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US sanctions two Europe-based al Qaeda operatives
Ahmad Khalaf Shabib al Dulaymi supports al Qaeda in Iraq as well as the global network, while Atilla Selek supports the Islamic Jihad Union and has operated in Pakistan.
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Saudi Arabia
Saudis fund Balkan Muslims spreading hate of the West
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US, UN sanction al Qaeda in Iraq leader
Muthanna Harith Sulayman al Dhari, the son of the leader of Iraq’s radical Association of Muslim Scholars, provides logistical and financial support for al Qaeda in Iraq.
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United Arab Emirates
Israel, Syria pursue nuclear-powered Mideast
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Syria
A new IAEA report on Syria’s suspected nuclear program said that the facility at Dair Alzour was likely an initial attempt to construct a nuclear reactor. Israel destroyed the Dair Alzour complex during airstrikes in September 2008.
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IAEA issues update on suspected Syrian nuclear site
Satellite imagery showing a suspected nuclear facility in Syria before and after being destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. Image from Deutsche Welle. In the midnight hours of Sept. 5, 2007, 10 Israeli F-15 fighter jets departed from Ramat David Air Force Base in southeast Haifa with a mission to destroy a mysterious military complex in the middle of the Syrian desert. Eighteen minutes later, the complex at Dair Alzour was demolished-Operation Orchard was a success. Was the complex an initial Syrian attempt to construct a nuclear reactor, as claimed by the Israelis, or was it merely, as the Syrians maintain,…
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Syria
Syria – Analysis: Assad sits comfortably on his throne
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Iran
Analysis: negotiation with Iran an ‘unending waltz’
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Iran
Slain Hamas leader tied to arms group
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US kills senior Syrian-based al Qaeda facilitator in Mosul
Abu Khalaf was killed during a Jan. 22 raid in the northern city. According to US intelligence, he entered Iraq last fall to direct operations.
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Iraq
Damascus-based channels broadcast support for armed attacks in Iraq – Al-Maliki aide
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Iraq
Iraq’s Maliki blasts foreign support for bombings
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Suicide attacks killed more than 120 Iraqis in Baghdad
A series of coordinated suicide and car bomb attacks in Baghdad targeted a court complex, a neighborhood near the Interior Ministry, a mosque, and a market.
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Syria
Six people, including an Iranian pilgrim, were killed and several others were wounded in a bombing on a bus near a Shia religious shrine in Damascus. No group has taken credit for the bombing.
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Eastern Syria becoming a new al Qaeda haven
Al Qaeda is teaming up with Ba’athist elements, sparking fears that eastern Syrian will “begin to look like northwestern Pakistan.”
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Blaming the bogeymen in Baghdad
Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki. Joel Wing critiques the Iraqi government’s response to the recent catastrophic attacks: In August, Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki tried to defer blame and distract public opinion from a domestic security failure by turning it into an international event. This time, the Iraqi government’s response was better at first. That didn’t last long as more and more politicians are beginning to turn on each other, and pointing fingers at foreign interference again, even though Al Qaeda in Iraq is the only one that has publicly come out saying they were behind the bombing, just like…
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Suicide bombers target Iraqi ministries, kill 132
A pair of suicide bombers detonated simultaneously outside of Iraqi government buildings in the heart of Baghdad, killing more than 130 Iraqis in one of the worst attacks in the capital in years.
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Mahdi Army members assassinated in Syria?
Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Army. An interesting report from Omar at Iraqi The Model: Unknown gunmen assassinated 30 Mahdi Army commanders in the Syrian capital Damascus. The killings, made in the past few weeks, were all made “quietly, inside the victims apartments”, said an unnamed source in the Sadr movement. The source added that among those assassinated was Laith al-Ka’bi, who commanded the Mahdi Army in the Palestine Street neighborhood in eastern Baghdad. The report adds that large numbers of Mahdi Army operatives left to Iran out of fear the assassinations wave could expand to target…
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Iraq
Turkey to host Iraq-Syria talks in Istanbul
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Commando raid in Somalia is latest in covert operations across the globe
US special operations forces have conducted four other such strikes in Pakistan, Syria, and Madagascar since 2006.
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Syria
Schulte: Syria may have more nuke sites
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Iraq-Syria row intensifies
The Iraq-Syria row over Syria’s sponsorship of insurgent groups and al Qaeda operating in Iraq has gotten interesting over the past few days. Omar over at Iraq The Model has been closely following the story and has some interesting updates. First, a small group of Iraqis held a protest in Hillah and cleverly used Syrian President Bashir al Assad’s own words as part of their protest: More than 300 Iraqis protested on Monday to demand that Syria stop its alleged support for “terrorists and assassins” determined to carry out attacks in Iraq. The demonstrators gathered in Hilla, 120 kilometres (75…
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Iraq
Iraq sends police to Syrian border
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Iraq turns up heat on Syria
Iraq is continuing its war of words with Syria over the latter’s sheltering of al Qaeda and Ba’athist terror groups. From Reuters: “Why must they insist on sheltering the armed organizations and those wanted by Iraqi courts and Interpol on Syrian lands?” Maliki was quoted by his office as saying. … “The crisis with Syria is not new. We have made contacts with … Syrian officials regarding the activity of leaders from the disbanded Baath Party and terrorist organizations that work against Iraq from Syrian lands,” he said on Thursday. Interestingly, Maliki is turning the tables on Syria (and by…
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Syria
President Bashar al Assad denied Iraqi claims that Syria is aiding al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent groups and said such statements are “immoral.” Both countries withdrew their ambassadors. Turkey is attempting to mediate the dispute between Syria and Iraq.
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Iraq attacks and the Syrian connection
As Iraq takes greater responsibility for its security, the government has begun to lash out at Syria for serving as a sanctuary and training ground for al Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni and Ba’athist insurgent groups. Today the Iraqi government aired the confession of Mohammed Hassan al Shemari, a Saudi al Qaeda member who claims to be the leader of the terror group’s forces in Diyala province. Sherari said Syrian intelligence, or the Mukhabarat, actively supports al Qaeda in Iraq. From Reuters: Shemari said when he arrived in Syria from Saudi Arabia, he was met by a militant who…
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Syria
A Saudi leader of al Qaeda in Iraq named Mohammed Hassan al Shemari said Syrian intelligence trained fighters to conduct attacks. “They taught us lessons in Islamic law and trained us to fight,” Shemari said. “The camp was well known to Syrian intelligence.” A Syrian intelligence agent called Abu al Qaqaa commanded a camp.
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Iraq
Iraq and Syria recall ambassadors
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Syria
Syria said it is willing to send a team of investigators to look into claims that last week’s truck bombs in Baghdad originated from Ba’athists inside the country. If the Iraqi government does not allow the team in country, Syria “will consider anything the Iraqi media presents as fabricated evidence made for domestic consumptions, or maybe to serve foreign agendas.”
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Al Qaeda takes credit for last week’s Baghdad bombings
The terror group said the goal of the attacks was to destroy the Iraqi people’s faith in the government.
