London terror suspect was on 'Peaceful' Gaza flotilla ship Mavi Marmara in 2010.

London terror suspect was on 'Peaceful' Gaza flotilla ship Mavi Marmara in 2010. (I24news).

Investigators told Reuters that they did not think that Ali's participation in the flotilla was linked to the incident on Thursday.

In May 2010 nine Turkish citizens were killed after Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara, part of a flotilla that was attempting to reach Gaza.

An Israeli inquiry found that the soldiers opened fire after the activists aboard the ship attempted to attack them with knives and metal rods.

Ten Israeli commandos were injured in the incident.The man arrested carrying knives close to the parliament in London on Thursday, was on board a Gaza flotilla ship raided by Israeli soldiers in 2010, the Reuters news agency reports.

The man, named by sources to the agency as 27-year-old Khalid Omar Ali, is being held in custody on suspicion of terrorism offences and possession of an offensive weapon.

British police said that he was being monitored by security services, and was arrested as part of a security operation. According to Reuters, a man identified as "Ali" features on an activist's website in 2010.

In a video he says that he was also on the ship Strofades IV which was boarded by Greek commandos after a hostage situation developed after a disagreement with the vessel's captain."Ali" also reportedly discussed his aim to join the Road to Hope convoy which aimed to deliver aid to Gaza via Egypt in 2010. Hmmmm.....let me guess he traveled often to Turkey? 


 Flashback: 

"Peaceful Mavi Marmara victim to donate compensation to Hamas, Islamic Jihad.

International figures will be on board new Freedom Flotilla III.

International figures will be on board new Freedom Flotilla III. (Q).

Al Qassam website (Agencies) - Essam Yousif, chairman of Miles of Smiles convoys, said in a press release issued Tuesday that activists of Miles of Smiles decided to join Freedom Flotilla III and to reach Gaza in few weeks.

The activists include Parliamentary personalities, former ministers, artists, businessmen, and academics from Arab, Muslim, and European countries, he pointed out.




“Israeli authorities would not succeed in preventing those international activists from carrying out their humanitarian duty towards the two million Palestinians living under siege and poverty in the Gaza Strip for more than eight years, during which they witnessed three devastating assaults, resulted in thousands of martyrs and injured people and tens of thousands of destroyed buildings.”

Youssef said that Freedom Flotilla III and the ongoing international efforts came in the context of exposing Israeli violations to international laws.

"Mariana has already started its trip to break the siege of Gaza as part of Freedom Flotilla III," he continued.

Chairman of Miles of Smiles convoys concluded his statement by stressing the urgent need to lift the siege on Gaza as it totally violates all international laws and norms. Hmmmm......You think the 'enlargement' of the Gaza port has anything to do with this? Would be a shame if the project failed. 

"And they're off again" Hamas Announces Yet Another 'Turkish' Flotilla For 2015

"And they're off again" Hamas Announces Yet Another Flotilla For 2015; Last Flotilla Ship Exploded in 2014. (GMBR).

The military wing of Hamas has reported that the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG) has announced that together with another Hamas front group known as the  Euro-Mid Observer, it intends to launch another “Freedom Flotilla” to the Gaza Strip at the end of May 2015. 

December 7, 2014 The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza announced intents to dispatch the Freedom Flotilla II to the Gaza Strip by the end of May 2015 to mark the 5th anniversary of the notorious Israeli attack on the 2010 flotilla. 

Activist in the campaign said, during a meeting held Saturday, the flotilla is to set sail to Gaza in the last week of May with a wider international participation, the local SAFA News Agency quoted Chairman of the campaign, Mazen Kahil, as stating. 

Kahil said the projected multinational fleet comes as a reaction to Israeli and Egyptian attempts to tighten the noose around Gazans’ necks, adding that a roadmap was devised to that end. 

The Turkish Relief Organization said activists from 100 states will partake in the planned flotilla in an act of defiance to the blockade enforced on Gaza since 2007. 

The move is intended to replicate the May 2010 flotilla, which failed to reach Gaza but led to a significant propaganda victory for the anti-Israel movement after Israeli commandos killed ten Turkish activists during a violent attack on board one of the ships. 

SAFA said, quoting reliable sources, that a comprehensive plan has been delineated for the voyage and enhanced by the Euro-mid Observatory for Human Rights to push for the launch of a waterway into Gaza.”

The report casts doubt on the ability of Hamas to count since by our count, the May 2015 flotilla should properly be designated #4. In May 2014, we reported that a ship intended to be the part of the  third Gaza flotilla was hit by an unidentified explosion in the Gaza port. Hmmm....It's the season of Giving? Read the full story here.

"Mavi Marmara Appeal Could Set Legal History"

"Mavi Marmara Appeal Could Set Legal History" (INN).

In what may establish a groundbreaking legal precedence, the United States Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear the case of American biologist Alan Bauer, who filed suit in 2011 in the Federal court in Manhattan seeking to impound 14 vessels which were outfitted to be used in the 2010 Mavi Marmara Flotilla - which set off from Turkey in order to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip - on the grounds that the funding for the ships was raised illegally in the United States.

Dr. Bauer, who was seriously wounded with his son in a 2002 Palestinian suicide bombing attack in Jerusalem, explained that "when the US Chief Prosecutor refused to pursue the matter on his own, I decided to invoke my right as an American citizen to seize the flotilla."

The plaintiff had alleged that the ‘Free Gaza’ Movement', along with other US-based anti-Israel organizations, had raised the funds in the US to outfit the ships, contending that this action, in being used for hostilities against a US ally, constituted a violation of American law.  

Bauer rested his claim on the rarely used 18th century “informant statute” (18 USC, Section 962), which allows that a plaintiff (referred to as an “informer”) is entitled to privately seize vessels outfitted in the US for use against a US ally.

The appeal claims that the respective regulations on neutrality and booty, having been in existence for more than 200 years, have been recognized by both Congress and the Courts, and that the domestic legal status of locus standi (the right or capacity to bring an action or to appear in a court) allowed for seizure of the vessels. They have submitted that the previous court hearing the case erred in its interpretation that the respective neutrality and booty regulations did not apply in this instance.Read the full story here.

Hmmm....I still say PM Benjamin Netanyahu should never have apologized to Islamist Turkey.

Turkey to order first two 'White Elephant' F-35 fighter jets.

Turkey to order first two 'White Elephant' F-35 fighter jets.(HD).

Turkey has decided to order two F-35 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp, the government said on May 6.

It will be the first order of Turkey’s pre-announced plan to purchase 100 F-35 jets for $16 billion, which had been expected to begin next year.

The statement released after Defense Industry Executive Committee Meeting, which convened under leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Turkey’s commitment to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program “continues strong as ever.”

“In this context, Turkey continues her forecast of the acquisition of 100 F-35A aircraft as planned and declared previously.”

The program, the Pentagon’s most expensive arms development project, is about 70 percent over budget and years behind schedule, having been plagued by technical problems.

Skeptics say it still faces big challenges, including completing the software needed to integrate weapons on the jet. Hmmm.....Two 'White Elephants' for the 'Sultan' to boast about.

Report: Obama's BFF Turkey Considered Naval Invasion of Israeli Waters.

Report: Obama's BFF Turkey Considered Naval Invasion of Israeli Waters.(INN).

A Turkish newspaper has released details of a high-level meeting of the country's military leaders, in which the Turkish government had considered sending warships into Israel as a military escort for the Mavi Marmara flotilla - and the possibility of triggering a war with the Jewish state as a result.

On May 31 2010, nine Turkish Islamists were killed on the flotilla after violently attacking IDF soldiers, during an attempt to break Israel's naval blockade on the terrorist group Hamas-enclave Gaza. The incident worsened a growing diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel, who had once been close allies.

Statements to the Turkish press made by Retired Admiral of the Turkish Fleet, Nusret Guner, show how far the Erdogan government was prepared to go in supporting anti-Israel groups. The Islamist organization behind the flotilla - the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) has since been raided over ties to Al Qaeda, and is suspected of sending weapons to Al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria.

Prime Minister Erdogan, Chief of Staff Ilker Basbug and Turkish Navy’s Commander Ugur Yigit were all abroad for official visits.

According to Turkish paper Haberturk, at 7.30 a.m. an emergency meeting was held with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, Interior Minister Besir Atalay, several army generals and navy chief Admiral Nusret Guner.

At the meeting, the idea of sending warships to escort the Mavi Marmara had come into question.
The government asked the Navy if they were ready to do this. Admiral Guner confirmed that it was ready to send warships to escort the anti-Israel flotilla, but stated that this would likely trigger a hot war with Israel and added that "In that case, (since a) state of conflict with Israel is imminent, the Navy should have the authorization to enforce rules of engagement."

But after mulling the possibility of an armed conflict with Israel, the government abandoned the idea of escorting the Mavi Marmara with warships.

Instead, ministers proposed the idea of telling the media that the Turkish navy was escorting the vessel, even though it was not.
Admirals and generals strongly opposed the idea of staging a "fake show".

Ministers decided to wait for Prime Minister Erdogan to return to Turkey; hours later, the Gaza Flotilla raid took place.

Another emergency meeting was held this time with Prime Minister Erdogan to discuss the government's reaction. It is not known whether or not the option of military force was considered at that later meeting.Hmmm.....PM Netanyahu should NEVER have apologized to these 'people'.

FM Davutoğlu: "Turkey-Israel relations ‘close’ to normalization, easing of the embargo on Gaza in the works."

Israeli soldier on board Mavi Marmara, 

FM Davutoğlu: "Turkey-Israel relations ‘close’ to normalization, easing of the embargo on Gaza in the works." (HD).
Turkey and Israel are the closest they have been to a normalization of bilateral relations since the Mavi Marmara incident, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said.

“There has recently been a momentum and new approach in compensation talks. We could say that most of the differences have been removed recently in these discussions,” Davutoğlu said Feb. 9 in a televised interview.

Stressing that there are “positive developments” in compensation talks and that “serious progress has een achieved,” he refrained from giving an exact time for a finalization of the process.

Davutoğlu also avoided announcing the amount of compensation being discussed for the victims of the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, but did say that the difference in amount between what Turkey demanded and Israel offered had narrowed compared to May 2013.

“These issues will be discussed with the families [of the Mavi Marmara victims] after the outcome [of the compensation talks] is clarified,” he said.

Citing another pre-condition of Ankara for the normalization of ties, Davutoğlu cited an easing of the embargo on Gaza and claimed that compensation talks and subsequent steps would be important to this end.

Davutoğlu did not give a time frame for the reciprocal appointing of ambassadors, but said Turkey’s representation in Israel would be “significant” in order to “monitor and to coordinate humanitarian aid to Gaza.”Hmmm.....feeding the crocodile doesn't stop him, next he'll go after Israel's gas fields........keep bowing.

Turkey - BDP Deputy: Reveal AK Party deputies who left Mavi Marmara.

Turkey - BDP Deputy: Reveal AK Party deputies who left Mavi Marmara.(TZ).

A deputy from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) has maintained that some deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and a columnist got off the Mavi Marmara boat, on which nine Turkish people were killed by Israeli troops as the boat carried humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, due to a warning from Turkey's intelligence agency.

Altan Tan, a BDP deputy, called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to inform the public about that piece of intelligence and which deputies gave up the journey at the last minute.

Tan claimed that some AK Party deputies, including one who is very close to the prime minister, and a columnist from a prominent Turkish daily, left the Mavi Marmara just before Israeli troops launched an operation against those on board in international waters.

He said: “Some AK Party deputies and a columnist [whom everybody knows] got off the boat heading for Gaza at Antalya. Who are the people who got off as a result of intelligence provided by the National Intelligence Organization [MİT]?”

Tan also harshly criticized the government for its obstructive attitude towards the recent graft probe in which four former Cabinet ministers are also implicated. “This course of events is not a one that is desirable,” Tan said at a press meeting in Parliament on Wednesday, noting that Erdoğan has parted ways with former friends in a violent way instead of questioning where he has gone wrong.

Maintaining that Erdoğan has started to see everybody as an enemy, Tan said: “He [Erdoğan] must question why his relations with his friends, who supported him during the most difficult times, have deteriorated so badly. What should be done is some serious self-criticism and mutual apologies with his former friends.”

Noting that the government has removed many police officers from their posts following the graft probe, he said, “They are removing police officers linked with the Hizmet Movement and putting in their place those police officers from the old dark days [of the past].”

At the press conference, Tan criticized the government for signaling that a retrial may be possible in the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer coup plot cases.Hmmmm......Israel should never have apologized to these people.

Turkey - Local court rejects Mavi Marmara victim’s compensation trial.

Turkey - Local court rejects Mavi Marmara victim’s compensation trial.(HD).

A local court in Kayseri rejected on Dec. 25 a compensation trial opened on behalf of a victim of the Mavi Marmara raid conducted by the Israeli military in 2010, leading to the death of nine Turkish citizens.

The head judge rejected the trial on the grounds that Israel could not be tried in the Turkish courts. Relatives of Furkan Doğan, one of the Turkish citizens killed in the raid, had requested 4 million Turkish Liras of compensation from Israel.

The trial comes amid compensation talks between Israel and Turkey for the victims of the raid. The vast majority of the text’s wording for the compensation agreement is settled, diplomatic sources said, but the amount of the compensation is reportedly yet to be determined.

The head of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation’s (İHH) Kayseri branch said the lawyers of the plaintiffs would appeal the ruling.

“What’s more serious [than the ruling] is when the judge said ‘Did you ask us when you went there’ to people reacting to the decision in the courtroom. Turkey’s legal system guarantees its citizens right to open trials against all the unjust actions that they become subject to inside or outside the country,” Şaban Sözduyar said, adding that he believed the ruling would be reversed at the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals.

“No persecution by any country, especially Israel, should remain unanswered,” he added.

The İHH, an NGO which bases its humanitarian relief action on Islamic principles, was the operator of the Mavi Marmara and one of the main organizers of the Gaza Flotilla in May 2010. Hmmm.....IHH.....'Humanitarian relief'?

The Turkish organization IHH provides humanitarian assistance to the famine-stricken regions of Somalia.......Including Al -Shabaab.

As part of its humanitarian activities in Somalia, IHH also operates, admitted Bülent Yildirim, in areas controlled by Al-Shabaab, which has links to Al-Qaeda. In our assessment, Al-Shabaab allows IHH to operate because of its radical Islamist ideology and because in the past IHH had links to global jihad networks. Al-Shabaab, which seeks to overthrow the Somali government, is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. Some of its operatives were apparently trained by Al-Qaeda and fought in its ranks in Afghanistan.

"Islamist" Turkey offers to accept lower compensation for Mavi Marmara victims: Report.

"Islamist" Turkey offers to accept lower compensation for Mavi Marmara victims: Report.(HD).

The Turkish government has become more flexible over compensation for the deadly Mavi Marmara raid victims and offered to accept a lower payoff from Israel, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.

Israel formally apologized to Turkey in March over the killing of nine Turkish citizens on board the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara vessel in 2010. It also agreed to redress the damages and loss of life and promised to lift an embargo imposed on the Gaza Strip.

Citing a senior Israeli official, the report said Turkey offered to resume negotiations earlier this month.

An Israeli delegation headed by National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s envoy to the Turkish reconciliation talks, Joseph Ciechanover, and acting Foreign Ministry Director General Nissim Ben-Sheetrit arrived Istanbul and met with senior Turkish officials.

“The agreement is ready; all that’s left is to fill in the blank with a number. There are still differences regarding the amounts, but they have narrowed,” the daily quoted a senior Israeli official as saying.“There is a will on both sides to wrap things up as soon as possible and normalize relations.” Hmmm....There's Nothing like a 'Turkish Bazar' deal.

Related: Peaceful Mavi Marmara victim to donate compensation to Hamas, Islamic Jihad.

 Surprise: Israel - Turkey talks break down over 'scope of [Mavi Marmara] compensation'.

The official refused to cite specific sums each party had discussed during the talks. Haaretz, however, has learned that while Israel is prepared to pay $100,000 to each family, the Turks are demanding $1,000,000 per family. And if Israel had been willing to pay $1 million, the Turks would have demanded $10 million.I think this was inevitable.Read the full story here.

Hmmmm.....Diyya - compensation paid to the heirs of a victim. In Arabic the word means both blood money and ransom. Diyaa is part of private rights due to the victim(s), and could not be waived by the sovereign.

In Saudi Arabia, when a person has been killed or caused to die by another, the prescribed blood money rates are as follows:

100,000 riyals if the victim is a Muslim man

50,000 riyals if a Muslim woman

50,000 riyals if a Christian man

25,000 riyals if a Christian woman

6,666 riyals if a Hindu man

3,333 riyals if a Hindu woman.

The amount of compensation is based on the percentage of responsibility. Blood money is to be paid not only for murder, but also in case of unnatural death, interpreted to mean death in a fire, industrial or road accident, for instance, as long as the responsibility for it falls on the causer.Seems the Turks are way 'overcharging' compared to the Arab 'rates'.And 'NO Rate' for killing Jews.

With millions of displaced Syrians living in deplorable conditions, Palestians will launch a 'Gaza Ark' against Israeli blockade.

With millions of displaced Syrians living in deplorable conditions, Palestians will launch a 'Gaza Ark' against Israeli blockade. (maannews).

GAZA CITY  -- The closure of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip has delayed the launch of Gaza Ark, an improvised cargo ship built by Gaza fishermen set to sail to Europe in protest against the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Member of the Gaza Strip association of fishermen Mahfouth Kabariti said Sunday that the Gaza Ark was supposed to set sail by the end of 2013, but as a result of the closure of Rafah crossing, the launch has been delayed to spring 2014.

He noted that in order to be seaworthy, the Gaza Ark still needed international standard navigation equipment that could only be brought into Gaza via the Rafah crossing.

Kabariti added that several donors had supported the idea of Gaza Ark and that many countries were willing to allow it to enter their harbors.

Asked about progress of work on the vessel, Kabariti told Ma'an that infrastructures and fuel tanks had been completed and that the outside body and the passenger cabins were being built.

The vessel, he said, will be 24 meters long and 7 meters wide and will carry 15 people including solidarity activists in addition to goods.

"It will be the first vessel to carry Gaza's products to the outside world serving Palestinian producers and developing the culture of building boats which has almost vanished as a result of Israel's ongoing closure of sea industry in Gaza."

The ark is one in a series of global efforts designed to challenge Israel's 7-year long blockade of the Gaza Strip. While numerous boats have attempted to sail into Gaza, the Gaza Ark is the first attempt by Palestinians to break out by sea.

If they are successful, this will be the first time goods from Gaza have been exported by sea since the signing of the 1994 Oslo Peace Accords.

Turkish court rejects Interpol Red Notice request for arrest Israeli generals.

Turkish court rejects Interpol Red Notice request for arrest Israeli generals.(TZ).

An İstanbul court which is hearing the case opened against retired Israeli military officicers over the raid of the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara humanitarian aid ship in May 2010 has rejected lawyers' request for an Interpol Red Notice for several high-ranking retired members of the Israeli army.

One plaintiff's lawyer, Cüneyt Karaman, told the judge that it is not possible to conduct a trial without suspects being present at the court, and thus the court should pursue an Interpol Red Notice for the accused former Israeli army members. However, the request was denied by the court.

The hearings were adjourned to March 27, 2014.Members of nongovernmental organizations on Thursday gathered outside the Çağlayan Courthouse and expressed their frustration over the trial not being brought to a conclusion. 

A crowd consisting of members of the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH) and Freedom Association (Özgür-Der), gathered outside İstanbul's Çağlayan Court with Palestinian and Turkish flags in their hands on Thursday, while the court was holding the 7th hearing of the trial, in which several high-ranking retired members of the Israeli military are accused of responsibility for the killing of eight Turks and one Turkish-American in the 2010 raid.

Several foreign plaintiffs who were present in the flotilla during the raid were also present at the court. Italian activist Manulo Luppicini explained how the Israeli forces raided the flotilla and stated that he was stripped of all his belongings by the Israeli soldiers and that he realized some amount of money had been taken from his bank accounts when he returned to Italy.

Numerous lawyers from Egypt, France, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Greece and Britain were also present at the hearing.The trial began on Nov. 6, 2011, and saw the attendance of a large number of attorneys from both Turkey and abroad as well as the flotilla activists and families of the victims.

The court is hearing charges filed against four of Israel's most senior retired commanders, including the ex-army chief, in absentia. Prosecutors are requesting life imprisonment for the officers who directed the raid.

Following Israel's recent apology to Turkey for the raid, the two countries began talks of compensation to be paid to the families of those who were killed or injured on the Mavi Marmara. Although there is an agreement with Israel over the parameters within which the compensation will be paid, a precise amount has not yet been determined.

Israel wants the lawsuits against its military officers to be dropped as part of the agreement on compensation.

The text of the apology offered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on March 22 said the two sides had agreed "to conclude an agreement on compensation [and] non-liability" of the Israeli military officers.

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has identified the four accused as former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of General Staff Gen. Rau Aluf Gabi Ashkenazi, Naval Forces Commander Vice Adm. Eliezer Marom, Israeli military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin and Air Force Intelligence head Brig. Gen. Avishai Levi.

White Widow Samantha Lewthwaite ‘plotted Nairobi mall massacre from secret lair just 100 yards away’

White Widow Samantha Lewthwaite ‘plotted Nairobi mall massacre from secret lair just 100 yards away'.(CJR).By Russell Myers:

The fugitive White Widow plotted the bloody Kenyan mall massacre from a secret lair just 100 yards away, security forces believe.

British mum-of-three Samantha Lewthwaite – now the world’s most wanted woman – rented a house opposite the shopping centre where crazed Muslim fanatics later slaughtered up to 150 people, they say.
Police sources said a “delicate operation” was now under way to search properties around the Westgate mall since the horrific four-day gun siege erupted in Nairobi a week ago.
Interpol has issued a worldwide alert to find 29-year-old Muslim convert Lewthwaite and sources revealed that a huge part of the probe centred on her being “ghosted” into Somalia – base of terror group al-Shabaab, which has claimed r­esponsibility for the attack.
A source said: “Nothing is being ruled out, but a major strand of the investigation is looking at Lewthwaite having been in Nairobi more than once in the last few months but then travelling back across the border to Somalia.“She has known links in the country and surrounding areas. Everything is being done to find her.”

A Turkish man arrested attempting to board an international flight at capital Nairobi’s JKI airport on Tuesday is said to own the property Lewthwaite allegedly used to plot the bloodshed.

The man, in his 40s or 50s, is also understood to be linked to a shop hired by the ­militants to store a deadly arsenal of weapons in preparation for the siege.

He has lived in the African country for three years and detectives were last night quizzing him over his potential connection to members of al-Shabaab.

It is also possible that he may have rented the shop to them unwittingly.
Sources said Lewthwaite, the daughter of a former British soldier, may have been seen in Kenya just 12 weeks ago.Hmmmm..........Turkish man contacts with Al-Shabaab...........Turkish IHH,  delivers aid to Al-Shabaab.

Kenya’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS) Knew an Attack Would Happen!

Kenya’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS) Knew an Attack Would Happen!HT: TheIndependent.

Kenyan authorities are also facing questions over whether they had any intelligence on an impending attack, which a Somali al-Shabaab chief said was a “message to Westerners” who had “backed Kenya’s invasion [of Somalia],” a reference to Kenya’s 2011 incursion aimed at crushing the militant movement.

Kenya’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS), widely accused by politicians of failing to pick up chatter about the attack, has insisted it did warn the police and officials inside the President’s office before the Westgate siege, but its warnings went unheeded, The Star reported.

According to the same report, a pregnant policewoman avoided Westgate after her brother, who works for Kenyan intelligence, warned her of a terror attack. “She has told police that her brother who is a NIS officer warned her not to visit Westgate that Saturday because she would not be able to run,” a senior officer was quoted as saying.

‘Eyes gouged out, bodies hanging from hooks, and fingers removed with pliers’: Horrific claims of torture emerge from Kenyan mall

More info here.

‘Eyes gouged out, bodies hanging from hooks, and fingers removed with pliers’: Horrific claims of torture emerge from Kenyan mall.(DM).

• Kenyan soldiers claim to find scenes of torture by mall terrorists
• They say children found dead in food fridges with knives still in bodies
• Men were said to have been castrated and had fingers removed

Soldiers told of the horrific torture meted out by terrorists in the Nairobi mall massacre yesterday with claims hostages were dismembered, had their eyes gouged out and were left hanging from hooks in the ceiling.

Men were said to have been castrated and had fingers removed with pliers before being blinded and hanged.

Children were found dead in the food court fridges with knives still embedded in their bodies, it was claimed.
‘You find people with hooks hanging from the roof,’ said one Kenyan doctor, who asked not to be named. ‘They removed eyes, ears, nose. They get your hand and sharpen it like a pencil then they tell you to write your name with the blood. ‘They drive knives inside a child’s body. 'Actually if you look at all the bodies, unless those ones that were escaping, fingers are cut by pliers, the noses are ripped by pliers. Here it was pain.’

Most of the defeated terrorists, meanwhile, were reportedly discovered ‘burnt to ashes’, set alight by the last extremist standing to try to protect their identities.

The horrifying details came yesterday as the first pictures emerged from within the wreckage of the building, showing piles of bodies left strewn across the floor.‘A third of the mall was destroyed in the battle between terrorists and Kenyan troops. Read the full story here.

Video shows gaping crater at Kenya's shattered mall, as witnesses say terrorists slit victims' throats.

Video shows gaping crater at Kenya's shattered mall, as witnesses say terrorists slit victims' throats.(DM).

Shocking new video today revealed the true extent of the destruction caused to the Nairobi shopping centre during the four-day battle between Kenyan forces and Islamic militants.

Aerial footage shows a gaping hole in the mall's roof after three storeys collapsed when Kenyan soldiers fired rocket-propelled grenades inside the complex, knocking out a support column, a government official said.

The collapse happened on Monday when government troops launched a massive assault on the mall where up to 150 people are thought to have been killed.

During the firefight, hostages reportedly had their throats slashed from ear to ear and were thrown screaming from third-floor balconies as the siege came to a bloody end.

Shell-shocked Kenyan troops said the inside of the Israeli-run mall resembled a ‘scene from a horror movie’ with blood spattered everywhere and dead bodies strewn across the floor.

Between 10 and 15 terrorists are thought to have stormed the mall on Saturday, according to Kenyan officials. The police said five insurgents were killed in the battle and at least 10 taken into custody.

When Kenyan troops launched their assault to retake the mall, they didn't just face bullets from AK-47 rifles. They found themselves up against an arsenal of booby-trap explosives, heavy-calibre machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and tens of thousands of live rounds.

Much of this would very unlikely have been carried into the complex by the Al Shabaab militia, say security sources. They say they were much more likely to have been smuggled in beforehand.

This adds weight to claims that the group hired a women’s clothes shop in the mall beforehand to stash their weapons.

It is also thought English-speaking foreign fighters were carefully selected and plans of the huge Westgate mall studied down to the ventilation ducts.

This raises questions about how intelligence agencies failed to pick up on such an elaborately planned attack. A British defence source told the Independent: 'This was hardly a spontaneous event, the way these guys were deployed... the fact they could replenish their ammunition shows a lot of pre-planning.'

Interior minister Joseph Ole Lenku said forensic experts from the US, Israel, Britain, Germany and Canada were taking part in trying to reconstruct the scene at the mall. He said results would not be ready for a week.

Mortuaries in Nairobi have been prepared for the last two days for a large influx of bodies still in the mall. Officials have said the shopping centre, which the terrorists held for four days, could hold dozens more bodies.

The government has confirmed 72 total deaths: 61 civilians, six security forces and five attackers. The Red Cross says 71 people remain missing.

At least 12 Muslims are among the civilians killed, according to The Times.

Al-Shabab said the Kenyan government assault team carried out 'a demolition' of the building, burying 137 hostages in the debris. A government spokesman denied the claim and said Kenyan forces were clearing all rooms, firing as they moved and encountering no one. Read the full story here.

Video - Shabab Al-Mujahideen Recruitment Video Features Three Minnesota Men Killed in Somalia terrorist acts.

KMSP-TV
 
Video - Shabab Al-Mujahideen Recruitment Video Features Three Minnesota Men Killed in Somalia terrorist acts.HT: Memri.

Video - Latest live updates from Niarobi Westgate Mall, Ten suspects arrested for questioning.

Live streaming video by Ustream
Ten suspects arrested for questioning, two were attempting to leave the country at the airport.

Mall is rigged with explosives, Sporadic explosions, army says they're in control. 

Breaking News! All SIX Terrorist Neutralized in Nairobi Mall

Live streaming video by Ustream
No word on the condition of the hostages, Bomb Squads are working on Boobytraps.

Updates as they become available, 

Spokesperson defusing the boobytraps could take a short or long time depending on sofistication

Live Video report Niarobi mall attack

Live streaming video by Ustream
Almost all hostages evacuated, official dead count 62