The Army soldiers captured a rebel bunker line during the fight in a swathe of landlocked eastern jungle called Thoppigala, where Tiger fighters are still entrenched after the fall of their eastern stronghold. Around 150 Tiger fighters remained in the Thoppigala area. Sri Lankan Navy on the other hand destroyed five Tiger vessels after being attacked by two dozen rebel boats off Sri Lanka’s far northern tip.

The land battle and clash at sea off Point Pedro in the northern army-held Jaffna peninsula, cut off from the rest of the island by rebel lines, come amid a rash of battles on land and at sea as well as ambushes and air strikes.

Fighting is now focused on the north after the military captured the Tigers’ eastern stronghold earlier this year. Around 4,500 people have been killed since last year alone. There has been a series of land and sea battles in recent months as Sri Lanka’s long-running civil war flared into heavy action again.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), fighting for an independent state in the island’s north and east and widely listed as a banned terrorist group, accused the navy of starting the sea battle. They said just two of their own fighters died in the confrontation. The government is forging ahead with a plan to resettle tens of thousands of internally displaced from dusty camps in the east to areas southeast of Thoppigala, from where the distant sound of artillery and mortar bomb explosions can be heard.

Aid groups and displaced families alike have voiced concern about the safety of those being resettled.

The papers, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, were made public by Judicial Watch, a Washington-based group that investigates government corruption.

One FBI document referred to a Ryan Air 727 airplane that departed Los Angeles International Airport on September 19 2001, which was said to have carried Saudi nationals out of the US. The plane was chartered either by the Saudi Arabian royal family or Osama bin Laden – according to the document.

The flight made stops in Orlando, Florida; Washington, DC; and Boston, Massachusetts and eventually left its passengers in Paris the following day. In all, the documents detail six flights between September 14 and September 24 that evacuated Saudi nationals and bin Laden family members, Judicial Watch said.

The suspects were seized in the northwestern province of Bursa. More than 60 people were killed in a series of attacks claimed by a cell of al-Qaeda in Istanbul in November 2003 and since then operations against militants have been common. The British Consulate, two synagogues and HSBC bank in Istanbul were targeted.

Tensions are running high in Turkey which holds a parliamentary election next month as separatist Kurdish militants have stepped up attacks in the mainly Kurdish southeast. Authorities also blamed a deadly attack in Ankara last month on Kurdish militants.

Travel to areas of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Jolo, where anti-government groups are active, is strongly discouraged due to ongoing military and police operations against the rebels.

The warning was issued by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in the travel advisory. Theban was imposed because, terrorist groups continue to plan attacks and have the capacity and the intent to carry out these attacks at any time and anywhere in the Philippines.

It added that attacks could be indiscriminate and against civilian targets in public places including those frequented by foreigners. British travelers were also advised to be aware of the risk of terrorist attacks to road, rail, sea and air transport in the Philippines. Terrorists and criminal elements plan to kidnap foreign tourists from islands and coastal areas in the southern Philippines, it added.

The 57-year-old Italian missionary, Giancarlo Bossi, was seized by armed men on June 10 in Zamboanga, southern Mindanao. His kidnappers are reportedly demanding ransom in exchange for his release. The bomb explosion on a bus at Bansalan, Davao del Sur province in the same region, killed eight people and injured 18 others on 15 June 2007.

The main target of the strike was Fazul Abdullah Mohammad, a suspect of the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 240 people. The United States earlier (January 2007) launched air strikes in Somalia targeting three top Al Qaeda suspects but killed their allies instead. Those suspects also were wanted for the embassy bombings. The US military reportedly had actionable intelligence to strike.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who is also known as Harun Fazul had also been targeted in December 2006 in air strikes by US AC-130 gunship. He is the leader of the East Africa cell of al-Qaida.

Apart then the Kenya and Tanzania bombing, Fazul Abdullah is also believed to be responsible for the 2002 attack on an Israeli owned hotel in Mobassa, Kenya, and an attempted shoot down of an Israel charter airliner during that time. He is on the FBI's most wanted list and one of the most "effective al-Qaida operatives left in the world" with $5 million reward tag. The recent attack targeted a mountainous area around the village of Bargal in the northern province of Bari, in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland. Right after the US strike, gunfight between local soldiers and Al Qaeda broke in, resulting in militants to flee to nearby hills.

The US destroyer named ‘USS Chafee’ fired 20 five-inch rounds at the targets. Reports on casualties are yet to come. The US authority did not comment directly but mentioned that operations against terror suspects including Al-Qaeda militants often needed to be carried out "quietly". The US is worried about terrorism in Somalia just because Somalia still is a chaotic, poor, battle-weary Muslim country with no central government. An associate of Mohammed confessed to the authorities that he was trained with al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.

In early 2007, during the War in Somalia, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was thought to be in the border area near Ras Kamboni, along with remnants of the Islamic Courts Union. Earlier, one of Mohammed's wives and his children were captured trying to escape to Kenya from Somalia, they were arrested in Kiunga and brought to Nairobi for questioning. The US has made considerable progress in its war against international terrorism, but it still faces contingencies that could complicate its goal of eliminating the scourge of global terrorism.

It is expected that the US will hit again to destroy Fazul Abdullah Mohammad if he had survived the recent attack. The US however needs to realize that struggle against al-Qaeda leaders is more an intelligence battle than a strictly military one.

Switzerland seems to be an unlikely locus for a battle over jihadist Islamism, but according to reports, its Muslim citizens, who make up about 5% of the total population, increasingly look to radical Middle East clerics for spiritual guidance. The country is also home to a controversial professor, Tariq Ramadan, whose visa to come to America was revoked by the State Department. In another sign of the spread of Islam within Europe, last month, Swiss Muslims announced their plan to open " Europe's biggest Islamic center" in the capital city of Bern.

The center is estimated to cover 84 acres and to cost as much as $66 million to build. In the past few years, it has become clear that al-Qaida often used untrained individuals to carry out attacks in Western Europe at unexpected times. Apart from its geographical location, individual supporters of Jihad see Switzerland as part of a plot against Islam. According to police information, there are active Islamic fundamentalists in Switzerland, among them extremists ready to use violence. The police also added that other crises and conflicts are also having a direct influence on Switzerland.

This included the tensions in Sri Lanka, Turkey and Kosovo; Switzerland has a large immigrant population from Sri Lanka and Kosovo. Switzerland was also affected by international crime groups, especially mafia-style organisations active in heroin and prostitution, money laundering. Although no terrorist organizational structure has ever been detected in the country, the Swiss government proactively banned participation in such groups providing them physical or material support, organizing propaganda actions on their behalf or on behalf of their goals, requiring adherents or promoting their activities in any other way. Violation carries three years’ imprisonment or a fine.

Additionally, the organization’s assets will be confiscated. To accomplish its goals in preventing terror threats, Switzerland passed a law instituting measures for the maintenance of internal security and requiring law enforcement authorities to adopt preventative measures to combat terrorism. In adherence to this new law, the Federal Police Office established a Division of Analysis and Prevention. This division has the responsibility for assessing possible terrorist threats. The government also motivated the Swiss Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Police Office to set up the Task Force Terror USA to enhance the effectiveness of cooperation with foreign authorities.

This task force serves as the center for coordinating Swiss terrorist investigations, defining missions of inquiry, evaluating reports, setting priorities, and establishing contact and cooperation with foreign law enforcement agencies. Additionally, the International Judicial Cooperation Division, within the Federal Justice Office, is responsible for dealing with request for judicial cooperation and extradition.

The charges against the 19 Lebanese and one Syrian, all in custody, carried the death penalty and were linked to fighting around the Nahr al-Bared camp that has killed 79 people of whom 34 were soldiers, 27 militants and 18 were civilians.

The current unrest is centered around the Nahr al-Bared camp on the shores of the Mediterranean in northern Lebanon where soldiers have being laying seige to the Al-Qaeda inspired Sunni Muslim extremist group Fatah al-Islam.

The Lebanese authorities blame the group for starting the conflict by attacking Army positions near the northern city of Tripoli on May 20, 2007. In all, 108 people have been killed in 17 days of bloodshed since than, the deadliest internal feuding since the 1975-1990 civil wars that has added to tensions in a country already in the grip of an acute political crisis. Members of Lebanon's anti-Syrian cabinet described Fatah al-Islam as a tool of Syrian intelligence, although Damascus denies any links to the group.

Lebanese authorities say Fatah al-Islam includes Arabs from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria and Lebanon. The Lebanese government has demanded the militants to surrender. Fatah al-Islam says, it has been acting in self defence and rejected the demand to hand over any of its fighters. The prospect of a decisive military solution to the stand-off has been played down by the government in recent days because it could trigger violence at other refugee camps, even though Fatah al-Islam has little support among Palestinians.

In recent development, on 4th May, Islamic militants from a group called Jund al-Sham, who support the extremist Fatah Islam fighters in the northern camp, fired rocket-propelled grenades at the Lebanese army on the edge of Ein el-Hilweh, prompting the Army to return fire. More than 25,000 of the camp's 40,000 Palestinians have already fled to avoid the fighting. Most of the displaced refugees have flooded the nearby Beddawi camp, where humanitarian organisations have been carrying out relief work.

More food supplies, medicine and water were sent to Nahr al-Bared, whose remaining inhabitants have no electricity or running water. The Army is playing from a back sit as the ‘1969 Arab agreement’ stops any of its soldiers from entering 12 Palestinian refugee camps, home to 400,000 people.

The Lebanese government gave Palestinian leaders in Lebanon a chance to find a way out of the stand-off, as it is concerned that the refugees will see more Army action at the camp as an attack on their community.

This warning covers all sea traffic to avoid the Horn of Africa. IMB Director Captain Pottengal Mukundan said in a statement that the dangers in this region are very genuine as several reports have detailed attacks involving machine guns and rocket- propelled grenades. Mr Pottengal Mukundan said, “We recommend that all vessels travelling in the area do so with caution and unless vessels are calling into Somali ports, that a 200 NM minimum distance be kept from the Somali coastline.”

Situation in the Somali water is quite bad. Pirate attacks in Somali waters have mushroomed since the Islamist movement that brought a semblance of ‘law and order’ in January 2007. The pirates are using a mysterious "mother ship" to reach their targets far out at sea, and then board them using smaller speedboats.

A number of recent attacks reveal the severity of the condition. Hijackers seized a Danish cargo ship and its five Danish crew in the latest case of piracy plaguing waters. The Donica White was carrying building materials from Dubai to Kenya's Mombasa port when gunmen boarded it. A general purpose 23,618 DWT vessel, was chased for nearly an hour by pirates using machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The vessel managed to escape, but not without having the accommodation block destroyed by fire from the grenade attack. The vessel was making its way from Durban to UAE when attacked at approximately 180 NM in the Indian Ocean.

A second attack took place at a similar distance from the Somali coast. This incident saw a group of gunmen in speedboats run down and seize two South Korean flagged fishing vessels. The pirates took 30 people hostage. A third fishing vessel managed to outmaneuver the militiamen and continue on its voyage from Yemen to Kenya. These most recent attacks come in the wake of the hijackings on MVs Rozen and Mariam Queen.

The UN-chartered Rozen was boarded in February 2007 and held, along with crewmembers, for 34 days after being attacked off the North East coast of Somalia. Mariam Queen was hijacked less than two weeks before these most recent attacks when armed men boarded the general cargo ship and took it to Hobiyo anchorage. The Mariam Queen was released by the hijackers on 27 May 2007. This spike in piracy activity surprisingly is opposite to 2005-2006 IMB statistics which showed a decline in acts of piracy in the region. From 35 attacks in 2005, in 2006 the number of reported attacks in Somali waters decreased to just 10, this includes five actual hijackings of vessels and five attempted attacks.

In 2007 there have already been nine confirmed attacks on vessels off the Somali coast, six of which have included hijackings. Somali government should immediately exert firm control over militias operating in this area to bring stability off the coast. If this is not done, the ongoing violent piracy will continue to rise and seafarers will remain at risk as they pass through one of the main sea routes along the east coast of Africa.

More than two thirds of Nahr al-Bared's 31,000 residents have been displaced by the fighting, as relief agencies struggle to deliver aid to the displaced and residents still trapped inside. The Beirut government, pushing for a peaceful end to the standoff, has insisted the group to handover fighters to stand trial over attacks against the Army during the internal fighting in the 1975-1990 civil wars; but Fatah al-Islam is obdurate that none of its fighters will surrender.

In all, 86 people have died in the fighting that started on 20 May 2007. The situation at the camp relatively calmed after a week but remains very unstable, as the extremists keep firing on the Army which responds forcefully. Lebanon is home to more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees, according to UNRWA statistics.

Many of them fled or left their homes when Israel was created in 1948. The camp was established by the League of Red Cross Societies in 1949 to accommodate Palestinian refugees from the Lake Huleh area. The UNRWA started providing services for the refugees in 1950.

Most of the displaced refugees have flooded in to Badawi camp, where humanitarian organisations are carrying out relief work. More food supplies, medicine and water were sent to Nahr al-Bared, where inhabitants have no electricity or running water. Fatah Al-Islam, a splinter group from Fatah Al-Intifada, which itself split from the Palestinian Fatah movement in the early 1980s, has vowed to fight. "Our fighters are ready to fight until the last drop of blood," a spokesman for Fatah Al-Islam told. Members of Lebanon's anti-Syrian cabinet have described Fatah al-Islam as a tool of Syrian intelligence, although Damascus denies any links to the group. Lebanese authorities say Fatah al-Islam includes Arabs from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria and Lebanon.

The clashes broke out on 20 May after the Lebanese soldiers attempted to arrest suspects in a bank robbery in Tripoli. The arrest raid escalated when Fatah Al-Islam fighters then attacked Lebanese army posts at the entrance to Nahr Al-Bared camp. This incident is Lebanon's bloodiest internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil wars.

The Lebanese army is reported to have pledged to "finish off" the radical Fatah Al-Islam group. Militants from the radical group Fatah Al-Islam responded with gun and mortar fire. The prospect of a decisive military solution to the stand-off has been played down by the government in recent days because it could trigger violence at other refugee camps, even though Fatah al-Islam has little support among Palestinians. The situation is quite complicated and therefore requires more discussions in order to close the gap between the points of views of the two sides.

The inland part of Rivers state consists of tropical rainforest; towards the coast the typical river delta environment features many mangrove swamps. Rivers state was part of the Oil Rivers Protectorate from 1885 till 1893, when it became part of the Niger Coast Protectorate. In 1900 the region was merged with the chartered territories of the Royal Niger Company to form the colony of Southern Nigeria.

The state was formed in 1967 with the split of the Eastern Region of Nigeria. It gained Ughelli from Bendel State, and Opobo from the Cross-River State in 1976. Until 1996 the state contained the area which is now in the Bayelsa State. In Rivers, gang leaders angry at politicians over what they consider insufficient payment for their role in intimidating opponents during April 2007’s state elections had planned to disrupt the inauguration of the new state governor by any means. Rival militiamen also in the pay of politicians, ambushed the gunmen near the riverine community of Tombia and attacked them with automatic weapons. Heavy fighting in the morning time on 29 May left 15 of them killed.

The fighting occurred in the area of the Cawthorne Channel, where there are pipelines and oil-producing facilities that have been attacked and shut down several times since violence in the delta intensified 18 months ago. The police of Rivers said they heard reports of violence in the Tombia area but was unable to confirm any details as the area was not accessible by road and his men had been busy all day providing security for the inauguration. The crisis in these wetlands is rooted in communities' anger over decades of overlook by state governments that were enriched by petrodollars flowing from the delta region. Most villages have no electricity, no clean water, no roads and no access to schools.

Militant groups now demand control over oil revenues and compensation from oil companies for pollution, but behind the fiery rhetoric, much of the violence is motivated only for and by money. Local and national Politicians pay unemployed youths to intimidate voters, smugglers make hefty profits from a dangerous trade in stolen crude while criminals frequently kidnap foreign workers for ransom; different armed groups currently holds about 24 foreigners across the region. On a nutshell, only the innocent civilians leaving in the area are suffering as rival militant groups fight for greater dominance.