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You are here: Home / Archives for Al Qaeda

How imminent is an 'imminent' attack threat?

September 27, 2014 by Nasheman

 

Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville, Jr., Director of Operations J3, speaks about the operations in Syria, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, during a news conference at the Pentagon. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville, Jr., Director of Operations J3, speaks about the operations in Syria, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, during a news conference at the Pentagon. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

– by Nancy Benac, AP

Washigton: Smart people in the administration have spent the last two days telling the American people that U.S. strikes against the Khorasan Group were necessary to disrupt “imminent attack plotting” against U.S. and Western interests.

They warned that members of the shadowy Khorasan Group, an al-Qaida offshoot, were “nearing the execution phase” of an attack in the U.S. or Europe.

They spoke of “active plotting that posed an imminent threat.”

People may have come away with the impression that the terror group was on the brink of pulling off something awful.

Perhaps not.

In government-speak, “imminent attack plotting” doesn’t necessarily mean an attack is imminent.

Careful parsing of the language reveals a distinction between imminent plotting and an imminent attack.

Likewise, an imminent threat doesn’t necessarily mean an imminent attack.

And, in the view of the government, there’s more than one meaning for imminent, it turns out.

Dictionary.com defines imminent as “likely to occur at any moment.”

But a Justice Department white paper released in February 2013 gives a more nuanced view.

“An ‘imminent’ threat of violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future,” the memo reads.

That’s because U.S. officials say they can’t wait until preparations for a terrorist act are completed before they take action to defend U.S. interests.

So their idea of taking action against an “imminent threat” involves a more elastic time frame.

In the case of the Khorasan Group, two U.S. officials told the AP that U.S. officials aren’t aware of the terrorists identifying any particular location or target for an attack in the near future. But intelligence officials have known for months that Khorasan group extremists were scheming with bomb-makers from al-Qaida’s Yemen affiliate to find new ways to get explosives onto planes, the officials said.

The plans were far enough along that the Transportation Security Administration over the summer banned uncharged mobile phones and laptops from flights to the U.S. that originate in Europe and the Middle East.

Despite persistent questioning after the airstrikes, U.S. officials have not explained whether something changed in recent weeks to compel them to launch cruise missiles.

Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday on CNN that, although the U.S. had been tracking the group’s plots for some time, “the moment actually was ripe,” for military strikes.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, described the imminent threat of the al Qaida-linked Khorasan group this way Wednesday at a defense writer’s breakfast:

“The briefings we had indicated that there was a growing ability, near ability to put together an explosive device which could get through the security at airports and that’s all I can tell you. And they were at a point, at a critical point in being able to develop that capability.”

Two American officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal decision-making, told the AP that the government was concerned that the group could go underground after the AP reported that it was a top U.S. concern.

A bulletin from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued Tuesday said U.S. officials had “no indicators of advanced al-Qaida or ISIL plotting in the homeland.” But that memo, which used ISIL as an acronym for the militant Islamic State group, doesn’t rule out terror plotting afoot elsewhere that could be focused on U.S. targets.

AP Intelligence Writer Ken Dilanian and AP writer Donna Cassata contributed to this report.

Filed Under: Muslim World Tagged With: Al Qaeda, Khorasan Group, USA

Alan Henning: Al-Qaeda appealed to Isis to release British aid worker following kidnap

September 17, 2014 by Nasheman

Representatives of rival groups held summit in Syrian town to decide fate of captive Briton

Representatives of rival groups held summit in Syrian town to decide fate of captive Briton

– by Tom Harper, The Independent

Al-Qaeda appealed to Isis to release the British hostage Alan Henning because it believed he was an innocent aid worker who was genuinely trying to help suffering Muslims, it can be revealed.

In evidence that the depravity exhibited by Isis is now repelling Muslims of all views and backgrounds, even the terrorist group behind the 11 September attacks on the US in 2001 decided that kidnapping the aid-convoy volunteer was a step too far.

Mr Henning, a taxi driver from Eccles, Salford, was so moved by the plight of Muslims in Syria that he decided to miss last Christmas with his wife and two children and travel 4,000 miles to deliver medical equipment to refugees holed up in the town of Al-Dana. A local commander – or emir – of Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, visited his then-allies in Isis four days after Mr Henning, 47, was captured. The emir confronted the kidnappers, arguing that their actions were “wrong under Islamic law” and “counter-productive”, according to a journalist who interviewed the man immediately after the encounter.

The world has looked on in disbelief in recent weeks as fighters from Isis, also known as Islamic State, have beheaded three Western journalists and aid workers, including a Briton, David Haines. In a video posted online on Saturday night, Isis warned that Mr Henning would be next.

Today, the Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, admitted that special forces were struggling to mount a rescue mission because intelligence chiefs did not know exactly where Mr Henning was being held.

Bilal Abdul Kareem, a US film-maker who has reported extensively from Syria, told The Independent that “anybody of any influence” – including al-Qaeda – had appealed to the Sunni militant group when it seized Mr Henning in December, warning that such a move would backfire. He said: “Four days after he was captured, the emir went to Al-Dana and said: ‘Look, what you are doing is wrong. You have no business what you are doing. You have no right to abduct him. You have no reason to detain him just because he is not Muslim’.”

Alan Henning at a refugee camp on the Syrian-Turkish border

Alan Henning at a refugee camp on the Syrian-Turkish border

Mr Henning was the only non-Muslim in a group of volunteers from a UK-based Islamic charity, which organised a convoy of old ambulances to transport medical supplies to Al-Dana, a few miles from the Turkish border. He was abducted on Boxing Day last year.

Mr Kareem said: “I spoke to the emir from Jabhat al-Nusra after he came back. Initially, he was confident that Henning would be released because that is what Isis was saying. But then Henning was removed from his prison in Al-Dana and never heard of again.”

News of Al-Qaeda’s attempt to save Mr Henning echoes reports that the terror group once led by Osama bin Laden passionately disagrees with the direction taken by Isis, which has quickly taken control of an area the size of Great Britain inside Syria and Iraq.

Professor Peter Neumann, the director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, based at King’s College London, said: “Al-Qaeda has been critical of Isis in recent months. It understands how its behaviour will be perceived by the Western public. Although the two groups’ underlying ideology is still very similar, Al-Qaeda is much more strategic. For example, it is not opposed to beheadings but realises it makes no sense to carry them out in the way that Isis does because this tactic will lose them a lot of friends.”

Dr Afzal Ashraf, a consultant at the Royal United Services Institute, who holds a doctorate in terrorist ideology, said: “The murders of these innocent Western hostages, and the latest threats made against Alan Henning, just go to show how completely incomprehensible Isis’s strategy is. It is absurd and Al-Qaeda realises such behaviour will turn potential recruits away.”

Philip Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, admitted that special forces were struggling to mount a rescue mission because intelligence chiefs did not know exactly where Mr Henning was being held (AFP)

Philip Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, admitted that special forces were struggling to mount a rescue mission because intelligence chiefs did not know exactly where Mr Henning was being held (AFP)

On his internet blog, Mr Kareem provided more details of the discord among Islamist extremists over the abduction of Mr Henning. “Isis said that he was suspected to be a spy,” he wrote. “The Muslims on the convoy asked for proof as they regarded this as a totally ridiculous claim. Isis cited that they could not believe that a white Christian would want to come to Syria at this time, except that he was a spy.

“The Isis commander then showed them Henning’s passport and said that this was the proof, [saying]: ‘There is a secret chip inside. This is so that the intelligence service can continue tracking him.’ One of the other Muslims from the convoy said: ‘All of the passports from the UK are like that!’, showing him his UK passport.

“The other Muslims on the convoy told them that this man had given up Christmas with his family to come to help save the people that Isis said it was trying to save.”

Later, Mr Kareem claimed that Isis was confronted by rival groups, which implored it to release Mr Henning. “Isis said that he was to remain their prisoner and they would ransom him for something. ‘Why?’ they were asked. They said: ‘We will trade him for someone in the UK prison system.’ The other Muslims told him this was not Islamically correct and they had no charge against him.

“One of the aid workers told them that the people rely on these convoys and actions like these would create problems for their efforts in helping the Syrian people. The Isis commander replied: ‘We don’t need convoys – we have Allah’.”

Meanwhile, Mr Haines’s teenage daughter, Bethany, posted a message on Facebook, saying she had been “touched” by the support she had received from the public following his murder.

She wrote: “Hi, I’m David’s daughter who lives in Perth. I was really touched by the messages of support during this hard time. I know my dad would be really touched and grateful.”

Filed Under: Muslim World Tagged With: Al Qaeda, Alan Henning, Iraq, IS, ISIS, Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra, Philip Hammond, Syria

Modi’s silence on hate campaign against minorities disturbing: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind

September 8, 2014 by Nasheman

(L-R) Ejaz Ahmed Aslam (secretary), Nusrat Ali (Secretary General) and Mohammad Salim Engineer (secretary) of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind at press conference in New Delhi on 06 Sep 2014 (Photo - IndiaTomorrow.net)

(L-R) Ejaz Ahmed Aslam (secretary), Nusrat Ali (Secretary General) and Mohammad Salim Engineer (secretary) of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind at press conference in New Delhi. (Photo credit: IndiaTomorrow)

New Delhi: One of Narendra Modi’s harshest criticism against former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during his election campaign was the latter’s silence on issues concerning the country and its people. However, since taking reigns, Mr. Modi seems to have been afflicted by the very element he and his party had accused the previous regime with.

Addressing the press meet at their headquarters in New Delhi, the country’s largest Muslim socio-religious organization, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) expressed their concern at Mr. Modi and his government’s silence, at the vicious hate campaigns of right wing outfits and some of his party members’s targeting against minority Muslim and Christian community in the country.

“Jamaat is seriously concerned at the rise in hate campaign against minorities, particularly Muslims, since BJP came to power at the centre. There has since been a spate of communal incidents also (Saharanpur, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Kanpur etc.). At regular interval, leaders of BJP and Sangh Parivar have raked up contentious issues like Article 370 and Uniform Civil Code. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, in violation of the ethos of the constitution, said that India is a Hindu Rashtra and all citizens of this country are Hindus,” said the gathered Jamaat leaders.

Mr. Nusrat Ali, Secretary General of JIH, criticized Mr. Modi for maintaining silence on hate campaigns in the name of concocted theories like ‘Love Jihad’ and forced conversions.

“A period of 100 days is very short to judge a government elected by people for five years. However, the initial trends are not good. It seems the government is working on two fronts – while PM Modi is talking about development, some leaders of his party and Sangh Parivar have opened aggressive hate campaign against Muslims and Modi is silent. It seems there is a silent understanding among them,” said Mr. Ali.

While appreciating Mr. Modi for some of the good measures initiated during his first 100 days as PM, the Jamaat leaders said that, “PM Modi’s austerity moves like asking ministers not to buy new cars and curtail foreign tours and his announcement for toilets at every home and school, and bank account for every citizen are indeed good. In an apparent move to provide a clean and corruption free government, he asked ministers not to hire relative as personal secretaries. His visit to Japan was also successful in terms of attracting investment.”

However, the party also ccriticized the manner in which the BJP government and PM Modi used Teachers’ Day to impose his personality on the young minds of the country. “We are against the government for having made it compulsory for schools and children to listen to PM’s speech as we think such tendency does not match with democratic values of the constitution,” said Mr. Ali.

On the question of Al-Qaeda announcing its branch in India, the party leaders expressed apprehensions that this may be used by country’s intelligence agencies to witch hunt minority youths as has been the trend for past 10 years.

Filed Under: Indian Muslims Tagged With: Al Qaeda, BJP, Ejaz Ahmed Aslam, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Mohammad Salim Engineer, Muzaffarnagar, Narendra Modi, Nusrat Ali, RSS

No Al-Qaeda threat to Karnataka, says CM Siddaramaiah

September 6, 2014 by Nasheman

CM Siddaramaiah (Photo credit: IE)

CM Siddaramaiah

Bangalore: Days after Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri announced the formation of an Indian branch of his global armed group that he said would spread Islamic rule and “raise the flag of jihad” across the subcontinent, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah play downed the issue and said that there was no threat to the state from the outfit.

However, he said the state is on high security alert, following the centre’s direction on the matter.

Al Qaeda, which many counter-insurgency experts claim have kept a low profile, since the assassination of its founder Usama bin Laden in 2011 in Pakistan, have been eclipsed mainly from its offshoot organisations, which have emerged in recent years since the uprisings in the Arab/Muslim world.

In a video posted online on social forums, the present Qaeda leader, said the new force would “crush the artificial borders” dividing Muslim populations in the region.

“This entity was not established today but is the fruit of a blessed effort of more than two years to gather the mujahedeen in the Indian sub-continent into a single entity,” he said.

Meanwhile, Home Minister K.J. George claimed that the law and order situation in Karnataka was best in the country.

Additional Director-General of Police, Law and Order, Kishore Chandra told the media that the police are always on alert and there was no need for any special security arrangements, however, according to sources close to Nasheman, the police are keeping a close watch on individuals and organisations in their radar.

Filed Under: India Tagged With: Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, K.J. George, Karnataka, Kishore Chandra, Osama bin Laden, Siddaramaiah, Usama bin Laden

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