European Operatives being Recruited by AQIM

BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 10 (UPI) -- European security authorities are concerned about reports that al-Qaida and its North African affiliate, determined to strike the United States and its allies, are recruiting European operatives able to blend into Western societies and evade capture.

France's Le Figaro newspaper recently cited French intelligence sources as saying that 100 such recruits are undergoing training in camps along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

• The newspaper said French authorities were on alert for attacks and noted that 14 French citizens were among Europeans undergoing training by al-Qaida in late 2010.
  
• French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared war on the jihadist group in North Africa, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, in July 2010 after it beheaded a 78-year-old French captive, Michel Germaneau.
• He was killed after an abortive attempt by French Special Forces to rescue him in the Sahara Desert in Mali. Six AQIM fighters were shot dead in the attack.
• AQIM has stepped up its attacks on French nationals in northwest African, kidnapping at least eight and killing three

In January, Osama bin Laden threatened attacks on France, "on different fronts, inside and outside of France."

The last major successful terrorist attack in France was in 1995, when Algeria's Armed Islamic Group, or GIA, from which AQIM emerged two years ago, carried out a bombing campaign against the transportation system and tourist sites.

The jihadists' most innovative, and potentially most lethal, operation in France was on Dec. 24, 1994, during the Algerian civil war. Four GIA members in Algerian police uniforms hijacked a Paris-bound Air France Airbus 300 at Houari Boumedienne Airport in Algiers, killed three passengers and forced the pilot to fly the jetliner to Marseille.There they ordered the aircraft loaded with fuel and planned to crash it into the Eiffel Tower in Paris -- a forerunner of al-Qaida's Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.The plot failed when French counter-terrorism police stormed the aircraft and killed all four hijackers.

In December 2010, police forces across Western Europe arrested dozens of suspects amid warnings of continent-wide terrorist attacks hatched in Pakistan. No major attack took place and there was speculation that authorities had been spooked by faulty intelligence.

But Western intelligence sources insist that al-Qaida is planning attacks in the West that go beyond the amateurish lone-wolf type of attacks that have occurred in recent months in the United States.

The report also supported the belief among Western intelligence services that the focal point of this threat is Pakistan, now the major battleground in the war against al-Qaida.

The increase in such activity observed in recent months has occurred at a time when al-Qaida has been re-energized by the gathering of a new field leadership comprising veteran commanders drawn from other regions, many with their eyes on hitting the West hard.

These include such notorious figures as

• Mohammed Ilyas Kashmiri, a 45-year-old Pakistani who fought India in Kashmir for years and now heads bin Laden's Lashkar-e Zil, or Shadow Army. Kashmiri, who joined al-Qaida in 2005, is also closely connected to bin Laden's notorious Brigade 313, one of the key components of the Lashkar-e Zil. According to the CIA, "the footprints of Brigade 313 are now in Europe."
• Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian, and other seasoned jihadists from Iran, where they were reportedly held under varying degrees of restriction since late 2001. Adel, a former Egyptian Special Forces colonel and considered one of bin Laden's most able lieutenants, is reported to be currently operating in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan and planning major strikes against the West.

Syed Saleem Shahzad of Asia Times Online, who has access to jihadist circles in Pakistan and Afghanistan, reported in January that al-Qaida was planning to infiltrate white Westerners, all converts to Islam, into their home countries "to spread the flames of the South Asian war theater to the West."

• The Westerners include a group of 12 Canadians said to be undergoing terrorist training in jihadist camps in North Waziristan. Others reportedly include Americans, Britons and Germans.
• Taliban sources said the Canadian group is led by a 30-year-old known by his nom de guerre of Abu Shahid. He converted to Islam in 2007.Read more:

The Rest @ UPI

Canadian Mujahadeen Coming Home

This is a new undated unconfirmed report, but the details are worth recording if the names show up later.

-Shimron

************************************

According to a reliable source a group of Canadian militants is receiving jihadi training in Al-Qaeda camps in North Waziristan for terror attacks in Canada.

According to this report 12 Canadian men departed for Afghanistan last February and, after nine months, were dispatched by al-Qaeda to the Darpakhel area of North Waziristan in order to receive advanced training that include

• using sophisticated weapons,
• how to connect with local smuggling networks in North America
• How to use ordinary material like sugar and basic chemicals to make powerful explosives

After completing their training these militants will return to their country to execute Al-Qaeda's plan of targeting big cities in Canada.

According to this report the 30-year-old Canadian head of the group converted to Islam in 2007, and goes by the alias Abu Shahid. Other members of the "Canadian cell" are:

• Jeam Paull aka Sadiq Ullah
• Leman Langlois aka Sana Ullah
• James Richard aka Abdur Rehman
• Otto Paul aka Abu Usman
• Thomas aka Abdullah
• Paul Gall aka Hafiz Ullah.

All are common English and French surnames, which fits a growing trend of young Europeans and North Americans converting to radical Islam and joining the jihadi ranks.

This report of the presence of Canadian Mujahidin in Al Qaeda camps in Waziristan is an additional indicator of the wide spread activity of Al Qaeda in its attempt to implement terrorist attacks on western soil. Since late 2008 , accumulated reports suggest that Al-Qaeda's Special Operations unit, responsible for Al-Qaeda's external operations (Outside Afghanistan and Pakistan, aka External operation unit), has been able to rehabilitate its operational capability and maintain, and perhaps even extend its activity in recruiting new operatives, providing designated training for terrorist operations and plotting attacks in the international arena.

According to several reliable sources dozens of western citizens (some reports suggests the number exceed 100) have received training in the unit's camps in Waziristan during 2008-2010.

Furthermore, during 2009-2010 at least four significant plots to conduct spectacular attacks in the international arena , initiated by Al Qaeda special operation unit using western citizens or residents , were exposed. Among those plots are:

• Vinace Brian plot to target LIRR in New York.
• Najibullah Zazi plot to target New York Subway system.
• A Plot to target commercial centers in North West England.
• A Plot to target western facilities in Norway.

Traditionally Canadian citizens or residents have always been sought after by Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda special operation unit in particular. These activists possesses of western mentality and life style which ease their day to day handling during preparations for attacks period on western soil.

In addition as holders of Canadian passports these activists enjoys freedom of transfer and movement around the world and draw less security attention. Within this frame work at least two Canadian citizens were involved with Al Qaeda special operation plots:

• Mahmud Mansoor Jabara was supervising on behalf of Al Qaeda special operation unit ( personally picked for the job by Osama Bin Laden and Khaled Sheikh Mohamed )
• a joint plot of Al Qaeda and Jamm'a Islamiah (JI) to attack western facilities in Singapore using truck bombs in Early 2002.
• Abd Al Rauf Jdey was probably selected by Al Qaeda special operation unit to conduct a suicide mission. His martyr video was found among the wracks of the house of Abu Hafs Al Masri , Al Qaeda military chief at that time.
• Reliable sources within Al Qaeda claim that Jdey eventually conduct a suicide mission that cause the crash of American Airline flight 578 from JFK to Santo Domingo using explosive hidden in his shoes on November 12 2001.

In light of this report it seems that the Canadian operatives are in the final stages of their training in Waziristan and are about to enter the next phase – reentering their home country and begin preparation for attacks - shortly.

The Rest @ CEIFT