The “Global Campaign Against Aggression”: The Supreme Council of Global Jihad? (H.Q. in Canada?)

Out of the 225 original founders, 99 are Saudis, 15 are from Australia, 13 are Yemenis, 10 are Pakistanis, 10 are Moroccans, 7 are Kenyans, 5 are Mauritanians, 4 are Nigerians, 4 are Kuwaitis, and two are from the United States. Five of the founders are Saudi women. Since the announcement, as to May 1st 2003, 25 scholars joined the founders, 18 of them are Egyptians, including three senior clerics of Al-Azhar, and one Palestinian.

The secretary General of the forum is the known Saudi Dr. Safar al-Hawali, who is regarded by many scholars as one of the main mentors of Osamah bin Laden. The campaign is not limited by time, and according to its founders "The Campaign will continue as long as necessary to achieve its goals. Any projects or committees issuing from it will only be endorsed or developed after consultation with and study by the thinkers and scholars of the Islamic World."

The web site of the new forum (IP 198.169.127.203) is registered through Innovation Place, 15 Innovation Blvd. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan CANADA, S7N 2X8, Tel. (306) 933-9825. The servers are: ns1.amanah.net and ns2.amanah.net.

Global Jihad by legitimate means or terrorist ones? By reading the above English translation of the official announcement, it seems that the founders are attempting at establishing a non-violent global front against what they primarily perceive as Western cultural imperialism, led by the Jewish-American alliance. The key element, as stated by them is: "To repel the aggression of our enemies with all possible legitimate means". So far it looks as a political gathering, which is trying to unite Islamic Anti-Western efforts, on the background of the American-led efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The basic point of view, which is not new, is the nature of self-defense of the Islamic reaction.

But, the web site includes in its Arabic section, a letter that was not presented in English so far, written by the secretary general, Dr. Safar al-Hawali (*2). In his letter Hawali returns to the typical language of radical Islamist scholars.

His main theme is that the Islamic nation should acknowledge the fact that they are facing a global infidel campaign (al-batil), which can never meet or compromise with the true faith (al-haqq). The last "Crusader campaign" should wake the Islamic nation up from its indifference and cause it "uprise to resist its enemy, either voluntarily or by force."

The voluntary way is that of the "secured and victorious community," - Al-Ta'ifah al-Mansourah - in the usual Islamic terms, those who have never believed in the Western values, where "the Crusader spirit lies under the sand of the Humanist slogans." The enforced way is through the Western anti-Islamic campaign, where "the enemy revealed its masks and uncovered its beastly teeth, destroying every doubt and eliminating every optimism. Hence, they found themselves in one line with their brothers from the first group, who believe that this nation has no glory or honor but by investing their soul, their property, and their words in favor of Allah." According to Al-Hawali, this global campaign is not a target but a means "to achieve better means." The campaign should serve also as a platform for unity.

The list of the founders of the new forum includes several prominent clerics and scholars who belong to the Saudi Islamist opposition, such as Ibrahim al-Harithy, Sheikh Salman al-Awdah, the brothers `Awadh and `Aeidh al-Qarni, or Dr. Abdallah al-Shanqiti. Many of the Saudi founders are university lecturers, businessmen, and lawyers, who could very well represent the elite of the Saudi society. The same with the Yemeni and Egyptian founders. A new element to note here are 21 Iraqi clerics and scholars, among them several Shi`is, who could join such an initiative only following the release of Iraq from Saddam Hussein by "the American enemy." Another issue to note is the absence, so far, of persons from Jordan, Algeria, Syria, and Lebanon, and the very few from the Gulf States.

Some of the interesting persons are Islamic figures from Western countries. The most prominent phenomenon, though not surprising, is the dominancy of the Arab origin of the vast majority of them. 15 of the founders are from Australia, and 9 of these are Imams in Australian mosques. Only one of the founders is from the United Kingdom, and he is not a known figure there. There is no one from the quite large Saudi Islamic opposition in London, what might hint for us that there is no linkage between these two parts of this opposition. There are two Americans of Arab origin, quite known figures - Dr. Ahmad Sharbini a lecturer in the American Open University in Colorado, of Egyptian origin, and Sheikh Walid Manisi, the Imam of the mosque in that university. The Belgian "representative" is quite known, Sheikh Muhammad al-Tijkani, of Moroccan origin. Another "European" is Sheikh Ahmad Abu Laban from Denmark. It should be noted that there are no Islamists from France and Germany.

In any case, the core of the list of founders is of persons who are known for supporting the anti-Western Islamist struggle of the school of global Jihad. Some of them are very popular among the generation of young supporters of Al-Qa`idah in the Arab world.

Conclusion
The combination of the letter of al-Hawali, in addition to his known positions, and the list of founders where the Saudi oppositionist element is dominant, seems to be a potential of a supreme council to back politically and ideologically a global struggle, either against the West and its presence in the Muslim world, or the Muslim governments that cooperate with the United States. It might mark also a further step in the march of the Saudi Islamist opposition, which seems to act with growing freedom in the kingdom, with almost no steps taken by the authorities to limit it, not to mention to block it. It is difficult to say whether it is a result of weakness, or part of the double game the Saudi regime is playing.

The new forum might also mark a further step in establishing the united Salafi-Jihadi trend in radical Islam, that will use the tremendous sympathy and support it gained through Al-Qa`idah operations. It might be premature, but it might also be an attempt to promote a political-ideological anti-Western struggle, as a result of the operational difficulties of Al-Qa`idah to launch attacks against Western target, as was expected from it following the war in Iraq.

In any case, the fact that this global forum is led by Dr. Safar al-Hawali should be worrying and a test case for assessing the new body. Hawali is known also for his writings about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (*3), and the endless effort to link between the various Islamist fronts.

*Reuven Paz is a Senior Fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and director of its Project for the Research of Islamist Movements (PRISM). He is also a senior research fellow in the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC).

More information on Safar Al Hawali:

Saudi-funded al Qaida Recruitment Center in Michigan
http://haganah.org.il/haganah/archives/000373.php

...Two of the most radical sheiks in Saudi Arabia who provide religious justification for al-Qaeda, Salman Al-Awdah and Safar al-Hawali, have several fatwas (religious rulings) and statements plastered all over IANA's websites. These fatwas legitimize suicide bombings, terrorist attacks, and spit hatred towards the West. Both Al-Awdah and al-Hawali received phone calls from Mounir Motassadeq, a member of the Hamburg-based September 11 cell who was recently convicted in Germany of aiding the hijackers and being an accessory to over 3,000 murders. U.S. officials maintain al-Hawali is linked to the al Qaeda cell that bombed the U.S. embassy in Kenya in 1998. In bin Laden's 1996 declaration of war against the West, the terrorist commander "bemoaned" the arrests of the two sheikhs, who are frequently incarcerated in Saudi Arabia for their support of terrorism and for criticizing and condemning the royal family.

Paradoxically, however, it was Saudi Prince Nayef bin Abdelaziz who in 1999 released the two "religious scholars" from one of their stints in jail, and according to the Mideast Mirror, "warmly received" them and promised "there would be no official curbs on their activities." Despite the two sheikhs hatred for the Saudi royal family and their radical fatwas, the Saudi government continues to fund their fanatical propaganda on IANA's websites, but why? Any Arabic speaker familiar with the Arab world (which presumably those in the Saudi government are) can immediately recognize IANA's lineup of radical "scholars" who support and legitimize al Qaeda's activities. ...

Safar Al Hawali was not just a mentor of bin Laden -- but also provided the radical ideas for the Sept. 11th highjackers:

Saudi schools fuel anti-US anger
http://www.boston.com/news/packages/underattack/news/driving_a_wedge/part2.shtml

... Several of the young men attended the university and were, friends and family say, known to have recently tapped into the militant Islamic culture fostered by the tapes and pamphlets of clerics such as Eid Al Guerney and Safar Al Hawali, both of whom come from the southern province of Asir, and whose sermons often dovetail with the preachings of bin Laden....

________________________________________

http://worldsite.ws/utilities/lookup.dhtml

Whois information for MAAC.WS:

   Domain Name: maac.ws
   Registrant: Registered through Go Daddy Software, Inc. (GoDaddy.com)

   Domain created on 20-APR-03
   Domain last updated on 20-APR-03

   Name servers:
     ns1.amanah.net
     ns2.amanah.net

________________________________________

The actual website of MAAC.WS is located in Canada.

Whois Information from "whois.arin.net" about 198.169.127.203

OrgName:    Innovation Place 
OrgID:      INNOVA-9
Address:    210 - 15 Innovation Blvd.
Address:    Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Address:    CANADA  S7N 2X8

NetRange:   198.169.125.0 - 198.169.127.255 
CIDR:       198.169.125.0/24, 198.169.126.0/23 
NetName:    INNOVPLACE
NetHandle:  NET-198-169-125-0-1
Parent:     NET-198-0-0-0-0
NetType:    Direct Assignment
NameServer: IO.INNOVATIONPLACE.COM
NameServer: HARRIER.SASKNET.SK.CA
RegDate:    1994-06-24
Updated:    2001-10-05

TechHandle: TC936-ARIN
TechName:   Campbell, Trevor 
TechPhone:  +1-306-931-5807
TechEmail:  trevor.campbell@sasktel.sk.ca

________________________________________

Note the name server for MAAC.WS, amanah.net -- It's also at Innovation Place.

 Registrant:
   Amanah Tech Inc.
   112F-116 Research Dr.
   Saskatoon, SK S7N3R3 CA

 Domain name: AMANAH.COM

 Administrative Contact:
    Freeny, Nezar  info@amana.ca
    112F-116 Research Dr.
    Saskatoon, SK S7N3R3 CA
    306-933-9825
 Technical Contact:
    Freeny, Nezar  info@amana.ca
    112F-116 Research Dr.
    Saskatoon, SK S7N-3R3 CA
    306-933-9825    Fax: 306-933-9845

We've even got a map pointing to their location:

Amanah Tech

________________________________________

There is at least one other jehadi site at the same ISP, "Innovation Place, Saskatchewan": http://www.islammemo.cc/

Islammemo is listed at the Haganah database:

http://www.weisburd.net/haganah/viewAllInfo.php?site=79

Affiliation: al Qaida
Type: Terrorist-affiliated News Service: Disinformation

Islammemo delivered threats to Christian activist, William P. Welty, accusing him of getting the website of Islammemo shut down, The site was actually shut down by the ISP (GoDaddy.com) for terms of service violations. "A few of those emails have contained death threats":

http://swansat.com/wpwelty/commentary/2003/2003_0222.htm

Also from the site, we have a picture of a ghostly spirit of bin Laden appearing to eye an airport (LAX: Los Angeles). The Arabic text quotes statements by the Calif. Attorney General:

http://haganah.org.il/haganah/DoS_media/LAX-threat.jpg

http://haganah.org.il/haganah/archives/000314.php

The ISP is part of a high-tech incubator program funded by the taxpayers of Saskatchewan, and the Canadian government.

http://www.innovationplace.com/html/frameset.html

"More than 100 companies and organizations make their homes at Innovation Place".

Among them appears to be Islamist-jehadi groups supported by "Amanah Tech Inc."

Terror_Web
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Terror_Web/

re post no. 3: "If I remember correctly, weren't there some recent arrests at a US university of Saudi exchange students who were making websites so that these clerics could post their fatwas online?"

Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/865194/posts

Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/862764/posts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2003
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
CRM
(202) 514-2008
TDD (202) 514-1888

INDICTMENTS ALLEGE ILLEGAL FINANCIAL TRANSFERS TO IRAQ; VISA FRAUD INVOLVING ASSISTANCE TO GROUPS THAT ADVOCATE VIOLENCE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Attorney General John Ashcroft and U.S. Attorney Glenn Suddaby for the Northern District of New York today announced that a federal grand jury in Syracuse, New York, has returned an indictment charging four individuals and the "Help the Needy" organization with engaging in illegal financial transfers to persons in Iraq.

The indictment, unsealed this morning, charges the following defendants:

•Rafil Dhafir, 55, of Fayetteville, New York, an oncologist;

•Maher Zagha, 34, a Jordanian citizen resident in Amman, Jordan, and a former college student in Utica and Syracuse, New York;

•Ayman Jarwan, 33, of Syracuse, a Jordanian citizen born in Saudi Arabia, and working in the United States as Executive Director of Help the Needy;

•Osameh Al Wahaidy, 41, of Fayetteville, New York, a Jordanian citizen from Jericho, employed as an Imam at Auburn Correctional Facility and a math instructor at the State University of New York at Oswego; and "Help the Needy" and "Help the Needy Endowment, Inc."

The four defendants and two organizations are charged with conspiring to transfer funds to Iraq in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and Dhafir, Zagha and the two organizations are charged with 12 counts of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Dhafir, Jarwan and Al Wahaidy were arrested in the Syracuse area this morning.

The indictment alleges that from approximately 1994 through the present, the defendants conspired to violate executive orders and Treasury Department regulations by transferring funds and other economic resources to Iraq. The executive orders and regulations have been in place since Aug. 2, 1990.

The indictment further alleges that the defendants, using the name "Help the Needy," solicited contributions from people in the United States, deposited these funds in accounts maintained in Central New York banks, and then laundered much of the money to Iraq through accounts maintained in the Jordan Islamic Bank in Amman. In total, the indictment charges defendants with conspiring to funnel over $2.7 million through the Jordan Islamic Bank. The indictment also states that Dhafir directed checks as large as $100,000 be cut from the relief group for individuals located in Baghdad.

"As President Bush leads an international coalition to end Saddam Hussein's tyranny and support for terror, the Justice Department will see that individuals within our borders cannot undermine these efforts," stated Attorney General John Ashcroft. "Those who covertly seek to channel money into Iraq under the guise of charitable work will be caught and prosecuted."

If convicted, Dhafir and Zagha face up to 265 years in prison and fines of more than $14 million. Jarwan and Al Wahaidy each face up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. "Help the Needy" and "Help the Needy Endowment, Inc." each face maximum possible fines of $14 million.

The prosecution resulted from a three-year investigation led by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York, along with agents from the FBI, the IRS, the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the New York State Police, the U.S. Customs Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.

U.S. Attorney Suddaby had high praise for the collaborative efforts of those federal and state agencies that participated in the case. Suddaby noted that "various law enforcement agencies working together in a coordinated and cooperative fashion is essential for effective investigation of sophisticated and complex criminal activities that we encounter in cases like this."

Ashcroft, along with U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Moss of the District of Idaho, also announced that a federal grand jury in Boise, Idaho, has indicted University of Idaho graduate student Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a citizen of Saudi Arabia, on charges of fraudulently obtaining student visas and making false statements on visa applications and related paperwork. In particular, Al-Hussayen is charged with failing to disclose his financial and operational involvement in a particular organization which, if disclosed, would have exceeded the legal basis for his U.S. entry.

Al-Hussayen was arrested this morning in Moscow, Idaho.

According to the 11-count indictment, Al-Hussayen received and renewed student visas to pursue computer studies at the University of Idaho, certifying in the applications that his requested U.S. entry and presence was solely for the purpose of pursuing graduate studies. The indictment alleges that from October 1998 through the present, Al-Hussayen routed thousands of dollars he received from overseas sources to the Michigan-based Islamic Assembly of North America (IANA), and provided computer expertise and website services to IANA. The indictment alleges some of these websites promoted terrorism through suicide bombings and using airplanes as weapons. In one example, the website www.alasr.ws, registered by Al-Hussayen posted an article which read in part:

The second part is the rule that the Mujahid (warrior) must kill himself if he knows that this will lead to killing a great number of the enemies, and that he will not be able to kill them without killing himself first, or demolishing a center vital to the enemy or its military force, and so on. This is not possible except by involving the human element in the operation. In this new era, this can be accomplished with the modern means of bombing or bringing down an airplane on an important location that will cause the enemy great losses.

By failing to describe the role he played in IANA, its funding, and its operations on his visa application and related paperwork necessary for legal immigration status, Al-Hussayen defrauded the United States. If convicted of the charges, Al-Hussayen faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison on each of the visa fraud counts, and five years in prison on each false statement count.

"This indictment establishes that when a person enters the United States under authorization of our immigration laws, that he must abide by the terms and purposes for his admission," said U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Moss of the District of Idaho.

The investigation in Idaho, which is ongoing, was conducted by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices in Boise, Idaho, and Spokane, Wash., and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, created in response to a directive by Attorney General Ashcroft following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Other agencies involved in the investigation included the FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Customs Service, the Idaho State Police; the Washington State Patrol; the Moscow Police Department; the Spokane Police Department; the Spokane County Sheriff's Department; the Spokane Criminal Intelligence Unit; and the Latah County Sheriff's Office.

###

03-119
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/February/03_crm_119.htm

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