The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report

Mar. 22 -- President Bush ignored repeated warnings about the threat al Qaeda posed and did too little to stop the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, a former counter-terrorism official told the media this weekend. In his book "Against All Enemies" to be released today, Richard Clarke, who worked in the last four presidents' administrations, says that right after the Sept. 11 attacks Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suggested bombing Iraq, even though there was no evidence that links Baghdad to the attacks. The White House has rejected Clarke's charges that Bush did "a terrible job on the war against terrorism" and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice disputed accusations that the administration underestimated al Qaeda's threat. Clarke is set to testify Tuesday before the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks.

And, a Pakistani journalist claims that al Qaeda's number two, Ayman al Zawahri, said al Qaeda has briefcase nuclear bombs bought on the central Asian black market. Hamid Mir's statement appears in an Australian Broadcasting Corporation television program to be aired tonight. The journalist interviewed the two al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and al Zawahri in 2001.

THE WAR ON TERROR

INVESTIGATIONS

United States

Bush Accused of Ignoring Al Qaeda Until After 9/11

President Bush ignored the threat of al Qaeda for months and did too little to stop the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, a former administration counterterrorism official said Sunday. (Reuters)

He Said, She SaidNational Security Adviser disputes former counterterrorism aide's claims that the White House underestimated al Qaeda. (AP)

Al Qaeda

Biographer: Al Zawahri Says Al Qaeda Has Nuke Bombs

Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al Zawahri claims the militant Islamic organization has bought briefcase nuclear bombs on the central Asian black market, according to Osama bin Laden's biographer. (Reuters)

Spain

Spaniard Led 4 Moroccans to Steal Dynamite

A Spaniard with a criminal record led four Moroccans to an explosives warehouse at a mine to steal dynamite used in the Madrid terror bombings, a newspaper reported Saturday. (AP)

The Hunt for Al QaedaAl Qaeda Suspects May Have Fled in Tunnel

Top al Qaeda terrorists may have escaped a siege by thousands of Pakistani soldiers through several secret tunnels leading from mud fortresses to a dry mountain stream near the border with Afghanistan, a security chief said Monday. (AP)

Al Qaeda, Taliban Suspects Captured in Afghanistan

About a dozen suspected al Qaeda or Taliban militants have been captured in Afghanistan after crossing the border from Pakistan, where a major military offensive is under way, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday. (AFP)

Truce 'Holds' in Al Qaeda Search

A temporary ceasefire between militants and Pakistani troops hunting al Qaeda suspects near the Afghan border appears to be holding, officials say. (BBC)

U.S. Intelligence Helping in Al Qaeda Hunt

About a dozen U.S. intelligence officials are helping Pakistan in a fresh offensive against up to 400 al Qaeda fighters besieged in a rugged tribal region bordering Afghanistan, the military said. (Arab News)

Tribal Elders Seek Peace in Pakistan

Tribal elders in peace bid, while Pakistan conducts DNA tests to identify dead suspected militants. (AP)