Car bomb damages Italy's ENI joint venture office in Libyan capital

TRIPOLI: A car bomb went off in Libya's capital Tripoli on Monday in front of the headquarters of Mellitah, an oil and gas joint venture between Italy's ENI and Libyan state oil firm NOC, witnesses said.

"The explosion damaged the buildings around the ENI complex and burned three cars," said Omar Khadrwai, a senior security official. "No one was hurt."

A Reuters reporter said there were broken windows and damaged doors at the building located next to a state bank.

In a text message, an ENI spokesman played down the extent of the damage. "Nobody wounded and no significant damage to the office buildings," he said. ENI's joint venture partner NOC said in a statement the blast had caused only minor damage and would not impact Mellitah's operations.

ENI is still active in Libya, a major oil producer gripped by chaos and fighting. Like other Western companies, ENI has withdrawn expatriate staff.

Mellitah's biggest asset, the El Feel oilfield, has been closed for months due to a protest by local security guards. The Wafa oil and gas field and its offshore operations are still working.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the car bombing. Islamic State has claimed in the past a string of killings of foreigners as well as attacks on embassies and oilfields in Libya.

Islamic State militants have exploited chaos in the North African country, where two governments allied to a host of armed groups are fighting for control four years after the ousting of veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Tripoli is controlled by a rival government which seized the capital a year ago by expelling the official premier to the east.

Tripoli government spokesman Jamal Zubia said in a message the car bombing was "an attempt to hinder the work of foreign companies." The eastern-based government blamed in a statement "terrorist groups occupying the capital."

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/car-bomb-damages-italy-s/2089552.html

Isis in paradise: Maldives latest recruiting ground for Islamic State

In an ISIS video released on 31 August on social media, three masked men threatened to kill the president of the Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, and to unleash a terrorist campaign on the islands, one of the world's most sought-after holiday destinations.

The group are demanding the release of opposition leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla, who was arrested in May following anti-government protests. So far the video's authenticity remains unconfirmed.

Abdulla was accused by the government of inciting violence among protesters, who were demanding the resignation of the president over the imprisonment of former president Mohamed Nasheed and other political leaders. Abdulla aimed to overthrow the government and "called for clashes with the police if necessary," according to reports in the Guardian newspaper.


In the video the men threatening to bomb resorts. The threat of terrorism could seriously undermine the country's tourism industry, which would be disastrous for the local economy.

The Maldives in the Indian Ocean is sold has a holiday paradise to the world's wealthy. In 2014, Prince William and Kate Middleton rented out the five-star Cheval Blanc Randheli resort on the Noonu Atoll, on the northwest of the Maldives archipelago.

Famous for its pristine, palm-fringed beaches and warm, azure waters, it is a top destination for luxury, long-haul tourism but that could soon change in the event of attacks, in the same way as Tunisia - popular with package tourists from Europe - has been targeted by Islamic militants.

This could be a hammer blow to the islands' economy that is heavily dependent on tourism, which accounts for 28% of the economy and more than 60% of foreign exchange. All of the island's infrastructure development is led by tourism revenues.

The video is the latest and most high profile action by Isis on the archipelago's 1,200 atolls, but Islamists have been active here for some time and many jihadis have left to fight in Syria. It is estimated that between 50 and 100 of the country's 300,000 strong citizens have so far left to pursue jihad.

The Maldives--a small string of islands in the Indian Ocean that boasts surreal beachfronts and extraordinary getawaysFlickr.com

The threat of terrorism is not solely a domestic issue. The first departures of Maldivians to Syria were reported in 2013 and so far at least five citizens have been killed there. There are fears that they could travel further afield; several countries, including the UK, do not require entry visas from Maldives residents.

"There are serious concerns," said one western diplomat in the region. "The risk is either of an attack locally or someone coming to Europe or even going on to the US."

Endemic poverty and deprivation may be behind local radicalisation. Some of those travelling to Syria came from poor fishing communities on outlying islands; others came from the capital which features a mix of radical preaching, organised crime and social deprivation.

Democratic elections in 2008 ended three decades of autocratic rule, but have brought political instability in their wake. The World Bank has blamed the ease with which criminal gangs have recruited young Maldivians on "inactivity and apathy, unemployment, drug use and "the need for young men to prove their masculinity"

Violent attacks on so-called secular activists in the Maldives have been blamed on radicalised gang members. One blogger was badly injured in 2012 and a moderate cleric and parliamentarian stabbed to death outside his home. Gang members last year threatened local activists who ran blogs and Facebook pages calling for tolerance for homosexuals, and last August local journalist Rilwan Ahmed Abdulla was abducted and has not been seen since.

"Ahmed's abduction was related to this radicalisation of the gangs. He was exposing and angering them. First they threatened him, then they disappeared him," said Rilwan Moosa, brother of the journalist.


Moosa believes people in the west should pay more attention to local troubles. "This place is more dangerous than they think. It is becoming highly radicalised. This is not a paradise on Earth any more," he said.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-paradise-maldives-latest-recruiting-ground-islamic-state-1517853

Sergei Pugachev: 'Putin's banker' now lives in fear of man he put into power

Sergei Pugachev doesn’t look like a man on the run. He is in good humour, dressed in jeans and a casual shirt. But the former Russian banker – once close to Vladimir Putin, and now his bitter opponent – is elusive about how he recently escaped from London to France.

“I can’t go into details. I didn’t swim the English channel,” he says, speaking from his new location in Nice on the Côte D’Azur. “It was all absolutely legal,” he adds.

Pugachev is embroiled in a battle with the Russian state, in which he was once a privileged insider. In 2011, he left Russia and settled largely in London, with his British partner Alexandra Tolstoy and their three small children.

His exit from Moscow came after a gradual cooling in his relationship with Russia’s president and, as Pugachev tells it, an astonishing raid by the Russian government on his $15bn (£9.6bn) business empire.
Once known as “Putin’s banker”, Pugachev owned two major shipyards, the world’s biggest mine and significant real estate in Moscow and St Petersburg. Pugachev says all this was taken from him – the asset grab similar to those suffered by other Russian entrepreneurs, the difference being its brazen scale.

The Kremlin, however, says Pugachev is a crook. It alleges that he siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars from loans given by Russia’s central bank at the height of the 2008 financial crisis to Mezhprombank – co-founded by Pugachev in the 90s. It is now pursuing him vigorously in the London courts.




Pugachev calls the accusation “absurd”. “The state steals something then has to defend its theft. In my case the scale is huge, but in other respects this is a normal contemporary practice in Russia,” he says.

Last summer, Russia’s state deposit insurance agency, the DIA, won a freezing order in the UK high court against Pugachev’s worldwide assets. A judge ordered him to relinquish his Russian and French passports and to stay in Britain, pending further inquiries.

Pugachev says he’s now broke, at least by his standards. “I’m down to my last $70m.” Until recently, he was defending himself in court on the grounds he was too hard-up to afford lawyers.

Last month, he dramatically defied the court and slipped out of the country. His passports had been impounded, but somehow he escaped to Paris and then the south of France. Pugachev says he fled the UK for good reason: someone is trying to kill him.

“I’ve been receiving death threats since 2011. I could either obey the order and risk the lives of my wife and children or leave,” he says. According to Pugachev, the DIA’s deputy general director, Valery Miroshnikov, has said his problems in Russia would disappear in exchange for $300m. Otherwise, he or his loved ones would suffer “physical harm”. The claim, made in court, is denied by the DIA’s lawyers.

In May, Pugachev’s security team found suspicious devices planted under his and his family’s cars in London. Scotland Yard’s SO15 anti-terrorism unit took them away. “My conclusion is they are some kind of explosives,” Pugachev says. His lawyers suggest they are tracking devices, planted by the DIA, in the latest piece of intrusive surveillance.

Scotland Yard refused to comment on the alleged bomb plot. “We can’t say anything,” a spokesman said.

The DIA’s British lawyers say it is a fantasy – a “tall story” made up by Pugachev to justify his “contempt of court”. Pugachev rejects this. He points to the dismal fate of other Putin critics in Britain, including Alexander Litvinenko and Boris Berezovsky, both of whom wound up dead.



We meet in a five-star art deco hotel overlooking Nice’s beach and sinuous urban promenade. This is his first interview since he fled. Nearby, tourists sunbathe around a frothy hotel pool; from the terrace there is a view of the Mediterranean, a sparkling turquoise; private jets clutter the city airport. The weather is balmy. 

As exiles go, this is agreeable. Pugachev says he’s been a French citizen since 2009 and has lived in France on and off for 20 years. Moreover, he’s still cooperating with the UK court, he says, while launching his own legal case in Paris against the Russian government.

He adds that he intends to go back to London – where his children attend school – as soon as his legal issues are cleared up. Currently his family are with him in France.

Now 52, Pugachev was once an adviser to former Russian president Boris Yeltsin. In 1996, he ran Yeltsin’s re-election campaign. This was, he says, Russia’s last free election. He knew Anatoly Sobchak, St Petersburg’s mayor and a “brilliant figure”. He also became close to one of the mayor’s little known aides, Vladimir Putin.

Three years later, with Yeltsin ailing, Pugachev says he was part of a tiny group – including Yeltsin’s daughter Tatiana and her future husband, Valentin Yumashev, a Kremlin adviser – who selected Putin to be Yeltsin’s successor. This turned out, he acknowledges, to be a “tragedy for Russia”.

Pugachev co-ran Putin’s successful election campaign and at first was one of his closest companions. “We saw each other every day until late in the night, until 3 or 4am. We discussed state business,” he recalls. Was he the president’s friend? “Putin is a very closed person,” he answers carefully.

Pugachev took Putin round his presidential residence, Novo-Ogaryovo, situated in pine-scented woods outside Moscow. Putin was enthralled, Pugachev says, and liked his new 50-metre swimming pool. “He didn’t expect to be president. He hadn’t had any privileges. It all happened spontaneously.”

What’s Putin really like? Pugachev says two decades as a KGB spy, including time in communist east Germany, inexorably shaped him.

“Everything in his consciousness flows from the Soviet Union,” says Pugachev. “He’s of this epoch. He saw Brezhnev and the politburo. Like any simple person he formed his opinions from watching Soviet TV.”

He adds: “Putin was never a politician. He is still not a politician. Discussions don’t interest him. Rather he is someone with complexes.”

Putin embarked on the job of running Russia with no plan or strategic vision, Pugachev claims. “I don’t think he’s an evil genius who wanted to set up the criminal regime that exists today. He surrounded himself with like-minded people whom he didn’t know very well and who had served with him in the KGB. They immediately began enriching themselves.”

According to Pugachev, Putin told him he only planned to stay in power for three or four years. “Putin wanted to get rich, too. He was a pragmatic person. We talked about this. He didn’t want to leave office poor.” By the end of his first presidential stint he was afraid of what might happen if he exited the Kremlin. His inner circle persuaded him to stay on.

That was more than a decade ago. How much money has Putin got now? “Everything that belongs to the territory of the Russian Federation Putin considers to be his. Everything – Gazprom, Rosneft, private companies. Any attempt to calculate it won’t succeed. He’s the richest person in the world until he leaves power.”

Like Brezhnev or Stalin, Pugachev believes that Putin will stay in office for life: “I don’t see any guarantees for him [if he steps down]. Putin doesn’t see them either.”

Pugachev spent 10 years at the top of Russian politics, both as a senator for the republic of Tuva and as the head of aerospace company OPK, one of Russia’s biggest corporations. He had an office in the Kremlin. He says he worked closely with Putin until 2006 or 2007, when they began to drift apart and saw each other less frequently.

Why the split? “We never had the same ideological outlook,” he says. Pugachev adds that he remained independent at a point when Putin expected everyone to kowtow to him. “Putin changed radically. He had his own team, apparatus. I didn’t see any perspective for myself, in politics or business, so I left.”

Since the Ukraine crisis, relations between Russia and the west have sharply deteriorated. Pugachev says that after returning to the Kremlin for a third term in 2012 Putin had a stark choice: to liberalise the country or to engineer something that would distract hard-pressed citizens from their economic woes.

Putin picked the latter. The distraction was his annexation of Crimea and covert invasion of eastern Ukraine, which fed into a deep-seated sense of patriotism. Ukraine was, Pugachev, says “a big mistake”. “Putin isn’t a strategist. He listens to the politburo that surrounds him, made up of KGB people. They are very aggressive.”

At the same time, Pugachev says, the west has repeatedly misread Putin, believing that granting him concessions might help. “Every compromise he sees as a personal victory,” Pugachev observes. The president often makes up policy on the hoof, a habit which leaves those around him trying to second-guess his intentions, and which leads to “catastrophically uncoordinated politics”.

In exile, Pugachev takes good care of his security; a bodyguard loiters unobtrusively nearby. The tycoon goes and has a cigarette on the terrace overlooking the sea. He’s mindful of what has happened to others, including the opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, “a close friend” who used to be his Moscow neighbour. Nemtsov was murdered in February. Who killed him?

“We don’t know. Putin is at the top of the state. He takes responsibility for everything that happens in the state. When an opposition politician is killed 100 metres from the Kremlin the question who killed him is a technical one,” Pugachev says. He adds: “The FSB had Nemtsov under 24-hour surveillance. He was very outspoken.”

And what about Litvinenko? Just down the road from the Rolls Building in London – where Pugachev’s commercial case is being heard – a public inquiry has been given details of how two Moscow assassins poisoned Litvinenko with radioactive polonium-210. One of them, Andrei Lugovoi, is now a prominent deputy in Russia’s Duma. “Putin responds to suggestions,” Pugachev says. “It was decided that Litvinenko was a traitor who had to be punished, so it wouldn’t happen again.”

In several hours of conversation Pugachev acknowledges just one mistake. He says that he played a part in using undemocratic methods to get Putin into power, believing this would be the best way of securing democracy post-Yeltsin. He now concedes it would have been better to have left it up to the voters.

“We have lost all the things we had with Yeltsin. It’s a great tragedy for Russia and it’s people.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/28/sergei-pugachev-putins-banker-interview-lives-in-fear

Bulgaria to repair its Soviet-built MiG-29 jets in Poland

Sofia (AFP) - Bulgaria's defence ministry said on Friday it would repair six of its 19 Soviet-built MiG-29 fighter planes in Poland, in a move to reduce its dependence on Russia.

"Bulgaria and Poland express their strong political will for cooperation especially about the maintenance of the MiG-29 fighters," the defence ministry said in a statement after the signing of a letter of intent with Warsaw.

"The agreement with Poland envisages the repair of the engines and aggregates of three aircraft by mid-2016 and those of another three by end-2016," it added.

The repairs will be performed at the Polish state company WZL-2.

"Currently the Bulgarian Air Force has at its disposal four MiG-29 in good working order and with enough resource. After mid-2016 it could be left with just two," the statement said.

"In order to avert such a situation, Bulgaria must find a way to repair the engines of its MiG-29s," it added.

As a NATO member Bulgaria has an obligation to keep at least one squadron of 12 planes in good fighting order.

But it has constantly complained about delays in the implementation of a framework agreement with Russia's RSK MiG due to expire next month.

In a move to bypass the Russians, the defence ministry turned to Poland.

"This decision has a huge geopolitical importance," Polish Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said after the signing ceremony.

In the meantime, RSK MiG's representative in Bulgaria Alexander Alexandrov argued in the Bulgarian press that the Polish company did not have a licence for the repairs.

Bulgaria's Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev did not comment while the statement only said that Bulgaria has received guarantees from Poland about the quality of the repairs.

The details around the deal and its cost were due to be spelled out in another agreement that has to be approved by the parliaments of both countries.

Bulgaria has long planned to buy a minimum of eight new or used fighters to replace its ageing fleet of Soviet-built aircraft but a final decision was postponed for financial reasons.

http://news.yahoo.com/bulgaria-repair-soviet-built-mig-29-jets-poland-184022844.html 

Islamic State-linked Twitter Account Threatens New Attacks In US For 9/11

Several tweets from an Islamic State follower identifying himself as Abu Mohammed al-Khorasani hint that the terror group could be plotting new attacks inside the U.S. on the upcoming anniversary of 9/11.

A tweet featuring the Twitter hashtags ILLINOIS#, #11septmber and #KillAllAmericans went out at 12:04 p.m. Monday Aug. 31 saying, "Peace on the P.K. [a kind Russian machine gun] Its shots are thematic (rhymes) It strikes America. Our State is victorious." A photo of the second airliner just before it hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 appeared in the tweet.

Six minutes later, al-Khorasani tweeted the same hashtags together with a muddled Arabic phrase saying, "If you say to me, Dushka (a kind of Russian machine gun) Oh God, You have a petitioner (Masha, rhymes with Dushka) He strikes America [sic] and our State is victorious." A graphic saying, "every American citizen is a legitimate target for us," followed the text.

On Sunday, al-Khorasani wrote a similar threat, saying "SOON," accompanied by an image of Osama Bin Laden and images of the Sept. 11 hijackers.



He showed his affection for Bin Laden in a tweet today, taunting Americans, "When you killed Sheikh Osama thrown his pure body in the sea for fear of Dead But U did not know that we have millions of #Sheikh Osama."

Talk and images of what appeared to be a suicide vest or vests immediately followed the threats which included the #ISIS and #IslamicState hashtags.

Al-Khorasani wrote in a tweet at 12:38 p.m., "You have the aircraft You have the rockets You have the launchers We have explosive belts to kill U #IslamicState." He tweeted again at 12:44 p.m.: "You have F22 You have tanks You have guns But we have Belts #IslamicState #ISIS."

These tweets follow a summer of Islamic State followers posting images of the Statue of Liberty in ruins, with New York in flames in the background, and saying, "Coming Soon." Additionally, the image depicting the aftermath of an attack on an American city has not been isolated to New York. One such image tweeted from an Islamic State account on July 28 addressed to Lone Wolves showed a masked jihadist running from an explosion in an unnamed American city.



A statement ominously saying, "O Cross Worshipers Lone Wolves Will Hunt You In America's Streets" overlaid the graphic. Another tweet by Islamic State supporter nightwalker/lonewolfe posted Aug. 21 depicted jihadists in Times Square with the script, "We Are Everywhere."

 In April, the New York Post reported that Islamic State supporters released a video threatening to unleash a new September 11-style attack, saying that the group's fighters are stronger than those who brought down the Twin Towers."Thus they are able to burn United States again," the video said.

One thing is clear, Islamic State supporters want to remind Americans the group wants to strike against Americans on their own soil at a time and place of the terrorists' choosing.

http://www.investigativeproject.org/4971/islamic-state-linked-twitter-account-threatens#

Somalia: Al Shabaab storm African Union miitary base, dozens feared dead

Al Shabaab fighters in Somalia claim to have killed dozens of African Union troops in an attack on a base south of Mogadishu.

The attack in Janaale, in the country's Lower Shabelle province, was confirmed to Al Jazeera by the militant group's spokesman as well as residents in the area. There has been no confirmation of the number of casualties by authorities.

Militants drove a car bomb into the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), breaching the defences. Fighters then stormed the base, killing about 50 mostly Ugandan soldiers, claims the militant group.

Amisom has denied the base was under the control of militants.

"Amisom can confirm that the base is still under Amisom control. Reports that the base has been taken over and our weapons captured are false," the peacekeeping force said on its Twitter feed, without giving details on casualties.

Captain Bilow Idow, a Somali military officer based in a town near Janale, told Reuters that the militants had cut off the base by blowing up a nearby bridge.

"No reinforcement can reach there," Idow said. "There is much death and damage."

Al Shabaab is currently fighting to overthrow the Somalian government and impose a hardline Islamist regime. In July, the group claimed to have killed "dozens" of Amisom troops in a raid on Lego, 100km north west of the capital.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/somalia-al-shabaab-storm-african-union-miitary-base-dozens-feared-dead-1517965 

Kansas Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Airport Bomb Plot

A Kansas man who plotted a suicide bomb attack aimed at causing "maximum carnage" at a Wichita airport was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison

Terry L. Loewen apologized to his family and thanked his attorneys before U.S. District Judge Monti Belot imposed the proposed sentence that came with the plea deal. Loewen stared straight ahead and showed no emotion as the judge pronounced the expected sentence.

The 60-year-old Wichita man pleaded guilty in June to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. His arrest in December 2013 was the culmination of a months-long sting operation in which two FBI agents posed as co-conspirators.

"Here in the heartland, terrorism will never shake our faith in the things this country stands for — freedom, fairness and opportunity," U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said afterward in a news release. "We won't give way to those who would inflict violence on their fellow citizens."

Loewen made a brief courtroom statement in which he apologized to his wife and his two sons and his extended family.

"I love you all and I realize the pain and suffering I caused you is enormous ... I do not ask for forgiveness because I deserve none," he said.

Prosecutors told the court that the proposed sentence in the plea agreement was much lower than other national security cases, but that the government believed it was appropriate given Loewen's age and health conditions.

His attorney, Tim Henry, asked Belot to recommend Loewen be incarcerated in a federal prison as close to his family as possible, adding he has been a "model inmate" in jail and does not need to be in a maximum security prison.

Loewen came to the attention of the FBI in late May 2013, when he became a Facebook friend of an individual who regularly posted information supporting violent jihad, or holy war, court documents show. Authorities said agents became concerned after looking back through Loewen's own Facebook activities. An online undercover agent contacted him, and offered to introduce him to someone who could help him engage in jihad.

At the time, Loewen was an avionics technician for Hawker Beechcraft's facility at Mid-Continent Airport, now called the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. He was arrested on Dec. 13, 2013, as he tried to use his employee badge on a card reader to bring the fake bomb onto the tarmac.

"Terry Loewen abused his privileged airport access to attempt to perpetrate a terrorist attack in Wichita, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin said in the news release. "The National Security Division's highest priority is protecting the United States against terrorist threats — both international and domestic."

Loewen's case is among at least 462 terror crimes associated with groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State that the U.S. government has prosecuted since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School, a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to security issues.

 http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/kansas-man-faces-20-year-sentence-bomb-plot-33433266