The following is research published today, from the MEMRI Special Dispatch Series and Jihad & Terrorism Threat Monitor Project. To view these reports, you must be a paying member of the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Project (JTTM). For membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line. Note to media and government: For a full copy of these reports, send an email with the title of the report in the subject line to media@memri.org. Please include your name, title, and organization in your email.
Special Dispatch No. 4272—Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project/Al-Qaeda/Europe and the Arab and Muslim World Cageprisoners Interview with Umm Hamza, Wife of Al-Qaeda Figure Djamel BeghalThe following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM.) The following are excerpts from an interview with Umm Hamza, the wife of Djamel Beghal. Beghal is described as "a leading figure of Al Qaeda in Europe" who was "arrested shortly before the 9/11 attacks in Abu Dhabi where he was tortured and confessed a bomb-attack plot. On the basis of these confessions, he was convicted in France under the offense of 'criminal association in relation with a terrorist undertaking.' He served a 10 years sentence. After his release, he was re-arrested and is currently in pre-trial detention." The interview was conducted by Cageprisoners, a London-based organization founded in 2003 and headed by Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo prisoner who was released without charge in 2005. It calls itself a "human rights organization... that exists solely to raise awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the War on Terror." It has faced local and international criticism for its championing of Anwar Al-Awlaki and for its support for Khalid Sheikh Muhammad; Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani serving a life sentence in the U.S.; "high-value" Guantanamo detainee Abu Zubaydah; Ibn Al-Sheikh Al-Libi, an Al-Qaeda operative who reportedly committed suicide in Libyan custody after being repatriated by the U.S.; prominent jihadist Abu Mus'ab Al-Suri; and American-born Taliban member John Walker Lindh. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5802.htm.
Special Dispatch No. 4271—Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project IMU Member Umm Safiyya Encourages German Muslim Women to Immigrate to Pakistan to Join the Jihad Effort There, Stresses that the Mujahideen Are More Successful with Their Wives Beside Them
Umm Safiyya, a German member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) who immigrated to Pakistan, has published an open letter to German Muslim women. Umm Safiyya is the widow of German IMU member Djavad Sediqi, who died in battle in 2009. In her letter, she describes the role of women in the jihad communities in Pakistan, explaining that many of them work as doctors, seamstresses, and teachers, and bring up their children to become the next generation of fighters. She stresses that life in Pakistan is preferable to life among the infidels in the West, and also emphasizes that the presence of wives is important because it improves the performance of the mujahideen on the battlefield. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5801.htm.
Special Dispatch No. 4270—Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project Jihadi Website Refers Danish Islamist Asking About Shari'a Zones To Article By Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi – That Calls To Refrain From Provocation in Da'waThe Danish radical Islamist group Kaldet til Islam (Danish for "Call to Islam") has recently been calling on Muslims residing in Denmark to create "shari'a zones" in Copenhagen and elsewhere, following the model propagated in the summer of 2011 by the UK shari'a movement group Muslims against Crusades. The general idea is to create zones in which prohibitions against behaviors that contravene shari'a, such as alcohol consumption, gambling, pornography, and performing music, are enforced – though it is unclear exactly what form this enforcement would take. In an inquiry posted on the English-language section of Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi's leading Salafi-jihadi website, Minbar Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad, "Abu Hudhaifah," who said that he lives in Denmark, asked whether it was permissible to participate in the shari'a zone campaign, citing claims by some in Denmark that doing so was forbidden according to "the view of Sh[eikh] Abu M[uhammad] Al-Maqdisi." In response, the website administrators referred "Abu Hudhaifah" to an article titled "Muslims in Britain" which Al-Maqdisi had posted on the site in response to a similar query regarding the shari'a movement in the UK. In that article, Al-Maqdisi denounced, albeit fairly diplomatically, the practice of provoking non-Muslims as part of da'wa (Islamic outreach). Al-Maqdisi's response can, in fact, be seen as a clear rejection of the aggressive methods of the shari'a movement, which directly and assertively calls for the Islamization of the West and regularly uses provocative propaganda to achieve this aim. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5800.htm.
Special Dispatch No. 4269–Tunisia/Al-Qaeda/Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Belgian-Tunisian Al-Qaeda Operative Moez Garsallaoui Blasts Tunisian Elections, Nahda Movement
On October 27, 2011, the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam published an article by a member writing under the handle Abu Mua'dh Al-Qairawani, titled "[Elections] in Tunisia, a Celebration for Democracy or for Western Crusade? When Will There Be a Celebration for the Free?" There is reason to believe, based on the use of the epithet Al-Qairawani and the writer's location, which is given as Khorasan – i.e., the region of Afghanistan-Pakistan – that the author is none other than Moez Garsallaoui, an Al-Qaeda operative situated in Afghanistan. A Belgian citizen born in Tunisia and the husband of internet jihadi Malika Al-Aroud, who is serving a prison sentence in Belgium, Garsallaoui is known to have used the epithet Al-Qairawani in the past when posting on jihadi forums. In the article, Garsallaoui addresses the issue of the recent elections in Tunisia, portraying them as a Western ploy to establish secularism in the country. He also attacks the Nahda movement that won the elections, accusing it of using Islam for political gain. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5799.htm.
Kurdish Ansar Al-Islam Group Reveals Its Fully Remote-Controlled Booby-Trapped CarOn October 23, 2011, the Kurdish Salafi group Ansar Al-Islam published an article describing the group's technological advances. In what looks like a first installment in a series on the topic, the article, titled "Fuel of the Battle," presented for the first time the group's full-size, remote-controlled booby trapped car. The series is based on a not-yet-released Ansar Al-Islam video; the group released a preview of the video earlier this month. The article includes an intro, a history of the "manufacturing and development" department within Ansar Al-Islam, and an introduction to the remote-controlled car bomb, dubbed the "Horror Car." Ansar Al-Islam says that its quest for innovative weapons came as a natural response to the West's own technological achievements, and as part of a bigger plan in their war of attrition against the enemy. It says that planning for such a war should include the manufacture and development of weapons that rely on local capabilities and self-sufficiency. To read the full report, visit http://www.memrijttm.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=5518¶m=GJN
Jihadi Forum Publishes Interview with Commander of Group Behind Kazakhstan BombingsOn November 9, 2011, the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam published an interview with a man identified as Rawel Kusanyov, commander of the "Al-Zaher Baibars Company," an operational unit of the Jund Al-Khilafa Brigade which claimed responsibility for a double bombing in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. The interview was conducted and posted to the website by a person calling himself Haidar Al-Khurassani. Kusanyov was careful not to identify his group with any ideological tendency, although it can positively be categorized as belonging to radical Sunnism. He denies that the group is exclusively "Wahhabi" in an attempt to avoid alienating the general Muslim public. However, later in the interview, he mentions that actions such as those of Kazakhi President Nazarbaiev's, e.g. forbidding the hijab and prayer in national institutions, render one an infidel. Thus, there is an indication Jund Al-Khilafa is at least loosely aligned with the global jihad movement. Kusanyov promised to step up the attacks on the Kazakhi government if the latter does not comply with Jund Al-Khilafa's demands.
To read the full report, visit http://www.memrijttm.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=5554¶m=GJN | |
Thursday, 10 November 2011
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