Islamists, Arab Regimes Target Muslim Intellectuals

A new report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) shows that Arab intellectuals continue to come under fire from Islamists and repressive Arab regimes.

Muhammad Said Al-Ashmawi, an Egyptian author and judge, has been a target of Islamist threats since 1979 because of his interpretation of Quranic verses. In January 1980, Egyptian authorities assigned him police protection, only to cancel it in 2004 after Ashmawi delivered a speech in the United States about topics that included reform in Egypt.

After he sued, Egypt's Interior Ministry partially restored Ashmawi's police protection by putting him under what amounts to house arrest. Officials justified restrictions on his freedom of movement on grounds that if Ashmawi went out in public, he could be attacked, putting innocent bystanders in danger.

After Dr. Ahmad al-Baghdadi of Kuwait wrote that he would rather have his son study music than the Quran, he was sued by Islamists charging him with contempt for Islam. A circuit-level court dismissed the charges against Baghdadi, who teaches political science at Kuwait University. But an appeals court overturned the decision, and he was sentenced to three years on probation and fined $6,800. Al-Baghdadi announced he would stop writing in the Kuwaiti press and requested political asylum in a Western country.

Tunisian intellectual Lafif Lakhdar was accused by Islamists of writing a book that defamed the Prophet Muhammad. Demonstrations broke out against the book after the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan published one chapter. Lakhdar charged that the leader of the Tunisian Islamist movement, Sheikh Rashed Al- Ghannouchi, had posted the false accusation in an effort to incite Islamist extremists to kill him.

These intimidation campaigns reveal "the intellectual bankruptcy of the religious groups, and the cultural bankruptcy of the Arab regimes and of the Arab peoples," Baghdadi wrote. "By Allah, the West should not be condemned for thinking that every Muslim is a terrorist, when it sees all these shameful deeds and the Muslims remain as silent as the dead."

U.S. Offers to Remove Sudan from Terror List

The U.S. has proposed removing Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terror if a referendum for Southern Sudanese independence is conducted transparently and on time. Yet, with oil and territory on the line, Sudan has so far not taken the bait.

Sudan still would face comprehensive sanctions in response to government participation in the massacres in Darfur even if the U.S. removes it from the terror list.

The January 2011 referendum may detach the primarily Christian and animist South from the Islamic north of the country, in compliance with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The CPA ended a war that lasted over 20 years and claimed at least 2 million lives. The American proposal follows years of monitoring Sudanese governmental compliance with international agreements to root out domestic and foreign terrorists, to stop government sponsorship of foreign terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda, and to strengthen laws against terrorists.

The offer, proposed by Senator John Kerry, D-Mass., is part of an attempt to provide incentives for successful resolution of conflicts about Southern independence. A vote endorsing independence is highly likely, but the delineation of the borders between Sudan and the new country remains elusive. In particular, the oil-rich region of Abyei, water rights, and defining citizenship stand in the way of a smooth transition to independence.

Sudan was originally placed on the list of terror sponsoring nations in 1993, when al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was invited to take up residence by Sudanese leaders. However, by 2005, US government officials suggested that there had not been a sponsored al-Qaeda presence since 2000 although concerns remained over the number of Sudanese fighters joining the Iraqi insurgency.

The government's position remained consistent through the latest report in August 2010, with no none governmental contacts with al-Qaeda and most other terrorist organizations. However, Sudan does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization and has permitted fundraising by the group. There is also a growing influence of Sudanese who participated in the Iraqi insurgency and the presence of Sudanese fighters in Somalia.

DHS, Dearborn PD Invite CAIR to "Countering Violent Extremism" Workshop

Its Michigan state director still considers a Detroit imam who preached jihad and violence against law enforcement to be a peaceful man. The FBI doesn't consider the organization to be an appropriate liaison partner because of documented links between its founders and the terrorist group Hamas.

But a Department of Homeland Security program Thursday in Dearborn, "Countering Violent Extremism," prominently featured the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

"We welcome opportunities to engage the Department of Homeland Security to discuss ways to make America safer while addressing concerns about 'profiling' of American Muslims," CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid said in a statement. "We believe that such working groups should be comprehensive in scope at the community level to address all potential extremist threats to our nation."

Walid has spent considerable time and energy during the past year blasting various government agencies for their role in the death of Luqman Abdullah, a Detroit imam killed during an FBI raid in 2009. According to the government, Abdullah told his followers at his mosque to carry weapons and not to be afraid to use them and frequently made comment indicating his readiness to use violence against law enforcement.

Last month, Walid publically criticized a Department of Justice review of the Abdullah shooting for failing to validate his suspicions that the shooting was flawed. In condemning the report, Walid criticized the use of informants in FBI investigations - a tool that is considered invaluable by law enforcement for preventing terrorism.

Walid has also legitimized suicide bombings as possibly being "the only choice" for oppressed peoples and downplayed the threat of Hamas rocket fire. Most recently, the CAIR director called any Middle East peace talks not involving the U.S. designated terror group bogus.

It's a curious choice of partnership for a workshop against extremism.

Iran Arms Seized Before Reaching Gaza

A stash of Iranian weapons seized by Nigerian authorities last week caused Israeli defense analysts to fear that Teheran has opened new routes across Africa to arm Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The weapons were discovered in 13 crates on a ship that departed from Iran and docked in the Lagos Port. A false cargo declaration stated the contents included "packages of glass wool and pallets of stone." Instead, agents found rocket launchers, grenades and other explosives. The largest weapons found were 107mm Katyusha-style rockets, which Iran is known to manufacture and which is part of Hizballah's and Hamas' arsenals.

Since the Israel-Lebanon War in 2006, Iran has re-equipped Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is estimated to have 40,000 missiles capable of launching strikes into Israel. Iran is also believed to have transferred longer-range missiles to Hamas in Gaza. During Hamas' war with Israel during December 2008 – January 2009, Hamas launched rockets reaching Israeli cities including Beer Sheva and Ashdod. In January, 2009, Israel said that Hamas acquired dozens of Iranian made Fajr-3 missiles with an even longer range.

Over the past two years, Israel and western intelligence agencies have intercepted large shipments of weapons sent by Iran to arm Israel's enemies. In 2009, Israeli naval commandos stormed a ship carrying hundreds of tons of weapons from Iran destined for Syria and Lebanon. In January, 2009, Israel bombed a convoy of trucks traveling through the Sudanese desert carry weapons destined for Gaza.

The discovery of the Iranian weapons in Nigeria indicates that Iran could be developing a global network for moving weapons and people.

Israeli military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it appeared Iran aimed to smuggle the weapons into the Gaza Strip. Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip when Hamas seized control over the region in 2007.

The Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, said "I have seen some of the items in the containers. I can assure you, whoever brought them in was preparing for war. Nobody moves a thing like this through an approved seaport! I mean, it shows the level of their mentality."

Treasury Targets Pakistan-Based Terror Groups

The Department of Treasury designated top individuals and an entity tied to Pakistan-based terror groups, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) on Thursday. Treasury targeted top LeT commander Azam Cheema, who helped train operatives for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans. According to the Treasury press release, Cheema, who was described as LeT's surveillance or intelligence chief, was also behind the July 2006 serial train blasts in Mumbai that killed at least 174 people.

Treasury also took action against Hafiz Abdul Rahman Makki, who reportedly headed LeT's political affairs and foreign relations departments. Makki is alleged to have raised money for the LeT, giving around $248,000 to an LeT training camp and another $165,000 to a madrassa, or school, tied to the group.

Also designated were JeM leader Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi and the Al Rehmat Trust. The trust served as an operational front for the JeM after the group was banned by the State Department in 2001. Azhar founded the JeM in 2000 soon after his release from an Indian jail in exchange for hostages held in an Indian Airlines flight hijacking in December 1999. He is reported to be the key link between Osama bin Laden and the 1993 killing of 18 U.S. soldiers in a street war in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Azhar is also suspected to have ties to Sheikh Omar Saeed, who was charged with the 2002 kidnapping and death of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi, Pakistan. The Rehmat Trust has been involved in fundraising for JeM and has conducted jihadist training in mosques and madrassas under its control. The Trust has aided terrorist activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including providing financial and logistical support to foreign fighters in the countries.

The designations come on the eve of President Barack Obama's three-day visit to India next week. Stuart Levey, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, applauded the designations: "Today's action-including the designation of Azam Cheema, one of LeT's leading commanders who was involved in the 2008 and 206 Mumbai attacks—is an important step in incapacitating the operational and financial networks of these deadly organizations."

British Targeted by al-Qaida Franchises

An associate of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was arrested earlier this year for allegedly planning a terrorist attack in Britain, UK Home Secretary Theresa May said on Wednesday in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute in London.

May spoke of the changing nature of the al-Qaida threat to Britain, explaining that al-Qaida is now weaker than any time since September 11, and "many other terrorist groups now aspire to attack us."

AQAP has been "at the forefront" of those other groups, she said. "Police and agencies have been working to disrupt AQAP operatives in this country," and "threats such as these are likely to continue," May noted.

One obstacle is that "AQAP continue[s] to broadcast propaganda to this country and to publish online material which encourages acts of terrorism," according to May.

The Home Secretary spoke of the American-born AQAP leader Anwar Al-Awlaki, currently living in Yemen. His online sermons inspired the 21 year old former British student Roshonara Choudry, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday for the attempted murder of MP Stephen Timms. Choudry stabbed MP Timms for supporting the Iraq War in May.

Following pressure from British security officials, YouTube has begun removing clips of Awlaki from its site. The U.S. Treasury Department designated Al-Awlaki as a terrorist in July. Al-Awlaki has been tied to a series of attacks, including the Fort hood shooter Nidal Malik Hassan and the failed Detroit bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Another terrorist organization posing a threat to the UK is Somalia-based Al-Shabaab, which has recruited dozens of Westerns to provide support to the terrorist organization, including money, services and personnel. On Tuesday, six Somali refugees in the U.S. were arrested in separate, but possibly related schemes to funnel money to the group.

"We know that people from this country have already gone to Somalia to fight," May stated. And it "seems highly likely that if left to their own devices we would eventually see British extremists, trained and hardened on the streets of Mogadishu, returning to the UK and seeking to commit mass murder on the streets of London."

May promised "significant changes" to Britain's counter-terrorism laws, stating, "I don't think the previous government got the balance right, but let me make clear. I will do absolutely nothing that will put at risk Britain's national security."

YouTube Takes Down Awlaki Videos

Days after Britain's security minister pressed White House officials for action, clips of al-Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaki have started to be removed from YouTube, the Telegraph reports.

Dozens of Awlaki recordings are posted on the popular video site and calls for their removal have been growing because of Awlaki's role in inspiring terrorist attacks. U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-NY, wrote YouTube's CEO last week saying the recordings "are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror."

Britain added international pressure last week, after a woman was convicted in the stabbing attack of MP Stephen Timms last May. The attacker reportedly was radicalized by watching Awlaki videos.

Pauline Neville-Jones met with U.S. officials, including White House counterterrorism advisor John Brennan, demanding action to help get the clips removed. The National Journal quoted prepared remarks on the subject which Neville-Jones delivered at the Brookings Institution:

"Many of these websites are hosted in the US and we want to work closely with you to find ways of preventing such hateful material acting as a recruiting sergeant for men of violence out to harm our citizens. Many would argue -- quite correctly -- that freedom of speech means allowing people to say things that any reasonable person would find abhorrent. But when you have incitement to murder, when you have people actively calling for the killing of their fellow citizens, and when you have the means to stop that person so doing, then I believe we should act."

While the move is meeting with praise, Wired's Adam Rawnsley notes its effect may be limited because there are many ways radical groups can post materials on the Internet. For example, Rawnsley wrote, "The Taliban has an official YouTube channel, now largely dormant, and has since created an online video page on its own website."

In other words, those who want to find Awlaki sermons still can. But once casual viewers, like Timms' attacker, may not. It's a start.

US Designates Iran's Jundallah as Terrorist Organization

The Secretary of State announced the designation of Jundallah, a violent Salafi extremist organization operating out of Eastern Iran, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on Wednesday. FTO status criminalizes "material support" and "expert advice" to the organization, allows representatives of the organization to be barred or removed from the United States, and requires banks to freeze funds and assets of the group.

Jundallah, which began as a nationalist organization supporting the insurgency of the Balochi ethnicity against Iran, also claims to support the rights of Sunni Muslims in the Shiite-dominated country. Also called the People's Resistance Movement of Iran (PRMI), Jundallah is known to support the same violent Salafi ideology as al-Qaida and Al-Shabaab, and is reported to have connections with these organizations. Its numerous terrorist attacks have targeted Iranian civilians and government officials primarily in the Iranian territory of Sistan and Baluchistan. However, the Iranian government has linked the group to attacks around the country and has captured and executed the organization's founder and leader, Abdolmalek Rigi.

The Secretary of State's designation also sends a strong statement against accusations of U.S. funding of Jundallah. These charges have consistently been leveled at the U.S. and Britain by Iran, which accuses the West of attempting to fragment the patchwork of ethnic and religious identities found in Iranian territory. Western news agencies like ABC News, the London Telegraph, and PBS have also echoed the accusations.

The Iranian reaction to America's designation has been muted. Iran's government media agency, Press TV, did not report about it.

Three Americans Charged with Funneling Money to Somali Terrorists

Efforts to raise "one dollar a day per man" in support of al Shabaab militants fighting African Union forces in Somalia have led to a recently unsealed indictment charging three California men with conspiring to provide material support to the terrorist group.

The San Diego residents, Basaaly Saeed Moalin, Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud, and Issa Doreh, reportedly coordinated with now-deceased al Shabaab leader Aden Hashi Ayrow to send approximately $10,000 from the United States to Somalia. Explaining that the militants were in desperate need of money, Ayrow told Moalin that "it is time to finance the jihad."

In addition to the financial support, Moalin allegedly maintained a house in Somalia from which al Shabaab planned and carried out attacks.

Al Shabaab was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization on February 26, 2008 for its use of "harassment and targeted assassinations of civilians, improvised explosive devices, rockets, mortars, automatic weapons, suicide bombings, and general tactics of intimidation and violence." Since that designation, the group has continued to undertake terrorist acts, most notably the July, 2010 suicide bombing during a World Cup viewing party that killed 74 people in Uganda.

American involvement with the Somali-based terrorist organization is not new. Daphne, Alabama native Omar Hammami, better known as Abu Mansour al-Amriki, currently serves as a top operational commander within al Shabaab.

The group has also received substantial support in the form of money and fighters from the United States. A recent nation-wide investigation resulted in the indictment of 14 individuals from Minnesota, Alabama, and California for their support of al Shabaab. The case "shed further light on a deadly pipeline that has routed funding and fighters to al Shabaab from cities across the United States," said Attorney General Eric Holder following those arrests.

Mixed Messages from the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee

The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the "largest Arab-American grassroots civil rights organization in the United States," is well known for defending the rights of people of Arab descent while building bridges to other communities in common defense of civil and human rights. When those two objectives come into conflict, the ADC has placed ethnic solidarity before the common cause of respect for everyone.

On October 22, the ADC's Committee of Western New York held an event commemorating the Sabra and Shatilla massacres, entitled "Memory Lives, Resistance Persists." Resistance, a word that ADC has used interchangeably for terrorism in reports about the Middle East conflict, was celebrated on the flyer. A popular Palestinian cartoon character, Handala, is seen writing the Arabic words, "Revolution until victory."

In addition, the ADC recently decided to commemorate the career of Helen Thomas, a Lebanese American journalist whose career was ended abruptly in June over an anti-Semitic tirade. Thomas noted that the Jews of Israel should "go home" to Poland, Germany, and America, and "Get the hell out of Palestine."

The ADC sprang to Thomas' defense, thanking her "for her service" and quoting from far left Jewish activist Zool Zulkowitz and Paul Jay, whose defense of Thomas called Israel's founding colonialism. Instead of condemning Thomas' quotes, the ADC instead portrayed her as a victim, stating "that she [Thomas] will not be intimidated by the recent hateful accusations or deterred from her insightful questioning and reporting. Calls in support of Thomas were also echoed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which recently honored Thomas with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

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