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06-19-2004

Web Posting Denies al-Qaida Death

This image taken from an Islamic website, Tuesday June 15, 2004, shows a frame from a video of blindfolded American hostage, Paul M. Johnson Jr., being held in Saudi Arabia. Johnson Jr., 49, was abducted Saturday, June 12, 2004. Al-Arabiya television reported Friday, June 18, 2004, that Johnson Jr. has been beheaded. (AP Photo)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) _ An al-Qaida cell fulfilled its threat to kill an American hostage, beheading him and showing the grisly photos on the Internet. Hours later, Saudi officials claimed they gunned down the militant who allegedly masterminded Paul M. Johnson's kidnapping. But a Web posting that appeared Saturday denied Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, the reputed leader of al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia, was killed. Officials had said he was slain in a firefight after police tracked down the car that dumped Johnson's body just outside Riyadh Friday.

World Leaders Condemn Hostage Slaying

Joey Robertson, whose mother was once married to Paul Johnson Jr., joins in a candlelight vigil for Johnson with his wife Summer in Port St. John, Fla., Thursday, June 17, 2004. Johnson, 49, a Lockheed Martin employee who resided in Brevard County, Fla. was kidnapped in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, June 12, 2004, by a group linked to al-Qaida, who have threatened to kill him unless Saudi authorities release al-Qaida prisoners.(AP Photo/Peter Cosgrove)

World governments condemned the beheading of an American engineer by an al-Qaida cell in Saudi Arabia, while one Islamic leader in Indonesia predicted more killings of the kind unless the United States changes its approach toward the Middle East. Irfan Awwas, chairman of the Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia, a radical Islamic group, said that to avoid more such attacks, the United States should leave Iraq and Afghanistan and stop Israeli violence against Palestinians.

9/11 Plot Reportedly Hatched in 1996

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind, is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan in this March 1, 2003 file photo. Five years before the worst terrorist attack in American history, the U.S.-educated Kuwaiti terrorist pitched an idea to Osama bin Laden. Mohammed, now in U.S. custody, concedes his apocalyptic vision of 10 planes steered into nuclear power plants, skyscrapers and other targets on America's East and West coasts received only a lukewarm response. (AP Photo/File)

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Five years before the worst terror attack in American history, a U.S.-educated Kuwaiti pitched an outlandish idea to Osama bin Laden. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, now a U.S. captive, concedes his apocalyptic vision of 10 planes steered into nuclear power plants, skyscrapers and other American targets received only a lukewarm response from the al-Qaida kingpin. The meeting in Afghanistan in mid-1996, however, apparently was the genesis of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001. Three reports issued this week by the Sept. 11 commission provide the fullest picture yet of how Mohammed's idea evolved from wild scheme to unfathomable reality _ and the government's chaotic response.

Putin Says Russia Gave U.S. Intel on Iraq

President Bush, left, walks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, into the plenary session at the G-8 Summit on Sea Island, Ga., in this June 9, 2004 file photo. Russia gave the Bush administration intelligence after the September 11 attacks that suggested Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was preparing attacks in the United States, President Vladimir Putin said Friday June 18, 2004. Putin said he couldn't comment on how critical the Russians' information was in the U.S. decision to invade Iraq. He said Russia didn't have any information that Saddam's regime was actually behind any terrorist acts. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AP) _ Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday his government warned Washington that Saddam Hussein's regime was preparing attacks in the United States and its interests abroad _ an assertion that appears to bolster President Bush's contention that Iraq was a threat. Putin emphasized that the intelligence didn't cause Russia to waver from its firm opposition to the U.S.-led war last year, but his statement was the second this month in which he has offered at least some support for Bush on Iraq.

Bush Gets Boost From McCain on Iraq

President Bush puts his arm around U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Az, as they talk for a moment before McCain introduced the President to the crowd at a campaign stop in Reno, Nev., Friday, June 18, 2004. Seen at left is Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, and right is Nev. Attorney General Brian Sandoval and second from right is Congressman Jim Gibbbons, R-Nev. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

FORT LEWIS, Wash. (AP) _ Before cheering troops, President Bush got a strong endorsement on Iraq and a boost for his re-election campaign Friday from Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican courted by Democrat John Kerry to be his running mate. Bush seemed to relish keeping McCain, his one-time rival for the presidency, out of Kerry's corner.

Kerry Says He Would Raise Minimum Wage

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., left, applauds with U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick at a reception in Detroit on Thursday, June 17, 2004. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) _ Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Friday proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $7 an hour by 2007, arguing that such an increase could boost the wages of more than 15 million Americans. Focusing on an issue that resonates with core Democratic voters, Kerry stressed the need to increase the minimum wage and dismissed Republican concerns that a hike would hamper small businesses.

Experts Say 'Dirty Bomb' Attack Likely

Terrorists are "all but certain" to set off a radiological weapon in the United States, since it will take authorities too many years to track and secure the radioactive materials of such "dirty bombs," a team of nuclear researchers has concluded. The U.S. and other key governments took an important step on controls this month, agreeing at the G-8 summit to tighten _ by the end of 2005 _ restraints on international trade in highly radioactive materials.

Clinton Book Says Lewinksy Affair 'Dark'

The cover of former President Bill Clinton's book "My Life," is shown in this May 2004 publicity photo. Clinton's book comes out Tuesday, June 22, 2004. It has a first printing of 1.5 million, although pre-orders exceed 2 million. (AP Photo/Knopf)

NEW YORK (AP) _ Bill Clinton says in his new book that his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky revealed "the darkest part of my inner life" and led to his temporary banishment from the White House bedroom to a nearby couch. In "My Life," a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, the former president wrote that when he finally confessed to Hillary Rodham Clinton after months of public denials, she looked as if she had been punched in the gut. The couple started going to counseling one day a week for about a year, he said.

Moore Film Title Angers Author Bradbury

Director Michael Moore smiles during an interview in Toronto, Canada, Friday June 18, 2004. Moore was in Toronto promoting his new film 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' (AP PHOTO/CP, Aaron Harris)

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Ray Bradbury is demanding an apology from filmmaker Michael Moore for lifting the title from his classic science-fiction novel "Fahrenheit 451" without permission and wants the new documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" to be renamed. "He didn't ask my permission," Bradbury, 83, told The Associated Press on Friday. "That's not his novel, that's not his title, so he shouldn't have done it."

Montgomery Ridicules USADA Drug Charges

Saying he will fight for the chance "to fulfill his dreams and participate in the 2004 Olympics," 100-meter world record holder Tim Montgomery told the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that he has done nothing wrong and ridiculed alleged USADA evidence against him. Montgomery, one of four U.S. athletes formally notified on June 7 that the USADA is pursuing possible drug charges against them, issued the response Friday to the anti-doping agency.

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