"al-Qaeda on the run" - US President G.W. Bush 2008

1) More people have been killed in Pakistan in 2007 and 2008 in terror attacks than in the period 2001 to 2006. 2) Suicide attacks in Afghanistan have spiked with the number of terror attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan, having doubled since 2006. 3) The Taleban in Afghanistan and their allies in Pakistan are cashing in on the lucractive opium trade and Pakistan military inefficiency in the FATA areas, a lawless region in Pakistan along the Aghan border. 4) The insurgency in Afghanistan is set to worsen and more lives will be lost. These are the facts. They are not from conspiracy theorists, nor are they from a senile Mugabe like dictator, they are the words of NATO generals, US Intelligence chiefs, US senators and the US president's own Afghan Study Group report released in January 2008. The disinformation spread by George Bush serves to insult the intelligence of the world. Al-Qaeda and the Taleban are strong and growing stronger, and threaten not only south Asia, but the larger region as well.

Achtung: Austrians feel the sting of al-Qaeda in the Sahara

Two Austrian tourists were kidnapped in Tunisia on 22 February by al-Qaeda affiliate al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The tourists were taken back into Algeria and from there on to northern Mali. Algerian and Tunisian forces went on high alert in March after the AQIM stated it had kindapped the two. However, they were too late to catch the kidnappers who returned to bases in the Kidal region of Mali. As of 24 March the two had not been released and negotiations are currently underway to secure their release.

The kidnap was motivated for economic and political reasons. AQIM demanded a ransom of 5 million euros and the release of 10 Jihadists incarcerated in Tunisian and Algerian gaols. If the ransom is not paid AQIM have threatened to execute the couple. AQIM have abducted tourists in the past most recently in 2003 when 32 foreigners were taken in eastern Algeria. The threat in this quarter is real and warnings by governments and risk assessors is regularly ignored by foreign travellers who continue to travel to this high risk region with inadequate support or security. AQIM are active, AQIM are real and they will make sure that any visit to their home turf is met with certain consequences. Bottom line, dont travel around the desert in a fancy 4X4 with Austrian or foreign number plates, if you do you're asking for trouble.

Egypt: Al Jazeera special feature ahead of April elections

Al Jazeera takes a look at the Muslim Brotherhood. Guests include the editor of Carnegies Arab Reform Bulletin and a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman.