The Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic law in Europe

By Lorenzo Vidino

Over the last few days various contributors to the CT Blog have debated the real aims of the Muslim Brotherhood, especially in the West. Another indication of what the Ikhwan really want came just a few days ago from Sweden, where the country’s largest Muslim organization, the Brotherhood-linked Sveriges Muslimska Förbund (SMF), published a serious of demands addressed to all Swedish political parties (note the text-in Swedish only- “we demand,” not “we ask” or “we suggest”). Among its many demands, SMF stated Swedish Muslims should be given time off work for Friday prayers and Islamic holidays and that imams should approve all divorces between Muslim couples. Basically, SMF is asking for a partial introduction of sharia law in Sweden and the creation of a separate legal system for Swedish Muslim, something politicians from all sides of the Swedish political spectrum and moderate Muslim organizations have immediately condemned as completely unacceptable.

The Swedish case is hardly unique, but mirrors the demand of Brotherhood-linked organizations throughout Europe. For example, in Germany, the Islamische Gemeinschaft Deutschland (IGD), the country’s largest Muslim organization, has stated in its official publication Al Islam (here, page 48): “In the long run, Muslims cannot be satisfied with the acceptance of German family, estate, and trial law. … Muslims should aim at an agreement between the Muslims and the German state with the goal of a separate jurisdiction for Muslims.” In Great Britain, the UK Islamic Mission, has the stated goal of conducting a “continuous campaign for the establishment of Muslim family laws,” and to “establish Islamic social order in the United Kingdom in order to seek the pleasure of Allah.”

The Ikhwan organizations of Europe follow the teachings of Sheik Yusuf al Qaradawi, who outlined the methods that these organizations should follow in order to achieve their goal of establishing sharia in Europe in his book Priorities of the Islamic Movement in the Coming Phase. In spite of the European Brothers’ pro-integration public declarations, Qaradawi urges them: “Try to have your small society within the larger society…Try to have your own ‘Muslim ghetto.’” Qaradawi clearly sees the role that the Ikhwan organizations would play in creating these separated Muslim communities, running the mosques, schools, and civic organizations that will shape the daily life of the desired “Non-territorial Islamic States in Europe,” as Reuven Paz calls them. Qaradawi also suggests that sharia law should govern the relations among inhabitants of these Muslim islands, affirming that Muslim minorities “should also have amongst them their own ulema and men of religion to answer their questions when they ask them, guide them when they lose the way and reconcile them when they differ among themselves.”

Unlike the Salafis, the Brothers use a cunning double-talk when dealing with Western elites, advocating integration and dialogue. Yet the plans of the two movements, two different faces of the same coin, are eerily similar. Abu Qatada, al Qaeda’s “ambassador” to Europe was clear about the mujaheddins’ goal: “Muslims’ target is the West. We will split Rome open. The destruction must be carried out by sword. Those who will destroy Rome are already preparing the swords. Rome will not be conquered with the word but with the force of arms.” This is how Qaradawi sees the same issue: “Islam will return to Europe as a conqueror and victor, after being expelled from it twice…I maintain that the conquest this time will not be by the sword but by preaching and ideology.” Different methods, but same goal. Are we sure the U.S. government should use the Brothers as partners in the dialogue with the Muslim world?

Steven Emerson: Iran Capable of Terrorist Attacks in U.S. Anytime

By Andrew Cochran

Steven Emerson discusssed the new Ayman al-Zawahri video tape and the Iranian danger yesterday on MSNBC. You can see the interview on the Investigative Project of Terrorism website. Here is the transcript:

ALEX WITT: Let’s get perspective on this from terrorism analyst Steve Emerson. Good morning you to, Steve.

STEVEN EMERSON: Good morning, Alex.

WITT: True? Is that true? Have they broken the back of the American military, the U.S. military over there, these suicide bombings?

EMERSON: I think that is more wishful thinking than actual fact. Certainly the insurgency and the suicide bombings have hurt, but I don’t think it has broken the back, no.

WITT: Okay. What about three messages in one week? Any kind of significance or concern to that?

EMERSON: No. It has sort of been the trifecta of Al Qaeda this week. I would say to you that the fact that they all felt emboldened to issue videotaped messages indicates that they feel secure in their environment right now and they are trying to rally the masses and probably trying to instigate immediate attacks against the United States and western forces.

WITT: So to that end then, Steve, have these messages generated any kind of chatter that could possibly point to a terror threat to the U.S.?

EMERSON: I am not aware of any chatter. Of course, intelligence might have picked that up. But at this point, they have basically been very protective in how they get their messages out and they don’t usually create the same type of chatter that might have been used or created two years ago when they were more careless about how they communicated with one another.

WITT: So then what is your sense? I mean just your gut reaction. You know this world pretty well. Do you think they are increasing chatter among themselves or do you think that maybe the inspiration particularly from Osama Bin Laden just isn’t all that pertinent to what they do on a day to day basis?

EMERSON: It is too soon to tell. Remember, the bombings in the Sinai occurred one day after the Bin Laden tape. Of course that took months to plan, but the timing may have been linked- and I emphasize, may have been linked- to the tape itself. I think that these are really rallying cries. They are encouragements. They are basically saying, “This is a green light. Go ahead and attack,” and we will see in the next few weeks whether in fact they have had an effect.

...Especially Given BoNY's History in Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

By Andrew Cochran

The Bank of New York's activities on behalf of LeT and IKK, as discussed in Evan Kohlmann's post, are inexplicable in light of its history of involvement with Russian money launderers and the Arab Bank. Just nine days ago, BoNY admitted to continued insufficient controls over money laundering, in violation of a 2000 agreement with the Federal Reserve and State of New York, arising from a celebrated Russian money laundering scheme. That agreement cost it $38 million in penalties. BoNY (along with other major NYC banks) has recently been pressured by the Treasury Department to cut certain corrrespondent banking ties, especially since Hamas on the PA elections, and BoNY ended a long-standing relationship with the Arab Bank after that bank was fined for funneling deposits to terrorists and closed its NYC office.

I'm mystified that an institution with BoNY's history would repeatedly jeopardize its reputation this way.

Why is the Bank of New York Collecting Donations for a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization?

By Evan Kohlmann

As my colleague Victor Comras has written about below, this week, the U.S. State Department finally took the step of naming the Pakistani organizations Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Idara al-Khidmat-e-Khalq (IKK) as banned derivatives of the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity known as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET). Last January, the Danish Institute of International Studies published a paper I wrote on the role of Islamic charitable groups in terrorist financing--including a lengthy discussion of LET, Jamaat-ud-Dawa and IKK. These organizations have a militantly anti-American agenda--and according to the U.S. Defense Department--provided direct assistance to Al-Qaida members fleeing Afghanistan in 2001.

Americans might be surprised to learn that--all along--the IKK has been collecting donations from inside the U.S. via the Wall Street branch of the Bank of New York (only steps away from the former site of the World Trade Center). The IKK's website advertised this arrangement openly in English: "FOR TRANSFER OF FUNDS IN US DOLLARS... Please transfer the amount on the routing as follows: To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK. ONE WALL STREET, NEW YORK. NY 10286, USA." Any funds collected by the Bank of New York were then routed on to an "Islamic Banking Account" held at Bank Alfalah Limited in Karachi, Pakistan. For IKK donors in Europe, a corresponding Euro routing system was also established, care of "Bayerische Hypo – und Veriensbank AG" in Munich, Germany.

It remains to be seen whether the Bank of New York will finally close up shop in its dealings with Lashkar-e-Taiba as a result of the latest State Department designation. This case is a reminder that interdicting international terrorist financing remains a major ongoing challenge for U.S. banking institutions and regulators.

Al Qaida targeting Fatah leaders?

By Olivier Guitta

Further confirmation of Al Qaida's expansion in Gaza which I talked about here, here and here, can be seen through the newly released fatwa of Al Tawhid and Jihad in Syria and Palestine, first reported by the Islamist paper Al Quds Al Arabi.

This group which pledges allegiance to Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi, and presents itself as the Al Qaida branch in Syria( i.e Syria and Lebanon) and Palestine, just issued its first fatwa. It calls for the slaughtering of some Fatah apostates including Mohamed Dahlan and Yasser Abed Rabbo. The Jerusalem Post confirmed today that leaflets with this fatwa were distributed in Gaza.

Dahlan in particular is taking these threats seriously and implied that Hamas might be behind this. Hamas of course denied. What is sure is that since Israel left Gaza last summer, Gaza has become a haven and heaven for terrorists of all kinds.

Pakistan Charity Jamaat-Ud-Dawa Added to Global Terrorist List, But Not Its Leaders

By Victor Comras

Last November American soldiers were working along side members of the Pakistan Charity Jamaat-Ud-Dawa to provide needed relief to the victims of the Pakistan/India earthquake. I wrote a blog at that time describing the role Jamaat was playing in this relief effort and their success in implanting themselves in the devastated regions. It was clear then that Jamaat was closely linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (aka Lashkar E-Tayyiba), an entity designated by the United Nations Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee, and the US Treasury for its support of al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. In fact, Jamaat was established by the same group that led Lashkar-e-Taiba in order to circumvent the sanctions measures that flowed from this designation. Yet, it took the Administration another six months to get around to confirming this linkage and to designating Jamaat as a successor/partner organization to Lashkar-e-taiba.

The State Department issued its notice of designation on April 27th, 2006 pursuant to Executive Order 13224 which blocks all property, and interests in property, of Jamaat-Ud-Dawa and another linked organzation, Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq, that are in the United States or the under the control of U.S. persons. Perhaps one reason for this delay was to allow Jamaat to carry out its important relief activities through the winter months. Cutting them off during this period of disaster relief might have proved counter-productive. But what is still surprising is that no action has yet been taken to designate Lashkar's founder, Hafiz Muhammad Sayeed, who is also the head of Jamaat ud-Dawa. As I pointed out in an earlier blog, holding the leaders responsible, and penalizing them, is even more important and would be a much more effective step then seeking only to close down the charities they run. Experience has shown that you can’t truly shut down these operations unless you also put their leaders and organizers out of business.

Lashkar-e-Taiba was founded in 1989 in the Kunar province of Afghanistan as the military wing of Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI), an Islamic fundamentalist organisation of the Ahle-Hadith sect in Pakistan. The MDI is based in Muridke near Lahore, Pakistan and is headed by Prof. Hafiz Muhammad Sayeed, who is also the Amir of the LeT. Its first presence in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was recorded in 1993 when 12 Pakistani and Afghan mercenaries infiltrated across the Line of Control (LoC) in tandem with the Islami Inquilabi Mahaz, a terrorist outfit then active in the Poonch district of J&K. Lashkar has established cooperative ties with religious militant groups throughout the middle east, southeast asia and in areas of the former soviet union. It is believed to have also been active in supporting the insurgency in Chechnya. The organization was designated as a terrorist group by the US Treasury Department in December 2001.. However, Pakistan, then a member of the UN Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee was able to forestall a UN decision to also designate the group. Lashkar was finally added to the UN’s consolidated al Qaeda designation list on May 2, 2005, after Pakistan’s tenure on the Al Qaeda Committee had ended.

Zawahiri Tape Transcript: "To the People of Pakistan"

By Evan Kohlmann

Perhaps the most interesting part of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri's newly-released video recording comes early in the introduction: a claim that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al-Qaida faction has executed no less than 800 suicide bombing attacks in Iraq over the last three years. The complete English transcript is below:

Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri - "To the People of Pakistan" - April 2006

"...Muslim brothers everywhere: peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. The first thing that I want to talk to you about is the third anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq. We praise Allah that three years after the Crusader invasion of Iraq, America, Britain and their allies have achieved nothing but losses, disasters and misfortunes. They have become embroiled in Iraq in an unenviable way, despite Bush and Blair's continuous lying. And these losses and misfortunes only happened with the sacrifices of the Mujahideen and their enthusiasm for death in Allah's path. The group Qaida al-Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers alone has carried out 800 martyrdom operations in 3 years, besides the sacrifices of the other Mujahideen, and this is what has broken the back of America in Iraq..."

Ayman al-Zawahri Continues Propaganda Offensive

By Andrew Cochran

The new 16-minute video tape by Al Qaeda Deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, entitled, "A Message to the People of Pakistan," is the third this week by Al Qaeda leaders, an unprecedented volume of bold propaganda. Our Contributing Experts will break down the tape and analyze it, as they have here this week for the Zarqawi and Bin Laden tapes:

Doug Farah: Zarqawi and bin Laden Tapes Show Growing al Qaeda Propaganda Strength

Bill Roggio: The Military & Propaganda Messages in Zarqawi's Tape and Zarqawi Releases Video Tape (Updated) and Osama bin Laden calls Baghdad the "Epicenter" of Jihad just as the Iraqi Political Stalemate is Resolved

Evan Kohlmann: Notes on the New Zarqawi Video

Steven Emerson: Bin Laden Trying to Rally Muslim Masses to Attack Civilians

Walid Phares: "Troubles" Behind the Zarqawi Video? and Bin Laden's "State of the Jihad" Speech (with the actual Arabic and translation) and New Bin Laden Tape: Ten Main Points

Zarqawi and Task Force 145

By Bill Roggio

The Army Times' Sean Naylor has a fascinating article on Task Force 145, which has replaced Task Force 626 and 121, and the hunt for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, which I have summarized below:

- Zarqawi was nearly captured in Yusufiyah by Special Operations Forces nine days prior to the release of his videotape. Segments of the Zarqawi's newly released video were uncovered, and Mr. Naylor intimates the insurgent preparing to fire a rocket and was subsequently killed by small arms fire (or more likely sniper fire) was preparing to fire a MANPADS surface-to-air missile.

- TF-145 is comprised of Army Delta Operators, Navy SEALs, U.S. Army Rangers, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the Air Force’s 24th Special Tactics Squadron, British Special Air Service, and British paratroopers. Left out are the myriad of intelligence assets likely assigned to TF-145. TF-145 is split up into four regional commands: West, North, South and Black.

- “The O-5 [Lieutenant Colonel] commander of each task force can authorize a raid without seeking TF 145 approval.” Operational tempo is high with over one raid per day being conducted per command, sometimes even higher.

Kenneth Conboy Joins Us As a Contributing Expert

By Andrew Cochran

Kenneth Conboy, nothed author, expert on Southeast Asian terrorism, and Country Manager for Risk Management Advisory in Indonesia, joins us today as a Contributing Expert. Mr. Conboy is responsible for all Indonesian operations for RMA Indonesia, in which capacity he manages risk and security management projects and confidential investigations spanning Indonesia and neighboring countries. Prior to moving to RMA Indonesia, he was Southeast Asian policy analyst and Deputy Director for the Asian Studies Center in Washington, DC, and wrote research papers for the U.S. Congress on U.S. security and economic relations with the countries of Southeast Asia.

Mr. Conboy is the author of 15 books on Southeast Asia and intelligence operations, including The Second Front: Inside Asia’s Most Dangerous Terrorist Network about Jemaah Islamiyah, just released. He has had numerous articles published in such newspapers as "The Wall Street Journal," "The Asian Wall Street Journal" and "The Washington Times." He has been frequently quoted in dozens of news outlets around the world, including "The New York Times," the Associated Press, and CNN.

Links to New State Department Terrorism Report and Tape Transcripts Now in "CT Library"

By Andrew Cochran

One of the features we offered when we opened in January 2005 is a "Counterterrorism Library" with important laws, studies, primary source documents, and important releases by our Contributing Experts. Click on the "CT Library" link in the "Navigation" box in the left sidebar to access it. I've now posted the links to (a) the 2005 "Country Reports on Terrorism," released today by the U.S. State Department (see Michael Kraft's post about this); (b) the transcript of the Bin Laden audio tape released April 23, and (c) the transcript of the Zarqawi video tape released April 27.

Sistani Rejects Militias, COIN in Iraq

By Bill Roggio

Resolving Iraq's militia problem has become a high priority for the Iraqi government and the Coalition. The delay in appointing a new government is directly related to the various political party's fear that former Prime Minister Jaafari was too close to Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia, and would not reform the police forces believed to be infiltrated with militia members. Jawad al-Maliki, the prime minister designate, has vowed to dismantle the militias by integrating them into the security forces. The proof will be in his nominations for the critical posts of Defense and Interior.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the senior Shiite leader in Iraq, has also denounced the influence of militias, "Weapons must be in the hands of government security forces that should not be tied to political parties but to the nation... The first task for the government is fighting insecurity and putting an end to the terrorist acts that threaten innocents with death and kidnapping." Colonel Austin Bay reminds us of Sistani's reluctance to interfere in politics, but has had to do so in order to guide the Iraqi political process forward. Most recently he has called for calm after the destruction of the Dome of the Golden Mosque in Samarra and quietly pushed Jaafari to withdraw his nomination for prime minister.

Sadr has so far rejected the calls to disarm, and in an interesting turn of events, the Washington Post's Jonathan Finer reports Sadr "has sent at least two companies, each with about 120 fighters" to the volatile city of Kirkuk. Sadr has no base of support in the city, which is largely dominated by Kurdish dominated units of the Iraqi Army.

While the government works to bring the militias to heel, the Coalition and Iraqi forces continue to conduct counterinsurgency operations in the region in and around Baghdad. Insurgents targeted and killed the sister of Iraqi Vice President Mayson Ahmed Bakir al-Hashimi. Hashimi's brother was killed in Baghdad in mid-April. Iraqi commando forces have killed Hamid al-Takhi, al-Qaeda's commander in Samarra. In Baqubah, the Iraqi Army fended off two major attacks, and killed and captured dozens of insurgents in the ensuing fight. Multinational Forces - Iraq breaks down the fighting:

Great Propaganda No Substitute for Real Victories

By Andrew Cochran

I agree with Doug Farah that the Al Qaeda propaganda machine is rolling at top speed. But sooner or later, they have to win something in Iraq - anything - and they haven't won anything real in Iraq for a long time. The same people who assert that we didn't have enough boots on the ground to control Iraq from the outset (and I count myself in that crowd) have to apply the same standard of strategic success or failure to Al Qaeda in Iraq and Sunni insurgents. Where are their victories? What do they really control for any length of time? What cities fly their flag? Killing people and blowing up infrastructure are not "victories." Right now, I don't see Zarqawi and the MSC really running anything anywhere in Iraq, they haven't for months, and a fancy tape can't change that military fact. Maybe that's why, as Bill Roggio said, "Zarqawi is shown leading the planning session, but there is no video of him actually leading and conducting a strike." Maybe he can't.

Additionnal info on the potential SDGT working in Congress

By Olivier Guitta

Here is some additionnal info to my post and the article I cowrote with my colleague Ilan Weinglass.
I am posting here a portion of the writeup we transmitted to the US Treasury last month regarding the potential Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity Mustafa Khalfi.
Khalfi is currently working among others for Congressman Jim Mc Dermott, famous for his 2002 Baghdad trip expressing support to Saddam Hussein.

Mustafa Khalfi’s Connections to Terrorism

Purpose of this dossier: To show that Mustafa Khalfi has links to Specially Designated Global Terrorist entities (SDGTs), and should not have been allowed to enter the U.S., let alone work at the US Congress because there is a prima facie indication that he should be designated a SDGT.

Mustafa Khalfi:

· Mustafa Khalfi is the editor of the Moroccan newspaper At-Tajdid, published by a Moroccan Islamist group known as the Mouvement de l’Unicité et de la Réforme (MUR).

· Khalfi is also a member of the Islamist Moroccan Parti de la Justice et du Dévelopement (PJD) .
· Khalfi is currently a Fulbright/American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow.

· As part of his fellowship, Khalfi is serving in Representative Jim McDermott’s (D-WA) Washington, D.C. congressional office.

At-Tajdid’s Connection to Interpal and the Union of Good:

· At-Tajdid has a link to the website of the “Union of Good” .

· Clicking on this link gives a choice of English or Arabic.

· Choosing “English” brings up a page on the Interpal website, stating “If you would like to make a donation click here,” with “click here” linked to http://www.interpal.org/web/101.htm . This statement is printed under the Union of Good logo. This is the only link on the web page.

· Choosing “click here” brings up the donation page of Interpal and apparently the Union of Good as a whole. This page contains the following message:
“IMPORTANT NOTE: Web pages relating to international donations are for individuals themselves to make personal donations to any of the participating charities. Any donation that is made to INTERPAL through this web page is distributed with the knowledge and approval of the other members of the Union for Good directly to the charities in Palestine that are implementing the work creation programmes.
This website is temporarily hosted by INTERPAL, London”

· Interpal is a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity (SDGT) since August 22, 2003, pursuant to executive order 13224.

Zarqawi and bin Laden Tapes Show Growing al Qaeda Propaganda Strength

By Douglas Farah

What is interesting about the new bin Laden and Zarqawi tapes, besides some of the analysis done by my colleagues on the Counterterrorism Blog, is the fact that al Qaeda has grown increasingly adept at getting its propaganda videos quickly enough to be relevant to current events. This is new, and shows increased capacity and increased interest in keeping their message out in front, even it it may hint at internal problems.

Any insurgent/terrorist/guerrilla group that wants to be taken seriously in the broader world must have a medium to reach that world. In El Salvador, the FMLN, one of the most successful of recent insurgent-guerrilla armies had Radio Venceremos, which came on every day for several broadcasts of an hour each. People knew when to tune in and receive the message. The FMLN knew how important that link was and spend blood and treasure to protect the station, improve it and cultivate a loyal following.

In contrast, the FARC in Colombia has had no reach outside its areas of direct control, now mostly the coca-growing regions of the country. In part as a result of this lack of communication, the FARC has made few inroads as a political entity in Colombia. Certainly that is not the whole reason-the wholesale assassination of its political allies has certainly played a role. But the FARC has no method of projecting itself into the broader political debate, it only has violence, and hence is widely reviled.

Al Qaeda, both in bin Laden and Zarqawi, seem to be focusing a great deal of time and resources on staying visible and talking to their followers or potential followers. My full blog is here.

COMING UP: ANNUAL STATE DEPARTMENT TERRORISM REPORT

By Michael Kraft

The State Department will release at mid-day Friday its annual report on global terrorism. The reports have touched off more than their share of controversy in past years but they provide a unique and useful portrait of the international terrorism situation during the previous year.

The “numbers game” – the tally of whether the number of terrorist attacks went up or down tends to dominate the press coverage and interest among those in the counterterrorism field. Advance leaks to the press indicate that the U.S Government terrorism analysts tallied more than 10,000 attacks in 2005, triple the number in 2004.

But to focus on numbers, which actually are contained in a separate companion report expected to be released at the same time, overlooks the more important aspects of the report.

Zarqawi Transcript

By Bill Roggio

CENTCOM provides a full transcript of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's videotape, titled "This is a Declaration to the People."

Small Steps in the Campaign Against the Abu Sayyaf

By Zachary Abuza

There have been two recent successes in the long-standing fight against the Abu Sayyaf in the Sulu archipelago in the southern Philippines. On 10 April Philippine troops announced that they killed an Abu Sayyaf commander, Amilhamja Ajijul, who allegedly headed the organization's urban terrorism unit, responsible for the 2005 Valentines Day triple bombings. He was also implicated in an October 2002 bombing in Zamboanga that killed a US Special Forces soldier.

Was Today's Suicide Bombing in Egypt Part of Planned Second Wave? (updated)

By Andrew Cochran

The newswires reported a twin suicide bombing outside of a multinational force base in Egypt, just 10 miles from the Israeli border near Rafah, in which only the suicide bombers died. But an attempt today by terrorists to cross the Karni border with a car bomb, which occurred just prior to the Rafah attack, is raising speculation among Palestinian security forces and in the Israeli press that the two events today were linked. The Karni border attempt was thwarted by Palestinian forces at that point, with an exchange of fire that wounded terrorist and Palestinian security personnel. A "large amount of explosives" were found in that car. "YNet News" reports this: "Palestinian security sources claim that there is a direct connection between the attack in Karni and Rafah. Palestinian security forces began investigating the two incidents, despite the fact that the second terror attack took place on Egyptian territory. A Palestinian source said that the PA was not ruling out the possibility that an extremist terrorist organization - one of al-Qaeda's offspring - is responsible for the two incidents. The source said that Palestinian security forces are continuing to scan the Karni area after the occupants of the vehicle, who escaped." And another "Ynet News" article quotes a "senior IDF official" saying, "We can't rule out that an internal Palestinian conflict may have caused the Palestinians to thwart the attack."

Moreover, "The Jerusalem Post" quotes an Egyptian Interior Ministry official as tying both events today to the Dahab attack: "The people who made the attack in Dahab and this attack are the same people. They are not al-Qaeda. They are Beduin. We don't know if they are all from the north." Another Israeli news source cites Egyptian sources for a report that Egyptian security forces have identified 3 Bedouins, two of whom traveled from Cairo the day before the bombing, as the suicide bombers who carried out Monday's attack.

So, were today's Karni and Rafah events a second wave planned by the Dahab terrorists to occur across the Sinai border against Palestinians and Israelis? UPDATE: The Egyptian Interior Minister goes even further, saying that this week's bombings, including today's events, were linked to the 2005 Sharm el-Sheik and 2004 Taba terror attacks. Quoting: "The information we have indicates that (the perpetrators) are Sinai Bedouin, and the latest operations are linked to the previous attacks."

The six degrees of al-Muhajiroun

By Jeffrey Cozzens

Evan Kohlmann's and Steven Emerson’s posts concerning the recent New York City demonstration of the Islamic Thinkers’ Society call to mind the involvement of other al-Muhajiroun-linked personalities in aiding and abetting the global jihad beyond the oft-discussed British suicide bombers of 2003, Hanif and Sharif. The recent trial in the United Kingdom of a group of British citizens accused of planning attacks in that country in 2004 sheds light on the former al-Muhajiroun’s under-researched and ambiguous role in the global jihad.

Muhammad Babar, a confessed member of UK and NY-based al-Muhajiroun networks since the early 1990’s, convicted al-Qa’ida affiliate and “star” witness in the UK trial, has labeled Omar Bakri Muhammad (OBM), the founder of the UK-based al-Muhajiroun, as one of his primary ideological mentors (the other being Abu Hamza al-Masri). Babar claimed that OBM was instrumental to his decision to emigrate from the United States to Afghanistan after 9/11 with the intent of aiding al-Qa’ida members and fighting against coalition forces. This move was very much in keeping with the ‘Covenant of Security’ theology often discussed by OBM, which stipulates emigration from the West prior to fighting against it.

It was allegedly in an al-Qa’ida-linked camp in Malakand, Pakistan, that Babar met the key defendants of the trial, supposedly aiding them in bomb-making and in attempts to smuggle explosives back into the UK. Interestingly, Babar has been tied to Muhammad Siddique Khan, the apparent ring-leader of the 7/7 London bombings. The sum of this information suggests not only tangential linkages between multiple plots in the United Kingdom but also portrays al-Muhajiroun as both a radicalizing agent, at one extreme, and an overseas logistical facilitator for attacks on the West at the other. Accusations that Omar Bakri Muhammad has started a camp in Lebanon for the further indoctrination of Western converts prior to their repatriation should therefore come as little surprise - and it should receive tremendous scrutiny from Western intelligence communities. Even if indirectly, the former al-Muhajiroun and its off-shoots have aided and abetted the global jihad more than previously believed, and it appears that these continue to do so, if only under different names and in different venues.

The Military & Propaganda Messages in Zarqawi's Tape

By Bill Roggio

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's 34 minute long video tape not only includes numerous political messages, as Dr. Walid Phares explains; but also contains information on al-Qaeda in Iraq's propaganda and military capabilities. Several of the military and propaganda aspects are covered below:

1) MANPADS. First and foremost, as Evan Kohlmann has noted, some of the terrorists standing guard during the scene in the desert are brandishing shoulder-fired surface to air missiles (MANPADS). While this indicates al-Qaeda in Iraq has this capability, very few Coalition aircraft have been shot down in Iraq. The likelihood here is Zarqawi's 'command element' has top priority in fielding these weapons systems.

2) Zarqawi and company are confident. There are a large number of al-Qaeda gathered in the desert, perhaps fifty to one hundred. Also a flat bed truck is pictured with a machine gun mounted on the back (this weapon system is known as a 'technical'). The location of the desert is unknown, but he is very likely operating far from Coalition forces. The location could be in any desert in Iraq, or possibly Syria, Jordan or Saudi Arabia. al-Qaeda in Iraq certainly was confident U.S. warplanes and surveillance platforms were not in the area.

3) Zarqawi's personal weapons. In each of the three different segments of the tape (speech, planning session, desert) Zarqawi is seen with three different weapons. All of the weapons look either new or well kept. The rifle next to Zarqawi in first scene is an AKSU-74 5.54mm assault rifle used by Russian Spetsnaz, paratroopers, tankers, and helicopter crews. This is the same rifle Osama bin Laden is seen with in his video tapes, and provides additional evidence that Zarqawi is modeling his insurgency after Osama bin Laden's glory days in Soviet Afghanistan, as Dr. Phares and Mr. Kohlmann have stated.

Notes on the New Zarqawi Video

By Evan Kohlmann

In the last few weeks, the sudden silence from Al-Qaida in Iraq gave rise to a wave of wild speculation over the whereabouts and condition of most wanted Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Comments from the son of Dr. Abdullah Azzam in Jordan--along with other similar rumors--caused some to doubt whether Zarqawi was still in charge. Today, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi issued his response to those skeptics, in the form of his first ever videotaped message carried to the world via the Internet. Aside from the content of Zarqawi's speech, there were a number of other important aspects to this video:

1.) Though Zarqawi refers frequently to his new coalition with Iraqi jihadists known as the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC), he nonetheless continues to identify himself as chief of "Al-Qaida's network in Mesopotamia." This is a further indication of how the MSC is more or less a propaganda front to mask activities actually being carried out by Al-Qaida.
2.) Video footage of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi reviewing his "troops" in Iraq bears striking resemblance to past videos filmed by Al-Qaida of Usama Bin Laden touring his training camps in Afghanistan. The similarity is so clear that it hardly seems coincidental. [SEE FIGURE 1]. There is increasing evidence that lessons drawn from the Afghan jihad served as the primary model for the development of Zarqawi's movement. Indeed, a recent press release from foreign fighters in Iraq emphasized how the early anti-coalition mujahideen had sought inspiration directly from the story of Bin Laden's struggle against Soviet forces at the legendary Al-Massada Camp in Afghanistan.
3.) The new Zarqawi video has also touched on the hot-button issue of mobile shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile launchers (MANPADS). While Zarqawi tours his fighters, other militants stand guard--including several armed with what appear to be Russian-made MANPAD systems. [SEE FIGURE 2]. This is the first hard evidence proving that Zarqawi's inner circle has access to these weapons, which pose a significant threat to commercial aircraft. In 2002, Al-Qaida tried and failed to shoot down an Israeli airliner over Kenya with a similar MANPAD system.

Click to view Figures 1 and 2

*UPDATE*: Edited excerpts of the new Zarqawi video are now available for download from Globalterroralert.com...

Trouble for Rep. Sue Kelly

By Douglas Farah

Rep. Sue Kelly, R-NY, an outspoken critic of Saudi practices of funding radical Islamist teachings and one of the Congressional leaders focusing on terror finance issues, had her State Department approval for an exchange program trip to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates yanked at the last minute. Niles Latham at the New York Post broke the story yesterday, but it has mostly been ignored elsewhere.

It is a passing strange since Kelly had asked for and received State Department approval to attend a similar conference the year before, which she did. Other Congressmen were granted permission to go to Qatar as part of the State Department exchange program. Kelly's office had alerted the State Department of her plans in February and planned an itinerary with Department personnel. Less than 48 hours before the trip, State Department lawyers told her the trip no longer met the criteria for approval.

Kelly had several strikes against her, despite being a Republican in a Republican administration because she has consistently placed terrorism issues at the center of bilateral and multilateral relations with nations in the Gulf region. It is uncomfortable for some, especially in the wake of the UAE ports debacle, but necessary. It would be criminal if the United States started censoring members of Congress the administration or Department of State did not agree with.

In addition to holding the Saudi kingdom's feet to the fire on their ficticious establishment of a functioning Financial Intelligence Unit and pressing for the UAE to finally crack down on the illegal flights of arms merchant Viktor Bout, Kelly has been quietly leading another fight that may have angered the State Department.

She had been pressuring the State Department and others to pressure Qatar to get rid of Interior Minister Abdullah bin Khalid al Thani, who reportedly befriended both Osama bin Laden and 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He features somewhat prominently in the 9-11 Commission report. My complete blog is here.

"TROUBLES" BEHIND THE ZARQAWI VIDEO?

By Walid Phares

New York, April 25, 2006

Zarqawi's new videotape comes one day after the Sinai's attacks and two days after Bin Laden's "state of the world Jihad" audiotape aired on al Jazeera. Many questions are fusing: Why now and is there a connection between the three events? What is the essence of Abu Mus'ab's message and why is he risking so high? Are there troubles behind the release of the video? In fact there are many levels of analysis and multiple dimensions. Here are some early points of reflection some of which were made on MSNBC this afternoon:

Zarqawi Releases Video Tape (Updated)

By Bill Roggio

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda's commander in Iraq, has released "the first [videotape] to contain a 'message'... U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News." The tape is titled A Message to the People. This is his first video without a mask and directly posted on internet, not released through Al Jazeera. Zarqawi “needed” to be seen. Fox News reports US officials are very confident the tape is authentic and this is indeed Zarqawi, he is still force to be reckoned with, and he appears healthy and is working with the Mujahideen Shura Council.

Here is a link to the full video, available for download, courtesy of Bare Knuckle Politics

Walid Phares comments at MSNBC on Zarqawi's videotape [paraphrased]: The decision on Iraq’s new PM is obviously not what Zarqawi wanted... this is the third event in 3 days and linked strategically if not logistically. Coordination is required on when to release tapes – each event takes time to prepare – the rumors of splits put pressure on him to end rumors – we will know more soon about Zarqawi's real status in iraq – he tried to provoke iraq political collapse and failed – now he wants a caliphate after US leaves – we are still waiting for someone to take responsibility for Egypt – so we’ll see if there are more events.

Zarqawi's tape follows yesterday's multiple bombings of a scubadiving resort in Dahab, Egypt, and this weekend's release "State of Jihad" audiotape from Osama bin Laden.

The full transcript is not yet available, but MSNBC provides an excerpt:

“Your mujahideen sons were able to confront the most ferocious of crusader campaigns on a Muslim state. They have stood in the face of this onslaught for three years.”

Reuters provides an additional quote:

"When the crusader enemy entered Iraq, he intended to control the Islamic nation and supported the Zionist state."

Al Jazeera quotes Zarqawi as saying:

"By God, America will be defeated in Iraq."

Athena at Terrorism Unveiled notes: “He is also wearing a suicide vest, which would corroborate statements by Sheikh Abu Omar al-Ansari, who met him in Iraq, that he wears this vest in order to "martyr" himself in this instance that Coalition forces (or angry Iraqis) come very close to apprehending him.”

The video contains three scenes of Zarqawi in various different settings:

"In the video, al-Zarqawi, who wears a beard and mustache, sat dressed in black, with an ammunition vest. An automatic rifle was propped against the wall to his right. He wore a black scarf wrapped on his head and around his neck, while the black flag of his group, al-Qaida in Iraq, was superimposed on the screen. In another scene, he was shown sitting on the floor with four other men, all wearing black masks. In a third scene, al-Zarqawi could be seen in a desert, holding a heavy automatic rifle as if ready to fire."

There has been specualtion Zarqawi is no longer the political leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. In February, the Mujahideen Shura Council appointed Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi its leader and Zarqawi stopped releasing statements.

Battles in the Afghan Provinces of Helmand and Kandahar

By Bill Roggio

The scene of recent fighting in Helmand and Kandahar Provinces, Click to Enlarge.

The fighting continues in the troubled southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. Today, CENTCOM reports two separate engagements in Helmand and Kandahar. The CENTCOM press release for the Helmand incident states U.S. air assets were used to strike at a team of four Taliban in the Lashkar Gah district of Helmand province. Two Hellfire missiles and one bomb were used in the attack. Three Taliban are reported killed in the attack and one escaped. The Taliban were "responsible for launching numerous attacks against Government of Afghanistan and Coalition forces including financing terrorist activities."

In Kandahar, Afghan police "fought a significant Taliban force in Mianashin, near Kandahar City." Three Taliban were killed and seven wounded, while one Afghan police officer was killed and six were wounded. The interesting part about this engagement is "Coalition forces were aware of the incident but did not take part." The Afghan police fought their own batle against the Taliban in their former stronghold.

Over the course of the last few months the province of Helmand has been the scene of heavy fighting between the Taliban and Afghan and Coalition forces. The problems began in early February, when intelligence reports indicated the Taliban was massing forces to strike at the British contingent deploying to the region. Days later, Afghan Army and police units, along with the U.S. military engaged Taliban forces in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand. The fighting resulted in a chase of Taliban forces from Helmand into Kandahar, and three Taliban commanders and over thirty two Taliban are known to have been killed. In mid-March, During an attack on an Afghan police post in Helmand province, the Taliban were beaten back, with two confirmed killed and "bloodstains on the ground that showed that a number of wounded Taliban had escaped the area." Taliban forces attacked a police post, and the the Taliban were beaten back, with two confirmed killed and "bloodstains on the ground that showed that a number of wounded Taliban had escaped the area." Towards the end of March, seven Taliban and one U.S. solder were killed during a strike against a unit of twenty Taliban. Helicopter gunships and air strikes were called in for support during this battle. A separate Taliban assault was smashed and thirty-two Taliban fighters were killed in the fighting.

Kandahar has also been a focal point of the Taliban's springtime offensive. The Taliban started earlier with three separate suicide attacks in Kandahar city and Spin Boldak in mid-January causing dozens of casualties. The suicide attack in Spin Boldak sparked an uncommon organized protest in Afghanistan. According to the BBC and other sources, the crowds protested with cries of "death to Pakistan, death to al-Qaeda and death to the Taliban." In February, another suicide attack was directed at police outpost in Kandahar, the former stronghold of the Taliban, and thirteen police were killed and eleven wounded. In March, fifteen Taliban were believed to have been killed at a border crossing at Spin Boldak, however the Pakistani government claims these were Pakistani citizens and not Taliban fighters. In mid April, forty-one Taliban were killed in firefight near Kandahar.

Steven Emerson: Law Enforcement Should Investigate Islamic Thinkers Society

By Andrew Cochran

In his post on April 21, Steven Emerson provided details of the outrageous slogans chanted at a rally in NYC of the Islamic Thinkers Society: "The mushroom cloud is on its way! The real Holocaust is on its way!" Steve discussed the rally and the Bin Laden audio tape on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" last night, during which Steve called for an investigation into the ITS. You can see the video of the interview on the IPT site (Windows Media), and here is the transcript:

HANNITY: Welcome back to HANNITY & COLMES. Last week, members of the New York-based Islamic Thinkers Society, they held a rally outside the Israeli consulate in Manhattan to support anti Israeli suicide bombers. Now, protestors held signs like this one and chanted the mushroom cloud is on its way, the real Holocaust is on its way. And today, a audio tape purportedly from Osama bin Laden asked his followers to join Arab militia groups in the Sudan and fight against a proposed UN peacekeeping force the region. Joining us now is the executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Steve Emerson is back with us. Steve, welcome back. This may seem -- I'm a big believer in free speech. I really am. You can't yell fire in a crowded theater. There are limits on speech. It is frightening to me if you hold up a sign that says a mushroom cloud is on the way and people are saying this about America, what should we do in terms of looking at people that would do that and investigating them in your view?

STEVEN EMERSON, INVESTIGATIVE PROJECT ON TERRORISM: Well, that's a good question. I don't think it should be at this point made criminal, but certainly I think it should be the basis of a preliminary investigation into the group. I mean I was asking a friend of mine in law enforcement about what we should do and whether he considers them a danger. And I said to him that it's just rhetoric at this point and he said "at this point." Their exhortations to carry out violence really provide investigation into these individuals who are chanting for suicide bombing as well as for a nuclear holocaust against Israel as well as attacks on the United States.

HANNITY: It is so incendiary. "A mushroom cloud is on its way," "the real holocaust is coming." Would it be wrong -- Wouldn't the American people look at signs like that and the viciousness of that and think it is a pretty good idea for law enforcement to say who are these people and we need to know more about them?

EMERSON: Absolutely. Look, I remember right before 9/11, we took video pictures of a rally calling for support of Osama bin Laden, it was in April of 2001, calling for jihad and that was not considered to be actionable and nobody could investigate. After 9/11, they could. In the same way this group should be investigated, because I believe they present a potential danger to the security of the United States.

Congressional Terrorism Hearings: Iraq, North Korea & Central Asia

By Andrew Cochran

A thin week for terrorism-related hearings this week in Congress - two on the status of Iraq, one on North Korea's illicit income, and one on U.S. policy in Central Asia. The North Korean income issue includes a tie to the old IRA through the indictment last year of Sean Garland, a "Official IRA" figure who was allegedly involved in passing counterfeit dollars on behalf of the regime. Garland jumped bail in December in the UK to avoid being extradited to the U.S. You can download the file with the hearing schedule here (Word file).

Attorneys for Alleged "Virginia Jihad Gang" Member Fail to Disqualify Evan Kohlmann

By Andrew Cochran

On September 16 of last year, Ali Asad Chandia of College Park, a Maryland suburb of Washington, was arrested and after being indicted with Mohammed Ajmal Khan. They were charged with "conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization." Both men were accused of being part of the "Virginia Jihad" gang that sought to support Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Pakistani-based terrorist organization. You can read more about the arrests and their links to the gang and LeT in my September 16-17 post about the arrests and indictments (with links to other sources).

Chandia attorneys recently moved to disqualify Evan Kohlmann as an "expert witness." The federal government, in its opposition to the motion, cited numerous details of Evan's history and experience - you can read it here (Word document). The judge dismissed the motion last Friday. The lawyers had also tried to disqualify him in the trial of Ali Al-Timimi, the spiritual leader of the "Virginia jihad gang," with the same result.

Anniversary of a Key Counterterrorism Law

By Michael Kraft

Today, April 24, is the 10th anniversary of the enactment of a major United States counterterrorism law that provided major new legal tools in the fight against international terrorism including making it illegal to provide material support to terrorists. This law provoked controversy at the time and a related material support provision in the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) is the subject of a new dispute over its unanticipated impact on refugees.

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) of 1996. (P. L. 104-132) was signed by President Clinton in a Rose Garden ceremony after a prolonged and convoluted passage through Congress.

Key features of the multi-faceted law, originally drafted by the Justice and State Departments in 1994, include provisions aimed at terrorist fund raising, the “Material Support” provisions (18 USC Section 2339A and 18 USC Section 2339B).

These provisions were a major step in the effort to take the offensive against terrorism funding – a campaign that accelerated after 9/11. The Act also was studied closely and some of its conepts were adopted by other countries.

According to Justice Department figures, 113 persons were charged and 12 were convicted under the material support chargesof AEDPA. Another 38 persons have pleaded guilty. The most recent related case involved Sami al-Arian, a University of South Florida professor who pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy to providing material support to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad after a jury failed to reach a verdict on a number of other counts.

Bombings at Egyptian Resort of Dahab Recall Sharm el-Sheikh Attacks (updated)

By Andrew Cochran

Last update at 10 pm ET. Three explosions Monday night rocked the Egyptian resort city of Dahab, 200 miles southeast of Cairo in the Sinai peninsula, at the height of the tourist season (early reports of four explosions not true). Reports disagree on the exact location of the bombs: a hotel cafeteria, a restaurant, and market area appear as the targets in many reports. Casualty report: 23 dead, 62 wounded. Israel's Ambassador to Egypt is quoted as saying that the blasts "were set off by pre-set time bombs and not by car bombs or suicide terrorists." Today is a national holiday in Egypt, and the resorts are packed. No group had claimed responsibility as of 9 pm ET.

Walid Phares comments on MSNBC: Must have been insiders in the hotels and a terrorist network in place in the area which planned the attacks. Egyptian security believes this was a complicated operation - Al Qaeda links are possible, but not certain.

Jerusalem Post: "(A) high ranking Israeli security official recently told the Jerusalem Post that the al-Qaida movement was operating a mere 30 kilometers south of Israel." Another Israeli article raises the Al Qaeda issue.

Just last week, Egyptian authorities arrested 22 men calling itself the "Victorious Group" and allegedly planning bomb attacks on tourist targets, a gas pipeline near Cairo and Muslim and Christian religious leaders.

Last year on July 22 (July 23 in Egypt), terrorists attacked the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. Egyptian authorities moved swiftly to arrest suspects in that case. We posted about that attack several times:

My July 22 running news summary of bombings which killed scores of tourists - includes links to stories about the 2004 attack there which killed 34 people.

Evan Kohlmann: "London, Taba, and Sharm el-Sheikh" on July 25 and "Egyptian Group With Apparent Zarqawi Link Claims Responsibility for Sharm el-Sheikh Bombings" on July 26.

Reuters notes that the two Sharm el-Sheikh attacks were on Egyptian holidays -- October 6 and July 23. "Monday's explosions coincided with the ancient spring festival of Shamm el-Nessim, when Egyptians head out of town."

Reuters pictures of bomb site

Osama bin Laden calls Baghdad the "Epicenter" of Jihad just as the Iraqi Political Stalemate is Resolved

By Bill Roggio

The threat of a full-scale civil war in Iraq has receded after the disparate political parties have come to agreement on the face of the new government. After months of deadlock over the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance's selection of Ibrahim Jaafari as Prime Minister, Jaafari reluctantly walked away from the nomination and the UIA selected Jawad al-Maliki. The Iraqi Parliament quickly convened on Saturday and nominated al-Maliki. Jalal Talabani (a Kurd) has been selected as President and Mahmoud al-Mashhadani as the Speaker of the Parliament.

Maliki has called for a national unity government and the integration of the militias into the security forces. The militias have become a main concern of the Coalition and Iraqi politicians, and the raid on Sadr's compound last month highlights the sensitivity of this issue. Maliki has one month to form a government, and his appointments for ministers of Interior and Defense

Just as the Iraqi parliament broke the political stalemate, Osama bin Laden released his latest speech. Walid Phares classifies bin Laden's speech as the "State of Jihad." Dr. Phares points out "the document provide guidelines and vision to the followers across the continents: A call for mega-terrorism and a fiery delivery of a bloody war in all directions. Not one single civilization and religion got away from Usama’s grapes of wrath: Muslim moderates, Shiites, Christian Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox; Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Atheists as well. Europeans, Chinese, Indians, Semites, Africans and others were all deciphered as Kuffars, infidels."

The early speculation in the blogosphere that bin Laden ignored Iraq wholesale has proven incorrect. Osama did address Iraq's place in al-Qaeda's plans and the country's importance in the global jihad. Last fall, Ayman al-Zawahiri stated Iraq is the central front in the war and referred to the country as "the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era." bin Laden agrees:

BIN LADEN'S "STATE OF JIHAD" SPEECH

By Walid Phares

One more time Al Jazeera pomotes an Usama Bin Laden speech. After airing portions of the Bin Laden audiotape al Jazeera posted large fragments of the “speech” on its web site. This was the longest version possible we were able to have access to. After careful reading, my assessment of the “piece” got reinforced: This is not just another audiotape or videotape of a renegade in some cave. Regardless of who is the speaker and his whereabouts, the 30 minutes long read statement is a declaration, probably as important as the February 1998 declaration of war against America, the Crusaders and their allies.

This is a “state of Jihad address” by a Terror-leader who projects himself as the supreme leader of all Salafi Jihadists in the world. The document provide guidelines and vision to the followers across the continents: A call for mega-terrorism and a fiery delivery of a bloody war in all directions. Not one single civilization and religion got away from Usama’s grapes of wrath: Muslim moderates, Shiites, Christian Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox; Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Atheists as well. Europeans, Chinese, Indians, Semites, Africans and others were all deciphered as Kuffars, infidels.

In two decades of Salafi and Khumeini rhetoric monitoring, I haven’t heard or seen a cross-infidel speech as the one aired by al Jazeera on April 23, 2006. There will be lots of ink and mega bites spent on its analysis for months and years to come, but here are the main points. Al Jazeera dubbed them: “The main axis of the speech.” المحاور الأساسية في خطاب بن لادن

The Iran Crisis and Counter Terrorism Will Make or Break the St. Petersburg G8 Summit

By Victor Comras

It looks like the Iran nuclear enrichment crisis, and counter-terrorism, will now definitely make their way onto the formal agenda for the July 15 – 17 St. Petersburg G8 Summit. Both topics were absent from the formal agenda originally proposed by President Putin. He had hoped to concentrate on Energy Security, Fighting Infectious Diseases, and Education. But, what better forum than the G8 Summit to hammer out a common understanding and an agreed policy to carry on the fight against terrorism and to put some weight behind nuclear nonproliferation. Alas, the last few G8 summits have not lived up to expectations re these topics. The results were high on intention, but less on real accomplishments.

Russian Presidential Envoy Anatoly Safonov announced April 20 that the summit will, in fact, discuss the struggle against terrorism, “notably the protection of energy facilities from the terrorist threat.” He also expects the Summit leaders to adopt a charter on cooperation with the business community in the struggle against terrorism. Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev also indicated April 21 that Russia would present a new draft on enhancing transportation security. But what about following up on the previous counter-terrorism initiatives undertaken by the G-8? The G8 leaders should seriously assess, and provide new impetus to, these initiatives, several of which have fallen short of their original goals. The Counter Terrorism Action Group (CTAG) was one of the important counter-terrorism initiatives that came out the 2003 Evian G8 Summit. It was suppose to engage the G8 countries directly in “building political will, co-ordinating capacity building assistance where necessary.” CTAG was, inter alia, also “to implement G8 demarches to countries that are not parties to all international counter-terrorism conventions and protocols to urge them to become parties and accelerate domestic implementation of required measures.” At the 2002 Kananaskis Summit and again at Sea Island, in 2004, the G8 leaders pledged to work together” to promote greater security of land, sea, and air transport, including cargo, to ensure safe, secure, efficient and reliable transportation world-wide.” While several key elements of the so-called SAFTI action plan have been implemented, several critical items lag. There are still serious problems involving the issuance of machine readable bio-data passports, and with regard to sharing passenger list information. Implementation of the very important Container Security Initiative also has slowed considerably.

Iran is also shaping up as a major issue for the St. Petersburg Summit. The US has made it clear that intends to push Russia hard on the Iran issue. US Under Secretary of State Nick Burns reportedly used last weeks G8 Political Directors Meeting to again stress the need for the G8 to take strong coordinated action to dissuade Iran from pursuing its enrichment program. The Italians have also indicated they want the G8 to focus on the Iranian Nuclear problem. At Evian, the G8 declared “ We will not ignore the proliferation implications of Iran's advanced nuclear program. We stress the importance of Iran's full compliance with its obligations under the NPT.” At Sea Island the G8 leaders proclaimed that they “remain united in our determination to see the proliferation implications of Iran's advanced nuclear program resolved. Iran must be in full compliance with its NPT obligations and safeguards agreement....We deplore Iran's delays, deficiencies in cooperation, and inadequate disclosures, as detailed in IAEA Director General reports.” And again at Gleneagles in 2005 the Summit leaders reiterated their determination to “resolve the proliferation implications of Iran's advanced nuclear programme”. It is essential, they said, that Iran “cooperate fully with IAEA requests for information and access, to comply fully with all IAEA Board requirements, and to resolve all outstanding issues related to its nuclear programme.” So far, Iran has not complied with any of these G8 demands.

This will be the first time that Russia will hold the chair, and host, the G8 summit. President Putin will be the voice of the Summit. Putin has portrayed himself as a hard liner and full partner in fighting international terrorism. Lets hope that he also lines up with his G8 colleagues to take steps now to ensure that Iran does not, and can not, develop or acquire nuclear weapons.

Steven Emerson: Bin Laden Trying to Rally Muslim Masses to Attack Civilians

By Andrew Cochran

Steven Emerson discussed the new Bin Laden audio tape today on the Fox News Channel and on MSNBC. You can see the Fox News interview video here and and the MSNBC video here. Here are the transcripts of the interviews:

Fox News Channel interview:

TRACE GALLAGHER: Steve Emerson is the Executive Director of the Investigative Project and counterterrorism analyst. Steve, what do you make of the latest tape?

EMERSON: I think it shows that Bin Laden is trying to reassert himself, make himself relevant. He hasn’t been heard of since January. But here is a clear, direct tape, an appeal to the Muslim masses to rise up, carry out jihad, and almost provide pre-justification for an attack that may be carried out civilians.

GALLAGHER: Scott McClellan coming out and saying, a little bit ago, that they have got Bin Laden on the run. Is there a way that we can use this tape to our advantage?

EMERSON: The bottom line is that his appeal to jihadist ideology is definitely resonating with a certain percentage of the Muslim population around the world. The question is what percentage? As Peter Hoekstra said this morning on Fox, we have to appeal to genuine Islamic moderates to come out against this kind of ideology. Can it be used against him? I think it could basically show the western world, and particularly the American public, that we still have a battle that we are fighting and it is [against] radical jihadism.

GALLAGHER: What do you make of the timing of these tapes. I know it takes a while for them to get these tapes to wherever he is, actually to Al Jazeera. Are they released, are these reactionary at all, do you think?

EMERSON: I think these are targets of opportunity. Obviously he feels secure enough now that he can risk or jeopardize his location by having these tapes released. Every time a tape is released there is a potential for walk-back or unraveling of the network used to get the tape to Al Jazeera. So he obviously feels secure enough to release the tape. On the other hand, he is on the run and U.S. intelligence believe that they have basically quarantined him to a particular area, in Waziristan.

Pakistan's Taliban Insurgency; Four Mid-Level al-Qaeda Operatives and Taliban Commanders killed in Past Week

By Bill Roggio

Clashes between Pakistani security forces and al-Qaeda and the Taliban continue in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. Yesterday, the Pakistani Army hit "suspected Taliban hideouts" with artillery barrages and helicopter strikes after security outposts in North Waziristan came under attack from Taliban fighters. Today in North Waziristan, "a paramilitary trooper and three tribesmen were killed on Sunday in a shoot-out in a restive Pakistani tribal region, as authorities tried to enforce a ban on carrying arms."

Pakistan remains in a largely reactionary posture in North and South Waziristan, while the Taliban continues to openly consolidate power. A Pakistani Taliban commander is openly recruiting jihadis to fight in Afghanistan while calling for further implementation of strict Shariah law, according to Pakistan's Daily Times. "'We are leaving for Afghanistan tomorrow, those who want to participate in Jihad can join us,' Asmatullah Shaheen told a gathering of more than 300 people in Jandola town, near the restive tribal region of South Waziristan, they said. Shaheen, 30, also announced a three-month extension on an Islamic edict he handed down last month stating that men in the conservative region should all grow beards."

Pakistan remains a target-rich environment for mid and senior level al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders. Over the past week alone, four mid-level al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders are believed to have been killed in a series of separate operations, Two mid-level al-Qaeda operatives are believed to have been killed in Pakistan, and a mid-level al-Qaeda operative and senior Taliban commander have been killed in Pakistan.

Pakistani security forces reportedly killed Abu Marwan al-Suri in Pakistan's in Bajaur Agency. al-Suri was believed to have been killed in the Predator strike in Damadola, Bajaur in January of 2006. al-Suri has been called al-Qaeda's "bagman" who "distributed money among terrorists and their families, including a relative of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi." He is also said to have been an explosives expert. "'He (al-Suri) was in charge of al-Qaeda operations against Pakistani forces in North and South Waziristan. He was behind attacks against coalition and Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan,' according to Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao.

New Bin Laden Tape: Ten Main Points

By Walid Phares

Al Jazeera aired audiotape-fragments it said was from Bin Laden. In it, the leader of al Qaida made the following main ten points:

1. Hamas: Despite the fact that we (including Ayman Zawahiri) warned (Muslim Palestinians) not to take part in elections in general, the victory of Hamas shows that there is a "Crusader Zionist War against Islam." Cutting foreign aid to the Palestinians because of Hamas victory proves that war.

2. The public (in the West and the US), despite our warnings, continues to reelect these Governments, pay taxes to these Governments, and send their children to fight against us. They (civilians) are therefore part of the war against us. They are responsible for any harm that would be caused to them.

3. Sudan: The Bashir Government is failing in stopping the Crusader War in Sudan. The Crusaders (Britain) has pushed the southerners (Blacks) to separate. The US has armed them and is supporting them. And now, because of tribal tensions in Darfour, the Crusaders are planning on intervening there. We are calling on the Jihadists to fight them in Darfour and Southern Sudan.

4. Long War: We're calling on all Jihadists, particularly in Sudan and the Arabian Peninsula to prepare themselves for a long war.

5. Danish Cartoons: We are asking the Danish Government to remit the Cartoonists to al Qaida.

6. Saudis: We criticize the Saudi Monarch for refuting the idea of Clash of civilization. There is a clash led by the West against Islam.

7. Arab Liberals: Jihadists must silence the Arab and Muslim liberals. (A list has been established, but it wasn't aired).

8. Education: We warn from any change that would affect the educational curriculum in the Arab and Muslim world.

9. Arab TV: We warn against those TV stations airing into the region and propagating Crusader propaganda.

10: Truce: We offered a truce to the West (US and Europe) but their public refused to accept it. They will only blame themselves.

A detailed analysis will follow.

Video of Pro-Suicide Bombing Rally in New York City

By Evan Kohlmann

On April 17, 2006, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) suicide bomber killed nine Israelis in an attack on a restaurant in Tel Aviv. Three days later--thanks to ongoing surveillance of extremist communication networks--NEFA investigators were on hand to videotape a rally held outside the Israeli consulate in midtown Manhattan by the so-called "Islamic Thinkers Society" in order to demonstrate their support for anti-Israeli suicide bombings. The Islamic Thinkers Society is a faction of the U.K.-based extremist movement formerly known as Al-Muhajiroun. In 2003, a British member of Al-Muhajiroun carried out a suicide bomb attack at a British-themed restaurant in Tel Aviv, killing three bystanders. Followers of Al-Muhajiroun were also responsible for a February 2006 rally outside the Danish embassy in London (likewise recorded by NEFA investigators) that included calls for a repeat of the July 7 suicide bomb attacks in the United Kingdom.

Video of the rally can now be downloaded from the NEFA Foundation website (look for link at right to "Islamist Pro Suicide Bombing Rally in NYC")

Bill Roggio Participating in Military Bloggers' Conference

By Andrew Cochran

Bill Roggio is participating in the 2006 Milblog Conference today in Washington, DC. There are three panels: "Milblogs: Past, Present and Future;" "Milblogging Family Style;" and "Blogging From Theater." There is a great mix of panelists in attendence, and Bill is on the "Blogging From Theater" panel. You can listen to the conference live by clicking here. Bill will report on the conference later.

P.S. Effective today, you can support Bill's embed in May with the Marines in Afghanistan via PayPal - go to the Counterterrorism Foundation site linked in the right sidebar.

Dr Brynjar Lia's "The al-Qaida Strategist Abu Mus'ab al-Suri: A Profile"

By Jeffrey Cozzens

I would like to direct the readership's attention to Dr Brynjar Lia's (Norwegian Defence Research Establishment) recent contribution to the body of literature devoted to understanding jihadi strategic thought: "The al-Qaida Strategist Abu Mus'ab al-Suri: A Profile." Lia's masterfully-researched work remains the only known contribution to the terrorism studies field that parses the history and thought of al-Suri, a formidable ideologue by virtue of his pragmatism, rational approach to history and realistic, "egalitarian" view of the future of jihad (al-Suri is now apparently in US custody). Far beyond its utility as an historical analysis, Lia's work is extraodinarily timely as he extracts the finer points of al-Suri's now widely-circulated theories that may have informed the conduct of the London and Madrid attacks.

Here's an excerpt from Lia's paper (p. 17):

Al-Suri’s slogan is: nizam, la tanzim, ‘System, not organisation’. In other words, there should be ‘an operative system’ or template, available anywhere for anybody, wishing to participate in the global jihad either on his own or with a small group of trusted associates, and there should not exist any ‘organisation for operations’. Hence, the global jihadist movement should discourage any direct organisational bonds between the leadership and the operative units. Leadership should only be exercised through ‘general guidance’ and the operative leaders should exist only at the level of small cells. The glue in this highly decentralised movement is nothing else than ‘a common aim, a common doctrinal program and a comprehensive (self-) educational program’.

The same goal of decentralisation is applied to financing and training. All cells should be self-sustained financially, with the possible exception of start-up money from jihadist activists termed ‘cell builders’. The latter category include skilled jihadists whose primary task is to create new independent cells, without connecting them to any organisational structure. The ‘cell builder’ is an Achilles heel in the system, and various precautions are taken to minimize the risk associated with his role. He is supposed to disappear from the scene before any operative activity commences, either by going to another country, going completely underground, or participating in a martyrdom operation.

Islamists’ message to Israel at New York City rally: "The mushroom cloud is on its way!"

By Steven Emerson

Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) Newswire - April 21, 2006 : The Queens-based Islamic Thinkers Society (ITS) held a rally yesterday outside of the Israeli Consulate in Manhattan. Members of the Islamic Thinkers Society are easily identified by their Khilafah flags and provocative signs as well as rhetoric against homosexuals, Jews, Christians, Danes and others, depending on the hot button issue at the moment. Yesterday's rally was held in response to Monday’s Tel Aviv bombing that killed 9 and injured scores. While carrying signs including “Islam will Dominate” with a picture of an Islamic flag over the White House, the small but loud group of men chanted threatening slogans (video of the rally will be posted on the Counterterrorism Blog soon):

Excerpts:
Leader (in Arabic): With our blood and our lives we will liberate al Aqsa!
[The rest also respond in Arabic:] With our blood and our lives we will liberate al Aqsa!
Israeli Zionists What do you say? The real Holocaust is on its way
Takbeer!
Response: Allahu Akbar!
Takbeer!
Response: Allahu Akbar!

Israeli Zionists, What do you say?
How many women have you raped today?
Israeli Zionists, What do you say?
How many children have you killed today?

Douglas Farah: "The Little Explored Offshore Empire of the International Muslim Brotherhood"

By Andrew Cochran

While we're discusing the nature and role of the Muslim Brotherhood, I wanted to call attention to a new study by Douglas Farah titled, "The Little Explored Offshore Empire of the International Muslim Brotherhood," on the website of the International Assessment and Strategy Center (IASC). In the study, Doug discusses the efforts the MB has taken to build a worldwide financial network to meet its objective of "recreating the Islamic caliphate and spreading Islam, by force and persuasion, across the globe." An excerpt (without footnotes):

To this end, the Brotherhood’s strategy, including the construction of its financial network, is built on the pillars of “clandestinity, duplicity, exclusion, violence, pragmatism and opportunism.”

Among the leaders of the Brotherhood’s financial efforts, based on early Brotherhood documents and public records, are Ibrahim Kamel a founder of Dar al Maal al Islami Bank (DMI ) and its offshore structure in Nassau, Bahamas; Yousef Nada, Ghalib Himmat and Yusuf al-Qaradawi and the Bank al Taqwa structure, in Nassau; and Idriss Nasreddin, with Akida Bank International in Nassau.

Mapping the network of bank, insurance (takofol) companies and offshore corporations -- which are often used as covers to open bank accounts and move money in difficult-to-trace paths protected by bank secrecy laws -- should be the focus of far more attention because the network provides a mechanism for funding the Brotherhood’s licit and illicit activities around the globe.

This is of fundamental importance because the Brotherhood has played a central role in “providing both the ideological and technical capacities for supporting terrorist finance on a global basis… the Brotherhood has spread both the ideology of militant pan-Islamicism and became the spine upon which the funding operations for militant pan-Islamicism was built, taking funds largely generated from wealthy Gulf state elites and distributing them for terrorist education, recruitment and operations widely dispersed throughout the world, especially in areas where Muslims hoped to displace non-Muslim or secular governments.”

Almost every major Islamist group can trace its roots to the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928 by the Hassan al-Banna, a pan-Islamicist who opposed the secular tendencies in Islamic nations. Hamas is a direct offshoot of the Brotherhood. Hassan al-Turabi, who offered sanctuary in Sudan to Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda allies, is a leader of the Brotherhood. He also sat on the boards of several of the most important Islamic financial institutions, such as DMI.

A potential Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entity (SDGT) working in Congress

By Olivier Guitta

Mustafa Khalfi, the editor in chief of At Tajdid, the main Islamist publication in Morocco, is among other things working on the Hill for Congressman Jim Mc Dermott. Researching with my colleague Ilan Weinglass this story, we found out that At Tajdid has a direct link to organizations classified by the U.S. Treasury as SDGTs because of their affiliation to Hamas. Therefore Khalfi could in theory be designated himself as an SDGT.

This should have come as no surprise since At Tajdid clearly supports Hamas and has an anti-Semite and anti-American line. Over a month ago, we supplied the US Treasury with all the relevant information regarding this case. We also contacted numerous people, including for instance Senator Lugar and Lee Hamilton, involved in the choice of Khalfi as a Fulbright scholarand a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. So far no one responded to our queries...

Here is an excerpt of the piece we wrote for Front Page Mag (here is the full article):

A Moroccan Islamist and apparent terrorism supporter has been getting treatment in Washington D.C. that most graduate students can only dream of. Mustafa Khalfi, editor-in-chief of the Moroccan newspaper At-Tajdid (Renewal), is the recipient of a prestigious Fulbright/American Political Science Association (APSA) Congressional Fellowship. This honor has afforded him the honor of working for Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), taking a course at Johns Hopkins University, and receiving a visiting scholarship at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

At-Tajdid’s connection to terrorism:

At-Tajdid’s website has a permanent link to the Union of Good, an umbrella organization of Hamas-funding charities. Five of these organizations have been listed by the U.S. Treasury Department as Specially Designated Global Terrorist entities (SDGTs):

The Al-Aqsa Foundation, Belgium and Holland Branches
Interpal
Comité de Benfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens (CBSP)
Sanabil al-Aqsa
The Palestinian Relief Society, Switzerland

In addition, two more groups, The World Association of Muslim Youth (WAMY), and the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), have been accused in a lawsuit filed by families of the 9/11 victims[1] of being “connected to Osama bin Laden and two of his top operatives.”

The Union of Good was established in October 2000 and is presided over by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi and run by Essam Yussuf, a prominent figure in Interpal, a British Hamas front organization. Even the Palestinian Authority considers the Union of Good as a body supporting Hamas.

Clicking on the link to the Union of Good on the At-Tajdid website gives the reader a choice of English or Arabic. The English site takes the reader to the donations page of Interpal, a British-based charity that is designated by the U.S. as an SDGT. According to U.S. law, this is an indication that Khalfi himself should be designated a SGDT. A check of archived At-Tajdid websites shows this link to be a permanent feature since at least February 2003.

In August 2003, when the U.S. Treasury Department designated Interpal and several other Union of Good charities as SDGTs, it determined that “they provide support to Hamas and form part of its funding network in Europe.” In other words, Mustapha Khalfi is the editor of a newspaper that knowingly solicited funds for a SDGT.

Executive Order 13224 is very clear about the criteria that the Secretary of the Treasury may use to designate an entity as a SDGT. Anyone determined to “act for or on behalf” of a listed entity or to “provide financial…support for, or financial services to or in support of…entities designated in or under the Order” or “[t]o be otherwise associated with certain individuals or entities designated in or under the Order” may be designated a SDGT. In other words, soliciting funds or even being associated with an SDGT is enough to get someone designated an SDGT.

Engage the Muslim Brotherhood against global jihad?

By Jeffrey Cozzens

As my colleagues have indicated, the USG’s engagement of individuals and groups associated with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is highly-controversial—and rightfully so. However, in the process of weighing the merits of this engagement, we should be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater: enlisting the help of individuals linked to the Muslim Brotherhood might provide strategic openings that we should not overlook if we are serious about winning the war of ideas

There are myriad reasons why the USG should not engage the MB as a counter-weight to al-Qa’ida’s brand of jihadism. For one, ideologues associated with the MB were instrumental to laying the theoretical groundwork for today’s global jihadi movement, especially the jihadi groups that splintered from the MB’s Egyptian milieu. Of course, the Palestinian Abdullah Azzam—considered by some to be the “godfather” of bin Laden, who “revived the jihad in the twentieth century”—was also a member of the MB. Further, it is very clear that Hamas—one of the few self-declared phalanges of the MB actively fighting jihad—uses the tactic of terrorism as a mode of political adjustment. Finally, it is not uncommon to hear MB-linked personalities voice support for the insurgency in Iraq. From a normative and patriotic (not to mention policy) perspective, these factors mitigate against enlisting the assistance of individuals associated with the MB in this fight.

However, if one looks closely at the complex history of the MB, its ideology and the many nuanced streams that comprise Islamist thought writ large, one sees unambiguously that the MB is not “al-Qa’ida.” Perhaps our fight against the narrative of global jihadism—unquestionably a greater evil—could be bolstered if we enlist the help of the MB. After all, it shares elements of AQ’s exclusive worldview, but its cadres pursue a different path towards establishing Islam.

The Taliban Consolidates Power in Pakistan as Violence Increases in Afghanistan

By Bill Roggio

Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas

Yesterday's rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force compound in Kabul, Afghanistan highlights the increased level of violence throughout the country. Coalition and Afghan troop have seen a marked increase in suicide bombings, IED (roadside bombing) attacks and platoon and company-sized attacks from Taliban fighters over the past year. The Taliban's latest springtime offensive is now in full swing.

In the latest attempt to stem the violence, Coalition and Afghan troops launched Operation Mountain Lion in the Pech River Valley in Kunar Province, which borders Pakistan's Bajaur agency. Over forty Taliban were killed during the operation. The Pakistani Army reportedly has deployed paramilitary troops "along the border stretching from Dir Lower to Dir Upper and Chitral districts" to halt the flow of Taliban across the border during the operation. The Bajaur tribal agency hosts al-Qaeda and Taliban infiltration routes into Afghanistan. The agency is also the scene of air strikes in the village of Damadola, where U.S. Predator drones struck at a meeting of al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders. Ayman al-Zawahiri was thought to be in attendance but missed the dinner. Five senior commanders, including Abu Khabab al-Masri, the head of al-Qaeda WMD committee are believed to have been killed in the strike.

A segment of the violence can be attributed to Coalition and Afghan Army's push into previously uncharted territories within Kandahar, Urguzan, Kunar and Helmand Provinces. The Coalition and Afghan forces are now making contact with the enemy. The Taliban are attempting to fracture the Coalition, and believe they can run up the body count and force the Canadians to withdraw. "We think that when we kill enough Canadians, they will quit war and return home," said Taliban spokesman Qari Yuosaf Ahmedi. The narcotics trade is also a major source of conflict, as Robert Charles noted last January. The drug lords are finding common cause with the Taliban as the Coalition and Afghan government seek to eradicate the poppy crops.

State Department’s flirting with the Muslim Brotherhood

By Lorenzo Vidino

Over the last weeks there have been numerous signs of a new attitude at Foggy Bottom in relation to the international movement of the Muslim Brotherhood. While scores of moderate Muslims and Islamic scholars, the 9/11 Commission, and European security officials point to the Muslim Brothers as the forefathers of modern Islamist terrorism, the State Department is, in fact, flirting with them. As noted by Doug Farah here, last month the State Department sent its head of counterterrorism, Ambassador Hank Crumpton, to be the keynote speaker at a conference co-sponsored by the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT), an infamous Brotherhood-linked Northern Virginia outfit. And in two weeks, as Rachel Ehrenfeld reported, the U.S. Embassy in Rome will co-sponsor a high-profile two-day symposium about immigration and integration where the highly controversial Swiss scholar Tariq Ramadan has been invited as a keynote speaker.

Isolated blunders? Unfortunately not. Two weeks ago the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing on Islamist Extremism in Europe where various government officials outlined their initiatives to reach out to European Muslims. Particularly interesting was the testimony of the US Ambassador to Belgium, Tom Korologos, who explained how, over the past few months, together with the State Department, has been promoting various seemingly laudable initiatives in which American and European Muslim organizations meet with US officials, opening a dialogue that, in the Ambassador’s hopes, will “break stereotypes and foster networking opportunities.”

Dialogue with Muslim leaders, both in the West and in the rest of the world, is a crucial aspect of America’s war on terror, which, in the long run, is more important than any military or anti-terrorist operation. Yet Ambassador Korologos, and the State Department with him, seems to have completely missed the mark. The organizations that have been chosen to participate in his initiative, in fact, represent the gotha of the Muslim Brotherhood’s network on both sides of the Atlantic, raising serious doubts as to whether a genuinely open and constructive dialogue is being fostered.

Ambassador Korologos’ main European partner is FEMYSO, the youth branch of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), the umbrella organization for various groups that are closely linked to the Brotherhood. FEMYSO’s cofounder is WAMY, a Saudi charity that has been widely suspected of links to terrorism (ironically, the US Senate itself solicited an inquiry into WAMY’s terror ties just two years ago). And FEMYSO’s long time president, Ibrahim El Zayat, came under investigation in Germany for having funneled more than $2 million to an al Qaeda-linked charity.

The American partners in the initiative are no less worthy of suspicion. One of them is the ubiquitous Council on American Islamic relations (CAIR), whose unrelenting apology of radical Islam has become known to most Americans (less known is the fact that several of its members have been convicted for terrorist activities). Less known, but equally ambiguous, is the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a group that, in Senator Chuck Schumer’s words, has “disturbing connections to Wahhabism and terrorism.”

Considering its track record, State’s decision to partner with these self-proclaimed moderates is not surprising. Among the many cases of its endorsement of radicals, the most famous example is its partnership with Abdulrahman Alamoudi, who in the 1990s served as State’s goodwill ambassador to Muslim countries, despite complaints from moderate American Muslims. To the dismay of his sponsors in Foggy Bottom, in 2004 Alamoudi was sentenced to a 23-year prison sentence for violating anti-terrorism sanctions, including a plot to kill the Saudi ruler. Furthermore, his ties to terror groups such as Hamas and al Qaeda have since been publicly exposed.

Alamoudi, who also served as a representative of ISNA in Washington, personified the double face of the Brotherhood in the West. While cozying up to elites in Washington in English, he spread a different message in Arabic. In 1996, in fact, Alamoudi tellingly said at an Islamic conference in Chicago: “Once we are here, our mission in this country is to change it. ... There is no way for Muslims to be violent in America, no way. We have other means to do it… If we are outside this country, we can say, 'Oh, Allah, destroy America.'"

Ambassador Korologos in all likelihood means well. Yet these blunders only highlight the unpreparedness of the US government in dealing with, and even understanding, the threat of radical Islam. If Sun Tzu was right in saying that knowing one’s enemy is key to winning a war, the War on Terror will likely be a bumpy ride.

Jeffrey Cozzens Joins Us As Contributing Expert

By Andrew Cochran

Jeffrey Cozzens, Senior Analyst with the Intelligence & Terrorism Analysis Group at AMTI (Applied Marine Technology, Inc.), joins us today as a Contributing Expert. Jeff is a former analyst with the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Counterterrorism and Research Associate at the University of St Andrews (Scotland) Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV). Jeff now consults a wide array of government and private sector clients and has addressed many international forums and organizations, such as the European Commission, the Swedish National Defence College and the Royal United Services Institute. Jeff has also authored several journal articles and academic papers on emerging trends in jihadi radicalization, thought and violence and has contributed chapters to two forthcoming books, Terrorism in the Information Age—New Frontiers? (Second Edition) (Swedish National Defence College) and Mapping Terrorism Research (London: Routledge).

Jeff holds undergraduate degrees in political science (Wheaton College, IL) and religious studies (Michigan State University) and a Masters of Literature in international security studies from the University of St Andrews. He is a Ph.D candidate at the CSTPV, University of St Andrews.

Congressman Makes Personal Contribution to the Counterterrorism Foundation

By Andrew Cochran

When we announced the merger of our two blogs, we also announced the opening of the non-profit Counterterrorism Foundation. The Foundation provides financial support to the Counterterrorism Blog and funds related research and reporting activities, including embedded reporting by Counterterrorism Blog experts, speaking appearances, and a range of publications. You can read more about the Foundation here.

One of our first donations to the Foundation came from Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ), who made a personal contribution. Rep. Renzi was inspired to run for Congress affter personally witnessing the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, from his car as he was driving towards Washington. He serves on the U.S. House Intelligence Committee and is the author of language included in the House-passed immigration bill which would use state-of-the-art technologies to protect our borders.

We deeply appreciate Rep. Renzi's contribution and his support of the Counterterrorism Foundation.

Kabul Rocket Attack Indicates Terrorists' Continuing Potential

By Andrew Cochran

A massive explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan in the diplomatic area of city and near U.S. Embassy was caused by a rocket attack. The "blast occurred inside the grounds housing the state-run television offices. The building is next to the heavily fortified U.S. Embassy and the base for NATO-led forces in the capital..." One Afghani security contractor was hurt and no Americans were injured. The primary reason for our merger, effective today, with Bill Roggio's "Fourth Rail" is to cover the ongoing counterterrorism effort in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa (Doug Farah has written here often about the Pentagon's Africa activities). Bill will embed with the Marines in Afghanistan next month. We invite reports from our men and women on the ground there.

Daily Standard: Illiberal Democracy on the Rise?

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I have a new article posted at the Daily Standard, co-authored with my colleague Nir Boms. We have written previously about how liberal institutions are more important than elections to U.S. efforts to transform the Middle East: "Since the only safe way to criticize most Middle Eastern governments is from a fundamentalist direction, the choice at the ballot box tends to be between the corrupt rulers now in power and their Islamist opposition. . . . By adopting a strong policy of promoting liberal institutions, the U.S. can help the Middle East move beyond this forced choice between thieves and killers."

In our latest article, Boms and I expand this analysis by exploring the options the U.S. has for promoting liberal institutions. An excerpt:

Two important realizations are needed. The first is that a democratic culture cannot be built overnight -- especially not in a region which has such a long history of oppressive and authoritarian government. The second is that democracy must be measured by the level of liberalism it engenders, not the number of ballots cast. As recent history shows, elections can be the continuation of autocracy by other means.

True, elections are easy to measure and can be quite dramatic: See the wave of purple-fingered citizens that marked Iraq's first democratic vote. But elections are not the most important indicator of a state's progression -- and we may want to temper our enthusiasm for pushing them until the Middle East developed a more liberal culture.

To help promote liberalism, our policymakers need to improve their cultural literacy so they can more easily identify and effectively work with regional and local players devoted to the values of tolerance and political freedom. It took a revolution to create democracies in Europe and America--and it may take another revolution in the Middle East. But that revolution can only come from within, spearheaded by existing forces that already work toward democratization.

Read the whole article here.

Welcome to the New Counterterrorism Blog

By Andrew Cochran

Bill Roggio of "The Fourth Rail," the Contributing Experts of the original Counterterrorism Blog, and I welcome you to the new, expanded, and improved Counterterrorism Blog. Through the merger of the original Counterterrorism Blog with "The Fourth Rail" military blog, we can expand the mission begun on January 5, 2005 to provide, on a single website, (1) links to overnight and breaking terrorism news stories; (2) intel and commentary by operational experts; (2) a list of reliable centers and websites which focus on terrorism issues and events; (3) a library of key documents and laws; and (4) a calendar of upcoming media appearances and events featuring the Contributing Experts. Thanks to Bill's experience through his military service and his recent reporting from Iraq, we can now cover military counterterrorism and counterinsurgency events as never before. Bill will continue posting summaries of the millitary action in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, and he'll embed with the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan in mid-May and report from there. We've transferred past posts from our respective blogs over here, and you can read the most recent posts below.

ARY Gold and Terror Finance

By Douglas Farah

In early 2002 I wrote a story in the Washington Post outlining the role Dubai-based ARY Gold had in helping the Taliban and al Qaeda move their assets out of Afghanistan before U.S. troops took control. The leader of ARY Gold, Abdul Razzak, threatened to sue me, but the story prompted a multinational investigation into the company and the use of gold and other commodities by terrorists and transnational criminal organizations.

Because the investigation was highly classified after it was underway, I have heard little of it in recent years. But now the Asia Times brings news of new developments in the case. The most interesting is tying ARY and Razzak to financial network of A.Q. Kahn, the Pakistani nuclear scientist who sold nuclear secrets and technology to Libya, North Korea, Iran and others.

On Aug. 30, 2005, ARY's status as an associate member of the London Bullion Market Association was revoked. Razzak's group of ARY companies (ARY are the initials of its owner, Abdul Razzak Yacoub, and most of his companies use the name in some form) are under investigation for large-scale money laundering and the operation of illegal hawalas, or money transfer systems. My full blog is here..

Washington Post Live Chat on Terrorist Web Chatter

By Evan Kohlmann

The Washington Post has invited me to participate in another live online question and answer session on their website to address reader questions about terrorist web chatter.  The session will begin at 11:00am eastern time tomorrow (Wednesday, April 19) and the dialogue can be viewed at the WP online chat site.

CT Blog to Merge With "Fourth Rail" and Move - New Foundation to Fund Our Efforts

By Andrew Cochran

Recently, I've had the pleasure to meet Bill Roggio, editor of "The Fourth Rail" and one of the best military bloggers, and get to know him well. After much discussion, we've decided to merge our resources into a single Counterterrorism Blog. This is an excellent opportunity, and our Contributing Experts greatly look forward to working with Bill at the new Counterterrorism Blog. We will be posting at the new Counterterrorism Blog site full time as of Thursday; the site is being redesigned and will go live at midnight Wednesday night Eastern time (or 12:00 am Thursday morning). We will automatically redirect readers to the new site at that time. All of our current features will be available at the new site, and we expect to add more streaming videos and presentations. The new site will be free of commercial ads.

We have also created the Counterterrorism Foundation, which will support our continuing efforts at the Counterterrorism Blog to provide original reporting and increase public awareness of the daily happenings in the Global War on Terror. The Counterterrorism Foundation will also support future embeds with our troops in the field in the major conflict areas of the war. Bill has decided to devote his full-time efforts to the Counterterrorism Foundation, and will depend on your support. Contributions to the Counterterrorism Foundation will be tax deductible. We'll provide more information on the Counterterrorism Foundation in the near future.

Bill will be embedding in Afghanistan some time in mid-May (date and unit to be determined). The war and Coalition reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan is not being covered sufficiently, and in fact the soldiers and Marines fighting there call it "The Forgotten War". This will be an excellent opportunity to see the situation in Afghanistan first-hand and report on the mission of our troops and the progress and setbacks in Afghanistan.

After Afghanistan, he plans on going to Northern Africa to report on the other forgotten war, and then will return to Iraq later in the year.

How Does This Happen?

By Douglas Farah

Senior Counterterrorism officials in several agencies are baffled by a little-noticed development last month: The State Department sent its head of counterterrorism, Ambassador Hank Crumpton, to be the keynote speaker at a conference co-sponosored by the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT). Not only that, as FrontPageMagazine reports, the Pentagon footed the bill for most of the conference.

That is the same institution under investigation by prosecutors in Northern Virginia Safa case. And the main organization supported by Prof. Sami al-Arian, who just reached a plea agreement with prosecutors to admit engaging in a conspiracy to support the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a designated terrorist organization. Al Arian will likely be sentenced to time served and deported. PIJ just sent a suicide bomber to Israel yesterday, killing at least nine civilians. Not the first PIJ attack, and certainly not the last.

Al Arian's relationship to IIIT was not a passing one. In one letter, IIIT co-founder Taha Jaberl al-Alwani wrote that al Arian is "a part of us and an extension of us." IIIT is an intergral part of the Safa network, the group of Northern Virginia businesses, charities and think tanks that were all run out of one office and shared the same address, run by a group of men with long standing ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and its international financier, Yousef Nada. My full blog is here.

Sami al-Arian Admits His Terrorist Connections (video link added)

By Steven Emerson

I appeared on Bill O'Reilly's show on Fox News Channel to discuss the plea agreement in the Sami al-Arian case. He pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in a conspiracy to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (a designated terrorist organization during his years of service) including depositing money into its bank accounts, and he lied about his activities. He brought the top-level PIJ terrorists into the U.S., and no "low-level terrorist" (if there is such a thing) could have pulled that off. This agreement contradicts the claims of innocence by him and his supporters. So this plea agreement is a victory for those in and out of government who spotlighted his activities and pursued his prosecution. You can see the video of my "O'Reilly" interview here.

My CT Blog colleague and friend Bill West, who initiated the federal criminal investigation in 1994 as the senior INS agent in the area, sent me his comments and asked me to quote him:

"It is not, as noted in the family's press release today, a 'voluntary departure' from the U.S.; it is a formal removal/deportation. The plea is actually OUTSTANDING! A good portion of the factual base in the plea relates to immigration violation issues linked to PIJ support...a bit of personal vindication in that for me, given the genesis of the criminal investigation against Al-Arian so very long ago: pursuing criminal immigration fraud on the heels of your documentary, 'Jihad in America,' airing on PBS.

The plea really is also a work of art. It encompasses the terrorism-support elements, wraps in the immigration fraud, directly links al-Arian to the PIJ, and identifies al-Arian associates Nafi, Shallah and Al-Najjar officially as PIJ operatives...brilliant!

One possible difficulty in the deportation agreement: Since al-Arian is a stateless Palestinian convicted of a terrorism-support felony, deporting him may become particularly difficult. Toss in the reality of 'Hamas-stan,' assuming the goal is to send him to the Territories, and things become very dicey. Hopefully, ICE, DOJ, and the State Department have been working feverishly behind the scenes to make something work in all this and will be able to boot him soon. If not, and he languishes in ICE detention like Al-Najjar did, notwithstanding the terrorism conviction, it could become another PR nightmare for the federal government."

Here are all files associated with the plea agreement:

Download alarian_conditional_plea_order.pdf
Download alarian_guilty_plea_consent_form.pdf
Download alarian_magistrate_guily_plea_form.pdf
Download alarian_plea_agreement.pdf
Download alarian_plea_unsealing_transcript.pdf

Are We Allowing Iranian Terrorists to Infiltrate While We Plan for War?

By Michael Cutler

Representatives of Iran have said that while the United States may possess the ability to inflict pain on Iran, Iran has the ability to cause pain to the United States. So it shouldn't be a surprise that the Pentagon has been planning for war with Iran for some time. For quite some time the analysts on television spoke about the potential that Iran could send insurgents into Iraq to attack our soldiers. However, most recently, there has been real speculation that if our nation was to launch a military action against Iran to prevent its nuclear program from succeeding, that Iran would send terrorists to the United States to attack our nation within our own borders.

But our nation has a real problem in learning from history. In the late 1970's, when the United States embassy was seized in Tehran, the former INS was tasked with searching for citizens of Iran who were illegally in the United States. I was a special agent of the former INS back then and was one of the many special agents who was assigned to that project. We quickly found out that we did not possess the capability to carry out this essential mission. Our databases were found lacking and we lacked an adequate number of agents to get the job done. We were only able to identify a small percentage of the total number of Iranian citizens believed to have been in our country back then. It was, perhaps understandable that we had a problem coping with that assignment, then. The former INS had never before been tasked with such an assignment.

Today the situation is far different. We saw our deficiencies that we had in determining who was here and we have already suffered several terrorist attacks.

"A History of the Car Bomb" Series Worth Reading

By Andrew Cochran

"Asia Times Online" has a two-part series, "A History of the Car Bomb," by American author Mike Davis, in the April 13 and April 18 editions. It's a fascinating history of the car bomb from its first use in September 1920 in New York by Mario Buda, a comrade of famous anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti, through its recent use by Islamic terrorists. Mr. Davis appears unbiased; he will make some uncomfortable in his discussion of its past use by forces now allied with the United States against those Islamic terrorists who use the car bomb today against us. I don't know whether it's new or whether these parts are excerpts from a book, but I recommend it and look forward to readers' comments. I'll update this post if they run other segments. The Wikipedia online encyclopedia has a good article on the car bomb with a table of mass car bombing events. An excerpt from the "Asia Time Online" series :

"Buda's wagon was, in essence, the prototype car bomb: the first use of an inconspicuous vehicle, anonymous in almost any urban setting, to transport large quantities of high explosive into precise range of a high-value target. It was not replicated, as far as I have been able to determine, until January 12, 1947, when the Stern Gang drove a truckload of explosives into a British police station in Haifa, Palestine, killing four and injuring 140. The Stern Gang (a pro-fascist splinter group led by Avraham Stern that broke away from the right-wing Zionist paramilitary Irgun) would soon use truck and car bombs to kill Palestinians as well: a creative atrocity immediately reciprocated by British deserters fighting on the side of Palestinian nationalists.

Vehicle bombs thereafter were used sporadically - producing notable massacres in Saigon (1952), Algiers (1962) and Palermo (1963) - but the gates of hell were only truly opened in 1972, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army accidentally, so the legend goes, improvised the first ammonium nitrate-fuel oil (ANFO) car bomb. These new-generation bombs, requiring only ordinary industrial ingredients and synthetic fertilizer, were cheap to fabricate and astonishingly powerful: they elevated urban terrorism from the artisanal to the industrial level, and made possible sustained blitzes against entire city centers as well as the complete destruction of ferro-concrete skyscrapers and residential blocks.

The car bomb, in other words, suddenly became a semi-strategic weapon that, under certain circumstances, was comparable to air power in its ability to knock out critical urban nodes and headquarters as well as terrorize the populations of entire cities."

Prominent Jihad Forum Announces Arrest of Web Administrator

By Evan Kohlmann

The Al-Hesbah network media forum has released their sixth official public statement announcing the arrest of a chief web administrator known as Abu Musab al-Mohtaseb.  According to the document, "He was arrested... for spreading truth� The crusaders realized the importance of the threat posed by the Islamic media forums that uncovered their lies and stood in the way of their campaigns of misinformation and deception... due to several recent developments, [Al-Hesbah]�s administrators decided to reopen the network... taking all the precautions they can, in order to reassume their media role."

Click to view English translation of communiqu�

See also: - IAI Calls for Resurrection of the Al-Hesbah Forum
- Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia Denies Being Infiltrated

Al-Qaida Cell Claims Rocket Attack in Israel

By Evan Kohlmann

A previously unknown group calling itself "Al-Qaida's Committee in Palestine" has claimed responsibility for an alleged rocket attack on a "strategic target" in Israel.  According to a statement from the group, "The operation was kept in secret until now in order to insure the safety of our mujahideen brothers.  We proudly declare the initiation of our attacks and we inform the Zionist enemy to expect more innovative operations.  Let the world realize that jihad in the cause of Allah will not be stopped by borders and walls.  We inform our brothers that we keep our doors open to all brothers who want to declare jihad in the cause of Allah."

Click to view English translation of communiqu� c/o Globalterroralert.com

FPM: Google's Terrorist News Source

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

On Tuesday, I posted about Google's decision to include al-Manar among its Google News sources. Today I have an article in FrontPage Magazine that explores the issue in more detail. An excerpt:

Consistent with its desire to see Israel destroyed, al-Manar openly supports acts of terror against Israelis. The programming frequently praises suicide bombers, and indeed, Jorisch writes that "station officials maintain that one of al-Manar�s aims is to promote suicide missions. The station also strives to ensure that the families of suicide bombers know that they will be compensated for their loss."

Nor is this advocacy of violence limited to Israelis: Many al-Manar guests portray all Jews as part of a sinister conspiracy to dominate the world. As Sheikh Taha al-Sabounji, the head mufti of northern Lebanon, said on al-Manar: "Judaism is a project against all humanity. It is about time the world understands this. Those who are fighting Israel are not just defending themselves; they are defending the whole world. They are protecting all the future generations of humanity. If they don't believe this, then they should read in the Jewish books what is written about Islam, Christianity, about Jesus and Muhammad. It's our job as Muslims to call upon the Christian world to rise up and become aware of what the Jews are doing. . . . There is no such thing as Zionism . . . . There is only Judaism." And [Hizballah secretary-general Hassan] Nasrallah stated on a different show, "If they [Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide."

It isn�t as though Google News lacks criteria for source selection. In fact, their exclusion of certain sources has been cause for controversy in the past. For example, Michelle Malkin noted in February 2005 that the exclusion of her blog and Little Green Footballs from Google News seemed hypocritical in light of Google News's inclusion of Democratic Underground and the truly malicious uruknet.info. (The Google team allegedly decided not to include Malkin's blog because it was "written and maintained by a single individual," while rejecting Little Green Footballs as purely a news aggregator.)

Iran Already a Problem With Islamist Radicals

By Douglas Farah

The current escalation of tensions with Iran over its potential and desire to produce nuclear weapons obscures an important point-Shi'ite Iran's leadership has long played a crucial role in aiding and abetting al Qaeda and other violent Sunni movements. This is not to say that the United States can or should engage in another war or that diplomatic efforts on the nuclear issues should not be exhausted before other options are explored.

But Iran has, according to European and U.S. intelligence sources, continued to provide shelter to numerous senior al Qaeda operatives, including a son of Osama bin Laden. The ties go back to those described by al Qaeda defectors after the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa, when bin Laden and Hezbollah leaders held a series of meetings to exchange training and information. This information, while publicly available from court transcripts and eye-witness accounts, is seldom factored into the equation of what Iran is up to.

Elements of Iranian security forces helped al Qaeda leaders escape from Afghanistan, providing safe haven, travel documents and protection. Among those at least transiting through Iran was one of Osama's wives. Several operational leaders and perhaps Osama's oldest son are still under nominal house arrest in Iran.

The explanation for this collaboration can be found in the international Muslim Brotherhood, which retain strong ties across the Sunni-Shi'ite religious divide. Alain Chouet, a 30-year veteran of the French intelligence services has just written one of the best analysis of the Brotherhood I have seen. He describes the international Brotherhood as "synonymous with exclusion, violence, isolation and confrontation with the rest of the world." My full blog is here..

Weekly Standard: Not So Friendly Amici

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Hamdan v. Rumsfeld case on March 28. This case is significant to the counterterrorism community because it will determine the legitimacy of the military commissions that the Bush administration established to try Guantanamo detainees.

The Weekly Standard posted the April 24 issue on its website today. I have an article in it that examines an overlooked aspect of the case: a friend of the court brief submitted by foreign politicians that seeks to have the commissions struck down on the basis of international opinion rather than U.S. law. I reproduce the article here in full.

Not So Friendly Amici
Look who's filing Supreme Court briefs now.
by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
04/24/2006, Volume 011, Issue 30

CONSERVATIVE LEGAL SCHOLARS HAVE LONG warned that judges' reliance on foreign opinions might undermine the mechanism for setting domestic policy under the Constitution. Now, for the second time, a friend of the court brief has been submitted to the Supreme Court by foreign politicians in a case relating to detainees at Guant�namo, suggesting that constitutional control over foreign policy could be similarly jeopardized.

The case is Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, challenging the administration's military commissions for trying Guant�namo detainees. In the course of the litigation, a shifting group of "current and former members of the United Kingdom and European Union Parliaments" has filed a series of amicus briefs urging the Court to strike down the commissions. Although the original brief had 271 signatories, the number had ballooned to 422 by the time the Supreme Court decided to hear the case.

The submission that these "friends" filed makes clear that they seek to end the military commissions on the basis of international opinion rather than U.S. law, though they couch this argument in legalese. The brief notes in the opening section that it won't address any of the contested issues of U.S. law because "to the outside world it boils down to the simple, but crucial, question of whether the system of legal norms that purports to restrain the conduct of states vis-�-vis individuals within their power will survive the terrorist threat."

Although the brief goes on to say that Hamdan is "one battle in the war between the evil logic of terrorism" and the principle that "all states are subject to the rule of law," the brief itself essentially ignores the rule of law. It cites no federal statutes. It cites only four Supreme Court cases--and these only to support tangential statements--but references a full 20 cases from tribunals outside the United States. These mainly come from international bodies (such as the U.N., the International Court of Justice, and even the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) but also include a couple of U.K. cases.

Moussaoui Prosecution Rests Its Case

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Today the prosecution rested its case in Zacarias Moussaoui's sentencing trial after jurors heard the cockpit voice recording of United Flight 93's passenger revolt -- the first time the recording has been heard in public. (See Andy Cochran's post on the cockpit tape.) As the prosecution rests, this is a good time to take a somewhat broader view of the sentencing phase of the Moussaoui trial. I have a few observations.

First, the prosecution is clearly intent on seeing Moussaoui put to death. If you're examining the sentencing phase from the perspective of what will make us safer as Americans, it's not clear that we will be safer if Moussaoui is put to death rather than spending the rest of his life in prison. Psychologically, there seems to be something else at play for the prosecution beyond the safety of U.S. citizens. The government has lost some fairly critical prosecutions lately, including the Sami al-Arian case in Florida and the Sami al-Hussayen case in Idaho. Also, some well-placed observers believe that grand juries have been far tougher lately on prosecutors who are seeking indictments. One of the reasons the government is pursuing the death penalty so aggressively is because it understands that this high-profile case will send a major signal. They want that signal to be that the government is still in control, can still win its cases, and can get defendants put to death where that sentence is applicable.

Second, it seems obvious that Moussaoui wants to be put to death. This is why, in the last stage of the trial, his testimony gave the prosecution the evidence it needed for Moussaoui to be found eligible for the death penalty. Although the defense will argue that Moussaoui's behavior is caused by paranoid schizophrenia, this diagnosis seems to be based on a lack of understanding of the Islamic concepts that may be at play. There was a significant colloquy on March 27 between the chief federal prosecutor and Moussaoui:

Asked if receiving the death penalty is "dying shaheed [as a martyr]," Moussaoui replied in his broken English: "It depends if you have, if you have fought to the best of your ability. It can depend on your intention. The same action can have two very different result. . . . So for us a shaheed mean martyr at war. And you do not aim to be a shaheed. You fight, and if you meant to come, you come. You don't decide, OK I'm going to be a shaheed. . . . Even if you don't die shaheed, if you pray five times a day and you are truthful to God, you go to heaven."

Columbia University's Richard Bulliet has said that the portion of this exchange in which Moussaoui speaks of martyrdom being conditional upon intent "rings true." More Bulliet: "In all sorts of things in Muslim devotional practice, 'niyya,' or intent, is a crucial factor. If you are executed having denied everything, then you're not going to have a very great likelihood that God is going to regard you as a martyr, because you have denied the act for which you hope that martyrdom would be granted. So you have to confess . . . because otherwise, you're sort of copping out on the question of your spiritual intent." While I disagree with Bulliet on a great many things, I believe his analysis here to be correct.

Flight 93 Cockpit Tape and Transcript: "When they all come, we finish it off"

By Andrew Cochran

The Moussaoui death penalty trial became the setting for the first public disclosure of the United Flight 93 cockpit tape, with audio and a transcript. You can read the transcript below, downloaded from the FindLaw.com site. Clearly, the terrorists were ready to fly the plane into the ground before surrendering control to the heroic passengers. We can remember and honor the first soldiers in the war against Islamic terrorism by funding the Flight 93 Memorial Project.

Download Flight93TranscriptFindLaw.pdf

Picture of Flight 93 cockpit recorder (AP)

CFIUS Review of New Proposed Dubai Purchase Nears Completion

By Andrew Cochran

On March 27, I posted, "Round Two of Dubai Investment Issue Begins, This Time for U.S. Defense Plants," about the CFIUS review of the proposed purchase by Dubai International Capital, an investment company owned by the ruling family, of the British aerospace company Doncasters Group, Ltd., which owns numerous defense-related plants in the United States. Today's edition of the "New York Sun" reports that the CFIUS review report is apparently headed to the White House and cites another publication's report that CFIUS recommends approval of the purchase. When Congress returns during the week of April 25, this proposal will focus Congressional scrutiny, again, on the record of the UAE government in preventing and halting Islamic terrorism. My March 27 post inlcudes links to all of the CT Blog postings on that subject.

Bolton's chance to bolster counterterrorism efforts

By Michael Kraft

The following op-ed appeared in today's "The Oklahoman," pegged to the changes in OMB and the White House.

Funding counterterrorism
By Michael B. Kraft

President Bush's shift of Joshua Bolton from the administration's top budget job to White House chief of staff, replacing Andrew Card, gives the administration a last chance to finally match its anti-terrorism rhetoric with the necessary resources.

A favorite Bush administration theme, both before and after the 2004 election, was that we must fight terrorists overseas before they can strike us at home. Despite the rhetoric, while Bolton was director of the Office of Management and Budget, the OMB, even after 9/11, consistently cut the State Department and other agency budget requests for low-profile but important counterterrorism programs.

OMB reduced funding requests for such programs as training civilian law enforcement officials of friendly countries to help stop terrorists before they can hit us at home or while traveling overseas, clamping down on terrorist financing, interdicting terrorists crossing international borders, and port security and border security inspections.

For example, the fiscal year 2007 budget request submitted to Congress in February includes $135.6 million for the State Department's Anti-terrorism Training Assistance Program. The program provides a wide variety of courses to improve the capabilities of civilian law enforcement officials, ranging from airport security to bomb detection, hostage negotiation to handling threats from weapons of mass destruction.

This request is only $2 million more than the $133.5 million the OMB approved for fiscal year 2006. Allowing for inflation, this actually is a cut in the new budget proposals submitted to Congress, which last year cut $11 million from the fiscal year 2006 request. FBI, Treasury and Homeland Security program requests, including port security inspections and protection programs, also have been cut. Only 3 percent of cargo containers are being inspected. Government Accountability Office investigators recently testified that they were able to smuggle in enough radioactive material to make two "dirty" bombs.

True, OMB traditionally cuts department budget proposals before they are sent to Congress. But if terrorism is such a high priority, OMB and Congress should pay more attention to the requirements and training capacity of the programs instead of routinely calculating their allocations against the "benchmark" of the previous year's appropriation.

When Bolton becomes White House chief of staff and presumably becomes more policy oriented, hopefully he will use his new clout to direct OMB to back up the president's rhetoric with the funding needed to fight the long terrorism conflict. Maybe the new OMB director and staff will pay more attention to the counterterrorism program requirements needs than did the old guard.

With the 2007 budget starting to work its way through Congress, it's time for the public and business communities to demand that the government walk the walk as well as talk the talk in implementing the basic programs needed for fighting terrorism.

Kraft is a counterterrorism consultant and retired senior adviser in the State Department office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

Multilateral Diplomacy Re Iran Must Include Sanctions

By Victor Comras

Last week�s Security Council condemnation of Iran�s uranium enrichment program seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Iran�s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani both were quick, this week to announce that Iran had already achieved limited first stage uranium enrichment and that it was committed to moving ahead quickly with its enrichment program. The key point here is that Iran now claims to have mastered the technology necessary for enrichment. The only limiting factor is the supply of uranium and the equipment necessary to carry out further enrichment activities. And it is clear that Iran intends to procure or develop what it needs. Of course, Iran continues to proclaim that this enrichment program has nothing to do with the development of nuclear weapons. But, its obstinacy, in the face of international condemnation, signals other intentions.

The White House is putting new emphasis on multilateral diplomacy, rather than the threat of military action, to dissuade Iran. This is a pull-back from earlier Administration statements that left a public expectation that military action would, ultimately, be necessary. One result of these earlier statements is the higher spot oil prices. But, expectation of military action might also have resulted in other countries deciding to allow the United States to carry the brunt of this crisis. If the US is going to use the threat of bombing Iran as its principal lever there is no reason for them to share in the expense of a costly sanctions program.

A multilateral diplomatic effort that stands any chance of dissuading Iran from Uranium enrichment must entail effective controls that stop Iran from procuring needed material, technology, and equipment. It must also entail harsh punitive sanctions that bring a heavy cost to bear on Iran if it persists. That means more than freezing the bank accounts of, or denying visas to, Iran�s Mullahs. The measures adopted must have a jolting impact on Iran�s fragile economy. (See my earlier blog on this topic)

We may not initially be able to stop Iran from exporting its oil, but we can severely hamper the way it does business with its oil revenues. Iran's business community is heavily dependent on goods and services, including financial services, from Europe and Japan. In fact, imports from Europe and Japan have more than offset oil export�s to them two out of the last five year. Working with our European allies, Japan and other countries, such targeted trade sanctions, even in the absence of a Security Council Resolution, can have a substantial impact. Beyond that, we must use our combined economic clout to retain pressure on Russian and Chinese firms not to undercut these sanctions measures. Ultimately, China and Russia must be convinced to join with the community of countries that will refuse to deal with Iran so long as they pursue an unacceptably dangerous road toward the development of nuclear weapons. Without their eventual participation, military action may become our only option.

Google and the Problem with al-Manar

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

UPDATE, 4/12/2006, 11:09 A.M.: Video clips from the CD-ROM that accompanies Avi Jorisch's Beacon of Hatred are available at this website. It is worth visiting to get a sense of the kind of propaganda that al-Manar regularly broadcasts.

Last Thursday, my colleague Olivier Guitta noted that Google carries the Hizballah-run al-Manar as one of the sources in its news section. (See this link, showing that al-Manar is still featured in Google News.) Questions have been raised in the past about the criteria used for selecting Google News sources. For example, there is a 2005 post by Michelle Malkin noting that her website and Little Green Footballs were rejected as news sources, while Democratic Underground and the malicious uruknet.info were included. What is clear, though, is that the Google team believes -- rightly -- that it confers a degree of prestige upon those websites that it chooses to include in its Google News feed. That is why Google's selection of al-Manar as a news source is disturbing.

Guitta noted that al-Manar was placed on Treasury's list of Specially Designated Global Terrorist entities and that al-Manar has also been banned in France. But to understand why Google's use of al-Manar as a news source is disturbing, it's necessary to look beyond the mere fact of its designation and understand the kind of propaganda that al-Manar is known for disseminating. The definitive study on al-Manar, Beacon of Hatred: Inside Hizballah's al-Manar Television, was written by Avi Jorisch and published by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in 2004. The research performed for the monograph was extensive: Washington Institute staff recorded and analyzed hundreds of hours of primetime al-Manar programming, and Jorisch conducted a number of interviews at al-Manar's headquarters in Lebanon, as well as at the offices of other Lebanese TV stations and al-Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar.

Jorisch's study makes clear that al-Manar views its mission as propagandizing for Hizballah and promoting violence against the United States and Israel. Hizballah has openly called for violence against American forces in Iraq, and al-Manar's programming has accordingly incited violence and hatred toward Americans. Among many examples, Jorisch's description of a music video was particularly interesting:

Al-Manar has also broadcast explicit calls for acts of resistance against U.S. forces in Iraq. One video lambastes U.S. troops in Iraq with the following lyrics: "Down with the mother of terrorism! America threatens in vain, an occupying army of invaders. Nothing remains but rifles and suicide bombers." The video ends with an image of a suicide bomber's belt detonating.

Al-Manar also calls for the destruction of Israel. One video featuring Hizballah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah makes this desire crystal clear:

In it, he challenges fellow Arabs to account for what they have personally done to liberate Palestine and Jerusalem. Population figures for each Arab country are listed, and the video ends with big letters that read, "Population of the Arab world: 300 million Arabs. Occupied Palestine: 5 million Jews. What are you waiting for?" The clear message to viewers is that the Arab world should encounter no difficulty in destroying Israel through sheer numbers alone.

Terrorists Kill Dozens in Pakistan Bombing (updated)

By Andrew Cochran

AFP news quotes Pakistan provincial government official: "Information we have received from hospitals and police suggest that the death toll is 57." "Dawn" in Pakistan reports, "At least 56 people were killed and more than 100 injured when a bomb exploded at Karachi's Nishtar Park Tuesday evening when faithfuls were offering Mughrib (Evening Prayers) after attending a mammoth meeting to celebrate the birthday of the Holy Prophet...There was stampede and angry crowd pelted stones on police, damaged and torched vehicles and there was complete chaos in a vast area around the park which is near the mausoleum of the Quaid-e-Azam." AFP reports, "One or possibly two attackers climbed onto a wooden stage in Karachi's historic Nishtar Park as around 50,000 people offered sunset prayers. They then approached the Sunni clerics and detonated powerful bombs." Witness: "�I saw body parts everywhere. I saw people collecting body parts and putting them in ambulances.� CNN with a possible revenge motive: Explosion on "stage set up by Jumaat Ahle Summat, a predominantly Sunni group, Pakistani media reported...In February, at least 40 people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a Shiite procession in the town of Hangu in the country's North West Frontier Province." "The News" reports that the Jumaat leader was killed in today's blast: "Chief of Tehreek-e-Awam-e-Ahle Sunnat, Haji Mohammad Hanif Billo has also died in the incident." "Dawn" news reports on deaths of several leading Karachi clerics in today's blast: "Haji Hanif Billo, Mulana Abbas Qadri, Hafiz Muhammad Taqi & Iftikhar Bhatti were among the top notch leaders of Sunni Tahreeq/Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunnat who were martyred in the bomb blast at Nishtar park bomb blast, hospital sources said." A leading Shia cleric in Karachi survived a bomb attack just days ago. No group has claimed responsibility as of 1 pm ET.

Reuters pictures of bombing scene:

Iraqi Insurgents Call for Resurrection of Popular Internet Jihad Forum

By Evan Kohlmann

The Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI)--a prominent Sunni insurgent faction based in central Iraq--has released a statement citing the importance of "jihadi media" work.  According to the statement, "the Al-Hesbah network forum... strengthens the mujahideen and includes uplifting and delightful news about their operations.  [Those of us] in the Islamic Army of Iraq� feel that the administrators of the Al-Hesbah network are so sincere in their dealing with the jihadi organizations that they have become the subject of envy.  This is precisely why we ask blessed Allah to enable the administrators of this website to resume their informational jihad as soon as possible."

Click to view English translation of communiqu� c/o Globalterroralert.com

See also:
- Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia defends the reputation of Al-Hesbah
- Chart: Major Sunni Militant Groups in Iraq

Public Diplomacy: Restore Radio, Use the Internet

By Michael Kraft

By coincidence, two completely separate valid criticisms of the US Government�s Public Diplomacy efforts emerged today, one focusing on a traditional media and the other on the newest way of communicating.

In her column printed in the Washington Times, syndicated columnist Georgie Anne Geyer sharply criticized the Bush Administration�s decision to suspend most of the Voice of America�s English language broadcasts.

Meanwhile during a book launching this morning, Bruce Hoffman, the Rand Corporation veteran counterterrorism expert, and Professor Gabriel Weimann of Haifa University outlined the sophisticated ways that international terrorists use the internet. They called on the U.S. government to more effectively use the internet to counter this development.

Ms. Geyer wrote that by shifting money from the English language broadcasts to radio and TV operations aimed at the Middle East, such as the Al Hurra TV network, �the United States is unnaturally tying itself to only one part of the world �and ignoring the rest.�

Trouble in the Tri-Border Region

By Douglas Farah

Last week the New York Post reported that Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau had shut down a "massive terror-finance pipeline in which a whopping $3 billon in profits from drug deals and other crimes flowed through a major New York bank to Middle East fanatics." Turns out, according to senior government officials, the bank is the Bank of America. Morgenthau is pursuing possible penalties, but it is not at all clear the bank did anything knowingly wrong. No criminal charges have been filed.

What is clear, however, is that an account in the bank recieved billions of dollars in deposits an unregulated exchange house doing business in South America's Tri-border Area, the relativly lawless region around Iguazu Falls where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet. The money was flowing through New York to Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and the West Bank. Enough to make one sit up and take notice.

Several law enforcement and intelligence services are struggling to get a real handle on what goes on in the Tri-border Area. My full blog is here.

9/11 Victim's Family Channels Grief Into Treatment for Terrorism Victims

By Andrew Cochran

The ongoing Moussaoui trial, with its gripping testimony and videos of the September 11 attacks, reminds us that the survivors and the victims' families still live with the impacts every day. I had the privilege of escorting several of them around Capitol Hill recently to discuss continuing legal issues with Congressional staff and Members. Among them were a dedicated couple, Dr. Stephen Alderman and his wife Elizabeth from Westchester County, NY, whose son Peter died at the WTC "Windows on the World" restaurant. The Aldermans are turning their tragedy into a positive legacy through The Peter C. Alderman Foundation, which is dedicated to training physicians and caregivers in affected countries how to treat terrorism victims' and families' physical and mental anguish. The Foundation site describes the scope of the problem:

One billion people, one sixth of the six billion people living in today�s world, have directly experienced torture or terrorism or mass violence through war, ethnic conflict or genocide. This has occurred in more than 47 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America....Unfortunately, the effects of oppression, cruelty and torture do not fade when the oppressors leave. The victims are often left with lifelong disabilities preventing them from working, caring for their families, learning new skills or taking the so-called �good risks� in life, like having children, starting new jobs and traveling to new places. Moreover, not only does untreated depression tend to lower life expectancy, it appears to extend into the next generation and beyond.

The Alderman Foundation runs a number of outstanding programs to train caregivers, and it deserves our financial support and prayers. For instance, the "Master Class" series matches local medical practitioners with internationally reknowned trauma specialists to train the locals how to recognize symptoms and care for the victims.

Peter C. Alderman

A GSPC linked cell preparing attacks against Italy, France and Morocco dismantled

By Olivier Guitta

Morocco arrested last week nine people in connection with an Al Qaeda/GSPC linked cell headed by a Tunisian individual named Mohamed Belhadi Messahel.
Among the targets of that group were the Milan and Paris metro, the Bologna San Petronio basilica and the DST headquarters (French equivalent to the FBI). Also according to the Moroccan paper Aujourd'hui Le Maroc, the US embassy in Rabat was also a potential target.

The link to the GSPC was actually established when it was learned that three of the members of this cell had travelled to Algeria at the end of February to meet with GSPC leaders regarding their future actions against Italy, France and Morocco.
You can read more on Morocco's recent success in counter terrorism here and here

Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia Denies Being Infiltrated in Purported Internet Sting

By Evan Kohlmann

Al-Qaida's Committee in the Arabian Peninsula has issued a new communiqu� dismissing the recent arrests of alleged Al-Qaida operatives by Saudi security forces and denying rumors posted on Mohammed al-Massari's Internet website that the popular Al-Hesbah discussion forum was used by intelligence agencies to infiltrate Al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia.  According to the statement, "[t]he purpose of the recent allegations is only to make the supporters of the mujahideen fearful of using the Internet... we can only say good things about our brothers from the Al-Hesbah network.  Even if we suppose that they really did�per se�infiltrate into our network as it is alleged, we have already taken all the necessary precautions with respect to such a scenario."

Click to view English translation of communiqu� c/o Globalterroralert.com

"Countering the 'New Dayton': A Shift in Strategy for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq."

By Evan Kohlmann

A new strategy paper is now available for download from Globalterroralert.com titled  "Countering the 'New Dayton': A Shift in Strategy for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq."  The paper analyzes Zarqawi's recent decision to form a joint alliance with other Iraqi insurgent groups (within the so-called "Mujahideen Shura Council")--and how the February bombing of the Shiite Askariyya mosque in Samarra fits into Zarqawi's larger plan aimed at disrupting democratic elections and foreclosing any hope of peace between Sunnis and Shiites.

Click to view strategy paper: "Countering the 'New Dayton'"

See also: Chart - Major Sunni Militant Groups in Iraq

Immigration Reform + "Benefits" = Failure

By Bill West

The various immigration reform proposals being considered by Congress that contain provisions for "guest workers" or any other form of legalization/amnesty by any other name, and it really is that no matter how the politicians try to sugar-coat the semantics, if only viewed from the nuts and bolts perspective of how to make all that work very quickly results in the objective answer of, "it won't."

The Washington Times today reported how a suspected Iraqi spy, born in Iraq and presumably a naturalized US citizen, was employed by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services bureau (CIS) as an asylum adjudicator who infiltrated that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agency in spite of internal security controls. This infiltration raises significant concerns about the employee vetting process within CIS. Combine this with recent GAO and other studies that have shown CIS incapable of effectively handling its existing benefit processing workload, and Americans have good reason to doubt that immigration benefits are properly being administered and processed under these "normal" circumstances. And these are matters that can directly bear on national security and the GWOT.

Why is Google still carrying Al Manar???

By Olivier Guitta

The Shia TV network Al Manar of the Lebanese terrorist group Hizbullah was placed on March 23 on the Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entities (SDGT) list of the US Treasury (see here and Walid's post here).

This occured after the December 2004 move by the State Department to place Al Manar on the terrorist exclusion list and France's decision to ban Al Manar as well.

Now that two of the most important branches of the US government consider Al Manar a terrorist entity and forbid therefore persons or entities in the US to engage with them, why is Google still doing business with them??

Indeed, as of today, Google still carries Al Manar in its news section. What would entice such a prominent US company to do business with a sworn enemy of our country?
Here is an example of Al Manar's inclusion in the news section of Google's website.

Saddam's Past Terrorism Connections Have Future Consequences

By Andrew Cochran

A U.S. House oversight subcommittee conducts the first public hearing today on the lessons gleaned from the first review of the vast storehouse of Saddam's intelligence documents. They will hear today from two military officers involved in the preparation of the Iraq Perspectives Project (see my post on it earlier) and from an official of the Director of National Intelligence, and Congressmen will also discuss the release of documents by the U.S. Army Foreign Military Studies Office at Ft. Leavenworth, which has been the subject of numerous articles and columns. The skepticism in official IC circles with respect to the value of these documents remains, but we should recall that (a) committed and careful terrorists not only don't die, but they never fade away either; and (b) the IC, including the FBI, missed the use of U.S.-based Islamic charities in the 1980s and 1990s to fund Islamic terrorism. The work uncovering those charities' terrorism-funding activities was done by private-sector experts, especially Steven Emerson and his Investigative Project on Terrorism, and that work is the basis for criminal investigations even now. For instance, the KindHearts charity recently nailed by the Treasury Department is "the progeny" (Treasury's words) of the Holy Land Foundation in Texas and the Global Relief Foundation in Chicago. I'm quite confident that Steve Emerson knows more about the history and principals of those three charities than anybody else in the world.

So we need to know what happened to the thousands of graduates of Saddam's terrorism academies between 1994 and 2003 (citing page 54 of the IPP). The Moussaoui case and the release of 9/11 emergency tapes again remind us that it only takes 19 committed and trained terrorists to cause massive death and destruction. It would be grossly negligent to not obtain and pursue documentation of the names, countries of origin, and ultimate destination of each of Saddam's graduates.

Al Qaeda's recruiting in the Palestinian territories

By Olivier Guitta

Following my post and article on Al Qaeda's master plan to attack Israel in the next three years, a Jordanian intelligence source confirmed to Al Hayat that a major Al Qaeda attack was just very recently foiled in Gaza.
This source also confirmed that Al Qaeda has been expanding in Gaza and tried to penetrate the West Bank but with less success there.

A Palestinian Islamist also underlined that the recruitment of the Al Qaeda's Palestinian cell was undertaken via Internet, which was confirmed by Jordanian intelligence services. This cell is composed of about ten individuals who are very cautious and use women to transmit messages and weapons.
Interestingly enough, this operational mode is quite similar to what happened in Jordan.

Another huge consequence of Al Qaeda's increasing role is going to be its relations with Hamas. Al Zawahiri's recent message to Hamas encouraging continuing their attack on Israel has been received coldly by some in the Hamas leadership. It seems as though there might be a fracture between the "political wing" and the military wing of Hamas. In fact, Hamas has been criticized by some of its own for running in the elections and implementing a "truce" with Israel.

That's why Al Qaeda is using this perceived weakness to recruit among disenchanted hardcore Hamas members. According to Al Hayat, about 200 Hamas members have conducted negotiations with a foreign organization, most probably Al Qaeda. Coincidentally or not, Al Mokdad Omar wrote a letter to Palestinian Islamist to encourage them to join Al Qaeda.

The news website Elaph goes further in revealing that Mohammed Daef, the leader of the Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas main military organization, recently joined the ranks of Bin Laden's organization.

Al Qaeda used this strategy in Jordan a few years ago to attract disenchanted Muslim Brothers.
Signs of a major destabilization in the Palestinian territories and Israel are all over the wall.

Law Enforcement Criticizes Proposed Relief From Bank Secrecy Act Mandates

By Andrew Cochran

The news quotes emanating from yesterday's U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing (testimony and statements available there) centered around the North Korean regime's worldwide money laundering activities and the usual official comments about the Saudi Kingdom's insufficiencies at stopping terrorist financing. But for the financial services industry, the bad news from the hearing was the sharp criticism by law enforcement of proposed legislation to reduce Bank Secrecy Act reporting mandates for currency transaction reports ("CTRs"). The U.S. House passed a banking bill which included a change to the BSA relaxing CTR requirements for a financial institution's "seasoned customers" (e.g., with whom the institution had done business for at least 12 months). Before the committee yesterday, the FBI and ICE testified to the importance of CTRs to investigations and the rationale behind the current filing level of $10,000. They also objected to any new CTR filing exemption for "sole proprietorships," because they are a prime vehicle for smuggling, money laundering, and terrorist financing. You can quotes from the hearing at the end of this post. The financial services industry should realize that the criticism almost certainly reflects the opinions of the committee chairman, Sen. Shelby, and senior committee counsels - otherwise, the FBI and ICE wouldn't have been invited to testify. Thus, the BSA relief provision is probably dead in this session of Congress, unless it is folded into appropriations language.

Another note: the FBI witness was Michael Morehart, who succeeded Dennis Lormel as Chief of the Terrorist Financing Operations Section. Mr. Morehart discussed the enormous investigative benefits of the "Investigative Data Warehouse" program that Dennis developed at TFOS and described it as "Google on steroids." This is one FBI computer program which works very well, and the FBI and Justice Department should take public credit for it as often as possible.

ARE YOU READY FOR HIZBOLLAH'S PREEMPTIVE TERROR?

By Walid Phares

Walid Phares

In an article titled �Attacking Iran May Trigger Terrorism� in the Washington Post, journalist Dana Priest says �U.S. Experts wary of Military Action over Nuclear Program.� The gist of the piece is clear: If �or when the US- will engage in military activities against the Iranian regime over the nuclear crisis, one has to expect that Tehran would use its assets to respond against US targets in the region and beyond. The article goes on to explain the mechanisms of this equation. WP article

While I certainly agree that Iran will respond to American measures, I believe that the piece follows what the French calls une verite de la palice (a fact so well accepted). In short, of course Tehran will respond; obviously it had already considered, planned and even deployed its assets in that regard; and mais bien sur it will use its own intelligence services, Hizbollah and its other allies. From that angle, the sources the article refers to seem to fall a little bit behind in the strategic analysis, or at least this would be what their quotes seems to show. Priest writes: �Citing prohibitions against discussing classified information, U.S. intelligence officials declined to say whether they have detected preparatory measures, such as increased surveillance, counter-surveillance or message traffic, on the part of Iran's foreign-based intelligence operatives.�

Here again, five years after al Qaida�s 9/11, the talk in America is about �potential Iranian action� against the US and its allies, and the questions are about �detection of preparatory measures, and message �traffic, etc.� While a future Jihad analysis leads directly to a conclusion asserting the inevitability of an Iranian counter-strike, my concern is that Washington is still struggling with its possibility not with its certainty. That a Washington Post article is raising media eye brows just because it is warning about that �possibility,� raises our eye brows about the readiness to the Iran noises of War. In short: we should not allow another 9/11 to surprise us, let alone to even occur. In shorter: The Khumeinists are preparing for it, and that shouldn�t surprise us.

Jill Carroll?s Release: Echoes of The Past

By Michael Kraft

By Michael B. Kraft

The kidnapping and recent release of Jill Carroll, the Christian Science Monitor reporter in Iraq, revives many of the issues that plagued American citizens and the U.S. government during the rash of kidnappings in Lebanon during the 1980�s.

Journalists as well as educators. Christian missionaries and other American citizens were being kidnapped and in some cases murdered by terrorists in Lebanon. The longest-held hostage, Terry Anderson of the Associated Press, was held for six years and 9 months.

The Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists seized over 30 American and other hostages in an effort to pressure Kuwait into releasing the two Lebanese members of the 17- member Dawa group who were captured after the 1983 attacks on the American and French embassies and other targets. The Iran-backed Dawa group of Shiites attacked Iraq because Kuwait supported Iraq during the Iraq-Iran war.

Some of the problems and policy questions that arose in Lebanon a quarter of a century ago still are with us, as illustrated in the kidnapping of Ms. Carroll.

Intelligence Reform at What Price?

By Douglas Farah

John A. Kringen, the CIA's director of intelligence, had an interesting piece Monday in the Washington Post on the steps being taken within the intelligence community to minimize "group think" and find new ways of monitoring and assessing long-term strategic threats. He presents an optimistic view of an agency in rapid transition, and that is without question, important.

But there is one telling phrase in his op-ed that hints at the serious crisis the DI is facing: "The DI is building bench strength with highly qualified recruits to meet the demands of strategic global coverage. We brought in more new analysts in fiscal 2005 than any year in our history."

The truth is the DI has lost decades, if not centuries, of experience as older analysts have fled through the door, many from senior positions. Not all change is bad, but what is left is essentially a group of young and undeniably intelligent people with little real-world experience and little historic knowlege of issues that they must now be analyzing and briefing on.

The new recruits are being taught to "specialize," for brief periods, on subjects often so narrow that they are unable to see or read information on related topics. Then, after a few months or at most a couple of years, they move on, and their brief institutional memory goes with them. The full blog is here.

Spiegel Online on Christians in Afghanistan

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Spiegel Online has an interesting report, published on March 30, about the plight of Afghan converts to Christianity. The lead paragraph succinctly captures their very real -- and completely justified -- fear of persecution: "Afghan converts to Christianity lead dangerous lives and must keep their faith secret to avoid persecution by police, Islamists or even their own neighbors. Members of this secret society have to constantly keep looking over their shoulders."

The article centers around an interview with a 36-year-old man known as "Hashim Kabar" (not his real name, for obvious reasons), who converted to Christianity twenty years ago. Kabar describes the extreme measures he and the community of converts to Christianity are forced to take to hide their new faith:

Kabar is forced to renounce his core identity every day. There is an Islamic name on his business card, although privately he carries the name of one of the apostles. Only his family and his closest friends know his secret. Sometimes, he says, he has to act as if he is praying to Allah. "If business associates come to my house and suddenly want to pray, I have to go along," he says, adding that he only hopes his God understands. . . .

Nothing can happen in the open, and Kabar and his fellow believers hold their worship services on different days of the week. "It would be too dangerous to do it on Sunday, because it would be easy for them to observe us." Converts are contacted just before a service is to take place, often by innocent-sounding mobile phone text messages. "We're having tea at 11 o'clock," is one that Kabar reads. The locations of services change constantly as well, and they are always held in private homes, where everything has to be prepared well in advance. The household staff must be away; neighbors mustn't notice anything; and everyone has to have the 100 percent trust of everyone else. It is too dangerous to even have a Bible at most services, says Kabar, who knows his prayers by heart. Police have come and searched his house three times already, but failed to find anything incriminating.

Kabar and other Christian converts in Afghanistan fear that in the wake of Abdul Rahman's release, Islamists may decide to take matters into their own hands and try to give apostates a taste of vigilante justice. The article closes with a plea from Kabar that is well worth keeping in mind: "According to Kabar, the worst thing would be if the resolution of the case leaves the impression that everything is now OK for converts living in Afghanistan. If that happens, he says, the case would have done more harm than good."

For further reading:

• My Daily Standard article "The New Roman Lions"
• Paul Marshall, "Apostates from Islam," from the April 10 issue of the Weekly Standard

Al Qaeda's Master Plan

By Olivier Guitta

Folowing on my post on Al Qaeda's expansion in the Middle East, I wrote a full article on this topic for Tech Central. You can read it here.
Here is an excerpt:
The fact that Al Qaeda is infiltrating countries surrounding Israel is no coincidence. It is aimed at preparing different bases to attack the Jewish state. In fact, while Al Qaeda was really shunning the issue of the Palestinians until 2001, it has now become one of the central issues of the terror network. It is a clear tactical decision in order to gather support recently lost in the Muslim world. This fits totally in Al Qaeda's master plan as exposed by Jordanian journalist Fouad Hussein in his recent book "Al Zarqawi: Al Qaeda's second Generation"(only available in Arabic). Thanks to his personal connection to Zarqawi -- many years ago, they spent time together in prison -- Hussein was able to interview him along with other major Al Qaeda leaders. Unsurprisingly, Hussein explains that Al Qaeda's final goal is to establish an Islamic Caliphate in seven phases.

Interestingly, the third phase called "The Rising" advocates heavy attacks against Israel because it will then force the world to acknowledge al Qaeda as a major power, and negotiate with it. This phase should last three years and allow Al Qaeda to infiltrate Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. According to Zarqawi, the very likely collision between the United States and Iran over the nuclear issue is going to help reach that goal because Iran is going to be less focused on exerting its control on Syria and Lebanon.

Another Taylor Arrested

By Douglas Farah

Charles Taylor's son, the notorious "Chucky" Taylor, was arrested over the weekend in Miami, as he attempted to enter the United States. According to press reports, he is being held on the charge of providing false information on his passport application. He apparently lied about who his father was.

Chucky, whose real name is Charles Emmanuel, is Taylor's eldest son and a U.S. citizen, having been born in Boston. He was summoned to Liberia by Taylor after Taylor assumed the presidency of Liberia in 1997. Until then, he had barely met his father. But he worked hard to make his father proud, adopting his last name and serving as head of the brutal and repressive "Anti-Terrorist Unit" (ATU). The ATU was one of Taylor's chief instruments of repression, used to round up political opponents, suspected political opponents, business competitors and anyone else the Taylor's didn't like. Many never returned from captivity.

From his perch of family protection and impunity, Chucky engaged in a host of criminal activities, engaging in business with Lenoid Menin, a Russian-Israeli drug trafficker who engaged in illegal logging activities in Liberia. He had people executed and several times his father had to place him under house arrest because his rages were so violent that even Taylor senior was embarassed. That is quite a feat!
Read the full blog here.

So Now Mexico's President Wants to Stop "OTMs" From Illegally Entering Mexico...

By Michael Cutler

This article, "Fox vows crackdown on own illegals," is of particular interest because now President Fox of Mexico is promising to make a concerted effort to keep aliens from other countries from getting into Mexico to help secure our nation against OTM (Other Than Mexican) aliens. My first thought was that I find it interesting that Mr. Fox believes he has the right to secure his nation's borders against illegal aliens, but screams loudly when our nation attempts to do the same thing, and in fact, provides comic books and DVDs to instruct his citizens in the best way for them to circumvent our Border Patrol so that they can succeed in entering our country illegally, get a job, often be exploited terribly at the hands of their unscrupulous employers and send money back to Mexico!

In response to Mr. Fox's generous "offer" I will simply say that while I was born on a Wednesday, it was not last Wednesday! Corruption plagues the Mexican government and is especially worrisome and prevalent where Mexican law enforcement is concerned. Terrorists and others with deep pockets such as drug traffickers and members of international organized crime groups would have little trouble playing the age-old game of "Let's Make A Deal" with Mexican officials. Perhaps they will have to fork over a bit more money, but in the end, they will learn to successfully play the famous game, "The Price Is Right!" The problem is that this is not a game.

Today some of the experts on the Sunday television talk shows were speculating that the situation with Iran is getting worse especially as Iran has announced that they have successfully tested an underwater missile that can travel faster than 200 miles per hour, putting our naval fleet at risk.

Congress This Week: DOD Counterterrorism, Terrorist Financing, Islamists in Europe, Saddam's Docs

By Andrew Cochran

Congressional committees will hold numerous open terrorism-related hearings this week, including hearings on on U.S. government efforts to stop terrorist financing and to train experts in other countries; the Defense Department's role in counterterrorism; and Islamic extremism in Europe. I discussed the hearing this week on the Iraq Perspectives Project and ramifications last week. Here is an Acrobat file of this week's scheduled open hearings:

Download CongCommHrgs040206.pdf

New Statements from the GSPC in Algeria

By Evan Kohlmann

The Algerian Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat (GSPC)--a known Al-Qaida-affiliate group active in North Africa--has released two new communiqu�s on the subject of Muslim prisoners recently released by the Algerian government under an amnesty deal and, separately, the republication of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammed in various European newspapers and magazines.  According to the GSPC, "If, in the name of freedom of speech and expression, democracy permits its followers to attack Muslim practices, defame their religion, and disgrace their prophet by means of drawings and writings, then Islam requires Muslims to retaliate against this aggression."

Click to view English translations c/o Globalterroralert.com:
- 3/9/06 - GSPC issues call to freed prisoners in Algeria
- 3/22/06 - GSPC issues response to cartoons of Mohammed

Iran has been getting ready for sanctions

By Olivier Guitta

In fact some proof of Iran's preparations against possible sanctions were given two days ago by the Swiss daily La Liberte. Since last fall, rumors of Iran's transfer of assets from European institutions to Arab ones have been numerous. But La Liberte affirmed that they have confirmed that at least 250 tons of gold were transferred from Credit Suisse Zurich in three charter planes of Iran Air in October and November. The initial info came from an Iranian Communist opposition group which provided the Swiss daily with records from the Central Bank of Iran pertaining about that gold transfer. La Liberte confirmed this information with credible Swiss sources and even Credit Suisse did not deny it.

The opposition group is claiming that up to 700 tons of gold and $20 billion were actually transferred out of Switzerland during last fall. That group also stated that during a fall meeting of the Iranian leadership under the auspices of Ayatollah Khameini other conclusions were reached. Some of them are: the continuation of the enrichment of uranium, the necessary Iranian help the USA is going to need in Iraq, the US's lack of resolve re Iran after the Iraqi experience, the weakness of the Israeli leadership... This leading to the conclusion that Iran must seize the opportunity now and move forward.

So the transfer of assets in Swiss banks was decided then. Allegedly this money and gold made it to mostly Dubai and Abu Dhabi banks, some of which are owned by Ayatollah Rafsanjani and Russian financiers. Lastly Asian financial institutions received some of these assets: it is not by chance that Iranian president Ahmadinejad announced in February a $2 billion deal to build a refinery in Indonesia.