Pakistan Premier Wants Afghan Refugees to Return Home

Pakistan’s prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, said Thursday that he wanted the three million Afghan refugees still living in Pakistan to go home as one way to end the problem of insurgents using the country as a haven…(New York Times, 6 Jan 07)

Report: U.K. Army Guarding Energy Plants

Britain's army will be deployed at oil, gas and electricity facilities in the country to defend them from potential terrorist attacks, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The News of the World cited an unnamed security source as confirming security will be increased around the facilities after intelligence suggested terrorists may target the country's infrastructure….(AP, 6 Jan 07)

Two interpreters of kidnapped US citizen found murdered
Two Iraqi interpreters kidnapped along with an American citizen a day ago have been found murdered in central Basra, a spokesman for the British military told AFP Saturday.  The two were found murdered near a stadium with bullets in the back of their heads, Major Charlie Burbridge said….(Agence France-Presse, 6 Jan 07)

Day After Killings, a Hamas Leader Calls for a Truce

The Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniya, called Friday for an end to the internal violence in the Gaza Strip, a day after members of his own Hamas militia surrounded the house of a Fatah commander, killed him and his bodyguards and seriously wounded his wife and brother….(New York Times, 6 Jan 07)

DHS to Boost 6 Cities' Share of Anti-Terror Funds
Chastened by complaints about poor federal cooperation and by controversy over its slashing of aid to New York and Washington last year, the Department of Homeland Security will reserve about $100 million of the $747 million it will dole out to U.S. cities this year to pay for police counterterrorism operations in six metropolitan areas….(Washington Post, 6 Jan 07)

Images of Hanging Make Hussein a Martyr to Many

In the week since Saddam Hussein was hanged in an execution steeped in sectarian overtones, his public image in the Arab world, formerly that of a convicted dictator, has undergone a resurgence of admiration and awe. On the streets, in newspapers and over the Internet, Mr. Hussein has emerged as a Sunni Arab hero who stood calm and composed as his Shiite executioners tormented and abused him….(New York Times, 6 Jan 07)

Hanging 'makes martyr of Saddam'

The circumstances of the hanging of Saddam Hussein have turned the former Iraqi leader into a martyr, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has said. Mr Mubarak said the unofficial pictures that emerged of the event were revolting and barbaric….(BBC, 5 Jan 07)

U.S. Worried About Homegrown Terrorists

The nation's homeland security chief said Friday he is increasingly worried about "homegrown" terrorists and will give more help to local police trying to root out such plots….(AP, 5 Jan 07)

U.S. to give Abbas forces $86 mln amid power struggle

The Bush administration will provide $86 million to help security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, expanding U.S. involvement in his struggle with Hamas, according to documents seen on Friday. Fighting between Abbas's Fatah faction and Hamas, the ruling Islamist group, has surged since talks on forming a unity government collapsed and Abbas called for early parliamentary and presidential elections….(Reuters, 5 Jan 07)

Despite Arab Diplomatic Efforts, Hizbullah Threatens Violent Escalation – To Begin this Coming Monday (January 8, 2007)

Over the past few days, the Hizbullah-led Lebanese opposition has threatened to escalate the conflict through violent protest, that will include the blocking of main intersections so as to "paralyze life in Lebanon."….(MEMRI, 5 Jan 07)

Lafif Lakhdar: A European Muslim Reformist
On December 10, 2006, at an international conference on Islam in Europe held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Prof. Menahem Milson presented the views of Arab reformist thinker Lafif Lakhdar on the issue of integration versus separate ethnic communal identity among Muslims in Europe….(MEMRI, 5 Jan 07)

Islamist Websites Monitor Project No. 43

..…(MEMRI, 5 Jan 07)

Baghdad Initiative to Go Door to Door

Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops will begin a neighborhood-by-neighborhood assault on militants in the capital this weekend as a first step in the new White House strategy to contain Sunni insurgents and Shiite death squads, key advisers to the prime minister said Friday….(AP, 5 Jan 07)

Bush Making Changes in His Iraq Team

President Bush is overhauling his top diplomatic and military team in Iraq, as the White House scrambles to complete its new war policy package in time for the president to unveil it in a speech to the nation next week, officials said. White House is struggling to overcome deep differences among advisers over both the deployment of additional U.S. troops and whether the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki can deliver long-delayed political and military actions, according to officials familiar with the debate….(Washington Post, 5 Jan 07)

Bush's change of guard in Iraq

US President George W Bush is set to announce a raft of changes in senior military and diplomatic personnel as he prepares to unveil his new approach to policy on Iraq, officials say. The BBC's Nick Childs looks at the significance of the expected move….(BBC, 5 Jan 07)

Profile: William Fallon

US President George W Bush is expected to name the top military commander in the Pacific, Admiral William Fallon, as the new head of US Central Command. If confirmed, he will replace Gen John Abizaid in a move which will put a navy man in charge of overseeing the Middle East and two land wars - Iraq and Afghanistan….(BBC, 5 Jan 07)

Adm. Fallon to lead U.S. war in Iraq

The choice is said to reflect a shift of focus to Iran. A retired key Navy admiral says Adm. William J. Fallon will show that a naval officer is qualified to run ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan… Fallon, 62, appears to be President Bush's choice to replace retiring Army Gen. John Abizaid to head the Central Command…(Star Bulletin, 5 Jan 07)

Suspected Australian extremist held in Iraq

An Australian citizen has been arrested by coalition forces in Iraq on suspicion of conspiring to commit terrorist acts. Warya Kanie, 39, an Iraqi Kurd, came to Australia about three years ago with his young daughter as part of the humanitarian refugee program to join his three brothers, who were already living in Adelaide…(Australian, 5 Jan 07)

US citizen, two interpreters kidnapped in southern Iraq

An American and his two Iraqi interpreters have been kidnapped near the southern Iraqi city of Basra, a local police officer said…He said the three were traveling in a black Opel car when three other cars full of gunmen "ambushed them and kidnapped them"….(Agence France-Presse, 5 Jan 07)

13 Slain in Upscale Baghdad Neighborhood

Twin car bombs killed 13 people Thursday in an upscale Baghdad neighborhood after a lull in violence during an Islamic holiday, and Iraq prepared to execute two of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants despite an inquiry into an unruly scene in the former dictator's execution chamber….(AP, 5 Jan 07)

Weapons link to Australian 'plot'

Australian police have arrested a man they suspect of involvement in the theft of military rocket launchers and their alleged sale to a terror suspect. Taha Abdul Rahman, 28, was arrested in a Sydney suburb in a joint operation by police and counter-terrorism agents….(BBC, 5 Jan 07)

Al-Qaida Tells Somali Militants to Fight

...Al-Qaida's No. 2 also implores Muslims worldwide to support Somalia's Islamists with fighters, money and expertise. "I speak to you today as the crusader invader forces of Ethiopia violate the soil of the beloved Muslim Somalia," Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri said in the recording…(AP, 5 Jan 07)

Video: Al Qaeda Warning over Middle East

The Rise & Fall of Somalia's Islamic Courts: An Online History

…(Bill Roggio, 5 Jan 07)

Iraqi PM Accuses Sunni Clerics of Fuelling Tension

…The Muslim Clerics' Association, an umbrella grouping of religious leaders of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority, said in a statement on Thursday that militias linked to an unnamed political group were planning attacks. “The statement from the Muslim Clerics' Association is totally baseless and raises tension, and we hold the Muslim Clerics responsible for any action that results from this,” said a statement from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office….(Reuters, 5 Jan 07)

‘US at war with Jihadi Islam’

 “Our enemies have declared war on us, and their hatred cannot be sated. We will either defeat them, or they will come after us with the unsheathed sword,” says the White House…Peter Wehner of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives, declares that the war against global jihadism will be long, with success and setbacks along the way, but the West must not grow impatient, nor withdraw from the fight….(Pakistan Daily Times, 5 Jan 07)

Nazareth Muslims: Islam will dominate world

Islamic groups held a large militant march down the main streets of Nazareth this weekend, highlighting for some here the plight of Christians in this ancient city where Muslims have become a majority and members of the dwindling Christian population say they suffer regular intimidation….(World Net Daily, 5 Jan 07)

After the Danish Cartoon Controversy

On February 5, 2006, at the height of the tension following the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten's publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, Muslim protesters torched Denmark's embassies in Beirut and Damascus. While many in the West looked on with bewilderment, protests spread across the Muslim world…(Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2007)

The Rise & Fall of Somalia's Islamic Courts: An Online History

The Islamic Courts Courts rise to power mirrored that of Afghanistan's Taliban in the 1990s, as was their fall. Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is wanted by the U.S. government for involvement of al-Qaeda, and his allies shrewdly co-opted indigenous Islamist movements under the guise of restoring order to Somalia…(Bill Roggio, 5 Jan 07)

Tape Linked To Al-Qaeda Urges Fight to 'Martyrdom'

A purported audiotape message by al-Qaeda's deputy leader urged Somali supporters of the country's Islamic movement Friday to launch an Iraqi-style guerrilla campaign of suicide and other forms of attacks against Ethiopian forces in Somalia….(Reuters, 5 Jan 07)

Brother of Avowed Suicide Bomber Pleads

…Mohamed Subeh admitted deceiving federal agents at Rochester's airport in 2003 when he denied seeing a farewell letter in which his brother indicated he was traveling home to the West Bank to join the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group that has claimed credit for suicide bombings in Israel…..(AP, 5 Jan 07)

Russia to write off 80 percent of North Korea's debts: report

Russia has agreed in principle to write off up to 80 percent of some eight billion dollars owed by North Korea, a South Korean newspaper report has said. The Chosun daily quoted diplomatic sources in Moscow as saying Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-Gil reached the agreement in December….(Agence France-Presse, 5 Jan 07)

Taliban Leader Promises More Afghan War

…Though it was impossible to verify those claims, the statements, if authentic, would be Mullah Omar’s first exchange with a journalist since he was driven from power in 2001 by the American-led invasion of Afghanistan….(New York Times, 5 Jan 07)

A Retrospective Study of the Unfolding of the Muhammad Cartoons Crisis and its Implications
On September 30, 2005, Denmark's biggest daily newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, published a series of 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. One, which was perceived as highly offensive, showed the Prophet with a bomb on top of his turban. Several months later, mass demonstrations were held in the streets of the Muslim world to protest against the perceived insult to the Prophet…(MEMRI, 5 Jan 07)

'Confronting the Death Arriving From the West' – Santa Claus in Algeria

On December 24, 2006 - Christmas Eve - the Algerian daily El-Shourouq El-Yawmi published an op-ed complaining that Santa Claus, in full holiday regalia, was on the move in the streets of Tizi Ouzo, in the Algerian Berber region of Kabylie….(MEMRI, 5 Jan 07)

Islamist Websites Monitor Project No. 42

….(MEMRI, 5 Jan 07)

North Korea Prepping Nuclear Weapons Test

…The official cautions that the intelligence is inconclusive as to whether North Korea will actually go ahead with another test but said the preparations are similar to the steps taken by Pyongyang before it shocked the world by conducting its first nuclear test last Oct. 9…(ABC, 5 Jan 07)

Number of Germans embracing Islam increasing persistently -- Koehler

The lenient Islam faith finds an appropriate ground in Germany and the number of Germans embracing the faith is persistently increasing, according to head of the Supreme Muslims Council in Germany Axel Koehler….(KUNA, 5 Jan 07)

Chirac says Iraq war boosting terrorism

French President Jacques Chirac, one of the fiercest opponents of the US-led war in Iraq, has warned that the conflict has provided a dangerous new breeding ground for terrorism….(Agence France-Presse, 5 Jan 07)

U.S. deports Cleveland imam

A Muslim leader from Ohio who was convicted of lying about his involvement with a group the U.S. government designated a terrorist organization has been deported to his native Palestinian territories, immigration authorities said Friday. Fawaz Damra, 46, was convicted in June 2004 of concealing his ties to Palestinian Islamic Jihad when he applied for U.S. citizenship in 1994….(AP, 5 Jan 07)

Pakistan court remands London plot suspect in custody

A Pakistani judge ordered on Friday that a Pakistani-British man suspected of involvement in an al Qaeda plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners be remanded in custody for two more weeks. The decision by a civil court judge in Rawalpindi will make little difference to Rashid Rauf, as he is already subject to a detention order from a higher court….(Reuters, 5 Jan 07)

Sept. 11th Plotter to Learn His Sentence

A German court on Friday opened hearings to set the sentence for a Moroccan friend of three of the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide pilots following his conviction as an accessory to murder in the attacks. Judges could sentence Mounir el Motassadeq, 32, to 15 years in prison in the latest chapter of a tangled, five-year legal saga….(AP, 5 Jan 07)

Millennium bomber changes story about friend

Convicted millennium bomber Ahmed Ressam has recanted testimony that has been helping to detain a fellow Algerian as an enemy combatant in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In a letter to U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, Ressam wrote that a Montreal friend, Hassan Zemiri, had nothing to do with plans to detonate bombs at Los Angeles International Airport over the New Year's holiday in 1999….(Seattle Times, 5 Jan 07)

In War of Vague Borders, Detainee Longs for Court

Ali al-Marri, whom the government calls a sleeper agent for Al Qaeda and who is the only person on the American mainland still held as an enemy combatant, spends his days in a small cell in solitary confinement at the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C….(New York Times, 5 Jan 07)

Bosnia anti-terror team flexes muscles

…The European Union, which still has 7,000 soldiers based in Bosnia, is pushing hard to reform policing and put the country on a firmer security footing…..(BBC, 5 Jan 07)

Sanctions imposed on Iran, Syria arms suppliers

The Bush administration is imposing economic sanctions on Chinese, Russian and North Korean companies for selling missiles and weapons goods to Iran and Syria, administration officials said….(Washington Times, 5 Jan 07)

Morocco says busts cell recruiting Iraq fighters

Moroccan security forces have dismantled a radical Islamist cell recruiting volunteers to fight in Iraq and arrested 26 people…(Reuters, 5 Jan 07)

Taliban leader's powerful vanishing act

Where's Mullah Omar? It has been more than five years since the Taliban's supreme leader, a onetime village cleric, vanished into the trackless terrain outside his fallen Afghan stronghold, Kandahar. And his likeliest source of sanctuary is thought to be the belt of rugged tribal territory straddling the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where the law of no nation prevails….(LA Times, 5 Jan 07)

Treasury Steps Up Pressure on Syria

The Bush administration, intensifying pressure on Damascus, moved Thursday to financially clamp down on three Syrian institutions suspected of helping spread weapons of mass destruction. The Treasury Department's action means that any bank accounts or financial assets belonging to the three entities found in the United States would be frozen….(AP, 4 Jan 07)

Ports official: Government did 'good job’ with ID regulations
…The regulations for the Transportation Worker Identification Credentials explain how port workers will have to register for the cards, crimes that will disqualify applicants, how the cards are to be used and other requirements….(Virginian-Pilot, 4 Jan 07)

Contractors Are Cited in Abuses at Guantanamo
New allegations of detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay released by the FBI on Tuesday put private contractors at the center of interrogation operations, raising questions once again about where they fit in the military's chain of command….(Washington Post, 4 Jan 07)

Skepticism from the Military on an Iraq Surge

…Bush is widely expected to call for the so-called surge option: injecting some 30,000 new soldiers and Marines into Iraq. But many officers at the Pentagon, including some of the most senior, aren't sure such an increase in the force is a good idea. The head of the Marine Corps has openly questioned the wisdom of the move without an overarching strategy….(Time Magazine, 4 Jan 07)

Egypt plans to fight 'cyber-terrorism'

Egypt plans to put forward an international initiative to fight the spread of terrorism on the Internet, a senior official at the foreign ministry has said. "The aim of this initiative is to improve coordination between different countries to prevent people or terrorist groups from using international Internet networks to serve their goals,"…(Agence France-Presse, 4 Jan 07)

US planning offensive against Mehdi Army

US-led forces are likely to launch a limited New Year offensive against Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr's Mehdi Army, blamed for sectarian death squad killings…(Gulf-Daily, 4 Jan 07)

220 pounds of explosives found in Spain

Police in the Basque region said Thursday they had found a bomb in northern Spain, five days after a car bombing in Madrid that was blamed on the separatist group ETA and killed one person. Nearly 220 pounds of explosives were found in a drum near an abandoned car outside the Basque town of Amorebieta....(AP, 4 Jan 07)

Pakistan PM expected to discuss fence with Afghans

Pakistan's prime minister arrived in Afghanistan for talks on Thursday days after a Pakistani announcement it would fence and lay landmines on parts of its Afghan border raised tensions between the neighbors….(Reuters, 4 Jan 07)

4 Cities Cut, 4 Added for Terror Grants

Four U.S. cities will get a fresh infusion of federal anti-terror grant money, and four others will be cut off from such grants, under a new government list of urban areas considered at serious risk of attacks and eligible to share $747 million. The list obtained Thursday by The Associated Press shows the four newly eligible cities are El Paso, Texas; Norfolk, Va.; Providence, R.I.; and Tucson, Ariz….(AP, 4 Jan 07)

Dozens Of Bodies Found In Baghdad

Police in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, are reported to have found 45 dead bodies. Reports say many of the bodies bear signs suggesting the killings were carried out by sectarian death squads. The deaths were reported amid continuing high tensions between Iraqi Sunni Arabs and Shi'a since the execution by hanging of former dictator Saddam Hussein, a Sunni….(AP/Reuters, 4 Jan 07)

Blast Claimed by Taliban Kills 5

A roadside bomb killed five Afghan security forces and wounded four as they patrolled with NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, an army chief said Thursday. The blast happened in Uruzgan province on Wednesday evening,…(AP, 4 Jan 07)

Bombers destroy power, gas lines in southern Pakistan
Thousands of people were left without power and heating in southern Pakistan after suspected tribal militants blew up two electricity pylons and a gas pipeline, news reports said on Thursday. No one was thought to have been hurt in the attacks Wednesday in the town of Dera Bugti…(DPA, 4 Jan 07)

Arrested Militants Hailed From Algeria, Report

A group of Islamic militants who engaged in a gunbattle with Tunisian security officials Wednesday in the area of Soliman, 40 km south of Tunis, hailed from Algeria, according to a report Thursday published by London-based Arabic language daily al-Hayat. Security forces shot dead 12 people and arrested 15 near Tunis after the rare gunbattle…(AKI, 4 Jan 07)

What a Surge Really Means

For years now, George W. Bush has told Americans that he would increase the number of troops in Iraq only if the commanders on the ground asked him to do so. It was not a throwaway line: Bush said it from the very first days of the war…(Time Magazine, 4 Jan 07)

Thailand Coup Rumors Denied in Capital

Rumors of a new coup d'etat swept Bangkok on Thursday night but were denied by the interim government and military officials in the capital, where tensions remained high after a string of New Year's bombings that killed three people….(AP, 4 Jan 07)

3,500 Islamists said hiding in Somalia

Remnants of Somalia's Islamic movement still pose a threat in the capital, the interior minister said Thursday, a week after his government and Ethiopian troops chased most of the militiamen from Mogadishu….(AP, 4 Jan 07)

Thailand bombers were "in uniform": defense minister

Thailand's defense minister has said that "men in uniform" staged the deadly New Year's Eve bombs in Bangkok, as the prime minister warned Thais to brace for more attacks….(Agence France-Presse, 4 Jan 07)

London Mayor in secret visit to terrorists' families on Cuban trip

Ken Livingstone secretly met the families of five convicted terrorists during his visit to Cuba, it can be revealed today. The Mayor met the wives of the so-called “Miami Five”, who have been found guilty by a US court of conspiracy to spy on American military bases…..(Daily Mail, 4 Jan 07)

Iran: New Crackdown on Christians

The Iranian Evangelical Church has denounced a crackdown by authorities on its members. Under a new government measure, pastors with the official churches will have to provide a list of names of all those who take part in functions to the intelligence ministry. Pastors will also need an authorisation from security forces to celebrate mass. Christians are less than 1 percent of Iran's population of over 68 million….(AKI, 4 Jan 07)

Mullah Omar Threatens to Intensify War, Rules Out Talks with Govt.

The reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has said he will never hold negotiations with the US-backed Karzai government in Afghanistan and warned that "the war" will be escalated to such an extent that foreign troops are compelled to leave the strife-torn country and institutions established by them are dismantled….(AKI, 4 Jan 07)

Mullah Omar Says Hasn't Seen Bin Laden for Years

Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar has added to the mystery over Osama bin Laden, saying he hasn't seen his ally and fellow fugitive since U.S.-backed forces ousted the Taliban from Afghanistan in 2001. “No, I have neither seen him, nor have I made any effort to do so, but I pray for his health and safety,” Omar said in an e-mailed response to questions sent by Reuters….(Reuters, 4 Jan 07)

Iran's Secret Plan For Mayhem

…An American intelligence official said the new material, which has been authenticated within the intelligence community, confirms "that Iran is working closely with both the Shiite militias and Sunni Jihadist groups."….(New York Sun, 4 Jan 07)

'The Straw Powers Must Accept the Undeniable Reality: In Today's World There Is a Rising Power Challenging Their Baseless Ideologies' – Iranian Reactions to U.N. Sanctions Resolution 1737

U.N. Sanctions Resolution 1737 against Iran, adopted December 23, 2006, prohibits any trade relations with Iran that might help advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs….(MEMRI, 4 Jan 07)

Court To Decide Fate Of Subway Terror Suspect

Shahawar Matin Siraj was either a naive stooge lured into a phony bomb plot or a homegrown terrorist determined to inflict misery on New Yorkers as revenge for wartime abuses of Iraqis. The conflicting portraits of Siraj -- convicted on conspiracy charges in a scheme to blow up one of the city's busiest subway stations -- were painted in court papers recently filed in advance of his sentencing…(CBS/AP, 4 Jan 07)

In Padilla Wiretaps, Murky View of ‘Jihad’ Case

In 1997, as the government listened in on their phone call, Adham Hassoun, a computer programmer in Broward County, Fla., proposed a road trip to Jose Padilla, a low-wage worker there. The excursion to Tampa would be his treat, Mr. Hassoun said, and a chance to meet “some nice, uh, brothers.”….(New York Times, 4 Jan 07)

U.S. Urges Caution as Iraq Plans More Executions

…News services quoted Iraqi officials saying today that the executions would go ahead, despite appeals on Wednesday by United Nations officials to spare the men, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, the half-brother of Mr. Hussein who ran the feared intelligence service under him, and Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, who led Mr. Hussein’s Revolutionary Court….(New York Times, 4 Jan 07)

From Hussein, a Florid Farewell to the Iraqi People

…Saddam Hussein in those final days turned to poetry, so often his source of solace in times of difficulty, inspired by his vision of himself as inseparably tied to those he led. The poem, “Unbind It,” is his rallying call to be sounded from the grave….(New York Times, 4 Jan 07)

Iraq Probes Disorder At Hussein Execution
As thousands of Saddam Hussein's supporters protested in Sunni Arab enclaves across Iraq, the Shiite-led government said it had launched an investigation into the chaotic scene at his execution, captured on video, which has deepened the nation's sectarian rift and sparked condemnation around the world….(Washington Post, 3 Jan 07)

Iraq to Review Abusive Acts at Hussein’s Execution

….(New York Times, 3 Jan 07)