War on Terror latest

There have been several developments in the War on Terror this week. Waseem Mughal, of Chatham, Kent, Younis Tsouli, from west London, and Tariq Al-Daour, also from west London, appeared at Bow Street magistrates court on Friday charged with 18 terror related offences. Some of the offences related to possession of videos showing the use of a “Martyrdom Operations vest” and information on how to make car bombs. All three were remanded for 2 weeks and taken to Belmarsh high security prison. In the US, 5 soldiers have been charged with abuse of detainees in Iraq [CNN] . Meanwhile George W. Bush has said that the US do not torture their prisoners. Speaking in South America he said, "There's an enemy that lurks and plots and plans and wants to hurt America again…So you bet we will aggressively pursue them but we will do so under the law." But, he added, "We do not torture."[CNN]
In the UK, the Blair government suffered further set-backs in their ‘anti-terror’ bill [BBC].
In Australia authorities have claimed to have foiled a major terrorist attack. Fifteen people were arrested in raids in Melbourne and Sydney. And Australia's parliament rushed through urgent amendments to anti-terrorism laws last Thursday to allow police to charge people in the early stages of planning an attack [Reuters]. Meanwhile Iraq continues to be hit by bombs and attacks on both civilians and military personnel. The US forces have also been involved in heavy battles with insurgents in the west of the country near the town of Husayba [BBC].
And what of America’s most wanted Usama bin Laden. He was last seen on a videotaped message to Americans on Oct. 29, 2004, saying the United States could avoid another Sept. 11 attack if it stopped threatening the security of Muslims. President Bush rarely mentions bin Laden, who has eluded U.S. capture despite being the most-sought terrorist in the world. Bush did mention him by name in a series of speeches which focused on the war in terror last month.
Half of Americans think it's likely that the United States will capture or kill bin Laden, a number that has moved little over the last three years, according to a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll.
[23:00 GMT 07/11/2005]