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2003-12-10 Terror Networks

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Posted by Fred Pruitt 2003-12-10 00:09|| || Front Page|| [8 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 This comment points to the relevant LGF thread and comments, in case anyone there posts something of note.

Posted by Seafarious 2003-12-10 12:51:48 AM|| 2003-12-10 12:51:48 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Lots of real interesting stuff here.
It sounds like they have been setting up new C&C structures, particularly with the help of the heads of Hizb ut Tahrir, probably in response to the weakening of Al Qaedas central control.
London is supposed to be the major headquaters of Hezb ut Tahrir in Europe, and it's my guess that they and their backers are more likely to be pulling the stings that the MIRA, but that's mostly because MIRA seems to be a pretty small anti-Saud group which is likely to be under close supervision by Mi5.
I remember reading earlier that European converts to Islam are joining Jihadi outfits in large outfits, I wonder how many of the East Europeans are converts?
Anyways, it sounds like Al Tawhid will turn out to be as sophisticated as Jamaah Islamiyah in South East Asia, which noone had even heard of a couple years ago.

Posted by Paul Moloney 2003-12-10 1:05:27 AM|| 2003-12-10 1:05:27 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 One thing that I would take note of is that "sheikh" doesn't necessarily refer to a cleric and while I suspect that the holy men do a great deal as far as running the show goes, the term is also a honorific way of saying "elder" (learned or otherwise).

As far as Chechnya goes, my main reason for seeing at least some kind of control for al-Tawhid minimobs routing through there is that we've had Saif al-Islam al-Masri, Zarqawi, and Abu Khabab all in general vicinity of the area over the course of the last two years, and in the case of Zarqawi and Khabab it was within months of one another. I don't have a clue what al-Qaeda's mad scientist was doing up in the Caucasus, but we can probably wager that he was Up To No Good.

The way I figure it, there's a whole network of underground railroads and little enclaves (like the one Ansar/Komala were running before the war) that exist up and down the Caucasus, all the way back to the top brass in Iran. I see the Bingol krazed killers as being part of that, as well as likely the Azerbaijani Jamaat. Above all, I can't help but remember all the communications between Barayev's men in the Moscow theater and their bosses in the Gulf (and Central Asia?) - I think that was one of the clearest glimpses as to just how wide-ranging and entrenched the terror network is.

The other thing is that Basayev himself is an alumni of the Afghan training camps, as is most of the Chechen brass. The Chechen jamaat fighters are al-Qaeda by any other name, one of the reasons why nuancing between the two is so asinine. One of the things I'm real interested to see is how the new Georgian government handles the situation in the Pankisi Gorge in regards to all of the foreign jihadis - that and whether or not Gelayev still has his house.

Posted by Dan Darling 2003-12-10 1:06:07 AM|| [http://www.regnumcrucis.blogspot.com] 2003-12-10 1:06:07 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Hmmmmm...

12/8/03
Jordanian king trying to broker deal between US and Iran
(snip)
Among those suspected of being in Iran are Saad bin Laden, the son of the al Qaeda founder; military organizer Saif Adel; al Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, and Abu Mohammed Masri, who was tied to the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.asp?D=12/8/03&ID=22375

Posted by mojo 2003-12-10 1:41:21 AM|| 2003-12-10 1:41:21 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Mojo hit it dead on. I think we have found our four infiltrators into Kurdistan. The thing that makes me think it is Saad Bin Laden is this line right here.

"who is of the same blood as Emir Abdullah."

Emir Abdullah is OBL, right? So to be of the same blood Abu Salman would have to be his kid. Remember, OBL brother's don't have his blood, just his fathers. If Abu Salman had been a Brother of OBL they would have said " And is of the same father as Emir Abdullah ".

Nice catch on the connection Mojo.

Posted by Charles 2003-12-10 1:51:38 AM|| 2003-12-10 1:51:38 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 I'd be willing to bet that "Ismail" in the Netherlands is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. If he's been there since '79, he didn't see combat in Afghanistan, so he's Old Skool.

Posted by Pete Stanley 2003-12-10 4:37:13 PM|| 2003-12-10 4:37:13 PM|| Front Page Top

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