Al-Qaida (Arab Al-Qāʿida the Base ) is a movement Islamiste Wahabite which was founded by Usama Bin Laden in 1987. Although Al-Qaida is the name most commonly used, the group was expressed in 2003 under the name of Qaedat Al-jihâd , “the base of the Jihâd” (RTL rear قَاعِدَة  ٱلْجِهَاد, qāʿidat Al-jihād ).

It was in a first place a military camp, then it then became a transnational organization against the western power in 1988.

Al-Qaida, of which the religious inspiration takes its roots in the ideology of Sayyid Qotb and Abdel Salam Faraj, an activist kharidjite, has in fact evolved/moved starting from the organization Maktab Al-Khadamāt which was founded in the Années 1980 by Usama Bin Laden, thanks to multiple gifts coming from the Islamic countries and of the government of the the United States. These countries wished to finance, recruit and form Moudjahiddin S within the framework of the first war of Afghanistan, to feed Afghan resistance against the Soviet until their withdrawal in 1989.

Al-Qaida considers that the Western governments, with at their head that of the United States, interfere in the interior matters of the Islamic nations and this, in the interest of the Western companies. This movement thus resorts to the Terrorisme to make hear its claims. The most resounding terrorist operation allotted to Al-Qaida is that carried out on the American ground the September 11th, 2001. Then the Attentats come of May 16th, 2003 to Casablanca, Attentats of March 11th, 2004 in Madrid, those of the July 7th, 2005 in London and those of the April 11th, 2007 in Algiers which were asserted by Organization Al-Qaïda in the Islamic Maghreb (in the past GSPC).

Al-Qaida history

Al-Qaida evolved/moved of the Maktab Al-Khadamāt (MAK), an organization Moudjahiddin E of resistance against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the Années 1980. It was founded by Usama Bin Laden with the Palestinian militant Abdoullah Azzam, and the guarantee of the US government which deploys during this time a policy interventionist in all the countries “threatened” by Communism (in particular by the establishment of modes anticommunists in Latin America and Central, but also in Greece, one decade before). Towards the end of the Soviet occupation, much of Moudjahiddin S wanted to extend their operations to include the islamist fights in other areas of the world. A certain number of organizations related to Al-Qaida were formed to this end.

Al-Qaida one of those, was founded by Usama Bin Laden in 1988. “The Al-Qaida” name does not come from the movement itself but was given by the government of the the United States according to the name of a file on the computer of Bin Laden who listed the names of the contacts that it had within the MAK. Bin Laden wished to extend the conflict to operations not-soldiers in other parts of the world; Azzam, on the other hand, wanted to remain concentrated on the military campaigns. After Azzam was killed in 1989, the MAK divided and a significant part of its members joined the organization of Bin Laden.

Since the other parts of the world were often not implied in an open war like Afghanistan under the Soviet occupation, the passage of the MAK with Al-Qaida implied more formation in the terrorist tactics. Other organizations were formed, including by Usama Bin Laden, to carry out various types of terrorist activities in different countries.

After the Soviet Union had left the Afghanistan, Usama Bin Laden turned over in Saudi Arabia while Al-Qaida continued its operations of drive in Afghanistan. He decided against the Saoudi government during the war of Kuwait and was encouraged to leave the country. In 1991, it settled with the Sudan, whereas the Islamic government of the country was to deal with civil war. In 1996, it was expelled of Sudan after a possible participation in an attempted murder on the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Usama Bin Laden turned over then to Afghanistan with some of its Sudanese employees.

The camps of Al-Qaida drive formed of the thousands of islamist militants throughout the world; some applied later their drive in various conflicts in the world as in Algérie, in Chetchnia, with the Filipino , in Egypt, Indonesia, with the Tadjikistan, in Somalia, with the Yemen, the Kosovo and in Bosnia-Herzégovine.

For its financing, it profited from sometimes astonishing supports like that of the organization " caritative" International Islamic Relief Organization.

In February 1998, Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri of the Islamic Jihad Egyptian published a report entitled “the world Islamic front for the Jihad against the Jews and the Crusaders”, proclaiming that it was the duty of any Moslems to kill the American citizens, that they are civil or soldiers, and their allies everywhere in the world.

The July 10th 2005, Abou Abd Al-Aziz, a lieutenant of Al-Qaida was stopped with Baghdad, after a raid of the American army. According to the American staff, Abou Abd Al-Aziz was “ a leader of an terrorist cell in Baghdad as well as a person in charge of the operations for Al-Qaida in Iraq ”.

The July 14th 2005, Khamis Farhan Khalaf Abed Al-Fahdawi, alias Abou Sheba, was stopped with Ramadi in Iraq. It belonged to network Al-Qaida in Iraq. One suspected it of being responsible for the assassination of Ihab Al-Chérifet, person in charge Egyptian, as well as diplomat of Bahrain.

In January 2006, its Iraqi branch takes part in the foundation of the Advisory counsel of Moudjahedines in Iraq.

The June 7th 2006, the chief of Al-Quaida in Iraq Abou Moussab Zarqaoui is killed during a Raid air American.

However, it reigns a great confusion on the Al-Qaida nature even. Sometimes depicted as a structured terrorist organization whose Usama Bin Laden would be the chief, sometimes like a nebula of movements djihadists or like a network of independent terrorist cells, no one is not able to define the structure of Al-Qaida clearly. Never Usama Bin Laden or one of its close relations did not refer at the end “Al-Qaida” at the time of their interventions.

Al-Qaida is not a real organization, it is a name which was given and which was taken again thereafter by the group of Bin Laden.

Supposed Al-Qaida terrorist activities

Al-Qaida is suspected of being responsible for the bomb attacks on the embassies of the the United States for Nairobi (Kenya) and Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) in August 1998, killing more than 300 people and wounding more: 5000 others. Al-Qaida had also projected attacks against the tourists Israeli states-uniens and visiting the Jordan at the time of the celebrations of the millenium; however the Jordanian authorities thwarted the attacks envisaged and put in examination 28 suspects. Al-Qaida also tried an attack with the bomb with the airport of Los Angeles during the holidays of the millenium, but the carrier of the bomb was stopped at the Canadian border .

Al-Qaida affirms to have cut down helicopters and soldiers states-uniens in Somalia in 1993, and also asserts to have carried out three Bombardement S targeting of the troops states-uniennes to Aden (Yemen) in December 1992. Undoubtedly implied in the bomb attacks of the World Trade Center in 1993 and against the military personnel with Dhahran (Saudi Arabia), it is also suspected of being responsible for the bomb attack against the Destroyer states-unien US Adhesive in October 2000. Most destroying of the actions allotted to Al-Qaida is the series of attacks on the the United States of the September 11th, 2001, an attack that the spokesperson of the group, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith would have asserted on a video largely diffused in October 2001.

The January 6th 1995, the plan Opération Bojinka was stopped.

Several attacks and attempts at attacks since the September 11th, 2001 were allotted to Al-Qaida, including the attack missed with the shoe trapped by Richard Reid (which was declared in favor of Usama Bin Laden), the attack against the synagog of Jerba in Tunisia, and of the assassination attempts in Jordan, Indonesia, with the Morocco and Singapore. The network moreover was implied in the removal and the murder of the journalist of the Wall Street Journal Daniel Pearl and was suspecté of complicity in the bomb attack of a nightclub with Bali, in Indonesia.

In September and October 2001, following the discovery of a Plan of terrorist attack of the embassy from the USA in Paris of the suspects were stopped.

The December 23rd 2001, Richard Reid tried to explode the Vol 63 of American Airlines. It was controlled and stopped.

In 2002, the Al-Qaida members have bombarded Limburg with the Yemen.

Al-Qaida has a world network of influence, with cells in a certain number of countries and close links with the networks extremists sunnites. Bin Laden and her lieutenants found refuge in Afghanistan under the mode of the Taliban S in the Années 1990. The group had a great number of camps of drive over there, and at the end of the Années 1990 the Talibans themselves became indeed subordinates with Al-Qaida. Since the attack of the the United States, members of the group are suspectés to flee towards the tribal zones of the Pakistan, in the North-western province and the Balouchistan.

Al-Qaida maintains the very close relationships to many other Islamic terrorist organizations as the group indonésien extremist Jemaah Islamiyah.

The specialists in the organization affirm that the not hierarchical structure of the Al-Qaida network is at the same time its force and its weakness. Indeed, the decentralized structure makes it possible Al-Qaida to have a world base; however, the actions implying an high degree of organization, as the attacks of the September 11th, take many time and efforts to be implemented. The efforts of the United States to disturb the Al-Qaida organization were partial successes. The attacks conducted by Al-Qaida since then indeed were simpler, implying less people.

The Safety advice of the United Nations decided unanimously the January 16th 2002 to establish an embargo and to freeze the capital of Usama Bin Laden and Taliban S remainders.

List attacks allotted to Al-Qaida or Abu Sayyaf

  • February 26th 1993 (the United States): An attack with the explosive with the World Trade Center of New York makes six dead and a thousand of casualties.
  • November 13rd 1995 (Saudi Arabia): A car bomb explodes with Riyadh, in front of a building of the Saoudi National guard, killing five American soldiers and two Indians.
  • June 25th 1996 (Saudi Arabia): A trapped truck explodes at the entry of the American base of Khobar, close to Dahran, making 19 dead (all Americans) and nearly 400 wounded.
  • August 7th 1998 (Kenya and Tanzania): Two car bombs explode close to the American embassies of Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam, making on the whole 224 dead (including 12 Americans) and of the thousands of casualties.
  • October 12th 2000 (Yemen): 17 killed American soldiers and 38 wounded in an attack commits suicide against the US American destroyer Sticks to Aden ().
  • September 11th, 2001 (the United States): Four airliners are diverted. Two are launched against the twin towers from the World Trade Center in New York and the third against the Pentagone with Washington. The fourth plane is crushed in Pennsylvania before reaching its target. The assessment of this series of attacks is of approximately: 3000 dead.
  • 2002
    • April 11th (Tunisia): 21 people (of which 14 Germans) are killed in a attack-suicide against the Synagog of Ghriba to Jerba.
    • May 8th (Pakistan): A attack-suicide with the car bomb against a bus transporting of the employees of the Direction of naval constructions (DCN) French fact 14 dead (including 11 French).
    • October 6th (Yemen): an attack with broad of Yemen against the French tanker '' Limburg '' causes the death of one of its team members.
    • October 12th (Indonesia): An car bomb attack against a discotheque with Bali makes 202 dead and 300 wounded, mainly of the Australian tourists.
    • November 28th (Kenya): 18 people are killed in a attack-suicide against a hotel of Mombasa. The same day, a plane Israélien escapes the shooting from two missiles at the time of its takeoff of Mombasa.
  • 2003
    • May 12th (Saudi Arabia): Triple attack-suicide in Riyadh, perpetrated by 15 kamikazes in a residential complex, makes 35 dead and 194 wounded.
    • May 16th (Morocco - Casablanca): a series of suicide bombings per explosion uttered in more the big city of Morocco, killing 26 people. (see Attack Casablanca)
    • August 5th (Indonesia): A attack-suicide with the van trapped against the American hotel Marriott with Jakarta makes 12 dead and 150 wounded.
    • November 8th (Saudi Arabia): A attack-suicide with the car bomb in a residential complex of the western suburbs of Riyadh makes 17 dead and a hundred casualties.
    • November 12th (Iraq): An attack with the truck trapped against an Italian military base with Nassiriyah makes 28 dead (including 19 Italy NS).
    • November 16th (Turkey): A double murder with the car bomb against two Synagog S of Istanbul makes 25 dead and more than 300 wounded.
  • 2004
    • March 11th (Spain): They are 191 people who perished and: 1500 which was wounded on board suburban trains of the Madrid capital, this attack constitutes the most important terrorist act ever which has occurred in Europe.
    • May 28th (Saudi Arabia): Twenty-two died after the attack given against of the Al-Qaida alleged members who retained since the day before about fifty people as an hostage in a building of a residential complex.
  • 2005
    • July 7th, 2005 in London asserted in the name of mark Al-Qaida but its degree of implication is the subject always of an investigation whereas there exist many indirect pieces of evidence according to a British parliamentary report of May 12th, 2006.
    • July 23rd: Attacks at Charm el-Cheikh. The assessment of 88 died.
    • September 14th: Al-Qaida asserts eleven attacks, in the same day, with Baghdad to avenge the sunnites killed at the time of the Bataille of Tall Afar: 150 died and 230 wounded.
  • 2007
    • April 11th (Algeria): Al-Qaida asserts a double murder commits suicide in Algiers aiming at the palate of the Government and the police station of Bab Ezzouar, which made 33 died and 57 wounded.
    • In the night from September 8th to 9th 2007, two attacks strike the localities Algérie born Dellys and Batna and make at least 52 dead and 147 wounded. They are asserted by Al-Qaida.

List main leaders

Regional chiefs or emirs

Former chiefs

The United States and Al-Qaida

Terrorism like means of answer

The adversaries of the actions carried out by the Western the United States and countries to the the Middle East and in the world support that the actions of the US government (and its Israeli ally) caused a strong opposition among the Arab and Moslem people, and that terrorism is the ultimate stage of the reactions which result from it. According to them, these actions are in particular:

  • the support of the the United States for the State of Israel (because of its occupation of the the West Bank, the plate of Golan in Syria, and the still occupied farms of Shebaa in Lebanon);
  • the support of the the United States to some Dictator S of the the Middle East, of which Saddam Hussein during the war Iran - Iraq between 1980 and 1988;
  • the apparently erroneous Bombardment by the the United States of a pharmaceutical factory to the Sudan in 1997 followed by an embargo on essential medical products resulting in the death of several thousands of people;
  • the use of the Saoudi bases by the allied forces attacking the Iraq in 1991 (with the invitation of Saudi Arabia). Birthplace of the Islam, the Arab peninsula is regarded as Holy Land for the Moslems of which some estimate that the presence of unbelievers in this place is contrary with Islam;
  • the Bombardement S of the Iraq, under the terms of the resolutions of the the United Nations, by the the United States and the the United Kingdom between 1991 and the war in Iraq of 2003 and that much thus regards as illegal.

The thesis of the “creation” of Al-Qaida by the United States

Political officials and journalists, like certain citizens, evoke the fact that the existence even of Al-Qaida would be due to the support of the the United States and the drive given to the Moudjahiddin S Afghan combatant the Soviet invasion between 1979 and 1989.

It is also to note that at the time of the war of Afghanistan and the Afghan civil war, the military regime Pakistan board was used as intermediary for the supply of part of the Afghan armament to the combatants S whose Commander Massoud, but also Islamiste S Taliban S. This armament came mainly from the the United States. The Pakistan thereafter continued to support the Taliban S, once those with the capacity in Afghanistan, to have a strategic depth vis-a-vis the India and to infiltrate the Indian Cachemire.

Moreover, the idea could emerge that the the United States, perhaps carried by some lobbies of the Complexe militaro-industrialist, nostalgic of the Cold war, saw a means there of redefining an enemy, with Al-Qaida (Islamisme in the role which the Soviet Union occupied (Communisme).

Since September 11th, 2001, and pending the opening of the files, there can be a possible doubt as for the interests of the American presidency in the " war against the terreur". Thus, of many reports, press articles, documentary of cinema, works, Internet sites, give the potential bonds between the activities of the Groupe Carlyle, whose are members many American like the former president and father of current the George Bush or foreign personalities like John Major, former British Prime Minister, other conglomerates of oil industry, such Halliburton, the ideas propagated by the Rebuilding America' S Defenses written by the Think tank Néoconservateur Project for the New American Century, and the government of George W. Bush.

At present, Bin Laden was still not stopped…

For assumptions " barbouzardes" :

According to Leonide Chebarchine, former assistant editor of the KGB, Al-Qaida would be a creation of the United States and Usama Bin Laden would never have ceased being an agent of the CIA.

According to Maloy Krishna Dhar, former assistant editor of the Indian information, Al-Qaida would have been organized by the Pakistani ISI at the request of the CIA and the MI6.

These two aspects which are not excluded are in the middle of the analyzes carried out by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed and Webster G. Tarpley.

According to David Shayler, an old agent of the MI6, the British secret services would have had recourse to the men of Bin Laden to carry out certain operations. Al-Qaida would in particular have been paid by the British Crown to assassinate Mouammar Kadhafi.

According to Seymour Hersh, Jewish journalist working for The New Yorker and which had already made burst the scandal of the prison Abou Grahib, in a conference with the Cairo explains that: Dick Cheney, Elliott Abrams (already bathed in the scandal of the Iran Countered) and the Saoudi prince Bandar Ben Saoud continues to finance members of network Al-Qaida, in secret operations with the Lebanon and in Iran (two countries with majority Shiite, the sunnism are not recognized like religious minority in Iran), aiming at destabilizing these two countries while pushing with interdenominational fights. They would also push Iran with an operation which would give a reason to its attack by the United States.

Consequences of the Al-Qaida actions

According to the geostrategist Gerard Chaliand, Islamic terrorism, is only a epiphenomene which although strongly mobilizing the Médias and the public opinion does not have consequences on the course of the Histoire.

Indeed, that it is by the finally tiny human losses caused in comparison with wars between States, of mobilized manpower or the political consequences (no Arab mode evolved/moved in the direction wanted by Al-Qaida), its action has only null or quasi-null consequences, with the manner of the terrorist anarchists of the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, now fallen into the lapse of memory.

Antoine Sfeir has a close analysis, according to him Bin Laden already failed and will not succeed in its principal project which is to gather the essence of the Muslim world of the the Maghreb to the Machrek in a recreated Califat gathering all the believers.

The consequences seem rather indirect and the fact of the security policies or the quarrelsome attitudes justified by the need for fighting against the " threaten terroriste".

See too

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