The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report

Apr. 27, 2004 -- The FBI has alerted law enforcement agencies nationwide to the danger that terrorists could be using stolen passports to move freely across borders and enter the United States, ABCNEWS reported in an exclusive report Monday. A recent classified FBI bulletin warns that stolen French passports "are of particular concern" because France is one of 27 countries whose citizens do not need visas to enter the United States for visits of 90 days or less. U.S. officials fear the passports may used by terrorists.

And a purported audio tape from the Saudi number one most wanted militant leader said al Qaeda would carry out more attacks against U.S. interests this year and urged Muslims to avoid American civilian and military sites. But the tape by Abdulaziz al Muqrin, which was posted on an Islamist web site which carries statements said to come from senior Qaeda and Taliban officials, said last week's suicide car bombing of a security building in the Saudi capital Riyadh was not the work of al Qaeda.

THE WAR ON TERROR

INVESTIGATIONS

U.S.Tools for TerroristsThousands of stolen blank passports may be in terrorists' hands. (ABCNEWS)

Saudi ArabiaPurported Qaeda Tape Vows Attacks On U.S. InterestsA purported audio tape from a senior Saudi al Qaeda leader said the militant group would carry out more attacks against U.S. interests this year and urged Muslims to avoid American civilian and military sites. (Reuters)

Band of Terrorists BesiegedFive terrorists who on April 13 killed an officer and his partner working for al Mujahedeen, a unit affiliated to the internal security forces, are still at large. (Arab News)

SpainArrest Warrants in Madrid BombingsAuthorities investigating the Madrid terrorist bombings issued international arrest warrants for six men accused of providing logistics and money for the attack, and announced the arrest of one of them, officials said Tuesday. (AP)

MoroccoAuthorities Investigating Explosives' TheftMoroccan authorities are investigating the theft of from a factory in the outskirts of the city of Satat, 80 km south of Casablanca. The investigation started after chemicals were found in the apartment of two wanted terror suspects who were arrested in the city of Barchid last week. The suspects, Salah El Din Al Ghabeesh and El Darbany, are believed to have been involved in the Casablanca bombings in May of last year. Al Hayat also reports that authorities have arrested more suspects in the city of Meknas and confiscated explosives and flyers. (Al Hayat)

U.K.Two More Terrorism Suspects FreedTwo men held for a week by Greater Manchester Police on suspicion of terror activities were freed on Monday. (BBC)

British Government Demanding the Deportation of Radical ClericAbu Hamza al Masri has supported terrorist groups and promoted violence, lawyer says. (LA Times)

British Ex-Diplomats Assail Blair On MideastIn a rebuke of British and American policy in the Middle East, 52 former ambassadors and senior government officials signed a letter on Monday criticizing Prime Minister Tony Blair for his unflinching support for the Bush administration's approach to occupied Iraq and to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (NY Times)

GUANTANAMO

Guantanamo: The 'Revolving Door' Sends Terrorists Back OutBack to the battlefield? Administration officials say some released Guantanamo Bay prisoners have rejoined terrorist groups. (Newsweek)

Yemen Receives Guantanamo PrisonerThe Yemeni government received a terror suspect who had been detained by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, reports Al Hayat. The U.S. promised to soon send more of the 106 suspects currently being held by the U.S. (Al Hayat)

LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS

U.S. Computer Student On Trial for Aid to Muslim Web SitesToday, that graduate student, Sami Omar al-Hussayen, is on trial in a heavily guarded courtroom here, accused of plotting to aid and to maintain Islamic Web sites that promote jihad. (NY Times)

THE WAR IN IRAQ

Fighting in Holy City of Najaf Kills 64 U.S. troops fought gunbattles with militiamen overnight near the southern holy Shiite city of Najaf, killing 64 gunmen and destroying an anti-aircraft system belonging to the insurgents, the U.S. military said Tuesday. (AP)

Red Cross Visits Saddam in U.S. Custody A team from the international Red Cross visited imprisoned Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on Tuesday to check his conditions in U.S. custody, an American general said. (AP)

In the Besieged City, the Marines Look Ahead Uneasily to Joint Patrols with IraqisAs Iraqi insurgents and marines fought a pitched battle in Falluja for several hours on Monday, marine officers said they felt a sense of grim foreboding about the prospect of joint patrols with Iraqis in the city. (NY Times)

Fierce Battles in Najaf and Falluja Dim Hopes for AccordA protracted firefight between marines and insurgents in a Falluja suburb on Monday culminated in American helicopter gunships and tanks firing at a mosque and toppling its minaret, further dimming hopes for a peaceful resolution to the three-week-old siege. (NY Times)

White House Favorite is Becoming Its HeadacheBefore the war in Iraq, Ahmad Chalabi was the Pentagon's favorite exile, the man who supported the Bush administration's claims that Saddam Hussein was sitting on a huge stockpile of unconventional weapons, and who many in the defense secretary's inner circle saw as the future leader of a free Iraq. (NY Times)

U.N. Chief in Iraq 'Navigates By Sight'At the United Nations, he is The Great Brahimi, known for his skill at conjuring solutions. (NY Times)

Ex-Baathists Offer U.S. Advice, Await Call to Arms The phone is dusty, the fan is weak, and the banished soldiers — a bit paunchier and a step slower these days - wait for a call to join the new Iraqi army. They drink strong coffee from the same cup and talk about withered pride and wonder why no one's swooning anymore over their medals and ribbons. (LA Times)

Rumors Thrive in a Nation Shaped By Myth The U.S. is struggling with an information war as well as a shooting war in Iraq. Many civilians think troops are behind insurgent violence. (LA Times)

US Tells Rebel Cleric to Remove Weapons from Shrines, Schools U.S. officials issued an ultimatum Monday ordering a militant Shiite cleric to remove weapons from mosques, shrines and schools in Najaf, and a powerful explosion in an industrial building in Baghdad killed two GIs and wounded five. In the aftermath, gleeful teenagers cavorted atop and around several abandoned U.S. Humvees. (LA Times)

Iraqi Leadership Approves a Flag of a Different Color Iraq's U.S.-picked leaders approved a new flag for the country, dumping ousted President Saddam Hussein's red-white-and-black standard. The new design is white with two blue stripes, and although it has a crescent representing Islam, the flag no longer bears the words "Allahu akbar" ("God is great"). (LA Times)

3 Freed Japanese Hostages Will Foot Bill for Expenses Three Japanese who were held hostage for a week in Iraq were billed about $7,000 each to cover their plane tickets home and other expenses, an official said Monday. (LA Times)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Looking Through Keyholes These are the crucial months in Iraq. The events in Najaf and Falluja will largely determine whether Iraq will move toward normalcy or slide into chaos. (NY Times)

The Threat is Real It is rare that Jordan's security authorities go to such great lengths to put confessed terrorism suspects on television. But that was the case last night. (Jordan Times)

Pakistan Tries Amnesty to Stem Tribal Support for Al QaedaIn offering amnesty this weekend to five wanted tribesmen in this lawless region on the Afghan border, the Pakistan military hopes to isolate "foreign terrorists" by cutting off their local support and dismantling their safe haven. (CS Monitor)

How to Get Out of IraqIn the year since the United States Marines pulled down Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad's Firdos Square, things have gone very badly for the United States in Iraq and for its ambition of creating a model democracy that might transform the Middle East. (NY Review of Books)

Restoring Former Baathists Demands Implementing a System of LawsIn what appears to be a major shift in position, Washington has decided to allow many former Baath Party members in Iraq to go back to their jobs. (Daily Star — Lebanon)

Not All is Bad in Iraq: Look At the Kurdish AreasOne year after the demise of Saddam Hussein's regime, most Iraqi Kurds say they have never had it so good since establishing their self-declared mini-state in 1992. (Daily Star — Lebanon)

Waiting for Change in Najaf, Preparing to Force it in FallujaWhen American commanders on the outskirts of Najaf and Falluja peer into the two troubled Iraqi cities, they see very different problems. Each place has its own culture, each harbors a different enemy, and each offers its own potential allies to help calm a volatile situation. (NY Times)

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.