"Al Qaeda’s Yemen arm extends reach for recruits, targets; New members lend their skills in critical areas" by Craig Whitlock, Washington Post / December 1, 2010
WASHINGTON — In mid-October, several days before authorities intercepted two bombs planted on cargo airliners bound for the United States, Saudi Arabian intelligence officials tipped off their French counterparts about another terrorist plot.
An Al Qaeda affiliate had dispatched a cell of North Africans, who crossed the Mediterranean by boat, to carry out an attack in France, according to an Arab intelligence official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. It was the latest in a rash of far-flung strikes planned by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Yemen-based group that operated in relative obscurity for years but more recently has demonstrated an ability for attacks worldwide.
French officials quietly broke up the plot and have not released details....
Yet the involvement of North Africans in the French plot — which has not been previously reported — marked the first known instance in which Al Qaeda’s Yemeni arm partnered with foot soldiers from North Africa.
Counterterrorism officials described it as another sign that the Yemeni chapter — once confined to the Arabian desert — has boosted its ambitions and sophistication by drawing on a pool of international recruits. The new members come from North America, South Asia, North Africa, and Europe and are lending their skills in critical areas, from making bombs to designing propaganda.
Yeah, well, which "Al-CIA-Duh" would that be, huh?
The made-up "Al-CIA-Duh?"
Or the "Al-CIA-Duh" CREATION for the COURTROOM!?
Related:
Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh and the OSI
Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh's Greatest Hits
Prop 101: The "Terrorism" Business
New York Times Admits War on Terror is U.S. Creation
Oh, AmeriKa's media would know all about propaganda?
About 18 months ago, the group sent an emissary to North Africa, where he met with leaders of the local affiliate there, known as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, according to Major General Abdeljebbar Azzaoui, the director of intelligence and counterterrorism for the kingdom of Morocco.
“He came to try to build a relationship,’’ Azzaoui said in an interview. It didn’t go well; the Yemeni agent was found decapitated in Algeria. “They didn’t like anybody besides Al Qaeda in Afghanistan,’’ Azzaoui said of the North African group.
Other counterterrorism officials, however, said that the Yemeni faction has continued to try to build contacts in North Africa because of its proximity to Europe, an effort that culminated in the plot to attack France in October.
The precise number of foreign recruits active in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is unknown, but officials said it is clearly increasing.
Saudi officials said last week that they had arrested 149 alleged Al Qaeda members in the past eight months....
British authorities say the Yemeni-based Al Qaeda group also has recently targeted their country....
Many of the group's members are veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who fought alongside jihadis from other countries. Its leadership includes several Saudis and former prisoners from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Also see: "Al-CIA-Duhs" Catch-and-Release Program
No wonder they never go away.
The network also has benefited from an influx of foreign recruits who traveled to Yemen to study at religious schools. Officials say these recruits - including Pakistanis, Sudanese, Germans and at least one Australian - give the group a more international outlook, as well as connections outside the region.
"There's a sense that they have an opportunity here to expand the franchise," said a senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to a reporter.
One visible result has been the group's new English-language propaganda department, which since July has churned out three editions of a flashy online magazine called "Inspire."
That brought a chuckle from me.
Counterterrorism officials say the the editor is a U.S. citizen, Samir Khan.
Just fulfilling his mission.
A Saudi native, Khan left his home in Charlotte, N.C., for Yemen in October 2009.
Translation: he was sent by AmeriKan intelligence.
The second edition of Inspire, released last month, includes a feature article about Khan, titled, "I am proud to be a traitor to America."
Think he would get along with all those Israel-first, dual-citizen infiltrators in AmeriKa's government?
A more well-known propagandist for the group is another U.S. citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki....
Maybe too well known.
Related: WHOOPSIE! Anwar al-Awlaki, Yemen toner mastermind, actually died in 2009!
Also consider (color codes my emphasis):
"Airline Terror Mission Blessed by Radical Imam
The Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner had his suicide mission personally blessed in Yemen by Anwar al-Awlaki, the Muslim imam suspected of radicalizing the Fort Hood shooting suspect, a U.S. intelligence source has told The Washington Times.
"Actually, the US Government rescinded a warrant for this guy's arrest in 2002. He was imprisoned in Yemen but released 2 years ago. His fellow clerics openly accuse him of cooperating with the CIA." -- Wake the Flock Up
"Khattab (aka Joseph Cohen) Removes All Traces of Link to Ft. Hood Killer Hasan
But whether or not this particular "Slave of Allah" is Nidal Hasan is not important. Certainly the Revolution Muslim user "ooklepookle" is Hasan's friend Duane Reasoner. What is important is that Khattab has been busy removing webpages from his site connecting him to "ooklepookle". When we originally reported the relationship we had to use a Google cache page. All webpages showing "ooklepookle" at Revolution Muslim had already been removed. Google's archive -- a snapshot of what the webpage looked like at a single moment in time -- remained.
"So, given that Yousef al-Khattab is actually Joseph Cohen and one of the numerous fake Al Qaeda used to create a justification for war, then a link from Cohen to Nidal Hasan suggests that the Fort Hood incident was in reality a normal Mossad false-flag operation." -- Wake the Flock Up
Officials: U.S. Army Told of Hasan's Contacts with al Qaeda
U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan was attempting to make contact with an individual associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.Officials: U.S. Army Told of Hasan's Contacts with al Qaeda
".... one of the "Al Qaeda" operatives Hasan may have been in contact with was Yousef al-Khattab, aka Joseph Cohen. The Imam mentioned in this article, Anwar al Awlaki, is thought by many of his fellow clerics to be working with the CIA. When he was living in the US in 2002, a warrant for his arrest was inexplicably rescinded by the US Attorney in Denver, an indication that a deal may have been made then. Anwar al Awlaki was also claimed to have been a point of contact for two of the 9-11 accused." -- Wake the Flock Up
The radical Muslim imam who ministered to at least three Sept. 11 hijackers, the Fort Hood shooter and the Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a U.S. jet on Christmas Day, was taken into custody at New York's JFK Airport on a felony arrest warrant in 2002. Even though Anwar al-Awlaki had been on the FBI's radar for years, he was let go....
Please, not another immoral "Al-CIA-Duh!"
"This guy was released after a US attorney miraculously rescinded an arrest warrant served on the "radical" Islamist upon his arrival at JFK airport in 2002. His fellow Imams insist he is working for the CIA." -- Wake the Flock Up
Ain't that the devil's piss?
See: No Longer Digging Up Dead Men
Here, AmeriKan media; you are more than welcome to waste your time:
I guess that's why they had to trot out a new man.
--more--"
Yeah, that's where the article started getting big blue Xs through it.
"Yemen joins Al Qaeda fight on its own terms, cables say; WikiLeaks data offer intimate view of country’s leader" by Scott Shane, New York Times / December 4, 2010
WASHINGTON — One Obama administration security official after another was visiting to talk about terrorism, and Yemen’s redoubtable president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, seemed to be savoring his newfound leverage.
The Americans are “hot-blooded and hasty when you need us,’’ Saleh chided one visitor, Daniel Benjamin, the State Department’s counterterrorism chief, but “cold-blooded and British when we need you.’’
************
Diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to several news organizations offer the most intimate view to date of the wily, irreverent, and sometimes erratic Yemeni autocrat, who over the past year has become steadily more aggressive against Al Qaeda. But he appears determined to join the fight on his own terms, sometimes accommodating and other times rebuffing American requests on counterterrrorism.
Yemen, long an arid, impoverished afterthought for the United States, now draws high-level American attention far out of proportion to its size....
The cables portray Yemen, a land of 23 million people that is nearly the size of Texas, as a beleaguered, often baffling place, bristling with arms and riven by tribal conflict, where shoulder-launched missiles go missing and the jihad-curious arrive from all over the world.
The Americans are seen coaxing the Yemenis to go after Al Qaeda, working out the rules for American missile strikes and seeking a safe way to send Yemeni prisoners home from the Guantanamo Bay prison....
If a missile lands in Yemen and the AmeriKan media doesn't report it does it make a boom and kill people?
--more--"
And can't they talk about something else?
"In surprise Yemen visit, Clinton calls for economic reform" by Joby Warrick, Washington Post Washington Post / January 12, 2011
SANAA, Yemen — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a surprise visit to Yemen yesterday that was both a show of support and a warning for a country that was the point of origin for two terrorist plots against Americans in less than a year.
The arrival of Clinton — the highest-ranking US official to visit Yemen in two decades — provided a symbolic boost to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has emerged as a critical, if unpredictable, ally in the fight against Al Qaeda....
Nope.
US relations with Yemen have been stormy in recent years, even as the two countries have tried to coordinate their fight against terrorist groups. AQAP Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula has targeted not only Yemeni officials and troops but also international air carriers....
Yeah, Yemen was also up Shit Creek for a while after opposing Iraq resolutions at the U.N.
In response to the perceived terrorist threat from Yemen, the Obama administration has dramatically increased security assistance to the country and has received government backing for missile strikes on known Al Qaeda bases. But the administration has also approved large increases in nonmilitary aid — from $16 million in 2008 to more than $130 million last year — to education and development projects....
The costs of empire, dear taxpayers.
--more--"
And something that did grab my attention:
"Tunisian police arrest allies of ousted president; Demonstrators keep pressing for democracy" by Hadeel Al-Shalchi, Associated Press / January 24, 2011
TUNIS — In Yemen yesterday, police arrested an activist for leading antigovernment protests, setting off a second day of street demonstrations in the capital, Sana. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse hundreds of students, activists, and lawmakers who demonstrated to demand the release of Tawakul Abdel-Salam Karman, who was arrested earlier in the day.
ANOTHER POPULAR UPRISING!
Yemen’s interior minister, Mouthar al-Masri, said on state television yesterday that people have the right to express their views but demonstrations, gatherings, and marches should be staged within the boundaries of the law....
--more--"
Ever stop listening to someone when they are talking to you?
