Free Republic

This is breaking news: Ayman al-Zawahiri has officially been named ‘emir’ of Al Qaeda. This makes him the successor of Obama bin Laden, who was taken out by a team of Navy Seals earlier this month. Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports that it has read classified documents from the Dutch secret intelligence organization (AIVD). According to the documents, Al-Zawahiri was appointed as Al Qaeda’s new leader during a meeting on May 9, a week after the death of OBL. “On May 9, the leadership of Al Qaeda elected Al-Zawahiri during a meeting in the tribal areas, between Afghanistan and Pakistan”,...

Omar bin Laden was being groomed as ‘the chosen one’ by his notorious father Osama. Now the favourite son has turned his back on jihadism. But is he really the agent of peace he claims to be? It is after midnight when Osama bin Laden’s fourth-born son, Omar, leads me into a nightclub called Les Caves de Boys in the centre of Damascus. He brushes past the two heavyset Syrian thugs at the door and picks a booth in the back. A dozen or so wealthy Arab men are drinking whiskey and watching Russian strippers put on a show –...