Chronology for Mar 2002

March 2002

27	28	29	30	31	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	4	5	6

March 1, 2002
As many as 16 packages containing toxic substances disguised as eucalyptus oil were mailed to political targets in Britain, including Prime Minister Tony Blair, authorities said Friday night.

Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters are regrouping in the mountains of eastern Paktia province and just over the border in Pakistan, urging the faithful to wage holy war against U.S. forces

Hindu attackers burned Muslims in their homes and stalked them in the streets on Friday, pushing the death toll in India's worst religious violence in a decade to nearly 300

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he would support a U.S.-led anti-terrorist operation in neighboring Georgia despite grumbling from within his government.

The suspected mastermind of the abduction and slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl could be handed over to the United States to stand trial, Pakistan's foreign secretary said Friday

Two U.S. envoys met with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah on his plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which a Palestinian official on Friday called the best Arab proposal in years to bring peace to the Middle East

A quarter of captives from the war on terrorism refused to eat for a third day Friday, rejecting a gesture from the U.S. military commander to resolve a dispute over guards stripping off an inmate's turban

March 2, 2002
In the biggest U.S.-led ground operation this year, U.S. and Afghan troops backed by U.S. jets Saturday attacked Taliban and al-Qaida forces regrouping in eastern Afghanistan. One American was killed and a number were injured, the Pentagon said.

Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters are regrouping in the mountains of eastern Paktia province and just over the border in Pakistan, urging the faithful to wage holy war against U.S. forces

Iraq has challenged Britain to prove it is developing weapons of mass destruction, saying it was ready to receive "right now" any British team in the country

March 3, 2002
U.S. bombers pounded al-Qaida and Taliban positions in the eastern mountains of Afghanistan on Sunday after a 1,500-strong coalition ground attack the day before failed to dislodge the well-armed renegades.

Saudi Arabia's plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is causing a rift among Arabs ahead of a key summit, and an Israeli official said Sunday that its main provision was an unacceptable precondition for talks.

Muslims in the western state of Gujarat were still too frightened to leave their homes or return to those they fled, fearing more attacks from Hindus after five days of mob violence that claimed another 14 lives Sunday

March 4, 2002
U.S. warplanes pounded al-Qaida and Taliban mountain strongholds in eastern Afghanistan on Monday while hundreds of coalition ground troops scoured the rugged, snow-covered terrain for pockets of enemy fighters. The heavily armed defenders responded with bursts of mortars, grenades and machine gun fire

European countries on Monday applauded a decision by Switzerland to join the United Nations after 57 years on the sidelines — a decision that Swiss opponents feared would threaten the country's centuries-old tradition of neutrality

Secretary of State Colin Powell praised on Monday a proposal by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for an Israeli-Palestinian summit meeting

U.S. officials claim at least six people died and 10 were injured in the deadliest action of the war involving U.S. troops. The U.S. combat deaths in the Gardez operation now stands at eight since the attack by western and Afghan troops began late Friday.

March 5, 2002
Hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters were killed in fierce fighting Tuesday as U.S.-led coalition forces pressed their offensive in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan

The seven Americans who died in the bloodiest operation of the war in Afghanistan were killed as troops were being taken into the battle area on two different missions

President Bush and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak searched Tuesday for solutions to the spiraling violence in the Middle East, with Bush emphasizing the need to stop Palestinian attacks on Israelis while Mubarak demanded that Israel ease up on the Arabs

The team of journalists that ran Russia's last independent national television station has set itself a task almost unprecedented in Russia: Creating a broadcasting company that can't be manipulated by the government or by the politically powerful media moguls who have dominated the industry

March 6, 2002
Fierce fighting raged for a fifth day as the United States deployed hundreds of reinforcements Wednesday and gathered 5,000 Afghan troops for an offensive aimed at finishing off al-Qaida

Secretary of State Colin Powell reproached Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday for declaring war on the Palestinians and advised him "to take a hard look at his policies

Syrian support for a Saudi peace overture to Israel brings the Arab world closer than it has ever been to recognizing Israel's right to exist, but the process is fraught with pitfalls

Despite missteps in the inquiry in the collapse of the World Trade Center, investigators are gaining information that could lead to stricter building standards and make skyscrapers safer, officials told a congressional panel.

March 7, 2002
Allied airstrikes shook the ground north of the targeted mountain caves Thursday in some of the heaviest bombing of a six-day battle against tenacious al-Qaida remnants in eastern Afghanistan. The United States rushed in reinforcements for the battle. A U.S. military spokesman said U.S.-led forces had killed 100 al-Qaida and Taliban fighters Wednesday alone.

Iraq and the United Nations opened their first high-level talks in a year Thursday with an unusual one-on-one meeting between Iraq's foreign minister and Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a signal of the high stakes.

Families of people killed in the September terrorists attacks can expect more money from a government fund under new guidelines, says an administration official

President Bush is proposing additional aid for New York that will bring the total federal assistance for Sept. 11 damages to more than the $20 billion he pledged,

As the United States moves beyond blocking funds of Osama bin Laden's network to include other terrorist groups, America's most important bloc of allies is being less aggressive.The European Union has frozen assets of just two of 28 groups on a U.S. list of non-al-Qaida organizations. Out of the dozens of individuals on Washington's list of suspected terrorists, the EU targeted eight.

Rebuilding the former World Trade Center site will take at least 10 years, but guidelines for starting the project should be ready by April, the head of the redevelopment effort for lower Manhattan said on Thursday.

March 8, 2002
Wiping away tears, President Bush told families of slain U.S. servicemen "we ache for you" and predicted more American troops would die in the war against terrorism.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney leaves on Sunday on a 10-day Middle East trip to drum up further support for the U.S. war on terrorism and intensify pressure on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but his mission may be drowned out by the escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict

A new secret U.S. intelligence report says the war in Afghanistan may help to reduce state-sponsored terrorism as countries think twice about triggering similar repercussions, according to U.S. government sources.

There is something strange about the collective determination not to wait until Sept. 11 to commemorate the worst day of terror in American history. Six-month anniversaries are generally associated with happy occasions -- a baby's age, the length of a romantic attachment. But not this time. Everything from the harrowing footage that CBS will be broadcasting Sunday night to the twin towers of memorial light that will rise over Ground Zero at dusk Monday will prompt us to relive the most tearful Tuesday of our lives.

March 9, 2002
Running low on ammunition, hundreds of al-Qaida fighters are concentrated near two cave complexes in the eastern Afghan mountains but land mines are proving a major problem in routing them

Talks with Iraq about allowing weapons inspectors to return to the oil-rich nation have had "a good start," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, and will resume next month.

Arab leaders will decide on whether to adopt a Saudi peace offer to Israel when they meet later this month, foreign ministers said Saturday, and they questioned Israel's readiness to make peace amid the sharpest escalation in Mideast violence yet

About 600 Islamic militants detained for membership in banned extremist groups are to be released as part of a government amnesty provided they promise to renounce terrorism, officials said Saturday. The number is about a third of the estimated 2,000 people detained in the two months since President Gen. Pervez Musharraf announced a crackdown on extremists and banned five Islamic militant groups

The Marine general running Camp X-ray told captives of the war on terrorism to obey the rules and cooperate during interrogations because, if they are innocent, they may be freed.

March 10, 2002
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, expanding on his country's Mideast peace plan, said Sunday that to get "complete peace from the Arabs" Israel should allow an independent Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital in addition to withdrawing from Arab lands.

The U.S. commander of the war in Afghanistan said Sunday that American forces have made new advances against the last known major pocket of al-Qaida resistance but have yet to find any sign of Osama bin Laden or other leaders of the terrorist network.

President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s top foreign-affairs advisers say the United States must be prepared to use nuclear weapons to deter attacks involving weapons of mass destruction. But in an effort to ease alarm overseas, they said there were no plans to do so.

Foreign governments reacted cautiously to news that the Pentagon has studied options for nuclear strikes on countries that threaten the United States with weapons of mass destruction. Some outside of government called it a worrisome development.

March 11, 2002
Tanks and trucks carried 1,000 more U.S.-allied Afghan fighters to the remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan on Monday to reinforce American troops closing in on al-Qaida and Taliban holdouts

Dick Cheney heard strong support Monday from British Prime Minister Tony Blair for widening the U.S.-led war on terrorism to keep weapons of mass destruction out of hostile hands.

Monday climbed to the top of Sydney Harbor Bridge and saluted the U.S. flag, raised there to mark the six-month anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

U.S. allies praised the way the United States responded to the terrorist attacks it suffered six months ago, saying Monday that Americans showed courage in dealing with a "savage and immeasurable crime."

To the strains of "America the Beautiful," two pillars of light soared skyward from beside ground zero Monday night, filling a hole torn in New York's skyline when terrorists brought down the World Trade Center six months ago

Television networks marking the six-month anniversary of Sept. 11 brought back horrifying images on Monday, one day after CBS' "9/11" documentary drew a large TV audience of 39 million people. The CBS special with exclusive footage from inside the World Trade Center was watched in nearly half the homes that had their TV sets on Sunday night in New York City, and about one-third of those nationally.

Near the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York, mourners paused twice this morning -- at 8:46 and 9:03 -- in silence, marking the moments that American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 slammed into two of the world's tallest buildings. In Washington, D.C., President Bush called for America to maintain the fight against "terrorist parasites."

March 12, 2002
The United States late on Tuesday asked the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution "affirming a vision" of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel, with both within secure and recognized borders.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to Israel on Tuesday to end its "illegal occupation" of Palestinian lands and curb its attacks on civilians in his toughest criticism to date of the Jewish state.

Advancing U.S. and coalition forces fought with small groups of al-Qaida and Taliban holdouts Tuesday as allied troops worked their way through the warren of mountain caves in eastern Afghanistan — their progress slowed by mines and booby traps.

The defiant, alleged mastermind of the kidnap-slaying of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl warned Tuesday that Americans will suffer if he is sent to the United States, shouting to bystanders after a court appearance that "America will be finished soon."

With speculation growing that Iraq could be the next U.S. target, President Saddam Hussein said his country is unafraid of threats and that he will not enter a dialogue with Kurdish parties in northern Iraq

U.S. commanders in the biggest ground operation of the war in Afghanistan (news - web sites) have rejected an Afghan ally's proposal to halt bombing and allow al-Qaida and Taliban to surrender or escape. "We have made it very clear that we are not going to halt things ... we are not going to stop the fighting to make any deals.

Investigators looking into the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in Queens last Nov. 12 said today that they had discovered "indications of damage" in the tail of another plane of the same model an Airbus A300 that was involved in an in-flight accident near West Palm Beach, Fla., five years ago.

March 13, 2002
Recovery workers made a significant discovery in the last mountain of debris at the World Trade Center site, pulling the remains of 11 firefighters and two civilians from the wreckage, a fire department spokesman said.

Director Robert Mueller will discuss the latest developments in the war on terrorism with officials in Malaysia and Singapore, where dozens of Islamic militants have been arrested in an alleged plot against U.S. targets, authorities said Wednesday

President Bush said on Wednesday that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is a problem and "we are going to deal with him," but stopped short of saying the United States would take action against Iraq. The president made clear to visiting Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern that he was not planning immediate military action against Iraq, Ahern told reporters after the two men held talks in the White House and lunched with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

On the sensitive question of Iraq, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has taken his usual role of Mideast mediator — trying to dissuade Washington from attacking any Arab country as part of the war on terrorism and trying to persuade Iraq to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors

Terror is bigger than one person," Bush told a White House news conference. "He is a person who has now been marginalized. His host government has been destroyed. He's the ultimate parasite who found weakness, exploited it and met his match." Despite his vow last year to bring bin Laden to justice "dead or alive," Bush said: "I don't know where he is," adding that he was more concerned about ensuring the troops fighting in the war on terrorism were well equipped and supported.

Oil's latest surge came after U.S. industry data released late on Tuesday showed an unexpectedly large decline in distillate fuel inventories -- including heating oil and diesel -- of nearly four times the market forecast, with gasoline stocks also well down. Also keeping prices simmering was instability in the Middle East as violence between Israelis and Palestinians showed no signs of abating and fears of a U.S.-led military action against Iraq remained.

March 14, 2002
Muslim extremist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was indicted Thursday in the kidnapping and murder of reporter Daniel Pearl, the government pushing for quick U.S. criminal charges out of concern that Pakistani authorities might release the suspect.

The Bush administration said Thursday that Israel must withdraw all its troops and tanks from Ramallah and other Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank and Gaza.

Israeli tanks began withdrawing from the West Bank city of Ramallah Thursday night, just hours after the arrival of U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni on a mission to achieve a cease-fire.

Mopping up after the biggest U.S.-led offensive of the Afghan war, U.S. and Canadian troops killed three enemy fighters Thursday in a 90-minute gunbattle while clearing caves and bunkers in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

March 15, 2002
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet Palestinian leaders Sunday with intention of declaring a cease-fire in Mideast conflict, Sharon's office said Saturday night.

Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network has stepped up its financial activity markedly in recent weeks, suggesting some leaders are reasserting control and may be seeking to finance more attacks against American interests

John Walker Lindh was a disillusioned Taliban soldier who wanted to leave his unit after learning of the Sept. 11 attacks against America but was afraid to do so for fear of death, his legal defense team argued Friday

After four months of work, the Pentagon has finished writing the rules for military tribunals that will try prisoners from the war in Afghanistan

March 16, 2002
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon plans to meet top Palestinian leaders soon with the intention of declaring a cease-fire that would halt nearly 18 months of Mideast fighting

Vice President Dick Cheney encountered more resistance Saturday to American action against Iraq even as he conveyed growing U.S. interest in a Saudi-sponsored Middle East peace initiative

St. Patrick's Day celebrations unfolded across America Saturday, led by the nation's oldest and largest parade which paused for a silent moment to honor the dead in a city healing from terrorism.

Secretary of State Colin Powell says Russia should feel reassured — not threatened — by a Pentagon report that raises the possibility of using nuclear weapons against countries that endanger the United States.

March 17, 2002
The Senate is considering subpoenaing homeland security chief Tom Ridge to compel his testimony about President Bush's domestic security spending request, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said Sunday

Afghanistan's defense ministry accused Pakistan on Sunday of harboring wanted Taliban leaders and al-Qaida fighters in its border regions where government control is weak and tribal traditions hold sway.

Russia could agree to a new nuclear arms pact that would allow the United States to store some decommissioned weapons for possible future use instead of destroying them

Vice President Dick Cheney, nearing an end of his tour of Arab countries, acknowledged Sunday that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become "a preoccupation for everyone" in the region.

March 18, 2002
Israeli troops pulled out of biblical Bethlehem and a neighboring village early Tuesday, witnesses said, edging Israel and the Palestinians closer to a cease-fire in the 18-month-old Mideast conflict

Moving against remnant al-Qaida and Taliban forces in Afghanistan, U.S. forces killed 16 fighters in a gun battle and captured 31 others at a military compound

While some experts say the recession is already over, President Bush has decided to focus on restoring economic health until the last report confirms a recovery.

Mary Robinson said Monday she will step down as planned as the top U.N. human rights enforcer even though many countries want her to stay

March 19, 2002
Surviving leaders of the al-Qaida terrorist network are rallying followers to conduct more attacks despite the arrest of hundreds of extremists worldwide, CIA Director George J. Tenet said Tuesday

Americans can enjoy some of the lowest interest rates in four decades a bit longer. The Federal Reserve passed up a chance Tuesday to raise rates on loans but put the country on notice to expect increases sooner rather than later.

Protected by sympathetic clerics, up to 1,000 Taliban and al-Qaida leaders are hiding in Pakistan and planning a Taliban comeback in Afghanistan, according to Taliban members and others familiar with the Islamic movement

Federal prosecutors are preparing to seek the death penalty against Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to government officials and a letter sent by prosecutors to victims' families.

March 20, 2002
The Operation Anaconda commander warned on Wednesday that al-Qaida fighters are an "adaptable enemy" already drawing on a fresh flow of cash to rebuild forces in eastern Paktia province. Just 40 miles to the east, U.S. and Afghan troops came under fire, and one American was wounded.

Terror suspects tried before military tribunals would have many of the legal rights given defendants accused of other crimes, but prosecutors could use evidence that would probably be tossed out of an ordinary American court

In a sign the Taliban and al-Qaida are trying to revive operations, pamphlets calling for armed struggle against the United States and its coalition allies have begun circulating among Afghan refugees here and in Afghanistan

U.S. law enforcement authorities will ask some 3,000 foreign nationals for voluntary interviews in continuing attempts to learn more about the threat of terrorism

March 21, 2002
The Pentagon's rules for military tribunals aim to protect the rights of suspects while safeguarding Americans' security and ability to aggressively wage war against terrorism

Saying poverty fuels terrorism, dozens of world leaders launched a U.N. summit Thursday by promising to do more to help the world's neediest and end the cycle of economic chaos that plagues the developing world

A Palestinian blew himself up in an oft-targeted shopping area in the heart of Jerusalem on Thursday in the second suicide bombing in two days, killing three Israelis and derailing a round of U.S.-brokered truce talks

March 22, 2002
More than 30 Afghans seized by American troops in a 3 a.m. raid on a village security post said they were kicked and abused at a U.S. Army detention center before being freed four days later

One hundred police with automatic weapons ringed the courthouse Friday as prosecutors charged a British-educated Islamic militant and 10 accomplices with the kidnap-murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl

Responding to U.S. prodding, Israel and Palestinians pressed on with truce talks Friday despite another Palestinian suicide bombing — the third in three days — but neither side reported progress

March 23, 2002
Extending a hand to a shaken nation, President Bush declared Saturday that the United States would work with Peru to fight terrorism wherever it occurs, saying the two nations share a common perspective on the problem: "We must stop it."

U.S. forces recently found evidence in Afghanistan that Osama bin Laden was trying to "get his hands on" anthrax or other biological weapons

Girls in bright red dresses and transparent green headscarves took center stage at a ceremony Saturday marking the first day of the school year in Afghanistan, where thousands of girls returned to the classroom for the first time in years.

The remains of 10 people, including two firefighters, were recovered from the debris of the World Trade Center on Saturday. The discoveries followed the overnight removal of six other victims, four of them firefighters.

Earlier in the week, workers retrieved remains of as many as 11 other firefighters from the rubble, including one of the department's highest-ranking victims of the attack, Assistant Chief Donald Burns. Burns had been setting up a command post when the tower collapsed.

The U.S. Embassy in Bosnia shut down to the public on Wednesday after receiving word of a possible terrorist threat. The embassy closed entirely on Friday, and the next day Bosnian special police forces were seen around the compound along with normal U.S. security units. Al-Qaida terrorists planned a devastating attack on Americans in Sarajevo after meeting in Bulgaria to identify European targets

March 24, 2002
U.S.-led truce talks ended without an agreement late Sunday but both Israelis and Palestinians said they would meet again, focusing on new American proposals aimed at bridging their differences and halting 18 months of bloodshed.

Israel said Palestinian and Iranian officials met in Moscow last year and forged a new alliance in which the Palestinians were to receive millions of dollars worth of heavy weaponry in exchange for allowing Iran more influence and intelligence information about Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that he would like to attend the Arab League summit meeting in Lebanon later this week to explain Israel's position.

Iraq said on Sunday it was ready to receive a U.S. delegation to discuss the fate of an American pilot shot down over Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War

March 25, 2002
Palestinian and Israeli leaders separately pondered a U.S. truce proposal Monday, while the United States pressed a reluctant Israel to let Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat attend this week's Arab summit in Beirut regardless of whether a cease-fire is reached.

Relatives of the 40 passengers and crew killed Sept. 11 aboard hijacked United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in rural Pennsylvania, will be allowed to hear the cockpit recordings during a single, private listening session next month

President Bush urged Arab nations Monday to approve a Saudi peace offer to Israel and asked Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to let Yasser Arafat join an Arab League summit where the U.S.-backed initiative may be considered.

Suspected al-Qaida and Taliban fighters planned to kill international peacekeepers by setting off car bombs in Afghanistan's capital. Six cars were rigged with booby-traps to be detonated near peacekeeper security patrols. The vehicles were placed under surveillance, but no arrests have been made.

March 26, 2002
Yasser Arafat decided Tuesday not to attend a key Arab summit, and his Cabinet accused Israel of trying to "blackmail" the Palestinian leader with tough conditions for letting him go. Arafat's absence could undermine Arab support for a Saudi peace overture being presented in Beirut.

Two men under federal investigation for possible ties to terrorist groups were denied entry to Israel in December after one was carrying a letter that the FBI believes indicated they planned to commit a suicide attack there, according to sworn court papers.

Two observers from an international force in Hebron were shot and killed when Palestinians opened fire on their car in the West Bank on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, the first to die since the force was set up eight years ago

March 27, 2002
A suicide bomber burst into a hotel dining room and blew himself up Wednesday just as Israelis dressed in their holiday best were sitting down to a Seder meal celebrating the Jewish Passover. At least 16 Israelis were killed and more than 100 wounded

Disarray plagued the opening of a summit meant to unite the Arab world Wednesday as Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah laid out his proposal for a comprehensive land-for-peace pact with Israel.

Secretary of State Colin Powell will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in Spain early next month to push forward nuclear arms-reduction plans for the coming U.S.-Russia

Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) on Wednesday designated three Middle East groups as terrorist organizations, including the al-Aqsa brigades, a Palestinian militia linked to the Fatah faction of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat

March 28, 2002
Facing a possible military strike, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Thursday he was ready for an immediate, unconditional cease-fire. But he stopped short of declaring a Mideast truce, and Israel reacted with skepticism.

For the first time in the Middle East conflict, the Arab world has come together and agreed on a peace plan that offers Israel normal relations in exchange for a full withdrawal from war-won lands and a Palestinian state.

The Bush administration said Thursday it will seek to execute Zacarias Moussaoui in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks and appealed to European allies to keep cooperating with terrorism investigations despite their opposition to the death penalty.

Drivers across the nation are digging deeper into their wallets to cover rising gasoline prices, which have leapt an average of 23 cents per gallon over the last month — the most dramatic change in more than a decade.

A Delta Air Lines plane about to take off from Logan Airport was forced to halt Thursday after a passenger stood up and made a threat, authorities said. The airplane was on the runway and was supposed to head to Orlando, Fla. Instead it taxied back to the terminal area and its 118 passengers were taken off the plane. It is unclear what the passenger threatened, Logan spokesman Phil Orlandella said, but he stood up saying he wanted off the plane and the crew became alarmed. The man was being questioned and had not been arrested as of early Thursday afternoon, Orlandella said. The aircraft was checked.

A special operations forces member was killed and another serviceman was wounded Thursday when a land mine exploded during a training mission near the U.S. base in Kandahar.

March 29, 2002
Israeli troops backed by tanks swarmed into Yasser Arafat's headquarters Friday, punching holes in walls and fighting room to room as the Palestinian leader huddled in a windowless office and made frantic appeals to world leaders by cellphone

U.S. and Russian negotiators have made so much progress on offensive weapons and a new strategic framework that President Bush and Vladimir Putin may sign agreements on both at their Moscow summit in May

The United States is upgrading its ability to spearhead a war in the Persian Gulf from countries other than Saudi Arabia, the general who would command any attack against Iraq said Friday

American-born Taliban John Walker Lindh received the same food and medical care as U.S. soldiers while in custody in Afghanistan, and even slept on a stretcher while his physician made do on a concrete floor,

The nation's airports face at least $2 billion in construction costs to make room for machines to detect explosives. Officials say they don't know how many machines they need, where they should be installed or who will pick up the cost.

A court in Pakistan on Friday set an April trial date for four men accused in the kidnap-slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl a case widely seen as a test of Pakistan's commitment to combat religious extremism. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the alleged mastermind of the Jan. 23 kidnapping, and three accomplices will face trial April 5 before an anti-terrorism court on charges of murder, kidnapping and terrorism, chief prosecutor Raja Quereshi said. The trial will be held at a jail for security reasons.

March 30, 2002
Israeli troops rounded up hundreds of Palestinian men for questioning, battled gunmen and imposed a curfew in the West Bank's main city Saturday. Yasser Arafat was penned up in his office, surrounded by Israeli troops and trying to keep up his staff's morale

President Bush on Saturday defended Israel's storming of Yasser Arafat's compound and demanded that the Palestinian leader do more to stem violence. He consulted with five world leaders about the crisis, stepping directly into peacemaking made yet more difficult by another suicide bombing in Israel.

For the first time in a month, international peacekeepers came under fire while patrolling in the Afghan capital, the peacekeeping force reported Saturday. The gunfire was believed to have come from a compound housing militiamen from the Afghan alliance that helped the United States oust the Taliban.

Sixty people, including 25 Arabs and four Afghans, were arrested Thursday in raids by Pakistani and American agents in Faisalabad and Lahore. Police officials said one of those arrested bears a strong resemblance to Abu Zubaydah, bin Laden's senior field commander, who is believed to be trying to reorganize al-Qaida after the collapse of Taliban rule in Afghanistan

The Queen Mother Elizabeth, a symbol of courage and dignity during a tumultuous century of war, social upheaval and royal scandal, died Saturday in her sleep, she was 101.

March 31, 2002
Saying Israel is in a war for survival, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed to smash Palestinian militants in an uncompromising offensive, as he addressed a nation rattled by five suicide bombings in five days, including back-to-back attacks Sunday that killed 15 Israelis

President Bush pledged Sunday that two more suicide bombings in Israel would not discourage his Mideast peacemaking efforts as senators from both parties urged him to get more involved.

As worshippers sang hymns early Sunday in historic St. Paul's Chapel, workers in boots dusty from the devastation of the World Trade Center trudged in for hot drinks and then back out to the job a block away.

Struggling with his own physical suffering, Pope John Paul II used his Easter message to issue a forceful plea for an end to a bloody spiral of violence that has created "horror and despair" in the Holy Land

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