MEMRI December 4, 2002

A communiqué in which the Al-Qa’ida organization took responsibility for the Mombasa,
Kenya terror attacks was first posted on the “News about the Jihad and
the Mujahideen” forum of the Islamist website www.mojahedoon.net by Abu Shihab Al-Qandahari,
the forum’s deputy moderator. Al-Qandahari posted another communiqué in
which he threatened Americans with a terror attack on the Muslim
holiday of ‘Id al-Fitr, December 5 or 6. All the Koran verses cited in
the communiqué were from Chapter 8, Surat Al-Tauba (Repentance), which
devout Muslims – among them Osama bin Laden – have frequently quoted,
throughout Islamic history. The following are excerpts from the
communiqué: (1)

“A Warning to All the Enemies of Allah, the Americans, and Their Jewish, Arab, and Foreign Supporters”

“…This is a warning to Americans in Yemen, the peninsula of
Muhammad, Africa, and Asia. If you do not leave our land, we are
announcing to you what our Prophet [Muhammad] announced to the Quraysh
[tribe] – slaughter. Your tyranny, your arrogance, your cruelty, and
your misguidance have increased, and we are sworn not to heed the
instructions of the traitorous [i.e. Muslim] governments regarding
you.”

“Oh community of Americans, we swear by the one who has the
soul of Muhammad in his hands [i.e. Allah] that the young men of Islam
have brought slaughter upon you. Leave our land and stop supporting the
plundering Jews; return to your countries, otherwise the sword will be
between us and you.”

“We Warn You… You Will Reap Death”

“We warn you: Leave the land of Yemen and the land of the
Prophet [Saudi Arabia]. Otherwise, you will reap death because of
[your] stupidity in ignoring our warnings to you.”

“We do not recognize your agreement with the [Muslim]
governments that have renounced their religion. ‘How can there be a
guarantee for the idolaters on the part of Allah and His Messenger,
except in favor of those with whom you entered into an express treaty
at the Sacred Mosque? So long as they carry out the obligations
hereunder, you must carry out your obligations. Surely, Allah loves
those who are mindful of their obligations.’”(2)

“… Know that the young men of Yemen and of the land of
Muhammad are preparing grief and grave disasters for you. If you do not
leave our land and stop supporting our enemies, we will remove you with
our swords, as it is said: ‘Fight them. Allah will torture them at your
hands, and will humiliate them, and will help you to overcome them, and
will relieve the minds of the believers of fear and distress, and will
remove their feeling of resentment. Allah turns with mercy to
whomsoever He pleases.’”(3)

“These words are directed at you, oh Americans, you who have
made your dear ones [sic] and your monks into a god other than Allah.
We announce to you the imminent end of your pleasant lives: ‘They have
taken their rabbis and their monks for gods beside Allah, and also the
Messiah son of Mary. They had only been commanded to worship the One
God. There is no god but He [Allah]. Holy is He above that which they
associate with Him.’”(4)

“Allah’s commandment to fight you has already been carried
out, and you are worthy of the disasters and tortures planned for you.
‘Oh Prophet, fight the Jihad against the disbelievers and the
hypocrites and press hard on them. Their abode is hell and an evil
destination it is. They swear by Allah they have not said anything
derogatory. Most certainly have they blasphemed, and disbelieved after
they had professed Islam. They entertained evil designs which they
could not carry into effect. They cherish hatred against the believers
only because Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His
bounty. Now if they repent it will be better favor them, but if they
turn away, Allah will torment them with painful tortures in this world
and in the Hereafter, and they shall have neither friend nor helper in
the world.’”(5)

A Ramadan Gift is on the Way to the American People

“Oh American people, you are the victim of your leaders, but you
are also a partner in the war on us, because you applaud them when they
killed the children of Iraq; applaud the Jews when they killed the
children of Palestine… Allah has cursed you in this world and in the
Hereafter and promised you terrible tortures. Defiantly, you have not
learned your lesson from which you suffered, the raids on Washington
and New York; on the contrary, the tyranny and oppression that you
employ towards the slaves [of Allah] has increased, primarily in
Palestine whose children did not enjoy the month of good and blessing
[Ramadan]. Therefore the brothers gave them a gift for Ramadan in
Mombasa, and the gift for the holiday ['Id al-Fitr, at the end of
Ramadan] is on its way.”

“You did not understand the reasons for the raids of
Washington and New York. Allah rightly said about you: ‘Is he who lays
the foundation of his structure on fear of Allah and His pleasure
better off, or he who lays the foundation of his structure on the brink
of a tottering hollow bank which tumbles down with it into the fire of
hell? Allah guides not the wrongdoing people. This structure of theirs,
which they have built, will ever continue to be a source of disquiet in
their hearts, unless their hearts are cut to pieces and they perish.
Allah is all-knowing, wise.’”(6)

“Allah’s words were rightly said about those who slew you on
that white day: ‘Allah has purchased from the believers their souls and
their property in return for the promise that they shall have Paradise,
for they fight in the cause of Allah and they slay and are themselves
slain. This is a promise that He has made incumbent upon Himself as set
out in the Torah, and the Gospel, and the Koran; and who is more
faithful to his promise than Allah? Rejoice, then, in the agreement
that you have made with Him; that indeed is the supreme triumph.”(7)

“Allah promises [the Muslims] Paradise, and to you he has
promised defeat. Which of these two promises is more worthy of being a
promise of truth? Oh community of Americans, we repeat for the
thousandth time: Leave our lands and stop supporting the Jews,
otherwise men faithful to their vow to Allah will come upon you [to
martyr themselves]…”

“Allah is great, and strength to Islam; Allah is great, long live proud Palestine as it explodes against the enemies.”

“Your brother,

“Abu Shihab Al-Qandahari.”

Al-Qa’ida Takes Responsibility for Kenya Attack

The following comment was added by the site’s administrators to
another communiqué posted on the Web site; in this communiqué,
Al-Qa’ida took responsibility for the Mombasa attacks: “Here ends the
communiqué posted by the [Al-Qa'ida] political bureau. We thank Allah
that we, Mojahedoon [website], are the only site to announce the
operations before they took place; moreover, we wrote of the place
[where they will be carried out], but Allah has blinded our
enemies…”(8)(9)

Announcement:

The Establishment of the Palestinian Branch of Al-Qa’ida Vowing Allegiance to bin Laden

In the same forum, a reader, Abu Banan, posted an announcement of the establishment of “the Islamic Al-Qa’ida Organization in Palestine.”(10) The announcement read:

“…Brothers in Islam: From the land of the Night Journey and
the Ascension to Heaven, we announce to the Islamic nation the
establishment of the Islamic Al-Qa’ida Organization in Palestine, which
will serve as a powerful basis for restoring the rights of our Arab and
Islamic people in Palestine, [and] will defeat the Zionist Jewish
invaders [and] return them to the place from whence they came. We
declare that the squadrons of our martyrs will strike with all their
strength at the Zionist and American arrogance in the region, and that
the blood of our men in Palestine, in Afghanistan, and in Kashmir will
[not] be shed unavenged…”

“Islamic Al-Qa’ida in Palestine joins its voice with the voices of the mujahideen
in Palestine in its resistance to the partial and submissive solutions,
and will accept nothing but the full liberation of the Palestinian
land. Similarly, we call to the mujahideen in the Al-Nusseirat camp in the Gaza Strip to immediately stop the fighting between Hamas and the people of the Palestinian Authority,
because these deeds serve only the murderous Jews, the Great Satans.
From the land of the Night Journey we again declare a vow of allegiance
to the Emir of the mujahideen, the leader Osama bin Laden, by means of whom Allah strengthened the Nation of Islam.”

“Brothers in Islam: The Jihad against the [camp of] heresy and its regimes and symbols has arrived. The mujahideen
of the Nation must rid themselves of the regimes of heresy and deception
in our Arab countries. We call on our brothers in Islam in Jordan,
Egypt, and Saudi Arabia to attack the American interests and the
heretical institutions of apostasy [i.e. the regimes of these
countries]. Allah willing, we will be the victors!”

“Death to the Jews and Zionism; strength to Allah, Allah is great, and victory to Islam!”

“The Islamic Al-Qa’ida Organization
The Stars of the Martyrs [in Arabic, Kawakib Al-Shuhada](11)
Ramadan 29, 1423 [December 4, 2002]“

Endnotes:
(1) December 1, 2002, http://www.mojahedoon.net/vb/showthread.php?s=b26ab77fb6d6544e098a93a00ad6c851&threadid=5083
(2) Koran 8:7.
(3) Koran 8:14.
(4) Koran 8:31
(5) Koran 8:73.
(6) Koran 8:108.
(7) Koran 8:111.
(8) December 2, 2002,
http://www.mojahedoon.net././vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5154
(9)
Note: MEMRI could not locate the communiqué referred to by the Web
site, and cannot at this stage determine how the location of the
Mombasa attacks was mentioned.
(10) December 2, 2002,
http://www.mojahedoon.net././vb/showthread.php?s=&threaded=5154
(11)
Based on Osama bin Laden’s first recorded speech on Al-Jazeera
television, following the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, in which
he said that “a squadron from the squadrons of Islam” perpetrated the
attacks.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 6th, 2002 and is filed under arabpress.