All Blog Posts from World Watch

This story was filed by CBS News' Khaled Wassef.

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Al Qaeda is facing its most dire financial difficulties in years, according to the U.S. Treasury. Assistant secretary for terrorist financing, David Cohen, said that the terrorist organization is currently in its weakest financial condition.

"The influence of the network, damaged by U.S. efforts to choke funding, is waning," Cohen said.

In recent months, al Qaeda and its supporters have made repeated donation pleas and openly discussed ways to bypass efforts by international governments to bloc their financial flow.

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This story was filed by CBS News' Khaled Wassf in London.

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Jihadi Web forums have been abuzz with anticipation over the likelihood of an al Qaeda attack against Germany, with jihadi supporters speculating eagerly over potential targets, dates, timings, and even casualty numbers.

A blogger going by the name "Yaman Mokhaddab" posted what he claimed was "Western intelligence" giving 13 hints about the upcoming attacks, warning that they would be much worse than 9/11.

On the popular al-Fallojah forums, "Mohami al-Dawla" speculated Thursday about how many would be killed and the economic damage that would be inflicted. He speculated confidently that we are likely to witness the first WMD attack in the history of modern Jihad.

This mania has hit the blogs in the wake of a far more worrying threat made against Germany almost about weeks ago by a German al Qaeda operative from Bonn named Abu Talha al-Almani.

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Somalia's largest homegrown Islamic militant group has pledged allegiance to al Qaeda for the first time, a sign that, in spite of continuing military pressure on Osama bin Laden's group, it remains a source of inspiration and its influence is spreading.

The Emir of Somalia's Shabab al-Mujahideen, Abu Zubair, lent his support to bin Laden in a new video distributed on Jihadi blogs over the weekend.

It was Shabab's the first open acknowledgment of ties to al Qaeda — made less than a week after the assassination of al Qaeda's chief of operations in East Africa, Saleh al-Nabhan, in a U.S. special forces operation in the costal city of Baraawe, southern Somalia.

"We answer your call, our sheik and our emir," read the title of the elaborately produced 48 minute video. "The Mujahideen here are fine and the winds of victory are still blowing on them and the enemy's plans are collapsing, one after another," Abu Zubair said in the video, addressing bin Laden.

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As the global economy languished in the throes of deep recession, so, it seems, did al Qaeda.

An audio message intercepted by CBS News, sent by the terror group's chief financial manager (a label used by Sept. 11 Commission), portrays a rare image of the terrorist enterprise; hard-up.

This audio was not intended for mass consumption. It was not one of the typical propaganda speeches so often released on the jihadists' preferred Internet chat rooms and forums.

Mostafa Abul Yazid, who is also al Qaeda's senior figure in Afghanistan, is heard asking an unknown contact in Turkey for urgent financial support.

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President Obama's address to Muslims was the buzz of the Jihadi blogs and chat rooms today, and I have the feeling that the e-muj just hated it!

On Ansar al-Jihad chat room on Paltalk, participants expressed their surprise at the way many people, including Muslim scholars, welcomed the speech. One member going by the name "al_brsteej" was furious at how some clerics rebuked al Qaeda chief, Osama Bin Laden, over his comments on Mr. Obama just hours before the president delivered his speech.

"Sheikh Garni was so upset with Sheikh Osama .. he was saying that the sheikh should not be talking about his Obama 'darling' .. may Allah fight the traitors," the commentator said. Garni, a renowned Saudi cleric, had earlier said that Muslims should open their hearts and extend their hands to Obama. He also attacked Osama Bin Laden, and claimed that what he said about Obama reflects his ignorance.

Another member, "3EUON AL ZARQAWI," commenting on Mr. Obama’s citation of Quranic verses in his speech, said: "Even [if] he reads out the entire Quran, he is still the devil of the Black House."

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Reactions to President Obama’s speech to the Muslim world were overall positive in Egypt, with the different parties expressing their satisfaction with the U.S. president's “reconciliatory rhetoric” but also hopeful "good intentions turn into reality.”

There was little reaction from the government. However, Egyptian politician and Chairman of Egypt's People's Assembly Foreign Relations Committee, Mostafa al-Fiqi, told Aljazeera TV network that though the tone of the speech was different, it did not reflect the commitment of the U.S. administration towards anything but to Israel's security.

Fiqi noted that Mr. Obama’s speech took a softer line towards Hamas, as he did not describe it as a terrorist organization. Fiqi said that he did not sense that there would be any change in the U.S. foreign policies from what he heard in Mr. Obama’s speech.

Dr. Saad al-Katatni, member of the Brotherhood Guidance Office and head of the Muslim Brothers’ parliamentary bloc, said the speech held positive signs. “Obama touched on several topics that we need to study well and reflect upon, as they address numerous and complex dimensions," he said. "But we could not respond to what’s been said till we see these words turning into action."

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Updated at 3 a.m. Eastern, April 7, 2009:

Turkish officials have told the U.S. the man in custody is a "known fabricator" who has made various unsubstantiated claims in the past.

U.S. officials tell CBS News, "There was never a serious plot or threat against the President."

Turkish authorities told American officials the man never actually obtained an Al Jazeera credential, never gained access to any Presidential venue, and was in custody before Mr. Obama arrived in the country.

Click More for the full story.

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The Israeli military is now posting video clips of Air Force strikes on militant targets in Gaza on YouTube. Israel is now using the digital video-sharing community to spread propaganda — as Islamic militants have done for years.

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