Free Republic

TG-132 SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON-- The U.S. Department of the Treasury today targeted the support network of al-Qa'ida in Iraq (AQI) by designating Syria-based Sa'ad Uwayyid 'Ubayd Mu'jil al Shammari (aka Abu Khalaf) under Executive Order 13224. E.O. 13224 targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. AQI is a Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. "We will continue to aggressively implement the international obligation to target al-Qa'ida-linked terrorists, like Abu Khalaf, who threaten the safety of Coalition Forces and the stability of Iraq," said Stuart Levey, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Abu Khalaf...

Syria demanded Wednesday that the U.S. and Iraq apologize for an American commando raid mounted from Iraqi territory that killed eight people. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad denied American claims that the helicopter raid by special forces Sunday killed a top al-Qaeda in Iraq operative who was about to conduct an attack in Iraq. "We ask of them (Iraqis) and the Americans to investigate and provide us with the background for such a criminal, terrorist act against an independent state ... (and) make an official apology for this aggression and pledge not to repeat it," Mekdad told The Associated...

Iraq has denounced a raid into Syria at the weekend, saying it does not want its territory to be used as a launch-pad for US attacks on its neighbours. Syria urged the UN Security Council to hold the US responsible for the attack, which it says killed eight civilians. And Syria's cabinet called the attack "barbaric", ordering a US school and cultural centre in Damascus to be shut. Unnamed US officials have said the operation killed a key figure involved in the smuggling of fighters into Iraq. But Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem denied the US claims calling them "totally...