DP World Drops Ports Deal: A Closer Look
March 10, 2006 -- Political pressure from the U.S. Congress pushes Dubai Ports World to sell their North American terminal operations but Washington Post and LA Times columnists echo President Bush's argument that the U.S. does not gain from harming relations with this key Arab ally.
Arab-Owned Firm Bows to Pressure To Sell Off US Port Operations The Arab-owned company Dubai Ports World agreed yesterday to sell off its United States operations after its proposed takeover of the running of six American ports led to a Republican revolt against the White House. (The Guardian)
Bush Says Political Storm Over Port Deal Sends Wrong Message
President Bush said today that he was concerned that United States alliances would be weakened in the Middle East by fallout from the aborted takeover of American port terminal operations by a Dubai company. (NY Times)
Overseas Firms Entrenched in Ports
Despite Dubai company's decision to abandon bid for six U.S. ports, other foreign firms remain deeply embedded in nearly every port in the nation. (Washington Post)
Comment: Burning Allies -- and Ourselves
Expect America to pay a steep price for Congress's rejection of the Dubai ports deal in an election-year frenzy of Muslim-bashing disguised as concern about terrorism. (Washington Post)
Editorial: Goodbye, Dubai
Protectionists, rejoice! The dastardly United Arab Emirates company that would have presumed to unload containers of underwear and toothpaste on U.S. soil has backed down, and it will now divest its U.S. port interests to an American entity. Rest assured, the nation is now safe from dangerous Middle Eastern accountants and port logistics specialists. (LA Times)
MADRID BOMBINGS PROBE
Madrid Bombings Show No al Qaeda Ties
Probe of Madrid Train Bombings Uncovers No Link to al-Qaida, Intelligence Officials Say. (AP)
IRAN NUCLEAR STANDOFF
UN Ambassadors Set For Iran Talks
The five permanent UN Security Council members are set for preliminary talks on Iran's nuclear programme. (BBC)
Analysis: What Are The U.S. Military Options Against Iran?
Military Analysts Believe Air Strikes May Force Iran's Hand. (ABC News)
GUANTANAMO
Cheap Watches Trouble for Gitmo Prisoners
Watches Trouble for Gitmo Prisoners As Army Sees Them As Possible Evidence of Terrorist Ties. (AP)
Doctors Demand End to Guantánamo Force-Feeding
More than 260 doctors from around the world call on the US to stop force-feeding hunger strikers at the base. (The Guardian)
JAILED IN EGYPT
Four Years in an Egyptian Jail
I never believed that the freedom I grew accustomed to in my country, Britain, will one day become a curse and will cause me to lose four years of my life, spent behind bars in an Egyptian jail." With these words, Majid Naawaz, a member of the Islamist party Hizbut Tahrir, began to describe his ordeal, a week after he was set free. (Asharq al Awsat)
MYSTERY MALADY
A Mystery Malady in Chechnya
Fits and hallucinations afflict 93 people. Officials cite mass hysteria but parents say it's a Russian scheme. (LA Times)
ITALY'S PM CORRUPTION CHARGES?
Italy Bid For PM Corruption Trial
Italian prosecutors ask a judge to indict PM Silvio Berlusconi and lawyer David Mills on corruption charges. (BBC)
KUWAIT
Al Qaeda Fugitive Surrenders in Kuwait
A man sentenced to 10 years in jail in absentia in Kuwait for belonging to al Qaeda has handed himself in to authorities, security sources said on Thursday. (Reuters)
LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS
Contractor Bilked U.S. on Iraq Work, Federal Jury Rules
Two Army veterans and their company cheated the U.S. government on a contract to furnish Iraq with a new currency in 2003 and should pay more than $10 million in assorted damages, a federal jury in Alexandria ruled yesterday. (Washington Post)
IRAQ NEWS
Suicide Bomber in Falluja Kills 11
A suicide truck bomb struck a checkpoint manned by U.S. soldiers and Iraqi security forces in the former Sunni stronghold of Falluja on Friday, killing at least 11, including five police, police said. (Reuters)
At Least Nine Killed in Baghdad Explosions
Military Reports Deaths of Two Marines, One Soldier. (AP)
Iraq Won't Use Abu Ghraib After US Quits Jail
Iraqi authorities have no intention of continuing to use Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison after the U.S. military ends operations there in the next few months, Iraq's justice minister said on Friday. (Reuters)
Video: Fight to Save Kidnapped Journalist
U.S. Sets Plans to Aid Iraq in Civil War
U.S. military will rely primarily on Iraq's security forces to put down a civil war in the country if one breaks out. (Washington Post)
ANALYSIS & OPINION
Al Qaeda's Web of Terror
Terror Group Increasingly Using Internet to Connect, Plan and Execute Attacks. (ABC News)
Thailand: A New Destination for Professional Jihadists
Tired of Aceh, Afghanistan, Algeria, Chechnya, and Kashmir as places to do a spot of "Jihad"? Feeling that Iraq may be a shrinking market for terrorism while Pakistan is proving more difficult to destabilise than commonly thought? (Asharq al Awsat)
Mullahs and Americans Mingle In Afghan Cafe Culture
Mullahs and Americans mingle in Kandahar's new busy coffee shop. (The Guardian)
StratFor Analysis: The Death of the U.N. Norms
In his first report on issues relating to the human-rights obligations of businesses, U.N. Special Representative John Ruggie effectively negated three years of work on a code of conduct by the U.N. Human Rights Commission -- and simultaneously carved out a conceptual role for the United Nations in regulating the activities of multinational corporations. (Strategic Forecasting)
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.