June (Web-only) 2003

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Pakistan seizes alleged organizer of deadly attacks against Christians
According to Pakistani officials, Abdul Jabbar planned the March 12, 2002, attack on the Protestant International Church in Islamabad, the August 5 attack on Murree Christian School, and the August 9 attack on the Christian Hospital in Taxila. Fifteen Christians were killed in the three attacks, and more than 70 were wounded.

Yesterday, intelligence officials said, the Pakistani military seized Jabbar near a bus stand during a raid on the small town of Midhranjha, near Sargodha.

Did Bush say God told him to strike Iraq?
Buried at the end of an article in the Tel Aviv daily newspaper Ha'aretz Sunday was a very, very interesting quote from Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, who has been talking with President George Bush about peace in the region.

At the June 4 summit meeting in Aqaba, Jordan, between Bush, Abbas, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Abbas said that Bush privately promised to pressure Sharon. Then he immediately added, "God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them."

At a White House press conference Tuesday (video | audio), spokesman Ari Fleischer was first asked about the last part of the quote: Was Bush getting ready to focus on the elections? "I never heard the President say it," Fleisher said. "He certainly didn't say it in the trilateral meeting that I attended, and I'm not aware of any other conversation in which he said it."

"Prime Minister Abbas suggested the President said that God spoke to him about ...