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Abdulmajid al Zindani. |
An interesting tidbit of news from today’s al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula attack in Sana’a that killed two Yemeni security officials. According to Xinhua, the attack took place near Abdulmajid al Zindani’s Iman University:
Two intelligence agents were killed and eight others wounded in an al-Qaeda attack on their bus in northeast of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, an intelligence official said Saturday.
The attack took place early Saturday morning when three masked al-Qaeda gunmen with AK-47 rifles fired at a police bus driving near the Al-Eyman University, a religious university run and owned by Sheik Abdulmajid al-Zandani, other Salafi clerics and tribesmen.
The Al-Eyman University was once suspected by the Yemeni government and the United States of harboring al-Qaeda fighters.
As far as I am aware, the US government still considers Zindani a threat, and Iman University still cranks out cannon fodder and leaders for al Qaeda. And Zindani is still considered a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US. Here is the Cliff Notes version on Zindani:
Abdulmajid al Zindani is a radical Islamist cleric with close ties to both al Qaeda and the Yemeni government. Zindani has been designated a terrorist financier by the UN’s 1267 Committee and labeled a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US Treasury for serving as a spiritual adviser to bin Laden and as an al Qaeda financier and recruiter.
Zindani is the founder and president of the Iman University in Sana’a. Iman University is a known breeding ground for Islamist terrorists.
“Yemen has refused to turn Al Zindani over to U.S. authorities, as many observers believe that President Salih is protecting him for political purposes,” according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.
Despite the fact that the Yemeni government shelters the likes of Zindani as well as Jamal Ahmed Mohammed Ali al Badawi and Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al Quso, two al Qaeda operatives involved in the bombing of the USS Cole, CENTCOM believes it is wise to give the Yemeni government more than $1.2 billion in military aid over the next six years. The purpose of the aid is to fight al Qaeda. Hopefully the irony is not lost on anyone involved in that decision-making process….
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3 Comments
He’s not a natural red-head. He dyes his beard red with henna. This is one of the ID marks for his coreligionists in AFPAK too. They stand out from the locals (along with their different dress style)
The henna recreates the look of mohammed who is recorded as being red-haired in some accounts.
Since no one put pen to paper WRT mohammed until many generations later — who can say what is legend or fact?
Zindani is the godfather of al qaeda in Yemen. His university produces thousands of young radical yemenis ready to fight and die in the name of God.
One of the first things we should do is to close down this Salafi university.
I love this journal!!!