terrorism

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.

"Anonymous" Israeli propaganda on YouTube

Julien — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:01:37 +0200

Just under a month ago we published a post about a terrorist shooting in a Talmudic school in Jerusalem. Now, daily Israeli newspaper Haaretz has revealed that the government used YouTube, under an anonymous guise, to broadcast these images as a provocative reminder of the event.

The video, which has an amateur appearance, was published on March 10 under the name of "AtiyaRachel". But The Marker, the business supplement of Haaretz, revealed that it was actually the Prime Minister's office behind the videos, entitled "Emergency call" and "Act NOW. Stop the terror, stop the bloodshed". Warning, you may find some of the images upsetting.

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.

"We’re waiting anxiously for the Israeli backlash"

Julien — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:33:59 +0100

The school after the shooting, 6 March 08. Photo: www.juif.org

An armed man walked into a religious school on Thursday evening and opened fire leaving eight dead and several injured. Our Observers in the region - young Palestinian Rafe Jabari and Israeli Talmudic teacher Ariel Woolf - react to the killing.

What killed Benazir Bhutto?

Julien — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:58:21 +0100

The Pakistani Home Minister has just concluded a press conference in which he insisted that Benazir Bhutto was not killed by a bullet. He said that her skull was smashed when she tried to duck back into the vehicle to protect herself. The minister also said that he has evidence to prove that the attack was carried out by Al Qaida. Our Observer in Karachi, Zaheer Alam Kidvai, gives his reaction to the news.

Video of the attack broadcast this afternoon on Dawn TV

This evidence needs to be examined carefully. We must keep in mind that the authorities want to rule out any rumours that suggest they were behind the attack, or at least that they did nothing to help avoid it. If Bhutto was shot, then it would be the government's fault that she wasn't properly protected. It's more difficult to get close to someone with a gun than to let off a bomb. I don't think Musharraf is behind it all, of course, but I don't see any real evidence that she wasn't killed with a bullet either. The video doesn't convince me of that. And it's the same doctor yesterday who assured us that she was wounded at the neck who tells us today that she had no wounds at all, just a fractured skull. We'll wait and see, but let's not jump to any conclusions."

Post your questions to Zaheer on his profile page.

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.