details on UK arrest of Jihad-trainer who promoted courses online ("Sakina Security")

[Xeni Jardin]

In a round-up story on allied military planning timeline & recent
European terror-related arrests, AP just published this update on the
arrest of one of the instructors affiliated with the now-shuttered
website for Sakina Security Ltd.:

<snip>"Elsewhere in Europe, judicial and police authorities continued to
hunt for terrorist suspects. In London, police charged Sulayman Balal
Zainulabidin under sections of the Terrorism Act that cover weapons
training for terrorist purposes and recruitment for training, but
declined to say whether his arrest was tied to the Sept. 11 attacks.

The 43-year-old chef was apprehended on Monday and Scotland Yard said he
was scheduled to appear at a magistrates' court on Friday.

Reports in newspapers including The Guardian and The Independent have
said Zainulabidin was suspected of involvement with Sakina Security
Ltd., a London security firm believed to have providing arms training to
young extremists.

Scotland Yard would not comment on that reported link and the company is
not listed in the London telephone directory. "
</snip>
--XJ

----------------

U.S. May Take Time Planning Attack
Audio/Video
  U.S. Gathering Allies For Attack (Reuters)

Thursday October 4 3:33 PM ET
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011004/wl/attacks_europe_2.html

By EMMANUEL GEORGES-PICOT, Associated Press Writer

PARIS (AP) - U.S. military retaliation following last month's terrorist
attacks on Washington and New York isn't likely for several weeks,
France's defense minister said Thursday.

Defense Minister Alain Richard said many key decisions by nations
participating in the U.S. anti-terrorism campaign had not yet been made
and should not be made in haste.

German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping was quoted Thursday as saying
that German troops may soon be involved in reconnaissance in an
anti-terror campaign and could also be called up for ``classic''
military operations.

``German soldiers serve, for example, in NATO (news - web sites)'s
so-called integrated operations - on board AWACS aircraft or ships,''
Scharping said in an interview with the mass-circulation Bild daily. The
defense ministry confirmed the remarks but added no details.

Scharping said Germany's contribution ``may include also classic
military capabilities'' as part of a long-term fight against terror.

``We mustn't only look to Afghanistan (news - web sites), which
correctly stands in the center at the moment,'' he was quoted as saying.

On Thursday, the 18 NATO allies approved U.S. requests for specific
military contributions in the campaign against terrorism, NATO
Secretary-General Lord Robertson said.

The NATO move came after Washington offered evidence of Osama bin Laden
(news - web sites)'s involvement in the New York and Washington attacks.

Some of that evidence was detailed publicly for the first time by Prime
Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) in London on Thursday.

Blair told parliament that three of the hijackers have been ``positively
identified'' as bin Laden associates and that one of them was involved
in the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in East Africa and last year's
attack on the U.S.S. Cole.

``We are now approaching the difficult time when action is taken. It
will be difficult, there are no easy options,'' Blair told lawmakers.

But in Paris, the french defense minister said action was not likely to
take place for ``several weeks.''

``The decisions to take action haven't been made,'' Richard said.
``Everyone is going to prepare their own means that will be well-adapted
for a joint effort. We aren't at the end of that.''

France has made its ports available to American warships and sent an
ultramodern frigate and a fuel and supply ship to the Arabian Sea for
use by the U.S. naval fleet gathering in the area.

Cyprus also announced it had given the United States permission to use
airports and airspace for its war on terrorism, availing U.S. forces of
a potentially helpful stopping-off point in the Mediterranean.

Elsewhere in Europe, judicial and police authorities continued to hunt
for terrorist suspects.

In London, police charged Sulayman Balal Zainulabidin under sections of
the Terrorism Act that cover weapons training for terrorist purposes and
recruitment for training, but declined to say whether his arrest was
tied to the Sept. 11 attacks.

The 43-year-old chef was apprehended on Monday and Scotland Yard said he
was scheduled to appear at a magistrates' court on Friday.

Reports in newspapers including The Guardian and The Independent have
said Zainulabidin was suspected of involvement with Sakina Security
Ltd., a London security firm believed to have providing arms training to
young extremists.

Scotland Yard would not comment on that reported link and the company is
not listed in the London telephone directory.

In Germany Thursday, a court in Wiesbaden allowed investigators to
obtain data from five Internet service providers used by a suspected
terrorist for radical Islamist Web sites. Court spokesman Juergen Fehr
said the servers were used by a Turkish suspect arrested last week in
Wiesbaden on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks in Germany.