On December 28, 2009 Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula released a statement titled "The Operation of Brother Mujahid Umar Farouk the Nigerian in Response to the American Attack in Yemen" on the jihadist website Shumukh Al-Islam, claiming responsibility for the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day. As of the time of its release, the statement had not been published on any other jihadi websites. Shumukh Al-Islam Network is the second major jihadi forum on which propaganda videos, articles by extremists, and statements by jihadi groups are posted. The forum has hundreds of members; some are senior members, some are supervisors, and there are also those who sympathize with the mujahideen. Shumukh Al-Islam has been shut down many times, and it always blames the CIA when this happens. The last time the site was shut down was in September 2009. You must be a JTTM member to read the full report. To subscribe, visit http://subscriptions.memri.org/content/en/member_registr_jttm.htm, or contact us at jttmsubs@memri.org. Media: For the full report, send an email with "Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Statement" in the subject line along with your affiliation to media@memri.org.
"In the name of Allah the All-Merciful.
"Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
"(The operation of the mujahid brother Omar Al-Farooq the Nigerian).
"In response to the American attack on Yemen.
"Praise be to Allah, who said 'Fight them until there is no fitna [strife], and the religion is all Allah's' [Surat Albaqara 2, verse 193].' Prayers and peace be upon the Messenger, the seal of the prophets, who said 'I have been supported with fear [of me] that stretches as far as one-month's walk' [hadith attributed to Jaber bin Abdallah and agreed upon by all collections of hadiths].
"With Allah's grace, the hero mujahid martyrdom-seeker, brother Omar Al-Farooq, carried out a quality operation on an American plane that took off from the Dutch city of Amsterdam to the American city of Detroit, while they were celebrating the Christmas holiday on Friday December 25, 2009, [an operation] which broke through all modern advanced technological equipment and security barriers in world airports, with courage and determination, not fearing death, placing his trust in Allah, breaking with his great act the legend of American and international intelligence, demonstrating its frailty, rubbing their noses in the dust [in humiliation], and making all they have spent upon security technologies a waste for them.
"The unity of Islamic belief and fraternity is what propelled the rich youth of Nigerian origin, the mujahid brother Omar Al-Farooq, to respond directly to the oppressive American attack on the Arabian peninsula, in direct coordination with Allah's grace with the mujahideen in the Arabian peninsula, following the savage bombing using cluster bombs and cruise missiles that was launched from American ships that occupy the Gulf of Aden. All of this was launched on the noble Yemenite tribes in Abyan and Arhab, and finally in Shabwa, [in an attack] that killed scores of Muslim women and children, and families in their entirety. These operations were carried out through Yemenite-American-Saudi coordination, together with some of the neighboring countries.
"The mujahideen brothers in the department of producing weapons managed to produce, with Allah's grace, an explosive device of advanced technological [capabilities], which was tested and proven to be successful and effective, and it was passed through the [airport's] security screening equipment. The martyrdom seeker brother reached his goal, with Allah's grace, but due to Allah's will a malfunction happened which caused only a partial detonation rather than a full one. And we will continue in this path, Allah willing, until we reach our goal so that religion is all Allah's."
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