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HavenWorks.com/terrorism/archive/2003 |
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- Terrorism Archive
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ARCHIVES NEWS Terrorism News History Archives Terrorism Archive 2002 Terrorism News Archives 2001 Terrorism News Archives Terrorism News |
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- 
- "Ridge:
U.S. tightens security for New Year's." ... "With
New Year's on the way, security efforts across the United States have been
"ramped up in an unprecedented way" through the end of the week, Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Tuesday." ... "The U.S. government will
keep the terror threat alert level at orange -- the second-highest on the
five-tiered, color-coded scale -- for the rest of the week as officials
remain concerned about airline security, Ridge said."
-CNN
- 
-
- "US
expands air marshal plan abroad: Foreign flights
must comply if request issued." ... "The Department of Homeland Security
announced yesterday that it will require all foreign air carriers to place
an armed guard on any flight over United States airspace if counterterrorism
officials ask them to do so." ... "The move, described as an "emergency"
rules change that is effective immediately, reflects growing concern that
the Al Qaeda terrorist network may try to exploit foreign carriers as a
gap in US air security by hijacking their planes and flying them into populated
areas or high-risk industrial sites." -By Charlie
Savage -Boston/Globe
- 
- "Nation's
Threat Level Rising to Orange: Government Raising
National Threat Warning From Yellow to Orange, Federal Official Says."
... "The government is raising the national threat warning from yellow,
the midpoint on its five-color scale, to orange, a federal official said
Sunday." ... "The warning was prompted in part by a raised level of ominous
intercepted communications that has not quieted for months. The significance
of the sustained level of intelligence "chatter" is unclear, the officials
said." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
Sniper
- "Malvo
found guilty of capital murder." ... "Lee Malvo was
convicted Thursday of two counts of capital murder in the sniper attacks
that killed 10 people and terrorized the Washington, D.C., area just more
than a year ago." ... "Malvo was charged in the killing of Linda Franklin,
47, who was shot Oct. 14, 2002, in a Home Depot parking lot in Falls Church,
Va. In the first charge, the jury had to find that Malvo killed Franklin
and at least one other person within the past three years. Malvo also was
charged under Virginia's new anti-terrorism law, which makes killing while
committing a terrorist act a capital offense." -By
Laura Parker -USATODAY
-
-
-
- 
- 
- "EU
Agrees to Share Airline Passenger Data." ... "The
European Union has agreed to share information about its airline passengers
with the United States, in a deal announced yesterday that ends year-long
negotiations over a new U.S. law intended to fight terrorism." ... "International
airlines will turn over data about their U.S.-bound passengers, such as
a traveler's name, e-mail address, telephone number and credit card number
to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection
unit." -By Sara Kehaulani Goo
-WashingtonPost
-
-
- "Explosion
in Baghdad Kills at Least 10: Truck Loaded With Explosives
Rams Into a Small Bus in Baghdad, Killing at Least 10 People." ... "A truck
loaded with explosives rammed into a small bus near a police station Wednesday,
killing at least 10 Iraqis, an Iraqi deputy minister said. He blamed the
attack on Saddam Hussein loyalists angry over the former dictator's capture."
... "The explosion occurred before dawn in al-Bayaa, a poor district in
southwest Baghdad, police said. Two cars nearby were destroyed. U.S. soldiers
and Iraqi police secured the area after the explosion."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- 
-
- "Coalition
fears confirmed as blasts kill eight." ... "Iraqi
insurgents confirmed US and British government fears that the arrest of
Saddam could galvanise them by mounting two attacks yesterday on police
stations, killing eight and injuring 22." ... "The fatal explosion occurred
at Husseiniya, north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber sped through a fence
protecting a police station in a four-wheel drive packed with explosives.
It hit another car and detonated after guards opened fire. Six policemen
were killed, as well as the driver; about 20 people were wounded." -By
Ewen MacAskill and Richard Norton-Taylor -Guardian.co.uk
-
- "Car
bomb at police station in Iraq kills at least 17, police say."
... "A suspected suicide attacker detonated a car bomb outside an Iraqi
police station Sunday near Baghdad, killing at least 17 people and wounding
33 others, hours before the announcement of Saddam Hussein's capture, the
U.S. military said." ... "The car bombing in Khaldiyah, 50 miles west of
Baghdad, killed police officers, city workers and civilian bystanders,
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jeff Swisher said." -By Sameer
N. Yacoub -AP
via -SFGate.com
- "Annan rules
out swift UN redeployment in Iraq." ... "Secretary
General Kofi Annan said Wednesday that he had ruled out a swift renewal
of a substantial UN presence in Iraq because of the danger there." ...
""I cannot compromise the security of our international and national staff,"
he said in a 26-page report to the Security Council that found the UN to
be "a high-value, high-impact target for terrorist activity in Iraq for
the foreseeable future."" -By Warren Hoge -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
- "Deadly
Explosion Near Kremlin Shuts Down Moscow." ... "A
midday explosion Tuesday just hundreds of yards from the Kremlin left as
many as six people dead and another 13 injured here in the Russian capital
in what authorities called a terrorist attack." ... "The blast about 11
a.m. outside the prestigious National Hotel shut down the heart of Moscow
and put the city on edge." -By Peter Baker
-WashingtonPost
- 
- "Dirty
Bomb Warheads Disappear: Stocks of Soviet-Era Arms
For Sale on Black Market." ... "In the ethnic conflicts that surrounded
the collapse of the Soviet Union, fighters in several countries seized
upon an unlikely new weapon: a small, thin rocket known as the Alazan.
Originally built for weather experiments, the Alazan rockets were packed
with explosives and lobbed into cities. Military records show that at least
38 Alazan warheads were modified to carry radioactive material, effectively
creating the world's first surface-to-surface dirty bomb." ... "The radioactive
warheads are not known to have been used. But now, according to experts
and officials, they have disappeared." ... "The last known repository was
here, in a tiny separatist enclave known as Transdniester, which broke
away from Moldova 12 years ago. The Transdniester Moldovan Republic is
a sliver of land no bigger than Rhode Island located along Moldova's eastern
border with Ukraine. Its government is recognized by no other nation. But
its weapons stocks -- new, used and modified -- have attracted the attention
of black-market arms dealers worldwide. And they're for sale, according
to U.S. and Moldovan officials and weapons experts." (1, 2,
3)
-By Joby Warrick -WashingtonPost
- 
-
- 
- "Arizonans
to visit Cuba base: McCain, Flake to inspect Guantanamo."
... "Sen. John McCain and U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake will make separate visits
next week to the U.S. detention center where suspected terrorists are being
held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba." ... "The trips by the two Republican lawmakers
from Arizona come as the government, under increasing domestic and international
pressure, moves toward releasing 100 or more prisoners and putting others
on trial in military courts after as long as two years." -By
Billy House and Jon Kamman -azcentral.com
- "Suicide
bomber on Russian train kills 42." ... "A suspected
suicide attacker set off a bomb that ripped through a crowded commuter
train near the rebellious region of Chechnya in southern Russia yesterday,
killing at least 42 people and injuring 170." ... "President Vladimir Putin
immediately called the attack an attempt to destabilize the country before
tomorrow's parliamentary elections." ... "Authorities said a man set off
an explosive device packed with screws, bolts, and wire on a morning rush
hour train jammed with students as it traveled through the spa town of
Yessentuki on the way to nearby schools and universities." -By
David Filipov -Boston/Globe
- 
- 
-
- "Rumsfeld
Visits Georgia to Bind a Strategic Partnership."
... "The United States views Georgia as a strategic partner, in part for
its location, along an arc of instability in a region thought to be a crossroads
for terrorists. A pipeline set to open in 2005 linking Azerbaijan, which
Mr. Rumsfeld visited Thursday, and Turkey, NATO's only Islamic member,
runs across Georgia, as well." ... "Georgia's leaders, describing the desperate
state of their temporary government, said the treasury was so empty that
they had asked the United States to consider helping pay soldiers' salaries.
Satisfying the armed forces is viewed as important to keeping the peace
ahead of Jan. 4 elections." -By Thom Shanker -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
-
-
- "Guantanamo
Bay Detainee Is First to Be Given a Lawyer: Move
Is Sign That Australian Alleged Al Qaeda Fighter May Be Tried by Tribunal."
... "An Australian detainee at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba last night
became the first prisoner there to be given a lawyer, a strong indication
that he is on track to be the first alleged al Qaeda fighter in detention
to go before a military tribunal, according to informed sources." ... "But
a source said Muslim adventurer and former cowboy David Hicks may never
be tried before one of the special military courts because the U.S. government
is working on a plea bargain with him. He has been accused of associating
with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups." -By John
Mintz -WashingtonPost
- "USS
Cole Heads Out for Overseas Deployment: USS Cole
Heads Out for First Overseas Deployment Since 2000 Terrorist Bombing in
Yemen Port." ... "The USS Cole and its crew of 340 pulled out of port Saturday
for the destroyer's first overseas deployment since it was bombed by terrorists
three years ago in Yemen's port of Aden." ... "A crowd of about 100 family
members watched as the ship left the Naval Station Norfolk [Virgina] at
12:55 p.m." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- "Turkish
Court Charges 9 in Bombings Probe: Turkish Court
Charges Nine Suspected Accomplices in Suicide Bombings Probe, Defense Lawyer
Says" ... "The charges came just five days after the bombings of the British
consulate and a London-based bank in Istanbul. Fifty-seven people, including
the bombers, died in those attacks and the bombings of two synagogues in
the city on Nov. 15." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
- 
-
- 
-
- "Al Qaeda’s
terror style spreading: Analysts see a form
of franchising at work around globe." ... "Leaders of the al Qaeda
terrorist network have franchised their organization’s brand of synchronized,
devastating violence to homegrown terrorist groups across the world, posing
a formidable new challenge to counterterrorism forces, according to intelligence
analysts and experts in the United States, Europe and the Arab world."
... "The recent attacks in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Chechnya and Iraq show
that the smaller organizations, most of whose leaders were trained in al
Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, have fanned out, imbued with radical ideology
and the means to create or revitalize local terrorist groups. They also
are expanding the horizons of groups that had focused on regional issues."
-By Douglas Farah and Peter Finn with contributions
from Dana Priest, Dan Eggen, and Margot Williams -WashingtonPost
via -MSNBC
-
-
- "Turkey arrests
bombing suspects." ... "Turkish investigators arrested
a number of suspects Friday in the deadly suicide bombings on the British
consulate and a London-based bank the day before that have been blamed
on al-Qaida. Foreign governments warned that Turkey could be the target
of still more terrorist attacks." ... "Foreign minister Abdullah Gul confirmed
some arrests had been made in connection with Thursday’s attacks but declined
to give details." ... "The daily newspaper Hurriyet reported that police
had detained and were interrogating seven people."
-AP & -Reuters
via -MSNBC
-
- "Series
of Bombs Rocks Downtown Istanbul: At Least
26 Killed, More Than 450 Injured." ... "Powerful car-bomb explosions, apparently
synchronized, ripped through Istanbul Thursday, killing at least 26 and
injuring more than 450, according to preliminary reports from health authorities.
The targets included the British consulate and a British bank." ... "Among
the dead was Britain's consul-general, Roger Short, according to Britain's
foreign office." ... "Neighborhoods near the bank and consulate -- separated
by about five miles -- were devastated, with whole blocks reduced to rubble
and ashes." -By Molly Moore and Fred Barbash
-WashingtonPost
-
- "12
Civilians Are Killed in a Car Bomb Attack in Kirkuk."
... "A car bomb killed 12 civilians today in the northern Iraqi city of
Kirkuk in an explosion aimed at the headquarters compound of a leading
Kurdish political party, an American military official said today." ...
"Most of the blast was absorbed by the perimeter wall of the compound,
which houses the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and the car bomb was not
able to get close enough to the building to cause significant damage, the
official, from the coalition joint task force, said by telephone from Baghdad."
-By Terence Neilan -NYTimes
via -Google-News
- Civil
Liberties News
- "Court
reviews 'combatant' label: US power is debated
in case of detainee in 'dirty bomb' plot." ... "A federal appeals court
yesterday sharply questioned the Bush administration's decision to classify
a US citizen suspected in an alleged "dirty bomb" plot as an enemy combatant,
thus denying him access to legal counsel." ... "A member of the three-judge
panel called placing Jose Padilla in military custody a "sea change in
the constitutional life of the country." US District Judge Barrington D.
Parker Jr. said the result could lead to changes that "have been unprecedented
in civilized society."" -By John J. Goldman-LAtimes
via -Boston/Globe
-
- "Taliban
says killed UN woman." ... "Taliban guerrillas have
claimed responsibility for the weekend murder of a French aid worker that
has prompted the U.N. refugee agency to withdraw staff from the south and
east of Afghanistan." ... "The attack on Sunday that killed 29-year-old
U.N. refugee agency official Bettina Goislard raised pressure on the international
community to send peacekeeping troops to provinces where resurgent Islamic
militants and warlords hold sway." -By Saeed Ali Achakzai
-Reuters
Sniper
- "Sniper
John Muhammad guilty on all counts." ... "John Allen
Muhammad faces the death penalty after being found guilty Monday of capital
murder and terrorism for his role in the sniper-style shootings that terrorized
the Washington, D.C., area last fall." ... "The Virginia jury returned
the decision after only a few hours of deliberation. Mr. Muhammad, 42,
was found guilty of all four counts, including conspiracy and using a firearm
in a crime." -By Oliver Moore
-GlobeAndMail
- 
-
- "U.S.
Carries Out Terror Drill in Arizona: Terror
Drill Along United States-Mexico Border in Arizona Tests Law Enforcement
Readiness." ... "A mock suicide bomber and a quick succession of blasts
were part of a terrorism drill designed to test the responsiveness of health
and law enforcement officials along the U.S.-Mexico border." ... "The Arizona
Office of Homeland Security said about 1,000 people took part in the drill
Sunday morning, which started when a man walked into the Mariposa Port
of Entry compound, shouted the name of a mythical terrorist group and set
off an explosion. The man was actually a firefighter in a protective suit."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- "Yemeni
court frees 92 militants: A court in Yemen
has freed 92 Muslim militants, including some suspected of having links
with al-Qaeda." ... "Yemeni judge Hammoud al-Hatar told the court the prisoners
had repented and promised not to attack embassies in the capital, Sanaa."
... "Mr al-Hatar said the president had decided to release them "in light
of the results of a dialogue through the committee of ulemas, [Islamic
scholars]"." ... "A further 54 al-Qaeda suspects who surrendered to the
authorities have been pardoned by the president, the agency said."
-BBC/News
- 
- 
- Civil
Liberties News
- "U.S.
calls him a Qaeda pawn; ex-deportee calls himself a victim."
... "Maher Arar has been back from Syria for five weeks now, with his wife
and two children in their simple [Canadian] apartment, earnestly pleading
to all who will listen that he is an innocent casualty of the Bush administration's
war on terror." ... "As Arar tells it, U.S. officials detained him on circumstantial
evidence during what was supposed to be a brief stopover at John F. Kennedy
International Airport in New York on Sept. 26, 2002. Within days, they
packed him off to Syria, where, he says, he was locked in squalor and tortured
for nearly a year. Though he holds dual Canadian and Syrian citizenship,
he had not lived in Syria for 16 years." -By Clifford
Krauss -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
- 
- "Trucks
Investigated in Turkey Blasts: At Least 23
Killed, 303 Wounded in Explosions Outside 2 Synagogues." ... "Security
cameras recorded two pickup trucks slowing near separate synagogues before
their drivers detonated up to 800 pounds of explosives camouflaged under
packages of detergent, Turkish officials said Sunday." ... "The nearly
simultanelous blasts during Saturday morning prayer services killed 23
people and injured another 303." -By Molly Moore
-WashingtonPost
- "9/11
Victims' Relatives Want Deal Details: Relatives of
9/11 Victims Urge Commission to Disclose Details of Deal With White House."
... "Relatives of people who perished in the Sept. 11 terror attacks are
urging a federal commission to disclose the fine print of its deal with
the White House that gives the panel restricted access to sensitive intelligence
documents." ... "The Family Steering Committee, a group of victims' relatives
monitoring the work of the independent commission on Sept. 11, said the
restrictions are unacceptable." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- "W.H.
to let 9/11 panel review briefings: The independent
commission investigating the September 11 terrorist attacks said Wednesday
the White House would let it review classified daily presidential intelligence
briefings." ... ""We believe this agreement will prove satisfactory and
enable us to get our job done," the commission said in a statement." ...
"But commission member Max Cleland, a former Democratic senator, said he
was "disgusted" by the deal." ... ""The White House gets to cherry-pick
how much access the nation's commission looking into 9/11 gets to crucial
documents," he said. "I'm ready to vote for subpoenas right now.""
-CNN
-
-
-
- "Cheney’s Long
Path to War: The Hard Sell: He sifted intel.
He brooded about threats. And he wanted Saddam gone. The inside story of
how Vice President Cheney bought into shady assumptions and helped persuade
a nation to invade Iraq." ... "Of all the president’s advisers, Cheney
has consistently taken the most dire view of the terrorist threat. On Iraq,
Bush was the decision maker. But more than any adviser, Cheney was the
one to make the case to the president that war against Iraq was an urgent
necessity. Beginning in the late summer of 2002, he persistently warned
that Saddam was stocking up on chemical and biological weapons, and last
March, on the eve of the invasion, he declared that “we believe that he
[Saddam Hussein] has in fact reconstituted nuclear weapons.” (Cheney later
said that he meant “program,” not “weapons.” He also said, a bit optimistically,
“I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators.”) After seven
months, investigators are still looking for that arsenal of WMD." (1, 2,
3)
-By Mark Hosenball, Michael Isikoff and Evan Thomas
-MSNBC 20031117
-Newsweek
Sniper
- "Malvo
pleads innocent." ... "Sniper supsect Lee Boyd Malvo
pleaded innocent to murder Monday as his trial was opening in the slaying
of an FBI analyst shot to death during the three-week sniper spree in the
Washington, D.C., area last fall." ... "The 18-year-old responded, "Not
guilty," in a clear voice each time when asked for his plea to two counts
of capital murder and to one count of using a firearm in a felony." -By
Adrienne Schwisow -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
- "U.S.
Had Warning of Attack, but No Details." ... "Only
days before the bombing in Saudi Arabia on Saturday that killed at least
17 people, American intelligence agencies had been warned that such an
attack by Al Qaeda was imminent but the warnings lacked sufficient detail
to disrupt the plot, officials said Sunday." ... "The information, which
came from several sources, prompted the closing of the United States Embassy
in Riyadh, but did not provide specifics about the time or location of
an attack, officials said. It did lead American officials to conclude that
Qaeda cells were planning to go after "soft" targets "very soon," one official
said." -By James Risen
-NYTimes via -Google-News
- "Palestinian
Authority funds go to militants: The Palestinian
Authority, headed by Yasser Arafat, is paying members of a Palestinian
militant organisation which has been responsible for carrying out suicide
attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, a BBC investigation has
found." ... "A total of up to $50,000 a month is being sent to members
of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an armed group that emerged shortly after
the outbreak of the current Palestinian intifada, a BBC Correspondent programme
reveals." -BBC/News
-
-
-
- "Bush
signs $87B Iraq aid package." ... "President Bush
on Thursday signed an $87.5 billion package approved by Congress for Iraq
and Afghanistan, calling the money a financial commitment by the United
States to the global war to defeat terrorism. "
-USATODAY
-
-
-
- "White
House Promises to Hand Over Iraq Intelligence Documents."
... "The White House reversed itself and promised the Senate Intelligence
Committee access to all materials requested for its inquiry into prewar
intelligence on Iraq, the committee chairman said Sunday." ... "The committee
is examining the accuracy of intelligence about deposed Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein's weapons programs and purported contacts with terrorist
groups. That intelligence served as Bush's main arguments for the U.S.-led
war." -By William C. Mann-WashingtonPost
-
- "Falluja
bomb attack kills five." ... "Four civilians and
a suspected suicide bomber were today reported killed in Iraq as aid agencies
and non-governmental organisations considered their future in the country."
... "The five died when a small car driven by one man - thought to be the
bomber - exploded 100 metres from the main police station in the town of
Falluja, 40 miles west of Baghdad, the Reuters news agency reported." ...
"The attack comes one day after a strike on the Iraqi headquarters of the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and three Baghdad police
stations that killed 35 people and wounded 244 others within an hour, in
the city's bloodiest day since it fell to US forces in April." -By
Simon Jeffery -Guardian.co.uk
and agencies
- "Bush
Won't Commit to Giving Classified Reports to 9/11 Panel."
... "President Bush declined today to commit the White House to turning
over highly classified intelligence reports to the independent federal
commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, despite public
threats of a subpoena from the bipartisan panel." ... "The president said
in a brief meeting with reporters that the documents were "very sensitive"
and that the White House was still discussing the issue with the panel's
chairman, Thomas H. Kean, the former Republican governor of New Jersey."
-By Philip Shenon -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
- "Bombings
Plunge Iraqi Capital Into Chaos at Start of Ramadan."
... "A series of suicide bombings shook Baghdad early today, including
an attack on the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross
and blasts at four Iraqi police stations that punctuated two days of bloody
violence in this capital city." ... "Iraq's police chief and deputy interior
minister, Ahmad Ibrahim, said at a news conference that 34 people had been
killed and 224 had been wounded in the attacks. He said 26 of the dead
were civilians and 8 were police officers; 65 police officers and 159 civilians
were wounded." -By Dexter Filkins and Alex Berenson
-NYTimes via -Google-News
- "Shaken
Red Cross, other groups may scale back Iraq aid after deadly attacks."
... "Shaken by the attack on its Baghdad offices, the international Red
Cross said Monday that it may follow other groups in scaling back aid to
the Iraqi people because of the danger." ... "The neutral Swiss-run agency
said it will decide within days whether to reduce its presence in the country
following the suicide car bombing that killed two Iraqi Red Cross employees
and as many as 10 other people outside the compound." -By
Alexander G. Higgins -AP
via -Boston/Globe
Osama
bin Laden -
"CIA
says bin Laden tape probably authentic." ... "A CIA
technical analysis has determined that the latest audio tape broadcast
over the weekend is probably the voice of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
recorded during the past six months, a CIA spokesman says."-Reuters
-
- 
-
- "Six
months after Saddam, eight die as bombers prolong violence."
... "A suicide car bomber killed at least eight people at a Baghdad police
station yesterday as Iraq marked six months since the fall of Saddam Hussein's
regime with another day of bitterly familiar violence." ... "The latest
attack killed three Iraqi policemen and five civilians who had crowded
into the courtyard of the police station in the poor Shia Muslim district
now known as Sadr City. The driver of the car also died and at least 45
people were injured in the blast." ... "In a separate incident in western
Baghdad a few minutes earlier, a Spanish intelligence officer was assassinated
in front of his house." -By Rory McCarthy and Giles
Tremlett -Guardian.co.uk
-
-
- "House unit
votes for sanctions on Syria: As White House
ends opposition, test for Arab ties is seen." ... "The House International
Relations Committee voted 33-2 for the Syria Accountability Act, which
demands that Damascus halt support for terrorism, end any programs to develop
weapons of mass destruction and withdraw its troops from Lebanon." ...
"The full House, where 275 of 435 members co-sponsored the bill, is expected
to pass the measure next week. The bill also has strong bipartisan support
in the Senate, where the Foreign Relations Committee is planning to examine
the measure this month." -By Brian Knowlton
-IHT.com
- "Six
killed, 12 injured by bomb in Colombia capital (Updates with government
reaction)." ... "At least six people, including two
police officers, were killed and 12 civilians injured when a car bomb exploded
on Wednesday in a grimy commercial district known for selling smuggled
goods in Colombia's capital." ... "No group fighting in the country's four-decade
guerrilla war immediately claimed responsibility for the blast -- the worst
car bombing in Bogota since 36 people were killed and 160 wounded at the
exclusive Nogal Club in February." -By Ibon Villelabeitia-Reuters
via -AlertNet.org/Newsdesk
-
-
-
- "White
House stops blocking Syria bill." ... "Rep. Eliot
Engel, D-N.Y., the chief author of the Syria Accountability Act, says he
was told on Friday that the legislation had been put on the calendar for
a vote Wednesday by the House International Relations Committee. The measure
has support from a majority in both the House of Representatives and the
Senate." ... "The legislation had been blocked by the White House in the
run-up to the Iraq war while the administration sought to blunt Syrian
opposition to overturning Saddam Hussein's regime." -By
Barbara Slavin -USATODAY
-
- "Sharon
Threatens to Hit Israel's Enemies Anywhere." ...
"Speaking at a memorial service marking the anniversary of the 1973 Middle
East war, Sharon took a tough line but made no specific threats after Sunday's
strike on what Israel said was a training camp for Palestinian militants."
... "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, breaking his silence on the attack
near Damascus, accused Israel of trying to drag Syria and the rest of the
Middle East into a wider conflict. Syria said Israeli warplanes hit a civilian
site." ... "It was Israel's deepest air raid in Syria in three decades
and followed a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed 19 people in a restaurant
in the Israeli port city of Haifa a day earlier." -By
Matt Spetalnick -Reuters
-
- "U.S.
to boost number of air marshals: 5,000 more
armed law enforcement agents to be added." ... "Homeland Security Secretary
Tom Ridge will announce plans on Tuesday to make 5,000 more armed law enforcement
agents available to act as federal air marshals, officials said."-Reuters
via -MSNBC
-
-
-
- "Bomb rocks
Baghdad police station: 1 dead in blast; also
U.S. soldier killed in copter crash." ... "A car bomb exploded near the
headquarters of U.S.-trained police in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing one
policeman and wounding many bystanders. Separately, a U.S. soldier was
killed in a helicopter crash, a day after a roadside bomb killed two American
soldiers." ... "The explosion damaged the office of the U.S.-appointed
Baghdad police chief, Hassan al-Obeidi, who was not in the complex at the
time of the attack, Iraqi police said." -AP
& -Reuters via -MSNBC
-
-
- "U.N. to stay
in Iraq despite bombing." ... "U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan said Wednesday that U.N. staff would remain in Iraq despite
the devastating bombing of the world body’s headquarters in Baghdad that
killed its top envoy and at least 16 others. In Tikrit, meanwhile, guerrillas
ambushed a U.S. military convoy on Wednesday, killing a contractor with
a U.S. firm and wounding two soldiers, a U.S. military officer said." ...
"In Baghdad, workers continued to dig through the rubble of Tuesday’s explosion,
but the rescue operation appeared to have turned into a grim search for
bodies in the deadliest attack on the United Nations in its history." -Contributed
to by Linda Fasulo, Andrea Mitchell, and Carl Rochelle, Robert Windrem,
-AP & -Reuters
via -MS-NBC
-
- "Oil
prices rise after Iraq pipeline sabotage." ... "World
oil prices came under pressure today after saboteurs blew up a vital oil
pipeline in northern Iraq for a second time." ... "The pipeline, from Iraq's
Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, reopened last Wednesday
for the first time since US and British troops toppled Saddam Hussein.
However, just two days later, it was shut down again after a bomb attack."
-Guardian.co.uk
- 
-
- "Get
Your #@%!$ Paws Off My PDA!" ... "Traveling tech
aficionados are agitated, even outraged, that airport security workers
will be pawing through their belongings to more carefully scrutinize electronic
devices." ... "Portable computers, cameras, PDAs, MP3 players and other
gear are now subject to increased security checks at airports, in response
to government warnings on Tuesday that terrorists may be planning to conceal
weapons or bombs in electronic devices." -By Michelle
Delio -Wired
-
- "Bomb
attack on Jordan's Iraq embassy: At least 11
people have been killed and more than 50 wounded in a lorry bomb outside
the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad." ... "The force of the explosion sent
a car hurtling onto a rooftop and left body parts and debris strewn across
the street." ... "Jordanian officials said all the identified dead were
Iraqis." ... "The attack comes a week after Jordan granted refuge to two
of Saddam Hussein's daughters and their children, angering some Iraqis."-BBC/News
-
-
-
- "Indonesia hotel
was known target: Australian FM warns of more
terror attacks in coming days." ... "Police on Wednesday said they seized
documents last month showing terrorists had planned to target the area
around Jakarta’s Marriott Hotel, where a powerful car bomb killed 10 people
and injured nearly 150 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Australia’s foreign minister
said his government had acquired intelligence indicating there could be
further attacks in Indonesia in the coming days." ... "Jemaah Islamiyah,
blamed for last year’s deadly nightclub bombing in Bali, allegedly claimed
responsibility for the hotel bombing in remarks published by Singapore’s
Straits Times newspaper." -Ned Colt, Jim Miklaszewski,
and Tammy Kupperman with the -AP
and -Reuters via -MS-NBC
- "Deadly
Blast: Bomb Rocks Marriott Hotel in Downtown
Jakarta, Killing at Least 13." ... "A powerful car bomb exploded outside
the Marriott hotel in downtown Jakarta today, killing at least 13 people
and wounding nearly 149 in what an official said was likely a suicide attack.
A Dutch citizen was reportedly among the dead and two Americans were believed
hurt." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
- 2004
Presidential Election
- "Sept.
11 probers complain of delays: White House
slow in providing access to key documents, federal commission says." ...
"Leaders of a federal commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks
complained Tuesday that the Bush administration had been too slow to provide
access to key documents and was intimidating witnesses by insisting that
CIA and FBI "minders" attend sensitive interviews." ... "The chairman of
the commission, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, said the delays were
threatening the panel's ability to meet its congressionally imposed deadline
and produce a final report before the 2004 presidential election." ...
"Kean and commission Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton were particularly critical
of the administration's insistence that interviews with intelligence or
law enforcement officials be supervised." -By Greg
Miller-LAtimes
via -SFGate.com
- "Mosque
massacre in Pakistan." ... "At least 32 people were
killed and 52 injured in an attack on a Shia mosque in the western Pakistani
city of Quetta yesterday." ... "Some witnesses blamed two suicide bombers,
others said the assailants threw grenades into the mosque, where at least
2,000 were gathered for prayers." -Reuters
via -Guardian.co.uk
- Osama
bin Laden
- "Saudi
says may strip bin laden sons of citizenship." ...
"Saudi Arabia would revoke the citizenship of any of Osama bin Laden's
sons if they were found to be involved in terror acts, the Saudi interior
minister said in remarks published on Friday." -Reuters
via -AlertNet.org
- July
4th News
- "The
4th that almost wasn't." ... "Stricter rules and
recent changes to the Homeland Security Act created a jurisdictional feud
between federal agencies, halting fireworks rail shipments for five months."
... "The dispute wasn't resolved until June 6, leaving firework manufacturers
and wholesalers to pay millions in trucking costs to get their wares in
time to put on the traditional displays." ... "The embargo started Feb.
6, the result of a wrangle between Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
(ATF) and the Department of Transportation over which had jurisdiction
over explosives shipments, which the ATF broadly defined to include large
fireworks displays." -By Dee DePass
-StarTribune.com
- "'Road
map' for Mideast peace leads nowhere." ... "Successful
negotiations are impossible when one side won't recognize the other's right
to exist." ... "The new peace process, just like its predecessors, is premised
on the notion that Israelis and Palestinians need to make mutual concessions
to end their war: The Israelis need to give up the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
and the Palestinians need to stop terrorism. The problem is that most Israelis
are willing to meet their obligations, but most Palestinians aren't." ...
"... while some radical groups may make a show of a temporary cease-fire,
they remain committed to a strategy of annihilating the "Zionist invaders."
Hamas' charter still states: "There is no solution to the Palestinian question
except through jihad."" -By Max Boot
-USATODAY
-
-
- "Sources:
U.S. planned to kill bin Laden before 9/11:
When President Bush took office in January 2001, the White House was told
that Predator drones had recently spotted Osama bin Laden as many as three
times and officials were urged to arm the unmanned planes with missiles
to kill the al-Qaeda leader." ... "But the administration failed to get
drones back into the Afghan skies until after the September 11 attacks
later that year, current and former U.S. officials say."
-AP via -CNN
-
-
- July
4th News
- "Texas
Terror Worries: Report: Terrorists Possibly
Targeting Lone Star State." ... "Federal homeland security officials have
informed Texas law enforcement agencies of intelligence reportedly gathered
from suspected al Qaeda operatives discussing potential terrorism in the
state next month." ... "Homeland security officials are reviewing the information
eavesdropped earlier this month from two suspected al Qaeda operatives
discussing potential terrorism in Texas timed for the July Fourth weekend,
unnamed officials in Washington told the Houston Chronicle on Monday."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- 
- "French
Arrest 150 From Iranian Opposition Group." ... "French
authorities today (20030617)
arrested more than 150 members of a long-established armed Iranian opposition
group, accused them of organizing terrorist acts, and seized $1.3 million
in $100 bills." ... "The move against the Mujahedeen Khalq, or People's
Mujahedeen, as the group is known, effectively shut down its operations
in France, while the timing of the action seemed to send conciliatory signals
to Iran." ... "The People's Mujahedeen, based in Baghdad, has long been
the best-organized political and military operation fighting to overthrow
the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 1997, Secretary of State Madeleine K.
Albright designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization. The
European Union declared it a terrorist organization in May 2002." (1, 2)
-By
Elaine Sciolino -NYTimes via
-Google-News
- "Al Qaeda in
America: The Enemy Within: How the terrorist
organization is recruiting and planning strikes here in the U.S." ... "Khalid
Shaikh Mohammed looked more like a loser in a T shirt than a modern-day
Mephistopheles. But “KSM,” as he is always referred to in FBI documents,
held the key to unlock the biggest mystery of the war on terror: is Al
Qaeda operating inside America?" ... "The answer according to KSM's confessions
and the intense U.S. investigation that followed, is yes." ... "KSM revealed
an overhaul of Al Qaeda’s approach to penetrating America. The 9-11 hijackers
were all foreign nationals—mostly Saudis, led by an Egyptian—who infiltrated
the United States by obtaining student or tourist visas. To foil the heightened
security after 9-11, Al Qaeda began to rely on operatives who would be
harder to detect. They recruited U.S. citizens or people with legitimate
Western passports who could move freely in the United States. They used
women and family members as “support personnel.” And they made an effort
to find African-American Muslims who would be sympathetic to Islamic extremism.
Using “mosques, prisons and universities throughout the United States,”
according to the documents, KSM reached deep into the heartland, lining
up agents in Baltimore, Columbus, Ohio, and Peoria, Ill. The Feds have
uncovered at least one KSM-run cell that could have done grave damage to
the United States." -By Daniel Klaidman, Mark Hosenball,
Michael Isikoff, and Evan Thomas, with Kevin Peraino, Steve Tuttle, Holly
Bailey, Suzanne Smalley and Sarah Downey 20030623
Ed. -Newsweek
via -MSNBC
- "Explosives
found on Italian airliner." ... "Explosives were
found on an Italian airliner due to fly from the coastal town of Ancona
to Rome yesterday, police said." ... "Airport police said they found the
explosives wrapped in a lifejacket under a passenger seat in the Alitalia
plane after an anonymous caller said there was a bomb on board." -By
Sophie Arie -Guardian.co.uk
-
- "Biggest
U.S. military assault since war targets Saddam loyalists."
... "U.S. fighter jets bombed a suspected terrorist camp and troops stormed
door-to-door through Sunni Muslim towns Thursday, seeking Saddam Hussein
loyalists in one of the biggest American military assaults since the war."
... "As Operation Peninsula Strike entered day three, Iraqi fighters shot
down a U.S. helicopter gunship -- the first American aircraft downed by
ground fire since Saddam's ouster two months ago -- and a U.S. F-16 fighter-bomber
crashed. The crews of the aircraft were unharmed." -By
Borzou Daragahi-AP
via -SFGate.com
- Road
Map - "Seven
Palestinians killed in Israeli missile strike, as Israel and Hamas vow
fight to finish." ... "In the third Israeli airstrike
in 24 hours, Israeli helicopters fired several missiles at the car of a
Hamas fugitive Thursday, killing seven people, including the wanted man,
his wife and 2-year-old daughter." ... "The latest spike in violence --
35 Israelis and Palestinians killed and more than 130 wounded in two days
-- suggested a new stage in the 32-month-old conflict, with Israel and
Hamas threatening to fight each other to the finish." -By
Ibrahim Barzak -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
- "U.S. copter
shot down in Iraq raid." ... "Iraqi forces shot down
a U.S. helicopter gunship in western Iraq on Thursday, just hours after
U.S. fighter jets bombed what they said was “a terrorist training camp”
in central Iraq." ... "Thursday's events marked a sharp escalation of U.S.
military operations in central and western Iraq, where guerrillas have
intensified attacks on U.S. troops in recent weeks. The incidents occurred
as U.S. ground troops wound up a massive sweep of a Sunni Muslim enclave
north of Baghdad aimed at rooting out the organizers of attacks on occupation
forces. “It’s one of the largest operations since the war,” U.S. Central
Command spokesman Lt. Ryan Fitzgerald said."
-AP via -MSNBC
- Road
Map - "Israeli
strike kills two in Gaza, threatens "Road Map":
Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a car carrying a top official from
the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza City on Tuesday, wounding
the Hamas leader and sparking worries that the strike could derail an internationally
backed "road map" for Middle East peace." ... "Two bystanders were killed
and some 20 wounded in the strike. The attack came less than a week after
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud
Abbas, signed on to a U.S.-backed peace plan that emphasized a reduction
in violence and other measures to work toward Palestinian statehood as
early as 2005." -PBS.org
(A-Z) /NewsHour
-
- Roadmap
Peace Plan
- "Four
Israelis Die in Army Post Shooting: Palestinians
Kill Four Israelis at Army Post; Israeli, Palestinian Gunmen Killed in
Hebron." ... "Three militant Palestinian groups joined forces to kill four
Israeli soldiers in a daring attack Sunday in Gaza, sending a message that
they are out to sink a new, U.S.-backed Mideast peace plan." ... "Hours
later, Palestinians killed another Israeli soldier in the West Bank town
of Hebron. Six Palestinian gunmen also were killed in the violence, one
of the bloodiest 24-hour periods in recent weeks." ... "The rare joint
operation by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades was
intended to send a message to Abbas that Palestinians will continue to
fight Israel and will not "surrender to the pressure exerted by Israel
and the United States of America," said Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- "First
steps taken on Mideast plan: Vows made on settlers and terror."
... "Brought together by President George W. Bush, Ariel Sharon, the prime
minister of Israel, and Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister,
committed Wednesday to the first steps of a new international peace plan
that envisions two independent states along the Jordan River, Israel and
Palestine, and an end to decades of bloodshed in the Middle East." ...
"On a brilliant, sweltering afternoon on the Gulf of Aqaba, Sharon pledged
to immediately begin dismantling some "unauthorized outposts" of settlements
that have been set up on West Bank hilltops to extend and tighten Israel's
grip on the land where Palestinians want to carve out a state. Abbas for
the first time explicitly declared that "the armed intifada must end,"
a reference to the Palestinian uprising against Israel." -By
Elizabeth Bumiller and James Bennet -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
- "Inside
Out: Terror War Considers Threats From Abroad,
But What About From Within?" ... "Since Sept. 11, 2001, the specter of
international terror has haunted many Americans, but the capture of suspected
serial bomber Eric Robert Rudolph serves as a grim reminder of the dangers
that could be lurking at home." ... "Rudolph, the 36-year-old outdoorsman
arrested this weekend in the mountains of North Carolina, is accused of
carrying out a string of bombings including the blast at the 1996 Atlanta
Olympics." -By Andrew Chang
-ABCNEWS.com
-
- 
- "Court leaves
intact secret hearings on [deportation of foreigners]."
... "The U.S. Supreme Court said Tuesday that it would not review government
anti-terrorism policies that allowed secret deportation hearings for hundreds
of foreigners swept up after the Sept. 11 attacks." ... "At issue was a
policy change made immediately after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The government ordered all immigration hearings closed if the foreigner
was a "special interest" case. The government alone can decide if a case
is of special interest to its war on terrorism."
-AP via -IHT.com
-
-
- 
-
- "U.S.
and Russia Press Iran on Al Qaeda, Weapons:
Concerns Mount Over Nuclear Facilities, Influence in Iraq; Some at Pentagon
Urging Intervention." ... "The Bush administration kept up pressure against
Iran yesterday, saying that the Islamic republic's claims of cracking down
on al Qaeda within its borders were inadequate and expressing continued
concern about Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons." ... "Some administration
officials, especially at the Pentagon, are urging the administration to
adopt steps to destabilize the Iranian government in the wake of unconfirmed
intelligence reports that suggested al Qaeda operatives in Iran helped
plan the May 12 suicide bombing attacks against residential compounds in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia." -By Glenn Kessler-WashingtonPost
-
-
-
- "Prewar
Views of Iraq Threat Are Under Review by C.I.A.."
... "The Central Intelligence Agency has begun a review to try to determine
whether the American intelligence community erred in its prewar assessments
of Saddam Hussein's government and Iraq's weapons programs, several officials
say." ... "The director of central intelligence, George J. Tenet, has named
a team of retired C.I.A. officers to scour the classified intelligence
reports that were circulated inside the government before the war on a
range of issues related to Iraq, including those concerning Bagdhad's links
to terrorism and unconventional weapons, officials said. The team plans
to compare those reports with what has actually been discovered in Iraq
since the war ended." ... "The review will encompass reports produced by
the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Intelligence Council, the
Defense Intelligence Agency and other agencies, and is the first internal
review of Iraq-related intelligence since the war ended in April, officials
said." -By James Risen
-NYTimes
-
-
-
- "Failed
hostage rescue raises worries: 'I fear for
my son's life,' mom says of man held in Colombia." ... "Rosano, whose son,
Marc Gonsalves, of Big Pine Key [Florida], is one of three Americans kidnapped
by Colombian rebels three months ago, said in a telephone interview with
The Herald that she feared for her son's life because hostages have been
told that attempts to free them will be fatal -- just as it was for the
victims of the botched operation." ... "Gonsalves and the two other American
defense contractors taken Feb. 13 are apparently alive. But the body count
from Monday's rescue operation for other captives -- 10 hostages dead,
including a governor -- has mothers around Colombia clamoring for the government
to approve prisoner swaps that could free dozens of captives held by the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia." -By France
Robles with contributions by Tim Johnson-Miami/Herald
-
-
- "White
House refuses to release Sept. 11 info." ... "The
Bush administration and the nation's intelligence agencies are blocking
the release of sensitive information about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, delaying publication of a 900-page
congressional report on how the terrorist assault happened." ... "Intelligence
officials insist the information must be kept secret for national security
reasons. But some of the information is already broadly available on the
Internet or has been revealed in interim reports on the investigation,
leading to charges that the administration is simply trying to avoid enshrining
embarrassing details in the report." -By Frank Davies
with contributions by James Kuhnhenn -Knight
Ridder via-Miami/Herald
-
-
-
- "Bush
declares victory in Iraq: US President George
W Bush has said the US has prevailed in the Battle of Iraq in a speech
on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln." ... "He explicitly linked
the conflict in the Gulf to the 11 September 2001 terror attacks on the
United States." ... "Earlier, Mr Bush's spokesman Ari Fleischer warned
that the president's speech would not mark the end of hostilities "from
a legal point of view"." ... "There are legal implications to declaring
a war officially ended: under the Geneva Conventions, once war is declared
over, the victorious army must release prisoners-of-war and halt operations
targeting specific leaders." ... "The United States never formally declared
war on Iraq." -BBC/News
-
-
-
-
- 
- 
- 
- "U.S. says 7
nations sponsor terror: Iraq still on list;
Syria mentioned ahead of Powell’s visit." ... "The United States again
has branded seven countries — Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria
and Sudan — as sponsors of terrorism. The annual report by the State Department
also says that international terrorist attacks, including anti-U.S. attacks,
declined sharply in 2002. Secretary of State Colin Powell issued the report
on Wednesday, only days before he will visit Syria, which has frequently
protested its designation as a sponsor of terrorism." -Betsy
Steuart with -AP
and -Reuters via -MS-NBC
-
- "Patterns
of Global Terrorism 2002." ... "Patterns
of Global Terrorism." -Counterterrorism
Office -Releases -State.gov
-
- "Evidence
of Al Qaeda spy ring in key Afghan roles: US
and Afghan forces raided Amniat offices in Khost in March. The ensuing
investigation shows key papers are in Al Qaeda hands." ... "For the past
year, Hazratuddin Habibi has been the intelligence chief of Khost, appointed
by President Hamid Karzai to keep an eye on Taliban or Al Qaeda activities
in this crucial province along the Pakistani border." ... "Hazratuddin,
a former intelligence chief for the Taliban known by his first name, was
certainly qualified for the job. But colleagues in the central government's
intelligence agency, Amniat, and in other military departments began to
notice that raids on Taliban hideouts were coming up empty. Arrests of
Al Qaeda suspects went awry. It occurred to local political leaders as
well as intelligence and military officials that Hazratuddin may be a double
agent." -By Scott Baldauf
-CSMonitor
-
- "Al
Qaeda Fractured: Sources: U.S. Intelligence
Finds Bin Laden’s Network Splintered, Ineffective." ... "Analysts who track
al Qaeda for the intelligence community believe that evidence is mounting
that the terrorist organization may lack the command and control, the resources
and coordination to conduct an operation of the same magnitude as 9/11."
... "The assessment is not unanimous within the intelligence and law enforcement
communities, though. Some U.S. national security officials have told ABCNEWS
that they believe that, despite the arrests of top operatives such as Shaikh
Mohammad, al Qaeda remains a potent force and a threat to American citizens."
-ABCNEWS.com
-
-
-
- "Terror alert
level cut to ‘yellow’: Progress in war with
Iraq eases fears of possible attacks." ... "The Homeland Security Department
on Wednesday lowered its terrorism threat assessment from “orange” to “yellow,”
reflecting an easing of concerns raised by the U.S. war against Iraq."
... "The nation had been on orange, or “high risk,” since March 17, three
days before the war with Iraq began, because of fears that the war would
bring terror attacks against U.S. targets at home or abroad."
-MSNBC
-
-
- "Syria
Warned Again Not to 'Meddle' in Iraq: Wolfowitz
Says U.S. May Rethink Policy If Damascus Harbors Iraqi Officials." ...
""In recent days, the Syrians have been shipping killers into Iraq to try
to kill Americans," he said. "We don't welcome that. We've stopped it when
we've found those people. So, it is a problem. I think it is important
that Iraq's neighbors not meddle with Iraq."" ... "The Bush administration
has listed countries that harbor terrorists as potential targets in its
war on terrorism. Syria has given sanctuary to groups such as the Islamic
Resistance Movement (or Hamas), Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, and has been
listed in CIA reports as a country developing weapons of mass destruction.
This week, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld voiced a new complaint,
that Syria was giving entry to the families of leading Iraqis fleeing the
war." -By Walter Pincus-WashingtonPost
- 
- 
-
- "Positive test
for terror toxins in Iraq: MSNBC.com finds
signs of ricin, botulinum at Islamic militants’ camp." ... "MSNBC.com tests
reveal evidence of the deadly toxins ricin and botulinum at a laboratory
in a remote mountain region of northern Iraq allegedly used as a terrorist
training camp by Islamic militants with ties to the al-Qaida terrorist
network. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is conducting its own tests
at the same area, but has not yet released the results, according to officials
in northern Iraq." ... "MSNBC.com's tests were conducted over a two-day
period at Sargat, an alleged terrorist training camp a mile from the Iraq-Iran
border. The camp, set back in an isolated valley and surrounded by snowcapped
peaks, was home to the radical Islamic militant group Ansar al-Islam, which
counts among its some 700 followers scores of al-Qaida
fighters." -By Preston Mendenhall
-MSNBC
-
-
- "Three
troops, pregnant woman and driver killed." ... "A
woman, who appeared to be pregnant, got out of the car and began "screaming
in fear" at the checkpoint, about 11 miles (18 km) southwest of the Hadithah
Dam in Iraq, a Central Command statement said." ... "Three coalition troops
walked toward the car and it blew up, U.S. Central Command spokesman Brig.
Gen. Vincent Brooks said, citing initial reports."
-CNN /World
Search
Iraq News - Search
Google:
-
-
-
- "Blair
'dissuaded Bush from attack after 9/11'." ... "Tony
Blair has frequently played a pivotal role in the infighting in the US
administration over Iraq, according to the recently retired British ambassador
to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer." ... "In the documentary Blair's
War, Sir Christopher, who returned to Britain last month, said that when
Mr Blair met Mr Bush in the weeks after September 11, he urged him to deal
first with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network and its protector - Afghanistan's
Taliban government - before tackling Iraq." -By Ewen
MacAskill -Guardian.co.uk
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- "Ex-CIA
director: U.S. faces 'World War IV': Former
CIA Director James Woolsey said Wednesday the United States is engaged
in World War IV, and that it could continue for years." ... "He said the
new war is actually against three enemies: the religious rulers of Iran,
the "fascists" of Iraq and Syria, and Islamic extremists like al Qaeda."
... "Singling out Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the leaders of Saudi
Arabia, he said, "We want you nervous. We want you to realize now, for
the fourth time in a hundred years, this country and its allies are on
the march and that we are on the side of those whom you -- the Mubaraks,
the Saudi Royal family -- most fear: We're on the side of your own people.""
-By Charles Feldman and Stan Wilson
-CNN /World
-
- "Jordan
'foils hotel bomb plot': Jordanian officials
say four Iraqis have been arrested for trying to blow up a major hotel
in Amman last week." ... "The authorities are still giving few details
of the attempted attack, but Western officials have confirmed there was
a "worrying incident" at a hotel in the middle of last week." -By
Caroline Hawley -BBC/News
-
-
- "11
September inquiry opens: The first public hearing
into the 11 September attacks is under way in New York." ... "The inquiry
- taking place not far from Ground Zero - is hearing accounts from members
of the emergency and security services and relatives of those who died
in the attack." ... "The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks in the
United States was established by Congress late last year." ... "The Bush
administration had for months resisted the creation of such a body, but
was forced to bow to pressure from families of the victims."-BBC/News
-
-
-
-
- "Powell
warns Syria and Iran: US Secretary of State
Colin Powell has issued a fresh warning to Iraq's neighbours, Syria and
Iran, to stop supporting terrorism." ... "Widening the range of US concerns
beyond Iraq, Mr Powell said Syria must abandon its "direct support for
terrorist groups"." ... "He also said it was time for "the entire international
community to insist that Iran end its support for terrorism"." ... "Mr
Powell's comments came two days after US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
warned both countries not to get involved in the conflict in Iraq."-BBC/News
-
-
-
-
- "Myers:
U.S. Controls Terror Camp in Iraq." ... "American
forces are searching a terrorist compound in northeastern Iraq that was
probably the site where militants made a biological toxin, traces of which
were later found by police in London, the Pentagon's top general said Sunday."
... "U.S. and British forces now control the compound, which belongs to
the group Ansar al-Islam, said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, describing it as a site "where Ansar al-Islam and al-Qaida
had been working on poisons."" -By Matt Kelley
-AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource
Search
Iraq News - Search
Google:
- "Israel
Suicide Bombing Injures 38." ... "The attack was
particularly devastating to Natanya [the city where the bombing occurred],
which officials said has suffered 14 suicide bombings since the 30-month-long
Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip and West
Bank began. The deadliest bombing of the conflict occurred only 300 yards
away from the site of today's attack. On March 27 last year, a suicide
bomber killed 29 other people and injured about 140 more at a Passover
holiday seder in Netanya's Park Hotel, the attack that prompted Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon to crack down on Palestinian towns and villages in the West
Bank." -By John Ward Anderson and Molly Moore-WashingtonPost
-
- "Suicide
Bombing Kills Four U.S. Troops, Iraq Warns of More Attacks:
After a car bomb exploded Saturday at a U.S. military checkpoint near the
central Iraqi city of Najaf killing four American soldiers, the Iraqi vice
president said that coalition forces could expect more suicide attacks."
... "The car bomb exploded just outside Najaf on the road north to Kerbala,
not far from the furthest forward positions that U.S. troops have reached
in the 10-day-old war against Iraq. A small city on the Euphrates River,
Najaf is about 100 miles south of Baghdad and has been the scene of intense
fighting between Iraqi and U.S. troops." ... "According to witnesses, a
taxi stopped close to the checkpoint, and the driver appeared to wave for
help. As soldiers approached the car, it exploded, Capt. Andrew Wallace
told Associated Press. The victims were part of the Army's 1st Brigade,
3rd Infantry Division." -PBS
/NewsHour
-
- "Iraq
Threatens More Suicide Attacks: Car Bomb Kills
Four U.S. Soldiers; Four Other U.S. Bodies Found." ... "A senior Iraqi
official today threatened more suicide attacks like the one that killed
four American soldiers at a U.S. Army checkpoint near Najaf." ... ""This
is just the beginning. You'll hear more pleasant news later," Iraqi Vice
President Taha Yassin Ramadan said at a news conference. Asked whether
suicide bombings will now become a policy of the Iraqi military, Ramadan
said: "It will be routine military policy. We will use any means to kill
our enemy in our land and we will follow the enemy into its land."" -Contributions
by Richard Engel, Ted Koppel, Linda Albin, Tim Scheld, Luis Martinez and
Aditya Raval, James Ryan, Vic Ratner, and John McWethy
-ABCNEWS.com
-
- "Reports:
Car bomb kills five U.S. soldiers: Missile
hits Kuwait City mall." ... "A car bomb exploded Saturday at a U.S. military
checkpoint in Najaf in central Iraq, a source with U.S. Central Command
said." ... "A U.S. military officer told The Associated Press that five
soldiers were killed in the bombing. CentComm officials were trying to
confirm the exact casualty count." ... "According to the Central Command
source, a car with two men inside detonated at a checkpoint operated by
the Army's 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division."
-CNN /World
Search
Iraq News
-
- "US
escalates war on northern Iraq's militants:
US forces are now fighting two Islamic groups - one radical, one more moderate
- on a second front." ... "US troops are increasingly engaged in an attempt
to eliminate a militant group of several hundred Islamist fighters in Kurdish-controlled
northern Iraq." ... "In recent days the US has been expanding its military
presence in the region, in part to open an abbreviated "northern front"
against areas controlled by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. But an immediate
goal is also to assist Kurdish forces in the destruction of Ansar al Islam
(Partisans of Islam), an 18-month-old group, linked by the US to Al Qaeda,
that controls an enclave next to the Iranian border." -By
Cameron W. Barr -CSMonitor
-
- "Supreme
Court rejects wiretap case: Secret tapings
in war on terrorism at issue." ... "The Supreme Court rebuffed an attempt
yesterday by civil liberties lawyers to challenge the secret wiretapping
that has been one of the Bush administration's main legal weapons in the
war against terrorism." ... "Without saying anything about the constitutional
issues at stake, the court refused a request by four organizations to clear
the way for immediate review of the electronic search powers granted the
government under the USA Patriot Act, which Congress passed after the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks." -By Lyle Denniston
-Boston/Globe
-
- "Ashcroft
accelerates use of emergency spy warrants in anti-terror fight."
... "Since the 2001 terror attacks, Attorney General John Ashcroft has
approved more than 170 emergency domestic spying warrants, triple the number
used in the previous 23 years." ... "The emergency warrants, authorized
under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, permit authorities to
tap telephones and fax numbers and conduct physical searches for up to
72 hours before they are subject to review by the special, secret Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court." -By Curt Anderson-AP
via -SFGate.com
-
-
-
-
- "Hunting
for Iraq's Terror Weapons." ... "America will not
be able to claim victory in Iraq until it secures Saddam Hussein's missing
troves of unconventional weapons, the ingredients for making them and the
network of scientists able to produce them. This is a long-term challenge.
But over the next days and weeks, American commanders face an urgent task:
to make sure that none of this deadly arsenal leaks out to terrorist groups
or neighboring states like Syria or Iran." ... "Some experts believe that
to avoid detection, Iraq may have retained only seed stocks, growth media
and the technical know-how to be able to start up production again quickly.
These basic ingredients are likely to be hidden at locations known only
to a very select group of leading scientists and top regime loyalists."
... "This means that the main tools for tracking down Iraq's hidden weapons
caches must include offers of financial bounties to ordinary Iraqis and
a pragmatic openness to plea bargaining with detained Iraqi security officials
and scientists. These include leaders of such notorious formations as the
Special Republican Guard and the Special Security Organization. Some of
the sadistic members of the Iraqi Baath leadership may have to be offered
a measure of leniency." -NYTimes
Search
Iraq News - Search
Google:
- Accounting
News - "Audit:
Food Supply Vulnerable to Attack." ... "Congressional
auditors say the country's food supply is vulnerable to terrorist attacks
partly because the government cannot ensure the security of processing
plants." ... "The General Accounting Office issued the report Tuesday as
the Agriculture Department told food companies, retailers and farmers to
increase security because of the heightened security alert." -By
Emily Gersema -AP
via -ChicagoTribune
-
-
-
- "National
Threat Level Raised: Statement by Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge." [Excerpt] ... "The Department of Homeland
Security in consultation with the Homeland Security Council, has made the
decision to raise the national threat level from an Elevated to High risk
of terrorist attack or Level Orange. The Intelligence Community believes
that terrorists will attempt multiple attacks against U.S.and Coalition
targets worldwide in the event of a U.S led military campaign against Saddam
Hussein. A large volume of reporting across a range of sources, some of
which are highly reliable, indicates that Al-Qaida probably would attempt
to launch terrorist attacks against U.S.interests claiming they were defending
Muslims or the Iraqi people rather than Saddam Husseins regime." ... "While
the March 1 arrest of senior Al Qaida operative, Khalid Shaykh Muhammad
(KSM) has put the Al-Qaida senior leadership on the defensive and will
be debilitating in the long term -- the Intelligence Community believes
that KSMs capture will not necessarily affect operations that are ready
or nearly ready for execution. There are many recent indications that Al-Qaidas
planning includes the use of chemical, biological, and/or radiological
materials." ... "Intelligence reporting also indicates that while Al-Qaida
and those sympathetic to their cause are a principal threat, Iraqi state
agents, Iraqi surrogate groups, other regional extremist organizations,
and ad hoc groups or disgruntled individuals not connected to existing
organizations or state agencies, may use this time period to conduct terrorist
attacks against the U.S., or our interests abroad."
-WhiteHouse.gov/Homeland
Security Actions
-
-
-
- "U.S. raises
terror alert to ‘orange’: Intelligence indicates
attacks by al-Qaida, allies, officials say." ... "Fears of possible attacks
in retaliation for U.S. military action in Iraq led the Homeland Security
Department to raise the nation’s terror threat assessment Monday night
to “orange,” the second highest of five levels, NBC News has learned. The
new threat level went into effect after President Bush addressed the nation."
... "Concerned about a potential attack from Iraqi sleeper cells, the FBI
was sending agents fanning out to interview as many as 10,000 Iraqis now
in the United States, urging them to report anything suspicious in the
Arab community. FBI evidence specialists were to begin a 24-hour-a-day
watch to analyze information U.S. troops found in Iraq." -By
Pete Williams and Robert Windrem -MSNBC
-
- 
-
-
-
-
-
- "Bush
to address nation tonight on Iraq." ... "Faced with
insurmountable opposition at the United Nations, the United States, Britain
and Spain pulled back a resolution aimed at securing international approval
for an attack on Baghdad. It represented an abject failure for U.S. diplomacy.
The resolution's sponsors said France's veto threat in the U.N. Security
Council made further negotiations futile." ... "Instead, the United States
seemed poised for the first full-scale war in its history in which it launches
an attack without being struck first. In doing so, the president is set
to create a new doctrine of preventive war, which he justifies as the only
way to head off attacks such as the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist assaults
on the United States." -By Jim Drinkard
-USATODAY
-
-
- "Iraq reportedly
opens suicide camp: Volunteers trained to attack
U.S. forces, Al-Jazeera says." ... "Saddam Hussein has opened a training
camp for Arab volunteers willing to carry out suicide bombings against
U.S. forces in case they invade Iraq, Arab media and Iraqi dissidents said
Tuesday." ... "A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
the United States has no information that would corroborate reports of
Iraqi intelligence training suicide bombers at camps northeast of Baghdad,
or anywhere else." -AP
via -MSNBC
- Osama
bin Laden
- "Aide met bin
Laden in December, Pakistan says." ... "A top Al
Qaeda planner captured in Pakistan nine days ago told interrogators that
he met with Osama bin Laden in December, but he refused to describe the
location, Pakistan's top intelligence officials said Monday as they gave
the first detailed, official account of the arrest and questioning of the
terror planner, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed." ... "The officials spoke Monday
night at an unusual press conference inside the halls of Interservices
Intelligence, or ISI, the secretive and powerful military intelligence
agency that now leads the country's anti-terror efforts." -By
Eric Eckholm -NYTimesvia
-IHT.com
-
-
-
- "Bush
says US ready to move on Iraq: President ties
Hussein to threat of terrorism." ... "President Bush, with more than 200,000
US soldiers awaiting his orders in the Persian Gulf, said last night that
while he hoped to win international backing to disarm Iraq and remove Saddam
Hussein from power, ''when it comes to our security, we really don't need
anybody's permission.''" ... "Bush left open a very small window for Iraq
to avoid war, saying that the choice is still up to Hussein. Bush said,
for example, that it would be ''fine with me'' if Hussein left his homeland
- something that the Iraqi leader said he would never do. When Bush was
asked whether a possible British amendment to a UN resolution would delay
the onset of war, Bush said that any new resolution must have ''finality.''"
-By Michael Kranish and Anne E. Kornblut
-Boston/Globe
/
-
- "Bush
to detail progress in terror war at news conference:
No major announcement expected." ... "President Bush will use a prime-time
news conference Thursday [8 p.m. EST] to offer an optimistic progress report
on the war on terrorism and to make clear that there are, in the words
of one senior official, "not that many days remaining" before critical
decisions must be made about the possible use of force against Iraq." ...
"Bush plans no major new announcements and, while echoing the presentation
made Wednesday by Secretary of State Colin Powell, will offer no new intelligence
information about Iraq's weapons programs." -By John
King -CNN
-
-
- "Al-Qaida
Remains Epicenter of Terrorism: Al-Qaida Still
Remains Epicenter of Anti-Western Terrorism Even After Arrests and Deaths."
... ""Al-Qaida as we know it today is not the al-Qaida that we knew prior
to Sept. 11. It has metastasized," said Dan Mulvenna, a professor at the
Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies outside Washington.
"The organization, post-Sept. 11, has been forced to rely more and more
on the broader network of fundamentalist groups. In a sense, it has become
a holding company for worldwide Islamic Jihad.""
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
- "Privacy
Activist Takes on Delta." ... "Bill Scannell, organizer
of the successful Boycott Adobe campaign launched when Russian programmer
Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested
in the summer of 2001, is now calling for a boycott
on Delta." ... "At issue is Delta's test run this month of CAPPS II,
the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System. CAPPS II would require
background checks on all airline passengers when they book a ticket, including
checking credit reports, banking and criminal records." ... "Scannell also
raises the issue of ruined credit ratings as a side effect of CAPPS II
screening." ... ""Every time a credit report is run on you, it hurts your
credit rating," Scannell said. "Frequent fliers will not only have a nice
thick Delta dossier, but a damaged credit history to boot." ... "According
to a January Federal Register notice containing some details of the program,
CAPPS II will store information about those deemed a yellow- or red-level
threat for up to 50 years." (1,
2)
-By By Michelle Delio
-Wired -Privacy
Matters
-
- Law
Enforcement News - "U.S.
disrupts arms smuggling plots: Post-Sept. 11
scrutiny stems flow of materiel to potential foes." ... "In a byproduct
of stepped-up enforcement after Sept. 11, the federal government has foiled
a series of recent attempts by foreigners to smuggle military materiel
from the United States to potentially hostile countries, officials say."
... "The cases involved parts for surface-to-air missiles, fighter jets
and spymaster equipment headed for locations that included China, Pakistan
and Iran, the officials said." -AP
via -MSNBC
- Law
Enforcement News
- "Ridge's
Rise from Adviser to 'Mr. Secretary': As Some
Questioned His Power, He Quietly Shaped Future of Homeland Security." ...
"This week, as nearly 180,000 employees join the new Department of Homeland
Security that he has directed since Jan. 24, Ridge has become one of the
four or five most powerful figures in the Bush administration, a man in
charge of the president's most crucial domestic initiative." ... "Bush
has staked considerable credibility and some of his political fortune on
his old friend's success in protecting Americans from terrorist attacks.
The president has given Ridge enormous clout that is comparable to the
sway commanded by the heads of the Justice, Defense and State departments,
administration officials and government experts said." -By
John Mintz -WashingtonPost
- Law
Enforcement News
- "Police
in Pakistan arrest a top suspect in Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."
... "Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, was arrested Saturday in Pakistan, a senior official told The
Associated Press." ... "Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Mohammed
was one of three men arrested in a 3 a.m. raid in Rawalpindi, a city near
Islamabad." -By Kathy Gannon
-AP via -SFGate.com
-
- "New checks
planned for air travelers: Plan for background
checks draw objections from some." ... "Civil liberties groups are raising
objections to a government plan for a new system that would check background
information and assign a threat level to everyone who buys a ticket for
a commercial flight." ... "Transportation officials say CAPPS II — Computer
Assisted Passenger Prescreening System — will use databases that already
operate in line with privacy laws and won’t profile based on race, religion
or ethnicity." -AP
via -MSNBC
- "US
lowers terror threat alert level." ... ""Today's
decision was based on a careful review of how this specific intelligence
has evolved and progressed over the past three weeks as well as counter-terrorism
actions we have taken to address specific aspects of the threat situation,"
Tom Ridge, secretary of homeland security, and John Ashcroft, US attorney-general,
said in a joint statement." -By Kamau High
-FT.com
- Law
Enforcement News
- "FBI
Bulletin Warns of 'Lone Extremists'." ... "The FBI's
weekly bulletin to local law enforcement agencies, issued on Thursday,
said that there was a potential threat from extremists who acted on their
own and were not closely tied to any group and cited as an example Oklahoma
City bomber Timothy McVeigh." -Reuters
-
- "Newspaper:
Texas Tech professor carried plague on airlines."
... "The Texas Tech University researcher accused of lying to the FBI about
missing vials of plague bacteria repeatedly carried live samples of the
germ aboard commercial airliners, a newspaper reported." ... "Butler is
charged with falsely reporting as missing 30 vials of the potentially lethal
plague bacteria that he actually had destroyed. News of the supposedly
missing vials last month triggered a terrorism alert."
-AP via -CNN
- 
- "U.S. to send
1,700 troops to Philippines." ... "The United States
will send more than 1,700 troops to the Philippines in the next few weeks
to fight Muslim extremists in the southern part of the country, opening
a new front in the fight against terrorism." -By Eric
Schmitt -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
- "Indictment
Ties U.S. Professor and 8 Others to Terror Group."
... "Federal prosecutors brought racketeering charges today against a Florida
professor and seven other people, accusing them of financing and helping
support suicide bombings in Israel." ... "In one of the Justice Department's
longest-running and most controversial terrorism investigations, a 50-count
grand jury indictment unsealed in Tampa relies heavily on expanded prosecutorial
powers granted to the department after the Sept. 11 attacks." ... "The
indictment charges that Palestinian Islamic Jihad [P.I.J.], linked to more
than 100 killings in Israel, has been deeply rooted within the United States
since the 1980's, using American academic and fund-raising groups as fronts."
(1, 2)
-By
Eric Lichtblau with Judith Miller -NYTimes
via -Google-News
- "USF
professor accused of terrorist sympathies, others arrested."
... "A University of South Florida professor previously accused of having
terrorist ties was arrested early Thursday by federal agents, one of several
people arrested in Tampa, Chicago and overseas, authorities said." ...
"The university ... [has] claimed the professor raised money for terrorist
groups, brought terrorists into the United States, and founded organizations
that support terrorism." -By Rachel La Corte
-AP via -Miami/Herald
-
-
- "Britain
upgrades travel warnings on Iraq, Kuwait, Israel."
... "Britain said Wednesday that its citizens in Iraq should leave the
country immediately, citing "increasing regional tension and of the risk
of terrorist action."" ... "The Foreign Office also upgraded its warnings
on travel to Kuwait, Israel and the Palestinian territories." ... ""If
you are considering going to Iraq, you should be aware that British nationals
were used as hostages during the 1990-91 crisis by the Iraqi regime, being
held where their safety was at most risk," the advisory said." -AP
via -USATODAY
- "Chicago
stampede hints at larger security challenges:
In era of terror alerts, a reminder that public safety hinges on the private
sector." ... "As Chicagoans pull together the causes and lessons of this
weekend's nightclub stampede, the incident also highlights a broader point
that reaches far beyond this city's gritty south side, especially during
a time of national alert about terrorism." ... "The point, observers say,
is that a community's ability to respond to big emergencies - including
terrorist attacks - depends hugely on the vigilance of individual business
owners and how much emphasis they put on their patrons' safety." -By
Abraham McLaughlin -CSMonitor
-
- "Terror
Alert May Soon Be Lowered." ... "The government is
not yet ready to lower the "high risk" terrorism alert it ordered 10 days
ago but could do so at any time, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge
said yesterday." ... "Based on current intelligence information, Ridge
said on CNN's "Late Edition" that "there's still enough out there today
for us to remain at an orange [or second-highest risk] level."" -By
Helen Dewar -WashingtonPost
- OPINION
- "'Be
Responsible': First Lady Criticizes Some Terror Alert News Reporting."
... "First lady Laura Bush said TV news channels may be looking to "entice"
viewers with nonstop news stories about terror alerts and what might happen
in a possible terrorist attack on the United States." ... ""I know that,
you know, channels — all the many, many channels now — and cable television
are looking for viewers and they do whatever they can to try to entice
viewers," Bush said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America."
-ABCNEWS.com
- Law
Enforcement News
- "False
Alarm? Terror Alert Partly Based on Fabricated
Information." ... "A key piece of the information leading to recent terror
alerts was fabricated, according to two senior law enforcement officials
in Washington and New York." ... "The officials said that a claim made
by a captured al Qaeda member that Washington, New York or Florida would
be hit by a "dirty bomb" sometime this week had proven to be a product
of his imagination." ... "Despite the fabricated report, there are no plans
to change the threat level. Officials said other intelligence has been
validated and that the high level of precautions is fully warranted." -By
Brian Ross, Len Tepper and Jill Rackmill -ABCNEWS.com
- Law
Enforcement News
- "Hundreds
in U.S. Have Ties to Al Qaeda, F.B.I. Director Says."
... "F.B.I. Director Robert S. Mueller III said today that several hundred
Islamic extremists linked to Al Qaeda are in the United States, with some
organized in cells that could be ordered to carry out terrorist attacks
in this country." ... "In his most definitive statement to date about the
presence of extremists in the United States, Mr. Mueller told the Senate
Intelligence Committee that the effort to identify these cell members is
the country's most serious law enforcement challenge." -By
David Johnston -NYTimes
via -Google-News
- "[CIA
director George] Tenet: Terror attacks could occur this week."
... "Tenet said on Tuesday that new intelligence information led to last
week's raising of the national terror alert level to "orange," the second
highest level of five. The information came from "multiple sources with
strong al-Qaeda ties," Tenet said without providing details." ... ""The
intelligence is not idle chatter on the part of terrorists and their associates,"
Tenet said Tuesday. "It is the most specific we have seen, and it is consistent
with both our knowledge of al-Qaeda's doctrine and our knowledge of plots
this network and particularly its senior leadership
has been working on for years."" -AP
via -DallasNews.com
Osama
bin Laden
- "Bin
Laden urges suicide attacks on US." ... "Osama bin
Laden last night returned to haunt America in the midst of preparations
for a war in Iraq, when a new tape attributed to the al-Qaida leader was
broadcast on the leading Arab television network, urging Iraqis to carry
out suicide attacks against the United States." ... "The audio tape was
played on al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite channel that has been the
conduit for previous Bin Laden declarations. Al-Jazeera journalists said
the tape appeared to be authentic." -By Julian Borger
and Brian Whitaker -Guardian.co.uk
-
-
-
- Law
Enforcement News
- "Blair
authorised terror alert troops." ... "The prime minister
gave his personal authorisation for soldiers to be drafted in to boost
security at Heathrow airport and other sites in London, says Downing Street."
... "A total of 450 troops have joined 1,000 extra police officers in patrolling
the airport as part of a tightening of security at sites across the capital."
... "The heightened security is linked to intelligence concerns that al-Qaeda
may try to use surface-to-air missiles in the UK or US this week." ...
"It is compounded by US security chiefs warning of possible terrorist attacks
in the US and Middle East towards the end of the week, including the use
of poisons, chemicals and a device to spread radioactivity[.]"
-BBC/News
- Law
Enforcement News
- "U.S.
had data hinting of Oklahoma City bombing." ... "Two
federal law enforcement agencies had information before the 1995 Oklahoma
City bombing suggesting that white supremacists living nearby were considering
an attack on government buildings, but the intelligence was never passed
on to federal officials in the state, documents and interviews show." ...
"FBI headquarters officials in Washington were so concerned that white
separatists at the Elohim City compound in Muldrow, Okla., might lash out
on April 19, 1995 the day Timothy McVeigh did choose
that a month earlier they questioned a reformed white supremacist familiar
with an earlier plot to bomb the same Alfred P. Murrah federal building
McVeigh selected." -AP
via -USATODAY
-
- Osama
bin Laden
- "Powell
briefs Senate panel on Iraq." ... "Secretary of State
Colin Powell told a Senate panel Tuesday that what appears to be a new
statement from Osama bin Laden shows why the world needs to be concerned
about Iraqi ties to terrorism." ... "Powell said he read a transcript of
"what bin Laden or who we believe to be bin Laden" will be
saying on the Al-Jazeera Arab satellite station later Tuesday, "where once
again he speaks to the people of Iraq and talks about their struggle and
how he is in partnership with Iraq."" -AP
via -USATODAY
-
- "Ill.
Islamic Charity Leader Pleads Guilty: Head of Muslim
Charity in Illinois Pleads Guilty to Fraud; U.S. Drops Charge He Aided
al-Qaida." ... "The head of a Muslim charity accused of funneling money
to Osama bin Laden's terror network pleaded guilty Monday to illegally
buying boots and uniforms for fighting forces in Bosnia and Chechnya."
... "As part of the plea bargain, prosecutors dropped charges that Enaam
Arnaout aided bin Laden. But they insisted he committed the offense, and
said they agreed to the plea bargain to secure a conviction and Arnaout's
cooperation while sparing the government the expense of a trial."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- "Colombia
Blames Rebels, 32 Dead After Bogota Bomb." ... "Colombian
and U.S. officials blamed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a
Marxist rebel army known by the Spanish initials FARC that has vowed to
make the country's urban upper classes suffer the effects of a largely
rural war." ... "If the bomb was the work of the FARC, it would throw down
the gauntlet to hard-line President Alvaro Uribe. He has told rebels to
forget peace talks without a cease-fire and embarked on a military build-up."
-By Jason Webb -Reuters
- "Car
Bomb in Colombia Kills at Least 25." ... "A car bomb
tore through an elite social club in the capital, killing at least 25 people,
wounding more than 150 and raising fears that Colombia's leftist rebels
were making good on threats to attack the country's wealthy ruling class."
... "The explosion Friday night rocked the 11-story El Nogal Club in north
Bogota, blowing brick and mortar onto a busy avenue, collapsing floors
and starting a fire that burned for about two hours before fire crews brought
it under control." -Guardian.co.uk
Space
Shuttle Columbia Disaster
- "Columbia
shuttle disintegrates just 15 minutes before landing."
... "Space shuttle Columbia broke apart in flames 200,000 feet (60,000
meters) over Texas yesterday [Saturday, 20030201],
killing all seven astronauts, including the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan
Ramon, just minutes before they were to glide to a landing in Florida."
... ""Columbia is lost; there are no survivors," President George W. Bush
announced." ... "It is too early to speculate about what destroyed the
shuttle, said Bill Readdy, NASA's associate administrator for space flight.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there
was no immediate indication of terrorism." -By
Agencies via-Ha'aretzDaily
- Law
Enforcement News
- "Blast
hits Indonesia police headquarters." ... "There were
no immediate reports of injuries, but the blast damaged a building and
two cars inside the compound, according to local media reports." ... "The
cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, but one official told
the Associated Press that police suspected it may have been the result
of a bomb." -BBC/News
- "Quiet Cheney
accrues power and influence: 'Adviser and counselor'
to president is focused on economy and security." ... "At the start of
the third year of the Bush administration, White House officials and outside
advisers say Cheney is ever more powerful. In the last three months, he
has immersed himself in three critical areas: national security, the economy
and domestic defense." ... "Cheney was a driving force behind the administration's
Project Bioshield, a plan to protect the nation against biological attack
that Bush announced in his State of the Union address. He was central to
the creation of the president's $674 billion economic package. He is wired
into the White House plans for a postwar Iraq." -By
Elisabeth Bumiller and Eric Schmitt -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
- SMALLPOX
- "Hospitals
balk at smallpox vaccine." ... "More than 80 hospitals
in 22 states have decided to forgo the Bush administration's voluntary
smallpox plan. Many have said they will begin vaccinating immediately if
a single smallpox case appears or the government warns that the threat
of a bioterrorism attack using the smallpox virus is imminent." ... "The
dissenters are a tiny fraction of the 3,000 hospitals recruited by state
health officials to vaccinate doctors, nurses and other hospital staff
members who are most likely to care for smallpox patients." ... "But their
numbers are growing as doctors and administrators at hospitals around the
USA are concluding that the known health risks from the vaccine, which
can cause illness and even death, outweigh the unquantifiable risks of
smallpox being used as a terrorist weapon." -By Laura
Parker -USATODAY
-
- "Human
Rights Watch: U.S. undermines its own war on terrorism."
... "The United States is undermining its own war on terrorism by turning
its back on human rights abuses in countries that are nominal allies against
terrorists, according to Human Rights Watch in its annual report released
Tuesday." ... "Pakistan, Indonesia, Russia, China and several central Asian
republics have avoided U.S. scrutiny and criticism of their rights records
by aiding anti-terrorist efforts, but that creates long-term problems,
said Kenneth Roth, executive director of the international rights group."
-By Frank Davies-Miami/Herald
-
- "Israel answers
suicide attacks with shellings and travel ban." ...
"Responding to a devastating suicide attack that left at least 23 people
dead in Tel Aviv, Israeli helicopters shelled Palestinian targets in Gaza,
troops tightened the grip on occupied territories and the government banned
a Palestinian delegation Monday from traveling to London for discussions
on reforming the Palestinian Authority." ... "The suicide attack was the
first inside Israel since November, and the worst since a suicide bomber
killed 29 people in a hotel in Netanya on the eve of Passover last March."
... "That attack triggered a major Israeli operation in the West Bank."
-By Serge Schmemann -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
- "Two
Suicide Bombers Kill 22 in Tel Aviv: Palestinian
Suicide Bombers Kill 22; Israeli Military Responds by Firing Missiles at
Gaza City." ... "Two Palestinian suicide bombers set off back-to-back blasts
Sunday in a central Tel Aviv area crowded with foreign workers, killing
22 bystanders and wounding more than 100 in the bloodiest attack in six
months." ... "The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to Yasser
Arafat's Fatah movement, said the bombers were its members, contradicting
earlier reports that the militant Islamic Jihad was claiming responsibility.
The twin blasts came just three weeks before Israel's Jan. 28 general election."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
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