Recent Appearances...

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

Moazzam Begg

al-Qaeda

International

20031030

Africa Horn

Trump announces US airstrikes on terrorist locations in Somalia

2025-02-02

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] On February 1, US President Donald Trump announced that he had ordered airstrikes on targets in Somalia where one of the commanders of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, a terrorist organization banned in Russia) was located.

“This morning, I ordered precision military airstrikes against a senior ISIS attack planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia,” the American leader wrote on the social media site Truth Social.

The head of the White House added that the terrorists posed a threat to the United States. According to him, the airstrikes destroyed the caves in which the terrorists were hiding. At the same time, as Trump noted, this happened without causing harm to civilians.

Earlier, NBC, citing the US Africa Command, said that the US military had struck the leader of the ISIS terrorist group in Somalia. The US government publicly named the target of the strike as the head of the group's branch in Somalia, Abdulkadir Mumin, who had secretly become the world leader of the terrorist organization.

ISIS world leader? Impressive.
Garowe adds:

American President Donald Trump
...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania...
confirmed multiple ~~Arclight~~ airstrikes
...KABOOM!...

s against the ISIS gunnies in the Bari region of Somalia, noting that the bombardments targeted a senior 'planner' who has been on the run in deep caves within the mountainous areas of Puntland
...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion...
Without disclosing the identity of the planner, Trump said the airstrikes destroyed several caves killing 'many terrorists' in the process. No non-combatants were killed or armed during the operations on Saturday, he said in a tweet.

"This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other snuffies he recruited and led in Somalia. These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies," Trump said in a shocking statement.

"The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many snuffies without, in any way, harming civilians," he added.

Traditionally, such announcement comes from the US Africa Command, which has bases in Djibouti and trains the Danab Special Forces of the Somali National Army (SNA). Trump blames his predecessor — Joe The Big Guy Biden
Joe <q>The Big Guy</q> Biden

...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family...
, for failing to take action against ISIS gunnies in Somalia.

"Our military has targeted this ISIS Attack Planner for years, but Biden and his cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done. I did! The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that "WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU," he said.

Pete Hegseth, the Defence Secretary, said the airstrikes were undertaken by the US Africa Command following the order by President Trump, but the government of Somalia was in charge of coordination.

In its assessment, the Pentagon said multiple operatives were killed, adding that no civilians were maimed. The statement corroborated Trump’s assessment.

Multiple sources confirmed to Garowe Online that approximately six airstrikes hit various locations in the al-Miskaad mountains, causing significant impact, particularly in the Qurac, Buqo, Wangable, and Dhasaan areas. The strikes have been part of ongoing military operations targeting ISIS bases in the Bari region, officials said.

For the last one month, Puntland security forces, bolstered by support from local communities, have escalated their campaign against the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
, launching what they describe as an all-out offensive against the IS-Somalia murderous Moslems.

The operations aim to dismantle ISIS positions nestled in the rugged terrain, and authorities report significant territorial gains in their fight against the murderous Moslems. Last year, the State Department raised concerns about the capabilities of the ISIS murderous Moslems, terming them 'dangerous'.

While cautioning Somalia, the State Department warned that if actions are not taken, the group could expand territories in Somalia, consequently, affecting the fight against terrorism. In southern regions, Somalia is battling al-Shabaab
... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia attempting to metastasize into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and similar places, all ofwhich have enough problems without them...
murderous Moslems.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud asked Trump to assist the country in the fight against terrorism, noting that 'we need your support in this war as we endeavour to stabilise Somalia'.

Trump’s direct involvement in Saturday's airstrikes showcases his commitment to assist the Horn of Africa nation in effectively fighting both al-Shabaab and ISIS.

…or his determination to push this thing to closure by winning the war. It remains to be seen whether he is actually interested in supporting either Somalia or Puntland beyond the short term.

America has close to 500 soldiers in Somalia whose primary duty is to train and equip local troops.

More from Garowe:

ISIS is based in Puntland, where it was established in 2015 by former Al-Shabaab leader Abdulkadir Mumin,

…that’s Somali-British ex-Al-Shabaab preacher Sheikh Abdulkadir Mumin or sometimes Abdul Qadir Mumin to you, bub. Show some respect! Born in Puntland in the early 1950s, he spent his forties in Sweden before moving to England in 2005. He preached to eager audiences (including Michael Adebolajo, involved in the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby) at Masjid Quba in Leicester and the Greenwich Islamic Centre in London, but it was in 2010 when he joined a press conference with Guantanamo Bay prisoner Moazzam Begg for the charity CAGE that MI-5 took an interest, driving his return to Puntland, where he joined Al Shabaab. Then in 2015 he and a mere two dozen followers pledged to Al Baghdadi and ISIS, growing tenfold within a year thanks to the romantic viciousness demonstrated by the Iraq/Syria caliphate and material support and training from ISIS in Yemen across the way…

and the group has now been under an offensive for two months by the troops of Somali Federal State, which saw the capture of dozens of its bases and murder of many fighters, including foreigners, according to local authorities.

And from Shabelle Media:

The Pentagon’s counterterrorism strategy in Africa has been strained as two key partners, Chad and Niger, ousted U.S. forces last year and took over key bases that the U.S. military had used to train and conduct missions against terrorist groups across the Sahel, the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert.

U.S. military officials have warned that IS cells have received increasing direction from the group’s leadership that relocated to northern Somalia. That has included how to kidnap Westerners for ransom, how to learn better military tactics, how to hide from drones and how to build their own small quadcopters.

A U.S. military airstrike in Somalia last May targeted IS militants and killed three, according to U.S. Africa Command.

The number of IS militants in the country are estimated to be in the hundreds, mostly scattered in the Cal Miskaat mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, according to the International Crisis Group.

Link

Britain

Britain ~~migrant~~ colonist and jihad briefs

2017-05-01

British Police Making Terror Arrests on ‘Near Daily Basis’ as Expert Estimates 10,000 UK Jihadis
29 April
[Breitbart] The Senior National Co-ordinator for Counter Terrorism has confirmed that police are now making terror-related arrests “on a near daily basis”. Meanwhile, a noted security expert has estimated the number of “committed Islamists” in the country is “between 6,000 and 10,000”.

Terror Raid Suspect Allegedly Took Teens to Join Islamic State in 2015
29 April
[Breitbart] Terror suspect Mohamed Amoudi, arrested in raids on Thursday, is claimed to have previously been released without charge after being accused of taking two teenage boys to join Islamic State in Syria. Amoudi is believed to have taken the teens out of the country after attending a talk given by Moazzam Begg’s CAGE organisation hosted by an Islamic society at Queen Mary, University of London.

The Daily Mail has more here on Mohamed Amoudi, the Yemen-born physics teacher and center of Thursday's bomb plot.

From the Daily Mail - immigration:

Don't waste time quizzing migrants, border staff are told: Staff are ordered to concentrate on extremists arriving from Europe
30/04/17
A leaked memo, seen by The Mail on Sunday, reveals that extremists arriving from Europe are the ‘number one’ priority as guards are told not to waste time interrogating potential illegal migrants. It comes as huge numbers of foreign fighters, including Britons fleeing the crumbling Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, attempt to return to the EU via Turkey.

Homeless immigrant who stabbed his brother's girlfriend in the chest with a kitchen knife because he was ‘traumatised by what he saw in Iraq’ is jailed for 19 years
26/04/17
Diana Pranskuniene, 36, was walking along a high street in Portsmouth when Dier Mohammed, 43, (pictured) ambushed and attacked her with a kitchen knife, which missed her heart by less than an inch.

Wealthy Pakistani couple who swindled £40,000 a year in benefits after they claimed political asylum in Britain are jailed six months apart so their children aren’t taken into care
26/04/17
Syed Zaidi, 41, and his wife Rizwana Kamal, 40, pictured, claimed they were persecuted at home so flew to Britain with their family begging the Home Office to give them food and shelter in Manchester.

Illegal immigrant who tried to rape teenager as she walked home alone on footpath at 2am is jailed after she filmed him during the assault
25/04/17
Bangladesh-born Ashraf Miah, 34, was so desperate to rip off is 18-year-old victim's clothes, he didn't realise she was filming him during the attack in Thanet, Kent.

'Fraudsters stole £1.1m from taxpayer-funded immigrant fund because the Home Office didn't have the resources to check whether applications were legitimate or not'
19/04/17
Mohammed Chaudhari, his sister Suraiya Alam, and Victoria Sherrey allegedly raked in cash from schemes promoting 'integration' using applications from their business in Birmingham.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Last UK Resident to be Freed from Guantanamo after 13 Years

2015-09-26

[AnNahar] Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, is to be released by U.S. authorities to Britannia after over 13 years at the military prison, officials said Friday.

Saudi-born Aamer is alleged to have been a key British-based recruiter and financier for the al-Qaeda murderous Moslem network and purportedly worked for the late Osama bin Laden
... who doesn't live anywhere anymore...
in Afghanistan, according to U.S. military documents.

Aamer's lawyer Clive Stafford Smith said that his client, who was captured in Afghanistan in 2001, would probably not be released until the end of next month.

The move comes as President Barack Obama
I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money...
struggles to honor a six-year-old pledge to close the facility before leaving the White House in 2017.

"We have been notified by the U.S. government that it has decided to release Shaker Aamer to the UK," a British government front man said.

Aamer was captured in Tora Bora in northern Afghanistan in December 2001 before being transferred to Guantanamo in Cuba in February 2002, where he has been held ever since.

Stafford Smith called word of his release "great news, albeit about 13 years too late."

He added: "They only just gave notice to Congress, so that means that without robust intervention, Shaker and his family have to wait until October 25th at the earliest for their reunion."

Reprieve, a London-based human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
charity founded by Stafford Smith, said Aamer was first cleared for release in 2007.

A U.S. defense official speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
said the decision to release him had been taken "taking into consideration the robust security assurances" provided by Britannia about how the transfer would take place.

Neither side gave any details of what would happen to Aamer after he returns to Britannia.

- Cause celebre -
Obama signed an order to close the top-security facility in 2009 but has struggled to do so in the face of opposition in Congress and other countries reluctant to take in one-time terror suspects.

Some 114 detainees remain in the prison opened to hold terror suspects following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Amid pressure for Aamer's release from MPs, newspapers and celebrities including Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, Prime Minister

David Cameron
... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
raised the case with Obama when he visited the White House in January.

Aamer was born in Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
in December 1968 and lived in the United States before settling in Britannia, where he married and became a resident in 1996. He and his wife have four children who live in London.

Reprive says he was volunteering for a charity in Afghanistan when he was captured in 2001.

Some supporters suggest the reason he has been held so long at Guantanamo is because he may have witnessed the torture of others.

A medical examination ordered by his lawyers in December 2013 revealed Aamer was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, as well as migraine headaches, asthma and kidney pain.

Moazzam Begg, who was held for nearly three years at Guantanamo, said Aamer would struggle to rebuild his life.

"He's going to have a massive fight on his hands," Begg told BBC television.

"No amount of therapy and so forth will be able to replace those years. I think this will be a harder struggle for Shaker to deal with than the actual imprisonment."

Link

Britain

British 'Human Rights Group' Calls Jihadi John Suspect 'Beautiful Young Man'

2015-02-27

[BREITBART] A Human Rights group founded by a former Guantanamo Bay detainee turned activist Moazzam Begg has blamed British foreign policy and the security services for 'Jihadi John' beheading seven hostages as an executioner and propagandist working for the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
.

The notion that the murderer known as Jihadi John, now thought to be born Kuwati-born Mohammed Emwazi, might solely responsible for his actions was questioned by the Cage group today. The organization have instead published a blog claiming to have been consulted by the Washington Post in the lead up to their revelation of his identity, and have placed the responsibility for the murders of seven foreigners captured by the Islamic State on the British government.

Link

Britain

UK Drops Terror Charges against Ex-Guantanamo Detainee

2014-10-02

[AnNahar] British prosecutors on Wednesday dropped seven terror charges against former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg relating to the conflict in Syria.

Offered to spy on his fellows for the Crown? How very public spirited of him, to be sure.

The 45-year-old has been in jug since March awaiting a trial, which was due to start on Monday, but is now expected to walk free following his formal acquittal.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) made the dramatic announcement during a pre-trial review at the Old Bailey court in London, where Begg was appearing via video-link from the high security Belmarsh prison.

"The prosecution have recently become aware of relevant material and in light of which, after careful and anxious consideration, have reached the conclusion that there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction in this case," prosecuting lawyer Christopher Hehir said.

In response, Judge Alan Fraser Wilkie said: "On the indication of the Crown offering no evidence verdicts of not guilty should be entered."

Begg was tossed in the calaboose
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
in February at his home, accused of providing terrorist training between October 2012 and April 2013, and funding terrorism between July and August 2013.

His arrest caused headlines because of his high profile, and police conceded that questions were now going to be asked about why he was charged in the first place.

Born in Britannia, Begg fought in Bosnia in the 1990s and moved with his family to Afghanistan in 2001.

He was detained in Pakistain in January 2002 and spent nearly a year at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, before being sent to the notorious U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba until his release without charge in January 2005.

Returning to Britannia, he became director of a human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
organization, CAGE, and a vocal critic of the rights of those detained under the so-called "War on Terror".

After the Arab Spring, he visited Syria twice, as well as Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, to conduct what he said were investigations into the British government's role in human rights violations, according to CAGE.

His lawyer Ben Emmerson said he made no secret of his visits to Syria but was not guilty of terrorism.

"Mr. Begg did not train anyone for the purposes of terrorism as defined in the 2001 act," Emmerson told the court.

"Mr. Begg says he was involved in training young men to defend civilians against war crimes by the Assad regime."

Link

Britain

Student in English Court on Syria Terror Charge

2014-03-05

[An Nahar] A 20-year-old student appeared in an English court on Tuesday charged with aiding terrorism in Syria.

Mouloud Tahari is the third person charged in the investigation alongside his mother and former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg.

All three were incarcerated
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
last week in England's second city of Birmingham.

Tahari spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth when he appeared at a London court.

He was remanded in jug to appear at the Old Bailey central criminal court on March 14 with his mother, Gerrie Tahari, and Begg, who were charged over the weekend.

Begg, who spent three years at the U.S. detention camp in Cuba before being released without charge in 2005, is accused of providing terror training and funding terror abroad.

Tahari and his mother are accused of being involved in a terrorist funding arrangement.

No plea was entered at Tuesday's hearing. Tahari's lawyer Gareth Peirce said outside court that he denied the charge and would therefore plead not guilty.

A growing number of young people from European countries are facing legal charges over going to fight in Syria, where a civil war is raging involving

Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Trampler of Homs...
's forces, rebels and Islamist fighters.

Britannia too has seen a major increase in Syria-related arrests in recent months. Begg is the first former Guantanamo detainee to be arrested in Britannia in connection with Syria.

Eight men aged between 29 and 43 have also been arrested as part of an alleged charity fraud in which police believe money intended to help victims of the Syrian conflict could have been used for terror or criminal activities.

They arrests came after after cash totaling over $75,000 (almost 55,000 euros) in pounds sterling, dollars and euros was seized at the southeastern English port of Dover in December 2012, police said.

"We are working with our partners around the country to ensure money intended to help those in need in Syria is not used for criminal activity or in the terrorist arena," said Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Hogben.

Link

Britain

Moazzam Begg Faces Syria Terrorism Charges in UK

2014-03-02

[An Nahar] Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg

... see here and here for articles in the Rantburg archive...

appeared in court in London on Saturday charged with providing terrorist training and funding terrorism in Syria.

The 45-year-old from Birmingham in central England indicated he would plead not guilty to the charges and was remanded in jug until the next hearing on March 14.

Begg, who was jugged
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
on Tuesday at his home, spent three years at the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay on Cuba before being released without charge in 2005.

He has since become an outspoken critic of the so-called "war on terror" and is outreach director of Cage, a British group which campaigns for detainees' rights.

... also pet of jihad-loving Amnesty International, the BBC, and the UK literary set.

Begg appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court alongside a 44-year-old woman, Gerrie Tahari, also of Birmingham, who is charged with facilitating terrorism overseas.

Tahari, who was also arrested on Tuesday, denied the charge and was remanded in jug until March 14.

Two men arrested on the same day, aged 20 and 36, remain in police custody on suspicion of facilitating terrorism overseas, West Midlands Police said.

Begg moved to Afghanistan with his wife and three children in 2001 but fled to Pakistain after the U.S.-led invasion to topple the Taliban after the September 11 attacks.

He was detained in Islamabad as an "enemy combatant" in February 2002 and taken to the Bagram prison in Afghanistan and then Guantanamo.

Link

Britain

British Arrest Ex-Guantanamo Man on Syria 'Terror' Grounds

2014-02-26

[An Nahar] Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg is among four people tossed in the calaboose
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
in Britannia on Tuesday on suspicion of Syria-related terror offenses, police said.

Begg, 45, was arrested on suspicion of "attending a terrorist training camp and facilitating terrorism overseas", said West Midlands Police.

Begg was held in Guantanamo Bay, the detention camp at a U.S. naval base on Cuba, for nearly three years after being arrested in 2002. He was released without charge in 2005.

On Tuesday, he was among four people arrested at their homes in Britannia's second city of Birmingham, central England, "on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offenses".

A 44-year-old woman and her son aged 20 were held on suspicion of facilitating terror abroad, as was a 36-year-old man at a separate address.

"We can confirm that Moazzam Begg was arrested," a West Midlands Police spokeswoman said.

"We are confirming this name as a result of the anticipated high public interest to accredited media.

"This is an arrest, not a charge, and... our naming does not imply any guilt."

The three homes were being searched by officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, while vehicles and electronic equipment were being removed for forensic analysis.

"All four arrests are connected," said Detective Superintendent Shaun Edwards, the WM CTU head of investigations. "They were pre-planned and intelligence-led."

The suspects were being held at a cop shoppe in the Birmingham area.

Link

Britain

Top UK charities give £200,000 to al-Awlaki supporters

2010-11-07

Cageprisoners, a self-styled human rights organisation, has a long association with Anwar al-Awlaki, who was last week accused of being one of the figures behind the terrorist plot to blow up cargo planes which saw a powerful device defused at East Midlands Airport.

The Islamic preacher, based in Yemen, was invited to address two Cageprisoners' fundraising dinners via video link, one last year and one in 2008.

The group has now told its backers that it no longer supports the cleric and that it "disagreed" with him over "the killing of civilians". But an examination of the Cageprisoners website last week suggested that its support for the cleric was as strong as ever.

Cageprisoners was set up to lobby on behalf of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay and those monitored under control orders in the UK.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that it is being funded by the Joseph Rowntree Trust, a Quaker-run fund set up by the chocolate-maker and philanthropist a century ago, and The Roddick Foundation, a charity set up by the family of Anita Roddick, the Body Shop founder, after her death three years ago.

Fire the executive teams of the charities, and look closely into the members of the boards of directors.

In its website, recently re-branded with some of the charities' cash, Cageprisoners carries more than 20 articles about al-Awlaki, describing him as an 'inspiration' and casting doubt on the evidence he is involved in terrorism.

Yet despite the heads of both MI5 and MI6 saying Awlaki uses the internet to foment terrorism, the Cageprisoners website also contains video messages from the American-born radical.

Cageprisoners - a not for profit company - is headed by Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, and also employs Feroz Ali Abbasi, another detainee freed from the controversial US base.

A pity Gantanamo won't take them back, but this means England can lock 'em up instead.

As recently as last month its website highlighted claims by Yemeni politicians that they had "never been given evidence against [Awlaki]".

Link

International-UN-NGOs

Senior official quits Amnesty International

2010-04-22

A senior official at Amnesty International quit the human rights group this month after raising an alarm over its ties to a former Guantanamo Bay detainee and what she describes as his pro-jihad group. Gita Sahgal, who headed the gender unit at Amnesty's office in London, said she was especially worried about Moazzam Begg and Cageprisoners' support for "jihad in self-defense" and radicals such as Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born Yemeni cleric who is suspected of having ties to al Qaeda.

The Obama administration has taken the unusual step of approving the targeted killing of Mr. al-Awlaki.

Ms. Sahgal said the views of Mr. Begg and Cageprisoners do not trouble Amnesty's senior leadership. "They have stated that the idea of jihad in self-defense is not antithetical to human rights; and have explained that they meant only the specific form of violent jihad that Moazzam Begg and others in Cageprisoners assert is the individual obligation of every Muslim," she said in a statement on leaving Amnesty.

In a phone interview from London with The Washington Times, Ms. Sahgal said Mr. Begg had gained "enormous legitimacy" from his association with Amnesty.

Susanna Flood, a spokeswoman for Amnesty International, said none of the information provided by Ms. Sahgal persuaded the group to cut its ties with Mr. Begg. "Nothing that we have heard to date from Gita Sahgal makes us believe that we should have disowned the relationship we have had with Moazzam Begg," Ms. Flood said.

Mr. Begg, a British citizen, was running a school for girls in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime. He was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and held as an "enemy combatant" at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, between 2003 and 2005.

"Just as his detention without trial in Guantanamo was not justified, his politics and the dangers of legitimizing him by giving him greater visibility and respectability should not be justified either," Ms. Sahgal said.

Before traveling to Afghanistan, Mr. Begg owned a bookshop, Maktabah al-Ansar in Birmingham, United Kingdom, where a best-selling author was Abdullah Azzam, a mentor of Osama bin Laden. The bookstore also published a jihad manual by Dhiren Barot, a convicted terrorist serving a life sentence in Britain.

Ms. Sahgal first raised a red flag about Amnesty's ties to Mr. Begg and Cageprisoners in 2008. "If, in spite of internal opposition, the senior leadership heard nothing to persuade them to cut the link, they seem to have no one who has any analysis of those linked to al Qaeda formations and the violence and discrimination that they are promoting. This is extremely disturbing," she said.

Ms. Flood said there was no formal relationship among Amnesty International, Mr. Begg and Cageprisoners. She described Mr. Begg as an "effective spokesperson" for the rights of detainees.

Cageprisoners declined to comment.

The group describes itself as a "human rights organization that exists solely to raise awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the War on Terror."

Mr. Begg has posted a statement on Cageprisoners' website addressing questions about his ties to Mr. al-Awlaki. He said Cageprisoners had campaigned for Mr. al-Awlaki when the cleric was detained without trial in Yemen in 2006. "Cageprisoners never has and never will support the ideology of killing innocent civilians, whether by suicide bombers or B-52s, whether that's authorized by Awlaki or by [President] Obama. Neither will we be forced into determining a person's guilt outside a recognized court of law," Mr. Begg said.

Link

International-UN-NGOs

Amnesty International and jihad

2010-04-15

Amnesty International defines itself as "a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all." So why is the organization working hand-in-glove with one of the Taliban's most notorious defenders That's a question serious human-rights campaigners are asking themselves in light of Amnesty's curious collaboration with Moazzam Begg. Mr. Begg is a British citizen and former Guantanamo detainee who, following his release in 2005, wrote a memoir and became director of a group called Cageprisoners, which Amnesty calls a "leading human rights organization."

In his memoir, Mr. Begg acknowledges that he moved to Afghanistan in the summer of 2001 to "live in an Islamic state . . . free from the corruption and despotism of the rest of the world." He added that "the Taliban were better than anything Afghanistan has had in the past 25 years."

Such views alone might have at least given Amnesty pause before it decided to offer him speaking platforms and bring him along to a meeting at 10 Downing Street. It certainly raised questions for Gita Sahgal, until recently the head of Amnesty's Gender Affairs Unit, who was suspended from her job earlier this year for opposing the organization's links to Mr. Begg and Cageprisoners. Ms. Saghal left her job for good on Friday, saying in a statement posted on the Internet that Amnesty has "made a mockery of the universality of rights."

Ms. Saghal's objections have been joined by nearly 2,000 others, many of them leading human-rights campaigners, who have put their names to a petition defending her and denouncing Amnesty's cooperation with Mr. Begg. More remarkable, however, has been Amnesty's defense of its work with Mr. Begg.

In a letter to the petitioners, Amnesty Secretary General Claudio Cordone praised Mr. Begg for advocating detainee rights "within the same framework of universal human rights standards that we are promoting." For good measure, Mr. Cordone added that Mr. Begg's belief in "jihad in self-defense" is not necessarily "antithetical to human rights."

In an email to us, Mr. Cordone insisted that Amnesty "does not now and has never supported any form of jihad," and that Mr. Begg and his group "condemn all attacks on civilians." That's nice to know, even if the concept of "defensive jihad" has been previously used by al Qaeda and the Taliban to justify the beading of "apostates" and the public lashing of women. As Ms. Saghal points out, "Adherence to violent jihad, even if it indeed rejects the killings of some civilians, is an integral part of a political philosophy that promotes the destruction of human rights generally."

None of this should be hard to grasp. Still, it's a pity that a group that was born to give voice to the victims of oppression should now devote itself to sanitizing the oppressors. The novelist Salman Rushdie, among the signatories of the petition, put it well when he said that "Amnesty and Begg have revealed, by their statements and actions, that they deserve our contempt."

See also:
If you support Amnesty International STOP

Link

International-UN-NGOs

Amnesty International blasted for 'defensive jihad' comments

2010-04-06

A simmering dispute over collaboration between Amnesty International and a former Guantanamo Bay detainee with Taliban sympathies has heated up after a senior Amnesty official argued that defensive jihad' is not antithetical to human rights.

A trio of South Asian women's rights campaigners expressed dismay at the prospect that Amnesty International would not unequivocally condemn the defensive jihad' concept. If this is the official position of the world's leading human rights organization, this would gravely undermine the future of the human rights movement,' said Amrita Chhachhi, Sara Hossain and Sunila Abeysekera in a letter to Amnesty Secretary-General Claudio Cordone.

It is the argument of defensive jihad' that the Taliban uses to legitimize its anti-human rights actions such as the beheading of dissidents, including members of minority communities, and the public lashing of women,' they said.

Chhachhi is a senior lecturer in women's and gender studies at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Hossain is a Bangladesh Supreme Court advocate, and Abeysekera is a veteran Sri Lankan human rights campaigner. Their letter to Cordone is the latest development in a controversy, which erupted in February when Amnesty suspended a senior staffer, Gita Sahgal, after she publicly questioned the wisdom of the organization being associated with British Muslim radical, Moazzam Begg.

Begg was arrested in Pakistan in early 2002, and Pentagon officials said later he had undergone terrorist training in Afghanistan. He was held at Bagram air base and then at Guantanamo Bay, until President Bush ordered his release in 2005. Through his U.K.-based organization, Cageprisoners, Begg has become a prominent campaigner on behalf of war on terror detainees.

Sahgal has described him as Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban,' and strongly opposed Amnesty's decision to share campaigning platforms with Cageprisoners. In February she went public with her criticism, telling London's Sunday Times, As a former Guantanamo detainee it was legitimate to hear [Begg's] experiences, but as a supporter of the Taliban it was absolutely wrong to legitimize him as a partner.'

(In a separate statement around the same time, she wrote, Amnesty has created the impression that Begg is not only a victim of human rights violations but a defender of human rights.')

Sahgal was quickly suspended by A.I., a move that prompted Chhachhi,, Hossain and Abeysekera to initiate a petition supporting her and challenging Amnesty's decision to work with Begg. The petition drew support from leading human and women's rights advocates around the world, many of whom would normally fall into the category of Amnesty allies and supporters.

In response, Cordone sent the petition drafters a letter defending Amnesty's decision to work with Cageprisoners. As one of the first released Guantanamo Bay detainees, he said, Begg speaks powerfully from personal experience about the abuses there.' Cordone then added, Now, Moazzam Begg and others in his group Cageprisoners also hold other views which they have clearly stated, for example on whether one should talk to the Taliban or on the role of jihad in self-defense. Are such views antithetical to human rights? Our answer is no, even if we may disagree with them'

Chhachhi, Hossain and Abeysekera called that assertion shocking.' The call for defensive jihad' is a thread running through many fundamentalist and specifically salafi-jihadi' texts. It is mentioned by Abdullah Azzam, mentor of Osama bin Laden, and founder of [Pakistani terror group] Lashkar-e-Toiba,' they said in their reply to him, a copy of which was made available late last week.

It has been shown that defensive jihad' results in indiscriminate attacks on civilians, attacks which are disproportionate and attacks which are targeted for the purpose of discrimination such as those on schools, shrines and religious processions.'

Link

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