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| Terror Networks |
| Al-Qaida commander brags |
| 2002-05-19 |
| The London-based Asharq al-Awsat said it interviewed Abdel Azeem al-Muhajir, whom it described as a "senior military leader" of al-Qaida, in the western Pakistani mountains near the border with Afghanistan. Al-Muhajir told the paper that the April 11 truck-bombing of Ghriba synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba "was carried out by brothers in the al-Qaida network." Azeem is a new one to me, which isn't surprising since there's been a certain amount of room for promotion within the al-Qaeda ranks lately. Once the Tunisians decided the synagogue bombing wasn't an accident, it took, ummm... 30 seconds to decide it might be al-Qaeda. That decision was helped along by the fact that they claimed the credit. A source in Afghanistan said Al-Muhajir (the Immigrant) is also known as Abu Bilal Al Muhajir and is a Palestinian of Jordanian nationality. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Al-Muhajir was a member of the al-Qaida network, but was a midlevel administrator, rather than a top commander. When it comes to terrorism, you can't do better than a Palestinian, can you? Probably just coincidence that Zubaydah's one, too. "News in the coming days will show the continuity, firmness, and determination of this (al-Qaida) group to develop itself," Al-Muhajir said, according to Asharq al-Awsat. Al-Muhajir was quoted as saying that al-Qaida has regrouped since the Taliban's ouster by U.S.-backed forces in Afghanistan. Blaming the defeat on U.S. air power, he was quoted as saying al-Qaida and Taliban fighters have come a long way in their training for a "soon-expected fight with appropriate arms." That "appropriate arms" part is worrying. There's about a 50-50 chence that the whole thing's bluster, but that leaves the other 50 percent that it's not. "Fourth Generation War" is pretty much a dead end — the Bad Guys can make life miserable for the rest of the world, as in Kashmir and Palestine, but when they get too big for their turbans the rest of the world can stomp them flat, as in Afghanistan or the West Bank. He did not elaborate on the weapons to be used but was quoted as saying al-Qaida would give Americans "a more painful hit" than the Tunisian attack. We've been expecting a second wave since the first one hit. I was surprised there wasn't another one a week later, while the country was reeling from the first. Saturday's article in Asharq al-Awsat was the second time in two days the newspaper has carried interviews attributed to senior figures of the Taliban-al-Qaida alliance. On Friday, the newspaper ran what it said was an interview with Mullah Mohammed Omar, the fugitive leader of the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Both interviews were conducted by reporter Badie Qorhani. According to the Saturday article, Qorhani traveled in a four-wheel drive vehicle along mountain roads for 12 hours before meeting al-Muhajir in a tent. Sounds like Qorhani would be a fine fellow to to turn and then put a tracking device on. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |