Steve & Olaf: Thursday Notes

> Olaf Wiig‘s father Roger said the family was encouraged by yesterday’s video. “It was a relief really to see that he was alive and well, and it has been nine long days and there is still a lot of waiting to do,” he says…

> This ABC News report suggests the kidnapping could have ties to al Qaeda. “The rhetoric” in the kidnap video “is vintage al Qaeda,” Fawaz Gerges says…

> AP: “Palestinian security officials said they were analyzing the video and even turned to Islamic experts for help in deciphering the poetic verses from the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in the statement…”

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