Zawahiri (al Qaeda #2) videotape surfaces

AP ^ | 4/12/06

[callmejoe]

Al-Qaida Figure Backs Iraqi Insurgents

Top al-Qaida Figure Ayman Al-Zawahri Urges Support for Iraqi Insurgents in Video

The Associated Press (snipped)

CAIRO, Egypt - No. 2 al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri praised insurgents in Iraq, particularly Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and called on all Muslims to support them in a video posted Thursday on the Internet.

The video was dated with an Islamic month corresponding to November 2005 and al-Zawahri mentions an Oct. 23 earthquake that hit Pakistan and Afghanistan. But it appeared to be the first time the 28-minute video has been made public.

It was not clear why the video was not released soon after the date it was allegedly filmed. . .

[callmejoe]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/us-turns-attention-to-alqaeda-in-iran/2006/03/21/1142703358742.html

US turns attention to al-Qaeda in Iran (snipped)
By Josh Meyer in Washington
March 22, 2006

AMERICAN intelligence officials, already focused on Iran's potential for building nuclear weapons, are struggling to solve a more immediate mystery: the relationship between the Tehran leadership and a contingent of al-Qaeda leaders living in the country.

Some officials, citing highly classified electronic eavesdropping, believe Iran is hosting much of al-Qaeda's remaining brains trust and allowing the senior operatives freedom to communicate and help plan the terrorist network's operations.

They suggest the President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, may be forging an alliance with al-Qaeda operatives as a way to expand Iran's influence or, at least, that he is looking the other way as al-Qaeda leaders in Iran collaborate with their counterparts elsewhere.

"Iran is becoming more and more radicalised and more willing to turn a blind eye to the al-Qaeda presence there," one US counterterrorism official said. . .

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thanks for the ping.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Cal, I had and can't find it, a post that one of the nazi groups planned a ruckus at a sports event, is there another big Olympics type game coming up? Or soccor ball.

There have been several reports on the nazi type groups being active and also a couple reports of Russia cracking down on the nazi type groups.

Sorry I can't give you more info, but know they are active.

[callmejoe]

Given the timing of both the original taping and the release, it was primarily aimed not at Egypt, Iraq, or Afghanistan, but Israel.

If the tape was made in November, then its call for the elimination of Israel should be put in context. This tape was made probably just a few days or weeks (Nov 2005) after Iran set off international outrage for saying Israel should be "wiped off the map" (10/26/05). Then it was held 4-5 months and released . . . on Passover (4/12/06).

Most important, given the context and timing of what was going on inside Iran in November when this was taped, and now what is going on inside Iran this week when it was released, it openly and directly allies al Qaeda with Iranian strategic objectives.

Iraq is no longer the central battlefield for them, but is being used to support a larger and globally unifying objective - - Israel.

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/10/e15e03d6-1013-440f-bdcf-e61d727624ed.html

Thursday, 27 October 2005

Iran: President Says Israel Should Be 'Wiped Off Map'

By Golnaz Esfandiari (snipped)

Prague, 27 October 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad yesterday cited comments by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic revolution, when he declared, "As the imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map."
Ahmadinejad told an audience of 3,000 students that there was "no doubt the new wave [of attacks] in Palestine will soon wipe off this disgraceful blot from the face of the Islamic world." . . .

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said in reaction to the remarks that Iran represents a danger for Israel. "Today, Israelis saw two extreme examples of violent language, where leaders in the Muslim world called for the destruction of Israel," he said. "Both the Iranian president and the leader of Hamas, al-Zahar, talked openly about destroying Israel. It is not surprising that there are people out there who take this extreme language, this violent language, and transform it into violent actions."

The United States also expressed concern over Ahmadinejad’s remarks. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said last night in Washington: "I think you are starting to see, through some of these remarks, some of the true views and intentions of this [Iranian] regime, and I think that it only serves to underscore our concern, as well as the international communities concern, about Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons." . .


http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1143498849735&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

". . . He pointed to Israeli opposition to Hamas' entering Palestinian elections. He did not mention Hamas' victory in the voting, a possible indication the video was made before the January elections.

In the last al-Zawahri video, aired on March 4 he congratulated Hamas on its victory and offered support.

Al-Zawahri appeared in two other videos in January. On January 19, bin Laden released an audiotape, parts of which were aired on al-Jazeera. It was the first message from the al-Qaida leader in more than a year. . ."

[Calpernia]

Everything they do is aimed at Israel.

[Velveeta]

Given the timing of both the original taping and the release, it was primarily aimed not at Egypt, Iraq, or Afghanistan, but Israel.

I agree. And by aiming at Israel, they're aiming at drawing in the US.

If the tape was made in November, then its call for the elimination of Israel should be put in context. This tape was made probably just a few days or weeks (Nov 2005) after Iran set off international outrage for saying Israel should be "wiped off the map" (10/26/05). Then it was held 4-5 months and released . . . on Passover (4/12/06).

Note: the tape would have been made during ramadan 2005 (10/4 to 11/2/2005).

[callmejoe]

"Everything they do is aimed at Israel."

True, but it is much more focused and pronounced now. The past year has been a sea change in some very concrete ways.

[callmejoe]

"Note: the tape would have been made during ramadan 2005 (10/4 to 11/2/2005)."

Duly noted.

[Velveeta]

Bit of an update here:
http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications165606&Category=publications&Subcategory=0
****
Pulling out one sentence that piqued my curiosity, especially when you consider Percy Cox and the number 1919.
****
He states: “You have to understand that we are one nation and we don't recognize Sykes-Picot and the maps of Percy Cox, whether you like it or not.

[Velveeta]

Sykes-Picot Agreement

The Sykes-Picot Agreement of May 9, 1916 was a secret understanding between the governments of Britain and France defining their respective spheres of post-World War I influence and control in the Middle East. The boundaries of this agreement still remain in much of the common border between Syria and Iraq.
http://www.answers.com/topic/sykes-picot-agreement

[Velveeta]

Sir Percy Cox: "As British minister in Tehran between 1918 and 1920, Cox was to implement the 1919 Agreement. But his background in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf sheikhdoms failed to equip him to understand the emerging nationalism in Iran."
http://www.iranian.com/History/Feb99/RezaShah/cox.html

[callmejoe]

UBL has made reference to Sykes-Picot in past years. It is where he gets his "80 years of oppression". The argument is that the western powers came into the mideast after World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire (who claimed to be the modern caliphate for three centuries), and then the "colonial powers" artificially carved up the caliphate into separate states and put puppet regimes in place. Jihadists claim to be the only alternative to these "corrupt regimes".

We are trying (however poorly and ineffectively)to introduce democracy to the region as an alternative to the old and decaying authoritarian order on one hand and the new and radical jihadi resistance on the other. Jihadis no more represent the people than tyrants. They just use them (and their blood) for their own gain.

Zawahiri is reasserting the idea that Iraq-Syria-Lebanon-Jordan-Egypt-Saudi Arabia-Kuwait-the Gulf States and (especially)Israel are illegitimate. The battles in Iraq and "Palestine" are of one piece. They are just bookends of the empire they seek to resurrect.

But the focus is much more on Palestine now than it was.

[callmejoe]

Sir Percy Cox: "As British minister in Tehran between 1918 and 1920, Cox was to implement the 1919 Agreement. But his background in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf sheikhdoms failed to equip him to understand the emerging nationalism in Iran."

British minister in Tehran
background in Mesopotamia
emerging nationalism in Iran

Now *that's* interesting . . .

[Velveeta]

They are just bookends of the empire they seek to resurrect.

Well put.

I was searching for Zawahiri's mention of Sykes-Picot in his past tapes as I don't recall him mentioning it as UBL often has.

Zawahiri did write about Sykes-Picot in his book - shortly before 9/11.

The Madrid bomber planner (Belhadj?) picked his 3/11 date the day of (or perhaps the next day) after one of UBL's tapes which mentioned Sykes-Picot.

Could be nothing, but it's nagging at me.

[Velveeta]

Yes, it's interesting.
Like the movie Groundhog Day. LOL

[Velveeta]

So does Zawahiri tape mention Sykes because UBL is indisposed?

[callmejoe]

I'm not sure. I think it has more to do with their overall strategy.

They are one step from throwing Iraq into an absolute bloodbath. (It is far worse in Iraq than is being portrayed) That would draw Jordan, Syria, and Saudi into the civil war and possibly destabilize their regimes (ending what they see as the legacy of Sykes-Picot).

I think they just set up the Shura Council in Iraq a couple weeks ago. UBL talked 3-4 years ago about setting that up at some point but never did.

Once you succeed in destabilizing the entire region, the western front of the regional battlefield becomes the Jordan River.

Timing.

[Velveeta]

Yep, timing.
And so we wait and watch.

[callmejoe]

"Guilt by Association"

(how Ahmadinejad and Zawahiri are connected)


Ahmadinejad reportedly met with Mughniyah in January at a summit in Damascus to coordinate action against the U.S. and Israel.

http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=26427

Ahmadinejad and Mughniyah have likely known each other for two decades when Ahmadinejad served abroad in the IRGC special forces (Qods) and Mughniyah was operations chief for Hezbollah (which was trained by the Qods Force).

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/ahmadinejad.htm

http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=460

Mughniyah was reportedly Zawahiri's IRGC liaison officer in the 1990s and therefore Zawahiri has been al Qaeda's highest original connection to Iran going back over a decade.

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP47303

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA12703

Zawahiri was the guy supposedly shopping in Chechnya for nukes 10 years ago.

http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa20649.000/hfa20649_0f.htm

So you have al Qaeda's chief ideologist and second-in-command (Zawahiri) connected to the new Iranian President (Ahmadinejad) and both sharing a fixation on America, Israel and using nuclear technology against both.

And just three months ago, Zawahiri's old liaison to Iran (Mughniyah) met with Ahmadinejad at a terror summit in Damascus to coordinate actions against Israel and the U.S.

And just 24 hours before this Passover Zawahiri tape came out, Ahmadinejad made perhaps his most extreme threat yet against the U.S. and Israel saying that they will "burn in the fire of the nation's fury".

http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6733

when I "connect the dots" I see

"n . . .u . . .c . . .l . . .e . . .a . . .r . . .
a . . .t . . .t . . .a . . .c . . .k"

[Velveeta]

And just three months ago, Zawahiri's old liaison to Iran (Mughniyah) met with Ahmadinejad at a terror summit in Damascus to coordinate actions against Israel and the U.S.

I got as far as that line and froze. Chills.