By Kirk
NBC4 reports that the DHS warned WMATA on Sunday of a potential terror threat to the Metro system. According to a DHS memo, an individual obtained a Turkish visa to come to the States and perpetrate a bombing on a Metro station. The memo stated that this information has “low credibility” and that DHS has little information as to the specific date or target for the attack, or if the individual in question is even capable of carrying out a bombing.
By Ben H. Rome
‘Candlelights at Leopold’s’ courtesy of ‘Unlisted Sightings’
With the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, the ever-tense relationship between Pakistan and its eastern neighbor was once again headline news. Pakistani government officials condemned the attack, but the incident raised questions again about links between the Pakistani Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Islamic terror networks. How does the history of the ISI- and its partnership with the CIA during the 1980s-affect its actions and worldview? How do the United States and Pakistan look on their partnership in today’s circumstances? These pressing questions will be considered and discussed tonight by a panel of experts at the International Spy Museum.
Present will be Shuja Nawaz, Director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council of the United States and author of Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within; Bruce Riedel, senior fellow, foreign policy, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution, former CIA officer and senior adviser to three U.S. presidents on Middle East and South Asian issues; and Ambassador Teresita Schaffer, the Director of the South Asia Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, who has written extensively and testified before Congress on Pakistani issues.
To get an idea of tonight’s discussion, we obtained from the ISM a quick Q&A session with Shuja Nawaz. Continue reading
By brownpau
Washington Post tells us that teams of Metro Transit Police with dogs will be conducting random bag searches on trains and buses at times when “heightened vigilance” is required. Passengers will be taken aside at random intervals before boarding buses or entering rail stations to be screened; those who do not comply will not be detained or have their bags confiscated, but they will be denied entry.
Update: Official press release from WMATA with pictures and video.
By brownpau
Two news alerts today of “suspicious packages” at Gallaudet University and Judiciary Square Metro Station this morning.
Ballard North Hall at Gallaudet was evacuated while a bomb squad was called in, and Judiciary Square Station was closed, with trains continuing to travel through it but no stops.
Update: Judiciary Square Station is back open again after the package was deemed safe. Meanwhile at Gallaudet, the word from WJLA News is “suspicious substance” plant fertilizer.
