Terrorism Watch

ANKARA The political chief of Palestinian group Hamas on Friday discussed how to confront the problems facing the Palestinian cause with a delegation from another resistance group. Ismail Haniyeh met with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine delegation, led by Secretary-General Abu Nidal Al-Ashqar, in the Lebanese capital Beirut, according to a statement by Hamas. The parties stressed the necessity of developing a common vision to counter the Zionist project which has been receiving unprecedented support from the US, the statement said. During the meeting, the two sides also condemned the recent normalization of ties with Israel by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain amid American mediation. The sides called for resistance against all conspiracies against the Palestinian cause, including the US' so-called "deal of the century" and Israel's plan to annex one-third of the lands in the occupied West Bank. On Sept. 15, the UAE and Bahrain signed US-sponsored

  KABUL, Afghanistan Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, veteran Afghan mujahideen leader and head of the Hezb-e-Islami party, has expressed his willingness to form an alliance with the Taliban in Afghanistan. “Hezb-e-Islami is ready for direct talks with the Taliban, as well as for partnership and cooperation. We believe that if these two groups join hands, the crisis in Afghanistan will end soon and no force will be able to stand against it,” he told supporters at the party’s headquarters in the capital Kabul on Saturday. “When the first round of talks between Kabul [the Afghan government] and the Taliban is completed, we are ready for the Hezb-e-Islami and the Taliban to start talks. The decision now rests with the Taliban.” The Taliban, engaged in landmark direct talks with the Afghan government since last Saturday, is yet to comment on the offer. Hekmatyar asserted that the Afghan government was “weak and divided,” while the Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami “share mutual beliefs, values, and ideology.”

Mozambican troops are failing to recapture a port town from Islamist militants which is important for developing one of the largest natural gas reserves in Africa, as the country - three years into an Islamist insurgency - becomes yet another "resource-curse" state, writes Mozambique analyst Joseph Hanlon. President Filipe Nyusi is finally facing the reality of the "resource curse". Insurgents are recruiting more members by exploiting the poverty of young people in the north of Mozambique, he explained in a recent speech in Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado province. And he admitted that despite the three northern provinces - Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Nampula - having great natural wealth and enormous agricultural potential, they have the country's highest levels of poverty. IMAGE COPYRIGHT AFP image caption Mocimboa da Praia has been occupied by militants since mid-August For 15 years, Mozambique's GDP rose by more than 6% a year, largely thanks to coal, ti