Spy's Contact Tests Positive for Radiation Poisoning

December 1, 2006 -- RUSSIAN EX-SPY MURDER INVESTIGATION

Litvinenko Contact Tests Positive for Radiation

An Italian terrorism expert who met the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko on the day he was allegedly poisoned has also tested positive for the radioactive isotope polonium 210, it emerged today. (The Guardian)

Letters 'Revealed Secret Hit Squad'

Detectives are investigating letters smuggled out of Russia purporting to show the existence of a secret squad set up to target poisoned spy Alexander Litvinenko and others. (Press Association)

Analysis: Polonium 210

By Peter D. Zimmerman

The first known radiological assassination. [By Subscritpion](Wallstreet Journal)

IRAQ NEWS

U.S. Considers Ending Outreach to Insurgents

The Bush administration is deliberating whether to abandon U.S. reconciliation efforts with Sunni insurgents and instead give priority to Shiites and Kurds, who won elections and now dominate the government, according to U.S. officials. (Washington Post)

Five Iraqis Killed, 14 Bodies Found as Parliament Meets

A suicide bomber attacked a police recruiting station on Wednesday in Fallujah, killing five people in an attack apparently aimed at discouraging Sunni Arabs from joining the force, police said. (The Mail and Guardian)

Commission to Recommend Troop Withdrawal in 2008

Sources familiar with the eagerly awaited report by the Iraq Study Group say it will call for gradually removing U.S. combat forces out of Iraq. Although the report does not set any firm timetables or deadlines, ABC News has learned it sets a goal of withdrawing those combat troops by the first quarter of 2008. (ABC News)

AFGHANISTAN

Troop Increase for Afghanistan: Taliban Tell NATO to 'Bring It On'

A Taliban commander on Thursday welcomed NATO's plans to send more soldiers to Afghanistan, saying it would provide the insurgents with more targets. (Daily Times)

1993 MUMBAI BLASTS

Pakistani Named as Main Accused in Mumbai Blasts

Indian police Thursday named a Pakistani man as the main conspirator behind deadly train bombings in Mumbai in July as they framed formal charges against 30 people in connection with the attack. (Daily Times)

LEBANON

Huge Hezbollah Rally Calls for Lebanon Gov't to Quit

Hundreds of thousands protesters from Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies descended on downtown Beirut on Friday in a peaceful but noisy protest to force the resignation of U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, who was holed up in his office ringed by hundreds of police and combat troops. (Ha'aretz)

U.S.

U.S. Rates Travelers for Terror Risk

Without their knowledge, millions of Americans and foreigners crossing U.S. borders in the past four years have been assigned scores generated by U.S. government computers rating the risk that the travelers are terrorists or criminals. (AP)

U.S. Warns Of Al Qaeda Cyber Threat

The US government has warned of an al-Qaeda call to attack US online stock market and banking services. (BBC)

SOMALIA

Car Bomb Blast Rocks Somali Town

A car bomb has exploded in Baidoa, where Somalia's fragile interim government is based, leaving at least six people dead. (BBC)

NETHERLANDS

Dutch Court Convicts Islamists

A Dutch court has sentenced four militant Islamists to prison for planning terror attacks on politicians and the Dutch intelligence service. (BBC)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Why We're Losing the War

By David E. Kaplan

Michael Vlahos makes my head hurt. Provocative thinkers should do that, especially when their ideas challenge your worldview. But it's still painful stuff. Let me explain (U.S. News)

Arabs May One Day Miss George W. Bush

By Michael Rubin

The Middle East cheered the Republican defeat in the recent American congressional elections. The official Syrian daily Al-Baath labeled the elections a "painful blow," while the Saudi daily Al-Watan called for a "wise" policy from Washington "to bridge the gulf in confidence between the United States and the regional peoples and governments." The Iranian press gloated, while the Turkish Islamist daily Yeni Aafak argued that the election rebuke was "punishment for Bush's neocon policies." Such reactions do not surprise. President George W. Bush's policies have not been easy for many in the Middle East to digest. (The Daily Star)

After War, Lebanon Turns to Art, Asking: Who Are We?

By Michael Slackman

The searing events of war, of spilled blood and shattered innocence, can provoke introspection and, when the guns have been laid down and the bodies buried, it can inspire art, too. (NY Times)

Lebanon Waits

By Lucy Fielder

It was a week of rumour and counter-rumour. Last Tuesday's assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel propelled the post-war struggle for political ascendancy to a new level, intensifying the polarisation between the so-called 14 March anti-Syrian bloc, vocally backed by the US, and the 8 March opposition of Iranian and Syrian-backed Hizbullah and allied Christian leader Michel Aoun. Each group is named after respective anti- and pro-Syrian demonstrations last year. (Al-Ahram)http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/822/re101.htm

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.