An October 17th statement posted on an Islamist website and published in al-Qaeda's military journal Mu`askar al-Battar claiming to be from the Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (JTJ) group led by Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi began with a personal pledge of allegiance from Zarqawi and his fighters to... MORE

Though most famous for funding and organizing suicide bombings and beheadings in Iraq, Ahmad Fadil Nazal al-Khalaylah – aka Abu Musab al-Zarqawi – has long assumed a leading role in terrorist operations in other countries, including his native Jordan. An East Banker and a member... MORE

With Russia once again threatening pre-emptive strikes on "terrorist" installations in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge, it seems timely to re-examine the alleged activities of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the region several years ago. The Pankisi Gorge is a river valley about 34 km long... MORE

The assassination of the controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh has provoked some uncomfortable debates in Europe. The killer was not dispatched on his mission by sinister al-Qaeda masterminds scheming somewhere from their hideout in Asia. On the contrary, the assassin epitomizes the new European... MORE

Last July's arrest of two residents from Johannesburg and Pretoria suspected of having links to al-Qaeda has raised fears that the Republic of South Africa (RSA) is possibly being targeted as a new logistical and operational hub by pan-Islamic extremists. While it is difficult to... MORE

Osama bin Laden's videotaped address to the American people, originally broadcast on the al-Jazeera satellite network on October 29, incorporates both new ideas and familiar themes in perhaps his most lucid explanation of the case for jihad thus far. [1] Eschewing the fatigues of a... MORE

President Hamid Karzai's announcement that terrorism had been defeated in his country may return to haunt him and his administration, but there is no denying the magnitude of the success against terrorism in Afghanistan that was embodied in the results of the recent election. The... MORE

Nearly three years after the war that ousted the Taliban, security in Afghanistan remains precarious- some one hundred people (excluding insurgents) have been killed in violence in the country so far this year. However, many of these killings – and indeed much of the violence... MORE

The terrorist attacks of November 2003 marked a milestone in Turkey’s struggle against the forces of radical Islam. As the Turkish police and intelligence services broaden their investigation into the existence of a local terrorist cell that carried out the horrific bombings of the British... MORE

Much has changed since the 1960s and 70s. Back then, there was a whole host of states that could be suspected of funding, equipping or lending more surreptitious assistance to terrorist organizations. In 2004, the list of state sponsors of terrorism has diminished considerably. Born... MORE