Category: Al-Qaeda

CAIRO, Egypt — A video posted on the Internet shows the graphic killings of three Russian diplomats kidnapped in Iraq, and says an Al Qaeda umbrella group has killed all four hostages. The video, posted on an Islamic Web site the frequently airs militant messages, showed the beheading of one blindfolded man, the headless body of another in a pool of blood and the shooting of a third man. The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization linking seven insurgent groups including Al Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the executions in an accompanying statement. “God’s verdict has been carried out

Osama Bin Laden accused the West yesterday of waging a war against Islam and justified attacks on western civilians because they had elected governments that are fighting in Muslim countries. Bin Laden’s threats came as John Reid, the Defence Secretary, confirmed that the 3,500 British troops in Afghanistan would launch pre-emptive strikes against Taliban and al-Qa’eda forces if it was necessary to safeguard soldiers’ lives. In a latest tape recording attributed to the al-Qa’eda leader, who is believed to be in hiding along the Pakistan-Afghan border, bin Laden did not repeat the threat to attack the United States he made

WASHINGTON — A new audiotape believed to be from Osama bin Laden warns that Al Qaeda is preparing terrorist attacks on the United States but says they can be avoided if U.S. officials agree to a truce that would allow Muslims to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan. A CIA technical analysis of the tape concluded that the voice was that of the Al Qaeda leader, an agency official said. The tape, the first from Bin Laden in more than a year, was aired Thursday by the Al Jazeera satellite TV channel. It appeared to have been made in early December, U.S.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq and some other militant groups have set up an umbrella body to coordinate their fight against US-led forces and the Iraqi government, according to a Web statement posted today. The Mujahideen Council aims to confront the “crusaders and their rejectionist (Shiite) and secularist followers who have seized Baghdad”, said the statement attributed to al-Qaeda, the Army of the Victorious Sect and four less known Sunni Muslim groups. The council, which does not include leading groups such as the Army of Ansar al-Sunna and the Islamic Army in Iraq, said it “welcomes anyone desiring (Islam’s) victory to join”.

The typical recruit to Al-Qaeda, the terrorist organisation, is upper middle class, has been educated in the West and is from a professional background, according to a new study. An analysis of 500 members of Osama Bin Laden’s organisation has revealed that the majority had been in further education and were from relatively affluent families. The recruits also tended to come from the wealthier Arab countries. Dr Marc Sageman, a forensic psychiatrist who conducted the study, said he assumed it would find that most Al-Qaeda recruits were poor and ill-educated. “The common stereotype is that terrorism is a product of

Osama bin Laden vowed to bleed America to bankruptcy, according to a full transcript of unaired portions of a videotape released Monday by an Arab television station. The al-Qaida leader’s remarks appeared targeted to the final days of the U.S. presidential campaign in which the struggling economy is a major issue. Bin Laden boasted in his first appearance in more than a year that for every $1 al-Qaida has spent on terrorist strikes, it has cost the United States $1 million in economic fallout and military spending, including emergency funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. Islam / Islamism Islamism is a

The war in Iraq probably helped boost al-Qaeda recruitment, according to a report from leading Western think-tank. The report, the annual Military Balance by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, does not dwell on the causes of the war. But it does consider its effects and has some highly critical comments. It says that the risks of terrorism to Westerners and Western assets in Arab countries “appeared to increase after the Iraq war began in March 2003”. It says that al-Qaeda was forced to disperse after the invasion of Afghanistan but remained “a viable and effective ‘network of