Interesting tactics used to recruit and train.

from the May 11, 2004 edition -
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0511/p01s02-wogi.html

How terror groups vied for a player

By Faye Bowers and Peter Grier | Staff writers of The Christian
Science Monitor

WASHINGTON - All the terrorists wanted Shadi Abdallah on their
team.

Like many disenchanted Muslim youths in the late 1990s, the
Jordanian-born Mr. Abdallah had embarked on a wandering journey
that ended in the terror training camps of Afghanistan. But
Abdallah was apparently a better student than most. As his time
in the camps neared its end in 2001, at least two major Islamist
factions began vying for his services.

In a face-to-face meeting, Osama bin Laden invited him to join Al
Qaeda - and even asked him to serve as a personal bodyguard.
Meanwhile, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the now-infamous Jordanian
deemed responsible for recent attacks in Iraq, wanted Abdallah to
join Al Tawhid, Mr. Zarqawi's rival organization.

Abdallah opted for Al Tawhid, in part due to Jordanian ties. He
went to Germany to carry out attacks, but his plans were
interrupted when German authorities arrested him in April 2002.

Is that the end of his story? Not entirely. Since then,
information provided by Shadi Abdallah - still in German custody
- has painted a vivid, and in some ways surprising, picture of
Islamic terrorism. His interrogations - a summary of which was
given to the Monitor by a European intelligence source and deemed
credible by an intelligence official from a separate European
country - depict a world riven by internal rivalries, with
different groups fighting over men and money.

There is unity, but there is also bickering over status in their
own terror league.

"This is a very important document," says Bruce Hoffman, a terror
expert at RAND Corp. in Washington. "It confirms that Zarqawi was
running a parallel organization - not completely divorced from Al
Qaeda, but separate. And that [Zarqawi] competes with Osama bin
Laden and sees himself as somewhat of an emulator, or even a
successor in the Muslim world."

To the US public, Islamic terrorism is symbolized by the thin,
haunting face of Mr. bin Laden. They see him - and the US
government portrays him - as a dominant figure among terror
factions.

But that may be only one part of the story. In the transcript
summarizing his interrogations, Abdallah provides insights into
Al Qaeda and its relationship with the group led by Zarqawi, who
US officials say was also behind the October 2002 assassination
of US diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman, Jordan, as well as a
recent string of foiled ricin attacks across Europe.

He also provides insight into how disaffected Muslims adopt the
terrorist way of life.

The early years
Like many young Muslim men living in the politically and
economically troubled Middle East in the early 1990s, Abdallah
left his family in Jordan to pursue a more prosperous, rewarding
life in Europe.

He lived in Germany the longest, but - disenchanted with the
secular life there - left in late 1999 to become more pious. He
joined a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Abdallah's recruitment into the world of terrorism is typical,
Hoffman and intelligence officials say. While performing his
religious pilgrimage, Abdallah says in the interrogation
documents that he met a man who claimed to be bin Laden's
son-in-law. This man, whom he referred to as both Abdallah
al-Halabi and Abdallah al-Makki, convinced Abdallah he would
receive a better religious education in Afghanistan and
facilitated his travel there, according to the interrogation
transcript.

Abdallah arrived in Afghanistan early in 2001 and entered one of
Al Qaeda's military training camps for a 45-day session. It was
here, according to the interrogation transcripts, where Abdallah
had his first brush with Al Tawhid, the terror group founded by
Mr. Zarqawi. It was Zarqawi who, according to US officials, wrote
the well-publicized 14-page letter earlier this year, exhorting
bin Laden to help foment a religious war in Iraq.

The rival group
His organization, Al Tawhid, is based on the same religious
tenets as Al Qaeda, but has a different agenda. Zarqawi's raison
d'être is to overthrow the royal family of Jordan. To join his
organization, Abdallah says, one must agree with its mission and
be of Jordanian or Palestinian origin.

At the military camp, Abdallah says in the documents that a man
referred to as Abu Abed befriended Abdallah, and told him he had
trained under Zarqawi at another military camp in the western
Afghanistan city of Herat. Mr. Abed, according to the
transcripts, suggested to Abdallah that he join Zarqawi's group
and perhaps infiltrate Jordan's secret service, as he had done.

But on the 20th day of his military training, Abdallah says, he
was injured. After a short hospital stay, he moved to bin Laden's
compound near the Kandahar airport. While there, he says he met
bin Laden himself and was invited to join Al Qaeda. However, he
opted first to pursue his religious education and entered an
Islamic institute in Kandahar. There, he befriended two other
young men and eventually traveled with them to Afghanistan's
capital, Kabul, to meet with Zarqawi.

Abdallah says Zarqawi asked him to return to his home in Jordan
to help execute terrorist attacks there. Abdallah declined, but
said he would return to Germany and help Zarqawi carry out
attacks on Jews who lived in Germany. "An attack in Germany would
have made Al Tawhid very famous," Abdallah says in the documents.
"It would have sent the same [message] as the attacks of Al Qaeda
on Sept. 11, namely that our organization is as active in other
parts of the world."

In August 2001, Abdallah returned to Germany, where he says he
contacted Zarqawi's man in charge of running German cells,
referred to in the interrogation documents as Abu Ali. Ali
provided Abdallah with money to live on and later found him a job
at a service station in Germany.

At this point, Abdallah says in the transcript that three people
made up the support cell: Ali, Abdallah, and another recruit.
Their tasks were to obtain illegal passports, which in telephone
conversations they referred to in code as "Moroccan cars" or
"Spanish women"; create illegal cellphone contracts; raise funds;
and work out details for any attacks they were ordered to
execute.

Ali, as the man alleged in the transcript to be in charge of
German cells, was in direct contact with Zarqawi, and he was also
in touch with the leaders of other cells living in Germany.

Abdallah names the cell leaders in Munich, Hamburg, Berlin,
Nuremberg, and Wiesbaden. He also names the heads of cells for
Britain, Denmark, and the Czech Republic.

Ali, according to Abdallah, traveled monthly to these other
German cities to collect payments from the local support cell
leaders. The money allegedly came from private donors as well as
collections in mosques. Abdallah says Ali returned from these
trips with sums ranging from $3,500 to $40,000. Ali transferred
this money to Zarqawi, who was by then living in Iran.

According to the transcripts, Ali told Abdallah the money was
going to either Al Qaeda or Al Tawhid. But Abdallah also recalls
a tiff over the money. One of the most important cell leaders, or
money collectors, according to Abdallah, was a man named "Thaer"
who lived in Munich. He asked that the money be split: 50 percent
to Al Qaeda, 25 percent to Al Tawhid, and 25 percent to the
Taliban. Abdallah says that Zarqawi, however, would not agree
with this split.

Abdallah says that because Ali suspected German authorities were
watching him, Zarqawi replaced him at the beginning of 2002. The
new man, referred to in the papers as "Aschraf," was from then on
in charge of the cell that included Abdallah. Aschraf's
assignment was to carry out "two or three" attacks against
"Jewish institutions" in Germany. Zarqawi, Abdallah says, gave
the orders for the kinds of attacks, in this case, suicide bomb
attacks.

But the details had to be worked out locally. Aschraf directed
Abdallah to phone members of other cells to inquire about
explosives, which they referred to as "black pills" and "Lebanese
or Russian apples," the transcript says. Abdallah claims he
purchased explosives from "Albanians in Hamburg."

But the plans were thwarted with his arrest. According to
intelligence officials, though, Zarqawi and his various cells
have carried out several additional attacks, including the April
2002 bombing of a synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba, in
which 19 people, including 14 German tourists, were killed.

Epilogue
Abdallah is currently serving a four-year prison term in Germany.
He was given a relatively mild sentence at his trial, German
authorities say, because he had provided evidence of the inner
workings of Al Qaeda. He has been a witness in the two trials in
Hamburg linked to the Sept. 11 attacks in the US and is expected
to testify in other upcoming cases.

According to published accounts, the presiding judge at
Abdallah's trial, Ottmar Briedling, said he was convinced of the
"credibility of the bulk of the information" the Islamic militant
provided. German authorities have acknowledged that Abdallah will
require witness protection for the rest of his life.

Full HTML version of this story which may include photos,
graphics, and related links


"A vote for Kerry is a de facto vote for bin Laden."
Strider

Interesting article, Gunner. The part about him requiring witness protection
does stick in my craw a bit, though.

Unless you consider that the tiger hunter with the goat staked to a tree in the
jungle is truly concerned with protecting the goat.

John Martin

"Gunner" wrote in message
...


Interesting tactics used to recruit and train.

from the May 11, 2004 edition -
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0511/p01s02-wogi.html

How terror groups vied for a player

By Faye Bowers and Peter Grier | Staff writers of The Christian
Science Monitor

WASHINGTON - All the terrorists wanted Shadi Abdallah on their
team.

Like many disenchanted Muslim youths in the late 1990s, the
Jordanian-born Mr. Abdallah had embarked on a wandering journey
that ended in the terror training camps of Afghanistan. But
Abdallah was apparently a better student than most. As his time
in the camps neared its end in 2001, at least two major Islamist
factions began vying for his services.

In a face-to-face meeting, Osama bin Laden invited him to join Al
Qaeda - and even asked him to serve as a personal bodyguard.
Meanwhile, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the now-infamous Jordanian
deemed responsible for recent attacks in Iraq, wanted Abdallah to
join Al Tawhid, Mr. Zarqawi's rival organization.

Abdallah opted for Al Tawhid, in part due to Jordanian ties. He
went to Germany to carry out attacks, but his plans were
interrupted when German authorities arrested him in April 2002.

Is that the end of his story? Not entirely. Since then,
information provided by Shadi Abdallah - still in German custody
- has painted a vivid, and in some ways surprising, picture of
Islamic terrorism. His interrogations - a summary of which was
given to the Monitor by a European intelligence source and deemed
credible by an intelligence official from a separate European
country - depict a world riven by internal rivalries, with
different groups fighting over men and money.

There is unity, but there is also bickering over status in their
own terror league.

"This is a very important document," says Bruce Hoffman, a terror
expert at RAND Corp. in Washington. "It confirms that Zarqawi was
running a parallel organization - not completely divorced from Al
Qaeda, but separate. And that [Zarqawi] competes with Osama bin
Laden and sees himself as somewhat of an emulator, or even a
successor in the Muslim world."

To the US public, Islamic terrorism is symbolized by the thin,
haunting face of Mr. bin Laden. They see him - and the US
government portrays him - as a dominant figure among terror
factions.

But that may be only one part of the story. In the transcript
summarizing his interrogations, Abdallah provides insights into
Al Qaeda and its relationship with the group led by Zarqawi, who
US officials say was also behind the October 2002 assassination
of US diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman, Jordan, as well as a
recent string of foiled ricin attacks across Europe.

He also provides insight into how disaffected Muslims adopt the
terrorist way of life.

The early years
Like many young Muslim men living in the politically and
economically troubled Middle East in the early 1990s, Abdallah
left his family in Jordan to pursue a more prosperous, rewarding
life in Europe.

He lived in Germany the longest, but - disenchanted with the
secular life there - left in late 1999 to become more pious. He
joined a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Abdallah's recruitment into the world of terrorism is typical,
Hoffman and intelligence officials say. While performing his
religious pilgrimage, Abdallah says in the interrogation
documents that he met a man who claimed to be bin Laden's
son-in-law. This man, whom he referred to as both Abdallah
al-Halabi and Abdallah al-Makki, convinced Abdallah he would
receive a better religious education in Afghanistan and
facilitated his travel there, according to the interrogation
transcript.

Abdallah arrived in Afghanistan early in 2001 and entered one of
Al Qaeda's military training camps for a 45-day session. It was
here, according to the interrogation transcripts, where Abdallah
had his first brush with Al Tawhid, the terror group founded by
Mr. Zarqawi. It was Zarqawi who, according to US officials, wrote
the well-publicized 14-page letter earlier this year, exhorting
bin Laden to help foment a religious war in Iraq.

The rival group
His organization, Al Tawhid, is based on the same religious
tenets as Al Qaeda, but has a different agenda. Zarqawi's raison
d'être is to overthrow the royal family of Jordan. To join his
organization, Abdallah says, one must agree with its mission and
be of Jordanian or Palestinian origin.

At the military camp, Abdallah says in the documents that a man
referred to as Abu Abed befriended Abdallah, and told him he had
trained under Zarqawi at another military camp in the western
Afghanistan city of Herat. Mr. Abed, according to the
transcripts, suggested to Abdallah that he join Zarqawi's group
and perhaps infiltrate Jordan's secret service, as he had done.

But on the 20th day of his military training, Abdallah says, he
was injured. After a short hospital stay, he moved to bin Laden's
compound near the Kandahar airport. While there, he says he met
bin Laden himself and was invited to join Al Qaeda. However, he
opted first to pursue his religious education and entered an
Islamic institute in Kandahar. There, he befriended two other
young men and eventually traveled with them to Afghanistan's
capital, Kabul, to meet with Zarqawi.

Abdallah says Zarqawi asked him to return to his home in Jordan
to help execute terrorist attacks there. Abdallah declined, but
said he would return to Germany and help Zarqawi carry out
attacks on Jews who lived in Germany. "An attack in Germany would
have made Al Tawhid very famous," Abdallah says in the documents.
"It would have sent the same [message] as the attacks of Al Qaeda
on Sept. 11, namely that our organization is as active in other
parts of the world."

In August 2001, Abdallah returned to Germany, where he says he
contacted Zarqawi's man in charge of running German cells,
referred to in the interrogation documents as Abu Ali. Ali
provided Abdallah with money to live on and later found him a job
at a service station in Germany.

At this point, Abdallah says in the transcript that three people
made up the support cell: Ali, Abdallah, and another recruit.
Their tasks were to obtain illegal passports, which in telephone
conversations they referred to in code as "Moroccan cars" or
"Spanish women"; create illegal cellphone contracts; raise funds;
and work out details for any attacks they were ordered to
execute.

Ali, as the man alleged in the transcript to be in charge of
German cells, was in direct contact with Zarqawi, and he was also
in touch with the leaders of other cells living in Germany.

Abdallah names the cell leaders in Munich, Hamburg, Berlin,
Nuremberg, and Wiesbaden. He also names the heads of cells for
Britain, Denmark, and the Czech Republic.

Ali, according to Abdallah, traveled monthly to these other
German cities to collect payments from the local support cell
leaders. The money allegedly came from private donors as well as
collections in mosques. Abdallah says Ali returned from these
trips with sums ranging from $3,500 to $40,000. Ali transferred
this money to Zarqawi, who was by then living in Iran.

According to the transcripts, Ali told Abdallah the money was
going to either Al Qaeda or Al Tawhid. But Abdallah also recalls
a tiff over the money. One of the most important cell leaders, or
money collectors, according to Abdallah, was a man named "Thaer"
who lived in Munich. He asked that the money be split: 50 percent
to Al Qaeda, 25 percent to Al Tawhid, and 25 percent to the
Taliban. Abdallah says that Zarqawi, however, would not agree
with this split.

Abdallah says that because Ali suspected German authorities were
watching him, Zarqawi replaced him at the beginning of 2002. The
new man, referred to in the papers as "Aschraf," was from then on
in charge of the cell that included Abdallah. Aschraf's
assignment was to carry out "two or three" attacks against
"Jewish institutions" in Germany. Zarqawi, Abdallah says, gave
the orders for the kinds of attacks, in this case, suicide bomb
attacks.

But the details had to be worked out locally. Aschraf directed
Abdallah to phone members of other cells to inquire about
explosives, which they referred to as "black pills" and "Lebanese
or Russian apples," the transcript says. Abdallah claims he
purchased explosives from "Albanians in Hamburg."

But the plans were thwarted with his arrest. According to
intelligence officials, though, Zarqawi and his various cells
have carried out several additional attacks, including the April
2002 bombing of a synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba, in
which 19 people, including 14 German tourists, were killed.

Epilogue
Abdallah is currently serving a four-year prison term in Germany.
He was given a relatively mild sentence at his trial, German
authorities say, because he had provided evidence of the inner
workings of Al Qaeda. He has been a witness in the two trials in
Hamburg linked to the Sept. 11 attacks in the US and is expected
to testify in other upcoming cases.

According to published accounts, the presiding judge at
Abdallah's trial, Ottmar Briedling, said he was convinced of the
"credibility of the bulk of the information" the Islamic militant
provided. German authorities have acknowledged that Abdallah will
require witness protection for the rest of his life.

Full HTML version of this story which may include photos,
graphics, and related links


"A vote for Kerry is a de facto vote for bin Laden."
Strider

But Gunner, I thought that all terrorism was controlled by bin Laden
or some other central figure? Aren't we supposed to defeat "terrorism"
so that they don't take over the world? If they argue among themselves
how can they accomplish the takeover?

Gunner, then the insurgents (terrorists) drive us from the Middle East
they will argue among themselves. They will not be able to go further
no matter what the "best and the brightest" have to say.

You keep popping off these items but you keep shooting yourself.

Pete.

On 03 Jun 2004 14:19:19 GMT, (JMartin957) wrote:

Interesting article, Gunner. The part about him requiring witness protection
does stick in my craw a bit, though.

Unless you consider that the tiger hunter with the goat staked to a tree in the
jungle is truly concerned with protecting the goat.

John Martin

Ayup. Its a far far more complex issue then most folks think. When
Bush & Co. first said this would take years to resolve, they indeed did
know what they were talking about. The relaxing of selective
assasination rules made a hell of a lot of sense when dealing with this
sort of layers within layers.

Gunner

"A vote for Kerry is a de facto vote for bin Laden."
Strider

On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 10:53:00 -0400, "Peter Reilley"
wrote:


"A vote for Kerry is a de facto vote for bin Laden."
Strider

But Gunner, I thought that all terrorism was controlled by bin Laden
or some other central figure? Aren't we supposed to defeat "terrorism"
so that they don't take over the world? If they argue among themselves
how can they accomplish the takeover?

As the Ottoman Empire, or those that flew 4 airliners on 911. It makes
no difference if they argue with each other..its the times they get
together that spell serious trouble.

Gunner, then the insurgents (terrorists) drive us from the Middle East
they will argue among themselves. They will not be able to go further
no matter what the "best and the brightest" have to say.

They have been arguing and killing each other for about a 1000 yrs or
more. Still didnt stop them from conqeuring Spain, showing in Austria,
etc etc.

You keep popping off these items but you keep shooting yourself.

Pete.

Ah Peety boyo...you keep attemping endruns that constantly fail and
never make First Down. But your attempts are occasionally amusing. You
above conclusions are hysterical based on historical fact, and your
attempted misuse of them.

Shrug...but do keep trying.

Gunner

"A vote for Kerry is a de facto vote for bin Laden."
Strider