Saudi and Iran exchange accusations over Somali military recruitment in Yemen
Listen Sana’a (Yemen Times)-The flow of African refugees in Yemen, in particular Somalis, has sparked a wave of accusations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Iranian and Saudi media outlets have accused each other’s countries of recruiting Somalis who flow into Yemen as fighters. The Iranian military-run Fars News Agency (FNA) said last Thursday that 1,300 [...]
U.S. to resume formal Muslim Brotherhood contacts
Listen Washington (Alshahid) – The United States has decided to resume formal contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, in a step that reflects the Islamist group’s growing political weight but that is almost certain to upset Israel and its U.S. backers. “The political landscape in Egypt has [...]
Cash-strapped Libya rebels beg for loans
Listen Tripoli (Alshahid)-Libya’s cash-strapped rebels, facing a long and uncertain fight to recover assets frozen abroad, have called on foreign donors to back new loans using the blocked cash as collateral. With no money to pay for salaries or imports, Mazen Ramadan, an economic advisor to the National Transitional Council (NTC), said a solution must [...]
Libya: AU condemns French arming of rebels
Listen Addis Ababa (Alshahid) -African Union Commission chief Jean Ping says France’s decision to air-drop weapons to Libyan rebels is dangerous and puts the whole region at risk. He told the BBC the action risked creating problems similar to those in war-torn Somalia. France has confirmed it dropped arms to Berber tribal fighters in the [...]
Yemen, Somalia discuss cooperation in Mogadishu
Listen Mogadishu (Alshahid) -A Yemeni envoy and a Somali official reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries and ways of enhancing them. In a meeting held in Somalia, Yemeni ambassador to Somalia Ahmad Hamid Omar and the Speaker of the Somali parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adam talked on current developments in Yemen and Somalia. The [...]
NATO admits killing civilians in Libya air strikes
Listen Tripoli (Alshahid) -Military alliance blames “weapons systems failure” for errant air strike on Tripoli which reportedly killed nine people. NATO has acknowledged responsibility for an air strike that killed a number of civilians in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. A statement from the alliance said that a military missile site was the intended target of [...]
Inside the mind of Al-Qaeda’s new leader
Listen (Alshahid) -He is wanted by the FBI with a $25 million bounty on his head; was even sentenced to death in absentia by an Egyptian court. Now, he has been picked to lead al-Qaeda, the international terrorism group whose leader Osama Bin Laden was recently killed in Pakistan. This is the heavily bearded Ayman [...]
Dr. Zawahiri appointed new al-Qaeda chief
Listen Pakistan (Alshahid) -Ayman al-Zawahiri has been appointed the new leader of al-Qaeda, to replace the Osama bin Laden, killed by Americans; this is according to a statement posted on several jihadist websites. Al-Zawahiri has played a defining role in al-Qaeda for more than a decade as Osama bin Laden’s deputy. His appointment follows the [...]
Clinton tells African states to expel Libya diplomats
Listen Dar es Salaam (Alshahid) -US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has requested African states to expel Libyan diplomats and close their embassies to pressure Muammar Gaddafi to step down. Mrs Clinton told African countries’ senior diplomats at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa Monday that the continent must play a role to oust [...]
Gaddafi offered way out by Turkey
Listen Turkey (Alshahid) -Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government had offered exit “guarantees” to the embattled Libyan leader, whom rebels have been trying to oust since February following a bloody crackdown on pro-reform protests. Gaddafi “has no other option than to leave Libya – with a guarantee to be given to him,” [...]