The following are some of this week's reports from the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Project, which translates and analyzes content from sources monitored around the clock, among them the most important jihadi websites and blogs. (To view these reports in full, you must be a paying member of the JTTM; for membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line.)
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On September 24, 2015, Sheikh 'Abdallah Al-Muhaisni, a senior official in the Jaysh Al-Fath coalition that comprises a number of jihadi groups, praised a ceasefire with the Syrian regime that is being negotiated by the Iranian forces in Syria. Al-Muhaisni told the Jihad Callers Center that the negotiated deal has 25 items, including freeing 500 prisoners held by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, lifting the siege from the city of Al-Zabadani to allow Jaysh Al-Fath fighters and their families to leave the city, and halting the bombing of Idlib and Fou'a as well as airdropping food and munitions to them. In return, Jaysh Al-Fath will allow only women and children to leave Al-Fou'a.
On September 22, an official website of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban shadow government) released a statement by Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor greeting the people on the eve of Eid Al-Adha (the feast of sacrifice).
This statement is typical of previous statements issued by his predecessor Mullah Mohammad Omar in recent years, including after April 2013, when Mullah Omar died (his death was only recently announced). Despite Omar's death, the Taliban had continued to publish annual Eid greetings on his behalf.
In the statement, Mullah Mansoor, the new Emir-ul-Momineen (the leader of the faithful Muslims), reminds the Americans that they occupied Afghanistan on the pretext of the 9/11 attacks but that a similar situation now exists in many parts of the world despite the 14 years of the War on Terror.
Mullah Mansoor indicates that the Taliban's Political Office in Qatar is authorized to establish contact with foreign entities, but that internal peace in Afghanistan can only be achieved when the U.S. and NATO forces end their occupation. He adds that such peace in Afghanistan will only be achieved by intra-Afghan forces, not under foreign pressure.
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EXCLUSIVE: Despite Ban, Extremist British Preacher Abu Haleema Spreads His Message On Social Media
The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
The extremist London-based preacher Abu Haleema continues to maintain his online presence, on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, despite his arrest in May 2015 by Scotland Yard. After he was freed on bail, reportedly on condition that he cease his incendiary online activity, he was soon back on social media. His associate, fellow extremist preacher Anjem Choudary, was also just released on bail.
The distinctive belligerent, street-savvy, unpolished style affected by Abu Haleema sets him apart from the more soft-spoken and conservative Choudary and other UK-based preachers such as Abu Baraa. Abu Haleema's Twitter account is suspended multiple times every week; his bloc of supporters on Twitter defend him and actively promote his new accounts. He no longer tweets his views; instead, he relays his messages via videos that he promotes on his Facebook page, which as of this writing has nearly 5,000 "likes." Abu Haleema has said that if YouTube removes one of his videos, he reposts them on the French video-sharing website DailyMotion.
Abu Haleema's enthusiastic followers include Islamic State (ISIS) fighter and supporters; however, he has numerous critics, and many who agree with his beliefs are put off by his aggressive approach.
On September 21, 2015, the Al-Qaeda media company Al-Sahab released an audio message by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri rejecting the Islamic State (ISIS) Caliphate and refuting Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi's appointment as caliph.
This is the third installment in a series by Al-Zawahiri on the "Islamic Spring."
This installment, dated Jumada Al-Akhira 1436 (March-April 2015), is 28:06 in duration and was released on the Al-Fida' forum.
New ISIS Video Calls On Muslims Not To Make For 'False Paradise' Of Europe But Join The Caliphate
French-speaking fighter urges young Muslims to migrate to the caliphate
On September 18, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Ninawa Province in Iraq released a video, 9:30 minutes in duration, titled "Dignity in the Caliphate State or Degradation in the West?!", which is the latest in a series of ISIS videos attempting to fight the stream of Muslims leaving for Europe. The video, posted on the jihadi forum Shumouk Al-Islam and elsewhere, integrates interviews with residents of the province who praise life under the caliphate and advise against emigrating. It also features two ISIS fighters, one of them from France, who advise young Muslims to migrate to the Islamic State, as many others have already done, including Europeans and Americans. The speakers stress that Europe is not taking in the refugees out of pro-Islamic or humanitarian sentiment but is guided by political motives and interests designed to weaken Islam.
Pro-ISIS Twitter Accounts Call For Attacks In France
In July and August 2015, pro-ISIS Twitter accounts in French distributed a series of images urging the organization's supporters to carry out attacks in France and the West, especially against soldiers and Jews and in crowded places, using readily available weapons.
On September 24, 2015, British Islamic State (ISIS) member Omar Hussain, aka Abu Saeed Al-Britani, from High Wycombe, England, published an appeal on his Tumblr account to Muslims living in the West to donate money for ISIS.
Al-Britani's Tumblr page
Al-Britani's post, titled "The Importance Of Financially Aiding The Mujahidin," focuses primarily on providing religious justifications, citing Koranic verses and hadiths, for Muslims' obligation to support the jihad with money.
