Al-Qaeda spells out Iraq attack strategy in handbook: report
Wednesday June 30
PARIS (AFP) - Al-Qaeda reportedly planned to target Spain as the weakest link of the coalition in Iraq to force its troop pullout, according to a document from the terror network.
"We consider that the Spanish government cannot suffer more than two to three strikes before pulling out (of Iraq) under pressure from its own people," said the document obtained Wednesday by AFP from Raido France International's regional office in Beirut.
"If these (Spanish) forces remain after the strikes, the victory of the socialist party would be near-guaranteed and the pullout of Spanish forces from Iraq would be on its agenda," said the document, distributed ahead of the March 11 attacks in Madrid.
Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, elected after the train bombings in Madrid which left 191 people dead in Spain's worst ever terrorist attack, withdrew Spanish troops from the troubled country in May.
The document has apparently been issued in late February, as it refers to the early days of the Islamic new year which fell on February 21.
Made-up of 54 pages in Arabic, the document has been authenticated by western experts of the Islamic radical terror network of Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden.
The document, entitled "the Iraq of Jihad (holy war): hopes and dangers," was prepared by the "information agency for the support of the Iraqi people -- office of services for the Mujahedeen (holy warriors)."
A lengthy chapter of the document focuses on "the main allies of the United States in their aggression against Iraq: Britain, Italy, Poland and Spain, as well as some Arab countries."
But most of the chapter is about Spain, considering that the pullout of Spanish troops would "constitute a pressure on the British (military) presence that (Prime Minister) Tony Blair would not be able to bear."
"It will not take long for pawns to fall, but the headpiece (US) still has to be knocked down," it said.
It called for striking US forces in Iraq on a daily basis in order to force them "to disperse on the territory, weaken their efficiency and strike the morale of the soldiers."
"The operations should be concentrated on the Arab Sunni sector... (given) the absence of motives for the explosion of the situation in the Shiite southern regions and the Kurdish north," it said.
The booklet, presented as a handbook for the "Mujahedeen," called on the "Iraqi resistance (to form) a movement which gathers the factions of the Jihad... and unite in the same objective, as currently they are not united in the same organisation."
"The Mujahedeens in Iraq should now concentrate on the complete pullout of all foreign forces from all Iraqi territory," it said.
"They should not carry out any operation targeting the daily life of the Iraqi people or its future, such as the basic services or education, except for oil which should not be exploited under occupation," it said.
"Oil exports are the main American hope to gain the financial resources necessary for the occupation," it said.
The document also contains a chapter on the economic situation of the United States, seen from the angle of the occupation of Iraq.
It said the US plan was "to build an Iraqi state as conceived by the United States...and enslave Saudi Arabia politically, fight against Islamic proselytism as a salafist and jihadic movement."
"This would be (for the US) the first step toward the eradication of hardline Islam in the entire world," it said.
Wednesday June 30
PARIS (AFP) - Al-Qaeda reportedly planned to target Spain as the weakest link of the coalition in Iraq to force its troop pullout, according to a document from the terror network.
"We consider that the Spanish government cannot suffer more than two to three strikes before pulling out (of Iraq) under pressure from its own people," said the document obtained Wednesday by AFP from Raido France International's regional office in Beirut.
"If these (Spanish) forces remain after the strikes, the victory of the socialist party would be near-guaranteed and the pullout of Spanish forces from Iraq would be on its agenda," said the document, distributed ahead of the March 11 attacks in Madrid.
Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, elected after the train bombings in Madrid which left 191 people dead in Spain's worst ever terrorist attack, withdrew Spanish troops from the troubled country in May.
The document has apparently been issued in late February, as it refers to the early days of the Islamic new year which fell on February 21.
Made-up of 54 pages in Arabic, the document has been authenticated by western experts of the Islamic radical terror network of Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden.
The document, entitled "the Iraq of Jihad (holy war): hopes and dangers," was prepared by the "information agency for the support of the Iraqi people -- office of services for the Mujahedeen (holy warriors)."
A lengthy chapter of the document focuses on "the main allies of the United States in their aggression against Iraq: Britain, Italy, Poland and Spain, as well as some Arab countries."
But most of the chapter is about Spain, considering that the pullout of Spanish troops would "constitute a pressure on the British (military) presence that (Prime Minister) Tony Blair would not be able to bear."
"It will not take long for pawns to fall, but the headpiece (US) still has to be knocked down," it said.
It called for striking US forces in Iraq on a daily basis in order to force them "to disperse on the territory, weaken their efficiency and strike the morale of the soldiers."
"The operations should be concentrated on the Arab Sunni sector... (given) the absence of motives for the explosion of the situation in the Shiite southern regions and the Kurdish north," it said.
The booklet, presented as a handbook for the "Mujahedeen," called on the "Iraqi resistance (to form) a movement which gathers the factions of the Jihad... and unite in the same objective, as currently they are not united in the same organisation."
"The Mujahedeens in Iraq should now concentrate on the complete pullout of all foreign forces from all Iraqi territory," it said.
"They should not carry out any operation targeting the daily life of the Iraqi people or its future, such as the basic services or education, except for oil which should not be exploited under occupation," it said.
"Oil exports are the main American hope to gain the financial resources necessary for the occupation," it said.
The document also contains a chapter on the economic situation of the United States, seen from the angle of the occupation of Iraq.
It said the US plan was "to build an Iraqi state as conceived by the United States...and enslave Saudi Arabia politically, fight against Islamic proselytism as a salafist and jihadic movement."
"This would be (for the US) the first step toward the eradication of hardline Islam in the entire world," it said.
