Minaret of Freedom Weblog

Denunciations by former militants and mainstream Islamists have Al-Qaeda on the defensive:

• Special Report: Is Al Qa’ida in Pieces? (The Independent)

Writer Becky Akers decries the invasiveness of new scanning technology that subjects people to a virtual strip search and does nothing to add to security:

• Get Ready to Strip At Reagan National (Washington Post)

Non-coercive interrogation nets a treasure trove information from alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed:

• Inside a 9/11 Mastermind’s Interrogation (New York Times)

300 political prisoners forgo food to protest being “parts of mass trials and [getting] long sentences, even though there had been no evidence”

• Hunger Strike by Hundreds of Islamists in Morocco Jails (New York Times)

Opposition-led parliament seeks to reduce prisoners’ sentences from death to life in jail and reduce others’ terms by 3 months…

• Pakistan Announces Plan to Clear Death Row to Commemorate Birthday of Slain Bhutto (Los Angeles Times)

…while residents in Swat anxiously await whether or not a peace deal can be struck and what it means for them:

• Can Pakistan Peace Deal Hold? (BBC News)

Despite the likely court closure of the AK party, the expected ruling exposes the crumbling secular elite:

• In Turkey, Bitter Feud Has Roots in History (New York Times)