 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Fighting terror notebook
Compiled from Times wires Italian police dismantle alleged cell in MilanPARIS -- Italian police have dismantled an alleged terrorist cell based in Milan, part of a European network with contacts in Iran, Malaysia and Afghanistan that is suspected of plotting attacks on U.S. targets, authorities said Friday. Five North African suspects were arrested Thursday and Friday in the Italian cities of Milan, Naples and San Remo and on the island of Malta. A sixth remains at large and a seventh, the alleged leader, is in a British jail. Their activities in recent months demonstrate that al-Qaida is trying to shake off a worldwide crackdown and reorganize to prepare strikes, investigators said. The suspects allegedly scouted the U.S. embassies in Belgium and the Netherlands as targets, an Italian law enforcement official told the Los Angeles Times. The FBI and Scotland Yard assisted Italian investigators in the case. U.S. Marines finish work in KuwaitWASHINGTON -- The 1,000 Marines whose training exercise in Kuwait was marred by a fatal shooting this week have finished their maneuvers ashore and are preparing to return to their ships, officials said Friday. The officials said the exercise, Eager Mace '02, will be completed Oct. 20 as scheduled. In the final phase starting this weekend the Marines will clean their equipment and move back aboard the USS Mt. Vernon and USS Denver, the officials told the Associated Press. The Marines are from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, whose flagship, the USS Belleau Wood, is not participating in the exercise. On Tuesday, two Kuwaiti gunmen shot two Marines participating in the exercise on Failaka island, killing Lance Cpl. Antonio J. Sledd, 20, of Tampa and wounding Lance Cpl. George R. Simpson, 21, of Dayton, Ohio. The gunmen moved to a second location and fired on more Marines before being killed by return fire. The Kuwaiti government denounced the attack as an act of terrorism. Afghanistan seeks $20-billion in aidKABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan needs up to $20-billion over the next five years to put the war-shattered country back on its feet and help ease its dependence on foreign aid, the finance minister said Friday. That amount is over four times the $4.5-billion pledged by international donors in January to help rebuild the country. Most of that money has yet to arrive. "The needs of this country are immense, and if you compare us to Kosovo or to Bosnia or to East Timor -- much smaller places -- the extent of commitment (by donors) was far larger," Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani said. "This $4.5-billion . . . is just an initial investment in our future, it will by no means suffice."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
