Obama urges anti-terror cooperation after Norway attack (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama offered condolences to Norway after deadly twin attacks and urged countries around the world to step up cooperation to combat terror.

Speaking during a meeting with New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key, Obama called the attacks "a reminder that the entire international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring."

"We have to work cooperatively together on intelligence and in terms of prevention of these kinds of horrible attacks," the president said.

Obama, who visited Oslo in 2009 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, fondly recalled his welcome in the NATO ally and said he "wanted to personally extend my condolences to the people of Norway."

"Our hearts go out to them and we will provide any support we can to them," said Obama, who earlier received a briefing on the attacks from his top anti-terrorism adviser John Brennan.

A blast tore through government buildings and a gunman opened fire at a youth meeting of the ruling party, leaving at least 80 people reported dead.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States "strongly condemns today's attacks in Oslo and Utoya Island.

"We stand with the people of Norway in this moment of sorrow and offer our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those injured and killed," said Clinton

State Department spokeswoman Heide Bronke Fulton called the attacks "despicable" and said the embassy in Oslo has urged all US citizens to avoid the center of the Norwegian capital.

"The US has reached out to the Norwegian authorities to offer assistance, but there have been no specific requests from the Norwegians thus far," Fulton told AFP.

New Zealand's prime minister, in his meeting with Obama, also voiced his "sympathies and concerns" over the attacks in Norway.

"If it is an act of global terrorism, then I think that what it shows is no country, large or small, is immune from that risk," Key said.

"And that's why New Zealand plays its part in Afghanistan as we try and join others like the United States in making the world a safer place," he said.

New Zealand has sent 70 elite special force troops and 140 reconstruction personnel to Afghanistan.

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India urges S. Asia to fight 'scourge of terrorism' (AFP)

NEW DELHI (AFP) – South Asian nations must make greater efforts to fight terrorism without relying on outside help, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a regional conference in New Delhi.

Stressing that South Asia could prosper as a whole, Singh said there was a need to develop a "culture" in which the countries involved would be able to tackle the region's deep frictions.

"The scourge of terrorism has taken a huge toll on all our societies. It is a cancer, that if not checked, will consume us all," Singh told a gathering of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

"I would like to believe that we have the will and foresight to prevent such an outcome," Singh said on Saturday. "Others cannot solve our problems for us."

Singh added the region's youthful population was an opportunity but also a challenge.

"Disaffection and alienation provide a fertile breeding ground for intolerance, violence and terrorism which then threaten our societies," he said.

SAARC, founded in 1985, groups Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Critics have blamed its inability to exploit the region's potential on the long and bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan.

Relations between the two nations, which have fought three wars since the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947, have been plagued by border and resource disputes, and accusations of Pakistani militant activity against India.

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Top US senator urges Guantanamo for Iraqi suspects (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, called Tuesday for two Iraqis facing terrorism charges in his home state to be shipped to the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

"Get these men out of Kentucky. Send them to Guantanamo where they belong. Get these terrorists out of the civilian system and out of our backyards and give them the justice they deserve," said the Republican minority leader.

Waad Ramadan Alwan and his cousin Mohanad Shareef Hammadi have pleaded not guilty to 23 terrorism charges, but could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The two men were arrested after a lengthy and elaborate sting operation in which they allegedly schemed to ship missiles, guns and money to their home country for use in attacks on US troops, according to the US Justice Department.

"We are prosecuting these two alleged terrorists in federal court because it is the most proven method for keeping our country safe," countered a spokesman for the department's national security division, Dean Boyd.

McConnell, a frequent and forceful critic of President Barack Obama's stalled efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay facility, said the two suspects "are foreign fighters -- unlawful enemy combatants who should be treated as such."

"Sending them to Gitmo is the only way to ensure that they will not enjoy all the rights and privileges of US citizens. Sending them to Gitmo is the only way we can be certain there won't be retaliatory attacks in Kentucky," he said.

"Sending them to Gitmo is the only way we can prevent Kentuckians from having to cover the cost and having to deal with the disturbances and disruptions that would come with a civilian trial. And sending them to Gitmo is the best way to ensure that they get what they deserve," he said.

"Since 9/11, there have been hundreds of defendants convicted in our federal court system of terrorism or terrorism-related violations. In none of these cases has a judicial district suffered retaliatory attacks," said Boyd.

"The successful investigation, arrests, and interrogation in this case show the effectiveness of our intelligence and law enforcement authorities in bringing terrorists to justice and preventing them from harming the American people," said the spokesman.

"Abandoning those proven methods would do nothing but risk the safety of the American people," he added.

The case raised questions about the US government's screening practices given that Alwan's fingerprints were found on an unexploded roadside bomb in Iraq and registered in a Department of Defense database long before he was granted refugee status.

The United States has since identified and corrected "specific gaps" in the vetting process and has rescreened refugee applicants, a Department of Homeland security official who declined to be named said after Alwan's arrest.

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