Latest Articles about Africa
The Threat of Terrorism to Kenya
Debate is brewing in Kenya over the issue of radical Islam in the wake of the global war on terrorism. In a country where both Christians and Muslims have co-existed harmoniously for years, the talk has turned emotional and has been equally controversial. Experts are... MORE
GSPC Joins al-Qaeda and France Becomes Top Enemy
Al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri's recent September 11 threat to France, coupled with al-Qaeda's official integration with the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), is significant for two principal reasons. First, from al-Qaeda's perspective, it is a formal alliance with an "out-of-area" Islamist group... MORE
Khartoum’s Murdered Journalist: A Casualty in Islam’s Theological Civil War
The brutal decapitation of Khartoum newspaper editor Muhammad Taha earlier this month was part of a much larger inter-Islamic struggle reaching from the mountains of northwest Pakistan through Darfur, Tunisia, Paris and London. The murder took place against a local backdrop of street clashes between... MORE
Somalia’s Islamists Attempt to Rein in Pirates
Months after gaining control of Mogadishu, the main seaports and most of the southern parts of the country, Somalia's Islamic Courts Union (ICU) has begun to rein in sea piracy. Somalia's 3,300 kilometer coastline has been classified by the International Maritime Bureau as one of... MORE
Hardline Islamist Militia Group Shabbab Emerges in Somalia
Recent information emerging from Somalia indicates that a hard-line faction within the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) may have evolved into a new organization called Shabbab (Arabic for "youth"), where youthful die-hard elements of the Islamists are being trained for specialized assignments. An official from Kenya's... MORE
Somalia’s ICU and its Roots in al-Ittihad al-Islami
As the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) continues to spread its influence throughout southern Somalia, the international community has reacted with concern since there are accusations that the ICU has ties to international terrorists. These accusations stem from the fact that many of the key leaders... MORE
Mogadishu’s Ports to Provide Significant Funding for Somalia’s Islamists
On July 11, Somalia's Islamic Courts Union (ICU) established control over Mogadishu's sea port after a two day battle in which over 100 people died and 200 were wounded. With the capture of the port, the ICU now controls most of the city, which had... MORE
Somalia’s Regional Proxy War and its Internal Dynamics
The scramble for power in Somalia's violent and contorted clan-based politics is occurring at every new stage of development, opening up fresh possibilities and opportunities as well as new risks and dangers. The stunning victory of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) over CIA-backed warlords left... MORE
Morocco Cracks Down on Islamist Opposition Group JSA
In a major operation in late May, Moroccan security forces arrested over 300 members of al-Adl wa al-Ihsane (Justice and Spirituality Association—JSA), including ranking leaders, over vague allegations that the group was plotting a violent overthrow of the monarchy (https://www.aljamaa.com). The arrests were made in... MORE
Warlords or Counter-Terrorists: U.S. Intervention in Somalia
As the insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq continue to dominate headlines, a new front in the war on terrorism has opened in Somalia. At a brutal cost to Mogadishu's civilian population, once-discredited warlords have reinvented themselves as "counter-terrorists," seeking and apparently gaining U.S. support by... MORE