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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The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban's shadow government in the country) has issued a jihadi statement by Islamic clerics. The statement was issued in a bid to oppose the proposed conference in Kabul of Afghan Islamic scholars, backed by the Afghan government. On January 31, 2013, a Pakistani media report indicated that the government-backed Kabul conference has been postponed and will likely take place in the next few weeks. The Islamic Emirate published the pro-jihad clerics' statement in Morchal (Bunker), one of its monthly magazines. It claimed that the statement was issued by 300 prominent Afghan UIema (Islamic scholars) at a meeting, but did not release the names of the signatories and the venue where they met.
Salafi-Jihadis In Tunisia Issue Veiled Threat To Liberals
The logo of the Facebook page associated with the Salafi-jihadi stream in Tunisia
Following the riots that broke out in Tunisia after the assassination of secularist opposition leader Shukri Bel-Eid, the Facebook page Al-Rudoud Al-Qawiyya 'Ala Al-Murji'a Al-Ghawiyya (www.facebook.com/roudoudkawiya1), which is associated with the Salafi-jihadi stream in Tunisia, posted a message condemning what it saw as a double standard. The page's administrators stated that, when a Salafi is killed in Tunisia, nobody makes a sound, whereas Shukri's murder caused everyone to start "barking" in protest. It says further that 16 Salafis have been killed in the country recently, but that the Salafi-jihadi stream nevertheless refrained from demonstrating and demanding the ouster of the regime, "so that everyone would know which stream is best able to restrain itself and is most determined not to exacerbate [the conflicts in the country], even at the expense of the lives of its members."
The Salafi-jihadi website Minbar Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad published two new fatwas by senior Salafi-jihadi cleric Abu Mundhir Al-Shinqiti in which he ruled that hacking U.S. retailer websites in order to get merchandise without paying and stealing French properties are permissible. The new fatwas came in response to two quesries. In the first, a user identifying himself as Abu Bakr Al-Ansari asked about the permissibility of hacking U.S. retailer websites or using fraudulent credit cards to obtain merchandise without paying. Al-Ansari also asked about the ruling on paying service fees to hackers.
On February 5, 2013, the Salafi-jihadi group Ansar Al-Shari'a in Tunisia (AST) posted on its Youtube channel an interview with its leader, Sheikh Abu Iyadh Al-Tunisi, who is wanted by the local authorities for his suspected role in the September 14, 2012 attacks against the U.S. embassy in Tunis. In the interview, which was banned from broadcast in Tunisia on grounds that it may contain a hidden message by Abu Iyadh to his followers, Abu Iyadh addresses numerous topics, including the war in Mali, French and Western involvement in Tunisia's domestic affairs, and a number of violent attacks that have been attributed to the Salafis.
Reports On Former AQ Spokesman Abu Al-Gheith's Arrest In Turkey
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In the past several days, the Arab press has been reporting on former Al-Qaeda spokesman Suleiman Abu Al-Gheith. Abu Al-Gheith was among a group of Al-Qaeda operatives that fled to Iran in 2001, where they were placed under house arrest. Kuwait revoked Abu Al-Gheith's citizenship. Originally from Kuwait, which has revoked his citizenship, he is married to Fatma bin Laden, the daughter of the Al-Qaeda founder.
Fatwa Rebukes Mujahideen From The Caucasus For Abandoning Jihad There In Favor Of Syria
Rustam Gelayev, a Chechen fighter who died in Syria
On December 30, 2012, VDagestan, a website associated with the Caucasus Emirate (CE), published a fatwa issued by a sheikh who goes by the name of Abu 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Maghrebi in which he rebuked mujahideen from the Caucasus for emigrating to Syria in order to wage jihad while abandoning the fight against the Russians in their own country. An Arabic version of the fatwa was later posted on Arabic jihadi websites as well.
On February 5, 2013, the Salafi-jihadi movement Ansar Al-Shari'a in Tunisia (AST) posted a lengthy interview on its Youtube page with the group's leader, Sheikh Abu Iyadh Al-Tunisi, aka Sayfullah bin Hussein. In the interview, Abu Iyadh touches on a multitude of topics, including the war in Mali, French and Western involvement in Tunisia's domestic affairs, and a number of violent attacks that have been attributed to Salafis.
On January 30, 2013, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated organization Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) released an audio message in support of the recent Sunni anti-government demonstrations in Iraq. The message, delivered by ISI spokesman Abu Muhammad Al-'Adnani, warned Sunnis against trusting their elected Sunni politicians, claiming that the latter collaborated with the Shi'ites and betrayed their fellow Sunnis when they decided to join the "Safavid" (Shi'ite) government. Al-'Adnani further called upon the demonstrators to be prepared to carry weapons and to choose the path of jihad. He warned that, if they did not, they would continue to be subjugated and persecuted by the Shi'ites.
On February 3, 2013, the Anadolu news agency reported that, based on interviews it had conducted with militants in northern Mali, the former were preparing for a long-term war with the French and African forces in the country. One top commander in the jihadi group Al-Muwaqi'un Bi-Dimaa' – the group behind last month's attack against the gas installation in 'Ain Amenas, Algeria – said it was preparing to target French forces, which would be "lured... to their graves" with suicide operations.
'Al-Quds Al-Arabi': Jihadists Expelled From Mali May Infiltrate North Africa, Southern Europe
A January 29, 2013 report in the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi speaks of growing concerns that terrorists driven out of northern Mali may infiltrate North Africa and southern Europe. Citing European and North African sources, the daily states that the level of alert in North African Arab countries (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Mauritania) and in some countries in Southern Europe, notably Spain, has been raised following the expulsion of jihadi elements from towns in northern Mali. Morocco's military has reportedly gone on full alert, intensifying ground and aerial patrols to track the movement of terrorist, and Spain is closely monitoring border zones with Morocco and boats carrying immigrants, especially those arriving from Algeria and from the Canary Islands.
Following Its Suspension Last Month, Al-Shabab Relaunches English Twitter Account
On February 4, 2013, Shahada, a self-described news agency that "focuses on the news of the Horn of Africa in general, and Somalia in particular," reported that the Somali Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen had launched a new English-language Twitter account to replace its former account (@HSMPRESS), which was suspended last January.
GIMF Releases Encryption Software For Instant Messaging
With the new Asrar Al-Dardashah plugin, GIMF promised "secure correspondence" that is "highly technical in encryption [and] that is above globally existing levels of encryption." The technology, it said, would enable secure communications based on the "highest standards reached by cryptography and digital telecommunications engineering." Asrar Al-Dardashah uses the Pidgin chat client, as the latter supports multiple chat platforms, including Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Google Talk, and Jabber/XMPP. GIMF said it had decided to play a leading role in the media battle between the mujahideen and their enemies, while sparing "no effort" in offering support to the mujahideen.
In a communiqué dated February 6, 2013, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) accuses the Yemeni government of selling the country's oil and gas at a low price, and demands to establish an independent committee to manage Yemen's resources. The following is the text of the communiqué, which was released by AQAP's media company Al-Fajr and posted February 7, 2013 on the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam.
Shumoukh Al-Islam Announces Death Of Khalid Abu Jihad Al-Jaza'iri, Admin Of Ushaq Al-Hour
On February 6, 2013, Husam Addine Al-Shami, a member of the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam, announced the death of Khalid Abu Jihad Al-Jaza'iri, known on jihadi forums as "Abu Jihad47" and "Mur'ib A'daa Allah." He said Al-Jaza'iri had died in Syria fighting alongside the jihadi group Jabhat Al-Nusra. According to the post, Al-Jaza'iri had been one of administrators of Ushaq Al-Hour Islamic Network, a low profile jihadi forum, as well as an active and prominent member of Al-Dharaghem Foundation, the forum's media wing.
In a new video, released February 3, 2013, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban) clarifies that it is an international jihadi organization. The 27:20 video, which was sent to journalists in Pakistan, shows TTP spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan interviewed by an unidentified local journalist especially invited for this purpose; Ihsan (above left) is shown seated next to Adnan Rasheed, who escaped from Pakistan's Bannu jail in a daring Taliban operation. Militant Adnan Rasheed, a resident of Chota Lahor village in Pakistan's Swabi district, was imprisoned for an assassination plot against former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf. At the time of his arrest, he was serving in the Pakistan Air Force; later a local court sentenced him to death. Rasheed does not speak in the video.
