Al-Qaida in Iraq Chief Appointed Minister of War

April 20, 2007 -- Al-QAEDA

Al-Qaida Chief Appointed Minister of War

A Sunni insurgent coalition posted Web videos on Thursday naming the head of al-Qaida in Iraq as "minister of war" and showing the execution of 20 men it said were members of the Iraqi military and security forces. (AP)

IRAN/ U.S.

Missing Ex-FBI Agent Still in Iran, U.S. Says

The U.S. State Department is confident that a former FBI agent who went missing in Iran over a month ago is still in that country and has enlisted the aid of other countries to help locate him, a spokesman confirmed Wednesday. (ABC News)

PAKISTAN/CHINA

China Turns Table On Pakistan, Accuses It Of Training Terrorists

China on Thursday took the wind out of the Pakistani sails by saying that East Turkistan terrorists operating on its soil were actually trained in special camps in neighbouring Pakistan. (Times of India)

IRAQ NEWS

U.S. Walls Off Baghdad Neighborhood

U.S. soldiers are building a three-mile wall to protect a Sunni Arab enclave surrounded by Shiite neighborhoods in a Baghdad area "trapped in a spiral of sectarian violence and retaliation," the military said. (AP)

Marine Officer Receives Immunity in Haditha Killings Case

The only Marine officer at the scene of the attacks on residential homes in Haditha, Iraq, that left nearly two dozen civilians dead in 2005, has received immunity in the case. (Washington Post)

Amnesty Condemns Iraq Executions

Iraq is now the world's fourth highest user of the death penalty, human rights group Amnesty International has said. (BBC)

VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTING

Inquiry to Probe Virginia Killing

Virginia's governor, Tim Kaine, has appointed an independent panel to investigate Monday's gun rampage at Virginia Tech in which 33 people died. (BBC)

A 'Danger to Himself' But Can Still Buy a Gun

An employee of Roanoke Firearms, where Seung-Hui Cho purchased his weapon, told ABC news that Cho "answered no" to the question regarding his mental history. Under state law he told the truth, but under federal law he lied. (ABC News)

Colleges Weigh Privacy Against Security in Handling Mentally Ill Students

When it comes to issues of mental health on campus, lawyers, psychologists and university administrators all agree on one thing: Striking an appropriate balance between protecting an individual's privacy and the community's security is not easy. (ABC News)

U.S.

Troubled Reading Program Draws Heat from Congress

The Department of Education today touted what it called successes in its troubled multi-billion-dollar reading grant program, even as a prominent lawmaker accused it of hiding information about the grant money. (ABC News)

Ruling Congress, Dems Rolling in Special Interest Cash

The campaign coffers of the new Democratic House committee chairmen have seen a big jump in contributions from lobbyists and special interests since the Democratic takeover of Congress, according to new campaign finance filings available on PoliticalMoneyLine.com. (ABC News)

AFGHANISTAN

Two NATO Soldiers Killed In Afghan South

Two NATO soldiers have been killed in separate blasts in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said on Friday. (Reuters)

CUBA

U.S. Releases Cuban Bombing Suspect

A 79-year-old anti-Castro Cuban exile and former C.I.A. operative linked to the bombing of a Cuban airliner was released on bail yesterday and immediately returned to Miami to await trial on immigration fraud charges. (NY Times)

GERMANY/U.S.

Citing Terror Threat, U.S. Boosts Security In Germany

The U.S. embassy in Germany said on Friday it was boosting security at its facilities in response to what it described as an increased threat of terrorism there. (Reuters)

PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan 'Border Fence' Clash

Afghan troops have torn down part of a new anti-Taleban fence being erected by Pakistan on the border between the two countries, officials in Kabul say. (BBC)

TAINTED PET FOOD

FDA Asks if Pet Food Tainted on Purpose

Imported ingredients used in recalled pet food may have been intentionally spiked with an industrial chemical to boost their apparent protein content, federal officials said Thursday. (AP)

RUSSIA

Kasparov Questioned by Russian Security

Investigators from Russia's security agency questioned opposition leader Garry Kasparov Friday about his calls for people to attend recent anti-government protests, an aide said. (AP)

Russian Police Raid U.S.-Funded NGO

Russian police raided a non-governmental organization that receives U.S. funding, seizing documents and equipment in a search its director said Thursday was likely linked to growing government pressure on Western-funded NGOs. (AP)

SOMALIA

Somali Deaths Mount, President Downplays Clashes

Sporadic shelling and gunfire shook Mogadishu on Friday, but Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf downplayed this week's violence which residents say has killed at least 30 people and wounded scores more. (Reuters)

SUDAN

Sudan Accuses U.N. Panel of Lying

Sudan accused a United Nations panel on Thursday of fabricating claims that the government was conducting bombing raids in Darfur and disguising planes to look like U.N. aircraft. (AP)

UN Accuses Sudan Over Weapons

The Sudanese government has been accused of violating a UN arms embargo by flying weapons into Darfur in breach of UN Security Council resolutions. (BBC)

AULSTRALIA

Officials Puzzle Over Missing Yacht Crew

Rescue workers found a puzzling scene Friday on a catamaran spotted drifting off the Great Barrier Reef; sails up, engines running and food on the table, but no crew. (AP)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Jihadist Warfare in the Horn of Africa and Beyond

A suicide bomber blew up a truck at an Ethiopian army base in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu on Thursday, an attack Somalian Deputy Defense Minister Salad Ali Jelle blamed on al Qaeda elements. (Stratfor)

Rice on The Right Tracks

By David Ignatius

For the past few years, the United States has been in self-imposed diplomatic isolation in the Middle East. But two paths out of that wilderness are becoming visible, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is moving cautiously down each one. (Washington Post)

Iran All Bluff and Bluster, But No Bomb - Yet

By Richard M Bennett

The West, despite the considerable efforts of its intelligence services, largely remains unsure of the exact nature of Tehran's nuclear intentions. (Asia Times)

A Terrorist Walks

With a misguided decision upholding bail for Cuban-born terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has done more than free a frail old man facing unremarkable immigration charges. It has exposed Washington to legitimate charges of hypocrisy in the war on terror. (LA Times)

When the Enemy of Your Enemy is Not Your Friend

By Amir Taheri

In the winter of 1995, I was having dinner with Burhaneddin Rabbani, then President of Afghanistan in the post-Communist era. I asked him what he thought about the Taliban, a militant group that had just erupted on the Afghan political scene with support from Pakistan. (Asharq Alawsat)

SA's Quiet War

No one should be surprised any longer to learn that South Africa is a front in the United States-led war on terror. (Mail & Guardian)

Warming and Global Security

People who give short shrift to environmental matters pay attention when national security becomes part of the conversation. (NY 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 and Elizabeth Sprague of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.