The following is the 49th edition of the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Weekly Digest. It includes exclusive reports and items from the past week on Jihadist websites.
THE WEEK IN JIHAD
Despite the fact that Pastor Terry Jones canceled his plans to hold a Koran-burning ceremony on the anniversary of 9/11, the episode continues to echo among Islamist radicals. Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, the most influential religious authority for global jihadists, has authored a warning to Western nations that their general populations are liable to be attacked in response to the Koran-burning episode, insults to the Prophet Muhammad, and what Al-Maqdisi views as collusion between Western governments and Coptic Christians in Egypt in the recent abduction of the female Muslim convert Camilia Shehata. The article is written in a much more strident tone than is usual for Al-Maqdisi, including promises that the wombs of Muslim mothers will produce more men like Muhammad 'Atta and Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi. Al-Maqdisi is an ardent supporter of Al-Qaeda, but he often counsels against individuals undertaking terror operations in Western countries, since he believes jihad should be waged in accordance with a feasible long-term plan. The new article contains no such caveat, and will almost surely be interpreted as a green light from the cleric for attacks in the West.
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