Latest Updates: anwar al-awlaki RSS

  • johnpi 10:42 am on February 11, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki, , , , , , , , ,

    Pentagon quietly explores de-citizenship of US citizen terrorists.

    At the highest levels of the US military, a quiet discussion is going on about putting in place a legal framework that would permit the US government to strip American citizenship from terrorists.

    The case of Las Cruces, New Mexico born al Qaeda commander Anwar al-Aulaqi, who has been a key organizer and recruiter for the terrorist organization in Yemen is the primary driver of this exploration of possibly modifying US law to allow “de-citizening.”

    As the Washington Post’s Dana Priest recently revealed, al-Alaqi was added recently to a short list of other Americans for whom there are kill orders in place.

    A senior Member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has told me that to his knowledge, there has been no serious discussion in the Committee of stripping US citizenship from terrorists, but a senior Pentagon official has confirmed that some in the military are exploring the upsides and downsides of such a more routenized mechanism for stripping citizenship.

     

  • johnpi 1:45 pm on February 5, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , anwar al-awlaki, , ,

    CBS News is reporting that Abdulmutallab has said that Anwar al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the attempted suicide bombing against a US airliner.

    The suspect in a failed Christmas Day airliner bombing attempt told federal investigators that radical Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the attack, CBS News has learned.
    ….

    The source said Abdulmutallab told investigators he was guided by al-Awalki to detonate the bomb over U.S. soil, unlike the failed British bomber plot in 2006 when the bombers were instructed to detonate bombs on airliners over the ocean on the way to the U.S. so that there would be no evidence left behind.

    There’s also a discussion of the legality of the US government targeting al Awlaki:

    CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan reports that al-Awlaki’s U.S. citizenship – he was born in New Mexico – will have little bearing on American military and intelligence efforts to locate and kill him.

    U.S. officials, both current and former, tell Logan that if an individual is deemed to be part of a terrorist network that is a threat to American security in any way, they can be targeted legitimately.

    Al Awlaki denied in another report giving Abdulmutallab permission or issuing a fatwa approving the attack.

     

  • johnpi 12:41 am on February 4, 2010 | 5 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , anwar al-awlaki,

    Al Jazeera interviewed Anwar al Awlaki on Feb. 2nd, during which he said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was his student.

    In an interview which the website said a Yemeni freelance journalist had held with Anwar al-Awlaki, the US-born preacher said he had been a teacher of the Nigerian suspect in the Dec 25 attempted bombing of the US-bound plane.

    “The mujahid brother, Umar Farouk (Abdulmutallab) … is one of my students. Yes, and there was contact between us. But I did not issue a fatwa (religious edict) to Umar Farouk for this operation,” Awlaki was quoted as saying.

     

  • abunoor 8:20 pm on January 14, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , anwar al-awlaki, , , , , prisoners rights, , ,

    Moazzam Begg on AbdulMuttalab, al-Awlaki, and allegations against CagePrisoners.

     

  • abunoor 2:16 pm on January 12, 2010 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , anwar al-awlaki,

    Interesting interview with Anwar al-Awlaki’s father on CNN.

     

  • johnpi 9:54 am on January 7, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , anwar al-awlaki, , , , ,

    Yemen says Abdulmutallab may have met Anwar al-Awlaki, but avers that he was initially recruited into Al Qaeda in Britain.

    The Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a U.S. passenger plane on Christmas met in a remote mountainous area of Yemen with regional al-Qaida leaders, possibly including a radical American cleric who was also in contact with the alleged Fort Hood shooter, Yemen’s deputy prime minister said Thursday.

    However, Rashad al-Alimi insisted that 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was recruited by al-Qaida in Britain, before he arrived in Yemen last summer, and that he obtained the explosives used in the failed attack after he left Yemen.

     

  • abunoor 2:48 pm on December 29, 2009 | 4 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , anwar al-awlaki

    The Washington Times is quoting an unnamed intelligence official for the first time directly alleging a link between al-Awlaki and the attempted plane bombing.

    The Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner had his suicide mission personally blessed in Yemen by Anwar al-Awlaki, the same Muslim imam suspected of radicalizing the Fort Hood shooting suspect, a U.S. intelligence source has told The Washington Times.

    The intelligence official, who is familiar with the FBI’s interrogation of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, said the bombing suspect has boasted of his jihad training during interrogation by the FBI and has said it included final exhortations by Mr. al-Awlaki.

    “It was Awlaki who indoctrinated him,” the official said. “He was told, ‘You are going to be the tip of the spear of the Muslim nation.’”

    In his FBI interrogation, according to the U.S. intelligence official, Mr. Abdulmutallab spoke of being in a room in Yemen receiving Muslim blessings and prayers from Mr. al-Awlaki, along with a number of other men “all covered up in white martyrs’ garments,” and known only by code names and “abu” honorifics.

    The official said such clothing and the lack of familiarity among the men suggests al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula intends to use the men in that room in suicide missions.

    The intelligence official’s description comes in the wake of several reports that Yemen is breeding scores of jihadists ready to strike the West.

    Yemen’s top diplomat said Tuesday that hundreds of al Qaeda militants are in his country and pleaded for foreign help and intelligence in rooting them out.

    They may actually plan attacks like the one we have just had in Detroit. There are maybe hundreds of them — 200, 300, Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi told the Times of London.

     

  • johnpi 8:31 pm on December 26, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki, , ,

    Anwar al Awlaki was at the meeting in Yemen that was attacked on Thursday but he was not harmed, reports The Long War Journal.

    Intelligence officials said he was there to provide the religious justification for attacks against Yemeni and US targets in response to Dec. 17 airstrikes against al Qaeda in Abyan and Sana’a.

    One TI post about Awlaki that has gotten a lot of hits is ‘The Salafi refutation of Anwar al-Awlaki,‘ where, from memory, he is denounced by a prominent Saudi Arabian shaykh as a licenser of vigilantes and hirabah, which seems to be topical to Awlaki’s purpose at the meeting.

     

  • johnpi 3:06 pm on December 26, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , anwar al-awlaki,

    Anwar al Awlaki’s name being thrown about in relation to yesterday’s attempt to bomb a passenger jet.

    ABC is also now reporting that the attacker wasn’t a ‘lone wolf’ and that the attack was definitely planned by Al Qaeda leaders in Yemen.

    According to the authorities, Abdulmutallab says he made contact via the internet with a radical imam in Yemen who then connected him with al Qaeda leaders in a village north of the country’s capital, Sanaa.

    Authorities say they do not yet know if the imam was the same one who was in contact with Maj. Nidal Hasan prior to his alleged attack on soldiers at Fort Hood last month. American-born Anwar Awlaki has lived in Yemen since 2002 and is considered a major recruiter for al Qaeda by U.S. authorities. He survived a U.S.-backed air strike earlier this week.

    Also, as with the case of the five Americans recently arrested in Pakistan, Abdulmutallab came to the attention of US authorities six months ago when worried family members contacted the US embasssy and reported that he might have become radicalized.

     

  • johnpi 8:45 am on December 24, 2009 | 26 Permalink
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki, ,

    Anwar al Awlaki died in US airstrike: Yemeni official.

    A radical Muslim preacher linked by U.S. intelligence to a gunman who killed 13 people at a U.S. Army base is believed to have died in a Yemen airstrike on al Qaeda militants, a security official said on Thursday.

    “Anwar al Awlaki is suspected to be dead (in the air raid),” said the Yemeni official, who asked not to be identified. Yemen said 30 militants were killed in the strike in the eastern province of Shabwa.

    comments closed. feeding the trolls only radicalizes them – Admin

     

  • aziz 8:00 am on November 27, 2009 | 4 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki

    in 2004, Anwar al Awlaki was a “skirt-chasing mullah“

     

  • johnpi 10:16 am on November 20, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki, , , , , , ,

    Inayat Bunglawala says the Nidal Hasan attack and Hasan’s relationship with Anwar al-Awlaki are being used to press a new ‘witch-hunt’ against UK Islamic organizations and Muslim leaders.

    …it should be made clear that those same Muslim organizations that had in the past invited Al-Awlaki to the UK are horrified by his more recent extremism and are well aware of the damaging impact his views could now have on British Muslims. Following Al-Awlaki’s praise for the Fort Hood suspect, some of these UK Muslim organizations (including the Islamic Society of Britain and the Jam`iat Ihyaa’ Minhaaj Al-Sunnah) issued public statements disavowing his latest comments.

    However, this was not enough for the new McCarthyists. A group of them — including the Centre for Social Cohesion (whose director, Douglas Murray, advocated in 2006 that “conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board”), Shiraz Maher from Policy Exchange, and the pro-Israel blog Harry’s Place — have not been slow in seeking to smear those Islamic organizations that had invited Al-Awlaki to the UK in the past.

    These new McCarthyists must be firmly resisted.

    Former Hizb ut-Tahrir member-turned-anti-’Islamism’ activist Shiraz Maher responds here.

     

  • johnpi 4:40 pm on November 19, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki, jimas,

    UK Muslim charity Jimas denounces Anwar al-Awlaki, won’t sell his talks and CDs anymore.

    JIMAS has decided to completely remove any and all promotion of Anwar Al-Awlaki through his talks and CDs that were available through us. Furthermore, we urge all Muslim organisations and groups to do the same. We cannot be morally responsible for the evil that is advocated by anyone. It is up to us to take a responsible and correct position with regards to the unIslamic and anti-Islamic new-fangled teachings associated with him and extremists.

     

  • johnpi 11:06 pm on November 17, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , anwar al-awlaki, , , , , Islamic Forum Europe, ,

    Faisal Gazi unpacks the early days of Anwar al-Awlaki’s radicalism:

    A Washington Post report examined tax records from as early as 1998, which showed that Awlaki served as vice president of a charity (CSSW) founded by his then patron Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, a Yemeni politician who is named as an associate of Al-Qaeda. The CSSW has been described a “front organization to funnel money to terrorists”. The FBI also know that he was paid a visit in 2000 by an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, known as the blind sheikh, who was convicted in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The report also states that in 1999, Awlaki was investigdated by the FBI “when it learnt that he may have been visited by a “procurement agent” for bin Laden”.

    Gazi sets out to prove that claims that al-Awlaki only recently left the moderate path are dissembling falsehoods meant to hide either embarrassing naivete, crass pandering, or secret support for radicalism.

    He is chasing some Muslim politicians and prominent Islamic activists and groups in the UK who embraced al-Awlaki until recently such as Osama Saeed of the Scottish National Party and Azad Ali, the president of the Civil Service Islamic Society, as well as the East London Mosque and the Islamic Forum Europe and of course, Moazzam Begg’s Cage Prisoners.

     

  • johnpi 12:11 am on November 12, 2009 | 12 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki, , ,

    Anwar al-Awlaki in the UK: Formerly approving Muslim politicians shrink away, tapes and DVDs still widely available on the street.

    An SNP spokesman said last night: “Anwar al-Awlaki formerly expressed moderate views — his more recent comments are disgraceful and have been condemned by all right-thinking people, including Azad Ali and Osama Saeed. Any attempt to smear any individual in the UK over this would be appalling.”

    While some people such as Mr Saeed now distance themselves from Mr Awlaki, his lectures continue to be circulated widely. The Times acquired DVDs of his lectures at two Islamic bookshops in East London, while Jimas, a registered charity based in Ipswich, offers downloads of his sermons on its website.

    It’s been over 7 years since al-Awlaki expressed moderate views. It stretches credulity to think these politicians were checked out all along, especially since he was banned from the country at some point during that time which must have made the news. I don’t believe the pols are ’secret Islamists,’ but I do believe that they may have been pandering to conservative Muslims who admire al-Awlaki.

     

  • johnpi 11:11 pm on November 10, 2009 | 3 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki,

    AP: ‘Yemeni authorities are hunting for Anwar al-Awlaki.’

    A radical American imam who communicated with the Fort Hood shooting suspect and called him a hero was once arrested in Yemen on suspicion of giving religious approval to militants to conduct kidnappings. Yemeni authorities are now hunting for Anwar al-Awlaki to determine whether he has al-Qaida ties.
    ….

    But authorities’ suspicions over al-Awlaki were raised again several months after his release because he stopped checking in regularly with security officials as required under his release agreement, the officials said. Also, months later, another member of the group arrested with al-Awlaki left Yemen and was arrested in Syria on terrorism charges.

    In response, al-Awlaki was put on a wanted list on suspicion of possible al-Qaida links, the Interior Ministry official said.

    He and the counterterrorism officials said al-Awlaki is believed to be hiding in Yemen’s Shabwa or Mareb provinces, which along with Jof province make up the so-called “triangle of evil” because of a heavy presence of al-Qaida militants. Fighters from the terror organization have been increasingly entering Yemen and finding refuge among tribes disgruntled with the central government.

    (Via)

     

  • aziz 9:11 am on November 10, 2009 | 9 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki,

    Imam of the Sith: an amazing, chilling interview with Imam Anwar al Awlaki a couple of weeks after 9-11.

     

  • abunoor 5:59 pm on November 9, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki, Dar ul Hijrah,

    Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, outreach director for Dar ul Hijrah Mosque in Falls Church, VA gave a press conference today:

    FALLS CHURCH, Va. — The outreach director for the northern Virginia mosque where the suspected Fort Hood shooter sometimes attended prayer services says Maj. Nidal Hasan was not an active member.
    Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar al-Hijrah (dahr al-HIDJ’-ruh) Islamic Center in Falls Church also is denouncing statements from a radical American imam living in Yemen who praised Hasan as a hero on his personal Web site Monday.
    Abdul-Malik says the imam, Anwar al Awlaki (OW’-lahk-ee), was employed by the mosque from January 2001 to April 2002.
    Abdul-Malik says staff members observed Hasan attend prayer services occasionally at the mosque following his mother’s death in 2001. He says they noticed Hasan being “disoriented” and distant.

     

  • johnpi 5:46 pm on November 9, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki

    Talk Islam is getting a lot of hits on an old post of mine that linked to The Salafi refutation of Anwar al-Awlaki. I’m reposting it here to the top of the front page due to interest.

    The refutation is by Dr. Abdullaah bin Abdur- Rahmaan al-Jarboo, Professor from the College of Dawah Usool ud-Deen – Former head of Dept. of Aqeedah at Medinah University in Saudi Arabia.

     

  • abunoor 5:28 pm on November 9, 2009 | 4 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki,

    Muslim blogger Omer Mozaffar publishes “short open letter to Anwar al-Awlaki” on his blog.

    But, his actions are most definitely to be condemned. It is absurd that Muslims have to condemn the horrific actions of Muslims, while it should be understood that horrific actions are implicitly condemnable. It is all the more absurd because members of other communities are given the privilege of silence.

    Indeed, we wish that American Muslim leaders would be more aggressive in criticizing the government on each major and minor infraction. In time they will be. But, if Nidal Hassan shot and killed those soldiers, then he was dead wrong. If you regard my comment as treason, then I’m sorry: we disagree. There are likewise plenty of Americans who regard any criticism of the United States (especially by a Muslim) as equally treasonous, and I disagree with them also.

     

  • johnpi 1:13 pm on November 9, 2009 | 5 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki,

    I haven’t been to his website, but ABC News is reporting that Anwar al-Awlaki has called all American Muslims who condemned the Fort Hood attack “hypocrites who have committed treason against their religion.”

     

  • johnpi 7:25 am on November 9, 2009 | 9 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki, ,

    Anwar al-Awlaki has posted an homage to Nidal Malik Hasan on his website, the Spittoon blog reports. Awlaki’s name has been coming up in American media reports about the Fort Hood attack because Hasan once attended the same mosque in Virginia where Awlaki was imam and that was the home mosque for two of the 9/11 hijackers.

    Aside from lionizing Hasan, Awlaki berates the mainstream Muslim organizations in the US: “The Muslim organizations in America came out in a pitiful chorus condemning Nidal’s operation.”

    Awlaki also calls for Muslims in the West to ‘migrate’: “It is becoming more and more difficult to hold on to Islam in an environment that is becoming more hostile towards Muslims.”

    More on Alwaki’s possible influence on Hasan here. A quote:

    Hasan’s eyes “lit up” when he mentioned his deep respect for al-Awlaki’s teachings, according to a fellow Muslim officer at the Fort Hood base in Texas, the scene of Thursday’s horrific shooting spree.

    As investigators look at Hasan’s motives and mindset, his attendance at the mosque could be an important piece of the jigsaw. Al-Awlaki moved to Dar al-Hijrah as imam in January, 2001, from the west coast, and three months later the September 11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hamzi and Hani Hanjour began attending his services. A third hijacker attended his services in California.

    Hasan was praying at Dar al-Hijrah at about the same time, and the FBI will now want to investigate whether he met the two terrorists.

     

  • johnpi 5:24 am on August 23, 2009 | 19 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki,

    Anwar al-Awlaki has been banned from speaking at a Cage Prisoners fundraiser in the UK.

    While researching this I came across this “Salafi refutation of Anwar al-Awlaki” by Dr. Abdullaah bin Abdur- Rahmaan al-Jarboo, Professor from the College of Dawah Usool ud-Deen – Former head of Dept. of Aqeedah at Medinah University in Saudi Arabia.

    Al-Awlaki gives people permission to take Islamic law into their own hands and apply hudood punishments to and fro.

     

  • thabet 3:46 am on August 12, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: anwar al-awlaki, ,

    Not sure Moazzam Begg is doing himself any favours by hanging out with Anwar Al-Awlaki.

     

c
compose new post
j
next post/next comment
k
previous post/previous comment
r
reply
e
edit
o
show/hide comments
t
go to top
esc
cancel