Radical Taunts Obama, Affirms Ties to Ft. Hood Shooter

A radical Muslim cleric tied to the Fort Hood shooting suspect can be heard taunting President Obama, applauding the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound flight on Christmas and clearly acknowledging a relationship with Maj. Nidal Hasan, in a newly released audiotape obtained by Fox News.

The cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, used the tape to go on a tirade against U.S. foreign policy but aimed several of his comments directly at Obama.

Hasan, the alleged Fort Hood shooter, is known to have exchanged e-mails with al-Awlaki. In the tape, the cleric appeared to call on the Obama administration to release those messages and suggested the president was shielding the public from information about Hasan's background.

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Pakistani Court Charges 5 Americans With Terrorism

Five Americans face life in a Pakistani jail after officials there charged them with plotting terror attacks.

A Pakistani court charged the five men from Virginia on Wednesday with attempting to join al Qaeda-linked groups to carry out attacks in Pakistan.

Officials said they believe the group was also planning to go to Afghanistan to fight against U.S. and NATO troops.

The men, all Muslims ranging from 18 to 25 years old, deny the charges, claiming they were planning to work with charity groups in Afghanistan.

“The charges were read out by the judge. The judge asked if they accept the charges. All the accused unanimously rejected them. They said 'We totally deny the charges,” said their lawyer, Hasan Dastagir.

He called the charges “lies” and said the men believe they are being framed by Pakistan and the United States.

via Pakistani court charges 5 Americans with terrorism.

U.S. Suspects in Pakistan Say It Was Jihad, Not Terrorism

Apparently there is a difference between jihad and terrorism, jihadists and terrorists. Five Northern Virginia men arrested in Pakistan indicated Monday that they plan to fight terrorism charges that Pakistani police are recommending by using a strategy seen in U.S. courtrooms: that they were preparing for jihad but not planning any terror attacks.

The men told a Pakistani court that they had neither sought nor established contact with extremist groups, and traveled to the region only “to help the helpless Muslims,” according to their Pakistani attorney. As they entered the courtroom, one of the men, Ramy Zamzam, told reporters: “We are not terrorists. We are jihadists, and jihad is not terrorism.

No charges were filed during the hearing in Sargodha, but Pakistani police said their formal recommendation that the men be charged under anti-terrorism laws — and sentenced to life in prison — would be filed by Tuesday. A judge would decide whether to prosecute the five Americans, who are due back in court on Jan. 18.

The men, all from the Alexandria area, left the United States shortly after Thanksgiving without telling their parents, who alerted the FBI. They were arrested Dec. 8 at the family home of Khalid Farooq Chaudhry, the father of one of the men, Umar Chaudhry. The elder Chaudhry was released from custody on Monday by the judge because of insufficient evidence against him, officials said.

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Imam Linked to Ft. Hood Rampage Believed Killed in Airstrike

UPDATE: The radical US cleric who is thought to have advised three of the Sept. 11 hijackers as well as the Muslim-American US Army major who went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, survived Thursday’s airstrike in Yemen’s Shabwa province.

Friends and relatives of Ansar al Awlaki claimed he was not killed in the attack but refused to mention if he was in attendance of a meeting of al Qaeda leaders when it was hit by what the Yemeni government claimed were Yemeni Air Forces fighter-bombers.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/12/radical_us_cleric_su.php#ixzz0amM7iPLe

Fox News reports the radical Muslim imam linked to the rampage at Fort Hood reportedly is believed to have been killed in a Yemen airstrike that may have also taken out the region’s top Al Qaeda leader and 30 other militants.

The raid in Yemen’s east targeted an Al Qaeda leadership meeting held to organize terror attacks. U.S. officials believe radical cleric Anwar Awlaki was “probably” one of dozens of militants killed in the strike, a source confirmed to FOX News.

“Awlaki is suspected to be dead [in the air raid],” Reuters quoted an unnamed Yemeni official as saying.

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Five Missing Americans Probed for Terror Links

UPDATE: Five Americans arrested at a house linked to a militant group in eastern Pakistan have told investigators they came to the country to take part in “jihad” or holy war, police said Thursday.

U.S. officials believe the five are men who were reported missing more than a week ago by their families in the Washington, D.C., area. The families asked the FBI for help after finding a farewell video left by the men showing scenes of war and casualties and saying Muslims must be defended.

Source

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Five young Americans captured in Pakistan are under investigation for possibly trying to meet up with a terror group, authorities said Wednesday. Two U.S. officials said one of the men left a “farewell” video behind saying Muslims must be defended, and showing images of U.S. casualties.

Frantic relatives and worried FBI agents have been searching for the five college-age men for more than a week, since their disappearance in late November. The missing students have family roots in the northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., area.

Two U.S. officials said one of the group _ they did not say which one _ left behind what investigators believe was a farewell video message, in which he talks about defending Muslims and shows images of U.S. casualties. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

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Authorities Search for 5 Missing D.C. Area Muslim Men

UPDATE:Pakistani sources have confirmed the 5 men are considered to be the same five reported missing from the Washington D.C. area in yesterdays report.

UPDATE: Shortly after we posted this story, Five foreigners believed to be associated with terrorist activities were arrested in Sargodha after a raid on a house. The arrested foreigners include 2 Yeminis, 1 Egyptians, 1 Swedish and 1 US born Pakistani.

The group has taken the house on 30th November and have been living there ever since. DPO Sargodha Dr. Usman Anwar told Geo News that the police raided the house of Khalid Farooqi, an activist of banned outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad, and arrested five foreign nationals from there.

Initial investigations have identified them as Ahmed Abdullah, Waqar Hassan Khan, Eman Hassan, Yasir and Rami Zamzam.

Security agencies have initiated further investigations in this regard.

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The Investigative Project on Terrorism reports Federal investigators are searching for a Howard University dental student and four other missing Muslim men reported missing from the Washington, D.C. area. According to the report, there is concern they may have been sent abroad to train for jihad. The five were last seen November 29.

Press ReleaseFederal investigators are searching for a Howard University dental student and four other missing young Muslim men reported missing from the Washington, D.C. area, the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) has learned. There is concern they may have been sent abroad to train for jihad. The five were last seen November 29.

[...]

It is not clear where the men are believed to have gone, but an informed source told the IPT that at least one left behind a farewell video.

[..]

The disappearance comes as U.S. officials are increasingly concerned about the threat of homegrown Islamist extremism.

On the surface, at least, the situation in Washington resembles the case of 20 young Somalis who disappeared from the Minneapolis area a year ago. They are believed to have made their way back to Somalia, where they trained with the Al-Shabaab terrorist group.

At least three of those men have died, including one who became the first known American citizen to carry out a suicide bombing. Fourteen people have been indicted in relation to the Somali recruitment effort.

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Press Release

U.S. To Resume Hunt for Terror Leader bin Laden

There’s been a significant increase in talk regarding Osama bin Ladens possible location over the past few days, leading some to speculate the al Qaeda terror leader may be on the move.The National Post reports that the United States will launch a new effort to track down bin Laden, who is believed to be hiding in the mountains along the Afghan-Pakistan border, a senior U.S. official said on Sunday.

Intelligence reports suggest the Al-Qaeda chief “is somewhere inside north Waziristan, sometimes on the Pakistani side of the border, sometimes on the Afghan side of the border,” said national security adviser James Jones.

Asked if President Barack Obama’s administration planned a fresh attempt to go after Al-Qaeda’s leader, Mr. Jones said: “I think so.”

Bin Laden was a “very important symbol of what Al-Qaeda stands for” and it was crucial to make sure he was on the run or captured, Mr. Jones, a retired Marine general, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program.

His comment that Bin Laden sometimes crossed to the Afghan side of the mountainous border contrasted with previous accounts from U.S. officials that suggested the Al-Qaeda chief was hiding in Pakistan.

via U.S. to resume hunt for Bin Laden: official.

Americans Expect Islamic Terror Strike Within 6 Months

According to a new poll, two-thirds of Americans expect an Islamic suicide bomb attack on American soil within six months.

Fritz Wenzel of Wenzel Strategies said one of the most shocking findings of his recent polling on the subject was that 65 percent are expecting an attack within six months.

“Some of the communication between Fort Hood shooter Hasan and al-Qaida figures included discussion of such attacks inside the United States, and it has been a common form of violence in the Middle East for years,” he said. “Now, Americans appear resigned to the fact that these attacks will soon come to our shores.”

He asked a series of questions in a WorldNetDaily/Wenzel Strategies survey regarding the recent Fort Hood attack, allegedly carried out by Muslim Maj. Nidal Hasan. The survey, Nov. 13-16, used an automated telephone technology calling a random sampling of listed telephone numbers nationwide. The survey has 95 percent confidence interval. It included 806 adult respondents and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

“More than one-third of respondents – 36 percent – said they think it is ‘very likely’ that such an attack will take place in the next six months, while another 29 percent said it is ’somewhat likely,’” he reported.

via Source.

Authorities To Seize Properties Of Group With Alleged Iran Ties

Federal prosecutors in New York took legal steps on Thursday to seize four mosques and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper from a Muslim group suspected of having ties to the Iranian government.

The US government, which has accused Iran of financing terrorism and trying to get hold of nuclear weapons, filed a civil complaint in federal court seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million (£301 million) in assets controlled by a Shia Muslim charity called the Alavi Foundation.

The assets include Islamic centres in New York, Maryland, California and Houston, more than 100 acres of land in Virginia, and a 36-storey office tower in Manhattan.

Prosecutors claimed that the Alavi Foundation and a front company called Assa Corporation illegally funnelled millions of dollars in rental income back to the state-owned Bank Melli in Iran.

The US Treasury has accused Bank Melli of financing Iran’s nuclear programme and it is illegal in America to do business with the bank.

It is very rare for the US government to seize places of worship, but officials have long suspected the foundation was a front for the Iranian government.

The 97-page complaint claimed several very senior Iranian officials, including the deputy prime minister, have been involved in the charity’s business.

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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.

Osama bin Laden To Provide A ‘Present’ to Muslims

A website often used by al Qaeda supporters said on Thursday it would soon carry a “present” to Muslims from Osama bin Laden on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan. The Islamist website gave no further details, but messages by the al Qaeda leader have usually appeared within about 48 hours of being announced on the Internet.

In his latest message in June, bin Laden said U.S. President Barack Obama had planted the seeds of “revenge and hatred” toward the United States in the Muslim world.

Bin Laden’s remarks were issued just before a major speech by Obama who said he sought a “new beginning” between the United States and the Muslim world.

Source

Zawahiri To Obama:You Are Not Welcome in Egypt

Al Qaeda No. 2, Ayman Zawahiri said in a new audiotape today that President Obama is not welcome in Egypt. Commenting on Obama’s upcoming visit to Cairo, Zawahiri said that President Obama’s message to the Muslim World has already been delivered.

“Obama’s message to the Muslim World was delivered when he visited the Wailing wall, with the Jewish skullcap on his head…when he performed the Jewish prayers despite claiming that he is Christian,” Zawahiri said, reminding his audience of Obama’s pledge before the AIPAC conference to make Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel.

The al Qaeda deputy chief accused Obama of approving the “Zionist aggression on Gaza,” of sending more troops to Afghanistan and continuing to bomb tribal areas of Pakistan, and of leading the “brutal campaign” against Muslims in the Swat valley. He said the Obama administration’s message to the Muslim world can be seen in the continued use of secret prisons and the breach of the Geneva conventions regarding terror detainees.

Source

New York Terror Plot Broken Up

The FBI busted a homegrown terror cell late Wednesday night as the men sneaked around a Jewish temple in Riverdale planting what they thought was packages of C-4 explosives, sources told the Daily News.

The four African American men, three of whom were said to be jailhouse converts to Islam, also allegedly had what they believed was a working Stinger missile in their car.

Officials said they hoped to shoot down a plane at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh in Orange County.

Sources said the four men were arrested after a year-long investigation that began when an informant connected to a mosque in Newburgh said he knew men who wanted to buy explosives.

FBI agents posing as militants sold them what they thought was 30 pounds of C-4 and a plane-downing Stinger missile.

The weaponry was all phony.

The men were arrested as they planted fake bombs in front of the Riverdale Temple in the Bronx and under cars parked in front of the synagogue.

They also allegedly planned to blow up a nearby Jewish Community Center.

Witnesses said an NYPD vehicle blocked a black SUV outside the temple and then officers broke in the windows and handcuffed the four men inside the car.

All four men were US-born.

Arrested was alleged ringleader James Cromitie of Newburgh, the son of an Afghan immigrant and his African American wife.

Cromitie served a long stretch in prison in the past.

Alleged henchment David Williams, Onta Williams and Leguerre Payen were busted with him.

Sources said the three were jailhouse converts to Islam.

“This shows the real risks we face from homegrown terror and jailhouse converts, and the need for constant vigilance,” said Rep. Pete King R-NY.

The four alleged terrorists are expected to be arraigned Thursday in White Plains federal court.

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Al-Qaeda Terrorist Prisoners Plotted To Escape In Hijacked Helicopter – UK

Al-Qaeda terrorists in a British jail were caught planning to escape in a hijacked helicopter.

Accomplices on the outside were to hire the helicopter for “business” then force the pilot to land in prison at gunpoint.

Nine Muslim inmates plotted to kidnap the jail imam during prayers with weapons hidden in the prison mosque.

According to the plan they would then move to a sports field using the imam as a shield and be picked up by the helicopter.

Wardens at Full Sutton prison in Yorkshire, acting on a tip-off, went to the plotters’ cells hours before the escape attempt was due to start.

The nine, including convicted terrorists, will now be transferred to other jails.

A source told the Sun: “This would have been one of the most damaging escapes ever. The intelligence was very strong and from a good source. It had to be acted on immediately.

“It involved some of the most dangerous al-Qaeda terrorists in jail, all of whom are a massive threat. It had been planned for months and the use of a helicopter shows it was sophisticated.”

Source

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