Hospitality

The popular holiday island of Lanzarote is an ideal destination for a villa break – whatever the time of year.  As the sun shines on this small Canary Island for twelve months of the year – thanks to its semi tropical climate and location off the coast of Morocco.

Lanzarote is one of seven Canary Islands – the best known of which is Tenerife.  All of which are owned by Spain – despite the fact that they are situated much closer to Africa than Europe.  This also explains why the islands enjoy great weather all year round – making them ideal for both summer and winter sun seekers.

Lanzarote is located at the eastern end of the chain and is much more arid and unspoiled than the bigger islands.  Yet still manages to welcome around 1.4 million visitors every year.  The majority of whom fly in from countries such as the UK and Germany in Northern Europe.

Once on the island many visitors rent a vehicle as car hire in Lanzarote is very cheap.  Before heading off to explore the islands many attractions – which include breathtaking natural wonders such as the Fire Mountains of Timanfaya – scene of a series of huge eruptions during the 18^th century.  And the many creations of a local artist, Cesar Manrique, who is also famous for having helped to thwart over development on the island of his birth.

Many visitors to the island now book their own accommodation online – thanks to the growth of the internet.  Which has created demand for Lanzarote villas and apartments – especially in the main resorts of Puerto del Carmen, Costa Teguise and Playa Blanca. Whilst rural tourism also enjoys a growing popularity.

Holiday villas in Playa Blanca are the cheapest self catering option for those seeking a villa break on the island.  As there is a large supply of good value rental accommodation in this fast-growing resort, located at the southern end of the island.  Holiday apartments also offer great value for money – and there are hundreds of complexes located in the largest resort on the island, Puerto del Carmen. With prices starting from around €180 per week.

Whilst Lanzarote enjoys good weather al year round it still has distinct seasons – with spring often bringing a burst of colourful flowers to  the side of the islands volcanoes.  Whilst autumn offers calmer and mellower weather after the heat of the summer months.

A U.S. man who became an al-Qaida terrorist while attending college in Saudi Arabia and plotted to assassinate then-President George W. Bush was defiant Monday as he was sentenced to life in prison.

Federal authorities issue a bulletin to police, urging them to be on the lookout for Americans who’ve traveled abroad to train as terrorists and then returned home. The warning comes in the wake of Monday’s arrest of Daniel Patrick Boyd, left, a North Carolina father accused of leading a group of aspiring terrorists.

The Obama administration may create a courtroom-within-a-prison complex somewhere inside the United States to house the hundreds of suspected terrorists currently held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, top officials say.

Southeast Asia’s most wanted terror suspect was reportedly killed during a 16-hour siege on a suspected militant hide-out that ended Saturday when police stormed the house.

Indonesia Needs to Destroy Noordin’s Network to Win Terror War

Indonesian police after foiling a plan by terrorist Noordin M Top’s network to attack Indonesian  President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s residence, needs to destroy the group in order to win the terror war.

Authorities on Aug. 8 killed a militant thought to be Noordin, Indonesia’s most wanted man, in a house 360 kilometers (224 miles) east of Jakarta, local television channels including TV-One reported. National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said it may take a week to positively identify the dead. Two other terrorists were killed near Jakarta, while five have been arrested across Java island.

The multiple raids by the police and the possible death of Noordin are “significant achievements,” for Indonesia, said Keith Loveard, a security analyst at Jakarta-based Concord Consulting. Yudhoyono, re-elected for a second-term last month, needs to step up the nation’s fight against terrorism to keep his pledge of ensuring security in Asia’s third-most populated nation.

Yudhoyono “must make this a personal mandate to get rid of the extremist and terrorist groups that operate in Indonesia,” said Rohan Gunaratna, head of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research. “They must dismantle the extremist infrastructure that is producing the recruits and the funding.”

The government should close down publishers of books such as “Awaiting the Destruction of America and Europe,” and “Judging the Status of Rulers Who Reject Sharia,” as well as enact stricter legislation to discourage people from joining terror organizations, Gunaratna said.

‘Rock Idol’

Some 17 people involved in Indonesia’s spate of terror attacks graduated from the al-Mukmin Islamic school in Ngruki, Sukoharjo, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. Most of the radical books including one written by a terrorist executed for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings are sold near the school.

“Impassioned youngsters who want to die as martyrs seek out Noordin” because they think he’s “cool” and “like a rock idol,” said Noor Huda Ismail, an analyst with the Jakarta- based Institute for International Peacebuilding, and a graduate of al-Mukmin.

Gunaratna said the Malaysia-born Noordin may still be alive. He is getting support from the Jemaah Islamiyah, which wants to eliminate the Indonesian president, he said.

“Still police deserve enormous credit,” for tracking down terrorist networks in Bekasi, 20 kilometers east of Jakarta and Temanggung, in Central Java, said Sidney Jones, a security analyst at the International Crisis Group in Jakarta, who also said that Noordin may be alive.

Car Bomb

Noordin, 40, a former member of Jemaah Islamiyah, a terror organization linked to al-Qaeda, is suspected to have been involved in the July 17 suicide bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta.

The house in Bekasi is thought to have been a safe-house for Noordin, Danuri said. Terrorists used the house to assemble bombs, he said. Two militants were killed in the raid.

Authorities discovered “hundreds of kilograms” of material to be used to make bombs similar to the explosive device found at the Marriott last month, a pick-up truck to be used as a car bomb and bullets, police said. The terrorist were planning to use the car bomb to attack Yudhoyono’s home, about 10 kilometers from the site, said Danuri.

Noordin is suspected to have been involved in attacks that killed about 290 people since 2000, including 202 people in Bali seven years ago.

“Noordin relied on the larger JI network,” said Gunaratna. “It’s so important for Indonesia to have the will and the leadership to take down this network.”

Detachment 88

Noordin allegedly was involved in a 2003 bombing at the same Marriott hotel that killed 12 people and a 2004 blast outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta that killed at least nine, and another attack in Bali in 2005 when three suicide bombers killed themselves and 20 others.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation added Noordin’s name to its “Seeking Terrorism Information” list in 2006.

Noordin split from Jemaah Islamiyah and formed a group to carry on attacks after leaders of the Southeast Asian terror organization were caught or killed by Indonesian counter-terror agency Detachment 88. Authorities in 2005 killed Azhari Husin, Noordin’s accomplice. Noordin escaped during that raid.

Abu Dujana, one of Jemaah Islamiyah’s suspected leaders, was arrested in 2007. The three terrorists convicted for the 2002 Bali bombings, Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron, were executed by a firing squad in November last year. Riduan bin Isomuddin, also known as Hambali, the suspected leader of al- Qaeda in Southeast Asia, was captured in Thailand in 2003.

Noordin planned the attack on Yudhoyono in April to avenge the death of the three bombers executed last year, Danuri said.

Attempts by authorities to break up the terrorism network in part helped Yudhoyono keep Indonesia free of terror attacks for the past four years and boosted the president’s popularity. Yudhoyono won 60.8 percent of the votes in July 8 elections.

Update on terrorist raids expected,  Foreign authorities are closely following updates on Saturday’s raids on terrorist safe houses, which targeted Indonesia’s most wanted, Noordin M. Top. The raids included a siege on a house in Temanggung, Central Java, in which the police killed a man believed to be Noordin. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Sunday that he would speak with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to get the latest developments. “It is still unclear as to who precisely has been killed and who has been apprehended,” Rudd said, as quoted by the Australian Associated Press. Rudd said that he has yet to see all of the information from the Indonesian authorities and was reluctant to comment on speculation that the July 17 bombings were revenge attacks for the execution of the Bali bombers. “Obviously terrorists are going to be motivated by a range of factors,” he said. “The key thing is that our cooperation with the Indonesians remains strong, robust, comprehensive and that every action is taken to crack down on those responsible for terrorist acts so far, and those who are still engaged in terrorist activities today.” Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that his country was concerned about the case. Muhyidin said Malaysia had been perceived as a breeding ground for terrorists as Noordin is a Malaysian national. He however told Bernama news agency that this was untrue, as Malaysia had been a democratic and peaceful country for a long time. He said Kuala Lumpur always worked closely with Jakarta to tackle terrorism. Following Saturday’s siege, the police are working to identify the body of the man believed to be Noordin. However, Rohan Gunaratna, head of the Singapore-based International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, has said the body was not Noordin’s. “He’s not yet dead, in fact DNA tests prove that the body that was recovered was not Noordin,” Gunaratna told Al-Jazeera soon after the body was taken to Jakarta. “But it is very likely that he will be hunted down in the next few days,” Gunaratna added, citing police sources. Meanwhile, Sidney Jones, from the International Crisis Group, said that police seemed to be convinced that Noordin was inside the building during the siege. “Their confidence was quite high until they found the body,” she told Al-Jazeera from Jakarta. “Then it became increasingly clear that it might not be Noordin after all

The threat of terrorism still exists despite the death of Malaysian-born terrorist Noordin M Topin a police raid in Central Java on Saturday, an Indonesian anti-terror official said.

“His presence in Indonesia for such a long time with a series of terrorist actions carried out up to July 2009, shows that Noordin has continued to build up his power base in the form of cells,” Ansyaad Mbai, head of the anti-terror desk at the coordinating ministry for political, legal and security affairs, was quoted by Antara news agency as saying on Saturday.

“It would therefore not be correct to assume that with his death, his entire terror network has been paralyzed,” the official said.

Moreover, many terrorist suspects related to Noordin M Top and Dr Azahari were still at large, he added.

“The skills of the Noordin M Top group in making bombs have continued to be developed as can be seen from their modus operandi… these skills, of course, have also been acquired by members of the cells which have been built up for a long time at least over the past four years,” he said.

Indonesia’s anti-terror police at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday raided a house which was believed to be a terrorist hideout at Beji village in the Kedu region of Temanggung District, in Central Java. Fugitive Malaysian-born terrorist Noordin M Top was believed to have been killed in the raid.

The Indonesian government has intensified efforts to find Noordin M Top following the bombings of two hotels at Mega Kuningan, in Jakarta, on July 17, this year, which killed nine people and injured 53 others.

Based on the findings and modus operandi of the bomb blasts, Noordin M Top and his network were suspected to have been behind the bombings. Azahari was killed in a police raid in East Java in November 2005.