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Motorola, Nortel reportedly in talks to combine units

The talks could create a joint venture with sales of around $10 billion, combining businesses that make network equipment for wireless phone carriers, the newspaper said.

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White PS3 now approved for Stateside use

The FCC just approved the 40GB Ceramic White PS3 for US consumption. It's apparently the same model announced for Japan back in October.

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Lego Volvo

I wonder if it runs?

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US charges six suspects over 9/11

He said there would be "no secret trials" and that they would be "as completely open as possible".

"Relatively little amounts of evidence will be classified," Gen Hartmann said.

The other five defendants are Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni, Walid bin Attash, also from Yemen, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, who was born in Balochistan, Pakistan, and raised in Kuwait, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, a Saudi, and Mohammed al-Qahtani.

Gen Hartmann said the charges included conspiracy, murder in violation of the laws of war, attacking civilians, destruction of property and terrorism.

All but Mr Qahtani and Mr Hawsawi are also charged with hijacking or hazarding an aircraft.

The charges listed "169 overt acts allegedly committed by the defendants in furtherance of the September 11 events".

Gen Thomas Hartmann said: "The accused will have his opportunity to have his day in court.

The US has about 275 prisoners left in the detention centre

"It's our obligation to move the process forward, to give these people their rights."

In listing more details of the charges against the defendants, Gen Hartmann alleged that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had proposed the attacks to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in 1996, had obtained funding and overseen the operation and the training of hijackers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a Kuwaiti of Pakistani extraction, was said to have been al-Qaeda's third in command when he was captured in Pakistan in March 2003.

He has reportedly admitted to decapitating kidnapped US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 but these charges do not relate to that.

The BBC's Vincent Dowd in Washington says Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has said he planned every part of the 9/11 attacks but that his confession may prove problematic as the CIA admitted using controversial "waterboarding" techniques.

Human rights groups regard the procedure as torture.

Legal challenge

The charges will now be sent to Susan Crawford, the convening authority for the military commissions, to determine whether they will be referred to trial.

Any trials would be held by military tribunal under the terms of the Military Commissions Act, passed by the US Congress in 2006.

The Act set up tribunals to try terror suspects who were not US citizens.

The law is being challenged by two prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, who say they are being deprived of their rights to have their cases heard by a US civilian court.

Nineteen men hijacked four planes in the 9/11 attacks. Two planes hit the World Trade Center in New York, another the Pentagon in Washington and the fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.

The Pentagon has announced charges against six Guantanamo Bay prisoners over their alleged involvement in the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US.

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the six, who include alleged plot mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The charges, the first for Guantanamo inmates directly related to 9/11, are expected to be heard by a controversial military tribunal system.

About 3,000 people died in the hijacked plane attacks.

The Guantanamo Bay detention centre, in south-east Cuba, began to receive US military prisoners in January 2002. Hundreds have been released without charge but about 275 remain and the US hopes to try about 80.

Tribunal process

Brig Gen Thomas Hartmann, a legal adviser to the head of the Pentagon's Office of Military Commissions, said the charges alleged a "long-term, highly sophisticated plan by al-Qaeda to attack the US".

Al-Qaeda, Taliban threat to Pakistan government: Gates

MUNICH, Germany: Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Pakistan’s northwest frontier region pose a direct threat to the Islamabad government, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned here Sunday.
The presence of the Islamic extremists in the tribal region is not just "a nuisance" to Pakistan, but "is potentially a threat to their government," Gates told an international security conference in this southern German city.
Gates, who has been calling for NATO reinforcements to defeat the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in neighbouring Afghanistan, suggested the time had come for a Pakistani anti-insurgency sweep on its own side of the Afghan border.
Pakistan has dismissed US claims that Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar were operating from its northwestern tribal areas. Washington has placed multi-million dollar rewards on the two men's heads.
A top Al-Qaeda operative, Abu Laith al-Libbi, was recently killed in a suspected US missile strike in Pakistan's north Waziristan tribal area early this month.
The Islamic extremist Taliban militia ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and gave sanctuary to bin Laden, who masterminded the September 11 attacks in the United States.
A US-led invasion in October 2001 ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, but they have regrouped and are putting up increasingly stiff resistance to NATO-led international forces.

Pakistani militants declare cease-fire

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Taliban militants declared a cease-fire Wednesday in fighting with Pakistani forces, and the government said it was preparing for peace talks with al-Qaida-linked extremists in the lawless tribal area near the border with Afghanistan.

Any deal that allows armed Islamic extremists to operate on Pakistani soil would run counter to U.S. demands for the government to crack down on militants. The Bush administration contends a failed truce last year allowed al-Qaida to expand its reach into this turbulent, nuclear-armed country, and the U.S. has sounded warnings in recent days about a revival of militant strength.

A spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, a militant umbrella group, said the new cease-fire would include not only the tribal belt along the Afghan border but also the restive Swat region to the east where the army has also battled pro-Taliban fighters.

Tehrik-e-Taliban is led by Baitullah Mehsud, an al-Qaida-linked commander based in South Waziristan whom President Pervez Musharraf's government has blamed for a series of suicide attacks across Pakistan, including the Dec. 27 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

The government has repeatedly tried to strike peace deals with local pro-Taliban militants, urging them to expel foreign al-Qaida militants the U.S. has warned may use their sanctuary inside Pakistan's tribal regions to plot terror attacks around the globe.

If a cease-fire sticks and militants halt attacks, it could boost Musharraf's popularity as his political allies prepare for crucial Feb. 18 parliamentary elections.

But the negotiation strategy, has mostly backfired in the past, with militants failing to honor agreements. A cease-fire in North Waziristan in September 2006, which collapsed in July, was widely seen as a setback in the war against terror, giving the Taliban and al-Qaida a freer hand to stage cross-border attacks into Afghanistan and extend their control of areas within Pakistan.

In Washington, the State Department signaled it would oppose any agreement that resembled the last truce.

"I think everyone understands, including President Musharraf, that that agreement with tribal leaders did not in fact produce the results that everyone, including President Musharraf, had intended," deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.

"We would certainly want to see that any arrangement made was effective at pursuing President Musharraf's goal and pursuing our goal, which is being able to defend against these kinds of extremist groups," he said. "We want to see an agreement that is effective; the last agreement was not effective by President Musharraf's own admission."

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a report submitted Wednesday to Congress that the next attack on the United States will most likely be launched by al-Qaida operating in those "under-governed regions" of Pakistan.

Mike Vickers, assistant secretary of defense for special operations, told reporters Wednesday the volatile border area "remains a source of sanctuary for the al-Qaida senior leadership."

Vickers gave the Pakistani military high marks for keeping al-Qaida in check in Pakistan's cities and other "settled" locations.

"They have been less effective in the tribal areas of western Pakistan, and that's the problem we face right now," he said. "They have suffered large numbers of casualties in military operations."

As the cease-fire was declared, the army announced that eight soldiers — including three generals — were killed Wednesday when their U.S.-supplied Bell 411 helicopter crashed in South Waziristan. Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the military spokesman, said it appeared the crash was due to technical problems and not hostile fire.

On Tuesday, U.S. intelligence chief Mike McConnell told a Senate hearing the tribal areas have provided al-Qaida with a safe haven similar to what it enjoyed in Afghanistan before the U.S.-led war on terror began in 2001.

Thousands of civilians have been displaced by the fighting in the border region, and many are sheltering in open areas in the towns of Dera Ismail Khan and Tank, just outside South Waziristan, during a bitter winter.

Ismail Khan, a journalist who reports on the border area for the newspaper Dawn, said both sides appeared to be respecting the truce. But he said the military's apparent decision to halt its operation against militants in South Waziristan raised questions about Pakistan's strategy in dealing with the Taliban.

"Why did the government launch the military operation and then abandon it half way through without achieving its objective?" Khan told Dawn News TV. "It boggles the mind."

Maulvi Mohammed Umar, a spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban militants, told The Associated Press the cease-fire was "for an indefinite period," and was the "result of our talks with the government."

Abbas denied knowledge of any talks, but said militants in South Waziristan had stopped shooting at security forces for the past two days and had withdrawn somewhat from positions in the area.

However, Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the government would soon form a jirga, or tribal council of influential figures, "for a dialogue with the militants." He claimed security forces had "broken the back" of Mehsud's fighters.

A truce, even if short-lived, may help authorities maintain order during the crucial Feb. 18 elections aimed at restoring civilian government after eight years of military rule. The balloting was postponed for six weeks after Bhutto was assassinated in a bombing and gun attack during a campaign rally in Rawalpindi.

In January, Mehsud fighters launched a series of assaults on military bases in South Waziristan, underscoring the government's weak grip on the region U.S. officials say is a safe haven for al-Qaida.

Last week, a U.S. missile strike killed Abu Laith al-Libi, a top al-Qaida commander, in neighboring North Waziristan.

U.S. officials have said they believe Osama bin Laden is hiding in the border region, a finding the Pakistanis dispute.

Pakistan's government said Wednesday it remained committed to the fight against Islamic extremism. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq told reporters that Pakistan had already made "more sacrifices than any other country" in the war against Islamic terrorism.

Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?

Benazir’s death not caused by bullet: SY

ISLAMABAD: The Scotland Yard team, which conducted an investigation into the death of former PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto, said her death was not caused by a bullet.
The text of probe report, which was presented to the interior ministry, said the death of Benazir Bhutto was caused by the force and intensity of suicide bomb blast, which hurled her head to dash into some part of the vehicle resulting into her death.
The report does not tell about which elements were involved in the Benazir Bhutto case.
The report has not been formally issued.
The report concluded that a lone attacker fired shots at Bhutto before detonating explosives at a political rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, but said that bullets were not the cause of death.
"In essence, all the evidence indicates that one suspect has fired the shots before detonating an improvised explosive device," said an executive summary of the report, signed by Detective Superintendent John MacBrayne.
"The blast caused a violent collision between her head and the escape hatch area of the vehicle, causing a severe and fatal head injury," it added.
The British team of forensics and other experts spent two and a half weeks in Pakistan in January at the invitation of President Pervez Musharraf.
It said the team's task was complicated by the "lack of an extended and detailed search of the crime scene, the absence of an autopsy, and the absence of recognised body recovery and victim identification processes."
But it said that the "evidence that is available is sufficient for reliable conclusions to be drawn."
Bhutto's party has previously rejected the Pakistani government's account of her death, which also said that she was killed by the impact of a bomb, but had no immediate comment.

Deep Background: CIA reveals more than ever

U.S. officials have said they believe that bin Laden is taking refuge in the Pakistani tribal region, likely on the Pakistani side of the border.

Still, McConnell praised Pakistan’s cooperation in the fight against extremists, saying that hundreds of Pakistanis have died while fighting terrorists. He said Islamabad has done more to “neutralize” terrorists than any other partner of the United States.

Despite the Pakistani cooperation, Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said the Pakistani military has been unable to disrupt or damage al-Qaida terrorists operating in the tribal border region. And the U.S. military is prohibited by Pakistan from pursuing Taliban and al-Qaida fighters that cross the border to conduct attacks inside Afghanistan.

U.S.: Al-Qaida shifting from Iraq to Pakistan-Senators hear from officials, including CIA chief, on who was waterboarded

 

 

WASHINGTON - Al-Qaida, increasingly shut down in Iraq, is establishing cells in other countries as Osama bin Laden’s organization uses a “safe haven” in Pakistan’s tribal region to train for attacks in Afghanistan, the Middle East, Africa and the United States, the U.S. intelligence chief said Tuesday.

“Al-Qaida remains the pre-eminent threat against the United States,” Mike McConnell told a Senate hearing more than six years after the 9/11 attacks.

He said that fewer than 100 al-Qaida terrorists have moved from Iraq to establish cells in other countries as the U.S. military clamps down on their activities, and “they may deploy resources to mount attacks outside the country.”

The al-Qaida network in Iraq and in Pakistan and Afghanistan has suffered setbacks, but he said the group poses a persistent and growing danger. He said that al-Qaida maintains a “safe haven” in Pakistan’s tribal areas, where it is able to stage attacks supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani tribal areas provide al-Qaida “many of the advantages it once derived from its base across the border in Afghanistan, albeit on a smaller and less secure scale,” allowing militants to train for strikes in Pakistan, the Middle East, Africa and the United States, McConnell said.

Terrorists use the “sanctuary” of Pakistan’s border area to “maintain a cadre of skilled lieutenants capable of directing the organization’s operations around the world,” McConnell told the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Next strike seen from Pakistan
The next attack on the United States will most likely be launched by al-Qaida operating in “under-governed regions” of Pakistan, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, planned to tell Congress on Wednesday.

“Continued congressional support for the legitimate government of Pakistan braces this bulwark in the long war against violent extremism,” Mullen states in remarks prepared for a separate budget hearing and obtained by The Associated Press.

The U.S. has expressed growing concern that al-Qaida figures who fled Afghanistan after the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001 have been able to regroup inside tribal regions, posing a threat not just to U.S. forces across the border, but offering a potential base for global operations.