On June 18, 2002, Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry announced the arrest of seven al-Qa’ida members, including six Saudis and a Sudanese national, on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks against vital installations in the Kingdom. ... - Read more...
Over at The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch Steve Merley recently reported appearances may be a bit deceiving when it comes to a major development in the Muslim world: Last week, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia labeled the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. - Read more...
In April 1988, Afghan Jihad leader Abdallah Azzam, a mentor to a rising star in jihadi spheres named Usama bin Laden (aka Abu Abdallah), published a brief article in al-Jihad magazine titled “al-Qa’ida al-Subah” (“The Solid Base”). Consisting of a mere three pages of Arabic text, two-and-a-half decades later this material continues to shape the global security environment ... - Read more...
Without question, the Obama administration’s interest in averting the “known unknown” of Iranian foreign policy being formulated by vociferously anti-American, radical religious ideologues with nuclear weapons at their disposal is reasonable. Still, it is nevertheless mystifying to watch the most overt feature of Tehran’s misbehavior — support for numerous militant Islamist groups labeled terrorist organizations by the US — receive very little attention from President Obama. ... - Read more...
In November 1996, former al-Qa’ida member Jamal al-Fadl of Sudan participated in interviews with the FBI. While explaining al-Qa’ida’s structure and early history, two of the most interesting topics al-Fadl covered are essential to understanding the development of al-Qa’ida and the mindsets of its leaders and associates: First, al-Qa’ida’s religious authorities helped author a fatwa calling for attacks on US interests years before bin Laden issued his own such fatwa in 1996; secondly ... - Read more...
Last month, Abd al-Rasul Sayyaf, an influential member of the Afghan parliament who changed his name to Abd al-Rab Rasul Sayyaf, announced his bid to become the next president of Afghanistan. Although Sayyaf is an important powerbroker and a key ally of current Afghan President Hamid Karzai, he is looked upon by the Afghan people with suspicion, and not without good reason. ... - Read more...