Third 9/11 Jihadist Video Calls For Attacks on West (Updated)
By Jeffrey Imm
September 18 Update with additional SITE report
Media reports state that a third 9/11 Jihadist video, reportedly by Al Qaeda, has been released via Islamist web sites today, calling for Jihadist terror acts on the West to be a daily occurrence and calling for "acts of mass extermination".
AKI and AFP have thus far provided the primary reporting on this new Al Qaeda video.
AKI reports that the new 26 minute video is entitled "The attacks in New York and Washington - reasons and motives".
AFP reports that the video "features a montage of images of the burning World Trade Center towers and scenes from Islamist training camps."
AFP reports that a voiceover on the video states:
"We must take Islamist terrorism to Western countries so that it becomes a normal part of life like natural disasters" and "[i]n that way, we will have acts of mass extermination in which people will feel that their affluence also brings death... and we will have created a balance of deterrence between us and them".
AKI reports that the new video begins with a message from Abu Yahya al-Libi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. On the new video, Al-Libi is reported to praise the role of Al Qaeda in defending the principles of Islam
AKI reports that the new video includes a montage of audio and video footage of previous messages Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri on the rationale behind the 9/11 attacks. AFP reports that the video also includes a clip by Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid, also known as Sheikh Said, the group's commander in Afghanistan.
AKI reports that:
"[a] voice on the video also gives an account of the war in Chechnya, blames the West for having committed a mass extermination and calls for revenge for this action. Also included is footage of interviews carried out by the Arab satellite TV network, Al Jazeera, with university professors, Arab commentators and editor of the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper. The entire video describes various events that occured before the 9/11 attacks, in particular the conflict in Chechnya, and tries to explain the reasons behind the terror attacks."
AKI reports that the video ends with a speech by Abdullah Azzam. Abdullah Azzam, who died in 1989, was an inspiration to Osama Bin Laden and countless other Jihadists.
AKI reports that the new video does not the logo of al-Sahab, Al Qaeda's communications arm, but carries the new logo of "al-Tanzim". AFP reports: "A third release had been trailed by Al-Qaeda's media arm, As-Sahab. In the event the new video was issued in the name of Al-Tanzem, prompting suggestions the network has launched a new media arm."
Additional SITE Reporting
SITE provided additional reporting on the 9/11 Jihadist video, pointing out that in this Al-Tanzem Jihadist video, there was significant focus on Chechnya. SITE reported that: "Chechnya is the lens through which al-Tanzem is fixated, the narrator stating: “If you see the massacres of Chechnya, you would say that this is enough reason to strike the towers of the World Trade Center.” Footage of destruction in Chechnya in human and material terms, and excerpts from interviews with Islamic scholars and al-Qaeda spokesman, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, defend the jihad in Chechnya and portrays it as an example of a war on Islam not isolated to Russia."
SITE reported that "Al-Tanzem, in the past, has produced media praising deceased jihadi leaders, such as Mullah Dadullah, Shamil Basayev and Abu al-Walid al-Ghamdi."
SITE also provided a similar translation on the video voiceover previously reported by AFP, with SITE stating: "[a] voice which sounds like that of Abu Musab al-Suri states: 'Islamic terror must move to the Western countries so that it turns into a natural disaster such as earthquakes, volcanoes and things similar to that. They should have mass extermination so they can feel what we suffer and stop what they are doing to us, then they will have sympathy and a balance is achieved. We don’t need to understand the West; instead we make the West understands us.' "
Sources:
September 17, 2007 -- AKI: Terrorism: Al-Qaeda releases third 9/11 video
September 17, 2007 -- AFP: Qaeda urges Islamic terror in West in third 9/11 video
April 16, 2002 - Slate: Abdullah Azzam - The godfather of jihad