al-qaida chief ayman al-zawahiri the coordinator 2016 part 19-138-caliphate-the state of al-qaida-55

CdW Intelligence to Rent -2016- In Confidence [email protected]

Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2016 Part 19-138-Caliphate-The State of al-Qaida-55

Global terror is today dominated by a two-headed monster- al-Qaeda, the original militant Sunni Islamist network, spread and divided like a terrible virus. Despite the disarray caused by several strategic reversals over the years, the core of al-Qaeda remains a potent force.

Much of the jihadist worldview that al-Qaeda and ISIS hold in common can be traced to the writings and teachings of al-Qaeda's present leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Al-Qaeda has emphasized that ISIS does not have the authority to rule all Muslims, and that ISIS's declarations apply to no-one but themselves. One cleric, who once mentored ISIS's slain spiritual leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, criticized them for their violence against fellow Muslims and advised them to "Reform, repent, and to stop killing Muslims and distorting the religion." In September 2015, al-Qaeda leader al-Zawahiri released an

audio message that accused ISIS's al-Baghdadi of sedition and again contended that al-Baghdadi is not the leader of all Muslims.

Despite the conflicts between the two organizations, there is also the threat of a future strategic convergence between ISIS and al-Qaeda against a common foe. Significant progress by Western forces might unite the two. The main

schism between al-Qaeda and ISIS is rivalry over control of Syria; there is risk that they could resolve this amicably in order to face a larger and stronger common enemy. Successes by the newly created anti-terrorism coalition of 34 Muslim nations led by Saudi Arabia, however, might not have the same effect. If it were to strategically target ISIS exclusively, it could encourage al-Qaeda to distance itself further. ISIS has already declared war against Saudi Arabia following the formation of the latter's coalition. The next major indicator of the relationship between the two jihadist organizations will be whether al-Qaeda, which has long been accused of being hand in glove with Saudi agencies in the Yemen civil war, will ultimately stand with or against ISIS in the ongoing ideological and military battle in the Muslim world.

The terror that is shaking the world today is not a natural disaster like a tornado "[Does terror truly have no religion?] This slogan is uttered regarding terror, as though [terror] reflects a picture that is completely unrelated to its perpetrators' religious affiliation, and as though there are no religious goals or values behind it, but only a state of insanity that causes those afflicted with it to run amok, unaware of what they are doing or what [they

“Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster”― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

CdW Intelligence to Rent of 8 03/05/2023

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seek] to achieve by their actions – [actions] that disgust not only human beings but [even] the beasts of the jungle.

"The terror that is shaking the world today is not a natural disaster like a tornado, a thunderstorm or an earthquake, and it is not perpetrated by savage tribes. It is perpetrated by people who enlist [because they are] inspired by a religious ideology. [These people] advocate enforcing and spreading [this ideology as a set of] dogmatic principles that must be imposed by the force of the sword, and which [mandate] killing, expulsion and destruction wherever they go.

And [Sheikh Yusouf] Al-Qaradhawi and others like him pray and hope that, in the wake of this terrorist momentum, a day will arrive when Muslims inundate Europe and subdue it to Islam. Is this not enough to convince [us] that terror [does] have a religion?"

Iraqi journalist Fadel Boula came out against the claim, which is frequently heard in the Arab world and outside it, that the terror of the Islamic State (ISIS) and its ilk is completely unrelated to Islam. He pointed out that these terror organizations are motivated by an extremist Salafi ideology and claim that their atrocities represent Allah's will and directives.

For the past 11 months, the Saudis and their allies in the Gulf have launched a bombing campaign in Yemen, backed by US logistical and intelligence support, aimed at reinstating Hadi. Saudi and its allies claim the Houthis are in fact proxies of Iran.

Amidst the chaos, al Qaeda has expanded its footprint in Yemen. A month into the Saudi bombing, AQAP took over the port city of Mukalla, and has been steadily expanding its zone of control along the southern coast.

Thomas Joscelyn, an AQAP expert and editor of the Long War Journal, says that militants are the clearest beneficiaries of the security vacuum ushered in by the civil war. "Before the war, there was a concentrated effort on the ground to take on AQAP in Yemen," Joscelyn explains. "Now, we don't have that option on the table — the multi-sided civil war has so many interests competing against each other, no one is that concerned is turning back AQAP advances."

Feb 01Saudi Arabia's Major General Mansour Al-Turki, Ministry of Interior spokesman, admitted on Monday that the Saudi money has been used to fund al-Qaeda terrorist group in Afghanistan with billions of dollars. During an interview with the BBC British news network, Turki justified sending the Saudi petrodollars to al-Qaeda by claiming that certain individuals have convinced Saudi nationals to offer money under the title of charity grants, "[Saudi] People had been convinced they were providing money to help the poor when in fact the funds were going to finance al-Qaeda in Afghanistan," Turki said. The Saudi General Administration for Financial Investigations announced earlier that it had received acknowledgements in 2014 about cases of suspected money laundering and terrorism financing crimes. It said that 88% of the acknowledgments received were related to financing terrorism. Turki denied that Saudi Arabia has ever funded any terrorist organization, but claimed there had been a "misuse of our financial system."

Feb 3, A day-long summit in Italy of 23 nations engaged against ISIL has reviewed the situation in Syria, Iraq and Libya. Members agreed to intensify their efforts against the Islamic extremists, including more air-strikes, security forces training, and ammunition supplies. Defence ministers meet next week in Brussels to discuss the details.

“So we will keep the pressure on, squeezing Daesh from every single angle, “Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster”

― Sun Tzu, The Art of WarCdW Intelligence to Rent of 8 03/05/2023



strangling its attempts to establish networks elsewhere, cutting their finances, exposing their lies.

And we are committed to using every resource at our disposal in order to remain on the offensive on every front,” said US Secretary of State John Kerry. Those present were told ISIL had lost some 40% of the territory it had captured, but hosts Italy warned that victory would be about more than just territory.

“We all repeated that we don’t need triumphalism, that we must continue our commitment in Iraq, a military commitment to take other cities and important areas from ISIL, and make more efforts to consolidate the freed areas militarily and economically,” said Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

ISIL’s advances in Libya are also causing concern. Last month it was able to strike at Libya’s precious oil terminals, virtually the country’s only source of income, and it is taking full advantage of the post-Ghaddafi political vacuum.

Ansar al Sharia Libya relies on al Qaeda ideologues to guide followersBY THOMAS JOSCELYN | February 2, 2016 | Jihadist groups around the globe denounced Saudi Arabia’s execution of more than 40 men in early January. Some of those sentenced to death had taken part in al Qaeda’s first campaign to disrupt the kingdom between 2003 and 2006. It was only natural, therefore, that al Qaeda, its regional branches and other affiliated groups would decry the House of Saud’s decision to follow through on the death sentences.However, Ansar al Sharia Libya’s response was especially noteworthy. In a three-page statement released via Twitter on Jan. 15, the group compared those executed to senior al Qaeda leaders killed in America’s drone campaign. “Al Salul [a derogatory reference to the Saudis] recognizes the importance of the true righteous scholars who control jihad with the correct provisions from the book of Allah Almighty and the sunna of His messenger, peace and blessing be upon him, and the impact of the absence of these scholars on the jihadist arena,” Ansar al Sharia Libya’s officials wrote, according to a translation obtained by The Long War Journal.The jihadists claimed that the Saudis’ “message in this regard” is similar to “the acts of the head of global nonbelief, America, which has killed righteous scholars.”Ansar al Sharia then listed eight such “scholars,” all of whom were al Qaeda leaders killed in US airstrikes: Harith bin Ghazi al Nadhari, Ibrahim Rubaish, Anwar al Awlaki, Nasir al Wuhayshi, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, Abu Yahya al Libi, Atiyah Abd al Rahman (referred to as “Atiyatallah”), and Khalid al Husainan.The list is no accident. Ansar al Sharia regularly promotes sermons delivered by some of





these same ideologues. Web banners used to advertise the speeches, which were first produced by al Qaeda, can be seen at the end of this article.

Throughout December and January, the organization’s radio station, Ather al Madinah, posted clips on social media of lectures by Nadhari and Rubaish, two al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) clerics who were killed in 2015.One of Nadhari’s talks was divided into seven parts. He covered various theological issues, including the concept of tawheed (or the oneness of Allah). Nadhari explained in another sermon why Muslims should answer the “call to jihad.”Several lectures by Rubaish, a former Guantanamo detainee who became an influential AQAP theologian after he was released from US custody, covered similar themes. In one, Rubaish advised Muslims to avoid selling out their religion for the pleasures of this world. Still another featured Rubaish and Nadhari together.Abu Yahya al Libi’s speeches have also been rebroadcast by Ather al Madinah. Al Libi blasted the supposed false “idol” of democracy in a talk disseminated online in December.Al Libi was one of al Qaeda’s most prominent ideologues at the time of his death in June 2012. On Sept. 10 2012, al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri confirmed al Libi’s death in a video released online. Zawahiri also called on Libyans to avenge his fallen comrade. Ansar al Sharia Libya and other al Qaeda groups attacked an American diplomatic mission and the CIA’s so-called Annex the following day.Ansar al Sharia continues to refer to the Benghazi assault in its propaganda. In a short video released in December, for instance, the group’s fighters are shown chanting: “O tell lowly America that we will free Abu Khattala.”Abu Khattala is the lone suspect from the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi raids in American custody. A screen shot of the fighters who chanted in the video can be seen on the right. The video was shot at a training camp named after Mohammed al Zahawi, Ansar al Sharia’s first emir (or leader), who died as a result of injuries in either late 2014 or early 2015.After Zahawi’s death was confirmed in January 2015, Nadhari released a eulogy for the slain jihadist. Nadhari explained that Zahawi had personally met with Osama bin Laden in the 1990s in Sudan and adopted al Qaeda’s methodology at that time.Although Ansar al Sharia Libya was initially portrayed by some as purely a local jihadist group, it has been a part of the al Qaeda network since its inception in 2011. The Long War Journal has documented the organization’s ties to al Qaeda and its branch in North Africa, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), on multiple occasions.And the group now openly promotes al Qaeda clerics to its followers on a regular basis.

AQAP provides social services, implements sharia while advancing in southern YemenBY THOMAS JOSCELYN | February 3, 2016 | Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) took control of Azzan, a town in Yemen’s southeastern Shabwa province, earlier this week. The jihadists reportedly faced no resistance as they settled in. Citing local residents, Xinhua reported that “many checkpoints were established in Azzan and al Qaeda members distributed leaflets asking people to abide by Islamic teachings.” Azzan, with an estimated population of 50,000 residents, is the latest area to fall to AQAP since it launched a new offensive last year.In early April 2015, AQAP seized Mukallah, the capital of Yemen’s eastern province of Hadramout. In addition, the jihadists overran Zinjibar, the capital of the Abyan province, and the nearby town of Jaar in December. AQAP controls other towns and villages in the





south as well, while regularly launching operations in other parts of the country.

AQAP first seized Azzan after the 2011 Arab uprisings shook the Yemeni government. However, the jihadists lost control of the town in June 2012 when forces loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi evicted them. The battle for Azzan was a “big victory over al Qaeda elements,” Hadi said at the time, according to Agence France-Presse.Government loyalists and AQAP fought one another in Azzan repeatedly over the next two years. During one battle in May 2014, for instance, AQAP failed to retake the town from security forces.Houthi rebels toppled the Yemeni government after surging in late 2014 and early 2015. AQAP has claimed hundreds of attacks against the Shiite Houthis since then, and has used the chaotic multi-sided war to gain ground from other opponents. AQAP has also capitalized on the Saudi-led campaign, which has failed to dislodge the Houthis.As the jihadists gained ground throughout 2015, the US did kill several top AQAP figures in airstrikes. Among those killed was AQAP’s emir, Nasir al Wuhayshi, who also served as a top official in al Qaeda’s global organization. However, the successful drone strikes haven’t slowed al Qaeda’s guerrilla war in Yemen. And AQAP quickly introduced new leaders to be the public faces of the organization.

Promoting implementation of sharia law, provision of services in southern Yemen When AQAP first seized territory in 2011 and 2012, the group created a new name to market its governance efforts: Ansar al Sharia.The US State Department subsequently described Ansar al Sharia as “simply AQAP’s effort to rebrand itself, with the aim of manipulating people to join AQAP’s terrorist cause.” Ansar al Sharia “has publicly stated that the particular brand of sharia they hope to implement is the same as that espoused by the Afghan Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq, a militant umbrella group” that included al Qaeda in Iraq, the State Department noted in October 2012.The Islamic State of Iraq evolved into the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham after expanding its operations into Syria in 2013. Now known simply as the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s organization has become al Qaeda’s jihadist rival.The Islamic State’s propaganda regularly highlights the “caliphate’s” brutal implementation of sharia law, including amputations and other harsh punishments. AQAP has taken a different approach. AQAP’s leaders have consistently argued that sharia laws should be gradually implemented, because the Muslim populace is not accustomed to the jihadists’ ways. And al Qaeda does not typically disseminate graphic images of the punishments its fighters give out on others. (These punishments are often the same as those mandated in the areas under the Islamic State’s rule.)Still, AQAP is implementing sharia-style governance in at least some of the areas under its control in Yemen. And newly launched social media sites are intended to highlight these efforts, as well as the organization’s other social services.On Jan. 23, a Twitter feed for Al Ather “news” agency began publishing photos and videos of Ansar al Sharia’s supposed good works. (Some of the images from Al Ather can be seen at the end of this article.) The first photos showed food baskets that were handed out to the “needy” in Mukallah, the port city that fell to AQAP last year.A second set of images tweeted on Jan. 26 documented a project intended to improve the residents’ access to electricity, a crew of workers paving streets, and garbage trucks hauling away trash in the Hadramout province. In a separate series, packages allegedly containing narcotics taken from residents in the Abyan province were displayed. Two photos tweeted on Jan. 27 are intended to reassure readers, as the captions put it, that life





has returned to “normal” in the city of Zinjibar now that it is under Ansar al Sharia’s control.

Several additional images released on Jan. 28 purportedly show “toxic chemicals” confiscated in “Waqar,” which is what AQAP calls the town of Jaar.The Al Ather news agency touted Ansar al Sharia’s destruction of a “polytheistic” shrine or tomb, as well as its provision of “medical services,” in subsequent images released from Hadramout. Consistent with AQAP’s (and Ansar al Sharia’s) approach to imposing sharia, Al Ather does not give readers an close look at the victims who are punished under the draconian laws. For example, four photos tweeted on Feb. 1 document the “stoning” of a Muslim who committed “adultery.” The actual stoning is not pictured, nor is the victim. Instead, the scene is photographed from some distance. It is likely that al Qaeda wants Muslims (including the large crowd that attended the execution) to know that it is imposing sharia’s punishments, but was reticent about widely publicizing the results of the gruesome death sentence.AQAP has long documented the jihadists’ war against the Houthis and others. Ansar al Sharia has maintained social media accounts responsible for reporting on the group’s military operations against the Houthis and others. Al Ather “news” is part of al Qaeda’s attempt to market Ansar al Sharia’s other activities, including those intended to woo more Yemenis to its cause.Al Ather is also likely part of an attempt to answer the Islamic State’s argument that al Qaeda does not implement sharia in the areas under its control.

February 1, 2016 Special Dispatch No.6288Iraqi Journalist Comes Out Against Claim That ISIS Has Nothing To Do With IslamIn an article titled "Does Terror Truly Have No Religion?" in the pro-Iranian Iraqi newspaper Al-Akhbar, Iraqi journalist Fadel Boula came out against the claim, which is frequently heard in the Arab world and outside it, that the terror of the Islamic State (ISIS) and its ilk is completely unrelated to Islam. He pointed out that these terror organizations are motivated by an extremist Salafi ideology and claim that their atrocities represent Allah's will and directives.The following are excerpts from his article:[1] "[Does terror truly have no religion?] This slogan is uttered regarding terror, as though [terror] reflects a picture that is completely unrelated to its perpetrators' religious affiliation, and as though there are no religious goals or values behind it, but only a state of insanity that causes those afflicted with it to run amok, unaware of what they are doing or what [they seek] to achieve by their actions – [actions] that disgust not only human beings but [even] the beasts of the jungle."The terror that is shaking the world today is not a natural disaster like a tornado, a thunderstorm or an earthquake, and it is not perpetrated by savage tribes. It is perpetrated by people who enlist [because they are] inspired by a religious ideology. [These people] advocate enforcing and spreading [this ideology as a set of] dogmatic principles that must be imposed by the force of the sword, and which [mandate] killing, expulsion and destruction wherever they go."Since its inception, this movement of terror has espoused a Salafi ideology that champions religious extremism, and brainwashed people of all ages have rallied around its flag, [people who were] trained to kill themselves and kill others in order to attain martyrdom.

"The terror organizations that act in the name of religion were born when [the mujahideen] declared Islamic jihad against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan. It was





the Saudi sheikh Osama bin Laden who laid the cornerstone for the first [terror] cell, which he named Al-Qaeda. Later he called to launch

a war in the name of religion, and young believers, influenced by fatwas of extremist [clerics], especially Saudi ones, flocked from the Muslim lands [to Afghanistan].

"[Then, Abu Mus'ab] Al-Zarqawi formed a branch of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which, calling itself 'the Islamic State in Iraq,' recently settled in the city of Mosul and united with its counterpart in Syria. Thus, a scary organization [namely ISIS] suddenly appeared, which advertises itself as the bearer of Islam's message and banner. [Emulating the early] Islamic conquests, [this organization] invaded Iraq and Syria and appointed a Caliph for the Muslims: Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who settled in Mosul and showed its people what [it is like] to be ruled by a government [that is a throwback to] 1,400 years ago, in terms of the treatment [they received] and the plunder of their lands. The invaders attacked the populace of Mosul and eastern Syria, arrested them by the hundreds, and took a sword to their necks, and later singled out the Christians among them and offered them two options: either convert to Islam or pay the poll tax, as happened to their forefathers when the Arabs attacked their lands in the days of the Caliph 'Umar Al-Khattab [583-644 AD]. When [the Christians] rejected this humiliation, [ISIS] seized their property, expelled them from their historic home, the province of Ninveh, and sent them to wander destitute under the skies, seeking rescue and safety.

"As for the Yazidis, their plight was and remains an historic disaster that was inflicted upon them by the God-fearing Caliph [Al-Baghdadi] when he applied to them the verse pertaining to infidels, namely offering them two options: to [either] embrace Islam, or die and have their money, women and children seized. We keep seeing images of innocent people being killed and beheaded by these terrorists, who butcher their victims while crying out "in the name of Allah the merciful" and "Allah akbar." All these crimes are [ostensibly] carried out with Allah's approval, and they are perpetrated by those who praise Allah day and night and who pray fervently and do everything according to His will.

"When the terrorists blew up the World Trade Center and several airplanes, killing thousands of victims, Osama bin Laden, surrounded by his people, said on television: 'This is a victory from Allah.' And now ISIS is bragging about killing innocent people in Paris, saying that it was 'done with Allah's approval,' and threatening that the next attack will be in the U.S., Allah willing. And [Sheikh Yusouf] Al-Qaradhawi and others like him pray and hope that, in the wake of this terrorist momentum, a day will arrive when Muslims inundate Europe and subdue it to Islam. Is this not enough to convince [us] that terror [does] have a religion?"Endnotes: [1] Al-Akhbar (Iraq), November 18, 2015.





Regards Cees*** Remember: Abu Musab al-Suri’s book,The Military Theory of the Global Islamic Call to Resistance.”

In April 2008 in response to questions posed by jihadists all over the world regarding al-Qaeda’s strategy, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri pointed to Abu Musab al-Suri and the ideas presented in his 1600-page book, The Call to Global Islamic Resistance. “The suggestions of Abu Musab al-Suri - may Allah release him - present rich thoughts from which the mujahideen can benefit…the intellectual treasure of Sheikh Abu Musab… is a rich river for the mujahideen,” Zawahiri stated. Since its publication in December 2004, Zawahiri’s praise for The Call to Global Islamic Resistance has instilled a newfound interest among the jihadist community. Jihadist forum members are now uploading, downloading, distributing, and discussing the book with great fervor. According to al-Suri, jihadi military theory is based on two key facets: (1) solo or cellular jihad, the act of individual jihadists organizing and carrying out attacks without any connection to or support from an established jihadist group, and (2) travel to and establishment of open jihadi fronts, areas of the world with conditions suitable for sustained urban and guerilla warfare.

I – Suri - wrote the Call to Resistance’s primary idea in the first statement at the end of 1990 and published it in the beginning of 1991.We must concentrate on analyzing the strategy of open fronts and solo jihadi work as a resistance style that should be developed, so as to extract the appropriate military and mobility theory for the coming phase through techniques that have proven their worth.And they are; working in open fronts, and covert resistance through solo jhadi work and small cells.Our new way of doing jihadi work in the Call to Global Islamic Resistance, is the way and a global call. Also our military theory that we are in the midst of depends on mobilizing in the global horizon. It is the basis of military movement, as opposed to being a political, doctrinal, or religious strategy. http://news.siteintelgroup.com/blog/index.php/about-us/21-jihad/21-suri-a-mili




http://news.siteintelgroup.com/blog/index.php/about-us/21-jihad/21-suri-a-mili

al-qaida chief ayman al-zawahiri the coordinator 2016 part 19-138-caliphate-the state of al-qaida-55

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