Summary   Abd al-Wahhab Muhammad Qaid, the elder brother of a top al-Qaeda commander killed in an American drone strike in Pakistan last summer, has emerged as a strong candidate in the upcoming election for Libya’s top political job president of the General National Congress (GNC).... MORE

Introduction  In the remote regions of South Sudan’s Jonglei state, a failed politician, former theology student and military neophyte has managed to turn his personal dissatisfaction with the administration of the newly created South Sudan into an insurgency that draws on tribal rivalries, external interference... MORE

Carlos Ernesto Mojica Lechuga maintains an unassuming presence; thin and balding, his only noticeable oddity is a tattoo on his forehead that reads “In memory of my mother.” Beneath this exterior, however, is one of the most notorious criminals in all of El Salvador and... MORE

In Boko Haram leader Abu Shekau’s first public statement in June 2010, he surprised Nigerian government officials when he addressed the message to the “Leaders of al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups in Algeria, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen” (Agence-France Presse, July 14, 2010). At that time,... MORE

Tension between Sunnis and Shiites in Lebanon has risen over the last few years in response to the increasing influence of Hezbollah on Lebanese state institutions as well as a growing sense of marginalization among Sunnis in the country. This tension has been expressed in... MORE

In connection with the tragic events in Boston, some Western journalists have started pursuing sensational angles to the story concerning the purported ties between the alleged elder Boston Marathon bomber, Tamerlan Tsnarnaev, and a Dagestani militant who went by the name of Mahmud Mansur Nidal... MORE

Two years ago, Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia (AST) established itself as the premiere Salafi-Jihadi organization operating in the post-revolution environment. AST has become a key player not necessarily because of its size, but because of the anxiety it gives to many who worry about their... MORE

As oil theft in southern Nigeria’s Niger Delta region reaches up to an unprecedented 250,000 barrels per day, there are signs that al-Haji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, the man who helped found the militant movements of the Delta and perfected the practice of “bunkering” (as tapping the... MORE

Isa Abd al-Majid Mansur is the leader of the southern Libyan ethnic political and militant movement the Tubu Front for the Salvation of Libya (TFSL). He is in his early-40s and is a native of the Libyan oasis town of Kufra in the southeastern Cyrenaica... MORE

The Department of State designated Ahmed Abdullah Saleh al-Khazmari al-Zahrani (a.k.a. Abu Maryam al-Azdi) a “global terrorist” on January 24, describing him as a senior member of al-Qaeda. Al-Zahrani has been on a list of extremists wanted for extradition by the Saudi Interior Ministry since... MORE