18 Al-Qaeda Islamic Extremists Arrested in Italy for 2010 Vatican Terror Plot

ARRESTS MADE IN ITALY FOR 2010 SUICIDE BOMB PLOT AGAINST THE VATICAN AND POPE BENEDICT XVI …

As reported at Reuters, Italian security forces have arrested 18 radical Islamic extremists Friday who prosecutors said were behind a failed 2010 plot to attack the Vatican as well as a bombing at a Pakistan market that killed more than 100 a year earlier. Prosecutor Mauro Mura stated in Cagliari, Sardinia that wiretaps indicated the suspected terrorists, including two former bodyguards for Usama bin Laden, planned a bomb attack at the Vatican and went as far as to send a suicide bomber to Rome.

Italian police were arresting 18 people on Friday suspected of belonging to an armed group linked to al Qaeda who were plotting attacks on the Vatican as well as in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Some of the suspects, who are all Pakistanis and Afghans, were arrested in early morning raids across Italy. Police burst into the home of the group’s suspected spiritual leader, in the northern city of Bergamo, a video released by them showed.

Though the suspects were plotting attacks mainly in their native countries, phone taps suggest the Vatican was also a target, said Mauro Mura, chief prosecutor of the Sardinian city of Cagliari, where the group based its headquarters.

In the tapped conversations, the suspects discuss “a big jihad in Italy,” added Mario Carta, head of the police unit on the case. They reference the word “baba”, which could mean the pope, Carta said.

“We don’t have proof, we have strong suspicion,” that the Holy See was a possible target, he added.

Italy: Al-Qaeda cell planned suicide attack on Vatican:

Raids were carried out simultaneously in seven different Italian provinces with arrest warrants for 18 suspected Islamic extremists following a lengthy investigation in Cagliari, capital of the Italian island Sardinia.

Authorities uncovered plans for a suicide bomber plot against the Vatican in 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI was pontiff. Evidence includes a “martyr’s vow” from a would-be suicide bomber threatening to strike against the Vatican, the spiritual focal point for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

Mario Carta, an official from the counter-terror police force that carried out the raids, called it “one of the most important operations ever carried out in Italy.” Police said the operation targeted an “extremely well-structured terror network” based in Sardinia since at least 2005 that was made up of Pakistani and Afghan nationals.

Nine people have been arrested, and two are still at large in Italy. Seven of the suspects are believed to be in Pakistan, Carta said.

Pope Francis’ Easter Message: End Violence & Oppression … Pope Called for an End to “the Present Absurd Bloodshed and all Barbarous Acts of Violence” of Radical Islam

Pope Francis Easter Message: “Oh God, who on this day through your only begotten son have conquered death and unmarked for us the path to eternity. [...] We ask peace above all for beloved Syria and Iraq. That the roar of arms cease and that peaceful relations be restored”.

During Pope Francis’ message this Easter Sunday, he called for an end to the bloodshed in Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and in Africa and called for the international community not stand by before the immense humanitarian tragedy unfolding in these countries. Francis  prayed for an end to the violence and persecution of Christians, specifically mentioning the recent slaughter of students massacred by Islamist militants at Garissa University in Kenya.

Pope Francis prayed for an end to the persecution of Christians in his Easter Sunday address, commemorating the students massacred by Islamist militants at Garissa University in Kenya.

Calling for peace in Libya, where last February Islamic State militants beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, the pope called for an end to “the present absurd bloodshed and all barbarous acts of violence”.

He prayed for peace in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, where Boko Haram Islamist militants have also targeted Christian churches.

“We ask for peace and freedom for the many men and women subject to old and new forms of enslavement on the part of criminal individuals and groups,” he said.

CNN

Pope Francis reminded the world of the Vatican’s status as a state and his role as a moral diplomat in his traditional speech given at the end of Easter Mass.

The Pontiff lamented the suffering of people in the conflicts currently making headlines and called for violence everywhere to end.

Foremost, he asked that bloodshed end in Iraq and Syria and that humanitarian aid get to those in need.

“May the international community not stand by before the immense humanitarian tragedy unfolding in these countries and the drama of the numerous refugees,” he said in his “urbi et orbi” address, Latin for “to the city (Rome) and to the world.”

Then he turned to the Holy Land, expressing the wish that the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians resume.

Francis mentioned Libya; the nuclear talks with Iran in Lausanne, Switzerland; Yemen; Nigeria; South Sudan; and the shooting at the Garissa University College in Kenya.

The Full Easter Mass can be seen below

Official Vatican Text of Pope Francis’ Easter Message:

“Jesus Christ is risen! Love has triumphed over hatred, life has conquered death, light has dispelled the darkness!

Out of love for us, Jesus Christ stripped himself of his divine glory, emptied himself, took on the form of a slave and humbled himself even to death, death on a cross. For this reason God exalted him and made him Lord of the universe. Jesus is Lord! By his death and resurrection, Jesus shows everyone the way to life and happiness: this way is humility, which involves humiliation. This is the path which leads to glory. Only those who humble themselves can go towards the “things that are above”, towards God (cf. Col 3:1-4). The proud look “down from above”; the humble look “up from below”.

On Easter morning, alerted by the women, Peter and John ran to the tomb. They found it open and empty. Then they drew near and “bent down” in order to enter it. To enter into the mystery, we need to “bend down”, to abase ourselves. Only those who abase themselves understand the glorification of Jesus and are able to follow him on his way.

The world proposes that we put ourselves forward at all costs, that we compete, that we prevail. But Christians, by the grace of Christ, dead and risen, are the seeds of another humanity, in which we seek to live in service to one another, not to be arrogant, but rather respectful and ready to help.

This is not weakness, but true strength! Those who bear within them God’s power, his love and his justice, do not need to employ violence; they speak and act with the power of truth, beauty and love.

From the risen Lord we ask the grace not to succumb to the pride which fuels violence and war, but to have the humble courage of pardon and peace. We ask Jesus, the Victor over death, to lighten the sufferings of our many brothers and sisters who are persecuted for his name, and of all those who suffer injustice as a result of ongoing conflicts and violence.

We ask for peace, above all, for Syria and Iraq, that the roar of arms may cease and that peaceful relations may be restored among the various groups which make up those beloved countries. May the international community not stand by before the immense humanitarian tragedy unfolding in these countries and the drama of the numerous refugees.

We pray for peace for all the peoples of the Holy Land. May the culture of encounter grow between Israelis and Palestinians and the peace process be resumed, in order to end years of suffering and division.

We implore peace for Libya, that the present absurd bloodshed and all barbarous acts of violence may cease, and that all concerned for the future of the country may work to favor reconciliation and to build a fraternal society respectful of the dignity of the person. For Yemen too we express our hope for the growth of a common desire for peace, for the good of the entire people. (the rest of the message)

ISIS Killing Muslims: Bombings: 137 People Killed & 345 Injured in Quadruple Suicide Bombings At a Pair of Mosques in Sanaa, Yemen

BUT ISIS IS JUST THE JV ACCORDING TO BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA …

The BBC is reporting that hundreds are dead and even more injured after multiple suicide bombs ripped through two mosques during Friday prayer in the capital city of Sanaa, Yemen. ISIS is taking credit for the bombings saying in a statement that the terror attacks were carried out by IS in Yemen.  ISIS called these attacks, “a tip of an iceberg.” Yemen is in complete and total chaos. Wasn’t it Obama that was just touting Yemen as one of his shining successes? Typical.

Suicide bombers have attacked two mosques in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing at least 126 people and wounding many others, reports say.

Worshippers were attending noon prayers at the Badr and al-Hashoosh mosques when at least four attackers struck.

The mosques are used mainly by supporters of the Zaidi Shia-led Houthi rebel movement, which controls Sanaa.

Islamic State (IS), which set up a branch in Yemen in November, said it was behind the attacks.

A statement from the group was published on Twitter accounts known as reliable sources for IS propaganda. If confirmed, the attacks would be the first carried out by IS in Yemen.

VIDEO – CNN

CNN:

The Sunni terror group ISIS purportedly claimed it committed Friday’s bombings that killed scores of people at two mosques frequented by Shiite rebels in Yemen’s capital — an attack that would mark ISIS’s first large-scale attack in the Arabian Peninsula country.

At least 137 people were killed and 357 wounded when suicide bombers, pretending to be disabled and hiding explosives under casts, attacked the mosques in Sanaa, according to Yemen’s state-run Saba news agency.

It would also illustrate a seemingly expanding focus for ISIS, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq and earlier this week claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s killings of tourists at a museum in Tunisia.

Regardless, Friday’s attacks marked one of the worst days of recent violence during a complicated struggle for control of Yemen, where Houthi rebels — Shiites in a predominantly Sunni country — already faced resistance from AQAP and from supporters of ousted President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.

UPDATE I: Yemen mosque bombings: ‘Blood was running like a river.’

Many of the worshippers in the mosques were supporters of the Shia Houthi fighters who control the capital, and responsibility for the carnage was claimed by Isis which regards all Shia as heretics – though it was impossible to immediately verify this and some analysts were sceptical. The final death toll was uncertain last night, with sources giving varying accounts, at least one putting it at 137 with a further 350 people injured. But the authorities warned that with so many of the wounded suffering critical injuries the toll is sure to rise.

After the blasts the wounded were loaded on the back of pick-up trucks and were taken to hospitals where, as they waited for treatment, they lay side by side with the dead. Among the dead was, according to Al Jazeera and Houthi-owned television, the imam of the Badr mosque, the prominent Houthi cleric al-Murtada bin Zayd al-Mahatwari.

VIDEO – AP: ISIS killing other Muslims in Yemen

And Barack Obama is too busy trying to determine if he can salvage his March Madness NCAA brackets.

Hillary Clinton Says, We Must Show Respect and Empathize With America’s Enemies

AMERICA, IS THIS WHAT YOU REALLY WANT AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF?

Former Secretary of State, former US Senator of New York and former First Lady Hillary Clinton says that “Smart power” also includes “showing respect even for one’s enemies. Trying to understand … empathize with their perspective and point of view.”  What Hillary Clinton calls smart power, others who actually like America and its freedoms and liberties call ignorant, foolish and naive utopian liberal BS. It is no wonder that Hillary accomplished nothing as Secretary of State except get frequent flier miles.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that women should play larger roles in conflict resolution and military efforts around the globe and that “smart power” includes empathizing and showing respect, even for one’s enemies, as the United States confronts a host of challenges on the world stage.

Lt. Col. Oliver North appeared ‘On the Record’ with Greta Van Susteran said oh Hillary’s comments, “those words coming out of some one who intends to be commander and chief are not just naive and utopian, it’s irrational.” As Col. North pointed out when Greta tried to make excuses for Hillary about being taken  out of context, Hillary was looking down at her notes and reading, not making an off the cuff comment. This is the underlying belief of progressives and liberals, we must understand why and empathize with our enemies because we must be to blame.  Case in point, Obama apology tour when he first became president.

Transcript from The Weekly Standard:

“This is what we call smart power,” Clinton said to a small audience at Georgetown. “Using every possible tool and partner to advance peace and security. Leaving no one on the sidelines. Showing respect even for one’s enemies. Trying to understand, in so far as psychologically possible, empathize with their perspective and point of view. Helping to define the problems, determine the solutions. That is what we believe in the 21st century will change — change the prospects for peace.

So are we supposed to respect and empathize with ISIS, al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Muslim Brotherhood and maybe Boko Haram? How about the terrorists who attacked the Libyan consulate in Benghazi and murdered Ambassador Stevens? How about those that would chop off the heads of innocents? Maybe Hillary would like to explain herself? But in the end, what difference would it make?

Al Qaeda Terrorists Plot in Europe to Blow Up 5 Planes in Christmas ‘Spectacular’ 9-11 Like Attack

Al Qaeda Terrorists Plot Christmas ‘Spectacular’ …

As reported at the New York Post, Al Qaeda terrorists are plotting to blow up five passenger planes flying between European cities as part of a Christmas “spectacular,” in a 9-11 like attack. According to credible sources, the threat is aimed at Europe,” adding, “The US has improved their security over the summer, but we have not.’’ because of the threat, British airport officials may require devices such as smartphones and iPads to be placed in checked luggage. May? Also, the threat has been deemed so seriously that officials may have an outright ban on all hand luggage. The fear is also that the future terrorism could be carried out by sleepers or western converts who could very likely have blue eyes and blonde hair as opposed to dark skin and beards.

Terrorists are plotting to blow up five passenger planes flying between European cities as part of a Christmas “spectacular,” according to a British newspaper report.

“Everyone is expecting something catastrophic very soon,” a source told the Sunday Express. “We’ve been told that five planes are being targeted in a high-profile hit before Christmas. They’ve been waiting for the big one.”

London authorities were the first to uncover the threat, which would involve midair bombings, a source told The Post.

“There is a credible threat that they’re concerned about,’’ another source said. “They’ve known about it for a while.”

UK Express - EXCLUSIVE: Al Qaeda plot to blow up 5 passenger planes in Christmas ‘spectacular’:

The plot, which has been known about for the past two months, is thought to involve Islamists smuggling bombs on to planes bound for major European destinations before Christmas.

The well-placed security insider said talks had been held about how to deal with it, with suggestions made to ban hand luggage.

The source said: “High level negotiations are continuing at Governmental level but at the moment there has been little done to respond.

“There is paralysis because of the difficulty of banning hand luggage which is one of the strongest weapons we have against the new threats.

“All electronics may be banned from hand luggage and placed in the hold, that has been considered, and there has been behavior analysis training at airports but while it’s effective, it’s difficult to roll out quickly and is not a sufficient safety net.