by realp » Thu Jul 14, 2005 4:49 pm
here's some material that i haven't seen anywhere else.<br><br>- - - - - - - - - -<br><br>http://www.stratfor.com/products/wtr/print.php?storyId=251729<br><br>London Bombings: The Al-Faqih Connection<br><br>Jul 14, 2005 (2:34pm EDT)<br><br>Hours after the July 7 London bombings, a group calling itself the Secret Organization of al Qaeda in Europe claimed responsibility for the attack. The claim appeared in a forum on Arabic Web site Qal3ah, or Qalaah (the Fortress). The fact that no one had ever heard of this group is not enough reason to discount its claim. The 1993 World Trade Center bombers called themselves the Fifth Battalion in the Liberation Army, a name not heard of before -- or since. The question, then, is whether the "Secret" group's claim is legitimate. We tend to believe it is.<br><br>The Qalaah Web site, which no longer is accessible, has been linked to Saad Rashid Mohammad al-Faqih, a medical doctor and head of the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia -- a Saudi opposition movement calling for political change in the kingdom through non-military means. The U.S. government says al-Faqih has been associated with al Qaeda since the mid-1990s. In a move to have al-Faqih designated an international terrorist, the U.S. Treasury Department said Dec. 21, 2004 that he provides financial and material support to al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.<br><br>Al-Faqih's name was originally listed as the administrative contact for a Web site that promotes the cause of imprisoned Saudi cleric Said bin Mubarek Zuair. In a later version of the Zuair Web site -- which switched the site from a .com to a .net address -- the administrator's name was changed to "Qalaah" -- the name also listed on the Qalaah Web site. A common British e-mail address also is listed for the first and second Zuair sites, and for the Qalaah site. In other words, al-Faqih is the common denominator of all three sites.<br><br>The U.S. government says al-Faqih has had contact with both bin Laden and Khaled al-Fawwaz, a Saudi dissident who arrived in London in 1994 and acted as bin Laden's de facto representative in Britain. Al-Faqih and al-Fawwaz shared an office in the late 1990s, and al-Faqih worked with and provided assistance to al-Fawwaz, who served as the intermediary between bin Laden and al-Faqih. In a 1998 interview with the PBS program Frontline, al-Faqih acknowledged that he has known bin Laden since the two were in Afghanistan in the 1980s.<br><br>Following the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa, British authorities arrested al-Fawwaz under a U.S. extradition request that claimed he provided media resources for al Qaeda. At the U.S. trial of the embassy bombers, prosecutors provided evidence that al-Faqih paid for a satellite phone that al-Fawwaz passed on to bin Laden, who allegedly used it to help carry out the attacks. Al-Fawwaz remains in a British prison pending the outcome of his appeal of the extradition order.<br><br>On May 27, the Society for Internet Research posted an article detailing the associations, domains and Web sites of al-Faqih, which apparently prompted the contact change and the switch to the .net address on the Zuair site. His efforts to cover his tracks failed, however, because investigators into the July 7 bombings have found links between al-Faqih, the Zuair Web sites and the Qalaah Web site.<br><br>Concerning the claim of responsibility, the message contains rhetoric similar to past statements from al Qaeda and related jihadist groups. It begins and ends with Koranic-style phrases and its political statement is in the middle. The statement also refers to the attacks against London as a "raid," reminiscent of language once used by Muslims spreading the frontiers of Islam throughout the Arabian Peninsula. In addition, the statement refers to the West as "crusaders" and promises revenge for its perceived oppression of Muslims in the Middle East. A warning to the West cautioning against a continued presence in Iraq and Afghanistan is also included in the message and, in the spirit of the Koran, claims that, "He who warns is excused."<br><br>The message also mentions strenuous efforts exerted over a long period of time to ensure the success of the "raid." Although that could be seen as an effort to legitimize the claim, it seems highly unlikely that anyone not connected with the London operation would include such a reference.<br><br>Although one Islamist activist in the United States has claimed the statement is fake, based on discrepancies in Arabic grammar and Islamic theology, we know of no other such claim. If individuals not connected to the bombings posted the claim, at the very least they share similar views and beliefs as the perpetrators.<br><br>Based on the poster's familiarity with the London operation and on al-Faqih's connections to both the Qaalah Web site and al Qaeda, the claim likely is genuine. <p></p><i></i>
