U.S. Investigating Koran Desecration Allegations

INVESTIGATIONS

Angry protests raged across the Muslim world from Gaza to Indonesia on Friday over a report U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran, with calls for retaliation and a rising death toll. (Reuters)

Desecration Charge To Be Investigated

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has told Aljazeera that a military inquiry will investigate allegations that the Quran was desecrated by US soldiers at Guantanamo Bay. (Al Jazeera)

Uzbekistan Unrest

Troops surround 2,000 protesters in the Uzbek city of Andijan, after a mass breakout from its jail. (BBC)

Uzbek Media Clampdown Stifles Unrest News

State TV and radio issued official statements saying the situation in eastern Uzbekistan was under control, as the government blocked foreign news broadcasts in the country. (BBC)

U.S.

In a bid to court Muslim voters, top White House and political figures once met regularly with a Florida professor now accused of leading a terror group. (Newsweek)

Air France Flight

U.S. authorities have released a passenger and his family detained after their transatlantic Air France flight was diverted to Maine Thursday afternoon when the man's name matched one on the U.S. "no-fly" list, federal officials said. (CNN)

Saudi Arabia

Security forces arrested a suspected militant following a siege in Buraidah in the Qasim area yesterday. (Arab News)

Somalia

Ethiopian Prime Minister Warns of 'Very Active' al-Qaida Terror Cell in Somalia. (AP)

Iran

Confronted with significant international pressure, Iran signals it is prepared to give negotiations a try before making a final decision about resuming its nuclear program. (Washington Post)

Cuba

White House appears unsure of how to deal with man accused of masterminding Cuba's '9/11'. (CS Monitor)

Oil-for-Food Investigation

Annan is fighting for job in the face of an increasing campaign of investigations into Iraqi oil-for-food scandal. (The Guardian)

Norway

Mullah Krekar To Be Expelled

Controversial mullah Krekar, former leader of Ansar al-Islam, will be expelled from Norway, on the instructions of Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Erna Solberg. (Aftenposten)

LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS

Pakistan

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri says a top al-Qaida leader captured last week will face trial in Pakistan first before Islamabad considers handing him over to the United States. (VOA)

Germany

German prosecutors on Thursday demanded a new trial for a Moroccan man acquitted last year of complicity in the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, arguing the verdict was flawed. (Reuters)

Netherlands

U.S.

Specialist Sabrina Harman is the second soldier to go on trial on charges of taking part in mistreating detainees. (NY Times)

E-Mails Show Detroit Terror Case Was Weak

The Justice Department originally concluded that prosecuting a separate fraud case against a group of Detroit terrorism defendants would be weak and appear ``vindictive,'' but filed the charges anyway after its terrorism case unraveled, agency e-mails show. (AP)

Kuwait

Kuwait's public prosecution has demanded the death penalty for 20 militants, allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda, who clashed with police in January, a newspaper reported yesterday. (Arab News)

IRAQ NEWS

Lawyer: Former Iraqi Officials To Be Released Soon

The U.S. intends to release 18 Iraqi prisoners, including some of the officials who were on the list of 55 most wanted after the fall of Saddam's regime, Badie Aref Ezzat, the lawyer defending former deputy PM Tarek Aziz said. The former oil minister Amer Mohammed Rashid and his wife scientist Reham Taha who is known as "Dr Germ" will be amongst those released. (Asharq al Awsat)

Allawi's Ministers Accused Of Corruption

At least two former ministers in former Iraqi PM's government face arrest on charges of corruption. (Middle East Online)

Body Counts

The Pentagon secretly keeps track of many grim statistics in Iraq. The numbers are not encouraging. (Newsweek)

Chalabi May Be Pardoned by Jordan

Jordan is considering a request by Iraq to pardon Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi but would insist on the return of millions of dollars he was convicted of embezzling in a bank scandal, officials said yesterday. (Reuters)

U.S. Presses Iraqi Government to Broaden the Role of Sunnis

The Bush administration is stepping up its appeals to broaden their role in the government or risk driving moderate Sunnis into the arms of insurgents. (NY Times)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

A Bigger Threat Than The Bomb

The world can live with Iranian nuclear weapons. But can the US? (The Guardian)

The Toll of a Terrorist

It's been more than a month since a man portrayed in FBI files as a veteran terrorist entered the United States illegally, according to his lawyer. Yet the Bush administration -- which took about two nanoseconds to scramble fighter jets and evacuate half of official Washington the other day over a wayward Cessna -- still hasn't summoned the curiosity to even look for the guy. (The Washington Post)

US and Arabs: Winning Hearts or Psychological Warfare?

The Bush administration's interest, some would say obsession, with the Mideast and the Gulf goes way beyond its stated objectives of ridding the region of regimes antipathetic to the US. According to a four-month investigation, written up by David Kaplan in US News, "Washington is plowing tens of millions of dollars into a campaign to influence" Muslim societies. (Arab News)

Pakistan's Chips in a Shady Game

Let's recap: The Pakistani special forces squad arrested Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Al Qaeda's third in command, on March 1, 2003, a few hours before informing the Americans that Pakistan would not back a resolution in favor of the war in Iraq. (LA Times)

Lessons in Humility

Iraq may be dominating the news, but there is still much to be learned from Afghanistan. (Newsweek)

Iraqi Shiite Religiosity Must Prevail Over Ignorant Fanaticism

Since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, the Shiites of Iraq have come to the forefront of debate among Western and Arab intellectuals and politicians. (The Daily Star)

The Good News You Missed

The press has been so focused on the setbacks in Iraq that few readers are likely to know about the daily parade of small triumphs. (NY Times)

Can the United States Win In Iraq

The U.S. armed intervention has sharpened sectarian antagonisms in Iraq, preparing the way for civil war - some would say it was already raging -- or for a de facto dismemberment of the country. (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.