From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

US President George W Bush has heaped praise on Pakistan for arresting six suspected members of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, calling it a major coup in the global war on terrorism.
Mr Bush specifically hailed the detention of Waleed Mohammad bin Attash, alias Khalid, a Yemeni believed to be linked to the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole, as "a major, significant find".
"He is a killer, he was one of the top Al Qaeda operatives," the US leader said during an Oval Office meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
"He is one less person that people who love freedom have to worry about."
"I want to thank our friends in Pakistan, I want to thank the agency ... the CIA, for working hard to continue to win the war against terror," said Mr Bush, who declared war on terrorism after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
"And make no mistake about it ... we will win the war against terror."

BBC

Indonesian prosecutors have formally charged their first suspect in connection with the 2002 Bali bombings.

A spokesman for the prosecution, Antasari Azhar, said the trial of the man, known only as Amrozi, was expected to start on 12 May.

The bomb attacks have been blamed on members of the Muslim militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI). A treason trial against the group's spiritual leader, Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, is already underway.

Reuters

The United States said on Wednesday Syria and Libya reduced their support for "terrorism" they remained on a U.S. list of seven "state sponsors of terrorism" along with Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Sudan.

In its annual "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report, the State Department said attacks by "international terrorists" dropped sharply to 199 in 2002 from 355 a year earlier and the number of deaths fell to 725 from 3,295 in 2001, a year that included the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Being designated "state sponsors of terrorism" means the seven nations are subject to a ban on U.S. arms-related exports and sales, controls over exports of "dual-use" items that could be used for military purposes, prohibitions on economic assistance and a variety of financial and other restrictions.

The report again described Iran as the most active sponsor of such violence, saying its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of Intelligence and Security helped plan and support attacks and exhorted groups to commit them.

Newsday

Renegade groups in Iran and Pakistan are providing a lifeline to rebels who continue to menace U.S. forces in Afghanistan's lawless border regions, a top U.S. commander warned Tuesday.

Despite international efforts to choke off terrorists' funding, supporters in neighboring countries are succeeding in getting cash and weapons over Afghanistan's rugged mountains, Maj. Gen. John R. Vines told reporters.

"I think there are renegade elements in Iran who have an interest in controlling a portion of Afghanistan," Vines said. "I think there are elements in Pakistan -- not the government -- that have an interest in creating instability."

[Time.com]

TIME has learned that sometime today the FBI plans to send a classified Intelligence Bulletin to 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies over its secure telecommunications network, advising officials to pay attention to suspicious activities around nuclear power plants, and including people who are spotted photographing them and light aircraft flying near them.

Full story...

Press Trust of India/The Hindu

The Indian Army has made a disturbing discovery on the Jammu and Kashmir militancy front, a development that would take the militancy to an entirely new level.

Foreign mercenaries operating in Jammu and Kashmir are reported to be in possession of lethal chemical weapons raising security concerns in the border state, according to an army official.

"Terrorists operating in J and K have chemical weapons, as per the recent intelligence reports analysed by army", Lt Col S P K Singh of Northern Command Headquarters said today.

IMRA:

Official Palestinian Authority [PA] TV has broadcast a music video calling for the murder of Jews in the disputed areas, even showing scenes of Jewish teenage girls and a Jewish couple, who are among those targeted for death by PA TV.

[Click here to view on Windows Media Player]
[Click here to view on Quick Time]

The music video shows scenes of masked gunman firing automatic rifles,
aerial views of Jewish towns, and as mentioned, Jews who are targeted for
murder: a man walking his wife, a group of teenage girls, and a soldier.

The words that repeat throughout the music video:

"From the mountain of fire [Nablus] came the rebels...
Everywhere there are settlements.
Oh brave Nablus, keep the cauldron ablaze
Pour over the settlements great flames
Foreigners have no place on this land
Foreigners have no place where Shahids [Died for Allah] were killed."

The Music video may be viewed by clicking either of the 2 links above.

PMW Comment:
It is interesting that PA has chosen to broadcast this call to murder Jews
of the disputed areas at the very time that the Palestinian Authority is
approving Mahmoud Abbas as the Prime Minister. Abbas in a recent interview
legitimized the murdering of Israelis who live in the disputed territories:

"The Intifada must continue. And it is the right of the Palestinian people
to rise and to use all means at their disposal... all means even guns..."
[A-Sharq Al Awsat, March 3, 2003]

It may be that this week's public call in the media to murder Jews is the PA
reassurance to its people, that in spite of Western demands to solve
disputes through negotiations, the PA continues to follow the Abbas
doctrine, seeing murder as a legitimate tool, in times and places when seen
as beneficial.

Haaretz.

Haaretz.

ABC (Aus)

Pakistan has arrested a Yemeni suspected of involvement in the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, according to officials.

In a separate operation, the Interior Ministry says six "high-profile" Al Qaeda members, who were allegedly planning a terror attack in Pakistan, have also been arrested.

Interior Secretary Tasneem Noorani says Yemeni Khalid Al-Atash is "wanted in the bombing of the USS Cole".

Reuters:

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Non- Proliferation John Wolf told a UN meeting in Geneva that Iran had an "alarming, clandestine program" to get hold of nuclear technology as part of an illegal weapons effort. "Iran is going down the same path of denial and deception that handicapped international inspections in North Korea and Iraq," Wolf declared.

See also Russia and Iran's Nuclear Program:

Iran is much closer to acquiring a military nuclear capability than supposed, due to its unexpected progress in developing uranium enrichment facilities using centrifuge technology. By admitting that it has a uranium enrichment program, Iran is basically telling the world that it indeed has military intentions.

Since the mid-1990s, there has been a continuous stream of leakage of Russian technology, technicians, materiel, contracts, and activities to Iran from some 20 companies, institutes, universities, and engineering firms in the two critical domains of missile capability and nuclear development.

The Russians secretly negotiated additional nuclear cooperation agreements with Iran, with full knowledge that they were assisting Iran in its military programs. The result is an Iran that is within a short distance of having a first-generation, nuclear military capability coupled with a delivery capability.

We cannot be confident that reform in Iran will eliminate the strategic threat to Israel. Even the moderates are extremely problematic on a number of issues. Iran's attitude toward the West is basically hostile and the regime shows no signs of any sharp policy changes.

Haaretz:

Military Intelligence told the political echelon at the beginning of the week that the new Palestinian government headed by Abu Mazen has no intention of uprooting the terrorist infrastructure. "According to what we know now, Abu Mazen plans to speak with the Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders, and not clash with them," said a senior military source on Tuesday. Abu Mazen "may have opposed the violent intifada from the first day," say military sources, "but he's barely a third of the new political framework in the PA. The other two-thirds are Yasser Arafat and the terror organizations, which continue to support violence." According to Military Intelligence, the new prime minister feels he lacks domestic legitimacy and therefore has to concede to Arafat on critical issues, which has already eroded his ability to fight terrorists in the future. Mohammed Dahlan has not shown any signs of readiness to enforce his will in the West Bank and some of the heads of the security apparatus are asking out loud why they have to make an effort for him.

AP/Newsday:

A federal judge has ruled the Palestinian Liberation Organization should be held accountable for not responding to a lawsuit filed on behalf of an American man and his Israeli wife who were murdered in Israel. Yaron Ungar and his wife Efrat, both 25, were killed in a drive-by shooting in 1996. The suit was filed in 2000 on behalf of their two children and seeks $250 million. The Anti-Terrorism Act of 1991 allows American victims of overseas terrorism to seek monetary damages in U.S. courts. Experts say the April 18 ruling could ultimately hold the PLO responsible for the killings and allow the plaintiffs to extract damages.

Update on previous post

Fox News is reporting that at least three people have been killed:

At least three people were killed and 30 were injured after a huge explosion rocked a popular seaside promenade in Tel Aviv early Wednesday. Police said it was a terror attack.

The walkway runs along the Tel Aviv (search) beach from the southern edge of the city leading north several miles -- a major draw for Israelis and tourists.

"There has been a terror attack on the seafront walkway," said police spokeswoman Shlomit Hertzberg. She gave no details and there was no immediate word on casualties.

The bomb went off inside a pub called Mike's Place and blew the front off the restaurant. Army Radio said the blast site was near the U.S. Embassy (search), which is on the coast.

Ambulances raced to the scene and police moved to close off the area.

UPDATE: Fox is now reporting the death toll is five.

Ha'aretz

A loud explosion was heard at around 1 A.M. Tuesday night in a cafe next to the United States embassy on the beachfront Hayarkon Street in Tel Aviv.

Initial reports from Army Radio said dozens of people had been wounded. Police said that the blast was caused by a suicide bomber, the radio said.

Deepikaglobal (India)

Eleven Pakistani terrorists and six security force personnel were killed in a fierce gunbattle in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir this afternoon, police sources said.

PakTribune

Eleven freedom fighters and six Indian force personnel were killed in a fierce gunbattle in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday afternoon, police sources claimed.

ABC (Aus)

Eleven suspected Islamic militants and six Indian soldiers have died in a bloody clash in southern Kashmir's Doda district today.

The Associated Press reports:

WASHINGTON -States and localities will receive $1.5 billion to help pay for the costs of increasing security during the war with Iraq, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said Tuesday.

The funds are in addition to $1.6 billion in federal funds already going to state and local governments.

"You cannot secure the homeland from Washington, D.C.," Ridge said. "You can only secure it from the hometown."

Hawash accused of aiding Al-Qaida

The complaint alleges that in October and November 2001 Hawash stayed at the same three hotels in China on the same three occasions as some of the defendants. On Oct. 30, 2001, the complaint says, Hawash shared a hotel room with defendant Jeffrey Leon Battle in Kashgar, in northwestern China.

On Oct. 9, Hawash had turned over the title of the family house in Hillsboro, Ore., to his wife, Lisa. He left the United States through Seattle Oct. 24 and returned Nov. 18. Hawash told his wife that he traveled to China to look for opportunities for his software business, according to the complaint.

The complaint also mentions slips of paper found in the homes of three of the defendants with Hawash's Portland telephone number written on them. Bank records show Hawash wrote a check to defendant Patrice Ford for $105 on Sept. 8, 2001, according to the complaint. In a search of Ford's apartment in October 2002, investigators found a piece of paper that contained the note ``Maher -- 73 owe'' and the names of the other five Portland defendants.

From this:

— Federal officials in the United States dismissed a report from Brasilia on Monday that suggested a bioterrorism case had been uncovered... U.S. sources told NBC that the case appeared instead to involve drug smuggling... U.S. officials told NBC the case had nothing to do with anthrax but did not explain the death of Ibrahim... Ibrahim died in the hotel were he was staying on April 11. Several health workers who found his body were taken to a hospital after becoming ill but are now out of danger.

See the earlier post "Egyptian sailor dies in Brazil from anthrax-police" for more information.

UPDATE: Apparently he didn't die from anthrax: "Bob Fowler, regional director general of Health Canada Atlantic, said today that anthrax has been ruled out as the cause of the sailor's death... "The crewman did not, and I repeat did not, die from anthrax," he said during a news conference."

As to why the Wadi al Arab received attention in Brownsville, TX, that remains to be determined.

Haaretz.

From Debka:

Palestinian PM-designate Abu Mazen, requesting Palestinian council’s endorsement of his government, repeatedly deferred to Arafat as elected Palestinian leader, made no reference to fighting terror. He said Middle East road map must begin with halt on Israeli settlement.

Arafat, who spoke as Middle East leader, demanded an end to US “occupation” of Iraq, called on “Shurfa” and “free men” to rise up against Americans in Iraq. (USAID official Laurence Foley was assassinated last October in Amman by “Shurfa” after his appointment by President Bush to oversee reconstruction of reformed Palestinian Authority.)

He was addressing Palestinian legislative Council convened at his Ramallah office Tuesday for what should have been landmark vote.

Arafat nobbled (sic) would-be reform government hours before its confirmation. He created “national security council” to retain control of Palestinian terror machinery, named his appointee Erekat leader of peace negotiations.

Also revealed: Arafat’s personal envoy to Saddam Hussein, Azzam al-Ahmad planted in cabinet as transport and advanced technology minister.

From Debka:

Arafat, who spoke as Middle East leader, demanded an end to US “occupation” of Iraq, called on “Shurfa” and “free men” to rise up against Americans in Iraq. (USAID official Laurence Foley was assassinated last October in Amman by “Shurfa” after his appointment by President Bush to oversee reconstruction of reformed Palestinian Authority.)

[Sky News]

Libya will pay £6.29m to each of the 270 victims of the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing after accepting civil responsibility for the blast.

Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham confirmed the £1.69bn compensation deal.

He said. "My country has accepted civil responsibility for the actions of its officials in the Lockerbie affair, in conformity with international civil law and the agreement reached in London in March by Libyan, American and British officials."

Full story....

Who would have thought that that Arafat's hand-picked successor would turn out to be a Holocaust-denier and terrorist? Here are two articles about President Bush's 'Man of Peace' that make that compliment seem appropriate for a president who termed Islam a 'Religion of Peace:'

From IMRA:

ISRAELI CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP ACCUSES ABU MAZEN OF HAVING FUNDED 1972 MUNICH OLYMPIC MASSACRE, CALLS FOR PROBE OF PALESTINIAN PM's ROLE

Letter to German and American Leaders Alleges that New P.A. Prime Minister
Financed "Black September" Terror Attack Which Killed 11 Athletes Including
U.S. Citizen

On September 5, 1972, a squad of heavily armed Palestinian terrorists
attacked the dormitories housing the Israeli Olympic team and murdered a
coach and weight-lifter David Berger, who was an American citizen. The
terrorists then took nine Israeli athletes hostage. While the terrorists and
their hostages were transported to the airport, the German police botched a
rescue attempt and all nine of the athletes were murdered.

The director of Shurat Hadin, attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, sent letters
this week to U.S. President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder containing new information indicating that that Abu Mazen (whose
given name is Mahmoud Abbas) provided financing to the PLO's Black September terrorist group, in order to carry out the notorious terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympic Games.

While recent newsmedia profiles of Abu Mazen have accentuated the
Palestinian leader's alleged "terrorism-free" personal history, the Shurat
Hadin charges that in 1972, Abu Mazen, then a high ranking PLO official,
provided financing for the terrorist attacks being perpetrated by Yassir
Arafat's PLO faction Fatah under the nom de guerre Black September.

Shurat Hadin is basing its information on published statements by the
terrorist who masterminded the the Munich attack, Mohammed Daoud Oudeh ("Abu Daoud"). In his French-language autobiography, Palestine: From Jerusalem to Munich, Abu Daoud describes the role of Abu Mazen in providing the funds to carry out the Black September Olympic attack.

Furthermore, in an interview with journalist Don Yaeger of Sports
Illustrated Magazine in August 2002, Abu Daoud reiterated his charges that
Abu Mazen supplied the money for the deadly attack.

In his memoir Abu Daoud states:

"After Oslo in 1993, Abu Mazen went to the White House Rose Garden for a
photo op with Arafat, President Bill Clinton and Israel's Yitzhak Rabin and
Shimon Peres.

"Do you think that ... would have been possible if the Israelis had known
that Abu Mazen was the financier of our operation?" Abu Daoud writes. "I
doubt it." Today, the Bush Administration seeks a Palestinian negotiating
partner "uncompromised by terror," yet last year Abu Mazen met in Washington
with Secretary of State Colin Powell."

Abu Daoud's allegations have been confirm by sources within the Palestinian
Authority, according to Shurat Hadin.

Sports Illustrated: Abu Mazen funded Munich Massacre

From Haaretz:

Strikes by Israeli security forces on Palestinian terror networks during the past year have led to a situation in which many more prominent terrorists are locked in Israeli facilities than are at large. Yet according to a recent report by the Shin Bet, its prisons have become terror headquarters, with incarcerated leaders seeking to orchestrate kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and civilians in order to negotiate their own release. In addition, a rise has been detected in the number of attempts to smuggle firearms into the prisons and prepare bombs, to be used against the guards. Inmates manage to maintain communications with their people outside through mobile phones, letters, and oral messages conveyed by visiting attorneys and family members. Palestinian inmates possess hidden cellular phones on which they can be reached, although the IDF has recently installed devices designed to disrupt such calls.

Haaretz reports a victory in the Financial War On Terror:

There has been a drastic drop over the past few months in the amount of financial aid channeled from Islamic charitable organizations abroad to Islamic terror groups in the territories.

Israeli officials believe this is due to restrictions imposed by the U.S. and other countries on charity groups in their respective countries.

On the other hand, the PA's financial situation is improving, with about NIS 1 billion in its coffers.

Some Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, are also sending humanitarian aid through the PA now instead of to Hamas.

From NBC 17:

An airman from Pope Air Force Base was killed in Afghanistan last week, the Pentagon confirmed Monday.

Airman 1st Class Raymond Losano, 24, of Del Rio, Texas, died of wounds suffered on Friday while accompanying Army paratroopers behind enemy lines to call in airstrikes, the military said.

From The Mercury (Australia):

US federal authorities have charged a seventh person with plotting to aid al-Qaeda and Taliban forces fighting US soldiers a month after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Maher Hawash, a 39-year-old Palestinian software engineer, was charged with conspiracy to levy war and two counts of conspiring to provide material support to the two groups. He has been in custody since late March.

Even this far into the engagement, it appears the Afghanistan countryside still holds many secrets. From ABC (Australia):

US special forces have discovered a massive haul of more than 200 tonnes of explosives in a cave complex in north-western Afghanistan, a military spokesman says.

Acting on a tip-off, special forces last week discovered 204 tonnes of explosives in 17 caves near Maimana, capital of Faryab province, Colonel Roger King said at Bagram Air Base.

He said the haul included 80 tonnes of high explosive and the rest was from small arms ammunition.

AFP/News Interactive

TEN suspected Taliban fighters were killed in a clash with local security forces in south-east Afghanistan's Zabul province, governor Hameedullah Tokhi said.

"Yesterday at 11am Taliban attacked Daychopan district and up to now the fighting is still going on," he told AFP by telephone.

"Up to yesterday evening 10 Taliban were killed and six injured," he said citing reports from the district chief and local security commanders in Daychopan, 300km south-west of Kabul.

From this:

BRASILIA, Brazil, April 28 (Reuters) - A crew member of an Egyptian merchant ship has died in northern Brazil, almost certainly from anthrax, after opening a suitcase suspected of containing the substance which he was taking to Canada.

A spokesman for Brazilian federal police in the Amazon state of Para said on Monday an autopsy of the Egyptian man, whom he named as Ibrahim Saved Soliman Ibrahim, showed that he had died after vomiting, internal bleeding and multiple organ failure.

"He was the victim of anthrax," said Fernando Sergio Castro, adding that police were 90 percent certain that Ibrahim had died of anthrax.

Ibrahim had traveled to Brazil from Cairo to join his ship, the Wabi Alaras, which loaded bauxite in the Amazon to take to Canada...

Castro said Ibrahim had been given the suitcase in Cairo by an unidentified person and was due to deliver it to somebody in Canada. But he doubted Ibrahim knew what the content of the bag was otherwise he most likely would not have opened it.

"Health Canada awaits anthrax ship results" says that Canadian officials are awaiting test results from swab samples taken on the quarantined ship.

There appears to be confusion over the ship's name. The Globe & Mail report (second link) says it's "Wadi Al Arab." The Reuters report says "Wabi Alaras." I'd tend to go with "Wadi Al Arab." That ship name is also mentioned here and here ("Ship Guarded" from 2/28/03):

The Federal Government is guarding a foreign ship at the Port of Brownsville. The ship is registered in Egypt... Newschannel Five has learned the Egyptian vessel, the Wadi Al Arab, as been guarded by Federal Law Enforcement Agencies since it reached American waters. The ship is carrying iron ore from Brazil... Also aboard the Wadi Al Arab are 32 Egyptian nationals... I.N.S., Border Patrol, and the U.S. Coast says keeping an eye on the Wadi Al Arab is no different than guarding any other ship from a foreign country... The Wadi Al Arab will be unloading its cargo for 4 to 5 more days, under the watchful eye of federal agents.

This story has been UPDATED.

From The Jerusalem Post:

Israeli security forces recently exposed five Fatah Tanzim terrorist cells whose members are responsible for the deaths of nine Israelis.

One of those arrested is Kamel Abu Wa'ar from Kabatyia, in the past one of Yasser Arafat's presidential guard.

....Judea and Samaria district police chief, Maj.-Gen. Shahar Ayalon, said that the discovery of the Fatah Tanzim terror cells had thwarted "many planned attacks," reports Israel Radio.

From Haaretz:

IDF troops on Saturday apprehended an 18-year-old Palestinian near Itamar, armed with a knife, who planned to carry out a terror attack in the settlement. The soldiers were tipped off by the youth's father, who arrived at an IDF checkpost near Nablus and requested that the soldiers prevent the attack. The IDF said that by notifying the troops, the father had saved his son's life.

Syrian Spokeswoman: Hizbullah Is Not A Terrorist Organization

Syrian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Bouthana Shaaban told Fox News today that Hizbullah has "never targeted any civilian in Israel" and is "not a terrorist organization." However, Yonatan Peled, the spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, told Arutz-7's Eli Stutz that Shaaban was not quite accurate in her portrayal of the facts:

"Hizbullah is a terrorist organization, and has attacked Israeli civilians, both in Israel and abroad. In 1992, in Buenos Aires, it blew up the Israeli Embassy, killing 29 people. They have fired rockets over the border at Israeli [communities], and are actively involved with Palestinian terror organizations, assisting them in carrying out attacks against Israelis. Syria is not only supporting Hizbullah, but is actually harboring them."

Just 14 months ago, on March 12, 2002, two Hizbullah terrorists infiltrated northern Israel outside Kibbutz Metzubah, shot at passing cars, and murdered five Israeli civilians and a soldier.

US Congressman Tom Lantos, who met in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad yesterday for an hour and a half, presented him with a series of demands that would enable the U.S. to "open a new page in its relations with Syria." These included closing down headquarters of terrorist organizations and withdrawing Syrian forces from Lebanon. Lantos said also that Syria must cease its support of Hizbullah, especially granting it use of the Damascus airport. Lantos said afterwards,
"I told President Assad that Syria made a terrible mistake by choosing to side with Saddam Hussein in the period that preceded the war [with Iraq]. I explained that Syria's image in the U.S. had deteriorated drastically when it became clear that military equipment was transferred from Syria to Iraq and that many Syrian fighters had joined the [flickering] Iraqi regime… It appears that Assad accepted my words as constructive criticism - though I don't expect an immediate response regarding the demands that America placed upon Syria."

Wiesenthal Center to press for Brunner's extradition from Syria

With the US pressing Damascus to cease supporting terrorism after the liberation of Iraq, officials of the Simon Wiesenthal Center believe the time is ripe to seek the extradition of Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner, who is believed to be living in Syria.

...."This is part of the wider Syrian picture of a country that harbors Nazi as well as Iraqi war criminals, and provides a haven and support for terrorist groups."

....Brunner, 91, was one of the henchmen of Adolf Eichmann and a leading official of the main security office that helped draft and implement the "final solution." He was responsible for the deportation to death camps of some 128,500 Jews: 47,000 from Austria, 44,000 from Greece, 23,500 from France, and 14,000 from Slovakia.

Brunner reportedly fled to Egypt after the war, but later sought and was granted refuge in Syria.

Following the capture and execution of Adolf Eichmann, Brunner has been at the top of the wanted list of Nazi war criminals and Holocaust perpetrators.

A woman was injured in one of the incidents.

IBA radio.

Walla cites IDF radio, saying that 3 of the Russians were killed when their vehicle was blown up by a mine.

State prosecutors said the youth, a naturalized German citizen, had demanded the release of four suspects linked to al Qaeda, but police said they did not believe he had any ties to Osama bin Laden's network.

AP/Kansas City Star

Before the Sept. 11 attacks, before Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland, there was Air India Flight 182, blown up by a bomb with 329 people aboard in what is still the worst terrorist attack on a commercial airliner.

On Monday, after an almost 18-year investigation that cost more than $30 million, two men from India's Sikh religious minority will face murder charges while sitting behind bulletproof glass as their trial starts in a specially built courtroom.

Air India Flight 182 from Montreal to India's capital, New Delhi, exploded over the Atlantic Ocean near Britain on June 23, 1985. Most of the victims were Canadian.

An hour earlier, a bomb in baggage intended for another Air India jetliner exploded at Tokyo's Narita Airport, killing two baggage handlers.

San Antonio (TX) Express-News: Del Rio airman's death mourned

Family members Saturday were mourning the death of an airman from Del Rio, one of two U.S. servicemen killed in a battle with rebel fighters in Afghanistan on Friday.

Airman 1st Class Raymond Losano, 23, attended Del Rio High School before he earned his GED to enter the Air Force in 2001. He also attended Pima Community College in Tucson, Ariz.

Salt Lake (UT) Tribune: Second G.I. Dies in Afghanistan After Battle

The Pentagon on Saturday identified the first soldier killed as Pvt. Jerod R. Dennis, 19, of Oklahoma. Dennis was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Fort Bragg, N.C.

[Sky News]

Terrorists have been blamed for a bomb blast that ripped through an American fast food restaurant at Jakarta's international airport.

The attack is the second on foreign facilities in three days, officials said.
Eleven people were injured in the explosion at a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet.

The blast near the restaurant may be linked to current or pending trials of terror suspects, said top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Full story...

IRANIAN REGIME WORRIED BY PEOPLE’S PRO-AMERICANISM

This is from Iran's official news agency:

As President George W. Bush has also warned the Islamic republic to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs, an influential French daily says Iranian officials are worried by the "obvious pro-Americanism sentiments" of " the Iranian people".

Iranian officials are worried. Worried of the American presence next to their doors, on the East as well as to the West, worried of the invasion of Iraq "with so little popular resistance", worried of the fast fall of the Baghdad regime, worried of the sidelining of the UN, worried of the total disillusion of the Iranian people that, since the beginning of the Iraqi crisis, has resulted in a fierce pro-Americanism of the population... but, especially, worried of the vox populi, that asks for "a change of the regime with the help of the American marines", the daily "Le Monde" wrote.

This demand is taken enough seriously in the political circles so that the resumption of the relations with America -- a 24 years-old taboo -- had moved forward on the political agenda in Tehran. These relations had been broken on the eve of the establishment of the Islamic Republic and the hostage taking of 55 American diplomats in 1979.

Muslim Rebel Attack on Kashmir radio station, other violence leaves 14 dead

The new deaths came on a second day of bloody violence in the region, after 18 people were killed on Friday, including six in a suicide attack.

Two Indian security men and three Muslim rebels were killed Saturday in a attack on the Radio Kashmir office in the heart of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir.

Seven other security force personnel were injured in the attack.

Police said three militants detonated a car laden with explosives near the main gate of Radio Kashmir, killing a policeman, before they tried to storm into building in the confusion.

Federal troops deployed in and around the radio station opened fire killing one of the rebels, while the other two were shot by security forces after running away.

A BSF trooper was also killed during the gunfight, a spokesman said.

Officials described the assault as a suicide attack because at least two of the rebels had grenades strapped to their bodies.

This news article, about Israel's legitimate fears of nuclear attack by Iran, concludes:

No one in the Israeli establishment believes that after the war in Iraq, the United States will be in any mood for a far more difficult military campaign against Iran. Moreover, many are convinced that it is too late to stop Iran from going nuclear. Therefore, they argue, the best way to neutralize a nuclear Iran is to promote regime change from within. [Emphasis mine - JW]

"Evidently, I am afraid!" he exclaims. "How would I not be afraid of an America armed to the teeth and who demonstrated in Iraq its total disdain of respect for the sovereignty of the States? . . . according to him, "that the best defense of Iran against the Americans would be to reinforce its democracy in order to deprive them of their arguments".

Interrogated on the voices calling for "the American interference", Mr. Nabavi declares: "It is obvious that it is the result of our mistake. The fact that people prefer a foreign invasion to living in the Islamic Republic is only the sign of our failure. We have not been able to fulfill the people's democratic aspirations and it is normal that they are disappointed". If one admits that the Iraqis are delighted with Saddam Hoseyn's end, one must also think about the possibility that maybe, the Iranians would celebrate at the end of the Islamic Republic as well".

Just some photos from Afganistan. So we don't forget.

A comparison of media reports from Iraq and Israel on civilian deaths at checkpoints.With lots of links to news reports.

I am linking to the blog which translates the original German news item, and provides a link to the original. A 17-year-old Lebanese hijacked a bus in Germany, has "Islamist motivations."

From Reuters:

Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Dr Abdullah called on Pakistan on Saturday to act against Taliban leaders he said were operating from its territory.

He said the shadowy head of the fundamentalist group, Mullah Mohammed Omar, topped a list of those thought to be taking refuge in Pakistan.

From Radio Australia:

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has handed down death sentences to three Islamic sectarian militants for involvement in the killing of minority Shi'ite Muslims.

Akram Lahori, a leader of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi -- one of the country's most feared militant groups -- and his accomplices were convicted in two separate cases of sectarian killings.

Al Bawaba

US Representative Tom Lantos, the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives International Relations Committee, urged Syria to cut support to Lebanon's Hizbullah.

He said the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was a "historic opportunity" to improve Syrian-US ties, but conditioned this on Damascus ending support for "terrorism."

"I hope it (Syria) will not flounder on continued misguided policies like military support for Hizbullah or the maintenance of terrorist headquarters in Damascus," Lantos told reporters after talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Is it me, or is Afghanistan heating up? From FOX23/AP:

The U-S military in Afghanistan says a second soldier has died of wounds suffered in a gun battle with Taliban fighters.

The soldier died early Saturday, hours after the Friday gun battle in eastern Afghanistan.

Four other U-S special forces soldiers injured in the fighting are in stable condition at a hospital at the Bagram base, just north of the capital, Kabul.

Hmm ... I wonder why they always seem to be so close to Pakistan. From Reuters:

U.S. and Afghan forces have arrested several suspected members of the Taliban near the southern border town of Spin Boldak, an Afghan military commander said on Saturday.

Abdul Razzak, a military officer based in Spin Boldak, said the arrests were made in an operation launched on Thursday in the Loi Karez area, close to the Pakistan border.

From The Australian

A CAR bomb and a gunbattle at state-run broadcast offices in the capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir killed three suspected Islamic militants and two soldiers today, police said.
Three men from the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force were wounded, said senior police officer Javed Ahmad.
The area had been cordoned off by soldiers, and the army and paramilitary were searching for any other attackers who may have entered the radio and television complex after exploding their car at the entrance.
Police found explosives strapped to the bodies of two of the attackers killed in the gunbattle. The bomb disposal squad had been summoned to defuse them, Ahmad said.
The attack came a day after a powerful explosion ripped through a courthouse in Kashmir, killing three people and injuring 34, amid a sharp surge in violence in the strife-torn region.

Middle East Intelligence Bulletin

According to a report in the Israeli daily Maa'riv early last month, the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah has acquired highly sophisticated SA-18 shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. Acquisition of the Russian-manufactured SA-18, a much improved version of the SA-7 missiles used by Hezbollah in the past and employed by Al-Qaeda last November to attack an Israeli airliner in Kenya, would vastly upgrade the movement's air defense capabilities and strengthen the threat emanating from its massive stockpile of rockets capable of hitting Israeli population centers.[1]

As the militant Islamist group accelerated its rocket buildup in 2002, Syria ordered a large shipment of SA-18s from Russia with the apparent intention of transferring them to Hezbollah. Following several trips to Russia by Israeli National Security Advisor Ephraim Halevy and a state visit by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in late September, Israel announced that Russia had canceled the sale.[2] However, the UAE daily Al-Bayan reported that Hezbollah had already received a "first installment" of SA-18 missiles earlier in the year.[3]

American authorities are investigating a suspicious money trail that leads from the jungles of South America to the suburbs of Dallas and may shed light on the interlocking finances of some key terrorist networks, including Hamas and Al Qaeda. Federal and Texas state investigators are seeking clues to the origin and destination of millions of dollars wired from a business in the lawless tri-border area where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet, to apparent shell companies in Texas suspected of serving as fronts for either Al Qaeda, Hamas or both.