Agent Storm: My Life Inside al-Qaeda (64 page)

reached the town of Jaar:
For a good description of Jaar at this time, see Casey L. Coombs, ‘Land of the Black Flag’,
Foreign Policy
, 9 March 2012, and Gaith Abdul-Ahad, ‘Al Qaeda’s wretched utopia and the battle for hearts and minds’,
Guardian
, 30 April 2012.

a month after his father:
Tom Finn and Noah Browning, ‘An American Teenager in Yemen: Paying for the Sins of His Father?’,
Time
, 27 October 2011.

Al-Asiri was all the more dangerous:
For more, see Paul Cruickshank, Nic Robertson and Tim Lister, ‘Al Qaeda’s biggest threat’, CNN, 16 February 2012.

left hanging:
See ‘Yemen In Conflict: Abyan’s Darkest Hour’, Amnesty International, 4 December 2012.

Wuhayshi would later depict:
‘Letter from Abu Basir to Emir of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Magreb’, 21 May 2012. This letter was discovered by the Associated Press in a house used by al-Qaeda fighters in Timbuktu, Mali, and was made available at
http://www.longwarjournal.org/images/al-qaida-papers-how-to-run-a-state.pdf
. See also Bill Roggio, ‘Wuhayshi imparted lessons of AQAP operations in Yemen to AQIM’,
Long War Journal
, 12 August 2013.

‘Try to win them over …’:
Ibid.

25. Operation Amanda

‘Rise Up and Board with Us’:
AQAP’s
Inspire
magazine, issue 9, May 2012.

Qasim al-Raymi:
For more on AQAP’s senior figures at this time, see Gregory D. Johnsen, ‘A Profile of AQAP’s Upper Echelon’, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, 24 July 2012.

Godane … determined to transform:
Tim Lister and Paul Cruickshank, ‘Ruthless leader aims to extend reach of al-Shabaab, eyes the West’, CNN, 24 September 2013.

‘severe repercussions’ in Kenya:
Paul Cruickshank and Zain Verjee, ‘Kenya’s high stakes Shabaab offensive’, CNN, 24 October 2011.

longed to take ‘revenge’:
This is my recollection. I do not have a saved copy of the email.

Lewthwaite … was on the run:
Jeremy Stern, ‘Samantha Lewthwaite: Whereabouts of Kenya attack suspect a mystery’, BBC, 3 February 2014.

Hammami:
For more on Hammami, see Andrea Elliot, ‘The Jihadist Next Door’,
The New York Times
, 27 January 2010, and J. M. Berger, ‘Omar and Me’,
Foreign Policy
, 18 September 2013.

extraordinary video:
Tim Lister, ‘American fears fellow jihadists will kill him’, CNN, 16 March 2012.

internal conflicts:
For more on the divisions within al-Shabaab, see Raffaello Pantucci and A. R. Sayyid, ‘Foreign Fighters in Somalia and al-Shabaab’s Internal Purge’, The Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Monitor, 3 December 2013.

a new plot by AQAP … intelligence services:
See Nic Robertson, Paul Cruickshank and Brian Todd, ‘Saudi agent in bomb plot held UK passport, source says’, CNN, 11 May 2012.

What he lacked in power … with Washington:
See Gregory D. Johnsen,
The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia
, W. W. Norton & Co., 2013.

26. Chinese Whispers

sent him a text:
This is my recollection. I do not have a saved copy of this text exchange with Abdul.

‘Can you ask for the car keys?’:
This is my recollection. I do not have a saved copy of this text.

27. A Spy in the Cold

In July 2013 … alert:
Barbara Starr, ‘Details emerge about talk between al Qaeda leaders’, CNN, 9 August 2013.

change the face of history:
This was how the threatening message was reported by President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi of Yemen. In a speech he related: ‘When I was in Washington, the Americans told us that they had intercepted a call between Ayman al-Zawahri and Wuhayshi, in which Wuhayshi told Zawahri that they would carry out an attack that would change the face of history.’ Mohammed Ghobari, ‘Al Qaeda plan to “change face of history” led to U.S. scare’, Reuters, 23 August 2013.

more than twenty embassies:
‘US embassy closures extended over militant threat fears’, BBC, 5 August 2013.

number two of al-Qaeda globally:
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office: ‘AQ Core is no more: the changing shape of al Qaida’, October 2013; Paul Cruickshank, ‘Analysts: Terror warning may be linked to choice of al Qaeda chief deputy’, CNN, 3 August 2013.

been blooded:
Adil al-Abab, ‘Gains and Benefits of Ansar al Shariah Control of Parts of the Wiyalahs of Abyan and Shabwa’, available at
http://www.longwarjournal.org/images/al-qaida-papers-how-to-runa-state.pdf
; Bill Roggio, ‘AQAP’s top sharia official killed in recent drone strike’,
Long War Journal
, 20 October 2012.

‘Here’s $10,000’:
I later took a film of the cash on a table in my hotel room.

‘I’d like to take up the job’:
The discussion about the job offer took place during a break in my recording.

He had another proposal:
Klang made this proposal after I resumed recording.

He and Anders indicated … shaking my hand
. This part of the conversation occurred after I stopped recording.

a call in mid-August:
I did not record this call.

I called Jesper one more time:
I did not record this call.

on 7 October 2012, I texted Jesper:
This is my recollection. I do not have a saved copy of this text.

Epilogue

Khalid Green, took to YouTube:
Khalid Green, ‘Darse Twelve: Nullifiers of Islam’, uploaded to YouTube 17 October 2012.When the book went to press the video was available here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POLWQogyEu0
.

wrote on an Islamist blog:
This was posted on the Islamic Awakening blog. When this book went to press the posting was available here:
http://forums.islamicawakening.com/f18/morten-storm-had-undercover-company-61838/index4.html#post659177
.

apologize to Naser Khader:
‘Naser Khader til Morten Storm: PET sagde du ønskede at slå mig ihjel’, DR, 7 January 2014.

‘Out of consideration … killing of al-Awlaki in Yemen’
: Orla Borg, Morten Pihl and Carsten Ellegaard, ‘Jeg kunne hjælpe CIA og PET til at spore Anwar, så amerikanerne kunne sende en drone efter ham og få ham slået ihjel’,
Jyllands-Posten
, 7 October 2012.

‘the right balance …’:
Justin Cremer, ‘New Controls Over PET Announced in Wake of Media Storm’,
Copenhagen Post
, 11 January 2013.

heavyweight backing from Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen:
Maria Malmdorf Laugesen, ‘Beautyboks kæder PET sammen med drab’, TV2 (Denmark), 31 March 2013. The video of Bonnichsen’s remarks is available at:
http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php/id-66670423:beautyboks-k%C3%A6der-pet-sammen-med-drab.html
.

made out with a subordinate:
Kristian Kornø and Thomas Gösta Svensson, ‘PET-chef jokede med affære’,
Ekstrabladet
(Denmark), 7 November 2013.

CIA to lose confidence:
Thomas G. Svensson, Kristian Kornø and David Rebouh, ‘PET-folk: CIA stoler ikke på Scharf’,
Ekstrabladet
(Denmark), 4 December 2013.

Government insiders revealed:
Paul Cruickshank, phone conversation with Carsten Ellegaard Christensen, a journalist with
Jyllands-Posten
, December 2013.

Morten Bødskov:
Peter Stanners, ‘Morten Bødskov out as justice minister’,
Copenhagen Post
, 10 December 2013; ‘Leader of intelligence agency quits’,
Copenhagen Post
, 3 December 2013.

Bonnichsen, sharpened his criticism:
Preben Lund, ‘Tvivl om PET-chefens rolle i drab på terrorleder’, DR, 9 December 2013.

‘Is it really a satisfactory way …’:
Morten Pihl, Orla Borg and Carsten Ellegaard, ‘PET sagde nej til at beskytte eks-agent’,
Jyllands-Posten
, 19 December 2013.

Kenneth Sorensen … was killed:
Bill Roggio, ‘Danish jihadist killed while fighting for Muhajireen Brigade in Syria’,
Long War Journal
, 7 May 2013.

Abu Khattab … Shiraz Tariq:
Tariq was killed late in 2013 after releasing a video he recorded in Syria. See
http://www.b.dk/nationalt/martyrvideo-dansk-emir-kaempede-for-al-qaeda
. On death of Abu Khattab see ‘Danish Jihadist reportedly killed in Syria’,
Copenhagen Post
, 13 January 2014.

first British suicide bomber:
‘Video “shows British Syria suicide bomber” ’, BBC, 14 February 2014; ‘Crawley Suicide Bomb Suspect in YouTube Film’, Sky News, 16 February 2014; Kiran Randhawa, Justin Davenport and David Churchill, ‘Suicide bomber Brit worked as driver for hate cleric Omar Bakri’,
Evening Standard
, 13 February 2014.

Clifford Newman … child abduction:
US v. Clifford Allen Newman
, 11th Circuit Court of Appeal, 17 August 2010, #09-14557.

three of its operatives took part … in Benghazi:
Paul Cruickshank, Tim Lister, Nic Robertson and Fran Townsend, ‘Sources: 3 al Qaeda operatives took part in Benghazi attack’, CNN, 4 May 2013. According to a US Senate committee, fighters ‘affiliated’ with AQAP participated in the attack. See U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence: ‘Review of the terrorist attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya’, 15 January 2014.

liberated:
‘14 “mostly Qaeda” inmates flee Yemen jail after attack’, Agence France Presse, 13 February 2014.

new generation of explosives:
Rhonda Schwartz and James Gordon Meek, ‘Al Qaeda Threat: Officials Fear “Ingenious” Liquid Explosive’, ABC News, 5 August 2013.

new shoe bomb design:
Robert Windrem, ‘U.S. Terror Warning is about Yemen Bombmaker’, NBC News, 20 February 2014.

instructing apprentices:
Paul Cruickshank, Nic Robertson and Tim Lister, ‘Al Qaeda’s biggest threat’, CNN, 16 February 2012.

siege that lasted four days:
Daniel Howden, ‘Terror in Westgate Mall: the full story of the attacks that devastated Kenya’,
Guardian
, 4 October 2013.

The suspected mastermind … Ikrimah:
Nima Elbagir and Laura Smith-Spark, ‘Norwegian may be suspect in Kenya attack’, CNN, 18 October 2013.

Hammami … killed a week before:
Paul Cruickshank, ‘American jihadi reportedly killed in Somalia’, CNN, 12 September 2013.

Kenyan government report:
Kenya Situation Report, 26 August 2013.

acquired safe houses:
Ibid.

Two weeks … abandoned the mission:
See, for example, Henry Austin, ‘SEAL Somalia target named as “Ikrima” as questions remain about aborted mission’, NBC News, 7 October 2013.

releasing a video … called for solo attacks:
The video appeared on jihadist forums on 2 June 2011. The American al-Qaeda propagandist Adam Gadahn says that ‘America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms.’ Anyone can ‘go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle without a background check and most likely without having to show an identification card’. He concludes: ‘So what are you waiting for?’