Bin Laden uses Pakistani floods to drum up support

[Herbalist Dr MziziMkavu]

Play Video AP – Bin Laden releases audio tape, wants aid relief

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AP – This image from video provided by the SITE Intelligence Group shows the still picture of Osama bin Laden …


By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press Writer Hadeel Al-shalchi, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 57 mins ago
CAIRO – Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden called for the creation of a new relief body to help Muslims in an audiotape released Friday, seeking to exploit discontent following this summer's devastating floods in Pakistan by depicting the region's governments as uncaring.

It was the third message in recent weeks from al-Qaida figures concerning the massive floods that affected around 20 million people in Pakistan, signaling a concentrated campaign by the terror group to tap into anger over the flooding to rally support.
But while the earlier messages by subordinates were angry, urging followers to rise up, bin Laden took a softer, even humanitarian tone — apparently trying to broaden

al-Qaida's appeal by presenting his group as a problem-solving protector of the poor.
"What governments spend on relief work is secondary to what they spend on armies," bin Laden says on the 11-minute tape titled "Reflections on the Method of Relief Work."
"If governments spent (on relief) only one percent of what is spent on armies, they would change the face of the world for poor people," he said.

The top al-Qaida leader said a new "well-funded" relief organization should be created to study Muslim regions near bodies of water to prevent future flooding, to create development projects in impoverished regions and to work on farming and agriculture to guarantee food security.

"The famine and drought in Africa that we see, and the flooding in Pakistan and other parts of the world, with thousands dead along with millions of refugees, that's why people with hearts should move quickly to save their brothers and sisters," he said.
He urged Muslim businessmen to develop unused agricultural land in Sudan — where bin Laden was based in the 1990s — to boost food security in case of disaster.
The audiotape was posted on Islamic militant websites, according to the U.S.-based

SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi forums and provided a copy of the message. Its authenticity could not be independently confirmed, though the voice resembled that of bin Laden in confirmed messages by him. The tape is aired over a still photograph of a smiling bin Laden superimposed over a picture of a man distributing aid.
The United States and Pakistani officials have often expressed fears that militant groups in Pakistan could drum up support by exploiting frustration among Pakistanis who feel aid has not reached them quickly following the floods that swept through the country starting in late July.

International donors have pledged more than $800 million for flood relief in Pakistan, the bulk of it coming from the United States which has donated nearly $350 million. The United Nations last month hiked up its call for aid, seeking to raise $2 billion for Pakistan's flood victims, its largest humanitarian appeal ever.
Two earlier al-Qaida videos about the floods took a sharply militant tone.
In a video released last week, a U.S.-born al-Qaida spokesman, Adam Gadahn, urged

Muslims in Pakistan to join Islamist militants fighting their nation's rulers, saying that Islamabad's "sluggish and halfhearted" response to recent floods showed it did not care for them.

Before that, al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, made a thinly veiled call on Pakistanis to rise up against their government over what he said was the "failure" of authorities there to provide relief to flood victims.
Bin Laden often takes a more elevated, philosophical stance than his deputies, aiming to

present himself as a sort of elder statesman — opining, for example, on global warming in past messages. Still, in his last audiotape — released in March — he threatened retaliation if the U.S. executes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-professed architect of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.


Source: Bin Laden uses Pakistani floods to drum up support - Yahoo! News

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

CIA Escalates Drone War in Pakistan

WASHINGTON—The U.S. military is secretly diverting aerial drones and weaponry from the Afghan battlefront to significantly expand the CIA's campaign against militants in their Pakistani havens.

The shift in strategic focus reflects the U.S. view that, with Pakistan's military unable or unwilling to do the job, more U.S. force against terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan is now needed to turn around the struggling Afghan war effort across the border.

In recent months, the military has loaned Predator and Reaper drones to the Central Intelligence Agency to give the agency more firepower to target and bombard militants on the Afghan border.
The additional drones he
lped the CIA escalate the number of strikes in Pakistan in September. The agency averaged five strikes a week in September, up from an average of two to three per week. The Pentagon and CIA have ramped up their purchases of drones, but they aren't being built fast enough to meet the rapid rise in demand.

The escalated campaign in September was aimed, in part, at disrupting a suspected terrorist plot to strike in Western Europe. U.S. officials said Friday their working assumption is that Osama bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda operatives are part of the suspected terror plot—or plots—believed to target the U.K., France or Germany. They said they are still working to understand the contours of the scheme.

U.S. officials say a successful terrorist strike against the West emanating from Pakistan could force the U.S. to take unilateral military action—an outcome all parties are eager to avoid.

Although the U.S. military flies surveillance drones in Pakistan and shares intelligence with the Pakistani government, Pakistan has prohibited U.S. military operations on its soil, arguing they would impinge on the country's sovereignty. The CIA operations, while well-known, are technically covert, allowing Islamabad to deny to its unsupportive public its involvement with the strikes. The CIA doesn't acknowledge the program, and the shift of Pentagon resources has been kept under wraps.

Pakistan has quietly cooperated with the CIA drone program which started under President George W. Bush. But the program is intensely unpopular in the country because of concerns about sovereignty and regular reports of civilian casualties. U.S. officials say the CIA's targeting of militants is precise, and that there have been a limited number of civilian casualties.

U.S. officials said there is now less concern about upsetting the Pakistanis than there was a few months ago, and that the U.S. is being more aggressive in its response to immediate threats from across the border.

"You have to deal with the sanctuaries," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D., Mass.) said after meeting with Pakistan's foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in Washington this week. "I've pushed very, very hard with the Pakistanis regarding that."

Tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan have been exacerbated in recent days by a series of cross-border attacks by North Atlantic Treaty Organization helicopter gunships. Islamabad responded by shutting a key border crossing used to supply Western troops in Afghanistan and threatening to halt NATO container traffic altogether. On Friday, militants in Pakistan attacked tankers carrying fuel toward another border crossing, in another sign of the vulnerability of NATO supply lines crossing Pakistani territory.

Because U.S. military officials say success in Afghanistan hinges, in large part, on shutting down the militant havens in Pakistan, the surge in drone strikes could also have far-reaching implications for the Obama administration, which is under political pressure to show results in the nine-year Afghan war and has set a goal of beginning to withdraw troops in July.

The secret deal to beef up the CIA's campaign inside Pakistan shows the extent to which military officials see the havens there, used by militants to plan and launch attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, as the primary obstacle to the Afghan war effort.

"When it comes to drones, there's no mission more important right now than hitting targets in the tribal areas, and that's where additional equipment's gone," a U.S. official said. "It's not the only answer, but it's critical to both homeland security and force protection in Afghanistan."

CIA Escalates Campaign in Pakistan - WSJ.com

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Pakistan flooding is focus of second purported bin Laden message​

(CNN) -- A second message presumably from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden urged Muslims to help the people of flood-stricken Pakistan.

The new message, which appeared Saturday on Islamist websites, comes after a similar message surfaced Friday. CNN could not verify the authenticity of the message.

The Pakistani devastation depicted by media reports "does not accurately reflect the crisis."
"There should have been a bigger scale movement [to help victims in] this crisis from the start, especially from able nations like Turkey, the Gulf states and Malaysia," the speaker said.
He also blamed international Muslim leaders for not visiting affected areas.

Produced by as-Sahab, the media arm of Al Qaeda, the remarks are entitled "Second Message - Help your Brothers in Pakistan" and was posted Saturday on Islamist websites known to carry messages by al Qaeda, its supporters and sympathizers.

The 13 minute, 9 second- long message includes an audio played over a picture of bin Laden on the right side of the screen and various stills of flood victims on the left side of the screen.
It is the second message purported to be by bin Laden within 24 hours.

The other presumed bin Laden message surfaced on Friday and urged Muslims to tackle famine, flood relief, the effects of climate change and clean water.

It called for Muslims to help Muslims by investing in infrastructure projects and developing awareness programs, such as how to deal with issues like water pollution.

There are no calls for terrorism in the messages.

But U.S. officials on Friday said that the al Qaeda leader has been urging affiliates to take action.

One U.S. official said that bin Laden has been in communication with al Qaeda affiliates within Pakistan and beyond, encouraging them to take more militant actions.

A second source from within the law enforcement community said the al Qaeda leader is believed to have recently expressed desire for some kind of attack to take place. But neither source said there is a specific time, target or mode of attack that is known by Western intelligence officials.

At the same time, the law enforcement source noted this is the first time bin Laden's name has come up in connection with a purported plot in quite a while and, if the intelligence is credible, it would appear to indicate he is "still in the game, for lack of a better term."

There are multiple plots at different stages of development, according to the U.S .official and while a Mumbai-style attack is possible, it is not the only concern, the U.S. official said.
Intelligence officials believe the plotting is beyond aspirational but not to the level of something definitive.

One U.S. source cautioned against linking him to recent reports that he had ordered Mumbai-style attacks on Britain, France and Germany -- saying his name might have come up in connection with a different thread of intelligence.

CNN's Amir Ahmed contributed to this report

Pakistan flooding is focus of second purported bin Laden message - CNN.com

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Onlookers in Pakistan's Sindh province after suspected militants set fire to tankers Friday carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan.​

 

[Viper]

Wasn't Bush suppose to get this guy 8yrs ago? neways BIN LADEN DIED 9 YEARS AGO... THE CIA KNOWS IT, THE PAKISTAN GOVERNMENT KNOWS IT, THE NEWS MEDIA KNOWS IT... NOT ONE "BIN LADEN" TAPE SINCE THEN HAS BEEN VERIFIED AUTHENTIC. I GUESS THE U.S. GOV'T AND PAKISTAN DEEM THE CONTINUED FRAUD USEFUL PROPAGANDA...

 

[Herbalist Dr MziziMkavu]

AP – This image from video provided by the SITE Intelligence Group shows the still picture of Osama bin Laden …

• Slideshow:Osama bin Laden
• Play Video Pakistan Video:U.S. Missile Strike in Pakistan FOX News
• Play Video Pakistan Video:Air strikes and supply lines Reuters

CAIRO – Softening his tone, al-Qaida issued a humanitarian appeal on Saturday urging Muslim governments to do more to help Pakistan's flood victims and expressing worry about climate change. It was his second purported audiotape in as many days.
The less aggressive approach contrasted with al-Qaida's previous calls for a violent response in what experts say could be a "good cop, bad cop" ploy to exploit anger over the flooding and rally support for the terror network.


Al-Qaida is under pressure to refurbish support among Pakistanis as it faces a surge in and government crackdowns on insurgents who easily move between Afghanistan and Pakistan's porous border. American officials have asserted for months that the core of the network has been weakened and is struggling to raise money and attract recruits.
Bin Laden, who is believed to be hiding in the lawless border area that separates the two countries, said governments of have not done enough to help Pakistanis hit by

devastating floods that killed hundreds and affected about 20 million people this summer.
"The effort should have been bigger from the beginning," he said in a recording posted Saturday on militant websites. It was distributed along with a photograph of a smiling bin Laden superimposed over pictures of
He also singled out Arab leaders, accusing them of failing to respond to a calamity in a

fellow Muslim nation and asserting that the U.N. secretary-general did more than them to help Pakistan.
Bin Laden has often sought to package himself as a senior statesman. In this recording, he assumed a tone more measured than past videos and recordings in which he and his deputies called for the leaders of Muslim nations like his native Saudi Arabia to be overthrown.

Experts said he was likely trying to broaden al-Qaida's appeal beyond its traditional extremist support base while remaining devoted to the network's campaign of violence.
The messages coincided with reports that bin Laden was behind the terror plots to attack several European cities. If true, that would be the most operational role that bin Laden has played in plotting attacks since Sept. 11, 2001.

"Bin Laden is dancing above the fray and addressing broader issues that give him the appearance of a benevolent father figure to embattled Muslims," said Evan Kohlmann, a terrorism analyst with Flashpoint Global Partners, a New York-based security consultancy. "Perhaps bin Laden sees this as a way of swaying those on the edge towards supporting him."

A copy of the 13-minute, nine second audiotape, entitled "Help your Pakistani Brothers," was made available by the U.S.-based, which monitors jihadi forums. Its authenticity could not be independently confirmed, though the voice resembled that of bin Laden in previous confirmed messages.
In a similar recording released Friday, bin Laden called for the establishment of a relief organization to prevent flooding in Muslim nations, create development projects in impoverished regions and improve agriculture to guarantee food security.

U.S. and Pakistani officials have often expressed fears that militant groups in Pakistan could drum up support by exploiting frustration among Pakistanis who feel aid has not reached them quickly following the floods that swept through the country starting in late July.


Asked about Friday's bin Laden message, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he doubts the victims in Pakistan would be "comforted in getting the aid that is necessary from somebody that is not showing their face to the world."
The U.N.'s humanitarian arm said last week that most of those displaced by the floods have begun returning to their homes. But Pakistanis remain deeply unhappy with the government's performance after the deluge despite official insistence that any

government would have had problems responding to a crisis of that magnitude.
Two earlier al-Qaida videos about the floods took a sharp militant tone.
A U.S.-born al-Qaida spokesman, , urged Muslims in Pakistan to join Islamist militants fighting their nation's rulers in a video last week, saying that Islamabad's "sluggish and halfhearted" response to recent floods showed it did not care for them.
Before that, al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, made a thinly veiled call on Pakistanis to rise up against their government over what he said was the "failure" of authorities there to provide relief to flood victims.

Bin Laden often takes a more elevated, philosophical stance than his deputies — opining, for example, on global warming in past messages. However, in his last audiotape released in March he threatened retaliation if the U.S. executes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-professed architect of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, said bin Laden could be taking advantage of renewed publicity over the European terror plot to thrust himself back in the spotlight. The accusations have raised speculation bin Laden might be seeking to show al-Qaida's besieged Pakistan-based core remains able to launch attacks on Western targets.

"It may be their way of doing good cop, bad cop and making sure that all of al-Qaida's messages are being communicated," he said. "In other words, they're covering all bases."
In Saturday's message, bin Laden accused the media of failing to cover the flooding tragedy effectively or provide "the real picture" of natural disasters in the Muslim world. Journalists should also increase coverage of climate change, he said.

International donors have pledged more than $800 million for flood relief in Pakistan, the bulk of it coming from the United States which has donated nearly $350 million. The United Nations last month hiked up its call for aid, seeking to raise $2 billion for Pakistan's flood victims, its largest humanitarian appeal ever.
Arab nations in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have also launched relief appeals and delivered aid to Pakistan.

Source: Osama bin Laden softens tone, but to what end? - Yahoo! News

 

[Herbalist Dr MziziMkavu]

The attack close to the capital Islamabad was the third since Friday

ISLAMABAD — Suspected militants attacked and set fire to at least 20 tankers carrying oil for NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Monday, the third such strike inside Pakistan in as many days, police said.
The attack not far from the capital Islamabad took place on a supply line that has been stalled because of a temporary border closing imposed by Pakistani authorities to protest

a NATO helicopter attack that killed three Pakistan troops last week.
It will raise the stakes in the closure, which has exacerbated tensions between Washington and Islamabad but has been welcomed by Islamist groups opposed to Pakistan's support of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.
Police officer Umer Hayat said three people were killed and blamed Monday's attack on "terrorists."

The attackers opened fire on trucks that were parked at a poorly guarded terminal before setting them afire, he and other officers said.
The trucks were en route or waiting to travel to the Torkham border crossing along the fabled Khyber Pass, which is used to bring fuel, military vehicles, spare parts, clothing and other non-lethal supplies for foreign troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan's other main route into landlocked Afghanistan, in Chaman in the southwest, has remained open.

kistan: Dozens of Europeans in terror training While NATO and the United States have alternative supply routes into Afghanistan, the Pakistani ones are the cheapest and most convenient. Most of the coalition's non-lethal supplies are transported over Pakistani soil after being unloaded at docks in Karachi, a port city in the

On Friday, a day after the closure of the Khyber Pass route to NATO and US traffic, there were two attacks on oil tankers headed to the country. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for at least one of them, and vowed to launch more.
Striking now gains them more media attention than normal and adds to unease between Pakistan and the United States.

The convoys take several days to reach the border after setting off from Karachi and make frequent stops. They receive little or no protection outside the frontier region and are indistinguishable from ordinary trucks and tankers that ply Pakistani roads.
Over the past two years they often have been attacked by militants, mostly in the northwestern border region where militants are strongest.
Attacks on convoys in Pakistan give militants a propaganda victory, but coalition officials say they do not result in shortages in Afghanistan. Hundreds of trucks cross into Afghanistan each day.

Some attacks are believed to be the work of criminals, who can sell much of the vehicles, clothes and other goods they carry. Officials have alleged truck owners may be behind some of the incidents, perhaps to claim insurance fraudulently.
Earlier Sunday, Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani, said on CNN's State of the Union program that he did "not expect this blockade to continue for too long."

Asked whether the route could be opened within the next week, he said "I think it will happen in less than that duration."
U.S. officials are also predicting the route will not stay closed for long.
Analysts have said that the relationship between Pakistan and the United States is too important for both nations for this incident to derail ties.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: NATO oil tankers attacked in Pakistan - World news - South and Central Asia - Pakistan - msnbc.com

 

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