
Briefs
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Militant Leadership Monitor, Jamestown’s premier monthly publication, celebrated its two year anniversary. To commemorate a successful two years we rolled out a brand new website - mlm.jamestown.org. Over the past two years, subscribers to MLM have been receiving unique biographies and insightful analyses about key... MORE
Yemen’s Transition: Who’s Who in the Yemeni Opposition
Now that Yemen’s Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) power transfer initiative has been signed and implementation is beginning, enormous political gains are being made by the fractured coalition of Islamists, Nasserites, and cold war-era socialists known as the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP). As per the GCC... MORE
Amir of the Southern Sahara: A Fresh Look at AQIM’s Mokhtar Belmokhtar
Personal Profile Born in the medieval city of Ghardaïa in central Algeria, nearly 372 miles due south of Algiers, on June 1, 1972, Mokhtar Belmokhtar is known by different names and nicknames. He is known as Khaled Abou Abbass, and his many nicknames include: “the... MORE
From Ally to Adversary: Shaykh Ahmed Madobe’s War on Al-Shabaab
Shaykh Ahmed Madobe is a very influential Islamist warlord in southern Somalia who has turned his guns on his former ally, the al-Qaeda linked Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab. His role was elevated in September 2009 when al-Shabaab fighters ousted his Ras Kamboni Brigade from Kismayo where... MORE
Al-Qaeda’s Uyghur Jihadi: A Profile of the Turkistan Islamic Party’s Abdul Shakoor Turkistani
The Progeny The third Uyghur to lead the jihad against the Chinese state over the “occupation” of Xinjiang, Abdul Shakoor Turkistani is the “Amir” of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP). [1] [2] In this role, he succeeds two prominent Uyghur leaders—Abdul Haq al-Turkistani and Hahsan... MORE
Rebellion Without Reason: The Strange Survival of Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army
After decades of carrying out unspeakable atrocities and thousands of kidnappings in Central Africa, the elusive commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony, appears to have narrowly escaped capture by the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) twice in recent weeks. The UPDF emerged... MORE
In His Own Words, Abu Zar al-Burmi: The Mufti of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Background A ferociously combative polemicist, Abu Zar al-Burmi (a.k.a. Abu Zar Khanjari; Abu Zar Azzam)has been recently identified on jihadi forums as the mufti of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), one of the most radical groups based in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). [1]... MORE
Jordan’s Abu Sayyaf: The Key Islamist Actor in Ma’an
One of the significant yet underreported impacts of the Arab Spring on the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was the visible participation of jihadis protesting in the streets of Amman and other major Jordanian cities such as Ma’an, Salt, Irbid and Zarqa. Inspired by the power... MORE
A Profile of Shaykh Abdulcaadir Mumin: Al-Shabaab’s Leading Theological Guide
The appearance of Shaykh Abdulcaadir Mumin, alongside al-Shabaab’s senior leadership, in May 2011 at the group’s official press conference acknowledging Osama bin Laden’s death was something of a coming out for Mumin. Largely unknown outside the Somali-speaking community, he has until now lurked in the... MORE
November 2011 BRIEFS
TOP INDIAN MAOIST LEADER ELIMINATED IN WEST BENGAL Mallojula Koteshwar Rao (a.k.a. Kishenji), the military commander of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) (see Militant Leadership Monitor, April 2010), was killed November 24th in a shootout with the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in... MORE