An American-born al-Qaida recruit has become one of the counter-terrorism world’s most valuable informants, giving investigators a rare look at al-Qaida’s day-to-day operations in a lawless region bordering Pakistan which US officials have struggled to infiltrate, investigators said.

POLICE detained 14 suspected al-Qaida-linked extremists in raids in Brussels and eastern Belgium, including one militant who allegedly was plotting a suicide attack.

A convoy carrying Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s vice presidential running-mate came under attack today in north-eastern Afghanistan, the presidential palace said.

The CIA launched a secret bid to have suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin laden captured or killed three years ago.