EXCLUSIVE-PART 5: Freeh Became "Defence Lawyer" for Saudis on Khobar*

In early November 1998, Louis Freeh sent an FBI team off to observe Saudi secret police officials interviewing eight Shi’a detainees from behind a one-way mirror at the Riyadh detention centre. He planned to use the Shi’a testimony to show that Iran was behind the bombing.

SOMALIA: U.S. Confirms Arms Shipments to Bolster Besieged Gov’t

The U.S. State Department Thursday confirmed that Washington is providing arms and ammunition to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia in a bid to thwart its defeat by a loose coalition of radical Islamist militias which, according to some analysts, are linked to al Qaeda.

US-AFGHANISTAN: Airstrike Report Belies “Blame Taliban” Line

The version of the official military investigation into the disastrous May 4 airstrike in Farah province made public last week by the Central Command was carefully edited to save the U.S. command in Afghanistan the embarrassment of having to admit that earlier claims blaming the massive civilian deaths on the "Taliban" were fraudulent.

EXCLUSIVE-PART 4: FBI Ignored Compelling Evidence of bin Laden Role*

Osama Bin Laden had made no secret of his intention to attack the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia. He had been calling for such attacks to drive it from the country since his first fatwa calling for jihad against Western "occupation" of Islamic lands in early 1992.

POLITICS: Some Drug Trades Easing Up, U.N. Says

While worldwide production of heroin and cocaine appears to be slowing, there has been an increase in the use of synthetic drugs, especially in the Middle East, according to the latest report by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released Wednesday.

POLITICS: U.S. to Name Ambassador to Damascus after Four Years

After informing the Syrian embassy in Washington on Tuesday night, the U.S. State Department announced on Wednesday that President Barack Obama will be sending an ambassador to Damascus for the first time since 2005.

EXCLUSIVE-PART 3: U.S. Officials Leaked a False Story Blaming Iran*

In March 1997, FBI Director Louis Freeh got what he calls in his memoirs "the first truly big break in the case": the arrest in Canada of one of the Saudi Hezbollah members the Saudis accused of being the driver of the getaway car at Khobar Towers.

EXCLUSIVE-PART 2: Saudi Account of Khobar Bore Telltale Signs of Fraud*

In the last week of October 1996, the Saudi secret police, the Mabahith, gave David Williams, the FBI's assistant special agent in charge of counter-terrorism issues, what they said were summaries of the confessions obtained from some 40 Shi’a detainees.

POLITICS-US: Obama’s Right Turn

Human rights and open government advocates were heartened by President Barack Obama's pledge during his first week in office to create "an unprecedented level of openness in government" and "establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration".

EXCLUSIVE-PART1: Al Qaeda Excluded from the Suspects List*

On Jun. 25, 1996, a massive truck bomb exploded at a building in the Khobar Towers complex in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, which housed U.S. Air Force personnel, killing 19 U.S. airmen and wounding 372.

U.S.: McChrystal Looks to Spin Afghan Civilian Deaths Problem

At his confirmation hearings two weeks ago, Gen. Stanley McChrystal said reducing civilian deaths from air strikes in Afghanistan was "strategically decisive" and declared his "willingness to operate in ways that minimise casualties or damage, even when it makes our task more difficult."

U.S.: Report Blasts Terror Financing Laws and Investigations

Muslim charities in the United States are subject to unfair treatment by the government under terrorism financing laws, according to a new report which says the effect has been a chill on charitable giving that violates Muslims’ right to freely practice an important requirement of their religion.

US-PAKISTAN: CIA Secrecy on Drone Attacks Data Hides Abuses

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s refusal to share with other agencies even the most basic data on the bombing attacks by remote-controlled unmanned predator drones in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region, combined with recent revelations that CIA operatives have been paying Pakistanis to identify the targets, suggests that managers of the drone attacks programmes have been using the total secrecy surrounding the programme to hide abuses and high civilian casualties.

RIGHTS-US: Palau Agrees to Take Guantanamo Uighurs

The announcement Wednesday that Palau will accommodate Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba leaves many unanswered questions, among them whether the U.S. will accept this gesture and whether it will be the best solution to the problem of the Uighurs’ resettlement, rights activists say.

US-MIDEAST: Cairo Speech Widely Hailed at Home

U.S. President Barack Obama's historic speech in Cairo Thursday elicited broad approval from around the U.S., with the notable exception of the neoconservative right.

US-MIDEAST: Obama Overture Fraught With Stumbling Blocks

In his most widely anticipated speech to date, U.S. President Barack Obama will reach out directly to the Muslim world Thursday morning at Cairo University.

POLITICS-US: Eavesdropping Case Tests Obama Vows on Secrecy

Despite President Barack Obama’s formation of a new task force to review government secrecy, and an ongoing investigation into use of the so-called "state secrets doctrine", lawyers for the new administration refused last week to disclose information on the government’s use of warrantless wiretaps and backed legislation to block the release of photos of prisoner abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan.

AFRICA-US: Growing Drug Trade Linked to Terror Groups

Drug trafficking was once thought to be a largely Latin American problem, but the international community increasingly finds itself fighting this phenomenon in Africa.

US-CANADA: Shared Border, Unilateral Policy?

Canada and the United States are on different wavelengths when it comes to a shared and increasingly hardening of what had been a sleepy border within North America.

POLITICS-US: Implementing Af-Pak Strategy Is the Hard Part

With the strategic review for U.S. goals in Afghanistan and Pakistan now complete, the administration of President Barack Obama must shift to the more difficult task of choosing and – even more daunting – implementing policies that seek to quell the militant insurgencies in both countries, says a new report from a think tank here known to be close to the administration.

POLITICS-US: Obama Defends Guantanamo Closure

President Barack Obama cautiously minced his way Thursday through a political minefield filled with imminent explosions from human rights advocates, national security hawks, and a Congress terrified by the potential political backlash of any move to bring Guantanamo Bay prisoners to the U.S. for trial or detention.