Al-Qaeda Claimed Responibility Before they Denied Assassination

[tekisui]

KARACHI - ”We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat mujahideen.” These were the words of al-Qaeda’s top commander for Afghanistan operations and spokesperson Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, immediately after the attack that claimed the life of Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto on Thursday (December 27).

Bhutto died after being shot by a suicide assailant who, according to witnesses, also detonated a bomb that killed himself and up to 20 others at a rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Bhutto, with Western backing, had been hoping to become prime minister for a third time after general elections next month.

“This is our first major victory against those who have been siding with infidels in a fight against al-Qaeda and declared a war against mujahideen,” Mustafa told Asia Times Online by telephone.

He said the death squad consisted of Punjabi associates of the underground anti-Shi’ite militant group Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, operating under al-Qaeda orders.

The assassination of Bhutto was apparently only one of the goals of a large al-Qaeda plot, the existence of which was revealed earlier this month.

On December 6, a Pakistani intelligence agency tracked a cell phone conversation between a militant leader and a local cleric, in which a certain Maulana Asadullah Khalidi was named. The same day, Khalidi was arrested during a raid in Karachi. The arrest, in turn, led to the arrest of a very high-profile non-Pakistani militant leader, which, it is said, revealed an operation aimed at wiping out “precious American assets” in Pakistan, including Musharraf and Bhutto.

more at link: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IL29Df01.html

This claim of responsibility comes from qaeda in Afghanistan, the Taliban/Al-Qaeda in Pakistan denied involvement and blame the government. Is Al-Qaeda taking advantage of the perception of mushy's involvement, giving others a chance to remove him?

[CJCRANE]

1. Maybe they miscalculated

and didn't realise how popular Bhutto was...so decided to change their story to contain the backlash.

On edit: Also in her interview with David Frost she mentioned that she wanted Muhsarraf to go after the al-Qaeda financiers, some thing that both he and Bush seem reluctant to do.

[Bright Eyes]

2. Both Musharraf and Al-Qaeda had a reason to kill Bhutto

It wouldn't suprise me in the least if they worked together.

[LynnTheDem]

3. And the source of such a claim?

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin Thursday citing an alleged claim of responsibility by al Qaeda for former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination, a DHS official told CNN.

But such a claim has not appeared on radical Islamist Web sites that regularly post such messages from al Qaeda and other militant groups.

The source of the claim was apparently Italian news agency, Adnkronos International (AKI), which said that al Qaeda Afghanistan commander and spokesman Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid had telephoned the agency to make the claim.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/12/27/bhutto.dhs.alqaeda/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

I'll wait & see.

[tekisui]

4. You are probably right, I don't think it was Al-Qaeda.

[Boojatta]

5. How do you know that it wasn't posted and then deleted?

But such a claim has not appeared on radical Islamist Web sites that regularly post such messages from al Qaeda and other militant groups.

The phrase "radical Islamist Web sites" is rather vague. Which websites are radical enough to be included? Roughly how many such websites are there and how frequently are they monitored?

Edited to add:

One Islamist Web site repeated the claim, but that Web site is not considered a reliable source for Islamist messages by experts in the field.

There's no indication that the "one Islamist Web site" in question was not radical. The issue is reliability. It looks as though it should have said, "But such a claim has not appeared on any Islamist Web sites that are considered by experts in the field to be reliable sources for messages from Islamist terrorists."

[LynnTheDem]

6. How do you know it wasn't the Tooth Fairy?

I don't play straw-persons. I'll wait & see (and continue to consider the source(s).)

[Boojatta]

7. Do you know which Islamist Web site repeated the claim?

Do you know who are the experts who don't think that it's a reliable source for messages from Islamist terrorist organizations?

[NC_Nurse]

8. Flip-floppers!

:silly: