The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report
May 12, 2004 -- The Bush administration has vowed to catch the killers of American hostage Nick Berg, following the release of a gruesome video on an Islamist web site showing a group of masked men beheading him in Iraq. His captors said they were avenging the abuse of Iraqi detainees, new images of which will be shown to senators later on Capitol Hill today. The CIA is checking claims that top Jordanian terror suspect Abu Musab al Zarqawi was involved in the killing of Berg.
And the New York Times reports today that the leaders of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 terror attacks revealed on Tuesday that they were close to an agreement with the Bush administration that would allow the panel to submit questions to captured Qaeda leaders who are believed to have been involved in planning the attacks.
THE WAR IN IRAQ
Killers: Beheading Avenges Prison Abuse
Video shows American civilian beheaded in Iraq; killers speak of revenge for prisoner abuses. (AP)
U.S.: Berg Had Been Advised to Leave Iraq
Beheaded American civilian Nick Berg had been advised to leave Iraq, U.S. officials say. (AP)
U.S. Pledges to Catch Berg Killers
America vows to catch the killers of Iraq hostage Nick Berg who filmed themselves cutting off his head. (BBC)
America to Hand Over Saddam Iraq conflict Evidence grows of sex attacks on female detainees as US prepares to transfer custody of high-ranking regime officials. (The Guardian)
Senators to See More Iraqi Abuse Photos
Senators to see more Iraqi abuse photos Wednesday but won't have authority to make them public. (AP)
Memo: Iraq Abuse Was 'Vigilante Justice'
Memo obtained by AP says beatings at U.S.-run camp were "vigilante justice" for attack on Jessica Lynch. (AP)
Focus Shifts to Jail Abuse of Women
For Huda Shaker, the humiliation began at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Baghdad. (The Guardian)
Iraqis to Take British Soldiers to Court
Lawyers for 12 Iraqi families who say their relatives were killed unlawfully by British troops won the right Tuesday to pursue their cases in Britain's High Court, as Prime Minister Tony Blair's government sought to fend off new allegations of human rights abuses in Iraq. (Washington Post)
U.S. Soldiers Fight Cleric's Militia
U.S. soldiers fight Cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr's militia in southern Iraqi City of Karbala. (AP)
THE WAR ON TERROR
INVESTIGATIONS
9/11 Commission
Accord Near for 9/11 Panel to Question Qaeda LeadersThe leaders of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 terror attacks revealed on Tuesday that they were close to an agreement with the Bush administration that would allow the panel to submit questions to captured Qaeda leaders who are believed to have been involved in planning the attacks. (NY Times)
Afghanistan
U.S. Probes Alleged Afghan Prison Abuse
U.S. military opens investigation into alleged abuse of Afghan police officer on American base. (AP)
Saudi Arabia
Six Suspects Arrested in Medina
Six suspects wanted for "security reasons" were arrested in Medina Monday, Saudi authorities confirmed this morning. At least one of them was on the Saudi list of 26 most wanted terror suspects, according to informed sources who spoke to al Hayat newspaper. Meanwhile, the paper is also reporting that Saudi authorities did not receive an official confirmation that there were any Saudi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. (Asharq Al Awsat, Al Hayat)
Saudi TV to Show Terror Roots
Saudi Arabian television Tuesday broadcast a short documentary on how Muslim extremists are being groomed to become terrorists. (UPI)
Yemen
U.S. Renews Al Qaeda Threat Warning for Yemen
The United States renewed its warning to US citizens about terrorist threats in Yemen from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, which seeks to re-establish itself in the country and elsewhere. (AFP)
Pakistan
Pakistan Threatens Foreign Militants As Stalemate Sets In
Pakistan threatened foreign militants hiding in its northwestern tribal belt with "other options" if they fail to register, according to a statement, as a stalemate set in between the government and militants. (AFP)
U.S.
Bomb Case Detainee's Wife Keeps Brave FaceShe insists suspicions of the Oregon lawyer's involvement in Madrid blasts must be mistaken. (LA Times)
Algeria
Head of Algerian Group Killed by His Aides in 2003
The founder and head of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat Hassaan Hattab was killed by his aides at the end of the summer of 2003 east of the capital Algiers, reports Asharq Al Awsat. An Algerian paper, quoting an eye witness who was a former member of the group, said that Hattab, who was known as Abu Hamza, was tried, convicted of treason and executed by his aides who were by then in control of the group. (Asharq Al Awsat)
U.K.
Radical Cleric Praises Al Zawahri in Letter
In a letter leaked out of a prison in London, the radical cleric Abu Qatada the Palestinian, who has sometimes been described as al Qaeda's man in Europe, highly praised al Qaeda's number two man Ayman Al Zawahri and described him as "the wise man of the Islamic movement." Abu Qatada also responded to criticizms against al Zawahri published by an Egyptian lawyer in a book. (Al Hayat)
GUANTANAMO
U.S. 'To Free Pakistani Prisoners'
Pakistan says it expects the United States to release about 20 of its nationals held at the Guantanamo Bay jail in Cuba by the end of this month. (BBC)
ANALYSIS & OPINION
Iraq Reacts to Beheading
Iraqis out in Baghdad Wednesday condemned the grisly beheading of a U.S. businessman shown on a website videotape, but saw it as a natural reaction to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners and feared worse was to come. (AFP)
Web a 'Vital Tool' for Islamists
A radical Islamist website exhibited video pictures claiming to show the beheading of an American in Iraq. (BBC)
Blair's Perversity Does Him Harm and Iraq No Good A handover to the U.N. is now the only way to meet this crisis. (The Guardian)
How the Images of Prison Abuse Shape Perceptions of the War
In an age of 24 hour news, the graphic pictures harden views on both sides about US involvement in Iraq. (CS Monitor)
Forgetting Saddam's Myriad Victims At Abu Ghraib
America has done some very good things in Iraq. To deny this would be to look at the situation there through ideological blinkers. It would mean exchanging the resources of logic and dialectics for sophistry. (Daily Star — Lebanon)
The Lessons From the Abu Ghraib Scandal
The congressional debate on prisoner abuse in Iraq is heated and intensely partisan. At the same time, it largely misses the point. (Arab News)
Hold Fast, Idealists
Our dismay at a few self-photographing creeps need not overwhelm our morally sound purpose in Iraq. (NY Times)
A Tale of Two Cities
This is a story about Fallujah and the Americans, but it begins in Egypt. (Jordan Times)
It's a Fight for Survival — Pull Out All Stops
It may seem to be a radical idea, but why not use every means possible — without politically correct detours — to win the war against terrorism? (LA Times)
Book Review: The Rise of Bin LadenGhost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. (NY Review of Books)
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.