Some questions Though it is impossible to verify if the questions emanate from active members of the network, they often pertain to Al-Qaeda strategy and tactics, the health of Bin Laden, and whether he is on the ground in the conflict zones of Iraq, Afghanistan or Somalia.
"Why Al-Qaeda has not begun operations in Palestine and why Al-Qaeda leadership didn't address the issue of Fatah al-Islam during the siege of the Lebanese military on Nahr Al-Bared camp are two of the most frequently raised points" by the web users, according to the American institute SITE -- which specializes in surveying jihadi websites.
An Internet user under the pseudonym 'Baghi Al-Ohda' asked: "When will we see the men of Qaedat al-Jihad organization -- may Allah preserve them and keep them in his care -- doing Jihad in Palestine? (...) because frankly, the situation here has become extremely bad for us."
'Abu Qatada' asked Zawahiri: "Do you meet Sheikh Osama Bin Laden and how is his health?"
'Al-Samsa' wanted to know, "Is moving the battle to the homes of the Crusaders of such great difficulty and great cost?? Don't you think that killing one Crusader in his country is much more effective than killing 100 Crusaders in the Muslim countries?"
"Why did we not see any operations by Al-Qaeda in Iran while everybody knows and observes the role of Iran in the killing of Sunnis?" asked 'Omar Al-Rachid'.
While 'Abu Arsad' fields two issues into one question: "How do you see the issue of global warming and what effect it would have on the current international fight against Islam?"
As-Sahab did not indicate on the sites any date by which Zawahiri's answers might be disseminated.
For French researcher Dominique Thomas, specialist in Islamic movements at the Ecole des hautes itudes en sciences sociales (EHESS), "there will be a centralization and sifting of the questions, a skimming before asking for Zawahiri's answers".
Thomas speculated Zawahiri will respond in a video, of which there could afterwards be "a transcription, answers to the questions in the form of advice or fatwa".
While some of the participants have usernames that have long been familiar to jihadi webmasters, others "signed up recently especially for the occasion", added Thomas. "We can imagine conspiracy theories behind this, with questions asked by intelligence services..."
For Hussein Shoboksi, editorialist with the Saudi daily published in London, Asharq Al-Awsat, the initiative is "an opportunity for the Al-Qaeda network to round up dozens of young men, in order to incorporate them into its ranks".
"In fact, [to give a platform to] someone like Zawahiri, and to communicate with him, is to purify a poisonous mentality that accepts only the language of violence." |
