Al Qaeda letter released
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has just released a letter from Ayman Al Zawahri to Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, It makes for fascinating reading, because, in no particular order:
- It suggests that Al Qaeda in Iraq keep in mind international Muslim public opinion when planning attack;
- Specifically advises to refrain from civilian attacks on Shia Iraqis because other Muslims, even non-Shia, will not understand them (even though they are quite justified to Al Zawahri and a confrontation with the Shia will happen “sooner or later anyway”);
- It extensively refers to Al Qaeda’s experience in Afghanistan, notably with regards to the collapse of the Taliban regime, to warn Zarqawi about the importance of sectarian and tribal relations–in other words, broad-based support;
- Meditates on the potential emergence of a embryonic caliphate in the Sunni parts of Iraq after an American withdrawal, which it predicts will come soon, but reiterates his view that such a caliphate’s true heart is Egypt and the Levant (”a bird whose wings are Egypt and Syria and whose heart is Palestine”);
- Of interest to Egypt-watchers, Zawahri talks about an article or book he wrote called “The Muslim Brotherhood in 60 Years: The Bitter Harvest” in which he warns about the “dangerous trend” of appeasement within the Brotherhood.
All this is from a quick glance at the letter, which I’ll try to read more in depth later. I’m not sure how credible the letter is (or whether it’s been acknowledged as authentic or denied) but if it’s real it’s a fascinating look inside the mind of Al Qaeda’s leading strategist.
Categories: Political Islam, Terrorism.
6 Responses to “Al Qaeda letter released”
- 1 Pingback on Oct 13th, 2005 at 12:19 am
- 2 Pingback on Nov 4th, 2005 at 3:41 pm
Also of interest for Egyptians is Zawahiri’s suggestions to expand operations into the Levante and Egypt. For Islam’s victory, controlling states in the heart of the Muslim world is required, he argues.
Does this shed new light on the Sinai bombings in Taba and Sharm?
Israel’s intelligence claims that there is an Al-Qaeda cell operating in Sinai, which was once more denied by Egypt on Monday.
As for El-Qaeda cell operating in Sinai, I was a talk by Abdel Monem Said Aly, the Director of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. It was about the role of Egypt in the Gaza pull out. For him it made no doubt that there were al-qaeda linked group in Egypt. I am still skeptical to the extent to which they are part of El-Qaeda or just have similar goals.
“a bird whose wings are Egypt and Syria and whose heart is Palestine”
Not to pick theological battles with the estimable Mr. Zawahiri, but on my map, Mecca is in neither Egypt, nor Syria, nor Palestine. Two conclusions:
(1) For all their nonsense about the umma, al-Qaeda’s frame of reference is still a pan-Arab one and has little to do with Islam.
(2) The letter is obviously written with the Arab concern for Palestinians in mind; without the conflict with Israel, support for al-Qaeda and its brethren would collapse overnight. Any they know it.
- Adam
I personally do not believe the letter was authentic, even the press in US took the content of it cautiously. In my opinion, Alqaeda now is used for political gains and to frighten the American people. I travel daily to New York and lived the last terror alert, we could not go homes except very late because of it. Americans deserve better service.