Washington, D.C.

FBI: Al-Qaida still poses key terror threat to U.S.

Al-Qaida is weakened and scattered but remains the top threat to commit terrorist attacks in the United States, the FBI says in a first-of-its-kind national assessment for Congress.

The study also says there are other Muslim extremist groups engaged in a “jihad,” or holy war, against the United States and other Western countries. Some of them provide “varying degrees of support” to al-Qaida, according to the report, which a government official described Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

The FBI assessment comes amid heightened concern about potential terrorist attacks timed to coincide with the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage Muslims make to Mecca. The three-day holy period begins Sunday.

Washington, D.C.

Suicide attempts reported at Guantanamo Bay

Four prisoners have tried to kill themselves in the past three weeks at the Pentagon’s Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorist suspects, officials said Wednesday.

Including the 10 attempts in all of 2002, the recent cases brought the total to 14 since the high-security prison was built on a U.S. Naval base a year ago to house men captured in the fight against terrorism.

American military health teams in Cuba “are paying particularly close attention to it,” Pentagon spokeswoman Navy Lt. Cmdr. Barbara Burfeind said.

Washington, D.C.

New anti-nerve gas drug approved for military

The Food and Drug Administration approved a drug Wednesday intended to increase the chance of survival for people exposed to the nerve gas soman. The drug is limited to use by U.S. military personnel.

The agency said it had approved use of pyridostigmine bromide, of PB, under a special rule that allows use of animal data for proof of a drug’s effectiveness when the drug can’t be ethically or feasibly tested in humans.

“Today’s action will help protect American troops and others from nerve agent attacks,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Mark B. McClellan.

PB pills used experimentally during the Gulf War were blamed by some troops for illnesses suffered after they returned home, but a study by the Rand research group concluded that the drug “cannot be excluded as a contributor to illness.”

Washington, D.C.

Senate committee approves nuclear arms treaty

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved a nuclear arms treaty in which the United States and Russia agree to substantially reduce their long-range nuclear arsenals over the next decade.

The committee chairman, Sen. Richard Lugar, a longtime arms reduction advocate, said the measure would go to the full Senate in the next few weeks.

The Moscow Treaty that President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin worked out in May 2002 reduces the two countries’ stockpile of strategic nuclear weapons to 1,700 to 2,200 deployed warheads each over the next decade.