AFGHANISTAN,
CEO, FACTPAGE 
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Afghanistan |
People
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Population: |
26,813,057
(July 2001 est.) |
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Nationality: |
noun: Afghan(s) |
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Ethnic groups: |
Pashtun
38%, Tajik 25%, Hazara 19%, minor ethnic groups (Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and
others) 12%, Uzbek 6% |
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Religions: |
Sunni
Muslim 84%, Shi'a Muslim 15%, other 1% |
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Languages: |
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Afghanistan |
Government |
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Country name: |
conventional
long form:
Islamic State of Afghanistan; note - the self-proclaimed Taliban government
refers to the country as Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan |
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Government type: |
no
functioning central government, administered by factions |
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Capital: |
Kabul |
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Administrative divisions: |
30
provinces (velayat, singular - velayat); Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh,
Bamian, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghowr, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabol,
Kandahar, Kapisa, Konar, Kondoz, Laghman, Lowgar, Nangarhar, Nimruz, Oruzgan,
Paktia, Paktika, Parvan, Samangan, Sar-e Pol, Takhar, Vardak, Zabol; note -
there may be two new provinces of Nurestan (Nuristan) and Khowst |
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Independence: |
19 August
1919 (from UK control over Afghan foreign affairs) |
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National holiday: |
Independence
Day, 19 August (1919) |
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Constitution: |
none |
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Legal system: |
a new
legal system has not been adopted but all factions tacitly agree they will
follow Shari'a (Islamic law) |
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Suffrage: |
NA;
previously males 15-50 years of age |
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Executive branch: |
on 27
September 1996, the ruling members of the Afghan Government were displaced by
members of the Islamic Taliban movement; the Islamic State of Afghanistan has
no functioning government at this time, and the country remains divided among
fighting factions |
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Legislative branch: |
non-functioning
as of June 1993 |
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Judicial branch: |
upper
courts were non-functioning as of March 1995 (local Shari'a or Islamic law
courts are functioning throughout the country) |
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Political parties and leaders: |
Taliban
(Religious Students Movement) [Mullah Mohammad OMAR]; United National Islamic
Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan or UNIFSA [Burhanuddin RABBANI,
chairman; Gen. Abdul Rashid DOSTAM, vice chairman; Fahim KHAN, military
commander; Mohammed Yunis QANUNI, spokesman]; note - made up of 13 parties
opposed to the Taliban including Harakat-i-Islami Afghanistan (Islamic
Movement of Afghanistan), Hizb-i-Islami (Islamic Party),
Hizb-i-Wahdat-i-Islami (Islamic Unity Party), Jumaat-i-Islami Afghanistan
(Islamic Afghan Society), Jumbish-i-Milli (National Front),
Mahaz-i-Milli-i-Islami (National Islamic Front) |
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Political pressure groups and
leaders: |
Afghan
refugees in Pakistan, Australia, US, and elsewhere have organized
politically; Mellat (Social Democratic Party) [leader NA]; Peshawar,
Pakistan-based groups such as the Coordination Council for National Unity and
Understanding in Afghanistan or CUNUA [Ishaq GAILANI]; tribal elders
represent traditional Pashtun leadership; Writers Union of Free Afghanistan
or WUFA [A. Rasul AMIN] |
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International organization
participation: |
AsDB, CP,
ECO, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
ILO, IMF, IOC (suspended), IOM (observer), ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW (signatory),
UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WToO |
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Diplomatic representation in the
US: |
none;
note - embassy operations suspended 21 August 1997 |
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Diplomatic representation from the
US: |
the US
embassy in Kabul has been closed since January 1989 due to security concerns |
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Flag description: |
three
equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black with a gold emblem
centered on the three bands; the emblem features a temple-like structure with
Islamic inscriptions above and below, encircled by a wreath on the left and
right and by a bolder Islamic inscription above, all of which are encircled
by two crossed scimitars |
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Afghanistan |
Economy |
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Economy - overview: |
Afghanistan
is an extremely poor, landlocked country, highly dependent on farming and
livestock raising (sheep and goats). Economic considerations have played
second fiddle to political and military upheavals during two decades of war,
including the nearly 10-year Soviet military occupation (which ended 15
February 1989). During that conflict one-third of the population fled the
country, with Pakistan and Iran sheltering a combined peak of more than 6
million refugees. In early 2000, 2 million Afghan refugees remained in
Pakistan and about 1.4 million in Iran. Gross domestic product has fallen
substantially over the past 20 years because of the loss of labor and capital
and the disruption of trade and transport; severe drought added to the
nation's difficulties in 1998-2000. The majority of the population continues
to suffer from insufficient food, clothing, housing, and medical care.
Inflation remains a serious problem throughout the country. International aid
can deal with only a fraction of the humanitarian problem, let alone promote
economic development. In 1999-2000, internal civil strife continued,
hampering both domestic economic policies and international aid efforts.
Numerical data are likely to be either unavailable or unreliable. Afghanistan
was by far the largest producer of opium poppies in 2000, and narcotics
trafficking is a major source of revenue. |
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GDP: |
purchasing
power parity - $21 billion (2000 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate: |
NA% |
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GDP - per capita: |
purchasing
power parity - $800 (2000 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 53% |
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Population below poverty line: |
NA% |
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Household income or consumption by
percentage share: |
lowest
10%: NA% |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
NA% |
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Labor force: |
10
million (2000 est.) |
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Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture
70%, industry 15%, services 15% (1990 est.) |
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Unemployment rate: |
NA% |
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Budget: |
revenues: $NA |
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Industries: |
small-scale
production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, and cement;
handwoven carpets; natural gas, oil, coal, copper |
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Electricity - production: |
420
million kWh (1999) |
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Electricity - production by
source: |
fossil
fuel:
35.71% |
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Electricity - consumption: |
480.6
million kWh (1999) |
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Electricity - exports: |
0 kWh
(1999) |
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Electricity - imports: |
90
million kWh (1999) |
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Agriculture - products: |
opium
poppies, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, karakul pelts |
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Exports: |
$80
million (does not include opium) (1996 est.) |
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Exports - commodities: |
opium,
fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious
and semi-precious gems |
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Exports - partners: |
FSU,
Pakistan, Iran, Germany, India, UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, Czech Republic |
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Imports: |
$150
million (1996 est.) |
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Imports - commodities: |
capital
goods, food and petroleum products; most consumer goods |
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Imports - partners: |
FSU,
Pakistan, Iran, Japan, Singapore, India, South Korea, Germany |
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Debt - external: |
$5.5
billion (1996 est.) |
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Economic aid - recipient: |
US
provided about $70 million in humanitarian assistance in 1997; US continues
to contribute to multilateral assistance through the UN programs of food aid,
immunization, land mine removal, and a wide range of aid to refugees and
displaced persons |
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Currency: |
afghani
(AFA) |
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Currency code: |
AFA |
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Exchange rates: |
afghanis
per US dollar - 4,700 (January 2000), 4,750 (February 1999), 17,000 (December
1996), 7,000 (January 1995), 1,900 (January 1994), 1,019 (March 1993), 850
(1991); note - these rates reflect the free market exchange rates rather than
the official exchange rate, which was fixed at 50.600 afghanis to the dollar
until 1996, when it rose to 2,262.65 per dollar, and finally became fixed
again at 3,000.00 per dollar in April 1996 |
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Fiscal year: |
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Afghanistan |
Communications |
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Telephones - main lines in use: |
29,000
(1998) |
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Telephones - mobile cellular: |
NA |
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Telephone system: |
general
assessment:
very limited telephone and telegraph service |
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Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 7 (6
are inactive; the active station is in Kabul), FM 1, shortwave 1 (broadcasts
in Pushtu, Dari, Urdu, and English) (1999) |
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Radios: |
167,000
(1999) |
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Television broadcast stations: |
at least
10 (one government run central television station in Kabul and regional
stations in nine of the 30 provinces; the regional stations operate on a
reduced schedule; also, in 1997, there was a station in Mazar-e Sharif
reaching four northern Afghanistan provinces) (1998) |
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Televisions: |
100,000
(1999) |
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Internet country code: |
.af |
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Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
1 (2000) |
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Internet users: |
NA |
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Afghanistan |
Transportation |
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Railways: |
total: 24.6 km |
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Highways: |
total: 21,000 km |
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Waterways: |
1,200 km |
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Pipelines: |
petroleum
products - Uzbekistan to Bagram and Turkmenistan to Shindand; natural gas 180
km |
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Ports and harbors: |
Kheyrabad,
Shir Khan |
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Airports: |
46 (2001
est.) |
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Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 10 |
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Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 36 |
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Heliports: |
2 (2001
est.) |
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Afghanistan |
Military |
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Military branches: |
NA; note
- the military does not exist on a national basis; some elements of the
former Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, National Guard, Border Guard Forces,
National Police Force (Sarandoi), and tribal militias still exist but are
factionalized among the various groups |
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Military manpower - military age: |
22 years
of age |
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Military manpower - availability: |
males
age 15-49:
6,645,023 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - fit for
military service: |
males
age 15-49:
3,561,957 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - reaching
military age annually: |
males: 252,869 (2001 est.) |
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Military expenditures - dollar
figure: |
$NA |
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Military expenditures - percent of
GDP: |
NA% |
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Afghanistan |
Transnational
Issues |
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Disputes - international: |
support
to Islamic militants worldwide by some factions; question over which group
should hold Afghanistan's seat at the UN |
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Illicit drugs: |
world's
largest illicit opium producer, surpassing Burma (potential production in
1999 - 1,670 metric tons; cultivation in 1999 - 51,500 hectares, a 23%
increase over 1998); a major source of hashish; increasing number of
heroin-processing laboratories being set up in the country; major political
factions in the country profit from drug trade |
HISTORY:
Afghanistan was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union in
1979. The USSR was forced to withdraw 10 years later by anti-communist
mujahidin forces supplied and trained by the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and others.
Fighting subsequently continued among the various mujahidin factions, but the
fundamentalist Islamic Taliban movement has been able to seize most of the
country. In addition to the continuing civil strife, the country suffers from
enormous poverty, a crumbling infrastructure, and widespread land mines.
Who is Osama Bin Laden????
Aliases
Usama Bin Muhammad Bin Ladin, Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin, the Prince, the Emir, Abu
Abdallah, Mujahid Shaykh, Hajj, the Director
Description
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Date
of Birth: |
1957 |
Hair: |
Brown |
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Place
of Birth: |
Saudi
Arabia |
Eyes: |
Brown |
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Height: |
6'
4" to 6' 6" |
Complexion: |
Olive |
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Weight: |
Approximately
160 pounds |
Sex: |
Male |
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Build: |
Thin |
Nationality: |
Saudi
Arabian |
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Occupations: |
Unknown |
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Remarks: |
Leader of
a terrorist organization known As Al Qaeda “The Base” |
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Scars
and Marks: |
None |
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Osama Bin Laden: Has called for a holy war against the US
Osama Bin Laden is both one of the CIA's most wanted men and a hero to many
young people in the Arab world.
He and his associates were already being sought by the US on charges of international
terrorism, including in connection with the 1998 bombing of American embassies
in Africa and last year's attack on the USS Cole in Yemen.
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Shadowy figure |
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• Born in
Saudi Arabia |
In May this year a US jury convicted four men believed to be linked with Bin Laden of plotting the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
Bin Laden, an immensely wealthy and private man, has been granted a safe haven by Afghanistan's ruling Taleban movement.
During his time in hiding, he has called for a holy war against the US, and for the killing of Americans and Jews. He is reported to be able to rally around him up to 3,000 fighters.
He is also suspected of helping to set up Islamic training centres to prepare soldiers to fight in Chechnya and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
Sponsored by US and Pakistan
His power is founded on a personal fortune earned by his family's
construction business in Saudi Arabia.
Born in Saudi Arabia to a Yemeni family, Bin Laden left Saudi Arabia in 1979 to fight against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.The Afghan jihad was backed with American dollars and had the blessing of the governments of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
He received security training from the CIA itself, according to Middle Eastern analyst Hazhir Teimourian.
While in Afghanistan, he founded the Maktab al-Khidimat (MAK), which recruited fighters from around the world and imported equipment to aid the Afghan resistance against the Soviet army.
Egyptians, Lebanese, Turks and others - numbering thousands in Bin Laden's estimate - joined their Afghan Muslim brothers in the struggle against an ideology that spurned religion.
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Attacks linked to Bin Laden |
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• 1993 World Trade Centre bomb |
Turned against the US
After the Soviet withdrawal, the "Arab Afghans", as Bin Laden's
faction came to be called, turned their fire against the US and its allies in
the Middle East.
Bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia to work in the family construction business, but was expelled in 1991 because of his anti-government activities there.
He spent the next five years in Sudan until US pressure prompted the Sudanese Government to expel him, whereupon Bin Laden returned to Afghanistan.
Terrorism experts say Bin Laden has been using his millions to fund attacks against the US.
The US State Department calls
OSAMA BIN LADEN AND HIS TERRORIST
ORGANIZATION
Description
Established by Usama Bin Ladin in the late 1980s to bring together Arabs who
fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet invasion. Helped finance, recruit, transport,
and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Afghan resistance. Current goal is
to establish a pan-Islamic Caliphate throughout the world by working with
allied Islamic extremist groups to overthrow regimes it deems
"non-Islamic" and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim
countries. Issued statement under banner of "the World Islamic Front for
Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders" in February 1998, saying it was the
duty of all Muslims to kill US citizens--civilian or military--and their allies
everywhere.
Activities
Plotted to carry out terrorist operations against US and Israeli tourists
visiting Jordan for millennial celebrations. (Jordanian authorities thwarted
the planned attacks and put 28 suspects on trial.) Conducted the bombings in
August 1998 of the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,
that killed at least 301 persons and injured more than 5,000 others. Claims to
have shot down US helicopters and killed US servicemen in Somalia in 1993 and
to have conducted three bombings that targeted US troops in Aden, Yemen, in
December 1992. Linked to the following plans that were not carried out: to
assassinate Pope John Paul II during his visit to Manila in late 1994,
simultaneous bombings of the US and Israeli Embassies in Manila and other Asian
capitals in late 1994, the midair bombing of a dozen US trans-Pacific flights
in 1995, and to kill President Clinton during a visit to the Philippines in
early 1995. Continues to train, finance, and provide logistic support to
terrorist groups in support of these goals.
Strength
May have several hundred to several thousand members. Also serves as a focal
point or umbrella organization for a worldwide network that includes many Sunni
Islamic extremist groups such as Egyptian Islamic Jihad, some members of
al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the Harakat
ul-Mujahidin.
Location/Area of Operation
Al-Qaida has a worldwide reach, has cells in a number of countries, and is
reinforced by its ties to Sunni extremist networks. Bin Ladin and his key
lieutenants reside in Afghanistan, and the group maintains terrorist training
camps there.
External Aid
Bin Ladin, son of a billionaire Saudi family, is said to have inherited
approximately $300 million that he uses to finance the group. Al-Qaida also
maintains moneymaking front organizations, solicits donations from like-minded
supporters, and illicitly siphons funds from donations to Muslim charitable
organizations.
AL QAEDA (AL
QAIDA) A.K.A. THE BASE
|
Al-Qaida is a multi-national support group which funds and
orchestrates the activities of Islamic militants worldwide. It grew out of
the Afghan war against the Soviets, and its core members consist of Afghan
war veterans from all over the Muslim world. Al-Qaida was established around
1988 by the Saudi militant Osama bin Ladin. Based in of Afghanistan, bin
Ladin uses an extensive international network to maintain a loose connection
between Muslim extremists in diverse countries. Working through high-tech
means, such as faxes, satellite telephones, and the internet, he is in touch
with an unknown number of followers all over the Arab world, as well as in
Europe, Asia, the United States and Canada. The organization's primary goal is the overthrow of what it sees as the
corrupt and heretical governments of Muslim states, and their replacement
with the rule of Sharia (Islamic law). Al-Qaida is intensely
anti-Western, and views the United States in particular as the prime enemy of
Islam. Bin Ladin has issued three "fatwahs" or religious
rulings calling upon Muslims to take up arms against the United States.
In February 1998, bin Ladin announced the formation of an
umbrella organization called “The Islamic World Front for the struggle
against the Jews and the Crusaders” (Al-Jabhah al-Islamiyyah al-`Alamiyyah
li-Qital al-Yahud wal-Salibiyyin) Among the members of this organization
are the Egyptian al-Gama’a
al-Islamiyya and the Egyptian al-Jihad. Both
of these groups were have been active in terrorism over the past decade. (see
Attacks of al-Gama’a
al-Islamiyya and al-Jihad). |
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History
Osama bin Ladin entered on his current path of holy warrior
in 1979, the year Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. He transfered his business
to Afghanistan--including several hundred loyal workmen and heavy construction
tools--and set out to liberate the land from the infidel invader. Recognizing
at once that the Afghans were lacking both infrastructure and manpower to fight
a protracted conflict, he set about solving both problems at once. The first
step was to set up an organized program of conscription. Together with
Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdallah Azzam, he organized a recruiting
office--Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK - Services Office).
MAK advertised all over the Arab world for young Muslims to come fight in
Afghanistan and set up branch recruiting offices all over the world, including
in the U.S. and Europe. Bin Ladin paid for the transportation of the new recurits
to Afghanistan, and set up facilities to train them. The Afghan government
donated land and resources, while bin Ladin brought in experts from all over
the world on guerilla warfare, sabotage, and covert operations. Within a little
over a year he had thousands of volunteers in training in his private
bootcamps. It is estimated that as many as 10,000 fighters received training
and combat experience in Afghanistan, with only a fraction coming from the
native Afghan population. Nearly half of the fighting force came from bin
Ladin's native Saudi Arabia. Others came from Algeria (roughly 3,000), from
Egypt (2,000), with thousands more coming from other Muslim countries such as
Yemen, Pakistan and the Sudan.
Superpower vs. superpower
The war in Afghanistan was the stage for one of the last major stand-offs
between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. The
Americans at that time had the same goals as bin Ladin’s mujahedin--the ousting
of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. In what was hailed at the time as one of its
most successful covert operations, America’s Central Intelligence Agency
launched a $500 million-per-year campaign to arm and train the impoverished and
outgunned mujahedin guerrillas to fight the Soviet Union. The most promising
guerilla leaders were sought out and “sponsored” by the CIA. U.S. official
sources are understandably vague on the question of whether Osama bin Ladin was
one of the CIA’s “chosen” at that time. Bin Ladin’s group was one of seven main
mujahedin factions. It is estimated that a significant quantity of high tech
American weapons, including “stinger” anti-aircraft missiles, made their way
into his arsenal. The majority of them are reported to be still there.
The Mujahedin were wildly successful. In ten years of savage fighting they
vanquished the Soviet Union. What had begun as a fragmented army of tribal
warriors ended up a well-organized and equipped modern army--one capable of
beating a super power. The departing Soviet troops left behind an Afghanistan
with a huge arsenal of sophisticated weapons and thousands of seasoned Islamic
warriors from a variety of countries.
The Afghan Veterans
Some of these veterans returned to their own countries and got on with their
lives. Others returned to their own countries steeped in Islamic fundamentalism
and a will to topple “western-influenced, infidel governments” in favor of
Islamic regimes. They used the knowledge gleaned in the Afghan war to set up
guerilla and terror cells. In Egypt and Algeria, the “Afghan Veterans,” as they
came to be called, aided Islamic extremists in their fight against the secular
governments. In most Arab countries, the veterans were not at all welcome, and
the governments kept a close eye on their doings. However, in some countries the
Afghan veterans were accorded a warm welcome. Such was the case in Sudan, where
the government gave them jobs, helped them to set up training camps, and
appointed some of them to government posts.
In addition to these facilities established in “friendly” Arab countries,
the majority of the mujahedin training camps in Afghanistan continued to
operate, supplying Islamic mercenaries to conflicts in a number of countries.
Afghanistan was still seen as the hearth-stone of the mujahedin, from whence
trained fighters could be sent out to fight wherever they were needed.
Mujahedin veterans began showing up in Islamic struggles in such places as
Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Chechnya.
A state unto himself
Toward the end of the war in Afghanistan, bin Ladin split with MAK co-founder
Azzam in the late 1980s, and in 1988 formed al-Qaida to continue the work of
the Jihad. While Azzam continued to focus on support to Muslims in Afghanistan,
bin Ladin turned his attention to carrying the war to other countries. In late
1989 Abdallah Azzam died in the explosion of a car bomb, generally blamed on a
rival Afghani faction. Several rumours circulating at the time blamed bin Ladin
himself for the attack.
After the victory in Afghanistan, Osama bin Ladin returned to his native
Saudi Arabia to take up the fight against the infidel government there. The
Saudis were not disposed to tolerate his calls to insurrection, and quickly
acted against him. In April 1994, his Saudi citizenship was revoked for
“irresponsible behavior,” and he was expelled from the country. Together with
his family and a large band of followers, Bin Ladin moved to Khartoum in Sudan.
There he set up factories and farms, some of which were established solely for
the purpose of supplying jobs to out-of-work mujahedin. He built roads and
infrastructure for the Sudanese government and training camps for the Afghan
Veterans. Among bin Ladin’s numerous Sudanese commercial interests are: a
factory to process goat skins, a construction company, a bank, a sunflower
plantation, and an import-export operation.
His construction company “el-Hijrah for Construction and Development
Ltd.”--in partnership with the National Islamic Front and the Sudanese
military--built the new airport at Port Sudan, as well as a 1200 km-long
highway linking Khartoum to Port Sudan.
Another company reputed to be owned by bin Ladin is the “Wadi al-Aqiq”
Company, an export-import firm. He also runs the Taba Investment Company
Ltd. and the “el-Shamal Islamic Bank” in Khartoum, a joint effort with
the NIF, in which bin Ladin is said to have invested $50 million.
For many years, bin Ladin lived in Khartoum, in a residence guarded by the
local security forces, while he was arranging for many of the “Afghan veterans”
to move to Sudan. Bin Ladin is said to be close to Sudanese leader
Omar Albashir, and to Hassan Turabi, the head of the National Islamic Front
(NIF) in Sudan.
However, Sudan--long on the U.S. State Department’s list of state sponsors
of terrorism--in recent years began to thaw toward the West. As a gesture
toward the United States, the Sudanese government requested that bin Ladin
depart. In May 1996, he moved to Afghanistan, leaving behind him in Sudan a
network of Afghan Veterans and several successful factories and corporations.
Several major companies in Sudan are linked to him, and are believed to be
doing double-duty as logistics support for bin Ladin’s network.
The Islamic Front for the struggle against the Jews and the Crusaders
In February 1998, bin Ladin announced the formation of an umbrella organization
called “The Islamic World Front for the struggle against the Jews and the
Crusaders” (Al-Jabhah al-Islamiyyah al-`Alamiyyah li-Qital al-Yahud
wal-Salibiyyin) Among the members of this organization are the Egyptian al-Gama’a
al-Islamiyya and the Egyptian al-Jihad. Both
of these groups were have been active in terrorism over the past decade. The
founder members of the Front include, besides bin Ladin; Dr. Ayman al-
Zawahiri, leader of the Egyptian Jihad; Rifa'i Ahmad Taha, a leader of
the Islamic Group. The Islamic Group is linked with the al-Dir al-Bahri
massacre in Luxor in November 1997,which claimed the lives of 58 tourists; and
some leaders of extremist fundamentalist movements in Pakistan.
On May 28, 1998 the Islamabad daily, The News reported that Osama bin
Ladin had announced the formation of an International Islamic Front for Jihad
against America and Israel. Talking to a group of journalists who had traveled
from Pakistan to meet him at his base in Khost in southern Afghanistan, he said
leaders of Islamic movements in several countries, including Pakistan had
evinced interest in joining the front. He stated that Dr Aiman Al-Zawahiri,
leader of the Jamaat-ul-Jihad in Egypt who was present at the time, had
played a crucial role in launching the front.
Bin Ladin justified the formation of the anti-American and anti-Israeli
front by arguing that Muslims everywhere in the world were suffering at the
hands of the U.S. and Israel. He said the Muslims must wage holy war against
their real enemies not only to rid themselves of unpopular regimes backed by
the Americans and Israelis but also protect their faith. When a reporter
maintained that bin Ladin and his colleagues could not possibly take on the
world's onlsuperpower, bin Ladin contended that the US was vulnerable and could
be defeated in war. This would happen in the same way as the USSR suffered
humiliation at the hands of the Afghan and Arab “mujahideen” in Afghanistan and
was eventually dismembered
On 14 May 1998, The London Al-Quds al-'Arabi published an article to
the effect that clerics in Afghanistan had issued a fatwa stipulating
the necessity to move U.S. forces out of the Gulf region. Addressing Muslims
the world-over, the Afghan ulema said: “The enemies of Islam are not limited to
a certain group or party; all atheists are enemies of Islam, and they take one
another as friends.” The Afghan ulema declared “jihad -- based on the
rules of the Shari'ah -- against the United States and its followers.” They
urged Islamic governments to perform the duty of “armed jihad against
the enemies of Islam,” pointing out that “if Muslims are lax in their
responsibility, the enemies of Islam will occupy the two holy mosques as well,
just as they occupied the al- Aqsa Mosque.” They stressed, in a statement
attached to the fatwa, that: “This fatwa--with the evidence and
the rulings issued by early and current ulema, on which it is based--is not
merely a fatwa issued by the ulema of a Muslim country, but rather a
religious fatwa that every Muslim should adopt and work under.”
There are probably a few hundred Arab volunteers still living in Afghanistan.
They are the leftovers of the several thousand Arabs who came to Afghanistan
via Pakistan in the 1980s to take part in the “jihad” against the USSR's
Red Army and the Afghan communists. Those left behind have nowhere else to go
because they risk being caught should they venture to return home. No other
country would be willing to accept them. In any case, present-day Afghanistan
continues to be their safest hideaway. The ones who have returned to their
countries have mostly joined the political and military struggle aimed at
bringing an Islamic change there. Known as Arab-Afghans, these battle-hardened
Islamists have come to be known as the most radical and dangerous of the
fighters who have taken up arms against the Algerian and Egyptian governments.
The Paris al-Watan al-'Arabi estimated on 26 June 1998, that “the
fact that bin-Ladin has shown up again in the press clearly indicates his
emergence as a leader of the revolutionary council that was eventually
established.” According to the newspaper, a Dutch official who closely follows
developments in the new Islamic Front, in cooperation with European organs,
believes that relations were actually reorganized among the
organizations--which used to cooperate and coordinate with each other on the
organizational and logistical levels--on a new basis that gives an
organizational working configuration to past relations. This is a new and
important development. According to the Dutch official, this confirms the
seriousness of this event, which requires larger and more accurate coordination
between the European and U.S. authorities. It also calls for cooperation by
some of the Middle Eastern authorities.
The organizations whose membership in the Islamic Front was announced are
the Egyptian Jihad, the Egyptian Armed Group, the Pakistan Scholars
Society, the Partisans Movement in Kashmir, the Jihad Movement in
Bangladesh, and the Afghan military wing of the “Advice and Reform” commission
led by Osama bin Ladin. All these organizations once cooperated and coordinated
with one another, but without any specific configuration or mechanism for such
cooperation. Moreover, each of these organizations had freedom of action, and
they determined their own objectives independently. Cooperation among these
organizations was only at the level of “those who carry arms,” which is one of
the organizational levels of each organization. There were no means of
cooperation and coordination among “the people of the call,” another of the
organizational levels. This is due to the fact that Afghanistan enhanced
relations among the “carriers of arms” and created a kind of interpersonal
cohesion.
According to this evaluation, the threat posed by this new front is due to
the fact that it combines all the organizational levels, by establishing a shura
[consultative] council. According to most assessments, this council is led by
Osama Bin Ladin. This increases the front's effectiveness. It can be said that
the Islamic Front has now moved from the constituent and organizational phase
to the operational phase.
Ideology and Strategy
Al-Qaida is a network of many different fundamentalist
organizations in diverse countries. The common factor in all these groups
is the use of terrorism for the attainment of their political goals, and an
agenda whose main priority is the overthrow of the “heretic governments” in
their respective countries and the establishment of Islamic governments based
on the rule of “Shariah.”
Much of the driving philosophy behind al-Qaida was no doubt formed during
the Afghan war of 79-89. Al-Qaida's leader, Osama bin Ladin came to see that
conflict in the light of "Muslim believers vs. heretics." In his
view, the term, "heretics" embraces the "pragmatic" Arab
regimes (including his homeland, Saudi Arabia), and the United States, which he
sees as taking over the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina, and assisting
the Jews in their conquest of Palestine. Throughout bin Ladin’s public
statements and declarations runs one fundamental and predominant strategic
goal: the expulsion of the American presence, military and civilian, from Saudi
Arabia and the whole Gulf region.
According to the “Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the
Land of the Two Holy Places,”
“the latest and the greatest of [the] 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, the
place of therevelation, the source of the message and the place of the noble
Ka'ba, the Qiblah of all Muslims - by the armies of the American Crusaders and
their allies.”
The declaration is presented as the first step in
“correcting what had happened to the Islamic world in general, and the Land of
the two Holy Places in particular. . . Today . . . the sons of the two Holy
Places, have begun their Jihad in the cause of Allah, to expel the occupying
enemy out of the country of the two Holy places.”
In an interview with Nida’ul Islam several months later bin Ladin
details the work that has been done in this direction:
“There were important effects to
the two explosions in Riyadh on both the internal and external aspects. Most
important amongst these is the awareness of the people to the significance of
the American occupation of the country of the two sacred mosques, and that the
original decrees of the regime are a reflection of the wishes of the American
occupiers. So the people became aware that their main problems were caused by
the American occupiers and their puppets in the Saudi regime.”
However, these terrorist attacks had a larger strategic
importance, as bin Ladin reveals in the same interview:
“. . . these missions also paved
the way for the raising of the voices of opposition against the American
occupation from within the ruling family and the armed forces; in fact we can
say that the remaining Gulf countries have been effected to the same degree,
and that the voices of opposition to the American occupation have begun to be
heard at the level of the ruling families and the governments of the . . . Gulf
countries.”
Bin Ladin sees the new Islamic Front as the vehicle that
will eventually vanguish the American enemy:
“The movement is driving fast and
light forward. And I am sure of our victory with Allah’s help against America
and the Jews. . . After the Americans entered the Holy Land, many emotions were
roused in the Muslim world, more than we have seen before. . .The co-operation
is expanding between general supporters of this religion. From this effort, the
International Islamic Front for the Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders was
formed, which we are a member of with other groups.”
Information provided by:
al-Qa'ida
(The Base) / World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders / Usama
bin Laden
CIA -- The
World Factbook -- Afghanistan
terrorismfiles.org
: Usama Bin Laden / Osama Bin Laden