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December 22, 2005 Special Dispatch No. 1054

New Al-Qaeda Film With Sermon by Escaped Sheikh & Footage of Children's Weapons Training – Now on Islamist Websites

December 22, 2005
Special Dispatch No. 1054

In an Al-Qaeda sermon marking the recent 'Id Al-Fitr holiday, Sheikh Abu Yahya Al-Libbi, who escaped Bagram prison earlier this year [1], told his audience that "America's nose will be rubbed in the mud" and "Palestine is occupied by the offspring of apes and pigs." The film was posted on Islamist websites in December 2005.

TO VIEW THIS CLIP, VISIT: http://memritv.org/clip/en/970.htm.

The film also includes footage of young boys, one appearing to be as young as eight, training with weapons.

TO VIEW THIS CLIP, VISIT: http://memritv.org/clip/en/971.htm.

The following are excerpts from Sheikh Abu Yahya's sermon:

Onscreen Title: "In the name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate. We are the army of Allah."

Sheikh Abu Yahya Al-Libbi: "The Muslims have the right to rejoice on this day. But, brothers in faith, how can we be happy? How can we be joyous? How can we be cheerful? How can happiness possibly enter our hearts when we watch our nation being torn apart by the spears of the criminals, and being slashed by the swords of the infidels, in the east and the west.

[...]

"Brother in Islam, let us go over the entire world. Let us look at the condition of the Muslims in Palestine. Let us see the condition of the Muslims in Palestine, the land of the Prophet Muhammad's nocturnal journey, where a martyr falls every day, where a prisoner is captured every day, where houses are demolished and women arrested every day. Oh brother in Islam, this is Palestine, the heart of Islam.

"Who are those who desecrate it? Who have taken control over it? Who are those who torment its people so severely? Those who were 'smitten with humiliation and misery,' and 'incurred the wrath of Allah.' They are the offspring of the apes and the pigs. They are the ones who are tormenting our brothers there.

"Let us look at our brothers in Iraq and in Afghanistan, where the infidel Crusader forces have brought their cavalry and infantry. They are destroying their homes, killing their sons, and arresting their elderly and their women, with whom they are filling their prisons in Abu Ghureib, Bagram, Qandahar, and Guantanamo.

[...]

"The first signs of victory have begun to appear on the horizon, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Chechnya. Indeed, the price of victory is steep, and we pay it with our blood, and with our body parts, with our homes, our fields, and our crops.

"But what lies in the future, oh Muslims? There will be glory for those who want it. There will be victory for those who seek it. There will be freedom for those who desire it.

[...]

"Victory is inevitable, in spite of the infidels, the apostates, and the hypocrites.

[...]

"America's nose will be rubbed in the mud. America will be humiliated just like the empires before it.

"This is the religion of Allah, of the one and only. When He desires something, He says 'become' and it comes into being. So what reason do we have to despair or be afraid? We have only two options: either we live a life of pride and strength in our religion and on our land, doing whatever we want, and worshipping our God as He ordered us, or else we are destined to Paradise."


[1] According to http://www.alarabiya.net/Articles/2005/12/19/19613.htm, Sheikh Yahya Al-Libbi, as well as Yunis Al-Sahrawi (Yunis of the desert), are aliases used by Muhammad Hassan Qayed. The report also named fellow escapees, including Kuwaiti Mahmoud Ahmad Muhammad (aka Momar Al-Farouq), who is an important figure in Al-Qaeda; Syrian Abdallah Hashemi; and Saudi Muhammad al-Qahtani. Qayed studied religious law in Mauritania. Last month he sent a letter to Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi that was published on the Internet.

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