U.S. Won't Rule Out Hamas Role in Negotiations

Although Hamas condemned the United States over the military operation that killed Osama bin Laden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday refused to rule out the terror group's inclusion in peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

One day after Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo, Clinton was asked if this closed the door on Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations for the foreseeable future. "Many steps" must be taken to implement the Fatah/Hamas accord, she said, and "we are going to be carefully assessing what this actually means" because "there are a number of different potential meanings to it." Clinton repeated the Obama Administration's call for Hamas to accept conditions that include recognizing Israel's right to exist and renouncing violence.

Hamas has continued to attack the United States for killing bin Laden. Its leader, Khaled Meshaal, demanded the West "recognize the atrocity of the American raid and the burial of [bin Laden's] body at sea."

Shortly after news of bin Laden's death was announced on Sunday, Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas regime in Gaza, said: "We condemn any killing of a holy warrior or of a Muslim and Arab person and we ask God to bestow his mercy upon him."

Israeli Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh writes that Hamas' public condemnation of bin Laden's killing means that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas "could soon find himself in the same government with Al-Qaida supporters - a government that would, of course, rely on American and European taxpayer money."

American and European officials must make it clear to Abbas that his new partners in Hamas "should accept the two-state solution renounce violence and honor the Oslo Accords as a pre-condition for joining a unity government or running in an election," Abu Toameh writes.

Abbas must do this before going to the United Nations in September to demand recognition of a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. "If he fails to do so, and if the UN votes in favor of a state in September, the world could wake up one day to discover a Hamas-controlled state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," Abu Toameh writes.

Aaron David Miller, who advised six secretaries of state on Middle East peace negotiations dating back to the 1970s, believes the Hamas/Fatah agreement is likely to fail. "It's not clear how any real power sharing can work. These political rivals, with their bloody history, are now somehow supposed to establish a technocratic government, prepare for national elections and assume joint responsibility for security - even though they don't share any real trust or ideology," he writes.

Regarding "armed struggle" against Israel, "Hamas will have to abandon its violent political platform or risk putting Abbas into the position of having to condemn his governing partner," according to Miller. "The moment of truth is likely to come soon. It's almost inconceivable the Israel-Gaza border will be free of violence over the next six months, given the track record."

Read Miller's entire essay here. Read Abu Toameh's op-ed here.

Judge Upholds Convictions in Bronx Plot

U.S. Judge Colleen McMahon upheld on Tuesday the October verdicts of four men found guilty of plotting to bomb a New York synagogue and to shoot military planes with surface-to-air missiles.

Defense lawyers argue that the FBI entrapped the men, James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen, using an FBI informant who at one point offered them $250,000 to commit the acts.

Though she denied the motion, McMahon gave some credence to the entrapment argument in her ruling.

Cromitie, McMahon wrote, "did absolutely nothing to violate the law until after the Government (through informant [Shahed] Hussain) had made repeated offers of material (as opposed to spiritual) rewards to a desperately poor man- and that even those offers took considerable time to bear fruit."

But "to prevail at trial" the government needed only to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Cromitie was "predisposed to commit violent terrorist acts against Jews and American government facilities" before the informant entered the picture.

"This it did," wrote McMahon, "by letting the jurors hear Cromitie's bragadosio. His own mouth condemneth him." Jurors heard "hours of tapes replete with Cromitie's genuinely frightening rants about Jews," she wrote. And when Cromitie first approached the informant in June 2008, he expressed that he wanted to go to Afghanistan to "die like a shahid, a martyr" and said "I want to do something in America."

Where evidence didn't exist about the defendants before the informant's initial contact, the government can still establish the defendants were predisposed to the crimes if it can show they "readily" or "promptly" agreed to engage in the plot once approached.

The government was able to give enough evidence to convince the jury that the Williams' and Payen did just this, McMahon ruled, citing the short periods of time between when they were approached and when evidence showed they were fully committed to the plot.

"Once David Williams was in, he immediately and enthusiastically entered into planning the criminal venture," McMahon wrote. Similarly, "Onta Williams was extremely enthusiastic about having the opportunity to launch a stinger missile" and "Payen appeared eager to be the stinger shooter; he and Cromitie squabbled over the stinger like children fighting over a new toy."

Further, McMahon cited Onta Williams' recorded discussion with Hussain in which he said, "I'm doing it for the sake of Allah. I mean, the money, the money helps, but I'm doing it for the sake of Allah."

Read McMahon's full order here. The men are scheduled to be sentenced on June 7^th.

Al-Qaida Tries to Clarify Bin Laden's Death

An internet forum used by al-Qaida's leadership has published a statement acknowledging Osama bin Laden's death, after contradictory statements created confusion in some jihadi forums. Many militants have refused to believe Western news sources that were unconfirmed by their own leaders.

Hussein bin Mahmud, an al-Qaida leader who comments under the name of Asad al-Jihad2 on jihadi forums, issued at least two statements relating to bin Laden on Monday and Tuesday. "Woe to his enemies. By Allah, we will avenge the killing of the Sheik of Islam," he wrote in his first statement. "Those who wish that jihad has ended or weakened, I tell them: Let us wait a little bit."

Even after the jihadi forum used by al-Qaida's leadership carried the statement, several groups were still in doubt. "From one point of view, the Americans did not present sufficient evidence to prove their claim, and from the other point of view, the sources close to Sheikh Usama bin Laden have not announced their position - confirming or denying - what Obama announced about the above-mentioned martyrdom," said Taliban spokesman Naji Zabihullah, in the name of the organization's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. "Therefore, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers discussion about the subject, before the release of an official statement from sources close to the Sheikh, premature."

The confusion may have been caused by a series of later statements in bin Mahmoud's name, with contradictory messages. One post, entitled "Bin Laden is alive," confirms his death and calls for revenge. "The Lion of Islam," yet another post in his bin Mahmoud's name, is written like a eulogy. However, does not confirm his death and even uses present tense verbs to describe him as alive.

Still another post under Asad al-Jihad2's name, this time without his typical accompanying graphic, is a survey asking whether readers would still support al-Qaida if bin Laden was "possibly" dead.

While ambiguity about his death has caused great confusion, it has not caused President Obama to release photos of bin Laden's body. "The risks of release outweigh the benefits," the president said in an interview with CBS News. "Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway, and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East."

Brotherhood Official Hails Osama, Blames Americans for 9/11

Kemal Helbawy, a senior Muslim Brotherhood official based in Britain, has praised Osama bin Laden and suggested he was falsely accused of masterminding the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which Helbawy said were actually "planned" by Americans. One day after bin Laden was killed in a U.S. military operation, Helbawy participated in a question-and-answer session on the OnIslam.net website.

American claims about 9/11 were "a trick and bait they accused al-Qaida of," he said, and agreed with a questioner who suggested that news of bin Laden's death may have been "propaganda from America."

Helbawy said that "all evidences" about 9/11 indicate "that Americans are the ones who planned this matter, not the Afghans," adding that "The Plot of 911 story was not tight. It should be reviewed closely and all parties should be listened to."

Helbawy asked Allah "to have mercy upon Osama Bin Laden, to treat him generously" and "to make him join the prophets, the martyrs, and the good people." He called bin Laden a "great mujahid" (holy warrior) and emphasized that in assessing bin Laden, it is important to talk about "all aspects" of his life.

"We appreciate [bin Laden] as a rich man living in [Saudi Arabia] who left this luxurious life and moved to a hard life in mountains and caves," Helbawy said. "He helped his Afghan brethrens and participated in Afghan jihad effectively."

Helbawy's remarks are but one example of Muslim Brotherhood statements sympathetic to bin Laden or justifying violence against the West. The Muslim Brotherhood criticized bin Laden's death in a U.S. military operation as an "assassination" and faulted the United States for not bringing him to trial. The same statement defended "resistance" (violent jihad) as being necessary for innocent people to defend themselves against "oppression" as "is the case of the Palestinian people and Israel's Zionists."

Writing at The Atlantic's website, Eric Trager notes that the Brotherhood demands that Western countries "end the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, and recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people" and that Washington "cease its interference in the internal affairs of any Arab or Muslim country."

The Brotherhood's reaction to bin Laden's death should "finally end the mythology -- espoused frequently in the U.S. -- that the organization is moderate or, at the very least, could moderate once in power." Trager concludes:

"In a way, the Muslim Brotherhood's statement is vintage bin Laden: it's Muslim lands, not America, that are under attack; it's Muslims, not American civilians, who are the ultimate victims; and, despite two American presidents' genuine, effusive promises to the contrary, Islam is the target."

Read the transcript of Helbawy's Q & A session here. Read the analysis by the Quilliam Foundation, an anti-jihadist research organization, here.

Palestinian Unity Government May Threaten Foreign Aid

Key Western leaders are decidedly unimpressed by today's formalization of a Palestinian reconciliation agreement between the Fatah movement and Hamas.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who serves as the envoy for the Quartet pushing for a peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israel, told the Associated Press that "there will be no peace" unless Hamas changes course dramatically and agrees to demands that it renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.

Palestinian official Nabil Shaath called those demands "are unfair, unworkable and [they] do not make sense." A Hamas agreement to refrain from violence should be enough, he said.

Under the agreement, a caretaker Palestinian government would rule until new Palestinian elections next year. That government would not include Hamas officials, a move designed to preserve international financial aid.

The Obama administration has taken a wait and see approach about U.S. financial support for the Palestinian Authority. But House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, says U.S. law doesn't allow that. If Hamas is in any way a part of the government, it's illegal to send money or other support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, she told the Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin.

"I don't care if there is one or five or hundreds of members of Hamas; no U.S. funds can go to the PA. Call it what you want," Ros-Lehtinen said. "Be fools if you want. But we will hold the Obama administration's feet to the fire."

Meanwhile, American and British officials blasted Palestinian condemnation of the U.S. operation killing Osama bin Laden. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh condemned the death "of an Arab holy warrior," saying it was part "of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the comments would hurt peace prospects in the Middle East. "It would have been better for Hamas to join the welcome to that," he said. "That would have been a boost in itself to the peace process."

A State Department spokesman called Hamas comments "outrageous."

Bin Laden "was a murderer and terrorist," Mark Toner told reporters Tuesday. "He ordered the killings of thousands of innocent men, women and children... many of whom were Muslim. He did not die a martyr. He died hiding in a mansion, or a compound, far away from the violence that was carried out in his name."

Toner echoed Blair's statements about the demands by the Quartet, which is comprised of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

Hamas, al-Qaida Have History of Collaboration

Hamas' displeasure over the military operation that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden should not come as a surprise given the terror groups' shared ideological origins and operational links, according to Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's condemnation of the United States for killing the al-Qaida boss underscores the Muslim Brotherhood connections between the Sunni jihadist organizations. Along with bin Laden, al-Qaida was founded by Abdullah Azzam, a prominent Palestinian figure in the Brotherhood; Hamas was founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, another major Palestinian Brotherhood figure.

Although Hamas denies having operational ties with al-Qaida, the groups have a history of connections dating back nearly two decades. In the early 1990s, Schanzer writes that Hamas members "received paramilitary training and attended Islamist conferences in Sudan, alongside bin Laden and his supporters."

In September 2000 and January 2001, bin Laden reportedly sent emissaries to Hamas. While most analysts believe Hamas rejected al-Qaida's proposal that the two groups coordinate violence against Israel, "it appears Hamas never closed the door," Schanzer writes.

In 2002, the Washington Post quoted official U.S. government sources as confirming the existence of a loose alliance involving al-Qaida, Hamas and Hizballah.

In 2003, Israel arrested three Hamas fighters returning from al-Qaida terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. Also that year, Time magazine quoted Jordanian security officials stating that Hamas members went to Afghanistan in an effort to persuade al-Qaida fighters to return to the Palestinian territories.

According to Israeli terrorism analyst Dore Gold, in 2003 and 2004, Israeli forces found Hamas posters distributed in the West Bank which praised the jihadist campaigns being waged by radicals in Kashmir, Chechnya and the Balkans.

Gold wrote that at the top of posters were portraits of Hamas leader Yassin "alongside portraits of bin Laden and Chechen militant leaders like Shamil Basayev, who took credit for the bloody attack on a Russian school in Beslan." Approximately 330 people, many of them children, died during the three-day siege that took place in September 2004.

In 2006, Arab media reported that Hamas boss Khaled Meshaal had met in Yemen with Abd Majid al-Zindani, who had been designated a terrorist by the Treasury Department due to his links with al-Qaida.

"Hamas's sympathies for bin Laden hold a different meaning now than they did a week ago," Schanzer writes, adding that the deal raises questions about whether Washington should recognize a Palestinian Authority unity government comprised of Hamas and Fatah.

If Hamas' "grisly record of suicide bombings since its inception in 1988 were not enough, the aforementioned ties between Hamas and al Qaeda should serve as further warning about the terror group that now appears to have a controlling stake in the Palestinian Authority," Schanzer concludes.

Read the full article here.

Losing bin Laden "Tremendously Painful" for AQ Fundraisers

Osama bin Laden's death will likely cripple al-Qaida's fundraising efforts, former undersecretary of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence for the U.S. Treasury, Stuart Levey, told Marketplace Radio, Monday.

"His death will be a very significant blow to al-Qaida's ability to raise money around the world," said Levey, "both in terms of inspiration, but also interestingly in terms of authentication."

One challenge for al-Qaida fundraisers is convincing donors that they are actually true representatives of bin Laden and the al-Qaida movement, Levey explained. "With the loss of bin Laden I think that sort of fundraising will become more difficult and complicated," he said.

Levey also pointed out that al-Qaida lost its chief financial officer and the group's suspected third-in- command, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid a.k.a. Sheik Saeed al-Masri, in May 2010.

"Wealthy donors gave their money and, more important, placed their trust in Yazid," Levey wrote at the time. That, he continued, "makes him exceedingly difficult to replace."

Others replaced Yazid, said Levey, "but we don't know that they exerted the same control."

Now, with bin Laden gone, the authentication problem is doubled. "The combined loss of Sheikh Saeed with the loss of bin Laden could be tremendously painful to al-Qaida from a financial perspective," said Levey.

In addition, documents recovered by U.S. forces from bin Laden's Abbottabad compound could help choke off the flow of funds to al-Qaida. Some of those documents, ABC News reports, might hold the names of some of al-Qaida's biggest donors. "If people have been giving money, and they don't know yet whether their name is being identified in this intelligence, or that their name might be on a list of potential donors, they might have real reason to worry," Levey said.

LeT Founder Prays for bin Laden

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, founder of the dreaded Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), led a prayer Monday for slain al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Lahore, Pakistan. Bin Laden was killed Sunday night by U.S. Special Forces in the garrison town of Abottabad, 35 miles north of Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

Saeed founded the LeT in the 1990s, reportedly with support from Pakistan's spy agency, the ISI, as part of the Pakistani government's efforts to wage proxy war against rival India in Kashmir. He relinquished leadership of the LeT after the group was implicated in an attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001 and subsequently banned by the Pakistani government in 2002. He then went on to found the Islamist charity Jamaat ud-Dawa (JuD) as a front for the LeT. The State Department has designated the JuD as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) and the organization has been sanctioned by the UN for its association with al-Qaida.

At prayers held for bin Laden at Markaz Al-Qadsia, JuD's headquarters in Lahore, Saeed hailed the al-Qaida leader as a "great person" who would continue to inspire millions of Muslims around the world.

"Martyrdom are not losses, but are a matter of pride for Muslims," Saeed said. "Osama bin Laden has rendered great sacrifices for Islam and Muslims, and these will always be remembered."

"Allah accept the sacrifice of bin Laden and give him a place in heaven," he added.

Saeed is a key suspect in the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans. In a recent statement, Saeed claimed that India cannot prove JuD's links to the Mumbai attacks. He also accused the Pakistan government of being "spineless and succumbing" to pressure from the U.S. and India to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice.

Palestinians Pay Tribute to bin Laden

The military wing of the ruling Palestinian party is mourning the death of Osama bin Laden, joining Hamas' salute to the terrorist leader. Bin Laden had been a popular figure among Muslims in the Palestinian territories, where elements of both parties forming a coalition government have shown unusual support for him.

"The Islamic nation was shocked with the news that bin Laden had been killed by the non-believers," said the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military wing of the ruling Fatah party, in a statement to Maan news. "The fighters in Palestine and around the world who have lost their leaders did not stop their mission and will continue in the tutelage of their masters."

"We tell the Israeli and the American occupiers that we have leaders who have changed history with their Jihad and their steadfastness. We are ready to sacrifice our lives to bring back peace," the statement read. According to Maan news, the group also pledged that the jihad would continue without him.

Statements of support for bin Laden were also heard from Hamas, a designated terrorist organization which runs the Gaza Strip. Hamas, which has typically responded in a harsh manner to rallies not organized by their party, did not break up small rallies in Gaza in support of bin Laden.

"We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood," Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, told reporters. "We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs."

Among the Muslim Palestinian population, "Confidence in Osama bin Laden" remained higher than any other Islamic national group in the world, according to Pew Research Center. Although rates of confidence have declined from 72% in 2003, more than 1 in 3 Palestinians polled expressed support for the terror leader. The Palestinians also gained notoriety following the 9/11 attacks, when thousands took to the streets in the West Bank and Gaza to celebrate.

Statements by Hamas and Fatah's military wing have highlighted Israeli concerns about a new Palestinian coalition government, which will be charged with security in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel has already begun withholding transfers of tax and customs payments to the Palestinian Authority, urging Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to break off the deal.

All Eyes on Pakistan

Pakistan's claims that it was unaware Osama bin Laden was sheltered – perhaps for years – in a walled compound up the road from its national military academy in Abbottabad are meeting with deep skepticism in the United States and elsewhere.

Time magazine reports that CIA Director Leon Panetta acknowledges that U.S. officials did not trust Pakistani officials enough to provide them with advanced notice of Sunday's raid that killed bin Laden. "It was decided that any effort to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardize the mission," Panetta said. "They might alert the targets."

Calls for a suspension in the $3 billion in annual aid to the country, and at least one suggestion that the United States label Pakistan a terrorist state are likely to grow in the coming days.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., is among those questioning future American financial support for Pakistan. "Before we send another dime," he said Monday, "we need to know whether Pakistan truly stands with us in the fight against terrorism. Until Congress and the American public are assured that the Pakistani government is not shielding terrorists, financial aid to Pakistan should be suspended."

In a column published by the Washington Post, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari defended his country's record on fighting terrorism.

"Although the events of Sunday were not a joint operation," he wrote, "a decade of cooperation and partnership between the United States and Pakistan led up to the elimination of Osama bin Laden as a continuing threat to the civilized world. And we in Pakistan take some satisfaction that our early assistance in identifying an al-Qaeda courier ultimately led to this day."

Few people are buying that.

"I think it's inconceivable that bin Laden did not have a support system in the country that allowed him to remain in there for an extended period of time," White House counter terror advisor John Brennan told reporters Monday. The U.S. wants to know how government officials remained ignorant to his presence.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed that, telling CNN that "President (Asif Ali) Zardari and his team need to understand better how Osama bin Laden could hide in plain sight in that kind of compound without the knowledge of high-ranking officials."

Journalist Lawrence Wright, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book The Looming Tower, told PBS that Pakistan stood to gain financially from the hunt for bin Laden. "I feel that for years, the Pakistani military and intelligence complex has been in the 'looking for bin Laden' business," Wright said. "He was a priceless asset to them because we poured billions of dollars into their pockets to try to find him. If they found him, they'd be out of business. So he was an irreplaceable asset and I think that Pakistan has a lot to answer for. This looks very incriminating."

Author Salman Rushdie argues that this is merely the latest in a series of events in which Pakistan's duplicity in dealing with terrorists has been exposed. Its intelligence service has been implicated in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. U.S. intelligence cables released by Wikileaks show that the service, the ISI, was listed among international terrorist groups.

"The old flim-flam ("Who, us? We knew nothing!") just isn't going to wash, must not be allowed to wash by countries such as the United States that have persisted in treating Pakistan as an ally even though they have long known about the Pakistani double game—its support, for example, for the Haqqani network that has killed hundreds of Americans in Afghanistan," Rushdie wrote.

If it cannot provide reasonable explanations, he concluded "perhaps the time has come to declare it a terrorist state and expel it from the comity of nations."

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