Home Front: WoT |
Former sailor in spy case gets maximum 10-year sentence |
2009-04-04 |
![]() Hassan Abu-jihaad was a signalman on the guided missile destroyer USS Benfold when his San Diego-based battle group was ordered to the gulf to participate in operations against Iraq, the Taliban and al-Qaida. A jury convicted him in March 2008 of providing terrorist sympathizers who ran a London-based Internet business with classified information on his battle group's movements, which could have made it vulnerable to attack. Abu-jihaad was prosecuted in New Haven federal court because his e-mails were routed through computers in Connecticut. Judge Mark R. Kravitz said Abu-jihaad's actions were a "fundamental betrayal of your county and your oath" that endangered the United States and his shipmates. Abu-jihaad, 33, a divorced father of two, converted to Islam in 1995 and lived in Phoenix. Prosecutors said Abu-jihaad, which means "father of holy struggle" in Arabic, sent e-mail to two computer experts accused of running Azzam Publications, the al-Qaida-connected Internet business in London in 2000 and 2001. In arguing for the maximum sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Nardini said Abu-jihaad in e-mails praised the October 2000 terrorist suicide attack on the USS Cole -- in which 17 sailors died -- as effective psychological warfare and a "martyrdom operation." "He believed that dying in a fight against the United States would make him a martyr," Nardini said. "It's a twisted mind-set." Abu-jihaad, who did not address the court at is sentencing, said through his attorney that he maintains his innocence. Abu-jihaad's actions were revealed when British authorities searched the home of Babar Ahmad, who ran Azzam Publications with Syed Talha Ahsan. The two British citizens were arrested in 2004, and U.S. authorities are trying to extradite them. The case is now before the European Court of Human Rights. The New Haven jury also convicted Abu-jihaad, born Paul R. Hall, of material support of terrorism, which also carried a maximum sentence of 10 years. Kravitz overturned that conviction last month, citing reasons "largely related to the language" of the applicable federal law. Nora R. Dannehy, acting U.S. attorney for Connecticut, said Friday that prosecutors had not decided yet whether to appeal Kravitz's decision on the dismissed charge. Dan LaBelle, one of Abu-jihaad's attorneys, immediately filed an appeal after he was sentenced Friday |
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Arabia | |
Al-Qaidaâs Committee in Saudi Arabia: 2002-2003 | |
2005-12-03 | |
pdf from Evan Kohlman with interesting bio data on Saudis Yousef Al-Ayyiri, Turki Nasser Al-Dandani, Nasser Bin Hamid Al-Fahad, Ali Abdelrahman Al-Faqasi Al-Ghamdi, and Abdelaziz Al-Muqrin![]() According to the former Al-Qaida press agency Azzam Publications, âThe Tora Bora mountain range comprises of low foothills and lofty mountains. It was expected for the Americans to land at the lower foothills first. Therefore, the Commander of the Mujahideen gave the order for new and relatively inexperienced brothers to go to the higher mountains, leaving the experienced fighters at the bottom.â The strategy proved ineffective as a result of smothering U.S. tactical airstrikes: âthere was no difference between the night and the day: the sky was raining fire and the Earth was erupting volcanoes.â Abortive attempts at regrouping and retreating caused the deaths of possibly hundreds of fleeing Al Qaida fighters caught underneath a hail of cluster bombs. As a result of the defeats at Tora Bora and three months later at Shah-i-Kot, âalmost all remaining al Qaeda forcesâ fled across the border with Pakistan seeking refuge in the remote, mountainous, and âlightly governedâ frontier provinces.
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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
Abu Omar al-Saif killed by Russian troops in Dagestan |
2005-12-03 |
![]() "Q. Some Muslims are hoping for a peaceful solution to this conflict, and to give heed to Western proposals and conditions for a cease-fire. How do you see the solution to this conflict?" "A. Islamic issues can only be solved by Islamic means, namely through abiding by Sharia (Divine Law) and not Western proposals or United Nations conditions. Any resolution through non-Islamic means places the future of Muslims in the hands of tyrants who will never accept the rise of an Islamic state." "Q. Several Islamic populations are fighting defensive wars against aggressors. Yet some of them raise the banners of nationalism that may incorporate elements of secularism, ethnic nationalism or religion. How would you describe the war in Chechnya?" "A. The fighting in Chechnya is a Jihad for the sake of Allah, a Jihad that aims to ensure that the word of Allah is supreme in this land. We consider most of the commanders and fighters as Mujahideen whose intentions are sincere and devoted to Allah Most high." "Q. The Russian military machine is massive and incorporates large numbers of troops and sizeable quantities of modern arms, yet the Russians are being decisively beaten on a daily basis by a small group of Mujahideen What are your comments in this regard?" "A. All of the Mujahideen's victories are attributed solely to Allah Most High... The jihad in Chechnya should serve as an example to all Muslims throughout the world that any Muslim rights that are forcibly usurped, including land, cannot be restored except through force. Negotiations only serve to lose one's rights and honour. Let us consider Palestine as an example. There are a small number of Jews occupying Palestine. The Arabs outnumber them and have larger military forces, however, instead of fighting for the sake of Allah like their brothers in Chechnya, the Arabs (nationalists and secularists) chose to negotiate with their enemy. This has resulted in the humiliation of the Arabs, and has failed to restore Arab rights and territories." "Q. The complete victory of the Mujahideen is now in sight. What will happen once the war is over. Will we witness a recurrence of the tragedies that took place in Afghanistan, Bosnia and other Muslim countries that freed themselves from the yoke of crusader invasions?" "A. Allah Most High has promised that those who glorify and fight for Allah in times of war, and who establish His Sharia in times of peace, will always have victory bestowed upon them... The Mujahideen will strive to ensure that the Muslims of Chechnya will continue to be united, and that the light of Sharia dispels the evil of disunity. It is only through Allah that success is granted." "Q. Many Muslims around the world have expressed their support and sympathy for their brothers in Chechnya. Most Muslims continue to support the Mujahideen through supplication to Allah, and by spreading awareness about the jihad in Chechnya. Has this support had any impact in Chechnya, if so, please give us some examples?" "A. The supplications of Muslims and their financial support has played an important role in the victories of the Mujahideen. This support has helped mitigate the difficulties faced by the Mujahideen who are lacking adequate supplies of food and medicine. We ask Allah to accept the support given to us by our brothers, and remind the Ummah that coming to the aid of Muslims who are oppressed is a sacred duty that Allah Most High has confirmed..." |
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Terror Networks & Islam |
Church Desecration Video Serves as Jihad Fund-Raiser |
2005-08-12 |
The lads at the mosque are watching their favorite snuff movies, duh! I'm so confused, I thought the jihadists were a mere reaction to the wrongdoings of the West... Video (.wmv) at link, didn't watch it, my blood pressure is high enough already, and for example I've seen enough pics of thoses nice kosovars urinating in desacrated churches. By Sherrie Gossett (CNSNews.com) -- A violent video showing the desecration of a church and the murder of a Serbian soldier is one of many "jihad" videos currently making the rounds in Western countries to raise funds for Muslim terrorists, according to counter-terrorism experts interviewed by Cybercast News Service. The graphic footage, stamped Sept. 16, 1995, was videotaped approximately two months before the Dayton Peace Accords, which brought an end to the civil war in Bosnia. Darko Trifunovic, deputy director of the Center for Security and Investigation of Terrorism at the Belgrade Institute for Political Studies, provided Cybercast News Service with a copy of the video during his recent visit to Washington, D.C. Cybercast News Service has edited the video to remove portions dealing with the killing of the Serbian soldier and other grisly images of copses. Trifunovic, an attorney, previously served as first secretary in the Bosnia-Herzegovina Mission to the United Nations in New York City and conducted war crimes research for The Hague's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. In the latter capacity, Trifunovic interrogated mujahedeen who were involved in the fighting in Bosnia. "The video was shot in western Bosnia," said Trifunovic. "It has been shown in Germany, Austria, Norway, Sweden and North America for fund-raising purposes." Evan F. Kohlmann, a Washington D.C.-based terrorism consultant and author, confirmed that videos of Bosnian battles and church desecrations were currently being circulated as inspiration and as a fund-raising tool for jihad-minded terrorists. Kohlmann has previously testified before Congress on terrorism issues. The video opens with mujahedeen interrogating a Serbian soldier. The soldier was recognized by a relative as 32-year old Rade Rogic, said Trifunovic. According to a translator consulted by Cybercast News Service, the lead captor asks Rogic, "Do you know who we are?" "You're the mujahedeen," Rogic replies on the video. "That's right, we're the mujahadeen." When questioned about his duties, Rogic insists he serves in the "workers' battalion" and only digs ditches. After repeatedly striking the soldier in the face, the interrogator then pressures him to say "Allah is great," before telling the videographer to turn off the camera. Subsequent footage shows one of the mujahedeen armed with a machine gun and then preparing the weapon for what appears to be a planned execution. Rogic is then shown bloodied and lying face-down on some rocks, apparently having been killed by his captors. In June of this year the Belgrade newspaper Vecernje Novosti identified Rogic as part of the Radnicki Battalion. The newspaper published a still photograph of his corpse and reported he was born in 1957 in Sanski Most. He apparently was captured after becoming lost in the surrounding forest. The video footage also depicts mujahedeen forces entering an Orthodox Christian church. One combatant throws down what appears to be a vial of incense before others mock sacred items, break up the altar and vandalize Byzantine-style icons while smiling and singing. One combatant raises his rifle and fires at the cross atop the altar. The scene is followed by images of an elderly civilian dead by the roadside and a tractor dragging the body of what appears to be a civilian through the village. Knowledge of the video has spread among citizens in the Balkans, said Trifunovic. "Approximately 10,000 people have now viewed it at the Sava Center in Belgrade." The popularity of videos like the one from western Bosnia can be traced to "The Martyrs of Bosnia," which told the story of Arab mujahedeen fighting in the civil war, said Kohlmann. "That first video is considered an al-Qaeda 'classic,'" he added. "Footage of the desecration of the church in Guca Gora was featured in the video." It also includes footage of al Qaeda leaders and a cousin of Osama bin Laden. "The Martyrs of Bosnia" was distributed by Azzam Publications, whose London-based leader, Babar Ahmad, is currently facing extradition to the U.S. related to charges that he materially supported terrorism and conspired to kill persons in a foreign country. When that tape was released, said Kohlmann, law enforcement wiretaps recorded Islamists praising the participants in the videotape, calling for the killing of Serbs and fighting for the honor of Islam. "It inspired many terror cells," said Kohlmann. The "Martyrs of Bosnia" was followed by two other compilations: "Operation Black Lion" and "Operation Badr." The latter featured "suicidal" waves of mujahedeen rushing Serbian soldiers. "It terrified everybody who watched it," said Kohlmann. Earlier this year, Dragomir Adnan, police chief for the Republic of Srpska (RS), showed the video of Rade Rogic's killing and the church desecration in western Bosnia to an undisclosed group of people. Subsequently, the European Union Police Mission sought to downplay the video by issuing a statement on June 22 criticizing Adnan for his role in the civil war and stating that the video footage had been in the Republic of Srpska Office for Cooperation with the Hague for "a few years and it's nothing new." The Mission's press release stated that the RS had been asked to forward the video material to The Hague and that "the transfer is on course." According to a June 15 BBC report, the Belgrade newspaper Vecernje Novosti stated that its journalists were able to view the footage, which was said to be of the 505th Buzim Brigade of the Bosnian government. According to the report, the video originally featured other footage before the scene involving Rogic. That footage, the Belgrade newspaper reported, allegedly showed "heaps of mutilated bodies" and "torched villages." The BBC reported that the Vecernje Novosti concluded the tape was not fit for broadcasting. In the same report, the BBC noted that the publication of the Belgrade newspaper occurred a week after Serbian television showed video of Serb paramilitaries executing Muslims in Srebrenica ten years ago. |
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Home Front: WoT | ||
NJ Imam Helped UK Moslem Terrorist Run Pro-Qaeda Website | ||
2004-08-08 | ||
From The Washington Post ... a New Jersey man is under investigation for having helped a British computer specialist, also arrested in London this week, allegedly solicit funds for a terrorist group by creating and operating an exact replica of the British man's Web site. Mazen Mokhtar, an Egyptian-born imam and political activist, operated a Web site identified in an affidavit unsealed Friday by the U.S. attorney's office in Connecticut. The Web site solicited funds for the Taliban and Chechen mujaheddin, according to the affidavit. It is an exact replica of Web sites operated by Babar Ahmad, who was arrested in England on a U.S. extradition warrant this week. The affidavit said the New Jersey home of the mirror Web site operator, identified on a Web site as Mokhtar, was searched in the recent past and that copies of Azzam Publications sites, operated by Ahmad, were found on Mokhtar's computer's hard drive and files. .... Ahmad possessed three-year-old classified routes of a U.S. naval battle group and is believed to be part of a branch of al Qaeda linked to Khalid Sheik Mohammed that authorities on three continents have been working to capture in recent weeks. He allegedly operated two U.S.-based Web sites, one in Connecticut and one in Nevada. Ahmad, a British subject of Pakistani descent, faces four charges of involvement with terrorism. His attorney, appearing in a British court Friday, denied Ahmad was involved in terrorism.
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Britain |
UK hard boy had links to Movsar Barayev |
2004-08-06 |
A British man wanted on an American extradition warrant used U.S.-based Web sites to recruit Taliban fighters and possessed a document with information on U.S. naval movements, U.S. government lawyers said Friday. They claim that Babar Ahmad, 30, had links to the e-mail account of a Chechen mujaheddin leader behind the October 2002 Moscow theater siege, and that he had a document on battle group plans for U.S. Navy vessels involved in operations against Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. Ahmad made his first court appearance in London after being arrested there Wednesday on a U.S. extradition warrant from the state of Connecticut. Asked if he understood the charges, Ahmad told Bow Street Magistrates Court in central London: "Not really. It's all a bit confusing to me." According to an arrest warrant affidavit, one of the Web sites contained a detailed description of its purpose. "Azzam Publications has been set up to propagate the call for jihad among the Muslims who are sitting down, ignorant of this vital duty," the affidavit quoted the site as saying. "Thus the purpose of Azzam Publications is to incite the believers and also, secondly, to raise some money for the brothers." The site instructed people to become trained in martial arts and firearms and join clubs that emphasize street fighting, sword and knife fighting, and to research sniper training, land mine operations, mortars and combat, according to the affidavit. The affidavit also said investigators discovered a floppy disk at his parents' home in London. The disk contained a password-protected document containing detailed information about a U.S. Navy battle group, including its planned movements, the affidavit said. Investigators also found a compact disc with audio tracks praising Osama bin Laden, the affidavit said. Ahmad stood in the dock as the four-count warrant was read aloud at Bow Street Magistrates Court in central London. Asked if he agreed to be sent to the United States, Ahmad said: "I don't, no." He said he did not understand the charges: "It's all a bit confusing to me." Rosemary Fernandes, representing the United States at the hearing in London, said the Navy document, dated April 2001, had been seized by British police in 2003 and verified by U.S. authorities. The extradition warrant alleges that between 1998 and Feb. 19, 2001, Ahmad sought through American Web sites and e-mail people in the United States "to give or otherwise make available money and other property" to commit terrorist acts in Chechnya and Afghanistan. The police said anti-terrorist officers were searching three "residential premises" and one business in southwest London in relation to Ahmad's arrest on behalf of U.S. authorities. The warrant also alleges that between the same dates Babar "agreed with U.S. citizens based in the U.S.A. and others" on a plan to raise "contributions toward acts of terrorism." |
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Afghanistan |
Mujahideen Kill 18 US Commandos in Afghanistan |
2002-09-29 |
News from the other side... Source: Azzam Publications Around 18 American and 19 Afghan soldiers were killed, in different regions of Afghanistan, due to well planned and executed Mujahideen attacks. More than ten vehicles were also destroyed and one US commando was kidnapped in the various attacks. There've been a lot more Merkins killed in their accounts than there have been in our accounts. Wonder why that is? |
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Terror Networks |
FBI Tries to Link Al-Qaida To Pak Islamic Movements |
2002-07-26 |
Source: Azzam Publications, Uncensored Despite operations against various religious and Jihadi groups, and the arrests of activists in Pakistan on orders from the FBI, the US and Pakistani governments still have no useful information about the Al-Qaida network in Pakistan. According to highly reliable sources, the FBI, having had no success so far, has started investigations in to international Islamic organisations that carry out their work underground. A majority of the workers in these organisations are from Arab or Asian states. These organisations include 'Al-Ikhwan', 'Uzbek Islamic Movement' and 'Hizb-ut-Tahrir'. I like it when a propaganda piece gives away enough sidebar information to make it a valuable piece of the puzzle... Al-Ikhwan is an Egyptian organisation with many Arabs and Pakistanis working for it, as with many other organisations, in a clandestine manner. Its headquarters is located in Karachi and it must be noted that this organisation has no link at all with the famous Egyptian Islamic movement 'Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimun'. That's an interesting, if inadvertent, clarification. If it is inadvertent, and not a pious disclaimer... The Uzbek Islamic Movement is a Central Asian organization and the majority of its workers are from the Central Asian countries including Chechnya. Having the support of various tribal leaders, this organisation is engaged in activities along the border regions of Pakistan. Interesting that it ties in with the Chechens, too. I hadn't seen that before. Wonder which is the dog and which is the tail? Another movement under investigation by the US is Hizb-ut-Tahrir. A significant portion of its workers are from Jordan, Libya and other Arab states. This organisation was started to gather support for the establishment of a Khilafa in Pakistan. The center of its activities so far has been Karachi. Only a few of its members are currently openly known. The Hizb is world- or at least Asia-wide, with activity centers in England and Belgium. I think it's another Qazi Hussein Ahmed/Jamaat i Islami front organization... Highly placed and very reliable sources have said that all these organisations have no link whatsoever with Al-Qaida. Probably a correct statement. I think they're emulating al-Qaeda's approach, and probably absorbing the gunnies as they look for new employment... The US, however, using these false investigations by the FBI, is trying to create a link between these movements and Al-Qaida so that all Islamic movements can be quashed, and permanent intelligence and surveillance centres can be set up in all Asian states. The so-called War against Terrorism can also be justified by this and by having these intelligence centres, the American government can exert considerable control over Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Asian countries. That's a pretty neat logical diversion. Because the movements aren't linked to al-Qaeda, therefore the attempt to link the Pak religious loons to them is invalid, which it isn't. The three organizations named probably represent the second generation (or maybe third, since al-Qaeda's an outgrowth of Ikhwan) of international terrorism. Two out of three are centered in Pakistan and the third cooperates with the Pak organizations. Assuming the Soddy money keeps rolling in, Qazi might be the most dangerous man in the world, with the exception of the Iranian ayatollahs, and not excepting Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar, and the entire Chechen command structure. And Qazi has the advantage of being an obscure holy man that no one who's not a regular Rantburg reader has ever heard of. |
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