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.)
MEMRI offers an additional option for jihad and terrorism news – the Global Jihad News (GJN) website. Access is by annual subscription – available this week only at a special price of $260; to subscribe, visit the MEMRI E-Store and use the discount code Winter 2012 at checkout.
Note to media and government: For a full copy of these reports, send an email with the title of the report in the subject line to media@memri.org. Please include your name, title, and organization in your email.
On December 24, 2012, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a new propaganda video titled "Jihad of A Nation" featuring new footages of its deputy emir and ex-Gitmo detainee Saeed Al-Shihri, its military commander, Qasim Al-Raimi, and its senior cleric and former Gitmo detainee Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Rubaish. In the video which is 43:26 in duration, the group accused the U.S. of supporting and protecting the controversial film "Innocence of Muslims," criticized the U.S. military presence in the Gulf, and endorsed a fatwa in which dozens of Yemeni clerics ruled Jihad obligatory if Yemen is to be invaded. On their comments at the angry protests which targeted many U.S. embassies around the world, Al-Rubaish and Al-Raimi argued that Muslims will not tolerate any more attacks on their prophet as they neither fear their leaders nor foreign powers which they came to realize that they are not as powerful as they thought they would be.
*Note: JTTM subscribers can watch the video here.
British National Arrested In Mauritania En Route To Joining Mujahideen In Timbuktu
On December 26, 2012, the Mauritanian news website Saharamedias.net reported that a British national, en route to joining the mujahideen in Timbuktu, was taken into custody by local authorities in Mauritania.
At a two-day conference in France, two representatives of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban's shadow government in the country) enunciated for the first time a clear Taliban position regarding power-sharing in Kabul in a new government. The conference was held in Chantilly, near Paris, December 20-21, 2012. One of the Islamic Emirate's websites published the full text of a speech delivered by its representatives Mawlawi Shahabuddin Dilawar and Dr. Muhammad Naeem. The text of the speech makes clear that the Taliban are showing flexibility in defining a path to power, stating that Taliban Mullah Omar does not intend to monopolize power and that a new constitution that is in compliance with Islamic principles must be drafted, and also that it must be approved by the Afghan people – possibly through a referendum.
From the points enunciated at the Paris conference, it appears that the Taliban's flexibility and inclination in reaching out for power-sharing in Kabul is derived from the lessons learned by Islamist forces in the Middle East, especially in Egypt. Mawlawi Shahabuddin Dilawar, who is on a U.N. terror list, was allowed to travel to Paris after the U.N. gave him a waiver. Dilawar is the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
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GIMF Releases Jihadi Song In English, Arabic and German, Inciting For Jihad
*Note: JTTM subscribers can watch the video here.
Shortly after Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen publicly announced that it was renouncing American Al-Shabab operative 'Omar Hammami, aka Abu Mansour Al-Amriki, Hammami stated via his Twitter account that the group was seeking to discredit him. This presumably is because of Hammami's statements in recent months regarding a schism within Al-Shabab's ranks.
An Egyptian Who Lived In Ireland Reported Killed In Syria
On December 22, 2012, news about the death of Abu Al-Yaman Hudhaifa Al-Masri was posted on the Al-Minbar Jihadi Media forum. Al-Masri, according to the post, was an Egyptian who lived in Ireland and then traveled to Syria to join the opposition forces against the Bashar Al-Assad regime.
Egyptian Daily 'Al-Ahram' Reveals New Details On Syrian Jabhat Al-Nusra
The Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, citing "informed sources" in Syria, reported new information regarding the Syrian Salafi-jihadi organization Jabhat Al-Nusra, which the U.S. recently designated a terrorist organization due to its ties to Al-Qaeda.
Following are the new details on the organization and its ties to Al-Qaeda provided by Al-Ahram:
Most of the organization's members are defecting Syrian army officers and soldiers, in addition to young Syrian civilians. The rest of its members comprise mostly Arabs from Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Algeria, and, in smaller numbers, Afghanis, Chechens, and Pakistanis, as well as at least one member each from the U.S., France, and China.
Jabhat Al-Nusra Declares No Fly Zone Over Aleppo Airport
The Islamist website Sooryoon.net reported that on December 21, 2012, Syrian rebels encircling Aleppo's airport, headed by the Syrian jihadi organization Jabhat Al-Nusra, had fired at the wheels of a civilian plane attempting to take off, causing it to abort.
TTP commander Maulana Waliur Rehman, who is rumored to be a likely successor to TTP Emir Hakimullah Mehsud
In a letter sent to noted Pakistani journalist Saleem Safi, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has made a conditional ceasefire offer to the Pakistani government, provided that it rewrites the Pakistani constitution to make it more Islamic and withdraws its support to the U.S.-led war on terror in Afghanistan. The letter, sent by the TTP's Punjab branch, was confirmed to be authentic in a telephone call to Saleem Safi by TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ihsan, who also demanded that secular political parties like the Awami National Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement apologize for their opposition to the Taliban in recent years.
On December 27, 2012, the Syrian jihadi group Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) released a 23-minute audio-recorded message by its Emir, Abu Muhammad Al-Julani, in which he responds to American's recent move of designating JN a terrorist organization. Al-Julani says that the designation is an expression of America's failure in the region, and thanks all those who stood by JN following this move, noting that their support is an indication of JN's popularity among the Syrian people. It is noteworthy that Al-Julani's address was posted on JN's Facebook page, since the Shumoukh Al-Islam forum, JN's usual outlet for publishing its materials, has been offline for several days.
Egyptian Salafi-Jihadis Accuse MB Of Being Behind Mass Shut Down Of Their Facebook Pages
According to a December 23, 2012 report on the Egyptian website Al-Watan News (elwatannews.com), Facebook has shut down the pages of jihadi organizations in Egypt, after receiving complaints that they incite to violence and threaten public security. According to the report, the administrators of pages belonging to several organizations – including The Salafiyya Jihadiyya in Sinai, The Salafiyya Jihadiyya in Damanhour, The Salafiyya Jihadiyya in Egypt and Ansar Tatbiq Al-Shari'a – were surprised to discover on December 12, 2012 that all their pages had been shut down simultaneously.
