Woman suicide bomber strikes Iraq

At least eight people have been killed in the first attack by a female suicide bomber during Iraq's insurgency.
Witnesses and army officers said the attacker pushed her way into a crowd at an army recruitment centre in Talafar, northern Iraq.

An internet message purporting to be from the Islamist group al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed a "blessed sister" mounted the attack on its behalf.

Full story here

Sasson Nouriel

Israeli civilian Sasson Nouriel, was kidnapped in Jerusalem, initially as a bargaining chip for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, but his body was later recovered in the West Bank.
Yesterday Hamas claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and killing of Nouriel.

Suicide attack on Afghan troops

At least 12 people were killed and 29 wounded when a suicide bomber dressed in an army uniform rammed a motorcycle into a convoy of buses carrying Afghan army officers in the capital Kabul today.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack at the Kabul Military Training Center, set up by U.S.-led forces to train a new national army, and said more could be expected.

An Afghan intelligence official said at least 12 people died, most of them army officers, but he did not know if this figure included the bomber. The officer, who did not want to be identified, said some of the wounded were in critical condition.

Reuters

Sheikh Tantawi

Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, the Grand Sheikh of Azhar, reaffirmed that Islam is a religion of moderation and peace, and it is nothing to do with terrorism.

"Islam stands for peace and it shuns all forms of terrorism, whether it is targeting Muslims or non-Muslims. Islam is free from those who perpetrate terror acts like killing and destruction," he said.

The grand sheikh made these remarks during his meeting with Muhammad Alami Moussa, chairman of the Islamic Council of Singapore, at the Azhar headquarters. The meeting was also attended by ambassador of Singapore to Egypt.

Sheikh Tantawi asserted that there is a difference between terrorism and legitimate resistance. "Those who carried out terrorist attacks in Britain and Saudi Arabia were criminals, and it is the responsibility of governments to cooperate each other in putting such criminals under trial," he said.

Bin Laden should be tried by Muslim judges

Noted Islamic scholar, Dr Yusuf Al Qaradawi has said the Al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Abu Musad Al Zarqawi, now based in Iraq, should be tried by Muslim judges if they are caught.

A local Arabic daily quoted Dr Al Qaradawi as telling a German magazine in an interview that most Muslims have sympathy for terrorists because of the atrocities being committed against the Palestinians.

Islam, he reiterated, did not preach terrorism at all. He clarified that a Muslim suicide bomber attacking a bus full of innocent civilians was to be differentiated from the one who was carrying out a suicide mission to resist foreign invasion. Islam, Dr Al Qaradawi said, did not allow the killing of innocent women and children.

UK police arrest London attack suspect

British police have arrested a suspect in connection with the failed attacks on London's transport network on 21 July.

The 36-year-old was arrested on Tuesday by officers from the Metropoliton Police force's Anti-Terrorist Branch on suspicion of assisting an offender and alleged immigration offences, a spokesman said.

"The man has been taken to a central London police station where he remains in custody and will be interviewed," he said, adding that he was being held under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

AJ

Zarqawi's number two shot dead

Al-Qaeda's second-in-command in Iraq has been shot dead in a raid in Baghdad, US and Iraqi officials say.
Abu Azzam is described as the top aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari called the killing very important, and said those who informed on insurgents were helping to save hundreds of lives.

However, a statement purportedly from al-Qaeda in Iraq says it cannot confirm the death, and denies Azzam is the group's number two in the country.

BBC

Iraq abuse woman gets three years

A US woman soldier has been sentenced to three years in jail by a military panel for abusing prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail last year.
Private Lynndie England, who faced up to nine years in prison, has also been given a dishonourable discharge.

The panel found her guilty on four counts of maltreating detainees, one count of conspiracy and one count of committing an indecent act.
She was acquitted on a second conspiracy.

Full story here

Abu Odeh

Bethlehem district residents have followed the funeral of the Qassam Brigades, armed wing of Hamas, commander Mohammed Abu Odeh, and laid him to rest at the martyrs' cemetery in the nearby Artas village Tuesday afternoon.

Palestinian citizens flocked to the house of Abu Odeh to bid him farewell and offered the funeral prayer for his soul to rest in peace. They recalled the good merits of the "martyr" and his "active and heroic" role in the resistance, as they chanted anti-occupation slogans waving the green flags of Hamas and urging no let up in resisting the occupation.

Abu Odeh was an active member of the Qassam Brigades and a commander of one of its cells. He was the mastermind of a number of "retaliatory" operations against the Israeli soldiers as he planned two human bombing operations in the occupied city of Jerusalem that killed scores of Israeli soldiers.

More files

Some sort of bizarre Iraqi news here and here
Also here under the name of Tayseer.

Explosion here