Iran Upgrading Nuclear Equipment, Inspectors Say – NYTimes.com.

Iran Is Said to Move to New Machines for Making Nuclear Fuel

By DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD

Published: February 21, 2013

WASHINGTON — Just days before Iran enters its first nuclear talks with the West since the summer, international nuclear inspectors said Thursday that the country has begun installing a new generation of equipment that should give it the ability to produce nuclear fuel much faster.

The installation — at Iran’s main plant for uranium enrichment, located in the desert at Natanz — came after a half-decade of delays exacerbated by Western sanctions and sabotage. The new centrifuges are four to five times more powerful than an aging model that Iran has used for years. The advance has worried American, European and Israeli officials because it would make it easier for Iran to race toward making fuel for nuclear weapons, if it decided to do so.

Victoria Nuland, the State Department spokeswoman, called the installation of the advanced machines “yet another provocative step” and “a further escalation” in Iran’s continuing violation of the United Nations demand that Tehran suspend its program of uranium enrichment.

But even as Iran installed the more powerful equipment, evidence collected by the International Atomic Energy Agency suggests that the Iranian authorities are deliberately slowing the accumulation of the medium-enriched uranium that could most quickly be converted to bomb fuel. According to a new report by the agency, much of that production has been diverted to make specialized fuel for a research reactor.

The new report says Iran has diverted about 40 percent of its growing stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium into an oxide form that can be used to make fuel for a research reactor in Tehran. So far, the report said, Iran used the collected material to produce at least five fuel assemblies.

The result is that Iran has delayed the day when it could reach what Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, defined as his latest “red line” beyond which Iran would not be allowed to pass: the accumulation of enough medium-enriched fuel to make a single nuclear weapon. At the time Mr. Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations last fall, it appeared that Iran would reach that point — about 240 kilograms (or 530 pounds) of uranium, enriched to 20 percent purity — by early this summer.

If production remains at roughly the same rate, it appears that date will now slip into the fall, allowing more time for diplomatic progress.

Mr. Netanyahu’s office said nothing about that apparent slowing when it released a statement quoting the prime minister as saying the findings were “a very grave report which proves that Iran is continuing to make rapid progress toward the red line.” It added that “the first subject” Mr. Netanyahu will discuss with President Obama during his planned visit to Israel next month is preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear arms.

The inspectors’ report also indicated there was no evidence of any explosion or other setback at the deep-underground nuclear facility called Fordo, which is regularly visited by inspectors. Reports, fueled by a right-wing Web site with ties to the Iranian opposition, had suggested a major explosion at the site that crippled its equipment. That report, which appeared in a number of European newspapers, now appears to have been false.

The report said that Iran, in addition to deploying new centrifuges, added 2,255 of the older models at Natanz, the biggest such jump in years.

The new centrifuges are known as IR-2, short for Iranian second generation. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad disclosed research on the spinning machinery more than six years ago, boasting that it would quadruple Iran’s enrichment powers.

Testing the new centrifuges at the Natanz site began in early 2008, and reached an advanced stage at the pilot plant in 2011. But until recently, technical problems had delayed their introduction into the cavernous underground halls of the nearby production plant, which is roughly half the size of the Pentagon.

One mystery is why Iran is installing these centrifuges at Natanz. It is just barely underground, and vulnerable to air attack. It is also the plant that was struck by a series of American and Israeli cyberattacks, part of a classified program called “Olympic Games” that resulted in a temporary setback.

Centrifuges spin extraordinarily fast to accumulate the rare form of uranium that can fuel atom bombs or nuclear reactors.

The IR-2 is based on Pakistan’s second-generation model. The rotor of the Pakistani machine, made of superhard steel, can spin much faster than the original model, speeding the pace of enrichment.

But Iran had great difficulty building the machines and obtaining the special steel. Mostly in secret, it instead developed its own version. The fact that it is partly indigenous signals that the Iranians have achieved new levels of technical expertise.

Western experts say the IR-2 is roughly half the height of Iran’s original machine but spins twice as fast. Its rotor is made of carbon fibers, which Iran has also experienced difficulty making and importing because of Western sanctions.

Iran tries to speed up nuclear work – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Tehran begins installing advanced centrifuges in Natanz plant in effort to speed up uranium enrichment, IAEA report says

( I ask any Fordow skeptic, “Why in Natanz, which can be bombed and not in the “impregnable” Fordow? – JW )

Reuters

Iran has begun installing advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment plant, a UN nuclear report said on Thursday, a defiant step likely to anger world powers ahead of a resumption of talks with Tehran next week.

In a confidential report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said 180 so-called IR-2m centrifuges and empty centrifuge casings had been hooked up at the plant near the central town of Natanz. They were not yet operating.

If launched successfully, such machines could enable Iran to significantly speed up its accumulation of material that the West fears could be used to devise a nuclear weapon. Iran says it is refining uranium only for peaceful energy purposes.

The deployment of the new centrifuges underlines Iran’s continued refusal to bow to Western pressure to curb its nuclear program, and may further complicate efforts to resolve the dispute diplomatically without a spiral into Middle East war.

Ahmadinejad in Natanz plant (Photo: EPA)

Iran’s installation of new-generation centrifuges would be “yet another provocative step,” US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in Washington.

White House spokesman Jay Carney warned Iran that it would face further pressure and isolation if it fails to address international concerns about its nuclear programme in the Feb. 26 talks with world powers in the Kazakh city of Almaty.

Britain’s Foreign Office said the IAEA’s finding was of “serious concern”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the report “proves that Iran continues to advance swiftly towards the red line” that he laid down last year.

Six world powers and Iran are due to meet for the first time in eight months in Kazakhstan on February 26 to try again to break the impasse but analysts expect no real progress toward defusing suspicions of an Iranian quest for nuclear weapons capability.

In a more encouraging sign for the powers, however, the IAEA report said Iran in December resumed converting some of its uranium refined to a fissile concentration of 20 percent to powder for the production of reactor fuel.

That helped restrain the growth of Iran’s higher-grade uranium stockpile since the previous report in November, a development that could buy more time for diplomacy and delay possible Israeli military action.

The report said Iran had increased to 167 kg (367 pounds) its stockpile of 20 percent uranium – a level it says it needs to make fuel for a Tehran research reactor but which also takes it much closer to weapons-grade material if processed further.

Bushehr shutdown

One diplomat familiar with the report said this represented a rise of about 18-19 kg since the November report, a notable slowdown from the previous three-month period when the stockpile jumped by nearly 50 percent after Iran halted conversion.

About 240-250 kg of 20 percent enriched uranium is needed for one atomic bomb if refined to a high degree.

Israel, which has warned it might bomb arch-enemy Iran’s nuclear sites as a last resort, last year gave a rough deadline of mid-2013 as the date by which Tehran could have enough higher-grade uranium to produce a single atomic bomb.

But a resumption of conversion, experts say, means the Israeli “red line” for action can be postponed.

Iran resumed converting higher-grade enriched uranium for fuel production in December and had since fed 28.3 kg of the material for this stated purpose, the report said.

Refined uranium can fuel nuclear energy plants, which is Iran’s stated aim, or provide the core of an atomic bomb, which the United States and Israel suspect may be its ultimate goal.

The report further said that “extensive” activities – an allusion to clean-up and renovations – at Iran’s Parchin military site would seriously undermine an IAEA investigation to determine whether explosives tests relevant to nuclear weapons was done there. Iran has so far refused access to Parchin.

Iran had informed the UN agency during an inspection of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in mid-February that the reactor was shut down, the report added, giving no details. The Russian-built plant on Iran’s Gulf coast is the Islamic state’s first nuclear energy station, but has been plagued by delays.

Netanyahu: Iran closer than ever… JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

Netanyahu: Centrifuge report shows Iran nearing ‘red line’By HERB KEINON, REUTERS02/21/2013 19:07Prime minister responds to IAEA report saying 180 centrifuges are hooked up at Natanz, Iran’s main uranium enrichment plant, calls findings “very grave;” White House says window for diplomacy “will not stay open indefinitely.”Centrifuges unveiled in NatanzCentrifuges unveiled in Natanz Photo: REUTERSVIENNA – Iran has begun installing advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment plant, a UN nuclear report said on Thursday. In response, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Iran is closer today than ever before to obtaining the necessary enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb. The White House said that the window remains open for diplomacy with Iran but will not stay open indefinitely.Netanyahu termed the report “very grave,” and said it proved that Iran is moving swiftly toward the red line he set out at the UN in September. He said during that address that Iran must be stopped before it crosses that line, something he said at the time could happen as early as the spring.Related: ‘Iran can ease nuke fears if rights are recognized’ Expert: Iran nuke won’t start Mideast arms raceThe Prime Minister’s Office said that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons will be the first issue on the agenda when US President Barack Obama comes to visit in less than a month’s time.In a confidential report, the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA said 180 so-called IR-2m centrifuges and empty centrifuge casings had been hooked up at the plant near the central town of Natanz.If operated successfully, such machines could enable Iran to significantly speed up its accumulation of material that the West fears could be used to devise a nuclear weapon. Iran says it is refining uranium only for peaceful energy purposes.The report also said Iran had increased to 167 kg 367 pounds its stockpile of uranium refined to a fissile purity of 20 percent – a level it says it needs for conversion into reactor fuel. About 240-250 kg of 20 percent enriched uranium is needed for one atomic bomb if refined to a high degree.Click here for full Jpost coverage of the Iranian threatIran resumed converting higher-grade enriched uranium for fuel production in December and had since fed 28.3 kg of the material for this stated purpose, the report added.It further said that “extensive” activities – an allusion to clean-up and renovations – at Iran’s Parchin military site would seriously undermine an IAEA investigation to determine whether explosives research relevant to nuclear weapons was done there.

via Netanyahu: Centrifuge report sho… JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

Jeffrey Goldberg – Authors – The Atlantic.

( The best defense is an irrelevant offense, ehh my little whining Goldberg? – JW )

One of Chuck Hagel’s most vociferous critics is a Breitbart writer named Ben Shapiro, who is responsible for this bit of immortal journalism:

On Thursday, Senate sources told Breitbart News exclusively that they have been informed that one of the reasons that President Barack Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, has not turned over requested documents on his sources of foreign funding is that one of the names listed is a group purportedly called “Friends of Hamas.”

There is, of course, no group called “Friends of Hamas,” and Chuck Hagel did not receive funding from this group, which, as I just mentioned, does not exist. (Dave Weigel did the hard work of proving its non-existence, and Dan Friedman, from the New York Daily News, subsequently explained that he may have inadvertently introduced, in a joking fashion, the idea that such a group did, in fact, exist.)

I bring this up not to question the quality of journalism perpetrated by writers associated with the Breitbart site. (Full disclosure: Breitbart.com has argued that I am a “court Jew” who has been “obsequiously bending over for Barack Obama for some time.”) Instead, I bring this up to note the remarkable fact that Mr. Shapiro, who has positioned himself as a stalwart defender of Israel and of the Jewish people, has expressed views that place him squarely in the fascist camp. Not only is he to the right of Chuck Hagel and Barack Obama, he is to the right of the mainstream pro-Israel community; of the right-wing Zionist Organization of America; the Likud Party; and the governing body of the West Bank settlement movement.

In a column published in 2003, Shapiro explicitly endorsed the idea of forcibly expelling the Palestinians from the West Bank. This was the position of the extremist Meir Kahane, who was banned by the Israeli Supreme Court from participating in Israeli politics because of his racist views. Here is an excerpt from one of Shapiro’s columns, entitled “Transfer is Not a Dirty Word,” which, to the best of my knowledge, he has never renounced, not that it would matter particularly much:

The Jews don’t realize that expelling a hostile population is a commonly used and generally effective way of preventing violent entanglements. There are no gas chambers here. It’s not genocide; it’s transfer. It’s not Hitler; it’s Churchill.

After World War II, Poland was recreated by the Allied Powers. In doing so, the Allies sliced off a chunk of Germany and extended Poland west to the Oder-Neisse line. Anywhere from 3.5 million to 9 million Germans were forcibly expelled from the new Polish territory and relocated in Germany.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was pleased with the result. In 1944, he had explained to the House of Commons that “expulsion is the method which, so far as we have been able to see, will be the most satisfactory and lasting. There will be no mixture of populations to cause endless trouble … a clean sweep will be made. I am not alarmed by the prospect of the disentanglement of populations, nor even by these large transferences, which are more possible in modern conditions than they ever were before.” Churchill was right. The Germans accepted the new border, and decades of conflict between Poles and Germans ended.

Arab-Jewish conflict is exponentially more volatile than German-Polish conflict ever was. And the solution is far easier. If there was “room in Germany for the German populations of East Prussia and of the other territories,” as Churchill stated, there is certainly room in the spacious Muslim states of the Middle East for 5 million Palestinians and Israeli Arabs. If Germans, who had a centuries-old connection to the newly created Polish territory, could be expelled, then surely Palestinians, whose claim to Judea, Samaria and Gaza is dubious at best, can be expelled.

It’s time to stop being squeamish. Jews are not Nazis. Transfer is not genocide. And anything else isn’t a solution.

Shapiro has argued that Jews who support Barack Obama (the majority of American Jews, in other words) are, in essence, self-haters and “Jews in name only.” But Shapiro is the one who seems completely divorced from Jewish values. His leadership role in the dump-Hagel movement reflects well on Barack Obama.

Hagel called Netanyahu a ‘radical,’ urged talks with Hamas | The Times of Israel.

( Is this bone-headed dirtbag really going to be the US Secretary of Defense? ! – JW )

In 2010 speech, defense secretary nominee also reportedly warned Israel risked becoming an apartheid state if it blocked Palestinian state

Former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Obama’s choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 31 (photo credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Chuck Hagel, the embattled nominee for US Secretary of Defense, reportedly said in a 2010 speech that Israel risked becoming an “apartheid state” by refusing to allow the establishment of a Palestinian state. (Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak said much the same in an address in Israel in February of that year.)

Hagel, a 66-year-old Vietnam veteran and former Nebraska senator, has come under fire from Jewish and Republican groups for his voting record on pro-Israel resolutions and past statements in which he expressed emphatic opposition to a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

In a speech at Rutgers University in April 2010, Hagel accused Israel of violating every UN resolution since 1967 as well as agreements with the Middle East “quartet” — four entities involved in the peace process — the Washington Free Beacon reported on Tuesday.

The report was based on an email that one attendee, Kenneth Wagner, claimed to have sent to The American Israel Public Affairs Committee at the time of the speech.

Wagner, whom the Free Beacon describes as a pro-Israel activist, wrote at the time that Hagel said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “was a radical and that even [former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi] Livni, who was hard nosed, thought he was too radical and so wouldn’t join in a coalition [government] with him. … He said that Hamas has to be brought in to any peace negotiation.”

On Thursday, the Free Beacon reported that Hagel called the US State Department an extension of the Israeli government at Rutgers in 2007. That report was based on a contemporaneous account of the speech written by a Hagel supporter, and spurred a number of Jewish groups and Republicans to call for Hagel to explain his statements.

While Senate Democrats have pushed for confirmation of President Barack Obama’s pick for the job, Republicans have held up the vote until they receive answers from the White House about how the attack on the US Embassy in Libya in September was handled.

Raphael Ahren contributed to this report.

Egypts Floods Smuggling Tunnels to Gaza With Sewage – NYTimes.com.

( I love irony, but this is almost too much… JW )

By FARES AKRAM and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

¶ GAZA —The Egyptian military is resorting to a pungent new tactic to shut down the smuggling tunnels connecting Sinai and Gaza: flooding them with sewage. Along with the stink, the approach is raising new questions about relations between Egypt’s new Islamist leaders and their ideological allies in Hamas who control the Gaza Strip.

¶ “Awful,” said Abu Mutair Shalouf, 35, a Palestinian smuggler on the Gaza side, watching workers haul buckets of sewage-soaked soil from the shaft of a tunnel flooded by the Egyptian military 15 days ago. “I don’t know why they did this.”

¶ Advisers to the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, say the answer is simple: they are determined to shut the tunnels to block the destabilizing flow of weapons and militants into Sinai from Gaza — a vow Mr. Morsi made with evident passion in an interview five months ago.

¶ And the more muted response from Hamas, a militant offshoot of the Brotherhood, is the strongest indication yet that its leaders are now pinning their hopes on their ideological allies in Cairo, even if at the moment they appear to be harming the interests of the citizens of Gaza. The tunnels remain a vital source of certain imports to Gaza and smuggling-tax revenue for Hamas, and when the former president, Hosni Mubarak, used far less effective methods to close the tunnels, Hamas screamed of betrayal.

¶ After the sewage flooding, several Hamas officials instead emphasized Egypt’s right to protect its borders as it chose. “Egypt is a state of sovereignty and we do not impose on it anything,” said Salah al-Bardawil, a Hamas official in Gaza. “We address the Egyptian side about the issue and hope they will understand us and our needs,” he added. “We trust the Egyptian leadership that they will not leave the Palestinian people alone.”

¶ Analysts offer many theories about the timing. At a moment of political and economic difficulties, with a financial aid package stalled in the United States Congress, Egypt’s Islamist-led government “is showing itself once more as a valuable ally,” speculated Yasser el-Shimy, Egypt analyst at the International Crisis Group. “It can do something like this, which, perhaps, promotes strategic interests.”

¶ Or perhaps, Mr. Shimy said, Mr. Morsi’s government aimed to remind Israel that it, and not Egypt, still bore responsibility for Gaza’s poverty and problems. Or perhaps the Egyptian military was sending some domestic message of its own, either to the Brotherhood or other domestic constituents, about the generals’ independence from the Islamists.

¶ Concern in Cairo about the tunnels spiked last August, when 16 Egyptian soldiers died in a militant attack on a military outpost in Sinai. The Egyptian government believes the attackers came through the tunnels.

¶ Then, after Egypt helped broker a truce between Hamas and Israel to end a week of fighting in Gaza last November, Israel eased restrictions on imports over the border. Most notably, it began allowing in more construction material previously considered to have a potential military use, though Palestinians say the Israelis still block steel and other materials.

¶ Essam el-Hadded, Mr. Morsi’s national security adviser, suggested this week that the loosened restrictions at the border crossing might have encouraged the crackdown on tunnels. “Now we can say that the borders are open to a good extent — it could still be improved — and the needs of the Gazan people are allowed in,” Mr. Hadded told Reuters.

¶ Under Mr. Mubarak, Palestinians said, the Egyptians sometimes flooded tunnels with gas, which was easily remedied by pumping in air.

¶ But around the beginning of February the Egyptian military began for the first time to use waste water instead, eventually flooding about two dozen of the 200-odd tunnels. (The Egyptian authorities say there are 225; Palestinians say 250.)

¶ Mr. Shalouf, 35, who imported mainly gravel, said that before removing the buckets of dirt he had pumped out the water. Now he plans to lay down sand and sawdust and reinforce the ceiling. Repairs could take three weeks.

¶ Palestinians say that so far the flooding has hurt individual livelihoods but not the total volume of goods moving below ground. On Wednesday, about two cargo trucks per minute were pulling out of the main smuggling zone inside Gaza, laden with cement, gravel, canned food, citrus and vegetables. Hamas customs officers kept a record of each truck and load.

¶

Car bomb explodes near Assad’s Baath party HQ in Damascus: police.

Thursday, 21 February 2013

They Syrian capital has so far mostly avoided the large scale violence that has destroyed other Syrian cities. (Al Arabiya)

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At least 31 people were killed after a powerful car bomb exploded near the headquarters of Syria’s ruling Baath party in the center of Damascus on Thursday.

Syrian state TV reported that the blast occurred in the central Mazraa neighborhood and called it a “terrorist” attack. It did not say what caused the explosion but reported that there were casualties and that the wounded included four children.

The car explosion allegedly took place at a security checkpoint between the Russian Embassy and the headquarters of the ruling Baath party of President Bashar Assad, reported Reuters.

“It was a car bomb at the 16 November Square, near the al-Imam mosque,” near the Baath party offices, a police official at the scene told AFP.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence in the country, said initial reports suggested a building of the ruling Baath Party was targeted, according to the Associated Press.

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the explosion, which also shattered windows and sent up a huge plume of smoke visible throughout much of the city.

The Syrian capital has so far mostly avoided the large scale violence that has destroyed other Syrian cities, though deadly car bombings have targeted government buildings before.

The news comes as opposition activists said that three explosions had hit the al-Barzah district in Damascus, according to Al Arabiya.

Hizballah on high alert, jockeys for a role in potential Syrian peace accord.

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 21, 2013, 1:39 PM (GMT+02:00)

Israeli drone downed over Lebanon

Hizballah forces went on alert Thursday, Feb. 21, upon the expiry of a 48-hour ultimatum slapped down by Syrian rebels to halt the Lebanese group’s military support for Bashar Assad – in particular, its artillery and mortar backing for Syrian troops from bases in Lebanon.
debkafile’s military sources report that relevant to this chain of events is the Syrian claim that its anti-aircraft missiles downed an Israeli drone Wednesday over the Lebanese village of Deir al-Aachayer in the Rashaya region.
Those events were touched off by the onset in Moscow of preparations for a political process between Syria’s warring parties for determining the country’s future. Representatives of Bashar Assad and the Syrian opposition will be facing each other under the Russian aegis, but Hizballah and Israel are also involved and the Lebanese group is bidding for a strong voice in the process on three issues:

1. Will the HIzballah-ruled Lebanese Beqaa Valley continue to serve Assad and his army as their strategic hinterland?

2. Will the Syria-based Hizballah units, especially those securing the Shiite villages around Homs, stay there under accords reached between Assad and the rebels?

3. Will the ceasefire deals on which talks are due to begin soon in Moscow apply to HIzballah?

The general wisdom in the West and Israeli media is that Assad’s fall is inevitable and imminent.

The facts on the ground tell a different story. debkafile’s military sources report that Assad goes into political talks with his army controlling enough of the country to keep his regime in power for another two years at least, until the next presidential election expected to take place in 2014.

The Syrian ruler will seek to have Hizballah covered by a Syria ceasefire, hoping for Moscow’s backing on this point. Inclusion of this ally would strengthen his standing and boost his army.

It would also keep Tehran in the picture and gain its acquiescence to any deals struck in the Moscow talks. Assad understands that Iran will want to be sure Hizballah’s interests are protected and is fully capable of torpedoing any accords that throw its proxy to the wolves.
The downing of the Israeli drone Wedneday over the Beqaa Valley was a move by the Syrian ruler to push Israel out of any discussion on the future role of Hizballah and the Beqaa Valley, as well as putting a stop to Israeli Air Force flights over the Beqaa and the Lebanese-Syrian border.
Israel has not so far responded to this step, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will remain passive or stop its Lebanese overflights.
This chain of events could culminate over the weekend in the Syrian rebels making good on their ultimatum and attacking Hizballah targets. The Syrian civil war would then be thrust into the byway of a Sunni-Shiite showdown athwart the Syrian-Lebanese border.

Militarily, the rebels can’t stand up to Hizballah’s far more organized and professional capabilities. If they do decide to go on the offensive, they are liable to suffer heavy losses.

World Briefing | Africa

Nigeria: Security Service Says It Halted Group Watching Israeli and U.S. Targets

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: February 20, 2013

Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines.

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Nigeria’s State Security Service said Wednesday that it broke up what it characterized as a terrorist group, backed by “Iranian handlers,” that wanted to gather intelligence about locations frequented by Americans and Israelis. The service said it arrested three suspects, but one remained at large. A spokeswoman, Marilyn Ogar, who was reading from a statement, identified the head of the group as Abdullahi Mustaphah Berende, a leader of a local Shiite sect. “He personally took photographs of the Israeli culture center in Ikoyi, Lagos,” she said. The group also conducted surveillance on USAID and the United States Peace Corps, she said. Ms. Ogar did not take questions.

via Nigeria – Security Service Says It Halted Group Watching Israeli and U.S. Targets – NYTimes.com.