Greater Middle East
Yemen: war comes to capital
A suicide attack on the defense ministry thrust Yemen briefly into the news—as an invisible sectarian war rages across much of the countryside.
Tag: al-Qaeda
Watching the Shadows
Gitmo detainees accuse Poland in CIA rendition
Lawyers for two Guantánamo detainees, arguing before the European Court of Human Rights, accused Poland of providing a secret torture site for the CIA's "rendition" program.
Watching the Shadows
Gitmo lawyer: declassify interrogation techniques
The lawyer for five Gitmo prisoners charged in the 9-11 attacks has asked President Obama to declassify the CIA interrogation program that allegedly subjected prisoners to torture.
Watching the Shadows
US court upholds conviction of ex-Gitmo detainee
The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of ex-Guantánamo detainee Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa.
North Africa
Qaeda commander claimed captured in Libya
Al-Qaeda operative Nazih Abdul Hamed al-Ruqai AKA Abu Anas al-Libi, wanted for his role in the 1998 African embassy bombings, was reportedly captured by US forces in Tripoli.
Africa
US sea raid on Somali rebel stronghold
US forces launched a night raid on a rebel-held town in Somalia’s southern Lower Shabelle region from the sea—apparently an effort to kill the leader of the Shabaab.
Watching the Shadows
Gitmo judge allows 9-11 hearings to continue
A military judge refused defendants’ request to suspend pretrial hearings in the case against five Guantánamo Bay prisoners related to the 9-11 terrorist attack.
Greater Middle East
Syria: what is the imperial agenda?
Obama's UN speech pledged: "We will ensure the free flow of energy" from the Middle East. Yet intervention risks a conflagration that could threaten imperial control of the oil reserves.
Greater Middle East
Syria: civil wars in the civil war
As the Free Syrian Army now battles jihadist rebels as well as the regime, the two biggest jihadist factions are fighting each other for control over oilfields in Syria’s north.
Greater Middle East
Syria’s Christians become propaganda pawns
Syria’s Christians are becoming propaganda fodder in an international war of perceptions, with atrocities carried out by the jihadist Nusra Front being attributed to the FSA.
Greater Middle East
9-11 and Syria: a propaganda field day
The popular meme "I didn't join the army to fight for al-Qaeda in Syria" is a betrayal of Syria's secular civil resistance—which continues even now to exist and struggle for freedom.
Greater Middle East
Syria: Nusra Front attack Christian village
Jihadist forces of the Nusra Front launched an assault on the ancient Christian village of Maaloula, which is on the UNESCO tentative list of world heritage sites.