[Peace-discuss] Al-Qaeda for Bush

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Randall asked about the purported Al-Qaeda group calling for Bush's
re-election.  Here's an AP account of them from the Toronto Star (which I
perhaps over-praised tonight).  --CGE]
		
Mar. 18, 2004. 07:51 AM
'The brigades of death are at your doors'
New terror threat singles out U.S. allies in Iraq


CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- The Islamic militant group that claimed
responsibility for last week's Madrid train bombings has warned that its
next targets could be Japan, Italy, Britain or Australia, an Arabic
newspaper reported today.

The London-based Al-Quds al-Arabi said on its website that it had received
a statement from "The Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri (Al Qaeda)" in which
the group reiterated its responsibility for the March 11 attacks that
killed more than 200 people and wounded more than 1,600.

"Our brigades are getting ready now for the coming strike," said the
statement dated March 15. "Whose turn will it be next? Is it Japan,
America, Italy, Britain, Saudi Arabia or Australia?"

The statement warned these countries that "the brigades of death are at
your doors," adding that they would strike "with an iron hand at the right
time and place."

The Australian and Japanese governments said Thursday they would not be
intimidated.

"Organizations like Jemaah Islamiah and Al Qaeda are not going to tell
Australia what to do," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told
reporters in Perth. In Tokyo, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Japan
would "not be swayed."

The editor of Al-Quds al-Arabi, Abdel Bari Atwan, told The Associated
Press the paper received the statement via e-mail Wednesday night. The
paper has received other e-mails from this group. On the evening of the
Madrid bombings, the paper released an e-mail from Abu Hafs al-Masri in
which they made the first claim of responsibility.

"This statement is authentic," Atwan said, adding the group had previously
claimed responsibility for last year's suicide attacks in Istanbul,
Turkey, and on the UN headquarters in Iraq.

The United States believes the Abu Hafs group lacks credibility and has
only tenuous ties to al-Qaida. In the past, the group has claimed
responsibility for events to which they were not connected — such as
last summer's blackouts in North America and Britain.

Spanish authorities suspect an Al Qaeda-linked cell carried out the
bombings. Moroccan authorities have said the emerging evidence in the
Madrid attacks points toward Ansar al-Islam, a guerrilla group blamed for
terrorist strikes in Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Morocco. Other groups
believed to be involved in the bombings are Salafia Jihadia and Moroccan
Islamic Combatant Group.

In its statement, Abu Hafs al-Masri said it was calling a truce in Spain
to give the socialist government that was elected Sunday, three days after
the train attacks, time to carry out its pledge to withdraw troops from
Iraq.

The group appeared to boast it had the power to change governments. The
socialists, who have long opposed Spain's military involvement in Iraq,
were running second in Spanish opinion polls until Thursday's bombings.

"We change and destroy countries," the statement said. "We even influence
the international economy, and this is God's blessing to us. We won't
accept to be an object in this world, but a player, a strong player —
with God's will."

The statement tells American voters that Abu Hafs al-Masri supports the
re-election campaign of U.S. President George W. Bush: ``We are very keen
that Bush does not lose the upcoming elections."

Addressing Bush, it says: "We know that a heavyweight operation would
destroy your government, and this is what we don't want. We are not going
to find a bigger idiot than you."

The statement said Abu Hafs al-Masri needs what it called Bush's ``idiocy
and religious fanaticism" because they would "wake up" the Islamic world.

Comparing Bush with his Democratic party challenger, John Kerry, the
statement tells the president: "Actually, there is no difference between
you and Kerry, but Kerry will kill our community, while it is unaware,
because he and the Democrats have the cunning to embellish infidelity and
present it to the Arab and Islamic community as civilization."

The group also reiterated its claim of responsibility for the bombing of
the UN headquarters in Baghdad last August which killed 22 people,
including the world body's chief envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

The statement described the United Nations as "America's tail."

"The United Nations (against Islam) is a branch of the American Foreign
Ministry," it said.

"The crimes of the United Nations against Islam are countless. The way to
get rid of that humiliation is through holy war that will continue until
doomsday," the statement said.

Parts of the statement were released Wednesday night by the editor of
another London-based Arabic newspaper, Al Hayat. The editor read parts of
the statement to The Associated Press in Cairo.

The Spanish legislator Gustavo de Aristegui, spokesman for the Popular
Party that was defeated in the elections, has cast doubt on Abu Hafs
al-Masri's claims.

"They are not capable of committing these attacks, much less of declaring
a truce," he told The Associated Press in Madrid.

A telephone salesman from Morocco, Jamal Zougam, is emerging as the key
suspect in the Madrid bombings. He was arrested two days after the
attacks.

Spanish police have been interrogating two other Moroccans, including
Zougam's half-brother, and two Indian men.


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