December 19, 2011 - The transcript and video of Ali Soufan's October appearance before the House of Commons' Home Affairs Committee is now available on The Soufan Group's website. Mr. Soufan was invited to give evidence on the roots of radicalization, and also discussed with MPs the so-called Arab Spring and the current situation in the Middle East.

Ali Soufan gave oral evidence before the House of Commons' Home Affairs Committee, on the "roots of radicalization." Chair: This is the Committee's second session on our inquiry into the roots of radicalism. We are delighted to have as our witness, Mr Ali Soufan. Thank you very much, Mr Soufan, for coming to give evidence to this Committee.

The rooftop hot tub, movie theater, and tropical butterfly garden, inspired the Wall Street Journal to recently proclaim Singapore's Changi International Airport possibly the "world's best airport." They're right that those features are great, but the Journal missed the airport's best feature (compared to U.S. and most other Western airports): security, customs, and immigration.

The Sunday Times selected The Black Banners, by Ali H. Soufan with Daniel Freedman, as one of their books of the year:

Repealing restrictions on torture: It's the moderate, centrist thing to do. On Wednesday afternoon, Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) took to the Senate floor to defend her amendment revoking President Obama's 2009 executive order restricting American interrogators to the techniques outlined in the Army Field Manual.

Somewhere, probably in hell, Hafez al-Assad is biting his fingernails, hoping that his son, Bashar, remembers his history lessons. Because this is not the first time that an Assad ruling Syria has faced mounting opposition protests, deadly attacks on government personnel and instillations, and army defections. A similar uprising occurred in the 1970s and early 1980s, under Assad senior's watch.

Former major event security specialists at the FBI have told Sky News Online of the "close working relationship" between the US and the UK on Olympic security.

However, they have expressed "real doubts" about reports the US is preparing to send as many as 500 agents to the UK to ensure the safety of its athletes during London 2012.

NEW YORK - Fed up with a decade of the police spying on the innocuous details of the daily lives of Muslims, activists in New York are discouraging people from going directly to the police with their concerns about terrorism, a campaign that is certain to further strain relations between the two groups.

A new book co-authored by Jim McGee, Senior Program Manager for The Soufan Group.

Soufan was an FBI special agent for eight years, a rare native Arabic speaker in a professional FBI culture that was shaped by former Marines, often Irish Catholic and working class, and which had traditionally viewed counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism work as second tier specializations.