A communiqué in which the Al-Qa'ida organization took responsibility for the Mombasa, Kenya terror attacks was first posted on the "News about the Jihad and the Mujahideen" forum of the Islamist website www.mojahedoon.net by Abu Shihab Al-Qandahari, the forum's deputy moderator. Al-Qandahari posted another communiqué in which he threatened Americans with a terror attack on the Muslim holiday of 'Id al-Fitr, December 5 or 6. All the Koran verses cited in the communiqué were from Chapter 8, Surat Al-Tauba (Repentance), which devout Muslims – among them Osama bin Laden – have frequently quoted, throughout Islamic history. The following are excerpts from the communiqué: (1) "A Warning to All the Enemies of Allah, the Americans, and Their Jewish, Arab, and Foreign Supporters"
"...This is a warning to Americans in Yemen, the peninsula of Muhammad, Africa, and Asia. If you do not leave our land, we are announcing to you what our Prophet [Muhammad] announced to the Quraysh [tribe] – slaughter. Your tyranny, your arrogance, your cruelty, and your misguidance have increased, and we are sworn not to heed the instructions of the traitorous [i.e. Muslim] governments regarding you."
"Oh community of Americans, we swear by the one who has the soul of Muhammad in his hands [i.e. Allah] that the young men of Islam have brought slaughter upon you. Leave our land and stop supporting the plundering Jews; return to your countries, otherwise the sword will be between us and you."
"We Warn You... You Will Reap Death"
"We warn you: Leave the land of Yemen and the land of the Prophet [Saudi Arabia]. Otherwise, you will reap death because of [your] stupidity in ignoring our warnings to you."
"We do not recognize your agreement with the [Muslim] governments that have renounced their religion. 'How can there be a guarantee for the idolaters on the part of Allah and His Messenger, except in favor of those with whom you entered into an express treaty at the Sacred Mosque? So long as they carry out the obligations hereunder, you must carry out your obligations. Surely, Allah loves those who are mindful of their obligations.'"(2)
"... Know that the young men of Yemen and of the land of Muhammad are preparing grief and grave disasters for you. If you do not leave our land and stop supporting our enemies, we will remove you with our swords, as it is said: 'Fight them. Allah will torture them at your hands, and will humiliate them, and will help you to overcome them, and will relieve the minds of the believers of fear and distress, and will remove their feeling of resentment. Allah turns with mercy to whomsoever He pleases.'"(3)
"These words are directed at you, oh Americans, you who have made your dear ones [sic] and your monks into a god other than Allah. We announce to you the imminent end of your pleasant lives: 'They have taken their rabbis and their monks for gods beside Allah, and also the Messiah son of Mary. They had only been commanded to worship the One God. There is no god but He [Allah]. Holy is He above that which they associate with Him.'"(4)
"Allah's commandment to fight you has already been carried out, and you are worthy of the disasters and tortures planned for you. 'Oh Prophet, fight the Jihad against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and press hard on them. Their abode is hell and an evil destination it is. They swear by Allah they have not said anything derogatory. Most certainly have they blasphemed, and disbelieved after they had professed Islam. They entertained evil designs which they could not carry into effect. They cherish hatred against the believers only because Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty. Now if they repent it will be better favor them, but if they turn away, Allah will torment them with painful tortures in this world and in the Hereafter, and they shall have neither friend nor helper in the world.'"(5)
A Ramadan Gift is on the Way to the American People
"Oh American people, you are the victim of your leaders, but you are also a partner in the war on us, because you applaud them when they killed the children of Iraq; applaud the Jews when they killed the children of Palestine... Allah has cursed you in this world and in the Hereafter and promised you terrible tortures. Defiantly, you have not learned your lesson from which you suffered, the raids on Washington and New York; on the contrary, the tyranny and oppression that you employ towards the slaves [of Allah] has increased, primarily in Palestine whose children did not enjoy the month of good and blessing [Ramadan]. Therefore the brothers gave them a gift for Ramadan in Mombasa, and the gift for the holiday ['Id al-Fitr, at the end of Ramadan] is on its way."
"You did not understand the reasons for the raids of Washington and New York. Allah rightly said about you: 'Is he who lays the foundation of his structure on fear of Allah and His pleasure better off, or he who lays the foundation of his structure on the brink of a tottering hollow bank which tumbles down with it into the fire of hell? Allah guides not the wrongdoing people. This structure of theirs, which they have built, will ever continue to be a source of disquiet in their hearts, unless their hearts are cut to pieces and they perish. Allah is all-knowing, wise.'"(6)
"Allah's words were rightly said about those who slew you on that white day: 'Allah has purchased from the believers their souls and their property in return for the promise that they shall have Paradise, for they fight in the cause of Allah and they slay and are themselves slain. This is a promise that He has made incumbent upon Himself as set out in the Torah, and the Gospel, and the Koran; and who is more faithful to his promise than Allah? Rejoice, then, in the agreement that you have made with Him; that indeed is the supreme triumph."(7)
"Allah promises [the Muslims] Paradise, and to you he has promised defeat. Which of these two promises is more worthy of being a promise of truth? Oh community of Americans, we repeat for the thousandth time: Leave our lands and stop supporting the Jews, otherwise men faithful to their vow to Allah will come upon you [to martyr themselves]..."
"Allah is great, and strength to Islam; Allah is great, long live proud Palestine as it explodes against the enemies."
"Your brother,
"Abu Shihab Al-Qandahari."
Al-Qa'ida Takes Responsibility for Kenya Attack
The following comment was added by the site's administrators to another communiqué posted on the Web site; in this communiqué, Al-Qa'ida took responsibility for the Mombasa attacks: "Here ends the communiqué posted by the [Al-Qa'ida] political bureau. We thank Allah that we, Mojahedoon [website], are the only site to announce the operations before they took place; moreover, we wrote of the place [where they will be carried out], but Allah has blinded our enemies..."(8)(9)
Announcement:
The Establishment of the Palestinian Branch of Al-Qa'ida Vowing Allegiance to bin Laden
In the same forum, a reader, Abu Banan, posted an announcement of the establishment of "the Islamic Al-Qa'ida Organization in Palestine."(10) The announcement read:
"...Brothers in Islam: From the land of the Night Journey and the Ascension to Heaven, we announce to the Islamic nation the establishment of the Islamic Al-Qa'ida Organization in Palestine, which will serve as a powerful basis for restoring the rights of our Arab and Islamic people in Palestine, [and] will defeat the Zionist Jewish invaders [and] return them to the place from whence they came. We declare that the squadrons of our martyrs will strike with all their strength at the Zionist and American arrogance in the region, and that the blood of our men in Palestine, in Afghanistan, and in Kashmir will [not] be shed unavenged..."
"Islamic Al-Qa'ida in Palestine joins its voice with the voices of the mujahideen in Palestine in its resistance to the partial and submissive solutions, and will accept nothing but the full liberation of the Palestinian land. Similarly, we call to the mujahideen in the Al-Nusseirat camp in the Gaza Strip to immediately stop the fighting between Hamas and the people of the Palestinian Authority, because these deeds serve only the murderous Jews, the Great Satans. From the land of the Night Journey we again declare a vow of allegiance to the Emir of the mujahideen, the leader Osama bin Laden, by means of whom Allah strengthened the Nation of Islam."
"Brothers in Islam: The Jihad against the [camp of] heresy and its regimes and symbols has arrived. The mujahideen of the Nation must rid themselves of the regimes of heresy and deception in our Arab countries. We call on our brothers in Islam in Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia to attack the American interests and the heretical institutions of apostasy [i.e. the regimes of these countries]. Allah willing, we will be the victors!"
"Death to the Jews and Zionism; strength to Allah, Allah is great, and victory to Islam!"
"The Islamic Al-Qa'ida Organization
The Stars of the Martyrs [in Arabic, Kawakib Al-Shuhada](11)
Ramadan 29, 1423 [December 4, 2002]"
Endnotes:
(1)December_1,_2002, http://www.mojahedoon.net/vb/showthread.php?s=b26ab77fb6d6544e098a93a00ad6c851&threadid=5083
(2) Koran 8:7.
(3) Koran 8:14.
(4) Koran 8:31
(5) Koran 8:73.
(6) Koran 8:108.
(7) Koran 8:111.
(8) December 2, 2002,
http://www.mojahedoon.net././vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5154
(9) Note: MEMRI could not locate the communiqué referred to by the Web site, and cannot at this stage determine how the location of the Mombasa attacks was mentioned.
(10) December 2, 2002,
http://www.mojahedoon.net././vb/showthread.php?s=&threaded=5154
(11) Based on Osama bin Laden's first recorded speech on Al-Jazeera television, following the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, in which he said that "a squadron from the squadrons of Islam" perpetrated the attacks.
