Monday, May 26, 2008

New Al Qaeda Cell A Growing Threat To U.S.

This is what Bush/McCain/Clinton have left for us. America is bled dry in Iraq while al Qaeda continues to plot and prepare:

The new faces of terror are militants inside an emerging al Qaeda cell, which U.S. officials warn presents a clear and growing threat to America.

Based in North Africa, the group calling itself "Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" specializes in kidnappings and suicide attacks, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

A car bombing last September of an Algerian military barracks killed 28 people. But, follow-up bombings of a United Nations building and a diplomatic office signaled that Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, has bigger plans.

"They have devoted an enormous amount of their energy and their resources to try to build this up as a base to try to carry out attacks, not just in North Africa, but ultimately into West Europe and someday against North America," says Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institute.

Riedel, a former CIA official, says a propaganda video - just posted on a jihad website - shows a sophisticated attack capability.

With Africa being in such a sorry state is it any wonder al Qaeda camps are popping up there:
A new video has been posted on militant Islamist websites by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on Tuesday. The 45:39 min documentary-style propaganda video is dated April 2008 and shows about 30 men training in a tree-filled area that the group identifies as the “Martyr Abu Ibrahim Moustafa Camp.”

The militants are shown training on the use of guns and RPGs, carrying out assassinations, jumping over barriers and crawling under others, using ropes to move between the trees and sitting in a circle taking notes while a trainer talks about urban warfare. Many of the trainees, as well as all the trainers, have their faces covered.