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Al Qaeda terrorists are fleeing Baghdad in advance of President Bush’s 21,500-man troop surge, a senior military intelligence officer told Pajamas Media today. Under orders from the al Qaeda commander in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, fighters are streaming toward the Diyala region of Iraq. The apparent evacuation of Baghdad by al Qaeda forces comes from direct orders issued by al-Masri, the former soldier who took control of the Iraqi wing of al Qaeda following the June 2006 bombing death of Zarqawi. Initially, the intelligence officer informed Pajamas, the Baghdad-based AQ fighters did not want to leave. Al-Masri had to send...

LONDON - Four men arrested on suspicion of organizing terrorist training camps in Britain were tracked by Spanish investigators earlier this year as they traveled through Spain from France en route to North Africa, officials said Monday. The statement from Spain's interior ministry was the first public indication of an international link to the probe, which led to the arrests late Friday and early Saturday of 14 people suspected of training and recruiting for terror attacks. British prosecutors, meanwhile, said eight other people allegedly involved in a separate plot to blow up U.S.-bound aircraft are unlikely to be brought to...

IT SAYS its members brought about the conviction of radical Egyptian-born cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, uncovered insurgent tactics in Iraq and are now working to provide intelligence from North Korea.The organisation is not the US Central Intelligence Agency or Britain's MI6 but Vigil, a shadowy network of retired spies, senior military personnel, anti-terrorism specialists and banking experts. The group's director Dominic Whiteman said he set up Vigil with two other businessmen last year to act as an conduit between retired spies who were still party to good, raw intelligence, and the police and security services. "This evidence was just getting...

BAGHDAD — Coalition forces captured and detained the driver of Abu al-Masri, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, during a raid Sept. 28 in here. In other developments, the Ministry of Interior issued a no-notice recall of an Iraqi police brigade, which will be pulled out of service and given corrective retraining. “Based on information from a recently detained al-Qaida in Iraq member, coalition forces on September 28th detained a former driver and personal assistant of Abu al-Masri along with 31 others during a series of raids that were conducted in the Baghdad area specifically targeting al-Qaida in Iraq targets,”...

The U.S. military said on Thursday the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq was still very much alive, denying reports by some Iraqi politicians that he had been tracked down and killed. "We believe he is still alive," U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson said, dismissing claims by several Iraqi politicians that Abu Ayyub al-Masri and several associates were killed in a U.S. airstrike this week. Masri, an Egyptian who is also known as Abu Hamza al- Muhajir, assumed the leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq after Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike in...

Picture Proof: The Saddam-Al Qaeda Connections The following information did not make it into the Senate Intelligence Committee's report released last Friday, that claimed Saddam's government "did not have a relationship, harbor or turn a blind eye toward" al-Qaida operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi or his associates. What do you suppose the committee had to say about these documents? Captured Iraqi Document ISGC-2004-019920 Page 6From blogger The Dread Pundit Bluto: ISGZ-2004-0199202002 Iraqi Intelligence Correspondence concerning the presence of al-Qaida Members in Iraq. Correspondence between IRS members on a suspicion, later confirmed, of the presence of an Al-Qaeda terrorist group. Moreover,...

Abu Hamza, the militant, London-based Muslim cleric, maintained close contact with the leadership of al-Qa'eda during the years when it operated a worldwide terrorist network from Afghanistan, according to FBI files. Documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph state that Hamza, the former imam of Finsbury Park mosque, north London, dealt personally with Abu Zubeidah, Osama bin Laden's director of operations. Zubeidah, a Palestinian who is now in US custody, communicated bin Laden's instructions and messages from his hideout in Afghanistan to al-Qa'eda cells around the world. Hamza had the power to refer recruits to Zubeidah for "leadership training" in Afghan...

Al-Qaida's new leader in Iraq said the country's Sunni politicians were treacherous and warned of more attacks against U.S.-led forces there, according to an Internet audio tape posted on Thursday. "The fire has not and will not be put out and our swords, which have been coloured with your blood are thirsty for more of your rotting heads," said the speaker, identified in the recording as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir. "You (Sunni politicians) have lied to yourself and betrayed your nation ... You claimed you will enter the political process to ease the hardship of the Sunnis, but you were their...

DUBAI (AFX) - The Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda denied that its second-highest official, Hamed Jumaa al-Saedi, had been arrested in Iraq, in a statement posted on an internet site. "The apostate government is trying to disguise its defeats by announcing the arrest of the 'number two in Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia'," the statement said, a day after Iraqi national security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie hailed Saedi's capture. "This announcement is also designed to hide the latest defeats of the Crusaders and their valets in Al-Anbar (province of western Iraq) and Baghdad," said the group calling itself the Mujahedeen Consultative Council.

NO. 2 FIGURE IN AL QAEDA IN IRAQ ARRESTED - IRAQ'S NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

In the small rural community of Kamdesh, Nuristan province, US troops recently constructed a base that houses hundreds of troops, making it the first such outpost of its kind to be built in one of the most untamed areas of Afghanistan. The base at Kamdesh is dug into a rugged mountain side that backs up to a sheer mountain side; prime real estate in the insurgent saturated northeast. Serving as an extension of forward operating base Naray, which lies due south in Kunar province, Kamdesh aims to reach further into the northern areas, namely Nuristan, to help the locals with...

The Ain al-Hilwe Palestinian refugee camp in the Lebanese port city of Sidon has been infiltrated by some 200 al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists who are using it as a base for planning and launching attacks, Lebanese intelligence officials told the London-based Sunday Telegraph. The officials blame the terror group, which calls itself Esbat al-Ansar (League of Warriors), for a rocket attack on the Future TV station in Beirut last Saturday night. The blast devastated the newsroom of the station, which is controlled by Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, but caused no injuries as no one was on duty at the...

Dad is a coward, a hypocrite and he deserves to rot in jail By Rajeev Syal In an exclusive interview, Donna Traverso tells The Times about the man who tore her family apart SHE knew him simply as Dad, a kindly presence in her life who would tell her that she was “his little girl” as she nestled in his muscular arms. Now Donna Traverso, 25, despises her former stepfather Abu Hamza al-Masri for shattering her family and abandoning her at the age of 5. In her first interview, she tells The Times how the Egyptian disappeared with her beloved...

WASHINGTON, July 5, 2006 – The new al Qaeda in Iraq leader is an explosives expert who could opt to increase insurgent attacks using car and truck bombs, a senior U.S. military officer said in Baghdad today. Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, told reporters that it would be prudent to expect a rise in attacks with such devices in light of Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri's reputation. Masri's predecessor as the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed June 7 during a U.S. aerial bombing raid. Caldwell said security is...

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has authorised a reward of up to $A6.7 million for information leading to wanted Al Qaeda leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri in Iraq. Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli says the reward has been offered in the hope it would encourage persons to come forward with information on al-Masri. The State Department says al-Masri is an Egyptian national and a senior Al Qaeda leader in Iraq. He is a direct associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, who was recently killed by US forces. "Trained in Afghanistan and...

It's now open & 'official', Islamists call Christians 'animals' ISLAMOFASCISM! http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_3959579 2 US soldiers bodies found mutilated and tortured http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/20/soldiers.missing/index.html [Islamic website connected to Al Qaeda said:] "We announce the good news to our Islamic nation that we executed God's will and slaughtered the two crusader animals we had in captivity," said the claim, reportedly from the Mujahedeen Shura Council, a group linked to al Qaeda.

BAGHDAD, June 16, 2006 – The new lead terrorist in Iraq is a founding member of al Qaeda in Iraq and had a close relationship with the now-killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, coalition officials said. Officials revealed yesterday that Abu Ayyub al-Masri succeeded Zarqawi following the Jordanian terrorist's elimination June 7 in a precision-bomb attack on his safe house in Iraq. They said Masri fully bought into Zarqawi's bloody tactics that have left thousands of innocent men, women and children across Iraq dead or maimed. Al-Masri - which means "the Egyptian" - is another foreign fighter who trained in Afghanistan like...

6/14/06Al-Qaeda's New Leader The U.S. military on Thursday revealed for the first time a photo of the man said to be the new leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. The military said the picture showed Egyptian-born Abu Ayyub al-Masri, believed to have taken over the terror network after the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi last week.The Defense Intelligence Agency declassified the photograph on Wednesday, said U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell at a news conference in Baghdad, adding that he had no idea how the DIA got the photo. (In addition to being a senior al Qaeda in Iraq...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military said Thursday the man claiming to be the new al-Qaida in Iraq leader is Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Egyptian with ties to Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said al-Masri apparently is the same person that al-Qaida in Iraq identified in a Web posting last week as its new leader — Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, a nom de guerre. Al-Muhajer claimed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a June 7 U.S. airstrike, and vowed to avenge him in threatening Web statements...

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida in Iraq said in a Web statement posted Monday that a militant named Abu Hamza al-Muhajer was the group's new leader. Al-Muhajer succeeds Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed Wednesday by a U.S. airstrike on his hideout northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. The successor's name — a pseudonym, as most militants are known by — was not immediately known and did not appear to be on any U.S. lists of terrorists with rewards on their heads. The name al-Muhajer, Arabic for "immigrant," suggested he was not Iraqi. Al-Muhajer is a common alias among Islamic militants, referring to...

...possible successors to the [Zarqawi]. One of them, Iraq-based Egyptian terrorist Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was also named by Major-General William Caldwell... The other two are an Iraqi named Abu Aseel and a Syrian named Abu al-Ghadia. Masri (reportedly... born in 1966) is believed to have entered Iraq to join Zarqawi in 2002 and founded a cell for al-Qaeda in Baghdad. ...Masri received his training at military camps in Afghanistan during the Taliban rule and met bin Laden at the Farouk Camp, where Masri was working as an instructor... is also reportedly close to Egyptian Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri... Abu Aseel and...

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer 38 minutes ago WASHINGTON - A U.S. military search of the destroyed safehouse where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed yielded documents and information storage devices that are being assessed for potential use against his terror network, a military officer said Friday. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because results from the safehouse search have not been announced, said an M-16 rifle and an unspecified number of grenades and AK-47 rifles also were found. The M-16 was fitted with special optics, the official said.Also found were "media and documents," the officer said,...

LONDON (AFP) - Abu Hamza al-Masri, the radical Egyptian Muslim cleric who was jailed here for seven years in February, falsely claimed to have fathered a child after moving to Britain, a newspaper said. Abu Hamza, who was sentenced for inciting racial hatred and soliciting murder, claimed on a birth certificate in October 1980 that he was the father of a daughter born to his first wife, Valerie Traverso, The Times said. Four days after her birth, Hamza told his lawyers to write to Britain's Home Office to apply for permission to stay in the country, saying that he had...

LONDON - A British jury convicted radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri on Tuesday of fomenting racial hatred and inciting his followers to kill non-Muslims. Al-Masri, 47, the former imam at London's Finsbury Park mosque, also was convicted of possessing a terrorist document and threatening or abusive recordings. Al-Masri, Britain's best-known Islamist orator, could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison. The jury of seven men and five women found al-Masri guilty on seven of nine charges of soliciting murder. He also was convicted on two of four charges of stirring racial hatred. Though asked to stand for the...

NABLUS, West Bank - Palestinian gunmen linked to the ruling Fatah movement killed one of their party leaders Tuesday, increasing tensions on the eve of parliamentary balloting and raising doubts about a new pledge by armed groups in the West Bank and Gaza to hold their fire during the vote. Opinion polls have shown Fatah and Hamas in a close race ahead of Wednesday's election and both sides have said they might form a coalition government. Candidates were banned from campaigning Tuesday for a cooling-off period before the election. Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas candidate in northern Gaza, said the Islamic...

A TAPE recorded by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden’s deputy, was released on the internet this weekend as new details emerged of an American attempt to kill him in an airstrike on a remote Pakistani border village. In the recording Zawahiri praises the actions of Islamic fighters in Afghanistan. The CIA confirmed its authenticity, but was unable to say when it had been made. Its release appears to be part of a fresh Al-Qaeda propaganda offensive to show that the organisation has not been harmed by the American attack on Damadola village near the Afghan border on January 13. when...

Pakistani intelligence agents hunted Wednesday for the graves of four al-Qaida militants believed killed in an airstrike near the Afghan border — including at least one suspected high-ranking al-Qaida figure. ABC News and The New York Times reported that Pakistani officials believe a master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert for al-Qaida was killed in the attack on the village of Damadola last week. He was identified as Midhat Mursi, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, who ran an al-Qaida training camp and has a $5 million reward on his head. Also killed, Pakistani officials believe, was Khalid Habib, the...

ABC News has learned that Pakistani officials now believe that al Qaeda's master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert was one of the men killed in last week's U.S. missile attack in eastern Pakistan. Midhat Mursi, 52, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, was identified by Pakistani authorities as one of four known major al Qaeda leaders present at an apparent terror summit in the village of Damadola early last Friday morning. On the Run: al Qaeda Most Wanted Pakistan: Terrorists Killed in U.S. Strike ABC News Investigations: Complete Coverage U.S. Strike Killed al Qaeda Bomb Maker Iraqi Captors Threaten...

This reward poster released by the U.S. government's Rewards for Justice program, shows Egyptian chemist Midhat Mursi, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri. The U.S. government has posted a $5 million reward this year for the capture of the alleged al Qaeda bomb maker. (AP Photo/ HO) Jan. 18, 2006 — ABC News has learned that al Qaeda's master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert was one of the men killed in last week's U.S. missile attack in eastern Pakistan. Midhat Mursi, 52, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, was identified by Pakistani authorities as one of three known al...

RADICAL cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri goes on trial in London today on 16 charges of stirring up racial hatred and urging the killing of non-Muslims. Hamza, who is also wanted by the US, will be the most high-profile figure to be tried in Britain charged with such offences since the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York. The Egyptian-born cleric faces 10 charges of using public meetings to incite his followers to kill non-Muslims. Four of the charges say he urged the killing of Jews. He is also accused of using threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour with intent to...

BERLIN (Reuters) - Information Germany shared with the United States may have prompted the CIA to abduct a German citizen and fly him to Afghanistan for interrogation as a suspected terrorist, a newspaper reported on Friday. The report added to pressure on the government to reveal what officials may have known about the case of Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen who is suing the CIA for wrongful imprisonment after being held in an Afghan prison for five months last year."It is possible that information we exchanged with the U.S. authorities alerted the CIA to Masri," an unnamed German security official...

A man who says he was a victim of the CIA's alleged secret prisons is suing its former chief over torture claims. Khaled al-Masri says he was kidnapped in 2003 while on holiday in Macedonia, flown to Afghanistan and mistreated. It is the first legal challenge to the US policy of "extraordinary rendition" - flying suspects to third countries without judicial process. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said this week the US does not practice or condone torture. Human rights groups say extraordinary rendition is a violation of international law. The US maintains that all such operations are conducted...

The group repeated its last warning, stated attacks on London and other European capitals will not cease until their troops are withdrawn from Iraq. Earlier the group which claimed the first round of London bombings on July 7, also answered for the attacks Thursday, July 21. In its first warning, the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades gave European states still in Iraq – Denmark, the Netherlands, Britain, Italy – until Aug. 15 to bring their soldiers out. Otherwise, said the statement, whose authenticity has not been verified, “there will be a bloody war in the service of God.” There will be...

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - A statement in the name of a group that claimed responsibility for the London bombings threatened Tuesday to launch "a bloody war" on the capitals of European countries that do not remove their troops from Iraq within a month. "This is the last message we send to the European countries. We are giving you one month for your soldiers to leave the Land of the Two Rivers. Then there will be no other messages, but actions, and the words will be engraved in the heart of Europe," Abu Hafs al Masri Brigades said in a statement....

CAIRO, Egypt - An Islamic Web site posted a statement purporting to be from an al-Qaida-linked group Saturday in which it claimed responsibility for the bombings that killed at least 49 people in London and promised more attacks in the city it described as the "capital of the infidels." The claim purportedly from the Abu Hafs al Masri Brigade was logged on an Islamic Web site where similar claims for responsibility have appeared in the past. The statement's authenticity could not be verified. Experts say the group has no proven history of attacks and said it had claimed responsibility for...

Glen Jenvey worked for several military attachés covering terrorist groups, including al-Qaida and their members in Britain. His sting led to the capture of Abu Hamza al-Masri, a major terrorist. Multiple other terrorists were also caught due to his efforts. He has been profiled and interviewed in major media across the globe, including in the US, UK, Russia, India, etc. Neil Doyle wrote a book entitled "Terror Tracker" about Mr. Jenvey. Immediately after the London bombings, he gave an exclusive interview to the Global Politician. DS: What groups are the potential suspects of today's terrorist attack? Glen Jenvey: "Nur al-Iman"...

LONDON -- Neatly shorn and bespectacled, Britain's best-known Islamic radical appeared in court Tuesday, charged with encouraging the murder of Jews and other non-Muslims. The fiery cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri sat uncharacteristically silent in the dock at the Old Bailey as lawyers outlined legal arguments ahead of his jury trial. Tuesday had been set for the trial's beginning, but the first session was taken up with legal arguments, which are expected to continue all week. Court orders forbid any reporting of the arguments, which take place without a jury present. Wearing a blue smock with hair gray hair and beard...

Bellevue firm tied to pro-Hamas Web siteBy Peter LewisSeattle Times staff reporter, April 23, 2005 A Bellevue company has helped support a Web site dedicated to advancing Hamas, an Islamic organization the U.S. government considers a terrorist group. The site features videos of Humvees blowing up and U.S. soldiers being killed. The site was down temporarily yesterday but was working again last evening. Content included a training video of the "Mujahideen Army" and a message to the American people that said in part they had "elected criminals and are responsible for their actions." The Bellevue company, eNom, apparently is...

The links between Nick Berg and Zacarias Moussaoui, once described as the 20th hijacker of 9/11, opened now room for new speculations, if there are deeper ties between the OKC Bombing'95 and 9/11, than thought before. Apparently Berg knew also Moussaoui's roomates. One of them was Mujahid Menepta, who is connected to both 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1995 OKC bombing. But Menepta wasn't arrested in Summer 2001, when Moussaoui got caught. The FBI waited until after Sep11th.Why?Berg, Moussaoui and the OK bombing tieshttp://inn.globalfreepress.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=269 By Ewing20012004/5/24 On May 18th, 2004, according to Newsmax, Nick Berg's family insisted that...

WASHINGTON — In a diabolical plot, al Qaeda operatives may be trying to smuggle nuclear weapons into Mexico for an eventual strike against the United States, Time magazine reports. Sharif al-Masri, an Egyptian who was captured in late August near Pakistan's border with Iran and Afghanistan, told interrogators that al Qaeda plans to "smuggle nuclear materials to Mexico, then operatives would carry material into the U.S.," according to Time.[snip] The chilling plot, although unconfirmed, has prompted U.S. officials to heighten concerns about Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge met with Mexican officials in that country last week to discuss...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

In a tape seized by authorities, radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri is heard urging Muslim women to breed children for the purpose of creating suicide bombers. Lauding a mother who encouraged her son to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel, the British-based leader said in the lecture: "Everywhere, these are the women of mass destruction to the kuffar [unbelievers], and these are the action [sic] that put terror in their hearts."

Muslim women should breed children to become suicide bombers, according to lecture given by the radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri. Hamza, who has been indicted by the US on 11 terrorism charges, makes the plea on an audio tape that has been circulating among his followers. The tape is currently being studied as part of the legal attempt to extradite Hamza to the US. On the recording, Hamza refers to a suicide bombing in Israel and says: "Last week we seen a mother...she put happiness in the hearts of every Muslim on earth and for years to come. "She...

Check this out, we made the lead story at the CBS Evening News for two nights! -- JohnathanRGalt   Man Behind Terror Big's Arrest WILTSHIRE, England, Aug. 16, 2004 Glen Jenvey  (Photo: CBS) It was like dangling bait in the waters, and al Masri bit. Abu Hamza al Masri (Photo: AP) Abu Hamza al Masri (Photo: CBS) (CBS) A leafy street in an English country village might not seem like the frontline in the war on terror. But an elaborate Internet sting run from Glen Jenvey's bedroom helped bring in the man U.S. officials had long called a serious terrorist suspect but had...

Sheikh Abu Hamza Al-Masri on Martyrdom and the Love of Death The following are excerpts from a Friday sermon at Finsbury Park Mosque in London, delivered by Sheikh Abu Hamza Al-Masri, who was arrested one month later, and whose extradition is being sought by the U.S. for his attempts to establish a jihad camp in Oregon. An audio file of the sermon was published on the website of Sheik Abu Hamza's Supporters of Shari'a Organization.For a profile on Abu Hamza Al-Masri, see MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 72, October 16, 2001, 'Radical Islamist Profiles: London – Abu Hamza Al-Masri,'...

A SEBEGALESE Muslim cleric deported from Italy as a danger to state security was quoted today as telling a pan-Arab newspaper that he had met three times with Osama bin Laden, leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network. The cleric, Abdel Qadir Mamour, told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat in an interview by telephone from Dakar, Senegal, that he had the meetings with bin Laden in Sudan from 1993 to 1996. Mamour said bin Laden had provided money to finance his trading in diamonds between Africa and Belgium, but did not say how much money was involved or if bin Laden was...

The dilemma: How do governments curtail extreme anti-Western sermons and preserve Western values? London –With his prosthetic hook, one-eyed scowl and vitriolic sermons, Abu Hamza al-Masri, the prayer leader at London's Finsbury Park mosque, became the European poster boy for international jihad and the favorite boogeyman of Britain's tabloids. Last month, while British authorities were scratching their heads trying to find some legal means of getting rid of the troublesome imam, the U.S. Justice Department solved their problem with an extradition request. Abu Hamza, as he is known to his followers, has never set foot in the U.S., but he...

JEDDAH, 28 February 2004 — Faryal Al-Masri hopes to be the first Saudi-American to enter the US Congress, contesting elections in California to become a member of US House of Representatives. Al-Masri is running on a Democratic Party ticket in the 37th electoral district in California, which has been a Republican stronghold for over half a century. But Democrats have high hopes for her. “They are optimistic as they see my birth in Makkah as a good omen,” she said. In an exclusive interview with Arab News’ sister publication Al-Majalla, which hits the stands today, Al-Masri said it is going...

<p>LONDON &#8212; The FBI is examining evidence from a sting operation mounted against the radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri in Britain to determine whether it bolsters the case for his extradition to the United States on terrorism-related charges.</p> <p>A cache of secret video and audiotapes was given by al-Masri to a researcher, who infiltrated his group based at the Finsbury Park mosque in London.</p>