Al Queda Planning Something?

[Annie]

Is Al Qaeda Plannng a New Attack?

The level of "chatter" by al Qaeda operatives is currently as high or higher than in the months prior to 9-11, and the question in many parts of the U.S. and European intelligence communities is not if al Qaeda will strike again, but when. Much of the thinking centers on the near-term. This is also reflected in current corporate security alerts being circulated among elite business establishments.

There are several factors that point to al Qaeda at least having a plan for an imminent attack. The first is the January appearance of Osama bin Laden himself after months of silence. The second is the repeated warnings and boasts from bin Laden, Zawahiri and on al Qaeda web sites of impending action.

Several analysts I have spoken with believe the leadership of the historic al Qaeda would not raise expectations of an attack, especially at a time of intense competition with Zarqawi's operation for the mantle of carrying out international jihad, without something important afoot. The risk of losing credibility is too high. Zawahiri is already viewed as the person carrying out action, while bin Laden and Zawahiri have been left in the roles of elder statesmen, respected but no longer operational in the field of battle.

One corporate risk analysis group reported something else of interest: A March 10 posting on al-Hesbah website, known for posting al Qaeda messages, carried a message from the Global Islamic Media Front. The message gives a final warning to the United States before carrying out what it said would be two devastating attacks. The second attack would not be launched until after Washington had time to respond to the first one, the message said. The full blog is here.

Posted by Douglas Farah at 11:03 AM

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http://www.windsofchange.net/archives/008283.php

Thursday Winds of War: March 16/06
by Colt at March 16, 2006 02:15 PM

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the global War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. Thursday's Winds of War briefings are given by Matt 'Colt' of Eurabian Times.

TOP TOPICS

* Remember that talk of a major attack being planned by al-Qaeda in Iraq? This may have been it. 421 al-Qaeda members were to have been given jobs guarding the 'Green Zone' in Baghdad, before storming it, taking hostages and generally wreaking havoc.

* Israeli forces stormed Jericho prison, seeking to arrest Ahmed Sa'adat - the leader of the PFLP - and five others. The six men surrendered after pledging to stand 'with courage'. Sa'adat and four of the five are accused of murdering an Israeli minister. The sixth man was involved in the Karine A incident (a ship packed with weapons heading for Gaza, intercepted by the Israelis). Locals took nearly a dozen Westerns hostage, all of whom have been released, and attacked British offices, destroying the British Council building in Gaza.

* The Counterterrorism Blog notes that al-Qaeda chatter is at pre-9/11 levels. Douglas Farah comments further here.

* A Pakistani newspaper says that the Pakistani government paid lobbyists to convince the 9/11 commission not to include negative references to Pakistan.