Iran

• President Bush has again demanded that Iran stop enriching uranium, or face the fury of the UN Security Council, as well as a series of increasingly tough political and economic sanctions. After Iran replied it would provide an answer to the Western proposal by August 22nd, the president said that is too long to wait.

• Does a Bush administration strategy paper show the U.S. has in fact ruled out the violent overthrow of the mullahs, or strikes on their nuclear program? This guy thinks so.

• Saiid Mortazavi is an Iranian judge involved in the torture, rape and murder of a Canadian journalist. He closed down 200 newspapers and jailed 100 reporters. Which is, of course, why he is attending the UN's brand-spanking new Human Rights Council. Rather than taking the normal course of sending bureaucrats to attack the West, Iran has decided to send the murderous scum in person to accuse Europe and the U.S. of failing to respect freedom of expression. The leader of Iran's delegation spoke in favour of curbing free speech internationally, specifically regarding the so-called 'defamation of religion', 'particularly the divine message of Islam'.

• Forty professors and lecturers at Tehran University are being forced to retire.

• Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji says, contrary to media reports, there is no consensus amongst Iranians on the nuclear issue.

• Meanwhile, Iranian dissident groups are bickering as much as ever.

• The grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini has called on the U.S. to overthrow the mullahs currently ruling Iran. Remarkably, Hossein Khomeini made the call from inside Iran, in the holy Shia city of Qom - in an interview marking 17 years since the death of Khomeini himself.

The Middle East

• Finally, the PA security forces are to engage in a crackdown. Against 'collaborators'. Fatah have made the decision to hunt down those they think are involved in helping the Israelis eliminate terrorists.

• Egyptian blogger Alaa has been released from prison - great news!

• Egyptian terror gang Gamaa Islamiyah is to launch a new website, explaining their decision to renounce violence and even seek dialogue with Coptic Christians. The current leadership say that they view the assassination of Anwar Sadat as a mistake.

• Egypt continues its campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood, arresting 31 members for distributing leaflets. The MB says the men were on holiday.

• A fatwa against statues from the Grand Mufti of Cairo seems to have prompted the recent attack on statues in an Egyptian museum. A veiled women, yelling 'Infidels!' destroyed three statues. The incident raised fears of an increasing Islamist Egypt.

• Jordan has publically denied that it has any dispute with Syria. Egypt's Hosni Mubarak is reported to have said Cairo is mediating between Amman and Damascus, following a thwarted Hamas terror campaign in Jordan - a campaign Jordan implied Syria was involved in.

• Debka says Iranian Revolutionary Guards will deploy in the Golan Heights, meaning Iran would have troops or assets on yet another Israeli border.

• Despite the heightened tensions in and around Gaza, Israel is not even close to completing their new network centric system. The IDF is due to deploy the first first fully-digitized division by July 2007.

• Hezbollah have returned to their positions on the Lebanese-Israeli border having vacated them during the recent clashes with the IDF. Iranian military intelligence are said to have bolstered the Hezbollah presence. One military source said we are back to square one, noting that Iran have replaced and boosted their surveillance equipment.

• Israel and Jordan have agreed to begin cooperation on the construction of a joint airport at Aqaba. Shimon Peres and King Abdullah also agreed to discuss free trade zones to employ thousands of Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians.

• The Syrians say it is still too early for diplomatic ties with Lebanon. Still smarting from losing their client state, Syria's foreign minister said, in the current climate, ambassadors would have been withdrawn from embassies (if Syria had considered Lebanon to be an independent country, that is).

• The Israeli army is struggling to adjust to the post-Oslo policy of restraint in the face of terrorism. A senior military advisor says the IDF is now tasked to 'explain the situation', as opposed to changing the situation. Several commanders, serving and retired, contend that the IDF officer corps is confused and demoralised, with soldiers being taught the futility of winning non-conventional wars.

• Islamic Jihad have rejected the prisoners document touted as some sort of peace-plan. Abu Mazen has accepted it, while Hamas opposes it - mostly. Hamas and Fatah are thought to be moving towards a deal on the proposal.

• Jordanian Islamists are to stage a protest march in support of four Jordanian MPs who gave their condolences to the family of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The organisers expect 100,000 people to participate. The four MPs are facing impeachment and charges of inciting terrorism.

• Slate looks at Turkey's anti-American pop culture, from Valley of the Wolves: Iraq to Metal Storm. Not surprisingly, they skip the best-selling Mein Kampf and move on to say this is really no worse than America's anti-Turk pop culture...

Iraq and the Gulf

• Saudis Offered Scholarships for Aviation Courses in US. Hard to know what to say...

• The bodies of two American soldiers kidnapped in Iraq have been found - mutilated and booby-trapped. What MSM would call 'hostage-takers' mutilated the soldiers to the extent that visual identification was impossible.

• Since 2003, coalition forces have seized 500 munitions containing mustard or sarin nerve agents. They are believed to date from prior to the first Gulf War, and the chemical weapons are said to be 'degraded'.

• Foreign terrorists in Ramadi are apparently fleeing towards Syria, after they murdered the leader of the Karabila tribe. Tribe members are hunting the jihadis across Iraq, in close collaboration with U.S. and Iraqi forces.

• The creatively-named WAMY (World Assembly of Muslim Youth) has a history of indoctrinating Muslim children in North America with the now-familiar ideas of martyrdom and terror. In that light, it is perhaps not surprising that WAMY's HQ in (you guessed it) Saudi Arabia was the location for CAIR's upcoming $50 million campaign designed to combat 'Islamophobia'. The Islamic front group CAIR is getting that $50 million, plus at least $24 million more, from the United Arab Emirates.

• An al-Qaeda group in Iraq has announced its intention to murder four Russian embassy workers.

• After Sunni terrorists kidnapped around 100 factory workers in Baghdad, Iraqi police have freed 17 of the hostages. A Shia worker described how he had escaped thanks to his false Sunni identity papers. The 'hostage-takers' released women, children and Sunni men. 40-60 people are still thought to be held captive.

• Iraqi TV is due to show a 60-second public service broadcast, asking Iraqis not to be suicide bombers. The adverts are being filmed in Los Angeles by two companies, one American, one Lebanese, and will use cinematic techinques used in The Matrix to demonstrate the horror of terrorism close up. Those involved in the project speculate the $1 million ad could be shown in other Middle Eastern countries.

• Japanese troops are to withdraw from Iraq. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi noted that the force had completed their mission without firing in anger, or taking any casualties. The soldiers were deployed in a quiet corner of Iraq, repairing roads and schools.

• An American official has accused Hezbollah of killing Iraqis, Americans and Britons in Iraq. A Hezbollah spokesman denied this, claiming the terror group do not operate outside Lebanese soil. Sure.

• The Pentagon withheld the circumstances of the deaths of two American soldiers for nine months. The two California National Guardsmen were gunned down by members of Iraq's security forces.

• Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal Abd Al-Aziz has launched a new Arabic TV channel - family-orientated, project tolerance, jihad until judgement day. The usual stuff.

The Americas

• Immigration and Customs Enforcement have broken up a document forgery ring in D.C., arresting eight men. The group is believed to be connected to the Mexican Castorena-Ibarra crime family, whose head was arrested in Mexico earlier in the week.

• The alleged ringleader of the Canada cell distributed videos lionizing 9/11 terrorists as heroes outside a mosque in Scarborough.

• The WSJ has an article about a jihadi imam in a San Francisco mosque - and how he won a battle with a moderate imam who wanted him out.

• The SUV jihadi, Mohammed Taheri-Azar, is to plead guilty to nine counts of attempted murder and nine counts of felonious assault. Taheri-Azar plans to represent himself in the upcoming trial.

• Canada's new prime minister, chided as a Bush-clone by opponents, says Canada's model of diversity, 'properly nurtured', is the country's greatest strength. The comment was made following criticism of the Canadian social model in the wake of the arrests of 17 Canadian Muslims alleged to have planned terrorist attacks. Harper also said that Canada's Muslim community (not that he actually said 'Muslim community') had rejected terrorism more strongly than most Canadians.

• A Canadian imam has invited a British imam to speak on issues concerning Muslim youth. Sheik Riyadh ul Haq is a noted antisemite, supporter of the Taliban and has frequently vilified Hindus and liberal Muslims.

• A former Islamic extremist and friend of three of the arrested 17 terror suspects says anger is prevalent amongst young Muslims due to the maltreatment of Muslims in other parts of the world.

• Not wanting to be outdone in the fruitcake contest with Chavez, Bolivian premier Evo Morales says the U.S. is sending soldiers disguised as tourists and students in to the country. Bolivia is seeking to extend a preferential trade agreement with the United States. For his part, Chavez is boosting the Venezulan arms industry.

• A federal court has found a palestinian not guilty of planning to join Islamic Jihad. Arwah Jaber was, however, convicted of obtaining his naturalization unlawfully, making false statements on passport and immigration applications, and two counts of making false statements on credit card applications.

Europe

• French authorities have arrested Dahou Meskine, a very moderate imam, for financing Islamic terrorism. Meskine is a founder of the government sponsored UOIF, another Muslim Brotherhood front. He is also the imam of the mosque at Clichy-Sous-Bois, the flashpoint for the violene across Europe late last year. He founded the first Muslim middle school in France, and has been a vocal opponent of 'Islamophobia' in Europe. Meskine was one of 17 people arrested for terror financing.

• British police have arrested four more terror suspects with alleged links to the 17 men arrested in Canada on terror charges. Police have already arrested two other men with suspected links to the Canada cell.

• A Spanish judge is due to investigate claims ETA suspects were tipped off by police ahead of planned arrests. El Mundo reports that the recent arrests of 12 ETA suspects was due to happen in early May.

• Italian prosecutors still want to indict a U.S. soldier they believe killed a member of Italian intelligence in Iraq. A Pentagon report in to the incident concluded that the car, driven by another member of Italian intelligence and carrying journalist Giuliana Sgrena, was speeding towards the Army checkpoint. An Italian investigation countered that, and blamed U.S. forces for not indicating there was a checkpoint.

• Bosnian authorities have stripped 38 terror suspects of Bosnian citizenship. All 38 are Muslim veterans of the Bosnian war thought to be involved in ongoing terrorism. Western intelligence agencies have warned Bosnia about mujahideen veterans running training camps and spreading radical Islamic thought.

• Ansar al-Islam founder Mullah Krekar is still praising jihadis whilst living in Norway.

• Three alleged members of Ansar al-Islam are on trial in Germany for planning to murder Iyad Allawi in 2004. One of the men is accused of being the Ansar leader in Germany.

• Kosovo Serbs have warned of an increase in Albanian terrorism, including shootings and roadside bombs. Serb groups have claimed an Albanian claim to stamp out Serb culture in Kosovo, including 150 attacks on churches since 1999.

• A German parliamentary committee investigating the CIA's alleged rendition program has heard from a German citizen who says he was held in an Afghan jail for five months. Khaled el-Masri told the panel he was kidnapped by the CIA on the Serbian-Macedonian border in 2003, and only released when they realised they had the wrong man.

• Britain's chairman of the Commission of Racial Equality has called for more Muslim police and intelligence officers. Trevor Philllips praised the Muslim community for continuing to cooperate with police, despite 'putting up with being searched investigated and dragged out of their homes'.

• Schools in Oslo will ban students from wearing the burqa. The Oslo Education Department said that clothing that obscure the faces of students prevent teachers from doing their jobs.

• British farmers are being told to lock up their fertiliser, lest terrorists steal it for bomb construction. British officials note that terrorists seeking to buy fertiliser, somewhat surprisingly, 'would not be dressed as terrorists'. Police have also warned that terrorists might take part in outdoors sports like water-rafting, and groups who run such activities should report suspicious behaviour.

• Ayaan Hirsi Ali is expected to retain her Dutch citizenship, despite lying to authorities whilst applying for asylum. Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk has backed down following outcry in the international press.

• An Algerian terror suspect has been deported to Algeria from Britain. Held without charge for several years, Mr "I" withdrew his appeal against deportation.

• Police in Northern Ireland have arrested 10 people thought to be republican terrorists plotting a major terrorist attack. One of the ten is thought to have been involved in the Omagh bombing of 1998, in which 29 civilians were murdered.

Russia and Central Asia

• After Chechen militant Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev was killed a week ago, two versions of his demise have surfaced. The official one claims 'operation intelligence' led a special task force to his hideout, where he was killed in a gunbattle. The less glamourous version says police and FSB responded to a call about workmen suspicious of bearded men hiding in a basement. Jamestown also have some interesting perspectives on what his death means, here and here.

• A video has emerged showing a disputed confrontation in Uzbekistan, during which Uzbek forces killed hundreds of people. The government says it was putting down an armed uprising, but rights groups say unarmed civilians were gunned down. Unfortunately, the video doesn't add much information. It shows armed men, carrying rifles and Molotov cocktails, but was known already that some people were armed. Observers say the video does not, however, prove Karimov's forces acted maliciously (as opposed to incompetently).

The Indian Subcontinent and Afghanistan

• Pakistan's military government is claiming a double victory, over Taliban in Waziristan, and over separatists in Balochistan. In Waziristan, at least, it sounds like the Pakistanis have spoken too soon - Taliban law is increasingly prevalent. Jamestown looks at the tactics being used in Waziristan.

• Bill Roggio has two posts about his exploits in Afghanistan: Kabul to Qalat and Observations from Southeastern Afghanistan. This is a primary source, ladies and gents. Use it.

• British forces are encountering more Taliban than expected in the restive province of Helmand. A British commander noted that the Taliban had demonstrated their determination by conducting a series of suicide attacks during the winter, a period when guerilla groups typically go to ground. True to form, the Taliban have used women and children as human shields in several clashes with British troops.

• An al-Qaeda cell has recently arrived in Pakistan, from Afghanistan, to conduct major attacks and kill senior Pakistani leaders, according to the Pakistani Interior Ministry. The group is apparently made up of former Taliban and Arab veterans of Afghanistan and Chechnya.

• Despite that, and so much more, a Taliban commander says they are not at war with Pakistan.

• Al-Qaeda have released a new video featuring Zawahiri. The video focuses on a traffic accident in Kabul in late May, with the usual calls to arms. It is unusual in its length (3mins, 44secs), and its translation in to Arabic, Farsi and Pashtu.

• The Taliban may be planning an attack on Kandahar. Two sources with Taliban connections claim they are planning a major assault within the city walls, to be carried out in the next 3-4 months. Shades of Tet?

• A Pakistani terrorist from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has been arrested over the murder of 150 mostly Shia Pakistanis. Usman Kurd is accused of leading Lashkar-e-Jhangvi efforts in parts of Balochistan.

• Indian authorities are pretty startled by the stories of those incarcerated for terror offences in Kashmir. Many suspected terrorists aren't hardened Islamic extremists, but petty criminals or unemployed youths willing to carry out attacks for money.

• The dangers of reporting on Pakistani jihadists was highlighted by the brutal murder of Daniel Pearl, but Pakistani journalists are killed with alarming frequency. The threat is allegedly from the ISI, as well as al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

• Another bus service linking Jammu and Kashmir is to launch. The first line, while still running, was targeted by Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Far East & South East Asia

• The Islamic separatist group waging war in southern Thailand, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, is being financially and logistically supported by Thai criminals who want to distract police attention away from their own activities. The Thai investigation has found that the BRN saved up $1.2 million for their bomb campaign last week, during which around 70 bombs were detonated across the south. Fortunately, fewer than ten people were killed.

• Faheem Khalid Lodhi, the Pakistani-born Australian architect, has been convicted of planning acts of terrorism on Australian soil. Lodhi, alleged to have trained at a Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in Pakistan, faces life imprisonment. He was found to have bomb-making instructions, and to have ordered chemicals used in explosives.

• An Islamic extremist group in Australia has raised $50,000 for the families of 22 terror suspects arrested in Melbourne last month.

• Nepalese Maoists have refused to disarm, but are willing to accept UN arms supervision. FWIW, I haven't found out yet what 'arms supervision' by the United Nations actually entails.

• China carries out so many executions that they've decided to make capital punishment mobile. The Chinese say that the shift to lethal injection (as opposed to firing squads) indicates China's acceptance of human rights, but critics say that lethal injection is a better way to preserve organs for the black market. The remains of those executed are not returned to the families, fuelling suspicions.

• Jamestown's China Brief has a new issue: the Shanghai Cooperation Organization; America's China policy; and China's booming energy relations with Africa.

• Manila is on alert for a terrorist attack, after specific intelligence of a plan to bomb multiple locations. Filipino authorities said the plot involved Muslim rebels (perhaps a term for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front?) and foreign terrorists.

• The Filipinos are also declaring all-out war on rebels - communist rebels.

Africa

• Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's 'president', has barred UN peacekeepers from deploying in Darfur. Bashir blamed Jewish organisations for international pressure on the genocidal terror state. Related, several dozen Pakistanis have arrived in Darfur to lead the two jihadi groups awaiting any UN forces.

• Sudanese irregulars, guided by Chadian rebels, have conducted several raids deep in to Chadian territory, including one 75km across the border. Sudan has been backing Chadian groups opposed to the government, while Chad plays host to the Sudanese Liberation Army and others.

• South Africans have been told by the Safety and Security Minister to stop 'whingeing' about the country's horrendous crime levels. 51 murders and 151 rapes are reported every day in South Africa. That's around 18,000 murders a year, for a country with a population around 45 million.

The Global War

• U.S. Treasury officials say that the flow of cash to jihadi groups is being choked. Victor Comras at the CT blog isn't so sure, and notes the unabated terror campaigns being waged around the world, plus the apparently-loaded groups in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• The One Percent Doctrine, a soon-to-be-released book on the war on terror, has alleged that Mohammad Sidique Khan (the 7/7 ringleader) was linked to a radical mosque in New York. The author, Ron Suskind, also claims U.S. intelligence warned the Brits about Khan, and had barred Khan from entering the United States. British intelligence officials deny all of the above and claim that Suskind's sources mistook Mohammed Ajmal Khan (jailed in the UK for terror offences) for Sidique Khan. Suskind is adamant that the sources interviewed for his book made no mistake.

• The Department of Homeland Security has listed nine al-Qaeda plots to attack aviation worldwide since 9/11, including plots to crash passenger planes in to Heathrow airport and London landmarks like Canary Wharf.

• A retired senior ISI official who fought with al-Qaeda says that AQ are seriously considering the e-bomb as a means of bringing down the United States. Ruling out a nuclear attack, Khalid Khawaja said that some in the 'anti-American resistance' (his words) favour 'bringing America back to the Stone Age without harming human lives'.

• The U.S. military is increasingly potent, thanks to a series of advances focused on precision as opposed to firepower. The improvements start at the riflemen, who shoots better, has better sights, and fires single rounds, to smart artillery, and the much-loved JDAM. Strategy Page has it all.

No, seriously...

• Camp Viking, the Danish military base outside Kabul, has a For Sale sign out front - Danish forces in Afghanistan having been moved south. Several countries are thought to be bidding, though the identities of those countries - and their bids - are still under wraps.

• Ghanian embassies in the Middle East recieved death threats after a Ghanian player waved an Israeli flag in a recent World Cup match. John Painstil, who plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv, has since apologised for offence caused.

• The leader of the PFLP is planning to sue the British government for violating his human rights. British monitors evacuated Jericho prison in March following threats to their lives, prompting an Israeli operation to arrest Ahmed Saadat and several other fugitives.

• The U.S. Embassy in Israel is still adamant that Jerusalem isn't in Israel - to the point they're even altering death certificates.

• was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi registered for benefits in India? Maybe...

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