WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An FBI probe into alleged corruption in international football has recently intensified after investigators persuaded a key party to be a cooperating witness, U.S. law enforcement sources said.

They said that the witness is Daryan Warner, the son of former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner. The sources declined to further discuss the role of Daryan Warner, who could not be reached for comment.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Somali man alleged to have served as a high-level liaison between al Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen who became a U.S. government witness has pleaded guilty to multiple U.S. terrorism-related charges, the Justice Department said on Monday.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan announced they had unsealed a guilty plea by Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame to nine U.S. criminal charges. They alleged he once commanded “hundreds” of fighters for the Somalia-based militant group Al-Shabaab.

By Mark Hosenball

(Reuters) – The U.S. government on Wednesday offered rewards of up to $5 million each for information leading to the capture or conviction of two U.S. citizens alleged to have become fighters for the Somalia-based Islamic militant group al Shabaab.

In announcements posted on its “Rewards for Justice” website, the State Department identified the two men as Omar Shafik Hammami, alias Abu Mansour al-Amriki, and Jehad Serwan Mostafa, alias Ahmed Gurey or Anwar al-Amriki. Hammami is a former resident of Alabama and Mostafa a former resident of California, it said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. ambassador to Syria said on Wednesday there is no evidence so far to back reports that chemical weapons were used in Syria on Tuesday, but the United States has a large team investigating the issue.

“So far, we have no evidence to substantiate the reports that chemical weapons were used yesterday. But I want to underline that we are looking very carefully at these reports,” Robert Ford, who was recalled from Damascus in February 2012, told a hearing of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. ambassador to Syria told Congress on Wednesday that there is so far no evidence to back reports that chemical weapons were used in Syria on Tuesday.

“So far, we have no evidence which substantiates the reports that chemical weapons were used yesterday. But I want to underline that we are looking very carefully at these reports,” Robert Ford, who was recalled from Damascus in February 2012, said during a U.S. House of Representatives hearing.

TRIPOLI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Libyan authorities have detained a man investigators believe could be an important witness or suspect in the attacks on U.S. outposts in Benghazi, Libya last September, according to people familiar with the matter.

The man, a Libyan national identified as Faraj al-Chalabi, fled to Pakistan after the attacks and only recently returned to Libya, said the sources, who include people in the United States and Libya close to the ongoing investigations. One Libyan security source said he was from Eastern Libya.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country, according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters.

The proposed plan represents a major step by U.S. intelligence agencies to spot and track down terrorist networks and crime syndicates by bringing together financial databanks, criminal records and military intelligence. The plan, which legal experts say is permissible under U.S. law, is nonetheless likely to trigger intense criticism from privacy advocates.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) – The Obama
administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies
full access to a massive database that contains financial data
on American citizens and others who bank in the country,
according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters.

The proposed plan represents a major step by U.S.
intelligence agencies to spot and track down terrorist networks
and crime syndicates by bringing together financial databanks,
criminal records and military intelligence. The plan, which
legal experts say is permissible under U.S. law, is nonetheless
likely to trigger intense criticism from privacy advocates.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country, according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters.

The proposed plan represents a major step by U.S. intelligence agencies to spot and track down terrorist networks and crime syndicates by bringing together financial databanks, criminal records and military intelligence. The plan, which legal experts say is permissible under U.S. law, is nonetheless likely to trigger intense criticism from privacy advocates.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) – The Obama
administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies
full access to a massive database that contains financial data
on American citizens and others who bank in the country,
according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters.

The proposed plan represents a major step by U.S.
intelligence agencies to spot and track down terrorist networks
and crime syndicates by bringing together financial databanks,
criminal records and military intelligence. The plan, which
legal experts say is permissible under U.S. law, is nonetheless
likely to trigger intense criticism from privacy advocates.