Al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden called for a holy war against a proposed peacekeeping force in Sudan’s war torn region of Darfur in a message that appeared on jihadi websites today.

The German Interior Ministry today said the Islamic Jihad Union militant group has taken responsibility for planning foiled terror bombings in Germany, adding that the US air base at Ramstein was a target as well as US and Uzbek consulates in Germany.

A former Jihadi who has dedicated his life to deterring other young Muslims from becoming terrorists is getting the support he needs to continue his work, Hazel Blears said today.

A member of an unrelated terrorist group testified today he learned about weapons and explosives and prepared for jihad at an al-Qaida training camp which prosecutors say alleged terrorist Jose Padilla also attended.

Islamic cleric Abu Hamza was involved in a global conspiracy to wage Jihad against the US and other Western countries, an extradition hearing in Britain was told today.

The deputy leader of terror group al-Qaida mocked US President George W Bush’s plan to send 21,000 more troops to Iraq, in a new videotape broadcast tonight.

An Israeli air strike today against a car carrying militants in Gaza City killed nine Palestinians including two schoolchildren.

An Islamic militant suspected of helping plot a string of bomb attacks against Sinai tourist resorts turned himself in to police today.

Police in Egypt today killed the leader of an al-Qaida-inspired militant group who was wanted for last month’s Sinai bombings that killed 21 people.

Israel’s security chiefs have met to discuss the Jewish state’s response to a suicide bombing at a packed Tel Aviv fast-food restaurant during the Passover holiday that killed nine people and injured dozens.

Israel linked West Bank Palestinians with the al-Qaida network for the first time today when a military court charged two youths with receiving funds from the jihad group to carry out a co-ordinated double bombing in Jerusalem.

Radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza is to appeal his seven-year jail sentence given to him at the UK's Old Bailey after he was convicted of a string of race hate and terror charges.

The Old Bailey jury trying Muslim cleric Abu Hamza on soliciting to murder and race hate charges was warned today not to get “sidetracked” by the weekend’s events.

Alleged race hate preacher Abu Hamza told jurors today that he was unaware that an encyclopaedia found at his house contained a dedication to Osama bin Laden.

Two leading Islamic militants jailed over the 1981 killing of Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat have been released after more than two decades behind bars, prison officials and lawyers said today.

Hamas militants who had vowed not to renew a de facto truce with Israel backed off today, saying they would extend it if Israel “stops its aggression” and releases Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli forces have killed three Palestinian militants in a West Bank raid linked to a suicide bombing attack. The incident threatened to scuttle a fresh truce and fuel a new round of violence.

In an email published today in a leading Lebanese newspaper, radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri, barred from Britain last week and briefly detained by Lebanese police, defended his actions and asked the media to leave him alone.

IRAQI security forces launched a high-profile crackdown targeting terrorists in Baghdad yesterday as insurgents hit back with suicide bombings and ambushes that killed at least 17 people.

Iraqi security forces launched a high-profile crackdown targeting terrorists in Baghdad today as insurgents hit back with suicide bombings and ambushes that killed at least 17 people.

Spanish authorities have ended their interrogation of an Egyptian suspect in last year’s Madrid train bombings and will send him back to Italy where he is accused of links to militant Muslim groups, court officials said today.

A UN report by Deputy Garda Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri demanded a new international investigation after determining that Lebanon’s authorities bungled, if not outright manipulated, their probe of the killing.

A UN report into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has demanded a new international investigation after determining that Lebanon’s authorities bungled, if not outright manipulated, their probe of the killing.

Palestinian militants declared a halt to attacks on Israel for the rest of this year, their longest ever ceasefire promise and a success for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel linked the Islamic Jihad militant group, which claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing last week, to a failed attempt to blow up a car crammed with half a ton of explosives yesterday.

Israel’s defence minister warned yesterday that he will send large forces into Palestinian neighbourhoods if Israeli troops and settlers come under fire during the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this summer.

Lebanon’s billionaire former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed in a massive bomb explosion that ravaged his motorcade on Beirut’s famed seafront corniche today.

The Israeli military was delivering the bodies of 15 militants to the Palestinians for burial today, a day after Israel’s cabinet approved the names of 500 prisoners to be released and security commanders prepared for the handover of a West Bank town to Palestinian control.

Yuri Cortez, Morag Settlement

A MAN identified as Osama bin Laden has praised an attack earlier this month on a US consulate in Saudi Arabia and criticised the Saudi regime as weak and controlled by the United States.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday he planned to replace his minority government with a broad coalition to push through his Gaza withdrawal plan.

The terror leader whose gang beheaded Ken Bigley today lashed out at Muslim scholars for not speaking against the US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

An Islamic radical suspected of shooting and slitting the throat of renowned Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh has been quizzed by police who suspect he has ties with al-Qaida.

The US military said today it had arrested a “senior leader” in the network run by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, along with five others during night raids in the rebel stronghold of Fallujah.

The negotiator for the militant Shiite stronghold of Fallujah was freed from US custody today but refused to resume peace talks.

US troops today pounded the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah with airstrikes and tank fire, as the Iraqi government appealed to residents to expel “foreign terrorists” to prevent an all-out attack.

IRAQ’S interim prime minister yesterday threatened military action against the main insurgent stronghold of Fallujah if residents don’t hand over Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The beheading of two hostages in Iraq – one a Kurdish translator and the other a Turkish contractor – was shown an Islamist website today.

An Arabic television station broadcast video today showing three hooded gunmen threatening to behead a Turkish hostage within three days unless their conditions are met.

Car bombers have struck twice in rapid succession in Baghdad, killing at least 11 people including an American soldier, as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned that violence may increase before the January election.

TWO car bombs shook the capital in quick succession yesterday, killing at least 11 people, including an American soldier, and wounding 16.

Car bombers struck twice in rapid succession in the Iraqi capital today, killing at least 11 people including an American soldier and wounding at least 16.

A videotape of the beheading of British hostage Kenneth Bigley appeared today on an Islamist website, showing the civil engineer pleading that he wanted “to live a simple life” moments before he was decapitated.

AFTER a career spent working across the globe and a life punctuated with heartache, Kenneth Bigley hoped Iraq would be his last posting before he settled into happy retirement at a new home in Bangkok.