Israel / Lebanon

Last Updated (Friday, 23 April 2010 10:54) Written by Laith Alkhouri Friday, 23 April 2010 09:38

qarawi2 On April 3, 2010, the al‐Fajr Media Center released an interview it conducted with Saleh bin Abdullah bin Saleh al‐Qarawi, a member of Saudi Arabia’s 85 most wanted list and field commander of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an Al‐Qaida‐affiliated offshoot operating in Lebanon. Al‐Qarawi has links to Abu Musab al‐Zarqawi—the late leader of Al‐Qaida in Iraq—as al‐Qarawi asserted that “Allah rewarded me to participate with my brothers in al‐Falluja, and I came to know the Sheikh Abu Musaab al‐Zarqawi—may Allah have mercy on him—closely, and he assigned me to a job outside of Iraq.” According to al‐Qarawi, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades “are not confined to Lebanon but there are targets that our fires will reach Allah‐willing in the near future…the Brigades are formed of a number of groups that are spread in numerous places…and the groups of ‘Ziad al‐Jarrah’ in Lebanon are only some of our groups, and we rushed to create these groups and announced them because of the urgency of the battle with the Jews and the priority of the initiative at the time and the place, but the rest of the groups are outside Lebanon.” For al‐Qarawi, “Undoubtedly, when America interferes in any country it corrupts it and sucks out its resources and the blood of its children. And the primary struggle today is between us and America and the Jews. And we stand strongly against any interference in Lebanon, whether from America or others, and also in any of the Muslim countries.” He proclaimed that “the American interests are our most important aims, and they are spread around the world, and they are easy to attack.”

Hamas Addresses Prisoner Swap: "Zionist Occupation Bears Full Responsibility"

Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:00

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a communiqué from Hamas' "military" wing, the Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades, addressing the prisoner swap. According to the statement, "The Zionist enemy has not provided any new offer recently. What Olmert has tried to propagate in the Zionist media in recent days is maneuvering for internal political purposes and for absorption of popular protest within the entity, But, in fact, his move did not refer to any actual intention to complete the swap agreement.” It continued, “The enemy [needs] to understand that hindrance of the exchange deal will have a negative impact, and the only realization is disappointment and great loss."

Palestinian Al-Qaida Faction Claims Murder of Israeli Policemen

Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Wednesday, 18 March 2009 19:00

The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a communiqué from a previously unknown Palestinian Al-Qaida faction claiming responsibility for the murder of two Israeli policemen in the West Bank. According to the statement from the “World Islamic Front for the Liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Aqsa Army” (dated March 15), “a unit of the al-Malhamah Brigades… has executed an attack on a Zionist vehicle on patrol, killing two police officers in the southern al-Aghur region of occupied Palestinian territory, near the Massua settlement. The incident took place on Sunday, March 15, 2009… At about 6:35 pm, three mujahideen from the al-Malhamah Brigades ambushed the Zionist police vehicle on Road No. 90, in Wadi Arabah, and shot two Zionist police officers. Praise be to Allah, the unit was able to safely return to its base. This blessed operation was launched as a response to the call issued by the Mujahid Shaykh Usama Bin Laden, may Allah protect him, in his sermon, ‘Practical Steps to Liberate Palestine.'"

Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) Issues Message to the Austrian Government

Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Sunday, 08 February 2009 19:00

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a new communiqué from Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) in Gaza, in which the group urges the Austrian government to release Muhammad Shawqi Mahmoud from jail. In March 2008, Mahmoud was sentenced to four years in prison for belonging to a terrorist organization. Mahmoud, a central figure in the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF), was involved in producing a March 2007 GIMF video that threatened Austria and Germany if the countries did not withdraw their troops from Afghanistan. That same month, BBC reporter Alan Johnston was kidnapped in Gaza; the Army of Islam subsequently issued a videotaped claim of responsibility for the operation. During the February 2009 Canadian trial of Mahmoud’s GIMF co-conspirator, Said Namouh, prosecutors revealed that Mahmoud and Namouh “played a major role for the GIMF in the editing” of that Army of Islam video. However, in this statement, the Army of Islam claims that "Muhammad Shawqi Mahmoud has no ties to the Army or any part in capturing the British reporter Alan Johnston by any way, shape or form. He has no relation to or knowledge of this operation, and these accusations directed to him are nothing of the truth, and basically pure falsehood.” In April 2008, Al-Qaida’s Committee in the Islamic Maghreb attempted to secure the release of Mahmoud and his wife by offering to free Austrian hostages.

Fatah al-Islam Claims Death of Leader, Endorses Terror Financing Through Bank Robberies

Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Thursday, 18 December 2008 19:00

The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated two new communiqués from the Al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon and Syria. On November 29, Fatah al-Islam issued a statement condemning “Syria’s entrance into the public arena against Fatah al-Islam… If this organization is wiped out, then no other force will remain in Lebanon besides the force of [Hizballah]. This stands in accord with the Iranian policy aimed at controlling the region.” On December 8, the group distributed a second statement claiming, among other things, that its commander Shaykh Shakir al-Absi has been missing and is presumed dead following a failed bid to join Al-Qaida in Iraq. According to the statement, al-Absi and a group of aides left their former base in Lebanon for Syria “in order to allow their wounds to heal, to reestablish the [communication] channels that were cut off during the war, and to rebuild the organization… [Al-Absi] started contacting the brothers from the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), through people who were well-known to the ISI, and was also trying to reach the brothers in Afghanistan—though not with much success.” Fatah al-Islam was also specifically insistent on the legitimacy of committing bank robberies as a financing tactic: “we say, relying on Allah, that stealing money from the infidels, from the usurious banks and the institutions which belong to the infidel regimes and states, is a legal thing which Allah has permitted us to do. This money is being seized from them and instead directed towards jihad and the mujahideen in order to fulfill their needs, to buy equipment etc."