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THE BALKANS: Suspicious Foreigners in Bosnia July 23, 2004: Without much publicity, the U.S. is pulling its peacekeepers out of the Balkans. July 21, 2004: Bulgaria has taken a hard line against al Qaeda terrorists, keeping its troops in Iraq despite the murder of a Bulgarian worker by terrorists there. Bulgaria has long warned of the continuing danger of Islamic terrorists operating in Bosnia and Albania. American and European counter-terrorism experts believe about 300 of the thousand or so foreign Moslems in Bosnia are "suspicious", and thought to be part of al Qaeda related organizations. The al-Tawhid terror group, which...

Globalterroralert.com 10/21/04http://www.globalterroralert.com/ansarsunnah1004-4.pdf "Those of us from the Ansar Al-Sunnah Army celebrate and congratulate the Muslims and all of our mujahideen brothers in the Tawheed wal-Jihad Movement on the occasion of their inclusion on the list of terrorists... Praise be to Allah, it increased the joy in our hearts that John Kerry, the presidential candidate, has criticized the Bush government for taking so long in making this declaration. The one who may become the president of America is already struck with terror by our brothers from the Tawheed wal-Jihad Movement. The repeated attacks that have targeted the evil Bush are now...

DUESSELDORF, Germany -- A Jordanian man who claims he was Osama bin Laden's bodyguard was questioned by U.S. officials who are considering having him testify at the Virginia trial of terror suspect Zacarias Moussaoui, the man's attorney said Thursday. Shadi Abdellah, 28, sentenced last November to four years in prison for helping plan terror attacks in Germany, was granted early release last month after serving more than half the time, including in pretrial custody. While in prison, he served as a government witness in several trials, including that of his alleged co-plotters in the German cell of the Tawhid and...

Kidnappers beheaded British hostage Kenneth Bigley after twice releasing videos in which he wept and pleaded with Prime Minister Tony Blair for his life. A U.S. official said Friday there was credible information that Bigley had tried to escape with the aid of one of his captors. The attempt failed and Bigley was killed a short time later as was shown on a video of his beheading, the Washington official said on condition of anonymity. There was no word on the fate of his captor. A Western official in Baghdad refused to talk about the escape attempt report. The 62-year-old...

DUBAI (Reuters) - A group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and said it was in contact with al Qaeda over operations in Iraq, according to an Internet statement posted Sunday. "We announce that the Tawhid and Jihad Group, its prince and soldiers, have pledged allegiance to the sheikh of the mujahideen Osama bin Laden," said the statement, dated Sunday and posted on several Web sites often used by militants. Washington says Zarqawi is al Qaeda's link to Iraq but the statement was the first by the group to announce its allegiance...

FALLUJAH CLERIC ARRESTED US troops in Iraq have arrested the chief negotiator in the rebel-held town of Fallujah. News of the arrest came as American forces carried out high-intensity attacks on the city, west of the capital Baghdad. The US says the ground and air attacks are part of an ongoing operation and are not the start of moves to recapture the city.  The strikes come a day after the city's leaders suspended peace talks and rejected the Iraqi government's demands to turn over terror mastermind Abu Musab al Zarqawi.  It is thought al Zarqawi, the militant responsible for Ken...

WASHINGTON - Four Americans killed in bombings in the Green Zone in Baghdad on Thursday were all employees of the private U.S. security firm DynCorp, a U.S. official said Thursday. Two State Department officials were injured, neither critically, along with another employee of the company, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The firm, Dyncorp, helps provide security primarily in areas where Americans work in the Iraqi capital. A spokesman for Computer Services Corp., the parent company, had no immediate comment. The fact that insurgents were able to penetrate Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone that contained U.S. and...

DUBAI (Reuters) - British hostage Kenneth Bigley, kidnapped 10 days ago by gunmen in Iraq, is still alive, a London-based Muslim activist who has good contacts with Islamist groups in Iraq said on Sunday. Yasser al-Serri, director of the Islamic Observation Center, said his group issued an appeal to Bigley's kidnappers through mediators in Iraq and received a reply that the Briton was still alive. The British engineer is being held by Tawhid and Jihad, a group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It beheaded two Americans seized along with the Briton when its demand to have female...

The suspected spiritual leader of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad group has been killed in a US air strike in Iraq, reports say. Sheikh Abu Anas al-Shami was killed when a missile hit his car on Friday, according to relatives in Jordan. The sheikh is believed to have written the group's fatwas or religious rulings and Mr Zarqawi's speeches. Mr Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, heads the group thought to have killed two US hostages since Monday. The US military had said it conducted a "successful precision strike" west of Baghdad on Friday, targeting a gathering of...