Zawahiri (al Qaeda #2) videotape surfaces

It is interesting. A little sensationalistic though. The story about the Damascus meeting is a few months old (a UK paper and Michael Ledeen reported it about the same time in March or April I believe). The article made it sound like the author found that out himself from his source in France.

But I guess there is a lot of well-founded hyperventilating going on. So when you go back and look at old stories in light of what is now happening, it might induce a "moment of clarity" for some. And hence the "stop the presses" tone.

"Wonder whether this "good news" will pan out for the jihadis."

I think the Israelis take very seriously the Nasrallah threat on Tel Aviv. Remember Zarqawis last tape. It ended with the missiles. (The tape is on MEMRI)

I think the Israelis are clearing out South Lebanon up to the Litani because they need a non-Syrian, non-Iranian option for retaliation if Tel Aviv turns out to be a mass casualty attack.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/740444.html

Last update - 02:24 20/07/2006
How we fell into the Iranian trap
By Akiva Eldar

(snipped)

. . . All of these signs have been documented in the offices of MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, in Jerusalem. Yigal Carmon, the founder and director of the institute who spent many years in the defense establishment, placed a call soon after the Hamas attack at Kerem Shalom to a cabinet minister with whom he is acquainted. He informed the minister of his hypothesis that Hamas' deviation from its cease-fire policy (which at the time was expressed in its acceptance of the Prisoners' Document) was related to the pressure placed on Iran vis-a-vis its nuclear program.

Carmon told the minister-friend that he perceived an escalation in the threats voiced by Iran, increasing in volume as the date grew closer for Iran's response to the G8 on its nuclear program. He implored the minister to speak with his counterparts around the cabinet table, asking them to bite their lips until after the meeting in Brussels between the diplomatic coordinator of the EU, Javier Solana, and the secretary of the National Security Council of Iran, Ali Larijani.

"I told him it was important for the Europeans to understand that the Iranians have not intention of responding to the American compromise proposal," says Carmon, reconstructing the conversation. "I told him that in my assessment, if there was an Iranian plan to repulse the international pressure, then we could expect a threat to develop on our northern sector as well."

Three days later, at the height of Operation Summer Rains (in Gaza), the minister telephoned the MEMRI offices in Jerusalem. "You and your doomsday prophecies," the minister teased.

The very next day, Hezbollah attacked along the Lebanese border, and Carmon, once again asked to maintain restraint. Carmon also assesses that the acts of terror in Iraq, directed by Iran's Shi'ite proxies, led by Muqtada al-Sader, are also related to the nuclear issue. He predicts that before long, the Iranians will unleash terror attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets around the world.

"We are witnessing a most serious failure of our leaders. They allowed the State of Israel to fall into the Iranian trap by responding to Iran's provocation. It was intended to disrupt the discussions of the G8 that were supposed to form an international consensus against the Iranian nuclear program. A responsible leadership would have delayed the response by several weeks, and not played into the Iranian's hands.

"We missed the opportunity to expose the Iranian provocations before the G8, and the entire world. We can always go back and launch strikes in Lebanon later on. It would have been possible to set an ultimatum that if the soldiers are not returned within a short period of time, then we will do everything in our power to bring them back. In the meantime, we could have made arrangements for the home front, which was caught unprepared, and deployed three divisions on the border with Syria.

"The public is not stupid. It would have understood that a threat to four million people as a result of the Iranian nuclear program is more serious than the killing of soldiers in the north and the kidnapping of their comrades."

The explanation for Iran's stubborn insistence on delaying its response to the American proposal until August 22 may be found in the Iranian media. In the past few weeks, reports have been published about an imminent declaration by Ahmadinejad about a "significant development in Iran's nuclear capability."

Carmon estimates that they might need another few weeks to finalize their capacity to fully or partially enrich uranium, independent of any other country. It might also have something to do with completing the development of advanced missiles.

Fear or anger

When he heard the prime minister say on Tuesday that the crisis in the north is an "Iranian trick," Carmon did not know if he should be shaking with fear or exploding with anger.

"It isn't a trick from the Beitar Jerusalem soccer pitch," he says, furious with Ehud Olmert. "It worries me that even the president of the United States, the leader of the free world, doesn't understand that we aren't talking here about Hezbollah 'shit,' or about regional tensions, but about a crisis on a global scale."

"The current crisis has the makings of being able to create a new order in the region, or even a global conflict," stated a MEMRI position paper released yesterday. It refers to the danger of the traditional allies of the United States - Saudi Arabia and Egypt - losing their senior regional status to Iran, which is in the midst of an advanced process of acquiring nuclear capability.

At the same time, Russia, which is described as an ally of Iran, is once again taking up position against the United States, as a world power that wields influence in Europe and the Middle East, which is its principal supplier of oil and gas.

As such, the structure of a dual-superpower world is being revived, complete with all the rivalry between the East and West blocs in the Middle East that was characteristic of the Cold War era.

Disregard of this threat is especially worrisome to Carmon, as all of this information is openly available to all, including the well-established weapons trail from Syria to Lebanon that was "suddenly" discovered by IDF generals, who have termed it a "smuggling" route.

Carmon believes that if decision-makers in the government and the army had considered the Iranian involvement, they would have understood that every Iranian missile, including the C-802 that hit the Israeli missile boat, would be in the possession of Hezbollah.

"There are no tricks here," he rails. "The idea is to finally internalize the fact that the IDF is fighting against an Iranian militia, with the logistical support of Iran. The United States has to understand that Putin is working to build a center for uranium enrichment in Siberia, and that Russia is Iran's main supporter. Russia has 6,000 experts there, and knows how to keep its Iranian ally in a sensitive spot. They are certain that we could not endure a home front war, as the Arabs and the Iranians would. In the Iran-Iraq War, two million Moslems died."

Carmon is concerned that a few days from now, after it has finished wearing down our air force, Iran, in cahoots with Russia, will "volunteer" to settle the crisis between Israel and Hezbollah, and in exchange for these "glass beads" would win the real diamond - advancing its nuclear program. . .

http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch7.htm

Assistance from Hezbollah and Iran to al Qaeda

As we mentioned in chapter 2, while in Sudan, senior managers in al Qaeda maintained contacts with Iran and the Iranian-supported worldwide terrorist organization Hezbollah, which is based mainly in southern Lebanon and Beirut. Al Qaeda members received advice and training from Hezbollah.

Intelligence indicates the persistence of contacts between Iranian security officials and senior al Qaeda figures after Bin Ladin's return to Afghanistan. Khallad has said that Iran made a concerted effort to strengthen relations with al Qaeda after the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole, but was rebuffed because Bin Ladin did not want to alienate his supporters in Saudi Arabia. Khallad and other detainees have described the willingness of Iranian officials to facilitate the travel of al Qaeda members through Iran, on their way to and from Afghanistan. For example, Iranian border inspectors would be told not to place telltale stamps in the passports of these travelers. Such arrangements were particularly beneficial to Saudi members of al Qaeda.120

Our knowledge of the international travels of the al Qaeda operatives selected for the 9/11 operation remains fragmentary. But we now have evidence suggesting that 8 to 10 of the 14 Saudi "muscle" operatives traveled into or out of Iran between October 2000 and February 2001.121

In October 2000, a senior operative of Hezbollah visited Saudi Arabia to coordinate activities there. He also planned to assist individuals in Saudi Arabia in traveling to Iran during November. A top Hezbollah commander and Saudi Hezbollah contacts were involved.122

Also in October 2000, two future muscle hijackers, Mohand al Shehri and Hamza al Ghamdi, flew from Iran to Kuwait. In November, Ahmed al Ghamdi apparently flew to Beirut, traveling-perhaps by coincidence-on the same flight as a senior Hezbollah operative. Also in November, Salem al Hazmi apparently flew from Saudi Arabia to Beirut.123

In mid-November, we believe, three of the future muscle hijackers, Wail al Shehri, Waleed al Shehri, and Ahmed al Nami, all of whom had obtained their U.S. visas in late October, traveled in a group from Saudi Arabia to Beirut and then onward to Iran. An associate of a senior Hezbollah operative was on the same flight that took the future hijackers to Iran. Hezbollah officials in Beirut and Iran were expecting the arrival of a group during the same time period. The travel of this group was important enough to merit the attention of senior figures in Hezbollah.124

Later in November, two future muscle hijackers, Satam al Suqami and Majed Moqed, flew into Iran from Bahrain. In February 2001, Khalid al Mihdhar may have taken a flight from Syria to Iran, and then traveled further within Iran to a point near the Afghan border.125

KSM and Binalshibh have confirmed that several of the 9/11 hijackers (at least eight, according to Binalshibh) transited Iran on their way to or from Afghanistan, taking advantage of the Iranian practice of not stamping Saudi passports. They deny any other reason for the hijackers' travel to Iran. They also deny any relationship between the hijackers and Hezbollah.126

In sum, there is strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of al Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, and that some of these were future 9/11 hijackers. There also is circumstantial evidence that senior Hezbollah operatives were closely tracking the travel of some of these future muscle hijackers into Iran in November 2000. However, we cannot rule out the possibility of a remarkable coincidence-that is, that Hezbollah was actually focusing on some other group of individuals traveling from Saudi Arabia during this same time frame, rather than the future hijackers.127

We have found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack. At the time of their travel through Iran, the al Qaeda operatives themselves were probably not aware of the specific details of their future operation.

After 9/11, Iran and Hezbollah wished to conceal any past evidence of cooperation with Sunni terrorists associated with al Qaeda. A senior Hezbollah official disclaimed any Hezbollah involvement in 9/11.128

We believe this topic requires further investigation by the U.S. government.

Well surprise, surprise, Hezbollah, Iran and al Qaeda working together.

Excellent post Joe, thank you.

An excellent reminder.

"heads-up"

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/ShTickers.html

06:05 Militant web site promises al-Zawahri message on Gaza and Lebanon `soon` (AP)

And here I was ready to fume about an old thread being brought to life because silly me thought it was new news. And I see it IS new news. Thanks, callmejoe. bump!

The usama message on the Lebanon/Pali issue has not transpired, so I do hope we hear from zawahiri.

It's always good to know their views. :)

". . . it will be a strong hurricane" . . .
". . . waves of fury . . .will not be confined within the boundaries of the region" . . .
". . . a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm"

silkworm missiles (?) . . . hit nuclear targets (?) . . . from the SEA (?) . . .

http://www.senate.gov/member/de/biden/general/newsroom/details.cfm?id=238924&&

MR. RUSSERT: You talk about--and here we get to The New York Times on Thursday: "Mr. Weldon's strongest argument is Ali's report from May 17, 2003, that Iran planned to hijack an airplane in Canada and strike a nuclear reactor in the United States whose name began `Sea.' Mr. Weldon said the plant was later identified as Seabrook Station in New Hampshire. He contended that the August 2003 arrest of 19 Muslim men in Toronto on vague suspicions of terrorism proved the prediction was correct. The congressman said the arrests might have prevented the deaths of `hundreds of thousands' of Americans. But Canadian officials later dropped all security-related charges against the men, leaving only routine immigration charges. And Alan Griffith, a spokesman for the Seabrook nuclear plant, said the alleged plot `was never deemed a credible threat' by federal officials."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/19/news/missile.php

(snip)

The power and sophistication of the missile and rocket arsenal that Hezbollah has used in recent days has caught the United States and Israel off guard, and officials in both countries are just now learning the extent to which the militant group has succeeded in getting weapons from Iran and Syria.

While the Bush administration has stated that cracking down on weapons proliferation is one of its top priorities, the arming of Hezbollah shows the blind spots of U.S. and other Western intelligence services in assessing the threat, officials from across those governments said.

U.S. and Israeli officials said the successful attack last Friday on an Israeli naval vessel was the strongest evidence to date of direct support by Iran to Hezbollah. The attack was carried out with a sophisticated anti-ship cruise missile, the C-802, an Iranian-made variant of the Chinese Silkworm, said a U.S. intelligence official.

At the same time, U.S. and Israeli officials cautioned that they had found no evidence that Iranian operatives working in Lebanon launched the anti- ship missile themselves.

But neither Jerusalem nor Washington had any idea that Hezbollah had such a missile in its arsenal, the officials said, adding that the Israeli ship had not even activated its missile defense system because intelligence assessments had not identified a threat from such a radar-guided cruise missile. . .

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060725/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_fighting_iranian_fallout_6

Iran president warns of spreading violence
By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer (snip)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Tuesday that the conflict between Lebanon and Israel could trigger "a hurricane" of broader fighting in the Middle East.

Ahmadinejad's nation is a major backer of the Hezbollah militant group and a sworn enemy of Israel. In his comments, he referred to a proverb that says: "He who raises the wind will get a hurricane."

"That proverb fully relates to the Middle East, which is a very volatile region," he said. "And it will be a strong hurricane which will strike really hard." . . .

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/08072006/323/iran-s-ahmadinejad-attacks-israel-iraq-conference.html

Iran's Ahmadinejad attacks Israel at Iraq conference

Saturday July 8, 08:27 PM
By Farhad Pouladi (snipped)

TEHRAN (AFP) - A regional conference on security in Iraq opened in Iran with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling on Islamic countries to mobilize against Israel and "remove" the "Zionist regime."

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also called for a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq and blamed US-led troops for the ongoing violence there.

"The basic problem in the Islamic world is the existence of the Zionist regime, and the Islamic world and the region must mobilize to remove this problem," Ahmadinejad said at the opening of the two-day conference.

"Today there is a strong will... to remove the Zionist regime and implement a legal Palestinian regime all over Palestine. The continued survival of this regime (Israel) means nothing but suffering for the region," he said.

"The biggest threat today for the region is the existence of the fake Zionist regime," he added, before going on to attack Israel's supporters.

"I am reminding them to stop the crimes of this corrupt government before it is too late, and open the way for a government arising from the votes of the indigenous people of Palestine, all over Palestine."

Two weeks ago Israel launched a massive incursion into the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants from three groups, including Hamas's armed wing, captured an Israeli soldier in a deadly raid on a border outpost.

With talk of the violence overshadowing the topic of Iraq, Ahmadinejad -- who has in the past called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" or moved as far away as Alaska -- also issued an ominous warning to Western powers.

"Nations in the region will be more furious every day, and it will not be long before this intense fury will lead to a huge explosion," he said.

"The waves of fury of Muslim nations will not be confined within the boundaries of the region, and the people who close their ears to the cries of the Palestinians and blindly support this regime will be responsible for the consequences," Ahmadinejad warned. . .

daily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=705948&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0

Last update - 19:41 14/04/2006

Iranian president: 'Rotten' Israel will be annihilated by 'one storm'
By News Agencies (snip)

TEHRAN - Days after announcing that Iran had successfully enriched uranium, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday called Israel a "rotten, dried tree" that will be annihilated by "one storm."

Opening of a conference in Tehran on supporting the Palestinians, Ahmadinejad fired a series of verbal shots at Israel, saying it was a "permanent threat" to the Middle East that will "soon" be liberated, and again questioning the validity of the Nazi Holocaust against Jews in World War II.

"Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihiliation," Ahmadinejad said. "The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm," he said.

"The existence of the Zionist regime is tantamount to an imposition of an unending and unrestrained threat so that none of the nations and Islamic countries of the region and beyond can feel secure from its threat," Ahmadinejad said.

The president provoked a world outcry last October when he said Israel should be "wiped off the map." On Friday, he repeated his previous line on the Holocaust, saying: "If such a disaster is true, why should the people of this region pay the price? Why does the Palestinian nation have to be suppressed and have its land occupied?"

The land of Palestine, he said, referring to the British mandated territory that includes all of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, "will be freed soon."

He did not say how this would be achieved, but insisted to the audience of at least 900 people: "Believe that Palestine will be freed soon." . . .

Adding to your "heads up"
http://worldanalysis.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=345

". . . it will be a strong hurricane" . . .
". . . waves of fury . . .will not be confined within the boundaries of the region" . . .
". . . a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm"

hurricane = hunter planes - falcons

"The waves of fury of Muslim nations will not be confined within the boundaries of the region = sleeper cells ready

rotten tree = Israel = it all screams WMD. Big.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2241227&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Web Site Touts Upcoming al-Zawari Message

Militant Web Site Touts Upcoming al-Zawahri Message on Gaza and Lebanon

The Associated Press

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader will soon issue an Internet message against Israel's fight in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, according to a message posted on an Islamic militant Web site Wednesday.

A statement by Ayman al-Zawahri would be the terror network's first public comment on the fighting the fighting in the two areas.

Al-Zawahri will weigh in on "the Zionist-Crusader Aggression on Gaza and Lebanon," declared the flashing red banner that appeared on the site, frequently used by al-Qaida.

Al-Zawahri's picture flashed alternating with photos of smoke billowing up from behind mosques, apparently showing the devastation of the last month. The logo of al-Qaida's media production wing, Al-Sahab appeared on the banner that proclaimed the message would appear "Soon, God willing."

Similar "advertisements" were issued for recent messages from both al-Zarqawi and the network's leader Osama bin Laden. The statements usually follow within a day or two.

If it's posted, it will be al-Zawahri's tenth in an active year for the terror network. Bin Laden has issued five messages.

The teaser was first reported by both SITE and the IntelCenter, an U.S.-based independent groups that provides counter-terrorism information to the U.S. government and media. Several messages this year have been preceded by announcements on militant Web sites.

Top al-Qaida leaders paid tribute in June to the slain leader of their Iraq network, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in separate video recordings. Many of their messages this year have dealt with current events, treating armed campaigns by militants in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. Al-Zawhari, who is Egyptian, has also discussed political developments in his homeland, the Palestinian territories and Sudan.

"one storm"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060726/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_fighting_nasrallah_2

Hezbollah vows rockets deeper into Israel
BY SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer

Tue Jul 25, 8:51 PM ET (snip)

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, looking exhausted, defiantly vowed Wednesday that his fighters would begin firing rockets deeper into Israel, beyond the northern port of Haifa.

Nasrallah appeared to be counting on growing international anger at the two-week-old Israeli offensive and urged his people to be patient. Hundreds of Lebanese have died in Israeli attacks.

"I declare that we will enter the 'beyond Haifa' stage," the bearded and black-turbaned Shiite cleric said in a speech on Hezbollah's al-Manar television in the early hours of Wednesday. "In the new stage, our attacks will not remain limited to Haifa."

In the last two weeks, Hezbollah has rained hundreds of rockets on northern Israel, reaching targets farther south than in any previous attacks. The group has repeatedly hit the city of Haifa, the third largest in Israel. . .

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060719-061820-8015r

Hezbollah threatens major Tel Aviv siege

BEIRUT, Lebanon, July 19 (UPI) -- As many as 500 Hezbollah missiles will target Tel Aviv soon, but residents will be given one hour's notice to flee, a Palestinian news agency reports.

The Palestinian Authority-based news agency Ma'an said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah would give the tip-off when Israeli's should start evacuating.

"Hassan Nasrallah will address the people of Tel Aviv and warn them to evacuate the city within one hour," the Ma'an report said. "As soon as the delay ends, hundreds of heavy missiles will start landing in the city, which has been divided into squares in order to let damage reach every inch of the city. An estimated 500 missiles are expected to land in Tel Aviv in a short period of time."

Sources told the news agency other "surprises" planned by Hezbollah include more kidnappings of Israeli soldiers along the Lebanese border, Arutz Sheva reported.

Israel's ongoing aerial bombardment of Beirut and other Lebanese areas was sparked by the abduction of two Israeli soldiers last week.

"one storm"

Hiroshima 8/6 or Nagasaki 8/9
possibly 8/8 in the US as it's a Tuesday.

That'd be a heck of a storm/hurricane
Dead trees

Zawahiri and Mughniyeh:

The insurgency in Iraq began in August 2003. It is worth remembering that reports were ciruclating at that exact time that Mughniyeh and Zawahiri were seen leaving Iran. I think the rumors at the time were that they were headed for Turkey, then Iraq.

This is where it all started. September 11th to Iraq to now. We have come full circle. The next phase of their jihad is here.

These two conspired to perpetrate the most heinous act of mass murder in U.S. history. They have not stopped conspiring. And we await yet another message from one of them.

The torrent of missives in recent months from Zawahiri and UBL and the white-hot rhetoric of Ahmadinejad, Mughniyeh's longtime associate through the IRGC Qods Force, that directly threatens the US with attack, indicates that they are not finished. These are not men who believe they are beaten in any sense. Their jihadi "empire" is about to "strike back" - - along with those who backed them (Iran-Iraq-North Korea)

Zawahiri is the true head of al Qaeda. Mughniyeh is the operational commander of Hezbollah. And Ahmadinejad runs the largest terror state in history with connections to both.

Their mutual history is long. And they have worked their entire lives to get to this one moment - - a final battle.

http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2003/august/08_14_1.html

IRAN: LEADING INSURGENTS LEAVE COUNTRY

LONDON [MENL] -- Iran has again asserted that leading Islamic insurgents have fled the country amid fear of being extradited to their countries of origin.

The escape by the insurgents come as Iranian and Western sources report a power struggle between President Mohammed Khatami and the ruling Islamic clergy over the fate of Al Qaida and other anti-U.S. insurgents in Iran. The sources said Khatami has launched an effort to capture Al Qaida members wanted by Saudi Arabia while the ruling clergy has sought to protect them.

Al Qaida's Ayman Zawahiri and Hizbullah's Imad Mughniyeh were said to have left Iran over the last two weeks, the Iranian sources said. The sources said they did not know where the insurgents were headed.

Zawahiri has been a leader of Egypt's Jihad and the number two member of Al Qaida. Mughniyeh was described as the foreign operations director of Hizbullah and the leading operative for Iran.

http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/fr/fr010919_1_n.shtml

19 September 2001

Who did it? Foreign Report presents an alternative view

(snipped)

Israel’s military intelligence service, Aman, suspects that Iraq is the state that sponsored the suicide attacks on the New York Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington.

Directing the mission, Aman officers believe, were two of the world’s foremost terrorist masterminds: the Lebanese Imad Mughniyeh, head of the special overseas operations for Hizbullah, and the Egyptian Dr Ayman Al Zawahiri, senior member of Al-Qaeda and possible successor of the ailing Osama Bin Laden.

The two men have not been seen for some time. Mughniyeh is probably the world’s most wanted outlaw. Unconfirmed reports in Beirut say he has undergone plastic surgery and is unrecognisable. Zawahiri is thought to be based in Egypt. He could be Bin Laden’s chief representative outside Afghanistan.

The Iraqis, who for several years paid smaller groups to do their dirty work, were quick to discover the advantages of Al-Qaeda. The Israeli sources claim that for the past two years Iraqi intelligence officers were shuttling between Baghdad and Afghanistan, meeting with Ayman Al Zawahiri.

According to the sources, one of the Iraqi intelligence officers, Salah Suleiman, was captured last October by the Pakistanis near the border with Afghanistan. The Iraqis are also reported to have established strong ties with Imad Mughniyeh.

"We’ve only got scraps of information, not the full picture," admits one intelligence source, "but it was good enough for us to send a warning six weeks ago to our allies that an unprecedented massive terror attack was expected. One of our indications suggested that Imad Mughniyeh met with some of his dormant agents on secret trips to Germany. We believe that the operational brains behind the New-York attack were Mughniyeh and Zawahiri, who were probably financed and got some logistical support from the Iraqi Intelligence Service (SSO)."

Mughniyeh was the only one believed to have tried it before. On April 12th 1997, he was reported to be only two hours away from achieving the highest goal of any terrorist organisation (until last week): blowing up an Israeli El-Al airliner above Tel Aviv. A man carrying a forged British passport with the name Andrew Jonathan Neumann was in a Jerusalem hotel preparing a bomb he was supposed to take on board an El-Al flight leaving Israel, when it accidentally went off. Andrew Jonathan Neumann was very badly injured but strong enough to reveal later to the Israelis that he was not British but Lebanese, and that his operation was supposed to be a special "gift" to Israel from Imad Mughniyeh. . .

Our Israeli sources claim to see Mughniyeh’s signature on the wreckage in New York and Washington. How to counter this kind of terrorism? "To fight these bastards you don’t need a military attack," said an experienced Israeli commando officer. "You only need to adopt Israel’s assassination policy."

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP47303

February 21, 2003 No.473

Top Iranian Defector On Iran's Collaboration with Iraq, North Korea, Al-Qa'ida, and Hizbullah

On Iranian Support of Hizbullah's Actions Against the U.S.

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat: "You mean you went [to Lebanon]?"

Zakiri: "I have visited most of the countries in the region, but I meant that the [Revolutionary] Guards established bases in Lebanon, and used them for recruiting and training the revolutionaries and gradually bringing them into [carrying out] their schemes against the Americans, such as blowing up the Marines headquarters in Beirut [1983] and attacking the American Embassy. Imad Mughnia and some of the [Revolutionary] Guards commanders had a major part in these actions. Imad Mughnia and some of the [Revolutionary] Guards officers commanded the operation of hijacking the American TWA airplane and the killing of one of its passengers. Mughnia remained liaison officer with Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri and with commanders of other fundamentalist organization."

Al-Qa'ida Request for "Help to Carry Out a Most Important Mission in the Land of the 'Great Satan'" – Turned Down

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat: "Did you know about the plans to attack the World Trade Center in New York?"

Zakiri: "No, but we had in our headquarters models of the [WTC] two towers, the White House, the Pentagon, and the CIA building at Langley. Thus, Imad Mughnia came to Iran, met with a number of top officials in the security apparatus of the Leader [Khamenei] and gave them a letter from Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, which said: 'We need your help to carry out a most important mission in the land of the 'Great Satan.'' The issue was presented but his request was denied. Afterwards, it was decided by the head of our department and Natiq Nouri's deputy, head of the investigations section in the Leader's [Khamenei's] Office and his representative in the Higher Council for Security, to entrust Mughnia with keeping the relations with Al-Zawahiri and his comrades, provided he did not get involved in their activity."

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat: "Where is Imad Mughnia today?"

Zakiri: "He is still in Iran and is continuing his activity. I think that he planned the escape of dozens of Al-Qa'ida men to Iran, some of them with their families. Before that, bin Laden's wife arrived, the young Yemenite woman with her son, and we handed them over to Yemen. Perhaps Sa'ad Osama bin Laden [too] entered Iran through Mughnia."

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA12703

March 11, 2003 No.127

Radical Islamist Profiles (3): Ayman Muhammad Rabi' Al-Zawahiri: The Making of an Arch Terrorist
By Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli*

The following report appeared in the winter 2002 edition of the journal "Terrorism and Political Violence."[1] It was authored by Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli, senior analyst of MEMRI's Middle East Economic Studies Program.

(snip)

Al-Zawahiri's biggest success was sending his and Al-Qaida's volunteers to Somalia to fight the American presence in that country and eventually causing the U.S. to withdraw. His volunteers fought under the command of a young Egyptian man, Ali Al-Rashidi, also known as Abu-Ubaida Al-Banshiri. From Somalia, Al-Banshiri was sent to Kenya to establish a base of operations for terrorist activities against the United States in East Africa. Al-Banshiri drowned in an alleged accident in Lake Victoria. After a period of uncertainty, Al-Banshiri was replaced by another Egyptian, Subhi Abu Sitta, also known as Abu Hafas Al-Masri who was responsible for organizing the bombing of the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar-Es-Salaam. In a final incarnation, Subhi Abu Sitta became Muhammad Atef, who was to become the field commander of Al-Qa'ida in Afghanistan. One of Abu Sitta's daughters married bin Laden's son, Muhammad, in January 2001. An American bomb killed Abu Sitta/Atef in Kabul in November 2001.

Toward the end of 1994 and early 1995 attempts were made by Al-Zawahiri, under the guidance of bin Laden, to coordinate the activities of the various Islamic terrorist movements to carry out sabotage activities against the United States in order to break its 'hegemony' in the Middle East. Meetings were held in Tehran, Khartoum and Cyprus (city unknown) with the participation of Imad Fadhia al-Mughniyah (of Hezbollah, wanted by the U.S. for murdering an American passenger on a commercial airliner and dumping his body on Beirut airport's tarmac), Fathi Al-Shiqaqi (of Palestinian Islamic Jihad), Musa Abu Marzuq (of Hamas), in addition to Sheikh Abd Al-Majid Al-Zindani from Yemen as well as representatives from the Nahdha Movement in Tunisia, and Al-Jama'a Al-Islamiyya of Pakistan. In the last meeting, held in Khartoum in April 1995, Al-Zawahiri laid down three fundamental directions for the next stage of the struggle: first, increase the effectiveness of the Islamic networks in London and New York, particularly in Brooklyn; second, increase the effectiveness of the Islamic militias in the Balkans; and third, provide greater support to the armed Islamic groups in Somalia and Ethiopia.

The conferees agreed to establish a high-level coordinating body of the armed Islamic movements comprising Al-Zawahiri, Imad Fadhia Al-Mughniyah and Ahmad Salem. In less than a month, this body met in Cyprus and agreed to increase the number of volunteers to Bosnia and to ask Al-Zawahiri to visit the U.S. to see first hand the modus operandi of the Islamic networks there. Al-Zawahiri visited the U.S. in 1996 and helped raise a considerable amount of money for "the widows and orphans" of Afghanistan.[27]

Upon reestablishing themselves in Afghanistan in 1996, the two leaders bin Laden and Zawahiri began articulating the position of Al-Qa'ida vis-à-vis the United States. They concluded that America was the Number One enemy of Muslims everywhere and that its support of some Arab regimes, mainly Saudi Arabia and Egypt, has been responsible for the failed efforts to topple those regimes. It was at the end of 1997 that bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri declared war on Americans everywhere, after an initial statement of war in 1996 against the American presence in the region only. Afterwards, the objectives were expanded. On 23 February 1998 bin Laden issued a declaration announcing the creation of "The World Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and the Crusaders [Christians]." A Fatwa (edict) accompanied the declaration by bin Laden that "the killing of Americans –military and civilians—and the looting of their properties is a duty for Muslims everywhere." In addition to bin Laden, the declaration was signed by Al-Zawahiri as leader of Jama'at al-Jihad and by Rifa'i Taha, the man in charge of the Advisory Council of the Islamic Movement in Egypt. From this union between Al-Qa'ida and the Egyptian Jihad group "grew an apocalyptic vision that in many ways resonates more of Al-Zawahiri's than of bin Laden's"[28]

Zawahiri this morning pledeged the "the whole world will be the Al Qaeda battlefield".

FOX News.

pledeged = pledged

More coffee.

Good selection of articles. I appreciate your posting them.