Report: U.S. Secretly Negotiated with Gaza Kidnappers
August 29, 2006 -- GAZA KIDNAPPING
Report: U.S. Secretly Negotiated with Gaza Kidnappers
The U.S. secretly agreed to the "real demands" set by the group behind the August 14 kidnapping of two Fox News journalists in Gaza, according to a report in the pan-Arab newspaper al Hayat. (ABC News)
IRAQ NEWS
Bodies with Torture Marks Found in Iraq
At least two dozen bodies, many bearing signs of torture, were found dumped in Shiite areas of Baghdad on Tuesday, and the government almost doubled the death toll from clashes this week between militiamen and Iraqi forces, saying 73 people had died. (AP)
Pipeline Blast Follows Clashes at Iraqi City
At least 27 people were killed today when looters who were stealing from an oil pipeline inadvertently set off a huge explosion outside Diwaniya, Iraqi officials said. (NY Times)
KATRINA INVESTIGATION
Doctor, Nurses Face Murder Accusations
At Memorial Medical Center, where 34 people died during Hurricane Katrina, empty wheelchairs still sit in the abandoned parking garage that served as a staging area for evacuations — haunting reminders of a hellish week that resulted in accusations of murder against a respected doctor and two veteran nurses. (ABC News)
IRAN NUCLEAR STANDOFF
Iran President Rejects Nuke Suspension
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday challenged the authority of the U.N. Security Council as Iran faces a deadline to halt its uranium enrichment and he called for a televised debate with President Bush on world issues. (AP)
AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Bombings Kill 24 Over 2 Days
A suicide bomber in a car struck a NATO-Afghan military convoy Tuesday, killing one civilian and wounding two others, a day after a bomb at a market left 21 civilians dead and 43 wounded, officials said. (AP)
BIRD FLU
New Test a Breakthrough in Combating Bird flu
In an advance that speeds up diagnosis of the most dangerous avian flu, scientists have developed a detailed influenza test that takes less than 12 hours, U.S. health officials said. (The New York Times)
TURKEY
Kurdish Rebels Say They Planted Turkish Resort Bomb
A shadowy Kurdish rebel group has claimed responsibility for a bomb blast that killed three people and injured dozens in a Turkish tourist resort, a news agency said on Tuesday. (Reuters)
Tourists Warned to Stay Away as Bomb Attacks Rock Turkey
A separatist group yesterday warned tourists to stay away from Turkey after a wave of bomb blasts killed three people and injured dozens, including 10 Britons. (Guardian)
MIDEAST
Cluster Bombs Lie in Wait for Lebanese Children
Like a small black football, it lies in the dirt not far from Haitham Daaboul's front door in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil. (Reuters)
SAUDI ARABIA/GUANTANAMO
Saudi Arabia Releases 9 Guantanamo Returnees
Saudi Arabia has released 9 former inmates of Guantanamo Bay where they were being held on suspicion of belonging to al Qaeda, an official said on Tuesday. (Reuters)
U.S.
Karr Crash: True Obsession, False Confession
In less than two weeks, John Mark Karr went from total obscurity to the darkest kind of fame. (ABC News)
Fugitive Polygamist Leader Arrested
The fugitive leader of a polygamist Mormon sect has been arrested in southern Nevada, the FBI said Tuesday. (AP)
HIV
Prosecutor Seeks Death Penalty in Libya HIV Case
A Libyan prosecutor demanded the death penalty on Tuesday for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor on trial for the second time on charges that they infected hundreds of children with the HIV virus. (Reuters)
ANALYSIS & OPINION
Al Qaeda (And US) Eclipsed By Rise of Iran
By Mahan Abedin
One of the more interesting results of the Israel-Hezbollah War has been the sidelining of the global jihadi movement and the broader Salafi currents that sustain it. Despite all its rhetoric of a global jihad against the enemies of Islam, al-Qaeda and the broader Salafi-jihadi movement were reduced to mere spectators as Hezbollah, once again, dealt a serious blow to Israeli prestige. (Asia Times)
Morocco and Terrorism
By Mohamed Ashab
Three years have passed and Morocco still stands on the 'square of anxiety' caused by the suicide attacks in Casablanca and the consequent arrests, prosecutions, death sentences, and generations of reforms that touched on everything, from religious and social judiciary fields to security approaches. (Al Hayat)
A Tool We Need to Stop the Next Airliner Plot
By Michael Chertoff
Imagine that our troops in Afghanistan raided an al-Qaeda safe house and captured a computer containing the cellphone numbers of operatives in Europe. Wouldn't it be important to know whether one of those cellphone numbers was used to book a transatlantic flight? Unfortunately, today our ability to make that connection remains limited: Information that terrorists readily share with travel agents cannot easily be shared throughout the United States government. That needs to change. (Washington Post)
Iraq May Be Bad, but it's Not Hurtling Out of Control
By David Ignatius
When the Bush administration talks about the progress it is making in Iraq, it points to places like the provincial capital of Diwaniyyah, about 160 kilometers south of Baghdad. The population is overwhelmingly Shiite and the region is fairly calm, by comparison to the capital. But even here in Qadisiyah Province, the transition to full Iraqi sovereignty is taking longer than it should. (The Daily Star)
'Home. This Was Home.'
By Eugene Robinson
If you haven't been here, you can't really understand what happened to this city one year ago. (Washington Post)
A Tribute for the Living
After the church bells have been rung, the wreaths laid and the monuments dedicated to commemorate the drowning of New Orleans one year ago, it will be time to engage again with the tribulations of the survivors. (NY Times)
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 Elizabeth Sprague of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.