"A housewife dismissed yesterday allegations that her husband, Azmi Salleh, 42, who was arrested in Philippines with over 100 Malaysian passports in his luggage, was a member of any militant groups or had connections with the al-Qaeda movement or Osama bin Laden. Jelima Mat Wahid, 38, when met at her house in Kampung Sena Rendang, Marang, near here said her husband owned the Al-Abrar Travel Agency here, which organises private haj services for Malaysians, reported the The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"The Abu Sayyaf, a rebel group of a few hundred men which has been linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, is the biggest security threat to the Philippines, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said. Communist guerillas and kidnap-for-ransom criminal gangs formed the next most potent security problem, he said on Friday. Businessmen have said an overall perception that crime was rampant and the threat posed by the Abu Sayyaf and by other criminal gangs were the main reasons for dwindling investment," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Between five and eight suspected Islamic militants with alleged links to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network evaded a police sweep and slipped out of Singapore, elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew said in an interview transcript released yesterday. Singapore in December detained 15 suspected members of a radical South-East Asian Muslim group called Jemaah Islamiyah. Officials linked the group to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization, and said members planned to bomb Western embassies, US Navy ships and other targets in Singapore," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"A gang of teenagers in south China’s Guangxi region accidentally set off a home-made bomb, toppling a three-storey residential building and killing six people, state media reported yesterday. The blast happened on Tuesday in Rongxian county when the youngsters, all middle-school students, mishandled an explosive they planned to use to get revenge against a rival gang," reported the AFP news service.
"Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani was quoted yesterday as saying the Bonn pact that sidelined him when it set up Afghanistan’s new government was a scandalous trick by the United Nations. Rabbani, who raised concern with his reluctance to step aside gracefully and hand power to Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai at the UN-brokered peace talks in December, said that foreign troops would not be tolerated in Afghanistan for more than one year. We were tricked by UN representatives. Fateful decisions were taken in Bonn in the absence of field leaders who dedicated their lives to defend this country’s honour and destiny," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai made his first official visit to Pakistan, heralding a new era in relations with the Taliban’s former backers. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf pledged his support for the new Afghan leadership at a joint press conference with Karzai. He gave his “complete assurance Pakistan will remain with Afghanistan in all its endeavours to improve the lot of Afghanistan," reported the AFP news service.
"Ariel Sharon, who failed to win US support for a boycott of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, continued his visit to the United States yesterday as Israeli tanks remained in an autonomous West Bank village. And as Washington and Europe aired different views on how to deal with the Middle East conflict, Israeli public radio reported that Sharon and US officials had agreed to study a plan for international aid to the population of the occupied Palestinian territories. On Friday, it was disclosed that France had proposed holding elections to strengthen the legitimacy of Arafat’s Palestinian Authority and recognising a Palestinian state as a starting point for peace talks. Despite its refusal to completely sideline Arafat, the United States swiftly dismissed the ideas," reported the AFP news service.
"The European Union’s external relations commissioner, Chris Patten, has accused the US administration of pursuing an absolutist and simplistic foreign policy, a British newspaper reported. He criticised US President George W. Bush for branding Iraq, Iran and North Korea an axis of evil. Patten called on Europe’s 15 member states to put aside wariness of angering the United States and speak up, forging an stance of their own on issues," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A terror attack on New York using a Hiroshima-sized nuclear bomb would kill more than a quarter of a million people and leave hundreds of thousands sick, according to a computer estimate published in yesterday’s British Medical Journal," reported the AFP news service.
"The most senior Taliban official yet to fall into US hands was being held in Kandahar yesterday after officials said the ousted Afghan regime’s foreign minister, a close ally of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, had turned himself in. A Pentagon spokesman said former Taliban foreign minister Mullah Abdul Wakil Muttawakil turned himself in voluntarily," reported the AFP news service.
"Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf said Indian intelligence agencies are suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of reporter Daniel Pearl, The Washington Post reported yesterday. Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter, went missing in the southern city of Karachi on Jan 23 as he attempted to make contact with radical Islamic groups. It’s very much a possibility that it has been done by the Indians, orchestrated by the Indians. That’s what we are looking into, Musharraf said," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The United States has moved to quell growing fears in Russia and China over its military buildup in Central Asia, saying it does not seek to create permanent military bases in the region. The promise was expected to address concern expressed by some officials in Russia and China that the US military buildup in Afghanistan and surrounding countries as part of the US-led war on terrorism could be permanently altering the geostrategic situation in the region," reported the AFP news service.
"Two Palestinian gunmen sprang from a car and sprayed automatic gunfire at Israelis outside a military base in this southern desert city Sunday, killing two women soldiers and seriously wounding five people before they were shot dead by the troops. In apparent retaliation for the shooting, Israeli warplanes and helicopters struck the main Palestinian security installation in Gaza City. In reaction, the U.N. envoy to the region, Terje Roed-Larsen, condemned the Israeli strike in a statement, expressing outrage over such a heavy bombardment so close to civilian areas and U.N. offices," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Afghan authorities say the former Taliban foreign minister, held by the US military after he reportedly gave himself up, should be put on trial to answer for crimes committed during the Islamic militia’s hardline rule. The surrender of Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil has raised hopes that other Taliban leaders may turn themselves in. Muttawakil, the highest Taliban official known to be in custody, surrendered on Friday to Afghan authorities in Kandahar and is being questioned at the southern city’s US-commandeered airfield, US military officials said," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"When Afghanistan’s 87-year-old former monarch Mohammad Zahir Shah ends nearly three decades in exile and returns home next month, one of his first decisions will be where to live. He has a wide choice in the palace compound in Kabul, some occupied, but tenants such as former president Burhanuddin Rabbani, the ethnic Tajik leader who ruled during the mujahideen years from 1992 until 1996 when the hardline Taliban militia took power, may have to move on," reported the AFP news service.
"A senior leader of Indonesia’s largest Muslim group called on the government yesterday to detain local militants suspected of having terrorist links, saying the country’s image was being hit by its inaction. The comments by Masduki Baidlowi, deputy secretary-general of the 40-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), provide political cover to President Megawati Sukarnoputri and mark the first sign that part of the moderate mainstream wants Jakarta to get tougher. Other moderate groups have warned of a general Muslim backlash should Megawati crack down on local Islamic extremists," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Kidnappers of a South Korean national and a Filipino businessman have demanded a halt to Philippine military pursuit operations to pave the way for negotiations, an official said," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Yemen will shortly deport as illegal residents 101 foreigners, including seven French, six American and six British citizens, who have been studying at Islamic schools, an Interior Ministry official said here yesterday," reported the AFP news service.
"Aftab Ansari alias Farhan Malik, the main suspect in last month’s attack on the American Centre in Calcutta, has been deported to India from Dubai," reported the dpa news agency.
"The Bush administration is engaged in a major Iraq policy review that may result in massive military action against the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The administration expects to complete the long-delayed Iraq policy review by the time Vice-President Dick Cheney makes his Middle East tour next month, so that he can outline American plans to Arab leaders, said senior US officials. Under consideration is a military campaign, probably relying heavily on air power and potential defections within the Iraqi military," reported the AFP news service.
"Anger is mounting in the Arab world over Israel’s actions against the Palestinians, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher warned on Saturday, stressing the need for the US to take a more balanced position in the conflict. There is a growing anger in the Arab world against the Israeli actions a fact which (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon should take good notice of," reported the AFP news service.
"In a major success for the military-backed government, security forces killed the leader of Algeria’s most radical insurgency group in an assault on his hideout near the capital. Antar Zouabri, leader of the Armed Islamic Group, and two other insurgents were killed on Friday after security forces threw grenades into the home of one of the men in Boufarik, roughly 25km south of Algiers, a military official said," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Israel unleashed its second air strike in as many days, hitting Palestinian security headquarters in Gaza City on Monday, while the defense minister declared that Palestinian militants had raised the stakes in the Mideast conflict by firing new, longer-range rockets into Israel. The Islamic movement Hamas fired a pair of Qassam-2 rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel on Sunday, digging large craters in two farm fields," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Terrorists planned to launch a synchronised wave of attacks in December against US embassies and businesses in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, a news report said yesterday. The Straits Times newspaper cited a 15-page document allegedly discovered by Indonesian security forces and entitled Jihad Operation in Asia which said three-man teams were working with members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a South-East Asian network believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda group, to prepare the attacks.
"A Malaysian arrested in the Philippines last week with 104 passports has no links with terrorist networks and was merely a travel agent arranging visas as claimed, Philippine immigration officials said yesterday, reported the AFP news service.
"Singapore stuck to its hard line against headscarf-wearing Muslim schoolgirls yesterday by suspending a third child from class. Two other Muslim girls were suspended on Feb 4 for wearing headscarves to class," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A grenade explosion in the capital of Indonesia’s restive province of Aceh injured 12 people yesterday, just two hours before US ambassador Ralph Boyce arrived for a two-day visit," reported the AFP news service.
"Christian and Muslim leaders from Indonesia’s eastern Maluku islands yesterday began talks to end three years of sectarian bloodshed in which some 5,000 people have died," reported the AFP news service.
"Innocent people were more likely to be sentenced to die in America in areas that zealously used the death penalty, had higher black populations and where judges faced political pressure, according to a study released yesterday," reported the Reuters news agency.
"An aunt of the main suspect in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl spoke with her nephew by telephone and pleaded with him to turn himself in. Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh and his aunt talked by cellphone last Tuesday, and she told him she was in police custody and urged him to turn himself in, Pakistan's Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi expressed regret that Malaysia has been labelled as supporting or having links with Islamic radical organisations in the United States due to the past association of a former leader of the country with these organisations. On Wednesday, the chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, was reported to have said that a former Cabinet minister had been funding organisations in the United States which may have links with certain extremist groups elsewhere," reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"A suspected al-Qaida member blew himself up Wednesday after being cornered by Yemeni security forces, police said. A police statement said that Sameer Mohammed Ahmed al-Hada, aged 25, was killed after trying to flee from Yemeni security forces who had staked out his house," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"The FBI-issued a public warning Monday of a possible terrorist attack against the United States or U.S. interests in Yemen. It identified 17 men believed to be involved in the plans. The warning identified the possible ringleader as Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei, a Yemeni citizen born in 1979 in Saudi Arabia. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said al-Rabeei is believed to have links to al-Qaida but is not believed to have been involved in the attack against the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden in October 2000 that killed 17 U.S. sailors," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"The Government will ban the latest edition of Newsweek magazine because it carries the photograph of Prophet Muhammad, an insensitive move that also contravenes the country’s laws. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Malaysian law prohibits photographs or paintings of Prophet Muhammad or other prophets in any publication. We will not allow that particular edition of Newsweek to hit the streets in our country," reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"Philippine Government troops hit the Abu Sayyaf group and followers of a detained Muslim leader with mortars and gunfire yesterday in a renewed offensive that has killed at least 10 guerillas, military officials said. The soldiers began fresh assaults this week on the islands of Jolo and Sibago following recent rebel attacks that have killed at least 11 Filipino soldiers on Jolo. Sibago is off the coast of Basilan island, where the Abu Sayyaf is holding an American missionary couple and a Filipino nurse. On Tuesday, a few Americans in civilian clothes were photographed brandishing rifles in front of a bank here, where they escorted a comrade. The unusual sight of armed Americans drew small crowds of onlookers and criticism," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Israeli forces killed five Palestinian policemen in the Gaza Strip yesterday after threatening to carve security zones in Palestinian areas to protect Israeli cities vulnerable to attack by a new missile. The army said anti-terror raids on Palestinian-ruled Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, and Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya further north, were a response to Sunday’s unprecedented launch of two Qassam-2 rockets by the militant group Hamas. This is very serious escalation, Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner said of the missile launches. The Palestinians started this fire and we are going to put it out. Before the raids, the United States said Israeli attacks in heavily populated areas were counter-productive, a rare rap on the knuckles from Washington for Israel," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A US Air Force cargo plane crashed in Afghanistan yesterday, injuring eight members of its crew in a sharp reminder of the risks involved in the ongoing campaign to eliminate the al-Qaeda terror network," reported the AFP news service.
"Pakistani police arrested their prime suspect in the kidnap of American Daniel Pearl on Tuesday, and said British-born Islamic militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh had told them the reporter was still alive. Karachi police chief Tariq Jamil said that soon after being arrested Sheikh Omar had indicated he knew where Pearl was," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Rescue workers began bringing down bodies yesterday from the wreck of an Iranian airliner which crashed on Tuesday in mountains southwest of here, killing all 117 people aboard, a local official said," reported the AFP news service.
"John Walker Lindh, who fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan, pleaded not guilty yesterday to a 10-count indictment that includes charges he conspired to kill Americans abroad," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A former student claiming to have a bomb held nearly two dozen students and an associate professor hostage in Connecticut USA before releasing them unharmed, authorities said. The suspect, identified only as a recent graduate, freed the hostages a few at a time throughout Tuesday evening. He was taken into custody about an hour after the last student was released unharmed. The suspect ordered one of the hostages to call the station, demanding that a statement, be read over the air. The statement, which station spokeswoman Karen Mateo described as rambling and anti-Semitic, was not broadcast," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Britain’s Queen Elizabeth bestowed an honorary knighthood on former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani yesterday, praising his pivotal role after the Sept 11 attacks. Giuliani was awarded the honour at Buckingham Palace. He dedicated the knighthood on behalf of the people of his city," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US Special Forces will begin deploying to an island in the southern Philippines on Sunday, where they will train Filipino soldiers fighting a Muslim extremist group holding two American hostages. Amid protests against their presence, officials stress US soldiers will only be training and will not fight in this former American colony," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"British-born Islamic militant Sheikh Omar told a Pakistani court yesterday that abducted US journalist Daniel Pearl was dead and admitted responsibility for the kidnapping. I know he is dead. I will not defend the case, a source quoted Omar as telling the anti-terrorism court in this southern city during a brief remand hearing, more than three weeks after Pearl went missing," reported the AFP news service.
"US aircraft over southern Afghanistan have scattered US$100 bills tucked into envelopes bearing a picture of President George W. Bush, witnesses said yesterday. Some of the envelopes were carried by the wind and fluttered to earth over this Pakistan border town, sending people scrambling for the cash," reported the Reuters news agency.
"German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer followed British Foreign Minister Jack Straw to this city yesterday as Europe tries its hand at ending the vicious cycle of Israel-Palestinian violence. The back-to-back visits by the two foreign ministers have kept alive perceptions of a divergence between the United States and Europe over how to handle the Middle East Crisis following a high-level EU meeting at the weekend in which it called for less stress on security and more on a political solution," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A US base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, housing al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees came under attack on Wednesday. A suspected member of Osama bin Laden’s terror network was killed in the confrontation," reported the AFP news service.
"Intelligence obtained during interrogations of Taliban and al'Queda prisoners led the Federal Bureau of Investigation to issue a new security alert on Monday, naming Yemeni national Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei as a possible mastermind of new terrorist attacks against the United States," reported the AFP news service.
"U.S. pilots want to carry guns. The nation’s two biggest pilots unions, representing the overwhelming majority of commercial aviators, want the authority to carry guns. But their employers, the big airlines, say it adds needless risk and is unnecessary in light of other planned security enhancements," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The Pentagon and the CIA have begun preparations for an assault on Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power later this year according to US and diplomatic sources. The campaign would probably be led by a 200,000-strong force which would invade from Kuwait. President George W. Bush’s war Cabinet agreed at a meeting in late January that the policy of containment had failed and that active steps should be taken to topple the Iraqi leader," reported the AFP news service.
"Australia’s conservative government drew fire yesterday for what the opposition called its lying and spying to bolster public support for a hardline policy against asylum seekers to help win last year’s general election. Damning reports presented in parliament revealed that government claims of boatpeople throwing children overboard to blackmail Australia into accepting them and of sewing up their children’s lips during detention centre protests were false. There was quite a clear and deliberate attempt by the federal minister and the state minister to demonise and severely slur the hunger strikers,' reported the Reuters news agency.
"Launching his defence against charges of war crimes, Slobodan Milosevic justified his actions in the Balkans as a struggle against terrorism, and said he was a victim of twisted facts and terrible fabrication," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"US Special Forces will begin deploying to an island in the southern Philippines on Sunday, where they will train Filipino soldiers fighting a Muslim extremist group holding two American hostages. Amid protests against their presence, officials stress US soldiers will only be training and will not fight in this former American colony," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"British-born Islamic militant Sheikh Omar told a Pakistani court yesterday that abducted US journalist Daniel Pearl was dead and admitted responsibility for the kidnapping. I know he is dead. I will not defend the case, a source quoted Omar as telling the anti-terrorism court in this southern city during a brief remand hearing, more than three weeks after Pearl went missing," reported the AFP news service.
"US aircraft over southern Afghanistan have scattered US$100 bills tucked into envelopes bearing a picture of President George W. Bush, witnesses said yesterday. Some of the envelopes were carried by the wind and fluttered to earth over this Pakistan border town, sending people scrambling for the cash," reported the Reuters news agency.
"German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer followed British Foreign Minister Jack Straw to this city yesterday as Europe tries its hand at ending the vicious cycle of Israel-Palestinian violence. The back-to-back visits by the two foreign ministers have kept alive perceptions of a divergence between the United States and Europe over how to handle the Middle East Crisis following a high-level EU meeting at the weekend in which it called for less stress on security and more on a political solution," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A US base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, housing al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees came under attack on Wednesday. A suspected member of Osama bin Laden’s terror network was killed in the confrontation," reported the AFP news service.
"Intelligence obtained during interrogations of Taliban and al'Queda prisoners led the Federal Bureau of Investigation to issue a new security alert on Monday, naming Yemeni national Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei as a possible mastermind of new terrorist attacks against the United States," reported the AFP news service.
"U.S. pilots want to carry guns. The nation’s two biggest pilots unions, representing the overwhelming majority of commercial aviators, want the authority to carry guns. But their employers, the big airlines, say it adds needless risk and is unnecessary in light of other planned security enhancements," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Australia’s conservative government drew fire yesterday for what the opposition called its lying and spying to bolster public support for a hardline policy against asylum seekers to help win last year’s general election. Damning reports presented in parliament revealed that government claims of boatpeople throwing children overboard to blackmail Australia into accepting them and of sewing up their children’s lips during detention centre protests were false. There was quite a clear and deliberate attempt by the federal minister and the state minister to demonise and severely slur the hunger strikers,' reported the Reuters news agency.
"The Pentagon and the CIA have begun preparations for an assault on Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power later this year according to US and diplomatic sources. The campaign would probably be led by a 200,000-strong force which would invade from Kuwait. President George W. Bush’s war Cabinet agreed at a meeting in late January that the policy of containment had failed and that active steps should be taken to topple the Iraqi leader," reported the AFP news service.
"Launching his defence against charges of war crimes, Slobodan Milosevic justified his actions in the Balkans as a struggle against terrorism, and said he was a victim of twisted facts and terrible fabrication," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Indonesian police tightened security yesterday in Ambon, eastern Maluku’s main city, as Muslim and Christian leaders started a peace campaign aimed at ending three years of violence that has killed thousands," reported the Reuters news agency.
"American troops could die in bomb attacks by Abu Sayyaf guerillas during operations against the extremist group in the southern Philippines, a US official warned yesterday. But US embassy charge d’affaires Robert Fitts stressed that casualties would not deter the 660 US soldiers from helping Manila rid itself of the al-Qaeda linked terror network," reported the AFP news service.
"Slobodan Milosevic yesterday called former US president Bill Clinton and other western leaders to come to testify at his war crimes trial as he kept up his attack on Nato’s 1999 air war against Yugoslavia. Outlining his defence, the former Yugoslav president presented over a hundred photographs to the UN tribunal of burnt corpses, slain children, razed homes and bombed bridges that he said were targeted by Nato air strikes. Milosevic repeated that the alliance was responsible for atrocities before calling on Clinton, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, his predecessor Helmut Kohl and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan among others to take the stand," reported the AFP news service.
"A playful kitten is the first-ever cloned cat, researchers said on Thursday. Headed by Dr Mark Westhusin of A&M’s veterinary medicine school, the project is the first reported success in cloning dogs or cats, which has been long discussed for pet owners," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"The Canadian leader of a cult, which believes in UFOs, predicted on Thursday a human clone would be born within two years, despite the best efforts of the US government to block such Frankenstein-style activities. Former sports reporter Claude Vorilhon, 55, now known as cult chief Rael, has said a programme by the human cloning company he founded was back on track to clone a person after pressure from the US government stopped a first attempt last year," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Senior security officials of the Afghan interim administration assassinated aviation and tourism minister Abdul Rahman, interim leader Hamid Karzai said yesterday. In a statement read out on his behalf by Culture Minister Sayed Raheem, Karzai said four people had been arrested, among them two military generals. Another three had escaped to Saudi Arabia with Afghans making their annual pilgrimage to Mecca, he said, adding the Saudi authorities had been asked to repatriate the fugitives," reported the AFP news service.
"Israel has agreed to include Palestinian detainees in a prisoner exchange deal with Hizbollah, the leader of the group said on Thursday. They agreed in principle. The difference now hinges on numbers. The disparity is huge between what we are asking and what they propose, said Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, reported the Reuters news agency.
"US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Thursday delivered his recommendation to President George W. Bush for all US spent nuclear waste to be deposited at a facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The president will now decide whether the site is adequate for the millions of gallons of spent nuclear material, despite vociferous opposition by Nevada residents and lawmakers," reported the AFP news service.
"The US Congress announced on Thursday that it was opening an investigation into alleged intelligence failures relating to the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on US targets. The House and Senate intelligence committees will appoint former CIA inspector general Britt Snider to oversee the probe of the intelligence services’ activities before and after Sept 11," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli forces swept through a West Bank village early yesterday, killing a Palestinian, hours after Palestinians set off a huge bomb in Gaza, destroying a tank and killing three soldiers, threatening a new round of escalating violence. The bomb, estimated in media reports as 100kg, blew the turret off the tank, a heavily armoured Israeli-made Merkava-3, witnesses said. It was the first time such a tank has been badly damaged in battle, including years of service in Israel’s guerilla war in Lebanon, which ended in May 2000," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"An Australian soldier fighting with the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan was killed in a land mine explosion overnight, the government said Sunday, announcing the country's first fatality in the war against terrorism. The soldier, who was not identified but was a member of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR), died in southern Afghanistan late Saturday night of wounds received from what was believed to have been an anti-vehicle mine," reported Associated Press news agency.
"Suspected Muslim guerillas bombed a market and exploded a grenade in a cinema in the southern Philippines yesterday, killing four civilians, as US special forces arrived in the area for military exercises. Local officers said the Abu Sayyaf guerillas, believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden and the target of the six-month-long US-Philippine manoeuvres, could be responsible. But they had no evidence and said they did not know if the attacks were linked to the joint exercises with the Americans. Dozens of people were injured in the blasts," reported the Reuters news agency.
