Chronology for Jul 2002

July 2002

30	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31	1	2	3

July 1, 2002
For the second time in two years, Jordanian officials say they have halted an Islamist plot against the United States. The arrest of 11 suspected militants – who are said to have Al Qaeda ties – may have short-circuited plans to attack a variety of US and Israeli targets in the area.

Accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui expressed kinship with Osama bin Laden in court filings unsealed Monday and said the government's case against him is based on unproven speculation that bin Laden was the mastermind of the attacks.

U.S. planes bombed a village in central Afghanistan on Monday after the U.S. military said American forces came under fire. Afghans said villagers were celebrating a wedding and that scores were killed and injured, including many women and children

The U.S. government said on Monday none of the 19 hijackers was under surveillance before Sept. 11, flatly denying claims by Zacarias Moussaoui, who is accused of conspiring with them in the attack.

Thousands of carpenters, steamfitters, and cement and concrete workers could walk off the job — and possibly out of Ground Zero — this morning. Sources said work agreements between several building trade unions and general contractors were to expire last night.

July 2, 2002
In an unprecedented statement, the Afghan government demanded Tuesday that the United States take "all necessary measures" to avoid civilian casualties following an air attack in which scores of villagers died

The army lifted its curfew Tuesday in the West Bank city of Hebron to allow students to take exams — then rounded up about 300 Palestinian students at a college for questioning

Congress will put off a reorganization of the FBI and CIA to improve the performance of the intelligence community until it establishes a Department of Homeland Security. The decision will delay any significant revamping of the nation's intelligence system until at least next year

The US State Department says it has "credible" information that terrorists are planning imminent attacks against American targets around the world.

Merrill Lynch executive long involved in downtown cultural events will oversee the building of a memorial to the victims of Sept. 11. Anita Contini, 58, will be named vice president and director for memorial cultural and civic programs today by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp

July 3, 2002
Fighter jets will patrol the skies and plainclothes FBI agents will walk Fourth of July parade routes in an all-hands response to vague but increasing talk detected by U.S. intelligence of possible terrorist attacks.

American officials made it known throughout the day that U.S. personnel in Bosnia were there to stay regardless of what the U.N. Security Council did

U.S. forces detected an anti-aircraft gun firing repeatedly on U.S. planes from a compound where 25 people attending a wedding party were reportedly killed

A suspected Yemeni member of al-Qaida, arrested while trying to enter the country illegally, has escaped from prison, security officials said Wednesday. The man, identified only by his first name, Walid, was arrested earlier this year in a desert area near the Oman-Yemen border and handed over to Yemeni authorities, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government approved a plan Wednesday to lift daytime curfews in Palestinian areas that are quiet and may also allow as many as 5,000 Palestinians to enter Israel to work

Anita Contini has brought quirky dance troupes to downtown's Winter Garden and art installations to the streets of Tribeca, but now she faces her most important project — overseeing the creation of a World Trade Center memorial.

It is the biggest security operation ever mounted on a Fourth of July and follows a warning that terror groups might try to stage attacks to coincide with the holiday, nearly 10 months after the devastating attacks of 11 September.

July 4, 2002
A gunman opened fire Thursday at Israel's El Al airlines ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport, killing two people before an airline security guard shot him dead

An explosion shattered a white Mercedes on Thursday night, killing two people including a man believed to be a Palestinian militia leader. Palestinian police said their initial suspicions were Israeli agents had planted a bomb.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was awarded the 2002 Philadelphia Liberty Medal on Thursday for his leadership in the war on terrorism, his efforts in the Middle East and his concern for human rights.

Emerging from four hours of closed talks, U.N. officials and Saddam Hussein's representatives said Thursday that they had made some progress toward returning U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq.

Greek police say they have made their biggest breakthrough yet in the fight against the left-wing guerrilla group November 17. The fingerprints of a man held in custody have been connected with a murder blamed on the organisation

German police today detained seven suspected Islamic radicals, including a former roommate of key Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta, in what officials described as a preemptive strike against a group attempting to build a new terrorist cell in Hamburg

The tiny borough of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the hijacked United Flight 93 dived into the earth last Sept. 11, was pulling out all the stops to celebrate Independence Day for the first time in its 173-year history. More than 65 units were set to begin the parade at 10 a.m. EDT not far from the crash site's temporary memorial and will end at the firehouse. A "living flag" made up of 273 people wearing red, white and blue will march in the rear in a special tribute to lives lost and American independence.

July 5, 2002
The FBI said Friday that the heavily armed Egyptian immigrant who fatally shot two people at the ticket counter of Israel's national airline had gone to the Los Angeles airport to kill.

The Los Angeles airport shootings provided another shock to an already jittery flying public, but there is no government rush to overhaul security in response.

Mourners fired assault rifles into the air and demanded revenge Friday after a car bomb killed a militia leader and a member of the security forces in what Palestinians say was the latest Israeli attack on prominent militants.

After two days of talks that had raised hopes Iraq might relent, the United Nations said Friday it had failed to convince Baghdad to allow the return of U.N. weapons inspectors.

A somber procession of thousands came to Ground Zero yesterday to pay homage to those who died in one of the saddest chapters in the nation's 226-year history.

With four months to go before the Nov. 5 elections, snapshots from some of the most hotly contested races in the tight battle for control of the Senate and House illustrate how deeply, sometimes provocatively, the war on terrorism is etched into some of the key races.

Greek authorities appear to be closing in on an anti-American group long known as Europe's most elusive terrorist organization. Police confirmed Thursday that they had uncovered a hideout containing weapons belonging to the group called "November 17," which has claimed responsibility for 22 murders in Greece, including the slayings of four US officials, since 1975.

July 6, 2002
Gunmen firing assault rifles Saturday assassinated Afghan Vice President Abdul Qadir, a veteran Pashtun warlord and key figure in U.S.-backed efforts to bring stability to the war-fractured nation.

The new government agency responsible for airline security said Saturday it will place armed law enforcement officers — uniformed and plainclothes — throughout the public areas of airports.

A large group of Palestinian security officers on Saturday rejected Yasser Arafat's choice for a new West Bank security chief in the latest challenge to the authority of the Palestinian leader.

A widespread smallpox attack could require vaccinating many more Americans than the estimated 10,000 to 20,000 first responders recommended by a government panel for the shots

The fatal shooting attack at the El Al ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport on the Fourth of July has sharpened the debate over what kinds of violent crimes should be considered acts of terrorism.

July 7, 2002
The assassination of an Afghan leader threatens the fragile central government and should compel the United States to consider an active role in providing security in the country

After 16 days without an Israeli death in the Mideast conflict, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that Israel had made progress combating Palestinian terror attacks

NATO-led peacekeepers in Bosnia on Sunday arrested a Bosnian Serb who was the top civilian administrator in a U.N.-protected enclave where up to 8,000 Muslim were killed seven years ago.

Vice President Abdul Qadir was buried Sunday with full military honors a day after he was gunned down in an attack that Afghans fear may bring new instability to a nation struggling to build peace after decades of war.

At a barber shop where men come for a trim during a break in the Israeli curfew, President Bush's demand for a Palestinian leader other than Yasser Arafat strikes a chord — of anger and stubborn resistance.

July 8, 2002
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met Monday with Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayed, the first face-to-face contacts on that level in

Federal health officials are quietly making plans for quarantining Americans who might be exposed to a highly contagious smallpox patient, addressing sensitive questions of how to hold people, possibly against their will, in case of a bioterror attack.

The public may be feeling more patriotic since the Sept. 11 attacks. But that doesn't mean it's any more likely to vote. That's the conclusion of a study on voter turnout in the 16 states that held statewide primaries for both major parties this past spring.

Faced with the prospect of new terrorist attacks, virtually every segment of American society -- from Washington to Wall Street -- is taking steps to keep government functioning, money flowing and people calm. The need for such preparations was highlighted last month by the detention of a U.S. citizen who authorities said was planning to detonate a radioactive ''dirty bomb'' somewhere in the USA.

Relatives of World Trade Center victims and people who suffered other losses because of the attack need $768 million over the next year in unemployment benefits, mental health treatment and other assistance, a consortium of charities said Monday. A report, conducted by the 13 charities, found the incomes of those affected have dropped an average of 40 percent since the Sept. 11 attack, despite aid from public agencies and charities.

July 9, 2002
In an interview published Tuesday, the spokesman for al-Qaida said the terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden was thriving and planning new attacks on Americans. He called the U.S. campaign to dismantle the group a "Hollywood script."

The heads of key law enforcement agencies slated to become part of the new Homeland Security Department urged Congress on Tuesday not to split them into pieces, as some lawmakers have suggested. Officials from the Customs Service, Coast Guard, Secret Service and the just-created Transportation Security Administration told a House Judiciary subcommittee that all of their duties are intertwined and would suffer if not transferred entirely to the new agency

Congress begins a frantic push this week to pass legislation creating a homeland security department before the anniversary of last fall's attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

The FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization Service have raided 75 jewelry stores and kiosks in U.S. shopping malls as part of an investigation into suspected money laundering by the al Qaeda terrorist network

One by one, barriers erected in the post-Watergate era to prevent abuses and excesses by U.S. intelligence agencies are yielding to pressure to protect the nation from another terrorist attack.

July 10, 2002
Pilots could carry guns in the cockpit to defend their planes against terrorists under a bill the House passed overwhelmingly Wednesday despite opposition from the White House and airlines

Four passengers who died on Flight 93 during the Sept. 11 attacks will be honored with the ESPY's Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett and Jeremy Glick all had sports backgrounds and will be recognized Wednesday night at the ESPY Awards

The trial of four Islamic militants accused of the kidnap-slaying of American reporter Daniel Pearl ended Wednesday with prosecutors demanding the death penalty and the defense urging the judge not to succumb to U.S. pressure.

The U.S. commander in Afghanistan said that al-Qaida fighters who fled to Pakistan will not be able to return to their mountain hideouts in Afghanistan, despite an end to border searches by British Royal Marines.

Palestinian gunmen shot and killed an Israeli army lieutenant on patrol in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, and Israeli troops fatally shot a 19-year-old Palestinian in the West Bank.

Central Asian Islamic militants with ties to Al Qaeda, who survived the war in neighboring Afghanistan, are beginning to regroup, and analysts are warning of a shift from insurgency to terror.

The Sept. 11 hijackers opened 35 bank accounts in the United States without legitimate Social Security numbers or with fake numbers that were never checked by bank officials

July 11, 2002
Lawmakers balked Thursday at moving the Coast Guard and the nation's emergency disaster agency into a new Homeland Security Department despite pleas from senior Cabinet officials to stick to President Bush's blueprint.

Israel announced Thursday it will prosecute Marwan Barghouti — whose popularity trails only Yasser Arafat's among his people — in connection with deadly attacks against Israeli civilians. The trial would be the first involving a senior Palestinian figure in years.

The government said Thursday that it has released most of the detainees it picked up as part of its investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks.

Amnesty International condemned Palestinian suicide bombings and other attacks on Israeli civilians Thursday as "crimes against humanity" and unjustified by Palestinian political grievances.

The United States has promised to rebuild an impoverished area where a U.S. airstrike this month killed dozens of people, including those at a wedding celebration

Iran has sent hundreds of soldiers to guard its porous borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it plans tough new anti-terrorism laws in response to the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, a top Iranian diplomat said.

Some U.S. intelligence officials believe that 5,000 people in the United States — mostly Middle Eastern and South Asian men — may be tied to or sympathetic toward the al-Qaida terrorist group

July 12, 2002
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to exempt U.S. peacekeepers from war crimes prosecution for a year Friday, ending threats to U.N. peacekeeping operations.

Six Afghan governors are demanding the United States obtain their permission before conducting military operations in their provinces, one of them said Friday — another sign of fallout after a U.S. airstrike reportedly killed 48 civilians

The man who has led the monumental effort to put names to the remains of the World Trade Center dead has come to the sad realization that the task could end with just 2,000 victims identified.

Three weeks after President Bush demanded the ouster of Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader has opened a dialogue with the Bush administration with a long letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell on U.S. demands for democratic change.

Refusing to buckle under U.S. pressure, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Friday he won't step down. But in an interview at his wrecked Ramallah offices, he said he had not yet decided whether to run in January elections

A British man accused of trying to blow up a transatlantic flight with bombs in his shoes has lost a legal bid to have the words "al Qaeda" stripped from the indictment against him, his lawyers said on Friday

AT LEAST five al-Qaeda cells are operating inside the United States, searching for radioactive material to build a “dirty” radiological bomb, according to Pentagon officials.

July 13, 2002
Suspected Islamic guerrillas threw grenades and engaged security forces in a gun battle Saturday, killing 25 Hindus — mostly women and children — in a shantytown outside the winter capital of Jammu-Kashmir state

The head of Germany's foreign intelligence agency said in an interview published Saturday that he believes Osama bin Laden is still alive and hiding along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Former Iraqi military officers gathering Saturday to discuss their role in a possible effort to oust Saddam Hussein said they hoped, with U.S. support, to soon restore democracy to their country.

A U.S. convoy came under fire while traveling along a road linking this air base with the capital Kabul in the latest shooting incident involving American forces

High-level talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials were postponed Saturday after the Israeli delegation said it needed more time to prepare

One of Osama bin Laden's top deputies, Abu Zubaydah, is being held at a U.S. naval facility on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia

While various committees fight for turf and try to slice off parts of the proposed new Homeland Security Department, congressional leaders are struggling to keep President Bush's plan to combat terrorism largely intact.

July 14, 2002
A deranged neo-Nazi fired a rifle shot in an attempt to assassinate President Jacques Chirac during France's Bastille Day parade on Sunday, but the man was quickly subdued and the march continued uninterrupted

Police and soldiers searched vehicles and patrolled the streets in armored personnel carriers Sunday, a day before the expected verdict in the trial of four Islamic militants accused of the kidnap-slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Israel deployed fighter jets over the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday and fired missiles at a building, destroying it and injuring about 10 Palestinians

Southern Afghan governors began gathering Sunday for a regional meeting that could endorse or reject a proposal to require U.S. troops to seek their permission before striking suspected al-Qaida and Taliban units in the region

India blamed Pakistan on Sunday for an attack by suspected Islamic guerrillas on a crowded slum in Jammu-Kashmir state that killed at least 27 Hindus and threatened increase hostilities between the bitter rivals

Israeli aircraft attacked and destroyed a building in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, injuring about 10 Palestinians Three Israeli helicopters and two fighter planes were in the sky at the time of the strike on the three-story building in Qarara, near the town of Khan Younis

In what seems like a humanitarian disaster in the making, 1.2 million Afghan refugees streamed back to their homes from Pakistan and other neighboring countries after Taliban rule collapsed in November. It is the fastest voluntary refugee influx in the history of mankind, U.N. officials say. The speed and scope caught international relief agencies by surprise.

July 15, 2002
A Pakistani judge on Monday convicted four Islamic militants in the kidnap-slaying of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl and sentenced the British-born chief defendant to death by hanging. The others received 25 year sentences.

With a new round of Mideast diplomacy opening this week, Arab nations will present a plan calling for international recognition of a Palestinian state, followed by a two-year period to work out the final borders

The U.S. government was justified in an air raid that likely killed innocent Afghan civilians because the strike was aimed at enemy targets where "bad guys" were hiding

French officials credited spectators and police for thwarting an assassination attempt on President Jacques Chirac by a neo-Nazi who pulled a rifle from a guitar case during the annual Bastille Day parade

John Walker Lindh, the young convert to Islam who left California and fought alongside the Taliban, pleaded guilty to two felonies Monday in a surprise deal that spares him life in prison and ensures his cooperation with terrorism investigators.

Osama bin Laden was wounded in a U.S. bombing raid on Afghanistan in December but is in good health, the editor of a London-based Arabic newspaper said Monday.

The gruesome task of picking through the World Trade Center ruins for human remains finally ended Monday with a mournful ceremony at the Staten Island landfill where the work has gone on for the past 10 months.

Sixty- to 70-story office buildings, stores, cultural centers and a memorial to the dead are included in six alternative proposals for the World Trade Center site that will be released on Tuesday.

Relatives of nearly all those who died aboard United Flight 93 are expected to attend a memorial ceremony at the rural crash site on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, organizers said Monday. With the anniversary less than two months away, Somerset County officials released preliminary plans for a memorial service they described as simple and dignified to commemorate the crash near Shanksville.

July 16, 2002
A federal grand jury Tuesday indicted Zacarias Moussaoui a third time, spelling out conduct that could trigger the death penalty for man accused of conspiracy in connection with the Sept. 11

Palestinians dressed as Israeli soldiers detonated a roadside bomb near a bus heading to a Jewish settlement Tuesday, and then sprayed the passengers with automatic gunfire as they tried to flee, military sources and witnesses said. Seven people were killed and more than a dozen wounded.

The agency responsible for rebuilding the World Trade Center site announced six proposals on Tuesday, all featuring substantial memorials and office buildings — but nothing 110 stories tall. Six proposals to redevelop the World Trade Center site were released to a decidedly mixed reaction, with critics saying they included too much office space on hallowed ground and had too little imagination

The plea bargain the government struck with John Walker Lindh will ensure U.S. investigators have unfettered access to the young American who fought with the Taliban as they try to learn more about the inner workings of al-Qaida.

MADRID, Spain - Three al-Qaida suspects were taken into custody Tuesday, including one who had videotaped several American landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sears Tower, the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center. Police said they were convinced the footage, taken during a 1997 visit to the United States by one of the detainees, was much more than "tourist curiosity."

President Bush submitted to Congress on Tuesday the nation's first-ever comprehensive strategy for confronting terrorism within U.S. borders, calling the protection of America "our most urgent national priority." "This comprehensive plan lays out clear lines of authority and clear responsibilities — responsibilities for federal employees and for governors and mayors and community and business leaders and the American citizens," Bush said, flanked in the Rose Garden by lawmakers on the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. Members of Congress are debating this week the president's plan for a new Department of Homeland Security.

Tony Blair, the UK prime minister, on Tuesday gave his most explicit warning yet of the need for a pre-emptive military strike against Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime, warning that there were "rough linkages" between Baghdad and the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

The nation's top counterterrorism agencies were hindered by questionable management decisions, lack of foreign-language analysts and a failure to detect and infiltrate terrorist operations before the Sept. 11 attacks, a congressional report concludes.

July 17, 2002
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up seconds apart Wednesday night, killing three civilians and wounding more than 40 in an area of Tel Aviv populated by foreign workers

Yasser Arafat is considering the appointment of a prime minister to share the day-to-day running of government once a Palestinian state is declared

House-Senate bargainers neared a deal Wednesday on a $28.8 billion counter terrorism bill financing military and domestic security efforts while heeding President Bush's demands for a limited price tag. Though some loose ends remained, negotiators from the two chambers planned to finalize the deal on Thursday. Congressional leaders were hoping for final passage next week — four months and numerous confrontations after Bush first requested the funds

FBI counter terrorism chief Dale Watson said Wednesday that he believes Osama bin Laden is dead — the first time a senior U.S. law enforcement official publicly has given an opinion on the al-Qaida leader's status. Watson quickly emphasized that he had no evidence that the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks was dead. But his comments, which came at a conference of local law enforcement officials from across the country, suggest the FBI has no direct intelligence that proves bin Laden is alive.

President Saddam Hussein said on Wednesday in a televised speech marking Iraq's July 17 revolution that the United States and its allies would not be able to topple his government. Saddam, marking the 34th anniversary of the revolution which brought his ruling Baath party to power, also said Iraqis were well-prepared and equipped to defend their country against any military assault.

July 18, 2002
The sole person charged in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Zacarias Moussaoui, tried to plead guilty Thursday and declared himself an al-Qaida warrior loyal to Osama bin Laden. The judge insisted that he take a week to consider the consequences in the death penalty case. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema took the rare step of refusing to accept the plea after Moussaoui stunned the courtroom with his announcement. He kept talking after the judge told him to stop and almost was removed from the courtroom.

A man charged with attempting to blow up an airliner with explosives hidden in his shoes has lost his bid to keep jurors at his upcoming trial from hearing about a confession he allegedly made to authorities after his arrest.

Shortly after an Air Force F-16 pilot mistakenly bombed Canadian ground troops in Afghanistan, killing four of them, an air controller told him, "You're cleared. Self-defense," according to the pilot's civilian defense lawyer.

After two deadly Palestinian attacks in as many days, Israel on Thursday postponed talks with the Palestinians and halted plans to ease the army's tight restrictions on the West Bank.

Greek police announced a major breakthrough Thursday against the elusive November 17 terror group, saying the radical leftist group's ideologist was in custody and three members confessed to the assassinations of U.S. and British military attaches and other killings.

House and Senate negotiators met Thursday to put the finishing touches to a $28.9 billion package for beefing up anti-terrorism programs that has been a source of contention between President Bush and Congress for some four months

July 19, 2002
Reversing a position taken hours earlier, a House panel voted Friday to extend by one year a looming deadline for airports to begin screening airline bags for explosives. The delay was attached to legislation creating a new Homeland Security Department.

DNA tests have confirmed that a body found in a shallow grave in Pakistan is that of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, a U.S. official said Friday.

The White House is warning that anthrax field tests — widely used since last fall's attacks — give fast but often incorrect results, prompting authorities to shut down buildings prematurely and hand out unneeded antibiotics.

The foreign ministers of three key Arab states are nearly jubilant over President Bush's latest stand on the Middle East: a firm commitment to a Palestinian state by mid-2005 and a determination to force Israel to quit the West Bank and Gaza.

After watching Army helicopters drop troops and howitzers from a steel-blue sky, President Bush answered a soldier's shout of "Let's get Saddam!" with a promise Friday to defeat the "mounting danger" of terrorist regimes.

Israeli soldiers arrested 16 relatives of two Palestinians suspected in bloody terror attacks this week, and, in what would be a new policy, officials Friday were considering expelling some of the men to the Gaza Strip

July 20, 2002
Palestinian and Israeli officials were to meet after sundown Saturday, resuming talks that were repeatedly postponed and then canceled after the Israelis said they needed more time to prepare and because of renewed Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians.

Tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets of the capital Tehran on Friday, chanting "Death to America" in a furious backlash against President Bush's overtures to Iranian reformists

Israel said Saturday it was willing to take new measures to improve life for Palestinians — provided the attacks against Israelis end — in a resumption of high-level talks that had been called off after bombings last week

Thousands of New York-area residents gathered Saturday for the biggest discussion yet about what should be built at the World Trade Center site and how it should remember those killed on Sept. 11.

July 21, 2002
Israel has proposed withdrawing troops from some Palestinian areas in the West Bank to test the ability of Palestinian security to prevent attacks on civilians

A bomb planted under an Israeli passenger train wounded its driver Sunday in an attack that clouded prospects for easing Israeli restrictions on Palestinians under curfew in seven reoccupied West Bank cities.

Turkey's embattled prime minister on Sunday warned the United States risked becoming bogged down in a long war if it moves ahead with plans to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Spanish troops began to withdraw from a tiny Mediterranean island on Saturday after their country and Morocco agreed to a U.S.-mediated deal ending their 10-day confrontation over the usually unoccupied rock.

Plans for the devastated World Trade Center site may be changed to feature less commercial development — and a longer timetable for finalizing proposals

Israeli officials, faced with an international outcry and a definitive ruling by the attorney general, acknowledged Sunday they couldn't legally deport relatives of suicide bombers unless they were directly linked to attacks.

Greek authorities on Sunday charged two alleged members of the November 17 terror organization in the assassination of American and British servicemen, and a newspaper reported the deadly urban guerrilla group planned to attack U.S. and NATO peacekeepers.

John Walker Lindh is ready to cooperate with terrorism investigators, as he promised to do in return for a lighter sentence, but he may have little information to give,

A former Taliban commander says Islamic militants led by al-Qaida want to strike quickly against American interests in Pakistan in retaliation for the death sentence in the Daniel Pearl murder case and the ongoing crackdown on Muslim extremists.

July 22, 2002
An Israeli air force F-16 fired a missile at a house belonging to a Hamas leader in Gaza City early Tuesday, killing at least 10 people, including three children, Palestinian officials and doctors said

President Hamid Karzai has sidelined his Afghan bodyguards and called in U.S. troops to replace them in a sign of rising security fears following the murder of an Afghan vice president, his aide said Monday.

With Congress headed into summer recess, President Bush called on lawmakers Monday to make the Homeland Security Department a reality as he showcased new anti-terrorism technology at a national research lab.

Saber rattling in Washington and defiant warnings from Baghdad may be the early stages of political and psychological maneuvering that would be a prelude to a second Gulf War. "What's going to come afterwards," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said last week, is not only going to benefit ordinary Iraqis but will also "remove a great danger" to Americans.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Monday that the army was prepared to withdraw from two West Bank towns occupied for more than a month as long as Palestinian security forces were ready to take over and prevent attacks against Israel.

The survey into the impact of the war on terrorism, published in the New York Times yesterday, claims that 812 Afghan civilians have died in the strikes. Conducted by Global Exchange, a respected human rights organisation, the survey warns that the number of civilian fatalities could rise as field workers reach remote villages that have been hit.

July 23, 2002
The House signed off Tuesday on a compromise $28.9 billion anti-terrorism package, capping a four-month fight that saw lawmakers heed President Bush's demands to limit the bill's cost.

Holding up the flag-wrapped body of a 2-month-old girl, tens of thousands of Palestinians marched Tuesday to bury their dead after an Israeli airstrike killed a top Hamas leader and 14 civilians, including nine children. The Islamic militant group vowed revenge.

The Bush administration took Israel to task Tuesday for a missile attack in Gaza that killed a top Hamas leader and at least 14 other Palestinians, including nine children. While the administration aligned itself with other nations that criticized Israel for the strike in a congested area of Gaza City, its rhetoric was measured. Ari Fleischer, the presidential spokesman, told reporters: "The president is and will always be a great friend of Israel."

An Oklahoma college student pleaded guilty yesterday to lying when he was asked by the F.B.I. about Zacarias Moussaoui, who was later charged in the Sept. 11 terrorist conspiracy. The student, Hussein al-Attas, lived briefly last summer with Mr. Moussaoui in Norman, Okla., where Mr. Moussaoui enrolled in flight school. Mr. Attas drove Mr. Moussaoui to Eagan, Minn., where he tried to attend another flight school.

Seeing no new evidence that Zacarias Moussaoui is mentally incompetent, a federal judge refused Monday to give defense lawyers and a psychologist access to the alleged Sept. 11 conspirator through a slot in his cell door. The ruling dealt Moussaoui's standby defense lawyers a setback in their attempts to show that he might be mentally ill in advance of a hearing Thursday, when he is due to disclose whether he will plead guilty.

July 24, 2002
Facing a storm of criticism for its raid on Gaza, Israel offered Palestinians a series of goodwill gestures Wednesday and blamed faulty military intelligence for the deaths of nine children and four other civilians in the fatal attack on a Hamas military chief.

A day before Zacarias Moussaoui's promised guilty plea, court-appointed lawyers asserted Wednesday the accused Sept. 11 conspirator is mentally ill and his arraignment should be postponed.

Congress overwhelmingly approved a compromise $28.9 billion anti-terrorism bill on Wednesday after a four-month struggle with President Bush over how much the latest response to the Sept. 11 attacks should cost.

Concerned about the possibility of independent visits to U.S. civilian and military prisons, the United States sought Wednesday to block a vote on a U.N. plan meant to enforce a convention on torture.

A Senate committee Wednesday backed off a proposal to grant the new Homeland Security Department broad new intelligence capabilities amid fears it could become an all-powerful controller of sensitive information.

A federal grand jury today indicted a Jordanian-born man who is under investigation for possible ties to terrorist groups on charges that he smuggled $12 million in counterfeit cashier's checks into the United States.

Federal authorities have arrested an American Muslim activist who they believe took computer equipment to an al-Qaida terrorist camp in Afghanistan

July 25, 2002
After his arrest at Metro Airport for allegedly carrying $12 million in bogus cashier's checks into the country, the Dearborn man sat down with federal agents and started talking. They say he told them that he was a spy in his home country of Jordan in the 1970s. That his family was close to the Jordanian king and his army. That his brother commanded special forces there. "If you want to know about terrorism, I can help you with that."

Zacarias Moussaoui attempted to plead guilty to terrorism charges Thursday, but under the pressure of routine questioning by a federal judge, the accused September 11 conspirator withdrew his plea and set himself back on track for a fall trial.

Israeli troops in tanks and firing machine guns entered Gaza City early Friday, residents said — the first military activity since the bombing of a house killed a Hamas leader and 13 other people and prompted international criticism.

After hearing a chorus of complaints from Afghan officials, the Bush administration promised on Thursday to encourage world nations to speed along the financial assistance they pledged for rebuilding Afghanistan

The British government is not on the verge of deciding whether to commit troops to any military action in Iraq, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday while refusing to promise to seek Parliament's approval before joining such strikes.

A Secret Service agent has admitted he scrawled anti-Muslim statements on a prayer calendar during the home search of a man charged with smuggling bogus checks into the United States. The incident took place when agents searched the Dearborn home of Omar Shishani, who has pleaded innocent to bringing $12 million in forged cashiers checks on a flight from Indonesia. "Islam is Evil" and "Christ is King" had been written on the prayer calendar attached to the refrigerator.

July 26, 2002
President Bush sternly warned Congress on Friday against passing a bill that limits the personnel and budgetary powers of the head of a new Department of Homeland Security, giving the clearest indication yet that he would veto a measure now before the Senate.

The House voted early today, over the opposition of the White House, to create an independent commission to investigate the performance of the nation's intelligence agencies surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks.

Palestinian gunmen opened fire on two cars in the West Bank on Friday, killing four people and injuring at least two

The House voted Friday to give President Bush authority to waive labor protections under dire circumstances for workers in the new Homeland Security Department, a power the president says is crucial in swiftly confronting terrorist threats.

Seven Israeli tanks and a bulldozer flattened a Palestinian intelligence post and destroyed two metal workshops in Gaza City Friday, in the first operation since a heavily criticized bombing attack there killed a Hamas leader and 14 civilians.

The Bush administration has served notice on Israel that it is reviewing the use of American equipment in military operations that exact a heavy civilian toll. The U.S. concern is the impact on difficult peacemaking efforts. Targeting foes of Israel in densely populated areas does not make Israel more secure

July 27, 2002
Five American soldiers were injured and two Afghan militiamen were killed Saturday in a 4-hour gun battle in eastern Afghanistan during a search for Taliban and al-Qaida fighters believed holed up in the lawless region

The United States has invited six Iraqi opposition groups to Washington next month for talks on removing Saddam Hussein, spokesmen for three of the factions said Saturday.

A hard-line Islamic court banned the leading opposition party Saturday and ordered 33 leaders jailed for as long as 10 years each. The court said Freedom Movement leaders acted against national security with the intention of "overthrowing the establishment."

A Pakistani DNA test confirmed a decapitated body found in a shallow grave is that of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The findings match those conducted in the United States and turned over Thursday to Pakistani officials. A U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity had said those tests also identified the body as Pearl's.

After helping India and Pakistan pull back from a dangerous confrontation this spring, Secretary of State Colin Powell is prodding the two nuclear rivals to open a dialogue in hopes of resolving their differences over Kashmir

July 28, 2002
Secretary of State Colin Powell refused Sunday to back the claim by Pakistan's president that his government had stopped militant Muslims from crossing the disputed Kashmiri border into India, but said tensions between the rivals have eased

Jewish settlers and Palestinians clashed Sunday during a funeral procession for a slain Israeli soldier in this volatile West Bank city, leaving a 14-year-old Palestinian girl dead and several Palestinians wounded

After an eight-year break, a U.S.-led naval coalition is resuming inspection of vessels in the northern Red Sea because of violations of U.N. sanctions against Iraq are being broken in the area

The Republican-led House voted Friday to create an enormous Homeland Security Department, the biggest government reorganization in decades. It grants President Bush broad personnel powers he insists are key to confronting an agile, cunning terrorist threat. The 295-132 vote sets up a clash with the Senate, where Democrats have written a version that Bush is threatening to veto on grounds it ties his hands on hiring and firing.

July 29, 2002
Thousands of Palestinians poured onto the streets of Nablus on Monday in defiance of a 40-day-old Israeli army curfew, the strongest challenge yet to the Israeli army restrictions on West Bank cities and towns.

A would-be assassin who aimed to crash an explosives-packed car into members of Afghanistan's national leadership was foiled when officials arrested him after a traffic accident in Kabul on Monday

One of Osama bin Laden's eldest sons has emerged as a leader in al-Qaida, gaining enough prestige that U.S. counterterrorism officials now consider him among their top two dozen targets remaining in the terrorist network

Workers have begun cleaning up anthrax spores from the Brentwood postal facility in the District of Columbia Monday, where two postal employees died last October after letters tainted with anthrax passed through the facility.

July 30, 2002
A suicide bomber blew himself up in a Jerusalem fast-food stand Tuesday, injuring seven people in the first attack here since back-to-back bombings prompted Israel to occupy major West Bank towns last month.

Some of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's bodyguards have been captured and are among the prisoners at the U.S. military base in Cuba

July 31, 2002
A man who allegedly sold fake IDs to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers apparently fled the country for Egypt just before authorities came to arrest him in a raid on his home and businesses Wednesday

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that two British citizens and an Australian captured in Afghanistan and held in Cuba have no right to trial before U.S. courts.

A hapless would-be car bomber who was intercepted after a traffic accident in the heart of Kabul told interrogators he was assigned by al-Qaida to assassinate President Hamid Karzai or, failing that, to kill foreigners in the Afghan capital

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