JFK plot suspect committed in Trinidad

By MICHAEL MELIA | Monday, Apr 14 2008 4:43 PM

Last Updated: Monday, Apr 14 2008 4:53 PM

A Muslim cleric suspected in an alleged plot to blow up New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport has been hospitalized in Trinidad after suffering a mental breakdown, his lawyer said Monday.

Kareem Ibrahim has wept, rambled incoherently and often appeared agitated in recent meetings, said defense attorney Farid Scoon, who is trying to block his client’s extradition to the United States.

“He has been delusional, paranoid, with changes of personality,” Scoon told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “It’s not like you’re speaking to somebody who’s absolutely out of it, but if you sit long enough with him, you see he’s not with it.”

Trinidadian authorities hospitalized Ibrahim on April 7, removing him from a jail where he had been held pending U.S. attempts to extradite him and two other men in the alleged plot.

The other two suspects, Abdel Nur and Abdul Kadir, both from Guyana, are fighting their extradition as well.

A lower court approved Ibrahim’s extradition in February, but Scoon filed an appeal, which will be heard in July.

Ibrahim’s lawyers previously had argued that he should not be sent to the U.S. because he suffers from diabetes and claustrophobia. Scoon said the defendant’s hospitalization shows his physical and mental health have declined and it would be “unjust and oppressive” to send him to the United States, where he could face up to life in prison if convicted.

Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said his office would not comment on Ibrahim’s condition.

St. Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital in Port-of-Spain confirmed Ibrahim was a patient but would not disclose details about his condition. Jail officials declined comment.

Ibrahim, a cleric at a Trinidad mosque, was arrested last June and accused of conspiring to blow up fuel lines feeding the JFK airport. The reputed ringleader of the alleged plot, U.S. citizen and former airport cargo employee Russell Defreitas, is in custody in New York awaiting trial.

Lawyers for the suspects have argued that a confidential U.S. government informant entrapped the men into plotting the attack, but that there never was any real threat.

“They have maintained all along that a certain gentleman, the source, is an agent provocateur who came to them with the expressed purpose of involving them in this quite outlandish plot to blow up the JFK airport,” Scoon said.

A U.S. indictment charges the men with conspiring to “cause death, serious bodily injury and extensive destruction.”

http://www.bakersfield.com/893/story/417182.html

Social site is fast growing dot-com

Apr 14, 2008 21:09 | Updated Apr 15, 2008 10:24

By ABE SELIG

As Islam continues to expand globally, surpassing Roman Catholicism as the world’s fastest-growing religion, a social media Web site for Muslims - Muxlim.com - is hoping to compete with the popular online networking sites Myspace and Facebook.

But a quick browsing of Muxlim.com revealed user profiles fraught with angry messages and outright vulgarity in reference to Jews, Israel, and other non-Muslims.

Muxlim.com, which was launched in 2006 by two Scandinavian-based entrepreneurs, pushed forward the objective of creating the most popular Muslim social media Web site in the world. Within a year it attracted more than a million users from 190 countries across the globe.

Muxlim.com has been recognized as one of Europe’s best tech start-ups by Red Herring, an American business technology journal.

“The recognition of Muxlim.com as one of Europe’s most innovative and successful companies is a great honor for both the company and the Muslim community,” said Muxlim.com founder and CEO Muhammad el-Fatatry. “Our objective was to create an online environment where Muslims and non-Muslims can enjoy social media in a safe and friendly atmosphere.”

A press release calling attention to Muxlim.com’s achievements mentioned the growth of Internet use as a concern for parents and a possible danger for kids. “A recent survey by the UK’s London School of Economics (LSE), entitled ‘EU Kids Online,’ discovered that more than 60 percent of British children have been accidentally exposed to adult material online,” read the press release. “The figure for American children was also significant, at 42%.”

“We know that a huge number of Internet users, in particular parents, want access to an online experience that does not expose people to vulgarity, offensive content, and adult material,” Fatatry said. ”

At the same time it’s vital that social media is engaging, user-friendly and fun. Muxlim.com achieves all this, and we have attracted a vibrant and friendly community with a welcoming demeanor and a sense of humor.”

Despite such comments by its creators, Muxlim.com includes content that is far from friendly and welcoming, especially to Israelis and Jews.

One page, a profile in the name of ex-Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in 2004, provides an extensive biography on the life and death of a man whom the Chicago Tribune once quoted as saying, “We will kill Jews everywhere.”

The biography on Muxlim.com features a paragraph entitled “Why was he assassinated?” The first sentence reads, “The same question was answered when the Jews (the descendents of apes and swine) assassinated sheikh Ahmad Yassin.”

Yassin, the leader of Hamas prior Rantisi, was also killed in an Israeli air strike in 2004 during an onslaught of Hamas-executed suicide bombings across Israel at that time. Yassin, too, has a featured profile on Muxlim.com, in which viewers can read some of his famous statements, including, “We will wait and see how many Israelis will cry,” in reference to Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians during the second Intifada.

Other profiles are more subtle. One user on the site goes by the name “jewsdidwtc”, an apparent inference that Jews are responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.

Another user, “sister_harb”, who identifies herself as a 41-year-old posting from Finland, features a profile picture of the Palestinian flag with the shahada, or Islamic declaration of faith, superimposed across it. Her “likes” include, “Palestine, walking in the forest after the rain, and several other beautiful things in life.” When the viewer scrolls down, her profiles reveals hyperlinks to the following topics: “Hamas Song, Hamas’s Victory in Gaza June 2007, and the Battle of the Lions - Izzadin A-Qassam Brigades,” among other things.

Asked to respond to these posting, Fatatry replied told The Jerusalem Post that “As a social media Web site hosting millions of pages of user-generated content, [Muxlim.com] must abide by the laws of Finland and the EU with regards to content submitted by users. This simply means that we can only take down content in response to a report made by a user. If we decide to remove content without such a report, we would be automatically considered an editorial Web site, which is not compatible with our vision and message as a company.”

However, in addition to being a place for Muslims to meet and discuss pertinent issues online, the site’s stated goals include promises to refrain from publishing offensive and adult content. It is unclear, however, if “offensive material” means material offensive to the Muslim community, or the much wider base of Internet users worldwide.

“We do not condone any form of racism, or any offensive references to the Jewish people,” Fatatry continued, “Any reports we receive regarding such content will be taken very seriously, and will be treated like all other reports we receive on the site.” Fatatry said that the Post’s queries had brought the postings in question to his attention for the first time.

Fatatry continued to say that his group would not like to see the Web site become a hotbed for hostility, but rather a contributing factor towards peace.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208179714081&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Brunei sees high Islamic banking penetration: Moody’s

Brunei sees high Islamic banking penetration: Moody’s

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Islamic banking has achieved relatively high market penetration in Brunei but Islamic banking services in the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand remain very small in terms of asset size, Moody’s Investors Service said Monday. East Asia’s Islamic banking industry needs more support from regulators if it is to grow significantly, it added. Apart from Malaysia, the growth of Islamic banking has been “somewhat patchy” in the region, the ratings agency said in a report. Malaysia, a multi-racial country with a majority Muslim population, shows how the Islamic banking sector can benefit from regulatory action, said Christine Kuo, author of the report. “We believe the Malaysian experience over the last three decades demonstrates how instrumental regulators can and need to be in order to grow the Islamic banking sector,” said Kuo. Malaysian government reforms over the past 20 to 30 years “have really helped develop the necessary legal and regulatory framework and institutions for the industry to flourish”, Kuo said. “The adoption of various incentives, including tax breaks, has also proven critical to nourishing the business.” Kuo said Islamic banking in Malaysia now accounts for 15.4 per cent, or US$62 billion, of the country’s banking system assets. In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, Islamic banking has grown rapidly in recent years but its market share still only accounts for less than two percent, or about US$3 billion, Moody’s said. “The low penetration in Moody’s opinion, can largely be attributed to the slow pace of change to related regulations and institutions - though a few important changes seem to be gathering momentum,” the report said. Islamic banking fuses principles of syariah or Islamic law and modern banking. Islamic funds are banned from investing in companies associated with tobacco, alcohol or gambling considered taboo by Muslims.

http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/tue/apr15h35.htm

Poorly trained prison officers are turning Belmarsh Muslims into extremists

By JAMES SLACK - More by this author » Last updated at 08:49am on 15th April 2008

Under fire: Convicted terrorist Abu Qatada is an inmate at Belmarsh where prison officers are ‘insufficiently trained’ to tackle radicalisation

Guards at the prison housing Britain’s most dangerous terror convicts are “insufficiently trained” in how to combat radicalisation without alienating mainstream Muslims.

Anne Owers, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, said staff at Belmarsh did not understand the “complexities” of dealing with the maximum security jail’s 200 Islamic prisoners.

The 900-inmate jail in South-East London holds a number of convicted terrorists - including some housed in a “jail within a jail”.

Inmates at the jail include Abu Hamza and Abu Qatada.

Mrs Owers said: “This group provided a challenge to staff and managers, both in relation to their own approach and behaviour, and the risk that they might influence other disaffected prisoners.

“There was clearly a concern that these minority views should not spread. But conversely there was a real danger that the alienation of Muslim prisoners in general, and the suspicion with which they perceived they were treated, would in fact feed radicalisation.”

Nearly two-thirds of Muslims said they had felt unsafe and the same proportion claimed to have been victimised by staff.

Whereas 70 per cent of non-Muslim prisoners said they could turn for help to a member of staff, this was the case for only 40 per cent of Muslims.

Belmarsh: The prison officers were criticised for not understanding the ‘complexities’ of dealing with the jail’s 200 Islamic prisoners

Mrs Owers said: “These figures are troubling, and suggest a high degree of alienation among these prisoners, and a distrust between them and staff,” said the chief inspector.

“Any intervention by staff risked being interpreted by disaffected Muslims as deliberately provocative, and there were also claims of inappropriate behaviour by them towards female staff.

“However, the converse was also true: that any conversion to Islam, or any gathering of Muslim prisoners to pray or associate, could be interpreted wrongly by staff as threatening and evidence of radicalisation, with the perverse effect of alienating the great majority of practising Muslims.

“These are very important and difficult issues, which have a resonance far outside Belmarsh.

“The Belmarsh imams were aware of, and sensitive to, their importance, and had the support of prison managers in trying to manage them. However, it was not apparent that all staff understood the complexities within and around their Muslim population, or were able to establish effective and appropriate relationships with them.

There have claims that parts of Belmarsh prison have become dominated by extremists. Prison officers report that - if an officer confronts a Muslim prisoner - he or she often finds themselves surrounded by five or six other Muslim inmates.

Ministers fear that in Belmarsh and other jails holding extremists, there is a danger of young inmates being turned to extremism.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Herbert said: “Prison staff are struggling with the special demands of a Muslim population which has doubled in the last six years.

“We cannot allow prisons to become places where radicalisation takes place.

“Following concerns raised by the Prison Officers’ Association, the Government should publish an assessment of the scale of this problem and their strategy to deal with it.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=559742&in_page_id=1770&ito=1490

Another Syrian armored division masses on Israeli-Lebanese borders

Exclusive: Another Syrian armored division masses on Israeli-Lebanese borders

April 14, 2008, 7:52 PM (GMT+02:00)

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that Damascus has deployed the 10th armored corps at the Massaneh crossing of Mount Hermon. It links up with the northwestern positions the 14th division took up last month on the Syrian-Israeli border which cuts through the Hermon range.

Syrian troops are now strung along a continuous crescent-shaped line from the central Lebanese mountains through Mt Dov on the western slopes of Mt. Hermon and up to southeastern Lebanon. This deployment, commanding Syria’s Israeli and Lebanese borders, is under the command of the president’s brother, Maher Assad.

The 10th armored corps was moved forward straight after Syria’s snap civil defense exercise which crashed after three hours last Thursday, April 10. The exercise was ordered without notice by president Bashar Assad on the last day of Israel’s five-day homeland defense drill.

DEBKAfile’s military sources are criticizing Israel officials for attributing Syria’s latest military movements to domestic troubles inside the Syrian leadership. They say this is throwing sand in the public’s eyes and at one with the government’s practice of playing down all the heightened military threats to Israel – whether from Syria, the Lebanese Hizballah or the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza.

The IDF’s Northern Command officers report that the Syrian army’s buildup opposite Israel has accelerated in April and warn that its units are arrayed for a quick transition to attack mode.

The link-up between Syria’s 10th and 14th divisions on the border running through Mt Hermon should have been a wake-up call for the government in Jerusalem, they say, and elicited counter-moves to show Damascus that Israel is ready to meet every contingency.

Sunday, April 13, prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas met briefly to rough out the position Abbas will put before President George W. Bush whom he meets at the White House in ten days. Olmert made the gesture of licensing the entry to Israel of 5,000 Palestinian construction workers. This gesture was challenged by security services as a carrying the risk of terrorist infiltration and by economic leaders who say the Palestinians will take Israeli jobs.

Foreign minister Tzipi Livni is in Qatar, where she is to address the 8th annual Doha Forum on Democracy, Development and Free Trade. Qatari rulers plan to persuade her that Israel should back their initiatives to patch up quarrels in the Arab world between Egypt and Syria and the Palestinian Fatah and Hamas. Neither is in Israel’s interest, because conciliation would confer legitimacy on Arab and Islamist radicalism and spur its expansion.

Livni, who knew she would come under pressure during her Doha visit, insisted on going through with it andtreating it as a breakthrough in Israeli relations with the Gulf emirates.

http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5190

30 plots on UK

Jacqui Smith reveals new terror threat

By Ian Kirby

HOME Secretary Jacqui Smith last night revealed security forces are investigating THIRTY deadly terror plots which threaten mayhem across Britain.

She told the News of the World: “We now face a threat level that is severe. It’s actually growing.

“There are 2,000 individuals who are being monitored. There are 200 networks involved and 30 active plots.”

And she warned the menace of Islamic fanatics is mounting so fast that police will be unable to cope within a year—unless they are given new powers to lock up terror suspects for longer.

At present cops can hold suspects for up to 28 days, but the Home Office wants that increased to 42 days.

“We can’t wait for an attack to succeed and then rush in new powers,” said Mrs Smith. “We have got to stay ahead.

“Because we now understand the scale of what is being plotted, the police have to step in earlier—which means they need more time to put evidence together.

Computers

“We task the police and the security agencies with protecting us. Frankly, if they say to me it’s getting more difficult and we need more time to investigate thoroughly, it is my duty to provide them with the tools they need.

“The danger has increased over the past two years. Since the beginning of 2007, there have been 57 people convicted on terrorist plots.

“Nearly half of those pleaded guilty—so this is not some figment of the imagination. It is a real risk and a real issue we need to respond to.”

In our exclusive interview Mrs Smith also revealed that in 2001, at the time of the 9/11 bombings, Britain’s anti-terror cops seized and analysed just ONE computer and no computer discs.

Yet by last year their haul had risen to a staggering 400 computers and 8,000 computer discs containing BILLIONS of vital items of data.

At the same time, the records held by Scotland Yard’s anti-terror force have soared from 69,000 files four years ago to 200,000 this year.

The Home Secretary also pointed out that before the detention period for suspects was raised from its original 14 days to 28, many people argued the new law was unnecessary because the powers would never need to be used.

But Mrs Smith said: “Well, we did need to. Since that time we have needed to hold 11 people for longer than 14 days—and six of them for a total of 28 days.

“The complexity of these plots is growing and the number of international investigations is greater than before. Each time a plot is uncovered, the terrorists learn and they develop.

“That’s why there is a massive increase in the way they are using technology and encrypting information. So it takes time to get the evidence you need to charge somebody.”

This week the Home Secretary will step up the government’s “Prevent” campaign—its battle against Islamic extremists who preach hate and indoctrinate potential jihadi recruits.

On Wednesday she will announce a new deal she struck with the Pakistani government on a visit last week. It will allow respected moderate Islamic clerics to be brought over from Pakistan to help British imams combat extremism in the Islamic communities.

Mrs Smith explained: “The vast majority of British Muslims have a Pakistani heritage. If we work with the government there we can win the arguments.

“We need to do more to tackle those places where radicalisation is developing—in prisons, schools, higher education—so that people are getting the right messages about what it means to be a British Muslim.”

She added: “We will also work to ensure we identify vulnerable people being groomed for terror—in the same way we protect young people from being dragged into crime and abuse.”

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/1304_jacqui_smith.shtml

Venezuela’s Chavez Says NATO-Like South American Defense Council in the Works

Monday, April 14, 2008

CARACAS, Venezuela —  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his government is working to create a NATO-like South America defense council along with Brazil and other countries.

During a speech Sunday night, Chavez said the council would unite the region’s countries to “design our own defense policies.” He said Venezuelan officials planned to discuss it with Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim when he visits Caracas on Monday.

The leftist leader said he brought up a similar proposal at the start of his presidency in 1999 but that it met with opposition in the region.

“I once said that if NATO exists — the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — why couldn’t SATO exist? The South Atlantic Treaty Organization,” Chavez said. “We’ve placed it on the table for Latin America once again.”

Chavez was addressing a crowd of supporters outside the presidential palace on the sixth anniversary of his return to power after a short-lived 2002 coup.

Chavez, a close ally of Cuba’s Fidel Castro, reiterated his accusation that Washington was behind the 2002 coup and shouted: “Down with imperialism!”

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The U.S. government denies supporting the coup, but tensions have grown since Washington swiftly recognized the leaders who briefly ousted Chavez in the putsch.

The Venezuelan leader was captured by dissident military officers but returned to power after two days amid massive street protests by supporters.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351188,00.html

Islamist group won’t admit magazine role

Natalie O’Brien and Sanna Trad | April 12, 2008

A RADICAL Islamist magazine pushing anti-Israeli sentiments is being sold on university campuses in Sydney, but the organisation believed to be behind the booklet, Hizb ut-Tahrir, is refusing to acknowledge its role in the publication.

The idialogue, a 42-page glossy magazine, was yesterday being sold to students as they left Friday prayers at the University of Technology Sydney, the University of NSW and the University of Sydney.

But the young men peddling the magazine refused to say who or what organisation is behind the publication.

“Read it for yourself,” was the only comment they would make.

The Sydney-based media officer for Hizb ut-Tahrir, Wassim Doureihi, is writing for the magazine, and other members of Hizb ut-Tahrir are involved in its production.

However Mr Doureihi has refused to return calls from The Weekend Australian.

The magazine is to be published quarterly and has a cover price of $3.50.

The first edition opens with a message from the editorial team which says in part “we launch this initiative at a time when strong political messages should not be shied away from by the Muslim community … and the ideological onslaught against Islam is evident on every level of society”.

The magazine pushes a strong anti-Israeli message focusing on the issue of the Palestinian territories, saying “the holiest of Islamic lands is in the hands of the unholiest - the illegal and illegitimate state of Israel”.

It also reproduces a 1935 fatwa issued by the religious scholars of Palestine against the selling of lands to Zionists.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is a secretive organisation which promotes the destruction of Western civilisation and the overthrow of governments and their replacement by Islamic rule.

The group is banned in much of Europe, China and Saudi Arabia but remains legal in Britain and Australia.

Five years ago, most Western observers did not consider Hizb ut-Tahrir a serious threat, but its influence has grown and it now has branches in about 45 countries.

The group has twice been investigated by ASIO.

The role of Hizb ut-Tahrir in the radicalisation of young Muslims was revealed last year when four of the seven suspects in failed terror attacks on London and Glasgow were found to have had links to a Hizb ut-Tahrir cell in Cambridge.

A research paper produced last year in Australia warned the organisation was a conveyor belt for extremists.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,23526263-12332,00.html?from=public_rss

Ontario, Quebec police move on non-profit accused of financing terrorism

Ontario, Quebec police move on non-profit accused of financing terrorism

Stewart Bell, Graeme Hamilton And Adrian Humphreys

Published: Monday, April 14, 2008

Counterterrorism police in Quebec and Ontario effectively shut down a non-profit organization for Canadian Tamils this weekend due to allegations it has been raising money to finance terrorist activities in Sri Lanka.

The RCMP was expected to announce details of its unprecedented actions as early as today, but several sources said police had moved in to enforce a Federal Court restraining order against the World Tamil Movement.

The WTM’s offices in Montreal and Toronto have been under police investigation for six years, and were raided by police in 2006. While no charges have yet resulted, the decision to seek a restraining order suggests Ottawa is aggressively pursuing the group.

The restraining order pertains to real estate in Montreal and other assets in Toronto.

The recent events are focused mostly on Montreal. Police sealed off the Montreal WTM office on Friday, said Steven Slimovitch, the group’s lawyer. He said his clients were barred from entering the premises, disrupting community programs.

“A Federal Court judge has issued an order to seal the office of the World Tamil Movement and to essentially put it under the trusteeship of the federal government,” he said.

The order was issued under a section of the Criminal Code dealing with terrorism financing, but Mr. Slimovitch said no defence counsel were present for the hearing and his clients deny the allegations they are financing terrorists.

“My clients have never been charged with terrorism-financing, and my clients have never had a chance to defend themselves against terrorism-financing accusations,” he said.

The action is the latest development in two related RCMP-led investigations called Project Osaluki and Project Crible. The probes, by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams in Ontario and Quebec, are examining allegations the WTM has been funnelling money to the Tamil Tigers to finance civil war in Sri Lanka.

The Tamil Tigers are an outlawed terrorist group in Canada. Knowingly raising money for the group or financing its activities is against the law and punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Many members of Canada’s large ethnic Tamil community support the Tigers and their fight to create an independent state for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority.

Police went to court last week to ask for restraining orders against WTM properties in Toronto and Montreal, said a source familiar with the case. Officers were in the process late yesterday of serving official notice to the people associated with the properties.

Police officers were having difficulty finding at least one per-son linked to the group and its properties. The RCMP was apparently waiting for that to take place before publicly announcing the moves it had taken.

This appears to be a first in the realm of terrorism, but the police action is similar to the way police routinely deal with organized crime: Officers will appear before a judge in private and present affidavits seeking judicial approval to restrain properties considered proceeds of crime.

While the property is restrained, the owner cannot sell it, move it, alter it or dispose of it. The order secures the property pending a court hearing. The owners are then notified and can appear before the courts and mount a defence against the Crown’s allegations.

A judge will then decide whether the restrained property should be forfeited to the Crown or returned to its owner. The process is similar to how police restrain fortified clubhouses of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and other bike gangs.

The weekend police action in Montreal has disrupted community activities scheduled for the group’s headquarters in the city’s Cote-des-Neiges district, Mr. Slimovitch said.

“Essentially they’re shutting down the entire community — artistic things, sporting things,” he said. “My clients completely deny any terrorism financing. They support the Tamil people and they support the Tamil people’s right to self-determination, but they are very much against any form of terrorism.”

An official with the WTM Montreal office declined comment and referred all questions to Mr. Slimovitch. The lawyer said he intends to go to court to have the reasons for the order disclosed.

Corporal Elaine Lavergne of the RCMP said the police force could not comment as a result of the secrecy order.

“We are under the authority of a court,” she said. She could not even disclose the level of court that issued the order, which she said is sealed from public view. “It has never happened before,” she said of the sweeping secrecy provisions.

The president of the WTM’s Ontario branch, Sitta Sittampalam, also declined to comment yesterday. “I was asked by my lawyer not to reveal anything on this matter,” he said. “I’m not in a position to divulge anything.”

http://www.dose.ca/news/story.html?id=f57de80f-5733-4fd9-96f4-171fbebc1f3b&p=1

ETA set booby trap bomb for Civil Guard officers

ETA set booby trap bomb for Civil Guard officers

14/04/2008 00:00

The small bomb that exploded on Saturday in Navarre was intended for officers.

14 April 2008

MADRID - A small bomb apparently planted by Basque terrorist group ETA that exploded on Saturday near a group of telecommunications transmitters in Navarre. The bomb was intended as a booby trap for Civil Guard officers, authorities say.

The device, containing around five kilograms of homemade explosive and packed with shrapnel, had been placed at head height on top of a small building inside the complex near the town of Lapoblacion.

It detonated at 11am and the blast was heard by a walker, who approached and saw a sign warning “Danger, ETA bomb.” He called the police, who then found a second unexploded device nearby.

Police suspect the unexploded device was supposed to have gone off first, with the terrorists hoping that officers would be on the scene when the other device detonated at 11am.

http://www.expatica.com/es/articles/news/ETA-set-booby-trap-bomb-for-Civil-Guard-officers.html