Obama on Osama bin Laden postmortem.
As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.
Pakistan:
Hundreds of Pakistanis beg to differ, as they hit the streets in protest of Osama bin Laden’s death.
Mail Online) These were the angry scenes across Pakistan today as Muslims staged protests against the killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Hundreds of people marched through Multan, burning U.S. flags and waving placards as they warned the terrorist’s death could produce many more radical figures to take his place.
It comes after crowds of weeping mourners were pictured offering funeral prayers for the Al Qaeda mastermind widely blamed for thousands of deaths at 9/11.
Continue reading >>>
Edit: Another anti-US pro-Osama protest photo in Pakistan.
“Pakistani seminary students gather for an anti-U.S. rally in Quetta on May 4, against the killing of Osama bin Laden.”
So much for denying Muslims an Osama shrine…as was the reasoning behind tossing his corpse overboard into the Arab Sea.
Osama “a good Muslim who fought for Islam”, “our hero”, “Osama was our lion”.
ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan – US efforts to prevent a shrine to Osama bin Laden were under threat Thursday as several hundred sightseers flocked to the house where the world’s most notorious terrorist met his death.
Pakistan officials said the compound in Abbottabad where bin Laden was shot dead Sunday already became a tourist attraction and that there were no plans to destroy the building.
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“I’ve come here today to see a piece of our history,” said Ahmed, 24, who brought his 11-month-old daughter with him. “Osama was a good Muslim who fought for Islam. He was a hero to us. I expect in time to see all sorts of tourists here, even Japanese and Americans.”
However, others were not as impressed by the relatively-Westernized lifestyle of the al Qaeda leader.
“I had thought he would be living in a cave like a proper rebel outlaw,” said 25-year-old Zulqurnain. “But instead they say he was hiding here, in a nice residential area. I’m a bit disappointed and can’t believe it. Even so, I will come to visit again. Osama was our lion.” >>>
In related Osama shrine news: Radical Muslims already name location ‘Martyr’s Sea’
Afghanistan:
Video: Residents of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar condemn the killing of Osama bin Laden by US forces, saying he was a “Muslim brother“.
Osama bin Laden is the “number one martyr” for al Qaeda because he is stronger dead than alive,”.
(Reuters) – Afghans in the Taliban heartland of southern Afghanistan described Osama bin Laden as al Qaeda’s “number one martyr” after the leader of the hardline group was killed in neighboring Pakistan.
Bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, hijacked airliner attacks on the United States, was killed in a gunfight with U.S. forces in a luxurious palace north of the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Sunday, officials said.
“Now he is the number one martyr for al Qaeda because he is stronger dead than alive,” one man, who asked not to be identified, said on Monday in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.
“He always predicted that he would be killed by Americans. Now he will become a fire that Muslims will follow for generations,” said the heavily bearded man.
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“Bin Laden’s death doesn’t matter because al Qaeda is more than him and it’s a big idea now,” another Kandahar man said.
Some Afghan officials also said bin Laden’s influence would continue and believed the militant network would try to avenge his death.
“His death will bring about positive changes for the moment but for the future, it will intensify fighting in Afghanistan because al Qaeda will seek revenge,” Ahmad Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, told Reuters. >>>
Indonesia:
“Members of Indonesia’s Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) hold prayers for Osama bin Laden in Jakarta May 4, 2011. Indonesian Islamists hailed bin Laden as a martyr on Wednesday, illustrating sympathy for the al Qaeda leader killed by U.S. forces among Southeast Asian militant groups, one of which predicted a major reprisal attack. REUTERS/Beawiharta”
Jihad did not die with Osama, the Quran tells them so…
(Jakarta Globe) “If it’s true that Osama bin Laden is dead, then he died a martyr. He fought for Islam and he fought for the lands colonized by America,” Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid spokesman Son Hadi told Agence France-Presse.
“Al Qaeda didn’t die with him. Jihad will not be dampened just because he’s dead, because jihad is a command of the religion, not of individuals,” he added.
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“Osama was a calm, sympathetic man. He was a multimillionaire who gave all of his wealth for mujahedeen camps,” said Syawal, who in 1986 was one of the first Indonesians sent to a mujahedeen training camp on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, where he met Bin Laden.
“God willing, he was a syahid [martyr]. He died in a way he wanted to die — which is every mujahedeen’s dream,” he said.
Citing the Koran, Syawal said: “Whoever dies a syahid, he is never really dead in the eyes of God. They will live on, beside God. New Osamas will be born.”
He said Bin Laden’s death would not have a major impact on the waging of jihad in Indonesia.
“Americans may be partying, celebrating his death. But they will cry later, and be blanketed with pain,” Syawal told the Jakarta Globe.
“The waging of jihad is as stipulated in the holy Koran and the Sunnah [the traditions of Prophet Muhammad]. It will not be impacted because of a [human] figure. But I admit, the death of such an important figure will have somewhat of a temporary impact.”
Edit: More from Indonesia. A pro-Osama, anti-Obama photo.
Mujahid – Muslim holy warrior
Online “God curse you Obama”, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Jordon:
The killing of Osama bin Laden triggered shock, anger and sporadic delight in the Middle East on Monday, adding yet another political dimension to the revolutionary tumult sweeping the region.
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One online poster urged revenge against the US, noting that hundreds of Taliban who recently escaped jail in Afghanistan might now be “looking for a job”. Another compared bin Laden to Salah al-Din, known in the west as Saladin, the Islamic hero who defeated the crusaders and “liberated Muslims from their humiliation’’ in the 12th century.
Mohamed al Saeedi, from Qatif, said he was shocked but sceptical over the “unanswered questions” about the killing, including the lack of videos and pictures. He said: “Small groups of Saudis consider him a hero, while most think he is a criminal, but the voices of extremists are louder.”
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By contrast, the killing drew sharp criticism from Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian movement, with Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the group in the Gaza Strip, dubbing it a “continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood”.
Many online Islamist militant activists either refused to believe the news or pledged revenge. “Oh God, please make this news not true … God curse you Obama,” read a post on an Arabic language forum, quoted by Reuters. “Oh Americans … it is still legal for us to cut your necks.”
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Reaction in parts of Jordan gave a sense of the death’s likely nuanced fallout in the region. In a cafe outside the capital, Amman, men watched TV coverage of the death.
“Although we’re against killing civilians, we sympathise with him because he’s a Muslim and was killed this way,” said a shopkeeper. “He became a symbol of fighting against American occupation.” >>>
More online islamist chatter, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan:
(Jerusalem Post) On the streets of bin Laden’s native Saudi Arabia, which stripped him of his citizenship after September 11, there was a mood of disbelief and sorrow among many.
“I feel that it is a lie,” said one Saudi in Riyadh, who did not want to be named. “I don’t trust the US government or the media. They just want to be done with his story. It would be a sad thing if he really did die. I love him and in my eyes he is a hero and a jihadist.”
“I am not happy at the news. Osama was seeking justice. He was taking revenge on the Americans and what they did to Arabs; his death to me is martyrdom, I see him a martyr,” added Egyptian Sameh Bakry, a Suez Canal employee.
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The news channel France 24 wrote on its Twitter feed: “In Pakistan, the people we speak to refuse to accept bin Laden’s death. One thinks it’s ‘just a publicity stunt.’”
In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood warned a violent reaction would be likely across the Islamic world.
“Afghanistan, Pakistan, Morocco and Algeria might react violently as the influence of al-Qaida is pervasive there,” said Essam al-Erian, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s governing body.
Members of militant Islamist forums said they prayed the news of bin Laden’s death was not true and hinted at retaliation if it was.
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“Osama may be killed but his message of jihad will never die. Brothers and sisters, wait and see, his death will be a blessing in disguise,” said a poster on another Islamist forum.
Palestine:
“Palestinians protest against the killing of the al-Qaida leader in the Gaza Strip on May 3. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, condemned the killing by U.S. forces of bin Laden and mourned him as an ‘Arab holy warrior‘.”
Update: Sudan
KHARTOUM (AFP) – Around 1,000 Sudanese Muslims gathered on Tuesday at a square in Khartoum, where Osama Bin Laden lived in the 1990s, hailing Al-Qaeda’s slain leader as a “martyr” and shouting anti-US slogans.
“Death to America!” and “Mohammed’s army will return,” the crowd chanted in Midan al-Mulid square, not far from the city centre.
At the two-hour rally, which was attended by prominent Islamist figures in Sudan, prayers were held and speeches made in honour of Al-Qaeda’s mastermind who was killed by US special forces in Pakistan overnight on Sunday.
“We hope that the leaders of Islamic countries become like bin Laden, unlike now, when they store away their rebels and fighters, without using them to liberate Jerusalem,” said Abu Zaid Mohammed Hamza, who heads the local Islamist group Ansar al-Sunna.
Abdul Hai Yussef, another radical Sudanese Islamist, said he had come to the rally, which was organised by an ultra-nationalist uncle of President Omar al-Bashir, “to let the world know that the person killed yesterday was our brother.” >>>
So much for the concern over releasing the ‘inflammatory “propaganda tool”‘ Osama death photo. The [actual] death of Osama is all that and more. Obama is a weak appeasing fool.
Let’s see how Muslims across the Middle East behave after Friday prayers tomorrow. Which history has shown to be a major flash point leading to an outbreak of violence during times of heightened sensitivities. Imams love nothing better than to rile up Islamic rage boys…
Here’s hoping the pattern breaks.
Memri has more.
Previously:
‘It is only a matter of time before another atrocity – the West is the enemy,’ Abu Muaz, 28, from east London, said.
In fact, recent leaked documents showed that Britain’s mosques became an international haven for extremists who enjoyed state benefits while being trained for terrorism.
It prompted screams of ‘USA, burn in hell‘ and ‘Obama, burn in hell‘ from angry protesters. >>>
