Ali Ahmad Mohamed al Razihi is one of the 48 detainees President Obama’s Guantanamo Review Task Force said should be held in indefinite military detention. But a Periodic Review Board has now recommended that he be transferred to his home country of Yemen.
In a newly released audio message, al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri says his group has not been defeated by American airstrikes. He also addresses the jihadist infighting in Syria, as well as his opposition to the Egyptian government.
Sanafi al Nasr, a senior al Qaeda leader who was reportedly killed in Latakia, Syria in late March, is alive. Nasr leads an al Qaeda committee responsible for the group’s strategic planning and policy.
Abu Sulayman al Muhajir used his Twitter account to condemn the killing of Abu Muhammad al Fateh, the Al Nusrah Front’s leader in the province of Idlib, Syria. Sulayman says that Fateh joined al Qaeda in Iraq in 2005 and went on to become a confidante of Abu Muhammad al Julani, Al Nusrah’s emir.
A video of Nasir al Wuhayshi, al Qaeda’s general manager, has sparked renewed interest in the media. Wuhayshi threatens the US in the video. His “core” leadership role gives him influence across al Qaeda’s international network.
Feroz Ali Abbasi was once held at Guantanamo and US officials have accused him of agreeing to take part in al Qaeda’s attacks against the West. He was transferred to Britain in 2005, but his story is a key part of the case against Abu Hamza al Masri, whose trial began this week in New York.
Jihadist ideologues have mounted a social media campaign to ask Ayman al Zawahiri to more fully explain al Qaeda’s conflict with its former branch, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS).
A video released by the Al Nusrah Front stars Abu Sulayman al Muhajir, a jihadist ideologue who serves as a sharia official in the group. Sulayman discusses al Qaeda’s organizational scheme and hierarchy, as well as the ongoing conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS).
Three prominent Al Nusrah Front officials have now tweeted a message to Ayman al Zawahiri. The message asks him to address specific hot button issues in the infighting between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham and Al Nusrah.
A group of jihadist ideologues has published a message addressed to Ayman al Zawahiri. They call on Zawahiri to address the specific problems they have encountered with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), which has been disowned by al Qaeda.
Abu Khalil al Madani has released an audio message calling on the jihadist groups in Syria to form a common sharia committee, as well as a security committee. Much of his message echoes the mediation efforts of the past.
A banner dedicated to Abu Khalid al Suri is being posted on Twitter. The banner shows him both after his “martyrdom” and as a younger man.
Asim Umar, al Qaeda’s top sharia official in Pakistan, will be holding a Q&A session online in May. The appearance is being promoted on social media.
The State Department today added the Sinai-based jihadist group Ansar Jerusalem to the US government’s lists of designated terrorist organizations. Although State says the group “generally maintains a local focus,” its attacks are entirely consistent with al Qaeda’s global jihad.
A former Guantanamo detainee named Osama Abu Kabir has been arrested in Jordan. The charges have not been made public, but his arrest seems to be connected to Jordanian concerns about the jihad in Syria.
Thirwat Salah Shehata has been arrested in a suburb of Cairo. According to Egyptian officials, he had been training militants in eastern Libya. Shehata has been tracked by US intelligence for more than a decade.
Ayman al Zawahiri has released an audio message eulogizing Abu Khalid al Suri, who was killed on Feb. 23. Zawahiri confirms that he knew al Suri since before the 9/11 attacks and that they had been in direct communication after the beginning of the Syrian revolution.
A New York jury has convicted Sulaiman Abu Ghaith on terrorism charges. In the weeks following 9/11, he became infamous for his threats against America. During questioning by the FBI in 2013, Abu Ghaith admitted he knew a Guantanamo detainee who is still in custody.
Muhsin al Fadhli, a senior al Qaeda leader from Kuwait, is now operating inside Syria as part of the Al Nusrah Front. Al Fadhli has been tied to a string of plots against Western interests.
Seifallah Ben Hassine (a.k.a. Abu Iyad al Tunisi) has released a short statement saying that the Muslim youth “haunt” the US and the West.
An Al Nusrah Front video features Abu Hammam al Shami, an al Qaeda veteran who swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden and has served al Qaeda’s senior leaders since the late 1990s. Abu Hammam criticizes the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) in the video.
Al Maqreze Media has released a statement saying that Ayman al Zawahiri “will not be speaking on our station. We will be raising crucial questions for all concerning the conflict in Syria.”
An Al Nusrah Front official tweeted that the head of al Qaeda’s “Victory Committee” has been killed in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia.
High-profile jihadists in Syria, including those with known ties to al Qaeda, are reporting that Sanafi al Nasr — one of al Qaeda’s highest-ranking leaders — has been killed.
An Al Nusrah Front video released on March 17 features Abu Sulayman al Muhajir, who was an extremist preacher in Australia. Abu Sulayman says he relocated to Syria, where he was part of al Qaeda’s mediation effort in the dispute between Al Nusrah and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS). He criticizes ISIS in the video.
In a video released on March 18, the Al Nusrah Front identifies Abu Firas al Suri as a leader within the group. Al Suri, who has a long al Qaeda pedigree, was dispatched to Syria from Yemen to try to mediate the dispute between Al Nusrah and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham.
AQAP’s latest edition of Inspire magazine purports to show jihadists how to make car bombs similar to the one used by Faisal Shahzad, who was responsible for the failed May 2010 bombing in Times Square.
Earlier this month, a review board responsible for evaluating the status of Guantanamo detainees determined that a Yemeni held in Cuba since early 2002 should remain in custody. According to a leaked threat assessment, the detainee was slated to be a hijacker on 9/11 before al Qaeda canceled his part of the operation.
Twice during congressional hearings last year, The Long War Journal warned that jihadists were looking to secure Mohammed Zammar’s release in Syria. Zammar recruited the Hamburg cell, including the suicide hijack pilots for 9/11.
Mohammed Zammar, who recruited al Qaeda’s Hamburg cell, has reportedly been freed inside Syria. His freedom was negotiated by Ahrar al Sham, an al Qaeda-linked group.