 US authorities say they have disrupted the early stages of a plot to blow up road tunnels around New York city. The alleged plot was discovered during routine monitoring of internet chatrooms used by extremist groups. Reports say one man has been arrested in Lebanon over the plot, but the FBI said it had no indication of imminent threats to New York's transport system. Plotters are thought to have discussed targets including the Holland Tunnel which links Manhattan and New Jersey. FBI agents said this was a plot to drive vehicles laden with explosives into several tunnels around Manhattan and then blow them up, the BBC's Nick Miles, in Washington, says. The FBI says that information gleaned from the internet suggests the former al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had agreed to give his financial support. I would take this story with a big dose of salt. They have lied more times than they have told the truth, so it’s a safe bet they are properly doing it again ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 09:20:00 07-07-06
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 Japan begins withdrawing its troops from Iraq, Japanese media report, ending 2-year mission |
The first batch of Japanese troops began pulling out of Iraq Friday, with about 30 arriving in Kuwait on their way home, news reports said Friday. A C-130 transport aircraft of Japan's air force carrying about 30 troops arrived at a Kuwaiti airport Friday afternoon, Kyodo News agency reported from Kuwait. Public broadcaster NHK had a similar report.Japan's Defense Agency official refused to confirm the reports, citing security.The Japanese troops have been stationed in the southern Iraq city of Samawah for about two and a half years on a non-combat, humanitarian mission.The Japanese officials say the withdrawal of all 600 or so troops will be carried out over the next two weeks.The reported pullout followed Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's announcement of plans last month to withdraw its troops....
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/07/ap/world/mainD8IN5JHO0.shtml
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Editor - 09:04:00 07-07-06
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| Confidence lags in Afghanistan as violence rises |
Islamist terrorism in Afghanistan is on the rise, aided by foreign support and by the struggles of the government in Kabul to deliver on promises of security and development, the nation's foreign minister said yesterday. "The confidence of our people in the government to protect them, especially in our southern provinces, is not strong," Rangin Dadfar Spanta said during a luncheon interview with editors and reporters at The Washington Times. This year has seen some of the bloodiest fighting in Afghanistan since a U.S.-led coalition ousted the militant Taliban regime in 2001, including a string of bombings in Kabul this week that killed one person and wounded about 60 others. Mr. Spanta, who met this week with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior administration officials, blamed both "external and internal forces" for the spike in violence. ...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060706-111854-7864r.htm
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Editor - 09:01:00 07-07-06
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| Bush takes message on the road |
Bush is meeting local leaders in Chicago in what is being seen as a part of new media strategy ahead of November's mid-terms. In a news conference at Chicago's Museum of Science he will take questions from the White House press corps, as well as Chicago media. Officials said the visit was the first in a series of similar presidential trips around the US over the summer. Mr Bush is battling low approval ratings partly fuelled by the Iraq war. "These trips are good for the president, getting out of the (Washington) Beltway, talking to people about their lives, hearing their stories, being able to share ideas with local leaders," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5158478.stm
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Editor - 08:50:00 07-07-06
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| Seven die in Baghdad gun battle |
At least seven people have been killed in Baghdad in clashes between a Shia militia group and US and Iraqi troops, police and witnesses say. Mehdi Army fighters, loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, battled troops in Baghdad's Sadr City district. Iraqi officials said about 30 people were injured. The US military said troops were carrying out a raid aimed at arresting an "insurgent leader" they blame for a series of attacks. US officials said they had captured a senior insurgent responsible for several militant cells across Baghdad. But a senior official in Moqtada Sadr's office said the intended target of the operation was Abu Dera, a senior figure in the Mehdi Army, who is still at liberty. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5156910.stm
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Editor - 08:46:00 07-07-06
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| Israeli minister hints at freeing prisoners if soldier released, rockets halted |
A top Israeli government official suggested Friday that Israel might release Palestinian prisoners as part of an Egyptian proposal to win freedom for an Israeli soldier held by militants in Gaza. Avi Dichter, Israel's minister of public security, said that once the Israeli soldier is released and militants stop rocket attacks from Gaza, "then, in a goodwill gesture, Israel, as it has in the past, knows how to free prisoners." Dichter's comments, relayed by a spokesman, marked the first time Israel has expressed willingness to free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was seized June 25 by Hamas-affiliated militants and is believed to be held in southern Gaza. Initially, Hamas militants demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. However, the group then reduced its demands, seeking only the release of several dozen female prisoners and male inmates who have served long sentences, according to a senior Hamas official...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-07-israel-gaza_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 08:43:00 07-07-06
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