Early returns from the presidential elections indicate the Muslim Brotherhood candidate and the former prime minister in the Mubarak administration received the most votes. Since neither received more that 50% of the votes, a runoff will decide the winner.
Russia not to allocate $10 million for Afghan army
Turkish pianist accused of insulting Islam
Afghanistan – 95 tonnes of heroin smuggled to Central Asia annually
Tunisia: Salafite party calls for polygamy and halt to adoptions
Yemen praises State Department’s use of graphic anti-militant imagery
A suicide bomber killed 12 Shia in a bombing at a Houthi mosque in Al Hazm, the capital of Al Jawf province. Ansar al Sharia reportedly said the name of the Sana’a suicide bomber is a Yemeni soldier named Haitham Hamid Hussein Mufarih.
Three civilians were killed in a blast at a mosque in Galkayo. Shabaab arrested khat traders in Afmadow. Somali and African Union forces are just two miles outside of the Shabaab stronghold of Afgoye.
President Hollande said France would pull 2,000 soldiers out of Afghanistan by the end of 2012, leaving 1,300 in country to help with equipment repatriation and training of Afghan troops. Defending France’s “sovereign decision” to withdraw from the NATO mission a year early, he said France would help Afghanistan in other ways, such as assisting […]
Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, a Muslim convert, was convicted of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempted murder, and weapons charges for plotting to bomb a restaurant packed with US soldiers in Killeen, Tex. The AWOL soldier said he planned the attack to seek “justice” for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Regional rise of the Muslim Brotherhood
The Taliban eulogized Jamil ur Rahman, who was killed in a US airstrike on May 23, and threatened to retaliate.
Pakistani interrogator says bin Laden wives gave little away
Higher enrichment at Iranian site
US Senate docks Pakistan $1m for each year of Shakil Afridi’s sentence
Pakistan – Save Peshawar peace body disbanded
Insight: Iran’s Great Game in Afghanistan
Sweden moves to outlaw forced marriages
Security forces killed 17 Taliban fighters and detained 54 more in Helmand, Zabul, Uruzgan, Logar, Ghazni, Khost, Kabul, Nangarhar, and Takhar. Special operations forces captured an IMU facilitator in Badakhshan. A suicide bomber killed two policemen in Helmand.
Talks between Iran and the six powers over Iran’s nuclear program continued for a second day. No agreement was reached as Iran insisted on its right to continue uranium enrichment and Western nations refused to roll back sanctions. Further talks were scheduled for mid-June.
The Yemeni military claimed that 35 al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters were killed in Abyan and Lahj. A former minister called for the government to negotiate with AQAP and its political front, Ansar al Sharia.
The Kenya Defence Force said it would reach Kismayo next month. Gunmen killed a Turkish citizen and a Somali reporter for Shabelle in Mogadishu.
Turkey said Syria was allowing Kurdish rebels to set up bases on its territory. Turkish security forces foiled a Syrian plot to kidnap a Syrian rebel commander.
Presidential elections continued for a second day. An expert judged the elections were fair. The Muslim Brotherhood claimed an early lead.
A photo of Omar Hammami, the American who has served as a commander, propagandist, and recruiter for Shabaab, has been released on the Internet. The photo shows Hammami with a copy of his autobiography, which was released last week.
Badakhshan province has become a haven for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
Allen: US troop drawdown from Afghanistan to begin “very soon”
Where is outrage over upcoming Iran launch?
Iran sets aside $25m to derail Afghan-US deal
Analyst, US Senators Label Pakistan Transit Fee ‘Extortion’