in Lebanon, has claimed credit for the 2010 bombing of a Japanese oil tanker in addition to several rocket attacks on Israel; al Qarawi’s assets have now been frozen and U.S. businesses are barred from doing business with him

  • Afghan and Pakistani MPs call for greater counterterror cooperation

    On Wednesday Afghan and Pakistani MPs both urged their respective governments to sign a treaty that would allow criminals from both countries to be extradited; the MPs also called for the formation of a commission on prisoners that would facilitate exchanges of detainees who have not committed heinous crimes; the announcement comes at the end of a joint dialogue between the two countries aimed at improving military ties and counterterror efforts

  • India one step closer to creating new counterterror agency

    P Chidambaram, India’s home minister, is hopeful that lawmakers will approve a proposal to create a National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), an umbrella agency tasked with overseeing terrorism threats; the NCTC is modeled after the American organization of the same name and would act as the central intelligence point for the country’s various agencies; Chidambaram is confident that the government will approve the NCTC before the year’s end

  • India unveils new measures to combat currency smugglers

    India’s finance minister recently unveiled special new paper for currency designed to combat terrorists smuggling currency into the country; Pranab Mukharjee said, “The government has met with major success in countering the challenge of fake currency by increasing production of currency note paper and use of ultra-modern printing techniques”