Insider 12/23/04: Married to Al Qaeda

Dec. 23 2004 , 2004 -- When she married Hisham Diab 13 years ago, Saraah Olson had no idea what she was getting into. In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Olson talks about how her former husband helped set up an al Qaeda sleeper cell in the U.S. "I married a terrorist," she says. Olson also remembers how together with his group, her husband transformed local teen Adam Gadahn into a fanatic. Gadahn, who is wanted by the FBI, is believed to be "Azzam the American" —the masked man who threatens the U.S. in a video released late October.

Watch Brian Ross' interview on "Primetime Live" tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

INVESTIGATIONS

ABCNEWS Exclusive

An American Married to Al Qaeda

Woman says her husband helped set up sleeper al Qaeda cell. (ABCNEWS)

Thailand

Terrorists are plotting attacks next year at tourist resorts across Thailand, according to documents found in the house of a fugitive leader of the country's Islamic insurgency, a senior security official said. (AP)

Pakistan

Pakistani authorities have rejected a surrender offer by a former Guantanamo detainee who is wanted for masterminding the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers in October, a top official said. (Aljazeera.com)

Philippines

The corpse that was buried on the evening of Nov. 19 at a village in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao was not of Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani but of a local resident. (Arab News)

Iran

Iran has arrested 10 people on charges of revealing its nuclear secrets to Israeli and US intelligence agencies, Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi said. (AP)

Ukraine

Ukraine's security service (SBU) has insisted it had nothing to do with the poisoning of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko. (BBC)

Libya

Libya has indignantly denied it backed a plot to kill Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, after Saudi Arabia said it was recalling its envoy to Libya. (BBC)

Haiti

Reed Lindsay is the only journalist to get into the Port-au-Prince prison since a riot three weeks ago when, it is said, guards executed inmates. (The Observer)

Saudi Arabia

As part of a new security plan to counter terrorism, the Riyadh police force installed cameras on the capital's main streets. The 89 cameras use the latest technology and are connected to a main control room. (Al Hayat)

LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS

U.S.

A federal appeals court reversed course Tuesday and allowed the Bush administration to enforce a law that makes it a crime to provide personnel or training to organizations that the United States classifies as terrorist. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Spain

A Spanish judge charged a Moroccan suspect with terrorism and mass killings for allegedly helping plan the March 11 Madrid train bombings, court officials said. (AP)

IRAQ NEWS

Iraq Bombing Represents Security Breach

The suspected suicide attack inside an Army mess hall in Iraq represents a breach of the most basic principles of military security and points to significant weaknesses in the screening of Iraqis who are allowed onto the base, experts say. (AP)

Suicide Bombing Is Now Suspected in Mosul Attack

"At this point it looks like it was an improvised explosive device worn by an attacker," Gen. Richard B. Myers said. (NY Times)

Clashes Disrupt Return To Falluja

Clashes erupt in the Iraqi city of Falluja as residents begin returning for the first time since the US offensive there. (BBC)

Web: Zarqawi's Group Says Not Behind Shi'ite Attacks

A group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said it did not carry out twin suicide car bombings in Iraq's main Shi'ite holy cities on Sunday, according to an Internet statement dated Thursday. (Reuters)

Iraqi Police Arrest Al Qaeda-Linked Suspects Over Karbala Bombing

Karbala police said Thursday they have arrested five Iraqis and one foreigner linked to the al Qaeda network who confessed their involvement in Sunday's deadly bombing in the Iraqi Shiite shrine city. (AFP)

Foreign Team Will Watch Vote in Iraq From Jordan

Representatives of seven nations agreed to watch the Iraqi elections, but from the safety of Amman, Jordan. (NY Times)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Tightest Security Has Holes

After the attack on a mess tent near Mosul, the military looks at its protective measures. Iraqis working at bases come under scrutiny. (LA Times)

U.S. Search for a Route Out of the Iraqi Quagmire

The bloodbath in the U.S. Army base near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Tuesday has again shown drastically that the end of the Iraqi nightmare is nowhere near in sight. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur)

Basic Services Vs. Foreign Wars

After last weekend's spate of devastating attacks on key Iraqi election officials and the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, which killed 69 Iraqis, US President George W. Bush finally admitted that things were not going well in Iraq. (Jordan Times)

Falluja: City With History Of Rebellion

Falluja - a predominantly Sunni Muslim city 50km (30 miles) west of Baghdad - has had a long history as a rebellious city. (BBC)

Worth a Thousand Words

Iraq is a war between people who are trying to organize an election and the virulent nihilistic minority that wants to prevent it. (NY Times)

2004: Killing, Kidnapping And Corruption

No sign of an end to Iraq's troubles, and a series of strange elections. (The Guardian)

War Crimes

Thanks to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups, thousands of pages of government documents released this month have confirmed some of the painful truths about the abuse of foreign detainees by the U.S. military and the CIA -- truths the Bush administration implacably has refused to acknowledge. (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 Brinda Adhikari of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.