“Bin Laden’s declaration of war [on August 23, 1996] was followed eighteen months later by a fatwa ordering and authorizing ‘jihad against the Crusaders and Jews’ and announcing the creation of the ‘World Islamic Front against Crusaders and Jews,’ an organization composed of al-Qaeda, [Ayman] al-Zawahiri’s EIJ [Egyptian Islamic Jihad], and four other Islamist groups. […]
Category: quotes
2/23/1998
According to a CIA memorandum released on February 23, 1998, the day after bin Laden’s fatwa against the U.S.: ” ‘These fatwas are the first from these groups that explicitly justify attacks on American civilians anywhere in the world. Both groups [bin Laden and a coalition of Islamic groups in London] have hinted in the […]
2/23/1998
“On February 23, 1998, bin Laden held a press conference to present the world with a manifesto from the newly formed International Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders. Signed by Islamist extremist leaders from Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Kashmir, the document accused the United States of ‘occupying the most sacred lands of […]
2/23/1998
“In February [23] 1998, the 40-year-old Saudi exile Usama Bin Ladin and a fugitive Egyptian physician [and Egyptian Islamic Jihad leader], Ayman al Zawahiri, arranged from their Afghan headquarters for an Arabic newspaper in London to publish what they termed a fatwa issued in the name of a ‘World Islamic Front.’ ” In it, they […]
2/23/1998
“On February 23, 1998, bin Laden unveiled a coalition that reflected his spreading ambition and rising international charisma. He announced a new enterprise: the International Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders. Bin Laden had worked for hours on the front’s manifesto. Its contents were dictated over his satellite telephone to editors at a […]
2/23/1998
“Since the Gulf War in 1991, bin Laden now declared [in his manifesto of February 23, 1998], the United States ‘has been occupying the most sacred lands of Islam: the Arabian Peninsula. It has been stealing its resources, dictating to its leaders, humiliating its people, and frightening its neighbors. It is using its rule in […]
2/23/1998
“In February [23] 1998, from a camp at Zawar Kili, near Khost in southern Afghanistan, Bin Laden issued a second declaration of war against the U.S., and announced a merger of Al Qaeda with organizations from Pakistan, Egypt, and from across Africa.” Bin Laden declared a new strategy: ” ‘To kill Americans and their allies, […]
2/23/1998
Regarding bin Laden’s February 23, 1998, fatwa against the United States: “The bin Laden unit at the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center issued an alert memo within days of this manifesto’s issuance. The unit’s professional analysts, specialists in political Islam–recognized an escalation in the February 23 attack on ‘Crusaders and Jews.’ The statements were ‘the first from […]
2/23/1998
In February 23, 1998, “Bin Laden issues [a] joint declaration with the Islamic Group, Al Jihad, the Jihad Movement in Bangladesh and the ‘Jamaat ul Ulema e Pakistan’ under the banner of the ‘World Islamic Front,’ which stated that Muslims should kill Americans including civilians–anywhere in the world.” – “Hunting Bin Laden; Who is Bin […]
2/23/1998
Journalist Peter Bergen pointed out a CIA analysis on February 23, 1998, the day after bin Laden’s Manifesto of the World Islamic Front: ” ‘These fatwas are the first from these groups that explicitly justify attacks on American civilians anywhere in the world.’ ” – Peter Bergen, Holy War, Inc., Page 99 […]