New bin Laden video due

New bin Laden video due

CAIRO, Egypt — Osama bin Laden will release a new video in the coming days ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in what would be the first new images of the terror mastermind in nearly three years, al-Qaida’s media arm announced Thursday. The White House said any new video from bin Laden would serve to highlight threats the West faces. Analysts noted that al-Qaida tends to mark the Sept. 11 anniversary with a slew of messages, and the Department of Homeland Security said it had no credible information warning of an imminent threat to the United States. The al-Qaida leader has not appeared in new video footage since October 2004, and he has not put out a new audiotape in more than a year, his longest period without a message. The announcement had a still photo from the coming video, showing bin Laden addressing the camera, his beard fully black.

Boycotts aim to force
departure of Musharraf

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Lawyers boycotted courts across Pakistan on Thursday in a renewed campaign to force President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to step down, as pressure mounted ahead of the planned return of the civilian leader he ousted in a coup eight years ago. The party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to trample any government attempt to block supporters from greeting him when he returns to Pakistan, which is expected Monday.

Missed on terror list

WASHINGTON — The FBI failed to put as many as 20 suspected terrorists on watch lists tailored to alert border agents and immigration officials because of a technology glitch, a Justice Department audit concluded Thursday. It was not immediately clear whether any of the suspects entered the United States as a result of the security lapse. Responding, the director of the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center acknowledged the gap, but said it soon will be fixed. The audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine gave the FBI mixed reviews for its efforts over the last two years to clean up its terror watch list database.

Nagin won’t run in La.

BATON ROUGE, La. — Keeping speculation alive until the very end, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin opted not to join the Louisiana governor’s race Thursday — a decision that became clear only when the qualifying deadline passed. Many in Nagin’s city were surprised he was even considering a run, with more than 21⁄2 years left in his second term, a painfully slow hurricane recovery effort in the city and a gubernatorial candidate — U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal — who has held a commanding lead in polls.

Corruption arrests in N.J.

TRENTON, N.J. — FBI agents arrested 11 public officials in towns across New Jersey Thursday on charges of taking bribes in exchange for influencing the awarding of public contracts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Two of those arrested are state lawmakers, two are mayors, three are city councilmen, and several served on the school board in Pleasantville, where the scandal began. All 11, plus a private individual, are accused of taking cash payments of $1,500 to $17,500 to influence who received public contracts, according to criminal complaints.