Al Qaeda-Linked Militant Attack in Lebanon
May 21, 2007 -- LEBANON
Dozens Killed in Lebanese Fighting
Lebanese troops tightened a siege of a Palestinian refugee camp Monday where a shadowy group suspected of ties to al-Qaida was holed up, pounding the camp with artillery a day after the worst eruption of violence since the end of the country's 1975-90 civil war. (AP)
Syria Denies Links to Fatah Al-Islam Militants
Syria rejected on Monday accusations from Lebanese officials that it had links to Fatah al-Islam militants fighting troops in northern Lebanon, saying it had tried to arrest the group's leaders. (Reuters)
Suspect in German Train Bombs Killed in Lebanon
A militant killed in clashes with the Lebanese army in northern Lebanon was wanted in connection with a plot to bomb trains in Germany, a judicial source said on Monday. Saddam al-Hajj Deeb, a Lebanese citizen, was killed on Sunday in fighting between the Lebanese army and the militant group Fatah al-Islam in northern Lebanon. At least 15 members of the group were killed in the fighting in the city of Tripoli. Deeb had been charged with attempted mass murder in the plot to bomb two trains in Germany last year. He was on the run and being tried in absentia. (Reuters)
IRAQ NEWS
Bombings Kill 7 U.S. Soldiers in Iraq
Bombings killed seven U.S. soldiers in Baghdad and a southern city, the U.S. military said Sunday, and the country's Sunni vice president spoke out against a proposed oil law, clouding the future of a key benchmark for assuring continued U.S. support for the government (AP).
Gunmen in Iraqi Army Uniforms Kill 15 in Eastern Village
Gunmen wearing Iraqi Army uniforms dragged 15 Shiite Kurds into the street in an eastern Iraqi village and shot them dead on Saturday, Iraqi government officials said. (NY Times)
Militants Kill Iraqi Journalist in Baghdad
Militants kidnapped and killed a journalist from one of Iraq's most popular national newspapers in southern Baghdad on Sunday, his employers said on Monday. (Reuters)
PAKISTAN
New Information in the Hunt for One of Pakistan's Most Wanted
For the first time since last summer, there is new information in the hunt for Pakistan's most wanted man, Matiur Rehman, a senior al Qaeda leader who is considered by both U.S. and Pakistani intelligence to be one of al Qaeda's most ruthless and sophisticated operatives. (ABC News)
Dozens Arrested For Police Hostage
Pakistani authorities have detained about 40 Islamist students amid a stand-off over two police officers held hostage at an extremist mosque in the capital Islamabad, officials said on Monday.(Independent)
Pakistan Seminary Students Held
About 40 Islamic students have been detained amid continuing tension over two policemen being held hostage at a mosque in the Pakistani capital. (BBC)
U.S. Pays Pakistan to Fight Terror, but Patrols Ebb
The United States is continuing to make large payments of roughly $1 billion a year to Pakistan for what it calls reimbursements to the country's military for conducting counterterrorism efforts along the border with Afghanistan, even though Pakistan's president decided eight months ago to slash patrols through the area where Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are most active. (NY Times)
AFGHANISTAN
Suspected Taliban Ambush Kills 25 Insurgents
Suspected Taliban ambushed a U.S.-led coalition and Afghan patrol in the volatile south, sparking a battle and airstrikes that killed 25 insurgents, officials said Monday. (AP)
Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 10 at Market in Afghanistan
At least 10 people were killed and 32 were wounded Sunday when a suicide bomber struck at a crowded market in the southeastern province of Paktia, the provincial police chief said. News agencies said the death toll later rose to 14, quoting doctors at the local hospital. (NY Times)
INDIA
Police Defuse Bomb on Train in Calcutta
The Indian police said they had defused a bomb found Monday on a train in the eastern city of Calcutta, three days after a blast at a mosque killed 11 people in the southern city of Hyderabad. (Reuters)
Bomb at Historic Mosque Kills 11
A bomb ripped through a historic mosque in south India yesterday, killing 11 persons. Two others were killed in subsequent clashes between angry Muslim worshippers and security forces, police said. (Washington Times)
Mystery Woman Was At Blast Site
An unidentified woman in her 30s was seen near the spot at Mecca Masjid just a few minutes before the bomb went off on Friday, an eyewitness said, even as another cellphone and a remote control device were found in the mosque premises on Sunday. (Asian Age)
MISSING US SOLDIERS IN IRAQ
General: 2 Missing GIs 'Probably' Alive
U.S. forces broadened their hunt Saturday for three missing comrades beyond the rural area south of Baghdad where they disappeared, and their top commander expressed optimism that at least two of them were still alive a week after their isolated outpost was ambushed. (AP)
EGYPT
Egypt Arrests Muslim Brotherhood Members
Police arrested 14 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood as part of Egypt's ongoing campaign against the country's strongest opposition group, the interior ministry and the group said Sunday. (AP)
GUANTANAMO
Guantanamo Detainee Returns to Australia
David M. Hicks, the first of hundreds of Guantanamo Bay detainees convicted under Congress's new rules for enemy-combatant terrorism trials, arrived home in Australia yesterday to finish his prison sentence after more than five years in U.S. custody, the Pentagon and the Australian government announced. (Washington Post)
ALGERIA
Mass Terror Trial in Mauritania
The trial in Mauritania of 24 suspected Islamic militants is set to begin. (BBC)
U.K.
Man Bailed Over 'Al-Qaeda Manual'
A 34-year-old man accused of possessing an al-Qaeda training manual has been released on bail by magistrates. (BBC)
ANALYSIS & OPINION
Targeting Human Trafficking
After years of shameful recalcitrance, New York will take the lead in the nation's effort to combat sex and labor trafficking with a new law that targets this modern form of slavery. The issue is an urgent one. Each year, thousands of people are brought into the United States — often through New York — to be used for forced sex or labor. Yet New York has lagged behind at least two dozen states in enacting laws to go after the traffickers and help their victims. (NY Times)
Inside Iran: Q & A with Hossein Shariatmadari
By Manal Lutfi
Tehran, Asharq Al-Awsat- Hossein Shariatmadari is the adviser to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as a journalist and powerful politician. Yet reformists disagree with what he writes in the daily 'Kayhan' newspaper that he heads. However they read the writings of similar conservatives who contribute to the newspaper and the opening editorial of Shariatmadari .(Asharq Alawsat)
An Army Against The Clock In Iraq
By David Ignatius
America set a long clock ticking when it decided to spend $300 million to rebuild the sprawling military base here in Taji, Iraq, as a logistical center for the new Iraqi Army. This was to be the soldier's version of nation-building - maintenance depots, orderly barracks and professional schools for Iraqi officers and NCOs. (Daily Star)
'US Terrorism Funds To Pakistan Unproductive'
By Khalid Hasan
The US is paying $1 billion a year to the Pakistan Army for conducting counter-terrorism efforts along the Afghan border, although the number of army patrols in the region have been reduced. (Daily Times)
Taliban Turn Their Focus on Cities
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
With the killing of leading Taliban field commander Mullah Dadullah by US-led forces last weekend, reports of the death of the spring insurgency in Afghanistan are rife. (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.