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AQABA, Jordan (AP) - Jordanian police rounded up several people Saturday and uncovered the launcher used by militants to fire three Katyusha rockets from a hilltop warehouse the day before, narrowly missing a U.S. Navy ship docked in this Red Sea resort. The most serious strike against the Navy since the USS Cole bombing in Yemen killed a Jordanian soldier Friday, wounded another and sparked a nationwide manhunt for the culprits. Two other rockets were fired toward Israel from the warehouse located in the hills on Aqaba's northern edge about five miles from the port. One fell short and hit...

AQABA, Jordan - Police detained several suspects on Saturday as the hunt widened for the attackers who fired and supplied the rockets that narrowly missed a U.S. Navy ship anchored in the bay of this Red Sea port best known for beach vacations and Mideast summits. Those arrested included Iraqis, Syrians, Egyptians and Jordanians, according to a Jordanian security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. He would not give the number of detainees. Interior Minister Awni Yirfas told The Associated Press that security forces had found the launcher used to fire...

Arrest of an Iraqi suspect in the attack with the rockets of Aqaba AMMAN - an Iraqi, one of the four suspects sought for the attacks with the rocket of Aqaba (southern), was stopped Saturday evening in Amman, indicated to AFP a sedentary source. "the forces of safety stopped the Iraqi suspect whereas it drove its car", the sedentary source under cover of anonymity indicated. The source did not specify the place of the arrest. Friday morning, two rockets of the Katioucha type were drawn since a cargo warehouse from Aqaba where two ships of the American navy wet...

Attackers fired three rockets from the southern port city of Aqaba this morning, one of which narrowly missed a docked American naval ship and killed a Jordanian soldier, American and Jordanian officials said. It was the first assault on an American military ship in the region since a suicide bombing in Yemen five years ago. Skip to next paragraph Abrahan Farajyan/AP The amphibious assault ship Kearsage leaving the Jordanian port of Aqaba today after the attack. A second rocket slammed into a road outside an airport in the neighboring Israeli port of Eilat, injuring a taxi driver, and a third...

Jordan rockets miss US Navy ship     Three missiles have been fired from the Jordanian port of Aqaba, missing a US Navy ship but hitting Israel.     Two rockets missed the USS Ashland, an American naval ship docked in the port. A Jordanian soldier died when one of the two missiles hit the dockside. The third missile landed near Eilat airport in neighbouring Israel, causing no injuries. An internet statement, purportedly from a group which says it has links to al-Qaeda, said it was to blame. The statement, allegedly from the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades, said the attacks...

One of three missiles fired from Jordan (search) narrowly missed a U.S. Navy ship docked at port on Friday but the attack left one Jordanian soldier dead and another wounded. Another missile fell close to an airport in neighboring Israel, officials said. A Jordanian security official said another missile landed near a Jordanian hospital. The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet (search), based in Bahrain, said two American amphibious ships were docked in Aqaba when a mortar was fired toward them. The vessels later sailed out of port as a result of the attacks, U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Cdr. Charlie Brown told...

AMMAN, Jordan - Attackers fired at least three rockets from Jordan early Friday, with one narrowly missing a docked U.S. Navy ship and killing a Jordanian soldier. It was the most serious militant attack on the Navy since the USS Cole was bombed in 2000. Another rocket fell close to a nearby airport in neighboring Israel, officials said. Jordanian and Israeli authorities said militants fired the Katyusha rockets from a warehouse in the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba. A group linked to al-Qaida claimed responsibility in an Internet statement. The statement purportedly from the Abdullah Azzam Brigades could not...

Manama, Bahrain -- No US Sailors and Marines of USS ASHLAND and USS KEARSARGE were injured in an apparent rocket attack that occurred while the ships were in the port of Aqaba, Jordan. At approximately 8:44 a.m. local time, a suspected mortar rocket flew over the USS ASHLAND’s bow and impacted in a warehouse on the pier in the vicinity of the ASHLAND and USS KEARSARGE. The warehouse sustained an approximate 8 foot hole in the roof of the building. No Sailors or Marines were injured in this attack. For further questions, please contact Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander,...

AMMAN (Reuters) - Three rockets were fired at two U.S. Navy ships in Jordan's Aqaba port on Friday, but they missed their targets and hit a warehouse and a hospital, killing a Jordanian soldier, and striking the Israeli port of Eilat. A Jordanian security source said authorities were searching for three men in the Katyusha missile attack, which was launched from an industrial warehouse area near the entrance to the city. "We are searching for a Syrian and two Iraqis who are in Aqaba and used Kuwaiti number plates," the source said. Immediately after the attack, the two U.S. amphibious...

JERUSALEM, Aug 19 (Reuters) - An explosion was heard in the southern Israeli port and tourist city of Eilat shortly after an explosion was reported in the nearby Jordanian report of Aqaba, Israel Radio said. Israel's Army Radio said it appeared to be a rocket attack. There was no immediate word of casualties. Police in Eilat said they could not give details. Reuters - BLAST IN EILAT WAS KATYUSHA ROCKET STRIKE, NO CASUALTIES - ISRAEL'S ARMY RADIO Reuters - THREE ROCKETS OR SHELLS FIRED INTO AQABA PORT, CASUALTIES - ISRAEL RADIO

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) Prosecutors said on Tuesday they will charge a Dutch chemicals dealer as an accomplice to genocide for supplying Saddam Hussein with lethal chemicals used in the 1988 chemical attack on a Kurdish town that killed an estimated 5,000 civilians. Wim de Bruin of the national prosecutor's office said the suspect, who was arrested in Amsterdam on Monday, will face charges ''for violating the laws of war and involvement in genocide.'' Prosecutors said Frans van Anraat, a 62-year-old chemicals dealer, had been a suspect since 1989, when he was arrested in Milan, Italy, at the request of the...

Well, boys and girls, it seems that in recent weeks, there’s been some stirring in that Middle East land known as Jordan. While our attention has been focused primarily on Iraq and Afganistan, and casting a wary eye at Syria and Iran, and looking back over our shoulder at the developments in North Korea, Jordan has been making some symbolic maneuvers that aren’t fully understood yet, but could wind up having some major implications for the region.

Despite two deadly terror attacks on Sunday, in which 5 Israeli soldiers were killed at the Erez Crossing and in Hebron, the IDF is preparing to dismantle some 15 "unauthorized" outposts in the West Bank, in accordance with the "road map" peace initiative and PM Ariel Sharon's declaration at the Akaba summit. Although efforts are being made to have settlers vacate outposts voluntarily, the army may move into action tonight. Click here for full article

Five Palestinian movements want to continue Intifada armed Five Palestinian movements announced Saturday evening at the end of a meeting in Gaza which they intended to continue Intifada armed against Israel, one of the participants in the meeting announced. "We decided to continue Intifada armed, because us kids the conclusions of the top of Aqaba where resistance was comparable with terrorism", affirmed with the AFP Mohammed el-Hindi, one of the persons in charge for Islamic Jihad. Its movement met Saturday evening in Gaza with three other radical organizations, Hamas, the Popular Front of release of Palestine (FPLP) and the...

The Aqaba Summit - Sharon, Bush, Abdullah, Abbas - has ended, bringing hope to some, and trepidation to others that once again Israel will pay a heavy price in exchange for nothing. "Today may very well be registered in history as the 'naqba' - the day of catastrophe - for Israel," said MK Dr. Aryeh Eldad (National Union). Following morning meetings between Sharon/Bush, Sharon/Abdullah, and Bush/Abbas, the leaders of the three main parties to the current diplomatic process - Bush, Sharon, and Abbas - sat together for the actual summit meeting. Afterwards, each of them delivered their "historic" declarations. Hamas...

Analysis / It's now terror versus settlements By Aluf Benn The Gulf of Eilat has known quite a few summits in the last decade, peace talks and dashed hopes. The Jordanian king's palace in Aqaba, where the road map will be launched today, is only a few kilometers away from the Taba Hilton, where the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was cut off in January 2001. It's difficult to remember all the other conferences, the agreements that were violated, the regional development plans that evaporated. Today, President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas will gather...

While Israel Radio reported that while the streets of Aqaba are decorated today with the flags of Jordan, U.S. and the PLO/PA, Jordan declined to put Israeli flags in the streets. Amir Weiss, the spokesman of the Israeli Embassy in Amman, took an upbeat tone in an interview on Israel Radio, noting that Israeli flags were inside the king's palace in Aqaba for the meeting. At 9:47 AM Israel Radio pointed out it is becoming embarrassing that the Jordanians have yet to permit the Israeli flag to be displayed at the press center.

The Aqaba Summit - Sharon, Bush, Abdullah, Abbas - has begun, bringing hope to some, and trepidation that once again Israel will pay a heavy price in exchange for nothing - to others. Prime Minister Sharon will first meet this morning with U.S. President George Bush, and then with King Abdullah of Jordan, while Bush is meeting with Muhammad Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. At 3PM Israel time, each of the leaders will make what many assume will be historic declarations. Sharon will reportedly say that he will order the immediate destruction and removal of an unspecified number of outposts...

WASHINGTON - October is the target date. After October, the resources will be turned inward, for the election year, and the Middle East peace process can proceed as long as it doesn't get in the way. Meanwhile, and that means this week, the U.S. administration is exploiting a rare moment of agreement on the road to the summit in Aqaba. There's agreement on the summit itself and on the necessary details to make it a success - but not necessarily an agreement on long-term policies that will follow. One Washington analyst, trying to understand which way President Bush is going...

U.S. President George W. Bush plans to engage in a three-way summit in Jordan next week with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, the White House announced Wednesday. Despite recent setbacks to the peace process, Mr. Bush hopes to "focus on moving forward," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in announcing the planned meeting. Mr. McClellan said that Mr. Bush would also go separately to Egypt next week to meet with Arab leaders, and to Qatar, headquarters of the U.S. Central Command, to meet with U.S. troops. The meeting with Mr. Sharon and Mr. Abbas...