The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report

ByABC News
January 14, 2004, 11:00 AM

Jan. 14 -- An article in the Observer reports that since the attacks on September 11, 2001, Europe has increasingly become not only a target of terror but a popular training ground for it as well. The paper has conducted an investigation into Islamic militant networks in Europe - through interviews with senior level intelligence officials, secret recordings of phone calls between militants, and through classified intelligence briefings, the Observer has learned that terrorists have been able to not only sustain their network in Europe, but that they have managed to enlarge it even further, from England to Germany to Italy, even expanding eastward into Bulgaria and Poland.

And more on the ongoing investigation behind last month's assassination attempt on Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf using a cell phone data card found at the scene of the explosion, authorities have been able to trace calls leading to the round-up of nearly 40 militants, many of them from the radical Pakistani Islamic group Jaish-i-Mohammed, a one time ally of Pakistan's security services and currently thought to have links to al Qaeda.

THE WAR ON TERROR

INVESTIGATIONS & THREATS

EuropeTerror Cells Regroup And Now Their Target is EuropeSecret intelligence papers from across the continent reveal a growing danger from a widening network of fanatics and this is a struggle the West cannot lose. (The Observer)

PakistanInvestigation of Attacks on Musharraf Points to Pakistani GroupBuilding on clues from a cell phone data card, investigators probing last month's assassination attempts against Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, say they are increasingly convinced that the bombings were partly orchestrated by militants associated with the radical Muslim group Jaish-i-Mohammed, a onetime ally of Pakistan's security services with links to al Qaeda. (Washington Post)

IndiaOfficials: "Al Qaeda" Passenger An Innocent Indian Leather-Garment Exporter An Indian Muslim, at the centre of a terrorism scare on trans-Atlantic flights, is an innocent leather-garment exporter. (AFP)

Scientists Discuss Ways to Fight Terror Forty experts from the United States and India met this week to explore ways to use science and technology to fight terrorism, the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday. (AP)

AfricaDiplomat: Al Qaeda Launders Money in AfricaExtremist groups like al Qaeda are using mafia-type methods to launder funds and hide their financial footprints, including through diamond trading in West Africa, a regional U.S. diplomat said Tuesday. (Reuters)

United StatesSchumer: More Security At Ship TerminalThe new counter-terrorism operation that fingerprints foreign visitors is missing the boat in the city by failing to screen passengers arriving by cruise ship, Sen. Charles Schumer said Tuesday. (Newsday)

U.S. Congressman Wants Reward for Bin Laden DoubledThe reward for finding Osama bin Laden, the elusive leader of the al Qaeda network and the world's most wanted man, should be doubled to $50 million, a U.S. congressman visiting Afghanistan said Tuesday. (Reuters)