Pakistan: Govt announces the arrest of a high-ranking officer for alleged connections with terrorism

Pakistan on Tuesday said it had arrested a high-ranking army officer for alleged connections to militant groups, a rare public acknowledgment of possible ties between this country’s military and the organizations it is battling.

The arrest comes amid rising concern that Pakistan’s military is penetrated by Islamists who are sympathetic to insurgent groups that have declared war on the state. Last month, a naval base in Karachi was stormed by heavily armed fighters in an attack that was widely believed to have required inside help.

Related articles

• Pakistani army officer arrested for links with militant group (birminghamurbannews.wordpress.com)
• Terror leader lives freely near Pakistani capital (independent.co.uk)
• Call for inquiry into Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad’s murder (independent.co.uk) :The reporter had gone missing two days earlier after failing to arrive at a television studio in Islamabad where he was due to take part in a discussion about his latest article, which highlighted alleged links between al-Qa’ida and members of the Pakistani Navy. Human Rights Watch has said it has credible evidence that he was picked up by the InterServices Intelligence (ISI) agency. His family had been told he would be returned by Monday evening.

  Mr Shahzad, who was married with three children, had been badly beaten and his body bore 15 injury marks. His lungs and liver had also been damaged. “The cause of death is torture and there are several signs of torture on his body and face,” Ashok Kumar, one of the doctors who carried out a post-mortem examination at Islamabad’s Pakistan Institute of Medical

• U.S. Condemns Killing of Pakistan Reporter on Army-Militant Ties (businessweek.com)

Austria: convert to Islam arrested for attempting to blow the Bundestag

An Austrian national was arrested in Vienna and charged with terrorism. Detectives believe he was planning to crash a plane into the Bundestag, German parliament headquarters in Berlin. The suspect, 25-year-old Thomas al-J., is a young man who has converted to Islam. He was arrested Wednesday in his apartment in the Austrian capital and has also been accused of recruiting terrorists in order to send them to jihad training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and of funding terrorist organizations. The Bundestag hypothesis was published in Austrian newspaper ‘Kronen Zeitung’.

Found here.

Al-Shabab, the American connection

Abu Mansur al-Amriki. Image via Wikipedia

The news of another American suicide bomber shows, once again, the deadly allure of jihadism among a small number of young US citizens, but it also casts a light on the potential danger that allowing the conflict in Somalia to continue unabated poses. Now that we are at the third possible American suicide bomber in Somalia, it is time to take stronger measures to solve this problem – before it comes back to haunt us in the west.

In a cynical way, the news is a tidy resolution for security services. The fact that these young men have died abroad means they will no longer be able to pose a threat at home. But this fails to take into account the larger threat that these deaths represent, both in terms of the embedding of jihadist ideas in North America, but also the growing menace internationally of the al-Shabaab group.

The story of the American jihad is not new. At this point, we have seen jihadist plots in the US with links to all of the major jihadist battlefields abroad, and in many cases, they have involved US citizens. And within the US, there have been a number of plots uncovered involving Americans who have radicalised and chosen to participate in plots that may have concluded in terrorist attacks. The conviction of Tahawwur Rana for his role in a plot targeting Denmark was merely the latest manifestation.

Somalia and al-Shabaab (whose name literally means “the youth”) is a subset of this issue, but one that has been growing in importance as it becomes clear that the group has been able to draw to itself both young ethnic Somalis and an ever increasing number of radicalised young men and women from other ethnicities. Young Shabaab leader Omar Hammami, for example, is a Daphne, Alabama native of Syrian descent who left the comfort of the US to serve as a leader in the Somali group using the nom de guerre “Abu Mansur al-Amiriki”. And he is not alone, with some of his compatriots agreeing to act as suicide bombers in that war-torn country.

Found here.

“Prislam”: the threat of Islam inside US prison system

Image via Wikipedia

Wednesday’s hearing focused on the threat from “Prislam,” which Downing described as an extremist “cut and paste” version of Islam practiced by inmates. The resulting ideology is what former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Smith said he saw in some New Folsom prison inmates whom he prosecuted for plotting to attack Jewish targets in Los Angeles and the LAX airport.

Smith testified that Folsom inmate Kevin James created the radical prison group Jam’iyyat Ul-islam Is-Saheeh (JIS) in 1997. JIS supported the killing of Jews and the implementation of an Islamic government in the United States. James recruited a fellow inmate named Levar Washington, who recruited two others upon his release, including an LAX employee, to assist with the terror plots.

“From the prison [Kevin James] was able to set up and set out an operation cell of would be jihadists on the streets of Southern California,” said Smith. “James set up a system where he would send the protocol to mail on the outside.”

The person on the outside would send the protocol back to inmates inside other prisons, spreading the JIS ideology.

Several factors contribute to inmate conversions to “Prislam,” witnesses testified, including the accessibility of radical literature inside prison walls and prison chaplains who espouse radical beliefs.

Read more.

Related articles

• Radical Islam Infiltrating U.S. Prisons? (foxnews.com)
• Lawmakers disagree on prisons’ role in Islamic radicalization of U.S. Muslims (cnn.com)

UK: Police have stopped 60 terror plots involving Black Widow bombers

Image via Wikipedia

BRIT spooks have stopped SIXTY terror plots involving Black Widow bombers.

Many of the Muslim women who were pulled in were carrying explosives, we can reveal.

Other radicals as young as 17 had bomb materials stashed in their homes across the country.

The operation started when a dozen women in the London and Greater Manchester areas were picked up in security sweeps but allowed to go free.

They were put under surveillance and led the spooks to more than 30 terror group leaders.

But it is feared there are at least 20 of the Black Widow bombers still at large and ready to carry out their deadly missions.

A senior security source said: “The terrorists rely on a woman in a black flowing dress not being stopped. They can’t be searched easily because of their strict rules and it’s hard to see what they are hiding under their robes.

“A lot of people would think twice about searching them for fear of offending religious rules or being accused of sexual harassment or indecency.

More here.

Wikileaks: Ties between the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Saddam’s Iran

Image via Wikipedia

A leaked file says that Jawad Jabber Sadkhan, an Iraqi intelligence officer who moved to Afghanistan in 1998, “admittedly forged official documents and reportedly provided liaison between the governments of Afghanistan and Iraq.” The government of Afghanistan at that time was the Taliban, which employed him as a vicious interrogator for its intelligence service. His driver said he was also close to Osama Bin Laden, who paid him before and after the 9/11 attacks. Another detainee revealed that Sadkhan would travel to Iraq through Iran to retrieve supplies for the Taliban. Sadkhan was not universally popular, as his superior, Abdul-Hadi al-Iraqi, warned Saif al-Adel in November 1998 that he was part of a group of Iraqis “involved in un-Islamic activities.” This accusation did not end the relationship.

According to another detainee named Abbas Habid Rumi al-Naely, Sadkhan was a member of one of Saddam Hussein’s top units tasked with assassinating political opponents. The U.S. government also identified al-Naely as a liaison between Saddam Hussein’s regime and Al-Qaeda. He joined the Taliban in 1994 while living in Baghdad. One U.S. government memo shows he was accused of preparing attacks on the U.S. and British embassies in Pakistan in August 1998 with an Iraqi intelligence officer on the orders of Osama Bin Laden. Later memos did not include the charge.

More here.

Jihadists in Morocco

City of Salé, Morocco. Image via Wikipedia

The Belliraj cell’s release and radical preacher Mohamed Fizazi in April was an error of the regime and has emboldened other jihadi prisoners. Moreover, the fact that the auxiliary forces tried to calm the revolt in the prison of Salé saying that in a month will be a second and broader real grace, isn’t viewed with optimism. These prisoners and their supporters abroad are well organized, making it even out of prison and mobile images feed their victimization and work a battlefront that is extremely worrying in terms of security.

The increasing visibility of the Moroccan Islamist mobilizations under the 20/Feb Movement, and its growing effort to attract support among the diaspora abroad, particularly Europe, increases the problem. Recall that this ideology, though according to some, it’s more moderate, will be the probable winner in the coming elections that will be held in Tunisia, first, and then in Egypt. But its troubling aspect is what it is hiding: its fighting spirit and its radical vision of politics.

More here.

Spain: Barcelona, nest of counter-jihad spies

Barcelona. Image via Wikipedia

The Catalan capital has become a major center of operations of the intelligence services of all countries who are suffering and generate Jihadist terrorism and have diplomatic representation in Spain. The operation goes beyond Barcelona and extends to areas with high density of Muslim population.

The reason why Barcelona has become a nest of spies has its origin in the consideration of Catalonia as a source of primary importance to jihadists based in Europe.

… Among the reasons for considering Catalonia as a “the most dangerous nest of radical Islamists in the Mediterranean, the U.S. Secret Service pointed to the high percentage of legal and illegal immigration from North Africa-Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria- as well as Pakistan and Bangladesh, which in their view is a “magnet for recruiting terrorists. ” The concern has even led authorities meetings of experts and members of various intelligence services accredited in Spain, like the one held in Madrid a few weeks ago. A meeting just to talk of Catalonia as “new epicenter of jihadism. “

Found here.

Background:

Spain: Moroccan arrested on Jihad recruiting activities

The roommate of the young Moroccan arrested in Gran Canaria for alleged links with Al Qaeda cells, Othaman Elovadi, said that Imad El Mouahhid “is a mentally ill person. ” Elovadi, who ensured that the detainee takes drugs, had known him since 2003 and was at home when the police raided it.

The young Moroccan is accused of glorifying terrorism and proselytism. Presumably, El Mouahhid recruited young people and tried to persuade them to take part in terrorist activities.

He is a 25 year old, born in Tangiers (Morocco), who has been living in Spain for at least 8 years. His roommate described him as an authoritarian and mentally unstable person.

The Interior Ministry has been investigating him for three years following a possible link to Al Qaeda cells in Spain and it looks like he was part of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, an Islamist cell which is linked to the March 11th bombings in Madrid.

More here.

Peaceful Muslim

If only we can conduct a jihadist invasion at least once a year or if possible twice or three times, then many people on earth would become Muslims. And if anyone prevents our dawa or stands in our way, then we must kill them or take as hostage and confiscate their wealth, women and children. Such battles will fill the pockets of the Mujahid who can return home with 3 or 4 slaves, 3 or 4 women and 3 or 4 children. This can be a profitable business if you multiply each head by 300 or 400 dirham. This can be like financial shelter whereby a jihadist, in time of financial need, can always sell one of these heads (meaning slavery) [translated by Nonie Darwish; original Arabic recording here].

As popular (and peaceful ) Muslim preacher Abu Ishaq al-Huwaini said 18 years ago, non-Muslims are undergoing persecution under Islamic rule, with international organizations saying very little or nothing about that.

So I ask myself, how can anyone with some common sense consider we can have an alliance with this kind of people? What would happen if some other religious figure would speak like that?

Arrested RevolutionMuslim.com’s responsible of threats against South Park

Revolution Muslim’s co-founder and primary spokesman Younus Abdullah Muhammad was arrested in Morocco early Friday, according to Islam Policy, the Web site successor to the original Revolution Muslim.

Muhammad, also known as Jesse Morton, was charged earlier this month with transmitting threats in relation to Revolution Muslim’s 2010 threats against the creators of South Park for a two-part episode satirizing death threats over the depiction of the Prophet Mohammad.

With the impressive logical skills that strike everyone when reading an Islamist webpage (ironic mode off), Islamic Policy, the heir of RevolutionMuslim.com stated:

His arrest comes in the long line of Muslims who have been imprisoned for speaking out against the United States. It is part and parcel of the US war on Islam. It is a war, being waged on two interlink fronts.

This guy told everyone that “Allah commanded Muslims to terrorise infidels”.

More here.

Background here.

Indonesia: Suicide bomber explodes inside mosque, wounds 28

Location of West Java in Indonesia. Image via Wikipedia

From Asia News:

A suicide bomber blew himself up today at Taka mosque located in the police headquarters in Ciberon (West Java) a town about 300 km from Jakarta. The toll is about 28 wounded, including several policemen. The suicide bombing is the first in the country’s history and took place shortly before the usual Friday prayers, while the faithful were gathering inside the building. According to authorities the attack was organized by a group of Islamic terrorists in revenge for the recent anti-terrorism operations carried out by the police.

General Suparna Parto, Chief Inspector of West Java, said the suicide bomber’s explosive belt contained nails and other metallic material, and several fragments were found in the bodies of the wounded. According to the general, this system is typical of Islamic extremists in Indonesia.

According to Wawan Purwanto, an expert on intelligence, the attack marks a change of course in Indonesian Islamic terrorism and has shocked the population. “The explosion – he says – has taken place just inside a mosque during prayer.” The expert stressed that so far no extremist group had ever attacked a mosque during Friday prayers. Purwanto said that the turnaround has already begun and now the terrorists are targeting other Muslims. “In the past – he says – the targets were symbols of Western power. Now all those who are against them, such as police, may be annihilated. “

When you feed a monsted, it grows and it can end killing you.

Libya: Rebels come from pro-Jihadist Areas

More information about this very important development, about which I posted earlier here.

In 2007 the U.S. Department of Defense snatched more than 600 records of al Qaeda’s foreign fighters in Iraq and discovered nearly a fifth of the foreigners were from Libya, according to a report by West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center released later that year. Within those records, the total put Libya second only to Saudi Arabia in total fighters and “far and away” the largest provider of foreign fighters per capita to the terrorist organization.

Almost all of the Libyan fighters hailed from the east — cities like Benghazi, effectively the current opposition headquarters; Ajdabiya, which was the site of intense fighting overnight; and Derna, a city currently held by the rebels.

As if this wasn’t enough, some intelligence suggest that Al-Qaida is using the Libyan conflict to arm itself with the weapons sent to the “rebels” (links in English inside) and one Lybian “rebel” commander has said that “first, we are going to cut Gadaffi’s throat and then to establish an Islamic state” (found here).

Isn’t it wonderful?

Indonesia: ‘terror trainer’ Abu Tholut, arrested

 

Abu Tholut aka Mostafa

One of Indonesia’s most-wanted Islamic militant suspects has been arrested at his home, police say.

Abu Tholut, 49, is suspected of helping to set up a militant training camp in Aceh province, recruiting militants and raising funds for “terror activities”.

He is also suspected of plotting attacks on foreigners in Jakarta and the assassination of political leaders.

Tholut, who has served jail time in the past for explosives offences, was held without a fight in Kudus, Central Java.

“Abu Tholut was deeply involved in terrorist training in Aceh and armed robberies in North Sumatra province,” national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar told reporters.

via BBC News – Indonesia holds ‘terror trainer’ Abu Tholut.

Anyway, till Indonesia doesn’t make efforts to fight Jihadist ideology, as some experts have already told, these detentions/arrests are not going to have any effects in the long-term scenario.

Wikileaks: US is worried about Catalonia being “the main center of Mediterranean jihadism”

Nothing we did not already know, about jihadism in Catalonia, but it is interesting to see U.S. concerns on the subject.

The U.S. Embassy in Madrid believe that Catalonia is the hottest spot of radical Islam in Spain, a scenario that should be monitored and controlled as a bridge to the Mediterranean. The strong presence of Moroccan and Pakistani community in Barcelona and the effervescent activity of Islamists in towns such as Tarragona, Hospitalet, Badalona and Reus concern to U.S. intelligence services. IN fact, they consider this community as its first research objective. The secret documents of the State Department define Catalonia as the main center of Islamism in the Mediterranean.

So concerned they were, that they have opened some offices in Barcelona for “a multi-agency co-ordinating the fight against terrorism, crime and intelligence information to combat the growing threat jihadist and criminal activities in the region” in collaboration with our Spanish hosts. “

Background:

1. Catalonia: the meaning of the Pakistani terrorists’ detentions (for translation to English, scroll down).
2. Spain: No1. place in recruitment of Islamist terrorists in Europe. Most of the Islamist terrorist choose the Muslim communities in Catalonia to create sleeping cells. 80% of the police operations have taken place in Catalonia and 31% of the 130 Islamists who are now in prison were arrested in Catalonia.
3. Spain: alleged Al-Qaeda financier belongs to Socialist Party’s Executive Board.
4. Spain: Salafist criminal “procedure” condemns a woman to death on adultery charges.
5. Spain: Islamic Moral Police in action.
6. Spain: Italian Prosecutors’ report showed AQIM recruitment.
7. Spain: Salafist Imam Charged for Coercing a Woman to Wear Hijab.
8. Spain: Seven accused of setting up a Sharia court, freed.
9. Spain: the dangers of locating mosques in industrial areas.
10. Spain: pro-independency Catalonian entity wants to show the “bonds that historically have existed between Islam and Catalonia”.
11. Spain: police arrest 7 linked to al-Qaida

US: Muslim who shot soldier in Arkansas says he wanted to cause more death

The brainwashing this guy has is absolutely shocking:

What I had in mind didn’t go as planned but Allah willing He will reward me for my intentions. 

…

From a black Ford Explorer Sport Trac, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, a Memphis native, watched two soldiers in fatigues smoking outside a military recruiting center in Little Rock. He aimed an assault rifle out the window and fired.

Muhammad sped away, hoping to flee 150 miles to Memphis where he would switch cars. But a wrong turn in a construction zone led him to police.

He stepped out of the SUV wearing a green ammo belt around his waist.

“It’s a war going on against Muslims, and that is why I did it,” an officer heard him say. “You see how I gave up with no problem.”

…

It’s a war out against Islam and Muslims and I’m on the side of the Muslims point blank … The U.S. has to pay for the rape, murder, bloodshed, blasphemy it has done and still doing to the Muslims and Islam. So consider this a small retaliation the best is to come Allah willing. This is not the first attack and won’t be the last.

…

We believe in an eye for eye not turn the other cheek. …We are all brothers under the same banner fighting for the same cause. … (T)he war has no boundaries as you can see. … Unless the U.S. government pulls fully out of Iraq and Afghanistan and stop(s) helping Israel in (its) massacre of Muslims, blood will flow in the U.S.A. like tap water.

…

Melvin Bledsoe, Muhammad’s father, believes his son was brainwashed and that he only claims affiliation with the terrorist group so he can be executed and become a martyr.

Far as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula I won’t say much but yes, I’m affiliated with them. And it’s more of a Islamic Revivalist Revolutionary Movement than an organization. Same with other Al-Qaeda fronts. Our goal is to rid the Islamic world of idols and idolaters, paganism and pagans, infidelity and infidels, hypocrisy and hypocrites, apostasy and apostates, democracy and democrats and relaunch the Islamic caliphate … and to establish Islamic law (Shari’ah) – Allah’s law on earth and anyone who strives for this is affiliated with the movement.

So yes I’m Al Qaeda and proud to be.

…
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

I knew this would end with the enemies of Allah killing me. But the good thing is – Martyrs don’t die! Allah says, “Don’t think of those who are killed for the sake of Allah as dead. Rather they are alive with their Lord and they have their provision!” (Qur’an 3:169) And that’s what I believe. The jihad lives on. May Allah accept my jihadi operations and grant me what he promises all of the … (martyrs) Ameen.

via Muslim who shot soldier in Arkansas says he wanted to cause more death » Knoxville News Sentinel.

By the way, that call to “get rif of so many people”, isn’t a call for genocide?

Netherlands: Prominent jihadist recants and denounces terrorism

The imprisoned Dutch terrorism suspect Jason Walters said in an open letter that he has renounced Islamic radicalism.

“The ideals that I once honored have been lost and I have come to realize that they are morally bankrupt,” Walters said in what he called a “review document” written from the maximum-security prison in Vught. It was published recently in the Dutch daily De Volkskrant.

Walters is a leading member of the jihadist Hofstadgroep, made up of Islamists primarily of Moroccan origin. The group was led by Mohammed Bouyeri, who is serving a life sentence for killing controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004.

Observers said Walters’ letter offered a window into the mind of a man who had dedicated his life to propagating militant Islam through violence. It helped to understand why some adopt terrorism and what prompts them to reconsider.

Walters’ review could also inform the increasingly partisan immigration debate in Germany and other European nations about how to prevent the radicalization of immigrant youth and help them become functioning members of society.

…”The image that the world only exists of believers and infidels, in which the latter are motivated only to destroy the former, is a childish and coarse simplification of reality,” Walters said. “It ignores the complexity and many nuances of which reality is rich.”

Analysts and counter-terrorism authorities say Walters’ letter is likely to spark debate in militant Islamist circles and serve as an important tool in efforts to counter jihadists in Europe. In a statement, the Dutch National Coordinator for Counterterrorism (NCTb) described it as “a remarkable document” not seen before in the Netherlands.

Dutch terrorism analyst Edwin Bakker from the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael said the letter would serve as “a good tool in the ideological fight against terrorists and Islamists.”

…”I have watched with horror how a once lofty ‘struggle for freedom’ that should have been the go-ahead signal for a new, just world – especially in Iraq – has turned into a bloody escalation of violence, sectarianism and religious mania,” he wrote. “Unheard of cruelty and crimes have been committed in the process.”

He said the random killing by Islamists of innocent Muslims had rendered the struggle for Islamic rule “a total failure.”

The 25-year-old said he hoped his letter would serve “to warn youth not to be misguided by false promises and ideals.” He called on Islamists “to put down their weapons and employ other, productive methods” in order to bring about reforms instead of blaming the United States and the West.

via Prominent Dutch jihadist recants and denounces terrorism | World | Deutsche Welle | 31.10.2010.

According to the police, on his hit list were Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Geert Wilders.

US: Man arrested over “plot to bomb Washington DC metro”

A man has been arrested over a plot to bomb subway stations in the US capital.

Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, Virginia was conspiring with people he believed were from al-Qaeda, the Department of Justice said.

Mr Ahmed was taken into custody on Wednesday morning. If convicted he faces up to 50 years in prison.

The suspect allegedly conducted surveillance of a metro station in Arlington, on the outskirts of Washington, DC, on four occasions.

“It’s chilling that a man from Ashburn is accused of casing rail stations with the goal of killing as many Metro riders as possible through simultaneous bomb attacks,” said US attorney Neil MacBride.

“Today’s arrest highlights the terrorism threat that exists in northern Virginia and our ability to find those seeking to harm US citizens and neutralise them before they can act.”

Officials said the public were never in danger during the investigation and that they had been aware of Mr Ahmed since the beginning.

Mr Ahmed, who was born in Pakistan, has been indicted on three counts.

These are attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organisation, collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility, and attempting to provide material support to help carry out multiple bombings.

via BBC News – Man arrested over \’plot to bomb Washington DC metro\’.

And again: another Muslim wants to bomb whatever place in the name of Islam. Why Muslim groups doesn’t call him an “Islamophobe“? Because this man really has a phobia of Islam to kill in its name. Or hasn’t he?

Germany: Danger of terrorism on the rise, police chief says

Danger of terrorism on the rise in Germany, police chief says – Monsters and Critics:

“The danger of terrorism is ‘greater than ever,’ the head of Germany’s Federal police, the BKA, said on Wednesday.

The threat of militant Islamist attacks was a ‘high abstract danger for Germany,’ Joerg Ziercke told delegates at the agency’s annual convention.

He said the number of preliminary investigations into Islamist threats had risen constantly since 2001, to reach a current peak of 352. On top of this, Ziercke added that judgements had been passed in 26 high-profile court cases since 2003.

Security agents believe there are more than 1,000 militant Islamists in Germany who are prepared to resort to violence, and know of more than 220 people who have received paramilitary training since the early 1990s.”

Background:
Arrested man confesses in court to terrorism charges.
Afghanistan: 8 German killed while receiving terrorist training.
Kenya: German linked to terrorism alarms authorities.
Islamists aim to infiltrate Hamburg mosques.
Eight Islamist indicted for supporting terrorism abroad.

US: Anwar Al-Awlaki dined at the Pentagon months after 9/11

Anwar Al-Awlaki may be the first American on the CIA’s kill or capture list, but he was also a lunch guest of military brass at the Pentagon within months of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Fox News has learned.

Añadir leyenda

Documents exclusively obtained by Fox News, including an FBI interview conducted after the Fort Hood shooting in November 2009, state that Awlaki was taken to the Pentagon as part of the military’s outreach to the Muslim community in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.

…According to the documents, obtained as part of an ongoing investigation by the specials unit “Fox News Reporting,” there was a push within the Defense Department to reach out to the Muslim community.

“At that period in time, the secretary of the Army (redacted) was eager to have a presentation from a moderate Muslim.”

In addition, Awlaki “was considered to be an ‘up and coming’ member of the Islamic community. After her vetting, Aulaqi (Awlaki) was invited to and attended a luncheon at the Pentagon in the secretary of the Army’s Office of Government Counsel.”

Awlaki, a Yemeni-American who was born in Las Cruces, N.M., was interviewed at least four times by the FBI in the first week after the attacks because of his ties to the three hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Hani Hanjour. The three hijackers were all onboard Flight 77 that slammed into the Pentagon.

Source.

They chose a very “moderate” Muslim…

More commentary at the Blogmocracy.com.