A new message from Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been released on the internet. The message,
announced on the various jihadist forums Thursday afternoon, takes the form of an audio tape played over a
still image, is 9 minutes 40 seconds long. The message was also released in MP3 and Real Media audio formats.
The message addresses the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel.
New Bin Laden message addressing the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel imminent
Just two weeks shy of the tenth anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's declaration in a televised press conference that he does "not differentiate between those dressed in military uniforms and civilians: they are all targets", Bin Laden once again attempts to take center stage, with the announcement of a message addressing the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel.
In that interview ten years ago, Bin Laden predicted a "Black day for America" and followed through nine weeks later with the bombings of US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar as Salam, Tanzania.
A decade later, Bin Laden seems to be shifting gears a bit. In his initial messages, Bin Laden's focus was on the removal of US forces from the "Land of the Two Holy Sanctuaries" (reference to Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia) but in recent years he has more closely wedded himself to the Palestinian issue, attempting to gain as much political capital from that perpetual hot topic as possible. Bin Laden and his second-in-command Dr.Ayman al Zawahiri have released messages coinciding with other event dates in the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, such as the Zawahiri's message of last year commemorating forty years since the fall of Jerusalem.
It would have been surprising to see such an event as Israel's 60th anniversary come and go without a Bin Laden message. It also is likely we'll see another message shortly from Zawahiri addressing the current crises in Egypt in the coming week/
It is not known whether this will be a video tape or an audio taped message. Historically banners for Bin Laden messages have not been good predictors of the presence or absence of new video footage showing the terror leader. Early indications are that the message will be released in at least two formats - one file of nearly 60 megabytes, a file of just over 12 megabytes, and a file slightly larger than 1 megabyte. The smallest of the files may contain transcripts or translations of the other message. In its last few messages, As Sahab has deviated from its usual pattern of converting even audio messages into video formats, with the audio playing over a still image. It is not clear yet whether they will continue this pattern or revert to their previous one.
Part 2 of Zawahiri Town Hall Meeting Released
Part 2 of Zawahiri's "Town Hall" meeting where he answers questions posted by visitors to the jihadist forums has
just been released.
The question and answer format was released in audio format in Arabic, with a 79-page Arabic language transcript.
No English transcript was provided.
The 156 minute MP3 file can be downloaded from http://www.lauramansfield.com/h2.mp3
We are working on a translation and will update as we have more information.
Please email me if you'd like to receive a copy of the Arabic language transcript.
As Sahab announces imminent release of Zawahiri message: Part 2 of Town Hall
Taliban claim death of son of Dutch Command was retaliation for "Fitna"
The Taliban has posted a message in Arabic on their official website taking credit for the death of the son of the Dutch commander on Friday. They claim that he was killed in retaliation for release of the movie “Fitna”.
The translation is as follows:
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Death of eight soldiers from the Dutch Occupation Forces, including the son of the Dutch Commander, in a sequence of missions taking revenge for release of the insulting film.
Qari Muhammad Yusuf - 18 April 2008
At 0800 on 18 April 2008, the mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate blew up an army tank that belonged to the Dutch occupation troops using an explosives device which exploded as the tank moved through Kharma Pitrinkut in the province of Oruzgan.
Reports are that eight solders of the occupation force were killed including Lieutenant Dennis van Uhm, who was the son of the Commander of the Dutch forces in Afghanistan, General Peter van Uhm.
The Dutch Ministry of Defense announced his death along and that of a number of others soldiers.
This great battle is one of many in revenge as promised by the Shura command council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in its statement of 30 March, in response to the film that insulted the Holy Qu’ran which was released by a Dutch member of partliament. The mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate declared they would take revenge upon the Dutch soldiers in Oruzgan by claiming their heads.
'When it is said to them: 'Make not mischief on the earth,' they say: 'Why, we only want to make peace! Of a surety, they are the ones who make mischief, but they realize (it) not.' (Qu’ran, 2:11-12)
More information: The official spokesmen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan-Taliban: for the southwestern and northwestern areas of the country, Qari Muhammad Yusuf, telephone number 008821621346341; and for the southeastern and northeastern areas of the country, Dhabihallah (Mujahid), telephone number 008821621360585.
‘God is Great. 'Honor belongs to Allah and His Messenger, and to the Believers.' (Qu’ran 63:8)
The Media Committee of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - Taliban
Zawahiri answers questions in part one of Town Hall:
Zawahiri "Open Meeting" brings more questions than answersby Laura Mansfield
This afternoon’s release by As Sahab of Part 1 of the Open Meeting with Shaykh brings with it more questions than it does answers.
Once again, As Sahab has deviated from its traditional pattern of releasing audio tapes in video format with a still image. Instead, it has released the message in Real Media audio and in MP3 audio.
Previously transcripts have been released in language specific files; this time both Arabic and English transcripts were provided in the same file, with the English transcripts in both PDF and Microsoft Word DOC format. The English Word document shows that the user who last edited the file was “Mujahid”.
The Arabic document appears to have been created first, with the final save being done on March 5. The English document had its final save done on March 15.
Based on signatures with the Word document, it appears that these files were created on different computers.
But probably the most striking difference is in translation quality.
Normally important messages from Zawahiri contain linguistic indications that they were translated by Adam Gadahn. Gadahn’s translation style is noticeably absent from this video, giving more credence to open source reports from Pakistan regarding the possible death of Gadahn in an American air strike. (However, there are other plausible explanations for Gadahn’s absence from the scene – including his quip in his January video tape that ripping up his passport would not hinder his ability to travel.)
Zawahiri makes repeated references in the message to his 2001 book Knights Under the Prophets Banner, as well as to his other books including numerous references to his most recent book, Exoneration. (Full English translations of Knights Under the Prophets Banner, Exoneration, and Sayyid Imam’s Revisions to Jihad in Egypt and the World – which Exoneration responds to – are available from LauraMansfield.com.)
Many of the questions dealt with Egypt, the history of the Islamic Group and the Al Jihad Group, and the political situation in that country. Some of his responses were quite cryptic, such as this one. Responding to the question “when will there be a wing of the organization in Egypt?”, Zawahiri quipped “The days will reveal to you what you didn’t know, And news will come to you from those who didn’t have it”.
Several of the questions dealt with Iran. One confrontational set of questions includes the following: “Why haven’t we heard you attack Iran in the same way that you attack other states of the East and West, whether Muslim or unbelieving, with the exception of Iran?”
Zawahiri responds with a non-answer: “As for the question concerning Iran, I ask the brother to refer to my latest conversation with as-Sahab Foundation entitled “A Review of Events.””
A number of the questions asked Zawahiri to discuss the legitimacy of violent jihadist activities in Algeria. One questions asks point blank for the justification under Islamic law for the killing of Muslims in Algeria. Another asks “Excuse me, Mr. Zawahiri, but who is it who is killing with Your Excellency’s blessing the innocents in Baghdad, Morocco and Algeria? Do you consider the killing of women and children to be Jihad?”
Zawahiri’s response was that he does not consider those killed to be innocents. He says “We haven’t killed the innocents, not in Baghdad, nor in Morocco, nor in Algeria, nor anywhere else. And if there is any innocent who was killed in the Mujahideen’s operations, then it was either an unintentional error, or out of necessity as in cases of al-Tatarrus [taking of human shields by the enemy].”
One question of particular interest to the UK involves the “covenant of security”. Abu Talhah al Ghareeb asks Zawahiri “Is the entry visa to the countries of the unbelievers a security covenant?”
Zawahiri’s response was “I don’t believe that the entry visa of the infidels is a security contract, and I explained this opinion in detail in the seventh chapter of the second part of The Exoneration. At the end of that chapter, I said that this is what my brothers and I have chosen, so whoever is at ease with it, let him apply it, and whoever is not at ease with it, let him look for other means with which to fight the Crusaders and Jews. But beware, beware of the third way, which is to refrain from the obligatory Jihad against them.”
Some of the questions, including one by a person who calls himself “Muhammad Sameer”, who states “I don’t believe that my questions will reach or be answered, but I will pose them.”
A copy of the entire English transcript can be downloaded here.
Still under construction - more archives being added daily
As Sahab: Video tape from Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri commemorates death of Abu Laith al Libi
A video taped message has been released by As Sahab featuring Al Qaeda second-in-command Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri. The video tape,which is just under 10 minutes long, includes English subtitles.
In the message, Zawahiri says 'These - oh Americans and oh agents of Americans - are the pioneers of the coming advance and good omens of the newborn dawn.... No chief of ours has died a natural death nor has our blood been spilled without a response.
Zawahiri is shown in front of what appears to be a chroma-key backdrop showing bookshelves. His trademark AK-47 is on his left side.
The headline for the video is misspelled, but the imagery is more than a little disturbing.
In this YouTube video, we see a young boy, maybe six or seven years old, riding his bicycle in the street. The child is dressed in traditional clothing for Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, has his bicycle adorned with the black flag of jihad.
A man's voice says "Mohamed of the Al Qaeda Organization".
A man calls to him several times,and eventually the boy rides over.
The man's voice greets the boy, and the boy returns the greeting.
The voice then asks the boy his name. The boy responds "Mohammed".
The man asks him what group he is with. The young lad responds "Al Qaeda". The man repeats the question, and the boy repeats "Al Qaeda".
The man queries him what the flag on the bike means. The boy responds "Jihad".
The man's voice then asks "Who is your emir?" The boy responds "Osama bin Laden".
The voice tells the boy "May Allah protect you, peace and greetings to the mujahidin."
The child waves back at the camera and shifts his focus back to his bicycle.
Terrorist leader Imad Mugniyah killed in Damascus
Before Osama bin Laden and Abu Mus'ab al Zarqawi became household names affiliated with terror, there was Imad Mugniyah.
Since the mid-1980's, Mugniyah has been leading and masterminding attacks on US, western, and Israeli interests in the Middle East.
In fact, before September 11, 2001, Mugniyah was responsible for more deaths of US citizens than any other terrorist.
His two decade-plus reign of terror ended this morning.
Reports out of Damascus this morning indicate that uber-terrorist Imad Mugniyah, was killed in a car bomb explosion in a residential neighborhood in the Syrian capitol.
Mugniyah, who has been acting as the head of security for Hezbullah, first appeared on the international terror scene in 1985 when he led the hijacking of TWA flight 847, and murdered US Navy diver Robert Stethem. He is also believed to have masterminded the attack on the US Embassy in Beirut in 1983 which killed 63, and in the October 1983 attack on the US Marines barracks in Beirut, killing 241 US Marines and 56 French paratroopers.
Mugniyah was well known for his ruthlessness and his explosives expertise. Many saw his influence in the Iraqi insurgency, as car bombings and suicide bombings became a daily occurence.
Hezbullah TV blamed Israel for the death of Mugniyah. News reports indicate that Israel has refused to comment
A new video from As Sahab called 'Winds of Paradise Part 2' is now available for download from LauraMansfield.com.
The video includes older clips of Abu Yahya al Libi, Mustafa abu Yazid, and Osama bin Laden, as well of newer video clips showing the featured 'martyrs' as they read their wills and prepare for their operations.
Part 1 of Winds of Paradise was released July 14, 2007.
Al Furqan releases video showing deputy police commissioner in Diyala joining mujahideen
A new video released early this morning shows the deputy police commissioner in Diyala joining the mujahideen and apologizing for his previous actions.
The video shows the man, who identifies himself as Eyad Ismael Muhemeed, making his statement to the camera, and then handing over his gun and badge to the jihadists with the Islamic State of Iraq.
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