Al Qaeda: Spanning the Globe

al-Qaeda continues hostage negotiations with Austrians after third deadline passes. Maybe. Maybe not. It sounds like a rehashing of earlier reports to me but I couldn't find anything else reported. Hold the phone. This just in: Vienna denies allocating half of ransom to al Qaeda - evidently they don't want to queer the deal. The Austrian Government has denied yesterday information being reported by local and international media saying the abductors have not killed the two Austrian nationals being detained by Al-Qaeda wing in the Sahara because they have been delivered the half of the5 m euros ransom. Meanwhile, the Tunisian foreign minister has announced that 500 Austrian schmucks - er tourists will be arriving next week.

al Qaeda releases video showing slain Medic's ID and making the words 'sick fuc&s' come to mind. (h/t Jawa)

Mauritania finds bomb-making materials after raiding suspected al Qaeda hideout. Bad news. The bad guys got away. Security forces in Mauritania found a bomb-making facility in a house they stormed after exchanging fire with gunmen believed to have been involved in the killing of four French tourists in December, officials said Tuesday. The gunmen, suspected of having links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, fled after a shootout late Monday that left two dead on the outskirts of the capital, Nouakchott. About their earlier victims: The French tourists were gunned down Dec. 24 on the side of a Mauritanian highway where they had stopped to have a picnic near the town of Aleg, about 155 miles south of Nouakchott. The tourist attack and a subsequent assault on a Mauritanian military outpost led organizers of the Dakar Rally road race to cancel the trans-Saharan course this year.

al Qaeda exchange student program? Four Turkish Nationals with ties to al Qaeda were arrested in Pakistan based on a tip. A large quantity of high explosives, 1,600 rounds of sub-machine gun, a laptop, 10 Jihadi books, CDs and a digital camera were found in their possession. Fake Afghan refugee cards and dollars and riyals were also seized. The sources said that three of the suspects carried Turkish passports, while the fourth man, also a Turkish national, had no travel documents.

Yemen: al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Sunday's attack on oil execs compound. Don't know if it's just the Yemeni govt rounding up the usual suspects or if it's a for real bust, but: The source said police had arrested seven people in connection with the attack, adding that three people had fired the rockets from a car on the edge of the neighbourhood where the villas are located.

Libya releases 90 prisoners with ties to Islamists. Sure. Why not. All they want to do is kill the infidel so why wouldn't we? Libya has released 90 al Qaeda-linked Islamic rebels from prison after talks between their movement and a charity run by the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the charity said on Tuesday. The rebels were members of the Fighting Islamic Group in Libya (FIGL) and represent one third of the group's members still held in Libyan jails, said the Gaddafi International Foundation chaired by Saif al-Islam.

Not surprisingly, what with al Qaeda operatives being released and escaping all over the place, the masters of the obvious over at the EU are foreseeing imminent AQ attacks originating from North Africa.

Glad to hear that somebody's got the right attitude around here: FBI head predicts al Qaeda can be defeated in three and a half years. Fascinating.
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