Fighting terror notebook

World Trade Center loss estimated at $8.2-billion

NEW YORK -- The company that held the lease for the World Trade Center estimates its losses at $8.2-billion from the terrorist attacks.

Silverstein Properties had previously estimated the losses at $6.5-billion, but adjusted it to show tenant improvement costs and depreciation estimates.

The figure includes a $2.5-billion estimate of interrupted business losses from the attacks, and a $5.7-billion loss for the twin 110-story skyscrapers and adjacent buildings destroyed Sept. 11.

Swiss Reinsurance Ltd., the company responsible for 22 percent of the coverage under the trade center's policy, said Saturday that Silverstein can not recover more than $3.5-billion for the loss.

The company is one of more than 20 insurers fighting Silverstein's claim that the terrorist attacks were two separate incidents, meaning Silverstein would receive two payouts of $3.5-billion each.

Polygraphs 'bad idea,' senator says

WASHINGTON -- Senate leaders agreed Sunday that members of Congress should not submit to lie detector tests as part of an FBI investigation of intelligence leaks.

"I think it's a bad idea. I think that it's an infringement constitutionally on the legislative branch. And I don't think there's much support for it," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

The Republican leader, Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, agreed the "separation of powers is certainly a difficult one" but that lawmakers should heed Bush administration warnings about leaks.

"I have to say that the thing for members of Congress to do is to keep their mouths shut when it involves sensitive and classified information," said Lott, who appeared with Daschle on ABC's This Week.

Plan to counter al-Qaida defended

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration said Sunday it moved as swiftly as possible to develop a plan on how to eliminate al-Qaida -- a process that took eight months and wasn't complete until one week before the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Clinton administration had handed off to the incoming Bush team detailed assessments of the threat, and offered ideas on how to counter al-Qaida.

But Bush officials took issue Sunday with a report in the Aug. 12 issue of Time magazine that said the current administration's review of its predecessor's briefings became bogged down in bureaucracy.

The current White House denied receiving any firm plans for dealing with al-Qaida.

"The Clinton administration did not present an aggressive new plan to topple al-Qaida during the transition," said White House spokesman Sean McCormack.

According to Time, Clinton's antiterror czar, Richard Clarke, offered detailed proposals: arresting al-Qaida personnel, choking off the group's financing, aiding nations fighting the organization and beefing up covert action in Afghanistan to deny al-Qaida sanctuary.

Ex-Taliban spokesman held in Cuba

CHAMAN, Pakistan -- The Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan, who served as the regime's international spokesman in the early days of the U.S. bombing campaign, is being held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, relatives said Sunday.

The family of Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef learned of his whereabouts in a letter he sent through the International Committee of the Red Cross, relatives said on condition of anonymity.

"I have been taken away from Afghanistan. You might know where I have been taken. I appeal to all of my friends and relatives to pray for the steadfastness of all prisoners in American jail," the relatives quoted the letter as saying.

After the start of the U.S. air campaign on Oct. 7, Zaeef became the voice of the Taliban, holding frequent news conferences at the Afghan Embassy that were broadcast worldwide.

The Pakistani government eventually ordered Zaeef to stop the news conferences. After Taliban rule collapsed in December, Zaeef asked for political asylum in Pakistan but was arrested in January and transferred to the U.S. detention facility in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

It was unknown when he was moved to Cuba.

Ex-Afghan king returns to palace

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's former king moved back into his royal palace Sunday, four months after returning from exile and 29 years after being driven from the throne in a family coup.

It clearly was a happy homecoming for the 87-year-old ex-monarch.

"It's a great pleasure for everyone," Mohammad Zahir Shah said after arriving on the palace grounds, a leafy refuge in noisy central Kabul.

After returning from Italy in April, Zahir Shah moved into a home on a residential street near the old palace. The Afghan government wanted to avoid any suggestion the monarchy was being restored.

At a national grand council, or loya jirga, that Zahir Shah formally convened in June, it was decided that the ex-king would be allowed to reside in his former grand home, as well as award titles and convene the next parliament and constitutional commission.

Aid can't reach poorest areas

QALA-E-GHAZ, Afghanistan -- Harsh climate, uncleared land mines and crumbling infrastructure have made southern Afghanistan among the country's poorest regions. Those same problems also are keeping away the very aid workers needed to help this former Taliban stronghold.

Since the Taliban collapsed in December, most aid organizations have chosen to set up in the capital of Kabul, where the climate is kinder, communications and roads marginally better and security enhanced by international peacekeepers.

That means less attention is directed to the south, the homeland of the country's largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns. They already are feeling estranged from the central government many Pashtuns believe is dominated by their ethnic Tajik, Hazara and Uzbek rivals.

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