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Tag: bin laden

  • Bin Laden’s Son-In-Law Guilty Of Terrorism Threat

    The voice of the al-Qaida propaganda videos and Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, was convicted Wednesday of conspiring to kill Americans as evidenced in his role as the terror group’s spokesman.

    After two days of deliberating, the jury returned the guilty verdict, which had entered its third week in United States District Court in Manhattan. Ghaith was convicted of three counts: conspiracy to kill Americans, for which he could face life in prison; and providing material support to terrorists, as well as conspiring to do so, counts that each carry maximum terms of 15 years.

    In a surprising turn, Ghaith testified that he answered bin Laden’s request in the hours after the attacks, to speak on the widely circulated videos that were also used to recruit new followers willing to go on suicide missions, like the 19 who hijacked four planes on September 11, 2001.

    Ghaith, a 48-year-old Kuwaiti-born cleric known for his fiery speeches, had recorded speeches for Bin Laden after Sept. 11, where he praised the attacks and promised that future attacks would be carried out.

    His testimony also gave a vivid account of being requested by Bin Laden to meet with him in his cave in the Afghan mountains on the night of the attacks.

    “He said, ‘Come in, sit down.’ Laden said, ‘Did you learn about what happened?’  Ghaith recalled the Qaeda leader telling him.

    Ghaith said Bin Laden claimed credit for the attacks and told him the next day that he wanted him to help him “deliver a message to the world.”

    Ghaith, who later married Bin Laden’s daughter Fatima, was captured last year and brought to the United States on terrorism charges. Although his attorneys tried to portray their client as being minimally involved in al Qaeda, and no involvement or advance knowledge of any terrorist plot, planned or executed, the evidence was clear.

    Ghaith’s lawyer, Stanley L. Cohen, in his closing argument on Monday, said his client had not always been speaking on behalf of Al Qaeda, and was rather fulfilling his responsibility as an imam.

    “You saw videos from a theologian,” Mr. Cohen said. “These words and these concepts may be offensive to you. They may disgust you. But you are going to have to decide the context.”

    But the prosecution repeatedly reminded the jury, displaying proof through photographs and videos, of how close Ghaith had been to Bin Laden.

    The prosecution showed the jury a video screen shot of Ghaith that was made on Sept. 12, 2001, as he sat beside Bin Laden and two other Al Qaeda leaders.

    “Sulaiman Abu Ghaith literally sat at Osama bin Laden’s right hand,” a prosecutor, John P. Cronan, said in his closing argument.

    He cited one video, made on Oct. 9, 2001, where Ghaith warned that “the storm of airplanes will not abate,” and that there were thousands of Muslim youths who were yearning for death, “just as the Americans yearn to live.”

    That message, Cronan said, was meant not only to terrorize Americans, but also “to drive more suicide terrorists to Al Qaeda.”

    Image via NDN

  • Omar Hammami, American Jihadi, Reported Dead

    Omar Hammami, better known as Abu Monsoor Al-Almriki (“the American”), has reportedly been shot dead in the southern bay area of Somalia. Hammami has been reported dead on numerous occasions, but close contact and terrorism expert J.M. Berger believes that reports of Hammami’s death this time are accurate.

    Hammami left his hometown of Daphne, Alabama in 2006 to pursue a life as a self-proclaimed terrorist in Somalia in 2006. There, Hammami joined the al-Qaeda linked terrorist group al-Shabab. While Hammami did help organize military operations and actively fought for the rebels, he served mainly as a recruiting tool to pull foreigners into al-Shabab, mainly through his use of rap and social media. Hammami’s online presence gave him the nickname the “Rapping Jihadist”:

    Hammami had been fearing for his life for months now, after falling out with the leaders of al-Shabab. In April of 2012, Hammami tweeted that he had been shot in the neck by assassins sent by Godane, al-Shabab’s leader. Leaders of al-Shabab were upset with Hammami due to his criticism concerning their use of tax money collected from Somalis and Hammami’s criticism that Godane was oppressing Muslims in order to simply win control of Somalia . Those factors, coupled with growing antagonism toward foreign militants, are perhaps what led to al-Shabab hunting Hammami down and killing him.

    Hammami has been on America’s Most Wanted Terrorists list since March and had a $5 million reward for information leading to his whereabouts. Along with Adam Gadahn, a former bin Laden spokesman in Pakistan, Hammami is considered the most dangerous Americans in a jihad group due to his wide sphere of influence and connections.

    Earlier this month, Hammami appeared to make positive steps by denouncing his ties with al-Shabab and al-Qaeda. However, when asked if he would be willing to talk to US officials, Hammami said the following: “I’m openly not from Shabab, I’m openly not from al-Qaida, but I’m definitely a terrorist, so they’re just going to end up changing my sentence from being affiliated with al-Qaida to being affiliated with terrorism, so it doesn’t really matter whether I speak or not.”

    In an interview with Voice of America, Hammami was also asked whether or not he would ever return to the US. Hammami replied “that is not an option unless it’s in a body bag.” It looks like he is going to get his wish.

    Image via YouTube

  • Bin Laden Photos Ruling: Death Photos To Stay Sealed, Court Says

    A three-judge panel has denied requests to release the photos and videos taken on the night Osama Bin Laden was killed. The District of Columbia Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals sided with the Obama Administration against a conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, that had been attempting to get the photos released.

    The administration argued – and the court agreed – that the photos and video footage from that night should remain classified in the interests of the safety of Americans abroad. The administration expressed concern that if the photos became public, it would spark riots and other anti-American violence in certain parts of the world. The ruling, which was unanimous, held that the government’s reasons for classifying the photos Top Secret – and thus exempt from the Freedom of Information Act – were justified.

    The raid that killed Bin Laden, for whom U.S. authorities had been searching for over ten years, was conducted by U.S. Navy SEALs in May 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The SEALs took several photos and video of the raid and its aftermath, including photos of Bin Laden’s body, partly so that the CIA could use facial recognition technology to confirm Bin Laden’s death.

  • Bin Laden Photos: Ruling Could Release Death Pictures

    This week, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in the case regarding the release of 52 photos, some of which depict Osama bin Laden dead. The case stems from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by the conservative group Judicial Watch. The group is appealing the decision of a U.S. District court, which ruled that the images could harm national security.

    Judicial Watch argued that the U.S. government has failed to provide sufficient evidence that the photos should be kept secret. From the group’s brief:

    Specifically, Defendants have failed to provide any evidence that all 52 images, including those depicting bin Laden’s burial at sea, pertain to “foreign activities of the United States.” Defendants also have failed to provide any evidence that images depicting the burial at sea actually pertain to “intelligence activities.” Nor have they demonstrated that the release of images of a somber, dignified burial at sea reasonably could be expected to cause identifiable or describable exceptionally grave damage to national security.

    According to a CNN report on the hearing, the U.S. Justice department argued that there are obvious “sensitivities” surrounding the death of bin Laden, and that releasing the photos could end up provoking violence against Americans abroad.

    The appellate judges did not announce when their final ruling would be made.

    (Image courtesy the U.S. Federal Government via Wikimedia Commons)

  • FBI Most Wanted List Replaces Bin Laden With Child Porn Fugitive

    The FBI is cracking down on child pornographers and those in possession of the material, a spokesman said after the recent addition of 30-year old Eric Toth to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List as number 1, replacing Osama Bin Laden.

    “This nomination by us of Eric Toth is a reflection of what the bureau does and our changing mission,” he added.

    Toth, who taught third-grade at a Washington D.C. elementary school in 2008, was fired after a coworker found a school camera in his possession containing sexually explicit photographs. He hasn’t been seen since, although his car was found at a local airport afterward containing a suicide note; no body was found.

    “We don’t have a belief nor do we have any proof that he committed suicide,” Special Agent Ronald Hosko said.

    Officials believe he is working in some teaching capacity–perhaps tutoring, or advertising for those services–and has used the alias David Bussone. They are offering up to $100,000 as a reward for information leading to his capture.

    The feds are using Toth as a poster boy for a new, stronger initiative to catch those involved with child pornography; a recent sting in Massachusetts saw 32 men arrested and charged in the past week after targeting porn-sharing sites which have images of children posted. State police superintendent Col. Marian McGovern said the arrests are a “stern message to those who prey on these children and support the evil trade that exploits them.”