http://www.iacsp.com Get the latest from our site! http://www.iacsp.com/special.php?mnid=40 By NEIL MacFARQUHAR and HWAIDA SAAD At least 55 people were killed and some 372 injured by two powerful car bombs that exploded outside a key intelligence compound in Damascus early on Thursday, Syrian state television reported. The blasts peeled open a new, more treacherous front in the struggle for the country. The bombings tore off the front of a nine-story intelligence headquarters and left a grisly scene on the crowded highway in front of it, with incinerated corpses and many burning vehicles emitting plumes of black smoke visible across the capital. Pictures of the gruesome, bloody wreckage with severed body parts scattered about were shown repeatedly on state television and other official media. The dead and injured included both soldiers and civilians. At least 11 soldiers were dead, said a source at the military hospital in the Mezzeh neighborhood where the bulk of the casualties from the security services were taken. The Ministry of Health also said that 15 dead were unidentified remains. Fri, 11 May 2012 02:38:00 +0000 http://www.iacsp.com/special.php?mnid=39 By SCOTT SHANE and ERIC SCHMITT The suicide bomber dispatched by the Yemen branch of Al Qaeda last month to blow up a United States-bound airliner was actually an intelligence agent for Saudi Arabia who infiltrated the terrorist group and volunteered for the mission, American and foreign officials said Tuesday. In an extraordinary intelligence coup, the double agent left Yemen last month, traveling by way of the United Arab Emirates, and delivered both the innovative bomb designed for his aviation attack and inside information on the group’s leaders, locations, methods and plans to the Central Intelligence Agency, Saudi intelligence and allied foreign intelligence agencies. Wed, 09 May 2012 15:15:00 +0000 http://www.iacsp.com/special.php?mnid=38 By SCOTT SHANE and ERIC SCHMITT The Central Intelligence Agency, working closely with foreign partners, thwarted a plot by the branch of Al Qaeda in Yemen to smuggle an experimental bomb aboard an airliner bound for the United States, intelligence officials said on Monday. Yemen Interior Ministry, via Associated Press Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, a bomb maker. The intelligence services detected the scheme as it took shape in mid-April, officials said, and the explosive device was seized in the Middle East outside Yemen about a week ago before it could be deployed. Tue, 08 May 2012 17:01:00 +0000 http://www.iacsp.com/special.php?mnid=37 Al-Qaida militants staged a surprise attack Monday on a Yemeni army base in the south, killing 20 soldiers and capturing 25 just hours after a U.S. drone strike killed a senior figure in the terror network wanted in connection with the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen. It was not immediately clear if the pre-dawn attack on the military base in the southern Abyan province was in retaliation for the death of Fahd al-Quso, a top al-Qaida leader on the FBI's most wanted list. The militants managed to reach the base both from the sea and by land, gunning down troops and making away with weapons and other military hardware after the blitz attack, Yemeni military officials said. Mon, 07 May 2012 23:02:00 +0000 http://www.iacsp.com/special.php?mnid=36 Six months after an uprising brought down Muammar Gaddafi's government, thousands of displaced Libyans are still living in abandoned construction sites, empty student dormitories or with host families, too afraid to return to their homes. “We want to go back but cannot,” said Abdul Aziz al-Irwi, who lives in Sidi Slim camp in the capital, Tripoli. "Some people from another camp tried to return about two months ago, but about seven of them were captured by forces from Zintan and imprisoned.” Tue, 01 May 2012 13:49:00 +0000 http://www.iacsp.com/special.php?mnid=35 By ERIC TALMADGE Associated Press Analysts who have studied photos o f a half-dozen ominous new North Korean missiles showcased recently at a lavish military parade say they were fakes, and not very convincing ones, casting further doubt on the country's claims of military prowess. Since its recent rocket launch failure, Pyongyang's top military leaders have made several boastful statements about its weapons capabilities. On Wednesday, Vice Marshal Ri Yong Ho claimed his country is capable of defeating the United States "at a single blow." And on Monday, North Korea promised "special actions" that would reduce Seoul's government to ashes within minutes. Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:59:00 +0000 http://www.iacsp.com/special.php?mnid=34 By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press Virginian Pilot The widening Secret Service prostitution scandal has touched off a delicate dance in Washington. People are loath to criticize an agency whose employees are trained to take a bullet for the people they protect. Members of Congress pressing for the juicy stories risk reviving - or having revealed - some of their own. Yet all parties claim to want the truth about the extent of sworn officers working for one of the nation's premier law enforcement agencies hiring Colombian sex workers ahead of President Barack Obama's visit there and whether national security may have been compromised. Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:55:00 +0000 http://www.iacsp.com/special.php?mnid=33 By ANNE GEARAN AP National Security Writer Despite oft-repeated U. S. demands that Syrian President Bashar Assad step aside, the Obama administration's policy now reflects a consensus that Assad has a firm hold on power and that nothing short of an outside military strike will dislodge him quickly. With rebel forces poorly armed and disorganized, efforts to pay them by Arab Gulf states failing, and sectarian divisions looming in Syria, the U.S. and its allies seem prepared to leave Assad where he is. Even if he could be ousted, the near future in Syria could involve civil war among ethnic groups now under Assad's boot, or a slow and bloody war with rebels or proxy fighters armed from the outside. Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:59:00 +0000 http://www.iacsp.com/special.php?mnid=32 By Grace Wyler A preliminary investigation into the night of alleged debauchery involving members of President Obama's advance security team in C olombia has revealed that additional military personnel may have been involved in the prostitution scandal, Pentagon officials said Monday. The U.S. Southern Command initially reported that five members of the U.S. special forces had participated in the partying, but preliminary reviews of hotel security tapes indicate that the number was likely much higher. A senior defense official told the AP that "at least 10 military members may have been involved." Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:50:00 +0000 http://www.iacsp.com/special.php?mnid=31 By JULIE PACE and LIBARDO CARDONA An embarrassing scandal involving prostitutes and Secret Service agents deepened Saturday as 11 agents were placed on leave, and the agency designed to protect President Barack Obama had to offer regret for the mess overshadowing his diplomatic mission to Latin America. The controversy also expanded to the U.S. military, which announced five service members staying at the same hotel as the agents in Colombia may have been involved in misconduct as well. They were confined to their quarters in Colombia and ordered not to have contact with others. Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:47:00 +0000 http://www.iacsp.com/special.php?mnid=30 By JEAN H. LEE Associated Press North Korea's widely condemned rocket splintered into pieces over the Yellow Sea soon after takeoff Friday, an embarrassing end to a launch that Pyongyang had infused with national pride during a week of high-level political meetings and celebrations. Within minutes of the early morning launch, the United States and South Korea declared it a failure. North Korea acknowledged that hours later in an announcement broadcast on state TV, saying the satellite that the rocket was carrying had been unable to enter into orbit. Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:48:00 +0000 http://www.iacsp.com/special.php?mnid=29 Hate cleric Abu Hamza and four other terror suspects can be deported to America because prisons there are more comfortable, European human rights judges ruled. By Tom Whitehead, and Martin Beckford In a landmark victory for the UK, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said extraditing the terrorism “recruiting sergeant” Hamza and others would not lead to inhuman treatment in the US. The Strasbourg court unanimously dismissed claims that conditions in American “supermax” jails were degrading but rather luxuries such as televisions, phone calls and arts and crafts “went beyond” what was provided in most European prisons. David Cameron and Theresa May welcomed the ruling but said the cases had taken too long signalling that speeding up hearings could be part of the planned reforms of the Strasbourg court. Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:22:00 +0000