Free Republic

Once more the spoiler. Despite the earnest persuasion of the White House to preserve a useful weapon in the war against the terrorists, the New York Times has revealed the workings of a covert surveillance program, indisputably within the law, to use administrative subpoenas to examine, through a Belgian financial consortium known by the acronym SWIFT, the financing of international terrorism. Once the story was out, the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal covered it as well. Now the program is damaged, perhaps severely so, and the financing of terror is harder to track. This is another unnecessary leak,...

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have arrested Wan Min Wan Mat, a key leader of Kumpulan Militant Malaysia (KMM) during an operation in Kota Baru Friday morning. Inspector-general of police Tan Sri Norian Mai said the 42-year-old former Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) lecturer was arrested at about 9.30am. Police are looking for eight suspects who are key KMM members and are offering a RM50,000 reward for information on each leader.

Canadian admits to plotting attacksReport details role of St. Catharines man  Stewart Bell, National Post.   Friday, January 10, 2003 A Canadian man has confessed he was sent to Southeast Asia by al-Qaeda to organize a terrorist cell that plotted a massive assault that involved setting off simultaneous truck bombs at six Western buildings in Singapore. A 50-page report released yesterday by the government of Singapore provides the first official details of the terrorist activities of Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, a 20-year-old student from St. Catharines. It said Mr. Jabarah had admitted he was dispatched by al-Qaeda after Sept. 11 to...

<p>LONDON — Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, al Qaeda's purported operations chief, has told U.S. interrogators that the group had been planning attacks on the Library Tower in Los Angeles and the Sears Tower in Chicago on the heels of the September 11, 2001, terror strikes.</p>

Two years after the anthrax letter attacks, senior administration officials say they have fresh concerns about the nation's vulnerability to terrorist attacks with the deadly germ. The officials said their fears had intensified in part because they now recognized that anthrax spores could be more widely dispersed than previously believed. In addition, they said, terror suspects with ties to Al Qaeda have told questioners that the group has been trying to obtain anthrax for use in attacks. One indication of concern was a secret cabinet-level "tabletop" exercise conducted last month that simulated the simultaneous release of anthrax in different types...

AP: New Terror Chief Planning Attacks By STEVEN GUTKIN Associated Press Writer JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- The purported new military chief of a Southeast Asian terror group is among a handful of Indonesians in direct contact with al-Qaida and is now considered the most lethal terrorist in Asia, plotting fresh attacks in the region, officials told The Associated Press. Known as Zulkarnaen, the highest ranking Jemaah Islamiyah leader still on the loose is believed to head an elite squad that helped carry out a suicide bombing at a Jakarta hotel that killed 12 people, in addition to helping prepare bombs...

Hambali, alleged mastermind of al-Qaida's campaign of bombings in Southeast Asia, was plotting new terror attacks when he was captured this week, possibly against a Bangkok summit President Bush (news - web sites) is due to attend, Thailand's prime minister said Saturday. AP Photo Hambali, an Indonesian whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, had planned to make Thailand a base for terror operations, but his arrest — and three of his associates since June — has uprooted his terror network Jemaah Islamiyah from the country, the Thai leader said. Thailand's porous, jungle and river frontiers and lax security at border...

(Reuters) - Hambali, al Qaeda's top man in Southeast Asia and suspected mastermind behind a string of deadly bombings, has been captured in Thailand, handed over to the Americans and flown out of the country, officials said on Friday. Asia's most wanted man, now clean-shaven and his face altered by plastic surgery, was arrested with a woman by Thai and U.S. officials in Ayutthaya, the ancient Thai capital 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok, a senior Thai general said. "A special flight from the United States picked him up at Bangkok airport on Wednesday morning," said the general,...

<p>SAN DIEGO &#8212; President Bush yesterday said the United States has captured "one of the world's most lethal terrorists," an al Qaeda leader who is the prime suspect in last year's Bali bombing.</p> <p>Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, is believed to be al Qaeda's top representative in Southeast Asia. He headed a group known as Jemaah Islamiyah, which is suspected in the Bali bombing and a series of terrorist attacks on churches in the Philippines and Indonesia.</p>

SAN DIEGO (AP) - President Bush declared Thursday that ``we're winning'' the war against terrorism as he carefully kept his distance from the California gubernatorial recall campaign that has overshadowed his own re-election bid. Bush has called the effort to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis ``a fascinating bit of political drama,'' yet he all but ignored it after arriving here from his Texas ranch. Bush kept his emphasis on fighting terrorism and on his role as commander in chief - his political strong suits - on a day he also was raising $1 million for his campaign. Bush indirectly devoted...

Breaking on MSNBC..

I just heard a news clip about the top al Queda man being captured. Anyone else hear anything?

They just broke into Rush's show to make the announcement. I haven't heard any more.

Aug. 14— The CIA has captured another major Al Qaeda leader who is believed to have planned bombings in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, ABCNEWS has learned. A top al Qaeda member and a leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, Riduan Isamuddin (aka Hambali), 36, was arrested as part of a CIA undercover operation. He is currently being returned to Indonesia.