The www.qoqaz.com site, operated by Al-Qa’ida members in Chechnya, posted a audio recording directed to the Mujahideen in Saudi Arabia by Sheikh Abu Omar Al-Seif, a Saudi considered the deputy of Abu Al-Walid, who is regarded as the commander of the Jihad in Chechnya, and who is also a Saudi. Al-Seif’s previous recording was a video, also distributed over the Internet, that documented the wills of some of the perpetrators of suicide bombings in Riyadh.
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In the new recording, Sheikh Al-Seif states that the aim of the Mujahideen in Chechnya is to bring about Vladimir Putin’s defeat in the upcoming March 2004 elections, and calls on his supporters to refrain from carrying out attacks against the Saudi government and instead to go to Iraq to fight the Americans. The following is a transcript of the recording: "In the Name of Allah the All-Merciful and Compassionate,
"Praise to the Master of the World and prayers for our Master Muhammad.
"I hope that this tape reaches you when you are in a good situation. In this tape, I want to advise that it is no secret that there will be a presidential election in Russia in the coming months, and those months will be of the most significant ones.
"The Mujahideen are trying to escalate the operations in order to topple Putin, Allah willing. Putin is trying by any and all means to present himself during these months as a victor, in order to win the elections. These months will be difficult and important to this issue. Disregarding the matter at this stage is most dangerous to the Mujahideen operations. Every Amir(2) who will receive less aid finds it hard to act, since every operation requires cars, ammunition, intelligence, weapons, food, medical care, and mobility; therefore, if aid to that Amir shrinks, he will find it hard to move and act. Allah willing, in the future the situation will improve, and this is one of the most important reasons for sending this tape.
"Regarding the situation in Iraq and the guerilla war - There must be there [in Iraq] a political element, an information element, and a preaching element alongside the military front. The lessons of the past in fighting the colonialists is that those who receive the state are the secularists and the apostates. We must not repeat this mistake.
"Therefore, it is essential that the Jihad groups there [in Iraq] unite and not separate, and that they have the political dimension to assemble the Sunnis, including the Kurds, the Arabs, and the Turkmenis. All must be united under the same political power. Similarly, there must be an information and a religious preaching arm.
"My recommendation is that a Fatwa be issued, to be signed by a large number of clerics, and to be directed at the Jihad groups, advising them to unite and to learn the lesson from the cases in the past when the secularists took the regime.
"Similarly, I recommend to the Mujahideen that instead of engaging in clashes and warfare against the Saudi government,(3) it is better to go to Iraq. There, there are weapons aplenty and there they can fight the Americans. It is no secret that great damage will be caused the Americans if the Mujahideen turn to Iraq to fight them.
"As for the clashes in Saudi Arabia, there is no doubt that they gladden the Americans. It gladdens them that the Mujahideen are killed by the Saudi government. I recommend to the youth to act according to their interests and to turn to Iraq instead of dealing with confronting the Saudi government.
"May Allah protect you. Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings." |