Free Republic

The bodies of three alleged criminals are hung from two cranes in a public display in northeast Herat, Afghanistan on October 5, 2021.AFP via Getty Images The Taliban hung the dead bodies of three alleged criminals in public view in Afghanistan on Tuesday — a shocking display reminiscent of the Islamic militant group’s brutal regime of the late 1990s. The alleged criminals were killed by man after they tried to break into his home, deputy governor Mawlawi Shir Ahmad Muhajir told AFP. Their corpses were hoisted from two cranes in the Obe district in northeast Herat. The gruesome scene was...

SNIPPET: "Social media is no longer simply a fun way to share updates on the harmless idiosyncrasies of our lives. It can undermine national security, and there ought to be a more robust discussion between the Bay Area technology world and Washington on what to do about it. Cyber-terrorism, especially the potential for electronic tampering with U.S. industrial or military installations, is a paramount national security threat that Washington is working to forestall. We're all working to protect our accounts from hackers. But the cyber-threat getting far less public attention involves the social media networks we use every day and the...

MIAMI - A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated a key terrorism charge, the only one carrying a potential life sentence, against alleged al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with federal prosecutors in Miami that the charge that the U.S. citizen and his two co-defendants conspired to "murder, kidnap and maim" people overseas did not duplicate other counts in the indictment. The Atlanta-based court reversed a decision last summer by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, who said the three charges in the indictment contained nearly identical elements and could subject...

Al-Qaida's new leader in Iraq said the country's Sunni politicians were treacherous and warned of more attacks against U.S.-led forces there, according to an Internet audio tape posted on Thursday. "The fire has not and will not be put out and our swords, which have been coloured with your blood are thirsty for more of your rotting heads," said the speaker, identified in the recording as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir. "You (Sunni politicians) have lied to yourself and betrayed your nation ... You claimed you will enter the political process to ease the hardship of the Sunnis, but you were their...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday sided with the Bush administration and reversed a judge’s order that the government charge or free “dirty bomb” suspect Jose Padilla. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the president has the authority to detain a U.S. citizen closely associated with al Qaeda. U.S. District Judge Henry Floyd in Spartanburg, S.C., ruled in March that the government cannot hold Padilla indefinitely as an “enemy combatant,” a designation President Bush gave him in 2002. The government views Padilla as a militant who planned attacks on...

SPARTANBURG -- A federal judge in Spartanburg has ordered that an American citizen held as an enemy combatant in a Navy brig in Charleston should be charged with a crime or released. U.S. District Judge Henry F. Floyd ruled Monday that the president of the United States does not have the authority to order Jose Padilla to be held indefinitely without being charged. "If the law in its current state is found by the president to be insufficient to protect this country from terrorist plots, such as the one alleged here, then the president should prevail upon Congress to remedy...

<p>The New York Times' Sunday profile of accused dirty-bomb terrorist Jose Padilla reports, at age 14, he was involved in a fateful armed robbery. Padilla's accomplice fatally stabbed a Mexican immigrant, and Padilla kicked victim Elio Evangelista in the head "because he felt like it," records say.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON — Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen being held as an enemy combatant in the war on terror, continues to provide valuable intelligence to the government and will not be allowed access to a lawyer until those collection efforts cease, officials said Tuesday.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON - An associate of alleged "dirty-bomb" plotter Jose Padilla is under arrest in Pakistan and has been grilled by the FBI, a Pakistani intelligence official said yesterday.</p> <p>The suspect was identified as Benjamin Ahmed Mohammed, the Pakistani official said, although FBI and CIA officials refused to confirm the report.</p>

<p>A Palestinian living in Florida is believed to be an "important link" to "dirty bomb" suspect José Padilla and a possible al Qaeda network in the United States, it was reported last night.</p> <p>Padilla contacted Adham Hassoun of Sunrise, Fla., while overseas and was apparently headed to see him when he was arrested, CBS News reported.</p>

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The American accused of plotting a radioactive "dirty bomb" attack on the United States met repeatedly with top al Qaeda leaders after Sept. 11 to discuss a range of attack options including blowing up hotels and gas stations, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.The officials said Abdullah al Muhajir, a New York native born as Jose Padilla, traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan several times after the Sept. 11 attacks on America to meet senior al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah for talks on plans for other types of attacks.Muhajir first met Zubaydah, a member of Osama bin Laden's...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Attorney General John Ashcroft on Monday overstated the potential threat posed by ''dirty bomb'' suspect Abdullah Al Muhajir, Bush administration and law enforcement officials said Tuesday.</p> <p>Ashcroft's remarks annoyed the White House and led the administration to soften the government's descriptions of the alleged plot. ''I don't think there was actually a plot beyond some fairly loose talk and (Al Muhajir's) coming in here obviously to plan further deeds,'' Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told CBS on Tuesday.</p>