Fighting terror notebook

U.S. will fingerprint 'high-risk' arrivals

WASHINGTON -- Thousands of men from five countries identified as high-risk for terrorism and who arrived in the United States on or before Sept. 10 will have to be fingerprinted and photographed under rules announced Wednesday by the Justice Department.

The rules affect citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan or Syria at least 16 years old who arrived before the U.S. government began registering such foreigners this year at its borders. If they plan to stay in the United States beyond Dec. 16, these people must register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service by that date.

About 3,000 nonresident aliens, as they are called, will have to register, Justice Department officials said. They include students, people on long-term travel visas, family members and others.

The requirements do not apply to permanent residents -- those with INS green cards -- or to naturalized citizens from those countries. Diplomats and those seeking asylum are also excluded.

Karzai dismisses 20 provincial officials

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Two weeks after declaring war on corrupt and abusive provincial authorities, President Hamid Karzai has ordered the dismissal of civilian and military officials in a dozen provinces, signaling his intent to clean up a government that is perceived in many rural areas as unresponsive and oppressive.

The modest but unprecedented purge of about 20 officials included provincial intelligence chiefs, military commanders and an array of local bureaucrats -- some accused of serious wrongdoing such as drug trafficking and highway extortion, and others reported simply not to be doing their jobs.

Critics said the president's purge had not gone far or high enough, but his aides said that by firing disreputable underlings of several regional chiefs, including two abusive commanders who work for rival militia leaders, Karzai sought to show he intends an even-handed crackdown rather than persecution of individuals.

"Some people wanted the big fish caught immediately, but this is an important first step in a hundred-mile walk," said Yusuf Pashtoon, a Cabinet minister.

Elsewhere . . .

TWO SUSPECTS FREED: Police in Lyon, France, on Wednesday freed two of eight people arrested a day earlier in connection with a deadly Tunisia synagogue bombing last spring that authorities have linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network.

U.S. WARNING ISSUED: The State Department said Wednesday night the scheduled execution of a Pakistani man in Virginia next week may trigger retaliatory attacks against American interests overseas. A worldwide caution issued by the department said U.S. citizens need to be vigilant and to be aware of the "continuing threat of terrorist actions that may target civilians."

SMALLPOX VACCINE READY: The Pentagon has completed its plan for vaccinating U.S. troops against smallpox and is awaiting White House approval before giving the first shots, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. The Department of Health and Human Services has set aside about 1-million doses of smallpox vaccine for the military.

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