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Your World Today

Long-Promised Security Operation Begins in Baghdad; Two Suspects Arrested in Birmingham, England, Raid Released; Leaders of Fatah, Hamas Meet to Forge Unity Government

Aired February 07, 2007 - 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: Another U.S. chopper down in Iraq. The fifth so far this year.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A letter bomb explodes in Britain, the third in as many days.

GORANI: A new push to mediate the often violent disagreement between Palestinian factions. This time the talks are held in Mecca.

CLANCY: And another attempt to find an appropriate punishment for a deadly football riot in Italy, one that clubs say they can live with.

It is 7:00 p.m. in Falluja, Iraq; 4:00 p.m. in Swansea, England, where the latest letter bomb exploded.

Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe.

GORANI: Well, he's Jim Clancy, and I'm Hala Gorani. And from Italy to Iraq, Mecca to Houston, where you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: We're going to get to all of those stories shortly, but first this developing story coming to us out of Austria.

GORANI: Well, authorities there say they have shut down a sophisticated global child pornography ring run on the Internet.

CLANCY: That's right. And police are telling us -- describing it as some of the worst kind of sexual abuse.

GORANI: Well, Austrian police seized computers, storage devices and thousands and thousands of DVDs, disks and video cassettes.

CLANCY: This case involved more than 2,300 suspects who paid for these Internet videos.

GORANI: Well, the suspects are from 77 countries. The largest number of suspects currently under investigation by authorities from the United States.

CLANCY: All right. We're getting more information in. At a press conference, police describe how they broke open this case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): In 2006, the Child Pornography Department of the federal police received information from a webmaster of a file hosting service that its server was being abused to spread child pornography. Eight video files showing the severe sexual abuse of children were download on to the server and linked to a Russian Web site, where you could then download them. The webmaster immediately blocked access to these videos and grave us a list with the names of people who had tried to download the videos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Now, the Russian Web site has since been shut down -- Hala.

GORANI: All right.

We're going to go to our correspondent in the region, Frederik Pleitgen, with more in a little bit. But now to Iraq, where the U.S. military says another of its helicopters has go gone down, the fifth in less than three weeks.

The Sea Knight chopper went down near Baghdad Wednesday, but the circumstances are far from clear at this point. An umbrella insurgent group, Islamic State in Iraq, says it shot the helicopter down, but The Associated Press quotes Pentagon officials as saying they believe mechanical problems may have been to blame and that it appears seven people were on board and they died in the crash.

CLANCY: After months of preparation and lot of talk, the U.S. military says a long-promised security crackdown in Baghdad is now under way. Iraqi and U.S. forces are pushing into some of the most violent areas of the capital, setting up checkpoints there, looking for insurgents and looking for weapons caches.

A U.S. commander cautions, though, don't expect a dramatic show of force right away. Major General William Caldwell says there is a gradual effort and people have to be patient. He also explained how this Baghdad operation is different from previous ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: This time it's an Iraqi-led plan. Not only did they plan it, but they are -- they are leading it. General Buhd (ph), it was announced, is the commander. And he has the lead for it, unlike last time, where there was a coalition forces -- a Baghdad commander was in the lead. This time General Buhd (ph) is in the lead, and he's got two deputies that support him, Iraqi deputies that can help him command and control throughout the city, where you're going to find coalition forces working in support of the Iraqi security forces to achieve their objectives that they've got.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Now, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has promised to do it, but many wonder whether this new operation will indeed take on powerful Shia militias, especially one that's supports -- one loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr.

GORANI: Well, our colleague Michael Holmes went along with U.S. troops as they swept through a Mehdi army stronghold.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Dawn in a militia stronghold as Operation Arrowhead Strike VI gets under way and the Baghdad security plan rolls out.

Two battalions of Stryker vehicles, Iraqi army units, too, sweeping through the suburbs of Shaab and Ur, a main base for the Mehdi army. There has long been suspicion that the militia led by the firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr would go underground, not take on the Americans. And so it was this day -- not a shot fired.

But the American and Iraqi troops were after other things, weapons, suspects, hideouts, targets selected after weeks of intelligence gathering. Five hours into a 14-hour operation, and no hitches.

SGT. BILL MONTGOMERY, U.S. ARMY: We found some contraband, some of the other objectives. They're already pushing some detainees out.

HOLMES: One of the primary targets, the biggest mosque in Shaab, Sharufi (ph), suspected of being a Mehdi meeting place. Two workers are held. Iraqi troops, not Americans, enter the mosque. U.S. forces stay outside searching the perimeter. But it's an Iraqi soldier who finds all this.

(on camera): We're at the rear of a mosque. The soldiers have managed to unearth quite a little cache here -- magazines for AK-47s. There is a couple of AK-47s there.

This is used for balancing a mortar, and this is part of an RPG. These are all for heavy-duty machine guns in the back of a mosque.

(voice over): Not much in the scheme of things in this city, but evidence that the mosque is used for more than praying. The two suspects become detainees, photographed with the weaponry and taken away.

Patrolling this area is tense for the troops, movement usually at a jog. Snipers have been active here and have killed.

The key to what's happening today and for the next week or so is that neither the Americans, nor the Iraqi army, are going away. They will stay here after a massive clearing of thousands of houses and buildings.

At one House, evidence of the sectarian bloodletting that has (INAUDIBLE) Iraq. A Shia man tells of having to flee Sunni Al Anbar Province.

Another house, a far more tragic example. Five Shia families who say masked gunmen came into their homes, killed seven of their men folk, and told the rest to leave their Sunni village. Twenty-five men, women and children now live as squatters in a half-finished house.

A common theme here, the elusive militiamen, none found on the streets. Seemingly, they've vanished.

And talking to the locals, no one seemed to have ever seen one. "Makal (ph) Mehdi," says this woman. "No Mehdi army here, no militias at all."

The same from this man. "I don't know anything," he tells us. "Never seen them."

Whatever the locals say, the Stryker battalions take no risks. Smoke grenades pop to provide cover in case those snipers are out there. These troops know one quiet day doesn't mean the next will be the same on these streets.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Shaab, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: An Italian judge has indicted an American soldier on charges of homicide and attempted homicide for a shooting at a Baghdad checkpoint. The judge ordered the soldier to stand trial in absentia for opening fire at this car and killing an Italian intelligence agent, Nicola Calipari.

The prosecutor says Calipari was shot almost two years ago, shortly after securing the release of an Italian journalist kidnapped in Iraq at this spot in Baghdad. A trial date is set for April 17th, but so far Italy hasn't made an extradition request for that soldier.

British prime minister Tony Blair weighing in on the friendly fire incident in Iraq four years ago. That was an incident that left one British soldier dead.

Tuesday, a British newspaper leaked the cockpit recording of the incident. The recording had been classified, but the U.S. military released it after the leak. Mr. Blair has expressed his support for the coroner's ongoing investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We deeply regret the distress caused to Lance Corporal Horse Matty Hull's family by the delay in concluding the inquest into how he died. And I can assure the right honorable (ph) gentleman that we will do everything we can to cooperate with the coroner and also make sure that the additional distress that's now being caused to the family is minimized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Now, Mr. Blair says he believes the Ministry of Defense did act in good faith and did not mislead the family.

GORANI: Now, British authorities have released two of the nine suspects arrested in a raid in Birmingham, England, last week. You might remember the arrests were made in connection with an alleged terror plot to kidnap a Muslim British soldier and behead him on camera.

Paula Newton joins us now from Coventry with the details on this.

Hi, Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And hello, Hala. Quite a stunning bit of news this morning.

Early this morning, from the police station behind me, two of the nine suspects were released. Now remember, Hala, that the details of this alleged plot were fairly grisly. They shocked the nation. And at this point what police here in the city are still doing are reviewing evidence that they've gained from several properties in Birmingham. But this was an unexpected development.

What happens in British law, Hala, is that in order to arrest people and continue to keep them in custody, you have to present your evidence before a judge. They did that yesterday on two of the nine suspects. The judge basically said, look, there isn't enough here to hold these two gentlemen, you're going to have to release them.

The lawyer acting -- Garth Pierce (ph), acting on behalf of these two suspects, said that as they were leaving the police station, that the two suspects had no better understanding of how they were there when -- why and how they were there than they did a week ago when they were first arrested. Not a word was ever mentioned, their solicitor says, to either of them about a plot to kidnap or the grisly suggestion of a beheading. She goes on to say that her two clients were "... convinced that others in the police station must be as innocent as they and urge that they be swiftly released."

Hala, this is echoing a lot of what we heard in the community. I can tell you that one of the suspects released yesterday -- sorry, that last week -- I was speaking to friends of that person who said that this person was innocent, that the police got it wrong. And Hala, that echoes a lot of what is going on in the community. It is a community saying that the police acted too swiftly and unfairly with these arrests.

For its part, the police station here, the police authorities here, are telling us that, look, this is a very complex and large investigation, that in order to balance the safety of the public with the rights of the men being held, that they have to arrest these people and keep them for questioning. They say that it is routine at times to arrest a certain number of people, question them, and then people can be released.

They now, Hala, have three more days, until the wee hours of the morning early Saturday morning, to question the next seven suspects. They can appear in court again on Friday and ask the judge for more time. But remember, in presenting their evidence before a judge, there will be an evidentiary test there that they'll have to go through. Bottom line is, Hala, everyone in this community will be watching to see what happens Friday afternoon with the remaining seven suspects -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. Paula Newton, thanks very much. Maybe we'll actually hear from the two suspects released.

Thank you -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. British authorities have their hands full in more areas than one. They're dealing right now with a string of letter bombs.

Several people have already been injured by a mail bomb at a driver and vehicle licensing agency. That was in South Wales. This, the third bomb in three days, to hit groups linked one way or another to motoring laws.

There were three other mail bombs last month. Police are not sure if all of the incidents are linked.

GORANI: Just ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, we'll have the latest on those Palestinian talks in Saudi Arabia.

CLANCY: That's right.

Also ahead, a house divided. How two brothers on opposing sides of the Hamas-Fatah feud deal with their differences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until it sets down on the White House lawn and CNN is there, I won't believe it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: UFO skeptics stick to their guns, saying, "Show me the evidence." But others say seeing is believing and claim they have proof.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: A quick look there at European markets.

Welcome back, everyone, to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.

GORANI: We bring all our viewers across the world and North America up to speed on the most important international stories of the day, and that includes rival Palestinians leaders saying they will not leave Saudi Arabia until an agreement has been reached.

Hamas and Fatah leaders trying to reach a power-sharing agreement to avert a civil war. Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza wait for any word of progress. Atika Shubert joins us now via broadband from Gaza City.

Hi, Atika.

You had leaders discussing issues in Saudi Arabia, but on the ground, are rival factions still fighting or is it finally calm?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's relatively calm compared to the fighting that had been happening a few days ago. Those gun battles and rocket attacks have stopped, but there is still sporadic violence.

In fact, last night one person was killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a Hamas vehicle. And also kidnapping continues on both sides. So many people here are certainly hoping for an agreement to come out of these talks in Mecca, but they are not confident that it will end fighting once and for all -- Hala.

GORANI: Now, what are ordinary Gazans saying about what's going on in that small strip of land?

SHUBERT: Well, many people here are worried that Hamas and Fatah will not be able to overcome their differences. And certainly when you walk the streets here, it does not seem that they are prepared to give up any ground, particularly around the Fatah area here.

There are sandbag bunkers, there are still armed gunmen are on the street. But that doesn't mean people aren't still hoping that there will be an agreement coming out from this meeting in Mecca. And certainly both leaders are sounding optimistic as they went in to this meeting. Here's what Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHALED MASHAAL, HAMAS LEADER (through translator): We came so we can agree, and there is nothing before us but to agree. It is enough that we are in this sacred place as we overlook God's sacred House, and we just prayed there together.

It is also enough that these days are sacred and our blood is sacred. Our people are keen that we agree, and I assure everyone that we will not leave this place unless that we are in agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUBERT: Of course, the fact that this meeting is being held in Mecca has particular significance. It is, of course, home to Islam's holiest site. And that will be a constant reminder to both leaders of the responsibility they have back home here, particularly in Gaza, which has been -- where some of the worst fighting has occurred.

GORANI: All right. Atika Shubert keeping an eye on things for us in Gaza.

Thanks, Atika.

CLANCY: Well, the struggle between Hamas and Fatah really hits home for one family in Gaza.

GORANI: Right. Brothers. They are brothers.

Hamaza (ph) and Tasin al-Atul (ph) are divided by their loyalties to Hamas and Fatah. Both brothers were injured during a clash, but they say they will never point their guns at each other.

CLANCY: Now, while the brothers do get along, their visitors did not, so the brothers had to recuperate in separate rooms of their house.

GORANI: It would be funny if it weren't really so tragic.

CLANCY: Tragic.

GORANI: All right. Time for us to check in on how the markets are doing in the U.S. and Europe.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

CLANCY: When we come back after a short break, the latest on that bizarre astronaut love triangle.

GORANI: Well, what could cause someone to snap just like she did? We'll search for an answer.

And later, the German cabinet makes a bold decision to send a troop of Tornado jets to Afghanistan.

That and more coming up.

You are with YOUR WORLD TODAY.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy and these are some of the stories that are making headlines around the world.

Austrian police say they have broken up a major international child pornography ring on the Internet. They've seized computers, thousands of DVDs, video cassettes and media memory that they say was being used by the operation. More than 2,300 suspects in 77 countries have now been identified. The largest number of them -- in the United States.

GORANI: The U.S. military is now saying that the long promised security crackdown in Baghdad has begun. Iraqi and U.S. troops are setting up checkpoints in the capital, sweeping streets for insurgents and weapons. But a U.S. commander says don't expect a dramatic show of force right away. Major General William Caldwell says this is a gradual effort and, quote, "people have to be patient."

CLANCY: Now another U.S. helicopter going down in Iraq. It is the fifth helicopter to go down in less than three weeks. An umbrella insurgent group says it shot down that helicopter near Baghdad. The "Associated Press" though quoting Pentagon officials as saying they believe it was mechanical problems that were to blame. It appears at this time seven people were aboard that aircraft and they all died in the crash.

Now the four other U.S. helicopters lost recently in Iraq were shot down. We know that much. That has led U.S. officials to worry that insurgents may be improving their tactics.

And joining us now to talk a little bit about this is retired U.S. army commander and CNN military analyst brigadier general David Grange. He joins us from Oak Brook, Illinois. General, when we look at the situation in Iraq, it is cause for concern anytime one of these go down, but people are wondering here is there a new weapon in the insurgent's arsenal?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: No, I don't think there is any new weapons. Any kind of weapon can take down a helicopter. They're very vulnerable. And at times they're very capable of remaining in flight, taking many hits. I remember in Grenada every helicopter in our six helicopter fleet of Black Hawks had no less than 45 hits. And none of them went down. I've also seen helicopters where one round hits a certain part of a helicopter in a crash. So it's hard to say. I don't think there's new secret weapons or anything like this. It's just they're very vulnerable.

CLANCY: Isn't it a matter of tactics though as well, whether you're flying a high altitude, low altitude?

GRANGE: Sure. High altitude is more susceptible of surface-to- air missiles taking them down. Low altitude is better for small arms fire to take on a helicopter or RPGs, rocket-propelled grenades. So we've seen that in movies, we have seen that in real life, on lessons learned in reports. It is no secret. It is just that helicopters, it is a dangerous business and just like attacking vehicles, they can be taken out of the sky.

CLANCY: As this conflict drags on, one is tempted to look back at the history of the Soviets in Afghanistan and look at how the U.S. provided stinger missiles when the Mujahadin got good at firing those missiles at the Russian helicopters. The tide of that war changed.

GRANGE: That's correct. It changes the dimension of air and three-dimensional combat, the dimension of air on just having freedom to move wherever you want.

You have to be much more careful, you have to change tactics and techniques constantly to counter the threat, the enemy of course uses different tactics as well to counter that counter. It's just a continuous process and we control the skies and the enemy wants to take that away.

CLANCY: Do the insurgents have surface-to-air missiles?

GRANGE: Yes, they do. CLANCY: What type? Where are they getting them?

GRANGE: I think most of the ones that they have are Soviet types, old Soviet weapons. But a lot of these weapons come from Iran.

CLANCY: Do we have -- is there hard evidence of that? The administration has really been piling it on with Iran accusing it of all kinds of involvement. Oftentimes the evidence is pretty sketchy.

GORANI: It's sketchy, but I'm convinced from the reports I've read.

CLANCY: All right. Any solution finally to all of this or is this just something you're in a combat, you're in a war zone, modern warfare, the more helicopters you use, the more this problem is going to happen?

GRANGE: That's correct. And really if you had fought in Vietnam, it's a day-to-day occurrence, losing helicopters. We use helicopters a lot in the American military. Some other nations do as well. And they are fragile machines at times and sometimes they're very enduring. But they're easy targets, as you can imagine.

CLANCY: All right, General David Grange, I want to thank you very much, as always, for joining us on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

GORANI: The U.S. secretary of state is defending the Bush administration's request for billions more dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Condoleezza Rice is on Capitol Hill testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She's facing tough questions on President Bush's new proposed budget. He is asking Congress for $240 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through to next year.

Now the Iraq war is again taking center stage on Capitol Hill this hour. Defense Chief Robert Gates is appearing before Congress to answer questions about the war in Iraq and the president's funding requests.

These are live pictures there of the testimony you see on Capitol Hill. This time before a committee in the House of Representatives. Yesterday it was in the Senate. Gates says the U.S. should know in a few months if the Iraqi government is making progress towards peace, and whether the United States is going to have to look at other alternatives.

CLANCY: All right, let's look at another story. The German cabinet approving the deployment of about a half-dozen tornado jets to Afghanistan. Now these aircraft are going to be used on reconnaissance missions only, we're told. But as Frederick Pleitgen reminds in gun-shy Germany, any foreign military deployment is a rather touchy subject.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): German tornado reconnaissance planes could be taking off for Afghanistan soon under a plan approved by the cabinet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"We need to enhance the surveillance capabilities in Afghanistan, not only for the protection of our soldiers, but also to prevent innocent civilians from getting injured or killed by our forces accidentally," German secretary of defense Franz Josef Jung says.

Germany's NATO allies want to use the tornado's capabilities in their battles against Taliban fighters. But that's where the problems begin. The mandate issued allows the tornado to be used in peacekeeping missions only, not to support combat. Commanders actually fighting the Taliban would only get very restricted access to the intelligence data gathered.

"Our forces in Afghanistan are trying to win the hearts and minds of the people there. Progress in that field could be endangered if our planes support the counterterrorism military operations," says Ulrich Kirsch of the German Soldiers Union.

But that's exactly what NATO allies have been asking for. While Canadian, British and U.S. forces are facing increasingly stiff resistance from Taliban operatives in southern Afghanistan, German troops are keeping the peace in the fairly quiet north of the country, deploying the tornado aircraft to Afghanistan, some experts say, is the Germans' way of offering help to their allies without putting their ground forces in harm's way.

HENNING RIEKE, GERMAN FOREIGN POLICY INSTITUTE: You'd think there wouldn't be a majority in Germany for sending soldiers into fightings on the ground. There is a dilemma because you can't sustain such a position while supporting the alliance in the fight against the Taliban. So to kind of solve this dilemma, the Germans are now sending the reconnaissance planes.

PLEITGEN: Germany's parliament will have to ratify the tornado mandate before the planes can be deployed.

(on camera): If the Bundestag approves the plan, the jets could head to Afghanistan as early as April, a move many Germans fear could open the door to Germans in combat half a world away. Frederick Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: All right, looking across to Europe now and a story that's certainly dominating the passions, if you will, in Italy because football is a national passion there. And right now the stadiums are dark, fans really wondering when their favorite teams will play again. Italy's Football Association of course had grounds for suspending play nationwide. A police officer was killed in a post-match riot. Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci joins us now with news on a cabinet meeting that could result in much tougher security measures. We have an idea on this, Alessio? ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: That's correct, Jim. We do expect those measures to be made into a law any moment now. We do know, as you said, that there will be talk before government officials here are saying that they were acting with zero tolerance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VINCI (voice-over): The new measures are aimed at stopping the violence between fans. It gives wide new powers to police. Officers will be able to detain suspects up to 48 hours without warrants and they can prevent known troublemakers from entering stadiums.

There are other measures as well. Block sales of tickets to away teams will be banned and football clubs can no longer have connections to their fan clubs. The government says it will now strictly enforce security measures approved two years ago, but largely ignored. Mandating numbered seating, electronic turnstiles to stop those without tickets and closed-circuit television cameras.

(on camera): The problem here in Italy is that most football clubs do not own stadiums and therefore these safety regulations have been largely ignored. Football clubs argue that those who own the stadiums should deal with them. The result though is that when the championship will resume, many games would have to be played behind closed doors.

(voice-over): Rome's Olympic Stadium has all the security ordered two years ago, a rare exception. But if the 10 first division games scheduled for this weekend go on, it is estimated half will be played without spectators because of stadiums lacking enough security. Italy's interior minister said there will be no exceptions.

"We have to make sure violence won't happen again," he says. "If the stadiums do not meet security standards, they won't be allowed to let fans in until these measures will be implemented."

A tough stance angering owners of football clubs who face losing millions in revenues.

"Let's remember there is a championship that's already under way," he says. "And it is not easy to apply certain regulations. We need to see what we can do."

"I think all club presidents are very angry at the government's tough position," he says, "because it also affects clubs and those fans who do not cause troubles."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VINCI: And, Jim, the Football Federation is expected to announce tomorrow when the championship will resume either this weekend or perhaps in two weeks. Jim?

CLANCY: All right, a lot of people in Italy going to be waiting for that news. Alessio Vinci there live from Rome.

Well still ahead right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, who's behind this one, who's behind the others?

GORANI: In Britain, in the U.K., police looking for clues in a pattern. Another letter bomb goes off. We'll tell you about one mysterious clue connecting the explosions. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello everyone and welcome back. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.

GORANI: All right, we're live in more than 200 countries across the globe. And this is one of the stories we're following for you.

British police are warning people to be cautious when opening their mail. This comes after a letter bomb injured at least three people at a driver and vehicle licensing authority building in South Wales. This is the seventh mail bomb in Britain in the past three weeks. Alphonso Van Marsh is following the story for us from London. Alphonso?

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, police are warning mail rooms across the United Kingdom to be on the lookout for padded envelopes like these because they may be laden, police say, with explosives.

As you mentioned, that warning comes after confirmation that there have been seven explosive devices, seven letter bombs in the last three weeks injuring some eight people in all.

Now what's interesting about this is in the last three days, we've had three letter bombs, all of them apparently targeting companies or agencies associated with enforcing bordering regulations in this country. Now there has been some speculation that the person behind these last three bombs might and disgruntled driver.

But I talked with a former commander of Scotland Yard who says that the motivation may be a lot more sinister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN O'CONNOR, FORMER SCOTLAND YARD COMMANDER: What they've got to find is the connection between the companies, what looks like some form of a connection. Maybe it's to do with motoring and road tax and that kind of thing. There is a possibility there. There's also the possibility that it could be one of the extremist groups, like animal rights or any of the many fringe groups that do exist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN MARSH: And just to go over again, we're talking about seven different letter bombs over the course of three weeks, injuring eight people. What they all have in common, police say, all in padded envelopes, all intended to shock and cause minor injuries -- Hala?

GORANI: All right, Alphonso Van Marsh live in London. Jim? CLANCY: Let's check some of the other stories that are making news this day. The political crisis in Lebanon sharpening. The United Nations approving a tribunal to pursue those behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, as well as others. Pro-western Lebanese officials pushed it through, but the pro-Syrian president and others on the Syrian side, so to speak, deem this tribunal unconstitutional. Parliament itself must approve the tribunal, but the speaker, Habih Berri, has refused to convene the legislature to even allow a vote.

GORANI: Floodwaters have receded in parts of Indonesia's capital. Some residents are starting to clean up and surveying the damage. But officials say there is more rain, unfortunately, in the forecast and that could mean more flooding. At least 38 people have been killed. Now Indonesian officials say more than 430,000 people are homeless.

CLANCY: Members of the media getting a sneak preview of the world's largest jumbo jet. There it is, the giant airbus A-380 taking off from Toulousse, France for a brief flight circling the country. The airplane, which can hold as many as 555 passengers, has been plagued by cost overruns and delays. It officially goes into service though later this year.

GORANI: Coming up, a 6,000-year-old love story.

CLANCY: That's right, archaeologists working near the tomb of "Romeo and Juliet" unearth a pair of ancient skeletons still locked in an embrace.

GORANI: And later, people in the U.S. are having quite a few close encounters of late. We'll go UFO-hunting after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: From the East Coast to Hawaii, people in the United States are seeing more than stars in the sky lately. Is it a UFO invasion?

CLANCY: Don't know about that, but Gary Tuchman tells us, whatever it is, it is an object, it's definitely flying and it absolutely, positively is unidentified.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a partly cloudy late January night near Charlotte, North Carolina.

CHARLES MILLER, UFO WITNESS: I saw a greenish blue glare coming in from the southeast. I tried to catch a picture of it as it passed over the house.

TUCHMAN: The world is full of people who see strange things in the sky and for whatever reason, don't take a picture.

(on camera): So this is the camera you used? MILLER: That's it.

TUCHMAN: And you were afraid it wasn't going to work?

MILLER: Well, it's about five years obsolete.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): But it did work and this is what Charles Miller, who doesn't want his face shown on camera, says he saw in the sky.

MILLER: From the first time I saw it until I lost it was perhaps 45 seconds, and that crossed the entire sky.

TUCHMAN: As it turns out, Miller was not the only person who saw it.

OPERATOR: 911 what is your emergency?

CALLER: Yeah, I just saw something explode in the sky and it was traveling eastbound.

TUCHMAN: 911 operators were busy that night.

CALLER: It exploded in the sky, and it kept trailing a ball of flame that was going east.

CALLER: I just, looked like I saw an airplane was in trouble just north of Mooresville, looked like it was taking a nose dive, like something was on fire.

TUCHMAN: Meanwhile, two days later on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu, another unusual object, this one actually shot by a TV station's camera.

PETER HOLLINGWORTH, UFO WITNESS: At first it was coming in, then it turned, and then it went out.

TUCHMAN: Peter Hollingworth was surfing with his 12-year-old son when they saw the fireball like object.

HOLLINGWORTH: Well, I was a little concerned. I told him, come over here and sit with me. This might be the last surf session we ever have together, because this thing's coming straight for Honolulu.

TUCHMAN: The National Weather Service saw nothing out of the ordinary on its radar. So there are those who think these episodes are literally from out of this world.

The North Carolina incident occurred near a nuclear power plant.

GEORGE LUND, MUTUAL UFO NETWORK: They think that they're coming in that area maybe to feed off some of the energy that that plant is producing.

TUCHMAN: But in the North Carolina mountains at the Appalachian State University Observatory, the feeling is it's all a lot more mundane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've concluded it was just a very bright meteor or fireball, boli (ph), perhaps.

TUCHMAN: A boli (ph), is a fireball like meteor, ranging in size from a pebble to several kilometers in diameter. They frequently enter the earth's atmosphere, but are hardly ever seen by the average person looking at the sky. Which doesn't seem to explain episodes like this past November at Chicago's O'Hare airport, when a gray object was viewed by many hovering over the terminals. Nevertheless, as far as the possibility of extraterrestrial visitors goes...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Until it sits down on the White House lawn and CNN is there, I won't believe it.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Perhaps there will come a day when one of us from CNN will interview a visitor from another world and we'll put him, her or it on television and that will settle everything.

But for now, while these stories are interesting, they settle nothing.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Wilkes County, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: And the one guy that we did interview didn't want his face shown because he didn't want to be associated with it all.

GORANI: I'd like to interview someone and call that person it. It could be fun.

Well, we have something completely different for you now.

CLANCY: That's right. Italy, of course predominantly Catholic, divorce frowned upon, of course. We found a couple though that may have carried this whole fidelity thing just a little bit too far.

GORANI: Is there such a thing? Well, they've carried it to the grave. Archaeologists working near Verona, the site of Shakespeare's "Rome and Juliet," have discovered the remains of a couple locked in an embrace -- look at it -- for more than 5,000 years. That is a long time to be cuddling.

CLANCY: All I can think of, this guy must have really made her mad to have to spend that much time making up. I wonder what he did. Anyway, happy 5,000th anniversary, guys and girls.

GORANI: The oldest love story in the world. That's Cute. Well, that's it for this hour on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. And this is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. We're keeping a close watch on a plane that may have some problems on its approach to landing, in Cobb County, just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

You're looking at aerial views from our affiliate WSB here in Atlanta. And it looks like this camera shot is looking for this plane. We don't have -- there you go, right there -- of this plane that may have some sort of landing gear problem. And so what we understand right now is that it's burning some fuel and emergency crews are on the ground under at McCullum (ph) Field just in case this plane may need some assistance as it makes its way in.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and this is video taken just moments ago as watch this.

We want to get our aviation expert on the phone here, Miles O'Brien.

Miles, talk to us about the pictures we are seeing now. Could it possibly be burning off some fuel? We're hearing wheels down. I don't know if they're stuck down or the wheels are down because of the landing.

Miles, what do you know?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's the thing -- because the pilot can't see the landing gear himself. And part of what he's probably doing is passing by the control tower there McCullum Field in Cobb County to see what they can see as carefully as possible.

But in many cases the problems in these situations are the indicators. You want to have -- each wheel has a light, and you want to have a little green light for each wheel, and sometimes you will put the landing gear down and not get those green lights, indicating they're in the down and locked position.

So a couple thoughts come to mind. It could be that for some reason he is not getting a proper indication, or there is some problem with the light itself, or the landing gear looks like it's extended, but it hasn't gone into the fully locked position. So that's what he's troubleshooting now.

In the meantime, it is certainly in his interest -- if he does have to make the decision to do a belly landing, or if the gear might in fact collapse to have less fuel rather than more. You want to be lighter and you want to reduce the potential risk for any sort of fire as well. There's a lot of good reasons to stay in the air, as well as to continue troubleshooting. These systems are hydraulic and electric. And if it's an electric failure, it's very easy to crank it down by hand. There's kind of a hand-crank set up where you just kind of crank the gear down. It takes a little bit of elbow grease. but you can get the gear down. If it's a hydraulic failure, that can be a little more problematic, because, you know, the hydraulic.

LEMON: Miles, let's just watch. Let's watch now.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, OK.

LEMON: OK, Miles, not sure if you're in a position to see, but it appears that this plane has landed, and if everything looks safe once it comes to a stop. I imagine the next thing would be folks coming out, the all the rescue crews, and ambulances and what have you, just as a precaution here.

But I'm sorry to interrupt you, Miles. We just wanted to capture that moment.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. No, no, no, all's well that ends well. Obviously it seemed to work out well, but these are the kinds of situations that pilots routinely run into. And every now and then, there's a TV camera nearby, and we talk about it a little bit.

LEMON: Right. OK, Miles O'Brien in New York, thank you for joining us.

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