Washington: Guantanamo questioning yet to yield senior al-Qaida

Despite intense interrogations and investigations, U.S. authorities have yet to identify any senior al-Qaida leaders among the nearly 600 terror suspects from 43 countries in U.S. military custody at Guantanamo Bay, officials say.

Although some of the information has been helpful, officials said, the interrogations at the high-security prison camp have not provided the kind of details needed to identify new al-Qaida cells or to detect specific terrorist plots.

“It’s not roll-up plots, knock-your-socks-off kind of stuff,” said a U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said the 598 inmates were mostly “low and middle level” fighters and supporters.

Virginia: Search ends in hunt for missing 9-year-old

Volunteers combing the Bassett area’s rolling hills for signs of a missing 9-year-old girl whose parents were found shot to death found no evidence and ended their search Saturday, officials said.

Two days of scouring the rural area near the family’s home on foot, all-terrain vehicles and in cars found no traces of Jennifer Short, said Richard Cox, head of the Old Dominion Search and Rescue team.

“Frankly, we need to keep looking,” a weary Cox said Saturday. “But realistically and logically, putting all the evidence together over the past couple days, we don’t have a direction to look in.”

Police believe Jennifer Short was abducted early Thursday when her parents, Michael and Mary Short, were each shot once in the head.

Washington: Spread of cruise missiles worries defense secretary

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has sent the White House a classified memo warning of the spread of cruise missiles among hostile nations and urging an intensified effort to defend against them.

The memo, delivered last month, reflects heightened concern by Rumsfeld and senior aides about the ready availability around the world of cruise missile technology and the continued vulnerability of U.S. troops and population centers to attack by the low-flying, hard-to-detect weapons, according to officials familiar with the memo.

The Bush administration has made development of anti-missile systems a top priority. But its focus has been on defending against longer-range ballistic missiles rather than cruise missiles.

Los Angeles: Twin in stable condition after followup surgery

The conjoined twins separated in a 22-hour operation were both in serious but stable condition Saturday, a day after one of the girls underwent follow-up surgery for an infection.

Maria Teresa Quiej Alvarez, who underwent more than three hours of surgery Friday, was breathing with the help of a ventilator and remained under moderate sedation, according to a statement from UCLA’s Mattel Children’s Hospital.

Her sister, Maria de Jesus, also was listed in serious but stable condition. She continues to be alert and active.