British Security Forces 'Unsure' Whether Outsider Was Foreign Mastermind in London Operation

July 20, 2005 --

'Top' Al Qaeda Figure Held Over London Attacks

Armed police in Pakistan seized a major al-Qaeda figure yesterday who has suspected close links to the London bombers, The Times has learnt. (The Times)

In the Times article: Police sources said last night that they believed that a British-born organiser had entered Britain a few weeks before the bombings and left hours before the attacks. They believed that the man, said to be in his early thirties, visited London and the towns where all the four bombers lived before flying out of Heathrow hours before the attacks. Security sources said, however, that they were still unsure whether an outsider had played such a crucial part in the operation. They acknowledged that initially they had had an individual in mind who they suspected may have come to Britain, and MI5 asked Pakistan to try to trace him. After a thorough rechecking of all intelligence, however, MI5 had concluded that someone with a similar name had arrived in Britain and then left before the bombings. He was no longer regarded as a suspect.

Special Branch To Track Muslims Across UK
Authorities aim to collect knowledge of where extremism is building up. (The Guardian)

Britain Plans Conference on Extremism, Strikes Deportation Deal With Jordan
Prime Minister Tony Blair said Britain was mulling an international conference on Islamic extremism following the London bombings, while at the same time forging accords with countries such as Jordan to make it easier to deport their nationals. (AFP)

Terror Hunt 'To Take Decades'
Senior police officers admit failure to infiltrate extremists. Inquiry into intelligence looms. (The Guardian)

Iran Will Not Bargain on N-Enrichment: Khatami

Iran's outgoing President Mohammad Khatami said yesterday that Tehran would not bargain on its right to enrich uranium during talks with Europe on its nuclear activities. (AFP)

FBI Monitored Web Sites for 2004 Protests

Groups criticize agency's surveillance for terror unit. (Washington Post)

British Troops Charged With War Crimes

British military leaders today said that three soldiers charged with war crimes for mistreating Iraqi prisoners would be tried by a court martial in the UK, and would not have to face the International Criminal Court at The Hague. (The Times)

The charges in full: Text

Italy Prosecutor Seeks Arrest Warrants

An Italian prosecutor asked an appeals court Wednesday to issue arrest warrants for six more purported CIA operatives, accusing them of helping to plan the kidnapping of a radical Muslim cleric in 2003. (AP)

Tribunals to Resume for Gitmo Detainees

The Pentagon announced Monday it will soon resume the military trials of two terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and file charges against eight others. (Arab News)

Violence Continues After Assassinations
Violence continued in Iraq today when a suicide bomber hit an army recruiting center in Baghdad, killing at least 10 people. The deaths came a day after two Sunni Arabs involved in the drafting of Iraq's constitution were assassinated, another blow to efforts to draw disaffected community members into the political process. (ABCNEWS)

Iraq Constitution Body In Turmoil
Four Sunni Arabs on the team charged with writing Iraq's constitution suspended their membership on Wednesday after the killing of three colleagues, a move that could delay the drafting of the landmark charter. (Reuters)

Iraqi Constitution May Curb Women's Rights
A working draft of Iraq's new constitution would cede a strong role to Islamic law and could sharply curb women's rights. (NY Times)

Forensics Team Provides Insight On Iraq's Insurgency
Recovered Bomb Material Illustrates Militants' Evolving Tactics. (ABC News)

Hussein Tribunal Shaken by Chalabi's Bid to Replace Staff
The Iraqi tribunal preparing the trial of Saddam Hussein has been thrown into turmoil by the dismissal of nine senior staff members and a threat to dismiss 19 others, including the chief investigative judge. (NY Times)

In Iraq, Sweet Promise Struck Down
Family Recounts Day When Son and 25 Other Children Died. (Washington Post)

A Largely Bourgeois Endeavour
Al Qaida-style terrorists are not the type who seek out madrasas. (The Guardian)

Tricks of The Terrorist Finance Trade
The principles of terrorist finance are relatively straightforward — and relatively ageless. (BBC)

'Can't Defeat Them Unless We Understand Them'
Terrorism Expert Richard Clarke Takes Your Questions On Threats to the United States and Europe. (ABC News)

Fanatical Preachers Have No Place In Britain
They may be disowned by mainstream Muslims, writes Philip Johnston, but the fact remains that there is within the Muslim community in Britain a disaffected, radicalised group of young men who listen, almost daily, to rabble-rousers preaching the message of holy war. (The Telegraph)

The War of the Worlds
As commentators, who earn their living trying to make sense of the world around them, we can deal with evil by confining ourselves simply to repudiating it and demonizing those who enact it, getting on our moral high horse as we call for stern, pre-emptive measures against them, then move on. Next issue please, we have columns to churn out here, week after week. That, of course, is not only the easy way out, but is a cop out. (Arab News)

The True Measure of the U.S. and British Failure
One of the many shameful aspects of the war in Iraq has been the failure of US and British forces to register civilian casualties. Both the U.S. and the British authorities insist that they have no obligation to do so - and, if this is correct, that should surely change. But the absence of any reliable figures has had several malign effects. (The Independent)

A New Nuclear Era
The Bush administration is known for gambles, and Monday's about-face on nuclear cooperation with India qualifies as such. (Washington Post)