The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella insurgency group consisting of various jihadi factions including al-Qaeda in Iraq, issued a statement May 3 denying the killing of its "emir," Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, but confirming the death of its official spokesman, Abu Abdullah al-Jabouri AKA Muhareb al-Jabouri. US military officials announced the death of Muhareb Abdul Latif al-Jabouri in a raid in Western Baghdad; however, the Iraqi Interior Ministry alleged that Jabouri was also the identiy of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. The Islamic State of Iraq insisted on the difference between the two individuals, and assures that the "Emir of the Believers" is alive. The statement says if he was killed, they would not hesitate to announce it as the "flag of our jihad can only rise by the blood of the leaders before the soldiers, and the tree of victory can only be watered by the blood of the martyrs."

A court in Tashkent convicted Umida Niyazova, a human rights activist of distributing Islamic extremist propaganda, and sentenced her to seven years in prison May 1. Niyazova, who was a translator for based Human Rights Watch and wrote for independent online publications, was convicted after a two-day trial that journalists and international monitors were prohibited from attending. Amnesty International calls her a prisoner of conscience.

Well, if you consider our "winter fund drive" as extending into April (and the winter did sort of extend into April here in New York City this year, so maybe we can get away with it), we did reach our ambitious goal of $2,000! So we thank all of you for your support. If you have not received your premium yet, you will receive it shortly.

From the Stop the War Coalition-Philippines, via Focus on the Global South:

Stop the War in Mindanao
As hostilities between the Philippine military and the Moro National Liberation front escalate in Mindanao, we from the Stop the War Coalition—Philippines, a broad coalition of social movements, NGOs, and other organizations, join the call for an immediate ceasefire, a return to the negotiating table, and full, substantive, and meaningful self-determination for the Moros, indigenous, and other oppressed peoples in Mindanao.

Receiving virtually no international coverage, this past weekend saw an outburst of ethnic violence in Madagascar, with homes and shops of the Indo-Pakistani immigrant community looted in the southwest coastal town of Toliara. A serious escalation is reported April 30 in the Madagascar Tribune—a grisly killing and ritual desecration at a mosque in Ankatso, near the capital Antananarivo. The body of the 20-year-old student was found in the mosque on the morning of April 29, the day after the Toliara violence. His blood had apprently been intentionally spilled around the mosque's interior, and the Koran was torn. The Tribune writes that following this development, and the slaying of a brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden in Madagascar earlier this year, the island nation "risks being placed on the black-list of Muslim extremists."

Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, has announced his country’s withdrawal from both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, describing said institutions to no longer be of use to Venezuela. He has also proclaimed his intention to establish an alternative South American lending system [the "Bank of the South"]. ["I want to formalize our exit from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund," Chavez said, issuing an order for Finance Minister Rodrigo Cabezas to begin proceedings to withdraw from the organizations. "We are going to withdraw before they go and rob us."] [AlJazeera, May 1]

Twenty people have been injured after a bomb exploded in a busy night market in the southern Thai province of Pattani on [May 1]. Officials believe that Muslim fighters carried out the attack as a means of stirring up communal tensions and in revenge for a mosque bombing on [April 29]. [AlJazeera, May 1]

Morocco and the Polisario Front are to embark on UN-sponsored talks over the disputed territories of Western Sahara, while the Security Council unanimously resolved [May 1] to renew the 220-strong UN peacekeeping operation in the region. [The resolution also calls on both sides to enter into talks "without preconditions in good faith."] [AlJazeera, May 1]