The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report

Dec. 19, 2003 -- Arab news channel Al Jazeera broadcast an audio tape today containing a statement from who appears to be Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al Zawahiri. In the statement, Zawahiri speaks of the second anniversary of the battle at Tora Bora and on Iraq, saying that governments who supported the war there should "be ready to face the consequences and pay the bill."

Plus, authorities are evaluating a surge of information related to possible terrorist threats to a number of cities in the United States, including New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C, ABCNEWS has learned. The information was received through communication intercepts. U.S. officials are currently evaluating this information and will determine how to respond within the next few days.

And in legal developments — two U.S. appellate court rulings yesterday may have an impact on future judicial proceedings in the war on terror.One of the rulings by the 9th circuit court of appeals limited the U.S. government's authority to detain a prisoner as an enemy combatant. And in a separate case, the 2nd circuit court of appeals ruled that Guantanamo detainees should be allowed access to U.S. courts. President Bush had assigned terror suspect Jose Padilla the status of enemy combatant in June 2002, after he was arrested in Chicago as part of an alleged plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb."

THE WAR ON TERROR

INVESTIGATIONS, THREATS & ARRESTS

Al Qaeda Leader Calls U.S. Soldiers 'Cowards'Al Qaeda number two Ayman al Zawahri has called American soldiers cowards "with no faith in their leaders". (Al Jazeera)

United States

Terror Threat

U.S. intel evaluating credible info; threat to several cities. (ABCNEWS)

U.S. Says Catching Bin Laden DifficultU.S. officials say catching Osama Bin Laden much more difficult Than catching Saddam Hussein. (AP)

Freeh Links Iran to Khobar Bombing Former FBI director Louis Freeh testified yesterday that he believed there was "overwhelming evidence" that senior Iranian government officials financed and directed the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia. (Washington Post)

Tapes Show Abuse of 9/11 Detainees Videos show post-9/11 treatment by guards at N.Y. facility. (Washington Post)

Terrorism Drills Showed Lack of Preparedness, Report SaysA classified Bush administration report has found that the largest counterterrorism exercise conducted by the federal government since the Sept. 11 attacks was marred by communications problems, serious shortages of medical supplies and hospital rooms and confusion over where the residue of a radiological attack would spread, administration officials said on Thursday. (NY Times)

TurkeyTurkey Captures Man Suspected in Bombings Turkish authorities have captured a Turkish man suspected of planning last month's deadly truck bombings in Istanbul after meeting with Osama bin Laden, an intelligence official said Friday. (AP)

Southeast Asia11 Men With Suspected Ties to Al Qaeda Arrested in Southeast AsiaAuthorities in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia said they have in custody 11 alleged Islamic militants who were being groomed as the next generation of leaders of a regional terrorist group linked to al Qaeda. (Washington Post)

IndonesiaFour Students Have Links to Terror, Hambali-JakartaIndonesia has extended the detention of four Muslim students deported from Pakistan because they are suspected of links to an accused terror kingpin and several bombings, police said on Friday. (Reuters)

More Local Air Security Input Sought Acting TSA director wants many decisions made on-site. (Washington Post)

YemenSaudis Will Interrogate Al Qaeda Official AgainSaudi authorities have examined the Yemeni interrogations with the al Qaeda official Mohammed Al Ahdal, who was arrested on November 25th, a senior Saudi security official told Al Hayat. The Saudis will interrogate Al Ahdal for a second time, the official added, explaining that time is needed to verify the accuracy of the information he provided. (Al Hayat)

EuropeAl Qaeda-Linked Activity Seen in EuropeExtremist groups linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network are very active in European Union States, using them as a recruiting ground and a base, a report from the E.U.'s police agency Europol has concluded. (Reuters)

LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS

United StatesCourt Rulings Slam Bush's Terror StrategyFederal court rulings on 'enemy combatants' deal setback to the Bush administration terror strategy. (AP)

Court Grants Guantanamo Bay Prisoner Access to Lawyer In the first ruling of its kind, a federal appeals court today decided that a detainee at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba should be granted a court hearing in the United States inquiring into his detention, and should be represented by a lawyer hired by his brother in this country. (Washington Post)

British Man Faces 'Dirty Bomb' Charges A 68-year-old British man accused of trying to smuggle shoulder-fired missiles into the U.S. has been charged with offering to obtain a radioactive "dirty bomb". (Agencies)

JordanThree Iraqis Indicted For Planning 'Terror' Attacks in JordanThe State Security Court on Thursday indicted three Iraqis for allegedly planning to attack U.S. and Israeli targets in Jordan. (Jordan Times)

United KingdomBlunkett Defends Anti-Terror LawsDavid Blunkett, the Home Secretary, defended his tough anti-terrorist laws last night after senior parliamentarians said controversial powers to detain suspected al-Qa'eda members without trial should be scrapped. (The Telegraph)

THE WAR IN IRAQ

Saddam SpiesSaddam Hussein's loyalists infiltrated U.S. operations in Iraq. (ABCNEWS)

Bremer Escaped Rebel Attack in IraqU.S. Administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, escaped rebel ambush on his convoy two weeks ago. (AP)

2 Shiite Politicians Assassinated in IraqFears grow that the nation could descend into long-term sectarian violence. The U.S.-led coalition's withdrawal is the answer, some say. (LA Times)

Saddam-Atta Memo a Likely FakeA document tying the Iraqi leader with the 9/11 terrorist is probably fake. (Newsweek)

Iraqis Insist On Trying Saddam in IraqIraqis are insisting on trying Saddam Hussein in his own country and with their own judges, as several countries prepare their complaints against the former dictator U.S. forces captured on December 13. (AFP)

U.S. Negotiating Over Role of G.I.'s in a Sovereign IraqThe Bush administration has begun delicate negotiations with Iraq's transitional leaders on the freedom American-led military forces will have to carry out operations against insurgents after the transfer of sovereignty to a new government in Baghdad on June 30, officials say. (NY Times)

Veteran French Lawyer Prepares For Defense of Former Iraqi Deputy PremierVeteran French lawyer Jacques Verges voiced concern for the health of former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz after meeting his family in Jordan to prepare for his defense. (AFP)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

War On Terrorism's Legal Tack is Rejected Court Challenges Declaration and Detention of U.S. Citizen as Enemy Combatant. (Washington Post)

Telling It RightThe message of this war seems to be that as long as you wave the flag convincingly enough, it doesn't matter whether you tell the truth. (NY Times)

Look to Law, Not LeadersA three-judge appeals panel got it right Thursday when it ruled that President Bush cannot hold an American citizen who has not been charged with a crime. (LA Times)

The Padilla DecisionA federal appeals court in Manhattan struck a blow against egregious presidential overreaching in the name of fighting terrorism. (NY Times)

What's the Difference? Last year the U.S. intelligence community produced a formal estimate concluding that Iraq possessed large stocks of chemical and biological weapons and that it had reconstituted its nuclear bomb program. But a concerted postwar search by a U.S. survey team so far has found no weapons or nuclear program — only suspicious facilities and a continuing intention to acquire such arms. "So what's the difference?" President Bush demanded of ABC's Diane Sawyer in an interview broadcast Tuesday. (Washington Post)

Learning to Break the RulesThe capture of Saddam Hussein was a much-needed shot in the arm for American intelligence services. President Bush made special mention of our intelligence analysts in his address after the capture. Yet, as a onetime C.I.A. analyst, I think it's important to examine why this mission was so successful. In large part, it was because analysts were allowed to ignore many long-held beliefs about how intelligence is "supposed" to work. (NY Times)

War Opponents and Iraqi Contracts: Blood for Economic ProfitsWhen the Security Council issued Resolution 1511, American officials sighed in relief. (Al Hayat)

AP Poll Finds Majority Back War in Iraq Americans think the war in Iraq was the right decision by a 2-1 margin and are more inclined to approve of the job done by President Bush in foreign policy and terrorism following the capture of Saddam Hussein, an Associated Press poll found. (AP)

We Must Honor the Dead Thousands of Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the occupation. So why is there no official death toll? (The Guardian)

Hard Questions We Need to Ask About SaddamWas Saddam Hussein, in President Bush's words, a 'torturer, murderer and disgusting tyrant'? Yes he was — Was this why the United States and Britain waged war against him? No it was not. (Al Hayat)

A UN-Iraq Trial of Hussein: No Death Penalty?It's an opportunity for the US to let other nations lead in Iraq. (CS Monitor)

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.