Moussaoui Death Penalty Trial: A Closer Look

March 6, 2006 -- Moussaoui's Death Penalty Trial to Begin

The death penalty trial of the only man charged in the United States in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks opened Monday after four years of wrangling and delay. (AP)

Q&A: Moussaoui Trial

Zacarias Moussaoui - the only person to be charged in the United States in connection with the 11 September attacks - is finally going on trial after pleading guilty to conspiring to kill Americans. The BBC News website answers key questions about his case. (BBC)

Profile: Zacarias Moussaoui

Zacarias Moussaoui has often been referred to as "the 20th hijacker" who was prevented from taking part in the 9/11 attacks only because he was already under arrest. (BBC)

Opinion: No Delivery from Evil

Ever since the government picked Zacarias Moussaoui as the fall guy for 9/11, the case has been a public-relations disaster -- and the trial is only going to make it all. (Washington Post)

PAKISTAN CLASHES

More Than 100 Militants Dead In Pakistan Clashes

More than 100 pro-Taliban militants were killed during three days of clashes with Pakistani forces in a remote tribal town, a provincial official said. (AFP)

Pakistan Sets a Curfew after 3 Days of Clashes

The authorities declared a curfew Monday in a remote northwestern town after three days of fighting between Pakistani security forces and pro-Taliban militants. Intelligence reports and accounts from arrested fighters indicated that more than 100 have died, officials said. (AP)

Comment: The Danger of An Explosion

The US risks repeating the disasters of the past by supporting Pakistan's military dictatorship. (The Guardian)

NEW ZAWAHRI TAPE

Zawahri Blasts Offences Against Prophet Mohammad-Web

Al Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said offences against Prophet Mohammad were part of a "crusader" campaign led by the United States, according to a Web audio tape posted on Saturday. (Reuters)

Hamas Rejects Support of al Qaeda No. 2

Hamas officials shrugged off the support offered by al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, saying Sunday the Palestinian militant group has a different ideology than the terror network and won election through a moderate approach to Islam. (AP)

Analysis: Challenges for Al Qaeda and Hamas

Al Qaeda has issued a new video in which Ayman al-Zawahiri calls for Hamas, with its new political majority in the Palestinian territories, to continue its struggle against Israel and work toward establishing an Islamic state. (Strategic Forecasting)

YEMEN ESCAPEES

Yemen Recaptures Three al Qaeda Fugitives

Yemeni forces have recaptured three al Qaeda inmates who were part of a group that tunnelled out of jail in the Arab country last month, a government official said on Monday. (Reuters)

IRAQ NEWS

'14,000 Detained Without Trial in Iraq'

US and UK forces in Iraq have detained thousands without charge or trial and there is growing evidence of torture by Iraqi security forces, Amnesty says. (The Guardian)

Pressure Grows to Oust Iraq's Prime Minister

Pressure mounted on Iraq's prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari, yesterday to give way to a less divisive figure, as factions sought to bring the Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani into the power struggle. (The Guardian)

Poll: Majority of Americans Believe Iraq Civil War is Likely

Washington Post-ABC News Poll Finds Sharp Decline in Optimism About Iraq War. (Washington Post- ABC News)

Iraq's Crisis of Scarred Psyches

Recent studies show the country's health care system is ill-equipped to deal with what are likely millions of potential psychiatric patients. (Washington Post)

IRAN FUELING IRAQ'S SECTARIAN STRIFE?

Iranian Martyr Recruitment Website: Coalition Forces In Iraq Be Warned –Iranian Martyr Forces on Alert to Move In

The Iranian reformist Internet daily Rooz reported on March 2, 2006 that "the Iranian martyrdom-seeking [i.e. suicide] forces have launched a website called 'To Die as a Martyr,' and have declared an alert among the Iranian martyrdom-seeking forces." (MEMRI)

IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS

Iran Threatens New 'Killing Fields' in Nuclear Row

Iran today intensified its rhetoric in the row over its suspect nuclear programme, responding to a veiled threat of military action by promising to become a "killing field". (Times of London)

El Baradei Hopeful Over Iran Solution

UN nuclear agency boss says he is optimistic crisis can be resolved without security council. (The Guardian)

Comment: Iran's Best Friend

The Bush administration has done more to empower Iran than its most ambitious ayatollah could have dared to imagine. (NY Times)

U.S.

White House Trains Efforts on Media Leaks

The Bush administration, seeking to limit leaks of classified information, has launched initiatives targeting journalists and their possible government sources. (Washington Post)

Guards Say Homeland Security HQ Insecure

AP Exclusive: The agency entrusted with protecting the U.S. homeland is having difficulty safeguarding its own headquarters, say private security guards at the complex. (AP)

US Army to Probe NFL Star's Death

Tillman joined up after the 11 September 2001 terror attacks The US army is to launch a criminal investigation into the death of a former American football star who was killed in Afghanistan. (BBC)

BIRD FLU

Austrian Cats Test Positive for Bird Flu

Two to Three Cats in Austria Have Tested Positive for Deadly H5N1 Strain of Bird Flu. (AP)

Nigeria Begins Bird Flu Payments

Nigeria's government has started to pay compensation to farmers whose poultry have been killed because of bird flu. (BBC)

GUANTANAMO NAMES RELEASED

Pentagon Reveals Guantanamo Names

Some inmates have been at the detention camp since 2002 The US defence department has released the names and nationalities of some of the inmates detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for up to four years. (BBC)

FORMER SERB LEADER SUICIDE

Former Serb Rebel Leader Commits Suicide

Milan Babic, the Serb leader of a rebel republic in Croatia and one of the key figures in the Balkan wars of the 1990s, committed suicide in prison, the U.N. war crimes tribunal said Monday. (AP)

PRINCESS DIANA PROBE

Official Princess Diana Probe: No Foul Play

Probe of 1997 Crash That Killed Princess Diana Finds No Evidence of Foul Play, Newspaper Reports. (AP)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Silencing the Critics

The Chinese government must find ways to allow for citizens to express their dissatisfaction with government corruption and its policies without fear. (International Herald Tribune)

A Place That Is Rougher and Bleaker Than Guantanamo

Legal, diplomatic, religious and human rights authorities are struggling to be heard on what many consider to be the "Son of Guantanamo" - a secret prison in Afghanistan where the US military is said to have been holding some 500 "enemy combatants" for as long as three or four years without access to lawyers. (Arab News)

The Insider Daily Investigative Report (DIR) is a summary of major news articles and broadcasts relating to investigative news, including international terrorism and developments in Iraq. The DIR is edited daily from foreign and U.S. sources by Chris Isham, Hoda Osman and Ellen Gustafson of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.