The secret diary of al-Qa’ida’s No 3 - Abu Zubaydah, from student to hardline jihadi and CIA torture
Remarkable personal account released of Guantanamo detainee allegedly responsible for planning 9/11 atrocity and other major attacks
The private diaries of Abu Zubaydah, formerly thought to be the third in command of al-Qa’ida and one of the most prominent remaining detainees in Guantanamo Bay, have been released by the US government.
They offer a remarkable and personal picture of how al-Qa’ida grew from its origins in the mujahedin struggle against the Soviet occupiers of Afghanistan into the organisation that carried out the 2001 attacks against the US.
They track Zubaydah’s journey from a student to a hardened jihadi.
The diaries, obtained by a freedom of information request by Al Jazeera, cover more than a decade. They start in 1990 when Zubaydah – a Saudi-born Palestinian – was a 19-year-old student in computer sciences in Mysore, India, a few months before he travelled to join the Afghan civil war that followed the Soviet departure. They end days before his capture in Faisalabad, Pakistan, in March 2002.
9 November 2013 Last updated at 07:51 GMT
Typhoon Haiyan: 'More than 120 dead' in Philippines
More than 120 people have been reported killed by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, after the massive storm passed through the country on Friday.
Aviation officials said 100 bodies were lying in the streets of the city of Tacloban. Local journalists reported 20 bodies in a church in a nearby town.
The storm destroyed buildings and triggered landslides. The military has begun relief efforts.
Video from the city showed it engulfed by water when the typhoon struck.
It was one of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall.
Aid agencies are struggling to reach Tacloban, as its airport has been badly damaged but military flights are able to operate, the BBC's Jon Donnison reports from Manila.
Paradise Lost: Paranoia Has Undermined US Democracy
While far from a dictatorship, the United States has employed a number of paranoid tactics that delegitimize its democracy. This phenomenon is on display in the fictional TV series "Homeland," which depicts hysterical CIA agents in a hysterical country.
Agent Carrie Mathison is a topical figure. The main character in the American TV series "Homeland," played by the wonderful Claire Danes, shows her true relevance in the first few episodes, in which Mathison is nervously sitting at home, observing and listening in on the life of a terror suspect on a large screen. His apartment is bugged and Mathison is determined to find out as much as she can about him. She is hysterical, bipolar, paranoid and sick -- all advantageous traits for her job.
Lampedusa boat tragedy: Migrants 'raped and tortured'
People traffickers tortured and raped African migrants whose boat later sank off Lampedusa with the loss of more than 360 lives, Italian police say.
The police have arrested a Somali man on Lampedusa accused of committing crimes with the armed gang.
Most of the victims on 3 October were Eritreans and Somalis. Their fishing boat capsized near Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island off North Africa.
The migrants each paid thousands of dollars to the gang, police said.
The gang moves people across the Sahara to Libya, where they are detained in a camp until they pay at least $3,000 (£1,866), police said.
President Maduro says he'll fight Venezuela's 'economic war' – but can he win?
At any given store in Venezuela, 22.4 percent of basic consumer goods are unavailable as the South American country's economic performance reaches crisis dimensions.
During my last stay in Venezuela the handful of analysts I talked to with ties to the government all concurred on one point: Nicolás Maduro’s talk of an economic war is not a show used to distract followers. He actually believes the economy is being sabotaged by his national and international opponents.
Of course Venezuela’s economic performance is reaching crisis dimensions. Inflation reached 5.1 percent in October and 54.3 percent over the past 12 months. The scarcity index reached 22.4 percent (meaning in any given retail outlet 22.4 percent of basic consumer goods are unavailable) its highest level since early 2010.
Southeast Asia
ASIA HAND
Back to the streets in Bangkok
By Shawn W Crispin
Protesters are on the streets in significant numbers again in the Thai capital, raising the specter of a prolonged period of instability after two years of relative political calm. The popular spark: a blanket amnesty passed by the lower house of parliament that protest groups claim is narrowly aimed at absolving criminally convicted, self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. While the demonstrations have so far focused on opposition to amnesty, the risk is rising they expand into a wider movement geared to topple the government.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s younger sister, was elected to power in mid-2011 partially on the promise of exonerating Thaksin, who was ousted from power in a 2006 military coup and two years later sentenced to two years in prison on abuse of power charges. From self-imposed exile, Thaksin has
persistently challenged an opposed royal establishment, advanced in politics by the opposition Democrat Party and with significant power centers in the bureaucracy, courts and military.
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