Free Republic

Intelligence agencies have had some success in tracking suspected al-Qaeda operatives. But the organisation is changing to continue its fight against the West. The West has never encountered an enemy like al-Qaeda before. The problem for the world's intelligence agencies is that it is not a unified organisation with an identifiable structure, like the IRA, but an amalgam of groups around the world whose members embrace Osama bin Laden's ideology of global jihad, or holy war. These Jihadi warriors share the belief that they have an obligation to fight the oppressors of their Muslim brothers, from Palestinians in the Middle...

An Algerian who sought asylum in Sheffield has been jailed for plotting to bomb tourists at a French Christmas market. Lamine Maroni has been sentenced to 11 years in Germany. Three other men were also jailed for between 10 and 12 years each. They were found guilty by a Frankfurt court of conspiracy to murder scores of people outside Strasbourg Cathedral on New Year's Eve 2000. Prosecutors said they were part of a network of mostly North African extremists called the Non-aligned Mujahadeen, with ties to al-Qaida. Maroni had arrived in Sheffield as an asylum seeker in August 2000 and...

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German prosecutors sought prison sentences Tuesday of up to 12 1/2 years for four Algerians accused of plotting to bomb holiday crowds they considered ``the enemies of God'' at a French Christmas market two years ago. In nearly five hours of closing arguments, prosecutors disputed claims laid out in testimony by Aeroubi Beandalis, Salim Boukari, and Fouhad Sabour that they, along with Lamine Maroni, had planned to attack an unoccupied synagogue. ``They were fully aware that many innocent people — including children — could die or at least be injured,'' said prosecutor Volker Brinkmann. He asked...

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - A German judge on Thursday freed one of five Algerians held in connection with a plot to blow up a crowded French Christmas market, citing a lack of evidence. Abdelkader Krimou, falsely named in the indictment as Samir Karimou, had been charged with belonging to the terror group, but not directly with plotting the attack. The charges were dropped as of Thursday. Judge Karlheinz Zeiher ruled there was not enough evidence that he belonged to the group, which prosecutors say intended to set off explosives at the Christmas market in Strasbourg, France in December 2000. Krimou...