rigorousintuition.ca

...but nobody condescends to inform us (1) exactly who made it, (2) exactly who left it at the airport, or (3) exactly why this entire country was wilfully terrorized by its own government and mass media for a full fucking day.

Germany says Namibia package was security test dummy

BBC News 19 November 2010 Last updated at 14:25 GMT

Related stories

* 'Detonator' raises German fears
* Germany warns of planned attacks

A suspect package intercepted at a Namibian airport was a dummy used to test security, German officials say.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said officials had established that it was a so-called "real-test suitcase".

He said no explosives were discovered in the case, which was found near luggage about to be loaded on to a Munich-bound flight.

The suitcase was found at Windhoek airport on Wednesday, triggering an international alarm.

The incident came just hours after Germany had raised its terrorist threat level, saying it had received a tip-off from an unspecified country about a suspected attack planned for the end of November.

Mr de Maiziere told a news conference in the northern city of Hamburg on Friday that experts from the German federal police had flown to Windhoek to examine the suitcase.

"The outcome is that the luggage turned out to be a so-called real-test suitcase made by a company in the United States.

"This company is a manufacturer of alarm and detection systems and these real-test suitcases are built to test security measures," he said.

Mr de Maiziere did not say who had left the suitcase, but said German agents were still involved in the investigation.

'Raises questions'

Asked if it could have been a German security test, he said that was "unlikely but part of the investigation".

He added: "The most important thing is that there were no explosives in the bag and there was never any danger to the passengers at any time."

The BBC correspondent in Berlin, Steve Evans, says the minister's statement raises a number of questions, such as, if it was a test done by local officials, why wasn't the true nature of the device revealed immediately?

And, if it was done by a foreign security agency, why didn't they inform the Namibian authorities?

The suitcase was placed alongside baggage about to be loaded on to an Air Berlin plane at Windhoek airport.

It was seized by Namibian police and an X-ray inspection revealed batteries that were attached with wires to a "detonator" and a ticking clock.

The Air Berlin plane, with around 300 passengers and crew on board, was delayed for six hours before being cleared for take-off to Munich, where it arrived on Thursday morning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11795415

Ha! I guessed this last night when it was found to be only a timer, detonator and batteries, with no explosives.

Also, remember that they've done exactly this kind of thing before - though that time they actually planted explosives in an innocent man's luggage.

DUBLIN — A 49-year-old electrician emerged Wednesday as an unlikely symbol of what can go wrong in the war on terror after authorities in Slovakia planted an explosive in his backpack to test security – then let it travel all the way to Ireland.

The incredible chain of events included a pilot taking off with the explosive on aboard, the closure of a busy Dublin thoroughfare during rush hour and the man's arrest as a terror suspect.

It all began Saturday when a policeman in Slovakia slipped 3.4 ounces (96 grams) of plastic explosive into Stefan Gonda's check-in luggage at Bratislava's Poprad-Tatry Airport as he and his wife were returning home to Ireland after a Christmas visit.

Slovak authorities said the bomb material and a dummy that smelled like explosives were hidden in the bag as a training test for a bomb-sniffing dog, who did pinpoint the fake.

But the police officer in charge got distracted and failed to remove the cache containing the real thing, the Slovak Interior Ministry said. That allowed RDX plastic explosive to travel undetected through airport security onto a Danube Wings aircraft.

While the Slovak ministry blamed the incident on "a silly and unprofessional mistake," Irish officials and international security experts expressed disbelief that the Slovaks had hidden actual explosives in the luggage of an innocent passenger.

"It's unbelievable, it's astonishing," said Rick Nelson, a former Bush administration official who worked at the National Counterterrorism Center. "I'm not sure what they were thinking, using an unknowing civilian rather than an undercover security official."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/0 ... 16048.html

How commonly this is done, no one will know. But why all the public build-up about "concrete evidence" of an imminent attack from both foreign (the US) and domestic intelliegence? Have they dropped that line now? Was it all "just a test".

It all seems a bit irresponsible. I mean, it all seems like a fucking nightmare, and also, possibly, a revelation of the method on Lockerbie.

According to the Berliner Zeitung, neither Air Berlin nor the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) were informed that any such test would be taking place.

The same newspaper also quotes Namibian police as saying that the device was made by a Californian company called Larry Copello Inc. - which appears to be a really tiny family firm:

Larry Copello Inc · Sonora, CA United States

Company Description

19501 Village Dr
Sonora, CA
95370-9270
United States (Map)

Phone: (209) 532-1238
Fax: (209) 532-1238


Key Larry Copello Inc Financials
Estimated Annual Sales $600,000.0
Employees At This Location 3
Employees Total 3

Executives

Title Name & Bio Contact
Pres-treas Larry Copello Email
V Pres-sec Sandra Copello Email

http://www.hoovers.com/company/Larry_Co ... hcf-1.html

Surely these companies are legally required to keep tabs on exactly whom they sell these dummy bombs to? (With full ID checks, traceable serial-numbers, etc.)

And surely not just anyone can walk in and buy one?

California grandmother made dummy bomb that led to international terror alert
Device found at Namibia airport was made to help train airport staff

A dummy bomb that sparked an international terror alert was made by an 80-year-old grandmother in California and ended up discarded in an Namibia airport because of "a boo boo," NBC News reported Friday.

The device — part of a "modular bomb set" or MBS, which is used for x-ray and physical/bag search training — was manufactured by a "mom and pop" machine shop in Sonora called Larry Copello Inc. four to five years ago.

The owner, Larry Copello, told NBC News that his then-80-year-old grandmother had completed it, doing the wiring and fitting Velcro attachments.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40270827/ns ... ews-africa

"Namibia is a sovereign state, you cannot just come here and plant something without our permission," police inspector general Sebastian Ndeitunga told reporters.

He added that such devices were sent some five years ago to two African countries for training purposes.

"The device in the laptop bag had a label on it with a sticker of a US company Larry Coppello Inc," he said.

"Our experts put the bag in a safe place and then disconnected the parts. The charger was for 500 grams," Ndeitunga added. "If governments were involved they would not have spent public resources sending their staff here."

The threat came after German government hiked security measures at rail stations, airports and other public spaces, after a tip-off from a "foreign partner" about an attack planned this month.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... 88e7ed.ca1

Anyone googling Larry Coppello Inc. will have already found these stories, but I thought it was worth noting that the "bomb" had a sticker on it with the name of his company written there. Since most higher-up airport security staff will probably already know about the company and what they make, having a sticker on it kind of defeats the purpose of using it in a test, no?

EDIT: Larry Coppello Inc doesn't even have email or fax listings.

http://www.celinea.com/d-61454397.htm

Maybe took them down after his name hit the press? He's probably swamped with enquiries right now.

Non Sequitur of the Year, here:

"Our experts put the bag in a safe place and then disconnected the parts. The charger was for 500 grams," Ndeitunga added. "If governments were involved they would not have spent public resources sending their staff here."

Ha. Haha. Ahahahaha.

Right, so, to sum up, we still don't know:

1. who planted the damn thing;

2. why it wasn't immediately identified as a dummy (although it clearly contained no explosives and even had the dummy-manufacturer's label on it!);

3. what possessed the German Minister of the Interior to terrorize the German population with sensational banner-headline "news" of a "possible bomb" "possibly" (but - as he already well knew! - not actually) destined for Germany on a German plane;

4. why Thomas de Maizière is not under arrest for fraudulently threatening the public. (See Paragraph 241 of the German Federal Law).

MacCruiskeen wrote:Right, so, to sum up, we still don't know:
...
3. what possessed the German Minister of the Interior to terrorize the German population with sensational banner-headline "news" of a "possible bomb" "possibly" (but - as he already well knew! - not actually) destined for Germany on a German plane

I think we might have a fair idea on that one. From another forum, don;t know how accurate the information is:

So, German TV is broadcasting a "special terrorism report" constantly, which involves them bringing on one "terrorism expert" after the other while showing the same images of German police armed with SMGs patrolling Christmasmarkets, airports and landmarks (like Brandenburger Tor etc), big anti-terror emergency exercises (they seem to especially like showing people with fake blood on their faces) and past terror attacks such as when environmental groups tried to stop nuclear transports or protest clashes with riot police, over and over and over again.

Last night at around 6:30 in the morning, the biggest mosque in Berlin was put on fire, they found propane at the scene, but the official statement is that it was just a bunch of people working in that area that accidentially put it on fire, but no construction/renovation workers or anything like that were present at the scene at the time. Oh also, that mosque burning down doesn't qualify as a terrorist attack. I bet if the old Frankfurt cathedral here burns down tonight it magically would be a terorrist attack.

Edit: Forgot to add, yesterday the German government announced that police presence in "Muslim areas" was permanently increased and that "Muslim troublemakers" could expect an electronic tag or ankle monitor (not sure what the correct translation is).

MacCruiskeen wrote:4. why Thomas de Maizière is not under arrest for fraudulently threatening the public. (See Paragraph 241 of the German Federal Law).

I used to be kind of idealistic, but never to the extent that I expected the law to be applied fairly and equally to everyone. That would be like arresting the head of the Home Office.

EDIT: I can post up a Google Street View of Larry Coppello Inc's. premises if anyone's interested, but there's nothing really to see, and he seems more of an unwitting pawn in all this rather than anything more sinister (yes, we now live in a world where making fake bombs for the government isn't considered all that sinister).

It's just a garage anyway. Not sure he deserves too much Internet Detective stuff done on him, at least until it turns out that his grandma worked on JM/WAVE or something.

.

Jeez it's like they're not even trying anymore. "Goverment terrorist bomb"? Can I get a patsy?

AhabsOtherLeg wrote:

MacCruiskeen wrote:Right, so, to sum up, we still don't know:
...
3. what possessed the German Minister of the Interior to terrorize the German population with sensational banner-headline "news" of a "possible bomb" "possibly" (but - as he already well knew! - not actually) destined for Germany on a German plane

I think we might have a fair idea on that one. From another forum, don;t know how accurate the information is:

So, German TV is broadcasting a "special terrorism report" constantly, which involves them bringing on one "terrorism expert" after the other while showing the same images of German police armed with SMGs patrolling Christmasmarkets, airports and landmarks (like Brandenburger Tor etc), big anti-terror emergency exercises (they seem to especially like showing people with fake blood on their faces) and past terror attacks such as when environmental groups tried to stop nuclear transports or protest clashes with riot police, over and over and over again.

Last night at around 6:30 in the morning, the biggest mosque in Berlin was put on fire, they found propane at the scene, but the official statement is that it was just a bunch of people working in that area that accidentially put it on fire, but no construction/renovation workers or anything like that were present at the scene at the time. Oh also, that mosque burning down doesn't qualify as a terrorist attack. I bet if the old Frankfurt cathedral here burns down tonight it magically would be a terorrist attack. [/b]

Yes, there was an arson attack on that mosque - the fourth this year, in fact. No wonder, really, when Berlin's Interior Minister has advised the public to keep an eye out for any "suspicious-looking characters" who might betray their sinister intentions by (for example) speaking Arabic in public. (Be your own Blockwart! Report 'em to the police!) And yes, the media have been going apeshit about this (non-existent) "parcel bomb", not least because it was (fraudulently) reported just a couple of days after the government had issued a vague and unhelpful "warning" about an alleged "Al Qaeda" plan to attack Germany at the end of November. (The Madrid bombings were "Spain's 9/11", remember? And the 7/7 bombings were "Britain's 9/11"... Every self-respecting Great Nation should have one. Germany's no exception.)

It scares me shitless, frankly, just as it's intended to do. Personally, I won't be able to avoid airports and main railway stations in the capital at the end of November. And if any real bombs do go off here, then you can bet your life that "Western intelligence agencies" will top my list of suspects (presuming I survive), and not for no reason.

Bastards. What has me worried is that I think they really need a "new 9/11", pretty damn soon. There is so much shit hitting so many fans at the moment -- so much public discontent, and even actual riots -- that I suspect we're going to be given a fresh lesson about "the reality of the terror threat".

ON EDIT:

Edit: Forgot to add, yesterday the German government announced that police presence in "Muslim areas" was permanently increased and that "Muslim troublemakers" could expect an electronic tag or ankle monitor (not sure what the correct translation is).

I don't think that's true, Ahab. Strikes me as scaremongering. If it was in fact reported, then it would have been big news, and I've heard nothing about it. And when I google news reports with the keywords in German, I find nothing.

What is true is that police presence has been stepped up nearly everywhere, especially at the main rail and air traffic hubs.

MacCruiskeen wrote:

Edit: Forgot to add, yesterday the German government announced that police presence in "Muslim areas" was permanently increased and that "Muslim troublemakers" could expect an electronic tag or ankle monitor (not sure what the correct translation is).

I don't think that's true, Ahab. Strikes me as scaremongering. If it was in fact reported, then it would have been big news, and I've heard nothing about it. And when I google news reports with the keywords in German, I find nothing.

Seems the guy on the other forum got it wrong, and it was actually just the interior minister of Niedersächsen who was calling for "Muslim areas" to face an increased police presence. I can't actually read what this link says, but apparently the story is here. Actually, Babelfish did a good job of translating it for once, and it seems it's the interior minister of Lower Saxony who was calling for it - Uwe Schunneman. Apparently he's a well-known nutter and shit-stirrer.

http://www.focus.de/politik/weitere-mel ... 73022.html

Does every city/region have it's own interior minister? Didn't know that.

MacCruiskeen wrote:It scares me shitless, frankly, just as it's intended to do. Personally, I won't be able to avoid airports and main railway stations in the capital at the end of November. And if any real bombs do go off here, then you can bet your life that "Western intelligence agencies" will top my list of suspects (presuming I survive), and not for no reason.

Bastards. What has me worried is that I think they really need a "new 9/11", pretty damn soon. There is so much shit hitting so many fans at the moment -- so much public discontent, and even actual riots -- that I suspect we're going to be given a fresh lesson about "the reality of the terror threat".

You have a point, but we've just had a "large explosion related to terrorism" in the woods over here, up near Loch Lomond (apparently a terror-training thing) and... I just can't find it in myself to care. Then again, I don't get out much. Seems more likely to be a dissident Republican thing, or some unexploded munitions from WW2 training, or a farmer's illegal stash of blasting caps, or the SAS playing their games for that matter, but that hasn't stopped the Mail and counter-terrorism guys from linking it to Al Qaeda already.

An explosion on the shores of Loch Lomond is being investigated as a possible Al Qaeda bomb test.

The blast, which was reported by walkers and workmen, damaged a large area of woodland on the south-west edge of the lake.

Police are believed to have found several suspicious devices at the site, which is being examined by bomb disposal officers and divers.

Explosives experts from Scotland Yard’s Counter Terror Command have travelled to the Garadhban forest near the village of Gartocharn to assess the scene.

They are investigating whether it might have been the site of an Al Qaeda training camp or a bomb testing and storage site.

Islamic extremists are known to use remote locations to store bomb-making materials and train in terror tactics.

The 7/7 London bombers were photographed on a training camp in the Lake District and other fanatics have trained in the New Forest.

The terrorists convicted of the plot to bring down transatlantic planes with liquid bottle bombs stored their materials in woodland near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.

There were claims that camps were held in remote parts of Scotland in the run-up to the terror attack on Glasgow airport in 2007 – including one close to the scene of yesterday’s explosion.

No one is thought to have been injured in the blast 20 miles north-west of Glasgow.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... rcise.html

I'm not bothered. Hope I'm right, though. Hope you're wrong.

So this morning the Reichstag dome was closed to visitors until further notice.

Now, this evening, a large stretch of the Berlin subway system (comprising about ten stations in Kreuzberg and Neukölln on Line 7) has been closed for nearly two hours (so far), because of an unspecified "bomb threat". Now, it's hardly conceivable that "Al Qaeda" would really target that stretch of the line: not only does it go nowhere near any important public buildings, but it passes through by far the most heavily Turkish and Arabic part of town. Any bomb planted there would be likely to hit Muslims disproportionately.

So who posted the threat?

Even more strangely, no alternative bus transportation has been laid on for the subway passengers who got stuck. This is unique in my very long experience of Berlin. The city's public mass transit system is famous for its efficiency, and buses running the same route are always provided within half an hour (maximum) of any technical or other problems on the subway.

So why not this time?

Who's scaring* the population?

*Not that anyone appeared to be really scared. Everyone I saw was grinning, or groaning, or shaking their heads, or rolling their eyes, or making sarcastic remarks about the German government and/or the CIA.

You live in Berlin, Mac? We were there last year. If I'd known, I'd have loved to look you up -- your take on the city would have been fascinating to me.

It might be widely known now, but i thought I should post up the fact that police inspector general Sebastian Ndeitunga, author of the non-sequitur of the year - "If governments were involved they would not have spent public resources sending their staff here" - has now arrested the head of security at Namibia's main airport, on the charge of having planted the false bomb.

Police have arrested the head of airport security at Namibia's main airport on charges he planted a dummy explosive device in luggage destined for a German flight earlier this week, Germany's interior ministry said on Saturday.

Citing Namibian authorities, an interior ministry spokesman said the man was arrested for having placed a bag containing a simulated detonator on a luggage conveyor belt, and that he had admitted to doing so.

"The Namibian police have informed us that the head of Windhoek airport security was arrested yesterday evening," a spokesman said, declining to be named. "Namibian police have no knowledge as to a possible motive," he added.

German police had dispatched experts shortly after the detonator was discovered to join a task force in Namibia that also included the FBI and Namibian police.

Police found the laptop bag, which contained a test detonator and clock — in routine security checks at Windhoek airport before an Air Berlin flight to Munich on Wednesday, sparking concerns in Germany which is on heightened security alert.

Police in Namibia, a former German colony neighboring South Africa, subsequently confirmed the detonator was an explosive simulation training device manufactured by a U.S. company.

In Windhoek on Saturday, police Deputy Inspector-General Vilio Hifindaka told Reuters the suspect, arrested on Friday, would be brought before court on Monday.

"The suspect was identified using CCTV footage. On the footage the suspect was seen handling the parcel," he said.

"We do not know if the suspect was working alone or whether there are third parties involved," he added. "The investigation into this is still ongoing."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40292432/ns ... ews-africa

Identified by CCTV, seen handling the parcel, and he's admitted to it. That's going to be hard to argue against, even though the whole thing reeks to the stratosphere. If the head of airport security wanted to cause terror and disruption, but no death - presumably because he still holds a grudge against the former German colonists, or has been paid by Al Qaeda to do so - you'd think he would probably know enough to TAKE THE STICKER OFF THE FAKE BOMB first. What with him being the head of airport security and all.

And why are the FBI involved, publically? I know their remit has always been kind of elastic, but the failed transport of a fake bomb between Namibia and Germany seems like a bit of a stretch, even for them - even if the fake bomb was made in the US.