Free Republic

Saudi authorities have arrested nine American citizens among 33 "terror" suspects rounded up over the past days, the Saudi Gazette newspaper reported on Jan. 31. Four Americans were arrested on Jan. 25 and five others over the past four days, the paper reported citing an unidentified source.

The son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is among 19 Americans being referred to criminal trial for allegedly receiving foreign funds illegally and being involved in banned activity in Egypt, several news agencies reported Sunday.

Egyptian investigating judges on Sunday referred 43 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, to trial before a criminal court for allegedly being involved in banned activities and illegally receiving foreign funds. The decision is likely to further sour relations between Egypt's military rulers and the United States, the Arab nation's chief western backer for more than 30 years. The referral is the latest development in a long-running row between Washington and Cairo over an Egyptian crackdown on U.S.-funded groups promoting democracy and human rights.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Three Americans arrested in Afghanistan were on a self-appointed counterterrorism mission that included holding eight inmates in a private jail, a senior official said Thursday. U.S. officials identified one of the men detained Monday in a raid in Kabul as Jonathan K. Idema, a purported former Green Beret who claims to have links with Afghan militia forces. The American military has warned that Idema had been posing as a U.S. military or government employee. Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said the three men had, along with four Afghans also arrested Monday, "formed a group and pretended they...