Saudi Arabia bans tinted car windows
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17660835.htm
RIYADH, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia banned tinted car windows on Sunday in a move aimed at preventing militants escaping detection on the kingdom's roads.
An Interior Ministry statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency said drivers will have a maximum of a year to clear their windows -- except for one behind the driver's seat.
Many cars in the deeply conservative Muslim Gulf state have darkened windows to protect the privacy of passengers, particularly women. But officials say militants may have used tinted windows to avoid being spotted by security forces.
Sunday's decree specified that even remaining shaded passenger window must be 70 percent transparent.
Saudi Arabia has been battling a 17-month wave of violence by al Qaeda supporters who have bombed residential compounds housing foreigners, shot several Westerners on the streets and attacked state security forces.
De facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah, who said in August the kingdom had defeated the militants, described them on Sunday as "chickens with iron beaks".
Security forces arrested four suspected militants on Saturday in two separate raids in Riyadh and a village about 90 miles (140 km) north-west of the capital. One of the suspects captured in Riyadh was lightly injured in an exchange of fire.
Officials said none of the men were on Saudi Arabia's list of most wanted militants.
Web Site: Zarqawi Pledges Allegiance to Bin Laden
http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6521512
DUBAI (Reuters) - A group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and said it was in contact with al Qaeda over operations in Iraq, according to an Internet statement posted Sunday.
"We announce that the Tawhid and Jihad Group, its prince and soldiers, have pledged allegiance to the sheikh of the mujahideen Osama bin Laden," said the statement, dated Sunday and posted on several Web sites often used by militants.
Washington says Zarqawi is al Qaeda's link to Iraq but the statement was the first by the group to announce its allegiance to bin Laden's group, which carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
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