WHO AND WHAT IS ISLAMIC JIHAD?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05-01507R000100050027-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 16, 2012
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: September 20, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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J~~.. ~~
20TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
The Associated Press
h''f a materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. Thes e
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.
September Z0, 1984, Thursday, AM cycle
SECTION: International News
g r- a~.
LENGTH: 870 wards 'kukavkw+ c+d
HEADLINE: TODAY'S FOCU5: Who and What Is Islamic Jihad? ~usay-, Mu S~4u~r J3~+~''
BYLINE: By SAMIR F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer
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DATELINE; BEIRUT, Lebanon
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'N`U~''~ cs-~ b`~~
KEYWORD: Focus- Islamic Jihad
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~~
BODY:
The anonymous phone call that follows the horrifying deed has became almost a
ritual in the Middle East.
A bombing, assassination or kidnapping occurs, and the phone rings in a news
office. The caller reads a carefully worded statement, never identifies himself
and hangs up if asked to say more.
On Thursday the call came about 90 minutes after the explosion at the U.S.
Embassy annex in east Beirut. A man telephoned the Beirut office of the French
news agency Agence France-Presse to claim responsibility for the bombing on
behalf of Islamic Jihad.
In the past two years, more than 30 groups have claimed responsibility for
acts throughout the world that somehow were related to the Middle East.
Sometimes several groups issue a claim for a single bombing or murder.
The hest known and also the most mysterious of the groups is Islamic
Jihad. It has claimed responsibility far afang-series of attacks including
the bombings at the U:S. Embassy and at U.S. Marine and French headquarters in
Beirut last year that killed more than 350 diplomats, soldiers and bystanders.
Last week, a caller in Beirut claiming to be from Islamic Jihad said the
group carried out a murder in Spain, then added the act showed "the extent of
our operations" and ability to deal "a painful blow" within the United States.
The week before, a caller claiming to represent Islamic Jihad warned that
it would strike soon at a "vital U.S. interest in the Middle East."
Generally, Islamic Jihad and the various other groups claim responsibility
for attacks aimed at American or Israeli interests. Islamic Jihad, for
example, claims to have kidnapped three Americans still missing from west
Beirut. But the groups also have focused on France and, recently, on the
pro-Western Arab governments in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
t-.
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Little is known about Islamic Jihad beyond its name, which means Islamic
Holy War. Some authorities believe it is just a code name used by various Shiite
Moslem fundamentalists, who support Iran's revolutionary patriarch Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini but act independently.
One Western diplomat, who asked not to be identified, said Islamic Jihad
and the various other groups may exist only "in the minds of two, three or fou r
angry people."
Even Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadiallah, a fundamentalist Shiite clergyman in
Beirut whom Western newspapers connected with various bombings claimed by
Islamic ..jihad, maintained he did not know if the organization existed.
"As an organization, we could not discover even t percent that it exists," he
said, "It may not represent only one thing. It may represent several structures
using it as a cover. They could be Islamic ... or some people who want to give
Islam the brand of terrorism."
In that last category, he included Lebanese Christians or Western
intelligence agencies. Fadlallah, who maintains he has no connections with
violence, ridiculed Islamic Jihad's claim last month that it planted mines
that damaged ships in the Red Sea.
"This organization must be immense with its sophistication that it mined the
Red Sea and all world nations were unable to find a clue, he said, maintaining
that the United States carried out the undersea operation as an excuse to keep
its navy in the Middle East.
Iran's state-run Tehran Radio praised the attacks on Red Sea shipping,
attributing them to Islamic Jihad.
Anonymous telephone callers also have said the organization was responsible
for bombings last December at the American and French embassies in Kuwait and
New Year's Eve bombings at the main railway station in Marseille, France, and
aboard a high-speed train traveling from Marseille to Lyon.
A month later, an anonymous caller claimed that Islamic Jihad shot and
killed the leading military figure in pre-revolutionary Iran once known as
"the butcher of Iran" _ and his brother on a fashionable Paris street.
Law enforcement agencies in Lebanon and other countries have said that they
have been unable to track down any of the telephone calls or arrest anyone.
A French official in Beirut, who spoke only on condition that he not be
identified, said he believes Islamic Jihad does not exist as a unified group.
"It is a word that covers fora number of religious fanatics having connection
with Iran and whose trampoline is Syria," he said.
The governments of both Iran and Syria have denied any connection wit h
specific acts of violence.
Intelligence sources a~.so have linked a radical Lebanese Shiite militia named
" Hezbollah" (Party of GodJ to the bombing of the French and American military
forces. v
. ~ ,~
._ ~, .
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The Associated Press, September 20, 1984
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PAGE 4
sand-bagged sentry posts and is guarded by men with automatic rifles.
In discussing motivation for attacks on Westerners, he said "jihad" in
Islam's early days meant rallying people to preach the Islamic religion.
" Islamic jihad now is equivalent to struggle in the political world," he
added.
The Associated Press, September 20, 1984
Sheik Fadlailah is believed by some to be a senior Hezbollah" official.
He denies that, but has said that various groups "consult" him. His house has
Religious "jihad" sometimes resorts to violence, he said. "Violence is
considered an international and a civilized method. Violence is humanitarian
when it comes to facing violence," he said.
X
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? ?:.
19TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
'~ Co ri ht (c) 1984 Th
py g e Washington Post
September 21, 1984, Friday, Final Edition
SECTION: First Section; World News; A27
LENGTH: 1048 words
HEADLINE: The Riddle of Islamic Jihad;
Who and What Is It? Does It Even Exist? And Where Will the Bombers Strike Next?
News Analysis
BYLINE: By Richard Harwood, Washington Post Staff Writer
BODY:
The American Embassy bombing in Beirut yesterday left two troubling questions
in its wake:
+~When and where will Middle East terrorists next strike against the United
States?
*Who or what is the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) organization that claimed
responsibility for yesterday's tragedy and for the bombings last year of the
U.S. Embassy and the U.S. Marine headquarters in Beirut?
The first question is not entirely hypothetical. Yesterday's bombing followed
a telephoned warning from Islamic Jihad on Sept. 7 that an attack on "one of
the vital American installations in the Middle East" was imminent. This
installation presumably was the embassy. One week later there was another call
to western news agencies in Beirut that identified still other targets. The
caller said Islamic Jihad was prepared to strike at major American cities and
at U.S. facilities in Latin America and Europe. In a reference to President
Reagan, the caller added: "You, governor of the White House, await a painful
blow before your reelection, more painful than our blows against your embassy
and your military headquarters in Beirut."
Neither the Secret Service nor the State Department would speculate yesterday
on the meaning or credibility of this latest threat. But it was not being
ignored.
The second question -- the identity of Islamic Jihad -- is also
troublesome. One theory is that no such organization exists and that Islamic
Jihad" is merely a deceptive and convenient code name adopted by various
telephone callers who make threats or claim responsibility for terrorist acts.
Others believe the opposite, specifically that Islamic Jihad is a distinct
terrorist group with international links to both Syria and Iran. There is,
however, no irrefutable proof that this is so, which poses yet another problem
for those in the United States and elsewhere who would like to retaliate far the
Beirut incidents.
Earlier this year, a team of reporters for The Washington Post assembled a
great deal of circumstantial tbut not foolproof) evidence linking the Marine and
embassy bombings in Beirut and the American Embassy bombing in Kuwait to both '/V~
.. _=.
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~~~ r~164 The Washington Post , September 21, 1984
sv~la and Iran? These links were cited last night in a CBS-TV news report that
cne explosives used in yesterday's bombing originated in Iran and were trucked
overland to Syria, where they were turned over to the terrorists.
The link between Iran and the U.S. Embassy bombing in Kuwait last December
Was firmly established by Kuwaiti authorities. Some of the terrorists involved
in the operation as well as their weapons entered Kuwait directly from Iran.
U.S. and Israeli intelligence sources also believe that the precise orders to
carry out the attack were delivered by a courier from Iran. Fallowing the
capture of those involved in the bombing, Tehran radio repeatedly demanded their
release and threatened Kuwait with retaliation if they were tried and punished.
The Kuwaiti investigation also revealed that the embassy bomber who died in
the attack was a member of an Islamic sect, Al Dawa, which is based in Iran and
which has been linked -- again, circumstantially -- to the bombing of the Marine
headquarters in Beirut.
This connection centers on Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a Lebanese
_. . _
Shiite Moslem leader who, some years ago, founded the militant Hezballa h
(Party of God) in Beirut. He incorporated the Al Dawa sect, into his?party and,
according to American and Lebanese intelligence authorities, gave a religious
blessing to two terrorists the night before they set out to bomb the Marine
headquarters.. One of Fadlal_lah's fo.l.~owers and.~nilita.Cy_allies is Hussein
Musawi, who the intelligence authorities believe was also iinplic~?ted-in-"the
Ma~Ire bombing. One of Musawi's cousins is said by these authorities to have
been involved in obtaining trucks for the bombing and to be the active head of a
group called the "Hussein Suicide Commandos."
The ties among these men, the Syrians and the Iranians are the subject of
other reliable intelligence reports that have implicated 14 individuals in the
Beirut bombings of 1983, In addition to Fadlallah and the two Musawis, the 14
fnclude a Syrian Army colonel, a farmer security officer far the Palestine
Liberation Organization, Syrian members of the Syrian-controlled Saiqa
(Thunderbolt) PLO faction and veterans of other terrorist groups.
The circumstantial evidence of the involvement of these people in the
bombings of the Marine headquarters and the U.S. Embassy was substantial,
according to the intelligence services. But it was insufficient, according to
one ranking intelligence officer, to make an ironclad court case and was thus
insufficient to support retaliatory strikes.
Sheik Fadlallah, who is often linked to Islamic Jihad in press_speculation,
recently gran tea ari Trfterview an Elie subject to an Associated Press reporter in
Beirut, Samir Ghattas. Fadlallah i sisted to Ghattas tha 's no connections `
with violence and said he was not convincea'~-ham a Islamic Jiha 1
organization actually exists. , said, "we could not
en ercen tha exists. It may represent only one thing. It may
represent several structures using it as a cover. They could be Islamic or
some people who want to give Islam the brand of terrorism." Those people,
Fadlallah said, could be western intelligence agents or Lebanese Christians.
Last month Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for planting mines in the
Red Sea. Fadlallah ridiculed that claim: "This organization must be immense with
its sophistication that it mined the Red_Sea and.: all world nations were unable
to find a clue." ?
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tc) 1984 The Washington Post , September 21, 1984
rrte lack of unambiguous information about the Beirut bombers has' been blamed,
f? part, on deficiencies in the American and Lebanese intelligence services. A
recent study indicated that the CIA, in particular, has been making serious
efforts to remedy some of these deficiencies by devoting more money and more
people to the effort, by creating small "strike forces" that could respond to
terrorist attacks and by establishing a center for evaluating intelligence on
terrorism.
But there is still no indication that either the CiA or other agencies have
resolved the mystery of Islamic Jihad -- who or what it is or where or when it
might strike next.
GRAPHIC: Picture, An American marine is carried away from the bombing at the
U.S. Embassy annex yesterday nn stretcher. AP
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~:
~ 1984 The Washington Post , September 30, 1984
LEVEL 1 - 18 OF 10 STORIES
The Associated Press
The. materials ir, the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.
September 21, 1984, Friday, PM cycle
SECTION: International News
LENGTH: 870 wards
HEADLINE: TODAY'S FOCU5: Who and What Is Islamic Jihad?
BYLINE: By SAMIR F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: BEIRUT, Lebanon
KEYWORD: Focus- Islamic Jihad
BODY:
... telephoned the Beirut office of the French news agency Agence
France-Presse to claim responsibility far the bombing an behalf of Islamic
Jihad.
In the past two years, more than 30 groups have claimed responsibility for
acts throughout the world that somehow were related to the ...
... several groups issue a.claim for a single bombing or murder.
The best known _ and also the most mysterious of the groups is Islamic
Jihad. It has claimed responsibility for a long series of attacks including
the bombings at the U.S. Embassy and at U.S. ...
... last year that killed more than 350 diplomats, soldiers and bystanders.
Last week,, a caller in Beirut claiming to be from Islamic Jihad said the
group carried out a murder in Spain, then added the act showed "the extent of
our operations" and ability to deal "a painful blow" within the United States.
The week before, a caller claiming to represent Islamic Jihad warned that
it would strike soon at a "vital U.S, interest in the Middle East."
Generally, Islamic Jihad and the various ether groups claim responsibility
for attacks aimed at American or Israeli interests. Islamic Jihad, for
example, claims to have kidnapped three Americans still missing from west
Beirut. But the groups also have focused on France and, recently, on the
pro-Western Arab governments in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Little is known about Islamic Jihad beyond its name, which means Islamic
Holy War. Some authorities believe it is just a code name used ...
r
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PAGE 16
One Western diplomat, who asked not to be identified, said Islamic Jihad
and the various other groups may exist only "in the minds of two, three or four
angry people."
Even Sheik .,.
The Associated Press; September 21, 1984
... patriarch Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini but aet~independently:~
... Hussein Fadlallah, a fundamentalist Shiite clergyman in Beirut whom
Western newspapers connected with various bombings claimed by Islamic Jihad,
maintained he did not know if the organization existed.
"As an organization, we could not discover even t percent that it exists," he
said. ... .
... last category, he included Lebanese Christians or Western intelligence
agencies. Fadlallah, who maintains he has no connections with violence,
ridiculed Islamic Jihad's claim last month that it planted mines that damaged
ships in the Red Sea.
"This organization must be immense with its sophistication that ...
... in the Middle East.
Iran's state-run Tehran Radio praised the attacks on Red Sea shipping,
attributing them to Islamic Jihad.
Anonymous telephone callers also have said the organization was responsible
for bombings last tlecember at the American and French embassies in ...
... aboard a high-speed train traveling from Marseille to Lyon.
A month later, an anonymous. caller claimed that Islamic Jihad shot and
killed the leading military figure in pre-revolutionary Iran once known as
"the butcher of Iran" _ and his brother on ... -
.., anyone,
A French official in Beirut, who spoke only on condition that he not be
identified, said he believes Islamic Jihad does not exist as a unified group.
'It is a word that covers for a number of religious fanatics having connection
with ...
.,. denied any connection with specific acts of violence,
Intelligence sources also have linked a radical Lebanese Shiite militia named
" Hezbollah" (Party of God) to the bombing of the French and American military
forces.
Sheik Fadlallah is believed by some to be a senior " Hezbollah" official,
He denies that, but has said that various groups "consult" him. His house has
sand-bagged sentry posts and is guarded by men with ,.,
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