Morning Security Brief: Assessing al Qaeda Threat, CIA Contractor Problem, Arson, Central Asian CT, Baghdad Motorcycle Ban

♦ With the anniversary of 9-11 just days away, the assessments of core al Qaeda's continued threat to the United States have begun. Terrorism experts that Reuters spoke to say yes and "point to investigations into suspected conspiracies uncovered in the past 18 months in the United States, Norway and Britain, which law enforcement officials say were directed by a group of operatives in the core leadership's bases in Pakistan." Two of the three operatives the article lists, however, were killed by U.S. drone strikes and the plots never materialized. But as one terrorism expert Paul Cruickshank put it, the plots "show al Qaeda core remains a threat".

♦ A former CIA officer accused of revving an electric drill next to the head of terrorism suspect has once again found work with the government as a contractor responsible for training  CIA operatives. "The CIA officer wielded the bitless drill and an unloaded handgun - unauthorized interrogation techniques - to menace suspected USS Cole bombing plotter Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri inside a secret CIA prison in Poland in late 2002 and early 2003, according to several former intelligence officials and a review by the CIA's inspector general," according to The Associated Press. "Adding details to the public portions of the review, the former officials identified the officer as Albert, 60, a former FBI agent of Egyptian descent who worked as a bureau translator in New York before joining the CIA. The former officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because many details of the incident remain classified." Ben Wizner, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, told the AP that "The notion that an individual involved in one of the more notorious episodes of the CIA's interrogation program is still employed directly or indirectly by the U.S. government is scandalous."

♦ Authorities in the Sacramento area of California believe an individual, or a group of individuals, is responsible for setting more than 30 fires since September 3. "Seven fires in North Highlands, four fires at an apartment complex in South Sacramento, two vegetation fires off Florin Road and six fires near a Carmichael church are among those authorities are calling suspicious in nature by three different arsonists or group of arsonists setting intentional blazes throughout Sacramento," reports FOX40 Sacramento."So far, the fires have been contained to unoccupied schools, playground equipment, dumpsters, grassy fields and abandoned structures, but that's of little solace to Sacramento fire and police officials." The Sacramento Fire Department worries that the arsonist, or arsonists, will graduate to burning down occupied structures.

♦ The United Nations will begin developing a plan next year to counter terrorist and criminal organizations throughout Central Asia. "Currently the region's five countries, which include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, have been spared large-scale terrorist attacks, Miroslav Jenca, UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon's special representative and head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), said in a press briefing here," according to the English-language version of Xinhua. "But various extremist, terrorist and criminal organizations have the potential to intensify their activities due to instability in the wider region and porous borders through which extremism and criminal networks penetrate the region, Jenca said, noting that the launch of the project is 'very timely,' given the proximity of Afghanistan to the region as well as recent events in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan." A series of meeting with experts will soon begin to advance cooperation, leading up to the adoption of a joint plan in 2011.

♦ Baghdad authorities banned motorcycles in the capital city this morning as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan comes to an end this week in an effort to tighten security. "While overall violence in Iraq has dropped drastically over the past two years, there has been a noticeable uptick in attacks over recent weeks," reports CNN's Wire Staff. "There have been concerns that insurgents would take advantage of the political vacuum in the country to try and reignite the sectarian bloodshed that gripped Iraq for years."