Al-Qaeda 'will avenge US strike'

Al-Qaeda's leader in Afghan -istan has vowed revenge for the killing of one of its top commanders in neighbouring Pakistan last week, saying Abu Laith al-Libi was killed by the weapon of "despicable cowards". US officials said al-Libi died when a US missile struck a compound outside the town of Mir Ali in Pakistan's North Waziristan province.

Issuing the threat in a video statement released on Wednesday, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said al-Qaeda fighters would retaliate against the "enemies of God" for al-Libi's death.

"The men he trained ... will not rest until they avenge him and realise his aspirations and hopes, God willing," he said in the video recording. "The enemies of Allah were incapable of confronting [al-Libi] on the battlefield, nor were they able to compete with him as equals, for they are too cowardly and despicable for that. No, they used the weapon of treachery and betrayal." The 12-minute clip which was posted on a website bore the logo of al-Qaeda's media wing, as-Sahab, and had English subtitles.

'Tomorrow is close'

Al-Yazid said the martyrdom of al-Libi and other top al-Qaeda leaders only "strengthens, stabilises, sharpens and stimulates" the fight against infidels. "So, the killing of these heroic chiefs doesn't, and won't, end the march of jihad or extinguish its torch or put out its light as the enemies imagine," he said, adding: "Tomorrow is close." Up to 13 foreign fighters were killed in the attack in North Waziristan.

[More]


Comment:

They're hiding in the mountains, and we're "despicable cowards"? Al-Libi struck from the shadows, sending out other people's sons to blow them up, and we refused to meet him on the field of battle? Things are apparently in such a state of disarray that it takes al-Yazid a week to put together and release an enraged video promising vengeance to the evildoers, and the movement is "stabilized"? Somebody needs a reality check.

Tomorrow is indeed close, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, as is the next day, and the day after that. Which day will be yours?

Top al-Qaeda leader 'killed'

Abu Laith al-Libi, a leading al-Qaeda member in Afghanistan, has been killed, a website often used Islamist groups said. The Ekhlaas.org site said on Thursday that al-Libi had "fallen as a martyr", without giving further details.

It was not immediately clear if al-Libi's death was linked to a suspected US missile strike that killed up to 13 foreign fighters in Pakistan's North Waziristan region this week.

The attack had targeted second or third tier al Qaeda leaders, according to residents in the tribal area. A western official said on Thursday that there are "strong indications" that al-Libi, has been killed. "Indications are at this point that Abu Laith al-Libi is dead," the official said. "They are very strong indications." The official, who asked not to be identified, would provide no details on where or how al-Libi was killed. Tribesmen in in Pakistan's North Waziristan region had said a deputy of al-Libi had been staying there and was among the dead, according to an intelligence official. Al-Libi, a Libyan, appeared with Ayman al-Zawahri, al Qaeda second-in-command, in a video issued in November to announce that a Libyan Islamist group had joined the organisation. Islamist websites have carried messages from al-Libi, including one in May in which he said al Qaeda in Afghanistan was willing to exchange prisoners with Britain and other Western countries.

Via Al Jazeera.


Comment:

This is good news. Al-Libi is thought to have been the person who organized last February's attack on a base Dick Cheney happened to be in. I would wax eloquent about the precise nature of his role within the al-Qaeda organization, but unfortunately all of my notes on that subject are on my laptop, which is still in the repair shop.

U.S. Official: Libyan Behind Afghan Attack During Cheney Visit

KABUL, Afghanistan — A Libyan Al Qaeda commander was likely behind the suicide bombing that killed 23 people outside the main U.S. base in Afghanistan during a February visit by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, a U.S. military official told The Associated Press.

Abu Laith al-Libi, who was featured in an Al Qaeda video last week, is believed to have trained bombers at terror camps, including one busted by U.S. forces in the eastern province of Khost in 2005, said Maj. Chris Belcher, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.

Cheney was deep inside the sprawling Bagram base at the time of the attack and was not hurt, but the bombing added to the impression that Western forces and the shaky government of President Hamid Karzai are vulnerable to assault by Taliban and Al Qaeda militants.

"Our information suggests that Abu Laith al-Libi was the terrorist who planned the Feb. 27 suicide bomb attack at Bagram Airfield," Belcher said.

"We have information that the planning of this attack was falsely attributed to Usama bin Laden by (Taliban commander) Mullah Dadullah, in order to boost the morale of bin Laden's followers worldwide, in an attempt to reassure those followers that bin Laden is not ill or dead," he said. [More]

Comment:

I thought that seemed a little suspicious. I am slightly skeptical of Maj. Belcher's explanation, though. How is a lie so transparent that even most invertebrates aren't fooled supposed to boost morale? Is Dadullah's opinion of his followers' intelligence really that low? And who in their right mind would hire someone named "Belcher" to be their spokesman?