SANTA FE, New Mexico, USA- Actress and activist Jane Fonda says she intends to take a cross-country bus tour to call for an end to U.S. military operations in Iraq. "I can't go into any detail except to say that it's going to be pretty exciting," she said. Fonda said her anti-war tour in March will use a bus that runs on "vegetable oil." She will be joined by families of Iraq war veterans and her daughter. They plan to return to the Santa Fe area, where she was promoting her book, My Life So Far, on Saturday. Prompted by a question from the audience, Fonda said war veterans that she has met on a countrywide book tour have encouraged her to break her silence on the Iraq war. "I've decided I'm coming out," she said. Hundreds of people in the audience cheered loudly when Fonda announced her intentions to join the anti-Iraq war movement. "I have not taken a stand on any war since Vietnam," she said. "I carry a lot of baggage from that." Fonda incited controversy in July 1972 when she was photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun while on a tour of the country to drum up support to end the war.

Egypt received warning about and before the deadly resort attack

Egyptian security officials say they had information of an imminent attack before last weekend's devastating blast in Sharm el-Sheik that left 88 dead. Authorities however believed the attack would target casinos, so security was increased around those sites, two officials said on condition of anonymity because release of the information was not authorized. The officials claim to have knowledge of the investigation, but would not say where the tip came from. Meanwhile, an Egyptian man connected to Islamic militants has been identified as one of the suicide bombers in Saturday's attacks, after police had earlier suspected a group of Pakistani men. An anonymous police source said Youssef Badran was responsible for the truck bomb that destroyed the Ghazala Gardens Hotel.  Badran was identified using DNA tests. Officials say they are questioning Badran's family to find his associates. Earlier, an Egyptian diplomat had dismissed claims that a group of missing Pakistanis were involved in the Red Sea bombing spree, despite the fact police circulated photographs of five Pakistani men on Monday. "No Pakistani national was involved in the terrorist attacks that rocked Sharm el-Sheik late last Saturday," the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad said in a statement. Egypt's ambassador to Pakistan, Hussein Haridy, said he informed the Pakistani government by telephone late Monday of the Egyptian conclusion. Yesterday police distributed photos of five Pakistani men at checkpoints in and around Sharm el-Sheik and several state-owned newspapers published the same pictures provided by the Interior Ministry. There has so far been no direct link between the wanted men and Saturday's three pre-dawn bombings, which killed up to 88 people. The five men were among a group of nine Pakistanis who arrived in the tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh from Cairo on July 5. They are reported to have left their passports behind when they checked out of their Cairo hotel. Police, who were still hunting for three bombers believed to have survived Egypt's deadliest terrorist attacks, admitted to journalists yesterday they had no hard evidence that the five Pakistanis were involved.  Officials now say they are seeking the men for illegally entering Egypt. They were also distributing the photographs of another 50 foreigners -- some of whom they described as "known international terrorists" -- believed to have possible links to the attacks. Security forces were also training their sights on suspected domestic opponents of President Hosni Mubarak's regime. Egyptian security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said police detained an unspecified number of people overnight, including women, in the Husseinat and Muqataa villages in the northern Sinai Peninsula near the border with the Gaza Strip. The officials said they were detained as part of the Sharm investigation, but it was unclear what involvement if any they had to the attacks. Police also have been carrying out desert sweeps outside Sharm in search of suspects. At least 140 people have been arrested for questioning, and some are believed to have been released. On Saturday, two blasts rocked the popular Naama Bay tourist strip, including a suicide truck bomb attack that devastated the reception area of the Ghazala Gardens Hotel.  Two miles away, a third truck bomb ravaged an area called the Old Market, which is popular with Egyptians. The death toll stands at 88, according to the head of the Sharm el-Sheik hospital that treated the victims, but Egypt's Health Ministry has put it at 64.  Hospitals said the ministry count excludes some sets of body parts. A body believed to be that of a foreign bomber was found in the pickup truck at the Ghazala, while the remains of another suspected bomber were discovered at the Old Market.  As of yesterday, many of the dead were unidentified. Eleven Britons and four Italians are missing and feared dead, officials from those countries said. Investigators are pursuing a possible connection to October's bombings in two Sinai resorts farther north, Taba and Ras Shitan, that killed 34 people, including many Israelis.  Islamic militants have frequently attacked Egypt's tourism centres in the past, targeting a $6.6-billion industry, a crucial source of government revenue. However, the culprits were always domestic groups opposed to Mr. Mubarak's regime, which is seen as pro-American and which has cracked down hard on Islamist groups.  Analysts say proof of an international connection in the Sharm el-Sheikh attacks would be a surprise.

London metropolitan  police arrest four in failed bombings

Photo: Police activity at Hay Mills in Birmingham, central England on Wednesday where detectives made an arrest.

LONDON, UK- British police investigating a series of failed bomb attacks in London said they arrested four men Wednesday in the city of Birmingham, and explosives experts were examining a suspect package found during the searches. Police said they could not confirm reports that one of the four was a suspected attacker from July 21, when four bombs planted on London Underground trains and a bus failed to fully detonate. A spokesman for the metropolitan police said one man was arrested during a search of a home in England's second largest city of Birmingham at 4:30 a.m. The man was shot with a stun gun during the search and police said they uncovered a package that was being examined by explosives experts. Three other men were arrested shortly afterward at another home in the city, about 120 miles northwest of London. "The operations are in connection with the incidents in London on July 21," the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

Photo: A Royal Logistic Corps bomb disposal van at Heybarnes Road, Birmingham, central England on Wednesday.

The spokesman said the first man arrested was brought to the high-security Paddington Green police station in central London; the other three were being held in custody in Birmingham. Police launched a manhunt after the July 21 attempted bombings and released images of four men thought responsible for planting the devices. They also released the names of two of the suspects. Police have been trying to determine whether last week's failed bombings were connected to the deadly July 7 attacks that killed 52 people and the four suicide bombers who carried them out. In a separate development, two other men were arrested on suspicion of terrorism while traveling on a train in England's midlands region. Lincolnshire police said the train, which was on its way to London's King's Cross station from Newcastle, was stopped at Grantham where the men were arrested at 11 p.m. Tuesday. The men were being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and it was not immediately clear if the arrests were linked to the investigation into the London bombings. The Birmingham arrests bring the number of people that police have said are being held in connection with the July 21 attempt to nine. Police last week arrested five other people. The arrests came as police explosives experts were examining suspicious material found in a north London apartment connected to two men suspected of planting failed bombs, both identified as African immigrants who moved to Britain as children. The bombs were stored in clear plastic food containers and put into dark-colored bags or backpacks. Clarke said those four bombs were similar to another found abandoned in a park Saturday, raising fears that a fifth bomber is on the loose. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Tony Blair said his government was determined to press forward with new anti-terrorism legislation in the wake of the attacks and vowed not to "give one inch" on his policies in Iraq or the Middle East. Polls suggest a majority of Britons share that view and that among Muslims, according to a poll released Tuesday, 79 percent believe Iraq was a factor in the attacks. Two of the suspects that have been named for allegedly taking part in the July 21 attempt have been identified as Yasin Hassan Omar, 24, and Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, also known as Muktar Mohammed Said.

Omar arrived in Britain from Somalia in 1992 at age 11, the Home Office said. The 24-year-old, a Somali citizen with British residency, is suspected of attempting to blow up a subway train near Warren Street station.  Said came to Britain in 1990 from Eritrea, his family said. He was granted residency in 1992 and British citizenship in September 2004, the Home Office said.  Both are the children of refugees, the government said.  Somalis have been the largest group of asylum seekers over the last decade, with Eritreans in the middle of the pack, according to the Home Office.  Said attended his local north London high school in the Stanmore neighborhood between 1991 and 1994, when his family said he moved away from home, returning only rarely to visit.  "We were shocked when we saw Muktar's picture in the national news," the family said in a statement. "We immediately attended the police station and made statements to the police.  We would suggest that anyone with information contacts the police."  Neighbor Sarah Scott remembered a discussion with Said last November about religion, and his reaction when she told him she was an atheist.  "He said I should (believe in God) and that he was going to get me some information," the 23-year-old said. He returned with a booklet called "Understanding Islam," in which he had highlighted key passages.  "Anyone who says 'there is no God except Allah' and dies holding to that will enter paradise," she recalled one passage as reading.  On Tuesday, police explosives experts were examining what they called suspicious "material" found in a search of Omar's apartment that began Monday. Said had recently visited the apartment, according to Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist squad.

Man suspected in Bush grenade attack aimed to kill U.S leader

TBILISI, Georgia - The man who has confessed to throwing a live grenade at U.S. President George W. Bush during a rally in Georgia's capital says he hoped to kill the U.S. leader, his lawyer said Tuesday. Authorities formally charged Vladimir Arutyunian with terrorism on Tuesday, his lawyer, Guliko Dzhimsheladze, told The Associated Press. The man wanted to murder Bush, she said. "Arutyunian doesn't deny that he wanted to kill U.S. President George Bush. He explained the reason. My client believes that Bush is interfering in Georgia's internal affairs," she said "He maintains that this attempt on Bush's life should not be punished by law." Arutyunian didn't want any Georgians to die in the attack, she said. Both Bush and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had been behind a bulletproof barrier addressing a rally of thousands in Tbilisi when the grenade landed about 30 metres away. It did not explode, and investigators later said it apparently had malfunctioned. No one was harmed in the May incident, but Arutyunian was charged earlier with killing a police officer in a shootout during his arrest, as well as illegal possession of weapons. He was shown on local television last week admitting throwing the grenade. Georgian authorities, working with the FBI, were still trying to figure out Arutyunian's exact motives. Georgia's Interior Ministry said that Arutyunian was believed to have been a member of a political party that supports the former leader of a region largely outside central government control. Aslan Abashidze, the former leader of the Adzharia region, fled to Russia last year amid street protests against his authoritarian rule. Bush had been visiting Georgia in an effort to cement relations between the United States and Georgia's new pro-western leadership.

4 Americans killed in bombing in Baghdad; gunmen kill 16 workers

Photo: Victims of an attack on a bus lie wounded in a local hospital in Baghdad.

BAGHDAD, Iraq- A roadside bombing killed four U.S. soldiers in southwestern Baghdad, the U.S. command said Tuesday, and 16 Iraqi government workers died in a hail of gunfire as they left work on the western edge of the capital. The bloodshed occurred against a backdrop of intense deliberations to forge a new constitution by an Aug. 15 deadline. A draft copy published Tuesday in a government newspaper said Islam would be designated as the main source of legislation - a departure from the model set down by U.S. authorities during the occupation. A statement by the U.S. command said the soldiers from Task Force Baghdad died Sunday night when their vehicle ran over a roadside bomb in the southwest of the city. The statement gave no further details. However, Jim Driscoll, a spokesman for the Georgia National Guard, said the victims were assigned to the 48th Infantry Brigade. They were the Georgia Guard unit's first combat casualties since the Second World War. The 16 Iraqi government employees were killed Tuesday evening on the western edge of the capital when gunmen fired at a pair of buses taking them from an Industry Ministry facility to their homes in Shiite Muslim neighbourhoods. Gunmen in two cars followed the buses and opened fire, also wounding 27 passengers, officials said. U.S. and Iraqi officials hope the new constitution and the government to be elected in December will help take the steam out of the insurgency, especially if the Sunni Muslim community accepts the formula. Most of the insurgents are Sunnis. "It's very important that the constitution is produced through the participation of all Iraqis," U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Tuesday. "This is important for ending and defeating the insurgency, having a political compact and I want to say to the Arab Sunni community that they can count on us for such a compact." However, a draft published Tuesday in the state-owned Al-Sabah newspaper included several key points demanded by the majority Shiites. The draft not only states Islam is the main source of legislation but no law will be approved that contradicts "the rules of Islam." That requirement that could affect women's rights and set Iraq on a course far different from the one envisioned when U.S.-led forces invaded in 2003 to topple President Saddam Hussein. "Islam is the official religion of the state and is the main source of legislation," the draft reads. "No law that contradicts with its rules can be promulgated." The document also grants the Shiite religious leadership in Najaf a "guiding role" in recognition of its "high national and religious symbolism." Al-Sabah noted, however, there were unspecified differences among the committee on the Najaf portion. Those would presumably include Kurds, Sunnis and secular Shiites on the 71-member committee. Key Shiite and some Sunni politicians sought to have Islam designated the main source of legislation in the interim constitution, which took effect in March 2004. However, the U.S. governor of Iraq, Paul Bremer, blocked the move, agreeing only that Islam would be considered "a source" - but not the only one. At the time, prominent Shiite politicians agreed to forego a public battle with Bremer and pursue the issue during the drafting of the permanent constitution. Some women's groups fear strict interpretation of Islamic principles could erode their rights in such areas as divorce and inheritance. It could also move Iraq toward a more religiously based society than was envisioned by U.S. planners who hoped it would be a beacon of western-style society. Members of the constitutional committee said the draft was among several and none would be final until the legislature approves the charter by Aug. 15. The drafting committee met Tuesday to discuss federalism, one of the most contentious issues, said Sunni member Mohammed Abed-Rabbou. He described the discussion as "heated" and said no agreement was reached. Parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani, a Sunni, urged Iraqi news media to refrain from publishing supposed texts, unless they are released by the constitutional committee. Sunnis involved in writing the charter have complained Shiites and Kurds are trying to steamroll their version of the draft without proper consultation and discussion. The Sunnis agreed only Monday to resume work on the committee after they walked out to protest against the assassination of two colleagues this month. Sunni support is crucial because the charter can be scuttled if voters in three of Iraq's 18 provinces reject it by a two-thirds majority - and Sunnis are a majority in four provinces. Sunnis make up about 20 per cent of Iraq's 27 million people but dominate areas where the insurgency is raging. U.S. officials are eager for the Iraqis to meet the Aug. 15 deadline as a major step in building a stable constitutional government, considered key to pacifying the Sunni insurgency and enabling the U.S. and its partners to begin drawing down troop strength. If the deadline is met, voters will decide whether to approve the charter in mid-October and if they do, another general election will take place in December. In an Internet statement Tuesday, al-Qaida's wing in Iraq warned Iraqis not to take part in the constitutional referendum, saying democracy goes against God's law and anyone who participates would be considered an "infidel" and earmarked for death. Al-Sabah said the draft constitution would declare Iraq a sovereign state with "a republican democratic federal system." However, the word "federal" appears in brackets, indicating opposition among the committee. Sunnis are suspicious federalism, a prime goal of the Kurds, would lead to the disintegration of Iraq.

New York-  On Thursday evening, July 21, hundreds of students and young adults attended The Orange Party, an event organized by the Zionist Organization of America's (ZOA) Campus Activism Network. The goal of the event was for young Zionists in the US to show solidarity with the Jews in Gush Katif and northern Samaria, and oppose the forced removal of 10,000 Jewish men, women, and children from their homes, schools, synagogues, farms, and businesses. This plan sends a message that terrorism pays. The Orange Party, organized by ZOA's Director of Campus Activities, Julie Sager, and Joshua Mann, David Sarna-Galdi, Talia Kaplan, and David Greenberg of the ZOA, took place at the Northwest Lounge, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. "Everyone wore orange to show their support for the heroes of Gush Katif and the Shomron, who deserve to remain in their homes and return to their normal lives," said Mann, a  sophomore at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a ZOA campus representative. At the Orange Party, America's leading Jewish rapper, Remedy, of the Wu Tang Clan, performed. Remedy rapped a song about Israeli history, detailing the formation of Judea, the exile, and the return to Israel. Remedy also rapped about the Holocaust called "Never Again." He performed songs from his upcoming album and gave out sixty free CDs, which he autographed for party attendees. All attendees received orange bracelets that said in Hebrew "Jews don’t expel Jews," as well as orange buttons and bumper stickers that said "Save Gush Katif." Many people purchased orange t-shirts. In addition, attendees registered to vote for the upcoming World Zionist Organization (WZO) elections. Visiting Israeli journalist Batya Medad, who made aliyah from New York in 1970, spoke at The Orange Party.  Medad, a resident of Shilo, thanked party attendees for caring about Israel, encouraged them to continue to be involved, and told them not to lose hope in the fate of the Jews of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. The Orange Party was co-sponsored by Manhigut Yehudit and Magshimei Herut. Funds raised were donated to the Gush Katif Regional Council.

ZOA DISMAYED BY SEC'Y RICE'S UNDESERVED PRAISE OF ABBAS' 'ANTI-TERROR STEPS' AND CRITICISM OF ISRAEL. (Communicated by Mort Klein, ZOA's President)


 Photos from L to R: 1. ZOA's President, Mr. Morton Klein, one of the most brilliant Jewish minds of our time. 2. Dr. Jerome Kaufman, ZOA's National Secretary and World Jewish News Agency Charter Member and Senior Political Analyst. Dr. Kaufman's is a major driving force of our agency.

NEW YORK-  The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has strongly criticized U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's undeserved praise of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chief Mahmoud Abbas' "important steps cracking down on violence" especially at a time when Palestinian Arab terrorist attacks against Israelis are actually increasing, and also expressed deep concern of Rice's chastising Israel's actions. Rice said, "I want to take this opportunity to commend President Abbas and his leadership as well as that of his government for their ongoing efforts to enforce the rule of law in the West Bank and Gaza. These efforts demonstrate the Palestinian leadership's commitment to ensuring security and cracking down on those who perpetrate violent attacks that only delay the achievement of a Palestinian State.  President Abbas has taken actions with the active support of all those in the region and the international community to support a future of peace... Important steps have been taken (by Abbas)..." ZOA President Morton A. Klein said, "We are deeply perplexed by Rice's  strong praise of Abbas' alleged actions against terrorism.  What actions? He hasn't disarmed or dismantled any terror groups. He hasn't stopped incitement against Jews and Israel in his media, schools, or mosques.  He hasn't changed the names of the schools, streets, and sports teams presently named after suicide bombers.  He hasn't stopped smuggling in weapons from the Sinai to Gaza and he hasn't closed the bomb factories. "In addition he has hired 350 Hamas members into his police force. (Hamas is on the U.S. list of terrorist groups) He has invited Hamas to join his government even though the Hamas charter calls on the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews, while calling every Jew a Nazi.  And he has invited all the Palestinian Arab terror leaders to move from Syria to Gaza after Israel leaves. "Not to mention that in the last three months almost half of the attacks and aborted attacks against Israel are from Fatah, the terrorist group Abbas heads.  In the youth wing of Israel's prison system there are more than 130 young Palestinian terrorists, most of them from the Fatah group.  Only this weekend 2 more Jews were murdered, and how does Abbas respond.  Fourteen hours after the murder, he released a statement (he did not appear in person) saying, 'These attacks threaten our national security and undermine our credibility in the international arena.'  Abbas didn't mention Hamas or Fatah and he didn't condemn the murders as immoral, only as counterproductive to the Palestinian cause.  His official PA news service called the killers 'heroic martyrs' and referred to the murders as a resistance operation.  And for all this, he earns praise from President Bush 's State Department.  For Shame.  This is a time to condemn and put pressure on Abbas, not to lavish praise on him.

"Yet, when it came to the Israelis, who are unilaterally removing 10,000 Jews from their homes and businesses and giving the land to the PA, Rice has less than kind words.  She said, '...when the Israelis withdraw from Gaza it cannot be sealed or isolated area, with the Palestinian people closed in after that withdrawal.  We are committed to connectivity between Gaza and the West Bank, and we are committed to openness and freedom of movement for the Palestinian people...We have been very clear about the Israeli obligations under the Roadmap not to try and do anything that will prejudge a final status outcome.  We've expressed our deep concern about the route of the wall particularly around Jerusalem and we have expressed the American policy on settlement activity remains that it should stop.  We will continue to work towards exactly that...The principle that the United States is operating on is that Gaza is going to be Palestinian and that means that the Palestinian people have to experience freedom of movement in Gaza.  It is also the case that there has to be a link between Gaza and the West Bank and it has to be the case...that there needs to be greater freedom of movement in the West Bank itself.'  Even when it came to the issue of Israel 's borders, Rice said that any retention of land beyond the 1949 armistice line must be agreed to by the Palestinian Authority.  Rice also said Israel must not decide on the so-called refugee issue without Palestinian Arab approval. "So there it is, when it comes to Israel, she demands adherence to the Roadmap, reduced or no checkpoints, stop building homes anywhere in Judea and Samaria or Eastern Jerusalem, condemns the security fence, demands contiguity and states that Israel cannot keep any land past the 1949 armistice line without Palestinian Arab approval.  All these demands of Israel are before Abbas has fulfilled a single sentence of the Roadmap. "This type of approach only encourages Abbas to do nothing and only harms the security of Israel's only real ally in the Mideast, Israel."
 

Riot erupts outside main U.S. Afghanistan base

Photo: Afghan protesters demonstrate outside the U.S. base in Bagram.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — Hundreds of protesters chanting "Die America!'' and throwing stones tried to batter down a gate at the U.S. military's main Afghan base Tuesday, adding to anxieties in a country worried that fighting with insurgents could disrupt elections. The rioting erupted just hours after an overnight battle in southern Afghanistan that a provincial governor s aid killed at least 50 suspected Taliban rebels and two Afghan soldiers. More than 800 people have died in a surge of rebel attacks and government offensives since March, and U.S. and Afghan officials have warned that the violence is a threat to parliamentary elections scheduled for Sept. 18. The latest clashes were reported as Canada began sending some 250 soldiers to another volatile region -- Kandahar, where Taliban fighters are on the loose. More than 100 soldiers departed Tuesday from Edmonton. They'll join the Canadian military unit that will rebuild the shattered infrastructure in Kandahar. Police in eastern Paktika province said a legislative candidate was killed Tuesday by a roadside bomb that blew up next to his vehicle as he drove his sick mother to the hospital. The woman was wounded. The clash in Bagram was unusual. The area an hour's drive north of the capital has been largely peaceful since a U.S.-led military campaign toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001 for harbouring Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida terrorist camps. Rioting broke out in a crowd of more than 1,000 people who gathered to protest the detention of eight villagers at the base, where thousands of U.S. and other foreign soldiers live behind razor-wire fences and landmines left from Afghanistan's civil war. Demonstrators hurled stones at a passing convoy of six U.S. military vehicles, smashing some windows. As soldiers inside the cars fired handguns in the air, the vehicles sped into the base and the protesters chased behind, trying to push down a metal gate guarded by Afghan troops. Guards used sticks to drive back the mob as other troops fired into the air with assault rifles and shouted at the protesters to go home. Most of the protesters then dispersed. It was not clear if there were any casualties, though an Associated Press reporter was hit and kicked by protesters who accused him of being a spy for the Americans and an AP photographer was punched by other demonstrators. The eight detained men were "suspected of planning and conducting attacks against U.S. and Afghan forces'' and had "materials used to make improvised explosive devices in their possession,'' the U.S. military said in a statement.

The demonstrators said they were angry that U.S. troops arrested the villagers late Monday without consulting local authorities. "We have supported the Americans for years. We should be treated with dignity,'' said Shah Aghar, 35. "They are arresting our people without the permission of the government. They are breaking into our houses and offending the people. We are very angry.''  In the south, Uruzgan Gov. Jan Mohammed Khan said Afghan and U.S. troops inflicted heavy casualties in attacking a guerrilla base in the Dihrawud district. He said two Afghans and at least 50 rebels were killed and about 25 suspected insurgents were captured. Attempts to confirm the casualty toll with other Afghan officials and the U.S. military were not successful.  A U.S. military statement Monday said heavy fighting in that area had killed one American soldier, an Afghan trooper and 11 rebels. Three Americans and one Afghan soldier were wounded, it said. The statement said U.S. jets and helicopters joined a battle that began with a rebel attack on a patrol. In other incidents:

• Police arrested 10 suspected Taliban fighters after clashes in southeastern Zabul province, said Ali Khail, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
• Guerrillas attacked an Afghan patrol in Kandahar province late Monday, triggering a gunbattle that left an Afghan soldier dead and a police officer badly wounded, deputy district chief Haji Lala Khan said.

Suicide bomber in Sharm carnage ID'd as Egyptian with Islamic militant links

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt- Investigators have identified a body they suspect of being a suicide bomber in the weekend terror attacks in this Red Sea resort, saying he was an Egyptian with Islamic militant ties, security officials said Tuesday. Police hauled in dozens more people for questioning in the attack. Meanwhile, security officials revealed that Egyptian authorities received information about an imminent terror attack in Sharm el-Sheik days ahead of the devastating bombings. But they believed it would target casinos, so security was increased around those sites, said two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because release of the information was not authorized. The officials, who have knowledge of the investigation, would not say where the tip came from, but said security had been put on alert in the resort on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula several days before the pre-dawn Saturday attacks that killed an estimated 88 people. But instead of casinos, the bombers in two explosives-laden trucks targeted hotels just after 1 a.m. Saturday morning. One plowed into the Ghazala Gardens reception area, levelling the lobby. A second headed for another hotel but got caught in traffic and detonated before reaching its target. Police using DNA tests identified one of the bodies found at the Ghazala site as Youssef Badran, an Egyptian Sinai resident who they said had links to Islamic militants. Those links led officials to suspect he was the bomber in the attack, they said. Police held members of Badran's family for questioning and were trying to determine his associates, the officials said. A previously unknown group issued a claim of responsibility Tuesday for the Sharm attacks. Egyptian Tawhid and Jihad said it attacked the "Crusaders" in Sharm on orders from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his Egyptian-born deputy Ayman al-Zawahri "in support of our brothers in Iraq and Afghanistan." The group said this was its first ever statement. Its name appeared taken from that of the Iraq-based organization, Tawhid and Jihad, led by militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who later pledged his allegiance to bin Laden and renamed his group "al-Qaida in Iraq." The authenticity of the claim, like those by two other groups issued soon after the attacks, could not be verified. The other claims were issued by another al-Qaida-linked group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, and an apparently local organization, the Holy Warriors of Egypt. Across Sinai, security forces took in 70 people for questioning on Tuesday, bringing to 140 the number detained since the attacks. Security officials said police detained an unspecified number of people overnight, including women, in the Husseinat and Muqataa villages in the northern Sinai Peninsula near the border with the Gaza Strip. Police have been analysing several bodies as possibly those of bombers from the Ghazala and from the Old Market, where the second truck bomb blast went off. A third bomb, hidden in a suitcase, went off about four minutes after the Ghazala at the entrance to a beach promenade. Meanwhile, investigators were trying to track down the origin of the more than 500 kilograms of explosives used in the attacks. Officials said they were exploring the possibility they may have been brought in from Jordan, Saudi Arabia or Israel, or had been obtained from what they believe to be vast quantities of explosives hoarded by Sinai's Bedouin inhabitants. Police also set up checkpoints on isolated desert roads north of Sharm, entrances to the region that had been only loosely guarded. The attackers may have used such roads to get to the resorts. Security officials have been distributing pictures of five Pakistanis they are seeking the wake of the attacks, but on Tuesday an Egyptian diplomat said Pakistanis were not involved in the weekend bombing spree. "No Pakistani national was involved in the terrorist attacks that rocked Sharm el-Sheik late last Saturday," the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad said in a statement. Egypt's ambassador to Pakistan, Hussein Haridy, said he informed the Pakistani government by telephone late Monday of the Egyptian conclusion. The officials said they were detained as part of the Sharm investigation, but it was unclear what involvement if any they had to the attacks. The death toll stood at 88, according to the head of the Sharm el-Sheik hospital that treated the victims, but Egypt's Health Ministry has put it at 64. Hospitals said the ministry count excludes some sets of body parts. South Sinai's governor said Monday that 17 of the dead were non-Egyptians, including westerners and citizens from other Arab states. Three Turks, an American, an Italian couple, a Briton and a Czech were confirmed dead by their governments, while 10 Britons, several Italians and a Turk remained unaccounted for. By Sarah Deeb

Prime Minister Tony Blair: "Britain won't 'give one inch' to terrorists,"

Photo: Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks to members of the media during his monthly press conference at Downing Street in London Tuesday.

LONDON, UK- Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday that Britain would not "give one inch" to terrorists in his government's policy on Iraq and the Middle East, while police said two suspects in last week's failed bombings were legal immigrants who moved to Britain from Somalia and Eritrea as children. Blair made his comments after holding a rare meeting with opposition party leaders to discuss new anti-terror legislation aimed at preventing a repeat of the July 7 suicide bombings that killed 56 people, including the four suspected suicide bombers. The opposition, however, had reservations about extending custody for such suspects, saying it could erode civil liberties. At his monthly news conference, Blair said the response by Londoners to the deadly July 7 bombings and the failed July 21 attacks against identical targets had been "magnificent." "London is being tested but standing firm," he said. Asked whether the British-backed and U.S.-led invasion of Iraq had fuelled terrorist attacks around the world and in London, Blair said "there was no excuse or justification" for the actions of the bombers. "Whatever excuse or justification these people use, I do not believe we should give one inch to them, not in this country and the way we live our lives here, not in Iraq, not in Afghanistan, not in our support for two states, Israel and Palestine, not in our support for the alliances we choose including with America. Not one inch should we give to these people," Blair said. "Sept. 11 (2001) for me was a wake-up call," he said. "Do you know what I think the problem is? A lot of the world woke up for a short time and then turned over and went back to sleep again." As police searched for the four men wanted for the July 21 attempted bombings, the Home Office said Tuesday that suspect Yasin Hassan Omar, 24, is a legal British resident who arrived in Britain in 1992 from Somalia when he was 11. He is suspected of trying to blow up a subway train near Warren Street station. Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, suspected of trying to bomb a bus last Thursday, moved to Britain from Eritrea as a child. Said, also known as Muktar Mohammed Said, gained residency in 1992 at age 14 and became a British citizen in September 2004, the Home Office said. Said's family said they moved to Britain in 1990. They said they were shocked to learn of Said's alleged involvement in the attacks. "The family wish to express their shock regarding recent events and in no way condone any acts of terrorism," they said in a statement. Explosives experts were examining suspicious material found Tuesday in a north London flat recently visited by Said, police said. A car found nearby the flat was impounded.  "We have seized a car . . . in connection with the investigation into the incidents of July 21 but we're not prepared to discuss it further," a police spokeswoman said on customary condition of anonymity.  Police were questioning five suspects arrested in connection with the July 21 attacks.  The bombs, which failed to fully detonate, were stored in clear plastic food containers and put into dark-coloured bags or backpacks. Those four bombs were similar to another found abandoned in a park Saturday, raising fears that a fifth bomber was on the loose, said Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist squad. Police Commissioner Ian Blair has indicated he believed al-Qaida-linked terrorists were involved in both attacks. Asked if they were connected, he said: "We have no proof that they are linked, but clearly there is a pattern here."After meeting with the prime minister, opposition leaders said they did not believe they would have to reconvene Parliament in summer instead of October as planned to discuss new terrorism legislation. The proposals under discussion would outlaw "indirect incitement" of terrorism - including praising those who carry out attacks - to counter extremist Islamist clerics accused of radicalizing disaffected Muslim youth in Britain. The law also would make it illegal to receive training in terrorist techniques in Britain or abroad, or to plan an attack and activities such as acquiring bomb-making instructions on the Internet. "There's a great desire at a time when the country faces such great danger to work together. We are all in this together and we all believe it is very important to show that the country is united in its response to the danger we face," Conservative Leader Michael Howard said. "We hope that it will be possible to reach agreement on further measures that will enable us to deal with this threat more effectively." Howard said, however, there were "very considerable difficulties" over the proposal to hold terror suspects for up to three months. "That is a long time to hold someone without charge, and possibly just release them after that," Howard said. Liberal Democrats leader Charles Kennedy agreed. "We have to make sure that we go about this in a measured way and that we don't surrender basic civil liberties," Kennedy said. "We have reservations about a possible extension on holding people for questioning." By Ed Jolson.

London Police Searching For Possible Fifth London Bombing Suspect

Photo: Police officers guard the road leading to Scotia Road in Tulse Hill, south London, where a person linked to the July 21 bombings in London was arrested.

London police believe a fifth bomber could have been involved in the July 21 transit attacks, and have named two of the suspects. Muktar Said-Ibrahim, 27, is believed to have attempted to blow up a No. 26 bus on Hackney Road, in east London. He arrived in England from Eritrea, a small African nation that borders Ethiopia. Said-Ibrahim is also known as Muktar Mohammed Said. The other suspect, Yasin Hussan Omar, 24, came to England from Somalia. Police suspect he tried to blow up a subway train close to Warren Street station. Both men arrived in England in 1992, as the children of asylum seekers. On Sunday, police found a fifth explosive similar to the other bombs in a park, leading to a theory that there is a fifth bomber at large. All explosives have a similar design, using clear plastic containers, and all were placed inside dark-coloured bags. Police continue to make headway in their investigation. Most recently, police seized a car in north London, close to the New Southgate apartment that was raided on Monday, according to The Guardian. It's believed that Said-Ibrahim recently visited the apartment, which forensic officers are searching for clues. A resident of the building, Sammy Jones, 33, said she believed Said-Ibrahim visited the apartment to meet another African man, named George. She told the Associated Press that the men were frequently joined by two others. "They used to come in at all hours of the night," she said. Three men are currently being questioned by police in connection with the attacks, although none are believed to be the bombers themselves. Two other people were arrested Monday in the same area as the apartment police raided. Unlike the July 2 bombings that killed 52 people, the second attacks failed because the explosives did not properly detonate. The bombers eluded police, one of the men apparently jumping down to the tracks of the subway and running through the tunnels. Another man, at Oval station, was chased by Londoners but he escaped. Police made a tragic mistake on Friday when they shot and killed a Brazilian man they mistook as a suspect. Officers confronted Jean Charles de Menzes, 27, in Stockwell station. Apparently concerned he might detonate an explosive, they shot him seven times in the head and once in the shoulder. The man's cousin, Alex Pereira, told BBC News her family is considering legal action. "[The police] have to pay for that in many ways, because if they do not, they are going to kill many people," she said. British Prime Minister Tony Blair defended the actions of the officers. "Had the circumstances been different and had this turned out to be a terrorist, and they had failed to take that action, they would have been criticized the other way," he said.

Mohammed Bouyeri, killer of filmmaker Van Gogh jailed for life

Photo: Theo van Gogh.

A 27-year-old radical Islamist has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh. Mohammed Bouyeri confessed to killing Van Gogh during his two-day trial earlier this month.  He told the Amsterdam District Court that he acted in the name of Islam and felt no remorse over Van Gogh's death. "What moved me to do what I did was purely my faith," he told the court. "I was motivated by the law that commands me to cut off the head of anyone who insults Allah and his prophet." Bouyeri added that he would do it again if given the chance. Judge Udo Willem Bentinck said life in prison was the only fitting punishment for a crime that triggered "great fear and insecurity."  "The murder of Theo van Gogh provoked a wave of revulsion and disdain in the Netherlands. Theo van Gogh was mercilessly slaughtered," said Judge Bentinck.  The judgment said Bouyeri had shown "a complete disregard for human life." Van Gogh was "butchered mercilessly," it said, and it was "a miracle that only two bystanders were hit by stray bullets." The three judge panel had concluded there was no possibility Bouyeri could return to society given his lack of remorse. In addition to the conviction for Van Gogh's murder, Bouyeri was also convicted of:

• attempted murder of bystanders and police officers;
• illegal possession of firearms; and
• impeding the work of a member of parliament, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, whom he had threatened to kill in a letter impaled in Van Gogh's chest.

Brutal slaying: Van Gogh's murder stunned the Netherlands and was ruled a terrorist act by the court. Bouyeri ambushed the filmmaker, who was a well-known critic of fundamentalist Islam, on an Amsterdam street, shooting him repeatedly. He then stabbed Van Gogh and slit his throat before thrusting a note filled with religious proclamations and threats of more attacks into his chest with a knife. The killing was seen by some as an act of terrorism because Van Gogh was a prominent critic of Muslim fundamentalism.  Bouyeri, a Dutch-Moroccan, was arrested after a shootout with police, holding the gun prosecutors say was used in the murder. He is tied to the killing by witnesses, blood spatters, ballistics and DNA analysis, say prosecutors. Bouyeri allegedly belongs to a terrorist cell known as the Hofstad Network. Twelve other suspected members are awaiting trial on separate terrorism charges. Prosecutors had demanding the maximum sentence for Bouyeri because they argued the crime was intended to shock the nation.

No Pakistanis involved in Egypt attacks: Envoy

Photos from L to R: #1. The photograph released by the Egyptian police shows Pakistani national Rashid Ali, who had sought by the authorities in Egypt in connection with the Sharm el-Sheik bombings. #2. The photograph released by the Egyptian police shows Pakistani national Mohammed Anwar sought by the authorities in Egypt.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan- No Pakistanis were involved in the deadly bombings at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, the Egyptian ambassador said today. "No Pakistani national was involved in the terrorist attacks that rocked Sharm el-Sheik late last Saturday," the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad said in a statement. Ambassador Hussein Haridy said he informed the Pakistani government by telephone late Monday of the Egyptian conclusion. "I received instructions from the Egyptian government to convey to the Pakistani government" an official denial that Egyptian police investigators said Monday that they were searching for five Pakistani men, and circulated photographs of them. The men have apparently been missing since before the attacks at checkpoints in and around Sharm el-Sheik. Haridy said Egyptian police were searching for six Pakistanis, but said the search was not related to the blasts that killed at least 88 people. "What happened is that the six Pakistani citizens arrived in Egypt within a group, and then they left their six passports at the hotel where they were staying, and they disappeared after that," Haridy said. "So as a routine security check, we are trying to locate them." The Egyptian Embassy statement quoted Haridy as saying that "at no time did the Egyptian government accuse Pakistanis of involvement in these attacks." The missing Pakistanis were identified as Mohammed Anwar, 30; Rashid Ali, 26; Mohammed Aref, 26; Musaddeq Hussein, 18; and Mohammed Akhtar, 30. The pictures, which gave their passport numbers, were on posters put up in Cairo.

Huge protest in Brazil after shooting Jean Charles de Menezes

SHARM EL SHEIKH UPDATE: Two Islamist groups, one asserting links to al-Qaeda, have made unverified claims of responsibility for the attacks

Egyptian police are searching for six Pakistani nationals in connection with the triple bombing at Sharm al-Sheikh. They have distributed photographs of the six, who disappeared from a hotel in Cairo earlier this month. The confirmed death toll stands at 64, although hospital officials say the figure could be as high as 88. Police have arrested scores of Bedouin for questioning, as investigators pursued links with an attack on tourists in eastern Sinai last year. Police have clarified that the six missing Pakistanis disappeared before the bombings, and were not staying at a hotel in Sharm al-Sheikh, as previously reported. Arabic TV networks have shown grainy pictures of two of the missing men and named them as 30-year-old Muhammad Akhtar and 18-year-old Tasadduq Husayn. Correspondents say the involvement of Pakistanis would be unprecedented; foreign nationals have rarely been linked to a series of attacks on tourists in Egypt since 1992. DNA tests: Investigators have been trying to determine whether the bombers had helped stage the attacks in the nearby Red Sea resort of Taba last October. DNA samples are being compared with those of detained suspects to establish any possible connections. Investigators have said there were two car bombs - the one outside the Ghazala Gardens and another in the Old Market area. A third bomb, set off in a parking area near the hotel, had been placed inside a suitcase. Security officials told the Associated Press news agency that three attackers escaped before the blasts - one man who planted the suitcase bomb and two others who left the car bomb in the Old Market. Most of those who died were Egyptian, although at least eight foreigners were killed. Various reports say they include people of Turkish, British, Czech, Netherlands, Russian and Ukrainian nationality. One Israeli Arab is also thought to be among the dead. The attack in the Old Market killed 17 Egyptians who were at a street cafe, officials said. Peace march: In Sharm al-Sheikh, known in Egypt as the "City of Peace", hundreds of people marched through the Naama Bay area on Sunday evening in protest at the attacks.

Investigators have been picking over the debris from the bombings

They marched past the wreckage of the four-star Ghazala Gardens hotel, which is concealed behind a high, white tarpaulin. Hotel workers, diving instructors and other local employees joined the march, lighting candles as night fell. They chanted slogans in support of peace and held banners which read "No to terrorism". The event was intended to send the message that the resort remains a welcoming place, but there was no mistaking the strength of the feelings expressed. Two Islamist groups, one asserting links to al-Qaeda, have made unverified claims of responsibility for the attacks. October's bombings killed 34 people, including many Israelis. It was seen as an offshoot of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, and blamed by Egypt on disaffected Palestinians and local Bedouins. The previous worst attack in Egypt was in 1997, when Islamic militants killed 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians near the southern city of Luxor. The tourism industry - Egypt's most lucrative - has slowly recovered since that attack, but there are widespread fears that these latest bombings will deal it a fresh blow.