Nigerian secret police arrested the Sudanese head of a Saudi-funded charity and accused him of funding a short-lived but bloody Islamic rebellion. The arrest comes amid growing evidence of foreign involvement in Islamist militancy in Nigeria, which Osama bin Laden once claimed was being ripe for an Islamic revolution.

In late December 2003, a group of young Nigerian Muslims launched a small-scale uprising in northeastern Nigeria, calling for an Islamic state. They fought a series of clashes with security forces, but were apparently dispersed after about two weeks of fighting left at least two police and more than a dozen rebels dead. Around 47 of the Islamists were taken into custody. - Adam Geibel