Libyan jihadist: al-Qaeda sought to acquire weapons of mass destruction

2010-09-28 Analysis by Rajeh Said in London

Osama bin Laden did not expect a ground attack in Afghanistan. Above, coalition troops at an abandoned al-Qaeda base in Tora Bora in 2002 [ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images]

A Libyan jihadist leader revealed that al-Qaeda sought to acquire weapons of mass destruction to ensure that Americans would not strike Afghanistan and overthrow the Taliban regime in response to the attacks that Osama bin Laden's organisation was planning against the United States on September 11th, 2001.

Noman Benotman, a former leader in the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, said he was witness to those plans during meetings he held with al-Qaeda leaders in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, during the summer of 2000—about a year before al-Qaeda's attack with hijacked aircraft in New York and Washington, D.C.

The information provided by Benotman (Abu Mohammad al-Libi), currently a researcher at the British counter-extremism foundation Quilliam, came in a series of articles published by the London-based al-Hayat newspaper in commemoration of the 9-year anniversary of the attacks of September 11th, 2001.

The series surveys al-Qaeda's preparations for its attacks against the United States and shows that the organisation did not anticipate the nature of the US response and did not know how to deal with it.

The series also chronicles Osama bin Laden's organisation's transformation into agencies or branches scattered around the world.

The first and second parts (published Saturday and Sunday, September 25th-26th) include intriguing information about al-Qaeda's preparations for the September 11th attacks.

Benotman quotes Mohammed Atef (aka Abu Hafs al-Masri) -- who served as al-Qaeda's military commander before being killed in Afghanistan in 2001-- as saying he wanted to acquire weapons of mass destruction of any kind—whether chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. The goal was to threaten the Americans if they tried to strike Afghanistan and overthrow the regime of Mullah Mohammed Omar in response to the attacks al-Qaeda had been preparing to launch on US soil.

Benotman adds that al-Qaeda, including Osama bin Laden, repeated in the meetings that the Americans bombed al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan with dozens of cruise missiles in response to the bombings of US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in 1998. They predicted that their response this time might only involve 200 cruise missiles, and they would not come to fight on the ground in Afghanistan because they were "cowards".

For that, the US decision to send its troops into Afghanistan to hunt down al-Qaeda and overthrow the Taliban regime probably came as a shock to bin Laden, who wagered that the US administration would not send troops to fight him but would only strike from the air with missiles or try to assassinate him. He also wagered that Pakistan would not side with the Americans against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. These two wagers proved mistaken, according to Benotman.

The al-Hayat series shed light on some of the differences that arose among al-Qaeda leaders regarding the legality of carrying out an assault on the United States in the manner of the September 11th attacks.

It reveals, for instance, that some of al-Qaeda's top leaders opposed bin Laden on the grounds that what he was doing constituted a violation of Mullah Omar's instructions not to launch attacks against the Americans from Afghanistan.

A public argument reportedly erupted on the eve of the attacks between Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's second-in-command, and Abu Hafs al-Mauritani, head of its Sharia Committee. The former was touring the camps in Afghanistan and justifying the impending attack against the United States by saying that it was a jihad, and saying that the Taliban regime was trying to impede the jihad (in reference to its request that al-Qaeda not launch any operations). Al-Zawahiri would say that those who try to stop the jihad should "not be heard or obeyed".

Al-Zawahiri's position led to an argument with Abu Hafs al-Mauritani, who publicly opposed it. This prompted al-Zawahiri to ask Osama bin Laden to control the Sharia Committee head because he was adversely influencing the combatants.

The paper also published details about the battles of the so-called Afghan Arab during the US attack on Afghanistan beginning in October 2001.

A leader in the Fighting Group, Abu Laith al-Libi, reportedly led the battle of defending Kabul out of his conviction that protecting the Afghan capital meant preventing the fall of Taliban rule.

The Libyan leader asked bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership to supply fighters to help him defend Kabul, specifically at the northern front, which was for many years the dividing line between Taliban forces and the opposing Northern Alliance forces.

According to the paper, al-Qaeda promised to supply 200 fighters for the Kabul battle but then reduced the number to 50. It ultimately did not send any fighters because it was pre-occupied with two major battles in Kandahar (the capital of the south) and Tora Bora (in Nangarhar province in southeast Afghanistan).

In Kandahar, the newspaper says al-Qaeda prepared to face off against the Americans at the Kandahar airport compound, about 10 miles outside of the city. Saif al-Adel, head of al-Qaeda's Military Committee, assumed the leadership of this battle.

But according to the paper, Saif al-Adel was not on the battlefield. He instead issued orders and instructions from a remote location through a communication device.

The outcome of that battle was a foregone conclusion of course, as the fighters deployed at the airport had no chance against US air superiority. US aircraft destroyed their positions and eliminated dozens of them.

They fared no better at the battle of Tora Bora, even though Osama bin Laden had relocated there in the first days after the September 11th attacks, after it became clear that the Americans were determined to teach al-Qaeda a lesson.

Bin Laden moved to Tora Bora with his best fighters, but residents of the area, cognizant of its nature, laughed at these "Arab lunatics", as they called them, who went up into the high mountains—covered in snow at this time of year (December)—without realising that the cold would kill them if the Americans and their Afghan allies did not manage to do so first.

The newspaper said Libyan Fighting Group leader Abu Abdullah al-Sadiq at the time went to Tora Bora, but then informed al-Qaeda leaders of his refusal to fight alongside bin Laden.

He said he could not take responsibility for members of his group dying in a futile battle such as that al-Qaeda was preparing to fight in Tora Bora. Al-Sadiq did not reject fighting out of cowardice, for he is a well-known fighter wounded by a missile in the days of the first Afghan jihad. But he refused to fight this time with bin Laden, because the battle the latter was preparing for could not be won. He reportedly felt responsible for the blood of those who died in it.

The soundness of the Libyan leader's analysis was soon validated.

Bin Laden found himself forced to withdraw before the Americans and their Afghan allies could reach him.

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READER COMMENTS

اكرم محمد

2012-2-16

My greetings to all subscribers for their opinions! I was in jail for 9 months, or what we call detention in Iraq. I was in Camp Bucca, a detention facility to reorganize and rehabilitate prisoners after they have spent time in jail, to be trained for what they will do next, their plans, steps and motives. I used to work for the Islamic Party of Iraq. The same political party exists in Egypt, under the name "Muslim Brotherhood," and it has other names in the rest of the Arab countries. The important thing is that it is a huge organization and it cannot be destroyed now, because it is divided into many small cells. In case these cells are penetrated, it will split and branch into other new cells, etc. As for support, they get such support as money, weapons, plans, orders and divisions; it comes from different, big and unknown places and sources. Some of the brothers say it comes from Iran, which is illogical, because Iran does not support the Salafi organizations. This is known to the whole world and to the west. I will give you proof tomorrow, God willing. Thanks!
رياض

2010-10-18

Al-Qaeda is a terrorist criminal organization; all its members are petty and corrupt persons who are used to crimes, blood, killing, thefts and destruction. I think that all of them are sickened and haunted by such things. However, today, many things have changed; Al-Qaeda is no longer dominant and is experiencing the worst circumstances ever at all levels. It is witnessing dissension in its ranks, and it has reached the end, because support has dried up. Everyone is trying to destroy this terrorist organization because of the crimes they have committed against innocents everywhere. In addition, they have tarnished the image of Islam. For this reason, continuous work and collaboration evolved among all countries, to eradicate everything related to Al-Qaeda once and for all. They want to get rid of its evil, criminal plans and the extremist, takfiri ideologies that it wants to spread in the region.
فواد

2010-10-17

In light of the Western world peoples' attitude towards Muslims, I think that they have a very bad image of the Islamic religion, that they think that Islam is linked to terrorism and that they do what they are doing because of the fatwas of some Islamic clerics. These clerics are terrorists and they have sold themselves and their religion to terrorism. Thus, the moderate religious scholars should correct the wrong ideas that people have; because they are required to defend the religion and to clarify the truth so as to improve the image of Islam. They should make it clear that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism and crimes, and that these clerics and terrorists are far from the implementation of the teachings of religion. On the contrary, they do not respect religion; they kill innocent Muslims and they ignite dissensions.
2010-10-9

Sir, the true Muslim, who fears God, can never kill people like this. These are ideas that are promoted by the enemies of Islam through their well-known ways. Those who kill others day and night, in publicly and in secret, cannot refrain from mass murder, and then they attribute these crimes to the Muslims, accusing them of terrorism to justify their crimes, and give themselves the right to annihilate the Muslims, who bear witness that no one is truly worthy of worship except God, and that Muhammad is His slave and messenger. God the Exalted Says: Muhammad is the Messenger of God; and those with him are forceful against the infidels, and merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating themselves in prayer, seeking the bounty of God and His pleasure. -Quran 48:29 God is the Truthful One.
سامي الحيدري

2010-10-8

The shoes of the U.S. soldier are twenty times better than the followers of al-Qaeda.
أخوك فى ال

2010-10-6

“The most hateful thing to me in this world is the dirty terrorist organization of al-Qaeda, which has committed the worst and most horrible crimes against humanity, violated all the sanctuaries, and disrespected all the sacred values in our life. Likewise, it has tarnished the image of Islam and Muslims and made the West look at us as if we are killers and terrorists because of the acts of Al-Qaeda…..” What do you expect form Al-Qaeda? Dear sir, if you believe that the negotiations and the useless solutions proposed by the Arabs will solve any problem or force Israel to leave Palestine and terminate its greedy aspirations in the Arab region, then you are dreaming, and I am sorry to tell you that you have not learned anything in your life. You should study well, dear brother; those are Jews, do you know what that means? Their negotiations with God through Moses failed, did you forget that? The Jews are the Jews. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that if two Jews found themselves alone with one Muslim, they would think about killing him. You are not better than Saladin or Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, or even the Prophet, peace be upon him, who failed to reach an agreement with them through negotiations. However, if you believe that you are smarter than the Prophet, peace be upon him, or consider that the divine revelation is not convincing, then you have to examine yourself and search for better teachers. That is because the Muslim is obliged to acknowledge that he can never be better than the Prophet, peace be upon him, his Sahabas and the righteous predecessors, before expressing his opinion regarding any issue. You must realize that no matter how good you are, you will be nothing in comparison with them. For example, before expressing an opinion that is better than that of Imam Malik, may God have mercy upon him, you must be Umar ibn al-Khattab or Talha or Zabir or Abu Bekr, may God be pleased with them. Your opinions and knowledge must be firmly and properly established. Listen to Osama bin Laden or sheikh al-Zawahiri and you will find that their speeches are wise and attractive and true. Read the books of the righteous predecessors who lived under justice and freedom in acts and creed, and the integrity of the rulers and their ideology. Those people lived in the days of the blessings when dates were carried by camels. Do you think that the West would have stopped their aggression against the Muslim lands if al-Qaeda had not existed? The aspirations of the Jews are limitless, dear sir.
مناتي

2010-10-6

The terrorist organization of al-Qaeda can be eliminated if the neighboring countries in the Middle East unite to fight it, and exchange information about al-Qaeda and the leaders of this terrorist organization, who may be found in any place in these countries. Every country needs to control its borders with neighboring countries, because I think al-Qaeda is about to be eradicated from the Arab countries. We must continue this pressure to get rid of them and expel them out of the Arab world. The Iraqi government must first take the initiative, boycott relations with Iran and control the Iraqi borders with Iran, because the latter supports al-Qaeda and there is a lot of hidden evidence that the Iraqi government does not reveal to the media, the Iraqi people and the public opinion, out of concern for personal interests. Therefore, the elimination of al-Qaeda is essential, in order for the Arab and Islamic peoples to enjoy stability and to get rid of these killers who do not want anything but to just see blood and murder.
wasan

2010-10-6

If the terrorist organization of al-Qaeda succeeded in obtaining weapons of mass destruction, may God forbid, there will be horrors in the Arab, Islamic and foreign countries. Al-Qaeda today does not own anything but ordinary explosives and medium weapons, but they commit the crimes of killing, kidnapping, and explosions against innocents. All these terrorist and Takfiri acts are done only with ordinary weapons; so we can only imagine what will happen if they had a nuclear bomb or weapons of mass destruction. This necessitates all parties to be on alert and to verify this fearful information. The governments, the people, and the countries that suffer from al-Qaeda must fight it, so it will not have a chance to obtain weapons of mass destruction. All the countries must cooperate to eliminate al-Qaeda and its supporters, whether they are members of some governments or civilians. If the dirty terrorist organization of al-Qaeda really owned weapons of mass destruction, it would use them against the Arabs and the Muslims in the first place, because it hates Islam and because the Muslims have fought it in every possible way. The dirty terrorist organization of al-Qaeda first wants to eliminate the Muslims, under the pretext that they are infidels who do not follow the religion of Isalm. Therefore they must be prevented from obtaining weapons of mass destruction that can destroy people and such issues must be a top priority. All those who have revealed this information must be investigated because they certainly know the sources from which al-Qaeda has tried to get these weapons. Therefore, I call on the international community to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction, because it will provide them to al-Qaeda, seeing that it has supported this organization since its establishment. It will make use of it against the Arabs in general and the Iraqi civilians and Iraq in particular. They must be prevented, and all the elements of al-Qaeda all over the world, wherever they may be, must be eliminated to get rid of this disaster.
حسن البغدادي

2010-10-1

The most hateful thing to me is the filthy terrorist organization of al-Qaeda, which has committed the most horrible crimes against humanity and violated, profaned and disrespected all sanctuaries in our life. This terrorist organization has also wronged Islam and Muslims and lead the West to consider all Muslims as terrorists and killers, because of the acts of al-Qaeda. If it were up to me, I would have collected all the arrested terrorists, placed them in a big hole, and then burnt them to death. This would not even quench my desire for taking revenge on those criminals. I cannot find any explanation for what they do, and why those stupid people join their organization and what they say to themselves after killing simple and innocent people. Are their acts acceptable in the sight of the living human conscience? Does any heavenly religion approve or promote such acts? If they are the defenders of the religion, as they claim in their empty slogans that call for Jihad and the like, then what is their definition of Jihad? Does it mean killing whoever disagrees with you? I know that none of these questions occurs to the cowardly terrorists' minds, because they enjoy killing due to their perversion and their psychological and behavioral disorders. They were habituated to these things in their deviant and fanatical families. Finally, I confirm that the truth will prevail and al-Qaeda will perish, and that it is now going through a real crisis after the reality of the organization has been exposed, with its empty slogans that used to deceive the others to make them sympathize with it. The international coalition, in the face of terrorism, has weakened this organization, which is collapsing right now.
ابوالقعقاع

2010-10-1

In fact, they have spared no effort in destroying Islam and Muslims. They carry a destructive, cowardly and disloyal thought that tarnishes the image of Islam and Muslims. All the outcasts, who were rejected by society for their evil manners, joined those scum and backward members of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. They adopt a sick methodology that cannot be adopted by anyone who fears God the Almighty and His punishments. Is killing Muslims in mosques and temples and markets and roads, considered Jihad? Is this what God commanded us to do in His Book? May God eliminate you and the enemies of Islam who stand behind you. May He expose you and your covers and shadows. You are deviant mercenaries, drug dealers, robbers, traitors, magicians, sorcerers, immortals and debauchers. You falsely allege that you speak in the name of religion, which has nothing to do with you or your acts. You are agents of the Mossad and you implement their orders automatically, as if God the Almighty has deprived you of minds. I ask him to take your souls too, and doom you to hell.