Rumsfeld en route to Mideast to meet with leaders

Rumsfeld plans to travel to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt and Uzbekistan.

(CNN) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld left Andrews Air Force Base late Tuesday night en route to the Mideast on a tour that will take him to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt and Uzbekistan over the next few days.

At a news conference earlier, Rumsfeld said he was going because the Defense Department has been very active in the region and "normally ministers of defense visit countries where there's that type of activity."

He said the message he would deliver would vary from country to country.

"Given their geography and situation, I thought that meeting with the leadership there would be a good thing," Rumsfeld said after a meeting with Indian Defense Minister Jaswant Singh at the Pentagon.

Pentagon press secretary Torie Clarke said Rumsfeld would hold talks with political and military leaders in the region. "We do want to have consultations about the defense arrangements," she said.

At the White House, press secretary Ari Fleischer was asked why Rumsfeld was going instead of Secretary of State Colin Powell. Fleischer replied, "Because he is the appropriate person to go."

The defense secretary said the United States would retaliate on its own timetable to the September 11 attacks.

"If we are to assure the way of life in a free system such as in our country and India, the only choice we have is to take the battle to them," he said. (Full story)

Other developments:

• Mullah Mohammed Omar, the supreme leader of Afghanistan, told his nation Tuesday night that anyone who supports an anti-Taliban government, including one headed by the former king, would be considered traitors punishable by death.

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RESOURCES  At a glance: • Afghanistan • Saudi Arabia • United Arab Emirates • Pakistan Provided by CountryWatch.com

CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

• British Prime Minister Tony Blair sternly declared Tuesday that U.S.-led military strikes against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban would take place unless it turns over Islamic extremist Osama bin Laden. (Full story)

• The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan repeated a call for negotiations Tuesday and said the Taliban still wanted to see proof of bin Laden's involvement before it would surrender him. "Where is the evidence? Where is the proof? We are not going to do this," Abdul Salam Zaeef told reporters in Quetta, a town in western Pakistan. (Full story)

• The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating trading in shares of 38 companies to determine if people with prior knowledge of the September 11 attacks profited from them. The list of companies includes airlines, banks, brokerages, cruise lines, insurance and defense companies. (Full story)

• Yemen has "one of the most significant" al Qaeda organizational links "in the world," composed mostly of Yemenis who received military training in Afghanistan, a U.S. official said Tuesday. Last year's attack on the USS Cole, which killed 17 U.S. service members, was in the port of Aden, Yemen. Yemen's Interior Ministry said the Aden Islamic Army, whose assets were frozen in the United States, "no longer exists" in Yemen.

• Diplomatic sources told CNN the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan met with Pakistan's president Tuesday and provided evidence the United States says links Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network to the September 11 attacks. (Full story)

• German intelligence services intercepted a phone call on September 11 after the attacks on the United States in which two followers of Osama bin Laden applauded the assaults, a German intelligence official told CNN Tuesday. (Full story)

• The State Department warned Tuesday it had received information that terrorists might target "symbols of American capitalism" in Italy in the next month. "U.S. citizens are urged to maintain a high level of vigilance and to increase their security awareness," the statement said. (Full story)

• The United States is apparently considering steps to secure much-needed Arab support for the fight against terrorism. President Bush said Tuesday a Palestinian state was always "part of a vision" if Israel's right to exist were respected. Secretary of State Colin Powell is working on a speech about the Middle East peace process that clarifies the U.S. position on the eventual creation of the Palestinian state, U.S. officials told CNN. (Full story)

• New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday families of terrorist attack victims would each be given a wooden urn containing soil from the World Trade Center site. He urged families not to buy from people offering to sell such mementos represented as being from the site "because they're probably almost certainly defrauding you." (Full story)

• A suspect in the deadly 1986 hijacking of a Pan Am jetliner in Pakistan pleaded not guilty in federal court Tuesday to charges of murdering two U.S. citizens aboard the hijacked plane. Authorities said FBI agents in Pakistan took Zayd Hassan Abd Al-Latif Masud Al Safarini into custody Friday after he was released from prison by Pakistani officials. (Full story)

• A top United Nations official is warning of a rapidly worsening humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. "I believe the situation is getting very, very serious. Winter is coming very soon, and the international humanitarian community needs to act very quickly," said Kenzo Oshima, undersecretary-general and emergency relief coordinator. (Full story)

• The only major U.S. airport still closed since the terrorist attacks will reopen to air traffic on Thursday, President Bush said Tuesday. "We've taken the necessary safety precautions. Now it's time to start flying again," Bush said at Reagan National Airport near Washington. (Full Story)

• American Airlines said Tuesday it plans to place reinforcement bars on the cockpit doors of its airplanes within 30 days. Two of the four hijacked planes used in the September 11 attacks were American Airlines planes. American Airlines Flight 11 was the first jet to slam into the World Trade Center; American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. (Full story)

• Emerging from a meeting with lawmakers, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Tuesday he is "deeply concerned" that the United States is moving too slowly to prevent more terrorist attacks. "Talk won't prevent terrorism. Tools can help prevent terrorism and we've been working very hard to get that done." (Full story)

• NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said Tuesday the alliance's Article 5 -- stating that an attack on one of them is an attack on them all -- is "fully invoked" now that the United States has presented "clear and compelling" evidence that the September 11 attacks were directed from abroad. (Full story)

• Knowledgeable U.S officials believe there is no truth to reports that Osama bin Laden called his mother shortly before the September 11 attacks and hinted at upcoming terrorist attacks against the United States. (Full story)

• Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift announced the appointment Tuesday of State Police Superintendent Col. John DiFava as the new head of security at Boston's Logan Airport in the fallout from the September 11 terrorist attacks involving two hijacked flights that originated there. (Full story)

• President Bush and U.S. lawmakers met Tuesday to discuss ways to stimulate the world's largest economy in the wake of the terrorist attacks. (Full story)

• The White House and Congress have reached a deal on funding levels for next year's budget. It gives President Bush all of his requested $18.4 billion boost in defense spending, U.S. officials said. The two camps are continuing intense negotiations on security and economic bills related to the September 11 attacks. (Full story)

• A man badly burned in the World Trade Center terrorist attacks was released from the hospital Tuesday, telling reporters he feels "great" about having a second chance at life but now worries about his safety. Doctors said Manu Dhingra was the first of 15 seriously burned victims to be sent home. (Full story)

• The latest figures put the number of people confirmed dead in the attacks on the World Trade Center at 344, New York City officials said. Deputy Mayor Joe Lhota said the number of people who have reported a family member missing is 4,651.