New Bin Laden Videotape Not New According To Experts

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden released a new videotape on Friday however it appears to actually be the Pashto-language version of a tape released by al Qaeda several months ago.

The tape, titled “To Our People in Pakistan,” was broadly released in Arabic and Urdu on July 12, IntelCenter said. Excerpts had been aired by the Al Jazeera television network on June 3, it added.

Earlier on Friday, IntelCenter had said al-Qaeda’s as-Sahab Media had released a new video from bin Laden.

In his remarks broadcast by Al Jazeera in June, Saudi-born bin Laden said U.S. President Barack Obama had planted the seeds of “revenge and hatred” toward the United States in the Muslim world and warned Americans to prepare for the consequences.

In an audio message posted on an Islamist website in September, Osama warned Americans over their government’s close ties with Israel.

Osama is believed to be hiding in the mountainous border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

via Bin Laden videotape not new, monitoring site says | Reuters.

Al Qaeda Calls For Home-made Bomb Attacks in West

The leader of al Qaeda’s wing in the Arabian Peninsula called on militants to attack airports and trains in the West and said they could easily make bombs from household materials, the group’s Internet magazine said.

The Islamist group has been trying to secure small victories to maintain its feared image after its leaders’ threats to carry out large-scale attacks on Western targets have been discounted as words without deeds, analysts say.

Abu Basir Nasser al-Wahayshi, in an article in the e-magazine Sada al-Malahem, also urged militants to assault secular media figures and columnists who promote the policies of rulers in the world’s top oil exporting region.

“You do not need to exert great effort or spend a lot of money to make 10 grams of explosives, more or less. Do not spend a long time searching for materials as they already exist in your mother’s kitchen,” Wahayshi wrote in the article, posted on an Islamist website on Sunday.

“Make them (bombs) in the shape of a bomb you hurl, or detonate through a timer or a remote detonater or a martyrdom-seeker belt or any electrical appliance.”

Wahayshi said bombers should attack countries involved in wars in Muslim countries as well as government figures and security bodies in the Middle East.

via Al Qaeda calls for home-made bomb attacks in West | Reuters.

Small Scale Terrorism Plots Pose New Threat

For some time now intelligence experts have warned of a disturbing trend towards homegrown terrorism. Coupled with an additional trend towards smaller scale plots and terror cells comprised of only 1 or more people, authorities are concerned.

After disrupting two recent terrorism plots, American intelligence officials are increasingly concerned that extremist groups in Pakistan linked to Al Qaeda are planning smaller operations in the United States that are harder to detect but more likely to succeed than the spectacular attacks they once emphasized, senior counterterrorism officials say.

The two cases — one involving two Chicago men accused this week of planning an attack on a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the prophet Mohammad, the other a 24-year-old Denver shuttle bus driver indicted in a plot to use improvised explosives — are among the most serious in years, the officials said.

In both, the officials said, the main defendants are long-term residents of the United States with substantial community ties who traveled to Pakistan’s tribal areas, where they apparently trained with extremist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda. The officials, from American military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, spoke on the condition that they not be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the cases.

Read Full Article.

Terrorists Using Blogs To Engage Counter-terrorist Experts Online

This is an interesting article from the UK. Although I have never received any response from known terrorists on this site, I’ve often wondered if someone like Adnan G. el Shukrijumah, Adam Gadahn or others go online to research and read stories and posts about themselves. When someone like Gerald Posner does an in-depth investigative piece on a terrorist like el Shukrijumah, does el Shukrijumah see it? My assumption has always been that he does. Many well known terrorists have an obvious strong desire for attention in the media and this article makes that case.

A senior Arab Afghan adviser to al Qaeda and the Taliban has openly challenged an Australian counter-terrorism expert in a series of blog posts. Abu Walid al Masri has written direct responses to Leah Farrall, an Australian academic who writes the All things Counter Terrorism blog and has years of experience fighting terrorism with the Australian Federal Police.

Farrall recently described al Masri as “one of Mullah Omar’s most trusted advisers” in an op-ed for the Australian. He has written 12 books in Arabic relating to Afghanistan and al Qaeda, and has just re-emerged as an author for the Taliban’s flagship magazine publication, in which he recently encouraged the Taliban to engage in the kidnapping of British and American soldiers. Because of this, Al Masri has been one of Farrall’s “main academic interests for many years” and she was shocked read his blog posts about her: “To say that I am blown away by this would be a pretty massive understatement”.

In his first blog post, Abu Walid al Masri joked that Farrall’s “focus on academic research will give us a bit of comfort and space so we can work safely in the field (terrorism). Therefore I thought it would be a good to distract her with these dialogues so the rest of the gang can do the work.”

He compares Farrall to the “beautiful female soldiers” who tortured “our brothers” in Abu Ghraib, and then begins the dialogue sardonically:

Read Full Article

Passport of al Qaeda 9/11 Plotter Said Bahaji Found

UPDATE: It is now being reported that additional passports were discovered that are believed to have belonged to additional 9/11 plotters. Another passport, from Spain, bears the name of Raquel Burgos Garcia. Spanish media have reported that a woman with the same name is married to Amer Azizi, an alleged Al Qaeda member from Morocco suspected in both the 9/11 attacks and the Madrid train bombings in 2004.

Her family in Madrid has had no news of her since 2001, according to Spanish media. Her passport included visas to India and Iran, and the army displayed a Moroccan document with Burgos Garcia’s photo and other information.

It was impossible to determine whether the passports are genuine, and German and Spanish officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the army’s chief spokesman, said he had not realized the passports matched any prominent names, and declined further comment other than to say European militants were sprinkled throughout the area.

The U.S. has maintained for years that South Waziristan and other parts of the rugged frontier have sheltered Osama bin Laden and his senior lieutenants.

Read Full Article

Original Post

Pakistani troops fighting Islamist militants in the mountains of South Waziristan may be closing in on the trail of a leading .al-Qaeda figure, Said Bahaji, wanted in connection with the attacks on 9/11.  The army reports it found the passport and other documents of the alleged terrorist in a mud compound in the village of Shawangai.

Bahaji, 34, lived with 9/11 plot leaders Mohamed Atta and Ramzi Binalshibh and was part of their Hamburg, Germany, cell, helping to plan the 9/11 attacks.

Ziad Jarrah, the hijacker of the United Airlines jet that crashed in Pennsylvania, attended Bahaji’s wedding.

Bahaji is believed to be alive and has rank in Al Qaeda as “a senior propagandist,” a U.S. counterterror official told The News.

He also is involved in operational activity.

Source

Growing Up Bin Laden, Osama’s Son Omar Speaks

Time magazine takes a look at the life of Omar Bin Laden, the fourth eldest of Osama bin Laden’s 20 known children

For Omar Bin Laden, the fourth eldest of Osama bin Laden’s 20 known children, the awful realization that his own father was a terrorist mastermind plotting a global conspiracy that would destroy the lives of thousands of innocent people and even his own family came gradually.

Of course, there were warning signs: Omar’s childhood was marked by regular beatings and survivalist training; there was the growing army of ruffians and retainers who called his father “Prince”; and then there was that Afghan mullah who had given his father an entire mountain in Tora Bora.

Read Full Article

The Threat of Homegrown Terrrorism

Lydia Khalil, a former counterterrorism analyst for the New York Police Department, and a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations looks at homegrown terrorism, recent plots and arrests and what they may signify.

The apprehension last week of Sudbury native Tarek Mehanna is the fifth terrorism-related arrest in the United States in as many months, putting homegrown radicalism back on the radar screen. But many question whether individuals like Mehanna are the “real deal.’’ Do they really pose a significant terrorist threat or are they acting out but lack the capability to inflict any real damage? How dangerous are homegrown radicals? Will the United States, like Europe, become more susceptible to native radicals rather than terrorist plots hatched abroad from organized groups like Al Qaeda?

Terrorism specialist Marc Sageman claims that we are facing a “leaderless jihad.’’ Al Qaeda central is not the driving force of terrorism as an operational machine but rather its ideology serves as an inspiration for self-organizing local groups to carry out their own attacks.

Read Full Article

NEFA Report – The New York, Denver Terror Plot Arrests

This NEFA Foundation report, “Target: America”, provides details on Najibullah Zazi’s activities prior to his arrest and sheds light on why this case is considered by many experts to be the most significant terrorist plot on U.S. soil since 9/11.

The investigation into a plot to detonate explosive devices in the United States led by Afghan immigrant Najibullah Zazi and three yet-to-be-named accomplices is ongoing. To date, only three individuals have been arrested in connection with this case.

Only one, Najibullah Zazi, appears to be implicated in an operational capacity. Two others, Bosnian immigrant Adis Mendunjanin, and New York City cab driver Zarein Ahmedzay, have been questioned, but have not been arrested.1 A childhood acquaintance of Zazi’s, Naiz Khan, with whom Zazi stayed when he traveled to New York in September, is reported to be under surveillance in connection with the plot.

This is the most advanced U.S.-based plot since 9/11 that is said to be tied to Al-Qaida. According to media reports, high-ranking Al-Qaida operative Mustafa Abu al-Yazid3 used a middle man to contact Zazi.4 Although we have seen Al-Qaida-linked individuals in the U.S. engage in terrorist-related activities such as Iyman Ferris who surveilled the Brooklyn Bridge while in contact with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed5 we have not seen a fully operational plot in which operatives received direct training from Al-Qaida.

Read The Full Report

iWatchLA – PSA And Training Video Available Online

The LAPD has released 2 new videos as part of it’s iWatch program. One, a 78 second PSA and the other a 7 minute national training video.

Although some have been critical of the PSA, calling it Orwellian and Big Brotherish, I would tend to disagree. No one is being asked to ’spy’ on their neighbors, friends and co-workers as some blogs have suggested, they’re simply being asked to report suspicious activity.

That’s what the iWATCH program is about, it asks citizens to report, via a toll-free telephone number or website, any suspicious activity that might indicate a terrorist plot is in the works.

Often times it’s the smallest bits of information that yield the biggest breaks in a case or investigation.

It was just such a tip that led to the September arrest of Najibullah Zazi, the Denver man suspected of having al-Qaeda connections. Zazi you might recall, came under investigation after purchasing large quantities of chemicals from Denver-area beauty supply stores.

A recent Officer.com article provides several examples.

I encourage you to watch the videos and as always, report any suspicious activity immediately.

iWatch 78 Second PSA

IWatch National Training Video

iWatchLA

Related articles by Zemanta

• Afghan immigrant suspected of plotting terrorist attack on NY pleads not guilty (telegraph.co.uk)

Western Terror Recruits Are On The Rise

A rising number of Western recruits including Americans are traveling to Afghanistan and Pakistan to attend paramilitary terrorist training camps.

Midway through a propaganda video released last month by a group calling itself the German Taliban, a surprise guest made an appearance: a cleanshaven, muscular gunman sporting the alias Abu Ibrahim the American.

The gunman did not speak but wore military fatigues and waved his rifle as subtitles identified him as an American. The video contained a stream of threats against Germany if it did not withdraw its troops from the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. Although the American’s part in the film lasted only a few seconds, it has alarmed German and U.S. intelligence officials, who are still puzzling over his background, his real identity and how he became involved with the terrorist group.

U.S. and European counterterrorism officials say a rising number of Western recruits including Americans are traveling to Afghanistan and Pakistan to attend paramilitary training camps. The flow of recruits has continued unabated, officials said, in spite of an intensified campaign over the past year by the CIA to eliminate al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders in drone missile attacks.

via Read Article.

Turkey Detains 32 al Qaeda Terror Suspects Plotting Attacks

Reuters reports Turkish security forces have detained 32 suspected al Qaeda terrorists believed to have been plotting attacks on NATO, U.S. and Israeli targets.

The suspects were detained in simultaneous raids across eight provinces, it said, quoting security officials as saying some were believed to have been trained in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan.

Security officials found documents linking the suspects to the outlawed group during the raids.

“Teams from the Istanbul Anti-Terror Squad have launched an operation against al Qaeda members found to be planning operations against U.S. and Israeli representative offices and NATO installations,” Anatolian reported.

Read Full Article

Report – Terrorist Plot To Attack World Cup Thwarted

The UK’s Daily Star is reporting that a plot by al-Qaada to attack next year’s World Cup has been thwarted by police. Officers in South Africa smashed a cell planning to hit Western targets according to the report.

The plan was being hatched in Khayelitsha, a shanty town near Cape Town, by militants linked to extremists in Somalia and Mozambique, off the east coast of Africa.

The network had links with Osama bin Laden’s henchmen in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a source said. Police seized mobile phones and SIM cards after intercepting a call to the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab group in Somalia discussing setting off bombs.

The source said: “The interception revealed that these people planned to move en masse from Mozambique to here in 2010.”

The operation was jointly run by American agents, SA’s National Intelligence Agency and senior police forces.

But yesterday analyst Hussein Solomon, head of the International Institute of Islamic Studies in Pretoria, blasted security preparations as “woefully inadequate”.

He said: “We must not think we are protected because we are not.”

Both England and the US have qualified for the World Cup, which will be the first to be held in Africa.

Read Full Article

Napolitano Says Al-Qaeda-Style Terrorists Are in U.S.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said terrorists with al-Qaeda leanings are in the U.S. and that the threat of attack “is always with us.”

“It is fair to say there are individuals in the United States who ascribe to al-Qaeda-type beliefs,” Napolitano said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today. “And so it makes information-sharing, it makes effective law enforcement and it makes the shared responsibility of law enforcement ever so important.”

Information-sharing between federal, state and local law- enforcement agencies is “much improved” since the Sept. 11 attacks, she said.

In September, U.S. authorities indicted Najibullah Zazi, 24, an Afghan immigrant and former Denver airport shuttle-van driver, on federal terrorism conspiracy charges. They found bomb-making instructions on a laptop computer in his rental car.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the case had connections to al-Qaeda, the terrorist group that attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.

Napolitano said she met in New York today with leaders in financial security in order to discuss ways to protect the nation’s financial system from cyber-terrorism or other attacks.

“The financial institutions of this country are part of our bedrock infrastructure,” she said. “They need to be protected. We need to be able to protect them.”

Nuclear Scientist Admits Plotting Al Qaeda Attacks

The UK’s Daily Mail reports that nuclear scientist, Dr Adlene Hicheur, who admitted pinpointing targets for Al Qaeda was yesterday charged with ‘criminal activities related to a terrorist group’. It’s reports of this nature that remind us why so many experts have said, it’s not a question of “if” terrorists get their hands on nuclear weapons, but rather, “when”.

During a brief court appearance at the Palais de Justice in Paris, anti-terrorist judge Christophe Teissier heard how the French authorities had been working with MI5 and the CIA to track Hicheur’s movements around the world.

There were growing fears he was planning a nuclear attack.

He has admitted planning at least one attack with terrorists from Algeria.

The confession in a high-security jail near Paris came before his brother Zitouni, 25, was released without charge after three days of questioning.

U.S. monitors picked up the internet exchange between Hicheur and his North African contacts.

A British security source said: ‘It appears that Al Qaeda are now recruiting extremely intelligent people who have both the knowledge and the resources to potentially create a nuclear bomb or identify nuclear targets.

Read Full Artilce

Next Page »