The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report

June 9, 2004 -- The United Nations Security Council unanimously 15-0 approved the resolution backing Iraqi sovereignty and giving the new leaders clout over a U.S.-led force at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday. Supporters and opponents of the Iraq war joined forces to help launch the country's interim government. The measure authorizes the U.S.-led multinational force for Iraq, but says the mandate will end when a constitutionally elected government takes power, expected by early 2006, or if the Iraqi government requests it. The Security Council's 15-0 vote on Tuesday followed two weeks of intense negotiations and a last-minute U.S. compromise on a key French and German demand for the resolution to state clearly that the Iraqi government will control all Iraqi forces and have veto power over their participation in military operations by the multinational force.

And in the war on terror — the State Department's "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report issued April 29 is being revised to address terrorist activities, amid charges the document is inaccurate and politically manipulated by the Bush administration, the LA Times reports today The revision will reflect that the number of terrorist incidents increased last year, to the highest level in 20 years, according to U.S. terrorism experts. At the same time, blame is falling today on the FBI and other security organizations as the final 9/11 commission report is set to be released July 26.

THE WAR IN IRAQ

Security Council Endorses Iraqi Government

Supporters, opponents of Iraq war come together to launch country's new interim government. (AP)

U.N. Resolution On Iraq Draft text of the document setting out how Iraq will run after the June 30 handover. (The Guardian)

Kurds Threaten to Walk Away From Iraqi State

Kurdish leaders threatened to withdraw from the Iraqi state unless they received guarantees against Shiite plans to limit Kurdish self-rule. (NY Times)

Saboteurs Blow Up Iraqi Oil Pipeline

Saboteurs blow up important Iraqi oil pipeline, cutting output to national power grid. (AP)

Ex-C.I.A. Aides Say Iraq Leader Helped Agency in 90's Attacks

Under the C.I.A.'s direction, Iyad Allawi ran an exile organization that sent agents into Baghdad in the early 1990's to plant bombs. (NY Times)

Big Rise in Iraqi Death Inquiries

Military police have investigated more than twice the number of civilian deaths and injuries to Iraqis involving British troops than ministers have previously admitted, it was disclosed yesterday. (The Guardian)

Soldier Described White House Interest

The head of the interrogation center at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq told an Army investigator in February that he understood some of the information being collected from prisoners there had been requested by "White House staff," according to an account of his statement obtained by The Washington Post. (Washington Post)

Prison Interrogators' Gloves Came Off Before Abu Ghraib

After American Taliban recruit John Walker Lindh was captured in Afghanistan, the office of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld instructed military intelligence officers to "take the gloves off" in interrogating him. (LA Times)

Senators Urge C.I.A. to Declassify Critical Report

The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee are pressing the Central Intelligence Agency to agree to a broad declassification and release of the panel's 400-page report, which is highly critical of the agency's prewar performance on Iraq. (NY Times)

THE WAR ON TERROR

INVESTIGATIONS

U.S.

Ashcroft Refuses To Provide Congress Memos On Use of Torture

Attorney General John Ashcroft flatly refused requests from Congressional Democrats on Tuesday to turn over memos that reportedly justified the use of torture in some instances against terrorists. (Knight Ridder)

Text: Ashcroft Comments On Anti-Terror Policy (Washington Post)

U.S. Will Revise Data On TerrorThe State Department works to amend its report on global attacks after critics alleged an undercount and political manipulation. (LA Times)

9/11 Commission

AP: Final 9/11 Report Slams FBI, CIA

Sept. 11 commission's final report sharply criticizes FBI, intelligence agencies. (AP)

Pakistan

Pakistani Army Kills at Least 7 Militants

At least seven foreign militants killed by Pakistani army near afghan border. (AP)

Guantanamo

Interrogations Are Criticized Lawyers fault tactics used on witnesses against detainees. (Washington Post)

Greece/Italy

Greece And Italy 'Failing In Security'

Greece and Italy were yesterday singled out for lagging behind in intensifying efforts to improve Europe-wide coordination in the fight against terrorism. (The Guardian)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Legalizing Torture

The Bush administration assures the country, and the world, that it is complying with U.S. and international laws banning torture and maltreatment of prisoners. (Washington Post)

Twisting American Values

"Everything changed after 9/11" became, in 2001, the slogan that justified new approaches to national security, including curtailment of civil liberties. Nearly three years later, we learn that even the use of torture was being justified when it came to terror suspects. (LA Times)

Militants Adopt New Terror Tactics in Saudi Arabia

Shift in terror al Qaeda militants' tactics leaves trail of dead Westerners in oil-rich Saudi Arabia. (Middle East Online)

The Resolution's Weakness

Eager to improve things in southern Iraq, President Bush may be double-crossing our loyal friends, the Kurds. (NY Times)

Progress, Even If Limited

Abu Musaab Al Zarkawi and his gang were the first, and the most enthusiastic, to claim that nothing new has happened in Iraq during the last week. They said that through new, but familiar killing operations. Yet, I claim, without any attempt to embellish the occupation, that something did happen, something limited but important. (Al Hayat)

Modest Resolution

If there were a graveyard at the United Nations headquarters in New York, it would be filled with resolutions on Iraq. (The Guardian)

Iraq Resolution

The unanimous support for last night's UN Security resolution on Iraq is the first time since the invasion that the outside world has spoken with one voice on the country's future. (Arab News)

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