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Embassy, consulate closures extendedNew fears of al Qaeda-linked attack

Intercepted message led to terror alertInside the threat overseas

Prison breaks are among reasons for heightened securityBy Barbara Starr and Tom Cohen, CNNupdated 8:20 AM EDT, Tue August 6, 2013 CNN.com

11 jailbreaks linked to al Qaeda plot?

anchors a CNN Special Investigation, 'The Truth about Benghazi', Tuesday at 10 p.m. ETErin Burnett

Washington (CNN) -- First the attackers blew up bombs outside a Pakistani prison. Then they scared offpeople in the area and used loudspeakers to call out specific inmates they were trying to release. Shiiteprisoners left inside were killed.

"It was a well-planned assault," noted CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen, who provided detailsMonday of the July 30 prison break in northwest Pakistan.

Other similar operations in the past two weeks in Iraq and Libya successfully freed hundreds of convictedor suspected Islamic terrorists, a known strategy of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Bergen and other analysts cited the prison breaks as one of several reasons the United States hasdramatically heightened its security stance by issuing a worldwide travel alert and closing almost twodozen embassies and consulates on Sunday, with 19 of them remaining shut for the rest of the week.

The StateDepartment saidthe substantialsecurity stepsreflect an"abundance ofcaution" overintelligenceinformation thatindicated finalplanning by alQaeda in Yemenfor possibleterrorist attacks onWestern targets tocoincide with theend of Ramadan

this week.

'Do something'

An intercepted message among senior al Qaeda operatives in the last several days further intensifiedconcerns already heightened by increased terrorist chatter detected by intelligence agencies, as well asthe prison breaks.

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A message from al-Zawahiri to his second in command in Yemen told him to "do something," CNN haslearned. U.S. and Yemeni officials had already spent weeks watching a rising stream of intelligence aboutthe possibility of a major terrorist attack in Yemen, so the message caused them to fear imminent terroristaction.

CNN had the information over the weekend and decided not to report the details about al-Zawahiri'sinvolvement based on U.S. government concerns about the sensitivity of the information. Now that it hasbeen widely reported in other media, including the New York Times and McClatchy, CNN has nowdecided to report it as well.

And U.S. officials cautioned that there may be multiple sources of intelligence, including intercepts ofelectronic information from phone calls and web postings and the interrogation of couriers or otheroperatives.

Opinion: What's behind timing of terror threat

Asked Monday about the prison breaks, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf called them "aconcern for the international community" that is "separate and apart" from the U.S. concern about thelatest specific terrorist threat.

Bergen, however, noted that al Qaeda "actually announced a year ago that they were going to do thiscampaign of releasing prisoners from prison and they conducted something like seven prison assaults -- acouple of which have been quite successful."

Prison breaks

A senior official with Iraq's interior ministry told CNN on condition of not being identified that top officials ofal Qaeda in Iraq, including Adnan Ismail Najim Abdullah al-Dulaimi, escaped from Abu Graib prison duringthe jailbreak there last month and remains at large.

Bergen noted that a 2006 prison break in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, led to the creation of al Qaeda in theArabian Peninsula, one of the terrorist organization's most virulent affiliates.

Although the prison breaks are not the main reason for the raised terror threat, said CNN TerrorismAnalyst Paul Cruickshank, "it is part of the background music." Prison breaks can often strengthen terroristgroups because "some of these guys are likely to be seasoned operatives," he added.

To CNN National Security Contributor Frances Fragos Townsend, the timing of the prison breaks andincreased intelligence chatter building up to the end of Ramadan signaled heightened al Qaeda activitythat required precautionary steps in response.

She noted that in the run-up to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, "the government failed toconnect dots."

"These seem like dots that ought to be connected," said Townsend, a former homeland security andanti-terrorism adviser to the Bush administration. "You can figure out later whether or not you were right."

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Is rash of brazen prison breaks related? Interpol wants to know

Another dot she cited was that al-Zawahiri recently appointed Nasir al Wuhayshi, the Yemeni leader of alQaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to be the new general manager of the global al Qaeda network.

CNN has learned al-Zawahiri's message for action was sent to Wuhayshi.

A high-profile attack orchestrated by Wuhayshi would cement the Yemeni's new position in the al Qaedahierarchy, Townsend said.

Yemen is an area of particular concern. Three sources said the United States has information thatmembers of the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are in the final stages ofplanning for an unspecified attack.

According to a U.S. official with access to the latest intelligence, Wuhayshi's appointment as a top globalal Qaeda figure would almost certainly have required back-and-forth communication between AQAP andal Qaeda central.

At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Monday that while U.S. anti-terrorism effortshad decimated al Qaeda's global leadership and greatly diminished its core in the Afghanistan-Pakistanregion, the threat still posed "has shifted to some of these affiliates, in particular AQAP."

Over the weekend, Interpol warned that al Qaeda has been tied to the prison breaks on July 23 in Iraq, onJuly 26 in Libya and four days later in Pakistan.

End of Ramadan

Another factor prompting the embassy and consulate closures is the end of Ramadan. Depending onwhen a new crescent moon is seen, the Muslim holy month could end Wednesday or Thursday.

Ramadan's end is celebrated with the Eid al-Fitr festivities -- a three-day holiday in most Muslim countries.

The State Department, in announcing its closures, alluded to this, saying that "a number of our embassiesand consulates were going to be closed in accordance with local custom and practice for the bulk of theweek for the Eid celebration at the end of Ramadan."

Britain also announced its embassy in Yemen will remain closed through the end of Eid "due to continuingsecurity concerns."

Strategic reason

Townsend said there could be a strategic reason for shutting down the diplomatic offices.

"Once you take targets away, it buys you additional time to try and disrupt, to identify the cell, theoperators in country and the region, and work with your partners in the region to try and ... get them incustody or disrupt the plot," she said. "So, some of this operationally is about buying time."

List of closures

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A total of 19 U.S. embassies and consulates will be closed Monday through Saturday.

The following 15 were part of the original list:

U.S. Embassy Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

U.S. Embassy Amman, Jordan

U.S. Embassy Cairo, Egypt

U.S. Consulate Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

U.S. Embassy Djibouti, Djibouti

U.S. Embassy Doha, Qatar

U.S. Consulate Dubai, United Arab Emirates

U.S. Consulate Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

U.S. Embassy Khartoum, Sudan

U.S. Embassy Kuwait City, Kuwait

U.S. Embassy Manama, Bahrain

U.S. Embassy Muscat, Oman

U.S. Embassy Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

U.S. Embassy Sanaa, Yemen

U.S. Embassy Tripoli, Libya

The following four embassies have been added:

U.S. Embassy Antananarivo, Madagascar

U.S. Embassy Bujumbura, Burundi

U.S. Embassy Kigali, Rwanda

U.S. Embassy Port Louis, Mauritius

CNN's Jill Dougherty, Dana Bash, Hamdi Alkhshali, Chris Lawrence, Evan Perez, Gloria Borger, JimAcosta, Elise Labott, Mohammed Jamjoom, NuNu Japaridze, Bharati Naik, Karen Smith and HakimAlmasmari contributed to this report.

steely

Line

CUT & PASTED FROM: http://rt.com/news/iraq-abu-prison-escape-430/

Over 500 ‘Al-Qaeda militants’ escape Iraq’s Abu

Ghraib in violent break-out

Published time: July 22, 2013 15:55

Edited time: July 23, 2013 18:19

AFP Photo / Michael V. May.

A manhunt is underway in Iraq for hundreds of convicts, including senior Al-Qaeda terrorists, who broke out of

Abu Ghraib prison after a military-style raid to free them, authorities said on Monday.

The militant Islamist organization has claimed responsibility for the assaults on Iraq’s Abu Ghraib and Taji

prisons, Reuters quoted Al-Qaeda’s statement posted on militant forums.

The attacks were allegedly carried out after months of preparations on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and the

Levant, which is a merger between Al-Qaeda’s affiliates in Syria and Iraq.

Between 500 to 1,000 prisoners have escaped as a result of the attack, “most of them were convicted senior

members of Al-Qaeda and had received death sentences," said Hakim Zamili, a senior member of the security

and defense committee in parliament.

Suicide bombers drove cars with explosives into the gates of the prison on the outskirts of Baghdad on Sunday

night, while gunmen attacked guards with mortar fire as well as rocket propelled grenades.

Other militants held the main road, fighting off security reinforcements sent from Baghdad, as several

insurgents wearing suicide vests entered Abu Ghraib on foot to help free the inmates.

Ten policemen and four militants were killed in the fighting, which continued until early Monday, when

military helicopters arrived to help regain control.

By that time, hundreds of inmates had succeeded in fleeing Abu Ghraib. The security forces arrested some of

them, the rest are still free, Zamili commented.

Reuters / Mohammed Ameen

“It's obviously a terrorist attack carried out by Al-Qaeda to free convicted terrorists with Al-Qaeda,” another

security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Jihadist accounts on Twitter claimed that not 500, but thousands of prisoners had escaped from the detention

facility. A number of users also posted similar claims on the Honein jihadist forum, AFP news agency reports.

The Abu Ghraib capable of holding around 15,000 inmates has become notorious a decade ago after

photographs showing abuse of prisoners by US soldiers were made available to the public.

A simultaneous attack on another prison, in Taji, to the north of Baghdad, had a similar scheme, but guards

prevented a break-out. 16 soldiers and six militants were killed there.

The attacks on the tow prisons came a year after Al-Qaeda’s Iraqi front group announced that it would be

targeting the country’s justice system.

AFP Photo / Michael V. May

“The first priority in this is releasing Muslim prisoners everywhere, and chasing and eliminating judges and

investigators and their guards,” said an audio message attributed to the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

in July 2012.

Sunni rebels, including Al-Qaeda-affiliated, have been gaining strength and regularly striking Shiite Muslims

and security forces. The violence has increased fears of a return to conflict in the country.

But ultimately, Flounders concludes that the international audience shouldn’t be surprised at the news, because

Western efforts in Iraq have not shown any signs of addressing the actual spread of sectarian violence in Iraq

after the toppling of Saddam Hussein. In the city of Mosul to the north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated

a vehicle with explosives behind a military convoy, killing at least 22 soldiers and three passers-by, police

reported.

Recent attacks have targeted mosques, football matches, shopping areas and cafes where people meet after

breaking the daily fast for the holy month of Ramadan.

However, despite widespread claims that the escapees are largely affiliated with Al-Qaeda, there is no way of

knowing, says Sara Flounders, head of the International Action Center. She also told RT that not much is

known about Abu Ghraib itself after the US handed over control to the Iraqi government, following its

withdrawal from the country.

“The state of security hasn’t substantially improved since. We know also there are many operatives left in Iraq

that continue US policy aims. There’s a lot that’s uncertain and unknown today in Iraq. We do know there was

a prison break. But before we rush to label everyone Al-Qaeda, let’s be aware that Abu Ghraib itself as a

prison was notorious for US torture techniques… it was turned back over to the Iraqi government and we have

no idea if any conditions improved.”

But ultimately, Flounders concludes that the international audience shouldn’t be surprised at the news, because

Western efforts in Iraq have not shown any signs of addressing the actual spread of sectarian violence after the

toppling of Saddam Hussein, while billions of dollars were misspent – an opinion shared by defense consultant

Moeen Raoof.

“The Iraqi government isn’t controlling anything… [It] hasn’t been spending its oil funds on security… the

toppling of Saddam Hussein was a fatal, fatal mistake,” one that will be repeated in Afghanistan, after complete

US withdrawal, he believes.

Nearly 600 people have been killed in militant attacks across Iraq so far this month, according to the monitoring

group Iraq Body Count.

Updated

Jul

2013

5:02pm, EDT

Wathiq Khuzaie / Getty Images

An Iraqi security officer patrols the grounds of Abu Ghraib prison, which has been renamed as Baghdad Central

Prison.

By Kareem Raheem and Ziad al-Sinjary, Reuters

BAGHDAD/MOSUL, Iraq -- Hundreds of convicts, including senior members of al Qaeda, broke out

of Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail as comrades launched a military-style assault to free them, authorities said

on Monday.

The deadly raid on the high-security jail happened as Sunni Muslim militants are re-gaining

momentum in their insurgency against the Shiite-led government that came to power after the U.S.

invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.

Suicide bombers drove cars packed with explosives to the gates of the prison on the outskirts of

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1 9/22/2013 6:44 PM

Baghdad on Sunday night and blasted their way into the compound, while gunmen attacked guards

with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

Other militants took up positions near the main road, fighting off security reinforcements sent from

Baghdad as several militants wearing suicide vests entered the prison on foot to help free the

inmates.

Ten policemen and four

militants were killed in the

ensuing clashes, which

continued until Monday

morning, when military

helicopters arrived, helping to

regain control.

By that time, hundreds of

inmates had succeeded in

fleeing Abu Ghraib, the prison

made notorious a decade ago

by photographs showing abuse of prisoners by U.S. soldiers.

"The number of escaped inmates has reached 500, most of them were convicted senior members of

al Qaeda and had received death sentences," Hakim Al-Zamili, a senior member of the security and

defense committee in parliament, told Reuters.

"The security forces arrested some of them, but the rest are still free."

One security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity: "It's obviously a terrorist attack carried

out by al Qaeda to free convicted terrorists with al Qaeda."

A simultaneous attack on another prison, in Taji, around 12 miles north of Baghdad, followed a

similar pattern, but guards managed to prevent any inmates escaping. Sixteen soldiers and six

militants were killed.

Sunni insurgents, including the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, have been regaining strength

in recent months and striking on an almost daily basis against Shiite Muslims and security forces

among other targets.

The violence has raised fears of a return to full-blown conflict in a country where Kurds, Shiite and

Sunni Muslims have yet to find a stable way of sharing power.

Recent attacks have targeted mosques, amateur football matches, shopping areas and cafes where

people gather to socialize after breaking their daily fast for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

Relations between Islam's two main denominations have been put under further strain from the civil

war in Syria, which has drawn in Shiite and Sunni fighters from Iraq and beyond to fight against each

other.

In the northern city of Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle

packed with explosives behind a military convoy in the eastern Kokchali district, killing at least 22

soldiers and three passers-by, police said.

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Following the attack, leaflets were found

near mosques in Mosul signed by the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which

was formed earlier this year through a

merger between Syrian and Iraqi affiliates

of al Qaeda.

Suicide bombings are the hallmark of al

Qaeda, which has been regrouping in

Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city and capital

of the Sunni-dominated Nineveh province.

A separate attack in western Mosul killed

four policemen, police said.

Nearly 600 people have been killed in

militant attacks across Iraq so

far this month, according to

violence monitoring group Iraq

Body Count.

That is still well below the

height of bloodletting in

2006-07, when the monthly

death toll sometimes exceeded

3,000.

Reuters contributed to this

report.

'The battlefields are merging': Surge in violence raises fears of new war in Iraq

and beyond

Fears of civil war in Iraq after 1,000 are killed in a month

May marks deadliest month in Iraq in 5 years

Lynndie England, jailed for Abu Ghraib abuses, says she doesn't feel bad about

Iraqis' treatment

This story was originally published on Mon Jul 22, 2013 5:02 PM EDT

Photojournalist Michael Kamber joins MSNBC's Craig Melvin and fellow

photojournalists Carolyn Cole and Ed Kashi to talk about his new book,

"The Untold Stories From Iraq: Photojournalists on War".

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