And now with the latest in the ongoing international war on terrorism, here’s VOA-TV’s Deborah Block.
In Yemen – charred rubble in the desert… all that was left of a car in which the top al-Qaida operative in Yemen and five other members of the terrorist network were reportedly killed.
According to U.S. officials, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Sunday used a remote-controlled plane like this one to target and destroy the vehicle, in which the suspects were riding. One report says two missiles were fired at the car.
In Washington at a Pentagon news briefing – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld left no doubt how he felt about the death of the man known as Abu Ali…
DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
“He’s been an individual that has been sought after as an al-Qaida member, as well as a suspected terrorist connected to the USS Cole. So it would be a good thing if he were out of business.”
In addition to the bombing of the US destroyer Cole that killed 17 American sailors in the Yemeni port of Aden two years ago, Abu Ali was also believed to be behind last month’s attack on a French Supertanker off the coast of Yemen.
A number of al-Qaida members are believed to have found refuge in the tribal region of Yemen between Sana and Marib.
The Yemeni government has been cooperating with the United States… using its own commandos trained by the U.S. to conduct operations against suspected terrorists.
In Indonesia Monday, police arrested a man suspected to be the owner of a mini-van used in last month’s car bombing of a crowded nightclub in Bali.
A nationwide manhunt is under way for those behind the October 12th attack. Indonesia's government says the al-Qaida terrorist network is responsible for the bombing, which killed more than 180 people, most of them Australian and Western tourists.
In India, police have identified two suspected militants shot dead Sunday as Pakistani Citizens. The two men were killed in a shootout with police at a busy shopping plaza in New Delhi. Authorities believe the two were preparing to attack shoppers during a Hindu holiday.
In Russia, the RTR television network has released a video showing an armed Chechen rebel threatening actors during last month’s takeover of a Moscow theater…
NATURAL SOUND: Gun shot and shouts
Other portions of the video show some of the 750 hostages confined to their seats and Chechen rebels sitting next to explosive devices.
Russian Special Forces gassed and stormed the theater on October 26. They shot and killed all of the rebels. But the gas the Russians used to incapacitate everybody inside also killed 120 hostages.