CIA points to continuing Iran tie to al Qaeda

A senior CIA official has revealed that al Qaeda operatives in Iran probably had advance knowledge of recent terrorist attacks, a sign that the cooperation between Tehran and al Qaeda is continuing since September 11.
"There have been al Qaeda people who have stayed for some time in Iran ... and because they have been in touch with colleagues outside of Iran at times when operations have occurred, it's hard to imagine that they were unwitting of those operations," the senior official said.

"And it's not hard to make the leap that they may have had at least some operational knowledge. It's harder to make the leap that they were directing operations like that."
The senior official spoke to reporters on the findings of the September 11 commission. The commission's report provides new details of Iranian government support for al Qaeda, including travel assistance to several of the hijackers involved in the 2001 airline attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
U.S. intelligence officials have said that a senior al Qaeda operations official, Sayf al-Adl, has been in Iran since 2002. He has been linked to the terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia in May, and to the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa.

posted by Frodgie at 7:13 AM

 

Powell condemns Philippine pullout

The United States summoned its ambassador in Manila to Washington for "consultations" yesterday as Secretary of State Colin L. Powell issued the Bush administration's strongest condemnation of the Philippines' decision to withdraw its troops from Iraq as ransom for a kidnapped truck driver.
Mr. Powell said the United States was "seriously disappointed" by the decision of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to bargain with terrorists.

"When you negotiate in this manner, all you do is encourage" more terrorism, Mr. Powell said.
Insurgents in Iraq yesterday vowed to begin executing seven new foreign hostages from Kenya, India and Egypt seized Wednesday if their home governments did not agree to pull their nationals out of the country and stop contributing to the postwar reconstruction of Iraq.
A Kenyan government spokesman yesterday urged all Kenyans in Iraq to leave at once. The three countries have no troops in the U.S.-led security mission, but many of their nationals are employed in critical tasks supporting the force and Iraq's economic recovery.
"We assure [the kidnappers] that Kenya has no intention of interfering with the lives of the Iraqi people and that we are discouraging our citizens from participating in work that takes them to Iraq," said Kenyan official spokesman Alfred Mutua.

posted by Frodgie at 7:11 AM

 

U.S. Launches Strike in Fallujah

BAGHDAD, Iraq — American forces launched a "precision strike" Friday on insurgents tied to Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (search) in the turbulent western city of Fallujah (search), the U.S. military said.

The military reported no casualties, but Dr. Kamal Al-Ani said from a Fallujah hospital that five civilians, including three children, were wounded Friday morning after an American warplane fired a missile that landed in the garden of a house in the Jubail neighborhood, south of Fallujah. It appeared to be the same strike.

The military said in a statement sent to The Associated Press that the attack was conducted in coordination with the Iraqi government.

"Based on multiple sources of intelligence, the attack targeted 10-12 terrorists with known ties to the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi network of foreign terrorists," the statement said. "The anti-Iraqi forces were struck while in the courtyard of a house; the house was left intact," the statement added.


posted by Frodgie at 7:04 AM

 

9/11 panel report: 'We must act'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The chairman of the panel investigating the attacks of September 11, 2001, said his commission found that the "United States government was simply not active enough in combating the terrorist threat before 9/11."

Thomas Kean and his fellow panelists cited a "failure of imagination" that they said kept U.S. officials from understanding the al Qaeda threat before the attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000.

The independent National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States released its findings on Thursday in a 570-page report.

Congress established the bipartisan panel to investigate events before, during and immediately after the attacks.

"Every expert with whom we spoke told us an attack of even greater magnitude is now possible and even probable. We do not have the luxury of time," said Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey.

"We must prepare and we must act. The al Qaeda network and its affiliates are sophisticated, patient, disciplined and lethal."

Commission member James Thompson said the proposed reforms were urgent and said Congress and the president have a duty to act quickly.


posted by Frodgie at 7:01 AM

 

Flight 93 hijacker: 'Shall we finish it off?'

(CNN) -- Who actually put United Flight 93 into a death dive, causing it to slam into the Pennsylvania countryside on September 11, 2001, is revealed in the 9/11 commission report released Thursday.

The passenger revolt began at 9:57 a.m., nearly 30 minutes after the four terrorists aboard launched their takeover of the Boeing 757 loaded with more than 11,000 gallons of jet fuel.

As passengers charged the cockpit door, terrorist hijacker Ziad Jarrah began rolling the plane to the left and right, "attempting to knock the passengers off balance," the 9/11 commission report said. Jarrah told another hijacker in the cockpit to block the door.

By 9:59 a.m., Jarrah changed tactics and "pitched the nose of the airplane up and down to disrupt the assault."

"The [flight] recorder captured the sounds of loud thumps, crashes, shouts and breaking glass and plates. At 10:00:03 a.m., Jarrah stabilized the airplane," the report says.

"Five seconds later, Jarrah asked, 'Is that it? Shall we finish it off?' A hijacker responded, 'No. Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off.' "

Jarrah resumed pitching the plane up and down.


posted by Frodgie at 6:59 AM

 

9/11 report: "Terrorism" catchall too vague an enemy

WASHINGTON — The Sept. 11 commission report offers a broad critique of a central tenet of the Bush administration's foreign policy — that the attacks have required a "war on terrorism."

The report argues that the notion of fighting an enemy called "terrorism" is too diffuse and vague to be effective. Strikingly, the report also makes no reference to the invasion of Iraq as being part of the war on terrorism, a frequent assertion of President Bush and his top aides.

"The first phase of our post-9-11 efforts rightly included military action to topple the Taliban and pursue al-Qaida. This work continues," the report said. "But long-term success demands the use of all elements of national power: diplomacy, intelligence, covert action, law enforcement, economic policy, foreign aid, public diplomacy and homeland defense. If we favor one tool while neglecting others, we leave ourselves vulnerable and weaken our national effort."

In addition to making anticipated findings on the Sept. 11 plot and recommendations for homeland security, the commission offered a series of foreign-policy prescriptions to correct what it suggests is an unbalanced global strategy. The effort is to shift the government away from focusing on what the report calls a "generic evil," and toward a more precise definition of the threat.

The report argues that the nation's enemy consists of two parts: al-Qaida, a stateless network of terrorists that is "weakened but continues to pose a grave threat"; and a radical ideological movement in the Islamic world that "is gathering and will menace Americans and American interests long after" Osama bin Laden is gone.

Thus, the report said, U.S. strategy must focus on dismantling al-Qaida and prevailing over the ideology that fosters Islamist terrorism.

Saddam Hussein's Iraq was a largely secular state. The report notes that a failed Iraq in the wake of the U.S. invasion could become "breeding grounds for attacks against Americans at home."


posted by Frodgie at 6:56 AM

 

Terror in the Skies -- Again? By Annie Jacobsen

On June 29, 2004, at 12:28 p.m., I flew on Northwest Airlines flight #327 from Detroit to Los Angeles with my husband and our young son. Also on our flight were 14 Middle Eastern men between the ages of approximately 20 and 50 years old. What I experienced during that flight has caused me to question whether the United States of America can realistically uphold the civil liberties of every individual, even non-citizens, and protect its citizens from terrorist threats.

On that Tuesday, our journey began uneventfully. Starting out that morning in Providence, Rhode Island, we went through security screening, flew to Detroit, and passed the time waiting for our connecting flight to Los Angeles by shopping at the airport stores and eating lunch at an airport diner. With no second security check required in Detroit we headed to our gate and waited for the pre-boarding announcement. Standing near us, also waiting to pre-board, was a group of six Middle Eastern men. They were carrying blue passports with Arabic writing. Two men wore tracksuits with Arabic writing across the back. Two carried musical instrument cases – thin, flat, 18" long. One wore a yellow T-shirt and held a McDonald's bag. And the sixth man had a bad leg -- he wore an orthopedic shoe and limped. When the pre-boarding announcement was made, we handed our tickets to the Northwest Airlines agent, and walked down the jetway with the group of men directly behind us.

My four-year-old son was determined to wheel his carry-on bag himself, so I turned to the men behind me and said, "You go ahead, this could be awhile." "No, you go ahead," one of the men replied. He smiled pleasantly and extended his arm for me to pass. He was young, maybe late 20's and had a goatee. I thanked him and we boarded the plan.

Once on the plane, we took our seats in coach (seats 17A, 17B and 17C). The man with the yellow shirt and the McDonald's bag sat across the aisle from us (in seat 17E). The pleasant man with the goatee sat a few rows back and across the aisle from us (in seat 21E). The rest of the men were seated throughout the plane, and several made their way to the back.

As we sat waiting for the plane to finish boarding, we noticed another large group of Middle Eastern men boarding. The first man wore a dark suit and sunglasses. He sat in first class in seat 1A, the seat second-closet to the cockpit door. The other seven men walked into the coach cabin. As "aware" Americans, my husband and I exchanged glances, and then continued to get comfortable. I noticed some of the other passengers paying attention to the situation as well. As boarding continued, we watched as, one by one, most of the Middle Eastern men made eye contact with each other. They continued to look at each other and nod, as if they were all in agreement about something. I could tell that my husband was beginning to feel "anxious."

The take-off was uneventful. But once we were in the air and the seatbelt sign was turned off, the unusual activity began. The man in the yellow T-shirt got out of his seat and went to the lavatory at the front of coach -- taking his full McDonald's bag with him. When he came out of the lavatory he still had the McDonald's bag, but it was now almost empty. He walked down the aisle to the back of the plane, still holding the bag. When he passed two of the men sitting mid-cabin, he gave a thumbs-up sign. When he returned to his seat, he no longer had the McDonald's bag.

Then another man from the group stood up and took something from his carry-on in the overhead bin. It was about a foot long and was rolled in cloth. He headed toward the back of the cabin with the object. Five minutes later, several more of the Middle Eastern men began using the forward lavatory consecutively. In the back, several of the men stood up and used the back lavatory consecutively as well.

For the next hour, the men congregated in groups of two and three at the back of the plane for varying periods of time. Meanwhile, in the first class cabin, just a foot or so from the cockpit door, the man with the dark suit – still wearing sunglasses – was also standing. Not one of the flight crew members suggested that any of these men take their seats.

Watching all of this, my husband was now beyond "anxious." I decided to try to reassure my husband (and maybe myself) by walking to the back bathroom. I knew the goateed-man I had exchanged friendly words with as we boarded the plane was seated only a few rows back, so I thought I would say hello to the man to get some reassurance that everything was fine. As I stood up and turned around, I glanced in his direction and we made eye contact. I threw out my friendliest "remember-me-we-had-a-nice-exchange-just-a-short-time-ago" smile. The man did not smile back. His face did not move. In fact, the cold, defiant look he gave me sent shivers down my spine.

When I returned to my seat I was unable to assure my husband that all was well. My husband immediately walked to the first class section to talk with the flight attendant. "I might be overreacting, but I've been watching some really suspicious things.…" Before he could finish his statement, the flight attendant pulled him into the galley. In a quiet voice she explained that they were all concerned about what was going on. The captain was aware. The flight attendants were passing notes to each other. She said that there were people on board "higher up than you and me watching the men." My husband returned to his seat and relayed this information to me. He was feeling slightly better. I was feeling much worse. We were now two hours into a four-in-a-half hour flight.

Approximately 10 minutes later, that same flight attendant came by with the drinks cart. She leaned over and quietly told my husband there were federal air marshals sitting all around us. She asked him not to tell anyone and explained that she could be in trouble for giving out that information. She then continued serving drinks.

About 20 minutes later the same flight attendant returned. Leaning over and whispering, she asked my husband to write a description of the yellow-shirted man sitting across from us. She explained it would look too suspicious if she wrote the information. She asked my husband to slip the note to her when he was done.

After seeing 14 Middle Eastern men board separately (six together, eight individually) and then act as a group, watching their unusual glances, observing their bizarre bathroom activities, watching them congregate in small groups, knowing that the flight attendants and the pilots were seriously concerned, and now knowing that federal air marshals were on board, I was officially terrified. Before I'm labeled a racial profiler or -- worse yet -- a racist, let me add this. A month ago I traveled to India to research a magazine article I was writing. My husband and I flew on a jumbo jet carrying more than 300 Hindu and Muslim men and women on board. We traveled throughout the country and stayed in a Muslim village 10 miles outside Pakistan. I never once felt fearful. I never once felt unsafe. I never once had the feeling that anyone wanted to hurt me. This time was different.

Finally, the captain announced that the plane was cleared for landing. It had been four hours since we left Detroit. The fasten seat belt light came on and I could see downtown Los Angeles. The flight attendants made one final sweep of the cabin and strapped themselves in for landing. I began to relax. Home was in sight.

Suddenly, seven of the men stood up -- in unison -- and walked to the front and back lavatories. One by one, they went into the two lavatories, each spending about four minutes inside. Right in front of us, two men stood up against the emergency exit door, waiting for the lavatory to become available. The men spoke in Arabic among themselves and to the man in the yellow shirt sitting nearby. One of the men took his camera into the lavatory. Another took his cell phone. Again, no one approached the men. Not one of the flight attendants asked them to sit down. I watched as the man in the yellow shirt, still in his seat, reached inside his shirt and pulled out a small red book. He read a few pages, then put the book back inside his shirt. He pulled the book out again, read a page or two more, and put it back. He continued to do this several more times.

I looked around to see if any other passengers were watching. I immediately spotted a distraught couple seated two rows back. The woman was crying into the man's shoulder. He was holding her hand. I heard him say to her, "You've got to calm down." Behind them sat the once pleasant-smiling, goatee-wearing man.

I grabbed my son, I held my husband's hand and, despite the fact that I am not a particularly religious person, I prayed. The last man came out of the bathroom, and as he passed the man in the yellow shirt he ran his forefinger across his neck and mouthed the word "No."

The plane landed. My husband and I gathered our bags and quickly, very quickly, walked up the jetway. As we exited the jetway and entered the airport, we saw many, many men in dark suits. A few yards further out into the terminal, LAPD agents ran past us, heading for the gate. I have since learned that the representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Federal Air Marshals (FAM), and the Transportation Security Association (TSA) met our plane as it landed. Several men -- who I presume were the federal air marshals on board -- hurried off the plane and directed the 14 men over to the side.

Knowing what we knew, and seeing what we'd seen, my husband and I decided to talk to the authorities. For several hours my husband and I were interrogated by the FBI. We gave sworn statement after sworn statement. We wrote down every detail of our account. The interrogators seemed especially interested in the McDonald's bag, so we repeated in detail what we knew about the McDonald's bag. A law enforcement official stood near us, holding 14 Syrian passports in his hand. We answered more questions. And finally we went home.

Home Sweet Home
The next day, I began searching online for news about the incident. There was nothing. I asked a friend who is a local news correspondent if there were any arrests at LAX that day. There weren't. I called Northwest Airlines' customer service. They said write a letter. I wrote a letter, then followed up with a call to their public relations department. They said they were aware of the situation (sorry that happened!) but legally they have 30 days to reply.

I shared my story with a few colleagues. One mentioned she'd been on a flight with a group of foreign men who were acting strangely -- they turned out to be diamond traders. Another had heard a story on National Public Radio (NPR) shortly after 9/11 about a group of Arab musicians who were having a hard time traveling on airplanes throughout the U.S. and couldn't get seats together. I took note of these two stories and continued my research. Here are excerpts from an article written by Jason Burke, Chief Reporter, and published in The Observer (a British newspaper based in London) on February 8, 2004:

Terrorist bid to build bombs in mid-flight: Intelligence reveals dry runs of new threat to blow up airliners

"Islamic militants have conducted dry runs of a devastating new style of bombing on aircraft flying to Europe, intelligence sources believe.

The tactics, which aim to evade aviation security systems by placing only components of explosive devices on passenger jets, allowing militants to assemble them in the air, have been tried out on planes flying between the Middle East, North Africa and Western Europe, security sources say.

… The … Transportation Security Administration issued an urgent memo detailing new threats to aviation and warning that terrorists in teams of five might be planning suicide missions to hijack commercial airliners, possibly using common items … such as cameras, modified as weapons.

…Components of IEDs [improvised explosive devices]can be smuggled on to an aircraft, concealed in either clothing or personal carry-on items … and assembled on board. In many cases of suspicious passenger activity, incidents have taken place in the aircraft's forward lavatory."

So here's my question: Since the FBI issued a warning to the airline industry to be wary of groups of five men on a plane who might be trying to build bombs in the bathroom, shouldn't a group of 14 Middle Eastern men be screened before boarding a flight?

Apparently not. Due to our rules against discrimination, it can't be done. During the 9/11 hearings last April, 9/11 Commissioner John Lehman stated that …it was the policy (before 9/11) and I believe remains the policy today to fine airlines if they have more than two young Arab males in secondary questioning because that's discriminatory.

So even if Northwest Airlines searched two of the men on board my Northwest flight, they couldn't search the other 12 because they would have already filled a government-imposed quota.

I continued my research by reading an article entitled Arab Hijackers Now Eligible For Pre-Boarding from Ann Coulter (www.anncoulter.com):

"On September 21, as the remains of thousands of Americans lay smoldering at Ground Zero, [Secretary of Transportation Norman] Mineta fired off a letter to all U.S. airlines forbidding them from implementing the one security measure that could have prevented 9/11: subjecting Middle Eastern passengers to an added degree of pre-flight scrutiny. He sternly reminded the airlines that it was illegal to discriminate against passengers based on their race, color, national or ethnic origin or religion."

Coulter also writes that a few months later, at Mr. Mineta's behest, the Department of Transportation (DOT) filed complaints against United Airlines and American Airlines (who, combined, had lost 8 pilots, 25 flight attendants and 213 passengers on 9/11 – not counting the 19 Arab hijackers). In November 2003, United Airlines settled their case with the DOT for $1.5 million. In March 2004, American Airlines settled their case with the DOT for $1.5 million. The DOT also charged Continental Airlines with discriminating against passengers who appeared to be Arab, Middle Eastern or Muslim. Continental Airlines settled their complaint with the DOT in April of 2004 for $.5 million.

From what I witnessed, Northwest Airlines doesn't have to worry about Norman Mineta filing a complaint against them for discriminatory, secondary screening of Arab men. No one checked the passports of the Syrian men. No one inspected the contents of the two instrument cases or the McDonald's bag. And no one checked the limping man's orthopedic shoe. In fact, according to the TSA regulations, passengers wearing an orthopedic shoe won't be asked to take it off. As their site states, "Advise the screener if you're wearing orthopedic shoes…screeners should not be asking you to remove your orthopedic shoes at any time during the screening process. " (Click here to read the TSA website policy on orthopedic shoes and other medical devices.)

I placed a call to the TSA and talked to Joe Dove, a Customer Service Supervisor. I told him how we'd eaten with metal utensils moments in an airport diner before boarding the flight and how no one checked our luggage or the instrument cases being carried by the Middle Eastern men. Dove's response was, "Restaurants in secured areas -- that's an ongoing problem. We get that complaint often. TSA gets that complaint all the time and they haven't worked that out with the FAA. They're aware of it. You've got a good question. There may not be a reasonable answer at this time, I'm not going to BS you."

At the Detroit airport no one checked our IDs. No one checked the folds in my newspaper or the content's of my son's backpack. No one asked us what we'd done during our layover, if we bought anything, or if anyone gave us anything while we were in the airport. We were asked all of these questions (and many others ) three weeks earlier when we'd traveled in Europe -- where passengers with airport layovers are rigorously questioned and screened before boarding any and every flight. In Detroit no one checked who we were or what we carried on board a 757 jet liner bound for American's largest metropolis.

Two days after my experience on Northwest Airlines flight #327 came this notice from SBS TV, The World News, July 1, 2004:

"The U.S. Transportation and Security Administration has issued a new directive which demands pilots make a pre-flight announcement banning passengers from congregating in aisles and outside the plane's toilets. The directive also orders flight attendants to check the toilets every two hours for suspicious packages."

Through a series of events, The Washington Post heard about my story. I talked briefly about my experience with a representative from the newspaper. Within a few hours I received a call from Dave Adams, the Federal Air Marshal Services (FAM) Head of Public Affairs. Adams told me what he knew:

There were 14 Syrians on NWA flight #327. They were questioned at length by FAM, the FBI and the TSA upon landing in Los Angeles. The 14 Syrians had been hired as musicians to play at a casino in the desert. Adams said they were "scrubbed." None had arrest records (in America, I presume), none showed up on the FBI's "no fly" list or the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List. The men checked out and they were let go. According to Adams, the 14 men traveled on Northwest Airlines flight #327 using one-way tickets. Two days later they were scheduled to fly back on jetBlue from Long Beach, California to New York -- also using one-way tickets.

I asked Adams why, based on the FBI's credible information that terrorists may try to assemble bombs on planes, the air marshals or the flight attendants didn't do anything about the bizarre behavior and frequent trips to the lavatory. "Our FAM agents have to have an event to arrest somebody. Our agents aren't going to deploy until there is an actual event," Adams explained. He said he could not speak for the policies of Northwest Airlines.

So the question is… Do I think these men were musicians? I'll let you decide. But I wonder, if 19 terrorists can learn to fly airplanes into buildings, couldn't 14 terrorists learn to play instruments?

To receive any follow-up articles about Annie's experience, go to www.WomensWallStreet.com and register to become a member. You will receive an e-mail notifying you of any subsequent articles on this subject.

posted by Frodgie at 3:06 PM

 

Pope Denounces Same-Sex Unions, Abortion

VATICAN CITY — In his latest blunt assessment of U.S. society, Pope John Paul II (search) on Friday denounced the acceptance of abortion and same-sex unions (search) as "self-centered demands" erroneously depicted as human rights.

The pontiff said that "in the face of such erroneous yet pervasive thinking," visiting U.S. bishops should stress to congregations "their special responsibility for evangelizing culture and promoting Christian values in society and public life."

"Rights are at times reduced to self-centered demands: the growth of prostitution and pornography in the name of adult choice, the acceptance of abortion in the name of women's rights, the approval of same sex unions in the name of homosexual rights," he said.

The Catholic Church (search) forbids abortion and considers homosexual activity a sin.

Last week, John Paul warned another group of U.S. prelates that American society is in danger of surrendering to a "soulless vision of life."

Greeting the latest group of bishops on the same day he held a private audience with President Bush, John Paul acknowledged the challenges to Catholic Church teaching and faith.


posted by Frodgie at 6:53 AM

 

Scouting jetliners for new attacks

Flight crews and air marshals say Middle Eastern men are staking out airports, probing security measures and conducting test runs aboard airplanes for a terrorist attack.
At least two midflight incidents have involved numerous men of Middle Eastern descent behaving in what one pilot called "stereotypical" behavior of an organized attempt to attack a plane.
"No doubt these are dry runs for a terrorist attack," an air marshal said.
Pilots and air marshals who asked to remain anonymous told The Washington Times that surveillance by terrorists is rampant, using different probing methods.
"It's happening, and it's a sad state of affairs," a pilot said.
A June 29 incident aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles is similar to a Feb. 15 incident on American Airlines Flight 1732 from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.
The Northwest flight involved 14 Syrian men and the American Airlines flight involved six men of Middle Eastern descent.
"I've never been in a situation where I have felt that afraid," said Annie Jacobsen, a business and finance feature writer for the online magazine Women's Wall Street who was aboard the Northwest flight.

posted by Frodgie at 6:51 AM

 

New Ultrasound Rekindles Abortion Debate

LONDON — Some in Great Britain (search) are calling for the government to rein in the abortion-at-anytime laws that have been on the books since the late 1960s.

One reason for the new push against abortion is powerful 3D images that are now possible with the latest in ultrasound technology (search). It produces pictures from the womb in more detail than ever before — moving, yawning, even appearing to smile.

If a woman still decides to have an abortion after seeing such vivid images she may not be fit to be a mother, pro-life activists contend. Abortion rights groups say hype over the new ultrasound shouldn't shock the government into change.

Currently, abortions are relatively easy to get up to 24 weeks, or six months, of pregnancy. Some want to reduce that threshold to three months. Parliament is expected to be taking the matter up for debate in September.

Most abortions are performed within two months. Late-term abortions are normally done because the health of the mother is at stake or the baby looks likely to be born severely handicapped.


posted by Frodgie at 6:51 AM

 

Saudis find head of U.S. hostage

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi security forces found the head of American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr. in a freezer during a raid on a suspected al Qaeda hide-out that came days before the expiration of a monthlong amnesty offered to militants, officials said yesterday.
The raid targeted the hide-out of the al Qaeda chief in Saudi Arabia and left two militants dead, the Interior Ministry said. It was not clear whether Saleh Mohammed al-Aoofi, the man thought to be the top al Qaeda leader in the kingdom, was among three militants reported wounded. Three Saudi security officers also were wounded in the gunbattle on Tuesday night.

Security forces also seized weapons — including an anti-aircraft SAM-7 missile — explosives, chemicals, video cameras and cash from the al Qaeda house.
"Saudi authorities are pursuing every lead in their terror investigations," said Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to Washington. "They are absolutely determined to bring these murderers to justice and end the threat to the peaceful citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia."

posted by Frodgie at 6:48 AM

 

Israel Blasts EU on Wall

JERUSALEM — Israel's Foreign Ministry summoned European ambassadors for consultations Thursday, lambasting the European Union (search) for supporting a U.N. General Assembly (search) resolution calling on Israel to tear down its West Bank barrier.

Foreign Ministry director-general Ilan Biran summoned the ambassadors to express Israel's displeasure over the European position on the barrier, the ministry said in a statement.

The European Union vote shows it is "willing to pay the price of the basic principles of justice and morality and raises doubts about the European Union's ability to contribute constructively to the advance of the peace process," the statement said.

The European support "even encourages Palestinian terrorism," according to the statement.

Israel says the string of fences, walls and barbed wire that will eventually stretch 425 miles keeps out suicide bombers. Palestinians say the construction of the barrier is a land grab since it cuts into the West Bank at several points.


posted by Frodgie at 6:42 AM

 

Video shows 9/11 hijackers at airport

(CNN) -- A surveillance video from Washington's Dulles International Airport the morning of September 11, 2001, shows four of five hijackers passing through security checks before boarding the plane they would crash into the Pentagon.

Three of the men are stopped, apparently after setting off the metal detector, but are allowed to continue after further checks.

Donn Marshall -- whose wife Shelley was killed at the Pentagon -- had many thoughts race through his mind after watching the video.

"Look at how easily these guys walked right through, and look at the calm. It's just scary how easily they did it," he told CNN.

"You can't underestimate al Qaeda," he added. "As much as I hate them, they're smart, and they're savvy, and they're a terrible threat."

The video images were broadcast publicly for the first time Wednesday but are not a new discovery. The images were first described in a January statement from the 9/11 commission.

posted by Frodgie at 6:37 AM

 

Three U.S. Allies Face New Threat in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- New online statements by purported militants threatened attacks against three U.S. allies - Poland, Japan and Bulgaria - if they don't pull their troops from Iraq, a day after a Filipino hostage was released because the Philippines bowed to insurgents' demands and withdrew its tiny contingent.

Meanwhile, the death toll of U.S. forces in Iraq since the start of the war rose to 900, including two civilians linked to the military, when a roadside bomb struck a Bradley fighting vehicle in central Iraq, killing one soldier inside.

Maj. Neal O'Brien of the 1st Infantry Division said the soldier, whose name was not released, was on patrol in a Bradley fighting vehicle in Duluiyah, 45 miles north of Baghdad, when the bomb detonated shortly after midnight Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the military said two U.S. Marines and two U.S. soldiers were killed in action in Anbar Province, a Sunni-dominated area west of Baghdad. The Marines were killed in separate incidents while conducting "security operations;" one soldier was killed Monday, and a second died Monday of wounds.


posted by Frodgie at 6:57 AM

 

CLINTON SAYS BERGER-DOCUMENTS FUROR IS JUST POLITICS: 'WE WERE ALL LAUGHING ABOUT IT'

Former president Bill Clinton defends his embattled national security advisor as a man who "always got things right," even if his desk was a mess.

"We were all laughing about it," Clinton said about the investigation into Sandy Berger for taking classified terrorism documents from the National Archives. "People who don't know him might find it hard to believe. But ... all of us who've been in his office have always found him buried beneath papers."

MORE

DRUDGE has learned: In an interview set for publication Wednesday in the DENVER POST, Clinton questions the timing of the Berger flap less than a week before the Democratic National Convention and two days before a presidential commission is slated to release its final report on the Bush administration's handling of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Clinton tells the POST he has known about the federal probe of Berger's actions for several months, calling the news a "non-story."

"I wish I knew who leaked it. It's interesting timing," he added.

"I feel terrible for Sandy. But I just believe his explanation because I know how much he cared about this ... terrorism business," Clinton said, describing his former security advisor as a "workaholic" who has "always been up to his ears in papers."

posted by Frodgie at 6:52 AM

 

Revolving door at border

SAN DIEGO — Handcuffed and shackled with their pockets pulled inside out, more than 150 illegal aliens are loaded onto an airplane every night, bound for detention centers in the United States to await deportation orders to their home countries.
Searched by a cadre of uniformed federal agents and encircled by heavily armed officers, they are herded off buses in the dead of night on an isolated tarmac at San Diego International Airport, where they silently shuffle single file on board a waiting MD-82 jetliner.
Some never have been on an airplane. Others have made the trip before. Many will be back.
A monthlong investigation by The Washington Times found that a shortage of detention space and lack of manpower force federal authorities to regularly release illegal aliens back on the streets of America — and often to ignore requests to pick up illegals in the custody of state and local officials.

posted by Frodgie at 6:50 AM

 

USA: Land of the Free, Home of the Evil?

SEATTLE — Evil — a word usually reserved for the likes of Adolph Hitler or Usama bin Laden — is now being used by more than a third of Canadian teens to describe the United States.

In a recent poll, 40 percent of Canadian teens said the United States is a force for evil in the world, with 50 percent saying it's a force for good and 10 percent reporting they were undecided on the subject. French-Canadians (search) were even harsher, with 64 percent of them calling America a force for evil.

"What they're reacting to is a sense that the U.S. is belligerent," said the pollster who conducted the phone survey, Greg Lyle. "The U.S. is sort of bellicose, warmongering [and has] this sort of cowboy diplomacy."

But former Canadian diplomat Martin Collacot (search) says the teens are responding to cues from their government, the media and their teachers.

The anti-Americanism from the United States' northern neighbors seemed to peak when the Iraq war started.

In one incident, hockey fans in Montreal booed during the playing of the American national anthem. Then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien's spokesman was caught on mike calling President Bush a moron. And while the streets of Quebec (search) were filled with war protesters, a member of Parliament from the ruling Labor Party was quoted as saying: "Damn Americans. I hate those bastards."


posted by Frodgie at 6:48 AM

 

Volunteers search for missing pregnant jogger

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) -- More than 1,200 volunteers Tuesday scoured the steep terrain surrounding a park and canyon in a search for a pregnant woman who apparently vanished while jogging a day earlier.

Lori Kay Hacking, 27, left her Salt Lake home around daybreak Monday to run in the Memory Grove Park and City Creek Canyon area, Detective Dwayne Baird said. After she failed to show up at work later, her husband, Mark Hacking, called police, Baird said.

"I'm just so grateful they are coming to look for her," the woman's mother, Thelma Soares, said as volunteers fanned out along an eight-mile grid in the canyon directly east of the Utah Capitol.

Among the volunteers were relatives of Elizabeth Smart, who was allegedly kidnapped in 2002 by drifters and found with them nine months later in a Salt Lake suburb.

Baird said Lori Hacking was seen by a witness Monday morning when she was stretching near the park; he said her car was found near the front gates of the park.

Police first searched the area Monday using dogs and helicopters; SWAT team members with infrared binoculars were stationed above the canyon Monday night.

Besides being a popular place for runners and cyclers, City Creek Canyon is also home to transients who camp in the brush. Several transients were interviewed Monday as they left the canyon, which has been closed, Baird said.


posted by Frodgie at 6:47 AM

 

The drumbeat to dump the veep

Asked if he was thinking of dumping Vice President Cheney, President Bush is said to have laughed aloud. He is right to do so. For this is a game concocted by pundits with other agendas than his re-election.

"Dump the Veep" has long been a hobby of the chattering classes. Once, however, in 1944, it was critical to the nation. And America owes a debt to those Democrats who realized FDR was a terribly sick man whose vice president would be in the Oval Office in months, not years. Three months after FDR's fourth inauguration, Harry Truman was sworn in.

Had Henry Wallace, vice president before 1945, stayed on and taken office that April, Harry Dexter White might have become secretary of the treasury and Lawrence Duggan secretary of state. This would have put two Soviet spies at the pinnacle of the U.S. government to shape postwar policy toward Stalin, in whose service both were then secretly enlisted.

In recent Republican administrations, only President Bush's father escaped a media clamor for his defenestration in 1984. Mondale-Ferraro simply did not cause the nervousness that Kerry-Edwards does today.

In 1955, however, after Dwight Eisenhower's heart attack, close advisers like Sherman Adams, fearing Ike might not finish a second term, urged him to dump Richard Nixon. Ike himself twice suggested to Nixon that he might want to get executive experience in the Cabinet before running in 1960.

After months of waiting for Ike to move, Nixon forced the issue, and Ike declared himself pleased Nixon wanted to remain as veep. As though there was any doubt.


posted by Frodgie at 6:45 AM

 

Bush hits Iran for aid to al Qaeda

President Bush yesterday accused Iran of harboring and aiding top al Qaeda terrorists, but he stopped short of charging that Tehran was directly involved in the September 11 attacks.
Using stern language against a nation that he has labeled a member of an "axis of evil," the president said his administration is examining whether Iran had any connection with the 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.
"We're digging into the facts to determine if there was one," Mr. Bush said from the Oval Office. "They're harboring al Qaeda leadership there, and we've asked that they be turned over to their respective countries."
But the president reiterated that acting CIA Director John McLaughlin has said, "There was no direct connection between Iran and the attacks of September the 11th."

posted by Frodgie at 6:55 AM

 

Outnumbered in a hunt for aliens

Part two of three
LOS ANGELES — It is shortly before 4 a.m. when Jorge Field gathers his team in a deserted parking lot in South Central Los Angeles.
The nine men and one woman quietly strap themselves into flak jackets, meticulously check their weapons and listen attentively to a quick but precise briefing, as they prepare to hunt for five convicted criminal aliens and a suspected terrorist threat.
"Let's go," commands Mr. Field, the supervisory agent of this U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) fugitive operations squad.
Traveling over the nearly abandoned streets at a quick pace with the lights out, the vehicles are guided over the radio by agent Loyda Rocha, who yesterday scouted the targets in this South Central Los Angeles corridor, now overrun by high unemployment and controlled by violent gangs.
No words are spoken. Everyone knows their assignment. The pre-dawn darkness is their ally.
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement," Miss Rocha shouts as she bangs on the first door. "Federal agents, open the door."

posted by Frodgie at 6:51 AM

 

Berger 9/11 Docs Reveal Clinton Security Lapse

A sensitive after-action report on the foiled Millennium bomb plot, portions of which allegedly were pilfered by former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, sounded the alarm that al-Qaida operatives had entered the U.S. and were preparing to strike.

In testimony before the 9/11 Commission in April, Attorney General John Ashcroft detailed the highly classified March 2000 document, saying it contained a set of sweeping recommendations on how to combat the al-Qaida threat that were completely ignored by the Clinton White House.

"The NSC's Millennium After-Action Review declares that the United States barely missed major terrorist attacks in 1999 – with luck playing a major role," Ashcroft told the Commission.
"Among the many vulnerabilities in homeland defenses identified, the Justice Department's surveillance and FISA operations were specifically criticized for their glaring weaknesses."

"It is clear from the review," declared Ashcroft, "that actions taken in the Millennium period should not be the operating model for the U.S. government."

The Millennium plot review warned the Clinton administration "of a substantial al-Qaida network and affiliated foreign terrorist presence within the U.S., capable of supporting additional terrorist attacks here," the Bush attorney general said.

"Furthermore, fully seventeen months before the September 11 attacks, the review recommends disrupting the al Qaida network and terrorist presence here using immigration violations, minor criminal infractions, and tougher visa and border controls," he explained.

Ashcroft's comments suggested why a former Clinton national security official might not want the information contained in the Millennium review to ever see the light of day.

"Despite the warnings and the clear vulnerabilities identified by the NSC in 2000," he told the Commission, "no new disruption strategy to attack the al-Qaida network within the United States was deployed. It was ignored in the Department's five-year counterterrorism strategy."


posted by Frodgie at 6:45 AM

 

Filipino Hostage Released

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A Filipino truck driver held hostage in Iraq for nearly two weeks was freed Tuesday, a day after his nation withdrew its final peacekeepers from Iraq in a move that met the kidnappers' demands but angered U.S. and Iraqi officials.

Angelo dela Cruz (search) was brought to the steps United Arab Emirates (search) embassy about 10:30 a.m. and told by the kidnappers to go inside, a UAE Embassy official said on condition of anonymity. Embassy officials said there was no coordination between them and the kidnappers.

"We were surprised this morning to receive the Filipino hostage in Iraq, Mr. Angelo dela Cruz, who was set free by his kidnappers and handed to our embassy in Baghdad," Hamad Ahmad al Shamasi, the Emirates' head of mission here, said in a statement.

Philippines officials arrived at the embassy and drove dela Cruz away about three hours later in a silver Mercedes. Filipino officials will send him to Abu Dhabi for a medical checkup, al Shamasi said.


posted by Frodgie at 6:44 AM

 

Crews beating back wildfires

SANTA CLARITA, California (AP) -- Firefighters battled Monday to save hundreds of homes threatened by a stubborn wildfire that broke out over the weekend in tinder-dry brush and raced over hillsides and through canyons in northern Los Angeles County.

Although no houses have been lost, nearly 1,600 homes have been evacuated since the fire began Saturday. It was ignited when a red-tailed hawk flew into a power line, was electrocuted and its flaming body fell into brush.

The wildfire had spread across about 6,000 acres by Monday evening and was 45 percent contained. Helicopters dropped water to slow the flames as bulldozers and hand crews working in 90-degree heat labored to cut a line around the fire.

"It looks a lot worse than it actually is," said Martin Esparza, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman. "The winds have started mellowing out and the temperatures have started to drop just a bit."

The fire was one of several burning across more than 40,000 acres of California, from eastern San Diego County to Yosemite National Park.

One of the largest of the others, 90 miles east of Los Angeles in Riverside County, has destroyed four mobile homes, 14 outbuildings and more than a dozen vehicles. It was expected to be fully contained by Tuesday morning.

That fire was started by a target shooter, who was given a citation and may have to pay costs of fighting the fire, said Jim Boano, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry.


posted by Frodgie at 6:42 AM

 

Oil nears $42, closes at 7-week high

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Oil futures climbed near $42 a barrel Monday to close at their highest level in seven weeks, lifted by expectations of limited OPEC output capacity and continued violence in Iraq.

Prices ended less than 70 cents short of $42.33 a barrel, the loftiest level ever recorded on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"There are just too many factors that are pointing to much higher prices right now, and there is little to encourage traders on the short side of the market that their positions are going to get much relief," said Kevin Kerr, a senior trader at Kwest International.

Crude prices will probably "continue to creep higher, and as it approaches record levels this week, we may see significant short covering," he said.

Still, "it's very likely that by the middle of the week, if the supply data [Wednesday] is bullish, that crude could be trading in the $43 to $44.75 range," he said. See more of his comments.

Crude for August delivery traded as high as $41.90 a barrel on the Nymex, before closing at $41.64 a barrel, up 39 cents for the session.

The contract hasn't closed at a level this high since June 1, the day the exchange saw an all-time intraday futures record of $42.38 and a record close of $42.33.

Petroleum-product prices ended the day mixed. August heating oil closed at $1.1055, up 0.96 cent. August unleaded gasoline fell 0.88 cent to end at $1.2917 a gallon after an earlier climb above $1.31.

"The threat of Iraqi attacks and potential summer refinery problems make a defense of lower prices a difficult argument to defend," Michael Fitzpatrick, an analyst at Fimat USA, told clients in a research note.

A fuel truck rigged with explosives blew up near a police station in Baghdad Monday, killing nine people. And over the weekend, a top Iraqi defense ministry official was killed. See CBS News for more.

But despite the threat to the oil infrastructure of Iraq, home of the world's second-largest petroleum reserves, it is going to be harder for the market to break to new highs, "because of the potential for rising supply and slackening macroeconomic conditions," Fitzpatrick said.


posted by Frodgie at 6:40 AM

 

AP: Clinton Adviser Probed in Terror Memos

WASHINGTON - President Clinton (news - web sites)'s national security adviser, Sandy Berger, is the focus of a criminal investigation after admitting he removed highly classified terrorism documents from a secure reading room during preparations for the Sept. 11 commission hearings, The Associated Press has learned.

Berger's home and office were searched earlier this year by FBI (news - web sites) agents armed with warrants. Some drafts of a sensitive after-action report on the Clinton administration's handling of al-Qaida terror threats during the December 1999 millennium celebration are still missing.

Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed handwritten notes he had taken from classified anti-terror documents he reviewed at the National Archives by sticking them in his jacket and pants. He also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio, they said.

"I deeply regret the sloppiness involved, but I had no intention of withholding documents from the commission, and to the contrary, to my knowledge, every document requested by the commission from the Clinton administration was produced," Berger said in a statement to the AP.

Berger served as Clinton's national security adviser for all of the president's second term and most recently has been informally advising Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites). Clinton asked Berger last year to review and select the administration documents that would be turned over to the commission.

The FBI searched Berger's home and office with warrants earlier this year after employees of the National Archives told agents they believed they witnessed Berger put documents into his clothing while reviewing sensitive Clinton administration papers, officials said.

When asked, Berger said he returned some of the classified documents, which he found in his office, and all of the handwritten notes he had taken from the secure room, but said he could not locate two or three copies of the highly classified millennium terror report.

"In the course of reviewing over several days thousands of pages of documents on behalf of the Clinton administration in connection with requests by the Sept. 11 commission, I inadvertently took a few documents from the Archives," Berger said.

posted by Frodgie at 6:37 AM

 

Aliens hiding in plain sight

SALINAS, Calif. — For years, Carlos lived in fear as he migrated from one farm to another, pursuing the cash that the picking of seasonal fruits and vegetables provided here in the fertile Salinas Valley. But as time passed, so did his anxiety.
"We were always watching out for the Border Patrol, and we were always afraid," said the 34-year-old Mexican national, chopping lettuce with 20 others. "But not anymore. We're out here everyday, and nobody ever bothers us."
Carlos, who came to America in 1996, is one of the estimated 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens living and working in the United States, who have no real fear of ever being detained or deported. And there's a good reason: No one's looking for them.
"If they can get by us — and a lot of them do — they know they can go underground, find a job and disappear — particularly in the several cities and towns across the country that have large Hispanic populations," said a veteran Border Patrol supervisor in Arizona.
"We get one chance at them, and if they elude us, they're gone."
A monthlong investigation by The Washington Times, which included interviews with immigration-enforcement officers from Washington state, California, Arizona, Texas and Florida, found that the vast majority of illegal aliens flooding into America — an estimated 1 million a year — draw little attention once they pass through the "border region," which extends about 60 miles into the United States.
A total of 2,300 federal agents are assigned the task of detecting, detaining and deporting the millions of foreign nationals illegally in this country, who — besides draining billions of taxpayer dollars a year — pose a potential terrorist risk in the post-September 11 world.
Nearly half of the 48 al Qaeda terrorists tied to violent acts in the United States between 1993 and 2001 committed significant immigration-law violations prior to those events but were never detained or deported, federal records show.
"Strict enforcement of immigration law ... is one of the most effective means we have of reducing the threat from foreign-born terrorists," said Steven A. Camarota, director of research at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies.

posted by Frodgie at 7:02 AM

 

Intelligence 'czar' not needed, CIA chief says

The acting head of the CIA yesterday said there is no need to create a national security "czar" to oversee the nation's intelligence community — something the commission investigating the September 11 attacks is expected to recommend this week.
Interim CIA Director John McLaughlin said although a good argument could be made for the "idea of a czar to oversee the entire intelligence community," he added, "it doesn't relate particularly to the world I live in."
"I see the director of central intelligence as someone who is able to do that and empowered to do so under the National Security Act of 1947," Mr. McLaughlin told "Fox News Sunday."
On Friday, the Associated Press reported that persons familiar with the September 11 commission's final report said it will recommend the establishment of a Cabinet-level post to oversee the more than a dozen agencies making up the U.S. intelligence community.
That duty currently falls loosely under the responsibilities of the CIA director. But a separate, widely publicized report this month by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence largely criticized former Director George J. Tenet for not handling the duty effectively.

posted by Frodgie at 6:58 AM

 

Nine dead in Baghdad truck blast

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide truck bombing near a police station in south Baghdad has killed at least nine people and wounded 60, Iraqi Ministry of Health officials say.

Earlier, a police source said three officers and five civilians were killed after the blast struck the Al-Dora police station in southern Baghdad's Al-A'alam district at 8:20 a.m. (0420 GMT) on Monday.

It left a crater about 10 feet (3 meters) deep. Initial reports said the blast was from a car bomb.

Dr. Haki Asma'ail, the director of Al-Yarmuk hospital, said the hospital received six dead and 52 wounded from the blast.

Less than an hour later -- 9:15 a.m. -- a mortar hit a home in central Baghdad and police believe it was aimed at a nearby fire station. No one was hurt.

The attacks are the latest in a series of blasts to hit Iraq as insurgents target police officers for their link to the U.S.-backed government.

They come one day after a U.S. airstrike in Fallujah killed 14 people and wounded three others, as forces go after those inciting terror in Iraq.


posted by Frodgie at 6:56 AM

 

Palestinian prime minister steps down

TEL AVIV — Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia resigned yesterday in frustration over his helplessness in the face of unchecked anarchy in the Palestinian territories, evidenced by a wave of kidnappings in the Gaza Strip the previous day.
Yasser Arafat refused to accept the resignation at an emergency Cabinet meeting, fanning the flames of a political crisis over the breakdown of law and order that is eroding the credibility of the Palestinian government at home and abroad. As Israel plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip next year, Mr. Qureia has been troubled by the growing lawlessness and the absence of reform of Palestinian security forces.

"This is a real disaster," said Mr. Qureia, reacting to the Gaza kidnappings.
The Palestinian Cabinet has scheduled a second emergency session for tomorrow to discuss the resignation, after ministers yesterday failed to convince Mr. Qureia, also known as Abu Ala, to reconsider his decision. If Mr. Qureia follows through on the resignation, it would force the resignation of the entire Cabinet.

posted by Frodgie at 7:33 PM

 

Militants burn building in protest aimed at Arafat

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades burned down offices of the Palestinian intelligence services Sunday in southern Gaza, protesting a security shake-up announced by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The Palestinian Authority president announced a major restructuring of security services Saturday.

The changes included consolidating more than 12 security agencies into three main units and replacing two top security officials. One was replaced with Arafat's cousin, Musa Arafat.

Within hours of Saturday's announcement, leaders of Arafat's Fatah movement in southern Gaza resigned and about 2,000 demonstrators took to the streets, many of them armed, accusing Arafat of replacing "corruption with more corruption."

Al Aqsa, a militant wing of Fatah, released a statement Sunday saying it burned down the Palestinian Authority building in Khan Yunis.

Al Aqsa members fired on guards outside the building, who then fled. The attackers also released people being held inside the building and stole weapons. Video from the scene showed cars around the building burning.


posted by Frodgie at 7:31 PM

 

French Jews 'must move to Israel'

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has urged all French Jews to move to Israel immediately to escape anti-Semitism.
He told a meeting of the American Jewish Association in Jerusalem that Jews around the world should relocate to Israel as early as possible.

But for those living in France, he added, moving was a "must" because of rising violence against Jews there.

France's foreign ministry said it had asked Israel for an explanation of the "unacceptable comments".

French Jewish leaders, interviewed on France-2 Television, said Mr Sharon's remarks were unhelpful.

"These comments do not bring calm, peace and serenity that we all need," said Patrick Gaubert, of the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra). "I think Mr Sharon would have done better tonight to have kept quiet."

"It's not up to him to decide for us," said Theo Klein, honorary president of Crif, which represents French Jewish organisations.

France has suffered a wave of anti-Semitic attacks coinciding with renewed fighting in the Middle East.


posted by Frodgie at 7:29 PM