The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report

July 19, 2004 -- A senior U.S. official said last week that the 9/11 Commission has uncovered evidence suggesting that between eight and ten of the 14 hijackers passed through Iran in the period from October 2000 to February 2001. Sources also told Time magazine that Commission investigators found that Iran had a history of allowing al Qaeda members to enter and exit Iran across the Afghan border.

Additionally, the commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is to recommend in its final report the appointment of a top government official to oversee the nation's intelligence agencies, the New York Times reported Saturday. Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin says the agency has made changes since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and he sees no need for a new national intelligence chief.

And a group led by suspected al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al Zarqawi offered a $282,000 reward on Sunday for the killing of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, according to a statement posted on an Islamist Web site, news wires report. The authenticity of the message by the Khalid bin al-Walid Brigade could not be verified and it was unclear why the offer was made in Jordanian currency. The brigade, which said it was part of Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad Group, blasted Allawi as an "American agent." Several earlier purported Zarqawi messages have threatened Allawi. The United States has offered a $25 million reward for the capture of Zarqawi, its top militant target in Iraq.

THE WAR ON TERROR

INVESTIGATIONS

9/11 Commission9/11 Commission Finds Ties Between al Qaeda and IranNext week's much anticipated final report by a bipartisan commission on the origins of the 9/11 attacks will contain new evidence of contacts between al-Qaeda and Iran-just weeks after the Administration has come under fire for overstating its claims of contacts between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. (Time)

Panel Said To Call For Intel CzarThe commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is to recommend in its final report the appointment of a top government official to oversee the nation's intelligence agencies, The New York Times reported Saturday. (New York Times)

CIA Chief Opposes Cabinet Intel PostThe bipartisan commission investigating the 2001 hijackings will release its final report this week, and it is expected to recommend the creation of a Cabinet-level position to oversee the nation's 15 intelligence agencies and control their budgets. (AP)

1998 Memo Cited Suspected Hijack Plot by Bin LadenA secret intelligence document prepared for President Bill Clinton in December 1998 reported on a suspected plot by Osama bin Laden to hijack a U.S. airliner in an effort to force the United States to release imprisoned conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center attacks. (Washington Post)

United StatesC.I.A. Sends Terror Experts to Tell Small Towns of RiskThe Central Intelligence Agency has begun a series of terrorism briefings for state and local law enforcement personnel, for the first time dispatching counterterrorism experts to cities and small towns to warn of the possibility of an attack by Al Qaeda this year, government officials said this week. (New York Times)

Al Qaeda Recruiting Non-Arabs, FBI SaysAl Qaeda may be recruiting non-Arabs less likely to attract the notice of security personnel to carry out attacks inside the United States, the FBI warned yesterday. (Washington Post)

IranAl Qaeda 'Dismantled' in IranIran says it has located and dismantled all branches of the al-Qaeda network in the country. (BBC)

EuropeEurope Fears Converts May Aid ExtremismThe Courtaillers are part of a growing group of people who found a home in Islam and then veered into extremism, raising concerns among antiterrorism officials on both sides of the Atlantic that the new recruits could provide foreign-born Islamic militants with invisibility and cover. (New York Times)

Terror Alert After Heathrow Defense Plans Found Fears about terrorism returned to haunt Britain after police said they were investigating how secret police plans to prevent Heathrow airport from attack were found abandoned by a roadside. (Channel News Asia)

Saudi ArabiaSaudis Obtain 'Security' ExtraditionsSaudi Arabia has obtained the extradition of 27 people wanted on a range of "security charges", according to the Saudi news agency, SPA. (Saudi Press Agency)

PakistanPakistan Army Hunts Militants in Hilly ForestsPakistan sent gunship and transport helicopters over forested mountains near the Afghan border on Monday in its hunt for al Qaeda-linked foreign militants, officials and residents said. (Reuters)

United NationsThreatening Al Qaeda Letter 'Doesn't Exist'Dutch Interior Minister Johan Remkes incorrectly claimed last week that a threatening letter from terror network al Qaeda was mailed to the United Nations in New York. (Expatica)

LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS

Three American "freelance" Terrorist Hunters Will Go On Trial in Afghanistan On Wednesday. (Sky News)

GUANTANAMOFirm's Work At Guantanamo Prison Under ReviewThe General Services Administration is reviewing a technology company, Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), for its role in using a technology contract to provide dozens of interrogators and intelligence support personnel at the U.S. naval base prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to an administration procurement official. (Federal Times)

IRAQ NEWS

Militants Kill Top Iraqi OfficialMilitants Kill top official in Iraq's defense ministry in a drive by shooting in Baghdad. (AP)

Car Bomb Kills Nine in Baghdad SuburbA fuel tanker truck raced toward a police station in southwest Baghdad early Monday, detonating and killing at least nine people and wounding about 52 others, Iraqi officials and witnesses said. (AP)

Zarqawi Group Puts Bounty On Iraqi Prime Minister's HeadA group led by suspected al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al Zarqawi offered a reward of $282,000 on Sunday for the killing of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, according to a statement posted on an Islamist Web site. (Reuters)

Egyptian Hostage Has Been Freed, Television Report Says An Egyptian man held hostage by insurgents in Iraq has been freed, the pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera reported Monday. (AP)

Iraq Gives Order to Reopen Paper G.I.'s Had ClosedPrime Minister Iyad Allawi on Sunday ordered the reopening of a radical Shiite newspaper closed by United States soldiers nearly four months ago. The closing was a catalyst for some of the worst anti-American mayhem of the occupation. (NY Times)

U.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun to Give StatementU.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, who went missing several weeks ago in Iraq before turning up unharmed, will read a prepared statement at 3:00p.m. Monday. He will not take any questions. Lt. Col. Dave Lapan, public affairs officer for the Marine Expeditionary Force, will provide an update on Hassoun's repatriation process (AP)

U.S. Planes Bomb FallujahFourteen people were killed on Sunday when U.S. planes bombed targets in the Sunni town of Fallujah. Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi gave the go-ahead for the attack, according to his office and the U.S. military. (Arab News)

Iraqi Minister Survives Bomb Attack Five people killed in attack on Dohan al-Hassan, Zarqawi claims responsibility. (Middle East Online)

Philippines Completes Pullout From IraqThe Philippines said Monday that it has completed the withdrawal of its peacekeeping contingent from Iraq, meeting a demand by Iraqi insurgents threatening to behead a Filipino hostage but defying opposition from Washington. (AP)

Iraq Appoints 43 New AmbassadorsIraq appoints 43 new ambassadors in its first move to re-engage with the world. (AP)

President Defends Capital Punishment, Says Amnesty Only For "Outlaws" Still At LargeIraq is seriously considering reviving "capital punishment" as part of a package of stringent measures to fight off rising crime and a surge in violence, according to President Ghazi Yawer. (Iraq Press Agency)

Did Allawi Shoot Iraqi Prisoners?Iraqi PM denies reports in Australian newspapers about alleged killings. (CS Monitor)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Allawi's Clandestine Route To StabilityIraq's new prime minister, Iyad Allawi, calls it his program of "outreach.'' Over the past several weeks, he says, he has been meeting secretly with supporters of the Iraqi resistance to offer them amnesty and a chance to participate in the political process of the new Iraq. (Daily Star)

Forget WMD — It's Conventional Arms That Are Killing G.I.s and IraqisWhen the United States turned over sovereignty to the new government of Iraq last month, it did so without confronting one of the most pressing problems facing the country: the millions of small arms and light weapons plaguing Iraq's security and threatening its stability. Excluding small arms from the long-term security plan is a deadly mistake. (LA Times)

Much is Riding On the New Iraqi ArmyIt's a hot July morning, and we're skittering over the rooftops of the city in a Black Hawk helicopter. Lieutenant General David Petraeus is gazing across miles of sand-colored houses bleaching in the sun, searching for evidence that some kind of order is returning to Iraq. (Daily Star)

Philippines Retreats, U.S. ReactsTwo years ago, President Bush hailed the president of the Philippines as a "close" friend and "stalwart" ally in the war on terrorism. Those adjectives, however, may not survive this week's final withdrawal from Iraq of a small Filipino peacekeeping contingent. (CS Monitor)

Clinton Reopens Book On Iraqi Bid To Buy Uranium in AfricaTony Blair's ally and former US president Bill Clinton yesterday reopened the sensitive issue of Saddam Hussein's attempts to buy uranium in Africa. (Guardian)

Psychology's Black Hole: The Mind of a TerroristWhen the 9/11 Commission released its preliminary staff reports last month, some of the most compelling material came from the lives of the men who hijacked the airplanes. Who were these guys, anyway? (New York Times)

The Fears of the bin Laden HunterUnder the seal of anonymity, an active US intelligence agent publishes a scathingly critical assessment of American anti-terrorism policy. (Der Speigel)

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.