Warnings About Foley's Behavior Failed to Move Congress to Action

October 3, 2006 -- FOLEY SCANDAL

Warnings About Foley's Behavior Failed to Move Congress to Action

Despite repeated warning signs going back at least five years, almost nothing was done in Congress to stop Foley's suspect behavior with pages. (ABC News)

Analysis: Congressman's Lewd Messages Could Shake-Up Midterm Elections

With just five weeks to go before a critical midterm election that will determine which party controls Congress and the fate of the last two years of the Bush presidency, the resignation of Republican Florida Congressman Mark Foley has the potential to shake up a volatile electorate and tilt the advantage to the Democrats. (ABC News)

HIJACKED TURKISH PLANE

Hijacked Turkish Plane Lands in Italy

A Turkish Airlines plane carrying more than 100 passengers from Tirana, Albania, to Istanbul, was hijacked Tuesday and landed at Italy's Brindisi airport, company spokesman Ali Genc said. (AP)

IRAQ NEWS

Iraqi Tribes Launch Battle to Drive Al-Qaida Out of Troubled Province

Al-Qaida in Iraq is being pushed out of its strongholds in Anbar province after three days of fighting with Iraq's fiercely independent tribes. A number of al-Qaida fighters have been killed and captured, including Saudis and Syrians. (The Guardian)

Nine US Soldiers Killed in Baghdad

The US military today announced that nine of its soldiers had died in Baghdad in the last three days, with the news coming as authorities said at least 13 people had been killed in new outbreaks of violence. (The Guardian)

Uniformed Gunmen Snatch 14 at Baghdad Stores

Uniformed gunmen driving official-looking trucks snatched 14 people from computer stores in central Baghdad on Monday, in the latest kidnap to fuel fears of sectarian militias infiltrating Iraq's security forces. (Reuters)

Al Qaeda Arrests Prompt Baghdad Curfew

The U.S. military said a captured al Qaeda suspect and members of his cell were "in the final stages" of planning an attack on the Green Zone. An unprecedented curfew prompted by the arrest left millions of Baghdadis stranded at home on Saturday without supplies during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. (Asharq al Awsat)

AL QAEDA

The Laughing 9/11 Bombers

Film of the ringleader of the September 11 hijackers reading his "martyrdom" will inside Afghanistan at Osama Bin Laden's headquarters has emerged five years after the Al-Qaeda outrage. (The Sunday Times)

Watch the Video
(The Sunday Times)

Letter Gives Glimpse of Al-Qaeda's Leadership

Six months before the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in June, a senior al-Qaeda figure warned him in a letter that he risked removal as al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq if he continued to alienate Sunni tribal and religious leaders and rival insurgent groups. (Washington Post)

In Video, Qaeda Deputy Condemns Bush and Pope

Ayman al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda's deputy leader, branded President Bush a "lying failure" and Pope Benedict XVI a "charlatan" in a video released Friday. (NY Times)

Algerian Group's Contact Person For Al Qaeda Killed

A prominent leader of the Algerian Salafist Group for Call has been killed in a shootout with another armed group north of Mali, sources confirmed to al Hayat newspaper. Mokhtar Belmokhtar, 34, is believed to have been the group's main contact with al Qaeda. He also the group's main source for weapons, which is why his death is considered a blow to the group. Belmokhtar is also known as the Prince of the Desert and Khaled Abu El Abbas and is wanted internationally. The Algerian group had recently announced that it joined al Qaeda and pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden. (Al Hayat)

Analysis: Al Qaeda Increasingly Reliant on Media

On the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Abu Omar received the call to jihad. Literally. (NY Times)

IRAN/U.S.

Iran: Khomeini's 'Killer Poison' Returns

Former Iranian president Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has published a confidential letter by the late ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which has stirred a great deal of controversy in Iran, in part because the letter refers to a military commander's call to pursue nuclear weapons to be deployed against Iran's hostile neighbor, Iraq. (Asia Times)

U.S. has Plans to Kill Iranian Leadership

A report issued last month by the Century Foundation warns that some in the Bush administration are making the case for air strikes aimed not only at setting back Iran's nuclear programme, but also at toppling the country's government. (Daily Times)

PAKISTAN

Ex-ISI Officers May Be Aiding Taliban, Admits Pervez on TV

Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said in an interview telecast here on Sunday that some retired Inter-Services Intelligence officials could be assisting Taliban insurgents, adding: "We are keeping a very tight watch and we will get hold of them if that at all happened." (Asian Age)

AFGHANISTAN

Gunbattles Kill 6 in Afghanistan

Two gunbattles in eastern Afghanistan killed four Afghan and two U.S. troops, officials said Tuesday, and NATO prepared to assume military command of all of the country from the U.S.-led coalition. (AP)

U.S. SCHOOL SHOOTING

Motive Probed In US School Attack

Pennsylvania police are investigating why a gunman killed girls at a rural primary school which serves the Amish, a pacifist Christian community. (ABC News)

ITALY

Italian Police Say Smash Algerian Terror Cell

Italian police said on Monday they had smashed an Algerian Islamic fundamentalist cell that gave logistical support to suspected militants in Algeria. (Reuters)

YEMEN

Yemen Kills 2 Fugitive Members of Al Qaeda

Security forces in Yemen on Sunday killed two fugitive members of Al Qaeda who had escaped from a high security prison six months before, the Yemen official news agency, Saba, reported. (NY Times)

U.S.

Rice Disputes Report She Brushed Off CIA Chief

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday disputed a report that she brushed off the head of the CIA when he warned of a possible attack on the United States before September 11, 2001. (Reuters)

SUDAN

U.N. Experts Seek Sanctions Against Top Sudanese Officials

A team of experts has recommended that the U.N. Security Council impose sanctions on top Sudanese government officials for violations of peace efforts in the war-ravaged Darfur region, diplomats said Friday. (Sudan Tribune)

Rebel Groups Kill 40 in Darfur
Fierce clashes between rival African groups in south Darfur have left up to 40 people dead and prompted most foreign aid workers to abandon Greida, one of the world's largest camps for displaced people. (The Guardian)

CANADA

Tortured Canadian Wins Battle for Truth

Four years ago, Canadian Maher Arar was detained on a routine airport stopover in the United States. He ended up Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured for 10 months. (The Guardian)

HUNGARY

Hungarian Is Faced With Evidence of Role in '42 Atrocity

The past caught up with Sandor Kepiro, 92, on Thursday, when the Simon Wiesenthal Center identified him as a junior police officer who was twice found guilty of participating in one of the worst atrocities committed by Hungarian forces during World War II. (NY Times)

AIRLINE DATA TALKS

EU-US Airline Data Talks Collapse

Talks between the United States and the European Union on sharing confidential airline passenger information have broken down, according to the EU. (BBC News)

INTERVIEW

Interview with Leader of the Islamic Courts in Somalia Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys
(Asharq al Awsat)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

The Foley Matter

History suggests that once a political party achieves sweeping power, it will only be a matter of time before the power becomes the entire point. Policy, ideology, ethics all gradually fall away, replaced by a political machine that exists to win elections and dispense the goodies that come as a result. The only surprise in Washington now is that the congressional Republicans managed to reach that point so thoroughly, so fast. (The NY Times)

Who is Hunting for Fugitive Kabuga?

By Ambrose Murunga

The United States of America is willing to pay five million dollars for the head of one villain called Felicien Kabuga. (Daily Nation)

'State of Denial'-Excerpt: How Bush Deceived Public on Iraq

By Bob Woodward

A movie of the George W. Bush presidency might open in the Oval Office on January 26, 2001, when Donald H. Rumsfeld was sworn in as defense secretary. (Newsweek)

Scandal in Shanghai

A new political situation has been rapidly developing in China, where a number of regional officials have been arrested for corruption and the Communist Party leader in Shanghai has been fired. (Asahi Shimbun)

We Saved Europeans. Why Not Africans?

By Susan E. Rice, Anthony Lake and Donald M. Payne
With Darfur set to be hit by a second wave of genocide, world leaders are shifting into diplomatic high gear. The government of Sudan flatly rejects deployment of a 22,000-strong U.N. force, knowing it would be much more effective than the African Union's, even if augmented by additional personnel as is now planned. (Washington Post)

What Secret is This?

Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed

I can not understand all this secrecy over the recent Washington report which says the war on Iraq has increased terrorism. (Asharq al Awsat)

Why I'm Banned in the US

By Tariq Ramadan

For more than two years now, the U.S. government has barred me from entering the United States to pursue an academic career. (Washington Post)

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.