Page 2 of
2 AL-QAEDA'S RESURGENCE, Part
1 Ready to
take on the world By Syed Saleem Shahzad
oligarchs, which included the royal
family, scholars, tribes and the state apparatus.
In this environment, a speech by bin Laden
was aired on Al-Jazeera television in which he
called the Saudi monarchy extremely corrupt, the
most contemptuous aspect of which was its alliance
with US interests. Having said that, he asked the
Saudi monarchy to step aside, saying that the
mujahideen did not
at
that stage want to confront it. Rather, the Saudis
should leave al-Qaeda alone to fight against
Americans in Iraq.
The speech was, in fact, the
beginning of dialogue between al-Qaeda and the
Saudi royal family through various Muslim
scholars at numerous places in the Middle East.
Eventually, the Saudis agreed to turn a blind eye
to Maaskar al-Battar (al-Qaeda's training camp) in
Saudi Arabia on condition that the fighters would
not carry out any operations in Saudi Arabia and
go straight to Iraq.
The contact Asia
Times Online spoke to said that al-Qaeda is so
powerful in Saudi Arabia that the monarchy had no
choice but to strike a deal. Similarly, it was
al-Qaeda's choice, he said, that it concentrate
this year on Iraq.
The way that al-Qaeda
sees it, it will consolidate in Iraq to the extent
that it and the "coalition of the willing" have
their respective and identified occupied areas
from which to fight each other.
The Saudi
front is thus only deferred until al-Qaeda gains
sufficient ground in Iraq.
The
"arrangement" between al-Qaeda and the Saudis
reveals a diplomatic double-step by Saudi Arabia,
which Washington considers an important ally in
the "war on terror" and in helping establish a
Sunni front against rising Shi'ite power in the
region, led by Iran.
Preparing for
war Al-Qaeda uses Maaskar
al-Battar in Saudi Arabia to train youths
in guerrilla warfare,
including the use of SA-7 surface-to-air missiles.
Research is also conducted at the camp, as well as
in Afghanistan.
This includes work on
"Abeer" rockets to carry nuclear or chemical
weapons. Last October, the insurgent group Islamic
Army in Iraq claimed to have successfully built
and tested a rocket with a range of 120
kilometers. It was named Abeer after the
14-year-old Iraqi girl raped and killed by a US
soldier who last month received a jail sentence of
100 years.
In video footage released
online, the group said the Abeer rocket could
carry a payload of 20 kilograms. Iraqi engineers
linked to
resistance groups are now developing Abeer rockets
with upgraded accuracy and payload
capabilities.
According to the Asia
Times Online contact, basic work on nuclear,
chemical and biological weapons has now been
completed and the main task now is to mount them
on suitable missiles - which it is hoped the
upgraded Abeer now is.
In the meantime,
the Maaskar al-Battar camp is preparing to send an
additional 10,000 trained youths into Iraq by the
middle of the year.
This coincides with al-Qaeda
organizing all segments of the Iraqi resistance
under its umbrella. It has already declared an
"Emir of
the Islamic Emirates of Iraq"
comprising Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salah
al-Din and Ninawa, and in other parts of the
governorate of Babel. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi has
been declared the emir of the state.
This
development signifies that in the coming months,
al-Qaeda's epicenter will shift from the Pakistani
tribal areas of South Waziristan and North
Waziristan to Iraq and its neighborhood, including
parts of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria.
It also means that the almost-independent
"al-Qaeda in Iraq", once headed by Jordanian Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi, killed by the US, will not
function as an entity.
Although many Arab
fighters left Afghanistan and Pakistan after the
US invasion of Iraq in 2003 to join hands with the
Iraqi resistance, others are now following. These
include al-Qaeda's Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi, who moved
from Waziristan.
This will further weaken
the link between al-Qaeda and the Taliban after
the latter's decision to strike a deal with
Pakistan. According to al-Qaeda sources, it is
only a matter of time before the entire al-Qaeda
leadership abandons its bases in the Pakistani
tribal areas and moves to the Middle East.
Something holding them back at present is
a logistical matter. Previously, Iran allowed
al-Qaeda members to pass through its territory on
the way to Iraq or other places. But in the wake
of the sectarian troubles in Iraq, Tehran is
somewhat hostile toward al-Qaeda.
So it
remains unclear whether Iran will facilitate
al-Qaeda entering Iraq and destabilizing a Shi'ite
government that is pro-American, but certainly
also friendly with Iran.
TOMORROW: A new home in Iraq
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia
Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be
reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com.
(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
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scholars at numerous places in the Middle East.
Eventually, the Saudis agreed to turn a blind eye
to Maaskar al-Battar (al-Qaeda's training camp) in
Saudi Arabia on condition that the fighters would
not carry out any operations in Saudi Arabia and
go straight to Iraq. 
in guerrilla warfare,
including the use of SA-7 surface-to-air missiles.
Research is also conducted at the camp, as well as
in Afghanistan. 
resistance groups are now developing Abeer rockets
with upgraded accuracy and payload
capabilities.
the Islamic Emirates of Iraq"
comprising Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salah
al-Din and Ninawa, and in other parts of the
governorate of Babel. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi has
been declared the emir of the state. 
