Al Qaeda wins this round against Daesh, but what’s with the rival claims?

Al Qaeda’s most dangerous branch, AQAP, has claimed responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo attack, edging arch jihadist foe Daesh (IS) for the moment. So why were there rivals claims in the Paris two hostage crises?

Ignoring the Syrian side of the Sykes-Picot line

ISIS delivers a multilingual, postcolonial, post-national, proto-caliphate jihadist message to beat all prior propaganda ploys. So, why are we divorcing Iraq from Syria? And why do we always ignore a battlefield to rush into Iraq?

Kenyatta’s al Shabaab denial inflames Kenya’s divisive discourse

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta dragged Kenya’s whodunit into dangerous terrain when he insisted “politically motivated ethnic violence” – and not al Shabaab – was responsible for recent deadly attacks.

Maliki’s wrong: ISIS is so rich, it doesn’t need Saudi money

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has blamed Saudi Arabia for funding Islamists. But ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria) is also a threat to the Saudis and for once, Saudi money does not talk.

Old foes, new friends: Mali eases suspicious minds

In the old days, France was wary of the US messing around on its African turf. But the Mali intervention changed that. Then there’s Nigeria, France’s old Anglophone West African bogey, now turned new best friend. What a difference a war makes.

Media-mad US jihadist in Somalia finally kicked out of al Shabaab ranks

America’s best-known jihadist in Somalia, Omar Hammami – also called “al Amriki” – has officially been kicked out of the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab in one of the Islamist group’s smarter moves.

A New Moment of Opportunity for al Qaeda?

Zawahiri’s previous statements on the Arab Spring had been seemingly detached from the actual challenges facing Arab societies. His lastest communication, however, is concise, and seeks to imbue his organization with new initiative.

Separatism in Northern Mali: Watch This Space

Mali is currently experiencing a disastrous civil war in which a group of rebel Tuareg fighters have declared a separate state in the north and are threatening to form a coalition with local Islamists. Is this collateral damage of the Arab Spring?

Does a US-born jihadist’s video revelation point to divisions in the ranks or that he’s just insufferable?

In a new video statement, by US-born al Shabaab militant Abu Mansoor al Amriki said his life was threatened by fellow militants. But does that point to divisions in the Somali Islamist group’s ranks or that al Amriki is just an insufferable blowhard?

Usual suspects blamed for terrorist attacks...again

When news broke last Friday of the deadly attacks in Norway, the media jumped to the wrong conclusions. But it certainly wasn't the first such time that fingers have been pointed at what I would call the usual suspects.