14 terror suspects detained in Belgium

The police in Belgium announced today that 14 people have been detained on suspicion of having ties to al-Qaeda, news agencies say.

Reuters quotes federal prosecutors who say that three of the suspects are "feared to have been planning an attack on Belgium."

"We don't know where the suicide attack was to take place," federal prosecutor Johan Delmulle tells reporters, according to AFP. "It could have been an operation in Pakistan or Afghanistan, but it can't be ruled out that Belgium or Europe could have been the target."

Anonymous sources tell RTBF, a Belgian broadcaster, that officials think the group may have been targeting a two-day European summit that begins today in Brussels.

Cruise liner evacuates ship because of pirate threats

USA TODAY's Gene Sloan, our colleague at Cruise Log Blog, is reporting that the upscale cruise line Hapag-Lloyd is evacuating a ship sailing near Somalia, citing the growing threat of pirates in the region. Details here.

Blackwater guards surrender to feds in shooting inquiry

Five Blackwater security guards have surrendered to federal authorities in connection with an inquiry into a shooting in Iraq in 2007 that killed 17 Iraqis at a busy intersection, the Associated Press reports.

The Justice Department will release details of the charges later today in Washington.

The five guards turned themselves in at a federal courthouse in Salt Lake City.

Blackwater, a private contractor, provides security in Iraq. The company says the shooting incident occurred when their guards were attacked by insurgents, the AP reports.

Update at 12:09 p.m. ET: The Justice Department, in unsealing an indictment in the case today, says the five are charged with voluntarily manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and weapons violations.

Justice Department national security prosecutor told reporters the consequences of the alleged shooting at the square in Baghdad were "devastating" and resulted in the death or injury of 34 people.

"None of these victims was an insurgent, and many were shot while inside of civilian vehicles that were attempting to flee," prosecutors wrote in court documents, the Associated Press reports. "One victim was shot in his chest while standing in the street with his hands up."

U.S. attorney Jeffrey Taylor says the guards were authorized only to take defensive actions, the Associated Press and other news organizations report.

The department says a sixth guard has pleaded guilty in the case. It says Blackwater, as a company, is not being charged with any wrongdoing.

Update at 2:33 p.m. ET: USA TODAY's Donna Leinwand reports that Jeremy Ridgeway of California,  the only guard among the six who has pleaded guilty, admitted killing a passenger in a white sedan that approached the crowded traffic circle during the incident. In his plea agreement, Ridgeway says he "intended to kill the passenger."

Report links Mumbai attackers to former members of Pakistani military, intelligence

The New York Times is quoting an anonymous source who says former members of Pakistan's military and intelligence service helped train the Mumbai attackers.

The paper says this source, identified as a "former Defense Department official," told reporters that the U.S. government has no evidence that the terrorists were linked to the Pakistani government.

At least 10 men carried out a three-day attack last week that killed more than 170 people and wounded hundreds more in the Indian financial capital.

Update at 5:25 p.m. ET: The Indian Express is reporting that one of two SIM cards recovered from the mobile phones of dead terrorists was issued by a company in New Jersey. U.S. authorities are investigating.

Today's video: Raw video of Mumbai attack

This footage, distributed via AP, was captured by surveillance cameras when gunmen attacked a train station last week in Mumbai, India. 

Muslim graveyard refuses to bury Mumbai attackers

The Associated Press says a large Muslim cemetery in Mumbai is refusing to bury nine of the men who attacked India's financial capital last week.

At least 10 attackers, thought to be from Pakistan, killed more than 170 people and wounded hundreds more over the course of three days.

One of the gunmen survived. He is in police custody.

Nine bodies are still in the morgue. "People who committed this heinous crime cannot be called Muslim," Hanif Nalkhande, a trustee of the Muslim Jama Masjid Trust, tells AP. "Islam does not permit this sort of barbaric crime."

The wire service says investigators in Mumbai, the city formerly known as Bombay, don't know what to do with the remains.

"The gunmen must be buried because we are bound to see that their last rites are performed according to the religion they follow," Jain Sirmukadam, a senior police inspector, says. "We have heard the trust's decision. We are considering what to do now."

NDTV says police are trying to determine whether the attacks involved additional terrorists, beyond the 10 who have been accounted for since the siege began last Wednesday.

(Photo of vigil by David Guttenfelder, AP; photo of suspected attacker taken at hospital by Mumbai police via Reuters.)

India terror update: Siege continues; at least 101 dead

It's past dawn Thursday in Mumbai, and the terrorist siege is continuing. Reporters and news organizations are struggling to keep up with developments amid the chaos. Naturally, there are conflicting casualty figures, details and even the number of attacks — between seven and 16.

Update at 3 a.m. ET Thursday: Authorities have raised the death toll to at least 101, with 314 wounded. The dead include at least one Australian, a Japanese and a British national, a senior Maharashtra state told the Associated Press. Eight gunmen also were killed in the coordinated attacks on at least 10 sites that began around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday (11 a.m. EST).

There are reports that five to seven terrorists are holed up in Taj and seven at the Oberoi Trident . Some or all of the attackers arrived in boats or rubber rafts.

"There are seven of us inside hotel Oberoi," a man identified as Sahadullah told a TV news channel. "We want all Mujahideens held in India released and only after that we will release the people."

Gunmen also seized the Mumbai headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch. AP says Indian commandos surrounded the building this morning and witnesses reported hearing gunfire from the building. Some of the hostages being held at the Taj hotel are Israeli, officials said.

NDTV has a timeline of the attacks.

Our previous update follows.

Here are some of the latest reports:

NDTV:

• At least 100 dead, 110 injured.

• At least 100 hostages and 3 or 4 terrorists at the Taj hotel.

• 5 terrorists are dead, 3 escaped, 9 captured.

• At least 11 police officers killed citywide, including Hemant Karkare, the head of the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad, and another top counterterror official. A police commissioner earlier reported dead is in critical condition in a hospital.

Times of India:

• The attackers hit the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus rail terminus; the landmark Taj Hotel at the Gateway and the luxury Oberoi Trident at Nariman Point; the domestic airport at Santa Cruz; the Cama and GT hospitals near the rail station; the Metro Adlabs multiplex; Mazgaon Dockyard; and the Leopold Cafe.

• Some media reports attributed the attack to Lashkar-e-Taiba. There were also unconfirmed reports that some of the terrorists came in by sea. A boat laden with explosives was recovered later at night off the Gateway of India.

The BBC:

• 80 dead, more than 250 injured.

• In addition to hostages at the two hotels, five gunmen reportedly have taken hostages in an office block in the city's financial district.

CNN-IBN puts the death toll at 87.

Here's a Wikipedia page that's being updated.

Twitter, Flickr and various Facebook and MySpace pages are buzzing with updates and discussion.

See our earlier coverage below.

Update at 11:24 p.m. ET: The Counterterrorism Blog notes that the attacks came a day after the arrest of a suspected mastermind of a series of Mumbai commuter train blasts that killed nearly 200 and wounded 500 in July 2006.

At the same time, ABC News is reporting that the earlier warning today about a possible Al-Qaeda attack in New York during the holidays involved a "Madrid-like attack" on the Long Island Rail Road. The synchronized bombings of trains in Madrid killed 191 people in March 2004.

Citing law enforcement sources, ABC says a terror suspect arrested in Pakistan by the FBI in recent days provided authorities with details of the alleged bomb plot and other information. The FBI called it a "plausible but unsubstantiated" threat.

(The landmark Taj Mahal Hotel continues to burn Thursday as pigeons circle. Below, Taj hotel workers embrace after being freed. Photos by Gautam Singh, AP.)

Dozens killed in India terror attacks

There now are reports of as many as 80 people dead -- a number that is likely to rise -- in apparent terror attacks aimed at tourists and travelers in Mumbai, India.

Reuters is reporting that at least 250 people have been wounded in the attacks, which appear targeted at tourists. In addition, Indian television is reporting Westerners are being held hostage at at least two hotels. News networks and wire services are reporting there have been at least seven separate attacks in the city, largely at luxury hotels and restaurants.

"I heard some gunshots around 9:30. I was with my friends. Something hit me. I ran away and fell on the road. Then somebody picked me up. I have injuries below my shoulder," Reuters reporter Sourav Mishra said from a hospital bed, Reuters reported.

The Times of India reports there have been eight separate attacks, including a major terror strike at a large passenger railway station.

Our coverage is here.

(Television broadcast capture of a fire at the Oberoi hotel in Mumbia courtesy NDTV, via AP)

Update at 3:57 p.m. ET: According to the AP, gunmen are known to have attacked a major train station, a well-known restaurant, two luxury hotels and a police station. A previously unknown group calling itself "Deccan Mujahideen" has sent e-mail to news organizations claiming responsibility for the attacks, the Times of India is reporting. The AP now lists the death toll at 78. There are multiple reports that attacks are continuing.

Update at 4:11 p.m. ET: Police say hostages are being held at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi Trident luxury hotels in Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital.

(The Taj Mahal Hotel, built in 1903, burns after the attack. Image from Star News television, via AP.)

Update at 5:02 p.m. ET: The BBC is reporting that the Taj, India's most famous hotel, is one fire and that an explosion has been heard inside the Oberoi, apparently from a hand grenade. The city's counterterrorism chief is among those who were killed in the initial attacks, the BBC said. Here's a final photo taken shortly before he and two other anti-terror officials were killed in a gunbattle outside the Metro cinema.

Police say they that killed two suspected Oberoi attackers but that two others escaped.

Update at 5:13 p.m. ET: A witness told local television that the gunmen were looking for people with British or U.S. passports. A U.S. State Department spokesman said there were no reports of any American casualties “at this point.” “We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks that have taken place in Mumbai, India,” said spokesman Robert Wood. “We are monitoring the situation very closely and stand ready to support the Indian authorities as they deal with this horrific series of attacks.”

Update at 5:32 p.m. ET: NDTV has live coverage. It puts the death toll at 80 and says the Army has stormed the burning Taj after a fifth blast, a grenade thrown from inside. Troops also have taken up positions at the Trident.

Witnesses at the Taj said the attackers took 15 hostages, half of them foreigners.

Update at 6 p.m. ET: Police say they have killed four attackers, arrested nine suspects and rescued 50 hostages from the Taj. Describing the attackers, one guest said, "They were very young, like boys really, wearing jeans and T-shirts."

(One of the attackers, captured by a cellphone camera. Image from NDTV.)

Update at 7:04 p.m. ET: The Times of India is reporting that some leading Indian industrialists were holding business meetings at the two hotels when the attacks occurred. Among them: the top executives of consumer-products conglomerate Hindustan Unilever and steel-maker Ispat Industries. No word yet on their fate.

Update at 8:09 p.m. ET: The editorial director of the Mid Day newspapers tells NPR that the fires have been extinguished in the old wing of the Taj hotel. He said it was started by seven blasts. Several people may still be in the basement, he added. However, NDTV has just reported that the fires have resumed.

Feds warn of possible NYC terror attack planning

Federal officials are investigating a "plausible but unsubstantiated" report that al-Qaeda terrorists may have discussed a terror plot against the New York City subway system during the holiday season.

The Associated Press, quoting an internal FBI memo, said the discussions may have taken place in September and involved using suicide bombers or explosives placed on the city's sprawling subway lines.

The New York Post has more on the memo.

Update at 11:05 a.m. ET: The AP quotes the memo: "We have no specific details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that such an attack could possibly be conducted during the forthcoming holiday season."

Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke told the wire service the warning was issued "out of an abundance of caution going into this holiday season" and said New Yorkers could expect to see an increased police presence in subways. However, the nation's security level is not being changed, he said.

Islamic charity, former leaders convicted of financing Hamas

A federal jury in Dallas has convicted an Islamic charity and five former leaders of illegally financing Hamas, the The Dallas Morning News reports.

The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development was found guilty of sending $12.4 million to the militant Palestinian group and others in the largest terrorism-financing case since September 2001. Charges included conspiracy, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, tax evasion and money laundering.

The United States listed Hamas as a terrorist group in 1995.

The conviction came on the eighth day of deliberations in the retrial of Holy Land and the men who had what was once the largest Islamic charity in the United States. A mistrial was declared last year after jurors deadlocked. A sentencing date was not set.

The Morning News offers a look at the defendants and both sides of the case.

The Justice Department accused Holy Land of financing schools, hospitals and social welfare programs controlled by Hamas. Prosecutors said the group's benefactors were  terrorist recruiting pools.

“It’s a sad day,” said Mohammed Wafa Yaish, Holy Land’s former accountant and himself a witness of the trial. “It looks like helping the needy Palestinians is a crime these days.”

“I think that the purpose of these trials was to further, in the minds of the public, the so-called ‘war on terrorism,’” defense attorney William Moffitt told The Morning News before the verdict. “There are legitimate terrorist organizations out there. But we’ve tried to make every group that doesn’t agree with us like al-Qaeda.”

Dennis Lormel, who created the FBI’s Terrorist Financing Operations Section after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, had a different reaction.

“The government has achieved an awful lot of success here,” he said. “A lot of people will only look at the win/lose of the jury verdict. I’m looking at it from the perspective of the flow of funding through charities to terrorists. There’s been an incredible amount written and attention put out on this. That’s a deterrent to those who want to fund terrorism.”

Lormel wrote about the case for the Counterterrorism Blog, which has followed the Holy Land Foundation closely.

The Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation has an archive of exhibits from the retrial.

(Zolfa Elaydi cries with her daughter Fidaa Elaydi, left, and son Jihad Elaydi after the verdict. Photo by Jim Mahoney, The Dallas Morning News, via AP.)

Judge orders government to release five Gitmo prisoners

A federal judge ruled this morning that five Algerians must be released from the U.S. military's detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, where they have been held without charge for nearly seven years, according to the Associated Press and other sources.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a Bush appointee, determined that the government has failed to prove that the five men are unlawful enemy combatants. He allowed the military to continue holding a sixth Algerian who is accused of supporting al-Qaeda.

Update at 2:57 p.m. ET: The Justice Department says it is reviewing the status of the five prisoners.

“These cases present extraordinary circumstances where wartime enemies have been captured abroad and are being detained based often on the same sort of classified intelligence relied upon by the military in conducting wartime operations," spokesman Peter Carr says in a written statement. "Today’s decision is perhaps an understandable consequence of the fact that neither the Supreme Court nor Congress has provided rules on how these habeas corpus cases should proceed in this unprecedented context."

Gov't lifts restrictions on Aussie linked to al-Qaeda

Australia announced today that it's lifting the restrictions that were imposed on David Hicks after he was released from Guantanamo Bay and returned to his home country.

Hicks trained with al-Qaeda and was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan after 9/11. Before the United States released him from the detention facility in Cuba, Hicks confessed to supporting terrorism.

Since his release from prison in Australia, Hicks has been subject to a "control order" that allows authorities to monitor his activities.

White House responds to latest message from al-Qaeda

White House press secretary Dana Perino commented on the latest message from al-Qaeda, a recording in which Ayman al-Zawahiri, the terror group's No. 2, criticized President-elect Barack Obama and called for attacks against America. Here's some what she had to say:

What we have here is more despicable and pathetic comments by al-Qaeda terrorists.  And in America, we are going to have a smooth transition from one administration to the next, and that will be a period of change in our country.  What won't change is our commitment as a country to fighting terrorism.  And I think that these comments just remind everybody of the kind of people that we're dealing with.

... I think that the comments that al-Qaeda makes are totally irrational.  They attack everything and anything that is American.  And so they just look for targets of opportunity, both verbally and physically, and that's why we have to stop them.

(Photo of preparations for presidential inauguration taken today by Ron Edmonds, AP.)

Al-Qaeda No. 2 calls Obama dishonorable, calls for attacks against U.S.

Original posting at 8:03 a.m. ET: Ayman al-Zawahiri, the No. 2 leader of al-Qaeda, says in a new message that President-elect Barack Obama is dishonorable, according to the Associated Press.

Update at 8:18 a.m. ET: The tape, which includes an audio message and still photos, is being distributed online. In it, Al-Zawahiri says Obama is "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" such as Malcolm X.

AP says the terror leader also uses the phrase "house negro" -- a demeaning racial term -- to describe the incoming president.

This is al-Zawahiri's entry on the FBI's list of Most Wanted Terrorists.

Update at 8:47 a.m. ET: Reuters has more on the clip's contents. Al-Zawahiri reportedly criticizes Obama for supporting Israel and ignoring his roots. He also calls on Muslims to mount attacks against the "criminal America," according to the news agency.

Obama will fail if he follows the same policies as President Bush, al-Zawahiri says, according to Reuters' translation of the 11-minute 23-second video.

Update at 9:12 a.m. ET: Here's what al-Zawahiri had to say about Obama's Mideast policies: "The Muslim nation received with extreme bitterness your hypocritical ... stance towards Israel," he says, according to Reuters. "You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand with the enemies of Muslims."

Update at 1:28 p.m. ET: The White House is responding to al-Qaeda. Click here for the latest posting.

Update at 5:11 p.m. ET: Here's an English transcript of Al-Zawahiri's statement (pdf), provided by the Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation.

(Frame grab by IntelCenter via Getty Images.)

                         

Subscribe

Send a tip

Twitter

Facebook

Washington State ferry is target of threat

A threat has forced a Washington State ferry to detour five minutes after it left Bremerton, authorities are reporting.

There are conflicting reports about the nature of the threat and where the ferry has docked. The Associated Press, citing the Washington State Patrol, says the ferry returned to Bremerton after a terrorist threat, while the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says that it was rerouted to Bainbridge Island and that the Bremerton ferry dock has been closed after an unspecified threat.

Ferry traffic from Seattle to Bremerton has been re-routed to Bainbridge Island, the state ferry operator says.

The Department of Homeland Security is now handling the matter.

More as it becomes available.

Update at 5 p.m. ET: KING 5 TV says the ferry returned to Bremerton after the threat was phoned in about 12:50 p.m. PT (3:45 p.m. ET). Bomb-sniffing dogs are checking the ship.

Update at 7:11 p.m. ET: The the Washington State Patrol tells the Seattle P-I that no bomb was found and that ferry service has resumed.

No charges likely for harsh interrogations, Obama advisers say

Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama tell the Associated Press that it is unlikely that charges would be filed against anyone who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists during the Bush administration.

Some scholars and human rights groups want Obama's Justice Department to investigate possible war crimes. AP got no response from Obama's transition team today.

Obama is expected to create a panel modeled after the 9/11 Commission to study interrogations, including those using waterboarding and other tactics that critics call torture.

"I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture, and I'm going to make sure that we don't torture," Obama said last night on CBS' "60 Minutes." ''Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world."

Secret ops against al-Qaeda

The U.S. military has conducted nearly a dozen secret operations against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in Syria, Pakistan and other countries since 2004, The New York Times reports.

Citing anonymous U.S. officials, the Times report said the operations were authorized by a broad classified order that then-Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed and President Bush approved in spring 2004. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the order's politically delicate nature. The order gave the military authority to attack al-Qaeda anywhere in the world and to conduct operations in countries that were not at war with the U.S. One such operation was an Oct. 26 raid inside Syria, the Times reported.

Though the process has been streamlined, specific missions have to be approved by the Defense secretary or by the president, the Times said.

First Guantanamo inmates are first to challenge their detention

The first Guantanamo detainees — six Algerians seized as "enemy combatants" after Sept. 11, 2001 — today challenged their detention in the first such hearings in a U.S. court.

The men, who were seized in Bosnia in October 2001, have not been charged with a specific crime. The Justice Department said the men were arrested before they could travel to Afghanistan and join Al-Qaeda. Defense lawyers say there's no evidence the men were headed to Afghanistan or planning to fight U.S. and allied troops.

It's the first case to go to trial since the Supreme Court in June granted Guantanamo detainees access to the civil court system to challenge their detention.

"It is not a trial over these men being guilty or innocent, it is only a trial about whether the president can say legally that based on these facts and this law, 'I have a basis for holding these men'," defense lawyer Robert Kirsch told Agence France-Presse.

The six remained at the U.S. Navy prison at Guantanamo Bay, which opened in 2002. They listened via telephone to the Washington proceedings, which were translated.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon is expected to announce his decision in about 10 days.

Here's a commentary by Robert Fisk in The Independent

.

Afghan sets U.S. Army scientist on fire

A social scientist was set on fire Tuesday while she was working for the U.S. Army in southern Afghanistan.

Wired's Danger Room blog says Paula Lloyd, part of the Human Terrain Team, was interviewing residents of Maywand, a village in Kandahar, when a man "doused Lloyd in a flammable liquid and set her on fire."

She suffered severe burns and had to be airlifted to a medical facility in Texas, Wired says, citing information from an anonymous source.

Reuters quotes from a U.S. military press release that says another U.S. civilian shot and killed the man.

The Taliban offered a different description of the incident on one of its websites, according to the news agency. "The soldier caught fire immediately after petrol was poured on her and then explosions were set off because of the ammunition on her," the Taliban says. "As a result the female soldier was killed instantly and a large number of other foreign soldiers were wounded," it adds.

The military says it is investigating the incident.

Reports: Airstrikes killed dozens of Afghan civilians

The U.S. military is checking into reports that coalition planes attacked a wedding party, killing women and children in southern Afghanistan, multiple news organizations report.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement condemning the attack, according to AFP, which says about three dozen civilians are thought to have died in Shah Wali Kot district.

"Though facts are unclear at this point, we take very seriously our responsibility to protect the people of Afghanistan and to avoid circumstances where noncombatant civilians are placed at risk," Cmdr. Jeff Bender, a U.S. military spokesman, says in a statement quoted by the Los Angeles Times.

"If innocent people were killed in this operation, we apologize and express our condolences to the families and the people Afghanistan," Bender adds.

A local official tells The New York Times that the incident followed a firefight between Taliban fighters and Western troops.

Gitmo prisoner convicted of war crimes

A Yemeni prisoner was convicted of committing war crimes today at the military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The military jury found Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, 39, guilty of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorism. "FBI interrogators testified that Bahlul scripted the videotaped wills of two Sept. 11 hijackers and made a two-hour al-Qaeda campaign commercial designed to recruit suicide bombers," Reuters reports.

The Miami Herald says Bahlul didn't react to the verdict, which carries a potential life sentence.

"There was no evidence across last week's four-day, no-contest trial that Bahlul, a father of four from Yemen's Red Sea region, ever fired a shot at Americans during his 1999-2001 tenure in Afghanistan," the paper says. "But the Pentagon argued that Bahlul committed three war crimes by creating a two-hour video that spliced fiery bin Laden speeches with Muslim bloodshed and stock news footage of the aftermath of the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole."

Update at 5:06 p.m. ET: Bahlul has been sentenced to life in prison.

Air Force wants to hire falcons to fly over Afghanistan

Help Wanted: The U.S. Air Force is seeking a few good falcons.

"U.S. aircraft at the sprawling Bagram air base in Afghanistan are coming under increasing attack -- not from al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters but from 'many small songbirds, pigeons, Magpies, Hawks and Black Kites,'" The Washington Post reports, citing a bid request from the military. "Previous attempts at controlling the birds have failed. Personnel have shot "bangers and screamers" at the birds -- rockets that can travel hundreds of yards as they give off a siren-like noise, followed by a loud bang. Shotguns have been tried, too."

The next step, according to government contracting documents, is to hire a company that will keep birds of prey on the base. "Each bird must be capable of airfield operations and each falconer must demonstrate falconry skills and bird control capability-using birds of prey to achieve the Low Bird watch condition in an active airfield environment," the solicitation says.

This chart, taken from the request for "Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard Control Service," shows how often U.S. jets have hit birds while taking off or landing at Bagram:

India blasts kill dozens, wound hundreds

More than 60 people died when 11 bombs went off today in northeastern India. Another 475 people were wounded in the blasts, according to The Times of India.

"Assam has witnessed massive ethnic violence since early 1980s and ULFA-sponsored insurgency but this is the first time that a terror attack in the form of serial blasts rocked the state in such a magnitude," the paper says. "Bodies of the many of the dead were charred beyond recognition. The blast sites were stewn with severed limbs and blood of the victims."

IBNLive says rescue workers are dealing with an "acute shortage of blood."

NDTV describes the mood in India's intelligence community as "shock." CNN says it's not clear who carried out the attacks.

The state government plans to set up a "special task force" that will focus on identifying the bombers, according to The Hindu.

Various officials, including the Indian president, condemned the attacks.

(Photo of firefighters extinguishing flames in Assam taken by Anupam Nath, AP.)

Military judge rules death threats are form of torture

A military judge ruled yesterday that prosecutors can't use the confession that Afghan interrogators obtained from Mohammed Jawad after threatening to kill the terror suspect and his family, The Miami Herald reports.

"'Torture' includes statements obtained by use of death threats to the speaker or his family," Army Col. Stephen Henley writes his ruling, according to the paper. "The actual infliction of physical or mental injury is not required."

Jawad is accused of wounding two U.S. soldiers in 2002 in Afghanistan. This page has some of the documents associated with his trial.

Update at 1:14 p.m. ET: Here's an excerpt from the ruling:

During the interrogation, someone told the Accused, “You will be killed if you do not confess to the grenade attack,” and, “We will arrest your family and kill them if you do not confess,” or words to that effect. The speaker meant what he said; it was a credible threat. The Accused subsequently admitted to throwing a grenade into the vehicle, he was happy if it caused the Americans to die and he would do it again. Several hours later, the Accused was turned over to U.S. military custody and eventually transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on or about February 6, 2003.

The Accused now moves this Military Commission to suppress all statements he made to Afghan government authorities on December 17, 2002 because they were obtained by the use of torture, as that term is defined in the Military Commission Rules of Evidence (MCRE).

A statement obtained by the use of torture shall not be admitted into evidence. “Torture” includes statements obtained by use of death threats to the speaker or his family; the actual infliction of physical or mental injury is not required. Instead, the relevant inquiry is whether the threat was specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon another person within the interrogator’s custody or control. In this case, the Afghan government and police authorities told the Accused he and his family would be killed if he did not confess to throwing the grenade. The interrogators were armed. There is no evidence the threats were made in jest or intended as a joke. Given the Accused’s age and the then reputation of the Afghan police as corrupt and violent, the Commission specifically finds these threats credible.

Evidence that someone died or suffered severe injury is not required for the Commission to determine that the threat to kill the Accused and his family was intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering. On this point, the Commission can not envision a situation where a credible threat to kill someone unless they confess would not satisfy the “act specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering” requirement in the MCRE definition of torture.

While the torture threshold is admittedly high, it is met in this case.

Transit cops to randomly search passengers' bags in D.C. region

Washington's public-transportation authority plans to search passengers' bags before they enter buses or subways in the capital region.

The new program, which involves random searches, begins in time for the election and inauguration.

“Inspections could take place at any Metrorail station or Metrobus stop," Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn says in a statement. "They will be random, unannounced and focused on explosive detection."

Officials tell local news organizations that the new policy wasn't enacted in response to a specific threat against the USA's second busiest transit system.

The searches are expected to begin before Election Day, they say.

"U.S. intelligence agencies have long warned that the weeks just before an election and immediately after are considered a 'zone of vulnerability' for the country," The Washington Post reports. "The teams tasked with helping the winner of next week's presidential election transition into office also have been warned about the heightened chances of attack. Officials note that the March 11, 2004, Madrid train bombings took place three days before general elections in Spain."

(WMATA image)

Today's photo: Germans mourn two soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Miguel Villagran of the Associated Press took this photo today during the memorial service for two German soldiers who were killed this week in Afghanistan.

Coalition airstrike kills 9 Afghan soldiers

Nine Afghan soldiers died today when coalition forces called in an airstrike on their checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan, according to newspaper reports.

The New York Times quotes an Afghan military spokesman saying that three others were wounded in the attack, which came after NATO forces came under fire while returning from an operation in Khost.

"They knew it was there. They made a mistake," Khost governor Arsallah Jamal tells The Washington Post.

The Los Angeles Times says this is the deadliest "friendly fire" incident in more than a year.

“Initial reports from troops on the ground indicate that this may be a case of mistaken identity on both sides,” the U.S. military says in a statement.

Report: U.S. drops war crimes charges against five Gitmo prisoners

The U.S. military is dropping the war crimes charges that were filed against five Gitmo detainees, according to the Associated Press.

The wire service says a military spokesman identified the prisoners as: Noor Uthman Muhammed, Binyam Mohamed, Sufyiam Barhoumi, Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi and Jabran Said Bin al Qahtani.

Afghan police officer kills U.S. soldier

The U.S. military says an Afghan police officer threw a grenade and opened fire on an American foot patrol, killing one U.S. soldier today in Paktia province.

The Associated Press, quoting a military statement, says the police officer was killed during an exchange of gunfire with U.S. troops.

Judge denies terror suspects' request for Internet access at Gitmo

The government has agreed to give Khalid Sheik Mohammed access to a laptop computer, but a military judge ruled last week that the accused terrorist has no right to access the Internet while preparing for his war-crimes trial.

Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann said in the order that Mohammed, who's accused of masterminding the 9/11 attacks, and other detainees knew the risks when they decided to represent themselves before the military commission that's hearing their cases in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Here's an excerpt from the three-page ruling:

Kohlmann directed prosecutors to give the men laptop computers with 12 hours of battery power. The hard drives should contain evidence in the case as well as copies of relevant statutes, criminal codes and a legal dictionary, he says.

The Miami Herald has more.

Report: British commandos found Pakistani military ID on dead Taliban commander

British commandos found a Pakistani military ID on the body of a Taliban commander they killed last year in southern Afghanistan, The Times of London reports.

The paper, which describes the dead militant as a "Pakistani military officer," quotes anonymous Afghan officials who are critical of the U.K. government's refusal to publicize the incident. British officials wouldn't comment, the paper says.

"It was the first physical evidence of covert Pakistani military operations against British forces in Afghanistan even though Islamabad insists it is a close ally in the war against terror," the paper says.

Reports: U.S. military concludes more civilians, fewer fighters died in Afghan airstrikes

U.S. military investigators have concluded that 30 civilians died during airstrikes targeting suspected Taliban fighters on Aug. 22 in Azizabad, Afghanistan, according to the Associated Press and The New York Times.

American commanders had insisted that the attacks resulted in the deaths of more than 30 militants and five to seven civilians. The United Nations and Afghan government had reported the strikes killed as many as 90 civilians, including women and children.

"According to the new report, fewer than 20 militants died in the raid, which was conducted jointly by American and Afghan forces, and in subsequent airstrikes carried out by an AC-130 gunship in support of the allied ground forces," the Times reports.

A spokesman for Afghanistan's Interior Ministry tells AP the Karzai government stands by its original findings.

Judge orders feds to release Chinese Muslims from Gitmo, let them enter USA

This just in from the Associated Press: A federal judge ruled this morning that the U.S. government must release a group of Chinese Muslim prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and allow them to enter the United States since they're no longer deemed "enemy combatants."

"They have been in custody for almost seven years and have been cleared for release since 2004. Although the Chinese government has demanded custody of the Uighurs, supporters and the Bush administration fear they would be tortured if turned over to Beijing," the wire service says.

AP describes this as a "landmark decision."

Report: Saudis hosted talks between Afghan government, Taliban

Saudi Arabia hosted talks between the Afghan government and high-level members of the Taliban who "are severing their ties with al-Qaeda," CNN says in a report based on anonymous sources.

Mullah Omar, the cleric who heads the Taliban, wasn't present, but CNN says other Taliban members stressed that he is no longer associated with Osama bin Laden's terrorist group.

The news channel says talks took place late last month in Mecca. AFP says spokesmen for both sides denied that any negotiations took place in Saudi Arabia.

"The current round of talks, said to have been taken two years of intense behind-the-scenes negotiations to come to fruition, is anticipated to be the first step in a long process to secure a negotiated end to the conflict," CNN reports. "But U.S.- and Europe-friendly Saudi Arabia's involvement has been propelled by a mounting death toll among coalition troops amid a worsening violence that has also claimed many civilian casualties."

We told you this morning that the British commander in Afghanistan told a London newspaper he doesn't think NATO forces will be able to defeat the Taliban.

British general says NATO can't defeat the Taliban

The commander of British troops in Afghanistan tells The (London) Times that he doesn't think they'll ever defeat the Taliban. Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith says a military victory in that conflict is "neither feasible nor supportable."

A U.S.-led coalition overthrew the Taliban in late 2001. The level of violence against coalition forces has increased in recent months, turning 2008 into the deadliest year for U.S. forces in the Central Asian theater.

“We’re not going to win this war," Carleton-Smith, the outgoing commander, tells the paper.

He says NATO forces should focus on reconciliation and containment. “What we need is sufficient troops to contain the insurgency to a level where it is not a strategic threat to the longevity of the elected government,” he tells the Times.

Top U.S. general: More troops needed urgently in Afghanistan

Gen. David McKiernan, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, says more troops and other help in fighting a growing insurgency are needed “as quickly as possible,” the Associated Press reports.
  McKiernan, the head of NATO forces in Afghanistan, tells Pentagon reporters that more economic aid and  political aid are needed as well as additional troops.
The reason, he says, is a significant increase in foreign fighters coming in from neighboring Pakistan this year, the AP reports.

NATO: Pakistani troops fired on choppers inside Afghanistan

NATO says Pakistani forces fired at coalition helicopters today while they were flying near the Afghan border.

'[International Security Assistance Force] helicopters received small-arms fire from a Pakistan military check-point along the border ... while conducting routine operations in Afghanistan," the alliance says in a statement. "At no time did ISAF helicopters cross into Pakistani airspace."

Update at 11:16 a.m. ET: The Pentagon says U.S. military choppers came under fire.

"The flight path of the helicopters at no point took them over Pakistan," Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman says, according to Reuters. "The Pakistanis have to provide us with a better understanding of why this took place," he adds.

The Associated Press just sent out a news alert that reports: "Pakistan says own troops, foreign helicopters both opened fire in Afghan border incident."

Update at 6:07 p.m. ET: At the United Nations, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardar warned that "we cannot allow our territory and our sovereignty to be violated by our friends."

"Just as we will not let Pakistan's territory to be used by terrorists for attacks against our people and our neighbors, we cannot allow our territory and our sovereignty to be violated by our friends," Zardari told the General Assembly after placing a picture of his assassinated wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, on the podium. "Unilateral actions of great powers should not inflame the passions of allies."

He said Pakistani forces had fired only flares at the U.S. aircraft "to make sure that they know that they crossed the border line."

Report: Gitmo prosecutor quits, alleging evidence withheld from detainee

Just in from the Associated Press:

A military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay has resigned because his office withheld exculpatory evidence against an Afghan detainee, the prisoner's lawyers say.

The attorneys for Mohammed Jawad say the prosecutor, Army Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, backs their bid to get charged dismissed against Jawad, who is accused of throwing a grenade that injured two U.S. soldiers. Vandeveld could not be reached.

Michael Berrigan, the tribunals' deputy chief defense counsel, said today that Vandeveld told them the prosecutor's office was refusing to hand over the evidence.

Army Col. Lawrence Morris, the chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo tribunals, said that Vandeveld left for "personal reasons" and that the concerns are unfounded.

Court backs U.S. immigration screening of Arab, Muslim men

It was constitutional for the United States to require visitors from two dozen Arab and Muslim countries and North Korea to register with immigration authorities, a federal appeals court ruled today.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled that U.S. authorities could deport three of four men who claimed their rights were violated. The case of the fourth was returned to the Board of Immigration Appeals for review.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, males from 24 Arab and predominantly Muslim countries and North Korea had to register with immigration officials. That requirement has since been discontinued, although a database remains.

The four men — Mohamed Rajah, Said Najih, Saade Benjelloun, Samer Emile El Zahr — were ordered deported for not having the proper immigration status.

Read the court's opinion (pdf). Here's the ruling (pdf) for Mohamed Rajah.

Bush: U.N. must 'keep terrorist attacks from happening'

USA TODAY's Rich Wolf reports that President Bush warned the U.N. General Assembly today that it can't simply pass resolutions following terrorist attacks but must "keep terrorist attacks from happening in the first place."

Addressing world leaders in New York for the last time, Bush said multinational organizations such as the United Nations must deal more forcefully with the terrorist threat that most recently struck Pakistan.

While crediting the U.N. for past efforts, he said, "We must not relent until our people are safe from this threat to civilization."

(Photo by Julie Jacobson, AP.)

More than 140 Afghan laborers kidnapped

More than 140 civilian laborers were kidnapped yesterday in western Afghanistan, where they were working on a military base, news agencies report.

"They were seized by suspected militants on Sunday while travelling in three buses on a road in Bala Boluk district of Farah," Reuters says, citing information from provincial governor Rohul Amin.

The Associated Press says it's not clear if the kidnappers are associated with the Taliban.

Psychologists pass ban on aiding in torture

Members of the nation's premier psychologists' association will be banned from participating in interrogations at Guantanamo Bay and other military sites where international laws against torture are being violated.

The vote by the American Psychological Association means its members can work at such sites only for humanitarian purposes or with non-governmental groups.

Here's the APA's announcement.

"This is a repudiation by the membership of a policy that has been doggedly pursued by APA leadership for year after year," Stephen Soldz, a Boston psychologist and founder of an ethics coalition that lobbied for the ban, told the Associated Press today. "The membership has now spoken and it's now incumbent upon APA to immediately implement this."

The new policy will not take effect until the APA's next annual meeting in August 2009. But its council likely will discuss whether to act sooner, a spokeswoman said.

USA TODAY's Sharon Jayson covered a pro-ban rally outside the APA's weekend meeting in Boston.

The resolution states:

Be it resolved that psychologists may not work in settings where persons are held outside of, or in violation of, either International Law (e.g., the UN Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions) or the US Constitution (where appropriate), unless they are working directly for the persons being detained or for an independent third party working to protect human rights.

Here's the full text.

Next Thursday the Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled a hearing on allegations that psychologists contributed to torture by “reverse-engineering” a training program designed to help U.S. soldiers survive capture and torture by enemy forces.

Report: Pakistan tells troops to fire on Americans who cross border

Pakistan has ordered its military forces to open fire on any Americans who try to cross the Afghan border, according to the Associated Press. We told you yesterday that there were reports that Pakistanis fired on U.S. military choppers near the border.

Reports: Pakistanis fired at U.S. chopper near Afghan border

Pakistani soldiers may have fired warning shots at two U.S. military helicopters near the border with Afghanistan earlier today, according to two news agencies that quote unidentified sources in Angor Adda, a South Waziristan village.

Reuters says U.S. and Pakistani military officials denied those reports.

"No helicopter came inside our side of the border, nor did our troops fire at any," Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, a Pakistani military spokesman, tells the French news service. AFP quotes another unidentified Pakistani army spokesman who "confirmed an incident took place but denied its involvement."

"The U.S. choppers were there at the border, but they did not violate our airspace," spokesman Maj. Murad Khan tells Reuters. "We confirm that there was a firing incident at the time when the helicopters were there, but our forces were not involved."

Tensions are high along the Afghan-Pakistan border following a series of strikes by U.S. military forces against al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in the lawless tribal areas.

With soldier's death, 2008 becomes deadliest year for U.S. forces in Afghanistan

The death today of a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan makes 2008 the deadliest year for American forces in that country since the 2001 invasion, according to the Associated Press. So far this year, the wire service says, the war in Afghanistan has claimed 112 American lives. That's up from 111 in all of 2007.

The United States has 33,000 troops in Afghanistan. As we noted this morning, the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff has joined the ranks of officials who want to send more troops to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda in South and Central Asia.

Poll: Most think USA 'adequately prepared' for terror attack

A new poll suggests 52% of Americans think the United States is "adequately prepared" for a potential terrorist attack, according to CBS News.

"This is the first time since March 2003 - right after the U.S. invasion of Iraq - that a majority held that opinion. As recently as last September, after the revelations of a failed terrorist plot in London that summer, 56% said the U.S. was not adequately prepared," the broadcaster says.

What do you think?

Update at 12:20 p.m. ET: Richard Clarke, a top counter-terror official in the Clinton and Bush administrations, writes in U.S. News & World Report that "America has forgotten" the promises that followed 9/11. Here's an excerpt from his essay:

We said we would never let it happen again, but what have we done to live up to that pledge? We have not destroyed al Qaeda, but our failures don't stop there. Our multibillion-dollar "homeland security" response has degenerated into a politicized pork-barrel project. The Department of Homeland Security ranks among the lowest in terms of performance standards and the highest in the percentage of political appointees. Our borders are still porous. Our air and sea cargo are still not fully screened, despite congressional orders to do so. We still do not know when or if visitors depart our country, despite Congress's mandating an exit screening to track when people have overstayed their visas. There is little security on passenger rail systems, from Amtrak to Boston's T to San Francisco's BART. Few major metropolitan areas are prepared to deal with a mass casualty event. The list goes on.

Canada will withdraw troops from Afghanistan by 2011, P.M. says

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper says his government will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 2011.

“I think we have to say to the government of Afghanistan, we have an expectation that you are going to be responsible for your own security,” he says, according to Sun Media. “We’re not there to permanently manage your security. We’re there to assist you in building up your capacity to manage the security situation. That’s what we’re working towards.”

At least 100 Canadians have died in Afghanistan since 2001.

"By 2011, we will have been in Kandahar, which is probably the toughest province in the country, for six years," Harper says, according to CBC. "Not only have we done our bit at that point, I think our goal has to be after six years to see the government of Afghanistan able to carry the lion's share of responsibility for its own security. At that point, the mission, as we've known it, we intend to end."

Right now, Canada has 2,500 soldiers stationed in that country, Canwest News says.

British prosecutors eye retrial of men accused in alleged bomb plot

British prosecutors say they want to retry seven men accused of plotting to blow up passenger jets between Europe and North America, BBC News reports.

"The men had denied plotting to bring down transatlantic planes with home-made bombs disguised as drinks," the broadcaster says.

Graphical representation of Bush speech on Iraq, Afghanistan

Here's a graphical representation, via Wordle, of the words President Bush used most frequently during this morning's speech at the National Defense University in Washington. As we reported earlier this morning, the president announced plans to withdraw 8,000 support troops from Iraq while sending additional combat forces to Afghanistan.

Click here to read the speech in its entirety.

Al-Qaeda deputy decries 'crusader' war in new video

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the No. 2 in al-Qaeda, says Islam is under attack by crusaders in a video that was released this week, nearly seven years after the 9/11 attacks, according to Reuters. The wire service says this 90-minute video, which includes a mix of old and new material, was given to al-Jazeera.

Paper cites evidence that dozens of Afghan civilians died in raid, contradicting U.S. military claims

First we told you that the United Nations was reporting that U.S. forces killed 90 civilians in Afghanistan.

Then we told you that U.S. military officials were telling reporters that a number of militants and a handful of civilians died in the attack.

Now, The New York Times says, additional information from Azizabad -- including fresh graves and video footage -- supports the original reports that a large group of women and children died in the Aug. 22 military operation.

"Cellphone images seen by this reporter show at least 11 dead children, some apparently with blast and concussion injuries, among some 30 to 40 bodies laid out in the village mosque," the paper says. "Ten days after the airstrikes, villagers dug up the last victim from the rubble, a baby just a few months old. Their shock and grief is still palpable."

The paper says U.S. military officials are standing by their account of the operation.

"In a series of statements about the operation, the American military has said that extremists who entered the village after the bombardment encouraged villagers to change their story and inflate the number of dead," the paper says. "Yet the Afghan government and the United Nation [sic] have stood by the victims’ families and their accounts, not least because many of the families work for the Afghan government or reconstruction projects. The villagers say they oppose the Taliban and would not let them in the village."

Gen. David McKiernan, the U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, has asked Central Command to reexamine the evidence, according to the Times.

Furor over photos of Taliban fighters with dead French soldiers' gear

Paris Match is attracting criticism for its decision to run photographs of Taliban fighters displaying some of the trophies they captured during a battle that claimed the lives of 10 French soldiers last month in Afghanistan.

"Should we really be doing the Taliban's propaganda for them?" Defense Minister Hervé Morin says, according to Reuters. "The Taliban have understood perfectly that Western public opinion is probably the Achilles' heel of the international community present in Afghanistan."

The French magazine quotes a Taliban commander saying his followers will kill every French soldier who remains in the war-torn country.

Controversial cleric gets OK to stay

An immigration judge in New Jersey has granted permanent residency to a prominent Muslim leader accused of ties to Palestinian militants, The Star-Ledger in Newark reports.

Mohammad Qatanani, 44, was accused of lying on his application to become a permanent U.S. resident by failing to disclose an alleged 1993 conviction in an Israeli court for assisting Hamas militants, the website says.

Local officials in Passaic, N.J., have hailed his outreach to other religious leaders during his decade-plus in the United States, the website says. Qatanani denies ever being a member of Hamas or confessing to membership to the Israelis.

Lawyers say Gonzales mishandled classified notes but not intentionally

The Associated Press is reporting that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has admitted mishandling highly classified notes about a secret counterterror program, but did not do so intentionally.

The AP writes that a memo by his legal team acknowledges that Gonzales improperly stored notes about a March 2004 meeting with congressional leaders about a national security program that was about to expire, and that he and might have taken them home. Removing secret documents from secured rooms violates government policy.

His lawyers said there is no evidence the security breach resulted in secret information being viewed or otherwise exposed to anyone who was not authorized.

The efforts to renew the program ignited a nasty debate within the Bush administration that played itself out at the hospital bed of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft.

The memo was prepared in response to a report being completed by the Justice Department's inspector general. The report, which could be released as early as tomorrow, is expected to criticize Gonzales' handling of sensitive compartmentalized information, or SCI.

Gonzales agrees with inspector general's findings that his handling of notes and other SCI documents "was not consistent with the department's regulations governing the proper storage and handling of information classified as SCI," concluded the legal team's memo. "Judge Gonzales regrets this lapse."

Pentagon says U.S. airstrikes killed five, not 90, Afghan civilians

The U.S. military is disputing the accuracy of a U.N. report that says airstrikes killed 90 civilians last week in Afghanistan, according to The Washington Post.

The paper says a Pentagon review of the incident suggests "only five civilians were killed."

"The completed review corroborates an initial assessment by the military of the operation Friday by U.S. and Afghan forces in a village in Herat province," according to the Post. "The review determined that 25 militants, including a Taliban commander, and five civilians had been killed, the officials said."

U.N. finds evidence that U.S. airstrikes killed 90 Afghan civilians

The United Nations says investigators found "convincing evidence" that U.S. airstrikes killed 90 civilians last week in western Afghanistan.

Here's an excerpt from the report that UNAMA posted on its website after inspectors visited Shindand in Herat province:

This team met with the District Governor and local elders yesterday. They also interviewed people from a number of households in Nawabad village who confirmed to us that at around midnight on the 21st August, foreign and Afghan military personnel entered the village of Nawabad in the Azizabad area of Shindand district. Military operations lasted several hours during which air strikes were called in. The destruction from aerial bombardment was clearly evident with some 7-8 houses having been totally destroyed and serious damage to many others. Local residents were able to confirm the number of casualties, including names, age and gender of the victims. Investigations by UNAMA found convincing evidence, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses, and others, that some 90 civilians were killed, including 60 children, 15 women and 15 men. 15 other villagers were wounded or otherwise injured

White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters yesterday that an investigation was underway.

"We believe from what we've heard from officials at the Department of Defense that they believe it was a good strike," he says. "I don't have information that I can share in terms of whether or how many civilian casualties there were.  I should tell you, though, first of all, we obviously mourn the loss of any innocent civilians that may lose their lives in these attacks in -- whether they're in Afghanistan or in Iraq, in any of these conflict areas."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai "strongly condemned" the NATO operation in a sharply worded statement on Saturday that expressed his "sorrow and regrets." Two days later, he ordered a review of the role that foreign military forces are playing in his country's efforts to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

BBC News reports that Karzai fired two generals for "neglecting their duties and concealing facts" about the operation, which is said to have been led by Afghan forces.

(Photo taken Saturday in Shindand, Afghanistan, by Fraidoon Pooyaa, AP.)

Today's photo: French soldier prepares for patrol in Kabul

Shah Marai of AFP/Getty Images took this photo of a French soldier sitting on an armored vehicle today in Kabul.

Earlier in the day, AFP reported that militants torched two armored vehicles that were being sent through Karachi to NATO forces in Afghanistan.

"The U.S. is now losing the war against the Taliban ... and other anti-government forces in Afghanistan and faces a reemergent al-Qaeda," Anthony Cordesman, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote last week. "Pakistan may officially be an ally, but much of its conduct has effectively made it a major threat to U.S. strategic interests."

The latest statistics suggest that death toll among NATO forces is growing faster than ever before.

A French general tells Financial Times that NATO forces have "underestimated the threat posed by the resurgent Taliban."  Gen. Michel Stollsteiner spoke after the group's followers killed 10 French soldiers in an ambush not far from the capital of Afghanistan. "We sinned through an excess of confidence," he says.

Report: U.K. police detain men in connection with threats to kill prime minister

BBC News reports that three men have been arrested in connection with threats to kill Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The broadcaster, which doesn't cite its sources, says the threats "were made in January on a recognized jihadi website." These threats were said to include former premier Tony Blair.

The Press Association says police wouldn't comment on the report. Reuters says an unidentified official confirmed three men were arrested this week under Britain's anti-terrorism laws.

The Times, which quotes from the posting, says the website in question "has been used by al-Qaeda and is monitored by intelligence agencies."

Dozens dead in Pakistan suicide bombings

At least 59 people died today in suicide attacks at a munitions factory in Pakistan, according to news reports.

"Workers were streaming through the gates of the tightly guarded factory in Wah, 20 miles west of Islamabad, during a shift change when the two bombs exploded," the Associated Press says. "The force of the explosions knocked many people to the ground and sprayed others with shrapnel."

Reuters quotes officials saying the death toll has reached 71. "Many others have been injured and we expect casualties to rise," police chief Nasir Khan Durrani tells BBC News.

The Wall Street Journal says a Tehrek-e-Taleban Pakistan spokesman issued a statement that says the attacks were in response the government's crackdown near the Afghan border.

"The security situation here is very bad today," Amir Shah, a witness, tells The Washington Post. "It is supposed to be a very highly protected area because of its sensitive nature, so I don't know what happened."

(Photo by Farooq Naeem, AFP/Getty Images.)

Suicide bomber kills 43 people in Algeria

More than 40 people died today when a suicide bomber attacked a police academy near Algiers.

The Associated Press says Algerian officials estimate that 43 people were killed and 38 others were wounded in the blast.

Algerie Presse Service says the dead include 42 civilians and one police officer. More than a dozen police officers were wounded, the news agency says.

AFP says this was the deadliest attack in recent years.

Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni tells Algerie Presse Service that they will "carry on the fight against the criminal hordes until their elimination."

(Photo by Zohra Bensemra, Reuters.)

Thousands of Pakistanis flee fighting near Afghan border

More than 100,000 people have fled Bajaur, Pakistan, since fighting broke out last week between security forces and Islamist militants.

Reuters quotes Sitara Imran, social welfare minister in the North West Frontier Province, saying that when it comes to refugees, the total number "is close to 100,000, it may be more than that."

The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse quote a provincial governor who says about 219,000 people have been displaced since fighting began near the Afgan border. 

"With some 480 killed, it is one of the bloodiest episodes since Pakistan first deployed its troops along its volatile border with Afghanistan in support of the U.S.-led war on terror nearly seven years ago," AP reports, noting that journalists can't confirm the government's figures.

Associated Press of Pakistan has its own take on the fighting.

(Photo taken today by Adil Khan, Reuters.)

U.S., Libya deal clears way for restoring full relations

The United States and Libya have cleared the way for restoring full diplomatic relations by settling all terrorism-related lawsuits involving American victims, the Associated Press reports from Tripoli.

Most of the lawsuits involved victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, the AP reports, quoting a senior Libyan official.

Libya has paid the 268 families involved in the Pan Am settlement $8 million each, but was withholding an additional $2 million it owed each of them because of a dispute over U.S. obligations in return, the AP says.

A Libyan intelligence officer was convicted of murder by a Scottish court in 2001 for involvement in the Pan Am bombing, which killed 259 people on board and 11 on the ground, and is serving a 27-year prison sentence.

David Welch, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East who signed the accord, called it a "historic agreement" and said he delivered a letter from President Bush to Libyan president Moammar Gadhafi, the AP reports.

The upgrading of relations, which have been broken since 1980,  will include opening a U.S. embassy in Tripoli before the end of the year and a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

(1988 photo by Dave Caulkins, AP)

Report: All U.S. combat troops out of Iraq in 3 years under draft deal

Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, tells The Times of London and that all U.S. combat troops will leave Iraq within three years under terms of a draft agreement between the two countries.

Zebari tells the newspaper that the withdrawal will take place "provided that the violence remains low."

The foreign minister also says that U.S. soldiers will pull out of cities across Iraq next summer.

Under the agreement, he says, the U.S. military would be barred from unilaterally mounting attacks inside Iraq from next year.

“Our negotiators and the Americans have almost brought it (the accord)to a close," the Times quotes the foreign minister as saying. "It is not a closed deal but it is very close.” He insists that the key compromises have all been agreed upon, the newspaper reports.

Final approval by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi leaders could happen this month, the Times says.

Today's photo: Roadside bomb kills 14, punches hole in Pakistani road

Tariq Mahmood of AFP/Getty Images took this photograph of Pakistani investigators working at the scene of a deadly roadside bombing today in Peshawar.

The New York Times quotes a police official who says the bomb, which may have been directed at a military bus, killed five members of the air force and eight bystanders.

About a dozen people were wounded.

The Taliban says it carried out the attack, according to the Associated Press.

"It is an open war between us and them," Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar tells the wire service.

New York wants to photograph, scan every vehicle that enters Manhattan

The New York City Police Department wants to photograph the license plate of every vehicle that enters Manhattan, according to The New York Times.

The paper says Operation Sentinel would include radiological scanning at the bridges and tunnels that link the island to New Jersey and other parts of the city.

"Data on each vehicle — its time-stamped image, license plate imprint and radiological signature — would be sent to a command center in Lower Manhattan, where it would be indexed and stored for at least a month as part of a broad security plan that emphasizes protecting the city’s financial district," the paper says, paraphrasing a police spokesman.

The Times says police officials were inspired by the surveillance system in London. They hope to have their program in place by 2010.

"A major challenge is to develop technology to discern the radiological signature of vehicles across several lanes at a toll plaza, where many enter at once, and to have the ability to align that data with the correct closed-circuit image and license plate," the paper says.

Gitmo juror says lengthy sentence would be 'like using the hand grenade on the horsefly'

A military juror tells NPR News that prosecutors were wrong to seek a lengthy prison term for Salim Hamdan, one of Osama bin Laden's bodyguards and drivers, during the punishment phase of his trial last week in Guantanamo Bay.

"This was kind of like using the hand grenade on the horsefly," the juror, identified only as "Lt. Col. Patrick" for safety reasons, tells the broadcaster. "If you throw the book at this guy, then what do you do when there's — there are plenty of guys down there that we all consider to be the really bad guys, that need to have the book thrown at them, but if you do, you know, a 30 year minimum, which was the prosecution's request, and they would have preferred life, where do you step up from that?"

The juror, an active-duty Marine Corps officer, says the government didn't prove part of its case. "In none of the evidence presented did you ever see him brandishing a weapon at all," he says.

An unidentified juror tells The Wall Street Journal that Hamdan appeared "very mild mannered" in the courtroom.

Hamdan, a Yemeni national, was acquitted of conspiracy and convicted of providing material support to terrorism. The jury, made up of military officers, sentenced Hamdan to 66 months in prison. That's the equivalent of time-served plus six months.

• Click here to listen to the entire NPR report.

Hamdan sentenced to 5 1/2 years

The AP reports that a verdict has been reached on the sentence for Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's former driver and bodyguard. We'll provide details as soon as they are available. Here's today's earlier post on Hamdan.

Update at 3:48 p.m. ET: The AP, Reuters and CNN are reporting that Hamdan received a 5 1/2-year sentence, far less than the minimum of 30 years sought by prosecutors. He'll be eligible for release in less than six months, although the process for that release remains at least somewhat unclear.

Update at 4:42 p.m. ET: Here are some quotes from USA TODAY's Alan Gomez, who is covering the trial:

Hamdan, to the jurors who passed sentence: "I would like to thank you for what you have done for me."

Navy Capt. Keith Allred, who presided over the trial: "I hope that the day comes that you return to your wife, to your daughter and to your country."

Hamdan: "God willing."

Today's photo: Boy points to memorial for victims of embassy bombings

It's the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya.

Finbarr O'Reilly of Reuters took this photograph today as Victor Juma, 12, looked at a memorial for the victims, including his father, Laurence Olum Ochieng.

All told, al-Qaeda killed at least 224 people and wounded hundreds more in the synchronized attacks.

"These were innocent people, stolen from us in a moment of terror. American families sent their sons and daughters proudly to represent the United States abroad," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says at a memorial service in Washington. "They should not have died as they did. For all of you – the families of the victims, the survivors of that day, and those of you whose lives were forever changed by the injuries you received – you all gave America more than was ever asked, and for your sacrifice, our nation is eternally grateful."

U.S. News has more on the attacks.

Hamdan apologizes during Gitmo sentencing phase

USA TODAY's Alan Gomez reports that Salim Hamdan apologized for the civilians who were killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks as he pleaded this morning with jurors to spare him from a life sentence.

A day after he was convicted of aiding terrorism by serving as Osama bin Laden's driver and bodyguard, Hamdan, speaking through an interpreter, addressed the six-person jury who is set to rule on his fate.

"It was a sorry … thing to see innocent people killed. I don't know what could be given or presented to these innocent people who were killed in the U.S.," Hamdan says. "I personally present my apologies to them if anything what I did have caused them pain."

Hamdan's conviction at trial was the first by the military commission system established in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Another suspect, Australian David Hicks, pleaded guilty before his trial began.

Guilty verdict in first Gitmo terror trial

Jurors have reached a verdict in the trial of Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni national who is accused of being Osama bin Laden's driver, according to news agencies. This is the first case to be brought against a prisoner at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

USA TODAY's Alan Gomez is in the courtroom. We'll update this posting after the verdict is announced. CNN says that should happen in about 30 minutes.

Update at 10:22 a.m. ET: MSNBC reports that Hamdan was found guilty of providing material support to terrorism and not guilty of conspiracy.

Update at 10:40 a.m. ET: The Associated Press says Hamdan faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. The jury, made up of six military officers, deliberated for eight hours, AP says.

Update at 10:50 a.m. ET: Here's the latest from USA TODAY:

The Yemeni lowered his head in his left hand and rubbed his eyes with his head scarf after the verdict as read. He now faces life in prison in a sentencing hearing that will begin this afternoon. "This is an emotional moment for Mr. Hamdan," said Navy Capt. Keith Allred, the judge presiding over the case. Hamdan was charged with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism, and each charge contained several specific findings. On the charge of conspiracy, we was found not guilty of both specifications. On the charge of providing material support to terrorism, he was found guilty of five of the eight specifications.

(Drawing by Janet Hamlin, AFP/Getty Images, on July 24.)

Justice Department memo: It's not torture if it's done in good faith

In a memo sent to the CIA, the Justice Department in 2002 said interrogators would be safe from anti-torture prosecutions if they believed in good faith that their actions would not cause "prolonged mental harm."

The comments were made in a memo signed by Jay Bybee, then an assistant attorney general. It was obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union under a federal Freedom of Information Act request.

Here's the ACLU news release on the memo, and here are the documents the group obtained.

Reports: Locals received 'cryptic text message' before China bomb blasts

A local newspaper says some people received an unusual text message just hours before two bombs went off yesterday on public buses in Kunming, China.

"The general mobilization of ants ... hope citizens receiving this message will not take bus lines 54, 64 and 84 tomorrow morning," the messages said, according to The Washington Post and Reuters.

The paper says no one called police to report the "cryptic text message" before the bombs went off yesterday on the No. 54 line during the morning rush hour. At least two people were killed.

DPA says police aren't sure if the messages constituted a warning.

Xinhua, the state-run news agency, reports that Du Min, the vice mayor, dismissed reports of the text messages. "In fact, there was no such a text message," Du says.

Chinese officials tell reporters that they haven't found any links between the blasts and the Olympics, which begin next month in Beijing. "We have not found evidence that links it to the Beijing Olympics but we continue to make efforts to find out the truth," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao says, according to the Associated Press.

Guantanamo judge bars evidence from 'highly coercive' interrogations

Breaking news:

The judge in the Guantanamo war crimes trial of Salim Handan has barred evidence from "highly coercive" interrogations in Afghanistan, the Associated Press has just reported.

Judge Keith Allred, a Navy captain, ruled that prosecutors cannot use statements Hamdan made shortly after his capture at Bagram air base and Panshir, Afghanistan.

Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, says he endured beatings and solitary confinement at the two locations.

Earlier today he pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and supporting terrorism. He faces a maximum life sentence if convicted.

Jury selection began today.

Today's photo: Deadly blasts on public buses in southern China

This photo, distributed by the Associated Press, shows a police officer scouring one of two public buses that were blown up today in what the Los Angeles Times describes as a "coordinated terrorist attack" in Kunming, China.

The blasts killed at least three people and wounded more than a dozen others, news agencies report.

"Footage on state-run television showed a gaping hole blown in the side of one of the buses and extensive interior damage," AFP says. "A carpet of shattered glass lay on the road from blown-out windows."

Xinhua, the state-run news agency, has more from the scene. As part of their preparations for the Olympics, Chinese officials have issued a manual that spells out what citizens are expected to do during a terrorist attack.

House OKs bill tying spy funding to briefings on covert actions

The House has passed legislation to require the White House to brief Congress on all covert operations before most intelligence funding would be released. President Bush has threatened a veto, saying it violates executive privilege and a president's right to keep classified information secret.

The Senate will consider a similar measure, which also would face a likely presidential veto. The Senate version seeks to limit interrogation tactics used by the CIA.

The House also approved two amendments. One would require the White House to update Congress on its October 2007 assessment of Iran's nuclear program. The other would block funding if it's used to discourage U.S. agencies from describing terror activities as "jihadist" or "Islamo-fascism."

Here's the House bill (pdf).

The Associated Press has the story, and the Federal Times explains Bush's objections.

NATO abandons Afghan post after deadly attack; Locals say Taliban now controls area

NATO forces have abandoned an outpost in eastern Afghanistan where nine U.S. soldiers were killed over the weekend.

"We can confirm that a temporary outpost which was established in the village of Wanat has been removed," NATO spokesman Mark Laity tells Reuters. "We will continue to patrol the village along with the [Afghan National Army]."

The wire service says Laity "played down any link" between the deadly attack and the decision to withdraw. "Such posts are established and removed when they are not serving a purpose," he says.

The Associated Press says U.S. and Afghan forces were based at the post when it came under intense attack from militants who breached its perimeter during an attack on Sunday.

Local officials tell AP and AFP that members of the Taliban have since seized control of Wanat, which is near the Pakistani border.

"When ISAF withdrew yesterday, we couldn't stand up against the Taliban," Omar Sami Taza, a spokesman for the governor of Nuristan, tells AFP. "We pulled back and the district fell into the Taliban's hand. We will send more troops from the center to recapture it."

The International Security Assistance Force pledged to mount "regular patrols" near the village.

"The citizens in Wanat and northern Kunar province can be assured that ISAF and ANSF are going to continue with a strong presence in the area'" Capt. Mike Finney says in a statement on the NATO force's website. "We are committed, now more than ever, to establishing a secure environment that will allow even greater opportunities for development and a stronger Afghan governmental influence."

Footage of accused terrorist being interrogated at Gitmo

Lawyers for Omar Khadr, a Canadian who's being held at Guantanamo Bay, released excerpts of video footage from a 2003 interrogation session at the U.S. military facility in Cuba.

"At one point in the 10 minutes of video -- hand-picked by his lawyers from more than seven hours of footage -- Khadr, then 16, is shown crying with his face buried in his hands," CTV says. "The agent accuses Khadr of using his injuries and emotional state to avoid being interrogated."

Khadr, now 21, is accused of killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. Here's more about the tapes.

National Post, which published a transcript of this morning's excerpts, reports that the detainee's lawyers plan to release all of the footage in their possession at a news conference today in Edmonton.

CBC posted documents from the interrogations and raw footage.

Here's a shorter excerpt of excerpts from the Associated Press:

Ex-Justice official on terror watch list, which ACLU claims is now 1M names

The government's terrorism watch list consists of somewhere between 400,000 names (FBI) and 1 million (ACLU). As of October 2006, more than 30,000 airline passengers had asked that their names be taken off.

One of them: the former head of the Justice Department's criminal division during the Clinton administration who has top-secret security clearances.

"It's a pain in the neck, and significantly interferes with my travel arrangements," said James K. Robinson, the assistant attorney general who was the top criminal prosecutor. "I suppose if I were convinced that America is a safer place because I get hassled at the airport, I might put up with it, but I doubt it."

"I expect my story is similar to hundreds of thousands of people who are on this list who find themselves inconvenienced."

Robinson, now in private practice in Washington, believes his name matches that of someone in 2005, and is routinely delayed.

The ACLU released its estimate today, basing its math on 700,000 records on the list as of September 2007, plus an additional 20,000 names per month, a forecast from the Justice Department's inspector general. It said that Robinson and thousands of other traveling Americans are questioned, searched or hassled because they are wrongly included, and called for corrections. (See some of the other "unlikely suspects" the ACLU says are on the list.)

An FBI spokesman disputed the ACLU figure, saying the list contains about 400,000 names of individuals, 95% of whom are not Americans or legal residents or in the country. The remainder of records are aliases or other identifiers for those same people. Last year the Government Accountability Office, the investigations arm of Congress, also determined that the total number of records on the watch list "does not represent the total number of individuals," saying it contains multiple records for the same person.

"We strive to have the watch list contain all appropriately suspected terrorists who represent a threat to the U.S., but only appropriately suspected terrorists," said Chad Kolton, spokesman for the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center.

The Associated Press and Reuters have details.

The Bush administration defends the list, which was expanded after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and congressional investigators have found "general agreement that the watch list has helped to combat terrorism."

Here's how the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center describes itself and its mission:

It's a place of anxious, serious faces — like you see at NASA's Mission Control right before a launch. People from different agencies and companies man the phones and computers 24/7 as queries come in from checkpoints across the country and world — all with one question: Do I have a known or appropriately suspected terrorist on my hands? That's precisely what the TSC can tell them. The TSC Director puts it this way: "We're here to get information to the people who can stop dangerous types from entering the U.S. ... and who can identify dangerous types who are already on our streets and arrest them.”

If you're on the list or think you're on the list, the TSC has "Redress Procedures" — with caveats:

• "Because the contents of the consolidated terrorist watchlist are derived from classified and sensitive law enforcement and intelligence information, the TSC cannot confirm or deny whether an individual is on the watchlist. The watchlist remains an effective tool in the government's counterterrorism efforts because its contents are not disclosed."

• "The TSC does not accept redress inquiries directly from the public. Instead, members of the public must contact the relevant screening agency with their questions or concerns about screening. The screening agency is in the best position to identify and resolve issues related to that agency's screening process. "

Today, the ACLU began an online complaint form.

Today's photo: Taliban executes women it accused of running prostitution ring

Rahmatullah Naikzad of the Associated Press took this photograph of two unidentified Afghan women before they were executed by the Taliban on Saturday in Ghazni province, Afghanistan.

"They were taking pure and innocent Muslim women of this province to the Americans and other foreigners at the PRT [Provincial Reconstruction Team], as well as to local Afghans, to earn money through prostitution," an unnamed Taliban commander tells Associated Press Television News.

Sayed Ismal, a spokesman for the local governor, tells the wire service that the women were "innocent local people."

Pakistani police report five explosions in Karachi

The Associated Press quotes Pakistani  police as reporting a string of explosions today in Karachi  that has wounded at least 25 people.

The five explosions come a day after a suicide bombing in Islamabad killed 18 people, most of them police officers, the AP says.

Pentagon extends tours of Marines in Afghanistan

One day after President Bush acknowledged that it's been a "tough month" in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced that it's extending the tours of 2,200 Marines who are fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda members in that country, the Associated Press reports.

Update at 1:50 p.m. ET: NBC News reports that commanders are hoping to build on the Marines' success in southern Afghanistan by keeping them in the field for another 30 days.

NPR News spoke last month with a group of Marines stationed in that part of the country.

"People should know kinda what we're doing over here probably a little more than they are," Mason Bennet, a Navy corpsman, tells the broadcaster. "It seems like they're focusing a lot more on Iraq right now than they are on Afghanistan. People call this the forgotten war. They need to know what's going on here, I guess." (Here's a video report from Garmsir.)

U.S. to settle anthrax lawsuits with ex-Army scientist

Just in: The Justice Department has announced it will settle lawsuit with former Army scientist Steven Hatfill, who was named a "person interest" in the 2001 anthrax attacks but never charged.

Update at 8:24 p.m. ET: USA TODAY's Kevin Johnson has more details about the $5.8 million settlement:

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the settlement was in "the best interests of the United States," adding that the payment should not be interpreted as an admission of any violation of the federal Privacy Act. ...

Hatfill's legal fight had far-reaching implications beyond a narrow privacy complaint against the government. In support of his claim, Hatfill's lawyers also waged a challenge to the First Amendment by demanding that reporters identify confidential sources who named the scientist "a person of interest" in the federal investigation.

Six reporters were subpoenaed to disclose government sources. Four of the reporters obtained waivers, allowing them to identify the officials.

At the time of the settlement announced Friday, former USA TODAY reporter Toni Locy was appealing a federal contempt order that threatened to require her to pay up to $5,000 a day for refusing to identify sources.

A federal judge also was considering a contempt order against a former CBS News reporter.

In light of the settlement, Hatfill attorney Patrick O'Donnell said that Locy's testimony is no longer needed.

"I hope this means that this ordeal is over and that I can get on with my life," said Locy, now a college journalism professor. "I am pleased that Dr. Hatfill no longer needs my testimony."

The agreement announced Friday contained no finding against media organizations nor did it require the media organizations to make any payments to Hatfill. ...

Bush officials defend Guantanamo interrogation memo

Two framers of the Bush administration's interrogation policy for Guantanamo detainees faced off with House Democrats today. Both defended their legal reasoning and actions, sometimes in testy exchanges with members of the Judiciary subcommittee.

Appearing under subpoena, David Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, denied that he was involved in drafting the now-infamous 2002 memo that sanctioned harsh tactics by defining torture only as treatment that results in "death, organ failure or serious impairment of bodily functions." John Yoo, a top Justice Department lawyer at the time, was the primary author of the memo, which was withdrawn later.

The Associated Press learned in April that administration officials from Cheney on down signed off on the techniques after asking the Justice Department to pronounce them legal.

Addington said he attended a White House meeting during which Yoo outlined the memo for him and Alberto Gonzales, President Bush's counsel at the time. He also said he was more involved in CIA interrogation policies than those used by the Defense Department at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after the September 2001 terror attacks.

Yoo, now a law professor at the University of California-Berkeley, appeared voluntarily.

"We gave our best effort under the pressure of time and circumstances," he said in his prepared statement. " ... There is certainly room for disagreement among reasonable people, acting in good faith, on these questions. But I still believe we gave the best answers we could on the basis of the legal materials available to us."

He repeatedly refused to answer questions, however, citing instructions from the Justice Department.

Here's more fromThe Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

(David Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, testifies at the House Constitution, Civil Right, and Civil Liberties subcommittee hearing on the legal rights for detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Photo by Susan Walsh, AP.)

AP reports 3 Marines killed in Iraq suicide bombing

Three U.S. Marines, along with two of their interpreters, are among 20 people killed in a suicide bombing Thursday at a tribal council in Iraq's Anbar province, the Associated Press reports, quoting the U.S. military.
The attack occurred in the town of Garma, about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Update at 4:18 p.m. EDT: The AP now puts the death toll at 23. The attack occurred at a building where dozens of sheiks had gathered for a meeting attended by U.S. officials, Col. Fawzi Fraih, civil defense director of Anbar province, told the AP.

Local police Capt. Amir al-Jumaili is quoted as saying 20 Iraqis were among the dead, however, the AP says it is unclear whether the police official included the two Iraqi interpreters, who were working with the U.S. military, in that tally.

Militants burn down hotel at Pakistan's only ski resort

Militants have burned the hotel at Pakistan's only ski resort, raising the specter of increased violence in that part of the North West Frontier Province and ensuring that the Swat Valley stays off most tourism itineraries.

"Miscreants set the resort on fire last night. The extent of damage is still not known and information is coming in," Usman Shafi, general manager of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, tells AFP.

The Associated Press says no one was hurt in the Malam Jabba attack.

AFP says Pakistani Taliban members are being blamed.

Associated Press of Pakistan says "the miscreants equipped with heavy and automatic machine guns threw oil on four story motel comprising 60 rooms and the adjacent 12 servant quarters that engulfed the entire building emitting black smoke that was visible from several kilometers."

Local officials say there's little they can do to protect the site, which has been closed for several months.

"The area is not under our control, it's under the militants' control and no one can go there," local police chief Waqif Khan tells Reuters. 

Senate will debate surveillance bill; approval expected Thursday

The Senate has voted to start debating an overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would shield telephone companies and Internet providers from lawsuits for cooperating with government surveillance with a warrant.

On a test vote, 80 senators voted to advance the legislation and 15 voted to kill it by blocking debate. Final passage is expected tomorrow night. The House passed the compromise last week, and President Bush has said he will sign it.

Among its provisions, the bill:

• Requires FISA court permission to wiretap Americans who are overseas.

• Prohibits targeting a foreigner to secretly eavesdrop, without court approval, on an American's calls or e-mails.

• Requires the government to protect American information or conversations that are collected when in communications with targeted foreigners.

• Allows the FISA court 30 days to review existing but expiring surveillance orders before renewing them.

• Allows eavesdropping in emergencies without court approval, provided the government files required papers within a week.

• Prohibits presidents from superseding surveillance rules in the future.

The Associated Press has more background.

Court: Gitmo prisoner improperly designated as enemy combatant

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Huzaifa Parhat, a Chinese Muslim being held at Gitmo, was improperly designated an "enemy combatant.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in a one-page notice that was issued today, says it ordered the Pentagon "to release or to transfer Parhat, or to expeditiously hold a new Tribunal consistent with the court's opinion."

The order is classified, but here's a summary.

Update at 3:10 p.m. ET: The Associated Press says government officials "concede" that there's no evidence that Parhat ever intended to fight against the United States. Reuters says this is the first time a civilian court has raised the possibility of releasing one of the 270 or so Gitmo detainees.

(Photo taken May 14 by Rodrigo Abd, AP.)

Update: Feds charge 22-year-old defense contractor with 'wide-ranging fraud'

The Justice Department announced late Friday afternoon that Efraim Diveroli of AEY Inc. has been indicted on "wide-ranging fraud charges" associated with his company's contract to supply non-standard munitions to the Afghan government.

We told you about Diveroli, an inexperienced 22-year-old, after The New York Times reported in March that he and his company were using a contract with the Pentagon to sell defective bullets and other munitions to security forces in Afghanistan.

The indictment alleges that AEY received $10.3 million for ammunition that it obtained from China, even though Diveroli signed multiple "certificates of conformance" that stated otherwise.

"It was the purpose of the conspiracy for the defendants AEY, Inc., Efraim Diveroli, David Packouz, Alexander Podrizki, and Ralph Merrill, to unjustly enrich themselves and derive a benefit by concealing and misrepresenting the fact that the ammunition being provided pursuant to the contract was manufactured and originated in China," the indictment says.

Diveroli's attorney tells The Miami Herald that his client didn't do anything wrong. "Mr. Diveroli did not acquire the Chinese-made ammo, 'directly or indirectly,' from any Communist Chinese military company,'' Howard Srebnick tells the paper. "The government knows Mr. Diveroli purchased the Chinese-made ammo from the Albanian government, which had acquired the ammo back in the [1960's] and 70's, before the Chinese embargo and before Mr. Diveroli was even born."

AEY will be the subject of a hearing Tuesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Update at 10:29 a.m. ET: In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., says the "Oversight Committee has received information that the U.S. Ambassador to Albania held a late-night meeting with the Albanian Defense Minister at which the Ambassador approved removing evidence of the illegal Chinese origins of ammunition being shipped from Albania to Afghanistan by a U.S. contractor."

Waxman says the State Department then tried to hide the meeting from congressional investigators. Here's an excerpt from the letter:

Major [Larry] Harrison told the Committee that during this meeting, the Albanian Defense Minister asked for help from the U.S. Ambassador [John L. Withers II]. According to Major Harrison, "He made several comments to the effect of how he had been a friend of the U.S., he'd help the U.S.... He felt the U.S. owed him something." Major Harrison stated that the officials then discussed how to handle the New York Times reporter. He stated that his advice was to not allow the reporter to visit the facility, but that his advice was not accepted. Instead, the Albanian Defense Minister called the commanding general of the Albanian military forces and instructed him to remove all Chinese ammunition boxes from the site of the repackaging operation so that "there would be nothing for the reporter to see. According to Major Harrison, "the Ambassador agreed that this would alleviate the suspicion of wrongdoing, if Mr. Wood [the New York Times reporter], while he was at Rinas, did not see Chinese ammo boxes. Major Harrison stated during his interview that he was "very uncomfortable" with these actions because there was an ongoing criminal investigation of AEY's activities. ... In addition to obtaining information about the November 2007 meeting between the U.S. Ambassador and the Albanian Defense Minister, the Oversight Committee has also obtained documents that describe how officials at the U.S. Embassy in Albania overruled efforts by Major Harrison to inform the Committee of this meeting and the subsequent removal of Chinese markings.

News roundup: How to break a terrorist

Good morning. It's Sunday. Here's what is leading websites and papers:

Our site leads with the opening of the Saudi oil summit and the deadly typhoon in the Philippines. Google News also goes with the typhoon; Yahoo News leads with a clash between the presidential candidates over flood relief.

And there is plenty of enterprise out there:

The New York Times takes an in-dept look at the interrogation of terrorists.The story focuses on the questioning of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Says the NYT: In the Hollywood cliché of Fox’s '24', a torturer shouts questions at a bound terrorist while inflicting excruciating pain. The C.I.A. program worked differently. A paramilitary team put on the pressure, using cold temperatures, sleeplessness, pain and fear to force a prisoner to talk. When the prisoner signaled assent, the tormenters stepped aside. After a break that could be a day or even longer, Mr. Martinez or another interrogator took up the questioning.

The Los Angeles Times reports on the big business of Bibles in China, the world's largest atheist nation.

The Miami Herald looks at cyber revolution and how young people use Facebook as a platform for protest and change. The story focuses on pollitical dissidents in Nicaragua.

Report: Bush administration wants to rewrite evidence against Gitmo prisoners

The Bush administration wants to rewrite the evidentiary documents known as factual returns before federal judges begin hearing habeas corpus petitions from accused terrorists who are being held in Guantanamo Bay, according to the Associated Press.

"The government wants to submit new records, which would allow it to add new intelligence and expand its reasoning for holding the detainees," the wire service says. "Since the hearings will decide whether the detainees are lawfully being held now — not whether they were lawfully being held over the past several years — the government wants to provide the court its newest, best evidence."

The request, which must be approved by a judge, follows a Supreme Court decision that extended constitutional rights to some 270 detainees who are being held without charge at the military prison known as Gitmo.

"It's sort of an admission that the original returns were defective," David Remes, a lawyer who represents some of the detainees, tells the wire service. "It's also an admission that the government thinks it needs to beef up the evidence."

Justice Department officials wouldn't comment on the plan, according to the AP.

Four U.S. helicopter engines stolen on way to Pakistani port

The U.S. military says four helicopter engines were stolen while they were being shipped home from Afghanistan, via Pakistan.

Reuters says the engines are worth $13 million.

"We don't have the information on exactly where it disappeared. We just know that it did not get to the port," Sgt. Mark Swart tells the wire service.

The Associated Press says the parts were being sent to Fort Bragg, N.C., home of the 82nd Airborne.

Report: Phone companies to get immunity from spy lawsuits

Reuters reports that U.S. phone companies would be given immunity from lawsuits for helping the government eavesdrop on Americans under a compromise nearing approval in the House.

"We're very close to having an agreement" on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), said House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer. A vote could come Friday, and congressional aides and a lobbyist told Reuters it probably will pass overwhelmingly. The Senate is expected to concur, clearing the way for President Bush's signature.

Bush, his Republican allies and the telephone companies have insisted on retroactive protection for participating in the president's warrantless surveillance program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The Hill also says an agreement is near.

Black Hawk choppers buzz downtown Denver

The Rocky Mountain News reports that Black Hawk helicopters buzzed downtown Denver and other neighborhoods Monday evening in a training exercise for a possible terrorist attack. It says several choppers flew low near Coors Field during a home game of the Colorado Rockies.

The newspaper quotes Lt. Nathan Potter, with Special Operations Command, as saying Special Ops teams were training with local authorities. He did not elaborate, but said it had nothing to do with preparations for the Democratic National Convention, which will be held in Denver in August.

"It's routine preparation for the global war on terrorism," he said.

Potter added that  Special Operations Command has also been conducting similar exercises in other cities.

Pentagon IG's report clears U.S. soldiers in death of Reuters journalist

A report issued Tuesday by the defense department's inspector general finds that the 2005 shooting death of a  Reuters journalist during a firefight in Baghdad was justified because the U.S. soldiers thought a camera sticking out from the reporter's unmarked car was a rocket-propelled grenade.

The 82-page report also concluded that Reuters' safety procedures, which requires journalists under fire to reverse course and back up, simulated insurgent tactics and  "led U.S. soldiers to believe they were confronting hostile intent.” The report said the journalists' actions "reduced the soldiers’ ability to distinguish them from combatants during a battle.” In addition, it noted the car was unmarked.

Reuters sound technician Waleed Kahled was killed during the incident and cameraman Haider Kadhem was wounded.

Reuters editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said he believes the IG took the case seriously and came up with positive recommendations.  “We are never satisfied when a journalist is killed in the course of covering a story,” he said. “I welcome the recommendation that the military and media engage together to better ensure the safety of journalists on the front line.”

The report criticized the military's initial investigation into the shooting, including a failure by the investigating officer to take written statements from the shooting team. It also noted that  a video of the incident, taped by Kadhem, was taken home by the investigating officer by mistake and was later lost in the mail.

AP: Iraqi officials say 51 killed in Baghdad car bomb

The Associated Press quotes Iraqi officials as saying a car bomb attack at a market in Baghdad Tuesday has killed 11 people and wounded 35.

Update at 11:58 a.m. EDT: The BBC quotes unidentified Iraqi police as saying the bomb went off at a bus stop in a mainly Shiite neighborhood. It says the bomb apparently was timed to go off when the bus stop was crowded at evening rush hour.

Update at 1:39 p.m. EDT: The AP reports that Iraqi officials have raised the death toll to at least 51.

3 Ohio men guilty of plotting to kill U.S. soldiers

Three Ohio men have been convicted of plotting to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

After deliberating three days, a federal jury in Toledo returned guilty verdicts against Mohammad Amawi, Marwan El-Hindi and Wassim Mazloum (photo), the Toledo Blade reports. They face life in prison for conspiring to kill or injure people outside the United States.

The Justice Department said the three were learning to shoot guns and make bombs, and were raising money for a holy war against U.S. forces. The defense argued that an FBI informant who secretly recorded their conversations had manipulated the men to incriminate themselves.

A sentencing date was not set.

Bush: Europe, U.S. must hold firm in Afghanistan

President Bush, delivering what the White House called the centerpiece speech of his European tour, said in Paris that European nations and the U.S. must be resolute in keeping Afghanistan free of terrorist bases.

A key component of Bush's goodbye tour has been drumming up financial support for Afghanistan's struggling government. He seeks $50 billion over five years. Pledges thus far, including U.S. money, total about $21 million.

He thanked French President Nicolas Sarkozy for promising to send more troops and said he is seeing signs of a “new era of trans-Atlantic unity” in Europe's leaders such as Sarkozy, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Top stories from this morning's USA TODAY

• Here's the front page:

Supreme Court rejects Bush detainee policy

Scouts praised as heroes after tornadoes

No major solutions soon to gas price headaches

Highway sensors will help drivers go with the flow

• Other sections: Sports front, Money front, Life front

Supreme Court rules in favor of Gitmo detainees

Terrorism suspects who are being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to contest their detention in federal courts, according to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The justices, voting 5-4, said a 2006 law unconstitutionally stripped Guantanamo prisoners of the right to file so-called habeas corpus petitions," Bloomberg News reports. "The majority rejected arguments that a system of limited judicial review set up by Congress was adequate to protect inmate rights."

The Associated Press notes in its bulletin that this is the third time that the high court has ruled in favor of the 270 terrorism suspects who are being held without charge at the U.S. military facility.

Lyle Denniston, a veteran legal correspondent, writes at SCOTUSblog that the ruling is a "stunning blow to the Bush Administration in its 'war-on-terrorism policies."

Update at 10:22 a.m. ET: Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy says: "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times."

In dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts criticizes his colleagues for overruling "the most generous set of procedural protections ever afforded aliens detained by this country as enemy combatants."

The majority in Boumediene v. Bush and Al-Odah v. United States included Justices John Paul Stevens, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter.

Update at 10:39 a.m. ET: Scalia read his dissent from the bench. "The nation will live to regret what the court has done today," he said.

SCOTUSblog has posted a copy of the decision.

(Photo taken June 6 by Brennan Linsley, pool via AP.)

Today's video: Footage of UAV firing missile at 'anti-Afghan forces' near Pakistan border

The U.S. military took the unusual step of releasing grainy video footage of Tuesday's missile strike on "anti-Afghan forces" near the border with Pakistan.

In a separate statement, the military denied allegations that the U.S.-led coalition was responsible for the deaths of 11 Pakistani soldiers at a checkpoint near the firefight.

"Coalition forces began receiving small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire from an unknown number of anti-Afghan forces approximately 200 meters inside Konar province.  Coalition forces returned fire in self-defense," the statement says. "Shortly after the attack began, Coalition forces informed the Pakistan Army that they were being engaged by anti-Afghan forces in a wooded area near the Gorparai checkpoint.  At that same time, an unmanned aerial system also identified anti-Afghan forces firing at Coalition forces.  In self-defense, Coalition forces fired artillery rounds at the militants."

Update at 12:21 p.m. ET: The incident came up during today's White House press briefing. Here's what Steve Hadley, the president's national security adviser, told reporters:

Our Ambassador, Ambassador Patterson, has met with Pakistan's foreign secretary to discuss the incident.  You know, one of the problems is that it is still not exactly clear what happened.  What we believe is that there was an operation on the Afghan side of the border by anti-coalition forces that threatened our people; that those forces went back into Pakistan, and that we tracked and struck those forces.  That's what we believe happened.  There have been reports in the press and there have been clearly claims by Pakistani authorities that in that process, Pakistani military forces -- individuals in service were killed.  Quite frankly, at this point we have not been able to corroborate that.  Should it be true, obviously we would be very saddened by that loss.  Pakistan has been an important ally and will continue, we hope, to be an important ally in the war on terror, and we want to help this new democratic government in Pakistan.  But at this point, we're still trying to get to the bottom of what happened.  And the reports, quite frankly, even from sources within the U.S. government, are conflicting at this point.  I've got nothing new for you.

Bush expresses regret over his pre-war tone, rhetoric

President Bush tells The (London) Times that he regrets some of the language that he used in the run-up to war.

“I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric," he says. (Here's another version of this quote from The Times website: “Look, I think that in retrospect, you know, I could have used a different tone.”)

The president says that by using phrases such as "bring them on" or "dead or alive" he may have “indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace,” according to the newspaper.

The Times says Bush was referring to Iraq. USA TODAY has asked the White House to send us a transcript of this interview.

Update at 10:59 a.m. ET: The White House says it hasn't released a transcript of the interview. We've now asked The Times if its reporters have one.

(Photo by Carsten Koall, Getty Images.)

Report: U.S. suspected of firing missile at Pakistani target

A U.S. government drone is thought to have fired a missile today at a target in one of the Pakistani tribal areas along the Afghan border, according to Reuters.

"The missile was thought to have been fired into the Mohmand ethnic Pashtun tribal area in northwest Pakistan where this year, U.S.-controlled Predator aircraft have struck at least four sites used by al Qaeda operatives, killing dozens of suspected militants," the wire service says in a story based on anonymous sources.

Accused 9/11 plotter critiques courtroom sketches

USA TODAY's Alan Gomez reports that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed raised an unusual objection during today's proceedings at Gitmo: the courtroom artists' rendering of his nose.

Photography inside or near the courtroom is barred, and security personnel had to view the sketches before they could be released to the public. During that process, the sketch was shown to Mohammed's defense team, and the accused terrorist took a moment to sit back and look it over.

Defense Department spokesman Cdr. Jeffrey Gordon says Mohammed felt his nose was drawn too wide, especially at the base.

"He said he wanted his nose to look like the FBI photo," Gordon says, referring to the picture distributed of Mohammed after his capture.

Gordon says the artist was not ordered to change the picture, but was given more time to properly depict Mohammed's appearance at the hearing.

"It shows the lengths we go to to take their desires into consideration," Gordon said.

(Photographs of a sketch by courtroom artist Janet Hamlin. Top one shows, from top to bottom, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Waleed bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, known as Ammar al-Baluchi, and Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi; Bottom one is a tight shot of KSM.)

Gitmo judge arraigns KSM, other al-Qaeda detainees

The Associated Press quotes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed saying he wants to be put to death.

Mohammed, an al-Qaeda leader accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks, made the statement after a military judge explained during this morning's arraignment that he faces execution if he's convicted of organizing attacks against American civilians.

"Yes, this is what I wish, to be a martyr for a long time," he says, according to the Associated Press.

Update at 10:41 a.m. ET: CNN reports that the accused terrorist's words about the death penalty may have been taken out of context.

"What he was asked was whether or not he understood that he was facing the death penalty, and he said 'Yes,'" CNN correspondent Kelli Arena says. "I believe that there may have been some misunderstanding by one reporter who thought that he said he wanted the death penalty. That is not what he said. What he said was that he understood that he was facing the death penalty."

CNN says Mohammed told the judge he wants to fire his lawyers and represent himself before the tribunal.

Update at 10:47 a.m. ET: The latest AP story has a more complete quotation.

"Yes, this is what I wish, to be a martyr for a long time," Mohammed told a military judge who warned that he faces execution if convicted of organizing the attacks on America. "I will, God willing, have this, by you."

Today's photo: Deadly explosion outside embassy in Pakistan

Warrick Page of Getty Images took this photo today after a terrorist attack outside the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan.

The car bomb killed at least six people and wounded dozens of others, according to the Associated Press.

The Copenhagen Post says Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller attributes the attack to "dark forces that want to destroy Pakistan's relationship with others."

News roundup: Fighting in Lebanon, latest on Kennedy

It's Sunday, May 18. Here's what is going on:

Google News and Yahoo News are leading with Sen. Edward Kennedy's seizure; Kennedy, 76, is resting comfortably in a Massachusetts hospital. Other news of the day includes President Bush's visit to the Middle East.

The New York Times leads with the Islamic civil war brewing in Lebanon between the Shiites and Sunnis. Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, told the website there is a "deep wound, and it’s going to have serious repercussions if it’s not immediately and seriously addressed.”

The Los Angeles Times takes a close look at California Chief Justice Ronald George, who told the website that last week's ruling in support of gay marriages "weight most heavily" on him, perhaps more than any decision in his 17 years on the state's highest court.

The Chicago Tribune provides a profile of Dave Kaczyinski and his relationship with Gary Wright, a target of Kaczyinski's brother Ted, the Unabomber.

Dozens dead in India blasts

Bombs killed dozens of people today in western India.

AP reports that 45 people were killed and another 100 wounded in six explosions across Jaipur. Bloomberg News, which has the latest wire story, says 60 people were killed and 200 injured in a half-dozen blasts.

Police disabled a seventh bomb, according to NDTV.

Hindustan Times quotes unidentified sources in the Home Ministry who say that Harkut-ul-Jehadi Islami, a group based in Bangladesh, is suspected of carrying out the attacks.

(Photo of the scene taken by AP.)

Today's photos: Sand storm pounds U.S. Marines in Afghanistan

David Guttenfelder of the Associated Press took these photos of U.S. Marines during a sand storm today at a U.S. base in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. The first shot shows a Marine playing hacky sack. The second photo shows one of his colleagues napping on a stretcher.

Soldier's phone calls mom during Afghan firefight

A U.S. soldier accidentally called his parents during an April 21 firefight in Afghanistan, according to KPTV-TV.

No one was home, so Stephen Phillips ended up leaving a three-minute message on their answering machine in Otis, Ore.

"They were pinned down and apparently his barrel was overheating," Jeff Petee tells the station. "It's something a parent really doesn't want to hear. It's a heck of a message to get from your son in Afghanistan."

They spoke to Phillips a few days later. The station says he was fine.

You can listen to the sounds of combat by clicking here. (Warning: The clip contains language that some of you may find offensive.)

(Frame grab from footage broadcast on KPTV-TV.)

Al-Jazeera cameraman freed after 6 years in Guantanamo prison

An Al-Jazeera cameraman held more than six years in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay has been released, Al Jazeera TV reports, citing sources.

Sami al-Hajj is headed home to Sudan, the Arabic channel says. Pakistani intelligence officers seized al-Hajj while he was travelling near the Afghan border in December 2001. He was turned over to the U.S. military in January 2002, accused of being an "enemy combatant," and flown to the U.S. base in Cuba. He went on a hunger strike in January 2007.

The Associated Press says the station's managing director, Wadah Khanfar, confirmed that al-Hajj was on a plane heading to the Sudanese capital Khartoum after being released earlier today. "We are in a state of high expectation and we are overwhelmed with joy," he said.

A Pentagon spokesman would not comment on the report, AP says.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff, who has written about al-Hajj previously, says on his blog that al-Hajj's release "will end a particularly shameful episode ... apparently because he was mixed up with someone else."

Here's a documentary produced by Al-Jazeera, and a report about al-Hajj's case from NPR's On the Media.

(File photo of Sami al-Hajj.)

Report: Al-Qaeda 'reconstituted some of its pre-9/11 operational capabilities'

The State Department's annual report on terrorism includes some sobering news about al-Qaeda, which is said to have "reconstituted some of its pre-9/11 operational capabilities" by exploiting the lack of governance in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's deputy, has emerged as the terror group's "strategic and operational planner," according to a section of the report that says says al-Qaeda is still planning attacks against Western targets. Some excerpts:

Despite the efforts of both Afghan and Pakistani security forces, instability, coupled with the Islamabad brokered cease-fire agreement in effect for the first half of 2007 along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier, appeared to have provided AQ leadership greater mobility and ability to conduct training and operational planning, particularly that targeting Western Europe and the United States. Numerous senior AQ operatives have been captured or killed, but AQ leaders continued to plot attacks and to cultivate stronger operational connections that radiated outward from Pakistan to affiliates throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.  . . .

Through intermediaries, web-based propaganda, exploitation of local grievances, and subversion of immigrant and expatriate populations, terrorists inspired local cells to carry out attacks which they then exploit for propaganda purposes. We have seen a substantial increase in the number of self-identified groups with links (communications, training, and financial) to AQ leadership in Pakistan. These “guerilla” terrorist groups harbor ambitions of a spectacular attack, including acquisition and use of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

The news is better for Iraq. Analysts say that Iraqi and American forces "made significant progress" in their efforts to eradicate al-Qaeda in Iraq and its affiliates. An excerpt:

Terrorist organizations and insurgent groups continued their attacks on Coalition and Iraqi security forces using IEDs, including vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), and suicide bombers. The Iraqi government continued to emphasize national reconciliation and passed key pieces of reconciliation-related legislation. However, there was greater success taking practical steps that helped to advance reconciliation at the provincial and local level. ... Terrorism committed by illegal armed groups receiving weapons and training from Iran continued to endanger the security and stability of Iraq. Foreign terrorists from Saudi Arabia, North Africa, and other Middle Eastern countries continued to flow into Iraq, predominantly through Syria.

Read more here.

Sunday surveillance: Here's what's in the news

Many major news sites are giving strong play to the latest debate throw-down involving Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, who told Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday he'd rather spend the time before the Indiana primary chatting up voters. Clinton is lobbying for a Lincoln-Douglas style debate -- no, not without television, she means no moderator.

The Washington Post investigates the world food crisis, tracing its modest beginnings to last summer and telling how a mediocre crop and countries withholding their grain domestically to combat inflation helped fuel "the globe's worst food crisis in a generation."

The New York Times leads with a story about the Justice Department telling CIA operatives pursuing suspected terrorists that it's okay to "use interrogation methods that might otherwise be prohibited under international law." The story says it might be okay if the primary purpose of the activity is to get information, not to abuse the prisoner.

In a clash of Hollywood heroes, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vanquished Clint Eastwood -- or at least run him off the California Parks Commission, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. It seems Eastwood opposed a power line Schwarzenegger wants built.

Language jihad: Feds banish certain words from terrorism talk

When talking about terrorists, watch your mouth, the Bush administration has warned its diplomats and other officials. Certain descriptions are now banned because they might inadvertently legitimize terrorists and boost their support among Arabs and Muslims.

Which words?

• Jihadist , jihadi and global jihad
• Mujahedeen
• Al-Qaeda movement
• Islamo-fascism

First reported Tuesday (by Jihad Watch), the Associated Press follows up on a report from the Department of Homeland Security titled "Terminology to Define the Terrorists: Recommendations from American Muslims."

What's the problem?

U.S. officials may be "unintentionally portraying terrorists, who lack moral and religious legitimacy, as brave fighters, legitimate soldiers or spokesmen for ordinary Muslims," states the report, which lists 14 points on better presentation of the campaign against terrorism. Among the agencies targeted by the language watch are DHS, the State Department and the National Counter Terrorism Center.

"It's not what you say but what they hear," the report emphasizes in bold italic lettering.

AP writes:

For example, while Americans may understand jihad to mean holy war, it is in fact a broader Islamic concept of the struggle to do good, says the guidance prepared for diplomats and other officials who explain the war on terror to the public. Similarly, mujahedeen, which means those engaged in jihad, must be seen in its broader context. ...

"Regarding 'jihad,' even if it is accurate to reference the term, it may not be strategic because it glamorizes terrorism, imbues terrorists with religious authority they do not have and damages relations with Muslims around the world," the report says. ...

See how three sites that cover terrorism and security issues have responded:

Counterterrorism Blog
Investigative Project on Terrorism
Threats Watch

Keep reading for more about the shifting terms of the debate —

U.S. commander predicts more violence in Afghanistan

The U.S. military anticipates higher levels of violence this year in Afghanistan, according to Reuters.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, the head of combat operations in the eastern part of Afghanistan, tells reporters that he's predicting more pro-Taliban fighters will cross the border from Pakistan.

"When I look at the map ... my area of interest, the area that I'm concerned about is on the other side of the border as well as on the Regional Command East," Schloesser says. "A large number of the enemy cross that border to attack the Afghan people."

Last year has been described as the bloodiest since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban in 2001, with about 6,000 people killed in 140 suicide bombings and other incidents across Afghanistan.

"This year won't be different," he says. "I would predict that we will see some level of increasing incidences of violence just as there has been every year and they may well reach a higher level than they did in 2007."

Report: U.S. gov't eligible to receive data from British traffic cameras

The U.S. government would be eligible to receive photos and other data that Britain collects through traffic cameras around London, according to a Telegraph report.

"Officers from the Metropolitan Police have been given the right to view in 'real time' any CCTV images from cameras that are meant to be enforcing the congestion charge," the newspaper reports. "Sources said that officers would access the cameras on behalf of overseas authorities if they were informed about a terrorism threat in the UK or elsewhere. They would then share the images, which can be held for five years before being destroyed, if necessary."

A spokesman for the information commissioner tells the Telegraph a "special certificate" that authorizes the Home Office to share information with countries outside Europe "had been worded so that the images of private cars, as well as registration numbers, could be sent outside to countries such as the USA."

The Sunday roundup: Of politics, terror, and does she buy the beer or not?

Happy Sunday.

The Los Angeles Times leads with a report that while Sen. Hillary Clinton has been railing against China for human rights abuses --  and pressing President Bush to boycott the opening Olympic ceremonies in Beijing -- Bill Clinton has been fundraising with Chinese Internet company Alibaba Inc. The company placed a "most wanted" posting from the government on its Yahoo China homepage seeking information on Tibetan activists suspected of stirring recent riots.

Many outlets are giving big play to the controversy surrounding Sen. Barack Obama's comments about "bitter" voters. For details on that fallout, see our sister blog political blog, USA TODAY On Politics.

In other news:

• CNN reports that British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith says the terror threat there is growing. Smith, who said  2,000 people are on a "watch list," wants the government to increase the time a terror suspect can be held without charges to six weeks, up from the current four weeks.

• The New York Times tells us of a Iraq's gone-bad $833 million deal for guns from Serbia. The deal "has underscored Iraq’s continuing problems equipping its armed forces, a process that has long been plagued by corruption and inefficiency," the Times reports.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer tells us the remarkable story of Helen C. Davies, a professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School who lives in a dorm at Penn. Davies is 83. "People expect something out of Animal House," she tells the Inky, "but it really is quite pleasant."

CNN: Marshals on fewer than 1% of flights; TSA calls report 'myth'

On any given day, armed air marshals are aboard fewer than 1% of commercial flights — about 280, CNN concludes in an investigation that the government is labeling "a myth."

CNN said more than a dozen marshals and pilots spoke to its reporters anonymously. They write:

One pilot who crisscrosses the country and flies internationally told CNN he hasn't seen an air marshal on board one of his flights in six months. A federal law enforcement officer, who is not affiliated with the air marshal service and who travels in and out of Washington every week, said he has gone for months without seeing a marshal on board. ...

Pilots reportedly are especially troubled by the lack of coverage on flights in and out of Washington and New York. One — who carries a weapon in the cockpit — said he regularly flies in and out of New York's airports and almost never encounters an air marshal.

"I would have to guess it's fewer than 1 percent of all my flights," the pilot said. "I'm guessing by the coverage of when I go to those cities, fewer than 1 percent."

The Transportation Safety Administration denied such reports. An agent in charge of the air marshal program said the 280 figure "grossly understates coverage by an order of magnitude" and that the number is "four digits." He would not elaborate. CNN said the TSA refuses to release either the total number of marshals regularly assigned to flights or a percentage of daily flights that are covered, but called the numbers given to CNN "a myth."

TSA has posted its response under the heading Myth Busters. Here's an excerpt:

"... While the exact number of flights that air marshals protect is classified because we don't want terrorists to play a mathematical guessing game based on percentages, the actual number of flights that air marshals cover is thousands per day. This represents exponentially more than 1 percent and is well into double digits.

"Beyond the number of flights that air marshals physically cover, the more important question to ask is which flights are air marshals flying on. Using our intelligence-driven, risk-based approach, we deploy marshals on the highest risk flights. That means a team marshals might be on one flight based on intel and none may be on the next. Simply parroting a sound bite from an anonymous expert or a pilot that flies to New York once a day with no knowledge of scheduling or intel isn't accurately portraying the situation. ..."

The agency invites your feedback — and we do too.

(Photo of Federal Air Marshal Service badge from the Transportation Security Administration)

Montana says it won't comply with Real ID

Montana's attorney general has announced that the state will ignore a March 31 deadline to comply with the Real ID program, setting up the prospect that Montanans will need passports and face extra screening at airports and federal buildings come May.

Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath said his state's driver licenses are already more secure than other states. Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, has told the federal government to "go to hell," saying that Real ID won't work and that the Bush administration won't be around to prove it does.

South Carolina and Maine are the only other states that haven't sought an extension of the deadline. The Department of Homeland Security has rejected New Hampshire's request to exempted and has not granted it an extension. Yesterday, South Carolina lawmakers urged the governor to seek one so state residents wouldn't face similar scrutiny.

In a letter to senators from the rebellious states, DHS chief Michael Chertoff noted that Congress had set the deadline when the law went into effect in 2005. "You may disagree with the foregoing law, but I cannot ignore it," he wrote. "Secure identification is a cornerstone of protecting our communities."

USA TODAY's Mimi Hall wrote last month that 44 states had applied for extension and were expected to comply with the program.

DHS describes the program as "a nationwide effort intended to prevent terrorism, reduce fraud, and improve the reliability and accuracy of identification documents that State governments issue." Wikipedia has background.

DHS has posted a Q&A;. Read on to see how DHS is answering a few key questions.

Bin Laden releases new audio recording

One day after he lashed out at Europeans over controversial cartoons, Osama bin Laden says in a new recording that Muslims need to focus on the "struggle" in Iraq and wage war to liberate the Palestinians, according to a report on Al-Jazeera that is being cited by multiple news agencies.

"Palestine cannot be retaken by negotiations and dialogue, but with fire and iron," the fugitive leader of al-Qaeda reportedly says in the recording.

CBS News has more.

(AP file photo)

Bin Laden threatens Europe over controversial cartoon

Coming "very soon" to the Internet near you: a message from Osama bin Laden commemorating the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

That's according to the al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Ekhlaas Internet forum, which is monitoried by the SITE Intelligence Group.

"Urgent, very soon by the will of God, the response is what you see and not what you hear, by the warrior sheikh, Osama bin Laden," according to a translation of the announcement. The message will be the al-Qaeda leader's first this year.

Update at 7:10 p.m. ET: Bin Laden's message has been posted by al-Qaeda's media wing with a still photo of him aiming an AK-47 assault rifle. The target of his five-minute diatribe: Europe, which he vilified for allowing a Danish newspaper to republish a cartoon showing the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban. The cartoon sparked rioting and protests in Muslim nations when it and 11 others were published in 2006. Muslims were outraged again when the turban drawing was reprinted last month.

"You went overboard in your unbelief and freed yourselves of the etiquettes of dispute and fighting and went to the extent of publishing these insulting drawings," said a voice that AP said is believed to be bin Laden's. "This is the greatest misfortune and the most dangerous and the judgment for it will be stronger."

He said the cartoon was part of a "new Crusade" against Islam and accused Pope Benedict of playing a "large and lengthy role." He told Europeans that a reaction was coming.

"The response will be what you see and not what you hear and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our messenger of God," he said, without indicating what would happen.

Bin Laden, who was raised in Saudi Arabia, also assailed Saudi King Abdullah for the row, saying he could have influenced European leaders.

He said nothing about the anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

(Photo posted with Osama bin Laden's message by as-Sahab via AP Television News)

Four FBI agents, two journalists wounded in Pakistan restaurant blast

Four FBI agents and two Japanese journalists were wounded when a bomb went off Saturday at a restaurant in Islamabad.

ABC News reports a bomb went off in the courtyard of Luna Caprese, an Italian restaurant popular with foreigners because it serves alcohol. The network says the device killed a Turkish aid worker and wounded 12 diners, including five Americans.

"Four FBI personnel were injured in the bombing attack in Pakistan," Richard Kolko, an FBI spokesman, tells the Associated Press. "The FBI is providing the necessary assistance to our employees and their families."

Kyodo News says two of its employees were hurt in the blast. AP says three Pakistanis were wounded in the explosion. The other foreigners were identified as citizens of Canada and Britain.

Dawn, an English-language newspaper in Pakistan, quotes an anonymous source who says no arrests have been made in connection with the attack. The bomb was planted near a table in the courtyard, the source tells the paper.

(Photo of the courtyard by Farooq Naeem, AFP/Getty Images; Photo of an injured man taken Saturday by R.S. Khan, AP.)

Man in Vegas ricin case wakes up, talks to investigators

The man at the center of the mysterious case of toxic ricin found in a Las Vegas hotel has emerged from a month-long coma and spoken with federal investigators for the first time, the Associated Press reports.

Authorities believe Roger Bergendorff, 57, was exposed to the poison, which is considered a biological weapon. He remains in critical condition since entering a hospital Feb. 14. Two weeks later investigators found several vials of ricin powder in his room off the Vegas strip where he lived.

Authorities say no contamination or terrorism link has been found.

U.S. military captures al-Qaeda figure tied to bin Laden

This just in from the Associated Press: The Pentagon says authorities have captured a high-level al-Qaida figure who helped Osama bin Laden escape from Afghanistan in 2001.

Update at 2:04 p.m. ET: Defense Department officials won't discuss when or where Mohammad Rahim was captured, but they do say he was turned over by the CIA earlier this week and is being held at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

AP quotes a Pentagon spokesman who says Rahim helped prepare bin Laden's hideout in Tora Bora, Afghanistan, and then helped the terrorist leader escape as U.S. forces searched the region in late 2001.

Update at 2:20 p.m. ET: Rahim had a $200,000 bounty on his head, according to this wanted poster published by Afgha.

Update at 2:28 p.m. ET: Earlier this year, there were multiple reports that an al-Qaeda figure named Mohammad Rahim was arrested in Lahore, Pakistan.

Pajhwok Afghan News quoted anonymous sources on Jan. 6 who confirmed the arrest of Rahim, who was described as "the translator of Osama Bin Laden."

The Nation reported on the arrest, too.

Mohammad Rahim is a common name, so we're not sure yet if those reports were referring to the suspect who was transferred this week to Gitmo.

Update at 2:46 p.m. ET: Here's an excerpt from the press release that the Pentagon just sent out:

Defense Department reviews tapes from terrorism interrogations

As part of its review of interrogation practices, the Defense Department has found nearly 50 tapes with  footage of detainees being questioned, including one that shows "the forcible gagging of a terrorism suspect," according to The New York Times.

The paper says the footage was created while two men, Jose Padilla and Ali al-Marri, were being questioned at a Navy brig in South Carolina.

Don Black, a spokesman for the Defense Intelligence Agency, tells the Times that one clip shows al-Marri, a Qatari national who's accused of being a member of al-Qaeda, "was chanting loudly, disrupting his interrogation, and that interrogators used force to put duct tape on his mouth, while Mr. Marri resisted."

An anonymous Defense Department official tells the paper that the interrogators during that session worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

House fails to override Bush veto of ban on harsh interrogations

The House has failed to override President Bush's veto of a bill to ban the CIA from using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists.

Saturday, Bush vetoed the bill, which would have limited the CIA to the 19 interrogation method approved by the U.S. military.

Twin suicide blasts kill 24, wound hundreds in Pakistani city

Suicide bombers carried out nearly simultaneous attacks today outside buildings that housed an advertising agency and government offices in Lahore, Pakistan.

The explosions killed 24 people and wounded more than 200 others, according to the latest reports from the scene.

"Pools of blood and small pieces of human flesh lay scattered on the ground outside the eight-story [Federal Investigation Agency] building, along with clothes and pairs of shoes that were abandoned by people as they ran away," AFP reports.

The wire service says some victims are thought to be trapped in the rubble.

"It is now more obvious that the terrorists are targeting the law enforcement apparatus of the state," police Chief Malik Mohammad Iqbal tells Reuters. The wire service says the advertising company was located near the compound that houses the head of a leading opposition party.

The Associated Press says there have been at least seven suicide bombings in the last month.

"The blasts were the latest in a wave of violence across Pakistan that has left more than 600 people dead this year and posed a serious challenge to an incoming coalition government that won elections on February 18," The News reports on its website.

(Photos by K.M. Chaudary, AP.)

Ex-sailor guilty of giving ship details to terror supporters

A former Navy signalman leaked details of ship movements to a Web site that supported al-Qaeda, a federal jury decided today.

Hassan Abu-Jihaad, a U.S.-born Muslim convert from Phoenix, faces up to 25 years in federal prison when he's sentenced May 23. He was stationed aboard the USS Benfold and honorably discharged in 2002.

He was charged with passing classified information that included the makeup of his Navy battle group, its planned movements and a drawing of the group's formation when it was to pass through the dangerous Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf on April 29, 2001, the Associated Press writes. The security breach occurred several months after terrorists in speed boats blew a hole in the USS Cole, killing 17 sailors.

Prosecutors said Abu-Jihaad, formerly known as Paul R. Hall, sympathized with the enemy and admitted disclosing military intelligence. Though they admitted not having direct proof that he divulged the ship details, U.S. authorities said the leaked documents matched what he would have had access to as a signalman.

Abu-Jihaad's lawyer said an appeal is likely.

The BBC has more, and the Hartford Courant has background.

U.S. military attacks terrorist targets in Somalia

The U.S. military fired missiles today at a Somali town that's controlled by Islamic extremists, according to Reuters, CNN and Fox News Channel.

These reports quote anonymous U.S. government sources saying the missiles targeted "known terrorists" associated with al-Qaeda.

The Associated Press, which hasn't confirmed the source of the missiles, says local residents reported at least eight people, including four children, were wounded in the attack.

The missiles hit a house in Dobley, near the border with Kenya, according to the wire service.

"We woke up with a loud and big bang and when we came out we found our neighbor's house completely obliterated as if no house existed here," Fatuma Abdullahi tells the Associated Press. "We are taking shelter under trees. Three planes were flying over our heads."

Update at 8:07 a.m. ET: AP says the Pentagon just confirmed that U.S. military forces carried out the strikes in southern Somalia.

Update at 8:44 a.m. ET: "It was a deliberate, precise strike against a known terrorist and his associates," a U.S. military official tells the wire service.

Update at 11:30 a.m. ET: White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe tells reporters that "the action was to go after al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists."

"They are plotting and planning all over the world to destabilize the world, to inflict terror, and where we find them, we are going to go after them," he says.

Suicide bomber kills 30 mourners at Pakistan funeral

A suicide bomber attacked a funeral procession today in Pakistan, killing at least 30 mourners and wounding more than 60 others, according to wire reports.

Bush: No compromise on wiretap immunity for phone companies

Heading home from Africa, President Bush says he won't budge on his insistence that U.S. phone companies be granted immunity from lawsuits for participating in his warrantless spying program.

"I would just tell you there's no compromise on whether these phone companies get liability protection," Bush said aboard Air Force One, Reuters reports "The American people understand we need to be listening to the enemy."

House and Senate negotiators are expected to work on a possible compromise when they return from recess next week.

Canadian premier wants to pull troops from Afghanistan in 2011

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada would pull its troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2011 under a new compromise designed to ease tensions in Ottawa.

"Canada will end its presence in Kandahar as of July 2011, completing redeployment from the south by December of that year," Harper says, according to Canwest News Service. "We believe this is a reasonable compromise that addresses the important questions Canadians have about the future of the mission."

Under a compromise with Liberals, The Canadian Press says the troops would focus on training Afghans and reconstructing the war-torn nation.

CP says Harper "seemed confident of a deal."

1 dead in Mexico City bomb blasts

Two huge bomb blasts in the heart of Mexico City have killed one man and wounded two other people near the security ministry, according to police and news reports.

The blasts occurred in the Zona Rosa district, a popular tourist destination. No one has claimed responsibility yet.

Reuters, Bloomberg and the BBC are following this developing story.

Iranian: Terrorist's death will 'produce hundreds of martyrs'

Israel went on alert today after the head of Hezbollah threatened retaliation for the killing of Imad Mughniyeh this week in Damascus.

"You have crossed the borders," Hassan Nasrallah said in a taped eulogy, according to the Associated Press. "With this murder, its timing, location and method -- Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen: Let this war be open."

Israel has denied the allegations that it killed Mughniyeh, one of the world's most-wanted terrorists, in Syria.

That didn't stop Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from blaming the Jewish State in his letter of condolence. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's spiritual leader, says the bombing will "produce hundreds of martyrs like him and will multiply the resistance to oppression and exploitation."

(Photo by Anwar Amro, AFP/Getty Images.)

Senate votes to ban waterboarding; Bush vows veto

Joining the House, the Senate has voted to prohibit waterboarding and other harsh methods of interrogation.

President Bush has said he'll veto any legislation that limits interrogation methods. Waterboarding involves near-drowning.

The 51-45 vote limits U.S. intelligence agents to 19 interrogation techniques in the Army Field Manual on Human Intelligence Collector Operations. (Read it here (pdf).

The AP, New York Times and Washington Post have the details.

Senate OKs spying update, protects phone firms

The Senate has voted overwhelmingly to protect telecommunications companies from lawsuits for having helped the Bush administration spy on Americans without court permission after the 2001 terror attacks.

Senators turned back an amendment to strip retroactive immunity, 31 to 67. Sen. John McCain voted to protect the firms from lawsuits, while Sen. Barak Obama voted for stripping immunity so the suits could go forward. Sen. Hillary Clinton did not vote.

Later today the Senate is expected to approve the full legislation, which extends for six years the government's ability to eavesdrop without a warrant. The current law expires Friday.

House Democrats will meet later today to discuss how to proceed. The House has not voted on the bill.

The Associated Press, The New York Times and News.com have more.

Update at 7:30 p.m. ET: By 68-29, the Senate has passed the updated 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, giving President Bush (and his successor) broad authority to monitor phone calls and e-mail. Here's more, from the Associated Press:

• The Senate also expanded the power of the court to oversee government eavesdropping on Americans. The amendment would give the FISA court the authority to monitor whether the government is complying with procedures designed to protect the privacy of innocent Americans whose telephone or computer communications are captured during surveillance of a foreign target.

• The bill would also require FISA court orders to eavesdrop on Americans who are overseas. Under current law, the government can wiretap or search the possessions of anyone outside the United States — even a soldier serving overseas — without court permission if it believes the person may be a foreign agent.

Pentagon seeks death penalty against alleged 9/11 plotters

Original posting at 11:06 a.m. ET: The Pentagon just announced that it is filing capital charges against six suspected members of al-Qaeda who are accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks.

Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann tells reporters that prosecutors have recommended that the charges be tried jointly before a military tribunal that would be empowered to impose the death penalty if the defendants are convicted of "murder in violation of the law of war" and "attacking civilians."

The charges are being translated and will be presented to the detainees, he says.

"I remind you that the sworn charges are only allegations, only allegations, of violations under the Military Commissions Act and that the accused are -- and will remain -- innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," Hartmann says.

Update at 11:16 a.m. ET: Hartmann says the judge will decide whether to accept the chief prosecutor's recommendations that these defendants be tried together and be subject to the death penalty.

"There will be no secret trials," he says. "Every piece of evidence, every stitch of evidence, every whiff of evidence that goes to the finder of fact, to the jury, to the military tribunal, will be reviewed by the accused, subject to confrontation, subject to cross examination, subject to challenge."

Update at 2:01 p.m. ET: The White House says President Bush wasn't consulted about the decision to seek the death penalty in these cases.

"Obviously, 9/11 was a defining moment in our history and a defining moment in the global war on terror, and this judicial process is the next step in that story, of the history of this issue," presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino says. "And the president is sure that the military is going to follow through in a way that the Congress said they should ... when they passed the Military Commissions Act."

Update at 2:13 p.m. ET: The ACLU is criticizing the decision to try these detainees under a "flawed military commissions system."

"Questions of fairness and due process are always at play in death penalty cases, and this will be doubly true in any capital case involving high value detainees who have been tortured and held for years without access to counsel," ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero says in a statement. "The American legal system will be as much on trial in these cases as the actual detainees.”

(Photo by Heesoon Yim, AP.)

Two CBS journalists missing in Iraq

Two journalists employed by CBS News are missing in southern Iraq, the broadcaster says.

"All efforts are underway to find them and until we learn more details, CBS News requests that others do not speculate on the identities of those involved," the network says in a statement. "CBS News has been in touch with the families and asks that their privacy be respected."

The unidentified journalists went missing in the overwhelmingly Shiite city of Basra.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the Pakistani envoy disappeared in a tribal region near the border, according to the Associated Press.

Update at 3:10 p.m. ET: The New York Times offers some context in its report, noting that "Basra has repeatedly been the venue of attacks on both Iraqi and Western journalists, and on Monday a semi-independent Iraqi news network, Voices of Iraq, citing Basra police sources, reported on its website that a British journalist, apparently a photographer, and his Iraqi interpreter were abducted by gunmen from their hotel, the Qasr al-Sultan, in Basra."

AP: Pentagon says military too stretched to respond to new threats

The Associated Press is reporting that a classified Pentagon assessment concludes that the U.S. military has not improved its ability to respond to any new crisis because of long deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus continuing terrorist activity and other threats. The risk level was raised last year from moderate to significant.

Military officials told the AP today that the Pentagon will say that efforts to increase the size of the military, replace equipment and bolster partnerships overseas will help lower the risk over time.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, will deliver his assessment to Capitol Hill later this month.

Military acknowledges secret prison-within-a-prison at Gitmo

For the first time, a military official has confirmed the existence of a secret prison-within-a-prison at Guantanamo Bay. Rear Adm. Mark Buzby tells the Associated Press that 15 men suspected of being high-level members of al-Qaeda are being held in the maximum-security cells of Camp 7.

The exact location of this jail remains a secret, even to some of the guards and interrogators who work with terrorism suspects being held in other parts of the naval base.

"Although we are trying to be open, security is paramount," Army Col. Bruce Vargo tells the wire service. "I mean, if you can fly a plane into the towers, you can attack Guantanamo if that's what you choose to do. It's something I think about on a day-to-day basis."

The Red Cross says its representatives have visited the secret part of the detention facility.

(File photo taken Dec. 4 by Brennan Linsley, AP.)

Bush vows veto if telecoms aren't protected from spying lawsuits

President Bush has issued a pre-emptive veto threat against a Democratic proposal to permit lawsuits against telecommunications companies that have helped the U.S. government spy on Americans since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

He passed the word today in a letter to Senate leaders from Attorney General Michael Mukasey and National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell.

The Senate could vote later this week on how to update a 1978 surveillance law without violating privacy rights. The law expires Feb. 15.

"If the president is sent a bill that does not provide the U.S. intelligence agencies the tools they need to protect the nation, the president will veto the bill," Mukasey and McConnell wrote in the letter, according to the AP. "Private citizens who respond in good faith to a request for assistance by public officials should not beheld liable for their actions."

The Senate Intelligence Committee has approved a bill. Though "not perfect," it contains protections and would win White House support if the amendments are dropped.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the letter premature. "It's a little early to have a veto threat," he said.

Reports: Leading member of al-Qaeda killed in Pakistan

Abu Laith al-Libbi, a senior member of al-Qaeda, has been killed, according to media reports.

The sourcing for these reports remains unclear. BBC News attributes the information to "senior Western counter-terrorism officials," while CNN says its information comes from "a Western official."

An Islamist website says the Libyan is dead, according to Reuters and the Associated Press.

The Washington Post has a mini-profile of the terrorist.

Update at 1:30 p.m. ET: SITE Intelligence Group, a private organization, says the information about Abu Laith's death appeared today on an Islamist message board. Here's what SITE is reporting on its website: A large banner appeared on Al-Ekhlaas, a password-protected Al-Qaeda-affiliated forum, today, January 31, 2008, announcing the death of Abu Laith Al-Libi, an Al-Qaeda leader who was also the head of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). Media reports earlier indicated that the deputy of Abu Laith was killed in an air strike in Mir Ali, Northern Waziristan on Monday, January 28.

Update at 1:58 p.m. ET: ABC News is quoting an unidentified Western intelligence official who says Libi is thought to be among those killed this week in a missile attack along Pakistan's lawless border with Afghanistan.

Update at 2:04 p.m. ET: Earlier today, Reuters reported that tribesmen in North Waziristan were saying that one of Libi's deputies was among those killed in Monday's attack.

Update at 2:20 p.m. ET: NBC News says an unidentified U.S. official has confirmed that Libi was killed three nights ago when a CIA-operated drone fired missiles on a target in the Pakistani tribal areas.

(File photo provided to the Associated Press by IntelCenter.)

'Do America’s secret soldiers play well together?'

That's the opener of a post over at Counterterrorism Blog by James Gordon Meek of the New York Daily News.

His conclusion: "There is fresh evidence that the post-9/11 military still is plagued by inter-service rivalries that may be impacting critical counterterrorism operations."

He cites a U.S. Marine Corps “court of inquiry” — the first in 50 years — at Camp Lejeune, N.C. In what Meek calls an "extraordinary" and "fascinating" case, a Marine special operations unit is being investigated for the killings of at least at least 19 Afghan civilians on March 4, 2007.

Meek wrote yesterday in the Daily News that the unit was "trying to help the CIA wage a secret war against Al Qaeda infiltrators along the Pakistan border last year when they mowed down 19 civilians."

Here are the CT Blog post and the Daily News story.

Feds give $5M to flight instructor who led them to Moussaoui

The flight instructor whose concerns led the the FBI to Zacarias Moussaoui has received a $5 million reward, CNN says. The network cites two anonymous sources for its report that Clarence Prevost received the money  yesterday as part of the State Department's Rewards for Justice program.

"Prevost, a retired Northwest Airlines pilot, has never spoken publicly about Moussaoui, but testified during the sentencing phase of Moussaoui's trial," CNN says on its website. "He said that by the second day of teaching Moussaoui, he heard that Moussaoui paid the bulk of his $8,300 tuition for a flight simulator course in hundred-dollar bills. And that made Prevost think the FBI should be notified."

The Houston Chronicle says two other former Pan American International employees are upset that they were passed over when it came time to cut the check. "Both men, who were honored by a Senate resolution in 2005, reacted with disbelief at learning they'd been left out," the paper says.

Judge: Militants were planning Barcelona suicide attack

Islamist militants from Pakistan were planning a suicide attack in Barcelona, a Spanish judge announced today after questioning the suspects. They were arrested during raids Saturday, and police said they had seized bomb-making materials.

National Court Judge Ismael Moreno ordered 10 suspects jailed during the investigation and freed two others. They were among 14 people — 12 Pakistanis and two Indians — who were rounded up in Barcelona's El Raval neighborhood, home to many Muslim immigrants. Two — believed to be the Indians — were freed later.

According to CNN, Moreno said three suspected suicide bombers had traveled from Pakistan to Barcelona since October. One arrived about a week ago.

The BBC writes that the arrests have sparked a mixture of disbelief, indignation and sadness among the estimated 25,000 Pakistanis living in the city. About half live in El Raval, a bohemian haunt and home to the city's contemporary art museum.

Here's more about the medieval quarter in the old city.

Afghan student journalist sentenced to die for printing article from website

An Afghan journalist was sentenced to death yesterday after a secret court convicted him showing classmates an article from the Internet that violates the tenets of Islam.

The Associated Press says Sayad Parwez Kambaksh is a student who also works for Jahan-i-Naw in Mazar-i-Sharif. Radio Free Afghanistan says he "was arrested in late October over a controversial article that commented on verses in the Koran that were about women."

The court says it acted in response to complaints from students who saw the article, but media groups tell CNN that the 23-year-old is being punished because his brother, a fellow journalist, has published stories that upset some of the powerful figures who run things in northern Afghanistan.

Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi "is a very brave reporter and I've never known him to falter," Jean MacKenzie of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting tells the news channel. "But having his brother sentenced to death has made him very, very anxious."

(Family photo via Reuters.)

Pakistan claims it killed up to 90 Islamist militants in border region

Pakistan says dozens of Islamist militants were killed today in clashes along the lawless border with Afghanistan.

The Associated Press quotes from a military statement that says soldiers killed 50 to 60 gunmen at a fort in Ladha, a village in South Waziristan. "The miscreants, these terrorists, wanted to probably attack another fort and they were gathering there. Therefore, the security forces took action in retaliation," Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas tells Reuters.

The army says another 30 or so attackers were killed in a separate incident in the village of Chakmalai, according to AP. The wire service says it had trouble corroborating the government's account of both incidents.

Canada puts U.S., Guantanamo and Israel on torture 'watch list'

Canada has put the United States and Israel on a torture watch list, according to CTV. A Canadian government document cites the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and interrogation techniques that include "forced nudity, isolation, and sleep deprivation."

Reuters says that a U.S. Embassy spokeswomen in Ottawa said she was looking into the report. The Israeli embassy had no immediate response.

A Foreign Affairs Department training manual, titled "Torture Awareness Workshop Reference Materials," provides legal definitions of torture and instructs Canadian consular officials how to detect signs of abuse among detainees held abroad. It lists Guantanamo Bay and the United States, along with Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

The manual was inadvertently released to lawyers working on a lawsuit involving abuse of Afghanistan detainees by Canadians, the Canadian Press reported.

One Canadian prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, Omar Khadr, is due before a U.S. military commission in early February. The Pentagon has charged him with "murder by an unprivileged belligerent" for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed U.S. Delta Force soldier Christopher Speer in Afghanistan in 2002. Khadar was 15 at the time. Read the full charges here (pdf).

CBC News and the Toronto Star also picked up the report.

Bin Laden's son seeks to be peacemaker

Omar Osama bin Laden, the 26-year-old son of the Al-Qaeda leader, tells the Associated Press that he wants to be an "ambassador for peace" between Muslims and the West. As part of his campaign, he and his wife are planning a 3,000-mile horse race across North Africa.

"It's about changing the ideas of the Western mind," Omar, one of Osama's 19 children, said in an interview in Cairo. "A lot of people think Arabs — especially the bin Ladens, especially the sons of Osama — are all terrorists. This is not the truth."

The Saudi-born Omar lived with his father in Sudan and moved with him to Afghanistan in 1996. He trained as an Al-Qaeda fighter for the next four years before deciding to seek another way. He left Afghanistan in 2000 and returned to Saudi Arabia.

"I don't want to be in that situation to just fight. I like to find another way and this other way may be like we do now, talking," he said.

He doesn't criticize his father.

"My father thinks he will be good for defending the Arab people and stop anyone from hurting the Arab or Muslim people any place in the world," he said. He points out that the United States and the West supported his father and other mujahedeen in their efforts in the 1980s to oust Soviet forces that had invaded Afghanistan.

Omar said he's had no contact with his father since he left.

"He doesn't have e-mail. He doesn't take a telephone," Omar said. "If he had something like this, they will find him through satellites."

(Photos of Omar Osama bin Laden and his British-born wife, Zaina Alsabah, in Cairo by Nasser Nasser, AP)

Report: CIA lawyer says tapes were destroyed without approval

A former CIA official apparently disobeyed instructions to not destroy interrogation tapes showing harsh treatment of two Al-Qaeda suspects, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee said today after closed-door testimony from the agency's top lawyer.

Jose Rodriguez, the head of the CIA's National Clandestine Service, had been scheduled to appear. His testimony has been delayed by his request for immunity. He ordered the tapes, recorded in 2002, destroyed in November 2005.

"It appears he hadn't gotten authority from anyone," Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., said after almost four hours of testimony from the CIA's acting general counsel, John Rizzo. "It appears he got direction to make sure the tapes were not destroyed."

Here's the AP report.

The Washington Post offers a deeper look at the destruction of the tapes. It is based on "interviews with more than two dozen current and former U.S. officials familiar with the debate."

Chertoff expresses concern that Europe will become terrorist platform

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff tells BBC News that he views Europe as one of the biggest threats to American national security.

During an interview with the broadcaster, Chertoff pointed to recent attacks and said there's a "real risk that Europe will become a platform for terrorists."

Chertoff's agency has broad responsibility for securing the USA's borders. He says they've made great strides in recent years, including the more intensive screening that takes place at so-called "ports of entry," but more needs to be done to identify travelers who enter the country through a visa waiver program.

"I have to say the biggest threat comes from overseas, and one of the places we are increasingly worried about is Europe," he says.

The ex-judge wasn't optimistic about the future. "When I lift my eyes and look around the world and I look at what happens in Britain and Germany and Spain and Bali and Pakistan, I don't see terrorism going away, I see an al-Qaeda that's emboldened," he says. "I don't see any diminishment of the threat and my concern is that we not relax and let the enemy get ahead of us."

Watch the interview here.

Deadly suicide bombing at Kabul luxury hotel

The Taliban attacked a luxury hotel today in Kabul. An Associated Press dispatch says four Taliban fighters hit the Serena Hotel just after 6 p.m. local time. One of the attackers blew himself up, while the others tossed grenades and fired automatic rifles at the building.

At least two people are dead and several others wounded, according to preliminary reports from the scene. BBC News quotes a Taliban spokesman who claims that three of the gunmen escaped after the attack.

"There were two or three bombs, and there was complete chaos," Stian Solum, Norwegian photographer, tells state-run NRK radio, according to the AP. "When I started to walk out (of the elevator) a bomb went off, a little way from me. There were shot fired by what I think was an ANA (Afghan National Army) soldier. A Dagbladet journalist was shot and wounded and an American medical team was here and helped him."

Across the border with Pakistan, police tell Reuters that at least 20 people were wounded when Taliban fighters detonated a roadside bomb today in the eastern part of Kandahar. AP says the bomb was hidden inside a fruit cart.

Update at 11:29 a.m. ET: The local home minister tells Reuters that at least six people died in the Karachi blast.

Update at 4:35 p.m. ET: Seven people are confirmed dead in the Kabul attack so far, including one American. The latest fatality is journalist Carsten Thomassen, 39, from the Oslo newspaper Dagbladet. AP says Norwaay's foreign minister was the target of the assault, but he was unharmed. A Norwegian diplomat was wounded.

Update at 5:02 p.m. ET: The BBC now says that eight people are reported dead at the Serena Hotel.

3 U.S. officials accused of leaks in anthrax probe

Today in federal court, lawyers for Steven Hatfill, "a person of interest" in the deadly anthrax mailings after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, named three federal officials they accused of leaking investigative information against the former Army physician.

Hatfill has not been charged with any crime and has maintained his innocence in the mailings, which killed five people and sickened about 20 others. Five years ago he sued the FBI, the Justice Department and current or former law-enforcement officials, saying their leaks damaged his reputation and violated his privacy rights.

A Justice Department attorney neither confirmed nor denied the alleged leaking during the court hearing. She urged an out of court settlement between the parties.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton then ordered the lawyers for the government and for Hatfill to seek "mediation" over the next two months.

The Los Angeles Times has more on the case. Here's background on Hatfill from Wikipedia, along with a 2003 profile by the Washington Post.

80 arrested in Guantanamo protest at Supreme Court

Police arrested 80 protesters outside the U.S. Supreme Court today during a protest marking the sixth anniversary of the first terror suspects imprisoned at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay. Similar protests were held in Australia, Europe and Africa.

Dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods, about 200 protesters marched from the Capitol to the court, calling for the prison to be closed. Some entered the courthouse while others kneeled on the steps.

All demonstrations are banned from the court grounds. The AP says those arrested inside the court were also charged with making a "harangue or oration." The maximum penalty is 60 days in jail, a fine or both.

In London, about 100 people in orange jumpsuits gathered near the U.S. embassy, AFP reports. Hundreds also marched through Sydney.

Later this year the justices will rule whether the Guantanamo prisoners can challenge their detention in civilian courts. Currently they are subject to military tribunals. The Pentagon has released several hundred detainees, with 275 remaining.

Meanwhile, a federal appeals court today rejected a claim by four British former detainees that they were tortured at the prison, saying Guantanamo officials had acted as part of their jobs. Judge Karen Lecraft Henderson wrote that the alleged torture "was incidental to the defendants' legitimate employment duties."

(Photo by Dennis Cook, AP)

Judge won't probe CIA destruction of videos

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy has decided he won't look into the destruction of CIA videos showing harsh interrogations of two al-Qaeda suspects, the Associated Press is reporting. Kennedy said that there was no evidence the Bush administration had violated a court order and that the Justice Department deserved time to conduct its own investigation.

The CIA has acknowledged that in 2005 it destroyed the videos. Lawyers for other terrorism suspects then asked Kennedy to hold hearings.

Update at 7:54 p.m. ET: Attorneys for former CIA official Jose Rodriguez, who ordered the tapes destroyed in 2005, have told the House Intelligence Committee he will not testify next Wednesday without immunity. Rodriguez used to head the agency's National Clandestine Service.

Australian Taliban supporter freed from prison

David Hicks has been freed from prison in Australia after completing a U.S.-imposed sentence for being a terrorism supporter.

The Sydney Morning Herald says the 32-year-old father of two, wearing jeans and a green polo shirt, walked out of Yatala Prison in Adelaide at 8:17 a.m. local time Saturday and was driven from the maximum-security facility in the back of a police car.

In a statement read by his lawyer, Hicks thanked his family, friends, lawyers, several politicians and the Australian public, to which he offered "a huge debt of gratitude ... for getting me home," the paper writes. He added that he was not strong enough to speak to the media himself.

Hicks was captured with Taliban forces in Afghanistan in December 2001 and was held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This past March he faced a a U.S, military commission and pleaded guilty to a charge of providing material support for terrorism. He was then transferred to Australia to finish his sentence.

The Australian newspaper says that publishers have offered lucrative deals for his story and that his family is looking for ways around laws barring Hicks from profiting from his conviction.

(2001 family photo of David Hicks by News LTD via AP)

Pakistani government pins Bhutto death on al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda is to blame for Thursday's assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, a government spokesman just said at a news conference.

The government has intercepted an e-mail between al-Qaeda operatives, congratulating one for successfully executing the attack, Interior Ministry spokesman Jared Iqbal Cheema just told reporters.
Cheema also said Bhutto had "no foreign element in her body" when she was brought to a hospital, raising questions about what killed her.

Various reports have said she was struck by bomb shrapnel or shot; CNN reports that no autopsy was performed on Bhutto before she was buried earlier today.

"We have irrefutable evidence that al-Qaeda, its network and its cohorts are trying to destabilize Pakistan," he said, running down a series of terror attack against government and opposition officials in recent months.

Update at 11:56 a.m. ET: More information is filtering out about the news conference; Pakistani officials are saying Bhutto appears to have died from a skull fracture. Cable networks are showing video footage provided by the Pakistani government, showing Bhutto sticking her head out of the sunroof of her heavily armored vehicle, waving to supporters in the moments before she was attacked.

Update at 5:16 p.m. ET: The Pakistani government has released a transcript of a purported conversation between militant leader Baitullah Mehsud, who is referred to as Emir Sahib, and another man, identified as a Maulvi Sahib, or Mr. Cleric. The government alleges the intercepted conversation proves al-Qaeda was behind the assassination. Click "Read more" for the transcript.

CIA videotape case in court today

There's a hearing later this morning In U.S. District Court on the so-called CIA videotapes.

U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy ordered the hearing amid reports that  the CIA had destroyed two videotapes showing terror suspects being waterboarded. He's presiding over a lawsuit by lawyers challenging the detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

Kennedy previously had ordered the government not to destroy any evidence of possible mistreatment of prisoners there. In this case, though, the government counters that the prisoners on the videotapes were not being held at Guantanamo.

The AP notes that this is the first time administration lawyers are going to speak under oath, in a public forum, about the videotapes. We'll update you as more information becomes available.

Update at 12:31 p.m. ET: The AP says Kennedy "appeared reluctant" to get involved in the matter while the Justice Department is conducting its own investigation.

Gitmo detainee lawyers argued against that. "The Justice Department may have sanctioned the destruction of these videotapes," said David Remes, a lawyer for the detainees. "Now they are asking the court to stay out on the ground it is investigating the destruction of these videotapes."

House subpoenas ex-CIA official over destruction of tapes

The House Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed the former CIA official who ordered the destruction of secret interrogation videotapes of two suspected terrorists.

The panel ordered Jose Rodriguez, the former head of the CIA's National Clandestine Service, to appear Jan. 16, the AP reports.

"We learned we have a long way to go, that there are a number of people involved that we need to talk with," said a committee official, who spoke anonymously. "Many in the executive branch will be called." The list of witnesses is still being drawn up.

(Photo of Jose Rodriguez, AP)

'Lobster vision' may be new tool in anti-terror arsenal

We'd be remiss if we didn't point out this article in today's paper. Here's how it begins: "The lobster is at the forefront of the next new weapon in the war on terror."

No, lobsters are not being trained in bomb-disposal or Navy-SEAL-like duties. Here's what we in the business call the "nut graf:" Technology based on the crustacean's uncanny ability to see through dark, cloudy, deep sea water is guiding scientists funded by the government in the early stages of developing a ray that one day could be used by border agents, airport screeners and the Coast Guard.

The device under development is called the LEXID, short for Lobster Eye X-ray Imaging Device, and it's still in its early stages. For the record, lobster vision should not be confused with "walleye vision."

(Photo courtesy Legal Sea Foods)

Ask Al-Qaeda: Interview offered with Bin Laden deputy

You have until Jan. 16 to submit questions to Al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri, the terror group's mouthpiece has announced. It's the first such Q & A offer since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

As-Sahab, the media arm, posted the notice Sunday along with its own interview with Zawahri. It invited "individuals, agencies and all media" to submit queries to Islamic Web forums where As-Sahab and its partner, Al-Fajr Media Center, lurk. (Here's one.) The forums are asked to pass along the questions "by the letter, with no changes or substitutions, no matter whether they agree or disagree."

Zawahri will reply "as much as he is able and at the soonest possible occasion." No indication whether he'll respond in writing, by video or audio.

Judge wants explanation on CIA tape destruction

The CIA interrogation videotape case is going to court.

The AP reports that U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy has ordered Justice Department lawyers to come to his court Friday to discuss whether the recently publicized destruction of the tapes violated a court order to safeguard efience involving alleged torture, mistreatment or abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

The Justice Department already has claimed that the two men shown in the videotapes weren't being held at Gitmo and says an inquiry could jeopardize an ongoing investigation.

Senator: Some forms of waterboarding 'like swimming, freestyle, backstroke'

Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri is the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has been pressing CIA Director Michael Hayden on the destruction of videotapes that reportedly show terror suspects being waterboarded. Last night, he appeared on PBS' NewsHour with Jim Lehrer to talk about Hayden's recent committee testimony -- and he was asked about the controversial interrogation technique that critics say is torture.

"What the CIA is doing is not torture. It conforms to the Detainee Treatment Act, the Geneva Convention, the Convention against Torture. None of these things that are being used, by any stretch of the imagination, could be described as torture," Bond told interviewer Gwen Ifill.

Following up, Ifill asked Bond directly if waterboarding was torture. Bond responded by equating some forms of the technique to swimming.

"There are different ways of doing it. It's like swimming, freestyle, backstroke. The waterboarding could be used almost to define some of the techniques that our trainees are put through, but that's beside the point. It's not being used," Bond said. However, he went on to say that he "certainly would not favor it in any circumstance."

Still, the "swimming" equation got the attention of the liberal blogosphere. "And the Rack is Just Like Pilates," is the headline on this Credo Action blog post today.

Here's the full transcript of last night's NewsHour interview, featuring Bond and Sen. Jane Harman, D-Calif., who also is an Intelligence Committee member.

Ex-spy describes waterboarding as torture; Bush breaks silence

Original posting at 8:26 a.m. ET: A former CIA officer who handled high-level terrorism suspects says waterboarding is a necessary evil that broke one senior member of al-Qaeda in less than a minute.

"It's sort of a violent thing to see or to go through," retired spy John Kiriakou tells ABC News. "You may be of, you know, one persuasion or the other where you think it's a necessary thing or you think it's torture. But either way you dice it-- it-- it's not something that's pretty to watch."

Kiriakou was based in Pakistan after the 9/11 attacks. He seems to find these so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" unsavory, but he tells the network that waterboarding was the most effective way to get vital information from Abu Zubaydah about potential threats to the United States.

"In the next day or so, he told his interrogator that Allah had visit him in his cell during the night and told him to cooperate because his cooperation would make it easier on the other brothers who had been captured," Kiriakou says. "And from that day on he answered every question just like I'm sitting here speaking to you."

During an appearance on NBC's Today program, Kiriakou said he considers waterboarding a form of torture. CBS News is reporting that Kiriakou refused to use the techniques, which were eventually employed by "retired commandos under contract to the CIA."

ABC News posted transcripts of its interviews with Kiriakou.

The New York Times is reporting that an attorney within the CIA's operations directorate approved the destruction of the tapes.

Update at 12:35 p.m. ET: During an interview with ABC News, President Bush said he first learned about the destruction of the CIA's interrogation tapes last week.

"My first recollection of whether the tapes existed or whether they were destroyed was when [CIA Director] Michael Hayden briefed me," Bush said.

"There's a preliminary inquiry going on and I think you'll find that a lot more data, facts will be coming out," he said, "That's good. It will be interesting to know what the true facts are."

Report: CIA destroyed tapes of terror interrogations

The AP reports that the director of the CIA told employees today that the agency videotaped its interrogations of two terror suspects in 2002, but destroyed the tapes three years later out of fear the identities of the interrogators would become known.

In a written message to CIA employees, Director Michael Hayden said the House and Senate intelligence committee chairs were informed of the existence of the tapes and knew the CIA intended to destroy them. The CIA's internal watchdog also saw the tapes and determined the interrogation methods were legal, he said.

"The tapes posed a serious security risk. Were they ever to leak, they would permit identification of your CIA colleagues who had served in the program, exposing them and their families to retaliation from al-Qaida and its sympathizers," the message stated.

Official: Gitmo prisoner slit throat with sharpened fingernail

A Guantanamo Bay prisoner used his sharpened fingernail to slit his throat in an apparent suicide attempt last month, a Navy commander told reporters visiting the base today.

The man cut his throat while taking a shower, reporters were told. "There was an impressive effusion of blood," Navy Cmdr. Andrew Haynes told reporters, according to the AP. He would not disclose the injured man's name or nationality.

The prisoner was treated and placed under psychiatric observation, the AP reports, citing a prison doctor who could not be indentified under military rules for journalists.

There have been four suicides at Guantanamo since the prison was established in January 2002, according to the AP.

Today's photo: Suicide bomber hits passenger bus in Afghan capital

Rafiq Maqbool of the Associated Press took this photograph today in Kabul. It shows an Afghan man standing next to a passenger bus that was attacked by a suicide bomber thought to be targeting a NATO convoy.

At least 22 people were wounded in the blast, which occurred as Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in the capital for meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

New message from Osama bin Laden

Al Jazeera is broadcasting what it describes as an audiotape from Osama bin Laden.

MSNBC's translator says the message was addressed to Europeans. In it, bin Laden says America is losing the war in Afghanistan. He claims the majority of people killed in that country have been innocent women and children.

The fugitive terrorist calls on European countries to stop cooperating with the U.S. military in Afghanistan, according to MSNBC's translation.

Update at 1:23 p.m. ET: The Associated Press is quoting the al-Qaeda chief as saying to Europeans: "The American tide is ebbing, so it is best for you to press your leaders to change their policies."

Saudis: 'Imminent attack' thwarted, more than 200 nabbed in terror sweep

Saudi Arabia says it arrested more than 200 suspected terrorists and foiled a major attack planned on an oil installation, according to wire reports.

"Security forces foiled an imminent attack on an oil support installation in the Eastern Province after the perpetrators prepared themselves and set a date," state television says, according to Reuters. The British wire service says militants who sympathize with al-Qaeda plotted to smuggle missiles into the kingdom, while another cell was planning to attack an oil-related target in the eastern part of the country.

AP says more than 200 people were arrested in the sweep, including a non-Saudi man who is accused of leading the group that was preparing to attack the oil facility.

Bin Laden to release new message aimed at Europe

Greetings from the Grinch: Osama bin Laden will soon deliver a holiday message to the infidels of Europe, Al-Qaeda's PR folks say.

The notice was posted to jihadist forums today. IntelCenter, a U.S.-based group that monitor terrorist Web sites, said a video would be released within 72 hours.

The SITE Intelligence Group writes that the message, produced by , As-Sahab, the multimedia arm of Al-Qaeda, urges Islamic militants to distribute the notice to Western sites to "convey to them the reality of losing their war and facing the reality of the unseen truth." (IntelCenter offers a slight variation: "give them the unseen truth of their failed war.")

Bin Laden has released four messages since September, the last on Oct. 22.

No sign of terrorism in London fire

There's been a lot of coverage on the cable networks this morning of a London fire that has generated a huge smoke plume over the city -- but for now, there are no signs of terrorism, news services are reporting.

"We have nothing to suggest that this is anything other than a fire at the moment," an unnamed London police spokesman told the BBC. The fire broke out in a warehouse in east London, near the site where a new stadium will be built for the 2012 Olympics, the BBC reported.

(Photo of fire by Odd Andersen, AP)

Update at 8:56 a.m. ET: The London Fire Brigade tells the AP about 75 firefighters from 15 fire engines are fighting the blaze. One nearby rail station has been closed. No injuries have been reported and there continues to be no sign that the fire was a terrorist act.

Gates worried Pakistan turmoil will hurt anti-terror efforts

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he's concerned that Pakistan's political turmoil will undermine its army’s fight against terrorism.

Gates spoke to reporters on his plane en route home from a weeklong visit to Asia. It's the first time Gates has voiced concerns that Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s emergency declaration and the protests and arrests that it spawned could impact operations in Afghanistan.

"The concern I have is that the longer the internal problems continue, the more distracted the Pakistani army and security services will be in terms of the internal situation rather than focusing on the terrorist threat in the frontier area," Gates said.

Earlier posts on the Pakistan crisis:

• Crackdown blunts planned Pakistan rally
• Bush calls Musharraf, tells him to take off uniform
• Opposition groups say Pakistani government arrested 3,500 critics

Official: Kerik indicted and will be arraigned tomorrow

As OD flagged earlier today, former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik will surrender to authorities tomorrow to be arraigned on tax evasion and corruption charges, a federal law enforcement official says.

Based on his performance after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Kerik was recommended in 2004 to be the first head the newly created Department of Homeland Security. One of his backers was former mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.

Campaigning in Iowa today, Giuliani said that he erred by not looking deeper into Kerik's background but that he had made more correct decisions when he was mayor.

Read more from the AP, the New York Times and ABC News.

Convicted terrorist complains that he's not getting timely copies of newspaper

Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, a convicted terrorist who was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1998  bombing of the U.S. embassy in Kenya, filed suit last month seeking to overturn the rules restricting his access to news and entertainment.

Al-'Owhali claims in a 74-page federal lawsuit that the Bureau of Prisons has overstepped its bounds by not allowing him to listen to his Walkman, watch or listen to the news or talk to most of his relatives.

He says guards have been giving him outdated periodicals that have been censored.

"ADX staff provide [sic] the plaintiff with a daily issue of the USA-TODAY [sic] newspaper after a one month delay with several pages-sections removed," he writes in a federal lawsuit.

USA TODAY's Jean Simpson obtained a copy of the prisoner's filing. Read it here.

Suicide bomber kills at least 90 in Afghanistan

A suicide bomber killed 90 people today in northern Afghanistan. The dead included at least five members of parliament, according to Reuters and the Associated Press. (AFP says six lawmakers died.)

"The bodies of 90 people have been brought to the hospital so far and 50 people have been wounded," Baghlan hospital director Dr. Khalilullah tells the British wire service.

The Associated Press, which says there were two blasts, says the bombers targeted children and Afghan elders in addition to government officials. 

The news agency says this was the deadliest attack in Afghanistan since the Taliban government was overthrown in late 2001. "There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast but there have been about 120 suicide attacks in Afghanistan this year, most of them blamed on the extremist Taliban movement waging an intensifying insurgency," AFP says.

Meanwhile, Taliban fighters reportedly overtook a town in the central part of the country.

Army general: New recruits hard to find

The U.S. Army has fewer people signed up for basic training than any time since becoming an all-volunteer service in 1973, a top general said at a news conference this afternoon.

"It's going to be another tough recruiting year," Gen. William S. Wallace said at the Pentagon news conference.

The recruiting year began Oct. 1 with 7,932 recruits signed up. Last year, the Army had 12,062 recruits headed to basic training. The service's goal for the year is 80,000 recruits.

Looking ahead

Coming Thursday:

• It's the Day of the Dead.
• President Bush speaks about the fight against terrorism, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, hold a news conference to discuss a bill addressing the threat of IEDs and terrorist bombs.
• Secretary of State Rice heads to Turkey to try to defuse tensions with Iraq over Kurdish rebels. She'll then head to the Middle East to prepare for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in the United States later in the month.
• Vice President Cheney travels to Indiana to address the state's American Legion, then flies to Texas for a private fundraiser for Sen. John Cornyn and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
• Economic reports: Weekly mortgage rates (Freddie Mac) and initial jobless claims (Labor Department); personal income and spending for September (Commerce Department); September pending home sales; and October sales figures from U.S. automakers.
• The National Archives unveil new material related to art works stolen by the Nazis during World War II.
• Eat your veggies: It's World Vegan Day.
• Honda Motor Co. marks 25 years of operating in the United States.
• Achtung, baby: MTV is in Munich for its Europe Music Awards, hosted by Snoop Dog.

Russia blames terrorists for deadly bus bombing

Russia is blaming terrorists for an explosion today that killed eight people and wounded 50 passengers on a bus in the southern city of Togliatti.

"The blast struck residents heading to work and to nearby university buildings early in the morning at a busy junction in the center of the city, which is synonymous with Russia's car industry," AFP reports. "Fragments of glass and metal scattered far from the green bus and the shock wave blew out the windows of a nearby residential block."

The French news agency says some of the passengers were ejected from the bus and dismembered by the explosion. Sources tell Itar-Tass that seven of the survivors are in critical condition. The bomb contained more than 4 pounds of TNT, the Russia agency reports.

RIA Novosti, a state news service, says investigators found a 2 pound bomb attached to the bottom of the bus.

"The preliminary scenario is a terrorist attack,'' Samara Gov. Vladimir Artyakov said on state television, according to Bloomberg News.

(Top photo by Reuters; Photo of victim from RTR via Reuters.)

Navy SEAL posthumously awarded first Medal of Honor for Afghanistan

The first Medal of Honor for combat in Afghanistan was awarded posthumously today to Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy of Patchogue, N.Y. President Bush wore a gold dog tag that Murphy's parents gave him moments before he presented them with the nation's highest military honor for valor.

Murphy, who was 29, is the fourth Navy SEAL to earn the award and the first since the Vietnam War.

Murphy's father, Dan, said the family was "deeply moved" by Bush's gesture.

"It was very emotional on everybody's part," added Murphy's mother, Maureen.

Here's the White House transcript of the president's remarks and the reading of the citation.

The AP has details of how Murphy died in June 2005 while trying to save his four-man recon team that was attacked by about 50 Taliban. Newsday previewed the ceremony, and the Navy Times has a profile of Murphy.

(U.S. Navy photo)

Bin Laden: Insurgents in Iraq must unite

Osama bin Laden today called on insurgents in Iraq to unite against the United States, according to an audiotape attributed to the fugitive terrorist by al-Jazeera television.

"Some of you have been lax in one duty, which is to unite your ranks," bin Laden said, according to AP. "Beware of division ... The Muslim world is waiting for you to gather under one banner."

Reuters uses a different quote from the tape: "The interest of the Islamic nation surpasses that of a group," said the speaker who sounded like the leader of al-Qaeda. "The strength of faith is in the strength of the bond between Muslims and not that of a tribe or nationalism..."

Verdict in Muslim charity terror case delayed until Monday

Jurors in Dallas have returned a verdict in the trial of five former members of a Muslim charity accused of illegally funneling millions to Middle Eastern terrorists. But the presiding U.S. District Judge Joe Fish is out of town, so the verdict will be announced Monday when he returns, the Dallas Morning News and Associated Press report.

“I do not have the authority or the power to read it to the court,” said U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Stickney, who filled in today. "Nobody, including myself, will even glance at it,"

The jury of eight women and four men deliberated 19 days in the case of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which was the largest Muslim charity in the United States until federal authorities shut it down in December 2001. The defendants, four of whom are U.S. citizens, were accused of raising more than $12 million and wiring it to Palestinian charity committees that the U.S. and Israeli governments said were controlled by Hamas. None was charged with acts of violence.

The defense presented testimony from the former No. 2 intelligence official at the State Department, who said the CIA never told him the Palestinian charity committees were part of Hamas.

Doc: More than 80% of Afghan suicide bombers are disabled

A Kabul pathologist tells NPR News that his experience suggests the vast majority of Afghans who become suicide bombers are mentally or physically disabled.

Dr. Yusuf Yadgari, a forensics instructor at Kabul Medical University, says 60% of the bombers they've examined had a physical ailment or disability. When you factor in mental problems, Yadgari says the number grows to include more than 80% of all suicide attackers in Afghanistan.

He says these "outcasts" may become suicide bombers because it's a way to make money for their families.

Earlier this year, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported that the dead suicide bombers who passed through Yadgari's morgue were suffering from blindness, muscular dystrophy, amputations and skin diseases. The latest NPR report says others had cancer and one had leprosy.

We should note that there's no way for us to independently verify Yadgari's findings.

Meet Abu Mansour, the man described as an American Islamist fighting in Somalia

Al-Jazeera recently introduced its viewers to someone it described as a U.S. citizen who is fighting alongside the militant Islamists in Somalia. During a recent story, the reporter said that "Abu Mansour the American" is a fighter who trains other members of the Islamic Courts Union to wage war on the military personnel -- including Americans -- they encounter in the area.

Here's a translation produced by MEMRI, a nonprofit group that monitors foreign-language media and posts translations or clips on its website.

Reporter: The people here are not only Somalis. Among them is this American, who says that he heard the call for the Somali jihad when he was away from America.
Abu Mansour the American: Oh Muslims of America, take into consideration the situation in Somalia. After 15 years of chaos, and oppressive rule by the American-backed warlords, your brothers stood up and established peace and justice in this land.
Reporter: Abu Mansour is not only a fighter, but also the military instructor of the Islamic Courts Union fighters. He is now attempting to blow up a large bomb during training. This time, it is not done in the framework of an attack. He has waited until sunset, after getting everything ready.

You can listen to the man who goes by Abu Mansour if you skip to 5 minutes, 40 seconds on this clip.

We can't vouch for the accuracy of the non-English portion of the MEMRI report. Some critics have complained in the past about the lack of impartiality in the group's translations.
 

Jimmy Carter unplugged: Former president takes aim at Bush and Cheney

In an interview with CNN, former President Jimmy Carter said he believes that the United States has tortured detainees and that President Bush has authorized the abuse, which he said violates international laws. Despite that, Carter said formal charges or a trial "would be inappropriate."

Addressing Iraq, he said that all 168,000 U.S. troops could be withdrawn in 18 months and that he disagreed with the 2013 timetable proposed by fellow Democrats Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Carter later expanded his attack to include Vice President Cheney, saying during an interview that aired last night on BBC News that the nation's No. 2 has been a "disaster." (Watch the interview.)

Asked about reports the administration is debating a more aggressive policiy toward Iran and Syria, Carter said: "As usual Dick Cheney is wrong. He's a militant who avoided any service of his own in the military." "Here he's trying again to promote what might very well be a counter-productive and a catastrophic military adventure," Carter added.

Last week, Carter had an altercation with a Sudanese security official.

Update at 12:47 p.m. ET: Lynne Cheney responded to Carter during an appearance this morning on MSNBC. "I really lost respect for Jimmy Carter in 1991," she says, referring to his opposition to the first Gulf War. "You know, it's one thing to be critical, sure, be critical. This time, I was a little surprised that he would do it on the BBC."

She says the former president has become "predictable" in that "he brings out a book, and he makes a fuss. He creates a controversy."

Here are excerpts from the interview yesterday with CNN's Wolf Blitzer:

U.S. judge cites torture concern in blocking Gitmo inmate's transfer to Tunisia

A Guantanamo detainee cannot be returned to Tunisia because he would likely face torture there, a federal judge has ruled. It's the first such decision blocking such a move.

Mohammed Abdul Rahman, whose legal name is Lotfi Ben Abid Ben Amor Ben Ali, was convicted of terror crimes in absentia in 2005 and could suffer "irreparable harm" if sent back to the North African nation, Judge Gladys Kessler of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled, the Washington Post reports. Kessler said U.S. courts would have no power to intervene.

In her ruling last week, which was unsealed today after court-ordered secrecy was lifted, she also cited a case on detainee rights that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear soon. Kessler, a Clinton appointee, wrote that if Rahman were sent to another country he could not return to assert his rights.

Rahman's conviction was based on laws created since he's been held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison, and he faces a 20-year sentence if sent back.

U.S. military deploys teams of anthropologists to Afghanistan

The U.S. military has deployed a secret weapon to Afghanistan: anthropologists.

The New York Times says anthropologists and other social scientists are being assigned to work with military units as part of a counter-insurgency program known as the Human Terrain Team. (What is anthropology? The American Anthropological Association has the answer.)

“We’re looking at this from a human perspective, from a social scientist’s perspective,”  Col. Martin Schweitzer tells the paper. “We’re not focused on the enemy. We’re focused on bringing governance down to the people.”

There are six teams working in Afghanistan right now, according to the Times. Critics derided the program's participants as practitioners of "mercenary anthropology."

“While often presented by its proponents as work that builds a more secure world, at base, it contributes instead to a brutal war of occupation which has entailed massive casualties," opponents say in a pledge that the Times says is circulating among academics.

That's not likely to convince the program's supporters in the Pentagon. Here's how they described the initiative in a recent report: Conducting military operations in a low-intensity conflict without ethnographic and cultural intelligence is like building a house without using your thumbs: it is a wasteful, clumsy, and unnecessarily slow process at best, with a high probability for frustration and failure. But while waste on a building site means merely loss of time and materials, waste on the battlefield means loss of life, both civilian and military, with high potential for failure having grave geopolitical consequences to the loser.

Bush once again denies interrogators torture terror suspects

USA TODAY's David Jackson reports that President Bush today denied reports that his administration authorized government employees to use torture to question terrorist suspects, saying "trained professionals" employ legal techniques that have been "fully disclosed to appropriate members of the United States Congress."

"This government does not torture people," Bush told reporters at the White House.  "We stick to the law and our international obligations."

Bush said interrogation methods are part of a program that he put in place "for a reason - and that is to better protect the American people."

Bush addressed the controversy after calling in reporters to discuss the latest job numbers. He did not take questions.

Taliban hanged teen because he had U.S. currency in his pocket

A 15-year-old was hanged yesterday in the Helmand province of Afghanistan by Taliban militants who caught him with U.S. currency, a local security official says.

The Associated Press says the killers stuffed five $1 bills in the dead teen's mouth. "The Taliban warned villagers that they would face the same punishment if they were caught with dollars," Wali Mohammad, the district police chief in Sangin tells the news service.

He explains the rationale for the killing to AFP. "Taliban simply hanged him because they found a five-dollar note in his pocket," Wali says. "They said the boy was spying for foreign troops. But he was neither spying for foreign troops nor for us. He was just a kid."

'High value' suspects can request lawyers at Gitmo

Fourteen "high value" terrorism suspects being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, have been formally offered the right to request lawyers, The Washington Post reports.

The move could allow them to challenge their status as enemy combatants in a U.S. court.

U.S. officials have argued in court papers against granting lawyers access to the detainees without special security rules. Defense officials, who confirmed the move to the Post, gave detainees legal request forms in late August. Defense and intelligence officials tell the Post the move is not a shift in policy.

"It was the intent … all along that they would have a right to counsel," a senior intelligence official tells the Post anonymously because details of the detention program are classified.

The Associated Press has confirmed this report.

U.S. judge strikes down Patriot Act search provisions

Just in from AP:

A federal judge has ruled that two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause.

In Portland, Ore., U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was amended by the Patriot Act, "now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment."

Portland attorney Brandon Mayfield sought the ruling in a lawsuit against the federal government after he was mistakenly linked by the FBI to the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people in 2004.

Pentagon wants to spend $190B on wars next year

The Pentagon wants Congress to approve spending nearly $190 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan next year.

"I know that Iraq and other difficult choices America faces in the war on terror will continue to be a source of friction within the Congress, between the Congress and the president and in the wider public debate," Gates is expected to tell lawmakers, according to the Associated Press. "Considering this, I would like to close with a word about something I know we can all agree on — the honor, courage and great sense of duty we have witnessed in our troops since September 11th."

Gates will appear at 2 p.m. before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Watch is here. The defense secretary won't have it easy. Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W. Va., has already announced his opposition to the spending request.

“In the fifth year of this misguided war, I am convinced that the best way to support our troops is to bring them home, and the only way to get them home may be to somehow restrict the funds for this disastrous war," he said yesterday.

The federal government's new fiscal year begins Monday.

(Photo of an Iraqi soldier taken by Alaa al-Marjani, AP.)

President Bush addresses U.N. General Assembly

President Bush is scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly in just a few minutes. On Deadline will have live coverage of the speech. You can watch it here.

Update at 10 a.m. ET: Bush is speaking about human rights and freedom.

"The nations in this chamber have our differences yet there are some areas where we can all agree," he says.

Update at 10:05 a.m. ET: He moved on to the battle against extremism. "In the long run the best way to defeat extremists is to defeat their dark ideology with a more hopeful vision, the vision of liberty that founded this body," he says.

He says the world community must support the mainstream political leaders in the Palestinian Authority and the "brave citizens" in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan who have chosen democracy.

Update at 10:08 a.m. ET: Bush describes Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Iran as "brutal regimes" before addressing the street protests in Myanmar.

"Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma, where a military junta has imposed a 19-year reign of fear. Basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship are severely restricted. Ethnic minorities are persecuted. Forced child labor, human trafficking and rape are common. The regime is holding more than a thousand political prisoners," he says.

Bush then announced a series of new sanctions against the regime and urged the United Nations to "help the Burmese people reclaim their freedom."

Update at 10:11 a.m. ET: Fidel Castro's Cuba and Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe were singled out for criticism. He thanked France for working to stabilize the neighbors of Sudan's Darfur region.

Update at 10:13 a.m. ET: Bush proposes purchasing crops from local farmers instead of shipping food from other parts of the world. He urges Congress to back the change in American policy.

Update at 10:21 a.m. ET: USA TODAY's David Jackson, who traveled to the United Nations with the president, says Bush promoted his freedom agenda but downplayed his push for democracy in favor of battles against hunger, poverty, and disease.

Military court reinstates terrorism charges against Gitmo detainee

Just in:

AP reports that a military appeals court has overruled a military judge who threw out terrorism charges against a Guantanamo Bay detainee.

Ahmadinejad makes controversial appearance; Claims there are no homosexuals in Iran

Original posting at 9:43 a.m. ET: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a full schedule today, including appearances at Columbia University in New York and, via video, the National Press Club in Washington.

He was interviewed for last night's edition of 60 Minutes on CBS.

On Deadline plans to cover today's events. In the meantime: Should he be allowed to speak at these prestigious forums?

Update at 10:37 a.m. ET: State and local officials want to punish Columbia University. The speaker of the state Assembly tells The New York Sun that legislators will "consider reducing capital aid and other financial assistance" to the school in response to the Iranian's appearance.

"We should look at everything involving Columbia, whether it be capital projects, city and state, or other related things that we do in the city for them," Councilman David Weprin, chairman of the city's Finance Committee, says.

Update at 12:05 p.m. ET: For what it's worth, the White House doesn't seem to care about the Iranian president's speaking engagements.

"The wonderful thing about America is it's a free country.  And if people want to invite individuals like Ahmadinejad to come and speak at their forums, then so be it.  And those who want to attend, it's up to them, as well," Dana Perino, the president's press secretary, tells reporters.

Update at 12:20 p.m. ET: Ahmadinejad is speaking, by video, to members of the National Press Club.

So far, he has been talking about the "root causes" of the world's problems.

Update at 12:34 p.m. ET: Here's what he says to say about journalists: The press plays a connecting role and it provides information and can serve as a channel for promoting correct thinking. The role of the press is to disseminate moral behavior, to disseminate goodness, purity, honesty, peace, security and all positive messages that arise from that. And this role is extremely significant. God forbid they must prevent the dissemination of hatred and impurity and insecurity for in that sense they play a very sensitive role. The press can be the voices of the divine prophets.

Update at 12:39 p.m. ET: He says all "divine religions" -- Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism -- come from the same place and have the same messages. He disputes the accuracy of reports that say newspapers have been shut down and Internet access has been curtailed by the government. "Freedom is flowing at its highest level," he says.

Update at 12:45 p.m. ET: Ahmadinejad was asked about two journalists who have been sentenced to death in Iran. "This is incorrect," he says.

Is it? Reporters Without Borders says a revolutionary tribunal sentenced Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed “Hiva” Botimar to death "for spying, 'subversive activities against national security' and 'separatist propaganda.'” Read the group's report here.

Update at 12:57 p.m. ET: Is Iran willing to go to war to protect its nuclear program?

"We are working under the inspection of the IAEA system and our activities are legal and for peaceful purposes," Ahmadinejad says. "We think that the talk of war is basically a propaganda tool. Why is there a need for war?"

Update at 1:06 p.m. ET: USA TODAY's Charisse Jones reports that protests are underway in Manhattan, with many of the participants carrying Israeli flags and bearing placards that compare the Iranian president to Adolf Hitler.

“I don’t want to cry in 10 years and say I didn’t do anything when this guy starts a nuclear war. I have to do what I believe now to stop him,” says Joseph Khen, 54, from Englewood, N.J.. He was carrying a sign with pictures of Hitler and Ahmadinejad that says: “The torch has been passed from one genocidal leader to another.”

Many of the people were upset by the president’s scheduled appearance at Columbia University.

“I support free speech but I think it’s an abomination Columbia has invited him there to speak … all they’re doing is giving him a platform to spread his hatred,” Rachmael Benhaim, 40, says.

Update at 1:49 p.m. ET: The second half of Ahmadinejad's controversial double-header is about to begin at Columbia University.  Watch it here.

Update at 1:57 p.m. ET: Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia, is offering a critical introduction of the leader. "Mr. president, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," Bollinger says. He asked Ahmadinejad to let him lead a delegation of students and professors to speak about free speech at Iranian universities.

Update at at 2:09 p.m. ET: Ahmadinejad dismissed Bollinger's introduction as an "insult" that was influenced by the media. He says he won't be influenced by this "unfriendly treatment."

Update at 2:36 p.m. ET: Do he or his government seek the destruction of Israel?

Osama bin Laden targets Pakistan's Musharraf

Osama bin Laden has issued a call for Pakistanis to rebel against President Pervez Musharraf, according to the Associated Press.

The latest audiotape from the fugitive al-Qaeda leader emerged this morning, just weeks after the Saudi exile appeared in a videotaped message for the first time in several years.

He is thought to be hiding with other high-level terrorists in a rugged and lawless region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

GOP Congressman: 'We have too many mosques in this country'

"We have too many mosques in this country," according to Rep. Peter King, the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee.

King made that statement during an interview with The Politico , a newspaper that covers politics in the nation's capital.

"Unfortunately, we have too many mosques in this country. There's too many people who are sympathetic to radical Islam. We should be looking at them more carefully. We should be finding out how we can infiltrate. We should be much more aggressive in law enforcement," King says in the interview.

A few minutes later, after a short break, the reporter gets King to return to his claim that there are too many mosques in the USA.

"Well, yeah, I mean there are. I mean I'm aware of ones in New York where to me that certainly raise suspicion and should be looked at carefully. I think there's been a lack of full cooperation from too many people in the Muslim community and there's a real threat here in this country," King says.

After the Long Island lawmaker complained that his comment had been taken out of context, the newspaper posted unedited footage from the interview on YouTube. We've embedded the video here:

Your reaction?

Update at 8:48 a.m. ET: There were 1,209 mosques in the United States in 2000, according to one survey. By comparison, there were 18,992 Roman Catholic parishes in the United States in 2005, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Looking ahead

Thursday's vast horizon:

• The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing unveils the newly redesigned $5 bill at 9:30 a.m. ET — online. That's a first.
• The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing on President Bush's plan to help homeowners at risk of foreclosure. At the witness table: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Paulson; HUD Secretary Jackson and Fannie Mae President Daniel H. Mudd.
• Highlights of the day's economic news include the weekly unemployment claims and mortgage rates, August leading indicators and the Philadelphia Fed report on regional manufacturing.
• National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell is set to testify at a House Intelligence Committee hearing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
• Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff holds a news conference about a government campaign to increase awareness of IEDs — improvised explosive devices — and bombing prevention. Note that he'll be in Philadelphia, not Baghdad.
• West Coast rapper The Game is scheduled in New York court on charges of impersonating a police officer.
• October in September: More than 60,000 people predisposed to polka, Schnitzel and German beer — lots of beer — are expected in Addison, Texas, for the 20th Anniversary Addison Oktoberfest, which runs, stumbles, staggers and whirls through the weekend. Don't miss Friday's highlight: Revelers will try to break the Guinness World Record — and maybe a few windows — for the "Largest Simultaneous Yodel."

N.Y. rejects Iranian leader's bid to lay wreath at Twin Towers site

New York officials have rejected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's request to lay a wreath at the World Trade Center site when he visits next week.

Police spokesman Paul Browne said Ahmadinejad, who arrives Sunday to address the United Nations' General Assembly, was turned down because of the construction work.

"Requests for the Iranian president to visit the immediate area would also be opposed by the NYPD on security grounds," he said.

Ahmadinejad earlier this month asked the U.S. Secret Service and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for permission to visit the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Here's the full story, courtesy of the Associated Press.

(Photo of ranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad leaving parliament yesterday by Vahid Salemi, AP)

Reactions to the president's address to the nation

Following are some of the reactions to President Bush's address from presidential candidates and lawmakers on Capitol Hill:

Preparation: President Bush speaks to USA about war in Iraq

President Bush will soon deliver a speech that offers his vision of "the way forward" in Iraq. On Deadline will have live coverage of the address, the eighth he has given to a prime-time television audience since the war began in March 2003.

A lot has changed since Bush appeared on national television at 8:01 p.m. on March 17 to announce that Saddam Hussein had 48 hours to get out of Iraq. Here's what the president said in that address: We are now acting because the risks of inaction would be far greater. In one year, or five years, the power of Iraq to inflict harm on all free nations would be multiplied many times over. With these capabilities, Saddam Hussein and his terrorist allies could choose the moment of deadly conflict when they are strongest. We choose to meet that threat now, where it arises, before it can appear suddenly in our skies and cities.

Nearly four years later, at 9:01 p.m. on Jan. 10, 2007, with polls showing unease with the bloody conflict that had killed or maimed thousands of Americans, Bush made the case for strategies that came to be known as "the surge" and "benchmarks." Here's what the president said in that address: The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people -- and it is unacceptable to me. Our troops in Iraq have fought bravely. They have done everything we have asked them to do. Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me. It is clear that we need to change our strategy in Iraq. ... Failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the United States. ... Our past efforts to secure Baghdad failed for two principal reasons: There were not enough Iraqi and American troops to secure neighborhoods that had been cleared of terrorists and insurgents. And there were too many restrictions on the troops we did have. Our military commanders reviewed the new Iraqi plan to ensure that it addressed these mistakes. They report that it does. They also report that this plan can work.

Before tonight's speech, USA TODAY's Kathy Kiely reports that the White House was working to shore up support among GOP lawmakers. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was giving interviews to TV stations in some politically strategic markets: Little Rock, Ark., Denver, Colo., Orlando, Fla., and Albuquerque, N.M.

Adam Schrager, one of our corporate cousins, conducted one of these interviews for Gannett's KUSA-TV in Denver. "We can certainly leave a stable and viable government in Iraq if we are willing to continue the policy we are engaged in since January which is one of having helped the Iraqis provide security for their own population, so that they can have the room and space to overcome their differences," Rice tells the station.

Why did they choose these markets? They're in states where one or both senators have been on the fence in the Iraq debate -- publicly uncomfortable with the president's policy yet also reluctant to set a specific date for troop withdrawals.

Yesterday, Rice did interviews with talk radio stations in Philadelphia, Little Rock and Denver. (All the stations feature conservative talker Rush Limbaugh, which suggests that she was seeking a pro-Bush audience.)

Will the media strategy work?

Michael Teague, a spokesman for Sen. Mark Pryor, a centrist Democrat who represents Arkansas, says if the idea was to pressure his boss, it won't work.  When he asked the boss about Rice's incursion into the local airwaves, he said the senator responded: "If she wants to have any impact on me, she'd be better off picking up the phone and calling."

French writer's 'interviews' with key figures were bogus

Jason Blair is a plagiarism piker next to Alexis Debat.

Debat, a former ABC News consultant, published a series of interviews with leading political figures in Politique Internationale, a well-respected French journal that has been around for nearly 30 years.

Trouble is, the interviews never happened.

Yesterday, Sen. Barack Obama's office flagged Debat's June interview with the Democratic presidential candidate as a fake. Today, the list got a lot longer: Former President Bill Clinton, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

"This guy is just sick," Patrick Wajsman, the editor of the magazine, told ABC News. He said he's removing all of Debat's articles from the magazine's Web site.

Debat, a a terrorism consultant with ABC for five years, resigned yesterday as a senior fellow on counterterrorism issues at the Nixon Center think tank. He told ABC News his only mistake was to allow his name to be put on interviews done by others.

ABC News says it is reviewing all stories in which Debat was involved. He resigned in June after ABC News officials challenged his academic credentials.

Here's how he was described at the end of an article about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that appeared in In The National Interest:

Dr. Alexis Debat, former advisor to the French minister of Defense on Transatlantic Affairs, is a visiting professor at Middlebury College, Director of the Scientific Committee for the Institut Montaigne (Paris) and a Senior Consultant to ABC News in New York. Dr. Debat is at work on the largest manuscript ever written on the history of the Central Intelligence Agency, to be published next year in Europe and the United States.

And here's his bio (now deleted) at the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, where he had been a senior fellow.

Guantanamo documents reveal tensions, abuse at prison

Pentagon transcripts obtained by the Associated Press offer a glimpse of the tension between detainees and guards at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Some highlights: prisoners have hurled feces at guards or spit on them if they feel mistreated; some detainees have committed suicide; interrogators have withhold medicines; guards have interrupted detainees during prayers; detainees say they lie during interrogation.

No comment today from commanders at Guantanamo.

Read the full AP story here.

Today's photo: Remembering the victims of Flight 93

This photo, taken by Gene J. Puskar of the Associated Press, shows people participating in a sunrise service at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.

USA TODAY has full coverage of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Massive bomb defused in Turkish capital

Turkish police say they defused a bomb last night in the capital, Ankara.

Bloomberg News, quoting from NTV, says police dogs detected explosives in a minibus in a parking garage. The vehicle was found to contain about 660 pounds of a chemical used to make explosives.

"The meticulous work of the police averted a possible catastrophe... I do not even want to think about what would have happened if the attack had succeeded," governor Kemal Onal tells journalists, according to Thomson Financial.

Reuters says it took three hours to defuse the bomb.

(Photo by Burhan Ozbilici, AP.)

Six years later: Remembering the 9/11 terrorist attacks

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is speaking in memory of the victims. In Washington, President Bush and other officials are holding a moment of silence on the South Lawn of the White House.

Update at 9:04 a.m. ET: USA TODAY's Charisse Jones, who is at the ceremony in lower Manhattan, reports that on a gray rainy morning New York stopped to remember and commemorate the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

For the first time, Ground Zero was a backdrop with the ceremony held at a nearby park. Still, Jones says, there was the familiar procession of families wearing ribbons, carrying photos and wearing T-shirts emblazoned with photos of the victims.

"We come together again as New Yorkers and as Americans to share a loss that can't be measured and to remember the names of those that can't be replaced," Bloomberg says.

Speaking directly to the families, he says: "Six years have passed and our place is still by your side."

MSNBC is re-airing its coverage from Sept. 11, 2001, including photos and footage of the planes smashing into the World Trade Center.

Update at 1:42 p.m. ET: Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke today during a memorial service at the Pentagon. "The enemies of America, the enemies of our values and our liberty will never again rest easy, for we will hunt them down relentlessly and without reservation," he said.

(Photo taken today at the Pentagon by Brandan W. Schulze, U.S. Navy via AFP/Getty Images.)

Calif. ag worker gets 24 years for Pakistan terror training

Hamid Hayat, an agriculture worker from California's Central Valley, was sentenced today to 24 years in prison for training with terrorists in Pakistan and planning attacks against other Americans.

Hayat, a U.S. citizen who spent much his life in Pakistan, turned 25 today. He could have received 39 years for his April 2006 conviction for providing and attempting to conceal material support and resources to terrorists and for lying to the FBI.

The AP, Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle and Reuters have more details.

Today's photo: Status of al-Qaeda in Iraq

This slide was included in a briefing that Gen. David Petraeus, the head of U.S. military forces in Iraq, presented to House committees this afternoon. It shows the Defense Department's current assessment of the "State of Al Qaeda Iraq."

For more on the hearing, check out our earlier posting.

Petraeus, Crocker brief Congress on state of war in Iraq

Gen. David Petraeus has arrived on Capitol Hill. He is due to begin his testimony in 10 minutes.

Back in Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told parliament that his country's military is not ready to assume responsibility for internal security. "There have been tangible improvements in security in the recent period in Baghdad and the provinces but it is not enough," he told fellow lawmakers, according to the Associated Press.

USA TODAY's David Jackson reports that the Iraqi leader made similar comments during a conversation this morning with President Bush.

White House spokesman Tony Snow says Maliki reported a "change in attitude" among the political factions in Iraq, but he couldn't say when they might reach a consensus on the allocation of oil revenues or provincial elections.

Nancy Youssef of McClatchy Newspapers has been writing a blog from inside the hearing room.

Update at 12:39 p.m. ET: Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., is welcoming the witnesses and discussing the "devastating cost" that the United States would pay if it was forced to engage in another conflict while the military was engaged in Iraq.

"The surge is just the latest in a long line of operations," Skelton says. "It, frankly, looks like as if there has been technical progress in the security area. We should, at this point, temper any enthusiasm with the caveat that this is Iraq. Nothing has been easy there."

Update at 12:50 p.m. ET: House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, D-Calif., says Petraeus and Crocker were sent to the Hill to "restore credibility to a discredited policy."

"The administration's myopic policies in Iraq have created a fiasco," he adds.

Update at 12:59 p.m. ET: Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a former chairman of the Armed Services Committee, used his opening statement to defend Petraeus against what he described as "major attacks" against the military officer's credibility. He pointed to the anti-war group's advertisement in this morning's editions of The New York Times.

Hunter says he looks forward to hearing a "candid independent assessment given with integrity."

Update at 1:12 p.m. ET: MoveOn.org is getting lots of free publicity. So far, two GOP lawmakers have mentioned the group and its anti-war advertisement during today's hearing on the war.

"I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to publicly denounce that ad that says you are cooking the books for the White House and to apologize to you, Gen. Petraeus, for casting doubt on your integrity," says Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.

Update at 1:17 p.m. ET: Petraeus tried to speak, but his microphone didn't work.

Update at 1:21 p.m. ET: Protesters were just removed from the hearing room, according to CNN. "Any signs or demonstrative evidence will cause your removal," Skelton tells the audience.

Update at 1:32 p.m. ET: The commander began his statement with a response to allegations that he would be regurgitating White House talking points. "I wrote this testimony myself. It has not be cleared by, nor shared with, anyone in the Pentagon, the White House or the Congress," he says.

Update at 1:34 p.m. ET: He says the most significant development in recent months has been the tribal rejection of al-Qaeda that began in Anbar and has spread to other areas.

"I believe that we will be able to reduce our forces ... by next summer without jeopardizing the security gains that we have fought so hard to achieve," he says.

Update at 1:44 p.m. ET: Petraeus is going over a series of charts that he says show progress in the fight against Shiite militias and al-Qaeda in Iraq. We'll post links to the charts when they become available.

Update at 1:54 p.m. ET: Petraeus says he expect to "redeploy without replacement" a number of units in the coming year, leaving the coalition with 15 brigade combat teams in mid-July 2008. He cautions that trying to predict things too far into the future, especially in Iraq, can be "misleading and even hazardous."

Update at 2 p.m. ET: The general, who holds a doctorate from Princeton, offers a good summary of his testimony: As a bottom line up front, the military objectives of the surge are, in large measure, being met. In recent months, in the face of tough enemies and the brutal summer heat of Iraq, Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces have achieved progress in the security arena. Though the improvements have been uneven across Iraq, the overall number of security incidents in Iraq has declined in 8 of the past 12 weeks, with the numbers of incidents in the last two weeks at the lowest levels seen since June 2006.

He attributes this to the coalition's ongoing efforts against the Shiite militias and al-Qaeda in Iraq. He says they've "helped reduce ethno-sectarian violence."

We have a copy of his prepared statement.

Update at 2:05 p.m. ET: Protesters have disrupted the hearing on at least three separate occasions. During the most recent incident, two women in pink started yelling and screaming and then refused to leave the hearing. Uniformed Capitol Police officers had to drag them out of the room.

"This is intolerable. I will not allow it," Skelton says. Within seconds, another woman started to holler.

Update at 2:19 p.m. ET: Crocker is testifying about the political aspects of the conflict in Iraq.

"I do believe that Iraq's leaders have the will to tackle the country's pressing problems, although it will take longer than we originally anticipated because of the environment and the gravity of the issues before them," Crocker says.

We have a copy of his prepared statement.

Update at 2:26 p.m. ET: Crocker says the electric supply is "woefully inadequate" in Baghdad.

Update at 2:34 p.m. ET: The veteran diplomat offers a nuanced assessment of the likelihood of future progress. "I cannot guarantee success in Iraq. I do believe, as I have described, that it is attainable," he tells the committees.

Here are some of the charts that Petraeus pointed to during his testimony:

Update at 2:49 p.m. ET: Crocker was asked about the prospect of expanded dialogue with Iran and Syria. The ambassador says he hasn't seen any signs that suggest Tehran is interested in "doing serious business."

"I found no readiness on the Iranian side at all to engage seriously on these issues," Crocker says. "The impression I came away with after a couple of rounds is that the Iranians were interested simply in the appearance of discussions, of being seen to be at the table with the U.S. as an arbiter of Iraq's present and future rather than actually doing serious business."

Update at 3:13 p.m. ET: The Hill is reporting that Cindy Sheehan, a high-profile anti-war activist, was among those arrested at today's hearing.

Update at 4:26 p.m. ET: Sgt. Kimberly Schneider of the U.S. Capitol Police tells USA TODAY that 10 protesters have been arrested today in or near the hearing room.

Not sure if this is news, but Petraeus says about 80% of the suicide bombers are thought to be foreign fighters. He says some of the neighboring countries have been taking steps to keep military-age males from traveling to Iraq via Syria.

Update at 5:45 p.m. ET: Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, noted the discord in Washington and asked Crocker how the embassy in Baghdad can get Iraqi elected officials to compromise and reach agreements on the issues that divide them.

"Tthe real answer, of course, is you can't compel it. People have to see their interest served by a process of accommodation. And that's what were' seeing at least the hopeful beginnings of," Crocker says. He finds "cautious encouragement" in the lawmakers who came together this summer to work their way through "a lot of the major issues."

Update at 6:46 p.m. ET: The hearing's over. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, writes on her blog that continuation of the current policy in Iraq is "simply unacceptable."

"The President’s strategy in Iraq has failed. It is time to change the mission of our troops to one that will promote regional stability and combat terrorism, so that the numbers of our brave men and women in uniform in Iraq can be reduced on a much more aggressive timetable than the one outlined today by General Petraeus," she writes.

(First photo taken Susan Walsh, AP; Second photo by Jason Reed, Reuters; Third photo taken in Iraq by David Furst, Getty Images; Fourth photo by Tim Sloan, AFP/Getty Images; Fifth photo by Karen Bleier, AFP/Getty Images; Sixth photo by Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images.)

Looking ahead

Some of what's happening Saturday, Sunday and Monday:

Saturday
• Thousands are expected outside the cathedral in Modena, Italy, where a star-studded funeral will be held for Luciano Pavarotti, who died Thursday at age 71. After the service, which will be broadcast live on TV, the opera legend will be buried in the cemetery close to his home.
• Before heading back to Hawaii tonight, President Bush has a full day of summiting at the APEC forum in Sydney. On his schedule: meetings with the prime ministers of Japan and Indonesia.
• Teamsters President James Hoffa will be in Houston to speak against the Bush administration's plan to begin allowing Mexican trucks to travel throughout the United States.
• In Philadelphia, about 100 prison guards, police and sheriff's officers will begin a 260-mile motorcycle ride west to the site of the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pa.
• If you're in the D.C. area this morning, the Pentagon will conduct public tours of both the America's Heroes Memorial to Flight 77 and the Pentagon Chapel in Corridor 4. First come, first served from 10 a.m. to noon.
• The two-day Black Family Reunion opens on the National Mall in Washington.
• The replica of John Smith's boat returns to Jamestown, Va., after recreating Smith's 1608 exploration of the Chesapeake Bay.
• The Boston Arts Festival launches the city's fall arts season.
•  The 2007 California State Yo-Yo Championships will be held in San Francisco.

Sunday
• Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to be released from Florida prison after 15 years behind bars for drugs. He's then is expected to be extradited to France to face related charges of laundering millions of dollars in drug proceeds through French banks.
• The California Republican Party holds its convention.
• Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and Huntington Mayor Julie Gordon host an interfaith memorial service for the miners lost in the Aug. 6 collapse of the Crandall Canyon Mine.
• The Dalai Lama starts a three-day visit to Spain.
• The 2007 MTV Video Music Awards will be handed out in Las Vegas.

Monday
• Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus releases his much-anticipated progress report. He and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, then will address a joint hearing by the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees. Petraeus said Friday he wants to maintain the troop buildup until spring, when a gradual draw-down could begin.
• Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and FBI Director Robert Mueller will testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee regarding the threat six years after Sept. 11 attacks.
• On the eve of the Sept. 11 anniversary, a commemorative service will be held in Somerset, Pa., in memory of Flight 93.
• The Federal Reserve reports on consumer credit for July.
• Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif plans to return from exile after President Gen. Pervez Musharraf toppled him in bloodless coup in 1999. Musharraf has threatened to arrest him.

Feds have copy of new bin Laden tape

The U.S. government has obtained a video featuring Osama bin Laden and is in the process of analyzing the footage, according to CNN and MSNBC.

MSNBC says an anonymous source confirmed that the video is in the government's possession, but wouldn't talk about its contents or whether experts have confirmed that it shows the fugitive al-Qaeda leader, who hasn't been seen in public since 2004.

CNN had reported that the terrorist group's propaganda arm announced plans to release a new video in time for the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.

"Soon, God willing, video message by the Lion Sheik Osama bin laden, may God protect him," the announcement says, according to a translation by the network.

Update at 12 p.m. ET: A State Department spokesman sought to minimize the impact of the tape.

"I don't think that anything he is likely to say or do is going to change our resolve or the resolve of our international partners to confront extremism," Tom Casey tells the Associated Press.

Update at 12:11 p.m. ET: ABC News reports that its anonymous sources "believe the expected video message from Osama bin Laden is authentic, recently produced and evidence the al Qaeda leader is still alive."

Update at 12:19 p.m. ET: Here's the wire story.

Update at 12:38 p.m. ET: During an appearance last night on CNN, a senior government official noted the importance of propaganda to al-Qaeda in general, and bin Laden in particular.

"He's seeking to use media outlets to get his message out," Fran Townsend, the president's homeland security adviser, says. "But I understand that there is public interest in it. I just think people have got to be clear that we're being manipulated every time that they issue a statement, because they're trying to use the media as a way to terrorize us. After all, we haven't seen an attack, and this is one way that they try to terrorize the American people."

Update at 12:46 p.m. ET: Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wouldn't confirm that the government has obtained a tape, but CNN says he described the way they have handled such items in the past: "We review it for authenticity, we review it to see when we think it was made, if it's a single tape or a compilation of outtakes. We look to see if there are overt messages or hidden messages," he says.

Update at 1:14 p.m. ET: The latest story from the Associated Press says a number of Islamist websites that carry al-Qaeda materials disappeared from the Internet soon after the U.S. government announced that it has obtained a copy of the latest bin Laden tape.

The wire service says the cause of this "unprecedented shutdown" wasn't immediately clear.

Update at 1:45 p.m. ET: CNN says its sources report that the 30-minute tape doesn't contain any overt threats. Kelli Arena says the tape does include some "date references that would make this tape a new tape."

MSNBC says the tape is 25 minutes long and doesn't include any specific threats, though officials tell the network that the speaker, purported to be bin Laden, criticizes Democrats for failing to stop the Iraq war.

Update at 2 p.m. ET: MSNBC reports that an official who read a transcript of the tape says the speaker mentions Donald Rumsfeld, but doesn't seem to be aware that he was replaced by Robert Gates at the Pentagon.

Sources tell Jim Miklaszewski of NBC News that the tape includes a "political diatribe" that touches on U.S. politics, campaign finance, global warming and Corporate America. It was a comment about the current situation in Iraq's Anbar province that led officials to believe that the tape was produced in recent months, according to NBC News.

Update at 2:17 p.m. ET: NBC's Pete Williams, who spoke today with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, says there's an "emerging consensus" among government officials that it's bin Laden on the tape.

Update at 2:33 p.m. ET: NBC's Miklaszewski says he has a copy of the transcript. He describes its contents as "rambling."

Here's an excerpt from the description posted on MSNBC's website: Bin Laden also recommended reading books by American authors Noam Chomsky and Michael Scheuer, a former CIA analyst, officials said. Chomsky's book cites various examples of American imperialism, while Scheuer's book argues that the U.S. does not understand the Islamic predicament.

Bin Laden also suggests the Jews could have avoided the Holocaust if they had put themselves under the protection of Muslims and indicates that the mujahadeen are now determining U.S. policy.

Update at 7:29 p.m. ET: President Bush calls bin Laden's video a reminder of "the dangerous world in which we live."

More information about USA TODAY's news blog:

• Read the full On Deadline blog.
• Subscribe to On Deadline's RSS feed.
• Become On Deadline's friend at Facebook.
• Follow On Deadline at Twitter.

Governor's aide spent time in prison because he wouldn't testify in terror case

A senior aide to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich spent two years in federal prison in the mid-80s because he refused to testify in a terrorism case, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Steven Guerra, the governor's chief of staff for community services, was convicted of contempt of court in 1983 after he and four other accused members of FALN refused to testify about the Puerto Rican separatist group's activities. (Here's an overview of the group.)

"The felony conviction resulted in a three-year prison sentence for Guerra, who was released in 1986 after serving 23 months," the paper reports. "Federal prosecutors labeled Guerra and his four co-defendants 'a danger to the community,' and said they advocated armed violence, kidnappings, hijackings and prison breaks in the name of a 'free' Puerto Rico."

Back in 1983, the Associated Press reported that Guerra and his fellow co-defendants wouldn't testify "because it would damage their standing as community leaders." The Bureau of Prisons reports that Guerra, inmate No. 15883-053, was released from its custody on April 30, 1986.

A spokeswoman for the governor, a Democrat, says Guerra disclosed his felony conviction when he was hired in 2003.

"If there was really evidence that he had been involved in criminal activity, undoubtedly the federal government would have aggressively pursued charges. Instead, he was charged with refusing to testify before a grand jury. He served his sentence," Abby Ottenhoff tells the paper. "And he's had an excellent record in the social services community for nearly 20 years since then."

Report: Bin Laden to release video for 9/11 anniversary

A terror monitoring group is reporting that Osama bin Laden has prepared a video address to Americans on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Search for International Terrorist Entities Institute, known as SITE, reports that the announcement by Al-Qaeda's media arm shows a photograph of bin Laden from what it says is the forthcoming video. SITE's director says it appears that bin Laden has dyed his beard to cover up the gray.

SITE, which monitors Islamist extremists, expects the video to be released within 72 hours.

Here's more from the AP report:

"Soon, God willing, a videotape from the lion sheik Osama bin Laden, God preserve him," the banner advertisement read, signed by Al-Sahab, the terror network's media arm. Al-Sahab usually puts out such announcements one to three days before the video is posted on the Web.

If the message is actually a video of bin Laden, it would be the first new footage of him since a video released on Oct. 29, 2004, just before the U.S. presidential elections, in which bin Laden said America could avoid another 9-11 style attack if it stopped threatening Muslims.

Since then, there were a number of audiotape messages from bin Laden, but the last came in July 2006, when he praised the slain al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and welcomed his successor. ...

(Photo of Osama bin Laden from forthcoming video via AFP/Getty Images)

Judge rules portion of the Patriot Act illegal

A federal judge overturned part of the USA Patriot Act this morning with a ruling that says the federal government can't force companies to turn over customer records and remain silent about the request without first obtaining a court order.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero, in a written ruling, says the law "offends the fundamental constitutional principles of checks and balances and separation of powers." According to the Associated Press, Marrero concludes that the law "reflects an attempt by Congress and the executive to infringe upon the judiciary's designated role under the Constitution."

The ACLU, which filed the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of so-called national security letters, has scheduled a noon briefing on the case. The Associated Press says federal prosecutors wouldn't comment on the ruling.

GAO says Homeland Security 'failed' to make progress in many areas

While the world is focused on the failure of the Iraqi government to meet its benchmarks, auditors in Washington are reporting that the Department of Homeland Security "has failed to make even moderate progress toward eight of 14 internal government benchmarks" in the four years since it was created, according to The Washington Post.

The paper, citing a GAO report that is to be presented to Congress later today, says the massive bureaucracy failed to meet 78 of 171 objectives, including those that were set after the Sept. 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina exposed weaknesses in the government's ability to handle emergencies.

"It's a very damning report," Michael Greenberger, director of the University of Maryland's Center for Health and Homeland Security, tells the Post.

Agency officials argue that the report is unfair and inaccurate. They submitted a 42-page rebuttal.

"The GAO Report treats all of the performance expectations as if they were of equal significance. In contrast, the Department uses a risk-based approach to consider its overall priorities," Paul Schneider, the undersecretary for management, says.

Update at 2:32 p.m. ET: Read the report here.

Germany disrupts 'massive plot' by accused terrorists

Germany disrupted a "massive" plot to attack the airport in Frankfurt and the U.S. military facility in Ramstein, according to media reports.

Monika Harms, a federal prosecutor, tells reporters that three members of Islamic Jihad Union were arrested yesterday. One is a Turkish Muslim. The others are German converts to Islam, she says, according to Deutsche Welle.

Financial Times quotes a German police official who says the men trained at terror camps last year in north Pakistan. Officials say they obtained enough hydrogen peroxide to create a large explosive device.

"Thanks to the cooperation of federal and local police over several months we were able to discover and pursue the planning and preparation and in the end prevent massive bomb attacks," prosecutor Monika Harms says during a news conference, according to Reuters.

She didn't confirm the reports from anonymous sources who say that the men were targeting the airport and air base. "As possible targets ... the suspects named discotheques and pubs and airports frequented by Americans with a view to detonating explosives loaded in cars and killing or injuring many people," Harms says, according to AFP.

The defense minister described the plot as an "imminent threat" when it was disrupted, Deutsche Welle says.

Joerg Ziercke, the federal police chief, told reporters that the men were in contact with al-Qaeda, but not under the direct control of the group's upper level.

(Top photo: An unidentified man, believed to be a terror suspect, is led away from the German Federal Court today in Karlsruhe, southern Germany. Taken by Michael Probst, AP. Bottom photo: Confiscated canisters labeled as hydrogen peroxide are displayed today during a news conference. Taken by Thomas Kienzle, AP.)

'Quiet rebellion' over Gitmo among appeals lawyers at Justice Department

U.S. News & World Report says a significant number of appellate lawyers at the Justice Department refuse to help the government defend its decision to detain hundreds of people without charge at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

"The quiet rebellion has emerged in recent months among the approximately 56 attorneys in the appellate section of the Justice Department's civil division following a court ruling in February that placed the defense of the approximately 130 remaining Guantánamo cases under the responsibility of the appellate lawyers," the magazine, which cites two anonymous sources, reports on its website.

A Justice Department spokesman wouldn't comment on the story, according to the newsmagazine.

South Korean prisoners released; 25 Pakistani soldiers kidnapped

The Associated Press is reporting that the Taliban has released the last of 23 South Korean hostages. They were seized more than a month ago while traveling in Afghanistan.

Just across the border, intelligence officials tell the wire service that 25 Pakistani soldiers have been kidnapped by militants.

Texan wants to remove dirty old tie, so he challenges bin Laden to death match

Bob Flournoy swore after 9/11 that he would wear the same patriotic tie until the day Osama bin Laden was captured or killed.

He figured that it would take the USA a couple of weeks to find the notorious terrorist leader.  Despite that miscalculation -- it's been almost six years -- the city attorney has kept his word. He's been wearing the same red-white-and-blue necktie since the attacks on America.

"It looks like Francis Scott Key's Star-Spangled Banner," Flournoy tells The Lufkin (Texas) Daily News. "It is faded, worn and tattered. It has been reworked, patched and pieced together. Velcro has been added around the neck because it is too fragile to tie and untie. It is smaller and even a little smelly, but it is still a grand old flag. Betsy Ross would be proud."

Flournoy thinks the "egotistical maniac" is dead and buried near Tora Bora, Afghanistan.

"If Bin Laden is alive, I challenge him to prove it by Sept. 11, 2007," Flournoy says. "If he does not come forward with some proof, I am personally going to declare him dead, and I will be able to take off my tie and give it a proper burial."

We'll keep an eye on Lufkin just in case bin Laden accepts the challenge.

Taliban agrees to release South Korean hostages

The Taliban has agreed to release 19 South Korean hostages after receiving assurances that Seoul will stop sending missionaries to Afghanistan and keep its promise to withdraw its troops by the end of the year, according to the Associated Press and Reuters.

The AP story doesn't say when the hostages will be released. They were kidnapped on July 19 while traveling in Ghazni province.

Reuters quotes a spokesman for South Korea's Blue House who says "it may take some time before the actual release."

Report: Saudis assembling U.S.-trained force to protect oil plants

Worried about threats from al-Qaeda, Saudi Arabia is marshaling a security force to protect the vast oil facilities of the word's largest producer and exporter, the Financial Times reported today. So far the force numbers 5,000, with a goal of 35,000 in two to three years, a Saudi adviser told the paper.

The training is being directed by Lockheed Martin on behalf of the U.S.-government-run Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, according to the Middle East Economic Survey in Cyprus. A Lockheed spokesperson said the company did not have information on the program.

Pakistan says more than 300 dead in month of fighting on border

Pakistan says more than 300 people -- including 60 soldiers -- have been killed in combat over the last month along the Afghan border, according to the Associated Press. The wire service says Pakistan has deployed 90,000 troops to the lawless border region where senior members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban are thought to be hiding.

We reported yesterday that documents show elite U.S. soldiers were authorized to enter Pakistan in 2004.

Looking ahead

Deep breath — it's Friday:

• What will Wall Street do? Two key economic reports — July new-home sales and durable-goods orders — might point the way amid the continuing uncertainty over credit, mortgages and the economy. Expect more bad news on home sales.
• Two Iraq briefings — one on military operations, the other on reconstruction in Sunni-dominated Anbar Province.
• The new terrorism appeals court — the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review — hears its first case. The issue: Whether the military undermined the tribunals at Guantanamo Bay by mistakenly omitting the word "unlawful."
• In federal court in Miami, ex-Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is scheduled to learn whether he can be sent to Panama when he is freed Sept. 9 to fight his conviction for the murders of two political foes. The Bush administration wants him extradited to France to face money-laundering charges.
• John Couey is to be sentenced in Inverness, Fla., for kidnapping, raping and killing Jessica Lunsford.
• An Orlando judge considers a motion to throw out some evidence in the attempted-kidnapping case of former astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak.
• ASEAN economic ministers meet in Manila.
• Ukraine celebrates its 1991 declaration of independence from the crumbling Soviet Union.
• Hey! Annaberg, Austria, celebrates the end of the summer harvest with the world's biggest hay-art parade, featuring larger-than-life hay figures on floats pulled by horses and vintage tractors.
• Heck! It's hot in Phoenix, but not too hot for the Hell City Tattoo Tour. Says it all.

Documents show elite U.S. soldiers authorized to enter Pakistan

The Associated Press has obtained copies of documents describing "rules of engagement" that authorized U.S. Army Rangers to cross into Pakistan under certain circumstances.

AP says the documents, created in 2004, were part of the 1,100 records collected as part of the investigation into the death of Pat Tillman, a former NFL player who died in a friendly fire incident while serving in Afghanistan.

"Interviews with officers in the field, and the public statements of top U.S. commanders, indicate similar guidelines remain in place today," the wire service reports.

Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaeda, was none to happy to hear about these guidelines, which don't include a requirement that commanders notify Islamabad in advance of any incursions.

"This is all nonsense. Pakistan never allowed the coalition forces to enter into our territory while chasing militants. There was no such agreement, there was no such understanding," Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad tells the wire service.

(Image shows a slide that was among the documents obtained by the Associated Press.)

Top spy: 'There are some' cases in which terrorists crossed southern border

The nation's spy chief made some interesting revelations during an interview last week with the El Paso Times. Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, discussed the number of people within the USA whose communications are being monitored and acknowledged that the "private sector" helped with the government's warrantless surveillance program.

He also revealed that migrant workers aren't the only ones sneaking across the border with Mexico.

The Times has a transcript of the interview. In it, McConnell tells the paper that "there are some" cases in which terrorists have come across the southern border. In addition, he says there were "a significant number of Iraqis who came across last year."

"The point is it went from a number to (triple) in a single year, because they figured it out. Now some we caught, some we didn't. The ones that get in, what are they going to do? They're going to write home," he is quoted as saying. "So, it's not rocket science, word will move around. There's a program now in South America, where you can, once you're in South American countries, you can move around in South America and Central America without a visa. So you get a forged passport in Lebanon or where ever that gets you to South America. Now, no visa, you can move around, and with you're [sic] forged passport, as a citizen of whatever, you could come across that border."

During the interview, McConnell is quoting as saying that public discussions about intelligence sources and methods come with risks.

"The fact we're doing it this way means that some Americans are going to die, because we do this mission unknown to the bad guys because they're using a process that we can exploit and the more we talk about it, the more they will go with an alternative means and when they go to an alternative means, remember what I said, a significant portion of what we do, this is not just threats against the United States, this is war in Afghanistan and Iraq," McConnell says.

At the end of the interview, the Associated Press says the spy chief "cautioned" the reporter "that he should consider whether enemies of the U.S. could gain from the information he just shared in the interview."

The newspaper says it doesn't think any of the information it published jeopardizes U.S. national security. Other government officials say they're surprised by McConnell's candor.

"We have had intelligence about al-Qaeda identifying Latin America as a potential or prospective area where they could come through, but frankly, I'm surprised that the director would make definitive statements like that because, even if it were true, you wouldn't want to publicize that," Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, chairman of House Intelligence Committee, tells the Times.

"It's not something we would talk about," Reyes, McConnell's host at the time of the interview, says.

Update at 4:49 p.m. ET: The Associated Press says it obtained the new "rules of engagement." Here's the story.

(File photo of McConnell taken Feb. 20, 2007, by Charles Dharapak, AP.)

Bush to invoke Vietnam in arguing against 'deceptive allure of retreat'

President Bush plans to make some comparisons between the conflicts in Vietnam and Iraq when he addresses veterans this morning in Kansas City. The central theme of his speech, according to excerpts we've received from the White House, is that the United States can't afford to withdraw its military and leave its allies to deal with the internecine bloodbath that is likely to follow.

"Prevailing in this struggle is essential to our future as a Nation," Bush's speech says. "The question now before us comes down to this:  Will today’s generation of Americans resist the deceptive allure of retreat – and do in the Middle East what veterans in this room did in Asia?"

Click "Read more" for some excerpts from the speech.

Jose Padilla convicted on all counts

Jurors have reached a verdict in the case against Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen accused of conspiring to provide support to terrorists. We're waiting for word from the federal courthouse in Miami as to whether the one-time "enemy combatant" has been found guilty or not guilty.

Update at 2:25 p.m. ET: Padilla was convicted on all counts, according to CNN and the Associated Press.

This website has a range of information about Padilla and the criminal case, which began when he was accused by federal officials of plotting to carry out a "dirty bomb" attack inside the United States. Those allegations were not included in the charges that federal prosecutors decided to bring against the man also known as Abdullah al-Muhajir.

FindLaw has a copy of the indictment and other filings in the case.

Update at 2:43 p.m. ET: Padilla and his two co-defendants face up to life in prison. They will be sentenced Dec. 5 by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke.

Update at 3 p.m. ET: AP says the White House is describing the verdict as "just." "We commend the jury for its work in this trial and thank it for upholding a core American principle of impartial justice for all," Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, says. "Jose Padilla received a fair trial and a just verdict."

Padilla's mother, Estela Lebron, says she is "a little bit sad." "I don't know how they found Jose guilty," she says, according to AP. Lebron tells a CNN affiliate that "my son would never hurt anybody."

Update at 6:03 p.m. ET: USA TODAY's Kevin Johnson and Haya El Nasser report that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other government officials are lauding the conviction as a “significant victory in our efforts to fight the threat posed by terrorists and their supporters.’’

“This case demonstrates that we will make full use of our intelligence and law enforcement authorities to prevent individuals – and particularly our own countrymen – from supporting and joining the ranks of our terrorist enemies,” Kenneth Wainstein, the assistant attorney general for national security, tells reporters.

Former federal prosecutor Ruth Wedgwood, now a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, says the guilty verdict inspires confidence “that the American criminal justice system can be applied effectively in a case like this.’’

(Sketch by Shirley Henderson, AP)

Report: Suicide bombing near tour bus in Morocco

Maghreb Arabe Presse, the Moroccan news agency, is reporting that a suicide bombing occurred today near a tour bus, according to the Associated Press.

Update at 12:24 p.m. ET: The incident involved a man who detonated a canister of gas near a tour bus in Meknes, a town north of the capital, MAP reports, according to AP.

MAP says the attacker's arm was blown off in the blast. Otherwise, there weren't any casualties, the news agency says.

Looking ahead

The weekend and beyond:

Saturday
• French President Nicholas Sarkozy and his wife, Cecelia, travel to Kennebunkport, Maine, for lunch with President and Laura Bush.
• Sierra Leone holds presidential and parliamentary elections.
• Disabled American Veterans are in New Orleans for their 2007 national convention, which runs through Tuesday.
• All shook up: Elvis Week 2007 begins in Memphis, marking the 30th anniversary of Elvis' death, Aug. 16, 1977.

Sunday
• Enjoy the shower: From late Sunday to dawn Monday, skywatchers far from city lights will be bathed in celestial fireballs as the annual Perseid meteor shower peaks. You might see up to 60 meteors per hour, regardless of time zone, astronomers say.

Monday
• President Bush visits the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington before heading to his Texas ranch.
• Closing arguments begin in the Jose Padilla terrorism trial in Miami.
• The fourth annual Border Security conference opens in El Paso, Texas. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff delivers the keynote.
• Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine holds a conference on college campus security in response to the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech.
• Cuban leader Fidel Castro turns 81.

Looking ahead

Some of Thursday's highlights:

• Economic reports: Freddie Mac releases the weekly report on mortgage rates, and the Labor Department reports on weekly initial jobless claims.
• The Labor Department also releases its report on the number of workers killed on the job in 2006.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration releases its update to the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook.
• Six of the eight Democratic presidential candidates will be in Los Angeles tonight for a forum on gay issues.
• In Miami, prosecutors in the Jose Padilla terrorism trial call their final witnesses. The case could go to the jury next week.
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hosts a two-day summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders receiving his country's oil at preferential prices.

 

Brits want five prisoners released from Gitmo

The British government wants five men released from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The request, transmitted in a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, marks a change in policy under British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

"The Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary have reviewed the government’s approach to this group of individuals in light of these ongoing developments, our long-held policy aim of securing the closure of Guantanamo Bay, and the need to maintain national security," the Foreign Office says in a press release. "They have decided to request the release and return of the five detainees who have links to the U.K. as former residents, having been granted refugee status, indefinite leave or exceptional leave to remain prior to their detention: Mr. Shaker Aamer, Mr. Jamil El Banna, Mr. Omar Deghayes, Mr. Binyam Mohamed and Mr. Abdennour Sameur."

Tony Blair's government had refused to intercede with Washington on behalf of non-citizens.

3 to be extradited for alleged JFK Airport terror plot

Three men in Trinidad were ordered extradited to the United States on charges they plotted to blow up fuel tanks and pipelines at New York's Kennedy airport. A judge ruled there is enough evidence to extradite Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad and Abdul Nur and Abdul Kadir of Guyana from the Caribbean nation. They were arrested in June. Kadir is a former member of Guyana's Parliament.

NPR reported this morning on the head of the radical Muslim sect Jamaat al Muslimeen (the Association of Muslims), who has been implicated in the plot but not charged.

(Photo of Abdul Kadir entering court in Port-of-Spain by Andres Leighton, AP)

Bush, Karzai cap two days of meetings with news conference

President Bush is scheduled to hold a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at 11:25 a.m. ET.

The two leaders have been meeting since Saturday at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Md.

Reuters says the Taliban has threatened to kill 21 South Korean hostages if Karzai doesn't agree to release the group's members from Afghan prisons.

Update at 11:20 a.m. ET: The news conference started early. Bush, in his prepared remarks, says they spent a lot of time talking about security in Afghanistan. They also discussed the need to "stem the narcotics trade," Bush says. (For more about Afghanistan's opium crop, check out this New Yorker story from last month.)

Update at 11:24 a.m. ET: It's Karzai's turn to speak. He's thanking his hosts and expressing gratitude for the Bush administration's assistance with public health and security issues. 

Update at 11:32 a.m. ET: Bush was asked if he would ask strike al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan with or without the permission of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

"I'm confident that with actionable intelligence we will be able to bring top al-Qaeda to justice," he says. "We're in constant communications with the Pakistan government. It's in their interest that foreign fighters be brought to justice ... I'm confident that with real, actionable intelligence we will get the job done."

Update at 11:35 a.m. ET: Karzai was asked about the state of the Taliban in his country.

"The Taliban do pose dangers to our innocent people," he says, adding: "They're not posing any threat to the government of Afghanistan. They're not posing any threat to the institutions of Afghanistan or to the buildup of institutions of Afghanistan. It's a force that's defeated."

He says the group's actions are driven by "cowardice."

Update at 11:40 a.m. ET: Bush blames the Taliban for using innocent civilians as human shields.

"I fully understand the angst, the agony and the sorrow that Afghan citizens feel when an innocent life is lost. I know that must cause grief in villages and heartbreak in homes ... I can assure the Afghan people, like I assured the president, that we do everything we can to protect the innocent, that our military operations are mindful that innocent life might be exposed to danger and we adjust accordingly."

"The Taliban are the cold-blooded killers. The Taliban are the murderers. The Talib have no regard for human life," Bush adds.

Update at 12:10 p.m. ET: USA TODAY's David Jackson has filed a story about the news conference.

(Photo by Charles Dharapak, AP)

House rejects limits on overseas spying; Senate OKs bill

Voting 218-207, the House has rejected a Democratic plan to restrict eavesdropping on terror suspects overseas. President Bush had vowed to veto the measure and any other deemed unable "to prevent an attack on the country."

The bill would have required a review by the secret FISA court within 15 days after intelligence agents get the newly expanded powers for eavesdropping on terrorists abroad without warrants and end that authority in four months, the AP says.

In the Senate, Democrats seems resigned to accepting a White House-backed bill limiting that authority to six months. It also would allow the director of national intelligence and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to conduct expanded eavesdropping for four months before a court approved it.

Update at 9:43 p.m. ET: The Senate has passed the measure.

Colonial sub replica causes scare in New York Harbor

A replica of a Revolutionary War submarine spooked New York City police and the U.S. Coast Guard today when the egg-shaped vessel was seen bobbing near the Queen Mary 2 luxury liner docked off Brooklyn.

But the handmade wood-and-fiberglass submersible — a replica of David Bushnell's one-man American Turtle, the first submarine used in combat — was the work of artists, not terrorists.

"It was a strange sight," Coast Guard Petty Officer Angelia Rorison told the New York Post.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly described it as "the creative craft of three adventuresome individuals. It does not pose any terrorist threat. ... We can best summarize today's incident as marine mischief."

Artist Philip "Duke" Riley, 35, and two Rhode Island men were detained and questioned. One Rhode Island man said he was descendant of Bushnell.

The Coast Guard cited Riley for having an unsafe vessel and for violating a security zone, the AP reports.

The New York Times has more about Riley and his artistic vision, plus a nice photo of him in his turtle.

The Wikipedia and About.com have more history on and depictions of the original 1776 Turtle.

(The New York City Harbor Patrol drags the makeshift submersible out of the water near the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. AP photo by Louis Lanzano.)

Looking ahead

A few highlights for Friday:

• President Bush's day will be dominated by terrorism and homeland security. In the morning he'll sign H.R. 1, Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007, meets with the Counterterrorism Team and then will make a statement. After lunch he's scheduled to meet the Homeland Security Team.
• Laura Bush visits the scene of the Minneapolis bridge disaster. Afterward, as previously scheduled, she'll drop by the Republican National Committee's summer meeting and then address a youth conference at the University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities in St. Paul.
• The Labor Department releases the July unemployment report.
• William Gray of Colorado State University is to deliver an update on the Atlantic hurricane season.
• Most rebel groups in Darfur are expected in Tanzania for a three-day meeting chaired by the African Union and the United Nations.
• AFL-CIO President John Sweeney addresses the National Day Laborer Organizing Network convention.
• In Rhode Island, the 48th Newport Folk Festival opens with Linda Ronstadt. Here's the weekend lineup. In Chicago, they'll be making a little more noise at Lollapalooza. Headliners include Iggy Pop and Amy Winehouse. USAT's own Pop Candy reminds everyone that some of the shows will be webcast.

OK: Oklahoma license plate touts terror fight

For Sooners looking to show their terror-fighting pride while tearing up the asphalt, the Oklahoma Tax Commission has extended the deadline to order the global war on terrorism license plate (aka GWOT) pictured here.

Officials had set a May 31 deadline for the $37 vanity plate (just one of 145 specialty plates the state offers), but the order form is still up, and that's attracted eyeballs from Reddit, Digg and Wired.

Terror suspect dies of burns from Glasgow airport attack

The BBC and Sky News are reporting that Glasgow Airport terror suspect Kafeel Ahmed has died in the hospital from burns he suffered in the June 30 attack. He drove the flaming Jeep as it crashed into the terminal and was burned over 90% of his body and had been in a coma.

News of his death comes hours after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown honored baggage handler John Smeaton as a hero for tackling Ahmed, a native of Bangalore, India, as he and passenger Bilal Abdullah, an Iraqi doctor, jumped from the burning vehicle.

"This is a very brave man and a very courageous man, and I think the whole country owes John a debt of gratitude," Brown said. "He is a hero, and we are proud of him."

Brown also hinted that Smeaton and other members of the public who intervened could receive honors for their efforts alongside the emergency services involved.

After the short private meeting at 10 Downing Street, the 31-year-old Smeaton said he was "honored, humbled and bewildered."

(Photo of Prime Minister Gordon Brown honoring John Smeaton, who tackled terror suspect, by Dylan Martinez, AP)

Padilla won't mount defense in terror case

Jose Padilla, the former enemy combatant, won't mount a defense in response to charges that he supported al-Qaeda and other Islamists.

"At this point, we're not calling any witnesses," his lawyer tells the federal judge who's hearing the high-profile case in Miami, according to the Associated Press.

Prosecutors accuse Padilla, a U.S. citizen, of being recruited by the terrorist group. If convicted, he and two co-defendants face the possibility of life in prison.

Not long ago, USA TODAY's Laura Parker looked at the differences between what Padilla was accused of in public and what he was charged with in court.

Taliban spokesman: 21 South Koreans still alive, but two are sick

A Taliban spokesman says the group's 21 South Korean hostages are still alive, but two of the women have fallen ill in recent days, according to the Associated Press.

"Yes, they are alive," Qari Moahmmad Yousuf tells Reuters by telephone.

Taliban gunmen seized 23 South Koreans as they were traveling on a bus in Afghanistan on July 19. Two of the hostages have been killed during the standoff between militants and government forces.

The Associated Press quotes the "purported Taliban spokesman" saying that the militant group's leader, Mullah Omar, has appointed three high-level militants to oversee the hostage crisis. He says the fugitive leader has given these men "the power to order them slain at any time."

Several deadlines have passed without any signs that the government plans to meet the group's demands that it free Taliban members from prison in return for the release of the hostages. The Afghan military has disputed reports from earlier today that a rescue attempt was underway.

For more on the crisis, check out this interview that South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo conducted with the Taliban spokesman.

Saudis may be willing to attend Mideast peace conference

In what could be a significant shift, Saudi Arabia says it may be willing to participate in a Mideast peace conference that the United States has proposed for later this year.

"I said before that we are interested in a peace conference that deals with the substantive matters of peace, the issues of real substance and not form or insubstantive issues," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal was quoted as saying after meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

"If that does so, it becomes of great interest for Saudi Arabia and should we then get an invitation from the secretary to attend that conference we will look very closely and very hard at attending the conference," the prince said.

Israel welcomed the possibility that Riyadh would send a delegation to the meetings. "We hope that many Arab countries will attend this international meeting, including Saudi Arabia," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a statement.

Obama to promise action against terrorists hiding out in Pakistan

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., will threaten to send U.S. troops into Pakistan's lawless frontier region when he speaks about terrorism during a campaign stop today in Washington.

"Let me make this clear," the Democratic presidential hopeful says in a speech prepared for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al-Qaeda leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will."

Obama's campaign has been locked in a bitter dispute over foreign policy with Sen. Hillary Clinton ever since the two disagreed during a debate about whether or not the next president should meet with the leaders of regimes that have been shunned by the Bush administration.

In today's address, Obama plans to argue that President Bush has left the United States less secure than it was before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"He confuses our mission," Obama's speech says. "By refusing to end the war in Iraq, President Bush is giving the terrorists what they really want, and what the Congress voted to give them in 2002: a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences."

Check out USA TODAY's On Politics blog for more on the speech.

General censured over Tillman's death

Retired Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger, the head of Army Special Forces, has been censured for a "perfect storm of mistakes, misjudgments and a failure of leadership" after the 2004 friendly-fire death in Afghanistan of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, Army Secretary Pete Geren has announced. He also asked a review panel to decide whether Kensinger should be demoted from three stars to two and forfeit some benefits.

But Geren said that although Kensinger was "guilty of deception" in misleading investigators, there was no intentional Pentagon cover-up of circumstances surrounding the former pro football player's death, which the military first attributed to enemy fire.

"He failed to provide proper leadership to the soldiers under his administrative control. ... He let his soldiers down," Geren said. "Gen. Kensinger was the captain of that ship, and his ship ran aground."

At least six other officers received lesser reprimands.

We blogged on this last week.

Somali pleads to terror charge in alleged Ohio mall plot

A 35-year-old Somali immigrant the government says plotted to blow up a shopping mall in Columbus, Ohio, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to support terrorists, the AP and Columbus Dispatch are reporting.

Nuradin Abdi faced trial next week and possibly 80 years in prison. A specific target was never identified. Prosecutors say his threat came during an August 2002 coffee shop meeting with Iyman Faris, who is now serving 20 years in prison for plotting to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge, and a third suspect. He testified that Abdi's threat to blow up a mall the day after Thanksgiving 2003 was simply anger at U.S. foreign policy, not a bona fide terror plan.

(Photo of Nuradin Abdi from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement via AP)

Taliban: Second South Korean hostage has been executed

Taliban gunmen have killed a second South Korean hostage because the Afghan government didn't meet the group's demands, a spokesman for the militant group tells the Associated Press.

"The Kabul and Korean governments are lying and cheating. They did not meet their promise of releasing Taliban prisoners," Qari Yousef Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, says. "The Taliban warns the government if the Afghan government won't release Taliban prisoners then at any time the Taliban could kill another Korean hostage."

The group kidnapped 23 South Koreans as their bus drove through a remote part of the country on July 19. The kidnappers later killed one of their prisoners. They have threatened to execute to the remaining hostages if 23 fellow militants aren't released from prison.

Congress OKs bill enshrining 9/11 commission ideas

The House has overwhelmingly passed legislation that shifts homeland security funds to high-risk states and expands screening of air and sea cargo. The bill, which cleared the Senate late last night and now awaits President Bush's signature, implements major recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission.

The AP has details.

Deadly blast near Red Mosque in Pakistan

The Pakistani government tells the Associated Press and Reuters that at least 11 people were killed in an explosion today near the Red Mosque complex in Islamabad. More than three dozen were said to have been wounded in the blast.

The compound had just reopened for Friday prayers following a bloody standoff between Islamist militants and government forces.

Update at 1:36 p.m. ET: The death toll has risen to 13, according to AP.

(A police officer, center, shouts as he is helped by his colleagues at the site of an explosion today in Islamabad. Photo by Anjum Naveed, AP.)

Report: TSA memo over-stated 'dry run' incident at San Diego airport

Lots of news organizations were trumpeting the release yesterday of a TSA memo that described what may have been "dry runs" by terrorists trying to test security at airports across the USA. Now, thanks to The (San Diego) Union-Tribune, we learn that at least one of these incidents may have been over-stated in the intelligence bulletin.

According to the memo, airport screeners found two ice packs filled with clay and wrapped with duct tape inside a checked bag at Lindbergh Field.

But federal and local law-enforcement officials say that's not what happened. "San Diego Harbor Police Chief Kirk Sanfilippo said the incident involved a bag checked by a woman in her 60s flying out of Lindbergh Field. Sanfilippo said a routine swab test of the bag indicated the presence of a chemical that is sometimes used in explosives or medications. Inside the luggage, inspectors found cold packs, wrapped in clear packing tape, that were old and leaking," the Union-Tribune reports.

The paper says a TSA spokesman in Washington stood by the initial report and contradicted his counterparts at the airport.

(Photo taken June 30 at O'Hare International Airport by Tasos Katopodis, Getty Images.)

Latest news about South Koreans kidnapped by Taliban gunmen

We're receiving some news about the South Korean hostages who are being held by Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

According to Reuters, eight of the 23 hostages will be released today. According to the Associated Press, eight hostages have been freed and are being moved to "a safe location."

Earlier, Reuters quoted an unidentified Taliban spokesman who claimed the gunmen killed one of the hostages after the latest deadline passed without any apparent concessions from the government. AP quoted "a purported Taliban spokesman" who said the group would kill "a few" of the hostages because its demands weren't met.

The South Koreans were kidnapped last Thursday while they were traveling through Afghanistan's Ghazni province. Several deadlines imposed by the militants have passed without incident.

Update at 9:54 a.m. ET: Here's the latest from the AP: "A police official says militants told him they have killed a South Korean hostage, while Western officials say some of the others in the group have been freed."

Update at 11:47 a.m. ET: AP reports that Afghan police have recovered the "bullet-riddled body" of one of the South Koreans.

(South Korean protesters light candles during a rally demanding the safe return of South Koreans kidnapped in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of South Korean troops from that country in this photo taken today in Seoul by Lee Jin-man, AP.)

Colo. prof fired for 9/11 remarks

The University of Colorado governing Board of Regents has fired ethnic-studies professor Ward Churchill, who likened some Sept. 11 victims to Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann, the Associated Press reports.

The Rocky Mountain News says Churchill was dismissed for academic misconduct, including plagiarism and inventing facts and entire historical episodes. One of the charges: He published essays under the names of other people, then cited them in footnotes as independent sources supporting his views.

Churchill says he was fired for constitutionally protected speech and is vowing to sue.

Here's his personal site, his Wikipedia entry, some articles he's written, a 2004 interview and a critic.

(Photo by Rick Wilking, Reuters)

Bush's Iraq speech -- by the numbers

President Bush's speech today on Iraq took 24 minutes, according to the White House transcript. Our count, using that transcript, indicates he mentioned al-Qaeda 93 times. We counted 23 mentions of Osama bin Laden, 32 mentions of terrorists and five mentions of the Sept. 11 attacks, so it doesn't take a lot of insight to see what the president was trying to emphasize today.

All of that is part of Bush's efforts to rally support for his embattled Iraq policy. Bush will spend "a fair amount" of time talking about Iraq in the weeks ahead "because it's important the American people get a fuller and deeper appreciation of what's going on," White House spokesman Tony Snow said today.

Whether that will work is obviously a matter of debate. Bush's low job approval ratings are often cited by critics, but the AP notes that its own poll earlier this month indicated only 24% of Americans approved of the job Congress was doing -- a number even lower than the president's approval.

Gonzales: We petitioned Ashcroft at hospital about a different spy program

Remember the story about how then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales visited John Ashcroft in the hospital and asked him to overrule acting Attorney General James Comey, who had refused to certify the legality of an ongoing surveillance program in March 2004?

Most people assumed that the dispute centered on the warrantless surveillance program that was disclosed by The New York Times in December 2005 and later acknowledged in public by President Bush and other senior government officials.

Well, Gonzales just challenged that assumption during a contentious hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Gonzales: The disagreement that occurred, and the reason for the visit to the hospital, Senator, was about other intelligence activities. It was not about the terrorist surveillance program that the president announced to the American people. Now, I would like the opportunity... 

Today's photo: Wounded warrior gets a bionic hand

This photo by Mary Altaffer of the Associated Press shows an Iraq war veteran shaking hands with a reporter during an interview yesterday in New York. Juan Arredondo is one of the first recipients of the i-Limb, a bionic hand with independently moving joints that flex and bend like natural fingers.

According to the caption, each finger has an individual motor that allows the recipient to engage in activities such as shaking hands and gripping rounded objects like door knobs.

"To have this movement, it's -- it's amazing," Arredondo tells reporters. "It just gets me more excited about now, about the future."

Pakistanis: 54 militants killed in North Waziristan

Pakistan says its military forces have killed at least 54 militants in North Waziristan, the lawless border region where Osama bin Laden and other terrorists are thought to be hiding.

Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad tells Reuters that the fighting occurred in Mir Ali. "We have reports that 35 militants have been killed since Sunday night and fighting is still on in Mir Ali," Arshad says. In addition to those who have been killed, the news agency says 19 militants and seven soldiers were wounded in the clashes.

Violence has increased in the region since the collapse of a truce between the government and tribal leaders. Read more about the Taliban's activities.

Taliban: 23 S. Korean prisoners will be killed if prisoners aren't released

The Associated Press quotes a "purported Taliban spokesman" who says the militant group will kill 23 South Korean hostages later today if the Afghan government doesn't release an equal number of Taliban members from prison.

The kidnappers gave the government until 10:30 a.m. ET to meet their demands. "They are in good health and fine, but we would like to repeat that any use of force will claim the lives of the hostages and the Taliban then would not be responsible," the Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, tells Reuters.

Bloomberg News is reporting that American and Afghan forces killed at least 48 Taliban fighters yesterday and today in southern Afghanistan.

Update at 10:58 a.m. ET: AP now quotes the "purported Taliban spokesman" saying that the deadline has been extended until tomorrow night.

(Photo by Shah Marai, AFP)

Bush sets rules for detention, interrogation of terror suspects

President Bush signed an executive order today that deals with the conditions in which employees of the Central Intelligence Agency are allowed to detain and interrogate terrorism suspects.

Here's how the White House describes the order in a statement from the press office:

The Order requires that any CIA interrogation program that might go forward comply with all relevant federal statutes, including the prohibition on “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment” in the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, the federal prohibition on torture, and the War Crimes Act, all of which protect against violations of Common Article 3. The Order imposes other explicit limitations on interrogation techniques and conditions of confinement in a CIA program.  It bars, “acts of violence serious enough to be considered comparable to murder, torture, mutilation, and cruel and inhuman treatment.”  It also prohibits “willful and outrageous acts of personal abuse done for the purpose of humiliating or degrading the individual in a manner so serious that any reasonable person, considering the circumstances, would deem the acts beyond the bounds of human decency."   And the Order forbids acts intended to denigrate detainees’ religion, religious practices, or religious objects.

We'll post a link to the order when it's published on the White House website.

Taliban gunmen abduct South Koreans in Afghanistan

Taliban fighters kidnapped at least 18 South Koreans yesterday as they traveled with a church group in Afghanistan, according to the Associated Press.

Reuters says the gunmen may have taken more prisoners. "Twenty-three Korean citizens, 18 women and five men, were very carelessly traveling in a chartered bus from Kabul to Kandahar yesterday, on the way to Kandahar their bus was stopped by armed men ... and they took them away," Interior Ministry spokesman Zemari Bashari tells the wire service.

The Korea Herald, which bills itself as that country's leading English-language newspaper, says 20 people were kidnapped.

 

Is Abu Omar al-Baghdadi a man or a myth?

The U.S. military says it may never catch the man in charge of the militant Islamic State of Iraq. The reason? Abu Omar al-Baghdadi is a myth.

At least that's what a high-ranking terrorist is telling interrogators. Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner says Khalid al-Mashadani, a senior member of al-Qaeda in Iraq, is claiming that al-Qaeda in Iraq founded a "virtual organisation in cyberspace called the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006." Reuters quotes the general saying: "To further this myth, [al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayub al-] Masri created a fictional head of the Islamic State of Iraq known as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi."

Some background:

• GlobalSecurity.org has a profile of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.
• Back in February, an op-ed piece in the New York Sun took issue with The New York Times for not writing about the Iraqi's rise. Here's an excerpt from Nibras Kazimi's essay:

Deadly suicide bombing in Pakistan

At least 12 people died in the Pakistani capital today when a suicide bomber detonated explosives during a rally in support of the country's suspended chief justice.

Declassified report on terrorist threat to the United States

A newly declassified intelligence estimate says al-Qaeda continues to plot to attack the United States, according to the Associated Press.

Read a copy of the report here.

Click "Read more" for excerpts from the report with the analysts' "key judgments" about the threat.

Update at 12:26 p.m. ET: USA TODAY's David Jackson has the latest from the White House, where President Bush's domestic security adviser just told reporters that officials are operating on the assumption that al-Qaeda is constantly trying to place operatives in the United States.

"We assume because we have to," Fran Townsend said, noting that capturing Osama bin Laden remains a high priority for the Bush administration nearly six years after 9/11. She said he does not stay in "a single place," moving around the remonte mountain areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"He doesn't make it easy," Townsend said. "If it were easy, he'd be dead."

Townsend, whose office released a "fact sheet" on terrorism, called al-Qaeda "a persistent terrorist enemy" that remains "driven and intent" on attacking the United States, but it is not stronger than before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"Our greatly increased worldwide counterterrorism efforts since September the 11th have constrained the ability of al-Qaeda to attack the U.S. again," she said. "And have led terrorist groups to view the homeland as a harder target to strike than it was on 9/11."

Townsend also said that counter-terrorism efforts have "helped disrupt a number of plots against the U.S." (Photo by Ron Edmonds, AP)

President Bush to make 'significant announcements about the Middle East'

White House officials say we should pay attention when President Bush speaks about the Middle East this afternoon, but they won't tell us what he plans to say, according to USA TODAY's David Jackson.

"The president will be making significant announcements about the Middle East and our policies," press secretary Tony Snow tells reporters. "There's going to be new stuff in there."

Snow declined to say what that is, but notes that Bush has been consulting with new Middle East envoy Tony Blair.

NSC spokesman Gordon Johndroe was similarly reticent, but says the proposals will involve new diplomatic and financial aid to the Palestinians.

Update at 10:16 a.m. ET: AP quotes Israeli officials who say they will release 250 Palestinian prisoners later this week as part of efforts to prop up Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction controls the West Bank. Hamas, the dominant party, controls Gaza.

The release is scheduled for Friday.

AP has more on today's speech at the White House.

Update at 12:09 p.m. ET: The wires are reporting that Bush plans to call for an international conference designed to "restart Mideast peace talks."

AP, quoting anonymous officials, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to lead the conference, which will take place later this year.

Update at 12:34 p.m. ET: The White House says Bush has worked on his speech for weeks, including consultations with new Middle East envoy Tony Blair.

Looking ahead

Some of what's scheduled to happen Saturday, Sunday and Monday:

Saturday
• Stormin': It's Bastille Day. Nicolas Sarkozy gets to lead his first celebration as president of France.
• Ralph Nader speaks about the Pennsylvania Green Party's struggle for ballot access at the 2007 Green Party national meeting in Reading.
• Dallas meet-up: The Romance Writers of America wrap up their annual conference, and the International Women's Peace Conference continues until tomorrow.
• All aboard: Along a chain link fence beside the train tracks in Laguna Niguel, Calif., a bunch of cracked folks will bend over throughout the day and night for the 28th annual Mooning of Amtrak (and Metrolink, which was added last year). Trains have been known to slow down so passengers can sight-see. Naturally, alcohol is involved...
Sunday
• Lady Bird Johnson will be buried at the Johnson Family Ranch in Stonewall, Texas.
• With word that North Korea is poised to begin shutting down its nuclear reactor, U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill visits South Korea.
• Somalia opens the National Reconciliation Congress, intended to bring peace to the East African country.
• The ESPY Awards, honoring athletes and sports moments, will be presented in Los Angeles.
Monday
• President Bush meets with Poland's president, Lech Kaczynski.
• In Dallas, a federal trial begins for the Holy Land Foundation and seven of its leaders, who are accused of funneling money to Hamas.
• A federal court hearing is scheduled on a request to resume shipments of neutralized VX nerve agent from the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana to Texas.
• A U.N.-backed court sentences three former Sierra Leonean military leaders convicted in June on multiple counts of war crimes.

Indian doctor charged in failed U.K. bombings

A 27-year-old Indian doctor has been charged in Australia with helping carry out the attempted terror bombings in London and Scotland last month, the BBC and The Age newspaper report.

Mohamed Haneef, who was stopped at Brisbane airport July 2 as he tried to leave Australia for India, was changed with providing support to a terrorist organisation. He is accused of providing a mobile phone SIM card to his second cousins, both of whom are being held in Britain.

Haneef is due in Brisbane court tomorrow.

Senate votes to double bin Laden bounty to $50 million

The Senate has voted to double the bounty on the head of Osama bin Laden from $25 million to $50 million, and it wants regular updates on efforts to track and capture the al-Qaeda leader, the Los Angeles Times and Reuters tell us. The vote was 87-1.

The no vote? Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky. Here's his explanation.

The bounty would be paid out of the State Department's Rewards for Justice program, which has already paid out millions of dollars for such targets as Saddam Hussein's sons.

Report: Al-Qaeda stronger, still planning U.S. attack

The Associated Press has followed up on its report yesterday regarding a new U.S. intelligence assessment of the strength and capabilities of al-Qaeda. Today the AP says it "has learned" that the draft National Intelligence Estimate says the terror group is trying harder to sneak operatives into the United States and has most of the capabilities to strike.

Here's what AP cites as some of the key findings of the classified estimate, which still must be approved by all 16 U.S. spy agencies:

• Al-Qaeda is probably still pursuing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons and would use them if its operatives developed sufficient capability.
• The terror group has been able to restore three of the four key tools it would need to launch an attack on U.S. soil: a safe haven in Pakistan's tribal areas, operational lieutenants and senior leaders. It could not immediately be learned what the missing fourth element is.
• The group will bolster its efforts to position operatives inside U.S. borders. In public statements, U.S. officials have expressed concern about the ease with which people can enter the United States through Europe because of a program that allows most Europeans to enter without visas.

The document also discusses increasing concern about individuals already inside the United States who are adopting an extremist brand of Islam.

AP's report yesterday generated some big headlines by saying that U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded al Qaeda has rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since just before the 2001 terrorist attacks. That seemed to bolster a remark Tuesday by Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff that he had a "gut feeling" that al-Qaeda was planning a U.S. attack this summer.

That prompted President Bush to respond today at the end of his press conference. "There is a perception in the coverage that al Qaeda may be as strong today as they were prior to September the 11th. That's just simply not the case. I think the report will say, since 2001, not prior to September the 11th, 2001," he said.

Chertoff also backed off his gut feeling.

Read on for more context.

President Bush talks about Iraq war benchmarks report

President Bush is briefing reporters and answering questions about the situation in Iraq. Stay tuned to On Deadline for live updates from the press conference, which is being aired live on the major broadcast networks.

Update at 10:37 a.m. ET: Bush began by noting the passing of former first lady Lady Bird Johnson and then launched into a defense of his war policy.

"The enemy need to know that America is not going to back down," he said. Bush went on to draw distinctions between his position and that of his critics.

"Sometimes the debate over Iraq is cast as a disagreement between those who want to keep our troops in Iraq and those who want to bring our troops home. And this is not the real debate. I don't know anyone who doesn't want to see the day when our brave servicemen and women can start coming home," he said.

Bush noted his desire to hasten the return of U.S. military forces, but stressed the importance of victory.

"The real debate over Iraq is between those who think the fight is lost or not worth the cost and those who believe the fight can be won and that, as difficult as the fight is, the cost of defeat would be far higher," he said. "I believe we can succeed in Iraq and I know we must."

White House releases new report on Iraq

Update: We have live updates from the president's news conference.

The Bush administration's report on Iraq will show satisfactory progress on eight benchmarks, unsatisfactory progress on another eight and mixed results on the other two, according to the Associated Press.

President Bush is scheduled to address the press at 10:30 a.m. ET. USA TODAY's David Jackson says he expects to receive a copy of the report in about 20 minutes. We'll post a copy when it arrives.

In the meantime, here's a preview that appeared in this morning's USA TODAY.

Update at 9:29 a.m. ET: The report is out. Read it here. The White House website has an HTML version, too.

Update at 9:33 a.m. ET: Click "read more" for excerpts from the summary of achievements and shortfalls in the report.

Update at 10:21 a.m. ET: USA TODAY asked Anthony Cordesman, a military expert at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, to provide his assessment of the administration's progress in each of the areas covered by the White House report. Read his review here.

Looking ahead

Some of what's in store for Thursday:

• As President Bush is expected to release a draft report on progress in Iraq, the House is expected to vote on a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces. Additionally, a House Armed Services subcommittee is holding a hearing on Iraq's future.
• Economic reports: the trade balance for May; federal budget for June; weekly mortgage rates and jobless claims.
• The House Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee holds a hearing in the firing of U.S. attorneys. Former White House Counsel Harriet Miers will not testify.
• The Senate Homeland Security committee's Investigations subcommittee holds a hearing on dirty-bomb licensing vulnerabilities.
• The Green Party opens its annual national meeting, this year in Reading, Pa.
• Birdland: At the Denver Botanic Gardens, more than 150 birdhouses of all shapes and sizes will be up for bid at the annual Birdhaus Bash garden party and auction.

Report: Al-Qaeda has regrouped

Yesterday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune that he had a "gut feeling" that Islamist terrorist groups were planning summer attacks in the United States. He based that on previous attack in Europe and intelligence he would not disclose that "they are rebuilding their activities." (Some experts were puzzled.)

Earlier today, law enforcement officials interpreted his remarks as a reminder to be vigilant.

Now comes word from the AP about the apparent source of Chertoff's "gut feeling":

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded al-Qaida has rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since just before the 2001 terrorist attacks, The Associated Press has learned.

The conclusion suggests that the group that launched the most devastating terror attack on the United States has been able to rebuild despite nearly six years of bombings, war and other tactics aimed at crippling it.

Still, numerous government officials say they know of no specific, credible threat of a new attack.

A counterterrorism official familiar with a five-page summary of the new government threat assessment called it a stark appraisal that will be discussed at the White House on Thursday as part of a broader meeting on an upcoming National Intelligence Estimate.

The official and others spoke on condition of anonymity because the secret report remains classified. ...

The AP article continues after the jump.

Update at 7:48 p.m. ET: The CIA’s director of intelligence appeared before the House Armed Services Committee today and discussed al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Here are reports from the Marine Times and Mother Jones.

British woman marries son of bin Laden

A British woman has married one of Osama bin Laden's sons, The Times of London is reporting.

Jane Felix-Browne, 51, of Cheshire, England,  married 27-year-old Omar Ossama bin Laden, 27, "after a holiday romance," the Times reported today.

Quoting the Times: Mrs. Felix-Browne, who has been married five times previously, met Mr. bin Laden in Egypt in September while undergoing treatment for multiple sclerosis. She says that their fairytale romance began when her future husband saw her riding a horse near the Great Pyramid. They were married in Islamic ceremonies in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and are awaiting permission from the authorities in Riyadh to make their marriage official.

The groom works as a scrap metal dealer in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, according to the Times, but he once fought alongside his father. He is one of at least 17 children fathered by Osama bin Laden, the Times reported.

Anonymous doctor says Glasgow suspect 'not likely to survive'

Kafeel Ahmed, one of the men accused of driving a flaming SUV into Glasgow airport on June 30, is expected to die from his injuries, one of his doctors tells the Associated Press.

"The prognosis is not good and he is not likely to survive," a member of the medical team that treated him at the Royal Alexandra Hospital tells the wire service said on condition of anonymity because details about patients are not supposed to be disclosed to the public.

Glasgow airport attacker worked on airplane-parts design

The engineer identified by British police as the driver of the flaming Jeep that crashed into the Glasgow airport worked last year at an Indian outsourcing company that designs aircraft parts for Boeing, Airbus and other manufacturers, the New York Times reports.

Kafeel Ahmed worked in the Bangalore office of Infotech Enterprises between December 2005 and July 2006, a company spokesman told the paper. British police say Ahmed was burned over 90 percent of his body in the June 30 terror attack and he remains in critical condition.

Company records show that Ahmed reported having degrees from universities in India and Northern Ireland, including a master’s in aeronautical engineering. The official would not reveal which projects Ahmed worked on.

Boeing had no immediate comment, while an Airbus spokeswoman said she was not aware of Ahmed's work on company projects.

In reports in their Tuesday editions, the Times of Indiacasts doubt on Ahmed's academic credentials, while The Hindu writes that intelligence agencies say they have not yet linked Ahmed to Al-Qaeda. Sunday, The Hindu reported that Ahmed had links to a major Al-Qaeda figure, while the Times of India carried a report that pro-Al-Qaeda cells were recruiting Indian Muslim youths for attacks against Western countries and interests.

Reservist fights fifth deployment by suing Army

Erik Botta was an Army reservist when terrorists struck the USA on 9/11. Soon afterward, he volunteered to go to war.

He was deployed to Afghanistan.

Then he was sent to Iraq.

Then he was sent to Iraq -- again.

Then he was sent to Iraq -- again.

And he's been ordered to report July 15 for a fifth deployment as a reservist.

As a result, he's going to sue the Army -- and, as the Miami Herald noted in a Sunday profile -- he's no peace activist. He says he's just in danger of losing his home, his job and being unable to finish college, thanks to all of the deployments. His lawyer calls the fifth deployment "an arbitrary decision by the Army Human Resources Command with no rational basis." The Army has turned down an appeal; another is pending.

There's a discussion going on about the story on the Herald's site. We want to know: Do you think it's appropriate for a reservist to be deployed five times in six years?

Morocco says terror attack 'imminent'

Moroccan officials say they have "reliable intelligence information" that radical Islamists are planning an attack imminently, so the national security alert has been raised to "maximum," Reuters is reporting. The Interior Ministry did not provide details about the possible attack.

In 2003, seven uicide bombings killed 45 people in Casablanca.

British prosecutors want to charge Iraqi-born doc in car-bomb incidents

Bilal Abdullah, an Iraqi physician who is one of eight people being held as part of the British car-bomb investigation, will appear in a London court tomorrow to face charges that he conspired to cause an explosion.

"I have now made the decision that there is sufficient evidence and authorized the charging of Bilal Abdullah with conspiracy to cause explosions following incidents in London and Glasgow," Susan Hemming, an anti-terrorism prosecutor, says.

BBC News has posted graphic video that was shot on Saturday by an eyewitness to the failed attack at Glasgow airport. It shows Abdullah being led away from the flaming Jeep Cherokee that was driven into the terminal entrance. Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times published a profile of the 27-year-old physician.

(Photo taken Sunday by Mark Runnacles, Daily Record via AP)

Report: Two docs in British custody looked into U.S. residency programs

Two of the doctors who have been detained in connection with the British car-bomb investigation "took preliminary steps to apply for graduate medical education programs" in the USA, according to anonymous sources quoted in this morning's edition of The Philadephia Inquirer.

If true, this is the first sign that the suspects considered moving to the United States.

FBI agents visited the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, a group that certifies the credentials of foreign physicians, after the failed bombing attempt on Saturday at Glasgow airport, according to the paper.

The sources, described as "familiar with the FBI investigation," say that agents found records that show two of the eight suspects who have been arrested in Britain expressed interest in participating in residency programs in the United States.

"We verify medical documents, credentials, diplomas and transcripts," an official at the Philadelphia -based organization tells the paper. "The doctors we certify are not guaranteed of anything. It's just another step in the process."

The latest on the car-bomb investigation:

• BBC News is reporting that Australian police have carried out more searches and questioned five doctors as part of the investigation. "Australia's federal police chief Mick Keelty said the new people quizzed were 'migrant doctors, of similar nationality and background to the other doctors that are being questioned," the network says. (Here's a timeline.)
• The Guardian is reporting that one of the suspects remains in critical condition at a Glasgow hospital, where he was transferred to a special unit to treat the burns that cover 90% of his body. The paper says British police are searching for signs of al-Qaeda in Iraq cells inside the island nation.

Report: Dozens of radioactive devices disappear in Canada

Dozens of radioactive devices "used in everything from medical research to measuring oil wells" have disappeared in Canada in recent years, leading to fears they were being hoarded for use in "dirty bombs," the Canadian Press and Canada's CTV network are reporting.

The CP reports that at least 76 radioactive devices have disappeared from Canada in the last five years, with at least 35 of those stolen and dozens still missing. CTV interviewed Alan Bell, president of Globe Risk Security Holdings, and he gave them a chilling quote: "It's come to the fore over the last couple of days but it has always been there. We've had this problem. It's only a matter of time before terrorists use a dirty bomb process to attack the world."

CTV also has a map indicating how radioactive material could spread over a wide area if a "dirty bomb" exploded near Toronto's landmark CN Tower.

Two more people detained in fast-moving British bomb investigation

The British car-bomb investigation continues to unfold by the hour, with two more men arrested today in connection with a failed attack Saturday at the airport in Glasgow. At least seven people have been arrested since Friday, when police discovered two sedans packed with fuel and shrapnel in London.

"The links between the three attacks are becoming ever clearer. We are pursuing many lines of inquiry," Peter Clarke, a top British counter-terrorism official, says in a statement. "I am confident, absolutely confident, that in the coming days and weeks, we will be able to gain a thorough understanding of the methods used by the terrorists, the way they planned their attacks and the network to which they belong."

The Daily Mail has a graphic photograph that shows one of the suspects in the airport incident being held down by police.

There's some uncertainty in the press about the origin of these suspects. MSNBC says investigators are trying to identify the suspects. BBC News says it "has learned" that five of the people in detention are from the Middle East. But Reuters quotes an unidentified official who says it's "premature" to say whether the suspects are foreign nationals.

"I would continue to urge people to be vigilant," a police official in Glasgow says.

British police have searched 19 locations as part of their investigation, according to the Associated Press.

Update at 2:22 p.m. ET: British police say two of those who are being held in connection with the recent attacks are doctors from Iraq and Jordan.

Update at 4:15 p.m. ET: British police have arrested an eighth person in connection with the Glasgow attack, AP is reporting.

Update at 7:50 p.m. ET: Australian television is reporting that the eighth suspect was arrested in Brisbane.

Update at 8:22 p.m. ET: Australia's attorney general says the suspect, who was arrested at the Brisbane airport, was a doctor at a Queensland state hospital and is not an Australian citizen.

(Photo taken today at Glasgow airport by Kieran Dodds, AFP/Getty Images.)

British prime minister links incidents to al-Qaeda associates

With five suspects in custody following a series of apparent terrorist incidents in London and Glasgow, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said during an interview today with BBC One that it is "clear that we are dealing in general terms, with people who are associated with al-Qaeda."

"It's obvious that we have a group of people - not just in this country, but round the world - who're prepared at any time to inflict what they want to be maximum damage on civilians, irrespective of the religion of these people who are killed or maimed are to be," he said.

Yesterday, the British government raised the terrorist alert to critical, meaning that "an attack is expected imminently."

Sky News says police are searching a house in Glasgow thought to be connected to the airport incident.

Earlier: A Glasgow eyewitness says "I managed to knock the Asian fellow to the ground"

(Photo taken today at Glasgow airport by Andy Buchanan, AFP/Getty Images.)

Glasgow eyewitness: 'I managed to knock the Asian fellow to the ground'

British police are linking an apparent attack today at Glasgow airport with the discovery yesterday of two car bombs in London, prompting officials to raise the national alert to critical, meaning that "an attack is expected imminently."

The Associated Press reports that two people were taken into custody at the airport this afternoon. One suspect has severe burns  after a flaming Jeep Cherokee crashed into the passenger terminal. He is said to be in critical condition at a local hospital, where police say they found a "suspect device" on his person.

Police in Scotland wouldn't confirm reports that the "suspect device" was a suicide belt. "I can confirm that we believe the incident at Glasgow airport is linked to the events in London yesterday," Scottish Police Chief Constable Willie Rae says. "There are clearly similarities and we can confirm that this is being treated as a terrorist incident."

For more on the nascent British government's response, watch Prime Minister Gordon Brown's speech at Sky News.

Sky News has eyewitness accounts on its website, including comments from a tourist who says he went after one of the men who emerged from the flaming SUV. "I managed to knock the Asian fellow to the ground and four police officers got on top of him," Stephen Clarkson tells the news network, adding: "His whole body was on fire. He was quite a big fellow and was disorientated otherwise I wouldn't have been able to knock him down."

No civilians were injured in the airport incident, according to MSNBC.

The country is on edge. The Guardian's top story begins: Britain is braced tonight for a fresh wave of terrorist attacks as the national threat level was raised to 'critical' following an attempted car bombing of Glasgow airport.

USA TODAY's Donna Leinwand passes along a press release from London police that says security forces are stepping up patrols in the capital. Here in the USA, officials say they're tightening security at airports as a precaution.

The manhunt continues for a man seen fleeing the car bomb that police found early yesterday morning in a busy part of London.

Hamas' Mickey Mouse look-alike beaten to death on TV

Farfour, the Mickey Mouse look-alike who preached the Islamist philosophy of Hamas on a weekly TV show, was beaten to death yesterday by an actor playing an Israeli official during the show's finale.

"Farfour was martyred while defending his land," Sara, the teenage presenter, says during the final episode, according to the Associated Press. He was killed "by the killers of children," she adds.

You can watch an earlier clip from the show, Tomorrow's Pioneers, on YouTube. Click here for background information on the controversy over the Hamas TV station's controversial children's program. Back in April, the Middle East Media Research Institute published a transcript from one of the episodes.

(File photo by Adel Hana, AP)

Supreme Court to hear Gitmo prisoners' appeal

The Supreme Court agreed this morning to hear an appeal from Guantanamo detainees who want federal courts to decide whether their indefinite confinement is legal, according to the Associated Press.

Car bomb found in busy London neighborhood

British police say they've defused a car bomb in London. BBC News says the Mercedes, which came to the attention of a rescue crew because it was emitting smoke, contained about 16 gallons of gasoline, gas cylinders and nails. The bomb squad carried out a controlled explosion that neutralized the device.

The BBC News story includes this ominous -- and unattributed -- sentence: "International elements" are believed to be involved, the BBC has been told.

Reuters, a British news service, says government officials are playing down media reports that suggest the bomb was "massive." But AP quotes police saying the bomb posed a risk of "significant injury or loss of life."

"Even at this stage, it is obvious that, if the device had detonated, there could have been a significant injuries or loss of life," a senior police official said, according to The Guardian. "It was busy, and many people were leaving nightclubs."

BBC News says Scotland Yard is examining video footage from closed-circuit cameras in the vicinity of the car. Security sources are speculating that the bomb was linked to the ascension of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, according to Sky News.

"This incident does recall the need for us to be vigilant at all times and the public to be alert," Brown said, according to Reuters. Sky News has footage of the leader's entire statement.

Someone who lives near the scene tells reporters that she learned about the incident from TV.

The Guardian has a map that shows where the bomb was found. BBC has a photo gallery. A Flickr user called "Eleven Eight" has been updating his profile with photographs of journalists at the scene.

Next week, London will commemorate the deaths of 52 mass-transit passengers in a series of bus and subway bombings by British Muslim extremists on July 7, 2005.

Update at 10:22 a.m. ET: Police are said to be investigating another suspicious vehicle in London, this one on Park Lane near Hyde Park.

Britain's new home secretary, Jacqui Smith, attributed the car bomb to "international terrorism."

"We are currently facing the most serious and sustained threat to our security from international terrorism," she told reporters. "This reinforces the need for the public to remain vigilant to the threat we face at all times."

(Photo by Simon Dawson, AP)

Officer knocks evidence, pressure at Gitmo tribunals

Tribunals at Guantanamo Bay have relied on vague and incomplete intelligence and were pressured to declare detainees to be enemy combatants, often without hard evidence, according to the affidavit of an Army officer with a key role in the hearings. It is the first such criticism by a member of the military panels known as Combat Status Review Tribunals.

The Associated Press reports that the affidavit from Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham, a 26-year veteran of military intelligence, was submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and released today.

Abraham, an Army reserve officer and a California lawyer, said military prosecutors were provided with only "generic" material that didn't hold up to the most basic legal challenges, AP writes.

The Pentagon defended its process as "fair, rigorous and robust," said spokesman Navy Lt. Cmdr. Chito Peppler. Noting that Abraham had served on only one panel he questioned whether Abraham was qualified to critique the CSRTs.

AP writes: Abraham said he first raised his concerns when he was on active duty and assigned to the military agency in charge of the tribunal process from September 2004 to March 2005. He felt the issues were not adequately addressed and said his only recourse was to submit the affidavit.

"I pointed out nothing less than facts, facts that can and should be fixed," he told the Associated Press in a telephone interview from his office in Newport Beach, Calif.

Extremists still want Salman Rushdie dead

The fatwa against The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie seems so rooted in the 1990s (actually, Ayatollah Khomeini's decree that Rushdie should die was issued in 1989) that many people might think it's more or less slipped away. However, one major Iranian religious figure -- and many Muslim extremists in the Middle East -- wish to remind everyone that it remains very much in effect.

According to the website for Press TV, an English-language Iranian news network, Iran's "interim Friday prayers leader" reminded the faithful today that Rushdie remains under a death decree.

"In Islamic Iran, the revolutionary fatwa issued by Imam Khomeini remains valid and irrevocable," Hojjatoleslam Ahmad Khatami said in a sermon Friday, according to Press TV.

What's triggered the reminder? Apparently it's because Rushdie was knighted last week. That action triggered protests through the Islamic world, and there are more protests today in Britain.

Today's threats didn't just come from Iran. AFP reported a crowd of about 300 people in Islamabad, Pakistan chanted "Our struggle will continue until Salman Rushdie is killed" as riot police watched.

(Photo of Khatami by Atta Kenare, AFP/Getty Images) 

AP: Decision near on closing Gitmo, moving suspects to U.S.

The Associated Press is reporting that the Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility and move terror suspects from there to military prisons on U.S. soil.

Here's what AP is saying so far:

President Bush's top national security and legal advisers are expected to discuss the move at the White House on Friday and it appears a consensus is developing for the first time among Bush's inner circle, three senior administration officials said Thursday.

They will consider a new proposal to shut the center and transfer detainees to one or more U.S. Defense Department facilities, including the maximum security military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, where they could face trial, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal deliberations.

Officials familiar with the agenda of Friday's meeting said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Peter Pace and Vice President Dick Cheney are likely to attend.

It was not immediately clear whether the meeting will result in a final recommendation on Guantanamo to Bush.

Update at 9:04 p.m. ET: AP is now reporting that after news of the Friday meeting broke, the White House canceled it and that no decision is imminent.

"It's no longer on the schedule for tomorrow," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council. "Senior officials have met on the issue in the past, and I expect they will meet on the issue in the future."

Simulation shows effect of insulation in collapse of buildings on 9/11

A new computer simulation supports the argument that the impact of the airplanes sheared off the insulation and weakened the structure of the World Trade Center before the Twin Towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001, according to the Associated Press.

"The report concludes that the weight of the aircraft's fuel, when ignited, produced 'a flash flood of flaming liquid' that knocked out a number of structural columns within the building and removed the fireproofing insulation from other support structures," Christoph Hoffmann tells the wire service.

Hoffman tells the AP that this was the first time 3-D animation was used to simulate the impact and the aftermath of the attacks. He says it shows insulation is a key part of fireproofing.

You can watch a simulation on YouTube.

Bush meets with Israeli prime minister

USA TODAY's David Jackson reports that President Bush plans to meet this morning with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, each looking for a way forward after the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip.

That includes support for the emergency government in the West Bank formed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, White House spokesman Tony Snow says.

"The Palestinian people have a democratic structure," Snow says. "We're going to work with this emergency government."

Update at 10:52 a.m. ET: Bush expressed support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but appeared to distance his administration from new peace talks.

"We share a common vision of two states living side by side in peace," Bush said before a White House meeting with Olmert.

Bush declined to say whether he would endorse new peace talks. As for possible regional talks with Syria, Bush said, "If the prime minister wants to negotiate with Syria, he doesn't need me to mediate."

Olmert proposed bi-weekly meetings with Abbas. He said one goal is "to fight terror in the most effective way." Another is preparing the "groundwork" for a Palestinian state, he said.

Olmert declined to say he would meet with Syria, saying it wanted too many "preconditions" while denying Israel any preconditions at all.

The two also discussed Iran's nuclear development, which Olmert called "intolerable." Bush again said he takes the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon seriously, and declined to rule out possible military action.

"My position hasn't changed, and that is, all options are on the table," Bush said, though he added that he hopes to resolve the issue "diplomatically."

(Photo by Gerald Herbert, AP)

Witnesses: Children forced to stay inside Afghan school before bombing

The U.S. military says it had no idea that children were inside the mosque and madrassa that were bombed yesterday in Afghanistan, and blame the militants they were targeting for forcing children to remain inside the buildings as human shields, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.

At least seven children died in the raid.

"Witness statements taken early this morning clearly put the blame on the suspected terrorists saying that if the children attempted to go outside they were beaten and pushed away from the door," U.S. military officials say in the statement released from Bagram Airfield.

Officials tell the Associated Press that U.S. military personnel had the compound under surveillance throughout the day and saw nothing to suggest that children were inside the buildings that the coalition aircraft were scheduled to bomb.

"If we knew that there were children inside the building, there was no way that that airstrike would have occurred," Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch tells the wire service.

Reuters says Sunday was one of the deadliest days in Afghanistan since the Taliban-led government was overthrown in late 2001.

Looking ahead

A few things down the weekend road:

Saturday
• The border-security group Minuteman Civil Defense Corps holds a march to the Washington Monument.
• John Negroponte, the No. 2 U.S. envoy, arrives in Pakistan to discuss President Pervez Musharraf's plans to extend his eight-year rule, which are facing growing public opposition. He'll also discuss Pakistan's role in combating Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Sunday
• The streets of Indianapolis will be alive with the sounds of the U.S. Grand Prix Formula One race.
• Britain marks the 25th anniversary of Argentina's surrender in the Falklands War.
Monday
• Responding to the Virginia Tech shootings, a legislative committee begins reviewing state mental health laws.
• Two 10-year-olds will sentenced for the beating of a homeless army veteran in Daytona Beach.
• Trial continues in Miami for accused al-Qaeda operative Jose Padilla.
• Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet arrives in New York on the first visit by the country's head of state since the Vietnam War. He'll meet President Bush later in the week.

Tuberculosis-infected lawyer to have surgery

The AP is reporting that Andrew Speaker, the Atlanta man infected with highly drug-resistant tuberculosis, will have surgery next month to remove infected lung tissue.

The area to be removed from Speaker's lungs is about the size of a tennis ball, the AP reports. Speaker, you might recall, is the man who was on his honeymoon in Italy when he learned that the turberculosis with which he had been previously diagnosed was of the drug-resistant variety. Although he was told not to fly on commercial aircraft, he and his wife subsequently flew to Montreal on a passenger plane then drove across the U.S. border -- and were allowed back into the country even though his passport had been flagged.

You can read more of our stories about Speaker here.

Today's photo: Stages of destruction at Shiite holy site in Iraq

These photographs, provided by the Associated Press, show the stages of destruction of the Askariya Shrine in Samarra, Iraq. The top photo was taken in February 2004. The middle one was taken in February 2006.

The bottom photograph was taken earlier today, after saboteurs blew up the two minarets of the revered Shiite shrine, repeating the 2006 attack that shattered its famous golden dome and, some say, unleashed a wave of retaliatory sectarian violence in Iraq.

• Check out our daily photo gallery for USA TODAY's best images.

Senior diplomat again accuses Iran of arming Taliban

Nicholas Burns, a senior State Department official, is expanding the allegations he made yesterday that Iran is providing weapons to Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

"There's irrefutable evidence the Iranians are now doing this," Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said on CNN, according to AP. "It's certainly coming from the government of Iran. It's coming from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corps command, which is a basic unit of the Iranian government."

Worth reading: Brave Afghans, Americans help Navy SEAL cheat death

The Washington Post puts a human face on the war in Afghanistan with this gripping account of how one American survived a deadly day in June 2005 that left the rest of his SEAL team dead in northern Afghanistan.

Here's an excerpt: Marcus Luttrell, a fierce, 6-foot-5 rancher's son from Texas, lay in the dirt. His face was shredded, his nose broken, three vertebrae cracked from tumbling down a ravine. A Taliban rocket-propelled grenade had ripped off his pants and riddled him with shrapnel.

As the helicopters approached, Luttrell, a petty officer first class, turned on his radio. Dirt clogged his throat, leaving him unable to speak. He could hear a pilot: "If you're out there, show yourself."

He couldn't show himself, and hope faded as the chopper moved into the distance. Days later, thanks in no small part to the courage of a local Afghan family, the choppers came back and Luttrell was rescued. Nineteen other Americans weren't so lucky.

"I died on that mountain, too, sir," Luttrell tells Matt Lauer of NBC News. "I left a part of myself up there. I think about it every day."

His book, Lone Survivor, is now on sale.

Appeals court says U.S. can't detain immigrant as 'enemy combatant' without charge

This just in from the Associated Press: A federal appeals court has ruled that the Bush administration cannot legally detain an immigrant as an enemy combatant without charging him.

Reuters has more on the ruling, which pertains to a Qatari national who is accused of being an al-Qaeda operative: "In a major setback for the Bush's policies in the war on terrorism adopted after the Sept. 11 attacks, the appellate panel ruled the government's evidence afforded no basis to treat Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri as an "enemy combatant" and ordered his release from military custody."

Read the ruling.

(File photograph taken by Peoria County Sheriff's Office in Illinois and provided via Getty Images.)

Embassy gives Filipinos $10M for info that led to deaths of two terrorists

Four men in the Philippines received bundles of cash totaling $10 million today as part of a reward from the U.S. government for information that led to the deaths of two high-level members of Abu Sayyaf, according to a press release from the embassy in Manila.

The reward, part of the State Department's Rewards for Justice program, was given to the men on behalf of a larger group. BBC News says the recipients wore masks to hide their identities.

Six indicted in alleged Fort Dix plot

A federal grand jury in New Jersey indicted six men Tuesday on charges of plotting to kill soldiers in a raid on Fort Dix.  Prosecutors say the men planned to use mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and guns. The assault never took place.

The suspects, all foreign-born and in their 20s, have been held without bail in a federal detention center since they were arrested May 7. They will be able to enter pleas at an arraignment this week or next.

Investigators focused on the men after a Circuit City store clerk told the FBI about footage of them firing assault weapons and screaming about jihad on a video they asked him to transfer to DVD.

Report: Terror suspects believed God and informant were on their side

Four men accused of plotting to bomb a fuel pipeline feeding John F. Kennedy International Airport were so enamored with an informant that they were convinced God was on their side, according to an official criminal complaint.

The informant made several overseas trips to discuss the plot, even visiting a radical Muslim group's compound in Trinidad, officials said. He also joined the plotters on airport surveillance trips -- where authorities were waiting, they said.

Accused mastermind Russell Defreitas, 63, is now in custody in New York pending a bail hearing Wednesday. But two other suspects, Kareem Ibrahim and Abdul Kadir, a former member of Guyana's Parliament, were in Trinidad and will fight extradition to the United States, their lawyer, Rajid Persad, told a Trinidadian court Monday. Authorities in Trinidad are seeking a fourth suspect, Abdel Nur.

Charges dismissed against Gitmo prisoner accused of crimes when he was 15

This just in from the Associated Press: A military judge dismissed charges today against Canadian detainee Omar Khadr, a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay who was being tried for crimes he allegedly committed when he was 15 years old.

Canada's CBC reports that the judge concluded that Khadr, now 20, didn't meet the criteria for being tried under the military's tribunal system.

Khadr, whose family has been described as Canada's "first family of terrorism," had faced charges of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and supporting terrorism.

AP says the charges were tossed because an earlier hearing concluded that Khadr was an "enemy combatant," a designation that falls short of the classification of "alien unlawful enemy combatant" that is required under teh tribunal's rules.

Update at 12:33 p.m. ET: The chief military defense attorney at Gitmo tells the AP that this decision could have "huge" impact on the other detainees, since none of them have been classified as "unlawful" enemy combatants, a key distinction that the judge raised in today's ruling.

(Photo of Omar Khadr, taken before he was imprisoned, handed out by his mother Maha Khadr following a news conference in Toronto on Feb. 9, 2005. It was obtained from Canadian Press via AP.)

Retired Iraq commander says USA can't win in Iraq

The retired general who commanded coalition forces after the invasion of Iraq says the best the United States can do right now is "stave off defeat," according to AFP.

"I think if we do the right things politically and economically with the right Iraqi leadership we could still salvage at least a stalemate, if you will -- not a stalemate but at least stave off defeat," retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said.

Sanchez, who lumped himself in with those who made mistakes at the beginning of the occupation, said the United States has a "crisis in leadership" that must be resolved so that future military and civilian leaders can avoid the mistakes of the last several years.

His comments come amid reports from the Pentagon that the additional troops that have been sent to Baghdad in recent months have yet to have a positive effect in many parts of the capital.

The New York Times reports this morning: Three months after the start of the Baghdad security plan that has added thousands of American and Iraqi troops to the capital, they control fewer than one-third of the city’s neighborhoods, far short of the initial goal for the operation, according to some commanders and an internal military assessment.

The American assessment, completed in late May, found that American and Iraqi forces were able to “protect the population” and “maintain physical influence over” only 146 of the 457 Baghdad neighborhoods.

Feds: Plot to attack fuel facilities at JFK airport in New York

The FBI is briefing reporters about what it describes as a plot by four men to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. (Read USA TODAY's story.)

"This is a very determined group. They engaged in precise and extensive surveillance, surveillance that included physical surveillance, photographic surveillance, video surveillance, even the use of the Internet to obtain satellite photographs of the JFK facility. They engaged in extensive conversations and international travel furthering and refining their conspiracy," an FBI spokesman says in a briefing whose audio was broadcast on Fox News Channel.

The Justice Department says charges have been filed in federal district court in Brooklyn.

Roslynn Mauskopf, the federal prosecutor in the eastern district of New York, describes it as "one of the most chilling plots imaginable."

The FBI says the charges identify terminal buildings, aircraft and bulk jet fuel storage and delivery systems as the group's targets.

The New York Times reports: The plot involved a former airport worker in his 60s, who is a United States citizen of Guyanese descent and lives in New York, and a former member of the Guyanese parliament, who is also an imam. Both men, along with one other, are in custody, law enforcement officials said today.

The fourth man is not in custody, officials said.

Update at 1:46 p.m. ET: New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says his counter-terror teams have been keeping a careful eye on the "very important" 40-mile fuel line that runs from Linden, N.J., through Staten Island and Brooklyn to the city's two major airports.

Kelly says this case differs from earlier plots that his department has investigated because it involves suspects from the Caribbean.

Update at 1:48 p.m. ET: The accused have been identified as Russell Defreitas, Abdul Nur, Kareem Ibrihim and Abdul Kadir, according to WNBC-TV.

Officials say the investigation began in early 2006 and insist that the traveling public was never in any danger.

Update at 1:54 p.m. ET: CBS News is reporting that the men don't have any known ties to al-Qaeda.

Update at 2 p.m. ET: An unidentified official tells CNN the men are "al-Qaeda wannabes." The FBI gave the network a wiretap transcript that included the following quote: Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. ... This whole country will be in mourning. It's like you can kill the man twice.

Today's photo: Sign of life from BBC News correspondent kidnapped three months ago

Alan Johnston, a BBC News correspondent who was kidnapped in Gaza on March 12, appears in a video that his captors, identified as the Army of Islam, released via the Internet.

BBC News, which has called for the 45-year-old reporter's immediate release, says "it is not clear when the video, which has appeared on the al-Ekhlaas website, was recorded or under what conditions Johnston was speaking."

Read the transcript.

His family issued a statement in Scotland: We're "very pleased to see Alan and to hear him say that he is not being ill-treated - although it is clearly distressing for us to see him in these circumstances."

Here's a timeline that shows the events of the last 12 weeks.

Today's photo: Iraqi boy seeks cover behind U.S. soldier

This photo, which appeared on the front page of this morning's edition of The New York Times, shows an Iraqi boy taking cover behind a U.S. soldier as civilians fled the sound of gunshots following a suicide bombing yesterday in central Baghdad that killed at least 21 people and wounded 66 others.

Latest from Iraq: Eight U.S. troops killed on Memorial Day | Official casualty figures | Mapping violence

Photo taken by Khalid Mohammed, AP.

Military declassifies 'al-Qaeda torture manual' recovered in Iraq

The Pentagon has released what it describes as an al-Qaeda torture manual. The collection of graphic drawings, which are said to show ways the terrorist group extracts information from prisoners, was reportedly recovered during a raid on a terrorist hideout in Iraq.

"Some of the drawings show how to drill hands, sever limbs, drag victims behind cars, remove eyes, put a blowtorch or iron to someone’s skin, suspend a person from a ceiling and electrocute them, break limbs and restrict breath and put someone’s head in a vice," according to Fox News Channel.

Looking ahead

Friday — for anyone not yet in holiday mode:

• Family members of Sept. 11 victims take their first tour of the Pentagon Memorial site, which is under construction.
• Economic reports: April existing-home sales. An increase is expected.
• Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announces new traffic fatality data and outlines new safety measures.
• Commence speaking: Before tossing their caps in the air, U.S. Naval Academy grads get a send off from Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Meanwhile, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts addresses Holy Cross graduates, and former President Clinton works the crowd at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
• In Baltimore, Erick Wotulo, a retired Indonesian Marine Corps general, is sentenced for money laundering and conspiring to provide material support to the Sri Lankan terrorist organization Tamil Tigers.
• Trial begins for 58 alleged Islamic terrorists, including members of Morocco's security services. They are accused of plotting to attack military and tourist sites in the North African nation.
• Peru's unicameral Congress will consider restoring Senate and introducing a parliamentary system. The Senate was abolished in 1992 when former President Alberto Fujimori seized dictatorial powers. Two years ago, lawmakers rejected the Senate plan.
• The National Archives commemorates "Africa Day" with ceremonies with 21 African nation ambassadors.
• Rolling Thunder marks its 20th year with a candlelight vigil at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
• Singer Pat Boone unveils "For My Country," reputedly the first anthem for the 369-year-old National Guard.
• This is the end: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opens an exhibit on The Doors.

Bush: 'Victory in Iraq is vital for the United States of America'

President Bush, speaking at the Coast Guard Academy's commencement, says intelligence reports suggest that Osama bin Laden plans "to establish Iraq as a new terrorist sanctuary," in place of the one al-Qaeda once enjoyed in Afghanistan.

"Victory in Iraq is vital for the United States of America," Bush said.

USA TODAY's David Jackson says Bush buttressed his case with newly declassified intelligence that shows  bin Laden sent a top military aide to Iraq. Intelligence also indicates planning for new attacks on the United States and its allies, Bush says.

In response, Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nevada, says the only case Bush made was for "a change of strategy in Iraq."

Reid says the administration has "failed to capture or kill Osama bin Laden … failed to prevent new al-Qaeda cells from emerging in dozens or countries and failed to win the hearts and minds of millions around the world."

Bin Laden, a Saudi national, remains at large nearly five years after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.

More information:
• Audio of the president's address
• A "fact sheet" on terrorism from the White House

(File photo of bin Laden via AP)

Declassified al-Qaeda data show U.S. attack plans

The White House has declassified intelligence — selectively — to bolster President Bush's argument that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda intend to use Iraq as a base from which to launch attacks in the United States, the Associated Press reports.

Frances Fragos Townsend, the White House homeland security adviser, disclosed the information to the AP and other news agencies on the eve of Bush's commencement speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Tomorrow, Bush will say the threat of terrorism continues and remind his audience of what his administration has done to prevent attacks since September 2001.

According to Townsend, the information was declassified because the intelligence community has tracked all leads from the information, AP writes.

Fla. doctor guilty for agreeing to treat al-Qaeda

A 52-year-old Florida doctor faces up to 30 years in prison for agreeing to treat injured al-Qaeda fighters.

This afternoon in federal court in Manhattan, a jury convicted Dr. Rafiq Abdus Sabir of providing material support to terrorists. Testimony included an FBI agent who posed as an al-Qaeda recruiter in a sting operation that led to four arrests.

The charges against the New York-born Sabir, including conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, carry a potential maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

The AP has more details.

Net terrorism judge unclear on the concepts

In London, three Muslim men in their 20s are on trial for allegedly inciting terrorism via the Internet. Just one problem: The 59-year-old judge hasn't a clue about the online world, Reuters reports.

"The trouble is I don't understand the language. I don't really understand what a Web site is," Judge Peter Openshaw said today as a witness was questioned about a Web forum used by alleged Islamist radicals.

Prosecutor Mark Ellison stopped to explain a "Web site" and "forum." Openshaw tried to understand before admitting, "I haven't quite grasped the concepts."

The Net nightmare continues tomorrow: A computer expert takes the stand.

"Will you ask him to keep it simple," Openshaw told Ellison. "We've got to start from basics."

Looking ahead

What's up for Wednesday?

• The United Nations unveils a global counterterrorism strategy.
• Retiring British Prime Minister Tony Blair comes to the White House to see his old ally, President Bush.
• Economic reports: April housing starts and industrial production; weekly petroleum inventories.
• In the House, a Judiciary subcommittee holds a hearing on gasoline prices, while the Energy Committee's Oversight and Investigations panel seeks answers from federal, state and BP officials about the 2006 pipeline shutdown at Prudhoe Bay.
• Other congressional hearings: hedge funds (House Financial Services Committee); climate-change science (House Science and Technology Committee); online pharmacies and Internet drug trafficking (Senate Judiciary Committee); public diplomacy in the Mideast and South Asia (House Foreign Affairs subcommittee).
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launches a nationwide "Click It or Ticket" crackdown on seat-belt use.
• Nicholas Sarkozy takes over as the new president of France. So what has Parisian tongues wagging? Apparently his wife, Cecilia.
• In the south of France, the Cannes Film Festival opens. It runs through May 27.

Suicide bomber targets lunch crowd at Peshawar hotel

At least 24 people died today in a suicide attack in Peshawar, Pakistan, the Associated Press reports.

Reuters says the hotel that was targeted is popular with Afghans. "A Reuters photographer in Peshawar saw lifeless bodies strewn amid pools of blood and body parts on the floor of the Marhaba Hotel, near a main city mosque," the wire service reports.

BBC News, citing the latest reports, says people are thought to be trapped in the rubble.

"It is now confirmed that it was a suicide attack," Malik Zafar Azam, the local law minister tells AFP.  "Police have found two severed legs. One leg bears a marking in Pashto language saying 'This will be fate of those who are American spies.'"

(Photo by Tariq Mahmood, AFP/Getty Images.)

Abortion clinic bomber torments victims from prison

Eric Rudolph, the anti-abortion extremist convicted in a series of bombings across the South, is taunting his victims from the nation's most secure federal prison, the Associated Press reports.

Rudolph, who pleaded guilty in deadly bombings at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and a Birmingham abortion clinic, has little contact with the outside world while serving life in prison at the “Supermax” penitentiary in Florence, Colo. But his essays have been posted on the Internet by a supporter who maintains an Army of God website.

In one piece, Rudolph seeks to justify violence against abortion clinics by arguing that Jesus would condone “militant action in defense of the innocent.”

In another essay about his sentencing, Rudolph appears to mock former abortion clinic nurse Emily Lyons, who was nearly killed in the 1998 bombing in Birmingham, and her husband, Jeff.

Jeff Lyons said is worried that Rudolph's messages could incite someone to violence against abortion providers. “He's still sending out harassing communication. He's still hurting us,” Lyons said.

U.S. Attorney Alice Martin, who helped prosecute Rudolph for the Alabama bombing, said there is nothing the prison can do to restrict Rudolph or the supporter who posts his writings.

Reports: Taliban leader's death signals some success

The Council on Foreign Relations has a summary of recent stories about the death of Mullah Dadullah, a one-legged fighter and ruthless strategist who commanded Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

"He is the third top Taliban leader to be killed by coalition forces in the past six months, signaling some success at repelling a resurgent Taliban in parts of southern Afghanistan," the group says. "But the fluidity of the Taliban's command structure, noted by U.S. and NATO officials, could lessen the impact of Dadullah's removal."

The government announced today that it has buried his body, but that family members were free to rebury him anywhere they desire, according to Reuters.

"It is a very big loss for us because Dadullah was a very important commander and Taliban's war planner against coalition and Afghan forces," a senior Taliban commander, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.

But a report on Fox News says a purported Taliban spokesman read a statement attributed to Taliban leader Mullah Omar insisting that Dadullah's death "won't create problems for the Taliban's jihad" and that militants will continue attacks against "occupying countries."

Looking ahead

Here's some of what's in store for the weekend and the day after:

Saturday
• Heads of government from Central America and Caribbean discuss possible free-trade agreement encompassing their regions.
• In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Al Gore speaks on environment. 
• Pope Benedict XVI visits drug treatment center in Brazil
Sunday
• In case you forgot, it's Mother's Day.
• President Bush speaks at a ceremony marking the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America.
• Pope Benedict XVI presides at Mass in Aparecida, then opens the Latin American Bishops Congress. He returns to Sao Paulo and then flies back to Italy.
• In Washington, the annual candlelight vigil will be held at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial to remember peace officers killed in the line of duty.
• Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito delivers the commencement address at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.
Monday
• Postage rates rise. First-class stamps will cost 41 cents, and you can buy the new "forever" stamps, which remain valid regardless of future increases.
• Confessed Taliban combatant David Hicks returns to Australia after being imprisoned more than five years at Guantanamo Bay. He'll serve a nine-month sentence in Adelaide, his hometown. Details of his return are secret, and he is banned from speaking to news media for one year.
• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Moscow for two days of meetings.
• Surgeons in Nashville will use a remote-controlled surgical robot under 65 feet of water off the Florida Keys to operate on simulated tissue. The telesurgery demonstration is part of the annual American Telemedicine Association's meeting.

Reports: Terror attack planned against U.S. interests in Germany

Government officials are quoted this afternoon saying a group associated with al-Qaeda plans to attack American interests in Germany.

"The danger level is high. We are part of the global threat by Islamist terrorism," German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble tells reporters, according to ABC News.

Someone identified as a "senior federal official" tells CNN that the plot "included the use of bombs and small arms."

"The information behind the threat is very real," a senior U.S. official tells ABC News. "Law enforcement officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com that U.S. air marshals have been diverted to provide expanded protection of flights between Germany and the United States," the broadcaster reports.

Other unidentified sources are telling CNN that the intelligence is vague as to timing. Security at U.S. facilities in Germany has been increased in recent weeks.

Update at 1:51 p.m. ET: Federal officials tell Reuters that the risk of attack hasn't increased since a general warning was issued last month.

"The threat was taken seriously at the time and isn't being dismissed now," a counterterrorism official says. "But there's nothing to suggest a new urgency to this."

Update at 1:55 p.m. ET: Below is the text of a "warden message" that the U.S. embassy in Berlin issued on April 20:

U.S. diplomatic and consular facilities in Germany are increasing their security posture. We are taking these steps in response to a heightened threat situation. The U.S. Embassy encourages Americans in Germany to increase their vigilance and take appropriate steps to bolster their own personal security.

Update at 2:01 p.m. ET: Sources tell Fox News that "the threat is considered real, although not new, and is believed to involve one or more Middle Eastern Kurdish groups perhaps associated with Al Qaeda."

Update at 2:12 p.m. ET: MSNBC reports that two men are being sought in connection with the investigation, which was based in part on an e-mail that was obtained by German intelligence agents.

"The alleged plot included a date, May 5, for an attack, but otherwise lacked much credibility," an official said, according to the all-news network. "The sources said officials have been looking for the two men, a German and a Turk, for nearly a month."

Hamdan charged with conspiring with bin Laden

The terror suspect who derailed the Bush administration's military trials at Guantanamo Bay has been charged with conspiracy and providing support for terrorism, the Associated Press and Reuters report.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan, alleged to have been a driver and body guard for Osama bin Laden, has been imprisoned at the U.S. base in Cuba since May 2002. He's accused of conspiring with bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders in bombing the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, attacking the USS Cole in 2000, and planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Hamdan is the third detainee to be charged under new rules drafted after the Supreme Court rejected the previous system of justice.

Here's some background.

Reports: 21 civilians, 'significant' number of Taliban killed in Afghanistan

Western bombers killed at least 21 civilians in southern Afghanistan during a battle with Taliban fighters, provincial officials say.

"Twenty-one civilians including women and children were killed" in the strikes, Gov. Assadullah Wafa says, according to AFP.

U.S. military officials are disputing those claims. They say Western forces were engaged in a lengthy firefight with militants who ambushed a coalition convoy in the area of the country where the civilians were reportedly killed.

Report: Six men face terror charges in plot to attack N.J. army base

Six men have been charged with plotting to attack a military base in New Jersey, according to WNBC-TV.

The men, described as "Islamic radicals," planned to use AK-47s to attack soldiers at Fort Dix, a military installation south of New York City, according to the report.

"Acting on a tip, and with the help of an informant, the men were placed under surveillance," MSNBC says. "Investigators say some of the group's members -- all men and all believed to be Islamic radicals -- went to the Poconos over the past several months to practice firing guns.  Some of the men were born overseas, in Albania and the former Yugoslavia."

Federal officials are expected to brief the press later today.

Update at 7:49 a.m. ET: WNBC-TV quotes unnamed investigators who say "the group discussed targeting numerous locations like Dover Air base, Fort Monmouth and several Coast Guard stations before deciding on Fort Dix as their intended target."

The local U.S. attorney has confirmed the arrests, according to the Associated Press.

Update at 7:59 a.m. ET: The Associated Press says the men are from the former Yugoslavia. They wanted to "kill as many soldiers as possible," according to federal authorities.

The Newark Star Ledger quotes an anonymous law enforcement source who says "the men were lured into a secret meeting to purchase AK-47s from an arms dealer who was secretly cooperating with the FBI."

Update at 9:49 a.m. ET: White House spokesman Tony Snow tells reporters that there is no evidence that al-Qaeda is linked to the alleged plot to target U.S. soldiers in New Jersey.

"There is no evidence they received direction from international terrorist organizations," Snow says. "There is no direct evidence of a foreign terrorist tie."

Update at 10:50 a.m. ET: The U.S. Attorney's office tells WNBC-TV that most of the men have been living in the USA for several years. One is from Jordan, one is from Turkey and the rest are ethnic Albanians, according to reports. Reuters says some of the men are U.S. citizens and some are illegal immigrants.

Sources tell ABC News that the plot was not in its operational stages, and that the investigation began more than a year ago.

Update at 11:02 a.m. ET: Here's the complaint that federal authorities filed against one of the men.

The Newark Star Ledger identifies the suspects as: Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka, Shain Duka, Serdar Tatar, Agron Abdullahu and Mohamad Shnewer. The paper is monitoring the reaction on local blogs and in media outlets.

Update at 1:57 p.m. ET: The Justice Department has issued copies of the criminal complaints that were filed today with the local district court.
• Shnewer, Mohamad Ibrahim
• Duka, Eljvir
• Duka, Shain
• Duka, Dritan
• Tatar, Serdar 
• Abdullahu, Agron

Update at 2:20 p.m. ET: We're going to live-blog a news conference, set for 2:30 p.m. ET, at which law enforcement officials are expected to release more details about the arrests. Details after the break...

Plans to turn cellphones into massive network of threat sensors

USA TODAY's Mimi Hall reports today on plans to develop a miniature sensor that would allow millions of cellphones to detect the presence of chemical, biological or radioactive elements.

Homeland Defense & Security Monitor, a newsletter that reported on the research plans in March, says the biggest challenge is finding a way to make the devices small enough to fit inside ever-shrinking mobile phones and sensitive enough to detect minute traces of chemicals, agents and isotopes.

U.S. military says leading member of al-Qaeda in Iraq killed

The U.S. military says it has confirmed the death of a leading member of al-Qaeda in Iraq named Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Juburi.

"We killed him ... west of Taji on the first day of May," a military spokesman said in Baghdad.

The news comes a few days after Iraqi government officials claimed, without any forensic confirmation, that the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq had been killed by opponents within his organization.

During today's press conference, American officials displayed a large framed photograph of the dead man, who has been tied to a number of kidnappings and murders. The U.S. military identified him on the display as the terrorist group's "Minister of Information."

Islamists gather on the Internet: Here's what they're up to

USA TODAY's Mimi Hall reports this morning on the challenges that terrorism investigators face in their efforts to detect and counter extremists who use the Internet to recruit, train and mobilize their followers.

"We've created this global village — the Internet — without a police department," one expert says.

If you'd like more information about online extremism, here are some resources that we've found useful:
• The U.S. Institute of Peace has a report on "How Modern Terrorism Uses the Internet"
• The Middle East Media Research Institute monitors Islamist websites
• The Site Institute monitors and translates extremist websites
• The Counterterrorism Blog tracks a range of issues related to the issue
• The (London) Times explains how MI5 is targeting extremists in Britain

Terror attacks up sharply — Iraqis bear the brunt

Terrorist attacks rose 25% last year, the U.S. State Department reported today in its annual survey. There were nearly 14,000 terrorist attacks worldwide last year, with more than 20,000 deaths. Iraqis suffered the most: they were the targets in nearly half the attacks and accounted for two-thirds of the deaths. The Associated Press has the story. For much more detail, see the links to the State Department's report. One highlight: "The threat of a major terrorist attack remains low for most countries in the Western Hemisphere."

Afghan tribesmen turn in bin Laden's look-alike

Sher Akbar may be the unluckiest man in Afghanistan. He bears a remarkable resemblance to Osama bin Laden and has been arrested on at least two separate occasions because of tips from other tribesmen who wanted to collect some of the $25 million bounty that the United States has placed on the fugitive al-Qaeda leader, Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News.

Tenet: Saudis disrupted 1998 plot to assassinate Gore

Saudi Arabia foiled a plot to use anti-tank missiles to assassinate Vice President Gore in 1998 while he was traveling in the region, according to a new book by former CIA Director George Tenet.

The book says Abdel Rahim al-Nashiri, a leading member of al-Qaeda who was later linked to the bombing of the USS Cole, tried to smuggle four Sagger anti-tank guided missiles into the kingdom about a week before the vice president was scheduled to arrive, according to MSNBC.

"Tenet writes that it was reasonable to have expected the Saudis to pass the information along as soon as possible, but they did not," NBC reports. "After low-level discussions failed to produce a sense of urgency among the Saudis, Tenet flew to Riyadh to meet with Prince Naif, the interior minister and the man in charge of the Saudi secret police."

(Photo of al-Nashiri from ABC News via AP)

68 Iraqis allowed to resettle in USA last month

The government allowed just 68 of the estimated 2 million Iraqi refugees who have fled since the 2003 invasion to resettle in the United States last month, according to a story in this morning's USA TODAY.

Washington says it accepted 1,255 Iraqi refugees between September 2005 and October 2006. The CBS News program 60 Minutes, which reported in March on the refugee crisis, says more than 131,000 Vietnamese refugees were resettled in eight months under President Ford.

"You know, that was in a different day. And the different day was it was prior to 9/11. After 9/11, the United States put into place very thorough security checks that didn’t exist at that time. And it takes a lot of time to work people through the security process," Ellen Sauerbrey, the diplomat in charge of the program, tells 60 Minutes.

That provides little solace to those who have been displaced, critics say. "I believe this is a matter of morality," a retired general tells reporter Scott Pelley.

Human-rights groups have pointed to failures in the United States and Europe.

Saudis: 172 people arrested in massive terror plot

This just in from the Associated Press: Saudi police have arrested 172 militants who were plotting to attack the country's oil fields, storm its prisons to free the inmates and use aircraft in their attacks, the Interior Ministry said today in a statement.

State TV broadcast footage of a large cache of weapons that were found in the desert, including AK-47s  and other rifles, plastic explosives, AK-47 magazines, handguns and rifles wrapped in plastic sheeting. Officials said they recovered more than $30 million that was being used to finance the plot.

The militants planned to carry out suicide attacks against "public figures, oil facilities, refineries ... and military zones." The statement said some of the military targets were outside the kingdom, but it did not elaborate.

Expert says al-Qaeda is stronger than ever

The latest issue of Foreign Affairs includes an essay by a former government official who claims that al-Qaeda "has more bases, more partners, and more followers today than it did on the eve of 9/11."

Bruce Riedel, a longtime intelligence officer who now serves as a fellow at the Brookings Institution, says Osama bin Laden's group is more dangerous than ever, thanks in large part to the president's decision to invade Iraq instead of focusing on al-Qaeda.

• Related: Taliban commander says bin Laden still alive

"Its reach has spread throughout the Muslim world, where it has developed a large cadre of operatives, and in Europe, where it can claim the support of some disenfranchised Muslim locals and members of the Arab and Asian diasporas," Riedel writes. "Osama bin Laden has mounted a successful propaganda campaign to make himself and his movement the primary symbols of Islamic resistance worldwide. His ideas now attract more followers than ever."

Riedel says "decisively defeating al-Qaeda will be more difficult now than it would have been a few years ago. But it can still be done, if Washington and its partners implement a comprehensive strategy over several years, one focused on both attacking al Qaeda's leaders and ideas and altering the local conditions that allow them to thrive. Otherwise, it will only be a matter of time before al-Qaeda strikes the U.S. homeland again." 

Taliban commander says bin Laden still alive

A senior Taliban commander tells Al-Jazeera that Osama bin Laden is still alive.

Mullah Dadullah, a Taliban military official, says bin Laden helped plan and supervise an operation in February that targeted the Bagram air base while Vice President Cheney was visiting Afghanistan.

Canadian at Gitmo charged with murder

The U.S. military has filed murder charges against Omar Khadr, a Canadian Guantanamo detainee who was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan after allegedly killing one U.S. soldier and wounding another, AP reports. Khadr's father is Ahmad Said al-Khadr, an alleged financier of Al-Qaeda.

Omar Khadr also was charged with attempted murder, providing support to terrorism, conspiracy and spying. He'll be arraigned within the next 30 days, then be tried before a military tribunal under rules first used in March to try and convict Australian detainee David Hicks. Khadr faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The hometown Toronto Star also is covering the story. The Jurist and the CBC have background on Khadr and his family.

Tillman's brother: Army account 'was utter fiction'

Kevin Tillman's voice quivered with anger and disgust as he told a House committee this morning how the Army misled the public about the death of his brother, former NFL player Pat Tillman.

"It was utter fiction," Tillman, then a member of his brother's unit in Afghanistan, told lawmakers. "The content of the multiple investigations reveal a series of contradictions that strongly suggest deliberate and careful misrepresentations. We appeal to this committee because we believe this narrative was intended to to deceive the family, but more importantly, to deceive the American public."

He said they knew immediately that his brother's death was the result of fratricide, but officials tried to conceal that fact from the world because of concerns that it would further tarnish the Army's image in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal.

"Revealing that Pat's death was a fratricide would have been yet another political disaster during a month already swollen with political disasters," Tillman said

As far as the brass were concerned, he claimed, "the facts needed to be suppressed, an alternative narrative had to be constructed. Crucial evidence was destroyed, including Pat's uniform, equipment and notebook. The autopsy was not done according to regulation and the field hospital report was falsified."

Update at 2:05 p.m. ET: The AP is reporting that an Army Ranger who was with Tillman when he died told Congress that he was ordered to conceal that information from Tillman's family.

Looking ahead

At last, Friday:

• Hokies one and all: It's a day of mourning for the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings, and the alumni association wants the nation to wear orange and maroon as a sign of solidarity.
• President Bush signs the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Reauthorization Act (H.R. 1132) in the morning. He then flies to western Michigan to speak about terrorism to students at East Grand Rapids High School.
• Congressional committee hearings: allegations of mismanagement at Los Alamos National Lab (House Energy and Commerce) shortfalls of the 1986 Immigration Reform legislation (House Judiciary) aviation consumer issues (House Transportation and Infrastructure); management and conflicts of interest in the Reading First program (House Education and Labor).
• Harvard's Kennedy School of Government hosts government leaders, practitioners, artists and world figures at its annual conference to seek solutions to the world's most pressing development problems.
• It's the eighth anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colo.
• In the world of weed, today's date — 4/20 — has gained notoriety as a not-so-secret code.

Militant Cuban exile, freed from jail, now in Miami

Militant anti-communist fugitive Luis Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative suspected of acts of terrorism against Cuba and Venezuela, has arrived in Miami for home confinement after a federal court order freed him from a New Mexico jail earlier today, the Miami Herald reports.

Posada, 79, faces trial next month on charges of lying to U.S. immigration authorities about how he entered the country in 2005. Tuesday, a federal appeals court in New Orleans rejected Justice Department efforts to keep him in jail. He was released on $350,000 bond and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device.

Venezuela and Cuba allege that he masterminded the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner that killed 73 people, and that he's responsible for other alleged terrorist acts. As the Herald writes Posada has denied any involvement in the bombing, was cleared by a Venezuelan military court and was awaiting the outcome of a civilian court's ruling when he escaped in 1985.

Posda's release angered Cubans, according to report from Granma and the AP.

The Bush administration wants to deport Posada to another country, but so far none will take him. A U.S. immigration judge has ruled that he couldn't be sent Venezuela or Cuba, because he might be tortured there. Posada was born in Cuba and is a naturalized Venezuelan citizen.

Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington, said Posada must call immigration authorities every two weeks and keep trying to get a travel document ''from any government in the world'' so he can be deported at some point.

The National Security Archive (at George Washington University) has background and documents on Posada and the allegations against him.

N.Y. bookseller gets 13 years for terror plot

A Brooklyn bookstore owner was sentenced to 13 years in prison for conspiring to send money to terrorist groups overseas after the September 11 attacks, the AP and Reuters are reporting. Abdulrahman Farhane, 52, was sentenced in Manhattan by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska. Farhane pleaded guilty in November to money laundering and lying to federal agents. The conspiracy was recorded by federal agents as Farhane discussed plans with an informant posing as a jihadist.

Two others — a New York musician and a Washington cab driver — also have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. A fourth defendant, a doctor from Boca Raton, Fla., is awaiting trial.

Looking ahead

Gazing across the great divide that is the weekend:

Saturday
• Officials, business leaders, consumer advocates and others open a three-day summit in Utah to talk about clean-energy policy in the West.
• Opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a protest march in Moscow, followed by Sunday march in St. Petersburg.
• Save the chicken: The Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge will host its 13th annual Attwater's Prairie Chicken Festival, west of Houston. It's part of the effort to save the endangered grouse-like bird. The male has "a distinctive courtship dance." (Don't all guys?)
Sunday
• It's Yom Hashoah, — Holocaust Memorial Day.
• Somalia is scheduled to convene a National Reconciliation Conference.
• In Ecuador, voters go to the polls to decide a national referendum on whether to elect a constituent assembly to write a new constitution that leftist President Rafael Correo hopes will undercut traditional parties.
Monday
• U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates expected to visit Israel, Egypt and Jordan.
• Trial opens in Miami for alleged al-Qaeda operative Jose Padilla.
• The Pulitzer Prizes will be announced.
• President Bush delivers remarks on the Iraq war spending bill.
• Economic data: Retail sales for March; February business inventories.
• In Oswiecim, Poland, thousands of Israelis and Poles will gather at the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp to commemorate Holocaust victims.
• Beantown : The 111th Boston Marathon will be run, and it's the 232nd Patriot's Day celebration.
• North Korea stages its ''mass games'' propaganda spectacle for the first time since 2005, set to run through May.
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hosts a two-day South American energy summit on Margarita Island.

Explosion at Iraqi parliament inside Green Zone

An explosion inside the Iraqi parliament rocked the heavily fortified part of Baghdad known as the Green Zone, according to an urgent report from Reuters.

A witness told the wire service that "the blast appeared to take place inside a restaurant inside the building at a time when many members of parliament were having lunch. Parliament was in session on Thursday."

A spokesman for parliament told the Associated Press that several people were wounded, including lawmakers and government employees who were eating lunch at the time of the blast.

The U.S. embassy confirmed the reports of an explosion within the Green Zone, but said no Americans were affected by the incident.

Update at 11:11 a.m. ET: The latest reports say two or three members of parliament died in the attack and dozens were wounded.

All signs point toward this being a suicide attack. "I saw two legs in the middle of the cafeteria and none of those killed or wounded lost their legs -- which means they must be the legs of the suicide attacker," a government spokesman said.

Reuters, which says security guards confiscated a camera from one of its journalists, reports that the explosion occurred near the cash register in a cafe near the main assembly hall.

"I saw a ball of fire and heard a huge, loud explosion. There were pieces of flesh floating in the air," a witness who was wounded in the attack told the wire service.

Update at 1:44 p.m. ET: The death toll has risen to eight.

Update at 2:45 p.m ET: Video.

An Arab TV network was videotaping an interview inside the building when the explosion occurred. The Associated Press has distributed some clips from that video. As you'll see, first there's there explosion and an Iraqi politician ducking for cover, then scenes of dusty or smoke-filled corridors.

Pakistan claims tribesmen killed 300 foreign fighters in Waziristan

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says local tribesmen killed 300 foreign fighters over the last week in South Waziristan, a lawless region that is widely considered a haven for terrorists and militant Islamists.

"The people of South Waziristan now have risen against the foreigners. They have killed about 300 of them, and they got support from the Pakistan army. They asked for support," Musharraf said in a speech at a military conference in Islamabad, according to the Associated Press.

BBC News notes that there's no way to verify his claims.

Musharraf said he expects similar action in North Waziristan. A Pakistani general tells The Dawn newspaper that his forces "set up 33 check-posts along South Waziristan’s borders with Afghanistan, conducting regular patrolling, mostly through the night and sharing information with western forces across the border. The troops operating in the border region had also imposed a night curfew in a stretch of three kilometres to check cross-border movement.

"Nobody can go out or come in during that time," Major Gen. Gul Muhammad said.

Pentagon to make deployments more certain, but longer

Saying the Pentagon wants to provide "long-term predictability for soldiers and their families," Defense Secretary Robert Gates just said that active-duty Army units will now be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for 15 months at a stretch.

While that is longer than the current 12 month standard deployments, Gates said that once they are returned home, they will not be sent back to the war zones for at least 12 months. Up to now, some units have been sent back much sooner than that.

The secretary said the decision is not a sign that the Army "is broken" by long, unpredictable deployments that are stretching its resources.

"No, not at all," he said at a Pentagon news briefing. "If the Army were 'broken,' " he said, retention levels would not still be high.

But, Gates said, the Pentagon wants to make the lives of soldiers and their families more predictable. "We ask a lot of our troops and families," Gates said, and they deserve more predictability.

Looking ahead

Eye-balling Wednesday:

• New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi conclude their trip to North Korea to prepare for the return of the remains of U.S. servicemen missing since the Korean War.
• Economic data: The Fed releases the minutes from the March 20-21 meeting; Treasury report on the federal budget for March; weekly petroleum inventories.
• Senate committee hearings: the FBI's use of national security letters (Judiciary subcommittee); the proposed 2008 budget for the Reserve and National Guard (Appropriations subcommittee); airline service improvements (Commerce, Science and Transportation); Hurricane Katrina's impact on insurance for families and businesses (Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs); Darfur (Foreign Relations Committee).
• California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers the keynote address of the Newsweek Global Environment Leadership Conference at Georgetown University.
• The Council of the Great City Schools releases a report showing that the nation's big city school districts continue to improve in reading and math on state mandated tests.
• Alleged al-Qaeda operative Jose Padilla has a court hearing in Miami.
• In New York there will be a pretrial hearing for police officers accused in the shooting death of Sean Bell, who was shot 50 times on the morning of his wedding last November.
• So sue me: Trial lawyers — the nation's largest group, in fact — have flocked to San Antonio for their annual spring meeting.
• "Go fast or go home": That the motto of the Arctic Man Ski & Sno-Go Classic in Summit Lake, Alaska. Billed as "The Ultimate Adrenaline Rush," the competition combines snowmobiling and downhill skiing on a steep, 2-mile run through a narrow canyon. Ends Sunday.

Afghan leader says 'al-Qaeda is defeated'

Afghan President Hamid Karzai today brushed off concerns that Islamist militants are planning to mount a major spring offensive in his country.

"Neither has the U.S. failed, nor the Taliban coming back," he told ABC News. "Al-Qaeda is defeated."

Cathedral's stained-glass triptych shows 9/11 attack as 'Hell on Earth'

A Catholic bishop has blessed the new stained-glass windows at a Dutch cathedral, including a pane that shows one of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Artist Marc Mulders says he chose the image, part of a larger triptych, to illustrate "Hell on Earth." (Photo by Marc Mulders via Reuters)

The artist's website has a photo gallery that shows the panes. Here's how Mulders, a Catholic, explains the depiction of 9/11:

For me it is THE example off the devil now; all those so called believers in mine and other religions who have blood on their hands instead off love in their eyes and soul for the other. For example:
1 the war between Catholics and Protestants all these years in Ireland
2 the crusaders in my religion
3 the soeni’ten and shi’eten in Iraq
4 President Bush, he defends his battle with pointing to his and my God, and that is a God who asks us not to fight.

Paper: Gitmo prisoners engaged in long-term hunger strike over conditions

More than a dozen prisoners are engaged in what the New York Times describes as a "new, long-term hunger strike" to protest their treatment at the U.S. military's maximum-security facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"The 13 detainees now on hunger strikes is the highest number to endure the force-feeding regimen on an extended basis since early 2006, when the military broke a long-running strike with a new policy of strapping prisoners into 'restraint chairs' while they are fed by plastic tubes inserted through their nostrils," according to the Times.

Lawyers for the detainees claim at least 40 prisoners are participating in the hunger strike.

“My wish is to die,” a Yemeni national told his lawyer, according to the Times. “We are living in a dying situation.”

The prisoners are said to be "uniformly despondent" because they are kept in their cells for 22 hours a day and cut off from other inmates. Only a few have been charged.

A military spokesman says the complaints are "propaganda."

Earlier stories:
• Where the only detainee is the Hamburglar
• FBI agents describe possible abuses at Gitmo
• AP: Many former Gitmo detainees are freed by home countries
• Protesters call for Guantanamo prison to be closed
• New Guantanamo abuse tales to be investigated
• The complete Guantanamo list?
• Former Guantanamo detainees describe despair leading to suicide attempts

Extremists recruiting, radicalizing Iraqi prisoners at U.S.-run jails

Extremists are radicalizing and recruiting fellow prisoners at American-run jails in Iraq, the Los Angeles Times reports this morning.

"Extremists conducted regular indoctrination lectures, and in some cases destroyed televisions supplied by the Americans for use with educational videos, banned listening to music on radios, forbade smoking and stoked tensions between Sunni and Shiite detainees," according to the paper.

Report: U.S. helped Ethiopia by ignoring apparent sanctions violation by North Korea

The United States ignored an apparent violation of the international sanctions against North Korea by turning a blind eye to an arms shipment that Pyongyang sent to Ethiopia earlier this year, according to a story in Sunday's edition of The New York Times.

Report: Feds interrogating prisoners at secret prisons in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is under growing pressure to provide details about the nationals of 19 countries who are thought to have been rounded up as they fled fighting in Somalia and questioned by counter-terrorism agents from the United States and other countries, according to the Associated Press.

"Some detainees were swept up by Ethiopian troops that drove a radical Islamist government out of neighboring Somalia late last year. Others have been deported from Kenya, where many Somalis have fled the continuing violence in their homeland," AP reports. "The detainees include at least one U.S. citizen and some are from Canada, Sweden and France, according to a list compiled by a Kenyan Muslim rights group and flight manifests obtained by AP. They also include citizens from Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Tunisia and Morocco."

Officials are said to be looking for intelligence on al-Qaeda's operations in the Horn of Africa.

Background:
• Le Monde reported on the secret prisons in early March.
• Human Rights Watch publicized the allegations late week.
• AP reported yesterday that U.S. government officials confirmed Americans were interrogating some of the detainees.

'American Taliban' asks for sentence to be cut

Citing the light sentence given to an Australian terror detainee at Guantanamo Bay, lawyers for the so-called American Taliban today appealed for the third time for President Bush to reduce or commute the 20-year sentence of John Walker Lindh, the San Francisco Chronicle reports after a news conference by his attorney and parents.

Lindh, a Northern California native who converted to Islam, was captured in Afghanistan by U.S. forces in November 2001. He reached a deal in July 2002 in which he pleaded guilty to aiding the Taliban and carrying weapons for it in exchange for terror charges being dropped. Now 26, Lindh is at the federal "Supermax" prison in Florence, Colo., and has 13 years remaining on his sentence, said his lawyer, James Brosnahan, who brokered the plea bargain.

Like Lindh, Australian David Hicks is a convert to Islam who was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan. For five years he has been imprisoned at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. Saturday, he was sentenced to nine months in prison after pleading guilty to supporting terrorism and acknowledging that he helped Al-Qaeda. The 31-year-old former kangaroo skinner is expected to be transferred to an Australian prison within weeks.

"It is a question of proportionality. It is a question of fairness, and it is a question of the religious experience John Walker Lindh had,'' Brosnahan said. ''And it was not in any way directed at the United States.''

CNN's Ware fires back at Drudge report about 'heckling'

"I did not heckle the senator. Indeed, I didn't say a word. I didn't even ask a question. In fact, when I raised my hand to ask a question, the press conference abruptly ended."

So said CNN's Michael Ware this morning about this story at the Drudge Report, which claimed the correspondent heckled senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., during their press conference Sunday in Baghdad.

The Raw Story says video backs Ware up ("handout" photo of Ware from CNN).

Ware has been in the spotlight since last Tuesday, when he passionately challenged comments from McCain about some parts of Baghdad being safe enough for Americans to walk around:

Saudi terror suspect says CIA tortured him

Suspected Saudi terrorist Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri has told a military hearing that he was tortured into confessing that he was involved in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, and that he told interrogators Osama bin Laden had a nuclear bomb, according to a Pentagon transcript released today.

''From the time I was arrested five years ago, they have been torturing me. It happened during interviews," Al-Nashiri said, according to the transcript. "One time they tortured me one way, and another time they tortured me in a different way. I just said those things to make the people happy. They were very happy when I told them those things.''

The transcript, portions of which the Pentagon said it blacked out for national security reasons, does not include any details of the alleged torture. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said that any allegations of torture would be investigated. He said sections were blacked out of the transcript because of national security reasons. Read it here.

Al-Nashiri is one of 14 so-called high-value detainees who were moved to Guantanamo in September from secret CIA prisons abroad. The military is conducting hearings for the 14 to determine if they are enemy combatants who can be held indefinitely and prosecuted for war crimes.

Human rights groups have argued that the CIA's detention and interrogation techniques amount to torture. The International Committee of the Red Cross has interviewed the 14 detainees. In a confidential report that has not been publicly distributed, the Red Cross said the 14 prisoners described highly abusive interrogation methods, especially when techniques such sleep deprivation and forced standing were used in combination. None of the detainees' accounts has been verified.

Reuters also has the story.

Australian Taliban acknowledges he wasn't tortured, agrees to gag order

The latest issue of Australia's Herald Sun newspaper has some more details about the plea deal that David Hicks, the man known as the Australian Taliban, entered into at Guantanamo Bay.

"Under the terms of the plea deal, Hicks has agreed to a gag for 12 months from when he is sentenced which prevents him discussing his case or activities. He also cannot ever profit by selling his story," the paper says. "He has also agreed to assist US and Australian law enforcement agencies with any further information about his activities."

Looking ahead

Exhale — it's Friday:

• President Bush visits Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
• At Guantanamo Bay, Australian David Hicks is to be sentenced for supporting terrorism.
• The Food and Drug Administration holds a briefing to update the recall of poisoned pet foods manufactured by Menu Foods. Afterward, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will hold a news conference to call on the FDA to immediately expand the recall of pet food.
• The United Nations launches the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Here's thetext. The U.N. estimates that 650 million people worldwide have disabilities.
• Economic reports: February personal income and construction spending.
• Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks about financing community development at the Fed's Consumer and Community Affairs conference.
• Former Justice Department officials J. Gerald Hebert and Joe Rich are to discuss the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys, voter-fraud cases, enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, and other matters.
• The National Institutes of Health holds a scientific conference to evaluate and explore the latest research on epilepsy.
• Bottoms up: The Distillery reopens at George Washington's Estate at Mount Vernon, Va., When Washington opened it 210 years ago, it was the nation's largest whiskey distillery.

Australian terrorist facing less than 20 years in jail

Australian David Hicks will be sentenced to "substantially less" than 20 years in prison for pleading guilty to providing material support to terrorism, the chief prosecutor for military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay said today.

Air Force Col. Morris Davis had said he would seek a sentence on par with that handed out to the so-called American Taliban fighter, John Walker Lindh, a Muslim convert from Marin County, California. Hick also converted to Islam.

He is scheduled to appear before a military judge tomorrow to formally enter his guilty plea. His attorneys had said their client was considering a plea deal to end his five-year imprisonment at Guantanamo., AP reports.

In a separate case, the Associated Press reports that a Pentagon transcript released today shows that a Saudi accused of arranging financing for the men who carried out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks told a Guantanamo hearing last week that he got money transfers from two hijackers inside the United States just hours before the attacks. But Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi,

Judge says Rumsfeld can't be sued over alleged torture

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cannot be tried on allegations of torture in overseas military prisons, a federal judge said today, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan, AP writes, threw out a lawsuit brought on behalf of nine former prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said Rumsfeld cannot be held personally responsible for actions taken in connection with his government job.

The lawsuit contends the prisoners were beaten, suspended upside down from the ceiling by chains, urinated on, shocked, sexually humiliated, burned, locked inside boxes and subjected to mock executions. Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights First had argued that Rumsfeld and top military officials disregarded warnings about the abuse and authorized the use of illegal interrogation tactics.

Australian terror suspect pleads guilty

Australian David Hicks, who has spent nearly five years at Guantanamo Bay for allegedly fighting with Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, has pleaded guilty to a war-crime charge of providing material support to terrorism, the Associated Press reports.

A Muslim convert, the 31-year-old Hicks is the first detainee to face prosecution under revised military tribunals since the Supreme Court ruled the Pentagon's earlier system unconstitutional.

Looking ahead

Gazing across the weekend:

Saturday
• The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to vote on whether to impose further sanctions against Iran for refusing to stop enriching uranium.
• Opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin plan to rally in Moscow.
• U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes begins a week-long visit to Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic.
• It's World Tuberculosis Day.
• In Morocco, the week-long, 150-mile Sand Marathon enters its second day.
Sunday
• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Middle East to pursue Arab-Israeli peace efforts, through Tuesday.
• Cardinal Norbero Rivera is to lead an anti-abortion march from downtown Mexico City to the Basilica of Guadalupe.
• The European Union marks 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which founded the EU.
Monday
• President Bush meets with executives of the major U.S. automakers.
• At Guantanamo Bay, Australian detainee David Hicks, charged with providing material support for terrorism, faces the first hearing under new U.S. rules for military tribunals.
• February new-home sales, courtesy of the Commerce Department.
• Many of the world's leading polar ice experts will meet in Austin, Texas, to seek greater scientific consensus on the fate of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and future sea-level rises.
• Congressional hearings: In the Senate, human trafficking, the European Union's emissions trading system and the Homeland Security Department's efforts to secure drivers' licenses and identification cards. In the House, Iraqi refugees.
• Hawaiian holiday: It's Prince Kuhio Day.
• The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Awards will be handed out in New York.

Arrests made in 2005 London bombings

British counter-terrorist police said today that they have arrested three suspects in the July 7, 2005, London transit bombings, which killed 52 commuters and four bombers, the Associated Press reports.

No one has ever been charged in connection with the bombings, AP says, which were the deadliest attack on London since World War II.

According to AP:

Meanwhile, lawmakers also have harsh words for the FBI

While most of the attention today has been on the uproar over the firing of eight federal prosecutors and whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will lose his job over it, House members were also taking the administration to task for the FBI's abuses of its power to collect telephone, e-mail and financial records to hunt terrorists.

As the Associated Press writes, Republicans and Democrats sternly warned the FBI that it could lose those powers.

"From the attorney general on down, you should be ashamed of yourself," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said to FBI officials during a House Judiciary Committee hearing this morning. "We stretched to try to give you the tools necessary to make America safe, and it is very, very clear that you've abused that trust."

The committee heard from Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine, who testified that:

Our review of national security letters revealed that, in various ways, the FBI violated the national security letter statutes, Attorney General Guidelines, or FBI internal policies governing their use. While we did not find that the violations were deliberate, we believe the misuses were widespread and serious.

His prepared statement is posted here.

Witness to an attack: AP reporter sees Afghan bombing

"You should never get too close to those vehicles," Associated Press reporter Fisnik Abrashi cautioned his driver in Kabul today. It was an all-too-common bit of advice because of the danger of attacks on U.S. convoys in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and the danger of being caught in the mayhem.

Moments later, Abrashi writes, an explosion tore into the first of three Chevrolet Suburbans that had just passed by. That vehicle, Abrashi says, was thrown across the road -- "some of its bulletproof windows smashed and its front mangled." The two Suburbans behind it were also damaged.

A 15-year-old Afghan bystander was killed, the AP reporter says, while five U.S. Embassy security guards who had been in the vehicles were injured. Officials also say the bomber died, the BBC reports.

Our earlier post on today's attack is here.

(Photo by Rafiq Maqbool of the AP.)

Transcript posted of detainee saying he planned Cole attack

Waleed Mohammed Bin Attash, who had long been suspected in the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, apparently told military hearing officers at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that he played "many roles" in the plot. He said they included planning the attack and buying the explosives and boats used to carry it out, according to a transcript of his hearing that was posted online a short time ago by the Pentagon.

The Yemeni also told the officers he was not at the scene, but rather was with al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden in Kandahar, Afghanistan, according to the transcript. Seventeen sailors were killed and 37 injured in the suicide attack.

Bin Attash, as the Associated Press writes, also claimed to have helped plan the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 that killed 213.

Last week, the Pentagon released a transcript from a similar hearing for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who claimed he "was responsible for the 9/11 Operation, from A to Z." He used his appearance to defend his actions and to compare bin Laden to George Washington. There is nothing in the transcript from bin Attash's hearing to indicate he made similar statements.

Bush: 'Fight is difficult, but it can be won'

As he marked the fourth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, President Bush just said of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein that "a tyrant has been held accountable for his crimes by his own people."

Of the troop "surge" that is designed to reduce violence in Baghdad, Bush said "success will take months, not days or weeks ... yet those on the ground are seeing some hopeful signs."

Addressing Congressional critics of the war, Bush said "it can be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home. ... (But) the consequences for American security would be devastating."

"The fight is difficult, but it can be won," Bush added. Story here. Audio clip here.

'Hope lost' for many Iraqis, poll shows

As we wrote earlier, one of the stories that got considerable attention over the weekend was a report in The Sunday Times of London about a poll of Iraqis that seemed to show many were feeling more positive about how things are going than had been thought.

We also noted, though, that another poll -- sponsored by USA TODAY, ABC News, the British Broadcasting Corp. and ARD, a German TV network -- had reached a much different conclusion.

Now there's much more about that survey:

• This morning's USA TODAY cover story, which says that "four years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Iraqis describe daily lives that have been torn apart by spiraling violence and a faltering economy. The bursts of optimism reported in a 2004 public-opinion survey taken a year after the invasion and another in 2005 before landmark legislative elections have nearly vanished."

• A graphic called Iraq: Where Things Stand.

• An interactive slideshow on "Taking an Iraqi poll."

The coverage is scheduled to continue Tuesday, when USA TODAY plans to report that "support among Iraqis for building a unified nation has eroded."

ABC News will be reporting on the results as well this week on World News with Charles Gibson.

Worth reading: Two polls, two takes on Iraqis' attitudes

This headline in The Sunday Times of London, coming just before today's fourth anniversary of the Iraq war's start, drew considerable attention over the weekend:

"Resilient Iraqis ask what civil war?"

The story is based on this poll from the English firm Opinion Business Research.

The Sunday Times summarized the news from the February survey of 5,019 Iraqis this way:

Despite sectarian slaughter, ethnic cleansing and suicide bombs, an opinion poll conducted on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq has found a striking resilience and optimism among the inhabitants.

Among the surprises in the poll, according to the newspaper:

FBI warns about 'extremists' driving school buses

In a warning to U.S. police departments, the FBI says that foreign nationals with "ties to extremists groups" are driving school buses or have licenses to drive them, but that "parents and children have nothing to fear." Parts of the bulletin were read to the Associated Press. Although law enforcement agencies around the country were asked to watch out for kids' safety based on "recent suspicious activity," FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said, "There are no threats, no plots and no history leading us to believe there is any reason for concern."

Here's more of the AP report:

U.K. coroner calls 'friendly fire' attack 'entirely avoidable'

A coroner conducting an inquest into a U.S. "friendly fire" attack that killed a British soldier during the Iraq war in 2003 said today the death was entirely avoidable and unlawful, the Associated Press writes from London.

Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker also criticized the U.S. military for failing to cooperate with his investigation into the incident, AP writes.

"I believe that the full facts have not yet come to light," Walker said as he began reading his verdict about whether the pilots of a U.S. A-10 "Tank-buster" plane unlawfully killed 25-year-old Lance Cpl. Matty Hull in an attack on his armored vehicle convoy in southern Iraq on March 28, 2003.

Four other British soldiers were wounded.

The coroner's verdict is not binding on the United States, which is not subject to British law.

The BBC adds that:

No American witnesses gave evidence at the inquest, despite Mr Walker's requests to them to co-operate more fully with his investigation.

He said the US pilots should have flown lower to confirm identities before opening fire.

Bill to put timetable on Iraq withdrawal passes House committee

2:25 p.m. ET: This post began with the headline "Iraq debate underway in key House committee." Just a short time ago, the legislation was passed by the committee. It now heads to a vote by the full House next week.

Our original post:

The House Appropriations Committee has begun debating a Democratic plan to "commence the redeployment of the Armed Forces from Iraq not later than March 1, 2008, and complete such redeployment within 180 days." The panel is expected to vote on the measure later today.

USA TODAY's Kathy Kiely passed along to us that language, which would be attached to an emergency funding bill for the military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan that has grown from the $95.5 billion requested by President Bush to a Democratic-backed $124 billion.

At the same time, the legislation states that:

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this or any other Act may be used to deploy any unit of the Armed Forces to Iraq unless the chief of the military department concerned has certified in writing to the Committees on Appropriations and the Committees on Armed Services at least 15 days in advance of the deployment that the unit is fully mission capable.

That provision could limit the number of troops available.

The Associated Press writes, however, that:

Prospects of the bill becoming law are dim. In addition to a White House veto threat and overwhelming GOP opposition to the bill, the legislation is unlikely to survive in the Senate, where Democrats have been reluctant to adopt a firm timetable to end the war.

Senate Democrats have opted instead to back softer legislation that would identify March 2008 as a goal for troops to be out of Iraq.

Today's hearing is being broadcast on C-SPAN3 and is being webcast by the network here.

Kiely adds that the legislation also includes such things as $25 million for spinach farmers and $60 million for salmon fisheries. "Welcome Kmart shoppers," cracked Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., an opponent of the legislation.

Update at 12:45 p.m. ET: By a "straight party line" vote of 37-27, the committee has rejected an effort to remove the timetable for troop withdrawal from the legislation, Kiely reports.

Update at 2:25 p.m. ET: The legislation has been approved by a vote of 36-28. The AP says the one lawmaker to switch was Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., a strong opponent of the war.

9/11 mastermind admits role in dozens of terror plots

As we first reported last night, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the al-Qaeda strategist accused of planning the 9/11 attacks, admitted playing a role in more than two dozen terrorist plots during a military hearing at the Guantanamo Bay naval base.

"I don't like to kill people. I feel very sorry they been killed kids in 9/11," he said, according to an unclassified transcript the Pentagon released. "What I will do? This is the language. Sometime I want to make great awakening between American to stop foreign policy in our land. I know American people are torturing us from seventies." (Associated Press photo of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.)

Below is a lengthy excerpt from the transcript that describes his role in terror plots over the last decade.  It is presented in its original form, with the author's spelling, grammar and style.

Army: Sept. 11 mastermind admits role during hearing

The suspected architect of the Sept. 11 terrorism, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, has confessed to the 2001 attacks and a string of others during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Associated Press reports, citing a transcript released by the military. The secret hearings began Saturday.

GlobalSecurity.org has more background on KSM.

(2003 file photo, AP)

Update at 8:05 p.m. ET: Mohammed also claimed responsibility for planning, financing, and training others for bombings ranging from the 1993 attack at the World Trade Center to the attempt by would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes. Here's the latest from AP.

Chiquita charged with dealing with Colombian terrorists

The Chiquita banana company has been charged with doing business with a terrorist organization for its dealings with a right-wing militia in Colombia, the U.S. Justice Department has announced. The charges settle a long investigation into the Cincinnati-based company's financial dealings with right-wing terrorist groups in the country, which President Bush visited during his just-ended Latin American trip.

Here's what the Associated Press is reporting:

Federal prosecutors said the Cincinnati-based company and several unnamed high-ranking corporate officers did business with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. The group is described in court documents as a violent right-wing organization that the U.S. has designated as a terrorist group.

Details of the settlement were not included in court documents. But Chiquita said last month it had set aside $25 million to resolve the dispute. The company said the investigation involved a former subsidiary that made payments under pressure to ensure the safety of its employees.

The payments were approved by senior executives at Chiquita, prosecutors wrote in court documents. Corporate books were kept to conceal the deals, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Chiquita began paying the right-wing AUC after a meeting in 1997. ...

Update at 5:25 p.m. ET: The charges belie Chiquita's "core values" and its "corporate responsibility reports," which you can read at the company's site.

Update at 6:05 p.m. ET: Here's more on the Colombian paramilitary force linked to Chiquita, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, whose leaders also were indicted for cocaine trafficking in 2002:

• U.S. State Department
• Wikipedia
• Center for Defense Information
• Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism
• Council on Foreign Relations

Update at 6:42 p.m. ET: The Counterrorism Blog has posted a link to the Justice Department's court filing (pdf), which details the payments to the United Self-Defense Forces (AUC). It also reveals that Chiquita made payments to two left-wing terror groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN).

Looking ahead

Some big news on Tuesday:

• A sentencing hearing begins in Miami for the man convicted of abducting, raping and burying alive 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. John Couey faces a potential death sentence.
• President Bush meets with Mexican President Felipe Calderon on the last stop of Bush's five-nation tour.
•  A civil suit against Sudan, filed by families of the 17 sailors killed in the USS Cole attack in 2000, is scheduled to go to trial in Norfolk, Va. The camp where the Cole attackers were trained was in Sudan.
• The Senate is scheduled to vote on a homeland security measure that would implement some recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.
• The House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hears testimony on public health conditions in New Orleans.
• Over the objections of the House Republican Conference, the Council on American-Islamic Relations holds a Capitol Hill forum on relations between Islam and the West.

Cheney says some in Congress are 'undermining' troops

Vice President Cheney today resumed his sharp attacks on members of Congress who oppose the president's strategy in Iraq, accusing them of "twisted logic" and not supporting the troops in the field.

"When members of Congress pursue an anti-war strategy that's been called slow bleed, they're not supporting the troops, they are undermining them," Cheney said. You can read the entire official text of his address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee here, at the White House website. There is a response from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at the end of this post.

The vice president also said:

'L.A. Times' says there is a backup plan for Iraq

There is a "Plan B" for Iraq, The Los Angeles Times reports today:

"American military planners have begun plotting a fallback strategy for Iraq that includes a gradual withdrawal of forces and a renewed emphasis on training Iraqi fighters in case the current troop buildup fails or is derailed by Congress," it writes in a front-page story.

The Times adds that:

Lost: Final video questioning of Padilla

The Pentagon says it has lost the last of 88 videotaped recordings of the interrogation of U.S. terror suspect Jose Padilla. The Associated Press says that raises "questions about whether federal prosecutors have lost other recordings and evidence in the case" of the alleged Al-Qaeda sympathizer.

"I don't know what happened to it," Pentagon attorney James Schmidli said recently in court.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke was incredulous and skeptical.

"Do you understand how it might be difficult for me to understand that a tape related to this particular individual just got mislaid?" she told prosecutors.

AP says Padilla's attorneys believe that his interrogators may have said something to him that "could explain why Padilla does not trust them and suspects they are government agents."

Padilla and two co-defendants are scheduled to stand trial April 16 in Miami on charges of being part of a North American terror support cell.

FBI director takes responsibility for Patriot Act mistakes

12:10 p.m. ET: This post began at 10:23 a.m. with the headline "FBI director to address Patriot Act report; audit now public." The story has evolved since then.

Our original post:

One of the top stories of the day is about the Justice Department audit that concludes, according to the Associated Press, that the FBI has underreported how often it used the USA Patriot Act to force businesses to turn over customer information in suspected terrorism cases.

The audit itself has yet to be released, but the cable news networks are saying that FBI Director Robert Mueller will hold a news conference at 11:30 a.m. ET, where he's expected to talk about it.

Update at 10:40 a.m. ET. The report:

The DOJ Inspector General's audit is now posted online (warning, it is a very large pdf that may take time to download). It states that auditors found there were "22% more NSL (national security letters) requests in the case files we examined than were recorded in the OGC (Office of General Counsel) database." Also:

• "From 2003 to 2005 almost 4,600 NSL requests were not reported to Congress."

• "The total numbers of NSL requests that were reported to Congress semiannually in CYs 2003, 2004 and 2005 were significantly understated."

• "We found that the FBI used NSLs in violation of applicable NSL statutes, Attorney General Guidelines, and internal FBI policies."

• "We believe the improper or illegal uses we found involve serious misuses of national security letter authorities."

Update at 11:35 a.m. ET. Mueller endorses report:

At the start of his news conference, Mueller just called the audit "an excellent report" that will be "taken exceptionally seriously." He said the FBI accepts the inspector general's recommendations and is working to implement them.

Update at 11:45 a.m. Mueller says "I should be held accountable:"

The director just said that he is responsible for the mistakes that were made.

"I should have set up an audit system to insure the accuracy of those figures and I did not," he said. Also, "I should have provided the appropriate training, education and internal oversight ... (and) I should have introduced internal controls."

He also called the audit an example of "appropriate and effective Congressional oversight."

On eve of bin Laden's 50th, another 'hunt' report

Saturday, according to stories in The Sydney Morning Herald and Maclean's, Osama bin Laden turns 50.

Today, The Daily Telegraph does its version of a story that's been making its way around the media world: That the U.S. is stepping up its hunt for bin Laden.

Earlier this week, we noted that ABC News' Brian Ross was saying the pursuit is intensifying. Fox News followed with its own "confirmation" of the news.

"For those who want action in Pakistan, it seems to be coming true," writes conservative Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters. But liberal Cenk Uygur at The Huffington Post says bin Laden is still "foot loose and fancy free."

(Photo: From undated video broadcast in 2004. Image taken by Muhannad Fala'ah of Getty Images.)

Notorious Afghan rebel says he has split with Taliban

Fugitive Afghan rebel leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar says his forces have ended cooperation with the Taliban and suggests he may be open to talks with President Hamid Karzai, the Associated Press reports.

In a video response to questions submitted by AP, Hekmatyar also recounted how U.S. forces nearly caught him on two occasions but he got away.

Who is Hekmatyar? As this BBC profile says:

The Hezb-e-Islami (Hekmatyar's faction) was one of the groups which helped end the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

But in the free-for-all that followed in the early 1990s, his group of fundamentalist Sunni Muslim Pashtuns clashed violently with other Mujahideen factions in the struggle for control of the capital, Kabul.

The Hezb-e-Islami was blamed for much of the terrible death and destruction of that period, which led many ordinary Afghans to welcome the emergence of the Taliban.

During the civil wars of the early 1990s, Hekmatyar's militia destroyed much of Kabul.

Afghan 'Rambo' pledges to guard U.S. soldiers

"I made a promise to every American soldier. Even if there is only one American soldier, I will be here to protect him."

So says "Rambo," the "Afghan guard who stops suicide bombers," in today's Christian Science Monitor (it's also posted here, at USATODAY.com).

Tracked down by the Monitor at an American base on the outskirts of Kabul, the pseudonymous gatekeeper is the man lauded three weeks ago by President Bush for stopping a terrorist who was intending to explode a car bomb at the camp.

In today's Monitor, Rambo (the nickname was given to him by U.S. troops) tells the story of what happened on Jan. 16, the day he stopped the terrorist, and why he works for the U.S. Some excerpts:

Albany imam gets 15 years in terror case

This just in from the Associated Press: "The former imam an Albany mosque who was snared in an FBI sting involving a fictional terror strike was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in federal prison."

Yassin Aref was convicted for his role in a scheme -- in reality an FBI sting operation -- that involved laundering money from the sale of a shoulder-fired missile that was supposed to be used to assassinate a Pakistani diplomat in New York.

He has proclaimed his innocence, using a pre-sentencing court appearance to criticize the "government for its treatment of Muslims in general and him in particular," AP reports.

Petraeus talks up negotiations; but eschews caution

Gen. David Petraeus is getting lots of attention this morning for saying earlier today that military force alone is "not sufficient" to end the violence in Iraq and that political talks must eventually include some militant groups now opposing the U.S.-backed government. (There's an audio clip of Petraeus here.)

But as USA TODAY's Jim Michaels writes today, Petraeus is also putting in place a new way of operating in Iraq that has U.S. forces "moving off large bases and into combat outposts in (Baghdad's) turbulent neighborhoods." That's a sharp departure from the more cautious approach that many U.S. commanders had been taking, in part because they thought that one of the "lessons learned" from Vietnam was to avoid taking on insurgencies.

Meanwhile, in other news related to the U.S. presence in Iraq, The New York Times writes that Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, "the day-to-day commander" of U.S. forces in the country, "has recommended that the heightened American troop levels there be maintained through February 2008."

This comes, of course, as House Democrats put forward a plan to bring all U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by the fall of 2008.

(Photo of Petraeus taken today by Chris Hondros of Getty Images.)

Read the e-mails a sailor's accused of sending to terrorists

We've obtained copies of the affidavit and exhibits that the FBI filed with the court as part of its case against Hassan Abujihaad, the sailor accused of using his personal and military e-mail accounts to transmit classified information to Islamic militants.

Documents: FBI affidavit | E-mails | More e-mails and warrant (Warning: Large files)

ABC News reports: Abujihaad's arrest arises out of the investigation of Babar Ahmad, who is suspected of developing radical Islamic Web sites popular with members of al Qaeda and other mujahedeen. Ahmad was indicted in the United States in 2004 for allegedly providing material support to Chechen terrorist groups and the Taliban. Ahmad is currently battling his extradition to the United States in British courts.

Some excerpts from the e-mails:

• Hassan Abujihaad, formerly known as Paul Hall, is accused of sending a message that described naval security measures on April 12, 2001:

Weakness: They have nothing to stop a small craft with RPG etc. except their Seals' stinger missiles. ... Please destroy message.

• He's accused of sending a congratulatory e-mail about six months after terrorists attacked the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen:

Assalaamu'Alaikum
Brothers/Sisters of Al-Islam

i am a muslim station onboard a u.s. warship currently operating depolyed to the arabian gulf.

Report: Bomber kills more than 30 in Iraq

More than 30 people were killed today by a suicide bomber who attacked a cafe in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi police tell the Associated Press. Dozens of other people were reportedly wounded.

The region has been a hot spot:

In January, the U.S. Army reported that "a massive, nine-day assault" just south of Balad Ruz had "killed more than 100 insurgents and detained 54 suspected of involvement with terrorism activities in the area."

In December, the Army also said, coalition forces "raided the area after finding a large weapons cache there. More than 100 insurgents and two U.S. soldiers were killed in the fighting."

Taliban commander caught; burqa disguise didn't work

Afghan soldiers on Tuesday "caught a senior Taliban commander at a checkpoint who was wearing a burqa," the Associated Press writes from Kabul.

The wire service says that NATO officials report that Mullah Mahmood, "who is accused of helping the Taliban detonate suicide bombs," was caught in Kandahar province.

The AP also reports that today, another alleged bomb expert who is "a suspected terrorist with strong ties to al-Qaeda" was arrested in eastern Afghanistan -- according to U.S. authorities.

Meanwhile, as AP writes, "in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province some 5,500 NATO and Afghan soldiers fought Taliban militants in the second day of NATO's largest-ever offensive here."

(2002 file photo, from Kabul, by Rob Elliot of AFP.)

Is CIA ramping up hunt for bin Laden?

ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross says the CIA "is moving additional man power and equipment into Pakistan in the effort to find Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri." Ross says he's been told that by "U.S. officials."

Ross adds that "Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell testified last week that current intelligence 'to the best of our knowledge' puts both bin Laden and al Zawahri in Pakistan."

But while Ross says that "was the first time a high-ranking U.S. official publicly identified Pakistan as bin Laden's hiding place," it really seems to be about the same thing that McConnell's predecessor -- John Negroponte -- told Congress on Jan. 11: