A wanted US member of al-Qaeda warned in a new video on Sunday that US diplomatic missions and other interests were "legitimate targets," vowing that the network would attack these "spy dens."
In the footage compiled by al-Qaeda's production arm As-Sahab, an unnamed narrator singled out US missions in oil-rich Gulf Arab states as potential targets.
"We shall continue to target you at home and abroad just as you target us at home and abroad," Adam Gadahn, an American convert to Islam who has been indicted for treason in the US, said in the video.
PHOTO: AP
The video was posted on LauraMansfield.com, an US Web site which monitors terrorist groups.
Ben Venzke, a cyberterrorism expert with the Virginia-based counterterrorism consulting firm IntelCenter, said in a statement that the video contained "significant indicators" of an increased threat.
The video "contains significant indicators of possible increased targeting by al-Qaeda against the diplomatic facilities and personnel of the US, India and NATO member countries around the world based on an analysis of previous correlations between al-Qaeda messaging and targeting trends and the contents of the video," he said in a statement. "While diplomatic facilities/personnel have always been targeted by al-Qaeda, the release of this video represents perhaps the most detailed, direct and significant justification for such attacks and threat of more to come."
In the video, Gadahn lashed out at the US-led "crusade" against Muslims and said diplomatic missions were the bases for anti-Muslim actions.
"These spy dens and military command and control centers from which you plotted your aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq, and which still provide vital moral, military, material, and logistical support to the Crusade, shall continue to be legitimate targets for brave Muslims ... unless you heed our demands," Gadahn said.
"Stop the Crusade and leave the Muslims alone," he said.
The one-hour 17-minute video was shown about two months after Gadahn warned in another Internet video that US President George W. Bush should withdraw all his troops from Muslim land or face attacks worse than Sept. 11.
The only way to deal with the "dens of saboteurs and spies ... when they refuse to leave of their own accord is to expel them by force," said Gadahn, who was wearing a checkered red and white Arab headdress.
The video included clips from old speeches by al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri. But much of it focused on the suicide bomber who killed one US diplomat and four other people outside the US consulate in Karachi in March last year.
The video also showed images of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and other attacks claimed by al-Qaeda, including the 2005 London bombings.
"The killing of those infidels and the targeting of their dens [diplomatic missions] is a religious duty," thundered the narrator.
"Your embassies and consulates in Qatar, Kuwait, Riyadh and Bahrain provided you full support in your [March 2003 US-led] invasion of Iraq," he said.
Gadahn -- also known as Azzam al-Amriki and Azzam the American -- has appeared in several videotapes for al-Qaeda.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS