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SNIPPET: "The NEFA Foundation has obtained a new communiqué from Al-Qaida's network in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) announcing the foundation of a specialized media wing known as the "Andalus Foundation." According to the statement, "due to our belief that the battle of pen is no less important than the battle of the sword, and in continuation of our development of jihadi media,...""

A French physicist with the European atomic research centre near Geneva was charged with terrorism offences by a Paris judge last night after investigators said that he offered to work with the North African branch of al-Qaeda. Adlène Hicheur, 32, who is of Algerian origin, was arrested last week with his younger brother after intelligence agents intercepted his alleged internet contacts with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The physicist, who works at the giant atomic collider at CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research), which straddles Swiss and French territory, told the Islamic group that he was interested in committing an...

PARIS - French agents have arrested a researcher from Europe's top atomic lab on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda, fuelling fears that terrorists could be targeting the nuclear industry. The 32-year-old man, who was detained along with his brother, works for the prestigious European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) in Geneva, Switzerland, according to French police sources. ''The inquiry will doubtless say what were the objectives in France or elsewhere and indicate perhaps that we have avoided the worst possible scenario,'' said Brice Hortefeux, the French Interior Minister. An intelligence source told Le Figaro that ''this is a very high...

"Moroccan police arrest 24 from network coordinating with jihadists "in Sweden, Belgium and the Syria-Iraq zone"" SNIPPET: "The security services in Morocco have arrested 24 members of a "terrorist network" linked to Al-Qaeda that recruited volunteers for suicide bombings in Iraq, the interior ministry said Wednesday. In a statement carried by the official MAP news agency, it said the network -- coordinating "with terrorists in Sweden, Belgium and the Syria-Iraq zone" -- also sought recruits for Al-Qaeda to fight in Afghanistan and Somalia. The suspects -- now being questioned by police -- were arrested in several cities in Morocco, said...

The Emir of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abu Mus'ab 'Abd Al-Wadoud, has asked the Jordan-based jihadist cleric Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi to rule on shari'a matters for the organization.

SNIPPET: "According to ITRR, the latest jihadist communication was unusual in that it was very explicit and open in targeting the Germans, in discussing a coming attack, and in specifying its timing. Aside from Ramadan, which ends 19 September 2009, the upcoming German national election on September 27 has been marked as a "red flag date" by ITRR." SNIPPET: "German security services have also been cited in local media discussing stepped up jihadist chatter, threats and intelligence warnings aimed at the German state in recent months. Earlier this year, video messages delivered in German by an al-Qaeda fighter going by...

Note: The following text is a quote: YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Travel Warning: Mali CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Sub-Saharan Africa - Mali 31 Aug 2009 The U.S. Department of State issued the following Travel Warning on August 31: The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risk of travel to Mali and that Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) may use the Islamic month of Ramadan as an opportunity to conduct further attacks against Americans and other foreign nationals. Faith-based organizations, regardless of location, may be particularly targeted....

Note: The following text is a quote: YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: al-Qa'ida Threat to Americans in Mauritania during Ramadan CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Sub-Saharan Africa - Mauritania 23 Aug 2009 U.S. Embassy Nouakchott issued the following Warden Message on August 23, 2009: Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) may use Ramadan as an opportunity to conduct further attacks against American citizens. Both U.S. Government officials and private Americans working for faith-based organizations may be particularly targeted. American citizens traveling to or residing in Mauritania should maintain a sense...

Note: The following text is a quote: YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: Mali, Threat to Americans During Ramadan CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Sub-Saharan Africa - Mali 21 Aug 2009 U.S. Embassy Bamako issued the following Warden Message on August 21: Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) may use Ramadan as an opportunity to conduct further attacks against Americans. Accordingly, American citizens and their families traveling to or residing in Mali should maintain a sense of heightened awareness. American citizens are urged to consult the Department of State's Worldwide Caution...

Note: This older thread and related links are posted here for archival purposes. Fyi. # TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2009 SNIPPET: "After dismantling the 'Afghan channels' whose goal was to send candidates to Jihad in Afghanistan, the anti-terrorism unit heard of a suspect who was contacted via the internet by a senior leader in ASIM and asked to commit a suicide-attack in France. The man refused, but an investigation revealed that other people received this proposition. Though al-Qaeda is growing weaker in the Maghreb, the security services are taking this matter very seriously. However, they do not know whether there are...

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the French embassy in Mauritania's capital, wounding two members of staff. Mauritanian police say the suicide bomber was a wanted "member of the jihadist movement". AFP - A suicide bomber died Saturday after staging an explosion near the French embassy in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, as two members of staff were jogging nearby, police and embassy staff said. Two French nationals, security employees at the French embassy, were near the man at the moment of the blast," embassy official Marc Flattot told AFP. "They are in hospital, they are unharmed, but in shock,"...

Al-Qaeda vows to hit China over Uighur unrest by Polly Hui 1 hr 48 mins ago HONG KONG (AFP) – Al-Qaeda is threatening for the first time to attack Chinese interests overseas in retaliation for the deaths of Muslims in the restive region of Xinjiang, according to a risk analysis group. The call for reprisals against China comes from the Algerian-based offshoot Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), according to a summary of its report sent to AFP by the international consultancy Stirling Assynt. "Although AQIM appear to be the first arm of Al-Qaeda to officially state they will target...

Note: The following news brief is a quote: Police dismantle Algiers terror cell 12/07/2009 Algerian anti-terror units on Saturday (July 11th) dismantled a terror cell and arrested nine people, including several women, in the eastern Algiers suburbs of Bordj El Kiffan and Kouba, Tout sur l'Algerie reported. A suspect arrested as part of the investigation into al-Qaeda's El Fateh brigade in Algiers provided key information. According to security sources, the network had being submitting information to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on the movement and the organisation of security services in Algiers.

SNIPPET: “WASHINGTON - Last week, German authorities discovered that groups of terrorists may have been dispatched from training bases in Pakistan to launch crippling attacks.” SNIPPET: “They say as a minimum of 12 al-Qaida operatives who were trained in the tribal region of Pakistan have left the training camps and are headed back to their home countries. Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Egypt are just some of those countries. According to the source, the threat levels also were raised for many other Western European countries to include concerns for “Turkish Airlines flying passengers from Istanbul to the...

Tunisian authorities have reportedly arrested nine soldiers for allegedly planning attacks on visiting American military officers. The arrests were made under the Tunisian anti-terrorism law, lawyers said. The detainees, two of whom are officers in the Tunisian Air Force, planned to assassinate American military officers who visit the country periodically for military training and joint exercises with the Tunisian army, the German Deutsche Press Agency (DPA) reported. Dr. Jack Kalpakian, a political expert at Morocco’s Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane, said he was not surprised to hear news of the terror sweep. “Tunisia’s government has followed a very secularist policy and...

PARIS (AP) — A top Muslim group in Britain lashed out at Nicolas Sarkozy as "patronizing and offensive" on Tuesday, after the French president said body- and face-covering Islamic garments such as the burqa turn women into prisoners. In Paris, parliament formally created a commission Tuesday to study the wearing of body-cloaking Muslim robes in France, a day after Sarkozy told lawmakers that the burqa would not be welcome in the country. A top official with the Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella organization for British Muslim groups, accused Sarkozy of "divisive politics," and said his comments could fan an...

Note: The following text is a quote: YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: Mauritania Kidnapping Threat CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Sub-Saharan Africa - Mauritania 27 Jun 2009 U.S. Embassy Nouakchott released the following SMS Warden Message on June 27: Embassy advises American citizens in Nouakchott of a credible threat of a kidnapping attempt tonight, June 27. Americans should exercise utmost security and remain securely locked in their residences and take extreme caution while in vehicles or offices. RELATED REPORTS 23 Jun 2009 WARDEN MESSAGE: MAURITANIA SECURITY AWARENESS FOLLOWING U.S. CITIZEN MURDER 12 Jun...

Abu Yahya al-Libi circles back to Algeria today in his new video, “Algeria Between the Sacrifice of Fathers and Faithfulness of Sons.” In short, it seems like a call for direct action to the AQIM guys against Algerian military/government targets and a broader recruiting call to the broader Maghrebi jihadi population.

A BRITISH holidaymaker taken hostage while travelling in north Africa has been beheaded by Al Qaeda ­terrorists. Edwin Dyer, 60, had been attending a music festival near the Niger–Mali border when he was captured in January along with fellow tourists. His captors had demanded the release of preacher of hate Abu Qatada who is held in a UK jail. But the grisly execution at the weekend came after two deadlines passed and it was made clear to the terrorists their demands would not be met. Gordon Brown called it an appalling act of barbaric terrorism. He said the terrorists would...

April 27, 2009 No. 2329 New Video from Al-Qaeda Maghreb Showcases Suicide Bombers, Young Children Raised in Jihad Camps The media wing of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has released the second video in its "Lovers of the Virgins of Paradise" series, which is devoted to documentation and praise of the organization's suicide bombers, as well as features young children of mujahideen, who grew up in jihad camps.

April 22, 2009 Breaking: AlQaeda (AQIM) Release Four Western Hostages In Mali Update on AlQaeda Kidnaps Six Westerners (Identified: 2 Canadians, 1 Brit, 1 German, 2 Swiss) Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has released four hostages but unfortunately the Brit and other Swiss(male) is still being held. The article doesn't state if monies or demands were met. Al-Qaeda's North African[AQIM] branch on Wednesday released in Mali two Canadian diplomats, a German and a Swiss tourist kidnapped several months ago, but held on to two other Europeans. The kidnappers released Robert Fowler, UN special envoy to Niger and his...

The locals in the mountain village of Ait Hidja still speak of the night six months ago when members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) decapitated a prison warden and set fire to his car. “The night they cut his head there was such terror in the village,” says Ahcene Idja, an unemployed university graduate. “Then they kidnapped a man and held him hostage until his family paid ransom.” The now-abandoned stone cottage where the killing took place stands on a country road rising from the valley to the village. The burnt hulk of the car lies in the...

April 03, 2009 Think Islamist extremists don't have their eyes on conquering Europe? Think again. This video produced by Ibnul Akwa links the recent successes of Shabaab in Somalia and of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Eastern North Africa with the eventual reconquista of Spain. There's nothing original here...

Al-Qaida's North Africa branch claimed Wednesday it is holding hostage a senior U.N. peace envoy, his aide and four tourists kidnapped in the Sahara Desert in recent weeks. "We announce to the general public that the mujahideen (holy warriors) reserve the right to deal with the six kidnapped according to Islamic Shariah law," the al-Qaida group said in a statement posted Wednesday ...

Al Qaeda terrorists have been left fearing the Black Death plague after it wiped out at least 40 insurgents at an Algerian training camp, it was reported today. The horror disease, which killed 25 million people in medieval Europe, is understood to have been found in a militant’s body dumped at a roadside. Terror group AQLIM (al Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb) was forced to turn its shelter in the Yakouren forests into mass graves and flee, it has been claimed. Now al Qaeda chiefs are said to fear the plague has been passed into other cells...

An al Qaeda affiliate in Algeria closed a base earlier this month after an experiment with unconventional weapons went awry, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Monday. The official, who spoke on the condition he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said he could not confirm press reports that the accident killed at least 40 al Qaeda operatives, but he said the mishap led the militant group to shut down a base in the mountains of Tizi Ouzou province in eastern Algeria. He said authorities in the first week of January intercepted an urgent communication...

ANTI-TERROR bosses last night hailed their latest ally in the war on terror — the BLACK DEATH. At least 40 al-Qaeda fanatics died horribly after being struck down with the disease that devastated Europe in the Middle Ages. The killer bug, also known as the plague, swept through insurgents training at a forest camp in Algeria, North Africa. It came to light when security forces found a body by a roadside. The victim was a terrorist in AQLIM (al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb), the largest and most powerful al-Qaeda group outside the Middle East. It trains Muslim...

Israel's air force fired around 20 missiles at targets in Gaza City on Saturday, causing heavy damage, a Reuters witness said. The IDF has confirmed the report. (Hanan Greenberg and Reuters)

Note: The following text is a quote: https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=94540 YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: Libya Security Notice CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Middle East / N. Africa - Libya 11 Dec 2008 RELATED REPORTS 6 Nov 2008 WARDEN MESSAGE: KOFRA, LIBYA DEMONSTRATIONS 7 Oct 2008 WARDEN MESSAGE: TRIPOLI, LIBYA AUTO THEFT TREND 25 Sep 2008 WARDEN MESSAGE: LIBYA SECURITY REMINDER U.S. Embassy Tripoli released the following Warden Message on December 11: This Warden Message alerts U.S. citizens to be cautious when traveling to desert and border regions of Libya. The Department of State advises...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_3835.html Travel Alert U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs This information is current as of today, Wed Dec 10 2008 14:45:20 GMT-0800 (PST). Mali December 10, 2008 Travel Alert is being issued to warn U.S. citizens of security concerns in Mali. This replaces the Travel Alert for Mali issued on February 12, 2008, expires on March 31, 2009, updates information on security incidents and areas of concern, including Essakane, and strongly urges U.S. citizens against travel to northern Mali. Due to recent armed conflicts, kidnappings, armed robberies, and the continued presence...

Note: The following blog entry is a quote: http://www.memriiwmp.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=501 Latest on Islamist Website Monitor Report: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Discussed Attack on Algerian Parliament, Army COS, Ministers The Algerian daily Ennahar El-Djadid reports that a member of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, referred to only by the initials M. A., has revealed the details of discussions between himself and other AQIM members regarding plans to attack government and military buildings, including the Algerian parliament. Posted at : 2008-12-03

How The West Was Won The rapid and unexpected decline of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq was officially recognized this week, when Maj. Gen. John Kelly, commanding the Marine Expeditionary Force, turned operational control of Anbar Province over to the Iraqi army and police. Anbar, a vast expanse of desert the size of North Carolina, had been the stronghold of the Sunni insurgency. For years, foreign fighters loyal to al-Qaida had sneaked across Iraq's northwestern border with Syria, into Anbar and down a "rat line" of safe houses in Haditha, Ramadi and Hit. From Fallujah, the arch terrorist Zarqawi...

Suicide Attack in Algeria Kills Dozens By Ricci Shryock Dakar 19 August 2008 Shryock report - Download (MP3) Shryock report - Listen (MP3) Algeria's Interior Ministry says a suicide car bombing in front of a police school near Algiers has killed more than 40 people and injured dozens more. Ricci Shryock has more from our West Africa regional bureau in Dakar. Gendarmes stand at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Issers, 60 kms east of Algiers, 19 Aug 2008 Young Algerians were waiting in line to register at the local police academy when a suicide car bomb exploded...

Pentagon Makes Fighting Extremism Top Priority Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Pentagon on Thursday officially named "the long war" against global extremism as its top priority and pledged to avert any conventional military threat from China or Russia through dialogue. The Defense Department, in a new national defense strategy, also emphasized the need to subordinate military operations to "soft power" initiatives to undermine Islamist militancy by promoting economic, political and social development in vulnerable corners of the world. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the change would help establish permanent institutional support for counterinsurgency skills...

Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S....

Algeria Muslim body slams Christian evangelistsSun 1 Jun 2008, 7:22 GMTALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria hit back on Saturday at foreign accusations minority Christians are harassed, saying Protestant evangelicals were secretly trying to divide Algerians to colonise the mainly Muslim north African country.http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN130142.html   The Rising Threat of Revolutionary Islam in Algeria A radical Islamic victory in Algeria would pose significant long-term threats to US interests in North Africa, the Middle East, and the Muslim world ...http://www.heritage.org/Research/Africa/BG1060.cfm   2 bombings near Algerian capital wound 6 peopleThe Associated Press - Jun 4, 2008Algeria's Islamic militants have mounted increasing attacks over the past...

Al Qaeda's branch for North Africa on Thursday set a three-day deadline to meet conditions for the release of two Austrian tourists it claimed to have kidnapped in Tunisia last month. In a statement posted on the Internet - which included six photographs purportedly showing Austrians Wolfgang Ebner and Andrea Kloiber - al Qaeda in Islamic North Africa said it would free the pair if all of the group's members were released from jails in Tunisia and Algeria. The posting gave Austrian authorities three days, starting midnight Thursday, to comply.

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa claimed responsibility for kidnapping two Austrian tourists last month in Tunisia in an audio recording aired Monday on Al-Jazeera television. A man who identified himself as Salah Abu Mohammed said in the recording that the terrorist group kidnapped the two Austrians on Feb. 22 in retribution for Western cooperation with Israel, but said the hostages were in good health. "We tell Western tourists that at the same time they are flowing into Tunisian lands seeking joy, our brothers are being slain in Gaza by the Jews with the collaboration of the Western...

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

(IsraelNN.com) Members of the North African branch of the international terrorist organization Al-Qaeda announced Monday that they are holding two Austrian tourists hostage "in retribution" for what they claim is Western support for Israeli counter-terrorism operations. Al-Qaeda threatened more such kidnappings. AQIM will issue their demands for release of the two Austrians soon, Abu Muhammad said. In an audio tape aired by the Gulf-based Al-Jazeera satellite network, a man who claimed to represent Al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa (AQIM), Salah Abu Mohammad, identified the two Austrians and said they were in good condition. The alleged hostages, a man and a...

Is the U.S. Failing in Afghanistan? It was malice in wonderland at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday as Bush Administration envoys insisted things are getting better in Afghanistan, while angry lawmakers from both parties cited facts and figures showing just the opposite. Even the senior Republican on the panel, Senator Richard Lugar, found the Administration's claims wanting. "I'm not sure that we have a plan for Afghanistan," he said. Long seen as the "forgotten war" eclipsed by Iraq in U.S. priorities, Afghanistan is in the Washington spotlight this week with the release of three independent reports concluding...

Attack in Algiers: A Warning to Europe ... Death and destruction revisited the Algerian capital of Algiers Tuesday morning when a pair of powerful car bombs exploded, and claimed what early estimates placed as 62 lives. Though no claims of responsibility have been made, security experts say there's little doubt the attack was the work of al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a group that formed an alliance with Osama bin Laden's global jihad in 2006. Officials say Tuesday's spectacular strike increases the risk that AQIM is ramping up its violent struggle to bring down the Algerian government. And as the...