KUWAIT CITY, 9 December 2002 — Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a leading Al-Qaeda spokesman who has been stripped of his Kuwaiti nationality, resurfaced yesterday threatening more terror attacks.
The former Kuwaiti schoolteacher and mosque imam also made a fresh claim of responsibility for last month’s attacks in Kenya which killed 13 people.
“The two Mombasa attacks are the work of Al-Qaeda,” Abu Ghaith said in a voice recording posted on the jehadonline.org Islamist website.
“The Crusader-Jewish alliance will no longer be immune from attack anywhere,” Abu Ghaith warned.
“We are going to strike at its vital installations and strategic interests with all means at our disposal,” he said, calling on Al-Qaeda fighters to “prepare themselves seriously for the next phase which will be bigger and more serious.
Three Israelis and 10 Kenyans were killed when three suicide bombers struck a resort hotel near the port city of Mombasa on Nov. 28, shortly after a failed missile attack on an Israeli jetliner packed with returning holidaymakers.
“We must use shock weapons against the enemy, by mounting lightning well-targeted operations against him everywhere in the world so that he feels danger, insecurity and instability on land, at sea and in the air,” the Al-Qaeda spokesman said.
Since the United States launched its war on terror in Afghanistan, Abu Ghaith has made numerous televised appearances, spouting defiance against the United States and threatening terror attacks.
Like Osama Bin Laden, Abu Ghaith’s whereabouts remain a mystery. Last April, a senior security source told a Kuwaiti newspaper he was “alive and kicking” and “moving around in disguise” on the Iranian-Afghan borders after fleeing US raids on Afghanistan.
In Nairobi, a top police official said yesterday Kenya is on top security alert after Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for last month’s anti-Israeli attacks in Kenya. “The whole country is on top alert following a new spate of speculative and real terror threats from all corners,” said Deputy Police Commissioner William Lang’at.
Meanwhile, an Israeli security source said yesterday Israel has received intelligence information warning of plans by Al-Qaeda network to attack Jews and Israelis in Prague.
“A specific warning was received recently about plans to attack Jews and Israelis in Prague,” the security source said, without giving details. The capital of the Czech Republic is a popular travel destination for Israelis. The source said Israel has received information from several foreign intelligence agencies warning of Al-Qaeda plans to target Israelis overseas.
Those who knew him said they were aware of his enthusiasm but expressed disbelief that he had become a high-ranking Al-Qaeda figure. Abu Ghaith was a “gentle and very quiet man,” although he could be fired off over anything related to “jihad against the enemies of Islam,” one acquaintance said. He claimed that Abu Ghaith was last in Kuwait in August 2001 and that his family accompanied him to Afghanistan but returned to the emirate when his wife fell ill. (Agencies)
