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US defends attack on Awlaki as lawful

Agence France-PresseMay 22, 2013 19:00
In a letter to Congress, President Barack Obama's administration formally acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that it killed radical Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and three other US citizens in strikes abroad. Here are the main points of a letter from US Attorney General Eric Holder to members of Congress on the counter-terrorism operations, which he defends as legal and justified. The drone strikes have long been referred to in media reports, but never publicly confirmed by the administration.

Saudis get long jail terms for plotting for Al-Qaeda

Agence France-PresseMay 22, 2013 14:30
A Saudi court sentenced eight citizens to jail terms of between 10 and 25 years on Wednesday after convicting them of plotting for Al-Qaeda, state news agency SPA reported. The eight were convicted of "forming a group to eliminate police officers, among them Colonel Mubarak al-Sawat" -- killed in 2005, SPA said. They were found guilty of "aiding Al-Qaeda" by searching for addresses of Saudi officers and sending threatening messages to them.

Tunisia Salafist spokesman released on bail

Agence France-PresseMay 22, 2013 14:00
Ansar al-Sharia spokesman Seifeddine Rais, detained in the Tunisian city of Kairouan at the weekend as police enforced a government ban on its annual congress, was released on bail on Wednesday, the Salafist group said. "God be praised, our brother Seifeddine Rais has been freed," the group said on its Facebook page. Lawyer Anouar Ouled Ali told AFP his client still faces charges of spreading false information and incitement to violence during a press conference earlier this month. He has been summoned to appear in court on Friday.

British police arrest two more over London attack

May 22, 2013 13:31
By Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - British police arrested two more people on Thursday in a hunt for accomplices of two British men of Nigerian descent accused of hacking a soldier to death on a London street in revenge for wars in Muslim countries. The two suspected killers, now under guard in hospitals, had been known to security services before Wednesday's daylight attack, security sources said. Another man and a woman, both aged 29, were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.

Man killed by FBI links Tsarnaev to triple murder

Agence France-PresseMay 22, 2013 12:45
A friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev implicated himself and the Boston bombing suspect in an unsolved triple homicide before FBI agents killed him in a violent altercation Wednesday, local media reported. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said the man initiated a "violent confrontation" during questioning in Orlando, Florida and was killed, and that an FBI agent suffered "non-life threatening injuries."

Sectarian violence over Syria war rages in Lebanon's Tripoli

May 22, 2013 10:46
TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - Lebanese supporters of rival factions in Syria's civil war battled overnight in the city of Tripoli in the worst such bout of spillover violence since the conflict started two years ago. One person was killed and many were wounded as Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim gunmen fired mortar bombs and rocket-propelled grenades at each other in a fifth day of clashes in the coastal city, security sources said on Wednesday.

Bin Laden son-in-law defends his choice of lawyer

Agence France-PresseMay 21, 2013 20:31
Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, accused of terror related charges, on Tuesday defended his choice of lawyer, a decision that the judge in the case has called a "mistake." "In life every matter has its own risks and I'm ready to take this," Suleiman Abu Ghaith, said at a hearing at the federal court in Manhattan. Abu Ghaith, who appeared in a video September 12, 2001 with the Al-Qaeda leader claiming responsibility for the deadly 9/11 strikes on US targets, is accused of conspiring to kill Americans. He has pleaded not guilty.

Iraq PM orders security shakeup as unrest kills 21

Agence France-PresseMay 21, 2013 20:30
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a shakeup of senior security officers on Tuesday as violence killed 21 people, the latest in a wave of unrest that has cost more than 380 lives in May. "After consultation with security officials, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, today (Tuesday) issued orders ... for changes in the operations commands and the leadership of the divisions," a statement on Maliki's website said.

Judge warns bin Laden's son-in-law on lawyer choices

May 21, 2013 18:18
By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - The son-in-law of Osama bin Laden and former spokesman for al Qaeda, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to kill Americans, was warned on Tuesday that his three chosen lawyers may not get clearance to review classified evidence in the case.

US court rules Bin Laden death photos can stay secret

Agence France-PresseMay 21, 2013 16:00
A US appeals court ruled Tuesday that the federal government is not required to release photos that were taken of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden after he was killed by special forces. The Al-Qaeda leader was slain at his Pakistani compound in May 2011 by US Navy SEAL commandos, who took pictures of their target's corpse in order to confirm the success of their mission. In a 14 page opinion, the judges wrote that The Central Intelligence Agency had refused to release the photos "on the ground that the images were classified Top Secret.
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