| Africa North |
| Egypt army arrests head of Sinai radical militant group, dozens others |
| 2013-11-02 |
| [Al Ahram] Egypt army said on Friday its forces were able to capture 36 "terrorists" in North Sinai, including leader of radical Islamist group Al-Takfir Wal Hijra and one of his associates. Military front man Colonel Ahmed Ali said in a statement on his official Facebook page that the army captured Abd El-Fattah Salem in Al-Kharouba area describing him as "one of the most significant terrorist leaders currently wanted." Al-Takfir Wal Hijra, "Excommunication and Exodus", is one of the initial myrmidon jihadist groups that emerged in Egypt in the 1960's founded by Shukri Mostafa. Meanwhile, ...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter awoke groggily, his hand still stuck in the Ming vase... the army also said it incarcerated Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! 25 "extremists" accused of attacking army and police sites in the restive peninsula, in addition to eight people suspected of involvement in terrorism crimes. Earlier on Friday, forces arrested one person and took possession of ammunition found with him. Ali also said that the army destroyed three underground tunnels used for smuggling people and goods. The army has recently destroyed tens of tunnels that connected Sinai to the Paleostinian Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-ruled Gazoo Strip which has been under Israeli blockade since 2007. In addition, Egyptian forces have been stricter on opening the Rafah border, Gazoo's only outdoor to the world since president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Timeprinciple, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... was ousted on 3 July. Egypt has accused Hamas, an offshoot of the Moslem Brüderbund from which Morsi hails, of adding to the turmoil in Sinai. Hamas has denied these accusations. Attacks on security sites have soared after the army deposed Morsi in July amid mass protests against him. Dozens of security forces were killed in such attacks. In response, the army launched an "anti-terrorism" operation in Sinai, killing dozens of faceless myrmidons and arresting hundreds. |
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| Africa: Horn |
| Kenya on alert following assassination attempt on Somali MP |
| 2005-06-06 |
| After making an attempt on the life of Somalia PM, the terrorists are said to have moved into Kenya and intelligence officers are following leads to their capture . Kenya's security forces are on high alert following information that two groups linked to terror mastermind Osama bin Laden may have entered the country. The two terror groups, Al-Itthad-al-Islamiya and Al-Takfir Wal Hijra are linked to Mr Musab al Zarqawi, a close ally of bin Laden. Kenyas' security apparatus, say sources, has information to the effect that Zarqawi previously had terror cells in both Kenya and Somalia. But the security sources were quick to state that they are in control of the situation. "As long as we have a clue on what could be going on, there is no cause for panic. It would have been a different story if we did not know what is happening," the sources said. The sources say the two groups were responsible for the attempted murder of Somalia Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi last month. Gedi, who has since returned to Kenya, narrowly escaped death when a grenade exploded at the Mogadishu stadium just as he was preparing to address a rally. He was quickly whisked away and flown back to Kenya where he has been living since the transitional Somali government was elected last October. Also living in Kenya is Somalia President-elect Abdullahi Yusuf. Sources in Kenya's Intelligence community say that after a period of inactivity in the region, Zarqawi, who is blamed for most bombings in Iraq, may have revived his contacts, hence the new alert. Zarqawis' Kenyan link is suspected to be the conduit for passing money to terror recruits at Kiamboni in Somalia and operates under the fake name of Abdul Karim. According to the sources, Zarqawi first established contacts in Kenya at Lamu and at Ras Kiamboni, in the South of Somalia, 1996. Ras Kiamboni, an Indian Ocean island, is a stone's throw away from the Kenyan islands of Siyu and Faza near Lamu. Both Kenya and the US intelligence concur that Zarqawi, at the behest of Osama bin Laden, was the key planner and financier of the twin terrorist attacks on the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam on August 7, 1998, that left close to 200 people dead. Zarqawi is one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. The US government has a 25 million dollar (Sh2 billion) prize on his head. Kenya and US Intelligence believe Fazul and a Yugoslav national were masterminds of the bombing of the Paradise Hotel on November 22, 2002. Fifteen people were killed in the attack. Four alleged accomplices of Fazul are already undergoing trial before Nairobi Chief Magistrate Aggrey Muchelule. Ras Kiamboni is believed to be the hideout for Al-Ittihad operatives which is a cell within bin Ladens' Al Qaeda network. Security sources say Kiamboni has a secret training camp for terrorist cells courtesy of bin Laden and his sidekicks, Zarqawi and Fazul. Another suspected link to Zarqawi is Hassan Awil, a graduate of Al-Awal University in Baghdad. He is on record as vowing that the Somali government currently in Nairobi would settle in Mogadishu "only over his dead body." Awil is suspected to have had a direct hand in the bombing at Mogadishu stadium three weeks ago and in which the Somali prime minister-elect narrowly escaped death. Muslim clerics seeking to establish an Islamic state in Somalia set up Al-Itihaad in 1980s. Following the ouster of President Said Barre and the disintegration of the Somali state in 1991, the Al-Itihaad formed it's own militia with its main training camp at Ras-Kiamboni. Terror activities by the group first came into limelight in 1996 when Ethiopian authorities claimed the group had attempted to assassinate an Ethiopian cabinet minister and attacked hotels in the capital Addis Ababa. And last week, Ethiopia Prime Minister Meles Zenawi alleged that the group has re-activated operations with targets in his country and Kenya. |
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| Terror Networks & Islam |
| Secret Agents of Islam |
| 2004-10-12 |
| From IntelWire, from the first of a series of articles by J. M. Berger. The first article is titled "Secret Agents of Islam" .... al Qaeda operatives routinely take on deep cover roles in order to infiltrate an enemy's society. This isn't simply a pragmatic decision to disregard the tenets of Islam in order to accomplish a goal. Rather, it's a specific, traditional practice, justified through an elaborate theological framework. The approach was first employed in the 11th century, by the Assassins, a notorious cult of Islamic extremists. Today, the practice is continued by a similar sect, known as Al Takfir Wal Hijra, which represents a key faction in the top leadership of al Qaeda. There are numerous similarities between the Assassins and the Takfiri - including operational structure, strategy and theology. But the sects are separated by a centuries-long chasm of deep sectarian conflict. But, then and now, these men shared a common vocation - secret agents for an extreme vision of Islam. They were - and are - the ultimate infiltrators, unbound by moral restraint. These men are not subject to any meaningful cultural repercussions for their acts. Nor are they subject to an inner moral conflict. The are amoral machines by design, licensed to kill. The modern Sunni Islamic sect known as Al Takfir Wal Hijira is a nearly perfect ideological vehicle for terrorism. The Arabic name translates roughly as "anathema and exile" or "excommunication and emigration." A theologically extreme extension of fundamentalist Islamic doctrines, Takfir is dedicated to restoring the Caliphate, the Islamic political empire that once spanned the Near and Middle East. Takfir differs from establishment fundamentalists (such as Saudi Arabian Wahabbism) in two major respects. First, Takfiri cultists practice an extreme form of assimilation. And second, they openly embrace of violent, evangelistic jihad. |
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