Paper no. 2388	22-Sept-2007
Bin Laden's Fatwa Against Musharraf & Pakistani Army - International Terrorism Monitor---Paper No. 284 by B. Raman On September 20, 2007, As-Sahab, the propaganda and PSYWAR unit of Al Qaeda, disseminated an audio message of Osama bin Laden accompanied by visuals taken from  past messages. This is the third message of bin Laden being disseminated by As-Sahab since September 7, 2007. Of these, the first, a video message probably recorded in the second fortnight of August, 2007, was addressed to the American people on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist strikes in the US. The second, an audio message of recent recording with old visuals, was addressed to the Muslims in general and was meant to glorify the Islamic concept of martyrdom. The third and latest is in the form of a fatwa against Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf and his Army and is addressed to the people of Pakistan. It is titled: "Come to Jihad: A Speech to the People of Pakistan". 2. Bin Laden, who had remained silent for many months ---with no video message since October, 2004, and no audio message since April, 2006,--- has come out with three messages within a fortnight. This indicates that he is alive and well and continues to be in command of Al Qaeda. The frequency of his messages after his long silence also reflects his confidence that he is now in a safe position where the American intelligence agencies and security forces cannot reach him and where there would be little likelihood of his being betrayed by those tempted by the American offer of huge cash rewards for anyone helping in having him killed or captured. What that place could be? it would be difficult to answer that question. 3.  The fatwa against Musharraf and his Army is very bluntly worded. It says in its concluding paragraphs: "It is obligatory on the Muslims in Pakistan to carry out Jihad and fighting to remove Pervez, his government, his army and those who help him." It carries the following pledge on behalf of Al Qaeda: "We in al-Qaida Organization call on Allah to witness that we will retaliate for the blood of Maulana Abd al-Rashid Ghazi and those with him against Musharraf and those who help him, and for all the pure and innocent blood, foremost of which is the blood of the champions of Islam in Waziristan - both North and South - among them the two noble leaders, Nek Muhammad and Abdullah Mahsud." (My comment: Maulana Ghazi died in the Pakistan Army commando raid into the Lal Masjid of Islamabad between July 10 and 13, 2007) 4. Bin Laden encourages suicide missions by underlining that jihad is an individual obligation of every true Muslim.  He gives the following reasons for his fatwa:   "Pervez's invasion of the Lal Masjid in the City of Islam, Islamabad, is a sad event, like the crime of the Hindus in their invasion and destruction of the Babari Masjid. This event demonstrated Musharraf's insistence on continuing his loyalty, submissiveness and aid to America against the Muslims." He quotes from a fatwa issued by the late Muftin Nizamuddin Shamzai of the Binori madrasa of Karachi after the 9/11 terrorist strikes as follows: 'If any ruler of an Islamic state provides aid to an infidel state in its aggression against the Islamic states, it is the legal obligation of the Muslims to remove him from power and consider him to be legally a traitor to Islam and Muslims.' He blames the rulers of Pakistan and the US for the subsequent murder of Shamzai in Karachi. "The government's showing of Maulana Abd al-Aziz Ghazi in women's clothing in the media is clear evidence of the extent of the great hostility, hatred and contempt held by Pervez and his government towards Islam and its sincere 'Ulama. " (My comment: The reference is to the brother of Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who tried to escape from the Lal Masjid covering himself up as a woman. He was detected and arrested by the Commandoes. The Pakistan TV subsequently interviewed him dressed as a woman. This created an outcry as an attempt to discredit the clerics. Musharraf ordered the immediate withdrawal of the TV programme). "The purpose of the army - or so they say - is to protect the Muslims against the Kuffaar (kafirs), but now we see the armies becoming tools and weapons in the hands of the Kuffaar against the Muslims. Pervez threw away the cause of Kashmir and restrained those fighting to liberate it, in accordance with the wishes of the Hindus. Then he opened his bases and airports to America for invading the Muslims in Afghanistan, and as you've seen before, the army attacked the people of Swat who also demanded the rule of Shari'ah, and attacked the people of Waziristan, in addition to betraying and extraditing hundreds of Arab Mujahideen from the grandsons of the Sahabah (Companions), with whom Allah was pleased, to the head of Kufr, America. So Pervez, his ministers, his soldiers and those who help him are all accomplices in the spilling the blood of those of the Muslims who have been killed. I tell the soldiers who perform the Salaat (prayer) in the military organs: you must resign from your jobs and enter anew into Islam and dissociate yourself from Pervez and his Shirk (polytheism)." "I tell Pervez and his army: your betrayal of your nation and people has been exposed, and the people are no longer fooled by your showing off militarily by launching some missiles after every disaster and massacre you commit against the populace, as has occurred repeatedly in the border regions, or after the biggest massacre in Lal Masjid most recently. How is the nation benefited by these weapons and tests of yours? The same goes for the nuclear bomb itself. When the American foreign minister Powell came to you, you cowered, bowed and submitted to him like a lowly slave, and you permitted the American Crusader forces to use the air, soil and water of Pakistan, the country of Islam, to kill the people of Islam in Afghanistan, then in Waziristan. So woe to you and away with you."(My comment: This is an interesting attempt by bin Laden to project that Musharraf is in the habit of frequently carrying out missile tests in order to divert the attention of the Pakistani people away from his collusion with the US in its war against Islam and the Ummah.) "When the capability is there, it is obligatory to rebel against the apostate ruler, as is the case now. And the one who believes that the strength required to rebel has not yet been completed must complete it and take up arms against Pervez and his army without procrastination. Pervez and most of the Muslims' rulers jumped to power and usurped it and ruled us by other than what Allah sent down by force of arms, and the situation will not return to normal through elections, demonstrations and shouting. So beware of the polytheistic elections and futile actions, for iron is only dented by iron, and it is through fighting in Allah's path and exhorting of the believers that the might of the Kuffar is restrained." 5. Bin Laden ends the message with the following prayer to God: " O Allah, Pervez, his ministers, his 'Ulama and his soldiers have been hostile to your friends in Afghanistan and Pakistan, especially in Waziristan, Swat, Bajaur and Lal Masjid: O Allah, break their backs, split them up and destroy their unity; O Allah, afflict them with the loss of their dear ones as they have afflicted us with the loss of our dear ones; O Allah, we seek refuge in You from their evilness and we place You at their throats; O Allah, make their plotting their destruction; O Allah, suffice for us against them with whatever You wish; O Allah, destroy them, for they cannot escape You; O Allah, count them, kill them, and leave not even one of them." (My comment: Here, he calls also for reprisals against the clerics who do not accept Al Qaeda's ideology and methods) 6. Musharraf already faces severe threats to his personal security since Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's No. 2, started his campaign against him in 2003. After the two unsuccessful attempts to kill him at Rawalpindi in December, 2003, his physical security has been further strengthened. The latest fatwa of bin Laden increases the risk of Musharraf being killed by one of his own security guards or other army personnel, who have close access to him. (The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com)
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