The US is the largest supplier of weapons to developing nations, delivering more than $9.6bn (€7.86bn) in arms to countries including those in the Near East and Asia in 2004, and boosting worldwide sales to those countries to the highest amount since 2000, a congressional study says.

The vast majority of suicide attackers in Iraq are thought to be foreigners - mostly Saudis and other Gulf Arabs – and the trend has become more pronounced this year with North Africans also streaming in to carry out deadly missions, US and Iraqi officials say.

Osama bin Laden remains Public Enemy No. 1 but recent developments raise questions about the ability of US forces to track down the elusive terrorist and the resources dedicated to the hunt more than three years after the September 11 attacks.

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has stepped down as chairman of a panel investigating the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, citing controversy over potential conflicts of interest with his private-sector clients.