Cole Bunzel
@colebunzel
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Hoover Fellow @HooverInst | I study Middle East history & politics, esp. Islamism & Saudi Arabia | Author of Wahhabism @PrincetonUPress (May 2023)
Stanford, CA
Joined January 2010
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Today is the launch date for "Wahhābism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement"! Many thanks
@PrincetonUPress
& to Profs. Michael Cook and David Commins for the kind blurbs! Copies available here () & here () 1/10
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Burned alive:
“We know they were burned alive because there is soot in their trachea, their throats—meaning they were still breathing when set on fire”
Babies decapitated:
“Many bodies, including those of babies, are without heads”
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For several days now ISIS supporters in a closed forum have been debating whether the earth is round
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I'm pleased to share that my forthcoming book, "Wahhābism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement" (
@PrincetonUPress
May 2023), is available for preorder on Amazon, where you can also get a "look inside." Looking forward to May 16!
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Pre-publication copies arrived 👀
I'm pleased to share that my forthcoming book, "Wahhābism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement" (
@PrincetonUPress
May 2023), is available for preorder on Amazon, where you can also get a "look inside." Looking forward to May 16!
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It appears the "letter to America" by Osama bin Laden that went viral on TikTok this week was actually written by ... Ayman al-Zawahiri
The letter was originally posted to an Islamist website in Nov 2002, translated by sympathizers, & subsequently picked up by the Guardian
(1/6)
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RIP to Robert Irwin, historian of Islam & scholar of Arabic lit. whose career ranged from Sufi disciple to defender of the Orientalist tradition. His “Dangerous Knowledge” (2006) is IMO the best retort to Edward Said’s polemic. His most recent book was a biography of Ibn Khaldun
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ISIS fighters in Yemen practice getting kicked in the nuts 🤔
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US intel community’s DEI office urges abandoning “problematic terms” like “Jihadist” &“Salafi-Jihadist” as these “incorrectly suggest that Islamic beliefs somehow condone the actions and rhetorics espoused by these [FTOs]”; recommends “Khawarij” instead 🤦♂️
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After years tolerating them,
@twitter
finally suspends accounts of 3 leading al-Qaida-aligned scholars, al-Maqdisi, Abu Qatada & al-Siba'i
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This Baghdadi video is sure evocative of the one released by Zarqawi's group almost 13 years ago to the day (April 25, 2006). Of note: Zarqawi died 6 weeks later
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My latest for
@ForeignAffairs
, on AQ and IS reactions to the Taliban’s victory and outlooks for both groups
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This might be the most brutal academic book review I’ve ever seen - by George Zhijian Qiao
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I have a new piece in
@ForeignAffairs
: "Why Are Al Qaeda Leaders in Iran? What a Prisoner Exchange Reveals About an Unlikely Relationship" 1/8
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One of ISIS’s uber-extremists in takfir, Abu Maram al-Jaza’iri, apparently got the nickname “Windows” for excommunicating those who install software and “agree to its conditions”
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“Gaza and Global Jihad” - my latest for
@ForeignAffairs
, in which I explain how ISIS & al-Qaida view Hamas and why I think they will l struggle to take advantage of the war in Gaza
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A Taliban fighter tells
@WSJ
that “without American help, Daesh cannot operate in Afghanistan.” Pretty amazing how common that view seems to be
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Not confirmed, but jihadi channels reporting Turki al-Bin'ali, senior IS scholar, has been killed in Raqqa
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“We have babies with their heads cut off. Bodies without hands, without legs, without genitals”
“There is evidence of mass rape of so brutal that they broke their victims’ pelvis – women, grandmothers, children”
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Interesting to see nearly identical bay’a ceremony performed by perpetrators of failed Saudi attack Sunday (left) and perpetrators of Sri Lanka attacks (right)
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"Jihadism on Its Own Terms: Understanding a Movement" - my new primer on jihadism for
@HooverInst
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Someone just can’t wait to dip into that new 480-page internal history of al-Qaida
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My latest: "Caliphate in Disarray: Theological Turmoil in the Islamic State"
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Erdogan issues warning: "I have a message for Pennsylvania: You have engaged in enough treason against this nation"
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Wow. Middle East Studies Association (
@MESA_1966
) defends Prof. Nader Hashemi’s “legitimate speculation” that the Mossad could have been behind Salman Rushdie attack, as “no evidence has thus far emerged about the attacker’s motivation or connections”
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A short piece I wrote on this for
@HooverInst
- "Policing Language in the Intelligence Community: The IC DEIA’s Assault on “Problematic Terminology” in Counterterrorism Analysis"
US intel community’s DEI office urges abandoning “problematic terms” like “Jihadist” &“Salafi-Jihadist” as these “incorrectly suggest that Islamic beliefs somehow condone the actions and rhetorics espoused by these [FTOs]”; recommends “Khawarij” instead 🤦♂️
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A History of the Muslim World, by Michael Cook (
@PrincetonUPress
)
This is going to be good, and at 848 pages
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Newest video by Ayman al-Zawahiri is tribute to Usama bin Ladin on 11th anniversary of his "martyrdom." In the video, titled "The Call of the Imam to the Islamic Umma," Zawahiri claims bin Ladin's "call" continues to grow in appeal and find new supporters despite enemies (1/4)
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Excellent by
@selectedwisdom
, with valuable run through of differences between jihadism and white supremacism
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Excited to announce I’ll be joining
@HooverInst
this fall as a member of the inaugural class of Hoover Fellows. Looking forward to working with & learning from the great scholars
@Stanford
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In 2014 Islamic State published the pamphlet "Extend Your Hands in Bay'a to Baghdadi" (left) by Turki al-Bin'ali; today dissidents publish 200+ page book "Withdraw Your Hands from Bay'a to Baghdadi" (right) by former colleague of al-Bin'ali's. Scholarly war on Baghdadi revving up
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Interesting: Jihadi scholar Maqdisi hopes
#Trump
will designate MB to show jihadis no point in moderating, intl system will never accept you
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Islamic State assures readers in al-Naba' that current struggle for Dabiq is not prophesied "greater battle of Dabiq." That will come later
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“There is no reason to believe that the Turks will turn their attention to the Islamic State when they have been so focused on the Kurdish threat to their security”
Turkey couldn't take down ISIS even if it wanted to.
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Check out my new
@CarnegieEndow
paper, "The Kingdom and the Caliphate: Duel of the Islamic States," on ISIS & KSA
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“A senior Biden administration official said … the U.S. doesn’t have full clarity at present about the exact nature of the Taliban’s ‘complicated’ relationship with al Qaeda”
Kinda seems like something we should have a handle on by now
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This is our strategy?
The Taliban's offensive has resulted in loss of innocent Afghan lives, including through continued targeted killings, displacement of the civilian population, looting & burning of buildings, destruction of vital infrastructure, and damage to communication networks.
#CeasefireNow
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“[W]hile Hamas’s politicians favour Doha … its financiers live in Istanbul … [where] the Turkish government’s tacit approval ‘opens doors and makes things smooth in business,’ says one of the group’s finance employees”
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For those curious about Abu Muhammad al-Masri’s status in Iran before his death:
In 2015 Iran & al-Qaida agreed to a prisoner exchange (referred to at end of this article) to which al-Masri was part (1/6)
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“The students of today are the leaders of tomorrow,” says senior Hamas official Izzat Al-Risheq in comment praising college protestors in U.S. who he says are “on the right side of history”; predicts the Biden administration will pay “a heavy electoral price” for its stance
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So TikTokers really ought to give credit where credit's due: Ayman al-Zawahiri. Alas, even in death the man can't crawl out from beneath Osama's shadow (6/6)
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Ryan Crocker: “The Taliban will offer any number of commitments, knowing that when we are gone and the Taliban is back, we will have no means of enforcing any of them”
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The only terrorism al-Qaida central seems capable of these days is bombarding us with Zawahiri speeches
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I’ve never seen this before: AQ and ISIS supporters on Telegram agreeing to a civil debate. Which jihadi group is deviant?
The showdown between Jild al-Qa’idin (team ISIS) and Abu Sayf Afghan (team AQ) begins
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“Partner or Pariah?” - my piece on Saudi Arabia and human rights policy
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New by me for
@jihadica
: "A House Divided: Origins and Persistence of the Islamic State’s Ideological Divide"
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Not to be upstaged, al-Qaida leader Zawahiri with yet another video ... this a continuation of his series on the career of Osama bin Ladin
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“He Endorsed Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Then He Landed a Professorship at Columbia University”
Quite the profile of
@Columbia
’s Prof. Mohamed Abdou
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Media reporting ISIS fatwa on organ harvesting as revelation. I translated it 10 months ago:
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Islamic State in Sahel distributing copies of "This Is Our Creed & This Is Our Methodology," originally produced by IS in Iraq & Syria, in northeastern Mali. IS leadership may not have operational control in these more far-flung "provinces," but clearly the ideology is spreading
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Very good thread but worth recalling: (1) Taliban’s official name has always been Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, so unlikely to “declare” emirate; (2) its leader goes by “commander of the believers,” which is pretty darn caliphal; al-Qaida presents him as caliph in waiting
The Taliban will declare Afghanistan an Islamic Emirate. But what does the term mean? Arabic lexicographers defined emirate (imārah الإمارة) as the opposite of "prohibition", that is, "to command". 1/
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Contrary to tenor of this piece, way too soon IMO to speak of al-Qaida “resurgence.” Taliban victory is a boon but AQ has a lot going wrong for it, from leadership travails to ideological incoherence to media incompetence. Idea of AQ as this behemoth should be treated critically
#Afghanistan
is once again a cradle of
#jihadism
--&
#alqaeda
. With
#Taliban
takeover, the 20-yr, trillion-dollar investment to contain Al Qaeda has changed little since 9/11. My
@NewYorker
analysis.
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Almost missed this barb by new ISIS spokesman deriding US for having Trump:
“Rejoice not, little America ... Don’t you see how you’ve become the joke of the nations, your fate being decided by a blundering old man who has one opinion in the evening and another the next morning?”
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When someone describes the Taliban as Wahhabi, you know immediately he is out of his depth
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The jihadi memoir is becoming a veritable genre, and I like it. What am I missing?
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Best line in 19-page doc on AQ-Iran relationship released yesterday: Iran would support "Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab himself" to strike US
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The moment we’ve all been waiting for: The upcoming release of episode 5 of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s “Awareness Series.” The suspense has been brewing ever since episode 6 was released last month, leaving everyone to wonder what happened to episode 5. Have no fear, it has arrived
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"Toward the Seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca: The Writings and Ideology of Juhaymān al-ʿUtaybī and the Ikhwān"
My latest article, in Die Welt des Islams, is first careful examination of the literature of Juhāyman's al-ʿUtaybī's illfated movement (1/4)
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Official al-Qaida statement yesterday shows group intends to exploit Trump's use of "Islamic terrorism," & ISIS has better English
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"Al-Qaida's Failure in the Fertile Crescent"- my contribution to "The Struggle to Reshape the Middle East in the 21st Century"
The article seeks to explain how AQ was outmaneuvered in Iraq & then Syria such that today it has nearly no influence in either
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"Messages to Arabia: Al-Qaida Attacks MBS and the Saudi Monarchy" - new for
@jihadica
by Bernard Haykel and me examining al-Qaida's recent anti-Saudi propaganda
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In announcing new caliph Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, Islamic State spokesman claims that selection was in accordance with the testament (waṣiyya) of previous caliph Abu Ibrahim. In other words, the new caliph was hand-picked by his predecessor (1/3)
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Islamic State claims yesterday’s massive attack in Iran, saying it was conducted by two suicide bombers against “Rejectionist polytheists”
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Idea that moderate Islam prevailed in KSA before 1979 is a myth, but I enjoy Adel Al-Toraifi calling the religious police “self-righteous moralizers [who] no longer have the right to stop anyone”
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Frustration building in ISIS Telegram as an unwanted guest keeps dropping pornography into the chat and the moderator is MIA. “I tried to delete him and his messages and I couldn’t” “Where’s moderator?” 😾
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“The videos show pure, predatory sadism; no effort to spare those who pose no threat; and an eagerness to kill nearly matched by eagerness to disfigure the bodies of the victims” -
@gcaw
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This should be interesting--a medievalist's take on IS. He's written great books on Islamic Spain. h/t
@ajaltamimi
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Prominent IS supporter on
@telegram
says important to adhere to official IS media concerning reports of Baghdadi’s death, but no problem if one of our leaders is killed; jihad did not end with death of Bin Laden, Zarqawi, others; the bay’a goes to the next guy
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Sept. 11 as a withdrawal date is a propaganda gift to al-Qaida and its allies. Why choose a date that strengthens a jihadi narrative of resistance and perseverance in the face of the “crusader occupation”?
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There will be serious things to say about Zawahiri’s new video advising Muslims (read the Taliban) not to join the UN, but first there are the man’s gesticulations
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My latest for
@jihadica
: "Divine Test or Divine Punishment? Explaining Islamic State Losses"
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Lo and behold, it’s an 850-page book by Zawahiri (described as neither dead nor alive) on political corruption in Islamic history. Part 1! Could it get any more random?
Something new from al-Qaeda soon.
Likely a 9/11 anniversary release.
We’ll see if Zawahiri actually makes an appearance and if not that’d be very telling about his status.
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One day after Baghdadi's address, AQ leader Ayman al-Zawahiri with his third statement this month: a video message calling for unity and support for Taliban. Implicit criticism of ISIS: "We seek to build, not to destroy; to unite, not to divide; to go forward, not backward"
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"The Islamic State vs. the Jewish State: How the Caliphate Views Israel" - new by me for
@jihadica
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In new issue of al-Qaida’s One Ummah magazine, titled “America Burns,” lead editorial depicts US as being torn apart by “racist extremists” on one side and “leftist radicals” on the other.
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Additional statement from IS’s Amaq News emphasizes attacker’s Uighur identity & Taliban coop. w China: “Sources revealed the attacker was from among the Uighur Muslims whom the Taliban has pledged to expel & oust at request of demands from China & its anti-Muslim policies there”
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“Those who make revolution halfway only dig their own graves,” says AQ leader Sami al-Uraydi (of Hurras al-Din) in video message decrying idea of concessions in jihadi revolution. Does he know he’s quoting the French revolutionary Louis Antoine de Saint-Just?
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New 9/11-themed release by al-Qaida’s al-Sahab media agency is 11-page essay praising “the September raid, comparing it to the battle of Badr (1st battle won by Prophet Muhammad) in terms of historical signifance (1/5)
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Islamic State finally issues statement on Israel-Hamas conflict in editorial of this week's al-Naba' newsletter. As expected, it's highly critical of Hamas, which IS considers an apostate group. Main message is that only the path of the Islamic State will lead to Jerusalem 1/4
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In something I've never seen before, Z ends his address by calling on viewers to translate his message into other languages if they like what they've heard. I almost expected him to ask for a 5 star review on itunes
(4/4)
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Wow. Abu Mariya had quite a journey, from AQI to HTS & major AQ critic, then accused by HTS of espionage & later freed. I had corresponded with him & his anti-AQ views seemed genuine to me, even if he remained a committed Islamist. I wrote about him here
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham's Abu Mariya al-Qahtani was assassinated tonight in a bomb attack at the tent where he was hosting iftar. Qahtani had been investigated for alleged collaboration with the U.S.-led coalition but was recently released
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Islamic State warns against applying end-times prophecies to the present in al-Naba', unless there is "clear proof." Apocalypse delayed, everyone.
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HTS gives space for some al-Qaida elements to operate, but to describe it as “Al-Qaeda-linked” is misleading after its very public and very bitter falling out with the group in late 2017
Syria’s Al-Qaeda-linked fighters cement control of final rebel-held pocket, increasing likelihood of a ruinous military showdown with millions of civilians caught in the middle. Our piece:
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"Bunzel’s meticulously researched book is a seminal contribution to this growing literature and constitutes the most theologically sophisticated monograph on the movement"
Thanks to Daniel Lav for his generous review of Wahhābism in Islamic Law & Society
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“If the United States wishes to bring the Houthi attacks to an end, then for every bomb and missile that falls on the Houthis, another should fall on their Iranian advisers in Yemen, or on the planes and ships that are delivering their supplies”
“The only proper manner,” as John Quincy Adams put it, for dealing with pirate states like the Houthis. And no, it’s not about restraint.
@CSIS
@SAISHopkins
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Al-Qaeda "no longer considers HTS as its official affiliate" & looks to build a new one, reports
@Charles_Lister
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HTS confirms arrest of Abu Mariyah al-Qahtani, group's
#2
official, following rumors he collaborated with foreign intelligence (including to kill rival jihadis). HTS states Qahtani "erred in managing his communications" & has been suspended from his duties
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Hamas announces Ismail Haniyeh has received condolence calls from Turkey’s prime minister, foreign minister & intelligence chief; Qatar’s prime minister & foreign minister; and PA president Mahmoud Abbas. The political head of Hamas is uncomfortably close to some American allies
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