Terrorism Notebook
Ex-aide of bin Laden gets 32-year jail term

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Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, 46, buried his face in his hands and put his head down as the guard, Louis Pepe, waved a black comb and told of the attack in 2000 that left him brain-damaged, partially paralyzed and blinded.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts ordered Pepe removed from the courtroom after several outbursts. As he was taken out, he shouted: "I'm dead! You understand that? I'm dead!"

Salim still faces trial and a possible life sentence on conspiracy charges in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. The attacks killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

U.S. urges Americans in Yanbu to go home

YANBU, Saudi Arabia — The U.S. ambassador traveled to this Saudi oil-industry city yesterday with a simple message for the gathered Americans: Go home. We cannot protect you.

Huddled in a meeting room in a Holiday Inn, many said they would heed his words.

The first to go were among the 90 foreign employees of ABB Lummus Global, a Houston-based oil contractor whose offices were attacked Saturday by four gunmen trying to encourage Saudis to join the resistance.

The Saudi interior minister said early today that the attack appeared to have been carried out by al-Qaida.

U.S. questions Pakistan's efforts on Afghan border

KABUL, Afghanistan — The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan questioned Pakistan's commitment to fighting Taliban and al-Qaida militants along the border, saying yesterday that appeasing extremists will only put off an inevitable battle.
 
Lt. Gen. David Barno also voiced caution about the prospects of catching al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, saying it is "too early to tell" if a new U.S. strategy aimed at winning the trust of Afghans will yield crucial intelligence.

The U.S. military praised Pakistan for a crackdown in its South Waziristan tribal region in March.

Still, the operation failed to net any top al-Qaida men, and Islamabad now has offered amnesty to foreign fighters who eschew terrorism and agree to live peacefully.

Ex-leader admits Spain may have dropped guard

MADRID, Spain — Former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar has admitted for the first time that his government failed to estimate the threat posed by Islamic extremists before the March 11 attack.

In a book published yesterday, Aznar conceded that — because of its success fighting Basque separatist groups — his government may have lowered its guard before the Madrid commuter-train bombings that killed 191 people and wounded more than 2,000.

The bombings were blamed on al-Qaida-linked militants.

Aznar's conservative government initially blamed the strikes on the Basque ETA group.

As reports emerged that Islamic terrorists were likely responsible, the Spanish opposition accused the government of a cover up.