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Hezbollah Trains Iraqis in Iran, Officials Say
By MICHAEL R. GORDON, New York Times
Militants from the Lebanese group Hezbollah have been training Iraqi militia fighters at a camp near Tehran, according to American interrogation reports that the United States has supplied to the Iraqi government. An American official said the account of Hezbollah’s role was provided by four Shiite militia members who were captured in Iraq late last year and questioned separately. The United States has long charged that the Iranians were training Iraqi militia fighters in Iran, which Iran has consistently denied, and there have been previous reports about Hezbollah operatives in Iraq. But the Americans say the reports of Hezbollah’s role at the Iranian camp offer important details about Iranian assistance to the militias, including efforts Iran appears to be making to train the fighters in unobtrusive ways.

Iraq Says It Has Proof Of Iranian Meddling
By Amit R. Paley, Washington Post
The Iraqi government said Sunday that it has "concrete evidence" Iran is fomenting violence in Iraq and that a high-level panel had been formed to document the proof. The statement came as Iraqi officials find themselves trapped between the United States and Iran, which have each accused the other of wreaking havoc in Iraq. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is in a particularly delicate situation because he is close to American and Iranian officials.

U.S. Airstrike Kills Top Qaeda Agent in Somalia
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN, New York Times
Aden Hashi Ayro, one of Al Qaeda’s top agents in East Africa and the leader of the Islamist comeback in Somalia, was killed Thursday morning by an American airstrike, according to Somali officials. Mr. Ayro was one of the most feared and notorious figures in Somalia, a short, wispy man believed to be in his 30s who had gone from lowly car washer to top terrorist suspect blamed for a string of atrocities, including ripping up an Italian graveyard, killing a female BBC journalist and planning suicide attacks all across Somalia. He was a military commander for the Shebab, an Islamist militia which the American government recently classified as a terrorist group. Somalia officials said his death could be a key turning point in defeating the Islamists, who have seized several towns in recent weeks, and in bringing peace to the country.

Afghans See Link to Qaeda in Plot to Shoot Karzai
By CARLOTTA GALL and ABDUL WAHEED WAFA, New York Times
The attempt to kill President Hamid Karzai on Sunday was the work of militants who had infiltrated Afghanistan’s security forces and had ties to groups linked to Al Qaeda in Pakistan’s tribal areas, the Afghan intelligence chief said Wednesday. The claims emerged after a day of heightened alarm in which Afghan security forces killed and captured a number of suspects involved in Sunday’s assassination attempt, raiding three safe houses in Kabul, the capital. An eight-hour siege with one cell left seven people dead, including a child and three security officials. One of those killed was a militant named Homayoun, who assisted in the attack on President Karzai as well as in the bombing in January of the Serena Hotel in Kabul, killing seven people, Amrullah Saleh, the intelligence chief, said at a news conference. Afghan intelligence officials say they have linked Homayoun through an intermediary to Jalaluddin Haqqani, a mujahedeen commander who is based in Pakistan’s tribal areas and has long had ties to Al Qaeda.

Death toll in Iraq jumped in April
It was the highest in months for U.S. troops as well as Iraqi civilians
By Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times
The four U.S. soldiers who died in a series of roadside bombings Wednesday lifted the number of American service members killed in April to a seven-month high of 50. Civilian deaths reported by the Iraqi government also reached the highest levels in months as Baghdad experienced intense clashes triggered by an Iraqi government crackdown against Shiite Muslim militias. U.S. commanders say Sunni Arab militants are also attempting to reassert themselves by staging suicide bombings and other high-profile attacks in parts of the country where they have come under pressure since last year. The jump in deaths raises questions about whether U.S. and Iraqi forces can consolidate last year's security gains as most of the additional 28,500 American troops deployed to the country return home.

Bus bomb kills 24 in Sri Lanka
By RAVI NESSMAN, Washington Post
A bomb hidden on the baggage rack of a packed, rush-hour bus exploded Friday evening outside Colombo, killing 24 people in an attack that the military blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels. Ambulances with sirens wailing flooded a nearby hospital, where off-duty doctors and nurses ran in to help the 40 people who were wounded in the blast. One hospital was so overwhelmed it had to divert some of the injured to a second medical center. Among the dead brought to the morgue was a Buddhist monk and a small child.

Suicide Blasts Kill 2 U.S. Marines, 8 Iraqis; Sunni Insurgents Claim One Attack
By Amit R. Paley, Washington Post
Suicide bombings killed two U.S. Marines and at least eight Iraqis on Tuesday, the latest in a series of attacks in areas where U.S. officials said they had weakened Sunni insurgents. The killings underscored the threat still posed by Sunni insurgent groups even as public attention has focused on the month-old campaign by American and Iraqi troops against Shiite militias.

U.N. puts Darfur death toll at 300,000
The U.N.'s humanitarian chief laments stalled efforts to end the conflict
By Maggie Farley, Los Angeles Times
The U.N.'s humanitarian chief on Tuesday updated the estimated number of conflict-related deaths in Darfur to about 300,000 and lamented that efforts to solve the crisis were stalled on all fronts. In a briefing to the Security Council, John Holmes, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said that continued attacks make it more difficult for aid workers to reach vulnerable people, food aid is about to be halved, the deployment of peacekeepers is beset by obstacles and the peace process has stalled.

Heavy Fighting in Sri Lankan North
By REUTERS, New York Times
Heavy fighting in Sri Lanka's far north killed 52 Tamil Tiger rebels and 38 soldiers, while the air force bombed rebel positions, the military said on Wednesday. Fighting between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has intensified since the government formally pulled out of a 6-year-old ceasefire pact in January, though a renewed civil war has been raging since 2006.

Car Bombs Kill More Than 50 in Iraq
By KIM GAMEL, Washington Post
Car bombs ripped through crowded areas in Baghdad and former insurgent strongholds to the north and west of the capital on Tuesday, killing more than 50 people and breaking a recent lull in violence in predominantly Sunni areas. The attacks came a day after 18 people were killed in two car bombings and a suicide attack in northern Iraq _ a deadly reminder of the threat posed by suspected Sunni insurgents even as clashes between Shiite militia fighters and U.S.-Iraqi forces continued elsewhere.

4 Teachers Are Killed in Raid by Islamists on Somali School
Teachers might have been singled out because they were suspected of preaching Christianity
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN and MOHAMMED IBRAHIM, New York Times
Daud Hassan Ali had an unusual dream for his native Somalia. He was a nomad’s son who lived in Britain for years, but he recently returned to his troubled homeland to teach English. Early Monday, he paid for it with his life. Witnesses said that Mr. Daud and three foreign teachers, a Briton and two Kenyans, were killed by Islamist insurgents during a midnight raid on one of the few English-language schools in south-central Somalia. A spokesman for the Shabab militant Islamist group said the teachers were killed by accident after they were caught in cross-fire. But several residents of Beledweyne, the town where the attack happened, said Mr. Daud and the other teachers might have been singled out because they were suspected of preaching Christianity. Another attack occurred about 200 miles away in Merka, where insurgents tossed a grenade into a crowded movie theater and killed four people on Sunday night, apparently in an attempt to shut it down.

Rocket Attacks Kill 2 Soldiers In Green Zone, 1 on U.S. Base
By Ernesto Londoño, Washington Post
Three U.S. service members were killed and dozens were wounded Sunday in rocket attacks on the fortified Green Zone and a military base in Baghdad, the U.S. military said. A fourth U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Diyala province, the military said.

Iraqi Priest Killed in Baghdad
Religious minorities, including Catholics and Orthodox Christians, face frequent attacks
By BUSHRA JUHI, Newsday
A Christian priest was killed in a drive-by shooting and a bomb exploded on a minibus, killing at least four passengers Saturday in separate attacks in Baghdad, police said. The priest, Youssef Adel, was driving to a church when gunmen in another car sped past him and opened fire in the central district of Karradah, two police officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information. Adel's religious affiliation was not immediately available. Iraq is a predominantly Islamic country but has a number of religious minorities, including Catholics and Orthodox Christians, who have faced frequent attacks. The minibus was bombed shortly before 8 a.m. as people were going to work on busy Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad, a police officer said, declining to be identified for the same reason.

Bin Laden's deputy fields queries
In his online response, Zawahiri denies Al Qaeda kills innocents
By the Los Angeles Times
Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman Zawahiri denied Wednesday that the terrorist network had killed innocent people, but also said any such deaths were unintentional -- or necessary. His comments came in a 90-minute audio response billed as the first installment of answers to more than 900 questions submitted online. "We haven't killed the innocents, not in Baghdad, nor in Morocco, nor in Algeria, nor anywhere else," Zawahiri said, according to an English transcript that accompanied the audio posted on websites linked to Al Qaeda. The question was: "Excuse me, Mr. Zawahri, but who is it who is killing with Your Excellency's blessing the innocents in Baghdad, Morocco and Algeria?" Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, and its affiliates in Iraq, Afghanistan and Algeria regularly detonate bombs in crowded urban areas, killing thousands. Though Zawahiri denied killing innocent people, he also said: "If there is any innocent who was killed in the mujahedin's operations, then it was either an unintentional error or out of necessity." He accused opponents of killing innocent people.

Qaeda No. 2 Calls U.N. Enemy of Islam
By BENNY AVNI, New York Sun
Secretary-General Ban is rejecting an assertion by Al Qaeda's second in command that the United Nations is an enemy of Islam. Ayman al-Zawahri's justification of a terrorist attack against the U.N. headquarters in Algeria in December on the pretense that it was aimed at "Crusaders" is "totally false and unacceptable," Mr. Ban said yesterday. But a former U.N. official, Lakhdar Brahimi, whom Mr. Ban appointed to investigate the Algiers bombing, recently indicated that he believes the world body is biased against Muslims, saying the United Nations needs to "work at restoring its credibility, independence, and impartiality," The U.N. General Assembly has been unable to agree on a definition of terrorism, with Arab member states demanding that all attacks aimed at "foreign occupation" — those against Israel, for example — be excluded from the designation. Still, the U.N, Security Council has listed Al Qaeda as a terrorist organization, along with the Taliban, since the attacks of September 11, 2001, on New York and Washington,  "The United Nations is an enemy of Islam and Muslims," Mr. Zawahri said in a 103-minute audio message addressing a set of 100 questions posted on Al Qaeda-linked Web sites. The world body "is the one which codified and legitimized the setting up of the state of Israel and its taking over of the Muslims' lands," Mr. Zawahri said.

A look inside Al Qaeda
The militant is known as Abu Ubaida al Masri, and charting his path reveals his vulnerabilities and those of the terrorist group
By Sebastian Rotella, Los Angeles Times
If Al Qaeda strikes the West in the coming months, it's likely the mastermind will be a stocky Egyptian explosives expert with two missing fingers. His alias is Abu Ubaida al Masri. Hardly anyone has heard of him outside a select circle of anti-terrorism officials and Islamic militants. But as chief of external operations for Al Qaeda, investigators say, he has one of the most dangerous -- and endangered -- jobs in international terrorism. He has overseen the major plots that the network needs to stay viable, investigators say: the London transportation bombings in 2005, a foiled transatlantic "spectacular" aimed at U.S.-bound planes in 2006, and an aborted plot in this serene Scandinavian capital last fall. But pursuers have captured or killed his predecessors and have been gunning for him. He prowls Pakistani badlands one step ahead of satellites and security forces.

Saudi Arabia is prime source of terror funds, U.S. says
Treasury official expresses frustrations with the administration's efforts to force action by the kingdom
By Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times
Saudi Arabia remains the world's leading source of money for Al Qaeda and other extremist networks and has failed to take key steps requested by U.S. officials to stem the flow, the Bush administration's top financial counter-terrorism official said Tuesday. Stuart A. Levey, a Treasury undersecretary, told a Senate committee that the Saudi government had not taken important steps to go after those who finance terrorist organizations or to prevent wealthy donors from bankrolling extremism through charitable contributions, sometimes unwittingly. "Saudi Arabia today remains the location where more money is going to terrorism, to Sunni terror groups and to the Taliban than any other place in the world," Levey said under questioning.

U.S. Alarmed as Some Exports Veer Off Course
The administration backed down only after the emirates promised to pass their own export control law
By ERIC LIPTON, New York Times
Roadside bombings of American troops in Iraq were occurring with unnerving regularity when military investigators made a disturbing discovery: American-made computer circuits sold to a trading company in the United Arab Emirates had turned up in the bomb detonators. That finding set off a clash with Washington last year when the Bush administration cited the diversion of the computer circuits to Iran, and eventually Iraq, as proof that the United Arab Emirates were failing to prevent American technology from slipping into the wrong hands. Administration officials said aircraft parts, specialized metals and gas detectors that have a potential military use had also moved through Dubai, one of the emirates, to Iran, Syria or Pakistan.

In Gaza, Hamas’s Insults to Jews Complicate Peace
By STEVEN ERLANGER, New York Times
In the Katib Wilayat mosque one recent Friday, the imam was discussing the wiliness of the Jew. “Jews are a people who cannot be trusted,” Imam Yousif al-Zahar of Hamas told the faithful. “They have been traitors to all agreements — go back to history. Their fate is their vanishing. Look what they are doing to us.” At Al Omari mosque, the imam cursed the Jews and the “Crusaders,” or Christians, and the Danes, for reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. He referred to Jews as “the brothers of apes and pigs,” while the Hamas television station, Al Aksa, praises suicide bombing and holy war until Palestine is free of Jewish control. Its videos praise fighters and rocket-launching teams; its broadcasts insult the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, for talking to Israel and the United States; its children’s programs praise “martyrdom,” teach what it calls the perfidy of the Jews and the need to end Israeli occupation over Palestinian land, meaning any part of the state of Israel. Such incitement against Israel and Jews was supposed to be banned under the 1993 Oslo accords and the 2003 “road map” peace plan. While the Palestinian Authority under Fatah has made significant, if imperfect efforts to end incitement, Hamas, no party to those agreements, feels no such restraint. Since Hamas took over Gaza last June, routing Fatah, Hamas sermons and media reports preaching violence and hatred have become more pervasive, extreme and sophisticated, on the model of Hezbollah and its television station Al Manar, in Lebanon.

Hezbollah Leader: Israel Can Be 'Eliminated'
By BENNY AVNI, New York Sun
Echoing Iran's threat to wipe Israel off the map, the leader of Hezbollah said yesterday that his organization's targeting of civilian centers has made it possible for the Jewish state to be "eliminated." Threats against Israel from Iranian-backed organizations — Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza — should not be taken "lightly," Israeli and American officials said. Israeli military and civilian alert levels were raised in the aftermath of Sheik Hassan Nasrallah's speech yesterday, delivered 40 days after the killing in Damascus of Hezbollah's operations commander, Imad Mughniyeh, which Arab leaders have blamed on Israel. "There is evidence that Hamas is supported by Iran and Syria, and they are doing everything they can to torpedo the peace process," Vice President Cheney, who met yesterday with Prime Minister Olmert before leaving Israel for Turkey, said.

Vatican Security Worries Over bin Laden Tape
By IAN FISHER, New York Times
The Vatican on Thursday rejected an audiotaped accusation from Osama bin Laden that Pope Benedict XVI was leading a “new Crusade” against Muslims, but Italian security officials were concerned about the threats included in Mr. bin Laden’s new message. “These accusations are absolutely unfounded,” the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the pope’s chief spokesman, said in a telephone interview. “There is nothing new in this, and it doesn’t have any particular significance for us.” The audio message attributed to Mr. bin Laden was released Wednesday night and was addressed to “the intelligent ones in the European Union.” It was posted on a militant Web site on Wednesday, and an English transcription was distributed Thursday by the SITE Intelligence Group in Bethesda, Md., which tracks postings by Al Qaeda on the Internet.

Bomb kills 5 Pakistan soldiers near Afghan border
The attack on a military compound in volatile tribal region comes as Cheney meets in Afghanistan with President Karzai
By Laura King, Los Angeles Times
A suicide bomber Thursday rammed his explosives-laden car into a military vehicle outside a brigade headquarters in Pakistan's restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan. Five soldiers were killed and 11 wounded, the military said. The attack came as Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting Afghanistan for talks with President Hamid Karzai, during which both leaders emphasized the importance of Pakistan's role in the fight against Islamic extremism.

In Northern Iraq, Kurds Mourn Victims of Gas Attacks 20 Years Ago
By ERICA GOODE, New York Times
Thousands of Kurds gathered on Sunday in the town of Halabja, in the northern uplands of Iraq, to mark a grim anniversary: the day 20 years ago when clouds of poison gas swept through the town, killing as many as 5,000 people. The chemical bombings, part of Saddam Hussein’s campaign against the Kurds, began on March 16, 1988, and continued through the night. On Sunday, ceremonies commemorated the dead and paid homage to the more than 200 survivors who suffer lingering effects from the poisons used in the bombings. The Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki called for a moment of silence and a reading of a verse from the Koran. One survivor, Ismail Abdullah, 50, who helped bury the dead after the attacks, died on Saturday. Luqman Muhammad, a spokesman for relatives of the Halabja victims, said Mr. Abdullah had died from health problems caused by the chemical bombings.

Severed fingers of Americans captured in Iraq reportedly sent to US officials
By Rasha Madkour, San Jose Mercury News
Severed fingers of five Western hostages were reportedly sent to U.S. government officials, giving the men's relatives hope that they are still alive, a brother of one of the missing men said. The Austrian weekly magazine News first reported the delivery of the five fingers in Wednesday's edition, citing unidentified authorities working on the case. Patrick Reuben, a Minneapolis police officer whose twin brother, Paul Reuben, is among the missing, said late Wednesday the FBI told his family members that "the fingers were confirmed to be those of the hostages." Patrick Reuben told The Associated Press the news of the severed fingers was "shocking," but that the initial word the family got was "much more serious than that. Later on we found that it was fingers that were recovered and that the DNA confirmed it was the hostages." In a statement Wednesday, the FBI declined to confirm the men had been identified by fingers.

Pakistan Placed On High Alert After Blasts in Lahore Kill 31
By Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post
Government officials in Pakistan placed the country on high alert Tuesday after two powerful bomb blasts killed an estimated 31 people and injured 170 in coordinated attacks in the city of Lahore. The first blast occurred about 9:30 a.m. at the offices of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency as hundreds of staff members arrived for work, according to government officials. The devastating explosion partially sheared off one side of the building, blew out dozens of windows and left a deep crater in the ground.  The agency, officials said, is responsible for cases involving illegal immigration and smuggling. It is also the base for a U.S.-trained counterterrorism unit.

At Least 24 Killed as Two Bombs Strike Pakistan
By SALMAN MASOOD, New York Times
Two powerful explosions rocked the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday morning, killing at least 24 people, Interior Ministry officials said. At least 170 people, including several children, were wounded. There were no immediate claims of responsibility but the nearly simultaneous explosions seemed to follow a pattern of recent attacks on law enforcement officials and the Pakistani military by extremist tribal groups.

Eight U.S. Soldiers Die in Iraq Attacks
Bombs Still Biggest Threat Even as Fatalities Decline
By Joshua Partlow, Washington Post
Eight U.S. soldiers died in separate attacks here and in the eastern province of Diyala on Monday, the deadliest day for U.S. troops in more than two months. U.S. officials announced overnight that three U.S. soldiers were killed and another wounded when an improvised bomb exploded near their patrol in Diyala. An interpreter was also killed. No other details were provided. In Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed five U.S. troops as they mingled casually with Iraqis in a shopping district. The U.S. soldiers had parked their Humvees and stepped out into the warm sun and swirl of people on the main thoroughfare of what was once Baghdad's most elegant neighborhood.

Bomber Kills 5 U.S. Soldiers in Iraq’s Capital
By ERICA GOODE and RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr., New York Times
A man walked up to a group of American soldiers on foot patrol in an upscale shopping district in central Baghdad on Monday and detonated the explosives-filled vest he was wearing, killing five soldiers and wounding three others and an Iraqi interpreter who accompanied them. It was the deadliest single attack on American soldiers in Baghdad since the height of the troop buildup here last summer. Nine Iraqi civilians were also wounded in the blast, according to officials at Yarmuk Hospital, where the victims were taken.

U.N. Alleges Nuclear Work By Iran's Civilian Scientists
By Joby Warrick, Washington Post
Iranian nuclear engineer Mohsen Fakhrizadeh lectures weekly on physics at Tehran's Imam Hossein University. Yet for more than a decade, according to documents attracting interest among Western governments, he also ran secret programs aimed at acquiring sensitive nuclear technology for his government.

Hamas boasts about student killings
By ANDY SOLTIS, New York Post
Hamas boasted yesterday that it carried out the horrific slaughter of eight religious students, including a 16-year-old American citizen, at a revered Israeli yeshiva. "The Hamas movement announces its full responsibility for the Jerusalem operation," a Hamas official said in the Gaza Strip, a day after the country's worst terrorist attack in two years. Thousands of mourners marched in funeral processions to bury the victims, which include Avraham David Mozes, whose family had moved from the United States in the 1990s.

Iran still fuels Iraq violence, U.S. says
Two top military commanders allege that Tehran continues to direct Shiite militias
By Peter Spiegel and Julian E. Barnes, Los Angeles Times
Two top U.S. military commanders said Tuesday that Iran continues to train and direct violent Shiite militias in Iraq and is attempting to permanently weaken the Iraqi government. Iran has become the biggest long-term threat to Iraqi stability and is encouraging radical elements among the Shiite population to continue attacks even as some prominent militia leaders push for cease-fires, said Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, who just completed a 15-month assignment as day-to-day commander in Iraq. "This is about keeping, in my opinion, a weak government in Iraq," Odierno told reporters at the Pentagon. "I think Iran benefits from that."

OPEC Agrees to Keep Output Steady
By REUTERS, New York Times
OPEC ministers on Wednesday agreed to keep oil output steady and said record high prices had been driven by factors that were beyond their control. U.S. crude hit a record of $103.95 a barrel on Monday and was trading above $100 on Wednesday. Washington has said even a token supply increase from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would help to tame prices and limit any impact on a fragile world economy. But OPEC ministers have repeatedly said the oil market has been driven by a weak dollar, speculation and political strife, and not by a lack of crude. After less than two hours of talks, OPEC delegates told Reuters the group had reached agreement to keep supplies steady.

Baghdad Bombs Kill 23, Police Say
By PATRICK QUINN, Washington Post
At least 23 people were killed and dozens were wounded Monday when two car bombs, including one driven by a suicide attacker, blew up in Baghdad, police said. Neither of the attacks took place in parts of the sprawling city where visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was located.

Suicide Blast Kills 40 At Meeting in Pakistan
By the Associated Press, Washington Post
A bomber blew himself up Sunday among thousands of tribal members discussing resistance to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, killing 40 people in the third suicide attack in as many days in northwestern Pakistan. Five tribes were finalizing a resolution that would punish anyone who shelters or helps al-Qaeda, Taliban and other fighters, said retired Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, an Interior Ministry spokesman.

Suicide Attack Kills 25 South of Baghdad
The suicide bomber detonated at a tent where pilgrims stop to eat and drink
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, San Francisco Chronicle
A suicide bomber struck Shiite pilgrims as they were resting Sunday during a days-long walk to a Shiite shrine, killing at least 25 people and wounding 35. The attack in Iskandariyah, south of Baghdad, was the second of the day against pilgrims traveling to the holy city of Karbala. The pilgrimage marks Arbaeen, the 40th day following the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, one of two revered Shiite figures buried there. The suicide bomber detonated at a tent where pilgrims stop to eat and drink, police said. Earlier, extremists attacked another group of pilgrims in the predominantly Sunni Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, killing three and wounding 36, police said.

Pakistan Blocks YouTube Video Access
By SADAQAT JAN, San Francisco Chronicle
Pakistan's government has banned access to the video-sharing Web site YouTube because of anti-Islamic movies that users have posted on the site, an official said Sunday. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority told the country's 70 Internet service providers Friday that the popular Web site would be blocked until further notice. The authority did not specify what the offensive material was, but a PTA official said the ban concerned a movie trailer for an upcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who has said he plans to release an anti-Quran movie portraying the religion as fascist and prone to inciting violence against women and homosexuals.

5 Iraqis Killed as Rockets Hit U.S. Base in Baghdad
2 American soldiers and 14 Iraqi civilians, including 6 children, were wounded
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and MUDHAFER AL-HUSEINI, New York Times
Five Iraqi civilians were killed when a barrage of rockets struck the large American military base near Baghdad International Airport and a nearby neighborhood late Monday afternoon, according to American and Iraqi officials. Though mortar and rocket attacks are still common, the volley was unusually intense. At least 2 American soldiers and 14 Iraqi civilians, including 6 children, were wounded. Also Monday, three Iraqi civilians were killed and four were wounded by an improvised bomb in the volatile northern city of Mosul. Another civilian was shot to death in the city by unknown gunmen, Iraqi authorities said.

Suicide Attack Kills 36 in Afghanistan
A spokesman for the Taliban claimed responsibility
By TAIMOOR SHAH and CARLOTTA GALL, New York Times
In the second serious attack in southern Afghanistan in two days, a suicide bomber set off an explosion on Monday as he drove his car near a convoy of Canadian troops on a crowded border town street, killing 36 civilians and wounding 38. The governor of Kandahar Province, Asadullah Khaled, called the attack a cataclysm for the Afghan people. The blast wounded three or four Canadian soldiers, part of the NATO security force in Afghanistan, but the brunt of the explosion was borne by civilians, mainly street vendors and people selling fruit from pushcarts beside the road, he said. Several shops caught fire in the town, Spinbaldak, which is 60 miles southeast of Kandahar and is the main border crossing to Pakistan, Mr. Khaled said. A spokesman for the Taliban, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Suicide Attack at Afghan Market Raises Two-Day Toll to About 140
By Allauddin Khan and Noor Khan, Washington Post
A suicide car bomber killed 38 Afghans at a crowded market Monday, pushing the death toll from two days of bombings to about 140. The back-to-back blasts in the southern province of Kandahar could be a sign that insurgents are now willing to risk high civilian casualties while attacking security forces. Although their attacks occasionally have killed dozens, religious extremists in Afghanistan have generally avoided targeting civilians, unlike insurgents in Iraq's war.

Female bomber killed in Baghdad
By the Los Angeles Times
Iraqi soldiers spotted a suspicious-looking woman Sunday in an upscale neighborhood of Baghdad and fired at her after seeing wires in her hands. The woman, dressed in a traditional abaya, was carrying explosives that blew up as she staggered into a nearby electronics shop. There have been at least seven female suicide bombers in Iraq since November, in addition to two attempted attacks by women that were foiled. U.S. military officials say the use of women is a sign of desperation by insurgents, who find it harder to get men past the tighter security imposed since the launch of a U.S.-Iraqi crackdown in early 2007.

Blast kills 80 in Afghanistan
It could be the deadliest such attack since the Taliban fell
By M. Karim Faiez and Laura King, Los Angeles Times
Eighty people were killed and dozens more hurt when a suicide bomber struck an open-air dogfighting match in southern Afghanistan, the provincial governor said. The bombing just outside Kandahar was thought to have been the deadliest single suicide attack since the Taliban movement was driven from power more than six years ago. Authorities said the apparent target of the blast was Abdul Hakim Jan, an anti-Taliban militia leader, who was missing in the wake of the blast and believed to have been killed.

Suicide Bombings in Volatile Region Kill at Least 50
By Imtiaz Ali and Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post
At least 50 people were killed and 100 injured in two suicide car bombings Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, according to witnesses and government officials. The attacks, within an hour of each other, raised fears of more violence as Pakistanis prepare to vote in pivotal national parliamentary elections Monday.

Hezbollah Chief Declares 'Open War' on Israel
By BENNY AVNI, New York Sun
With Iran's foreign minister in attendance, Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, declared "open war" against Israel at the funeral of a top terrorist, Imad Mugniyeh, in southern Beirut yesterday. American officials called the threat "alarming," while Jerusalem raised alert levels but vowed not to "panic." Both pro-Iranian and pro-Syrian factions were at the ceremony for Mugniyeh, who was killed by a car bomb in the heart of Damascus on Wednesday. Simultaneously, their political rivals mourned the third anniversary of the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, whose death in a 2003 car bomb was widely blamed on Syria. Iran was the only country in the region openly showing support during the funeral of Mugniyeh, who for decades coordinated Hezbollah's military activities with the secret services of Iran and Syria, and who also maintained ties with Al Qaeda. Far from an indigenous Lebanese political party, Hezbollah's detractors consider the group to be Iran's military proxy in a war against Israel and the West.

Grisly reports on al Qaeda
By Austin Bay, Washington Times
On Feb. 1, two remotely detonated terror bombs killed 99 shoppers in Baghdad's pet and bird markets. It was Baghdad's biggest mass murder since April 2007. According to the Iraqi military, al Qaeda in Iraq's (AQI) twin terror atrocities had several particularly grisly twists: The radio-detonated high explosives were strapped to the waists of two women who may not have been aware of their mission to murder. Amid the carnage of animal cages, animal carcasses and dead human beings, Iraqi police found the detached head of one of the bomb carriers. Al Bawaba, an Arab press service, quoted Baghdad police as saying the dead woman had "sold cream in the mornings at the market and was known to locals as 'the crazy lady.' " Al Bawaba used a colloquial phrase to describe her. Other Iraqi and international media were less solicitous, describing both of the bomb-laden women as "mentally deficient" or lacking capacity.

Williams defiant over Islamic law speech
Archbishop insists his remarks were 'well-researched'
By Will Woodward and Riazat Butt, The Guardian
The Archbishop of Canterbury last night defended his remarks about sharia law amid mounting criticism. Williams, the most senior figure in the Church of England, has faced a barrage of criticism since making the remarks, first in a BBC interview and then in a speech at the Royal Courts of Justice, that the adoption of sharia law in Britain seemed "unavoidable". Two synod members have called for him to go. Colonel Edward Armitstead, from the diocese of Bath and Wells, told the Daily Telegraph: "I don't think he is the man for the job. One wants to be charitable, but I sense that he would be far happier in a university where he can kick around these sorts of ideas." Alison Ruoff, a synod member from London, said: "He is a disaster for the Church of England. He vacillates, he is a weak leader and he does not stand up for the church. I would like to see him resign and go back to academia."

British dissent over Islamic law remark
Archbishop of Canterbury starts a row after saying some aspects of Sharia probably will be adopted
By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times
As Britain reels under unprecedented levels of immigration that have challenged the small island nation's traditions, the Archbishop of Canterbury entered the fray this week by declaring it is probably "unavoidable" that some limited form of Islamic law will have to be accepted in Britain. The archbishop, Rowan Williams, is the spiritual leader of the Church of England, and his pronouncement unleashed a storm of dissent and calls within the church for his resignation.

Dozens Killed in Worst Baghdad Attack in Months
By STEPHEN FARRELL and GRAHAM BOWLEY, New York Times
Iraqis mourning relatives killed in a suicide bombing in Baghdad on Friday. One bomb hit the Ghazil pet market, the scene of another deadly bombing in November when 13 people were killed. The second bomb hit minutes later and barely two miles away at the New Baghdad pet market. Both markets are on the east side of the Tigris River, and both are in mainly Shiite areas. But they are popular with both Shiites and Sunnis. Early reports put the death toll from both attacks at more than 50. The bombings were carried out by women suicide attackers wearing explosive vests, witnesses said.

Top Al Qaeda commander killed
"Martyrdom with a group of his brothers" occurred "in the land of Muslim Pakistan"
By Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times
A top Al Qaeda commander who trained and led foreign militants assisting the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan has been killed in neighboring Pakistan, officials said Thursday in what appeared to be a significant victory for U.S.-led forces hunting members of the terrorist network. The death of Libyan-born Abu Laith al Libi was reported on militant websites, which praised him as a martyr who died helping lead a "holy war" against the West.

7 Afghans slain in suicide attacks
By Bruce Wallace, Los Angeles Times
Two deadly bombings Thursday in Afghanistan underscored the difficulties in combating the nightmarish tactics of the Taliban insurgency, which is increasingly sending suicide bombers through cities in search of vulnerable targets. Thursday's attacks claimed seven victims, including the deputy governor of turbulent Helmand province, who was praying in a mosque.

Bomber kills Afghan deputy governor, 5 others in mosque attack
By the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times
A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing Helmand province's deputy governor and five other people, officials said. The bomber struck in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal. Helmand's deputy governor, Pir Mohammad, was killed in the blast, said Nisar Ahmad, a provincial health official. The blast killed five other people and wounded 11, Ahmad said.

19 Burned to Death in Violence in Kenya
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN, New York Times
Ethnically driven violence intensified in Kenya on Sunday, and police officials said at least 19 people, including 11 children, were burned to death in a house by a mob. Even the Kenyan military, deployed for the first time to stop antagonists from attacking one another, has been unable to halt the wave of revenge killings.

In Kenya, Death Toll From Violence Rises to at Least 85
By Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post
The toll from five days of fighting between rival tribal gangs in western Kenya rose to at least 85 Monday, as the brutal, hand-to-hand clashes moved into the normally calm and scenic tourist town of Naivasha, about two hours from Nairobi.

Beirut Violence Kills 7 and Wounds Dozens
By NADA BAKRI, New York Times
Violent clashes erupted Sunday in Beirut, leaving at least seven people dead and escalating Lebanon’s most serious political crisis since its civil war ended in 1990. At least seven people were shot dead and dozens were wounded during clashes between the Lebanese Army and opposition supporters who were burning tires and closing major roads to protest power cuts, security officials said.

No Survivors After Night Attack at Home of Baghdad Ex-Official
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and AHMAD FADAM, New York Times
A band of attackers on Saturday night broke into the home of a man who was a senior Baghdad city official under the government of Saddam Hussein and shot and stabbed him and his family, killing everyone in the home, an Iraqi official said Sunday. The American military also disclosed the deaths of two United States soldiers in Baghdad, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday.

Teenage Bomber Strikes In Anbar
By Amit R. Paley, Washington Post
A 13-year-old boy wearing an explosives-packed vest blew himself up Sunday among a group of tribal leaders in the western province of Anbar, becoming one of the youngest suicide bombers since the U.S.-led invasion, Iraqi police said. The explosion killed at least three other people and wounded eight in the city of Fallujah, according to local police Capt. Jasim Faiyadh. Faiyadh said the boy was the son of one of the five most-wanted leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni insurgent group that U.S. officials say is led by foreigners. The attack targeted a meeting of leaders from the Anbar Awakening Council, a U.S.-supported group that has turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq. A tribal chief, Hadi Hussein al-Isawi, was among those killed, police and Fallujah hospital officials said.

Blast Near U.S. Embassy Vehicle Kills 3
By Alia Ibrahim and Ellen Knickmeyer, Washington Post
A bomb exploded Tuesday next to a U.S. Embassy sport-utility vehicle on a coastal road in Beirut, killing at least three motorists nearby but only lightly injuring two embassy workers, American and Lebanese officials said.

Female Suicide Bomber Kills 8 in Iraq
By CHRISTOPHER CHESTER, Washigton Post
A woman wearing a vest lined with explosives blew herself up near a popular market and Shiite mosque in turbulent Diyala province Wednesday, killing eight civilians _ the latest in a growing number of female suicide attacks. Seven people were wounded in the bombing in Khan Bani Saad, a town nine miles south of Baqouba, Diyala's provincial capital, police said.

8 Thai Soldiers Die in Ambush; Muslim Rebels Suspected
By Sumeth Panpetch, Washington Post
Suspected Muslim insurgents ambushed an army patrol in Thailand's restive south Monday, killing all eight soldiers and then beheading one of them, in a rebellion that has entered its fifth year. The soldiers were on a morning patrol when a bomb hidden on the road exploded and flipped their vehicle over, according to an army spokesman, Col. Akara Thiprote. The attackers, hiding in roadside brush, then opened fire, leaving no survivors, he said. More than 2,800 people have been killed in the past four years in Thailand's southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat and some parts of neighboring Songkhla. Many in the predominantly Muslim area feel they are treated unfairly by the country's Buddhist majority.

6 Killed in Attack on Luxury Kabul Hotel
By the Associated Press, Newsmax.com
Militants with suicide vests, grenades and AK-47 rifles attacked Kabul's most popular luxury hotel Monday evening, killing at least six people in a coordinated assault rarely seen in the Afghan capital, witnesses and a Taliban spokesman said. It appeared to be the first direct attack on a hotel in Kabul since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. The assailants also appeared to concentrate on the hotel's gym and spa, where foreigners relax and work out. The 6:12 p.m. assault came on a night the Norwegian embassy was holding a meeting at the Serena Hotel. An American inside said she saw a body she believed to be dead and pools of blood in the lobby. The militants killed six people and wounded six, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary. One of the attackers was shot to death and the Taliban spokesman said a second died in the suicide explosion.

Wary of Pakistani Officials, Bhutto's Son and Successor Urges U.N. to Probe Killing
By Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post
The son of slain Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto called Tuesday for a U.N.-backed investigation of his mother's death, saying that Pakistani authorities had failed to provide her with adequate security and that he did not trust them to solve her murder. "We do not believe that an investigation under the authority of the Pakistani government has the necessary transparency. Already so much forensic evidence has been destroyed," Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, a 19-year-old Oxford University student, told a London news conference in his first extensive public comments since the Dec. 27 assassination.

President Calls Action of Iranian Boats 'Provocative'
Peril Posed by Tehran a Theme of His Mideast Trip, Bush Says
By Robin Wright, Washington Post
President Bush warned Iran yesterday that its confrontation with three U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf on Sunday was a provocative act, as the Pentagon released audio and video recordings of the dawn showdown. "It is a dangerous situation, and they should not have done it, pure and simple," Bush told reporters at the Rose Garden, hours before departing for a seven-leg tour of the Middle East. "I don't know what their thinking was, but I'm telling you what I think it was: I think it was a provocative act."

Bush Castigates Iran, Calling Naval Confrontation ‘Provocative Act’
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and THOM SHANKER, New York Times
Iranian officials have played down the encounter, but administration officials say they believe that Iran was trying to provoke the United States on the eve of the president’s visit to the Middle East. Mr. Bush said pointedly on Tuesday that he would use the trip to remind American friends and allies in the region that Iran poses a danger.

Sudanese Troops Fire on U.N. Convoy in Darfur
By the Associated Press, Washington Post
Sudanese soldiers shot at a convoy of U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur, critically wounding a local driver and wrecking a fuel tanker barely a week into the force's new mission in the region, U.N. officials said Tuesday. The attack was the latest challenge for the U.N. force, which has been heralded internationally as having the best chance to quell five years of violence in Darfur but took the field with only a fraction of the anticipated troops.

U.S. Attack in Iraq Is No Surprise to Insurgents
By STEPHEN FARRELL, New York Times
With extraordinary secrecy, and even an information blackout aimed at most of their Iraqi Army comrades, American troops began a major offensive on Tuesday to drive Sunni insurgents from strongholds in Diyala Province. But many insurgents still managed to flee the first villages the Americans went into, showing just how difficult it is to trap the elusive militants. Because at least half the insurgents escaped before an offensive last June, American planners deliberately kept most Iraqi units in the dark before this one, a tactic that suggests they cannot fully trust the allies who are supposed to pick up more of the fighting as American troops scale back their presence this year. The militants may have been tipped by leaks or by the visible movements of troops and machinery that precede any operation.

Suicide Blast at Baghdad Funeral of Bomb Victim Kills Dozens
By Joshua Partlow and Zaid Sabah, Washington Post
The suicide bombing in Baghdad's Zayouna neighborhood Tuesday was one of the deadliest blasts in the capital in months. It occurred as many Baghdad residents are saying they feel more secure and express hope that the worst is behind them, even as they acknowledge that random attacks will continue. The explosion killed at least 25 people and wounded 20 others, according to the U.S. military. Iraqi police and ambulance officials told news services that the death toll was at least 32.

'Sudden jihad syndrome' poses domestic risk
By Sara A. Carter, Washigton Times
Sympathy for al Qaeda has produced "sudden jihad syndrome" in domestic terror cells unaffiliated with foreign terrorists and people seeking to carry out attacks in the U.S., a law-enforcement intelligence analysis says. The Dec. 6 report by the Texas Public Safety Department's Bureau of Information Analysis warns officials not to dismiss individual or homegrown terror cells as "wannabes," saying they pose a credible threat to homeland security. "Oftentimes, these attackers are dismissed as suffering from mental health issues, but their own words and writings reveal an affiliation with Islamic supremacy or an affinity for Islamic extremism," said the report, which was distributed to federal, state and local law enforcement in Texas. "As a result, law enforcement should not be too quick to judge their attacks as having no nexus to terrorism." It said they might act with the intention of eventually joining al Qaeda or the jihad movement overseas.

U.S. Isn’t Ready to Accept Pakistan’s Initial Findings
By ERIC SCHMITT, New York Times
United States intelligence analysts are not convinced by the evidence offered so far by Pakistani authorities that a militant linked to Al Qaeda was responsible for Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, American officials said Tuesday. Pakistani authorities, working from a single intelligence intercept collected the day after Ms. Bhutto’s death, have identified a militant leader, Baitullah Mehsud, as the chief suspect behind the attack. “As far as I know, the Pakistanis are saying this is it, this is the proof,” said a senior State Department official, who, like other officials contacted for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation. “Before our guys say yes or no, they need a hell of a lot more than one thing, even if it is a substantial piece of evidence.”

12 Killed in India in 2 Separate Attacks
Militants trying to spark unrest between India's Hindu majority and its Muslim minority
By the Associated Press, Newsmax.com
Two assailants with guns and grenades ambushed a police recruitment center in northern India early Tuesday in an attack that killed seven police officers and a civilian, a police official said. In an unrelated attack in the east, suspected Maoist rebels shot dead four soldiers. The assailants approached the gate of the station in Rampur and opened fire, killing two officers. The attackers then lobbed a grenade over the gate that killed five more officers, said Brij Lal, a senior police official in the state of Uttar Pradesh. A rickshaw puller outside the gate was killed in the ensuing crossfire, Lal said. The slain officers belonged to a special police force created to fight insurgents, Lal said. Police have cordoned off the site, about 190 miles southwest of the state capital of Lucknow. Police did not say which group they suspected in the attack, but in the past authorities have blamed violence in the region on militants trying to spark unrest between India's Hindu majority and its Muslim minority.

Iraq: 5 Family Members Abducted, Killed
By the Associated Press, Newsmax.com
The bodies of a Sunni policeman and four of his family members were found on the outskirts of a village north of Baghdad early Tuesday, just hours after they were abducted from their home by unknown gunmen, authorities said. The assault occurred in Diyala province, where al-Qaida in Iraq retains a presence and violence has stubbornly remained despite drops elsewhere. Extremists have long targeted Iraqi policemen and al-Qaida in Iraq has repeatedly said it will aggressively target Iraqis who join security forces. Tuesday's attack happened on the northern outskirts of Jalula, a city with mixture of Shiite and Sunni Muslims 80 miles northeast of Baghdad. An unknown number of gunmen attacked the policeman's home at dawn. Authorities found his body and that of his father, two brothers and a cousin about two hours later, a local policeman said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Bhutto Assassination Sparks Chaos
Former Premier Was a Key to Pakistan's Struggle for Democracy
By Griff Witte, Washington Post
Benazir Bhutto, for decades the central figure in a tortured struggle to bring democratic rule to Pakistan, was assassinated Thursday afternoon as she waved to supporters after a political rally, plunging the country into new turmoil just days before scheduled elections. The death of the former prime minister creates a massive political void in this nuclear-armed nation of 165 million people and opens the door to potentially greater violence in a year of almost nonstop tumult here. It leaves in tatters Washington's strategy of fighting extremism by pairing Bhutto with President Pervez Musharraf, a close U.S. ally who has been under siege in the streets for months. Around the world Thursday, government leaders pleaded with Bhutto's countrymen to remain calm. In Texas, President Bush urged the Pakistani people "to honor Benazir Bhutto's memory by continuing with the democratic process for which she so bravely gave her life."

Qaeda Eyed in Slaying of Bhutto
Assassination Is Laid to Team of Precision Snipers
By ELI LAKE, New York Sun
American and Pakistani military leaders are seeking to account for what may be renegade commando units from the Pakistani military's special forces in the wake of the assassination of Pakistan's opposition leader and former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto. The attack yesterday at Rawalpindi bore the hallmarks of a sophisticated military operation. At first, Bhutto's rally was hit by a suicide bomb that turned out to be a decoy. According to press reports and a situation report of the incident relayed to The New York Sun by an American intelligence officer, Bhutto's armored limousine was shot by multiple snipers whose armor-piercing bullets penetrated the vehicle, hitting the former premier five times in the head, chest, and neck. Two of the snipers then detonated themselves shortly after the shooting, according to the situation report, while being pursued by local police.

Bhutto Is Buried as Pakistan Reels
By SALMAN MASOOD and VICTORIA BURNETT, New York Times
The body of Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest in her ancestral village, as violence erupted in cities across Pakistan on Friday, a day after the former prime minister was assassinated at an election campaign rally. Hundreds of thousands of emotional mourners joined a chaotic funeral procession in Garhi Khuda Baksh, her ancestral village in southern Sindh province Friday afternoon. Her body, which was accompanied to the village by her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and her three children, was buried there beside her father in the family mausoleum.

Iraq suicide fiends kill 33
By the Associated Press, New York Post
Two separate suicide attacks, including one apparently targeting workers in a northern oil hub, killed at least 33 people yesterday, shattering more than a week of relative calm, local and US military authorities said. A suicide truck bomb exploded outside a residential complex belonging to a state-run oil company in Beiji, home to Iraq's largest refinery, killing 25 people and wounding 80, police and hospital officials said. Most of the dead were civilians, and at least four were children, a police officer said.

50 Killed in Pakistan Bombing
By DAVID ROHDE, New York Times
A suicide attacker detonated a powerful bomb inside a crowded mosque in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 50 people and injuring 80 as they celebrated one of Islam's major holidays with the country's former interior minister, Pakistani officials said. The official, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, was unhurt, but his son and two grandnephews were injured in the attack. The bombing was the second assassination attempt in eight months on Mr. Sherpao, who served as the country's top law enforcement official until last month.

Iraq Bomber Aimed at Alcohol Sellers
By STEPHEN FARRELL, New York Times
Blood and ouzo mingled on the sidewalk outside a shattered Baghdad liquor store on Thursday after three people were killed in a car bombing directed at alcohol sellers in one of Baghdad’s most heavily protected areas. The alcohol sellers, who have expanded their business as security in Baghdad has improved in recent months, were among the few merchants plying their trade during the Muslim holiday celebrating Id al-Adha, the end of the hajj, or annual pilgrimage to Mecca. But the scattered shrapnel and body parts along Sadoun Street did not appear to have much of an impact on Id al-Adha revelers in the neighborhood, who continued as though it were a normal day, perhaps inured to the sounds and sights of violence for years.

Suicide Bomber Kills GI, At Least 5 Iraqis in Diyala
By Naseer Nouri and Joshua Partlow, Washington Post
A suicide bomber strapped with explosives struck a group of American soldiers standing outside a city council meeting north of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least six people, including one of the soldiers, and marring the celebrations of a major Muslim holiday. The midday explosion was a painful reminder of the dangers that persist in many parts of Iraq, and that remain particularly potent in volatile Diyala province. The blast, which took place east of the provincial capital of Baqubah, in the small tribal village of Kanaan, killed at least five Iraqis and wounded a sixth, as well as injuring 10 U.S. soldiers, according to U.S. military officials.

Torture chamber found in Iraq
By BRADLEY BROOKS, Des Moines Register
Blood-splotches on walls, chains hanging from a ceiling and swords on the killing floor - the artifacts left a disturbing tale of brutalities inside a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq torture chamber. But there was yet another chilling fact outside the dirt-floor dungeon. Villagers say they knew about the torment but were too intimidated by extremists to tell authorities until now. Stories such as these - claims of insurgent abuses and the silence of frightened Iraqis - have emerged with increasing frequency and clarity recently as U.S.-led forces push deeper into former extremist fiefdoms and forge alliances with tribes seeking to reclaim their regions.

Saudi King Pardons Rape Victim
By the Associated Press, New York Times
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has pardoned a female rape victim who had been sentenced to 200 lashes for being alone with a man at the time of the attack who was not related to her, a Saudi newspaper reported Monday.  The case had sparked international outcry. In a rare criticism of its Mideast ally, the White House had expressed its ''astonishment'' over the woman's sentence. Canada called it barbaric.

Suicide Attack Kills 9 Pakistani Troops
By the Associated Press, New York Times
A suicide bomber blew himself up among a group of Pakistani army recruits returning from a soccer game in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing nine of them, the army said. The attacker struck near an army communications center in Kohat, about 30 miles from the city of Peshawar. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said nine troops were killed and four were wounded. The young recruits were walking back to their quarters along a public road when a lone bomber walked up to them and set off the blast.

Palestinian Rocket Injures Child in an Israeli Kibbutz
By ISABEL KERSHNER, New York Times
A rocket fired at Israel on Sunday afternoon by Palestinian militants from Gaza landed near a house in Kibbutz Zikim, lightly wounding an Israeli toddler inside, an army spokesman said. Kibbutz Zikim is north of the Gaza Strip, near an army base that was attacked in September. In that assault, about 40 soldiers sleeping in tents were hit by shrapnel. Palestinian militant groups have been firing crude, homemade rockets from Gaza since 2001, killing a total of 13 Israelis. On average, Israeli Army officials say, a rocket or mortar shell has been fired from Gaza every three hours since June.

How Iraq Conflict Rewards A Kuwaiti Merchant Family
By Cam Simpson and Glenn R. Simpson, Wall Street Journal
The war in Iraq, like all wars, has yielded a bonanza for military suppliers. Few have prospered as spectacularly as the Sultan Al-Essa family of Kuwait. Delivering everything from machinery to T-bone steaks to U.S. forces, a company the Sultans dominate, Public Warehousing Co., has landed billions of dollars in work for the U.S. Defense Department.

At Least 45 Dead in Algiers Bombings
By KATRIN BENNHOLD, New York Times
Two car bombs exploded in close succession in the Algerian capital today, killing at least 45 people and wounding several others, according to Algerian officials. One official said it was the worst day of violence in the capital this decade. Thirty people died in a blast near the Constitutional Court building in Algiers, while another 15 were killed in a second explosion near a number of United Nations offices, a diplomat said, citing information released by the Algerian Civil Protection Agency. The Algerian interior minister, Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni, said that in both cases explosives had been strapped to vehicles, the Algerian press agency reported on its web site. There was no immediate indication whether the twin attacks were the work of a well-known Salafist terrorist group with a long history of violence and alleged links to Al Qaeda.

At Least 9 Killed in Baghdad Attacks
By CARA BUCKLEY, New York Times
A spate of bomb, rocket and mortar attacks rocked areas of Baghdad today, killing at least nine people and exploding part of a major oil refinery, sending up a thick column of smoke that dominated the city’s skyline for much of the day. Seven of the people killed were prison inmates, who died after mortar shells landed on a prison in central Baghdad, smashing its walls. The attacks came amid an overall lull in violence here, where terrorist attacks have plummeted compared with previous months and years. Yet despite the overall lull, the pace of attacks has quickened of late, with suicide and other bombers killing at least 50 people countrywide in the last week.

Pakistan Suicide Blast Wounds 5 Children
''This barbaric attack shows how cruel the terrorists are''
By the Associated Press, New York Times
A suicide car bomber struck near a bus carrying children of Pakistani air force employees to school at a northern army base Monday, the military said. At least five children were wounded. The bomber sped toward the bus and detonated his explosive yards away from it, said Tariq Hanif, the police chief in Kamra, where the army base is located. ''The bus driver has told us that he tried his best to avoid a crash on see Police said the children were all under 12. They were in stable condition, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad. The bus driver and a guard were also injured.

Bomb Kills Iraqi Police Chief Praised by U.S.
By Naseer Nouri and Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post
A roadside bomb killed the police chief of a mostly Shiite province south of Baghdad, hours after U.S. commanders praised him for his commitment to bringing stability to Iraq. The assassination of Maj. Gen. Qais al-Mamouri was the latest in a series of attacks against provincial leaders in unruly southern Iraq, where Shiite militias and other factions are engaged in a struggle for power and resources.

Suicide Bomber Kills 3 in Pakistan
By REUTERS, New York Times
A suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a police checkpoint in the volatile Swat valley in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least six people including two children and a policeman. The attack, near Swat's main town of Mingora, came a day after the military said it had cleared the scenic valley of most militants led by a firebrand pro-Taliban cleric, whose insurgent followers had clashed with troops in the area for weeks.

Suicide Bombing Kills 8 In Northern Iraq Oil Town
By the Associated Press, Washington Post