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Basra governor gets huffy

Local authorities in southern Iraq said today that they would have no dealings with British forces who stormed a Basra jail to release two of their men, even as Baghdad and London sought to downplay the incident.

"All regular meetings between the governorate and British troops have been canceled and we will not allow British soldiers into the governorate building or any other public office in Basra," Nadim Al Jabiri, spokesman for the provincial governor in Basra, said.

The head of the 41-member provincial council, Mohammed Saadun Al Abidi, confirmed the decision to halt all contacts with the 8,500-strong British force, which is responsible for security in the region.

MET

U.S. Troops killed

A roadside bomb hit a U.S. convoy in southern Baghdad, killing one soldier and injuring six others. The U.S. military also reported that an American soldier died Wednesday night of injuries sustained in a vehicle accident near Kirkuk.

In other incidents, gunmen killed at least eight Iraqis in four separate attacks. In one incident, unidentified men in a speeding car wielding machine guns killed local police commander Col. Fadil Mahmoud Mohammed and his driver this morning near the city of Baquba north of Baghdad.

al Qaeda trial

Spain's High Court is due to deliver its verdicts on Monday on 24 people accused of al Qaeda membership, including three who face more than 70,000 years in jail each if convicted of helping the September 11 hijackers.

The verdicts will be a crucial test of the credibility of the multiple investigations of Islamist militants launched by Spanish magistrates and around Europe.

The three-judge panel heard from more than 100 witnesses during a two-and-a-half month trial that ended in early July -- Europe's biggest trial of suspected Islamist militants.

September 11-related prosecutions around the world have had little success.

A Hamburg court sentenced Mounir El Motassadeq, a Moroccan, to seven years in prison last month, ruling he was a member of the group of radical Hamburg-based Arab students that provided help to three of the September 11 suicide pilots and was aware of their plans to use planes in an attack on the United States.

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Iraq: Vietnam replayed

As the Iraqi resistance gets bolder, more sophisticated and more deadly, political parallels pile up between the Iraq and Vietnam wars.

And while the hawks are failing all over themselves to reject the comparison of Iraq to the debacle in Vietnam, analysts suggest that Iraq’s surprisingly resilient resistance, and the scandal of abusing prisoners at the hands of U.S. military personnel all recall the trauma of the distant jungle conflict.

Recent polls have showed increasing number of Americans now feels that Iraq war is similar to Vietnam, but still, nearly half of the American public resist equating the illegal occupation with Vietnam.

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Hamas threat to kidnap Israeli troops

A Hamas leader has said his group will consider various options to effect the return of some 7000 prisoners held in Israeli jails - including the kidnapping of Israeli occupation troops to be used for exchanges.


Speaking at a rally celebrating the Gaza Strip pullout on Thursday, Hasan Yusif told a 1500-strong crowd in Ram Allah that "no one can deny our right to struggle".

Masked youths could be seen carrying giant models of Qassam rockets, wearing fake explosive belts and holding up posters of the late Shaikh Ahmad Yasin and Abd al-Aziz al-Rantissi, prominent Palestinians assassinated by Israel in 2004.

Although the Israeli government has freed 900 prisoners since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas met at an Egypt peace summit in February, more than 7000 still remain behind bars.

Election hopes

Hamas has consistently refused appeals to disarm its resistance militias before taking part in elections in January, when it hopes to make sweeping inroads into the decades-long grip on power maintained by Abbas's governing Fatah party.

Under huge pressure from Israel and the international community, Abbas has promised to step up the Palestinian security presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip following very public shows of strength by armed resistance groups.

At talks with Hamas and the other main Palestinian factions on Wednesday, Abbas persuaded them to end all armed rallies celebrating the end of 38 years of Israeli military rule in the Gaza Strip.

AJ

London bomber charged

Hussain Osman, 27, was charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and explosives offences.

Mr Osman was arrested in Rome a week after the attempted bombings, and flown back to the UK on Thursday afternoon.

He is suspected of trying to blow up a Tube train at Shepherd's Bush, London. Three other men have already been charged over the failed attacks.

Mr Osman, also known as Hamdi Issac, will appear before magistrates sitting at Belmarsh jail on Friday.

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