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Egyptian intelligence warned American officials about a week before Sept. 11 that Osama bin Laden's network was in the advance stages of executing a significant operation against an American target, it will be reported on Tuesday (in the NY TIMES)... MORE... A senior U.S. intelligence official denied the warning was received...

New VP/longtime security chief Omar Suleiman prefers "not to use police tools"... thereby implying he just might Starting to look like the party's almost over in Cairo: popular support for the protesters is fading as the dug-in Mubarak regime offers measured concessions... whilst preparing to turn the screws- VOA: Egypt's vice president says the government will not tolerate prolonged anti-government protests in Cairo's main square, where hundreds of thousands of people gathered Tuesday in the latest effort to force the ouster of long-serving President Hosni Mubarak.  Egypt's state-run MENA news agency quotes Vice President Omar Suleiman as saying that a crisis triggered by 16 days...

Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman has ticked off the Obama administration, but the White House is sticking to its position that he's in charge of the transition to a new government that it won't determine. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs made it clear at his daily briefing for reporters that the administration strongly disagrees with Suleiman's contention that Egypt isn't ready for democracy, calling them "particularly unhelpful comments." In the language of diplomacy, that's a major slam. In case anyone doubted what that meant, Gibbs declared: "I speak for the president of the United States."

CAIRO – Egypt's government is denying that the newly named vice president was targeted in an assassination attempt. A government statement says a stray bullet from an exchange of fire between "criminal elements" struck the lead car in Vice President Omar Suleiman's motorcade as it moved through an area of disturbances on Jan. 28. The statement said Saturday that the vice president was not injured. It said there was no evidence he was intentionally targeted and referred to the shooting as a random incident.

The German diplomat who first said an assassination attempt was made on Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman has retracted his statement, CNN reported Saturday afternoon. Wofgang Ischinger, host of the Munich Security Conference taking place Saturday in Germany told CNN he "was led to believe that we had a confirmed report but in fact we didn't." The diplomat added that the information came from an "unsubstantiated source." Earlier Saturday, reports circulated through the media that an assassination attempt was made on the Egyptian vice president in recent days. The report originated from a German diplomat. According to the now-questioned report,...

(...) Under their Constitution, if a President's departure is temporary - the President will be back - then the President can deputize a VP or Prime Minister. The USA has its eyes on the current VP (Omar Suleiman) to become the head of the transitional government. Note, however, Mubarak's departure can not be characterized as "temporary." He is not coming back! If his departure from the Presidency is permanent (which this one is), then the Egyptian people, according to the Constitution, should be looking to the speaker of the People's Assembly to assume the presidency and an election must be...

Breaking News: Failed Assassination Attempt on Egyptian VP Kills Two Bodyguards, Sources Tell Fox News Only a banner so far.

Everyone in Egypt agrees on this much: The "transition" has already started. But they don't agree on what "transition" means -- or on whether it will be dictated by the "street" or choreographed by a nervous regime. Yesterday, new Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that transition talks had begun between the governing National Democratic Party and "the opposition." He also described the protesters' demands as legitimate and promised "much reform" and a referendum. The subtext: Suleiman is now in charge, and President Hosni Mubarak should be allowed to fade away "with dignity." Yet those who seek regime change won't be...

Recently appointed Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman has told state-run television that other countries should stay out of Egypt's unrest. The former general was very clear that Mubarak was not going anywhere, while making some small concessions. It is also notable that Suleiman would not rule out running for President in planned elections in September. Suleiman attempted to play to both the nationalist and pro-government sides in his interview, stating seemingly contradictory claims. This has been reported by BBC. He said that it is unlikely for Hosni Mubarak's son Gamal to run for the Presidency. He also called upon protesters...

... The White House spokesman on January 31 said the United States would accept the Muslim Brotherhood in government if it rejected violence and recognizes "democratic goals." Funny, that was the U.S. government position on Hizballah (which now rules Lebanon) and Hamas (which now rules the Gaza Strip). How did that work out? ...

Omar Suleiman assumes position vacant for 30 years after cabinet forced to resign, while Muslim Brotherhood demands transfer of power.Embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appointed his intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as his Vice-President in efforts to stem popular rage against his autocratic regime. Egyptian state television reports that Suleiman has already been sworn into office.The Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition movement in Egypt called for Mubarak to relinquish power in a peaceful manner.Suleiman is the first vice-president of Egypt to be appointed since Mubarak first took power almost thirty years ago.

Ultimate result -- 150 years of Turkish rule of Hungary

BAGHDAD – Al-Qaida in Iraq's new leader warned Shiites on Friday that "dark days soaked with blood" lie ahead and that a new campaign of attacks was under way. Later Friday, three suicide bombers blew themselves up at a sports field in a predominantly Shiite town in northern Iraq, killing at least 10 people and wounding another 120, police and hospital officials said. Only days before the warning, Iraq was wracked by the worst attack this year, a series of coordinated bombings and assassinations that killed 119 people — most of them Shiites and members of the security forces —...

In a shocking letter to his disgruntled fans, KSFO (560-AM) radio host Lee Rodgers told them he was fired from the station but probably would have quit anyway, because Citadel, owned by Farid Suleman, had pushed him toward making positive statements about Muslims.

Syrian general's killing severs Hezbollah links James Hider, Middle East Correspondent The mysterious killing last week of a top Syrian general and key aide to Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has sparked intense speculation about internal feuding within the regime’s intelligence apparatus. Syria is at a critical juncture as it pursues indirect peace talks with Israel and a closer relationship with the West, while attempting to maintain its long-standing regional alliances with Iran and the militant Shia Hezbollah of Lebanon. General Mohammed Suleiman, one of Mr Assad’s closest confidantes, was shot dead on Friday at his chalet in the prestigious...

Informed sources in London have said a top Syrian officer was found murdered on Friday night [1 August].

DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report that Gen. Muhammad Suleiman, whom a sniper shot dead in the Syrian port town of Tartus early Saturday, Aug. 2, was a shadowy figure who acted for Bashar Assad in the regime’s four most sensitive and confidential spheres: 1. He was the president’s liaison man with the North Korean government. On his frequent trips to Pyongyang, Gen. Suleiman organized the consignment of components for the plutonium reactor in northern Syria, which Israeli demolished last September, and the security of the North Korean scientists and technicians who accompanied them. 2. Muhammad Suleiman was also the president’s private...

(IsraelNN.com) Syrian President Bashar Assad's top aide and adviser, General Mohammed Suleiman, was assassinated on Friday, according to Arab news sources. Suleiman, who was also Syria's liaison officer to the Hizbullah terrorist organization in Lebanon, was shot and killed by an unidentified sniper in the Syrian port city of Tartous. Syrian authorities tried unsuccessfully to prevent publication of the news. The country's Albawaba newspaper, which reported the incident, speculated that Israel might have been behind the killing. Both Albawaba and the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper raised the issue of last February's assassination of Hizbullah second-in-command Imad Mughniyeh, who died in a...

IN A LITTLE-NOTICED DECISION in a New York courtroom on September 25, 2003, a man described as Osama bin Laden's "best friend" got some good news. U.S. District Court Judge Deborah Batts ruled that Mahmdouh Mahmud Salim could not be sentenced to life in prison. Salim--who was present at the founding of al Qaeda in 1989 and who was for years one of bin Laden's most trusted confidants--had been captured in Germany in 1998 and extradited to the United States for prosecution related to his role in the grand conspiracy that resulted in the 1998 bombings at U.S. embassies in...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's new president got a red carpet welcome Monday, but was quickly thrust into the political thicket as Hezbollah's leader warned against any efforts to disarm his Iranian-backed guerrilla group. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah delivered his stern message after military bands and an honor guard saluted President Michel Suleiman on his first day on the job. Suleiman, the former army commander, was a consensus candidate agreed on by both Hezbollah and its pro-Western political foes, but he drew pointed comments from Nasrallah after saying in his inauguration speech Sunday that there should be a dialogue over Hezbollah's arsenal....