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Gunmen Stage Deadly Attack on U.S. Embassy in Syria; Pakistan's Madrassas; Ramadi; U.S. Fighting Major al Qaeda Stronghold

Aired September 12, 2006 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Foiled attack. Syrian forces thwart gunmen trying to storm the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. Their suspicion, an offshoot of al Qaeda may be responsible.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Battling al Qaeda on Iraq's front lines. U.S. troops encounter fierce resistance in Ramadi.

GORANI: Terrorists in training? Tracing the roots of militant extremism in Pakistan.

CLANCY: Plus, battling the scourge of AIDS with controversial methods. South Africa comes under fire for promoting homegrown remedies over Western medicine.

Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe.

I'm Jim Clancy.

GORANI: And I'm Hala Gorani.

From Damascus to Johannesburg, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Well, investigators are hunting for clues and the world is asking questions as well after gunmen tried to storm the U.S. Embassy in Syria.

CLANCY: The U.S. is skeptical of claims the attackers have links to al Qaeda. Washington wants more information.

GORANI: Now, the attack comes just hours after U.S. President Bush vows to battle terrorism until the very end, calling it a battle for civilization.

But we begin in Syria, where several suspects have been killed after attacking the U.S. Embassy.

Anthony Mills is in neighboring Lebanon and joins us now with the latest.

What do we know about this group claiming responsibility, Jund al-Sham?

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very murky, Hala. We do know one thing, and that is that for the last year and a half the Syrian security services have reported sporadic clashes with what they have called Islamic fundamentalists in Syria.

The latest was back in June, a few months ago. They said they thwarted an attack and that involved some shooting close to the Syrian Ministry of Information, and a number of deaths.

But as to the Jund al-Sham group, it's really not entirely clear, A, what that group really is, who is in it, if it even is actually a fixed group, and, B, whether or not it was involved in today's attack. It's just very murky at this stage -- Hala.

GORANI: Let's listen to what the U.S. secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, had to say about Syria's response today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: At this point in time, it appears, first of all, that Americans are safe and secure and accounted for, and that's very good news. Secondly, I want very much to give condolences to those who lost their lives defending the embassy. And among them, apparently Syrian security personnel.

I do think that the Syrians reacted to this attack in a -- in a way that helped to secure our people. And we very much appreciate that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: A bit of a change in tone there from the U.S. regarding Syria and its response and what happened in the Syrian capital this day.

Should we read anything into this, Anthony?

MILLS: Well, Hala, I think at this stage, as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, they are waiting for more information. It's too early to really point the finger. Too early to say who exactly did this. And on the face of it, at least, what we do know is that this attack could have been a lot worse.

One of those vehicles was apparently packed with propane gas cylinders prime to explode. And if they had indeed exploded, we understand that would have caused massive damage. So, on a purely reaction level after this attack, I think there is happiness, if you will, that this attack did not claim more lives, did not go entirely as was apparently planned -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. Anthony Mills with the latest there on what happened this day in Damascus.

Thank you very much.

And questions surrounding who that group is and whether that group really exists in any kind of form in Syria -- in any kind of active form.

CLANCY: And like the U.S. says, they are going to wait for more on the investigation.

Well, back in the United States, President Bush coming under fire from Democrats for politicizing, they say, the national day of mourning that was 9/11.

GORANI: They say his September 11th speech was aimed not at uniting the country but at seeking support for the war in Iraq.

CLANCY: Now, speaking on national television on Monday, Mr. Bush tried again to defend his decision to go to war in Iraq by tying it to the war on terror.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone. They will not leave us alone. They will follow us. The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: By focusing on Iraq in the manner he did, the president engaged in an all-too-familiar administration tactic, a Bush administration tactic.: conflate and blur the war in Iraq with response to 9/11. Despite definitive and repeated findings that there are no ties between Iraq and al Qaeda, a finding most recently echoed by the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee, the president continued to deliberately lump and blur al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, Iraq and 9/11 together. This is a political move.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, the White House spokesman today defended the president's speech, saying that while some comments might be considered controversial, the president was not trying to be partisan -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, seemingly forgotten in the maelstrom that is the war in Iraq today, another conflict far away -- Afghanistan. It has seen -- it has undergone, really, a complete change in the specter of fighting there.

Coalition and Afghan forces have been battling resurgent Taliban fighters across the beleaguered nation. Now, these pictures are of U.S. soldiers firing mortars at the Taliban in the mountainous Kunar Province along the Pakistan border. Afghan forces also say they have killed 12 suspected Taliban militants in a shootout in Ghazni Province. That is south of the capital, Kabul.

GORANI: Well, we heard from the U.S. secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, there on Syria today. She also spoke about how America is paying a price for its inaction in the past. She says that after the Soviets were repelled in Afghanistan in the early 1980s, the Taliban filled that vacuum as the U.S. stood by. While in Canada for talks, Rice acknowledged the difficult situation in Afghanistan, but she says she remains optimistic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: When you go to Afghanistan, you see that they don't have much to work with. It's a difficult place and difficult terrain. But they are a spirited people. And they are a determined people. And even if they have determined enemies, if they have determined friends, too, they will succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, says his country is not aiding and abetting the Taliban as it has been accused. Mr. Musharraf staunchly defended Pakistan's record of fighting terrorism and the Taliban during a meeting with European leaders in Brussels.

He says Pakistan is not an intolerant extremist country the way it is often portrayed by the Western media. He also expressed concern about the Taliban resurgence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTANI PRESIDENT: The central gravity of terrorism has shifted from al Qaeda to Taliban. This is a new element which has emerged, a more dangerous element because it has roots in the people. Al Qaeda did not have roots in the people. The Taliban are more organized. They have roots in the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Musharraf blamed the West, saying that in its battle against the Soviet Union, the West brought in mujahideen, Islamic fighters from all around the world, and they provided the foundation for terror that so concerns the world today -- Hala.

GORANI: Well, yes, the issue of terrorism concerns the world, and some are concerned that Pakistan is a potential hotbed for future terrorists and that its religious schools, some of them, at least -- they're called madrassas -- are incubators of hate.

Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's late, 10:00 at night. We're uncertain about what we're witnessing. Are these devoted and peace-loving students of Islam? Or is it a school where students gravitate to terrorism?

We are in Lahore, Pakistan. Dozens of children, some only five, are painstakingly memorizing every word of the Koran, every word. It can take years. (on camera): These children begin their studies at about 6:00 o'clock in the morning. They get a break for breakfast around 8:00 a.m. Then they go back to their books. They get a break for lunch, then studying again all afternoon. A long break in the early evening, and then back to their books again.

(voice-over): But is this about love, love of Islam or hate, hate for the U.S. and the West?

(on camera): Extremists could try to recruit young men from here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My students never do bomb blasts.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): School like this are called madrassas. There are 15,000 in Pakistan.

This man, Mullah Abdul Rashid Ghazi, runs some of the largest anywhere. He says he met Osama bin Laden and describes himself as being ideologically close to the world's most wanted terrorist. In fact, he says jihad, war with oneself and one's enemies, a holy war, is part of the Koran, so he must teach it.

ABDUL RASHID GHAZI, PAKISTANI MULLAH: We have been asked by the government many times that you should stop teaching the jihad. So we tell them that we can't stop it because we cannot make any amendment in Islam. ROBERTSON: In the 1980s the madrassas launched graduates of holy war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. In the 1990s madrassas produced leaders and soldiers for the Taliban. And since 9/11, they have incubated a growing hatred for the West, declaring the war on terror a campaign against all Muslims.

GHAZI: If you talk about Afghanistan, yes, we say that American army can be attacked in Afghanistan and in Iraq, American army, because they are aggressive.

ROBERTSON: This young man took four years to memorize the Koran. For him, it was especially difficult. He doesn't understand a word of it because he doesn't speak Arabic, but he does understand the promised rewards.

JABER ISMAIL, AMERICAN MADRASSA STUDENT: If a person that memorizes the Koran, you know, he can take six people to heaven like this.

ROBERTSON: Jaber Ismail is American. Five years ago, two months after 9/11, he and his parents moved here from California to get a religious education. And now, he may never get to go back to U.S. Twice he has tried to go home, but he says the U.S. is keeping him out, and says U.S. officials suspect he has been in a terrorist training camp here.

His cousin has already been convicted by a U.S. court.

ISMAIL: I don't think they believe me, you know. ROBERTSON: Why not?

ISMAIL: Because they said I have to do a lie detector test and I was thinking like, you know, I was born in the United States. Why do I have to take a lie detector test to enter my own country.

ROBERTSON (on camera): As we're leaving his village, I must admit to being a little bit confused. Is it as simple as Jaber Ismail says, that he came here to study the Koran, didn't get tempted into terror training? It is very, very hard to discern fact from fiction.

(voice-over): After all, last summer the investigations of the London subway and bus bombings found some of to bombers had visited Pakistan shortly before the attack. Pakistan and the madrassas were implicated. And Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf tried to crack down on the madrassas, but many defied him.

GHAZI: We are against Musharraf. I mean, we say that he is a dictator. He is an agent. He's an agent of the United States.

ROBERTSON: And yet, despite growing Western suspicions that madrassas turn young innocence into easy converts for terrorism, madrassas have never been more popular. Mullah Ghazi says anger at the U.S. and the West is great for his schools.

GHAZI: Forty percent increase in the number of students and the number of people who are donating.

ROBERTSON: That is why we are not sure what we saw in the class this day. Devoted and focused students who love the Koran and Islam or if the day's lessons focus on the jihad chapter. Were we seeing the groundwork of recruitment for the next generation of holy warriors angry at the U.S.?

Nic Robertson, CNN, Lahore, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Well, coming up, South Africa's disputed AIDS policy sparking outrage among victims and medical experts.

GORANI: Just ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, 1,000 people die of AIDS every week in South Africa. So why is the government promoting vegetables over anti-retroviral drugs as treatment?

CLANCY: Also, Iraq accepting help from a former enemy, Iran? We're going to go live to Baghdad for details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Al Qaeda and other extremists from across the world have come to Iraq to stop the rise of a free society in the heart of the Middle East. They have joined the remnants of Saddam's regime and other armed groups to foment sectarian violence and drive us out. Our enemies in Iraq are tough and they are committed, but so are Iraqi and coalition forces. We are adapting to stay ahead of the enemy, and we are carrying out a clear plan to ensure that a democratic Iraq succeeds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Welcome back. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY, where we bring CNN's viewers around the globe an international perspective on the news.

Well, the U.S. president, you saw it there, talking about the war in Iraq once again. He says the U.S. cannot leave the country to the likes of al Qaeda.

Well, Iraq one of the few places in the world where U.S. soldiers face off directly against fighters carrying the al Qaeda banner. It's in the city of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Sunni-dominated Al Anbar province.

Michael Ware has been embedded there with U.S. troops. He joins us now from Baghdad.

Michael, no one more than the military men that you have been with over this embed support the president and his views. Do they feel as though the administration, the Defense Department is supporting them in their fight?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, obviously this is a very sensitive issue for commanders in the field to discuss. And I've been going out to Ramadi since 2003, so I've watched this evolution and I've seen many different deployments of U.S. commanders sent to Ramadi, all faced with the same problem.

I mean, the extraordinary thing is that President Bush put Iraq front and center in the war on terror in his speeches. He even specifically referred to Anbar Province and Ramadi itself as al Qaeda's toe hole from where it wants to build its caliphate. All of which is true. But as U.S. military intelligence and U.S. commanders in the field will privately concede, the fact is that this is a gaping black hole in the war on terror.

This is Al Qaeda in Iraq's central command node. It's the best place for it to have its leadership. Zarqawi hid there. His replacement moves through there. It's where they can plan, where they can rest. It's where they can be relatively understood.

Yet, there's simply not enough troops to go in there. They are hoping to disrupt al Qaeda. They don't even have a plan to decimate or displace al Qaeda.

The word they use is "neutralize." That's the commander's mission.

The U.S. commanders use the term "economy of force." That's a military application that talks about using the troops and the forces that you have to do a mission that's greater than your resources. So they have to make tough choices.

So the bottom line is, the gaping hole is that here's an al Qaeda headquarters in the center of what they hope to be the caliphate. There's simply not enough troops to do anything about it -- Jim.

CLANCY: On another front, we're talking about the Sunni- dominated al Qaeda, the Sunni forces there in Ramadi. There are also grave concerns about growing power among Shia Muslim militias often facing off in a sectarian conflict with their Sunni rivals. But today you have Prime Minister al-Maliki in Iran talking about non- interference.

What does all of this mean?

WARE: Look, this is the other great story of Iraq, Jim. I mean, there's two enormous dynamics under play.

One is the war with al Qaeda. But the other one, the greater one, even, is the competition between the United States and Iran for influence here in Iraq. And this is thought out behind the scenes politically and also in the field.

We've heard Ambassador Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, accuse Iran many, many times of providing weapons, arms, training to Shia militias. In fact, there's, I'm told, military intelligence material that shows Iranian support is killing British and American troops.

Iran, however, is playing a very, very savvy game. The government in power is much closer to Tehran than it is to Washington. And what Tehran now is doing is putting America in a lose-lose situation.

It's saying America and Iraq need help to build the Iraqi security forces, to build the intelligence apparatus, and rebuild the country. We're ready to do this. If Iraq cannot do this because America vetoes it, it questions the independence. If Iraq does it, it gives Iran even greater influence -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. There has to be concern in Washington this day as those talks go ahead. We'll wait for the outcome.

Michael Ware, as always, thank you.

GORANI: The Palestinian militant group Hamas says it's willing to back peace moves by the PLO. That could come after a unity government is put in place. There are hopes such a unity government would ease the plight of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

They are very desperate, frankly, after Europe and the U.S. cut off funds to the Hamas-led government. But experts warn Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel won't be papered over easily.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED ABINGTON, CONSULTANT TO PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT ABBAS: President Abbas argues that one of the conditions that Hamas agreed to was to accept the Arab League initiative of 2002, and that that implicitly recognizes Israel. My feeling is that that's not going to be enough for Israel and it's not going to be enough for the Bush administration. They want it in black and white.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Hamas, of course, won a clear victory in the Palestinian territory's first free election back in January. Much to the chagrin of the Bush administration. In the aftermath of September 11th, the U.S. president pushed hard for democracy in the Middle East, but that foreign policy tactic has backfired.

Paula Hancocks has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUSH: For the Palestinian people, the only path to independence and dignity and progress is the path of democracy.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A classic case of be careful what you wish for. George Bush wanted democracy, and that's what he got on January 25th, 2006.

The radical Islamic group Hamas won democratic parliamentary elections. The Palestinian people democratically elected a party that does not recognize Israel and has carried out many suicide bombings against the Israeli people.

EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We will not negotiate and we will not deal with a Palestinian Authority that will be dominated wholly or partly by a terrorist organization.

HANCOCKS: Since Hamas came to power, the West has withheld millions of dollars in aid and Israel has withheld millions in taxes collected on behalf of the Palestinians. A hundred and sixty-five thousand government employees have not been paid in six months and 39 ministers and legislators are sitting in Israeli jails rather than official meetings, charged with membership of a terrorist organization.

AYMAN DARAGMEH, HAMAS MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (through translator): They promised us they would deal with any government we would form. The one who elected this government was the Palestinian people. The Palestinian people can't form a government according to the will of somebody else, Americans or Europeans.

HANCOCKS: Since Mr. Bush announced his intention to export democracy to the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become, if possible, even more inflamed. Recently degenerating into almost daily violence.

HANAN ASHRAWI, PALESTINIAN LEGISLATOR: We thought after 9/11 five years ago that there would be a greater move towards understanding the realities of the region, towards adopting responsible policies, to understanding that in order to put an end to extremism and ideology and fundamentalism, you have to resolve the issues on which they feed. Instead, we ended up with the simplistic politicization of devils and angels, with us or against us.

HANCOCKS: The death of the former Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat, in November 2004 sparked some hope in the United States of a resumption of peace talks. A process which had been stalled for more than a year.

(on camera): George Bush never met the late president, Yasser Arafat. Arafat was democratically elected to become the president of the Palestinian Authority. But according to Bush, he was no partner for peace.

(voice over): Anti-American sentiment in the Palestinian territories have been steadily increasing for the past five years. The consensus is that the U.S. sees the Middle East through Israeli eyes.

But there is one glimmer of hope. The rival Hamas and Fatah parties agreed in principle to form a coalition government Monday, a tactic which could force Hamas to implicitly recognize Israel and ultimately lead to a lifting of the West's political and economic embargo.

So while the results of the democracy George Bush called for was not to his or Israel's liking, Palestinian politicians hope this compromise will be more palatable.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Ramallah, the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Achievements by astronauts used to be referred to as one small step for man.

GORANI: All right. But in this case, one of them is a woman.

When we return, details on what the co-ed crew accomplished outside the International Space Station.

CLANCY: Also, what happens when someone moves and leaves no forwarding address, and that someone just happens to be one of the world's most wanted men?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. But first, a check on stories making headlines in the United States.

The war on terror and an update on Capitol Hill. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff in front of a Senate committee this morning. On this day after the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, he warned the war on terror is changing changing, but certainly not ending.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We have more we can do. The great challenge I think for the next five years is not keeping at the known terrorists. It's keeping at the unknown terrorists, the unidentified terrorist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Students in Detroit could be back in school by Thursday after an all-night bargaining session. Teachers there have a tentative agreement with Detroit to end a 16-day strike. A spokeswoman for the teacher's union says the contrast could go before the rank and file tomorrow. School was supposed to start the day after Labor Day for some 129,000 students.

New developments in last month's Comair crash in Lexington, Kentucky, when the jet took off from the wrong runway. The Associated Press reports the Comair pilots were using an outdated map of the airport. The Comair spokesman said the airlines just received an updated map on Friday. Flight 5191 took off from the wrong runway, killing 49 of the 50 people aboard. Days after the crash, the route to the runways had been changed due to a paving project.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Voters in nine states and Washington, D.C. are choosing candidates for November elections, and political observers, watching it to see if an anti-incumbent mood prevails. The primary catching the most attention is in Rhode Island. You see it highlighted. Moderate Republican, Senator Lincoln Chafee, faces a tough challenge from conservative Stephen Laffey. The Republican party is backing Senator Chafee, even though he frequently departs from the party line. Polls have show that Laffey would lose to the Democratic opponent in November.

And some live pictures there. Always love to see those. But it's not such a good thing when you lose nuts and bolts in space. That line from one of the astronauts during a space walk today. NASA managers are checking to make sure the equipment that went flying off will not cause problems. Astronauts are hooking up a 17-ton addition to the International Space Station. The work is going faster than expected.

So what's it like pulling double duty in the war on terror? Coming up at the top of the hour in the "NEWSROOM," a soldier who has served on the front lines in both Afghanistan and Iraq. His sense of duty comes with a much-needed sense of humor.

And suddenly in charge. The death of Pittsburgh's mayor thrusts a 26-year-old into the top job. That and more in the "NEWSROOM" at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Meantime, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.

I'm Heidi Collins. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. And these are the stories that are making headlines around the world. Syrian says it suspects a radical fundamentalist group could be behind an attempted attack on the U.S. embassy in Damascus. Syrian forces killed three of the attackers, a fourth was arrested. A security guard was also killed in the violence, the attackers trying to storm the embassy with hand grenades and machine guns after detonating a car bomb near embassy walls.

GORANI: Also in the headlines, U.S. President George Bush is coming under fire for what Democrats say is politicizing a national day of mourning. They say his September 11th speech was aimed at seeking support for the war in Iraq, in spite of it having no ties to the war on terrorism. Mr. Bush said Iraq was a central front in the battle against terror.

CLANCY: The Hamas-led government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has agreed to join a unity government, the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' more moderate Fatah party. Israel, the U.S. and the European Union have said Hamas must recognize Israel's right to exist before sanctions can be lifted. Hamas continues to refuse to recognize Israel, focusing more on the formation of a Palestinian state.

While the U.S. and Syria are at odds on many issues, Washington thanked Damascus for its quick response to the attack on the embassy there.

Joining us on the line now from Rome, Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States.

Mr. Ambassador, thank you very much for being with us. Let me just begin by asking you this. Any more details of this attack that you can give us, or who was behind it?

IMAD MOUSTAPHA, SYRIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: Well, right now investigations are going on. The first few collected information in the case, but this is a radical terrorist extremist group that has some fundamentalist tendencies. But it is very early to judge right now.

However, in the past two years, low-scale terrorist attacks took place in Syria and some of them were related to a fringe group called the Soldiers of the Levant, Jund Al-Sham in Arabic. And probably there might be a relation to this group in this attack. But things will be clarified very soon.

CLANCY: Now, that group, not well known. At the same time, you talk about low level attacks. Some people point to the situation in Syria which has been relatively, if not absolutely, calm in the past. And say there is a worrying increase in these kinds of clashes between your security forces and these militants, whoever they are. MOUSTAPHA: I totally agree with you. Actually, Syria is concerned about the rise of extremism and terrorism in the Middle East, mainly because of the U.S. policies towards the Middle East and the recent events in Lebanon's Palestine and Iraq that have few anti- American sentiments and extremism in the Middle East.

CLANCY: Is there a view, from your government, that these men are a suspicion -- these men may have been trained in Iraq? Is there a concern that people are coming out of Iraq with the kind of training that they need to carry out these kinds of attacks?

MOUSTAPHA: It's too early to talk about the strike now. And you don't need people being exported from elsewhere. Actually, anti- American sentiment are rising across the Arab and Islamic world. And there is a political problem that should be addressed. The United States should take this opportunity to re-evaluate its policies towards the Middle East.

CLANCY: All right. Mr. Ambassador, Ambassador Imad Moustapha, Syria's ambassador to Washington, I want to thank you very much for joining us.

GORANI: Let's get more on the attack on that U.S. embassy in Damascus. We now go to Ted Kattouf, former U.S. ambassador to Syria. Thank you for being with us.

What do you make then of this attack in Damascus today?

TED KATTOUF, FMR. U.S. AMB. TO SYRIA: Well, it's a worrisome development. The embassy in Damascus, the U.S. embassy, is in a very important area of the city, where many high-level Syrian officials live, including the mother of the president, and the embassy is right out on the street. So if somebody successful in detonating a car or truck bomb, the casualties could be very, very severe.

GORANI: In your experience in Syria, do you feel that there is a real terrorist threat against U.S. interests inside of Syria?

KATTOUF: Well, there's a terrorist threat against U.S. interests everywhere. Actually the Syrian security authorities have done a very good job over the years at thwarts would-be terrorist groups. The fact that Syria is a police state probably gives it an advantage. And it's one of the areas they excel in, frankly.

But the first line of defense for U.S. diplomats in Syria has always been the quality of Syrian intelligence. And the fact that a group was able to carry off an attack, albeit one that may not have been quite so professional, is worrisome.

GORANI: Let me put this to you, though, you have groups like Amnesty International, for instance, saying that groups such as the ones that were suspected by Syrian authorities. No one has claimed responsibility for this attack, Jund al-Sham, may be infiltrated by Syrian secret service, that Syrian authorities might allow these groups somehow to carry out these attacks in some cases to portray themselves as being partners in the war against terrorism and victims of terrorism. What do you make of that?

KATTOUF: I find that very, very difficult to credit. There is to advantage for the Syrian government in having gunmen with grenades, and automatic weapons and a car bomb attacking the U.S. embassy in the heart of one of the most sensitive districts of the capital, Damascus. It actually is as much almost of an attack on Syria as it is on the U.S., because these radical groups are known not to care very much for an Allawhite (ph) dominated government.

GORANI: And last question, then, in your experience in Syria as an ambassador for the United States there, did you sense that over the time you spent there that the fundamentalist Islamic terrorist threat was gelling more over the years? Do you think there's more organization?

KATTOUF: Well, Syria actually faced its biggest threat from Islamist terrorists long before most. They had a basically a low- level civil war going on, and urban civil war, if you would, from '76, 1976, to 1982.

GORANI: And they've been very criticized for their very robust response as well to that.

KATTOUF: That's true. Hamo (ph), of course, is the combination of that fight with 10,000 or so people killed. But the fact of the matter is that Syria's been able to keep the lid on. But I think they have been perhaps flirting too much with various radical groups that they think serve their purposes by going after Israel, or maybe even infiltrating into Iraq, and the chickens may be coming home to roost.

GORANI: All right, Ted Kattouf, former U.S. ambassador to Syria. Many thanks for being with us here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

KATTOUF: My pleasure, Hala.

CLANCY: Interesting discussion. Interesting viewpoints there from both men.

GORANI: Absolutely.

Tony Blair is back from a trip to the Middle East.

CLANCY: Yet he's finding that he cannot escape policies that have made him deeply unpopular at home. Still ahead right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, the British prime minister facing down loud critics at a Labor conference. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello, everyone. And welcome back.

GORANI: We're seen live in more than 200 countries across the world. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Well, his whereabouts are a mystery, of course. CLANCY: Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted fugitive. What is known is where he fled to when the U.S. began bombing Afghanistan. That was back in 2001. Anderson Cooper travels to Jalalabad for a look inside Osama bin Laden's last known residence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Leaving Kabul isn't as easy as it once was. To drive Osama to bin Laden's last known residence, you now need a half dozen SUVs filled with armed guards. These days, no place is safe in Afghanistan.

(on camera): When the United States began bombing Afghanistan back in October of 2001, bin Laden was in the southern city of Kandahar. He then returned to Kabul and then began traveling down this road toward his compound closer to the Pakistan border in the town of Jalalabad.

(voice-over): It's about a six-hour journey through a countryside that's changed little in generations. A new road is being built, but life for ordinary of Afghans remains a struggle. When you finally get to Jalalabad, bin Laden's house isn't hard to find.

(on camera) This is the compound that was used by Osama bin Laden and several hundred other terrorists here in Jalalabad. It's -- it's been destroyed. It looks like it's been bombed. You know, a lot of the roofs are gone obviously. Locals say, though, however, that it wasn't bombed. It's just been looted.

This complex is about two acres. The entire thing is walled, as most of the complexes are in Jalalabad. There are about 70 rooms in it. There's cooking facilities in a little area that was a mosque.

(voice-over): There's not much left: a drain pipe perhaps for a sink or a toilet, broken bricks, a few shards of pottery.

(on camera): There are actually two facilities bin Laden and his associates used as a headquarters here in Jalalabad. This is the second one. It's just a couple hundred feet away from the first complex.

In the corner of it over here, we've found this square hole. It's got a metal ladder going down. The walls are round. They're lined with brick and stone. I'm not sure what this was used for, so we're going to go down and check it out.

(voice-over): The ladder goes down nearly all of the way to the bottom. That's where we notice weapons, still clearly visible.

(on camera): Climbed down into what I thought was the bomb shelter. Now appears was perhaps some sort of a weapons storage facility, because there's an RPG round down in the bottom and a mortar round.

It's amazing that, nearly five years after this place was evacuated, there's still weapons laying around. The significance of this place is this is the last place that Osama bin Laden was known to live here in Afghanistan. The Tora Bora Mountains on a clear day, they're visible from here. It's about a two, 2 1/2 drive to get there from there. From here, Osama bin Laden fled with his followers into those mountains and then disappeared.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORIST ANALYST: This is the place that he knew best. As the United States forces began really attacking Kabul, bin Laden fled here. Last known to be here November 30, 2001.

COOPER: Peter Bergen is a CNN terrorism analyst. He says it's impossible for us to try to reach Tora Bora.

BERGEN: It's now so dangerous in Afghanistan you can't go to Tora Bora. It's sort of a free fire zone, even if we have -- I know we have security here. But even if we had a lot of security it would still be a very dumb idea. Because what they do is it's one road, and they can see you going up that road. And by time you come back there's IEDs on the road.

COOPER: Bin Laden and the Taliban, which allowed him to operate here, may be long gone, but they remain popular in this part of Afghanistan.

"It was much better under the Taliban," says 17-year-old Abdullah. "It was more secure. Right now it's insecure. And the problems like lack of power, we didn't have them."

"The Taliban was much better than this government," 12-year-old Sadullah (ph) says. "Back then there was a clinic. There was power. Now there's not."

Nearly five years since bin Laden and the Taliban were driven from Jalalabad into the mountains of Tora Bora, it seems their memory and their power remain very much alive.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, Jalalabad.

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CLANCY: Britain's prime minister, he is home now after a Middle East trip that fell far short of expectations. Tony Blair was heckled, insulted and snubbed in Lebanon where the memory is still fresh of his refusal to call for an immediate cease-fire in the recent conflict.

Just now Tony Blair faced a gathering of the Labor Party faithful that was yet another rough ride. Protesters disrupted the meeting, some heckling Mr. Blair as he justified his record in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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TONY BLAIR, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: You can hold up your troops out, but the reason troops are in is because the Democratic government of Iraq and Afghanistan need our troops to protect their people against the Taliban and al Qaeda.

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COLLINS: British Muslim groups and politicians stoked the criticism with an open letter. It accuses Mr. Blair of putting civilians at increased risk of terrorist attack because of his policies in Iraq and Lebanon.

GORANI: The bodies of British airmen killed in a plane crash in Afghanistan were brought home Tuesday after a grim month of fighting there. An emotional ceremony was held at an Kinloss Air Base in Scotland. The pilot of the spy plane had reported a fire shortly before it crashed. fourteen airmen were killed in the end. It's Britain's worst single loss during its current deployment in Afghanistan.

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CLANCY: A question is being asked now, whether it's a mysterious coincidence or a case of wanton revenge in Australia. More than a week after the death of conservationist and television star Steve Irwin, there's a sting in this tale.

Officials in Queensland have found a number of dead sting rays. Some with their tails hacked off. Irwin died in an extremely rare fatal encounter were one of the creatures. It pierced his heart with its barb-like tail, injecting it with poison.

Queensland state officials said as many as ten of the animals have since been found dead in coastal waterways. They are appealing for people not to attack sting rays, saying that of course would be the last thing that Irwin would ever want to see.

GORANI: All right. On a lighter note, first we learn it's a boy.

CLANCY: And now, Hala, we learn his name. The newest member of the Japanese royal family can be called Prince Hisahito (ph), and I hope I said that correctly.

The infant prince was given his name at an ancient imperial ceremony at the Tokyo hospital. That's where his mother Princess Kiko (ph) is still recovering.

GORANI: Hisahito is the first mail heir to the thrown born in more than 40 years, and he appears to be off to a good start in life. The name means virtuous, calm and everlasting.

CLANCY: And throw in popular, Hala.

GORANI: And no pressure whatsoever on the kid.

CLANCY: That has to be our report for now. I'm Jim Clancy.

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. Stay with CNN. The news continues. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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