Homeland Security News

A UAE court Monday held a new hearing in the trial of an "al-Qaeda cell" of nine men accused of supporting Al-Nusra Front, the jihadist network's Syrian affiliate, state news agency WAM said.  The prosecution accused seven of the defendants of "joining the terrorist Al-Qaeda organisation and forming a cell in the UAE to promote its ideas," WAM reported.  It said the men had tried to "recruit members to join Al-Nusra Front that is fighting the Syrian government," adding they also raised money that they "sent to Al-Nusra."

Read more:  AFP

A man who pleaded guilty to sending letters dusted with the poison ricin to President Barack Obama and other officials was sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison.  James Everett Dutschke was sentenced by Judge Sharion Aycock after saying he had changed his mind about wanting to withdraw his guilty plea.  He also was sentenced to five years of supervised release and remains in federal custody.

Read more:  The Guardian

London imam Abu Hamza al-Masri was convicted of terrorism charges in New York on Monday following a four-week trial that shined a spotlight on the preacher's controversial anti-Western statements.  A jury of eight men and four women found Abu Hamza, 56, guilty on all 11 counts he faced, handing Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara his second high-profile terrorism conviction in three months. The defendant could face life in prison.  In March, a different jury found Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, guilty of terrorism-related charges.

Prosecutors had charged the one-eyed, handless Abu Hamza with providing a satellite phone and advice to a group of Yemeni militants who kidnapped Western tourists in 1998.  Four of the hostages were killed during a rescue mission by the Yemeni military.

Read more:  Reuters

FBI Director James Comey told The New York Times that he initially underestimated the terrorism threat, including al-Qaida affiliates and offshoots.  "I didn’t have anywhere near the appreciation I got after I came into this job just how virulent those affiliates had become," Comey told the newspaper, saying that al-Qaida-linked groups in Africa and the Middle East are bigger and stronger than he was led to believe.  The FBI director told the Times that he now believes terrorism should remain the main focus for the bureau.

The Senate confirmed Comey in a 93-to-1 vote last year, with tea party Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky the lone dissenter. Paul had concerns about the FBI's use of surveillance drones on U.S. soil, The Guardian reported in July 2013.  After delaying the vote for the confirmation, Paul eventually got out of the way after the FBI addressed his concerns.  Critics of the FBI accuse the agency, and Comey, of operating under antiquated notions about terrorists and how they operate. The agency is drowning in mounds of data it collects but crucial information gets lost in the pile.

Read More: Newsmax

In a rare video appearance, the chief of the Pakistani Taliban has declared that his group will continue to fight the state until Islamic law is enforced across the country, apparently scuppering the possibility of scheduled peace talks with the government.  "We have accepted Allah's writ and his power, and the Pakistan army, intelligence agencies and government must also accept Allah's writ," said Mullah Fazlullah while addressing a group of about two dozen fighters.

The video was released by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s media wing on Sunday and is the first appearance by the TTP chief since November 2013.  It shows Fazlullah arriving at what appears to be a TTP training camp in a mountainous area.  About two dozen fighters, armed with automatic rifles, pistols and rocket-propelled grenades are visible in the video, which also shows them firing their weapons.  "Those fighters who are with us, they are there. But those who have fallen out of contact, they should be in contact with their district commanders. Every fighter should prepare themselves to face tanks, artillery and army camps," Fazlullah said, in an apparent call to arms.

Read more: Al-Jazeera