Indonesia says 2 arrested, planning to attack Myanmar Embassy over treatment of Muslims

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  Police officers stand guard outside a house where police found explosive materials following a raid in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, May 3, 2013. Indonesia's elite anti-terror squad seized five homemade bombs and arrested two suspected militants who allegedly planned to attack the Myanmar Embassy to protest that country's treatment of Muslims, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)The Associated Press

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  Police officers guard outside a house where police found explosive materials following a raid in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, May 3, 2013. Indonesia's elite anti-terror squad seized five homemade bombs and arrested two suspected militants who allegedly planned to attack the Myanmar Embassy to protest that country's treatment of Muslims, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)The Associated Press

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  Curious onlookers gather near a house where police found explosive materials in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, May 3, 2013. Indonesia's elite anti-terror squad seized five homemade bombs and arrested two suspected militants who allegedly planned to attack the Myanmar Embassy to protest that country's treatment of Muslims, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)The Associated Press

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JAKARTA, Indonesia –  Indonesia's elite anti-terror squad seized five homemade bombs and arrested two suspected militants who allegedly planned to attack the Myanmar Embassy to protest that country's treatment of Muslims, police said Friday.

The two men were arrested in central Jakarta on a motorbike just before midnight Thursday after authorities were tipped to their whereabouts, said National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar. The bombs and cables were found inside a backpack they had.

Their interrogation led to a rented house where other explosive materials were found. A woman and her baby were also taken by police from the house.

Amar initially identified the men as Zainal Abidin, 38, and Julisman, 28, but later clarified that those were aliases used to rent the house two months earlier. Their real names are Ahmad Taufik, 22, and Sefa Riano, 29, he said. They were part of a cell allegedly involved in recent attacks against Indonesian police.

"They have a link with terrorism from evidence we have seized," Amar said. "We are still investigating and searching for other alleged group members." Amar would not say when the embassy attack was supposed to take place.

Dozens of police have been deployed to secure the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta and its ambassador's house. Truckloads of officers were placed at nearby buildings and hotels.

Amar said the suspects told authorities they wanted to retaliate against Myanmar for recent attacks on Rohingya Muslims there.

Sectarian violence in the Buddhist-majority country has killed scores, and thousands of Muslims have been driven from their homes. The Rohingya ethnic group face severe discrimination and are considered illegal immigrants despite many living in Myanmar for generations.

Indonesians have rallied in defense of Rohingya Muslims, and last year jailed radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir sent a letter to Myanmar's president threatening to attack the country over their persecution.

Bashir is the spiritual leader of al-Qaida-linked militants blamed for a string of deadly attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, on the resort island.

A month after Bashir's threat, a would-be suicide bomber surrendered to police after a change of heart, saying he had contemplated targeting Buddhists to strike out over the Rohingya issue.

Terrorist attacks aimed at foreigners in Indonesia have been largely replaced in recent years by smaller, less deadly strikes targeting the government, mainly police and anti-terrorism forces.

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Student arrested in Boston bombings case entered US without visa, official says

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WASHINGTON –  One of three college students arrested Wednesday in the Boston Marathon bombings case was allowed to return to the United States from Kazakhstan in January despite not having a valid student visa, a federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

Authorities charged the student -- a friend and classmate of one of the men accused of setting off the deadly explosions -- with helping after the attacks to remove a laptop and backpack from the bombing suspect's dormitory room before the FBI searched it.

The government acknowledged that U.S. Customs and Border Protection was unaware that the student was no longer in school when he was let back into the United States.

The disclosure was another instance of possible lapses by the federal government in the months before the Boston bombings. The Obama administration earlier this week announced an internal review of how U.S. intelligence agencies shared sensitive information and whether the government could have disrupted the attack. Republicans in Congress have promised oversight hearings starting next week.

Federal authorities on Wednesday arrested three college friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a bombing suspect, including Azamat Tazhayakov, a friend and classmate of Tsarnaev's at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Tazhayakov left the U.S. in December and returned Jan. 20. But in early January, his student-visa status was terminated because he was academically dismissed from the university, the official told the AP.

The law enforcement official said information about Tazhayakov's status was in the Homeland Security Department's Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, called SEVIS, when Tazhayakov arrived in New York in January.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because this person was not authorized to discuss details of Tazhayakov's immigration history.

DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard said when Tazhayakov arrived on Jan. 20, Customs and Border Protection officials had not been notified that he was no longer a student.

"DHS has recently reformed the student visa system to ensure that CBP is provided with real time updates on all relevant student visa information," Boogaard said. "At the time of re-entry there was no derogatory information that suggested this individual posed a national security or public safety threat."

Tazhayakov and another student from Kazakhstan, Dias Kadyrbayev, were detained last month on immigration charges. They were arrested on federal criminal charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Robel Phillipos, 19, was also arrested and charged with willfully making materially false statements to federal law enforcement officials during a terrorism investigation.

Questions about Tazhayakov's immigration status came up Wednesday during an immigration hearing in Boston when a judge questioned how he was able to return to the U.S. in January. A lawyer for Tazhayakov said he had re-enrolled in the university with a different major after returning to the country.

International students who aren't enrolled or are dismissed from a college or university generally have 30 days to rectify their status and re-enroll as long as they are already in the United States.

Lawmakers have questioned information sharing among U.S. law enforcement before the bombings. In 2011, Russian officials notified the FBI and CIA that they were concerned about now-deceased bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. In early 2012 Homeland security was alerted of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's travel to and from Russia -- information that was shared with Boston's joint terrorism task force. But the FBI investigation into him had closed and therefore he didn't warrant additional scrutiny, officials have said.

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Suspected LulzSec hacker arrested in Australia could face 12 years in jail

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  April 23, 2013: In this photo provided by the Australian Federal Police, a handcuffed man is escorted by police following his arrest on a charge of attacking and defacing a government website. The Australian man, who police say has claimed to be a high-level member of international hacking collective Lulz Security, was charged with two counts of unauthorized modification of data to cause impairment, and one count of unauthorized access to, or modification of, restricted data.AP/Australian Federal Police

SYDNEY –  Australian police have arrested a man they say is affiliated with international hacking collective Lulz Security on a charge of attacking and defacing a government website, officials said Wednesday.

The 24-year-old senior IT worker, whose name was not released, was arrested on Tuesday night at his Sydney office, the Australian Federal Police said. The man, who police say has claimed to be a high-level member of the hacking group, was charged with two counts of unauthorized modification of data to cause impairment, and one count of unauthorized access to, or modification of, restricted data. If convicted, he could face up to 12 years in jail.

Lulz Security, or LulzSec, is an offshoot of the hacking group Anonymous. LulzSec was formed in 2011 and quickly grabbed headlines after claiming responsibility for a series of high-profile cyberattacks against the CIA, Sony Pictures, the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service and Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency.

Several members of the group have been arrested in recent years, including its reputed leader, known as Sabu. Sabu turned out to be FBI informant Hector Xavier Monsegur, who federal officials said helped them build a case against several other hackers. Two weeks ago, British LulzSec hacker Ryan Ackroyd pleaded guilty to several cyberattacks.

Australian Federal Police Superintendent Brad Marden said the man arrested on Tuesday hacked into an Australian government website and defaced it earlier this month. Marden would not say which website was attacked, but said it did not belong to a federal agency. Police don't believe any sensitive data stored on the site was accessed in the attack, and don't believe anyone else was involved in the hack.

The man, from Gosford — about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Sydney — claimed to be the Australian leader of LulzSec, Australian Federal Police Commander Glen McEwen said. But Anonymous Australia appeared to laugh off those claims on Twitter. In response to a follower asking if anyone knew who the man was, the group tweeted: "Nope not part of the usual suspects on any of our chans of communication."

Police began investigating the man two weeks ago after they discovered the government website had been hacked.

"This individual was operating from a position of trust who had access to sensitive information from clients including government agencies," McEwen said. "The AFP believes this man's skill sets and access to this type of information presented a considerable risk for Australian society."

The man was released on bail and ordered to appear in court next month.

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Mississippi man arrested in connection to ricin letters sent to Obama, lawmaker

A Mississippi man has been arrested as a suspect in connection to the mailing of two letters sent to President Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., that initially tested positive for ricin, Fox News confirms.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Daniel McMullen said the man was arrested Wednesday at approximately 5:15 p.m. CT. It is unclear if charges are getting filed tonight or if they will be filed tomorrow.

He was arrested at his Corinth, Miss., home following an investigation conducted by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces in Memphis, Tenn., and Jackson, Miss., the U.S. Capitol Police, and the U.S. Postal Service,  the U.S. Secret Service.

The suspect has been identified as Paul Kenneth Curtis of Tupelo, Miss., a source told Fox News. Tupelo is also the hometown of Wicker and his wife.

The FBI confirmed earlier Wednesday that a letter addressed to President Obama had "preliminarily tested positive" for ricin, a day after lawmakers said another letter sent to the Capitol Hill office of Sen. Roger Wicker tested positive for the same substance.

The warnings came amid a flurry of reports on suspicious packages. Fox News learned of several suspicious packages or envelopes in various Capitol Hill office buildings, and Capitol Police said three packages that were flagged had been removed.

Separately, the office of Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., reported a "suspicious-looking letter" at one of the senator's Michigan offices; and a spokesman for Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., reported a "suspicious letter" was intercepted at Flake's Phoenix office. Authorities were also called to the Dallas office of Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, over what was described only as "a piece of mail" -- but field tests later came back negative.

According to a Homeland Security Department handbook, ricin is deadliest when inhaled. It is not contagious, but there is no antidote. A senior Congressional source familiar with the inquiry into the letters sent to President Obama and Sen.Wicker told Fox News that the ricin was "low grade" and "not weaponized."

The package alerts compounded security concerns in the wake of the letter incidents and the Boston bombing, which the FBI has said do not appear to be related.  

Both of the initial suspicious letters were apparently intercepted on Tuesday. They never reached the Hill or the White House.

An FBI bulletin obtained by Fox News said the letter sent to Obama is still being screened, though it initially tested positive.  

The bulletin said both letters included the phrase: "To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance."

Both were signed, "I am KC and I approve this message."

The envelopes had Tennessee postmarks, but no return address.

Sources say officials are familiar with the person believed to have sent the letter as the person has sent other letters before.

The mail-screening system was established after the Anthrax attacks of 2001 that closed the Hart Senate Office Building.

Click for more information on ricin.

Fox News' Mike Emanuel and Chad Pergram, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Letter sent to Obama tests positive for ricin, FBI says

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Mississippi man arrested in connection to ricin letters sent to Obama, lawmaker

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  April 17, 2013: A Prince George's County, Md. firefighter dressed in a protective suit walks out of a government mail screening facility in Hyattsville, Md. Police swept across the U.S. Capitol complex to chase a flurry of reports of suspicious packages and envelopes Wednesday after preliminary tests indicated poisonous ricin in two letters sent to President Barack Obama and a Mississippi senator.AP

A Mississippi man has been arrested as a suspect in connection to the mailing of two letters sent to President Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., that initially tested positive for ricin, Fox News confirms.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Daniel McMullen said the man was arrested Wednesday at approximately 5:15 p.m. CT. It is unclear if charges are getting filed tonight or if they will be filed tomorrow.

He was arrested at his Corinth, Miss., home following an investigation conducted by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces in Memphis, Tenn., and Jackson, Miss., the U.S. Capitol Police, and the U.S. Postal Service,  the U.S. Secret Service.

The suspect has been identified as 45-year-old Paul Kenneth Curtis of Tupelo, Miss., a source told Fox News. Tupelo is also the hometown of Wicker and his wife.

The FBI confirmed earlier Wednesday that a letter addressed to President Obama had "preliminarily tested positive" for ricin, a day after lawmakers said another letter sent to the Capitol Hill office of Sen. Roger Wicker tested positive for the same substance.

The warnings came amid a flurry of reports on suspicious packages. Fox News learned of several suspicious packages or envelopes in various Capitol Hill office buildings, and Capitol Police said three packages that were flagged had been removed.

Separately, the office of Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., reported a "suspicious-looking letter" at one of the senator's Michigan offices; and a spokesman for Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., reported a "suspicious letter" was intercepted at Flake's Phoenix office. Authorities were also called to the Dallas office of Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, over what was described only as "a piece of mail" -- but field tests later came back negative.

According to a Homeland Security Department handbook, ricin is deadliest when inhaled. It is not contagious, but there is no antidote. A senior Congressional source familiar with the inquiry into the letters sent to President Obama and Sen.Wicker told Fox News that the ricin was "low grade" and "not weaponized."

The package alerts compounded security concerns in the wake of the letter incidents and the Boston bombing, which the FBI has said do not appear to be related.  

Both of the initial suspicious letters were apparently intercepted on Tuesday. They never reached the Hill or the White House.

An FBI bulletin obtained by Fox News said the letter sent to Obama is still being screened, though it initially tested positive.  

The bulletin said both letters included the phrase: "To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance."

Both were signed, "I am KC and I approve this message."

The envelopes had Tennessee postmarks, but no return address.

Sources say officials are familiar with the person believed to have sent the letter as the person has sent other letters before.

The mail-screening system was established after the Anthrax attacks of 2001 that closed the Hart Senate Office Building.

Click for more information on ricin.

Fox News' Mike Emanuel and Chad Pergram, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related Stories

Letter sent to Obama tests positive for ricin, FBI says

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14 injured in knife attack on Lone Star College campus, suspect arrested

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    Student helps tackle campus stabbing suspect

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    Suspect detained in Lone Star College stabbing

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    Eyewitnesses describe Texas college stabbing

Over 12 people were stabbed Tuesday on the campus of Lone Star Community College campus in Cypress, Texas, after a male suspect reportedly used a small knife, ran from building to building and randomly attacked individuals along the way.

Harris Country Sheriff Adrian Garcia said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon that the suspect, described as a young white male, has been taken into custody. 

Garcia said officers responded to the campus after receiving a call about a male "on the loose" stabbing people. He said it was not immediately clear what type of weapon was used.

"Some of the details in the call slip did indicate that students or faculty were actively responding to work to subdue this individual," Garcia said, describing the man as being about 21 years old and enrolled at the college. "So we're proud of those folks, but we're glad no one else is injured any more severely than they are."

Garcia said buildings still were being searched Tuesday afternoon and that police could not release any further information as the investigation was still active and ongoing.

But department spokesman Thomas Gilliland did confirm, "It was the same suspect going from building to building."

Garcia said of the 14 victims, 12 of the victims in all were hospitalized and two refused treatment. Witnesses reported seeing students with stab wounds to the neck.

Of the six victims who were taken to Memorial Hermann Texas Trauma Institute, two remained in critical condition as of 6 p.m. ET, while three were in good condition and one had been discharged.

Police got the initial report at 11:15 a.m. A suspect with a knife was reported on the sprawling campus on the Northwest side of Houston and there were reports of multiple stab victims. The school was placed on lockdown. The length of the attack is unclear, but the suspect was reportedly taken down by a student.

The suspect, who witnesses say is a white male who has been seen on campus carrying a stuffed animal, reportedly told the tackling student “I give, I give,” and was promptly arrested by police.
Police could not immediately verify that report.

Local reports say a student in a classroom used an X-ACTO knife and began to attack fellow students and ran out of the room.

One student said the attack sounded like a rock concert and heard someone scream in pain. At that point, students went back into their classrooms, the student said.

Initial reports said there were two suspects, but police say it was likely to be one suspect who ran from different areas during the time of the attack.

“The initial reports said we have two suspects, but what I believe now is it was the same person running from building to building,” a police spokesman said at a press conference earlier on Tuesday.

Police are unaware of a motive in the attack.

A different Lone Star system campus was the site of a January shooting. Two people were wounded, and a 22-year-old man was charged with aggravated assault.

Click for more from MyFoxHouston.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Department of Defense employee who called himself 'Godfather at Camp Pendleton' arrested on bribery charges

Published April 01, 2013

Associated Press

SAN DIEGO –  A Department of Defense employee who oversaw construction contracts at Camp Pendleton used his position to extort bribes from businesses seeking to work on the California Marine Corps base, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Natividad Lara Cervantes was arrested Thursday after authorities say he accepted $10,000 of a $40,000 bribe offered by a witness working with federal agents, said Daphne Hearn, the special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego office.

Cervantes believed he was receiving the money in exchange for helping the witness secure a $4 million flooring contract, according to a federal complaint.

Prosecutors say Cervantes referred to himself as the "Godfather at Camp Pendleton," and, dating back to September 2008, he accepted thousands of dollars in cash payments and remodeling work on his condominium in exchange for helping contractors get business on the Marine Corps base north of San Diego.

Cervantes is a Department of Defense employee and a supervisor for construction and service contracts at Camp Pendleton.

Neither Cervantes nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.

According to the complaint, the witness working with the FBI met with Cervantes on March 26 and agreed to pay the $40,000 bribe. The first payment of $20,000 was to be paid Thursday, and the remainder was to be paid when the contract was awarded, prosecutors say. The meeting was monitored by federal agents.

Cervantes was arrested at a business in San Diego after the witness met him there to discuss the bribe payments and handed him an envelope containing $10,000, according to the complaint.

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Two teen boys arrested in shooting death of Georgia infant in stroller

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  March 22, 2013: This photo provided by Sherry West, of Brunswick, Ga., shows her son Antonio Santiago celebrating his first Christmas in December of 2012.AP

Two teenage boys were arrested Friday in the shocking shooting death of an infant, killed in the stroller his mother was pushing in a coastal Georgia town.

Seventeen-year-old De'Marquis Elkins is charged as an adult with first-degree murder, along with a 14-year-old who was not identified because he is a juvenile, Brunswick Police Chief Tobe Green said.

The mother, Sherry West, was wounded in the apparent attempted robbery Thursday morning. The precise motive still is under investigation.

Officer Todd Rhodes of the Brunswick Police Department told FoxNews.com earlier that numerous tips had been received in connection to the shooting, and police had been going door to door searching for the suspects. Investigators also were checking school attendance records for leads.

Several nearby residents called 911 after hearing gunshots fired, but Rhodes said investigators believe the mother was the only witness to what happened.

West, wept Friday while she told The Associated Press that she pleaded with the gunman and a younger accomplice who approached her Thursday morning while she walked near their home in coastal Brunswick.

"He asked me for money and I said I didn't have it," she said. "When you have a baby, you spend all your money on babies. They're expensive. And he kept asking and I just said `I don't have it.' And he said, `Do you want me to kill your baby?' And I said, `No, don't kill my baby!"'

West said the gunman fired four shots, the first into the ground. West didn't see a shell casing ejected and she assumed the gun wasn't real.

Then he fired at her head and the bullet grazed her left ear -- she has a small scab and bruising there. He fired again and shot her in the left leg above the knee. "I didn't know I was hurt."

"The boy proceeded to go around to the stroller and he shot my baby in the face," she said. "And then he just shoved me when I started screaming and he ran down London Street with the little boy."

West was later transported to the Southeast Georgia Health System for medical treatment. She is expected to recover.

"This is obviously a terrible day in Brunswick," Brunswick Mayor Bryan Thompson said. “If you know something and don’t call, you are complicit in this crime.”

Antonio's father, Louis Santiago, told WAWS-TV he wishes he could have been there to protect his family.

"He was special," Santiago said. "He had the bluest, bluest eyes."

Residents described Brunswick — a city of roughly 15,000 about 80 miles south of Savannah — as normally quiet despite some property crimes of late.

"This makes me very uneasy," Patricia Buie told The Brunswick News. "Now I am very concerned. It is making me want to move to the mountains."

It's not the mother's first loss of a child to violence. West said her 18-year-old son, Shaun Glassey, was killed in New Jersey in 2008. She still has a newspaper clipping from the time.

Glassey was killed with a steak knife in March 2008 during an attack involving several other teens on a dark street corner in Gloucester County, N.J., according to news reports from the time.

"He and some other boys were going to ambush a kid," Bernie Weisenfeld, a spokesman for the Gloucester County prosecutor's office, told the AP Friday.

Glassey was armed with a knife, but the 17-year-old target of the attack was able to get the knife away from him "and Glassey ended up on the wrong end of the knife," Weisenfeld recalled.

Prosecutors decided the 17-year-old would not be charged because they determined that he acted in self-defense.

FoxNews.com’s Joshua Rhett Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Former NASA contractor arrested on plane to China

Published March 18, 2013

Associated Press

NORFOLK, Va. –  A Chinese national who worked at NASA's Langley Research Center has been arrested on a plane bound for Beijing on charges of lying to federal agents.

Bo Jiang made his initial appearance Monday in Norfolk federal court. It wasn't immediately clear whether Jiang had an attorney.

U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf says Jiang wasn't employed by NASA, but worked at the Hampton, Va. facility for the National Institute of Aerospace.

An affidavit says Jiang was under investigation for possible violations of the Arms Control Export Act.

The affidavit says Jiang was arrested aboard a plane at Dulles International Airport on Saturday when he failed to disclose all of the electronics he was taking with him.

The affidavit says Jiang had previously taken a NASA laptop to China that contained sensitive information.

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