U.S. General: Kidnapped Britons Held By Group Supported by Iran

June 21, 2007 -- IRAQ/IRAN

Kidnapped Britons Being Held By Group Backed By Iran - US General

Five British civilians kidnapped in Baghdad last month are being held by a group trained, funded and armed by Iran, according to the US commander in Iraq. (Guardian)

IRAQ

U.S. Military: 14 Troops Killed in Iraq

U.S. military announced the deaths of 14 American troops, including five killed Thursday in a single roadside bombing that also killed four Iraqis in Baghdad. (AP)

Top Iraqi Officials Growing Restless

Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi, a senior Shiite politician often mentioned as a potential prime minister, tendered his resignation last week in a move that reflects deepening frustration inside the Iraqi government with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. (Washington Post)

41 Insurgents Killed as US Presses Assault on Al-Qaeda

At least 41 insurgents have been killed in the past two days by US-led troops in an assault on Al-Qaeda networks in the restive province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, the military said Thursday. (AFP)

Suicide Truck Bomber Kills 18 in Iraq

A suicide bomber killed at least 18 people when he rammed a truck into a government building in northern Iraq on Thursday, partially knocking it down and demolishing nearby homes, police said. (Reuters)

Blasts Rattle Baghdad's Green Zone

A series of mortars or rockets slammed into the U.S.-controlled Green Zone on Thursday, and an official said at least one round struck a parking lot used by the Iraqi prime minister and his security detail. (AP)

PAKISTAN

New Photos Show Secret Pakistan Plutonium Plant; Fear of More Weapons Being Made

A satellite photograph obtained by ABC News reveals Pakistan is nearing completion of a third, previously unknown plutonium production reactor, suggesting Pakistan may be planning to expand its nuclear weapons arsenal. (ABC News)

The Pakistan Connection

The international media barely noticed when Pakistani authorities recently picked up three foreign jihadis, including two German passport holders, in the remote town of Taftan near the Iranian border. But the arrests are being taken seriously by Western intelligence agencies. (Newsweek)

AL QAEDA/TALIBAN

U.S. Issues 'Intelligence Bulletin' on ABC News Taliban Video

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have issued an "intelligence bulletin" regarding the Taliban video broadcast by ABC News on Monday, the Blotter has learned. (ABC News)

AFGHANISTAN

Taleban 'Shifting Focus to Kabul'

The Taleban in Afghanistan are changing their tactics to mount more attacks on the capital, Kabul, a spokesman for the militant group has told the BBC. (BBC)

Mine Kills Nato Soldier In Afghanistan

A land mine explosion killed a NATO soldier and wounded four more Thursday in eastern Afghanistan, where fighting between U.S.-led troops and suspected Taliban left eight militants and a policeman dead, officials said. (AP)

IRAN

Iran Dismisses Charges It Is Arming Taliban

Iran on Thursday rejected U.S. accusations it is arming the Taliban in Afghanistan, saying an attack on its consulate there showed the hostility of the Sunni militant group towards Shi'ite Iran. (Reuters)

CANADA/SPAIN

Canada Arrests Suspected ETA Member in Quebec

Canadian police have arrested a suspected member of the Basque militant group ETA, their second such detention in a week, Spain's Interior Ministry said on Wednesday. (Reuters)

SWITZERLAND

Swiss Internet Terror Trial Opens

A North African man and his wife went on trial Wednesday on charges they ran Web sites that supported al-Qaida-linked groups with videos of people killed by terrorists and information on how to make bombs. (AP)

U.S.

Harsh Criticism for EPA's New Plan to Test for Contamination at Homes near WTC

The Environmental Protection Agency did not provide the public with sufficient information, nor did it follow an advisory panel's recommendations when designing a second program to test for indoor air contamination at residences in lower Manhattan near the disaster site of the World Trade Center, according to a preliminary government study. (ABC News)

Bribe Accusations Hit Second Jefferson

Less than three weeks after U.S. Congressman William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted for bribery, his chief political strategist -- and brother -- is facing similar accusations. (ABC News)

SPAIN

Explosives Found in Car near Spanish Resorts

Spain's civil guard, on national alert after Basque separatists called off a ceasefire, said on Thursday it had found a car packed with explosives near seaside resorts next to the border with Portugal. (Reuters)

AUSTRIA/RUSSIA

Austria Frees Russia Spy Suspect

Austria has released a Russian space agency official who was arrested last week on suspicion of spying. (BBC)

GABON / DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Fraud Inquiry into Leaders Breaks 'Special Protection'

Police have opened an unprecedented investigation into claims that two African heads of state with close ties to Paris have used millions of pounds of embezzled public funds to acquire lavish properties for themselves and their families in France. (The London Times)

INDIA/CHINA

A Preference for Boys is Causing Massive Headaches in India and China

More than 10 clinics and pharmacies line a 200-meter stretch of what is known as "hospital street" here. One clinic stands out from the rest: It is closed. A sign outside reads, "X-ray, ultrasound (diagnosis)." Neighbors of this town in Haryana state, northern India, are reluctant to discuss the closure, which happened about a year ago. (Asahi)

U.S./ISRAEL RELATIONS

Washington to Increase Military Aid to Israel

The United States will increase its military assistance to Israel and sign a new agreement securing American aid to the country for the next decade, President George W. Bush announced Tuesday following his meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. (Haaretz)

SIERRA LEONE

Sierra Leone Court Delivers First War-Crimes Verdicts

Sierra Leone's special war-crimes court handed down its first verdicts on Wednesday, finding three leaders of a militia guilty of war crimes that include killing, raping and mutilating civilians. (Mail and Guardian)

AUSTRALIA

Australia to Ban Alcohol for Aborigines

Australia's prime minister announced plans Thursday to ban pornography and alcohol for Aborigines in northern areas and tighten control over their welfare benefits to fight child sex abuse among them. (AP)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Costly Collateral Damage in Afghanistan

Seven Afghan children perished Sunday in a U.S.-led bombing attack on Al Qaeda fighters hiding in a mosque and a madrassa. Survivors of the attack said the Qaeda men beat children who tried to leave the buildings. (Boston Globe)

The Challenge Posed by Gaza to the Arab 'Moderation'

By Hazem Saghieh

When Palestine is split into two mini-states ruled by two authorities, things portend a total failure of compromise between two viewpoints: The first is zealous seeking direct military engagement with the 'Zionist enemy', total rupture with the 'West', a relative rupture with the rest of the Arabs, and building an ideologically driven small country guided by political correctness rather than the affairs of food, employment, and education. (Al Hayat)

Iraqi Senior Sunni Cleric Calls Dialogue with US

By Salah Awwad

Sheikh Khalid al-Mullah, chairman of the Sunni Scholars Association in Basra, has called for a dialogue between Sunni and Shiite scholars with the aim of putting an end to the sectarian violence in Iraq, and "consolidating fraternity and amicability among the Iraqis." Sheikh Al-Mullah, who participated in the conference organized last week by New York University in collaboration with the Al-Hakim Organization and the Religions for Peace Organization, believes that the religious element is one of the most prominent factors of the current crisis in Iraq. (Asharq Alawsat)

Mr. Bush's Stem Cell Diversion

President Bush yesterday seeks to reorient research in new directions that may or may not pay off. But make no mistake, it is no substitute for the bill expanding embryonic stem cell research that Mr. Bush vetoed at the same time because it would involve the destruction of microscopic entities — smaller than the period at the end of this sentence — that the president deems a nascent form of life. (NY Times)

A Student, a Teacher and a Glimpse of War

By Nicolas D. Kristof

In villages throughout eastern Congo, people like Yohanita Nyiahabimama are dying by the thousands — of a deadly mixture of war and poverty. [subscription required] (NY Times)

Bush in Trouble, or West Bank on the Potomac

By David Ignatius

Sailors have a colorful phrase to describe a boat that is so close to the wind that it has stopped dead in the water - unable to fill its sails and make any headway. They say the boat is "in irons." The Bush presidency is perilously close to being in irons, at least as seen from neutral ground on shore. The president continues to lose support in Congress and from the public; his latest poll rating is a dismal 29 percent. The crew is quarreling about Iran policy, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arguing for diplomatic engagement and Vice President Cheney skeptical that it will work. All the while, Bush continues to struggle against the riptide of the Iraq war. (Daily Star)

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.