Free Republic

An al-Qaida-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters raged across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence. The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, issued a statement on a Web forum vowing to continue its holy war against the West. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified. The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross"...

Just in. I am looking at a picture of the WTC with smoke pouring out of the western tower. Looks like a huge amount of damage. Debris raining down on people in the street.

Alongside posters of Gandhi and John Lennon, covers of "Time" magazine, and a life-size cutout of the Three Stooges dressed in caps and gowns, social studies teacher Michael Palermo's ground rules for classroom behavior are prominently tacked on the classroom wall. The first rule: Respect People and Opinions. Palermo teaches at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia-a suburb of Washington, D.C., and a short distance from the Pentagon, where five years ago one of the hijacked jets crashed during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Yorktown students were deeply affected by 9/11-many of their parents work at the Pentagon-and...

Excerpt - (CNN) -- As part of its coverage of the fifth anniversary of 9/11, CNN Pipeline will stream CNN's television coverage of September 11, 2001, in real time, as the events of the day unfolded. The free replay on Monday will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET, minutes before the first plane hit the World Trade Center in New York. ~ snip ~

The suicide bomb attack on Ahmed Shah Masood, the leader of the Afghan opposition, has dealt a deadly blow to world attempts to hold the Taleban in check. The “Lion of Panjshir”, feared dead by Washington and Islamabad, may yet be clinging to life; but the attackers, by reaching his stronghold, have shredded his mantle of invincibility. He has been the last of the commanders still holding out against the Islamic extremists. From his stronghold in the Panjshir Valley, where he once fought off more than a dozen Soviet offensives, he has kept alive the resistance to a regime ...

Here are some links from the FR archives in observance of the fifth anniversary of 9/11/2001 - Threads list of several breaking news items - Latest Articles The first post reporting the attacks by OldEconomyBuyer - World Trade Center Posted on the first anniversary - Associated Press newswire - September 11, 2001 - Chronology of news alerts, bulletins and flashes

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Opposition leader and former defense chief Ahmed Shah Massood was injured and his close aide was killed Sunday in an explosion in northern Afghanistan, said Hajji Kahar, an opposition spokesman. Two men from Algeria posing as journalists apparently hid the explosive device in their camera, Kahar told The Associated Press in a satellite telephone interview from Khodja Bahauddin in northern Takhar province, where the explosion occurred. It's not clear whether the two men with the camera were killed. It's believed they were suicide bombers. "There was a lot of noise and smoke," said Kahar. Massood ...

Attack close of the US embassy in Kabul: several victims KABUL - a booby-trapped car exploded Friday close of the American embassy in Kabul making several victims, according to a correspondent of AFP on the spot and organizes it. The attack occurred on the round not Massoud, in the east of the capital, with a few tens of meters of the embassy of the United States, from which the access is protected by barriers. "the number of victim seems high", indicated to AFP a police officer on the spot, without being able to give more precise assessment. At least...

Excerpt - The airline terror plot to blow up at least seven transatlantic jets was intended to mark the fifth anniversary of September 11, intelligence sources have revealed. But it was not executed because its alleged conspirators were too 'inexperienced' to carry it out. The claims, by senior Pakistani security officials, came as Scotland Yard requested more time to question 23 of the 24 suspects arrested since last week. The officials also alleged that many of those held learnt how to handle weapons and bomb-making training by reading textbooks. A highly placed source said: 'Look at their ages ... their...

Its scope was ruthlessly ambitious, causing destruction officials say would have been "unimaginable." The alleged plot to take down several U.S.-bound planes with liquid explosives appears to be unlike anything the world has seen in years. Counterterrorism officials said Thursday the London plot appears to bear the fingerprints of al-Qaida, and may have been "the Big One" they have been dreading since Sept. 11, 2001, particularly as the five-year anniversary of the carnage approaches. More than 20 people have been jailed, terror threat levels have been raised to some of their highest levels, and hundreds of flights have been canceled...

Threat Level Change for the Aviation Sector The U.S. threat level is raised to Severe, or Red, for all commercial flights flying from the United Kingdom to the U.S. The U.S. threat level is raised to High, or Orange for all commercial aviation operating in the U.S., including international flights. Flights from the U.S. to the U.K. are also Orange. All travelers on commercial U.S. carriers and on all flights into the U.S., please be advised of the following changes to airport screening procedures: NO LIQUIDS OR GELS OF ANY KIND WILL BE PERMITTED IN CARRY ON BAGGAGE. ITEMS MUST...

Police statement on airline bombing plot LONDON (Reuters) - Following is the full text of a statement issued by London Deputy Commissioner, Paul Stephenson on Thursday morning: "We are confident that we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction and commit mass murder. The Commissioner has been fully briefed and he is at New Scotland Yard today. He and I want to pay tribute to officers from the Met's Anti-Terrorist Branch and the security services for the work they have undertaken to disrupt these activities. We believe that the terrorists' aim was to smuggle...

The Department of Homeland Security is taking immediate steps to increase security measures in the aviation sector in coordination with heightened security precautions in the United Kingdom. Over the last few hours, British authorities have arrested a significant number of extremists engaged in a substantial plot to destroy multiple passenger aircraft flying from the United Kingdom to the United States. Currently, there is no indication, however, of plotting within the United States. We believe that these arrests have significantly disrupted the threat, but we cannot be sure that the threat has been entirely eliminated or the plot completely thwarted....

A major terrorist plot to blow up planes in mid-flight has been disrupted by police, Scotland Yard says. It is thought the plan was to detonate explosive devices smuggled on board aircraft in hand luggage. During the night, police arrested a number of people in London after a counter-terrorist operation they said had lasted several months. Police believe the attacks would have been particularly targeted at flights from the UK to the US. The Department for Transport said security at all UK airports has been increased. Passengers on all flights will not be allowed to take any hand luggage on...