Daily Archives: 25 January 2010

FBI ‘fabricated terror emergencies to get phone records’

The US justice department is preparing a report which concludes that the FBI repeatedly broke the law by invoking terrorism emergencies that did not exist to obtain more than 2,000 telephone call records over four years from 2002, including those of journalists on US newspapers, according to emails obtained by the Washington Post.

The bureau also issued authorisations for the seizure of records after the fact, in order to justify unwarranted seizures.

The Washington Post said the emails show how counter-terrorism Âofficials inside FBI headquarters breached regulations designed to protect civil liberties. (Read more from guardian.co.uk)

The FBI Sucks at Photoshop

This week, the FBI released a “digitally-altered” image showing what Osama Bin Laden possibly looks like now that he’s older.

While the FBI claims to have used “cutting-edge” technology to create the image, a Spanish politician has noticed that the poster is a modified version of his campaign photo — he now finds his face in America’s most wanted list.

While on the surface it’s an amusing misstep by intelligence agencies, Gaspar Llamazares, the former leader of Spain’s United Left coalition, calls the move “shameless.” (Read more from mashable.com)

Ivorian tax-free rebel city flourishes

Too good to last. Some government will soon come and exploit them.

“Here no-one can say to you: ‘No, that’s pirated’ or ‘You can’t sell that here,'” he tells me when I ask if he ever has any trouble from the authorities.

“If we were in the south of the country, you could complain that no customs tax has been paid for example, but when you’re in the New Forces-zone everything can come in and be sold,” he says.

The north of Ivory Coast – an area covering 60% of the country and a zone bigger than England and Wales – remains under the authority of an ex-rebel group, the New Forces, who split the country in two after a rebellion in 2002.

Bouake is the ex-rebel capital of “Soroland”, as the zone is sometimes nicknamed, after the New Forces leader, Guillaume Soro.

. . . .

Things are a lot cheaper than in the south – we see that people from the south often come here to stock up for less

Soroland may not be a breakaway zone, but for seven years the inhabitants of this zone have got used to living without government taxes, customs charges and even water and electricity bills.

Reunification – already under way – will be a challenge to complete.

Hussein Doumbia is one of many local business leaders who have learnt to profit from this vast black market zone.

Members of the government’s armed forces formerly aiming to recapture Bouake now profit from the duty-free shopping. (Read more from news.bbc.co.uk)