Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 4-1-Saudi Arabia-7

C de Waart; CdW Intelligence to Rent [email protected] In Confidence

Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 4-1-Saudi Arabia-7

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is the early winner in Yemen. -- Bruce Riedel….Muhammed's Army may eventually come home to Mecca."….

An Iranian-supported Shiite militia that operates under the Iraqi government-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Committee said that Saudi Arabia is “a legitimate and permissible target” and would it “strike and destroy” the country after the kingdom issued a death sentence for a cleric that has called for partition.

“We in the Sayyid al Shuhada Battalion consider Saudi interests a legitimate and permissible target on all levels, and we will strike and destroy them whenever it pleases us,” it continued. “The rulers of petroleum will learn that the followers of Ahl al Bayt [family of Mohammad] will not be content with defeating [the Saudi government] in Baiji, Ramadi, and other Iraqi areas, but will take the battle to the spider’s own nest.”

Iran “is the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world, and it is working on destabilizing the region.

Nov 10, Saudi Arabia is pushing the U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee to condemn Iranian and Russian intervention in Syria, a move that prompted complaints on Tuesday from the delegations of Iran and Syria.

The propaganda war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, bitter rivals on opposite sides of the Middle East’s biggest current crises, is hotting up, with near daily exchanges and insults between ministers and state media outlets.

Saudi Arabia is the region’s Sunni Muslim powerhouse and fears that Shiite Iran is using the Houthis, who are also Shiite, as proxies in Yemen. Nov 13, Eight months after launching a war in Yemen, Saudi Arabia appears trapped in a protracted and devastating conflict that is straining relations with its allies, intensifying internal power struggles and emboldening its regional rival, Iran, analysts say. Since March, the key U.S. ally has led a coalition of mostly Gulf Arab countries and Yemeni fighters in a military campaign to drive out Iranian-aligned rebels who seized the capital, Sanaa, and swaths of the Arabian Peninsula country. But the coalition appears increasingly hobbled by divisions and unable to find a face-saving way to end the costly conflict. The rebels, known as Houthis, still control much of Yemen’s north. And in southern areas where the coalition has driven them out, lawlessness has spread as attacks linked to an Islamic State affiliate wreak havoc. “This war is draining the Saudis militarily, politically, strategically,” said Farea al-Muslimi, a Yemen analyst at the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center. “The

problem is, they’re stuck there.” Inside the kingdom, analysts say, the war has intensified apparent power struggles within the secretive and opaque royal family.

Oct, Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir had the following message for Tehran: "We wish that Iran would change its policies and stop meddling in the affairs of other countries in the region, in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. We will make sure that we confront Iran's actions and shall use all our political, economic and military powers to defend our territory and people.”

Nov 11, 2015 Commander: IRGC Advisors Stay in Syria until Final Victory

The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.–Winston Churchill

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TEHRAN (FNA)- Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Brigadier General Hossein Salami underlined the IRGC's firm decision to keep its military advisors in Syria until gaining final victory against the terrorist groups and liberate all Syrian territories."The operations (in Syria) have been successful so far and God willing, they will continue and other successes will also follow," Salami told FNA on Wednesday."The main goal is setting the Syrian nation free from the hands of the terrorists and this will continue in any form until attainment of proper results," he added.Salami also underscored that the IRGC has not changed the method of its presence in Syria which has earlier been described as an advisory role. Iran and Hezbollah have been helping the Syrian army and popular forces in retaking control over the country's towns back from the terrorists. The Iranian officials have always emphasized that it has not deployed forces in Syria and its presence in the friendly Arab country is limited to a counseling role. But Hezbollah resistance force sent its fighters to Northern Syria to help the country's army and popular forces take back the strategic province of Aleppo from the terrorist groups, including the al-Nusra Front and ISIL. In a surge of power, the pro-government troops that are backed by the Syrian and Russian air forces have earned an increasing number of battlefields across the province in the last 6 weeks.In relevant remarks on Sunday, Head of Hezbollah Executive Committee Sheikh Nabil Qawooq underlined that the resistance group would continue standing against the terrorist groups in Syria to prevent their spread to Lebanon, reiterating that Hezbollah would keep its fighters in the neighboring Muslim nation until final defeat of all terrorist groups. "We will finish the war in Syria. We insist on defeating the terrorists and gaining victory against the Takfiri plots in Syria in a move to support Lebanon; because if Syria turns into a center or passage for the ISIL and other terrorist groups, they will not show mercy to Lebanon either," Qawooq was quoted as saying by al-Manar news channel.He stressed that Hezbollah would defeat the terrorist groups in Syria the same way that it gained victory in the 33-day war against the Israeli regime that was armed to the teeth. Qawooq also blasted Saudi Arabia for supporting the terrorist groups in the region, and blamed the country for prolonging the wars in Syria and Yemen.

Nov 11, 2015 Analyst: Withdrawal of UAE Forces Proves Failure of Saudi-Led Coalition in Yemen TEHRAN (FNA)- A prominent Yemeni analyst underlined that the UAE forces' retreat from the war in Yemen displays the Saudi-led coalition's failure."The Zionist enemy supported by the western hegemonic powers sought to show the UAE army's incapability and failure in war to pave the ground for misusing the UAE's resources and facilities under the pretext of military support and singing (lucrative) arms contracts," Nasser Bin Yahya al-Arjali wrote in Yemen's al-Ittihad Press website on Wednesday. Noting that the Zionists attained their goals and the UAE was humiliated in Yemen war, he said, "The UAE forces returned home without any tangible achievements." Al-Arjali stressed that the UAE's withdrawal from the war in Yemen showed the Saudi-led coalition's failure in war, and asked, "Have they (the Saudis) come to eventually realize





that Yemen is a grave for the occupiers?" His remarks came after Yemeni army spokesman said on Tuesday that the UAE has retreated after suffering heavy losses in his country.Sharaf Luqman said that the Emirati military men retreated after sustaining heavy blows from the Yemeni army and Ansarullah fighters in several areas across Yemen. He added that the aggressive countries will never achieve their goal in Yemen and "they are currently not able to advance in Yemen". On Oct 23, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) acknowledged that its army has sustained more casualties in Yemen. Earlier in October, an official Emirati report said that the fatalities of the UAE military men killed in clashes with the Yemeni forces had risen to 70. "Most of the fatalities are related to the Yemeni missile strikes on an arms depot in the Central parts of Ma'rib province on September 4 that left 54 Emirati soldiers killed," the UAE Center for Studies and Information Dissemination said.The UAE government, however, declined to announce the exact number of the Emirati soldiers injured in Yemen. On September 4, the security sources revealed that the Yemeni forces killed a sum of 300 foreign troops, including 54 UAE soldiers, in their attack on al-Safer military base in Eastern Yemen. The death toll of the UAE, Saudi and Bahraini officers and soldiers killed in September 4's arms depot blast at a military base in al-Safer in Ma'rib province stood at 300, Yemeni security sources said. The revolutionary forces in Yemen said they fired a rocket at a weapons cache in a camp used by "the Saudi-led aggressors" in Ma'rib area. The Yemeni sources noted that high death toll of the foreign troops was the result of the ballistic missiles blast caused by Yemeni missile attack.On Oct 6, some 18 UAE guards of Yemen's former Prime Minister Khaled Bahah were killed in rocket-propelled grenade attacks on Bahah's hotel in the port city of Aden. Yemen's former Prime Minister Khaled Bahah escaped to Saudi Arabia once again after 18 of his UAE guards were killed in the rocket-propelled grenade attacks on his hotel in Aden. Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for 231 days now to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 6,921 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.Hadi stepped down in January and refused to reconsider the decision despite calls by Ansarullah revolutionaries of the Houthi movement. Despite Riyadh’s claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi warplanes are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

Popular Mobilization Committee militia threatens to ‘strike and destroy’ the Saudi governmentBY BILL ROGGIO | October 30, 2015 | [email protected] | @billroggioAn Iranian-supported Shiite militia that operates under the Iraqi government-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Committee said that Saudi Arabia is “a legitimate and permissible target” and would it “strike and destroy” the country after the kingdom issued a death sentence for a cleric that has called for partition. The militia, Sayyid al Shuhada, is led by a Specially Designated Global Terrorist who is directly tied to Iran’s Qods Force.Sayyid al Shuhada threatened the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Oct. 26, the same day that the Saudi Supreme Court upheld a death sentence for Sheikh Nimr al Nimr, a prominent Shiite cleric. Nimr was sentenced to death “for involvement in anti-government protests that erupted in the Eastern Province in the wake of the Arab uprisings,” in 2011 and 2012, Al Jazeera English reported. Nimr has supported the secession of Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern province, a majority of which is Shiite.The militia threatened the Saudi government in a statement that was released on its official





website. A translation of the statement was obtained by The Long War Journal.“Saudi Arabia insists, as all tyrants have throughout history, on committing sins and grave errors, which have transgressed beyond the realm of obedience and fear of Allah,” the statement read. “Indeed, they enter into the realm of great historical mistakes, as exemplified by the decision to uphold the ruling to execute the munificent Sheikh al Nimr by one of the Saudi courts.” Sayyid al Shuhada said it would “strike and destroy” Saudi interested not just in Iraq, but inside the kingdom as well. The militia also directly accused the Saudi government of backing the Islamic State and said it was battling the Saudis in the Iraqi cities of Baiji and Ramadi.“We in the Sayyid al Shuhada Battalion consider Saudi interests a legitimate and permissible target on all levels, and we will strike and destroy them whenever it pleases us,” it continued. “The rulers of petroleum will learn that the followers of Ahl al Bayt [family of Mohammad] will not be content with defeating [the Saudi government] in Baiji, Ramadi, and other Iraqi areas, but will take the battle to the spider’s own nest.”Sayyid al Shuhada’s statement was also issued the same day that the Iranian government issued a veiled threat against the Saudi government if it executed Nimr.“The execution of Sheikh Nimr would have dire consequences for Saudi Arabia,” Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Oct. 26, Al Jazeera English reported.Militia leader a dangerous terrorist Sayyid al Shuhada is closely linked to Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) – Qods Force, the Iranian government’s special operations branch that foments and supports Islamic revolutions in the Middle East. The militia is led by Abu Mustafa al Sheibani, who was listed by the US government as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in January 2008 for attacking US and British forces, as well as Iraqi political and military leaders. Sheibani was directly linked to the assassination of an Iraqi Interior Ministry colonel, and the attempted killings of Najaf’s police chief and deputy governor.According to the US designation, Sheibani led “a network of Shia extremists that commit and provide logistical and material support for acts of violence that threaten the peace and stability of Iraq and the Government of Iraq.” “The network’s first objective is to fight U.S. forces, attacking convoys and killing soldiers. Its second objective is to eliminate Iraqi politicians opposed to Iran’s influence. Elements of the IRGC were also sending funds and weapons to Al-Sheibani’s network,” the Treasury department designation stated. The designation detailed how the Sheibani Network conducted a variety of attacks against US forces in Baghdad to raise money from Iran.In addition to leading his own network of fighters, Sheibani commanded “several pro-Iranian insurgent groups in southern Iraq that work to destabilize Iraq and sabotage Coalition efforts.” “Ordered by IRGC headquarters to create disorder, the task of these groups is to attack bases of Coalition Forces in southern Iraq, particularly British forces.”Despite Sheibani’s history of targeting Iraqi officials links to Iran, he and his militia have been welcomed to fight in the ranks of the Popular Mobilization Committee, the grouping of armed militias, many backed by Iran, that fight against the Islamic State. The Popular Mobilization Committee is led by Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, a former commander in the Badr Organization who was listed by the US government as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in July 2009 and was described as “an advisor to” Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani. The Committee, which has been praised Brett McGurk, the Obama administration’s Deputy Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL (the outdated acronym for the Islamic State), has numerous militias like Sayyid al Shuhada that operate under its command.Sayyid al Shuhada’s threat against the Saudi government highlights the power that the





Iranian supported militias wield inside Iraq. The militia was never reprimanded by the Iraqi government for threatening a neighboring country. And Sayyid al Shuhada isn’t the first militia to threaten a foreign government without consequence.In June, Akram Abbas al Kabi, the “secretary general” of the Harakat Nujaba, said that “All resistance movements will seek revenge” against the United States “in a timely manner” for an airstrike that purportedly killed 10 members of his militia who were fighting near Fallujah. Kabi is also a Specially Designated Global Terrorist who has close ties with Iran and who is responsible for killing American soldiers in Iraq.And in early May, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr threatened to attack US personnel inside Iraq and beyond if the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would have recognized Kurdistan and the Sunnis in western Iraq as their own independent countries. Sadr leads two militias in Iraq, the Saraya al Salam, or Peace Companies (often called the Peace Brigades), and the Liwa al Yaom al Mawood, or Promised Day Brigade. Kabi and Sadr’s militias also operate under the aegis of the Popular Mobilization Committee.Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of The Long War Journal.

Saudi Arabia Eyes US Warships, Sub-Hunting Helicopters to Check IranOCTOBER 21, 2015 BY MARCUS WEISGERBER, GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVESaudi Arabia is planning to buy four more powerful versions of the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships, 10 submarine hunting Seahawk helicopters, and 750 missiles, freeing up U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia is close to buying new U.S. warships and helicopters so that they can hunt submarines and ships in the Persian Gulf directly from Iran. The deal, which U.S. officials said would free up U.S. forces performing those tasks in the Gulf, could be worth upwards of $13 billion and also includes more than 700 hundred missiles. “A modernized Saudi naval force will be better able to handle a wider range of security tasks that would otherwise fall to U.S. and coalition forces in the region, allowing greater flexibility to address emerging security challenges in the Central Command Area of Operations, as needed,” a State Department official said.The ships are larger, beefed up versions of the U.S. Navy’s Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ships. Unlike the U.S. Navy ships, the Saudi version, called Multi-Mission Surface Combatant, will include missile launchers that can fire a mix of weapons.“These vessels represent a generational upgrade to Saudi naval capabilities and will mark the first major export of a newly built U.S.-manufactured surface naval vessel in years,” the State Department official said. The ships are made by Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, and Lockheed Martin is the lead contractor for the project. The State Department approved a sale that could include 532 tactical RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles, 188 RIM 116C Block II Rolling Airframe Missiles, and 48 RGM-84 Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles. The sale could be worth more than $11 billion, according to the Pentagon. Earlier this year, State approved the $1.9 billion sale of 10 MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopters. Sikorsky and Lockheed build the aircraft in Connecticut and upstate New York. U.S. officials long have expected an increase in American arms sales to Persian Gulf allies as a price for the Iran nuclear deal and loosening restrictions on Tehran. “Saudi Arabia faces a persistent threat to its maritime infrastructure and sea lines of communication,” the State official said. “This naval modernization effort will improve Saudi Arabia’s capabilities to provide for its self-defense in a manner that will promote interoperability with the United States through the use of standardized communication, systems and platforms.”





Saudi foreign minister: Iran is biggest sponsor of terrorismSaudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that ongoing discussions are focused on whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “will step down at the beginning of the transitional stage or whether he will stay in Syria without any powers or privileges. Jubeir insisted on the need to “know the end” of the political process, and [to know] that “the Geneva I principles are meaningless as the [option] of Assad leaving power in Syria was rejected.” Speaking to Al-Hayat on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, Jubeir stressed that Assad should not have “any powers,” and this can be achieved by forming a committee for the transitional stage. This committee would enjoy full executive powers, a step that he [Jubeir] considered to be one of the Geneva I principles. About Russia opposing this principle, he said that “the solution does not depend on Russia,” as according to this principle, “Assad does not have any role in the future of Syria. [The principle] also stipulates protecting the civil and military institutions in Syria, in order to avoid chaos and collapse, to allow the Syrian government to maintain security and provide services to its people, and to fight extremism.” Jubeir confirmed that there is no dispute about this.He indicated that the dispute between Russia and Saudi Arabia is about two issues, namely the position toward the Syrian crisis and “the Iranian provision of arms.” He also said that the bilateral relations with Russia “should be further expanded,” as “Russia and Saudi Arabia’s economic and political [influence] are not in line with the [type] of relations between both parties.” Jubeir revealed there are “common interests [between both countries] in the oil and agriculture [fields], in addition to the understanding about the Palestinian cause.” He also mentioned “other several issues upon which we can build relations.” Jubeir added that Iran “has become an occupying force in Syria,” and that “it has already sent thousands of Quds Force fighters and Shiite militias, such as [members] of Hezbollah and other militias from the region, to support Assad’s regime.”According to Jubeir, “If Iran wants to play a role in finding a political solution in Syria,” it ought to withdraw its forces and militias from Syria. He noted that this is “not a condition, rather, it is the most important role Iran can play in helping Syria get over its ongoing crisis.”Regarding the dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran, he said, “The issue is linked to Iran’s actions, not words,” referring to the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries that have been facing, since the Iranian revolution, the hostile policies of Iran that “interferes in the region’s affairs in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. It is also trying to smuggle explosives to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, while seeking to build cells inside Arab countries with the goal of destruction.”He added that Iran “is the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world, and it is working on destabilizing the region i. If it wants to build good relations with its neighbors, it ought to deal with them based on the good neighborliness principle and not to interfere in their affairs. We [would] welcome such a step.” Jubeir called on Iran to specify whether it is a “state or a revolution,” and if it wants to export its revolution and revive the Persian Empire — as described by prominent Iranian officials — we cannot deal with it.”Jubeir said that he is not expecting a change in the US-Iranian relations as “expected by some analysts in the region,” since the US “still sees Iran as the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world.”About the situation in Yemen, Jubeir pointed to “promising indicators, and to attempts by the UN envoy, which I think will yield results.” He stressed that “at the end, there will be a political solution. We are optimistic that if Houthis and Ali Abdullah Saleh’s forces realize





that their project will fail in Yemen, they can then accept the political process.” He added, “The aim is to restore legitimacy, and to defend Saudi Arabia, while eliminating the danger posed by the missiles and planes on Saudi Arabia as well as paving the way to a political solution in Yemen.” Jubeir insisted that “the solution in Yemen should be political, not military.” He also warned Houthis that “any hostile action on their part will be met with a counter-reaction. If they want peace, the door is wide open. The solution is known, and it is based on the Gulf initiative, the results of the Yemeni national dialogue and the Security Council Resolution 2216.”




i While Saudi Arabia is often a secondary source of funds and support for terror movements who can find more motivated and ideologically invested benefactors (e.g. Qatar), Saudi Arabia remains perhaps the most prolific sponsor of international Islamist terrorism, allegedly supporting groups as disparate as the Afghanistan Taliban, Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Al-Nusra Front. Saudi Arabia is said to be the world's largest source of funds and promoter of Salafist jihadism,[97]

which forms the ideological basis of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, Taliban, ISIS and others. Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide, according to Hillary Clinton. According to a secret December 2009 paper signed by the US secretary of state, "Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups. Starting in the mid-1970s the Islamic resurgence was funded by an abundance of money from Saudi Arabian oil exports.

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Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 4-1-Saudi Arabia-7