www.mirror.co.uk

THREE men were last night being quizzed after two home-made bombs were found at a flat near Gatwick airport.

The suspects, European nationals, had been arrested following a raid on the property above an engravers.

They were held under the Terrorism Act. Residents were evacuated as bomb disposal experts moved into the flat at Langley Green, just a mile from the West Sussex airport.

More than a dozen police officers were guarding the home early this morning.

The street it is in was cordoned off.

Inspector Geoff Sharnock of Sussex Police, said: "During a routine inquiry two viable improvised explosive devices were found. They are effectively home-made bombs. Three men have been arrested.

"One was held elsewhere and two were arrested at the flat.

"Bomb disposal experts have gone into the premises to make sure the devices were safe."

Detective Chief Inspector Tony O'Donnell added: "At this stage it's too early to speculate on the motive behind this incident.

"It has not been linked to any target or specific organisation."

Another officer said: "As a result of an incident in Langley Green three Europeans have been taken into custody under the Terrorism Act.

"Police are dealing with the matter in connection with other agencies."

The suspects were being questioned by police and immigration officers.

This is the latest in a series of arrests close to or at Britain's major airports.

Last month a man from Venezuela was accused of smuggling a live hand grenade through customs at Gatwick, which is now patrolled by armed police worried about terror attacks.

www.newsday.com March 17, 2003, 3:38 PM EST

EDs: ADDs new grafs 4-5 with prosecutor's comment on extradition time frame wkfonsyr

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) _ Authorities in New York were seeking the return Monday of a 29-year-old man arrested in California on a warrant accusing him of the October 2000 arson at a Syracuse synagogue.

Ramses Uthman, formerly of Syracuse, was arrested near North Hollywood, Calif., on Friday, culminating a two-year investigation.

Onondaga County Assistant District Attorney Rick Trunfio said local authorities were waiting to see whether Uthman would contest his extradition back to New York to face charges of arson, burglary, criminal mischief and four counts of committing a hate crime.

If Uthman waives his extradition rights, he would likely be returned to New York within a week, Trunfio said. If Uthman contests his return to New York and insists on a hearing, it could be months before he is brought back, he said.

Prosecutors were trying to schedule court time Tuesday before a Los Angeles Municipal Court judge to consider Uthman's extradition, Trunfio said.

Uthman, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Venezuela of Palestinian parents, is accused of breaking into the Temple Beth El late on the night of Oct. 13, 2000, and using gasoline to start a fire in an area of the building he apparently believed was used for worship.

The fire heavily damaged a first-floor business office in the back of the building and an office above that was used by the Montessori Learning Center. The blaze caused about $700,000 in damage. No injuries were reported.

First U.S. Assistant Attorney Joseph Pavone said Monday that federal officials will await the outcome of the state case against Uthman before deciding whether to pursue a federal prosecution of the accused arsonist as well.

If convicted of the most serious state charges, Uthman could face up to 25 years in prison. He could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of a federal hate crime in the temple fire, Pavone said.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said at a news conference Sunday that authorities spent two years looking for Uthman in Michigan, Florida and California.

Uthman evaded authorities by using a number of aliases, different passports and numerous addresses to stymie his trackers. Witnesses also were reluctant to cooperate early on because they were "quite fearful" of Uthman, Fitzpatrick said.

Authorities got a break in the case in November when they learned that Uthman had been treated at a hospital in Dearborn, Mich., for burns he reportedly suffered in the temple fire, Fitzpatrick said.

Further progress in the case was made last month when an unindicted co-defendant began cooperating with authorities, providing information about how and why the temple was set ablaze, Fitzpatrick said.

Uthman has a lengthy local criminal record, but officials said they were not aware of any prior hate crime incidents. There was no evidence to link the temple arson to any wider plot, said Fitzpatrick, but the investigation by state and federal officials was continuing.

The co-defendant will face charges at a later date, Fitzpatrick said. Authorities declined to release his name, however, The Post-Standard of Syracuse said police records identified him as Ahed Shehadeh and said he drove Uthman to and from the synagogue.

Shehadeh, 29, formerly of Syracuse, is serving a 2- to 4-year prison term in Collins Correctional Facility in Erie County on an unrelated burglary conviction.

www.syracuse.com March 17, 2003 By Jim O'Hara Staff writer

A Syracuse-area man of Palestinian descent has been charged with torching the Temple Beth El on the city's East Side nearly 2½ years ago.

District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick on Sunday afternoon announced from Temple Beth El the arrest of Ramses "Ramzi" Uthman on a battery of charges in connection with the October 2000 fire at the site.

Uthman was arrested late Friday in Los Angeles on a warrant issued after an Onondaga County grand jury recently returned a sealed indictment in the case.

"This was a crime not only against the people of this congregation, but against all Jewish people of Central New York and, frankly, against all people of faith," Fitzpatrick said.

According to the district attorney, a second man who is cooperating with authorities also was involved in the fire and will face charges at a later date. Fitzpatrick declined to release his name.

A Syracuse police report identified the second man as Ahed Shehadeh, 29, formerly of 339 Elm St., who is serving a 2- to 4-year prison term in Collins Correctional Facility in Erie County on an unrelated burglary conviction.

Shehadeh's mother, Nihad Shehadeh, said Sunday evening that FBI agents interviewed her son about a month ago about the temple arson, and her son admitted his involvement in the incident.

"He was the driver. Ramzi asked him for a ride. He didn't do anything," said Nihad Shehadeh. She said she did not know why the fire was set.

Nihad Shehadeh said maybe the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was the motivation behind the crime. But she said her son, a Palestinian who was born in Jerusalem and is a Muslim, did not hate Jewish people.

Fitzpatrick declined to provide many details, but said the evidence would show that the fire was a hate crime that targeted the temple at 3528 E. Genesee St. because it was a place of worship for Jewish people.

Uthman is accused of breaking into the temple late on the night of Oct. 13, 2000, and setting fire to a substantial amount of gasoline in an area of the building he apparently believed was used for worship. The fire heavily damaged a first-floor business office in the back of the building and an office above that was used by the Montessori Learning Center. The blaze caused about $700,000 in damage.

"This act of terrorism did not just affect our congregation and Jewish people. We look at this as an act of terrorism against the American freedom of speech and religion," said Steven Davis, president of the temple congregation who was present Sunday as Fitzpatrick announced the new developments in the case.

Davis and other temple officials all expressed relief Sunday that an arrest had been made, providing some closure to the case.

Glenn Suddaby, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, said federal officials will await the outcome of the state case against Uthman and will then pursue a federal prosecution of the accused arsonist as well.

Fitzpatrick said Uthman could face up to 25 years in state prison if convicted on the top charges in the local indictment. Suddaby said Uthman could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of a federal hate crime in the temple fire.

Uthman, 29, for whom authorities listed local addresses on Merriman Avenue in Syracuse and Paddle Wheel Road in Camillus, is expected to be in court in Los Angeles later today to face the beginning of an extradition proceeding to get him back in Syracuse to face the charges, Fitzpatrick said.

According to the prosecutor, Uthman was born in Venezuela of Palestinian parents but is a naturalized citizen of the United States who has lived in the Syracuse area for some time.

The investigation had law enforcement officials looking for Uthman in Michigan, Florida and California before Uthman was taken into custody by federal marshals at a gas station in North Hollywood Friday night. Uthman was taken into custody without incident although he apparently was aware police were looking for him, Fitzpatrick said.

"This was one of the most intensive and relentless investigations in the history of law enforcement in Central New York," Fitzpatrick said, noting officials had pursued hundreds of leads before a "real break" in the case came in November.

That was when a witness provided the FBI with "significant intelligence" allowing authorities to begin making progress in the case after two years, Fitzpatrick said, without elaborating. That information was shared with Suddaby who brought in Fitzpatrick for a meeting at the U.S. Attorney's Office to plan a strategy, the DA said.

That led officials to Dearborn, Mich., in January, Fitzpatrick said. It was then that officials learned Uthman had been treated at a hospital in Dearborn for burns he reportedly suffered in the temple fire, the prosecutor said.

Fitzpatrick said Uthman reportedly suffered "substantial burns" when the gasoline fumes surrounding him ignited when he allegedly set fire to the temple. Although neighbors reported hearing what sounded like an explosion the night of the fire, authorities later said that may have resulted from the ignition of vapors from the accelerant that had built up in the office and not from any bomb or explosive device.

Further progress in the case was made last month when the unindicted co-defendant began cooperating with authorities, providing information about how and why the temple was set ablaze, Fitzpatrick said.

With that information, Senior Assistant District Attorney Edward McQuat presented the case to a county grand jury and a sealed indictment was delivered to County Judge Joseph Fahey, who signed the warrant for Uthman's arrest, Fitzpatrick said.

Uthman is charged with second- and third-degree burglary, third-degree arson and second-degree criminal mischief, all as hate crimes, which increases the level of severity of the charges. He also is charged with second- and third-degree burglary, third-degree arson, second-degree criminal mischief, first-degree reckless endangerment, aggravated harassment and criminal interference with a religious service.

Fitzpatrick Sunday said the evidence will show Uthman targeted the temple because it was a place of worship, but he declined to say if Temple Beth El was a specific target or just a target of convenience for the accused arsonist.

Fitzpatrick said Uthman has a lengthy criminal record locally, but officials are not aware of any prior hate crime incidents. He also said there was no evidence to link the temple arson to any wider plot, but that the investigation by state and federal officials was continuing.

Shortly after the fire, then U.S. Attorney Daniel French said authorities did not have a specific motive for the attack but were looking at whether the temple had been targeted because of the recent outbreak of violence between Israel and Palestinians in the Middle East.

Asked why it took so long to find Uthman, Fitzpatrick Sunday characterized the defendant as a "very clever adversary" who had a number of aliases, a number of different passports and numerous addresses. Officials were looking for him here and in Florida, California and Michigan because of family connections, he said.

Fitzpatrick also said witnesses had been reluctant to cooperate early on because they were "quite fearful" of Uthman. With Uthman now in custody, Fitzpatrick bluntly warned Sunday that any attempt to intimidate or harm any witnesses in the case would be vigorously prosecuted as well.

He also noted that state law allows for a death penalty murder prosecution if someone were to kill a witness in the case.

The blaze led to a massive investigation by up to 150 agents from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Syracuse Police Department. It also led city police and sheriff's deputies to begin guarding synagogues in the area 24 hours a day until Gov. George Pataki ordered state police to take over those duties throughout the county.

Fitzpatrick said Sunday Pataki recently inquired about the progress of the investigation.

"I applaud the unyielding efforts of our federal, state and local law enforcement officials in securing the arrest of a suspect in the Temple Beth El fire. As prosecutors move forward with their work, it should be remembered that the sweeping Hate Crimes legislation I signed into law provides additional penalties for crimes that are motivated by religious intolerance," Pataki said in a statement Sunday.

With no leads in the weeks after the fire, federal officials offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible for torching the temple building. Fitzpatrick Sunday said he did not expect there would be any claims for the reward.

Staff writers Mike McAndrew and John Mariani contributed to this report.

www.arabnews.com Othman Tezghart, Al-Majalla

PARIS, 16 March 2003 — International terrorist Ilyich Ramirez Sanchez is better known as Carlos the Jackal. He has been in a French prison since 1994, and spoke to Al-Majalla magazine, a sister publication of Arab News, in an exclusive interview.

In the wide-ranging interview spanning two weeks, the world’s most wanted terrorist of the turbulent 70s — who executed many a PLO operation — spoke of his childhood, love won and lost, his family, his Moscow education, his support for the Palestinian cause and his conviction that he will be killed on his release from incarceration.

Carlos grew up in a socialist environment. His family had moved from the suburb to Caracas, Venezuela after the country became rich in oil.

“My mother was a very loving, intelligent housewife,” he said. “My father was an educated political activist who specialized in international law. He was a supporter of revolutions.”

His most memorable childhood moments were his first trip on an airplane, the birth of his sister and her death after just three months, the nationalization of the Suez Canal and the subsequent attack on Egypt.

His childhood dream was revolution, and his role models included Stalin, Che Guevara, Gamal Abdul Nasser, Fidel Castro, Mao Tse-tung and “my father” — all men who struggled for their countries and had visions that traversed beyond their national frontiers.

Carlos’ most important memory of his life in Moscow was “my love story with the mother of my son, my expulsion from the Venezuelan Communist Youth Movement, my expulsion with my brother and 15 other Venezuelan students from the university in Moscow and the attempt to recruit me by the Russian KGB.”

He was ousted from the Venezuelan Communist movement because he supported the idea of military struggle against Commander Douglas Bravo.

When in Moscow, he knew students from all over the world. “I also knew some Soviet citizens from different backgrounds.”

Carlos said he knew Refat Aboown, who was his classmate in Moscow. He was a secret fighter and he always wanted to remain that way.

“But most Palestinian students were from the Fatah movement.”

When and how did he become a Muslim?

“In October 1975 I was training and supervising a group of commandos who were all Muslims. We were launching an operation against the Zionists in South Africa. It was a difficult operation and we all expected to die. They told me to become a Muslim so I would join them in paradise if I died. I was very touched, and later I did convert.”

Carlos first visited France in August 1967.

“It was empty of local people because of summer holidays. Most stores were closed but it was beautiful and I loved it.

“I have a great ability to adapt and it is my nature to love people. That’s why I feel comfortable wherever I go. Cities I liked the most, other than my hometown Caracas, are London, Moscow, Budapest, Amman, Damascus, Paris and Beirut.”

Carlos said he had “only four major” love affairs.

“Whenever I remember those women, I fall in love with them again.”

If Carlos has a life after his imprisonment, he will spend it in Caracas. But he says his chances of release are slim. “Barring a direct intervention by my government to release me and respect for my civil rights, I do not see any possibility of freedom — except through military action. Since the enemy does not respect his own rules, then there is no way that I will be released by a court of law. I’m fighting a legal battle just because I like to defend my principles.”

In any case, Carlos is certain that he will be freed only to be killed by his enemies.

According to him, the French authorities made repeated attempts to encourage him to jump jail after they arrested him but he was too smart not to fall into their trap.

Given another chance, would he try to escape from prison? “I will never participate in any such attempt even if political prisoners planned it. I’m not going to put my life in danger with an attempt that could lead to my capture by my enemies. I’m sure that I’ll leave this prison one day after I get compensation for my suffering. This will not happen until there is a military operation planned from outside the prison, not inside.”

How was he drawn to the Palestinian issue? Was he influenced by the Palestinians who studied with him in Moscow?

“I first knew about the Palestinian issue in 1965. I was in Caracas at the time. My father worked as a legal consultant to a Palestinian businessman named Bashar. He told us lots of stories about events in Jerusalem in 1948 when the United Nations divided Palestine. I was 15 years old at the time and very sympathetic to the Palestinian cause because I hated the fate that befell them. My first contact with the PLO was in November 1966 in London. I had limited contacts with Palestinians when I was in Moscow. I was only interested in the Palestinian cause because of the unjust treatment they received under the occupation army. The revolutionary movement of the Palestinians also impressed me.”

The Palestinian personalities who impressed him most were Haj Abdulkader Al-Hussaini, who was the leader of Palestinian resistance inside Palestine; Lebanese leader Antwan Saadah, founder of the Syrian nationalist party, who initiated the idea of fighting against Zionism; Ezaldeen Al-Kassam and Faisal Al-Hussaini, most popular resistance fighters; Gamal Abdul Nasser, the Egyptian leader who gave confidence to the Arab world to fight against Zionism; Wadee Haddad Abo Hani, who had the strategic vision of suicide attacks; Yasser Arafat, world leader of Palestinian resistance; and Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, founder of Hamas.

He said he wrote his autobiography and put it in a secret place before he was arrested.

It will, he says, be his legacy for his children. (Part II on Sunday) Features 16 March 2003

www.chronwatch.com Posted by Cinnamon Stillwell Friday, March 1, 2003

''When war is forced upon us, we will see it through to victory. At this hour, members of our military are serving on the scattered battlefields of a new kind of war.  In Afghanistan and beyond, they’re on the trail of killers who brought death to the innocent and war to our country.  The war will go on until the terrorists who struck America are fully and finally defeated.''

President George. W. Bush ¨ ¨ ¨

     When the War on Terrorism began, President Bush warned America that this would be a war unlike any we’d fought before.  It would be a lengthy and monumental struggle, not only against terrorism, but the backward pull of Fundamentalist Islam.  Indeed, a battle between the ancient world and the West.

     This has been a difficult war for many Americans to grasp.  The battlefield stretches across the globe, from the skyscrapers of Manhattan, to the caves of Afghanistan, and from the resorts of Kenya, to discos in Bali.  Victories in such a war are often illusive and losses not incurred at home, less likely to have the impact they should.  The casualties of this war are both civilian and military, individuals and groups. Terrorist suspects are found in places as diverse as New York, Pakistan, and the cities of Europe.

     It would be much easier for Americans to follow and in turn to support this war, if our media presented it in more clear and focused manner.  If the front page of every newspaper simply featured a list of recent successes and losses, it would help put it all into perspective.  The purpose of the ''Report from the War on Terrorism'' is to fill this void. The information provided has been culled from various news sources and the report will be posted every other Friday.

2/28/03-3/13/03 Gunmen opens fire on U.S. Consulate in Karachi, 2/28/03:

Gunmen opened fire on a police post guarding the U.S. Consulate in Karachi overnight, killing two Pakistani policemen and injuring at least five others.  Police caught one of the assailants and confiscated a pistol after chasing the man through a nearby park in the southern port city.  The man was identified as an Afghan national.

9/11 hijackers’ remains identified, 2/28/03:

Forensic experts in New York have identified body parts belonging to two of the 10 hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.  Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York Medical Examiner's Office, said the identifications had been made using DNA samples provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The FBI had collected the DNA from tiny traces of skin on the steering wheels of vehicles hired by the hijackers and from hair samples recovered from their hotel rooms.

Indonesian police hand over Bashir, 2/28/03:

Indonesian police have handed over suspected terror group leader Abu Bakar Bashir to prosecutors in preparation for trial, as the Muslim cleric accused American ''infidels'' of orchestrating the case against him.  Bashir is expected to be charged with treason, which is punishable by life imprisonment, and with immigration offences.  Prosecutors have 14 days to decide what charges to bring.  Indonesian police and foreign governments say Bashir leads the Jemaah Islamiah regional terror network, which is blamed for the October 12 bombings on Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Suspected 9/11 Mastermind Caught, 3/1/03:

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States, was arrested in Pakistan.  Mohammed, who is on the FBI's most wanted list, was among three people arrested in Rawalpindi, near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.  Al Qaeda's No. 3 official, whom an Al Jazeera reporter said admitted to having planned the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, is also wanted for the bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia, the planned bombing of airplanes over the Pacific Ocean and other attacks.  The FBI bulletin said that in 2002 Mohammed met with Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen now in federal custody on charges that he planned to detonate a radiological ''dirty bomb'' in the United States.  Mohammed will be extradited to the United States, Pakistan said after his arrest.

Saudis allegedly funded Bali bombing, 3/3/03:

Washington-based Allan Gerson, who is leading a bid on behalf of September 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabian banks, charities and royal family members, said he had evidence to show Saudi Arabians gave money to terrorists in Europe who made trips to Bali.  Dr. Gerson said it was likely the European cells also helped fund the Bali attack, which killed about 190 people including 88 Australians.  Dr Gerson said he could not reveal too many details because his evidence had been uncovered through judicial co-operation with European nations.

Philippine airport blast kills at least 21, wounds 145, 3/4/03:

A bomb planted inside a backpack ripped through an airport terminal in Davao, in the southern Philippines, killing at least 21 people — including an American missionary — and injuring 145 in the nation's worst terrorist attack in three years.  The dead included an American missionary.  Three Americans — a Southern Baptist missionary and her two young children — were among the wounded.  The military suggested that the bombing was the work of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country's largest Muslim guerrilla group.  The rebels denied any involvement.  No group has claimed responsibility.  Police later arrested several men in connection with the airport bombing.  Soon after the airport explosion, a home-made bomb went off outside a health center in the nearby town of Tagum, killing one person and wounding three.

Alleged 9/11 financier also caught, 3/4/03:

The raid that resulted in the capture of al-Qaeda operations chief Khalid Shaikh Mohammed also netted Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, the alleged financier of the Sept. 11 attacks.  Al-Hawsawi, 34, is identified as a ''supporting conspirator'' in the indictment of accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the USA in the attacks.

The Saudi-born al-Hawsawi is said to have routed thousands of dollars to the Sept. 11 hijackers to fund the operation.  In the days before the attacks, hijackers allegedly wired more than $25,000 in excess money back to al-Hawsawi in the United Arab Emirates.  Along with Mohammed, al-Hawsawi and a third man, Ahmed Abdul Qadus, the CIA seized material on computer files, cellular telephones and documents that included the names of suspected terrorists.

Philippine terrorists claim link to Iraq, 3/4/03:

Islamist terrorists in the southern Philippines who have killed two American hostages in recent years say they are receiving money from Iraqis close to President Saddam Hussein.   Hamsiraji Sali, a local commander of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf on the remote southern island of Basilan, says he is getting nearly $20,000 a year from supporters in Iraq.  ''It's so we would have something to spend on chemicals for bomb-making and for the movement of our people,'' Sali told a reporter this week, renewing earlier claims of support from Iraq.  The payments, while small, provide additional evidence of a link between Iraq and the Abu Sayyaf — a group with long-standing ties to al Qaeda and its global terror network.  The boast of an Iraqi connection was taken seriously after the expulsion of an Iraqi diplomat from Manila last week amid charges he had been in contact with the Abu Sayyaf by telephone.

Suicide bombing in Haifa, Israel kills 15, wounds 40, 3/5/03:

At least 15 people were killed and more than 40 wounded, some critically, in a suicide bombing yesterday afternoon at a main Egged bus line stop in central Haifa.  The 15 killed were mostly high school and college students, including a 14-year-old American girl.  The no. 37 bus route from Bat Galim near the port to Haifa University on the top of Mt. Carmel is widely used by students.  At around 2:15 P.M., a bomb went off in the crowded bus when it stopped on Moriah St., halfway up the mountain.

The killer, a Palestinian aged 20 from the West Bank town of Hebron, was identified as Mahmoud Hamdan Selim Kawasme, member of a big Hebron clan and kinsman of a former mayor.  A note found on his body praised to heaven the al Qaeda perpetrators of the September 11 atrocities in New York.  Israel imposed a complete closure on the West Bank following the attack.

Brooklyn mosque used to funnel funds to al-Qaeda, 3/5/03:

A prominent Yemeni cleric, Sheik Muhammad Ali Hassan al-Mouyad, apprehended in Germany on charges of financing terrorism used a Brooklyn mosque to help funnel millions of dollars to al-Qaeda and boasted that he had personally delivered $20 million to Osama bin Laden.  He was arrested along with his assistant Muhammad Moshen Yahya Zayed.  The arrests in Frankfurt, represent one of the most important terrorist financing cases that authorities have built since the 9/11 attacks.  Officials in Germany are considering a request from the U.S. to extradite the two men, which Yemen has opposed.

Documents suggest bin Laden alive, 3/6/03:

Documents seized in the arrest of alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed suggest Osama bin Laden is alive and that they were in recent contact, a senior Pakistani security official.  The official said Pakistani security forces had intensified operations in the southwestern province of Baluchistan since Mohammed's arrest after reports of an al Qaeda presence, but did not elaborate.  He did not give details on what the documents contained that suggested bin Laden was still alive, but said there were other indications the al Qaeda leader survived a massive U.S. bombing campaign against al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan in late 2001.

Two of bin Laden’s sons may have been captured, 3/8/03:

The United States has refused to deny reports that two of Osama bin Laden's sons – including his heir apparent to the al-Qaeda terror network, have been captured in a gun battle with US troops.  The reports, confirmed on television by a Pakistani Government official, have intensified speculation that the US is closing in on the fugitive terrorist warlord.  The official said bin Laden's sons were shot in a fierce gunfight between al-Qaida fighters and US troops in Ribat, an area of Afghanistan near the borders with Iran and Pakistan.  It is believed Washington is incensed that the official may have spoken too early, with US special forces tracking bin Laden in tribal lands between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

U.S. forces just miss bin Laden, 3/9/03:

The hunt for al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his cohorts continued with renewed vigour in the hills of Pakistan and Afghanistan yesterday.  As a flood of new leads came in, US forces captured seven guerillas preparing to bomb coalition forces near Bagram, Afghanistan.  And a former Taliban diplomat said bin Laden, was in the southern province of Nimroz just days before US forces launched an operation to arrest him last week.  Naseer Ahmed Roohi, a former diplomat in the fallen hardline government, said he had information from reliable sources bin Laden had been in the Siakoh mountain range straddling Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The latest operation has seen US and Pakistani squads closing in.  It follows information gleaned from the arrest of bin Laden's deputy Khalid Sheik Mohammed in Pakistan.

Terrorist funding comes from South America, 3/10/03:

Radical Islamic groups in the Middle East are getting between $300 million and $500 million a year from various criminal networks in Latin America, a top US military commander said.  General James T Hill, commander of the US Southern Command in Miami, said much of this money comes from drug trafficking, arms dealing and other illegal activities.  Southern Command oversees US military relations in Latin America.

Hill said the funds are sent abroad from several Latin American areas with large Middle Eastern populations, such as the ''triple frontier'' between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, and Margarita island off the coast of Venezuela.  ''The fastest-growing religion in Latin America today is Islam,'' Hill told The Miami Herald for its Sunday editions.  ''We think that there are between 3 and 6 million people of Middle Eastern descent in Latin America.  There are radical Islamic groups associated with that population that are using it to create lots of money for their organizations.''

Train bombing in India kills 10, wounds 65, 3/13/03:

A bomb ripped through a train at a suburban station in Mumbai, India, killing at least 10 people and injuring 65.  Police Commissioner Ranjit Sharma said 15 of those injured in the latest attack were in serious condition.  The bomb exploded on a local train at Mulund station as commuters were returning home from work.  The dead included eight women and two men, said senior government official Utpal Mukhopadhyay.  There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

It came on the 10th anniversary of a dozen simultaneous bomb explosions in the city.  The targets in the serial bombings included the Stock Exchange, offices of the national airline and the state passport office.  Those attacks, by suspected Muslim militants in retaliation for the destruction of a 16th-century mosque by Hindus, killed 257 people and wounded at least 1100.  ''We had increased security because we had information that some incident of this kind could happen around the anniversary. Unfortunately, it still happened,'' said Kripa Shankar Singh, home minister of Maharashtra state.

U.S. highlights Africa terror threat, 3/13/03:

The United States has warned citizens of possible new terrorist threats in East Africa from affiliates and sympathisers of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.  The statement renewed an existing January 4 alert and added seaports to a lengthy list of possible targets.  ''Supporters of al-Qaeda and other extremists are still active in East Africa,'' it said.  The department ''believes it is prudent to alert American citizens that such information is being received so American citizens can make an informed decision whether to travel to or remain in East Africa.''