 |
| Muhsin al
Fadhli, who is said to be al Qaeda's new leader inside Iran. |
By Thomas Joscelyn - February 15, 2012 - LWJ
A notorious Kuwaiti terrorist named Muhsin al Fadhli has
reportedly taken over leadership of al Qaeda's network inside Iran.
Sky News reports
that al Fadhli assumed the top post in al Qaeda's Iran franchise
after Yasin al Suri, who has headed the network for years, was placed
under "protective custody" following his exposure by US
authorities.
In July 2011, the US Treasury Department designated al Suri and
several other al Qaeda operatives who use Iranian soil to move funds
and recruits from Gulf countries to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and
elsewhere. The Treasury Department said that this network operates as
part of a "secret deal" between al Qaeda and the Iranian
government. In December 2011, US authorities announced that they were
offering a $10 million reward for information leading to al Suri's
capture. [See
LWJ reports,
Treasury
targets Iran's 'secret deal' with al Qaeda and
US
offers $10 million reward for Iran-based al Qaeda financier.]
It was this increased scrutiny, according to intelligence sources
cited by
Sky News, that led to al Suri's replacement.
Al Fadhli is an especially effective al Qaeda operative who was
designated by the US Treasury Department in 2005. Al Fadhli "is
considered an al Qaeda leader in the Gulf countries" and "fought
alongside the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan where he served as
a bodyguard and second-in-command for an al Qaeda leader," the
Treasury Department explained at the time. Al Fadhli "also
fought against Russian forces in Chechnya, where he trained in the
use of firearms, antiaircraft guns and explosives."
Al Fadhli has long been an elite member of al Qaeda. In early
September 2001, Treasury explained, he "possibly received
forewarning that US interests would be struck." The Sept. 11
operation was compartmentalized and only select members of the
network received advance notice.
Among other nefarious activities, al Fadhli has been a key money
man for al Qaeda. According to the Treasury Department's press
release in 2005, al Fadhli's "support for terrorism extends to
Iraq where he is believed to be providing support to fighters against
US and multinational forces and is considered a major facilitator
connected to the brutal terrorist, Abu Musab al Zarqawi."
 |
| Yasin al Suri,
al Qaeda's leader in Iran who was reportedly placed under
"protective custody." |
Al Fadhli even "requested that tapes be made showing evidence
of successful attacks in Iraq" so that he could "solidify
the support of key financial backers sponsoring attacks."
Al Fadhli's dossier does not end there. Even before he assisted al
Qaeda in Iraq's efforts, al Fadhli was involved in both the Oct. 6,
2002 attack on the French ship MV Limburg and the Oct. 8, 2002 attack
against US Marines stationed on Kuwait's Faylaka Island. One Marine
was killed during the Faylaka Island shootout.
An al Qaeda operative named Muhammad al Hamati called al Fadhli
"in the wake of the attack on the MV LIMBURG, informing him that
the first operation on the French oil tanker had been completed,"
according to the Treasury Department.
An al Qaeda cell responsible for the 2009 plot against Camp
Arifjan, a US military installation in Kuwait, also had ties to al
Fadhli. That cell was broken up by Kuwaiti authorities before it
could launch an attack.
Al Fadhli was a leader of the so-called "Peninsula Lions
Brigade," a group of more than three dozen terrorists
responsible for the Faylaka Island attack and other plots. He was
tried in 2005, in absentia, along with other members of the brigade.
In fact, al Fadhli has been tried, acquitted, and retried by Kuwaiti
courts on various terrorism charges multiple times.
At one
point, al Fadhli was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in prison.
In a separate case, according to a leaked State Department cable
written in June 2005, al Fadhli was charged with involvement in al
Qaeda's October 2000 USS Cole bombing. That attack was carried out by
the same network that bombed the MV Limburg, with help from al
Fadhli, two years later.
Although al Fadhli has long been wanted for his al Qaeda role, it
is unclear how many charges he was ultimately convicted of in Kuwait.
One leaked State Department cable notes "the difficulties in
prosecuting Kuwaiti terror financier Muhsin al Fadhli as an example
of the dangers inherent in a lack of proper terror finance
legislation" inside Kuwait.
Al Fadhli's presence in Iran has long been known. The
Arab
Times reported
in 2009 that Kuwaiti officials were interrogating an al Qaeda
recruiter known as "MS" for his involvement in "luring
... youths to fight Jihad against the foreign forces in Afghanistan."
The man known as MS reportedly told officials he had met with al
Fadhli "several times" and that al Fadhli "lives along
the Iran-Afghanistan border."
I
n Kuwait, al Fadhli was closely tied to Sulaiman Abu Gaith, who
served for a time as Osama bin Laden's spokesman. Abu Gaith received
safe haven inside Iran after the Sept. 11 attacks, but was placed
under a loose form of house arrest in 2003. In 2010, the Iranians
reportedly freed Abu Gaith from his lax confinement and he may have
made his way to Pakistan. [See
LWJ report,
Osama
bin Laden's spokesman freed by Iran.]
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| Adel Radi Saker
al Wahabi al Harbi, Muhsin al Fadhli's deputy. |
|
|
|
Kuwaiti and US authorities are not the only ones interested in
detaining al Fadhli. Saudi authorities have long targeted him as
well. The man
Sky News named as al Fadhli's deputy inside
Iran, Adel Radi Saker al Wahabi al Harbi, is among Saudi Arabia's
most wanted suspected terrorists.
No "specific" details of terrorist plotting
Sky News cited anonymous intelligence officials who
believe a terrorist plot involving al Fadhli and al Qaeda's network
in Iran may be afoot. Al Qaeda's emir, Ayman al Zawahiri, is
reportedly interested in launching a mass casualty attack as
retaliation for the killing of Osama bin Laden. However, the details
of this putative plot are sketchy.
"We do know that an
operation is under way. We assess that the most likely target is to
be European. And the most obvious target in Europe for an attack that
would attract a lot of attention would be the Olympic Games," a
source told
Sky News. Iran is reportedly providing training
in explosives, safe haven, and funding for the operatives involved.
A secret intelligence memo shown to
Sky News reads:
"Against the background of intensive co-operation over recent
months between Iran and al Qaeda - with a view to conducting a joint
attack against Western targets overseas... Iran has significantly
stepped up its investment, maintenance and improvement of operational
and intelligence ties with the al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan in
recent months."
The memo adds that al Fadhli's deputy, al Harbi, "is
considered an extremely dangerous field operative; he has fought in
the Afghanistan and Pakistan theatres."
The intelligence sources cited by
Sky News explained,
however, that they lacked "specific" intelligence on al
Qaeda's planning. It appears that the report is speculative when it
comes to the details of the putative al Qaeda plot.
That said, Iran has provided safe haven to al Qaeda operatives
known to be targeting the West. Members of an al Qaeda cell that was
plotting Mumbai-style attacks on European cities are known to be
currently living in Iran. [See
LWJ report,
Leaders
of German al Qaeda cell living in Iran.]
Iran has provided assistance to al Qaeda in its operations before
-- not just in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also elsewhere. As the 9/11
Commission and US courts have previously found, al Qaeda's 1998
embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania were modeled after Iran's and
Hezbollah's operations in Lebanon in 1983 and 1984. While living in
Sudan in the early 1990s, Osama bin Laden approached Iran and
Hezbollah, asking for their assistance in executing attacks similar
to the 1983 bombing of the US Marine Barracks which had led to the
withdrawal of American forces from Lebanon.
Iran and Hezbollah
agreed to help, providing training to al Qaeda operatives in camps in
Lebanon and Iran. Among the trainees were al Qaeda members who would
later plot the embassy bombings. [See
LWJ report,
DC
court: Iran showed al Qaeda how to bomb embassies.]
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