Islamic Militants

In what appears to have been a brilliantly executed operation, Israeli security stormed a desolate farmhouse surrounded by grape arbors and shot dead the two most wanted terrorists of Hamas, the Islamic militant movement. But for all the sophistication of the operation, it could quickly backfire on Israel. The killing on Thursday of brothers Adel and Imad Awadallah in this village near Hebron is certain to accelerate the continuing war between Israel and the Islamic terrorists.

NATO officials said yesterday that they had foiled a terrorist plot to attack two U.S. military posts last week in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Eleven Islamic militants were arrested, disrupting a terror cell's plans to strike Eagle Base, a sprawling installation in Tuzla, and a new post called Camp Connor in eastern Bosnia, according to a NATO official in Brussels, Belgium. Officials say six of those arrested are being held by Bosnian authorities; two were questioned and deported; two were extradited to Egypt; and one was released.

Robert Robb is a columnist at the Arizona Republic President Bush has a very expansive view of what the United States needs to do to protect the country against terrorist attack, more fully articulated in his speech to the National Endowment for Democracy on Oct. 6 than ever before. The question is whether it is all truly necessary, or at least prudent, or whether it is overreaching and excessively risky. Certain core activities are inarguably necessary to protect the country against terrorist attack.

Japanese welcome newborn princess Congratulations kept pouring in today for Japan's newest royal infant, but an eager public has yet to get a glimpse of the nation's littlest princess. Crown Princess Masako, a Harvard-educated former diplomat who turns 38 this week, gave birth to the baby girl on Saturday after more than eight years of marriage to Crown Prince Naruhito, heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. The palace grounds were open to well-wishers for the second straight day today, with nearly 27,000 lining up to sign their names before noon, Kyodo news agency reported.

Police disarmed an explosives-filled van yesterday outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, two days before a scheduled visit to Pakistan by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. No one claimed responsibility for the van. Islamic militants, however, have targeted Westerners since President Pervez Musharraf's government threw its support behind the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Musharraf, speaking yesterday in Peshawar, said a Libyan linked to al-Qaeda was responsible for two assassination attempts against him in December, though he did not name the suspect.

Israel's attacks into southern Lebanon, in retaliation for rocket attacks on northern Israel, explosively illustrate one of the most basic difficulties in achieving peace in the Middle East. The problem: How to keep the Arab (and/or Israeli) radicals who oppose peace talks from destroying the entire peace process. That will be the urgent task of Secretary of State Warren Christopher when he travels to the Mideast this weekend. He was originally supposed to try to restart the stalled peace talks.

MOSCOW FOE WARNS BORIS ON CONSTITUTION Russia's parliamentary chairman has raised the stakes in a duel with President Boris Yeltsin over a national confidence vote by warning him against circumventing Russia's constitution. Ruslan Khasbulatov's television appearance last night pre-empted a response by Yeltsin to parliament's decision to stage the vote the president had demanded - but on terms virtually impossible for him to accept. "The president is not a monarch.

Algerians have voted overwhelmingly for a draft constitution that would ban Islamic political parties, Algeria's state radio reported today. The radio, basing its report on provisional referendum returns from several regions, said there would be a large "yes" vote. State media said threats of violence by Muslim militants had not materialized. Official figures showed Algerians had turned out in large numbers to vote in defiance of the threats and calls by main opposition leaders for a boycott.

Fears of more violence as army pounds Palestinian refugee camp TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanon's army yesterday pounded Islamic militants hiding in a bombed-out Palestinian refugee camp for the third straight day, while fighting erupted near another camp in the south, stoking fears of more widespread violence breaking out. Fierce fighting has engulfed the outskirts of the Nahr el-Bared camp in northern Lebanon since Friday, when the Lebanese...

Former guerrilla leader now leads East Timor The small island territory of East Timor proudly took its place among the community of nations today, triumphing at last over its long history of oppression by Portugal and Indonesia. Lest the country forget, grisly scenes of torture filled wide screens as the country declared independence in the seaside capital of Dili. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan was one of many foreign leaders, including former President Bill Clinton, who attended the birth of the world's newest country.

SAN'A, Yemen - A new wave of fighting erupted in Yemen in a southern provincial capital that has been overrun by extremist militants. The fighting killed at least 17 al-Qaeda-linked fighters and three soldiers, a military official said Sunday. The official said the clashes occurred in and around Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province. The city, along with several southern towns, has been overrun by al-Qaeda-linked militants in the last two months of continuing political turmoil in Yemen.

BEIRUT - Residents used automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades to repel advancing government troops in central Syria yesterday, putting up a fierce fight for the first time in their 2-month-old revolt against President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime. The escalation raised fears that the popular uprising may be moving toward a Libya-style armed conflict. Until now, the opposition against Assad has taken the form of peaceful protests by unarmed demonstrators, though authorities have claimed, without offering solid proof, that it was being led by armed gangs and propelled by foreign conspiracies.

A shocking e-mail on Monday informed me of a Philadelphian murdered in Pakistan. Habib Peer, 60, was a hardworking Pakistani American who had raised three children and run two businesses in the city. He considered himself a devout Muslim and was a leader in his Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Last week, he was shot dead by masked men in the southern Pakistani city of Sanghar, where he was helping the family of his brother - who had been murdered four years before. Both brothers were killed by militants who believe the Ahmadis are apostates.

COLLEEN LaRose was a troubled woman even before, authorities say, she went on the Internet as JihadJane and offered herself up as an avenging angel to Islamic militants. A possible suicide attempt prompted by the death of her beloved father, drinking bouts and reported legal troubles in her former home in Texas all preceded the arrest of LaRose, 46, of Pennsburg, Montgomery County, last fall for allegedly trawling the Internet in search of terrorists she could aid and pledging to die for their cause.

OPEC break? With high oil prices weighing on a struggling economy, OPEC, which meets Wednesday, is said to be rethinking its plans to cut production, which could push prices above their current record levels. Venezuela, Ecuador mass troops on Colombia's border CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez yesterday ordered tanks and thousands of troops to the border with Colombia, accusing it of pushing South America to the brink of war by killing a top rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil.

Tiny, tiny Bible JERUSALEM - Israeli scientists have inscribed the entire Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible onto a space less than half the size of a grain of sugar. The nanotechnology experts at the Technion institute in Haifa say the book was etched on a surface that measures less than 0.01 square inch. They chose the Jewish Bible to highlight how vast quantities of information can be stored on minimum amounts of space. U.S. envoy to Iraq sees 'reconciliation' as '08 goal BAGHDAD - The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said yesterday that recent successes such as reducing violence have created a new set of challenges for 2008 - the most important being the return of refugees and the struggle for political reconciliation.

On the 60th anniversary of independence, Pakistan is under siege. Its leaders lack legitimacy, politics is held hostage by its army, and radical Islamists stalk the land. The future looks bleak. There is talk of civil war. There is only one way out: End the cycle of military dictatorship and allow truly free, representative government to take root. Pakistan's leaders have failed it from the beginning. Its founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, claimed the Muslims of British India needed a separate country if they were to be free from domination by its more numerous Hindus.

Robert Robb is a columnist at the Arizona Republic President Bush has a very expansive view of what the United States needs to do to protect the country against terrorist attack, more fully articulated in his speech to the National Endowment for Democracy on Oct. 6 than ever before. The question is whether it is all truly necessary, or at least prudent, or whether it is overreaching and excessively risky. Certain core activities are inarguably necessary to protect the country against terrorist attack.

THE 9/11 COMMISSION'S Final Report last week didn't fully blame George W. Bush - or Bill Clinton - for failing to prevent the terrorist attacks. Neither do we. But we do blame the Bush administration for not doing all it could do since that day to prevent future attacks on the United States. And we believe that John Kerry will do more of what is necessary to make us safer from al Qaeda and others who would harm us. He will start by implementing the urgent recommendations of the commission report, something that President Bush has signaled his reluctance to do. That is one reason we have endorsed John F. Kerry for president.