Armies of Liberation

I bumped this post, again, not because there’s any startling information, but because its irksome to go look for it every time I have an update.

10/11/10 News Yemen reports his tribe is demanding his body from Pakistan and the release of al Quso’s nephew and brother from Yemeni prison, while local sources insist Fahd is still in Yemen, a sum zero update: “On the other hand, demanded that the tribes, “al-Abdullah bin Dhp” one of the tribes of plankton, which belongs to Fahad bowl prepared by U.S. intelligence third man the world’s most wanted list for the Federal Bureau of Investigation “FBI”, against the backdrop of the bombing of a devastating American “USS Cole” in the Gulf of Aden in 2000, killing 17 U.S. sailors, called on the Yemeni authorities to do their job and communicate with the Pakistani authorities to receive the body of her son, Fahd Bowl, as one of its nationals, and handed over to his family and his family so they can bury his body in his hometown of Valley refused to Directorate level.”

10/10/10 Fahd al Quso, the convicted USS Cole bomber freed in 2007 by Yemeni authorities, three years into his ten year sentence, was earlier reported killed by a US air strike in Pakistan on September 8. Its not yet Hammer Time but two new reports indicate Fahd indeed has left the Yemen. The Yemeni local paper, Al Watan, reports that according to available information Fahd’s not in Shabwa. Maybe they are just restating the known facts and calling it an al Qaeda summit. Secondly LWJ’s US intel sources say that Fahd had indeed relocated to Pakistan. Whether he is dead or not is still unclear, but the earlier reports that he was killed on September 8 are looking more possible based on these indications that he was likely there in Pakistan. Raising the question, as al Watan notes, is al Awlaki there as well? Anwar and Fahd are from the same tribe and district. One of the US air strikes in Yemen in late December supposedly targeted Fahd’s farm where Awlaki was. Furthermore, the presence of al Quso in Pakistan, dead or alive, changes the complexion of the Yemeni conundrum significantly. Jamal Al Badawi update: he was promised to be released during this Ramadan and that’s why he began the hunger strike, according to his family.

1) LWJ: “As with Atiyah, US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal could not confirm Quso’s death. They did confirm Quso’s presence in northern Pakistan.”

2) The Yemeni paper al Watan “reinforces the news” that Yemeni al Quso was killed in Waziristan was after a “summit” to “Al Qaeda”. The article says according to available information this is the first time al Quso left Yemen since 2004. The article also raises the question of Anwar al Awlaki’s involvement in the summit.

10/10 LWJ US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal did confirm, however, that two important al Qaeda operatives have relocated to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of northern Pakistan…The second is Fahd Mohammad Ahmed al Quso, who is wanted for his involvement in the Oct. 12, 2000, bombing of the USS Cole. Quso was reportedly killed in an airstrike in northern Pakistan in September, but US intelligence officials have not been able to confirm that Quso is really dead… As with Atiyah, US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal could not confirm Quso’s death. They did confirm Quso’s presence in northern Pakistan.

al Watan “reinforces the news”

Yemeni killed Bowl Waziristan was after a “summit” to “Al Qaeda” (ed- al Quso translates at the bowl in google)

الأحد, 10-أكتوبر-2010 Sunday, 10 – Oct -2010
( الوطن ) – عززت أنباء مصرع المطلوب اليمني فهد محمد أحمد القصع ضمن عدد كبير من قياديي “القاعدة” قتلوا في هجمات مختلفة شنتها مؤخرا طائرات أميركية بلا طيّار ضد أهداف في ولاية وزيرستان الشمالية، في الإقليم القبلي الباكستاني، عززت من معلومات مفادها ان تلك العمليات تمت بعدما شارك ما يعتقد بأنهم “قادة الجيل الجديد” في “قمة” لتنسيق العمل بين قيادة “القاعدة” ووكالاتها حول العالم، والتحضير على ما يبدو لهجمات منسقة لاهداف عربية وغربية. (Home) – reinforced news death required Yemeni Fahd Mohammed Ahmed bowl in a large number of leaders of “Al Qaeda” were killed in various attacks launched by the recent U.S. aircraft drones against targets in the state of North Waziristan, the tribal region of Pakistan, enhanced information to the effect that such operations After playing what was believed to be “leaders of the new generation” in a “summit” to coordinate the work between the leadership of “Al Qaeda” and its agencies around the world, and preparing what appeared to be coordinated attacks to Arab and Western targets.

وهذه المرة الأولى منذ العام 2004 يُكشف فيها عن “قمة” لقادة “القاعدة”، في مؤشر يُفسّر على ما يبدو سبب تصعيد الأميركيين هجماتهم المكثّفة غير المسبوقة بهذا الشكل على وزيرستان. This is the first time since 2004, reveals about a “summit” of the leaders of “Al Qaeda”, in a sign explains the apparent reason for the escalation of U.S. attacks intensified in this way is unprecedented to Waziristan.

وبحسب المعلومات المتوافرة، فإن الضربة الأميركية الأكثر إيلاماً وقعت في الثامن من (سبتمبر) وقُتل فيها فهد محمد أحمد القصع (35 عاماً)، القيادي اليمني في فرع “القاعدة في جزيرة العرب” والموضوع على قائمة أبرز المطلوبين للولايات المتحدة بسبب دوره المزعوم في عملية تفجير المدمرة “يو أس أس كول” العام 2000 في ميناء عدن وعلاقته باثنين من الذين شاركوا في هجمات 11 أيلول (سبتمبر) 2001 ضد نيويورك وواشنطن. According to available information, the strike America’s most painful and occurred in the eighth of the (September), which killed Fahd Mohammed Ahmed Bowl (35 years), a leader in the Yemeni branch of “Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula” and subject to the list of most wanted of the United States for his alleged role in the bombing of destroyer “USS Cole” in 2000 in the port of Aden and its relationship with two of those who participated in the attacks of September 11 (September 2001) against the New York and Washington.

وهذه المرة الأولى التي يُكشف فيها أن القصع ليس موجوداً في اليمن وتحديدا في منطقة رفض بمحافظة شبوة كما كان دارج ، بل في وزيرستان. This is the first time that the bowl is not present in Yemen, particularly in the area refused to Shabwa province as it was commonly, but in Waziristan. ما أثار شكوكا طارئة في إمكان تواجد مطلوبين بارزين من عناصر التنظيم في اليمن بباكستان وعلى رأسهم الشيخ اليمني الامريكي أنور العولقي المتهم الرئيسي بالتدبير لتفجير طائرة ركاب أميركية فوق سماء أمستردام. Raised doubts in the possibility of an emergency Last wanted prominent elements of the organization in Yemen, Pakistan and Yemen on the U.S., headed by Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki the main suspect of masterminding the bombing of an American passenger plane over the sky of Amsterdam.

ويبدو أن القصع قُتل في العملية ذاتها التي أسفرت عن مقتل القيادي في “القاعدة” الشيخ فاتح المصري (الشيخ عبد الرزاق) في منطقة داتا خيل القريبة من ميران شاه كبرى مدن شمال وزيرستان. It seems that the bowl was killed in the same operation that killed leader of “Al Qaeda” Light Egyptian Sheikh (Sheikh Abdul Razzaq) in the Datta Khel area, near Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan.

وأوقعت الضربات ذاتها السعودي سعد محمد الشهري الذي يحمل الرقم 34 على قائمة من 36 مطلوبا لدى السلطات السعودية بتهمة الارهاب والانتماء لتنظيم القاعدة والذي يوجد شقيق آخر له يدعى عبدالمجيد وينتسب الى صفوف القاعدة في اليمن ، بالاضافة الى قتيلاً اوقعته الضربة ذاتها وهو بريطاني من أصل باكستاني هو عبد الجبّار الذي التحق بـ “القاعدة” مع شقيقه في (مايو) 2009. And caused strikes the same Saudi SMA monthly with the number 34, a list of 36 wanted by Saudi authorities on charges of terrorism and belonging to al Qaeda and that there is another brother named Abdul Majeed and belongs to the ranks of al-Qaeda in Yemen, as well as people threw him a strike itself, a Briton of Pakistani origin, is Abdul-Jabbar, who joined the “base” with his brother in the (May) 2009.

ويُعتقد أن عبد الجبّار كان سيتسلم مسؤولية إنشاء خلية للتنظيم في بريطانيا أو التحضير لهجوم يستهدف هذا البلد. It is believed that Abdul-Jabbar was the establishment of a cell takes over the responsibility for the organization in Britain or preparing for the attack on this country.

وتكشف المعلومات المتوافرة أيضاً عن الغارات الأميركية في وزيرستان أنها قتلت على ما يبدو قيادياً في “القاعدة” يدعى يونس الموريتاني الذي التحق بقيادة التنظيم في وزيرستان بعدما كان ينشط في إطار فرعها في “المغرب الإسلامي”. And also reveal the information available for U.S. raids in Waziristan have killed apparently a leading role in “Al Qaeda” is named Younis Mauritanian who joined under the leadership of the organization in Waziristan, after he was active in the framework of its branch in the “Islamic Maghreb.”

10/8 Fatah al Misiri is dead according to Asia Times Bureau Chief, Syed Saleem Shahzad, who usually has a handle on these things. Al Misri was supposedly killed the same day (but not necessarily the same place) as al Quso, September 8 along with the Brit, Abdul Jabbar, according to the original reporting. In an article today about the death this week of Mohammed Usman, Mr. Shahzad writes in the Asia Times, : In the al-Qaeda camp, however, Usman has been described as “irreplaceable”, his death on a scale of the killings of Mustafa Abu al-Yazid and Shiekh Fateh al-Misri. Misri in May replaced Yazid, who was also killed in a drone attack in the North Waziristan tribal area, as al-Qaeda’s chief commander in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Misri perished in a drone strike this month…The strike that killed Usman had apparently targeted high-profile Arabs, Uzbeks and Europeans in North Waziristan – American intelligence was unaware that he was in the area; he was collateral damage.

10/7 update: Guardian: Today, in a separate development, a senior Pakistani official told the Guardian that the Americans attacked the site near Miranshah after acting on information supplied by the Pakistani authorities. “Pakistani intelligence informed the British of the presence of this man (Jabbar) in the tribal areas. So that’s how they unearthed the plot,” the senior official said. “The British tipped off the Americans and they launched the attack. So they owe us some gratitude for this at least,” he added. The senior official said he believed the Americans acted in this case once again without first consulting their Nato allies.

10/7 update: Afghanistan Blogs.com:

Jihadist website: One of Hamburg terror group killed in drone strike
A jihadist from Hamburg suspected of being part of an al Qaeda plot against Europe was killed by a drone strike in northwest Pakistan this week, according to a statement Thursday on a Turkish-language jihadist website. The website said a fighter named Abu Askar al-Almani and three other Jihadists had been “martyred” by the missile strike against a base in Waziristan, where German and Tajik fighters were living. German officials say al-Almani is the nom de guerre of Shahab Dashti, an Iranian-German who left Hamburg, Germany, with 10 other suspected militants in the spring of 2009.

Earlier this week, Pakistani officials told CNN that a drone strike Monday near Mir Ali in North Waziristan killed five German militants. They were alleged to be part of an Al Qaeda plot to target European cities with attacks styled after the one on Mumbai, India, in 2008.

10/6 update:

Telegraph: Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso, 35, allegedly met two of the September 11 hijackers and was said to be involved in the bombing of the USS Cole. He was thought to be with the radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen but reports from Pakistan suggested he had been killed there.

Another senior al-Qaeda commander Sheikh Fateh al-Masri, also known as Abdul Razzaq, was also reported killed in the drone attack in Datta Khel, near Miranshah in North Waziristan. A Briton, named as Abdul Jabber, who had joined al-Qaeda with his brother, was also reported killed in the attack on September 8.

Original: How did he get out of Yemen? I want DNA confirmation. Color me dubious but here’s the report. For the record, al Quso indeed escaped in 2003, was captured in 2004, sentenced to 10 years in the USS Cole bombing, granted early release by Yemeni authorities in 2007, and by 2009 was on the FBI most wanted list. He gave an interview from Yemen to al Jazeera in December 2009, after the airstrike targeted his farm. In May 2010, al Quso issued an al Qaeda video threatening the US. Al Quso is one of the last standing of those who attended the al Qaeda Malaysia summit in 2000. Fahd was thought to be in Shabwa with Anwar al Awlaki. Time will tell. The announcement could be a ruse to take the heat off him (and Yemen) prior to the 10 year anniversary next week, but then they wouldn’t say he died in Pakistan, except maybe for the lack of a body for Yemen’s amazing DNA lab. So far its one article quoting an unnamed Pakistani official. Could be anything at this point.

Update: This one: Sep 8: US drones launched four separate attacks in 24 hours on three compounds and a vehicle in North Waziristan. According to anonymous Pakistani intelligence officials, 24 suspected Islamist insurgents died.

Islamabad – A key al-Qaeda member wanted for the 2000 bombing of a US Navy destroyer in Yemen was killed in a US missile attack in Pakistan, intelligence officials said Monday.

The US attack took place on September 8 in North Waziristan, Pakistan’s tribal region along the Afghan border, and four suspected militants were killed.

Among them was Fahd Mohammad Ahmed al-Quso, a Yemeni with a 5- million-dollar bounty for his alleged involvement in the October 12, 2000, bombing of the USS Cole in Aden in which 17 American sailors died.

“Three missiles hit the car in which the militants were traveling in Anbar Shaga area of Data Khel area of North Waziristan on September 8 at around 1 pm,” said a local intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Quso, believed to be about 46 years, escaped from a Yemeni prison in April 2003 and is on the most-wanted terrorist list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The second alleged al-Qaeda member killed was identified as Younas Moritani. According to Pakistani intelligence, he was wanted by US law enforcement for targeting Washington’s interests in many countries and killings US nationals.

On a related note, Jamal al Badawi is supposedly on a hunger strike in prison, demanding to be released.

History on the Hamburg cell from History Commons and other updates below:

Ramzi bin al-Shibh – Investigators believe he wanted to be the twentieth hijacker. His presence at the summit may not have been realized until after 9/11, despite the fact that US intelligence had a picture of him next to bin Attash, and had video footage of him. [Newsweek, 11/26/2001; Washington Post, 7/14/2002; Time, 9/15/2002; Die Zeit (Hamburg), 10/1/2002; CNN, 11/7/2002] German police have credit card receipts indicating bin al-Shibh is in Malaysia at the same time. [Los Angeles Times, 9/1/2002] Ulrich Kersten, director of Germany’s federal anticrime agency, the Bundeskriminalamt, will later say, “There are indications that Ramzi bin al-Shibh was in Kuala Lumpur for the meeting.” [New York Times, 8/24/2002] Another account noting he was photographed at the summit further notes that he entered and left Thailand three times in the first three weeks of January 2000. [Los Angeles Times, 10/17/2001] Anonymous Malaysian officials claim he is there, but US officials deny it. [Associated Press, 9/20/2002] One account says he is recognized at the time of the summit, which makes it hard to understand why he is not tracked back to Germany and the Hamburg cell with Mohamed Atta and other hijackers. [Der Spiegel (Hamburg), 10/1/2002] Another opportunity to expose the 9/11 plot through bin al-Shibh’s presence at this summit will be missed in June. It appears bin al-Shibh and Almihdhar are directly involved in the attack on the USS Cole in October 2000 (see Around September 15-16 and October 10-21, 2000).

Same link: Attendees of the Malaysian summit. Top row, from left: Nawaf Alhazmi, Khalid Almihdhar, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Middle row, from left: Khallad bin Attash, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, Hambali. Bottom row, from left: Yazid Sufaat, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Fahad Al-Quso.

Update 10/6 Terror experts doubltful. Forbes

Is Fahd al Quso dead? According to a Deutsche Presse-Agentur report, the Yemeni terrorist – who is on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list for his role in al Qaeda’s October 12, 2000, bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 U.S. sailors – was recently killed by a U.S. missile in Pakistan. Terrorism experts, however, doubt the report, and it’s more likely that Quso is still operational in Yemen. If Quso is alive, it’s high time that he faces swift U.S. justice.

Indeed the U.S. needs to turn its assassination focus in Yemen from Anwar al-Awlaki – an al Qaeda propagandist and recruiter with (at least indirectly) U.S. blood on his hands – to Quso and his boss in the Cole bombing, Jamal al-Badawi. Despite both confessing their roles, and being convicted in Yemen in 2002, the two have been in and out of jail – making a mockery of justice.