Zawahiri named new Qaeda chief: statement

ejazr

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AFP: Zawahiri named new Qaeda chief: statement

DUBAI — Al-Qaeda has named Ayman al-Zawahiri as its new chief following the killing of long-time leader Osama bin Laden by US commandos in May 2 raid in Pakistan, the jihadists said in a statement Thursday.

"The general command of Al-Qaeda announces, after consultations, the appointment of Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri as head of the group," said the statement, issued in the name of the general command and posted on an Islamist website.

Zawahiri has been Al-Qaeda's number two for years.

Al-Qaeda said under the leadership of Zawahiri it will pursue its 'jihad' (holy war) against the United States and Israel.

"We seek with the aid of God to call for the religion of truth and incite our nation to fight ... by carrying out jihad against the apostate invaders ... with their head being crusader America and its servant Israel, and whoever supports them," said the statement.
 

ejazr

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What are the odds that AQ head no.2 is also in Pakistan? :)
 

Iamanidiot

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@Ejaz the qaeda operational chiefs are becoming increasingly pakistanis i think
 

asianobserve

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"What are the odds that AQ head no.2 is also in Pakistan?"

99%?
 

sayareakd

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"What are the odds that AQ head no.2 is also in Pakistan?"

99%?
wrong it is 100%, OBL was Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs for Pakistan, Pakistan was aware that till such time OBL is found by US, they will continue to receive aid from US, now that place has been taken by Zawahiri, again same logic.
 

thakur_ritesh

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What are the odds that AQ head no.2 is also in Pakistan? :)
the odds are very high or as good as everything to nothing.

But this exposes the psyops the western security agencies in connivance with their media tried to play first by floating news that zawahiri "was" behind the leaking of news about obl's presence at abottabad, then by naming various other chaps set to take the top slot at AQ, but when all the propaganda seemed to fail and created no ruckus within AQ, they now have had to come out with the truth.

what this also shows is, AQ is as strong and well knit as ever, with zawahiri in good control of that organization and with him taking over, its not all that good news for india because he is known to be a lot more bitter towards india than obl ever was, who when uttered words about kashmir came across as a case of pay back to paks for giving him a place to hide in pak and with ilias kashmiri's death not being confirmed both by india and the US, AQ's agenda could see a change under zawahiri, right at a time when IK would like to keep a low profile within pak and concentrate else where.

the saving grace one would imagine is pa and isi are again seen no less kafirs than us indians or much worse, so for now their focus remains afpak, but AQ under zawahiri isnt too good a news for us i would imagine.
 

ejazr

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^^^

Well I have never read any statement from Zawahiri about India or even Kashmir so not sure what he thinks about that. But Even in the most recent statement that I saw on Al Jazeera, he mentioned US, Israel and apostate regimes i.e. Muslim countries that are close allies to the US which would be Pakistan, Karzai's Afghanistan or the Saudis and of course possibly even Egypt.

But he will certainly focus on Pakistan and may even boost AQ attention on destablising Pakistan. Back in Sep 2010 a video was released where he called on Pakistanis to revolt against Zardari and soldiers to revolt against PA leadership. This certainly can be a cause of worry, especially if AQ sympathizers get control over nuclear weapons.

Al-Qaeda Zawahiri asks Pakistanis to revolt against their govt | The India Daily
16 September 2010
Al-Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri has asked Pakistanis to revolt against their "corrupt" government for its "failure" to provide succour to countrymen devastated by worst-ever floods.

Labelling President Asif Ali Zardari as a "thief too busy with mending his ties with the West", Zawahiri charged the ruling class in Pakistan as well as the Pakistan army of filling their domestic and foreign bank accounts with dollars and paying scant attention to the people reeling under the floods.

"It is a catastrophe that has befallen on Pakistan. Its ruling class and army are filling their bank accounts with dollars and as far as they are concerned: Pakistan and its people can go to hell," Zawahiri, the deputy of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, said in a 44-minute video that was released in Arabic, English, Pashto and Urdu languages.
 

thakur_ritesh

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Ejazr,

not able to get his audios and you may be right but i tried doing a quick google on "al zawahiri on kashmir and al zawahiri on jihad in kashmir" and here is what i got, though nothing pointed:

Although Zawahiri has made it clear that jihad against the US would continue despite the death of Laden, Indian agencies suspect that he may try and play a role in Kashmir -- the next biggest target of jihadi factions after the US.

Ayman al-Zawahiri is new Al Qaeda chief - Rediff.com News
and mr. B. Raman would coincide with your thoughts there as well:

This was followed by a long pause on India, even though his No.2 Ayman Al Zawahiri regularly spewed venom not just against India but also Hindus. In an April 2006 audio message, the emir of al-Qaida broke his silence to speak of a "Crusader-Zionist-Hindu conspiracy" against Muslims and also referred to Kashmir.

"Meanwhile, a UN resolution passed more than half a century ago gave Muslim Kashmir the liberty of choosing independence from India. George Bush, the leader of the Crusaders' campaign, announced a few days ago that he will order his converted agent Musharraf to shut down the Kashmir mujahideen camps, thus affirming that it is a Zionist-Hindu war against Muslims," he said in the message which sought to highlight conspiracies against Muslims all over the world. According to security expert B Raman, the message lacked focus.

Osama saw India as enemy, wanted to join jihad in Kashmir (02 May 2011 22:04)
one thing is for sure, now that obl is not there in a safe house provided by the paks, yes quite likely the attaks by AQ and affiliates eg ttp are only going to get all the more audacious within pakistan.
 

The Messiah

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al qaeda has always focused on the the west rather than India. It is pak based terrorist groups that target India on the orders from isi and army of pakistan.

And seeing that yanks wont target them because its not there problem.
 

ejazr

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Al-Zawahri may not be able to revive Qaida, say experts - The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian physician who took over as the chief of al-Qaida in place of slain founder Osama bin Laden, may not be able to immediately recoup and rejuvenate the terror group for carrying out sensational attacks. However, he could end up providing a deeply ideological and violent argument for a new generation of fanatics, who could come out of the rising anti-Americanism in countries such as Pakistan and those who feel left out of the secular Arab revolutions.

"Sheikh Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, may God guide him, assumed responsibility as the group's amir," an al-Qaida statement, translated by western counter-terrorism watchdogs, said. The statement added that al-Qaida would continue its holy war under the new leader against both the US and Israel, until "all invading armies leave the land of Islam".

The Egyptian, who carries a bounty of $25 million, turns 60 this Sunday, and is believed to be living somewhere along the Pak-Afghan border. In a video-taped eulogy on Osama after the Saudi fugitive was killed, al-Zawahiri had said, "He went to his God as a martyr, the man who terrified America while alive and terrifies it in death, so much so that they trembled at the idea of his having a tomb."

Indian officials watching al-Qaida are not convinced about the capability of al-Zawahiri to recoup the organization for deadlier fight in the immediate future. However, it is not really a necessity, given the fact that the organization is more an ideological fountainhead for various disparate groups around the world. A senior official said al-Zawahiri could never match Osama in "charisma and money power" but "has ideological commitment in abundance".

Al-Qaida as an organisation has been steadily losing capabilities even as the ideology of violent, political Islam has been finding local sanctuaries around the world. "He may only need to put out the right messages to inspire small groups to carry out attacks," an official said.

Many Indian officials believe that the new leader may not mean much to India. There is no indication, or analysis, to show that al-Qaida could put immediate focus on India. "Though there are organizations (such as Lashkar-e-Taiba) that work as adjuncts of al-Qaida in India," one of them argued. And their operations may also not change because of al-Zawahiri's appointment, he said.

There is one long-term threat that some Indian officials see from the appointment of al-Zawahiri. Given his deep understanding of Islamic history, politics and ideological commitment, he might be able to motivate a number of fringe elements from a new generation into violence. Al-Zawahiri, who is fluent in both English and French, is believed to be the real brain behind the stunning attacks of 9/11, and more importantly, the man behind its ideology.

So, he could end up giving twisted ideological inspiration to a new generation, baptized in the rising tide of anti-Americanism in countries such as Pakistan, and from among those who fail to find a prominent place in the ongoing peaceful revolutions of West Asia. "It will take a long time, but it is a possibility we cannot rule out. In fact, we need to be wary of it," a senior official said.
 

ejazr

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Looks like just like OBL had some sort of history with the CIA, Zawahiri had a relationship with the KGB

Moscow's jihadi | Deccan Chronicle

What do we know about the new head of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri? Not very much.

We know he's a former "emir" of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad who spent three years in an Egyptian prison after his group assassinated the pro-Western President Anwar Sadat. He's also said to be a qualified surgeon, who became Osama Bin Laden's personal physician and adviser in the late 1980s.

But there is one curious fact about him that it would be foolish for the West to ignore: his links with the KGB, and its successor, Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB.

It was Alexander Litvinenko, the rebel FSB officer assassinated with radioactive material in London in 2006, who named al-Zawahiri as "Moscow's man in Al Qaeda".

In an interview following the July 7, 2005 attacks in London, he claimed that the future Al Qaeda chief had stayed in an FSB training centre in Dagestan, in the North Caucasus, in 1998.

"He took a six-month special training course there. Then he was sent to Afghanistan, where he had never been before. Immediately after that, under supervision of his FSB bosses, he penetrated bin Laden's entourage and soon became his deputy in Al Qaeda"¦ I saw those officers from the FSB directorate for Dagestan, who had been training al-Zawahiri shortly before, being reassigned to Moscow and getting promotions."

Litvinenko repeated this allegation in a number of other interviews. And Ahmed Zakayev, regarded by many as the leader of independent Chechnya's government-in-exile, finds the claim credible. He told me that "a number of emissaries" came from West Asia to the North Caucasus to "preach global jihad" after his government made peace with Russia in 1996.

"All of them spoke Russian, had Russian visas, and travelled through Moscow. Al-Zawahiri is simply the most infamous." Moscow, he says, always wanted the Chechens to talk of global jihad rather than independence; it legitimised the war against them.

In 2003, the FSB gave their version: they said they had arrested al-Zawahiri in 1997 with a fake passport, held him in Dagestan for six months and then, having failed to establish his identity, deported him as an illegal immigrant.

It was only after 9/11, they said, while exchanging intelligence with Americans, that they realised they had let one of the world's most wanted terrorists off the hook.

Litvinenko dismissed this as "ridiculous": as far as he was concerned, the FSB had been caught red-handed helping terrorists and were trying to wriggle out of it.

The Kremlin wanted instability in the Muslim world, he said, because it raised Russia's status in the "global war on terror", and because the regime depended on oil prices.

As for al-Zawahiri, Litvinenko believed his friendship with Russia might go right back to the Cold War.
From the 1960s right until the collapse of the Soviet regime, the KGB would train, finance and arm various terrorist organisations — from Palestinian militants to ultra-left "liberation fronts" all over the world.
The typical form of assistance was "special training" in KGB camps. Courses covered such subjects as "party security", "intelligence and counterintelligence", "clandestine techniques", "clandestine communications", and "combining legal and illegal party work". The standard course took six months, exactly how long al-Zawahiri allegedly spent in FSB custody.

Corroborating evidence comes from the files smuggled out of Russia by the former KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin. In his book with the intelligence historian Christopher Andrew, Mitrokhin suggests Soviet involvement in the assassination of Sadat.

They say groundwork for the assassination was laid by the Syrian special services and Palestinian terrorists, with the KGB's knowledge and at least tacit approval.

And after that? Did Russia's support for terrorism end with the Soviet Union? Litvinenko maintained it did not.

"There were people in Andropov's KGB who orchestrated terrorism all over the world", he said in a 2005 interview with Radio Liberty.

"They were all taken back in the FSB as consultants under Vladimir Putin, and restored their contacts with former KGB agents in various terrorist groups."

With al-Zawahiri now at the top of Al Qaeda, Litvinenko's claims deserve close attention. After all, most Russians view their country's recent history as one long heroic battle against Western imperialism. Why should they have changed their spots? Litvinenko's terrible death is the ultimate indication that his allegations are credible.
 

ejazr

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Here is a 2005 AFP report referring to this

Gulf Times – Qatar's top-selling English daily newspaper - Bin Laden aide 'had KGB link'
WARSAW: Al Qaeda's number two was trained by Russia's secret service and served as a KGB agent before becoming Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, a former KGB secret agent told Poland's Rzeczpospolita newspaper yesterday.

"Ayman al-Zawahiri trained at a Federal Security Service (FSB, former KGB) base in Dagestan in 1998," claimed ex-FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko who fled Russia in 2000.

"He was then transferred to Afghanistan where he became Osama bin Laden's deputy", Litvinenko told the newspaper.

"I was working in that section at the time and I can confirm the fact Zawahiri was not the only link between the FSB and Al Qaeda", he said. – AFP
 

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