Free Republic

HEBRON, West Bank - Israeli troops killed a top Islamic Jihad fugitive in a raid Thursday, prompting threats of revenge by the militant group and putting new strain on an already shaky cease-fire. The bloodied body of Mohammed Sidr was pulled from the rubble of a small warehouse after daybreak Thursday, after a standoff of several hours during which he occasionally traded fire with troops. The military said the warehouse doubled as a bomb lab. Israel accuses Sidr of planning several bombing and shooting attacks, and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on Thursday called him a "ticking bomb." In December,...

AN Islamic militant has detonated a bomb at a military checkpoint in northern Iraq, killing himself and three other people, Kurdish officials said. The bombing in the north-eastern city of Halabja was blamed on the militant group Ansar al Islam, according to officials of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which rules the eastern half of the Kurdish autonomous in northern Iraq. The Patriotic Union and Ansar have been fighting for control of villages and hilltop positions near Halabja for two years. Earlier this month, Ansar operators assassinated a top Patriotic Union official in the region. The United States has also...

A mediator said he struck an 11th-hour deal for the surrender of an Islamic militant wanted for killing three Lebanese army intelligence agents and holed up in this Palestinian refugee camp. "After difficult negotiations, we have reached an agreement in principle to hand over the murderer to the concerned parties," Palestinian Islamic mediator Abu Sharif, spokesman for the group Usbat al-Ansar, told reporters. Abu Sharif said he participated in long negotiations with Sheikh Abdullah Shreidi, leader of a rival group, Usbat al-Nur, which is alleged to be hiding the wanted militant in the Ain Helwe camp of southern Lebanon. "We...