al Qaeda

Obama boosts joystick funding for war on terror

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:13:32 +0200

The Obama administration has just handed over five billion dollars to the armed forces to buy more robots. The country's ongoing "War on Terror" employs more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for its operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan than it does manned planes. Our Observer and expert in robotics tells us that the ethical concerns behind the programme have gone unnoticed.

Below, videos of two of the planes in question. The first is an MQ-9 Reaper, capable of carrying 14 hellfire missiles. The second, its predecessor, is the MQ-1 Predator, which can take only two missiles onboard.

Youth suicide bomber stopped in the nick of time

Julien — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:29:57 +0200

Guardians at the Shi’ite Al-Zahra mosque in Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, managed to stop a young suicide bomber on May 1, moments before he could set his explosive belt alight during Friday’s prayer. Pictures of the intervention were then posted on the Web.

The suicide bomber, Syrian-born Ammar Afif Hamada, aged 16, was allegedly executing orders from al Qaeda’s chief in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. According to witnesses, he fired on a guardian as he charged into the mosque shouting “Allah is great!” The other guardians, Shi’ite Turkmen, managed to immobilise him and hand him over to the police, who then defused the explosives. The young suicide bomber later told the police he had been through a training camp in the Syrian city of Homs.

Kirkuk province is home to several communities, each involved in an ongoing power struggle. While Kurds form a majority, Turkmen see themselves as the original inhabitants of the region. There are also Assyro-Chaldeans and Arabs, many of whom were newcomers under Saddam Hussein’s “Arabisation” policy.

Neither Kirkuk province nor the three neighbouring Kurdish provinces of northern Iraq took part in the country’s January 31 local elections. The authorities now fear separate polls scheduled in the provinces for July 25 will be preceded by a surge in violence.

Facing deportation for researching al Qaeda

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:45:02 +0200

The book is on sale on Amazon.com

A university administrator in the UK is facing deportation after printing out an al Qaeda training manual for a student studying Islamic extremism. Here, his friends say that the Algerian national, who has lived in England for 13 years, has been targeted because he's Muslim.

The Nottingham University worker, Hicham Yezza, 30, was asked to print out the document by a masters degree student researching Islamic extremism. A university worker reported the incident to the police and both Hicham and the student, Rizwaan Sabir, 22, were arrested on campus on May 14 under the Terrorism Act 2000. After six days in detention the pair were released without charge. However, immediately after, Hicham was rearrested and served with a deportation order because of a problem with his application for UK residency. Despite huge criticism from politicians and the British press, who believe that the order is a smokescreen for the original police blunder, Hicham could be deported back to Algeria as early as Sunday if the order is not repealed.

The farewell video of a terrorist

Julien — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:29:38 +0200

Mohammad Siddique Khan is one of the terrorists responsible for the July 2005 London train bombings. A few months before the attacks, while in training in Pakistan, the young man made this video to explain to his six-year-old daughter why he had to go fight.

The video below includes two movies shot by Khan. In the first clip, dated November 2004, Khan considers heading to Pakistan to fight the Americans. He explains to his daughter that he must carry out the Jihad, but that he will miss her. At some point after making these videos, he was redirected to London a few months later to plan the July 2005 suicide bombing that killed 52 people. In the second clip, at the end of this video, Khan introduces his “uncles” to his daughter. One of these men, Waheed Ali, is one of suspects currently on trial in the English capital.

Al Qaeda answers your questions online

Julien — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 07:08:59 +0200

Al Qaeda's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has completed an open online question and answer session with the public, responding to worldwide enquirers with confirmation that the terrorist organisation does not kill innocent people; Osama bin Laden is alive and kicking; America is on the verge of collapse and that he himself is not "a big star that loves to show off and be famous".

Bin Laden video: threats against Europe are serious

Julien — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:40:53 +0100

Osama bin Laden released a new video Wednesday, in which he threatened the European Union with a "reckoning" and reignited the Danish cartoon affair. One of our Observers, an al Qaeda specialist, explains why this message could see a new wave of terrorist action in Europe.

McCain: "al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training"

Julien — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:09:38 +0100

In a speech in Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday, John McCain declared that "al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training". The statement will certainly not help the Republican candidate make it to the White House, seeing as al Qaeda, a Sunni terrorist movement, is unlikely to be supported by the Iranian Shiite regime.

McCain only managed to correct his mistake at the end of the speech after receiving advice through his earpiece from Connecticut senator Joseph Lieberman. For the Republican leader, who based his campaign on his ability to be “commander in chief from day one”, the blunder could cost him dearly. Barack Obama seized the opportunity to point out that “we heard Senator McCain confuse Sunni and Shi'ite, Iran and al Qaeda. Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no al Qaeda ties”, according to the New York Times.

Apprenticeships in terrorism with al Qaeda

Julien — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:48:00 +0100

The American military in Iraq released five videos this week which they say show Iraqi children being trained by al Qaeda to capture civilians and to use weapons. The American army, which seized the material during an operation against al-Qaeda in Khan Bani Saad, north Baghdad, says that the videos are being used for propaganda and to recruit young people. Our Observer for Iraq, ‘Treasure of Baghdad’, was shocked by the videos. Here is his reaction.

Taking on al Qaeda’s American 'media star'

Julien — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:01:40 +0100

Californian Adam Yahiye Gadahn, aka "Azzan the American" has really riled Americans on the Web with his latest al Qaeda video calling on followers to arrange an ‘explosive reception' for George Bush's arrival in the Middle-East. The dramatic tearing up of his US passport, followed by a "I don't need it to travel anyway" quip has especially enraged many Americans.

Bloggers have been clogging cyberspace with their own, sometimes rather witty, often rather bitchy, online messages. One of the responses, by an American woman who ironically calls herself a ‘dumb-blonde' has been making the rounds on YouTube.

Exclusive: al Qaeda’s Number Two dispatches a new message to the world

Julien — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:03:15 +0100

Al Qaeda's second most important figure Ayman al Zawahiri has just transmitted a recorded message in which he calls the Annapolis conference ‘treacherous'. The video has so far only been shown on CNN. Here is the unedited version, with excerpts.