Report by Muhammad al-Shafi'i in London: "Al-Qa'ida Instructions: Do Not Write Real Names; Torturing Hostages is Admissible; An Internet Site Exlains Sabotage, Bombing, and Assassination Methods; A Full Chapter on Chemical and Germ Warfare"

(FBIS Translated Text) All of a sudden and without advance warning, all fundamentalist groups and individuals from every corner in the world have flocked after the September 11th events to the Internet to communicate with each others and express their views vis- -vis the US raids on Afghanistan.

There isn't a single fundamentalist movement with real existence on the ground and a site on the Internet that has not sided with al-Qa'ida and its leader Usama Bin Ladin. Among the sites that have been supporting the Taliban since the start of the war on 7 October is the "Jihad On Line" site, so much so that the Islamists themselves considered the site the official trumpet of Bin Ladin, the main suspect in the terrorist attacks against the United States.

A site called "Sawa'iq al-Haqq" (Thunderbolts of right) includes a number of surprises. Most significant of all is a collection of all Bin Ladin's speeches since September 11th. The most recent addition is a special training course on explosives that teaches the reader in simple language how to make time bombs and booby traps and how to detonate the enemy command centers ahead of military operations. The site also provides information on sabotage operations that could be mounted, such as poisoning drinking water, planting explosive devices on roadsides, handling multiple detonating systems using electric detonators, and using hand grenades to prepare booby-trapped letters.

The fundamentalist encyclopedia on military operations that is available on CDs includes tactics to overcome an enemy in guerilla warfare, use biological weapons to create panic among enemy ranks, and manufacture bombs locally using simple tools that could be bought from any store. The authors of the encyclopedia relied on experience gained from 10 years of war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. They dedicated the encyclopedia to Abu-Abdallah Usama Bin Ladin, Shaykh Abdallah Azzam, founder of the "services" office, which constituted the nucleus for al-Qa'ida in Peshawar. Azzam died by a car bomb in the mid-80s.

The site (not further specified) invites visitors upon entry to visit a chapter that teaches how to make explosives by using the following sentence: "We want deeds, not words. What counts is implementation."

The site includes articles and analytical studies that serve the cause of Bin Ladin's supporters and a daily flow of news prepared by the Center of Islamic Studies and Research, which is the official spokesman of the former Taliban Movement. People in charge of the center imagine that the war is still continuing. They claim that the battles between the Taliban forces and remnants of al-Qa'ida on one hand and the US troops on the other are still in progress.

Seven Types of Training

There are at least seven types of training in al-Qa'ida Organization, including training on Shari'ah and jihad, explosives, advanced training on bombing, the use of light arms, assassinations (using chemical substances, poisons, and drugs), hand-to-hand combat, physical fitness, combat principles, gathering of intelligence on targets, and communications. Some individuals have been sent to specialized schools and colleges to receive training on electronics and aviation.

The encyclopedia provides little information on religious education to al-Qa'ida members but many details on psychological and physical preparations to carry out military operations. It contains four chapters on the use of various types of rifles and RPGs, a full chapter on first aid, and detailed drawings on how to kill someone by hitting him on the neck.

The encyclopedia contains charts to explain how to destroy bridges and roads using explosives. It also features some topographic information and directions on how to locate sites using the stars. The encyclopedia also talks about propaganda war and the dissemination of misleading information about al-Qa'ida Organization and its future operations.

Training on explosives includes identification of the various types of explosives and how they are manufactured and used. It also features instructions on how to mix chemicals and turn dynamite into powder and how to identify the various types of explosives, such as hand grenades, antipersonnel, antitank, and anti-truck mines, and rockets. According to a witness, this training takes 15 days while the more advanced training courses on explosives take 45-60 days.

Information on a Need-To-Know Basis

The person responsible for the "security and intelligence" chapter says that the "group that fails to conduct a security check on its personnel covering the social, intellectual, and security aspects once every six months is doomed to failure and extinction." He cites many Koranic verses, from the story of Prophet Solomon, as well as Islamic tradition to prove the admissibility of intelligence gathering.

He notes that intelligence gathering is vitally essential for planning and combat because leaders must obtain as much information as possible on the enemy in terms of his armament, capabilities, movement, and intentions in order for the planning to be sound.

The person who compiled the data on security and intelligence cites 27 qualifications that an intelligence person must possess from a fundamentalist viewpoint. Most importantly, this person must be able to distinguish between reality and illusion and between what is necessary and what is unnecessary in terms of information. He must demonstrate blind obedience to his commander or amir and as much as possible to avoid letting people know that he is a security person. Furthermore, he must be very observant and alert to any changes that his eyes might detect.

The fundamentalist encyclopedia advises al-Qa'ida personnel to change their daily routine while engaged in their clandestine activity in enemy land. For instance, they must change the time they leave and return, avoid going to a restaurant or caf at a specific hour, try not to talk in a loud voice, remember that to a security person loud voice is a stigma, and observe the rule that information must be handled on a need-to-know basis. For instance, do not use real names in your notebook. Try to use coded names so that if the notebook falls into the hands of security personnel from the other side it will not cause harm. The encyclopedia describes how to prepare 15 types of laboratory ink, which could be obtained from school labs or medical centers. According to the fundamentalists' encyclopedia, a clandestine activity cell comprises four sections: Intelligence, supply, planning and preparation, and implementation.

Explosives Are the Safest Type of Weapons

The fundamentalists' encyclopedia teaches al-Qa'ida Organization members various military tactics as well as security precautions that they must take to be able to carry out their operations precisely and safely. For instance, the first chapter says that explosives represent the safest type of weapons because they enable a fighter to escape from enemy hands and avoid detention. They also instill panic and fear in the hearts of the enemy. In a lesson entitled "assassinations through poisoning and knives, a guide explains how to kill using knives, ropes, non-sharp objects, and even spraying with chemical liquids.

The tenth lesson provides few drawings on how to gather information on a specific target prior to assassination, such as his name, age, address, work, the routes that he takes, how he spends his free time, where he shops, and most important of all how to "sneak into his home."

In a different section, the encyclopedia talks about instructions on how to hit and kill hostages with knives and sharp tools. It notes that some clerics have permitted the torture of hostages, particularly those who withhold information and secrets from their own people.

Among the important data in the encyclopedia is the fact that it urges married members not to talk to their wives about their jihad activity. The guide lists 11 exemplary traits for those who qualify for participation in special operations, such as fitness, prudence, intelligence, and calmness.

Among the targets proposed in the jihad encyclopedia is striking at nuclear plants in Western Europe and the United States, skyscrapers and high buildings, train stations packed with passengers during rush hours, and sports stadiums and soccer fields.

With the exception of some slight variations, what actually happened during the attack on the US embassies in August 1998 generally conformed to the basic functions of a cell and the operational procedures that were taught at the training camps.

Assassination Means Killing People Quietly

The fundamentalist encyclopedia dedicates a large chapter to sabotage, which it describes as inflicting material or moral damage on the interests of enemy countries or organizations. Sabotage is an effective element in weakening the morale of the enemy and a major part of intelligence and spying work.

According to the fundamentalists' military encyclopedia, a saboteur's qualities are to a great deal similar to those of a spy. Both have to work alone in enemy territory and rely on their own sources to overcome all his problems.

Al-Qa'ida also trains its personnel on electronics and the technology available, such as wireless devices, decoding systems, and watches, to manufacture tools for detonation, whether by remote control or not. One of the defendants claimed that he could prepare a guided charge by attaching some metals to TNT to steer the detonation. This seems similar to the general description of the bomb used in the attack against destroyer Cole in Yemen in October 2000.

Some members of al-Qa'ida received training on how to use explosives to blow up large buildings. There is another training guide entitled "military studies in jihad against idols." The guide was presented as an exhibit during the trial. It mentions that explosives represent one of the safest methods because they enable the mujahidin to escape from the enemy and avoid arrest and also instill fear and panic in the hearts of the enemy.

The training on light arms involves the use of pistols and the firing of rocket-propelled grenades.

The encyclopedia describes assassinations as "the ability to kill people quietly." A chapter in the encyclopedia talks in details about the use of appropriate poisons for assassination. The chapter provides training on combat principles and reconnaissance of targets, be they individuals or buildings, using various types of cameras. It also includes guidelines on communication (how to write reports and use computers), forged documents, and organization and security of a cell.

Chemical War Against Enemies

One of the most dangerous chapters in the jihad encyclopedia is chapter 11, which mainly deals with the use of chemical warfare against enemies, including the use of Anthrax and some powerful poisons that are capable of killing humans within minutes. Among the poisons referred to is the one used by the Bulgarian intelligence to kill opposition figure George Markov in London in 1979. The Bulgarian opposition figure was injected with poison using the pointed front of an umbrella as he was leaving his work.

The first chapter of the encyclopedia contains information on how to booby-trap cigarettes and chocolate bars, how to hide explosives in toothpaste and train and car seats, and how to booby-trap letters to explode when they are opened.

Among the topics included in the encyclopedia is one that explains how to booby-trap television cameras and turn them into bombs ready to explode as soon as one starts shooting with the camera. This is the same method that was used to assassinate Afghan opposition leader Ahmad Shah Masood, leader of the Northern Alliance, on 9 September, two days before the terrorist attacks against the United States. Yasir al-Sirri, an Egyptian fundamentalist who heads the Islamic Observation Center and who is currently detained in London, is a suspect in Masood's assassination for supplying the two Moroccan journalists who carried out the assassination with documents to facilitate their mission. Security circles in London believe that the Moroccan fundamentalists who assassinated Masood by planting explosives in a television camera had entered Afghanistan via Pakistan using forged passports.

The British Police found a terrorist document entitled "military studies in jihad", which is a part of the fundamentalists' encyclopedia, in the house of Abu-Anas al-Libi (37 years), a political refugee in Britain who is accused of blowing up two US embassies in Africa in August 1998. The document gives instructions to fighters on how to use explosives and torture victims.

US prosecutors claim that Abu-Anas al-Libi photographed the US Embassy in Nairobi in 1993, adding that this Libyan individual specializes in spying and surveillance and is an expert on computers.

The prosecutors in the trial of the embassy bombers relied on a study prepared by Muhammad Atif (Abu-Hafs al-Masri), former military official in al-Qa'ida Organization who was killed by the US raids on Kabul. The study talks about the important role played by Afghanistan and Taliban as well as the strategic role that they could play with Pakistan and Iran to change the regimes in the region.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has allocated a $5 million-reward for information leading to the arrest of a Libyan citizen suspected of being involved in the recent attacks against the United States. The FBIS says that Abu-Anas al-Libi used several names, including Anas al-Siba'i, Nazih Abd-al-Hamid al-Raghi. He was born in Tripoli on 30 march 1964. Abu-Anas applied for political refugee status (in Britain) before fleeing to Afghanistan.

The Jordanian police located a copy of the jihad encyclopedia for the first time in 1999 when security men stormed the house of Khalil al-Dik (Abu-A'id). Al-Dik was sentenced to death last week on charges of conspiring to blow up a US hotel in Jordan and kill tourists visiting religious sites. He is part of a group that was trained in camps in Afghanistan run by Bin-Ladin. Khalil al-Dik, a US citizen of Palestinian origin, arranged the group's travel to Afghanistan.

Al-Dik, a computer programming expert, belongs to a Palestinian family that immigrated (to Jordan) after 1948. The family was forced to leave the West Bank after Israel's occupation in 1967.

According to people close to Al-Dik, the located disc containing the Al-Jihad encyclopedia may contain horrible things. It is available at grocery stores in Peshawar. Al-Dik insists that he is innocent, although US sources link him to Abu-Zubaydah (of Palestinian origin), who supervises Bin Ladin's camps.

The United States considers Bin Ladin the main suspect in the Washington and New York bombings on September 11th. It accused him of planning the bombing of its embassies in Nairobi and Dar es-Salaam, in which over 200 people were killed. It also accused him of involvement in the attack against destroyer Cole in Yemen on 12 October, which killed 17 sailors. Four defendants are currently on trial in New York in connection with the bombing of the US embassies in Africa.

(Description of Source: London Al-Sharq al-Awsat in Arabic -- Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; editorials reflect official Saudi views on foreign policy.)

Translated from the original by WNC.