Briefs
A Tale of Defection: The Story of Syrian Major General Abdulaziz al-Shalal
In a scene reminiscent of a Hollywood action movie, Syrian Major General Abdulaziz al-Shalal snuck across the Syrian border into neighboring Turkey on the night of December 21, 2012, trekking across the dangerous Cilvegozu border and the town of Reyhanli in Turkey’s southern Hatay province... MORE
A Profile of Alghabass ag Intallah: Reasserting Traditional Tuareg Leadership at the Expense of Ansar al-Din
Alghabass ag Intallah, a young Tuareg politician and tribal leader, has placed himself in a position where he can play a crucial role in determining the future of the ongoing conflict in northern Mali. Ag Intallah’s January 23 split from the Islamist Ansar al-Din of... MORE
The Public Face of MS-13: An In-Depth Look at Leader Borromeo Enrique Henríquez Solórzano
The Juzgado Primero de Instrucción (First Court of Instruction), in the small Salvadoran municipality of Soyapango, convicted Borromeo Enrique Henríquez Solórzano to 30 years in prison on June 3, 1998 for the double homicide of Roberto Carlos Hernandez and José Virgilio Gonzalez (Diario Oficial, October 3,... MORE
A Portrait of Uzbekistan’s Dissident Cleric In Exile: Obidhon Nazarov
In late August, a series of drone strikes in Northern Waziristan were reported to have killed a number of jihadist leaders. Most media attention focused on the possible demise of Badruddin Haqqani, son of the fabled mujahideen leader, with conflicting reports about whether he had... MORE
A Profile of Syrian Jihadist Omar Bakri Muhammad
Omar Bakri Muhammad (a.k.a. the "Tottenham Ayatollah") is a self-proclaimed advocate of jihadism who has recently called for jihad in Syria against the Assad regime. Bakri, who was expelled from the UK in 2005 for “glorifying terrorism,” said that al-Qaeda plans to wage war against... MORE
Egypt’s Threat from Within: Who’s Who In The Madinat Nasr Cell
Amidst new political turmoil in Egypt, the investigation continues into the extent of the radical Islamist network disrupted by an October 24 police raid on the militants’ armory in the Cairo suburb of Madinat Nasr. [1] A number of those arrested during the Madinat Nasr raid... MORE
December 2012 Briefs
AQIM LEADERS MOKHTAR BELMOKHTAR AND ABDELMALEK DROUKDEL SPLIT Mokhtar Belmokhtar is an Algerian-born former commander of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). In July, he was reported to have been killed or seriously injured in the battle of Gao, in which AQIM supported the Movement... MORE
A Profile of Syrian Rebel Cleric Shaykh Ahmad Mouaz al-Khatib
The National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary Forces and the Opposition elected Shaykh Ahmad Mouaz al-Khatib al-Husni, a little known moderate cleric (imam), on November 11 to be their chief (al-Arab Online, November 12). While Khatib has asserted himself as a determined opposition leader, he has historically... MORE
An In-Depth Portrait of Murat Karayilan: Field Commander of the PKK
Murat Karayilan joined the separatist terrorist organization the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan—PKK) in the late 1970s. Right before the military coup that took place in September 1980 in Turkey, Karayilan was among the PKK militants that fled to Syria, where Hafez al-Assad’s regime... MORE
Behind the Reign of Terror in Somalia: A Snapshot of al-Shabaab leader Ahmad Abdi Godane
The failed state of Somalia is home to numerous clan-based and Islamist insurgent groups. However, none of these groups compare to Harakat al-Shabaab al-mujahideen—widely known as al-Shabaab—in size, sophistication or operational capability. Despite numerous attempts to eradicate the group, al-Shabaab continues to control large swaths... MORE