The NEFA Foundation - Documents

Documents - Yemen

[2/26/10]			AQAP’s Saeed al-Shehri: “Repelling the Crusader Aggression” The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new audio recording of Saeed al-Shehri, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who has assumed a key leadership role in Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, titled, “Repelling the Crusader Aggression.” In the message, al-Shehri congratulates the “heroic mujahed Omar al-Farooq”, who attempted to bring down a Northwest Airlines Flight on Christmas Day 2009, and laments Abdulmutallab’s imprisonment . He counsels the people of Yemen, “seek Allah in your trenches and Islam… you and us are in one trench and the enemy does not differentiate between you and us. This is the religious Crusade, unjust war against Islam and its people.” The message ends with a repeat of Usama Bin Laden’s words: 'America will not dream to have security until we live it practically in Palestine'.”

[2/24/10]			(Historical) AQIY Magazine: “The Fragility of the Administration and the Loss of Control” An article in the March 2008 edition of the official magazine of Al-Qaida's network in Yemen (AQIY), titled “The Fragility of the Administration and the Loss of Control”, asked, “what is the reason for these crises that pass over the country, and how did they cause the situation to reach this deteriorated level in religion and administration?!” According to the article, the “fragility of administration has become a characteristic feature, since the most corrupted are the joints of the administration and they are the ones who pass on the corruption and spread it...” The article argued that, “The Mujahidin can be the sole alternative, by the grace of Allah, and in their hands they hold the solution for all these impairments. If the people would stand together with them, they shall reach [the desired state] by the shortest road and they would shorten this phase. For a long time they have been trying to pass their message to their people, but due to the terror of the mind, that this band was pulling, they were denied…”

[2/18/10]			(Historical) AQIY Argued in March 2008 re: Religious Duty to Overthrow President Saleh An article in the March 2008 edition of the official magazine of Al-Qaida's network in Yemen (AQIY) argues that it is a Muslim religious duty to work towards the overthrow of Yemen’s sitting president, Ali Abdullah Saleh. According to the article, “Ali Abdullah Saleh is an infidel, for he opened espionage agencies against the Mujahidin, nay, against the Muslims in general, for the sake of the Zionist-Christian campaign. He is an infidel, for he protects the infidels and the pagans as the pagans of the Qarmatians. He is an infidel, for he provides help and protection to the blood-thirsty Americans, who are found upon the beaches and the shores and the islands of the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, and he provides them with all their needs of food and fuel. He is an infidel, for his persistent stand with the secular governments against the formation of any caliphate that would rule according to Islam, as he had done with the Islamic courts-of-law in Somalia. He is an infidel, for he protects the newspapers that insult Allah and the religion and ridicule the apostle of the Muslims, may Allah bless him and grant him salvation.”

[2/17/10]			(Historical) AQIY Magazine: “Freedom from Obligation” An article in the March 2008 edition of the official magazine of Al-Qaida's network in Yemen (AQIY) asserts that it is a religious duty to end all treaties and agreements with non-Muslims, drive non-Muslims from the Arabian Peninsula, and overthrow the current governments of Yemen and Saudi Arabia: “We disavow every infidel who has entered the Arabian Peninsula and his blood and money are permitted for the taking. He is not safe there, for the government of Al-Aswad Al-Ansi [Yemen] is illegitimate, nay, it should be the first to be cast out from the Arabian Peninsula. Therefore, their treaties and their safety are meaningless, because one who lacks Islamic Law qualification cannot bestow it upon others.” Key to this argument is the assertion, supported by Hadiths, that Muslims are under no obligation to honor treaties or agreements with non-Muslims: “We disavow to Allah from these promises and these covenants, which the infidel, heretic traitor has made, who left the Arabian Peninsula to these warring, pagan infidels – the Jews and the Christians and others.”

[2/11/10]			(Historical) April 2009 AQIY Article Exhorted Yemeni People to Jihad An article in the April edition of Sada al-Malahim, the official magazine of Al-Qaida's network in Yemen (AQIY), sought to exhort the people of Yemen to join Al-Qaida’s jihad against the Saudi and Yemenite governments, as well as western involvement in the Arabian Peninsula. Specifically, the article emphasized their “duty to cleanse the holy sites from the impurity of the Jews and the Christians and their infidel allies, and the duty to claim back the looted treasury of the state are imposed on every believer.” According to the article, “There are certain facts that the people of Yemen must know, their Ulema must explain and the youth together with the Mujahidin and the pioneers of the awakening must act according to.” For example, “The fortified mountainous nature of Yemen makes her the natural secure fortress for all of the people of the Peninsula and moreover for the whole Middle East. She is the citadel where her people and Mujahidin can ask for shelter.” The article continued, “It must be known that more than 80% of the 25 million Yemenites who are more than 75% of all the people of the Arabian Peninsula live under the line of poverty, while the wealth of the Peninsula from oil, gas, metal, trade, etc, is being controlled by several families whose number reaches only few hundreds or tens. These families are the ones who control the billions, not the millions, of wealth which the blessed land of the Peninsula is full of.”

[2/09/10]			(Historical) AQIY Lashed Out at Prince Nayef in April 2009 An article in the April edition of Sada al-Malahim, the official magazine of Al-Qaida's network in Yemen (AQIY), asserted that the government of Yemen has “lost control over” the country and that “the continuation of the war against Al-Qaeda means the collapse of the regime.” According to the article, “This infiltrated government has gone even further than the Yemenite regime after it got scared because of seeing the destiny of Karzai [the president of Afghanistan]. It sent Muhammad Bin Nayef so that he could reach whatever is left or at least prolong the duration of the battle, after the Mujahidin had gone out of control. The interference of Muhammad Bin Nayef will fail and that is due to his lack of experience/knowledge in managing wars and due to the betrayals that Muhammad Bin Nayef will be suffering from his inner circles, betrayals that will be even worse than those from which Al-Aswad Al-Ansi suffered from.” In August 2009, AQIY attempted to assassinate Nayef. The article concludes with a promise to spread Al-Qaida’s reach: “The convoy of Jihad in the land of the Peninsula started its journey and will crush all the obstacles that it will encounter. It will stop only at the house of the holy place [Jerusalem], with God's help, and happy will be that person who will water this convoy with his blood.”

[12/28/09]			AQIY Claims Responsibility for Christmas Airline Attack Al-Qaida's network in Yemen (otherwise known as "Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula") has issued an official communique claiming responsibility for the failed terrorist bomb plot targeting a Delta/Northwest airliner traveling from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas day. The communique included original photographs of would-be bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab grinning in front of an Al-Qaida banner. The group acknowledged that the device had failed to properly detonate, but promised that it would "continue on this path until we achieve success." The statement also congratulated Ft. Hood shooter Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan and urged fellow Muslims to follow in his footsteps and kill American soldiers.

[12/28/09]			AQIY Responds to Airstrike with New Threats Al-Qaida's network in Yemen has issued an official response to the airstrike earlier this week on a suspected Al-Qaida gathering in the region of Shabwah that reportedly killed up to 30 people, including a number of senior Al-Qaida operatives. The group threatened that it would not allow "the slaughter of Muslim women and children to pass without taking vengeance for them, Allah willing. We call upon all Yemeni tribes... and the people of the Arabian Peninsula to confront the crusaders and their clients in the Arabian Peninsula by attacking military bases, embassies, intelligence agents, and naval fleets occupying the waters of the Arabian Peninsula."

[12/28/09]			Al-Qaida in Yemen: Target Airports/Airplanes With Small Explosives On October 29, 2009, Al-Qaida's network in Yemen (AQIY) released the 11th edition of their official magazine Sada al-Malahim, which included an article written by the top commander of AQIY, Abu Basir al-Wahishi, titled "War is a Trick." In the article, al-Wahishi advised would-be Al-Qaida members on how to utilize all available weapons to kill "apostates" and Western nationals. He urged them to target "airports in the western crusade countries that participated in the war against Muslims; or on their planes, or in their residential complexes or their subways."

[12/18/09]

AQIY Releases Martyrdom Wills of 2 Most Wanted Killed in Failed Oct. Saudi Attack
The NEFA Foundation has obtained the martyrdom wills of Yousef Al-Shehri and Raed Al-Harbi, produced by Al-Qaida's network in the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen), following their deaths in an October shootout in Saudi Arabia as they prepared to launch a terrorist attack. Both men were on the 85 most wanted terrorist list released by the Saudi government. Following the shooutout, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said, “The group was planning a terror attack and each of them had a specific role to play. The presence of the extra belts indicates they were working with people inside the Kingdom.”

According to Yousef al-Shehri’s will, “his tribe had the honor of defending Islam and deterring oppression, and from this tribe were three riders who transformed today’s idle—America—into dust in New York and Washington. He is the brother of Abu Uthman who has engaged in Jihad in Afghanistan, and he has three brothers in al-Ha’er prison, and his nephew is with him in the Jihad battlefields.” Captured by the Americans, “he was patient under the harm of the Americans, and he suffered very highly just as the prophets and the messengers had, and those who walked on their approach. And, after six years of imprisonment and pain, he was handed over to America’s servants Al-Saud, and he remained in their prisons for a period of time throughout which they negotiated with him over his doctrine, bravery and forthcoming, so he stood tough against all of their programs were exhausted and none of their offers persuaded him, and their lies and hypocrisy did not change anything in him as he had come to know their truth, criminality and cooperation. As soon as he left their prisons, he sought a way to leave [for Jihad] to complete his jihadist project after he got to closely know the nation’s enemies and remained in their prisons, and he familiarized himself with their [prison] cells, injustice and scoundrel; he left to carry Jihad with his brothers in Yemen; land of wisdom and faith, and he remained a muhajir and steadfast with a group of muhajireen…”

Raed al-Harbi’s will noted that “his desire was to go to Iraq to join the soldiers of the Islamic State of Iraq—may Allah endear it—and over which his brother was martyred by executing a martyrdom operation…His wish was to martyr on the land of Muhammad, prayer and peace upon him, and he began the life of solidification and jihad, patience and encouragement, and he was the best of companions in servitude, and he prayed at night and constantly fasting.” During the operation, “a group from the soldiers of the tyrant Al-Saud stood in his way, thus he refused to be humiliated and imprisoned, so he fought in protection of his religion and honor until he was killed, going [to paradise] non-returning with his brother the mujahid Abu Tamim al-Azdi, may Allah have wide mercy upon him.”?

[11/05/09]			Al-Qaida in Yemen: “The Masks Have Fallen” The NEFA Foundation has obtained an English transcript of a new audio recording of Shaykh Ibrahim al-Rubeish, titled "The Masks Have Fallen."? During the audio, produced by Al-Qaida's network in the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen), al-Rubeish condemned the widely-reported initiative by Saudi King Abdullah to establish a new science and technology university in "a uniform that was tailored by the secularists." According to al-Rubeish, "O' Muslims, our duty toward this corrupted and corrupting university is to deny it and deny it in public, each in his own way. The preacher on his platform and the imam in his mosque must deny it, and even the judges and the university teachers must severally condemn it, even though this condemnation will cause their termination, asking forgiveness from God, for perhaps they fear Him. I deny the statements of the media agencies regarding the condemners, which say that the condemners are enemies of development. This was said about the Prophet, may God`s prayers and salutations be upon him, even greater and harsher... Let the father condemn it in his house, and the woman in her family. Let us condemn it among our parents and relatives. Let us pressure those who join this university. If they do not respond, it is necessary to leave them, because the corruption to which they will be subject will be transmitted to those who associate with them." Shaykh al-Rubeish also separately called upon "every Muslim not to work in any establishment related to the power of this government and which strengthens its bases, in particular the different military sectors, for it is the power that protects and strengthens the government. If it had not been for the soldiers who protect this government, it would not have dared do what it did. I know and I am sure that many of the soldiers only stay there for the job and the daily bread. They would insist on disobeying the orders if they were against the mujahideen. However, I tell you (soldiers) that staying in those sectors is reinforcement for the power of this sinful government, and if the soldiers scatter, the oppressors would run away."?

[11/04/09]			Al-Qaida’s Network in the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen): “Why Mohammed Bin Nayif?” The NEFA Foundation has obtained an English transcript of a recent audio recording by Shaykh Ibrahim al-Rubeish titled, “Why Mohammed Bin Nayif?”. During the audio, produced by Al-Qaida’s network in the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen), al-Rubeish lays out the justification for Al-Qaida’s attempted August 2009 assassination of Saudi Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayif via a suicide bomber dispatched from neighboring Yemen. According to al-Rubeish, the bomber responsible for the attack—Saudi national Abdullah Aseri (a.k.a. “Abul Khair”) “sought by his actions to say to Mohammed bin Nayif: the time has come for you to drink from the same cup which you gave to our brothers. Here we are, we will spill your blood as you spilled ours, terrorize you as you terrorized the believers and demolish your home as you demolished those of others. You will be dealt with as you deal with others, and you will be given something similar to your own actions.”

[11/04/09]			Al-Qaida in Yemen Video Focuses on Attempted Assassination of Prince Nayif The NEFA Foundation has obtained an English transcript for a recent terrorist propaganda video titled, “The Descendants of Mohammed bin Maslamah”, which was produced by Al-Qaida’s network in the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen). The video purports to document the failed August 2009 assassination attempt on Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayif by an Al-Qaida suicide bomber dispatched from neighboring Yemen. It includes footage of the final testament of the bomber himself, Saudi national Abdullah Aseri (a.k.a. “Abul Khair”)—along with sermon from, among others, former Guantanamo Bay detainee Said al-Shehri (a.k.a. “Shaykh Abu Sufyan”), also a native of Saudi Arabia.

[8/31/09]			Al-Qaida Claims Attempted Assassination of Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Nayef The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new communique from Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula claiming responsibility for the attempted assassination of the Deputy Interior Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef al-Saud. The statement identified the suicide bomber behind the attack as 23-year old Abdullah Hassan Aseri (a.k.a. "Abu al-Khayr"), one of the 85 most wanted Al-Qaida fugitives sought by the Saudi government. According to the communique, Aseri "was able to enter [Nayef's] palace and circulate amongst his bodyguards, thereupon igniting his explosive device-we will not disclose how it was made or the method of detonation-after he passed through all the checkpoints in Najran and Jeddah airports, and was transferred aboard the plane that belongs to the aforementioned [Nayef]." Al-Qaida also claimed to have uncovered "a network of spies and collaborators who are in league with that criminal [Nayef] and which the government of Yemen is oblivious to. There are exciting details that we will announce later, Allah-willing."

[8/6/09]			Al-Qaida Clashes with Yemeni Forces in Mareb The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new communiqué from Al Qaeda’s network in Yemen claiming responsibility for a recent violent clash with Yemeni security forces in the Mareb province. According to the statement, as a result of the battle, Al-Qaida captured seven Yemeni soldiers, killed other soldiers, seized military equipment and weapons, and destroyed five tanks. AQIY further boasted that the Yemeni government has “gone too far in the Valley, and opened by itself a new front and a new war that did not exist before.”

[8/3/09]			Al-Qaida-Linked U.S. Citizen Lauds the Mujahideen of Yemen The NEFA Foundation has obtained a statement issued by Anwar al Awlaki, an Al-Qaida-linked U.S. citizen, in which al Awlaki celebrated the "humiliating defeat" suffered by the Yemeni government in recent clashes with mujahideen. Al Awlaki said, "The first face to face fight between the army and the mujahideen ended in a resounding victory for the mujahideen. May Allah bless them with further victories. The army pulled out after asking for a truce from the mujahideen. May this be the beginning of the greatest Jihad, the Jihad of the Arabian Peninsula that would free the heart of the Islamic world from the tyrants who are deceiving the ummah and standing between us and victory.”

[4/2/09]			AQ in Yemen Claims Attack on South Korean Tourists The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new statement from Al-Qaida's Committee in Yemen claiming responsibility for a March 16 suicide bombing attack on South Korean tourists near the city of Shibam, naming the bomber as "Abu Ubaidah al-Jarrah." According to the statement, "This was executed in response to the order of Allah's Prophet, prayers and peace be upon him, who said, 'drive the idolaters out of the Arabian Peninsula'; for South Korea's role in the war on Islam, allying with the crusader forces under the slogan of the 'War on Terrorism' in Afghanistan and Iraq; in revenge for the killing of the two courageous commanders Hamza al-Qaiti and Abdullah Batees and their brothers; and, the role of these tourists in corrupting the ideology of the Muslims and their morals, and their dangerous role in spreading Christianity among Muslim children-and so, this operation was executed."

[2/1/09]			Video of Former Gitmo Detainees Swearing Allegiance to Al-Qaida in Yemen The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new video from the Al-Qaida Organization in the Arabian Peninsula released on January 23, featuring two former inmates at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba who have returned to senior positions within Al-Qaida. During the video, former Gitmo prisoner no. 372 Said al-Shihri (a.k.a. Abu Sufyan al-Azdi) offered his thanks to supporters in the Muslim world: "may Allah reward you handsomely for me and for my brothers, the prisoners in Guantanamo-for the time when you were a blessing to us… when you stood with us and shared our pains, and prayed for us. And we felt its impact upon us in terms of patience and determination... By Allah, our imprisonment has only increased our persistence and adherence to our principles... Here we are today... [in] the land of Yemen and faith. We pledge our allegiance to our brother Abu Basir Nasir al-Wahishi... so that we will serve as a buttress for the jihad to expand from the [Arabian] Peninsula to Palestine, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and all the Muslim countries." Later in the video, former Gitmo prisoner no. 333 Mohammed al-Awfi (a.k.a. Shaykh Abul-Hareth al-Awfi) threatened to the camera, "we say to the Christian countries which are preparing for war in Saudi Arabia and which are supporting the Christian war against the Muslims: by Allah, we are surely coming for you! ...And we say to the police and [internal] investigations [system] of the Saudis, and to those who guard the Jews and the Christians: repent to Allah for the deception and treachery that you are culpable for when you guard the entrances to their embassies, their secret temples, their population centers, and their military and intelligence bases. The one who gives fair warning cannot [afterwards] be blameworthy, O' servants of the Dirham and the Dinar."

[10/22/08]			Al-Qaida in Yemen Mourns Fallen Martyrs, Including Iraq Veterans & Saudi Terror Suspects The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated selected articles from the official magazine of Al-Qaida’s network in Yemen, “Sada al-Malahim.” The articles include two reports from an ongoing series titled “Men on the Road” profiling notable Al-Qaida figures from Yemen and Saudi Arabia who have been recently “martyred” in clashes with “apostate” security forces. The two men are Yemeni national Yasser Nasser al-Hamiqani and ‘Abu Dawud al-Najdi’ (a.k.a. Saudi national Mohammed Rashid al-Julaidan). Hamiqani, released from a Yemeni prison after a failed bid to join the jihad in Iraq, was allegedly killed at a security checkpoint while in the midst of preparing a terrorist attack targeting Ethiopian interests in the al-Bayda province of Yemen. Al-Julaidan, shot down in a clash with Saudi security forces in the “Palms” neighborhood of Riyadh, was a veteran of both Syrian and Saudi prisons — imprisoned for traveling back-and-forth between Iraq and Syria in the service of “his mujahideen brothers in Iraq.” "Men on the Road: Yasser Nasser al-Hamiqani" "Men on the Road: Abu Dawud al-Najdi"

[10/19/08]			NEFA Exclusive: Excerpts from Al-Qaida in Yemen's Official Magazine The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated selected articles from the official magazine of Al-Qaida’s network in Yemen, “Sada al-Malahim.” The articles include a report published in the first issue of the magazine (released in January 2008) documenting a failed Yemeni government security operation targeting a suspected Yemeni Al-Qaida member following his return from fighting U.S. forces in the jihad in Iraq. The articles also include two pieces from the second issue of the magazine (released in March 2008), focusing on the Danish cartoon controversy and, respectively, the dangers facing “infidels” who dare to attempt to visit any region of the Arabian Peninsula. Regarding the cartoons, a Yemeni Al-Qaida columnist charged, “the Europeans have entered—as they have entered previously—into a Christian war with Islam and the Muslims. They have opened the doors of hell for themselves, and have opened wide the door to the killing and slaughter of their citizens… If they do not rid themselves of these cartoons, apologize for them, declare that they are no longer permitted, and punish those who insult the Prophet of the Muslims, may Allah bless him and grant him salvation, then they shall be a legitimate target. Furthermore, it will become the responsibility of every Muslim to slaughter them anywhere in the world, and to set upon them with heavy blows.” In the second article, titled “Bearing No Responsibility”, another Al-Qaida writer threatened, “we disavow responsibility for any infidel who has entered the Arabian Peninsula, and his blood and money are open for the taking… Beware entering the Arabian Peninsula under any name or guise—be it as tourists, diplomats, scientific delegations, experts, or journalists. Otherwise, you shall be the primary target of the mujahideen. By Allah, the knife of Abu Musab [al-Zarqawi] is still dripping blood, and we are now holding it.”? Issue #1: Failed Yemeni Security Operation Issue #2: Danish Cartoon Controversy ("Illumination, by Abu Hurairah al Sanani") Issue #2: Threats to Those Entering the Arabian Peninsula ("Bearing No Responsibility")

[10/16/08]			Saudi Terror Operative in Yemen: Target Oil to Cause "Total Collapse" The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new selected article from the official magazine of Al-Qaida’s network in Yemen, “Sada al-Malahim”—in this case, featuring an interview with most wanted Saudi Al-Qaida operative Nayif bin Mohammed al-Qahtani (a.k.a. Abu Hummam al-Qahtani). During the interview, al-Qahtani acknowledged that he had recently sought sanctuary in neighboring Yemen, explaining, “there is one [united] land of the Muslims, and it does not acknowledge the narrow borders drawn by the colonialists with the cooperation of our treacherous rulers… However, the true secret of my arrival in Yemen is the search for good military preparation.” When asked why he had chosen the jihad in the Arabian Peninsula over Afghanistan or Iraq, al-Qahtani outlined his “military rationale”: “if the enemy's interests in the Arabian Peninsula were devastated, his access to our petroleum interrupted, and the oil refineries put out of order, this would cause the enemy to collapse — and they won’t merely be forced to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, but moreover would face a total collapse. If [our enemy] were to be struck hard in various places, then he would scatter, turn around, and flee forlornly from the land of the Muslims, with his tail between his legs.”

[9/18/08]			Al-Qaida in Yemen Statements from Summer 2008 In light of the attack on the U.S. embassy in Sanaa, the NEFA Foundation is releasing two statements issued by Al-Qaida in Yemen this summer. On June 4, 2008, the group issued a statement claiming responsibility for the bombardment of a security camp, which it asserted was? "widely known for its continuous tracking of our Mujahideen brothers." Then, on July 25, 2008, Al-Qaida in Yemen issued a statement claiming a "martyrdom" operation against security forces in Hadramout.

[4/9/08]			"Al-Qaida in Yemen" Claims Series of Attacks on Western Targets The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a copy of a purported communiqué from the “Jund al-Yaman Brigades” of the “Al-Qaidat ul-Jihad Organization in the Arabian Peninsula” dated April 7, 2008. The statement claimed credit for several recent terrorist attacks in Yemen, including the April 6 mortar shelling of foreign housing compounds in the al-Hadda neighborhood of Sana’a—which, according to the “Jund al-Yaman Brigades”, was carried out “in revenge” for slain Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah.