SAOIRSE32

Scotsman.com

STEVEN HURST

Click to view - Stills from the Arab TV video broadcast yesterday show the journalist Jill Carroll, who was abducted on 7 January. No group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but a logo revealed the name ‘The Revenge Brigade’. Picture: AFP/ Getty Images

AN ARAB television channel aired a silent 20-second videotape last night of an American hostage, and said an accompanying message gave the United States 72 hours to free female prisoners in Iraq or the journalist would be killed.

Al-Jazeera would not say from whom it received the tape showing the reporter, Jill Carroll, but issued a statement itself calling for her release. A producer for the network said the tape was received yesterday. The producer said no militant group’s name was attached to the message sent to the station with the tape.

However, a still photograph of Ms Carroll from the videotape, that later appeared on the Al-Jazeera website, carried a logo that read “The Revenge Brigade”. The group was not known from previous claims of responsibility of violence in Iraq.

The tape showed Ms Carroll sitting in front of a white background and speaking, but her voice could not be heard. She appeared pale and tired.

The 28-year-old freelance reporter for the Christian Science Monitor has not been heard from since she was grabbed on 7 January in one of the most dangerous areas of the Iraq capital, Baghdad. Gunmen ambushed her car and killed her translator shortly after she left the offices of a Sunni Arab politician.

The US State Department quickly responded with a statement saying officials were doing everything possible to win Ms Carroll’s freedom. “We continue to make every effort we can, working with Iraqis and others, to see Miss Carroll is returned safe and sound,” a spokesman said.

Ms Carroll’s family pleaded with her abductors to release her, in a statement released by the newspaper yesterday.

“Jill is an innocent journalist, and we respectfully ask that you please show her mercy and allow her to return home to her mother, sister and family,” the statement said.

“Jill is a kind person whose love for Iraq and the Iraqi people are evident in her articles. She has been welcomed into the homes of many Iraqis and shown every courtesy. From that experience, she understands the hardships and suffering that the Iraqi people face every day. Jill is a friend and sister to many Iraqis and has been dedicated to bringing the truth of the Iraq war to the world. We appeal for the speedy and safe return of our beloved daughter and sister.”

The US military raided a prominent Sunni mosque a day after Ms Carroll was kidnapped, sparking a demonstration by hundreds of worshippers. A US military official said the raid was a necessary immediate response to the kidnapping, based on a tip from an Iraqi citizen.

Insurgents in Iraq have kidnapped more than 240 foreigners and killed at least 39.

Ms Carroll, who speaks some Arabic and wore a head covering while moving around Iraq, has been described by her editor as an aggressive reporter, but not a reckless one.

Despite her language skills, Ms Carroll used an Iraqi translator. The translator was killed by the kidnappers. The driver of their car escaped the attack and is now safe with his family, said David Clark Scott, the Monitor’s international news editor.

A statement by the Boston-based newspaper said that the kidnapping occurred about 300 yards from the office of Adnan al-Dulaimi, a leading Sunni Arab politician. Ms Carroll had planned to interview him, her driver said.

Mr Dulaimi, however, was not in his office, and Ms Carroll and her interpreter left after 25 minutes.

Newshound

(Sharon O’Neill, Irish News)

Police are to target a website which offers access to mobile telephone records amid fears that it may be used as a tool to unmask agents.

The Irish News understands that senior PSNI officers have been alerted to the potential danger of the service.

North American authorities flagged up the website to police this side of the Atlantic in recent weeks.

In the aftermath of former Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson’s spying admission, police in the north fear that other informers could be exposed by republicans or loyalists using the website to trace calls to their handlers.

The potential privacy threat could also have implications for the wider public.

The website has created a huge storm in the US and Canada after a US government official and an FBI agent’s calls were traced.

For as little as $110 (£62) and with results within hours, clients can find out up to 100 calls made from any mobile, including unlisted numbers, “guaranteed to be accurate and current”.

Names and addresses of those called, including including those with numbers outside Canada and the US, can also be obtained for $250 (£141), with a maximum wait of just two days.

With the internet proving notoriously difficult to police the fact that US authorities have alerted the international community shows how serious the potential risk is being treated.

The FBI has launched an investigation into the legality of the controversial website, linked to a Florida-based company, and the US is under growing pressure to tighten legislation in light of the apparent breach.

Canada has much stricter laws but it did not stop a detailed list being obtained via the same website of the phone calls made by the country’s federal privacy commissioner.

In Northern Ireland there is a mechanism in place to prevent the access of mobile telephone records without the customer’s knowledge.

However, the website under scrutiny has faced accusations of deception, fraud and hacking into systems to obtain information.

An FBI spokesman told The Irish News last night (Sunday): “We are curious because we are not clear as to how this website got these phone records from the cellphone companies.

“It is really more of a controversy in terms of people’s perception of a right to privacy. It is disturbing to a lot of people.

“Most people think their telephone records are private. I think it is something that people in general, not just law enforcement people should be concerned about, no matter where they live.”

The Irish News attempted to contact the website via email and phone but there was no response.

January 17, 2006
________________

This article appeared first in the January 16, 2006 edition of the Irish News.

:::u.tv:::

Northern Ireland owes a huge debt of gratitude to the United States for its unwavering support of the peace process over the past decade, Secretary of State Peter Hain said tonight (Tuesday).

By:Press Association

The praise was issued at a reception in Hillsborough Castle, Co Down, for a delegation of US Congressmen visiting Belfast, London and Dublin to reinforce American support for the peace process and the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Hain told them: “The United States has been a good and loyal friend to Northern Ireland and the peace process.

“Through its support and encouragement, the American administration has helped to move Northern Ireland forward.”

Much had been achieved over the past decade in Northern Ireland. Yet there was still more to be done and 2006 was an important year for everyone who supports devolution, said the Secretary of Sate.

He added: “Both the British and Irish governments value the continued support from politicians on Capitol Hill who want to see the return of the Assembly, all party support for policing, the full implementation of the agreement and a better future for all in Northern Ireland.”

The bipartisan US delegation is led by Congressman James Walsh, chairman of the Friends of Ireland in the US Congress.

He is accompanied by Congressmen Tim Murphy and Brian Higgins.

During a brief visit they were meeting representatives of the Northern Ireland parties, the British and Irish governments, and the US Ambassadors to the two countries.

Congressman Walsh said: “We see our role as one of providing encouragement and focused international attention on the fact that this stalled process needs to regain its momentum, especially now with the confirmed decommissioning of weaponry by the Irish Republican Army.”

Daily Ireland

by Tom Griffin
17/01/2006

>>View Video

A former British army officer is facing new allegations that men under his leadership have been involved in attacks on civilians

Tim Spicer, who commanded the Scots Guards in Belfast when Mark Wright and James Fisher shot dead 18-year-old Peter McBride in 1992, is now facing claims that mercenaries working for his firm Aegis Defence Services are behind attacks on Iraqi civilians revealed in footage posted on the internet.
The video, which emerged on an unofficial website maintained by a former Aegis employee, shows a series of clips of private contractors shooting at Iraqi cars from the back of a utility vehicle, set to a soundtrack of the Elvis Presley song Mystery Train. In one clip, Iraqi civilians are seen fleeing after a targeted car swerves and crashes into another vehicle.
The footage has since been taken down from the site, found at www.aegisiraq.co.uk, but has re-emerged elsewhere after its existence was highlighted by the Sunday Telegraph at the weekend.
The unofficial site was apparently known initially only to employees of Aegis and other private security contractors in Iraq.
In one post on the site’s forum, the administrator states: “This site has not been submitted to any search engines and so is not accessible willy-nilly on the Internet, you need to know the URL and at present that is only known by Aegis staff.”
Other posts record concern about the contents of the video. One states: “Respectively that footage is the most damning footage of trigger happy body count hunters that I have witnessed, it has done nothing but show the company and the lads it employs in a bad light, and if I was looking to employ a company that would certainly ensure that Aegis didn’t get the contract.”
The British Foreign Office said yesterday that it had looked into the origins of the footage.
“We’ve seen the clips on this video and it seems to be pieced together from a variety of different clips that have been cut together,” a spokesman said.
“There’s no indication of exactly where it’s come from and there’s certainly nothing to suggest that the vehicle or staff involved are Aegis contractors.”
“Aegis have a contact with the American Defence Department in Iraq, and anything further to do with their contract would be a matter for them.”
The footage has come to light only days after the Pat Finucane Centre in Derry lobbied the US Congress to cancel the Aegis contract, because of Spicer’s role in the McBride case.
“A number of members of Congress expressed concern and indeed shock at the circumstances surrounding the contract,” PFC spokeman Paul O’ Connor said.
“The latest allegations will certainly increase the fears that this contract has been awarded to the wrong person and the wrong firm.”
“Though it is important to discover whether Aegis employees were directly involved in these incidents, we should also remember that Aegis is responsible for directing all private security movements in Iraq.
“Were these incidents reported to Aegis? If not, then they are unaware of massive human rights violations occurring on the ground. If they were reported on the other hand, why was nothing done about it?”
A spokeswoman for the public relations company which represents Aegis said the company had no comment.