Toulouse Gunman Sent Videos of Killings To Al-Jazeera

by Florian Flade

He said he uploaded videos onto the Internet for the public to see his killings. He said he recorded the brutal acts of killing three French soldiers, three Jewish children and a teacher. After a French special police force killed the Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah after a 33-hour stand-off in his apartment, the police found the killer´s camera on the videos he was talking about.

What they did not know was that Merah apparently had already started to spread the footage. Today the Paris bureau of TV-Channel Al-Jazeera has received a letter containing a USB stick. On the memory device Al-Jazeera staff discovered video of shocking content.

The footage was that of Mohamed Merah, the video sequence that he recorded when he shot and killed his victims. Unconfirmed reports say the material contains a montage of videos accompanied by various Islamic songs and reading from the Quran.

French police was informed by Al-Jazeera about the letter. The investigators confirmed the authenticity of the video footage. Apparently the letter and the gruesome video was sent from a village in Southern France on Thursday or early Wednesday as it was bearing a post stamp of March 21.

On that day the siege of the Toulouse aparment of Merah was ongoing (it started in the night from Thursday to Wednesday). This is why French police believes it was Mohamed Merah or his brother Abdelkader who sent the material to Al-Jazeera.

Still unclear is wether or not Mohamed Merah was able to upload the footage onto Youtube or any other website. Till today no video has surfaced which of course does not mean it may not be in the hands of Jihadi activists in Europe or outside.

Meanwhile French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a radio interview Mohamed Merah has probably never trained in a Al-Qaida camp in Pakistan or Afghanistan. He also had no known links to terrorist organizations, Sarkozy said. Merah appears to be a self-radicalized Muslim who apparently traveled alot.

Before Merah traveled to Tajikistan and then crossed into Afghanistan in November 2010 he had made a journey to Jordan and entered Israel. During questioning by the Israeli „Shin Bet“ intelligence agency Merah said he was on a holiday trip – and was allowed to continue his traveling. In his passport police found stamps proving Merah´s travel activities  – Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Afghanistan, Pakistan.

„I Renounce My German Passport“ – Letter by German Jihadi Widow „Ummu Safiyya“

by Florian Flade

Two years ago her husband died fighting the Pakistani military in the tribal region of Waziristan, now she calls upon German Muslim women to join the Jihad in Pakistan – „Ummu Safiyya“ the German widow of Jihadi Javad S. „Abu Safiyya“).

In a new letter signed by the Jihadi widow, Luisa S. from Bonn claims that she and the women and children of the „Islamic Movement Uzbekistan“ (IMU) are doing well and all fine. She explains that returning to Germany is not an option and that the role of the women in Jihad is an important one fulfilled in the villages of Waziristan also by the foreign Mujahidin wives.

„At first I want to say the following about the rumours that I became a shaheeda (female martyr)“, Luisa S. begins her letter, „Unfortunately Allah did not present me with this gift.“

Very often IMU receives letters from women, Luisa S. writes, in which the women ask wether or not it is risky and dangerous for women and their families to join the Jihad and travel to a country like Pakistan.

„Twenty years ago the first members of IMU migrated from Uzbekistan to Tajikistan. The journey went on to Afghanistan and Pakistan. In these 20 years more than 500 men became martyrs but only two women died. The first woman died two years ago in a car crash, the other one only recently from a liver desease that she suffered from even before she came to Pakistan.“

„What is worse than living unarmed, humiliated and abused amidst the enemies of Islam and under these infidel laws with your children?“, Luisa S. asks, „When you are living in Germany as a devout Muslim, you are put under their infidel legislative, executive and judiciary. You pay the tax to the enemies of Islam. A percentage of the taxes goes to the Jews. You buy the products and a part of your payment will be invested in the war against Muslims (…) Your neighbors and colleagues are kuffar.“

„We women live far away from the places where the war is taking place, we live in the conquered and secured areas of the Mujahidin. We spend our time to fulfill our Islamic duties, we seek getting closer to Allah and educate our children and Allah willing the future Mujahidin.“

„I have renounced from our laws, our democratic system and from my German passport“, the letter by the German Jihadi widow reads, „I follow my Prophet Muhammad and call the Taliban and all Muslims wordwide my brothers and sisters. Unity, Law and Freedom (German „Einigkeit, Recht und Freiheit“) I did not find at your place, because Unity, Law and Freedom do exist in the true religion of Allah only.“

Luisa S., converted to Islam several years ago and married a German-Afghan named Javad. The couple left Germany with their baby daughter Safiyya in Spring 2009 and traveled to Egypt first before making the journey to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region where they joined the IMU.

Javad S.  akas „Abu Safiyya“ was the first German IMU member to die fighting in Afghanistan when he was shot by Pakistani troops in September 2009. IMU praised the Islamist from Bonn as a martyr in a propaganda tape shortly after Javad S.´s death. In the video widow Luisa S. appears all covered in black, speaking about the virtue of martyrdom and her commitment to Jihad.

German intelligence officials know that Luisa S. is alive, still living in the Waziristan region alongside other German and Uzbek women. It is believed she again married another German Jihadi militant shortly after the death of her first husband.

From Osama with Love – Bin Laden´s Letter to Germany

by Florian Flade

„Treasure trove“ – that´s the word used by US intelligence officials to describe what the Navy SEALs Team found inside Osama Bin Laden´s compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad during their nighttime operation. After the American soldiers shot and killed the Al-Qaida leader and several other people inside the hideout, they went room to room seizing highly valuable material. More than 2,7 terabytes of files and data were obtained by the US, some of which was old propaganda recorded years ago.

The most interesting part of all the obtained documents were Bin Laden´s handwritten letters and speeches. It took the CIA months to analyze the Abbottabad material. Was there any unknown terror plot Al-Qaida was about to carry out soon? What was Bin Laden´s role in past terrorist operations? Was he a chief planner and knew of all the plots by his network?

It seems like the CIA decided to hand some of the material to their European partners – giving them documents which would be of interest to them. Documents in which the Al-Qaida leader talks about Europe. Two of these documents are especially interesting for German counter-terrorism officials.

During the Abbottabad raid the US obtained a strategy paper written by Al-Qaida´s alleged „Foreign Minister“, Sheikh Younis Mohammed al-Mauretani. In this document sent to Bin Laden, Al-Mauretani outlines the plans of a Europe-Plot, describing attacks on European economic targets and thereby harming Western economy in general. Al-Mauretani lists numerous countries which should be attacked by Al-Qaida – one of them is Germany.

The existence of this strategy paper of a Jihad against European economy – which is confirmed by German counter-terrorism officials – seems to underline the claims of two German Jihadi terrorists which were arrested in 2010. Rami Makanesi of Frankfurt and Ahmed Wali Siddiqi of Hamburg, both of whom had traveled to Pakistani tribal areas of Waziristan in 2009 to receive terrorist training, spoke about a Al-Qaida plot led by Al-Mauretani.

According to Makanesi and Siddiqi Sheikh al-Mauretani was traveling around the Waziristan villages in summer 2009 to recruit European Jihadis for a big operation. „What we are planning, not even the devil has in mind“, al-Mauretani allegedly told the German Jihadis. Bin Laden himself was instructed by al-Mauretani about the plot and had already approved it, promising the necessary financial support.

Makanesi´s and Siddiqi´s assertions were in part the reason why German authorities raised the terrorist threat level in November 2010. Interior Ministry released a statement saying the threat of a terrorist attack is imminent.

The fact that US troops indeed found a plot description by Al-Mauretani in Bin Laden´s house in Abbottabad now confirms the Al-Qaida leader´s involvement in the planning of a large-scale attack in several European countries including Germany.

Another document found in Abbottabad is even more worrying. According to my information a handwritten letter by Osama Bin Laden was found which could prove a direct link between the Al-Qaida leader and a terrorist cell based in Germany. In this letter Bin Laden writes about brothers stationed in Europa – naming Abdeladim el-K..

El-K., a 29 year-old Moroccan national, was arrested in Germany on April 29th, a few days before Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan. He is suspected of being the head of the so-called „Düsseldorf-Zelle“, a three-men group of Jihadi terrorists planning to carry out attacks in Germany. El-K. who lived and studied in Germany had traveled to Waziristan in early 2010 and received training at a Al-Qaida camp where he came in contact with Sheikh Younis al-Mauretani.

Back in Germany El-K. recruited fellow Moroccan Jamil S. and German-Iranian Amid C.. The three men formed an Al-Qaida cell which was tasked by Al-Qaida´s commander Atiyattullah al-Libi to strike Germany. El-K. tried to contact Atiyattullah via the internet in the months leading to his arrest – but he was not able to reach the Waziristan-based terrorist.

Since November 2010 German counter-terrorism officials were hunting for a „Moroccan cell“ in Germany. German Jihadi terrorist Emrah E. living in Waziristan had called German police in October and told them he wants to surrender. He also spoke about Al-Qaida´s plans to attack the country. He said he knew of a Moroccan cell already in Germany, ready to strike even the parliament building in Berlin.

Finally, earlier this year and with the help of Moroccan and American intelligence, authorities were able to identity Abdeladim el-K. as a potential terrorist cell leader. They began monitoring him. When El-K. was visiting several internet cafés in one day, acting very carefully, they decided to wiretap his phones and infiltrate his computers.

In April El-K. and his Jihadi colleagues talked about a plan to build bombs, discussing the possible targets. German police intervened. On April 29 El-K., Jamil S. and Amid C. were arrested.

Question now is: Why did Bin Laden mention the „Düsseldorf-Cell“ leader by name in a letter written in his Abbottabad hideout? Only logical explanation is that Osama Bin Laden knew about the people his commanders had recruited and trained in Waziristan. He must have known about Europe based cells and was even informed about the men´s names.

A copy of the Bin Laden letter was allegedly given to European intelligence agencies to identify other possible Al-Qaida terrorists living in Western Europe. German police would not confirm or deny the existence of such a letter mentioning Abdeladim el-K..

All in all, the Abbottabad treasure trove links the bits and pieces of a terror plot a few captured Jihadis and phone calls shed light on in 2010 and shows how much the Al-Qaida leadership was involved in the future terrorist campaigns.