Three suspected Islamic terrorists have been arrested in Germany for allegedly plotting attacks on Frankfurt airport and the nearby US military base in Ramstein, authorities said today.

An Egyptian cleric today claimed the CIA “savagely” tortured him after he was allegedly kidnapped off the streets of Italy before being sent to Egypt for further interrogation.

Gunmen attacked a minibus carrying Shiites north-east of Baghdad today, killing six men and wounding one woman, an official said. Elsewhere, at least 20 others were killed, many in drive-by shootings.

US forces stationed in Europe will increasingly shift their stance towards Africa and the former communist eastern bloc countries as they move to a more agile force countering post-Cold War threats such as terrorism, Nato’s top European commander says.

A US marine who disappeared in Iraq and turned up in Lebanon nearly three weeks later left Germany today after six days of debriefing and evaluation in a military hospital, a Ramstein Air Base spokeswoman said.

Nato was launching its elite rapid-reaction force today, a prototype unit that will eventually become a 20,000-member force able to deploy in short notice anywhere in the world.

Two more key members of Saddam Hussein’s regime were in Allied custody tonight as the hunt for his chief henchmen continued.

Four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight wounded when an American fighter jet mistakenly bombed them during a training exercise in Afghanistan, officials said.

One of the US soldiers wounded in Afghanistan has been flown to a military base in Germany.

An American Air Force transport plane had to make a landing at Shannon Airport after fumes had been reported in its cockpit.

President Bush put all American military forces overseas on high alert tonight.