Free Republic

27 militants held in raid  BAQUBA: Iraqi forces seized 27 Islamic militants in Baquba, 60km north of Baghdad, yesterday along with weapons and leaflets linked to the Al Qaeda network, the army said. "Sixteen of the arrested, including two Egyptians, are wanted by authorities for crimes they are believed to have been committed," said Colonel Ismael Ibrahim. "Large quantities of weapons were seized ... and leaflets of the Jordanian Islamist Abu Musab Al Zarqawi urging militants to carry out attacks against US and Iraq forces were found too." The defence ministry said it had also arrested 49 suspects in raids...

U.S. counterterrorism expert killed in plane crash in Australia Sun Sep 29, 5:23 AM ET BRISBANE, Australia - One of the six victims of last week's plane crash on an exclusive Australian island resort was an American counterterrorism expert on his honeymoon, a newspaper reported Sunday. The man's new wife, also a counterterrorism strategist, was also supposed to have been on the plane but gave up her seat at the last minute to allow a family of four to sit together on the ill-fated flight Thursday, The Sunday Telegraph reported. Investigators suspect the plane suffered a mechanical failure. Media reports...

The Associated Press NAPLES, Italy Jan. 31 — Police arrested 28 Pakistanis found in possession of explosives, hundreds of forged documents and maps of the Naples area with "sensitive targets" circled, authorities said Friday.In a statement, police said they had uncovered an "al-Qaida terrorist cell," but gave no further details on the Pakistanis' alleged involvement with al-Qaida or any other international terrorist group.A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said late Friday officers "might have gotten ahead of themselves" in announcing an al-Qaida link in the headline of their news release.The official also dismissed Italian news reports that the...

<p>There are reports that four men from the Middle East who are being held in the Tri-State may have issued threats at an Ohio Air Force Base.</p> <p>The men -- Sanjar Yormuhamdov, Sayfitdin Mulloer, Kahranan Pultov, and Zohirjon Zahidon -- are from Uzbekistan, a former Soviet bloc nation. They were arrested Friday in Fairborn, Ohio, near the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, WLWT Eyewitness News 5 reported.</p>

An alleged Islamic militant has told a Belgian court how he plotted to bomb a military base on an al-Qaeda mission. Nizar Trabelsi, a former Tunisian professional footballer, told how Osama Bin Laden's network sent him two years ago to Belgium to bomb the Kleine Brogel base, which houses nuclear missiles. He is one of 23 alleged Islamic militants on trial. Only eight of them are in custody, while five are still on the run and the others face lesser charges. "I was supposed to go alone in a van. The bomb was behind me," Mr Trabelsi told the Brussels...