TERROR NEWS NOV 03

Kurdish rebels call on Ankara for peace plan

A top Kurdish rebel based in northern Iraq called on Ankara to present a peace plan that could end his group's two-decade armed rebellion against Turkey, in an interview with AFP on Thursday. "I call upon Turkey to be courageous and present a peace plan to solve the problem. In this way it is possible to have a ceasefire," said Abdurrahman Cadirci, a senior leader in the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Full Story

US military tracking hijacked ships

The U.S. Navy said Thursday it continued to track two ships hijacked by Somali pirates, with the aim of ultimately removing the attackers from the vessels and allowing the craft to return to normal commercial operations. The U.S. Navy engaged the North Korea and Japan-flagged ships in recent days off the coast of Somalia, with a warship destroying pirate skiffs tied to the Japanese boat with gunfire from a U.S. warship. Full Story

Bombs kill 16 around Baghdad

Bombs killed at least 16 people Thursday in attacks across the Iraqi capital and its northern suburbs, but many here are increasingly concerned about the threat of attacks by Turkey against the country's northern Kurdish areas. Iraqis worry that a Turkish cross-border campaign, provoked by Kurdish rebel attacks, would spread disorder in one of the few relatively stable areas in Iraq. A Turkish incursion also would put the United States in the middle of a fight between key allies: NATO-member Turkey, the Baghdad government and the Iraqi Kurds of Iraq's semi-independent Kurdistan region. Full Story

Bhutto changes mind, leaves Pakistan

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto flew out of Pakistan on Thursday after the Supreme Court vowed not to be intimidated by any threats of martial law when it decides whether to validate the military president's recent election victory. A suicide bomber, meanwhile, attacked an air force bus, killing eight and wounding 40, the latest in a series of attacks against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's security forces. Full Story

Jets bomb S.Lanka rebels, troops kill 31 Tigers-Army

Sri Lankan troops killed 31 Tamil Tigers fighters in a series of clashes in the north of the island, as warplanes bombed rebel training camps on Thursday, the military said. Two soldiers were also killed and 17 wounded in the clashes with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the northwestern district of Mannar and neighbouring Vavuniya, the focus of renewed civil war. Full Story

New law gives Mugabe more power

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe signed a law giving him more power to choose his successor, state media reported Thursday. The law gives the parliament dominated by Mugabe's ruling party the power to pick a successor should the 83-year-old Mugabe retire or die before his term in office ends. Full Story

Local agencies ask for help fighting terrorism

WASHINGTON -- Local law enforcement agencies are working to prevent individuals in their communities from acting on extremist views but are calling for additional federal resources to help combat the threat of terrorism, a Senate panel was told Tuesday. Recent attacks and thwarted plots against European and U.S. cities indicate a rise in homegrown terrorism, where individuals identify with violent extremism and plot to attack their home countries from within, members of several large-city police departments told the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. Full Story

Oil futures surge as supplies fall

The price of oil rose to a record above $96 a barrel Thursday after a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles raised concerns about supplies for coming winter demand. Other energy futures also gained. Full Story

Troops clash with Venezuelan protesters

Troops used tear gas and water cannons Thursday to disperse demonstrators who turned out by the tens of thousands to protest constitutional reforms that would permit President Hugo Chavez to run for re-election indefinitely. Led by university students, demonstrators chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" and warned that 69 amendments drafted by Venezuela's Chavista-dominated National Assembly would violate civil liberties and derail democracy. Full Story

Hundreds of tremors shake Indonesian volcano

Hundreds of minor tremors shook a volcano on Indonesia's Java island Thursday, a scientist said, as police and troops stepped up evacuation efforts amid intensified fears of an eruption. The tremors, breaking days of calm, showed pressure inside Mount Kelut was rising, increasing the chance of an eruption, said Khoirul Huda of the volcano's monitoring post. Full Story

Turkey aims for targeted sanctions in Northern Iraq

Turkey said on Thursday planned economic sanctions would only target outlawed Kurdish militants and groups providing them with support in northern Iraq. The government declined to say what the new measures would include but made clear they would spare Turks and Iraqis not connected to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been launching attacks on Turkey from across the border. Full Story

Men with knives arrested at Ga. airport

A man with a box cutter in his luggage got through airport security, and was discovered only after screeners stopped a companion who was carrying knives, authorities said. Terrorism was ruled out but both were arrested on state weapons charges. Authorities said Chhaganbhai Patel, 60, was stopped at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Oct. 25 after he was found with a number of knives including a martial arts-style knife. Full Story

Courtesy Terrorism Research Center