Al-Qaida commander criticizes Hamas for abandoning Jihad - Haaretz

Subscribe to Print Edition

Mon., September 10, 2007 Elul 27, 5767

Israel Time: 22:15 (EST+7)

web haaretz.com

Back to Homepage

Print Edition

Diplomacy

Defense

Arts & Leisure

Real Estate

Jewish World

National

Advertising

Magazine

Week's End

Business

Opinion

Rosner's Domain

Anglo File

Books

Travel

del.icio.us

Digg It! new

Last update - 05:21 10/09/2007

Al-Qaida commander criticizes Hamas for abandoning Jihad

By The Associated Press

An al-Qaida commander who escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan criticized Hamas in a new videotape Sunday and other Islamic groups that he said prioritized nationalism and electoral politics over Jihad, or holy war.

Hamas is largely focused on the creation of an independent Palestinian state rather than al-Qaida's vision of a worldwide Muslim community ruled by Islamic law.

Like Al-Qaida, the Palestinian movement advocates violence to achieve its goal, but has also participated in elections.

	Advertisement

"We caution some of the Islamic groups, among them Hamas, which are risking the bloods of their sons ... to cleanse and purify their Jihad of contemporary Jihadi pollutants and of the terms which Satan made to appear pretty to them," said Abu Yahia al-Libi in the hour and a half-long videotape.

"Patriotism, nationalism, shared unity, the supreme interest and other slogans ... none of these have any space in the religion of Allah the Glorious and the Great," he said, criticizing groups like Hamas for abandoning Jihad and jumping into the ballot boxes.

The authenticity of the videotape could not be verified, but it was released on a Web site commonly used by Islamic militants and carried the logo of Al-Sahab, Al-Qaida's media arm.

Sunday's release came only days after Osama Bin Laden released his first new video in almost three years, lecturing Americans on the failure of their leaders to stop the war in Iraq.

Al-Libi, wearing a white traditional Arab robe and a black turban, also ridiculed the U.S. for its troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming the country's power and prestige was in decline.

"America, which is one of the major evil spirits of the age, was only a few years ago bragging about its power and boasting of its army and materiel, at a time when everyone was subordinate to it and submissive to its resolutions," said al-Libi, whose nom de guerre means the Libyan in Arabic.

"But today, where is America? Where is the vanity and arrogance of the American army and its policymakers? he added. And moreover, where is the value of the American soldier, whose killing used to make headlines in all the media, but who today is dragged in the streets of Baghdad, hung on the bridges of Fallujah, rolled on the rocks of Afghanistan and burned to coals in the middle of its capital, Kabul."

Al-Libi praised the resurgence of Taliban militants in Afghanistan, who have made a comeback following a U.S.-led invasion in 2001 that ousted them from power.

"The first year after the fall of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan ... was a year of despair and depression for everyone except those whom Allah steadied with the light of conviction, power of faith and confidence in Allah's promise," said al-Libi.

"As for today - and the credit is Allah's alone - the Mujahideen have become the pursuers, not the pursued, and for the most part, the strikers, not the struck," he added.

Since his escape in 2005, al-Libi is believed by Western and Afghan intelligence to have run training camps for suicide bombers and fighters in eastern Afghanistan along the border with Pakistan. Afghan police said at the time of his escape that his real name is Abulbakar Mohammed Hassan and that he is a Libyan.

Bookmark to del.icio.us


	Stops in wine country
	Summer is the right time to visit the wine routes that have developed in Israel recently.


	Suits, not stories
	Italy's uber-designer has come up with a soft, but not surprising, line for winter.




1.	Hamas, clean up your trash!	08:43	\|	Ryan	10/09/07

2.	Tell that to the Zionists of Talkback	09:48	\|	Clickfool	10/09/07

3.	Hard to believe!!!	10:54	\|	Willy	10/09/07

4.	Sure it`s a homeland	10:59	\|	Margie in Tel Aviv	10/09/07

5.	Clickfool you are mistaken	11:17	\|	Peter Oelbaum	10/09/07

6.	THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO IS LIKE A CHILD PLAY	11:19	\|	indrajaya	10/09/07

7.	#2clikky and more zionists under his bed	12:07	\|	victor hardman	10/09/07

8.	#2 zionizt and proud	13:02	\|	Rab Burns	10/09/07

9.	Hamas-Al Queda Falling out	13:35	\|	Slibovitz	10/09/07

10.	To Indrajaya	13:38	\|	Uri	10/09/07

11.	# 10, URI	13:59	\|	indrajaya	10/09/07

12.	5.Poeter Oelbaum&Clickfool,Hamas has distanced itself from AlQaid	14:29	\|	lakshmi	10/09/07

13.	To Indrajaya	15:00	\|	Uri	10/09/07

14.	To Indrajaya, 2	15:10	\|	Uri	10/09/07

15.	#6 indrajaya	15:26	\|	Grace	10/09/07

16.	CLICKFOOL, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?	16:03	\|	gabriel	10/09/07

17.	Happy for Israels assistance	22:00	\|	Lisen	10/09/07

Today Online


	Avraham Burg: Muslims as the Jews of the 21st Century
	Responses: 106


	Syria: IAF planes dropped live ammunition in flyover
	Responses: 168


	Citing Holocaust, Shas ministers to boycott German cars
	Responses: 61


	Suspected Israeli neo-Nazis remanded; indictments expected
	Responses: 84


	Haaretz.com TV: Intermarriage: U.S. love affair with Jews?
	Responses: 35

Rosner's Domain

* Jewish renaissance? Rabbis are more skeptical

* WTR: Young Jews and Israel: Party doesn't matter

* New Poll: Will the next year be better for Israel?

* Rosner's Guest: Author of Sex, God, Christmas & Jews

More Headlines
21:02 Damascus: IAF planes dropped live ammunition on Syria during flyover


20:41 Olmert tells Abbas he will back prisoner release ahead of Ramadan


21:30 State Prosecutor calls for two new criminal probes into PM


21:05 2006 report: Israel's population 7.2 million, growing slowly


19:32 Knesset Finance Cmte. freezes former president Katsav's perks


22:01 PMO Counter-Terrorism Bureau warns Israelis not to travel to Colombia


16:44 Dichter calls captured Hamas chief 'bargaining chip' for Shalit


21:44 Gen. Petraeus: U.S. may significantly reduce forces in Iraq by mid 2008


20:49 Committee for Ex-Muslims to be launched in the Netherlands on Tuesday