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SENIOR AL QAEDA COMMANDER ABU SAEED AL-MASRI KILLED IN PAKISTAN - SECURITY OFFICIAL

C.I.A. Outlines Pakistan Links With Militants By MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT WASHINGTON — A top Central Intelligence Agency official traveled secretly to Islamabad this month to confront Pakistan’s most senior officials with new information about ties between the country’s powerful spy service and militants operating in Pakistan’s tribal areas, according to American military and intelligence officials. The C.I.A. emissary presented evidence showing that members of the spy service had deepened their ties with some militant groups that were responsible for a surge of violence in Afghanistan, possibly including the suicide bombing this month of the Indian Embassy in Kabul,...

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden wanted to introduce himself to America with an ABC television interview months before al Qaeda bombed two U.S. embassies in Africa, the interviewer testified on Tuesday. Former ABC correspondent John Miller, testifying at the first Guantanamo war crimes trial, also recalled comparing bin Laden with U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt as he made small talk during filming of the May 28, 1998, interview at an Afghanistan mountain hideout. It was a rare opportunity for an American journalist, and Miller detailed a movie-thriller route to get to bin Laden, complete with...

He told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "We have various options. The Nuremberg Trials are certainly an example of the kind of tribunal that we could move forward with. I don't think we'd have any difficulty in devising an international -- internationally supported mechanism that would mete out justice. There's no problem there." McCain said it would be a "good thing to reveal to the world the enormity of this guy's crimes, and his intentions, which are still there."

Hundreds of Nato troops took positions across North Waziristan Tuesday, creating panic among the already terrified tribesmen. Nato troops started arriving near the border Monday night. “Some of them had been brought in choppers and others by armoured personnel carriers. The troops had also shifted heavy arms and ammunition including tanks, heavy machineguns and artillery to the border,” said Haji Yaqub, of Ghulam Khan. The troops deployed near Ghulam Khan, Saidgai, Shawal and Mir Safar. “They started setting up bunkers very close to the border while gunship helicopters are continuously hovering over the border,” said Roohullah, of Saidgai. He said...

On this morning's "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, co-host Tiki Barber asked guest Dan Rather about his feelings regarding the recent Jesse Jackson imbroglio -- his "off mike" comments about Barack Obama. In the middle of praising Jackson, Rather referred to Barack Obama as "Osama bin Laden" -- and none of the four "Morning Joe" co-hosts reacted (nor did Rather). Question: Will the media pick this up? That one of America's longest-serving network news anchors referred to one of the two presidential candidates as the world's most wanted terrorist -- and no one in the room seemed to notice? While you...

Bin Laden happy with September 11 toll, war court told Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:58pm EDT By Jim Loney GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden's driver overheard the al Qaeda leader saying he was happy about the death toll in the September 11 attacks and thought the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was shot down, according to one of the driver's interrogators. The evidence by Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent, was meant to support the case by prosecutors at the Guantanamo Bay war crimes tribunal that the driver, Salim Hamdan, was close to...

For all the lengths Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have gone to in keeping their hunt for a vice president under wraps, their deliberations are in some ways being conducted in plain sight. There was McCain appearing yet again with Mitt Romney, his former rival for the Republican nomination and a frequently mentioned possibility for the No.2 spot, in Detroit on Friday. In Indiana last week, Obama appeared with two of the more speculated-about names on Democratic lists, Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana and former Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia. McCain walked down the steps of his chartered airplane...

LONDON/ISLAMABAD: US troops in Afghanistan are massing close to the border with Pakistan, poised to launch bombing raids on suspected terrorist bases in the North Waziristan region, British and Pakistani newspapers reported on Wednesday. Nine American soldiers were killed and 15 wounded on Sunday in an attack by militants on a US base in Kunar province, close to the Pakistani border. The Times said troops have been airlifted from the village of Lowara Mandi and that heavy artillery and armoured vehicles were also being moved into position for possible cross-border attacks on Pakistan. The paper said US admiral Michael...

Speaking at a Town Hall Meeting in New Mexico today, July 15, 2008, Sen. John McCain vowed to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice for his crimes against America . . . (see video) This is the kind of grit and determination we need in a President. John McCain has the resolve and strength to do what he says he will do. This is the McCain who needs to keep showing up at every appearance on the campaign trail, and on television.

Today we know less about Barack Obama than we thought we did six months ago. The presumed body of knowledge about Obama is being challenged and it is appearing to be an enormous deception. What is so alarming is the breadth of the deception, and the apparent unwillingness of the press to expse it. Let's start off with Obama's health records. Our local press dutifully declared in a headline "Obama Fit as a Fiddle". They made scant mention of the fact that this finding was based only a review of Obama's medical history, not a a comprehensive set of records...

Pakistan's foreign minister has ruled out allowing military personnel from the United States, or any other foreign country, in Pakistan to hunt for Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda. Mahmoud Qureshi said on Saturday that the country's new government had not permitted any such operation in the regions bordering Afghanistan and never would. Bin Laden is widely believed to be hiding somewhere in the Afghan-Pakistan border region. "Our government's policy is that our troops, paramilitary forces and our regular forces are deployed in sufficient numbers. They are capable of taking action there. And any foreign intrusion would be counter-productive,"...

Just three weeks ago, Barack Obama said that he would not make Osama bin Laden into a martyr if he was captured. Today, Barack Obama suddenly thinks the death penalty would be keen-o for OBL. In a CNN interview, Obama said that although he was not a death-penalty proponent, he thinks murdering 3,000 Americans justifies an execution: If he was captured alive, then we would make a decision to bring the full weight of not only US justice but world justice down on him. And, uh, I think that I’ve said this before, that I am not a cheerleader for...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said in interview excerpts released Friday that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden should be executed, if he is ever captured alive. The Illinois Senator told CNN that the accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks in 2001 should face the full weight of US and global justice. "I am not a cheerleader for the death penalty," Obama said. "I think it has to be reserved for only the most heinous crimes, but I certainly think plotting and engineering the death of 3,000 Americans justifies such an approach." "I think this is a big hypothetical, though...

The picture is an affront to all victims of terrorism and their families. Abu Qatada, Al Qaeda's ambassador in Europe, strolls along a busy London street fondling his prayer beads. This is the first photograph of the greying 47-year-old - said to be one of the world's most dangerous terrorist suspects - since he was released on bail from a high-security prison after the courts ordered that he could not be sent home to Jordan because his human rights would have been breached. Scroll down for more ABU QATADA Out on bail: Prayer beads in hand, Al Qaeda's ambassador in...

The US did not okay an Israeli attack on Iran, Prof. Anthony H. Cordesman, a former Pentagon official and currently the top defense analyst at the ABC TV network, said Monday. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen. [file] Photo: AP Slideshow: Pictures of the week Cordesman was speaking during a meeting with Israeli defense analysts held by the Institute of National Security Studies. He said IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi was notified of the United States' stance regarding Iran by Admiral Michael Mullen, the top uniformed US Army officer, during Mullen's visit here at the end...

THIS is Osama Bin Laden’s school-age son, who yesterday continued his father’s mission of hate — with a POEM begging for Britain to be destroyed. Baby-faced Hamza Bin Laden — just 16 but already dubbed the Crown Prince of Terror — also ranted in his evil ode that the US and our other allies must be wiped out. The teen declared in his demented ditty to fanatics: “Accelerate the destruction of America, Britain, France and Denmark.”

KABUL (AFP) — More than 400 militants have been killed in a 10-week-old operation led by US Marines in a remote district of southern Afghanistan but fighters remain in the area, a commander said Wednesday. Marines and British troops under NATO command in late April launched the operation in Garmser district, a desert area on the border with Pakistan described as an insurgent "logistics hub" and key opium-producing centre. Citing figures from Helmand province governor Gulab Mangal, the Marine commanding officer in Afghanistan told reporters in Kabul that more than 400 Taliban-linked rebels had been killed.

Barack Obama Hasn’t a Clue: Here’s Why Osama Bin Laden Hasn’t Been Captured Yet by Gregory D. Lee It has been six-and-a-half years since the 9/11 attacks and Osama Bin Laden still hasn't been captured. Is Barack Obama correct when he claims that President Bush lost sight of OBL when military operations shifted to Iraq? Or is OBL dead from liver disease or from the intense bombing of Tora Bora during the Afghanistan offensive? From my personal experiences living and working in Pakistan for four years in the mid-1990s as a Supervisory Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration, I'm...

Senator Obama is obviously confused about what the United States Supreme Court decided and what he is calling for. After enthusiastically embracing the Supreme Court decision granting habeas in U.S. civilian courts to dangerous terrorist detainees, he is now running away from the consequences of that decision and what it would mean if Osama bin Laden were captured. Senator Obama refuses to clarify whether he believes habeas should be granted to Osama bin Laden, and instead cites the precedent of the Nuremburg war trials. Unfortunately, it is clear Senator Obama does not understand what happened at the Nuremburg trials and...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says if Osama bin Laden is captured alive, the United States should bring him to justice but in a way that avoids turning the al Qaeda leader into a martyr. After meeting with a team of top foreign policy advisers including some seasoned diplomats he has newly recruited, Obama hit back at efforts by his Republican rival John McCain to paint him as weak on fighting terrorism. McCain allies, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, have accused Obama of having a "pre-9/11 mindset" that focuses on law enforcement in fighting the...

<p>As reported in the news today by multiple sources, Democrativ presidentail candidate, Barack Hussein Obama, blaims the GOP and the adminstration and its war fighting policies for Osama Bin Laden, the Al Quida leader behind the 911 attacks, still being alinve.</p> <p>Well, Hussein, this really cuts the cake.</p>

President George W Bush has enlisted British special forces in a final attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden before he leaves the White House. Defence and intelligence sources in Washington and London confirmed that a renewed hunt was on for the leader of the September 11 attacks. “If he [Bush] can say he has killed Saddam Hussein and captured Bin Laden, he can claim to have left the world a safer place,” said a US intelligence source. Bush arrives in Britain today on the final leg of his eight-day farewell tour of Europe. He will have tea with the Queen...

President George W Bush has enlisted British special forces in a final attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden before he leaves the White House. Defence and intelligence sources in Washington and London confirmed that a renewed hunt was on for the leader of the September 11 attacks. “If he [Bush] can say he has killed Saddam Hussein and captured Bin Laden, he can claim to have left the world a safer place,” said a US intelligence source. Bush arrives in Britain today on the final leg of his eight-day farewell tour of Europe. He will have tea with the Queen...

It isn’t a comforting assessment. A "Western military analyst" was asked earlier this month about reports that Osama Bin Laden was seen on the slopes of K2, the world’s second highest mountain on the Pakistan-China border, or in the Khost Province of Afghanistan. His response was stunning in both its honesty and its frustration. "We don't have a clue where he is or even may be,” the Western analyst said. “We have had NO credible intelligence on OBL since 2001. All the rest is rumor and rubbish either whipped up by the media or churned out in the power corridors...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan released footage Thursday of a skirmish with militants that Pakistan claims resulted in an airstrike on one of its border posts that killed 11 of its troops. Pakistan has lodged a strong diplomatic protest, saying the bombing of the Gorparai post in the Mohmand frontier region on Tuesday was a "completely unprovoked and cowardly act." But Pakistani and U.S. officials have given widely differing accounts of an event that threatens to further sour relations between key allies in Washington's war on terror. To support its version, the coalition on Thursday took...

Osama Bin LadenNew Yorkers last week were reminded yet again of the horrors of the 9/11 attacks, when their unrepentant mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was arraigned in Guantanamo Bay. But few are aware a tectonic shift has taken place beneath the headlines in the wider war on terrorism - one that could within a few years significantly lower the likelihood of terror returning to New York's streets. This is because Al Qaeda has gotten itself into hot water with the one constituency that it cannot afford to alienate: its fellow jihadists.Over the past year, a growing number of very consequential...

June 9, 2008 WASHINGTON — The leader of the tribal confederation that has fought to expel Al Qaeda from most of Iraq's Anbar province is offering his men to help gin up a rebellion against Osama bin Laden's organization along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

An al-Qaeda trainer and explosives specialist involved in a range of European terrorist networks has been killed in Pakistan, the latest senior militant to die in a spate of controversial American missile strikes. The death two weeks ago of Abu Suleiman al-Jazairi, a highly experienced Algerian militant, has been confirmed only in the last few days, intelligence sources in Pakistan and Western Europe told The Observer. Al-Jazairi, thought to have been 45, died along with at least 15 others when the house in which he was staying in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal district was hit by a missile fired from a...

The Dubai-based satellite TV channel Al Arabiya is reporting that Osama Bin Laden has been “located� by US intelligence in the Kararakoram – a mountain range that spans the borders of Pakistan, the Kashmir and China (K2 is one of its peaks). There was a high-level meeting last week in Doha including General Petraeus, the recently-nominated Commander of US Central Command, and it is reasonable to speculate that – if there is truth to the report – it flows from this piece of intelligence. Whether the latest rumours about the tracking down of OBL have foundation will quickly become apparent....

Dubai, 26 May (AKI) - (by Hamza Boccolini) - Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is hiding in the K2 mountains of northern Pakistan, according to sources cited by Arabic television network, Al-Arabiya. The report also said US secret services were intending to drive him out in a major military operation encompassing the northern Pakistani tribal areas. According to the Dubai-based network, in the past few days US security and military officials had a top-level summit at a military base in the Qatari capital, Doha, to plan an operation to hunt for the al-Qaeda leader. General David Petraeus, the US...

A top Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud has rejected reports that al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, and other leaders are hiding in his region. "The al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden is dead, and the Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, are not in our territory," he said in an interview broadcast by a satellite television network. Funeral prayers have been said for Osama bin Laden over the years with one reported by a Pakistani news organisation, and another in an Egyptian newspaper as far back as December 2001. This report quoted an official of the Taliban saying that he had suffered serious...

There’s been an intriguing series of events playing out over the past few weeks that appear to be forming a pattern. If you recall the happenings in Iraq from two years ago, Abu Musab Zarqawi was publicly sacked from his position as the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq and it took some time for the organization to name a successor: Abu Ayyub al-Masri. Al-Masri made his public debut to much fanfare in jihadi circles, but his leadership has proven quite ineffectual, to the extent that the U.S. has slashed the reward for his capture from $5 million to a...

Arab Leaders Who Collaborate with the West Are "Wolves [Preying on] Sheep" Following a general message to all Muslims, bin Laden addresses the Egyptian people, saying: "Our heroic brothers in Egypt must strive to lift the siege [on Gaza], because only they live next to [Gaza's] borders. They [must also] depose this cruel... and arrogant hard-hearted [ruler, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak]... who is like Pharaoh and Haman." In the message, bin Laden urges young Muslims "to study the reasons for the [Arab countries'] failure to liberate Palestine until now and to learn their lessons." According to him, this failure is...

Byrd endorses a shining young statesmen Tribune-Review By Salena Zito Well, his state may have gone Clinton, but he didn't. In a statement released by the Obama campaign, Sen, Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., announced his endorsement of Senator Barack Obama saying:

This afternoon, Al-Qaida's As-Sahab Media Foundation has released the second audio recording of Usama Bin Laden in the space of only three days--this time, openly addressed "to the Islamic nation." But, perhaps what is most interesting about Bin Laden's latest set of audio recordings is not what they contain--but rather, what they inexplicably lack: the English-language subtitles and matching transcript that have, until recently, been a customary feature of professional-quality As-Sahab videos. An analysis of the history of As-Sahab recordings and their evolution over time would seem to indicate that the responsibility for creating these English-language products fell largely on...

NEW YORK (AP) — Terror leader Osama bin Laden will release a new Internet message dealing with Israel and the Palestinians, a terrorism monitoring group said Thursday. The announcement of the impending comments by the head of al-Qaida was posted on Web sites often used by terror groups, the SITE Intelligence Group said. Bin Laden's statement will be titled, "The Causes of Conflict on the 60th Anniversary of the Establishment of the State of Israeli Occupation" and will be addressed to the "Western peoples," SITE said. Al-Qaida messages usually follow within 72 hours of such announcements. The terror network has...

An radical jihadist Web site has announced that a new message from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is forthcoming. A banner announcing the message says he will address the 60th anniversary of Israel. His message is titled, "The reasons for the struggle in the remembrance of the 60th anniversary of the rising of the occupier nation of Israel." Developing...

The world's most wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden, has released a new audiotape saying Muslims have a duty to wage holy war to liberate Palestinian land. The world's most wanted manThe al Qaeda chief released the tape to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel. In it, he said his terror network would continue to fight Israelis, and would refuse to give up any of the territory that should belong to Palestinians. "We will continue, God permitting, the fight against the Israelis and their allies... and will not give up a single inch of Palestine as long...

CAIRO, Egypt - Osama bin Laden vowed Friday to fight Israel for the liberation of the Palestinians, claiming their cause is at the heart of al-Qaida's holy war with the West. The terrorist leader's third statement this year was released to coincide with the Jewish state's 60th anniversary and came out as President Bush was wrapping up his visit to Israel to celebrate the occasion. "We will continue our struggle against the Israelis and their allies," bin Laden said in a 10-minute audio posted on an Internet site used frequently by al-Qaida. "We are not going to give up an...

DUBAI, May 18 (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden will issue a "very strong" statement to Muslims across the world soon, an Islamist website said on Sunday. "A very strong statement to the Islamic nation by the lion of Islam sheikh Osama bin Laden," read a banner posted on the al Qaeda-linked website. ~ snip ~

Bin Laden to issue "very strong" message: website Sun May 18, 2008 9:31am EDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden will issue a "very strong" statement to Muslims across the world soon, an Islamist website said on Sunday. "A very strong statement to the Islamic nation by the lion of Islam sheikh Osama bin Laden," read a banner posted on the al Qaeda-linked website. The website said the statement would be issued "soon", without giving further details. Such messages usually appear within 72 hours. In his latest message, posted on Friday to mark Israel's 60th anniversary, bin Laden vowed to...

Osama bin Laden released a new message on Sunday denouncing Arab leaders for sacrificing the Palestinians and saying the head of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah did not really have the strength to take on Israel. In his second audio message in three days focusing on the Palestinians, the al-Qaida leader said the only way to liberate Palestine is to fight the Arab regimes that are protecting Israel. And he called on Muslim militants in Egypt to help break the blockade of Gaza. Bin Laden said Muslims should ignore the Islamic prohibition against raising arms against fellow Muslims, claiming it...

Saw this was coming next week to my local small-time, old-fashioned movie theater. Looks fairly comical

WASHINGTON After addressing the journalists gathered at the annual Associated Press luncheon in Washington, D.C., today, Sen. Barack Obama, standing at the podium, took a few questions. The last one from the audience, delivered via AP chairman W. Dean Singleton, was related to Afghanistan, our troops to Iraq and the threat posed by, as Singleton put it, "Obama bin Laden." Obama quickly corrected Singleton. “That’s Osama bin Laden,” he said. The crowd laughed a bit. "If I did that, I am so sorry," Singleton replied. Then Obama said, “This is part of what I have been going through for the...

Obama Corrects 'Obama bin Laden' Slip April 14, 2008 2:52 PM ABC News' Sunlen Miller and Cullen Dirner Report: Sen. Barack Obama quickly corrected a slipup about his name Monday at the Associated Press' annual luncheon in Washington, DC. Dean Singleton, board chair of the Associated Press and a longtime newspaper executive, asked Obama about the possibility of shifting troops into Afghanistan to fight against the al Qaeda leader. "Can you imagine shifting a substantial number of Afghanistan -- a substantial number to Afghanistan where the Taliban has been gaining strength and Obama Bin Laden is still at large?" Singleton...

Dale Hansen of Dallas's Channel 8 News is "unhinged" about the Pacman Jones trade and believes signing Osama Bin Laden as Wide Receiver would be the moral equivalent. Video here: http://www.wfaa.com/video/index.html?nvid=239208

One of the most terrifying possibilities the world faces is that al-Qa'eda, or some other Islamist group, gets hold of a nuclear bomb. Islamist terrorists are certainly trying to obtain one: Osama bin Laden has issued a document entitled "The Nuclear Bomb of Islam", which insists it is "the duty" of Muslims to acquire a nuclear bomb in order to use "as much force as possible to terrorise the enemies of God". The Foreign Office's senior counter-terrorist official has "no doubt at all" that Islamist terrorists are actively seeking a nuclear device. "There are people" he adds dryly, "for whom...

A week before the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in February 1989...

Excerpt - DUBAI, May 16 (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden vowed in an audio tape marking Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations to continue the fight against the Jewish state and its allies and not give up an inch of Palestinian land. "We will continue, God permitting, the fight against the Israelis and their allies ... and will not give up a single inch of Palestine as long as there is one true Muslim on earth," the al Qaeda leader said in the tape posted on an Islamist website on Friday. Bin Laden said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was at the heart of...