NEFA: TerrorWatch on Fatah al-Islam and Samina Malik Powerpoint

By Evan Kohlmann

The NEFA Foundation has posted a new edition of its TerrorWatch video cybercast, this time examining Al-Qaida's growing focus on the plight of the Palestinians and the emergence of apparent Al-Qaida cells in lawless regions of the Gaza Strip. In a January 2008 audio recording, Fatah al-Islam leader Shaker al-Absi told his followers, "“We ought to think about our brothers in the blessed land in Jerusalem and in the Gaza Strip, the heroes of Fatah al-Islam who were granted success by Allah in their first blessed operation, of whom we ask Allah… to grant them and us success… We say to them, ‘Your will play a major role in the future. You are part of one of the most important fortresses and frontlines… Our Lord has poured out patience over us and allowed us to gain a foothold… against the infidels… This battle is only the beginning, and we shall see who will be the victor.”

Separately, in the wake of the U.K. Court of Appeals decision to overturn the conviction of the "Lyrical Terrorist" Samina Malik, the NEFA Foundation has released a PowerPoint briefing, authored by NEFA Senior Analyst Josh Lefkowitz, that provides an overview of Operation Orbile, the British counterterrorism investigation that targeted Malik and Sohail Qureshi. The briefing includes more than a dozen exhibits entered into evidence in the course of those prosecutions, including email correspondence between Malik and Qureshi in which Qureshi sought information on airport security from Malik, who worked at a newsstand in Heathrow Airport: "Wat is the situation like at work? Is the checking still very harsh? or have things cooled down a bit?...Delete after read!" Qureshi, who trained at an Al-Qaida camp in Pakistan and was arrested at Heathrow on his way "to commit acts of terrorism overseas, possibly against coalition forces in Afghanistan," pled guilty to terror charges. In addition to providing Qureshi with details on airport security, Malik compiled an extensive library of jihadist material, including The Al Qaeda Manual, The Terrorists Handbook, The Mujahideen Poisons Handbook, a manual for a Dragunov Sniper Rifle, The Firearms and RPG handbook, and a document titled "How to Win hand to hand fighting." In announcing its decision not to retry Malik, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) stated, "Ms Malik was not prosecuted for her poetry. She was prosecuted for possessing documents that could provide practical assistance to terrorists." However, with the redefining of Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000, some of the documents CPS "relied on in Ms Malik's trial would no longer be held capable of giving practical assistance to terrorists."

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