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Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television has aired a video of Al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri vowing to avenge the death of the network's Iraq frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi was killed in a United States air raid in Iraq on June 7. In the video, Zawahiri is seated in front of a picture of Zarqawi. He addresses US President George W Bush directly. "Yes O Bush, none of us is killed without us avenging him, with the help of God," he said. "Do you remember, O Bush, how the lion of Islam, the mujahed [holy warrior] Osama bin Laden, God keep...

CAIRO, Egypt - The new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq vowed to defeat "crusaders and Shiites" in Iraq, and he said "holy warriors" there were stronger than ever, according to a Web statement posted Tuesday — the first from the new terrorist leader. The statement appeared one day after the group announced that a man identified by the nom de guerre Abu Hamza al-Muhajer would succeed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as its leader. The Jordanian-born militant died June 7 in a U.S. airstrike on a safehouse in Baqouba, north of Baghdad. "It's no secret the ferociousness of the battle that is...

SANTIAGO, Chile - Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, freed on bail after more than six months in a Chilean jail, said Saturday that his political movement is still strong in Peru and promised a political comeback. In an interview with The Associated Press two days after being freed on bail by Chile's Supreme Court, the 67-year-old former ruler refused to say which candidate he supports in Peru's June 4 runoff election pitting former President Alan Garcia, a moderate leftist, against nationalist former army officer Ollanta Humala. He said, however, that "Fujimorismo", as he calls his movement, will soon take a...

WASHINGTON - The senior Democrat on the House ethics committee said Friday he won't step down from his post, contending there's no truth to allegations by a conservative group that he violated financial disclosure laws. Rep. Alan Mollohan (news, bio, voting record) of West Virginia accused Republicans of orchestrating the complaint by the congressional watchdog group and then using it to call for him to leave the ethics committee. The National Legal and Policy Center said Friday it filed a complaint in February with federal prosecutors, alleging that Mollohan consistently undervalued assets on congressional financial reports and also omitted assets....

KIRKUK, Iraq (Army News Service, Feb. 14, 2006) – Married Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division gathered at the Bastogne Chapel on Forward Operating Base Warrior on Valentines Day to rededicate their love for their spouses back home. “The ceremony was informal,” said Capt. Jerry Sherbourne, the 426th Brigade Support Battalion chaplain, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. “But it was an opportunity for us who are deployed and separated and far away to show we meant our vows and we still do.” More than 30 BSB Soldiers found time between missions to remember their spouses and rededicate their marriage vows in...

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco warned state lawmakers on Monday that corruption could no longer be tolerated as the area rebuilds from the Hurricane Katrina disaster and vowed to "play hardball" with Washington over oil and gas revenues. Opening a special legislative session in the New Orleans Convention Center, where thousands of residents took refuge in the days after Katrina flooded the city, Blanco said the disaster that killed 1,300 people had become "yesterday's problem" for many in Washington. "We had all better put Louisiana politics aside and worry about Washington politics or our people and our...

Hamas vows to defend itself after three die in Israeli air strike By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem (Filed: 06/02/2006) Hamas reacted angrily yesterday to the first Israeli air strikes on Gaza since the Islamist group won the Palestinian election, vowing that it would never give up the right to "self-defence". The missile raids - in retaliation for a rocket fired from Gaza that injured three Israelis, including a baby - were a setback for international efforts to persuade Hamas to recognise Israel and give up its armed struggle. Palestinians gather around the wreckage of a car destroyed after being targeted...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's president lashed out Wednesday at the United States and vowed to resist the pressure of "bully countries" as European nations circulated a draft resolution urging that Tehran be brought before the U.N. Security Council for its nuclear activities. In a speech to thousands of supporters hours after President Bush's State of the Union address, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad derided the United States as a "hollow superpower" that is "tainted with the blood of nations" and said Tehran would continue its nuclear program. "Nuclear energy is our right, and we will resist until this right is fully realized,"...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 1, 2006 – The U.S. armed forces are prepared to handle whatever challenges arise in 2006, the nation's top general vowed today in an interview from Iraq. He also thanked troops and their families for sacrifices in the global war on terrorism. "We'll assess the situation and do the best we can with what we have at hand and be successful the way our nation needs us to be." Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on ABC's "This Week" program. Pace said the U.S. goal is to ensure Iraqi armed forces and...

US vows to track down hijacker freed early By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 23/12/2005) The United States has vowed to track down and bring to trial a Lebanese hijacker who has been secretly released after serving 19 years in a German prison for seizing an airliner in 1985 and killing a US navy diver. The Bush administration said it had asked Germany not to release Mohammed Ali Hamadi, who was jailed for life for his role in the hijacking of TWA's Flight 847 from Athens to Rome and the shooting of one of the passengers, Robert Stethem. Despite...

Israel has vowed to eliminate the leadersip of the Islamic Jihad group after a Palestinian suicide bombing yesterday killed five Israelis. The attack, which took place at a busy shopping mall, was carried out by a member of the radical Palestinian organisation, which has claimed responsibility for most terrorist attacks on Israel. Ariel Sharon, currently fighting an election campaign against foes who accuse him of being too soft on Palestine, convened his security cabinet to lay out plans to retaliate for the bombing. Shaul Mofaz, Israel's defense minister, authorised the assassination of the leaders of Islamic Jihad and asked for...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein shouted Tuesday that he will not return "to an unjust court" when it convenes for a fifth session the following day. As the end of the session, when the judges decided to resume the trial Wednesday, Saddam suddenly shouted: "I will not return. I will not come to an unjust court! Go to hell!" Saddam also complained that he had no fresh clothes and had been deprived of shower and exercise facilities. "This is terrorism," he said. At that point, the audio was cut off to the media gallery and the curtain drawn so reporters...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Nov. 3, 2005) -- When Marines departed Camp Lejeune, N.C. to continue the war on terrorism here, many said farewell to families knowing their next visit would have to wait until after the deployment. However, some married spouses never had to say goodbye. For married couple 1st Lt.’s Donald and Heather Traves, saying goodbye was more of a, “see you soon,” since they would be relatively close to each other deploying together. Although they are stationed on separate bases, this has not deterred the couple from keeping in touch, according to Donald, who is the officer in...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2005 – President Bush today told attendees at a military spouses luncheon here that they and their husbands and wives deserve a clear strategy for victory over global terrorism. Terrorism is "a mortal danger to all humanity," Bush said at Bolling Air Force Base. He added that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States revealed the terrorists' destructive intent for the United States. The terrorists would like to strike America again, Bush said. Yet, the United States will continue confronting terrorism and "will not rest or tire until the war on terror is won," he...

'Soft' Bush vows to expel all illegal migrants By Francis Harris in Washington (Filed: 20/10/2005) President George W Bush has promised to expel millions of illegal immigrants as part of a major new initiative to end fierce criticism from fellow Republicans that he is too soft on border security. Mr Bush told senior congressmen and intelligence officers in the White House: "Our goal is clear: to return every single illegal entrant, with no exceptions." His words amounted to the toughest pledge on immigration from the Bush administration to date. Mr Bush: 'You got people sneaking into our country' Officials estimate...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2005 – Just as terrorists "regard Iraq as the central front in the war on humanity," the United States must recognize it as "the central front in our war on terror," President Bush said in a speech here today to the National Endowment for Democracy. The president painted a connection between Operation Iraqi Freedom and the ongoing global war on terror and vowed that the United States won't retreat with anything less than all-out victory. Bush dismissed claims that the coalition's actions in Iraq are flaming the radicals' rage against the United States and its coalition partners....

SACRAMENTO - Almost two years ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger made one of his most detailed policy speeches of the tumultuous 2003 recall election. Standing inside the California State Railroad Museum -- a visual emblem of the special-interest politics that can dominate state politics -- the gubernatorial candidate laid out what he called a "sweeping political reform" agenda to restore public trust in Sacramento. It included a fund-raising blackout during budget season, redrawing political boundaries and a vow to veto bills that hadn't been fully vetted in the Legislature. Now, as Schwarzenegger campaigns for a special election and a second term, most...

CLOVIS, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger all but declared Wednesday that he would run for a second term next year, saying, "I am not in this for the short run," and promising an official announcement Friday in San Diego. Speaking at a special election campaign event in this Central Valley town near Fresno, Schwarzenegger was asked by an audience member if Californians would get "a chance to vote for you again." It was the last question during a carefully planned "town hall" meeting at a window factory. The governor paused, smiled briefly and then revealed what he had been hinting...

Clinton vows to fight on, despite defeat of 'Katrina Commission' bill 2 hours, 23 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Senator Hillary Clinton vowed to continue to fight for a "Katrina Commission" probing the federal government's sluggish early response to last month's massive hurricane -- even after the defeat of a bill she authored to create such a panel. "I called for an independent Katrina Commission because it is simply not appropriate for government to investigate itself," said Clinton, whose bill was defeated by a party-line vote of 44 to 54. "If we are truly going to provide the people...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A shadowy Hamas bombmaker who tops Israel's most-wanted list on Saturday issued his first videotaped statement since going into hiding more than a decade ago. Mohammed Deif praised Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a victory for armed resistance, rejected calls for his group to disarm, and vowed to continue attacks on Israel until the Jewish state is erased from the map. Deif, who has escaped three Israeli attempts to kill him, has been living underground since 1992. He is so shadowy that the most recent photograph of him is from the 1980s.