by Florian Flade
When British and Dubai security officials finally found what they were looking for after a hours-long search for two bombs hidden in packages sent via U.S. postal companies UPS and FedEx on October 28th, they were surprised to see who was listed as the addressor of the parcels.
Al-Qaeda addressed the UPS package, which was found on board a cargo plane that had just landed on East Midland Airport in Britain, to a Chicago resident named “Diego Deza”. The second mail bomb sent via FedEx from Sanaa to Chicago, was intercepted in Dubai. This time, it was addressed to “Reynaldkrak”.
Diego de Deza and Raynald Krak are not actual residents of Chicago but historical figures associated with Christian brutality against Muslims.
Deza was a Spanish Church official and Theologian, born 1444 in León. He was Archbishop of Sevilla in 1504 prior to succeeding Thomas de Torquemada as Grand Inquisitor of Andalus (Spain) in 1498. Under Deza´s rule, data says 1664 people were burned to death alive and about 32,500 other people were sentenced to torture and other forms of punishment. Most of his victims were reported to be Muslims and Jews living in Andalusia back then. Diego Deza, who sentenced accused “Secret Muslims” to torture until they confessed being followers of Islam, died in 1523 in Sevilla.
Reynald Krak is a variant of the name Raynald of Chatillon, a Crusader Knight who took part in the Second Crusade and become famous because of his attacks on Muslim caravans. He was married first to the Princess of Antioch before being captured by the Muslim army in 1159 and imprisoned in Aleppo for 17 years. In 1176, after he was released from Muslim captivity, Raynald married Stephanie, the heiress of Kerak (or Krak, in today´s Jordan) and Mont Royal.
In 1182 as a new war broke out between the Latin empire and Muslim leader Salahuddin, Raynald, who was known as “Arnat” by the Muslims, launched ships on the Red Sea, planning to attack Mecca and take the fight to the Arabian Peninsula.
In the very same year, Raynald was attacked by Salahuddin in an assault on his castle in Krak during the marriage of Raynald´s stepson Humphrey. The Crusaders defended the fortress and Salahuddin retreated. A truce was announced between King Guy of Jerusalem and the Muslim leaders, which was not respected by Raynald of Krak who tried to attack a caravan on its way from Cairo to Damascus in which Salahuddin´s sister was said to travel in.
Crusader Knight Raynald beheaded by Salahuddin
Salahuddin swore the disrespectful Crusader Warlord Raynald would die once he would fall into Muslim hands again. Indeed, in 1187, at the Battle of Hattin, Raynald as well as King Guy and other Crusader leaders were captured by the Muslims. It is said, Salahuddin ordered Raynald to come into his tent and offered him life if he becomes Muslim. The Knight refused and was then beheaded by Salahuddin himself or one of his guards.
As usual al-Qaeda did not miss the symbolism point when it sent the explosive-filled packages from Yemen to the United States. Jewish Synagogues in Obama-Town Chicago were the final destinations of the two potentially deadly packages while the names of historical Anti-Muslim “boogeymen” were carefully chosen.
“Oh enemies of Allah, await the good news of what will harm you” – al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula wrote in the claim of responsibility for the parcel bombs, released yesterday on the internet forums. The packages, al-Qaeda states, were “headed to the Jewish Zionist Temples”.
Symbolism is very important to the organization since it started global attacks on American targets and American interests. The attempted parcel bombings are just the latest examples of this Jihadi symbolism.
