Armies of Liberation

Jane’s Note: If you are feeling tired, overloaded, apathetic, or burnt-out, this is the post for you to become reenergized, re-invigorated and focused.
John Bradley’s Note: This week Khaled bin Ouda bin Mohammed al-Harby surrendered to the Saudi authorities under a limited amnesty offer to militants. A wanted al-Qaida militant,he was incorrectly identitied by US intelligence officials in December 2001 as Ali BinSaid al-Ghamdi. However, it is still thought that Al-Harby was the individual meeting Osama Bin Laden in an infamous video recorded after the September 11 attacks, in which the two men chat and praise God for the attacks. Below is an exclusive transcript of the full conversation during that meeting.
OBL
10:59:57 [Abdullah] Azzam told me [unclear]… So I saw this as a good omen.

11:00:14 And a year or so before these attacks, our brother, Abu Hassan Al-Masri
[the Egyptian], was on, was on Al-Jazeera a few days ago saying, “If you Americans are men, come down here [on the ground].” That’s the one.

Khalid Al-Harby: Yes

11:00:44 He said: “I saw in my dream that we were playing a soccer match. Our team against the Americans in the field. But the strange thing is, I was wondering why Osama made our entire team up of pilots. Was this is a soccer match or an airplane? Why did Osama make all the players pilots? And he didn’t even know anything about the operation until he heard it on the radio. He didn’t know anything. He said the teams played and we beat them. So we saw this as a good sign.”

Khalid Al-Harby
11:01:19 God is great.

UNIDENTIFIED
11:01:22 Our brother Abdul Rahman Mughrabi got the exactly right dream.

OBL
11:01:27 What did he dream?

UNIDENTIFIED
11:01:29 He saw a plane hitting a tall building. He didn’t know anything about it
(the operation).

Khalid Al-Harby
11:01:36 God be praised.

SULEIMAN ABU GHAITH [KUWAITI SPOAKSMAN OF AL-QAEDA]
11:01:45 I was with the Sheikh [OBL] in the room, then left the room to another room that had a TV. The TV was broadcasting a major event. A scene with an Egyptian family. You know when there’s a soccer game, and one team wins, and TV covers the emotions of the people. This is an Egyptian family sitting down, the father, mother and children. The eldest son was dancing an Egyptian folk dance. Happy. And a banner was scrolling across the screen like this, saying: “To avenge the children of Al-Aqsa, Osama bin Laden carries out attacks against the Americans.”

Khalid Al-Harby
11:02:22 God is great.

SULEIMAN
11:02:25 I told the Sheikh. There were 50 or 60 people in the room. He said, “Ok, I will tell you later.”

Khalid Al-Harby: Before the event?

SULEIMAN ABU GHAITH: Yes, by God before the event

OBL
11:02:36 He didn’t know about the operation. [unclear]. He only knew there were
operations. Everyone knows there were operations.

Khalid Al-Harby: Praise be to God.

11:02:45 I explain the dream, that the Egyptian family is Mohammad Atta, may his soul rest in peace, he was the leader of the group. May his soul rest in peace.

Khalid Al-Harby: True?

Khalid Al-Harby
11:02:55 More than one person had this dream of a plane hitting a building. There was one pious man who worked in the committee {religious police}. He was in anguish. He said, “It’s as if I was sitting in a plane. Abu Sultan! Abu Sultan the enforcer (official who lashes people) of the committee! He is very tall and big.” He said “I am steadfast. I will carry you on my shoulder. Don’t worry about the trip.” For half a kilometer, he had to dragged me, oh shaikh. Drag, drag. I prayed to God that He help him. The point is, he said, “It’s as if we were on the plane.” It happened a long time ago, last year, I didn’t understand. I asked him, “What’s your problem? Find yourself a way out.” He said: “I wanted to go to the jihad, but all of the sudden we arrived in New York. Washington and New York.” I said what is this? He said, “All of the sudden, the plane hit the building.” This he said last year, and we didn’t even think about it.
OBL: God is great.

11:03:55 Glory be to God we didn’t think about it. Right after the events happened, he said, this is an amazing thing. Another man said, “I swear my wife saw this happen in her dream one week before it happened. A plane hitting a building. Naturally, glory be to God.

OBL
11:04:20 The brothers that carried this out, may God accept them, all they knew was that there is a martyrdom operation. They were asked to get visas to America and
Europe, a number of European countries, several countries. But they didn’t know even one letter about the nature of the operation. They were just trained and were not informed {about the attack} except there, a short while right before boarding, may God bless them. [unclear]. The point is that one of them [Wa’el Shihri] said: “I had a dream where I saw myself flying a plane.” And these weren’t the pilots. The pilots are over there, studying. These didn’t know those. He said: “I saw myself in a plane flaying really fast straight into a building.” The operation was for a plane to hit a building. We got used to people having dreams like that it. I just told him, “That’s a good dream. May God give
you success.” [laughter]…

OBL
11:06:57 They are the majority, {the Ghamdi’s}. He said: “I saw Ghamdis and Mukhtar.
They were in America, in a tall building. He was teaching them karate inside there” I
was afraid that the secret would get out, everyone sees a vision and starts talking. I changed the subject. I said: “If the Ghamdi family hears you, calling them Ghumaid (Ghamids), they’ll get angry with you. Next time say people of Ghamis or something like that. And I left him.

Khalid Al-Harby : By God this is like reality. It could have spilled the secret.

OBL
11:07:49 Is that right? What was your dream?

UNKNOWN –Yemeni accent.
11:07:55 I saw two planes coming, and they exploded, a huge explosion. Then I wanted to go, I was afraid we would be hit by concussions. And the shaikh {OBL} told me, wait, wait. He said “I am expecting more things to follow”.

Khalid Al-Harby : This is after the first plane?

UNKNOWN –Yemeni accent: That’s before the whole operation.

OBL
11:08:27 After the first plane, they [Al-Qaeda] were happy and thought that was it. I told them, “Wait, wait.”

Khalid Al-Harby
11:08:35 Glory be to God. So amazing. Of course, shaikh, people couldn’t believe it.
An announcement, a plane. They couldn’t believe that it was so successful [with God’s
help]. This is first. Then they wondered how the minds of these people {Americans}were paralyzed. Oh How stupid they are. 20 minutes or 18 minutes apart {between the first and second plane}.

OBL
11:08:54 Between the first and the Pentagon was one hour.

Khalid Al-Harby : One hours?

OBL: One hour yes.

UNKNOWN
11:08:59 After the Pentagon {was hit} there was a massive air and see mobilization, and that guy [President Bush] went underground to hide and the other went into hiding.

11:09:06 They became so horrified and scared, sheikh. They expected a coup d’etat and that these people [Muslims] were going to come and rule them.

UNKNOWN (NOT ZAWAHRI, AS GOVT. TRANSLATION NOTES)
11:09:58 You can benefit from Shaikh Suleiman [Abu Ghaith, Kuwaiti spox] in the media, he has good media talent…

Khalid Al-Harby
11:39:25 Their spirits are high, thank God. On the first day, they held a wake [for Majed Moqed Al-Oufi], but it seems they were prevented after that [Saudi security banned the wake house in Annakeel town in Medina region]. It seems they were prevented after that. We ask God to accept from him. We asked from a near about their conditions, and they said, “No, we’re fine, thank God.” They knew that this is a thing, a great blessing. We ask God to accept [his deed].

11:39:50 Hearts are in God’s hands. This has given people a push, given them hope. People are coming in great droves, sheikh. We thank Almighty God. Now, it’s natural, as you’ve heard, and you know better than me, they are coming out [to support], thank God. Thank God. We ask God… People are more aware. Those who had shortcomings in some aspects, now things are clear. They are clear, thank God…

11:41:19 I swear, sheikh, not only the people there, but the bedouins [in the desert],the elderly, the young, all are praying for you, praying for you. People envy you for this great act, for the prayer that has happened. I mean, it only succeeded with God’s help, in the first place. Maybe this is from the guidance of jihad, may God bless you.

Khalid Al-Harby
11:41:59 Before him, I mean, was Sheikh AlBarark. He gave a sermon after the sunset
prayers. He had a lesson but he have a sermon. The guys recorded it. They promised they would get me the tape, but I left suddenly, so it was not possible.

OBL
11:42:11 The day of the event?

Khalid Al-Harby
11:42:13 Yes, yes, at the time of the event. God be praised, right at the time of the strike on America he gave a very moving speech, Sheikh Abdullah AlBaraak. And he
deserves thanks for that. And the truth is that Sheikh Hamood, glory to God, was one
of the first to write {Fatwas in support of OBL and the attacks}. He was one of the first to write. Not only that, but he told the young men outright, of course he was inciting the young before the event – I visited him twice in Qaseem – he was saying, “You [young men] are seeking martyrdom, so go find it, go there. Go!” He always encouraged the youth to go to {jihad}. He said, “I ask God to make me a martyr after saying a word of truth before a repressive tyrant, an infidel ruler [Saudi government].” He says, “This iswhat I pray for, this is what I ask God for.” We ask God to protect him…Sheikh Suleiman Al-Alwan, glory be to God, had an excellent fatwa as well. By some miracle of God, it was broadcast on the [government-radio] Qur’an radio station. This one I heard myself, at the end. I wondered, “How such a fatwa gets aired?” That is amazing. It’s like someone decided to sacrifice his job. Naturally the director [of the station] was fired along with a lot of people. But it was aired in its entirety. The brothers heard it, and I heard the last part only. I was coming back from noon prayers. Glory be to God it was aired. He said that this is jihad, and these [victims of attacks] are not innocent. So Sheikh Suleiman Ulwan’s fatwa was aired,God bless him.

OBL
11:46:55 These events, by the blessings of God, has exposed the nature of these
nations to those who believe, and thus can see straight. [inaudible]…

11:48:04 … So those who wish to make people worship the Lord of People differently
from this {our} methodology, do not understand the path of Muhammad, peace be
upon him. Another Saying [of the Prophet]: “I was ordered to fight the people” – there is a connection, they ask why do you fight people? He {prophet Muhammad} put fighting before propagation – “until they bear witness that there is no God but God and that Muhammad is His Messenger.”

11:49:10 So these young men, may God accept their actions, Nawaf Al-Hazmi, Salem
Al-Hazmi – they did not have knowledge or fiqh in the popular terms. But they have fiqh in the tradition of Muhammad, peace be upon him, which is certainty [firm faith], which is self-sacrifice for {belief of}“No God but God” [Islam]. The sermons they gave in New York and Washington, made the whole world hear – the Arabs, the non-Arabs, the Indians, the Chinese – and are worth much more than the millions of books and cassettes and pamphlets [promoting Islam]. Maybe you have heard, but I heard it myself on the radio, and the brothers in Europe have told me, that at one of the Islamic centers in Holland, the number of those who have converted to Islam after the strikes, in the first few days after [the strikes], is greater than all of those who converted in the last 11 years.

OBL
11:50:25 I heard one person on the radio, the Voice of America, [unclear], they have
an Islamic school there. He said, “We don’t have enough time nor can we provide
enough books for all the people who are asking for books and education about Islam.” They [westerners] are saying that these people must believe in something truly great to push them to do such a thing. This will… This is [what we aspired to do? This is our program?]. And we ask God to accept our deeds.

KHALID AL-HARBY
11:51:30 I still remember a vision [dream] explained by Sheikh Saleh Shu’aibi. I swear, sheikh. He said a dream that was told to him last year, shaikh Salih. He said: There will be a huge attack, and a very major event. After that, people will head for Afghanistan in huge numbers.” I said, “To the Taliban?” He said, “To the Taliban.” I said, “Everyone will go. No one will be left, except for the hypocrites [who refuse to fight] and the crazy.”
he saw his dream a year ago.

KHALID AL-HARBY
11:52:49 Like you said, if people kept on inciting people to mobilize for decades, it would not be the same push as this event. This has clearly defined the lines, thank God.

OBL
11:53:06 (unclear) We planned and made calculations. We sat and estimated the casualties that the enemy. We figured that [the casualties would be] the number of passengers in the four planes, those will die. In regard to the towers, we assumed the [casualties] would be the number of people in the three or four floors that the planes crash into.

That was all we estimated…we knew since Thursday that it would be on Tuesday. So we had the radio on.We estimated that it’s morning over there, during work hours {in USA}, Here it was 5:30 [pm]. Dr. Ahmad Abu al-Khair and I were sitting, and I told him that if you hear the radio announcing a breaking news, you must immediately prostrate on the ground [pray in thanks to God], because it means the brothers struck. So we set the radio to London Radio [BBC] and the anchor is talking about news here and there. This, that and the other. The news program was almost done, but all of the sudden, he said we have breaking news. “A plane has hit the World Trade Center.” We said God is great and we prostrated. The brothers that were there were overjoyed.

11:55:41 A few minutes later, he said: “A second plane has hit.” [laughter] [unclear] There was some confusion, maybe you were following the news.

KHALID AL-HARBY
11:55:56 The dish [news] kept on reporting on the event till the next morning. So I looked for a rest station on the road to Jedda. I sat there for 2.5 hours.
I stayed there till 4am watching. I was hoping that they would show the hit in better way. [on TV]. People there were saying, “Allahu Akbar.” “No God but God.” We entered aplace where not many people were. I had covered my face [hiding his identity because someone like him don’t watch TV or entered such places], but thank God. So anyway, thank God.

11:56:57 I was saying to myself, “The guys over there [Afghanistan] must be
indescribably happy.” Just see our happiness here {in Saudi Arabia}. The congratulations I received by phone that day, oh my God. My mother was busy all day just taking congratulatory calls for me all day and relaying them to me. All day.
11:57:40 We ask God to bring great things to the nation in this blessed month [Ramadan]and afterward, and a strike on America that it will never recover from. This is what everyone hopes for, I swear to God. Thank God, it [America] is out of its hole…But He will destroy it at the hands of the believers, God willing,
the true believers that have been waging jihad for a quarter of a century, the steadfast.

11:58:34 I swear by the one and only God that I am living in a pleasure
and happiness that I have not felt in a long time. Everyone is. I remember the words of the Sheikh of Islam, the godly scholar [medieval Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyeh], regarding what’s going on now [the war]: “The Tartars allied themselves against us in the winter. The apostate Turks, Kurds, Arabs and others joined them. They besieged Damascus like a bracelet around the wrest in the winter.” It’s just like they besieged the Muslims at the time of the Prophet in the winter [the Arabs in Mecca who refused to convert to Islam besieged Muhammad in Medina 1,300 years ago]. History is repeating itself…The writing continued: “If God wants to bless his servant, He has him live in an era when religion is being revived, and when Muslim rites are being followed, so that he will be just like the first Muslims, the Muhajireen [emigrants] and Ansar [supporters].” Sheikh of Islam continued: “So whoever rises up at that time,” he means jihad, “will be like the early followers.” Then he concluded his piece with an amazing promise: “I swear to God that if the first, true Muslims, Muhajireen and Ansar, like Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali [the first four caliphs after Muhammad died, the Righteous Caliphs], and others, were here in our times, their greatest acts would be to make jihad against the criminal nation.” That is the exact quote: “make jihad against the criminal nation.”