On November 28, 2008, the Al-Qaeda media company Al-Sahab posted a video interview it conducted recently with Al-Qaeda deputy leader Al-Zawahiri, in which Al-Zawhahiri called on the Egyptian people, officials, students and ‘ulama to pressure their government to lift the siege on Gaza by declaring a general strike.

In this strike, he said, students would not attend school and workers would not go to work. Al-Zawahiri also called upon the ‘ulama of Al-Azhar to be independent again and to lead the ummah against the “Zionist-Crusader campaign.”

He labels Al-Azhar “the lair of the lions” which produced scholars who lead the campaign against the British occupation -unlike scholars such Tantawi whom he labeled “the darkness of Al-Azhar” because they subjected themselves to the regime.

In a video posted recently on Islamist websites, the Somali jihad group Shabab Al-Mujahideen called on Muslims living in the U.S. and Europe to come to Somalia and join the jihad there. The video is in Arabic, Somali and English.

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At a conference of the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA) in Khartoum yesterday, Sudan security chief Abdallah Kosh said that the International Criminal Court arrest proceedings against Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir "would lead to anarchy and would undermine stability throughout Africa."

He added that the Western countries were exploiting the ICC for imperialistic purposes.

Source: Al-Rai Al-'Aam, Al-Sahafa, Sudan, November 26, 2008

Iraqi parliamentary speaker Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani has announced that the vote on the U.S.-Iraq security agreement is postponed until tomorrow.

Source: Al-Iraqiya TV, November 26, 2008

At a conference held at the National Protestant Church in Manama, Bahrain, Muslim and Christian clerics and representatives of the Bahari community in Bahrain signed a document calling for religious tolerance, the creation of a culture of dialogue and coexistence among religion and cultures, and abandoning the path of violence, hatred, and extremism.

The Baharis are a Shi'ite Isma'ili group that originated in India.

The conferees included Muslim, Christian, and Jewish citizens.

Sources: Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, November 26, 2008

The UAE daily Al-Khaleej and the Jordanian daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm have refused to publish an announcement of the Arab Peace Initiative that includes an Israeli flag.

The Jordanian paper added that Israel would not accept the initiative in any case.

Source: Al-Khaleej, UAE, November 26, 2008

Cartoonist: Hassan Bleibel

Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Lebanon, November 25, 2008

Cartoonist: Stavro Jabra

Source: Al-Jarida, Kuwait, November 25, 2008

Sudanese Press Council head Ali Shumu announced on Monday that he had asked Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir to remove the censorship of newspapers, and assessed that his request would be complied with.

Shumu made the announcement at a meeting between newspaper editors and Sudanese security service heads, in which the editors had stressed the importance of a free press.

(See also "Dozens Of Journalists Arrested In Sudan.")

Source: Al-Sahafa, Sudan, November 26, 2008

In an attempt to circumvent the recent closure of major Jihadi forums, Islamists have resorted to the strategy of "planting" jihadi propaganda on popular American forums.

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