Arab militant vows attacks on Russia - Jazeera

reuters.co.uk ^ | Sat 13 March, 2004 16:02 | Reuters

[Destro]

Arab militant vows attacks on Russia - Jazeera

Sat 13 March, 2004 16:02

DUBAI (Reuters) - Arab television channel Al Jazeera has broadcast a videotape of the man it says is the leader of Arab fighters in Chechnya, vowing to stage a new wave of attacks inside Russia.

Abu al-Waleed, said by the Kremlin of being among those behind last month's bombing on the Moscow underground, added that his campaign might depend on the outcome of Russia's coming presidential polls.

"The enemies of God drop mines in the forests and, God willing, we will return them to the Russians and they will find them on their land and in the midst of their families," said the bearded man who was standing in a forest.

"But perhaps we may wait a little to see the upcoming elections. If they elect someone who declares war on Chechnya, then the Russians are declaring war against the Chechens and by God we will send them these (mines)... Not only these but also things that did not cross their minds," he said.

The man, wearing military fatigues and a beret and speaking in Arabic, was shown picking up a "butterfly" mine from foliage. He said his fighters had found hundreds of them.

"We will return these to you (Russians)...You will, God willing, see hundreds of people crippled," he said.

Officials at Qatar-based Al Jazeera were not immediately available on Saturday to comment on when or how they received the videotape.

Security has been tightened across Russia ahead of Sunday's elections and extra troops have been stationed along the border of Chechnya, where rebels have long been fighting Russian rule.

The Kremlin blames Chechen rebels for a spate of attacks including a suicide bombing which killed close to 50 people on a train in southern Russia before last December's parliamentary polls and the attack on the underground, which killed around 40.

The Kremlin believes Abu al-Waleed was also among those behind the 1999 apartment bombings across Russia that prompted President Vladimir Putin to send troops back into Chechnya.

[Hacksaw]

I agree... until Europe stops supporting terror against Israel and America they ahve no right to be angry at the terror coming to them

I have a friend who insists that if we did not support Israel then the Muslims would not hate us. I told him that not supporting Israel would not make a difference, it is simply icing on the cake as far as they are concerned.

[Grampa Dave]

"Man, I think it's about time the US military locks the coordinates of Al Jazeera into its GPS database."

Naah! al Jazeera is the best intel outlet we have on the al Qaeda goat humpers.

Just monitor all stuff in and out of all al Jazeera outlets, offices and so called news centers. Then monitor their so called reporters.

Target them with big ears and eyes and not bombs.

[Myrddin]

All is not lost, at least the jihadis have Americans like you to defend them.

I'm not defending jihadis. The jihadi terrorists should be dropped into a tree shredder (alternated with diseased pigs). No martyrdom. No paradise.

I've made classified visits to Izmir, Turkey on NATO business. The guys on the front and rear of the bus carried 9mm machine guns to keep the local terrorists away. I'm hardly a fan of those people.

[An.American.Expatriate]

Interesting Timing here . . .

Large Fire Reported Near Red Square in Moscow (Fox News)

[Myrddin]

It looks like the jihadis are trying to be as disruptive as possible to the elections in Spain and Russia. Anything short of an Islamic caliphate is an anathema to them. I hope the Brits, French, Spanish and Russians are getting the message that they are in the crosshairs of militant Islam. The French are just a hair's breadth from significant damage to their railway system. The jihadi websites are hinting that the U.K. is the next big target...before another major U.S. hit.

[Cronos]

hmmmm... slammies attacking The US, UK, Spain, Russia, India and Israel. Isn't that enough for these nations to form an alliance to crush the slammies?

[GeronL]

When and wherever they attack France, I hope we do care, at least a little. I hope the French will finally wake up and take sides with us in this world war.

[Vinnie]

They are threatening Russia, Germany, France, Greece.
These are 'allies' in our war with Iraq?

The murderers will think of another excuse. They want to kill, simple as that.

[DannyTN]

"I fathom that the plan is to align the Moslem world against the vast majority of unbelievers who do not believe that the pedophile Mohammed was the chosen one, whether they be Christian, Jewish, Hindu, or agnostic or atheist. "

I agree I think that was part of the plan. If they could show themselves as successful against the west, they thought all good Muslims would be as blood thirsty as them and rapidly join their ranks. Fortunately, it seems that most Muslims are bad muslims and don't have enough desire to kill and maim the innocent to do anything more than support Al Quaeda financially.

Enough followers and they could start taking over other middle east governments and spread their madness to their subjects. Then having united the middle east under Islamofasism, they could begin a war with the west in earnest.

[sheik yerbouty]

The Russians will not fold like a cheap suit. This will be a major jihadist blunder.

[sheik yerbouty]

The Russians will not fold like a cheap suit. This will be a major jihadist blunder.

[sheik yerbouty]

The Russians will not fold like a cheap suit. This will be a major jihadist blunder.

[RussianConservative]

Funny thing: Chechin refugee not run south to Georgia but north deeper to Russia...wonder why?

[RussianConservative]

And do what? Oil not tasty and no industry...that make for one lopsided war, especially when gloves finally come off and real burning start.

[DannyTN]

"And do what? Oil not tasty and no industry...that make for one lopsided war, especially when gloves finally come off and real burning start."

Agreed it would make for a lopsided war. But I think once they had control of enough Muslim countries they probably wouldn't attack the west all at once. They would continue with terrorism trying to bring down western economies while denying culpability. And they would attempt to raise the price of oil.

However with real war, they would proceed with the plan they have been executing for years only more intensely. They would attempt to conquer the marginal countries physically close to them. Northern Africa, Eastern Europe, Indonesia. They would count on the West to stay aloof from these battles.

[endthematrix]

That must have been after the closing of the border by the Army when the air strikes occured.

On October 1, 1999, the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) wrote a letter to the Russian government, expressing concern that the Russian army was preventing displaced persons from fleeing Chechnya and urging the army to open all of its border crossings to persons seeking to escape the current violence. "USCR is deeply concerned for the welfare of those potentially trapped inside Chechnya as a result of Russia's decision to close most of its borders with Chechnya," the letter said. USCR urged Russian officials to apply "the spirit of Article 33 of the UN Refugee Convention--preventing the forced return of refugees and asylum seekers to situations where they risk persecution or violence--to the current situation playing out on Russia's internal border with Chechnya." On October 14, as the number of displaced Chechens reached more than 150,000, Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the Russian government for reportedly turning back ethnic Chechen civilians attempting to cross the North Ossetian border, while allowing ethnic Russians to cross the border. "The Russian government is obligated to protect displaced persons, and must do so without discrimination," HRW said. "Instead, Russia is sending Chechen refugees back to the very bombs they are fleeing. This exposes them to mortal danger, and is a gross violation of Russian and International law," HRW said.

[RussianConservative]

All marginal country to one degree or other Russian allie: Serbia, Makedonia, Greece, Cyprus, Armenia, Ethiopia, India and other like Georgia is strategic importance to interviene....Russia can produce enough oil for most West needs, she and England and Mexico.

I think one more goodly strike in US...say maybe not 3k but 30k+ dead and US finally sombor up from own lunacy and politicals will be under major pressure to do full war.

[DannyTN]

Well I think their plan is in turmoil now, they went from having Afghanistan and a supporter in Saddam, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia to not having much of anything. They are still trying though, but I'm not sure they still have a coherent plan right now other than not to avoid being completely discounted.

I don't think there will be full scale war in any event, unless we link China to funding the terrorists.

The U.S. will stay the course. We'll track the funds and eliminate a state or two who supported the terrorists. But it will most likely be Syria and Iran. That won't require a full scale war. Both will fall faster than Iraq. Noone will come to their defense. Although Russia will act nervous. And the typical fear of American agression will manifest in the usual players. However we will have to do both at the same time. My guess is a quick thrust through Syria first, followed by a longer campaign in Iran. Then again, Iran would likely fall, if we said we were coming. They didn't have the experience of Iraq that tried an uprising thinking they had our support and we didn't do anything.

What might happen with another attack though is that the U.S. might become more serious about changing the culture of our conquests.

The only thing that I think would change that is the cost. However the cost of the war is desceptive. The replacement cost of weapons is not as large as the original cost, because the development costs have been paid for. Also a large part of the cost is troops and equipment we would have had ready for defense anyway. So it's hard to tell how much incremental cost is really due to the war.