Home Tags Posts tagged with "ayman al zawahiri"
ayman al zawahiri
In a video posted online, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has announced the creation of an Indian branch of his militant group to “raise the flag of jihad” across South Asia.
In the 55-minute video posted online, Ayman al-Zawahiri pledged renewed loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
Correspondents say his stated allegiance is an apparent snub to Islamic State (ISIS) militants.
ISIS is challenging al-Qaeda to lead worldwide Islamist militancy.
Announcing the formation of “al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent” using a mixture of his native Arabic and Urdu widely spoken in Pakistan, Ayman al-Zawahiri appeared eager to regain some of the limelight, correspondents say.
“[Al-Qaeda] is an entity that was formed to promulgate the call of the reviving imam, Sheikh Osama Bin Laden. May Allah have mercy upon him,” Ayman al-Zawahiri said.
He urged the “umma”, or Muslim nation, to “wage jihad against its enemies, to liberate its land, to restore its sovereignty and to revive its caliphate”.
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has announced the creation of an Indian branch of his militant group
Ayman al-Zawahiri said “al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent” would be good news for Muslims in Burma, Bangladesh and in the Indian states of Assam, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, where they would be rescued from injustice and oppression.
A spokesperson for India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) told the Associated Press that the statement was “a matter of serious concern”.
“But there is nothing to worry about. We have a strong government at the federal level,” the spokesperson said.
Counter-terrorism experts say al-Qaeda’s ageing leadership is vying with ISIS to recruit followers after the success of militants in the Middle East in attracting young followers worldwide by conquering large amounts of territory across Iraq and Syria.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi describes himself as a “caliph” – or head of state – and has called for the support of all Muslims around the world.
The two groups fell out in 2013 over the ISIS expansion into Syria, where Baghdadi’s followers have carried out decapitations, crucifixions and other forms of capital punishment.
On September 3, it emerged that Pakistani militants linked to IS have been distributing pamphlets in the north-western city of Peshawar calling on people to support their idea of creating an Islamic caliphate.
The material, published in the Pashto and Dari languages, urges people to support ISIS in its fight for a grand Islamic rule.
[youtube csHKUBbWWtU 650]
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has issued a message marking the 12th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
In the audio message, Ayman al-Zawahiri talks of the need for small-scale attacks – and even a boycott – to damage the US economy.
The message may be seen as a sign of diminishing ambitions and a more realistic assessment of what al-Qaeda’s central organization can achieve.
Ayman al-Zawahiri’s message also praised the bombings in Boston in April.
His message begins with a familiar claim that his organization has the upper hand.
He says that the US has fled Iraq and Afghanistan in “defeat”.
He goes on to emphasize the importance of so-called “lone-wolf”, or small-scale attacks as part of al-Qaeda’s strategy.
Such attacks, he argues, will have an economic impact above all.
“We must bleed America economically by provoking it, so that it continues its massive expenditures on security. America’s weak spot is its economy, which began to totter from the drain of its military and security expenditure,” Ayman al-Zawahiri says.
Ayman al-Zawahiri advocates “continuing the drain of military and security expenditures so that we keep America in a state of tension and anticipation, [wondering] when and where the next blow will come”.
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has issued a message marking the 12th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks
“Keeping America in a state of tension and anticipation does not cost us anything but [organizing] dispersed strikes here and there. In other words, just as we defeated it in a war of nerves in Somalia, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan, we must afflict it with a similar war in its own home.
“These dispersed strikes can be carried out by one brother, or a small number of brothers.”
The emphasis on smaller-scale strikes may well be seen as an acknowledgement of a diminishing ability of al-Qaeda’s central leadership to plan and carry out major, organized attacks of the type it managed in the past.
That shift is evident in Ayman al-Zawahiri calling on supporters to begin an economic boycott.
“We must explain to them that every dollar’s worth of goods that we buy from America and her allies amounts to a bullet or shrapnel that kills a Muslim in Palestine or Afghanistan.”
Most analysts believe that the al-Qaeda core in Pakistan has been severely damaged and this message appears to be an acknowledgement of that reality.
However, affiliates in other parts of the world – notably al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen – are said by government officials to remain a threat.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, who has historically tended to focus more on ideology and strategy, also spends a significant amount of the message talking about recent events in Egypt.
He says that the US was behind the “coup” against the Muslim Brotherhood.
He also criticizes Mohamed Morsi, the deposed president who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, saying he was not governing according to Islamic law and had committed to abide by security agreements with the US and Israel.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, whose background before joining al-Qaeda was in Egypt’s Islamist movements, also emphasizes his opposition to the Brotherhood’s willingness to work through democratic politics.
He criticizes other Islamist movements in places like Tunisia for coming to “an understanding with America”.
The events in the Middle East have raised serious ideological challenges for al-Qaeda, with it appearing increasingly irrelevant amid signs that protests, people power and even democratic elections might be a more viable vehicle for change than the kind of violence that al-Qaeda espoused.
However, with the optimism of the past few years fading fast, Ayman al-Zawahiri appears to be hoping that al-Qaeda’s ideology of rejecting democracy and promoting uncompromising violence might be able to gain more of a foothold.
Syria remains a key focus for international attention – including for al-Qaeda. Ayman al-Zawahiri warns Islamist opposition groups there not to come to any agreement with “secularists” who are also fighting the Assad regime.
“Let what happened in Egypt be a lesson to them,” Ayman al-Zawahiri says, before arguing that the jihadists groups need to unite in the region.
This may well be a reference to recent reports of splits and divisions, not just within Syrian jihadist groups but also with the Iraqi-based groups.
[youtube YTNNXYcwG7M]
The US State Department has warned citizens and non-emergency government staff to leave Yemen “immediately” due to security threats.
It comes after the sudden closure of 20 US embassies and consulates on Sunday.
This was prompted by intercepted conversations between two senior al-Qaeda figures, including top leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, US media said.
The US earlier said the closures in North Africa and the Middle East were “out of an abundance of caution”.
A global travel alert issued on Tuesday said: “The US Department of State warns US citizens of the high security threat level in Yemen due to terrorist activities and civil unrest.
“The department urges US citizens to defer travel to Yemen and those US citizens currently living in Yemen to depart immediately.”
It added that “the security threat level in Yemen is extremely high”.
The Yemeni capital has been experiencing unprecedented security measures, with hundreds of armoured military vehicles deployed to secure the presidential palace, vital infrastructural buildings and Western embassies in the capital.
The US State Department has warned citizens and non-emergency government staff to leave Yemen “immediately” due to security threats
A security source confirmed Yemeni intelligence services had discovered that tens of al-Qaeda members had arrived in Sanaa over the past few days from other regions in preparation for the implementation of a large plot.
The source described the plot as dangerous, and suggested it was to include explosions and suicide attacks aimed at Western ambassadors and foreign embassies in Yemen, in addition to operations aimed at the Yemeni military headquarters.
Both the White House and the US state department have said the current threat comes from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), but have refused to divulge further details.
According to the New York Times, the US intercepted communications between Ayman al-Zawahiri and the group’s head in Yemen, Nasser al-Wuhayshi.
The paper said the conversation represented one of the most serious plots since the 9/11 attacks.
A number of US diplomatic posts in the region – including in the Yemeni capital Sanaa – will remain closed until Saturday.
Several European countries have also temporarily shut missions in Yemen and the UK Foreign Office is advising against all travel to the country.
A state department global travel alert, issued last week, is also in force until the end of August.
In its latest statement, the department referred to previous attacks on US embassies, including the storming of its compound in September 2012.
Earlier that month mob attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi had left US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead.
Meanwhile, officials in Yemen released the names of 25 al-Qaeda suspects, saying they had been planning attacks targeting “foreign offices and organizations and Yemeni installations” in the capital of Sanaa and other cities across the country.
AQAP, the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda, has also been blamed for the foiled Christmas Day 2009 effort to bomb an airliner over Detroit and for explosives-laden parcels that were intercepted the following year aboard cargo flights.
Seven suspected al-Qaeda militants were killed in two US drone air strikes in southern Yemen in June, officials say.
[youtube 4mF3J8Ju8EM]
The sudden closure of many American diplomatic missions in North Africa and Middle East were prompted after the US intercepted conversations between two senior al-Qaeda leaders.
The chatter, involving top leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, represented one of the most serious plots since the 9/11 attacks, the New York Times wrote.
The US earlier said the closures in North Africa and the Middle East were “out of an abundance of caution”.
Some 20 US embassies and consulates were shut on Sunday.
A state department global travel alert, issued last week, is also in force until the end of August.
US diplomatic posts in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa and Tripoli will remain closed until Saturday.
Several European countries have also temporarily shut missions in Yemen and the UK Foreign Office is advising against all travel to the country.
Both the White House and the US state department said the threat came from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), but refused to divulge further details.
Some 20 US embassies and consulates in North Africa and Middle East were shut
But according to the New York Times, the US intercepted communications between Ayman al-Zawahiri and the group’s head in Yemen, Nasser al-Wuhayshi.
The paper said that no targets had been singled out in the discussions, but that a possible attack appeared to be imminent.
A US official told the Associated Press news agency that Ayman al-Zawahiri’s message had been picked up several weeks ago and appeared initially targeted at Yemen.
US lawmakers have said it was a huge plot in the final stages, but have offered no specifics.
On Monday, a top member of the House intelligence committee Dutch Ruppersberger told CNN the warnings were not designed to frighten Americans, though he said a planned attack could be “anywhere”.
“Americans should live their lives… we just want them to be aware,” Representative Dutch Ruppersberger said.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said he could not be “specific” about the threats.
He said: “Our current information suggests that al-Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond. And our information suggests that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August.”
Meanwhile, officials in Yemen have released the names of 25 al-Qaeda suspects, saying they had been planning attacks targeting “foreign offices and organizations and Yemeni installations” in the capital of Sanaa and other cities across the country.
There was also increased security at government buildings and checkpoints in Yemen on Monday.
AQAP, the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda, has also been blamed for the foiled Christmas Day 2009 effort to bomb an airliner over Detroit and explosives-laden parcels that were intercepted the following year aboard cargo flights.
Seven suspected al-Qaeda militants were killed in two US drone air strikes in southern Yemen in June, officials say.
[youtube yxlBjSrQ9kA]
Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped the US to locate Osama Bin Laden, has said he was unaware he was involved with the 2011 killing of the al-Qaeda chief.
Speaking for the first time since his arrest, Shakil Afridi told Fox News he did not think he needed to escape after the killing but was then kidnapped by Pakistan’s ISI intelligence agency.
He said the ISI, who he says tortured him, regards the US as its worst enemy.
Dr. Shakil Afridi is understood to have been contacted by phone in jail in Peshawar.
Prison officials were taken by surprise by reports of the interview, but did not rule out that a phone could have been smuggled into his cell.
The doctor is alleged to have used a fake hepatitis B vaccination campaign to obtain DNA samples of Osama Bin Laden’s family.
He was sentenced to 33 years in jail in May for funding and supporting a militant group, but correspondents say it is generally acknowledged he is being punished for helping the CIA.
Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped the US to locate Osama Bin Laden, has said he was unaware he was involved with the 2011 killing of the al-Qaeda chief
The interview was published on the eve of the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the US, and came as current al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri confirmed the death of another senior figure in the network, Abu Yahya al-Libi, in a US drone strike in Pakistan’s tribal areas earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Ayman al-Zawahiri’s brother Mohamed told CNN that he was prepared to negotiate peace between the West and Islamists.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, who spent 14 years in jail in Egypt, is said to have the respect of the new Egyptian government but claims to be ideologically close to his brother.
Speaking from Peshawar Central Jail, Dr. Shakil Afridi said he had not realized that the CIA was targeting Osama Bin Laden.
“I didn’t know about a specific target apart from the work I was given to do,” he told Fox News.
“I was aware that some terrorists were residing in that compound, but I didn’t know whom. I was shocked. I didn’t believe I was associated with his killing.”
He said that the CIA advised him to flee to Afghanistan.
However, he was scared to cross the volatile border region and did not think it was necessary for him to escape because he did not consider himself to be involved in Osama Bin Laden’s death, he said.
Dr. Shakil Afridi was arrested at a checkpoint at Hayatabad on 22 May last year, 20 days after Osama Bin Laden’s death.
After this he says he was blindfolded for eight months and handcuffed for a year in a prison beneath the ISI headquarters in Islamabad.
“I had to bend down on my knees to eat with only my mouth, like a dog,” he said.
During interrogations he was tortured with cigarette burns and electric shocks, he said, as the ISI rebuked him for helping the US find Bin Laden.
“They said: <<The Americans are our worst enemies, worse than the Indians>>,” he added.
Dr. Shakil Afridi also said fellow inmates had told him that they had been advised to make things up to prevent interrogation by visiting CIA officers.
He said that he himself was “proud” to work with the CIA and would help the US again despite the torture and psychological abuse he said he had suffered.
“I have a lot of respect and love for your people,” he said.
There has been no official response to Shakil Afridi’s allegations, but the Pakistani authorities have always insisted that they treated him the way any country would someone found working for a foreign spy agency.
Osama Bin Laden’s killing created a crisis in relations between the US and Pakistan, whose government was seriously embarrassed as it emerged Bin Laden had been living in Pakistan.
Islamabad felt the covert US operation was a violation of its sovereignty.
Both US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have said Dr. Shakil Afridi’s arrest was a mistake and called for his release.
