Featured Documents - Miscellaneous
| [2/07/10] | Al-Jazeera Interview with Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new interview by the Al-Jazeera satellite network with Yemeni-American cleric Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. Describing his contacts with Northwest Airlines bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, al-Awlaki said, “The mujahid brother Omar al-Farooq—may Allah release him—is one of my students; yes, we were in correspondence, but I did not give Omar Farooq a Fatwa in regards to this operation.” He added, “I support what Omar Farooq has done after I witnessed my brothers in Palestine for more than 60 years being killed, and in Iraq they are being killed, and in Afghanistan they are being killed, and the American missiles and raids killed 17 women and 23 children in my tribe; thus, don’t ask me whether al-Qaeda killed, or if it bombed an American civil jet after all of that, as three hundred Americans are nothing before the thousands of Muslims they killed.” According to al-Awlaki, “al-Qaeda Organization has its choices, and in regards to the public, the American populace is living within a democratic regime and they hold the responsibility of its policies; the American populace elected the criminal Bush for two presidential runs, and they elected Obama who’s not different from Bush, and one of his first declarations were that he will not abandon Israel despite that there were other candidates in the American elections who oppose the foreign American wars and those only received low percentages of the total votes. The American populace is a participant in all the crimes of their government…” |
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| [1/06/09] | Anwar al-Awlaki: “The Lies of the Telegraph” In December 2008, Al-Qaida-linked cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who has been in the spotlight recently due to his contacts with Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan and alleged connections to the Christmas bomb plotter, posted a statement on his blog titled, “The Lies of the Telegraph.” In the post, Awlaki disputed claims made by The Daily Telegraph. For example, he wrote, "The truth of the matter is I am not banned from return to the US. I left the US on my own accord and refuse to return by my own choice….The US consul encouraged me to return to the US during his visit to me while I was incarcerated…I refuse to even visit the US because the US government is not to be trusted as they are liars just like their media.” He also rejects the assertion that he was “a spiritual advisor for three of the September 11 hijackers.” He responded that “This is a baseless claim that I have refuted again and again during the FBI’s interrogations and with the media.” |
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| [1/05/09] | Images of the PETN Underwear Bomb The NEFA Foundation is releasing images of the PETN underwear bomb that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate aboard a Northwest flight on Christmas Day. ABC News was the first to release images of the device, which Abdulmutallab was given in Yemen. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has issued an official communique claiming responsibility for the failed attack. |
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| [12/24/09] | Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview With Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding His Alleged Role In Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new interview by the Al-Jazeera satellite network with Yemeni-American cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki regarding his alleged role in radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan, who is awaiting charges of carrying out last month's massacre at Ft. Hood, Texas. According to al-Awlaki, "Brother Nidal corresponded with me via e-mail from last year until the middle of this year 2009...He contacted me first...He asked whether killing American soldiers and officers is lawful or not... I wonder where were the American security forces that one day claimed they can read the numbers of any license plate, anywhere in the world, from space." Al-Awlaki added, "Nidal explained his point of view about killing Israeli civilians... and through these letters he mentioned Sharia-based and realistic excuses for targeting the Jews with rockets. Also, there were some messages through which he asked about a method of transferring some money to us in contributions for charity works." When asked whether or not he felt responsible for Maj. Hasan's alleged actions at Ft. Hood, al-Awlaki responded, "Yes, I may have a role in the intellectual direction of Nidal but the matter does not exceed that, as I don’t try to disconnect myself with what Nidal has done because of disagreement with it, but it would be an honor to me if I had a bigger role in it." |
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| [12/13/09] | 2002 Al-Qaida Posting Described Strategy to Drag US into Military Quagmires In 2002, Al-Qaida's main online mouthpiece, Al-Neda, published a statement, obtained by the NEFA Foundation, suggesting that Al-Qaida was succeeding in its principle longterm strategy of dragging the U.S. into quagmire military conflicts in the Muslim world. According to the statement, “it is known and transmitted amongst the pioneers in the fields of sacrifice that al-Qaeda Organization adopted a new plan to lure [enemies] into Afghanistan; that is, attacking the Americans directly and in three different pillars of governance—politics, economy, and military power—in order to achieve a number of very important goals:” Those goals included, “To lure the American Forces into an Asymmetric battle, to liquidate the power of the enemy and have him bankrupt, just like their Russian counterpart. To start a struggle between the American forces and the [Islamic] nation’s men (not the armies of the rulers) in a long and unlimited battle that starts in America and expands from Afghanistan to Mauritania, and with it the spirit of the Islamic resistance comes back and in it the Muslims youth will carry the weapons.” The statement asked, “So, did al-Qaeda succeed in achieving its goals? And, were the Americans lured into a long battle that liquidates their power? Did the Americans finally fall in the trap of al-Qaeda?” |
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| [12/01/09] | Ansar Al-Mujahideen Forum: Statement re: the Events at Fort Hood, TX The NEFA Foundation has obtained an English-language statement regarding the Ft. Hood massacre that was posted on the Ansar al-Mujahideen online jihad forum. The statement noted, "We issue this statement in support of the actions of brother Nidal Malik Hassan; as a congratulations for his brave and heroic deed, as well as the jealousness he displayed for the pains suffered by the Muslim Ummah as a result of the modern Zionist-Christian Crusades against it.We ask Allah to accept this great feat of yours and make you an example for others to follow." Further, "It is not permissible for Muslims to aid the infidels in any way in war against the Muslims, whether physically, morally, financially, or strategically. There is a consensus amongst the scholars that whoever does so, even by a mere gesture, has committed an act of apostasy and has left the fold of Islam." The Ansar al-Mujahideen forum has been endorsed by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban) as one of their officially approved web venues. |
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| [11/17/09] | Salman Al-Awdah Condemns the Fort Hood Shooting The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a statement by Saudi cleric Salman Al-Awdah condemning the Fort Hood shooting. Al-Awdah, who Usama bin Laden described as his "ideal personality" in a March 1997 interview, asserted that "this action taken out by Nidal Hasan was irrational and is empty of thought." In an interview with Wired's "Danger Room" blog, NEFA Senior Investigator Evan Kohlmann commented on the difference in reactions by Al-Awdah and Anwar al Awlaki, who praised Hasan as a "hero": "Kohlman[n] said that the contrast between Awlaki’s and Awdah’s statements reveals a gap between al-Awdah’s generation of Salafi jihadists, many of whom have mellowed in recent years, and the post-Iraq generation of jihadists. 'The naive younger guys have been raised and fed on bright-eyed propaganda about the ‘Shaykh of the Slaughters’ Zarqawi, beheadings, and suicide bombings. On the other hand, many of the older celebrated advocates of jihad and the mujahideen are increasingly opposed to the fanatical takfiri direction of Al-Qaida — casting it as counterproductive and even criminal…And, of course, these critical issues of jihadi jurisprudence are now being debated and contested largely over the Internet.'" |
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| [11/11/09] | Anwar al Awlaki Urged Muslims to "Fight Against Government Armies" in July '09 The NEFA Foundation has obtained a copy of an English-language online blog post from just this past summer by Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki -- the Yemeni cleric suspected of influencing Ft. Hood shooter Maj. Malik Hasan -- titled, "Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World." In his message, dated July 14, 2009, al-Awlaki openly admonished his supporters, "there can be no Islam with the presence of these armies... These armies are the defenders of apostasy in the Muslim world. They fight against Sharia and kill the Muslims who attempt to bring it back. They are fighting on behalf of America against the mujahideen in Pakistan, Somalia and the Maghrib. If this is the case with these armies how could anyone place the blame on the ones who fight them, accusing them of fighting against Muslims?! What kind of twisted fiqh is this? The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders whether the order is to kill Muslims as in Swat, bomb Masjids as with the Red Masjid, or kill women and children as they do in Somalia... Blessed are those who fight against them and blessed are those shuhada [martyrs] who are killed by them." |
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| [11/9/09] | Anwar al Awlaki: “Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing” The NEFA Foundation has obtained a statement issued by Anwar al Awlaki, an Al-Qaida-linked U.S. citizen, titled "Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing” in which al Awlaki profusely praised the Fort Hood shooter: "Nidal Hassan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people...The US is leading the war against terrorism which in reality is a war against Islam. Its army is directly invading two Muslim countries and indirectly occupying the rest through its stooges.” Al Awlaki continued, "Nidal opened fire on soldiers who were on their way to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. How can there be any dispute about the virtue of what he has done? In fact the only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the US army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal.” Further, "The heroic act of brother Nidal also shows the dilemma of the Muslim American community. Increasingly they are being cornered into taking stances that would either make them betray Islam or betray their nation. Many amongst them are choosing the former. The Muslim organizations in America came out in a pitiful chorus condemning Nidal’s operation.” For more on al Awlaki, see NEFA's Backgrounder titled, "Anwar al Awlaki: Pro Al-Qaida Ideologue with Influence in the West", al Awlaki's essay "44 Ways to Support Jihad", al Awlaki's message "Salutations to al-Shabaab of Somalia", and a statement in which he lauded the mujahideen of Yemen. |
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| [10/21/09] | Sunni “Jondollah” Claims Suicide Attack on Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a claim of responsibility from a Sunni militant group known as “Jondollah” (“The Army of God”) for the October 18 suicide bombing attack on a delegation of senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers in the southeast corner of the country near the border with Pakistan. According to the communiqué, “one of the heroic men of Baluchistan—the land of martyrdom and resistance—named Abdulwahad Mahmadi Sarawani, was able to kill dozens of commanders and units from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Basij Militia, and officials from the Ministry of Intelligence… by carrying a martyrdom operation in Sarbaz, one of the cities in Baluchistan Province.” The statement indicated that the bombing attack was a response to the “crimes of the Iranian regime against the Baluchi people; the unarmed and oppressed, who loses everyday a number of its children sacrifices to the crimes of this regime that murdered throughout the last year alone hundreds of young men from this province… amongst them were the pious Ulama Hafidh Salahadin and Mawlawi Khalilallah Zare’i—who were executed for defending the rights of our oppressed people. Additionally, they executed the brothers Tariq and Asad Wafa’i, and three others from the city, and those are: Thabihalla Naro’i, Hajji Noti Zahi, and Ghulam Rasul Shaho Zahi, and all of those were guilty of Baluchi and Sunni. These crimes left to the Baluchi people no other choice except resistance and responding in the same manner to the Iranian regime.” |
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| [8/03/09] | Purported Claim of Responsibility for Jakarta Bombings The NEFA Foundation has obtained a communiqué from "the Tandzim Al-Qaida of Indonesia" claiming responsibility for the July 17, 2009, bombings at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta that killed seven and injured more than fifty people. Purportedly posted on behalf of Noordin Mohammad Top, the communiqué stated that the attack sought to avenge "the deeds of America and its accomplices against our brothers and sisters," target the Manchester United soccer team, and act "as a soother and healer for the hearts of the Muslims who are oppressed and persecuted all over the world.” According to the FBI, "Noordin Mohammad Top is reportedly an officer, recruiter, bombmaker, and trainer for the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group that was involved in the bombings of a Bali nightclub, a Jakarta hotel, and the Australian Embassy in Indonesia between 2002 and 2004." |
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| [6/18/08] | July 2005 "Al-Qaida Organization in the UAE and Oman" Threat to the UAE In light of the June 14, 2008 warning by the U.K. Foreign Office that it believes "terrorists may be planning to carry out attacks in the UAE," the NEFA Foundation is releasing a July 2005 communiqué from the military wing for the Al-Qaida Organization in UAE and Oman titled "A Letter to the UAE Oppressors." The letter stated, "We send you this loud and clear letter since you have brought it upon yourselves and did not change your way and kept on following the nation of cross and the Jews…haven’t you known by now that the Mujahidin who were able to attack America on its soil will also be able to reach the nation of cross and the Jewish pigs who are inside your country." It added, "We warn our Moslem brothers in UAE not to be near the following places in order not to interfere with the Mujahidin work and not to be harmed since we are very cautious not to target the Moslems. The places are: 1: the harbor of Jabal Ali in Dubai. All the Moslem workers should leave it at once 2: Dubai international airport 3: Abu Dabi international airport 4: the Dubai investments center." |
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| [12/07/07] | "Sisters' Role in Jihad" Today, a female suicide bomber killed at least 16 people in an attack in Muqdadiya, Iraq. A historical document, posted by the Al-Qaida linked website Qoqaz.net, provides insight into one perspective on the role women should play in jihad. The document states, "It should be noted that physical fighting has been a role assigned primarily to men, both by the Prophet (peace be upon him) and those after him. However, when the need arose, our brave sisters never held back from fighting, and neither should they now!" |
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