Palestinian gunman kills 4 Israelis in West Bank shooting on eve of new round of peace talks

Palestinian gunmen opened fire Tuesday on an Israeli car in the West Bank and killed four passengers on the eve of a new round of Mideast peace talks in Washington. The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility.

Assailants firing from a passing car riddled the vehicle with bullets as it traveled near Hebron — a volatile city that has been a flash point of violence in the past. Some 500 ultranationalist Jewish settlers live in heavily fortified enclaves in the city amid more than 100,000 Palestinians.
One of the victims was pregnant, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. Israel's national rescue service said the victims were two men and two women, and Israeli media said everyone in the car was killed.Video broadcast live on Israel TV late Tuesday showed a white Subaru station wagon standing at an angle at the side of a road, its windows shot out and its doors dotted with bullet holes. The car was flanked by army and police vehicles and dozens of soldiers.

Denmark alleges Kurdish TV station promoted terror

A Kurdish-language TV station with a Danish broadcasting license has been charged with promoting a group linked to terrorism, Danish prosecutors said Tuesday.

Top prosecutor Joergen Steen Soerensen said that Roj-TV is helping promote the PKK, or the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.
PKK rebels have been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984. Turkey accuses Roj-TV of being a mouthpiece for the PKK.

Thai PM petitioned to stop extradition of alleged Russian arms trafficker to US

The lawyer for accused Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout filed a last ditch appeal Monday to Thailand's prime minister in an effort to stop his client's extradition to the United States. Bout, a 43-year-old former Soviet air force officer who is reputed to have been one of the world's most prolific arms dealers, was arrested in March 2008 in Bangkok as part of a sting operation led by U.S. agents.

Bout has allegedly supplied weapons that fueled civil wars in South America, the Middle East and Africa, with clients including Liberia's Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and both sides in Angola's civil war. A Thai court in August last year originally rejected Washington's request for Bout's extradition on terrorism-related charges,
but after the ruling was reversed last week the U.S. moved to get him out quickly, sending a special plane to stand by.Just ahead of the appeals court ruling, the United States forwarded new money-laundering and wire fraud charges to Thailand, in an attempt to keep Bout detained if the court ordered his release. But the move backfired, because Bout now cannot legally leave Thailand until a court hears the new charges.

8 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Bomb Attacks in Afghanistan

Roadside bombs killed eight members of the international force in Afghanistan -- including seven U.S. troops -- raising to more than a dozen the number who have died in the previous three days, NATO said Tuesday.

The spike in deaths in the three days through Monday came as President Hamid Karzai again publicly raised doubts about the U.S. strategy in the war, saying success cannot be achieved until more Afghans are in the front lines and insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan are shut down.
NATO gave no details of the Monday blasts except that they occurred in the south, the main theater of the conflict, and that five were killed in a single blast. The nationality of the eighth casualty, announced early Tuesday, was not given.

Norway 'bomb plot' underscores al-Qaida pitfalls

When police arrested a suspected al-Qaida cell in Norway last month they turned up the makings of a bomb lab tucked away in a nondescript Oslo apartment building.An Associated Press investigation shows that authorities learned early on about the alleged cell by intercepting e-mails from an al-Qaida operative in Pakistan and - thanks to those early warnings - were able to secretly replace a key bomb-making ingredient with a harmless liquid when one of the suspects ordered it at an Oslo pharmacy.

Officials say the suspected plot against this quiet Nordic country was one of three planned attacks on the West hatched in the rugged mountains of northwest Pakistan by some of al-Qaida's most senior leaders.
The other plots targeted the bustling New York subway and a shopping mall in Manchester, England.

Man questioned in terror probe to remain in jail

A man under investigation by the RCMP for alleged terrorism links will spend the next two days in jail on unrelated charges less than 24 hours after Justice of the Peace Ray Switzer originally granted him bail.

Awso Peshdary, 20, was taken into custody Friday morning near his residence by the RCMP, who issued a release saying they had arrested a fourth suspect in their terror probe, known as Project Samossa.
After hours of questioning, he was handed over to Ottawa police, who charged him with domestic assault for an incident they allege occurred earlier this month.

Colombia offers $260K reward in Bogota car bombing

Colombia has offered a 500 million peso ($260,000) reward for information leading to those responsible for a car bomb that injured nine people.President Juan Manuel Santos says authorities are still investigating who may have placed the bomb and what the target was.

Santos said Friday that while the government does not rule out peace talks with illegal armed groups, they will not happen as long as terrorist attacks continue.
He called them "the last bites of a dying dog."Thursday's blast was the first car bomb in the capital, Bogota, since January 2009. Some 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of explosives shattered windows in at least 30 buildings and smashed the facade of a bank.

UN Special Tribunal to probe Israeli role in Rafik Hariri murder

The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon will investigate intelligence gathered by Hezbollah which the militant group says implicates Israel in the February 14 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Hariri and 22 others were killed, and many more wounded, when the former leader’s convoy was shattered in a massive bomb blast, which the Bush administration at the time labelled “a terrorist attack.” On Friday Hezbollah agreed to provide Lebanese authorities with the intelligence which it presented at a press conference in Beirut earlier in the week.
On Thursday the current Prime Minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri, son of the slain leader (pictured with his late father) described the Hezbollah material as "important and very sensitive." He said the tribunal should investigate the claims of Israel’s involvement as they “reflected the views of many in Lebanon.” "I personally am in favor of a deep discussion of the details, because it is very important to me to find out the truth both as prime minister and as Rafik Hariri's son," the prime minister was quoted by the Lebanese daily newspaper as-Safir as saying.

4 British police officers to be charged with attacking terror suspect wanted by US

Four British police officers will face criminal charges over an alleged attack on a terrorism suspect wanted by authorities in the United States, prosecutors said Thursday.Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said the men are alleged to have assaulted Babar Ahmad during his arrest in 2003, when he suffered a series of injuries.

Ahmad, a 36-year-old British computer specialist, is accused by the United States of running websites used to raise money for terrorists, and of supplying them with gas masks and night vision goggles.Simon Clements of the prosecution service said the police officers would appear at a London court on Sept. 22 on a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm.
They have been placed on restricted duties. "It will now be for the jury to determine whether any police officer should be punished for the assault upon me," Ahmad said in a statement issued by his lawyer Fiona Murphy.

Bashir keeps mum over terror allegations

Indonesian radical Islamist preacher Abu Bakar Bashir has remained tight-lipped over his alleged role in terror plots with al-Qaeda-linked militants three days after his arrest, police said on Thursday.

The 71-year-old refused to answer police questions about his alleged involvement in financing, managing and plotting a series of car bomb attacks on embassies, international hotels and the police headquarters in Jakarta."Even though we repeatedly asked him to give us information, he insisted he would only provide details in court," national police spokesman Edward Aritonang told a news conference.
He said Bashir considered police investigators as the acolytes of Israel and the United States, which he considered to be infidels.

Jailed terror suspects may have been trying to target embassies

Anti-terrorism government officials in Indonesia have claimed men now in custody were aiming to target foreign embassies with bombs. Five suspects are in custody after a raid by Indonesia’s national police earlier this week.

According to police sources, embassies were under surveillance by the men, who had also taken photos of the U.S., U.K. and Australian official buildings.
Indonesian authorities have said Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was also arrested during the raids for allegedly playing a central role in the creation of a training camp for militants in Indonesia's Aceh region. Bashir has been arrested and jailed before over his alleged association with militant groups.

Kenyan accused of harboring Uganda terror suspects

A Kenyan man who once told authorities he was part of an al-Qaida plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi is now facing charges in connection with last month's terror attacks in Uganda but is free on bail, authorities said Wednesday.

Salmin Mohammed Khamis, 34, also was acquitted in 2005 in the bombing of a beachfront hotel, two years after he divulged the embassy plot. Khamis was never charged in connection with the embassy case and his statement to authorities was viewed by The Associated Press.

Under Kenyan law, a confession can only be acted on if it is made in front of a magistrate or judge. Confessions made during police interrogations are not admissible as evidence in court. Khamis was one of seven people acquitted in the 2002 bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa, Kenya in which 15 people died.
He also was acquitted of charges in connection with a failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli passenger plane leaving Mombasa that same day.

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New war looming in Middle East

Tensions in the Middle East are rising with many now expecting Israel to launch a new war against Lebanon. Speculation has been building over several months with the trigger-point expected to be indictments of a number of people with links to Hezbollah over the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005. The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon which has been investigating the assassination is expected to formally charge suspects in the next few weeks or months.
The twists and turns of the investigation have come amidst a number of events leading to and since the assassination. RafiK Hariri and 22 others were killed and many more seriously wounded when a devastating bomb blast hit Hariri’s convoy right in the heart of Beirut opposite the InterContinental Hotel on Valentines Day, February 14, 2005.

The attack shocked the world and was immediately blamed on Syria, with calls, led by the United States and Israel, for the withdrawal of all 14,000 Syrian troops and intelligence agents which had been present in the country for almost 3 decades. The bombing split Lebanon open resulting in chaos. The government collapsed and protests were staged in many parts of the country both for, and against, Syria.

Radical Indonesian Cleric Arrested in Terror Plot

A radical Islamic cleric was back in jail Monday after police said they had evidence he not only inspired al-Qaida linked militants with his fiery sermons but helped set up a new terror cell that was plotting attacks on hotels and embassies in Indonesia's capital.

They said they found a bomb-making laboratory and evidence of at least two powerful test blasts in a nearby mountain range. Abu Bakar Bashir, who has been arrested twice before and spent several years in jail, was heading home after preaching in the West Java town of Ciamis when the anti-terror unit swooped,
breaking the rear window of his van after his bodyguards tried to obstruct them, officials and family members said.The white-bearded cleric, wearing his traditional skull cap and flowing white gown, was escorted under tight security to police headquarters in Jakarta.

Chavez rejects US ambassador-designate to Venezuela

President Hugo Chavez on Sunday rejected Larry Palmer as the US ambassador-designate to Venezuela, and urged US President Barack Obama to "look for another candidate."

"How can you think I’d accept this gentleman coming here? You’d best withdraw him, Obama. Don’t insist, I’m asking you," said Chavez in his weekly "Alo Presidente" radio and television show. Palmer recently voiced concern about Cuba’s growing influence in the Venezuelan military, which, he said was "considerably low" in morale and professionalism.
In written answers to a US lawmaker’s questions — his nomination as ambassador must be confirmed by the Senate — Palmer also said there were "clear ties" between leftist Colombian guerrillas and Chavez’s government.

Russia, US chase jet in hijack drill

In a historic first for Cold War adversaries, U.S., Canadian and Russian military officers directed fighter jets and ground controllers to test how well they could track an international terrorist hijacking over the Pacific Ocean.

A chartered American jet code-named Fencing 1220 sent a mock distress signal shortly after taking off from Anchorage, Alaska, on Sunday, triggering a pursuit by at least seven fighters and a flurry of radio and telephone calls between military and civilian officials on both sides of the Pacific.
The Associated Press had exclusive access to Fencing 1220, a plush executive-style Gulf stream whose passengers included a Russian Air Force colonel and a senior commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the joint U.S.-Canadian command that patrols the skies over North America.

Far from Ground Zero, opponents fight new mosques

Muslims trying to build houses of worship in the nation's heartland, far from the heated fight in New York over plans for a mosque near ground zero, are running into opponents even more hostile and aggressive.

Foes of proposed mosques have deployed dogs to intimidate Muslims holding prayer services and spray painted "Not Welcome" on a construction sign, then later ripped it apart.

The 13-story, $100 million Islamic center that could soon rise two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11 attacks would dwarf the proposals elsewhere, yet the smaller projects in local communities are stoking a sharper kind of fear and anger than has showed up in New York.

In the Nashville suburb of Murfreesboro, opponents of a new Islamic center say they believe the mosque will be more than a place of prayer. They are afraid the 15-acre site that was once farmland will be turned into a terrorist training ground for Muslim militants bent on overthrowing the U.S. government.

Radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir arrested for terrorism

Radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, once imprisoned for his links to the terror group behind the Bali bombings, was arrested Monday for alleged involvement with a new militant network. His lawyer, Muhammad Ali, said the arrest took place early Monday in West Java's Ciamis district.

Bashir, 72, is best known as the founder and spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaida-linked group responsible for the 2002 bombings on Indonesia's resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, many of them Western tourists.
The fiery cleric spent several years in prison for his involvement with JI — blamed for at least three other deadly attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation — but was released in 2006.He has always denied any link with terrorists. Police arrested Bashir on Monday for alleged involvement with a new terror group discovered in westernmost Aceh province in February.

U.N.-listed terror front' group leads flood relief in Pakistan

A militant Islamist group linked to the 2008 terrorist assault on Mumbai, India, is openly distributing aid to victims of the floods in northwest Pakistan, according to members of the group.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which the United Nations listed as a terrorist front group in the wake of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, is working across the flood-hit areas, its spokesman told McClatchy. In Charsadda, a town in the northwest that suffered some of the worst flooding, JuD could be seen distributing food and running an ambulance service. The group claims to be involved purely in charity work.

Pakistan's ambivalent attitude toward violent Islamist groups, including the Afghan Taliban, has alarmed Washington and other Western allies. Last week British Prime Minister David Cameron accused Pakistan of promoting the "export of terror."Concern centers on groups such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa, widely thought to be a front for extremist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has links to al-Qaida and is now said by U.S. officials to have global ambitions. More than 160 people were killed when a group of Lashkar-e-Taiba gunmen attacked Mumbai.

Pakistani paramilitary leader killed by suicide bomber

A suicide bomber struck a vehicle carrying the chief of a paramilitary police force in Pakistan, killing him and four others in an attack that ended a relative lull in violence in a city often targeted by the Taliban.

Sifwat Ghayur, the head of the 25,000-strong Frontier Constabulary, is one of the most senior security officials to be killed by militants in the country.

The attack in Peshawar comes as Pakistan's impoverished northwest has been struggling to recover from devastating floods that have killed 1,500 people and affected millions of others, now looking for help from the government.Rescue workers frantically tried to extinguish fires that
engulfed several cars in the minutes after the bomb attack near a major market in the center of Peshawar, which was wracked by bombings late last year but has been relatively quiet in recent months.Ghayur was killed along with his driver and three bodyguards, said Shafiullah Khan, a senior police officer. The explosion also injured 11 other people, he said.

Rockets hit Israel; one dead in Aqaba

Rockets from Egypt’s Sinai, where Islamist militants have operated in the past, hit Israel’s and Jordan’s Red Sea port resorts on Monday, killing a Jordanian civilian and injuring three others, Jordanian and Israeli police said.

A Jordanian interior ministry source said one of the four injured when a rocket exploded near a five-star hotel in Aqaba, later died from his injuries.There was no word of casualties in the adjacent Israeli port and holiday resort of Eilat, police said. Aqaba and Eilat lie on the narrow northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba, an extension of the Red Sea, with Sinai stretching west and south of Eilat.
Jordanian Minister of State Ali al-Ayed said the kingdom would continue its “fight against terrorists who undertake callous attacks that targets innocent people.”Israeli President Shimon Peres condemned the rocket fire and said Israel and Jordan, who made peace in 1994, were “partners in the uncompromising struggle to eradicate terrorism.”

US sanctions Iranians said to support terrorism

The United States announced new Iran sanctions Tuesday, targeting senior officials of three organizations for alleged support of terrorist groups, including the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Treasury Department, which announced the sanctions, also named 21 companies that it said are, in effect, front companies for Iran in its pursuit of illicit weaponry, including nuclear arms.By publicly naming the companies, the government said it was making it easier for U.S. companies to comply with their legal obligation not to do business with the Iranian government.Taken together,
the actions reflect an Obama administration strategy of ratcheting up economic and political pressure on Iran to limit its support for Islamic extremism in the Mideast. A parallel goal is to coax Iran into international negotiations over its nuclear program.

Confessed Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad's Connecticut home put on auction block for $213K

The Connecticut home of the man accused of trying to detonate a car bomb in Times Square went on the block Saturday but didn't find a bidder. "I wanted to buy it and fix it up for my grandson, but I could build this house for $100,000," Phillip Plante, a local resident told the New Haven Register.

The bank that foreclosed on the modest, two-story home in Shelton, Conn., where confessed bomber Faisal Shahzad lived with his family, hoped to recoup the $213,000 mortgage. Shahzad stopped making payments on the 1,300-square-foot home last summer - right around the time authorities believe he went to Pakistan for terrorism training.One potential bidder
thought the house was overpriced, especially with broken windows and siding that was stained with mildew and dried yolks from eggs tossed at the house, the newspaper reported.

3,433 killed in 215 suicide hits since Lal Masjid operation

The suicide bombings that rocked the four provinces of Pakistan in the wake of the Lal Masjid episode touched alarming heights in 2007, averaging more than one hit a week as the country’s military and intelligence establishment gradually lost control of the extremist jehadi networks and their leaders.

Terrorism experts say Pakistan has been turned into the suicide bombing capital of the world, especially in the aftermath of the Lal Masjid action, with the security forces, especially the Army and the police, frequently being targeted by human bombs.

While Benazir Bhutto’s tragic murder on December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi was the most high-profile suicide attack that year, the people of Pakistan suffered 56 suicide hits between January and December, mostly targeting the security forces.

Police arrest third suspect in alleged Jewish terrorist affair

Israeli security forces on Sunday arrested a second man suspected of assisting alleged Jewish terrorist Chaim Pearlman in stabbing several Arabs in East Jerusalem

over an extended period of time. The suspect was released several hours after being taken into custody.

Far-right activist Pearlman, 29, was arrested in July for allegedly stabbing two Palestinians to death in 1998 and for a string of attacks on other Palestinian victims.
The Shin Bet two weeks arrested Jerusalem resident David Sitbon, 28, for allegedly supplying Pearlman with a weapon. It is unclear what type of weapon he allegedly provided Pearlman and whether it was used in the attacks under question.

Kashmiris killed in recent weeks of violence

The death toll from recent weeks of violence in Indian-administered Kashmir has risen. When security forces opened fire on hundreds of marchers in Pampore on the weekend, four people died. Four others died in a blast at a police station that had been set alight by nearby residents. A teenage girl was also hit by rifle fire on the weekend when police tried to stop demonstrators who were marching in the town of Khrew.

Police were forced to flee as residents, angered at the shooting, bore down on them.

Khrew has been one of the hotspots of violence in the Srinagar area where people have been protesting for weeks against Indian rule.The clashes, which are centred on the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley,
have been in defiance of state imposed curfews and the presence of Indian security personnel.