C.I.A. Said to Find No Hussein Link to Terror Chief  —  The Central Intelligence Agency last fall repudiated the claim that there were prewar ties between Saddam Hussein's government and an operative of Al Qaeda, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to a report issued Friday by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Eustis chief: Iraq post-war plan muzzled  —  FORT EUSTIS — Months before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld forbade military strategists from developing plans for securing a post-war Iraq, the retiring commander of the Army Transportation Corps said Thursday.

ABC Gets More Pressure to Toss 9/11 Film  —  NEW YORK (AP) — ABC faced growing pressure Friday about its planned miniseries on the buildup to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.  Former Clinton administration officials, historians and a Democratic petition with nearly 200,000 signatures urged the network to scrap the five-hour drama.

Television Ad Shows Reagan Praising Webb In 1985 Speech  —  Democratic Senate candidate James Webb will launch his first television ad Monday, a 30-second tribute by former President Ronald Reagan, for whom Webb once served as Navy secretary.  —  The commercial shows Reagan, a Republican …

U.S. count of Baghdad deaths excludes car bombs, mortar attacks  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. officials, seeking a way to measure the results of a program aimed at decreasing violence in Baghdad, aren't counting scores of dead killed in car bombings and mortar attacks as victims of the country's sectarian violence.

'Most People Want Us to Win'  —  A president in the fray, more Truman than LBJ.  —  ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — Speaker Nancy Pelosi?  —  "That's not going to happen," snaps the president of the United States, leaning across his desk in his airborne office.  He had been saying that he hoped …

France: Int'l fleet won't employ force  —  France announced on Friday that the international naval force designated to patrol Lebanon's territorial waters would not be authorized to employ force to stop ships from entering or leaving Lebanon.  —  A spokesman for the French defense ministry …

F.B.I. Agents Question Accuracy of 9/11 Series  —  Two retired F.B.I. agents said today that they had rejected advisory roles on the disputed ABC mini-series, "The Path to 9/11," because of concerns about the program's accuracy.  —  One of the agents, Thomas E. Nicoletti …

Saudi religious cops ban dog, cat sales  —  JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia's religious police, normally tasked with chiding women to cover themselves and ensuring men attend mosque prayers, are turning to a new target: cats and dogs.  —  The police have issued a decree banning the sale of the pets …

The GOP's Top 18 Pick-Up Opportunities In The House For 2006  —  It's not shaping up to be a great year for the GOP, the Democrats definitely have a big edge, and quite frankly, this is a lean field.  Still, the GOP does have some opportunities that we may be able to exploit.

9/11 conspiracy theorists multiply  —  Many Americans suspect U.S. government involvement or complicity  —  NEW YORK - He felt no shiver of doubt in those first terrible hours.  —  He watched the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and assumed al-Qaeda had wreaked terrible vengeance.