The world briefly 2/23/10

Bomb plot suspect cites 'martyrdom' plan

NEW YORK -- A former airport shuttle driver accused of buying beauty supplies to make bombs for an attack on New York City subways pleaded guilty Monday, admitting he agreed to conduct an al-Qaida-led "martyrdom plan" because of U.S. involvement in his native Afghanistan. Najibullah Zazi told a judge the terror network recruited him to be a suicide bomber in New York, where he went to high school and once worked a coffee car just blocks from the World Trade Center site. "I would sacrifice myself to bring attention to what the U.S. military was doing to civilians in Afghanistan," Zazi said in court.

Top general has Plan B for Iraq pullout

WASHINGTON -- The top U.S. general in Iraq said Monday he could slow the exit of U.S. combat forces this year if Iraq's politics are chaotic following elections this spring. Gen. Ray Odierno said there are no signs that will be necessary, but he says he has a Plan B and told his superiors about it during Washington meetings over the past week. The U.S. has about 96,000 troops in Iraq nearly seven years after the American-led invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein. That's the lowest number of American forces in the country since the invasion. Under an agreement negotiated under former president George W. Bush, all combat troops are to leave the country by Aug. 31 although some 50,000 will remain behind to help train Iraqi security forces. The remaining support troops are to be gone by the end of 2011.

Iran to build uranium enrichment facilities

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran said Monday it plans to build two new uranium enrichment facilities deep inside mountains to protect them from attack, a new challenge to Western powers trying to curb Tehran's nuclear program for fear it is aimed at making weapons. Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also Iran's vice president, said Tehran intends to use its more advanced centrifuges at the new sites, a decision that could add to growing concerns in the West over Tehran's program because the technology would allow Iran to accelerate the pace of its program. The two plants are among 10 industrial scale uranium enrichment facilities Iran approved the construction of in November, a dramatic expansion of the program in defiance of U.N. demands it halt enrichment. "Hopefully, we may begin construction of two new enrichment sites in the next Iranian year as ordered by the president," the semiofficial ISNA quoted Salehi as saying Monday. The Iranian calendar year begins March 21.

Ancient fortifications excavated in Israel

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli archaeologist said Monday that ancient fortifications recently excavated in Jerusalem date back 3,000 years to the time of King Solomon and support the biblical narrative about the era. If the age of the wall is correct, the finding would be an indication that Jerusalem was home to a strong central government that had the resources and manpower needed to build massive fortifications in the 10th century B.C. That's a key point of dispute among scholars, because it would match the Bible's account that the Hebrew kings David and Solomon ruled from Jerusalem around that time. While some Holy Land archaeologists support that version of history -- including the archaeologist behind the dig, Eilat Mazar -- others posit that David's monarchy was largely mythical and that there was no strong government to speak of in that era. Speaking to reporters at the site Monday, Mazar, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, called her find "the most significant construction we have from First Temple days in Israel."

-- From wire reports