THIS DOESN’T SEEM ALL THAT TRAGIC, TO ME:

A car bomb in the Syrian capital, Damascus, has killed a senior member of Palestinian militant group Hamas. Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil died after the bomb exploded in his car, completely destroying it.

Perhaps some of the Iranian mullahs who are supporting Sadr might be next? I don’t know, but when you put it together with this story it gets interesting:

An Arab state provided Israel with valuable intelligence on the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and its leadership overseas, the London-based Arabic daily al-Hayat reported Friday.

According to the newspaper, an intelligence agency belonging to an Arab state supplied Israel with intelligence on Hamas leaders living in Beirut, Damascus, Tehran and Khartoum at the request of Mossad head Meir Dagan.

Hmm. Meanwhile, in a gratifying, but probably unrelated, development we have this report:

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) – Paramilitary police may have killed a suspected top al-Qaida operative Sunday in a four-hour gunbattle during a raid on a house in southern Pakistan that led to the arrest of two other men, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the dead man was thought to be Amjad Hussain Farooqi, who was wanted for his alleged role in the kidnapping and beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002.

Other intelligence officials said earlier that the raid was launched after police received a tip that Farooqi was hiding in the house.

He will not be missed.