Armies of Liberation

So its not just me.

(Background: al-Tharhani was the bodyguard of former presidential candidate, Faisel bin Shamlan who the regime accused of being an al-Qaeda operative on the eve of the election. He is married to Saleh’s cousin and is the son of a military commander.)

Interview with Faisel bin Shamlan by Al-Neda newspaper, 11/29/06, issue 81.

Q: Regarding the al-Tharhani case which one of the JMP leaders asked the authorities to investigate seriously…

A. The subject was handled in a slapdash manner. The investigation was rushed then delayed. It seems this case was exploited for a specific purpose. The case was used for electoral reasons. If he had any relation to the terrorists, we cant explain the regime’s silence until now.

Q: You know he has been accused of being connected to a terrorist group. A few weeks ago, al-Qaeda in Yemen stated it perpetrated the (two thwarted) terror attacks against oil facilities. Does the statement by Al-Qaeda in Yemen change your thinking about the guard (al-Tharahani)?

A. In this case, a statement has been issued but we do not know the source of it or how it was issued. I do not know if al-Qaeda really made the attack. No information has been made available about the progress of the investigation. But I think the (al-Qaeda in Yemen) statement was also deceptively issued by the authorities. The state must hold serious investigations in this case and produce reasonably convincing answers for the nation.

Copy of al-Qaeda statement to follow
Centcom:

‘Al-Qa’ida of Jihad in Yemen’ Claims Attacks Against Oil Facilities in Yemen

On 7 November, a jihadist website posted the first statement issued by “Al-Qa’ida of Jihad Organization in the Land of Yemen” in which the group claimed responsibility for attacks on oil facilities in Hadramut, Yemen. The statement was attributed to the Information Department of “Al-Qa’ida of Jihad Organization in the Land of Yemen.”

A translation of the al-Qaeda in Yemen statement follows:

“In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Statement (1)

Date–20 Ramadan 1427 [12 October 2006]

Badr of Yemen Operation

Oh God, guide our aim and keep our feet firm.

Praise be to God, Lord of all creation, and there is no enmity but against the unjust. I bear witness that there is no other deity but God alone with no associates: ‘Those who believe, fight in the Cause of Allah, and those who disbelieve, fight in the cause of Satan. So fight you against the friends of Satan. Ever feeble indeed is the plot of Satan’ [Koranic verse]. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger who said: ‘I have been sent with the sword between my hands to ensure that no one but God is worshipped, God who put my livelihood under the shadow of my spear and who inflicts humiliation and scorn on those who disobey my orders.’ May prayers and peace be upon his family and companion.

Al-Qa’ida of Jihad in Yemen brings the Muslim nation good tidings of a new dawn of jihad and martyrdom on the land of Yemen after the wheel of jihad was halted by the tribulations that inflicted the mujahidin resulting in the death of some, may God accept them as martyrs, the detention of others in the dungeons of the false Gods, homelessness, and sentencing in absentia of many while the rest either fell in the trap of the ‘improvement of conditions’ initiative and cooperated with the false God regime or persevered according the will of the Almighty.

Despite all of this, the fire of jihad in Yemen shone again. The flames of jihad might weaken but will never be extinguished. God will always send someone to elevate this religion, fight for it, and uphold its banner; He appoints those He loves and who love Him to carry out jihad for His sake. God Almighty said: ‘ O you who believe, whoever from among you turns back from his religion, Allah will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the Way of Allah, and never fear of the blame of the blamers. That is the Grace of Allah which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower’ [Koranic verse].

God blessed your brothers in al-Qa’ida of Jihad in Yemen with the execution of four martyrdom operations against oil facilities of the Crusaders and American enemy and their apostate allies. The operations were carried out at 0515 on the blessed day of Friday, 22 Sha’ban 1427, corresponding to 15 September 2006.

The following are the details of the operations:

The Amir of Martyrs, Abu Mus’ab Al-Zarqawi, God’s mercy be upon him, Operation–[These two took place] in the Crusader port of Al-Dabbah in Hadramut region.

After having surveyed and collected the necessary information about the Crusader port of Al-Dabbah, which belongs to the Canadian Nexen Petroleum Company and is located on the coast of Hadramut between the cities of Al-Shahr and Al-Al-Makla, the mujahidin prepared two booby-trapped cars to penetrate the port. Two heroes of Islam set out for this operation. The first was the leader of the group, [Abu Abdullah Al-Yamani] Shafiq Ahmed, God’s mercy be upon him. He was on the list of the 23 most wanted. The second is [Abu Riyad Al-Yamani] Hashim Khalid Al-Iraqi, God’s mercy be upon him.

After determining the time and coordinating with other groups, they set out to carry out the operation. Abu Riyad, God’s mercy be upon him, headed for the target and blew himself up at the gates creating an opening. Then the brother Shafiq, God’s mercy be upon him, drove quickly and headed for the oil tanks located at approximately two kilometers inside the port. He blew himself up and destroyed them completely. The fire went off and the sky over the port was covered with black smoke which was coming from the oil tanks. In this operation, God made the Crusaders and the apostates taste all types of punishment and terror. God said: ‘Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you to victory over them, and heal the breasts of the Believers’ [Koranic verse].

The Al-Shaykh Abu Ali Al-Harithi, God’s mercy be upon him, Operation–[These two took place] in Safir Oil refinery in Ma’rab region.

God facilitated the surveillance of the Safir refineries belonging to the American Hunt Company and the photographing of the site and collecting the necessary information as the target was the oil refinement center in the refineries. After the surveillance and thorough examination, the back gate was chosen as an entrance to the site. Following the precise outlining of the plan, two booby-trapped vehicles were prepared as two lions of the Lions of Islam rushed to this operation. The first was Abdallah al-Gharib Umar bin-Sa’d Jarallah, may God have mercy on him, the amir of the operation, and one of those on the noble list of the 23 most wanted. The second was Abu-Hamam al-Yamani Ahmad Muhammad al-Abyad, may God have mercy on him.

The brother Abu-Hamam, may God have mercy on him, headed for the back gate, stormed it, and blew [himself] up, creating an opening, destroying parts of the oil refinement center, and destroying the observation tower and the military barracks assigned to the back gate guards. The distance between the oil refinement center and the back gate did not exceed 100 meters and the distance between the back gate and the military barracks did not exceed 50 meters. In other words, the military barracks and the oil refinement center were in the area affected by the force of the explosion. He was then followed by the brother Abdallah al-Gharib, may God have mercy on him, and he completely destroyed the target. Praise be to God, first and foremost.

These operations came as directed by our leader and commander Shaykh Usama bin Ladin, may God protect him, who ordered the Muslims to target and exhaust the western economy and to stop the robbery of the looting of the Muslim resources, which the enemies of Islam use in their aggressions against the Muslims.

Let the Americans and their allies who worship the cross and their agents know that we are people who learned through wisdom and became wiser through experience. Implicit safeties never deceived us and lead us to annihilation. We avoided procrastination which is why most people reach their finality. We did not enjoy the beauty of the rhetoric, while our actions were short of delivery; therefore, we perfected our rhetoric and supported it with actions, and we will be seeking you everywhere. These operations are but the first spark; what is coming is most serious and most bitter with the permission of God.

Let them all know that our brothers’ blood is not cheap. The killing of Shaykh Abu-Mus’ab, may God bless his soul, in the Land of the Two Rivers will not pass without punishment. Everyone ought to know that the Muslim nation has one body; should any part of that body suffer, the rest of the organs will respond with fever and pain. Let the tyrant of Yemen know that the killing of Shaykh Abu-Ali-al-Harthi, God bless his soul, with US rockets will not pass without punishment.

We, when we sacrifice our dead and send them to God, must take revenge for them as the prophet did, God blessings be upon him, when he prepared Usamah’s army to avenge Zaid bin Harithah and his companions, killed by the Romans in the conquest of Mu’tah.

We call upon the tyrant of Yemen to return to God and His religion and to rule by the religious laws, refuse the democracy of America, cease the support of infidels, and antagonize the people of faith.

He must not think that he eliminated the people of monotheism and jihad because God will send those who will make the religion victorious. The tyrant must know that his rule will not last and that God supports His soldiers even if it takes some time.

We in the Al-Qa’ida Organization in Yemen present to the Muslim nation the good news of the great success of the operations in accordance with the set plan, praise and gratitude be to God, not as in the claim of the tyrants’ media that his soldiers have crushed the operations and that they had detonated the cars before they entered the targets. A good indication of their lies is that they had rushed in announcing that they had foiled the operation and then they admitted some fire inside the fuel storage areas in Al-Dibah seaport, located about two kilometers from the main gate. This means that the second car succeeded in entering into the depth of the seaport and executed [the operation] at the exact place determined for it according to the set plan.

Also, [another indication] is their strict media secrecy about the outcome of the operations which targeted the Safi refineries. This is not the first time that they enacted media secrecy about the results of operations or attempted to falsify the truth and distort the image of the mujahidin.

Now, after these blessed operations, we implore the Almighty to make them the introduction to a greater victory to Islam and Muslims and a torment to the enemies of this religion. We renew the pledge of support, listening, and obeying our leader, our commander, Shaykh Usama bin Muhammad bin Ladin, may God protect him, and say to him: Continue with blessings from God; we are you obedient soldiers. Continue to attain either victory and enabling or a martyrdom and neighborhood close to the Lord of all creation.

We pledge our promise to the Exalted Almighty that we will neither cease nor resign until this religion is elevated, Islam is well established, and the caliphate prevails all over the globe, or we die working to attain that end.

Oh Lord, we ask you to make all our deeds righteous and for your sake, and allow none of their benefits for the sake of any other than you.

God is great. ‘Glory be to God, His messenger and the believers, however the hypocrites do not know’ [Koranic verse].

May God’s peace and prayers be upon our master Muhammad, his family, and all his companions.

The Information Department

Al-Qa’ida of Jihad Organization in the Land of Yemen”