The following are excerpts from a speech by the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi. The speech was published in audio form on the Internet and downloaded by MEMRI from the website of Al-Qaeda's Jihad Media Battalion ( www.k-j-i.tk ) on September 14, 2005. TO LISTEN TO THIS CLIP: http://memritv.org/clip/en/853.htm . Al-Zarqawi: "Days go by, and events follow one after the other. The battles are many, and the names used are varied. But the goal is one: a Crusader-Rafidite 1 war ...
In the past two years a religious dispute has developed between Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and his spiritual mentor Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi. 1 It has focused on the question of the legitimacy of certain Jihad operations in Iraq, and in particular on the question of the religious legitimacy of attacking Muslims, of attacking Shiites, and of attacking non-combatant non-Muslims. The dispute began with Al-Maqdisi criticizing certain methods of Jihad in Iraq. In a July 2004 ...
On June 17, 2005, the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published an interview with Fatihah Mohammed Al-Taher Hosni, the wife of Moroccan Al-Qaeda member Abdel Karim Al-Tuhami Al-Majati, who was responsible for the May 2003 bombings in Riyadh and was killed last April by Saudi security forces. Fatiha herself was arrested along with one of her sons in an eye clinic in Saudi Arabia in March 2003. 1 In the interview, Fatiha, also a Moroccan, revealed how she influenced her husband to ...
Nese Duzel, of the center-left, liberal Turkish daily Radikal, interviewed Turkish professor, former Turkish intelligence officer, and newspaper columnist Mahir Kaynak 1 on the subject of Al-Qaeda's global terrorism. 2 Kaynak claimed that the U.S. government was behind both 9/11 and the assassination of president John F. Kennedy. The interview was also quoted at length by columnists from other Turkish newspapers. The following are excerpts from the interview: There is No Al-Qaeda; It's a Code ...
The act of martyrdom is often celebrated by the Iranian theocracy. Most recently, Iranian President-Elect Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, in his second TV appearance since his election victory, spoke July 25, 2005 on Iranian Channel 1 in praise of "the art of martyrdom." The day after Ahmadi-Nejad's TV appearance, the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published a report about his spiritual advisor, Ayatollah Mohammad Misbach Yazdi. The report advised Iranians on how to volunteer for the ...
The following are additional reactions from the Arab and Iranian press to the July 7, 2005 bombings in London. For Part I, see . For video clips on the reactions from MEMRI TV, visit http://memritv.org/clip/en/67.htm . "Expel Extremism Today" Under the title "Expel Extremism Today," Al-Arabiya TV Director-General Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed wrote: " For over 10 years now, I myself and other Arab writers have warned against the dangers of the reckless handling of the extremism that is now spreading ...
Since the passage of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, there has been public debate in the Arab and international arenas, particularly in Lebanon, on the future of the Hizbullah organization in southern Lebanon, and on disarming it in accordance with Article 3 of the resolution, which calls for the "disbanding and disarmament of all the Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias." Forces in Lebanon are divided over whether the organization should be disarmed. Some Christian opposition members as ...
Introduction Shortly after the occupation of Iraq in April 2003, Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi emerged as a leading terrorist in that country. While a number of terrorist organizations are operating in Iraq besides the insurgency movement led by Saddam's former intelligence and loyalist groups, Al-Zarqawi's organization combines terrorist activities with an ardent anti-Shi'ite zeal designed to instigate a civil war between the Iraqi Sunnis and the Shi'ites. This paper explores Al-Zarqawi's words and ...
As the June 17, 2005 presidential elections in Iran draw near, Iran's revolutionary regime grapples with a number of problems. There is mounting public apathy as well as calls to boycott the elections – whether due to the regime's corruption and tyranny, or due to the reformists' failure to make good on their promises under outgoing President Mohammad Khatami. There are also a large number of candidates – eight in total – most of whom intone empty slogans and lack any clearly defined, effective ...
