Taliban: Suicide Blast Targeted Cheney

February 27, 2007 -- AFGHANISTAN

Taliban Says Targets Cheney in Afghan Suicide Blast

A Taliban suicide bomber killed up to 12 people at the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan on Tuesday in an attack the rebels said was aimed at Dick Cheney, but the visiting U.S. vice president was not hurt. (Reuters)

Britain Switches Tactics to Undermine the Taliban

Britain has launched a "reconciliation" drive to undermine support for the Taliban after Whitehall strategists concluded that a decisive military victory in Afghanistan cannot be won, the Guardian has learned. (The Guardian)

PAKISTAN

CIA Evidence Used to Confront Musharraf; Showdown in Pakistan

In a highly unusual move, the deputy director of the CIA, Stephen R. Kappes, was flown to Pakistan to personally present President Pervez Musharraf today with "compelling" CIA evidence of al Qaeda's resurgence on Pakistani soil, U.S. officials say. (ABC News)

SUDAN

International Court Names Darfur War Suspects

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor on Tuesday named a former Sudanese junior minister and a janjaweed militia leader as suspects in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country's Darfur region. (AP)

IRAQ

U.S., Iraqi Forces Stage Baghdad Raids

U.S. and Iraqi forces staged raids in Baghdad's main Shiite militant stronghold Tuesday as part of politically sensitive forays into areas loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. (AP)

Iran, Syria and U.S. To Attend Baghdad Talks: Iraq

Officials from regional states including Iran and Syria will join U.S. and British envoys at a meeting in Baghdad next month to seek ways to stabilize Iraq, the Iraqi foreign minister said on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Iraqi Oil Law Legislation Approved

The Iraqi Cabinet approved draft legislation on Monday for a new oil law, giving the United States a new claim to success in its nation-building efforts for Iraq. The division of oil revenues between Iraq's Kurdish and Shiite factions is critical to the formation of a comprehensive political resolution in the country. Though the legislation is certainly a step in the right direction, a closer look at the details reveals it is more of a time bomb than a functional agreement. (Stratfor)

An American Soldier Inside the Iraqi Army

"I'd take a bullet for them and I know they'd take a bullet for me," says U.S. Army Maj. Alvaro Roa. He calls them "my guys" and takes pride that they are the best in the brigade. (ABC News)

PADILLA CASE

Padilla Abuse Claim Is Al Qaeda Tactic, U.S. Says

Former "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla is mentally capable of assisting defense lawyers at his terrorism trial but chooses not to, according to a prison psychologist who testified on Monday that Padilla is fit to stand trial. (Reuters)

EGYPT

Egypt Stops Pro-militant Iraq TV

Egypt has stopped the transmission of a private Iraqi TV station which glorifies the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. (BBC)

U.S.

Early Clock Change Could Disrupt U.S. Computers

A new law requiring daylight savings time to start March 11, three weeks earlier than normal, threatens a widespread, Y2K-like computer glitch in U.S. computers preset for the later start date of April 2. (ABC News)

CHINA

China Rejects U.S. Criticism of Military Build-up

China dismissed U.S. criticism of its military build-up on Tuesday, saying the world's most populous country was an important force for world peace. (Reuters)

JORDAN

Cleric Faces Deportation to Jordan

A British court ruled Monday that Abu Qatada, a radical Islamic cleric believed to have close links to al-Qaeda, faces no risk of abuse if sent to Jordan, opening the way for his deportation. (Washington Post)

SAUDI ARABIA

3 French Sightseers Killed Near Saudi Holy City

Gunmen killed three French citizens and wounded a fourth near the holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia early Monday, in a brazen reminder that attacks on foreigners there have not stopped despite an aggressive three-year security crackdown. (NY Times)

GUATEMALA

Arrests in Guatemala Jail Killing

The head of a Guatemalan prison and 21 employees have been arrested over the killing at the jail on Sunday of four police officers detained there. (BBC)

RUSSIA

17 Accused of Planning Terrorist Acts Go on Trial in Central Russia

Jury selection in the trial of 17 people charged with planning a series of terrorist acts began Monday in a mostly Muslim region in central Russia, a defense lawyer said, in the second trial connected to millennial celebrations of the region's capital two years. (AP)

ON THE WEB

ABC News Extremist Website Monitoring

This is a daily update of some of what can be found on militant Islamist websites that are often used by al Qaeda and its sympathizers, insurgent groups in Iraq and other groups for propaganda, recruiting and communication purposes. (ABC News)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Resurgent Insurgents

By Simon Tisdall

Fears that a revitalized al-Qaeda is planning a stepped-up offensive against "soft" western targets are driving an intensifying debate both inside and outside the Bush administration over how to counter the threat. (The Guardian)

Terror Formula Intensifies

By Peter Brookes

In a satanic race to the depths of depravity against their evil sidekicks, the Shia militias and al-Qaeda-suspected Sunni insurgents have now begun to use what the Iraqis are calling "dirty weapons." (Boston Herald)

A Land of Camel Milk and Honey

By Nicholas D. Kristof

A Fight to Save Mothers Here's the ethos of Somalia, as a former Mogadishu resident explained it to me: "If I use a dollar to buy food, then tomorrow I have nothing. If I use a dollar to buy a bullet, then I can eat every day." (NY Times)

A Needless, Immoral War

By Geoffrey Wheatcroft

Now that everyone apart from Dick Cheney recognizes that the Iraq war has been an appalling failure, and now that all the original justifications for the war have long since collapsed, where do those who originally supported it turn? Some just pretend it never happened, or that they really never approved of it. (Dawn)

Yemen and the Long Arm of the Crescent

By Hussein Shobokshi

While talk of Iranian expansion and penetration in the Arab region (under the pretense of resistance, religion and supporting the weak) continues, the central area for these activities has come to be known as the Shiaa crescent, extending from Iraq to Palestine – yet, there is another location that is currently witnessing detrimental activities that are strongly backed by Iranian intelligence: Yemen. (Asharq Al Awsat)

The Klan is Still Dead

By David J. Garrow

Recent news headlines announce a revival of the Ku Klux Klan. The Christian Science Monitor warns that the KKK "appears to be on the rise again after years of irrelevance." The Associated Press reports that white supremacists are "significantly more active" and are "focused on stirring anti-immigrant sentiment," particularly against Mexicans and other Latinos. (LA Times)

Iran: Switching the Nuclear Tracks

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has compared Iran's nuclear program to a train that has left its station, adding that "we have thrown away the brakes". In reaction to Iran's defiance, the United Nations is on the verge of imposing tougher sanctions, and there are new, alarming reports about a planned air offensive against Iran by the US. (Asia Times)

The Insider Daily Investigative Report (DIR) is a summary of major news articles and broadcasts relating to investigative news, including international terrorism and developments in Iraq. The DIR is edited daily from foreign and U.S. sources by Chris Isham, Hoda Osman and Elizabeth Sprague of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.