al-Qaeda News

[Casey]

Top al-Qaeda man killed
20/02/2005 17:23 - (SA)

Baghdad - Iraqi security forces have killed a propaganda chief of al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the government said on Sunday.

Security forces "killed the terrorist Adel Mujtaba, known as Abu Rim, who disseminated propaganda for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist network", it said in a statement.

One of Abu Rim's associates, Abu al-Izz, was also killed in the same raid on February 11, it added, without saying why it was only now releasing news of the raid.

"Abu Rim specialised in creating terrorist websites which encouraged terrorism," the statement said.

"He glorified the murder of innocent people and published images which included terrorists torturing hostages."

Abu Rim is the third Zarqawi propaganda chief to be killed or detained after the alleged first and second in command, Abu Sufiyan and Husam Abdullah Muhsin al-Dulaymi, were respectively killed and detained, the statement added, without providing further details.

Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man, is believed to be behind a string of bloody attacks and kidnappings in the strife-torn country. The United States has put 25-million-dollar bounty on his head.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1665176,00.html

[Casey]

The remaking of al-Qaeda
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - More than four years since the launch of the campaign to catch Osama bin Laden "dead of alive", the US has initiated a new phase in the "war on terror" to counter perceived threats from al-Qaeda generated by a new breed of operatives spawned in the post-September 11 era. Unlike the pre-September 11 al-Qaeda, the structure, central command, depth and whereabouts of the latest incarnation remain largely a mystery.

An Asia Times Online investigation based on interviews with well-placed sources in Pakistan who have been in coordination with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at a very senior level attempts to shed some light on today's threat from al-Qaeda.

What is known is that the al-Qaeda network has been battered over the past few years, with curbs on its ability to access money and coordinate. Out of this, though, new groups have sprung up worldwide, strongly politically motivated, patient and with the broader perspective of toppling pro-US governments. This development has not gone unnoticed in Langley, Virginia - CIA headquarters - which has advised Washington to develop a counter-strategy to be on a "war footing" all over the world in the shape of alliances with Europe and a powerful North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) presence in South and Central Asia and the Middle East.

Almost as a publicity stunt to announce its newfound determination, the United States has launched a massive US$57 million campaign in Pakistan's press and electronic media (and in other countries), drawing attention to the world's most wanted man and reaffirming the $25 million bounty on bin Laden's head.

Though there have been claims in the media of a good response to the advertisements, the media blitz is just the first salvo in a broader battle.

The US campaign to catch bin Laden began in earnest in the last months of 1999, when the administration of president Bill Clinton started serious dialogue with Pakistan, offering an aid package in return for Islamabad allowing US forces to use its land and air space. Bin Laden was then in Afghanistan as a "guest" of the Taliban, operating jihadi training camps, and had been linked to the 1998 bombings at US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, in which more than 200 people died.

However, General Pervez Musharraf took over as president in a bloodless coup on October 12, 1999, which interrupted the dialogue. But the US revived a deal with Pakistan in November 2000 in which Saudi Arabia was also involved (see Osama bin Laden: The thorn in Pakistan's flesh (http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/CH22Df02.html), August 22, 2001) to bring bin Laden to trial in Saudi Arabia. But before this initiative could bear fruit, the attacks of September 11, 2001, took place.

The US has subsequently spent untold millions of dollars trying to catch bin Laden. Indeed, his trail has gone completely cold since last September when a tip placed him in the Bush Mountains in Shawal, North Waziristan, in Pakistan's tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan. But he could not be found, despite a comprehensive search operation. Now all operations in Waziristan to root out him and his supporters have been suspended and it is strongly believed he is no longer in Pakistan. And he left no clues as to his next destination.

The new campaign
Well-placed people Asia Times Online spoke to maintain that the new phase of the "war on terror" has started across the world, but unlike the present campaign in Pakistan, the aim is not to trace bin Laden, but rather his "links".

After interrogations of several people arrested in the past few months in Balochistan - prominent among them being Sharifal Misri, an Egyptian said to be an important link to bin Laden - it has emerged that thousands of youths in many countries have taken inspiration from bin Laden's calls for jihad against the US. However, that was not the end of the matter. Many of these youths have managed to organize themselves into independent anti-US groups, and through interaction in various places in Europe and the Middle East with like-minded people have ultimately made contact with al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda itself has stopped all operations pending a new phase. In the meantime it is focusing on developing these new links - the very links that the US is now after.

"Most of al-Qaeda's cells have either been caught or exposed, and they just cannot operate. The present threat is the fast-growing network inspired by Osama bin Laden. This new network is loosely connected [to al-Qaeda] among the top brass, but for sure is associated with it, and the US and Pakistan are both looking forward to catching this new network and their links to reach bin Laden. The network is not in Pakistan and Afghanistan alone, but all across the world," explained a well-placed contact who has 35 years of experience in the counter-intelligence and internal-security business. He spoke to Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity.

"There is no indication that they are from a specific community or ethnic group. They can be anyone, even blonds from the West. They are predominantly Western-educated, and not so much from Islamic seminaries," he added.

A case study
A case in point is that of a US citizen by the name of Ahmed Abu Ali, 23. He was indicted in the US Federal Court near Washington on Tuesday after being held in Saudi Arabia since June 2003. He faces six charges, including plotting to assassinate President George W Bush and supporting al-Qaeda's terrorist network.

This assassination charge might appear somewhat far-fetched, but investigations into his life substantiate a strong inspiration from al-Qaeda and its program, which he aimed to follow. Abu Ali, who grew up in the Washington suburb of Falls Church, did not enter a plea during his initial appearance, but said through his lawyer that he had been tortured while in Saudi custody.

His family and friends describe him as a mild-mannered boy active in northern Virginia's Muslim community, but the 16-page indictment accuses Abu Ali of conspiring to kill Bush either by getting "close enough to the president to shoot him on the street" or by "detonating a car bomb". Abu Ali "obtained a religious blessing ... to assassinate Mr Bush", the charges read. It is also alleged that Abu Ali wanted to "become a planner of terrorist operations like Mohammed Atta and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, well-known al-Qaeda terrorists associated with the attacks on September 11, 2001".

The indictment, however, insists that Abu Ali made contact with al-Qaeda members between September 2002 and June 2003 and received training in the use of weapons, including hand grenades and other explosives, as well as in document forgery. The indictment said he discussed an assassination attempt with at least two other conspirators, one of whom gave him the religious blessing. He also allegedly tried to make his way to Afghanistan to fight against Americans, but could not get there because he was denied the visa he needed to cross through Iran, the indictment said.

The indictment refers to 11 co-conspirators who were in Saudi Arabia with Abu Ali, but neither their names nor their nationalities were disclosed. The document says at least two of the 11 were on a public Saudi government list of 19 people suspected of plotting terrorist attacks in the kingdom. The list came out days before a series of bombings in May 2003 in Riyadh killed 34 people, including nine Americans. Abu Ali was arrested by Saudi authorities on June 9, 2003, on suspicion of involvement in the bombings. He had been studying at the University of Medina.

A Federal Bureau of Investigation search of his home in Falls Church shortly after his June 2003 arrest turned up Arabic audio tapes promoting violent jihad and the killing of Jews; an undated, two-page document praising Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and the September 11 attacks; a book written by al-Qaeda chieftain Ayman al-Zawahiri that characterizes democracy as a new religion that must be destroyed by war; and a copy of Handguns magazine with a subscription label bearing the name Ahmed Ali.

Without pre-judging Abu Ali, US intelligence believes that he is a typical model of the new al-Qaeda-inspired generation and "links" in days when the traditional al-Qaeda has been curtailed.

New plans
Piecing together information obtained by Asia Times Online, there does not appear to be an al-Qaeda threat in the near future on the scale of the US embassies in Africa or small-scale bomb attacks. Instead, the focus will be pressure to topple pro-US governments in Muslim states and to kickstart the faltering resistance in Afghanistan. The aspiration is to once again make the country a hub for global mujahideen, as it was in the anti-Soviet years of the 1980s.

The US response can be expected to manifest itself in a stronger alliance with Europe, which will include intelligence sharing. Construction work has already begun on a new NATO base in Herat in west Afghanistan, and US officials have confirmed that they would like more military bases in the country, in addition to the use of bases in Pakistan. NATO bases in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East are also in the cards.

"Three years of active participation in the war on terror have got me to the realization that we only searched out and cut branches, only for them to be replaced with new ones, and this goes on and on. Now we enter a phase when we are standing in the complete dark with no mark of the enemy, yet he is around and is ready to strike at his time of choice, when, where and how nobody knows," said a senior field official involved in intelligence analysis. "After having a theoretical education in counter-intelligence at Langley and in London, and having done several joint ventures with Western agencies, the present threat has only one answer. And that is justice in the Middle East."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GB25Df04.html

[Casey]

Al-Qaeda bomb, CD factories smashed: Prez

Agence France-Presse
Islamabad, February 24, 2005|16:52 IST


Pakistani forces have destroyed a network of Al-Qaeda factories churning out powerful bombs and propaganda compact discs and videos, key US ally President Musharraf said on Thursday.
Without giving details, Musharraf said militants had been forced to run for the hills after a series of military operations in lawless areas bordering Afghanistan, and crackdowns in major cities.

"Everything was in place, even where they were manufacturing explosives -- IEDs (improvised explosives devices) were being manufactured," General Musharraf told reporters during a rare question and answer session.

"Their command structure was there, major communications structure, their psychological warfare, their computers, their CDs being produced to create psychological effects, their logistics bases," he added.

"All that has been taken over. Now they are on the run in the mountains and we dominate the valleys."

But Musharraf gave no details on when the operations were carried out, exactly where, and what quantities of materials were seized.

Pakistan has stood side-by-side with the United States since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States which killed almost 3,000 people and for which Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.

Musharraf said security forces had captured about 700 Al-Qaeda suspects since late 2001 when Pakistan started its crackdown. Most are thought to have been handed over to the United States.

"Their back has been broken, they are on the run," Musharraf said. He did not say where he thought Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden might be hiding.

US officials believe bin Laden and other key militants have been sheltering somewhere along the mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001.

The US embassy in Pakistan has recently placed television, radio and newspaper ads offering up to 25 million dollars for information on bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and other henchmen.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7598_1255671,000500020000.htm

[Casey]

PBS Frontline

al Qaeda's New Front
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/

Watch online
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/view/

Windows Media Player
Real Player

Introduction

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the locus of the investigation quickly shifted to Europe and the network of radical Islamic jihadis who are part of "Eurabia," the continent's expanding Muslim communities. Since 9/11 America has been spared what authorities feared and expected: a second wave of attacks. Instead Europe, once a logistical base for Islamic radicals and a safe haven, has itself become the target.

On March 11, 2004, the Islamic jihadis made it clear once and for all that there was a new front in their war. Madrid's morning commuter trains were ravaged by simultaneous explosions. Nearly 200 people were killed and thousands injured. Only a faulty detonating device saved thousands more from death in the packed central train station. Since 9/11, European law enforcement and intelligence agencies have foiled dozens of Islamist terrorist plots. In "Al Qaeda's New Front," FRONTLINE, The New York Times and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's documentary program the fifth estate join forces to investigate the realities of "Eurabia," and the peculiar problems faced by Western governments in confronting this gathering threat.

The key reality faced on the other side of the Atlantic is the 18 million Muslims whose ranks are expected to swell to 20 percent of Europe's population in the next 15 years. This community of immigrants who share religious and ethnic bonds has largely failed to integrate into European societies. Many are poor and subject to bigotry; they have lived in Europe for years and many were born there, yet often feel that they are not full members of society. This sense of alienation is deepened by the ubiquity of television with its non-stop images of their suffering brethren in Palestine, Iraq, and Chechnya. Inspired by local radical imams and jihadist Web sites, disenfranchised European Muslims are taking up the cause of jihad.

With full-scale war between the U.S. military and Islamic insurgents in Iraq -- which is just a two-and-a-half day drive from Berlin -- the reality of a war between Islam and the West is a domestic problem for Europe. The dream of the European Union, the end of all borders, has had unintended consequences. It means that a terrorist can travel freely once he has gained entry, leaving law enforcement with the nearly impossible task of tracking clandestine warriors as they slip in and out of countries with literally no restrictions.

That ease of movement presents America with an ongoing threat: a visa waiver program that makes travel by any citizen or permanent resident of Europe into the United States virtually unrestricted.

Since 9/11, intelligence sharing between the United States and most of Europe's governments has reached unimagined levels. But within the European Union itself difficulties persist as each country continues to have its unique laws and civil rights protections.

While Europe girds itself for more attacks, all of the top counter-terrorism officials interviewed for this report warn that the threat is only growing -- in part, they lament, because America's strategy of going to war in Iraq has created a new intense threat from combat-hardened veterans of that insurgency and a large immigrant population with growing sympathy for their cause.

From Bali in the Pacific to Beslan in remote Russia, the images deliver a stark message: nobody is safe in a war without borders -- a war now threatening to boil over in the heart of Europe.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/etc/synopsis.html

[Casey]

Pak's defence Secretary warns of 'Al-Qaeda reorganizing':

[World News]: Karachi, Feb. 26 : Pakistan's Defence Secretary Lieutenant General (Retd) Hamid Nawaz today said that different reports have
confirmed that Al-Qaeda was getting organized again and the issue is aggravating in lieu of cooling down.

While talking to reports on the eve of passing-out parade of the airport security forces here, he told that Pak-US cooperation for elimination of Al-Qaeda forces was going on. However, Osama bin Laden's whereabouts was yet unknown, The News quoted Nawaz as saying.

When asked if Al-Qaeda could manage to possibly get nuclear weapons, he said: "To avert Al-Qaeda from getting the nuclear weapons it is inevitable to keep Al-Qaeda under tight control."

Terrible situation in Iraq and Afghanistan after US carried out colossal assaults on them has set people's feelings ablaze to a
great extent.(ANI)
http://news.newkerala.com/india-news/?action=fullnews&id=78263


Pakistan says it has “broken the back of Al Qaeda”(AP)
26 February 2005

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistani security agencies have “broken the back” of Al Qaeda by dismantling its network and arresting hundreds of suspects in recent years, a Cabinet minister said on Saturday.

“The remnants of Al Qaeda are on the run. Their network is no more intact. They are scattered and not in a position to even plan attacks,” Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told reporters in this northwestern city of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its war on terror and Sherpao’s comments came two days after the country’s President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Pakistani security forces have destroyed Al Qaeda-linked militants’ “sanctuaries and communication systems” along the border with Afghanistan.

However, he said Pakistan still had no clue about Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts.

On Saturday, Sherpao said Pakistan is trying to root out terrorism and due to “brilliant performance of our security agencies, the Al Qaeda leadership is no more effective.”

Sherpao said Pakistani security agencies had recently arrested more terror suspects, but gave no details.

Pakistan has arrested more than 700 Al Qaeda suspects since Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Among them was Al Qaeda’s top leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was captured from a city near the capital, Islamabad in March 2003.

In March 2002, Abu Zubaydah, once bin Laden’s top terror coordinator, was caught in the city of Faisalabad. In July 2004, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian Al Qaeda suspect on the FBI list of most-wanted terrorists for his alleged role in the 1998 US Embassy bombings in east Africa that killed more than 200 people, was arrested from the eastern city of Gujrat.

The majority of the suspects were later handed over to the US officials.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2005/February/subcontinent_February915.xml&section=subcontinent

[NYC]

Pak's defence Secretary warns of 'Al-Qaeda reorganizing':

Pakistan says it has “broken the back of Al Qaeda”(AP)
26 February 2005

Glad to see that's cleared up

[Casey]

Glad to see that's cleared up
Yes, good thing, eh?

Trust Pakistan military and government to be split when there is action going on.

[al-Canine]

Imprisoned terrorists still advocating terror

1993 World Trade Center bombers write letters exhorting jihad

By Lisa Myers & the NBC investigative unit
Updated: 7:52 p.m. ET Feb. 28, 2005

It was 12:18 p.m. on Feb. 26, 1993, lunchtime, when the van exploded. The massive bomb rattled the World Trade Center, leaving a giant crater in the underground garage. Six people were killed, and more than 1,000 were wounded.

At the time, it was the worst act of terrorism ever committed on American soil. Three Islamic extremists were among those convicted, each sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.

Former prosecutor Andy McCarthy convicted others involved in the attack.

"It's difficult to imagine people who are more evil or inclined to do more mass homicide," says McCarthy.

So the men were sent to America's most secure federal prisons, eventually ending up at Supermax in Colorado, supposedly unable to do further harm.

Or so we thought. Letters and articles obtained by NBC News show that while behind bars, the 1993 bombers continued their terrorist activities. They wrote letters to other suspected terrorists and brazenly praised Osama bin Laden in Arabic newspapers.

According to confidential Spanish court documents obtained by NBC, at least 14 letters went back and forth between the World Trade Center bombers and a Spanish terror cell.

In February 2003, bomber Mohammed Salameh writes: "Oh God! Make us live with happiness, make us die as martyrs, may we be united on the Day of Judgment." The recipient, Mohamed Achraf, later allegedly led a plot to blow up the National Justice Building in Madrid and is awaiting trial.

In July 2002, a letter Salameh sent from prison is published in the Al-Quds newspaper, proclaiming "Osama Bin Laden is my hero of this generation."

"He was exhorting acts of terrorism and helping recruit would-be terrorists for the jihad," says McCarthy, "from inside an American prison."

The letters to the bombers spoke of the need to "terminate the infidels" and said, "The Muslims don't have any option other than jihad."

Among those corresponding is a man charged with recruiting suicide operatives in Spain. Spanish officials accuse him of using letters to and from the U.S. bombers as a recruiting tool.

All this while the Bureau of Prisons reassured the public that terrorists were under control.

"We have been managing inmates with ties to terrorism for over a decade by confining them in secure conditions and monitoring their communications closely," said Harley Lappin, the Bureau of Prisons director, in October 2003.

Today, federal prison officials refuse to comment directly on what other law enforcement officials call a horrible lapse, saying only that inmates' letters are "monitored" and "inspected."

So how did this happen? Federal officials tell NBC that the Justice Department failed to restrict communications to and from the three bombers because key officials didn't consider them all that dangerous.

Michael Macko lost his father, Bill, in the trade center bombing and attended the 12th anniversary memorial on Feb. 26.

"If they are encouraging acts of terrorism internationally, how do we know they're not encouraging acts of terrorism right here on U.S. soil?" asks Macko.

That's just one of the many questions now being scrutinized by the Justice Department.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7046691/

[Casey]

Al-Qaeda Made Biological Weapons in Georgia — French Minister
Created: 01.03.2005 17:34 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 17:34 MSK, 3 hours 15 minutes ago

Terrorists from al-Qaeda have been making chemical and biological weapons in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge, French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a world conference on bio-terrorism in Lyons that was organized by Interpol, he said that “several al-Qaeda cells have been trained in Afghanistan where they have learned to use biological agents including anthrax, ricin and botulism toxins. Later, after the fall of the Taliban regime, those groups continued their experiments in the Pankisi Gorge, on the territory of Georgia, bordering Chechnya,” Interfax news agency reported.

The minister added that al-Qaeda terrorists “were able to use the religious aspect of the war” in Chechnya.

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/03/01/villepin.shtml

[Casey]

al-Qaeda News Archive
http://www.afghanistanwar.com/showthread.php?t=5008

[Casey]

al Qaeda in Lebanon
http://www.afghanistanwar.com/showthread.php?p=2024074#post2024074

[Casey]

Al Qaeda Slams 'Infidel' Conference in Spain
Sat Mar 12, 2005 4:47 AM ET

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda Organization in Iraq has slammed as a gathering of infidels an international conference to mark the first anniversary of the Madrid train bombings, and said Islam will prevail.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the three-day conference in the Spanish capital Thursday the world must quickly take concerted action against terrorism and deny extremists the chance to carry out a nuclear attack.

"How many times do the infidels meet in solidarity against Islam and jihad (holy struggle) ... and stand in the same trench with one thing on their minds; to fight Muslims and abuse them," the group said in a statement posted on a Web site used by Islamists Saturday.

The group is behind some of the deadliest attacks in Iraq, including suicide bombings and the kidnapping and beheading of foreign hostages.

Around 20 heads of government, including Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, attended the conference organized to mark the anniversary of the March 11, 2004 attacks by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group that killed 191 people.

Annan called on U.N. members to put aside wrangling over the definition of terrorism that has for years obstructed agreement on an anti-terrorism treaty.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the conference that the fight against terrorism was being won "by nations that cherish freedom and democracy coming together to defend and project these values."

Al Qaeda's branch in Iraq said the group was obliged to "terrorize the enemies of God" in a relentless struggle and that it was certain of victory.

"No matter what you prepare, o you infidels, you will be defeated and will never be victorious because God has promised us victory," it said in the statement.

Washington says bin Laden has asked al Qaeda's leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to plan attacks in the United States.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-03-12T094705Z_01_N12480818_RTRIDST_0_INTERNATIONAL-SECURITY-SPAIN-ALQAEDA-DC.XML

[Casey]

LECTURE
Doran: al Qaeda stresses long term

Tom Senn
Princetonian Staff Writer

Al Qaeda is not so much focused on an immediate radical Islamic revolution in the Middle East as they are on laying the groundwork for such a revolution, Near Eastern Studies professor Michael Doran GS '97 told a packed Dodds Auditorium on Monday.

"They have a tremendous longterm view of things," Doran said. They seek to influence the state in the direction of radical Islam over time, he added.

Doran is a leading scholar on Middle East issues, including terrorism, U.S. foreign policy and the Arab-Israeli conflict. His lecture, titled "Al Qaeda's Grand Strategy (and Ours Too)," highlighted the sophistication and patience of the radical Islamic network infamous for orchestrating terrorist attacks throughout the world, most notably those on Sept. 11, 2001.

Doran also said that al Qaeda pays attention to public opinion and has spent the last 50 years analyzing politics and figuring out how radical Islamic movements have failed in the past. "It makes them much more dangerous and much more sophisticated than previous generations," Doran said. "Because of this sophistication, I don't think they're going away any time soon."

While some scholars said recently that al Qaeda is fighting an ideological battle with the West, Doran said that the organization's primary objective is not to destroy but to provoke the United States.

"Al Qaeda is carrying out a struggle for a new order in their region," Doran said. "It's about relationships between Muslims first and foremost and [the United States is] secondary. This is not simply an ideological fight."

Doran said the al Qaeda objectives include drawing Americans to be involved in the Middle East. "Bringing the war right to the heartland has a polarizing effect in Islamic society," he said.

Al Qaeda hopes that this polarization will allow them to attract a certain segment of youth to their side, primarily young, idealistic men, Doran said.

"I think they're going to lose," Doran said of al Qaeda, adding that the network's defeat will not be achieved immediately.

"Our ideology is not bad — freedom, economic development, democracy — but if you look at all the problems in the Middle East, you can see that democracy alone will not fix them," Doran said. "Even if recent positive events continue, there is still a lot of fertile soil for radical Islamic groups to operate."

"I was really interested to hear him [Doran] talk about structure," said Katrina Rogachevsky '07, who attended the lecture. "People talk about al Qaeda as if it's just chaos, but it was interesting to hear that it has an overarching purpose that is very thought-out and that it has real longterm objectives."

"He puts it clearer than anyone I've heard that it's not just them versus the West," Sarah Karam '07 said. "It is a regional struggle for power within the Middle East and Muslim world."

The lecture was organized by the Wilson School.

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2005/03/29/news/12473.shtml

[Ono]

Al-Qaida Web message offers missile tutorial
Terrorist tells 'brothers' how to fire the weapon

By Lisa Myers & the NBC investigative unit
Updated: 8:33 p.m. ET March 30, 2005

An Internet posting obtained by NBC News — written mostly in Arabic — details how to fire a shoulder-fired missile and how to overcome security measures.

NBC terrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann says it was posted five days ago on an Internet location used by Iraq's top terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

"We've seen plenty of material on radical Islamic Web sites dealing with shooting down military aircraft in combat zones," says Kohlmann. "However, this is the first time I've ever seen the deliberate targeting of civilian aircraft leaving U.S. airports."

NBC News will not reveal many of the details. There's a sketch of a terrorist on a rooftop shooting a missile at a plane, and information on possible evasive tactics. Much of the information appears to have been taken from the Web site of a U.S. magazine. There are also maps showing flight paths and new security perimeters from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

New York officials say they take this seriously and have alerted security at the airport. The FBI is still analyzing the information, but terrorism experts tell us there's no suggestion this poses any immediate threat.


"What concerns me is the acknowledgement by Zarqawi's people that we have vulnerability in our airports, of the launching of missiles against commercial airliners," says Charles Slepian, a risk analysis expert.

Al-Qaida has tried to shoot down a plane. In 2002, terrorists fired missiles at an Israeli airliner in Kenya. And a launcher tube was found near a U.S. airbase in Saudi Arabia.

How tough would it be to pull off an attack in the United States?

"The hardest thing for al-Qaida to do in order to carry out one of these attacks is to smuggle both the shooters and smuggle the weapons into place," says James Chow, an analyst with the Rand Corp. who has authored a study on shoulder-fired missiles.

The Internet posting ends with a provocative message: "This is what I have FOR now. I hope it is useful for my dear brothers."

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7339768/

[The 801]

Did Osama bin Laden order beheading of three Britons?
By Daniel McGrory

THE families of three Britons beheaded by Islamic terrorists are hoping that their killer will finally reveal if Osama bin Laden ordered their captives’ murder.
Authorities in Chechnya are questioning one of the kidnappers who had agreed to release the telephone engineers in exchange for a £3 million ransom. Days later in December 1998 the men were murdered and their severed heads left by the side of a road.

Darren Hickey, 26, Rudi Petschi, 42, Peter Kennedy and a New Zealand colleague, Stanley Shaw, 58, had been tortured during their 64 days in captivity.

Russian security officials say that Chechen Interior Ministry police arrested a suspect this week in connection with the murder of six Red Cross workers. The suspect, Adam Dzhabrailov, is said to have admitted his role in the slaughter of the Western engineers, who were installing a mobile phone network in Chechnya.

Officials in Moscow say that Dzhabrailov, 31, is being held at a secret location while he is questioned about the alleged role of al-Qaeda’s leader in the murders. There are claims that bin Laden paid the kidnappers more than £30 million to drive all Western workers out of Chechnya and to intensify their attacks against Russian forces.

Last night Noel Hickey, Hickey’s uncle, said: “There have been so many unanswered questions for so long. At the time the families were told a deal for their release had been agreed. Then the next thing we hear the men were executed in this horrible way. It won’t bring back Darren and the others or end their families’ suffering but I hope that at last we are told the truth — whatever it is.”

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said last night that it was waiting to learn the outcome of the Russian investigation. “We are in close touch and will keep the families informed,” a spokesman said.

The suspected killer was captured on Monday during a security sweep. Vladimir Kravchenko, Chechnya’s acting Prosecutor-General, said: “Dzhabrailov in his confession told us in detail about the kidnapping and execution of the three Britons and one New Zealander. We will carefully check his testimony about his role in this.”

The UK-based engineers were abducted on October 3, 1998. A captive held with them said that they were given a pitcher of water and a loaf to share each week. They also had to watch videos of beheadings carried out by Islamic militants.

They were apparently beheaded in a disused factory near the capital, Grozny, and their remains driven outside the city. Their bodies were found 100 yards from where the severed heads were dumped in potato sacks.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1557836,00.html

[The 801]

Alleged Daniel Pearl killer says met bin Laden twice: report
(AFP)

19 April 2005



ISLAMABAD - An Islamic militant sentenced to death for the murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan said in a rare interview published on Tuesday that he met Osama bin Laden twice in Afghanistan.


British-born Sheikh Omar also admitted he was “involved” in kidnapping Pearl in 2002 but said he did not take part in his brutal murder, according to the latest edition of the English-language magazine Newsline.

The magazine said it had obtained written answers from Sheikh to questions smuggled into his cell while he was at Adiala Jail in the northern town of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad. He has since been moved to another prison.

“Yes, I met him twice in Afghanistan,” Sheikh said when asked if he had met the Al-Qaeda chief, the first time the 31-year-old has admitted encountering bin Laden. He did not say when the meetings took place.

But he added that he did not agree with all bin Laden’s methods and was now committed to Mullah Mohammed Omar, the one-eyed, fugitive head of Afghanistan’s Taliban regime, as the “overall leader of all mujahideen (holy warriors)”.

Sheikh expressed no regret for his actions, saying only that he had “some causes of anxiety, such as the fact that my son is growing up without me -- he’s three years old now”.

His lawyer, Mohsin Imam, said he was not aware of the interview and could not verify its contents.

Sheikh’s appeal against his conviction for plotting the abduction and murder of Wall Street Journal correspondent Pearl in the southern city of Karachi is pending in a Pakistani court.

The High Court of Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, is due to take up the appeal on May 13. He was convicted by an anti-terrorism court in July 2002 and sentenced to death.

Sheikh was held briefly at Adiala in connection with the probe into an abortive attempt on the life of President Pervez Musharraf in December 2003, and is now at Hyderabad jail in southern Pakistan.

Pearl, the Journal’s Bombay-based South Asia correspondent, disappeared in Karachi on January 23, 2002, while working on a story into the murky underworld of Pakistani militant groups.

One week after Sheikh’s arrest was made public, a graphic video depicting the gruesome decapitation of Pearl was delivered to the US consulate in Karachi.

Sheikh told the magazine Pearl was “an informer, an American spy.”

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2005/April/subcontinent_April589.xml&section=subcontinent

[Petronas]

al-Qaeda Messaging/Attacks Timeline - v2.0

IntelCenter has released the "al-Qaeda Messaging/Attacks Timeline v2.0". The timeline covers statements and other significant public and semi-public communications by al-Qaeda and its affiliates. The timeline also covers significant attacks by al-Qaeda and its affiliates. This version covers the period from January 2003 to 22 April 2005. ... To download the public PDF version of the report, please click here.

http://www.intelcenter.com/

Summarizes time intervals between Al Qaeda public messages (including author, type of message and content) and attacks, as well as locations of attacks. Note the recent decrease in the level of overt Al Qaeda activity shown by this summary: 6 1/2 pages for 2003, 5 pages for 2004, only 1/2 page for the first third of the current year.

[Casey]

Saudi Al Qaeda branch makes Internet comeback
(AFP)

27 April 2005


DUBAI - Al Qaeda’s Saudi branch posted its Sawt Al-Jihad online magazine Wednesday after a hiatus of several months, dedicating it to clashes earlier this month between militants and security men in the kingdom.

The 29th edition of the magazine, which runs to more than 40 pages, includes an editorial by Saud al-Otaibi, written before he was killed in the April 3-5 clashes and who is described by the authorities as Al Qaeda’s chief in Saudi Arabia.

In the article, Otaibi denied Saudi authorities had “eliminated jihad (holy war)” in the kingdom and urged “those who could not join the mujahedeen (warriors) in the Arabian peninsula” to make their way “to Iraq or another front for jihad”.

They should “target Americans and kill the enemies of God among the crusaders and apostates in the peninsula of the Arabs or elsewhere”.

Fifteen suspected Al Qaeda militants were killed in the three-day gunbattle with Saudi security forces in the Al-Qassim region, a haven for Islamist militants some 320 kilometres (200 miles) north of Riyadh.

The dead also included Abdel Karim al-Mejati, the presumed Moroccan mastermind of the Madrid train bombings in March 2004.

The gunbattle was the bloodiest in a nearly two-year-old campaign by security forces against Islamist militants behind a spate of attacks in the oil-rich Gulf kingdom.

The violence has claimed at least 221 lives, according to an official toll.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/April/middleeast_April731.xml&section=middleeast

[Casey]

Remote targets, and near ones too


The trajectory is becoming clear: as Al-Qaeda spreads outwards, Arab regimes are increasingly likely to share the brunt of its violence, writes Diaa Rashwan* (http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/740/op44.htm#1)

Producing an accurate description of Al-Qaeda is deceptively easy. Certainly, the information is accessible; since 11 September 2001, thousands of pages of print in hundreds of periodicals have been given over to the task of analyzing the aims, composition, funding, tactics and innumerable other aspects of this organisation. The hard part is sorting out the chaff from the wheat in all this abundant material, a task made all the more difficult because of the tendency of many writers to regurgitate commonly accepted information and perceptions without questioning their sources or double- checking the facts.

At least we can take it as given that Al-Qaeda belongs to that stream of international militant Islamist movements that espouse jihad against what they perceive as the external enemies to Islam and the Muslim people. In this it differs from such domestically grown jihadist movements, as the Gama'a Islamiya and Jihad Organisation in Egypt, which targeted the regime within their own country. The focus on the "remote" as opposed to the "near" enemy, as Al-Qaeda members have put it, combines with another fundamental principle to form the effective substance of its battle cry. This principle is expressed in the exhortation to all people of the Islamic world to work together to liberate all parts of Dar Al-Islam from foreign occupation and to support any Muslim people in their wars against foreign aggressors.

These two ideas combined in practice for the first time in modern Islamic history during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 when various regional and international powers--the US above all--sought to incite tens of thousands of Muslim youths to go that country to fight the communist invaders. Never before had the call of jihad been used so concertedly to recruit Muslims from around the Islamic world to defend a remote Muslim country against foreign aggression.

This applies even to the war against the Zionist occupation of Palestine in 1947 and 1948. In spite of the cherished place of that nation in the Muslim mind, containing as it does the holy Al-Aqsa mosque, volunteers to fight in Palestine came only from the Arab world, even if they did include political Islamists such as members of the Muslim Brotherhood. No non-Arab Islamic nation participated, even though there existed at the time influential Islamist groups in India and Pakistan, such as that led by Abul A'la Al-Mawdudi.

In other words, the ideological motivation for volunteering was political (in defense of Arab nationalism) rather than religious as has been the case since the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

Jihad can either be defensive, to protect Dar Al-Islam and the Islamic creed from foreign invasion, or offensive, to bring other areas and peoples into Dar Al-Islam. The former is a duty incumbent upon all Muslims, the latter a duty incumbent upon the "Islamic state". Clearly, defensive jihad was the rallying cry behind the volunteer drive to fight in Afghanistan and has remained the guiding philosophy of Al-Qaeda movement and its affiliates.

In 1979, the then 22-year-old Bin Laden arrived in Afghanistan to join thousands of mujahideen from around the Islamic world in the fight against the Soviet occupation. The following ten years were critically formative in the life of this exceedingly wealthy youth, for whom defensive jihad became synonymous with the entire concept of jihad and the ultimate demonstration of his faith, as he understands it. Only two years after his return to Saudi Arabia 1989, following the Soviet evacuation from Afghanistan, the second Gulf war broke out. To Bin Laden, the US had suddenly become the prime aggressor against Dar Al-Islam, a belief that has guided his actions until today.

It can thus be said that Bin Laden was politically and operatively born in the Afghan war and that the second Gulf war confirmed his vision of himself as an international Islamic freedom fighter whose sole mission was to combat those he identified as a threat to Islam and Muslim interests as he perceived them. His jihad was never directed "internally"; that is to say towards overthrowing a specific government and establishing in its place an Islamic regime.

The concept of external jihad had also come to dominate the thinking of other militant Islamists who had shared Bin Laden's Afghan experience and who sought to repeat it, this time against the new enemy, the US. Yet there is no evidence of an Al-Qaeda-like organisation coming into being during the period of Bin Laden's stay in Saudi Arabia until his expulsion, nor in Sudan until he was forced to leave that country also in 1995.

It was only following the return of the Saudi dissenter -- with the huge personal financial resources at his disposal and in the company of a collection of Islamists from around the world, most of whom were on the run from security authorities in their own countries and a few of whom were looking for a new holy war to fight -- to Afghanistan, which was now almost fully under the control of the Taliban movement, that thoughts turned to giving the dream of international jihad a concrete organisational structure headed by Bin Laden and his companions.

It was somewhere between 1996 and 1998 that Bin Laden and his entourage made their first attempt to found this organisation, drawing on their experience and the friendships and connections they had made during the Afghan war.

On 12 February 1998, the "International Islamic Front for Holy War against Jews and Crusaders" issued a declaration decreeing that "waging war against the Americans and their military and civilian allies is a religious duty incumbent upon every Muslim capable of this in any country where this is possible."

The declaration was the first official indication of the coalescence of an organisational structure that would later become known as Al-Qaeda. It was signed by Osama Bin Laden, Ayman El-Zawahri, in the name of the Egyptian Jihad Organisation, Rifai Ahmed Taha for the Egyptian Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya (which later withdrew from the front), Mir Hamza for the Ulama Society in Pakistan, leader of the Pakistan- based Ansar Movement, Fadl Al-Rahman and Abdel- Salam Mohammed, leader of the Jihad Movement in Bangladesh.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that of these Bin Laden was the only person who did not sign on behalf of an existing organisation, which suggests that Al-Qaeda had not yet been established. It is impossible to imagine that he would not affix the name of the organisation he founded to a document that declared war against the mightiest power on earth.

On 7 August 1998, Bin Laden and his cohorts mounted two massive simultaneous bombing attacks on American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania claiming hundreds of dead and wounded. That neither the organisational structure nor the name of their new organisation had yet been finalised is indicated by the fact that responsibility for these bombings was claimed by a new, previously unheard of organization, one never to be heard of again: the "Islamic Army for the Liberation of Holy Places".

The statements issued by this organisation contained several paragraphs that had appeared in the International Islamic Front declaration and suggest that it was one or more of the co- founders of that group that were behind the two bombings. Although the name "Qaeda" appeared in several American reports and press statements at that time, there exists no document, declaration or statement to indicate that the signatories of the International Islamic Front declaration were leaders or members of an organisation bearing that name.

Most likely, the appearance of that name in those American sources stems from the fact that Qaeda -- meaning "base" -- was the name assigned to an administrative and financial staging point in Afghanistan for militant Islamists recruited into the war against the Soviet occupation. The term would thus have been used to refer generally to Bin Laden and his associates who operated that staging point rather than to a paramilitary or political organisation that actually existed at the time of the American embassy bombings.

One can only suppose that around the turn of the millennium Bin Laden and his associates were still in the process of setting up their new organisation. On 30 October 2000, they launched an attack on the USSS Cole, anchored off of the Yemeni port city, Aden, causing the death and injury of dozens of American marines. Even by this time, neither Bin Laden nor any of his close partners had revealed the name of their new organisation or officially acknowledged their activities, including the bombing of the US warship.

The turning point in the concretisation of Al-Qaeda as a jihadist organisational structure seems to have occurred in the course of the following year. In a videotape broadcast on 7 October 2001, which coincided with the beginning of the American-led war against Afghanistan in pursuit of the perpetrators of the hijack bombings against New York and Washington, Bin Laden, the Kuwait dissenter Suleiman Abu Gheith and Ayman El-Zawahri announced that they were, respectively, the leader of Al-Qaeda, its spokesman and the leader of the Egyptian Jihad. By the end of the following month, statements issued by Zawahri, Bin Laden and other associates made it clear they had settled upon the name "The Jihad Qaeda", obviously signaling a merger between the Zawahri-led break-off wing from the Egyptian Jihad organisation and the groups surrounding Bin Laden, which had been referred to collectively as Al-Qaeda in previous years.

Hardly had the new Al-Qaeda organisation officially declared itself than it was subject to a severe battering in the course of the American invasion of Afghanistan, waged in the name of the US-led international war on "terrorism". Following the toppling of the Taliban regime, numerous Al-Qaeda leaders were killed, arrested or put to flight. In tandem with these developments, however, there emerged a form of bifurcation in the handling of Al-Qaeda as a concept and organisation. At one level, Al-Qaeda was the actual organisation--"Jihad Qaeda"-- the emergence of which as the apparent successor to the International Islamic Front for Holy War against Jews and Crusaders discussed above.

This Al-Qaeda is hierarchically organised with various forms and levels of ideological and operational line-of-command and coordination structures and has clear theoretical and practical perceptions of its aims and strategies. In addition, its membership is geographically identifiable; it can be said to be concentrated in an area extending from Afghanistan and Central Asia, through a part of the Indian subcontinent and down to the Arabian Peninsula and east Africa.

The US is hunting down the leaders of this organisation throughout the world, and has succeeded in apprehending a good many of them, such as Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi Bin Al-Shiba, Abu Zubeida, Abdel Rahim Al-Nashiri, Tawfiq Bin Attash, Munir Al-Mutasaddaq and Zakariya El-Mousawi. It has also killed many others, most notably Mohammed Atef (Abu Hifs Al-Masri), military commander of the organisation.

These coups combined with the ongoing campaign against them have undoubtedly weakened the ability of the Jihad Qaeda to mount major operations outside Afghanistan, its primary base, the headquarters of its top leaders (such as Bin Laden and El-Zawahri), and the most important arena in their battle against American forces and the US's local allies.

At a second level, however, "Al-Qaeda" became that vast amorphous "network" of organisations, groups and individuals attributed to the jihadist movement in particular, and radical Islamist movements in general. Ever since the US declared its ambiguously defined "war on terrorism", Islamists of even the most moderate hue have become subject to daily threats and harassment. Not surprisingly, this approach has enraged Islamist groups around the world and provoked the more radical among them to use whatever means at their disposal to damage American interests abroad.

Although there is no concrete evidence of any connection between these groups and the Jihad Qaeda -- apart, that is, from a shared hostility to the US and an espousal of violence -- every operation they mount against US, Israeli or Western targets in general serves the Jihad Qaeda campaign against the US. This organisation, therefore, hastens to capitalise on this by issuing vaguely worded statements that give the impression that it was responsible for some of these operations, which, in turn, has led the US to expand its definition of Al- Qaeda to include individuals and groups who, in fact, have nothing to do with it.

To further confuse matters, the US occupation of Iraq has engendered an environment conducive to the spread of Islamist extremism and militant groups throughout the Arab and Islamic world, although with greater intensity in the Middle East and the Gulf region in particular. Developments inside occupied Iraq combined with the intensity of the global war against terrorism, its deliberate distortions and misinformation, reproduce the ideas and strategies that led to the creation of the Jihad Qaeda on an unprecedented scale.

As a result, the Arab and Islamic world is now teeming with what we might term Al-Qaeda clones. One might compare Al-Qaeda to a transnational company that allows others to use its "trademark" as long as those others first subscribe to its ideas and quality standards and second, affix the Al-Qaeda logo to their product. It is in this sense, if any, that Al-Qaeda "branches" have sprung up in many countries of the Arab and Islamic world, pursuing the same objectives as the "mother company" and emulating its modus operandi but without there being an actual direct organisational link with it.

The Internet has been highly instrumental in the spread of this phenomenon. Fatwas (religious rulings) and paramilitary expertise and know-how are readily available to aspiring Al- Qaeda clones via hundreds of sites. Undoubtedly, too, the high- profile operations the original Al-Qaeda has undertaken in various parts of the world against overwhelming security odds have encouraged fledgling radicals and extremist groups to similarly establish their jihadist credentials and qualify for membership in the vast amorphous Al-Qaeda "network". That Bin Laden and Zawahri are still at large and continue to make occasional videotaped proclamations has also been a source of inspiration to those groups while simultaneously contributing to the perpetuity of the Al-Qaeda organisation itself.

Add to the foregoing an international environment increasingly charged over the past two years with military conflict, political disputes and ideological clashes and the consequent augmenting sense of worldwide instability and chaos. This sense is particularly acute in the Middle East because of the Iraq situation and the ongoing plight of Palestinians and because of the many severe domestic problems that are coming to a head in the course of profound changes that are affecting political and economic ways of life and modes of cultural, religious and ethnic expression.

The growth of violence and terrorism is a manifestation--though by all means not the only one -- of this political and psychological unrest. The mounting anger and despair felt by many youths combined with the spread of extremist interpretations of Islamic scriptures have driven thousands into the embrace of militant organisations with many deployed on major suicide attacks against, primarily, American and Western targets, as we have seen recently in Riyadh, Casablanca and various parts of Iraq.

The blend of desperation and religious fanaticism was also behind the recent spate of kidnappings and brutal slaughtering of foreigners in complete defiance of the spirit of Islam and explicit strictures pertaining to the treatment of prisoners of war.

Moreover, these same feelings appear to be propelling small extremist groups further down the dark and endless tunnel of fanatical violence. We have recently begun to see an incipient resurgence in the targeting of Arab and Muslim regimes, in the course of which the perpetrators no longer discriminate between Muslim and non-Muslim victims. This trend has received encouragement by a new development in the jihadist rhetoric of Jihad Qaeda leaders, which now links the war against the external enemy (the US) with the war against the internal one (Arab regimes); or as they put it in their exhortations to their followers, the "remote enemy" and the "near enemy" must be fought at the same time.

* The writer is managing editor of the annual The State of Religion in Egypt Report , issued by Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.


http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/740/op44.htm

[Ono]

Al Qaeda eyed chemical hit on U.S. base in Spain-paper

An al Qaeda cell based in France planned a chemical attack on an U.S. naval base in Rota, Spain, newspaper ABC reported on Tuesday.

Algerian Said Arif, extradited to France from Syria last year, has admitted his cell was plotting a chemical attack on the southern Spanish base controlled by the United States since 1953, the Spanish daily reported. However, authorities did not know how they were going to carry out the attack, ABC said. No one at Spain's Interior Ministry was available to comment on the report, which did not cite sources.

The paper said Arif was considered a lieutenant of Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's leader in Iraq. Zarqawi himself was accused of planning a chemical attack last year in his native Jordan, which authorities thwarted. Arif was extradited to France last June from Syria, where he had fled after escaping French police raids in December 2002, the Spanish daily said. He was linked to a group of suspected Islamists arrested in Barcelona in January 2003, the paper said. The government said at the time those suspected al Qaeda members were planning a chemical attack.

http://www.eitb24.com/noticia_en.php?id=57775

[The 801]

Yea, Yea, it's debka. But an interesting point of view. - 801

Abu Faraj al-Libbi Arrest in Pakistan Points to Young al Qaeda

From DEBKAfile Special Correspondent in Pakistan

May 7, 2005, 12:13 AM (GMT+02:00)


The high profile arrest Monday, May 3, of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, 40, the man responsible for al Qaeda’s operational planning and execution in Pakistan, was followed three days later by the capture of 18 members of his network.

He was taken after a gun battle in the Mardan Division of Pakistan's North Western Frontier Province which borders Afghanistan. DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources sayal-Libbi, a Libyan national aged 40, moved to Mardan recently from his Waziristan hideout when a Pakistani Army military operation made it unsafe. The new Mardan hideout was raided by officers of the ISI-Inter-Service Intelligence. They were acting on a tip from none other than the head of US Central Command, who paid a surprise visit to Pakistan on the morning of May 3 and conveyed the information to president Pervez Musharraf.

Several hours later, al-Libbi was bagged.

The raid, which yielded the arrest of four other foreigners whose nationalities have not been disclosed, turned into a chase when two of the suspects fled on a motorbike. One, clad in a Burqa, was later identified as al-Libbi, The chase involving three vehicles ended when security officials overpowered the man driving the bike. They also fired at the second fugitive, but he ran towards a half-built house, jumped into an adjoining house and locked himself in a room.

When efforts to break open the door failed, police lobbed a teargas canister inside the room through smashed windowpanes. "From the smoke-filled room emerged a young man, hands up and head slightly bowed. He was unarmed and later identified as al Qaeda's chief operational commander in Pakistan, Abu Faraj Al Libbi," a police official said. When he was frisked, nothing but a cell phone was found on him. But before the police could talk to him, intelligence officials whisked him away, bundled him into a double-cabin pick-up with tinted panes and drove off. Some officials said that Libbi and his four comrades were immediately flown to Rawalpindi for preliminary interrogation.

Al-Qaeda's new generation

American counter-terror experts told DEBKAfile that lacking a dedicated infrastructure to recruit militants for terrorist operations in Pakistan, al Qaeda was using informal connections with local militant groups to obtain logistical support as well as operational collaborators. Before September 11, 200, the sources said, Osama bin Laden targeted the US, while his lower-profile Pakistani allies -- radical groups such as Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Harkatul Mujahideen - would concentrate on Indian-administered Kashmir.

But heavy pressure on al Qaeda from President Musharraf, who in turn is leaned on by America, has caused al Qaeda and these groups to fuse their efforts more fully. Local groups are fighting back with attempts to physically eliminate Musharraf, by sheltering fugitive al Qaeda leaders and by organizing regional attacks against American targets.

DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources also reveal that, since entering its second term, the Bush administration has quietly initiated a new phase in the war on terror, adjusted to counter perceived threats from the new and deadly al Qaeda breed spawned since 9/11. Very little is known about the new structure, its central command, and whereabouts. “No longer is the US global effort focused on the hunt to track down Osama bin Laden; instead, the search is on for his links,” say the sources.

In any event, most of the earlier al Qaeda cells have either been caught or exposed and are no longer able to operate effectively. They have been replaced with a fast-growing network which takes its inspiration from Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Running it to ground, US and Pakistani intelligence agencies both believe, will uncover its links to the two leaders. Debriefings of the latest crop of al Qaeda detainees begin to lift the veil on the new structure’s organization and reveal it as tight and tough with very few weak points. But no clue to the top men’s whereabouts has been elicited.

The underground al Qaeda core in Pakistan provides administrative support to its local operatives besides arranging finances for operations. It employs a good number of "foot soldiers," drawn from the virtually bottomless pool of ad hoc members, which also provides manpower for the more senior levels. These operatives are connected by personal relationships to the level above them and are at its disposal. The most prominent feature of the new al Qaeda breed of terrorists is that they belong to a younger generation with strong links to the old guard – often in the form of blood or friendship ties to senior al Qaeda members.

The original al-Qaeda network was manned by zealots in their 40s or 50s, who shared the experience of fighting Soviet occupation troops in the 1980s. American intelligence sleuths believe that age and common combat experience bonded them together. The new recruits - who seem to be rising fast in the hierarchy to occupy posts left empty by leaders arrested or killed - are in their 20s or 30s.

Al-Libbi at 40 appears to have been a link between the old guard and the young generation.

Al-Qaeda's changing modus operandi

Intelligence findings have remarked changes in al-Qaeda’s pattern of operation. Small independent groups of five to ten members operate under a command that keeps on working even after a major bust. Pakistani officials cite one such group as an example of the new face of Islamic militancy in Pakistan. Its head, Attaur Rehman, a member of the middle-class and graduate of Karachi University, was arrested in June 2004 for masterminding a series of terrorist attacks in the city. Attaur was associated with Islami Jamiat Tuleba, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. He later broke away from the Jamaat to form his own militant group, Jundullah (Army of God), which draws its cadres from the educated and professional classes.

Although Jundullah reportedly receives orders from senior al Qaeda leaders, it has no direct connection to al Qaeda or any other group associated with the network. That is why, police officials say, the arrest of Attaur and his accomplices could not lead them to other al Qaeda cells. They describe Jundullah as a well-entrenched al Qaeda group comprising a few dozen hardcore militants, most in their 20s and 30s. "Jundullah is one of the new and fiercest of the terrorist groups behind the recent spate of violence in Karachi. It hit the headlines after a daring attack on the motorcade of Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Ahsan Saleem Hyat in June 2004. Now serving as Vice Chief of Army Staff, Hyat narrowly escaped death, but 11 people, including eight soldiers were killed on the spot.

Jundullah is believed to be one of several small terrorist cells that emerged after the government's crackdown on radical Islamist elements. An estimated 20 cells, most splinters of the banned militant outfits, are active in Karachi. In recent months, this city has become the most important hotbed of terror in the country.

Many perpetrators of the recent local attacks received their training in camps in the lawless tribal region of Waziristan. They are attempting to cash in on the rising popular disaffection against the Musharraf government’s domestic and foreign policies to expand their support.

The capture of the Libyan is of prime importance to the war on terror in that it knocks out al Qaeda’s senior player in Pakistan, a country which is pivotal to the terror movement’s worldwide enterprise. His activities in recent years were confined to that country and did not extend to other parts of the world.

http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1023

[Petronas]

Evolution of Jihadi Video (EJV) v1.0

The report looks at the evolution of jihadi video from one of the first produced videos by the Chechen rebels to the now more than a dozen different jihadi groups releasing video material. It breaks out the seven types of jihadi videos and the intended audiences. The report also contains stills from numerous videos and descriptions of 18 different jihadi video releases.

http://www.intelcenter.com/

Contains link to download 36 page public PDF version of the report.

[Petronas]

Al Qaeda bust's a blow to terror
May 26, 2005

WASHINGTON - The capture this month of one of Al Qaeda's top commanders has led to the arrests of at least 17 more suspects, including a trusted "courier" for the group's top leaders. The courier, terrorist hunters hope, may bring them one step closer to Osama Bin Laden. A notebook seized during the May 2 capture of Abu Faraj al-Libbi had coded entries, including names, and is being analyzed by a joint FBI and CIA exploitation unit in Virginia, sources said. Al-Libbi has clammed up since his arrest, but at least 17 people - including some named in the notebook - have been rolled up.

One who was grabbed is an Uzbek operative who is suspected of being assigned to carry messages between top Al Qaeda leaders, a senior Pakistani official told the Daily News. Officials have learned the Uzbek was in the U.S. prior to the Sept. 11 terror attacks to help an associate under arrest, another source said. Details of the trip were not available. A U.S. counterterrorism official confirmed that the Uzbek man "was a courier" for al-Libbi. The source also said the presence of an Uzbek in the top ranks of the terror group proved reports of a rift in Al Qaeda between Arabs and Uzbek fighters "is wrong." Uzbek and Chechen operatives of Al Qaeda have been known to marry into Pashtun tribal families in Pakistan's craggy northern frontier, ensuring their loyalty and protection. The CIA has long suspected Bin Laden was hiding there, along the border with Afghanistan.

But the Pakistani official said there are growing suspicions Bin Laden joined his son Saad in Iran long ago, since "there are no rumors he's been seen" in Pakistan's rough terrain. The official - a Pashtun from the region where Bin Laden is supposedly eluding capture - expressed surprise no one in Pakistan has ratted him out to collect the $50 million U.S. bounty. The Pashtun "are very greedy," the official said.

Ex-CIA counterterrorism chief Vince Cannistraro said it's "very plausible" that Bin Laden is holed up somewhere in Iran. "There would've at least been strong rumors and reports" of Bin Laden in Pakistan's northern frontier, he said, "and there haven't been any. They don't know where he is," Cannistraro added.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/313062p-267829c.html

[The 801]

ANALYSIS-Al Qaeda links seen in Pakistan, Afghan bloodshed
03 Jun 2005 08:08:34 GMT

Source: Reuters

By David Brunnstrom

ISLAMABAD, June 3 (Reuters) - Authorities see al Qaeda links in suicide attacks that killed 44 people in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the past week that appeared aimed at showing Osama bin Laden's network remains a potent force.

But officials and analysts say they have yet to find evidence the bombings were coordinated by a central figure, least of all by bin Laden himself.

On Wednesday, a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a mosque in the Afghan city of Kandahar as mourners gathered to pay respects to assassinated anti-Taliban cleric Abdullah Fayaz.

It was the first ever suicide attack on a mosque in Afghanistan. It came two days after a suicide attack on a minority Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Karachi in neighbouring Pakistan and five days after a similar attack on a Muslim festival in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Pakistani editor and commentator Najam Sethi said the attacks were clearly aimed at destabilising Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, two of President George W. Bush's main allies in his global war on terrorism.

"It's a backlash against the campaign against al Qaeda and political Islam in Afghanistan and Pakistan under the aegis of the United States," he said.

"I don't think these are incidents without any relationship," he said. "But it's not that some supreme leader is coordinating all these attacks. This does not mean Osama bin Laden is orchestrating all these attacks."

The governor of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, Gul Agha Sherzai, blamed al Qaeda for the blast there and said the dead bomber appeared to be an Arab.

Pakistani intelligence officials said the attacks in Pakistan both appeared to be the work of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a militant groups with close links to al Qaeda.

The violence followed the arrest in Pakistan last month of Abu Faraj Farj al Liby, a Libyan U.S. counter-terrorism agents say became al Qaeda's third-most important figure two years ago.

STILL A THREAT

A Pakistan intelligence official said there was suspicion al Qaeda was trying to show it it was still a threat after Musharraf said recently al Qaeda's back had been broken.

"The suicide attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan could possibly be reactions to the arrest of al Liby," said one intelligence official, who declined to be identified.

But analysts said there was a lack of hard evidence to show the attacks were jointly planned.

"It's a possibility, yes; whether it's a probability, I'm not sure," said Pakistani strategic analyst Shaukat Qadir.

A spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, Colonel Jim Yonts, said the possibility of a connection was being investigated, but no link had been found.

While some senior al Qaeda leaders have been caught since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, bin Laden remains at large, perhaps, according to U.S. officials, hiding on the rugged Afghan-Pakistan border.

Analysts say a crackdown on al Qaeda in Pakistan, which has resulted in hundreds of arrests, and the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan had forced militants to operate in small, isolated groups. Sophisticated U.S. eavesdropping has made communication between these cells dangerous.

More bomb attacks were a reflection of the success of the U.S. and Afghan campaign against the Taliban insurgency, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said.

"The enemies of peace and stability have been defeated in the frontline of war and now they're focusing on soft targets."

Pakistani Rahimullah Yusufzai, an expert on Afghanistan, noted that anti-Taliban cleric Abdullah Fayaz was killed the same day pro-government tribal leader Faridullah Wazir was killed in Pakistan.

"It shows targetted killings are going on here and in Afghanistan and the same is happening in Iraq. But it does not necessarily mean they are cooperating with each other," he said.

While militants might not be able to cooperate, they were getting inspiration from one another and adopting similar, increasingly brutal tactics, Yusufzai said.

"It's a dangerous trend." (Additional reporting by Robert Birsel in KABUL and Tahir Ikram and Zeeshan Haider in ISLAMABAD)


http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL90036.htm

[The 801]

Pakistan ISI officials know where’s Bin Laden
6/2/2005 7:30:00 PM GMT

"He's hiding in Pakistan in the northern tribal areas above Peshawar", Schoren claims


The Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf may not be knowing where would al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden be hiding within Pakistan's territorial limits, but ISI officials are aware about his whereabouts, according to CIA officer Gary Schroen, who spearheaded U.S.' search for Osama in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's tribal regions would explode upon news of the death or capture of Bin Laden, which makes President Musharraf afraid of the internal political consequences of finding Al Qaeda chief that he doesn't even want to know where is he, Schroen said.

"I think the philosophy of the Taliban, this fundamentalist view, is popular there. So Bin Laden, I think, strikes them as heroic. He fought a jihad against the Russians, and he's bloodied America's nose time and again," the CIA veteran said, adding that regardless of how much reward money America offers, "Bin Laden would not be captured and handed in".

Schroen claims that Musharraf wasn’t helping the U.S. forces to seriously crackdown on the Bin Laden. "He's hiding in Pakistan in the northern tribal areas above Peshawar - an area that is rugged, hilly, heavily forested. The U.S. government and the U.S. military are not authorized by the Musharraf government to enter there unilaterally. As long as he stays in place, it is going to be almost impossible to find him," Schroen was quoted by The Daily Times as saying.

Schroen said earlier that he had developed two plans to capture or kill Osama (in 1998 and then a year later), but both were turned down by the CIA.

He said "I can only speculate, but it is based on almost 20 years of dealing with the Pakistani military and ISI officers. I think at some level, probably the colonel level, there are officers probably in ISI who know where Bin Laden is, "A man of that caliber (Bin Laden) could not be hidden out for that many years without word getting out in the community. So, I think some people probably know within ISI and the military." according to the paper.

Yesterday President Pervez Musharraf said that Pakistan is handing over Abu Faraj al-Libbi, the recently captured Al Qaeda suspect to the U.S.

Al Libbi, a Libyan, didn’t provide the Pakistani authorities with any useful information about Osama bin Laden, President Musharraf said.

In Washington, a U.S. State Department spokesman said that the U.S. government is talking to Pakistan about Libbi, but it has not discussed anything about his extradition.

Libbi, was caught in Karachi on 2 May after a gunfight.

He is accused to have attempted to assassinate President Musharraf twice.

Libbi, described as No 3 man in al-Qaeda's network, did not reveal anything that indicated he had contact with Laden, President Musharraf said.



http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=8671


Let's face it, this is old news to the regulars here at Itshappening. - The oldtimer 801

[1001]

Greetings to the Old-Timer :add09: The 801

from 1001



(know you from chat)

[The 801]

First, greetings 1001, glad to see you again. Same shit, different year, here. But the fight goes on, exposing our insidious enemy.

Here is an interesting one....
( this piece also appears as the 'dropping the dead donkey" piece on Debka this week....but this is from a different source)

TERRORISM: ALGERIAN SALAFITE WEBMASTER ARRESTED IN SYRIA SAYS EXPERT

London, 25 May (AKI) - An Algerian extremist believed to manage the al-Qaeda-aligned Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC)'s website has been arrested in the Syrian capital Damascus, an expert on Islamic extremism said on Wednesday. Hani al-Sebai, director of the London-based al-Maqrizi Institute for Historical Studies, announced Sakir Adil's arrest in a message posted to centre's website. According to al-Sebai, Adil was seized from a Damascus internet cafe and bundled onto a flight for Algeria. As well as being the alleged webmaster for the GSPC - one of Algeria's main Islamic terrorist groups - Adil is also accused of being a GSPC 'correspondent' for websites belonging to the Kurdish Islamist militant group Ansar al-Sunna and other terror groups.

Adil, originally from the eastern province of Skikda, has already been imprisoned in Algeria three times since he was 17, accused of having supported various jihadist groups. He left Algeria in 2003 and moved to Syria, where he was living until his arrest.

Last week, the GSPC claimed responsibility for bomb attacks in two different locations in which 12 Algerian soldiers died and seven were injured. One of these two attacks took place in Skikda, when militants detonated a home-made bomb as a military patrol was passing, injuring 7 soliders, the leading Arabic-language newspaper El Khabar reported.

El Khabar quoted security experts as saying the GSPC has intensified its attacks to sabotage a general amnesty expected to be offered to rebels and members of the armed forces this year. Despite the recent flare-up, extremist violence has tailed off sharply in the past few years, bringing back much needed investment to the country.

The GSPC denied responsibility for an infamous roadblock massacre of 14 people south of the capital on 13 April. The group, along with the other principal militant group, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), is the main police suspect for the killings. In recent weeks, government forces have launched a major manhunt in Islamic strongholds in eastern and western Algeria.

Militants - including the GSPC and the GIA - took up arms in 1992 and waged a campaign of violence after the government annulled elections that a hardline Islamist party was poised to win. The 13-year-long conflict has cost up to 200,000 lives and an estimated 30 billion dollars in damages.

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.170968434&par=0

[Casey]

Hot on the trail of al-Qaeda
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - The high-profile arrests of al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, the most recent being Abu Faraj al-Libbi, have led to intense speculation that the really big names could be next: Tahir Yuldash of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the biggest catch of them all, Osama bin Laden.

But Asia Times Online investigations reveal that these top figures in the international struggle against the US are not together in one place, and remain a step ahead of their pursuers.

Pakistani intelligence agencies indicate that Shabkadar (a town near Peshawar in Pakistan's North West Frontier province), and Bajur and Mohmand agencies (two federally administered tribal areas) have been under close surveillance for more than a month as strong information emerged about bin Laden being in the vicinity, or in adjoining areas - Nanghar and Nooristan - across the border in Afghanistan.

http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/images/pak-afghan-border-3.gif


In Shabkadar and Bajur especially, the Pakistani military increased its presence and conducted exhaustive search operations. These activities did not meet with any resistance as the local tribals, though sympathetic to Arab fighters, would not put themselves in a conflict situation with the Pakistani army. (This in stark contrast with the South and North Waziristan tribal areas, where similar military intervention has met with fierce and bloody resistance.) Al-Qaeda sympathizers, nevertheless, might have spread the word in advance of the operations.

According to analysis based on information extracted from detainees and ground checks in the Pakistani tribal areas, bin Laden was likely recently in Nooristan in Afghanistan for meetings with close aides. Nooristan is a rugged, remote mountainous region where the population is Salafi. The area was previously the stronghold of a famous commander of the anti-Soviet resistance of the 1980s, Abdul Aziz Nooristani, who later also fought in Bosnia. Veteran Afghan mujahideen leader and former Afghan premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar also dwelled in Nooristan for some time after returning from exile in Iran in 2002.

Ever elusive
That al-Qaeda's top members remain on the loose can in some ways be attributed to the training cadres receive. They are well versed in withstanding interrogation and in engaging their interrogators by appealing to their religious sentiments - at least in the short term. This buys other members vital time to change their positions, an intelligence operator told Asia Times Online.

Meanwhile, there have been reports that Yuldash was sighted in the Afghan region of Birmal, where he is believed to have grouped dozens of guerrilla fighters of Chinese, Pakistani, Afghan, Uzbek, Chechen and Arab origin. They have been engaged in acts of sabotage in Paktika province, notably a recent attack on Argon in which two US soldiers were killed. US convoys and their military bases are constant targets.

Some of the world's most difficult terrain starts at Argon and continues to Birmal and then Shawal (part of which is in Afghanistan and part in Pakistan). It is wholly pro-Taliban. Guerrillas carry out attacks and then melt into the local population, either in Birmal or in the thick forests of North Waziristan across the border. Recent US bombing in North Waziristan followed guerrillas being chased by US gunships and fighter aircraft - some stray bombs and missiles landed in Pakistani territory.

Zawahiri, bin Laden's deputy, has also reportedly been seen in different places in the past few weeks, from Zabul (Afghanistan) to South Waziristan. Both foreign and Pakistani intelligence agencies conclude that the frequent sightings indicate that Zawahiri is acting as the main go-between among Arab, Uzbek, Chechen, Pakistani and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

These intelligence agencies believe that Khost, Paktika, Paktia and Zabul will emerge as the key hotbeds of the Afghan resistance. About a dozen murders in and around South Waziristan of pro-government tribal leaders indicate that the nerve center is again near South Waziristan.

http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GF07Df01.html

[Casey]

Al-Qaeda redirects to new regions - Russian defense minister

June 09, 2005 Posted: 23:37 Moscow time (19:37 GMT)

BRUSSELS — Al-Qaeda has redirected its terrorist activities to new regions, above all, Southeast Asia, Northeast Africa, Latin America and Central Asia, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a session of the Russia-NATO Council. Tensions in regional conflict zones may lead to further escalation of terrorism, he said. "One of the hardest international problems, is undoubtedly, connected with the tensions in regional conflict zones which pose the threat of Islamic radicalism and terrorism escalation," Ivanov said. According to him, Russia gives a positive assessment of the implementation of the anti-terrorism plan of actions of the Russia-NATO Council. Recent developments have confirmed that joint efforts of all the Council's structures are needed for proactive fight against terrorism, he added. RIA Novosti (http://en.rian.ru/)

Source URL: http://www.russiajournal.com/news/cnews-article.shtml?nd=48324 (http://www.russiajournal.com/news/cnews-article.shtml?nd=48324)

[The 801]

A little old, but hey, its everybody's favorite karachi bureau chief Syed...

The remaking of al-Qaeda
written by: Syed Saleem Shahzad, 28-Feb-05

KARACHI - More than four years since the launch of the campaign to catch Osama bin Laden "dead of alive", the US has initiated a new phase in the "war on terror" to counter perceived threats from al-Qaeda generated by a new breed of operatives spawned in the post-September 11 era. Unlike the pre-September 11 al-Qaeda, the structure, central command, depth and whereabouts of the latest incarnation remain largely a mystery.

An Asia Times Online investigation based on interviews with well-placed sources in Pakistan who have been in coordination with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at a very senior level attempts to shed some light on today's threat from al-Qaeda.

What is known is that the al-Qaeda network has been battered over the past few years, with curbs on its ability to access money and coordinate. Out of this, though, new groups have sprung up worldwide, strongly politically motivated, patient and with the broader perspective of toppling pro-US governments. This development has not gone unnoticed in Langley, Virginia - CIA headquarters - which has advised Washington to develop a counter-strategy to be on a "war footing" all over the world in the shape of alliances with Europe and a powerful North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) presence in South and Central Asia and the Middle East.

Almost as a publicity stunt to announce its newfound determination, the United States has launched a massive US$57 million campaign in Pakistan's press and electronic media (and in other countries), drawing attention to the world's most wanted man and reaffirming the $25 million bounty on bin Laden's head.

Though there have been claims in the media of a good response to the advertisements, the media blitz is just the first salvo in a broader battle.

The US campaign to catch bin Laden began in earnest in the last months of 1999, when the administration of president Bill Clinton started serious dialogue with Pakistan, offering an aid package in return for Islamabad allowing US forces to use its land and air space. Bin Laden was then in Afghanistan as a "guest" of the Taliban, operating jihadi training camps, and had been linked to the 1998 bombings at US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, in which more than 200 people died.

However, General Pervez Musharraf took over as president in a bloodless coup on October 12, 1999, which interrupted the dialogue. But the US revived a deal with Pakistan in November 2000 in which Saudi Arabia was also involved (see Osama bin Laden: The thorn in Pakistan's flesh, August 22, 2001) to bring bin Laden to trial in Saudi Arabia. But before this initiative could bear fruit, the attacks of September 11, 2001, took place.

The US has subsequently spent untold millions of dollars trying to catch bin Laden. Indeed, his trail has gone completely cold since last September when a tip placed him in the Bush Mountains in Shawal, North Waziristan, in Pakistan's tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan. But he could not be found, despite a comprehensive search operation. Now all operations in Waziristan to root out him and his supporters have been suspended and it is strongly believed he is no longer in Pakistan. And he left no clues as to his next destination.

The new campaign
Well-placed people Asia Times Online spoke to maintain that the new phase of the "war on terror" has started across the world, but unlike the present campaign in Pakistan, the aim is not to trace bin Laden, but rather his "links".

After interrogations of several people arrested in the past few months in Balochistan - prominent among them being Sharifal Misri, an Egyptian said to be an important link to bin Laden - it has emerged that thousands of youths in many countries have taken inspiration from bin Laden's calls for jihad against the US. However, that was not the end of the matter. Many of these youths have managed to organize themselves into independent anti-US groups, and through interaction in various places in Europe and the Middle East with like-minded people have ultimately made contact with al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda itself has stopped all operations pending a new phase. In the meantime it is focusing on developing these new links - the very links that the US is now after.

"Most of al-Qaeda's cells have either been caught or exposed, and they just cannot operate. The present threat is the fast-growing network inspired by Osama bin Laden. This new network is loosely connected [to al-Qaeda] among the top brass, but for sure is associated with it, and the US and Pakistan are both looking forward to catching this new network and their links to reach bin Laden. The network is not in Pakistan and Afghanistan alone, but all across the world," explained a well-placed contact who has 35 years of experience in the counter-intelligence and internal-security business. He spoke to Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity.

"There is no indication that they are from a specific community or ethnic group. They can be anyone, even blonds from the West. They are predominantly Western-educated, and not so much from Islamic seminaries," he added.

A case study
A case in point is that of a US citizen by the name of Ahmed Abu Ali, 23. He was indicted in the US Federal Court near Washington on Tuesday after being held in Saudi Arabia since June 2003. He faces six charges, including plotting to assassinate President George W Bush and supporting al-Qaeda's terrorist network.

This assassination charge might appear somewhat far-fetched, but investigations into his life substantiate a strong inspiration from al-Qaeda and its program, which he aimed to follow. Abu Ali, who grew up in the Washington suburb of Falls Church, did not enter a plea during his initial appearance, but said through his lawyer that he had been tortured while in Saudi custody.

His family and friends describe him as a mild-mannered boy active in northern Virginia's Muslim community, but the 16-page indictment accuses Abu Ali of conspiring to kill Bush either by getting "close enough to the president to shoot him on the street" or by "detonating a car bomb". Abu Ali "obtained a religious blessing ... to assassinate Mr Bush", the charges read. It is also alleged that Abu Ali wanted to "become a planner of terrorist operations like Mohammed Atta and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, well-known al-Qaeda terrorists associated with the attacks on September 11, 2001".

The indictment, however, insists that Abu Ali made contact with al-Qaeda members between September 2002 and June 2003 and received training in the use of weapons, including hand grenades and other explosives, as well as in document forgery. The indictment said he discussed an assassination attempt with at least two other conspirators, one of whom gave him the religious blessing. He also allegedly tried to make his way to Afghanistan to fight against Americans, but could not get there because he was denied the visa he needed to cross through Iran, the indictment said.

The indictment refers to 11 co-conspirators who were in Saudi Arabia with Abu Ali, but neither their names nor their nationalities were disclosed. The document says at least two of the 11 were on a public Saudi government list of 19 people suspected of plotting terrorist attacks in the kingdom. The list came out days before a series of bombings in May 2003 in Riyadh killed 34 people, including nine Americans. Abu Ali was arrested by Saudi authorities on June 9, 2003, on suspicion of involvement in the bombings. He had been studying at the University of Medina.

A Federal Bureau of Investigation search of his home in Falls Church shortly after his June 2003 arrest turned up Arabic audio tapes promoting violent jihad and the killing of Jews; an undated, two-page document praising Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and the September 11 attacks; a book written by al-Qaeda chieftain Ayman al-Zawahiri that characterizes democracy as a new religion that must be destroyed by war; and a copy of Handguns magazine with a subscription label bearing the name Ahmed Ali.

Without pre-judging Abu Ali, US intelligence believes that he is a typical model of the new al-Qaeda-inspired generation and "links" in days when the traditional al-Qaeda has been curtailed.

New plans
Piecing together information obtained by Asia Times Online, there does not appear to be an al-Qaeda threat in the near future on the scale of the US embassies in Africa or small-scale bomb attacks. Instead, the focus will be pressure to topple pro-US governments in Muslim states and to kickstart the faltering resistance in Afghanistan. The aspiration is to once again make the country a hub for global mujahideen, as it was in the anti-Soviet years of the 1980s.

The US response can be expected to manifest itself in a stronger alliance with Europe, which will include intelligence sharing. Construction work has already begun on a new NATO base in Herat in west Afghanistan, and US officials have confirmed that they would like more military bases in the country, in addition to the use of bases in Pakistan. NATO bases in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East are also in the cards.

"Three years of active participation in the war on terror have got me to the realization that we only searched out and cut branches, only for them to be replaced with new ones, and this goes on and on. Now we enter a phase when we are standing in the complete dark with no mark of the enemy, yet he is around and is ready to strike at his time of choice, when, where and how nobody knows," said a senior field official involved in intelligence analysis. "After having a theoretical education in counter-intelligence at Langley and in London, and having done several joint ventures with Western agencies, the present threat has only one answer. And that is justice in the Middle East."

Syed Saleem Shahzad, Bureau Chief, Pakistan, Asia Times Online. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com

http://www.worldsecuritynetwork.com/showArticle3.cfm?article_id=11029

[Casey]

Iraq's al Qaeda warns against talks with govt-Web
14 Jun 2005 16:27:47 GMT

Source: Reuters
DUBAI, June 14 (Reuters) - Iraq's al Qaeda vowed to kill anyone negotiating with the U.S.-backed Iraqi government in a Web statement on Tuesday, a sign the group was worried about possible divisions among its Sunni Muslim allies.

The group led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was responding to what it said were reports that tribal leaders in Iraq's third-largest city Mosul, the scene of frequent outbreaks of guerrilla violence, were seeking talks.

"Liars claim that the sheikhs of tribes in Mosul plan to hand over mujahideen (holy fighters) and assist the crusaders and apostates, and we do not know which tribes or sheikhs they speak of," the Sunni Muslim group said.

"We will impose God's punishment on anyone who stands by the crusaders or becomes their ally or supports them. The righteous swords are unsheathed and hunger for blood," it said in a statement posted on an Islamist Web site.

The Iraqi government said on Sunday some rebels had approached it looking for peace terms but gave no details of who had made contact.

Zarqawi issued a similar warning in an audio tape attributed to him in April, referring to reports that U.S. and Iraqi officials had offered to negotiate with some militants.

Zarqawi's group is the deadliest among several waging an insurgency against U.S. forces and the Iraqi government. Rebels include secular nationalists from Saddam Hussein's ousted Baath party and foreign Islamists.

The Shi'ite-led Iraqi government has often said it is willing to talk to rebels who stop fighting.

"We reiterate that there will be no dialogue with the Jews and Christians other than the sound of bullets, blood and fire," Al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq said in a separate Web statement. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14566938.htm

[Casey]

Prince Nayef discloses investigations into al-Qaida burning three copters in al-Qasim
Saudi Arabia, Politics, 6/17/2005

Al-Qaida organization in the Arab peninsula claimed responsibility for what it called an operation to burning three helicopters in al-Qasim airport in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in May.

A statement by the organization said that members of what it called the group of "martyr Saeed al-Oteibi" infiltrated to the airport, situated to the north of the capital Riyadh, disguising in workers uniform, and set fire in three helicopters before they withdrew from the site safely.

The statement indicated that these planes took part in several operations to chase what al-Qaida described as al-Mujahideen and searching for them. The organization explained that it deliberately delayed the release of this statement so as people would know that the authorities hide facts.

Replying to a question by the Saudi daily al-Watan daily on a suspicion of criminal motives for burning the three planes in al-Qasim airport, the minister of the interior Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz said that investigations continues to know the implications of the incident.

Al-Qaida organization was exposed to painful security attacks by the Saudi security forces since more than two years, when several members of its leadership were killed, especially the leader of the organization in the kingdom, Abdul Aziz al-Muqarran, together with three of his partners on June 18, 2004 following the issuance of picture of the death of American engineer Paul Johnson after his kidnap.

Worthy mentioning that the attacks which mostly targeted foreigners and alleged by al-Qaida organization in Saudi Arabia since May 2003, resulted in killing more than 100 persons and injuring hundreds.

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/050617/2005061719.html

[The 801]

Who knows if this is real or not. for your review....

Opening New Battle Fronts
The Al-Qaida Strategy To the Year 2020

Published In Arabic By Al-Quds Al-Arabi | English Translation © 2005 Jihad Unspun


As a global war rages, al-Qaida has shed its earlier image of a disorganized group of “extremists” and is viewed more and more as a sophisticated organization with clear and concise policies, well defined strategies and carefully laid plans for their implementation.

While JUS remained skeptical of the very existence of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and of bin Laden’s last tape where he deviated from his previous positions, the Al-Qaida Strategy To The Year 2020 has surfaced that puts an end to these controversies. This strategy gives us a clear indication that the events that are transpiring today were preplanned, not a reaction to the American agenda, but by Al-Qaida strategists with the specific goal to open up a broad based Jihad front. Indeed, the tail is wagging the dog.

Al Qaeda organization has put together a strategic working plan for a broad Jihad front that spans the areas of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran passing through Lebanon. The time has come to discuss the ways in which the American administration and Al-Qaida oppose one another. A quick internet search reveals that Al-Qaida has a definite and well developed plan to affect events in the region that can not be ignored. The first step in its long-term strategy, which was to involve the United States in a regional conflict, was just a prelude to widening the struggle to other regions and Al-Qaida had developed strategic plans for the steps to be taken in the aftermath.


Events appear much more coherent than heretofore. Reports from the Pentagon and the US State Department have begun to suggest a long and tedious battle with the Mujahideen in Iraq, a collapse of their position in Afghanistan, and similar developments in Iran, southern Iraq and Pakistan. These views are substantiated by the total failure of the intelligence war against Al-Qaida; these efforts have failed to entrap anyone of significance in the organization, and have done nothing to disrupt the layers of communications across the seas and borders between Kabul, Tehran and Baghdad.

It appears also that the existence of a “strategic kitchen”, or planning group for the organization, touted by some experts on Al-Qaida and Jihad is true. The strategic kitchen is believed to be the ultimate source of Al-Qaida's thinking and military philosophy. Some knowledgeable sources assert that the 'kitchen' operates at higher levels than even Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. For reasons known only to only to themselves, the “Shadow Leaders” in the organization have successfully leaked information now circulating in certain Arab capitals as well as in the offices of American decision makers, including the existence of a plan named “The Al-Qaida Strategy Up To The Year 2020” which is being adhered to meticulously.

Al-Qaida, again for unknown reasons, recently released information concerning two important matters; the first being the strategic thinking behind the September 11th attacks and the second being the disclosure of the first step in regionalizing the conflict. According to Al-Qaida media experts, the announcement made by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to join Al-Qaida and the subsequent acceptance by Osama bin Laden was not by accident but rather a deliberate move in this context.

Mention must be made here of the general cleverness and brilliance of the electronic war being waged by the organization that cannot go unnoticed. The impact of the timing and the substance of the information war, however complicated it may be to deliver, reaches all countries in the region, including Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon.

Some analyist have concluded that all communiqués are written, edited, reviewed and leaked by an Egyptian by the name of Muhammad Mekkawi, a former war strategies expert in the Egyptian army. Mekkawi has been credited with introducing Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri in the mid 1990’s and is shrouded in mystery. He does not appear to play a direct role in the group’s leadership and his location is unknown, leading some people to suggest that perhaps he is in fact al-Zawahiri himself, or even Bin Laden. However, some experts believe that Mekkawi is a genuine third person superior to both Dr. al-Zawahiri and Sheikh Osama bin Laden. They further believe that he is the brains behind Al-Qaida’s long term strategic plan that was put in motion September 11, 2001 and that extends to the year 2020.

Whatever the truth about the mysterious Mekkawi, the man uses the internet to freely communicate pronouncements; many of which have proved accurate. He also gives substantial and credible analyses not only of current events, but also of both short and long range developments planned for implementation in the future.

According to the Mekkawi strategy, the September 11th attacks accomplished a fifth of their secondary objectives but their direct and central goal was completely realized; that was to provoke the “The Ponderous American Elephant” into invading the Arabian Peninsula and meeting it with a preplanned war of attrition, with provisions for all foreseeable eventualities. According to the Mekkawi strategy, the timing of the September 11th attack was carefully chosen by Al-Qaida based on the following two criteria:

The recognition that during the final months of the Clinton Administration, Al-Qaida had was considered a global enemy of America and had become the focus of American hostility.

The time had come for Al-Qaida to initiate a long-term strategy of Jihad to rid the Islamic nation and Muslims of oppression of all sorts, ultimately including Israel.
In order for the objectives and timing to be realized, the American Elephant had to be subjected to a painful and humiliating blow that would provoke it to invade without hesitation. Al-Qaida foresaw that the September 11th attack would draw an immediate response of a full scale attack on Afghanistan, with a subsequent attack on Iraq that would in turn be followed by renewed hostilities with Syria, Lebanon and ultimately Iran.

Another goal in having the United States send its troops into Asia and the Arabian Peninsula was to goad a second “Giant Elephant” into wakefulness; that elephant being the Islamic Nation as a whole. According to the Mekkawi strategy, the only way to wake the Islamic Nation up was to bring large numbers of American troops to the region and the best way to achieve that was the attack of September 11th. Provoking the occupation of Iraq with all the ensuing killing and destruction was seen as the only way to escalate the conflict into a full scale confrontation between America and Arabs and Muslims.

The strategy here was that this would arouse a religious reaction and the need to avenge the slaughter but the pragmatic side of it is even more interesting. Researchers concluded from Al-Qaida messages on the web of what took place in Afghanistan was specifically planned and executed according to Al-Qaida's carefully laid plans, and not according to those of the Americans


Al-Qaida dispersed its trained army inside Afghanistan and prepared for the evacuation of its top leaders prior to the onset of the American invasion. It also moved a large number of Mujahideen outside of Afghanistan, to Iran and Iraq, to be exact.
A direct confrontation with the invading Americans would have been disastrous. Instead Al-Qaida’s strategy was to wear the Americans down, engaged them in hit and run skirmishes across Afghanistan and that draw them into a difficult and complicated war of attrition in the nearly impassible mountainous areas. This account agrees with what is known of American military reports: there was no direct confrontation between Al-Qaida and the American military; what took place were isolated actions, most notably the engagement in Tora Bora. Furthermore, all of the organization’s top leaders and military lieutenants evaded capture.

It is fair to say that Al-Qaida’s goal of sparking the Arab World into action has been accomplished. Al-Qaida has succeeded in drawing America into expanding its military presence with the alibi of the so called “war on terror”. This has hit a sensitive nerve in the Arab and Muslim World and resulted in a general detestation of America just as planned and predicted by Al-Qaida.

Objective analysis suggests that the success of Al-Qaida's activities in Afghanistan resulted from the following essential preparatory steps:

A careful analysis of current events, especially in relation to political agendas.

Continuing careful negotiations (the terms of which remain unknown) with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Convincing Iran that in the end, the benefit would be twofold: first removing Saddam Hussein and then engaging the Americans.
From these points one can reconstruct Mekkawi’s planning, the shadow leader of Al-Qaida. Zarqawi, accompanied by limited number of military lieutenants working in parallel with an administration and recruiting group, left Afghanistan to Iraq long before the American attack and were not involved in the fighting there.

Zarqawi’s duties in Iraq were carefully circumscribed. According to viewers of the only known televised account of Zarqawi’s life, he was ambitious to the point of accusing even Bin Laden of being too moderate. The expert opinion is that Bin Laden capitalized on Zarqawi’s stance and carried out a clever psychological game with Zarqawi to meet his own objectives. Bin Laden convinced him that the decisive battle was near and would be fought as Zarqawi wished. Bin Laden also provided him with one of Al-Qaida’s top experts in the field of evasion, an Egyptian young man who was brought to Afghanistan by Dr. Ayman Zawahiri and was ordered to head for Iraq, via Iran, with some of Zwahiri’s aids, most of whom are Jordanians. Zarqawi was instructed to take his group to the Kurdish part of North Iraq to join the Egyptian and his group, keeping undercover while awaiting further instructions.


One can conclude from Mekkawi’s electronic messages that Al-Qaida knew beforehand that Iraq would be the next battle front and had indeed prepared its response ahead of time. It was on that basis that Zarqawi left Afghanistan for Iraq.

While Zarqawi and his group were hiding quietly in northern Iraq, waiting for further instructions, he dispatched some representative to Baghdad and others to Amman to recruit capable youths to join his group in Iraq.

At that point, the Jordanian government smelled a rat. Officials in Amman began to notice Zarqawi-style activities during that time period and subsequently sent an envoy to Iraq to inform Saddam Hussein that Zarqawi was in his country. A public announcement to that effect was actually made by the then Jordanian Prime Minister, Ali Abu Al-Ragheb. But at the same time, Saddam’s security apparatus was already holding meetings with Zarqawi’s representatives who offering their help in case the Americans invaded Iraq. They assured Iraqi officials that their group would not operate inside the country unless Iraq was attacked by the Americans.

According to sorces Saddam Hussein’s government feigned acceptance of Zarqawi’s offer and allowed him some freedom of action in Baghdad in return for his promise. This was a ruse; they agreed to let Zarqawi and his group operate freely in Iraq with the purpose of leading them to trust the Iraqi Security Services and relax their guard. In this way, it was supposed the Zarqawi group could be easily captured and possibly be used as bargaining chips with the Americans. This plan was recommended by the Egyptians who further suggested that Baghdad might be seen to join the supporters of the American 'war on terror' by giving Zarqawi to the Americans or killing him and destroying his group that may garner some goodwill with the Americans to avoid the planned invasion of Iraq.

George Bush gave Saddam Hussein's officers neither opportunity nor time to negotiate a deal to hand over Al-Qaida operatives and so Zarqawi escaped the danger. Mekkawi saw this escape as divine intervention; a major factor in the birth of the second stage in the strategic war against the Americans as Iraq became a second battle ground.

By the time the war on Iraq began and the subsequent fall of Baghdad, Zarqawi had put together a complete organization in Iraq and he and his experts left the dangerous zones to blend into the mass of ordinary Iraqi citizens. It was reported that Zarqawi obtained large sums of money from senior Baath members on the eve of the fall of Baghdad. With the help of a Kurd, an Egyptian, and two Jordanian aids, Zarqawi was able to create the foundation for a Jihad organization in the Land of the Two Rivers. In this, Zarqawi was driven by his ambitions; ambitions which Bin Laden knew how to direct. The central command of the Al-Qaida organization has allowed Zarqawi to become the unchallenged leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq where his trained and able fighters are now concentrated. The Zarqawi group was able to cooperate well with other resistance Baathist groups and gain the sympathy of the Iraqi public. The group was also able to get their hands on sizable amount of cash that was left behind by Saddam Hussein and his top lieutenants.

It is reasonable to say that Al-Qaida strategy has now advanced to page two of the plan. The zone of confrontation with the Americans has expanded to cover the area between Afghanistan and Iraq, taking full advantage of a 'neutral' Iran that has no present interest in opposing with Al-Qaida. As far as the movement of Al-Qaida members through its territories is concerned, Iran’s policy has been one of “We don’t see, we don’t hear, we don’t talk.”

It is clear that the second phase of Al-Qaida's Strategy To The Year 2020 is now unfolding in Iraq. The question now becomes what is the nature of the remaining pages of their strategy?

There is no easy answer to this question but the patterns and style of the mysterious Mekkawi offers some good clues. The picture that emerges from his pronouncements suggests a disciplined operation aimed at expanding operations in the area, capitalizing on the Iranian and Shia involvement, and opening a regional war with the Americans to counter their global attacks on Islam and Muslims. This regional war will create a 'Jihad Triangle of Horror' to smack the Americans right in the face. This triangle of horror starts in Afghanistan, runs through Iran and South Iraq to connect with South Turkey, South Lebanon and Syria.

How is this to happen?

It is no longer appropriate to think of Al-Qaida as an 'organization' in the usual sense of the word. Al-Qaida has evolved into an ideology that transcends geographical borders and travels through the atmosphere using satellite communications. As its planners expected, other groups have emerged in other countries to emulate their ideology and tactics, exactly as has happened in Morocco, Somalia and even Yemen.

By converting Al-Qaida to a set of guiding principles and away from atypical organizational structures that are well known to security forces and with individual units able to operate without direct instructions, the global scope of Al-Qaida's impact has been greatly facilitated. The decision to have field and local commanders operate independently has proved very important. Their autonomy in planning, choice of targets and tactics has created a very flexible system that has become highly successful in lands fertile for Jihad, such as Iraq.

According to Al-Qaida’s theoretical strategies, Iran cannot sit on the fence indefinitely with respect to Jihad against America. Iran is itself a strategic and tactical military target for the Americans, and sooner or later there must be a confrontation between the two. Al-Qaida leaders believe that the American administration has set the following five objectives as preconditions for their military confrontation against Iran (with of course the spurious Iranian nuclear threat as casus belli):

Ending the Palestinian uprising (Intifada)

Extinguishing all Iranian influence on the Mujahideen groups in Palestine. The level of Iranian influence varies from group to group. It is very strong in the Islamic Jihad Movement, much less so in Hamas, and limited to an isolated wing of the Fatah Movement. They are currently trying to put this objective into effect, but see a direct military confrontation between the Mujahideen and the Palestinian authority as a necessity for its completion.

Withdrawing Syrian troops from Lebanon and making sure the election in Iraq is successful. This objective is crucial and must precede the next objective.

Bringing Hezbollah in Lebanon under control.

Securing all of the oil fields throughout the Gulf area, and all waterways which are possible routes of invasion that must be guarded against reciprocal Iranian attacks in advance of an American military campaign against Iraq.
According to an Al-Qaida think-tank, this last objective will require enormous financial and personnel resources, in addition to the already extensive military presence that is being supported. And this, say Al-Qaida leaders, will surely send the American military budget into bankruptcy

http://www.jihadunspun.net/strategy_apr2005.htm

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