Hassan Hattab, founder of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC)—now dubbed "al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb," which has claimed responsibility for last week's deadly Algiers bombings—called on militants to put down their weapons under a government amnesty. Hattab made the comments in an open letter to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika published in the Echorouk daily. "I call on the militants to give up the fight," he wrote, accusing the organization of being "a small group that wants to transform Algeria into a second Iraq."

From AP, April 16:

Racist German Army Tape Stirs Outrage
BERLIN - A German army instructor ordered a soldier to envision himself in New York City facing hostile blacks while firing his machine gun, a video that aired Saturday on national television showed.

From the Daily News, April 16:

2 die as cars plunge from highways
Two people were killed early yesterday morning in unrelated accidents that sent their cars plummeting from city highways, cops said.

On April 15, tens of thousands rallied in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi, to protest demands by a radical religious school which has begun a Taliban-style anti-vice campaign in the capital, Islamabad. "The people of Islamabad are insecure and under threat due to the activities of these religious terrorists," said Altaf Hussain, exiled head of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), addressing the rally by telephone from London. Hussain said the radicals in Islamabad's Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and adjoining Jamia Hafsa Madrassa were hurting the image of Islam. "Islam is a religion of peace and it does not need Kalashnikovs and sticks," he told the rally, while a police helicopter whirled overhead.

Remember all the hype when Padilla was first arrested? Now that he is finally going to trial—on considerably less ambitious charges than those originaly floated—it is a discrete little story on the inside pages. Funny how that works, huh? We have noted a lot of utterly specious terrorism cases lately. This much-hyped case could turn out to be another one. From Los Angeles Times, April 16:

Now that Iran has a nuclear program, other Middle East countries want nuclear power—potentially resulting in a nuclear arms race in the region, the New York Times reported April 15. "Two years ago, the leaders of Saudi Arabia told international atomic regulators that they could foresee no need for the kingdom to develop nuclear power. Today, they are scrambling to hire atomic contractors, buy nuclear hardware and build support for a regional system of reactors," the newspaper said. "Turkey is preparing for its first atomic plant and Egypt has announced plans to build one on its Mediterranean coast. In all, roughly a dozen states in the region have recently turned to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna for help in starting their own nuclear program."

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in Casablanca close to the city's American Cultural Centre April 14—apparently causing no casualties other than themselves. (AlJazeera, April 14) After the blasts, the US consulate in Casablanca was ordered closed until further notice. (AKI, April 16) Police raided the city's Sidi Moumen suburb, an impoverished district of slums and shanty-towns, arresting the third brother of the two boys who blew themselves up. The boys' mother, Rashida al-Raidi, told AlJazeera: "My son is innocent. He is innocent. Shame on them [the police] for taking him away from us. He never left my side. And he is very young." (AlJazeera, April 15)

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), called on the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Manila to abide by a 1996 agreement that was meant to end conflict in the southern Philippines. An ongoing battle over the past three days has killed 18 people, including a child, and displaced thousands. Government forces dropped 250-pound bombs and fired rockets into the base of MNLF commander Habier Malik near Panamao town on the southern island of Jolo over the weekend after he fired mortars on their headquarters on April 13, killing a child that lived nearby. (Reuters, April 16)