"Khaled Taha, Ahmed Abu Adas, al-Qa'ida - a summary" by t_desco
The Lebanese daily as-Safir reported on January 13 that Lebanese authorities arrested 11 members of a terrorist cell, among them Khaled Midhat Taha. Later reports said that 13 suspects were arrested, but that Taha and another member of the group, Bilal Zaaroura, managed to escape.
Quoting "informed sources", Addiyar, an-Nahar, the Daily Star, L'Orient-Le Jour, al-Hayat, al-Rai al-Aam and the Lebanese TV channel LBC all confirmed that Khaled Taha was linked to the group. A source quoted by as-Safir even called him the "head of the Lebanese al-Qaeda cell", but to my knowledge no official statement has been made regarding Taha, and Ahmad Fatfat, the acting Interior Minister, avoided mentioning his name in the press conference on the arrests.
According to the first Mehlis report, Khaled Midhat Taha was a "religious associate" of Ahmed Tayseer Abu Adas, who claimed responsibility for the assassination of Hariri in a video broadcast by al-Jazeera. They were both students at the Arab University and "used to meet in the University’s mosque". Later they seem to have kept in contact by e-mail. The report further suggests that Taha may have had a hand in the disappearance of Abu Adas. Taha made a short trip to Lebanon on the same day that Adas left his home accompanied by a man who identified himself as "Mohammed".
Strangely, the Mehlis report contains no information on Khaled Taha's background. The Daily Star reported on January 21 that one of Taha's relatives is among the 13 arrested suspects: Amer Abdullah Hallaq, the son of Sheikh Abdullah Hallaq, a member of the Association of Muslim Scholars in Beirut.
An article by A. Nizar Hamzeh (MERIA, Issue #3/September 1997) mentions Sheikh Abdullah Hallaq as the founder of al-Haraka al-Islamiya al-Mujahid, a movement that aimed "to recruit Sunni and Palestinian fighters in the Sidon area".
A Country Information Bulletin issued by the UNHCR in January 2004 confirms the presence of the Islamic Mujahed Movement in the Palestinian refugee camp Ain al-Hilweh on the outskirts of Sidon. It's current leader seems to be Sheikh Jamal Khattab, the imam of al-Nour mosque (Ain al-Hilweh: Lebanon's "Zone of Unlaw", MEIB, June 2003).
According to Bernard Rougier (author of "Le Jihad au quotidien", a study on the rise of Islamism in Ain al-Hilweh) Khattab is ideologically close to bin Laden:
Le cheikh Jamal Khattab (imam de l'importante mosquée al-Nour à Aïn el-Héloué) par exemple, considère que la lutte est mondiale, qu'il faut couper la tête du serpent et frapper les Etats-Unis; l'ennemi n'est plus seulement israélien. Finalement, ne s'agit-il pas de la même dialectique que Ben Laden ? Il existe probablement des liens organisationnels entre eux, mais ils ne peuvent être à ce jour prouvés.
Réfugiés palestiniens du Liban: Nouvelles dynamiques religieuses
The Ain Hilweh camp, and in particular the al-Nour mosque, is home to several Sunni extremist groups:
Usbat al-Ansar, which is believed to have received funding from bin Laden and al-Zarqawi and was among the first eleven international terror groups listed in President Bush's executive order of September 23, 2001; its even more radical splinter groups Usbat al-Nour and Jund al-Sham, which has claimed at least four bombings following the assassination of Hariri (three explosions in Christian neighborhoods and an attack on Iqlim al-Kharub); and the Dinniyeh group, formerly known as Takfir wa al-Hijra, founded by Bassam Ahmad Kanj, who had fought alongside bin Laden in Afghanistan and was killed in an uprising against the Lebanese army in the mountains of Dinniyeh in January 2000. Some of the rebels escaped to Ain Al-Hilweh and found shelter in al-Nour mosque, among them Ahmed Salim Mikati, who was detained in September 2004 when a car bomb attack on the Italian embassy in Beirut was foiled. Together with another al-Qa'ida operative, Ismail Mohammed al-Khatib, Mikati had also planned to attack the Ukrainian Consulate General and Lebanese Government offices in central Beirut.
According to the first Mehlis report, Abu Adas, the suspected suicide bomber, "had been employed at a computer shop in the summer of 2004, which was owned in part by Sheikh Ahmed Al-Sani, who was a member of the Ahmed Mikati and Ismaíl Al-Khatib network". The report also quotes al-Ahbash sources saying that Adas had visited Abu Obeida (who, in an apparent contradiction, is described as "deputy to the leader of Jund al Sham" and as "deputy leader of the terrorist group Asbat al Ansar") in Ain al-Hilweh.
Some reports suggest that Khaled Taha is currently hiding in Ain al-Hilweh.
Other members of the suspected terrorist cell also have links to the Jihadi groups: Hassan Muhammad Nab'a took part in the Dinniyeh uprising. His brothers Khader and Malek Nab'a were also arrested. According to Murad Al-Shishani, Khader Nab'a "is associated with the appearance of the Salafi-Jihadist movement in Lebanon, when the leader of the al-Ahbash religious sect, Nizar Halabi, was assassinated in 1995." Halabi was killed by Usbat al-Ansar.
Other members of the terrorist cell have reportedly claimed to belong to "Jund al-Sham".
Bernard Rougier reported in 2004 that four out of six mosques in Ain al-Hilweh were controlled by Salafi-Jihadist groups, which received support from "hommes d’affaires du Golfe". The other two mosques were controlled by Hamas and the Ahbash movement, both supported by Syria (al-Ahbash was also a tool of Syrian intelligence, as the Mehlis report clearly shows).
posted by t_desco @ 2/25/2006 11:01:00 AM
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16 Comments:
Nice to see some sort of shy shifting in the general direction of the venues being persude although I am suspecious that it "may be aimed" at coming again to blame Syria -or if not possible the Palestinians- but from another more dangerous angle; a link to the Qaida! ??? I am not accusing Al Saffeer, but in the world of "Looking Glass War", is every thing and angle should be examined and expected.
However, and for the thousandth time, forget your hatered, look around the dark corners, then realistically speaking, the basic attitude would become:
1)who is technicaly capable of carrying the Harriri act?
2)Who benifited most from it?
3)And if one wants to assume that Syria committed a stupid act with so many collaboraters and witnesses, then one must admire the noticable improvement in the "assumed" performance of Syrian intelligence "when" it has committed the Harriri assasination; it executed a stupid operation, full of holes and mistakes which led "kimmo" Jumblat and Sosoo Harriri 100% sure it was Syria, then all of suden the "performance" of Syrian intelligence improved drastically as no threads, leads ar evidence were found linking it to the other 15 assasination which followed...
Mossad, CIA, MI6, or the Money Mafia (who are 100000% innocent of even being a suspect, should apply to attend a Performance Improvement course at the Syrian Intelligence Hedquarters.
Incidently, why is France still holding Zuhair Siddique and turning him over to the Lebanese Authoreties yet despite being requested to do so by the Lebanese Invistigators months ago? Is France technically now in violation of any Lebanon/Harriri/Seekers of Truth UN resolutions?
And finally, if the newly born democracy seeker Khaddam who is supposed to know so much about so much in Syria and Lebanon could not declare and "pin" a "serious, verifiable and direct" evidence linking Syria to the assaination of Harriri, is this not proof enough that the whole thing against Syria is well orchestrated act to serve the higher purposes of Clean Break and Co.
What a shame to those who continue to demonstrate low intelligence, and expect us to buy thier undisputable "knowledge and material convictions" that Syria is behind it all". To them and to all I would like to mention that Intelligence Services assasinate people to "achive results" and not to "enjoy revenge". Hence Syria, at the worst case did not need to assasinate Harriri; when it needed his approval for the extensio of Lahood, he and the other seekers of independence said "yes" and raised thier hands like the good students they are. Unless, Syrian Intelligence really held a gun or has some " unsavory files" against all of them which forced those poor, independence, freedom and truth seekers to succumb to Syria's whiches at the time they new the US and France were dead set against the exyension to Lahood. Funny!, Syria seems to have scared the heck out of them then despite US and France support. And do not dare tell me that all flights out of Beirut where fully booked at that time so they could not leave Lebanon instead of being forced at gun point to Vote yes for the Lahood extension. In any case it now heartwarming and a good omen for Lebanon's future that they have for the time bieng regained thier long lost manhood and decided to stand up against Syria..... We congratulate Lebanon on having such representatives..if they were so!
Either way, I bet you all that they are now trying to find a way out, even if it means the destruction of a stable Lebanon as long as they fool themselves into stupidly thinking that they will get out of this mess as easy as they thought, or as they were promissed...by some caring, freedom loving, inteligent, impartial advisors.
To them we say again,be men, care about Lebanon, not about what Lbanon can bring into your pockets, and remember, Syria is nieghbour for ever, so thread lightly and wisely down that path which is a historic-geographic reality, not a tactical, desposable clane-led country that no one bothered really with or cared about outside the context of the greater middle east of which Syria represents the "prize" and the "corner stone".
Wake up naighbours...
Well said Ausama, the lebanese politicians are so opportunistic and rotten that they are dangerous and pathetic. Read the Patriarche Sfeir declaration that appeared briefly in the online Orient-le jour to be mysterously removed. He was vehemently attacking the rotten political atmosphere prevailing in the country. After Bashar, now Lahoud is the scapegoat, what a mess this country is.
Dear Ausamaa,
I think you've convinced yourself of the innocence of Syria, and will find every excuse out there to protect it!
Anyway, it's not for me nor for you to decide. You can say Mehlis' mother is Jewish, or that he receives paychecks from Israel, or I don't know what you guys invented on Brammertz yet.
The fact is the UN investigation found that Senior Syrian intelligence officials are implicated. Period.
You can complain about it as much as you want, you can come up with all the ludicrous theories in the world, it won't change a thing. The international arena has mandated the UN investigation, and this was the first result of the investigation.
Let's see what Brammertz has to say in the next few months.
France to Release Siddiq, The Syrian Suspect in Hariri's Murder
France has decided to release a Syrian national suspected of involvement in former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination, An Nahar reported on Sunday.
The decision to set free Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq came more than five months after French authorities detained him for lying to a U.N. commission investigating last year's assassination.
Justice Minister Charles Rizk made several phone calls to French Ambassador Bernard Emie to follow up closely the developments on this matter, An Nahar reported. Rizk also held a meeting with Prosecutor General Said Mirza to discuss the French decision.
Legal experts told An Nahar, however, that Siddiq would still have to stand before an international tribunal that will be set up to try the perpetrators in the massive bombing that killed the five-time prime minister and 21 others.
Naharnet
A look back at the Mehlis report:
"112. On 26 September 2005, investigators of UNIIIC had a meeting with Mr. Saddik. On 27 September, Mr. Saddik confessed in a handwritten document that he had participated in the immediate planning phase before the assassination (January and February 2005) and that he was acting as a driver for several of the above-mentioned suspects during the entire day of 14 February.
113. Consequently, on 13 October 2005, on the suggestion of the Commission, the Lebanese Prosecutor-General issued an arrest warrant concerning Mr. Saddik, which led to his arrest on 16 October. ...
116. The fact that Mr. Saddik implicates himself in the assassination, which ultimately led to his arrest, adds to his credibility."
The fact that Saddik has now been released can only mean that he is no longer considered a suspect and that the investigators have dropped this particular line of investigation.
The fact that Saddik has now be released can only mean that Saddik acted on the orders of his masters trying to sabotage the investigation by giving false testimony.
Let us not forget that Saddik will still have to face ttrial... that is if he doesn't dissapear in nature like Taher did...
Anyone who thinks that the report is solely based on this line of the investigation is lying to themselves!
What amazes me is people who choose to ignore the staggering evidence against their opinion, and choose to give importance to the most futile arguments, which are brushed off by the majority of Middle east analysts.
The Mehlis report is crumbling piece by piece... Mehlis refusal to continue the investigation is maybe because he was finding out that he had been mislead and incapable of making this mission the success he has been used to. Also the UN required mediatisation of the report with several versions was a huge mistake. I guess Brammertz will be much more discreet and less influenced by the rumours and imagination of the lebanese sopranos.
I also think that Brammertz will be more careful to avoid falling into the trap of its detractors, by placing false testimony to sabotage the investigation.
I disagree that the Mehlis report is crumbling, I think it is an impecable document that has brought light into the methods of the assasins. It is also evidence of the international community's resolve, and more specifically the United States' in moving from a policy of "ensure stability even at the cost of occupation and authoritarian regimes" to "promote the liberation of Middle Eastern countries, and plant the roots of democracy, and enable them to seek self-determination"
let's see what Brammertz has to say in a few months. I think most followers of this blog, will be very surprised!
Also, last I heard it wasn't the "Lebanese Sopranos" that influenced the investigationm it was the false testimony placed by Syrian witnesses :-)
“…Bernard Rougier reported in 2004 that four out of six mosques in Ain al-Hilweh were controlled by Salafi-Jihadist groups, which received support from ‘hommes d’affaires du Golfe’ ”
I guess that’s a Gallic euphemism for Saudi funding of terrorist groups!
Wahhabism a.k.a. Neo-Hambalism is the official dogma of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as the main source of inspiration for numerous Islamist groups such as the Taleban or the “Jamaa Islamiyya”, the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Jamaa was founded by a certain professor Fathi Yakan, a pro-Saudi bigot described by Rafic Al-Hariri as “the greatest Lebanese Sunni theologian of the 20th century”. In case you wonder, this is the same Sheikh Fathi Yakan who called for the cleansing of Tripoli and North Lebanon from the sullying presence of “dirty Christians and Alawites” back in the 1970s…No doubt the man was a visionary thinker!
It should be clear by now that Lebanese Prime minister Fuad Saniura and majority leader MP Saad Al-Hariri are Wahhabi wolfes in pseudo-modernist clothes: they wear clean-cut ties and suits but, deep inside, they’re just like the Taleban- or even worse for that matter.
Hariri and Saniura were actually both seen several times (on Saudi Arabia’s Channel 1 TV) attending Friday prayer services at Jeddah’s Central Mosque, where the residing Hambali preacher regularly calls for the “extermination of idolatrous Shiite and Christian dogs” or “Tassfiyatt al kilâb al mushrikeen al matâweelah wal-nasârah” in Saudi parlance!
As long as they don’t RENOUNCE PUBLICLY (preferably on Saudi TV) the intolerance and perversions of Wahhabi theocratic fascism, the leaders of Lebanon’s ruling Future party will remain under suspicion in the West and in Lebanon itself.
Upon his return to Beirut a week ago, Saad Al-Hariri held a press conference during which he only had harsh criticisms for Syria, Iran and Gen. Michel Aoun, Lebanon’s leading Christian politician…Tellingly, his final tirade was sycophantic praise for his Wahhabi handlers:
“L’Saudiyyeh mâ betsadder ella kheir” which literally means that “Saudi [Arabia] only exports goodness”!
Sure Saad, but what about crude oil and Islamist terrorism??
MD de la Vega,
how many times are you going to cut and paste that same piece of propaganda?
We all know that Hariri is in bed with the Wahhabis! Any more groundbreaking information you'd like to post?
Does anybody have any idea about the reason for France to release Sidiq even though he is wanted in Lebanon?.
Apparently syria is planing to compensate the land owners that lost their land in 1958 during the govorment confescation of land and redistributing land to farmers ,simmeler to immenent domain we have in the US ,That sould be an excelent move to corect the injustice which made many Syrian land owners angry and many other Syrians fearfull for their properties ,hopfully this move will install more trust in govorment and make Syrians save their money in the banks instead of under the mattress like they do now.that will make banks have more capital to lend buisness owners and expand buisnesses and employ more Syrians.I am hopfull for Syria.
agrarian reform,proved to be a failing reform, there is another law that is very ridiculous, if any one who farm the land ,this make it impossible to get him out of the land,even if he did not pay rent to the owner of the land, this will make the land belong to him and no longer belong to the real owner, this law is called the unjust law, and it is legal, so if a woman own the farm and rent it one year to someone, that it, she lost the farm forever, this law must be removed and the farm must return to its rightful owner.
Well hope this news is true. Hope President Assad will listen to himself than The Baath Party bosses on that Party Law. The circulating draft written by the Baathist is worthless.
As to the land and compensation, it is about time. Hopefully Bashar will listen to himself on that one too and ignore the Baathists. There are so many restrictive laws on the books, designed by the Baathists in order to what amount to stealing land from legal owners and turning it into MAZRAA given for free for those who do favors.
One of those laws is the one that say, the land belong to the one working on it. Another, A landlord can not sell his land unless he will give half of it for free to the farmers. Yet another, is that he can not sell the land at all, unless for the farmers and with their consent. These are all unfair, unjust and archaic laws.
That is not all. Even the land that was not confiscated by the Baathists, landlords can not take control of those he got titles for as is the case of my family. Despite repeated court judgment in our favors and monitory awards for damages, no one will enforce it. So, enforcing these laws and court judgments is also necessary.
Here is a paste of one of the many letters sent to Syria in the past.
ORONTES INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
A Bahamas IBC Corporation
January 11, 2005
MINISTRY OF EXPATRIATES
DAMASCUS, REPUBLIC OF SYRIA
PLEASE FORWARD TO EXPATRIATE MINISTER
Mrs. BUTHAINA SHABAAN
Greetings Minister Shabaan,
The Syrian expatriates in the United States express deep appreciation for the positive decision taken by President Bashar Al Assad in signing decrees No.1 and 2 for the year. These latest decrees are just another step in advancing reforms in Syria by the President.
Unfortunately, Property rights reform and respect for these rights are not on the agenda of the Baath Party. It has been Three years since I have presented the problem to your predecessor Mr. Qaddoura ( please see attached ) and nearly Two years since you have been made aware of it, and so far there was no action taken to resolve this injustice. I am not sure, if “doing nothing” is the prevailing attitude of government in Syria, or the Aldendeshe family is still the target of antiquated Baath Party witch hunt ideology. I tend to agree with the latter, since I do see the property rights of all other Syrians, particularly in the cities, both real estate and business ventures are not only respected but very well supported. I think Syria should address and resolve old lingering problems and inequities, and the Baath Party needs to move forward to bring Syria into a modern State.
The initial land confiscation without compensation, the forceful takeover and control of the remainder for nearly 41 years also without any compensation, the refusal of the controlling parties to abide various court orders, the refusal of local authorities to enforce the judgments are all illegal, unjust and unfair actions.
Should you find this problem merit your time or attention, please forward the issue to appropriate officials for resolution. Your effort and the follow up will be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, I will no longer raise this issue again and will find other means to seek resolution.
Sincerely
Metaz K.M. Aldendeshe
efax: 1-309-419-9716
email: orontes_Russia@orontes.net
Aussama, after the usual
"1)who is technicaly capable of carrying the Harriri act?
2)Who benifited most from it?"
Comes with a very novel and amusing argument:
"3)And if one wants to assume that Syria committed a stupid act with so many collaboraters and witnesses, then one must admire the noticable improvement in the "assumed" performance of Syrian intelligence "when" it has committed the Harriri assasination; it executed a stupid operation, full of holes and mistakes which led "kimmo" Jumblat and Sosoo Harriri 100% sure it was Syria, then all of suden the "performance" of Syrian intelligence improved drastically as no threads, leads ar evidence were found linking it to the other 15 assasination which followed..."
The answer is very simple:
Syrian regime was not trying to hide the Hariri murder, in the same way it did not hide the Hama massacre. It was trying to make a point very clear to the Lebanese. If you cross this line, this is how you will end.
After Bashar understood that his calculations were wrong and that his big bang approach will not be tolerated, he reverted to sending little secret jabs to distabelize Lebanon.
Having said that, even though it is very clear the Basharis did kill Haria, they might be innocent of the later murders.
So an alternative theory is that the idiots killed Hariri and then some other entity(ies) killed the others.
As you see, dear Oussamma, once you start working your fertile immagination to build conspiracy theories to avoid the obvious conclusions you can find many alternatives.
How about the other very possible alternative that would satisfy your fertile imagination. Bashar did all the murders under the command of his Mossad masters. Mossad instructed him to botch the first one and then helped do the others in a very professional way.
How about an even better theory:
Bashar the good was abducted by aliens in the 2nd month of his presidency and was replaced by a zombie. The zombie takes his orders from Alien leader Garoth the Blubber Muncher (who took the pleasant shape of Asma). Don't forget that if you add Bashar, Sharon, and Bush Birthdays you get the birthday of Nancy Ajram!!!! Coincidence, I think not.
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