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Al-Qaeda's new targets
AL-QAEDA leaders have circulated a 12-page list targeting oil and gas installations in the West and the Middle East.It names specific targets in the US, Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, and claims that al-Qaeda could cripple the US economy by attacking its dependence on imported oil. The document is one of several detailing new orders from the al-Qaeda leadership to emerge in recent days. They followed the release of a video tape last month by al-Qaeda's deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in which he called on supporters to attack oil-related targets. And a new strategy document currently being circulated says the terror network is in a similar position to the British during the Falklands crisis. It even goes as far as to compare Al-Qaeda with Britain's Falklands War military commanders. The campaign to reclaim the Islands is being used as a prime example of the kind of war al-Qaeda is fighting. In a lengthy analysis of possible future strategies, al-Qaeda says its goal of evicting US and UK troops from Iraq and the Middle East is directly comparable to Britain's campaign to oust Argentinean troops. It adds that only a sustained military onslaught can achieve the same successful result. Militant groups appear to be responding to the new orders, as oil pipelines in Nigeria have been subject a series of attacks by a previously unknown Islamic militant group. They have led to drastic cutbacks in production by the world's eighth largest exporter of oil. Iraq's largest oil refinery was shut down last week because of the threat of attacks by insurgents. Militants groups have also started to regularly target oil and petrol tankers in Iraq with roadside bombs. Security experts believe that the terrorists want to cause petrol shortages in Iraq to move public opinion further against the presence of Coalition troops. The damage and disruption caused by the Buncefield oil depot explosion in Hemel Hempstead has also been highlighted in subsequent Internet "chatter". Jihadist Internet forums were quickly filled with messages of jubilation on the day of the Hemel blasts. One correspondent - using the online name "Osama1" said: "God has made the petrol and gas stolen from Muslim countries burn in their faces." Another suggested Buncefield was no accident, as Zawahari had just threatened the UK and called for attacks on oil installations. Neil Doyle, terrorism expert and author of the book Terror Base UK said: "Al-Qaeda leaders had been calling for such attacks before the start of the Iraq war, but it seems they lacked manpower. "The latest traffic suggests that is no longer such a problem and they are re-focussing on their long-term aim of sapping the will of the West by attacking its economic lifelines. "Even though it was an accident, Buncefield has been held up as a graphic example of the damage and disruption that might be wrought." Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-01-11 |
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