A court ordered the release of three men suspected of plotting to murder cartoonist Lars Viks in Gothenburg. Abdi Aziz Mahamud, Salar Sami Mahamood, and Abdi Weli Mohamud had been under observation for several months before their arrest in September. The verdict will be announced on Jan. 20.
The terror group accused Syrian intelligence of staging the deadly Dec. 23 suicide attacks to hide the “failure of the regime of the tyrant in the Levant, Bashar al Assad, in subduing the rebels by force, murder, and exaggeration of crimes.”
With credibility on line, Arabs gambling that observer mission can bring pressure on Syria
Iran Threatens to Block Oil in Reply to Sanctions
US military briefs General Kayani on Nato attack report
Notorious LeJ commander arrested in Waziristan
Security forces killed 12 Taliban fighters in Kurram and two “terrorists” in Dera Ismail Khan. The US urged Pakistan to share the locations of its border posts on the Afghan border to prevent another incident like the one that resulted in the deaths of 24 Pakistani troops in Mohmand.
With Launches In Balkans and Beyond, Al-Jazeera Building New Spheres Of Influence
Turns Out Mullah Omar Was Never on the FBI’s Top Terrorists List
The US Congress urged Twitter to shut down the official Taliban Twitter accounts. The Afghan government has agreed to the presence of a Taliban office in Qatar. Afghan forces are now responsible for Daikundi and Samangan provinces. Six insurgents were killed and six were arrested during operations in several provinces.
Al Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the wave of attacks across Baghdad last week that killed 69 people. An al Qaeda group based in the Kurdistan region has threatened attacks against the US, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in revenge for the killing of its fighters in a US drone attack in the Pakistani […]
Omar no longer on FBI’s most wanted list
Two New Afghan Provinces to Be Handed Over to Afghan Forces
Lebanon will not send observers to Syria as part of an Arab League mission, in order to avoid “negative repercussions” in Lebanon from the Syrian crisis. The head of the Maronite Catholic Church has called upon all non-government forces, including Hezbollah, to disarm.
Mission impossible for Pakistani progressives?
Northern Nigerian Christians Warn of Religious War
A request by Yemen’s former president to enter the US for medical treatment is still in flux. Foes and backers of a plan to ease him out of power fought each other with stones and clubs and injured at least 20 people in the capital of Sana’a.
Shabaab has aggressively recruited children as young as eight in southern Somalia to fight government and African Union forces. A member of parliament, Hassan Ali Adan, was shot in Mogadishu. The Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama’a militia has rejected a power-sharing agreement with Somalia’s political leaders.
Hundreds of residents flee Nigerian cities in fear of more violence
China gets approval for Afghanistan oil exploration bid
Nigerian authorities arrested two suspects in connection with the deadly Christmas Day bombings of Catholic churches. Christianin the north said they feared that a spate of deadly bombings by Boko Haram could lead to a religious war in the country.
Pakistan president vows defiance as crises mount
Al Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq said it targeted the institutions of the “Safavid government” as the country is on the brink of a political and sectarian crisis.
Afghanistan to Disband Critical Infrastructure Police
US military urges more trust with Pakistan after probe
Abu Zubaydah al Lubnani praised Abu Kandahar al Zarqawi, who was killed by US forces in late 2010. Before his death, Abu Kandahar helped several “brothers who went to fight.”
Ten tribal elders were among the 20 people killed in yesterday’s suicide attack in Takhar. ISAF killed four Taliban fighters during an airstrike in Nangarhar. The Afghan Army said that commandos are now capable of conducting night raids.
The military killed 15 Taliban fighters in Kurram and Arakzai. Pakistan has kept NATO’s supply lines closed for one month.
A suicide bomber killed seven Iraqi policemen during an attack outside the Interior Ministry. The government and the UN signed an agreement to close Camp Ashraf.
Protesters in Taiz are calling for the government to expel the US ambassador. The US is considering allowing President Saleh to travel to the US for medical treatment.