 |
Al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden has delivered some 21 messages via audio- or video-tapes since the September 11 attacks. (Reuters) |
LONDON — Five years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Al-Qaeda group is losing sympathy in the broad Muslim world over discomfort about the association of Islam with violence and the indiscriminate civilian killings, said a report by a British think tank on Friday, September 8.
"Al-Qaeda has failed in its aspiration to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim masses, particularly because there has been a growing discomfort about the association between Islam and violence," said Maha Azzam, the author of "Al-Qaeda Five Years On: Threats and Challenges" report by the Chatham House.
"Although its image as a powerful terrorist organization has been enhanced, its leaders hide in caves and have lost the broad support of Muslims in the Arab world who oppose its terror tactics and its justification of violence in the name of Islam," he added.
The report said that Al-Qaeda's attacks have caused to tarnish the image of the Islamic faith.
The indiscriminate civilian killings have also caused Al-Qaeda to lose its influence in the Muslim world.
"Once Al-Qaeda touched Muslim civilians, the message came out loud and clear. The wanton violence became very distasteful and they couldn't support it any longer," Azzam said.
Since the attacks on New York and Washington, Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahri have delivered respectively some 21 and 19 messages via audio- or video-tapes.
The latest came Thursday, September 7, when Al-Jazeera satellite channel aired a Video footage purportedly showing bin Laden and Al-Qaeda members who allegedly prepared the September 11, 2001 attacks against the u=-United States.< /SPAN>
The channel said the footage "included scenes showing for the first time Al-Qaeda leaders preparing the September 11 attacks and practicing for their execution."
Non-Violent Groups
Azzam added that the group was now losing to the non-violent groups in the Muslim world, citing the electoral successes of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.
"It is now clear that al Qaeda has failed to transform itself into a widespread movement," the report said.
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, a moderate Islamist group which espouses non-violence, made a strong showing in legislative elections, winning one-fifth of seats in the legislature.
"It ... echoes the concerns of Muslim majorities but has achieved diminishing support for its tactics, despite the emergence of supporting cells over several years in states as divergent as Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Britain," Azzam said.
Analysts said that the Bush administration's violent response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, coupled with a blind support to Israeli aggressions on the Palestinians and Lebanese, have boosted the rise of political Islam and empowered Islamic movements.
Foreign Policy
The report, however, said that Al-Qaeda has remarkably succeeded in highlighting the link between terrorism and the West's foreign policies, due to the US-led response to the 9/11 attacks.
"One of Al-Qaeda’s most significant and important successes has been the growing acknowledgement of the link between terrorism, regional concerns and Western governments’ foreign policy," Azzam said.
The report said that regional conflicts had a unifying effect among Muslims, including perceived injustices against the Palestinians, the Iraq war, and the Israeli offensive in Lebanon.
"This is likely to affect and challenge policy-makers for some time to come," Azzam added.
Though it admitted that the US-led security measures have undermined Al-Qaeda's communications, finance and recruitment networks, the report blamed the US response to the 9/11 attacks to fueling home-grown terrorism in the West.
It argued that the bombings inspired by 9/11 attacks such as those in London and Madrid triggered the emergence of small minorities attracted to Al-Qaeda's agenda.
The Chatham House, which is also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, had said that the Iraq war has given a momentum to Al-Qaeda's recruitment and fundraising and made Britain more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
A White House-commissioned panel of experts and advisors had also concluded that increasing anger, hostility towards the United States reached "shocking levels" among Arabs and Muslims around the world for its foreign policy.
- (Click to Read the Chatham House's report in Full
|
