AL Qaeda

AL Qaeda

AL QAEDA

The new al-Qaeda flag, black with the “long version” of the Shahada in a yellowish colour

INTERESTING: The flag is being debated as either Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi’s al-Qaeda (Ansar al-Zarqawi) flag or the al-Qaeda flag in Iraq.

The flag of al-Qaeda: aka The Base, Qa‘idat al-Jihad, Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places, World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, Islamic Salvation Foundation

Founder - Usama Bin Laden

Date of Birth: 1957
Place of Birth: Saudi Arabia
Height: 6'4" -6'6"(193 - 198 cm)
Weight: 160 lbs (71 kg)
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Olive
Nationality: Saudi Arabian

Photo of Ayman al-Zawahiri

Second in Charge - Ayman al-Zawahiri

Date of birth: June 19, 1951
Place of birth: Egypt
Hair: Brown/Black
Eyes: Dark
Nationality: Egyptian

Ayman al-Zawahiri is a physician and the founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

Al-Qaeda is a "federation" of different Islamist groups, all dedicated to mayhem against the West, Christians, Jews and Muslim regimes that do not conform to its ideas. It may have only a few thousand members, but seems to have many supporters and sympathizers, some of whom may be inspired to terrorist deeds by Al-Qaeda "fatwa's" (judgments or religious rulings).

Al-Qaeda is a shadowy terrorist network organized by Usama Bin Laden as detailed below, and probably consists of cells of terrorists and support groups that provide financial aid, publicity, shelter and recruiting facilities for Al Qaeda. The Al-Qaeda political philosophy is radical Islamism - the doctrine that governments must be forced to conform to Islamic law as they conceive it to be. Al-Qaeda believe in Jihad (Holy War) to remove Western influences from Muslim areas, especially Saudi Arabia and Palestine, and reestablishment of the Caliphate (Khalifa) which will then wage Jihad against the remainder of the non-Muslim world with the aim of conquering it. The activist ideology of Islamism is based on the writings of Sayyid Qutb, Sayed Abul Ala Mawdudi and to some extent by Jamal al-Din al-Afghani. Osama Bin Laden has added some twists, emphasis and further radicalization of his own. Islamism is not orthodox Islam as generally practiced, but Al-Qaeda and Usama Bin Ladin have won a great deal of admiration throughout the Middle East because they are perceived as heroes who stand up to the West.

Al-Qaeda groups may cooperate with other Muslim fundamentalists and draw followers from them, but it is is not ideologically close to the Wahhabi of Saudi Arabia or the Shi'ite Islamist regime in Iran, nor is there evidence of organizational links, though many Al-Qaeda activists were recruited from Saudi Arabia. Wahhabis are intimately connected with support for the Saudi regime and do not believe in overthrowing governments, unlike Al-Qaeda. Nor is there evidence, despite some claims by Laurie Mylroie and other analysts, that Saddam Hussein of Iraq had a central role in encouraging Al-Qaeda terror, though Iraq may have sheltered and trained some Al-Qaeda terrorists, and may have used Ansar al-Islam, a terrorist group, against the Kurds.

Al-Qaeda was founded about 1988 or 1989 by the Saudi Arabian militant Usama bin Laden. Prior to the fall of 2001, Al-Qaeda was based in of Afghanistan and sheltered by the Taleban regime there. Following the terror attacks it initiated against the USA on September 11, 2001, and the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October of 2001, Al-Qaeda has gone further underground. Leaders are currently (April, 2004) believed to hiding in a region of Afghanistan along the Pakistani border. Relatively large scale military operations have failed to dislodge them or capture or kill the leaders, and Al-Qaeda has struck at targets in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Spain and elsewhere since 2001. Bin Laden uses an extensive international network to maintain a loose connection between Muslim extremists in diverse countries. Working through high-tech means, such as faxes, satellite telephones, and the internet, he is in touch with an unknown number of followers (estimated at about 1,500) all over the world.

The organization's main immediate goal is the overthrow of what it sees as the corrupt and heretical governments of Muslim states, and their replacement with the rule of Sha'aria (Islamic law). Al-Qaeda is intensely anti-Western, and views the United States in particular as the prime enemy of Islam. Bin Laden has issued several "fatwas" calling upon Muslims to take up arms against the United States. He, or stand-ins for him, continue to release videotaped messages threatening or calling for attacks against the United States, Western regimes, Israel and Muslim regimes that do not subscribe to his dogmas. They attempts to radicalize existing Islamic groups and create Islamic groups where none exist. They advocate destruction of the United States, which is seen as the chief obstacle to reform in Muslim societies. They support Muslim fighters in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bosnia, Chechnya, Eritrea, Kosova, Pakistan, Somalia, Tajikistan and Yemen.

D-U-N-S 652828929