No image available
/ 10 August 2008

Moving Afghan war to Pakistan

The turbulent prospect of direct United States intervention against al-Qaedaand Taliban jihadi bases in Pakistani territory adjoining Afghanistan appears to have moved closer after last week’s visit to Washington by Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani. Far from reassuring his hosts that Islamabad is on top of the situation in the so-called tribal areas, […]

No image available
/ 31 May 2008

CIA claims al-Qaeda is on the defensive

Al-Qaeda has been essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and is on the defensive throughout most of the rest of the world, the CIA claimed on Friday. The upbeat assessment comes less than a year after United States intelligence reported that al-Qaeda had rebuilt its strength around the world and was well-placed to launch fresh attacks.

No image available
/ 30 May 2008

Bin Laden turns his mind to Israel

Osama bin Laden has plenty on his mind but he managed to pay close attention this month to the events surrounding Israel’s 60th anniversary and the parallel commemoration of the ”nakba” — the catastrophe — that the creation of the Jewish state in 1948 meant for the Palestinians.

No image available
/ 26 May 2008

No solution but war, says Somali Islamist leader

There is ”no solution but war” to solve Somalia’s problems, and Somali Islamists must re-arm and fight, a long-time hard-line Islamist leader linked to al-Qaeda said on Monday. In a rare interview, Sheikh Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki urged the United Nations not to send soldiers to shore up an African Union peacekeeping force.

No image available
/ 17 May 2008

US pledge to Saudis fails to win oil concession

The United States agreed on Friday to help Saudi Arabia protect its oil industry from terrorist attack, while offering to back conservative Arab countries resisting Iranian influence spreading across the Middle East — but King Abdullah was not persuaded to boost Saudi oil production to ease the effect of the -a-barrel price on the US.

No image available
/ 16 May 2008

Bin Laden vows to fight Israel on 60th anniversary

Osama bin Laden vowed in an audio tape marking Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations to continue the fight against the Jewish state and its allies and not give up an inch of Palestinian land. ”We will continue, God permitting, the fight against the Israelis and their allies,” the al-Qaeda leader said in the tape posted on an Islamist website on Friday.

No image available
/ 9 May 2008

Suspected al-Qaeda leader in Iraq arrested

Iraqi security forces have detained a man suspected of being the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq after a captured associate led them to him sleeping in a house in the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi officials said on Friday. More than eight hours after the Iraqi announcement, the United States military said it still had no confirmation that Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Egyptian, had been seized.