Counterterrorism Blog

As has been reported here and elsewhere, Al-Qaida's As-Sahab Media Foundation released a new audio recording early this morning featuring Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu al-Laith al-Liby. Abu al-Laith is a senior Al-Qaida military commander and likewise a key principle behind the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). According to Zawahiri in the recording, "Honorable members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group have announced that they are joining the Al-Qaida organization in order to continue the march of their brothers... Your good sons are gathering [in the Maghreb] under the banner of Islam and jihad against America, France, Spain and their people... O' nation of jihad, support your sons so that we defeat our enemies and rid our homeland of their slaves." In the As-Sahab recording, Zawahiri's address was followed by a response from Abu al-Laith al-Liby--in which he confirmed, "We announce we are joining Al-Qaida as loyal soldiers."

While it is certainly interesting to see both Al-Qaida and LIFG leaders openly acknowledging a formal relationship with each other, this is hardly what one would term "new news." Last month, the NEFA Foundation published a dossier on the LIFG based upon an expert witness report that was filed on behalf of the Scotland Yard SO-15 Counter Terrorism Command and the United Kingdom Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) during "Operation Cavern" (Regina v. Al Bashir Mohammed al-Faqih, 2007). In my report, I cited the litany of evidence that is already widely available connecting the LIFG to Al-Qaida. One can begin with the testimony of confessed former Moroccan Al-Qaida operative L’Houssaine Kherchtou in U.S. federal court during United States v. Usama Bin Laden et al. (SDNY, 2001):

“Q. Any other countries besides Algeria that had a group within al Qaeda?
A. We have the Libyan Fight Group…
Q. Did you know who the representatives of the Libyan Fighting Group were within al Qaeda?
A. Who is emir [commander]?
Q. Yes.
A. Saif al Liby.
Q. Do you know any other members of the Libyan Fighting Group who also belonged to al Qaeda?
A. I remember Abu Jaffar al Liby, and Abu Anas al Liby, and Hamzallah al Liby, and Abu Abdel Qader al Liby. This is what I remember now.
Q. You mentioned this morning that there was a person named Hamzallah al Liby who worked in Pakistan helping you to get the passports and travel documents. Is that the same person who was a member of the Libyan Fighting Group?
A. Yes.
Q. You mentioned this morning a person named Hamas al Liby. Is that the same person who was a member of the Libyan Fighting Group?
A. Yes.”

Then, of course, there are the direct and public communiques that the LIFG has continuously issued over the past decade--long before the events of 9/11 and the subsequent U.S. military invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Indeed, as early as May 1997, the LIFG made perfectly clear how it felt about America when it condemned the U.S. conviction of Shaykh Omar Abdel Rahman for conspiring to carry out a series of terrorist attacks across the New York metropolitan area:

“Shaykh Omar Abdel Rahman—may Allah set him free—refused to sell out his religion and decided to keep his words vivid and alive in the hearts of those who knew him and were raised on his teachings… His positions and efforts shall always be a model for those who are loyal to our banner and to the whole Islamic nation. Those who oppressed our Mujahid Shaykh and paid no heed to his senior clerical status, his age, and his blindness should know that by doing so they have offended the entire Islamic nation which admires Shaykh Omar Abdel Rahman and considers him to be a true role model and leader. The Islamic Fighting Group declares its support for Shaykh Omar Abdel Rahman and reminds Muslims everywhere about his predicament. [The LIFG] also warns the Americans to take heed of the growing anger among Muslims who have had enough with the American tyranny that has spread across the whole world.”

A year later--in August 1998--Al-Qaida executed twin suicide bombing attacks at two U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Among those later indicted for their involvement in the East Africa embassy bombings was at least one senior LIFG commander. When the U.S. launched retaliatory missile strikes on suspected terrorist training camps in southern Afghanistan--including the Salman al-Farisi base frequented by LIFG operatives--the LIFG issued a bold statement in response. Rather than distancing themselves from Al-Qaida, the group instead boasted:

“The arrogant American government has committed a historic act of stupidity… This act strengthens the feelings of hostility and hatred among Muslims as well as the desire for revenge against this arrogant American bullying that deals with others only by means of force... the American Administration has chosen the path of hostility toward our Islamic nation, and has decided to adopt a policy of open confrontation. The Islamic Fighting Group strongly condemns this barbaric attack, and announces its support for Muslims in Sudan and Afghanistan... America is not only the enemy of the Mujahid Shaykh Usama Bin Laden and the Islamic movements, but rather the enemy of the entire Islamic nation. America has stood behind the Jews and against the Islamic nation since their state was established and continues to do so until this very day… The Islamic Fighting Group calls upon Muslims to confront this American aggression in order to respond to this bellicose attack against the people of our Islamic nation… Whereas the American Administration relies on its fleets, its warplanes, and its missiles, we rely on Allah alone.”

Following the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government launched a campaign to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations. As part of that campaign, on September 23, 2001, President Bush signed Executive Order 12334, naming several Al-Qaida affiliate groups as Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entities, including the LIFG. On the same day, in response to threats by the U.S. government to invade Afghanistan in order to apprehend Usama Bin Laden and other Al-Qaida leaders responsible for 9/11, the LIFG published a new fatwah, or religious edict, asserting that the U.S. was using terrorist attacks in New York and Washington “as an excuse to initiate a war against the Muslims, Islam, and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan [the Taliban].” Moreover, according to LIFG religious advisor Shaykh Hassan Qaid (a.k.a. Abu Younis al-Sahrawi):

“It is a duty upon Muslims… —no matter if they are Arab or foreign, Asian or European, if they live nearby or far away—to [protect the Taliban]… Every individual in the Islamic nation must contribute in defeating this enemy with any means available, whether physically, financially, or simply by calling for jihad in order to spread fear among the infidels… By declaring war against the Muslims and occupying their countries, the United States of America has made all of its worldwide interests into legitimate targets for the mujahideen. They [the mujahideen] shall bomb and demolish them by any means necessary. Those interests include military, economic, humanitarian, diplomatic, cultural, tourism, or anyone else anywhere around the globe… Women, children, and the elderly… should not be specifically targeted, unless they are in the vicinity of those whose killing is permissible—in which case, there is no sin in killing them… Anyone who stands alongside the United States and assists it with moral support, petroleum, intelligence, shared military bases, or airports in its war against the Muslims in Afghanistan and elsewhere should be fought and killed in order to support our Muslim brothers in their battle against the infidels, to protect Islam, and to take our revenge upon the oppressors.”

For more about the LIFG and its support for Al-Qaida, read the complete dossier at the NEFA Foundation website.