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Latest Articles about Middle East
More Clerics, in Another Firing Line
In the last edition of Terrorism Focus we featured how clerics were in the firing line from Muslims liberals. Now they have come in for some stick from the jihadist leaders. On November 17 a letter of ‘advice and pity for my brothers who are... MORE
Top Egyptian Terrorist under Pressure
A report from a London-based Islamic affairs research centre illustrates the ongoing pressure exerted by the Egyptian government on its Islamist dissidents. A November 30 statement issued by the London-based al-Maqrizi Centre for Historical Studies, headed by former member of the outlawed Egyptian group Islamic... MORE
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