It appears that a major rift has appeared in the organization. The Sun reports:
WASHINGTON — One of Al Qaeda's senior theologians is calling on his followers to end their military jihad and saying the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a "catastrophe for all Muslims."
In a serialized manifesto written from prison in Egypt, Sayyed Imam al-Sharif is blasting Osama bin Laden for deceiving the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, and for insulting the Prophet Muhammad by comparing the September 11 attacks to the early raids of the Ansar warriors. The lapsed jihadist even calls for the formation of a special Islamic court to try Osama bin Laden and his old comrade Ayman al-Zawahri.
The disclosures from Mr. Sharif, also known as Dr. Fadl and Abd al-Qadir ibn Abd al-Aziz, have already opened a rift at the highest levels of Al Qaeda.
....leading Western analysts are saying the defection of Mr. Sharif indicates the beginning of the end for Al Qaeda.
Read it here.
At the very least Sharif's statements indicate one of two things; either torture (Egyptian style) works, or there is a genuine split in al Qaeda's top ranks.
Wouldn't it be delicious if a sharia court issued a fatwah against al Qaeda and its leadership? That seems to be what Sharif is calling for.
UPDATE:
Gateway Pundit notes some of al Qaeda's other woes. It has not been a good year for the terrorists.
Over 1,500 insurgents were killed or captured in Iraq.
Over 40 of their top leaders were killed or captured.
They were run out of Anbar province, their former stronghold.
They are so desperate that now al Baghdadi is calling on Sunni insurgents to start a campaign of slaughter against other Sunnis who are now supporting the US.
Read the whole thing here.
UPDATE:
Don Surber writes:
I think the beginning of the end of al-Qaeda was on 9/12 when President Bush declared war on all terrorists instead of treating 9/11 like an isolated incident.Read it here.I believe his exact words to ex-co-president Hillary were: “When I take action, I’m not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It’s going to be decisive.”
7 years later, as Iraq struggles to be free for the first time in 50 years — the terrorist-sponsoring Saddam Hussein out of the way — Bush’s decision to act instead of react is proving to be right.
Brutally Honest thinks this is "huge" [here] -- I'm not so sure, but it is part of a general pattern that indicates that al Qaeda is having major problems. BH wonders why it isn't getting more attention in the MSM. Like he has to ask!
