US requests to hold alleged plotter in jail

The family of Ahmed Abu Ali citizen of, American accused of plotting the assassination of President Bush says they blame the United States government for his alleged detention and torture in a Saudi prison and that they will pursue legal action against the United States government. Mr. Ali’s father Omar told the Associated Press, ‘The Saudi government are slaves of the Americans’ and says that his son was really under American control while in a Saudi prison.

U.S. District Court Judge John Bates indicated that he would set up a two week schedule for more court papers to be filed by both sides. Federal officials want any lawsuit by Mr. Ali and his family to be dismissed and they deny that any ‘torture’ took place in the Saudi prison. .S. prosecutors say a man charged with supporting al-Qaida and plotting to kill President Bush should be kept in jail until his trial.

Attorneys filed their motion ahead of a detention hearing next week for 23-year-old Ahmed Omar Abu Ali. Lead prosecutor Paul McNulty says the defendant, an American citizen, poses a “grave danger” to the nation. The indictment against Mr. Abu Ali says he planned to kill Mr. Bush either by shooting him or detonating a car bomb. It says the defendant discussed the plot with several co-conspirators in Saudi Arabia. (more…)

Pope is recovering after Tracheotomy operation

Pope spent a second night in hospital amid uncertainty. How quickly he could recover from throat surgery and whether he would be in shape to appear at a regular address this weekend. Pope had eaten breakfast on Friday and was breathing more easily after a tracheotomy operation.

In a medical bulletin, the Vatican said doctors had advised the Pope not to speak for some days a much softer take on his situation than that given by doctors who said it could be weeks before he would be able to make any noise at all. Pope, who also shakes with Parkinson’s disease and is racked with arthritis, has bounced back from numerous health scares, not least a near-miss assassination attempt in 1981.

He has brushed off doomsayers who predicted he was close to death over the years, pointing out that many of them had died and he was still leading the 1.1 billion members Catholic Church. But as he gets older, the Pope will take longer to recover and faces more potential complications. Medical experts said there was a significant likelihood a post-tracheotomy patient of his age and frailty could get pneumonia. Vatican officials are meeting today to decide if the pontiff is well enough to make some statement or gesture aimed at reassuring the world his recovery is progressing after his second breathing crisis in less than a month. (more…)

4 people Killed in a Suicide Bombing attack at Tel Aviv Club

Four people were killed in a suicide bomber attack outside a Tel Aviv nightclub, shattering the uneasy, unofficial truce between Israel and the Palestinians. Dozens of people were hurt in the blast. The bomb went off near a pedestrian walkway popular with tourists. Tel Aviv’s police chief said security guards kept the bomber from going into the club, thereby saving lives.

Mahmoud Abbas the Palestinian leader is pledging to track down those responsible.
Shortly before midnight local time, in an area near the coastal city’s popular promenade, the explosion tore through a crowd waiting to get in to the busy Stage nightclub. “I was near the club. There were about 20 people outside. Suddenly, there was an enormous explosion,” a witness identified as Tsahi told The Associated Press.

“They were all scattered to the sides,” another witness, Liora, told CTV News in Hebrew, “at that moment they were all blown away.” The blast ripped off the club’s facade, and shattered nearby windows. Israeli rescuers counted at least five dead, The Associated Press reports. Israeli army radio said at least 55 others were wounded. In the hours after the blast, Israeli media reported that the militant group Islamic Jihad had claimed responsibility. (more…)

Syria said that it is ready to withdraw troops from Lebanon

United States had welcomed Syria’s announcement that it is going to withdraw its troops in Lebanon toward their common border. “This needs to happen immediately and we would certainly welcome steps to implement that important UN resolution,” State Department spokeswoman Julie Reside said. Syria said it will withdraw its troops from neighboring Lebanon according to the 1989 Taif agreement between Syria and Lebanon.

The Taif Accord that ended Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil wars called for a redeployment of Syrian troops to eastern Lebanon, followed by agreements on a timetable for a full withdrawal. Both Syria and Lebanon have confirmed the redeployment, but gave no time frame yet. The two governments indicated the Syrian troops would not leave Lebanon at this stage. Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, added his voice yesterday to American calls for Syria to pull out of Lebanon.

He warned the Syrians in an Arabic television interview that they would face “measures” presumably some form of sanctions - if they did not pull their army out of Lebanon completely by April With pressure growing every day, Waleed al-Mualem, the Syrian deputy foreign minister, committed his country to further withdrawals, but failed to make a clear commitment to complete evacuation. (more…)