Al-Qaeda > Related Articles
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Parent topics
- al-Qaeda [r]: International islamist terrorist network. Responsible for the 9-11 attack and other terrorist attacks. [e]
- Insurgency [r]: A wide range of political and military actions intended to change a government, through means considered illegal by that government. [e]
- Jihad [r]: Literally meaning "struggle", a Muslim concept that can refer to an inward-directed personal process to submit to God's will, or to an external combat with the enemies of Islam [e]
- Salafism [r]: A strict branch of Sunni Islam, dedicated to the restoration of the Caliphate, often by means of armed jihad [e]
- Terrorism [r]: Any act, nearly always violent, unpredictable, and chaotic in nature, often targetting civilians, intended to create an atmosphere of fear in order to obtain a political objective. [e]
- Wahhabism [r]: A socially conservative branch of Sunni Islam, strongest in the House of Saud, which rules Saudi Arabia [e]
Subtopics
Leadership
- Osama bin Laden [r]: A radical jihadist who founded, with Ayman al-Zawahiri, a group known as al-Qaeda, which is credited with a series of terrorist attacks. [e]
- Ayman al-Zawahiri [r]: Generally considered the #2 leader of al-Qaeda, an Egyptian physician who was mentored, in a faction of the Muslim Brotherhood, by Sayyid Qutb [e]
Operational members
U.S. Prisoners
- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [r]: Described by the U.S. and by his own proud statement, the operational planner, for al-Qaeda, of the 9-11 attack; a U.S. High Value Detainee with no announced plan for trial [e]}}
- Ramzi Yousef [r]: A participant in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, now serving life without parole in a U.S. prison; the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and involved in what, at the time, was an informal worldwide network of jihadists [e]
- Ramzi Binalshibh [r]: The primary staff assistant to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, communications intermediary with the 9-11 hijackers and involved in other planning; currently a High Value Detainee at Guantanamo Bay detention camp charged with 9-11 related crimes by a Military Commission on May 8, 2008 [e]
- Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi [r]: An al-Qaeda financial specialist, currently a High Value Detainee of the U.S., who has been charged by a Military Commission with facilitating the funding of the 9-11 attack [e]
- Majid Khan [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Ammar al-Baluchi [r]: A suspected al-Qaeda operations officer and High Value Detainee at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp [e]
- Khallad [r]: A Yemeni from a family associated with al-Qaeda, currently a High Value Detainee at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, associated with the USS Cole bombing, the 9-11 attack, and assisting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in planning future operations [e]
- Zubair [r]: A member of Jemaah Islamiya (JI), who is a High Value Detainee in Guantanamo Bay detention camp [e]
- Gouled Hassan Dourad [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Haytham al-Kini [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Abu Faraj [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Abu Musab al-Suri [r]: A theoretician, associated with the design of the current al-Qaeda cell system, of Syrian ancestry, in al-Qaeda and Syrian Jamaat e Jihal al Suri; identified by Jamal al-Fadl; may be in unacknowledged U.S. or Syrian custody and has been indicted by Spain [e]
Former members
- Abdullah Anas [r]: Son-in-law of Abdullah Azzam; had been on Algerian Islamic Salvation Front until 1966; believed to be living in London [e]
- Khalid al-Hubayshi [r]: A former al-Qaeda member, released by the U.S. in 2006 after being captured by Pakistan at Tora Bora [e]
Otherwise in legal proceedings/detention
- Sayf al Adel [r]: Former al-Qaeda military commander; probably in house arrest in Iran [e]
- Khaled al Fawwaz [r]: Accused al-Qaeda member who ran its public information service in London, is under indictment in the 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Africa, and is contesting extradition from the U.K. [e]
Cooperating with U.S.
- L'Houssaine Kherchtou [r]: Former pilot for Osama bin Laden, who left al-Qaeda, gave significant information to the U.S., and is in the U.S. Witness Protection Program [e]
- Jamal al-Fadl [r]: An early (1988) associate of Osama bin Laden, who walked into a U.S. Embassy in 1996, offered his services, and testified at a 2001 trial for the 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Africa [e]
Dead
- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi [r]: Killed in an airstrike in 2006, the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, who had previously run a separate organization [e]
- Abu Ubaida al Banjshiri [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Muhammad Atef [r]: Al-Qaeda military commander, killed by an air strike in Afghanistan in 2001 [e]
Unknown status
- Ahmed Said al-Khadr [r]: An Egyptian-Canadian al-Qaeda member, involved in finance and logistics, who may or may not have been killed in 2003 [e]
- Fazul Abdullah Mohammed [r]: Head of al-Qaeda operations in East Africa; might have been killed in 2007 but may be alive; indicted in 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Africa; if alive, may be working with al-Shabab in Somalia [e]
Allies
- Jemaah Islamiya [r]: A jihadist group in Southeast Asia, affiliated with al-Qaeda in the common goal of establishing a caliphate [e]
- Lillie [r]: A Malaysian associated with al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya, who is currently a High Value Detainee held at Guantanamo Bay detention camp [e]
- Hambali [r]: An Indonesian described as the operations chief for Jemaah Islamiya and the liaison to al-Qaida, a High Value Detainee in Guantanamo Bay detention camp [e]
- al-Shabab [r]: An Islamist group in Somalia, accused of having generic terrorism and specific al-Qaeda affiliations [e]
- Anwar al-Aulaqi [r]: An American-born radical Islamic cleric, now resident in Yemen, who has been associated with al-Qaeda and Hamas, and possibly the Fort Hood shooter [e]
Persons influencing the organization
- Abdullah Azzam [r]: A Salafist legal scholar and jihadist, who formed the Services Office supporting the Afghanistan War (1978-92) with Osama bin Laden, one of the organizations that formed al-Qaeda [e]
- Sayyid Qutb [r]: Born in 1906, radicalized in 1951, and executed in 1966, an influential theorist of Salafist revolutionary Islam; considered one of the two spiritual fathers of al-Qaeda and the mentor of Ayman al-Zawahiri [e]
- Gulbuddin Hekmatyar [r]: Afghan radical jihadist leader, not affiliated with the Taliban, at large in Afghanistan or Pakistan [e]
- Hassan al-Turabi [r]: A Sudanese political and Islamist leader, whose status has ranged from national leader to political prisoner, and has been affiliated with Islamist movements worldwide, often changing affiliation [e]
Techniques
- Clandestine cell system [r]: A method for organizing a group in such a way that it can more effectively resist penetration by an opposing organization. [e]
- Informal value transfer system [r]: Culturally-specific system of transferring money or other value through trusted intermediaries outside the banking system, and thus hidden from many techniques of financial intelligence collection [e]
- Encyclopedia of Jihad [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Manchester manual [r]: Add brief definition or description
Operations
Definite
- 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Africa [r]: Vehicle-borne suicide bomb attacks, conducted by al-Qaeda approximately nine minutes apart, on U.S. Embassies and civilian buildings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya on August 7, 1998 [e]
- USS Cole (DDG-67) [r]: A U.S. Navy destroyer of the Burke-class, which survived an al-Qaida suicide attack in 2000, by an explosive-filled boat in Aden, Yemen; she is back on duty after losing 17 sailors and undergoing lengthy repairs [e]
- Ahmed Shah Massoud [r]: Add brief definition or description
- 9-11 Attack [r]: The largest terrorist attack on the continental United States, occurring on September 11, 2001, using hijacked airliners as suicide weapons against major buildings [e]
Uncertain
Other related topics
- Afghanistan War (1978-92) [r]: A civil war in Afghanistan that matched the Soviet Union and its Afghan allies against a coalition of anti-Communist groups called the mujahideen, supported from the outside by the United States, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. [e]
- Afghanistan War (2001-) [r]: Beginning on October 7, 2001, in response to the 9-11 attacks, military operations against the Taliban and al-Qaeda by United States and NATO forces [e]
- Caliphate [r]: An Islamic form of government in which one person acts as head of state, head of government and head of religion; also the jurisdiction of such a government. [e]
- Distant enemy [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Great Satan [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Lesser Satan [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Muslim Brotherhood [r]: An Islamic political group, formed in Egypt and increasingly part of the political system there, which has worldwide branches; it may be moving from a Salafist ideology to a more mulilateral one [e]
- Near enemy [r]: Add brief definition or description}
- Taliban [r]: Salafist Islamic militia, governing Afghanistan 1996–2001; still fighting in Pakistan and Afghanistan. [e]
