Suicide bombers kill 25 in Bali attacks
BALI, Indonesia-Suicide bombers wearing explosive vests targeted tourist resorts on Bali with coordinated attacks that devastated three crowded restaurants, killing at least 25 people.
Two al-Qaida-linked fugitives suspected of masterminding the 2002 nightclub bombings on the same Indonesian island may have been involved in the Saturday night attack, a top anti-terrorism official said.
Saturday’s near-simultaneous blasts struck two seafood cafes in the Jimbaran beach resort and a three-story noodle and steakhouse in downtown Kuta. Kuta is the bustling tourist center of Bali where two nightclubs were bombed three years ago, also on a busy Saturday night, killing 202 people.
Maj. Gen. Ansyaad Mbai said he suspected two Malaysian fugitives alleged to be key members of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group masterminded the latest attacks. The two are also accused of orchestrating the 2002 bombings which killed mostly foreigners and two other attacks in the Indonesian capital in 2003 and 2004. The latter attacks also involved suicide bombers.
Bush tells radio audience he sees progress in Iraq war effort
WASHINGTON – President Bush said Saturday he is encouraged by the increasing size and capability of the Iraqi security forces, touting progress on a key measure for when U.S. troops can come home.
The upbeat remarks in Bush’s weekly radio address came two days after the top commander in Iraq said only one Iraqi battalion is ready to fight without U.S. support.
“All Americans can have confidence in the military commanders who are leading the effort in Iraq, and in the troops under their command,” Bush said. “They have made important gains in recent weeks and months. They are adapting our strategy to meet the needs on the ground, and they’re helping us to bring victory in the war on terror.”
The sunny presentation of the situation in Iraq is part of a renewed push by the administration to win support for the war effort from an increasingly-reluctant American public.
It conflicts with the news from Iraq and some assessments from top commanders.
Journalists concerned, puzzled over Miller case
NEW YORK-New York Times reporter Judith Miller’s decision to escape jail by testifying about her conversations with a confidential source surprised some of her supporters and left journalists wondering what her choice will mean for press freedoms.
Miller spent 85 days in jail for initially refusing to tell a grand jury whom she spoke with about Valerie Plame, a covert CIA official whose identity was leaked to several reporters in 2003.
But on Thursday she was abruptly released from prison, and a day later gave a grand jury the testimony long sought by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald.
The reason for the abrupt change: Miller said that her source, identified by the Times as Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, called her in prison and urged her to break her silence.
“This was the first time where he was saying, do it. I want you to testify,” said Miller’s attorney, Floyd Abrams.