Bin Laden ‘to issue 9/11 video’
Osama Bin Laden is said to be preparing to release a video message to the American people to coincide with the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The announcement was made on an Islamist website, where al-Qaeda’s media arm frequently posts messages.
US homeland security officials could not confirm the existence of a tape, and said there was “no credible information of an imminent threat”.
New tape coming tonight, says Fox News
Quite a scoop for SITE. Even Laura Mansfield doesn’t have this yet. Looks like that Taliban filthbag was right, as was Newsweek, whose jihadi sources told them last month that Osama was alive, kicking, and staying above the fray of the alleged Zawahiri/al-Libi lovers’ quarrel.
Update: Correction — the video’s expected in the next 72 hours, not on 9/11.
Update: Hard to tell from only one frame, obviously, but it’s odd that the backdrop and Bin Laden’s clothing appear identical in both images above. Maybe it means nothing, maybe it means that the videos were in fact shot roughly contemporaneously, or maybe it means he’s so isolated (or ill?) that not only isn’t he moving around but that even new clothing, if not hair dye, is scarce.
How US foiled a 9/11 repeat
It is a 9/11 anniversary ritual. With the date approaching, Bush administration officials are everywhere pointing out it’s now been six years and the US has yet to experience a sequel to Al Qaeda’s first spectacular terrorist attack.
Vice-President Dick Cheney attributes it to administration policy: “There has not been another attack on the US. And that is not an accident.” But experts say the source of US immunity is more complex.
What is termed “Al Qaeda” has two distinct overseas elements. One is a core group centred around Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri. The other is Al Qaeda affiliates operating in regions like Iraq and North Africa.
US transfers 16 Saudi detainees from Guantanamo Bay
The US Department of Defense [official website] said Thursday that 16 Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees have been transferred to their home country [press release] of Saudi Arabia [JURIST news archive]. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz [official website] welcomed the release of detainees, and said he was hopeful that all Saudi detainees currently in custody at Guantanamo Bay would be returned to the country. The Defense Department has indicated that approximately 80 detainees at Guantanamo are currently eligible to be transferred off the base, and the terms of their departure are the focus of ongoing discussions between the US and the detainees’ home nations.
Release of 240 soldiers being held in South Waziristan: Govt to give talks a chance, but has other options too
ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to give negotiations a chance to secure the release of 240 soldiers including seven officers from the custody of the Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan, a senior government official told a select group of journalists on Thursday.
“It is a difficult situation and a different environment. We do not want to inflame the whole area … negotiations are continuing … we need to give some time to political talks,” the official said, adding that it had been decided at the highest level that the situation should not be allowed to aggravate. “But we have all options to get the army men released … the situation cannot be allowed to linger on.” He said the troops were captured because they “exercised restraint and complacency together”.
Over 60 Taliban said killed
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces killed more than 60 Taliban in battles in restive southern Afghanistan, taking the guerrilla death toll to more than 200 in a fortnight, the U.S. military said on Thursday.
Britain ‘backed US decision to disband Saddam’s army’
The British Government and military high command fully supported the controversial US policy of disbanding Saddam Hussein’s armed forces after the 2003 invasion, according to Washington’s former proconsul in Baghdad, Paul Bremer.
Stung by remarks from President George Bush that he alone had been responsible for one of the most disastrous mistakes of the war while running the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), Mr Bremer went to some lengths to set the record straight yesterday and provided previously unknown details of British support for the US policy.
Germany building case in foiled terrorist plot
BERLIN: German investigators were trying to build a case Thursday against a handful of suspects in connection with a foiled terrorist attack on American and German targets by Islamic militants, as regional interior ministers prepared to debate whether security services should be given wider surveillance powers.
According to the federal prosecutor’s office, German security services knew the identities and whereabouts of several of seven suspects named in the investigation in addition to three main suspects who were arrested Tuesday. Some of the seven are still in Germany. Their homes were among about 30 properties raided Tuesday, said Andreas Christeleit, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe.
Monks release Burmese officials
Twenty Burmese security officials who were taken captive for several hours by Buddhist monks have been released.
The officials arrived at the monastery in the town of Pakokku to apologise for injuries caused during a protest on Wednesday about fuel price rises.
But angry monks set fire to their vehicles and refused to let them leave in one of the most heated of a series of protests over the price increases.
