COMPILATION OF AL-QA IDA SENIOR LEADERSHIP AND AFFILIATES PROPAGANDA MESSAGING ON GUANTANAMO AL-QA IDA SENIOR LEADERSHIP

Transcription

1 Page 1 of 7 Based on a review of Arabic-language jihadist websites and social media since late 2009, OSC has observed 30 occasions on which Al-Qa ida (AQ) and its affi liates (Al-Qa ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Al-Qa ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and AQAP-linked Ansar al-sharia) have referred to the Guantanamo base and alleged mistreatment of its prisoners as justification for violent jihad. SCOPE NOTE: OSC reviewed statements by AQ and its affiliates since October 2009 to determine specific mentions of Guantanamo and its detainees as messaging themes. This method excluded factual information such as general press statements about Guantanamo base and detainee releases and represented the most salient statements from the groups. AL-QA IDA SENIOR LEADERSHIP April Al-Zawahiri Interview Reality Between Pain and Hope Part 2 TRN [Anonymous Interviewer] Back to the United States and the way it deals with Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo and the mistreatment they face, including sexual assaults, solitary confinement, force-feeding using inhumane means, and other violations. Why is there an escalation in the mistreatment of the Muslim prisoners? [Al-Zawahiri] Studying the history of the West and its theology explains all these actions. The West is a system that believes only in power and the attainment of self-interest and gratification. Therefore, the ethics, values, and principles they claim to have are a kind of ethical hypocrisy. These ethics, values, and principles serve their own interests. They assess that they have the right to deprive whomever they wish from them if their interests are threatened. 14 January Al-Qa ida Leader Condemns Crimes in Bangladesh, Oppression of Muslims in South, Southeast Asia TRL As for the Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo and the secret prisons of the CIA, they do not deserve freedom. They must be tortured, deprived of their rights, and imprisoned without any sentence by a court for long periods determined by the American government on its own. This is because they are not humans in the first place for America to give them any human rights. 30 July Al-Sahab Releases Al-Zawahiri Audio Commemorating 1967 Six-Day War TRR I would like to talk about two crimes that are being committed today by the criminal, tyrant, and transgressor America. The first crime is the injustice, oppression, and aggression that America has committed in Guantanamo against the wronged Muslims who have been imprisoned for 13 years without charge or trial. This crime exposed the lie of freedom, human rights, democracy, and the rights of peoples which America brags about. The [hunger] strike by our imprisoned brothers in Guantanamo unmasks the true ugly face of America October Al-Zawahiri Decries Freedom of Expression, Exhorts Muslims To Defend Prophet GMP But this personal freedom of which Americans boast did not prevent them from torturing Muslim prisoners in Bagram, and Abu-Ghurayb, and Guantanamo, and in secret prisons. May God preserve the free and noble ones, zealous for Islam and for the prophet of Islam, peace and blessings be upon him, who stormed the American Embassy in Benghazi and demonstrated in front of the American Embassy in Cairo, taking down the American flag and raising in its place the banner of Islam and jihad. I call upon them to continue their resistance to the American-Zionist-Crusader aggression against Islam and Muslims, and upon all other Muslims to emulate them.

2 Page 2 of 7 AL-QA IDA SENIOR LEADERSHIP (continued) June Abu-Yahya al-libi Video: The American Army and the Ethics of War GMP Don t the disgraceful acts committed at Guantanamo Bay prison demonstrate the morals of the US Army? Were the scandals of Abu-Ghurayb prison merely an isolated incident, not indicative of the US Army s values? Was the violation of the honor of Muslim women in Iraq and their subsequent murder in cold blood no more than a single act that does not reflect the true noble nature of the US Army? 9 May Al-Zawahiri Audio Statement on Burning of Koran in Kabul GMP The Crusaders have repeated yet again their oft-repeated crime: disgracing the Holy Koran and deriding the prophet of God, may the prayers and peace of God be upon him. Yet again, the Crusaders burn the Holy Koran in Kabul, after repeatedly treating it contemptuously, to the point that one of the soldiers at Guantanamo urinated on the Holy Koran. And after every one of their crimes, they feign regret and claim that they will investigate what happened. This is the ridiculous farce which Obama and his defense secretary repeated this time as well. The American Crusaders and their allies time and again have revealed their hatred and loathing of Islam, the book of Islam, the prophet of Islam, may the prayers and peace of God be upon him, and of the headscarf of Muslim women. 1 December Al-Zawahiri Eulogizes Atiyatallah, Claims Kidnap of USAID Worker GMP Our demands for [Warren Weinstein s] release are...4. The release of all detainees in Guantanamo and American secret prisons, and the closing of the said detention center and prisons. 12 October Al-Fajr Releases Al-Zawahiri Video: And the Americans Defeats Continue GMP Many are the ones who lie in ambush so that they may steal this victory in whole or in part. Foremost among them is the Western gang of NATO, who kills your brothers in Afghanistan and Iraq, who tortures them in its secret prisons and in Guantanamo, who brings the Zionist criminals to bear on your brothers in the environs of Jerusalem, who steals the wealth of your ummah under the threat of its ships and planes. 16 June Al-Qa ida s Statement Announces Al-Zawahiri Succeeds Usama Bin Ladin GMP We have not forgotten our jihadist Shaykh Umar Abd-al-Rahman, who expounded openly with the truth. We have not forgotten our brothers in Guantanamo, Bagram, Abu-Ghurayb, in the secret and known US prisons, and in all the prisons that were established by agents to the United States under its supervision in the heart of Islamic countries. 8 June Al-Fajr Media Center Releases Al-Zawahiri Video Eulogizing Usama Bin Ladin GMP The United States refused to bury the jihadist hero in a tomb; however, the hearts of scores of millions turned to tombs for him. The ignoble United States demonstrated that it was unaware of the honor associated with antagonism. How can it be aware of this while it has nothing to do with honor itself? The United States, which signed the Geneva conventions that stipulated the protection of civilians and war prisoners, was the first to violate them in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, as well as Guantanamo, and its secret prisons all over the globe.

3 Page 3 of 7 AL-QA IDA SENIOR LEADERSHIP (continued) 15 April Al-Sahab Releases Al-Zawahiri Video Message to People in Egypt, Part 5 GMP The United States, which accuses Al-Qadhafi of torturing his people, has tortured thousands of detainees in Abu- Ghurayb, and continues to torture them in Guantanamo, Bagram, and its secret prisons The same United States signed anti-torture agreements is the one that practices torture in Guantanamo, Bagram, and Abu-Ghurayb; inside its secret prisons in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Poland; and on its ships and airplanes; all while feigning tears over the victims of torture in Egypt January Al-Jazirah Website Carries Text of Usama Bin Ladin s Speech on Climate Change GMP In 2003 and before the invasion of Iraq, millions of people in all continents staged protest demonstration raising the same slogan: No Shedding of Red Blood for Black Oil. The result was that the gang leader made fun of them and issued his orders to begin the savage offensive against innocent Iraqi people. Their only guilt was the presence of black gold in their country. They killed, wounded, orphaned, widowed, and displaced more than 10 million Iraqis. They are still shedding blood and looting, apart from their perpetration of the crimes of Abu Ghurayb and Guantanamo, the grotesque crimes that shook the conscience of mankind. 15 September English Transcript of Al-Zawahiri s Audio: Victorious Ummah, Broken Crusade GMP Glory be to Allah: aren t the NATO forces which are coming and going as they please in Pakistan and being helped and supplied by the government of Pakistan and its army and security organs, aren t these forces from the states in which the Prophet [may the peace and blessings of God be upon him] was insulted publicly on the pages of newspapers and in other media? And aren t they the forces which humiliated the noble Qur an in Guantanamo, Iraq and elsewhere? And aren t the forces of the Pakistan Army the ones who contravened the rules of Shari ah by destroying and burning Lal Masjid, and killing in it hundreds of male and female martyrs in order to get closer to America and earn its pleasure November Al-Sahab Releases Interview with Al-Qa ida Media Official in Pakistan GMP There is another great benefit these attacks brought by the Grace and Blessing of Allah. America had hidden its charlatanic face with an innocent mask...and many amongst the Muslim Ummah considered it to be different than Russia...to be civilized. Allah set straight the truth. Whatever happened in Guantanamo...the horrors of Abu Ghuraib; this was how Allah revealed the hideous, Crusader and secular face of America in front of the world. This is none but a blessing of the Jihad...the blessing of the Tuesday attacks. AL-QA IDA IN THE ISLAMIC MAGHREB 5 April AQIM Appeals for Release of Mauritanian Guantanamo Prisoner GMP This here is our brother, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who has been languishing behind the walls of tyranny in Guantanamo prison for years, extradited by the previous oppressive government, and with the complicity of the evil government of brutality [as received]. The very same government that is incompetent in everything except beating its people, spraying tear gas in demonstrators faces, and filling the prisons with every man possessing a proud voice [and willing to] call for freedom and change. O people of Shinqit, O sons of the Bani Hassan tribe: rouse yourselves on the issue of liberating brother Mohamedou Ould Slahi! He was not even able to see his mother (may God have mercy upon her) [before her death]! Rouse yourselves in every sphere so that he and his companion may exit America s oppressive prisons!

4 Page 4 of 7 AL-QA IDA IN THE ISLAMIC MAGHREB (continued) August AQIM Issues Statement Clarifying Claims, Lies of France GMP First, the organization [AQIM] was completely abiding by the ruling of Shari ah regarding the treatment of captives in all the previous cases. However, acts of the French forces during the occupation and the infidels prisons in Abu Ghurayb and Guantanamo revealed that the difference between the treatment of the infidel captives in Islam and the treatment of the Muslim captives by the infidels is like the difference between heaven and hellfire. AL-QA IDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA January Libya: AQAP Abu-Anas al-libi Eulogy Blames US for Medical Neglect, Says Death Must Be Avenged TRR Not so long ago, we heard of the crimes of America in the prisons of Bagram, [Camp] Bucca, and Guantanamo, and in the secret prisons where our brothers were exposed to torture and humiliation in the dark cellars and cells of these prisons at the hands of the intelligence services officers who practiced any type of torture and brutality they wanted until they were exposed by the report presented by the [US] Congress last month... Not only should his blood be avenged, but the blood of the thousands of Muslims who were killed, humiliated, and abused by the criminal assailant America should, as well. In conclusion, we say to America: You will pay the price for your crimes with the blood of your own soldiers and people. We will not abandon conducting jihad and fighting against you until God makes a judgement between us, until you stop your aggression against the oppressed peoples, and until God stops your violence and this is within His power December Yemen: AQAP s Al-Anisi Blames Obama s Indifference for Death of US, South African Hostages TRN I have two questions for those rational among your ranks, in case there are any: Do we not have the right to demand the release of Sheikh Umar Abd-al-Rahman? Can the Americans reveal the fate of the detainee Afia Siddiqui and set her free following these long years of oppression, torture, and detention? Not to mention our detained brothers and sisters who are in Guantanamo detention camp and the prisons of the agents of the United States in Islamic countries, as well as other secret US prisons spread across the world. It is our duty to seek the release of those detainees and to protect them from their tragic situation and barbaric injustice, which are in opposition to all norms of human rights. Does this list and other lists of US oppression and tyranny not contain enough for the Americans to negotiate with? The US response and answer make it clearly evident that the mujahideen have made the right decision that the only way to deal with the American Government is by killing them and treating them in the same tyrannical manner, which will put at risk the lives of all Americans everywhere, inside and outside the United States March Inspire (Issue 12) TRN We will not talk through the falsity of the portrayal of the nature of the morals of America, a country founded on the violation of others rights; it killed and annihilated America s native peoples, the Indians. But we are certain that the sweet dream America propagated vanished into a terrifying nightmare: Abu-Ghurayb, black sites, Guantanamo, and the US soldiers crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq are too clear to need clarification. Actually, there is no possible way to express these inhumane crimes perpetrated against human rights. Here we could say America has lost the most important element of global leadership: morals and principles. The name America has become firmly connected with occupation, atrocities, violation of rights of nations, and oppression to humankind. And the legend which America wove and filled with talks about values, morals, principles, freedom, and human rights became crumbled.

5 Page 5 of 7 AL-QA IDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA (continued) 24 May Inspire (Issue 11) TRN There is plundering and stealing of Muslims wealth in different ways, supporting tyrannical rulers like the example of Mubarak of Egypt, Saudi family of Saudi Arabia, Ali Saleh of Yemen, and Ben Ali of Tunisia. There is also the secret prisons and black sites file; we could not miss out Guantanamo Bay detention camp. The American nation should have a good grasp of all of these and other historical facts so that they can comprehend the background and the context of the Boston Marathon operation, Detroit, September 11 and other operations which are barely a wave of anger; vengeance. If the American nation has forgotten its history, and if other people have forgotten the tragedies and catastrophes they gulped from the American tyranny, hegemony, and crimes, then the Muslim ummah never forgets history neither it is from the type which overlooks facts. 28 February Inspire (Issue 10) GMP In Afghanistan, tens of thousands were killed in the December 2001 invasion by the Americans in blind rage, most were innocent civilians. Guantanamo has been filled not only with your mujahideen brothers but also with hundreds of innocent civilians. All being tortured and subjected to the most despicable crimes. The list goes on and on with Christian aggression in Indonesia, the Philippines and Africa, Buddhist aggression in Burma and Thailand, Hindu aggression in Gujarat and Kashmir. In every corner of the ummah there is oppression. 28 February Inspire (Issue 10) GMP He said to the Muslims: for how long will you people sleep and dream, whilst the thundering sounds of tomahawk and cruise missiles are above your heads, for how long will you sleep to the sounds of B-52 bombers and screams from your wives and children? For how long will you watch the best of your sons sent to Guantanamo, whilst the tyrants wine and dine in the white house? For America this was an embarrassment, because Imam Anwar Awlaki was a well-educated American citizen who was a scholar in Islamic as well as secular education and had lived and grown up in America, so he understands the culture and was fully aware of the hypocrisy of the government and its manifestations abroad (i.e. in their Foreign Policy). So when he spoke, the Muslim world listened and this angered Obama and America because they saw it as a challenge and danger to their hegemony over the Muslim lands. Hence, they had to silence him by any means necessary, but at what price? 20 December Al-Fajr Media Center Releases Anwar al-awlaki Video The Martyr of Da wah GMP We are not against Americans for just being Americans. We are against evil, and America as a whole has turned into a nation of evil. What we see from America is the invasion of two Muslim countries, we see Abu-Ghurayb and Bagram and Guantanamo Bay, we see cruise missiles and cluster bombs, and we have just seen, in Yemen, the death of twenty-three children and seventeen women. We cannot stand idly in the face of such aggression, and we will fight back and incite others to do the same. 27 September Text of Seventh Issue of AQAP s English-Language Magazine Inspire GMP We have been preaching that the West is propping up values such as equality, freedom and human rights as a façade to cover its real face of imperialism and greed, but 9/11 did what was impossible for our words to do. It showed the world the reality and exposed the West for what it really is. Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and secret extraordinary renditions showed the world the American understanding of human rights. The Patriot Act and the treatment of Muslims in America and the West showed the world the reality of Western proclamation of equality.

6 Page 6 of 7 AL-QA IDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA (continued) 9 April Al-Malahim Releases AQAP s Al-Rubaysh Audio Calling On Govt Soldiers To Revolt GMP There are among them those who supervised the instances of defamation to the Koran in the prisons of Cuba [Guantanamo Bay], and they justified this by saying that they had received orders from the general to do so, and yet, at the same time, they had performed praying and fasting. But the difference between the US soldier and the soldier of its agents is that one of them receives orders from the Crusaders directly, while the other has an agent, someone from among our countrymen, functioning as a middleman between him and the Crusaders October Text of Second Issue of AQAP s Magazine Inspire FEA My Life in Jihad: The Story of Commander Uthman al-ghamidi : Four-page article detailing Al-Ghamidi s career in violent jihad, including his imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay, where he alleges that the United States tortured and murdered detainees. 11 October Text of Second Issue of AQAP s Magazine Inspire FEA Interview with Shaykh Abu Sufyan the Vice Amir of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula : Three-page article covering a variety of topics, including Abu Sufyan s time in Guantanamo Bay, in which he alleges inhumane treatment and his conclusion that Americans are the enemies of the human race. 11 October Text of Second Issue of AQAP s Magazine Inspire FEA I would always laugh whenever the start of Ramadan would occur in America and the President would take a few minutes to articulate on how marvelous Islam is; almost as if he himself was to become Muslim. I would laugh because they would show this face in their country, and a different face in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. 21 July AQAP Documentary Video: That He May Take From You Martyrs GMP Tora Bora was not the only distinguished sign in the bright history of Abu-Yaqin. Rather, there was a much clearer sign: Guantanamo Prison, the school of Yusuf (may the peace be upon him), after he fell into the hands of the agent Pakistani forces, who handed him over to America. He was then transferred by America to Guantanamo Prison, a trip that no human being had even imagined, for the procedures practiced by the Americans there cannot come from human beings. Footage of a man being water-boarded. The things that Abu-Yaqin experienced in Guantanamo are things that even mountains cannot withstand. Many others experienced it with him. He was frequently tortured and injured. He could have avoided all that, if it not for his strong loyalty to his faithful brothers.

7 Page 7 of 7 AL-QA IDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA/ANSAR AL-SHARIA December Madad Newsletter 26 Denounces US Occupation of Yemen, Hails Mali Ansar Al-Din GMP War Captives: The tragedies of the Muslim captives from among the sons of the Arabian Peninsula and other places in US secret and public prisons are too popular to mention and too many to count. Nevertheless, Guantanamo Bay detention camp for torture is still one of the most prominent forms of the brutality of the expansionist Crusade in the countries of Muslims. Although Muslim captives from the Arabian Peninsula in Guantanamo were not detained in their respective countries, their detention, especially the 98 Yemenis, without trial or even pressing formidable charges is a direct result for the Crusader occupation of the Arab Peninsula. The only reason that America announces for not releasing them is its fear that they may fight again against it. It is a hypothetical assumption that America did not, and will not, verify regarding most captives, not to mention bringing them to trial based on it. On 11 September 2012, the US Army announced the death of a Yemeni young man, Adnan Farhan Abd-al-Latif al-shur abi, martyr God willing, aged 32, in mysterious circumstances in his prison in Guantanamo camp. In the beginning, the Crusader media attempted to circulate the possibility that Adnan, may God rest his soul, committed suicide alleging that he attempted this many times. However, a statement by the US Southern Command at the US Army says that there is a faint possibility of his suicide, announcing the commencement of investigation in the causes of death whose results were not announced until now. It should be noted that the testimonies of some former Muslim captives in Guantanamo denied that the eight announced suicide attempts are real. On the contrary, all these testimonies confirmed that it was a deliberate murder.