Musharraf: Pakistani Forces Have 'Broken the Back of Al Qaeda' in the Country

June 16, 2005 --

Al Qaeda 'On the Run' in Pakistan

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says that his forces have "broken the back" of al Qaeda in the country. (BBC)

Security Forces Arrest Five Chadians for Killing Frenchman

Saudi security authorities said they arrested five Chadians belonging to the "deviant group", the term used to describe Al Qaeda militants, yesterday. The Chadians confessed to murdering a French national and also committing several armed robberies in Jeddah last year. (Arab News)

Al Qaeda Claims Destroying Three Planes at Al Qasim
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed in a web statement that it put three helicopters on fire at al Qasim regional in Saudi Arabia end of May. An informed Saudi official would not comment on the statement. He told Asharq al Awsat the kingdom does not confirm nor deny that this happened. The group claimed in the statement that its members used airport uniforms to carry out the operation. (Asharq al Awsat)

Spain Claims To Have Broken Up Terror Network

Spanish police claimed yesterday they had broken up a terrorist network that was recruiting and aiding suicide bombers for attacks on coalition forces in Iraq. (The Guardian)

House Blocks a Provision for Patriot Act Inquiries

The House voted Wednesday to block a provision of the USA Patriot Act that makes it easier for federal investigators to review the records of libraries and bookstores on national security grounds. (NY Times)

Critics of Guantanamo Urge Hill to Intervene
Key lawmakers, alarmed by international condemnation of U.S. treatment of prisoners at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, said yesterday they will press Congress to intervene in detainee policies despite the Bush administration's claim that running the detention camp is the province of the executive branch and the military. (Washington Post)

Lawyer Says Military Tried to Coerce Detainee's Plea
A military defense lawyer told a Senate hearing on Wednesday that when military authorities first asked him to represent a detainee at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, he was instructed that he could negotiate only a guilty plea. (NY Times)

Australia Thanks Iraq for Hostage Release
The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, says the rescue of Australian hostage Douglas Wood in Iraq is evidence of the growing competence of Iraqi forces. (Australian Broadcast Corporation)

Six U.S. Troops killed in Western Iraq
A roadside bomb attack killed five U.S. Marines and gunfire killed an American sailor in a western Iraqi town, the U.S. military and Iraqi officials said Thursday, as an upsurge in rebel violence battered American forces. (Associated Press)

31 Killed in Deadly Iraq Attacks
In one of the bloodiest days witnessed in Iraq, two suicide bombings killed 31 people yesterday, including 23 at an Iraqi army base canteen, on a day when an Australian hostage was freed after being held for almost six weeks. (Arab News)

Sunnis Reach Accord with Shiites on Makeup of Charter Panel
Sunni Arabs reached agreement today with the major Shiite alliance over increased Sunni representation on the committee that will draft the Iraqi constitution. (New York Times)

Republican Lawmakers Urge Shift in Iraq Plans
A Republican congressman called for a deadline to pull U.S. troops from Iraq, while some other members of President Bush's party urged on Sunday that his administration come to grips with a persistent insurgency and revamp Iraq policy. (Reuters)

Bush Is Expected To Address Specifics On Iraq
White House officials acknowledged yesterday that the public's gloomy mood about the Iraq war is forcing President Bush to take a more assertive and public role to reassure nervous Americans and Republican lawmakers about the White House plan for victory. (Washington Post)

Spanish Police Arrest 11 in Plot to Aid Iraq Rebels
Spanish police arrested 11 men on charges of belonging to a group that recruits people to carry out suicide attacks in Iraq, officials said Wednesday. (Associated Press)

Bush to Meet with Iraq Prime Minister
Slow progress in training Iraqi security forces will be a key issue at President Bush's meeting at the White House June 24 with Iraq's Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. (Associated Press)

Magnet for Iraq Insurgents Is a Crucial Test of New U.S. Strategy
While officials in Washington say the military has all the troops it needs, on-the-ground battle commanders in the most violent parts of Iraq - in cities like Ramadi, Mosul and Mahmudiya - have said privately that they need more manpower to pacify their areas and keep them that way. (New York Times)

Crime Over Courage In Iraq
Criminality became ingrained in Iraqi society during the long and brutal rule of Saddam Hussein, and it did not disappear with the U.S. invasion. Many of those who finance or commit the bombings and other atrocities that flash nightly on American television screens, where the violence is interpreted uniformly as a political phenomenon, fight to be able to return to crime-as-usual in Iraq. (Washington Post)

A Turn for the Better?
Without doubt yesterday's slaughter of more than thirty soldiers and policeman by a suicide bomber in Iraq will divert attention from a seemingly significant development in the government's war against the men of violence. The military operation which succeeded in freeing an Australian hostage suggests that the authorities are at last beginning to get the measure of their opponents. (Arab News)

Defend America, Become American
The Army is getting desperate. Having fallen 25% short of already reduced recruiting goals last month, it is raising enlistment bonuses to $40,000 in some cases and lowering standards to accept and retain soldiers who would have been turned away in years past. A minor criminal record? No high school diploma? Uncle Sam still wants you. (LA Times)

Why Do Americans Hate Muslims?
A few weeks ago an American I met at a friends house asked a much repeated query, "Why do you the Muslims hate the Americans?" To which I answered in the same way as all the preceding instances in which this question was posed to me: "We don't hate the Americans, we might disagree with a certain US policy and dislike recent American actions in the Muslim world but we surely don't hate the American people." (Arab News)