*** HOW is it possible that this understanding of Islam is that of the Prophet of Allah, Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)? HOW many children and women will you kill in the name of Allah? In the time of Jaahiliya (days of pre-Islamic ignorance) female infants were buried alive - Allah asks us in the Quran, 'for what what sin were you killed'? HOW do you justify taking the lives of Muslims - even the scholars - so easily, I cannot for the life of me, understand. This is has gone way out of the bounds of Shariah, way out of bounds. MS ***
FROM: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/100520/world/international_us_pakistan_violence
Pakistan (Reuters) - Gunmen killed on Thursday a leading Islamic cleric who helped broker peace deals between the government and Taliban militants in Pakistan's northwestern South Waziristan region, an aide and officials said.
The cleric, Malik Mirajuddin, was gunned down in a pre-dawn attack in Tank, a volatile town bordering South Waziristan.
"Two men driving on a motorbike sprayed bullets on Maulana Mirajuddin as he was walking to his home after offering prayers in a nearby mosque," Niaz Mohammad Qureshi, an aide to Mirajuddin told Reuters.
A police official in Tank said Mirajuddin sustained serious wounds and died on his way to hospital.
Neither Qureshi nor police official commented on who could be behind Mirajuddin's murder. No one claimed responsibility for the killing.
Militants have killed hundreds of tribal elders and government officials in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt along the Afghan border over recent years. Many were killed on suspicion of spying.
Pakistan's army launched a major offensive in the militant stronghold of South Waziristan last October, killing hundreds of insurgents and destroying their major bases.
Mirajuddin was a former member of parliament and a senior member of a pro-Taliban Islamic group, Jamiat-e-ulema-e-Islam.
He was instrumental in a peace deal between the government and Taliban in 2005. He was also a senior member of a committee of tribal elders that brokered a ceasefire between the government and Baitullah Mehsud, then Pakistani Taliban chief, in 2007. Mehsud was killed in a missile strike by U.S. drone aircraft in South Waziristan last year.
Showing posts with label afghan jihad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label afghan jihad. Show all posts
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
TALIBAN : NOW HIRING
*** Deal with the conditions that give rise to such desperation and you will win. Bomb the land of its insurgents, walk away and leave those conditions remaining --- and you'll have no choice but to come back to fight again. MS ***
FROM: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/pakistan/article/763739--taliban-target-jobless-youth
Pakistan–Since Tajamal Hussain lost his job in a textiles factory two months ago, the 19-year-old has walked the streets of this gritty city searching for work.
Trouble is, the Taliban seem to be the only ones hiring nowadays.
"Yes, I will consider joining," Hussain said, sipping tea in a shanty in Faisalabad's factory district.
"I have to eat."
International attention for months has been focused on South Waziristan, a remote, mountainous region up against the Afghan border where Pakistan's army is battling Taliban fundamentalists. Yet a storm is also brewing in Faisalabad, some 270 kilometres south of the capital, Islamabad, and Pakistan's third largest city with a population of 5 million.
A booming textiles trade once attracted young, unskilled labourers from across the country, but these days, with an energy crisis crippling Pakistan, factories are closing and an estimated 200,000 textile workers have lost their jobs.
That has left Hussain and others like him stewing in the back alleys of a city with a history of close ties to extremism. Several Islamic militants – including Abu Zubaydah, Al Qaeda's purported No. 3 operative – have been captured here.
"Pakistan is a country of 170 million people, where half of them are under age 21 with poor prospects for their future," said South Asia specialist Daniel Markey, formerly with the U.S. State Department.
"This is a hard story to tell. I don't think the West realizes how huge it is. These problems are not going to end when Bin Laden's head is on a platter."
On a recent morning, another group of laid-off textile workers helped illustrate why the Taliban may draw more recruits from this city.
Muhammad Shafique is 37 and has worked the looms of Faisalabad since he was 12. His wife and two children live in rural Samundri, while Shafique shares a room with three other labourers.
Over cups of chai and countless cigarettes, Shafique spent an hour explaining to a visitor how disastrous it would be to support the Taliban. "We already have a crisis and joining hands with terrorists would only make it worse," he said.
But as the morning wore on and, perhaps, his sugary tea took effect, Shafique's tone changed. "I will join any fight against America," he said in a loud voice, his stare flinty.
Already, Faisalabad's unemployed are growing desperate.
In the space of a week, a bank was robbed and a man taking his two daughters to school was stopped by armed gunmen.
"They pointed the gun at him and his daughters and told him to get off his motorcycle," said Wazir Ahmad Wato, who works for a community organization on water and sanitation issues. "This is becoming usual here and there's no doubt the Taliban are watching and can take advantage. They have agents everywhere."
Wato said it's unclear how much the Taliban pays new recruits, but recent rumours suggest a payout of 500,000 rupees, ($6,275 Canadian) to would-be suicide bombers.
Police superintendent Yousaf Ali Houral doesn't doubt the Taliban are combing the streets of Faisalabad for supporters. "They will exploit the situation," he said.
Gareth Price, head of the Asia program at London research centre Chatham House, said it may be just a matter of time before the textile industry's woes add to Pakistan's security misery.
"Tens and hundreds of thousands of young men are losing their jobs," he said. "The next question for Pakistan is what do they do? Do they blame the government and go and get linked up with extremists? The answer to that question will determine what happens to the country."
FROM: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/pakistan/article/763739--taliban-target-jobless-youth
Pakistan–Since Tajamal Hussain lost his job in a textiles factory two months ago, the 19-year-old has walked the streets of this gritty city searching for work.
Trouble is, the Taliban seem to be the only ones hiring nowadays.
"Yes, I will consider joining," Hussain said, sipping tea in a shanty in Faisalabad's factory district.
"I have to eat."
International attention for months has been focused on South Waziristan, a remote, mountainous region up against the Afghan border where Pakistan's army is battling Taliban fundamentalists. Yet a storm is also brewing in Faisalabad, some 270 kilometres south of the capital, Islamabad, and Pakistan's third largest city with a population of 5 million.
A booming textiles trade once attracted young, unskilled labourers from across the country, but these days, with an energy crisis crippling Pakistan, factories are closing and an estimated 200,000 textile workers have lost their jobs.
That has left Hussain and others like him stewing in the back alleys of a city with a history of close ties to extremism. Several Islamic militants – including Abu Zubaydah, Al Qaeda's purported No. 3 operative – have been captured here.
"Pakistan is a country of 170 million people, where half of them are under age 21 with poor prospects for their future," said South Asia specialist Daniel Markey, formerly with the U.S. State Department.
"This is a hard story to tell. I don't think the West realizes how huge it is. These problems are not going to end when Bin Laden's head is on a platter."
On a recent morning, another group of laid-off textile workers helped illustrate why the Taliban may draw more recruits from this city.
Muhammad Shafique is 37 and has worked the looms of Faisalabad since he was 12. His wife and two children live in rural Samundri, while Shafique shares a room with three other labourers.
Over cups of chai and countless cigarettes, Shafique spent an hour explaining to a visitor how disastrous it would be to support the Taliban. "We already have a crisis and joining hands with terrorists would only make it worse," he said.
But as the morning wore on and, perhaps, his sugary tea took effect, Shafique's tone changed. "I will join any fight against America," he said in a loud voice, his stare flinty.
Already, Faisalabad's unemployed are growing desperate.
In the space of a week, a bank was robbed and a man taking his two daughters to school was stopped by armed gunmen.
"They pointed the gun at him and his daughters and told him to get off his motorcycle," said Wazir Ahmad Wato, who works for a community organization on water and sanitation issues. "This is becoming usual here and there's no doubt the Taliban are watching and can take advantage. They have agents everywhere."
Wato said it's unclear how much the Taliban pays new recruits, but recent rumours suggest a payout of 500,000 rupees, ($6,275 Canadian) to would-be suicide bombers.
Police superintendent Yousaf Ali Houral doesn't doubt the Taliban are combing the streets of Faisalabad for supporters. "They will exploit the situation," he said.
Gareth Price, head of the Asia program at London research centre Chatham House, said it may be just a matter of time before the textile industry's woes add to Pakistan's security misery.
"Tens and hundreds of thousands of young men are losing their jobs," he said. "The next question for Pakistan is what do they do? Do they blame the government and go and get linked up with extremists? The answer to that question will determine what happens to the country."
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
CHARLIE WILSON DEAD AT 76
FROM: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100210/world/us_obit_charlie_wilson
LUFKIN, Texas - A hospital spokeswoman says former Rep. Charlie Wilson of Texas, who pushed U.S. officials to arm the Afghan mujahedeen to fight Soviet occupation forces, has died at the age of 76.
The spokeswoman says Wilson died Wednesday of cardiopulmonary arrest.
Wilson represented Texas' 2nd District in the House from 1973 to 1996 and was nicknamed "Good Time Charlie" for his partying ways.
He was portrayed in the 2007 movie "Charlie Wilson's War," which chronicled Wilson's efforts to arm Afghani mujahedeen, then called "freedom fighters," during Afghanistan's war against the Soviet Union in 1980s.
Actor Tom Hanks portrayed Wilson in the movie.
LUFKIN, Texas - A hospital spokeswoman says former Rep. Charlie Wilson of Texas, who pushed U.S. officials to arm the Afghan mujahedeen to fight Soviet occupation forces, has died at the age of 76.
The spokeswoman says Wilson died Wednesday of cardiopulmonary arrest.
Wilson represented Texas' 2nd District in the House from 1973 to 1996 and was nicknamed "Good Time Charlie" for his partying ways.
He was portrayed in the 2007 movie "Charlie Wilson's War," which chronicled Wilson's efforts to arm Afghani mujahedeen, then called "freedom fighters," during Afghanistan's war against the Soviet Union in 1980s.
Actor Tom Hanks portrayed Wilson in the movie.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
AFGHAN JIHAD and the JI - THEN AND NOW
FROM: http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=35863&cHash=e446967aa2
The Disconnection of Indonesia’s Jemaah Islamiya and al-Qaeda from the Afghan Jihad Experience
Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 39
December 23, 2009 11:14 AM Age: 5 hrs
By: Mohamed Redzuan Salleh, Muhammad Haniff Hassan
In legitimizing their acts of terror, al-Qaeda and Indonesia’s Jemaah Islamiah (JI) frequently draw inspiration from the anti-Soviet Afghan jihad experience of the 1980s. To what extent, however, does the Afghan event justify their violent operations?
On July 17, 2009 the twin Jakarta bombings of the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels served as a grim reminder to the world that the threat of terrorism is still unceasing. After a four-year hiatus of major jihad operations in Indonesia, the perpetrators of the bombings have succeeded in sending a message that terrorism is still “in business.” These incidents underscored the continuous importance of combating the extremist ideology that underlies these violent acts.
Investigators have established that the bomb signatures bore a striking resemblance to those of previous JI operations. However, there was a July 26 online claim of responsibility for the Jakarta bombings that was allegedly circulated on the internet by Noordin Muhammad Top, believed to be the mastermind of the Bali bombings and leader of a JI breakaway group, Tandzim al-Qaeda Indonesia, which read: “It is retribution for all the acts by the United States and its lackeys against Muslims and Muslim holy warriors.[1] Top was eventually killed on September 17 in a police raid in Central Java (New Straits Times, September 19). Whether JI, al-Qaeda or its affiliates are eventually proven to be the perpetrator of these incidents, their ideology has justified similar attacks in the past.
Justifying Extremism
The proponents of violent jihad rely heavily on the anti-Soviet jihad of the 1980s for justification of their violence. Potential recruits are riveted to stories of past victories and miraculous incidents on the battlefield. A pro-jihadist website, azzam.com, used stories of martyrs who died during the Afghan jihad period to inspire Muslims to support jihadist groups in various places. [2]
This “jihad curriculum” is central to the movement’s narrative, and omnipresent on the jihadists’ websites and forums. Osama bin Laden himself described the late Shaykh Abdullah Azzam (1941-1989), the spiritual leader of the Arab Afghan mujahidin and the symbol of the Afghan jihad, in a 1999 interview with al-Jazeera: “Shaykh Abdullah Azzam was not an individual, but an entire nation by himself. Muslim women have proven themselves incapable of giving birth to a man like him after he was killed." [3]
The use of Azzam’s name for the above-mentioned website is a testimony to the use of Afghan jihad as a source of inspiration and legitimacy for extremist activities. For the same reasons, Abdullah Azzam’s name was used for various jihadi fighting units, such as the one that claimed responsibility for the attack on the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Shaykh in July 2005. This latter use of the Shaykh’s name invited condemnation from his immediate family members (Reuters, September 13; Daily Times [Lahore], June 11).
Within the Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah, “the Afghan generation continues to enjoy high prestige and influence” among the membership. [5] The reason is obvious; the jihadists perceive and use the past as their source of inspiration and religious and military legitimacy. This begs the critical question: Does their reverence and constant reference to the alumni of the anti-Soviet jihad legitimize their violent actions?
The Real Picture
If the past were to be studied carefully, one would find that these extremists have deviated from the experience of the Afghan jihad. In more ways than one, the Afghan experience, like much of the jihadist worldview, has been largely manipulated. Today’s repertoire of bombing attacks and indiscriminate violence by jihadist groups has no precedence in the Afghan jihad. Using this jihad to justify indiscriminate killing demonstrates the degree to which the extremists are willing to manipulate events to justify their extreme violence.
During the Afghan jihad, there was no targeting of Soviet or Afghan communist interests in Pakistan or any other part of the world beyond the Afghan borders. Attacks were confined to targets within the conflict zone and the mujahideen never intentionally targeted civilians. [6] During that particular period, the use of indiscriminate violence was well-known elsewhere. Hijackings, kidnappings, and other terrorist tactics were common to groups such as the IRA and PLO. But terrorism was virtually unheard of during the Afghan jihad. The mujahideen also rejected suicide bombings. All this shows that the non-utilization of terrorist tactics was intentional. It was Osama bin Laden, someone with virtually no ideological influence during the anti-Soviet jihad, who issued his so-called fatwa in 1998, which justified attacking enemies wherever they could be found, in stark contrast to the focused mission of the Afghan jihad.
The Testimony of the Afghan Jihadis
While one “Afghan Arab” (who was not heavily involved militarily) espouses extreme global violence, other veterans reject any connection between today’s terrorism and the anti-Soviet struggle. A growing literature of the Afghan jihad written by Afghan Arabs such as Algerian Abdullah Anas (a.k.a. Boudjema Bounoua), rejects bin Laden’s declarations. In 2002, Anas wrote The Birth of the Afghan Arabs, in which he stressed that the Afghan jihad in the 1980s did not introduce the culture of kidnapping civilians and killing them. [7] The mujahideen were also not enjoined to overthrow their governments upon return to their homelands. Moreover, the Russian and Afghanistan embassies abroad were left unharmed by the Afghan mujahideen. [8] Abdullah Anas is now reported to be acting as a mediator in indirect backchannel talks between the Taliban and the United States, undertaken through intermediaries in Saudi and Pakistani intelligence (PK Mirror, December 4).
Anas further mentioned that Abdullah Azzam (his father-in-law) respected the lives of foreigners in Afghanistan. There was one night during which he was with Azzam in a vehicle when they picked up three female Westerners who were waiting for a taxi to get home at a very late hour. When asked the reason why he gave them a lift, Azzam said that they were exposed to harm as the village they were passing by was well-known for banditry. [9]
Another Afghan veteran who has openly condemned al-Qaeda is Libyan Nu’man bin Uthman, better known in the Western media as Noman Benotman (see Spotlight on Terror, March 21, 2005). Bin Uthman attended a conference of jihadists from across the Arab world in 1996 where Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri were galvanizing support to spread their ideological virus. In that conference, Bin Uthman argued that attacking the United States would lead them nowhere (The Australian, June 28, 2008). In a November 2007 open letter to al-Zawahiri, he argued that citizens of Western countries were not to be blamed and killed. [10] Bin Uthman called instead for “a cessation of military activities in the West, in order to withdraw the terrorist card used by some extremist and malicious Western countries against Islam and Muslims. This will neutralize public opinion in those countries whose people believe, whether we like it or not, in freedom, democracy and the respect of human rights.” [11]
During the last decade, Muslim individuals and Islamic groups have begun one by one to denounce the violence advocated by al-Qaeda and its affiliates. Major jihadist groups such as the two largest in Egypt – Gama’a al-Islamiya and Egyptian Islamic Jihad - have disengaged from violence and distanced themselves from the militant extremists. Gama’a al-Islamiya announced their “Non-Violence Initiative” in 1997, while Egyptian Islamic Jihad announced their jihad revisions in 2007 via their key ideologue, Sayyid Imam Abdulaziz al-Sharif, also known in jihadist circles as Dr. Fadl (see Terrorism Monitor, December 10, 2007; Terrorism Focus, January 8, 2008; Terrorism Focus, April 30, 2008). Prominent Islamists who were once seen as hardliners have also condemned Bin Laden publicly, such as Salman al-Oadah, the Saudi cleric who was once imprisoned for supporting violent jihad. [12] As seen above, Afghan veterans are also prominent in condemning al-Qaeda’s ideology and tactics.
Conclusion
The remaining question then is why, in the face of resistance, Afghanistan’s anti-Soviet jihad is being used as validation for extremism? Al-Qaeda and its fellow travelers are desperate to be seen as the voice of a pure and resurgent faith. They need to be associated with ideas and events that are unquestionably seen as good, which is how the 1980s struggle in Afghanistan is viewed in the Islamic world. The flaw in the argument of the jihadists is that their actions do not have roots in the anti-Soviet jihad. By confronting the jihadist community with these facts, it may be able to slow, if not stop, the spread of this extreme ideological virus. The larger Islamic community must be shown the true nature of the jihadist claims in countering their narrative.
The above serves to demonstrate that, in terms of terror tactics, there is an apparent disconnection, be it ideological or strategic, between the ideology of al-Qaeda and the first generation of foreign Muslim fighters in Afghanistan – commonly described as the “Afghan Arabs.” The critical battle now is in exploiting this weakness.
Notes:
1. See press release in Arabic and Bahasa Indonesian by Tandzim Al-Qaeda Indonesia at mediaislam-bushro.blogspot.com.
2. The website was shut down after the 9/11 attacks but can still be viewed athttp://web.archive.org/web/20001204063800/http://www.azzam.com/.
3. Interview with Osama bin Laden by Salah Najm, aired by al-Jazeera on June 10, 1999. The transcript in English is available at web.archive.org/web/20021113111503/http://www.terrorism.com/terrorism/BinLadinTranscript.shtml.
4. Interview with Huzaifah, son of Abdullah Azzam by al-Arabiyah, July 26, 2005, www.alarabiya.net/programs/2005/07/28/15351.html.
5. “ ‘Deradicalisation’ and Indonesian Prisons,” International Crisis Group, Asia Report, No. 142, November 19, 2007, p. 14.
6. Interview with Abdullah Anas by al-Arabiyah, January 2,. 2006, available at www.alarabiya.net/programs/2006/01/02/19984.html.
7. Interview with Abdullah Anas by al-Arabiyah, December 27,.2005, available at www.alarabiya.net/articles/2005/12/27/19861.html.
8. Interview with Abdullah Anas by Al-Arabiyah, January 2, 2006, available at www.alarabiya.net/programs/2006/01/02/19984.html.
9. Ibid
10. See counterideology.multiply.com/journal/item/105/Just_sharing_-_Noman_Benotman_Advice_to_Dr._Ayman_Zawahiri_Nov_2007.
11. Ibid
12. Salman Al-Oadah is a Saudi cleric who has a website, islamtoday.com, under his general supervision. His letter to Bin Laden can be found here: www.islamtoday.com/showme2.cfm
The Disconnection of Indonesia’s Jemaah Islamiya and al-Qaeda from the Afghan Jihad Experience
Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 39
December 23, 2009 11:14 AM Age: 5 hrs
By: Mohamed Redzuan Salleh, Muhammad Haniff Hassan
In legitimizing their acts of terror, al-Qaeda and Indonesia’s Jemaah Islamiah (JI) frequently draw inspiration from the anti-Soviet Afghan jihad experience of the 1980s. To what extent, however, does the Afghan event justify their violent operations?
On July 17, 2009 the twin Jakarta bombings of the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels served as a grim reminder to the world that the threat of terrorism is still unceasing. After a four-year hiatus of major jihad operations in Indonesia, the perpetrators of the bombings have succeeded in sending a message that terrorism is still “in business.” These incidents underscored the continuous importance of combating the extremist ideology that underlies these violent acts.
Investigators have established that the bomb signatures bore a striking resemblance to those of previous JI operations. However, there was a July 26 online claim of responsibility for the Jakarta bombings that was allegedly circulated on the internet by Noordin Muhammad Top, believed to be the mastermind of the Bali bombings and leader of a JI breakaway group, Tandzim al-Qaeda Indonesia, which read: “It is retribution for all the acts by the United States and its lackeys against Muslims and Muslim holy warriors.[1] Top was eventually killed on September 17 in a police raid in Central Java (New Straits Times, September 19). Whether JI, al-Qaeda or its affiliates are eventually proven to be the perpetrator of these incidents, their ideology has justified similar attacks in the past.
Justifying Extremism
The proponents of violent jihad rely heavily on the anti-Soviet jihad of the 1980s for justification of their violence. Potential recruits are riveted to stories of past victories and miraculous incidents on the battlefield. A pro-jihadist website, azzam.com, used stories of martyrs who died during the Afghan jihad period to inspire Muslims to support jihadist groups in various places. [2]
This “jihad curriculum” is central to the movement’s narrative, and omnipresent on the jihadists’ websites and forums. Osama bin Laden himself described the late Shaykh Abdullah Azzam (1941-1989), the spiritual leader of the Arab Afghan mujahidin and the symbol of the Afghan jihad, in a 1999 interview with al-Jazeera: “Shaykh Abdullah Azzam was not an individual, but an entire nation by himself. Muslim women have proven themselves incapable of giving birth to a man like him after he was killed." [3]
The use of Azzam’s name for the above-mentioned website is a testimony to the use of Afghan jihad as a source of inspiration and legitimacy for extremist activities. For the same reasons, Abdullah Azzam’s name was used for various jihadi fighting units, such as the one that claimed responsibility for the attack on the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Shaykh in July 2005. This latter use of the Shaykh’s name invited condemnation from his immediate family members (Reuters, September 13; Daily Times [Lahore], June 11).
Within the Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah, “the Afghan generation continues to enjoy high prestige and influence” among the membership. [5] The reason is obvious; the jihadists perceive and use the past as their source of inspiration and religious and military legitimacy. This begs the critical question: Does their reverence and constant reference to the alumni of the anti-Soviet jihad legitimize their violent actions?
The Real Picture
If the past were to be studied carefully, one would find that these extremists have deviated from the experience of the Afghan jihad. In more ways than one, the Afghan experience, like much of the jihadist worldview, has been largely manipulated. Today’s repertoire of bombing attacks and indiscriminate violence by jihadist groups has no precedence in the Afghan jihad. Using this jihad to justify indiscriminate killing demonstrates the degree to which the extremists are willing to manipulate events to justify their extreme violence.
During the Afghan jihad, there was no targeting of Soviet or Afghan communist interests in Pakistan or any other part of the world beyond the Afghan borders. Attacks were confined to targets within the conflict zone and the mujahideen never intentionally targeted civilians. [6] During that particular period, the use of indiscriminate violence was well-known elsewhere. Hijackings, kidnappings, and other terrorist tactics were common to groups such as the IRA and PLO. But terrorism was virtually unheard of during the Afghan jihad. The mujahideen also rejected suicide bombings. All this shows that the non-utilization of terrorist tactics was intentional. It was Osama bin Laden, someone with virtually no ideological influence during the anti-Soviet jihad, who issued his so-called fatwa in 1998, which justified attacking enemies wherever they could be found, in stark contrast to the focused mission of the Afghan jihad.
The Testimony of the Afghan Jihadis
While one “Afghan Arab” (who was not heavily involved militarily) espouses extreme global violence, other veterans reject any connection between today’s terrorism and the anti-Soviet struggle. A growing literature of the Afghan jihad written by Afghan Arabs such as Algerian Abdullah Anas (a.k.a. Boudjema Bounoua), rejects bin Laden’s declarations. In 2002, Anas wrote The Birth of the Afghan Arabs, in which he stressed that the Afghan jihad in the 1980s did not introduce the culture of kidnapping civilians and killing them. [7] The mujahideen were also not enjoined to overthrow their governments upon return to their homelands. Moreover, the Russian and Afghanistan embassies abroad were left unharmed by the Afghan mujahideen. [8] Abdullah Anas is now reported to be acting as a mediator in indirect backchannel talks between the Taliban and the United States, undertaken through intermediaries in Saudi and Pakistani intelligence (PK Mirror, December 4).
Anas further mentioned that Abdullah Azzam (his father-in-law) respected the lives of foreigners in Afghanistan. There was one night during which he was with Azzam in a vehicle when they picked up three female Westerners who were waiting for a taxi to get home at a very late hour. When asked the reason why he gave them a lift, Azzam said that they were exposed to harm as the village they were passing by was well-known for banditry. [9]
Another Afghan veteran who has openly condemned al-Qaeda is Libyan Nu’man bin Uthman, better known in the Western media as Noman Benotman (see Spotlight on Terror, March 21, 2005). Bin Uthman attended a conference of jihadists from across the Arab world in 1996 where Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri were galvanizing support to spread their ideological virus. In that conference, Bin Uthman argued that attacking the United States would lead them nowhere (The Australian, June 28, 2008). In a November 2007 open letter to al-Zawahiri, he argued that citizens of Western countries were not to be blamed and killed. [10] Bin Uthman called instead for “a cessation of military activities in the West, in order to withdraw the terrorist card used by some extremist and malicious Western countries against Islam and Muslims. This will neutralize public opinion in those countries whose people believe, whether we like it or not, in freedom, democracy and the respect of human rights.” [11]
During the last decade, Muslim individuals and Islamic groups have begun one by one to denounce the violence advocated by al-Qaeda and its affiliates. Major jihadist groups such as the two largest in Egypt – Gama’a al-Islamiya and Egyptian Islamic Jihad - have disengaged from violence and distanced themselves from the militant extremists. Gama’a al-Islamiya announced their “Non-Violence Initiative” in 1997, while Egyptian Islamic Jihad announced their jihad revisions in 2007 via their key ideologue, Sayyid Imam Abdulaziz al-Sharif, also known in jihadist circles as Dr. Fadl (see Terrorism Monitor, December 10, 2007; Terrorism Focus, January 8, 2008; Terrorism Focus, April 30, 2008). Prominent Islamists who were once seen as hardliners have also condemned Bin Laden publicly, such as Salman al-Oadah, the Saudi cleric who was once imprisoned for supporting violent jihad. [12] As seen above, Afghan veterans are also prominent in condemning al-Qaeda’s ideology and tactics.
Conclusion
The remaining question then is why, in the face of resistance, Afghanistan’s anti-Soviet jihad is being used as validation for extremism? Al-Qaeda and its fellow travelers are desperate to be seen as the voice of a pure and resurgent faith. They need to be associated with ideas and events that are unquestionably seen as good, which is how the 1980s struggle in Afghanistan is viewed in the Islamic world. The flaw in the argument of the jihadists is that their actions do not have roots in the anti-Soviet jihad. By confronting the jihadist community with these facts, it may be able to slow, if not stop, the spread of this extreme ideological virus. The larger Islamic community must be shown the true nature of the jihadist claims in countering their narrative.
The above serves to demonstrate that, in terms of terror tactics, there is an apparent disconnection, be it ideological or strategic, between the ideology of al-Qaeda and the first generation of foreign Muslim fighters in Afghanistan – commonly described as the “Afghan Arabs.” The critical battle now is in exploiting this weakness.
Notes:
1. See press release in Arabic and Bahasa Indonesian by Tandzim Al-Qaeda Indonesia at mediaislam-bushro.blogspot.com.
2. The website was shut down after the 9/11 attacks but can still be viewed athttp://web.archive.org/web/20001204063800/http://www.azzam.com/.
3. Interview with Osama bin Laden by Salah Najm, aired by al-Jazeera on June 10, 1999. The transcript in English is available at web.archive.org/web/20021113111503/http://www.terrorism.com/terrorism/BinLadinTranscript.shtml.
4. Interview with Huzaifah, son of Abdullah Azzam by al-Arabiyah, July 26, 2005, www.alarabiya.net/programs/2005/07/28/15351.html.
5. “ ‘Deradicalisation’ and Indonesian Prisons,” International Crisis Group, Asia Report, No. 142, November 19, 2007, p. 14.
6. Interview with Abdullah Anas by al-Arabiyah, January 2,. 2006, available at www.alarabiya.net/programs/2006/01/02/19984.html.
7. Interview with Abdullah Anas by al-Arabiyah, December 27,.2005, available at www.alarabiya.net/articles/2005/12/27/19861.html.
8. Interview with Abdullah Anas by Al-Arabiyah, January 2, 2006, available at www.alarabiya.net/programs/2006/01/02/19984.html.
9. Ibid
10. See counterideology.multiply.com/journal/item/105/Just_sharing_-_Noman_Benotman_Advice_to_Dr._Ayman_Zawahiri_Nov_2007.
11. Ibid
12. Salman Al-Oadah is a Saudi cleric who has a website, islamtoday.com, under his general supervision. His letter to Bin Laden can be found here: www.islamtoday.com/showme2.cfm
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
