al-Qaeda – News Stories About al-Qaeda - Page 48

Jan 1, 2008 8:09 PM CST

Bomber Hits Baghdad Funeral

Suicide attack kills 30, wounds 38 on day many celebrated New Year's

(Newser) - A suicide bomber killed 30 and wounded 38 at a Baghdad funeral today, shattering a mostly peaceful New Year's day with the worst bomb attack in months, Reuters reports. The attacker was likely a friend or relative of the mourners who brazenly passed the neighborhood's high military and police presence,...

Aide: Bhutto Died as She Readied Dossier on Rigged Vote

Jan 1, 2008 7:40 AM CST

Aide: Bhutto Died as She Readied Dossier on Rigged Vote

Government, opposition still at loggerheads

(Newser) - Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed the same day she planned to give US lawmakers damaging information on government actions to rig upcoming elections, a top aide charged yesterday. The "thoroughly rigged" elections were to "benefit" President Pervez Musharraf's party, said the aide. The charge was made...

Bloggers Blast Government Version of Bhutto Death

Dec 31, 2007 3:49 AM CST

Bloggers Blast Government Version of Bhutto Death

We're not 'naive and dumb,' snaps one

(Newser) - Pakistan's political blogging community is expressing extreme skepticism about government statements as to how former prime minister Benazir Bhutto died in last week's assassination attack. The government is claiming Bhutto died after hitting her head on her car’s sunroof in the bomb attack, but the theory is widely disputed,...

CIA Tapes Were Made—and Destroyed—for PR

Dec 30, 2007 1:30 PM CST

CIA Tapes Were Made—and Destroyed—for PR

Interrogations filmed to counter mistreatment accusations; stopped when techniques grew harsh, reports NYT

(Newser) - Concern over its image prompted the CIA to first secretly create—and later destroy—tapes depicting the harsh interrogation of detainees, the New York Times reports. In spring 2002 the agency decided to document every moment of senior al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah's custody so that perceptions of mistreatment—by prosecutors,...

Bin Laden: 'Blood for Blood'

Dec 30, 2007 5:54 AM CST

Bin Laden: 'Blood for Blood'

Terror chief threatens Israel & Sunnis backing Iraqi government

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda terror chief Osama bin Laden denounced Sunnis supporting the US-backed Iraq government as “evil traitors,” and vowed to spread the group’s holy war to Israel, promising "blood for blood, destruction for destruction" in an online audiotape issued yesterday, AP reports. The message didn’t mention...

Al-Qaeda In
Iraq Down 75%, Baghdad Says

Dec 29, 2007 5:23 PM CST

Al-Qaeda In Iraq Down 75%, Baghdad Says

But Petraeus calls the group country's 'biggest threat'

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda in Iraq is down 75%, one Baghdad official said today—but US Gen. David Petraeus maintained that al-Qaeda is still “the most significant challenge" facing the country. Maj. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf attributed the alleged al-Qaeda cut to beefed Iraq security, armed Sunni fighters, and the recent US...

Al-Qaeda Ally Denies Hand in Bhutto Killing

Dec 29, 2007 6:21 AM CST

Al-Qaeda Ally Denies Hand in Bhutto Killing

Pakistan accuses him, but Mehsud would never 'attack a woman'

(Newser) - A representative of Baitullah Mehsud, the al-Qaeda leader Pakistan has fingered in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, strongly denied any involvement in her death today. Giving further support to the claims of a cover-up by Bhutto's partisans, the spokesman for Mehsud said "he had no involvement in this attack"...

Face of Jihad Ever More Youthful

Dec 28, 2007 3:03 PM CST

Face of Jihad Ever More Youthful

Teens as young as 15 turn to web to connect with extremists

(Newser) - They’re young, impressionable, disillusioned, and they’re seeking out al-Qaeda: Muslims as young as 15 are connecting with Islamic extremists over the web and becoming radicalized through jihadist videos and literature, the Christian Science Monitor reports. In Morocco and elsewhere, teenagers reinforce an increasingly decentralized al-Qaeda. They have “...

Phone Call Ties al-Qaeda to
Bhutto Killing

Dec 28, 2007 2:24 PM CST

Phone Call Ties al-Qaeda to Bhutto Killing

Pakistan releases transcript as rioting claims at least 23 lives

(Newser) - The Pakistani government offered the transcript of an intercepted phone call today as evidence that the Benazir Bhutto's murder was the work of Baitullah Mehsud, an extremist linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban, the AP reports. In the transcript, Mehsud congratulates an operative for a "spectacular job" in...

Al-Qaeda
Killed Bhutto,
Pakistan Says

Dec 28, 2007 11:27 AM CST

Al-Qaeda Killed Bhutto, Pakistan Says

Reported causes of ex-PM's death include shrapnel, blow to head

(Newser) - The suicide bomber who killed Benazir Bhutto belonged to a militant group with links to Al-Qaeda, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry told GEO-TV today, fingering Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an outlawed Sunni group blamed for hundreds of killings.The US State Department considers the group a terrorist organization with links to the Taliban. The...

Bin Laden to Issue Message on 'Foiling Plots' in Iraq

Dec 28, 2007 5:44 AM CST

Bin Laden to Issue Message on 'Foiling Plots' in Iraq

May also rip 'Infidel' Arabic news channel Al Jareeza

(Newser) - A new message on "foiling plots" in Iraq from Osama bin Laden is about to be released on an Islamic web site, Reuters reports. The 56-minute recording will address the hardline jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq, according to the site announcing the message. It may also blast the...

Did the US
Do Enough
for Bhutto?

Dec 28, 2007 4:58 AM CST

Did the US Do Enough for Bhutto?

American officials too trusting of Musharraf security, say critics

(Newser) - Finger pointing has begun in the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto—and several fingers are pointing at Washington, reports Time magazine. Critics say the White House is so committed to supporting President Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in the war against terror, that the US has been too...

Bhutto Killing: Who Did It?

Dec 27, 2007 11:45 AM CST

Bhutto Killing: Who Did It?

With ex-PM targeted by Taliban, aides fault security, suspect 'rogue elements' in military

(Newser) - There are no official suspects in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto at a political rally today, but suspicion centers on Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants who made death threats against her in recent months, targeting her as pro-American. Bhutto aides are already faulting Pakistan's military establishment for not providing adequate...

US Billions in Pakistan Wasted

Dec 24, 2007 4:20 AM CST

US Billions in Pakistan Wasted

Money earmarked for war on terror diverted to shore up regime

(Newser) - Billions of dollars the US gave to Pakistan to bolster counterterrorism efforts against al-Qaeda apparently have been diverted to prop up President Pervez Musharraf's government and finance weapons systems aimed at India, reports the New York Times. Because the US has failed to properly monitor military aid programs, progress against...

Saudis Foil Hajj Attack

Dec 22, 2007 6:27 AM CST

Saudis Foil Hajj Attack

Militants aiming to disrupt Muslim ritual nabbed

(Newser) - As millions of Muslims completed the annual Hajj pilgrimage yesterday, Saudi police said they'd arrested a group that had been planning attacks, Al Arabiya reports. An official said the al-Qaeda suspects, detained at cities across the country, had been intent on disrupting the ritual and causing "security confusion."...

House Subpoenas
Top Ex-Spy

Dec 21, 2007 4:20 AM CST

House Subpoenas Top Ex-Spy

Lawmakers seek explanation for why he had tapes destroyed

(Newser) - The former head of the CIA's clandestine service has been subpoenaed to testify about the destruction of videotapes of the harsh interrogations of two al-Qaeda suspects. The subpoena for Jose Rodriguez was issued after the House Intelligence Committee staff studied documents on the interrogations that the CIA had surrendered to...

Troubled Afghan Mission Under Review

Dec 16, 2007 7:37 AM CST

Troubled Afghan Mission Under Review

Prospect of failure in 'forgotten war' prompts probes, if not surge

(Newser) - With insurgent violence in Afghanistan soaring to the highest level since 2001, the Bush administration and NATO have begun three sweeping reviews of a mission that was considered a success, but now seems increasingly threatened. Lack of coordination in fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda, rising opium production, and the weakness...

Yemeni Inmate Claims Months of Abuse
in CIA Cells

Dec 15, 2007 7:37 AM CST

Yemeni Inmate Claims Months of Abuse in CIA Cells

He tells Salon he was held at 'black sites'

(Newser) - A Yemeni man claims he was held for 19 months in secret CIA prisons, shackled in tiny cells with no idea why he was there or if he would ever be free again, bombarded by rap music or white noise around the clock. Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah says he was...

Al-Qaeda Rips Annapolis Talks

Dec 14, 2007 1:43 PM CST

Al-Qaeda Rips Annapolis Talks

Bin Laden's No. 2 accuses delegates of 'treachery' toward Palestinians

(Newser) - Al Qaeda's second-in-command condemned the Arab attendees at last month's Annapolis peace conference in an internet audio file posted today, the BBC reports. In the recording, Ayman Al-Zawahiri says the Arab leaders at the talks, in which most Arab countries took part, "were present as false witnesses to the...

Judge Declares Mistrial in Sears Tower Plot Case

Dec 13, 2007 5:12 PM CST

Judge Declares Mistrial in Sears Tower Plot Case

Jury acquits 1, splits on 6 others accused of pursuing al Qaeda ties

(Newser) - A jury acquitted one suspect today and was deadlocked over the six others in the "Liberty City Seven" case, in which prosecutors had accused the Miami men of swearing allegiance to al Qaeda and plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago. The case was a centerpiece in...