Topic - al Qaeda

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  Al Qaeda urges Muslims to help Syrian rebels

  Al Qaeda's chief has called on Muslims from other countries to support rebels in Syria seeking to overthrow President Bashar Assad, saying they cannot depend on the West for help.

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  Militants decry attacks against Pakistani military

  Pakistan's leading militants have called on fighters to honor an agreement not to attack the Pakistani military in the most important sanctuary for the Taliban and al Qaeda along the Afghan border.

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  BOOK REVIEW: 'The Al Qaeda Factor'

  In "The Al Qaeda Factor," Mitchell D. Silber investigates the extent to which al Qaeda's "core" in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region has been involved in organizing terrorist plots against the West since the World Trade Center bombing in 1993.

• Feds release new details about underwear bomber

  A Nigerian who pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane began his path to terrorism with a text message from a top al-Qaida figure in Yemen, the U.S. government said Friday in a court filing that discloses new details about their relationship.

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  U.S. kills al-Qaeda-linked militant in Pakistan

  A U.S. drone fired two missiles at a house in Pakistan's northwest tribal region Thursday, killing five suspected militants, intelligence officials said. The Taliban identified one of them as a prominent commander who has served as a key link to al Qaeda.

• Man pleads guilty over online 'South Park' threat

  A Muslim convert from Brooklyn pleaded guilty Thursday to using a website he founded to post online threats against the creators of the "South Park" television show and others he deemed enemies of Islam.

• Briefly

  U.S. outrage over Beijing's veto of a U.N. resolution on Syria won't affect cooperation on other international issues, a top Chinese diplomat said Thursday, as Beijing announced it recently had hosted a leading Syrian opposition figure.

• World Scene

  Somalia's extremist Shebab fighters have joined ranks with al-Qaeda, terror network chief Ayman al-Zawahri announced in a video message posted on jihadist forums on Thursday.

• HOLMES: Preventing the rise of safe havens for terrorists

  President Obama's decision to accelerate the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan begs the question: What if the country again becomes a safe haven for terrorists? A recently leaked U.S. Army report for NATO shows that the Taliban believe they are winning and need only outlast us to regain control. If that happens, Afghanistan could become the terrorist safe haven it was before our 2001 intervention.

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  General: 'Use drones to kill' the Taliban in Pakistan

  A longtime adviser to U.S. commanders in Afghanistan says now is the time for President Obama to change strategy and target Taliban leaders ensconced in Pakistan.

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  Pakistan holds border talks after deadly U.S. attack

  The Pakistani army was meeting with NATO and Afghan forces on Wednesday in an effort to improve coordination along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, a sign of thawing relations after American airstrikes accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year.

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  Drones over U.S. get OK by Congress

  Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's ... a drone, and it's watching you. That's what privacy advocates fear from a bill Congress passed this week to make it easier for the government to fly unmanned spy planes in U.S. airspace.

• World Briefs

  Rescuers dug with picks and shovels trying to reach dozens of people trapped under houses collapsed by a strong earthquake Monday that shook a central Philippine island and set off landslides.

• American Scene

  The state official in charge of figuring out how to fix an enormous financial shortfall in Pennsylvania's capital city said in a proposed recovery plan released Monday that "significant and difficult" steps lie ahead, and that Harrisburg may end up seeking bankruptcy protection.

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  GAFFNEY: On Obama's watch

  On Feb. 5, President Obama provided his own Super Sunday show. In some respects, it was almost as bizarre as Madonna's performance at half-time. In his interview with NBC's Matt Lauer, Mr. Obama responded oddly to concerns raised last week by leaders of the U.S. intelligence community. They testified on Capitol Hill that the Iranian mullahs appear to be planning attacks on the United States.

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