The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report

July 23, 2004 -- Al Qaeda members captured in recent weeks in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan have provided important information about a possible impending terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001, senior intelligence officials said, the New York Times reported on Friday. Following yesterday's release of the final report of the 9/11 Commission's findings, senior officials said that there was "no doubt" that al Qaeda leadership were focused on carrying out another attack in the United States.

And in legal developments, lawyers seeking the extradition of radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza to the U.S. today accused him of being part of a global conspiracy to wage jihad against America, the British daily, the Guardian reported today.

THE WAR ON TERROR

INVESTIGATIONS

United StatesCaptured Terrorists Hint at New Plan, Officials SayAl Qaeda members captured in recent weeks in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan have provided important information about a possible impending terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001, senior intelligence officials said. (NY Times)

Saudi ArabiaSixth Militant Surrenders Under Saudi AmnestyA sixth Islamist militant has surrendered to Saudi authorities under a one-month amnesty aimed mainly at al Qaeda supporters who have attacked Westerners, government targets and energy sites. (Reuters)

9/11 CommissionPanel Urges Shakeup to Fix 9 / 11 FailuresThe Sept. 11 commission on Thursday criticized both the Bush and Clinton administrations for failing to fully grasp or effectively combat the threat posed by al Qaeda and recommended a radical shake-up of U.S. intelligence to meet future dangers. (Reuters)

New Plot Details EmergeKhalid Shaikh Mohammed, the man who conceived and directed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was motivated by his strong disagreement with American support for Israel, according to the final report of the Sept. 11 commission. (LA Times)

MalaysiaMalaysia Police: JI Militants Are RegroupingRemnants of the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) are regrouping and planning more terror attacks in Southeast Asia despite the arrest of their leaders, Malaysia'spolice intelligence chief said on Friday. (Jakarta Post)

SudanUS Feared Sudan-al-Qaeda Terror LinkPresident Bill Clinton believed Iraq might have provided chemical weapons to Sudan in the late 1990s under a co-operative arrangement between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, the investigation into the September 11 attacks revealed on Thursday. (Financial Times)

LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS

United StatesU.S. Army Accepted Afghan Prisoner From Vigilante SuspectAmerican military officials in Afghanistan said Thursday that they had accepted but later released an Afghan prisoner handed over to them in May by an American now accused of running his own freelance antiterrorism campaign. (NY Times)

United KingdomAbu Hamza 'Part of Anti-U.S. Conspiracy'Lawyers seeking the extradition of radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza to the US today accused him of being part of a global conspiracy to wage jihad against America. (Guardian)

IndonesiaRuling Muddies Bali Bomb VerdictsIndonesia's highest court has ruled an anti-terrorism law used to convict the Bali bombers was applied illegally. (BBC)

IRAQ NEWS

U.S. Military Targets Group It Links to Qaeda Suspect

The American military conducted a strike in Falluja today on a group of Iraqis it said were known allies of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has claimed credit for some of the deadliest attacks and kidnappings in Iraq. (NY Times)

Security Threat Seen as RisingBremer ex-advisor tells senators that Hussein loyalists and foreign fighters are more deadly, but says he's upbeat about nation's future. (LA Times)

Undaunted, Filipinos Head For IraqThe ordeal of a Filipino truck driver freed by militants after his country withdrew its troops from Iraq has not deterred Filipino migrant workers from making their way to the occupied Middle Eastern country through the United Arab Emirates, despite an official ban by Manila. (Asia Times)

U.S. Irate Over Philippines' Iraq PulloutA Filipino truck driver freed by his kidnappers in Iraq was greeted as a hero by his countrymen, but the United States criticized the Philippines for agreeing to pull its forces out to win the release. (AP)

Body Discovery Stokes Iraq Hostage TensionPolice discovered a decapitated body in an orange jumpsuit and a head in a bag on the banks of the Tigris River, authorities said Thursday, prompting fears that a second Bulgarian hostage has been killed. (Washington Post)

Kenya Tells Nationals To Leave IraqSeven kidnapped foreign truck drivers were shown on videotape pleading for their lives, as Kenya called on its nationals to quit Iraq. (The Australian Age)

Iraq Hostages Plead for LifeSeven foreign truck drivers kidnapped in Iraq and threatened with execution yesterday made desperate appeals for their lives to be spared. India and Kenya, six of whose nationals are among the hostages, appealed to the kidnappers to free them and called on friendly countries to help. Kenya also asked all its nationals to leave Iraq immediately. (Arab News)

Army Finds 94 Cases of Iraq, Afghan Prisoner AbuseA long-awaited Army report on Thursday found 94 cases of abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan but blamed "a few individuals" and not the military leadership —a finding Senate Democrats called hard to believe. (Reuters)

Army Report Says Flaws in Detention Didn't Cause AbuseA new Army report concludes that military detention operations in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered from poor training, haphazard organization and outmoded policies, but that those flaws did not directly contribute to the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison. (NY Times)

Iraqis More Eager to Help PoliceOfficials see a growing trust in the nation's security forces. They say tip-offs from the public boost their effectiveness against extremists. (LA Times)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Fallujah Parallels In RamadiA major battle this week in the Sunni Triangle city make it harder for US forces to handover security to Iraqis. (CS Monitor)

Was Blair Boxed In? If you remember, the Hutton Report exonerated the British government, saying that the government had been entirely honest about its use of intelligence and had not intentionally misled the British public to accept military invasion of Iraq. In contrast, Andrew Gilligan was found guilty of accusing the government of sexing up intelligence reports. As a result, heads rolled at the BBC. (Jordan Times)

A Lesson From 9/11: Openness"The government failed to protect the American people." With those words, Tom Kean, the chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, closed one chapter of our debate over Sept. 11 and opened a second. (Washington Post)

Thanks, 9/11 CommissionJust a few months ago, when the 9/11 commission held some of its politically testier hearings, people wondered whether all 10 panel members would be able to endorse the final report. (CS Monitor)

Al Jazeera Can't Strike a Balance Between Politics and MediaFor two days last week, the Qatar-based Al Jazeera channel hosted what it called "Al Jazeera International Forum" to discuss publicly its position on the media stage regionally and globally. Tens of journalists and media specialists from all over the world were flown into Doha for the event that cost around $1 million. (Gulf News)

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.