Al Qaeda: Explosives Expert Among 4 Afghanistan Leaders Killed

The following news item should help set right anyone's mythology that the US in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere are hurting "poor innocent Arab shepherds" who only want to raise sheep, raise a family, and spread peace throughout the world. May righteous Jews and Americans continue to capture and kill our enemies in al-Qaeda, the civilization-hating Muslim terror network. Via FoxNews:

Al Qaeda confirmed in a Web statement Sunday the death of a senior commander known as a top explosives and poisons expert, who is believed to have been killed in a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan last week.

The statement said Abu Khabab al-Masri and three other commanders were killed. It did not give details on when or how they were killed, but Pakistani authorities have said they believe al-Masri died in an American airstrike last Monday on a compound near the Afghan border.

Pakistani officials have said six people were killed in that strike, in the country's lawless South Waziristan tribal region.

Al-Masri, an Egyptian militant whose real name is Midhat Mursi, had a $5 million bounty on his head from the United States. He is accused of training terrorists to use poisons and explosives, and is believed to have trained homicide bombers who killed 17 American sailors on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.

He is also believed to have helped run Al Qaeda's Darunta training camp in eastern Afghanistan, until the camp was abandoned amid the 2001 U.S. invasion of the country. There he is thought to have conducted experiments in chemical and biological weapons, testing materials on dogs.

For more on Al-Masri' s relationship to Osama bin Laden, see this. In addition, although the Weekly Standard incorrectly reported Abu Khaba al-Masri's death in 2006, their article, here, on the criminal legacy of his life is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about the militaristic core of Islam and how it institutionalizes homicide.

Foreign Muslim Extremists Heading for Pakistan

New strategies emerging from Muslim terrorists. From Foreign Muslim Extremists Heading for Pakistan:

American military and intelligence officials say there has been an increase in recent months in the number of foreign fighters who have traveled to Pakistan's tribal areas to join with militants there. The flow may reflect a change that is making Pakistan, not Iraq, the preferred destination for some Sunni extremists seeking to take up arms against the West.

"There are noticeably more non-Pashtun-speaking fighters than this time last year," said Gen. David D. McKiernan, the new NATO commander in neighboring Afghanistan.

Statement of Imran Raza Regarding Release of American Children From Pakistani Taliban Madrassa

From News@KarachiKids.com:

Imran Raza, the director and executive producer of the documentary "Karachi Kids" who discovered up to 80 American children in a Taliban-backed madrassa in Pakistan released the following statement regarding the return of two American children to Atlanta:

I am grateful for the safe return of the two American children from Atlanta from a Taliban- backed madrassa but the mullah claims to have up to 78 more in his institution. The headmaster comes to the United States once a year and personally recruits American children to enroll in his madrassa.

The remaining 78 children must be returned to the United States. This pipeline to jihad must be closed.

Let me be clear - these children do not learn math, or science, or liberal arts. They learn one thing - they memorize over the course of seven years every verse of the Koran coupled with the radical interpretation of their teachers.

This is just the first step in integrating these children back to American society. I am proud we did our part so we could say 'Welcome Home."

It is imperative that Members of Congress and the State Department undertake an accounting of just how many Americans are in the other 20,000 madrassas in Pakistan. Hundreds remain behind.

The Karachi Kids is a documentary about American children in the Jamia Binoria madrassa in Karachi Pakistan. A trailer of the film is available at http://www.karachikids.com/.

Facts About the Binoria Madrassa

Located in Karachi, Pakistan, the Jamia Binoria madrassa was founded by Mufti Muhammed Naeem and espouses Deobandism -- the religion of the Taliban.

The institution houses over 3,000 students including children from the United States and Canada.

Selig Harrison, the Director of the Asian Program for the Center for International Policy recently gave a speech reafng the link between the Jamia Binoria and the Taliban: "In Karachi, the Jamia Binoria, withsome 10,000 students enrolled in eight afted madrassas, displays a banner at its main gate urging Muslims to join the Taliban."

A large number of graduates from the Binoria have become senior es in the Taliban.

Right before 9/11, Osama bin Laden addressed the students emphasizing the importance of jihad.

Mufti claims to have graduated over 100 Americans from his institution and asked what they teach the children, Mufti relied, "Islam, not math or anything else, only Islam."

Film: The Karachi Kids

“A breeding ground for terrorists.”

“University of Jihad.”

Those are just some of the phrases used to described the Pakistani madrassa system, a network of Islamic schools where children as young as six are taught to memorize every verse and phrase of the Koran.

The Karachi Kids takes the viewer behind the shrouded curtain of a Pakistani madrassa to show a world of abuse, loneliness and transformation into radical Islam.

Filmed over the course of years, the Karachi Kids tracks the changes of two middle class brothers from Atlanta whose father, a Pakistani taxi driver enraged at the influence of American culture on his children, into a madrassa with instructions that they must memorize the Koran before they are allowed home — a process which takes about seven years.

A story of personal tragedy with national security implications, the Karachi Kids promises to create a national debate about the true nature of radical Islam in ways that have never before been told.

Ties to Terror

Madrassas have come under intense international scrutiny for their anti-Western sentiment and links to terrorism since 9/11, and since the London subway bombings three years ago today, July 7, 2005. Three of the four suicide bombers who carried out the London plot were British nationals of Pakistani descent. Two attended madrassas inPakistan. The Binoria madrassa is known to recruit Americans most aggressively. It prominently displays a banner supporting the Taliban. And it is documented that Osama bin Laden spoke to students at Binoria before the 9/11 attacks.

While these religious schools purport to serve a purpose and educate Islamic children, great concern has grown over the increasing number of "political" madrassas. They mass-produce extremists with a political agenda, including a narrow view of society and no tolerance of Western culture. They radicalize Muslims and are seminaries for jihad.

"Most disturbing is that Americans and other westerners who are trained in these madrassas to hate America, have unfettered access to the United States. They leave the madrassas with intent to come back home to spread their message of hatred toward our country. Worst case they intend to kill us," Congressman McCaul said.

"The 9/11 terrorists had to work to infiltrate the United States to plan their attack. These madrassas are creating a new breed of terrorist that can come back to our country, work in our businesses, live next door, and teach our children with no questions asked. They are potential time bombs planted in our communities waiting to explode."

Background

Documentary filmmaker Imran Raza, who is of Pakistani descent, discovered the Khans in the Binoria madrassa in 2005. He embarked on his documentary "Karachi Kids", http://www.karachikids.com/, immediately after the London subway bombings. Raza has spearheaded the effort to remove the Khans from Binoria and bring them back to America.

Congressman McCaul just returned from an official visit to the Middle East with U.S. Representatives Gene Green and Henry Cuellar. They also visited wounded U.S.military personnel at Landstuhl Medical Center in Ramstein, Germany. And they toured the front line of the war on terror with U.S. troops in Afghanistan charged with rooting out Taliban and al Qaeda terrorist cells which have sought safe haven in that region. Congressman McCaul is a member of the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees. Before he was elected to Congress, McCaul served as chief of Counter-Terrorism and National Security in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Texas, and led the Joint Terrorism Task Force charged with detecting, deterring and preventing terrorist activity.

UN Watch to Rights Council: Durban II Draft ‘Breaches Red Lines’

Muslims continue to dictate public policy by throwing temper tantrums about the so-called “defamation of Islam" while ignoring its own 100 year long villification of Jews and Israel. Via UN Watch:

A "non-paper" published by the planners of next year's UN conference on racism already singles out Israel and breaches Europe's red lines, UN Watch told the UN Human Rights Council this week.

The Durban Review Conference, set for next April in Geneva, will be a highly visible, amply funded, well-advertised and well-attended gathering that will focus the world’s attention on the West’s defamation of Islam and racial discrimination against its adherents, as well as on Israel’s racist persecution of Palestinians. At least that was the demand of Islamic states and their allies expressed at the Council's debate on Tuesday.

Pakistan for the Islamic group and Egypt for the African group called for addressing “new and emerging manifestations of racism” — i.e., the so-called “defamation of Islam” — in what would amount to reopening, instead of reviewing, the 2001 Durban Declaration. They demanded the UN give the conference more funding, more media exposure, more staff, and more NGO delegates. More Durban.

Pakistan further called for alterations in international human rights law to curb freedom of speech deemed offensive to Islamic sensitivities. It complained of “boycotts and the threat of disengagement” from the conference. Egypt, meanwhile, slammed the “glaring institutional weakness” of the UN bureaucrats charged with servicing the conference.

Algeria and Azerbaijan urged the conference to address the victims of “foreign occupation” — i.e., the alleged victims of Israeli racism.

For full UN summary, click here.

Click for video of UN Watch speech.

Stop the presses! Pakistan helped the Taliban!

Via JihadWatch:

A real shock horror, totally unexpected, out-of-left-field Friend-and-Ally Update: "US think tank: Pakistan helped Taliban insurgents," by Jason Straziuso for Associated Press, June 9:

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Pakistani intelligence agents and paramilitary forces have helped train Taliban insurgents and have given them information about American troop movements in Afghanistan, said a report published Monday by a U.S. think tank.

The study by the RAND Corp. also warned that the U.S. will face "crippling, long-term consequences" in Afghanistan if Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan are not eliminated.

Uh, yeah.

Click here to read the full story.

Islamists Murder International Earthquake Relief Workers in Pakistan

A lesson to you chumps out there that feel compelled to send charitable donations to Muslim-majority nations which have suffered natural catastrophes: your money is going to Muslim terrorists. From Islamists Murder International Earthquake Relief Workers in Pakistan:

On Feb. 25, Islamist gunmen killed four Pakistani employees of Plan International, a British-based charity helping earthquake victims in Mensehra, Pakistan, then wrecked the office with grenades and set it on fire. Threats by Islamists have forced several foreign agencies to scale back assistance to survivors of the October 2005 earthquake that killed at least 78,000 people and left 3 million homeless. Islamic extremists are known to despise international aid groups because they employ women and work for women's rights.

CIA Kills Top Al-Qaeda Terrorist in Pakistan

Oopsy daisy. From CIA Kills Top Al-Qaeda Terrorist in Pakistan:

Abu Laith al-Libi, a wanted al-Qaeda terrorist, was killed in Pakistan by a CIA airstrike, three U.S. officials told CNN Thursday. Al-Libi was a senior al-Qaeda leader believed to have plotted and executed attacks against U.S. and coalition forces, including a February 2007 bombing at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan during a visit by Vice President Cheney. He was on a "most wanted" list of 12 accused terrorists which was issued in October. The Pakistani military said an explosion occurred in North Waziristan on Tuesday, and 12 people were killed.

Islamists planned attacks across Europe

Reuters likes to call them "Islamist extremists", but that is duplicitous term, because the word "Islamist" already implies "extremist". Regardless, this should come as no surprise to anyone, except of course Islamists, their defenders and apologists. From Islamists planned attacks across Europe:

Islamist extremists were planning attacks across Europe, especially against public transport, before their arrests in Barcelona last weekend, a Spanish paper reported on Saturday, citing a would-be attacker's testimony.

The Al Qaeda-inspired cell planned to attack the Barcelona metro and other targets in Spain, Germany, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom, said the bomber turned police informant.

In testimony that led to the arrest of 14 South Asians last Saturday, the informant told police the group had a preference for attacks on public transport, especially metro systems, El Pais newspaper reported.

Two pairs with explosive-filled bags were to enter separate Barcelona subway stations and other members of the group were to detonate their bombs by remote control, said the witness.

On Friday, Spain's government said the Barcelona cell was preparing to carry out the metro attack either last weekend or in the following 15 days.

Two other pairs of suicide bombers had been assigned targets elsewhere in Spain, another was to attack Germany, three were given objectives in France and two more were to strike Portugal.

The informant said the Barcelona cell had six suicide bombers and other members responsible for preparing explosives and planning attacks in other European states. Four of those arrested have since been released due to lack of evidence.

Al Qaeda was to take responsibility for the Barcelona attacks through Baitullah Mehsud, a Taliban commander the Pakistani government says was behind the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, El Pais said.

The Barcelona bombings could have taken place less than two months before Spain's March 9 general election.

Islamic militants attacked Madrid commuter trains days before Spain's last general election in March 2004, killing 191 people and wounding 1,800. They said the attacks were made in revenge for Spain sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Furthermore, why bother with the term "al-Qaeda" as the name for "Islamist extremism" anyway. Muslims are involved in 25 of some 30 conflicts going on in the world: in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, East Timor, India, Indonesia (2 provinces), Kashmir, Kazakastan, Kosovo, Kurdistan, Macedonia, the Middle East, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Sudan, Russia-Chechnya, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan. Wouldn't the term "Islamist" be sufficient?

Doesn't this mean that extremist Islam is the norm and normal Islam is extremely rare?

Pakistani Opposition Leader Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Assassinated

Once again, we have more evidence of what Muslims do best - killing and maiming others. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto , 54, was shot in the neck and chest at a campaign rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday afternoon. A Muslim homicide bomber then blew himself up, killing at least 20 others. The death of the former prime minister threw the campaign for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections into chaos and created fears of mass protests and violence across Pakistan, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism. Musharraf blamed terrorists for Bhutto's death and said he would redouble his efforts to fight them.

I'm sure Musharraf is not losing any sleep over her murder.

The Muslim attacker struck just minutes after Bhutto addressed thousands of supporters in the city of Rawalpindi, 8 miles south of Islamabad. She was shot in the neck and chest by the attacker, who then blew himself up, said Rehman Malik, Bhutto's security adviser.

While al Qaeda is considered by the U.S. to be a likely suspect in the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Banazir Bhutto, U.S. intelligence officials say they cannot confirm an initial claim of responsibility for the attack, supposedly from an al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan.

An obscure Italian Web site said Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, al Qaeda's commander in Afghanistan, told its reporter in a phone call, "We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahedeen."

It said the decision to assassinate Bhutto was made by al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al Zawahri in October.

Al-Qaeda Training European Recruits to Attack U.S.

From Al-Qaeda Training European Recruits to Attack U.S.:

Al-Qaeda continues to recruit Europeans for explosives training in Pakistan because Europeans can more easily enter the U.S. without a visa, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said Tuesday. European al-Qaeda recruits in the border region of Pakistan are being trained to use commercially available substances to make explosives, and they may be able to carry out an attack on U.S. territory. "Purposely recruiting an operative from Europe gives them an extra edge into getting an operative, or two or three, into the country with the ability to carry out an attack that might be reminiscent of 9/11," he said.

Source: Syria Working on Clandestine Nuclear Program Since 1986

From Source: Syria Working on Clandestine Nuclear Program Since 1986:

A former Syrian military officer who has had access to sensitive military information in Damascus confirmed Tuesday that Syria has been working on a clandestine nuclear program at least since 1986. He said many North Korean nationals are in Syria in relation to that program. He claimed that Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan has visited Syria several times since 1989, after being introduced to the Damascus Baathist regime by Libya. He also said Syria possesses the "latest Russian technology in air defense," but that it was reluctant to expose it during the latest attack because, two decades ago, such exposure allowed Israel to destroy all Syrian anti-aircraft missiles in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.

U.S. Spy Chief: Bin Laden Alive in Pakistan

From U.S. Spy Chief: Bin Laden Alive in Pakistan:

Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden is alive in lawless parts of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, U.S. intelligence chief Mike McConnell said Sunday. McConnell blamed Pakistani President Musharraf's government for allowing al-Qaeda to regroup, but said Musharraf remained a key ally of the U.S. A new report by the U.S. intelligence community last week said al-Qaeda had regrouped in its Pakistani "safe haven'' and was determined to inflict mass casualties through new attacks on the U.S.

Al-Qaeda Sanctuary in Pakistan Must Be Eliminated

From Al-Qaeda Sanctuary in Pakistan Must Be Eliminated :

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that al-Qaeda is growing stronger and that the threat that it will stage another major attack against the U.S. homeland is a serious one. That al-Qaeda has established a sanctuary in Pakistan's tribal areas has been known and discussed since last year. The Sept. 11 commission said the U.S. government must disrupt such bases in the future "using all elements of national power." If Pakistani forces cannot - or will not - eliminate the sanctuary, President Bush must order targeted strikes or covert actions by American forces. Such actions run the risk of further destabilizing Pakistan. Yet those risks must be weighed against the consequences of another large-scale attack on U.S. soil.

What is the Red Mosque crisis?

This post was moved to SmoothStoneBlog.

New apostasy bill to impose death on anyone who leaves Islam

Via AsiaNews:

A draft bill adopted in first reading by Pakistan’s National Assembly is now before a standing committee. Tabled by a six-party politico-religious alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal or MMA, the Apostasy Act 2006 which the government sent to the committee would impose the death penalty on Muslim men and life in prison on Muslim women in case they leave Islam. It would also force them to forfeit their property and lose legal custody of children.

The Balkan Front, The Wahhabis Are Up to No Good in Southern Europe

From The Balkan Front, The Wahhabis Are Up to No Good in Southern Europe:

A visitor to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia encounters unmistakable evidence that extremist intruders are opening a Balkan front in the global jihad. The ominous presence of Wahhabi missionaries, financiers, terror recruiters, and other mischief-makers bespeaks a fresh offensive in that tormented land. From the new Wahhabi seminary in the lovely Bosnian city of Zenica, to the cobblestone streets of Sarajevo's old Ottoman center, to the Muslim-majority villages in southern Serbia, extremist Sunni men in their distinctive, untrimmed beards and short, Arab style breeches, accompanied by women in face veils and full body coverings, are again appearing, funded by reactionary Saudis and Pakistanis. In neighboring Montenegro and districts of southern Serbia, the Wahhabi presence is open and even violent. Wahhabis have disrupted religious services, yelling abuse at imams for not following their practices, and have precipitated gunfire between ordinary people as well as fatal confrontations with local police. Most recently, on April 20, a Wahhabi was killed in a clash with police in the southern Serbian town of Novi Pazar. In Bosnia, on April 27, a cache of automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades, bombs, ammunition, and related material was seized in the remote north western village of Upper Barska.

Pakistani Scientist A.Q. Khan Aided Iran, His Nuclear-Secrets Network May Still Be Active

From Pakistani Scientist A.Q. Khan Aided Iran, His Nuclear-Secrets Network May Still Be Active:

Evidence presented this week by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies suggests that Pakistan's nuclear proliferation network, run by scientist A.Q. Khan, is not truly dead.

Its report also reveals that Khan "provided Iran with centrifuges, technical designs, components, and an 'address book' of suppliers."

The report suggests that "at least some of Khan's associates appear to have escaped law-enforcement attention and could, after a period of lying low, resume their black-market business."

Their most likely client is Iran, which "remains the most active customer in the international nuclear black market."

Al-Qaeda Chiefs Are Seen to Regain Power

From Al-Qaeda Chiefs Are Seen to Regain Power:

Senior leaders of al-Qaeda operating from Pakistan have re-established significant control over their worldwide terror network and over the past year have set up training camps near the Afghan border, according to American intelligence and counterterrorism officials. American officials said there was mounting evidence that Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, had been steadily building an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan. The U.S. has identified several new Qaeda compounds including one that might be training operatives for strikes against targets beyond Afghanistan. The concern about a resurgent al-Qaeda has been the subject of intensive discussion at high levels of the Bush administration and has reignited debate about how to address Pakistan's role as a haven for militants without undermining the government of Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Analysts said North Waziristan became a hub of militant activity last year, after President Musharraf negotiated a treaty with tribal leaders in the area and pulled back Pakistani troops. Officials in Washington and Islamabad conceded that the agreement had been a failure.

See also Borderlands Where the Terrorists Thrive

See also Rice Pressures Musharraf to Rein In Taliban Militants