Washington, August 31
Two US residents of Yemeni descent allegedly attempting a "dry run" for a terror attack, flying on a Chicago-Amsterdam flight were today arrested in the Netherlands.

The two individuals identified as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi of Detroit and Hezem al Murisi were allowed to board the flight from Chicago on Sunday night and one of them acted suspiciously, law enforcement authorities said.

According to ABC News, which was the first to report the incident, two US officials said the two appeared to be travelling with what were termed "mock bombs" in their luggage.

US airport security scanners found suspicious-looking items in the men's checked luggage late Sunday before they left the US, including a cellphone taped to a medicine bottle, three cellphones taped together and watches taped together, The Washington Post reported.

"This was almost certainly a dry run, a test," one senior law enforcement official was quoted as saying.

The two men did not have prohibited items on them, a law enforcement official told the Fox News, saying that although knives were found in their checked-in luggage, such checked-in items are not banned.

One of the men, a 48-year-old, was also carrying $7,000. US officials notified Dutch authorities that the men's luggage included "suspicious items," the Department of Homeland Security said.

Federal air marshals were aboard the flight, which reached its destination without incident, according to US officials. The pair was arrested today upon landing at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.

ABC also said the pair was charged with "preparing a terrorist attack," but US law enforcement officials told The New York Times that the men had not been charged and the ordeal may have simply been a misunderstanding.

The individuals also were not on the no-fly list, nor were there any active warrants for their arrest, the news channel said.

The men appear to have boarded United Airlines flight 908 from Chicago, Illinois to Amsterdam despite a slew of security concerns, beginning in Birmingham, Alabama, where Soofi reportedly started his journey.

"Suspicious items were located in checked luggage associated with two passengers on United Flight 908 from Chicago O'Hare to Amsterdam," the Transportation Safety Administration said.

Meanwhile, the White House today promised a "vigorous investigation" into the incident involving two US residents of Yemeni descent arrested after arriving by plane in Amsterdam in what officials called a possible terror plot.

"We're going to do a vigorous investigation to see if we can match up any of the circumstances that were involved with any intelligence that we might have," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

"The intelligence community and law enforcement are busy looking through all of these events as we speak," he said, adding neither of the men was on US terror surveillance lists. — PTI 

London, August 31
Taliban guerrillas are taking advantage of the large-scale misery caused by the devastating floods in Pakistan by attempting to enlist 50,000 new fighters in return for food and medicine.

The Taliban is eyeing the floods as an opportunity to begin their biggest recruiting drive in a decade, officials told The Sun. Thousands of guerrillas are heading out to flood-ravaged areas to "help" starving victims.

Their agenda is clear. For providing food and medicine, they demand that men pledge to take up their cause. This could lead to a significant upswing in Al-Qaida operatives in Pakistan and in adjoining Afghanistan.

The people have been hit by the country's worst floods that killed about 1,600 people and affected more than 20 million over the past one month.

The media report pointed out that activists of the Al Qaeda supported Al Rehmat Trust and JuD were behind the campaign to recruit new fighters. Experts have described it as "the Talibanisation of the flood".

A Pakistan intelligence official said there were reports that the Taliban had set a target to recruit 50,000 new guerrillas. The source said: "This is disastrous for Pakistan and the war against terrorism."

A team visited the Swat Valley in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

"The Taliban are bringing us rice. We are hungry. People here have simple lives and are easily influenced," Abdul Jabbar, 50, whose home was destroyed in Mingora town, was quoted as saying.

Another flood affected victim, Baqhat Khan said: "We do not want our young being groomed for suicide missions in return for food for their starving families."

Mohammed Anwar, a soldier, said that the Taliban were using the floods to "gather strength and regroup".

"We are stretched to the limits. The government has pulled thousands of soldiers away from Swat to help in relief across Pakistan.

"So the Taliban have returned with bags of money. It was a war we were winning and because of the flood we are losing it again."

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said more aid was needed to stop terrorists from becoming heroes. — IANS 

Baghdad, August 31
The US military was preparing to end its Iraq combat mission today as Vice-President Joe Biden met the war-torn nation’s leaders in Baghdad after seven years of fighting that cost thousands of lives.

A major troop pullout in past months has left less than 50,000 American soldiers in Iraq while a simultaneous surge in car bombings and shootings, many of which have targeted local security forces, has raised security concerns.

President Barack Obama was due to mark the symbolic end of combat operations in a speech from the Oval Office at 8 pm (local time), after visiting a base in Texas where he was scheduled to meet recently returned Iraq veterans.

He was also expected to speak by telephone with former president George W Bush who backed by key ally Britain took the decision to invade Iraq in March 2003, ousting dictator Saddam Hussein within weeks. — PTI

London, August 31
The next edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the word reference bible of the English language, may never appear in print and instead be accessible only online, its publisher said today.

A team of 80 lexicographers are preparing the third edition of the OED, but with more than a decade of work ahead of them and digital books fast gaining popularity, the publishers are hedging their bets on what format it will take.

"The first edition of the multi-volume Oxford English Dictionary was fully published in 1928, and the second edition in 1989," a spokeswoman for Oxford University Press said today.

"No decision has yet been made on the format of the third edition. It is likely to be more than a decade before the full edition is published, and a decision on format will be taken at that point." Revised and new entries are published online every three months on OED Online, with the next version due to be published in December. — AFP