Latest Articles about Middle East

Saudi Mujahideen: Down but not Out?

The attack on Monday December 6 on the U.S. consulate in Jedda, coming after a lull in high profile attacks, cast a different light from the image put out by the Saudi Arabian government on the progress against the Islamist Mujahideen in the country. The... MORE

Zarqawi’s Pledge of Allegiance to al-Qaeda: From Mu’asker al-Battar, Issue 21

Translation by Jamestown Researcher Jeffrey Pool Translator's Introduction: On October 17, 2004, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his Tawhid wal-Jihad organization issued an online statement pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda and its commander, Sheikh Osama bin Laden. Al-Qaeda reprinted and acknowledged the statement, responding favorably to the... MORE

Unraveling Zarqawi’s al-Qaeda Connection

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

Zarqawi’s Jordanian Agenda

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

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi: A Biographical Sketch

In the span of just eighteen months, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has emerged from obscurity to eclipse Osama bin Laden as public enemy number one in the Bush administration's war on terror. Less gifted than bin Laden in nearly every way, Zarqawi rose to become the... MORE

Al-Qaeda’s Diminishing Returns in the Peninsula

The latest attempted bombing of the Interior Ministry building and the Special Emergency Forces headquarters training unit at Riyadh on December 29, appears to spell out more evidence of al-Qaeda's decline in the Peninsula. The bombings and related clashes with Islamist militants accounted for a... MORE

Kuwaiti Officers Arrested Plotting to Kill Americans

High ranking officers in the Kuwaiti army have been arrested on suspicion of planning terrorist acts against American military and residential areas in the emirate. The news provides more evidence of growing radicalism in Kuwait, and of fallout from the conflict in Iraq. A report... MORE

Radical Islamists’ Terror of the Iraqi elections

As expected, the days approaching the January 30 election date are witnessing an intensification of insurgent activity, which is making the security situation on the ground appear desperate. However, amid the carnage the tone of the mujahideen is appearing similarly desperate. On January 16 the... MORE

New Jihadist Organization Strikes in Kuwait

The developments in Kuwait reported in the last issue of Terrorism Focus have accelerated. Following the arrest of high ranking officers in the Kuwaiti army on suspicion of planning terrorist acts against American targets, two policemen were shot dead in the Hawalli suburb of Kuwait... MORE