Tribunal Publishes Hizballah Murder Indictments

The United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on Wednesday released the indictment of four Hizballah operatives for the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Much of the information about the suicide bombing that killed Hariri and 21 others had been previously reported.

But the indictments provide more details of the case put together by STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare against the four men accused of the crime. As this analysis points out, the case relies overwhelmingly on mobile phone data records in an attempt to show that four Hizballah operatives conspired to bomb Hariri's motorcade.

By analyzing mobile phone records, prosecutors say they pieced together the movements of Hizballah cell members in the months leading up to the bombing. They believe Mustafa Badreddine, who masterminded the attack, and Salim Jamil Ayyash, who coordinated the hit team's actions, wanted someone to make a video falsely claiming to have carried out the suicide attack on Hariri in order to throw investigators off their trail.

According to the tribunal, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra, the other suspects, were responsible for finding the patsy: a 22-year-old Palestinian man named Abu Adass who attended a Beirut mosque. Adass reportedly disappeared after meeting Oneissi a month before the attack and has not been seen since. Forensic examination of the suicide attacker's corpse showed Adass was not the bomber, according to the indictment.

Badreddine and Ayyash are brothers in law of Imad Mugniyeh. Mugniyeh, who headed Hizballah's military wing from 1983 until his death in February 2008, planned scores of terrorist attacks including the October 1983 bombing of U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut which killed 241 Americans.

Badreddine was convicted and sentenced to death for his role in the coordinated bombings of the U.S. and French embassies and other targets in Kuwait on Dec. 12, 1983, in which six people were killed. The attacks were carried out by the Kuwait 17, members of an Iranian-backed Shiite terror group called Al-Dawa.

Throughout the 1980s, Hizballah operatives who hijacked planes and kidnapped Americans in Lebanon demanded freedom for Badreddine and other members of the Kuwait 17. He escaped from prison in Kuwait following the Iraqi invasion in August 1990 and is rumored to be in Iran.

In a televised speech Wednesday night, Hizballah boss Hassan Nasrallah disputed the tribunal's charges, calling the suspects "honorable members of the resistance" and terming the Hariri investigation an example of "injustice."

President Concerned Over Lone Wolf Attacks

President Obama expressed concerns over lone wolf attacks and not mass attacks as the 10^th anniversary of 9/11 approaches. In an interview with CNN, the president said the threat of another large-scale assault on America was less likely due to punishing attacks on the group by U.S. military and intelligence, which resulted in "a much weaker organization with much less capability than they had just two or three years ago."

"The risk is always there, and obviously on a seminal event like the tenth anniversary of 9/11, that makes us more concerned -- it means we've got heightened awareness," President Obama said. "The most likely scenario that we have to guard against right now ends up being more of a lone wolf operation than a large, well coordinated terrorist attack," he added, noting increased security measures and "extra vigilance" preceding the anniversary.

A determined attacker with a weapon can "carry out wide-scale massacres" like Anders Breivik's bombing and shooting spree in Norway recently," he said. "When you've got one person who is deranged or driven by a hateful ideology they can do a lot of damage and it's a lot harder to trace those lone wolf operators."

CNN's question was prompted by an alert issued Tuesday by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security regarding lone wolf threats. Breivik, the bulletin noted, "is believed to have acted alone and used legal methods to procure the vast majority of materials and weapons needed for his operation, successfully avoiding law enforcement suspicion."

The bulletin also cited the recent plot by Army Pvt. Naser Jason Abdo to attack a restaurant near Foot Hood that is popular with soldiers and other base personnel.

Similar concerns over lone wolf attacks were expressed Wednesday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

King Probing Awlaki Links to 9/11 Hijackers

While serving as an imam at the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Va. shortly after 9/11, Anwar al-Awlaki referred to the hijackings as "terrorist attacks" that should be treated as "a crime against America."

"I have no sympathy for whoever committed the crimes of Sept. 11^th," he told Washington Post readers in November 2001.

But nearly a decade after 9/11, Fox News reports that the House Homeland Security Committee is investigating Awlaki's possible involvement in the attacks. The panel's chairman, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder May 26 informing him that the committee will investigate whether Awlaki, currently a leader within al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), played a role in "assisting, facilitating, and mentoring" 9/11 hijackers Khaled al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi.

AQAP has been linked to multiple attacks in the United States, including the Fort Hood massacre, the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight over Detroit on Dec. 25, 2009 and the attempted bombings of U.S.-bound cargo flights last year.

"Given the greater collection of intelligence and integration of pertinent data since the attacks of 9/11, I believe that al-Awlaki may have played greater roles in the terror attacks of 9/11" than investigators previously understood, King wrote.

His committee seeks to determine "To what extent al-Awlaki was an al Qaeda operative, offering support to acts of terrorism, prior to 9/11." He added that the panel is seeking to obtain "files, reports, analysis, assessments, memoranda, notes, and presentation in all forms" that are related to an investigation by the San Diego FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) that linked Awlaki to Osama bin Laden.

The letter added that Ziyad Khaleel, an al-Qaida procurement agent who had purchased a telephone for bin Laden, was in touch with Awlaki, as was Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman (AKA the Blind Sheikh), currently serving a life sentence for plotting multiple terrorist attacks on New York landmarks.

In San Diego, Awlaki preached at the Rabat mosque, where al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi attended services. Awlaki moved to Northern Virginia in January 2001 and began preaching at Dar Al-Hijrah. Al-Hazmi and another 9/11 hijacker, Hani Hanjour, moved to Northern Virginia a few months later, where they attended Dar Al-Hijrah, and al-Mihdhar joined them there in July.

At this point, three months before 9/11, Awlaki and three future 9/11 hijackers were all living in the same community and attending Dar al-Hijrah, King wrote. "More importantly, over the course of 18 months, Anwar al-Awlaki had been associated with and preached at the same mosques as three 9/11 hijackers in both Northern Virginia and San Diego," he added.

Read more about the investigation here.

Shariah Groups Struggling for Members

A network of groups calling for the total Islamization of Western societies has not been very successful outside of Britain, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) says in a new report. Although their inflammatory rhetoric has drawn attention, they haven't drawn many Salafi-Jihadi extremists to their rallies.

"[D]espite the image they have attempted to create, and despite meriting some media attention in the countries where they operate, the groups lack a substantial presence on the ground, with the exception of the U.K.-based groups, whose relatively high numbers and effective organization enable them to be more active – and, as a result, to enjoy considerably larger publicity in the media," the MEMRI noted. "The most tangible presence of these groups, especially those outside the U.K., is on online social networks, namely YouTube and Facebook."

Shariah4America, the U.S. branch of the global Shariah movement, has not attracted a significant following. The movement draws inspiration from Britain-based cleric Anjem Choudary and exiled cleric Omar Bakri, but the aggressive street proselytizing and virulent rallies of the UK branches have yet to catch on here.

Despite an apparent lack of popularity in America, the two most popular jihadist blogs in the United States have featured calls from members of British Shariah organizations. However, during the decline of these two movements – Revolution Muslim/Islam Policy and Islamic Thinkers Society – British Islamists were unable to successfully translate their call to an American audience. Following an aborted March 3 rally, Shariah4America's website has been updated only sporadically.

U.S. Intercepts AQ Weapons Shipment for Al-Shabaab

The U.S. Navy has intercepted a Yemeni ship believed to be carrying weapons for the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab from al-Qaida's Yemeni affiliate, the Mogadishu-based SunaTimes reported Monday.

Somali consul in Yemen Hussein Hajji Ahmed said that the U.S. Navy opened fire on the ship after it refused to follow orders to stop. The ship then surrendered. The ship is suspected of carrying military equipment for al-Shabaab, said Ahmed.

It is the second report this month from the Somali consul of weapons-filled Yemeni ships being stopped en route to Somali shoreline controlled by al-Shabaab.

In early August, Ahmed said that two ships suspected of carrying weapons for al-Shabaab were intercepted by the Yemeni government. The Yemeni government, however, was unable to intercept eight other ships, which Ahmed said he believes successfully reached al-Shabaab.

The news reinforces U.S. intelligence reports that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), considered by U.S. security officials to be al-Qaida's most dangerous arm, is aiding the Somali militants with weapons, fighters and training. Flash drives found in Osama bin Laden's Pakistan compound revealed an operational link between AQAP and al-Shabaab.

Concerns regarding collaboration between al-Shabaab and AQAP were also expressed during a recent House hearing held by Rep. Peter King, R.-N.Y. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview last Thursday that the relationship poses a great security threat.

Al-Shabaab "tries to work with" AQAP and another al-Qaida branch, said Clinton. "And so this then became a direct threat to us, not just a tragedy on the ground in Somalia, but a threat to not only the United States but the rest of the world."

Parsons Suit Against Palestinian Authority Can Go Forward

A three-judge U.S. Appeals Court panel has ruled that the family of murdered American security contractor Mark Parsons can sue the Palestinian Authority (PA) for providing material support to terrorists.

Parsons was one of three Americans providing security for a U.S. diplomatic convoy traveling from Tel Aviv to Gaza City on Oct. 15, 2003 to interview Palestinian applicants for Fulbright scholarships. Minutes after the convoy crossed into Gaza, a massive roadside bomb went off, killing him and two colleagues.

Parsons' relatives filed suit in federal court under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1991 charging that the PA had provided material support for and conspired with the killers. The district court granted summary judgment to the PA in May 2010, saying there was insufficient evidence to tie the PA to the attack.

Writing for the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Judge David S. Tatel reversed a critical part of that ruling which dismissed allegations that PA officials had provided material support for terrorism. According to Tatel, "a reasonable juror could conclude that Palestinian Authority employees provided material support to the bomber" who killed the Americans.

Amer Qarmout, a leader of a small terrorist faction called the Popular Resistance Committees, told PA interrogators that he supervised the digging of a hole in which he planned to plant a bomb on a nearby street several days before the October 2003 attack. Qarmout said members of the group dug the hole in front of PA security forces.

A memo written to the "Director General of the Preventive Security Service" and discovered in the PA's investigative file includes "several statements about the role Palestinian Authority employees played in the bombing," Tatel noted in his majority opinion.

"The explosive device was planted 20 meters from the [PA} National Security checkpoint, a fact that indicates that those present in front of the checkpoint that day have previous knowledge of the presence of the device," the memo read.

The bombing occurred after information about the arrival of U.S. embassy staff was leaked, either by PA national security officials accompanying the convoy or manning the checkpoint, the writer concluded.

The appellate court concluded that "a reasonable juror could find on the basis of the family's evidence that Qarmout planted the bomb that killed Parsons and that the Palestinian Security forces at the nearby security checkpoint complied with Qarmout's request not to interfere with his effort to plant a bomb."

Read more about the case here.

UK Group Sends Convoys to Gaza to Support Hamas

A U.S. designated terrorist group plays a key role in dispatching convoys to the Gaza Strip, according to a report released by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in Israel.

Interpal is a British-based charity named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2003 for its support for Hamas. Interpal is also a member of the Union of the Good, designated by the U.S. in 2008 under Executive Order 13224 for supporting and transferring funds to Hamas.

Interpal has sent its officials to the Gaza Strip through its Miles of Smiles convoys over the past two years. In June, Miles of Smiles 3 was greeted by Hamas leader and designated terrorist Ahmad al-Kurd. Interpal Vice Chairman Essam Mustafa (also known as "Essam Yousef") met with Hamas Prime Minster Ismail Haniyeh during the trip. Mustafa was referred to as the "general coordinator" of Miles of Smiles 2 and 4 by articles in the Arab media. He is "a key personality in the Hamas-supporting financial system in the Western world," according to the Israeli center's report. He is also the co-founder and executive director of the Union of the Good.

The most recent Interpal convoy, Miles of Smiles 4, entered the Gaza Strip via Egypt on July 31. "Resistance is our strategic choice and it will go on. We won't recognize Israel and we won't make any concessions on any of our people's legitimate rights, mainly the right of return," Haniyeh told representatives of the group at his office. Participants included Essam Mustafa and Ibrahim Hewitt, the chairman of Interpal and senior editor of the Islamist publication Middle East Monitor.

Interpal's participation in convoys to Gaza is not limited to Miles of Smiles. In March 2009, Interpal activists participated in the first Viva Palestina (VP) convoy to the Gaza Strip. Viva Palestina is a UK-based organization which has delivered millions of dollars to the Hamas-regime in Gaza through its convoys. Interpal has also helped raise money for VP's convoys.

A fifth Miles of Smiles convoy is scheduled to reach Gaza late this month, and two more are scheduled to arrive by November. Also, a South African aid convoy comprised of organizations and individuals that are members of the Union of Good expects to arrive in Gaza in late August, according to the Israeli report.

Clinton: Al-Shabaab "tries to work with" AQ's North African Branch

Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab is linking up with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday in an interview with CBS News.

"[W]hat we've seen in the last several years is the rise of al-Shabaab," said Clinton, "which proudly claims some affinity with al-Qaida, which tries to work with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb."

Al-Shabaab's links to the Yemeni-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have been widely reported. The relationship between the two groups was the focus of a recent House hearing held by Rep. Peter King, R.-N.Y. Just last week, eight ships filled with al-Qaida weapons sent from Yemen reached the shoreline of al-Shabaab-controlled territory in Somalia.

While both groups are known to be tied to al-Qaida, this appears to be the first report about a specific link between al-Shabaab and AQIM, which has established itself in the Sahel region in Algeria and Mali, far west of Somalia. A State Department spokeswoman confirmed to the Investigative Project that the quote is correct and that it "speaks for itself."

AQIM, like al-Shabaab, began as an Islamist movement opposed to its secular government. Having started solely as a national movement inside Algeria known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, the group pledged allegiance to al-Qaida in 2003. In 2006, the group became an official al-Qaida affiliate and in early 2007 took on the AQIM name.

AQIM has conducted successful terrorist attacks against Western and government targets in Africa. Recently, however, the group has made most of its money through kidnapping for ransom and smuggling drugs and weapons.

Recent reports indicate a relationship between al-Shabaab and another group to its west: Nigeria's Boko Haram. Boko Haram released a statement in June claiming al-Shabaab had trained its fighters. "We want to make it known that our jihadists have arrived in Nigeria from Somalia where they received real training on warfare from our brethren who made that country ungovernable," the statement said.

In addition to working with official al-Qaida affiliates, al-Shabaab has openly expressed its support for al-Qaida. The group has pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and vowed to avenge his death after U.S. Navy SEALs shot and killed him in his Abbottabad compound May 2.

Killing Continues Unabated in Syria

The violence continued in Syria Friday, with at least eight more protesters killed by security forces, bringing the total killed by the regime to at least 56 since Tuesday.

Human-rights activists said 15 security buses carrying gunmen dressed in plain clothes surrounded virtually every mosque in Hama Friday, firing into the air and toward the entrances. Dissidents said 40,000 people demonstrated in and around the city.

Security forces roamed the streets before Friday's noon prayers and started shooting at protesters as soon as they began assembling, a resident of Homs, Syria's third-largest city, told the New York Times.

Syrian dissidents are urging the United States to put pressure on those who are not part of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. The message that should be "hammered on to the Sunni business elite," said Ausama Monajed, head of a London-based research group, is that there is "huge, huge potential for business in Syria" after Assad is driven from power.

These businessmen should be told they "need to play a role in the development and economic development of Syria afterward, so disassociate yourselves from the regime, and there is a future for you," Monajed said.

It is important that President Obama expressly call on Assad to leave office, said Radwan Ziadeh, head of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies. Seeing that "will encourage more army - especially more Alawite senior army officers - to defect."

The Obama administration has refused to take this step.

On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on other countries to stop making weapons and energy deals with Assad.

"We urge those countries still buying Syrian oil and gas, those countries still sending Assad weapons, those countries whose political and economic support give him comfort in his brutality, to get on the right side of history," Clinton said.

Although she did not single out any specific country during her press conference on Friday, she mentioned Russia, China and India in an interview with CBS News that aired Thursday. "We want to see China take steps with us," she said. We want to see India [taking steps], because China and India have large energy investments inside of Syria. We want to see Russia cease selling arms to the Assad regime."

Alluding to recent criticism and condemnations of Assad from organizations including the United Nations and the Arab League, Clinton said U.S. diplomatic work "is paying off."

Read more about the situation in Syria here.

U.S. Threatens Gaza Aid Halt

The State Department threatened to end the work of non-governmental organizations in Gaza unless Hamas rescinds demands to audit the finances of American charities, the New York Times reports. American and European law forbids NGOs from cooperating with a designated terrorist organization, which could lead to the suspension of a large part of the territory's aid.

"These organizations do not recognize and do not want to recognize the Palestinian law. We do not kneel down to any threat," said Taher al-Nounou, a spokesman for the Hamas government. The State Department's threat covers $110 million in aid to Gaza. "Any organization that wants to operate in the Palestinian territories must respect the laws."

The tensions between Hamas and foreign charities began months ago, when Hamas' ruling government demanded more oversight of charity activities in Gaza. The group instructed NGOS to register with the central government, pay a fee, and submit their records. The demands stemmed from Hamas' concern that foreign money could be diverted "for political or intelligence-gathering uses." Ultimately, many charities complied with initial demands, but are now unprepared to allow Hamas access to their financial records.

American officials aren't the only ones upset. In July, Norway's government sent Hamas a letter saying it was "clear under Palestinian law that the competent authority to monitor the activities of the NGOs is the P.A. Ministry of Interior in Ramallah." If Hamas pushed for more access, NGOs "might suspend their operations, which will affect significant parts of Gaza's population who depend on outside assistance." Norway's government also said it would hold Hamas responsible for the suspension of aid.

Newer Postings   |   Older Postings