Saudi preacher shot in Zamboanga
A prominent Wahabi cleric, Ayed al-Qarni, escaped an apparent assassination attempt on Tuesday 3/1/2016 in the Philippines. Like many Wahabi clerics in Saudi Arabia, he is not officially employed by the state, yet he was flown back to Saudi Arabia in a private jet at the Saudi government's expense, according to Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-saudi-idUSKCN0W358X
Aside from a brief period in the 1990s, when he deviated from the government message, Mr. Qarni preaches pro-government Wahabism, the crown religion in SA. He also happens to have 12 million tweeter followers, none of whom are extremists of course. Incidentally, his injuries were not life threatening, as he was shot in the hand, but that didn't stop the Saudi government from using this opportunity to please his followers by flying him in a private jet back to Saudi Arabia.
So where is the story here?
Mr. A-Qarni was not sightseeing in the Philippines, nor was he delivering Saudi dates to the poor. He was in fact delivering a sermon to the Muslims of southern Philippines. As it turns out, this was one of many such sermons, delivered by Wahabi clergymen from Saudi Arabia in this restive region. Zamboanga, the city where the cleric was shot, is in southern Philippines--a quick google search of Zamboanga and terrorism will help you understand where the wahabis have been going to deliver their sermons .
Amazingly, someone in the Philippines thinks that spreading Wahabism, in the part of the country battling Wahabi inspired and supported jihadists, is a good idea. Go figure!
Mr. Qarni tweeted about the event earlier that day and posted photos showing him delivering a sermon in front of a large Philippino Muslim crowd. Aside from the horderves, the crowd was nodoubtedly treated to a Wahabi lecture in line with the views expressed on Wahabi propaganda TV channels, Wesal and Safa. Here he is in one of his appearances on wesal (content is in Arabic):
Philippines Sermon photos posted by Mr. Qarni on tweeter:
Again, where is the story?
Preachers spreading their brand of religion is nothing new perhaps, but this story takes a different color when we combine it with information from a leaked state department cables from 2008 in which the APHSCT (assistant to the president on homeland security and counterterrorism) Townsend, in a private meeting with the Saudi foreign minister, prince Saud, "raised US concern with the potential involvement of the Saudi ambassador to the Philippines Mohammad Amin Waly in terrorism facilitation, particularly his intervention to get two members of IIRO out of prison."
The IIRO stands for the "International Islamic Relief Organization", a Saudi charity with branches in 20 countries, and the US Treasury Department has designated its branch in the Philippines as a terrorist entity for funding and supporting terrorists.
Related story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/06/19/unicef-partners-with-islamic-charity-linked-to-terror-groups.html
What are the Saudis doing in the Philippines--Can we see the full picture now?
-A Saudi charity, the IIRO, had, and continues to have, links to jihadi terrorists in the Philippines.
-State sponsored, or at least sanctioned, Wahabi preachers traveling to the same areas where terrorists operate, to preach the doctrine the terrorists base their extremism on.
-The Saudi ambassador in the Philippines can override the Philippine judiciary to facilitate the release of terrorists from prison, as proven by state department cables.
What is the USA doing about the Saudi double talk and contradictory actions vis-à-vis jihadist terrorism:
-Expressing concerns to the Saudis behind closed doors with questionable follow through.
-Buying the Saudi story that they don't support the jihadists or their two major Wahabi TV channels which provide a primary radicalization tool for ISIS and Al-Qaeda in the Gulf states.
-Calling Saudi Arabia a major partner in the war on terror.
What can the USA do different:
-Demand that the Saudis shut down the charity organizations listed by the Treasury Department as terrorist entities--If the Saudis can disprove the evidence used to classify the IIRO as a terrorist entity, then they should do so and help facilitate the removal of the IIRO from the terrorist entities list.
-Demand that the Saudis stop actively sponsoring the spread of Wahabism throughout the world, and stop facilitating Wahabi sermons by preaches, like Mr. Qarni, in the phioippines and elsewhere.
-Demand that the Saudis, and other Gulf states, shut down the jihadists propaganda channels (wasal and Safa), and not buy the excuse that they are powerless to stop them, when the top Saudi clerics are routinely interviewed on these hate channels.
http://www.wesal.tv, http://way2allah.com/live-stream.htm, https://mobile.twitter.com/safa_tv?lang=en
-Aside from trying to identify the funding sources of terrorist groups, we should also track the trips of Saudi funded preachers. Chances are, that we will find these Wahabi preachers' footprints in every country where there are jihadist terrorists active.
The truth is that the Saudi government doesn't flinch when asked to call the terrorists terrorists, but that's only when speaking in English, or to a western audience. The flip side of that truth is that when the Saudis are talking to, or about, jihadists in Arabic, they continue to use words like "brothers" and "mujahideen".
If we are to tackle the, Wahabi based, jihadist terrorists effectively, we can not afford politics as usual with the Saudis, and we can't buy their BS, when we can clearly see that the Saudi actions disprove their statements.
The Saudis may think that they can control this beast, and may even use this assassination attempt to prove that they are effective against the terrorists, but we should know better. To Saudi Arabia any ISIS terrorist willing to shift his allegiance back to the Saudi Arabian King, is a good Wahabi, but in the eyes of the world that terrorist is still a terrorist.
