Al-Qaeda

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Al-Qaeda (also al-Qaida or al-Qa'ida) (Arabic: القاعدة‎ al-qāʕida, trans. 'the base') is the name given to an international alliance of militant Sunni Islamist terrorist organizations established in 1988 by Osama bin Laden. Al-Qaeda's ideology can be placed within the Qutbist strain of Sunni-Islam but has also been heavily influenced by Takfir. Osama bin Laden oversees Al-Qaeda's finances and, with Ayman al-Zawahiri, provides ideological and strategic guidance. Al-Qaeda's objectives include the elimination of foreign influence in Muslim countries, eradication of those deemed to be "infidels", elimination of Israel, and the creation of a new Islamic caliphate.^[1]

The United Nations Security Council^[2] and several UN member states^{[3][4][5][6][7]} have labeled Al-Qaeda a terrorist organization. Its affiliates have executed multiple attacks against targets in various countries, the most prominent being the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, DC. In response to the September 11 attacks, the United States government launched a broad military and intelligence campaign, known as the War on Terrorism, with the goal of dismantling Al-Qaeda and killing or capturing its operatives. Al-Qaeda does not have a formal structure but recruits field operatives to work independently in support of its goals.

Due to its lack of formal structure, al-Qaeda's size and degree of responsibility for particular attacks are difficult to establish. While the governments opposed to al-Qaeda claim that it has worldwide reach,^[8] other analysts have suggested that those governments, as well as Osama himself, exaggerate al-Qaeda's significance in Islamist terrorism.^[9] The neologism "Al-Qaedaism"^[10] is applied to the wider context of those who independently conduct similar acts through political sympathy to al-Qaeda ideology or methods or the copycat effect.

Etymology of the Name

In Arabic, al-Qaeda (القاعدة al-qā'ida) has four syllables, and is pronounced [al'qɑː.ʕi.da]. However, since two of the Arabic consonants in the name ([q] and [ʕ]) are not phonemes found in the English language, the closest naturalized English pronunciation would be [æl'kɑː.i.də]; [æl'kaɪ.də] and [æl'keɪ.də] are also heard.

The name of the organization comes from the ordinary Arabic noun qā'idah, which means "foundation, basis" -- as in a military or naval "base". The initial al- is the Arabic definite article "the", hence, "the base".

Osama bin Laden explained the origin of the term in his videotaped interview with al Jazeera journalist Tayseer Alouni in October 2001:

An alternative theory, presented in the BBC film series "The Power of Nightmares", is that the name of al-Qaeda was first used by the U.S. Department of Justice in the 2001 trial of four men accused of the 1998 United States embassy bombings in East Africa. According to this theory, accusing Osama bin Laden of leadership of the organization allowed bin Laden to be charged in absentia with the crime using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, also known as the RICO statutes.^[12]

In this theory, the name "al-Qaeda" was first provided to U.S. prosecutors by Jamal al-Fadl, a former employee of bin Laden.^[13]. The series alleged that once the U.S. Department of Justice popularized the name of al-Qaeda, bin Laden continued to use it; being identified as the leader of a militant group proved an effective political strategy for him. The documentary claims that bin Laden, working with an isolated group of Islamists that had once fought alongside the mujahedeen, began using the term after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The term, spelled "Al-Qaida", appears in an executive order issued by President Clinton in 1998 less than two weeks after the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Executive Order 13099 was issued on August 20, 1998 and lists the organization as one of several terrorist groups associated with Osama bin Laden.^[14] The organization title could have been introduced to U.S. intelligence by Jamal al-Fadl, who had been providing the CIA with intelligence about bin Laden since December 1996.

However, another document from 11 August 1988 mentions al-Qaeda and refers to it as "the base." It contains the minutes of the first meeting at which the organization was established: "This document outlines the discussion between bin Laden, referred to as 'the Sheikh', and Abu Rida, or Mohamed Loay Bayazid, to discuss the formation of a 'new military group', which would include al Qaeda (the base)."^[15]

In April 2002, the group assumed the name 'Qa'idat al-Jihad, which means "the base of Jihad." According to Diaa Rashwan, this was "...apparently as a result of the merger of the overseas branch of Egypt's Al-Jihad group, led by Ayman El-Zawahri, with the groups Bin Laden brought under his control after his return to Afghanistan in the mid 1990s."^[16]

The United States Department of Defense defines the organization as

This definition was given in response to a request made by Moazzam Begg, who was being held in extrajudicial detention in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camps. Begg was being accused of assisting or being a member of al-Qaeda or the Taliban.^[17]

History

Jihad in Afghanistan

The origins of the terrorist group can be traced to the period following the Revolutionary War in Afghanistan of April 1978, which brought revolutionary Marxists to power. The United States viewed the conflict in Afghanistan as an integral Cold War struggle, and the American and Pakistani intelligence services supported native Afghan mujahedeen against Soviet occupation through a CIA program called Operation Cyclone.^[18][19] At the same time, a growing number of foreign Arab mujahedeen joined the ongoing counterrevolution against theDemocratic Republic of Afghanistan, in international organizations such as Maktab al-Khidamat.^[20] The U.S. government maintains that they supported only the indigenous mujahedeen, and Osama bin Laden's participation in the conflict was unrelated to CIA programs. This assertion was confirmed by Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's Deputy Operations Chief, in his book Knights Under the Prophet's Banner.^[21] Regardless, some still claim this U.S. program may have indirectly encouraged similar funding systems to contribute Muslim Arab militants. But in reality, the foreign Arab fighters generally were just as opposed to the USA as they were to the USSR.

Origins in Maktab al-Khadamat (MAK)

Al-Qaeda evolved from the back streets of Maktab al-Khadamat, a mujahadeen organization which sought to establish an Islamic state during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Bin Laden was a founding member of the MAK, along with Palestinian militant Abdullah Yusuf Azzam. The MAK was a small organization in Afghanistan with no direct combatants. Rather, its role was to raise and channel funds from a variety of sources (including donations from across the Middle East, primarily from wealthy individuals) into the recruitment and training of mujahedeen, as well as care for Afghan refugees. MAK, while supportive of the indigenous mujahedeen's cause, was a separate group made up of non-Afghan Muslims. An estimated 35,000 foreign mujahedeen from 43 countries participated in the Afghan movement between 1982 and 1992.^[22]

After a protracted and costly nine-year war, the Soviet Union finally withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989. Mohammed Najibullah's socialist Afghan government was rapidly overthrown by elements of the mujahedeen. With mujahedeen leaders unable to agree on a structure for governance, chaos ensued with control of ill-defined territories falling under constantly reorganizing alliances.

Due to U.S. efforts to undermine the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, some have speculated it may have contributed to creation of the organization, while others have strenuously denied this assertion. Robin Cook Former Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons writing for the Guardian, spoke of al-Qaeda as an unintentional product of Western interests:

Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by Western security agencies. Throughout the 80s, he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaida, literally "the database", was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians. Inexplicably, and with disastrous consequences, it never appears to have occurred to Washington that once Russia was out of the way, Bin Laden's organization would turn its attention to the west.^[23]

However, Peter Bergen, a CNN journalist known for conducting the first television interview with Osama bin Laden in 1997, refuted Cook's notion, stating on August 15 2006:

The story about bin Laden and the CIA -- that the CIA funded bin Laden or trained bin Laden -- is simply a folk myth. There's no evidence of this. In fact, there are very few things that bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and the U.S. government agree on. They all agree that they didn't have a relationship in the 1980s. And they wouldn't have needed to. Bin Laden had his own money, he was anti-American and he was operating secretly and independently. The real story here is the CIA did not understand who Osama was until 1996, when they set up a unit to really start tracking him.^[24]

The CIA was watching Osama bin Laden at least by early 1995 due to the discovery of the Oplan Bojinka plot, which in part involved a suicide airplane attack on CIA Headquarters.

Monte Palmer, senior fellow at the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies in Cairo, noted: "It now appears that the American-sponsored jihad in Afghanistan was the first step in transforming the jihadist movements of Egypt, Iran, and Pakistan into an international network capable of challenging the United States. A coalescing of the jihadist movement would have occurred with or without Afghanistan, but the Afghan experience accelerated this process by years if not decades."^[25]

Expanding Operations

Toward the end of the Soviet military mission in Afghanistan, some mujahedeen wanted to expand their operations to include Islamist struggles in other parts of the world, such as Israel and Kashmir. A number of overlapping and interrelated organizations were formed to further those aspirations.

One of these was the organization that would eventually be called al-Qaeda, formed by Osama bin Laden with an initial meeting held on August 11, 1988.^[26] Bin Laden wished to establish nonmilitary operations in other parts of the world; Azzam, in contrast, wanted to remain focused on military campaigns. After Azzam was assassinated in 1989, the MAK split, with a significant number joining bin Laden's organization.

In the United States, funds for activities are dispersed through a program called the Office of Services. In November 1989, Ali Mohammed, a former special forces Sergeant stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, left military service and moved to Santa Clara, California. He traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan and became deeply involved with bin Laden's plans. A year later, on November 8, 1990, the FBI raided the New Jersey home of Mohammed's associate El Sayyid Nosair, discovering a great deal of evidence of terrorist plots, including plans to blow up New York City skyscrapers. In 1991, Ali Mohammed is said to have helped orchestrate Osama bin Laden's relocation to Sudan.^[27]

Gulf War and the start of U.S. enmity

Following the Soviet Union's withdrawal from Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 had put the country of Saudi Arabia and its ruling House of Saud at risk as Saudi's most valuable oil fields (Hama) were within easy striking distance of Iraqi forces in Kuwait,^[28] and Saddam's call to pan-Arab/Islamism could potentially rally internal dissent. In the face of a seemingly massive Iraqi military presence, Saudi Arabia's own forces were well armed but far outnumbered. Bin Laden offered the services of his mujahedeen to King Fahd to protect Saudi Arabia from the Iraqi army.

The Saudi monarch refused bin Laden's offer,^[29] opting instead to allow U.S. and allied forces to deploy on Saudi territory. The deployment angered Bin Laden, as he believed the presence of foreign troops in the "land of the two mosques" (Mecca and Medina) profaned sacred soil. After speaking publicly against the Saudi government for harboring American troops, he was quickly forced into exile to Sudan and on April 9, 1994 his Saudi citizenship was revoked.^[30] His family publicly disowned him. There is controversy over whether and to what extent he continued to garner support from members of his family and/or the Saudi government.^[31]

Shortly afterwards, the movement that came to be known as al-Qaeda was formed.

Sudan

In 1991, Sudan's National Islamic Front, an Islamist group that had recently gained power, invited al-Qaeda to move operations to Sudan.^[32] For several years, al-Qaeda operated several businesses (including import/export, farm, and construction firms) in what might be considered a period of financial consolidation. The group built a major 1200-km (845-mi) highway connecting the capital Khartoum with Port Sudan.^[33] However, they also ran a number of camps where they trained operatives in the use of firearms and explosives.

In 1996, Osama bin Laden was asked to leave Sudan after the United States put the regime under extreme pressure to expel him, citing possible connections to the 1994 attempted assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak while his motorcade was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Controversy exists regarding whether Sudan offered to turn bin Laden over to the U.S. prior to the expulsion. There is an audio tape (Audio) (Transcript) recording of former President Bill Clinton talking about the offer from the Sudanese government. There are conflicting reports on whether the Sudanese government indeed made such an offer, but they were in fact prepared to turn him over to Saudi Arabia, who declined to take him.^[34] Osama bin Laden finally left Sudan in a well-executed operation, arriving at Jalalabad, Afghanistan by air in late 1996 with over 200 of his supporters and their families.

Bosnia

The October 1991 secession of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the equally multicultural Yugoslav Federation opened up a new ethno-religious conflict at the heart of Europe.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is ethnically diverse, with the population made up of Bosnian Muslims/Bosniaks (Muslims), Serbs (Orthodox Christians) and Croats (Roman Catholics) distributed across its territory. The territories comprised the central component of former Yugoslavia, whose disintegration saw ethnic Serbs and ethnic Croats within Bosnia, supported by irredentist movements in the adjacent states of Serbia and Croatia, engage in a three-way conflict against the ethnic Muslims core.

Radical Muslim veterans of the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan seized on Bosnia as a new opportunity to defend Islam.^[35] Besieged on two fronts and seemingly abandoned by the West, the Bosnian regime was willing to accept any help it could get, military or financial, including that of a number of Islamic organisations, including al-Qaeda.^[36]

Several close associates of Osama bin Laden (most notably, Saudi Khalid bin Udah bin Muhammad al-Harbi, alias Abu Sulaiman al-Makki) joined the conflict in Bosnia.^[36] While al-Qaeda might initially have seen Bosnia as a possible bridgehead enabling the radicalization of European Muslims for operations against other European nations and the United States, Bosniaks had been secularized for generations, and their interest in fighting was largely limited to securing the survival of their nascent state.

The "Bosnian Mujahidin" (comprising largely Arab veterans of the Afghan war and not necessarily members of al-Qaeda) thus operated as a largely autonomous force within central Bosnia. While their bravery in the fray initially attracted a small number of native Bosnians to join them, their brutality against civilians^[37] came to appall many native Bosnians and repel new recruits. At the same time, their vigorous attempts to Islamicize the local population with rules on appropriate dress and behavior were widely resented and thus went unheeded. In his book Al-Qaida’s Jihad in Europe: the Afghan-Bosnian Network, Evan Kohlmann summarizes: "In spite of vigorous efforts to ‘Islamicise’ the nominally Muslim Bosnian populace, the locals could not be convinced to abandon pork, alcohol, or public displays of affection. Bosnian women persistently refused to wear the hijab or follow the other mandates for female behavior prescribed by extreme fundamentalist Islam."^[36]

The signing of the Washington Agreement in March 1994 brought to an end to the Bosnian-Croatian conflict. While the "Bosnian Mujahidin" remained to fight on in the war against the Serbs, the Dayton Peace Accord of November 1995 ended the conflict for good, with international aid contingent on the disarming of foreign fighters. With Bosnian government support, NATO forces took effective action to close the bases of these fighters and deport them. A limited number of former mujahedeen who had either married native Bosnians or who could not find a country to go to were permitted to stay in Bosnia and granted citizenship. However, with the war in Bosnia over, many committed and battle-hardened veterans had already returned to familiar territory.

With the Bosnian effort experiencing only limited success, al-Qaeda turned its resources towards its next phase of global expansion.

Refuge in Afghanistan

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After the Soviet withdrawal, Afghanistan was effectively ungoverned for seven years and plagued by constant infighting between former allies and various mujahedeen groups.

Throughout the 1990s a new force began to emerge. The origins of the Taliban (literally "students") lay in the children of Afghanistan, many of them orphaned by the war, and many of whom had been educated in the rapidly expanding network of Islamic schools (madrassas) either in Kandahar or in the refugee camps on the Afghan-Pakistani border.

According to Ahmad Rashid's well-regarded book Taliban, five leaders of the Taliban were graduates of a single madrassa, Darul Uloom Haqqania, Akora Khattak, near Peshawar, situated in Pakistan but largely attended by Afghan refugees. This institution reflected Salafi beliefs in its teachings, and much of its funding came from private donations from wealthy Arabs, for whom bin Laden provided conduit. A further four leading figures (including the perceived Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar Mujahed) attended a similarly funded and influenced madrassa in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

The ties between Afghan Arabs and the Taliban ran deep. Many of the mujahedeen who later joined the Taliban fought alongside Afghan warlord Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi's Harkat i Inqilabi group at the time of the Russian invasion. This group also enjoyed the loyalty of most Afghan Arab fighters.

The continuing internecine strife between various factions, and accompanying lawlessness following the Soviet withdrawal, enabled the growing and well-disciplined Taliban to expand their control over territory in Afghanistan, and they came to establish an enclave which it called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. In 1994, they captured the regional center of Kandahar, and after making rapid territorial gains thereafter, conquered the capital city Kabul in September 1996.

After Sudan made it clear that bin Laden and his group were no longer welcome that year, Taliban-controlled Afghanistan — with previously established connections between the groups, a similar outlook on world affairs and largely isolated from American political influence and military power — provided a perfect location for al-Qaeda to establish its headquarters. Al-Qaeda enjoyed the Taliban's protection and a measure of legitimacy as part of their Ministry of Defense, although only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and the Pakistani border regions are alleged to have trained militant Muslims from around the world. Despite the perception of some people, al-Qaeda members are ethnically diverse and connected by their radical version of Islam.

An ever-expanding network of supporters thus enjoyed a safe haven in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan until the Taliban were defeated by a combination of local forces and United States air power in 2001 (see section September 11 attacks and the United States response). Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders are still believed to be located in areas where the population is sympathetic to the Taliban in Afghanistan or the border Tribal Areas of Pakistan.

Militant operations

In 1993, al-Qaeda associate Ramzi Yousef used a truck bomb to attack the World Trade Center in New York City. The attack killed six people, injured 1,042, and caused nearly $300 million in property damage, but did not destroy the complex.^[38] Yousef was later captured in Pakistan.

In 1996, al-Qaeda announced its jihad to expel foreign troops and interests from what they felt were Islamic lands. Bin Laden issued a fatwa,^[39] which amounted to a public declaration of war against the United States and any of its allies, and began to focus al-Qaeda's resources towards attacking the United States and its interests.

On February 23, 1998, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, a leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, along with three other Islamist leaders, co-signed and issued a fatwa (binding religious edict) under the banner of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders (al-Jabhah al-Islamiyya al-'Alamiyya li-Qital al-Yahud wal-Salibiyyin) declaring:

Neither bin Laden nor al-Zawahiri possessed the traditional Islamic scholarly qualifications to issue a fatwa of any kind; however, they rejected the authority of the contemporary ulema (seen as the paid servants of jahiliyya rulers) and took it upon themselves.^[41] 1998 was also the year of the first major terrorist attack reliably attributed to al-Qaeda- the U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa, resulting in upward of 300 deaths. A barrage of missiles launched by the U.S. military in response devastated an al-Qaeda base in Khost, Afghanistan, but the network's capacity was unharmed.

Bin Laden then turned his sights towards the United States Navy. In October 2000, al-Qaeda militants in Yemen bombed the missile destroyer U.S.S. Cole in a suicide attack, killing several sailors and damaging the vessel while it lay offshore. Inspired by the success of such a brazen attack, al-Qaeda's command core began to prepare for an attack on the United States itself.

September 11, 2001 attacks and the United States response

The September 11, 2001 attacks are attributed by most observers to al-Qaeda, acting in accord with the 1998 fatwa issued against the United States and its allies by bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, and others.^[42] Evidence points to suicide squads led by al-Qaeda operative Mohammed Atta as the culprits of the attacks, with bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and Hambali as the key planners. While messages believed to be from bin Laden after September 11,2001 have praised the attacks, a statement issued six days later through Al Jazeera allegedly denied his involvement.^[43] However, although bin Laden denied involvement, denial did not mean condemnation of the 9/11 attacks. Instead bin Laden sought to legitimise such actions to the general Muslim public through identification of perceptions and grievances of mainstream Muslims as well extremists: one such greivance being oppression.^[44] bin Laden claimed that America was massacring Muslims in 'Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir and Iraq' and that Muslims retain the 'right to attack in reprisal'. He also claimed the 9/11 attacks were not targeted at women and children, but 'America's icons of military and economic power'^[45]

The attacks were the most devastating terrorist acts in American history, killing nearly 3,000 people, destroying four commercial airliners, leveling the World Trade Center towers, and damaging The Pentagon.

Evidence has since come to light that the original targets for the attack may have been nuclear power stations on the east coast of the U.S. The targets were later altered by al-Qaeda, as it was thought that the US retaliation would be too great, most likely an attack on Afganistan by the United States' nuclear weapons.^[46][47]

In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the United States government decided to respond militarily, and began to prepare its armed forces to overthrow the Taliban regime it believed was harboring al-Qaeda. Before the United States attacked, it offered Taliban leader Mullah Omar a chance to surrender bin Laden and his top associates. The Taliban offered to turn over bin Laden to a neutral country for trial if the United States would provide evidence of bin Laden's complicity in the attacks. U.S. President George W. Bush responded by saying: "We know he's guilty. Turn him over",^[48] and British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned the Taliban regime: "Surrender bin Laden, or surrender power". Soon thereafter the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan, and together with the Afghan Northern Alliance removed the Taliban government.

As a result of the United States using its special forces and providing air support for the Northern Alliance ground forces, both Taliban and al-Qaeda training camps were destroyed, and much of the operating structure of al-Qaeda is believed to have been disrupted. After being driven from their key positions in the Tora Bora area of Afghanistan, many al-Qaeda fighters tried to regroup in the rugged Gardez region of the nation. Again, under the cover of intense aerial bombardment, U.S. infantry and local Afghan forces attacked, shattering the al-Qaeda position and killing or capturing many of the militants. By early 2002, al-Qaeda had been dealt a serious blow to its operational capacity, and the Afghan invasion appeared an initial success. Nevertheless, a significant Taliban insurgency remains in Afghanistan, and al-Qaeda's top two leaders, bin Laden and al-Zawahiri, evaded capture.

Debate raged about the exact nature of al-Qaeda's role in the 9/11 attacks, and after the U.S. invasion began, the U.S. State Department also released a videotape showing bin Laden speaking with a small group of associates somewhere in Afghanistan shortly before the Taliban was removed from power.^[49] Although its authenticity has been questioned by some,^[50] the tape appears to implicate bin Laden and al-Qaeda in the September 11 attacks and was aired on many television channels all over the world, with an accompanying English translation provided by the United States Defense Department.

In September 2004, the U.S. government commission investigating the September 11 attacks officially concluded that the attacks were conceived and implemented by al-Qaeda operatives.^[51] In October 2004, bin Laden appeared to claim responsibility for the attacks in a videotape released through Al Jazeera, saying he was inspired by Israeli attacks on high-rises in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon: "As I looked at those demolished towers in Lebanon, it entered my mind that we should punish the oppressor in kind and that we should destroy towers in America in order that they taste some of what we tasted and so that they be deterred from killing our women and children."^[52]

By the end of 2004, the U.S. government claimed that two-thirds of the top leaders of al-Qaeda from 2001 were in custody (including Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Saif al Islam el Masry, and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri) or dead (including Mohammed Atef). Despite the capture or death of many senior al-Qaeda operatives, the U.S. government continues to warn that the organization is not yet defeated, and battles between U.S. forces and al-Qaeda-related groups continue.

See also: Responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks

Activity in Iraq (al-Qaeda in Iraq)

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Main article: Al Qaeda in Iraq

See also: Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida

Osama bin Laden first took interest in Iraq when the country invaded Kuwait in 1990, raising concerns the secular Baathist government of Iraq might next set its sights on Saudi Arabia, homeland of bin Laden and Islam itself. In a letter sent to King Fahd, he offered to send an army of mujahedeen to defend Saudi Arabia.^[53]

During the Gulf War, the organization's interests became split between outrage with the intervention of the United Nations in the region, hatred of Saddam Hussein's secular government, and concern for the suffering of Islamic people in Iraq. Many scholars claim that the alleged link between Saddam's regime and al-Qaida (which substantiated the WMD justification for the Iraq invasion) was non-existent and exaggerated.^{[citation needed]}

Whether or not al-Qaida was operating in any substantial way in Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion is debatable.

However, it must be noted that the killing & capture of al-Qaida fighters and leaders by Iraqi & Coalition forces are a near daily occurrence in Iraq, many of whom fled Afghanistan after the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.

Al-Qaida was in contact with the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-islam from its inception in 1999. Several Afghan veterans, Arab and Kurd, entered the enclave controlled by Ansar al-Islam from Iran. Among them was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who left the Kurdish zone before the allied invasion in 2003. Abu Hamza al-Muhajir (also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri), al-Zarqawi's replacement and the current leader of al-Qaida in Iraq is believed to have been in Iraq before the 2003 invasion as well.

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, al-Qaida took more formal interest in the region and is known to have been responsible for actively organizing and aiding local resistance to the occupying coalition forces and the emerging government. Militant allies of al-Qaeda bombed both the local United Nations and Red Cross headquarters later that year. In 2004, the main al-Qaida bases in Iraq were raided by U.S. forces besieging Fallujah. Despite the loss of these key positions and many of its fighters, al-Qaeda continued to mount attacks across Iraq. During Iraq's elections in January 2005, al-Qaida claimed responsibility for nine suicide blasts in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The majority of the suicide bombings and SVBIED (Suicidal Vehicle-Born Improvised Explosive Device, commonly referred to as "Car Bomb") attacks occurring in Iraq are committed by foreign al-Qaida recruits, many crossing through the Syrian border into Iraq. Al-Qaida's suicide attacks in Iraq have targeted mostly Iraqi Security and Coalition forces, and Shiite civilians. But as of late, they are increasingly targeting Iraqi Sunnis who are in growing numbers joining the fight against al-Qaida.

Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi formally merged his organization "Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad" with al-Qaeda on 17 October 2004, and the organization began to use the banners of "Al-Qaida in Iraq". In the merger, al-Zarqawi declared loyalty to Osama bin Laden. Al-Zarqawi was killed by U.S. air strikes on a safe house near Baqubah, Iraq on June 7, 2006. Before his death, it appears al-Zarqawi was trying to use Iraq as a launching pad for international terrorism, most notably dispatching suicide bombers to attack hotels in Amman, Jordan. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was known to be in contact with several top al-Qaida leaders, most notably his correspondence with the Egyptian Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Since the killing of al-Zarqawi, it is widely believed Abu Ayyub al-Masri took over as head of al-Qaida in Iraq. Although the group has failed in its primary goal of driving U.S. and British forces from Iraq and destroying the Shiite-dominated government elected by the people of Iraq, al-Qaida in Iraq has effectively ignited widespread sectarian violence across the country. Al-Qaida in Iraq now operates primarily as part of the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni militant groups in Iraq who resist solidarity with Shiites, and vow to continue resistance.

On September 3, 2006 the second-in-command of al-Qaida in Iraq, Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi (also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana), was arrested north of Baghdad, along with a group of his aides and followers.^[54]

Al-Qaeda allegedly in Pakistan

Six years after the "War on Terrorism" began Al-Qaeda is resurgent from its hub in Pakistan. The tribal deals Pakistan agreed in 2005 and 2006 have taken the pressure off Al-Qaeda and it has been able to renew some of its financial conduits, reconstitute some training camps, and reassert some of its influence over global Al-Qaeda affiliates. Five trends appear to be strengthening Al-Qaeda's hands further in Pakistan: the continued growth of radical Madaris, the rising radicalisation amongst young Pakistanis and Afghans; a creeping radicalisation within the Pakistan military and intelligence services, a strengthening of links between disparate radical Islamist forces in Pakistan, and the reestablishment of cross-border illegal drugs and arms trading. With the Taliban resurgent and with grave trends emerging in Pakistan it is time for the West to look again at its near unconditional support of Musharraf in Pakistan. The Pakistan Security Research Unit (PSRU)

Al-Qaeda allegedly in Kashmir

On July 13, 2006, a man claiming to be a spokesperson for al-Qaeda called up a local news agency in Srinagar to announce the arrival of the group in Kashmir. The alleged al-Qaeda spokesman said its arrival was a "consequence of Indian oppression and suppression of minorities, particularly Muslims." There have been reports that al-Qaeda men had infiltrated the Kashmir Valley over the past few years, particularly after the US pursued the group following its invasion of Afghanistan. Also, it has been said that links have been found between al-Qaeda and terror groups like LeT of Pakistan.^[55]

Al-Qaeda Activities in Somalia

Main article: Battle of Mogadishu

Activities of al-Qaeda in Somalia are alleged to have begun as early as 1992.^[56] The organization's role during the course of the 1992–1994 UN missions was limited to a handful of trainers. Ali Mohamed and other al-Qaeda members purportedly trained forces loyal to warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid.^[57] Osama bin Laden himself claimed in an interview with ABC's John Miller to have sent al-Qaeda operatives to Somalia. One of the al-Qaeda fighters present during the interview claimed to have personally slit the throats of three American soldiers in Somalia.^[58] Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, states the terrorist organization did train some of Aidid's men on how to fire rocket-propelled grenades to destroy U.S. helicopters, but they were not personally part of the fight with US forces in the Battle of Mogadishu.^[59]

Ties to 1998 Embassy Bombings

It is believed several terrorist attacks were orchestrated from Ras Kamboni, in the extreme southern tip of Somalia adjacent to Kenya, including the 1998 United States embassy bombings and the 2002 Mombasa hotel bombing.^[60]

On June 22, 2006, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer announced the U.S. was seeking the assistance of the Islamic Courts Union in the apprehension of suspects who carried out attacks against its East African embassies in 1998 and an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya in 2002.^[61]

She listed the following persons as suspected of being in Somalia (name and nationality):

• Fazul Abdullah Mohamed, Comoros
• Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, Kenya
• Abu Taha al-Sudan, Sudan

Ties to the Islamic Courts Union (ICU)

• Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, a military leader in the Islamic Courts Union, and formerly leader of Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI) was designated under US Presidential Executive Order 13224 as a terrorist financier on June 3. 2004.^[62]

• Aden Hashi Farah Ayro, leader of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) youth movement, Hizbul Shabaab, was said to have gone to Afghanistan to train with al-Qaeda before 2001, according to Matthew Bryden of International Crisis Group.^[63][64]

On July 1, 2006, a Web-posted message purportedly written by Osama bin Laden urged Somalis to build an Islamic state in the country, and warned Western countries that his al-Qaeda network would fight against them if they intervened there.^[65]

On November 26, 2006, the U.S. Embassy in Kenya issued a travel alert to US citizens regarding travel to Kenya or Ethiopia after letters allegedly written by the Somalian leader of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, encouraged suicide terrorist attacks on US citizens in those two countries.^[66]

On November 30, 2006, the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) claimed three suicide bombings costing eight lives were the work of al-Qaeda operatives working in the country.^[67]

On December 14, 2006, the US Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer warned that al-Qaeda cell operatives were controlling the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), the Islamist faction of Somalia rapidly taking control of the southern area of the country.^[68] The next day, December 15, 2006, ICU Information Secretary Abdirahim Ali Mudey denied the allegation as baseless.^[69] That same day Frazer announced the United States has no intention of committing troops to Somalia to root out al-Qaeda.^[70]

On December 20, 2006, war in Somalia erupted between the ICU and the Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian allies. Salad Ali Jelle, Defence Minister of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, claimed Abu Taha al-Sudan led the Islamists fighting against the government in the town of Iidale. On December 25, 2006, Ethiopia began bombing two airports in Somalia. In justifying the attack, the Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi stated that his country was "at war" with Islamist militants in Somalia.

American officials state that Ras Kamboni served as a training camp for extremists with connections to al-Qaeda.^[71][72] US security concerns in the Horn of Africa, particularly at Ras Kamboni, heightened after the attacks on 9/11. On December 16, 2001, Paul Wolfowitz said the US was meeting with various Somali and Ethiopian contacts to "observe, survey possible escape routes, possible sanctuaries" for al-Qaeda operatives.^[73] On March 2, 2002 a briefing was held in the Pentagon to discuss the possible use of Ras Kamboni by terrorist groups, including al-Ittihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI) and Al Qaeda.^[74] In December 2002, the U.S. established the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) to monitor developments in the region and train local militaries on counterterrorism.^[75]

On January 8, 2007, during the