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How The West Was Won The rapid and unexpected decline of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq was officially recognized this week, when Maj. Gen. John Kelly, commanding the Marine Expeditionary Force, turned operational control of Anbar Province over to the Iraqi army and police. Anbar, a vast expanse of desert the size of North Carolina, had been the stronghold of the Sunni insurgency. For years, foreign fighters loyal to al-Qaida had sneaked across Iraq's northwestern border with Syria, into Anbar and down a "rat line" of safe houses in Haditha, Ramadi and Hit. From Fallujah, the arch terrorist Zarqawi...

The fiancée of one of the leaders of the failed July 21 suicide attacks has been sentenced to three years in jail for helping him escape by dressing in a burka as a Muslim woman. Fardosa Abdullahi, who was 17 at the time, gave Yassin Omar her mobile phone handset, provided a scarf and handbag for his disguise and accompanied him to Golders Green coach station where he fled to Birmingham in his feminine disguise. Omar's family persuaded her to contact police but she claimed she did not know where he was and it was not until six days after...

Dorset man smuggling parts to Iran, says US By Patrick Sawer A British pensioner is at the centre of a worldwide police hunt after being accused by United States authorities of smuggling military parts to Iran. Brian Woodford, 77, who owns a 17th century manor house and 100-acre estate in Dorset, has been charged in his absence with selling millions of pounds worth of US military and civilian aircraft parts to the Islamic regime in Tehran. His wife Laura was arrested after arriving at San Francisco on a flight from Hong Kong with two catalogues from a Chinese company that...

Unilateral measures taken by Israel main obstacle for peace, King Abdullah tells Rice during Amman meeting; stresses importance of increasing America's role in process Roee Nahmias and AP Published: 03.30.08, 23:24 / Israel News US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed to Amman from Jerusalem on Sunday to meet with Jordanian King Abdullah. The king warned that failure to achieve progress toward (Israeli-Palestinian) peace would ''threaten the region's future'', according to a statement from his palace. During his meeting with Rice Abdullah accused Israel of taking unilateral measures, particularly regarding the expansion of the West Bank settlements. According to the...

ROME — The Vatican is negotiating with authorities in Saudi Arabia for permission to build the country's first Roman Catholic church, sources in the Holy See said yesterday. The move evidently heralds a major policy change toward the nearly 1 million Christians working in the unbendingly conservative Wahhabi kingdom. Riyadh and the Holy See have been holding discreet discussions on the sensitive issue for several weeks and the two sides are "locked together," said Archbishop Mounged El-Hachem, the papal nuncio, or Vatican ambassador, to the Persian Gulf states of Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. A source in...

41 Taliban killed in south Afghanistan By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer 15 minutes ago Afghan and international forces killed 41 Taliban militants in a battle in southern Afghanistan, and a suicide car bomb attack on a convoy of U.S. troops left six Afghan civilians dead in Kabul, U.S. and Afghan officials said Thursday. None of the four American troops traveling in the two armored vehicles of the convoy was badly wounded in the Thursday attack, said Lt. Col. David Johnson, a spokesman for U.S. forces. The troops were traveling in one SUV and one truck, he said. Six Afghan...

BRIGHTON, England - British police thwarted a suspected plot to kill the Saudi crown prince in 2003, a top counterterrorism officer said Wednesday. Officers caught a man as he tried to smuggle more than $330,000 in cash through Heathrow Airport on a flight from the United States to Syria in August 2003, said Detective Superintendent Mark Holmes, head of Britain's National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit. Holmes said police confiscated the money but freed the man, later identified as naturalized American citizen Abdurahman Alamoudi, a Muslim activist. They said they later learned he intended to give the cash to Saudi dissidents...

Pope Benedict XVI is to meet King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia next week in the first talks between a Saudi monarch and a Pope. The Vatican said the uprecedented meeting would take place at the Vatican on Tuesday. King Abdullah has been paying a visit to Britain as part of a European tour. The Pope has sought to promote Christian-Muslim dialogue, and last month October opened a three day inter faith conference at Naples which included Muslim representatives. The Vatican does not have formal diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, and relations have been strained, with the Holy See demanding "reciprocity"...

King Abdullah, the first Saudi monarch to visit Britain in a generation, embarrassed his hosts even before his arrival this evening by suggesting the government had ignored a Saudi intelligence tip that might have prevented a wave of transit bombings two years ago. The explosions killed 52 passengers and four bombers, who targeted three underground trains and a double-decker bus in the British capital during the busy morning of July 7, 2005. Hours before his jetliner was due to land in London, Abdullah told the British Broadcasting Corp. in a rare interview that “we have sent information to Britain before...

<p>The king of Jordan roared into Carmel on his Harley-Davidson on Wednesday, stopping for a pancake breakfast before taking off with about 10 other bikers for a ride down the Big Sur coast.</p> <p>The king's visit was meant to be low-profile, said a Jordanian consulate official, though it's rather difficult to remain incognito in the small city of Carmel when your entourage includes a host of Secret Service agents, members of the royal guard, a California Highway Patrol escort and a lineup of black SUVs.</p>

Last update - PM Olmert invites Jordan's Abdullah II to visit Israel By Shahar Ilan and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has invited Jordan's King Abdullah II to visit the Jewish state as Israel and Arab governments edge toward new discussion of an Arab peace proposal, officials said on Friday. No date has been set for the visit by the monarch, Israeli and Jordanian officials said. "His Majesty is ready to engage in any effort that helps to bring about the success of the Arab initiative and the setting up of a Palestinian state,"...

Jordan's king urges Israel to adopt Arab peace plan In meeting with Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, King Abdullah calls on Israel to abandon unilateral moves, enter peace negotiations based on Arab peace initiative. 'Israel must recognize all Palestinian rights, including establishment of Palestinian state,' he says Amnon Meranda, Amman Published: 04.19.07, 16:23 / Israel News Jordan's King Abdullah on Thursday called on Israel to abandon the unilateral moves "which have failed" and enter negotiations with the Palestinians. In a meeting with Knesset Speaker and Acting President Dalia Itzik in Amman, the king urged Israel to adopt the Arab peace initiative....

In his recent address to Congress, King Abdullah II of Jordan dramatically quoted FDR's famous "four freedoms speech" as a means to describe American foreign policy as freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. The goal of the speech was to call for greater US involvement in facilitating an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. What is significant about this call is the Palestinian conundrum that Adbullah himself faces in Jordan. Unlike the Palestinian cause in the West Bank, Lebanon, or Syria, the cause in Jordanian refugee camps is not as plastered all over the place as...

Last update - 16:05 14/04/2007 Jordan's Abdullah invites Israeli, Palestinian, American delegates to talks By Haaretz Service and Agencies Jordan's King Abdullah II has invited politicians and peace activists from Israel, the United States and the Palestinian territories for discussions in Amman as part of an effort to push forward the stalled Middle East peace process, officials said Saturday. Among Israeli politicians due to visit Jordan next week is Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik. She will visit Amman on Thursday for a few hours to discuss efforts to revive peace talks, Jordanian officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - King Abdullah denounced the American military presence in Iraq on Wednesday as an "illegitimate foreign occupation" and called on the West to end its financial embargo against the Palestinians. The Saudi monarch's speech was a strongly worded lecture to Arab leaders that their divisions had helped fuel turmoil across the Middle East, and he urged them to show unity. But in opening the Arab summit, Abdullah also nodded to hardliners by criticizing the U.S. presence in Iraq. "In beloved Iraq, blood is flowing between brothers, in the shadow of an illegitimate foreign occupation, and abhorrent sectarianism...

Israeli officials and army chiefs were taken aback by an intelligence report summing up two years of research, which exposed Jordan's King Abdullah, Israel's partner in peace and the war on terror, as being secretly inn league with the Damascus-based radical Khaled Meshaal. A high-placed Israeli source commented: "All these years Israel was guided by the knowledge that Meshaal was sponsored by Damascus and more recently Tehran. We now learn the entire Hamas leadership also enjoyed the patronage of the Hashemite court in Jordan. It has been a real shock." The Jordanian-Hamas connection came to light during Israel's information-gathering on...

Jordan's King Abdullah is addressing a joint session of Congress.

A suspected leader of the group Islamic State in Iraq, which has ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, was detained in northern Iraq on Sunday, Iraqi security forces reported. Muharib Mohammed Abdullah, aka Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, was arrested in a joint raid by Iraqi and US soldiers in the city of Duluiya. "This is a great success for the Iraqi security forces, comparable to the killing of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi," the Salaheddin provincial administration in the town of Tikrit said in a statement. Abdullah is a former legal expert from the city of Balad, north of Baghdad. The Islamic State...

Embassy of Jordan - Washington, DC Information Bureau FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE King Abdullah II of Jordan to Address Joint Meeting of Congress AMMAN (February 24, 2007) – His Majesty King Abdullah is scheduled to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress on March 7, 2007, to urge more American engagement in the Middle East peace process. According to an informed source at the Royal Hashemite Court, the address to Congress is a unique opportunity to articulate the Arab states' vision of comprehensive regional peace based on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict will be a key...

Abdullah says moderates must fight extremists Vir Sanghvi New Delhi, November 30, 2006 The time has come for moderate Muslims all over the world to stand up and fight the extremists within the community. In an exclusive interview to the Hindustan Times, King Abdullah of Jordan said, "Let the silent majority win the street back." King Abdullah said that Islam had been hijacked by a minority of extremists who had imposed their own agenda on the community. Further, he said, this agenda relied on miscommunication of Islam's tenets. All over Asia, Muslims who did not speak Arabic were often misled...

Ahead of meeting US President Bush Wednesday, Jordanian king calls for renewed efforts to revive peace talks, but says his country won't accept any settlement that causes influx of Palestinians Associated Press Published: 11.28.06, 13:57 Jordan's King Abdullah II called for renewed efforts to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a speech Tuesday, a day before he meets the US President, but he warned Jordan would not accept a deal that causes an influx of Palestinians. In a speech to open parliament, the king indicated that in his talks with President George W. Bush in Amman, he would underline the need...

LONDON - Four men arrested on suspicion of organizing terrorist training camps in Britain were tracked by Spanish investigators earlier this year as they traveled through Spain from France en route to North Africa, officials said Monday. The statement from Spain's interior ministry was the first public indication of an international link to the probe, which led to the arrests late Friday and early Saturday of 14 people suspected of training and recruiting for terror attacks. British prosecutors, meanwhile, said eight other people allegedly involved in a separate plot to blow up U.S.-bound aircraft are unlikely to be brought to...

Jordan dynasty bolsters religious role in Jerusalem 08 Nov 2006 18:04:18 GMT By Suleiman al-Khalidi AMMAN, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Jordan's King Abdullah watched intently during a presentation of plans for the construction of a new minaret near the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. He was told the minaret -- the first structure to be built in over 600 years at Islam's third holiest shrine -- would feature the engraving of a seven-point Hashemite star, like the one on the kingdom's flag. "The preservation of Islamic sanctities is a responsibility that I have been bequeathed and I will continue...

Bomb Scare At Tucson Grocery Store Jenny Rose KGUN9 News An explosive situation tied up the intersection of Prince and Campbell for hours after someone found a bomb at a grocery story. Jenny Rose has the latest. http://www.kgun9.com/NewsArticle/tabid/111...38/Default.aspx

King Abdullah: We are really running out of time! Last update - Jordan's King warns Palestinian statehood at risk due to feuding AMMAN - Jordan's King Abdullah warned feuding Palestinians on Wednesday that their hopes of statehood could be permanently wrecked within months unless they step back from the brink of civil war. Palestinians had to put aside internal differences and face other challenges, he said, citing what he described as a growing right-wing camp in Israel pursuing an uncompromising "fortress Israel" mindset rather than "integration in the region." A power struggle between Hamas and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's...

King Abdullah II orders building the fifth minaret for Al-Aqsa Mosque /0010/ Amman, 09 Oct. (Petra)—His Majesty King Abdullah II on Monday announced the construction of a fifth minaret for Al-Aqsa Mosque, along with carrying out the needs of maintenance and renewal of the Dom of the Rock’s furnishing . His Majesty gave instructions to conduct a competition for the fifth minaret’s design. During a meeting His Majesty chaired in the Ministry of Awqaf, the King said that keeping and constructing Islamic holy sites ‘is a duty that I should always support depicting the grandfathers steps.’ He stressed that he...

AMMAN, Jordan - Jordan's King Abdullah II said Saturday terrorists were exploiting U.S. mistakes since the Sept. 11 attacks five years ago to promote instability in the Middle East, according to a published report. Abdullah made the remarks in an interview with the pan-Arabic daily al-Hayat published on the day he and his wife, Queen Rania, left for a five-day visit to the United States, where he also is expected to address the U.N. General Assembly. "The American reaction" to terror attacks had "contributed to the empowerment of terrorist groups," the king said in the interview. He did not elaborate....

Abdullah Gets Message From Ahmadinejad Arab News JEDDAH, 16 July 2006 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday received a message from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The subject of the communiqué is unknown. Iran’s top national security official Ali Larijani delivered the presidential message to the king during a meeting at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah, the Saudi Press Agency reported yesterday. Iranian state television earlier reported that Larijani would discuss the current tumult between Israel and Lebanon. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo yesterday. Prince Saud is currently in Cairo...

AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan's King Abdullah on Wednesday told Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki of his concern about Tehran's hostility to Israel and support for Palestinian militant groups, officials said. Jordanian officials last month accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas of plotting to stage attacks on its soil using smuggled weapons, including Iranian rocket launchers. Mottaki, making a rare visit by a senior Iranian official, was told of Jordan's displeasure about Tehran's backing for Hamas, officials said. "We are very concerned about Tehran's support for radical groups that seek to wreck peace accords and push the region toward greater bloodshed,"...

Last update - 22:16 29/04/2006 Jordan, Egypt say will urge Abbas, not Hamas, to make peace Jordan and Egypt said Saturday they hoped to encourage the newly formed Israeli government to return to the negotiating table and wanted the Palestinian Authority chairman - not his Hamas-led government - to reach a final settlement with the Jewish state. Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak discussed their common strategy against terrorism and to promote peace in the region, said Egypt's foreign minister after a closed-door meeting in the Red Sea resort town of Aqaba. There is a "joint Egyptian-Jordanian-Arab...

Jordan king: Israel must disarm nukes Abdullah tells Spanish paper El Pais Jordan interested in nuclear-free Middle East, says Israel must disarm its nuclear weapons. If peace is achieved, Israel will not need such arms, King states Dudi Cohen Jordanian King Abdullah said his country is interested in a nuclear-free Middle East and urged the international community to pressure Israel to dismantle its nuclear arsenal. "If the world is demanding Iran doesn't develop nuclear weapons it should also demand that countries which possess nuclear weapons disarm," Abdullah said in an interview to Spanish newspaper El Pais. "For peace to be...

Time running out for Mideast peace - King Abdullah 20 Mar 2006 20:36:26 GMT Source: Reuters By Jon Boyle PARIS, March 20 (Reuters) - Jordan's King Abdullah said on Monday he believed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had only two years left before changes on the ground would make it redundant and condemn the region to more years of strife. The international community was tired of the failure to make a breakthrough and risked washing its hands of the peace process with potentially disastrous results, Abdullah told the European-American Press Club. "We are physically running out of time," he said. "I...

And the Oscar goes to - Jordan's King Abdullah Michael Freund, THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 21, 2006 As Hollywood gears up for this year's Academy Awards, they might wish to consider adding a new category to their repertoire: best autocrat in disguise. Were they to do so, few would be better qualified to take home this dubious honor than His Royal Highness King Abdullah II of Jordan. With his elegant English and ever-so-dapper Western dress, the Jordanian monarch is virtually unmatched in his ability to portray himself as an irreplaceable bulwark against extremism in an otherwise troubled corner of the...

Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia's prime minister, "says a huge chasm has opened between the West and Islam, fuelled by Muslim frustrations over Western foreign policy," according to the BBC, in a story about the Mohammed caricatures. The Beeb claims that Abdullah is "promoting a moderate form of Islam," but his anti-democratic actions prove otherwise. Au contraire, Mr. Abdullah, it is your seething, Muslim masses that are the cause of this "chasm." Again, the BBC: As he spoke at a conference in Kuala Lumpur, thousands protested outside at Western cartoons of Prophet Muhammad. ... "Long live Islam. Destroy Denmark. Destroy Israel. Destroy...

Remarks by President Bush and his Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan in Photo Opportunity To: National Desk Contact: White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 202-456-2580 WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 /Christian Wire Service/ -- The following text is of remarks by President Bush and his Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan in a photo opportunity: The Oval Office 9:26 A.M. EST PRESIDENT BUSH: Your Majesty, welcome back. I have had two good discussions with His Majesty. Last night His Majesty and the Crown Prince came to have dinner with Laura and me and some members of Congress, and we had a really...

Jordan's King Abdullah II, whose interfaith efforts over the past year impressed Catholics, Jews and Muslims alike, will have a supporting role at this year's National Prayer Breakfast, according to a key aide. Although he would not be the first Muslim to speak at the annual event at the Washington Hilton, he will have a bigger role than his predecessors, said Joseph Lumbard, special adviser to the king for interfaith affairs. Plans are to have the king offer a prayer or say a few words at the Feb. 2 breakfast, then give the keynote speech at a lunch for evangelical...

California Professor: I agree wholeheartedly with President Ahmadinejad. There was no such a thing as the "holocaust" Do you know what America’s young people are being taught in colleges and universities throughout this country? If the statements of Dr. Abdullah Mohamed Sindi are in any way representative of what is being taught then I think many people are in for a big surprise. Dr. Sindi has worked as a professor of political science and international relations at American universities and colleges including the University of California at Irvine, California State University in Pomona, Cerritos Community College, and Fullerton Community College....

Saudi Arabia's new monarch, King Abdullah, is praised by some for his open-mindedness, while others criticize him for being illiberal. With al-Qaida on the run and skyrocketing oil prices, the kingdom and the royal family may be overcoming the crises of recent years. But some observers say that the new oil boom and the possibly receding terrorist threat may mask the importance of growing social problems and prevent urgently needed reforms. By Heiko Flottau in Cairo for ISN Security Watch (26/12/05) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon his ascension to the throne in 2005 Abdullah immediately released three well known dissidents from prison, later...

‘King Abdullah Economic City’ launched by Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques Riyadh, December 20, 2005: In what is considered the single largest private sector investment in Saudi Arabia, the announcement of the ‘King Abdullah Economic City’ to be built at a pristine location off the Red Sea in the north of Jeddah with an investment of SR100 billion ($26.6 billion), is a signal of the dawn of a new era of economic prosperity for the citizens of the Kingdom. The project, which will be a New Age City being built today for tomorrow’s generation of Saudi citizens, was officially...

Plot to kill PM, court told Katie Lapthorne17dec05 TERROR suspects talked about killing John Howard and his family as payback for the deaths of innocent Muslims, a court heard yesterday. The conversation between accused would-be suicide bomber Abdullah Merhi and his spiritual leader Abdul Nacer Benbrika was secretly recorded in September last year. The pair allegedly discussed taking an eye for an eye. The Melbourne Magistrates' Court heard Mr Merhi, 20, told the leader of the alleged Melbourne terrorist cell: "If, for example, John Howard kills innocent Muslim family . . . do we have to kill him and his...

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Saudi Arabia's new king, Abdullah, is vying for a leading role in the Arab world, hoping to steer Arabs and Muslims out of troubled waters, away from terrorism and to eradicate misconceptions within Islam. "The recent manifestation of extremism, violence and terrorism that are plaguing Muslims and non-Muslims alike has alarmed Saudi Arabia and made it clear that an endemic problem currently exists in the Islamic world," said the king in a "highly confidential" policy document made available to United Press International. The document was drawn up as leaders of the Islamic world,...

<p>Jordan King Calls for All-Out War on Islamic Militancy Thursday, November 24, 2005 AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan's King Abdullah II urged his new prime minister Thursday to launch an all-out war against Islamic militancy in the wake of the triple hotel bombings earlier this month that killed 63 people. In a letter to newly appointed Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit, Abdullah said the Nov. 9 bombings "increase our determination to stick to our reform and democratization process, which is irreversible." "At the same time, it reaffirms our need to adopt a comprehensive strategy to confront the Takfiri culture," Abdullah said, referring to the ideology adopted by Al Qaeda and other militants who condone the killing of those they consider infidels. Abdullah said the strategy should "not only deal with the security dimension, but also the ideological, cultural and political spheres to confront those who choose the path of destruction and sabotage to reach their goals." Al-Bakhit was Jordan's ambassador to Israel until appointed to head the national security council six days after the bombings. Prime Minister Adnan Badran resigned earlier Thursday, the official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the press. The official Petra news agency confirmed Badran's resignation, saying the prime minister, had tendered his Cabinet's resignation to the king and the monarch accepted it. Badran took office in April. The change of government is part of general shake-up following the suicide bombings, which hurt Jordan's reputation as one of the most stable countries in the Middle East. Al-Bakhit was appointed Nov. 15 to head the national security council. Government officials said the king may have chosen al-Bakhit because of his reputation as a tough former general who ran a southern Jordanian university that trains army and police recruits.</p>

Jordan's King Abdullah, in his most ferocious challenge to date against the American Left, stated, "We have to speed up adopting a law that counters terror in all its forms ... and fight an all-out war on schools of thought that thrive on bigotry, extremism and feed on the ignorance of simple and naive people." Responding to the declaration of war against liberalism, celebrated strongman John Murtha replied, "That's an outrageous threat to make! I don't see liberal or conservative marking on those tombstones! I fought my entire career to feed simple and naive people. Who do you think elected...

AMMAN, (Reuters) - Jordan's King Abdullah appointed his national security chief as prime minister on Thursday and urged him to adopt a tough stance against Islamic militancy but ensure political liberalisation was not jeopardised. Abdullah asked Marouf Bakheet, 58, a former ambassador to Israel with a long career in military intelligence, to form a new government to address security concerns after triple suicide bombings killed 60 people, officials said. "We have to speed up adopting a law that counters terror in all its forms ... and fight an all-out war on schools of thought that thrive on bigotry, extremism and...

RELATIVES of Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, have renounced the terrorist, telling King Abdullah II yesterday that they would "sever links with him until doomsday". Al-Zarqawi - whose real name is Ahmed Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh - claimed responsibility for the deadly 9 November attacks on three Amman hotels, which killed 60 people. In half-page advertisements in Jordan's three main newspapers, 57 members of the Khalayleh family, including Zarqawi's brother and cousin, reiterated their strong allegiance to the king. Zarqawi had threatened in an audiotape on Friday to kill the king. "As we pledge to maintain homage...

Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi made clear he was not about to stop the bloodshed, warning he will attack more tourist sites in Jordan and threatening to behead King Abdullah II. He said he was targeting Jordan because it is serving as a "protector" for Israel, helps the U.S. military in Iraq and has become a "swamp of obscenity," with alcohol and prostitution in its tourist sites. "Your star is fading. You will not escape your fate, you descendant of traitors. We will be able to reach your head and chop it off," al-Zarqawi said, referring to the king. Al-Zarqawi, who has a...

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - An audiotape purportedly from the head of al-Qaida in Iraq Friday threatened to kill Jordan's King Abdullah II and bomb more hotels and tourist sites. The speaker on the tape, identified as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, also said the group's suicide bombers did not intend to bomb a Jordanian wedding party at an Amman hotel last week, killing about 30 people. Al-Zarqawi said the bomber who detonated his explosives in the Radisson SAS hotel on Nov. 9 was targeting a hall where he claimed Israeli and American intelligence officials were meeting. That bomb caused part of the...

...Under pressure from Team Clinton, "60 Minutes" agreed to read a statement from convicted criminal Sandy Berger, Clinton's national security adviser, insisting that Freeh's account is flat-out wrong.... It's also a fact that he's [Clinton] remained close to the House of Saud: In 2002, he was paid $750,000 for a speaking tour there. The Saudis also flew the ex-president and an entourage of 40 guests to the kingdom for a 2003 visit.... And Clinton pointedly praised the Saudi government in his testimony to the 9/11 Commission. Freeh has made similar allegations before, in a 2001 article by Elsa Walsh in...

JEDDAH, 15 October 2005 — Saudi women yesterday applauded the statement by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah that they would be permitted to drive someday. Women then called for a dialogue to convince opponents of women driving to change their misconceptions. In an interview with ABC News broadcast yesterday, King Abdullah told veteran reporter Barbara Walters that the issue required patience, and he would not impose it against the will of the people, issuing a royal decree. He noted that women drive on the Kingdom’s deserts and in rural areas. “I believe strongly in the rights...

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia called the threat of al Qaeda in his country "madness and evil," and vowed to ABC's Barbara Walters that his nation would "eliminate this scourge" of terrorism. In his first interview since becoming king following the July 31 death of his half-brother King Fahd, Abdullah vowed continued support of the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Abdullah also defended women's rights, predicting women in the Muslim nation will drive in the future. He also discussed oil prices, relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States, and the potential for peace in the Middle East. The interview will...