Muqtada al-Sadr
Delivers First Speech Since Najaf Clashes -Demands That Americans Leave Iraq
May 16, 2005 11:13 am US/Eastern NAJAF, Iraq (AP) Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr came out of hiding Monday for the first time since his fighters clashed with American forces in August, delivering a fiery speech demanding that coalition forces leave Iraq and that Saddam Hussein be punished.
Al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric whose militia battled U.S. forces in Baghdad and Najaf last year, held a press conference in his father’s home in this holy Shiite Muslim city, 100 miles south of Baghdad. Al-Sadr criticized the American-led occupation and called for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.....
Al-Jazeera Reporter Denies Terror Ties- Interviewed Osama bin Laden After 9/11 (5/16/05)
May 16, 2005 8:14 am US/Eastern MADRID, Spain (AP) A war correspondent with the Arab satellite television station Al-Jazeera denied charges Monday that he had close ties to the alleged leader of a Spanish al-Qaida cell accused of helping plot the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
Tayssir Alouni, 50, who interviewed Osama bin Laden shortly after the attacks, is among 24 suspects on trial here in Europe’s biggest court case against radical groups with alleged ties to the terror network...
'TERROR' BANKS TARGETED IN 9/11 SUIT (5/16/05)
By CARL CAMPANILE
May 16, 2005 -- The family of the late FBI counterterrorism chief John O'Neill and others affected by 9/11 have filed new court papers accusing several Islamic banks, charitable groups and individuals with being part of a terror-racketeering conspiracy.
Among those named in the complaints are the Al Baraka Bank in Saudi Arabia and its chairman, Saleh Abdullah Kamel; the Dubai Islamic Bank in the United Arab Emirates; The Muslim League; and the Faisal Islamic Bank of Sudan.
All are accused of conspiracy to murder, providing material support to terrorists, money-laundering and fraud.
O'Neill, who had just retired from the FBI, was the new head of security at the World Trade Center and died when terrorists destroyed the towers.