Eight Tested for Poison that Killed Russian Ex-Spy

November 28, 2006 -- RUSSIAN EX-SPY MURDER INVESTIGATION

Italian Who Met With Ex-KGB Agent Tested

An Italian security expert who met with a former KGB agent the day he fell ill with radiation poisoning was under British protection and being tested for contamination Tuesday, and officials sent eight people who exhibited possible symptoms to a special clinic for tests. (AP)

Exiled Russian Oligarch and Friend of Poisoned Spy Fears for His Life

The exiled Russian oligarch, who has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind the murder of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, told ABC News recently that he fears for his life. (ABC News)

IRAQ NEWS

Body of U.S. Warplane Pilot Missing in Iraq

U.S. forces hunted for the body of an F-16 pilot who was killed on Monday when his warplane came down in a Sunni insurgent stronghold northwest of Baghdad. (Reuters)

Baghdad Hospital Blasts Kill Four

Two car bombs outside one of Baghdad's main hospitals have killed four people and injured at least seven others, Iraqi security officials say. (BBC)

Hezbollah Said to Help Shiite Army in Iraq

A senior American intelligence official said Monday that the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah had been training members of the Mahdi Army, the Iraqi Shiite militia led by Moktada al-Sadr. (NY Times)

Bush: Iraq Violence is al-Qaida Plot

President Bush said Tuesday that an al-Qaida plot to stoke cycles of sectarian revenge in Iraq is to blame for escalating bloodshed, refusing to debate whether the country has fallen into civil war. (AP)

Analysis Report: Iraqi Force Development and the Challenge of Civil War

Iraq is already in a state of at least limited civil war, and may well be escalating to the level of a major civil conflict. What began as a small resistance movement centered on loyalists to the Ba'ath and Saddam Hussein has expanded to include neo-Salafi Sunni terrorism, become a broadly based Sunni insurgency, and now a broader sectarian and ethnic conflict. (Center for Strategic and International Studies)

CIA SECRET PRISONS

Europeans Accused of Obstructing CIA Prison Probe

European countries knew about U.S. secret jails for terrorism suspects and have obstructed an investigation into the transport and illegal detention of prisoners, a draft European Parliament report said on Tuesday. (Reuters)

AFGHANISTAN

Suicide Bomb Kills 2 Canadian Troops in Afghanistan; Report Paints Bleak Education Outlook

A suicide car bomber attacked a Canadian armored vehicle Monday, killing two soldiers a day before NATO leaders gather in Europe for a summit that will focus on the strengthening Taliban insurgency here. (AP)

Anbar Picture Grows Clearer, and Bleaker

The U.S. military is no longer able to defeat a bloody insurgency in western Iraq or counter al-Qaeda's rising popularity there, according to newly disclosed details from a classified Marine Corps intelligence report that set off debate in recent months about the military's mission in Anbar province. (Washington Post)

SYRIA/LEBANON

Explosion on the Lebanese-Syrian Borders

An explosion occurred Tuesday at the Jadaydet Yabus passageway in southwest Syria on the main border road leading into Lebanon. (Daily Star)

BIRD FLU

Avian Flu Still A Risk; New More Dire Predictions

The possibility of an avian flu pandemic has not diminished, and there is a new and dire prediction about what the death toll could be. Meanwhile, public health experts fear that public and the media have let their guard down because there has not been an outbreak yet. (ABC News)

TRIALS OF SADDAM HUSSEIN

Iraq Should Not Carry Death Penalty Against Saddam-UN

U.N. human rights experts called on Iraq's government on Tuesday not to carry out the death sentence passed on former leader Saddam Hussein, saying his trial had been seriously flawed. (Reuters)

1993 MUMBAI BOMBING

Star Guilty in Mumbai Bomb Trial

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt has been found guilty in connection with India's deadliest series of bomb attacks. (BBC)

U.S.

Boot Camp Guards, Nurse Charged in Boy's Death

Seven former juvenile boot camp guards and a nurse have been charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of a boy whose rough handling by the guards was videotaped, a special prosecutor said Tuesday. (Time Magazine)

RWANDA

Rwandans Unite in Anger at France

Protesting at what they insist is France's role in their nation's genocide, Rwandans from all walks of life have united in fury at calls last week by a French judge for their President Paul Kagame to be arrested. (The Mail and Guardian)

ON THE WEB

ABC News Extremist Website Monitoring

This is a daily update of some of what can be found on militant Islamist websites that are often used by al Qaeda and its sympathizers, insurgent groups in Iraq and other groups for propaganda, recruiting and communication purposes. (ABC News)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

A Senate Mystery Keeps Torture Alive and Its Practitioners Free

By Jeff Stein

With all the lawsuits over kidnapping and torture marching toward the Bush administration, you might think the top officials running the global war on terror would be worried just a little about the prospect that some day they might end up in court — if not having nightmares about getting measured for orange jumpsuits at Danbury Federal Prison. (Congressional Quarterly)

Slouching Toward Riga

When NATO leaders gather in Latvia this week, there will undoubtedly be a lot of grand talk about how the Cold War alliance has managed to elude irrelevance, bringing in new members, dispatching humanitarian aid, and deploying peacekeepers beyond Europe's borders. (International Herald Tribune)

A Lebanese Civil War? Not Just Yet

By Nada Doumit

Lebanon's political leaders are today confronted with two simple choices: to talk now in order to avoid a civil war or to talk later after waging one. The leaders have already held two series of national dialogue roundtables, with 14 leaders representing all major political and religious currents, debating vital national issues. They failed to reach a consensus on where Lebanon is heading, polarizing an already tense political situation. These consecutive failures could prove costly as many believe that the ingredients of a civil war are coming together in the country. (Daily Star)

The Case of the Poisoned Spy

By Eugene Robinson

Every once in a while, an episode such as the death of Alexander Litvinenko comes along to boost the morale of conspiracy theorists. (Washington Post)

Radical US Approach for Radical Leaders

By Ehsan Ahrari

As much as the Bush administration is trying to find an "honorable" way out of Iraq, there does not seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, every week the tunnel of the Middle East gets darker for the United States. (Asia 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.