Showing posts with label the Jihad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the Jihad. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
CNN: Mogadishu, Somalia -- In Somalia's enduring chaos, militant groups have for years come and gone. Today's most powerful -- Al Shabaab -- are much more menacing, say those in Mogadishu.
In Arabic, Al Shabaab means 'the youth', but it is too far-reaching to be just a rabble of youngsters. It controls much of central and southern Somalia and large parts of the capital Mogadishu.
And after years of pledging allegiance to al Qaeda, Al Shabaab formalized the relationship in February. Since then, the Somali government says there's been an influx of foreign fighters.
"With regard to the fighting that's going on in Afghanistan, in Pakistan and in Yemen, some people are looking for a place to hide and Somalia is a good candidate for that," said Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who leads the weak, U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
Ahmed was once a senior, moderate figure in the Union of Islamic Courts -- an alliance that included Al Shabaab and which held power in Somalia for six months in 2006 before being overthrown by Ethiopian forces.
The Ethiopians remained until early 2009 when the TFG took tentative control, clinging to a small part of Mogadishu, and protected by African Union (AU) peacekeepers mainly from Uganda and Burundi.
A quiet figure, President Ahmed sits in his office at the palace grounds while government troops outside fire warning shots to prevent people from venturing too close.
"We used to estimate the number of foreign fighters to be between 800 and 1,200 but that number seems to have been growing," he said.
Al Shabaab has reached out to Somalis living in the West, radicalizing young Muslims via the Internet and encouraging them to move back to the country to join the Jihad. >>> Jane Ferguson, for CNN | Tuesday, April 27, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: A video showing the failed Christmas Day plane bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab training with al-Qaeda in Yemen has been broadcast on America’s ABC television.
The video, which shows the 23-year-old Nigerian and other militants shooting at targets that include a Union Jack, a Jewish star and one labelled UN, appears to support Mr Abdulmutallab’s statements to American intelligence that there are “others like me” training in the Yemen to carry out attacks aginst Western targets.
Mr Abdulmutallab is charged with attempting to bring down a Detroit bound airliner on Christams Day by detonating explosives hidden in his underwear. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges but has been cooperating with US intelligence agencies interviewing him, discussing his contacts in Yemen and providing intelligence in multiple terrorism investigations, according to US officials.
He is shown on the tape making an apparent martyrdom statement in Arabic, justifying his actions as part of a battle against: “the enemy is in your lands with their armies, the Jews and the Christians and their agents.”
He also reads several passages from the Koran, adding “God said if you do not fight back, He will punish you and replace you.”
According to ABC News, which obtained and broadcast the tape on Monday, the video was produced by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. >>> Times Online | Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: An American woman who authorities say dubbed herself "Jihad Jane" online pleaded not guilty to charges of involvement in an overseas terrorist plot.
Colleen LaRose, 46, from Pennsburg near Philadelphia, appeared before a federal court wearing a green jumpsuit and with corn rows in her blonde hair.
A May 3 trial date was set.
She was accused of conspiring with jihadist fighters and pledging to commit murder in the name of a Muslim holy war.
Authorities say she wanted to kill a Swedish artist who had offended Muslims, and grew acquainted online with violent co-conspirators from around the world.
They say she posted a YouTube video in 2008 saying she was "desperate to do something" to ease the suffering of Muslims.
She was arrested in October 2009 in Philadelphia while returning to the United States.
LaRose spent most of her life in Texas, where she dropped out of high school, married at 16 and again at 24, and racked up a few minor arrests.
After a second divorce, she followed a boyfriend to Pennsylvania in about 2004 and began caring for his father while he worked long hours, sometimes on the road.
As she moved through her 40s without a job or any outside hobbies, her boyfriend said she started spending more time online.
Though her boyfriend, Kurt Gorman, did not consider her religious, and she apparently never joined a mosque, LaRose had by 2008 declared herself "desperate" to help suffering Muslims in the YouTube video.
"In my view, she sort of slipped sideways into Islam. ... There may have been some seduction into it, by one or more people," said Temple University psychologist Frank Farley. >>> | Thursday, March 18, 2010
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: The American-born Muslim cleric who may have inspired the gunman in the Fort Hood massacre has a message for other American Muslims: turn against your country.
In a 12-minute audio message obtained by CNN, Anwar Al-Awlaki of Yemen calls his former country "evil" and praised Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, who has been charged with gunning down 13 people in Fort Hood last year.
"To the Muslims in America, I have this to say: How can your conscience allow you to live in peaceful co-existence with a nation that is responsible for the tyranny and crimes committed against your own brother and sisters?" Al-Awlaki says in the message, according to CNN.
Al-Awlaki has emerged as a major figure in Al Qaeda's attempts to recruit American insurgents through Internet sermons. The FBI had questioned him about his role as "spiritual adviser" to Sept. 11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hamzi and Hani Hanjour at the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., before he fled to Yemen. >>> Ethan Sacks | Daily News Staff Writer | Thursday, March 18, 2010
CNN: Purported al-Awlaki message calls for jihad against U.S. >>> Paula Newton | CNN | Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
BBC: The US State Department has apologised for comments made about Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's call for jihad, or holy war, against Switzerland.
Department spokesman PJ Crowley*, who made the dismissive comments, said they did not reflect US policy and were not intended to offend.
Col Gaddafi had criticised a Swiss vote against the building of minarets and urged Muslims to boycott the country.
Mr Crowley described it as "lots of words, not necessarily a lot of sense."
Libya and Switzerland are embroiled in a long-running diplomatic row.
Clarification
"I regret that my comments have become an obstacle to further progress in our bilateral relationship," Mr Crowley said.
Last week, Libya's National Oil Corporation warned US oil firms of possible "repercussions" over Mr Crowley's reaction. >>> | Tuesday, March 09, 2010
*Who is this sniveler? America has lost ALL of its dignity!
20MINUTEN.ch: USA macht sich die Nase braun! Affäre Gaddafi : USA entschuldigen sich bei Libyen >>> sda/ddp | Mittwoch, 09. März 2010
Monday, March 08, 2010
NZZ ONLINE: Ghadhafis zweiter Sohn Saif al-Islam hat sich in einem Interview von den radikalen Elementen innerhalb des libyschen Regimes distanziert, ohne seinen Vater direkt zu kritisieren. Er behauptet, für Libyen politische Freiheiten «wie in den Niederlanden» anzustreben.
Die Libyen-Affäre schwelt weiter und Max Göldi sitzt noch immer in einem libyschen Gefängnis. Jetzt hat Saif al-Islam («Schwert des Islams»), Sohn von Revolutionsführer Ghadhafi, in einem Interview mit dem amerikanischen Nachrichtenmagazin «Time» aber erstaunliche Töne angeschlagen. In einer offenen Herausforderung der radikalen Elemente innerhalb des libyschen Regimes forderte er einen «demokratischen Wandel».
Der Streit mit der Schweiz sei nur der Beleg für umfassenderes Problem Libyens, sagte Saif. Es ginge darum, wie sein Land mit dem Westen nach Jahrzehnten der Isolation umgehen soll. «Wenn wir mit dem Westen tanzen wollen, dann müssen wir das zum gleichen Rhythmus und zur gleichen Musik tun».
Ohne seinen Vater direkt zu kritisieren, bezeichnete er die beharrenden Kräfte in Libyen rundweg als «Idioten». Auf die Frage, welche Freiheiten er gerne in Libyen etablieren möchte, antwortete er: «Alle - Ziel ist ein Mass an Freiheit wie etwa in Holland». Das wäre allerdings eine radikale Abkehr von der diktatorischen Herrschaft, wie sie sein Vater nun schon mehr als vierzig Jahre in Libyen ausübt. Bekannt für Offenheit >>> bbu. | Montag, 08. März 2010
Verbunden mit diesem Artikel / Related to this article:
TIME: Gaddafi vs. Switzerland: The Leader's Son on What's Behind the Feud >>> Vivienne Walt, Tripoli | Saturday, February 27, 2010
TIME: It's tempting to dismiss Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi's call this week for a jihad against Switzerland as just another round in the feud between the two countries. But it would be a mistake to treat Gaddafi's rhetoric as mere theater. Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan leader's second-eldest son, who many suspect is Gaddafi's likely successor, tells TIME that Libya's row with Switzerland is evidence of a far more serious and urgent issue within Libya, which is grappling with how democratic and Westernized the country should become after decades of isolation. "If we are going to dance with them [the West], we need to dance with the same rhythm to the same music," Saif Gaddafi said in a candid interview as he relaxed on his farm outside Tripoli, on the public holiday marking the Prophet Mohammed's birthday. "The best example is the Swiss crisis. It shows there is a big gap between our way of thinking and our mentality, and the Western mentality and the way of doing business."
That's an understatement. The senior Gaddafi's call on Friday for holy war against Switzerland has injected a new, more menacing tone into a dispute that has dragged on for the past 18 months. Gaddafi told an audience of diplomats and officials in the city of Benghazi that Muslims should bar Swiss planes and ships from their countries, and embargo Swiss goods. "Let us wage jihad against Switzerland, Zionism and foreign aggression," he told the crowd. "Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against Muhammad, God and the Koran."
The rift, which threatens multi-billion-dollar investments in Libya, began when Swiss police arrested Gaddafi's youngest son Hannibal and his wife in July 2008, for allegedly assaulting two of their servants in a Geneva hotel. The couple denied the charges, which were quickly dropped, but the row continued. Offended by Swiss newspaper portrayals of his son, Gaddafi withdrew billions in Libyan funds from Swiss banks in July of last year, prompting the Swiss president to fly to Tripoli to apologize for the arrest.
Gaddafi was still not mollified. Last August, two Swiss businessmen were arrested in Tripoli for overstaying their visas. After a five-month standoff, one was allowed to leave Libya last week, while the second began a four-month prison term. >>> Vivienne Walt, Tripoli | Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, March 07, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: A fundamentalist group which believes in sharia law, jihad and creating an "Islamic social and political order" in Britain arranged an "unprecedented mobilisation" of voters for the former London mayor, Ken Livingstone, at the last mayoral election.
In an election lost by Mr Livingstone, the Islamic Forum of Europe helped secure massive and unexpected swings towards him in its east London heartland.
In one ward, Spitalfields, his vote share rose from 29.6 per cent in 2004 - an election he won - to 68.4 per cent in 2008, a rise of nearly 39 percentage points.
In every other ward in Tower Hamlets and Newham with a sizeable Muslim population, his vote rose by between 23 and 36 percentage points. His vote in other Muslim and ethnic minority areas of London also rose, but by far smaller amounts.
Mr Livingstone's economic development body, the London Development Agency, had agreed to pay more than £1.3 million to the East London Mosque, controlled by the IFE, and described by critics as hardline. >>> Andrew Gilligan | Saturday, March 06, 2010
Friday, March 05, 2010
Thursday, March 04, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Libya said its leader Colonel Gaddafi's call for "jihad" against Switzerland was not a reference to armed struggle.
Ali Aujali, Libya's ambassador to the United States, said: "It is a call for (an) economic and commercial boycott against Switzerland, this is true, but it doesn't mean by any means that it is an armed struggle."
On Feb 25, Col Gaddafi called for a "jihad" against Switzerland, branding it an infidel state that was destroying mosques – an apparent reference to a Swiss referendum in favour of banning the construction of minarets.
But Mr Aujali said that Tripoli still expects an apology for US criticism of his remarks.
Asked about the Libyan leader's "jihad" comment, State Department spokesman P J Crowley last month responded dismissively and drew a parallel to Col Gaddafi's one hour and 35 minute address to the United Nations last year.
"It just brought me back to a day in September, one of the more memorable sessions of the UN General Assembly that I can recall – lots of words and lots of papers flying all over the place, not necessarily a lot of sense," Mr Crowley said.
Mr Crowley has since said his comment was not meant as a personal attack but has refused to apologise outright, a stance that did not satisfy Libya. >>> | Thursday, March 04, 2010
Monday, March 01, 2010
If anyone has been hurt by the Libyan row, it is Libya itself, because it has shown itself to be just what it truly is: a rogue state. – © Mark
THE TELEGRAPH: Neutral Switzerland has had its reputation as a global mediator dented as weaknesses in its foreign policy are exposed by its escalating row with Libya, analysts said.
Relations between Bern and Tripoli have been strained since July 2008, when one of the sons of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Hannibal and his wife were arrested in Geneva after two domestic workers complained they had mistreated them.
Libyan [sic] retaliated by blocking two Swiss businessmen from leaving its territory while Switzerland imposed visa restrictions on some Libyans, effectively blocking them from entering Europe's Schengen 25 nation travel zone.
But the row reached new heights this week when Gaddafi called for jihad against the alpine state over a recent Swiss ban on the construction of minarets.
Hasni Abidi, the director of the Geneva-based Study and Research Centre for the Arab and Mediterranean World, said the tussle with Libya was "bad publicity for the Swiss in the Arab and Muslim world," where Switzerland had traditionally played a role in mediation.
Bern was a middleman in ending decades of hostility stemming from World-War I-era massacres between Turkey and Armenia, leading them to sign historic protocols estabilishing diplomatic ties.
Switzerland also represents US interests in Iran and Tehran's interests in Egypt.
However, "this speciality is very certainly weakening given the situation linked to the Libyan crisis," added another analyst, Frederic Esposito, from the European Institute of the University of Geneva.
Abidi added that this was amplified by a Swiss referendum vote last year to ban the construction of new minarets, a move that drew worldwide criticism and which Kadhafi seized on to call for jihad.
Gaddafi knew that Switzerland's role as a mediator is "based on its image of neutrality and impartiality and openness," said Abidi, and therefore he has attacked this image.
Swiss handling of the Libyan crisis has exposed broader weaknesses in its foreign policy, said analysts. >>> Hui Min Neo and Alix Rijckaert, in Geneva for AFP | Monday, March 01, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
MIDDLE EAST ONLINE: Jordanian double-agent Balawi accuses Amman of being behind death of two top militant leaders, including Zarqawi.
A Jordanian double-agent who blew himself up in Afghanistan, killing seven CIA officers, called for jihad against his homeland in a video made before his death in the suicide attack, monitors said Sunday.
Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi accused Jordan of being behind the death of two top militant leaders, according to the report by IntelCenter, a US group that monitors Islamist websites.
"There is no solution to the situation in Jordan other than mobilising to the land of jihad to learn the arts of war and train in them, then return to Jordan and begin operations," Balawi was quoted as saying.
"Kill them with knives and swords. Lure them, trick them, use their own methods against them -- use counter-intelligence," he said. >>> W. G. Dunlop, Dubai | Sunday, February 28, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: World powers have reacted with outrage to a call by Colonel Gaddafi of Libya for holy war on the "obscene, infidel" state of Switzerland.
Col Gaddafi took a long-running and personal feud with the historically neutral European country to new heights with a speech in which he attacked the ban on new minarets on mosques approved by a Swiss referendum last year.
"Those who destroy God's mosques deserve to be attacked through jihad, and if Switzerland was on our borders, we would fight it," he said. "Jihad against Switzerland, against Zionism, against foreign aggression is not terrorism."
He called for a boycott of Switzerland by the Islamic world. "Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against Mohammad, God and the Koran," he said.
"The masses of Muslims must go to all airports in the Islamic world and prevent any Swiss plane landing, to all harbours and prevent any Swiss ships docking, inspect all shops and markets to stop any Swiss goods being sold."
Col Gaddafi's typically eccentric row with Switzerland, which began when one of his sons was arrested along with his wife because of allegations of abuse by two members of his domestic staff, has come as a blow to western powers.
They thought that they had managed to tame the Libyan leader after he voluntarily gave up a basic nuclear weapons programme in 2003 and agreed a compensation deal over the Lockerbie bombing.
Yesterday, both the European Union and the United Nations hit out at his speech. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
NZZ ONLINE: Der libysche Staatschef Muammar al-Ghadhafi hat zum heiligen Krieg (Jihad) gegen die Schweiz aufgerufen. In einer Rede in Bengasi bezeichnete der libysche Revolutionsführer die Schweiz wegen des Minarett-Verbots als «ungläubig» und «abtrünnig».
Der libysche Staatschef Muammar al-Ghadhafi hat am Donnerstag zum heiligen Krieg (Jihad) mit allen Mitteln gegen die Schweiz aufgerufen. In einer Rede in Bengasi bezeichnete der libysche Revolutionsführer die Schweiz als «ungläubig» und vom Glauben «abgefallen»; er begründete seine Vorwürfe mit dem im November beschlossenen Minarett-Verbot. Er behauptete auch, in der Schweiz würden Moscheen zerstört. >>> (sda/afp/Reuters)/awy | Donnerstag, 25. Februar 2010
HERALD SUN: LIBYAN leader Muammar Gaddafi has turned up the heat in his country's dispute with Switzerland, calling for jihad against it over a ban on the construction of minarets.
"It is against unbelieving and apostate Switzerland that jihad (holy war) ought to be proclaimed by all means," Mr Gaddafi said in a speech in the Mediterranean coastal city of Bengazi to mark the birthday of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.
"Jihad against Switzerland, against Zionism, against foreign aggression is not terrorism," he said.
"Any Muslim around the world who has dealings with Switzerland is an infidel (and is) against Islam, against Mohammed, against God, against the Koran," the leader told a crowd of thousands in a speech broadcast live on television.
In a November 29 referendum, Swiss voters approved by a margin of 57.5 per cent a ban on the construction in their country of minarets, the towers that are a signature part of mosques. >>> From correspondents for Herald Sun in Bengazi, AFP | Friday, February 26, 2010
LE TEMPS: Le numéro un libyen Mouammar Kadhafi a appelé jeudi au djihad (guerre sainte) contre la Suisse qu’il a qualifiée de «mécréante» et d’«apostate» suite à l’interdiction de la construction des minarets dans la confédération
«C’est contre la Suisse mécréante et apostate qui détruit les maisons d’Allah que le djihad doit être proclamé par tous les moyens», a déclaré le colonel Kadhafi dans un discours à Benghazi (est) à l’occasion de la fête du Mouloud qui commémore la naissance du Prophète Mahomet.
Pour le numéro un libyen, «le djihad contre la Suisse, contre le sionisme, contre l’agression étrangère (...) , n’est pas du terrorisme». >>> AFP | Jeudi 25 Février 2010
KRONE.at: Der libysche Revolutionsführer Muammar Gaddafi hat die Muslime zum Heiligen Krieg gegen die Schweiz aufgerufen. Die Eidgenossenschaft sei ein ungläubiger Staat, in dem Moscheen zerstört würden, erklärte Gaddafi am Donnerstag in Benghazi. "Jeder Muslim in der Welt, der mit der Schweiz zusammenarbeitet, ist ein Abtrünniger und gegen den Propheten Mohammed, Gott und den Koran." >>> | Donnerstag, 25. Februar 2010
SUEDDEUTSCHE.de: Libyens Machthaber poltert wieder einmal gegen die Schweiz - und ruft diesmal zum Heiligen Krieg gegen das Land auf. Kurzmeldungen im Überblick.
Noch Ende vergangenen Jahres hatte der selbst ernannte "König von Afrika" gefordert, die Schweiz abzuschaffen. Nun wettert der libysche Revolutionsführer Muammar Gaddafi wieder gegen das Alpenland - und ruft zum Heiligen Krieg auf.
Die Schweiz sei ein ungläubiger Staat, in dem Moscheen zerstört würden, erklärte Gaddafi in Benghasi. "Jeder Muslim in der Welt, der mit der Schweiz zusammenarbeitet, ist ein Abtrünniger und gegen (den Propheten) Mohammed, Gott und den Koran."
Gaddafi forderte außerdem die Muslime auf, Schweizer Produkte zu boykottieren und ihre See- und Flughäfen für die Schiffe und Flugzeuge der Eidgenossen zu sperren. "Diejenigen, die Gottes Moscheen zerstören, verdienen es, mit einem Dschihad angegriffen zu werden. Würde die Schweiz an unserer Grenze liegen, würden wir gegen sie kämpfen", wurde Gaddafi von der amtlichen Nachrichtenagentur Jana aus einer Rede vor Anhängern zitiert. >>> apn/Reuters | Donnerstag, 25. Februar 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Libyan leader labels Switzerland an infidel state, escalating vendetta against country whose police once arrested his son
Libya's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, yesterday called for a jihad, or holy war, against Switzerland, in an escalation of his vendetta against the country where police once arrested his son.
At a meeting in the city of Benghazi to mark the prophet Muhammad's birthday, Gaddafi described the country as an infidel state that was "destroying" mosques. Last year he urged the UN to abolish Switzerland and divide it between Germany, France and Italy.
"Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate – is against Muhammad, God and the Qur'an," Gaddafi said.
Swiss voters last November backed a referendum proposal banning the building of minarets. The proposal was put forward by the Swiss People's party, (SVP), the largest party in parliament, which claims minarets are a sign of Islamisation. The move was opposed by the government, which argued that it would harm Switzerland's image, particularly in the Muslim world.
Gaddafi has nursed a grudge against Switzerland since his son Hannibal and daughter-in-law were arrested in Geneva in 2008 for allegedly beating two servants at a luxury hotel. The Gaddafis were released soon afterwards and the charges dropped. But the Libyan leader was so enraged by his son's two-day detention that he shut subsidiaries of Swiss firms in Libya, had two Swiss businessmen arrested, cancelled most flights between the two states and withdrew about $5bn (£3.2bn) from his Swiss bank accounts.
One of the Swiss businessmen has been freed, but the other was forced this week to leave the Swiss embassy in Tripoli, where he had sought refuge, and move to jail to serve a four-month term, in an apparent bid to appease the Libyan leader. >>> Mark Tran | Friday, February 26, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: Muammar Gaddafi has appealed for jihad against Switzerland, long regarded as one of the most peaceful nations in the world.
The Libyan leader’s call for a holy war was, he said, a response to a Swiss referendum in November to ban the construction of minarets on mosques.
It is the low point in a relationship that has been deteriorating since 2008 when Colonel Gaddafi’s son Hannibal was briefly detained in Geneva after allegedly beating his servants.
“Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against (the Prophet) Muhammad, God and the Koran,” Colonel Gaddafi said at a rally broadcast on television.
He made the speech to mark the Prophet’s birthday, ensuring that many Arabs would take the call seriously.
It was not clear how he wanted Muslims to target Switzerland. “The masses of Muslims must go to all airports in the Islamic world and prevent any Swiss plane landing, to all harbours and prevent any Swiss ships docking,” he said, apparently unaware that Switzerland does not have a merchant navy, or coast. >>> Roger Boyes | Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
LE POINT: La chef de la diplomatie de l'UE, Catherine Ashton, a promis jeudi à Sarajevo l'aide européenne pour que la Bosnie-Herzégovine, confrontée à une crise institutionnelle persistante, puisse rejoindre un jour l'Union européenne. "Nous sommes prêts à aider sur le plan pratique ce pays à réaliser ses ambitions européennes", a déclaré devant la presse la Haute représentante de l'UE pour les Affaires étrangères, sans toutefois développer sa pensée. "L'avenir de ce pays réside dans l'Union européenne", a souligné Ashton, arrivée mercredi soir à Sarajevo pour une tournée dans les Balkans. >>> AFP | Jeudi 18 Février 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The wife of the leader of a plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners kept a diary in which she pledged support for his cause and hoped that he became a martyr, a court has heard.
Cossor Ali wrote about making herself slimmer for his return from Pakistan and added that she was becoming “more and more attached to the cause for which you are striving.”
She added: “I hope and pray Allah grants your wish and gives you the highest level of shahada” – a word which is said to refer to martyrdom.
In another entry she said: “I hope that when you attain shahada, I will have at least one small child and will be pregnant with another or at least be pregnant with a healthy baby at the least inshallah [god willing.]” >>> Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent | Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Five men convicted of plotting a terrorist attack in Australia will spend between 23 to 28 years in prison after a Sydney judge handed them the maximum sentences for their crimes.
Justice Anthony Whealy of the New South Wales Supreme Court said he had little hope that the men, aged 25 to 44, could be rehabilitated, saying they were motivated by "intolerant, inflexible religious conviction" and had shown contempt for the Australian government, its leaders and laws.
In October last year, at the end of Australia's longest ever trial, a jury found the Sydney men guilty of conspiring to commit a terrorist act or acts.
Their exact target or targets have never been identified.
The men, Australian-born or naturalised citizens with Muslim immigrant backgrounds, had all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
During the 10-month trial, the court heard the five jihadists wanted to terrify and intimidate the Australian public and the government in retaliation for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. >>> Bonnie Malkin in Sydney | Monday, February 15, 2010
Monday, February 01, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Just two years ago al-Qaeda was believed to be on the back foot. Now the jihadist group is attracting ever more recruits across a growing arc of terror.
Bored, depressed and stuck in a dead-end job, Khaled al-Bawardi. spent just a few hours watching jihadi videos to convince himself that he wanted to fight for militant Islam.
It took another six years in Guantanamo Bay, plus a year in religious rehab in Saudi Arabia, to realise there might be better career options.
“When I was young, I thought these people were angels and we had to follow them,” said Mr Bawardi, formerly Inmate 68 at Guantanamo and one of hundreds of Saudi al Qaeda suspects arrested after the US invasion of Afghanistan. “Now, though, I can see between right and wrong.”
Quietly-spoken, and dressed in a traditional Arab robe and keffiya, Mr Bawardi is an alumnus of the Prince Mohammed bin Nayef Centre for Counselling and Care outside Riyadh, where for the last two years, batches of former Guantanamo inmates have undergone religious “deprogramming” in exchange for their liberty.
With its swimming pool, games rooms and therapy courses such as “10 Steps Toward Positive Thinking”, it resembles a jihadist’s version of London’s Priory clinic. Yet like any rehab programme, it also has its recidivists - and Batch 10, to which Mr Bawardi belonged, is a case in point.
The tenth group of Saudis to be flown back from Guantanamo Bay, no less than five of the original 14 who passed through the programme absconded to neighbouring Yemen to re-embrace terrorism. To the embarrassment of their mentors, and the dismay of Washington, one Batch 10 member, Said al-Shihri, has since re-surfaced as no less than deputy leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the movement’s new Yemen-based branch. The group opened up the latest frontier in the war on terror last month, when it claimed to have groomed the so-called Detroit “Underpants Bomber”, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
Such “relapses” show how, more than eight years since 9-11, al-Qaeda has confounded its doomsayers with both its resilience and its ever-spreading presence. >>> Reporting team: Richard Spencer in Riyadh, Adrian Blomfield in Sana'a, Mike Pflanz in Nairobi, Ben Farmer in Kabul, Colin Freeman in London, and Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent | Sunday, January 31, 2010
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