Al Qaeda Group Threatens to Attack World Cup

[mukumsplau]

The North African terror group al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has threatened to attack this summer's World Cup games in South Africa.

"How amazing could the match United States vs. Britain be when broadcasted live on air at a stadium packed with spectators when the sound of an explosion rumbles through the stands, the whole stadium is turned upside down and the number of dead bodies are in their dozens and hundreds, Allah willing," reads a statement the group published in a recent issue of the Jihadi online magazine Mushtaqun Lel Jannah (Longing to Paradise).

The statement also highlights recent actions by the terrorism group such as the December suicide bombing that killed seven CIA employees and a Jordanian agent at a base in Eastern Afghanistan last December and the Christmas Day bombing attempt that resulted in the arrest of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who has been cooperating with the FBI and providing information about his contacts in Yemen and the al Qaeda affiliate that operates there.

Special Report: The Christmas Day Terror Attack

"Al Qaeda, who managed to deliver 50 grams of explosives to the Detroit plane, after infiltrating dozens of U.S. security barriers, al Qaeda, who enabled brother martyr Abul Kheir (Abdullah Asiri) to get into the palace of Mohammed bin Nayef, al Qaeda, who humiliated the world's greatest intelligence apparatus through the operation of Mujahid Abu Dujana al-Khorassani (Humam al-Balawi), who shattered the pride of the CIA and the Jordanian intelligence combined," the statement says. "Al Qaeda will have a presence in the games, Allah willing."

In addition to the U.S. and U.K. teams, the teams representing France, Germany and Italy are also on the group's list of targets.

"All those countries are part of the Zionist-Crusader campaign against Islam," the statement says.

The group says they will use some undetectable explosive that will be able to circumvent security checkpoints at the games. The statement appears to directly challenge FIFA's president Joseph Blatter.

"All the security checks and X-ray machines that America will be sending after reading this article would not be capable of detecting how those explosives made it into the stadium and that for a simple reason that we will be announcing in due course," the statement says. "So are your preparations for this event up to scratch, Mr. Platter? (sic)"

South Africa had announced last October that its security forces had foiled an al Qaeda plot to carry out a terrorist attack during the 2010 football World Cup. According to reports published then, South Africa's National Intelligence Agency, senior police forces and American agents jointly conducted the operation, which led to the arrest of a number of suspects linked to the group in Somalia and Mozambique working on a plot to carry out bomb attacks during the games.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20001940-503543.html

[Bourbon]

Good grief. More ting to worry bout in dis tournament.

[asylumseeker]

Mek dem gwarn man ... surefire way to alienate nuff ppl one time.

[E-man]

Iraq official alleges Qaeda plotted World Cup attack
Muhanad Mohammed (Reuters)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces have arrested a Saudi al-Qaeda member who an official said on Monday was involved in a plot to attack next month's World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa.

Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi gave no details and offered no evidence for the claim and it was not possible to verify it.

The detention of the Saudi national comes at a time when already frosty relations between Sunni Muslim power Saudi Arabia and now Shi'ite Muslim-led Iraq are under additional strains.

Moussawi's allegation about a Saudi's involvement in a plot against the World Cup came after former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal accused Iraq's prime minister of hijacking the country's March election.

Moussawi, who reports to the prime minister's office, said Abdullah Azzam al-Qahtani was a former Saudi army lieutenant.

"He was planning to bomb the holy shrines in Najaf and Kerbala," Moussawi told a news conference in Baghdad.

"And he was planning a terrorist act in South Africa during the World Cup based on plans issued by the central al Qaeda terrorist organization in coordination with Osama bin Laden's first assistant, Ayman al-Zawahri."

Calls to Moussawi seeking more details were not answered. U.S. military officials in Iraq had no knowledge of the allegations, nor did U.S. intelligence officials in Washington.

In South Africa, police spokesman Colonel Vishnu Naidoo said the first that police heard about the claims was in media reports out of Iraq. "The police will investigate the allegations and we will check with the authorities that apprehended the suspect," Naidoo said.

South Africa is the first African country to host the World Cup, which takes place June 11-July 11.

South African officials have said in the past that no particular terrorist threat had been identified but that there could be risks to teams known to be a target of extremists.

Africa's biggest economy has one of the highest rates of murder and rape in the world and 41,000 police will focus on protecting foreign and local fans against criminals in one of the world's most violent countries outside a war zone.

ICEY RELATIONS

Moussawi did not say why it took more than two weeks to announce Qahtani's capture. But it came two days after the Saudi criticism of his boss.

According to reports, Saudi Prince Faisal on Saturday reproached Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and warned in a speech of spiraling violence as U.S. troops prepare to leave by an end-2011 deadline.

"Adding to the brutal mayhem taking place there, we are watching a deliberate effort on the part of the incumbent Prime Minister, Mr. Nuri al-Maliki, to hijack the results of the elections and deny the Iraqi people their legitimately elected government," he said, according to the online Wall Street Journal.

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Maliki's Shi'ite-led government have been difficult.

Saudi Arabia views Shi'ite Iran's growing influence in Iraq since Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein was ousted in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion with suspicion. For his part, Maliki has often accused unnamed Gulf Arab countries of supporting Sunni Islamist insurgents who still kill hundreds of Iraqis every month.

The flow of foreign fighters into Iraq, many of whom were Saudis at the height of the sectarian bloodshed, has slowed dramatically, U.S. military officials say.

Moussawi said Qahtani was previously arrested by U.S. forces in 2007 and released in 2009.

He said Qahtani participated in attacks against hotels in Baghdad in January and took part in a car bomb attack on a police forensics lab.

(Additional reporting by Peroshni Govender in Johannesburg and Adam Entous in Washington; Writing by Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Michael Christie)

[truetrini]

BAGHDAD – Iraqi security forces have detained an al-Qaida militant suspected of planning an attack targeting the World Cup in South Africa next month, an official said Monday.

Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for Baghdad security services, said Abdullah Azam Saleh al-Qahtani was an officer in the Saudi army. He is suspected of planning a "terrorist act" in South Africa during the World Cup beginning June 11, al-Moussawi told a news conference in Baghdad.

He said al-Qahtani entered Iraq in 2004 and is suspected in several attacks in the capital and elsewhere in the country.

In South Africa, a police spokesman said Iraq has not notified them of the arrest.

"We have not received any official reports from them," Vish Naidoo told The Associated Press. "Whatever arrest they made there, they know, we don't know anything about it."

Earlier Monday, South African police paraded fire engines, armored carriers and other vehicles through Johannesburg to show they were ready to secure the country for the World Cup.
"South Africa will be hosting the whole world, and therefore will take no chances," Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said.

In Iraq, attacks blamed on al-Qaida have continued despite the killing last month of the group's two top figures in a U.S.-assisted military operation.

On Monday, assailants disguised in Iraqi military uniforms beheaded a Sunni cleric and stuck his head on an electricity pole in the town where he preached against al-Qaida, the cleric's son and Iraqi police said.

The son of the cleric Abdullah Jassim Shakour told The Associated Press the gunmen wearing military uniforms came to the family house in the town of Sadiyah north of Baghdad, took his father into a room, killed him and walked away with his head.

The family found the headless body in the house, said the son, Mohammed. When they went to report the killing to the police, they saw his head on an electric pole in the center of the town.
"I was sleeping and screams from the street woke me up," said one of the victim's neighbors. "When I stepped out of my house, I saw the head of the cleric on the top of the pole."

The neighbor spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity out of fear of the militants. He also said the cleric was known for speaking against al-Qaida and called on worshippers to fight the militant group during last Friday's prayer.

A police official confirmed that four gunmen stormed the house in the morning and beheaded him. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Insurgents have often used Iraqi uniforms to disguise themselves during attacks. The uniforms are widely available in Iraq.

Violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically over the past few years, though Sunnis who have revolted against al-Qaida in Iraq or are perceived as cooperating with the Shiite-led government are often targeted.
_____
Associated Press Writer Donna Bryson contributed to this report from Johannesburg.