The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report

July 2, 2004 -- There is little credibility to a threat statement issued by a group which claims to have links to al Qaeda, said the German government today. Two Arab newspapers reported Friday that "Abu Hafs Al Masri Brigades" had sent them a statement threatening attacks in Europe. The same group had claimed credit for various things in the past, including the power failures in the U.S. and the U.K and the March 11th Madrid train bombings.

And, the U.S. is urging its citizens in Bahrain to consider leaving because of "credible" information about extremists planning attacks against U.S. and Western targets in the country. The Gulf country is home to the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet.

Plus, the Pentagon might release some Guantanamo Bay detainees that are not believed to pose a security threat without first giving them access to civilian courts, a spokesperson said Thursday.

THE WAR ON TERROR

INVESTIGATIONS

GermanyGermany: No Credibility to 'Al Qaeda' StatementThe German government says it does not consider particularly credible a reported threat from an al Qaeda-linked group to renew attacks on Europe. This is a sinister organization which has already laid claim to many things, including power failures in America. That means that these statements should be taken with great caution and are probably not particularly credible," an Interior Ministry spokesman told a regular government news conference on Friday. (Reuters)

Analysts' View-Militant Statement on Attacks in EuropeA group claiming links to al Qaeda threatened on Friday to renew attacks on Europe once a three-month "truce offer" from Osama bin Laden expires in mid-July. Following are reactions from intelligence sources and analysts. (Reuters)

BahrainAmericans Should Consider Leaving Bahrain, U.S. Says Americans should consider leaving the Persian Gulf island state of Bahrain because of heightened concerns about possible attacks on the U.S. presence there, the State Department said in warnings issued in Washington and to residents. (Bloomberg)

GuantanamoPentagon Might Release Some DetaineesPentagon says it might release some Guantanamo detainees before they get court review. (AP)

Saudi ArabiaMan Killed In Shootout Wasn't RashoudRiyadh Deputy Governor Prince Sattam yesterday denied security forces killed top al Qaeda ideologue Abdullah Al Rashoud but said the extremist killed in a shootout on Wednesday was "even more dangerous." (Arab News)

Two Terrorists Shot DeadSecurity forces killed two terror suspects and wounded one in another shootout with militants here yesterday. (Arab News)

AfghanistanU.S., Afghan troops kill 5 Taliban fightersU.S. and Afghan troops battled rebels in a mountainous Taliban stronghold, killing five and capturing seven, officials said today. (AP)

SpainMadrid School Used By British On Bombers' List Cell planned two more train attacks and targeted a Jewish recreation center, say Spanish police. (The Guardian)

HondurasSaudi-Born Terror Suspect Sighted At Honduras Internet CaféA Saudi-born terror suspect sought by U.S. officials was spotted earlier this year at an internet cafe in Honduras before he fled the country, Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez told The Associated Press. (AP)

U.S.U.S. Bars 6 Ships As Anti-Terror Law Takes Hold The United States denied entry to six foreign-flagged ships on Thursday as tough new global laws to protect shipping from terrorist attacks took effect with little overall disruption to global trade. (Reuters)

Army Report Criticizes Training And Practices At PrisonsA broad new Army report concludes that serious problems in training, organization and policy regarding military detention operations in Iraq and Afghanistan contributed to the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, senior defense officials said Thursday. (NY Times)

Egypt'Al Jihad' Leader Seeks Independence From Al QaedaOne of the prominent leaders of the Egyptian group "Al Jihad" wants Egyptians who are part of the alliance between al Qaeda and al Jihad organization to split and work with him independently, fundamentalist sources told Al Hayat newspaper. Morgan Al Gohary, also known as Abu Dajana, has been active calling on Egyptians to leave the alliance and work with him as part of a new group and following a new strategy. Al Gohary's whereabouts are unknown. Al Gohary was against the alliance with al Qaeda to begin with as he thought it was harmful to Al Jihad group. Sources expected that he would soon announce that a number of members have broken away from that alliance. (Al Hayat)

TurkeyCar Bomb Attack On Turkish Governor Kills FiveA car bomb ripped through a street in the eastern Turkish town of Van on Friday, killing five people and wounding 24 in an apparent attack on the local governor, who was unhurt, officials said. (Washington Post)

Turkish Court Releases Six Suspects In Istanbul Bomb Attacks A Turkish court on Thursday freed six suspects taken in custody after November's bomb attacks in Istanbul. Istanbul Criminal Court released suspects Ahmet Ozaydin, Ahmet Aydogmus, Badettin Yildirim, Hidir Elibol, Harun Gecu and Mehmet Kus during today's hearing. The court will continue to hear the case on Friday. Sixty-nine suspects are being tried in the case. (Anatolia News Agency - BBC Monitoring)

PakistanThree Suspected Iraqis Arrested In Pakistan With Weapons, Maps Special Investigation Cell of FIA [Federal Investigation Agency] has arrested three suspected Iraqi citizens during a raid at a secret cell established in a village in the suburb areas of Islamabad. Weapons, secret documents, maps of Iraq and Kashmir, letters written in Arabic, names and addresses of Islamic seminaries in different cities and other documents were recovered from their possession. (Khabrain, Islamabad - BBC Monitoring)

LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS

U.S.U.S. Prosecutors Drop All Raps Against Saudi StudentThe US government dropped all remaining charges against a Saudi graduate student on Wednesday, and agreed to let him return home. (Arab News)

U.K.Muslim Cleric Abu Hamza Remanded Muslim cleric Abu Hamza, accused by the U.S. of being a terrorist, was today further remanded in custody when he appeared in court via video link from prison. (The Scot sman)

IRAQ NEWS

Insurgents Fire Rockets At Iraqi HotelsDay after Saddam court appearance, insurgents fire rockets at western hotels in Iraq. (AP)

Jordan Willing To Send Troops To IraqKing Abdullah says Jordan willing to send troops to Iraq, becoming first Arab state to do so. (AP)

Two Turkish Hostages Freed In IraqTwo Turkish hostages freed after their company agrees not to do business in Iraq. (AP)

British GI Faces Trial In Iraqi Boy DeathBritish soldier will stand trial over shooting of 13-year-old Iraqi boy, attorney general says. (AP)

In CommandNew leader of multinational forces in Iraq discusses challenges. (ABCNEWS)

Hussein, In Jail, Reportedly Said Little Of ValueIn the nearly seven months that he was held captive by American forces, Saddam Hussein revealed little of what his interrogators most wanted to know, about his weapons programs and the insurgency in postwar Iraq, senior officials involved in his custody said in a series of recent interviews. (New York Times)

Iraqi Group Issues New Video of AttacksA group called Jaysh Ansar Al Sunnah which has claimed responsibility for many attacks in Iraq posted a new video on its website yesterday. The video shows what the group claims are attacks against U.S. forces and Iraqi targets, especially police stations. It also shows what it says are the wills of a number of suicide attackers and contains a statement by the group, where masked men surrounded by weapons threaten to continue their attacks in Iraq. The group also posted an audio message from its leader criticizing the new Iraqi government and vowing to target it. The group appears to operate primarily in the Kurdish areas in northern Iraq. (ABCNEWS Investigative Unit)

New Guard Force Finds Welcome On Streets Of BaghdadA large Iraqi flag flapping on his Soviet-era jeep, 1st Lt. Shehab Abdul-Jabbar led an Iraqi National Guard patrol down Baghdad's heavily commercial Karrada Street. As he passed, merchants and shoppers smiled and waved their greetings. "Way to go," one man shouted from behind the small charcoal stove where he was grilling a splayed fish for lunch. (Washington Post)

Ex-Occupation Aide Sees No Dent In 'Saddamists'More than a year of intensive efforts by the American military and the Central Intelligence Agency to destroy the insurgency in Iraq has failed to reduce the number of ``hard-core Saddamists'' seeking to destroy the interim Iraqi government, a former senior official of the just-dissolved American-led occupation authority said in an interview on Thursday. (NY Times)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

All The Way To The Top Putting ex-tyrants in the dock is one thing: convicting them is another. (The Guardian)

A Culture On TrialYesterday was another historic day for Iraq. Saddam Hussein and 11 of his henchmen made their first appearance before an Iraqi court. Nothing about the fallen dictator's defiant behavior should surprise anyone. (Arab News)

Arabs Offer Mixed Reactions To TrialThe trial of overthrown Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein that opened Thursday after the coalition forces handed him to the local authorities is likely to receive mixed reactions in the Arab world. (Daily Star)

Saddam Hussein's TrialAlmost by definition, no trial of Saddam Hussein and his henchmen will satisfy everyone. Certainly none of the precedents, from the Nuremberg war crimes trials to the International Criminal Tribunal now hearing testimony about events in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, are ideal models. (Washington Post)

Zarqawi Took Familiar Route Into TerrorismFriends remember a volatile youth whose militant turn began with a stint in Afghanistan. (LA Times)

For Terrorism To Be Defeated, Saudi Reform Is ImperativeIt is easy to talk about "nipping terrorism in the bud" in the Arab world, but it is far more difficult to act on it without first admitting to the ailments that societies in the region suffer from. Take for example Saudi Arabia, which was hit by a wave of terrorist acts recently. (Daily Star)

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.