Recent Appearances...

Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Ayman Al Zawahiri

al-Qaeda

India-Pakistan

20031115

Home Front: WoT

Virginia man charged with planning 'mass casualty' attack at NYC Israeli consulate

2024-12-20

[FoxNews] Abdullah Azz al-Din Taha Muhammad Hassan, an Egyptian citizen, was slated to be deported

An Egyptian man living in Virginia who was slated to be deported has been charged with planning an attack on the Israeli consulate in New York City.

Abdullah Azz al-Din Taha Muhammad Hassan allegedly provided bomb-making instructions and plans on how to attack the Manhattan consulate to an undercover FBI source, according to court documents. He was arrested Tuesday, the FBI told Fox News Digital.

Another vicious idiot whose very bestest BFF turns out to be an FBI informant. Send him home to trouble the Egyptian government.

Hassan is charged with distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction in furtherance of the commission of a federal crime.

"The FBI’s New York Office wants to reassure our Jewish community here in New York that our office — along with our law enforcement partners — remains vigilant in our efforts to identify, investigate and disrupt potential threats to our community, using every tool at our disposal to do so. As always, we urge all community members to report suspicious activity to law enforcement and call 911 in cases of imminent violence or threats to life," the FBI said in a statement.

"We will continue working to ensure our communities remain safe places for all, and we thank the public for their continued trust and partnership."

Hassan caught the FBI's attention after the Fairfax County Police Department informed federal authorities that a tipster alerted police about his social media posts on X. The tipster said the account engaged in "radical and terrorist-leaning behavior."

In several posts, Hassan praised the Islamic State terror group and other radical figures, federal prosecutors said. In August, he began messaging with an FBI confidential source whom he believed he recruited to conduct a "mass casualty attack," authorities said.

Over several weeks, Hassan directed the informant on how to make a bomb, acquire weapons and how to make a "martyrdom video," authorities said. In November, he allegedly selected the Consulate General of Israel as the target of the attack, saying it would be easier to commit an attack using small arms and be "martyred" by the police.

He believed New York would be "a gold mine of targets" for an attack, prosecutors said. As the pair planned the attack, Hassan also allegedly told him to book flights to countries without extradition agreements with the United States. During the attack, Hassan said the source could either murder people at the consulate with an assault rifle or detonate an explosive vest while standing in a group of targets, court documents state.

Hassan also asked for the source to livestream the attack so he could watch it in real time, authorities said.

In a statement, Jonathan Harounoff, the international spokesperson for Israel's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, said the Jewish state "will not cower to terror."

"We will not be silent in the face of hate and violence," he said. "We will not stop in our pursuit of justice and peace. We will continue in our fight to return all 100 of our hostages still being held in Hamas terror tunnels in Gaza."

Ofir Akunis, Israel's consul general in New York, expressed gratitude to authorities for thwarting the alleged attack.

"This attempted attack by terror organizations is an attack on the sovereign soil of the State of Israel in its entirety," he wrote on X. "It's proof that terror knows no boundaries and that we must fight it everywhere and every time. The threat it poses to the western world and its values must be fought together by all western democracies alike. Together we will prevail."

Red State adds:

The FBI "Affidavit in Support of a Criminal Complaint and Arrest Warrant" noted that Hassan is an Egyptian national living in Falls Church, Virginia, and — surprise — is apparently in the country illegally, as the affidavit notes that he is currently in removal proceedings with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The affidavit also described social media posts made by Hassan threatening attacks, "Praying for an ISIS masterclass," and "revering" Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri.

The FBI affidavit that led to Hassan's arrest may be viewed here.

What information is available as of this writing — the affidavit alone contains quite a lot — paints quite a vivid picture of a committed Islamic terrorist, willing and able to carry out terror attacks on American soil and who, by the way, has no business being in the country. What isn't clear is how he came to be here in the first place, although the affidavit mentions a Verizon account belonging to Hassan's father, whose whereabouts are not mentioned.

More from the Times of Israel:

The suspect, Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, an 18-year-old Egyptian national living in Falls Church, Virginia, instructed an FBI informant to carry out the attack, according to a criminal complaint filed on Monday. He was later confirmed by the Washington Post to be a freshman at George Mason University.

Link

Terror Networks

How UK spies watched from Harrogate as the 9/11 Al-Qaeda chief responsible for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people was executed by a 6-bladed Ninja missile

2022-08-03

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Photos and lots of useful illustrations in the helpful Daily Mail way.

The CIA announced they executed Ayman al-Zawahiri, 71, in a drone strike on July 31 as stood on his balcony

Intelligence services monitored him for months, including British experts based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire

al-Zawahiri took over terrorist group Al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden was executed by US military in 2011

He is believed to have been the last surviving of the eight masterminds of the September 11 terror attacks

It was 6.18am on Sunday, more than an hour after dawn prayers, when the Supreme Leader of Al Qaeda appeared on the balcony of his safe house to enjoy a little sunshine and fresh air.

For Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the masterminds of the 9/11 terror attacks, watching mornings unfold in the centre of the Afghan capital from his supposedly secure perch had become one of the few regular pleasures of his life in hiding.

He wasn’t to know that his balcony was anything but safe and that Taliban spies in the pay of the Americans and the British had been monitoring him for months – their knowledge of his whereabouts so detailed that a scale model of his hideaway had sat on a table in President Biden’s White House office for weeks.

And they were watching him again now, not only from Washington but also from a listening station in – of all places – Harrogate, North Yorkshire, after a Western-recruited intelligence source spotted him on the balcony.

According to a senior Taliban official, Zawahiri – who took over Al Qaeda after the US killed Osama bin Laden – had never left the country. After he became one of the world’s most wanted men in September 2001 and a US-led invasion expelled the Taliban that year, Zawahiri spent most of his time in the remote mountains of Musa Qala in the southern Helmand province.

He kept a low profile, said the Taliban leader, although he crossed into Pakistan’s border regions several times. The founders of Islamic State reportedly sought an alliance with the destroyers of the World Trade Centre but, unimpressed by Zawahiri’s cautious leadership, changed their minds.

According to intelligence insiders, just as Bin Laden’s whereabouts were revealed by following his courier, so Zawahiri’s family gave away his location.

While Zawahiri had been obsessed with personal security, the return to power of the Taliban opened new possibilities.

British security sources reportedly also became aware around April that Zawahiri’s family had moved from Helmand to Kabul.

The terror leader married four times and had seven children, although at least four of them had died along with his first wife Azza.

He was living with only one wife and a daughter when – under the protection of the Haqqani Network, a militant and ultra-violent faction considered to a semi-independent offshoot of the Taliban – he moved into a high-walled compound in Sherpur, a relatively affluent part of central Kabul.

The house reportedly belongs to an aide to Haqqani leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s interior minister. Sherpur, once the diplomatic quarter, is now home to senior Taliban officials, who may have not been aware of his arrival.

US intelligence insiders say they discovered the location and identified those inside through various sources, including – the Mail has learnt – personnel inside the Taliban recruited by British spies who provided significant elements of the information used to plan and execute the mission.

US officials waited some 36 hours before announcing they had killed Zawahiri, a period during which they observed the Haqqani Network and Taliban troops restrict access to the safe house and relocate the tar - get’s family. US officials believe the Taliban was trying to hide the fact that they harboured Zawahiri.

The revelation that the Taliban was harbouring the Al Qaeda leader is likely to fuel demands for sanctions. Meanwhile, a furious hunt is under way for those who tipped off British and US intelligence officials, with suspects having their mobile phones and laptops seized.

The insider added: ‘They had people inside the Taliban whose cooperation made the mission possible.’

Update from Garowe at 1:10 p.m. EDT, which also has a nice photo of what is claimed to be the house where Dr. Al Zawahiri kissed a missile, adding:

Hellfire missiles are air-to-surface missiles initially designed for anti-armor strikes, but later versions have been used for precision dronezaps. The arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin developed the missiles with the name "Heliborne, Laser, Fire, and Forget Missile," which evolved into the Hellfire missile, as it is now known, CBS further reported.

The R9X variant was initially deployed in secret in 2017, according to a U.S. Army equipment guide, and was used to kill Abu Khayr al-Masri, a member of al Qaeda's leadership. Photos of the aftermath on social media showed the car where al-Masri was purportedly killed as having damage to the passenger compartment of the beige Kia sedan but no damage to the engine block. The roof was blown open on the right side of the vehicle.

There were unconfirmed reports that al Qaeda deputy leader Abdullah Muhammad Rajab Abdulrahman, aka Abu al-Khayr al-Masri, was killed in the strike.

The Hellfire variant became public knowledge after it was used in 2019 to take out Jamal Ahmad Mohammad al-Badawi, who was behind the 2000 USS Cole Bombing.

Link

Home Front: Politix

FNC Lapdog Baier sez Brandon has 'huge win with Al Zawahiri hit'

2022-08-02

[Breitbart] FNC anchor Bret Baier said Monday on Fox News Channel’s "The Five" that President Joe Biden has had a "couple of good weeks" because the U.S. military killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri.

He also included Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), agreeing to a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on a massive tax and climate package.

Baier said, "We can confirm from two intelligence sources that al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has been killed by a CIA drone strike in Afghanistan over the weekend. And that is what President Biden will announce from the White House tonight at 7:30 Eastern Time."

Discussing Biden’s speech about the drone strike, Baier said, "This is a huge, huge win for the U.S., and we expect to hear that and where the fight goes from here as far as taking out other terrorists."

Link

Afghanistan

US takes out Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri in 'successful' Afghanistan counterterrorism operation

2022-08-01

48 Hour Rule.

[FOX] Two intelligence sources tell Fox News Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri was killed in the CIA drone strike.

The United States conducted a "successful" counterterrorism operation against a "significant" Al Qaeda target Ayman Al Zawahiri in Afghanistan over the weekend, a senior administration official told Fox News.

President Biden on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. E.T. is expected to address the nation from the White House on the operation.

"Over the weekend, the United States conducted a counterterrorism operation against a significant Al Qaeda target in Afghanistan," the senior administration official told Fox News Monday. "The operation was successful and there were no civilian casualties."

Courtesy of Airandee, from the Daily Mail:

CIA drone strike kills Al-Qaeda chief al-Zawahiri in Kabul after FBI put $25m bounty on his head: Taliban calls hit 'a violation of international principles' - as Biden prepares for 7:30 p.m. address

President Joe Biden will address the nation Monday night after al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a CIA drone strike in Afghanistan this weekend

Al-Zawahiri was Osama bin Laden's number two

Biden, who remains in isolation after a rebound case of covid, will make the address from the first floor balcony off the blue room of the White House

Remarks will take place at 7:30 pm ET

'Over the weekend, the United States conducted a counterterrorism operation against a significant Al Qaeda target in Afghanistan,' a senior official said

'The operation was successful and there were no civilian casualties,' the senior administration official noted

Al-Zawahiri was on the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list with a $25 million reward

Al-Zawahiri, 71, took over al Qaeda after bin Laden's death in 2011

Link

Arabia

Britain to reopen Yemen embassy

2013-08-16

British embassy in Yemen will be open in the "next couple of days", the ambassador said on Thursday as she returned to the country following a terror alert. Britain was among several Western countries which closed their embassies on August 4 following US warnings of an Al Qaeda attack. A few days later it withdrew all diplomatic staff.

Ambassador Jane Marriott announced on Twitter: "Hello Yemen. It's great to be back... Looking to reopen the embassy in the next couple of days. Watch this space."

The alert was reportedly linked to the interception of communications between Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri and the leader of the group's Yemen-based affiliate, Nasser Al Wuhayshi.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Al Qaeda in Iraq admits its role  in Syrian war

2013-04-10

DAMASCUS -- Al Qaeda in Iraq confirmed on Tuesday long-held suspicions that Al Nusra Front, a militant group fighting in Syria, is part of its network, an admission likely to sharpen debate on arming rebels.

"It is time to declare to the Levant and to the world that the Al Nusra Front is simply a branch of the Islamic State of Iraq", ISI's chief Abu Bakr al Baghdadi said in an audio message posted on the Internet, adding that it is fighting for an Islamic state in Syria.

The groups would be combined and called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Baghdadi said, describing Al Nusra front leader Abu Mohammed Al Jawlani as "one of our soldiers".

"We chose Al Jawlani... as well as other fighters to go from Iraq to Syria... We prepared plans and work policies. We gave them money and personnel support," said Baghdadi.

The groups would be combined and called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Baghdadi said.

His declaration came after Al Qaeda's global chief, Ayman Al Zawahiri, urged rebels to fight to establish an Islamic state in Syria, in a recording posted online on Sunday.

Al Nusra Front is among the most prominent organisations involved in Syria's conflict, which erupted in March 2011 with peaceful protests against President Bashar Al Assad's regime but has evolved into a war that has killed tens of thousands.

The militant group has gained notoriety for its suicide bombings but also won admiration among some insurgents over its reputation as a formidable fighting force leading attacks on Syrian battlefronts. The West has been wary, and in December the United States announced it was labelling Al Nusra Front a "terrorist" organisation because of suspected ties to ISI.

At the time, the US State Department said the creation of Al Nusra was "an attempt by AQI to hijack the struggles of the Syrian people for its own malign purposes".

According to the US, the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq "is in control of both AQI and Al Nusra" and reports on Internet forums used by jihadists indicate hundreds of militants have made the trip from Iraq into Syria to fight Assad's regime. Al Nusra, which announced its creation in a January 2012 video, is a magnet for foreign fighters seeking to take part in the uprising against the Syrian regime.

Link

Terror Networks

US posts $10 mn reward for Qaeda financier

2011-12-23

WASHINGTON The United States on Thursday offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a key Al Qaeda fundraiser, who is said to be a Syrian operating from Iran. The reward for Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil marks the first time that a terrorist financier has been targeted in such a way, said Robert Hartung, assistant director for threat investigations with the State Department.

According to US officials, the man also known as Yacine Al Suri was born in Syria in 1982. He was put on a US Treasury Department blacklist in July when he was described as a high-level Al Qaeda figure operating out of Iran. His role, according to US officials, was to transfer funds and to recruit militants from the Middle East who transited via Iran to Al Qaeda in Pakistan.

The $10 million was posted as part of the program Rewards for Justice, set up in the 1980s, with the aim of hunting down suspects wanted for terror acts against the United States.

The current head of Al Qaeda, Ayman Al Zawahiri, has the highest bounty on his head of $25 million.

Link

Afghanistan

US in back-channel talks with Afghan Taliban

2009-11-24

[Dawn] After fighting a bloody war in Afghanistan for more than eight years, the United States appears to have undertaken a re-think of its policy and has started engaging the Taliban in negotiations through Saudi and Pakistani intelligence agencies, highly-placed sources told Dawn here on Monday.

'We have started 'engagement' with the Afghan Taliban and are hopeful that our efforts will bear fruit,' a source involved in secret negotiations told this correspondent.

He said that four 'major neutral players' were engaged with the Afghan Taliban on behalf of the Saudi leadership and the General Intelligence Directorate (GID) of Saudi Arabia and the Pakistani leadership and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

The GID and ISI have been doing the job on behalf of the US government and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The source said that one of the main objectives of the recent visit to Pakistan by CIA chief Leon Panetta was to assess progress in the back-channel negotiations.

The source said that four leaders were playing the role of mediators on behalf of the Saudis and the Afghan Taliban.

Among them is Abdullah Anas, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden's mentor Abdullah Azzam who was killed in Peshawar in 1989 along with his two sons. Anas lives in the UK, but maintains close links with the Afghan Taliban and even Al Qaida.

Saudi national Abul Hassan Madni, once a prominent leader of Rabta-i-Alam-i-Islami, has also been in the picture. He lives in Madina.

Abu Jud Mehmood Samrai, an Iraqi who is married to a Pakistani woman, has also been contacted. He was given Pakistani nationality by former president Ziaul Haq for his role in the Afghan war.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, a Pakistani militant leader, is also in the loop. Khalil, who co-founded the Harkatul Ansar, currently heads Hizbul Mujahideen.

He had signed the famous decree issued by Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri in 1998 calling for killing the Americans. Khalil commands respect among both Pakistani and Afghani Taliban and is said to have played a secret mediatory role with Pakistani authorities for peace in the country.

Reliable sources also told Dawn that Mullah Umar, the chief of Afghan Taliban, has nominated his shadow foreign minister, Agha Motasam, to negotiate with the Americans. They said that talks held so far were of a preliminary nature, but may resume on a serious note after Eid.

Link

Down Under

Australian convert's journey to jihad

2009-05-05

In 1990 Robyn Hutchinson took her five children to Peshawar in Pakistan to join the global Islamic Jihad. Now known as Rabiah she went on to become a trusted insider of the Al Qaeda leadership. She married a leading al Qaeda strategist and was also handpicked by Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, Ayman Al Zawahiri to set up a new women's hospital in Kandahar.
The linked site contains an interview with Sally Neighbour, an Australian journalist and author of The Mother of Mohammed: An Australian Woman's Extraordinary Jouney into Jihad

Link

Britain

Welsh MP calls for arrest of all 'Al-Qaeda' residents

2008-12-29

A WELSH MP yesterday called on the UK Government to either deport or arrest all British residents who appear on a United Nations list which names members and associates of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Monmouth Conservative MP David Davies, the only Welsh member of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, said he was shocked to see 15 British residents on the list. All but three are apparently free. Mr Davies said: "This is not a speculative list -- the UN is not known to exaggerate or make unfounded claims. These people have been named as involved with Al-Qaeda and I don't think they should be walking the streets of this country. Either they should be deported or locked up.

"It is little consolation that none of those named are said to be living in Wales. I hope at the very least they are all under constant surveillance. If they do the slightest thing, they should be locked up for a very long time. Al-Qaeda, as we all know, is a very dangerous terrorist organisation responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. I intend to raise this matter in Parliament in the New Year."

The 15 British residents on the list, which can be seen online at www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/consolidatedlist.htm, are all named as associates of terror group Al-Qaeda. They are:

Libya-born British citizen Ghuma Abd'rabbah, living in Birmingham;

Libya-born British citizen Abdulbasit Abdulrahim, living in London, said to have raised funds for the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group;

Libya-born Abd Al-Rahman Al-Faqih, living in Birmingham;

Saudi Arabian Dr Saad Rashed Mohammad Al-Faqih, living in London;

Saudi Arabian Khalid Abd Al-Rahman Hamd Al-Fawaz, living in London;

Syria-born British citizen Mohammed Al Ghabra, living in London;

Egyptian Hani Al-Sayyid Al-Sebai, living in London;

Gloucester-born Sajid Mohammed Badat, currently in prison in the UK after pleading guilty to planning to blow up an aircraft with a shoe bomb;

Libyan Maftah Mohamed Elmabruk, living in London, said to have raised funds for the LIFG;

Libya-born British citizen Abdelrazag Elsharif Elosta, living in London, said to have raised funds for the LIFG;

Egyptian Al Sayyid Ahmed Fathi Hussein Eliwah, living in the UK with a UK passport;

Egypt-born British citizen Mostafa Kamel Mostafa Ibrahim, better known as the radical cleric Abu Hamza, in jail after being convicted on 11 charges, including six of soliciting to murder;

Libya-born British citizen Abdulbaqi Mohammed Khaled, living in Birmingham;

Jordanian national Uthman Omar Mahmoud, better known as the radical cleric Abu Qatada, currently in prison in the UK after breaching bail conditions relating to his appeal against deportation. Wanted on terrorism charges in Algeria, the United States, Belgium, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Jordan;

Libyan Tahir Nasuf, living in Manchester.

The list also includes six organisations with bases in the UK:

Sara Properties Ltd, Liverpool;

Benevolence International Foundation;

Meadowbrook Investments Ltd of Bristol;

Movement for Reform in Arabia, London;

Ozlam Properties Ltd, Liverpool;

Sanabel Relief Agency Ltd, Manchester.

The list -- known as the Consolidated List -- currently contains around 500 names and is split into four sections covering individuals and entities associated with the Taliban, and individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaeda. It was established to try to limit the activities of Al-Qaeda by freezing the assets of, and preventing the movement of arms by "any individual or entity associated with Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and/or the Taliban".

According to the UN's website: "The Consolidated List serves as the foundation for the implementation and enforcement of sanctions against Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, the Taliban and their associates. The (Al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions) committee is continuously seeking to improve the information on the Consolidated List to ensure that the sanctions measures can be imple- mented effectively."

Among those whose names are on the list are Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al Zawahiri, whose Egyptian passport number is included in his entry. Osama bin Laden's address is given as "not applicable".

A Home Office spokesman said: "The UN list is a publicly available document. We do not discuss individuals who appear on it for security reasons."

Link

India-Pakistan

Al Qaeda charge sheet Musharraf

2008-08-11

Al Qaeda held President Pervez Musharraf responsible for endangering Pakistan's security, reported Geo News on Sunday. In an audiotape purportedly from Ayman Al Zawahiri, Zawahiri is quoted as saying that Musharraf mistreated AQ Khan to please Washington and allowed US agencies' operations inside Pakistan.

Link

India-Pakistan

Editorial: Al Qaeda and suicide-bombing

2008-07-23

In an extraordinary TV interview, the third senior-most leader of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu Yazid alias Sheikh Saeed,

has said something that should stop Pakistan's numberless and mindless "conspiracy" theorists from spreading the word that 9/11 was done by the Jews. Speaking to a Pakistani TV channel, Sheikh Saeed stated that the 9/11 attack on the US was carried out by 19 men of Al Qaeda and that Pakistan did a dastardly thing by handing over the "courageous" Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, and many others, to America. He also said that suicide-bombing was allowed under Islam and declared those clerics who outlawed it as "lackeys of the government".

Sheikh Saeed, who heads Al Qaeda's operations in Afghanistan, is Egyptian in origin and spent three years in jail along with the second senior-most man of Al Qaeda, Ayman Al Zawahiri. The Pakistani journalist taken from Karachi to visit his stronghold was spotted by a Palestinian "studying" in Karachi but in fact devoted to jihad. The journalist was told that he was taken to the province of Khost in Afghanistan where he met the Al Qaeda operational chief. Curiously enough, the Pakistani reporter did not ask him about the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto, a "job" admitted by an Al Qaeda spokesman immediately after the killing.

Sheikh Saeed was aggressive about the validity of suicide-bombing but balked at accepting the attempt at the life of the ex-interior minister, Mr Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, inside a mosque. He denied that Al Qaeda had tried to kill Mr Sherpao. Again, curiously enough, the reporter did not ask if it was involved in the second attempt that did not take place inside the mosque. Possibly because he doesn't want to incur Al Qaeda's wrath again, Mr Sherpao himself says the culprits behind those attacks were the intelligence agencies of India and the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More