Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Taking on one of the United States’ most prominent Israel critics Wednesday, Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican who is mulling a presidential run, defended the special relationship with Israel as essential for U.S. security. The sparring came when, at a Homeland Security Committee hearing on the threat posed by Somali al-Qaida affiliate Al Shabaab, former CIA al-Qaida analyst Michael Scheuer said that al-Qaida would leave the U.S. alone if they were to abandon their alliance with Israel. “If it was up to me I’d dump the Israelis tomorrow,” Scheuer said. “All I worry about is the...

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A fundamentalist Muslim who is listed by the U.S. State Department as a suspected al-Qaida collaborator was named Saturday as the new leader of an Islamic militia that has seized control of Somalia's capital. The militia, which changed its name Saturday from the Islamic Courts Union to the Conservative Council of Islamic Courts, said in a statement it had appointed Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys as its new leader. The Bush administration says Aweys was an associate of Osama bin Laden in the early 1990s. The Islamic militia seized control of the capital Mogadishu and much of southern...