Month

Archives: August 2002

Combatting Extremism In Yemen Asharq Al

Combatting extremism in YemenAsharq al-Awsat reports that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Salih has formed a council of senior Muslim clergymen to preach to Yemen's youth, especially returnees from Afghanistan, about the dangers…

Al Qaida Funding Two Contradictory

al-Qaida FundingTwo contradictory reports are out. Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal says that his government has blocked $90 mn. from going to al-Qaida in the past few months. (That it was…

Al Qaida In Iran Iran Has Denied

al-Qaida in IranIran has denied a Washington Post report that two senior al-Qaida figures are hiding out in far eastern Iran near the Afghan border, saying it has a policy of not…

Bin Ladin Back In Control Al Quds Al

Bin Ladin Back in Control?Al-Quds al-`Arabi, a London newspaper, is reporting that Bin Ladin is firmly back in control of al-Qa'ida and that the organization is digging in for a guerilla war…

No Security Council Resolution Los

No Security Council Resolution?The Los Angeles Times reported today that the Bush administration will likely not seek a UN Security Council Resolution authorizing war against Iraq. The report said that Bush fears…

Iraq And Al Qaida Again Attempts To Tie

Iraq and al-Qaida (Again)The attempts to tie Baathist Iraq to al-Qaida continue among the hawks in Washington, and they continue to be without logical or evidentiary foundation.Al-Qaida wanted to overthrow Saddam Hussein.…

Whatever Happened To Iraqi Airforce

Whatever Happened to the Iraqi Airforce (Iran-Iraq relations)Someone asked of the 1990 pilot defections:>1) Were these defections spontaneously carried out by Iraqi pilots,>or were they part of an some kind of official…

Iraqi Terrorism And War With Iraq There

Iraqi Terrorism and War with Iraq?There is a double standard in Western approaches to Middle Eastern movements. On the whole and by and large, few sane observers suspected the United States government…

Guardian Blows Whistle On Ersatz Middle

The Guardian Blows the Whistle on the Ersatz Middle East Expertshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,777100,00.html: US thinktanks give lessons in foreign policy Brian Whitaker reports on the network of research institutes whose views and TV appearances…

No Iraq Link To Al Qaida Thanks To M

No Iraq link to al-QaidaThanks to M.S. for his further comments.There is also, however, no credible evidence of *indirect* Iraqi, Baathistsupport for al-Qaida. The US has an enormous number of documents bearingon…

Iran Has Turned Over 16 Al Qaida

Iran has turned over 16 al-Qaida terrorists to Saudi Arabia, according to Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister. These were Saudi nationals who had escaped from Afghanistan to Iran. This report…

Al Qaida Acted Alone For Anyone

al-Qaida acted aloneFor anyone interested in the documents on Usama Bin Laden, a very useful web site is:http://www.robert-fisk.com/understanding_enemy.htmThe September 11 operation was neither complex nor expensive, and well within al-Qaida resources. Almost…