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BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military said Thursday the man claiming to be the new al-Qaida in Iraq leader is Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Egyptian with ties to Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said al-Masri apparently is the same person that al-Qaida in Iraq identified in a Web posting last week as its new leader — Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, a nom de guerre. Al-Muhajer claimed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a June 7 U.S. airstrike, and vowed to avenge him in threatening Web statements...

/begin my summaryN. Korea: Japan's Fuji TV Airs Video of Kim Jong-Chol Touring Germany Kim Jong-chol and his girl Japan's Fuji TV aired video footage recording the activities of a man thought to be Kim Jong-chol, Kim Jong-il's second son and his alleged successor. Two prior American classmates of Kim Jong-chol at a Swiss private school were sure that the man in the footage is Kim. In the video, a man of about 5' 8'' in height, was taking pictures or enjoying concerts with four or five other people. It was filmed between June 3rd and 7th before the opening...

CAIRO, Egypt - The new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq vowed to defeat "crusaders and Shiites" in Iraq, and he said "holy warriors" there were stronger than ever, according to a Web statement posted Tuesday — the first from the new terrorist leader. The statement appeared one day after the group announced that a man identified by the nom de guerre Abu Hamza al-Muhajer would succeed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as its leader. The Jordanian-born militant died June 7 in a U.S. airstrike on a safehouse in Baqouba, north of Baghdad. "It's no secret the ferociousness of the battle that is...

Updated: 14:59, Monday June 12, 2006 Al Qaeda has named a successor to Iraqi terror leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who was killed in an American air strike last week.A militant called Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajer has been named on a website used by the Islamist terrorists.More follows...

Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) insists she has no plans to run statewide anytime soon, but it’s conventional wisdom in Washington and California that her centrist voting record and leadership spot on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence make her a prime candidate to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). The announcement that she had launched a political action committee, SecureUS, earlier this month only fueled the speculation. So far, however, Harman is not biting. “What I’m trying to do is make my best contribution for taking back the agenda in the House of Representatives and the Senate,” Harman said yesterday between...

ANC leader tainted by trial By Christopher Munnion in Johannesburg (Filed: 03/06/2005) South Africa's establishment was thrown into disarray yesterday after Jacob Zuma, an ANC leader tipped to succeed President Thabo Mbeki, was implicated in the corruption trial of a flamboyant businessman. A close friend and financial adviser to Mr Zuma was found guilty in Durban High Court of soliciting bribes from a French company to pay the deputy president to help win a contract for business with the South African navy. Judge Hilary Squires said he found "convincing and overwhelming evidence of a corrupt relationship" between the convicted man,...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Ramallah (AsiaNews) – The new chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) vowed to crack down on armed groups operating in Palestinian areas in order to smooth the way for a January 9 presidential election to find a successor to Yasser Arafat. “We have to move on to a new era,” he said and “we will act firmly against anyone who violates the law so that we can make the citizens feel secure.” Mr Abbas also urged Israel to halt “aggressive” military action in the West Bank and Gaza to help him restore order before the...

/begin my translationJapanese mag. Aera: In N. Korea, Kim Jong-chol To Be The Successor "We are instructed to put comrade (Kim) Jong-chol into 6-month training at Advanced Party Academy after he finishes his internship at Organization Guidance Dept. of the Party." While it has been confirmed that Ko Yong-hee(age:51), a wife of N. Korean leader Kim Jong-il, died of heart failure on the dawn of Aug. 13, (Japanese) weekly news magazine Aera, published by Asahi Shimbun(a major Japanese daily,) reported on its latest edition(dated Sept. 6) that it had obtained (N. Korean internal) documents which indicate that Kim Jong-il's...

McGreevey's Successor a Veteran of Political Wars By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD Published: August 15, 2004 EAST ORANGE, N.J., Aug. 13 - Just a few weeks ago at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Richard J. Codey and other current and former politicians took stock of the bubbling scandals this summer in Trenton and played the old parlor game "What if?" "He always talked about being governor, and when we were in Boston one scenario was what if McGreevey resigned," said Brendan T. Byrne, the former New Jersey governor and an ally of Mr. Codey. Mr. Byrne said Mr. Codey left...

Mugabe collapse sparks speculation over his successor By Basildon Peta, Southern Africa Correspondent 29 October 2003 The health of President Robert Mugabe is failing and he is positioning his favourite, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to take over, according to sources in Zimbabwe. The 79-year-old president's health is said to have been deteriorating for several months, but speculation increased after reports that he collapsed at the weekend after attending a relative's wedding in southern Zimbabwe. Senior sources in Zanu-PF and his spy agency, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) admitted that Mr Mugabe had recently suffered a minor stroke but said he had recovered...

Aznar ready to quit as his successor wins party backing By Isambard Wilkinson, Madrid Correspondent (Filed: 02/09/2003) The Spanish prime minister, José María Aznar, who supported the war in Iraq against enormous domestic opposition, had his hand-picked successor endorsed by his party yesterday, clearing the way for him to stand down. Mr Aznar, a former tax inspector who has served as prime minister for seven years but has been promising to step down for the past 18 months, named his deputy, Mariano Rajoy, to take over from him in elections next March. José María Aznar [right] and Mariano Rajoy When...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Gray Davis will be the first statewide elected official in California history to face a recall election. Last night, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley certified the recall, which could come as early as Sept. 23. That would give potential candidates until Saturday to make up their minds. Clouding the process is a dispute that erupted yesterday among lawyers and elected officials over a long-held presumption that the recall election would include a vote for a replacement if Davis were unseated. The once lightly regarded Republican-led Davis recall petition drive turned into a tidal wave that generated nearly...

AUGUSTA - Although it's hard to find many who are willing to confirm it publicly, some Republicans are privately outraged that Gov. Angus S. King chose not to endorse GOP candidate Peter Cianchette as his successor. And the stakes were high - not only for Cianchette, but also John Baldacci, the Democratic candidate in a group of four contenders for the Blaine House. King is the most popular and successful unenrolled politician in modern Maine history and his endorsement could have galvanized a section of independent voters. (Your kidding me!) Since the unenrolled vote is expected to be pivotal...

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Wednesday, October 16, 2002 TEL AVIV — Osama Bin Laden appears to be dead but his colleagues have decided that Al Qaida and its insurgency campaign against the United States will continue, Israeli intelligence sources said. Al Qaida terrorists have launched a new campaign of economic warfare and are targeting shipping in the Middle East, according to U.S. intelligence officials. The Israeli sources said Israel and the United States assess that Bin Laden probably died in the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan in December. They said the emergence of new messages by Bin Laden are probably...

VATICAN CITY (AP) _ Genoa's cardinal, who is often mentioned as a top candidate to succeed Pope John Paul II, has been chosen by the pontiff to head the Milan archdiocese, a prestigious and highly visible posting. The Vatican said Thursday that John Paul named Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi to replace Cardinal Maria Martini, who is retiring because of age. Martini, 75, has been serving in Milan, Italy's financial and business capital, since in 1979. Tettamanzi, 68, is considered a moderate and a rising figure in the Italian Church and seen by many observers as a strong candidate to replace John...

The Kuwaiti daily al-Seyassah on Friday quoted a Palestinian diplomatic source in Abdu Dhabi as saying that Palestinian Authority information and culture official Yasser Abd Rabbu has achieved one of his closest steps towards leading the Palestinian people in succession of Yasser Arafat after the US President George Bush launched the "count down" process to alienate him from the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority. The source disclosed that Abd Rabbu's shares increased with the Americans and the Europeans in a sudden way following Bush's speech, but Sharon and his aides prefer the chairman of the Palestinian protective security department in...