Posted on 10/31/2002 6:24:19 AM PST by Sabertooth
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October 30, 2002 Examine Gunman's Possible Ties to al Furqa By Christian M. Weber In the Middle East today, we see a young generation of Muslims being trained to hate Israel and the West while cherishing the thought of martyrdom. It is easy to see the brutal path that has been chosen for these children. However, for those not schooled in this path of destruction, the road to terrorism usually takes on one of two forms. The first form includes Islamic extremists, such as Osama Bin Laden, who rose to prominence in the Middle East with the decline of leftist ideology and pan-Arabism. Islamic militants are the reactionary product of elements within Middle Eastern society responding to change in social dynamics resulting from interaction with Western culture. They do not seek to foment a desired change, but rather to protect the societal norm or status quo. Such reactionary elements are motivated by fear of loss of status, power, or privilege, in the face of Western modernization and empowerment of women. The second pathway, radicalization, appears to have occurred in the case of men like John Walker Lindh, Richard Reid, Jose Padillo, and accused Washington, D.C. area sniper John Muhammad. Elements within the Muslim community who became disenchanted with the pace and progress of the movement's conventional means (elections, proselytizing, etc.), and thus endeavored to intensify and reinvigorate the jihad through terrorism. Adherents of this path are motivated by the belief that moderate Muslim leaders have lost the moral authority and vision to achieve victory and that they are the true defenders of the Islam. As one traces John Muhammad's life from his conversion to Islam in 1985, to his joining of the moderately militant Nation of Islam, to his deadly shooting spree in October 2002, his steady radicalization becomes readily apparent. Terrorist profiling dictates that his departure from the Nation of Islam in 1999 would have been followed by his affiliation with an organization more actively militant. It also suggests that initial news reports citing U.S. officials who said there was no evidence of any connection between Muhammad and identified terrorist organizations may have been premature. Based upon Mr. Muhammad's statements sympathizing with the 9/11 hijackers, it appears significant to note that he acquired the 1990 Chevy Caprice that he would modify into his killing platform on the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Nor does it seem random chance that his spree started on Oct. 2, the anniversary of the conviction of World Trade Center bombing ringleader Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman in 1995. It appears likely that after his separation from the Nation of Islam, which occurred on less than good terms, Muhammad gravitated to an organization at odds with the Nation of Islam and aligned with the Wabhhabist sect of Islam associated with al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and Sheikh Rahman. In America today, one organization fits that bill - al Fuqra. In 1980, Kashmiri Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani began preaching at a Muslim mosque in Brooklyn seeking recruits for the Afghan Jihad. He primarily targeted black American converts from the inner city and those with criminal backgrounds, a segment of the population that the cleric apparently saw as prime for melding militant Islam with a deep-seated resentment and disillusionment with Western society. The resulting organization, al Fuqra ("the impoverished"), was formed with a goal of to purifying Islam through violence. Gilani is most commonly recognized as the man Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was to meet when he was abducted last Jan. 23 and murdered. However, Gilani has had a long history of involvement with terrorism, including participation alongside bin Laden in the 1993 "terrorist roundtable" in Sudan. A Kashmiri by birth, he has worked closely with Pakistan's Interservice Intelligence Agency (ISI) to train terrorists for actions in Kashmir, as well as Chechnya and Bosnia. Throughout the Soviet-Afghan War, and in the years immediately following, Sheikh Gilani made frequent trips to the United States to meet with local al Fuqra leaders here. After the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, however, he has not returned to the United States, and rarely leaves the secure confines of his compound in Lahore, Pakistan. Members of al Fuqra are known to travel to Lahore for religious instruction and what Gilani has been filmed stating as "highly specialized training in guerrilla warfare." The upstate New York town of Hancock serves as the American headquarters for al Fuqra, with at least six major rural communities, jamaats, of two to three hundred members located in Red House, Va., Tulare County, Cal., Commerce, Ga., York, S.C., Dover, Tenn., and Combermere, Canada. Total membership in al Fuqra is believed to be between one and three thousand, with smaller jamaats being reported in over 25 locations throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. The communities themselves are primarily walled or fenced-in gatherings of trailers or mobile homes. At least three of the compounds are known to have firing ranges, and the compound in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California has a fully functional airfield. Surveillance reports of the compounds note that the residents remain in a fluid state and are continuously on the move. For the past several years, law enforcement authorities observing the Red House, VA compound have voiced concern that this pattern may be designed to create a series of safe houses in the rural areas of southern Virginia. Additionally, Al fuqra owns two private security companies in Brooklyn, N.Y. that not only provide armed protection for the jamaats, but also compete for government and private security contracts. Between 1980 and 1990, al Fuqra members have been either convicted or suspected in 13 assassinations and 17 firebombings. Front companies for the organization have been linked to the defrauding $350,000 from the state of Colorado and $1.3 million from the state of California. These funds are laundered through several Muslim front organizations set up in the United States by Gilani including an Islamic university and system of private elementary schools. State investigators believe Al Fuqra members delivered the funds to Gilani during trips to Lahore to finance jihad activities. A 1989 raid of an al Fuqra storage facility in Colorado yielded handguns, semi-automatic firearms, more than 30 pounds of explosives, pipe bombs, and bomb components. Additionally, police recovered blank birth certificates, Social Security cards, several sets of Colorado driver's licenses bearing identical photos but various names, and a large picture of Sheikh Rahman. However, the most alarming find was "targeting packets" on potential targets and victims (including a moderate Muslim leader who was assassinated shortly after), maps of oil and gas fields, electrical facilities, cell phone sites and military installations. Military-style manuals on "Guerrilla Warfare," "Counter Guerrilla Operations," "Understanding Amateur Radio," "Fair Weather Flying," and "Basic Blueprint Reading" were also recovered. The Red House, Va., compound was under surveillance by law enforcement prior to the 9/11 attacks for stockpiling weapons. Three members of the compound, including leader Vincente Pierre and his wife Tracy Upshur, were later arrested for illegal arms purchases. Al Fuqra members Earl Grant and Clement Rodney Hampton El were both convicted along with Sheikh Rahman in connection with the first World Trade Center attack and a plot to bomb New York City tunnels and landmarks. It has been ominously observed that since 1993 al Fuqra has hosted numerous low level Tri-State area bridge and tunnel workers for weekend retreats at their Hancock, N.Y. compound. Convicted shoe-bomber Richard Reid and African embassy bomber Wadih El-Hage have also been connected with the organization. Despite Al Fuqra's continuous history of criminal activity and close association with international terrorist organizations, the group has been able to avoid officially being classified by the U.S. government as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Pakistan, unlike the United States, has banned the organization. With such distinct ties to Osama bin Laden's global cooperative terrorist cooperative, the time appears ripe for federal officials to re-examine al Fuqra's status and take the appropriate action. In the wake of John Muhammad's arrest, investigators need to pay special heed to discern any possible links he may have had to al Fuqra. The facts are continuing to emerge since Muhammad's arrest on Oct. 24, and they seem to be pointing in that direction. Christian M. Weber is a Contributing Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at LtWeberNYG@aol.com. |
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Post here to the thread if you'd like to be on or off the Sniper Muhammad ping list.
For the record, Wadih El-Hage is "a U.S. citizen believed to be BIN LADEN’s personal secretary" according to a lawsuit on Find Law
Ashton, et al. v. al Qaeda, et al.: Complaint (PDF) Lawsuit claiming a 9/11 link between Iraq and al Qaeda. Sept. 3, 2002
The complaint file is in slow loading .pdf format, but it is an interesting read.
al Fuqra is a membership of the more violent graduates of the Nation of Islam. Their members are like John Muhammed. They will shot a child and gut an innocent bus driver with a high powered rifle. Knowledge of this group and exposure of that knowledge is our best weapon against them.
Jihadis in the Hood
Race, Urban Islam and the War on Terror
JIHAD IN AMERICA:
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I agree with your summation, that Al-Fuqra is highly suspect. And Red House is strategically located.
Hey we are trying to build a co-alition here...any references to actually getting down to stopping terrorism once and for all are verboten..
Todays friend is tomorows enemy perhaps we are afraid if we kill them all now we will run out later?
Muslims of the Americas: In Their Own Words
Muslims of the Americas (MOA) is a virulently anti-Semitic, Islamic extremist group with ties to Al-Fuqra, a terrorist organization that has carried out firebombings and murders in the United States. MOA claims to have offices in six U.S. cities and Toronto and maintains secluded residential communities in New York, Virginia and California. The group's Web site and e-mails have featured writings by notorious anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers, including Michael Hoffman and former Klansman David Duke.
MOA was founded and is led by the radical Pakistani cleric El Sheikh Sayyid Mubarik Ali Jilani (commonly known as Sheikh Jilani or Sheikh Gilani). Based in Lahore, Pakistan, Jilani established MOA in 1980, after arriving in the United States for the first time. In the 1980s, Jilani, who claims to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, actively recruited American Muslims to fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. MOA claims to have offices in six U.S. cities and Toronto, and it maintains secluded residential communities in New York, Virginia, California, and possibly other states. The group also runs a Web site and an e-mail mailing list.
The available evidence strongly suggests that MOA has served as a corporate front for another group founded by Sheik Jilani, the terrorist organization Al-Fuqra, which has committed firebombings and murders on U.S. soil. Both Sheikh Jilani and MOA officials deny that Al-Fuqra even exists, and MOA claims to be a "peaceful" group. Though relatively few members of MOA have been arrested for criminal activity, two residents of the MOA community in Virginia were recently arrested for firearms violations, and a resident of the MOA community in California was recently arrested for the murder of a Sheriff's Deputy. Muslims of the Americas: In Their Own Words Here are examples of anti-Semitic, anti-Christian,anti-American, and homophobic statements made by MOA, as well as comments that promote violence:
...see more at link.
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From: Patterns of Global Terrorism, 1999. United States Department of State, April 2000.
Comments on the content of the material should be sent to the U.S. Department of State
Description
Islamic sect that seeks to purify Islam through violence. Led by Pakistani cleric Shaykh Mubarik Ali Gilani, who established the organization in the early 1980s. Gilani now resides in Pakistan, but most cells are located in North America and the Caribbean. Members have purchased isolated rural compounds in North America to live communally, practice their faith, and insulate themselves from Western culture.
Activities
Fuqra members have attacked a variety of targets that they view as enemies of Islam, including Muslims they regard as heretics and Hindus. Attacks during the 1980s included assassinations and firebombings across the United States. Fuqra members in the United States have been convicted of crimes, including murder and fraud.
Strength
Unknown.
Location/Area of Operation
North America, Pakistan.
External Aid
None.
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***Newer link about Fuqra, and connections of Virginia Fuqra member Vincente Pierre to fradu and potential terrorism in Colorado (linkage between Colorado and Virgina stories)
***A Junior Al Qaeda Right Here At Home - Meet Al Fuqra (Nat. Review)
“...Al Fuqra —— which means "the impoverished" in Arabic —— was founded in 1980 when Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani traveled from Pakistan to an African-American mosque in Brooklyn. On this and subsequent trips, the charismatic sheikh helped create al Fuqra, which is said to have between 1,000 and 3,000 members nationwide. It is not aligned with a more prominent and homegrown black Muslim group, the Nation of Islam, and in fact it has serious theological differences with Louis Farrakhan's flock. And it may pose a much greater threat to civil society. About two dozen families live at the 44-acre compound near Red House, but al Fuqra is headquartered in Hancock, N.Y., and maintains extensive ties to Gilani in Lahore. Members of the sect occasionally travel abroad for what Gallagher calls "paramilitary and survivalist training" under Gilani's supervision. Although Pierre has testified that he has not visited Pakistan, the BATF says at least one of the other Red House residents did go there, and Gallagher claims there is evidence of training in Afghanistan as well. Gilani recruited Americans to fight with the mujaheddin against the Soviets during the 1980s.
Al Fuqra demonstrated its violent streak and national reach early on. A study written by Yehudit Barsky and published by the Anti-Defamation League catalogues the group's activities. From its first days more than two decades ago, members have attacked a virtual rainbow coalition of targets, including Hare Krishnas in San Diego, Hindus in Toronto, Sikhs in Seattle, and Buddhists in Illinois. Many of their favorite victims have links to India; Gilani is obsessed with the Kashmir conflict and views India as a mortal enemy. In 1983, al Fuqra firebombed a Portland, Ore., hotel owned by the late Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. But al Fuqra's hatred also extends to Muslims with whom they have doctrinal differences. A month after the Portland attack, for instance, two members murdered a rival Muslim leader in Michigan, and then were themselves killed when they set fire to an Islamic center in Detroit.
An incident in 1989 demonstrated the group's calculated ruthlessness and also introduced Pierre to federal agents. Police on a search warrant raided a Colorado Springs storage locker registered to Pierre's father-in-law, who is also an al Fuqra member. Inside they found information on a scam Pierre and others were running against Colorado's workers' compensation fund; they had defrauded the state of some $355,000 over several years. The locker's other contents were more alarming: ten handguns and silencers, 30 pounds of explosives, and target-practice silhouettes pierced with bullet holes and labeled "FBI Antiterrorist Team" and "Zionist Pig" (in Pierre's handwriting, according to Gallagher). Police also found information on local military installations and electrical power lines, plus "attack plans" against various targets. One of the targets, a moderate imam, was stabbed to death four months later.
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Other links for review:
INFORMATION REGARDING COLORADO'S INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF MEMBERS OF JAMAAT UL FUQRA
Terror Probe Leads To Rural Virginia Hamlet
Why is there an Islamic Village in the foothills near Fresno?
-----------Baladullah, Part Two (Nov. ( - Fresno School scam)
'Fear of Unknown' Leads to Culture Clash (Canada Jan. 28)
Cleric's Upstate Followers Seen as Threat (New York Jan. 30)
Key arrest made in WSJ reporter kidnapping (Gilani Arrested in Pakistan Jan. 30)
Suspect in newsman's kidnapping found dead (Pak. News, Jan. 31)
Cleric's followers have hopscotched around California (Feb. 4)
If any one wants this info, i.e., the links, I can Freemail you it with HTML code showing.
Not just to the day, but to the minute.
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