Northern Virginia man set to appeal in terrorism case

A Northern Virginia man who warned the creators of the animated TV show "South Park" that they risked death for mocking the Prophet Muhammad is planned to plead guilty to supporting an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group, according to court records.

Zachary Chesser of Bristow, a 20-year-old dropout from George Mason University, is planned for a plea hearing today in federal court in Alexandria, court records show. He is charged with providing material support to a terrorist group, communicating pressure and soliciting crimes of violence.

According to a court affidavit, Chesser tried to join the al-Shabab terrorist group in Somalia this year and post online propaganda for it. Authorities say Chesser took his infant son with him to the airport to make his travel shows more harmless.

A call to the U.S. attorney's office in Alexandria was not immediately returned yesterday. Chesser's attorney, federal public defender Michael Nachmanoff, decline comment.

Nation boldly faced extremism and terrorism, says PM

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday said that Pakistan had bravely confronted the challenges of terrorism and extremism, adding that the resiliency of the masses and state institution had been tested.

Addressing a select gathering on the event of a farewell lunch hosted in honor of outgoing US Ambassador Anne W Patterson, he said democracy had taken roots in Pakistan, as was vividly demonstrated by the vibrancy of parliament and the debates in the media. Commenting on the role of the outgoing ambassador in strengthening bilateral relationship between the two countries, the PM said that Pakistan considered her a good friend and an outstanding representative of the US.

The PM said that during her tenure, the country’s friendship with the US had transformed into a comprehensive partnership, adding that Pakistan particularly attaches great value to the contribution that the outgoing ambassador had made in this regard. The PM wished her good luck in her future endeavors. Patterson, while reciprocating the views, said that she was pleased to see the transformation of bilateral relations into a long-term planned partnership, which was beneficial for the two countries.

Ruling in terrorism trial analysis a setback for Obama

The Obama administration's prosecution of terrorism expects in U.S. criminal courts could be hobbled by a federal judge's decision to bar a key government witness from testifying in the first analysis of a prisoner who was held by the military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan are trying Ahmed Ghailani of Tanzania on charges that he conspired with Islamic militants to bomb the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in which 224 citizens were killed. Ghailani's defense lawyers argued he was forced in interrogations while in CIA custody.

Judge Lewis Kaplan refused to permit a witness testify because he was located as a result of testimony coerced from Ghailani, a setback for the Obama administration.

The Obama administration has frequently said that U.S. criminal courts in the past have handled prosecuting terrorism cases and have pressed to have detainees from Guantanamo tried that way regardless of criticism from Republicans.

The decision, if prosecutors are unable to overturn it, could make it harder for the administration to win approval from the U.S. Congress to prosecute terrorism expects in criminal courts. That effort was previously facing challenges despite the fact that President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats control both chambers.

Sweden increased terrorism threat level

Sweden increased its terrorism threat level on Friday based on a classified intelligence evaluation, but authorities said an attack was not imminent and the threat was still low compared to other European countries.

The Swedish Security Service said it had raised the estimated threat level for terrorism targeting the country to "elevate" from "low", based on an analysis of security by the National Centre of Terrorist Threat Assessment.

Political violence is rare in Sweden, which has approximately 500 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led force.

"The assessment is based on cleverness indicating a shift in activities among certain groups in Sweden, judged to be targeted at Sweden," the security police said in a statement.

"It should be emphasized that the threat is not at present assessed to be imminent. Compared to the situation in several other European countries, the threat level to Sweden is still low."

FBI agents cheated in terrorism test

A US government investigation has uncovered proof of widespread cheating by FBI agents in an internal test.

The exam was designed to test their knowledge of terrorism investigations and foreign intelligence meeting.

The Department of Justice found that FBI field agents had cheated by conferring and using crib sheets and computers to look up responds.

The report found that "an important number of FBI employees engaged in some form of improper conduct or cheating" on the test. Suspicions were increased after 200 FBI staff finished the 90-minute exam in less than 20 minutes.

All employees were required to take the 51-question computerized exam after undergoing 16 and a half hour of tuition about controversial new guidelines for domestic terrorism investigations.

After interviewing staff, investigators found that a lot of people taking the exam had conferred; workers in one office exploited a programming error to call up the answers and in another office, of 11 workers interviewed, three supervisors and four agents said that they had used answer sheets.

Kabul warns of rising terrorism threat

Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul concerns about the growing terrorist threats in the region despite the deployment of 150,000 foreign troops across Afghanistan.

"Terrorism in our region is a rising threat to world peace and security. The audacity and geographic scope of radical and terrorist groups harbored in our region continues to enlarge," Rassoul told the UN General Assembly on Monday.

According to the Afghan official, greater international cooperation is desired to defeat terrorism in the region.

"Terrorism remains a global challenge which can be defeated only through a rigorous international effort," he went on to say.

"If our international partners and allies wish to win the global war on terrorism, they must look beyond villages in Afghanistan, and engage in a plan that will effectively and decisively dismantle organizations and networks that carry on with immunity to support terrorist and radical militants," Reuters quoted Rassoul as saying.

Violence has increased to its highest level across Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted by US-led forces in 2001.

Money transfers could face anti-terrorism inspection

The Obama administration wants to involve U.S. banks to report all electronic money transfers into and out of the country, a theatrical expansion in efforts to counter terrorist financing and money laundering.

Officials say the information would assist those spot the sort of transfers that helped finance the al-Qaeda hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. They say the expanded financial data would allow anti-terrorist agencies to better understand normal money-flow patterns so they can spot irregular activity.

Financial institutions are now required to report to the Treasury Department transactions in surplus of $10,000 and others they deem doubtful. The new rule would require banks to reveal even the smallest transfers.

Treasury officials plan to post the future regulation on their Web site Monday and in the Federal Register this week. The public could comment before a final rule is published and the schedule takes effect, which officials say will probably not be until 2012.