Al-Qaeda commander reportedly killed

According to a pro-militant website, a top-level Al-Qaeda commander, Abu Laith al-Libi, was killed earlier this week in the North Waziristan Agency of Pakistan. According to a Pakistani newspaper, Libi died in a US air strike. The US suspected Libi of being behind several suicide bombings in Afghanistan (BBC).

US court orders Sudan to pay Cole victim families

A US federal court in Virginia has found Sudan guilty of involvement with the bombing of USS Cole by al-Qaeda in 2000, and has ordered the Sudanese government to pay US $8 million (Canadian $8.4 million) in compensation to the families of 17 US Marines who died in the attack.

According to Judge Robert Doumar, who presided over the trial, "It is depressing to realise that a country organised on a religious basis with religious rule of law could and would execute its power for purposes which most countries would find intolerable and loathsome."

The ruling was based on the Death on the High Seas Act. The families can collect the sum from Sudanese assets frozen in the US.

Sudan denies any ties with al-Qaeda, and the US government seems to agree (BBC).

I wonder if Doumar took the US government's position into account in making his judgement.

Alleged terrorist training school busted in Italy

Police in the Italian city of Umbria have raided and shut down what they describe as a "terror school" linked to al-Qaeda. They arrested the imam of the mosque that housed the alleged terrorist training centre, a Moroccan named Korchi el Moustapha, as well as two other Moroccans linked to the mosque, and twenty foreign students suspected with involvement.

According to the police, the mosque provided training in the use of poinsons and explosives, and also possessed instructions on flying a Boeing 747.

Commenting about the suspects, Abdel Qader, the imam or another mosque in Perugia, said, "If any has made a mistake, he will have to pay" (BBC).

Once again, it seems, we are faced with a group determined to ruin the reputation of Muslims and, if the Italian allegations are true, determined to kill innocent people. If only they could me made to understand how wrong-headed their actions are.

Somali PM assassination fails

A suicide bomber trying to kill Ali Mohamed Ghedi, the interim prime minister of Somalia, was shot by Ghedi's bodyguards before he could reach the prime minister's residence. Nevertheless, he succeeded in blowing his car up, killing six people.

Ghedi is blaming Al-Qaeda for the attack (BBC).

Survey of American Muslims released

The Pew Research Center has released a large-scale survey of American Muslims, which gauges their opinion on subjects like the the American lifestyle, Islamist extremism, September 11, discrimination, US foreign policy (including the Iraq War), religious observance, homosexuality, President George Bush, and US domestic politics.

The survey also attempted to find out the number of Muslims in the United States, as well as the national, racial, sectarian, age and gender composition of the community. Finally, the respondents were asked about their incomes, education levels, employment, and, importantly, their interpretations and opinions concerning religious matters, such as the Qur'an, and the way mosques operate.

The survey sample consisted of 1,050 Muslims, and participants were paid $50 for taking part. The survey was conducted over landline telephones.

You can view the Pew Research Center's complete report in a PDF file.

Here, though, is a sample of the results:

The survey found that Muslims make up only 0.6% of the US population, which means that there are 1.4 million Muslims over the age of 18 in the United States. This is substantially lower than the currently widely accepted estimate of 6 million Muslims, but the latter number includes children. If we multiply 0.6% by the total US population, i.e. 301.7 million, we get 1.8 million Muslims. However, because American Muslims are a younger population on average than the overall American population, that number is likely to be higher.

65% of American Muslims are foreign-born, while the other 35% are native-born. Only 14% of American Muslims are people who were born into Muslim families in the US. 21% of American Muslims are converts.

It seems that American Muslims are optimists. 71% said that it is possible to "get ahead with hard work", while only 64% of the general public agreed with the statement. Also, interestingly enough, 38% of American Muslims are satisfied with the current state of the United States, while only 32% of the general public are.

43% of American Muslims think that "Muslims coming to the U.S. today should adopt American customs". 62% believe that "life is better for women here than in Muslim countries".

51% of American Muslims are "very concerned about Islamic extremism in the world these days".

53% of American Muslims believe that it is more difficult to be a Muslim in the US since September 11. 54% think that the government singles Muslims out for surveillance. Only 25%, however, report being victims of discrimination "as a Muslim in the U.S."

75% of American Muslims (as opposed to 47% of Americans in general) think that starting the war in Iraq was a wrong decision. 48% of American Muslims (as opposed to 29% of Americans in general) are against the war in Afghanistan.

83% of American Muslims said that suicide bombing could rarely or never be justified. 68% have a somewhat or very unfavourable view of Al-Qaeda. However, only 40% believe that Arabs carried out the September 11 attacks on the United States.

The discussion of this fascinating survey will continue on Notes on Religion in the coming days, God willing.

This is the second (of four) posts in a Notes on Religion series on the Pew Research Center's survey of American Muslims, released in May 2007. Here are links to the other three:

[First post] [Second Post] [Third Post] [Fourth Post]

Terrorism suspects on trial in the US

Three Muslim men, including US citizen José Padilla, are on trial in the US on terrorism charges. Padilla has been in detention since 2002. He spent part of this time at a US Navy base, despite the fact that he is American. Eventually, he was transferred to a civilian prison.

Prosecutors say that Padilla filled out an application to attend an Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Defence lawyers for the accused men, however, are saying that the US government does not have a case (BBC).

Johnston kidnappers want Abu Qatada released

Jaysh al-Islam (The Army of Islam), a Palestinian militant group, has taken responsibility for kidnapping the BBC's Gaza correspondent, Alan Johnston. In exchange for the release of Johnston, who was kidnapped on 12 March, Jaysh al-Islam is demanding the release of all Muslims held in British jails, and, in particular, Abu Qatada, a Palestinian-Jordanian imam who is currently in detention under suspicion of supportin Al-Qaeda (BBC).

Since Johnston was kidnapped almost two months ago, and it has taken Jaysh al-Islam this long to make its demands public, the question that begs itself is whether Johnston was kidnapped by people who had no idea why they were taking him prisoner. Perhaps, during the preceding almost two months of silence, there was a quiet struggle underway between militants who wanted to release Johnston, and those who wanted to keep him prisoner as a bargaining chip.

I should add that all mainstream Palestinian groups, including the governing party, Hamas (despite its terrorist roots) have strongly condemned Johnston's kidnapping, and the government has pledged on several occasions to work for his release.

Fears of more violence in North Africa

North Africans -- Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians -- are wondering whether the recent violence in Algeria and Morocco was linked. It seems that Al-Qaeda is gaining strength in the region: the formerly independent Algerian terrorist group called the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat has recently changed its name to Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, thus becoming a member of the international terrorist organisation.

There are also worrying signs of North African veterans of the Iraq War -- who fought on the side of the Sunni insurgents -- are joining terrorist organisations upon their return home.

Furthermore, growing terrorist activity in the region gives the area's already authoritarian governments an excuse to clamp down further (BBC).

This is just another way in which the Iraq War has made the world a more dangerous place to live in, rather than a safer one.

Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Algiers bombing

With a phone call to Al-Jazeera, a man claiming to represent the terrorist group Al-Qaeda has taken responsibility for the two bombs that exploded in Algiers today, killing 23 people and wounding 160 (BBC).

Once again, this goes to show Al-Qaeda's murderous ideology: they make no distinctions between Muslim and non-Muslim, "guilty" and innocent, target and bystander.