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June 2, 2006
Russia: Two Islamic Groups Outlawed
News from RIA Novosti, from Mosnews and KUNA reports that today, Russia's Supreme Court banned two Islamic groups. The groups are the well-known Islamic Jihad (or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, logo in picture) and the lesser-known Jund al-Sham (Soldiers of Levant).
In Russia, Islamic Jihad is called Jamaata Mojahedin. The Supreme Court acted in response to a request from the Prosecutor General's office to place the two groups in the list of terrorist entities, and to ban them operating in Russia.
The meeting was held in camera. Following the decision, Alexander Novokshchenov, a senior prosecutor, said: "These organizations have been outlawed in a number of countries. They pose a danger to Russia." He stated that the decision could be appealed within 10 days.
In 2003, ten organisations, including Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Islamic Liberation Movement were banned as terrorist organisations.
Jund al Sham is an extremist group which is opposed to Palestinian Fatah. According to Defense Update, it was formed in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh, in 2004. It is a spin-off from extreme militant group Osbat al-Nour ( aka Esbat al-Nour). Osbat al-Nour (meaning "Band of Light"), headed by Abu Mohjen aka Ahmed Abdel-Karim Saadi, is designated as a terrorist entity by the US.
The name "Jund al-Sham" refers to Damascus at the time of the 7th century caliphate of Omar (the second Caliph). "Al-Sham" is said to be used nowadays to refer to old Damascus. Imad Yassin heads its military wing. It technically means "the North".
Jund al-Sham is headed by Abu Youssef Sharqieh, a former official with Fatah-the Revolutionary Council.
It slaughtered a senior Hezbollah member. Hezbollah are Shia and Jund al-Sham is fiercely Sunni in outlook with close similarities to Salafism. It has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing near a British school in Qatar. This bombing on March 19 2005 killed one British teacher outside a theatre in Dohar, and injured 12 other people, states ABC news. ABC links Jund al-Sham with al-Zarqawi, but this is doubtful, as there is a similarity in name to another group.
The Jamestown Foundation makes a point that Jund al-Sham is not the same as Tanzim Jund al-Sham lil-Jihad wal-Tawhid, which emerged in Syria last year, but was formed before November 2004. According to some intelligence analysts, it is Tanzim Jund al-Sham lil-Jihad wal-Tawhid and not Jund al-Sham which is linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. This group (Tamzin) was, according to one report, founded in 1999 in a Zarqawi training camp in Herat, Afghanistan.
Following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005, the Jund al-Sham group claimed responsibility for three subsequent bombings in Lebanon which happened in March 2005.
In October last year, Jund al-Sham threatened to slaughter the German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who was heading the UN inquiry into the assassination of Rafik Hariri.
Leaflets from Jund al-Sham stated: "We will slaughter without hesitation the reigning Lebanese authority and those who make up the majority in Parliament for collaborating with the West, to impose a new tutelage over Lebanon. We shall overthrow this authority by all means." The leaflets accused Mehlis of being a Mossad agent.
Other documents produced by Jund al-Sham show it regards most Muslims, as well as non-Muslims as "infidels". Literature states: "Even Palestinian martyrs, including Hamas' martyrs like Ahmad Yassin and Abdel-Aziz al-Rantisi, are not martyrs of Islam. They are martyrs of the homeland and the land, but not of Islam. Any victory in Palestine will be exploited by secularists, like the leaders of the Palestinian Authority; it will not be a victory for Muslims."
Jund al-Sham considers Christians to be "remnants of the Crusades".
According to SITE Institute, the group strongly denies any involvement with the assassination of Rafik Hariri, and claims that act as a "murder incident", which "was a trick of the responsible people [leaders] in the area."
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at June 2, 2006 7:22 PM
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