The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report

Mar. 3, 2004 -- — A letter allegedly from al Qaeda denies involvement in the deadly blasts in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Karbala on Tuesday which have now killed more than 185 people, Reuters news agency reports today. The letter, signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades with "al Qaeda" in parenthesis, was sent to the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper and obtained by Reuters Wednesday. In the letter, the group blamed the attacks on the United States. Tuesday's attack represented the bloodiest day in Iraq since the U.S. ousted Saddam Hussein's regime in April.

U.S. and Iraqi officials have detained 15 people in connection with Tuesday's bomb blasts, news wires report today. A coalition official told the Associated Press that out of the 15 people who were detained in Karbala after the blasts, nine of them are in Iraqi custody. The others, being held by coalition forces, included four Farsi speakers thought to be Iranians, the official said.

THE WAR IN IRAQ

Purported Qaeda Letter Denies Role in Iraq Blasts

A letter purporting to come from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network denied any role in Tuesday's anti-Shi'ite Muslim explosions in Iraq and blamed the attacks that killed 185 people on the United States. (Reuters)

15 Held for Attacks On Shiite Pilgrims

Fifteen people are held by Iraqi and U.S. forces for suicide attacks on Shiite pilgrims in Iraq. (AP)

220 Dead After Festival Attacks

Iraq yesterday suffered its worst day of violence since the war's end, when its majority Shia community was targeted in a series of sophisticated and simultaneous attacks that killed as many as 223 people and left its religious leaders blaming the Americans for multiple security failures. (The Guardian)

Signing of Iraq Constitution Delayed After Attack

Iraq's U.S.-backed Governing Council has said it postponed signing the country's interim constitution after devastating attacks on Shiite Muslim shrines that killed at least 170 people. (ABC Online — Australia)

Hussein Ties to Al Qaeda Appear FaultyThe administration's case on ties between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda relied on intelligence that was weaker than that on Iraq's illegal weapons programs. (Miami Herald)

'Iraq Hasn't Had WMD for Decade'

Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction since 1994, the U.N. Security Council will be told on Friday. In a blow to Tony Blair, a new U.N. weapons report will put another nail in the coffin of the Government's case for war. (The Mirror — U.K.)

The Inspector's Final Report

In his first newspaper interview, chief weapons inspector David Kay tells Julian Borger that Bush must admit he got it wrong. (The Guardian)

THE WAR ON TERROR

INVESTIGATIONS

Pakistan

Pakistan to Oversee the Hunt for Terrorism Suspects On its Soil

Pakistan is making it clear that its forces — and not Americans — will hunt for Osama bin Laden and other terrorism suspects in the rugged border region near Afghanistan. (AP)

Rockets Fired On Pakistani Troops Hunting Al Qaeda Near Afghan Border

Unidentified assailants launched a rocket attack on Pakistani troops engaged in a hunt for al Qaeda members in the tribal South Waziristan region bordering Afghanistan, local officials said on Wednesday. (AFP)

United States

Terror Suspect's Ambitions Worry U.S. Officials Zarqawi May Be Looking Beyond Iraq. (Washington Post)

9/11 Panel Rejects White House Limits On Interviews

The independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is refusing to accept strict conditions from the White House for interviews with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and is renewing its request that Mr. Bush's national security adviser testify in public, commission members said Tuesday. (NY Times)

Saudi Arabia

Terror Suspect Arrested

Saudi security forces arrested a terror suspect at a shopping mall in Riyadh yesterday, the local Al Riyadh newspaper reported today. The owner of the mall said the suspect was of Arab nationality and started working as cashier three months ago. (Al Riyadh — Saudi Arabia)

Indonesia

Indonesia Arrests Malaysian Suspected of Key Role in Marriott Bombing

Indonesian police said Monday they had arrested a Malaysian suspected of having transported explosives which were later used in last year's suicide bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta. (AFP)

Tanzania

U.S. Sees Weakness in Anti-Terror Policy

The United States and Tanzania are locked in an uneasy embrace as they attempt to combat terrorism on Africa's east coast, with the Bush administration persistently fingering the country as a potential al Qaeda hide-out. (Washington Times)

Yemen

Fundamentalists Under Siege in Abin, Including Egyptians

Yemeni security forces, supported by helicopters, are besieging tens of fundamentalists in the province of Abin, east of the capital San'a, local government sources said. Among those under siege are a number of Egyptian men, including someone called "Imam Sherif," according to the same sources. Another paper, Al Hayat, is reporting Imam Sherif is the spiritual leader of the Egyptian Al Jihad group and has already been arrested. (see following story) (Elaph)

Spiritual Leader of Egyptian "Al Jihad Group" May be Extradited to Egypt

Sayed Imam Al Sherif, believed to be the spiritual leader of several fundamentalist groups including the Egyptian "Al Jihad" was arrested in Yemen and may soon be handed over to Egypt, reports Al Hayat. Al Sherif was also the first Emir of the group before he handed over the leadership to Ayman Al Zawahri after objecting to the use of force to topple the government. Al Sherif, who was sentenced to prison in absentia in 1999 by an Egyptian court, is known amongst fundamentalists as Abdel Qader Bin Abdel Aziz. (Al Hayat)

GUANTANAMOU.S. Probe Al Qaeda Ties of Russian in Guantanamo

The extradition decision on the eighth Russian held at the U.S. Guantanamo naval base will be made after an investigation by the country's special services. (Gateway to Russia)

Hicks, Habib Had Terror Links: Australian Govt

Australian terror suspects David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib would be charged over their significant involvement with terrorist organisations, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock revealed. Hicks, a 27-year-old formerly of Adelaide, will be among the first six Guantanamo Bay detainees to be tried by a US military commission. Habib, a 47-year-old father of four from Sydney, is expected to be included in a second batch. (The Age — Australia)

Guantanamo Prisoner Families Head for U.S.

Families of British, German and French prisoners held at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detention camp will travel to the United States this week to appeal to the president for their release, a French politician said Tuesday. (AFP)

LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS

United States

U.S. High Court Sets April Arguments in Terror Cases

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Tuesday it scheduled late April arguments in four cases that will examine whether President Bush has the power to detain "enemy combatants" in Washington's war on terrorism. (Reuters)

President Urges Renewal of the Antiterrorism Law

President Bush called Tuesday for Congress to renew major parts of the antiterrorism law, setting up an election year fight over national security and civil liberties. (NY Times)

Australia

New 'Terror' Law for Australia

Australian lawmakers are to approve beefed up "anti-terror" legislation giving the government the power to ban organizations as "terrorist" without first asking parliament. (AP)

New Zealand

New Zealand Bans Islamic Group, 25 Individuals

New Zealand has formally outlawed as terrorists an organization and 25 individuals with alleged links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, including Indian gangster Dawood Ibrahim. (ABC Online — Australia)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Irony of the Attacks

Continued al Qaeda attacks offer valuable clues about sources. (ABCNEWS)

Terrorism Will Stalk Long After Bin Laden's Gone

Sooner or later, the United States, with Pakistan's help, will kill or capture Osama bin Laden. (USA Today)

Tomorrow the World

Book Review of "An End to Evil: How to Win the War On Terror"

The invasion of Iraq and the planting of an American army in the heart of the Middle East have encouraged one of the war's intellectual architects, Richard Perle, to think that the United States may be pulling up its socks at last. (The NY Review of Books)

Time for Calm

The attacks on worshipers in Karbala and Baghdad yesterday, like that in Quetta in Pakistan, were vile beyond imagination. (Arab News)

U.S. Has Become Easy Scapegoat for IraqisTroops are often blamed for insurgents' mayhem. Resentment over the occupation is a factor. (LA Times)

Suicide Attacks Add to U.S. Frustration More violence forecast as turnover nears. (Washington Post)

Hope Amid Iraq's Rubble

Dreadful scenes of blood-spattered mosques and dead and wounded worshipers in Karbala and Baghdad on Tuesday should not overshadow the remarkable document produced a day earlier: an interim constitution giving Iraqis more freedom than others in the Arab world. (LA Times)

A Tree Hiding a Forest

Whenever there is an American war, concepts flourish and promises are made. (Al Hayat)

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.