| Video published Osama killed in US attack Posted: 10 May 2011 09:48 PM PDT 
A week after the death of Osama bin Laden, his longtime deputy is considered the front- runner to succeed the iconic al- Qaida founder. But uprisings in the Middle East and changing dynamics within the group could point to another scenario: a decision not to appoint anyone at all to replace the world's most-wanted terrorist. Replacing bin Laden, who founded al-Qaeda more than two decades ago and masterminded 9/11, may be no easy task. Analysts say the choice will likely depend on how the terror organisation views its goals and priorities in the post-bin Laden age. The revolt across the Arab world over the past few months was driven by aspirations for Western-style democracy, not the al-Qaeda goal of a religiously led state spanning the Muslim world. And as al-Qaeda struggles to prove its relevance, the group has become increasingly decentralised and prone to internal disputes. "You almost have to start with the question of 'Can he be replaced?' said Lt Col Reid Sawyer, the director of the West Point, NY,-based Countering Terrorism Center. Whether al-Qaeda "even need name an 'official' new leader is uncertain," wrote Rita Katz and Josh Devon in a report by SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist web traffic. "So long as the group can continue to issue messages ... the group will remain a guiding light for the global jihadist community." If al-Qaeda does pick a successor, Sawyer and other analysts said Ayman al-Zawahri, 59, is the most likely choice because he was bin Laden's longtime deputy and has far more experience than younger candidates. Few may want to challenge him openly for the top spot, analysts said. "If he is passed over for someone else, it tells me that al- Qaea has already splintered," said Fawaz Gerges, an al-Qaea scholar at the London School of Economics. Al-Zawahri is an Egyptian doctor who is believed to be hiding somewhere in Pakistan. He founded the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which was dedicated to overthrowing Hosni Mubarak's government, before merging his group with al-Qaeda. |
| US, Pak agreed on Osama mission in secret deal 10 yrs ago: Report Posted: 10 May 2011 09:35 PM PDT 
LONDON: In a secret deal struck a decade ago, the US and Pakistan agreed that Washington will carry out a unilateral operation against Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil if he was found there following which Islamabad would vociferously protest the incursion, a media report said today. The then military leader Gen Pervez Musharraf and then US president George Bush struck the deal after bin Laden escaped US forces in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains in late 2001, the Guardian newspaper reported. Under the deal, Pakistan would allow US forces to conduct a unilateral raid on its soil in search of bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri. Afterwards, both sides agreed, Pakistan would vociferously protest the incursion, the paper quoted serving and retired Pakistani and US officials as saying. "There was an agreement between Bush and Musharraf that if we knew where Osama was, we were going to come and get him," said a former senior US official familiar with the counter- terrorism operations. "The Pakistanis would put up a hue and cry, but they wouldn't stop us." A senior Pakistani official said it had been struck under Musharraf and renewed by the army during the "transition to democracy" - a six-month period from February 2008 when Musharraf was still president but a civilian government had been elected. Referring to the killing of bin Laden in Abbottabad compound near Islamabad, the Pakistani official said: "As far as our American friends are concerned, they have just implemented the agreement." The former US official said the Pakistani protests of the past week were the "public face" of the deal. "We knew they would deny this stuff." The deal puts a new complexion on the political storm triggered by bin Laden's death, with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly protesting the raid and warning that "Pakistan reserves the right to retaliate with full force." 54-year-old bin Laden was killed by the US special forces in a secret operation in the garrison town of Abbottabad, 80 km from Pakistani capital Islamabad. Pakistan has said it was "intelligence-driven operation by the US" and it was not informed prior to the raid. |
| Americans again warned of revenge over bin Laden's death Posted: 10 May 2011 09:34 PM PDT 
NICOSIA(CYPRUS): Al-Qaida has again called on Muslims to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden and said Americans will "pay the price" for President Barack Obama's decision to kill him, the SITE Intelligence monitoring service has said. Al-Fajr Media Centre, which SITE calls the exclusive online distributor of al-Qaida propaganda, said yesterday the assassination was a "big mistake" and a "serious sin," and that Obama had brought disaster on the American people. The statement, made available by the US-based SITE, opened with a lengthy eulogy of bin Laden, killed last week by US commandos in Pakistan. It said that "despite the stress and the affliction, he continued to smile, certain of the victory of Allah and convinced of His support. He did not retreat nor flatter; instead, he incited to jihad and martyrdom and sought that with his person and his money." Turning to the American people, it said: "Today, Obama distributed among you the blood of our martyr. We are an Umma (the global Muslim community) that does not remain silent to injustice, so do not blame us after today. "You are those who chose him and you are those who will pay the price. Obama is protected by armies, (but) who will protect you from our assault?" It echoed a statement by bin Laden's sons released by SITE earlier yesterday, which lambasted the al-Qaidaleader's burial at sea. "We warn the Americans against touching the body of the sheikh ... or treating it in an improper way. "The dead bodies should be handed over to their families, or else any offence will open unto you doors of multitudes of evil for which you will only have yourselves to blame. We call upon all the Muslims to fulfil their duty to enforce this truth." Al-Fajr said: "It is necessary to take revenge for the killing of the Sheikh of Jihad and the Lion of Islam, in such a way that will make America forget the pleasure of its happiness and make it cry blood. "We say to every mujahid (holy warrior) Muslim, if there is an opportunity, do not waste it. Do not consult anyone about killing Americans or destroying their economy. "The land of Allah is vast and their interests are spread, so make the utmost effort to strike them so that the word of Allah is supreme -- as our martyr Sheikh, with permission from Allah, advised. (AFP) ATU 05110316 NNNN |
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