19. May 2008 by Dan Verton.

 By OLIVIER GUITTA 5/19/08

Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida’s No.2, makes a point to regularly mention in his broadcasts the Muslim lands that needs to be “liberated.” The list includes ?the usual suspects? for every respectable jihadist: “Palestine”, Kashmir and Chechnya but interestingly, the list includes two tiny Spanish enclaves located in Morocco: Ceuta and Melilla.

For the time being Zawahiri focus on the enclaves rather than the whole “Al Andalus” (historic Spain). Indeed their importance should not be underestimated.
The two enclaves administered by the Spaniards, (as Hong Kong was by the British) physically inside Morocco, are in fact neither Spanish nor Moroccan. Ceuta and Melilla ? 140 miles apart as the crow flies, or 240 miles by road — on the Moroccan coast hover between Islamic and Christian cultures. The 12 square mile territories however have a vital and strategic importance; they serve as beachheads between Europe and Africa. Ceuta is only 13 miles from the European coast. And Morocco and Spain have been fighting over them for years. Now the Islamists have joined the fray.

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Posted in al-Qaeda, The Croissant, Gloabl War on Terror | Print | 1 Comment »

13. May 2008 by Dan Verton.

Middle East Times
By OLIVIER GUITTA Published: May 12, 2008

The Lebanese government last week tried to put a stop to Hezbollah’s blatant takeover of the country. Authorities outlawed Hezbollah’s illegal parallel telecom network and fired the airport’s head of security, a Hezbollah ally who had authorized installations of spy cameras in order to monitor the movements of majority leaders.

Saying it amounted to a declaration of war, Hezbollah used its overpowering force to seize most of the Sunni areas of Beirut and shut down the airport and the majority-owned media. Why is anyone surprised by these latest events? The Arab league and Western diplomats seem to be speechless and several nations asked their citizens to leave the country. But the writing was on the wall.

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Posted in The Croissant, Hezbollah | Print | 1 Comment »

9. May 2008 by Dan Verton.

Ridge on Risk Management

Dan Verton followed the nation’s first Secretary of Homeland Security to a government-only presentation at the Lexis-Nexis Government Users Conference and sat down with one of his top advisors to bring you this 5-part series.

Starts May 19 and runs all week. Homeland Security Television.

Watch the trailer Now

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