Hunt of the Sea Wolves

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam suicide boat, that was kept waiting along Tamil Nadu coast, was intended to blow up Northern Sri Lanka’s Kankesanturai (KKS) Harbor, the Hindu newspaper revealed.

Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said, “The target of the suspected suicide mission of the Sea Tiger wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was Kankesanturai port in Jaffna peninsula.”

Since the KKS Harbor is in a high security zone, the sources told the newspaper that the two operatives of the suicide boat were in search of a safe route to reach their target of destruction, and ventured into Indian waters.

According to the newspaper, the explosives of the boat came from a South East Asian country.

A flotilla of Tiger boats storming into the KKS harbor had been perceived on many occasions, the sources reportedly told the newspaper. Instructions to move would have come over the satellite phone for the boat operators. The sources told the newspaper that the instructions to move would have come from Mulathivu or Kilinochchi.

Due to timely intervention of the Tamil Nadu intelligence, the high power explosives of the boat, now understood as a mixture of RDX and TNT, could be detected. Their suspicions were aroused by the design of the boat. If they did not come, it would have been anchored in the port it was found.

The decision to blow up, came from the State intelligence and the Q branch of the police.

A senior official was quoted as having said, “We did not want to meddle with the boat at the port…Exploding it in mid-sea was the only option left. The decision was taken on safety grounds.”

The governor of Maine and the premier of New Brunswick have agreed to disagree on the potentially explosive issue of allowing liquefied natural gas tankers to sail through Canadian waters to reach U.S. ports.
The political standoff emerged as Maine Gov. John Baldacci paid his first visit to New Brunswick on Wednesday.

MainToday.com

http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/009356.html

 

Philippine congressional leaders have passed the country’s first ever anti-terrorism legislation.

In a special session, the House of Representatives late Monday approved a watered-down version of the Human Security Act passed by the Senate two weeks ago.
Manila says it is aimed at tackling militants in the south, particularly the Muslim extremist group, the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist group with links to the Al-Qaeda network. 

President Gloria Arroyo has called on congress to send the bill to her so she can sign it into law. She urged the military “to finish off the Abu Sayyaf and keep our national perimeters clean of terror.”

ABC Radio Australia:

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1852808.htm

A commanding general of the US Army reiterated that American servicemen in joint exercises with Filipino troops in the southern Philippines will not participate in any combat operations, but will defend themselves if attacked.

Some 390 US servicemen are in Sulu for the Balikatan 2007 that officially started Monday and would end on March 4.

The military intends to complete within the year its campaign to wipe out the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf extremist group which has been on the run for the past few months from pursuing government troops in Sulu.

Asian Journal:

http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=186&a=18090

India’s Defense Minister A.K. Antony has ordered bigger ships and more aircraft for surveillance for the Indian Coast Guard as a result of the seizure of arms and explosives carrying Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) boats off the Tamil Nadu coast.
He also asked the armed forces to be alert to the “danger lurking” near India’s shores after a Fleet Review of the coast guard ships, Indian news web sites reported.

http://tothecenter.com/news.php?readmore=1051

Besides the serious safety ramifications, tankers carrying liquefied natural gas to a proposed Fall River, Mass., terminal would pose a threat to the very nature of Newport, a state official said Friday.

Security measures required for LNG ships cruising through Narragansett Bay stipulate a security zone two miles ahead, one mile behind and 3,000 feet to either side of the 1,000-foot-long tankers. No other vessels may be within that security zone, Assistant Attorney General Paul Roberti said.

Philippine police have been deployed to bus terminals on the Zamboanga peninsula in the south of the country amid a threat of terrorist bombings.The Philippine Star said military and civilian law enforcement authorities on the island of Mindanao confirmed the threat and were attempting to discover which specific terrorist group was targeting unidentified bus companies operating in the region.

Suspected groups, however, include Abu Sayyaf, an Islamist organization with ties to al-Qaida.

Leaders of Abu Sayyaf, together with some members of the Indonesia-based Jemma Islamiya traveling with them, are targets of a concerted military offensive.

UPI:

http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20070216-012521-3348r

… the majority of the international companies — about 100, according to Armor Group — have come into existence since the war in Iraq, where private security companies protect workers involved in reconstruction.

Since then, multinationals have increasingly hired these firms to protect their employees and offices against suicide bombers, organized crime rings, separatist guerrillas and modern-day pirates.

International Herald:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/16/business/wbsafe.php

At a time when success stories in the US-led war on terror have been all but eclipsed by failures in Iraq, recent developments in the southern Philippines offer a degree of hope to Pentagon planners. But they also show the complexity of waging war in a contested, chaotic area, as well as the long slog needed to stand up a national army equal to sure-footed militants.

Science Christian Monitor:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0215/p01s04-woap.html