Middle East Information Resource
Political Entities - al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a networkd of Islamist organizations around the Muslim world, formed in 1988 by Osam bin Laden. In 1992 al-Qaeda entered agreements of cooperation with many other terrorist organizations. They have groups and operational cells in Europe, Asia, The United States, and Canada. Al-Qaeda is involved in many fields, from humanitarian work to international terrorism. Al-Qaeda has never had a fixed headquarters, although bin Laden, maintained a base in the southern Afghani mountains for years. Leaders of al-Qaeda are also senior leaders of other organizations. The name al-Qaeda means "foundation" or "base."
Al-Qaeda wishes to cleanse the Muslim countries of corrupt and secular leadership, and fight against the powers that threaten Muslim holy places. They consider foreign influence dangerous. Especially, they blame the USA for interfering in the Muslim World. They hate Israel for existing in the "house of Islam" and for occupying Palestine. The main opponents of al-Qaeda in the Muslim World are Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Algeria, but al-Qaeda has popular support even in these countries. Al-Qaeda goals are to radicalize existing Islamic groups and create Islamic societies where none exist; to bring about the destruction of the United States, which is seen as the chief obstacle to Islamic reform; and to support Muslim fighters in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bosnia, Chechnya, and throughout the world.
Al-Qaeda is loosely structured, making it relatively invulnerable to attack or even monitoring. However, bin Laden publicly affiliated himself and al-Qaeda with terrorist actions, and it is known that he has built an international network capable of launching these kinds of attacks. Al-Qaeda has brought resources to terrorism on a scale heretofore only available to nations. However, al-Qaeda is a relatively recent phenomenon and not every terrorist act performed by Muslims is connected with bin Laden or al-Qaeda.
The cadre of al-Qaeda consists of bin Laden, working closely with a Shura Majlis of about 10 members. Below this is the administration, made up of four executive committees, military and training, religious education, commercial, and media relations and publishing. Below this, there is a vast network of organizations of all kinds. Some are involved in fund raising and supply; some do humanitarian work; some handle media relations, recruiting, training, etc. Members know only what they need to know to perporm their functions. Many groups are unaware of other groups in the same country, and probably no one is aware of all parts of al-Qaeda.
The headquarters around Osama bin Laden were (at least until 2002) run by a few hundred Arab volunteers. These men were often refugees from their home country, who feared arrest if they returned; they are chosen for their potential to develop a profound loyalty to bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda`s strength lies in its ability fund other organizations and to provide an ideological framework that pertains over a far flung geographicalk area. Through the network funds are channeled to hundreds of organizations. Importand centers for movement of al-Qaaeda funds are Sudan, Somalia, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Germany.
Al-Qaeda has issued a "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places." According to this, "the latest and the greatest of aggressions, incurred by the Muslims since the death of the Prophet ... is the occupation of the land of the two Holy Places, the foundation of the house of Islam, ... by the armies of the American Crusaders and their allies." The declaration is the first step in "correcting what had happened to the Islamic world in general, and the Land of the two Holy Places in particular." Bin Ladin believes that the new Islamic Front represents a new Islamic unity, that it has embarked on Jihad, and it will eventually vanquish the US and Israel (the Crusaders and Jews), with the help of Allah. Al-Qaeda believes that the West lacks the courage of conviction necessary to resist.
In December 1992 a bomb in Aden, Yemen killed two Australian tourists, but missed a group of American soldiers. This is believed to be the first attack initiated by al-Qaeda, but it has never been proved. In February 1993 The World Trade Center in New York was bombed; six people were killed and more than 1000 injured. US intelligence reported that al-Qaeda tried to buy components for nuclear weapons, and established chemical weapons factories in Sudan. In October 1993, 18 American soldiers are killed in Somalia and al-Qaeda is suspected of backing the operation. In 1995 Ramzi Yousef, who played a key role in the bombing of 1993, was arrested in Pakistan and extradited to the US. In June an assassination attempt was made against Egypt`s president Hosni Mubarak, which was attributed to al-Qaeda. In November a car bomb killed five Indian and four US soldiers in a military camp in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and al-Qaeda was held responsible.
In May 1996 four men are executed in Riyadh for the attacks in November the preceding year. The four said that they were inspired by bin Osama, but no further connection was established. In June 1996 another car bomb killed 19 US soldiers in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. This bombing was initially attributed to al-Qaeda, but later proved to have been carried out by an unrelated Saudi Arabian Islamists group. In August jihad was declared against the US, with the principal objective of driving US troops out of the Arabian peninsula.
In the late 1990`s, Ahamd al-Fadl, a Sudanese, defected and became an informant to US authorities about al-Qaeda. He provided information about how al-Qaeda trains soldiers and how they smuggle weapons and explosives into countries in the Middle East.
In February 1998 al-Qaeda merged with Egyptian Islamic Jihad. In August the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed and many were killed or injured. The Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places, apparently part of al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility. In the late 1990`s Ahamd al-Fadl, a Sudanese, defected from al-Qaeda. He provided the US with information about al-Qaeda training and weapons smuggling in the Middle East. The US retaliated by bombing military camps in Afghanistan and a chemical factory in Sudan. In December 1999 members of a Jordanian organization are arrested and accused of planning attacks on Western tourists. On December 14 an Algerian national was arrested by US Customs for trying to smuggle 25 kg of explosive materials into US.
On September 11, 2001 the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC were attacked with hijacked aircraft. Many wer killed and al-Qaeda was quickly implicated. Following the attacks, President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban regime in Afghanistan help dismantle the al-Qaeda network. The Taliban rather protected al-Qaeda, and the US struck Taliban and al-Qaeda targets in early October. The "Northern Alliance," with support from American forces and others, brought down the Taliban regime. As of October 2003 al-Qaeda has been substantially disrupted, but it continues to function somewhat.