Virginia Plot

INVESTIGATIONS

U.S.

Virginia Man Charged In Alleged Plot To Assassinate Bush

A former Virginia high school valedictorian who had been detained in Saudi Arabia as a suspected terrorist was charged Tuesday with conspiring to assassinate President Bush and with supporting the al Qaeda terrorist network. (AP)

Aboard Air CIA

The agency ran a secret charter service, shuttling detainees to interrogation facilities worldwide. Was it legal? What's next? (Newsweek)

U.S. Group Accuses Egypt of Torture

A U.S. human rights group on Tuesday criticized the continuing detention of up to 2,400 people arrested by Egyptian security police following bombings that devastated the Taba Hilton hotel in October. (AP)

Al Hariri Assassination

Forensic Tests Clear Australians

Forensic tests have cleared 10 Australian men of any involvement in the Beirut bomb that killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, Australian Federal Police (AFP) said today. (News.com)

Asharq Al Awsat: Interview with Australian Suspect

One of six Australians who were suspected of being involved in the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Al Hariri denied in an interview with Asharq Al Awsat all accusations. He said the group was in Lebanon, after performing the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, to visit family and religious sites. (Asharq Al Awsat)

U.N. to Investigate Hariri Killing

The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, is sending a team of experts to Lebanon to investigate the killing of the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri. (BBC)

Anti-Syria Protesters Fill Streets of Beirut

Tens of thousands of Lebanese marched Monday in a large anti-Syrian protest amid signals that Damascus might soon withdraw some troops from the country. (News wires)

Kenya

Terror Suspects Held In Kenya

Kenyan authorities have arrested three men with alleged links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks in the east African nation, a senior police official said on Monday. (News24)

Afghanistan

U.N.: Afghanistan Could Become Terror Haven

Afghanistan's slow development could result in its becoming haven for terrorists, U.N. warns. (AP)

New Al Qaeda Video

Qaeda's Zawahri Says West Must End Attacks on Islam

Al Qaeda's deputy leader said in a videotape broadcast on Sunday that governments could not stop al Qaeda attacks and that the security of the West depended on respect for Islam and an end to aggression against Muslims. (Reuters)

Pakistan

Radio Ads Against Al Qaeda A Success: U.S.

U.S. officials have said that the radio advertisements against Al Qaeda terrorists and remnants of the Taliban militia, are giving good results. (NetIndia123)

Iran

Iran Denies Reports of Laden Arrest

Iran denied on Monday suggestions on some local Internet sites that it arrested al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, the Western world's most wanted man, on the border with Pakistan. (AFP)

Business As Usual?

Halliburton's CEO says his company is pulling out of Iran. But a corporate subsidiary is still going ahead with a deal to develop Tehran's natural gas fields. (Newsweek)

LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS

Yemen

Yemen To Try Second Group of Al Qaeda Suspects

A new group of 13 al Qaeda members will go on trial next week for planning attacks, being linked to immoral activities. (Middle East Online)

U.K.

Judicial Review for Terror Suspects

Charles Clarke, the home secretary, will make limited concessions today on his plans for the detention and restrictions, of terrorist suspects by announcing that the orders will be subject to judicial review. (The Guardian)

IRAQ NEWS

Top Al Qaeda Man Killed

Iraqi security forces have killed a propaganda chief of al Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the government said on Sunday. (News24)

Shiites Name Jafari as PM Candidate

Iraq's majority Shiite coalition has chosen Ibrahim Jafari, Iraq's interim vice president, to be its candidate for the powerful post of prime minister of Iraq. (Washington Post)

Marines, Iraqis Launch Offensive In Violence-Prone Cities

After two days of suicide bombings nationwide that killed nearly 100 people, U.S. Marines and Iraqi security forces launched a joint operation Sunday to crack down on insurgents in troubled cities west of Baghdad, as the military announced the death of another soldier. (AP)

23 Dead, 90 Wounded in Series of Suicide Attacks in Baghdad

Insurgents killed at least 23 people and wounded around 90 in a series of suicide attacks and bombings in Shiite Muslim districts of Baghdad on Saturday, the holiest day of the Shiite religious calendar. (Reuters)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Chasing Bin Laden With TV Ads In Pakistan Offering Cash

This week, for the first time, Pakistan is allowing ads to air that offer rewards for helping find Al Qaeda leaders. (CS Monitor)

The Next 9/11 Could Happen at Sea

An unsuspected bit of good news related to the Indian Ocean tsunami was revealed this month when the International Maritime Bureau released its annual report on pirate attacks against international shipping. The new figures showed a 27 percent decline in 2004, to 325 incidents from 445 in 2003, and noted that there had not been single attack in the pirate-infested waters off Sumatra since the earthquake. (NY Times)

Nuclear Reality: America Loses Bite

Not so long ago, the terrifying rules of nuclear chicken were clear. When only superpowers and their allies held nuclear arsenals, deterrence worked, because all sides understood the horrific consequences of a misstep. (NY Times)

In Iraq, to Be a Hairstylist Is to Risk Death

A bomb rips through a women's hair salon, shattering wall-length mirrors and shredding posters of coiffures. (LA Times)

Letters from Basra: Testing Ground

In the Shiite south, Islamists and secularists struggle over Iraq's future. (New Yorker)

Lebanon, Syria and U.S.

Palestine is occupied. Iraq is occupied. Afghanistan, the Middle East, Gulf and the Caspian are seething with US military personnel, pilots, submarines, Apache gun-ships, fighter jets and spy drones. Iran and Syria are being threatened. And yet, it is absolutely imperative that Syria quits Lebanon tout suite, or so goes the White House line. (Arab News)

After Assassinating Hariri

More treacherous than the argument around who is responsible for the assassination of Rafiq Al Hariri is to link Lebanon to terrorism. (Dar al Hayat)

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.