Agent Storm: My Life Inside al-Qaeda (61 page)

jihadist network:
One of the men I got to know was a Yemeni-American called Abdul Rahman al-Yaf’i from a prominent tribal family, who several of my circle told me was Osama bin Laden’s ‘right-hand man’ in Yemen. The previous year those alleged ties had prompted his extraordinary rendition by the United States during a family visit to Cairo. He was flown to Jordan for interrogation, where he was tortured and pressured to confess to a role in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in East Africa, which he denied. After his release he visited me several times – in secret – at my house, but never spoke of al-Qaeda.

none of the al-Qaeda members:
Abdul told me he spent time with the Yemeni jihadi Adil al-Abab in Afghanistan. Al-Abab did not contradict this after I got to know him.

women and children:
Tim Lister reported on the battle for CNN from a location near Tora Bora.

a long fatwa:
The full text of bin Uqla’s fatwa can be found at
http://sunnahonline.com/ilm/contemporary/0017.htm
.

‘When America attacked … terrorism?’ the Sheikh asked:
Ibid.

with us or with the terrorists:
President George W. Bush, Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People, 20 September 2001.

He was referring … travel:
For more on John Walker Lindh’s travelling to Afghanistan, see Mark Kukis,
My Heart Became Attached: The Strange Journey of John Walker Lindh
, Potomac Books, 2008.

MV
Limburg
:
On 6 October 2002, in an attack allegedly endorsed by Osama bin Laden, a Yemeni terrorist cell blew up an explosive-laden boat beside the French oil tanker MV
Limburg
, near the port of Mukalla, killing the suicide bombers and one sailor: ‘False Foundation? AQAP, Tribes and Ungoverned Spaces in Yemen’, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, October 2011; Sebastien Rotella and Esther Shrader, ‘Tanker Blast Likely a Terror Attack, French Say’,
Los Angeles Times
, 11 October 2002.

7. Family Feuds

In September 2006 … sentence:
Elisabeth Arnsdorf Haslund, ‘Titalt: Mit TATP var ikke farligt’,
Berlingske Tidende
(Denmark), 13 September 2007; ‘Denmark convicts men in bomb plot’, BBC, 23 November 2007. For more, see Morten Skjoldager,
Truslen Indefra: De Danske Terrorista
, Lindardt og Ringhof, 2009, pp. 191–203.

opened fire:
Dahr Jamail, ‘Falluja’s struggle after invasion,’ Al Jazeera, 1 May 2008.

an offensive … Sharia law:
Pepe Escobar, ‘The Islamic emirate of Fallujah’,
Asia Times
, 15 July 2004.

‘magnificent nineteen’:
Dominic Casciani, ‘Profile: Omar Bakri Mohammed’, BBC, 12 August 2005.

‘The punishment … be imprisoned’:
Koran, al-Ma’idah, 5:33.

Several of his acolytes… in London:
The plot to target crowded spaces in London was broken up by ‘Operation Crevice’ in March 2004. For ties to al-Muhajiroun, see Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank, ‘Clerical Error: The Dangers of Tolerance’,
New Republic
, 7 August 2005.

After two British men … their plot:
On 30 April 2003 two followers of al-Muhajiroun attacked a nightclub in Tel Aviv, killing three. See Bergen and Cruickshank, ‘Clerical Error’.

ultimate sacrifice:
Kiran Randhawa, Justin Davenport and David Churchill, ‘Suicide bomber Brit worked as driver for hate cleric Omar Bakri’,
Evening Standard
, 13 February 2014.

demand for the training:
Training camps like the one I ran soon drew the attention of the security services and the UK media. See Ian Cobain and Richard Norton-Taylor, ‘Training camps for terrorists in UK parks’,
Guardian
, 13 August 2006.

On 7 May … was filmed:
Maria Newman, ‘Video Appears to Show Beheading of American Civilian’,
The New York Times
, 11 May 2004.

After his release … Ansar al-Islam:
Edward F. Mickolus,
The Terrorist List. Volume 1: A–K
, ABC-CLIO, 2009, p. 524.

killed in Fallujah:
US Central Command statement, 8 October 2004; Hans Davidsen-Nielsen and Kjeld Hybel, ‘Danmark i Krig: Krigens beskidte ansigt’,
Politiken
(Denmark), 3 April 2007.

‘It is … Mighty, Wise’:
Koran, al-Anfal, 8:67.

‘The woman … Last Day’:
Koran, An Noor, 24:2.

‘Satan said: “… among them” ’:
Koran, al-Hijra, 15:39–40.

‘Those are … forgives sins?’:
Koran, ‘Āli ’Imrān, 3:135.

8. MI5 Comes to Luton

The magazine reported ‘… detainee’s lap’:
Text of original article and retraction at John Barry, ‘Gitmo: Southcom Showdown’,
Newsweek.com
, 8 May 2005.

used the story:
See, for example, Hendrik Hertzberg, ‘Big News Week’,
New Yorker
, 30 May 2005.

still available online:
When this book went to press the footage was available here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG4fZNPLgWY
.

9. Meeting the Sheikh

designated a ‘global terrorist’:
The designation described the university as a training ground for terrorists. ‘Al Iman students are suspected of being responsible, and were arrested, for recent terrorist attacks, including the assassination of three American missionaries,’ it said in part:
http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/js1190.aspx
.

‘44 Ways …’:
‘44 Ways of Supporting Jihad’ was released in early 2009.

He had been born … vocation:
Judicial Watch Awlaki FBI FOIA documents obtained in May 2013; Scott Shane and Souad Mekhennet, ‘Imam’s Path From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad’,
The New York Times
, 8 May 2010.

‘more seriously’:
See ‘Spilling Out the Beans: Al Awlaki Revealing His Side of the Story’, AQAP’s
Inspire
magazine, issue 9, May 2012.

he scored a 3.85:
Documents later obtained by the advocacy group Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act provide fascinating detail into Awlaki’s life in the US. A former teacher at San Diego State University wrote to the Doctoral Screening Committee at GWU to recommend Awlaki, ticking the ‘Excellent’ column for his maturity, self-confidence and analytical ability. His former professor said, ‘Anwar brings a unique perspective to class discussions and the work he produces … His peers in the classes looked to Anwar as a leader … When Mr Al-Aulaqi completes his studies in the US he will become an educational leader in the higher education system in Yemen.’ Awlaki’s name was frequently spelled ‘Aulaqi’ while he was in the US. Judicial Watch obtained the documents in May 2013 and posted them online in July 2013.

wrote Woodall:
Andrea Bruce Woodall,
Washington Post
, 12 September 2001.

interview to
National Geographic
:
Brian Handwerk and Zain Habboo, ‘Attack on America: An Islamic Scholar’s Perspective’,
National Geographic
, 28 September 2001.

warrant for his arrest:
Investigators had sought the warrant as a way to detain Awlaki for further questioning on his links to the 9/11 hijackers. See ABC News, ‘Investigators Blew an Opportunity to Arrest Awlaki’, 1 December 2009.

Tracing the … ‘… coincidental’:
Final Report of the 9/11 Commission, chap. 7, p. 221. Further suspicion about Awlaki’s links to the hijackers is voiced on p. 230.

‘There is reporting … were terrorists’:
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, ‘Outline of the 9/11 Plot: Staff Statement No. 16’, published 16 June 2004.

There was … ‘… group Hamas’:
Final report of the 9/11 Commission, footnote 33, chap. 7.

One article written:
Chitra Ragavan: ‘The Imam’s Very Curious Story’,
US News and World Report
, 13 June 2004.

character assassination:
Awlaki years later would put an elaborate spin on the police cautioning him for soliciting prositutes. He wrote in
Inspire
magazine, the online publication of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: ‘In 1996 while waiting at a traffic light in my minivan a middle aged woman knocked on the window of the passenger seat. By the time I rolled down the window and before even myself or the woman uttering a word I was surrounded by police officers who had me come out of my vehicle only to be handcuffed. I was accused of soliciting a prostitute and then released. They made it a point to make me know in no uncertain terms that the woman was an undercover cop. I didn’t know what to make of the incident. However a few days later came the answer. I was visited by two men who introduced themselves as officials with the US government … and that they are interested in my cooperation with them … I never heard back from them again until in 1998 when I was approached by a woman, this time from my window and again I was surrounded by police officers who this time had go to court. This time I was told that this is a sting operation and you would not be able to get out of it.’ See ‘Spilling Out the Beans’,
Inspire
magazine.

Among the avid consumers:
Nic Robertson, Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister, ‘Documents give new details on al Qaeda’s London bombings’, CNN, 30 April 2012; Paul Cruickshank, ‘Al Qaeda loses its English-language inspiration’, CNN, 1 October 2011.

‘… revved up …’:
Cruickshank, ‘Al Qaeda loses its English-language inspiration’.

favour of suicide bombings:
Ibid.

‘Constants on the Path of Jihad’:
Anwar al-Awlaki, ‘Constants on the Path of Jihad’, 2005. The lecture was widely posted online.

‘Allah is Preparing Us for Victory’:
By July 2006 the recording was circulating on online Islamist forums in the West. A good translation of the lecture, made when Awlaki was in prison in Sana’a, can be found at:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10SyzllD6ESWK9mUw18sOw5l2RK5QfRBAXxgpO5quKHY/edit
.

At morning prayers … in Afghanistan:
‘False Foundation? AQAP, Tribes and Ungoverned Spaces in Yemen’, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, October 2011.

El Cajon Boulevard:
R. Stickney and Paul Krueger, ‘Accused Terrorist Was “Kind, Peaceful Man”: Friends’, NBC News, San Diego, 6 August 2010.

graduate to the FBI’s Rewards:
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/wanted_terrorists/copy_of_jehad-serwan-mostafa/view
.

Abu Talha … most-wanted list:
His death was announced by al-Shabaab more than a year later. Bill Roggio, ‘Senior al-Qaeda Operative Killed in Somalia’,
Long War Journal
, 1 September 2008.

sent troops into Somalia:
Mohamed Olad Hassan, ‘Ethiopian Force Enters Somalia’, Associated Press, 20 July 2006.

The FBI … solitary confinement:
Judicial Watch Awlaki FBI FOIA documents obtained in May 2013.

10. The Fall

push eastwards:
Jeffrey Gettleman and Mark Mazzetti, ‘Somalia’s Islamists and Ethiopia Gird for a War’,
The New York Times
, 9 December 2006; ‘Ethiopian Troops Seize Strategic Town in Somalia’,
Somaliland Times
, 9 October 2006.

Australians and my British friend:
The Australians arrested were my friend Mustafa Ayoub and his brother. For more on the arrests, see Cameron Stewart and Martin Chulov, ‘Yemen ties terror’s loose ends’,
The Australian
, 4 November 2006; Abul Taher, ‘UK Preacher in Secret Web Call for Jihad’,
The Times
, 4 January 2007.