Al-Qaeda Senior Killed by US Forces in Iraq

April 25, 2007 -- AL QAEDA

US Forces 'Kill Senior Al-Qaeda Emir' in Iraq

US forces have killed an Al-Qaeda kingpin they allege sent 12-year-old Iraqi boys to their deaths as suicide car bombers, they said Wednesday, amid an intense battle with insurgents around Baghdad. (AFP)

Kenya Arrests 11 Terror Suspects In Pre-Dawn Raids

Kenyan police arrested 11 people on Wednesday including an Islamic preacher and a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of links to al Qaeda. (Reuters)

Terrorist or Child Soldier?

Over the protest of human rights groups, the U.S. government has brought murder charges against a Canadian citizen, who was 15-years-old when he was accused of throwing a hand grenade at U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. (ABC News)

U.S.

Congressional Democrats Spell Reform: CA$H

Democrats in Congress appear to be taking full advantage of the "pay to play" system they said led to a "climate of corruption" under Republicans, an ABC News investigation has found. (ABC News)

'The Bishop' Bomber Suspect Arrested in Iowa

Federal agents arrested a 42-year-old former postal worker in Dubuque, Iowa, this morning who they say mailed threatening letters and unarmed bombs to Midwest investment firms, calling himself "The Bishop." (ABC News)

IRAQ NEWS

UN: Iraqi Gov't Held Casualty Figures

The Iraqi government withheld recent casualty figures from the United Nations, fearing they would be used to present a grim picture of Iraq that would undermine the coalition's security efforts, U.N. officials said Wednesday. (AP)

IRAN

Leading Kurd Blames Iran for the Terror

While Iran's connection to Sunni Islamist terrorism is hotly debated in Washington, it is not disputed in Iraqi Kurdistan, about 60 miles from the border with the Islamic Republic. (NY Sun)

GREECE

Area by U.S. Embassy in Greece Searched

Anti-terrorism police, investigating a bomb threat, searched apartments at several buildings around the U.S. embassy in Athens Wednesday and briefly closed a busy road in front of the embassy building, authorities said. (AP)

AFGHANISTAN

Roadside Bomb Kills Seven Afghan Soldiers

A roadside bomb killed seven Afghan soldiers near the border with Pakistan on Wednesday, the latest in a spate of attacks on Afghan security forces. (Reuters)

CHINA/ETHIOPIA

China Condemns Ethiopia Oil Field Attack

Ethiopian troops searched for a rebel group on Wednesday that attacked a Chinese-run oil exploration facility, killing 74 people and taking at least six Chinese workers prisoner, the first such attack against a foreign company in the Horn of Africa nation. (AP)

MEXICO

Abortion Legalised in Mexico City

Mexico City's legislative assembly has voted to legalise abortion in the city, the capital of the world's second-largest Roman Catholic country. (BBC)

URANIUM SMUGGLING

Suspects Smuggling Nuclear Material Seized

Belarussian and Lithuanian police have detained two suspects who were smuggling nuclear material across the border, the Itar-Tass news agency reported on Tuesday. (Xinhua)

ARGENTINA

Argentine Ex-Ruler to Go On Trial

Argentina's last military ruler is to stand trial on charges of kidnapping babies of parents who were killed or who disappeared under military rule. (BBC)

ISRAEL

Israeli Arab Pol Accused of Aiding Foes

A prominent Israeli Arab leader is suspected of aiding Israel's enemies during last summer's war with Hezbollah guerrillas, a lawyer said Wednesday after an Israeli court partially lifted a gag order. (Washington Post)

AUSTRALIA

Relatives Say Australian Sailors Kidnapped

Relatives of one of three sailors missing from a deserted yacht found drifting off the Australian coast said Tuesday they believed the men were kidnapped. (AFP)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

A Test for the Roberts Court

The campaign finance system is like an overburdened dam: it holds back a flood of special-interest money, but there is a constant struggle to keep it from springing leaks. The Supreme Court hears arguments today in a case that could determine whether a major new leak opens up, one that would allow corporations and unions to pour unprecedented amounts of money into political campaigns. It is important that the court continue to keep this money out. (NY Times)

Muslims Believe U.S. Goal to Weaken Islam: Poll

More than 70 percent of Egyptians, Pakistanis, Indonesians and Moroccans believe the United States is trying to weaken and divide the Islamic world, a poll released on Tuesday showed. (Reuters)

The Oval Office Bunker

By David Ignatius

If you want to hear despair in Washington these days, talk to Republicans. (Washington Post)

Losing Muslim Hearts and Minds

It has been a long and bloody spring in Iraq and Afghanistan, but on the battlefield of ideas, the news is even less encouraging. A survey released Tuesday by WorldPublic-Opinion.org suggests that the struggle for Muslim hearts and minds may already be lost. (LA Times)

Inside Iran: The Changing Face of Iranian Women

By Manal Lutfi

Tehran, Asharq Al-Awsat- Standing behind her hotel desk, Sepideh, a hotel receptionist in Tehran, expressed her wish to travel abroad to see the countries that the foreign tourists speak about when they visit Iran. Sepideh is 25 years old, unmarried and has no desire to do so, while her mother at the same age was already married with two children. (Alsharq Alawsat)

Shi'ite Power Struggle Escalates

By Babak Rahimi

Since the political bloc loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr abandoned Parliament and Iraqi government ministries on April 16 - in a move to demand that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki set a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops - the Sadrist movement now appears to be tilting toward a more militant stance, separated from the political process and, consequently, relying more on the influence of the Mehdi Army for control over the Shi'ite population. (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 and Elizabeth Sprague of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.