New Tape, Old Threats From American al Qaeda

May 29, 2007 -- AL QAEDA

New Tape, Old Threats From American al Qaeda

The former California teenage surfer turned al Qaeda propaganda chief, Adam Gadahn, repeated his threats to kill Americans on a new tape posted on the Internet Tuesday afternoon. (ABC News)

U.S. Forces Rescued 41 Iraqi Civilians from an Al Qaeda Hide-Out; Some Showed Signs of Torture

U.S. forces rescued 41 Iraqi civilians Sunday from an al Qaeda hide-out northeast of Baghdad, including some who showed signs of torture and broken bones, a senior U.S. official said. (AP)

IRAQ NEWS

Five Britons Abducted in Baghdad

Five Britons have been kidnapped from Iraq's finance ministry in Baghdad, the British government has confirmed. (BBC)

22 Killed In Baghdad Explosion

A parked minibus packed with explosives blew up Tuesday afternoon in a busy section of central Baghdad, killing 22 people and injuring 58 others, police said. (AP)

Baghdad Blast Kills 18, Damages Sunni Shrine

A truck bomb exploded outside one of Baghdad's most revered Sunni shrines Monday, killing at least 18 people and damaging the old outer walls on a day in which at least 30 people were killed in Iraq. The blast, which sent a massive pillar of black smoke into the sky above downtown Baghdad, came as US and Iranian representatives were meeting for landmark talks on Iraqi security less than a kilometer away. (AFP)

US Military Raids Sadr City, Captures Terrorist Suspect

A day after radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr resurfaced to end nearly four months in hiding and demand US troops leave Iraq, US forces raided his Sadr City stronghold in Baghdad and killed five suspected militia fighters in air strikes, the US military said in a statement issued yesterday. (AP)

IRAN/IRAQ

US Says Militant Held in Iraq Has Iranian Ties

Iraqi and U.S. troops detained a militant leader suspected of ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guards in a raid in Baghdad on Saturday in which five gunmen were killed in an air strike, the U.S. military said. (Reuters)

IRAN/U.S.

3 Iranian-Americans Charged with Spying

Esfandiari and two other Iranian-Americans have been "formally charged" with endangering national security and espionage, Iran's judiciary spokesman said Tuesday. (Asharq Alawsat)

SPAIN

Spain Arrests 16 North Africans Accused Of Recruiting Militants

The police on Monday arrested 16 men, most of them Moroccans, suspected of recruiting volunteers to fight in Iraq and other countries and spreading propaganda calling for Islamic jihad. (New York Times)

SYRIA

Al Qaeda Inspired Group Launches Protest Against Syrian Election Results

A militant Islamic group inspired by Al-Qaida lashed out Monday against Syria's government, a day after a referendum was held on granting President Bashar Assad a second term. (AP)

Jihadists Moving into Lebanon From Syria

Heavily armed foreign jihadists have been entering Lebanon from Syria from around the time Western authorities noticed a drop in the infiltration of foreign fighters from Syria to Iraq, Lebanese officials say. (Washington Times)

Russia Tests Long-range Missile

Russia has test-launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile, Russian military officials say. (BBC)

PAKISTAN

Suicide Attack, Ambush Kill Three FC Men: Four Local Taliban Shot Dead In Bannu

Militants shot dead a senior official of the Frontier Constabulary in Tank city and a suicide car bomber killed two paramilitary soldiers in Boltonabad area, hours after police killed four local Taliban in Bannu, the hometown of NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, on Monday. (Dawn)

AFGHANISTAN

American Remains in Afghan Jail

An American citizen imprisoned in Afghanistan for running a private jail for terror suspects has a new passport. His dog has been vaccinated for overseas travel. But two months after being freed by presidential decree, Jack Keith Idema remains in his Afghan cell. (AP)

10-Hour Battle Kills 24 Afghan Insurgents, Coalition Says

Taliban militants ambushed US-led coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, sparking a 10-hour battle and airstrikes that killed an estimated two dozen militants, the coalition said yesterday. Villagers said seven civilians were among the dead. (AP)

JAPAN

Japan Cabinet Minister, Facing Scandal, Hangs Himself

Japan's agriculture minister, Toshikatsu Matsuoka, killed himself on Monday, just hours before he was to face parliamentary questioning about a political finance scandal, government officials said. (NY Times)

CHINA

Chinese Drug Commissioner Is Sentenced To Death

The former head of China's top food and drug safety agency was sentenced to death Tuesday after pleading guilty to corruption and accepting bribes, the state-controlled news media reported. (International Herald Tribune)

Costa Rica Seizes Tainted Toothpaste

Health officials said Friday they have seized more than 350 tubes of Chinese-made toothpaste tainted with a deadly chemical reportedly found in tubes sold elsewhere in the world. (AP)

Widespread Safety Risks Found in Chinese-Made Toys

More than 20% of toys made in China for its domestic market are substandard or potentially dangerous, state media said on Tuesday in the latest example of the country's lax consumer-product controls. (Mail & Guardian)

LEBANON

Fighting Erupts between Lebanese Army, Fatah al-Islam Militants

Sporadic fighting erupted on Tuesday between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam militants holed up in a battered Palestinian camp, with no sign of progress in efforts to mediate an end to the 10-day standoff. (Reuters)

VENEZUELA

Venezuela Sees Assassination Plot by Critical TV Station

The Venezuelan government on Monday asked prosecutors to investigate a leading television station critical of President Hugo Chávez over its alleged use of "subliminal messages" to call for the president's assassination. (AP)

Chavez Channel Prompts Protests

National guard troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets yesterday into a crowd of protesters angry over a decision by President Hugo Chavez that forced a critical television station off the air. (AP)

UKRAINE

Ukraine's Special Forces Move Toward Kiev

Special forces loyal to Ukraine's leader Viktor Yushchenko headed for the capital Saturday, raising fears of violence as a feud between the ex-Soviet state's president and prime minister deepened, AFP news agency reported on Saturday, May 26.Elite units from all over Ukraine, estimated by the interior ministry to total 3,600 men, drove in convoys of buses toward Kiev in what appeared to be a show of force by Yushchenko. (Russia Journal)

NORTH KOREA

North Korea May Launch More Missiles - Newspaper

North Korea may be preparing for another missile launch as it has kept in place equipment used last week to fire off a short-range missile, a South Korean daily reported on Monday. (Reuters)

ISRAEL

Secret Memo Shows Israel Knew Six Day War Was Illegal

A senior legal official who secretly warned the government of Israel after the Six Day War of 1967 that it would be illegal to build Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories has said, for the first time, that he still believes that he was right. (The Independent)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Iraq Intelligence Horror Stories Shouldn't Be Old News

By Jeff Stein

Hearing horror stories about the manipulation of Iraq intelligence is like watching "The Exorcist" again and again: Each time you see something new and laugh at the parts that used to make your hair go up straight. (Congressional Quarterly)

Expect a Dialogue of the Deaf with Syria

By Barry Rubin

Recently, there have been calls in the United States to "talk" to Syria. However, the problem is not so much talking to Syria, in a manner equivalent to having a cup of coffee with someone of the opposite gender. The real issue is that the West is looking for a long-term meaningful relationship with the possibility of compatibility or even marriage. But Syria is already married to Iran, a sugar daddy too well-heeled to give up. Besides, it wouldn't be long before Syrian President Bashar Assad would ask to borrow the keys to Lebanon, dent the car, and refuse to return it. (Daily Star)

U.S. to Tell Iran How It Could Help Steady Iraq

By Robin Wright

The United States intends to lay out a comprehensive account of Iran's growing military role in Iraq -- including the array of arms provided to both Shiite and Sunni militias -- during critical talks between U.S. and Iranian diplomats scheduled for tomorrow in Baghdad, according to senior U.S. officials. (Washington Post)

Al-Jazeera Defends Fatah al-Islam

By Diana Mukkaled

On the fourth day after the outbreak of fighting in Nahr al Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, 'Al-Jazeera' started its evening bulletin by stating that the report about to be aired included exclusive footage from inside the Palestinian camp, which conveyed the magnitude of the killing and revealed the extent of "human suffering" experienced by its inhabitants. (Asharq Alawsat)

Labor Violence Blocks a U.S.-Colombia Trade Deal

Free trade agreements with Peru and Panama now seem headed toward approval in the U.S. Congress, after the Bush administration agreed to incorporate the basic labor standards long insisted upon by House Democrats. But a separate trade pact with Colombia rightly remains in legislative limbo over a much starker labor problem. (International Herald Tribune)

Germany's Tough Security Effort

German authorities are sending police reinforcements to Hamburg in anticipation of protests planned for the May 28 Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) of foreign ministers. That event, however, will be a dry run for security forces ahead of much larger protests planned by anarchists and activists at the G-8 summit set for June 6-8 in eastern Germany's Baltic coast resort of Heiligendamm. With tensions already high and violent outbreaks occurring in several German cities, authorities are hoping to keep a lid on protests in Hamburg so as to avoid a spillover of violence in Heiligendamm. (Stratfor)

Special Operations: High Profile, But In Shadow

By Thom Shanker

Every night in Iraq, American Special Operations forces carry out as many as a dozen raids aimed at terrorist leaders allied with Al Qaeda, other insurgent fighters and militia targets. Their after-action reports are the first thing that Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior American commander in Baghdad, reads the next day. (New York 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.