Tempus 2008 v 31

Tidskriften

 Who's who in the world of jihad

Andrew Wander The Observer, Sunday July 13 2008

AL-JIHAD was created out of a network of underground cells that sprang up in Egypt in the late Sixties. Its leaders, Dr Fadl and Ayman al-Zawahiri, shared the aim of overthrowing the Egyptian government and replacing it with an Islamic state, but they diff ered in their methods, with Fadl expressing doubts about the eff ectiveness of violent attacks against a far more powerful enemy. In 1981 soldiers linked to the group assassinated the president of Egypt, Anwar Sadat. In 2001, under the leadership of Zawahiri, al-Jihad merged with al-Qaeda

AL-QAEDA was formed in the summer of 1988 by Arab veterans of the war against the Russians in Afghanistan. The organisation aimed to spread jihad to other parts of the world where Muslims were suff ering. Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Dr Fadl were all founding members. The presence of US troops on Saudi soil in the fi rst Gulf War sowed he seeds of the virulent anti- Americanism that would explode into the world's consciousness on 11 September 2001

THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD is a Sunni political organisation that advocates a return to 'pure' Islamic values based on a literal reading of the Koran. While it claims to be a peaceful organisation, it has taken part in several political assassinations and an arson campaign in Egypt. It created Hamas in Gaza during the Eighties

THE ISLAMIC GROUP appeared in the Seventies and was dedicated to overthrowing the Egyptian government. Unlike al-Jihad, which organised into sleeper cells designed for covert terrorist attacks, the Islamic Group attempted to start an open social revolution in Egypt. By the end of the Nineties the group had thousands of followers in jail. A peace deal was brokered between the organisation and the Egyptian government, leading to a formal renunciation of violence by the group's leaders

HAMAS emerged in 1987 from the Gaza wing of the Muslim Brotherhood and became active during the fi rst intifada. It is dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel and its replacement with an Islamic state. It claims to be politically rather than religiously motivated, although its rhetoric is often framed in religious terms and 'martyrdom' is central to its operations

THE TALIBAN is primarily made up of members of the Pashtun community from Afghanistan and Pakistan. The infl ux of foreign fi ghters and money during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan meant the Taliban's ideology was infl uenced by their powerful Wahhabi benefactors - men like Osama bin Laden. They governed Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, implementing a rigorous Islamic code of conduct. The group is currently behind a fi erce insurgency in southern Afghanistan.