The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report

August 27, 2004 -- Suicide bombers, in precision attacks, destroyed two Russian domestic airlines, which killed 90 people Tuesday, U.S. sources told ABCNEWS.

In the statement, a group called the Islambouli Brigades said it had five mujahedeen, or holy fighters, on board each aircraft. It warned this act would be followed by others "until the killings of our Muslim brothers in Chechnya cease."

THE WAR ON TERROR

INVESTIGATIONS

Russia

'Russia's 9/11'

Suicide bombers, in precision attacks, destroyed two Russian domestic airlines, which killed 90 people Tuesday, U.S. sources told ABC News. (ABCNEWS)

Anger At Kremlin Refusal To Blame Air Crashes On Terror

The Kremlin is facing growing public anger at its refusal to recognize Tuesday night's double airline crash as an act of terrorism. (Guardian)

Sudan

Eritreans In Plane Hijack Drama

A plane carrying a group of at least 70 Eritreans has been forced to land in the Sudanese capital by hijackers, according to the United Nations. (BBC)

United States

F.B.I. Bulletin Says Al Qaeda Might Target VA Hospitals

Al-Qaeda may attempt to attack Veterans Affairs hospitals as an alternative to more heavily guarded U.S. military installations, the FBI and Homeland Security Department warn in a new nationwide terrorism bulletin. (AP)

New Passenger Profiling System To Be Tested

After criticism from privacy advocates, the government says it has a more accurate, less intrusive air traveler screening process. (LA Times)

Bush Orders U.S. Security ChangesPresident George W. Bush issued Executive Orders and directives Friday to improve government counter-terrorism capabilities, the White House said. (UPI)

Yemen

Former Yemeni Minister Likely Involvement In Cole Warship Case

An official document was disclosed in Yemen shows the involvement of a former government officials in the blowing up the US "USS Cole" warship in October 2000. (Arabic News)

LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS

Guantanamo

Defendant at Guantanamo Bay Says He Is an Al Qaeda Member

A Yemeni prisoner confessed to being a member of Al Qaeda during a preliminary hearing before a military commission Thursday, but was cut off in mid-sentence by the presiding official and was not allowed to complete his statement. (LA Times)

IRAQ NEWS

Tentative Accord Reached in Najaf to Halt Fighting

Thousands of Shiites marched through the battle-scarred streets of Najaf to one of their holiest shrines today in celebration of an accord reached on Thursday to end three weeks of fighting between American forces and militiamen loyal to a rebel cleric. (NY Times)

Iraqi Holy City Left Broken by Urban Warfare

Lt. Col. Jim Rainey describes the battle here as "tackle football in the hallway, with no roof on the hallway." It's an apt analogy for urban warfare in sometimes extremely close quarters. (Washington Post)

Dozens Of Casualties After Iraqi Troops Fire On Kufa Demo Iraqi national guardsmen fired on thousands of supporters of embattled radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr marching on Najaf Thursday, killing or wounding dozens, AFP correspondents and medics said. (AFP)

Bush Admits Iraq 'Miscalculation'

U.S. President George W Bush has acknowledged for the first time that he made a "miscalculation" of what conditions would be in post-war Iraq. (BBC)

Kidnapped Journalist Is Murdered In Iraq

Militants in Iraq have murdered kidnapped Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni, it was reported today. Arab television network Al-Jazeera received a video showing Baldoni apparently being killed, but declined to show it out of sensitivity to its viewers. (The Scotsman)

U.S. Commander 'Allowed Prison Abuse'

A U.S. army inquiry into the Abu Ghraib prison scandal reportedly finds the former top commander in Iraq violated standard procedures and allowed human rights abuses to occur. (Al Jazeera)

Border Guards Foil Iraq Infiltration Bid

Saudi border guards have arrested a number of Saudis as well as other Arab nationals who were trying to cross into Iraq, according to an Interior Ministry official. (Arab News)

Car Bomb Explodes Near U.S. Convoy in Mosul

A car bomb exploded near a U.S. military convoy in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday, wounding at least 10 Iraqi civilians and one U.S. soldier, the U.S. military said. (Reuters)

MPs Planning To Impeach Blair Over Iraq War

Eleven British MPs are planning to table a motion in the House of Commons calling for the impeachment of Prime Minister Tony Blair over the way he took the nation into the Iraq war, it was reported yesterday. (Gulf Daily News —Bahrain)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Sistani's Triumphant Return Must Serve All Iraqis

What a difference legitimacy makes. Those still harboring any doubts need only view Thursday's footage of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Iraq. Just weeks after having been forced to leave Iraq in order to undergo heart treatment in England, the widely respected spiritual leader's return has inspired a dramatic outpouring of public support, one literally coursing through the streets. (Daily Star —Lebanon)

Air Crash

The crashes 500 miles apart of two Russian airliners within minutes of each other having departed from the same airport could be a tragic coincidence. However, the possibility that these aircraft were downed deliberately cannot be ruled out. (Arab News)

How Torture Came Down From the Top

The latest official reports on the prisoner abuse scandal contain a classic Washington contradiction. Their headlines proclaim that no official policy mandated or allowed the torture of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that no officials above the rank of colonel deserve prosecution or formal punishment. (Washington Post)

Abu Ghraib, the Next Step

For months, John Warner, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been gamely resisting pressure from Republican leaders to call off his hearings on the Abu Ghraib prison disaster - the only real sign of life on Capitol Hill on this important issue. (NY Times)

Path of Arrogance In Iraq

An independent panel that included two former secretaries of Defense and a separate investigating team led by two Army generals heaped yet more withering criticism this week on the Pentagon's handling of Iraq after the invasion. (LA Times)

Hearings Set Back the Cause of Freedom

Ample evidence for a travesty of justice can be found in the proceedings at Guantanamo Bay. (The Age)

Prison or Death

The last thing Iraq needs is another "martyr." Ever since the latest battle in Najaf, the interim Iraqi government succeeded in portraying Moqtada Sadr as a living martyr. (Al Hayat)

The Wrong Nuclear Threat

On Sept. 10, 2001, Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith arrived in Moscow to discuss the administration's efforts to protect Americans from being slaughtered by enemies striking out of a clear blue sky. (Chicago Tribune)

The Insider Daily Terrorism Report (DTR) is a summary of major news articles and broadcasts relating to international terrorism and developments in Iraq. The DTR is edited daily from foreign and U.S. sources by Chris Isham, Hoda Osman, and Brinda Adhikari of the ABCNEWS Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.