CNN Wire Staff
The insurgents who attacked an Afghan military base where Prince Harry is deployed may have gotten onto the base by sneaking through a hole in a fence, a British military source said Monday. Officials discovered the hole after the attack, the source said, adding that the attackers - daringly disguised in U.S. Army uniforms - also tried to blow up parked NATO aircraft with hand-held improvised explosive devices.
Prince Harry was about a mile and a half away from Camp Bastion when the attack happened, according to the source. The royal was immediately placed on lockdown, as were other troops who were not fighting the insurgents, the source said.
U.S. Marines, British forces and a U.S. Army unit that just happened to be nearby spent nearly three hours battling the insurgents, the source said.
"This was a well-coordinated and complex attack that we're taking very seriously," a U.S. official said Monday.
It's extremely rare for Afghan insurgents to use U.S. uniforms in their attacks. The last time CNN can identify was more than two years ago, when NATO repelled attacks on two bases in Khost province in August 2010.
By the CNN Wire Staff
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, will step down this summer after a year on the job due to health reasons, according to State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
A statement by Nuland said Crocker confirmed his plan to the Afghan government and the U.S.-led NATO military mission in the country.
Crocker was named as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan on July 25, 2011.
This is not Crocker's first stint in Kabul. After the Taliban were forced out of power, Crocker was given the task in 2002 of reopening the U.S. Embassy in the city, according to his State Department biography.
By the CNN Wire Staff
The chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee expressed dismay that someone leaked information about a double agent who infiltrated al Qaeda and helped foil a plot to blow up a U.S.-bound plane.
"It's really, to me, unfortunate that this has gotten out, because this could really interfere with operations overseas," Rep. Peter King of New York told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday. "My understanding is a major investigation is going to be launched because of this."
The double agent, who volunteered as a suicide bomber for the terrorist group, was actually working as an intelligence agent for Saudi Arabia, a source in the region familiar with the operation told CNN.
By the CNN Wire Staff
The latest foiled bomb plot targeting an airliner is an indication that, while the device did not ultimately pose a threat, terrorists remain determined, U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said Tuesday.
"These terrorists keep trying ... to devise more perverse and terrible ways to kill innocent people, and it's a reminder as to why we have to remain vigilant at home and abroad in protecting our nation and in protecting friendly nations," she told reporters at a news conference in New Delhi.
The plot was thwarted two weeks, a source familiar with the operation said Tuesday. Saudi intelligence assets provided the tip, the source said.
By the CNN Wire Staff
A 70-year-old U.S. citizen kidnapped in Pakistan last year has made an emotional plea to President Barack Obama to meet al Qaeda's demands in order to save his life, according to a video released on several Islamist websites Sunday.
"My life is in your hands, Mr. President," Warren Weinstein said in the video. "If you accept the demands, I live. If you don't accept the demands, then I die."
Weinstein, a development consultant, was abducted in August from his home in the city of Lahore. In December, al Qaeda claimed responsibility for his capture.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of the terror network, listed eight demands that he said, if met, would result in Weinstein's release. The demands related to issues in the Middle East, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia.
Stalled talks between Iran and world leaders over its nuclear ambitions will resume April 13 at a yet-undetermined venue, the country's state-run media reported Wednesday.
The announcement, by Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, comes amid growing pressure from world powers over Iran's controversial nuclear program.
FULL STORYBy the CNN Wire Staff
Camp Bastion, Afghanistan (CNN) - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Afghanistan on Wednesday for a two-day visit amid anger among Afghan leaders about a weekend shooting rampage blamed on an American soldier.
Panetta is the first high ranking U.S. official to visit the war zone since the killing spree in Kandahar province on Sunday that left 16 Afghan civilians dead. A U.S. soldier is now in custody in connection with the shootings.
The defense secretary is due to meet with Afghan tribal leaders and government ministers, but his schedule does not include a visit to the area where the killings took place.
His first stop in Afghanistan was at Camp Bastion and the adjoining base Camp Leatherneck, where he was to meet with top U.S. and British military leaders and speak to a group of about 200 troops. From there he will travel to a nearby forward operating base to meet more coalition troops before flying onto Kabul.
FULL STORY
Iran is willing to look at evidence that an Iranian man plotted to kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, the country's foreign minister said Monday, even as he denied the allegations had "the necessary basis in fact."
"We are prepared to consider any issue, even if it is falsely created, with patience. We have asked the Unites States to provide us with the relevant information regarding this scenario," Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told the Islamic Republic News Agency.
Iran is also demanding consular access to the accused plotter Mansoor Arbabsiar, Reuters reported Monday
The U.S. State Department said last last week there had been direct contact with Iran about the alleged plot, but a senior Iranian official denied it.
Two State Department officials said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice met with Mohammad Khazaee, Iran's permanent representative to the United Nations.
But the Iranian mission in New York denied it.
"There were no kinds of negotiations between the two countries, and there was not such a contact," said Alireza Miryousefi, press secretary for the Iranian Mission to the United Nations.
Foreign Minister Salehi said Monday the American allegations of a plot were aimed at creating discord between states in the region.
And he claimed that Iran had never been involved in terrorist operations, the Islamic Republic News Agency said.
Salehi's apparent willingness to look at evidence of the plot comes in stark contrast to the response of the country's supreme leader on Saturday.
By CNN Wires Staff
Syrian dissidents have formed a national council to lead the opposition to Bashar al-Assad's regime, opposition members meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, said Tuesday.
This appears to be one of several opposition movements and parties claiming to represent the Syrian opposition inside and outside Syria.
Their goal is to have 120 members, 60 exiles and 60 activists from inside Syria and they aim to announce the names on the council in 15 days.
The group has denounced the al-Assad regime. They are inviting representatives of all ethnic and sectarian communities to join them.
BY CNN Wire Staff
Top U.S. officials closely monitored the apparent collapse of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's government Monday, expressing concern that forces loyal to the longtime strongman might launch a last-ditch offensive against that country's civilian population.
"There is reason to believe (Gadhafi) remains in Libya" and may still be able "to issue orders" to his troops through a limited communications network, a U.S. official told CNN.
NATO authorities expressed a similar concern.
"If there is a last-ditch effort we want to protect civilians," a senior NATO official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of sensitive intelligence matters.
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