U.S. reports huge spike in global terror

U.S. reports huge spike in global terror:

"The U.S. State Department says the number of major international terrorist incidents more than tripled to 655 last year, the Washington Post reports.

Congressional sources told the newspaper the total was up from the record of around 175 in 2003 and included such acts as the bloody school seizure in Beslan, Russia and violence related to the disputed Indian territory of Kashmir.

Terrorist incidents in Iraq also increased from 22 attacks to 198, or nine times the previous year's total. The newspaper said that draws into question the Bush administration's assertion the situation there had stabilized after the handover of political authority to an interim Iraqi government last summer.

The State Department announced last week it was withholding the statistics on terrorist attacks from its congressionally mandated annual report. A year ago, the department retracted its annual terrorism report and conceded its initial version vastly understated the number of incidents."