Armoured & Luxury
Chauffeur Driven Cars

Discreet Professional Protection

Australian Citizen Arrested On Terror Charges

A man suspected of trying to advise the so-called Islamic State on missiles has been arrested in Australia.

Haisem Zahab, 42, was arrested at Young, in rural New South Wales, on Tuesday, PM Malcolm Turnbull said.

Police allege the electrician was helping to develop a long-range guided missile, and designing a laser device to warn of incoming munitions used by forces in Iraq and Syria. The arrest did not relate to a planned attack in Australia, Mr Turnbull said.

Mr Zahab was an Australian citizen and planned to provide IS “with the technical capability, and high-tech capability, to detect and develop missiles”, the prime minister said.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin alleged the man was acting alone and his advice was “fairly sophisticated and well-planned”. He did not appear to have direct experience with missile or laser technology, the commissioner said.

Read More

German Police Carry Out Raids In Berlin

German police have carried out raids across Berlin on properties linked to a mosque used by the Christmas market truck attacker, Anis Amri.

Fifteen apartments and two commercial premises were searched in the city in an operation involving 460 police. Six prison cells were also searched.

The organisation which ran the mosque has been closed down.

Twelve people were killed and more than 50 injured by Amri, a Tunisian asylum seeker, in December. He was shot dead by police after fleeing to Italy.

Police say the raids follow a decision to ban the organisation, known as Fussilet 33, in mid-February. The properties targeted were used by those who ran the organisation, police said.

German prosecutors say that Amri visited the mosque frequently, including on the day of the attack.
Read More

Coroner Slams Police At Tunisia Attack Inquiry

The police response to a terror attack at a Tunisian beach resort in which 30 Britons died was “at best shambolic and at worst cowardly”, a coroner has concluded.

Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith ruled they were “unlawfully killed” when a gunman opened fire at a hotel in Sousse in June 2015, claiming 38 lives in total. He rejected a finding of neglect against the tour firms and the hotel.

The police response could and should have been effective, he added. Officers near the scene ran in the opposite direction to get more guns while the Islamist gunman sprayed bullets at sunbathers on the beach and threw grenades, the inquest heard. He then stormed into the hotel to kill more victims. It was only after an hour-long killing spree that Seifeddine Rezgui was shot dead by police.

There were emotional scenes in the packed courtroom of London’s Royal Courts of Justice as the coroner described how each of the victims came to their death, in alphabetical order.

Read More

IS Losing Ground In The Battle For Mosul

The Iraqi military says it has retaken a bridge across the River Tigris in Mosul, after driving back Islamic State militants in the city’s south-west.

The Federal Police Rapid Response Force advanced into the Jawsaq district on Monday and reached the Fourth Bridge.

Mosul’s five bridges have been badly damaged in fighting since October. But once it is repaired, the Fourth Bridge could help the military bring in reinforcements and supplies from the government-held east of the city.

Meanwhile, UN aid workers say they are extremely concerned by the humanitarian situation in remaining IS-held areas of western Mosul, where about 750,000 people are believed to be living.

The World Food Programme spoke to a number of families there who reported that food prices were rising drastically or that they were unable to get food at all. “The situation is unbelievable,” a 46-year-old man was quoted as saying. “There is no food, no clean water, no gas for heating, no medicine and no services.”

Food in western Mosul has become scarce since the operation to recapture the city began four months ago. IS supply lines have been cut by government forces, backed by US-led coalition air strikes and military advisers on the ground. Mosul is the jihadist group’s last major urban stronghold in the country.

Philippine Jihadists Post Video Showing Beheading Of German Hostage

Islamic militants in the Philippines have posted a video showing the beheading of a German hostage.

Jurgen Kantner was abducted from his yacht off Malaysia’s Sabah state in November. His companion Sabine Merz’s body was later found on the boat.

A deadline for a 30m peso (£483,000; $600,000) ransom expired on Sunday.

Mr Kantner, 70, and Ms Merz had been abducted before. They were held for 52 days in 2008 by Somali pirates and were released after a ransom was paid.

The video, reported by the SITE militancy-monitoring group, shows Mr Kantner being killed by a knife-wielding man. Government envoy Jesus Dureza confirmed the killing. “Up to the last moment, many sectors, including the armed forces, exhausted all efforts to save his life. We all tried our best but to no avail,” he said.

Read More