A U.S. Navy SEAL team seized a senior leader of the al-Shabaab militant group from a seaside villa in Somalia on Saturday in response to a deadly attack on a Nairobi shopping mall last month, the New York Times quoted U.S. officials as saying. The SEAL team seized the unidentified target in a predawn
U.S. forces have arrested Libyan al-Qaeda leader Abu Anas al-Libi on Saturday, following a military raid in the streets of Tripoli. Libi was allegedly involved in the 1988 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which left more than 200 people dead. He was on the FBI’s most wanted list with
A senior Iranian cleric urged Washington and Tehran on Friday to “join hands” to end the sanctions on the Islamic Republic, local media reported, underlining the support of Iran’s influential religious establishment for President Hassan Rouhani’s diplomatic offensive. “We await practical measures by U.S. officials,” cleric Kazem Sedighi was quoted by Reuters as having
Presidents Obama and Rouhani have had a phone conversation. It was the first time since 1979 that the presidents of Iran and the United States have spoken to each other. Iran resents the United States for putting the Shah into power in 1953. The United States resents Iran for holding 52 Americans hostage for
A joint US-Australian citizen has been jailed for 18 years for his part in an Al Qaeda fundraising ring. Between the years 2007 and 2009, 37 year-old Sabirhan Hasanoff helped funneled around $67,000 to Al Qaeda affiliates in various countries, including Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemeni franchise of the Islamist
Israel wants to make peace with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Arab world, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the United Nations during his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. “Israel continues to seek an historic compromise with our Palestinian neighbors… We want peace based on security and mutual recognition,” he declared.
Egypt has announced the formal cessation of all direct flights and tourism ties with Iran. The announcement came Tuesday, with Egypt stating it has ordered an end to all tourism activities with Iran. These had increased considerably during the yearlong rule of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. Whereas deposed Egyptian president Mohamed
Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for Hamas’s military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades, said on Thursday that the terror organization is trying to avoid going to battle with Israel in order to avoid the consequences for Gaza residents. At the same time, he said in a recorded message that the 'Hamas resistance' to Israel was in
Egypt’s foreign reserves fell by $206 million in September to $18.71 billion, the central bank said on Thursday. Reserves have been under pressure since Egypt’s 2011 popular uprising, but got a boost in July when Gulf Arab states sent it $5 billion after the army removed Islamist President Mohammad Mursi from power. Reserves
Russian embassy staff in Libya have been evacuated following an attack Wednesday on its Tripoli compound. The Russian Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Tripoli had been attacked last night by a "group of militants" after Russian national Ekaterina Ustyuzhaninova killed a Libyan officer and stabbed the officer's mother. One of the Libyan
