Senior al Qaeda leader Abu Laith al Libi killed in North Waziristan

The fallout from the Jan. 29 airstrike is settling, and it appears a senior al Qaeda leader was killed in the attack in North Waziristan, Pakistan. Abu Laith al Libi was killed in the attack, according to a posting at a prominent jihadi website.
The Ekhlaas forum posted a banner praising the martyrdom of al Libi. "We ask God to accept and embrace Shahydna [martyrdom] Libyan Abu Zuhri," a well known poster stated in a thread at the forum.
Al Libi was a prominent al Qaeda leader, but he is not the third of fourth in command of al Qaeda, as CNN has reported. Saif al Adel is currently believed to be al Qaeda's third in command and strategic planner while Abu Ubdaydah al Masri and Matiur Rehman are believed to have split the roles of senior operational leader. Rehman also heads al Qaeda in Pakistan while al Masri commanders al Qaeda forces in eastern Afghanistan.

Obama fundraiser is 'close friend' of corrupt Iraqi businessman. An undeclared payment of $3.5 million (£1.75 million) from a corrupt Iraqi-British businessman has landed Barack Obama's former fundraiser behind bars.
The payment, disclosed in court papers, is the first time Mr Obama's long-serving bagman Tony Rezko, a Syrian immigrant to the United States, has been linked as a friend to the Iraqi-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi, one of Britain's richest men.

Ahmadinejad called on the West to acknowledge Israel's "imminent collapse." Speaking to a crowd on a visit to the southern port of Bushehr, where Iran's first light-water nuclear power plant is being built by Russia, Ahmadinejad further incited his listeners to "stop supporting the Zionists, as [their] regime reached its final stage." "Accept that the life of Zionists will sooner or later come to an end."

Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan -- the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.

Some Israeli security officials quietly expressed “concern” about an adviser to Sen. Barack Obama who has advocated negotiations with Hamas and providing international assistance to the terrorist group.
The officials noted Robert Malley, a principal Obama foreign policy adviser, has penned numerous opinion articles, many of them co-written with a former adviser to the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, petitioning for dialogue with Hamas and blasting Israel for numerous policies he says harm the Palestinian cause.

A Visit to a Gaza Rocket Factory

No matter what Israel does, the rockets from the Gaza Strip just keep coming. Young men like Abdul are the reason why. He studies by day, but at night he builds bombs for the Islamic Jihad. He and his fellow militants can produce up to 100 per night.

Anti-Mosque Initiatives in Europe

Across Europe, right-wing populist parties are gaining support by focusing on issues such as the construction of mosques. SPIEGEL ONLINE talks to right-wing populism expert Oliver Geden about the strategies used by the right and the pressure they put on the mainstream.
It seems like mosques have never been more controversial in Europe. A right-wing populist party has just announced an attempt to get the construction of mosques banned (more...) in an Austrian state. Meanwhile a right-wing group in Cologne is trying to stop a mosque from being built there (more...).
But why have right-wing populist parties suddenly seized on the issue of mosques?
Because mosques provide the perfect topic for right-wing parties and how they are forcing mainstream parties to shift to the right. More...

Prosecutors say Parviz Khan, 38, plotted to recruit drug dealers to help kidnap a Muslim British soldier, cut off his head, and post video of the atrocity on the Web.

Iran’s Gulag Archipelago

Frontpage interviews Roozbeh Farahanipour, an Iranian journalist, democracy activist and former political prisoner in Iran.

I was tortured with various techniques one of which was called chicken kabob. This type of torture involved having your hands and feet bound and having a long steel rod run through your arms and legs. As they began spinning you around them, they also began lashing you. The individuals who conducted these types of torture were true sadists, as they would be talking to each other about last night's soccer game or they would be talking on the phone while they were lashing you.
I also endured another torture technique called Ghapuni in Persian, whereby one hand is bent back (as if touching your back) and handcuffed, while your other hand is handcuffed from the bottom. While you are handcuffed in this awkward position, they hang you from the handcuffs, which usually either dislocated or broke your shoulder blades. In my case my shoulder blade broke.

Are there any fascists left ?

In Serbia, the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) occupies a broadly similar political space to the BNP in Britain or the FN in France. Even the Western leftists most ready to apologise for Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic are generally ready to concede that the Serbian Radicals are ‘fascist’. And with good reason. More...

U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday submitted a cooperation agreement between the United States and Turkey concerning peaceful uses of nuclear energy to the U.S. Congress, saying that private-sector proliferation worries have been addressed.
The July 2000 agreement, signed by then-US president Bill Clinton, is expected to clear the way for transfers of nuclear know-how to Turkey's planned civilian atomic sector.

Al-Qaeda Controls US Prisons in Iraq. See video

Frontier insurgency spills into Peshawar

For centuries, fighting and lawlessness have been part of the fabric of this frontier city. But in the past year, Pakistan's war with Islamic militants has spilled right into its alleys and bazaars, its forts and armories, killing policemen and soldiers and scaring its famously tough citizens.
There is a sense of siege here, as the Islamic insurgency pours out of the adjacent tribal region into this city, one of Pakistan's largest, and its surrounding districts. More...

The Taliban last year "seriously rejoined the fight" in Afghanistan, an NGO security group said in a report that concluded the country was "at the beginning of a war, not the end of one."
ISAF may number about 41,000 soldiers but "realistically" could not have more than up to 7,000 for combat, with the rest mostly support staff or prevented from fighting because of national restrictions, the group said. The size of the Taliban force was unknown, but estimates ranged from 2,000 to 20,000.

A devastating explosion in northern Iraq was spearheaded by foreign fighters under the sponsorship of Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of the Libyan leader.
Col. Jubair Rashid Naief, who also is a police official in Anbar province, said the Anbar Awakening Council had alerted the U.S. military to the possible arrival in the northern city of Mosul of the Seifaddin Regiment, made up of about 150 foreign and Iraqi fighters, as long as three months ago.

Touted as a reformer, 36-year-old Gadhafi has increasingly been sharing his father's spotlight and reaching out to the West to soften Libya's image and return it to the international mainstream. He has no official government post, but many see him as the man most likely to take power in the North African country when his father steps down or dies.

A Lebanese Shi’ite Muslim prepares to cut a four-month-old baby’s head with a razor during the Ashura ceremony held in Nabatiyeh town in south Lebanon.

Via Kamangir

NATO commander says Taliban tactics vary: counterinsurgency tactics require different strategies for each region of Afghanistan.
Rodriguez was addressing concerns that U.S. forces are handling the militant insurgency in Afghanistan better that NATO.

Major Jihadi Cleric and Author of Al-Qaeda's Shari'a Guide to Jihad Sayyed Imam vs. Al-Qaeda: Al-Zawahiri Was Sudanese Agent – Sudan's VP Ali Othman Taha Hired Him to Attack Egypt.

Jihadists get encryption upgrade

Until recently, al-Qaida didn't pose much of a threat online because it used outdated technology. Having modern encryption tools changes the equation.

Last week, an Islamist Web site called Al-Ekhlas released updated encryption software to help keep secret communications from prying eyes. The site is allegedly frequented by al-Qaida supporters.
According to the Middle East Media Research Institute, the first version of the software, "Mujahideen Secrets," was released a year ago as "the first Islamic computer program for secure exchange [of information] on the Internet." MEMRI says that the program includes "the five best encryption algorithms, and with symmetrical encryption keys (256 bit), asymmetrical encryption keys (2048 bit) and data compression [tools]."
Reuters reports that the new version of the software, "Mujahideen Secrets 2," was developed by Al-Ekhlas "in order to support the mujahideen (holy war fighters) in general and the (al Qaeda-linked group) Islamic State in Iraq in particular."

The Al-Ekhlas Web site is hosted by Florida-based Noc4hosts.

Bosnia prosecutors are investigating local officials suspected of having granted citizenships to hundreds of Islamic fighters during the 1992-95 war.
Due to the irregularities, a specially established state commission revoked the citizenship last year of hundreds of foreigners including a number of Muslim former fighters in Bosnia's war.

Dutch University rejects Iranian Applicant for Nationality

Apparently, the Dutch university has decided to reject Iranian applicants, because they “are requested to write a formal guarantee…that the Iranian applicant for a visa does not have access to certain specific scientific knowledge” (source). Therefore, Amin loses his chance to pursue his studies in Chemical Engineering, something he rigorously emphasizes “has nothing to do with the nukes”.

Via Kamangir

'Three Little Pigs CD' banned from Government-backed awards for offending Muslims and builders

In UK, a story based on The Three Little Pigs has been rejected by a Government-backed awards event because it might offend Muslims... and builders.
The digital book, retelling the classic children's tale, was criticised by judges who said "the use of pigs raises cultural issues".

Via The Corner

Ashura in NY

The News says: "Although self-flagellation is a painful and bloody act, Shi'ites believe it to be a statement against violence." Uh huh. How long will it be before we start seeing this in New York? What will prevent it? The News also says: "The event, which takes place around the world, is painful both physically and emotionally to those who take part in it." That much is certainly true.
Via Jihad Watch

We Sucked The Least

Vía American Citizan Soldier

Georgian ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze certifies to the facts of Russian intelligence activity on the eve of Rose Revolution. In an interview to one of the most popular Georgian newspaper’s Kviris Palitra, Shevardnadze recalled the events preceding the so-called Rose Revolution, saying that his entire retinue except then Interior Minister Koba Narchemashvili had betrayed him and sided with "the conspirators" led by Zurab Zhvania and Mikheil Saakashvili, news agency Interfax relates the story. Shevardnadze claimed that Zhvania had received "a very large sum of money" from Russia before the elections.

"In the 1990s violence occurred between Muslims and non-Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kashmir, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, the Middle East, Sudan and Nigeria.
In the mid-1990s, roughly half the ethnic conflicts in the world involved Muslims fighting each other or non-Muslims. Five of the seven states listed by the U.S. State Department as supporting terrorism are Muslim, as are a majority of foreign organizations listed as engaged in terrorism.
According to the International Institute of Strategic Studies, 32 armed conflicts were underway in 2000; more than two thirds involved Muslims. Yet Muslims are only about one fifth of the world’s population."

Via Citizen Warrior

The successful test-firing of an Israeli long-range nuclear-capable missile Thursday timed for Russian naval exercise

DEBKAFile - It was coordinated with the US Missile Defense Program.
Israeli and US defense officials tied up the last ends during President George. W. Bush’s visit last week. The successful test of a propulsion system for the dual-stage missile from the Palmahim base Thursday, Jan. 17
The new system can propel the missile to any point on earth – an intercontinental capability owned only by the US, Russia, China and France
The test’s context was as much the huge Russian naval maneuver launched in the Mediterranean Tuesday, Jan. 16, as missile and potential nuclear threats from Iran. Eleven vessels were drawn for the war game from two Russian fleets, Atlantic Northwest and Black Sea. It is led by the Admiral Kuznetsov air carrier with 47 warplanes and 10 helicopters on board and the Moskva missile cruiser.
The Israeli propulsion test coincided with a tactical Russian missile launch and landed in the same part of the sea. It sent out a signal that the entire Mediterranean, including the permanent bases Moscow is in the course of establishing in the Syrian naval ports of Tartous and Latakia, are within range. Our military sources report that US Sixth Fleet vessels cordoned off the landing area of the Israeli missile and prevented Russian ships from closely tracking its course.
Western military sources sum up the test as demonstrating that while Iran was still in the development stage of its ballistic missiles, Israel had raced ahead and left the Islamic Republic standing.

An anti-jihad comic book

“Matamoros,” a comic book which was illustrated by John Cox of Cox & Forkum. Its plot follows an American NCO who is wounded in the war, returns home to recuperate and then discovers a jihadist cell in NYC.

Via Michelle Malkin

Ronald Reagan - A Time for Choosing

Kyrgyzstan National Security Service keeps silence on details about seized radioactive material bound for Iran

The Kyrgyz National Security Service continues to decline comment on taking possession of a small load of a radioactive substance discovered aboard a train bound for Iran, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.
RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service notes that it took the security services nine days to announce the discovery of the material, which was found already on December 31 when radiation detectors alerted Uzbek border guards who reportedly promptly sent the train back to Kyrgyzstan.
Kubanych Noruzbaev, an official from the Kyrgyz Ecology and Environmental Protection Ministry, said the material was cesium-137, a product of nuclear reactors and weapons testing that could also be used in a crude radioactive explosive device or a "dirty bomb", radio marks. Kubat Osmonbetov, a geologist, told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that there was a uranium-processing plant in northern Tajikistan, raising the possibility that the Tajik train in question might have been used in the past to transport radioactive material. Osmonbetov also noted that cesium-137 and cesium-140 are definitely lethal in large doses. He said the radioactive material should have been discovered long before the train arrived in Uzbekistan.